Imperium 11 game report

[meatbalz]

Putting this in as a placeholder until I get back from work tonight: very enjoyable game although my score was affected by several mistakes, including not realising relations can't climb all the way to harmony without a full alliance. i think a couple of techs popped right after 2375 as well, including r7 which i needed to make contact with the 1PE psilons.

As expected the diplomat score was the hardest of the three and even w/ perfect mgmt it would have taken a huge stroke of luck to go over 150pts. i did significantly worse than that although well enough to beat 75pts and double my score; can't remember all the details as the game was played almost a month ago.

Thanks again to the game sponsor, will put up my report tonight.

[meatbalz]

time constraints are going to prevent me posting my report for a while longer, so in the meantime i'll report my score - didn't note the colonist/researcher score in 2449 so had to abstain from that vote, voting myself in w/ overwhelming majority in 2474. got DSS from the artifacts planet, which was a nice change as i'd pulled a blockbuster the previous game. final score was 1060.

i learned several things from this game, specifically that i am not focused enough to single-mindedly chase strategic goals :-D - i didn't prioritise r7 enough (think it was at 11% in 2375) even though i'd singled out 1PE Mentar long before 2375. i only switched rsch to 3 categories well after 2400 (can't remember exactly when). i failed to check the diplo status often enough, which led to (iirc) my bombing targets the Silicoids signing up the Psilons & turning them against me - more lost points. from my notes i saw that maalor didn't max until (again, could be wrong) 2323, which is way too late. relations with humans & bulrathis were peaceful as i didn't realise an alliance was necessary for harmony. the list goes on...

will post a full report by the weekend, it was an enjoyable game.

[meatbalz]

I started off my game playing for 75+pts in each category, as 150pts in diplomat and colonist seemed to me mutually exclusive (for a player of my skill) unless picking up a very generous helping of luck. Specifically, the possibility of getting >60 diplo pts by 2375 seemed to be remote without very early contact - unlikely with the klackons' disadvantage in propulsion.

Other than that it was a pretty standard gameplan, shoot for max score in tech+colonist and use one scapegoat to get 3 harmonious allies by 2450.

Stupid mistake number 1 was not going all-out to max Maalor. On the + side, by 2332 I'd already researched +10, RW 80, R5, and Barren in that order thanks to the trickle-rsch I learned about on here. Maalor maxed in 2323, Kholdan 2326.

In 2331 I got the message the Silicoids were out to 6 planets. They were out to 10 planets (to our 11), when we formally met in 2353. This pretty much removed any doubt they'd be the chosen target for aggression, but more on that later.

(1.jpg) shows our view of the galaxy in 2343, one turn before settling the red desert planet and Anraq. The council convened one year after meeting the Silicoids when I settled my 12th planet - and the Bulrathis were the opponents. I had to abstain my 5 votes, which represented a blocking position (13 total).

Stupid mistake 2 was not prioritising r7 after meeting the Humans in 2364, despite pinpointing Mentar and knowing full well I needed the tech to make contact.

The 2375 vote was highly uneventful outside of a change of opponent (Silicoids this time); the vote was Silicoids: Silicoids (5), Bulrathis (5); Abstentions: Humans (3), Psilons (1), us (11).

We were out to 18 planets by now (2.jpg), and had long since reached a dominant position (3.jpg). The Humans were Amiable, Silicoids Relaxed, and Bulrathis Neutral. Tech levels were disappointing, 10,11,10,16,6,10 with r7 at 12% thanks to my poor play.

2375 score:
Colonist: 18 planets x 3 + 11 votes x 3 = 87
Researcher: 10+11+10+16+6+10 = 63
Diplomat: 14+12+10 = 36

[meatbalz]

Stupid mistake 3: I only asked the Humans to declare on the Silicoids in 2375; the Bulrathis were allied with the Silicoids until 2376, but once that expired they joined in at the cost of Controlled Dead. I met the Psilons shortly after and got them involved too.

Stupid mistake 4: I organised the anti-Silicoid coalition despite not being ready to start bombing them until 2397, when I sent a Huge each (you can see the design in 4.jpg) to Ryoun and Neptunus. Relations by 2397 were terrible after many complaints about our expansion and an outright declaration from the Silicoids in 2394. Relations are below Neutral with all races until my ships take on the enemy designs (still sporting Lasers and Nuclear Missiles).

In 2399 comes stupid mistake number 5: bombing the bejeesus out of the Silicoids sends relations to Peaceful with the other races, and I don't sign any alliances, nor would I for the duration. This is the finest you're likely to see for a while, but I just kept scratching my head wondering why relations wouldn't go up further. Let's just say most of my games until now hadn't involved heavy use of alliances

The Silicoids were down to 5 planets by 2407, so I took my eye off the ball and focused on consolidation. This would be stupid mistakes 6 and 7, as I neglected to check diplomacy every turn, the Silicoids allied with the Psilons, and they turned around and declared on me in 2438. It was also only now that I remembered 2450 scoring required only 3 tech scores.

Turns came and went, so much so that I forgot to take down the score from 2449 so had to abstain my 33 votes. The Bulrathis (5 votes) were my opponents, and got 1 vote each from the Psilons and Silicoids. The 5 Human votes were cast in our favour. We signed peace with the Silicoids right after the vote, which got them to Wary. The game was completely over by then (5.jpg), but our tech situation (6.jpg) was hurt by my lack of focus; we had 30 planets (7.jpg) to go along with our 33 votes.

From then on it was only a matter of coasting to the 2474 vote.

2450 score:
Colonist: 30 Planets + 33 Votes = 63
Researcher: 52+43+37 = 132
Diplomat: 20+20+6 = 46

Total score:
Colonist: 87+66 = 153
Researcher: 63+132 = 195
Diplomat: 36+46 = 82
Victory = 100

Final score: 1060

This was a very informative game for me as well as a very fun one to play. I learned a lot of new things while enjoying the game, which I guess is the entire point of these first couple of events. Many thanks again to the game sponsor. I'll sign off with 7 weeds to commemorate my 7 stupid moves - but hopefully I'll learn my lesson and not repeat these in the future!