How to play TEC ?

i find they have a very strong economy in the early game, so i usually rush for the economy techs. Upgrading the population on my homeworld first and buying 200 crystal so i can start building a capital shipyard right away and a crystal extractor, a colonizer and 2 scouts then i focus on my economy with one civilan research station (to upgrade my terran homeworld population again, get better metal extraction and cheaper infrastructure which reduces the cost of shipyards and extactors) then i build second research station for the trade port upgrade and then i focus on building about 3 of them, if my enemy is not growing too strong. Otherwise i start building some ships so that ill have something to fight with if he comes (and if he does i just use the great economy i just build up to outnumber his rush).

Thanks for the economic advice.

What ships and combination of ships make for a good TEC fleet.

LRM frigates.

I like to start off with an Akkan wit hthe colonization mod on it. My fleet usually consists of frigates + 5-6 flak frigates as a main force (Akkan and Kol paired up together). The Akkan is really great specifically because of the ion bolt, I've taken down so many capital ships because of it.

The only other fleet I use is usually the Sova capital carrier + 7-8 carriers which hang out on the edge of gravity wells with fighter/bombers. I usually use them to guard a choke point and don't pull them into the main fight unless the area has been cleared of most of the enemies.

I usually go for hangars first in the tech tree and grab all the tier 1 techs (except the one for gauss turrets) then I get civics up to at least trade ports.

The only problem with the way I play it is the fact that I keep forgetting to grab broadcast centers and end up with a colony revolting or two.

what army i get depends on my enemy, altough i will usually prefer to have atleast 10-20 LRM's and some robotic cruisers for repair duties.

Go for either a Kol or an Akkan for your flagship. The Akkan can colonize, so you don't need to waste time or resources on colony frigates, and the Kol is death in spaceship form. The Kol's probably the better choice, as you'll save more in Cobalts than you would in colony frigates. The Akkan is still an excellent ship, and every fleet should have at least one, just for the passive bonuses they give.

Cobalts are completely worthless, explode when you look at them funny, and basically just exist to fill the role of light attack ship until you can build Space Tanks (a.k.a. Kodiaks) which are nigh-invincible and a much better investment. The exception is when you're playing against the Advent, where the Cobalt's antimatter destruction ability can be useful.

LRM Frigates are awesome, and provide excellent long range support. If you split them into two groups, encircle the enemy, and use hit and run attacks, you can also split the enemy fleet in half, allowing your capital ships and Space Tanks to do the rest.

Your main advantage as TEC is your economy. You get trading earlier than the other races, get techs that boost both trading and refinery operations, and in general tend to have a much easier time getting a hold of resources. Use your superior bounty-placing power to your advantage, and be sure to build a lot of everything.

Finally, you have the Novalith Cannon, which is basically a siege frigate with interstellar range. Treasure it always.

early game:

-build extractors
-build a few scouts --> scout as far as possible, ID choke points and enemy planets
-build cap yard
-pop upgrade
-build marza (rsch radiation and raze planet)
-build build 5-6 cobalts
-build 2 civ labs
-roll out towards the enemy which seems to be closest/weakest (advent are good for early targets)
-hit asteroids along the way, exp up the marza
-build colony ship, own smaller conquered real estate, on step to enemy planet (1 jump preferably)
-start harassing the planet (TARGET ECON: extractors with cobalts, population with marza)
-on that conquered fallback position develop resources, build shipyard and rsch/build repair bay, military lab--> keep feeding that assault (ff any cap ships u come across, if marza loses shields and is down some hp, fall back to repair bay, if necessary)

while doing all this gradually tech resources refinement and trade port.. first military tech should be towards lrm's.. i usually go towards ballistic upgrades for marza (all cap ships), which i think also improves the cobalts. try researching the robotic cruisers and flaks.. for frigs, flaks can take a lot of dmg.. feed these units to your enemies system.

it's been working for me.. in ffa and ai games.. be mindful of ur flank.. keep developing pop and econ and slowing build reserve force on ur prime and expansion systems.

having said that, the game can be played so many ways.. this is just an idea that ive seen some success with..

my thinking comes any rts ive played, esp starcraft: disrupt ur enemies econ and production, especially in early game, and u will have major advantage over them the entire way.. unless they genius strategists.. then u fukt

Guys. Thanks. This is a great start.