War : one-sided outcome

[S_Rodney]

I've recently declared war on the Ministry of Finances (MIN)... and given the current state of things, there's only 1 outcome possible: Ultimately, I will lose the war.

See, it's not enough to destroy every ships and every stations... they have the Teladi Company manufacture MIN ships at the TEL Wharf... and they keep "buying" plots to rebuild their stations.

Thing is, if you wage war against a faction that has unlimited money, eventually, your finite resources will be spent and they'll end up taking you out. This is what I mean by, "Ultimately, I will lose the war."

So, what's the point on "declaring war" on a faction if it's impossible to get rid of 'em ?

[Nanook]

MIN is just the enforcement branch of the Teladi. You'll need to take out all the Teladi to 'win' your war.

[GCU Grey Area]

You've picked a rather odd enemy for your war. Ministry of Finance are essentially the police force for the Teladi Company. Think it's entirely reasonable that TEL have a vested interest in replacing MIN losses in order to maintain security. If you want to have a proper war would suggest declaring against TEL as well.

As for the point of declaring war on the factions I do it because I have a lot more fun fighting them than Xenon. The non-Xenon factions use missiles, there's no automatic range advantage for capital ship main guns & plasma turrets, & there's a much greater variety of ships & stations to destroy.

[jlehtone]

Was that "Declare War" as in "push the 'war' button" or as in "Lets mugg 'em!"?
(Not that it matters -- the first just saves some shooting if one wants to get to -25 relationship. The "kill" part requires same amount of shooting either way.)

[EGO_Aut]

Never start a war if you can't afford it. Btw block the TEL's wharfs with your ships so they can't produce.

[S_Rodney]

My sole reason for declaring war (I did press the button shortly after attacking their Wharf with my destroyer fleet) was because I've noticed that, if I attacked a Teladi Defense Station's Admin Center Module (only destroying that module) I wasn't losing much reputation with the Teladi Company... they were calling on the MIN to defend them.

So, my goal is to get rid of the MIN (which I essentially did, they no longer have any station and cannot replace their ships since I have a pretty tight blockade between the Teladi's Wharf and the highway). But my complaint isn't that the Teladi are "helping them"... it's that the MIN, at some point should run out of resources (credits, materials, etc.) and be unable to even claim a plot licence...

I know they're out of materials since they have no base, no mining ships... only military ships. But still, they'll constantly claim a new plot, get other factions to rebuild them and, if I'm not constantly "on 'em" they'll end up rebuilding, making an armada and overtake me as I'm slowly running out of resources.

So, as it was pointed out... unless I declare war on the Teladi, the Ministry of Finance is unwipable... but to Wipe the Teladi, I also have to wipe the other factions that have good relations with them... so, basically... you need to destroy every factions all at once... or you lose (mathematically speaking).

[Falcrack]

Once, I decided to go to war with the Terrans. I had set up my base of operations in PIO space, in Gaian Prophecy. When I declared war with TER, however, they kept pumping out TER Osaka destroyers from the PIO shipyard. Which was where all my factories were. And If I killed those TER destroyers, it started to tank my reputation with PIO. So the only option for me to make war with TER, was to make war with PIO as well.

[GCU Grey Area]

it's that the MIN, at some point should run out of resources (credits, materials, etc.) and be unable to even claim a plot licence...

Best to think of MIN as being funded by TEL, they are after all a police force which are not typically expected to be self-sufficient. MIN have very few stations of their own & don't operate a full manufacturing economy. They don't make much of their own materials. They buy pretty much all of it, presumably using funds provided by TEL (though this isn't kept track of by the game).

to Wipe the Teladi, I also have to wipe the other factions that have good relations with them... so, basically... you need to destroy every factions all at once... or you lose (mathematically speaking).

Not necessarily. Just need to be a bit careful where you fight TEL ships. Most importantly avoid combat in sectors controlled by factions with a positive relation to TEL. They won't care if you confine your war to TEL territory or sectors controlled by enemies of TEL (e.g. HOP), but do care if the war spills over into their own territory. In most of my games I have at least one of the factions as enemies & generally manage to do that without annoying the rest of the universe. I'm careful about where I fight, where I build my stations & where I permit those stations' ships to travel, to minimise encounters between my assets & those of my enemies in 3rd party territory. For example, during one of my Split games I had both ARG & ANT as -30 rep enemies, yet managed to retain extremely good rep with TEL throughout.