0
For a good fight, start right
You wonТt get very far without solid foundations. Remember the Chinese proverb
about doubling the amount of rice on every square on the chess-board until you
have veritable paddy-fields by square 30? ThatТs probably relevant here,
somehow.
In less oriental verbiage, use your working capital wisely. Your initial money
should instantly be put to work generating more funds. At the start, this means
getting your mines up and running. Later on, excess funds can be put to work
developing those mighty fleets and securing new territories. Remember, Fragile
Allegiance is a financial game - your credits arenТt worth the plastic their
encoded
into if theyТre not begetting more credits.
So while you might hate the Mauna (and who wouldnТt? Particularly their
mothers...) and have your heart set on pulverising them each new level, itТs
important to get the show running smoothly first. Build a successful mining
operation that pulls in the most credits possible. Other races, individual
asteroids
and even your own workers are expendable, provided you get the maximum
return.
Back to basics
No matter what ore it contains or where it is on the map, itТs best to develop
your
first asteroid as your main centre of operations. After all, itТs likely to be
in the
middle of your eventual sphere of influence. Also, with careful conquest, it
will be
buffered from alien attacks by your surrounding empire. Defend it to the hilt,
all
the same.
Obviously, your first asteroid will need life support, power storage generators,
mines and so on. It should also have a missile silo, satellite silo, weapons
factory,
ship yard and control centre. Put them all to work as soon as you get them (for
instance, start building scout ships and looking for new asteroids straight
away).
Use this one asteroid to keep all your ore. This saves confusion when the
any-old-
ore Traders, or indeed the federal transporter, come sauntering into range,
asking
for an asteroid to visit. YouТll soon have multiple space rocks, so itТs best to
set
yourself up as a TescoТs rather than one hundred Mr Singhs.
Initially, youТll need to move your ore with your transporter. Later on, though,
youТll be thrilled to purchase the ore teleporter blue-prints from Sci-Tek, so
itТs
all done for you. Wealthy is wise.
A gravity nullifier is money well spent on your first asteroid, since it stops
rogue
asteroids wiping out your work in one catastrophic collision (just ask the
dinosaurs).
Support Life
Keeping your colonists alive is vital, what with the unreliability of robots. If
we
could do without them, believe me IТd know!
When you first arrive on an asteroid the transporter automatically builds a CPU.
Before you race to build mines, pop down an air processor, a food production
plant and hydration facilities. This will keep your people fed from the off.
The alternative is to build an Environmental Control Centre. These produce a
small amount of food, water air and power - enough for emergencies. Build an
ECC if youТre strapped for cash (because youТre running a tight operation where
most of your money is always invested - good work) or if you only need to stay
on
the asteroid long enough to rip out the small supplies of precious Traxium and
Nexos youТve found.
Social Securities
People being, all too sadly, people, you might need to add security centres,
medical centres and radiation filters. Stick them all on your first asteroid,
just in
case. Later on you can play the situation by ear. DonТt bother building Resi-
blocks - they just attract hundreds of migrant workers, overpopulation and the
general skull-duggery that encourages.
Mr Buy Right
YouТll get most of your advanced goods from Sci-Tek, by purchasing the blue-
prints. This is all to the good, Sci-Tek is virtually TetraCorpТs brother
company,
but remember that no-one uses and abuses like a sibling. Spend wisely, always
considering the return youТll get.
There are a few goodies youТll want as soon as possible. Topping the list is the
Seismic Penetrator, which enables you to mine the most valuable ores. (You need
these ores to build certain equipment, and for general credit balance
enhancement.)
The MK2 Mine and MK2 Deep Bore Mine will double the speed of your mining
facilities. Do we need to talk cash flow here, or have you been paying
attention?
Anti-missile pods. These stop you getting bombarded early on, and are thus
vital.
If you find youТre off to a flying start, Sci-Tek have lots of other ways of
liberating your funds. The following are useful luxuries:
Repair facility - You can set these to look after your best colonies while you
go
off to desecrate pastures new.
Asteroid engines - Glorified ram-raiding for the extra-terrestrial masses.
Shield x50 multiplier - Extra protection for your fleets.
Construction droids - Help you build your mighty fleets even more quickly.
Ore teleporter - Did you buy Fragile Allegiance to play a coalman? Enough said.
Anti-virus missile - donТt buy these from
Sci-Tek, buy a couple from a trader. YouТll save credits since the blue-print is
very expensive, considering youТre unlikely to need very many at once.
One final word to the wise. DonТt spend all your money at Sci-Tek. There are
often better ways of spending your money, particularly at the start of the game.
Having said that, if you can get a piece of kit like the MK2 mines relatively
early
on, you will (if left alone) score a devastating advantage long term.
Hitting Hard
If youТre going to play an overtly aggressive game, you need to do so from the
start. As soon as youТve built your construction facilities, start creating
small
strong fleets of scouts and assault craft. As these are assembling, gather as
much
information on the aliens as you can using scout ships and spy satellites. A few
tips:
1. DonТt bother with Combat Eagles at the start of the game. TheyТre too
expensive and they consume a lot of ore. Concentrate on your scouts and assault
craft.
2. DonТt waste expensive weapons on your first plucky yet weedy fighters. Photon
cannons and napalm orbs will do just fine. Costly guns wonТt significantly
reduce
the chances of their weedy owners exploding.
3. Build fleets of 20-30 cheap craft. These should be able to tackle most early
alien colonies. YouТll know when your enemies have begun to build better
defences, as these fleets will be annihilated in seconds.
4. Remember you will soon have to start funding expensive craft like Combat
Eagles and Destructors - as soon as your weaker fleets begin to fall. Plan
accordingly. ItТs a good idea to buy the x50 shield from Sci-Tek to protect your
investment.
Attack! Attack! No stop!
There is a logical order which you should follow if youТre to overcome your
enemies.
It is not:
1. Stumble across an alien outpost.
2. Launch everything youТve got at it.
It is:
1. Stumble across an alien outpost.
2. Employ agents to gather vital information about the colony.
3. Get the same agents to tamper with defences and retaliation facilities.
4. Now bombard the defences with a rain of missile death.
5. Finally, send in your fleets to destroy any remaining buildings and to mop up
alien craft survivors.
Rock Rockets
Missiles are a vital part of war in Fragile Allegiance, but remember that they
are
inherently awful. Missiles are clumsy and just as explosive on empty moon rock
as on the buildings you actually wanted them to hit. Save your missiles for
heavily
colonised asteroids. These are likely to be protected with anti-missile turrets.
Check first with a spy satellite. The aliens will laugh into their tentacles at
the site
of half a million credits worth of fireworks lighting the sky.
To wipe the sorry excuse for a smile from their faces:
1. Always launch from several different silos
at once.
2. Launch lots of cheap missiles as well as a few expensive ones. ItТs the
shoaling
strategy - your cheap missiles act as decoys and soak up some of the defences.
3. Consider freezing the asteroid with the Stasis missile. This will enable you
to
launch loads of missiles, almost at your leisure. Missiles arriving at a frozen
asteroid hang in the air until stasis runs out. Then they all come crashing
down.
How dТya like that, Mr QuТrdo Manuau-Squeeg?
Fleeter Fleets
ItТs obvious, but many people forget all about repairing their fleets. If you
want to
get the best out of them, itТs much cheaper to keep your craft in good repair.
Get
the blue-prints for the Repair Facility from Sci-Tek.
To repair Scout Ships, Assault Craft and Combat Eagles, land them in the
hangars.
Medium and large ships need a Space Dock in orbit. As the craft fly around the
asteroid, the Space Dock and Repair Facility mend the craft.
It may take months to return all your craft to full working order, but thatТs
still
quicker then building them all from scratch. Build a second Repair Facility if
youТre rushed for time.
Know thy neighbour
There is no such thing as community. What a wonderful TetraCorp employee Mrs
T. would have made. Below is a summary of Fragile AllegianceТs rational self-
seekers, and some tips on dealing with them rationally for your gain.
Supervisors
DonТt prevaricate; these guys are worth the cost. Employing supervisors will
enable you to concentrate your efforts on conquest, rather than day-to-day
colony
management.
There is a strict correlation between the price paid for a supervisor and his or
her
quality. Get the best you can. I can personally recommend Makepeace Fox,
Thomas Lorca and Andreas Perrers as about the best in the business.
Keep your supervisors well paid, or theyТll turn nasty, which will cost you a
lot
more in the long run.
Traders
Important for obtaining specialist items and medicines like Vir-Attack and Bio-
Fort, traders are also vitally important if youТre to make money. ItТs tempting
to
sell your ore to the Federal Transporter, but laziness costs. Compare the prices
theyТre offering with the transporter, and keep notes every time it visits to
follow
trends in price. Traxium and Nexos are the most important money-spinners, and
also the most volatile.
I wouldnТt let Traxium go for less than 60,000 credits and IТd ask near 200,000
for Nexos.
The luxury goods, tools, machinery and other goods the traders bring can be
bought and sold for profit, but to make money takes some effort on your part.
You
may prefer to just stick to ores. If you are tempted to play the markets, do it
in
style. YouТll only get worthwhile rewards from big risks, so send back those ten
fur coats and order ten thousand. Apart from the Anti-Virus missile, buy weapons
blue-prints from Sci-Tek and make your own. ItТs far cheaper in the long term.
Agents
DonТt skimp on agents - always employ them before going to war to collect as
much tactical information on your enemies as possible. Agents should usually be
your first line of attack in battle, since their covert sabotage missions can
save you
big bucks on missiles. TheyТre even handy in peacetime, just to let you know
what
your rivals are up to.
The best agents can all but destroy a colony single handed. TheyТre expensive
though, and best employed tactically to take out a critical asteroid when
fighting
on several fronts.
Personally, I recommend Vyvyan Beauregard and Scot Mandelson.
Aliens
Make as many non-aggression pacts with your rival cultures as possible. You can
always break them (and so can they) but youТll still be fairly certain that
youТll not
be attacked by two or three cultures at once. Years of experience in the
Fragmented Sectors has made me very cynical when it comes to aliens. They
break down simply as follows:
The Mauna - Kill them. TheyТre aggressive, nasty and theyТll try to get you
first.
The Artemians and the Mikotaj - Not as lethal as the Mauna, theyТll still cause
headaches with random, senseless and profit-impairing war-mongering. Best
destroyed after youТve got rid of the Mauna.
The Braccatians - Fine unless provoked, when theyТll fight back with a
vengeance. So donТt provoke them. Until you can destroy them.
The Acheans and the Regelians - Easy going neighbours, they should be putty in
your hands.
You wonТt get very far without solid foundations. Remember the Chinese proverb
about doubling the amount of rice on every square on the chess-board until you
have veritable paddy-fields by square 30? ThatТs probably relevant here,
somehow.
In less oriental verbiage, use your working capital wisely. Your initial money
should instantly be put to work generating more funds. At the start, this means
getting your mines up and running. Later on, excess funds can be put to work
developing those mighty fleets and securing new territories. Remember, Fragile
Allegiance is a financial game - your credits arenТt worth the plastic their
encoded
into if theyТre not begetting more credits.
So while you might hate the Mauna (and who wouldnТt? Particularly their
mothers...) and have your heart set on pulverising them each new level, itТs
important to get the show running smoothly first. Build a successful mining
operation that pulls in the most credits possible. Other races, individual
asteroids
and even your own workers are expendable, provided you get the maximum
return.
Back to basics
No matter what ore it contains or where it is on the map, itТs best to develop
your
first asteroid as your main centre of operations. After all, itТs likely to be
in the
middle of your eventual sphere of influence. Also, with careful conquest, it
will be
buffered from alien attacks by your surrounding empire. Defend it to the hilt,
all
the same.
Obviously, your first asteroid will need life support, power storage generators,
mines and so on. It should also have a missile silo, satellite silo, weapons
factory,
ship yard and control centre. Put them all to work as soon as you get them (for
instance, start building scout ships and looking for new asteroids straight
away).
Use this one asteroid to keep all your ore. This saves confusion when the
any-old-
ore Traders, or indeed the federal transporter, come sauntering into range,
asking
for an asteroid to visit. YouТll soon have multiple space rocks, so itТs best to
set
yourself up as a TescoТs rather than one hundred Mr Singhs.
Initially, youТll need to move your ore with your transporter. Later on, though,
youТll be thrilled to purchase the ore teleporter blue-prints from Sci-Tek, so
itТs
all done for you. Wealthy is wise.
A gravity nullifier is money well spent on your first asteroid, since it stops
rogue
asteroids wiping out your work in one catastrophic collision (just ask the
dinosaurs).
Support Life
Keeping your colonists alive is vital, what with the unreliability of robots. If
we
could do without them, believe me IТd know!
When you first arrive on an asteroid the transporter automatically builds a CPU.
Before you race to build mines, pop down an air processor, a food production
plant and hydration facilities. This will keep your people fed from the off.
The alternative is to build an Environmental Control Centre. These produce a
small amount of food, water air and power - enough for emergencies. Build an
ECC if youТre strapped for cash (because youТre running a tight operation where
most of your money is always invested - good work) or if you only need to stay
on
the asteroid long enough to rip out the small supplies of precious Traxium and
Nexos youТve found.
Social Securities
People being, all too sadly, people, you might need to add security centres,
medical centres and radiation filters. Stick them all on your first asteroid,
just in
case. Later on you can play the situation by ear. DonТt bother building Resi-
blocks - they just attract hundreds of migrant workers, overpopulation and the
general skull-duggery that encourages.
Mr Buy Right
YouТll get most of your advanced goods from Sci-Tek, by purchasing the blue-
prints. This is all to the good, Sci-Tek is virtually TetraCorpТs brother
company,
but remember that no-one uses and abuses like a sibling. Spend wisely, always
considering the return youТll get.
There are a few goodies youТll want as soon as possible. Topping the list is the
Seismic Penetrator, which enables you to mine the most valuable ores. (You need
these ores to build certain equipment, and for general credit balance
enhancement.)
The MK2 Mine and MK2 Deep Bore Mine will double the speed of your mining
facilities. Do we need to talk cash flow here, or have you been paying
attention?
Anti-missile pods. These stop you getting bombarded early on, and are thus
vital.
If you find youТre off to a flying start, Sci-Tek have lots of other ways of
liberating your funds. The following are useful luxuries:
Repair facility - You can set these to look after your best colonies while you
go
off to desecrate pastures new.
Asteroid engines - Glorified ram-raiding for the extra-terrestrial masses.
Shield x50 multiplier - Extra protection for your fleets.
Construction droids - Help you build your mighty fleets even more quickly.
Ore teleporter - Did you buy Fragile Allegiance to play a coalman? Enough said.
Anti-virus missile - donТt buy these from
Sci-Tek, buy a couple from a trader. YouТll save credits since the blue-print is
very expensive, considering youТre unlikely to need very many at once.
One final word to the wise. DonТt spend all your money at Sci-Tek. There are
often better ways of spending your money, particularly at the start of the game.
Having said that, if you can get a piece of kit like the MK2 mines relatively
early
on, you will (if left alone) score a devastating advantage long term.
Hitting Hard
If youТre going to play an overtly aggressive game, you need to do so from the
start. As soon as youТve built your construction facilities, start creating
small
strong fleets of scouts and assault craft. As these are assembling, gather as
much
information on the aliens as you can using scout ships and spy satellites. A few
tips:
1. DonТt bother with Combat Eagles at the start of the game. TheyТre too
expensive and they consume a lot of ore. Concentrate on your scouts and assault
craft.
2. DonТt waste expensive weapons on your first plucky yet weedy fighters. Photon
cannons and napalm orbs will do just fine. Costly guns wonТt significantly
reduce
the chances of their weedy owners exploding.
3. Build fleets of 20-30 cheap craft. These should be able to tackle most early
alien colonies. YouТll know when your enemies have begun to build better
defences, as these fleets will be annihilated in seconds.
4. Remember you will soon have to start funding expensive craft like Combat
Eagles and Destructors - as soon as your weaker fleets begin to fall. Plan
accordingly. ItТs a good idea to buy the x50 shield from Sci-Tek to protect your
investment.
Attack! Attack! No stop!
There is a logical order which you should follow if youТre to overcome your
enemies.
It is not:
1. Stumble across an alien outpost.
2. Launch everything youТve got at it.
It is:
1. Stumble across an alien outpost.
2. Employ agents to gather vital information about the colony.
3. Get the same agents to tamper with defences and retaliation facilities.
4. Now bombard the defences with a rain of missile death.
5. Finally, send in your fleets to destroy any remaining buildings and to mop up
alien craft survivors.
Rock Rockets
Missiles are a vital part of war in Fragile Allegiance, but remember that they
are
inherently awful. Missiles are clumsy and just as explosive on empty moon rock
as on the buildings you actually wanted them to hit. Save your missiles for
heavily
colonised asteroids. These are likely to be protected with anti-missile turrets.
Check first with a spy satellite. The aliens will laugh into their tentacles at
the site
of half a million credits worth of fireworks lighting the sky.
To wipe the sorry excuse for a smile from their faces:
1. Always launch from several different silos
at once.
2. Launch lots of cheap missiles as well as a few expensive ones. ItТs the
shoaling
strategy - your cheap missiles act as decoys and soak up some of the defences.
3. Consider freezing the asteroid with the Stasis missile. This will enable you
to
launch loads of missiles, almost at your leisure. Missiles arriving at a frozen
asteroid hang in the air until stasis runs out. Then they all come crashing
down.
How dТya like that, Mr QuТrdo Manuau-Squeeg?
Fleeter Fleets
ItТs obvious, but many people forget all about repairing their fleets. If you
want to
get the best out of them, itТs much cheaper to keep your craft in good repair.
Get
the blue-prints for the Repair Facility from Sci-Tek.
To repair Scout Ships, Assault Craft and Combat Eagles, land them in the
hangars.
Medium and large ships need a Space Dock in orbit. As the craft fly around the
asteroid, the Space Dock and Repair Facility mend the craft.
It may take months to return all your craft to full working order, but thatТs
still
quicker then building them all from scratch. Build a second Repair Facility if
youТre rushed for time.
Know thy neighbour
There is no such thing as community. What a wonderful TetraCorp employee Mrs
T. would have made. Below is a summary of Fragile AllegianceТs rational self-
seekers, and some tips on dealing with them rationally for your gain.
Supervisors
DonТt prevaricate; these guys are worth the cost. Employing supervisors will
enable you to concentrate your efforts on conquest, rather than day-to-day
colony
management.
There is a strict correlation between the price paid for a supervisor and his or
her
quality. Get the best you can. I can personally recommend Makepeace Fox,
Thomas Lorca and Andreas Perrers as about the best in the business.
Keep your supervisors well paid, or theyТll turn nasty, which will cost you a
lot
more in the long run.
Traders
Important for obtaining specialist items and medicines like Vir-Attack and Bio-
Fort, traders are also vitally important if youТre to make money. ItТs tempting
to
sell your ore to the Federal Transporter, but laziness costs. Compare the prices
theyТre offering with the transporter, and keep notes every time it visits to
follow
trends in price. Traxium and Nexos are the most important money-spinners, and
also the most volatile.
I wouldnТt let Traxium go for less than 60,000 credits and IТd ask near 200,000
for Nexos.
The luxury goods, tools, machinery and other goods the traders bring can be
bought and sold for profit, but to make money takes some effort on your part.
You
may prefer to just stick to ores. If you are tempted to play the markets, do it
in
style. YouТll only get worthwhile rewards from big risks, so send back those ten
fur coats and order ten thousand. Apart from the Anti-Virus missile, buy weapons
blue-prints from Sci-Tek and make your own. ItТs far cheaper in the long term.
Agents
DonТt skimp on agents - always employ them before going to war to collect as
much tactical information on your enemies as possible. Agents should usually be
your first line of attack in battle, since their covert sabotage missions can
save you
big bucks on missiles. TheyТre even handy in peacetime, just to let you know
what
your rivals are up to.
The best agents can all but destroy a colony single handed. TheyТre expensive
though, and best employed tactically to take out a critical asteroid when
fighting
on several fronts.
Personally, I recommend Vyvyan Beauregard and Scot Mandelson.
Aliens
Make as many non-aggression pacts with your rival cultures as possible. You can
always break them (and so can they) but youТll still be fairly certain that
youТll not
be attacked by two or three cultures at once. Years of experience in the
Fragmented Sectors has made me very cynical when it comes to aliens. They
break down simply as follows:
The Mauna - Kill them. TheyТre aggressive, nasty and theyТll try to get you
first.
The Artemians and the Mikotaj - Not as lethal as the Mauna, theyТll still cause
headaches with random, senseless and profit-impairing war-mongering. Best
destroyed after youТve got rid of the Mauna.
The Braccatians - Fine unless provoked, when theyТll fight back with a
vengeance. So donТt provoke them. Until you can destroy them.
The Acheans and the Regelians - Easy going neighbours, they should be putty in
your hands.