Imperium 35 - toddestan's Game

[toddestan]

Well, my first Imperium. This should be interesting, as it will be essentially the first time I've played this game with any other rules other than win by any means possible (well I do mostly avoid the exploits which I generally I consider most of those cheats even if the game allows them). If Master Of Orion is good at anything though, it's throwing up unexpected surprises at you. Well, lets see how I do. I should note that I'm using Kyrub's patch for this game.

2300 - The first question of any new game - do I scout first or do I gamble by sending my colony ship out the first turn? There are two suitable green stars within range, and since I always try to expand inwards my hunch is grab the one to the top left of Sssla, as they are both defacto mine anyway. Well, I decide to wait it out and send my two scouts to the green worlds and see what's out there first.

I also order up some more scouts. I figure I can still do some scout blocking and hopefully keep the AI's away for a bit, plus it's still good to take a look around the neighborhood.

2303 - I'm glad I waited that out, as the top left world, Ukko, is a 10 minimal, whereas the other green world, Vulcan, is a terran. I dispatch my colony ship to Vulcan.

2305 - Vulcan founded.

2308 - The Gaurdian toasts one of my scouts. Orion is not green, so that's out if I get to that point. I also scout Beta Ceti to my right, which should be mine once I grab some range tech.

2311 - I scout Laan, a green tundra star below Sssla. Laan is the gateway to three green stars below it. Tundra Base will be an important tech in this game.

Around this time I dumped a turn's worth of research into opening the tech tree. I choose Improved Terraforming +10 and for some reason Range 5 fuel cells.

2314 - I chase a Darlok scout away from Kronos. Looks like I have company.

2318 - Improved terraforming pops. I immediately dump resources into Tundra Base and into Deuterium fuel cells.


2326 - GNN reports that I'm the #1 population in the galaxy. Go team Sakkra!

2328 - The Darloks send an escorted colony ship to Kronos and chase away my scout.

2329 - Second colony ship completed and dispatched to Ukko. I order up some Medium LR Lasers to defend Laan from poachers.

2330 - GNN reports that the Darloks now have six systems! Could they be the dominate power in this galaxy?


2332 - Ukko founded. I send out a scout to the green star on the other side of the nebula to my top left.

2333 - By this time I have four LR Lasers built. Hope it will be enough. Switch over to mostly research and finishing building up Vulcan, while trickle-building a third colony ship.

2338 - Range 5 pops. This brings me into formal contact with the Darloks. Great. I turn on my spy defenses and strike up minimal trade. I dispatch some scouts to see what's now within my range.


2339 - I scout Tau Cygni, a desert planet that I hope I'll be able to grab above the nebula. I'll either need some more range tech or otherwise tech up to the point where I can build a LR colony ship.

2340 - Tundra Base pops. I immediately order up a Colony2 and switch Sssla over to the new design.

2342 - First Colony2 built and dispatched to Laan. I order up another standard colony ship for Beta Ceti.

2344 - My scout reaches Omicron, the left of the green stars below Laan, which is defended by some laser fighters so I can't scout it. Looks like a terran from the battle screen though. A nice world bathed in green light that should be mine!

2345 - The Darloks chase away my scout from Nordia with an escorted colony ship. A fine addition to their growing empire that puts them uncomfortably close to my worlds.

The Darloks immediately send their escorts out towards some of my worlds. At this point in the tech tree I can't tell if they are heading towards Ukko and Vulcan or to the uncolonized worlds past them. Since I know if they can get into orbit around my undefended worlds they will try to invade I quickly order up some popcorn fighters for defense.

2346 - Found Laan. This puts me into contact with the Humans. Humans have also colonized Nobas, the middle green star. I dispatch some LR Lasers to Proteus, the rightmost green star.


2350 - I found Beta Ceti, chase away a Darlok scout on Proteus. I immediately order up a Colony2 for Proteus. The popcorn fighters turned out to be unnecessary as the Darlok ships fly past my worlds.

2351 - I chase away a Psilon scout from Proteus. Popular place.

2356 - Colony2 is finished and dispatched to Proteus. I order up some more LR Lasers to send to Tau Cygni.

2370 - First council vote. It's the Humans versus Darloks. Everyone except the Humans and Darloks abstain, including myself.

2373 - Improved Industrial 8 tech pops, which means I can now cram extended fuel cells into a large hull with a colony base. I order up a Colony3 and put Sssla to work on one.

2375 - Second council vote, which goes more or less like the first one.

2376 - Colony3 is completed, and dispatched to Tau Cygni. I fitted the ship with Nuclear Engines which turn out to not so useful as it has to fly through a Nebula to get to Tau Cygni. Oh well.

2381 - Psilons arrive at Tau Cygni with a Colony Ship sporting some spiffy Ion Cannons and a Heavy Blast Cannon, just beating my ship by 2 turns. Despite my pilot's best efforts, the four LR Lasers I have stationed there are no match for this kind of advanced tech and the Psilon's nab themselves Tau Cygni.

This effectively ends the colonization stage of this game for me, as there are effectively no unclaimed worlds left that I can colonize beyond the six worlds I now control. At this point to expand I'll have to go through someone else. This will probably have be the Humans with their two juicy green worlds below Laan. I could battle the Psilons for Tau Cygni but that would require some range tech. While I share most of my border with the Darlok empire there are no border green worlds under their control that I could grab from them, so no point in picking a fight with them.

At this point in the game I decide to build up my worlds and get me some tech for the eventual fight.

2391 - The Psilons now have 12 worlds according to GNN. This is not a good sign.


2394 - The Darloks get the merchant event.

2400 - Third council vote, and I'm in versus the Darloks. No one votes for me, but no one particularly likes the idea of the shapeshifters ruling the galaxy either.

Around this time, I notice that the Psilons, Humans, and Darloks all have managed to ally with each other. This is a bit worrisome as I could get dogpiled if I go to war with any one of them and they call upon their alliance. Especially since I'd probably be attacking the very diplomatic Humans.

As an aside, this happened during the Darlok/Psilon alliance:

Probably due to Retro-engined powered transports finally reaching their destination long after the alliance had been forged. Those AI can be so silly!

Around this time I've started on my fleet. I have two medium designs, one a gunner with neutron pellet guns, and the second a bomber with fusion bombs. I'm building them at about a 1:2 ratio of gunners to bombers, and gathering them up at Laan.

Unfortunately, the humans have their master fleet parked at Nobas, and they aren't moving it, and it keeps on growing.

I'd much rather deal with that fleet on my turf instead of theirs.

2418 - The Darloks start probing my defences, starting at Ukko. Their ships are space junk with Lasers and Gatling Lasers and they retreat them as they are no match for my Class V shield.

2419 - Soil Enrichment pops. Yay! I decide it's time to maybe start something with the humans. I turn up my spying and lets see what happens.

2420 - My spies make quick work of the Human's defense network. I generally always go for computers if available while spying so I nab ECM Jammer I. The humans warn me.

2421 - My spies get in again, and I go for computers again. This time I get ECM Jammer II, and it's war!


2425 - The council meets again. This time it's the Darloks versus the Psilons, and as the usual case with AI vs. AI there is no winner.

2426 - My spies strike again, and since I've picked the Human's computer tree clean I decide to see what the galactic propulsion experts have been up to and pick propulsion. This nets me Sublight drives (yay!). My scientists come up with Range 7 tech the same turn. Normally this would mean a redesign of my fleet, however, after checking my research screen and seeing that weapons, computers, force fields, and construction are nearing a breakthrough I decide to stick with the old designs a few more turns.

2427 - The Darloks join in the fun. So far the human fleet has not budged from Nobas, so I send my master fleet to the Darlok world of Nordia for some, uhh, practice. I also order a few bombers at Vulcan and send them to Nitzer (which is under Darlok control and is undefended) just to be annoying.

2428 - The Bulrathi's draw up the plague event.

2430 - My fleet arrives at Nordia, and makes quick work of the Darlok defenses. I steal Irridium fuel cells from the humans, and put the blame on the Psilons.

My techs have popped and I update my designs. Same basic designs, just with upgraded engines and shields. The Gunner2 also gets a battle computer.

2431 - Nordia is glassed. I send my master fleet to Kronos for some more practice.

2432 - The Human's master fleet is on it's way to Laan. My fleet won't be able to make it in time, but Laan has a Class V planetary shield and several missile bases, plus what new ships that have been built since I started my campaign against the Darloks. It's a sizable fleet, but I'm not too worried. I turn up the defense budget to get a few more bases in, just in case.


2435 - I steal Hydrogen Fuel cells from the humans. Oh, and that fleet the humans sent to Laan? They are NOT messing around.

Luckily for me, that except for the two designs with the 2c missles, they don't have anything that can attack my defending ships. So the good news is that I'll win the fight as they'll have no choice but retreat from neutron pellet equipped ships. But they decide to empty their entire payload on my poor planet first, while I can only pick away at their fleet. Laan survives, but all my missle bases are destroyed and they did some damage to population, ecology, and factories in the process.

2436 - The humans ask for peace. I agree as I have some rebuilding to do.

2438 - The Bulrathi cure their plague problem.

2439 - The Psilons now have 18 systems according to GNN. This is partially my fault, as they have been following my fleet around with colony ships picking up the ex-Darlok worlds that I've glassed. This is not good.

2441 - I glass Nitzer. The Psilons promptly chase away my small fleet and get #19.

2446 - I get a spy success against the Humans again. Oops, did I forget to turn off espionage? I nab Class X Planetary Shields, which puts me at war again. I go to work at building the new shields.

2449 - Humans make a move at Sssla. With my newly built Class X shield I turn them away.

2450. The council meets again, and I'm in? It's me versus the Psilons, and between the Psilon's large empire and the fact I've I'm not exactly on good terms with the AI #2 and AI #3 means I'm not in a good position, and I don't have nearly enough votes to block what's coming.


That's pretty much all she wrote. I played for a few more turns, but with everyone now in possession of the Psilon's tech I was way behind (the next time the Darloks probed my defenses they had upgraded from lasers straight to Megabolt cannons). I threw my master fleet at Nobas to see what happened and and I knocked out two missile bases (out of about 13) before they shredded my fleet. The game may still have been winnable (it was only average difficulty) but I've never actually gotten very far in a final war situation.

Anyhow, here's some thoughts on what I should have done differently:
1. Be more aggressive in the colonization stage. I probably could have gotten two out of the three green worlds that were within range, and maybe all three. That would probably have been another 50% population in my empire.
2. Don't glass planets that I can't colonize just because I can - I should be mindful of who might pick them up. The Psilons had three additional worlds that would have been less harmful in the hands of the Darloks.
3. Not be scared of the Human's master fleet and attack. Granted, I didn't know their designs were all bombers at the time but I could have thrown a battle scanner into a quick design and checked them out.
4. Alternatively, I could have just turtled a bit and attacked a bit later. There is also the possibility that the Psilons could have started stepping on other AI's toes and I could have clenched the "not that guy" cheesy council win instead of the Psilons. This is exactly how I managed my second ever impossible game win, as the Sakkras in a galaxy with the the Psilons as the #1 AI, without firing a single shot the entire game. So there's precedent.

Anyway, it was fun and thanks to RefSteel for the work he put into this. I look forward to trying again in the next Imperium!

[RefSteel]

I'm glad you enjoyed the game - thanks for suggesting the variant! Your report does a great job of hitting the highlights too, and your post-game analysis looks spot-on. Getting a scanner out for a look at that Human fleet would obviously have been particularly important - I usually put one into play before I design any other mainline combat ships, so I know what I'll be up against and how to counter it with my own designs.

[toddestan]

Not a bad idea with the scanner. I usually don't go on the aggressive right away, so usually I get a look at the opponents designs when they visit one of my planets. The imperium kind of forced me a bit out of my comfort zone, but that's kind of the idea.