What do you think about a more economic strategy layer opener I have seen others use that sends up 4 sats in march? It has some weaknesses, like needing some RNG to be able get the money in time, and it makes april a bit harder, but after that you are way ahead. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
I had heard about rushing a 2nd Uplink, but I didn't explore that option at all. I've had some frustration playing Long War and hoping to get early missions to launch more satellites. It often failed to work out and I would restart, and I didn't enjoy using a strategy that relies on restarting. So I abandoned that strategy in LW (chose Mexico as my starting country) and I never explored the Sat Rush in the base game thinking it would be much the same. But that was wrong.
I've read more about it now, and it seems like it is almost always possible to launch an extra 2 satellites (3 total) and the mission schedule determines whether you get one more. Which means you can attempt this strategy and it will always mostly work. Here is what I am reading: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Satellite_Rush_(EU2012).
Despite that, I would still not recommend it. Sat Rush is not optimal for winning the game. Losing a few countries early, but increasing your strength at the tactical level is a great trade off. Money is not that important after May, while anything you can do to increase your tactical strength in March-May is going to improve your odds of winning the campaign.
The cost in Tactical strength for the Sat Rush is high. It will prevent you from getting Scientists early and that will delay Carapace Armor. Also you may need to sell the alloy from the first UFO which will further delay Carapace Armor. The bigger problem is that you won't be able to rush a MEC, or build the OTS in March. Those are the two biggest boosts in tactical strength you can achieve before heading into April.
The Sat Rush seems like a strategy that experts should use when attempting to win the game without losing a single country. Extra challenge and prestige.
Now that you laid it out, your build is much better for less skilled/ambitious/patient players. I lose squadsize, MECs, a lot of research speed only so that i dont lose any countries and get a bit of money that i will have a lots of by lategame anyway. Thanks for the detailed answer!
What do you think about a more economic strategy layer opener I have seen others use that sends up 4 sats in march? It has some weaknesses, like needing some RNG to be able get the money in time, and it makes april a bit harder, but after that you are way ahead. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
I had heard about rushing a 2nd Uplink, but I didn't explore that option at all. I've had some frustration playing Long War and hoping to get early missions to launch more satellites. It often failed to work out and I would restart, and I didn't enjoy using a strategy that relies on restarting. So I abandoned that strategy in LW (chose Mexico as my starting country) and I never explored the Sat Rush in the base game thinking it would be much the same. But that was wrong.
I've read more about it now, and it seems like it is almost always possible to launch an extra 2 satellites (3 total) and the mission schedule determines whether you get one more. Which means you can attempt this strategy and it will always mostly work. Here is what I am reading: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Satellite_Rush_(EU2012).
Despite that, I would still not recommend it. Sat Rush is not optimal for winning the game. Losing a few countries early, but increasing your strength at the tactical level is a great trade off. Money is not that important after May, while anything you can do to increase your tactical strength in March-May is going to improve your odds of winning the campaign.
The cost in Tactical strength for the Sat Rush is high. It will prevent you from getting Scientists early and that will delay Carapace Armor. Also you may need to sell the alloy from the first UFO which will further delay Carapace Armor. The bigger problem is that you won't be able to rush a MEC, or build the OTS in March. Those are the two biggest boosts in tactical strength you can achieve before heading into April.
The Sat Rush seems like a strategy that experts should use when attempting to win the game without losing a single country. Extra challenge and prestige.
Now that you laid it out, your build is much better for less skilled/ambitious/patient players. I lose squadsize, MECs, a lot of research speed only so that i dont lose any countries and get a bit of money that i will have a lots of by lategame anyway. Thanks for the detailed answer!
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