The best Sectors seem to be those in which there is a center ‘cavern’ with five trails leading off, one of which is a 1.

For illustration imagine sector 876 which leads to 16 – 45 – 64 – 159 – 700 – 999

999 is a one way in Sector, so to get there one can only enter from 876. Now imagine mining 16, 45, 64, 159, 700. And mining the sectors leading to them.

16 connects to 23, 51, 934, and all of those are mined, and on through the others.

A player comes to 934, gets damaged or podded by the mines. He gets angry. He gets to Star Dock, gets a new ship, and his first thought is to disarm your mines.

He races back to 934 and disrupts those mines. Then, as he tries to get into 16…More Mines?

He’s so angry now, maybe he’s run out of turns, but tomorrow, first thing…those mines in 16!

He logs back on, 934 is mined, AGAIN. He disrupts those, back to Star Dock, more disrupters, now into 16.

He’s cleared the Sector, stops in, does and scan and 876 is EMPTY but the others are mined.

So gets himself involved in more mine disruption. Ignoring 876.

This strategy works almost every time. Players do not assume you’re setting mines to protect empty space.

They are sure ’something’ is there, and spend turns searching.

“Knowing” there’s ‘nothing’ beyond 876 and after spending off two or three days worth of turns with nothing to show for it, they get really frustrated.

Because you’ve annoyed them, they have stopped their program to deal with your’s.

They aren’t playing their game, they aren’t even playing Trade Wars, they are playing ‘Bomb Squad’.

Their whole lives are dedicated to destroying your mines; which, of course, you constantly replace.

And to enable their game of ‘Bomb Squad’ they’ve put a Toll catching beacon fighter in Sector 16 so they can warp there.

If you do it right, that’s the last Sector that ship will ever warp to.

Wherever you see a toll fighter placed by an opponent, drop fifty mines around it, after paying the toll, of course.

Whenever you see an ‘abandoned’ ship in some sector, surround it with mines.

Don’t try to blow or capture, it is probably full of corbs.

Police the Sectors around your Home Sector. The player who starts playing ‘Bomb Squad’ is not planet building, not trading, he’s at the Star Dock having to buy a new ship or more shields and of course, Mine Disrupters so he can single step back to your Sector and waste more turns disrupting the mines.

The reason why I advise Not mining your doorway Sector is that it suggests something is there.

Too many players would mine 876 and park a lot of fighters there, which would mean that once 876 is cleaned, there’s your world.

Making the Doorway seem worthless is more valuable than defenses.

If you can attack a Missile frigate early and not blow it, get it to the Dock, you can sell it for 100k. Great idea.

Unless the turns you are using to take it out, and the fighters your are losing means that you won’t be ferrying colonists or doing the necessary domestic chores.

Reviewing the Daily log, you’ll often find those that kill the Most Ferrangi may be way up in the points, but those that have had only one or two fights after Fed Com have googals of fighters, lots of shields on their ship and planet, and can pretty much dust two of the other players without breaking a sweat.

Let me emphasise this; ‘Points’ (once you’ve gotten a Fed Com and maintain the 1k level to keep it, or once you’ve gone evil and have gotten about 1k points) are meaningless.  I’ve played on games in which the first two players had five or six times as many points as those who later went on to destroy them.

I know you get bored ferrying colos and building planets and stuff like that, but when you don’t have 3k fighters to your name at End game, you’ll wonder where they all went.

A scan of logs will display you’ve had more fights than Mike Tyson.

It’s the other players you have to defeat. You are playing against other people, not the machine.

Repeat that; You are Playing Against Other Mammals, NOT the Computer. It is the Mammals you have to Defeat, not the Machine characters.

Every turn should be a money maker, directly or indirectly.

Exploring to locate the other players, Ferrangal, get a good image of the Universe, hitting those neglected ports, getting trading points while saving your credits serves you well when war begins.

Trade Wars is a long term game. Two months is only Mid Game. If you don’t have at least one shielded planet by then, you have lost, regardless of the point standing.

Sure, by end game when you’ve nothing but Shielded planets and don’t have the stomach to build another Sector, you go out and blow a few Ferrangi for the ‘point’ standing or ‘alignment’.

But trust me, the creation of Ferrangi was for distraction.

Thirty

Always travel (S)ingle step.

With a Density Scanner you can’t know
what is before you. You can guess – 100 -
is a Port and – 600 – is a planet…
but 100 could be ten mines and 600 could
be a mixture of Aliens, Fighters, old
escape pods, etc.

In Early game, when you only have the
Density, avoiding a peculiar Sector
is what you do. Just mark it Avoid,
(C)omputer a(V)oid, and go on.

It doesn’t matter if you wind up with
a dozen or more avoids, later on in the
game, when you buy your Holoscanner, you
revisit Avoids stopping a Sector away.

The path to 888,(which you’ve marked avoid),
is one hop from 128. Go Single Step to 128,
then scan 888.

You might find there’s nothing there,
or nothing to be afraid of.

You then Clear that avoid, (V)(0) but only
that one, and go on to the next, always
stopping a Sector from the Avoid.

Periodically check your Avoids.

Thirty One

Explore the galaxy, visit every Sector.

• A) you want to know where everyone
  else is,
• B) where Ferrangal is,
• C) where the Hazards are,
• D) where the wormholes/blackholes
  are,
• E) and get points (from 1 – 50) for
  being the first to visit a Port.

• A)
  Knowing where your opponents are building
  is vital. Whether you are thinking War
  or Peace, Good or Evil, you must know
  where the others are.
• B)
  Ferrangal is the Ferrangi Planet. It
  goes up to Q Cannon. In most games it
  can be invaded, it can be destroyed.
• C)
  You need to know where mines are,
  where eight planets are loaded into
  a Sector that can only take five,
  (so they’ll collide and create a
  nav haz) etc.
• D)
  Wormholes are Sectors which don’t
  lead the way they came.
  For example, you are in Sector 234.
  234 links to 55, 124, 765.
  You go to 55.
  There is no 234 linking 55, there is
  only one Sector leading from 55, and
  that is Sector 26.
  Once you go to 55, you can’t go back.
  You have to go through 26.
  Here’s the perfection of Sector 26.
  Every ship, save those Transwarpable,
  has no choice but to go through 26.
  Imagine being the first to visit that
  Sector, and Conscious of what it means.
  You can mine it, warp a planet there;
  it’s a black hole. It is a podder
  for other players.
• E)
  Being the first to visit a Port gets you
  points, yes, but also, the prices are
  better. Cheaper to buy, dearer to sell.

Remember, prices go up for sales and
down for purchases depending on how
busy the Port.

Paying 157 for 85 holds of Fuel is
rather different than paying 2,500
for the same number of holds.

Hence, the 50 points you get for being
the first to visit also means you’re
going to be able to sell higher and
buy cheaper.

In early game, every credit counts.
You want to make as much profit as
possible so as to buy maximum holds
and a Gen Torp.

Thirty Two

While a Citadel is building, dump more
goods, more colonists so as soon as one
Level completes on to the next.

Mountainous are treacherous in that from
0 to Level 1 takes 400 Colonists, but from
1 to 2 is 1600, and from 2 to 3 you need
4200 and from 3 to Level 4 5600, (these
are standard figures, they may be different
in your game.)

To ‘wait’ until one Level is done before
working on the next is how you lose.

Further, ‘wasting’ colonists is another
loser. Mountainous planets which have
maxed their fuel potential, don’t need
colonists.

Thirty Three

Always have a few ‘dummy’ Sectors.
These are places you fire Gen Torps
but don’t build.

Late in the game you might want to
Warp over a Planet you’ll use to
build others.

for Absolute Newbies. It doesn’t matter

in what sequence they are read.

Twenty Five

Tradewars offers the option of playing

singularly or in a corporation and you

can change your status as often as you

want.

Forming a Corporation at first log in,

(with you as the only member) is standard.

This allows you to buy a Corporate Flagship.

As only C.E.O.s can buy such a ship, you

can see why appointing yourself a C.E.O.

is such a good idea.

If you are playing Evil, that’s the best

ship you can buy, as you can not get an

ISS for which you need a Federal Commission.

(I discussed Fed. Com. before.)

Flagships take Transwarp Drives, can hold

a good many shields and Fighters. It is

far cheaper than the ISS. Many players

stick with the Flagship, even when they

can buy an ISS.

Twenty Six

If you have formed a Corp, when you

create a planet, or deploy fighters

or mines, the question will be asked;

is this a personal or corporate action?

One strategy is to have two sets of

planets, some as “personal” others

as “corporate”.

Sometimes you might meet a player who

wants to join your Corporation, or

invites you to join theirs.

You can only be on one Corporation at

a time, hence you make the decision.

Yes, there is strength in numbers, but

there is also danger. Unless you know

the other player well, he might have

treachery in mind.

Twenty Seven

This is a “cheat”. If you are discovered,

you might be kicked off the game or banned

from the Server.

However, sometimes this is necessary…

that is, to create a “dual” who belongs

to your corp.

You might need this dual to tow your ship

from Fed Space if you’ve run out of turns.

You might need the dual to get to your

planet and turn on a Q cannon.

This one action, then the abandonment

of the dual might be necessary to save

your life.

If you only perform one or two actions

then abandon your “dual”, you may not

be discovered or punished.

It is a cheat, never forget it.

If you create a dual, be warned,

you stand the danger of being

kicked off the server.

Twenty Eight

 When you have multi-player Corporations,

work is divided. Sometimes both will

ferry colos in early game. Sometimes one

ferries, one trades.

On larger corporations, there may be

one “explorer” whose only task in early

game is to go from the First to Last

Sector and advise others where and what

is ahead.

Twenty Nine

The danger of corps is when your “corpie”

decides to kill you or Transwarp the best

planet somewhere else, or take all the

credits from the treasury…

There are players who have never won a

game in their lives, but have caused a

lot of other players to lose.

The basic strategy of these Yammers,

(as I call them) is to exploit other

players and gain their assets.

They don’t win, as the better players

destroy them later in the game. They

never had a real chance of winning,

but have prolonged their “lives” by

taking your’s.

Hence, to Corp or Not to Corp remains

an open question.?