Lots of techers this set. Too bad bus/res tech wasn't this low last set.

How do you know lots of techers? You been doing a lot of grabbing with your hybrid dictator?

Not a lot of grabbing; but, enough to meet my goal of top 10.

And I say there's a lot of techers because tech prices for BUS / RES have been 2400+ the past 3-4 sets. This is first time I've seen it drop to 2000 this early in set.

As I said before- it's better to retal than to be the first attacker on EXPRESS.

Country A attacks Country B for 130A.

One day later.

Country B has 130% military strategy, is smaller net than Country A, and maximizes jet potential to retal Country A for 900A.

Result. Country B gains x7 returns and Country A can't RoR unless he wants to risk being flattened. (2x attacks = break of GDI)

You could always outrun the hits.

And... if you spend that much time on mstrat and jets to make a big break, odds are you're going to get hit by someone else for going jetter.

There are pros and cons to going with a delayed start vs a regular start. I personally choose base on my strategy for the set.

Keep in mind there are fewer targets not in heavy DR later in the set. If you're solely taking retals you'll find some of your targets will already be in DR from others practicing the tactic you're preaching. All the smaller countries have been bottomfed into oblivion as well.

Outrunning hits would be difficult, but certainly possible.

I made an error. MSTRAT at 130% was incorrect. It's 120% which takes about 10 turns of teching.
I don't delay start, I just batch xplore early to be landfat. Greedy players LG me for 100-200A each. Perfect retal targets for later.

I could be wrong, but it seems players in heavy DR, who make recent LGs give 'good' returns. Bottom feeding seems pointless to me on EXPRESS. You have to hit several targets to get 1k land. In all likeliness, one of those countries you hit, will get their retal in, equal to all those bottomfeeding LGs.

PS Jul 25, 03:04 Scandinavian Extacy (#55) Warning Late Retals (#27) 216 A
PS Jul 25, 14:34 Warning Late Retals (#27) hmmmmmm (#46) 155 A
PS Jul 25, 14:36 Warning Late Retals (#27) penismightier (#14) 119 A
PS Jul 25, 15:20 Warning Late Retals (#27) RAWR (#73) 139 A
PS Jul 25, 15:23 Warning Late Retals (#27) Feck (#53) 62 A
PS Jul 25, 15:26 Warning Late Retals (#27) nutre (#49) 156 A
PS Jul 25, 17:14 Warning Late Retals (#27) C R O A T I A (#42) 139 A
PS Jul 25, 17:27 Warning Late Retals (#27) bbv (#85) 136 A
PS Jul 25, 17:30 Warning Late Retals (#27) BaDonkaDonks (#1) 124 A
PS Jul 25, 17:34 Warning Late Retals (#27) Fingerfood (#111) 143 A
PS Jul 25, 17:41 Warning Late Retals (#27) Suicider (#128) 181 A
PS Jul 25, 21:06 Warning Late Retals (#27) Ni (#122) 248 A
PS Jul 25, 21:08 Warning Late Retals (#27) Forsaken (#92) 165 A
PS Jul 25, 21:10 Warning Late Retals (#27) Monkey Nuts (#109) 162 A
PS Jul 25, 23:28 Warning Late Retals (#27) OOO (#106) 129 A
PS Jul 25, 23:29 Warning Late Retals (#27) pickles the frog (#101) 177 A
PS Jul 26, 01:39 Warning Late Retals (#27) mr quaid (#130) 114 A
PS Jul 26, 01:41 Warning Late Retals (#27) NTHING (#90) 135 A
PS Jul 26, 01:43 Warning Late Retals (#27) The Moon Republic (#67) 154 A
PS Jul 26, 03:50 Warning Late Retals (#27) funtown (#77) 109 A
PS Jul 26, 03:53 Warning Late Retals (#27) PuzzleBox (#96) 140 A
PS Jul 26, 03:56 Warning Late Retals (#27) 250 (#125) 122 A
PS Jul 26, 06:00 Warning Late Retals (#27) tesco (#120) 162 A
PS Jul 26, 06:02 Warning Late Retals (#27) frogs with guns (#95) 141 A
PS Jul 26, 08:03 Warning Late Retals (#27) Lacey (#39) 187 A
PS Jul 26, 17:30 Pro Dictator (#47) Warning Late Retals (#27) 1008 A

Perfect example of why I refuse to bottom feed. And I'm not #47.

How is that the perfect example?

#27 never hit #47 until he took his retal?

How many top 10's you got celphie? In express...I bottomfeed and have 40 some...including 3 wins in a row..

that guys a jerk -_-

@ Ebert00
0 top 10s; but, this is my 4th set. How many top 10's do you have with a dictator with all the sets you've played?

@ Kingme
I say it's a perfect example because he spent:
7 turns to attack
14 turns to build (assuming 70 BPT)

And it took only 2 turns to take all that away. Granted one of the targets he bottom-feeded wasn't one of his targets, but my point is that bottom feeding just doesn't seem to be profitable on EXPRESS. If players are at the bottom it's either because they're inexperienced or plan to jump later. If you're (removed) always at top your expenses are higher, thus those players you're bottom-feeding will eventually jump and get in their retal but with significantly higher gains.

Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying bottom-feeding shouldn't be used as a strategy. I'm merely presenting an argument as to why I believe it's not profitable. As Ebert mentioned before, his method works & he has proof with his results. I have no results as of yet. I do know one thing, there are significantly more dictators this set. And that places a smile on my face.


Further example:

PS Jul 24, 11:55 Forsaken (#92) Seven of Nine (#20) 120 A
PS Jul 24, 14:06 Indrid Cold (#74) Seven of Nine (#20) 164 A
PS Jul 24, 15:43 DeathFromAbove (#4) Seven of Nine (#20) 102 A
PS Jul 24, 16:44 Bodega Bay (#110) Seven of Nine (#20) 284 A
PS Jul 25, 04:54 Seven of Nine (#20) DeathFromAbove (#4) 693 A
PS Jul 25, 13:07 Seven of Nine (#20) Indrid Cold (#74) 1026 A
PS Jul 25, 15:26 Seven of Nine (#20) Bodega Bay (#110) 927 A

This is the method I'm referring to. If more players did this- bottom-feeding wouldn't occur as much. Only retal land. At least on EXPRESS.

Let the bashing continue......

@Deezy

I promise I'm not a jerk. If you were referring to me. :/

Those last examples are better.

However, let's look at total land gained for a bottom feeder vs total lost on retals in a set.
I'll use my country this set as an example. I'll round to try to hide myself a bit :P

I gained roughly 13k in land all for bottom feeding, now when I say bottom feeding I mean considerably small defense, NW may not be that small.

I lost roughly 1.8k in retals from those countries.

I'd say that's a HUGE win, don't underestimate the power of ghost acres.

i was talking about the guy with the crappy country that topfed me lol

and you left out where i retalled him ;-)

one can finish top ten top feeding or bottom feeding. done both but unless your teching i haven't really found top feeding to be worth it.

When other countries notice you are hitting big countries as anything else they probally are gonna spy and then farm you. been there done that.

i am not top10 material can i join this discussion ? :]~

Fyi I was not trying to bash you celphie. I have never tried a dictator strategy as they are not effective in netting. If you want to net then try a netting style country LOL.

@ebert00

How high of a net would a dictator have to get in EXPRESS to change your mind?

The problem is the amount of work it would require to do so, as compared to another proven strategy.

Ask oldman, i'm sure he'll tell you his Dictator was no walk in the park.