First turns Research and builds.

[Riesig_Bar]

I have tried to play the AI in a couple games and I always seem way behind the AI. I am still learning. I have tried to read the hints and so on and they have helped. But I still seem to fall behund. What do you do for the first 50 turns for research and building?

Thanks.

[Suicide Junkie]

50 turns?!

That's a long long time...

You'll want to get ship construction up to Light Cruisers fairly fast, just for the large mounts.
You can max out your DUC research in a few turns, and that will be good enough until you get around to researching APB or PPB.
Grab some shields, CS/ECM, and some training facilities, and you should be good to go.

[Riesig_Bar]

Yes 50 is a long time. I was trying to type 20. It was close. Only 30 off. I will make a list and try your suggustions.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Of course, I'm a builder; I understand you can have a lot more success doing early military.

[Riesig_Bar]

Building and expanding sounds good too, but last time I tried that I was smashed and had hardly any warships to fight back. The evil X people(Don't remember how to spell the name) had dreadnaughts already and I only had LC completed but none built.

[Alneyan]

I almost always go with Construction, Mines and Fighters early on myself (it should be over around turn 20 or before). Mines are a powerful defence early on, Fighters are a mobile defence, and Light Carriers are adequate vessels (about the same as Light Cruisers, with in-built cargo and more hitpoints, but easier to hit and somewhat more expensive). Light Carriers also make very good minelayers, as they are able to lay many mines on a single turn while carrying quite a few such mines.

I believe your problem with warships and technology was that you did not expand enough: expansion is a key part of the game, as the more colonies you have, the merrier (and the more powerful you will be). Colony ships are cheap to build, and they can be sent to several systems away to build a forward spaceyard there, which in turn will produce more spaceyards to claim more systems.

Your best bet for defence in the expansion phase are those Mines: they pack quite a punch, and several Minesweepers will be needed to remove them. By the time someone else has the means to build a small fleet and enough minesweepers, you should hopefully have a solid economy, allowing you to build adequate vessels. The AI may be eager to get into early wars however, much more so than human players, so this may be a problem (though you spoke of Dreadnoughts, so I guess it was later in the game).

[douglas]

Space yard ships generally don't get used for quite a while, as they need the Cruiser hull at a minimum, Battlecruiser if you want a good movement rate without master computers or any extras such as a quantum reactor. Much more common is space yard bases, which can be built from turn one with the Space Station hull. I typically put one or two space yard bases somewhere in the eleven turns of homeworld emergency building at the start.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

In a large map without too many enemies, I rush-research a second colonization tech.

[Arkcon]

Against the AI, do physics twice, then get phased polaron beams. Phased shields are a long way away, and you will slice through their ships once you have it. Meantime, defend your planets with DUC's and CSM platforms. And by being nice to the AI while you research.

When you're on the ropes because the AI is coming on too strong, quickly research Construction, then Mines, and plant a minefield on any warp point or around a small planet the AI will go for. Once the A.I. is hit by mines, it will pause its construction and research to research mines itself, so it can have mine sweepers. Don't take a nap here, use the pause to build something that will tip the power balance in your favor -- like troops to capture a nice planet of theirs.

Oh, and be prepared to abandon all of this when you play against humans.