Game will start on the 20th June 2013 at 1800 UTC.

Dead Players (in order of death)

MJW, Village
Rowain, Village
Azza, Ghoul
slowcheetah, Village
Ichabod, Village
novice, Ghoul
Gazglum, Werewolf
pindicator, Village
zakalwe, Village
BRickAstley, Village
Jowy, Village
Jkaen, Village

Live Players (in order of sign-up)

1. Qgqqqqq
2. Lewwyn
3. Mattimeo
4. uberfish


Write-ups:

Start: A game within a game
Day1: Sparring partners
Night1: Gods
Day2: Tree-friends and fooled gods
Night2: Quiet night
Day3: Conspirers
Night3: A even quieter night
Day 4: A tragedy happens
Night 4: Poor soul catching a break
Day 5: <Writeup to follow>
Night 5: <Writeup to follow>
Day 6: A plan unfolds

The vault of Mulcarn is dominated by a great mountain. The mountain is larger than any on Erebus, it is steep, rigid and punishing. The pinnacle is called the throne of hell (not an actual throne) and is the main gateway between the hells and Erebus (in the Fane of Lessers) and the portal through which souls are drawn into hell.

The mountain gets colder the higher you climb, and its base and rocky spires are hunted by the remaining servants of Mulcarn, frost giants, frostlings, aquilan and the nive.

Below a vast waste slopes away from the mountain. The rough tundra turns into a swamp. Each step through the swamp is a battle and the languid pools pull at anyone trying to get through them. Beneath the surface the largest source of petitioners in hell are trapped, this is the purgatory for the noncommittal. They lay here for ages, consuming their own excrement and feeling nothing but slight pain and lethargy. In time they will overcome their passive nature and continue down into hell, but for now they are victims of their own inaction. Tar demons are pulled form these pools, gelatinous blobs with little humanity remaining.

There are creatures in the swamp, mites and bugs that leave horrid burning blisters where they bite. They are not deadly, most that travel here are immortal, but the creatures steal the strength of those that pass through the swamp, inviting petitioners to lay beneath the black waters and succumb to mindless eternity that this realm offers.

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Twenty-one days before the rain of fire, the vision came to me. As I again laid my beloved to rest I began to see, not her cold body but the coldest reaches of Hell. Perched atop the mountain Mulyr, overlooking an eternal frozen wasteland, this throne was the highest point of Hell, in elevation though not in status. The throne was made of ice, and sat upon a smooth marble floor that ended precipitously at the mountain's edge. Surrounding the throne was an array of statues, or so it seemed as my vision began, statues of men and of giants, with here and there an elf present.

The King on this throne was the God of Ice. In my vision, his face was obscured, but his eyes I could make out, indeed, the blue light from them illuminated the mountain top. His body was sharp and angular, and he made a rumble like an avalanche when at last he stood. Looking to the floor, he breathed out a chill wind, and a thin sheet of ice then covered the marble. My gaze turned with his as scenes from my own world played out on that ice.

Peasants called upon Sucellus to put food on their tables. Kings and Warlords used the fires of Bhall to ward off sorcerers, and those sorcerers drew on the watery powers of Danalin to quench this fire. Every scene to which we looked we saw the peoples of my world cry out to the gods in joy or hope. But the name Mulcarn was whispered only in fear, and even then rarely; it was as a ward against him that offerings were made, warm hearts of deer placed in the snow to divert his attention from human homes in the cold months. His priests were few and their converts rare. I saw this and understood it, but the King of Ice seethed against it.

“Man, what foolishness do you call wisdom! Do you not know that without my rest, the world cannot awaken with such mad energy in the spring? Do you think truly that it is from scorn that I blanket the world in snow? I was there too, when your world was weaved, and my wisdom was heeded as well as the rest. But you have turned your hearts far from me, siding with my rivals or even my allies first. Not even fear will cause you to give me true worship, Oh Man? Or perhaps more fear is needed to show you your folly!”

One last scene played out before me, from what I took to be, not the realm of man, but another of hell. Empty and vast, with but the light of dusk. Two gods here I saw, and I felt from my divine Host a well of frustration and anger towards the one, the bright Lady. Bhall, ablaze, addressed Agares, whose image to me was ever changing, from a young boy to an old man, to a withered corpse.

“Cease your lies, Agares, for my patience with you wears thin.”
“There are no lies in this place, only truth stripped bare. It is why so few deign to come here. It is not anger with which you speak to me, but uncertainty. But I say to you, is not this uncertainty itself proof of my offer? Are you allowed such freedom when you address your master?”
“I am given perfect freedom of action, within the bounds we have all agreed to.”
“Freedom of action! What is this but illusion? I offer you freedom of purpose.”
Bhall did not speak again, but appeared wavering, and then flew off quickly, disappearing from my view. Agares turned towards us, and I feared that I was discovered, but it was not to me he spoke. “It will happen, Mulcarn, she shall be mine. Be ready.”

The icy Hell began to fade from me as my vision gave way to reality. The deep laughter of the Ice King echoed throughout his hall. He turned to the statues surrounding him, and I saw now that they were not sculptures of ice, but men who had in life served Mulcarn, and giants as well. “Prepare,” he said to them, and they responded with a nod. My last sight of that realm was his army, marching down the mountainside.

Back at the side of my departed beloved, I recalled the vision. The word hung in my mind. “Prepare.” I knew I must, for if the vision was of truth, which I doubted not, the Age of Magic was at an end.

I may or may not write a more in-depth report later on covering more of the strategy, but this report should be enough to get an idea of what I did. I used the extreme version so I didn't use the planetary reserves.

Below I've posted an animated gif of my game. This is something similar to what I plan to eventually do using the saved games using Kyrub's version of game. For those that don't know, Kyrub's version will save each turn to a unique save file name (based on game year), so eventually there's a long list of saved games, for each year of a game. Eventually I want to crack them open, figure out the MoO save file format, to give a more visual presentation of how a game went.

The animated gif was done by taking a screenshot of the map screen at the end of every turn, and then collating them together into an animated gif using a Matlab script. The various elements of this, such as the races at the bottom and the year at the top left, was also done via script. How long each year lasts can be set by script; for now, I've set it to about 0.5 seconds at the beginning, going up to about 3.5 seconds at the end in 2517. I can change this to any other time progression if people feel that this is too slow/fast. Note that the screenshots are right before the inter-turn when all the battles, invasions, etc. happen, so sometimes their results are not shown until the following turn. For example, I colonized Xudax in 2301, but it didn't show it until 2302.

I've also given the events in the code box, so that people can scroll it up and down without losing sight of the animated gif. Hopefully it's not too awkward; I'm not that familiar with forum code so feel free to suggest how I can change it to make it more readable. Events start off with the year they occurred while strategic notes start off with a "->".



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Woohoo! Made it in time (11:26 PM Tuesday June 18th here)!

Too bad that I had almost no time to write while frantically playing to the (not so) bitter end.

You see, I was absolutely, positively 100% sure that I had no chance of winning with the Kitties on Impossible without planetary reserves.

Looks like it pays to be aggressive, if you time it right .

Here's the report (alas, no time to upload any piccies either):

A strange foreboding fills Empress Miamar's (official designation RBO 37 E) mind as the new Clony Ship carrying 2 minllion fiercely independent colonists blasts off to hyperspace, heading towards a yellow star 2 parsecs away. 2 years later, news of a lush planet very much resembling the race's home reach Fierias, causing a steady stream of colonists to Xudax, as the settlers decided to call their new home.

2325: Fierias maxed, Xudax at 50 pop & 52 fact.

2333: Reticuli colonised, colony ship enroute to Hyboria, opening tech with 140 RP from Fierias. IER and Range 4 chosen.

2336: Hyboria colonised. Next year a robotic emissary tells us that Aliens called "Sakkra" control 6 planets, making them an empire bigger than our loose conglomerate of four planets.

2348 map

2350: Darloks grab Maretta. Commencing laser popgun fighter production.

2351: We colonise Berel, Darlok Colony Ship with a Large escort on way there, we have a few popgun fighters defending - let's see what happens...

2356: Sending troops to take Maretta, since Darlok Large Heavy Laser Ship "Viper" destroyed our 14 popgun fighters (just barely, 10/100 structure left) and blocked our colonisation of those two NW planets, Vulcan & Artemis.

2360: Meklars grab Artemis, you blasted Darloks are going to pay for this!

2377: THe erratic robots declare war. Blah, wouldn't have liked to tangle with their SOD just yet, as I seem to be winning the Darlok war. Captured Maretta a around 2366, first attempt at Gion fell short (3 pop left), but I think the 2nd try will succeed.

2407: Nope, needed 3rd try with some bombing ability to counter shapeshifter missile bases. Managed to negotiate peace with the Meklars, but Darloks didn't want one. Shapeshifters' death fleet with a dozen large ships & a couple of huges occupied Gion's orbit several years, until we had enough of small popgun fighters (old spd 1 ones and newer spd 2 types) to expunge the fleet. Just in time to annihilate 39 Darlok ground troops coming to capture the planet. Got Iproved Robotic Controls III & Reduced Waste 80% in the meantime along with Terraforming +10, time to upgrade my planets. Also got some missile bases built on Maretta and Berel.

2409: Had colonised Proxima (Tundra 35) earlier, was going to take Herculis (Barren 10) too, but the Sakkras seem to have other ideas... (pic). Sakkras seem to have at least Inferno Landings, since they have colonised the Inferno planet Galos on our border. Hope our trading with them keeps them from attacking us.

2410: A surprise vote, robots vote for me, brains abstain, all others team up with the lizard emperor.

2412: I really hope that the Meklar fleet isn't coming to probe our defenses at Berel...

2413: Well, it was, ad the ships were lame. One huge escaped our missiles. And then the crazy 'bots declare war...

2425: Vote, in essence a duplicate of the previous one, only 'bots & cloaks switched sides. We could cast 8 votes.

2454: Nothing really happened in the Meklar war. Once I was ready to launch an attack, Darloks declared war & robots wanted peace, so I took Mobas, a Minimal Rich planet from the shapeshifters and made peace with the Meklar. 2450 votes went also abstain way. Got Soil Enrichment, traded it with Meklars for Zortium Armor & Brains for Battle suits, + IIT7 for Reduced Waste 60%.

2455: Yay, got Fusion Beam at 8% !

2457: The Great Maker giveth, the Great Maker taketh away – nasty virus strikes our research for 14277 RPs.

2478: Another vote came, managed to stall the runaway Sakkra. Bulrathis & Psilons declared war, Sakkras glassed Nazin so lost contact with the brains. Teddy missile bases obliterated my bombers. Meklar probing attack destroyed my laser fighters & gunships, they could do nothing to my missile bases. Teddies wanted peace, I accepted as they had become allies with the lizards. Scored a couple of good tech trades with robots, teddies & lizards, netting us Class V Planetary Shield, Reduced Waste 40 % & Controlled Toxic Environment + Class IV ECM & Battle Computers, costing Bio Toxin Antidote & Reduced Waste 60% & Range 7.

2515: Survived another vote. Got half a dozen Huge autorepair Heavy Fusion Beam / Anti-Matter Bomb dreadnoughts built, captured Ursa from the crazy teddies who declared war again, this time not being allied with the lizards. Darloks wanted peace, I agreed. Darloks declared war, going to capture another Minimal Rich planet from them. Abysmal Planetology tech tree, researching Advanced Soil Enrichment – no Terraforming after T+20 up to this point seen.

2529: Captured a Rich planet from Darloks & Ultra Rich from Psilons. Found BC 6 in the process. Vote wasn’t so tight this time.

2532: Sakkra Death Fleet probed my defenses, they just barely held. Threatening did not turn the fleet away. May have to deal with the lizards rather sooner than later… L

2536: Mobas lost to Sakkra Death Fleet.

2565: Lots of angst and cold war action, until Meklars declared war. Before that another null-vote. Captured Vulcan from Meklars. Sakkra Death Fleet is really scary: speed 5, half of the ships are equipped with Ion Stream Projectors and the rest with Doom Viruses and Bio Terminators. A hundred Hercular Missile bases behind Class X Planetary Shield & Class VII Shields managed to save my planet, but not in very good health. Things are starting to look grim.

2570: And now the lizards decide to destroy us.

2575: Just enough votes to block Sakkra victory 21 vs 41 ... :o

2582: What a joyous year: after several years of practise, Mrrshan fleet destroys the Sakkra homeworld! :D

2623: Lots and lots of glassing, and every single time the lizards at the receiving end :D! Sakkra Empire is no more. Took couple of their planets to get some techs, like Terraform +100 - looks like our Planetology tech tree had only T+10 & T+20 (and of course the mandatory T+120 at the end of the tree)!

2624/25: Yeeeah! Resounding Conquest Victory: the Mrrshan Independent Colonies have 34 out of 45 votes at their disposal, and so Miamar aka RBO-37 becomes the new Emperor of the Galaxy.

Score sheet

Played the game (extreme variant) & posted a report: yes +50
Votes in 2425 election: 8 +8
Planets lost to invasion: 0 +/-0
Planets lost to bombardment: 1 -10
Times we threatened AI Leaders: 1 -10
Lose / Win: Conquest Win 2624/25 +50
Total points: 88

2624 save attached

Here's to the crazy ones. I can't see anyone making a stink about this. Enjoy.

After some consideration, I decided to go the "easy" route on this Emporium. The reason being that 1) I'm not that great at impossible yet - particularly with the "weaker" races, and 2) I've not beaten Impossible yet playing the Mrrshans, and 3) I loooove reserve spending.

I'm playing using Kyrub's patch.

2300 - There are lots of potential candidates for habitable stars around Fierias. I decide to send my colony ship to the yellow star to the northeast, and my scouts to the other yellow star and the red star. I order up some more scouts at Fierias.

2302 - My gamble pays off, as the yellow star, Xudax, is a 90 Terran which I colonize.

2404 - I scout Reticuli (75 Steppe to the north) and Willow (65 Terran to the south).

2305 - Scout Hyboria (60 Steppe to the West). Looks like a good neighborhood, and I will need Tundra tech to colonize the Tundra planet to the Northwest.

Sometime in the next few turns I open up my tech tree. I take the cheap Deep Space Scanner, +10 Terraforming, and since it looks like range won't be so important at first I take the cheaper Range 4 tech. I start trickling research into +10 Terraforming so that my colony ships will be cheaper.

2313 - Chase a Darlok scout away from Galos (Inferno planet to the east).

2318 - +10 Terraforming pops. Go for Tundra base. Start constructing a colony ship but mostly still building factories.

2322 - Hand lasers pop. I'm happy to see Hyper-X missiles available so I go for them.

2328 - First colony ship built, and dispatched to Hyboria.

2331 - Range 4 pops. Hyboria founded.

I realize at this point I realize I just made a mistake. I should have sent that colony ship to Reticuli towards the middle of the map instead of Hyboria which for now is safely mine. I don't know what I was thinking here. Reticuli is the stepping stone to Maretta, the Ocean planet to the north. Will this cost me Maretta, or maybe the even the game?

Around this time the Meklar have 6 planets.



2332 - Fierias maxes its factories. I put it full time into cranking out colony ships.

2334 - Second colony ship is constructed and dispatched to Hyboria.

2337 - Found Reticuli, scout Berel which has a fresh Meklar colony. Strike up trade with the Meklar.

2338 - Second colony ship constructed and dispatched to Maretta. 7 turns to get there.

Galaxy Map:


2339 - Chase Meklar scout away from Maretta.

So far it looks like the Meklar have mostly scouts flying around. I'm keeping an eye out for any colony ships, but so far no signs of one.

2342 - Scout Gion, which is a Darlok colony.

2343 - The Darlok arrive at Maretta with an escorted colony ship, and chase my scout away. This puts me in contact with the Darloks, so I strike up minimal trade.

At this point I have one more planet that needs a standard colony ship, which is Willow on the other side of my meager empire. I could send the one that's going to Maretta there, which would take 9 turns plus there are still 3 turns before it gets to Maretta. Alternatively, Fierias could have a colony ship out the next turn, and then only 4 turns to get to Willow. I opt for the latter, design the Colony2 (exactly the same as the standard colony ship) and scrap the original colony ship class. I plow the cash into Fierias and have it built a Colony2.

2346 - Meklars lead in fleet strength according to GNN. Tundra base pops, so I design the Colony3 and put Fierias on building them.


2350 - First Colony3 built, send to Proximas (the Tundra planet close to Fierias).

2352 - Proximas founded.

2355 - Second Colony3 built, dispached to Herculis which is the tiny 10 pop barren world to the southeast. I'm hoping that this will open up some new worlds for colonization, as there are some promising looking green stars to my east and so far no sign anyone is over there.

2361 - Herculis is founded. This puts me in contact with the Sakkra, which closes off the east for me as they own all the worlds within range. I strike up minimal trade.

At this point, the only uninhabited world left in range is Galos, the inferno planet which I'm still a ways off from being able to colonize. Otherwise, my only option to expand is through someone else.

Here's what the galaxy map looks like:


2362 - Nuclear engines pop. Meklars still lead in fleet strength according to GNN, which is a bit scary.


With nuclear engines and Hyper-X rockets on the way, I'm thinking of how to proceed. I decide that the best course of action is to take Maretta from the Darloks, since 1) The Darloks aren't that strong 2) It's within range and 3) It should be mine anyway . However, the Darloks are allied with the Meklar and I really don't want to start anything with the Meklar so I decide to sit tight for the moment.

2363 - A Psilon colony ship comes cruising through my territory, apparently going to one of the asteriod stars. Who invited them to this party?

2366 - The erratic Meklars have a huge ship flying around, and are gathering a fleet at Berel. This. Is. Not. Good.


2367 - Hyper-X rockets pop, and Battle Computer 2. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the Meklars declared war too.


Here's what's heading straight for Reticuli:


I whip up a new design with one 5x Hyper-X rockets, nuclear engines, and a battle computer all in a medium package and start cranking them out. I also forget to change the name so for this game all my missile boats will be Bobcat-class ships!

In addition to however many Bobcats I can get there, Reticuli will have 2 missiles bases up by the time the Meklars get there. It probably won't be enough, but it's all I got. I also dial up some espionage.

2370 - Yeah, that went about as I expected. I actually manage to take out the two "Tornado class" ships, but the others lay waste to my defenses.


2371 - I manage to steal Improved Robotic Controls from the Meklar. Check out the catsuit everyone .


2375 - The Meklars take a break from bombing Reticuli to invade and take it. This breaks off contact with the Darloks.

2376 - The Meklar immediately send their fleet home. I send some Bobcats and transports to Reticuli.

2379 - I retake Reticuli.

2380 - The Meklars send a solitary Tornado class to Proxima. Umm, okay.

2381 - I take care of the ship at Proxima. The Meklar had send a bunch of unescorted transports to Reticuli. I had 8 Bobcats there but 31/33 transports make it through somehow and they retake the colony.

2382 - The transports I was sending to help standup Reticuli arrive and I retake the colony. The Darloks finally declare war on me, which I had been expecting for some time (due to their alliance). Also, the Meklar are now sending two nasty-looking fleets to Reticuli and Proximas.



2383 - The Meklars come to me with a peace treaty. Yes please!

2385 - The Meklars now want 150 BC/year trade. Erratic indeed. Uhh, okay sure.

2390 - The Darloks are now coming for Reticuli. I will have 1 missile base up by the time they get there, plus several Bobcat class.


2391 - The council meets for the first time. It's me (!) against the Sakkra. And the Meklar vote for me?!? The Sakkra by themselves control 33% of the vote, with 9 out of the 27 votes.


2392 - I'm #3 in Empire production. Sakkra are leading.

For as much as I fret about the Meklar, the Sakkra seem to actually be the dominate power here. Oh well, better than the Psilons.

2393 - The Darlok fleet arrives at Reticuli. I turn them away as they have nothing that can take on the missile bases as it is.


2394 - The Meklars come to me and want 225 BC/year trade. Umm sure.

2398 - The Darloks make another pass at Reticuli, much as before, and now with 3 missile bases I turn them away.

2400 - Council meets again. It goes much the same as in 2391. I get the Meklars and Bulrathi vote, the Darloks and the Sakkras make up the opposing side, and the Psilons abstain.


2401 - Fusion bombs pop. Go after the Ion rifle. The Meklars come to me and now want 300 BC/year trade. Umm, sure.


Time to start preparing for taking of Maretta. I upgrade the computer on the Bobcat and add in 2 maneuverability and commission the Bobcat 2. I then replace the Hyper-X missiles with 3 fusion bombs and commission the Bomber class. I set Fierias and Xuras to making Bombers full time, and with the other ship-making planets producing Bobcat2's.

2402 - The Meklars now want 325 BC/year trade. What's up with these guys? they sure are playing up the whole Erratic thing. Anyhow, rather than slight emperor alphabet-soup, I agree.


2406 - Population report:


Things are somewhat quiet here for a few turns, as I build up my fleet to take on Maretta which has a decent number of missile bases (17 to be exact) by this point.

2414 - The Meklars found Galos, the inferno planet. This bumps them up to 12 systems which gets the Meklar on GNN.


It looks like relations have gone sour between the Meklar and the Darlok, as there are now Meklar fleets orbiting Maretta.

I'm not 100% sure what's going on here, as the Meklars seem to be orbiting Maretta even though it still has missile bases. The population is way down, so I suspect bio-weapons are in play, but it's still very odd.

2417 - The Darloks either defeated the Meklar, or the Meklar retreated, so it's now my turn to take a pass at Maretta. I send the master fleet that I had been gathering at Reticuli on its way.

The 2 original Bobcat class are all that are left of that class, the rest destroyed during the great Meklar war and the various Darlok incursions into my territory.

2419 - I easily knock down the Darlok defenses at Maretta, losing about a dozen Bombers in the process. I send transports from Reticuli.

2422 - The Darloks want peace, but since I'll be landing the next turn which would just start the war over, I reject.

2423 - I take Maretta. This puts me into contact with the Psilons. Their empire seems a bit scattered. Apparently, the Darloks are now rocking a 2-planet empire. I don't know where the Bulrathi are but they can't be much better off. I strike up trade with the Psilons.


2425 - I'm up for election again, against the Sakkra. This seems a bit odd - the Meklar have a lot more planets and while they are bad at Planetology their emporer is also an ecologist. Anyhow, I have 6 votes under my control, and I get 5 votes from the Meklar and 1 from the Burathi.


2428 - The next logical step is to take Gion from the Darloks. I could use some more room, and it would be nice to take a planet with some factories for a change (unsurprisingly, I've yet to get any tech from my conquests), so I send my fleet to Gion.

2429 - This must have been what the Meklar were waiting for, as they immediately send a fleet to Maretta and easily overwhelm the ships I left there to defend it. This also confirms that their designs have bio weapons.

2430 - The Meklars take Maretta. This technically puts my fleet arriving at Gion out of range (7 parsecs away from Reticuli, and I only have range 6 tech). I immediately send the fleet home. This also puts me out of contact with the Darlok and the Psilons.

I now have a decision to make about Maretta. I can either try and take it back from the Meklar, which will probably turn this "cold" war into a hot war which I really don't want (and it would end the trade agreement too). Or I can just let it slide, which I also don't like the idea of. I decide to hold off for now - as it is Reticuli is a bit low on population.

2434 - I see Darlok ships around Maretta. With any luck they'll take it back from the Meklar, then I can take it back from them without angering the Erratic Meklars! It's as good of a plan as any.
Galaxy Map:


2437 - The Psilons declare war on me for some reason. Not sure what effect this will even have, as I don't have the range tech to reach any of their systems. Looking at the Races screen it appears that the Meklar are now at "Hate" with me, so might as well take back Maretta even though the trade treaty is still active and we're technically not at war.

2438 - It looks like the Meklar have taken Gion from the Darlok. The Darloks are now now rocking a 1PE at Nazin.


2442 - The Meklars declare war before I have chance to get my transports to Maretta anyway.

2443 - I take Maretta. I also notice that Galos is now uninhabited. It would appear that the Sakkra and Meklar aren't on very good terms at the moment. I get the virus event. Ouch.


2444 - The Meklars and Psilons make a pass at Maretta. I turn away the Meklar but the Psilons shred my Bobcat2's and then glass Maretta. My scientists come up with Duralloy armor, which I put on the Bobcat2 and Bomber, commissioning the Bobcat3 and Bomber2, respectively.

2445 - The Meklars colonize Maretta, and Galos is also Meklar colony again. I send a fleet to Maretta.

2446 - The Sakkra make a pass at Willow, which I hadn't been paying much attention to its defenses since it was in the back of my territory and I have been on good terms with the Sakkra the whole game. They knock down the 1 missle base. Oops. At least they only sent 2 large ships.

2447 - Galos is now a Sakkra colony.

2448 - I decide to try and not defend Maretta as a colony at this point given that my population at Reticuli and Xudas is a bit thin at the moment, and glass it. I manage to turn away the Sakkra at Willow with a combination of new Bobcat3's and new missile bases.

2449 - The Meklar recolonize Maretta.

2450 - Elections again, and I'm up again against the Sakkra. Seriously? Can't the Meklar take the #2 population spot and give me some time to regroup? This is not good, as the Meklar are not going to vote for me (probably), and the Psilon may not abstain this time. I'm on good terms with the Sakkra, but that doesn't count for anything here. And thus, the game ends here:


Well, exciting but somewhat short game. I think what did me in is the resources I spent the potatoes of Reticuli early on, and especially Maretta later which sapped my strength. I'm not sure what effect getting Reticuli before Hyboria would have had on the game. Maybe Reticuli would have never fallen to the Meklar and I would have had more strength to take Maretta and continue expanding through Gion. The backstab from the Meklar at Maretta really hurt as it stopped me from taking Gion, stopping my expansion cold, and I never recovered from that. Though even if the Meklar didn't do that, it's possible that the Psilons would have still come in and glassed everything anyway, so you never know.

The other thing that hurt was being in all the elections. I honestly don't understand how the Meklar, with double the planets than I have and an ecologist emperor didn't outrank me in population. Or for that matter the Psilons had about the same number of systems and likely better Planetology tech. If the elections had been Meklar vs. Sakkra (or Psilon vs. Sakkra) then the game would have likely continued on, at least for a while.

Scoring (as I understand it):
+50 Playing the game/report
+6 Votes I had in the 2425 election
-20 for losing Reticuli (twice)
-20 for losing Maretta (twice)
=16 total score, or better luck next time.
Result: Diplomatic loss in 2450

Maybe one of these days, I'll win one of these.

Hey all, I recently got a promotion at work (which has been great) but it has been taking up a huge amount of time and energy. As a result, I'm looking for someone who can take over/help with Pitboss 12. I am not at the point of being unable to play yet, but I fear that winter is coming and it would be great to have someone who jumped in now very early game when minor spoilage may not be a big deal.

I can keep playing turns for now but July 1 some new responsibilities kick in and I expect I will need a takeover by then. I did not plan to get this promotion when I started the game, obviously! I wouldn't have signed up if I'd known it was coming.

Imperia 37 (gentle)

Opening thoughts: I only have one victory on impossible under my belt and that’s with the psilons, so I’m going gentle this time. Hopefully it won’t be a pushover. Interesting mix of enemies, I’m glad there are no silicoids or humans. Hopefully the psilons get bottled up like they did for me in Imperia 36. Colony ship will go to the yellow. I’d be surprised if anyone else did differently. I’m actually going to send the scouts to further out stars in hopes of being more expansive.

First ten turns: Xudax is a size 90, can’t really ask for much better for a second colony. I pretty much always do one click less than the useful limit for spending the reserve. It might slow the curve a little, but if I spend any over it later turns usually get buggy I’ve found in my other games. Lower yellow Willow is a nice size 65. I build 9 scout2s, a turn late…oops! In 2307 my factories start outpacing my pop growth so I decide to stop main colony reserve spending and open up propulsion with 43 points. I choose range 5 because Kailis being rocks might make it harder to reach places. Turn 8 I start putting reserve spending into the second colony. 2309 I slow down propulsion and take a look at planetology and decide to pursue improved eco. Scouting is finished on turn ten

I’m planning on building coreward, starting with the Reticuli (steppe) and then Maretta (ocean), if I can reach it.
Until turn 25: Well time to keep building up my first two colonies, I think I will start my colony ship when the capitol hits 75 people. 2313 I hit my first enemy scout at Galos (25 inferno). 2317 I slowly start a colony ship. Next turn Xudax should start shipping pop back to the capitol. My empire at 2325

Up to turn 50: 2327 Sakkra hit the six planet mark already, how on Sssla did they manage that? I also open construction and get RW 80%. Settle Reticuli in 2332 as my third planet. Also, Imp eco finishes and I go for tundra to get the nearby tundra and barren worlds. Fourth planet settled on 2337 on Hyborea the steppe rimward of the capital. I wish I had gone for range 4 instead of five, also I started on battle computer two. Range five pops on 2341 and I dial up more scouts and start on warp 2. RW80% finishes in 2342 and I also open up weapons and select hand lasers. They finish next turn, so I go on to hyperX because Darloks have made contact by sending an escorted colony ship up to Maretta. It looks like there will be early conflict this game…
And here is the 2350 situation: The Sakkra have colonized the world just to the right of the barren.
Also I have a colony ship headed to the jungle just north of me.


I don’t feel great about my planets, but it’s an ok start. I’ve noticed when I was spending the reserve, people were in short supply, but things have evened out for the moment.

Up to turn 75: 2352 settle Berel, next year shield 2 pops and I start shield 3. 2354 BC2 and Tundra come in I choose IRC3 and have to take enhanced eco. The Darloks are allied to the Psilons, I didn’t want to see that. After nuclear engines finish 2358 the only choice left is range 7. I’m really starting to regret pick range 5. In general I feel that I’ve made a lot of tech choices that turned out badly. War has come early as predicted. I settled Artemis on 2360, and apparently that was the last straw for the ‘shifters. Also, the new colony brings us in range of the Meklar that turn who I then sign to 200 trade agreement. Not really sure how to defend my forward colonies for the moment. Hyper-x has still not come in, and the front couple colonies are too new to build bases. I decide to build medium warp 2 laser ships with class 2 shields at my second planet and send them up to Barel and see how it goes. Proxima is settled in 2361. In 2364 I settle Herculus meeting the Sakkra, and the darloks attack Artemis, which apparently I forgot to send seeding population too, Doh! Well a few turns later my lasers chase off the ships at Artemis and Hyper-x are researched. If I can get a few bases up I might stand a chance. Lost Herculis in 2369 to the Sakkra -10 points there. Lost Artemis the turn after to the darloks, I could have saved it with a little more work probably. So now I’m 20 points down and not even to the vote yet. Building up for an attack on Marietta.

Up to turn 100: 2378 I barely retake Artemis, but will probably lose it again quickly, further hurting my score. In 2379 my attack on maretta failed, I think I will start every other turn missile hit and runs. Also the Sakkra finally agree to min trade. Hopefully, I can start building some friends. In 2381 robotic controls poped, next is imp space scanner. In 2388 I finally lose Artemis again, now at -30 points. My first conquest is Maretta in 2390, not sure if I have enough left to hold it though… Well next turn the Darloks sue for peace! Well my Imperia score sure suffered thanks to the war, but I think I came out with a better colony then he did. Duralloy finished in 2393, going for ADR next. Class 3 shields in 2396, I’m not happy with the lack of planetary shield V in the three. I increase trade with the Sakkra up to 400/turn, and a few peaceful turns tick by to 2400.




Up to turn 125
Well my plan is to try to get the Sakkra as my friend, to hopefully team up on the Darlocks. I have them at 400/t trade and non-aggression pact. I snag one more empty planet at Vulcan (size 40) in 2404. I’m going to have to get aggressive soon. First vote happened in 2405 me versus the Sakkra. I get two votes from the Meklar. I throw my votes to the Sakkra to stay on good terms, everyone else abstains. My scouts encounter the Meklar they have several huge designs with weird hp numbers, are they using duralloy2? I feel a bit safer with improved space scanner coming in on 2409, start researching BC5. Next turn is range 7, after that I feel the need for warp 4. In 2013 autorepair comes in and I pick IT7 since I haven’t researched any in that line yet, though I really wish I could have had zortium. Enhanced eco came in and I back tracked to terraforming +10 so I could get a few more people for the scoring vote. Shield 4 came in as did the terraforming, I chose controlled radiated in the hopes of grabbing the few remaining worlds. Man forcefield options are so limited this game.
I abstain with my 8 votes in the election so 8 points.

Up to turn 150
Well the Sakkra grabbed those hostile I was aiming for, it looks like they are the runaway power. My plan is to stay on their good side while I eat the small fries and then tackle them when things get closer. Warp 4 is finished in 2030, I’m waiting on a couple more things before attacking the Darloks. Nevermind, next turn the Darloks decide to be proactive, it’s war baby!!! The Sakkra are ready to help me out. My plan is to build up some merculite missle-boats and anti-matter bomers, both warp four. Industrial tech 7 also comes in and I start researching Zortium. The long awaited liberation of Artemis has occurred. I get like 6 backfill techs, none of them useful except as a tech level boost. I need to send some pop there and get the place stood up and defended. It also pushes me up to full alliance with the Sakkra , now to get the Meklar on my side. Yup I can get them to jump into this war too, hopefully I can get a big enough slice of it to be happy. Also I’m researching cloning. Fusion rifles are researched which will give me the ground advantage on the Darloks, since I lack a good gun I start on phasors. Well in the next election things remain about the same, except people aren’t abstaining because the world is at war.

Up to turn 175
If everything goes well I should be past the 1/3 mark by the 2475 vote, I just need to grab a couple more world from the Darloks. In 2453 Maretta randomly became fertile. Also after I cleared Gion’s defenses, and failed my first wave invasion the Sakkra “help” by blowing up the Darlok colony. I quickly build a colony ship to put on it, but am annoyed about having to build it from scratch. Finally, the Psilons and Bulrathi introduce themselves. The Psilons agree to non-aggression and trade; however, the bears immediately declare war. The bears are down to their homeworld, so I don’t know what they are thinking. Whynl falls on 2460. I’ve noticed some weird planet populations which leads me to guess someone is using bioweapons. The Sakkra are getting the better part of this as they took Nazin, I’m going to need to go after the Meklar in my backline to have a hope, or possibly start an anti-lizard dogpile. I also trade IT7 to psilons for terraforming 20, I could use the extra 10 pop per planet, and I figure IT7 won’t help them that much. In 2464 I stupidly lose Whynl, that’s -40 points now. As Will Smith puts it “Awww Hell Naa.” I pulled the assassination event on the Sakkra, I now have the Sakkra and Meklar both after me, with only the Psilons in my corner. I finally get a spy in the Sakkra, they are ahead of me in every way, and then just blew up Berel with a stack of doom of fusion fighters, if Planetary shield X doesn’t pop soon I’m dead. Multiple research pops in 2471 Planetary shield X, cloning, and phasors. Everyone starts building a shield ASAP. I survive the 2475 vote intact.
My situation

The end
At this point I give up on the game knowing that best case scenario I dart behind enemy lines and do damage while his SOD knocks out my colonies one by one, so that even if I win (which Is highly unlikely) my score will be terrible.

Final Score
posted a report 50
2425 votes 8
lost colonies -50
total 8

This is my first game report ever, so I Would appreciate any comments you have about any important information missing or unnecessary information given. Also, I’m not an English native speaker so you can expect some mistakes in my writing.



Initial thoughts about this imperia. Mrrshans on impossible with the Psilons present is a challenge by itself. But if you add the fact you are forbidden to use planetary reserves sounds crazy. That means you can’t accelerate new colonies growth curve (barring population transfer, of course) or cash-rush defense when a fleet is coming. That will require early detection of possible threats and early defense production on border worlds. On the other hand, as there’s no need on spending on planetary reserves, some micromanagement will be required to avoid excess industry/ecology production being wasted on reserves for no purpose.



2300: Start close to the SW corner of the galaxy with 3 stars in range: yellow to the NE, red to the NW and blue to the SW. Obvious choice for colony ship: yellow one, with best odds and push towards the center of the galaxy.

From yellow star analysis, we can expect 1 maybe 2 AIs in the SE corner, at least 2 on center, and 1 in the far NW. As there could be an AI in the yellow star 8 parsecs away, I send my starting scouts to the green and blue stars in that direction to start a scout blockade.



2302: Colony ship land in Xudax Terran 90. Great second planet, I start sending batches of 3 million people per turn until it reaches 1/4 of planet capacity. About 6 transfers will be enough.

It will require 7 more scouts to explore (and blockade) all the planets in range, so I start producing scout2s at Fierias.

2311: All scout reach destination. This is the map of known galaxy:



Summary: 4 normal environment planets, 3 hostiles and 2 non-planets. No alien ships met so far, so no AI in the close yellow star. Two of the normal planets are in my back yard pretty safe from the AIs. Maretta (where the cursor finger is pointing) seems the key planet to grab, as it will allow expansion to the center of the galaxy. Can reach Reticuli (green star north to Fierias) with range 3, but then range 4 will be required to reach Maretta.



2317: Xudax at half pop capacity. Starts sending excess pop to Fierias.



2319: Fierias at 135 factories. Fierias starts on research at 20BC per turn while still building 8 factories/turn. Research spending allocation set at roughly 25% Construction, 25% Planetology, 50% Propulsion.

While most people in the Forums claim that the best opening is always to max your homeworld before doing anything else, I believe this is not always the case. On this particular map, it will only delay the colonization of Reticuli just a couple turns, but will put me ahead on several turns of range research. Hopefully, it will complete by the time I’m about to build my second colony ship.



2320: Research options:

- Construction: Reduced industrial waste 80% no option.

- Planetology: Improved Terraforming 10 and Improved Eco Restoration. Pick IER. Along with RW80 form the construction tree, it will cut pollution to 0.26 BC per factory*, which has a huge impact on both growth curve of new colonies and production output of mature ones.

- Propulsion: range 4 and range 5. Pick range 4 to reach Maretta.



*With default technologies every factory produces 1 BC and 1 industrial waste unit (IWU) and you must spend 1 BC to clean 2 IWU, which means every factory has a net production of 0.5 BC. With RW80 and IER, every factory produces 1 BC and 0.8 IWU and 1 BC cleans up 3 IWU, so cleanup cost per factory is 0.8/3=0.26BC. So factory net production is 1BC - 0.26BC = 0.74BC. That’s a 50% increase!



2327: Fierias maxed out both pop and industry. Start on Colony ship due in 4 turns. Xudax’s production split half on industry (3factories/turn) and half on research for 27RP/turn. Range 4 tech about to reach percentages.



2331: Colonu ship finished and sent to Reticuli. Start another one due in five turns. Range tech already at percentages.



2333: Range 4 completed. New research options: nuclear engines and range 6. Pick the engines as further range is not needed right now.

Starting research before maxing homeworld paid off as now I got the range tech about the time I needed it.

Research allocations changed at rougly 45% construction, 45% Planetology and 10 % Propulsion. Need those waste clean up techs asap. Miniaturization and cost reduction of colony ships won’t hurt either.



2335: Reticuli settled. New batch of scouts sent to the stars to north. Xudax now at 74 pop and 74 factories, send 23 colonists to Reticuli.



2336: New colony ship finished at Fierias, relocated to Reticuli, enroute to Maretta. Start another one due in 4 turns.



2337: Scout explore Berel ( yellow star north of Reticuli) finding a Jungle 85.



2338: Meklars small laser fighter chase away scout at Berel. Berel is now a priority to colonize as it is only 4 parsecs away form Reticuli and in Meklars range.



2339: Colony ship arrive at Reticuli. Sent to Berel.



2340: Colony ship finished at Fierias, relocated to Reticuli. Start another one.



2343: Berel Colonized. Met the Meklars:



Meklar leader is an Erratic-Ecologist (eco-cyborgs??). Not good to have a Psychotic cyborg as close neighbor, only 4 parsecs away. Hopefully they will give me enough time to build some defenses out there.

Sign minimum trade agreement with the borgs, and send 23 pop from Xudax to Berel.



2344: Scouts explore Gion yellow star NE of Maretta with a steppe 65, Vulcan white star NW of Fierias with a desert 40 and Artemis the southern Meklar Colony. Can reach Gion with current range but Vulcan is 6 parsecs away and 4 parsecs from the Meklars colony of Artemis so I expect it to fall to the borgs sooner rather than later, as they already have range 4 or better because I met an armed ship of them at Berel (at 4 parsecs from Artemis).

2345: Fierias finishes colony ship relocated to Reticuli enroute to Gion. Starts another one.



2346: Maretta Colonized: met the Bulrathis.



Leader is an Erratic-Expansionist. Another psycho just around the corner. This one seems that will be another typical Mrrshans game: cats fighting one war after another, from the start.

Same as before, sign minimum trade agreement.

Start sending 3 pop/turn from Reticuli to Maretta.



2347: Scout parked at Gion chased away by a Darlok’s escorted colony ship, shapeshifters settle the planet and we are put in contact:



Shapeshifters are Aggressive-Technologists who only agree to minimal trade agreement. So far not a single race I can rely as friend, as good relacionship with Darloks is always difficult. At least I can hope for lots of war between AIs as erratic leaders declare war to everyone at random and Darloks are hated by all other races.



2349: Colship arrives at Reticuli and sent backwards to Hyboria, the blue star SW of Fierias, as Gion is no longer available for colonization.

Fierias finishes last colony ship, sent to Willow (yellow star SE of Fierias). Fierias resumes research duty, and Xudax production is set on factory construction.



2352: Hyboria and Willow settled. GNN droid announces that kitties have grown in strength and control 7 star systems.

Initial expansion phase is over as I can’t grab more planets without either controlled environment tech , long range colony ships or range tech.



2353: Improved Eco Restoration pops. Which means cleanup cost at Fierias is cut down form 100BCs to 67BCs, for extra 33BC/turn and growth rate of all other colonies is dramatically increased.

Research options are: IT+10, controlled tundra and IT+20. Pick IT+10 because is dirty cheap and now I have several planets close to max population that will benefit from it. I can wait a bit longer for controlled tundra as the planets it enables are pretty safe for now. Maybe I can lose Herculis Barren 10 east from Willow, but I will take my chances.

As RW80 is already at percentages, I now open research on all fields by pressing “=” button and then putting some emphasis on planetology by adding an extra click from all other fields.



2354: New research options:

- Computers: Deep scanner and Battle computer II. Pick BCII because is more useful than the scanner.

- Class II shield and no option as usual.

- Weapons: Hand Laser and Gatling Laser. Pick Hand Laser because it’s cheap.



2357: IT+10 discovered. Controlled Tundra next.



2358: RW80 complete. Pick Duralloy armor with no option.

Hand Laser finished. New options: Neutron Pellet Gun, Hyper-X and Fusion Bombs. Pick NPG because I need a gun and NPG is one of my favorite early game weapons.



2367: Class II shield discovered. Pick Class III no option.

Nuclear engine discovered. Range 7 is the only that moves the tree so I pick it.



2371: BCII pops. New options: ECM jammer II, Improved Robotics III and BCIII. Pick IRCIII of course.

Controlled tundra researched. Pick Enhanced Eco Restoration over IT+20 because is the only option that moves the tree.

Redesign colony ship, with tundra base and warp2, and build it in Fierias in 1 turn (I was already pre-building it).



2375: Herculis the eastern barren 10 world colonized. Put in contact with the Sakkras:



Lizards are Aggressive-Diplomat and of course not very friendly towards me. Report indicate they are already at war with the Psilons, which is very good news. To my surprise they agreed to maximal trade agreement of 350BC. From the picture above we know that the only yellow star without flag is Mentar.

Berel maxed out. Start on missile base construction. It’s a border planet with those erratic AIs. Maretta will max out in a couple of turns and will do the same.



2378: NPG discovered. New options: Ion rifles, Merculites. Pick Merculites for defensive purposes. Put extra emphasis on weapons research.



2388: IRC3 researched. Pick Improved Space Scanner over ECM III.

Bulrathis offer a 200BC agreement which I accept. Offer NAP to them, accepted.

Sign NAP with Meklars.

Sign NAP and 350BC trade with Darloks.



2400: Merculites finished. Pick Fusion Beams over Antimatter bombs and Graviton Beam. Research set to “=”.



2405: Class III Shields finished. Pick Class IV with no planetary shield available.

Sakkras chase away my scout in Galos Inferno 20 (white star east form Reticuli) and settle it.



2407: Duralloy finished. Pick Automated Repair over IIT7 and RW60.

Range 7 finished. Pick Fusion drives over energy pulsar and warp dissipator.



2412: Meklars break NAP for no reason. I assume bad dice rolls for that erratic leader.



2413: Bears leader wakes up with his left foot and declare on me. The good thing is they only have Maretta within range and it has already 17 bases on it, so it’s pretty safe as Bulrathis only have Hyper-X for now. If they come up with fusion bombs or death spores it could get ugly. The bad news is that they are allied with the Lizards and they could easily drag them to war on me. Lizards and cats don’t get along very well in this game. I tried to ask Sakkras to break alliance with bears but they asked money, and the Mrrshans are too proud to commit bribery.



2417: Improved Space Scanner finished. Pick BC V over ECM IV.

Enhanced Eco finished. New Options: Soil enrichment, Bio toxin Antidote and Radiated landings. After thinking a lot, I picked the antidote because several races already have death spores.



2419: Darlok colony of Gion razed and resettled by the lizards.



2420: Fusion Beam finished. Pick Anti-matter Bombs.



2422: Sakkras declare war. I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it. Too bad my border colony of Herculis isn’t maxed yet. It starts on base production right away. It has none so far, a net planetary production of 40BCs (about 4 turns per base), and we are not allowed to use our planetary reserves. I start building some popgun fighters at Willow relocated to Herculis to discourage an attack on it. I am not sure it will work out, but that stratagem worked for me on previous games, as the AI tends to ignore planets with a fleet parked on it. It is not an exact science, but I can always hope.



2425: Sakkra colony of Gion razed and resettled by Meklars. Gion has officially become a hot potato. I hope the lizard fleets get distracted with that planet and delay attention towards my colonies.



2427: High council met for the first time: It’s me against the Sakkras.

Meklars vote for me. 3 votes.

Darloks vote for me. 2 votes.

Bulrathis vote for Sakkras. 2 votes.

Psilons vote for me. 2 votes.

Sakkras vote themselves. 5 votes.

I vote myself. 7 votes and win with 14 out of 21 votes.



RESULT: diplomatic victory in year 2427 with 7 votes casted by me, no threats made and no colonies lost, for a total of 50+50+7=107 points.



Some pictures:







The bars show that I am leader in population and planets which we already knew from the council vote, and that I’m about to catch up with the AIs leaders in both production and technology, the two most important categories in the game. Of course, I’m nowhere close in fleet strengths but that is standard for a human player on impossible level at this stage of the game. I haven’t met the Psilons yet, so I can’t see theirs stats, but I believe they should have some lead in tech as usual, but from the council vote I know they are weak in population and should be among the weakest races in production and fleet strength (they are usually pacifists and non militaristic).

Overall, I’m in good shape if I decided to continue this game. Too bad, that I’m sure I won’t be able to hold Herculis if the Lizards come after it. I think I made a mistake on colonizing that tiny planet that turned out to be a border world with an aggressive AI. If you consider the variant rules and scoring system of this imperia it is better to leave those planets alone as they can’t defend themselves and they may cost several points. On the other hand, the Meklars have a scary fleet of hundreds of big ships. As their best weapon so far is Fusion Bombs, I expect those ships will be carrying lots of them.

I haven't played MoO in a long time, and wasn't very good when I did play, so I went with the gentle variant. Extra production on the homeworld led to rapid expansion. By 2342 I had a 7-world empire:



I decided to press on to Artemis (the green desert planet near the nebula) and Vulcan (the white desert beyond it). The Meklars declared war and took Artemis, then we had a long war of transports. Since I had more planets, more population, and fewer factories, I thought this was in my favor. I also conquered Gion (the yellow steppe planet) from the Meklars after they colonized it. Then the Bulrathi came along and poached it from me. About this time, the Meklars asked for peace, which I was happy to give to them.

After peace, here was my empire in 2381 (mouse pointer is on Gion).



I spent some time on tech and development. After Tundra came in, I colonized Proxima (the red tundra near my homeworld), which triggered the first council election:



Which I won handily. Game over; I built no warships and just a few missile bases. Kind of anticlimactic.