Imperium 10: Average average everywhere

[Axiis]

Just a word of warning... this report has a quite a few pictures. Slow internet connections be fairly warned. Also, I may have gone a bit overboard with the description... what can I say, I was excited by my first RB report Anyway, I hope it doesn't bore you all to tears.

I haven't played this game in several months, but I decided to try my first ever RB game after lurking Realms Beyond for a long time. I'm quite confident that I can win on average difficulty with an average race on an average map... though I imagine that's what Sullla was going for when he set the map's parameters.

Let's get right into it.

I like starting next to a yellow star, especially with a fast growing race like the lizards. I send my colony ship up to the yellow star (I'm always tempted to say north, but the nerd in me protests). I scrap the crappy initial designs and design Scout 2s, then order up a set of them. I send my first scouts to the red star to the right and the green star at the 7 o'clock position. Hopefully they aren't mineral poor. I suspect that the white star is uninhabitable, though if it's a good planet I'll park a scout over it.



My scout arrives at the green star... and it's an Artifacts planet = D

Great draw. Size 35, unfortunately, but you can never have enough Artifacts. Sadly, I only pulled ECM Jammer 1, but every little bit helps, right?

I also scrap the Scout 2 design, since I completely forgot to build them last turn in all the excitement >_> So Scout3's for all! Such is the danger of writing what you do before you, you know, do it.

My colony ship arrives at the yellow star, and found Romulas, a size 80 Jungle. Very nice. A little on the smallish side for a jungle, but it's not mineral poor so I'm happy to have it.



The red star turns out to be Beta Ceti, a size 45 desert. Decent size for a desert world. I fan my scouts out and start sending colonists to Romulas.

The white star turns out to be empty space. How sad. The red star to the right of Beta Ceti turns out to be a nice size 65 arid by the name of Mu Delphi. Again, not a priority, but nice anyway. The red star below the artifacts planet is a barren size 50 world. Not bad for a barren planet, but I suspect I'll lose out to one of the AI players (there's three yellow stars in the bottom left, so there has to be at least one computer. Hopefully there are two and they'll slug it out for a while down there.

The green star by Romulus turns out to be a size 40 desert called Kronos. Not bad, but not great.

And we make first contact with the Psilons over Mu Delphi D:



Very ominous. The Psilons have the whole bottom right to themselves. Fortunately it doesn't look to fertile, since they're surrounded by purple and red stars. But you never want to take chances with the brains... Anyway, the Psilon scout retreats.

Also, a scout discovers that the white star above Romulas is a size 25 Dead. That's somewhat reassuring, since there's now a buffer zone of uninhabitables. Still, I would prefer some prospective colonies up there.

The red star by my artifacts is an Ultra Poor Jungle size 80. But wait! It's already taken by a yellow flag... meet the Klackons. Hopefully there's someone else next to them... I don't want to have the mighty Klackons on my left and the mightier Psilons on my right. Very ominous.



I put a few clicks into a colony ship out of Sssla. I need to get to that artifacts planet ASAP.

Another hostile planet ends my exploration above Romulas. Not promising... Not promising at all.



The Darloks say hello at the Tundra planet. Their scout promptly books it.

Apparently some research just got initiated because I get to choose new techs to go after. I opted for Battle Computers II, Range 4, and Hand Lasers.

Sssla maxes and begins construction in earnest. The colony ship is due in 2 turns. Once produced, it heads for Arietas.



...charmed to meet you.



It turns out they were alone, and they've already colonized their whole corner. Wonderful. It looks like their only course of expansion is through me.

I can't help but imagine Sullla laughing and saying "Just as planned" right now.

The Klackons are headed towards my world. I build a handful of crappy medium cruisers wielding a single heavy laser. It's a stopgap at best, but I'll take what I can get. Colonists get sent to Arietas as Sssla resumes work on its colony ship.



Those Klackons think they can take my planet, eh?

I dump research into hand lasers (which incidentally allows me to select Reduced Waste 80% and Class II deflectors as my next techs). Hopefully the Klackons will be lacking the hand lasers and I'll be able to drive them off. Hand lasers come through the next turn (I select the neutron pellet gun next).



The Klackons can't quite take Arietas. Close battle, but the lizards came through. Yes, it is worth it to research hand lasers = D

My colony ship finishes a few turns later and heads towards Beta Ceti, with plans to jump to Mu Delphi next.



Range 4 comes in shortly after. The next range available is 6, so I'm forced to take that.

Class II shields come in shortly after. I'm forced to pick Class III. Also, my colony ship completes shortly after. I can't expand onto any more planets for now, so I funnel my spending into research instead.

Reduced Industrial Waste 80% comes in. Always nice to pick these up, as my planetary costs get cut by 20%. I pick Improved Industrial Tech 9 after.



How cordial.

Shortly after I realize that I'm an idiot. I haven't done anything with the Klackons yet! I'm such a bad neighbor...

To rectify this, I sign the Klackons to a max deal (125) and the Psilons to a max deal (75).



For some reason the brains are suddenly much less intimidating >_>

It turns out the Klackons are Ruthless Diplomats, while the Psilons are honorable technologists. Who saw that coming? I also put one click into spying on each.

I'm always amused by the spying mechanism in this game. Especially for a race like the Bulrathi. You'd think they'd just bribe guys on the inside, but the cloak and dagger look of the spies suggests otherwise. Can you imagine a giant space Bear trying to blend into a human world and look nonchalant?



Kronos is founded. We get the first size warning (Strange. I thought the Klackons would get it.)



Those apes are always so suave. I immediately sign them to a max deal (what can I say, they're charismatic) and start spying. The Humans are honorable diplomats (no surprise) and occupy the top left corner of space, where I thought the Darloks were.



Incidentally, that blue ship is flying toward Kronos. I whip up a ship at Romulus and send it to drive off that Frigate. Hopefully the apes won't have any delusions of grandeur.

Eco Restoration comes in the next turn to cut my costs further. Nice. I choose Terraforming +20 over Controlled Dead on the grounds that terraforming will pop sooner and will help my smaller border colonies. My crappy frigate once again comes through in protecting a fledgling colony. But damn do I need some new ships. That design isn't going to hold up much longer.

Also, we encounter the Bulrathi for the first time.



Battle computer II and Improved Industrial Tech 9 come in shortly after. I opt for Battle Computer III and Durralloy Armor next.

Uh oh, looks like the humans are looking for trouble.



Hopefully my I can hold them off.



Ain't no thang.

The Darloks get hit with the mineral depletion event on their home world. Excellent. Unfortunately, I missed the pic.

NPG comes in. I follow it up with Hyper Vs to replace the nukes I'm working with now.

Terraforming +20 comes in and I set about terraforming my colonies. I select Controlled Dead to restart colonization. Also, I'm noticing a good sized fleet congregating on my border with the Klackons. Very ominous. Of course, when I went to take a picture they scattered.



The Darloks drive off my scout and plop a colony on a tundra planet between me and the apes. Frankly, I'm not too upset.

Man this tech tree has slim pickings. I finish Hyper Vs and move on to Ion Rifles. I'm still looking for a decent beam weapon.

The Bulrathis pull the fertile event on one of their colonies. I finish research on Range 6 and get... Range 7. Awesome. I need to boost my ship's speed, and soon. I check around, but the only thing anyone will trade me is Range 5.



What a relief! I'll build these bad boys and no one will be able to attack me for a while. Excellent. I'm very happy these were in my tree.



I finally stop mucking around and colonize Yarrow. Hopefully this will put me in contact with the Bears.



Yep, there they are.



And there's their empire.

I suspect they lack the range to get to Yarrow, but I'm going to send some ships over there, just to be safe. They're still crawling along at 1 parsec, though. I put together a new ship for the occasion (and I just realized I can't spell occasion. I have no idea if that's right or wrong.)



Behold my glorious fleet!

Ugh. I need some speed and some weapons. Soonish.

Also, Controlled Dead comes in.



All aboard the E Col I! Totally unintentional, I swear.



Ruh roh. It's never good to take part in the first election, and to go against the Humans compounds the danger. This is not good.



Turns out my fears were unwarranted. Everyone but the Brains abstained (those traitorous jerks voted for the Humans!), allowing me to vote for Alexander and improve relations. Love it when that happens.

[Axiis]

Durralloy armor comes in next. I can jump to Automated Repair System, which would allow me to dominate any current fleet. I go for it over Improved Industrial 8 and 7 and Reduced Waste 60%.

Also, I stumble upon a size 80 Terran just outside of Klackon space! Centauri is quickly founded and flooded with colonists. Good thing the bugs are awful at propulsion!



Battle Computer III comes in. I go for ECM Jammer II.

Vulcan is founded on the dead world above Romulas



Also Willow (the Tundra planet above Mentar) is founded, but I miss the screenshot.

I discover Orion right next to Mentar (that's gotta hurt the Psilons =D). Also, I survive another election. And even get to vote for Alexander again.



Also, very exciting news... The Psilons have colonized two planets in the bottom right corner of the galaxy!

This is fantastic news, because now we can take Mentar without everyone getting pissed off. Of course, first we'll need some bombs (which we lack completely) and some way to move soldiers with expediency (which we also lack completely). Good times.

And we finally get some decent weapons with the discovery of the Ion Rifle! I choose Fusion Beams (still no bombs to be had on the tech tree, sadly). That problem is solved moments later when I discover that the Apes will give me Fusion bombs for Battle Computers III! I make the deal and go to work designing a new bomber.



I plan on using this design only once, so I'm not particularly perturbed by it's awfulness. Still, designing such a bad huge design makes me a sad panda.

Three exciting things happen on the next interturn

1) I discover an ultra rich planet (albeit Toxic, so I can't quite settle it) by the Psilons
2) I discover Planetary Shields, so I can breathe a sigh of relief.
3) I get the donation event!

Good turn so far.

I reject a Psilon offer for a non aggression pact as I continue Operation: Brain Killer (Surprisingly, no MTV is involved).

It occurs to me that I should show you guys what the map looks like right now.



You can see that the Bulrathi and the Psilons are the runts of the galaxy right now. Naturally I am hesitant to go after the Bears on the ground, so I'm turning a red eye towards the Psilon menace. The Klackons have been surprisingly cordial, even though my navy is effectively card board cutouts rattling their sabers. I feel like I'm very close to a winning position. If I had some decent propulsion, I'd feel much better. I have no intention of tangling with the Apes anytime soon, so my plan looks like this.

1) Take Mentar and any other decent Psilon planets, leaving them with one bad planet.
2) Hopefully pull a decent propulsion tech at some point.
3) Beat up on the Darloks.
4) Make nice with the Klackons so I can hopefully get their vote.

We'll see how well this goes.

Accordingly, I sign a non-Aggression pact with the bugs, then trade for Nuclear engines! Woot!



Ok, so normally I wouldn't be so excited about Nuclear engines, but this will make everything much easier. Moving two squares is twice as fast as moving one, right?

Oh, and I traded Battle Computer III.

Am I undervaluing Battle Computers? It never seems to matter as much as engines or weapons, yet the computer will always trade for them. It strikes me as a little odd.



I replace the Sad Panda design with the F Bomb NPG 1. It's still an awful design, but at least it won't move so slowly. I'll also replace the E Col I with the E Col II once they settle planets.

Also, I may be the first person to unironically have ships called the F Bomb and the E Col I. It's strange what logical naming systems churn out, eh?

Later, I settle Gion and Nitzer (two hostile colonies above the Psilons and to the left of the Psilons respectively.

Terraforming +30 comes in. I elect for controlled Toxic, since I haven't encountered any Radiated planets and I want that ultra rich ASAP.

Of course, as I type that I discover a radiated planet at the six o'clock position. Funderful. Still, I like my choice.

An updated map from a few turns ago:







I've circled Orion and arrowed the Ultra Rich that I covet. Notice the almost shocking normality of the planets in my neck of space. I wonder where all the poor/rich planets are?

Auto Repair comes in - Excellent! My favorite unique. My next favorite is High Energy focus. HEF would be my favorite if it was available sooner, but it usually comes so late that the player is almost always either done or in a winning position already. ARS, on the other hand, comes along right around the time you usually go on the offense. One huge hulk with the ARS, deployed at the right time, can do wonders for a campaign.

I'm not going to start a new huge design just yet. I want to get my fusion beams and hopefully some better engines first. Still, it's nice to have.

And it's time for another council meeting.



Yikes! I nearly have a blocking vote - I will after I take Mentar. However, I'm not liking how cozy the bugs and the humans are. Ominous. I abstain, and the game rolls on.



Really? Why me? Why not the Darloks?

Whatever. I'm not too worried about it. Still... stupid bears. They have chosen unwisely, and they will pay.

I dump some reserve cash into Yarrow (My only planet in range) and hope that they don't try to land anything. I also design a new huge:



I'm not happy dumping 100 Neutron Pellet Guns onto a huge, but that thing will be nigh indestructible and will do nicely until the fusion beams come in (whenever that will be).



Oh come on! Range 7 comes in, and no engines are to be seen. I haven't had any improved engine techs anywhere on this tree! Ridiculous. I go with the Pulsar because it's much cheaper.

Personal deflector shields come in. I go with Planetary Shields X. Controlled Toxic comes in shortly after. Woohoo!

I quickly design a new colony ship and send it to the Ultra Rich that I've had my eye on for so long. Paranor is founded a few turns later (I missed the screen >_<)

Also, it's probably worth noting that the Darloks declared war on me, the Psilons threatened me, and the Humans told me to withdraw in the span of about 5 turns. Lovely. And of course if the humans declare war on me, the Klackons will follow soon after due to their alliance (did I mentioned they were allies? I should have...). This is looking good.

Battle Computer IV comes in. I pull my first Robotic Control tech (IV), so I pursue that.

Improved Industrial 7 pops. I opt for Waste Reduction 60% next.



Oops. Looks like the Darloks should have focused on the comet instead of saber rattling.

I cut a deal with the Klackons, sending Ion Rifles over for Hyper X missiles. I've been stuck with Hyper Vs too long and I need to upgrade.

Fusion beams come in! Finally. I go for Merculites next.



I absolutely adore this design. They've won many a campaign for me. The heavy fusions cut up larger ships, and smaller ships typically can't get close to the Huge so it can fight off stacks very well. Good times. I order up a pair of these from my core worlds.



Cygni is founded soon after.

I get hit by a quake at Yarrow, but the damage isn't too severe.



It's that time again! I narrowly survive again, though I now have a blocking vote. Hopefully it stays that way.

[Axiis]

Controlled Radiated pops, but I'm going to hold off on colonizing the radiated world. I don't want to antagonize the humans before I'm ready. I pull atmospheric terraforming, so I'm going for that. One of my favorite techs, especially when I have a decently sized Ultra Rich.

The Humans break our non-Aggression pact. Ruh roh.

And then...



Really? Alright then. Operation: Brain Killer go!

Merculites come in. I go with Omega-V Bombs (what a cool name!)

The Bulrathi come crawling back suing for peace after sending an astonishing 0 ships at me.



I don't need to fight on all sides, so I let them go for now. Still, the damage has been done. They've chosen unwisely, and they will pay.



Mentar's missile bases manage to knock out the F Bomb, but the ARS Gunship perseveres.



Helloooo Mentar (Every time I play as the Psilons I rename my home planet Mentat. Does anyone else do that, or am I just a gigantic geek for Dune?)

My ARS Gunship kept warding off the Psilon fleet as my invasion force inched its way towards Mentar.

Up at Vulcan, I engage the Darloks for the first time



Yikes. The stacks of 58 and 26 are both carrying a crapload of Fusion bombs. I don't think Vulcan's going to survive this...

Haha, success! The old Hydra designs take a pounding, but I destroy the Darlok fleet without losing a missile base. I lost all but one Hydra, but they served admirably even though they're horribly out of date. Don't you love it when an old design surprises you like that?

The Humans break our agreement due to my persistent espionage attempts... Was I framed? Or can they detect hidden spies? Either way, I'm sensing a war a coming, so I start to spy in earnest on the Humans. Hopefully I can nab some of their engines before war breaks out.

Energy Pulsar pops and... Finally! Impulse drives! I'll jump my speed from 2 to 5 when that pops. Excellent.

And the invasion... fails.



Nuts. That Zartrium armor was just too much.

Haha, success! I manage to grab Sub-light drives from the Humans! I missed the screen, though. I need to work on that...

Oh, and Planetary Shields X pops. Wonderful - Now my planets will be nigh impenetrable.

Also, I send out a second invasion force from Mu Delphi. It's the closest planet. Also also, I send out a small force from Willow (which will actually arrive much sooner thanks to the Sub light drives I nabbed from the Apes.

Robotic Controls IV pops. I go for the Advanced Space Scanner - I've been blind for too long.



Uh oh. Here come the Humans. The Bugs are sure to follow soon... Galactic war! It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?

Well, no reason to stop spying on the Humans now...



Nuts again. Still, I doubt they'll withstand another wave. The Mu Delphi force is two turns away...



Sweet victory! And the techs?

ECM Jammer Mark V
Zortrium Armor
Personal Deflector Shield
Death Spores
Improved Robotic Controls III
Class IV Deflectors

Not a bad haul at all. I especially like the Personal Deflector Shields and Zortrium Armor. Mentar is mine!



My Gunship withstands the Psilon's (admittantly weak) counter attack. We're not going anywhere!



And we survive by a comfortable margin. We punctuate our small victory by stealing the inertial stabilizer from the Apes. Suck on that, pinky! A few turns later, we steal Scatter Pack V missiles and frame the Klackons. The more we can do to drive a wedge between those two, the better. A little after that, Atmospheric Terraforming pops. Paranor is going to be a beast in a few years, let me tell you! We go after cloning next to make the Sakkra swarms all the more irresistable.

The Psilons want to end the war, and I wouldn't mind doing it. First, though, I want to see how good their last two planets are. If one of them is a beauty like Paranor I'm going to take it. Also, we continue to pick the Human tech tree bare as we steal Deflector Shields V, followed by Mass Drivers.

In celebration of all these recent successes, I design two new ships: The ARS Fusion (which is essentially the Gunship, but faster and sturdier), and the F BombZ5 - a small bomber that will obliterate enemy bases. I plan on building the Fusion out of my core worlds while I let Paranor focus on the new bombers.



Later, we steal Improved Industrial Tech 6 from the Humans, allowing us to focus on Armored Exoskeletons. Also, I catch a Psilon fleet heading towards Cygni in time to scramble a few Banshees (Medium design sporting Inertial stabilizers and a Heavy Fusion Beam) and the ARS Gunships from Mentar. The Banshees are utterly ineffective, but Cygni is saved. I scrap the Banshee design moments later.

The very next turn, the Humans come suing for peace after sending an astonishing 0 ships after me. Come on, when is an AI going to grow some spine and actually hit me!*

*I am very happy not having an AI grow a spine and hitting me. Just to clarify.

Also, after some scouting for my gunships, I find out that the remaining Psilon planets aren't very good at all. Reluctantly, I sign a peace treaty with the Psilons. Next up: The Darloks. We've been at war for ages and frankly I'm sick of them.

The next turn, I get two pieces of good news: My spies managed to steal the Human's Ion Cannon, and my own scientists developed the Omega-V Bomb (that's such a good name!). Moreover, my spies managed to frame the Klackons for the theft. Hopefully I can break their alliance soon. I also repel a Darlok attack on Romulas... Just another reason to knock out the shape shifters next, I guess. They really don't want to survive from what I can tell.



I easily survive another election.

Cloaking Device and Cloning both pop soon after. I go for Personal Absorbtion Shields and Advanced Soil Enrichment, respectively.



And the Bears are pissed again. Don't worry, you'll get your turn soon enough.

Armored Exoskeleton and Advanced Space Scanner pop out at the same time. What are the odds that I'll get two pairs of techs in a row? Anyway, I go for Improved Robotic Controls and Industrial Tech 5. And with my scanner in hand, I finally get to see what everyone was working with. Curious?




Hmm... only one other Rich planet in the galaxy. Strange... wait a tick. Wasn't that planet a Human colony? Are the Klackons and Humans finally not so buddy buddy?

Woohoo! Things are really looking up now! I'll let them duke it out and bully around the Darloks for now. Speaking of...



We pulled Improved Industrial Tech 8 from the ashes.... hey, at least it helps with miniaturization, right?

The Psilons declare war on us, but honestly who cares at this point. Also, the fleet knocks out Nazin easily, then wrecks the Human fleet that was in orbit, presumably attacking Nazin. In response, the Humans once against declare war. Whatever. They're clearly toothless at this point.

More disturbing is the Klackons telling us that our Non-Aggression pact is over. Mostly because I don't want to go to war with the only race that has consistently been our ally all game. Let's not fight, Klackons : (

Impulse drives come in, forever putting to rest our propulsion problems. I opt for Star Gates next to move my fleets even faster.



Yep. No techs, though. Which is I guess a good thing. The capture of Nazin prompts the second size warning from GNN.



Honestly Psilons, what were you thinking? For our efforts, we got Reduced Industrial Waste 40% (nice) and the gatling laser (significantly less useful).



What the hell Klackons? You have chosen very unwisely... I guess this is the price of not paying attention to the HOLY CRAP huge armada the Klackons were moving towards Sssla. Nuts.

Fortunately, the ships are largely junk. The biggest threat is that stack of 30 sporting that sports 2 Heavy Fusion Beams each.

And... the Klackons flee. I'm still pissed, but I think I may have overreacted with my doom and gloom prophecy. Such is the power of Planetary Shields X.

In between turns, Advanced Soil Enrichment and Personal Absorption Shields pop. I go after Class VII deflectors and Advanced Eco Restoration next. Soon after, Improved Industrial Tech 5, pops, allowing us to go for Andrium armor.

Though with the Klackons no longer our allies, we really have nothing to lose from...



<_<

Oh, and this happened:



And then this happened:



Yeah, everyone voted against me. But it's far too late.

In fact, in honor of my having over half of the vote, it's time for operation: Charade (as in, end this)
Step 1: Build a lot of bombers
Step 2: Glass the Klackons off of the face of the galaxy
Step 3: Repeat with the Humans
Step 4: Repeat to taste with the Darloks and Bears

As if to solidify their doom, the Klackons declare war right after the election.

Well, if they're that eager to get wiped out, who am I to stop them?



There was JUST enough miniaturization to fit Omega-Vs onto a small bomber with enough room for Impulse engines. Let's go to work!

Oh, but this happened first



We have 21/37 votes right now. Not quite enough to win. But when your population's peaked, the best way to have a larger share of the votes is to knock down your enemy's population.



My bombers move faster than their missiles. Oh, and that's Kholdan, by the way.



And there goes the second largest Klackon world.



After a sweeping campaign that took me around the galaxy, from the Klackons, up through Human space, through the Darloks, and into the Bears, I got this result:




Just as planned.



"We must especially set aside the horribly brutal, near genocidal bombing campaign that allowed us to vote ourselves into office. Seriously, we're all about peace and togetherness now. No, really. Now stop founding new colonies so we can wipe you idiots out!"

And here's the final map:



And the final stats:



The fleet disparity is a little disappointing, but I guess not unexpected since I never actually targeted the enemy fleets. The population stat is the most telling about the efficacy of my campaign. I came very close to wiping out all of the races, but they kept founding colonies on planets I had glassed. Not that I'm complaining - the campaign went exactly as planned.

Some final thoughts:

We were really fortunate that the Psilons ended up in a supremely inhospitable corner. It would have been a lot tougher if they were allowed to expand and compete. Instead, the were a one planet empire for most of the game and were largely inconsequential. I was also surprised by how cordial the Klackons were. I thought for sure that I would have to fight them in at least one early war Instead, we were good friends for most of the game until they inexplicably attacked my home world. Not wise.

I was most afraid of losing to an early cheese win for the Humans, who specialize so well in getting cheap diplomatic wins. Fortunately, I kept barely surviving until I got enough votes to block anyone else from winning. There was no chance of losing after that... it just became a question of how long it would take. The bombing campaign worked wonders in terms of speed - the other strategy I employed of moving cautiously with Huge designs and slowly taking worlds and standing them up before moving on would have made the game drag out even more ridiculously. Of course, there were problems, namely that I got lazy at the end and allowed my enemies to stay alive long after they should have been wiped out. If I had simply plopped a Huge over the planets I glassed, I could have wiped out the Humans and Klackons. Instead I just mostly wiped them out. A moral defeat, but a win's a win. I just got bored by the end, since the game was already in the bag. One nice thing about MoO is that it has a mechanism in place to end the game when it's OVER, not when everyone is dead.

Also, I don't think I've ever had a worse run of luck with the propulsion tech tree. It took forever to get any good engines - the Impulse Engines were the FIRST engine upgrade I had in my tree!

Finally, I'm sorry that my campaign at the end didn't have many pictures. But there's really not much to tell - I basically just repeated the same steps over and over until they were utterly defeated. I don't think picture after picture of a stack of 8000 bombers evading enemy ships and glassing colonies would be very interesting.

Thanks for the game, Sullla. It was not quite as hard as it could have been given our starting position. I look forward to reading all the reports when we're done!

[Sullla]

Another fun report to read. I didn't mind all the pictures either. Those ship names were the highlight of the game. How could I forget the F Bomb and E Coli ships anytime soon? I definitely don't produce nearly as many designs in my games. That seems to be a personal preference - I've seen some very good players who liked to tinker with the designs a lot. It's not uncommon for me to play an entire game and not even use up all six ship slots.

You did a good job of expanding and claiming lots of planets. However, you might look at some of the other reports and see how some other players were even more effective in the landgrab. You might have gotten a couple more planets by taking Controlled Dead over Terraforming +20 first, although of course the tradeoff would have been lower population levels in the early game. Still, that did allow the Klackons to grab the Barren planet on your border, and the Darloks got an extra world or two in the north. The Darloks actually did better in this game than any other I've seen, for whatever reason...

Kudos on ending the game effectively once it was in the bag. The "near-genocidal bombing campaign" and final map were a hoot. It sounds like you had some fun with this game. Thanks for the report!

[dathon]

Good game, but what I really loved was the report. I love your sense of humor!

And I'm glad that SOMEBODY finished the game later than me

Well done, and I'm looking forward to reading more from you in the future!

dathon

[Axiis]

I'm always extremely slow in strategy games. Slow and steady, right?

>_>

But yeah, my landgrab is not so good. I like maxing my planets too much.

[RefSteel]

Great report on your thoroughly dominant galactic conquest! I did have some trouble loading all the pictures, but your writing held up even without them. My favorite part:

Come on, when is an AI going to grow some spine and actually hit me!*

*I am very happy not having an AI grow a spine and hitting me. Just to clarify.

On the ship design subject: I tend to be pretty profligate with my ship designs (as you can tell from my report) but I do try to build them only when I have something for them to do immediately. Sometimes it's just defense/deterrent, but did I read correctly that you built the F-Bomb huge and then didn't send it to Mentar for years?

[Axiis]

I built the F Bomb, but I figured one huge hulk wouldn't be enough to take their homeworld, so I built another Huge (the gunship) to compliment it. It's a good thing I did, too, because the F Bomb wouldn't have been able to take Mentar on its own. In fact, my second huge barely had enough to take down Mentar's missile bases if I recall correctly.

[RefSteel]

I built the F Bomb, but I figured one huge hulk wouldn't be enough to take their homeworld, so I built another Huge (the gunship) to compliment it. It's a good thing I did, too, because the F Bomb wouldn't have been able to take Mentar on its own. In fact, my second huge barely had enough to take down Mentar's missile bases if I recall correctly.

Ah! I think my impression of the time elapsed between ship builds was incorrect. Looking back over your report, I find I made assumptions that weren't actually warranted by what you wrote. Thanks for the explanation!

[pkrcel]

I would put also mi 2 cents and say that Axiis' sens of humor report is fantastic, and that the Sad Panda will come up as a cameo in many many of the games I'll play in the next future

On the other hand, a very nice performance, kudos on not losing the early council vote