Imperium 13: sargon the rich

[sargon0]

Surveying the map the northern yellows won’t be homeworlds but possible AI’s to south and east. Cannot reach eastern blue yet so send initial scouts to southern green and blue on blockade duty and order up another. Colony ship goes to eastern green and in 2302 Esper (Steppe 30) is founded sending 10 from Altair which take 4 turns to arrive due to nebula. Early scouting shows nothing habitable in range, one small at range 4 but some good planets at range 5 plus a UR Tundra. Opening tech I start IER and range 5 splitting spending according to their cost, seeding with 2 full turns production. Both pop early over 2324/5 revealing Tundra and IS (only choices). Tundra is seeded immediately for UR so Altair does not max until 2330. Scouts chase off Sakkra at UR Vega in 2332, Meklars at Incedius (red in southern nebula) in 2334 and later Darloks at Guradas in 2351. First colony ship heads south for Firma (Minimal 50) for UR and Sakkra blockade rather than north. However the North is full of great habitable planets:


Second Colony ship heads north to Artemis (Terran 80) while I wait for Firma to settle which it does in 2338 (15 sent from Esper) just as Tundra pops (early again!) choosing only option EER. Opening other tech I find ECM1, IIT9 (over RW80), DS2 & Hand Lasers (over Hyper-V); seed IIT9. Artemis is settled in 2341 with 10 from Esper then UR Vega (Tundra 45) in 2346 with 12 from Esper & Firma. Altair pushes reserves to Vega while Esper & Firma trickle pop there. In fact poor Esper (size 30) and Firma (size 50) are trickling pop to better places for a long time. In 2351 I discover IIT9 (IIT8 next) and settle fertile Vox (Terran 125) with 9 from Artemis. I push IIT8 since much factory building is anticipated and it will provide LR for Xengara in NW corner. 2355 sees Paranar (Terran 95) settled with 10 from Artemis while UR Vega maxes factories then pop next year. In 2357 I get GNN 8 planet message settling Gienah (Terran 85) sending 12 from Firma & Esper and boosting this border world quickly. I had been wondering about settling non-hostile Gienah just 3 parsecs from uneasy Sakkra space but decided these likely pacifists might allow it (if they were aggressive as intended this might have been short lived or not even available). Still border colonies need fighter protection now which the birds are good at especially with the wimpy probes I see. As I contact Sakkra, the Bulrathi contact me (from 6 parsecs):


Odd that one of my first contacts is with someone from the SW corner. I start minimal trade with uneasy 4PE Sakkra (Pac/Eco) and neutral 6PE Bulrathi (Err/Tech). I belatedly discover (sloppy scouting) there is a habitable UR (Seidon) further south neglected by the lizards. It is 6 parsecs away and I could settle a stepping stone but IIT8 is near so I wait. In 2361 IIT8 hits and I select ARS (over BS, IIT7) and seed remaining tech fields. Same year the assassination events hits – Bulrathi on Darloks. Drakka (Ocean 75) near southern nebula is settled in 2365 with 15 from Esper/Firma. 2367 sees ECM1 give way to ECM2 then next year Hand Lasers progress to NPG (over Hyper-X or Ion). LR Colony arrives at UR Seidon (Desert 35) in 2369 fed with 20 from Gienah while rich Ajax (Steppe 50) in eastern nebula is also settled with 24 from Paranar. Next year LR settles fertile Xengara (Terran 110) with 23 from Artemis then DS2 progresses to DS3.

Still finding great planets available – in 2375 settle central Misha (Terran 95) with 22 from Paranar. Same year ECM2 advances to ISS and IS to R7. Misha puts me into contact with 3PE Meklars (Xen/Eco). 2380/81 sees NPG progress to SP-V (over Ion Rifle or Mass Driver) and EER progress to Soil (over BTA). Then I finally decide to settle some less than prime space with Tyr (Minimal 50) in 2385 and Laan (Desert 50) a year later. The 90’s saw some major teching with SP-V advancing to Fusion Beam (over AMB or Hard Beam), ISS to RC4 (over BC5), Range7 to Range8, DS3 to DS4 and Soil to AER (over Cloning). Range 7 introduces 2PE Darloks (Xen/Exp) who have been in constant wars. 2395 saw Industrial Accident at Tyr sending 3 pop off-world to fit new size 25. With a hostile UR unclaimed I swapped IS for Sakkra Controlled Toxic and settled UR Whynil (Dead 35) in 2399 then rich Guradas (Dead 25) following year getting GNN 17 planet message. Meanwhile Soil was boosting all non-hostile worlds including UR Seidon and rich Ajax. In 2401 Zortium replaced ARS and BC6 (over ECM5) replaced RC4. RC4 was good news but factories then cost a hefty 16bc so remembering to finish maxing worlds before it hits. In 2407 colonised rich Yarrow (Toxic 40) and finally met 1PE Psilons (Hon/Ind) in NE corner.


Same year DS4 hits and choose Repulsor Beam over DS5. In 2409 the Xeno Meklars DOW and send a huge towards Misha. After replacing Rang8 with Warp5 (engines finally!), I swap my ISS for Bulrathi BC3. The heavy Ion Meklar huge only has level 1 shields and is no match for my scatter-packs. Similar battles (with Mass Drivers and even Gatling lasers) repeat over the next few turns and quickly the machines are asking for peace which I accept. In 2414 the main opposition tech:


After Zortium in 2418 I backtrack for Battle Suits (over RW40) and next year after Repulsor Beam I choose Personal Absorption Shield (over DS6) anticipating some gropo action on the horizon. The Sakkra are expanding and growing due to Terra+40 so I trade Repulsor Beam for it – elections will be soon. With Range 8 I now settle rich Crypto (Toxic 30) and with Warp5 (Stargates over Warp6 next) I discover unoccupied UR Herculis (Dead 50) on eastern edge. The Merchant event gifts 1200 BC to Meklars in 2423. Next year Fusion Beam hits (Fusion Rifle next) and in 2426 BC6 hits (then BC7). So with BC6, Zortium/ARS, DS4/Repulsor, Warp5/IS, Fusion Beam and Fusion Bomb (available for trade) plus thousands of BC’s already invested in ships at my rich & UR planets, I am ready to produce my death fleet. Same year I settle UR Herculis causing vote with me v. Sakkra. Out of 42 Sakkra vote 12, Psilons(2) abstain then Bulrathi(5), Meklars(3) and Darloks(1) vote for me leaving my 19 votes giving me a diplomatic win! I had not realised the lizards were so unpopular. They had an on-off alliance with Bulrathi and constant war with Darloks but, at vote time, they were also at war with Meklars who I had peace with and I was friendly with Bulrathi and got the vote.

Status at end:


I know it is an unsatisfactory end but I did not have the heart to unleash my armada on my backwards neighbours (this time!). The best I was facing was BC3 (Bulrathi had RC4), Duralloy, DS3, Warp3 & Neutron Blaster. The Sakkra led me in Planetology with Terra+50 (& ATMOS) but with no missile upgrades their planets would have fallen so easily. This could prove a tricky map if the AI’s expand fast enough. You are short of Battle Computers, Planetary Shields, Terraforming, Engines & decent missiles for heavily shielded ships. Trading simplifies the task but even at warp1 I was able to reach a UR at the opposite edge of a large map before the AI’s could settle it!

[dathon]

Wow, were your Sakkra slackers! Only 4 planets by 2360? Mine had 7 by 2337

Well done to pull of the diplo win that quickly. 125 turn wins are always fun when you can pull them off

dathon

[timmy827]

Ditto on Dathon's comment. I don't have an exact record, but in the early 2400's in my game, I think the Sakkra had twice as many techs. Impressive expansion and early win.

[RefSteel]

I think it's great to pull off a diplomatic victory when you've reached a de-facto winning position; it's nice to be the good guys for a change. Your game here is a great example of how a strong player who catches an early break (mainly the weak Sakkra noted by others) can play it into an absolutely dominant empire, even on Impossible. I'll bet you'd have preferred to have faced a stronger challenge from your neighbors, but you played the hand you were dealt to perfection. Also, I believe you now have the earliest win in three of these last four Imperia (tied with Doug.Lefelhocz in Imperium 11) - I know early wins aren't everything, but that's still pretty impressive!

Also: I tested the spying system further, and got some very interesting results, which I'll eventually post in another thread. I was of course able to repeat your results (i.e. yes, you can steal above your own tech levels) but I tested it a bit further than that as well....