Game Setup Considerations

The Braphat are rather unique and some additional care may be appropriate on the part of a host.  The starting Mother is intentionally quite powerful relative to any other races starting ships.  Care should be taken so she does not start too close to another race's homeworld.  It would be hardly sporting.  If a denser map is used the host may consider a scripted game and configure the Mother with a slower set of engines and a lighter weapon loadout.  An alternative would be to place the Braphat at the fringe of the galaxy.

Considerations for settings of surface materials, contraband density and native populations will depend highly on the other races in a game.  Initially the Braphat may be rather single threaded since everything revolves around the Mother.  If planets are sparse and are poor in minerals, contraband and natives it will be pure organic growth for the Braphat while others will have the benefit of generating revenue from farms and multiple contraband gathering points.

As the Braphat do not have the benefit of native built weapons and engines they will be absolutely stuffed in a game where many races are able to generate fast and powerful ships relatively early.  This is balanced to a degree by the material benefits the Braphat receive on a steady diet of native life forms.

Winning conditions used in some games may make no sense for the Braphat.  They have no bases, so that as well as king of the hill games are a bust.  Also, no natives will ever vote for them, so don't count on being competitive in any games with these parameters.

Before You Start

This race of deep space arachnids will be mobile.  They do not chunnel, but like the Borg they will be leaving a path of mined out rocks.  The Mother ship is relatively slow however.  If the host has provided the map file, print it out and get a feel for the lay of the land.  Play dot to dot and estimate how many turns it will take to process your first several planets. 

Is there a definite structure to the map?  

How far apart are the races?  

Based on the starting conditions, approximately how long will it take to build a second mother ship?  What is the earliest?  If you build many other ships along the way, what is the latest you can wait before splitting your fleet?

Is there some dead end string of planets or cluster you may want to send a hastily built Mother off to while your starting ships goes hunting?

Striking Out

Now you are ready to head on out to make the universe yours.  You have no doubt plotted your Mother's first 10-12 turns.  Besides a very slow couple of Whisp's you are limited to your starting ships until your technology is sufficient for the Mother to build useful ships.  Consider some side trips your other ships can do to gather some materials from planets your Mother will be skipping.  Don't be afraid to change your plans if a valuable target presents itself.  A boost of natives or contraband may be just what you need to 

The Brother is hard enough to disrupt another race.  Head out in advance of your intended path.  Consider leaving a periodic cache for a Sister or Mother to recover later.  This is considerably important as the Brother is your reliable source of repair units to harden up the Mother before she gets into a fight..  

The Sister will have much to do, but you will only have the one.  Lay some minefields to cover and of course get your Sister's production capacity going.  If she is moving ahead of the Mother, her pod boosting capability will be effective for sending materials back to the trailing Mother ship.  

Using Special Abilities

BOARDING:  The Braphat can board and can be boarded.  It may be of value to board under specialized circumstances, but they do not reap the rewards other races do from boarding .

RAM:  Set all of your ships save the whisp on RAM.

You want to deny resources from your enemy.  Consumption of natives and other resources is your key to success..

Ship Usage