Custom Map: Pirates

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This topic is for discussion of map: Pirates


Author: Katra

Desc:
Arrr! There be pirates here.

You are the captain of a ship about to be boarded by pirates. Unfortunately all your weapons are securely stowed in the hold and forecastle; and the pirate ships are preparing to fire their cannon at you.

Timing and weapon placement are critical in the beginning.

[HiredGun]

There are Hard maps, Expert maps and maps that just [expletive deleted - G.] you off. Guess which one this is?

[snowmaker (JM)]

I would expect 10-12 minute times. Nice map. You are never really in danger if you move quickly. Nice map!

[WreeperCorld]

YES! I finally did it!
I went back to this map again and again during the course of the day, and now it's 4 am and I finally beat it.
Being a n00b I was desperately looking for a guide on this level but found none, so I wrote one myself.
I only downloaded the CW last week and I am generally pretty slow at this game since I enjoy building structures and dominating the map,
so my way of solving it may be very inefficient.
I am sure there are better strategies, but this one worked for me, so here it is:

Spoiler

1.  Build a straight line of collectors to the first upgrade in the front of the ship. Be careful not to include nano schematics in your route
    planning, since they vanish, obviously, and you need every second here. Build no weapons so far.
    The pause button is your best friend during the first three minutes of the game.
2. Pause the game the very moment you acquire the SAM schematics and build three of them, again following the straight line from end to end
   of the ship. Carefully add only a couple of collectors. You want to place the collectors in such a way that you end up with three different
   paths from end to end of the ship. This way, if you get hit by spores, your ammo supply will continue and you will still be in control of the
   collectors on the left. This makes for quick recovery and it's no big deal getting hit.
   Once you acquire the first upgrade, invest in your weapons' range.
   In this map, having your SAMS cover a big area, and more importantly, have them overlap, is a big plus.
3. As soon as the SAMs are starting to fill with ammo (let's say number one is 1/3 full), you build a mortar north of Odin City.
  The first wave of creeper will enter your ship from a little to the North West of Odin City and if your timing is right, the moment this wave
  comes is also the moment your mortar starts to fire, cutting the creeper off again before it can do any damage.
4. The second wave, shortly after, will hit from the North again, this time further to the West.
   You want to build a second mortar there, but while it is being built you would drown, which means that for now you have to fly the first
   mortar to the East for a few shots to bridge this vulnerable moment.
5. The next wave comes from the South-East. For now, you will have to fly your mortar to the South of Odin City for a  few shots, until
   your economy is strong enough ot build a third mortar in the central South.
6. You want to keep building SAMs and collectors whenever possible. Redundancy is key, 8 SAMs will work pretty good.
   Observe the directions from which the cannonballs hit and place your SAMs strategically. The worst attacks come from the South-East.
7. You should reach a state of balance: 3 mortars keep the creeper at bay and your SAMS keep the air clean.
  Now every time you can afford it build reactors, one at a time, be patient or you'll starve to death.
8. The rest is a piece of cake. Three blasters make their way to the North-West corner of the map, maybe wiht a little help from drones.
   You stabilize the Eastern flank of that line with two blasters and build a couple more in order to progress around the Western tip of the ship
  and shut up the emitter in the South-Western corner, then you just go counter-clockwise and kill em all.
  NEVER FORGET TO BUILD ADDITIONAL SAMS AS YOU EXTEND YOUR TERRITORY!

[close]

That should do.
Now that I managed to win, it's one of my favorite maps, despite the many frustrating tries.
The moment you have your ship dry and your economy balanced and you can finally set out to attack the creeper is so rewarding.
Now off to Pirates 2 !

[cvtfwlbt]

LOL I basically died again and again... nice to finally make it through the hardish start, but it eventually settles down ;D