[EDIT: The full report is now posted in the usual spot! [EDIT 2: Uhhhh ... the site itself IS fully updated to reflect the report's presence, and has been for weeks, but I neglected to update that information here for approximately ever. Also: Thanks for the compliments, Seyar!] ]
I'm still putting the pieces together in my attempt to restore my computer to full functionality, though (so far) the results look promising. I'll get a full report up when I'm able to do so, but in the meantime, since I doubt I'll manage that by Thursday, here's a summary of my own results, along with some notes from the sponsor:
Result:
Extermination Victory, 2551
Score:
Treasury at 2400: 10000126
Treasury at 2500: 10004597
Final Treasury: 10013043
TOTAL: 10000126 (2400) + 10004597 (2500 < Final) = 20,004,723
That number is certainly beatable - I made a number of important mistakes in my game - but this definitely had the potential to be a difficult galaxy for an Impossible game, especially with a "variant rule" that makes things a lot harder than it might at first appear. Adding a click of reserves to the homeworld on turn 0 would change the entire complexion of the game, reducing the effective difficulty level significantly, especially if the reserve was used at other worlds as well later on. It would be a little difficult to judge the actual difficulty from my game however; I can't wait to finally be able to post my full report (for which this is a placeholder) and show you what I was up against!
Just a teaser: I lost track (I'll have to count them up) of the number of times my colonies were conquered or destroyed. I don't think even one of my planets escaped without combat losses to civillian population. I think I only had three planets in the whole course of the game that were never glassed or made into alien colonies. There were two different occasions when I had to stop playing for the night just to take some time away from the game and think about how to respond to a seemingly-unbeatable alien threat. I was even tempted on at least one occasion to spend reserves from the treasury. I never did, of course, and somehow managed to nevertheless win the game.
On the scoring system: I've been a bit enamored of the idea of running games that can be equally fun for grizzled veterans and newcomers to the game, with scoring-based optional variants for the vets, and the option for those who don't feel comfortable at the same difficulty to play an easier, lower-scoring or unscored-by-choice game. The reality is though that newer players are probably less motivated to play a scored game where their score (reported or otherwise) is pretty much guaranteed to be much lower than other participants', and this means that probably everyone either tried to play the game without reserve spending or decided, "I won't win this one without spending anything from the treasury, so I'll pass on this one."
In any case, I think I've learned my lesson, though somewhat belatedly. From here out, scoring will be scoring, variant rules will be variant rules, and they won't masquerade as one another. That's the plan at least.
There was another scoring issue too: If you could survive through 2500 with a good score, you could technically spend scads of reserves all over the empire in 2501, soon enough take an overwhelming lead with your severely boosted production, wipe out the entire galaxy except for a single small planet for a single alien race, build enough missile bases to not care what they build for a fleet, research up through Complete Terraforming and IRC7 (or whatever the best in our tree was - I only got as far as RC5 myself, if I remember correctly) and then just pour everything into reserves for a zillion turns unitl you were back above your 2500 level. I assume nobody tried this anyway because it would be pretty silly, but it IS a loophole in the system.
FINALLY: Did I mention that this wasn't an easy galaxy? Our erratic Klackon neighbors had plenty of room to expand, and we were hemmed in by them to one side, and a pair of xenophobic militarists on the other. Our own part of the galaxy was pretty solid, but infested with nebulae that slowed rapid-response defense fleets and prevented Anraq from shielding its bases. Our lack of early range tech led to further troubles, as it so often does. All that, and the game was on Impossible difficulty, with a de-facto variant that's more significant than it seems. I don't think this is a BAD thing - it's good to have *some* really challenging Imperium games. Nevertheless, unless I hear a clamor for another major challenge right away, the next game I sponsor will be much less difficult to win. (No promises for the next one after that though!)
I'm still putting the pieces together in my attempt to restore my computer to full functionality, though (so far) the results look promising. I'll get a full report up when I'm able to do so, but in the meantime, since I doubt I'll manage that by Thursday, here's a summary of my own results, along with some notes from the sponsor:
Result:
Extermination Victory, 2551
Score:
Treasury at 2400: 10000126
Treasury at 2500: 10004597
Final Treasury: 10013043
TOTAL: 10000126 (2400) + 10004597 (2500 < Final) = 20,004,723
That number is certainly beatable - I made a number of important mistakes in my game - but this definitely had the potential to be a difficult galaxy for an Impossible game, especially with a "variant rule" that makes things a lot harder than it might at first appear. Adding a click of reserves to the homeworld on turn 0 would change the entire complexion of the game, reducing the effective difficulty level significantly, especially if the reserve was used at other worlds as well later on. It would be a little difficult to judge the actual difficulty from my game however; I can't wait to finally be able to post my full report (for which this is a placeholder) and show you what I was up against!
Just a teaser: I lost track (I'll have to count them up) of the number of times my colonies were conquered or destroyed. I don't think even one of my planets escaped without combat losses to civillian population. I think I only had three planets in the whole course of the game that were never glassed or made into alien colonies. There were two different occasions when I had to stop playing for the night just to take some time away from the game and think about how to respond to a seemingly-unbeatable alien threat. I was even tempted on at least one occasion to spend reserves from the treasury. I never did, of course, and somehow managed to nevertheless win the game.
On the scoring system: I've been a bit enamored of the idea of running games that can be equally fun for grizzled veterans and newcomers to the game, with scoring-based optional variants for the vets, and the option for those who don't feel comfortable at the same difficulty to play an easier, lower-scoring or unscored-by-choice game. The reality is though that newer players are probably less motivated to play a scored game where their score (reported or otherwise) is pretty much guaranteed to be much lower than other participants', and this means that probably everyone either tried to play the game without reserve spending or decided, "I won't win this one without spending anything from the treasury, so I'll pass on this one."
In any case, I think I've learned my lesson, though somewhat belatedly. From here out, scoring will be scoring, variant rules will be variant rules, and they won't masquerade as one another. That's the plan at least.
There was another scoring issue too: If you could survive through 2500 with a good score, you could technically spend scads of reserves all over the empire in 2501, soon enough take an overwhelming lead with your severely boosted production, wipe out the entire galaxy except for a single small planet for a single alien race, build enough missile bases to not care what they build for a fleet, research up through Complete Terraforming and IRC7 (or whatever the best in our tree was - I only got as far as RC5 myself, if I remember correctly) and then just pour everything into reserves for a zillion turns unitl you were back above your 2500 level. I assume nobody tried this anyway because it would be pretty silly, but it IS a loophole in the system.
FINALLY: Did I mention that this wasn't an easy galaxy? Our erratic Klackon neighbors had plenty of room to expand, and we were hemmed in by them to one side, and a pair of xenophobic militarists on the other. Our own part of the galaxy was pretty solid, but infested with nebulae that slowed rapid-response defense fleets and prevented Anraq from shielding its bases. Our lack of early range tech led to further troubles, as it so often does. All that, and the game was on Impossible difficulty, with a de-facto variant that's more significant than it seems. I don't think this is a BAD thing - it's good to have *some* really challenging Imperium games. Nevertheless, unless I hear a clamor for another major challenge right away, the next game I sponsor will be much less difficult to win. (No promises for the next one after that though!)
