Finally, an Imperium where I can't lose the vote.
Looking at scouting reports, it may never come to a vote, I can hopefully scout-blockade 10 or so planets. I also love the map generators's sense of humor, of course for this variant we have 3 large planets requiring no range or planetology to settle, which would already probably give us an unassailable lead on a Small map.
Spent the 2nd turn on reserve binge putting a lot of seeding into IT+10. Was a good idea, but didn't pop until 2320 after some 8 turns in 20+%s. Also trickled RW80 and finished that before maxing at 440 factories in 2338. RCIII and range 4 both came in on 2343; noticed something weird where those new factories were still only costing 10BC each.
By 2350, still very quiet, no enemy planets in range or even colony ships. I think the best play is an Always War approach, ruthlessley burn down whatever I can reach while they are still immature and no bases. Don't have to worry about defense if they can't reach Meklon! Preserve my ships, avoid fighting any significant enemy fleets and trust that the AI lack of focus will give me a shot at basically undefended worlds if I'm patient. I see Hyper-X is my only 2nd tier weapon (good thing I went HL over Hyper-V's), which fits pretty well with this. Missile boats are definitely the best way to inflict pain and run away at tech parity.
Long periods of cat and mouse. Some death spore ships help with the destruction.
By 2475, I've gotten to Range 9, still three Prop techs to go...Alkaris wiped out by Darloks
Use a council vote for the Darloks to get peace (for a nice reserve sum!) and some crucial tech - RCIV (!) for autorepair. I build one dreadnought with grav beams and some nuclear bombs (wasn't willing to part with Enhanced Eco for Fusion Bomb, that may have been a mistake - I was stuck against Bulrathi worlds for a while, they had only Nuke Missles but enough shielding to make nuke bombing impractical) This is a spectacular success as the Darloks have weakish shield and missle tech, this plus the Sporers are able to bomb out a lot of their worlds including all of the SE corner that was unreachable until range 9. Of course, the first few bomb outs are crucial since they lower the max size all the way to 10; since the AI doesn't prioritize Eco cleanup to deal with that it takes them even more than normal to ever bring a new settlement up to speed. By 2525 each of the Burathi, Darloks, Mrrshans only have 3 votes, a very good sign.
Good lord, HEF takes 40000RP, Meklon can do at most 550/turn right now...Thank goodness for that research tripling that eventually kicks in. Once I get HEF I realize that I was wrong, still have 2 techs total to finish this. Made a couple of trades during truces for Fusion Bomb and Planet Shield V; former is crucial to busting developed worlds, latter is insurance but I only had to trade useless ECM V for them. A 2nd dreadnought with Fusion Bombs + HEF is able to crack Tao, the Rich world to the west that I previously couldn't touch; in 2604 I'm back in isolation as all worlds within my range of 9 are cleared. At this point I'm tempted to quit and declare victory; the AI's have 9 worlds out of reach but are in a pretty bad death spiral, spending lots of production on colony ships and sending out much of the population on their settled worlds to their doom as I bomb out anything in range again and again. This appears to have mostly stalled their research; still there's a chance something could change by the time I finish trudging to the final range tech.
Then just to keep me on my toes, a big Darlok fleet attacks Meklon just a few turns later:
![[Image: 1-DarlokAttack.png]](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff82/timmy827/imp%2027/1-DarlokAttack.png)
Um, help? I had gotten quite complacent with bases having ~15-18 - only the Bulrathi ever tried to attack my worlds, and until they got Heavy Blast Cannons nothing could even get through the shielding (and then just barely, I smoked 8 larges without losing a single base once). I knew the Darloks had Fusion Bomb for a long time and was wary, but in all the encounters with their fleet I never saw more than a handful, save one Huge which my dreadnought was able to abuse auto-repair + superior manueverability to destroy. As expected here I'm screwed - best missiles are Scatter Pack Vs still, and with that shielding I only get about half of the Scorpions before my bases are reduced to rubble. Thank goodnes for there slow speed and some AI idiocy (the Scorpions were actually delayed by 2 battle rounds, thanks to the other ships moving in front of them!), as I barely survived the aftermath:
![[Image: 2-DarlokResults.png]](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff82/timmy827/imp%2027/2-DarlokResults.png)
Yikes! (If you're wondering why only 120 pop, I had decided that further Planetology research had a poor payoff prospect, I think I would have had to research Radiated just for a chance at something useful). The funny thing is the Darlok fleet vanishes the next turn for lack of range - thank goodness for my prior diligence in burning down lots of planets (of course, had I kept my newest dreadnought at home it could have probably fought off the whole fleet by itself). I was recalling my fleet and almost certainly could have destroyed the remnants next turn, but glad to not have to test that theory.
Then I have to deal with a Civ-4 like "Strike" - ship maintenance costs are more than my whole economy! I disband the older dreadnought, thankfully I also have a good amount of reserve (~850 stored, then 700 more from another AI "peace" deal I cynically accept) to jump-start the rebuilding. The AI's get to resettle a lot while my fleet stays home until the pop is maxed out and enough bases are up, but as previously mentioned they can't deal with the spored-out worlds so it doesn't matter much.
From there on its a lot more of the same, jumping around burning down worlds while waiting for the range reasearch. The Bulrathi get to Stingers, and build sizable numbers of large/huges loaded up. I'm concerned for a long time as they can take down my dreadnoughts and could threaten Meklon, but they never attack. Antimatter engines take too much space for me to deem a new dreadnought worth it, so I stick with my current design and build a 2nd, then go for small 2-fusion bombers (with warp 7/maneuv 6) once the last tech is done. Of the four developed bear worlds in their NW corner that I can now reach, Dolz is easy prey with only 5 bases (I think this was the world where they were constantly sending pop from); the other 3 worlds have 15-20 each and aren't so easy. I need both dreadnoughts + at least 200 of the smalls to make progress on each one (plus a couple retreat-and-returns to avoid significant opposing fleets). By 2700 all of those but Ursa have been cratered, I give them a reprieve to start crushing the Darloks. They don't have planetary sheild and only hyper-x rockets, so their worlds are easy prey and I note they are "functionally dead" in 2704 - ie no established worlds, only a few spuds and thus no hope of supporting a fleet or founding more colonies.
One annoying drag-out factor was Meklons strangely vanishing production - for a long time stuck at 620:
![[Image: 4-ProductionBug.png]](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff82/timmy827/imp%2027/4-ProductionBug.png)
It's at 120/720 and my planetology tech is 14, so I think that means it should be just shy of 840 (IIRC, your people each do 1.0 production at planetology 16 2/3). Also, I noticed it did not drop after a factory sabotage - like somehow the game thought that my cyborgs couldn't each operate 6 factories? This was noticed well after the near-destruction of my homeworld, not sure if it was in effect from the moment I finished rebuilding. If I had the proper production I wouldn't have had to wait so long to produce enough bombers; at least the silly AI's kept bribing me for short-lived peaces giving me reserves to speed that up.
Anyways, the Mrsshans had 3 well-developed worlds but lower tech than the Bulrathi, so it was just a matter of time until all those were done. Altair was the last "real" world to fall in 2470-1, then just whacking a couple more refounded worlds until extermination on the 2742-3 interturn.
Fun game, but awfully tedious at times; I'm quite happy that the Darloks nearly wiped me out as it did inject some fear back into the whole thing. Wish there was a stat counter for "planets glassed", definitely in the hundreds...I don't want to think about what sort of coercion and trickery the AI's needed to get colonists to keep heading towards worlds in range of Meklon
Looking at scouting reports, it may never come to a vote, I can hopefully scout-blockade 10 or so planets. I also love the map generators's sense of humor, of course for this variant we have 3 large planets requiring no range or planetology to settle, which would already probably give us an unassailable lead on a Small map.
Spent the 2nd turn on reserve binge putting a lot of seeding into IT+10. Was a good idea, but didn't pop until 2320 after some 8 turns in 20+%s. Also trickled RW80 and finished that before maxing at 440 factories in 2338. RCIII and range 4 both came in on 2343; noticed something weird where those new factories were still only costing 10BC each.
By 2350, still very quiet, no enemy planets in range or even colony ships. I think the best play is an Always War approach, ruthlessley burn down whatever I can reach while they are still immature and no bases. Don't have to worry about defense if they can't reach Meklon! Preserve my ships, avoid fighting any significant enemy fleets and trust that the AI lack of focus will give me a shot at basically undefended worlds if I'm patient. I see Hyper-X is my only 2nd tier weapon (good thing I went HL over Hyper-V's), which fits pretty well with this. Missile boats are definitely the best way to inflict pain and run away at tech parity.
Long periods of cat and mouse. Some death spore ships help with the destruction.
By 2475, I've gotten to Range 9, still three Prop techs to go...Alkaris wiped out by Darloks
Use a council vote for the Darloks to get peace (for a nice reserve sum!) and some crucial tech - RCIV (!) for autorepair. I build one dreadnought with grav beams and some nuclear bombs (wasn't willing to part with Enhanced Eco for Fusion Bomb, that may have been a mistake - I was stuck against Bulrathi worlds for a while, they had only Nuke Missles but enough shielding to make nuke bombing impractical) This is a spectacular success as the Darloks have weakish shield and missle tech, this plus the Sporers are able to bomb out a lot of their worlds including all of the SE corner that was unreachable until range 9. Of course, the first few bomb outs are crucial since they lower the max size all the way to 10; since the AI doesn't prioritize Eco cleanup to deal with that it takes them even more than normal to ever bring a new settlement up to speed. By 2525 each of the Burathi, Darloks, Mrrshans only have 3 votes, a very good sign.
Good lord, HEF takes 40000RP, Meklon can do at most 550/turn right now...Thank goodness for that research tripling that eventually kicks in. Once I get HEF I realize that I was wrong, still have 2 techs total to finish this. Made a couple of trades during truces for Fusion Bomb and Planet Shield V; former is crucial to busting developed worlds, latter is insurance but I only had to trade useless ECM V for them. A 2nd dreadnought with Fusion Bombs + HEF is able to crack Tao, the Rich world to the west that I previously couldn't touch; in 2604 I'm back in isolation as all worlds within my range of 9 are cleared. At this point I'm tempted to quit and declare victory; the AI's have 9 worlds out of reach but are in a pretty bad death spiral, spending lots of production on colony ships and sending out much of the population on their settled worlds to their doom as I bomb out anything in range again and again. This appears to have mostly stalled their research; still there's a chance something could change by the time I finish trudging to the final range tech.
Then just to keep me on my toes, a big Darlok fleet attacks Meklon just a few turns later:
Um, help? I had gotten quite complacent with bases having ~15-18 - only the Bulrathi ever tried to attack my worlds, and until they got Heavy Blast Cannons nothing could even get through the shielding (and then just barely, I smoked 8 larges without losing a single base once). I knew the Darloks had Fusion Bomb for a long time and was wary, but in all the encounters with their fleet I never saw more than a handful, save one Huge which my dreadnought was able to abuse auto-repair + superior manueverability to destroy. As expected here I'm screwed - best missiles are Scatter Pack Vs still, and with that shielding I only get about half of the Scorpions before my bases are reduced to rubble. Thank goodnes for there slow speed and some AI idiocy (the Scorpions were actually delayed by 2 battle rounds, thanks to the other ships moving in front of them!), as I barely survived the aftermath:
Yikes! (If you're wondering why only 120 pop, I had decided that further Planetology research had a poor payoff prospect, I think I would have had to research Radiated just for a chance at something useful). The funny thing is the Darlok fleet vanishes the next turn for lack of range - thank goodness for my prior diligence in burning down lots of planets (of course, had I kept my newest dreadnought at home it could have probably fought off the whole fleet by itself). I was recalling my fleet and almost certainly could have destroyed the remnants next turn, but glad to not have to test that theory.
Then I have to deal with a Civ-4 like "Strike" - ship maintenance costs are more than my whole economy! I disband the older dreadnought, thankfully I also have a good amount of reserve (~850 stored, then 700 more from another AI "peace" deal I cynically accept) to jump-start the rebuilding. The AI's get to resettle a lot while my fleet stays home until the pop is maxed out and enough bases are up, but as previously mentioned they can't deal with the spored-out worlds so it doesn't matter much.
From there on its a lot more of the same, jumping around burning down worlds while waiting for the range reasearch. The Bulrathi get to Stingers, and build sizable numbers of large/huges loaded up. I'm concerned for a long time as they can take down my dreadnoughts and could threaten Meklon, but they never attack. Antimatter engines take too much space for me to deem a new dreadnought worth it, so I stick with my current design and build a 2nd, then go for small 2-fusion bombers (with warp 7/maneuv 6) once the last tech is done. Of the four developed bear worlds in their NW corner that I can now reach, Dolz is easy prey with only 5 bases (I think this was the world where they were constantly sending pop from); the other 3 worlds have 15-20 each and aren't so easy. I need both dreadnoughts + at least 200 of the smalls to make progress on each one (plus a couple retreat-and-returns to avoid significant opposing fleets). By 2700 all of those but Ursa have been cratered, I give them a reprieve to start crushing the Darloks. They don't have planetary sheild and only hyper-x rockets, so their worlds are easy prey and I note they are "functionally dead" in 2704 - ie no established worlds, only a few spuds and thus no hope of supporting a fleet or founding more colonies.
One annoying drag-out factor was Meklons strangely vanishing production - for a long time stuck at 620:
It's at 120/720 and my planetology tech is 14, so I think that means it should be just shy of 840 (IIRC, your people each do 1.0 production at planetology 16 2/3). Also, I noticed it did not drop after a factory sabotage - like somehow the game thought that my cyborgs couldn't each operate 6 factories? This was noticed well after the near-destruction of my homeworld, not sure if it was in effect from the moment I finished rebuilding. If I had the proper production I wouldn't have had to wait so long to produce enough bombers; at least the silly AI's kept bribing me for short-lived peaces giving me reserves to speed that up.
Anyways, the Mrsshans had 3 well-developed worlds but lower tech than the Bulrathi, so it was just a matter of time until all those were done. Altair was the last "real" world to fall in 2470-1, then just whacking a couple more refounded worlds until extermination on the 2742-3 interturn.
Fun game, but awfully tedious at times; I'm quite happy that the Darloks nearly wiped me out as it did inject some fear back into the whole thing. Wish there was a stat counter for "planets glassed", definitely in the hundreds...I don't want to think about what sort of coercion and trickery the AI's needed to get colonists to keep heading towards worlds in range of Meklon
