Trade Vets: Understanding the Sectors

Imagine the Sectors being a cave with little tunnels going off to the sides.

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.