Uberweapon

Uberweapon is a term used to describe an unit that takes a great deal of resources and time to build, but when finished, gives a great advantage and usually victory to the constructing player.

Uberweapon strategy is a strategy in which a player concentrates on reaching top technology level in shortest possible time while expanding economy. After attaining highest possible technology level, all resources are concentrated on building very powerful and expensive unit(s) (uberweapon), which in turn is used to attack enemy base and demolish it (or at least damage beyond recovery). Defensive structures and combat units are built in small quantities only, because of the great strain on economy put by building the uberweapon.

Uberweapon strategy has best chances of succeeding when:

• There is a very powerful unit available (this is fundamental)
• There are natural boundaries separating portions of the map (i. e. water)
• The map is big and resource-rich
• Enemy is porcing and doesn't plan to use mass destruction weapon
• The resources are limited (which is not the case in TA)

It is likely to fail when:

• Enemy is rushing
• Enemy uses mass destruction weapons
• Map has few natural obstacles and is easy to maneuver
• Map is resource-poor or small

Generally, when it is possible to successfully implement an uberweapon strategy, the game is considered off-balance. This strategy is also sometimes successful against "stupid" AI which is not willing to push any attacks until disturbed. Effective counters are i. e. making long-range or mass destruction weapons readily available and cheap or setting a fixed build / research time. However, if nukes become too easy to build, they will temselves become an uberweapon. The most common aproach is therefore to increase the build time of the most powerful units until uberweapon strategy is no longer an option, even on very large maps, or to create units allowing fast, early attack.

In Absolute Annihilation mod, level 3 mechs - Krogoth, Orcone, Karganeth, etc. - are candidates for an uberweapon. Players building them often overestimate their power and send them with no anti-air or ground support against swarms, which results in destruction of the mech. However, if the defender is not prepared, deploying a Krogoth or Orcone results in quick victory.