The Clan of Saar consists of the most despised race in the galaxy, the notorious Saar, an oppressed race without a home, scattered through the galaxy. But when one of their leaders heard the call and found the twin asteroids of Lisis II and Ragh, he summoned his people there, and now the Saar are eager to show the galaxy that they are capable of more than just floor wiping. The Clan of Saar plays differently from any other race and is thus perhaps not the best horse to bet on for a beginner in TI3. This different feeling originates in their racial abilities.

The first and most important ability concerns their SD. They behave totally different than you are accustomed to. Saar SD are not tied to a special planet like normal; they always have a build capacity of four. Additionally, the SD are able to move around at a speed of one, so the Saar can roam through the galaxy free of all bounds.

To ensure this, their second racial ability cancels the normal restriction of scoring VP that you need to control your HS. The Saar can easily dismiss their HS and search for better places in the galaxy.

The last racial ability is yet another incentive to do so: every time you acquire a new planet, you get one TG. So, the more planets you take and retake, the more TG will come pouring in. Especially in the beginning this is a very powerful boost.

Accordingly, the HS of the Saar is crappy. Ragh has a mere 2/1, and Lisis II only 1/0. You don’t need the HS for anything, so feel free to desert it for more juicy objectives. Only thing to remember is that you might present someone with a very cheap opportunity in fulfilling the SO requiring him to conquer an enemy HS. The more you spread out in the beginning, the stronger you get, since every conquered planet gives you an additional TG with which to build up forces quickly.

Your two starting techs perfectly suit you for this quick expansion style: Antimass Deflectors and XRD Transporters make for a versatile fleet. Personally, I wouldn’t bother with many of the red techs. You don’t need War Suns, and you won’t rely too heavily on Cruisers and Destroyers, not to mention Dreadnoughts. Like the Naalu, the Saar are a race for Fighters. You can create tons of them once you’ve researched your racial tech, which should be imperative.

This racial tech, “Floating Factories”, allows you not only to move your SD as fast as the rest of your fleet, but also enhances the build limit and the Fighter capacity. You can produce 12 Fighters with every build then, and sustain 15 alone with the SD, not to speak of the four Carriers you may have around too. And best thing is: the SD don’t count towards the FS! Their second racial tech, “Chaos Mapping”, allows you to actually enter Asteroid Fields. That’s cool, because no other race can do it, but with the FS limitation of three I the use for it is limited. Normally, Asteroid Fields are used as highways to quickly pass space that can’t be occupied. Now, the Saar can block these routes, and that’s the main thing you want to do with this tech. The enemy can only clear you out with PDS shots, and that’s not really cost efficient, while you can close a valuable route to everyone else except for you.

The starting units of the Saar are good: two Carriers, four GF to grab planets and some protection in the beginning. With this, you should be able to take a bigger part of the galaxy than many other races, and the best parts also!

Another great advantage of the Saar is their Leader combination. An Agent is always welcome, the Admiral can improve your strongest ship (like the Dreadnought you may want to buy when you reach Fighter capacity) and the Diplomat, well – the Saar don’t rely on planets as much as other races do since they don’t have their SD attached to them, so you might chose to use him in a more offensive way by taking planets and preventing recapture with the Diplomat. Remember, it’s absolutely no problem to lose planets, since when you take them back, you also gain TG.

The representatives of the Saar are more subtle than others. Generally more vulnerable than most, they can influence the vote, secure themselves and gain some few extra votes. Most of the time you will want to try and position yourself into a safe position using Elder Gurno, but sometimes the abilities of the other two may be just the thing you need to either decide a vote or to gain crucial additional TG.

Their flagship is nice. Nice isn’t something you want to be, as anyone who is “the best friend” of a hot girl knows. If your enemy goes for a Fighter heavy build, you may want to have it if you have maxed out your Destroyers already, but in the end, its severe movement restrictions, limited capacity and mediocre shooting power doesn’t justify the cost.

A weakness of the Saar is simultaneously their strength: with all three SD packed in one system, they have the biggest Fighter blob ever created in a single system. But a bunch of Destroyers and a Friendly Fire AC later, this may be reduced to dust. SD can’t pull back, so with this bubble of firepower, you have all your eggs in one basket and are somewhat immobile. So choose wisely whether you want to go this path or whether you want to create two or even three independently-operating fleets roaming the galaxy and taking what they can.

The downside of this second tactic is that you will have no friends with it, since you have to grab opportunities everywhere they create themselves, but the obvious bonus is that you will stack TG by constantly conquering planets. When you have carved out a suitable place in the galaxy for the Clan, which may be on the opposite side of the galaxy from where you started, you may create the Fighter blob of doom with your three SD and give out the TA you have to secure some friends you didn’t hit recently.