What is your preferred starting strategy and why?

[LloydFuller]

Hi all, I am newbie and want to ask a noob question: What is your preferred starting strategy and why?

[Iranon]

Early Centauri Ecology, starting with forests because they're an efficient use of terraformer time.
Next main target is usually Industrial Automation - maybe for crawlers, maybe for the Planetary Transit System and very hard expansion.

Alternatively, I may go for Secrets of the Human Brain into Centauri EDIT:Empathy for early mind worm farming.

[Misanthrope]

I'm totally OCD, so I try to maximize land-use.  Getting your bases setup right early-on can REALLY Make the game a LOT easier in terms of resources.  Setting up on a shoreline can boost nutrient production a bit, plus it gives you water access... got for it if it's near; if not, then dun worry about it.  If it's SORTA Near, then leave yourself space to put a base there.
Bases too far apart can't support eachother, so don't setup TOO Far away from your current bases without good reason.

I'm with Iranon on the forests thing AND with tech... Centauri Ecology is (IMO) THE best tech to target first since formers can make the biggest difference in a base's output.  The Weather Paradigm is def a game changer, esp. early on. (I love formers, can you tell?)
Next target is Secrets of the Human Brain because that gives you a bonus tech if you're first to reach it... plus the two techs that support it give you Rec Commons (less drones), Recycling Tanks (bonus resources) AND the Human Genome Project (+1 talent at all bases)
Getting Planetary Networks is important because it gives you probe teams which give you the ability to cause all sorts of mischief, from stealing tech to wrecking enemy base infrastructure, even taking over enemy bases.  Also, the Virtual World secret project comes with the tech, and is a MASSIVE boon if you can build it.
If you're on a water-intensive map, Doctrine: Flexibility is crucial.  Probe Team BOATS are sneaky awesome, and the AI doesn't use them, so there's a one-up for you right there.

Another good strategy is the "First-Day-In-Prison" type deal... kick someone's head in and the others will usually shy away from picking fights with you... at least to begin with.  If you have a friendly neighbor, there's usually no need to stomp them out, but a hostile or even threatening neighbor, stomping them out warns off other factions with an eye on your bases.

When attacking a base, try to use infantry.  Vehicles are good quick-response units, but foot-troops get a bonus for base attack.  Also, don't send a piecemeal attack force... they'll get picked off one by one and enemy with have time to recover... always attack bases en masse.

Hope this helps.

[Aureustgo]

Explorer.

c.f., https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=21753.msg132563#msg132563

[magic9mushroom]

If you're on a water-intensive map, Doctrine: Flexibility is crucial.  Probe Team BOATS are sneaky awesome, and the AI doesn't use them, so there's a one-up for you right there.

The stock random maps seem really likely to be water-intensive (i.e. most factions start alone on a landmass). The only ones that aren't are 30-50%/Weak and to some extent 30-50%/Average erosion (the latter typically has a lot of separate landmasses, but you're fairly likely to start with company). Map of Planet is much more land-based, though, particularly the non-Huge version where each pair of the three major landmasses is 1 Terraform UP from being joined (though it's fairly likely that someone will start on the Isle of Deianira, which is more isolated).