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The following is from Gamespot.com: The Trade Federation is a brutish civilization that relies on troopers and mechs to steamroll through enemy factions. Their units are not sophisticated, but they are effective. Federation players can field an impressive ground army. They are very good with troopers, mechs, and artillery units. The Trade Federation gets all mounted troopers, grenade troopers, and the antiair trooper. They do not get repeater troopers, although they do get all other foot troopers. Interestingly, although the troopers are all droids, the mounted troopers ride giant beetles. In appearance, the droids look mostly like the battle droids from Episode I. The Federation also gets all mech units, including heavy assault mechs. Their strike mechs, which are good anti-infantry units but poor against other mechs, are battle droids mounted on STAP hoverbikes. Their assault mechs, which are excellent against most other units, are large hovertanks. The Trade Federation gets all nonunique mech technology as well, boosting the effectiveness of their mechanized units. Artillery units, such as the pummel (the game's version of the siege ram), antiair guns, and heavy guns, are powerful siege engines for destroying enemy camps from afar. The Trade Federation gets all such units and all upgrades. Antiaircraft artillery are especially useful for the Trade Federation, as they do not have a strong air force to counter the aircraft of other factions. In combination, these three unit types give the Trade Federation a potent punch on the ground. The unique unit of the Trade Federation could almost be considered overkill, for it is a powerful mech that bolsters this faction's destructive capabilities. It is the destroyer droid: the shielded droid that unrolls from ball form to unleash dual laser fire on Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace. The destroyer droid, built at the fortress, is a more powerful version of the strike mech. It is ideal for dispatching infantry and other mechs. It has hit points, armor, and range equivalent to a strike mech's. However, its attack is much stronger, especially when upgraded in the fourth tech level. Moreover, it has shields, which effectively doubles its staying power, making it both more resilient and more deadly than any trooper or strike mech that the Trade Federation has. However, despite its ferocious power, it is nowhere near as hardy or strong as an assault mech and is also vulnerable to air units. They are in contrast decidedly weak in the air
and with Jedi. While they do get all air units, they get hardly any of the upgrades,
leaving their air units at the mercy of Naboo and Rebel aircraft. They also get only Jedi
padawans and Jedi knights. They cannot build masters and cannot use any of the high-end
Jedi abilities, such as stealth, turning other Jedi, and turning buildings and heavy
weapons. Nor do they get faith in the Force, which gives your units a 50 percent
resistance to turning. In essence, the Trade Federation is weak-minded and not only
unschooled in the Force, but also vulnerable to its power. The Trade Federation is a very balanced civilization. At first glance, they appear to have a huge population advantage, but their penalties more than compensate for the advantage. Moreover, they are true to their namesake and have several economic advantages. The Trade Federation, as seen in the movie, relies heavily on robotic troops. In fact, their entire army is composed of droids. This translates into a significant benefit in the game. Namely, the Trade Federation does not need to build houses, called prefab shelters. They must still obey the same ultimate food cap as other civilizations, but they start out with the ability to build to the maximum, without any need for houses. This is a huge advantage, as it saves on resources and lets the Trade Federation player build quickly. However, the trade-off comes in having a heavy penalty in carbon mining, which is required for many, if not all, units, including troopers, strike mechs, mech destroyers, ships, and artillery. In many cases, carbon is half or three-quarters the cost. The poor Trade Federation player gathers carbon 20 percent slower than any other civilization and also begins the game with 25 less carbon. This appears to be a major disadvantage that more than makes up for the benefit of not needing houses. The Trade Federation basically is slow in building up its infrastructure. The Trade Federation, as befits its name, has a great deal of economic benefits. All four of their unique technologies improve their resource gathering or building. They get fusion extractor, which boosts their ore mining by 50 percent. This helps in the construction of defenses, as walls and stationary guns all require vast amounts of ore. It isn't used much in units, though, so this advantage is clearly meant to give the Trade Federation player good base-defense capabilities. They also get Neimoidian endorsement, which makes all buildings cost 5 percent less; insider trading, which reduces all research costs by 10 percent; and market control, which eliminates all resource trading fees. The Federation definitely has its strengths in reduced costs and defensive structures, as well as strength in traditional ground units. It is, however, very weak in air and Jedi. A Federation player who neglects antiair defenses and bounty hunters courts defeat. For beginner players, the Trade Federation seems like a good entry point into Galactic Battlegrounds. This civilization doesn't make much use of the more sophisticated aspects of the game and relies instead on the traditional Age of King tactics of defense and superior ground forces. And the complete divorce from houses will be a welcome bonus to players who like to churn out units without being stopped by the incessant urging to build more houses. It is a very different civilization from the Royal Naboo, and in many ways, the two are natural enemies. Join us in two weeks when we unveil the final two civilizations in Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, the Wookiees and the Gungans. These two ground-bound cultures might not boast the far-reaching political power of the other four factions, but they have enough power to hold their own against the mighty Empire and the resilient Rebel Alliance.
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