Imperium 36 - toddestan's report (gentle)

[toddestan]

Hopefully this is still on time. For some reason I though I had to May 8th to type all this up. Anyhow, lets get started. For this I used Kyrub's 1.40m patch.

EDIT: Looks like I messed up, as I while all my ships had guns I did build medium and large ships without the required 2 and 3 weapons. . Well consider this a shadow report, or whatever it is for someone who played the game but didn't follow the all rules. Oh well, it was still fun

2300 - Since I have some cash in my reserves, I immediately dump it all into Meklon. There are two planets within range, so I order up two popcorn fighters.

2302 - Dispatch the two fighters to the three planets within range, and order up some medium LR Lasers.

2303 - Find arid world (Anraq) and a star with just asteroids.

2304 - The LR Laser is done, and dispatch to the yellow planet to the south.

2306 - Second LR Laser is built. I send it up to the yellow planet up north.

2308 - Scout the terran planet to the south. Decide to leave LR Laser there to gaurd the planet while the 2nd LR Laser can hope around and scout all the other worlds within range. Meanwhile Meklar works on factories.

2319 - Find out that the Sakkra have colonized Esper to the south, but it's an ultra-poor so I'm not too disappointed about not being able to grab that one.

2320 - I order up a colony ship, with a laser attached, of course. Destination: Anraq.

2325 - Colony ship is complete and dispatched to Anraq. Start on a third LR Laser to scout the new worlds within range.

2328 - Found Anraq.

2332 - Open up tech. Decide to go for range 4 tech, Controlled Barren, and Hyper-V rockets.

2335 - Make contact with Sakkra. They have three worlds, apparently they have been heading straight for my territory. I start up minimum trade.



2336 - I scout Spica (Tundra planet) in the south, and chase away an weak Alkari scout with my totally awesome armed scount ship.

2338 - My cleanup costs on Meklon are starting to kill me here. Need some cleanup tech.

2342 - Range 4 pops. That brings two planets within range for colonization. I order up more colony ships. Meklon can crank them out at 3 turns/ship now.

2346 - First colony ship built, dispatched to Centauri.

2349 - Third colony ship built, dispatched to Tao in the north.

2350 - Found Centauri. Order up some more LR Lasers for scouting.

2352 - Tao founded. Mrrshans are #1 for production. Don't see that very often.



2354 - Things are relatively peaceful with the Sakkra so renegotiate trade to 100 BC/year.

2355 - Chase away some AI scouts from Keeta with my totally awesome scouts.

2356 - Meklon is maxed, so switch to teching up.

2358 - Scout Ryoun, Mrrshan world to the west.

2362 - I'm #4 in tech. I scout Hyboria, the yellow world to the west. For some reason I was sure that this was Fieras, but alas it is not.



2370 - At this point I'm starting to feel boxed in, with the Mrrshans to the west, the Sakkra to the south, and all these asteroid worlds surrounding my humble empire. There are currently no more worlds that I can colonize within range. I could attack the Sakkra, but the only world within range is the ultra-poor Esper and the Sakkra are allied with the Psilon! I decide to turtle for a bit and build up my empire.

The same year, a Psilon ship goes zooming through my empire headed to one of the the asteroid worlds to the north. It looks like the Psilons have some engine tech I could use.

2376 - Robotic Controls III pops.

2381 - The Sakkra chase away my LR Lasers at Spica (tundra world to the south) and colonize it. I wanted that world . I send some more LR Lasers to Nyarl to beef up the defenses there. Improved +20 Terraforming pops and I go for Controlled Inferno colonization tech.

2390 - The Sakkra send some armed colony ships to Nyarl, and after a prolonged fight the Sakkra prevail. .

2394 - Range 6 pops. I make contact with the Mrrshans and strike up minimal trade. I was expecting to make contact with the Psilons too, but alas not. Where is everyone?



I decide to do some more scouting, and since I have in the meantime teched up quite a bit, I design the LR Laser2, a ship design that I can honestly say I've never built anything like before.



2399 - Controlled inferno pops. I immediately order up two new colony ships with controlled inferno on Meklon and Anraq. And LASERS. They will be done in two turns.

2401 - I scout Kulthos, an Artifact Psilon world. Just what the Psilons need in their empire. Oh, and I managed to screw up the colony ship on Anraq and built the older standard design . I send that ship to the scrap heap and order up the proper ship. It will be done in one turn with some reserve spending.

2405 - Found Gion (rich inferno world to the west) and Dolz (ultra-rich inferno world to the east) on the same turn. This puts me into contact with the Psilons.

2408 - Class V planetary shield pops. Now that my planets can more or less handle themselves, it's time to start thinking about taking some opponent worlds. I order up two designs, a large ship with Mass Drivers, and a medium bomber with Fusion bombs and LASERS of course and start producing them. I decide that when I get to around 200 bombers I'll make my move.

2409 - Sakkras now control 8 worlds, according to GNN.


2417 - Random screenshot of the status screen and galaxy map. The Mrrshans are doing pretty well for themselves, and the Psilons aren't dominating the galaxy, at least not yet




2420 - As a matter of fact, the Mrrshans are leading the census at the moment, even if the Sakkra have more planets.



2426 - The Sakkra propose a non-aggression pact. Since I don't want to tangle with them quite yet, I say why not?

About this time, I decide that it's time to take Kulthos from the Psilons. I turn on espionage to see what happens.

2441 - The Psilons chase away the LR Laser class ships I had stationed at Keeta (Toxic world to the south) and colonize it. Too bad they are about to lose Kulthos now that I have amassed my 200 bombers. The Psilon know it too.



I send my fleet (minus the LR Lasers) and some transports along with it.




2442 - Critical spy hit against the Psilons. I go for computer tech, grabbing ECM Jammer 3, and blame the Sakkras for it.

2454 - I'm successful at my campaign, and Kulthros is mine. The Psilons decide that maybe this is war. By the way, 200 bombers was overkill. Oh, this is average I switch ultra-rich Dolz to pumping reserves at this point, and transfer the funds to Kulthros (but occasionally to other new worlds I'm building up) to maximum research. I pretty much do this the rest of the game. Rich Gion and Meklar are my two primary fleet-building worlds. Everyone else usually does research.

2460 - Now time to take Keeta. Except I forgot I don't have Controlled Toxic . The Sakkras are willing to trade Controlled Radiated for Inertial Stabilizers. I consider the taking advantage of the AI's overvaluing of Inertial Stabilizers a bit of a cheat so I don't do it.

2466 - So instead I glass Keeta. This puts me out of contact with the Psilons, leaving me with just the Sakkras and Mrrshans who I'm pretty cozy with at the moment. I'll leave my fleet gaurding Keeta until I can colonize it.

2470 - WHAT!?! The Sakkra just colonized Keeta right under my nose! Oh right, that non-agression pact . I send my fleet home.

2476 - Sakkras draw up the virus event.


2477 - GNN Reports that the Sakkra now have 17 systems.

2479 - Range 9 tech pops, which puts me into contact with the Psilons again. Where are the Darloks and the Alkari in this galaxy?

2483 - With Range 9 tech, I can now reach the toxic Psilon world Jinga towards the southwest corner, so I glass it just because I can. This elicits the "You have too many ships on our border" warning from the Sakkras. You think?

2486 - The Psilons come asking for peace. I accept. The Sakkra break the non-aggression pact, saying that need room to expand. Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

2493 - I decide to either take Nyarl or Spica as my first Sakkra world. I decide to take Nyarl as it's a bit more isolated on the edge of the Sakkra empire. I send my fleet and transports there.

2496 - The council meets for the first time. 23 of 37 votes went to the Sakkras. It's good thing that the Mrrshans abstained, or the galaxy would be under lizard rule as I don't have enough votes under my control to block a loss.

Strategically, I'm not sure if starting something with the Sakkras is such a good idea now. They have some pretty good alliances going, and there will another council meeting in 4 years and the last thing I need is an AI dogpile. However, my fleet and transports are on the way to Nyarl and they can't be turned back, so what is done is done.

(note: It just occurred to me as I write this report that bombing Nyarl to dust might drop the threshold of colonized worlds below the level needed for the council to meet and I wouldn't have to worry about the 2500 vote. Would that be correct?)

2497 - I take Nyarl. Win a bunch of mostly useless tech. Puts me in contact with the Alkari, so i start up minimum trade. I decide to kiss some kitty butt to try and get their vote (or at least keep them from voting Lizard) and give them Ion Drives.

I decide to try and grab Spica before the vote, and split my fleet up and send an invasion force to Spica with the modern designs, with the remaining obsolete designs defending Nyarl. I'm not worried because even those old stacks don't have a problem with what the Sakkra are currently throwing at me.

2499 - I take Spica. Make contact with Darloks. Initial relations are poor, but I strike up minimum trade.

[toddestan]

2500. Council meets. I manage to not lose. For some reason the Alkari don't like this and declare war on me.


2502 - The Mrrshans catch me unprepared at Nyarl with their master fleet, and completely glass it. And I have amiable relations with them! Oh, and the Darloks decide to declare war on me too.

The Mrrshan's master fleet:


With some old stacks cleaned out thanks to the Mrrshans, I commission the Blaster, a large ship with Autocannons and put it into production to replace the aging Gunner ships.

2503 - Not to be left out, the Psilons declare war on me.

2504 - The Mrrshans formally declare war on me. It appears I have zero friends now. I'll have to do something before the council meets in 2525 to make sure the game will continue. I decide to start by taking Rha from the Sakkra.

2506 - Steal Adv. Robotic Controls from the Psilons, blame the Sakkra.

2507 - I capture Rha. Get Controlled Toxic for my trouble amongst other less interesting tech. The Mrrshans make a pass at Gion. They have a ship with heavy fusion cannons that can just barely get through my planetary shields. This could potentially be a problem.

2510 - With controlled toxic, I take Keeta, which had been a hot potato world for a while. I set my sights on Neptunus, another Sakkra world.

2511 - The Psilons have a ship with repulser beams. Since my offensive capabilities on my ships are all Mass Drivers with range of 1, this is extremely annoying.

2512 - I draw up the industrial accident on Anraq. After "cleaning up" the planet via ecology spending, my planet's population goes to zero! I've never seen this before . Bug?

I send some transports to recolonize it.

2514 - Take Neptunus. Get controlled radiated environment for my troublre. Anraq is recolonized.

2515 - Steal Battle Computer Mark IV from the Mrrshans. Get to blame the Sakkra.

2518 - Steal auto repair from the Mrrshans, and blame the Sakkra. I had been researching computers pretty heavily since the beginning, and it's starting to pay off in terms of the espionage game.

2520 - Take Irma from the Sakkra. Guass Autocannon pops. With this development, I I switch back to the gunner class after only one iteration of the blaster class, and design the Gunner3 with Gauss Cannons instead of mass drivers (because I LOVE the Gauss Autocannon ).

2521 - Steal Auto Repair from the Alkari. Blame... the Sakkra!

2523 - Decide I better kiss up a bit to the opponents just in case I don't have enough votes to block a council loss. I make peace with the Darloks, Alkari, and Mrrshans. The Psilons tell me to get lost. The Mrrshans wanted 2550 BC. Since that's less than two turns of Dolz's output into the reserves, I agree.

I also decide to add Sssla to my empire before the 2525 vote.

2525 - I take Sssla. Election is me versus the Psilons. Psilons get only 16/46 votes, so the game continues. The Psilons then ask for peace after the election. Here's what the map looks like now after my campaign against the Sakkra:



2530 - The campaign against the Sakkras continues. They ask for peace. I would have accepted, except that next turn a bunch of transports will arrive at Vox which I can't turn around. So I say no.

2531 - I take Vox.

2532 - Galaxy map again.


2533 - I'm now the tech leader according to GNN.


2535 - The Alkari draw up the planetary shift event. Not that it will help them any...


Around this time, I get high energy focus, so I build what I call the "game ender". Fast engines, inertial damper, high end computer, Gauss Autocannons, and high energy focus. With this I can move across the screen, get in range, and shred opponent's stacks before they can do anything. Build enough of these puppies and you're basically unstoppable.


2538 - Meanwhile, the Darloks make a pass at Rha with this


2540 - The Psilons start giving me long faces. Something about being too powerful or something. The Mrrshans declare war. I decide to switch to attacking the Mrrshans, as I've been hammering the Sakkras for some time now in the southern part of the galaxy. And I'm itching to start using my new Gunner4's that are rolling off the assembly line up in the north part of the galaxy.

2541 - I decide to make kiss up a bit with the other opponents to see if I can end this for 2550. I make peace with the Sakkra. I strike up trade with the Alkari, with 25BC/year the only amount available. The Alkari have been rocking a 1PE for a few years at Altair, and now they must not be doing well but I decide to try to court their vote. Meanwhile the Darloks declare war for some reason.

2542 - Current map.


2543 - The galactic pacifists wipe out the Alkari: Better luck next time.


2544 - My first Mrrshan target, naturally, is Nyarl which they so cruelly took from me some years back. It goes down without much of a fight.

I decide to grab as much territory I can before 2550 at this point and split up my fleet.

2547 - Take Mrrshan worlds of Drakka and Kakata. Kakata is an ultra-poor, which means I'll have to leave some ships stationed there until it can build itself up.

2548 - I kiss up to the Psilons by giving them an obsolete Battle Computer VII.

2550 - I take Ryoun and Hyboria from the Mrrshans, right before the vote. I manage 61% of the vote against Guanar of the Sakkras, so the game continues.

2551 - The Psilons, unhappy about not being under lizard rule, declare war on me.

2552 - The space amoeba shows up. I don't see it on the map so it's probably in the south or east side of the map.


2554 - Now that my worlds, except for ultra-poor Kakata have defenses built up, I take Fieras from the Mrrshans.

I decide that my next target will be Orion, as I now feel I have the fleet that can take down the Gaurdian so why not? I start consolidating my fleet.

2556 - The Sakkras take care of the Space Amoeba. I never did see where it was on the map, but must have been in either the southwest or southeast corners where the Sakkra still have some worlds.

2557 - The Sakkras, overconfident from kicking some space amoeba butt, declare war on me.

I send my fleet to Orion. Here's what I sent:

A slightly older screenshot showing the designs (the first bomber design has already hit the scrap heap for a new colony ship in a medium hull with FUSION BEAMS ):


2562 - The Gaurdian goes down and Orion is founded.

One thing that I have never had a good grasp on is what is needed to take down the Gaurdian. In this case, my stack of Gunner4's moved first, and ripped the Gaurdian to pieces on the first turn before it could fire a single shot. It would appear that I could easily taken Orion much earlier if I had wanted to.


I commission the Gunner5, mostly because I can:

The somewhat elderly Bomber2 design stays in production, as it's still more than effective enough. Currently only Meklon builds them part-time, whereas Gion and Vox have been cranking out Gunner classes like mad.

At this point, I'm pretty sure I'll get the 2575 election, so I mostly chill for the next few turns while building up Orion and laughing at the AI's attempt to send fleets to colonize it.

2565 - I steal the Advanced Space Scanner from the Mrrshans, filling a gaping hole in my tech tree. (I had been using the Deep Space Scanner up to this point). About time. I have to click the mouse about 20 times while the rest of the stars in the galaxy gets scanned.

2569 - Psilons offer peace, which I accept. Get the mining event on Sssla. Too bad the Sakkra with the whole living underground thing didn't find out about this earlier! (*)

(*) Oh wait, that's MOO2.

2571 - I take Proxima from the Sakkra for the heck of it.

2574 - I do some kissing up, just to make sure I'll get this election. I give the Mrrshans 1800 BC and they promise they'll vote for me in the 2575 election.

Here's what the map looks like:

My fleet:


2575 - Victory. The Mrrshans keep their promise and vote for me, but it turns out that their 2 votes weren't needed.


My thoughts:
I wish the game hadn't dragged out to 2575. It seems that if I was more aggressive about either gaining territory or playing diplomacy I should have clenched it in 2550. Or I guess I could have just gone scorched earth and wiped out the competition earlier. But otherwise, I don't think I made any major errors this time, and did come out victorious. I'll be curious to read how everyone else did.

[RefSteel]

Thanks for the great report! The periodic galactic maps are particularly revealing about the state of the galaxy as the game went on.

I see that you arrived at Kulthos one turn later than I did, with the same result (already a Psilon colony). As for that late-game Darlok attack on Rha though, that was hillarious! Lasers and Ion Cannons in 2538?! Good heavens, how did the 'Loks live that long with tech like that?!

[EDIT: On including too few beams on some of your ship designs, technically it should probably make this a shadow report, but meh - it was an honest mistake, didn't lead to a world-beating score, and ... um ... I made some mistakes in the map design, so I'm feeling kinda lenient about forgetting things like that. In some cases, like your Bomber 2, you could probably have just replaced a large-ish beam weapon with a handful of smaller ones anyway and been within the same space requirements as well as the rules.]

[toddestan]

Yeah, I was bummed when I started peeking at the other reports and realized that I didn't follow the variant correctly. Especially as you note, it almost certainly wouldn't have affected my game much and it was a total reading comprehension fail on my part. The only ships that broke the rule were my colony ships and bombers (the LR Lasers* and Gunner/Blaster classes had the proper weaponry). I don't recall my colony ships actually ever seeing combat. The biggest change would have been that something would have had to come off the first Bomber class to fit that second laser in there. If it's a shadow report that's fine, as those were the rules. And to be honest I can't say I noticed and glaring flaws in the map, but then again I'm used to just dealing with what the random galaxy generator spits out.

What I found interesting about Kulthros is while it was an established Psilon colony by the time I got there, others found that it hadn't even been scouted when they got there. It's kind of amazing how different these games can play out!

*As an edit I fixed my screenshot of the LR Laser2, as I had posted the one where I mis-clicked. Yes, nuclear engines, extended tanks, and a LASER in a small hull .