History YMMV / AIWarFleetCommand

** Royal AI type as a whole. It is often considered the most difficult AI type to beat, as it uses almost nothing but guardians, and they're all buffed up on stats.

** Nemesis: [[Film/{{Snatch}} "A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent."]] Personified in this case by something that's [[TheJuggernaut the Devourer Golem]]'s superpowered EvilCounterpart. It has the giant area-cleaning hyper-damaging Antimatter Jaws of the Subjugator, but given every possible boost the Scourge races can give it: Protection from distance, higher damage at a distance, higher damage if HP is missing, zombification, vampirism and a sidearm that can shoot through forcefields and paralyze structures. All punishing you for the crime of [[GatheringSteam not trimming the Scourge while you still had the chance]]. Of course, if you've let them run so rampant that a Nemesis has spawned, you're already having pretty huge problems.

** Any Extragalactic War vessel can act as one, being the AI's nuclear option if something has gone very, very wrong. Even the Tier 1 sorts already hurt like hell, and there's a whole selection of them that can make your life difficult. It's very lucky that you need to go out of your way to antagonize it to bring out anything above tier 3.

** Zenith Reprocessors, one of the most obnoxious ships the AI can unlock. First of all, they're ''bulky''; they have not only a lot of health, but a hull type (Medium) that very few ships get significant damage boosts against. Also, they're invisible. They do solid damage, and get a massive 8x bonus against unusual hull types - and Heavy, which is one of the most common hull types. Finally, every ship they destroy can contribute to the AI's reprisal waves, even if they destroy it on your planet.
** Dire Infiltrator Guardians are the number one reason you don't leave an activated Dire Guardian Lair alone. They're invisible guardians with bonuses to stationary targets and immunity to forcefields. If you aren't paying attention to one when it spawns, it'll vanish into the galaxy, and you'll forget about it until it blows up something important, like your Advanced Factory or even your Home Command Station.

** '''Astro Trains''' stand out following [[http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2012/11/ai-war-beta-6006-pain-train-released.html update 6.006]]. The update is even called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "The Pain Train"]] by the developers. Astro Trains - AI units that will rush back and forth through vast stretches of space to move between AI Train Stations - are very fast and NighInvulnerable to boot, to the point where the LostSuperweapon Golem starships are considered one of the few ways to reliably destroy them. That or high-Mark [[WaveMotionGun Spire Implosion Artillery]], which you have a limited supply of, particularly in the early game (and might not have ''at all'', depending on what options you enabled at the start of the game). It isn't the fact that they're fast and insanely durable that makes them annoying, though. No, what makes them really annoying is what they ''carry''. The ones that have guns are actually the least worrisome, since all they'll do is shoot your turrets a bit, and maybe inflict light damage on your ships. The ones that are the most annoying are the ones that apply a StatusBuff to the AI or debuff your own units as long as they're in the system. Since the only real way to control where Astro Trains go is to destroy Train Stations, one or more of which might be deep in enemy territory, you can't really tell when one or more Trains is going to show up during a big battle and tip things towards the AI's side. There are also variants which use massive TractorBeam complexes to kidnap huge numbers of your ships at once, which can be just as devastating. Notably, the sequel hit them with a pretty intense nerf, making all of them vulnerable sorts with important cargo to deliver rather than the indestructible death delivery systems they used to be.

** '''Astro Trains''' stand out following [[http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2012/11/ai-war-beta-6006-pain-train-released.html update 6.006]]. The update is even called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "The Pain Train"]] by the developers. Astro Trains - AI units that will rush back and forth through vast stretches of space to move between AI Train Stations - are very fast and NighInvulnerable to boot, to the point where the LostSuperweapon Golem starships are considered one of the few ways to reliably destroy them. That or high-Mark [[WaveMotionGun Spire Implosion Artillery]], which you have a limited supply of, particularly in the early game (and might not have ''at all'', depending on what options you enabled at the start of the game). It isn't the fact that they're fast and insanely durable that makes them annoying, though. No, what makes them really annoying is what they ''carry''. The ones that have guns are actually the least worrisome, since all they'll do is shoot your turrets a bit, and maybe inflict light damage on your ships. The ones that are the most annoying are the ones that apply a StatusBuff to the AI or debuff your own units as long as they're in the system. Since the only real way to control where Astro Trains go is to destroy Train Stations, one or more of which might be deep in enemy territory, you can't really tell when one or more Trains is going to show up during a big battle and tip things towards the AI's side. There are also variants which use massive TractorBeam complexes to kidnap huge numbers of your ships at once, which can be just as devastating.

** '''Human Marauders''' are also quite intimidating. While you're the leader of a faction of humans dedicated to reclaiming the galaxy from the AI, Marauders are SpacePirates who have decided to just blow up everything they can find, take the scrap, and sell it for profit. Their ships are durable and powerful enough that they can sometimes destroy AI worlds all by themselves, if the player retreats back to their own systems after they appear.
** '''The Dark Spire''', if enabled, seeds Dark Spire Vengeance Generators throughout the galaxy. When ships (AI or human) are destroyed on a planet with a Vengeance Generator, it absorbs energy. After it absorbs enough, it generates several powerful, angry Dark Spire ships, which go on the hunt for anything to destroy. Doesn't sound so bad...until you find out that once a generator activates, it ''networks'' with other generators, meaning that they will all spawn ships at the same time. This escalates very quickly, and turns the war into a three-way fight.

* ThatOneBoss: Turn on the 'Avenger' option at game start. Avengers are moon-sized AI ships with all the firepower and durability that implies. When you take down the AI Home Command Station, an Avenger will spawn and head straight for your home system, at which point you will lose. Horribly. Oh yeah, and when you kill it? It blows up with the force of a nuke.
** So you're firing up the Showdown Devices to [[spoiler:shut down the AI's warp grid]]? Get ready to meet the Galactic Control Ships. There's two of them, and they are essentially Avengers on steroids. A Galactic Control Ship can tear through Golems, Spirecraft, and almost anything else you throw at it. And if (''if'') you kill it, it nukes the system it died in and every system adjacent to it. Have fun.

** And then there are [[OhCrap Cargo Trains]], which [[spoiler: don't actually attack you. They just bounce back and forth between Train Stations, slowly increasing the progress meter for an AI superweapon project. When this is completed, ''the AI gets Golems''. And this can happen ''less than three hours into the game'' if you don't devote all of your resources to preventing it.]]
*** Also, depending on the plot difficulty, [[spoiler:the Golems aren't the biggest problem. If the Astro Train plot is set to 8 or higher, you will face the Hunter/Killer (normally a unit that only appears in Fallen Spire campaign), and you will understand why normally it only appears in that campaign.]]

** What's that? You're planning to use the Showdown Devices from Vengeance of the Machine? Then the machine will charge at you with a vengeance! The massive Exo-galactic attack force that will come towards you will include Galactic Control Ships. What makes this monstrosity the most fearsome enemy in the entire game is not the fact that it is more powerful than a Mothership (Although it helps. And keep in mind that a Mothership is already some extreme overkill when it comes to power), nor the fact that it explodes like a Mark II nuclear missile when (if) you manage to destroy them (Although that helps, too)... It's the fact that the AI sends not one, but '''''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck two]]'''''. And they go directly for your Home Command Station, no sidepaths, no stops, just flying towards you, in the straightest line possible, at the speed of death. Good luck dealing with them. You're gonna need it.
* FridgeHorror: The primary resource in the game is metal. Metal is collected by building mines on metal deposits, which are found in massive fields of derelict ships. These derelict ships were probably left there during the civil war between humanity or when the AIs began the war of extermination. Additionally, the highest number of metal deposits are found in the human homeworlds, which the AIs have yet to build a presence in and clear out/recycle the junk ships. You, and all other human players, are salvaging the burned-out husks of humanity's fleets to fuel your own war effort against the AIs.

** '''Astro Trains''' stand out following [[http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2012/11/ai-war-beta-6006-pain-train-released.html update 6.006]]. The update is even called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "The Pain Train"]] by the developers. Astro Trains - AI units that will rush back and forth through vast stretches of space to move between AI Train Stations - are very fast and NighInvulnerable to boot, to the point where the LostSuperweapon Golem starships are considered one of the few ways to reliably destroy them. That or high-Mark [[WaveMotionGun Spire Implosion Artillery]], which you have a limited supply of, particularly in the early game (and might not have ''at all'', depending on what options you enabled at the start of the game). It isn't the fact that they're fast and insanely durable that makes them annoying, though. No, what makes them really annoying is what they ''carry''. The ones that have guns are actually the least worrisome, since all they'll do is shoot your turrets a bit, and maybe inflict light damage on your ships. The ones that are the most annoying are the ones that apply a StatusBuff to the AI or debuff your own units as long as they're in the system. Since the only real way to control where Astro Trains go is to destroy Train Stations, one or more of which might be deep in enemy territory, you can't really tell when one or more Trains is going to show up during a big battle and tip things towards the AI's side. There are also variants which use massive TractorBeam complexes to kidnap huge numbers of your ships at once, which can be just as devastating. And then there are [[OhCrap Cargo Trains]]...
*** For those of you who actually want to know rather than experiencing them for yourself, [[spoiler:Cargo Trains don't actually attack you. They just bounce back and forth between Train Stations, slowly increasing the progress meter for an AI superweapon project. When this is completed, ''the AI gets Golems''. And this can happen ''less than three hours into the game'' if you don't devote all of your resources to preventing it.]]

** What's that? You're planning to use the Showdown Devices from Vengeance of the Machine? Then the machine will charge at you with a vengeance! The massive Exo-galactic attack force that will come towards you will include Galactic Control Ships. What makes this monstrosity the most fearsome enemy in the entire game is not the fact that it is more powerful than a Mothership (Although it helps. And keep in mind that a Mothership is already some extreme overkill when it comes to power), nor the fact that it explodes like a Mark II nuclear missile when(if) you manage to destroy them (Although that helps two)... It's the fact that the AI sends not one, but '''''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck two]]'''''. And they go directly for your Home Command Station, no sidepaths, no stops, just flying towards you, in the straightest line possible, at the speed of death. Good luck dealing with them. You're gonna need it.

** What's that? You're planning to use the Showdown Devices from Vengeance of the Machine? Then the machine will charge at you with a vengeance! The massive Exo-galactic attack force that will come towards you will include Galactic Control Ships. What makes this monstrosity the most fearsome enemy in the entire game is not the fact that it is more powerful than a Mothership (Although it helps. And keep in mind that a Mothership is already some extreme overkill when it comes to power), nor the fact that it explodes like a Mark II nuclear missile when(if) you manage to destroy them (Although that helps two)... It's the fact that the AI sends not one, but '''''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck two]]'''''. And they go directly for your Home Command Station, no sidepaths, no stops, just flying towards you, in the straightest line possible, at the speed of death. Good luck dealing with them. You're gonna need it.

** What's that? You're planning to use the Showdown Devices from Vengeance of the Machine? Then the machine will charge at you with a vengeance! The massive Exo-galactic attack force that will come towards you will include Galactic Control Ships. What makes this monstrosity the most fearsome enemy in the entire game is not the fact that it is more powerful than a Mothership (Although it helps. And keep in mind that a Mothership is already some extreme overkill when it comes to power), nor the fact that it explodes like a Mark II nuclear missile when(if) you manage to destroy them (Although that helps two)... It's the fact that the AI sends not one, but '''''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck two]]'''''. Good luck dealing with two of those things at the same time. You're gonna need it.

** What's that? You're planning to use the Showdown Devices from Vengeance of the Machine? Then the machine will charge at you with a vengeance! The massive Exo-galactic attack force that will come towards you will include Galactic Control Ships. What makes this monstrosity the most fearsome enemy in the entire game is the fact that it is more powerful than a Mothership (Which is already some extreme overkill when it comes to power, keep in mind), the fact that it explodes like a Mark II nuclear missile when(if) you manage to destroy them... And the fact that the AI sends not one, but '''''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill two]]'''''. Good luck dealing with two of those things at the same time. You're gonna need it.

** What's that? You're planning to use the Showdown Devices from Vengeance of the Machine? Then the machine will charge at you with a vengeance! The massive Exo-galactic attack force that will come towards you will include Galactic Control Ships. What makes this monstrosity the most fearsome enemy in the entire game is the fact that it is more powerful than a Mothership (Which is already some extreme overkill when it comes to power, keep in mind), the fact that it explodes like a Mark II nuclear missile when(if) you manage to destroy them... And the fact that the AI sends not one, but '''''[[ThereIsNoKillLiveOverkill two]]'''''. Good luck dealing with two of those things at the same time. You're gonna need it.

** '''Human Marauders''' are also quite intimidating. While you're the leader of a faction of humans dedicated to reclaiming the galaxy from the AI, Marauders are SpacePirates who have decided to just blow up everything they can find, take the scrap, and sell it for profit. Their ships are durable and powerful enough that they can sometimes destroy AI worlds all by themselves, if the player retreats back to their own systems after they appear.

*** Also, depending on the plot difficulty, [[spoiler:the Golems aren't the biggest problem. If the Astro Train plot is set to 8 or higher, you will face the Hunter/Killer (normally a unit that only appears in Fallen Spire campaign), and you understand why normally it only appears in that campaign.]]

*** Also, depending on the plot difficulty, [[spoiler:the Golems aren't the biggest problem. If the Astro Train plot is set to 8 or higher, you will face the Hunter/Killer (normally a unit that only appears in Fallen Spire campaign), and you understand why it normally only appears in that campaign.]]

*** Also, depending on the plot difficulty, [[spoiler:the Golems aren't the biggest problem. If the Astro Train plot is set to 8 or higher, you will face the Hunter/Killer (normally a unit only appears in Fallen Spire campaign), and you will cry]].

*** Also, depending on the plot difficulty, [[spoiler:the Golems aren't the biggest problem. When you have to face the Hunter/Killer (normally a unit only appears in Fallen Spire campaign), you will cry]].

*** For those of you who actually want to know rather than experiencing them for yourself, [[spoiler:Cargo Trains don't actually attack you. They just bounce back and forth between Train Stations, slowly increasing the progress meter for an AI superweapon project. When this is completed, ''the AI gets Golems''. And this can happen ''less than three hours into the game'' if you don't devote all of your resources to preventing it.]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The soundtrack is filled great scores that all fit the tone of the game. Though most of them in a somewhat melancholic way.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The soundtrack is filled great scores that all fit the tone of the game. Though most of them in a somewhat melancholic way.