|
AnimeReference posted:not worth trying for non-Darloks, especially at this difficulty level. This. Possible? Yes. But it's a real hail-mary; there's virtually always a better option. To the other point raised, if you do frame successfully, you do get to choose the race blamed. That's a thing we probably won't see until it's time to be Darlok.
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 00:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 05:44 |
|
|
Episode VI: 2525-2550 Less than a decade ago, I had virtually no fleet at all. Given that, this comparison works just fine for me in that regard. Perhaps there's still a chance. Probably not -- but it isn't over yet. That whole right side of the map is chaotic. This description would make a lot more sense if I'd actually managed to save the relevant screenshot, of course. Overall I think the Silicoids have lost a couple systems, while the Bulrathi gain. At this point, here's the overall count: ** Silicoids -- 18 ** Bulrathi -- 11 ** Alkari -- 9 ** Meklar -- 8 ** Mrrshan -- 8 ** Human -- 7 Quite fascinating to see no total 'nothing' empires. Everyone's got a foothold ... and we're dead last! The Meklar don't have a lot of territory, but as far as I know they've not been successfully invaded yet. Silicoids still the largest by far, but there's a balance going on and wars all over the place. Silicoids are at war with Alkari/Mrrshan/Us, Meklars and Mrrshan still at odds, and of course there's the Bulrathi -- but they have no allies and only us as enemies. I think it's worth trying to get back on their good side. After bribes of Robotics III and ECM Jammer I(LOL), they say thusly:  Trade of 1050 BC is also signed, and they even agree to a NAP!. Truly we have the Midas Touch in diplomacy. We re-up with the Meklar to the same amount of trade as well. Friends with two significant players. Not bad.  Significant number(and costs) of bases here, but we still have room to have a much larger fleet. If we can stop getting it blown up. That's been the rub now for decades. With a smallish empire and mid-level tech, progress on research is slow. We're starting to get there on a new planetary shield that frankly wouldn't do us all that much good, since it's the biologicals that are really killing us. Worse yet, we discover that the rocks have discovered the dreaded Bio-Terminator. The next year, we re-colonize Helos for the umpteenth time, and also Morrig which will be only a shadow of it's former else. Protecting and building those up is top priority as the Space Amoeba leaves Phyco in search of another target ... Then we lose contact with the Bulrathi. Just when we were making progress ...  2528. Didn't see them coming until it was too late -- takes three years to get ships there. Fortunately our bases took care of it with minimal losses(10M pop at most, two bases). A somewhat larger follow-up attack the next year was defeated as well, though more died. They only have the mid-level Doom Virus right now, and just one launcher per ship(though their anti-missile rockets are no fun). At the same time, we recolonized Phyco. The Space Amoeba left a small percentage of the factories intact, but that's it. Soon it struck again ...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBm177yycZY I was hoping it would attack Aquilae, our biggest stronghold(Rich, 105M). It didn't do well. The Silicoid attack on our homeworld went little better, killing 14M but resulting in many incinerated ships on their side.  A new first for this LP -- they've always attacked another empire before. A larger attack on Sol involving over a hundred ships took out a few dozen more, but still over 100M remained. A combination of the antidote, higher populations, and more bases is holding the line for now -- but time is against us if we don't continue to improve defenses. 2534. The Meklar have taken two former worlds of ours that were being fought over, Rigel and Exis in the upwards direction. Once again, the cybernetics taking a system ends all discussion. They are keeping it. Our fleet is nearing the maximum size I can reasonably pay for(about 15% each for ships and bases), and continues to muster at Helos, the most vital system to keep as a developing rich world. In the backwaters, Morrig and Phyco are building up gradually as well. I deign to send an expedition to Palladia, green star on the lower right of this screen(that is also missing in this update, which really was a session of fail in terms of saving the images apparently). That's another rich one right in the Silicoid craw and would be quite nice to retake. Meanwhile focus of the economy shifts back to research. We've crawled back from the brink a bit now ... can we keep it going? The report from Palladia is promising ... it's unoccupied. I send half our fleet in. They won't last against a determined Silicoid attack, but they'll force a sizable one in order to defeat them. Getting back to 11 systems, and a fourth rich one, would be a major boon to our economy. I also notice that the rocks have taken Rigel ... first time I've seen the Meklar lose a system. Still focusing on Palladia though, which is more valuable. 2538: A silicoid force with a colony ship and a few cruisers is chased off of Paladia. We lost about as much as they did, but still a success. The rocks are getting away with occasional bit of sabotage maybe once a decade, while our espionage has gone nowhere. Neither side is accomplishing anything significant on that front.  Lots of activity over here now that we are back in control of Palladia. The year is 2540, and there are rocks everywhere as you'd expect this close to their territory ... but this Meklar fleet is also coming. They could well help us defend the system. This also puts us back in contact with the Bulrathi, yet another reason to maintain control; a second trade partner. I send most of the rest of the fleet in, figuring that this will be a higher priority for the Silicoids to attack. Currently our fleet is about 80% of theirs in strength, so I think we've actually got a fighting chance to keep this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRn2I8zG3bM That went pretty well ... their missiles hurt, but we gave ok too and they never got close to the planet. And Class XV Planetary!  As many missiles as the Silicoids are deploying, I'm thinking it's worth getting the Zyro. They are mostly Stingers right now, so it would have a significant impact. We could upgrade our shielding also, but that would take a lot longer. And ... we lose contact with the Bulrathi again anyway. There's so many battles going on all over the galaxy, fronts ebbing and flowing; I've never gained and lost and gained and lost and gained and lost contact like this. I literally have to check the Races screen constantly just to see who is even on it! You don't get a notice when you re-establish contact, just when you lose it. Because reasons I'm sure. The Alkari were back, so we set up trade with them. Only to lose it in a few years probably. We're still allied with them, but they are fighting the Bulrathi(the reason for the switch, I'm sure), so that may not last long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVW1QWzafU4 Another success, as more ships have arrived. What you saw there was the majority of what we have. And thanks birdbrains for sabotaging your ally. Get a grip.  Four planetary shields finish, but this is more my concern. There are two Silicoid fleets bypassing Palladia to attack elsewhere. If I had to guess, I'd say one is headed to Sol and the other Helos. And I do have to guess due to my scanner tech. The fleet is recalled to Helos; bases will defend Sol just fine. I'm now depending on those Meklar to stay at Palladia and guard it like they are doing right now, or I'm going to lose it again. But if it's a choice, I'm keeping Helos. Another attack at Rha is easily repulsed, and we get the Ion Stream Projector -- which I have no interest in using right now.  This is another matter though. Pulson missiles are much more effective than what we have against anything with shields. Just what I was looking for to boost our defense. The Silicoids bribe us to break our Mrrshan agreements for the umpteenth time, and ...  This is simply a matter of strength here. The Alkari continue to be the weakest overall race in the galaxy. I'm not siding with them against the Bears. We are no longer allies now -- but the Bulrathi replaced them in the contact list again, and we established trade again. Then I discovered that the stupid Bulrathi have allied with the Silicoids and are at war with the Meklar. Well, I would have honored my alliance had I known that. There was no way I could have though. The chaotic wheel of MOODiplomacy continues to spin, with another likely-inconclusive Council six years away. 2546: the Meklar leave Palladia, but it looks like we can spare the ships and once again half are sent.  I was a year too late, and we lose contact with the Bulrathi again. Another 10 million human citizens were exterminated, but I'd do the same thing again given the same choices. Helos is a higher priority. The year afterwards, incoming attacks at Helos and Keeta were obliterated easily with almost no losses. I'm getting the sense that the Silicoids are getting worn down.  This was a surprise to see, but one I've been looking for. It came in early, single-digit probability while our engines were further along -- though we got those(Ion) the same time. Battle Computer VII for this computing option, and for the other ...  Normally High Energy Focus would be a no-brainer here, but I actually want the range. I've never had it matter this much this late in the game -- but for the purposes of re-establishing relations and trade it is vital. Scanner-spam resulted in a dozen planets being scanned -- and we also will now know ETA and destination of enemy fleets, just as vital. The Meklar have been busy turning all their planets into Gaias it seems. Making use of what they have.  With the Ion Drives it was time to put together a new ship. I thought about putting shielding on it, but the new thrusters took up too much space. Speed will increase the evasion significantly as it is. No other weapon system worth considering, so the HI(Hard Beam-Ion Drive) Cruiser has arrived.  This is incoming, and it's the largest Silicoid fleet I think I've seen, though a few have been close. Unfortunately for them, it's headed for our fortress at Aquilae. Anywhere else and I'd be worried. The last thing we do before the next Council vote is recolonize Palladia. For like the 5th time or something. I think we keep it finally, but we'll see. Same nominees, different generation.  The galaxy added one vote, and the rocks didn't get it. That's good news, but they've still got veto power so we're settling nothing here. ** Meklar(6) -- Johan III. No change. ** Bulrathi(8) -- Granid. Since they've allied, I knew this was coming. ** Alkari(4) -- Johan III. They lost a vote. ** Mrrshan(5) -- Johan III. No change. We've got 10 here, the only empire to gain and we are +2, a reflection of an excellent period in which we defeated the space amoeba, made peace with the Bulrathi, and pushed back against the Silicoid menace. We vote for ourselves -- I don't know why I abstained last time, it's not like making the rocks more angry is going to matter.  After 250 years, nothing is even close to being decided. Almost a 50-50 split.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 03:57
|
|
|
I’m stunned you’re still second in population when your planet count is so low. Or maybe it’s bounced back; you’re gaining and losing colonies at a crazy pace. Sometimes it feels like the AIs all sing of peace and harmony together. This is not one of those games. If you could step back from the fray, I think you can pull this out.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 05:28
|
|
|
The upside of this insane game is that you might end up hitting some high tech levels.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 10:38
|
|
|
This LP got me playing the original again and drat if it isn't still my favorite 4x. I just had a Klackon game go south when the Psilons backstabbed me, and I ain't even mad. I just wish there was a way to speed up dosbox a little...
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 11:23
|
|
|
Fhqwhgads posted:This LP got me playing the original again and drat if it isn't still my favorite 4x. I just had a Klackon game go south when the Psilons backstabbed me, and I ain't even mad. I just wish there was a way to speed up dosbox a little... Ctrl+F12 to give dosbox more CPU cycles.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 14:22
|
|
|
ulmont posted:Ctrl+F12 to give dosbox more CPU cycles. This is a gamechanger!
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 14:25
|
|
|
Also CTRL+F11 to slow it down. Very useful when you want to shoot'n'scoot during battles, since the window for clicking movement is vanishingly small for some weapons. Actually a good argument for breaking up weapons into multiple groups, since it gives you longer to click move.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 14:43
|
|
|
I hope you go for Orion (before you lose I mean win). Death Spores? I've got Death RAYS! 
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2017 16:41
|
|
|
BurningStone posted:I’m stunned you’re still second in population when your planet count is so low. Or maybe it’s bounced back; you’re gaining and losing colonies at a crazy pace. Bounced back some, definitely up significantly from the low point of seven systems some while ago. There's an update on that coming early on in the next section, but basically only the Silicoids are all that big. ulmont posted:Ctrl+F12 to give dosbox more CPU cycles. I ended up changing whatever the dosbox config file thingy is to around 25k or so for this; that avoids having to do it every time you boot up.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2017 01:35
|
|
|
Episode VI: 2550-2575 The Meklar ask us to go to war with the Bulrathi. If we want to stay allied(and we do), there is no choice.  We remain sort of 'in contact' in terms of tech and fleet power, production has gained some. Still a lot of work to do of course.  I decide to try for nearly-max espionage against the Silicoids for a while, see if that gets us anywhere. Incredibly, those idiots are still using some designs with retro engines. They've had sub-light for a good long while and recently developed impulse capability. If and when I get the chance, I'm going to work on getting the Bulrathi to break that alliance with the Silicoids, but that's for another time.  Planet holdings: ** Silicoid(18) -- Same. ** Bulrathi -- 11, also no change. ** Human(11) -- +4, a huge gain in a quarter-century, esp. if we hold Palladia. ** Meklar(10) -- Our one stable ally is also up, by two systems. ** Alkari(8) -- lost one system. ** Mrrshan(6) -- down by 2. Looks like the birds and kitties are getting pushed out of the way a bit.  The two that we've got coming right now are definitely valuable. Andrium Armor will make our ships tougher and I'll do a small re-design when it arrives. Further down the pike is Complete Eco Restoration, which will slash our modest but still significant waste bills by a quarter(20 per BC, currently 5 per BC with Enhanced version). Current maintenance numbers are about 15% ships, 12% bases. A little low but close to where I'd like to be. The research focus will continue for now. Terraforming is finished on Morrig/Phyco/Helos, and we've been building the shield on that last one. Soon those systems will be secure. We repel the space rocks easily at Paladia in 2552. Another year, and Aquilae lost 32M people to the Silicoid attack. With our Planetary XV Shields, only their biologicals had any effect, but with the size of the force they sent it was still a third of the population.  Only took us five years of more intense effort to get in ... but couldn't access the two fields I wanted, Planetology and Computers. I wonder why, since I thought the deal was you can choose any category that you don't have everything they do? Anyway I went Weapons here. We got Merculite Missiles ... not as good as the Pulsons we are researching but they should be better than our current Scatter Packs against shielded targets.  2557. A big moment, as with no incoming ships this means our fleet is no longer needed to protect it. I begin to entertain thoughts of when we might be able to stretch our legs even beyond Paladia ...  I'm sure they'll solve this, but anything bad for them is good for us.  2561 situation here. You can see the typical proportion that is going to waste spending for quite a long time now; 15-20% I think. It'll be good to reduce that to nearly nothing. Also, the two 'Reloc' lines here are the two good rich systems fully-developed(Aquilae and Klystron) sending ships out to Paladia on the right. They are building enough to just slightly increase our ship maintenance costs as the economy grows, keeping that very stable so that the rest of the systems are able to work on keeping us competetive in research. Meanwhile the other empires are mostly fighting each other at the moment. Feels like I'm getting over the hump here, which is hilarious given how when I lost the three straight super-close High Council votes I was searching for something ... anything ... that would get me to that point. With that and all the chaos that followed, to be here and have things look like I'm gradually gaining power on a slowly accelerating curve is a beautiful, beautiful thing. It won't last forever but I'm working hard here to make sure humanity can stand against our foes when they decide we're worthy of more attention. In particular the Meklar-Silicoid stuff looks to be really intense.  Only a significant part of all the ships the rocks are sending every which way. Really glad I don't have to figure out who is going where, as MOO gives me the visual alert when one of my current systems is targeted. That's ... a lot of ships.  Andrium Armor came in. A new and improved 'HI' cruiser will be built. Three of these options were worth considering. The reduced waste would drop that amount by a quarter and is an older, cheap tech, but we'll have very little as it is once Complete Eco arrives. Reducing factory costs(currently at 5) by another 40% would be nice ... but it costs almost as much as the Tritanium which is probably overall even nicer, so I go that route. 2565: In 15 years the espionage push has gotten us absolutely nothing, so we abandon the effort. Might as well use the resources for our domestic affairs. Then the Zyro Shield came in and we moved on to the Class XI Shield; currently we're at VII so that would be a major boost. Zyro is currently too big to really be practically useful on our ships -- I'd have to give up too much other stuff for it to be worth it I think. That'll be different once we get into attacking planets, but right now it's just about defending what we have. Also ...  Figures. In 2567 Complete Eco Restoration finally arrives. Then there is this choice ...  Terraforming +80M would be another 30 million per planet. The Guava Plan requires that Bio Terminator, but also much more advanced tech and miniaturization than we have. I'd love to turn the weapon of the space rocks against them but we aren't at the point of being able to do that yet. So Terraforming it is.  2569. This is Exis, a former colony of ours of course and one that continues to change hands. The Silicoids look set to retake it, and I was quite tempted to send ships in to do just that. They've got a couple of new ones in that group though, capital ships for the first time and we don't know their capabilities. Also, Paladia's planetary shield isn't up and running so it would be at least somewhat risky to divert fleet assets from there just yet. I decided it's better to wait a little longer before striking out again, but I'd really like to get Exis(and Jinga, also probably still poorly-defended) back in the fold at some point. I changed my mind a year later and decided to send some of our more expendable ships out there. Helos had finished up it's run of missile bases, and our military maintenance was nearing my target goal of 35%(32-33% at the moment). With a third rich world now in the shipbuilding business on our latest designs, we were going to scrap the old ones soon anyway. Why not put them to use and try to gain some territory? Plus the Silicoids had destroyed the Meklar colony at Rigel.  Here's the specs at the time of the expedition, 2570. The bottom one is our latest colony ship -- we can build destroyer-sized colonizers but only up to Barren landings. The more hostile ones can't fit and I don't want to use up more than one slot for that. All of the combat ships have been cruiser-sized with Hard Beams for a long time. The top two are the slower ones with Sublight engines and due to be eliminated. I sent the lot of them with a colony ship to Exis to see what happened. The other ones have faster Ion propulsion and escalating defenses(Andrium armor and minimal shielding on the latest versions). We wouldn't get there until after them, but could always send troops at that point if we managed to secure orbital space. If not, then maybe we take some of the rocks with us instead of just scuttling the older ships, and get some intel on their newer designs. This should be a relative win-win. The Mrrshan got to Exis first and reclaimed it in '71, then the Silicoids destroyed that settlement in '72, but not much was rest of their fleet, just a pair of cruisers. Looks like the Mrrshan showed their fangs beforing biting it. The rocks did not even attempt to defend their position in orbit when we showed up the following year.  Meanwhile, the Meklar had also gotten control of Rigel back, also good news. Alkari, Mrrshan, Meklar, and Silicoid, the first three of those friends, were all en route. The Silicoid fleet is not large enough to be a major concern, but the Mrrshan transports can't be recalled, so we sent as many people as possible to hopefully hold them off. That's an unfortunate accidental act of war we have on our hands. IF we can hold Exis, it should be enough to re-establish relations permanently instead of them constantly flitting in and out of communications. That means more trade, which could potentially be a lot more valuable than the system itself.  Unfortunate, but also necessary.  Same song, different verse. Obscenely stable, and veto-capable plus one for our enemies. The rest of the field: ** Meklar(6) -- Johan III, no change. ** Bulrathi(8) -- Granid, again the same. ** Alkari(5) -- Johan III. ** Mrrshan(4) -- Johan III. Lost one more. Once our strongest ally, they are steadily melting away. We gain two more to 11, and the vote is deadlocked at 27-all. Our empire continues to slowly rise from near-ashes, but there is little changed in the overall balance of things.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2017 00:34
|
|
|
Definitely got the feeling that things are looking up. That's good.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2017 05:18
|
|
|
I forget, have we found Orion yet in this run?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2017 09:42
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:I forget, have we found Orion yet in this run?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2017 10:29
|
|
|
Thotimx posted:but couldn't access the two fields I wanted, Planetology and Computers. I wonder why, since I thought the deal was you can choose any category that you don't have everything they do? How Espionage works is: every turn, every spy that's alive on that opponent (including ones that arrive that turn, so I usually only assign enough points to get 2/year at most) rolls a d100, and so does that AI's security. Both sides add their Computer tech level, and then the defender adds their Security spending. There are a couple other minor modifiers, but mostly that's it. Note that Darloks get +20% to both of those rolls, which is why they can usually spy pretty reliably. You need something like an 80 to successfully steal, and a "critical success" to frame on top of that. The amount you succeed by determines the tech level you're allowed to access, so if the AI has a field where the only things you don't have are high level, you might not be able to pick it. Some players just hit ESC and not steal anything if you don't get very many options, since that means you got a bare minimum hit, which also means you're more likely to have been ID'd. But I always pick one anyway and roll with the punches if we get busted. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2017 17:33
|
|
|
Wayne posted:How Espionage works is: every turn, every spy that's alive on that opponent (including ones that arrive that turn, so I usually only assign enough points to get 2/year at most) rolls a d100, and so does that AI's security. Both sides add their Computer tech level, and then the defender adds their Security spending. There are a couple other minor modifiers, but mostly that's it. Note that Darloks get +20% to both of those rolls, which is why they can usually spy pretty reliably. You need something like an 80 to successfully steal, and a "critical success" to frame on top of that. The amount you succeed by determines the tech level you're allowed to access, so if the AI has a field where the only things you don't have are high level, you might not be able to pick it. To summarize from the official strategy guide: The two d100 rolls are actually separate events. First the security roll determines if the spy confesses (100+), is killed (71-99), stopped but not noticed (51-70), identified but can succeed (31-50), goes undetected (1-30), or frames someone (0 or less). Second, the infiltration roll determines failure (0-84), success (85-99), or framing (100+). The first roll adds the target empire's security spending bonus, and subtracts 30 if the spy is hiding. Both rolls use the difference between the spy's and target's computer tech levels and the Darlok's +20 bonus. Finally if the spy succeeds, a third die is rolled between 1 and the target's highest tech level to determine the steal number. If there are no techs to steal below the steal number, the mission fails. If there are techs to steal the player can pick from the eligible fields and gets the highest level tech that is less than or equal to the steal number.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2017 23:39
|
|
|
Congrats on grinding the way back up to stability!
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2017 07:29
|
|
|
Meanwhile, the wind gently whispers... ...Guava plan...
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2017 07:46
|
|
|
IceMole posted:To summarize from the official strategy guide: Thanks!  Probably just got some wires crossed from MOO2, I've been playing that lately too. There are a lot of things the guide is wrong about, thanks to late-cycle revisions, patches, and bugs*, but that sounds about right. The security roll coming first (and knowing that AIs at war crank their slider) explains why you don't get as many steals as you'd expect.* Such as (relevant to this discussion) another good old rounding error. Every spy network you try to establish in a race costs you the BCs up front (and the cost is based on your Computer tech level too), but you get them next turn. Well, if you're spying on multiple races at a time, the amount that gets rounded off another race doesn't carry over. So some cash is going to waste, and sometimes you get fewer than the listed number of spies if your Espionage budget in the planet screen can't pay for it. The guy who found that recommends only spying on one race at a time to avoid wasting BCs.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2017 17:34
|
|
|
GuavaMoment posted:Meanwhile, the wind gently whispers... ...meklars need braces...
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2017 17:38
|
|
|
GuavaMoment posted:Meanwhile, the wind gently whispers... I actually tested that out on a different 'branch' of this save. Bottom line is we need more miniaturization for it be effective. On the tougher planets, no matter the configuration, everything got blown up before they could even get their payload away. IceMole posted:if the spy succeeds, a third die is rolled between 1 and the target's highest tech level to determine the steal number Thanks, this is the part I didn't know. PurpleXVI posted:I forget, have we found Orion yet in this run? What was already said. It's the green star to the right of Aquilae in some of the screens.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2017 05:04
|
|
|
Episode VI: 2575-2600 This should be a low ebb for the fleet here; we just scrapped over three dozen of the old cruisers at Exis. Still nearly respectable, and we're competitive in pretty much everything. Gradually moving up in production at a snail's pace, but the big things are still the Silicoid size and the tech edge that they and the Meklar enjoy. It's not dominant, but it is still significant. Fleet just took a big hit but we continue to narrow the production gap ever-so-slowly and generally do just enough to stay relevant otherwhise. The same territory we had last time, but all except Paladia, which is well on it's way, are fully developed.  It appears that Exis is going to be a stable foothold, and it puts us just within range of the homeworlds of the Bulrathi, Alkari, and Mrrshan(all of whom began clustered close together, yet still managed to expand. Strange). That gave me confidence in extending trade deals; the Meklar is an increase and the other two are just-signed. Strangely the Meklar are at peace with everyone right now, while the rest breaks down quite clearly as Silicoids/Bulrathi vs. the balance of the galaxy. The Alkari refused our proposed alliance, but everything else went well and we should start to see increased income soon from these new deals.  The Meklar couldn't hold their gains and keep squabbling with the Silicoids, while the Mrrshan fade as Bulrathi power grows in the center-right area. That's the short version. By planet totals: ** Silicoid(18) -- Same. ** Human(12) -- Paladia is well into it's development, Exis just beginning the curve there. Everywhere else is running full-speed. ** Bulrathi(11) -- No change. ** Meklar(8) -- Down by two. ** Alkari(8) -- Holding steady overall . ** Mrrshan(5) -- Lost another one. They aren't totally out of it, but things don't look very good for them right now. Long-term, I'm watching two systems as our next targets now. The first is Jinga, red flag in the nebula left of center. We had it for a while almost two centuries ago now. That would put us right in the middle of everybody's business, for good or ill. By the time Exis is fully up and running, which will take some time, I think we may want to go for Orion instead though. That would help us in the Council, give us devastating new toys, and the research boost could be decisive. I'd like to have another generation of tech before we do that though. These plans could change based on events around us, but right now it's looking like Jinga or Orion in another 2-3 decades.  Soon we'll get the slight range boost that we probably don't even need anymore. The new missiles will give us considerably improved security, and are the only other project coming soon. 2576: We take down the last incoming Silicoid wave to Exis, losing 21 more outdated ships. Thanks for the maintenance help fellas! Although now we have little remaining to defend the system. The very next year Paladia finishes it's Planetary Shield though, allowing us to gradually start funneling ships over to Exis as the base buildup commences. Oh, and the Alkari capture Jinga. Outstanding -- and quite good news for us even if doesn't hold up.  Trilithium Crystals(Range 10) arrive in 2579, and the HEF here is the only choice to go forwards. There's no real decision to be made.  The diplomatic situation is shaken up as a Mrrshan attack on Rigel fails. Barely, as you can see. The Meklar do not take this lightly and our two empires are at war. Often reckless, the felines have once again proven their incompetence, and probably also dug their own graves here. No question where our loyalties lie. 2582: The Mrrshan demand that we break our alliance with the Meklar. They are royally ticked when we refuse ... but technically our agreements with them are still in force. For now.  Another year, and this. Entirely predictable and expected. The Alkari are also on the Mrrshan side of this conflict. It's now basically us and the cybernetics against the rest. Practically speaking though there is little change. We aren't quite close enough to their territory for there to be any serious fighting between us. There is some weirdness though, as the Meklar have sought out the Bulrathi as allies. This we cannot allow to stand. Fortunately we are able to get them to break those ties; otherwhise it could have turned even our closest friend against us.  The birdbrains have paid the price for their insolence. In the year 2587, the Meklar ruthlessly destroyed their homeworld of Altair. They lost little in the process. You can see here Ursa and Fierias, origins of the Bulrathi and Mrrshan respectively, nearby.  We've received many entreaties from the rocks over the years. I seriously consider taking this offer in '89, and ultimately decide to give it a try. The the Meklar demand war with the Alkari and get it. Then ...  Hilarious choice to use nearly 300 years into the game, but I think this is a bribe from them. We are also able to gain peace with the Bulrathi. An interesting situation has now developed. An emerging consensus among the more powerful races of the galaxy that the Alkari and Mrrshan must be destroyed. How can we profit from this?  The answer lies at Jinga. We are in no position technologically to assault fortified worlds, but the Mrrshan just took this from the Silicoids. Since all others are at war from them, we can secure their good opinion by striking here against the empire I once held to be our strongest ally. As we are under no threat, I feel liberated to send most of our fleet from Exis to handle this task. Much like the victorious Klackon game in Ep. III, we may buy ourselves some time by the good-will of others in striking at targets of opportunity, with the galaxy united against common, weak foes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exqwdMklzJE Well, that certainly could have gone better. Nothing much to say about it other than yeah, the Mrrshans are skilled gunners. We'll need to have a more determined effort to take them down. The mere attempt skyrockets our relations though. In two years, we have gone from centuries-long conflict to an alliance we our new fast friends the Silicoid Empire, and with the Bulrathi as well. One can now forsee a future in which the four of us allies(including the Meklar) eliminate the Alkari and Mrrshan from the galaxy. In that prospective future, the Bulrathi and Meklar would likely side with us in the Council -- possibly proving enough support for us to become High Master over the rocks. A lot of that depends on who gets the most territory in this war. Meanwhile our 4th rich system, Paladia, is now ready to enter the shipbuilding business. That'll escalate the buildup of our fleet so that we can see what a larger force will do against the Mrrshan. 2592 -- Things shift quickly. The Alkari take Jinga, and have very little in orbit there. We try again.  Ok, I get the point. I'm sorry I didn't use the name Ender. Sheesh.  And our new toys are thankfully now here, in 2594. So are Class XI Deflectors.  I don't see how we can turn down the chance for the top-level Planetary Shields here. Meanwhile we also go for the Particle Beam, which does the same thing as the Hard Beam only with more damage(halves shields, 10-20 damage), as the next option. would have considered a bomb but there were none available. The Auto Blaster(4-16 damage, fires 3x) might be better against the Mrrshan/Alkari, but frankly they may not be around by the time we get it.  We're back. I was going to invade and have troops on the way -- but one of our allies glassed the thing, so now we have to try to set up facilities before they get here. Mrrshan are incoming, so I send in the rest of the ships we have. We're going to have to fight to keep it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3niKldfJue8 Not so tough against more numbers, as it turns out. Jinga is now our new rally point for the fleet. We risk spreading ourselves too thing, but Altair is nearby, retaken by the Alkari and ripe for the picking. Colonizers were still on the way there when the Council voted again ...  The rocks grow again. +3 out of 5 additional votes in the galaxy this cycle. ** Meklar(7, +1) -- Johann III. ** Bulrathi(12, +4) -- Johann III. Expanding and now in our corner again. Perfect. ** Alkari(3, -2) -- Granid ** Meklar(3, -1) -- Granid. Naturally the twirps get in their last flailing stabs at us. We surprisingly hold at 12 and abstain with Granid leading the vote 28-19. A narrow majority in our favor if we voted for ourselves.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2017 19:17
|
|
|
Man, this game just keeps coming with all these twists and surprise upsets. I literally can't tell exactly how this is gonna turn out, though it's looking like a slow and steady victory.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2017 19:33
|
|
|
Thotimx posted:
Just as long as we're clear on that point. But it looks like you're heading in for a slow victory. The interesting thing with 4x games is that they usually have exponential growth, until you run into your opponents. Since exponential growth is so mind-blowingly huge, even a small difference between the races should be opening up into a large difference. To see the balance of power stay this balanced for this long is really unusual.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2017 22:44
|
|
|
In retrospect, it seems blindingly obvious to attack the weakest opponent instead of grinding against the strongest. Would have required flipping the diplomatic situation, so easier said than done. But yea, you’ve got a clear plan to win.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2017 23:28
|
|
|
300 years into the game, the Silicoids use Gatling Laser technology to provide the light shows for their diplomatic events and parties. They licensed it to you for free after they got over their shock that Humans never worked that trick out. Harmless at parties, of course, but the military application is immediate and direct.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2017 09:57
|
|
|
BurningStone posted:In retrospect, it seems blindingly obvious to attack the weakest opponent instead of grinding against the strongest. Would have required flipping the diplomatic situation, so easier said than done. But yea, you’ve got a clear plan to win. it would have been if the birds and cats were anywhere near the humans in this game. as it stands it would have been a very awkward reach across the galaxy, while presenting an even broader attack surface to the actual primary rival.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2017 23:02
|
|
|
Pretty much. Attacking the others wasn't really a choice. At the time, I could attack the Meklar, attack the Silicoids, or attack nobody. I thought ganging up on the Silicoids could get me the planet or two I needed to win. I was wrong mostly because it was too early; it's hard to attack successfully that early in the game.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2017 02:16
|
|
|
Episode VI: 2600-2625 Already the Alkari and Mrrshan are shrinking somewhat. I expect that process to accelerate and come to a rather rapid conclusion. We will continue to take all reasonable steps to ensure that we come out of this conflict as strong as possible. To the point that has been made about long-term balance, look at the tech situation. Nobody dramatically ahead of anyone else, three centuries in. I literally don't think I've ever seen that before.  We aren't exactly soulmates with the Silicoids and Bulrathi, but solid allies of convenience. That may not last much longer than the current war.  Some quite important stuff is coming in. Once the new battle computer is in we'll do a ship redesign. Should get terraforming soon as well, along with a couple of other goodies.  We're not building any ships right now due to the maintenance situation; all four rich systems are dumping into the reserve with massive annual transfer payments to research. That'll stop once we can build better ships(any time now). 2601 was another momentous year. Battle Computer Mk VII came in -- we'll go with the ECM of the same rank as the only forward-looking option. Meanwhile Altair and Fierias, former homeworlds of our once-allies and now-enemies, were colonized and added to the human empire. I now need to formulate a population-spreading plan; it won't be long until these new worlds have nearly 200 million inhabitants. They will become significant centers of whatever it is we need them to be.  There's lots to look at here. Right now all the normal stuff of building up border defenses etc. is getting thrown out the window. Along with the two homeworld systems we just took, Primodius and Obaca are also ripe for the taking. Like these two were, they are worlds that have been fought over and have minimal populations. Essentially what's going on here is that our allies are taking out the Mrrshan and Alkari worlds, then we get our people to them, and since we're allied they aren't going to fight us for them so they move on to the next enemy target. Lather, rinse, repeat, as far as it will take us. As I mentioned we also need people here. Right now just your basic 2M each on Altair and Fierias. Jinga has just 10M, it's current max, and it's a long way back to more. Whatever our empire produces for the next few years is secondary and nearly irrelevant. The closest systems to this frontier will throw as much population as can usefully be sent in this direction. The ones behind them will send transports to fill them up. Etc. The goal is a massive population transfer that gives us enough at the front to do invasions if necessary or build up our new territories quickly once the dust settles otherwhise. We want to come out of this a lot closer to the Silicoids in territory. The nebula complicates things considerably, because our transports will move a lot slower there -- we've got to send them around to the right in many situations, slowing things up.  The new ship design is also done; it's on the bottom here. The battle computer is improved(+3 attack vs. the previous models) and with our latest shield development we splurged for a much better one(Class VII vs. Class II before). Had to take off two hard beams to do it, but the increased accuracy should make up some of the difference there and we'll definitely be a lot more resistant to enemy fire. We capture Primodius almost immediately, but with the fleet spread thin the Alkari are able to take and hold Obaca for a bit.  High-Energy Focus is in, and we'll go for the new engines here. Obaca falls the next year, though the Alkari bombard Altair as we didn't have enough there to defend it. With no other immediate action in the area, it looks like the expansion is over with for the moment. It's 2605, and if we can maintain our current holdings and eventually consolidate, here's how things look  Those two Alkari systems near our cluster in the center both have significant numbers of bases. We aren't breaking through those without help. ** Silicoids -- 17 ** Humans -- 17(tied for the lead now!) ** Bulrathi -- 11 ** Meklar -- 9 ** Alkari -- 6 ** Mrrshan -- 4 The smaller races are far from dead, but we've got plenty of work to go securing this new territory. And there's no time to lose in doing so -- the peace may already be breaking.  Once this Meklar invasion force arrives, the diplomatic winds may well change. For much of the past half-century or so, there hasn't been a lot of micro needed. The slow growing etc. Then we made peace with the Silicoids and everything broke loose. There's going to be a lot of careful slider adjustments and monitoring of enemy movements and situations for a while here no matter what.  New armor and terraforming advances are in. Here we're going to go with Advanced Damage Control(30% repair of surviving ships each turn). Powered Armor and cheaper factories also have some arguments in their favor, but making our ships more survivable trumps that right now IMO. We'll also work on adding another 20M to our planets with Terraforming +100M.  2607. This is most of what's there. The Alkari had sent part of their fleet after Jinga, and so we reinforced there which left this more vulnerable. The planets are packed close together so we don't have warning before they arrive, and we can't defend all of them in enough force to defend them. It's a constant chess game each year that we will eventually win with sheer force -- but blows like this hurt development for sure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxwxb1IHgrA The next year was not a good one for either side really, but better for us. We narrowly fought them off at Altair and won this battle at Jinga, but then Primodius was destroyed. Their transports to Altair were also defeated. As long as we keep the bigger systems, I'll be reasonably happy. We can restart on the smaller ones later. Our rich systems completed the lastest missile base ramp-up the same year(almost to the largely arbitrary limit of 100 that I'm still sticking with now, in the 90s for the bigger ones), and they'll get our most recent design flowing in bigger numbers to the front. We only had four of them at Jinga, but they should be a lot more resistant to their weapons. In 2611, the Primodius colony was re-established. The Bulrathi narrowly fought off the Meklar invasion at Quayal, with 8M left. At least for now, they are still at peace. There are no more apparent attacks on any front. We may have to handle the unpleasantries ourselves if we wish to make further gains -- but for now, consolidating still gives us plenty to do. The next year that is proven as another Alkari attack at Altair is barely driven off -- and I think they could have gotten us, but they retreated mid-battle. They're back a year later, but we defeat them. They are only interested in attacking our older ships, and are doing relatively minimal damage so I think our new models will be all but invincible. Trade deals are bumped up across the board by about 50%, now at 2225BC each. We're still the smallest economy. Another cycle, in 2614, the Alkari and Mrrshan both want peace. They ask us to break our agreements with the Bulrathi. Nope.  A few years later, the Alkari send almost every ship they have in the area to Jinga. This is a little easier to counter, as we redirect all ours there as well. We've got a few bases up but not enough to make a real difference, and of course shields won't operate in the nebula. In 2616 we easily defeated this attack. Our position should now be fairly secure on this frontier.  Unfortunate. It is 2618. With that having happened, the Alkari and Mrrshan try again, asking us to break off with the Meklar as well. Not gonna happen.  We do manage this, which should keep the Bears at the very least neutral in the Council, and probably favoring us still.  Ultra Poor is not ideal of course, but this could eventually be a big world population-wise and therefore good for research. It used to belong to the Bulrathi, but was just destroyed by the Mrrshan. With no incoming attacks at the moment, we send in ships to secure it. When we arrived, the Mrrshan were no longer there, but Alkari and Bulrathi were. We had enough to defeat both of them, claiming Rana for the Human Empire in 2619.  We're not your friends, idiots. The Mrrshan sent exactly the same message. Meanwhile the Bulrathi and Silicoids are fighting over nearby Quayal, yet remain at peace for the time being.  2621. The final word in planetary protection has arrived. Class XV Deflectors, which I believe fill that same distinction for ships, will be next up. Most of our systems have finally maxed-out again after the terraforming and population transfers some while back, and should be able to have these up in a couple of years. There are three more research projects that are around the midway point, but none that are expected anytime soon. The miniaturization achieved here allows us to pack either a better shield on our ships or up the firepower from 6 to 8 hard beams. I opt for the second option, as we've been doing well in combat lately. More weapons means ending things more quickly and taking fewer losses. Maintenance is hanging around at just over 30% -- we've been losing a few of the older designs here and there, and haven't had to scrap anything yet.  We pick off another one in 2623; a former Silicoid world destroyed by the Bulrathi. A bunch of planetary shields are completed that year as well, including the one of Fierias. That signals that we're starting to really secure out foothold in the centre. Guaradas is radiated, but fully terraformed already at 110M max, so it's still significant. Just ahead of the next vote, we got a visit from a new Silicoid dreadnought, the Polaris. It can take a ton of punishment, and has the feared BioTerminator. It's weapons aren't particularly well-configured to battle our ships, but we'll need a lot of cruisers to take it down. We had 11 in position, not nearly enough. This was at Altair; concurrent attacks took place at Obaca(destroying the colony with their bioweapons), Jinga(where we defeated them), and Guradas(narrowly fought them off). Altair was destroyed in the follow-up bombardment, wasting all our hard work there. I have to say I'm impressed. A surprise attack simultaneously co-ordinated on four fronts. We lose two planets and it could easily have been worse. Thanks a lot, 'allies'.  Argh. All new ships will be redirected here.  A lot more people in the galaxy, even with our recent losses. And fewer Silicoids; we aren't going to win this, but they can no longer hold veto authority.  Up by one, but we've largely cut them off from playing a major role in proceedings, and they've also aggressively sat on their cybernetic behinds.  Interesting. Still a strong third, and I thought they might abstain. They don't like either one of us right now even though our agreements remain in force at the moment. Apparently they really don't like us, inasmuch as we've blown up a bunch of their ships recently.  The rocks are dangerously close to winning here ...  Two votes away from losing. We have 18, one fewer than the rocks and one more than the bears, and abstain. How quickly things shift. Looking great a year before, and we almost lose. The Silicoids notify us that they 'regret the necessity', but our Alliance is over. No crap. This has been one roller-coaster game. I was all prepared to write here about how great things are going for humanity and it's all over but the paperwork, the galaxy will soon be ours ... well that may happen, but it's far from certain with this turn of events.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2017 02:50
|
|
|
I feel like a broken record saying this, but this is the most nail-biting game I've seen. It's almost like reading European history. Alliances keep forming, breaking, no one is able to completely dominate or be completely sidelined.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2017 04:46
|
|
|
As long as the council vote doesn't go against you, I think you're in a winning position. Just need to keep those homeworld systems and build them up; losing Altair cost you 1-2 votes.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2017 05:18
|
|
|
How aware is the AI of the diplomatic game? Do they know not to do things that piss off enemies or that weaken their own bid for the council? For instance, would the AI try to avoid destroying/invading the last planet of a given species, to avoid the universal diplomatic penalty that would result? Or do they not care?
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2017 10:05
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:How aware is the AI of the diplomatic game? Do they know not to do things that piss off enemies or that weaken their own bid for the council? For instance, would the AI try to avoid destroying/invading the last planet of a given species, to avoid the universal diplomatic penalty that would result? Or do they not care? Considering how often I'd leave a race to one planet in a war, only to see someone else happily genocide them, I don't think they care too much.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2017 12:41
|
|
|
OAquinas posted:Just need to keep those homeworld systems and build them up; losing Altair cost you 1-2 votes. Agreed, but that's problematic at this stage for a couple reasons. One, we've reached the point of big ships and long fights, where attack trumps defense. Add to that the fact that their fleet's bigger than mine and fortress worlds just don't work. I think I may have/will make reference to this at some point, but here we've reached Peak Whack-A-Mole strategy. Attack more places than they can defend, lose some but gain more than you lose, grind them down through attrition. At least that either is or soon will be the goal. In related news, the systems are so close together that I can't even bunch up to defend what they are going to hit next -- because I don't know what that's going to be. I learn that when they attack and it's obviously too late then.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2017 20:30
|
|
|
You know who doesn't play Whack-A-Mole? The Orion Guardian! Kill the Guardian and eat its guts for Ultimate Power!
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2017 20:47
|
|
|
Episode VI: 2625-2650 Things still break down into four major powers and two small ones. Wish there was something I could do to get the Meklar off the sidelines.  We'll still take the Bulrathi and Silicoid money, but perhaps not for much longer. Checked into a trade upgrade with the Meklar, but we wouldn't have been able to increase that much.  ** Silicoids(17) ** Humans(17) -- We were leading until that sneak attack. Probably got just big enough to tick them off. ** Bulrathi(10) -- Down from their peak, but still definitely a threat. Their ships have proven relatively easy to counter. ** Alkari(6) ** Mrrshan(3) -- Barely hanging on.  Our situation in the center here. Given what's transpired, I've deemed Guradas, Rana, and Primodius to all be expendable. I'd love to take Altair and Obaca back but that's not in the cards right now. All ships are going to focus on the defense of Jinga and Fierias, both of whom have bases but not very many. They need to build up to their allotments so we can be reasonably fortified, then the fleet will be free to strike out elsewhere. I can't afford to lose those two systems, which makes everything else a luxury. In the lower-left is Phyco, where the comet threatens. All new ships will head there, which means they won't be coming to aid here until that crisis is over.  The current fleet here. The combined maintenance number is presently at 31.2%, right roughly where it's been. We used to have 35 of the top ship and 49 of the third one, designs from when we had minimal shielding on them. Soon we won't have any of those left. It's going to take about 30 cruisers in one location to take down the Silicoid capital ships; at least 20. As you can see that doesn't leave a lot of room for error here.  More help is on the way though. New drives and even more importantly, the Particle Beam which will have significantly increased damage, will be done soon. Three others are well underway; the main one of military value will be the Advanced Damage Control, though that won't be coming in for a while. When it does, we'll be able to make the switch to our own capships effectively. That's a longer-term solution to our problem with the traitorous space rocks. Holding on till we get there is another matter.  We fought well but the numbers(55 to 10) were overwhelming. Combat tech is fairly even, slightly in our favor, which is good to know for future battles.  Not good, but it could be something worse. Rana comes under bombardment, but we intercept all of the Silicoid transports headed for Jinga. The Bulrathi and Silicoids are fighting over Altair, which is just fine with me -- the longer they do that, the longer neither of them benefit from having it. 2628 brings bad news(Alkaris capture Rana, although if I had to pick, I'd take them having it over the others) and good news.  At that rate it should be gone in one more year, and then we can send ships back up to the Jinga/Fierias 'front' once more.  Our one remaining staunch ally is proving they can do something useful; maintaining watch over Primodius, they have thus far fended off all attempts on that system. The comet is indeed destroyed the following year; unfortunately it's a fairly long 4-year journey from Phyco to Jinga to make those ships useful again. Expenses dictate that we scrap the oldest of our ship designs at the same time. In 2631, the buildup at Fierias is finished and work at Jinga is accelerating. I don't see anywhere vulnerable enough to strike yet though; we must seek the right opportunity. the Silicoids have a number of dreadnoughts floating around, sometimes as much as 12-15 of them in a single force. We'd be very hard-pressed to confront that many at once. At Altair, the Bulrathi control the planet, Alkari and Silicoid fleets are in orbit, and the Meklar are incoming. What a convergence ... I'll just sit here on the sidelines, twiddle my thumbs, and see who wins.  AntiMatter Drives are in. Here we're going for Combat Transporters, which make ground invasions of even heavily fortified systems viable. Haven't used those in this LP yet(maybe ever, now that I think on it). Each transport has a 50% chance to get it's troops to the surface before being attacked by bases or ships.  Here we go. Against the shielding we've seen on the big Silicoid designs, these should do just about exactly twice as much damage as a Hard Beam. They also take up 66% more space right now, so overall effectiveness won't be all that much higher yet. Multiple tempting options next, but I go with the Neutronium Bomb. If we need to, let's have an option to just go in instead of waiting for others to clear the path for us.  This will probably be our last cruiser-sized design.  Same year here, 2634. We've got front-row seats to a knock-down, drag-out fight for the middle of the galaxy. Ursa, the Bulrathi homeworld, was just destroyed. So was Guradas, by the other side. Most significantly though, the Meklar and Bulrathi are allied and at war with the Silicoids. I think it's time we joined them. Bribing the bears with -- hold the laughter please -- the earth-shattering Gatling Laser -- is enough to make them sign a Non-Aggression Pact. We'll have to wait for an Alliance for a bit. What we really need to seal this is a Silicoid target to attack, but there are none that look inviting. That fleet over Ursa is too strong for us I think. The next year, the war is official as a result of a Meklar request. Also, Ursa is left open with only a token Alkari fleet. That'll change, but let's get there and announce ourselves first. Maybe the Silicoids will be too busy elsewhere to return. The latest division in the ever-shifting fortunes of the galaxy is Silicoids/Alkaris/Mrrshan against Humans/Bulrathi/Meklar. No question ours is the overall stronger trio. Question is how long it will last. If it's too successful, we could well just end up facing off against the Bulrathi as our Council opponent.  Next year. We got seriously lucky here as both this and the ECM Jammer came in; both were less than 20% chance individually. I'm getting a little annoyed with our lack of Robotics advancements; only Computer option is more ECM. However, we will take Complete Terraforming(a further 20M, the final one in the series) and say thank you very much. And we colonize the homeworld of our ally. Weird things can happen in scrambled situations like this. Even better, it turns out the Silicoids just killed everyone from orbit -- the factories are still intact. We just 'acquired' 840 of them. For free.  I think this is the second time at least this has happened this game, but first time I can prove it. The 32k ship bug strikes ... in our favor, as it's our allies the Meklar. Not this one, but they've got ships moving to the right, going after Silicoid targets. I'd like very much for them to gain territory as well.  With the arrival of Class XV Deflector Shields, we have reached the 'cleanup' stage of our top research field. We've got to back and get the stuff we missed. Personal Barrier Shields, to aid our ground troops, will be next.  2639. More good news here. The Meklar are sending a task force with a colony ship to Altair. They may have it with our blessings. The green star below Ursa is Guradas, and cybernetic fleets control it's orbit. I'll spare no ships to guard it -- I want to keep the fleet mostly at Ursa for now -- but we'll dispatch a colony ship there to add that back into the fold. There's also a small group of Meklars coming to Ursa as well. That can't hurt either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqTKRHeakMA We've obviously reached the point where missile bases are mostly irrelevant. It's about ship-to-ship combat now. I won't be building above 50 bases now, to reserve funding for other things. Widescale base eliminations are conducted for that purpose. They didn't damage our bases here -- but they didn't have to. We're never going to blow them up fast enough to counter biological weapons on that scale. This leaves us in a situation where we have only defensive weapons systems in an offensive environment. That's not a good situation, and we may well do quite poorly in the long-term if it continues. Our best anti-planet system is the Fusion Bomb, which can't get through the best planetary shields. We manage to trade with the Bulrathi for the Anti-Matter Bomb, which does 10-40 damage. Now we're in business. Also got Adamantium Armor, somewhat better than what we have, from the Meklar. Still waiting on one more thing to come in from our research before we embark on a new design.  2645. This fleet is headed for Fierias. I split our ships between two systems, Ursa and Exis. Both of them can get there in time, and we'll add whatever bases we can just for the fun of it in the meantime. Either they lose a substantial portion of their fleet, or we lose a key system. Or they retreat, but that seems unlikely.  On the in-between turn, we finish the current task I was waiting on. Neutronium Armor will be next. ADC allows the strategy to be unfolded that the Silicoids are currently using against us. I call it the 'Floating Fortress'. Let's see what we can do with it.  I actually went down a level in engines, armor, shields to preserve some space for weapons. Damage Control and the Zyro Shield take up a lot. As always, we'll want to adjust things as tech continues to advance and minaturiazation happens. Their ships have more HP at 2400, but it's the same basic idea. With 30% regeneration each turn, that means to make any progress at all you've got to do more 720 damage. That's not a small amount, particularly through the shielding that's on this. The bill of nearly 5k means it'll take a while. Not that long though. We'll still get 1-2 a year just with our four rich systems on the case. Once we have critical mass of these, we'll see what's what. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3U0sY8aJds Turned on Auto partway through there once it was obviously the colony wouldn't survive. Most of those were still Hard Beam ships, would have done better with superior weapons, but it's going to be really hard to stop a fleet with that many biologicals who can take that much damage from laying waste to our systems. The way to do it instead? Burn theirs down first!! Our ship maintenance is now virtually nil. It reads 0.0%. That was everything we had. We need lots of Dreadstars and we need them now. The larger planets will switch to shipbuilding, aiding the rich ones in pumping them out. We're largely at the Silicoids' mercy for the moment however.  2648: Weird news item. Pirates in the Altair system ... what makes it weird is that there is absolutely nothing there. The planet is uninhabited, so there's nothing to disrupt. We also get our first four Dreadstars going, each of which costs almost 1% in maintenance. Looks like we'll be able to build about 30 of them, or close to that.  The dozenth High Council meets ... and how many more? Granid is now significantly below veto power again, though he's +3 this cycle. Add in the small races though and he's still got plenty to not lose. ** Meklar(7) -- Johann III ** Bulrathi(17) -- Johan III. Both the same population as they had last time, but of course the main difference is they swung our way. ** Alkari(7) -- Granid ** Mrrshan(2) -- Granid. Looks like they are all but gone. ** Humans(20) -- Just +1 after all the gaining and losing is said and done. That makes the total vote 44-31 in our favor. That's the best we've been able to do in about 150 years, but still six votes shy of the finish line.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2017 21:27
|
|
|
I'm not sure if the combat transports work quite as they're described. I've seen whole transport fleets go poof on strongly defended enemy worlds despite the tech. Which is a shame, because it would give the Bulrathi a genuine, terrifying "late bloomer" potential otherwise.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2017 21:33
|
|
|
Oh God this game is just up and down, up and down.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2017 23:32
|
|
|
my dad posted:I'm not sure if the combat transports work quite as they're described. I've seen whole transport fleets go poof on strongly defended enemy worlds despite the tech. If a planet is that heavily defended, what good will capturing it even do? You'll just get bombed into oblivion by the orbiting fleet anyway. I loved the spite move of blowing up the enemy colony ships when it was obvious you were going to lose.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2017 02:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 05:44 |
|
|
GuavaMoment posted:If a planet is that heavily defended, what good will capturing it even do? You'll just get bombed into oblivion by the orbiting fleet anyway. A) Tech theft B) You want to take on the enemy fleet without them having the support of 50 shielded planetary missile batteries, and this would be one way to do that. C) That's a lot of enemy factories and planetary defences that go boom in addition to the population that died. D) The planet might be important to the enemy for strategic reasons and they'll have to spend the time and resources needed to recapture/recolonize it. Alas...
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2017 03:37
|
|