"No Smart Mine, please!"  This is a common request you'll hear from most pilots when they have a say in how a game is being set up.  Most pilots are scared to death of Smart Mines and have no idea how to evade, or use them. The Smart Mine, used properly, is an awesome weapon for defense and offense.  I find new ways to use them all the time.  Just when I think I've seen them all, another pilot comes up with a new twist that I learn about the hard way. (Read: Ship Destroyed)  I personally love the Smart Mine and prefer to play with them in the game, but because most pilots do not, I rarely set the game for them.

Placing Smart Mines:  Placement is vital if you want to be effective, and just dropping one or two here and there is a waste of time.  I like to totally block an entrance or exit with them, thereby denying easy passage in that direction.  If a pilot is not paying attention, Whammo!  I have blocked all the entrances into a room with a wall of Smart Mines and waited. When a pilot spots the wall of Smart Mines he gives himself away trying to get past them.  My gift is a shaker in the face!  The more Smart Mines you place then more the game produces.  Never keep Smart Mines.  When you get some place them as fast as you can.  If another pilot kills you he will scoop up any Smart Mines you were carrying and use them against you! Place the mines in rows, just out of sight, around corners, in tunnels, behind doors, any place where they can not be seen until a pilot is on top of them.   One trick is to place some in an entrance way, but with a path to get by them.  Just beyond that path,  and out of sight, put another Smart Mine. Whammo!   Above the head in a tunnel entrance is a good place, but also place some just a little further on in plain view.  Many pilots will look to closely at those in plain view and never see the one above. Whammo!

Smart Mine as Offensive Weapon: A mine is by definition is designed to deny passage in certain areas and works very well as a defensive weapon in any game.  You get kills from them.  And they are 'low cost' kills.  No damage to you.  But the Smart Mine can also be used as an offensive weapon.  There are a few pilots who are very good at using Smart Mines offensively.  But only a few, thank God!   A sweet trick is to run over a pilot while laying a couple of Smarts.  Whammo!  If another pilot is chasing you, drop a couple Smart Mines when he gets too close.  This is VERY IMPORTANT to know and remember:  the Mega will not work if there are Smarts in the room.  The Mega will lock on to and head for the closest Smart Mine and not your intended target.  Knowing this, the next time a pilot shoots a Mega at you, drop a Smart Mine and scoot.  The Mega will head straight for the Smart Mine instead of you!  A very nice defensive ploy.  Plus, the exploding Smart Mine bombletes head straight for another target.  Often as not the  pilot who just shot the Mega at you.

Smart Mine Evasion: Evading Smart Mines in any game is simple once you understand how they work and how to place them.  I very rarely get killed by Smart Mines during a game.  Perhaps 3 times during a game to 100... kills for me that is.  Quick reaction time and moving by the Smart Mines at a fast clip will generally work.  An exploding Smart Mine doesn't directly damage your ship.  It is the Smart bombletes which cause damage.  When you move by a Smart Mine quickly enough, the exploding bombletes don't get a chance to lock on to your ship.   If they do lock on, they are quite slow and easy to evade when you have enough room to turn.  When I go by Smart Mines, and when I don't care about being stealthy, i.e. quiet, I will cut very close to them and set them off, harmlessly.  When I have the time I will replace them with my own Smart Mines.  The pilot who placed them just might come along, and thinking they're his mines, pass by them slowly and too close.  Whammo!  It is important to not race blindly around corners.  When you must race, be ready to slide up, down, or to one side or the other to avoid mines.  Otherwise you might end up kissing a Smart Mine one a little too passionately.