Plantation Rush Guide

[Rokksta]

Hello everybody!

I want to share my standard way to play the early game: the Plantation Rush!

First lets explain some things:
I play mostly the 3rd difficulty Davy Jones, but I will give some tips for JS to. It is possible on JS, its just much harder to start because you have less money.
English isn't my native language, so please forgive mistakes.

The standard rules for this strategy are:
You need money to make money so sell everything you don't immedialy need, like the small ship engines.
Only built bases at the beginning of the month! The bases can only be attacked in the next month after building it. So you have a full month to get the base defense online.

There are three phases of the strategy:

Phase one: Expand the main base
This will probably be the same than the most. The moneymaking potential of the main base is just to great and you also need it from a tactical point of view. That means:

• Recruit all the brainers and runts
• Build all the Excravators and the Personal Lab
• Build enough Living Quarters for them and your soldiers, maybe plan for a Large Quarters
• Optional: Build Plantations in currenty not needed space, you can overbuild it later for Large Quarters and Hangars, or simply sell them. You make profit with it after a month, so i never regretted building them. (You build it for 175k, after a month you gain 100k and you can sell it for 100k)

If you are successful in your missions this should be done in half a year. But it isn't critical if you need longer.

Phase two: Farming Outposts
Now it comes to building more bases. You want to have all 8. Before expanding you should have following researches: Outposts, Acquire Dogs, Landmines and of course Uber Farming.
You should have at least 1,5 to 2 millions for building it, depending on the place you build it. Start with the cheaper regions.

• Put the Access Lift in the mid and build 2 Outposts beside it. Outpost are great, because they are quickly build, cheap, have a radar and storage space and you can overbuild it later in the game. Why two? 15 living space isn't enough for defence. 30 is
• Build 8 Plantations around it on the edges.
• After the Outposts are finished, fill it with 30 dogs and 30 Landmines

Why dogs? They are cheap in recruitment cost and maintenance and easy to replace.
Why landmines? Dogs in itself have low damage potential. But if you fill their inventory with activatet landmines, then they will be like homing rockets. Just rush the enemy, drop the landmine at the place you want to explode and sidestep. Nearly everything around it will die. The dog died rushing at the enemy? A Landmine has taken its place waiting for him! Just don't forget about it.
If you have problems defending, build a 3rd Outpost or a Living Quarters and fill it with dogs.

If everything is successful and you didn't lose a base, than you should be finished with all 8 bases in the first year.

Phase three:  Specialisation of Bases/Industrial Revolution
At this point you should be swimming in money, because your maintenance is negative. Time to do something with it!

• Get a Strike Base at the opposite of your base by overbuilding some of your Plantations with Large Quarters and Hangars to better intercepting the enemy. You can also build some Dojos to train fresh recruits
• Get a Prison Base by selling a plantation and building prisons or better overbuild it with a large prison for your courtesans or later needed prisoners
• Maybe get a research base with librarys depending on your playstyle.

Like that you can specialise bases as needed.

Now to the Industial Revolution part:
The money you can make with farming is limitet. You can make more with runts by selling X-Grog or other things.

• Sell a Plantation and build 3 Excravators and a Burrow for overbuilding it later with a Still to get it more quickly. (Don't forget Alchemy research)
• Overbuild a Plantation with a Large Quarters to make place for the neccessary runts. Do this with a Plantation near the Access Lift, because your Dogs will spawn in there

This is very cost intensive. Do not change more than one, maybe two if you have lots of money, bases per month at the same time!

With time the enemy will become stronger and the dogs will not be enough. Slowly fill the bases with experienced and well equipped troops depending on your Recruitment Path and playstyle.

Tip for Peasent Revolution: The Revolution HQ will eliminate the need of Large Quarters and you will get more Workshop Places for money making.
Sell 3 plantations of the corner at the opposite of the Access Lift and build outposts/vaults around the 3x3 place needed for the HQ to get the neccessary storage for the Scrap Metal.
After building it, you can overbuild the outposts/vaults for Excravators and Still.

Tips for Jack Sparrow: Build Living Quarters and Vault instead of Outposts because of resilience. After Phase two sell a Plantation and get 3 to 4 Flaks for protection from missiles.
Depending on your losses and missions you will need much more time, or you will lose a base because of bad luck. Do not give up! You need the money and it will get much easier after the ball starts rolling.
Of course I haven't played JS in a long time so I don't know if anything changed.


Thats it. Hopefully I helped someone and I'm open for critic!

Edit 25.12.24:
Weed Plantation
If you have the research and at least 12 Sectoweed, you can start planting and harvesting them for some extra money!
Always start at the beginning of the month so that its a Plantation again at the end of the month and for easier micromanagement.

Build the Weed Plantation on top of the "normal" Plantation for 12 Sectoweed and 35k. After two days you need the to "change the water" (with dismantling) for 25k. Then after 24 days you can "harvest" it (again with dismantling) for 5k = 65k cost.
You will gain 240 Sectoweed. For easier micromanagement wait for the beginning of the next month, built all the Weed Plantations again and than sell all the Weed with a right click. Of course keep some if you want to make some things with it (like Medical Supplies).

240 Sectoweed - 12 (for building the new Weed Plantation) * 375 $ = 85,5k - 65k = 20,5k profit per Plantation
So with 8 Plantation 164k on top of the 800k per base.

If you to this with seven bases you gain over a milion for nothing! Just remember to keep some cash for the first dismantling.

[nicedayright]

Does the dog-landmine thing still work on the latest version? I thought they'd nerfed suicide doggo's.

Use case for plantations for me has always been defraying base costs for expansion. As you build new bases there's really no reason not to fill all unused space with plantations to reduce the upkeep cost. Not sure it's really possible to *profit* from them in any kind of realistic timeline, as 100k per month is a drop in the bucket. That's like, 10 runts making and selling torches. Early on your main source of income is selling loot and ransoming prisoners. A good temple raid can net you almost half a million if you're willing to hunt down and stun everyone.

[Rokksta]

Does the dog-landmine thing still work on the latest version? I thought they'd nerfed suicide doggo's.

Use case for plantations for me has always been defraying base costs for expansion. As you build new bases there's really no reason not to fill all unused space with plantations to reduce the upkeep cost. Not sure it's really possible to *profit* from them in any kind of realistic timeline, as 100k per month is a drop in the bucket. That's like, 10 runts making and selling torches. Early on your main source of income is selling loot and ransoming prisoners. A good temple raid can net you almost half a million if you're willing to hunt down and stun everyone.

The dog-landmine thing still works. I am at the newest version and yesterday I defended a base with them.

One Plantation isn't much. But after 3 goot temple raids you can build a base which gives you 800k per month!

[Tamren]

I don't think they ever nerfed suicide dogs, but the stacking morale penalties from all the dog deaths can cause the whole base to tantrum spiral if there are untrained soldiers there. The enemies killed usually makes up for the morale loss, but not always.

[Vakrug]

Phase one: Expand the main base
...
Optional: Build Plantations in currenty not needed space, you can overbuild it later for Large Quarters and Hangars, or simply sell them. You make profit with it after a month, so i never regretted building them. (You build it for 175k, after a month you gain 100k and you can sell it for 100k)

Bad advice, I think. You need 4 hangars in your main base during early stages of a game (Airbus, Bikes, "submarine", "interceptor"). There is really no room for plantations.

Overall your gide is decent. But I am concerned that this route is actually more lucrative then going directly for Grog and Chateau production. Some calculations would be useful.
Also you said nothing about Sectoweed farming.

[greattuna]

Very interesting strategy. I'm not sure about the viability of it in JS, since you first need a lot of money to missile-proof your own base (4 overcharged radars will run you $3.5m alone) and then there's always a risk of getting a dozen missiles or so on your plantations... Scrounging an extra few million or two per plantation base might be difficult early, and later on you'll have better means of getting income.

I'm also wondering on whether you're using weed plantations or bee hives to supplement this passive income.

[Rokksta]

Bad advice, I think. You need 4 hangars in your main base during early stages of a game (Airbus, Bikes, "submarine", "interceptor"). There is really no room for plantations.

Overall your gide is decent. But I am concerned that this route is actually more lucrative then going directly for Grog and Chateau production. Some calculations would be useful.
Also you said nothing about Sectoweed farming.

It needs some time until I get the hangars and I only need 3. This just depends on the playstyle. Thats why I said its optional.

You are right about the Sectoweed. You can gain some extra money with it, if you do it correctly. But it depends on how fast you are getting the needed 12 Sectoweed. Maybe I will make an edit about it later.

Your calculations:
Plantation Base initial cost: 2*Outposts + 8*Plantations for 175k each = 1,75M
It has a profit for 800k, so you have the investet cost back in 3 months.

Base with only Extractors and Still: 3*Living Quarters (for Runts and base defence) 750k + 3*Extractors 1.275k + Still 625k + Runts for 650k = 3,3M
Profit from selling X-Grog 765k - salary Runts 325k - Buildings Maintenance 77,5k = 362,5k
You have your money back after 10 months.

For 3,3M i can get 1,5 bases filled with Plantations which will get me 800k per month. Plantation are more quickly build because of their low cost and I can get my money back faster, which is importent in early game.

[Delian]

1 plantation = 175k investment, and 100k profit per month.
1 hangar (10 workspace) + 10 runts + 2/3 of a burrow = 300k investment (burrow also gives free space for dogs).
Making wine = 439k gross income per month with 10 runts. -50k salary -26k maintenance = 363k profit per month. 275k on Davy Jones. 189k on JS.

In other words, 1 hanger is way more profitable than 1 plantation if you're doing wine.
Hangar also gives you free equipment space, and, well, hangar space for craft to defend the base.

[Rokksta]

1 plantation = 175k investment, and 100k profit per month.
1 hangar (10 workspace) + 10 runts + 2/3 of a burrow = 300k investment (burrow also gives free space for dogs).
Making wine = 439k gross income per month with 10 runts. -50k salary -26k maintenance = 388k profit per month. 275k on Davy Jones. 189k on JS.

In other words, 1 hanger is way more profitable than 1 plantation if you're doing wine.
Hangar also gives you free equipment space, and, well hangar space for craft to defend the base.

Of course wine is more profitable than plantations. But where the hell am I getting enough Apples for 8 bases with wine production in early game?

[Delian]

But where the hell am I getting enough Apples in early game?

It takes some skill.

[Rokksta]

It takes some skill.

First you have a bad way with words.

Second it doesn't seem like a skill issue, but an issue with luck. Sure, you can maximise the chances to get apples, but in the end it depends on luck. And a plan that depends on luck isn't a good plan.

[Delian]

The plan is that manufacturing is very flexible. There are many manufacturing projects that pay better than what plantation does, even if you run out of apples. I haven't ran out of them because I'm maximizing my chances of getting them, but if I did ran out, there are still many better-than-plantation alternatives, such as:
- Piratey Lingerie (x25)
- Mushroom Beer
- Goblin Rokkitz
- Finely Distilled Rum
- Medical Supplies
- Plastacrete Prefabs
- Actually useful stuff that you need to produce anyway, such as armors, weapons, ammo, slaves, etc.

[Rokksta]

The plan is that manufacturing is very flexible. There are many manufacturing projects that pay better than what plantation does, even if you run out of apples. I haven't ran out of them because I'm maximizing my chances of getting them, but if I did ran out, there are still many better-than-plantation alternatives, such as:
- Piratey Lingerie (x25)
- Mushroom Beer
- Goblin Rokkitz
- Finely Distilled Rum
- Medical Supplies
- Plastacrete Prefabs
- Actually useful stuff that you need to produce anyway, such as armors, weapons, ammo, slaves, etc.

Finely Distilled Rum: same problem than wine
Mushroom Beer: needs Moonflowers and if you buy them you make a loss
Medical Supplies and Plastacrete Prefabs: have even less profit than X-Grog
Goblin Rokkitz: you need a Workshop for that. Maybe worth it, but the initial cost will be even higher.
Piratey Lingery: Thats mid game, after the first year. And it needs Zany Zines. Not quite the thing for money making.
For the other things: Thats what you have the main base for

I am not saying manifacturing is bad. Its just that in Early Game (the first year) the main base with the 100 Runts is enough to produce wine and for the other things you tacticaly need (and also for things like slaves). If you have research like Refinery to produce and sell Chemicals than things will change quite a bit. But thats Mid Game and thats why Phase 3 exists.

Now I am thankful for you for the advice to produce and sell Goblin Rokkitz. I overlooked how profitable it is. It still needs Workshop, Divebombs and Rocket Launcher and at that time you should be at least halfway through Phase 2.

[Delian]

even less profit than X-Grog

Sectoweed costs 285 a pop if you produce it yourself, not the 3250 price you see in shop. Producing Medical Supplies is almost as good as wine.

[Rokksta]

Sectoweed costs 285 a pop if you produce it yourself, not the 3250 price you see in shop. Producing Medical Supplies is almost as good as wine.

I calculatet it again and you are right. It seems like I made a mistake with the production time.

But there are two things:

• You need Pharmacology Rresearch which you have mostly at the end of the first year, unless you are truly rushing it, what I woudn't advice
• You need Sectoweed and for that you need Plantations

So the fact that Medical Supplies are profitable is actually for my guide and not against it.

Still thank you for clearing up another mistake on my part.