> Player Notes: Phule (Ed)

Team Color: Red

2004 GD Season Wins: 2

Favorite Unit: Advanced Construction Aircraft. Surprising? Maybe. But the utility of these guys can’t be beat. Unlike their ground based brethren, they don’t get in the way of other units and they don’t get hung up on terrain when building or supporting in construction. They pay for that mobility in construction capacity (only 1/2 of the Adv. Construction Vehicle). But, put a swarm of these units on any construction project, and watch it finish in record time. For my money’s worth, I like to have a fleet of these units (20-30) helping out in my base.

Favorite Combat Unit: OK, the Advanced Construction Aircraft isn’t exciting. For combat, my favorite unit is the Big Bertha. This monster is all about intimidation. There’s nothing more aggravating and demoralizing than to have huge bertha shells come pounding into one’s base. All at once, this unit grabs your opponent’s attention as he frantically searches for the source of the shelling (many screens away).

Primary Strategy Type: Defensive (Porcupine). I generally try to stake out an area that I want to defend, then immediately go to work on defensive structures. Dragon’s teeth and Defender Missile Towers go up first, with tanks patrolling the perimeter of the base to alert me if anyone’s coming. Then, it’s a race to gather resources to feed the war machine.... all the while I’m looking to constantly add to my base.

A tactic I like to employ is to build multiple rows of Dragon’s teeth. While  a single row will keep out the riff-raff, it’s susceptible to sabotage as the game grinds on. With multiple rows (and defensive units between those rows), your opponents have more work to do to breach your defensive walls.

At mid- to late-game, I have approx 60-65% structures and defensive units. To keep my offense effective, I concentrate on replenishing the offensive units quickly tp keep the pressure on opponents. (see Favorite Unit above).

Fundamental Strategy: Above all else, the game comes down to resource production & utilization. The more energy and metal you have to feed your war machine, the better off you are. More energy and metal are better. Period. The trick is in how you get there.

Invariably, my opening game strategy revolves around how quickly I can build my first Fusion Plant, followed closely by my first Moho Metal Maker. Then, when the first ones are complete, I move on to the next ones... and the next ones, and so on. When do I stop? I keep building both Fusions and Moho Metal Makers well into the mid-game. There’s really no penalty for having too many (just remember to turn off some of your metal makers if they’re draining too much of your energy).

Why so many? The purpose of having the multitude of Fusion Plants and Moho Metal Makers is that it allows you to support multiple Vehicle/Kbot/Aircraft plants ... especially aircraft plants. The more resources you can generate, the more you can pour into generating new units. This is especially important in an air war end-game, where having a strong production means you can constantly generate and send wave after wave of attacks toward your opponents.

Favorite Tactic: Using Construction Aircraft to “Reclaim” enemy Dragon’s Teeth, thereby opening holes in their defenses.

Miscellaneous: In 2003/4, Phule did better in online play than in tournament time at Guy Day. In the middle of a rough stretch, a frustrated Phule gathers up his lieutenants and encourages them to play more like a team. To listen to his pep talk, click here.

Last Updated on
November 22, 2006