Imperium 31 - The Esper Gambit

[Cold Steel]

(I really need to start writing these right after I finish a game. But I think I remember most of it.)

Things were looking good. A decent world was found and settled close to the Homeworld. Several more habitable planets were in range.

Then the Darlok menace arrived from the south. Equipped with superior propulsion tech they spread like an oozing stain across the galaxy.

2337:


They even settled nearby Paladia, to the west, before we could get to it. Such an affront could not be allowed to stand! After colonizing Neptunus, Herculus, and Ukko we built a couple of large laser-equipped cuisers and dispatched them along with invasion forces at Paladia and a weakly defended Darlok planet south of Ukko.

As it turned out, the Darlok scientists had discovered more than propulsion tech. Our superior fire control gave our cruisers the advantage in a fair fight, but they could not stand up to Darlok numbers and technology. On the ground it got really bad. The Darlok had better ground combat tech, and several key invasion forces were swatted out of the sky by well planned (that is, lucky) Darlok fleet movements.

To the East the prey-critter race, the Alkari, launched a fleet, and then invasion forces, at Herculis. Being somewhat busy at the time losing the war against the Darlok we played along with the Alkari when they announced to the galactic community that the planet was a "gift". Trade with the Alkari continued. It was a stupid, worthless planet anyway. In fact, we meant for them to have it!

In the end we finally convinced the Darlok to sign a peace treaty and back off for a while. We had taken Paladia, but lost Ukko. Our technology was abysmal. Not a good situation.

Not long after, the Darlok declared war again.

Desperate measures were in order. When our sensors discovered a tiny fleet of Darlok fighters heading for well developed Esper, High Command came up with the plan that would change the course of the galaxy forever. The Esper Gambit.

Esper's missile bases were dismantled. A surviving cruiser from the pervious war was sent away to a nearby empty system. When the Darlok ships arrived they found the planet ripe for conquest. And as the first Darlok invasion forces approached, the planet's defenders fled for nearby Mrrshan systems. It was an easy conquest. The Darlok wasted no time in introducing their technology to the planet, no doubt intending to use it as a base for the total conquest of the Empire.

One year later, the Mrrshan counterattack arrived. The planet was retaken, along with Darlok technology.

2389:


2390:



While all this was going on the Darlok were busy fighting the Sakkra (?) to the east, and the dreaded Darlok main fleet never materialized. Instead they kept sending small fleets. Esper was lost and retaken at least twice more. Suckers.

Those tech captures were what we needed. Darlok tech was whored away to other races for whatever we could get for it. We held off the Darlok until they were ready for a new peace treaty, and went on to expand slowly east and to nearby hostile unsettled planets.

In 2449 the galactic council finally acknowledged the natural superiority of the Mrrshan race, and voted Emperor Arrrbehoh-Thirrrtyon High Master of the New republic. Glorious victory!




Comments: The planet trading trick is a bit of a borderline exploit, but I was desperate.

[jeffh]

I tried to set up the same gambit repeatedly but was either a worse player or less fortunate than you (or both) and was stymied every time. There always seemed to be a Darlok fleet waiting for my invasion forces even when there'd been nothing in sensor range a turn earlier.

[RefSteel]

Great game! As jeffh points out above, the Esper Gambit isn't a surefire thing (it can also be done accidentally, though of course that doesn't apply here) so it's not the cheesiest option in the world. And you executed brilliantly to bring in a win in a very challenging game! Well done!

The Darloks were very successful in this galaxy in part because their Mrrshan neighbor (us) didn't have the option to beeline the expansion techs needed early on. But as codehappy demonstrated, there were other options open to us: The LR Lemon laser destroyer was a great play in this game. (Now, if only I had used them!)