Stars!
Super Stealth Race Strategies


 Super-Stealth Strategies v.2.61., by Robert Lee.  WAQQ73B@prodigy.com
For Stars v.2.6.  You may distribute this document like crazy, as long as
credit is given to the original athor and you don't change anything.  Ideas or
errors?  Please write.

INTRODUCTION
 With the advent of 2.6, the Super Stealth PRT is coming ever more  popular.
They now have the power to spy their opponents, which then get  resources added
to reasearch, as well as other research boosting skills.   People who wondered
what SS's (Super Stealth) advantages were in 2.5 has  now been answered:
Research.

Why pick the Super Stealth?

The reasons:
High-Cloaking Potential
Reasearch
Tactics list

    High-Cloaking Potential.  All your ships get a 50% inherit cloak.   That
means you get 50% cloaking for free.  With the addition of more  powerful
cloaking devices, your ships will be virtually invisible.

    Research.  You have the skill to exceed at more than one research  level
every year.  You also have the skills to learn more tech from  salvage.  You
also have "free" resources devoted to reasearch, thanks to  your spying at your
opponents AND friends.  This can give you the edge on  research.

    Tactics list.  Unlike other races which have a "I see you, you see  me"
quaility, the Silent are very quiet.  Don't plan to be very popular  along the
course of the game.  Meticulous planning WILL be required.  The  Silent get
more unique gadgets than any other PRT.  Their many other  qualities are
basically unnoticed by players.

    Beware.  The Silent are among the hardest races to play in Stars!   They
will do well in a universe where there is plenty of room.  The  farther apart
the stars are, the better, as it will spread out those long- range planetary
scanners.


TIPS FOR RACE DESIGN
    Being one of the hardest races to play, everything little thing  counts in
the race design.  Resources are still the key to games.  The  Silent are
resource pigs.  They eat them up real fast.
    With your reserarch advatages, you won't have to devote as many  resources
to it as other races.  Try to keep a high hibtability value  with 1 in 3, a
growth rate above 12%, and at around 2000 resources when  you have 500,000
people on a planet when it is at max. factories.  These  are only my opinions.
However, I think that if you can't meet these  minimums, the Silent will be
doomed.  I have not experimented with low  growth rate SS with lots of
habitability.
    Since many covert ships will be away for a long time, you should not  pick
"No Ramscoop Engines" for this PRT.  Additional ships (like Fuel- Xports) to a
covert fleet will lower their overall cloaking.
    "Improved Fuel Efficency" will save fuel and help you escape faster.
However, it seems like a real small advantage to me.  IT IS SUICIDE to  pick
"Cheap Engines" while playing the Silent.  DON'T EVER CHOOSE IT!
    The Silent are one of the best races to use "No Advanced Scanners".   You
will still get the Chameleon and Robber-Baron Scanner, since it comes  with
your PRT.  However, I know people hate normal scanners.
    It will not pay to put Electrical research at 50% lower costs.  All
eletrical toys need reserach in another branch of the tech tree, usually  being
Energy.  My opinion is that those points lost to "costs 50% less"  could of
been used for production.  I always tend to put Biotechnology at  75% costs
more.
    Since you are a research PRT, if you take LRT's that inhibit research,  it
could be bad.  Note the word "could", since I have alaways tried to  aviod
"Generalized Research" and "Bleeding Edge Tech" as well as "costs  75% more"
coupled with "All 75% start at tech 3".  In Stars! it think it  is bad get an
advantage and then lose it to some disadvatages.  Case  point:  have tiny
habitablity, and pick Total Terriforming.  Sure,  eventually you will own lots
of planets, but it takes time to terriform  them, and you don't get big enough
terrifomring advantages early on.

TIPS 1.  The majority of your fleet does not need to be cloaked.  Cloaking
devices take up valuable ship slots.  Most warships should not be cloaked
unless they are outfitted with your special tech items.  Most ships  recieving
cloaks will NOT be doing actual battle.  Many players expect  the Silent to
alaways be unseen.  Sorry, but we only want to be hiding  when we want to be
hiding.

2.  The Silent are an offensive race.  You'll get nowhere by hiding your
ships.  If you love peace, you should of played IS.  The Silent are not  WM.
They don't do a slam fest aginst everybody else.  When you play the  Silent, do
some nasty things to your opponents, using indirect  confrontation.  Use only
burte force when you must.

3.  Do not try to reveal PRT early on.  It is impossible in Stars! to  hide
your planets whereabouts, but try to keep your race on a low profile  early
on.  If your opponents find out what PRT you are, it can change the  way the
whole game is played.  Don't waste resources on building cloaks  early on.  The
diffrence between 80% cloaked and 90% is enormus.  Only  build cloaked ships
when they CAN be cloaked near 90%.  This means you  will have to get the
Ultra-Cloak if you want to do some serious cloaking.   The Super-Stealth Cloak
is managable, but you'll need more numbers of it  to reach 90%.

THE SS GADGETS

1.  Depleted Neutronium.  Con 10, elec 3, mass 50, res 28, iron 10, germ 2,
200dp.
    An armor with built-in 25% cloaking.  Much more expensive than just
putting a regular cloaking device on.  It's use is intended for cloaking
warships, to save those electrical slots for other purposes.  This  armor's dp
is just 75 less than the Neutronium amror is, making this a  "cheaper" version
of Neutronium armor to use.

2.  Transport Cloak.  No req, mass 1, res 3, iron 2, germ 4, 50% cloak.
    An initial tech toy you get in the beggining of the game.  Being very
cheap, this will cloak a ship by 50%, however, it can only be put on  defensive
hulls.  That means it can be put on freighters, miners, and  starbases, and
all-general purpose slot ships.  It was intended to  cheaply cloak those
hulls.  A very cheap version of the Super-Stealth  Cloak.

3.  Ultra-Stealth Cloak.  Ener 10, Elec 12, mass 5, res 25, iron 10, germ 10,
80% cloak.
    Higher on the tech ladder, this is the ultra cloaking device.  With  this
cloak, your ship designs will be able to get to those high cloaking  levels
other PRT's dream of.  It's use is somewhat restricted.  It is  rather
expensive to build just 1.  For use for sneaking through enemy  territory.
More likely to be used on utility, sneaking, and stealing  ships rather than
warships.

4.  Pick Pocket Scanner.  4 in Ener, Elec & Bio, mass 15, res 35, iron 8, bor
10, germ 6, range 80/0.
    Only good to empty enemy frieghter's cargo into deep space.  Overall, not
very useful.

5.  Chameleon Scanner.   Ener 3, Elec 6, mass 6, res 25, 4 iron & germ, bor 6,
range 160/45.
    The lowest tech penetrating scanner.  This scanner will give you the
penetrating scanning advantage early on in a game.  With the price being  the
cheapest for a penetrating scanner, the built-in 20% cloaking is good  also.
Think of if as a cheaper Ferret Scanner.  Those two scanners vary  little in
scanning ability.  I'd use the Chameleon.
    Even if you pick the "No Advanced Scanners" LRT, you will still get  this
scanner, because it comes with the PRT.  The Silent are one of the  best races
to use "No Advanced Scanners".  However, I know that many  people hate having
the majority of their scanners being non-penetrating,  and I know people LOVE
penetrating planetary scanners.

6.  Robber Baron Scanner.  Elec 15, Bio 10, mass 20, res 90, 10 each mineral,
range 220/120.
    The very high-tech, very expensive, and the very POWERFUL scanner.   Allows
you to steal minerals from ships AND planets.  Since planets can't  run away,
they are hapless victims who witness the crime, but can't stop  it.
    Even if you pick the "No Advanced Scanners" LRT, you will still get this
scanner, because it comes with the PRT.  It has a penetrating range of 120 ly.
Overall, excellent!

7.  Shadow Shield.  Ener 7, Elec 3, mass 2, res 7, 3 iron & germ, 75dp.
    As with all shields, it is cheap and mobile.  It has a built-in 35%
cloaking.  A shield and Stealth Cloak in one.  Think of it as a rough  copy of
the Bear Neutrino Barrier.  It is useful as additional cloaking  for transports
and light warships.

8.  Rogue.  Con 8, mass 75, res 60, iron 80, 5 bor & germ, 2500mg, cargo 500,
500dp, ini 4.
    This hull is much better than the Galleon, and is nearly half it's  cost.
It's considerably smaller mass allows proper designs to fit  through
stargates.  It's fuel capacity is screaming high, giving a longer  range to
roam.  This is truely a great vessel for mobility and sneaking.   The cheaper
and better version of the Galleon.  I just forget about the  Galleon when I
have this.

9.  Stealth Bomber.  Con 8, mass 70, res 175, iron 55, bor 10, germ 15, 750mg,
225dp, ini 0.
    The name stands for this hull's purpose.  This hull is basically a B-17
Bomber hull, except for four things:
a.  It has 3 additional Electrical slots.  Intended use is for cloaking devices.
b.  It has the SAME fuel capacity the B-52 has.
c.  It has exactly half the armor the B-52 has.  In a way, the Stealth
Bomber is a B-17 and B-52 hull mix.
d.  It costs 25 more resources, and 5 more Germ to build.
    Essentially, this is a more expensive B-17 hull, yet in a way a cheaper
B-52 hull.
    This hull has excellent use for surprise ambushes on enemy planets.   Since
those planets probably have thick defenses protecting them, it  would be wise
to use air-to-surface missles for your bombers.  Once they  destroy the
defenses, factories and mines go next, putting that planet  into a resource
depression.  Then your cheaper B-17's can come in and  eliminate the populous
OR you can slam a mineral packet on the  defenseless planet.  A great strategy
if you can't afford the minerals to  build a large bomber fleet.
    For surprise attacks on enemy planets, these bombers make up the
majority of the fleet cloaking.
    Countary to popular belief, the majority of your bomber fleet  shouldn't
compose of Stealth Bombers.  That is, unless you really depend  on mineral
packets to finish the enemy populous.  Stealth Bombers are  just more resource
expensive than B-17 bombers.  If you don't want to  surprise, use the B-17
Bomber hull.

    In this final paragraph, I state that many SS toys are actually  "cheaper"
versions of another tech part.  Since you get the "cheaper"  versions earlier
on the tech ladder, they are cheaper to build and you  can use them earlier.
Nice, eh?

THE MANY TACTICS
    One of the secrets to the Silent is DON'T let your opponent know what  your
up to.  Try to keep your activities silent.  Don't babble to  everybody your
intentions.  Only babble to your allies.  To play the  Silent is to be silent.

1.  Spies.  These are ships that have penetrating scanners and high  cloaking.
They will observe your opponents, without them ever noticing  those ships.
They should be cheap, cheap, cheap.  It should be possible  to litter the
universe with these spies.  A great design is a Frigate  with Shadow Shields,
three Super-Stealth Cloaks or better, and two  Dolphin Scanners or better.
This gives 88% cloaking with a penetrating  scanner range of 118 ly.  You'll
reach 97% cloaking with Ultra-Cloaks.   The ability to watch your opponents is
essential part of the anybody's  game.

2.  Covert Invasion.  The Silent's cargo does not affect cloaking at all.
There is another use besides keeping a full cargo ships' cloaking intact.
Imagine having troopers storm into enemy planet's unnoticed, killing  all of
the inhabitants, then claiming the planet as yours.
    Use cargo-carrying vessels that are highly cloaked, and fill them  with
colonists.  From the tacticful viewpoint, look for a weak enemy  planet,
setting it as the waypoint.  For waypoint task, set "Colonists"  to "Unload
All".  This is the cheapest "surprise" tactic, if you can  spare the colonists.

3.  Covert Packet Unloading.  Keeping some high-cloaked cargo ships in  enemy
space, have them on alert for mineral packets.  When you see one,  intercept it
and unload it.  If you wish to keep this activity secret (as  you sometimes
should), don't unload it completely.  Just leave a meager  few kt in it.  If
you're lucky, your opponent has filtered out messages  concerning secessful
arrival of packets, never realizing their packets  are a few thousand kt short.

4.  Pirating.  Fancy way of saying: stealing minerals.  When you steal,
you (sometimes) benefit yourself, putting the victim at a disadvatage.  The
best hull for thieving scanners to be put on is the Rouge.
    Your first pirate ships will have Pick Pocket Scanners on them, if you care
to build them.  If you use them with the intent of amassing a fortune of stolen
minerals, then you are living a fantasy.
    Freighters are usually used to transport minerals from a mining fleet  to a
planet.  This is deep in the heart of enemy territory, and by then  you will
run into mine fields.  The other use of Freighters players use a  lot is to
move people around.  You can't kiddnap enemy colonists.
    If you use the Pick Pocket seccessfully, empty the minerals into deep
space.  Unless there is a nearby uninhabited planet to dump the minerals,  that
is your BEST option.  Taking it back home takes too much time.
    When you get the Robber-Baron Scanner, you might feel a rush of
andreniline.  Head for those planets and take ALL of one type of mineral.
 Taking Germ from small colonies hurts bad.  Taking Iron or Bor from  mature
worlds hurts real bad.  Now you can live that dream of amassing a  fortune of
stolen goods.  (You might be living it now.)  Start with a  Robber-Barron Rouge
accompanied by Large Freighters.  Depending on the  planet's defenses, you may
want to take some escorts to distract annoying  enemy escorts.  If you wish to
aviod confilct with any Starbases, set the  battleplans correctly.

5.  Cloaker Ships.  These are ships designed to improve the overall  cloaking
of a fleet.  This works best when the Cloaker ship is cheap and  has a
potential cloaking value beyond 98%.      Depending on inital  cloaking and
mass, a fleet's cloak may be dramatically improved.  An  example of a typical
design is a Rouge loaded with cloaking devices.
    If you're fleets don't have enough cloaking, do some planet hopping.
Penetrating scanners' ranges are cut by cloaks too.  If they don't reach  a
planet, then you can hide in the orbit of that planet.  In order to not  be
spotted, you must make it from planet to planet in one year, sometimes  being
very fuel costly.

6.  Covert Mine Sweeping.  The Silent hate mine fields.  They impede your
passing through enemy territory.  Design high-cloaked beam ships to sweep
those fields.  Try to make the fields as small as possible without being
spotted.  These ships don't need to be designed as warships.  They should
sweep mines long before any bombing fleets arrive.  You're opponent will
alaways know what field is being swept, but not where you are IN the  field.

7.  Covert Mine Laying.  The opposite of the previous.  Design some ships  with
mine layers and high-cloaking.  Send them into enemy air space, and  start
laying.  Try to stick around unless an enemy fleet is near you or  coming
nearer.  It is then time to start laying somewhere else.  You will  save lots
of time if you start laying somewhere else IN the field.   Possibly the best
hull for this tactic is the Rouge.  If you ever  wondered why they put mine
layer slots on it, you now know.

8.  Extending Guerrilla Warfare tactics.  Using the tactics listed above,  you
are basically playing a Guerrilla War.  This section is to expand on that topic.
    For additional terror among enemy colonists, use the additional
tactics:
a.  Use Air-to-Surface Missle Stealth Bombers and bomb starbase-less colonies.
This will destroy hard built factories and mines on that planet.
b.  Use cloaked warships, and eliminate enemy mining routes, weak fleets, and
weak starbases.  Starting to get the picture?
c.  Use hit and run if you want to play pure Guerrilla Warfare.  Strike your
weak targets fast and furious.  When their better escorts start
approching, it is time to hide agian.
d.  Aviod major battles.  If you have your cloaked escort fleets thinnly spread
out, then you can't afford losses and damage.
    If you want to bash some escorts that are at enemy planets while  wanting
to avioding that tough starbase, set the battleplans correctly,  while using
the tactic "Minimize damamge to self".  This works properly  with torpedo
ships.  As the enemy charges along, you will blast them  until they get in
range.

CLOAKING CHART
    This chart has been made so you can judge how invisible your fleet is.
All numbers are mathmatically correct.  Note the diffrence between 80%  cloaked
and 90% cloaked.  For every 10% interval, your range of detection  is cut in
half.


     |   220     280     320     400     500     620    --Enemy Scanner Range
Radius
-----|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50%  |   110     140     160     200     250     310    --Likely to be seen.
:-o
60%  |   88      112     128     160     200     248    --Not much better than
50%.  :-(
70%  |   66      84      96      120     150     186    --Will be seen if
close.  :-|
80%  |   44      56      64      80      100     124    --Seen if
approaching.  :-|
90%  |   22      28      32      40      50      62     --Seen if very close.
:-)
95%  |   11      14      16      20      25      31     --Considered
invisible.  :-)
/^\      \                                         /
 |        \__Enemy Scanner Effectiveness Radius___/
 |___________Your Cloaking Percentage


    Anything 95% or higher is considered invisible.  90% is tolerable in  less
colonized space.  At 70%-80%, you will likely be seen if you are  approaching
their planets.  Anything below that, then I can almost  guarantee you will be
seen.  Note that at 95% cloaking, you are still  VERY hard to see even with the
Snooper 620X.

Bug Report!
    There is a bug that makes it so when you spy, instead of resources  being
devoted to the fields you spied on, it is spent on the current  field your
researching.  Will be fixed with 2.6a.
    There has been a specific bug since Stars 2.5 that affects SS players
only!  When you attempt to steal using the waypoint task orders set to  "Load
All", you can't steal the minerals when you reach the destination!   It will
say something like: "Your fleet tried to load minerals from a  fleet they
didn't control at x,y.  Their orders have been canceled."  You  must take
minerals manually by using the transport dialogue, when you are  AT the
location of the victim!  This was not in 2.0b!  In 2.0b, you could  just set
the destination to "Load All", and you would take all the  minerals at the
beggining of the new turn.  I reported it on the WWW  Stars! site comment form
thingy, but no luck.
    There is yet another bug since 2.5 that affects SS only.  When you  view
known enemy designs in the Scanner plane, it will always say they  are at least
50% cloaked, even tough they have no cloaks!

CONCLUSION
    The Silent are ready to kick (or be kicked by) some interstellar  butts.
With the advent of 2.6, their popularity is sure to rise.  Don't  just use my
ideas up there.  Think up some of your own.  I would really  hate to live in a
country of mindless people who have no innovation.

-Robert Lee
The Shadow Empire