Which Side

[Hooman]

Yes, I would like to point out that Plymouth will stabilize at the highest morale level on any game setting, provided they have satisfied all colony management requirements, and there is no negative event morale bringing them down. Eden stabalizes one level lower on hard. The only way to get to the highest morale level with eden, is by event morale bonuses, which the consumer goods factory provides. That extra morale level can make quite a difference in population over the medium-long run if I remember correctly.

Things like recreation centers can just not be researched and they will not affect colony morale, so Plymouth has a pretty clear morale advantage for early game when playing on hard. The consumer goods factory is the only morale stucture that you can think of as having to pay a morale penalty for not having researched it.
 

[Arklon]

That won't help you very much when you need all the resources you can get to get a starship into orbit whilst maintaining an army to defend yourself...
And it makes for a big distraction to have to go get some more consumer goods on the build whilst you're trying to fight an army using tactics, not just brute force.

Impulse items are cheap.

[Sirbomber]

Precisely. Get Luxury Wares to maximize your morale if it's low and then just build Impulse Items semi-frequently. If that's a huge drain on your ore supply, then you need more smelters on your mines.

Edit: And why bother winning through strategy when you can just brute-force your way through your enemy? Sure, tactics allow for more creativity and usually end up humiliating your opponent (especially if you sneak a mere 3 Lynx past his army of 64 Tigers and then raze his colony to the ground), but there's nothing quite like tearing through your enemy's defenses as if they were made out of tissue paper.

[Hidiot]

Using tactics also occurs when you pit two 64+ armies against eachother. Managing which weapon stays in front , which stays behind and whatnot is taxing, but can give you a slight advantage. Not something you'd want interrupted by falling morale and the need to make them consumer goods.

Eden colonists are so fussy...

[Sirbomber]

If you actually have time to put your units into formation you're not brute forcing right.

[CK9]

pffft!  forget brute force!  It's all about stealth-novas!  Why do you think I always choose cyan?

[speaker]

i would have chosen Eden, but once I read the novella i am going to have to go with Plymouth