Imperium 41 - toddestan's report

[toddestan]

Oh hey, it's another Imperium. Another chance to improve my win-loss ratio. Or make it worse. The rules are fairly simple, which should help me not screw them up . On the other hand, no transports? In Impossible?

This calls for a bit of a strategy change. Besides using transports to help shore up new colonies, I find transports are crucial to the mid-game to help overcome the usual a tech gap by invading my opponents and capturing their tech. In impossible, this is usually climbing a ladder, where I go after the weakest opponent, and use their techs to go after the next weakest, etc. until I work my way to the top. This won't be an option in this game, so assuming I fall behind in research (given this is impossible, that's going to be pretty much a given), I'll have to reduce any tech gaps by other means. In addition, without transports it will be hard to gain worlds by conquest. Usually a planet with a lot of captured factories can be stood up fairly quickly, but having to bomb a planet to dust and start over from scratch, without the ability to even send reinforcements, will make expanding in the mid-late game a lot more challenging.

On the upside, I'm the almighty Klackons which I find to be the easiest race to play.

My basic strategy will be as follows:
-Try to minimize any tech gaps through aggressive espionage efforts. To help with this, I will emphasize Computer tech the entire game and as a self-imposed rule, anytime Computers show up on the espionage screen, always take Computers.
-Assuming I even last long enough, don't trigger final war until I have a winning position as I don't think I'd win a real final war in impossible.
-Try to remember to go after Orion at some point.

Well, lets get started.

2300 - Per the rules I have no ships, but a bit of cash in my reserves. I plow the scrap value back into Kholdan, and order up some stock Fighters to use as scouts. I take a look around the neighborhood. I can deal with the Humans and Alkari. Mrrshans won't be a big deal if they aren't right next to me. But the Psilons are in this party too?

2303 - Scout Stalaz, a 65 Ocean world, and Dunatis, an asteroids world. First colony ship will likely be going to Stalaz.

2304 - Scout Celtsi, which is also an asteroids world. Looks like Stalaz is the only habital planet within range. Design and order up a LR Laser design.

2305 - LR Laser is done, dispatched to yellow star to the east.

2306 - Second LR Laser is done, dispatched to green star to the southeast.

2310 - Scout Gorra, a barren yellow world to the east.

2313 - Scout Imra, toxic green world to the south east.

So far, the neighborhood is not looking too favorable. I have one habitable world, two asteroid worlds, and a couple of the more promising colored stars instead have hostile worlds.

I notice the same turn that the number of factories I have exceeds the population that can run them. I design the Colony1, which is a standard colony ship with a laser attached and start construction.

2316 - Scout Reticuli, a Jungle world to the North. Same turn I scout Orion with a LR Laser. It's the green star due south. Miraculously, the LR Laser manages to escape almost certain destruction by retreating before the Gaurdion blows it to bits. Lucky!

2318 - The Colony1 is completed and dispatched to Stalaz.

2319 - Scout Selia, a poor Jungle world to the Northeast.

2320 - Scout Spica, desert world to the south west. Stalaz founded. I resist the urge to send transports. I had hoped this would bring Reticuli within range, but it's 4 parsec away. Rats!!!

2322 - Open up techs. Take ECM Jammer I, +10 Terraforming, Dueterium Fuel Cells. I focus on planetology to cheapen my colony ships.

2325 - +10 Terraforming pops. Go for Tundra base so I can push east by picking up Goora.

2330 - Psilons are being... well, the Psilons.



2332 - Kholdan maxed. Peek at my fledging empire:


2333 - Chase away an Alkari scout at Lyae (another asteroids world).

2334 - Range 5 pops. I have been trickling production into a second colony ship, which I have timed to be almost ready for when this happens.

2335 - Second Colony1 completed, dispatched to Reticuli.

2337 - Scout Gienah, which is a freshly founded Alkari colony.

Make contact with the birds. They seem friendly enough, but relations are at unease. Strike up minimal trade.


Compared to me, their empire is... uhhh...



2338 - Kholdan can now crank out Colony1's at a rate of one every three turns. Go Klackons! Third Colony1 is completed and dispatched to Spica.

2340 - Scout Zoctan, an artifacts world to the northeast. I don't get a free tech, so I'm not the first one here, but the world is still open. It's 8 parsecs away with no easy route to get there. I would like to snap it up though.

2341 - Found Reticuli. Both Alkari and Psilons are sending scouts this way, so I quickly dispatch a fighter to Reticuli to keep them from being able to get in orbit around my new colony. I have Stalaz crank out a few more stock fighters to help defend my new territory.

2342 - Scout Romulas. Another unoccupied artifacts world that has already been scouted by someone else. This one would be easier to get to than Zoctan, but on the other hand it's in a location where the Alkari should be all over it pretty soon. Fourth Colony1 completed and sent to Argus.

2343 - Found Spica.

2345 - Fifth Colony1 is completed, dispatched to Selia. I decide to try and stand up some of these desirable, out-of-colony-ship-range worlds, so I slap a Mark I computer on the LR Laser, christen it the LR Laser2, and tell Kholdan to crank some out.

2346 - Three small, laser-equipped Mrrshan ships use their superior gunnery skills to chase away my LR Laser at Romulas. Meanwhile, pirates show up at the Reticuli system. Wonder if the single, stock fighter stationed there can handle it?



2347 - Argus founded.

[toddestan]

PART II

2351 - Selia founded.


2352 - Scout Vega, yet one more juicy artifacts world ripe for the taking. Same turn the Psilons send an unarmed, unescorted colony ship to Zoctan which I chase off.

2353 - Controlled Tundra base pops. Design the Colony2 which is the same as the Colony1 but with a Tundra base and start building one.

2354 - Scout Herculis, which is a minimal world up in the northwest corner of the map.

2355 - Chase away another unarmed Psilon colony ship at Zoctan.

2358 - Yet another unarmed Psilon colony ship arrives at Zoctan and has no choice but to retreat. Meanwhile, the Alkari chase me away from Keeta with a colony ship escorted with some large design that I didn't stick around long enough to find out what it was equipped with. Send the LR Laser2 that was at Keeta to Zoctan to help defend that world. Colony2 finishes this turn and is dispatched to Gorra. Switch Kholdan back to the slightly cheaper standard Colony1 for Herculis.

According to GNN my lone stock fighter patroling Reticuli is not enough to drive away the pirates.

May have to do something about that.

2359 - Fleet strength report.



2360 - Alkari make a play for both Zoctan and Romulas. I'm victorious at Zoctan but lose at Romulas. Strangely the fleet they send to Romulas did not include a colony ship, so I send more LR Laser2's to Romulas to try and drive them off.

2361 - Psilons send an escorted colony ship to Zoctan. It's escorted by ... unarmed scouts. I chase them off. Colony1 done at Kholdan and sent to Herculis. GNN reports that my single fighter at Reticuli is 3% more effective than before.

Map:


2362 - Gorra founded. This puts me into contact with the Psilons. Stalaz maxes (finally!). I design a Heavy Laser medium class ship to help defend my empire.

2363 - My single fighter is 2% more effective now at Reticuli.

I send in some shiny new Heavy Laser ships to Reticuli to assist. Start trade with Psilons.

2364 - Psilon colony ship incoming at Zoctan, which I'm pointing at in this screenshot:

It's moving noticably faster than warp 1 which means that it's probably armed. Oh joy.

On an interesting note, in this screenshot I count the Psilons having 8 systems. This means that they haven't managed to acquire a new world in the 34 years GNN reported they had 8 systems in 2330.

2365 - Psilon colony ship arrives at Zoctan. Equipped with heavy ion cannons it slices and dices my LR Laser ships I had stationed there. Also, it looks like another one of these bad boys is zipping its way to Herculis.

2366 - Psilons drive me away from Herculis, adding two new systems to their empire in as many turns. An Alkari colony ship arrives at Romulas before my LR Laser2's get there, adding that system to their empire. Grr...

I've lost out on two of the three artifacts worlds. Vega is still open. Will I manage to snag it first?

2369 - Looks like the Alkari also disagreed with Zoctan being a Psilon world, as they promptly take away from the brains.

Well, better them have it than the Psilons.

2372 - Scout Misha, which is an unoccupied, ultra-rich world that is inconviently located deep in Alkari territory.


2374 - One turn before reinforcements arrive at Vega the Alkari arrive with an escorted colony ship and drive me away. That makes me 0/3 here However, Karma comes around and the same turn Altair goes poor.

Also, the dispute over Zoctan continues with the planet flipping back over to red flag.

2376 - Map:


2377 - Improved Industrial Tech 8 pops, which means I can now build LR Colony Ships (yay!) but not with a tundra base (boo!).

My Heavy Lasers arrive at Reticuli and start taking care of business:

2378 -


2379 -


2380 -


2383 -


I also get a spy over at Mentar and get a peak at what the Psilons have managed to research:

Not so bad, so far.

2387 - Spica maxed, third planet to do that.

2389 - Terraforming +20 pops, allowing me to cram a tundra base into a LR colony ship. I also make contact with the humans.


2393 - First council, triggered by the Humans colonizing Rhilus. It's Sharpclaw versus Kelvan, and I stay out.


2394 -

I have to assume the Mrrshans are down in the southeast corner.

2398 - Mrrshans get the derelict event.


2400 - Council. Goes much the same as it did 7 years ago.


At some point around here, I start some low-level espionage on the Humans and Alkari (I leave the Psilons alone as I would prefer NOT going to war with them).

[toddestan]

PART III


2404 - I get the merchant event. Go team Klack!

Range 7 also pops this turn. This does not put me into contact with the Mrrshans. I'm kind of hoping to get in contact with them as they would provide another target for espionage while simultaneously being far enough away that if I managed to get into a spat I wouldn't have to worry about them as much.

2406 - I steal Battle Computer Mark IV from the humans. Which leads to this:

Klackon scum???
My first war! I decide to take Rhilus, as it's a new colony of theirs and barely defended at this point. I send some ships on their way.

2408 -


2410 - I defeat the human fleet at Rhilus and commence bombing.



2413 - Humans send an "Escort" is by itself so it's not really escorting anything, which ... err... whatever.

With death spores?!? Hey, that's against the rules!
I manage to drive it off with my missile bases, but not before it manages to drop several cans of Raid™ on Gorra.

2415 - Espionage at Humans again, and this time I score Improved Robotics Control III


2417 - Finally destroy the human colony at Rhilus.


2418 - Rhilus colonized.


2419 - The Alkari declare war on me. Looks like they got into an alliance with those pesky Humans. Luckily neither one is allied with the Psilons.

Vega, the artifacts planet would make an excellent target. Luckily Fusion Bombs are almost ready to pop.

2420 - Incoming at Stalaz.


2421 - Finally make contact with the Mrrshans. They make some threats that they may or may not be able to back up. Currently they do not have any alliances or wars. Strike up minimal trade.

Fusion bomb also pops this turn. The Alkari are heading towards Kholdan now.

Map:


2422 - Steal ECM Jammer Mark IV from the Humans, cleaning out their computer tech for the time being. I figure propulsion or weapons would be good to catch up on next.

Here's what the Alkari be packing:


The bomber is a bit annoying, but my missile bases are able to fend them off. The laser fighters are not a threat to the planets. The fusion beam ship is better than anything I have at the moment.

2425 - Looks like the Humans have Improved Robot Controls IV. So I do now too.

Council. I vote Psilon to help keep myself on their good side.


2426 - Steal Battle Computer Mark III from the Alkari, cleaning out their computer tree.

2428 - Steal Inertial Stabilizers from the propulsion experts.


2429 - Plague event hits the Psilons at Romulas.


2430 - Steal Battle Computer Mark VI from the Humans.

It's looking like my espionage strategy is paying off, as I'm keeping up with the Alkari and Humans in computer tech, and picking up some additional techs along the way. I'll... err... just ignore the Psilons for now.

On the other hand, being ranked last in population is a bit concerning.

A lot of this has to do with planets that still need to max. Still, it would be better to not be #5.

2431 -


2432 - I'm also ranked last in fleet strength, which isn't as concerning.


2433 - I get lucky with the Espionage again, stealing Nuetron Blasters from the Alkari and Mass Drivers from the Humans. Both times I got to blame the Psilons too. I figure one way to help keep the Psilons down will to be to try and get the other opponents to dogpile them as much as possible.

Mass drivers also means I can design a ship-to-ship design with an effective gun for a change.

2434 - I manage to steal fusion drives from the Alkari, blaming the Psilons. The Psilons also manage to cure the plague at Romulas.


2436 - Alkari want peace, which I accept. Meanwhile, I still have the humans to deal with.


2437 - The humans glass Rhilus. I steal range 4 from the Alkari, and in revenge blame the humans.


2439 - I glass the new human colony an Rhilus.


2440 - Rhilus refounded.

2441 - My spies come through again, stealing Energy Pulsar from the Alkari, and this time I blame the Psilons.

2442 - Hello Kitty! Mrrshans arrive at Rhilus. They have about 300 small ships equipped with a cloak and graviton beams, which is just lovely. They glass Rhilus. Also the Alkari declare war again.

2443 - The Alkari waste no time, and go after Stalaz.


2448 - I steal controlled toxic enviroment from the Alkari. This will allow me to pick up a couple more new systems, so I commission a new colony ship.

2450 - Council. Jasana come damn close to winning it. Kelvan has been stepping on some toes. Well, except for mine.

[toddestan]

PART IV:

2451 - Founded Paranar.

2452 - I steal Class V deflector shields from the Humans. This is what I was researching, which opens up Class X planetary shields, which I make a priority as my planetary defenses are starting to show their age.

2454 - I steal soil enrichment from the Alkari.

2455 - The humans have set up another colony at Rhilus, and I commence bombing. This greatly improves my relations with the Mrrshans, so I start up some trade. I also notice that the Alkari and Humans are now at war .

2457 - I steal impulse drives from the Alkari, which they either don't notice or don't care. They offer peace which I accept. Relations are surprisingly good, so I start up some minor trade.

2458 - Humans want peace, so I reject.

2459 - The humans don't have a lot of friends in this galaxy. My bombing of the Humans hasn't gone unnoticed.


It's amazing what a few obsolete ships bombing a colony that everyone is at war with can do for relations

2460 - Rhilus glassed.

2461 - Omicron founded. Humans chase me away at Rhilus with this.


2462 - Human fleet leaves Rhilus defenseless. So I glass it again.

2463 - Steal Class VI deflector shields from the Humans, blame the Psilons.

2464 - Humans want peace. With my new colonies, I accept so I can take a breather.

2467 - Steal Class X planetary shields from the humans, shortcutting my research efforts.

2470 - Psilons start probing my defenses.


Luckily, they send a tiny fleet compared to some of the stuff I've seen flying around.

2472 - I colonize Rhilus. Radiation event hits Argus.


2474 - Zoctan has pretty much been a spud world the entire game between the AI's. It's currently unoccupied, so I send a fleet, but so do the Psilons.

So much for that idea.
Map:


2475 - Council. Goes pretty much the same as last time, except that I get to cast two more votes this time. Things are looking up.


2476 - Psilons glass Rhilus for no reason whatsoever.

Thanks guys.

2477 - Steal anti-matter bomb from the humans. They don't appreciate that very much.

Looks like I have someone to try out my new bomb tech on!

2478 - Refound Rhilus.

2481 - The Psilons drop by Rhilus, again.

Sigh.

I steal Class VII deflector shields from the Humans.

2482 - Humans attack Imra, and since there wasn't anything there but some obsolete missile boats and bombers, they win and commence bombing. Someone frames sabotage on me this turn too.


2484 - Found Rhilus again. Since I have good relations with the Psilons, I come up with a plan that hopefully will stop them from attacking my worlds.

Wonder if this will work?

2486 - NOPE.



2487 - Someone frames me against the Mrrshans again.

2488 - Bio toxin anti-dote pops. Since my opponents seem to like bio-weapons, this is a welcome advancement.

2492 - I notice that the Psilons got booted off of Rhilus, so I send in a colony ship and colonize it.

Humans make a another pass at Imra



2494.


2500 - Council. I'm not voting for Sharpclaw, and Kelvan can go take a flying leap, so I abstain.


Humans trying again at Imra.

[toddestan]

PART V

2501 - Humans want peace. Rather than lose Imra, I accept.

2503 -


2505 - Someone frames me against the Mrrshans, again.


This is starting to have an effect on our relations. I try to convince Jasana that I'm way too busy trying to steal her techs to mess with her missile bases, but she's having none of it.

Controlled radiated environment pops, so it's time for the final round of colonization.

2508 - Found Gion.

2512 - Founded Uxmai.


2518 - Space Amoeba pays the galay a visit.


Looks like a problem for the Psilons. Oh well...


2521 - Someone frames me against the Mrrshans, again.



2523 - Psilons take care of the space amoeba.


2524 - I steal controlled barren environment from the Humans, and Megabolt cannon from the Alkari.

2525 - Council.


2527 - I manage to steal the useless death spores from the Mrrshans.

I get framed agai... oh wait, I actually did that. My bad!

2528 - I steal high energy focus from the Humans.

Aww yeah. Now time to find someone to try it out on.

2530 - The humans volunteer as targets.


2531 - Wait, that's not how it's supposed to work.

They also get Rhilus on the same turn. I almost though I was going to get to keep it this time around.

2533 - Well, two can play that game.

Unfortunately, the Alkari beat me to recolonizing Paranar. With fleets like this:

I'm not going to argue with them at this time. I figure I'll have to expand through the Humans and possibly the Mrrshans before I take on the Alkari. Ditto for the Psilons.

2535 - Well, it was inevitable. At some point I just knew I was going to screw up and click the wrong thing, and this is when it happened. I attacked the Human colony of Hyades, and after a long battle when I emerged victorious, I was all ready to commence bombing, so I clicked the bomb button. Except that it wasn't asking about Hyades, it was asking about my colony ship and escorts that had just arrived at Paranar, under which there was a fresh Alkari colony.

Great, just what I needed. A war with the second-most powerful player in the galaxy. Well, per the rules, I accept this and continue on. I just hope this isn't a fatal mouse-click.

On the upside, maybe I can get Paranar back :D

2537 - Steal +40 Terraforming from the Humans.

2538 - I steal Class IX shields from the Humans. Hopefully to create a distraction for the Alkari breathing down my neck, I blame them for it.

2539 - Found Obaca, Hyades.

2540 - Bomb Paranar. Steal fusion rifle from the Humans and blame the Alkari again.

2541 - Steal subspace interdictor from the Alkari. This is kind of a big deal, given that the subspace teleporter has been pretty popular on the opponent's ship designs.

2542 - Steal anti-matter drives from the Alkari, blame the Humans. Mwahaha.

2543 - Mrrshans add to the dogpile.


2544 - Meanwhile, I continue with my original plan. Expanding my empire at the expense of the Humans. With a little more care when clicking the bomb button.

Map:


2546 - Steal Class XX planetary shields from the Alkari. With any luck, this will help keep my planets safe a little while.


2547 - Glass Rhilus, found Simius. Steal Gauss autocannon from the Alkari and blame humans. I promptly design a ship with high energy focus and gauss autocannon, which is one of my go to designs.

2548 - Alkari want peace. I accept. I count my blessings that my unintentional war with them was relatively short and low cost.

2549 - Rhilus founded.

2550 - Psilons show up at Rhilus. Again...? They completely obliterate my fleet but spare the planet. As a token of my appreciation, I vote for them in the council.

[toddestan]

PART VI


2551 - Psilons invade Rhilus. Oh, that's what they were up to. Thanks guys.
Map:



2553 - To add insult to injury, Psilons hit 17 systems.



2554 - Humans manage to bomb Paladia.


2555 - I decide that the next easiest target is a Mrrshan world, Volantis. However, this does not go as planned. They have Scatter Pack VII's which shred my bomber fleet. Well, they were due for a redesign anyway...

2558 - Refound Paladia.

2560 - Refound Rhilus.

2564 - Humans sneak attack Simius, manage to start bombing.

2565 - Humans capture Simius.


2566 - There's only one thing to do about that.



2567 - And the Human response?



2568 - Refound Rhilus.

2569 - Steal Improved Robotic Controls VI from the Mrrshans. As the Klackons there's nothing I love more than Improved Robotic Controls. Especially whene there's a VI after it.

2571 - Simius refounded. Alkari make threats about my growing fleet.

I decide that while the current rallying point is convienent for attacking the Humans and Mrrshans, it may be better if it also wasn't so close to Alkari worlds so I relocate it.

About this time I decide I'm ready to take on Volantis again with my updated bomber design.

(note: this is not the exact fleet I sent but close)

2575 - Alkari attack Rhilus. They bring along 10 colony ships, which from my understanding the AI's should never have more than 4? Bug?

I glass Volantis same turn. This actually puts me out of contact with the Mrrshans. Council comes up and I vote Kelvin (sorry, no screenshot).

2576 - Found Volantis. I don't have the Mrrshans to worry about, so next target... Sol.

2577 - Sol glassed.

2579 - Sol founded.

2582 - Crypto glassed.

While the Humans are the weakest empire, it's at least a bit confidence inspiring that I can attack and defeat their core worlds. This will give me a chance to expand and grow, and hopefully be able to eventually take on the Alkari and the Psilons.

The one kink in that plan is that it's a lot more difficult to add ex-Human worlds to my empire as I have to bomb them to dust, colonize them, and defend them until they can build themselves up. Aleady, my defenses are spread pretty thin with my latest additions.

The Psilons, which are still on unfriendly terms with the Humans, offer an alliance.

I politely decline, as I would rather not get dragged into a war with, say, the Alkari.

2583 - I get attacked at Crypto and Rhilus. I defend Rhilus, but lose at Crypto against the Alkari. I do manage to destroy their colony ship though, so I've at least got that going for me. Sharpclaw sends me a message.

As if attacking my planets and destroying my starships isn't going to be interpeted as a prelude to war?

2585 - I steal plasma torpedoes from the Humans. Blame the Psilons.

2588 - My next target is Proxima. This time, my bombers get completely shredded by their defenses and I'm forced to retreat and lick my wounds. Well, in the meantime I've managed to acquire neutronium bombs, so it's time for a new bomber design anyway.

Psilons get hit with quake event:


2594 - Rhilus completes it's Class XX shield. Perhaps now, I'll finally be able to keep it. Maybe?


2595 - Humans want peace, I reject and instead glass Proxima.


2596 - Found Proxima.

2597 - Humans really want peace. I reject.


2599 - I probably should have accepted that peace offer, since the Humans decide to take back Sol. And that they do by destroying my defenses and sending in the transports.
In the meantime, I steal the mauler device from the Mrrshans and blame the Psilons.

2600 - Humans conquer Sol, gaining back their homeworld and plugging a few holes in their armor [techs] in the process.

Council comes and I must be doing something right, because I'm in the running for the first time.

I manage to get the Alkari vote, with the Humans and Mrrshans going with the Psilons. The Alkari then immediately threaten me right after the vote, making it clear that it was more of a not-Psilon vote than a vote for me, or something like that.

[toddestan]

PART VII

2601 - I glass Sol. Proxima gets glassed.

The Psilons break the non-aggression pact.


2602 - Humans attack Volantis.

It ends up being a standoff, with my missile bases ineffective against their ships, and their ships barely able to scratch the missile bases. The battle times out after 50 turns and I win only by default.

2603 -


Where things stand. According to the rankings, I'm more or less on the same level as the Humans, Alkari, and Mrrshans. However, the Psilons are playing on a whole another level.

2604 - I refound Sol, and glass the new colony at Proxima.

2605 - On the same turn, the Alkari drop lots of cans of Raid™ on Sol, a colony ship arrives so I am able to refound it, and Psilon transports arrive and they capture it.

I try attacking Tao, but find that the Humans have managed once again to make my bomber design obsolete, so I bug out. I redesign my bomber.

2607 - Humans want peace, so I accept for now.

2609 - I refound Crypto.

2610 - Mrrshans want peace, so I accept.


2612 - Volantis gets the Nova event.

2613 - Alkari sneak attack Obaca with bioweapon designs, wiping out the colony.

Time to take the Alkari down a notch or two.

I notice that Paranar is once again uninhabited, so send a fleet with a colony ship there.

2615 - Psilons end up chasing me away from Paranar. I defeat the Alkari at Vega and refound Obaca.

2616 - I found Vega. The Psilons arrive at Obaca and glass it.

2618 - I refound Obaca again, this time having to start from scratch courtesy of the Psilons. I should be able to avoid the Nova event at Volantis with a bit of reserve spending.


2619 - Volantis is spared.

I decide my next target is Yarrow.

2620 - Yarrow is glassed. Meanwhile, Obaca gets glassed again.

2621 - The Mrrshans chase me away from Yarrow, and found a colony. Jasana thanks me for doing all the dirty work for her.

2622 - Refound Obaca, again.

2623 - Notice that the Mrrshans didn't get to keep Yarrow, so I glass the invaders. The Humans declare war on me, but strangely so do the Mrrshans.



2624 - I refound Yarrow. I steal Ion Cannon from the Mrrshans and blame the Psilons. Mrrshan transports arrive and promptly take Yarrow from me.

2625 - Council. I'm in the running, and it quickly becomes obvious that things are not going to go favorably. The Humans, Alkari, and Mrrshan all vote Psilon. My 29 votes are not enough to block and I lose the election to Kelvan.



I had not planned on triggering final war until I was ready and in a winning position. However, it's the situation I now find myself in. I don't feel ready yet to take on the Psilons, let along everyone else united with them against me. Well, I'll fight to the death then. I figure my best chance will be to go scorched earth and start eliminating the opponent core worlds as quickly as possible. I'm already in a hole, and if I don't act swiftly it's only going to get deeper.

2626 - First order of business, the planets I recently lost to the Psilons. I first glass Paranar. I send a fleet to Gienah, but once again I find my bombers inadequate to penerate an enemy core world, so I redesign.


2628 - I glass Sol. I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing this screen a lot.


2629 - They glass Proxima. Alkari send a fleet towards Selia.

Not too worried about this one.

2630 - I glass Yarrow.
I have a big problem, and it's orbiting Paranar.


2631 - Gorra gets attacked and goes down.


I have another problem. My missile tech, at this point, is very outdated and I can't even hit most of the new designs my opponents have now. My shields tech, luckily, is adequate, but a lot of the opponent designs now have plasma torpedeos which are capable of hitting my bases.

2632 - Romulas glassed.

2633 - I take out more fresh colonies of theirs. Misha glassed, Yarrow glassed.

2634 - I attack Gienah again, and win. This came at a somewhat high cost as most of my gunner-class (gauss autocannon/high energy focus ship-to-ship design) gets destroyed, as well as most of my bombers. I decide to move up to a large-hulled bomber and redesign.

2635 - I glass Kakata. Goodbye Psilon planet.

2636 - I glass Keeta, and another new colony at Misha.

2637 - Humans manage to have 81 colony ships, which is literally enough to colonize the entire galaxy. Once again, my understanding is that this should not happen. Bug?

Meanwhile, the Mrrshans glass Omnicron. In revenge I glass Zoctan and Romulas.
Map:


I redistribute my research to focus on propulsion so I can get Thorium fuel cells, as otherwise I'm going to run out of opponent worlds within my reach here pretty quickly, and my ability to hold onto a new colony for the purpose of extending my reach is pretty questionable.

2638 - Psilons show up at one of my worlds with this.

Luckily, they flee.

2639 - Selia get glassed. I glass Romulas, Yarrow.

The rate that I'm losing core worlds is alarming. I really can't afford to be losing them at this rate, as they are difficult and time-consuming to replace. I really need to take the offensive to them, and be taking out their core worlds and not their fresh refounded colonies.

2640 - I glass Sol, Misha.

2641 - I steal hyperspace communications, which is always handy to have.

2642 - Hyades goes into rebellion. This is effectively another lost core world.



2643 - I go after one of their built up worlds, Neptunus, and glass it.

2644 - My espionage efforts pay off, and I nab 3 computer techs in one turn. I glass Gienah again. I battle the Psilons at Mobas and while victorious I lose many ships.

2645 - I steal advanced space scanner from the Mrrshans. This allows me to scan a lot of the opponent planets, which will help me pick out the best targets. This also pretty much cleans out the opponents computer tech tree, so I decide to focus on weapons tech as I really, really need better missile bases at home.

2646 - I steal scatter pack VII, and I am able to blame the Psilons? Probably has no effect, but why not?

2647 - They get another one of my core worlds, Reticuli.



2648 - Thorium cells pop.

At this point, I figure my best option is to crank out ships as fast as possible, and put all my non-poor, non-artifact core planets into ship production, effectively reducing my RP's to a trickle. Hopefully I can espionage the techs I need, or the game ends before the tech gap grows too much.

2650 - I manage to steal both ion and plasma rifles in the same turn. I shake a tiny first at Hyades.

[toddestan]

PART VIII


2652 - I steal Zion missiles from the Mrrshans. I check to make sure that every core planet is spending at least one click so they will get upgrade. I also glass Gorra and Tao this turn.

2653 - I glass Guradas and Yarrow again.

Taking over the galaxy? Not so fast...

2654 - I glass Maalor.

I decide at this point prioritize on taking out the Psilon worlds first. There are several reasons for this:
1. They, by far, have the most frightening stacks flying around of anyone.
2. I don't need them the Psilons sharing their research advances with everyone else.
3. I'm getting really tired of seeing Kelvan's face on the diplomacy screen.

Strategy will be to send around master fleet to...err... "visit" all the Psilon core worlds. With any luck they'll lose a core world every 1-2 turns. I'll have several smaller fleets running around playing whack-a-mole with the colonies that pop up, both Psilon and everyone else. I'll start on the bottom part of the map (where most of my ships are) and work my way up and around. Special care will be taken to dodge the Psilon Stacks-of-Doom™ that are flying around. Hopefully this will keep them occupied instead of them sending Stacks-of-Doom to my colonies.

2655 - Glass Romulas, Exis.

2656 - Glass Tauri, Gorra, Misha.

2657 - Romulas and Gienah glassed. Also, this happened.


Take THAT.

2658 - Tau Cygni glassed.

2659 - Jinga, Yarrow, Proxima glassed.

I'm taking my toll on the Psilons. They still lead in total power, but their population and planets bars are shrinking.


2660 - Anraq, Tao glassed.

2661 - Gienah, Kakata, Romulas, Guradas all fall this turn.

2662 - Uxmai, Gorra, Misha all glassed.

2663 - Reticuli, Drakka, Neptunus glassed.

2664 - Iranha, Gienah, Yarrow, Proxima glassed.


2665 - Gorra, Paranar, Guardas glassed.

2666 - Mu Delpi, Geinah glassed.

2667 - Rotan, Keeta glassed.


2668 - Tauri, Kakata glassed.

2669 - I complete the circle and glass Herculis.

Take that for sniping that planet out from under me hundreds of turns ago. I also glass Reticuli and Rayden, as well as Romulas.

2670 - Selia, Iranha, Anraq, Keeta, Misha all glassed.

I'm down to two Psilon worlds. One is a new colony, whereas they are somewhat established on Mobas, so I send my master fleet to Mobas. This will take two turns.

2672 - Mu Delph, Tau Cygni, Gorras, Mobas, Yarrow, Paranar all glassed the same turn. Psilons are toast.




Meanwhile, this is the kind of Mrrshan fleets I have been dodging while playing whack-a-mole on the rest of the map.



I decide the next race I'm going to target will be the Mrrshans, as they are now the newly crowned most powerful race in the galaxy.


Next will probably be the Humans. They may be the weakest, but their fleets are still causing me enough headaches to my whack-a-mole efforts.


2673 - I start this party off right by destroying Reticuli, Zoctan, Neptunus, and Exis which are all Mrrshan planets. I also take out Romulas, again.

2674 - Tauri glassed. I design a new colony ship as the bottom of the map is looking pretty empty so I might as well colonize a few planets.

2675 - At Denebius I run into the Mrrshan master fleet, and flee in terror. I still glass Uxmai. Looks like Denebius is the current Mrrshan rally point so I'll save that planet for later.

2676 - Found Romulas, Yarrow. Glass Iranha.

2677 - I glass Willow. I get the comet event at Kholdan so I send a couple of the mop-up fleets to Kholdan to deal with it.


2678 - Glass Uxmai. Fieras goes down this turn.




2679 - Glass Mentor, Paranar, Berel. Comet is destroyed.


2680 - Paranar founded. Gorra, Beta Ceti glassed. Humans sneak-capture Paranar, which is the first time someone has actually attacked a colony of mine since I've started my big push.

2681 - Neptunus, Kulthos glassed.

2682 - Galos glassed.

2683 - Keeta, Paranar, Ajax glassed.

2684 - Maalor glassed, Kakata glassed. I notice there is no fleet at Denebius, so time to strike?

2685 - Zoctan, Garadas, Gorra, and Denebius glassed. This leaves the Mrrshans without any built up worlds. I find the Mrrshan master fleet parked at Rayden.



2686 - Mentar, Maalor glassed. I notice that the Mrrshan master fleet is no longer at Rayden so I send a clean-up fleet there. I send my master fleet to a Human core world to start the next part of my offensive.


2687 - Misha glassed, Thrax glassed, Rayden glassed. Mrrshans are extinct.




2688 - Time to start my offensive against the Humans, as I've had about enough of their huge, plasma torpedo designs harassing my mop-up fleets.

I glass Kakata, Neptunus, Phantos, and Drakka.

2689 - Iranha, Gorra, Gienah, Kailis glassed.

2690 - Selia, Zoctan, Mu Delpi, Centauri glassed.

2691 - Herculis, Reticuli, Uxmai glassed. I send out another wave of colony ships towards empty worlds at the bottom of the map.

2692 - Keeta, Tau Cygni glassed.

I notice that I have been overlooking Sol with my mop-up fleets, and the Humans have actually managed to establish and build up their homeworld again. Well. That's not going to last for long.


I realize that I probably should probably also defeat Gaurdian , and gather up a fleet to send to Orion.

2693 - Sol glassed. So does Rayden and Exis. It looks like the opponents have finally decided to do something about this. They take out both Yarrow and Gorra this turn.

This could potentially be a problem, as they still have a strong enough fleets to cause some damage to my worlds.



2694 - Run into the Human master fleet at Drakka, and I chose to flee rather than fight and lose precious ships. I easily defeat the Gaurdian and found Orion.

vs.

I get Pulson and Hercular missiles from Orion. So that's where the Missile techs were hiding!

Meanwhile, one of my new colonies, Proxima, rebels.



2695 - Geinah, Rotan glassed. Number of orange flags in the galaxy is rapidly falling.


2696 - I run into the Human's master fleet at Nitzer and flee. I glass Reticuli and Gorra. Space Crystal makes an appearance.



2697 - Selia, Proteus glassed.

2698 - Make another pass at Nitzer, run into the Human master fleet, and retreat.


2699 - Tau Cygni, Zoctan, Neptunus glassed.


2700 - I catch the Human's master fleet away from Nitzer, and glass it. I also glass Iranha and Kakata. Humans are down to new-ish colonies only.

[toddestan]

PART IX

2701 - Drakka, Mobas glassed. Humans actually increase their total number of worlds from two to three this turn.

2702 - The Human master fleet is parked over the just refounded Nitzer, so I retreat. I glass Iranha and Galos.

2703 - Alkari sneak in an attack at Spica. I fight them off. Glass Exis.

Humans are down to just Nitzer, and of course they have their master fleet parked over it, so I'm going to have to fight it. I combine my master fleet with several of the mop-up fleets to attack Nitzer.


2704 - Humans last stand at Nitzer.

vs.

I swoop in, bomb the planet from the battle screen, confirm it reads 0 population, and retreat. They win the fight, I win the war.



The Alkari attack me at Spica. Those small, neutronium bombers are a bit of a problem. I lose all my missile bases, but they are forced to retreat before I lose the colony.


Next up, space crystal.

vs.

Dead in one shot.


2705 - Well, the humans are not dead. Note to self: Next time be sure to destroy their colony ships before retreating. I send my fleet back to Nitzer to repeat my past performance, making sure I blow their colony ships to bits. I also Glass Keeta this turn.






2706 - Time to start with the Alkari, which there are a few more purple flags out there than I would like. I start with glassing Altair, completing my circuit of opponent homeworlds. I also glass Zoctan, again, confirming it's spud status all the way to the end.

At this point, I have enough bombers in my master fleet that I usually end up destroying the colony in battle screen.

2707 - Glass Herculis, Tauri.

2708 - Glass Selia, Tau Cygni, and Keeta.

2709 - Glass Anraq, Zoctan, and Mu Delphi.

2710 - Glass Iranha, Uxmai, and Jinga.

2711 - Glass Mentar, Herculis.


I've managed to take care of a large number of purple flags in a few turns, mostly because those were mostly new colonies. But the Alkari haven't given up yet, and attack me at Spica, again. This time, they win and glass the planet.

2712 - Glass Selia, Reticuli, and Iranha.

2713 - I run into their master fleet at Rayden, which consisting mainly of bombers which they retreat. I glass Rayden and Omicron. They are down to Paranar, and looks like they refounded Herculis.


2714 - Master fleet is on the way to Paranar. They refound Selia so I send a mop-up fleet there too.

2715 - The Alkari are not going out without a fight. Their master fleet arrives at Stalaz and glasses it. I glass Herculis, and notice they have refounded Reticuli, so I send a fleet there too.

Assuming no new colonies, I should have them eliminated on the next turn.

2716 - Glass Selia, Reticuli, and Paranar. Don't run into their master fleet at any of those worlds. That's because their master fleet was sent to Remulas, which they glass. Doesn't matter though, as it's all over for them.





Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable game. I get to win an Imperium, not to mention win what I'm pretty sure is my first impossible game where I legitimately go into final war (as opposed to throwing an election for the lulz) and come out victorious. I also get to lay some smackdown on some impossible Psilons. The rules for the Imperium were pretty straightforward and easy to follow. The only downside was that it was a long game (even by my standards) and the end was a bit of a slog playing whack-a-mole with the AI's as I tried to wipe them out in a large galaxy. But that didn't take away from the satisfaction of watching the ending sequence after a hard-won game! A big thanks to Whitemage for hosting!

[toddestan]

Almost forgot. If anyone is interested, saved game files are here.