Porcing
Porcing (POR-king) is a strategy in which player focuses on building concentrated defenses in a relatively small area to a point where they are nearly impossible to penetrate. The term gets it's name from 'porcupine.' After this, player builds up a large attack force (often an uberweapon) while fending off incoming attacks using his defensive structures. When appropriately big force is accumulated, player tries to overwhelm and destroy enemy base in a single run. Sometimes the enemy is taken care of using a nuke or long range artillery i. e. Long range plasma cannon.
Porcing has good chances of success when:
- Sufficient resources to build a good base are available without expansion.
- Mass destruction weapons are very expensive or hardly accessible
- Enemy is rushing
- Defense buildings are more cost effective than mobile combat units (which is usual)
- Defensive terrain restricting the ability of enemy units to move in and attack will make it easier to porc.
Porcing will fail when:
- The enemy can expand significantly and gain a significant resource advantage
- Mass destruction weapons are readily available or enemy uses commbombing
- There are efficient artillery units to take out defenses from distance
- Enemy is swarming. Particularly dangerous when defenses comprise mostly of laser or other hit-or-miss weapons
Counter
To counter porcing, a player should try and expand across the map to gain as much of a resource advantage as possible. Some raiding should be performed, but with care. The aim is to discourage the opponent from expanding and restricting his territory and resources. Frequent raiding will play into the porcer's hands by expending resources in futile attacks that are unlikely to do any damage. Attacks from various directions should be attempted, as parts of the base may not be as well defended.
With a significant resource advantage, you can then beat the porcer to the punch; by accumulating a large attack force capable of overwhelming and destroying the porcer's defenses in one go. Long range artillery and mass destruction weapons can be very effetive against a porcer.
If porcing is very effective, the game is considered off-balance and becomes boring, as each player prepares his attack for a very long time.
Mod Specific Notes
As a Strategy, Porcing is generally not effective in fast-paced or territory dependent mods.
