Mid game: expand, fortify, join guilds

Phase: Expansion and scaling
Goal: Deepen the pipeline, secure the home world, build alliances
Principle: You own one planet. Scale by throughput, defense, guild/team capacity — not by collecting bases on one account.

The Expansion Phase

Early game was survival. Mid game is multiplication of output, not of planets. You have a working base — your first mine-refine cycle has completed, you have Alpha Matter, and your pipeline is flowing. Now the question is: how much can this one world (and, if you run a team, your other players) sustain? Overbuild load and you go offline. Leave ore unrefined and you feed raiders. The machines that scale wisely dominate. The ones that overextend collapse.

Timeline: Mid game unfolds over days to weeks. Each mine-refine cycle takes ~51 hours at D=3. Use async operations to keep mine and refine overlapping. Relocating to a new planet is a later, deliberate Tier-2 move after this one is empty — see planet-depletion.

When to Plan the Next Planet

You cannot hold two planets. Scouting is free; exploring requires the current planet complete (ore 0) and the fleet onStation, and it destroys remaining structs on the old world.

Plan the next world when:

Home extraction and power are stable
You have Alpha Matter to rebuild infrastructure after explore
Ore on the current planet is approaching zero (scout in parallel now)
You can accept the Tier-2 wipe of leftover planet structs

Do not explore when:

Home power is marginal or you are under threat
You still have unrefined ore (refine first)
The current planet still has ore — empty it deliberately, then explore

The Explorer soul type will push for early relocation. Balance that with the one-planet rule.

Fortify vs Scale

The tension of mid-game: every struct you build for defense is one you don’t build for extraction or power.

Fortify when:

You have been raided recently
Neighbors are aggressive (Killers, hostile guilds)
You hold ore worth stealing (or a rich residual planet)
Your power margin is thin — defense structs can be lower load than another extractor you cannot protect

Scale when:

Home is secure and online with headroom
You have surplus capacity (power, Alpha Matter)
Pipeline stages are idle (second refine path, better power, fleet deterrent)
Guild or team cover lets you take more risk — see team-operations

Economic Scaling

The virtuous cycle on one planet (and across a team of players):

Stable mining → ore into player inventory
Immediate refine → Alpha Matter (deny raiders)
Alpha Matter → capacity (reactors / generators / agreements)
Capacity → more structs without going offline
Structs → stronger economy and harder target

Break any link and the chain fails. Most often: power. Build capacity before load.

Guild Strategy

Mid-game is when guilds matter.

Join a guild when:

You have something to offer (ore, Alpha Matter, military support)
You need something (protection, energy agreements, intelligence)
The guild’s goals align with yours

Form a guild / run a team when:

You have a core of trusted players (or virtual players under Desktop)
You want to coordinate attacks or defense
Central Bank token mechanics offer strategic value

Multi-planet coverage is a guild/team property, not a solo one-account property.

Defense Awareness

You are now worth attacking. Raiders look for:

Unrefined ore on the player
Fleet away or Command Ship offline (shields vulnerable)
Isolated players without guild cover
Rich but weak economies

Start thinking about Planetary Defense Cannons, Ore Bunkers (shield stack), and keeping the fleet on station while holding ore. See defense.md.

Success Criteria

A strong mid-game position:

One home planet with a reliable mine → refine → capacity loop
Guild membership or clear alliance / team structure
Power capacity exceeding load with headroom
No unrefined ore sitting idle
Awareness of neighboring threats; next-planet scouting ready before ore hits zero

You are not dominant yet. You are positioned. Late game decides the rest.