And unusual or not, I hope you and your friends had (and are having) a great time, shallow_thought! Orion is fun, but having friends over is kind of the best.
(Mostly, I mean. There have been a few occasions when cleaning the place afterward has left me wondering if I should become a hermit instead!)
(June 9th, 2023, 14:31)DaveV Wrote: It's looking like Saturday for me, too; I had a lot of catching up to do after returning home. As long as shallow_ghought and I are scrupulous about posting a "got it" before playing, it should be fine.
OK, GOT IT.
And I had a very nice time hosting my friends as a stop on their multi-week cycle ride.
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore
There are those who say that we Psilons should make equal use of all our knowledge. We balance our research across all fields, so should we not do the same with our spending? Some into factories, some into defenses, some into research, some into new colonies. I do not believe this, and it is my hands that have been chosen to direct our socierty in these years. There are simple observations - non-Psilon ships, falling into two design categories: first to scout, second to colonise. I believe that this leaves us with matching facts - we have near neighbours, and they are set on expansion. Perhaps they are hostile. Perhaps they can be reasoned with. We do not yet know. The lack of weapons on their ships might implay a peaceful nature; equally, it could simply imply that they are constrained, as we are, by their current technology. Either way, this is supposition, and I deal in facts. We must expand; we must focus on expanding. True balance requires it.
T2320
I agree with Ref's push for colonization. Our game plausibly turns on whether we can grab and keep that T120. I feel it's best to grab the world we can ASAP, then push factories until R4 is a bit closer - or even put in some more RP.
T2323
Colship built and on way
T2324
An early IT10. Nice. We don't have controlled Tundra - only Dead. I feel it's worth picking up Improved Eco before the expensive Dead. Mentar can spend a turn terraforming, but I'm keeping Nature on tech for now.
T2326
We found the colony of "Backwards". Nature sends 12 pop, which will hit our research. The colship is down from 6 to 5 turns and I switch to building it.
T2330
Silicoids turn up at Proteus with a pair of ships - both unarmed colony ships. With one turn to go on the colship, switch to tech - we need R4.
T2332
R4 at 30+% with just Nature on tech - switch back to finish the colship and hope for an early hit.
T2333
II9 into Duralloy is only choice (I'm not too unhappy). But no R4 and we're now paying maintenance ... I still double-down on expansion and start yet another colship.
T2334
R4 in, on to Nuclear Engines. Colship heads out for Yarrow.
T2335
Silicoids turn up with a single colship at Proteus. Still unarmed.
So I've I played a farmer's gambit and was not called on it. At least, not in my turnset .
Note for next player
- I forgot to send the scouts on when R4 came in, so we've lost a turn there.
- I didn't think to upgrade the colship with a laser (until I started writing this report): it may well be worthwhile to update the one in queue.
- RefSteel
- shallow_thought (JUST PLAYED)
- haphazard1 (UP if you're first to post a "Got it!")
- DaveV (UP if you're first to post a "Got it!")
- One slot's still open in case someone else sees this and wants to jump in!
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore
Looks like solid turns, shallow_thought. Another colony founded and an additional col ship on the way are both good news. And I like the idea of a laser on the col ship in the queue -- a little insurance for very small cost.
Improved Eco first will help our clean up costs, and Dead is expensive. Too bad we did not have Tundra.
I could probably get a turn set in late tonight or Sunday sometime, but if DaveV wants to grab the save he is welcome to do so. I could also play Monday, so if weekends are easier for him he can grab the save.
(June 10th, 2023, 12:54)haphazard1 Wrote: I could probably get a turn set in late tonight or Sunday sometime, but if DaveV wants to grab the save he is welcome to do so. I could also play Monday, so if weekends are easier for him he can grab the save.
Weekdays are actually better for me than weekends.
Looks great, shallow_thought! I really enjoyed the intro and report too. Thinking aloud about the state of the game:
I agree with going for nuclear engines regardless of what else was available, but do you happen to remember if we had options for R6 or Stabilizer as well?
It looks like we'll have the colship for Vulcan in 3 turns(!) if nothing else changes: The turn before our current colship hits Yarrow. We can even send it to Yarrow when it completes (even though the colony there won't be formed by then) and save a turn since Yarrow is just one parsec from Vulcan - although the risk of forgetting to send it on might not be worth the one turn's savings! That side of the galaxy is looking very promising; the Silicoids are the problem, as expected. I'd be inclined to try to hold Proteus against them (once we've secured Vulcan) at least with a token force of fighters, since any armed escort at all could let them swarm over the stars all around us right now, but hoping we can hold them off with just a Scout while we finish factories at home (or betting that when they do escort their colships, it'll be with more than we can stop) wouldn't be a bad move either: Just taking different risks!
Looks like shallow_thought has our tech developing nicely too! If I were the turnplayer, I'd probably favor personal shields when Class IIs come in, looking forward to future invasions and moving up the tree faster, but both have their advantages. (Class III into Planetary V would make our planetary defenses very strong, probably right around the time we're ready to seriously build them up.) Since we'll have Hyper-V rockets shortly, I'd favor NPGs > Ion Cannons > Fusion Bombs > Hyper X > Surely We'll Have Other Options Than Anti-Missile Rockets, Right??? - but that's as much my playstyle showing as anything else: As mentioned, I like mobile defenses, which means ships with beams! (And I'm probably underselling the value of Hyper-X rockets for exactly that reason, even with Hyper-V in hand already; the extra damage, movement, and to-hit bonus are nothing to sneeze at!)
In Computers, I think we all know what we're hoping for, and then I think I'm with shallow_thought that (unless something changes drastically) Controlled Dead is where we need to go next in Planetology. True, it only gets us three planets we know about (at most!) and IT+20 gets us closer to more advanced controlled environment techs more quickly, but the three planets Dead gets us are all in strategically-important positions, and +10 more pop on already-large worlds isn't compelling for the price.
Good luck, haphazard, whatever you decide! I hope they're fun turns to play!
(June 10th, 2023, 22:43)RefSteel Wrote: I agree with going for nuclear engines regardless of what else was available, but do you happen to remember if we had options for R6 or Stabilizer as well?
Stabilizer was available. I don't think R6 was, but am not certain (I normally try to screenshot the tech for reference, but missed this one - rusty at this SG stuff).
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore
I probably build too many scouts, but as a rule I put a scout over every planet I can reach. The AIs *will* start building long range colony ships and/or pick up better range tech, and scouts might be able to chase off some interlopers. It makes my spidey sense tingle to see all those systems with no garrison.
Edit: no criticism implied, just offered for discussion. I will never present myself as an expert in this game, and am always looking to improve my strategy.
(June 11th, 2023, 05:53)DaveV Wrote: I probably build too many scouts, but as a rule I put a scout over every planet I can reach. The AIs *will* start building long range colony ships and/or pick up better range tech, and scouts might be able to chase off some interlopers. It makes my spidey sense tingle to see all those systems with no garrison.
Edit: no criticism implied, just offered for discussion. I will never present myself as an expert in this game, and am always looking to improve my strategy.
No, I can see an argument for having slipped a round of scouts - or even laser fighters for the close systems - in between the the colships. I definitely chose to gambit pretty hard here.
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore
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Another colony founded and an additional col ship on the way are both good news. And I like the idea of a laser on the col ship in the queue -- a little insurance for very small cost.
