After the "What do we want to see in Civ 6" thread got going and classic 4X games including MoO were brought up, I found myself wanting to play the game again. It has been quite a long time since I played, and I was never a master of Impossible difficulty. So I am starting with a "warm up" game at Average as the Humans, and plan to post about my game here so people can remind me of things I have forgotten, throw rotten veggies, and otherwise kibbitz about how I am doing everything wrong.

I chose a Medium galaxy with 5 opponents. I started roughly in the middle of the southwest quadrant of the galaxy. There was only one star in range of Sol, a yellow to the south -- there better not be an AI there or this game will end right quick. But Kailas was empty of other species, and in fact was a size 60 Steppe fertile artifacts world! (I was not aware a world could be both fertile and artifacts, but that is what the screen reported.) The tech found was Gatling Lasers; could have been better but could also have been worse. I will gladly take tech level 5 in weapons in 2303, thank you very much.

Here is a shot from a few turns later, when I had gotten some NuScouts fanning out.



You can see a pair of yellows to my southeast, a trio in the central east, a couple across the north, a pair to the northwest, and one each tucked into the southeast and southwest corners. I sure hope there isn't anyone at the southwest corner yellow, but I am thinking an alien civ at the two to my southeast is probably inevitable. One in the northwest pair, at least one in the center east trio, and the other two alien civs could be anywhere.

My opening was probably sub-optimal, it's been a long time since I played. I built NuScouts from Sol for the first two turns to get initial recon info, and sent the first batch east and south. Need to know right away if anyone is at that closer yellow.

By 2307, my initial scouts were reporting that our galactic neighborhood was ridiculously lush:



7 out of 9 planets habitable, with no less than 5 Terran worlds! Two 90s, a 95, a 100, and this gem:



Size 125 fertile! I can already picture it seeding all these other worlds with new colonists. It seems like MoO is welcoming me back with open arms.

There is just one itty bitty problem: the only world in range from Sol and Kailas is that Tundra world to the west. All these other juicy targets are 4 or 5 parsecs away. I am going to need range tech to settle them, and there are those yellows very close by....

And the very next turn my scout retreats a Meklar scout from Omicron, that beautiful fertile 125. The cyborg capital must be at the farther east of those two yellows I was worrying about. I am going to need to protect these future jewels of the Human empire, and that means some LR popguns while I push Propulsion tech as hard as possible. If I can grab even as much as the five Terran planets and the Jungle to the west, I would have 8 excellent planets: more than enough of a core to push for victory on Average. And with even modest luck I will get a fair bit more than just those eight.

So I designed a LR fighter to discourage alien poaching of MY worlds.



With the Gatling Laser tech pulled from Kailas giving me Weapon tech level 5, I was able to fit 2 lasers on the medium hull with some room left over. I could have added a computer but it would have boosted the cost by more than a third, and this early it would be painful to build these ships as it was. I built one for Omicron and another for Talas, the Terran 100 at the nearer yellow to the southeast. Then Sol went back to working on factories.

My scouts found a couple more good planets, along with some hostiles. Then in 2314 my scout at Zhardan in the northwest retreated an Alkari scout.



The birds must be at one of the northwest pair of yellows. Sol pauses factory construction to crank out another LR Laz1 for Zhardan; hopefully I can delay the Alkari long enough to claim it myself.

The following turn I retreat a Meklon scout from Talas, and decide it is time to open research and start pushing Propulsion so I can actually settle some of these worlds. Normally I would wait longer so the second world could develop further, but with Kailas being an artifacts planet it can already push a respectable number of RP per turn - -enough to beeline some range.

I put in 20 RP. Let's see what's behind the curtain:



I decide to take the cheap ECM I so I can hopefully jump ahead to something better in the next rung.



I again take the cheaper option wth IIT9. It will be useful and advance me to the next rung. I can always come back for RW80% if I don't get other clean up techs.

Force Fields is Class II Deflectors of course, and Planetology only has Improved Eco which I am happy to take. (Heh, IIT9 looks even better now.)



Lots of choices for Weapons due to the Gatling Laser pull. I pick Hyper-V as I may need some teeth for early missile bases. NPG or Ion Cannon would be lovely, but at this point the research cost (3000 RP for Ion Cannon! ) is just too much for my economy.

What's that? I skipped showing Propulsion? That's because I only had one option - Range 5. The much cheaper Range 4 would have been enough to reach almost all of these worlds, directly or by chaining off new worlds. But I will have to make the longer push. I get started:



I left one tick in the other fields, but I am not sure if this is actually needed after just opening the techs. Anyone know for certain?

Quiet years pass with Sol working on factories and Kailas pushing about 50 RP each turn while slowly adding some factories. Sol is fully maxed out by 2329 (late, I know, but those LR fighters cost time) and has started a colony ship for Omicron while waiting for Range 5 to pop. GNN reports we are #1 in tech, which is not really good news. I would have prefered to do no research at all while settling a bunch of worlds.



Psilon at #5 is worrying. They probably are settling a bunch of systems.

Range 5 finally pops in 2331 after reaching the mid 30s. Only choice is Inertial Stabilizer. A nice tech, but the Propulsion tree has been very skimpy so far with only one choice per rung. I reset research 50/50 on IIT9 and Improved Eco.

The colony ship is ready the following year and sets out for Omicron. Sol takes a turn to build some NuScouts to explore the soon to be in range systems, then resumes colony ship work.

In 2336 the huge fertile world of Omicron is added to the Human empire.



As expected, this brings us into contact with the Meklar.



Hmmm, interesting response. A quick check reveals:



It has been a long time since I last played, but this seems like an unusual combo for the cyborgs from what I recall. Especially the Ecologist aspect given their poor Planetology.

I sign the machines to the largest deal available (75 BC) and hope to improve relations over time. As Humans I will also benefit more from the trade income than they will. :D

As expected, Meklon is the other yellow to the southwest and their second world gave them the range to reach Omicron.



I sent one less than the maximum possible from Kailas to seed Omicron -- I kept the extra one as it had factories to work. This seriously crunched development on Kailas, which has already been taking one for the empire by funding research. But as a fertile artifacts world that will be its fate for quite some time to come. With all these very big worlds to seed, I am going to need a lot of pop. Omicron will soon be able to help -- 125 fertile! -- but even it will not be enough. Not sure this was optimal, but I did not see a better option.

Three years later IIT9 popped at 4%. Always nice to get an early hit.



With Improved Eco soon to pop, I chose Duralloy to advance up the tree. All research spending is moved to Planetology for now so I can stop burning so much of my output on clean up.

The following turn a NuScout enters a new system to the northwest and encounters a Darlok scout, which retreats. I have to assume the Darloks already scouted the system, and are either in that northwest pair (with the Alkari?) or at the yellow in the center north. Despite its potentially strategic position, Firma is not a desirable system:



Yuck. Very decent size, but who wants that for a frontier system? Something like this is MUCH more attractive:



A size 70 artifacts world? Yes, please! :D And what do I pull from the ruins of this ancient world?



This world could not be reached to be scouted without Range 5. Oh well...at least it is worth a tech level.

My NuScouts are reporting in on worlds around the Meklars. There is a Tundra 50 to their north; I also arrive at Helos, their second world (sent the ship before I made contact, wouldn't have bothered a xenophobe otherwise). The cyborgs have 4 colony ships, 4 mediums, and a small armed ship in orbit. I leave quickly.

Speaking of xenophobes, relations have improved due to the trade pact:



And a check of the graphs (forgot this earlier):



Production, fleet, and total power from just 2 worlds -- yep, that's the Meklar.

I hit end turn, and hello, who is this?



I was already at Xendalla (which is truly miserable little chunk of rock), so it seems unlikely that Mentar is that yellow just NE. Plus that would put all of the Alkari, Darloks, and Psilons in those three yellows in the northwest part of the galaxy. Maybe the Psilons made an alliance and got the range that way? No way to tell just yet, but the situation bears watching. The Sakkra might have the entire northeast to themselves.

A couple years later in 2344 Sol finishes another colony ship and I take time to build a fighter to defend my new colonies from these alien races buzzing around.



The GatLaz1 has 9 laser cannon equivalents, for only about 35% higher cost than the LR Laz1 which has only 2 lasers. Extended fuel talks are useful, but boy do they cost you in space. I work on getting at least one of these out to each of my worlds that even might be within range of the Meklars. After finding another Tundra world to their northeast, they look to be rather pinned in. And they may try to expand through me.

I also open all six fields and equalize research, as Improved Eco has reached 19%. Time to start making progress on the other fields.

As the first GatLaz1 rolls out the very next year, I meet someone new to the northeast of the Meklar:



A Sakkra planet, not just a scout. So I guess the lizard capital must be in that trio of yellows in the center east. They have 2 groups of 4 smalls, armed as they advance, and I leave quickly.

Improved Eco pops, and I adjust clean up spending. Ah, quite a relief for my economy. We will want more clean up techs later, but this is a good start. My new choices:



Hmmm, tough choice here. But after checking my reference chart to confirm Controlled Tundra will advance me to the next rung, I take the cheaper tech. There are three Tundra worlds I am aware of so far (one being the only other world in range at the start) and no Dead worlds yet. Not that I am likely to get the two Tundras near the Meklars, with the Planetology-happy lizards next door. But it will give me one world for sure and move me up the tree faster.

I am not happy to be missing both Terraforming +10 and +20. Aren't humans supposed to be good at Planetology? Why couldn't I have a terraforming tech instead of Death Spores? Oh well. It isn't like my worlds aren't huge already. But I really hope Terraforming +30 is available.

The following year is 2346, and Humanity adds Talas and Ukko to its growing empire:





Ukko brings us into contact with the Sakkra:



Another interesting greeting...these Sakkra are Pacifistic Technologists. Did someone turn on the random personalities option without telling me? This definitely seems odd, at least to my recollections of the game. Anyway, I sign the lizards up to the largest available deal of 100 BC per year. Relations are already at Relaxed and should only get better.

The lizards are doing pretty well for themselves and have as many planets as I do.


I doubt their worlds are as good as mine, though. :D And I still have seven more habitable planets to grab, with very good odds of getting most if not all of them. (That yellow in the southwest corner has been confirmed as empty, and is a habitable although crummy Minimal 35.)

The current graphs:



Plenty of work to do yet, although I am off to a very strong start. Hopefully I will have a chance to play further and report more over the weekend. Let me know what you think, whether you would like to see more, and how you would already be out to 10 worlds.

So a girl got me back into Legos again and I'm looking for good models. I've gotten almost all the interesting non-$200+ Lego TOT ship models so I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations? I've watched a lot of reviews but most of them gloss over the important aspects of:

- Is it fun to put together?
- Is it cleverly designed?
- Is it 'whimsical'?

I don't really like the overbuilt/overdetailed sets like the UCS Falcon or some of the UCS sets. I've looked at the superhero sets but don't have any real strong feelings, and I've looked at the Pirate sets being cleared now but the boats aren't that impressive or realistic.

I'm currently saving up for the UCS B-Wing that comes out in October and might pick up the CUUSO sets and the Sopwith Camel they have. Dunno yet. So anyone have any suggestions?

So, we're receiving screenshots every 10 turns from TEAM.

Here is the first one:

**UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Working on a table of contents and reworking this thread overall.

Prevents reloading to get a new and better summon hero or research outcome, as well as a few other retry methods, at least one turn in advance. If you can force the randomizer to be called a different number of times, you can still change results, but that's more work (MOO2 does this). It's likely that the game is calling the system clock or something to seed its randomizer.

We all know that two teams have built their own very shiny warriors now, starting to build the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned the American people about.

Now you have the chance to guess exactly which teams that have started to fall under the lure of the military-industrial complex, disdaining farmer's gambits, the making of swords into plowshares, and dragging their economy down.

My first Adv game, played it about a month ago, I'll write down what I remember and can tell from the HoF recap.

My strategy was to build alot of fast moving horse units and see how it worked out.

I teched some worker techs, ignored pottery and went for HR, BW and IW. Showed no Iron close. Priority nr 1 became capture Iron for knights.

I built a total of 3 cities, the last one around 1400 BC, before I started capturing barb cities with Horse Archers, a total of 3 barb cities (one with Iron if I remember right). I think I only farmed and mined everything for high production and ofc chopped out mostly Horse Archers. My building order for most cities were something like monument->barracks->HA/melee. 500BC I attacked Egypt, took 2 cities, noticed I needed cats. Redeclared and took Thebes 125AD (with SH), and finished Egypt off 300AD. Declared on Hannibal around 560AD and vassalised him on 860AD. Declared on Justinian 1020AD and vassalised them 1190AD. Next was Toku, declared 1280AD and captured four cities before 1360AD when I won a Domination Victory.

I want my screenshot.

Well, finally got the time to finish my first RB adventure (on time)!

Result was a Diplomatic Victory by 1898 AD.
I'm sure there are way better results, but I had fun. Made a lot of mistakes, though.

Buddied up with Ramesses II and Hannibal for shared religion and stayed friends with them untill the end of game. Hannibal voted for me over Ramesses to get my diplo win.

Settled in place and started settling agressively towards Egypt. That settled my borders over there. Then there were some barb cities, but I was to late to take most of them. Hannibal captured a good one that suffered under my cultural pressure later in the game. Ramesses captured a city to my east and then GIFTED it to me... that helped a lot.

I build GL, MoM and TM (940 AD) for a 24 turn Golden Age.

Build up a nice border with Toku and Justin. Justin attacked (1030 AD) just before I took Rifling with Liberalism (had manually teched Nationalism). I managed to hold him off. Then Toku joined the party (1120 AD). I beat all advancing stacks with mostly Rifles.

I made peace with both of them, but came back a few centuries later (1590 AD) to take out Justinian and Toku. Took some time, but in 1842 Toku was gone and in 1872 Justinian left us. That left me about 0,40% short of domination.

Decided to try diplo instead of space and in 1898 I got it!

Nice game, made pretty easy by the absurd amount of gold...
Thanks for the Adventure!