Finally after much delays and a lengthy beta, Ironclad has at last unleashed Entrenchment to the gaming masses. Entrenchment is the expansion(micro expansion they say) to the very popular Sins of a Solar Empire. Entrenchment adds new defensive measures to shore up defences in Sins.
In terms of features, they have not added anything that I have not covered in a previous early beta impression that I did. Entrenchment 1.0 is the culmination of all the previous three beta tests(count three!) Ironclad had for Entrenchment and it shows in the final release. Before I get a head of myself, let me give you a quick run down of new features in Entrenchment.
The biggest most prominent new feature in Entrenchment are, Starbases. Each faction gets it’s own unique starbase, The Orkulus(Vasari), Argonev(TEC) and Transcencia(Advent) class starbases. These starbases have different upgrade paths that you can choose to branch out and has a maximum of eight upgrade points for you to spend. You need to weigh the pros and cons and the role you want your starbase to play and make you decision on what upgrade to employ.
These starbases are not just a defensive structures but can be upgraded to acts as an extended hangar bays, colony, or even a trade post. The starbases are not as expensive as I first thought it would be, they are certainly no Star Destroyer, but will require a significant investment to upgrade them to be more effective. The standard starbase(when initially built) is a little low on hull points and can be destroyed rather quickly with concentrated fire from an enemy fleet.
Starbases are a great option to hold the frontline or use them as a defensive measure to hold other fronts so that you can focus you campaign on another fronts. Once built, you can’t move star bases to other grav well and they stay stagnant in the spot they are built(except for the Vasari star base that can move around in the grav well).
An interesting strategy is actually using star bases as an offensive tool since you can actually build them in enemy grav wells!(using their constructors) Star bases build doubly slow in an enemy controlled grav well(this can be reduced by researching certain tech for Vasari) but if used in coordination with an attacking fleet, can be deadly. In addition to that, the Vasari starbase also acts as their anti structure weapon and they get no other anti structure ship which in combination with the research to reduce the build time of the orkolus class starbase in enemy well make the Vasari more unconventional.
The star bases looks gorgeous with the new higher resolution textures, they look highly detailed and fitting for the factions they are for. But they aren’t the only additions to Entrenchment. Mines are now available in the game and a cunning player can place mines in strategic locations in a sector that can do a world of hurt to incoming invaders.
Mines were a feature that was much debated during the beta since it was easy to see how they could have been exploited. Ironclad has however insisted in including them and has made major balance changes to them. Mines are deployed slightly differently depending on the faction you are playing. The TEC deploy mines as part of the tactical slot(buildable from the menu). The Vasari build mines using a mining ship that must be researched first. The advent build their homing mines from hangar bays(yes they home in one the enemy).
Defensive turrets have been given extra fire power this time around. Many of the turrets have an added gun to improve their effectiveness. If in vanilla Sins, one of the main complains was these turrets were too insignificant(easily destroyed and not enough fire power), Entrenchment finally makes them more viable while still not making them an easy option to turtle in a sector.
With the introduction to all these new defensive options, Ironclad has reorganised the tech tree in the game and included a new defence tech tree that has all the defensive tech. This makes it easy to access the research to all the new content. The new technologies seem appropriate and unique to the different factions as you will find the Vasari use its phase space ability in its defensive measures and the advent can uses their star bases as extended communion towers(that can peacefully convert enemy population).
Entrenchments new additions add more depth and strategic options to what is already a great game. Using these stronger defensive options, you can actually have a better stop gap measure to protect one front to focus your attention on another rather than making the game more of a grind. You can’t truly lock down one sector with a starbase and turret as any concentrated attack(with the use of starbase busting ships) will take out the defences. Pirates raids also become less of a problem as your defences get better.
Instead of just shipping the micro expansion with all these new units, Ironclad has actually overhauled the AI in the game to take advantage and use the defensive options in the game. I actually saw enemy Vasari factions build an offensive starbase in my gravity well and AI ships skirting around the grav well to avoid the defences.
Initially, I thought Entrenchment would make what is already a long game and stretch matches out even longer, I found that once you have learned to use the new anti structure units in the factions rosters, the length of matches tended to be about the same as Sins vanilla. Vasari’s new addition is the least conventional of all the other races and may take a while to get used to.
Sins of a Solar Empire Entrenchment is a finely balanced game. The months of beta testing has definitely paid off and there isn’t any single game winning strategy or unit than it overpowered. Ironclad really has to be commended on doing a fine job tuning the game. Entrenchment is a masterful addition to Sins of a Solar Empire and enhances the game and improves upon it.
Priced at only USD9.95 on Impulse, Entrenchment is great value for money and will grip you in endless hours of galactic warfare. The next micro expansion has no release window yet and is supposed to be aimed at buffing up the diplomatic side of the game.
Pros
- Better defensive options
- Added strategic depth and new tactics
- Well balance sides
- AI reworked to be better and utilise new gameplay options
- Great value
Cons
- Say goodbye to your time and loved ones
Rating: 4/5
Price : USD$9.95
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