(Always blind research) I would only run Planned (pop-boom) or Green (warfare) if needed. (Until I'm independent in my own research) Like you said in your post Zakharov makes for an easy ally. I tend to use Wealth for infrastructure until meeting the University.Yes. All of my posts assume vanilla SMAC and defaults. Blind research has interesting implications for Deirdre, which I'll comment on later.
(Always blind research) I would only run Planned (pop-boom) or Green (warfare) if needed. (Until I'm independent in my own research) Like you said in your post Zakharov makes for an easy ally. I tend to use Wealth for infrastructure until meeting the University.Yes. All of my posts assume vanilla SMAC and defaults. Blind research has interesting implications for Deirdre, which I'll comment on later.
Oddly enough, I don't pop boom with Deirdre. As I'll discuss later, I believe the opportunity cost is way too high and the benefits minimal. For me, most of my games with Deirdre are effectively over by Doctrine: Air Power [E5].
My choice of Social Engineering: Values depends on my neighbors. It is actually not uncommon for me to run defaults across the board.
Same for me regarding values. I tend to run defaults as well depending on neighbors. In my last game as Peacekeepers I had Hive to the west and Believers in the east. There was no way I could have run Democracy until much later in the game.Yeah good call - this happens more often than I'd like. I also tend to think that democracy is expensive and crippling for base-spamming factions like the Gaians and Morganites (to which I'll comment later) in the early- to mid-game. I think wealth is a great social engineering choice for Deirdre, but I don't think I've ever used it. Placating the Spartans, and maintaining an alliance with the University, is usually far more important.
4. Ignore the Boom
There are lots of articles here and elsewhere on pop booming, where plus-six growth is achieved, usually as a result of democratic government (plus-two), planned economics (plus-two) and children’s crèche (plus-two). If you have enough food, population grows every turn.
A population boom is certainly neat, which is why some argue it is overpowered, but fancy and strong are not the same things. For Deirdre, who at first blush is best suited for it, pop booming is in fact a poor strategy or symptomatic of poor Gaian play. You pop boom because you’re behind, not because you’re ahead. Shouldn’t she focus on what gets her ahead? (See Keys 1, 2, and 3).
Put simply, the costs of pop booming are high and benefits are minimal. Consider:
Costs:
1. Democracy and planned are two social engineering choices Deirdre does not want. The former robs her of free 10 minerals when forming a new base, effectively costing her 50 energy credits (in rush purchases for recycling tanks, etc.) for every base she builds. And she’ll build a lot. So a lot of energy sacrificed. In terms of game play, this greatly slows down her expansion, growth, and ability to score the secret projects. The latter social engineering choice prevents green, a game dominating alternative. Planned also undercuts the paradigm economy that Deirdre wants for maximizing taxes or research (at plus-four efficiency, Deirdre can go 100 percent on either bar without penalty);
2. Switching to these two choices (which again, she does not want) will cost at least 80 credits… but more likely 160 credits because Deirdre will want to switch them back after she booms;
3. To make booming happen (in practice), children’s crèche is the cheapest way to get there. But at 50 minerals they aren’t cheap… and you need one of these at every base. Think 1/6 of a special project for every base you want to boom with. Take the special projects instead;
4. Growing cities requires drone upkeep. If you don’t have the necessary hologram theaters, hospitals, or psych, there’s no point booming because you can’t even enjoy the potential benefit.
So a massive sink in energy credits. What’s the benefit?
Just a few rebuttals here.It's probably a style of play difference. I'm attempting to convey the opportunity cost of seemingly standard play. SMAC's dirty little secret is that green is so much more valuable than any other social engineering choice (for each faction, a different reason). And the cool thing is, every faction can use it. This makes planned a very costly alternative. Moreover, frontier is far more important than democracy. Besides not irritating any troublesome neighbor (thinking Hive and Believers), netting those free 10 minerals just lets one dominate the game. Long before the cost-benefit switches, it seems to me, the game is already over. If factions can pop boom without democracy and planned, I say go for it.
1. The idea for booming is to start once you're done planting bases. So after I use the free minerals for the last time, it's a non-issue.
2. I've rarely had energy issues with the Gaians. High efficiency plus a constant influx of planetpearls from your worm hunters should keep you afloat.
3. True, but they also counteract the effect of Planned's efficiency penalty.
4. At Transcend, all you need is your garrison unit plus Rec Commons to keep a size 7 base peaceful.
Once you get your initial wave of expansion done, a well-planned 6 turn pop boom phase is exactly what you need to goose your production and get ready for the mid game. Starting the game with Centauri Ecology means you get a massive head start on terraforming, but that only does you any good if you have the population to work those tiles.
Losing your first mind worm early is the biggest mistake Deirdre can make.Her unique auto-capture isn't just a sui generis for your first capture attempt. The actual condition is that you have zero of that kind of native. If your first worm dies, you'll get a second very quickly, although it still sets you back a little.