Builder-Momentum Scale

[JMN4444]

Alpha Centauri is a really interesting game if you don't mind the old-school graphics and are more interested in the gameplay and lore itself. What made the gameplay more interesting are the very factions themselves and how each one of them is unique in their own way. There are about 7 factions in the original game and 7 in the expansion, the former (no pun intended) I play more often since these factions tend to be more balanced than the new factions. What's more, I also think that they're more memorable than the latter since the original 7 Ideologies tend to be more noticable in our current society rather than the latter.
In regards to how each faction is played, I have personally arranged the original 7 from which is most likely to be played as
Builder (Wanna be my friend?) Or Momentum ( NO MERCY ), Considering that you're playing the unmodded SMAX:

BUILDER

• Morgan Industries 
• U.N Peacekeepers
• University of Planet 
• Gaia's Stepdaughters 
• The Human Hive 
• Spartan Federation 
• The Lord's Believers 

MOMENTUM

Here are the explanations on why their faction sits on where they are on the scale:

Morgan Industries 
Starting Tech: Industrial Base
Preferred Ideology: Free Market
Anti-Ideology: Planned
Faction Bonuses:
+1 ECONOMY
-1 SUPPORT
Commerce Bonus (Inreased values of treaties, pacts and loans)
Bases may not exceed beyond a population of 4 without a HAB COMPLEX

The Ultimate Builder faction out of the original 7. This faction heavily encourages you to use probes rather than attack your enemies head on, as probes do not cost any mineral maintenance and can be equipped with some decent armor. The -1 SUPPORT means that you won't actually be fielding a large army at all and the HAB COMPLEX limit could actually hinder you if you don't go for Industrial Automation (Which henceforth unlocks the powerful Supply Crawler and the HAB COMPLEX). On the flip side, he's got +1 ECONOMY. Once you get to Wealth and Free Market, you will end up with a staggering +4 ECONOMY and you'll be swimming in loads of energy credits which can be then used to research at a crazy rate like or imitate the talent bonuses of through psych boosts. Just be careful going Free Market though, as the -3 PLANET will kick you hard in the ass should  , or the local wildlife come knocking at your door. At the same time, any enemies who go against you late game will have to deal with armies of armored probe teams, ready to subvert any unit (except most likely ) foolish enough to step into your corporate borders alone. The commerce bonus also encourages you to be a really nice guy to others as you'll more likely to benefit than them should a treaty of friendship be signed (Commerce Bonus). As much as possible, once you get the opportunity, try to Sign a Treaty of Friendship with other factions. His bonuses on energy credits can be converted into anything on the SE sliders, so he sits as the king on the Builder scale, and at the same time, he sits at the bottom of the Momentum scale due to the SUPPORT penalties. However, it is still a viable option should you go Momentum with . If you are to go Momentum with this faction , your best bet is to go for Clean Reactors to mitigate the support costs that units usually have. Also, you ought to avoid going Free Market if you are going Momentum with this faction.

U.N Peacekeepers 
Starting tech:Biogenetics
Preferred Ideology: Democracy
Anti-Ideology: Police State
Faction Bonuses:
-1 EFFICIENCY
May exceed HAB COMPLEX limit by 2
Extra Talent every 4 Citizens
Receives double votes in the Planetary Council

The most balanced of all the 7 Factions. Don't mind the -1 EFFICIENCY, as going Democracy remedies that problem. This faction in the end sports no bonuses in regards to social engineering and can be quite versatile in whichever playstyle you go for. A beginner friendly faction since the Extra Talent means that you'll more likely trigger Golden Ages in your bases (Especially with the Human Genome Project which you can start building since you have Biogenetics from the start) and the HAB COMPLEX freedom means you can grow your bases larger than the rest of the 6 factions. The Empath Guild is a must-have for this faction, as once you meet and greet everyone else on Chiron, you can easily forge friendships with the right SE choices; and with the help of the Double U.N votes, you can easily become the planetary governor.
 In the scale, he is one step ahead of  on the Momentum Scale as he does not have any militarily crippling penalties (The -1 SUPPORT) but behind  and  since has no bonuses to them either (Whereas can just research deadly weapons and can use Mindworms to her advantage). He sits as second to the highest on the Builder scale as his bases tend to become well developed.
 

University of Planet
Starting tech: Information Networks
Preferred Ideology: Knowledge
Anti-Ideology: Fundamentalism
+2 RESEARCH
-2 PROBE
Extra Drone For Every 4 Citizen
Free NETWORK NODE at every base

For Science! A fan favorite among Alpha Centaurians, This outstanding faction boasts an Immense +2 RESEARCH and a free tech, so you'll most likely eclipse the other factions in that regard if you play the cards correctly. If you find any alien artifacts around Chiron, your best bet is to either link them to your NETWORK NODES or you can use it to complete the heavily coveted Virtual World secret project. That will be your utmost priority since you got those pesky drones around your bases and completing it will mean that your NETWORK NODES now have a double purpose as they now become HOLOGRAM THEATERS as well, reducing the number of drones and eliminating your main weakness. If that ever happens, you'll be nigh unstoppable once you begin researching CONQUER techs. Although the reason why I placed lower on the Momentum scale is because research bonuses takes some time to develop his army while can actually capture mindworms at the start of the game. The -2 PROBE will be one of the things that could haunt (Especially if and her James Bond Priests take their precious time in visiting your ever vulnerable bases) so another important tech to consider here is the Pre-sentient Algorithms, as it unlocks the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, making Probes useless against . Also, he is one of the ones most likely to achieve Transcendence, as he can cut through the tech tree like a hot knife through butter. Better techs mean better facilities, therefore, he can actually do a pretty good job in going Builder.

Gaia's Stepdaughters
Starting tech: Centauri Ecology
Preferred Ideology: Green
Anti-Ideology: Free Market
+2 EFFICIENCY
+1 PLANET
-1 MORALE
-1 POLICE
Can capture mindworms at the start

+2 EFFICIENCY with +1 PLANET? Hell yes. This faction really has bonuses to both Momentum and Builder factions, making this a really good Hybrid faction. With the +2 EFFICIENCY, you can go for Green and increase it to +4 EFFICIENCY, thus netting you a PARADIGM ECONOMY! In any case, you can actually slide your numbers to 100% without any penalty reductions. The +1 PLANET means you can capture mindworms at the start of the game, thus rendering your -1 MORALE useless since most of the times, you'll be spending most of your precious time trying to catch pokemon mindworms all around Chiron. This makes Deirdre a viable faction to go for if you want to rush your enemies early in the game. Not to mention, you can already build formers at the start of the game once you choose the Gaians! Despite her rather peaceful nature story-wise, she can actually be a VERY deadly opponent in the hands of a Momentum human player. The very fact that mindworms IGNORE armor also means that no matter how high their armor is, you CAN have a fighting chance against them (Considering they're not Neural Amp. Tranced/Empaths next to an enemy Sensor). -1 POLICE could be a bit of an issue, but it can nevertheless be worked around with. A great faction overall when you want a both good economy and a few pets that can be used against traditional opponents.

The Human Hive
Starting tech: Doctrine: Loyalty
Preferred Ideology: Police State
Anti-Ideology: Democratic
+1 INDUSTRY
+1 GROWTH
-1 ECONOMY
IMMUNITY to EFFICIENCY
Free PERIMETER DEFENSE at every base

One of the first Momentum-oriented factions around Chiron and an outstanding one as well. likes to build it quick and grow it fast. With the innate +1 INDUSTRY and +1 GROWTH, he can develop his bases very quickly and build most facilities right off the bat. Another thing to consider is that he's got free PERIMETER DEFENSES at every single one of his bases, making early rushes against him a very risky venture. He also starts with Police State free of charge. However, since your -1 ECONOMY reduces energy income, it will take some time for you to switch to Police State. If you are however able to switch to Police State, you can actually enjoy its benefits and none of its penalties. The same thing can be said for Planned since it has the same penalties in efficiency where  is IMMUNE to it. Even more, the bonuses stack to  's already powerful INDUSTRY, thus turning him into an industrial powerhouse. However, the static EFFICIENCY and -1 ECONOMY means that you'll be itching for energy credits later in the game, which places him closer in the Momentum scale. Another thing that is unlocked upon researching Doctrine: Loyalty is the Command Nexus Secret Project. This secret project, combined with your innate INDUSTRY bonus, makes you a potential candidate to grab this game changing wonder; as once it gets in your hands, all you need to do is spam units like there's no tomorrow without even spending minerals on building command centers.

Spartan Federation
Starting tech: Doctrine: Mobility
Preferred Ideology: Power
Anti-Ideology: Wealth
+2 MORALE
+1 POLICE
-1 INDUSTRY
Prototype units don't cost extra minerals

Survival of the fittest. That is the ideology in which the ever militaristic Spartan Federation adheres to. This is even reflected on the bonuses that they get. The +2 MORALE means that your units already start off with a decent amount of experience in combat and +1 POLICE means that they will have an easier time quelling off those drones in the bases that they capture. Like , she is pretty much also a potential Candidate to construct the Command Nexus (hell, this is a MUST have for all Momentum factions), should she find a way to workaround the -1 INDUSTRY to 's +1/2 INDUSTRY. One fun thing that I did find about is her formers. Why? Because even the promotions carry to the formers thus, if one of her formers hit elite, she literally has a free rover former before fusion reactors at her hands due to the movement bonus elite units have. That's not all, try equipping your formers with armor and try not to laugh as some units get taken down by an elite former. When the Spartans mean business, they mean it. The freedom to construct prototypes without extra minerals also helps in the conquest victories of , as units who are completed as prototypes tend to have an innate promotion, which also stacks with the Spartan +2 MORALE. A heavily Momentum focused faction, since the -1 INDUSTRY could hinder facility construction at some points, this faction likes to play it rough.... But not as rough as the next faction that will follow which is:

The Lord's Believers
Starting tech: Social Psych
Preferred Ideology: Fundamentalism
Anti-Ideology: Knowledge
+2 SUPPORT
+1 PROBE
-2 RESEARCH
-1 PLANET
+25% bonus when attacking enemies from strength of convictions

Deus Vult! If you like fighting for the cause of God then this faction is definitely for you!

If you're that kind of person to hate every single faction on the map, choose , as the +2 SUPPORT will end you up covering the map with orange units and the +25% attack boost means that when your units just so happens to touch theirs and you got that extra move, they're history. One good way to utilize the strengths of is to play it rough right at the beginning of the game when most factions still has scout patrols to begin with. Your units clearly has the advantage, so if you happen to have a neighbor, then pack your lasers Holy Bibles, because your Believers will be having some vendetta conversion to do, especially if said neighbor is none other than . +1 PROBE stacks with the +2 PROBE boost of Fundamentalism, so your probe teams (Or Priests as I would like to personally call a Believing Probe) will be really damn good at their job. The innate -2 RESEARCH of means that once she goes Fundamentalism, Believing researchers suddenly become statues as the -2 RESEARCH of Fundamentalism stacks with her already low RESEARCH. In that sense, your best way of acquiring new techs is to send your Probe teams Priests in the Clandestine acts Holy Pilgrimage of Tech Stealing The Acquisition of Holy Intellect from The University Faithless Heathens. The -1 PLANET is also another bad thing to have though, as once you end up inciting the wrath of or you'll end up becoming a Martyr for your faction. is not about playing it peaceful, because doing so will mean that she will most likely end up being stuck with sticks and stones while is already trying to transcend. The Believers are the ultimate Momentum faction and is really meant to be played that way. The Believer rules go like this: If you do not bully them, they will bully you with their techs. If they do not believe, they die. And if they don't die, you die. It's that simple.

I hope that my Builder-Momentum scale helped .

[bvanevery]

I actually think the Hive is the best Builder faction of the originals.  It has buckets of SUPPORT and it's easiest to build a big pile of cities.  Sheer scale takes over after that.  Yang grabs Ascetic Virtues and then gets everyone on double active POLICE duty.

I actually think the Hive is the best original faction, period, The End.  They have the SUPPORT and don't have any RESEARCH penalty to hold them back.  They start with the ability to build the Command Nexus, how's that for a Momentum strategy?

In my mod, they are still among the strongest factions.  They consistently outperform others.  My Aliens are way toned down, only at the strength of normal factions, and the Hive can take them head on.

Miriam is way better at Building than a lot of people realize, because she can SUPPORT a mountain of Formers.

In my mod, I made buckets of SUPPORT available to all factions.  {Police State, Planned, Power} or {Fundamentalist, Planned, Power} give +3 SUPPORT, which is number of free units equal to base size.  If a faction can't make one of those choices, they can still get +2 SUPPORT, which is 4 free units.  Now a combo of can't and won't, could prevent an AI from doing that, but a human player can.

[JMN4444]

I did have some energy issues in the Original unmodded game as Yang. This is further bolstered by the fact that his EFFICIENCY is capped at 0 no matter what. That's the reason why I placed him lower on my personal scale for the unmodded game, but we all have our opinions right  ? However, in the growth mod, that totally solves it by removing the IMMUNITY and turning it into IMPUNITY. Yang as a Builder could be a good choice too. Well, considering the fact that they do have that PERIMETER DEFENSE every single base, a builder Yang could be a really viable action as his bases end up tanking throughout Chiron like a Turtle jacked on Stasis armor. They can BUILD most facilities and units at a crazy rate so yeah.

I actually think the Hive is the best original faction, period, The End.  They have the SUPPORT and don't have any RESEARCH penalty to hold them back.

I could agree with you on that one. I'm not a really skilled player, and I was able to play a decent THINKER game with him. Heck, For every 5 games, Yang AI comes up on top on 4. He also serves as really good matchup against Miriam due to the fact that while Miriam can support more, Yang can actually produce more (most presumably of a more higher quality considering the tech gap between them). I tried Miriam against Yang and holy [poop] was his territories hard to conquer. I made the mistake of actually signing a truce to stock up on some more units against his lands and he ended up Starting the HS-Algorithm. What was I thinking? (All of these unmodded BTW)

Miriam is way better at Building than a lot of people realize, because she can SUPPORT a mountain of Formers.

^ This. You could probably be right on that one. One playthrough as  ended up with becoming second place on the overall stats. I had satellites, so I tried to look at  's lands to find that she's actually got a decent former brigade on her continent. The reason why I did place her lower on the scale is that -2 RESEARCH means that sitting down too much could spell out being outteched by the other factions ( especially). And since she can't use Knowledge, she might as well deny everyone else of the higher techs in the game through endless conquests. That is of course, if she does not run into a competent at a considerable distance like in one of my playthroughs. I had no trouble dispatching and  at that game (since they were my neighbors ), but as soon as I went to , they were able to put up a hell of a fight.

[bvanevery]

In the original game I'm not sure IMMUNITY works like you say.  Yang's IMMUNITY to EFFIC keeps you from falling below 0 EFFIC.  But choosing Police State, Planned exerts a -4 EFFIC.  If you combined that with Knowledge, Cybernetic you'd still have -1 EFFIC.  So you just get 0 EFFIC instead.  This is frustrating because the order of operations isn't explicitly stated, nor easy to reason about at a glance.

In principle a Fundamentalist, Green, Knowledge, Cybernetic Hive should have +5 EFFIC.  In practice I haven't tested this in awhile.

[JMN4444]

It's funny though, considering I was giving 's faction a test right now with the growth mod. In my recent playthrough, I still don't have the necessary tech to go Planned but I can go Free Market, and at the same time I currently whacked . On the other hand, is whacking while there's not much information regarding   and . Map played on Librarian huge low ocean average lifeforms, I'll go ahead and use the efficiency boosting SE choices later if I get it and I'll see for myself if can make a crap ton of energy once he can choose Knowledge/Cybernetic.

If the mod is to be used, is higher on the builder scale (and a bit lower on momentum since the tech for Command Nexus is higher) since he'd end up plopping facilities in no time, and with the removed EFFICIENCY restrictions, he might be able to make up for the -1 ECONOMY.

[bvanevery]

I noticed when writing a lot of AARs that some factions' only advantage is attacking others.  This is true of the Spartans at least, in the original game.  On a Giant 128x256 map, if the Spartans don't start next to somebody, their +2 MORALE is nearly worthless.  It makes one a little better at dealing with mindworms, but that's a small consolation.  Their -1 INDUSTRY places them at a severe disadvantage when in isolation on a big map.  Such a faction needs to build, and they mostly have hindrances for building.  Their +1 POLICE does help make their initial cities larger, that's all they've got.

I don't know if the Spartans have anything to help them with conquest momentum, but they don't have anything to help them with building.  If those are viewed as polar opposites, then the Spartans are a momentum faction by default.  They have to conquer to be properly utilizing their factional advantage.

In my mod it is less of a problem because factions are better rounded.  The Spartans do not have an INDUSTRY penalty, for instance.  However they also don't have a POLICE bonus.  I couldn't abide them doing better at POLICE than the Hive.

[JMN4444]

It could also mean that Sparta replaces The Believers as the ultimate Momentum faction in the mod. With no remarkable Builder traits to speak of,  must go full force towards anyone who they think is weak. Oh yeah, the formers also gain the morale boosts as well, so giving them armor could just equate to having a garrison that can do some terraforming. If they reach elite, they've got a nifty ability to have a movement of 2, thus simulating the effect of a rover former on an infantry chassis. In the unmodded game, Believers ranked lower on the scale thanks to -2 RESEARCH, but in the mod, they now have -1 RESEARCH instead and can stand up without having to whack someone since they have no limitations to the future societies (Although it's still preferred, since you wouldn't want any HEATHENS to grow strong enough, especially since you got that +25% attack). A cybernetic Believer society is kinda odd.

Sitting still with will end up getting you outperformed in every single aspect of the game. They were born for war, and they must live for war.

[bvanevery]

Except that I'm "all that" and can prevail with the Spartans even as an isolated Builder faction.  I did a pretty big AAR of that called Santiago the Builder.  Although in fairness, I did quit that game.

EPILOGUE:

I blew off this game.  Not because I couldn't win it, clearly I could.  Not because I was doing badly, I wasn't.  I quit because I wanted to build and my faction wasn't appropriate for it.  I spent excessive time with the Power choice, crippling my industry with a faction that already has crippled industry.  I knew I enjoyed building SPs the most, previous AARs had proven that to me abundantly.  I played the faction that isn't good at that.  It wasn't fun for me, so I quit.

Once again the Existential question arises: why go against what is natural for your faction?  Conquest is natural for Santiago.  Staying offshore is natural for the Pirates.  Recently I did a Pirate game "backwards" and that AAR didn't go so well, same as this one.  I nipped that one in the bud a lot sooner than this one.  Now you know how long a land bridge invasion takes.  A long time.

[JMN4444]

Playing as with Spartans using the builder strategy really does seem to be a self-imposed challenge. Even moreso in the unmodded game, considering that -1 INDUSTRY hit would mean she'd build facilities at a stunted rate. It's like trying to conquer everyone as the Morganites in the unmodded game.

[bvanevery]

Which of course I've done.  Playing all 7 factions random was routine for me.  Doesn't look like I ever did an AAR about that though.  Now that the Morganites are a 'mo betta' faction like everyone else, I have no reason to.

Here's an idea for a custom faction: the WIMPS.  They'd get every bad thing possible.  Maybe the Masochists?

[JMN4444]

I was also thinking of the same idea . It could probably have one overpowered ability (RECYCLING TANKS at every base) while also having -1 in every aspect in Social engineering. It could be an interesting experiment. Might as well have this guy lead it:

[bvanevery]

Now that would be an extremely silly faction.  Too bad we can't make various abilities unavailable to factions.  It would be interesting to have a pacifist NO WEAPONS faction.

[JMN4444]

And it seems the unmodded ALMOST seems to achieve that goal. And you know how that ended.


"YOUR SINS CRY OUT TO GOD FOR PUNISHMENT MORGAN. REDEEM YOURSELF WITH 5000 ENERGY CREDITS, OR FACE REDEMPTION IN HELL"

Well I'm just exaggerating, but you still get the point.

[bvanevery]

I wonder what happens if all factions are pathetic?  Maybe the 1st one that gets lucky with a sufficient resource bonus, wins.

[JMN4444]

An even better experiment , use the unmodded factions and remove all their positive traits. I'm sure Lal will stand out as the strongest, he's got only -1 EFFICIENCY. Poor Miriam, and Morgan.....