The starting tech tree was nice in that Barren/IIT 9/IIT 8 is a really cheap way to get reserve fuel tanks on a large hull colship. I didn't get lucky on researching the tech, though -- Controlled Barren took quite a few turns and IIT 8 didn't pop until something like 30%. That means I didn't get Klystron, my third colony, until 2357.
Despite only having retro engines, I managed to scout all the way down to Terran 125 Xudax, Quayal and Regulus before any enemy colonies were founded in the southwest. Unfortunately the Darloks managed to settle Quayal and Xudax, just a few turns before I would have made it. (If I had just been just a little luckier on the first three techs popping, I would have had all three -- there were colships already en route. And if nuke engines were available, or if the game started in 2300, I would have easily had the whole western part of the map to myself.)
I let the cats have Dolz. I wasn't about to try and defend a small poor planet like that with lasers and nuclear missiles.
I did snag Regulus in the far southwest, and with all the pre-scouting I had done, that was bad news for the Darloks, as everything except Nazin was in transport range. I traded for nuke engines, researched neutron pellet guns and IS, built an NPG fighter fleet and built up my colonies in the southwest for a while. (Hand Lasers -> Neutron Pellet Guns has to be one of the best tech jumps in the game.) Then I fought the Darloks down to one planet. In invading the Darloks I not only picked up several very good planets, but they also generously provided me Sub-Lights and some shiny computer technologies.
The Alkaris cheerfully traded me Controlled Tundra on first contact, which allowed me to get Rich Yarrow ahead of them.
Then, the spy game. Bears may be rated badly in computer research, but that doesn't ever stop me: I had made sure to obtain every computer tech that I reasonably could via invasion or trade, and had researched a few myself. Once my spies took Controlled Dead from the birds I took their Rich planet; I later would research Radiated and colonize the other two.
GNN ranked me dead last in tech in 2399, and in 2467 they ranked me first. Ho ho.
Could have voted myself High Master in 2500 but I was having too much fun, so I decided to throw my votes to Ariel and fight the Final War. Further, I decided to plant my flag on every single planet, so for the next few decades followed lots and lots of bear ground invasions and Guardian-busting. At one point the Klackons actually caught me with my pants down with a surprisingly absurd non-32K bug fleet (read and you'll see). Techwise I made it to class 13 deflectors, neutronium bombs, IT+100, pulse phasors, robotics VI, black hole generators and sub space teleporters. Pretty much the entire war was fought with bombers and bear muscle, backed by ARS/repulsor battleships, though. The NPG fighters stayed in play, incidentally, the entire game. This is because NPGs are awesome.
End result was a 2577 extermination.
![[Image: RBO622.PNG]](http://www.codehappy.net/games/rbo9/RBO622.PNG)
The entire grisly (grizzly?) story can be read here:
http://www.codehappy.net/games/rbo9/
Despite only having retro engines, I managed to scout all the way down to Terran 125 Xudax, Quayal and Regulus before any enemy colonies were founded in the southwest. Unfortunately the Darloks managed to settle Quayal and Xudax, just a few turns before I would have made it. (If I had just been just a little luckier on the first three techs popping, I would have had all three -- there were colships already en route. And if nuke engines were available, or if the game started in 2300, I would have easily had the whole western part of the map to myself.)
I let the cats have Dolz. I wasn't about to try and defend a small poor planet like that with lasers and nuclear missiles.
I did snag Regulus in the far southwest, and with all the pre-scouting I had done, that was bad news for the Darloks, as everything except Nazin was in transport range. I traded for nuke engines, researched neutron pellet guns and IS, built an NPG fighter fleet and built up my colonies in the southwest for a while. (Hand Lasers -> Neutron Pellet Guns has to be one of the best tech jumps in the game.) Then I fought the Darloks down to one planet. In invading the Darloks I not only picked up several very good planets, but they also generously provided me Sub-Lights and some shiny computer technologies.
The Alkaris cheerfully traded me Controlled Tundra on first contact, which allowed me to get Rich Yarrow ahead of them.
Then, the spy game. Bears may be rated badly in computer research, but that doesn't ever stop me: I had made sure to obtain every computer tech that I reasonably could via invasion or trade, and had researched a few myself. Once my spies took Controlled Dead from the birds I took their Rich planet; I later would research Radiated and colonize the other two.
GNN ranked me dead last in tech in 2399, and in 2467 they ranked me first. Ho ho.
Could have voted myself High Master in 2500 but I was having too much fun, so I decided to throw my votes to Ariel and fight the Final War. Further, I decided to plant my flag on every single planet, so for the next few decades followed lots and lots of bear ground invasions and Guardian-busting. At one point the Klackons actually caught me with my pants down with a surprisingly absurd non-32K bug fleet (read and you'll see). Techwise I made it to class 13 deflectors, neutronium bombs, IT+100, pulse phasors, robotics VI, black hole generators and sub space teleporters. Pretty much the entire war was fought with bombers and bear muscle, backed by ARS/repulsor battleships, though. The NPG fighters stayed in play, incidentally, the entire game. This is because NPGs are awesome.
End result was a 2577 extermination.
The entire grisly (grizzly?) story can be read here:
http://www.codehappy.net/games/rbo9/
