Imperium Galactica

(How to rule the galaxy without even trying)

At first glance, Imperium Galactica seems like a fairly rich game of strategy, but in the long run you won't need to exercise your brain too strenuously to beat it. A basic set of strategies and tactics goes a long way - here are a few to get you rolling.

Colony construction
When starting a game, the first thing you should do is call up the Options screen and turn on "Building auto repair." This will save you the tedious effort of finding every damaged building after combat and clicking on it to begin repairs.
Nuclear Plants are the cheapest power generators available. However, they have the annoying habit of exploding over long periods of time. Consider researching the Solar Plant as an alternative. A Solar Plant produces over 2.5 times the power as a Nuclear Plant, and it won't explode. Since they're the same size, you can demolish a heavily damaged Nuclear Plant and drop a Solar Plant in its place. In addition, a Solar Plant generates almost as much power as a Fusion Plant, at two-thirds the cost and labor expense. Note that some power plants can't be used on certain types of planets; for example, a Solar Plant can't be built on a water planet, while a Fusion Plant can't be built on a desert planet.
Don't overlook the morale of your colonies. A happy colony is a wealthy colony, and you'll need all the money you can lay your hands on to keep your war machine rolling. The Financial Info report will show you whether morale is increasing or decreasing from day to day. Build a Church and a Recreation Center on each established colony, but lower tax rates only as a last resort. Captured colonies typically suffer from poor morale, requiring you to cut taxes to Very Low or None in order to encourage population growth. Conversely, take advantage of high morale (70% or more) to raise the tax rate above the default Moderate setting.
More than anything else, available space and terrain will dictate the location of new buildings. Each building is surrounded by a road, which can and should overlap existing road squares on the map wherever possible. Be space efficient; fill nooks and crannies with small buildings whenever you can.
Burying a Fortress deep inside your colony will force enemy units to scatter through the streets to get to it, making them vulnerable targets. If you build more than one Fortress in a colony, place them in proximity so they can cover each other.

Research and production
Each of your colonies can support a maximum of one Development Center. You will need 40-45 Development Centers to research all of the available technologies, so grab as many planets as you can. Build roughly equal numbers of each type of Development Center as you go. It is possible to begin research on a technology even if you don't have all of the required Development Centers; research will simply stop once a certain point is reached. This feature allows you to get a head start on a new technology while missing Development Centers are captured or constructed. The game keeps track of all accumulated research on a particular technology, so you can switch to a more urgent research project and return to a suspended project later.
As new weapons become available, newly built ships will often be equipped with them. Some of the newer weapons and equipment cannot be mounted on older ships; for example, a Destroyer 2 can carry a Medium Shield, but not a Heavy Shield. Also be aware that most new ships are equipped with fewer than the maximum number of guns and lasers; you'll need to "top them up" for maximum combat performance.
Increase production speed by building Spaceship, Weapon, and Equipment Factories everywhere. New equipment and fighting units are pooled in a global stockpile until they are used. Spaceships, including fighters, can be deployed at any system that has a Military Spaceport, while ground units can be deployed at any planet. Now the weird part: Fighters and ground units can be transferred back to the stockpile at any time! This means that one can move ground units instantaneously from one planet to another, simply by DELeting them from one planet's defenses, and ADDing them to another's. In a similar way, you can zap fighters between any two systems that have spaceports. This is a major oversight by the game's designers, and while it technically isn't cheating, you may wish to avoid this tactic if you want more of a challenge.

Exploration
In the early levels of the game, you will be constrained to a small section of the map. Keep a supply of Survey Satellites on hand to identify newly discovered planets, and Spy Satellites to give you intelligence on alien colonies, if desired. At the Admiral level, the map opens up, revealing a vast expanse of unexplored territory. A Flagship 2 with a Hyperdrive 4.0 and a Phased Array makes an excellent exploration vessel. The information returned by a Phased Array makes satellites unnecessary; furthermore, a Phased Array can cover a sector from top to bottom, allowing you to map the entire galaxy in a small number of side-to-side sweeps.

Space combat
At the lower ranks, you will be asked to endure an endless string of rescue, escort, quarantine, and blockade missions. Take advantage of any opportunity to talk with the aggressor at the beginning of combat; sometimes they can be persuaded to turn around or give up without fighting. A basic fleet of one destroyer and four fighters provides a cheap deterrent during blockades; put a couple of these fleets on standby near the planet to intercept incoming and outgoing ships.
At Admiral rank or higher, avoid fleet-to-fleet combat where possible. The computer builds very large and powerful fleets, and while it is possible to defeat them, you will incur heavy losses in the process. Fleet-to-fleet actions are only required to prevent an imminent ground assault, and there is a much better way to deal with these: Ignore them. Let the computer take the planet. Leave your planets completely undefended - no fortresses, no ground units, no space bases, nothing! When the attacking fleet moves off, counterattack with your own ground forces. Because you left no fortifications behind to capture, the computer can only station a small number of ground units on your colony, making it easy to recapture. Note: Do not use this strategy at the lower ranks, where the loss of a planet will end the game.
To take enemy planets, you will need to deal with planetary defenses. It is best to wait and let the computer commit its forces first. Destroy its fighters and missiles as they come in. Next, go after any space bases. If the planet has a shield generator, it will be closest to the bottom of the combat screen. Ironically, the presence of a shield generator compromises a planet's defenses by creating a weak spot where its gun emplacements aren't as effective. For that reason, your attack should begin at the bottom of the screen and work your way upward. Send your fighters in first, with your flagships close behind. Maneuver your fighters in a group, using the <F> key, but move your flagships one at a time to avoid traffic jams. Stop the flagships as soon as they are within firing range of the target; use the range circles to guide you. The fighters will draw defensive fire away from the flagships, allowing them to pound away at the space bases while avoiding significant damage. A combined squadron of Fighter 5s and Fighter 6s is most effective in this role.
Your assault flagships should be loaded with the best equipment they can carry: shields, ECM, guns, missiles, and bombs. The Meson Gun is devastatingly effective and should be researched as quickly as possible; however, it cannot be carried on a Flagship 1.

Ground combat
Ground combat in Imperium Galactica does not require much finesse. The trick is to deploy your best available tank in the largest possible numbers, then smash your opposition in a massed attack. Always use three flagships in your ground attack fleets, and put the best available cargo pod on them to maximize the number of ground units delivered to the target.
In the absence of explicit orders, your ground units will fire at the nearest targets within range. Make sure that every unit is attacking something; move them into position if necessary. Order groups of your units to concentrate their fire on a single target, especially tough-to-kill units like the Auto Repair Tank. Enemy units that become surrounded by your forces can usually be destroyed very quickly.
Fortresses present more of a problem. If attacking fortresses with tanks, maneuver the tanks so that a sizable group of them comes within range more-or-less simultaneously. If the tanks arrive one a time, they will be chewed up by the Fortress guns before they have a chance to do much damage. Alternatively, you can send a group of Rocket Sleds to bombard a Fortress from outside the reach of its guns.

Diplomacy
At the Grand Admiral rank, you are given access to the Diplomacy screen. Here you can attempt to improve your relations with the other races in the galaxy. Diplomacy in Imperium Galactica is laughably simpleminded: A bribe will usually make your neighbors receptive to you; you can also gain respect by scoring military victories against their enemies. (The relationship table will show you who these are.) Propose a trade agreement next; once a race accepts one, an alliance is not far away. Your allies won't help you much, but at least they won't attack you. However, they will bombard you with requests for large amounts of money. Ignore them. Victories against the Dargslans will repair any damage that your stinginess causes to your reputation.
The game ends when you defeat the Dargslan scourge. Capturing planets the Dargs take from other races is fairly easy, but watch out! The Dargslans' own colonies are well fortified and will require strong forces and a steady, patient effort to overcome. Don't give them a chance to dig in: Going after the Dargslans as soon as they appear will reduce the amount of tedious mop-up work you'll be forced to endure in the endgame. Good luck!

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