GM FTGU Strat?

[Darth Revan]

Don't know why, but I'm hooked into wanting to beat FTGU.  After trying some of the strats I've read from an earlier post about the EA, I thought I'd give the GM a try.  This one is tough.  No safe economic zones to build up an economy quickly and I'm not sure what fleet comp to go for.  I've tried using a bunch of CC Vic II's, but on Admiral difficulty it always seems like they melt even when up against strike cruisers or pretty much any ship that has the faster rate of fire ability (I'm not a fan of this power up because the loss of power to shields makes it quicker for the AI to take them down, but when the AI uses it, it always seems like I can't get his ships down fast enough even though he is losing power.

What are some tips/suggestions for a GM FTGU playthrough?

[Mord]

It's a pretty gnarly strategic situation, no denying. You're sandwiched between the NR and the Empire no matter which direction you expand, and you don't have many high income planets available early on. Securing them is another matter entirely.

The AI seems generally reluctant to go after the purple territories and you can use this to your advantage - leaving strategic buffer planets can save you ships you need to punch through defenses elsewhere.

CC VSDs are your best bet early on, and I recommend rushing for an SSD ASAP. If you can expand to the NE and push towards Mon Calamari, the Phindar-MonCal corridor is totally defensible and from there you can expand south into the self-contained southeast fork of the map. The trick there is preventing the Empire from getting all up in your face while you are busy with the NR.

[Mord]

... or, actually, I found an alternative while playing around. It turns out that at the start of the game, Boba Fett can solo the entire Empire. Obviously you don't want him fighting the fleets, but he can wipe out the entire Imperial ground force and conquer all their starting planets, all by his lonesome, by roughly Week 8.

This just confirms what we all already knew: Boba Fett is the baddest mofo in the galaxy.

EDIT: Actually, Boba Fett can take out the entire Empire and Republic. He will do it for 3500 credits and he'll get it done in 27 weeks. What a guy.