Imperium 10: Dathon Chases an Early Victory

[dathon]

First off, I'd like to give a hearty "Thank You!" to Sullla for putting in the time and energy to re-start the Imperia. I'm looking forward to lots of great gaming and discussion.

Ok, so let's see what we have here. Psilon, Klackon, and Human, probably the three hardest AI races. There's always a real danger of a diplomatic loss with both the Psilons and Humans in the mix (if they show up as their normal selves, that is). Darlok's to foment suspicion, and the bad starting relations with the Bulrathi can't be ignored. What has me intrigued, however, is the map. Very unlikely that the yellow next to us is a homeworld. Odds are that there are 3 homeworlds up N, one isloated in the E, and one close by in the SW. The SW is going to be the interesting part, I think, especially if there are two races there. Could bring early war from lack of space for the AI to expand into. Also lots of potential for big AI's if the homeworlds aren't evenly distributed.

The Sakkra are a pretty one-dimensional race. They expand very fast, but that's their only benefit. Being successful with them often hinges on getting big and shutting everybody else down quickly. So that's going to be my plan; expand fast and hard, box the AI in as much as I can, and hopefully coast to an early victory. That shouldn't be too hard here on Average difficulty, especially if I can land a diplomatic or domination win.

So let's get playing, shall we? First, the ever-critical decision of where to send the initial ships. There are four (!) planets in range to start. Normally, I would gamble and send my col ship to a likely target. However, in this case I'm going to send the scouts out first. If that green to the SW is habitable, I want to grab it ASAP, as there is likely an AI or two down there. If not, it's going to be a long haul back to either the red or the yellow. The green is only two turns away, so I think that delaying the first colony by an assured two turns is better than risking more if the green isn't habitable. So scouts go to the yellow and green. I'm also going to do something rare and build scouts from the get-go (usually only do that on small maps.) I think expanding in the right direction is going to be key to this game, and I need to know the lay of the land to see what avenues are open, plus set up scout blockades wherever I can. First batch of three goes to the red's in the SW, and to my E. Second batch went to the green in the SE, and the Whites/Green to the W and N.

Scouting the Green planet reveals... a size 35 artifacts world! I drew Ion Cannon as my free tech. Interesting, this will likely mean a LOT of variation in reports, depending on what's obtained at this world. Early range/planetology tech can have a dramatic effect, akin to a free settler from a hut in Civ. Built another two rounds of scouts while the col ship travelled, then sent 15 from Sssla to speed up the development of Arietis.

2307 saw me with enough information to open the technology tree. I'd discovered that the Klackon's are to my SW, and have claimed the Ultra Poor at Argus. Glad I got Arietis first! I'll bet that anybody who went North or East and lost this world had a rough time. I'm going to need some early popguns for defense there. I don't see a burning need for Range 5. I can expand in several directions without it. The only thing it would help is reaching the cluster in the SE, but that's a blue and unlikely to be immediately useful (scout arrives in 2 turns), or perhaps to that yellow past the barren in the SW, but that's likely to already be claimed anyway. I'm actually hoping that Controlled Barren is in the tree, as I'd like another world down there to counter the Bugs besides a size 35 artifact. I also noted a Psilon scout incoming to Beta Ceti. That means their homeworld is to the SE, and they are isolated. The difficulty of this map just rose a couple notches. Although I didn't meet a scout at Mu Delphi, it's a good bet that they've explored it. Here are my initial tech choices:

RW80% over IIT9 Early waste clean-up is very important, and I'm not likely to be going Improved Eco unless it's the only choice...
... which it is
And of course, Range 4.

Well, that was a bit disappointing, especially when I found out that the blue to the SE is another size 50 barren. I decided that the best thing to do was concentrate on getting Beta Ceti/Mu Delphi then Romulas, and developing Sssla and Arietis. Then I could make a push for some of those farther planets. I just hoped that the bugs don't get Controlled Barren, or I'd be cut-off down there. After discovering the two size 80 Terrans at Lyae and Centauri, I decided to trickle-research Range 4 first to see if Range 6 was available.

The Klackons showed up with their first unmanned col ship at Lyae in 2314. While I was loathe to give up the planet, I felt that an LR blockade might cost me territory to the East, and the isolated Psilons seemed like the bigger threat. I'd stymie them as much as possible, but conceded that the bugs would probably get Lyae. I started Beta Ceti's col ship in 2318, launching it 6 years later to found the colony in 2327.

I caught a break in 2319 when Range 5 popped at 5%, revealing Range 6! As soon as Romulas, Beta Ceti, and Mu Delphi were colonized, I'd be researching that at full-steam. Started minimal trade with the Ruthless Diplomatic Bugs, and some more trickle-research on Range 6. By the way, Sullla, I'm trickle-researching based on my head calculations, not the spreadsheet, for this one

I completed Mu Delphi's col ship in 2331, and paused to send 25 pop to Beta Ceti (for both worlds to the east) and build a few more scouts. My next col ship would actually be going to Yarrow, past the Nebula, as it would be in range once Mu Delphi was colonized, which happened in 2336 (2335 on the colonization screen; technically, the founding happens at the end of the last turn.) Met the Honorable Technologist (eep!) Psilons, who were surprisingly running an OPE (One Planet Empire) Wow, must be some bad territory over there. Minimal trade established with the Brains. BTW, at this point I was already up to Relaxed with the Klackons. Never overlook early trade; diplomatically, it can really save your bacon, and give you breathing room to develop.

2340 sees me in pretty good shape. My third col ship has just completed, bound for Yarrow in 7 turns. Sssla has 98 pop, 185 factories, and will be maxed by the time my col ship for Romulas completes in 6 turns. Range 6 is ~1/3 done, and Arietis will max in two turns, whereby I can go full-bore on that tech. The bugs STILL haven't taken Lyae from me, but I'm under no illusions that I can land the planet. However, my next col ship completed in 2346, with Range 6 at 2% and Lyae is still available. So I made the decision to delay Romulas yet again, and try for the planet. I could always use the ship at Centauri if it came to that.

Yarrow was colonized in 2347, putting me in contact with the Aggressive Expansionist Bulrathi. Relations with the Bears at Neutral at the start? Guess I remembered that wrong. Of course, minimal trade was established. I saw a Darlok scout a long time ago at Crius (beat them there by one turn). Now the only question is whether the Humans are crammed in with them in the NE, or at the yellow binary to the N. I sent colonists from Beta Ceti to Yarrow instead of Mu Delphi; I wanted that world up and running ASAP, lest the Psilons get some less-than-Honorable thoughts.

I got lucky again when Range 6 hit on the second turn in percentages. Now I can turn my research to some much-needed clean-up techs. I threw all of the research into Improved Eco, to stop the cash hemmorage sooner, and hopefully reveal Controlled Tundra or Dead to secure those Barren worlds.

Fortune favors the bold. I founded Lyae and Romulas simultaneoulsy in 2353, putting me first at 7 planets. These Average AI are slackers; no way Lyae would be open on Impossible, or even Hard I'll bet. I sent half of Beta Ceti's population to Lyae, killing that planet's growth curve to try and hold on to my prize. Improved Eco was at 18%, and would fall the next turn, revealing Controlled Dead :D I love it when a plan comes together!

Col ships for Centauri and Kronos completed in 2354 and 2357, respectively. With no military on hand, and boxed-in rivals, I decided it was high time for some ship construction. At this point, I was hoping for an early diplomatic victory. Relations were at Relaxed with most of my neighbors, and though I had a good chunk of territory, it didn't seem to be pissing anybody off. So I just needed a few cardboard cutouts. Having those Ion cannons was nice, but without Construction tech, I was limited in how I could employ them. I ultimately opted for a plain Ion fighter, instead of a medium with Class I shields/computer and 3 Ion's and a laser. Disposable guns seemed the way to go. My first batch of 21 actually went to Trax, as I saw a Klackon col ship, escorted by a single medium. Controlled Dead was full, so I thought that if I could hold the planet for a few more turns, I could well and truly box the bugs in. However, I arrived a turn too late, so the bugs got Trax. Oh well, relations were at Amiable, so I wasn't too worried.

Colonized Centauri and Kronos in 2360 (didn't plan on these double-foundings, honest!) and met the Humans. Oops, mis-called where they were. That means the Shifters are up North. I sent 20 from Sssla to Centauri. I hated to do that to a fully-developed world, but I didn't have population to spare elsewhere. Controlled Dead completed in 2360-something, and I chose +30 over Toxic. I felt the boost was more than I could get from additional hostile worlds right now. Besides, I'm shooting for the early victory here, and 30 more pop at each of my many worlds would go a long way towards securing that. Klackons came calling the same turn, looking for a NAP. I thought long and hard on that one. Did they have the range to reach the second Barren in the SE? If so, then I wouldn't be able to stop them. OTOH, it would boost relations. I ultimately rejected it for the time being. Once the SE was secure, then we'd talk.

I paused to build a base at Arietis after Controlled Dead, and built colony ships out of Sssla and Mu Delphi. I counted 8 worlds that I could reach, so that would keep those planets busy for some time. I never did get any fighters built for Mu Delphi, and was a little nervous about my paper military (not even sturdy enough to be called cardboard!), but hey, this is only Average, right? Everybody is feeling pretty friendly, due to steadily increasing trade.

I opened the other tech fields with Beta Ceti while my core was busy, and found a tough choice on weapons. I knew I wanted a missile, but debated on Hyper-X vs Merculite's. The Merculite's are stronger, and advance the tree. However, the Hyper-X can be had for almost 1/3 the cost, and if things DID go south with another race, I'd have defenses a lot sooner. I ultimately went with the Hyper-X's.

The first elections happened in 2380, me vs the Humans. Everybody abstained but myself and the Darlok's, who both voted for the Apes. I have 6/22 votes, and the Humans are isolated from the bulk of the galaxy, so unless everybody gets trigger fingers at once in the next 20 years, I've still got a pretty good shot at things. All of the abstinations were a little troubling, but hey, everybody seemed to love those trade agreements, and I figured I could woo enough friends in 20 turns.

An industrial accident made Willow glow in the dark in 2386; not too bad a loss. Here's my situation that year:





I've managed to execute my plan to box in all of the AI's to the edges of the map. The Psilons beat me to the Poor to their S, but I secured every other world in the core that I could. I have Hyper-X bases at the core worlds on all fronts, and +30 should pop in the next 5 or so turns. I just founded Gion in the E last turn, sending a col ship to scout the planet. There's another heading for the red to its N, though that would turn out to be an empty system. The Humans are stubbornly guarding the red between Darlok and Bulrathi space, and I'm belatedly sending some scouts to the far W, which I never had a chance at. On the graphs, everybody's about even in tech and production, though now that the colonization effort is complete for now, I'm about to open up leads there too.

The Bugs came calling for a NAP again in 2387, and this time I accepted. That seemed the final key in securing the Diplo win in 2400. By now, that was my goal, to try and pull a diplomatic coup, and take the game in only 100 turns, with no shots fired anywhere in the galaxy. One big huge love fest :hippie:

The AI, it seemed, read my mind, and decided to pursue an alternate course. The Klackons dissolved the NAP the turn after asking for it Unwilling to settle for their little cubby-holes, the Darlok's came for Maretta in 2391 with 58 smalls, and the Humans came for Crius 3 years later. I had spent so much to expanding that I didn't have any military on hand to repulse them, and the planets were taken away from me. The Klackons made plays for Arietis and Sssla, but were easily repulsed. The Darlok's upped the stakes and declared war in 2393. Not wanting to be left out, the Psilons attacked Gion in 2398, "honorably" declaring war the previous turn. The invasion failed by 6 troops, but the planet was toast anyway. I broke down and turned the Humans on the Darloks when the Psilons declared, to escape a dogpile, but my grand plans to bring peace and love the the galaxy were dashed.

The fatal error, of course, was my lack of military. I had bent everything in my empire to expanding as rapidly as possible. That's actually a good thing, but I pursued it way too long. 50-odd Ion fighters is simply not enough to deter boxed-in AI's. Make no mistake, the AI in MOO is playing to WIN. Unlike CIV, where your opponents may be content to settle for a smaller empire, the AI in MOO reacts violently to being cornered. I had hoped that Average difficulty would soften some of that behavior, but that clearly wasn't the case. Once all of the peaceful opportunities for expansion are past, the AI WILL resort to armed conflict of some sort to continue to grow. Flags are NOT enough to prove ownership; guns are the only authority the AI understands. And I'm not talking cardboard cutouts, I'm talking a bona fide military.

Predictably, the 2400 elections were a far cry from what I had hoped for: the Bulrathi and Klackons both abstained while everybody else voted for the Humans, who got 10/28. I had 11/28, which might have been enough if everybody had stayed friendly with me .

[dathon]

So now it was time to re-group. Started espionage with everybody to see what I'm up against. Construction, weapons, computer, and shield tech all popped by 2405, but I held off on designing anything until some intel came back. The Bears finally made a play for Yarrow, with 13 large missile boats. I only had 4 bases and 20 decoy fighters on hand, but still managed to repulse the attack, surviving with a single base.

Ok, the Darlok's have Class V shields, but no weapons to speak of, so I should be able to take back Maretta. I designed a large Ion Cannon cruiser to take care of that. My own Class V's finished in 2410. Controlled Radiated popped two turns later, but had to wait on the large Ion cruisers to be built before I could think about colony ships.

The Psilons came asking for peace shortly after taking Gion, and I accepted for the moment to close a war front. The Darlok's took Crius from the Humans, sparking war with them, and somehow the Bears ended up at war with the Apes as well. Realizing they were now in deep kimchi, the Humans first asked for peace, than a NAP in 2416. I agreed, hoping to take Crius from the Shifters before the Humans could get it back.

I re-took Maretta in 2420, and what did I find amongst the 11 factories there?



Major advancement in computers. Now I could run espionage to steal technology.

I inadvertantly re-started the war with the Humans in 2425 right before the vote, when we both tried to take Crius on the same turn, and I won. Oh well, they were my council opponents anyway. They got 10/29 in the election, while I upped my count to 12/29.

Shortly after the council vote, relations seemed to warm up. The Darlok's asked for peace, and since I didn't have any weapons that could get past their Class V shields, I accepted. The Bugs asked for a NAP again, and I took it. Hey, it had to last longer than the last one!

Atmospheric Terraforming popped in 2432, allowing my small, hostile border worlds to finally become useful. The Bulrathi made another play for one of my planets, this time at Maretta, and came before I could get the planetary shield up. I threatened them, however, and they backed off, tossing Hyper-V's my way. I didn't have a fleet at Maretta, but it was a fully-developed world just a couple turns from its shield, so I don't think this threat makes it into the exploit range, but I'd love to discuss it Speaking of exploits, I also restrained myself from baiting the constant Human advances to destroy my scout at Kronos.

It took forever to upgrade once RCIV came in, even with IIT6. My empire didn't come fully online until 2446, with the NW needing a bit more work. I decided to wait for Omega-V's before I went on offence; with no engines, missile boats were NOT going to cut it for taking down established planets.

As has been the pattern for this game, the AI decided I had had enough peace right before the election. Klackons dissolved the NAP in 2446 and declared in 2451, and the Psilons re-declared in 2448. I didn't want both them and the Bears coming from the East, so I convinced the Bulrathi that Psilon foreheads are ugly. The election went by with virtually the same result as last time, though I was now up to 14/32.

My espionage efforts finally started paying off as I stole Range 5, then Class IV shields from the Humans, IIT9 from the Brains, and Barren from the Bugs. Low-level techs, but every little bit helps, and getting them out of the way gives better odds in invasion. Omega-V came in in 2453, but Construction, Shields, and Computers were all in the percentages, so I held off on a design until 2459. Landed Improved Scanners from the Bugs that year as a bonus. Here's what I came up with for a fleet:



The first is a standard ARS, and the second would be my bomber. I couldn't put a bomb on a small, and my lack of engines meant that mediums would get cut down too fast, so I went with a big bruiser to dish out the bombs. Plus, that way I could carry a Pulsar for use against the Klackon's mediums and smalls. I never did use the bombers to take a planet, however. The Heavy Fusion's on the ARS proved enough to cut through my opponents' shields, and the AI on Average doesn't build nearly enough bases to be a threat.

I decided that my first target would be the Psilons. I had the best gropo odds with them, and being the only race with Fusion bombs, they were the only legitimate threat. I paused in building my behemoths when Advanced Soil finished in 2460. Stole PDS from the Humans in 2469, bringing my ground odds with the Psilons to even. I took control of the airspace over Mentar in 2472, and landed 251 lizards 3 years later to take the planet, leaving 131 troops for a size 130 world Found Battle suits, and various out-dated techs.

The 2475 election revealed that I had 21/39, enough for a domination win. I spent the next 25 years repaying the AI for their aggression by reducing the Klackons, Darloks, and Psilons to OPE's. I wanted my opponent in the election to be the Humans, so their punishment was limited to having Sol glassed by my bombers, the only time they were used. I could describe the wars in detail, but it was pretty mundane; sweep in, destory bases after the enemy fleet runs, send troops. Rinse, lather, repeat.

I managed to land and use both +80 and +100 before the 2500 election. My opponent ended up being the Bulrathi, but it didn't matter:



Conquest victory in 2500. My empire at the end:






Overall, not my best performance. Completely peaceful wins are rare, and to land one in just 100 turns would have been awesome. However, I went about it in the wrong way. You just cannot ignore military in this game. The Farmer's Gambit does not exist. Those colonies in the NW that got taken by the Humans and Darloks should have had military escorts at founding, if not shortly thereafter. I just left myself too open, the AI saw my weakness, and acted appropriately. Ironically, once my fast-win was out the door, the game just kind of lost focus for me. There was never any real danger of an actual loss, so I just kind of cruised through the last 100 turns. I could have easily won in 2475, maybe even 2450 if I had been playing tighter, but I just couldn't muster the discipline to do it. The last 100 turns went pretty fast in real-life time. It was immensely satisfying to crush the AI in return for their aggression, though, and a very enjoyable map all-around. I've been looking forward to the restart of the Imperia, and the ensuing gaming and discussions. Considering that I'm going to be posting this at 9:15am on closing day, and my report will be the NINTH , I'd say the prospects are pretty bright. Heck, that's more activity than most CIV events these days We'll see if I can turn out a better performance for Imperium 11.

dathon

[Doug.Lefelhocz]

Nice report. I noticed you said.

"However, I went about it in the wrong way. You just cannot ignore military in this game. The Farmer's Gambit does not exist."

I haven't played civ IV, but I agree that The Farmer's Gambit doesn't exist here like it does in civ III. However, in *this* game... believe it or not... I didn't have a single ship for quite a few decades. I did have plenty of missile bases though

Edit: make that over a 100 years.

[haphazard1]

Nice game, Dathon! Almost got the extra-early peaceful win.

I have to agree with Doug on the military aspect. I had no armed ships for a very long time, and relied on missile bases on my frontier worlds. I took missile techs whenever I could for Weapons research, to make sure they had some teeth, and relied on them entirely for defense for essentially the entire game. My only real fleet was used to clear the defenses at Mentar for conquest.

Of course, my game was much less war-like than most of the reports I've read so far. Not much more than cold war, brush-fire sparring, and the like. Even when AIs actually declared, they never had much to send. I'm beginning to think I was rather lucky overrall in this area.

[dathon]

Using military bases for defense is perfectly fine. I should have been more clear; if you're border worlds are boxing in the AI, then you need military. As long as the AI has room to expand peacefully, it will by and large do so, even with traits like Ruthless and Aggressive. But if your border worlds are hemming the AI in, as mine were in the NW, then they'd better have some cover until those missile bases can be constructed.

dathon

[RefSteel]

Thanks for the informative and enjoyable report! I may have a few Impossible wins, but I'm no vet yet, and it's great to see how the game is played by those of you who are!

(Also, in re: something I said in another thread, I would likely have still gone for Hand Lasers first if I'd pulled Ion Cannons from the ART world as you did ... but I'd have gone on for missiles next, as you did from word go. I may love my NPGs, but I'm not married to the things!)

[jmas]

Nice game, dathon. In general I think your appraisal of the need for defenses is correct. However, the other day I was just rereading Maniac's account of his Imperia Four game, where he showed a picture of what he said was 'every non-colony ship I ever had' except for three scout ships. 6 Scout IIs and 30 laser fighters, that's it, and just eight missile bases in his empire! I know he explained that he barely had any combat tech anyway, but...wow. Now if I could just get by with that in some of my games with scary opponents..

[Sullla]

The fatal error, of course, was my lack of military. I had bent everything in my empire to expanding as rapidly as possible. That's actually a good thing, but I pursued it way too long. 50-odd Ion fighters is simply not enough to deter boxed-in AI's. Make no mistake, the AI in MOO is playing to WIN. Unlike CIV, where your opponents may be content to settle for a smaller empire, the AI in MOO reacts violently to being cornered. I had hoped that Average difficulty would soften some of that behavior, but that clearly wasn't the case. Once all of the peaceful opportunities for expansion are past, the AI WILL resort to armed conflict of some sort to continue to grow. Flags are NOT enough to prove ownership; guns are the only authority the AI understands. And I'm not talking cardboard cutouts, I'm talking a bona fide military.

I thought this was a really well-written paragraph, so I'm quoting it again for emphasis. I happen to agree with it too! Yes, I've seen some wins with minimal/no military, like the one mentioned in the post above. However, they represent a severe risk - I do not think you'll be winning regularly like that! The AIs in this game are programmed to go after weak spots, and regularly probe the defenses even of their allies. If you don't defend it, they WILL take it away from you, especially if they've been boxed in. And if the AI thinks it has the upper hand, it usually won't be willing to discuss peace with you. Civ3 this isn't.

dathon, I can't believe you left Romulas uncolonized for so long! That was the best planet in the immediate neighborhood. Too much thinking of the future and not enough thinking of the here and now. I also have to mention, for all your efforts to secure Lyae, you ended up having to delay tech upgrades and therefore lost the opportunity to colonize Trax (its Barren neighbor) and thus didn't really come out ahead.

I perfectly understand losing focus in a won game with little at stake. Perhaps Imperium Eleven will be more engaging in the endgame, with its scoring goals... We certainly seem to have no shortage of participants right now!

[dathon]

I also have to mention, for all your efforts to secure Lyae, you ended up having to delay tech upgrades and therefore lost the opportunity to colonize Trax (its Barren neighbor) and thus didn't really come out ahead.

Actually, I beelined Range 6 to get to "south cluster" first. At the time, I didn't know that the Psilons would be boxed in by the territory over there, and wanted to claim those planets before they did. As I said in my report, Lyae just happened to be a lucky break; I never expected to get it until the col ship actually landed. If the Brains hadn't been boxed in, I don't think many people would have landed Centauri, and netting that and the size 50 Barren down there would have been worth giving up Trax for.

I'm glad you liked that paragraph; I just wish it hadn't applied to my game I knew I was playing with fire expanding so hot and heavy without any cover, but the game was on Average, I thought I'd take the chance. And got for it.

I am looking forward to Imperium 11; comparing scores should be very interesting. And as for the participation, I can't tell you how pleased I am. Bringing back the Imperia was a great idea!

dathon

[Maniac Marshall]

Hi jmas, nice to know people are still reading those old reports.

To lift a quote from Wing Commander IV

Maniac lives a charmed life Catscratch. There's one like him on every ship, but only one.

Seriously though, I will disagree with dathon to a degree. There IS such a thing as a farmers gambit in MOO, but it is most assuredly NOT without risk. I've had them blow up in my face before, had things a lot worse than what happened to dathon happen to me.

When I play Large/Huge maps with non erratic, stable relations AI, I nearly always play farmers gambit, because losing a few planets is not so big of a deal. In this game I played farmers gambit because of the variant I was pursuing. I wanted to win with only MY planets if I could pull it off, and I wanted to do it without bribing the AI to vote for me, and so I bent everything towards that end. It nearly bit me too. I got really lucky at Kailis (though one could argue the Humans getting ion rifles that very turn could have been a very UNlucky event for me), or I would have lost that planet.

In that game you mentioned, it wasn't just the terrible lack of weapons tech, but the opponents that convinced me to try to get away with it. Two of my neighbors were NAP'd with me (Darloks and Kitties) and one of those two was also weak and technologically backwards, and the other two (Sakkras and Psilons) were playing as pacifists. Since I wasn't anywhere near a runaway, and there were still planets out there to settle, those two were almost sure to be turned back by threats. Heck, they'd probably give me a tech as they turned around.

If you read my report of this game, you'll probably notice my fleet this game wasn't much bigger. My non colony ships consited of... 41 scouts... You might also notice when things started going "wrong" in both my and dathons game: Just after there was nowhere left to expand (or almost nowhere). Two things likely caused this:

1) There was nowhere left to expand (duh)

2) The Human player's (us not Alexander) fleet strength dropped significantly because of the colony ships blipping out of existence. At one point, I think I had like 8 or 9 colony ships in the sky. Those made me appear to the AI as the fleet leader briefly. When we suddenly became "weak" it signaled the AI that it was time to pounce.