Imperium Twelve: Lots of Glass

[Megafrost]

No planetology tech. This can change a game a lot. Some differences are obvious and some are more subtle.

The most obvious disadvantage is the lack of planetology techs. This means no hostile worlds can be settled, planets cannot be terraformed, no biological weapons (or antidotes) and clean-up techs are lacking. The lack of hostile worlds as well as the lack of terraforming mean one thing: Population disadvantage. You'd have to be lucky to get a veto in the election, and that means you better make friends. The clean-up techs will hurt at first, but depending on what's in the construction tree, that could change things. Biological weapons aren't any loss, but the antidotes can be life-saving technology. However, my usual strategy is to not rely on the antidotes, since my planetology tree usually lacks them. The answer is to have powerful missile bases and not let them drop those salvos.

By not researching planetology, the research normally portioned for it can instead go to other fields. But every field is very important to make up for the shortfalls in planetology. Computers and construction are needed to boost the economy (through robotics controls and reduced waste), propulsion is needed since hostile worlds cannot extend the range, and weapons are needed for bombing technology. Just because the hostile worlds can't be ours doesn't mean we have to let our foes have them.

But until I have full knowledge of the situation I'm in, I won't know what I'm doing for sure.



Gosh, all three top-tier races again? And we also have my most hated of the average races: the Alkari. At least initial relations are neutral or better with all of these races.

If I remember right, yellow stars that start within scouting range probably won't have any AI races in them. So I don't believe the yellow star right below me is a homeworld. But what about the one right next to it...? With the lack of planetology tech, I really REALLY can't afford to give up any worlds.

Here's my plan. Send my colony ship to the red star 3 parsecs southeast. Send one scout to the other one just in case, and send the other one to the yellow star. I don't need to build any scouts this turn since, if there *are* any artifacts worlds in range, I want the computer to scout them first. The planets in the direction of the other nearby yellow star are not in colonizable range of that star.



Both make very good second worlds, though the south one is slightly smaller than the north one (and is further away). Nevertheless, I still think that I made the right choice here. The planets south of me are under threat, the ones north of me are not. Jinga brings one star into colony range but no more planets into scouting range.

After colonizing Jinga I have Meklon build a few E Scouts. The next turn it starts shipping out population to Jinga, but only enough to drop Meklon to 50 pop each turn. I want to stand up my homeworld fairly quickly if I can. In 2310 I stop shipping population (leaving 20 or so at Jinga). My scouts have reported my surroundings to me.



4 more hospitables in the immediate area (3 of which are pretty big planets), but... that seems to be it. This is an isolated corner start. My only real shots at expansion are to go south along the border, but the next star is a white... not so great for expansion. Going up along the border, I'll need a lot of range to get past the zone of dead space and hostiles. Still, if I'm stuck with these planets, I couldn't ask for anything better.

In 2310 I go ahead and open up the propulsion tree and find range 4 only. I'll need that to grab the size 20 desert world but otherwise it doesn't open much for expansion. However, I shouldn't give up just yet. I might be able to grab other worlds if I can fit extended fuel tanks on a large colony ship. Without the planetology tree, that means researching construction technologies. In 2312 I go ahead and open both computer and construction (as one click gets me 4 rp), and one turn later I figure I may as well open the force field and weapon trees as well.

The computer tree offers me all 3 options. I opt to go for my favorite of the three, deep space scanner. Construction, force fields and weapons offer me no choices, making me go IIT9, Class 1 shields and Hyper-V rockets. In a way, I like having no choices. It makes it easier to make decisions. On the other hand, engine-deprived Sakkra anyone? Still, none of these technologies are ones that I'd complain about being stuck with.

My E Scout at Stalaz chased away a Bulrathi Scout.



I'm positive that Ursa is located there. This early in the game, the AI has to have a colony there to get to Stalaz. And based on the position of the other yellows, that could only happen if they started there. I haven't run into any scouts in the lower region of my space, which I presume means that there's no AI at the star there. But then a few turns later I spot a Klackon scout heading towards Kakata from Berel. So that means that I've already been cut off by two AIs simply because of where they've started. Damn. Meklon has only 126 factories and 76 population (by 2318), but I'm figuring that I should grab the planets I can NOW.

I settle Kakata in 2329. In 2330 GNN reports that Meklar are #3 in production, with Klackons #1 (of course). The Alkari are #2, which I hope means that they're grabbing more systems than the humans are. I hate those freaking birds, but I'd rather see them in the elections than the humans. I'm gonna go ahead and start research now, but since Meklon is trying to churn out colony ships, I have Jinga take the research load (while still building factories). My research is portioned to about 75% construction 25% propulsion (since the cheaper factories will really help, and I need the range). Although a few turns later I realize I'm not putting enough into propulsion and then shift it to 25% con 75% pro.

I grab Paranar in 2331. I scout the white star south of Kakata... yup. Toxic. After settling Zhardan in 2339, I scout the white star northwest of it revealing it to be radiated. So for all my plans to expand along the border, I'm stuck here in the corner with Bulrathi and Klackons right on top of me. At least I'm isolated enough that I'll have plenty of time to max out these worlds and build missile bases on them.

IIT9 and Range4 pop in 2346, leaving me with IIT8 as my only construction option, and Nuclear Engines and Inertial Stabilizer as my propulsion options. I choose Nuclear Engines. I grab Berel in 2351, triggering the GNN "growing in strength" message. That's odd, the Meklar are usually the slowest at expansion. That I'd beat the Klackons to 6 planets raises some eyebrows. Maybe there's a whole lot of hostile planets in this universe?

Sucks to be me if that's the case.

Meklon maxes factories in 2357, allowing me to stop holding back on research (to strengthen my economy) and go the whole mile. Because I can't allocate any research to planetology, I instead distribute it as follows.



My thought here is that if I'm going to stand any chance at keeping up with the AIs in technology, I need to be good at spying. I put extra into computers for that reason, but since I'd end up getting improved robotics controls, I wanted to make sure I would have cheaper factories.

Berel brought the green star west of Kholdan into scouting range. Naturally, the Klackons have already colonized it.

DSS pops in 2362, revealing that I am again not missing any techs in the computer tree. I go for the improved robotics controls, as I seriously need to make the most out of what few planets I have. At least upgrading shouldn't take too long. Unlike the other races, Meklar do not pay extra costs for robotics controls, which means that, again, cheaper factories are especially useful. I manage to obtain it after only 10 turns. Being excellent in computers is really fun stuff! Only improved scanner shows up in the third-tier. I select it of course. Note that I haven't researched any battle computers yet, but I'm not expecting battle soon.

After IIT8 in, I selected RW60 (over automated repair unit) and started making a beeline for it. I really wanted some waste reduction technology, and I'm not focusing too much on combat now since I don't have range 7 yet and won't be able to spread until I do. And since I do not have contact with the Klackons (my closest neighbors), they can't attack me yet so I haven't even built defense bases yet. All I can really do for now is to strengthen my economy until I start interacting with other races. Of course, I could build up a fleet so that I strike as soon as I have range, but I don't even know if such a fleet would be effective. I don't want to do that until I know exactly what I'm facing. It would be no good if I built a huge fleet of bombers only to find out that they're not effective because the Klackons have planetary shields.

At long last, range 7 pops and I establish contact with the Klackons in 2402 (wow time flies).



Hmph. Only 5 planets, and I out-populate, out-produce and out-tech them. So all I have to do is throw together a design that can hold off their fleets, and then bomb out Kholdan and settle it myself. But since planetary shields came in the same turn, I'm figuring I'll wait until each of my planets has at least one missile base before I move on the offensive. These bugs are erratic, so there's no point in trying to make friends. No diplomatic games. I start espionage spying immediately.

Of course, they're allied with the Psilons and the Alkaris, but I think if I get into wars with them, it will probably be on any territory I gain from the Klackons. After building shields on all my planets, I throw together a large ship design.



The idea being that I want a large ship that benefits from the automated repair unit and can stand up to the bugs, but my economy is too weak to really be able to support huge design ships. A few turns later, my spies (who, with my tech level of 21, are not having any trouble getting past the bugs and their ECM 1 and ECM2) manage to steal fusion bombs. The bugs take offense, of course.



Why yes, that is a freaking huge SoD. They can't reach my planets with their fuel cells, but they do have controlled inferno technology, so they will definitely be setting up a forward base to strike me with. I'm not worried though. Why is that? Well first of all, I have scatter pack technology and that means that my bases are going to tear through them. Second of all, their weapons technology is lacking.



Given their slow ships and only real harmful weapons being those bombs, combined with improved scanner giving me unmatched intelligence, I don't really think they can take me down. Plus if they tried, my ships would swoop in and destroy their forward base. I'd love to see them attack me. That said, Berel is puny enough that I do have to build a bunch of missile bases there anyways, since it can't build them very quickly.

Of course, Sirian noted that the AI doesn't like to put its fleets at risk like that. Sure enough, the Klackons not only do not send their ships forward to attack me, they send them back and leave their new planet unprotected. I send some ships forward and bomb it into oblivion, though it doesn't make much difference as the Klackons obtain range 6 fuel very shortly afterwards.

The random number generator takes a liking to me.



I sent 5 of my ships to Kholdan, where they have 17 missile bases and 3 lancers (which are carrying hyper-v rockets). I'm not quite sure this is enough, so I decide to wait until I have more ships. Like a few short turns later when I have 11, which I *think* can do the job. In other news, anti-matter bombs have popped, revealing only anti-matter torpedos (which I don't like) and fusion rifle (which I can't really use) in the next weapon tier. Since I've got repulsor beams about to pop, I figure I should just go back and get ion cannon so that I'll have a 2-space weapon I can use with it.

I sent 11 ships to Kholdan, but they had sent some of their ships there, and with those extra forces I wasn't confident I could take the system. I retreated, but noticed that their SoD, which had been previously stationed at Incedius, had left. So I sent my ships there.

Unfortunately, the shit hits the fan. In 2424 the elections happened for the first time...and I was one of the nominees (the bulrathis being my rivals). I was safe enough that I could vote for my rivals that election, but there was no surviving the next one a year later when the psilons replaced the bulrathi as my opponent.



So be it. If it's war you want, it's war you got. My previous two imperiums have been entirely too easy, and now this time I get an extreme challenge. This has been a major setback, but I still believe I can win this game. I'll just have to take this one step at a time.

Here's the situation. I am now in an eternal dog-pile. However, the AIs don't have a major tech lead on me...yet. My plan is to bomb incedius as I was planning, while continuing to fly my ships around and bomb any planets that they settle near my planets. I'm hoping that they'll spend all their time trying to colonize worlds near me rather than actually attacking me, and that if I weaken the Klackons enough they'll be easy pickings for my spies.

My stack of 11 larges arrives at incedius and manages to gain orbital superiority (losing 6 in the fighting). I turn the place into glass. However, I'm not about to settle it just yet. I want to get one of these there first.



I do, and I settle the planet. For now, 6 nexus and 2 repulsors manage to fortify the planet.

Several turns down the road, I started sweating, as the computers had researched class 6 shields and my only missile tech was scatter pack V rockets. But then my spies managed to grab their top-of-the-line weapon tech.



After a few decades, incedius finally maxes out, though the AI has already established that it is their primary target. And with their now huge tech lead, I'm making sure that the planet has LOADS of missile bases (50 at least, and I'm not done building).

Not surprisingly, my spies don't get infiltration often (even though I'm pretty sure my computer tech level is higher than the AIs). But I love spying enough that I think any infiltration is good, and when I pull off a major heist, it feels REALLY good.



My spies also manage to lift fusion beam and graviton beam off the AIs, and with the recent breakthrough of impulse drives, it's time to make a new design.



This is my hope for a world-destroying design. Top-of-the-line weapons since my weaker ones can't do a lot of damage. Anti-missile rockets to take blows from the missile bases, and the repulsor/repair combo to force the AI to use long range weapons. After building one, however, it quickly becomes obvious that the AIs are now building large numbers of ships carrying heavy mount fusion beams, so I make two more designs - mediums with heavy fusion beams, and smalls with anti-matter bombs. I build enough of these ships and eventually I manage to strike at the Klackons on one of their fortified planets.



Not habitable for me, but I'll be sure to glass it if they resettle it. But this means I can take out their worlds. This is a big turn-around for me. I've been on the defensive all game, although I have prevented that from being too costly by continually glassing any newborn AI worlds near me to insure that the AI focuses its efforts on re-settling rather than attacking me.

But no more, for Arietis was only the beginning.



Doesn't really seem like a battle I could actually win, but they are using scatter packs on their base, and that means that my ships can out-run the missiles. After lots of manuevering, my stack of 376 bombers lays a salvo (destroy 25 or so bases) before being taken out, leaving my two huges to finish the job.



A few attempts later and several decades later, I finally manage to plant a flag on and fortify Kholdan.



Yes, I don't have any planetology tech what-so-ever. But the AIs have a heck of a lot and have been improving the hell out of their planets, which means that I'm benefitting from that. Oh yeah, and while my SoD certainly wouldn't be able to stand up to an AI SoD, they're not attacking the planets that I guard.

But since my fleet can wipe out their planetary missile bases, it's just a matter of going from planet to planet, bombing out the inhabitants and then planting my own flag. Within 50 years I manage to claim 4 more colonies for myself.



However, I've no longer been able to prevent the AIs from settling the planets near my home system. Even with robotics control 6 the economy on my home planets isn't that great, at least compared to my terraformed planets. Terraforming really *does* help a lot. Nonetheless, those planets were in danger and I didn't pile up the missile bases like I should have.

I threw together a new ship design in hopes that it would allow my fleet to directly take on planets that had large stacks of ships guarding them. Small, megabolt cannon, combat speed 4 and my best computers. With those and a new bomber design that was even faster, I laid waste to Altair and Sol and claimed them for my own.



However once again the AIs had responded by using ships with repulsor beams. But my scientists managed to research high energy focus (probably one of the best ship specials ever), so I threw together another design: medium, 1 heavy fusion beam, combat speed 4 and the best computer I could fit (VI). With these designs I managed to take Ursa, Mentar and one more star system.



It was at this point that the Klackons punished me for my hubris. They attacked Meklon and laid waste to it using bio-weapons. Realizing at this point that my original systems were in danger, I started piling on more missile bases and making sure each had a huge design with repulsor to protect them. But I also needed a ship design that I could use to wipe out their fleets and glass their planets, and it needed to be cheap so that I could have enough flying around that I could prevent them from resettling those hostile planets that I can't settle myself. Here's what I threw together, and I actually took a snapshot this time:



While it might seem that not having a 2-space range weapon is a mistake thanks to the AI repulsor beams, my ships act before theirs do, and they don't have the sense to stay back. They like to approach me. So I'm going to have most of my planets build these until I have enough to blockade all the hostile worlds near me. The first few years go smoothly.



Of course I don't have very many of the things at this point, but I just keep building and building, and soon I'm making a whopping 500 each turn! I manage to take out the Alkari and the Klackons very quickly, and then a few turns later I take out the Humans and the Bulrathi as well.



The Psilons are much tougher of course, but after a couple decades of building ships they don't last much longer.

My crowning moment of victory! At long last I can finally put an end to this game.



Wow, look at that finishing time! I don't think it gets much slower than that. This game took so long, I nearly maxed out all my tech trees (and that was with me focusing on building ships) and what I didn't have, I stole from the AI. Apart from the planetology techs, I'd stolen everything else (except maybe 1 or 2 things they got in the last few turns). Taking and holding AI worlds was a lot harder than usual because I couldn't invade with troops. And I had to exterminate every last one of them because of that vote that went bad.

There are a few lessons to be learned here. First of all, NEVER GIVE UP! All I needed to do to win this game was to last long enough to use some high-end techs against the AIs, and early on I managed to do that by preventing them from settling anywhere near my worlds. The second thing I noticed was that my huge designs lack in firepower. The only reason I had them around was to use repulsor beams to help defend my worlds. A very good thing to do, but I ended up dealing a lot more damage by using the smallest designs I could. I guess maybe I just do better with small designs.

I hope everyone else had a much easier game than I did. I never thought for a second that I'd lose the game, but I did think that I wouldn't have the time to finish a long drawn-out final war. I hope the next one is much easier.

Attached is my final save if you need to verify my planetology tech level of 1.

[timmy827]

Wow. This brings back memories of my Epic 14 game (but not the report, you were kind enough to produce a well-written overview, instead of my monstrosity in that game). Great job. I feel lucky now that I got abstentions in my votes; the opponent changing on the 2nd election one turn after the first was just brutal.

[Kylearan]

Hi,

thanks for a very entertaining report! Sounds like a very exciting game, and you did well to hang in and win it after all.

-Kylearan

[dathon]

Well, this is the second game I've read that went to final war; so much for my prediction that diplomatic losses wouldn't be much of a factor

Good job to stay through to the end.

dathon

[RefSteel]

Terrific come-from-behind victory! Never give up, indeed!

One of the huge effects of luck on the election is associated with the date, I notice: In your galaxy, the council threshold was reached in 2424, and you had no time to prepare for (what turned out to be) the losing election the next year. My first vote came just three years later than yours, but that meant I had over twenty years to get my veto ready for the second. Of course, the bigger luck factors remain early wars and AI cheese alliances, obviously. It doesn't matter when the second election will be if the Humans win the first!

[Megafrost]

I should've said this much earlier, but thanks for that tip about pressing ESC if your spies only manage to get a hit in planetology! Without that I never would've risked spying on my opponents to steal tech, and without *that* I wouldn't have been able to keep up with (and surpass) them in technology.

[KnTenshi]

Wow. You're much better at strategizing than I am. I lost my game from an early Psilon Diplomatic win. Oddly, no one really attacked me for most of the game afterwards. But it was that long stretch of peace proved my downfall as many fleets of 32000 small fighters swarmed me each time I took another's world. To top it all off, my last world fell to a revolt as I lost my other world.

[Sullla]

I liked this picture:



It certainly was "bad luck" that the one key world there happened to be Inferno, and not at all a coincidence. I mean, it's not like the Sponsor mucked around with planet habitability to create a buffer zone with the Klackons.

Congratulations! We had a couple diplo losses that turned into Final War victories.