Sorry this is really really late, I've been very busy (and not wanting to sit inside on a computer when I'm not busy, yay summer!). Sorry I don't have any screen shots, I was too lazy to get them... I'll take some for 29. Also, I have more detailed notes than this already detailed report, but decided to spare you some of it...
-------------------
I sent the colony ship to the only choice, and the scouts to the nearest two. Build a couple more scouts right away. Once Denubius is settled, I send 15 colonists to help out. I put a couple clicks into research in 2324, and find out I only have range 4 but need range 5. Ouch. Let it pop, and only inertial stabilizers are up. Time for plan B, miniaturization. Put some in construction, and send a few more colonists to Denubius to speed up its development. I research IIT9 and Duralloy, and can build LR colony ships in 2352, just in time for Denubius to max out. I manage to pull in Klystron and Spica (which is going to take forever to get to), in that order. I've only met the Silicoids yet. I start researching a few other things, weapons and computers.
In 2360, Hand Lasers come in and Hyper-X start researching. Klystron is founded, and gives me contact with the bugs. I give a few pop to my new planets as they're being founded, and send another colship to Talas. I keep scouting, and realize that controlled dead would be very useful with Dunatis and Yarrow within reach. Unfortunately, only cleanup techs are open after Death Spores. I finally manage to open up trade with the bugs for 75/year, and get an intel report on the bugs in 2379. I settle Rotan and scout Imra. I really need faster ships to make settling the far south more feasible...
The first council hits in 2381. Everyone abstains except my opponent, I didn't mark who it was but probably the Darloks. Nobody likes either of us, and I haven't even met him yet. I keep finding unsettled worlds in the south; this really is my lucky day. I get inertial stabilizers, but still no engines out there... sigh. I trade the stabilizers for BCIII to help my pathetic computer tech. I get Imra in 2394, and then in 2395 I get IRCIII. Finally... put everything building more factories. I find a few more open planets (Quayal) and start building another colony ship. I find the Darloks in 2399, but am still not in contact with them. I found Uxmai and there's another vote; this time the bugs vote for me!
I finally found Quayal in 2413 and meet the Darloks. THey only have 5 planets and are kind of pathetic. They won't trade with me. This reminds me to increase my trade with the Klackons to 300 BC. I don't want to sign anything with them yet with Yarrow still open... I don't understand why they haven't settled it yet. They'll still probably beat me, but I need to try. Enhanced Eco comes in at long last, after spending a long time in percentages, and I can finally get Controlled Radiated! I put almost everything into planetology research. Unfortunately, a couple years later the Bugs arrive at Yarrow, and the pathetically small fleet of long range laser ships I have there is no match for their firepower. Well, it's theirs and I sign a NAP with them. Hit another council vote in 2425, and it's pretty much the same as the last one.
After that, Range 7 comes in and I meet the cats finally. They're not very impressive either. I get Controlled Radiated, and build ships to go to Romulus, Darrian, Dunatis, and Mu Delphi. Luckily, my ship beats the cats to Darrian. I build a few NPG fighters to protect my planets; I've really been neglecting military... I always do that. I send colonists to all my new colonies from my established ones to get them up and running. I finally formally meet the silicoids, I hadn't even realized I hadn't yet, especially when I scouted one of their colonies really early. Strange. I open trade with them and make a tech trade, Hyper-X for IT+10. I won't be warring with them until after Hyper-X are useful, and I have no terraforming.
In 2442, I see a huge Darlok fleet coming to Imra. Uh oh. I only have a few ships, but I send them there, and set everything else nearby building more and redirecting there. Imra starts building defenses, and gets reserves. By the time the fleet is a couple years away, I have a decent sized fleet and 3 bases there. I feel like I have enough for a legit threat, so I threaten them... they give me Ion Cannons to be quiet. It feels a bit cheap, but what can I do? I thought it was a legit threat, but I was hoping they wouldn't give me anything... The fleet turns back, I research Merculite missiles, and I sign a NAP with the rocks. This game is going swimmingly. I also trade inertial stabilizers to the rocks for nuclear engines... woo! finally a new engine! I increase trade with the bugs to 675 BC. I might be win soon...
And, then the council happens and the bugs are my opponent. Never mind the winning by council. Almost everyone abstains, which lets me vote for the Klackons. I also get in planetary shield V and start building it everywhere. At this point, I'm pretty much running away with the game; I have a huge empire and am friends with the bugs, who are the next biggest. Once I plow through the Darloks and Mrrshan, I shouldn't have any trouble beating everyone. I kind of start to check out at this point, taking sparser notes and being less diligent playing. Especially when I get IT +40, I really think I have it won, with 3 rich worlds, an artifact world, and more planets than everyone else. I got a bit cocky...
The cats declare on me, but their fleets are pathetic. I don't really feel like fighting them with nuclear engines, I'd like to be faster, so I just turtle and then get the bugs to declare on them (not an exploit, I'm actually at war with the cats). Warp dissipator comes in, and I can research impulse drives! woo! I also get fusion bombs. Research focuses on propulsion. In 2472, all my planets are maxed out from terraforming and I'm powering out research. Once I get my engines, I'm going to create a giant fleet out of thin air... exciting. In 2475, I have 14 votes, out of 42. I have to abstain, as the bugs get a lot of votes.
Finally in 2480, Impulse drives come in. I start building a sweet fleet. In 2486, the bugs glass Firma, which was a cat colony. I swoop in with a col ship... nice. And then, out of nowhere, before my fleet is entirely on line, the bugs exterminate the cats! Guess I should have been paying more attention. Yikes, the bugs are big...
And then, in 2489, all my laziness and indifference comes back to bite me. My ambassador tries to assassinate the Klackon emperor. My best friends in the galaxy are now my mortal enemies... yikes. I decide I should probably abandon Firma, because there's no way I can hold it; luckily I've been building up a fleet for a few years. I leave some ships there so I can take the measure of the Klackon fleet. I get Advanced Space Scanner and start on IRC4, that should be useful. Soil Enrichment research also goes underway.
The fleet arrives at Firma, and lo and behold, the swarms of fighters only have bombs! Sometimes, the AI does the most random things. It's bad news for my bases, but my ships are just as good as theirs, and the escorts are not particularly numerous. I decide to stand up to them at Firma; they cut the planet down to size 38, but now I know the trick is to have enough beam fighters to stick around until their bombers run out of bombs (and they can stand up to the escort) to prevent them from glassing the planet. I shore up Firma with some colonists and reserves.
Fleets head to Ursa and Darrian. I put a few ships at each to back up the bases and follow my strategy. Unfortunately, there's another ship I hadn't seen with these ones, and it's much better than the others. It's a large design that schools all my ships... Darrian gets wiped clean. Yikes. The Darloks also declare on me at this point; I realize it's probably a good idea to slaughter them so I don't have to worry about it.
In 2497, the birds take Fierias from the bugs and come into contact. I don't bother doing much, as I doubt the contact will last. I do trade them IIT8 for ECM 2 and warp dissipator for hard beam, which will look good on my ships. The bugs get to Ursa with 624 2 speed bombers; I take them down to 450 by the time they get to the planet. The escort is pathetic this time; only missile ships that retreat quickly. I manage to take out all the bombers, of course losing a few colonists and factories. Another 948 come the next year, but there's no escort again. The 800 that get to the planet still can't take out 1 colonist a turn... yay for planetary shields. The Darloks come after Spica, but can't penetrate my shields so they retreat. Nice. I steal some old techs from the birds and bugs, and avoid framing. I start building bombers to go after planets. I got distracted from making my fleet before because I wanted to turtle; I'm pretty bad at aggressive military in this game (and other TBS games, like Civ).
I finally attack the loks at Regulus, and defeat their defenses easily. I send 40 troops (finally get to use my special!), and they defeat 90 that only have duralloy armor (no weapons or shields). I think I had something like +30 before my racial bonus... yowch. I only lose 6 troops. I get ARS, BCV, class IV shield, and range 6. Nice haul, mostly because of the computer that I sorely needed. I target Xudax next; end up sending 62 troops to take out 143. I lose 6 once again and get range 8, sub-lights, controlled toxic, IIT6, improved eco restoration. That neatly rounds out my knowledge of all Darlok techs... nice.
I finally start fighting back in the north against the bugs; we're actually technologically equal on the ground. I send 93 troops to take Yarrow; they beat the 84 there with 45 left. I get megabolt cannon, BC6, Range 9, and personal absorption shield. I now have all the techs that everyone else has. I take Darrian back (it had been glassed and settled by the bugs) and head to Incendius. Everything else I've conquered is completely maxed by 2519, and advanced soil enrichment and IRCV are in percentages. I take Incendius easily and am up to 18 planets. I make peace with the shifters now so I can focus on the bugs. Wish I could demand tribute, though... I suppose the Ion Cannons from before kinda count.
In 2521, IRCV and ASE come in. I kinda wanted them to come in separately, but oh well. I go for making Gaias first; everything non-hostile is made into a paradise by 2523 and is building factories. In 2525, the Alkari and Silicoids vote for me, and I have enough votes to win the game. I abstain to keep playing, but didn't feel like keeping notes any more, so let's just say I won here. Wiping out the rest of the universe was no trouble at all.
I didn't feel this variant was very hard, but that could be because the Darloks just decided not to expand in the early game. It could have been challenging with better AI... but that's often how this game goes. Oh well. Now I'm excited to give Imperium 29 a try! This wall of text must be a rough read, I'll work on getting some pictures in there and paring down my report a bit (and maybe putting a more detailed version somewhere else).
-------------------
I sent the colony ship to the only choice, and the scouts to the nearest two. Build a couple more scouts right away. Once Denubius is settled, I send 15 colonists to help out. I put a couple clicks into research in 2324, and find out I only have range 4 but need range 5. Ouch. Let it pop, and only inertial stabilizers are up. Time for plan B, miniaturization. Put some in construction, and send a few more colonists to Denubius to speed up its development. I research IIT9 and Duralloy, and can build LR colony ships in 2352, just in time for Denubius to max out. I manage to pull in Klystron and Spica (which is going to take forever to get to), in that order. I've only met the Silicoids yet. I start researching a few other things, weapons and computers.
In 2360, Hand Lasers come in and Hyper-X start researching. Klystron is founded, and gives me contact with the bugs. I give a few pop to my new planets as they're being founded, and send another colship to Talas. I keep scouting, and realize that controlled dead would be very useful with Dunatis and Yarrow within reach. Unfortunately, only cleanup techs are open after Death Spores. I finally manage to open up trade with the bugs for 75/year, and get an intel report on the bugs in 2379. I settle Rotan and scout Imra. I really need faster ships to make settling the far south more feasible...
The first council hits in 2381. Everyone abstains except my opponent, I didn't mark who it was but probably the Darloks. Nobody likes either of us, and I haven't even met him yet. I keep finding unsettled worlds in the south; this really is my lucky day. I get inertial stabilizers, but still no engines out there... sigh. I trade the stabilizers for BCIII to help my pathetic computer tech. I get Imra in 2394, and then in 2395 I get IRCIII. Finally... put everything building more factories. I find a few more open planets (Quayal) and start building another colony ship. I find the Darloks in 2399, but am still not in contact with them. I found Uxmai and there's another vote; this time the bugs vote for me!
I finally found Quayal in 2413 and meet the Darloks. THey only have 5 planets and are kind of pathetic. They won't trade with me. This reminds me to increase my trade with the Klackons to 300 BC. I don't want to sign anything with them yet with Yarrow still open... I don't understand why they haven't settled it yet. They'll still probably beat me, but I need to try. Enhanced Eco comes in at long last, after spending a long time in percentages, and I can finally get Controlled Radiated! I put almost everything into planetology research. Unfortunately, a couple years later the Bugs arrive at Yarrow, and the pathetically small fleet of long range laser ships I have there is no match for their firepower. Well, it's theirs and I sign a NAP with them. Hit another council vote in 2425, and it's pretty much the same as the last one.
After that, Range 7 comes in and I meet the cats finally. They're not very impressive either. I get Controlled Radiated, and build ships to go to Romulus, Darrian, Dunatis, and Mu Delphi. Luckily, my ship beats the cats to Darrian. I build a few NPG fighters to protect my planets; I've really been neglecting military... I always do that. I send colonists to all my new colonies from my established ones to get them up and running. I finally formally meet the silicoids, I hadn't even realized I hadn't yet, especially when I scouted one of their colonies really early. Strange. I open trade with them and make a tech trade, Hyper-X for IT+10. I won't be warring with them until after Hyper-X are useful, and I have no terraforming.
In 2442, I see a huge Darlok fleet coming to Imra. Uh oh. I only have a few ships, but I send them there, and set everything else nearby building more and redirecting there. Imra starts building defenses, and gets reserves. By the time the fleet is a couple years away, I have a decent sized fleet and 3 bases there. I feel like I have enough for a legit threat, so I threaten them... they give me Ion Cannons to be quiet. It feels a bit cheap, but what can I do? I thought it was a legit threat, but I was hoping they wouldn't give me anything... The fleet turns back, I research Merculite missiles, and I sign a NAP with the rocks. This game is going swimmingly. I also trade inertial stabilizers to the rocks for nuclear engines... woo! finally a new engine! I increase trade with the bugs to 675 BC. I might be win soon...
And, then the council happens and the bugs are my opponent. Never mind the winning by council. Almost everyone abstains, which lets me vote for the Klackons. I also get in planetary shield V and start building it everywhere. At this point, I'm pretty much running away with the game; I have a huge empire and am friends with the bugs, who are the next biggest. Once I plow through the Darloks and Mrrshan, I shouldn't have any trouble beating everyone. I kind of start to check out at this point, taking sparser notes and being less diligent playing. Especially when I get IT +40, I really think I have it won, with 3 rich worlds, an artifact world, and more planets than everyone else. I got a bit cocky...
The cats declare on me, but their fleets are pathetic. I don't really feel like fighting them with nuclear engines, I'd like to be faster, so I just turtle and then get the bugs to declare on them (not an exploit, I'm actually at war with the cats). Warp dissipator comes in, and I can research impulse drives! woo! I also get fusion bombs. Research focuses on propulsion. In 2472, all my planets are maxed out from terraforming and I'm powering out research. Once I get my engines, I'm going to create a giant fleet out of thin air... exciting. In 2475, I have 14 votes, out of 42. I have to abstain, as the bugs get a lot of votes.
Finally in 2480, Impulse drives come in. I start building a sweet fleet. In 2486, the bugs glass Firma, which was a cat colony. I swoop in with a col ship... nice. And then, out of nowhere, before my fleet is entirely on line, the bugs exterminate the cats! Guess I should have been paying more attention. Yikes, the bugs are big...
And then, in 2489, all my laziness and indifference comes back to bite me. My ambassador tries to assassinate the Klackon emperor. My best friends in the galaxy are now my mortal enemies... yikes. I decide I should probably abandon Firma, because there's no way I can hold it; luckily I've been building up a fleet for a few years. I leave some ships there so I can take the measure of the Klackon fleet. I get Advanced Space Scanner and start on IRC4, that should be useful. Soil Enrichment research also goes underway.
The fleet arrives at Firma, and lo and behold, the swarms of fighters only have bombs! Sometimes, the AI does the most random things. It's bad news for my bases, but my ships are just as good as theirs, and the escorts are not particularly numerous. I decide to stand up to them at Firma; they cut the planet down to size 38, but now I know the trick is to have enough beam fighters to stick around until their bombers run out of bombs (and they can stand up to the escort) to prevent them from glassing the planet. I shore up Firma with some colonists and reserves.
Fleets head to Ursa and Darrian. I put a few ships at each to back up the bases and follow my strategy. Unfortunately, there's another ship I hadn't seen with these ones, and it's much better than the others. It's a large design that schools all my ships... Darrian gets wiped clean. Yikes. The Darloks also declare on me at this point; I realize it's probably a good idea to slaughter them so I don't have to worry about it.
In 2497, the birds take Fierias from the bugs and come into contact. I don't bother doing much, as I doubt the contact will last. I do trade them IIT8 for ECM 2 and warp dissipator for hard beam, which will look good on my ships. The bugs get to Ursa with 624 2 speed bombers; I take them down to 450 by the time they get to the planet. The escort is pathetic this time; only missile ships that retreat quickly. I manage to take out all the bombers, of course losing a few colonists and factories. Another 948 come the next year, but there's no escort again. The 800 that get to the planet still can't take out 1 colonist a turn... yay for planetary shields. The Darloks come after Spica, but can't penetrate my shields so they retreat. Nice. I steal some old techs from the birds and bugs, and avoid framing. I start building bombers to go after planets. I got distracted from making my fleet before because I wanted to turtle; I'm pretty bad at aggressive military in this game (and other TBS games, like Civ).
I finally attack the loks at Regulus, and defeat their defenses easily. I send 40 troops (finally get to use my special!), and they defeat 90 that only have duralloy armor (no weapons or shields). I think I had something like +30 before my racial bonus... yowch. I only lose 6 troops. I get ARS, BCV, class IV shield, and range 6. Nice haul, mostly because of the computer that I sorely needed. I target Xudax next; end up sending 62 troops to take out 143. I lose 6 once again and get range 8, sub-lights, controlled toxic, IIT6, improved eco restoration. That neatly rounds out my knowledge of all Darlok techs... nice.
I finally start fighting back in the north against the bugs; we're actually technologically equal on the ground. I send 93 troops to take Yarrow; they beat the 84 there with 45 left. I get megabolt cannon, BC6, Range 9, and personal absorption shield. I now have all the techs that everyone else has. I take Darrian back (it had been glassed and settled by the bugs) and head to Incendius. Everything else I've conquered is completely maxed by 2519, and advanced soil enrichment and IRCV are in percentages. I take Incendius easily and am up to 18 planets. I make peace with the shifters now so I can focus on the bugs. Wish I could demand tribute, though... I suppose the Ion Cannons from before kinda count.
In 2521, IRCV and ASE come in. I kinda wanted them to come in separately, but oh well. I go for making Gaias first; everything non-hostile is made into a paradise by 2523 and is building factories. In 2525, the Alkari and Silicoids vote for me, and I have enough votes to win the game. I abstain to keep playing, but didn't feel like keeping notes any more, so let's just say I won here. Wiping out the rest of the universe was no trouble at all.
I didn't feel this variant was very hard, but that could be because the Darloks just decided not to expand in the early game. It could have been challenging with better AI... but that's often how this game goes. Oh well. Now I'm excited to give Imperium 29 a try! This wall of text must be a rough read, I'll work on getting some pictures in there and paring down my report a bit (and maybe putting a more detailed version somewhere else).
