Imperium 11: sargon the peaceful

[sargon0]

Imperium 11: sargon the peaceful
Interesting challenge from Sullla. Klackons on hard should be winnable and colonising and research are standard aims but diplomacy could be tricky. Klackons are not well liked but the AI’s in this game, despite having 2 of the strongest races, are favourable including our only friend and only one of our 5 enemies. Scoring well in all 3 categories will be tough since having too many plants and capturing (and likely stealing) techs will hit diplo.

Send colony ship to yellow star and scouts core-ward to NE green and blue while producing scouts for nearer stars. Yellow is UR Maalor (Minimal 50)! Now this planet will max & build colony ships faster than Kholdan so is declared the new capital. Unfortunately its remote location will mean long travels for warp1 colony ships. Kholdan will supply pop and open tech soon, since factories will max for pop quickly. To max Maalor quickly I send 14 pop immediately then 3 or 4 per turn for the next 7 turns. The green in NE turns out to be artefacts Artemis (Ocean 65)! Get IS which is nice in my poor tech field but no trading this game reduces benefit. Since this is 5 parsecs away, Kholdan opens propulsion (& plantology) tech finding range 5 (yay!) over Nuclear or Sub-Light or Range 7 and IT+10 (for UR) over Barren or IER. Kholdan goes full-bore tech in propulsion for several turns adding planetology as range 5 matures – it’s only at 59 factories but pop keeps dropping to 33 to supply Maalor.

Other nearby planets are no great shakes with barren & dead plus purple Omicron (minimal 30) at 3 parsecs and red poor Primodius (Arid 70) at 4 (3 from Omicron). Maalor maxes in 2313 and starts producing Colony ships every 2 turns RELOC’ing via Kholdan – does not save a turn but allows a change of direction. In 2318 range 5 pops (choose Sub-Light) and first colony ship heads from Kholdan to Artemis. Second colony ships heads for poor Primodius, third for Omicron. IT+10 pops in 2320 (choosing Dead) and Kholdan starts to catch up on factories as it sends 6 more pop to Maalor. Artemis founds in 2323 and Primodius next year, sending 14 to artefacts then 4 alternately to each planet (limited to 12 total to poor) and eventually 26 to fill artefacts. Omicron colony ship redirects to western yellow fertile Herculis (Terran 125) which founds in 2330 and this massive planet receives a generous 7 pop from Primodius – to keep UR and Artefacts max is leaving me short of pop and warp1 transports do not help.

With extended range and Artemis, scouts have found red Gion (Jungle 75), yellow Crius (Terran 85) and red Kailis (Jungle 90) plus Imra (Desert 30). Silcoid scout chased from Ukko, Psilon scout from Neptunus. With all the SE corner and centre available (plus Dead tech close to popping) I could grab a load of planets but to avoid diplo penalty I decide to limit myself to 12 (25% of galaxy) for now. Of course I mean the best 12! In 2334 Dead pops (go back for IER before Inferno) and Crius is settled, with 14 pop coming from over-burdened Kholdan, getting GNN 6 planet message. Gion in 2336 gets 10 then 6 from Primodius and Kailis in 2339 gets 9 from Crius – damn nebula slows transports but not scouts and it takes 7 turns to travel 4 parsecs. Settling Kailis meets relaxed 4PE Humans (Hon/Ind) and uneasy 2PE Silicoids (Agg/Tech). To foster diplo I immediately sign up for maximum trade (Humans 150bc, Silicoids 75bc) and sign NAP with my buddies. Strangely the rocks are very stunted. I cannot understand why they have not settled inferno Ryoun, 3 parsecs from their colony of Rayden, followed by Kailis. For the Silicoids and an aggressive AI on hard this beggars belief.


Also in 2339 RIW80% pops (IIT8 to follow) and next year artefacts planet maxes. Techs come thick and fast now with IIT8, IER, Deep Space Scanner & Hand Lasers by the time Ukko is settled in 2347. Ukko at 65 is good size for a barren and extends reach eastwards. I keep upping trade to max and currently have Humans at amiable and Silicoids at relaxed (but for how long). In 2349 Sub-Light pops (& Deflector Shield II) and finally my ships/transports will pick up the pace. Bootis is a rich planet (Barren 50) 3 parsecs from Sol and in 2352 I settle it! Shame on you apes. Since nebula-blocked Kailis is short on pop, Gion pushes pop quickly to Bootis being replaced from poor Primodius and fertile Herculis. Another human space rich planet is Arietis (Toxic 30) and in 2355 controlled Toxic pops (and Battle Suits) which leaves a tricky choice. I have already decided to settle artefacts Rha (Arid 60) and Nyarl (Tundra 65) to meet other AI’s, which brings me to 12 planets. I will produce a Toxic colony ship for Arietis but will hold settling till threatened or vote. Next year settling Rha and Nyarl produces GNN 12 planet message and meets neutral 1PE Psilon (Hon/Ind) and 4PE Bulrathi (Agg/Eco). On plan, start max trade with Psilon 75bc and Bulrathi 275bc, upping Humans to 250bc who soon become Calm.


After Toxic only choice is IT+40 and this will give me a lot of votes, especially if acquired quickly. If I can reach Affable with Humans and get an alliance I could achieve an early diplo victory. More planets will need to be settled for the vote but, even if the AI expansion does not buck up, I have a few colony ships standing by (also limits AI fleet size superiority to discourage opportunist attacks). Of course this needs the Humans not be in the vote but currently on the status screen the Bulrathi edge them out. Deflector Shield III and NPG complete before artefacts Rha maxes in 2365. Next year IT+40 pops and growth skyrockets. Kholdan, & Crius send pop to UR Maalor & artefacts Artemis (distance is too far for rich Bootis & artefacts Rha), the rest rely upon forced growth – some turns see over 90 pop growth! With Psilons & Bulrathi at relaxed and Silicoids at amiable(!), I sign them all up for NAP’s to see if I can raise the diplo score. I continue to push trade to max and, as Battle Computers IV pops in 2369, the Humans have reached affable but no alliance yet. Fusion drive & ECM1 pop then in 2371 my good friends the Humans agree to an Alliance, suckers!


I push pop growth & tech as the vote approaches and pop Deflector Shield IV, Merculite missiles & Zortium armour. As you can see from the map the Silicoids have eventually got around to expanding but I settle more planets to ensure vote. However the Humans and Bulrathi are neck and neck in pop leaving my opponent in the 2374/5 election to be…. the bears, hurrah!


Humans 4 votes plus my 14 give 18/26. I could have continued but there is no guarantee I would have a friend left by 2450.

Result: 2374/5 Diplomatic win (Domination on votes but not planets)
Score:
Colonist: 18 planets + 14 votes = 96
Researcher: 16,17,14,21,18,14 = 100
Diplomat: 1 x affable, 3 x amiable = 60

Total = 256 + 100 (victory) = 356

[sargon0]

More screenies:

[Doug.Lefelhocz]

Now that's the game I wanted to see on this one: winning on the 2375 vote. You had some good tech levels and good relations also. Overall, a great game!

I think it worthy to note that you "only" had 12 planets. No doubt that meant you climbed the tech tree faster, since you had your population at developed or somewhat developed planets instead of at fresh "third-world" or "developing" planets or in flight towards those planets.

[RefSteel]

I think you had a shot at uniting the triad here (though not without eventual war and enemy-of-my-enemy diplomacy) but taking the 2375 win is in some ways even sweeter - it could have been a long and grueling run to 2450, with the risk that some random factor like a war declaration by and against the wrong race could ruin everything. An amazing, truly diplomatic victory!