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Conqueror strategies

Otherwhere

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I'm still struggling to grok Conqueror and how to approach it. I always start a new playthru, allow about 7 or 8 settlements to prebuild, get my level up to at least 10 before I take my first Outpost, do the first Vassal attack, and then get nearly wiped out by the Gunners as soon as I return to Jammer. When I survive (it happens sometimes), I am almost wiped out and need to let my army recruit. I pay Jammer with caps and chems, cigs and booze, but then get stuck wondering:
Is it better to take multiple Vassals at this early stage (since I don't have enough resources, mainly food & water)?
Or take multiple Outposts and have a few Vassals to support them? (which would need to be done late game as none of them are developed enough to support multiple Outposts)

I know changes are coming with how Outposts will function, so this will likely alter my game. But for now, what do you all find works best - especially on a fresh game? Multiple Vassals and fewer recruiting Outposts? or the other way around?
 
Wait, people play the game just to play!? I haven't actually sat down to play in months... But in all seriousness (though I was serious), I always thought having more vassals and a few outposts was a better plan. The more outposts/soldiers you have, the more you need to support all of them. There are only so many settlements to take, so you have to plan accordingly.
 
and then get nearly wiped out by the Gunners as soon as I return to Jammer

Last time I tried Conqueror, after successfully taking my first vassal, I avoided/delayed talking to Jammer upon returning to the outpost. This allowed time to regroup and build up some defenses.

I always thought having more vassals and a few outposts was a better plan. The more outposts/soldiers you have, the more you need to support all of them. There are only so many settlements to take, so you have to plan accordingly.

Seems solid.
 
I tend to try and make my ''go to'' settlements be outposts and the rest as vassals.

First Red rocket as an outpost and vassal Sanctuary/abernathy/starlight.
then Outpost hangmans and make greygarden/oberland/egret.
currently im contemplating expanding east but im not sure what id want as an outpost but covenant looks promising.

one of my big questions though, are slaves worth it? or should i try and keep them to a minimum.
aka only for farms (ive noticed they cannot function as vendors)

and how does a liberator faction compare to a raider faction in terms of labour?
 
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Looks like taking multiple vassals is necessary since any Conqueror settlements lose 50% of their agricultural output.
I'm actually better off NOT conquering farm settlements and using provisioner supply lines/IDEK's logistics supply lines to bring in food & water from those settlements to my Outposts. I understand the logic behind having farms produce less, but unless there's a way to bring them back up to full production, conquering will always reduce food supplies by half.
 
Before conqueror I never really picked up food or collected meat from animals, now I grab it all. If you get the Wasetland Survivor mag that's in either Sunshine or the Ranger Cabin west of Sanctuary that gives the double meat perk, you'll have no problem keeping raiders fed this way.
 
See, I’m having problems getting my required plot type ratios correct so that I can recruit enough faction members to make my liberations of settlements to make them vassals. It keeps telling me I’m not making enough of one, two or all three things needed to recruit.
 
Also does the Advanced Industrial plots provide the needed Conqueror requirements for Industrial? I would think it would, but it’s better to ask to be sure.
 
The new mechanics are a bit touchy. The mod also likes to convert people into one type or the other automatically, which works somewhat IF the plot they were assigned to matched that type. I have some people assigned to martial plots that were automatically just workers rather than guards. I switch them to what I want, but they may be placed into a category before being assigned or something.
 
Next, is it better to have your potential main outpost filled and run by settlers and then establish it as a outpost? Or is it better to just start it out as a outpost? I thought that the settlers produced more of everything thing.
 
If going through Jammers story, your first Outpost always wipes all settlers. The 2 faction packs I have tried (gunners and institute) need an empty city to turn into an Outpost (kill em all). I haven't tried any liberator factions yet, so I don't know.

Because of the new ruleset, I have started my new playthrough with the settlements at lvl 3 to accommodate raider needs. I still see a 2 or 3 vassal to 1 Outpost ratio though.

Tinkering with something that kinggath had randomly blurted out in one of his playthroughs, gonna see if it could work. I started the game as a Gunner and as such I am going to be conquering half the map with them. Since I haven't touched the northern part of map yet, I'm going to see if I can also do Jammers quest line and be in control of 2 conquering factions. Guess I'll get back after the first vassal attack for jammer to see if I end up fighting gunners and see how that affects everything. But I will comment that my gunners have had to fight raider recruits during my raids on vassals.

Also of note, I'm not sure if it works, but maybe use ideks in all outposts and vassals to counter the food reduction? I'll try in this playthrough.
 
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I’m trying to run the Minutemen Faction out of Star-Light Drive-In. I know that robots use next to no resources so I thought I might use them to run the settlement side of things, but I can’t remember if they produce the same as settlers.
 
I’m trying to run the Minutemen Faction out of Star-Light Drive-In. I know that robots use next to no resources so I thought I might use them to run the settlement side of things, but I can’t remember if they produce the same as settlers.
I believe they do produce as much as settlers, but I think vanilla settings cause happiness to go down because robots only have max happiness of 50 I believe.

Of course I change that in the holotape settings

That reminds me, is there an automatron/mechanist pack? I'll have to look, lol
 
If there is I have not seen it on Xbox. I plan on having that happiness setting changed for the robots. I’m also going to have to get a in-depth look at how to get to the different Advanced Industrial final stage or level for plots that would be support for the Minutemen.
 
I know that robots use next to no resources so I thought I might use them to run the settlement side of things, but I can’t remember if they produce the same as settlers.

This is interesting!

Robots don't need food, water, or beds. But do they need rations?

It would depend on what role the Conqueror system applies to them.

Civilians need 10 rations each.

I'd love to know after you build a robot in your outpost/vassal where it shows up, if it shows up at all, in the role breakdown on the Conqueror HUD.

It also be easy to figure out by making vanilla Greygarden a vassal. Run a vassal report afterwards: it will either show 0 rations produced or -60 (-10 x however many robots there are) rations produced.
 
Robots don't need food, water, or beds. But do they need rations?

This might very well seem like an odd question.

My line of reasoning was that robots get counted as Civilians because there's no other role in the Conqueror HUD for them. And if they are civilians, then they use up 10 rations.

But results are in. I vassalized Greygraden:

GG.jpg

They aren't counted as anything in the report. I guess they are just "robots."

But here's where things take a turn.

Before the assault, I had an equipment surplus of +55.

GG1.jpg

After I successfully vassalized GG without loss, my equipment score was drastically reduced.

GG2.jpg

I speculate that it was reduced by -20 Equipment per robot. I killed the three non essential Mr Handys and checked it again.

GG3.jpg

Only the three named Robots were left and now the meter is just a sliver shy of full.

If verifiable and repeatable...

This means that while Robots don't require food, water, or sheltered beds as per vanilla rules.

And they don't need rations or wages (a possible advantage).

I know that robots use next to no resources so I thought I might use them to run the settlement side of things, but I can’t remember if they produce the same as settlers.

but they use twice the amount of equipment as does a recruit
(a definite disadvantage)!

As per usual, everything has a cost. The piper will be paid.
 
I thought that the settlers produced more of everything thing.

Vassals should produce more w/r/e than outposts. However, I find that "workers" in an outpost produce exactly the same amount of w/r/e as civilians in a vassal provided that the morale bonus is maintained.

Starting out with a faction pack may very well require having warriors work w/r/e plots.

The trick/catch is you always want 2 warriors for each of any other role. You have to decide if the extra production you get from switching a warrior to a worker is worth losing the morale bonus (having the right ratio of warriors to other roles) and the production bonus it gives.

My best guess/random thoughts for starting with a faction pack/five recruits:

HQ produces 50w/50r/50e by itself without any plots.

It requires 150 control for total control.

4 warriors + 1 Guard = 150 Control and maintains the right warrior to other role ratio for Morale.

So...

1 Guard working a martial plot for Defense (preferably a Field Hospital or Armory)
In order to get recruitment going:

1 warrior working a Commercial plot to increase Wages
1 warrior working an Ag Plot to increase Rations
1 warrior working an Industrial plot to increase Equipment

Having one of each should keep your bars in line with each other. As soon as all three are built, you should be able to start recruiting. Once all three upgrade you should be able to recruit again.

(If you change the role from warrior to worker you will possibly increase production, but you'll mess up your warrior to any other role ratio. This will have a negative impact on Morale and you'll fudge up your Control.)

It's probably best to turn the Commercial Requirement from Houses or Population to just OFF! You want to immediately be able to start shops.

I'd also turn the Martial Tech Requirement to off as well. You want that martial plot to upgrade as soon as possible.


Now what about the fifth starting recruit?

Plan A makes him responsible for feeding all the others.

1 Warrior assigned to 6 food worth of Vanilla Crops.

Better yet use WSFW to increase how many vanilla crops one settler can work. Cranky it up as high as it will go and let this one warrior grow all the food you need when you need it until you can establish your vassal system.

Vanilla Crops produce food not rations. Because they don't produce rations, they don't increase control needs.​

Plan B focuses on Morale.

1 warrior assigned to a Mess Hall or similar Conqueror Rec Plot

This option will help to speed up upgrades by raising happiness and will help with morale. It will, however, require you to stuff the workbench full of any food you scavenge and also to take advantage of the food donation box on the CP desk.
As your are able to get more recruits you can start to switch the roles of the recruits working your Commercial/Ag/ and Industrial plots to workers. This should boost production and give you another round of recruitment.

You'd be rewarded by not putting more plots down and just letting these upgrade. More W/R/E plots means more control needs. The system will punish you for expanding too fast and beyond your means. If you want to add another plot, add a second Conqueror Martial Plot or more recreation plots. Every warrior loves working a Rec plot.

Keep in mind that an outpost with twenty warriors doesn't really need a lot of defense: just enough to cover food/water and any plot dynamic needs. By the time a Field Hospital and Armory are fully upgraded that's 100 defense.

You want your recruits fighting so that they rank up. If they die, they were useless eaters. You get the wages/rations/equipment score back to recruit another. Higher ranked troops make everything easier.

Ultimately, you are shooting for at least 8 warriors for 4 Workers/guards. But the more warriors you get the less you'll have to worry about control and you'll be in a better position to take your first vassal effectively.
 
So, 32 robot settlers equals over 420 point deficit in equipment once you turn on the conqueror side of the game...sigh. Which presents a problem in that only certain voice personalities profiles let you tell them to self destruct.
 
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