OSG 26 - The Bearperor Returns

[Psillycyber]

Notes for the next turn-player (Ref?) --
1. Transports are en route to all of the Meklar planets. Those should easily fall.
2. Some transports are en route to the Alkari planets over which we have superiority, but in light of the recent setbacks in ground combat, even more transports might be warranted. Especially at Helos. We can get more transports there quickly, and if we can capture ground combat tech there, the other invasions will go much easier.

Or, you could just glass any remaining Alkari planets. That would work too, and probably go more quickly.

Here are the demographics and stats for where things stand as of 2460:







Good luck! I didn't get around to cleaning up quite as much of the bird poop from this galaxy as I had intended, but perhaps you can finish the job.

[Psillycyber]

So... Excited... Can't wait to read!
What do you teach? I'm going to guess math or a science.

Part-time college American history, actually. And I also substitute teach on the side in all sorts of subjects and grades....

[Ianus]

Nuts! I was going to say history but I was afraid that I was being biased by Sulla's background. Go figure.

GREAT turnset!! Absolutely by the book. The Bulrathi Big Pop-Up Book Of War of course! I'm glad that the birds aren't going down easily. That will make our victory that much sweeter! Well played!

[Psillycyber]

Thanks! Also, I would pay good money IRL for an actual "Bulrathi Big Pop-Up Book of War." That sounds like an excellent gift for my nephews....

And yeah, it's funny that Sullla and I have both done history teaching. Whenever I watch Sullla's livestreams (which is how I got into Master of Orion recently), my wife jokes that he must be my long-lost twin.

[RefSteel]

Nice work, Psillycyber! And I've GOT IT!

... But this may take a while. By sending transports to all three Meklar worlds (and sending them last turn or earlier so I can't veto them) you've ensured we can't win this game by Conquest; it's Extermination or nothing, and exterminating these birds - with their 14 shield layers, ECM VII, and [EDIT: +85] ground combat bonus on defense - is going to require some serious dedication. If they get another level of planetary shielding, we're going to need endgame weapons to get through to them.

So it's a good thing we have an empire that can blow through techs fast if needed - and an empire, in the meantime, that I'm going to try to use to prevent them from ever researching those shields!

[RefSteel]

Okay, not quite as bad as I thought: The Meks still have 31 bases at their rich world firing BC5 - guided Mercs. They might still be toast, but there's a chance they might shoot down enough of our incoming transports to survive, especially if they also get a fleet in orbit. I'll probably try to let that happen in spite of it being a rich world already built up with Meklar facs, just so we'll have an option to vote a win if the war with the Alkari gets too tedious. (We're well past the point where the game is completely won; it's just a matter of winning soon rather than "after we take Orion for Death Rays or tech to Neutronium Bombs or whatever.") We can always wipe out the Meks as an afterthought later on.

Just the same, I'll make this my reach goal for my turn-set, in spite of the ridiculous Alkari defenses:

Finish this.

[Psillycyber]

Sounds good! You're the man, Ref!

Actually, it would be kind of fun to build a bunch of megabolt fighters to take Orion, and then pummel the Alkari with death rays. But we all have time constraints IRL (as I myself ran into these last few days), so any way you want to wrap this up, go for it!

[Ianus]

Wow! In 7 years the Alkari researched Armored Exoskeleton, Personal Barrier Shield AND Fusion Rifle. Talk about filling a tech hole! Sometimes the AI struggles, but it's moments of brilliance can be truly wonderous! Those birds have my grudging respect. Not that it will stop me from dropping N-Bombs all over their disgusting midden heap planets of course, assuming Ref isn't already taking care of that.

[Psillycyber]

Yeah, if only the Alkari had used their tech rate to develop (and actually implement) some good engines and fleet technology. (I wonder if they even had better engines in their tech tree, or if they just had no choice but to keep choosing useless range techs). A 1000-stack of fast merc or stinger missile boats to take out our repulsor ships, or a 1000-stack of ships with 2-range weapons, plus a several thousand-stack of death sporers or bombers (especially with cloaking), could have really messed us up. I know that the AI is capable of such fleets on impossible. But instead, the Alkari went around building cloaked NUCLEAR missile boats and large gatling laser cruisers. What the heck?....

[Ianus]

Yeah the birds have been odd this game. Aren't they Honorable Technologists? As for engines I imagine they must not have any available. They got Nuclears RIGHT away, and then nothing. I've seen that before, heck I've HAD it happen to me before, but this is pretty extreme.