I was really enthousiastic about playing the Kitties. They are perhaps my most favorable race in MOO. That's one of the reasons for me posting my Mrrshan Let's play on youtube. Why? I don't know, maybe their hot-tempered character in combination with the poor situations the AI kitties usually end up.

Of course I went for the no reserve spending variant. This should be a huge problem for bringing up small colonies. Let's hope we don't have to settle many small worlds in the beginning. I decided to send both the scouts and colship to the green star 2 parsecs away in order to save two scout turns. After settling the lovely Xudax our scouts moved on to the red and white star 6 parsecs away. I built the standard rounds of scouts 1.

In 2310 the last scout reports came in:
[attachment=512]

The path to the East seems to be blocked by asteroids and hostile worlds. The red ocean world my finger is pointing at is Maretta. It is absolutely crucial for our expansion efforts and will be guarded by LR Laser ships sooner than later. If Barren is in our tree, we could also move south via Herculis, a sad size 10 barren world. Anyway, we desperately need range 4 and Kitties are lacking patience, so I opened up the three classic tech trees (construction, planetology and propulsion). I took RIW80% as only choice, IT+10 over IER (will be next) and range 4 over 5. Hurray for range 4, but long faces for lacking barren...

2315 Due to many bad experience I became paranoid and built the first LR Laser for Maretta.

2322 Learning IT+10, Tundra is in the tree, but went for IER first. I also seeded range4.

2330 Fieras maxed and started building more LR Lasers for Maretta.

2335 Researched range 4, nuclear engines next AND our small orbit patrol chased the first Darlok Colship away at Maretta! This was the first turn where I had a déjà-vû concerning my last crazy Alkari challenge (see this Imperium's starting thread in the main forum for details). Did the unholy Shifter-Borg-Alliance prevail to the next game?

2338 Our first scout reaches Berel (a large Jungle world size 85) Northwest of Maretta. The latter was still uncolonized, but most likely scouted by the shifters. So the race for Maretta continued. Xudax also started to build Laser 1 to guard the orbit.

2339 Galactic News: The (lousy) Psilons were already up to 6 systems which is freakingtastic! We have 2 systems and 2 colships on their way. Let's hope that the Brains will hit a natural growth barrier, otherwise we will have trouble to compete with them.

2340 Colonizing Reticuli and no contact with the Shifters, yet.

2342 happens what gave me nightmares before: Out of the blue the Shifters arrive with a strong fleet of more than 40 small laser ships at Maretta. Weren't they supposed to send a small armoured fleet first? We had 9 or 10 LR Lasers in orbit. That equals 18 to 20 Lasers with deadly Kitty gunners which should be enough to safeguard any system that early in the game. But of course the dice did not fall for us and the last LR Laser had to jump away. So we lost Maretta although heavily investing in defending it. Our Northern flank was open. Oh well, not to mention the colship was on its way...

2344 You know the deal: Another system, the same AI bastards: The Shifters' fleet moved on to grab Berel as well. I reached a point comparable to my infamous Alkari game. Risking an early war or backing down in order to not spoil diplomacy. Guess twice how the Kitty general staff positioned itself: IT IS US OR THEM! PREPARE OUR SOLDIERS FOR WAR! So it was an early war - us against the Shifters!

2346 Scout results on two small desert planets in the West.

2347 Colonizing Willow (Southeast of Fieras) and a strong Meklar fleet arrives at Artemis (the Norther planet of the two sand balls) and grabs it. This is just great: Once again boxed in by Shifters and Borgs. Both strong at computer tech and usually agressive neighbors... Meanwhile our core worlds churned out more and more laser ships to crush the Darloks. Also transports full of bloodthirsty Kitties left for both Berel and Maretta.

2348 Popping IER, Tundra next.

2349 Opening up computer tech (DSS) and weapons (hand lasers, so important for the first invasions) - overall decent choice!
Our troops land at Berel and hunt down every and I mean every Darlok settler. The invasion also brought us in contact with the Meklars - ERRATIC us usual. Just one word: déjà-vû!

2350 Colonizing Hyboria

2352 Popping RIW80% and handlasers, Durally and NPG (what a ehm brilliant tech in the hands of our gunners) next.

2353 The second batch of Kitties lands on Maretta and turns the world into a slaughterhouse. Exactly one brave soldier survives and learns that Darlok transports are incoming...

2354 Our gunners destroy dozens of transports, but enough troops land on our ground. The Shifters recapture Maretta which results in the first penalty (an unnecessary -10).

2359 We rerecapture Maretta and once again, we face incoming Darlok troops.

2261 I was wrong, the transport moves on to another destination. Puh! It was time for a strategic summary:

[attachment=508]

The war against the Darloks has cost us, but it seems as if we have won. Basicly, our empire was in a good shape (up to 7 systems) with tundra being in the percentages. I am a little bit worried about the Brains (trying to runaway somewhere in space) and the erratic Meklars. I had enough of them in my last game, but hey - Imperia games are about challenges, right?! I decided to push forward in the East.

2362 Popping tundra and nuclear engines - perfect timing! EER and range next as only choices.

2364 One of our brave pilots discovers the ancient Orion system (red star south of Nazin) and dies. DSS popped, RC III was next.

2369 Out of the blue we land a spy success with the Meklars: Durally armour! Just perfect for the Kitties with their tech weakness. I selected ARS next.

We also popped Shield II and NPG, Sh III and Merculites being next. So our engineers were finally able to design the super deadly npg 2 - beware AI races!

We also colonized Proxima and Herculies which brought us into contact with both Bears and Brains. Wow, what a turn! Let's look at the strategic situation:

[attachment=509]
[attachment=510]

Guess what - both leaders were erratic! That's three out of four with burning synapses! I am not sure whether I've seen such a setup before. In terms of power balance the Brains were a little bit scary as expected, but otherwise we were in a very good position that early in the game and also given the war with the Darloks. Unfortunately, all Eastern systems in reach were already settled. Maybe we could try to hunt some bears shielded by our new durally armour?

I signed initial trade agreements with the newcomers. Dangerously, the Brains and Shifters were allied. I decided to bribe the Shifters heavily in order to sign a peace treaty and not drag us into an unwanted war, again. They receive IER und RIW80 % for nothing. Additionally, I seeded RC III and merculites to boost our economy & defenses.

2373 Scout update on Escalon: juicy 125 fertile world filled until the last cave with bears. Time to bury any invasion fantasies... BTW, everyone hated the Bears - hence, they could serve as scapegoat.

2374 Scout reports on Guradas, the southest Brain colony: Jungle 60. I should have gone West earlier to grab this world. Also in the news: The Shifters come for peace and I gladly accept. Time to take a deep breath, but no reason to cheer with 3 erratic leaders in the game.

2376 Our scouts reach Whynil, a small tundra planet North-East of the Meklon Nebula. I order a LR tundra 2 colship to be built at Fieras (still our ONLY maxed planet!).

2378/2379 Two spy hits against the Brains which I both skipped (just reduced field selection) in order to not risk a war declaration.

2380 Damn, the Bears conquer the nearest Brain world and we lose contact. We had 4 or 5 active spies and were about to land a decisive spy hit. The Bears also grabbed Personal Deflector Shields via the invasion which ends any chance of conquering one of their worlds soon...

2382 The first Council vote: Meklars against us! All the other races have 3 votes, but we have 6. The Bears even vote for us, so I took the chance to boost the relations with the 'Bots. Furthermore, RC III popped and Xudax maxed (that was 8 decades after settling our second colony and definitely an all-time record!).

At this point I was sure that I would win the game. Our lead was too big. Some scattered notes of what happened afterwards: We learned merculites and Shield III soon after which solidified our defenses - the lack of planetary Vs worried me. I went back to fusion bombs and then colonized Whynil which opened a path to the Northeast of the map.

This was enough for the Meklars. They declared war without reason (relations were at affable before) in order to stop us from winning this game. Their SOD arrived at Maretta a couple of turns later and our more than 10+ bases were no match. That also resulted in my second penalty (-10) - GRRRR!

The 2425 Council vote set us up against the Sakkra and we were able to muster 10/32 in our favor. That equals a solid +10 and -10 in total.

The war against the Meklars went on and on for Decades. I lost count how many of their ships I destroyed and how many of our NPG2s/NPG3s were crushed. At a point a forgot about this scenario's rules and invaded Bootis (toxic planet in the Meklon nebula) although knowing that I would be unable to hold it. The Meklars also turned Proxima into this game's hot potato which I had to resettle thrice which resulted in an overall -50 score penalty for the brave Kitties...

On the other hand I was able to grab most of the hostile planets in the Northeast. Two rich jewels really helped us to develop the systems faster. Then the Bears decided to join the action and began sending fleets to our newer colonies. Luckily, we were able to destroy all of them - incoming Bear troops would have resulted in more penalties.

For Decades and Decades the Meklars ran constant attacks on our core worlds and I sacrificed hundreds of NPG3.1s to defeat them until the 2474 council vote finally changed everything: The true masters of this galaxy were able to collect 27/40 votes. All leaders calmed their chatter when a thrilling squeak from the Meklar corner caught their attention. The machines finally bowed their iron knee...

FINAL RESULT: DIPLOMATIC VICTORY in turn 2474:
[attachment=513]
See more screenshots below.

Score:
Playing +50
Penalties for losing planets: -60
2425 Council: +10
Diplomatic Victory +50
Threats: None +/-0
Untouched reserve +/-0
-------------------------------------
Total score +50
Playing fun: IMMENSE
Reading pleasure: your call

[EDIT: My report is now UP in the usual spot - now finally complete!]

For me, at least (and I hope for the others who participated) this was an absolutely thrilling game to play. I don't know how much of that can come out in my report, as much of it was wrapped around the turn to turn (and combat round to combat round!) strategic and tactical planning as I squeezed every ounce I could out of my empire and my fleets, trying to defend my worlds, but I absolutely loved this game. I just hope the pseudo-random number generator rolled up games even nearly this exciting for everybody!

Please post your reports in the Tournament Reports and Discussion forum!

I hope everyone enjoyed this one; my playthrough was perhaps the most thrilling game of Orion that I can remember, so I hope others had similarly exciting experiences! (My Shadow report will go up over the next couple of days, starting nowish!)

Hi guys,

Can anyone please cover my civ whilst i'm out of the country?

I'll leave details in my thread which is updated. It's for 18-25th june inclusive using EiTB mod.

That being said, the turn has been stuck for nearly 3 days, so you may not have to do too much! It was a turn a day pace previously though.

[Insert horse-related pun here.]

Players, begone!

This is my spoiler thread for the losers PBEM game, where we are not allowed to pick any of the leader/civ combinations that have won the previous PBEMs. My pick is Furia the Mad of the Balseraphs. Make that Furia the



Hmmm, a theme suggests itself.

Well in long standing tradition I'll post a bit of music as my first post here.

Meet Roberta Flack:


Yes, she's good. I found her indirectly through this song:


a bit of mid-90's trance music I was entranced with at the age of 13 or 14 (so about the time it was released). The lyrics really intrigued me, so I asked my father (who knows a bit about music from before my birth) and he pointed me towards the original.

And to round of my music thing, here's my favourite song of all time:


Wubble-U should really have gotten far more exposure than they did.

I couldn't think of a witty thread name, feel free to make suggestions

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