Heh, miracles do happen! KnTenshi's Imperium 26.

[KnTenshi]

2300
I examined the map. I started in the South East corner. There is a large concentration of yellow stars in the South West corner. I have marked off the area that I will consider mine, eleven stars in total. High production planets will have a priority to make new colony ships, even over expansion. I have started building 1 scout a year, to flood my territory with flags.



2303
Neptunus has been colonized. It is ecologically fertile and can hold 60 pop.

2304
I have found Orion. Well, that takes out one point planet. Let's hope that the Neutron star won't be planetless. Even a radiated planet would prove some help in the north.

2314
I have scouted out the rest of my territory, there is only one planet within reach.



2315
I have started to build a colony ship to colonize Crypto, Neptunus' less fertile twin. This should also help both Crypto and Neptunus (Neptunus gets more of a lead on the factory/population ratio and Crypto gets a huge pop boost). After that ship is built in 10 years, I'll start research on Propulsion to hopefully open up range.

2325
So good so far.

2326
Range 4, just what I needed!

2331
With Range 4, I have started up a new Colony ship. I should have Aurora and Tau Cygni colonized in about 10 to 15 years. I open up Planetology to try to colonize Ryoun.

2332
I only had the choice of +10 pop. Not too bad, as I could get a quick boost to my pop and production, but also get more planet choices.

2337
And it comes it, with now a decent choice that included Controlled Dead. This should allow me to take control of all of my territory except for the Radiated Planets of Kailis and Anraq. I now plan to expand to the West.

2339


2350
I have taken both Tau Cygni and Aurora.

2353
I've researched Nuclear Engines, both to speed up the ships and their defences.

2358
I have finally researched Controlled Dead. I'll quickly snap up Ryoun, Tao, and distant Darrian. With this, I have opened up Computer and Construction Tech.

2359
I choose Deep Space Scanners and IIT9.

2364
I land IIT9 just as my colony ship lands on Hostile Barren Ryoun. It is a bit ironic that a fertile and a hostile planet are just two parsecs away from each other. I choose Duralloy Armor.

2368
I have finished researching Deep Space Scanners. I choose the quick and simple ECM 1.

2369
This year brings Hostile Tao, the geologically Dead yet Rich planet. One more planet until I have my little corner of the galaxy cordoned off. After that, I'll rush Ranged 6 to push as far as the AI will let me, both to the West and to Center of the Galaxy.

2370
As ECM1 came it, I started the push into Range 6. Even if this is in vain, I would still have 8 decent planets to work with, and two more in due time, which should be enough to pump out a strong invasion force. The only question is: who are my immediate neighbors?

2373
And mineraly Poor Darrian is mine. Now I'm just a hop, skip, and jump away from taking over the galaxy, right?


2376
Range 6 comes in mind bogglingly quick! It didn't even hit the percentages (well, it did in theory, but... eh)! It even boggled the mind of the computer, which spontaneously created a virus that erased the newly created empty folder for the project "Go Faster".

I also learned of my northern neighbors. The Humans. Goodbye world, I knew thee well. Allies of the Humans find themselves merely he,ping the Humans along with their domineering agenda at best and part of puppet wars at worse. Enemies of the Humans find themselves fighting against most of the galaxy. We outstrip them in planets, population, and production. I say this is a good thing. The power bars lie! The Alkari are inherently better than these arms-dealers.

Out of anger of being lied to by the game, I decide to crash my economy by calling up a trade agreement, creating an anti-spy network, and spying on the Humans.

I also have Scout 2s being built to find out the conditions of the nearby planets.

(cont.)

[KnTenshi]

2378
Duralloy finally came in, and I chose Battle Suits. A war will come, so why not prepare for it? Weapons, who needs weapons?

2379
Oh, right, we need stronger weapons to burn through the armor of our foes. Ok, weapons opened. And apparently, the Humans are allied with the Darloks. Great. I'll die a painful death.

2380
Well, with a new Hyper V Rocket, I can at least go out as a Cowboy.

2382

Well, Here is the galaxy so far. The Humans and I are of moderate size. We also share a vital flaw: each of our homeworlds are unprotected from each other. The hand is pointing at Sol. Not a good thing if/when I attack him or vice versa.

It seems the spying has paid off, as I can now see just how I am "technologically equal" to him. My fleets are faster and can fly father than his. My pilots can still out maneuver him, even with his Inertial Thrusters. Even though he has created simple Laser Pistols, my troops have the stronger Duralloy Combat Vests. My people can spread to geologically dead worlds, while his can only reach barren ones.

What? The coward hides behind force field shields? These are his big breakthroughs?!? Hah! I may not die after all.

Also, He has joined with the Mrrshans and the Meklars. Let's see how long this lasts.

2383
And now I have my research go after the NPG. I need my six shooters, dang it!

2385
And now I have +20 pop. The more pop I have, the more votes I have. The more votes I have, the less of a chance that I'll find myself in Final War.

2387
With the colonization of Antares, the council comes into session. Darquan of the Darloks vs. me.
Mrrshans abstain (3 votes).
Darquan votes for himself (4).
The Sillicoids abstain (4).
The Meklars abstain (1).
The Humans vote for their allies the Darloks (4).
I'm not one to play politics, so I abstain this round (6).

Just from the vote, I have learned a couple of things. I am vastly in the lead for Population and most everyone else is roughly equal. The Meklars are likely pulling a One Planet Empire, and thus will be less of a threat than normal. The Darloks do worry me. They are the poor man's Humans. They can break up alliances with successful spying and cause turmoil, but they are severly hindered in the diplomatic territory. They might get kept in check by the very people they would be growing technologically fat off of.



Well, hello there Sillicoids. Nice to see you, all bunched up in the middle of the map. Though I'll have my spies confirm it, I'll bet that they are hurting for Range tech. I can also guess as to the where abouts of the rest of the races. The Darloks are likely beyond the Humans, in the single yellow star up north. The Mrrshan are spread about past the Sillicoids, and the Meklars are stuck inbetween the two in that yellow star cluster.

Once again, I crash my economy with Spy/Anti-spy/Trade.

2389
The spy report on the Sillicoids is in. I was right, they still only have range 4. Once again, my ships could fly circles around the rocks and this in another cowardly race that hides behind lasers. Their Death Spore technology could cause problems.

2395
NPG has come in. This is the perfect weapon to counter the cowardly Deflector sheilds. Most of the rounds will just pass right on through. I decide to upgrade our missles. If I'm going out with a bang, might as well make it a big one!

I also design the Falcon-class Medium Fighters. 3 NPGs, 2 warp and interplanetary speed, Durraloy Armor, Battle scanners and a Battle Computer. Not bad for only 118. I have Aurora and Altair build one a year. This should make the other races being to second guess attacking me.

2398
With the colonization of the Tundra covered Rayden, I think it is time to show the map of galaxy so far, generalized borders added. The Sillicoids are small and compact, but they currently have more ships than I do, so swallowing them up might not be easy. The Humans are spread out, which means that their fleets are spread thin. But, I'm not ready to take on the galaxy just yet, so I'll hold on taking them out just now.



(I see a snake pushing a rock down a hill. What do you see?)

2399
Just in time to worry about the vote, I get both ECM2 and Sub-light drives (warp 3). Woo hoo, I'm faster now, and so are my troop transports. I choose Improved Space Scanner for the ETAs and Fusion Drives for Operation Go Faster!

2400
Darquan vs Me.
Mrrshans abstain (3).
Darloks vote themselves (4).
Sillicoids vote Darloks (4).
Meklars abstain (1).
Humans vote Darloks (4).
My bird flips everyone the bird and votes for himself! (8)

I'm the only one who has grown in the past 13 years.

2403
It seems the Humans want to strike first. They sent one Cruiser apiece to Rayden and Zhardan. I have found that 3 Falcons are more than a match for a single cruiser. Now to see what happens when I have 5 Falcons!

2405
He fled... I think. He was there one moment, then gone the next, one year before my five ships could converge. If this means what I think it means, I might have to hold off on invading him soon.

2408
I've decided to start carving up the Humans, starting with their planet Rha. I will attempt to not have a hot war just yet. Consider it vengeance for attacking us. As insurance, I called up Granid of the Sillicoids and ask for a NAP to make it harder for other races or even him to attack me.

I have 15 Falcons on route to Rha, so as long as there aren't more than 5 Cruisers or the equivalent, I'm good. A heavily armed planet might pose a bit of a problem, but the newly designed Space Gulls that are in production on Altair will help. Watch out, these thing's droppings will do more than eat away at a new paint job.

2412
Ok, let's see. One colony ship. That, I can tear through like tissue paper. Two Cruisers. Dead men flying. Five Missile bases. I think I can take them out. 423 Gunboats, each with a single NPG. Mommy...

Oh well, I didn't come all the way out here just to run away! Let's see what damage the three Space Gulls can do, and if they don't run away, I'll take down the three large ships.

And they did jack squat. I need better bombs before I try taking out a planet.

2414
15 Human colonists attempted to land on Zhardan. Not one reached to atmosphere alive. They did make a pretty meteor shower though.

2420
+30 pop has hit. That's at least one more vote and a nice chunk of production. I decide to go with Soil Enrichment for a similar reason.

Granid then calls me up and warns me that he might have to rid the galaxy of me. Since we are still in a NAP and trading, I think he was just a little unnerved by my small fleet of ships near his territory. Not that I really planned on attacking him any time soon.

2425
Here's a change. Strader of the Humans vs Me.
Mrrshans vote for Humans (3).
Darloks vote for the Humans (4).
Sillicoids vote for the Humans (4).
Meklars abstain (1).
Humans vote for themselves (6).
I clap and abstain (10).

Also, Pirates attack Rha. I don't know who to cheer for.

2429
Improved Space Scanners comes in. I choose Improved Robotic Controls IV. When this little baby comes in, my production can double.

2432
The Pirates are gone from Rha.

2433
I get Ion Rifles this year, making my ground pounders more formidable. Not that I really want to be taking planets by troop. To reconcile this, I start researching Antimatter Bombs.

2438
Aurora has a major industrial accident. Nuclear waste everywhere. Crap.

2439
And Aurora's max pop has been dropped to 82 from 105. A 22% drop.

2441
I now have IRC IV. I jump right on Advanced Space Scanners. Makes it a whole lot easier to plan an invasion if I can see my opponent's planets before hand. I also have Antares take over for Aurora on Falcon building.

2446
And here comes Soil Enrichment! A birdy boom! The Silicoids might be the only ones with a bioweapon, but I can never be too careful, so I chose Bio Toxin Antidote.

And speaking of the Devils, here they are again, warning us to not expand. One more warning and I'll 'expand' right through them.

2450
And now I know why the Sillicoids are so up in arms about my 'expansion'. It's them vs me this vote.
The Mrrshans abstain (1).
The Darloks vote for me (4).
Granid votes for himself (6).
The Meklars abstain (1). At least they are constant.
The Humans abstain (5).
My and my 10 votes go to no one.

Apparently, the Mrrshans are not long for this world. But I wonder what has made the Humans drop. I haven't done anything to them... yet.

And the Sillicoids come wanting a trade boost. I was waiting on something higher, but whatever, more money is more money.

Ah, so it was the Humans who are taking out the Mrrshans. Go you annoying furbags!

2463
Energy Pulsar has come in, now I can take down all those annoying tiny stacks! Range 7 looks nice and cheap and will get me within striking distance of Sol itself.

With that, I build the Sky Master. 50 NPGs, 10 Hyper-X Rockets, Fusion Engines (4 warp and speed), Battle Computer 1, Battle Scanner, Auto Retair, and the Energy Pulsar. In 25 years or less, the Humans will fear me.

2468
Deep mining on Zhardan has found deposits of Neutronium, thus the entire planet has become filthy Rich!

2472
Antimatter Bombs come in, so I redesign the Sky Master to have 10 of those, though that drops the NPGs to 32. No matter the defenses, Rha will fall. Antimatter Torpedoes are next.

2474
Ah, it is a thing of beauty. Well, the Sky Master is off to Rha, along with the northern fleet of 80 Falcons.

2475
Me vs. the Humans.
The Mrrshans vote for me (3).
The Darloks vote for me (5).
The Sillicoids vote for me (5).
Someone broke the Meklars, for they voted for the Humans (1).
The Humans vote for themselves (6).
I give everyone a loud cheer and thank them all. I then bow and vote for myself (11).

King me.

Wait a minute...I won an Imperium? With little bloodshed even? The cats are lieing with the birds? This is... impossible! This.. can't... be... happening!

[RefSteel]

Hey! Congratulations on your first Imperium victory! Very well done!

And maybe it's because I live near San Francisco, but I see a seal chasing a deflating beach ball down a beach. (But I didn't until you made that comment about the snake!)

[Horist]

Nice job!

[KnTenshi]

I think the only reason I won was because the Humans (or the Darloks posing as humans) made some enemies before the last election.

[RefSteel]

I think the only reason I won was because the Humans (or the Darloks posing as humans) made some enemies before the last election.

Don't sell yourself short here. You had a veto going in that last election. Yes, the AI diplo dice may have rolled your way, but you'd played yourself into a strong position, and might have won from there no matter how they voted. So, I say again: Good game!