Name this smurf please

from Sins Forums

"Phil Thomas Katt" - a strange screenname.  No wins, no losses, no games ever played.  Stomped my brains in, of course.

I suspect it was Siddy, because of his "flak are OP" post.  In that post, he said that if flak weren't adjusted he'd simply abuse the hell out of illum/flak spam.  Flaks would cover illums from fighters, he said.

The brief synopsis of the game - I went vasari, this dude went advent.  I started with the almost necessary (for vasari) assailant spam.  I actually opened with a carrier cap because I wanted to try a strat where I'd rush an SB to the enemy homeworld and heal it up with the cap (I know - "exotic" strat with no space egg, but why play the same way as everyone else all the time?).  He opened with mothership.

How it went down was assailant vs. illums for about 3 straight clashes, him winning every one of those clashes, killing my cap as well (I got one of his too though), forcing me back off my planets.  I switched to carrier production, and at first I was trying to hide the carriers and built them on a back world, but he kept scouting so he found them.  I knew he'd go heavy flak then, which is exactly what happened.  So the next couple of clashes was me simply running away with my carriers while he invaded with an ever growing fleet of illums plus flak.  Oh, he'd push starbases too, especially into neutral mining sites.  I'd see them coming, there was simply not much I could do about it except let him have the wells.

The only other thing he ever built, besides flak and illums, was mothership, halcyon, and at the end shield guardian thingies to push back heavy cruisers.  It was like a perfectly-honed script he was following, i.e. "I'll open with illums, when the idiot switches to carriers I'll make flak, and when the idiot switches to heavy cruisers I am one step ahead with shield guardian thingies," with the main problem being that I followed his script the entire way (I could even see that I was doing that, I just really didn't have much of a choice in the matter).

Anyway, name that smurf please.  My guess is Siddy, making his point with illum/flak abuse.

10,096 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

my friend... you were actually playing God... which is why you had your ass handed to you... =P

may i simply say... (obviously) that spamming units is not the way to go? capitalising on unrealistic ship imbalances just makes you predictable... if you had varied your fleet, it my not have happened... like you said, you knew how he was going to counter you... but you kept playing your spamming strategy... honestly... as soon as you know your enemy knows your plans, YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THEM!!!

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

This is the second post of yours (Agent) where you talk about spamming Assailants and getting flattened...maybe a new strategy is in order?  Besides, Illums are pretty much the best long range frig in the game and if he microed them right, well, yeah theyd beat you.  Plus, the Vasari carrier cap is pretty much god awful as far as damage dealing and such go.  Id say try mixing it up a little rather than going for the "almost necessary" Assailant spam.\

Edit: there I goes again, not answering the question.  I dont play online but I do follow the forums a lot so I'd say the chances of it being Siddy are pretty fair, if he really did spam flak as much as you say.  If so, either you got lucky enough to find another flak enthusiast or hes keeping his promise to spam flak until its fixed ;P

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

This is the second post of yours (Agent) where you talk about spamming Assailants and getting flattened...maybe a new strategy is in order?
End of quote

Nothing wrong with spamming assailants in the early minutes of the game as vasari.  I've seen JohnJames do it so many times I can't count.  I've seen tons of "pro" players do it.  The advice that "pros" used to give (a while back, admittedly) was to NEVER build light frigs at the start.  Rather, just jump straight to lrm/assailant (for tec/vasari at least).  Granted, the game has been through a few changes since this advice was fresh - namely after carriers were buffed sometimes people would jump straight to those instead.  However, in general, nothing wrong with an initial assailant spam as vasari.  I would be willing to wager that the number of "pros" who say I'm right would outnumber the number of "pros" who say I'm wrong.

By the way, did you miss the parts where I said I built carriers and enforcers as well?

Besides, Illums are pretty much the best long range frig in the game and if he microed them right, well, yeah theyd beat you.
End of quote

If you would re-read my post, you would notice that I'm not complaining that I got beat.  Neither am I asking for an explanation of how I got beat.  The fact that I got beat is just fine and dandy with me.  It's peachy keen - really.  I just want someone to "name that smurf."  That's all.

I dont play online...
End of quote

You've just explained why you are so offended at the notion of an initial assailant spam as vasari.  Online play vs. AI play is about as different as night and day.

 

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Dude you went vs Illuminators with Assailants are you mad?  To even survive 1 on 1 basis, you would need to get all your tier 1 upgrades.  Which isn't actually that much more expensive given the fact he needs 2 more labs.  But on top of that  Yous ohudl also have more assailants than he has Illums.  And in a close game you probably can't, but getting tier 3 damage upgrade would give you an edge definately.

Also you had no Egg, that's like autolose because you won't be able to get his mothership to leave, nor can you use nanits to kill few illuminators outright. (You need some shield passthrough obviously unelss you get nano lvl 3, but like i said get all tier 1 techs).

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Dude you went vs Illuminators with Assailants are you mad?
End of quote

Look, I respect you as a player and all (I really do - I've seen you play), but are you saying you've NEVER DROPPED A MIL LAB AS VASARI, THEN RUN OFF SOME ASSAILANTS IN THE OPEN?  Are you really saying that?  You mean you wait until you have thoroughly scouted each and every opponent in the game before you start building any units at all?  If you say "yes," I suppose that's fantastic, but to be honest you really are in a 1% bracket if you really do that.

To even survive 1 on 1 basis, you would need...
End of quote

Yeah I agree 1 to 1 it would be tough if not impossible.  I never planned on going 1 to 1 with him, and I never planned on staying with assailants (in fact I didn't - reread my post).

Also you had no Egg, that's like autolose...
End of quote

Right, well like I said I don't mind being bold and trying new things even if it causes me to lose.  My initial plan was to try to rush a starbase to my opponent's homeworld and heal it with the carrier, as I said.  I *did* in fact get a starbase to his homeworld, but I didn't get to heal it because my carrier was dead :-)  My starbase bit the dust too, coz he just recalled his fleet and blew it away, even though it had 2 upgrades (hull and weapons).

Perhaps I should say this again, "just in case."  I am actually not complaining that I lost.  I am not upset that I lost.  I am not wondering why I lost (the reason is clear actually - the dude just outplayed me).  I am not saying that a particular unit or tactic is OP.  I am not saying that I did nothing wrong (I obviously did).  I am not saying that he cheated or did anything unfair.  I am not saying that assailants and a carrier cap should be able to defeat illums and a mothership.  I am saying none of these things.  I am simply wondering who the smurf was, because I've played "pros" many times before, and I know what it "feels like" when I lose to one.  I was just curious as to who it was, that's all. 

The reason I disclosed details about the game is because I figured his playstyle would give a clue to the other "pros" out there as to who this dude was, i.e. "Advent, pushing SB's, spamming illums and flaks, then teching to shield guardians?  SIDDY FOR SURE!" or "Hell no that's not Siddy, he never plays like that - sounds more like so-and-so."

Having said that, if you want to analyze the loss "just for fun," that's fine - just understand that I didn't post this because I was screaming about this or that.

See this post:  https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/344976

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

Lot of players know how to use Advent offensively like that.  Post a replay and someoen familiar with Siddy's play style can try to assess it.  I only played against him once that I know of.

Anyway only time not to take Egg first as Vasari is if you are facing another Vasari, and you are confident you won't mess up.  ANd possibly if your home is connected to enemy home.  There you have options, usually siege cap or antorak.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

actually i always found Kortul to be the best anti-Mothership option available to Vasari. Disruptive Strikes really screws up Shield Restore. not that it really matters since if it was a normal map you'd have already built your cap ship by the time your scouts found the enemy cap. going in blind you pretty much just build the egg no matter what. 

 

if you REALLY wanted to try something unorthodox, instead of taking a shot in the dark and building some cap ship that turned out to be a bad one, you could wait on the cap ship and do early colonizing entirely with frigates. you'd have to wait 3 or 4 minutes until your scouts found the enemy cap (or maybe longer on a big map) but then you could get the perfect counter for him and go right after his cap. 

 

anyway, i don't think you screwed up Kharma, seems like you played ok (except for the Skiranta thing, but whatever) and just ran into a common situation which is that the Advent have an EXTREMELY good military in the early game. Illuminators with a Halcyon and Mothership supporting them outclass pretty much everything else in the game that's available at tier 3. 

 

i think the answer to that particular situation is just to avoid a head on fight for a while. carriers won't counter it because he's got a Halcyon (which has its own fighters and the very strong TK Push to blast your squadrons with) and can just build some flaks anyway. i think you've got to go into defense mode for a bit whe you're up against that and make your next push some time in the mid-game where you can make some headway with powerful offensive support. Skarovas and Stilakus can break through just about anything. my response would have been to get defenses up to protect existing territory and then tech up to 6 mil labs as quickly as possible. 

 

 

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

I only played against him once that I know of.
End of quote

Well... what race did he play, and what was his playstyle like?

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

if you REALLY wanted to try something unorthodox, instead of taking a shot in the dark and building some cap ship that turned out to be a bad one, you could wait on the cap ship and do early colonizing entirely with frigates.
End of quote

I've actually considered doing this before, I'm just not 100% down on what capship would counter what capship.  I know that Advent battleship mana burn would tend to counter support caps, maybe vasari battleship too with disruptive strikes.

Actually you don't need to wait to choose the counter.  If you just assume the cap your opponent will pick you will be right about 95% of the time, at least with vasari and advent who will take the colonizers (sometimes I see tec take colonizer or battleship instead of marza though).

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Agent, reply 8


Well... what race did he play, and what was his playstyle like?
End of Agent's quote

I beleive I chronicled it here. The following morning I woke to the thread about flak being posted on the forum.