Imperium 40 - toddestan's report

[toddestan]

Oh, boy another Imperium! Unfortunately, I have been taking a break from MOO so I hope I'm not too rusty. So lets get back in with.... the Mrrshans at impossible! I've not won a game with them in impossible yet. An interesting variant, to be sure. Lets see what happens.

For the record I'm playing with Kyrub's patch 1.40M.

2300 - Taking the advice of the advanced atmospheric probes, I send my colony ship down to the green star directly south. I order up some scouts. Extended fuel cells and a single laser in a small hull. I contemplate stuffing them with more goodies since there is some room left over, but decide to keep them cheap. I order up a few to be built.

2302 - Found Crypto, the ocean planet to the south.

The neighborhood does not look terribly friendly. Hostile planets abound, and without some additional research into fuel cells or planetology the only habitable only world I can reach is a poor arid planet at this point. However, colonization of this world would open up the west including a nice rich tundra world, which I have the tech for.

2311 - Klackon scouts spotted in the north.

2312 - I chase Klackon scouts away from Celtsi and Beta Ceti to the north.

2317 - I open up techs. I take Battle Computer II, Improved Industrial Tech 7, Class V Planetary Shields, Controlled Barren Environment, Deuterium Fuel Cells, and Hyper-V Rockets. I pick some cheaper techs here with the hope I can get them sooner rather than more expensive techs that I may not be able to get for a while. I take Controlled Barren because it's cheap and will hopefully reduce the cost of the colony ships somewhat. I invest into computers, planetology, and especially propulsion and trickle into the rest.

2321 - I start construction of the Colony1, with a standard base with a Mark I Battle Computer.

2325 - Chase an escorted Meklar colony ship away from Beta Ceti, the smallish minimal world. Armed scouts are sure handy, especially with the Mrrshan weaponry bonus! Upon this I decide to prioritize northern expansion and redesign the unbuilt Colony1 to have Extended Range.

2328 - Chase away an escorted Klackon Colony ship away from Beta Ceti. Two of my scouts have no problem dispatching a medium design with heavy lasers.


When was the last time you saw THAT in an impossible Mrrshan game on turn 28?

2329 - The Meklar are back at Beta Ceti, and this time they mean business with a large, heavy laser design as an escort. They destroy my brave scouts and take the planet as theirs.

I decide that I best lay my claim on Celtsi, being a rich planet and all, pretty quick and redesign the unbuilt Colony1 to have a tundra base.

2331 - Colony1 built and dispatched to Celtsi.

2333 - Population report. Not bad at #2.


2335 - For some reason GNN seems unusually active in this game.


2336 - Celtsi founded. Make contact with the Klackons and Meklar. The Meklar are friendly like usual, but at least not erratic. Start trade with both.


Hopefully, the Klackons and Meklar won't have the planetology tech to land on Celtsi for a few more turns so I can build it up before it gets their attention.

I whip up the Colony2, this one has a standard base, Battle Computer Mark I, and Shield 1 and get Fieras working on it.

2339 - Range 5 pops. I go for Nuclear Engines. Scouts get shuffled around.

2340 - Colony2 built, and dispatched to Uxmai (the aridl/poor world). Controlled barren pops, I go for controlled dead environment. I design the Colony3 which has a tundra base, Battle Computer Mark I, and Shield 2 and get Fieras working on it.

2344 - Uxmai is founded. Colony3 completes the same turn and I dispatch it to Proteus (the tundra/rich world to the west). Tech report has the Mrrshans still at the top.



I now have an interesting situation. I can't build any more colony ships until I either get a new shield technology, or a new battle computer technology! And my scouts report that Nordia, which is close by to Proteus, is an ocean world ripe for habitation.

In any case, I decide to protect my current assets as well as try and keep my opponents off of worlds like Nordia so I design these, a nice simple design.


2345 - The Silicoids, being the Slilcoids, have eight systems.



Meanwhile, I have four (soon to be five once my colony ship gets to Proteus), the Klackons have four, and the Meklar look like they might be turtling a while with two.


2346 - Fieras is maxed.

2351 - First probing of my defenses by the Klackons at Uxmai. Luckily I had a single fighter stationed there which had no problem defeating a medium/heavy laser design of some sort.

I found Proteus in the same turn.

2359 - Battle Computer II pops. I design the Colony4 with Battle Computer II, Sheild II, and a standard base and tell Fieras to get on it pronto.

2361 - Colony4 is done, and sent to Nordia.

2363 - Make contact with the Psilons. Start up trade. Hey, maybe I ought to take a peek at the galaxy map to see how well the Psilons are doi

Oh dear.

2365 - Nuclear engines pop. Go for Range 7 next. Immediately design the Fighter2 which is much the same as the first version except twice as fast.

2366 - The Psilons now have 17 systems according to GNN. Just three turns ago they had 14.

Uhhh....

2368 - Found Nordia.

2376 - Make contact with Silicoids when they nab one of the smallish hostile worlds to the northwest of Fieras. Strike up trade.


No sign of the Darloks. My guess is they are up northwest somewhere.

2379 - First council. To noone's surprise, it's Meson of the Psilons against Sedmin of the Silicoids. Everyone abstains except for Meson and Sedmin voting for themselves.


At this point, I'm stuck again in the sense I can't build any more colony ships, and I desperately need to expand if I have any hope of not getting obliterated. Oh hey, here's a nice target.


My spy reports that the Meklar don't have any planetary shielding tech, and only are at Shield 2 otherwise, so I design a cheap medium bomber with nuclear bombs and start cranking them out.

2382 -



2387 - Well, the Meklars may be machines, but they are no fools. Incoming at Celtsi!


2388 - A hard battle at Celtsi, but the Meklar prevail, and start softening up the planet for invasion.

vs.


2391 - Battle Computer Mark III pops, which means I can make another colony ship, when I get around to it.

2392 - The Meklar capture Celtsi.


Since Celtsi is 6 parsecs away and I only have range 5, so I can't mount a counter-offensive without designing a warship with extended range. To add insult to injury, the fighters I sent up there to help defend Celtsi all expire when they arrive. Many kitties are lost.

On the upside, this happened.


2398 - Galaxy Map.

I'm not sure where the Darlok's are. Either their homeworld is the yellow star my cursor is pointing at, or the Silicoids or Psilons have driven them off of Nazin. In any case, they are no longer a significant factor in this game.

2400 - Council.

Meson is pulling in almost half the votes without anyone else's help.

2409 - Controlled Dead pops, so I design the Colony with Battle Computer Mark III, Sheild 2, and a controlled dead base. I have my eyes on Willow (the dead planet to the south).

2414 - Willow is founded. Once again, no more colony ships for a little while.

2424 - Space fleet strength.


Way too much red and white on this map.

2525 - Council. I did not get a screenshot, but not much happened anyway.

2434 - I get Class III shields, so I design the Colony6. It's basically the same as the Colony5 but with better shields. It's destined for Morrig. Except the Psilons also have the same idea.


2440 - Psilons chase me away from Morrig, naturally one turn before my colony ship gets there. Since I have a new warship design with a Battle Scanner, I can take a peek at their designs.

Nothing too terrible there, except... there's so many of them. Ugh.

My ships high-tail it out of there.


Meanwhile, in the Darlok empire.


I'm pretty much boxed in at this point. Normally I would scrap the extra colony ship, but since I couldn't rebuild it if I did. So I leave it as-is in case I need it.

2441 - The Psilons get their 26th system.



2449 - Battle Computer 4 pops. I could now build another colony ship if i wanted to, but no need at this point.

2450 - Council.

Meson must be stepping on some toes because Sedmin is picking up the Meklar/Klackon/Darlok vote. I abstain.

Also, range 7 pops on this turn. Time to settle a score with our cyborg friends. My spies report that the Meklar have made no advances in Shield tech, and that Beta Ceti has less missile bases. Also, very importantly the Meklar do not have an alliance with either the Psilons or the Silicoids. So I pounce.

[toddestan]

2458 - I am victorious. I haven't designed a new Bomber-class yet, so this was done with a bunch of nuclear bomb-equipped ships. In turn 158. Actually kind of sad, really.


Naturally the Meklar aren't pleased.


On the other hand, the Silicoids decide that maybe a non-aggression pact may not be a bad idea or something.


2460 - I capture Beta Ceti. For my troubles I get:
Controlled Toxic Environment.
Range 6.
A declaration of war from the Meklar.



My newly expanded empire:


I decide that maybe it's time for a new bomber, so I whip up the Bomber2:


2463 - The Silicoids put the Darloks out of their 1PE misery.


2464 - Production report.

Dead last. Ouch. Even with seven systems I'm behind the Klackons who have four, and the Meklar who currently only have two. The lack of terraforming technology is starting to hurt.

2468 - Apparently in the last ten years, the Meklar and Psilons managed to form an alliance. Which caused this to happen.


I decide I better hurry up and capture Celtsi.

2470 - First offense against Celtsi fails. Maybe the Psilons have been sharing some shield tech or something, because the original Bomber is pretty much ineffective and I didn't have enough Bomber2's to crack the Meklar's defenses. I retreat, and scrap what remains of the original Bomber-class.

2472 - I get the poor event at Beta Ceti.


2473 - The Psilons start their offensive at Nordia.

They have neutronium bombs?!? Goodbye Nordia.


2475 - Council meets. I throw my weight behind Sedmin for what it counts.


Meanwhile, I mount another offensive at Celtsi. This time, between having more Bomber2's and the fact the Meklar hadn't completely rebuilt the bases I knocked out the first time around, I'm successful.


The Klackons approve.

Uhh... no offense but it's not the Meklar empire that I'm worried about here folks.

Meanwhile:

At least I'm #3 in population.

2477 - The Psilons completely obliterate Proteus.

The Klackons decide that they would really like Celtsi, and without any pesky missile bases present thanks to my efforts, send down their master fleet.

They chase off my fleet, and with their fleet in orbit destroy all my transports on the way. Many kitties perish. Thanks a lot you cockroaches.

2482 - The Meklar are back, and now their ships all have repulser beams and heavy beam weapons. Man, I hate repulser beams. Their designs are incredibly effective against my ion cannon-equipped popcorn fighters, which are now more like ion cannon fodder. I'm forced to retreat from Beta Ceti.

2489 - The Meklar capture Beta Ceti.



2491 - Unfortunately for the Meklar, I had a shiny new batch of Bomber2's on the way to Beta Ceti with an escort of Missile-class ships. So this happened.

Take THAT.

2492 - The Psilons come for Beta Ceti. I tell them I'll let them have it if they let my ships retreat. They tell me that they are taking it any case, and blow my ships to smithereens before they can retreat.

Ugh. Where do they get all those ships?

2497 - Fleet strength.

Not surprisingly, the losses are adding up. What is surprising is that according to GNN the Silicoids have an even better fleet than the Psilons.

2500 - Council. Once again I throw my weight behind Sedmin.


2501 - On a lark I try to see if the Psilons are willing to accept peace. After some purring and rubbing against their legs, to my surprise they do, without any strings attached.


A few turns of peace. Not much to do here other than try to shore up my defenses for what good it will do.

2516 - The Psilons decide it's time for war again.

Meanwhile, the Silicoids break the non-aggression pact.


Map:


2519 - The Silicoids declare war.

You're not getting my vote in the 2525 council, Sedmin! *shakes tiny paw*

2520 - This was weird. The Psilons send this to Uxmai, which has one lousy missile base.

They then proceeded to retreat their entire fleet without firing a single shot. Bullet dodged?

2521 - Next turn, a spy destroys the missile base at Uxmai. The Psilons then proceed to bomb the planet to dust without any interference from my incredibly frightening merculite-equipped missile base.


2522 - Klackons get the comet event.


2524 - Goodbye Fieras.


They also get Crypto on the same turn. My only world at this point is Willow, the dead planet.


Here's what is left of my fleet, before I scrapped half of it to get my spending down.

I left the colony ship because... well, you can never give up hope!

2525 - Council.

The game goes on.

2526 - Tell me something I don't know!


2528 - The Psilons attack Willow.




Oh hey, it's this screen again.


Conclusion: Military defeat in 2528.

Well, that was a tough game. Looking back, I don't think I really took advantage of my starting tech. I more or less played it like a standard open at first, which looking back probably wasn't as optimal as I could have been.

The other thing that I didn't think about until I was in the middle of the game was that I couldn't just crank out colony ships in this variant as every ship after the third one I built meant I must advance in either sheilds or battle computer tech. That meant I really should have thought it through better on which worlds I wanted to colonize and which one I should pass over. Using a colony ship to colonize Uxmai (the poor arid world) may not have been a good choice. As well as choosing to pass over Class III shields for planetary shields right away.

Of course, this may all be moot when the Psilons are spreading like a weed on the other side of the galaxy .

In any case, I still enjoyed the game and thanks to RefSteel and Catwalk for the Imperium.

(also, what's with the 50 image limit per post?)

[timmy827]

Ouch! Valiant effort, and I salute you perseverance. Not sure I would have fared any better if the Psilons in my game weren't so tame.

[Zieman]

Well, that was a tough game. Looking back, I don't think I really took advantage of my starting tech. I more or less played it like a standard open at first, which looking back probably wasn't as optimal as I could have been.

The other thing that I didn't think about until I was in the middle of the game was that I couldn't just crank out colony ships in this variant as every ship after the third one I built meant I must advance in either sheilds or battle computer tech. That meant I really should have thought it through better on which worlds I wanted to colonize and which one I should pass over. Using a colony ship to colonize Uxmai (the poor arid world) may not have been a good choice. As well as choosing to pass over Class III shields for planetary shields right away.

Of course, this may all be moot when the Psilons are spreading like a weed on the other side of the galaxy .

Pretty much ditto on all points, welcome to the club!

[Zygot]

Nice writeup. I particularly enjoyed the "Blast you, Emperor RBO-40" from the Meklar...

[toddestan]

Nice writeup. I particularly enjoyed the "Blast you, Emperor RBO-40" from the Meklar...

I actually felt a bit bad when he said that, as he was 100% correct with both the Silicoids and the Psilons breathing down our collective necks. But I needed the land, I'm out to win, and I've learned to never trust the Meklar...

[RefSteel]

Yipe! Not only did you have what looked like the earliest 17-planet Psilons of anyone who played, it looks like your Meks went after you in force before you were ready to go after them! Had you established trade with them at all or taken any other diplomatic steps? Or were you thinking of them as an early target and not worth a trade agreement?

[toddestan]

I anticipated trouble with the Meklar early on since I figured they didn't have enough range to go west (the Darloks were also there but I didn't know it at the time) and with the Klackons to the east I figured they'd be eyeballing the same worlds I was. I did strike up minimal trade with them, hoping that would keep them in my good graces but didn't go for a larger agreement because I didn't really expect that it would have time to mature. It kind of worked in the sense that they didn't break the agreement formally for some time, but the "cold" war was pretty nasty at times.