Quick tip list for the game. Currently WIP.

-Don't invest into evolving Agri Worlds. Until much later, they won't provide that much(e.g. if you invest 100 for an agri world, you'd need 100 lvl 2 evolves just to make back the money you spent).

-Focus on capturing and fully evolving the ones that provide the most income. So for Cadia that would be Forge worlds/Hive worlds.

-To obtain battleplans, use assault actions on enemy flagships. Flagships are denoted by the gold chevrons next to their healthbar. There's a specific battleplans icon next to the flagship that has the battleplan you want. They will be able to take it back with their own assault actions.

-You can build a minefield when you're being invaded to delay an invasion by a turn(works the same as using a battleplan)

-Upon starting a new campaign, you can choose your mission type for regular battles when taking systems. By default, the battles are randomized between 2 different modes. Domination is where there are 5 locations open to capture that provide points, with the one that obtains the required score wins(complete destruction provides victory as well). Cruiser Clash is a regular space battle that requires you to defeat the enemy, plain and simple. If you want to switch to the other, you can reload the prebattle autosave until you get the other mode. Saves loaded from beta campaign are automatically set as random mission type, but can be changed in options at any time.

-Space stations and any other enemy stationary targets must be destroyed for an elimination victory. This applies when going for elimination in the domination mode as well.

-Threat level is a flat level(observed to go anywhere between 0 to 5 currently unknown, highest observed is 32) that determines how active the enemy will be. The lower the threat level, the less likely they are to do something.

-Emergency Gauge is the meter on the bottom right hand corner that increases with every turn. Using battleplans or primarily completing objectives will reduce the urgency level. That in mind, you can usually take your time and let it build up a good deal before completing an objective.

-Renown levels provide you with upgrade points that you can invest to provide bonuses to all or specific ship types(e.g. ships with macro battery weapons). The level that the upgrade is in is what level is required for a ship to be given that bonus, so if you get a lvl 2 renown upgrade, that escort that you have needs to be lvl 2 or higher to receive that bonus.

-There are multiple lvl 3 researches that may be locked. To unlock them, you need to find the planet that has that research(the icon will be in a cyan color) and evolve it to level 3. You still need to invest a renown point to obtain the upgrade. You can see it in the image below(the only one with its color).


-If you can't build a ship there may be a few reasons: that you don't have the required renown level to build it, that you don't have enough resources, or that you don't have enough construction points to build it. For the last one, make sure you select the system that has the required construction points available. That fleet needs to be in the same sector as the system that you want to build your ship from. Also note that if the ship you want to build is over your current fleet limit, you won't be able to construct it for that fleet until your renown level is high enough or you build it for a different fleet. The system you want to build it from also needs a friendly connection to your fleet's system

-For Cadia, you have 3 different factions and each of them have their own fleet limit. When you add a new fleet, you can select between 2 for each faction for a total of 6 leaders available at the start.

-If you're having trouble controlling the battle at the current pace(or if it's going too slow) there are different game speed options underneath the minimap available to you.

-Save your battleplans for when you really need them. Some systems can only be accessed when you have enough battleplans.

-Different sectors provide different bonuses depending on the number of systems you control within them. Fully controlling a sector has significant bonuses so make sure to take a look. You can view them along with your threat levels in the upper left corner

-Scroll down to go to the galaxy view. You'll see the different sectors and this view is needed for when you want to move via dolmen gate between systems.

-If you destroy the enemy before the transport ships reach their objective, you will only receive resources according to how many were able to reach safety. So if you destroy all enemy ships while keeping all of your transports alive, you will not receive the full resource benefit until they've all disengaged successfully.

-Invasions occur when the enemy faction is not present at that sector but still has a threat level. While only speculation, it seems that when it accumulates enough threat after its elimination from the sector, it will launch a random invasion in the sector w/ a semi-randomized strength value. They will vary between 1-3 fleets(e.g. 900-1900). Highest seen is 3600.

-Once you lose a system to an invasion the evolutions on that system are reset

-If there's more than one invasion on a system, the latest one will override the previous invasion, so a tyranid invasion can replace a necron one that started the previous(or even the same) turn leaving you only with a tyranid invasion on that system.

-Special Operations aka missions will use up your movement points, but you can still both capture a system and complete the special op(or vice versa).

-Neutral hostile creatures will reveal you to all enemies if within their identification range

-To switch flagships, go into your ship view for that fleet, select the ship you want as the flagship, and there'll be a button for you to set it as the flagship

-Your adjusted crit chance will not be displayed accurately in campaign but will be displayed while in-battle either hovering over the boarding action or viewing it in the in-battle ship details(arrow on the left)

I generally wanted to avoid giving strategic advice initially but especially now that the auto resolve is much less random, I'll add some in the below sections(will try to organize the Main section at a later date).

Note that it'll be in terms of Imperium for now, but may add other sections later.
Before you start, make sure to take a quick look around the map. While things like asteroid fields and gas clouds are noted on the minimap, other terrain features are not indicated. If you end up going full ahead and not noticing them, you'll already start taking some damage before the battle even starts. You also have to decide what your general game plan is going to be based on factors such as the faction you're up against, their military advantage over you, what ship types they'll send at you(rough estimate; if it's 800 it's not going to be 2 battleships), and what defenses they'll have. Once you get that down and you're ready to start, just know that you can set the stances beforehand. It'll usually be Running Silent or Brace for Impact but if there's a gas cloud you can use Reload as your initial stance if you want to move further.

Make sure your ships are positioned properly so if you do end up using full ahead that they don't hit your ships. This is also the time to make control groups for yourself; just hold ctrl and click on the ships you want to make a grouping for and then ctrl+1(or any number) to hotkey them. This can make it easier for setting up stances for only certain ship types or ships on a particular flank. Also helps for making a formation that isn't a straight line.

If you hadn't done in deployment phase, now would be the time to set your stances as you usually won't be fighting until the cooldown(cd) wears off anyway. If you have a large flagship that can't get to cover nor can use running silent, just use brace for impact as the ai will often send interceptors and ideally have him close to other ally ships and/or carriers that can launch their own interceptors. Also be aware of any events starting now or later in the battle as not noticing a plasma storm event timer while being in a gas cloud will make things more difficult to say the least.

Once you start moving in towards the enemy or objective, you generally want any escorts up front to cap forward points or to scan. Once their job is done, have them move away and fire where they won't get shot or behind the enemy to back cap. Just know that they break stealth when using full ahead/high energy turn(unless you have the perk that keeps you in stealth) and if you go back into stealth there's a good chance you'll get scanned/marked which will make things extra complicated.

AM ships' main strength is in their nova cannons; all of their cruisers have them as well as their battleship. While the nova cannon can deal a significant amount of aoe damage, it doesn't ignore shields, has a 50% dmg difference between the center and the edge, and requires a fair setup time in which your ship is unable to move during that time. There's a couple other negatives too, but regardless, nova cannon is often the strongest against the AI as it ignores the ability entirely. This means you can use a stasis bomb combined with multiple nova cannons for a lot of aoe damage.

Cybernetica Orb and Rad Tempest Device are the strongest ones for them as they're damage abilities with unlimited charges which both ignore shields and armor. If you happen to get three leaders with this ability in a battle, it's very possible to win just using those abilities alone.

I typically use Tyrant class cruisers and Ark Mechanicus due to having decent damage output along with having nova cannons(Ark also being a BS can ram pretty well). Dictator and Defiant can be good as well, but I tend to avoid going heavy on carriers as they don't work as well against grouped-up ships.

IN ships are typically mid-short range with their damage coming from a general mixture of things. Usually it consists of a focus on macro batteries and either a focus on torpedoes with launch bays as secondary or the other way around. For IN you usually want to kite those that specialize in close combat(nids/orks) and ram or at least get in close range with the ones better suited at longer ranges(aeldari/crons). IN is essentially "middle road" when it comes to how they play; they can kite, just not as well as chaos or aeldari and they can board, just not as well as orks or nids.

Usually having micro warp jump is very useful to have, as you can use it as an instant reinforcement, an escape(particularly in the op in nemesis tessera), or as a small blink to get in close range with an enemy ship to ram or board. Stasis and probe are also good utility to have. Plasma bomb can be good early on but isn't nearly as potent when later you go against fleets with larger ships. Still not bad, just not a must-have.

For ships it mostly just depends on what you want to go for honestly. If your fleet is with an admech, going for a mars is fine for example or if going against hordes of orks you can use LC Dauntless and slowly kite them.

For sm ships, their obvious strength is boarding, as they can have up to 4 different boarding actions per ship(standard/lightning, boarding torps, thunderhawks, and honour the chapter). Their guns are rather lacking which forces short ranged engagements oftentimes. Their other strength which is common amongst Imperium as a whole is their ramming ability. Combined with Brace for Impact stance you can often take good trades when ramming. You usually want to only ram ship classes of equal or lower tonnage and hulk the larger ones. With SM you mostly need to worry about not getting your engines damaged; you can somewhat prevent this by making sure the rear of your ship isn't taking hull damage.

If you have void shield on your flagship, ideally you'll want him at the front to tank the damage and then roll in and hulk one of their grand cruisers or battleships. Try to use standard boarding first and if the hulked ship is recovered you can use an honour for the chapter ability to re-hulk or lightning strike if you'll have enough for later. During this time too you can try to ram their smaller ships as well. Avoid staying under fire for too long, so if you're able to go into stealth or boost away make sure to do so after you've finished your boarding(and ideally destroyed some ships via ramming). The only exception would be aeldari given their strong frontal weapons and high mobility making escape much more difficult.

SM are probably the hardest faction of the Imperium to use to go up against fleets larger than their own due to their short range style always being vulnerable to boarding themselves and their main boarding actions at identification range.

As for ships, Vanguard Mk1 and Strike Cruiser Mk2 I find to be the most potent.

Some notes on Tyranids campaign.

-You will lose Spore mine clouds when deleting the origin of the one that spread it to them
-If ownership of the system is changed, Vanguard forces are lost; requires reinvest.
-Mines will only apply their effect to an invasion once. Destroying and rebuilding it will not grant it again. This also applies to AI minefields; if an invasion going to an AI occurs and then you take it to build a minefield, it will not delay that current invasion.
-Spore Field description inaccurate. Basically just a permanent asteroid field
-Wrecking Ball does not always do 400 damage; sometimes less(200 base), sometimes much more.
-Make sure to have move/attack order in the direction you want it to go when it uses Rush as it will still try to turn to where you want it to move.
-During Plasma Medusae event, your ships, due to the Spores trait, will automatically damage them and cause them to explode when you're close enough.
-Acid Blood currently does not seem to work as stated.
-Devourers are generally very effective and to a lesser extent the clutch voidprowler. They do take a while to get used to as they tend to rush before their ship is fully rotated in that direction.
-Skills like psychic scream are better when combined causing a mass mutiny like the one below(i had a better one but unfortunately wasn't in borderless window at the time). It's ideal when no flagships are nearby to restore their morale or are otherwise prevented from using their morale ability.
-For Red Rover achievement, try to leave the Dominus Mechanicus(the ark mechanicus in view at the start) alive for the whole duration, as completing your main objective before your escorts reach the other side will result in a failed optional objective. Destroying both key ships will end the mission early.

Personally the hardest campaign faction as getting engines damaged in <10s of fighting while being unable to instantly repair to escape is a bit difficult, but will provide any help and info I have here.

-For early victories, using domination is preferable as it is hard to go up against chaos fleets that are significantly(~2x+) larger than yours given the crit buff to lances and their long range. It is often easier for them to deal damage to you in a straightforward firefight than the reverse.

-Escorts are often more reliable for necrons compared to other factions as their systems can't be destroyed, particularly their engines

-Transdimensional Thunderbolt(cybernetica orb for necrons) is often a good starting ability to have. Lining it up properly is a good way of dealing with the escorts and to a lesser extent the line ships in battle, providing results like the image below.

-Another good ability to look for is pyramidal reconstruction to remove the critical system damage taken during the battle.

I'll list my observations on how the AI currently acts here. Whether you want to use the below information to your advantage or not is up to you.

-Upon being identified, the AI will use their boost ability within ~5 seconds of being revealed. This only applies to those that would normally be identified if they use it, so aeldari will use their boost regardless of whether or not they're identified.

-For domination, the AI will either go for one point at a time(typically the closest one that they can cap) or split their fleet in half for two points. This is their main priority when in domination; going for your ships is always secondary to them. When on the point, they'll sometimes deal small hull damage to themselves, and often times deal significant damage when revealed due to using their boost to get to the point.

-Also in domination, you can aggro ships into engaging you if you're close enough. This is one way to pull only a few ships towards your position. Once they're pulled far enough away, they'll return with the rest of the fleet.

-For Cruiser Clash, they'll always send their whole fleet towards you. As for priorities, it's often your closest ship. If you have your whole fleet stealth except for one ship, they'll send their whole fleet to that ship. This is until they are able to identify other ships in which case they'll either split or go for the closest identified ship. After a certain point they may aim for your 1 ship you use as bait when all your ships go stealth and rush to identify it.

-If defense platforms are taking damage from stealth ships they'll automatically scan to reveal them.

-When the AI has a drifting hulk, it will try to board it to recover if there's a ship close enough to do so. Otherwise, it will scuttle it usually after a few seconds, sometimes can go to about 15 seconds. So doing something like scuttling their full hp titan can happen.

-When using abilities like nova cannon, they will use the same estimation that is used to calculate the trajectory of macro batteries. This can lead to an ability being placed far away from where your ship will be if it's on full ahead. Swiftly switching between full ahead and burn retros is one way of avoiding a significant amount of damage.

-The ai may try to use interceptors to scout if they don't have escorts to do so.

-AI will use scans at a minimum of 1:1 ratio, so you can bait a scan with just one ship but if they have multiple escorts you'd have to get each one marked separately for each escort they have.

-AI will avoid asteroid fields at all times unless using a boost that prevents it from moving outside of it.

-AI will often ignore your abilities such as nova cannon, rad tempest, etc.

Here[www.dropbox.com] are some saves in case something happens to yours and you don't feel like redoing everything. So far it's just Imperium, Tyranids, and a bit of Necrons, but will add more later. For those aware of the op in Caliban and Sanctuary system, Imperium campaign is continued with Osmadiel and Yvraine respectively.