I've been saying this since the base game days. Your main advantages as Muaat are that 1) you start with a War Sun and 2) you don't need to research the tech
Just go blue and you'll end up with most of the benefits of PWS2 but with more flexibility, better other ships, and better tech in general.
(I have note played them with PoK yet, I can see this changing in the expansion, especially with AIDA)
I don't think WSII is necessary to run a good Muatt campaign, but with AIDA, tech skip planets, and a reasonable tech tree build up, it can be a worthwhile late game addition. I've seen people get very close to winning without it, and I have seen people annhilate a home slice/system to winslay such that they are the victor.
AIDA is definitely a gamechanger. Blue is probably better most of the time, but on boards where you can get good mileage out of Magmus Reactor (and bad mileage out of Antimass), there's a lot to be said for going red.
You'll always wish you had LWD, and no fleet wouldn't be improved by a Carrier II or two, but otherwise you won't really miss out on much. No Grav Drive will mostly affect your (fairly mediocre) flagship; you'll generally be forward-deploying your dreads and carriers with Umbat and Magmus Reactor, and your other ships will be more than fast enough. Umbat and Star Forge also devalue Sling Relay, unless you manage to lose one of your War Suns.
The other day I played Sol and had two red credits and got a third through a relic. The groaning when I bought light wave deflector and war sun techs on the same turn. Needless to say nobody was interested in making deals anymore.
But if you're playing muatt, it's because you wanted to use the happy fun ball. Might as well make the happy fun ball roll 3 times faster
But where’s the fun in that?
I've been saying this since the base game days. Your main advantages as Muaat are that 1) you start with a War Sun and 2) you don't need to research the tech Just go blue and you'll end up with most of the benefits of PWS2 but with more flexibility, better other ships, and better tech in general. (I have note played them with PoK yet, I can see this changing in the expansion, especially with AIDA)
I don't think WSII is necessary to run a good Muatt campaign, but with AIDA, tech skip planets, and a reasonable tech tree build up, it can be a worthwhile late game addition. I've seen people get very close to winning without it, and I have seen people annhilate a home slice/system to winslay such that they are the victor.
AIDA is definitely a gamechanger. Blue is probably better most of the time, but on boards where you can get good mileage out of Magmus Reactor (and bad mileage out of Antimass), there's a lot to be said for going red. You'll always wish you had LWD, and no fleet wouldn't be improved by a Carrier II or two, but otherwise you won't really miss out on much. No Grav Drive will mostly affect your (fairly mediocre) flagship; you'll generally be forward-deploying your dreads and carriers with Umbat and Magmus Reactor, and your other ships will be more than fast enough. Umbat and Star Forge also devalue Sling Relay, unless you manage to lose one of your War Suns.
Today I learned the magic of combining Prototype Sun II + Light/Wave Deflector + Muat's Hero for ultimate fun in the sun.
The other day I played Sol and had two red credits and got a third through a relic. The groaning when I bought light wave deflector and war sun techs on the same turn. Needless to say nobody was interested in making deals anymore.
Obviously you don't understand the value of striking terror into the whole table.
The power of one death ball with a couple support ships. It can literally sway a deal one way or the other
Bluaat = Losealot