Strategies and Hints for Barren Realms Elite
by
Robert Wennagel
Version 2.0 Release date: 2/16/96
---------------------------------------------
Table of Contents:
a. Cardinal Rules of Warfare
I. Starting
a. Taxes
b. Military Production
II. The Empire
a. Regions
b. Population
III. Military
a. Pros/Cons of military unit
b. Maintenance
c. Covert Operations
IV. IP War
a. Trading/Specializing/Coordination
b. Planetary Tactics
1. Attacks
2. Special Ops
3. Quick Strike IP Wars
4. Gooies Kablooies
5. SDI Defense
V. Cash Operations
a. Investments
b. Savings
c. Cash Relief/Loans
VI. Diplomacy
---------------------------------------------
Here comes lesson number one. This is your bread and butter.
Learn and OBEY the following 10 Cardinal Rules of Warfare:
1. Know your available strategies/tactics.
2. Know what your forces can and cannot do.
3. Know the enemy.
4. Maintain a reserve force.
5. Fight on your own terms.
6. Once committed to the offensive, STAY on the offensive.
7. Aggressiveness is a force multiplier.
8. Power corrupts and greed kills.
9. Fear Works.
10. Destroy the enemy's ABILITY to wage war, not the enemy.
Warrior's Code of Honor
1. Honor is paramount.
2. Respect.
3. Grace Under Pressure.
Now, I'm not saying these are essential to go by. Every warrior
needs a set of guide lines, and you will be much more respected
if you go by some set of rules.
(II)
STARTING
Start up tactic
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Starting is the MOST critical part of the game. If you start
well you will have better chances of having a good game. First
of all you should look at the number of years you have in
protection (contrary to some people's belief, PROTECTION IS
GOOD!!!). You will probably have anywhere from 20-70 years of
protection. The less years you have the more you have to build
your military early. Normally I don't build up any military
until after the third day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As soon as you start I would set my industrial regions to
produce 100% carriers(producing 100% carriers and selling them is
more profitable than setting them to produce gold).
Send out trade agreements at this point. You should not
send or agree to any free trade agreements except with players
who you know gots skillz. Free trade agreements damage your
popular support if there are riots in the other person's empire.
Send out tariff trade agreements to everyone at this point.
When you get to the planetary food market you can sell your
excess food to make some cash. When you are established in the
game (after about 50-60 turns) you should keep a surplus in case
food becomes unavailable at the planetary food market.
-------- Tax Rate --------
Do not get any loans from the bank yet...most of the time the
bank won't let you borrow enough money to make a difference.
When you get to the Purchasing Menu, go to the System Menu using
the (*) option. I usually set my tax rate to around 2-3%.
This allows for a large population growth which makes huge
amounts of cash later in the game. Later in the game my
population makes more than my other sources of income. If you
find your population growth is slowing or stopped just buy a few
urban regions.
-------- Military Production --------
You should not buy any military or industrial regions during your
first few days. However, in games that you don't have many years
of protection (below or around 20), it is necessary to prepare
for battle.
(II)
THE EMPIRE
-------- Regions --------
+ Purchase as many regions as possible.
+ Sell military given to you.
+ At this stage, every penny is need to buy regions, not to
throw away feeding and equipping a useless military.
+ Often large tax refunds help tremendously.
+ Buy mostly money making regions to start with.
+ Type of regions you buy is up to you. It all depends on what
kind of player that you are.
+ Buy enough ag. regions to feed growing population.
Here is how I would buy regions on the first turn, given the
money to purchase 150:
-----Given------ -------Purchase---------
Coastal : 3 Coastal : 140 (+137)
River : 0 River : 0
Agricultural : 2 Agricultural : 10 (+8)
Desert : 5 Desert : 5
Industrial : 0 Industrial : 0
Urban : 0 Urban : 5 (+5)
Mountain : 5 Mountain : 5
Technology : 0 Technology : 0
+ Don't buy Industrial/Mountain/Tech. regions on first turn.
+ I buy mostly coastal/river regions the first couple days.
+ Rivers produce huge amounts of cash but they kick over to
produce food occasionally. After I have about 150-250 coastal
regions, I start buying rivers, so that when they produce food I
have the coastal regions to support me.
After the end of the first day (10 turns) my region count will
usually look like this:
Coastal : 300
River : 300 Total of 700 regions
Agricultural : 60 Coastal:River 1:1
Desert : 5 All:Coastal 7:3
Industrial : 0
Urban : 40
Mountain : 2
Technology : 0
+ Sheer cash production/money making mix.
+ Urban regions draw a steady flow of people into the empire.
The ratios vary according to how many years of protection
you have and the hostility of the game. For instance, in a local
game, where I would come out attacking my first turn out of
protection, my regions might look like this:
Coastal : 100
River : 0
Agricultural : 20 Total of 430 regions
Desert : 5 Coastal:Industrial:Mountain 1:2:1
Industrial : 200 All:Industrial 2:1
Urban : 10
Mountain : 100
Technology : 0
+ Geared toward preparing for battle
+ The farther into the game the more mountain regions I would
buy because they are the most stable.
+ Also mountain regions boost industrial productivity, making
mountain regions my ideal choice in wartime and crisis. Coastal
would be affected by war and civil unrest. As the game
progressed the mix would be about 40% industrial and 40% mountain
regions.
Of course most mixes change as the game progresses. Here is what
I would normally have after accumulating 10k regions:
Note: military purchasing -disabled-
Coastal : 600
River : 600
Agricultural : 400 Total 10k regions
Desert : 0 Money producing:Industrial 5:4
Industrial : 4000 All:Industrial 5:2
Urban : 200
Mountain : 4000
Technology : 0
After accumulating 10k regions:
Note: military purchasing -enabled-
Coastal : 800
River : 600 Total 10.4k regions
Agricultural : 3600 Ag.:Urban:Tech. 4:3:3
Desert : 0
Industrial : 0
Urban : 2700
Mountain : 0
Technology : 2700
+ From the point I get out of protection when allotting regions
I keep a 4:3:3 ag:urban:tech ratio. Works best for me.
-------- Population --------
Most people don't use their population to the fullest advantage.
I set my tax rate to 3% on the first turn. My population grows
at a good rate and I can feed them easily using agricultural
regions. Later in the game, when I am steadily growing and have
5k+ regions my tax gains become my key source of income. People
earn you lots of cash if you can use your population effectively.
If you begin to lose people just purchase some urban regions so
you can gain more people.
Controlling population growth:
As I grow I set my tax rate from 7-9%. This and the urban
regions allows for huge population gains. Expect to make massive
amounts of cash from taxes.
During the game if you want a boost in population just set
your tax rate to 0% for a couple turns. Usually when I do this I
gain anywhere from 20,000 million to 85,000 million people each
turn. But be sure to have plenty of food, and buy urban regions
so the people won't leave when you raise the tax rate back up.
(III)
/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\ MILITARY /-\/-\/-\/-\/-\
On day five or six (depending on years of protection) you
should start building up your military. What kind of military
you produce and buy is entirely up to you, it depends on what
kind of player you are. A lot of players are very conservative
and never attack, those players should produce mainly turrets and
some tanks. Others are very aggressive, they should produce a
lot of jets (for offensive) and tanks (for defense and offense).
Remember rule 4, maintain a reserve, since jets can't be used for
defense you should have tanks.
Attack Points Chart
Unit | Offensive Points | Defensive Points
-------------------------------------------------
Trooper | 1 | 1
Jet | 2 | 0
Turret | 0 | 2
Tank | 4 | 4
Bomber | 0 | 0
-¯> Note <®-
Bombers have no offensive or defensive strength. Their only 2
purposes: (1) Carry bombs and s-ops (2) Destroy enemies
grounded jets when sent in an attack.
Military strategies and tips
Ok, now, what's the best military, and why? Well, it all depends
on how you play. When I'm on the offensive, (which is ALWAYS), I
set my production as follows:
Offensive Military Mix Defensive Military Mix
Troops : 15 % Troops : 0 %
Jets : 50 % Jets : 10 %
Bombers : 0 % Bombers : 0 %
Turrets : 10 % Turrets : 40 %
Tanks : 15 % Tanks : 50 %
Carriers : 10 % Carriers : 0 %
----- Pros/Cons -----
-----
Troopers
--------
Pros- Very cheap to maintain and to buy. You can buy 7 troopers
for the price of 1 tank(tank only has power of 4 troopers). Help
defend against S-3 Sabres.
Cons- Easily affected by t-ops and consume a lot of food.
Jets
----
Pros- Incredible offensive strength. You can
buy 6 jets for the price of one tank.
Cons- High maintenance(second only to bombers) and require
carriers. Effectiveness can be reduced 25-30% by SDI, and the
t-op Bomb Airbases is used exclusively on them.
Turrets
-------
Pros- Very strong defensive units and cannot be destroyed by
t-ops. Help defend against Nuclear Missiles. Backbone of
defense.
Cons- They cost almost as much as jets to maintain.
Tanks
-----
Pros- Equally strong offensive and defensive strength and are
pretty inexpensive to maintain. Help defend against Chemical
Missiles.
Cons- Cost a lot to buy. Tanks are affected by strength of
headquarters, and also the moral.
-+-+ Strategic hint(1) +-+-
Remember jets are useless for defense, so when calculating how
much military to commit to an IP attack, always send 100% of your
jets. If you're worried about being attacked while your forces
are out attacking someone else, holding your jets back in reserve
does you NO good what-so-ever.
-+-+ Strategic hint(2) +-+-
Tanks vs. Troopers. Troopers are better in the short run because
they cost 1/7 of a tank. But after about 450 turns(this has been
mathematically worked out, but it would take a page to write it
all) the cost of troopers makes them more than tanks.
Conclusion: In the short run troopers are better than tanks. So
if you know you are going to be attacked soon, buy troopers.
--¯> Military Maintenance <®--
¯>Per Turn<®
| Set Low | Medium | High
--------|--------------|-----------------------|-----------------
Trooper | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.6
Jet | 0.3 | 1.2 | 4.8
Turret | 0.255 | 0.9 | 3.6
Bomber | 0.32 | 1.3 | 5.2
Tank | 0.15 | 0.6 | 2.4
Carrier | 0.025 | 0.1 | 0.4
If you know you are going to be under heavy attack(long term), or
you are a purely defensive player, here is what I recommend:
Troops : 0 %
Jets : 0 %
Bombers : 0 %
Turrets : 60 %
Tanks : 40 %
Carriers : 0 %
If you want to use your industry to produce coins, DON'T! It's
MUCH more profitable to set your industry to produce 100%
carriers, and then SELL them!
-¯> Maintain a Reserve Force <®-
Remember, MAINTAIN a reserve at all times! If you launch an IP
attack without maintaining some type of reserve force it means
you have NO defense against incoming attacks. This type of
situation assumes one of three things:
1. You don't have sufficient forces for a reserve, in which
case there's not much you can do about it.
2. You've just made a STUPID, terrible mistake, and are about
to lose a massive numbers of regions because you have no
defense.
3. You've taken a calculated risk that you wouldn't be
attacked while your forces were elsewhere. If you
calculated correctly, then you succeed in your efforts, if
not, go back to item 2.
-------- Covert Operations --------
+ The more covert agents you have, the harder it is for enemy
terrorist ops (Inter-Planetary and local) to succeed.
+ If you can afford them, buy and keep as many as you can on
hand.
Terrorist Prevention/Intelligence Alliances:
Terrorist Prevention alliances combine one half the other
empire's agents to aid in the defense of your realm against IP
and Local terrorist operations.
Intelligence Alliances combine 1/2 the number of agents to carry
out terrorist ops against someone else. (both agreements work in
local as well as IP games)
Options for IP covert operations:
Send Spy
--------
Used to find defensive strength of empire. Remember rule 3?
Know thy enemy.
Bomb Intelligence
-----------------
Kills enemy agents allowing your t-ops to get through easier.
Always good to use. Use them first before the other t-ops.
Demoralize
----------
Probably the most used covert attack. This lowers the moral of
the enemies' military. This does 2 things: 1) They don't fight
as well. 2) If lowered enough military starts abandoning their
empire.
Cause Dissensions
-----------------
Lowers popular support of enemy country. Causes troopers to be
weakened in target country.
Bomb Airbases
-------------
Destroys grounded jets in the target empire, if they are home.
Good to use as a counter-attack.
Stir Emigrations
-----------------
Causes population to begin leaving country/damages popular
support.
Spread Propaganda
-----------------
Drastically reduces popular support in target empire.
Bomb Food Stores
----------------
Bombs the food reserves of the individual target empire. Good to
take out an empire fast if they don't know what to do when they
go into a downward spiral with no food.
Bomb HQ
-------
HQ affects the strength of the enemy's tanks. If you can knock
their HQ down, their tanks will not be as effective.
-+-+ Strategic Hint(3) +-+-
Always use t-ops before an individual or group attack to weaken
the target for the attack. I usually use a variety of t-ops
depending on the target empire and their defenses. Always send
some agents to demoralize the enemy.
Unit | Hit them with
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Troopers | Demoralization, Dissensions, Bomb Food Markets
Jets | Bomb Airbases
Turrets | Demoralization
Tanks | Demoralization, Sabotage HQ
Alright, here's a little something you guys might be interested
in, had to put it somewhere:
Networth Table:
Troopers : 0.250
Jets : 0.325
Turrets : 0.425
Bombers : 3.000
Agents : 0.500
Tanks : 1.250
Carriers : 1.000
Regions : 12.50
(IV)
THE IP WARS
Rule one of warfare states that your strategy is dictated by
available tactics. The difference between the two is that if
tactics are what you do in detail, strategy is what you do on the
whole. A good team must have one thing, TEAMWORK. Now, here are
the various tactics we use.
-------- Trading --------
Ok, you all see the Trading Menu on every single turn. Hardly
any of you use the damn thing though, and this is perhaps the
single most powerful tool in the game. You should send out
tariff trade agreements to all the players on your team (except
troublemakers which might have to be dealt with) on the first
day. After the end of your protection good players (the ones who
cooperate) can send you money, which you can use to purchase
regions, use the money you make from the regions to pay the
players back (you should pay them back with a little interest
just as a thank you). It is like taking out a loan from the bank
except you can get much more from established teammates.
-------- Specializing --------
Specializing and trading go hand in hand. Before specializing,
each major player should consult one another and decide who is
specializing in what. At least one person should specialize in
turrets, jets, troopers, and tanks. Players should then trade
what they are specializing in for what someone else is
specializing in. It makes each player much more efficient, but
requires a lot of teamwork.
-------- Coordination --------
Without coordination a team won't win in big leagues. No buts.
No exceptions. Plain and simple. Coordinate attacks, coordinate
efforts with other planets. Elect a good GC who knows the ins
and outs of diplomacy. A good team should have a smart GC and
probably a military coordinator who knows how to attack, when to
attack, and where. Each person on the team should know what the
others are capable of. That way, with coordination they can work
as one unit.
Planetary Tactics
Ok, you and your team want to take down an entire planet. Well,
here's how. Say we're gonna target John Do's BBS. Everyone
starts bombing the Planetary Food Market. If they can't feed
their people, they'll launch into civil war, and their empire is
reduced to nothing in a day. On top of this, undermine the hell
out of their investments. That way, they won't have the money to
fight back.
We also start sending terrorist ops, as many as allowed, to
individual empires. Remember, in warfare, if you want to win,
you must destroy your enemy's ABILITY to wage war (rule 10).
Whoever survives longest wins. Employ whatever means possible to
win. Gooies Kablooies are of course the most expensive, and
effective weapon, but they cost a huge amount of money. They
can bring any team to their knees. Employ whatever possible,
including t-ops, s-ops, and military attacks.
Summation:
+ Bomb food markets/undermine investments.
+ Destroy the moral of the enemy population and military.
+ Decimate population and popular support through chemical bombs
and t-ops.
+ Keep pressure on with constant attacks and nuclear bombs.
Attacks
-¯> Individual <®-
/-\|/-\| Normal Attack /-\|/-\|
A normal individual attack is the same as the individual attack
before the three categories were made. If successful it captures
15% of the enemies regions, military fights at 100%
effectiveness. I use this as my default.
/-\|/-\| Quick Strike /-\|/-\|
A quick strike is similar to a guerilla attack in SRE. Your
forces catch the enemy off guard and are able to fight at 115%
effectiveness. However they can only take 10% of the enemies
regions, and the two sides end the battle after losing 8% of
their strength. With successful quick strikes you can hit an
enemy hard and fast. Even if you are smaller than your opponent,
if you follow up some successful terrorist ops with a nicely
timed quick strike you can do some damage to a larger opponent.
/-\|/-\| Extended Battle /-\|/-\|
The extended battle is the most draining of attacks. Fighters
only fight at 85% effectiveness, and will fight until 20% of
either side has been wiped out. Lets you capture 20% of an
enemies regions if successful. If you are going up against a
smaller enemy(example: you have 300k net and they have 200k) you
probably couldn't win 2 quick strikes, and could probably only
win 1 normal attack. So use an extended battle and you will be
able to capture 20% compared to 15% for a normal attack.
-¯> Group Strike <®-
A group attack captures 10% of the target's regions when
successful. Good to take down people larger than you, or to put
the pressure on an entire board. Many people prefer them to
individual attacks, and in a major war they are most of the time.
I prefer individual strikes most of the time.
Special Operations
----- Bombing Operations -----
Bombing operations are critical for major wars or long term
military confrontations. Probably the two most valuable are
bombing food markets(planetary) and undermining investments.
If you can successfully undermine the enemies investments you can
majorly reduce the chances of a strong counterstrike.
----- Nuclear/Chemical Assault -----
A nuclear assault destroys between 8-15% of the target's regions,
a chemical assault does the same against the population. Both
can really hurt an empire and bring it to it's knees. Target one
empire and have the whole team hit them. See how fast they fall.
----- S-3 Sabre -----
I mostly use setting 7, which most frequently destroys regions,
or setting 4, which most frequently destroys military bases or
airbases. However nothing is certain, the dial often "slips" to
a number close to the one selected. S-3 settings:
0=Destroy Intelligence 6=Destroy Airbases
1=Destroy Intelligence 7=Incinerate Regions
2=Destroy Residences 8=Incinerate Regions
3=Destroy Residences 9=Destroy Residences
4=Destroy Military Bases 10=Create Regions
5=Destroy Airbases
-+-+ Quick Strike IP Wars +-+-
A lot of the time you don't want to inflict total death on a
planet though do you? After a point, you LOSE more than you
GAIN. So, you are a more powerful team, you want to prey on the
weak; preferably someone with high regions, low networth. You:
Strike quick, take as many regions as possible(no nukes or
bombing ops, the point isn't to destroy the enemy). Then, make
peace. ALL GREAT TEAMS must have the ability to carry this out
quickly and precisely with little or no counterattacks. Usually
individual attacks are better in this type of situation, since
they give higher regions gains. The key is: All players strike
quickly and simultaneously, use t-ops and attacks only. After 2,
4 days at most, send a message of peace. Unless the smaller
board is suicidal, they will accept.
Gooie Kablooies
---------------
Gooie Kablooies can take down the strongest of teams. The bigger
a team is, the more they can be hurt by them. On arrival it
destroys 10% of the target regions, and each day after it
destroys 5% a day. After 5 days it exhausts itself, so the
target board is forced to use their jets to destroy it before
then.
-------- SDI Defense --------
I don't build my SDI up until I have had 2bil investment cycle
for a while, some start earlier. I greatly encourage anyone
investing in SDI to also invest in Technological regions to drive
the maintenance of the SDI down. Maximum spending on SDI is 2
billion, even if it is not 100% complete. % complete changes as
you get more or less regions. SDI is a valuable addition to the
defense of any empire. Benefits of SDI:
+ Destroys 1/2 of incoming missiles when complete
+ Reduces effectiveness of attacking jets by 30% (25% v. 0.97x)
+ Helps fight against incoming Bombers
(V)
Cash Operations
Invest! Invest! Invest! I begin saving/investing when I have
2.5-3k regions(3-5 days into the game). I buy only the military
and regions that I need, and invest the rest. Assuming the
investment rate is better than the savings rate: invest what you
make each day for a 10 day period. In 10 days your first
investment should come in, invest this plus what you make that
day for another 10 days. This way I begin earning 2 billion a
day (the maximum for version 0.964+)from investments pretty fast.
Before you spend your investments you should have 2bil. coming in
every day for 10 days. Invest what is necessary to earn 2bil in
10 days again and the rest is yours to spend. All your
investments should total 20bil gold(version 0.97+).
--¯>Savings<®--
Often times the savings rate is better than the investment rate.
If this is the case put all the money you make in the bank. When
you get to 2bil in the bank, the interest earned on it is paid to
your unbanked gold supply(version 0.98+). With a 20% rate, this
will be 39mil per turn! Just leave the money in their and at the
end of the day invest for the shortest period possible. After
you fill up the investment for 2 days, invest for 3, after 3
invest for 4. This way you will have 2bil coming in every day,
and just keep filling up the investments till they are all full.
*Note* In versions 0.98-, interest earned past 2bil in the bank
is lost. So you must withdraw whatever you make in interest
every turn.
--¯>Cash Reliefs/Loans<®--
The amount of cash the stingy ass bank lets you borrow depends on
how many regions you have. The more you got, the more it gives.
Except it usually never lets you borrow enough to help you out,
and it charges a ridiculously stupid interest rate. Stay clear
of borrowing cash unless on your last turn and you need a little
money to make an attack or something.
(VI)
Diplomacy
Being a good diplomat is an important part of BRE.
Rules of Diplomacy:
1. Don't fight a losing war.
2. Don't brag/do anything unbefitting a warrior.
3. Honor your words.
4. Don't draw unnecessary attention to yourself.
5. Look for every possible advantageous ally.
6. Know your enemies capabilities/weaknesses.
7. Know your teammates capabilities.
8. Be a "team" player.
9. Don't blatantly cross your teammates/allies.
10. If you are the leader, listen to the others.
11. Show you are a capable and strong leader.
12. Don't drag out wars. Make peace, MOVE ON.
13. Work with your allies.
14. Avoid fighting 2 or 3 front wars.
15. Avoid "Enemy for life" scenario.
If you are the leader constantly evaluate your situation and
weigh the preferences of the players, after all, they are the
ones who voted you in as Galactic Coordinator. Be as fair as
possible. Always look for potential allies, even if they might
be allies of your enemies. They have the potential to save you
later. When you attack someone and beat them don't totally
destroy, humiliate, and degrade them. For example, in a previous
reset of League 619 the team I was on totally destroyed and
humiliated another team. The next reset the same team attacked
us early and wiped us out before we had a chance, they hammered
us for almost a month. Point made.
When you do beat someone(you are bound to if you have read this
far) sign peace with them and move on. If you and another team
come to a draw, make peace. Neither of you will win from a game
long war in which neither gain anything.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, here's the summary.
Teamwork is absolutely essential for success.
Trading is the most important aspect of teamwork.
No single empire can survive against a team of empires.
No unorganized team can survive against a united team.
Investing is the way to true individual success.
Remember, THIS IS A GAME! Don't take it too damn serious.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Kingdoms rise and fall, Nations come and go."
The mandate of heaven,
a Confucian concept
=================================================================
If you have any questions, or want additional information to the
strategies provided here drop me an e-mail on the internet. My
internet address is:
[email protected] All feedback is
**greatly** appreciated.
Other Files from the authors:
+ Strategies and Hints for Barren Realms Elite (brewar.txt)
by Robert o.g. Wennagel
+ Strategies and Hints for Barren Realms Elite (bwar.txt)
by Ben La Count, a.k.a. Simeron Steelhammer
+ BRE Advanced Strategies (advbre.txt)
by Ben La Count and Robert o.g. Wennagel
+ Anatomy of BRE Team (breteam.txt)
by Robert o.g. Wennagel
The newest versions of these files are available at:
- Mithral Hall BBS (713)941-4254 In Houston, TX.
- FidoNET: FREQ at 1:106/4254
- Internet e-mail to
[email protected]
