General strategic questions

[Questionasker]

I'm playing on Blackbeard difficulty on the latest version. I'm having the best run I've ever had, and I am nervous about messing it up. I'm currently in the middle of June of the first year with two bases, no ninja bases yet, and a rank of racketeer and we need male touch. I have 12 brainers and a captive gnome, plus I lucked out and got four superhuman catgirl interception pilots. I'm aiming to get back to school without allying with the mutant alliance, and I'm currently looking for sci books. If all else fails I can grind out the tech with ten or so brainers dedicated on the gnome, but that would likely put me behind the tech curve, and enemies are starting to become very well armored while my standard weapons and peasants are starting to fall behind. Most of my money is focused on upgrading my main base for tech advancements. I have forty runts producing x-grog nonstop. Any recommendations for what I should do next?

[Vakrug]

no ninja bases yet

Ninjas are optional now.

I'm aiming to get back to school without allying with the mutant alliance

I also noticed that such path exists, but it looks like you have to get Dr. X first, and that is not easy. So not advisable.

[Questionasker]

Gnomes give sci books as one of their 90-ish techs and I can research one gnome repeatedly until I get all of their techs, and that's the brute force route I'll take if I can't get dr. X. I already have 24 of their techs and I get a gnome research once every 3-4 days with 10 brainers full time, so I should be able to get the back to school by the end of the year if I have to exhaust literally every gnome technology.

[Iazo]

I would suggest looking at the bounty offering and picking a branch that offers the weaponry you want, if you feel you need stronger weaponry.

Just off the bat, Catgirls do great with suppressed pistols. A pistol that does 40 or so damage per shot is a good choice.

Other good weaponry that can, potentially be in your range is the Big Ben SMG, a monster even for barely trained peasants. Fo not even need trophies for it.

These are options that do not take great investment in advancement.

Another weapon line that might take some luck or research to get are golden weapons. A rifle, smg or pistol go well with your catgirls, but making the ammo for them is kinda a bitch, but if you do, you have a reliable midgame firearm that has enough punch and accuracy and can even go to space.

But if you are researching, try and head towards armored cars. A 14mm AC is a BEAST, and well worth the investment to get, despite possibly delaying Back to School via gnome.

[minimen]

without allying with the mutant alliance

Isn't it mandatory? Without *mutant alliance* you can't do "Family ties" so enforcers will keep storming your hideouts, and Govt will be sending bills for killing them.