Not much time, but a quick answer to your question about the size of ship's systems: The best resource I know of for working this out was created by sargon0, and posted in the thread linked here!
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[Report: Alkari/Average] Stretching my wings
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(April 25th, 2017, 21:55)RefSteel Wrote: Not much time, but a quick answer to your question about the size of ship's systems: The best resource I know of for working this out was created by sargon0, and posted in the thread linked here! Thanks! Another quick question: Do you know if the Fleet Strength bar graph takes racial bonuses into account?
Happy Alien Day, everyone! And how better to celebrate it than by invading the humans?
However, the erratic Meklar declare a random war in 2379. The only planet they can attack right now is Tao. I move some ships there and hope for the best. It has much too little industry to build up any missile bases. Some spying reveals that they have level 3 shields, so there's no way for my laser fighters to hurt their ships. I hope this won't get to serious, especially since I wouldn't want to delay grabbing the human worlds. Turn 80: Rotan maxes industry, and switches over to ship building, too. Here's my fleet so far: Note that the displayed defense ratings do not include the Alkaris' +3 defense bonus yet. Turn 81: I complete Terraforming +20. For the next tech, I choose Controlled Toxic (the other choices were Controlled Barren and Death Spores) and set Planetology research to low priority for now. Turn 85: Vega is fully industrialized (but not fully populated; transports from Misha are incoming). I decide to start building missile bases there since it will be my second line of defense against the Meklar. Turn 86: Since I pulled ahead in Fleet Strength, I switch some spending from ships to terraforming and tech. Turn 88: My ships bomb the human colony Nitzer (which was only protected by 3 bases). The humans only sent an angry message in return, no DoW yet. The Meklar ambassador returns and I attempt to negotiate peace - I don't want to fight a two-front war if I don't have to (even though I haven't seen any Meklar ships at Tao yet)! But no such luck: The ambassador is recalled again immediately after I made my offer. Turn 90: Improved Industrial Tech 8 is researched. My next two choices are Duralloy Armor (which I picked) and Reduced Waste 60%. So no Battle Suits for me... Turn 91: The humans send a fleet to Nitzer, so my Scanner ship takes a look at them: ...and they turned right around. But Nitzer turns out to be a tough nut to crack since it already has a planetary shield and the humans have the edge in ground combat. By the way, I noticed that the Meklar actually can't reach Tao yet...poor TCV-15, the Random Number God told him to kill me, but he can't even reach me yet. I could make another peace offer, and they responded by recalling the ambassador again. Turn 92: I send a small fleet of fighters to investigate the human system Zoctan. That one won't have a planetary shield anytime soon, but that also makes it not exactly a high priority target. I've reached my attachment limit for this post; more to come soon!
Turn 93: Hyper-X Missiles are researched. Lots of options for the next tech:
- Gatling Laser - Fusion Bomb - Ion Cannon - Ion Rifle (A ground weapon! FINALLY!) - Neutron Blaster I pick Ion Rifle to even out the ground combat odds against the humans somewhat. They have a bonus of 15 (Personal Shield + Hand Laser) while Ion Rifle will give my troops +10. Taking the defender's advantage into account, that will amount to +20 vs +10 if I attack. Still worse than I'd like...I've had no luck with stealing their tech so far. Turn 95: ECM Jammer II completes. I can research Jammer III and Battle Computer IV now. I go for the latter. Turn 96: The humans send a larger stack to Nitzer, but depart after I destroyed one of their Escorts. They also declared a formal war now. I notice that I can speak with the Meklar again, but why bother? Turn 100: The Meklars want to make peace - fine with me. If they weren't erratic, I would offer a trade deal to improve relations, but with an erratic leader, there isn't much of a point to that. A tremendous strain, huh? I hope your scientists didn't blow any fuses thinking about fuel cells. Turn 102: I bombed Nitzer down to 59 pop and sent a total of 80 troop transports from Rotan and Maretta. They're due in 4 turns, and I keep bombing till then. Rotan and Maretta shift spending to ECO to regrow population. Turn 106: My spies finally succeed! I choose to steal Force Field tech and receive... ...exactly what I want! As it happens, my ground troops arrive at Nitzer just this turn and take the colony. Only 22 out of 80 survive against ~50 opponents. I don't want to know how this would have turned out without the new shield tech. Whew! Once I have the Ion Rifle, tables will turn! I have already sent a fleet into orbit at Lyae (the planet that the humans stole from under my nose!) and now move my bombers from Nitzer down there. The rest stays to protect Nitzer while I build it up again. I hope Lyae doesn't get a planetary shield up by the time my bombers arrive. On the other hand, if I'm lucky I get Ion Rifles soon and get to capture a whole bunch of factories intact! Turn 107: The Klackon send a colony ship to the empty star system in the north-eastern corner of the map. Haha, stupid bugs!  They're very far from home. Even with their human allies and extended fuel tanks, that looks like an impressive range to me.Turn 108: My spies steal Hand Lasers from the humans and I research Duralloy Armor. That's another +10 for my ground troops, so +20 together with the shields. The Hand Laser is soon to be obsoleted by the Ion Rifle, though. For the next construction tech, my only choice is Reduced Waste 60% - I'm not complaining, though. That should give a nice boost to my economy. Turn 111: I stole Improved Eco Restoration from the humans and finished research on Datamite Crystals (Range 7). For the next tech, I can choose Energy Pulsar or Fusion Drive. I go with the latter because I'm sick of watching my ships crawl over the map. With the increased range, I'm now in contact with the Klackon. That accounts for everyone but the Darlok. Here's a view of the map. The Darloks home world must be at the yellow star all the way in the south. They really got screwed there, wedged between the Klackon and the map border. 
Turn 112: The Klackon declare war. I'm surprised that the humans didn't pull them in earlier. They are their usual runaway self, but I'm close in Fleet Strength and as RefSteel explained, this doesn't even count by evasion bonus. I recruit some spies to see what tech they have.
The humans chase away my unarmed scout from a pop 10 tundra planet and settle a new colony there. They're welcome to it for now. Turn 113: Fusion Rifle is complete, new Weapon techs are Stinger Missile, Hard Beam, Fusion Beam. I select Hard Beam in case I need to punch through some shields. Espionage reports say that both humans and Klackons have researched Class IV shields. Not good... I send 40 troop transports from Altair to Lyae (due in 6 turns), where 25 transports from Misha will join them. Turn 114: Tao reaches its maximal number of factories and starts building some missile bases in case the Meklar go crazy again. Turn 115: The first council elections. It's me vs the Klackon (I know, what a surprise!). I got 7 votes from myself. The Klackon have 6 votes and get a total of 12 with the humans and Silicoids (3 each). The Darlok (2 votes) abstain, as do the Meklar (5 votes). The humans want to make peace, but I don't. I design a new medium-size ship with Hyper-X missiles, in case the humans or Klackon show up with something that has Class IV shields. Turn 117: I research Class III shields; on to class IV (my only choice). Turn 119: I captured Lyae (with 11 factories). GNN ranks the empire populations as Alkari (yay!), Klackon, Meklar, Silicoid, Human, Darlok. The human emperor asks me if I still want to suffer more. If that's suffering, I'm fine with it, thank you! Turn 120: The Silicoid declare war. I can't say I'm worried! Turn 121: The humans attack Lyae with 3 Warships and force me to retreat. Reinforcements are due next turn though. GNN ranks me in 3rd place for production, after the Klackon and Meklar. Turn 122: The Warships are pretty tough. My medium-size missile ships don't seem to be very strong compared to their cost... Turn 125: Time for the second elections (7 votes for me, 11 for the Klackon): - Meklar: 5 votes, abstain - Humans: 2 votes, for Klackons - Silicoid: 3 votes, for Klackons - Klackons: 6 votes, for Klackons - Darlok: 2 votes, abstain - Alkari: 7 votes, for Alkari Turn 126: The humans try to take Lyae back with 22 troops. After being bombed several time, the colony barely fought them off, with 3 million people remaining. I need to get a couple hundred fighters there soon. Turn 128: I attempt to take the human colony Kailis, but I need more bombers since I couldn't get enough damage past the shields to destroy even one. I've been focusing more on tech previously, time to build some more ships now. Turn 133: Humans take back Lyae. Turn 134: Nitzer maxes out factories. Once it has missile bases, the humans won't take that one back. The humans move their fleet away from Lyae with a meager 9 pop on it. Might as well grab it again... Turn 135: I finish Reduced Waste 60%, next up is Zortium Armor as the only choice. Turn 136: I finish the Battle Computer Mark IV. I can choose between ECM Jammer I/III or Battle Computer V. I go with ECM III. I take back Lyae and accept a peace treaty with the Silicoid. Turn 145: I captured Kailis! Techs found: Reduced Industrial Waste 40%. Nice! Turn 150: I defeat a huge human ship with around 90 laser fighters at Kailis. Small Alkari ships are powerful, but they do make for some tedious battles! Unforunately, the Klackon send in a stack of doom (> 1000 small ships and 15 large ones) and blow the entire colony to oblivion. The senate elections end up 8 to 12. The Klackon have lost their Silicoid allies, it seems. In fact, they aren't allied with anyone right now (Xenophobic Ecologist personality strikes again!), so my other colonies should be safe from them. I'll end today's report with a screenshot of the map and the status screen:
Wow, a lot going on here! The reports are great, and if you'd like some more tips, I think I can suggest a few things - spoilered for length though. I'm kind of obsessive about starship design, so....
All that said, you're doing really well, and really good players sometimes miss some of the things you thought of - like using missile boats in the first place when your beam technology was lacking! On the other hand, while Ion Rifle's combat bonus is nice to have, and Hyper-X is definitely an upgrade over Hyper-V, getting a real beam weapon once you had Hyper-V rockets should have been a higher priority than either. (Real beam weapons do include Ion Cannons, and they really, really include Neutron Blasters and Fusion Beams! Hard Beams are okay if you're facing really high-level shields, but for anything better than lasers, shield 4 isn't that scary.)
It's not so much that I found my beamers' power lacking, more that I anticipated it to be lacking in the near future, based on my spying reports. However, I haven't seen a ship with > 2 levels of shields yet (I wasn't able to scan the Klackon stack of doom, maybe they have one), so on the whole, my laser fighters are doing fine for now. I'll keep your hints in mind for my next missile design! What exactly are the niches for 5-rack missiles?
Ion Rifle seemed like the logical choice to me so I don't have to throw away as much population. Am I worrying too much about capturing factories?
Capturing factories from a technologically superior foe is great! I don't think focusing on that is a problem - it's just that I would have gone for beams first. (And then probably skipped the ion rifle if I had hand lasers or thought I could get them; unlike Duralloy, which has lots of uses, Ion Rifle does nothing for you except for climbing the tech tree and increment your ground combat abilities.) It wasn't an intrinsically bad choice though: If you thought you could get a big haul from invasions and needed the extra bonus to make them work, targeting a tech like that would make a lot of sense, especially when you lacked hand lasers. (Although in that case, Duralloy would have been a better choice than a slightly-faster push toward the hope of having Battle Suits in your tree, even if they were. Better to spend the extra RP and get both!)
Example of a niche for missile 5-racks: If you're in a galaxy where everyone has lots of shields and armor - to the point where nobody's beams are doing much of anything - you may want to maximize the total damage output you can achieve with your missile ships instead of just the fastest output.
Turn 152: Fusion Drive and Hard Beam pop. I choose Range-9 for my next propulsion tech (my only new option). New weapon techs are Fusion Beam and Fusion Rifle. I pick Fusion Beam here. Checking my reports on the Klackon, I notice that they are at war with everyone by now, and that they have Robotic Controls IV. I shift some more spending into Computer tech, hoping that I can pull even. I also keep up spying on them.
Turn 154: I steal ECM Jammer I from the humans. I have the opportunity to frame the Silicoid or Klackon. Since the humans are already at war with the bugs, I pick the Silicoids to sow some more chaos. GNN says I'm second-best in tech, after the Klackons. I've designed a new fighter using the new engine tech. I would have put a Heavy Laser on it, but that doesn't quite fit yet. With the improved Maneuver rating, I leave out the Inertial Stabilizer in favor of a battle computer to have a higher chance of getting the maximal damage out of the lasers, which is especially important against level 2 shields. With the humans moving of their main stack to fight the Klackon, I plan to take over Xudax (10 pop tundra) and Zoctan (55 pop ultra poor). Not exciting, but every little bit helps gaining votes. Turn 156: The Meklar complain about my reckless expansion. Turn 157: By now, I have both Xudax and Zoctan conquered. Turn 162: I've attacked Sol and destroyed most of the missile bases. I follow the Orion Imperia rules here and let them retreat to my nearest colony, rather than sending them back immediately. My spies infiltrate a Klackon base and steal ECM Jammer Mark IV. Not what I hoped for! The Klackon pass the 12-star-system mark. One of the Klackons' new colonies is at Kailis. Let's see if I can grab it... Turn 163: I research ECM Jammer III. Still no robotic controls available. I choose Battle Computer Mark V (the other option was ECM V). I capture Kailis from the Klackons! Their main stack is at Sol. I make some minimal trade agreements with the Silicoid. Maybe the enemy of my enemy can be my ally? Turn 164: Pirates at Lyae. I already have quite a few ships there, how did that happen? I sent in a few more fighters and it was gone next turn. Turn 168: I research Controlled Toxic, which opens up Soil Enrichment, Controlled Radiated and Terraforming +40. Soil Enrichment seems to be the best choice here. Turn 169: The Klackons have taken Sol. This doesn't mean that the humans are extinct. If you look at my last map screenshot, you'll see a yellow flag in the south-western corner. This colony must have been established when they were still allies with the Klackons. My fleet is due to arrive back at Sol in one turn. Since it has been recently conquered, it should be easy to take if I can get past the fleet. Turn 170: The Klackons drive me away from Kailis since my fighters can't hurt one of their large ship designs. At Sol, I confirm with my Scanner ship that their Avenger design indeed has a level 4 shield. My Fighter L2 design can defeat everything else easily though. Inexplicably, they retreat from Sol. The only thing that could possibly hurt their Avengers was my Scanner ship, and it definitely didn't have enough missiles to take it out. Let's see if I can put RefSteel's lesson into practice: No, I didn't forget to increase the Maneuver rating. The size of Maneuver I, II and III is listed as 1, but there must be some 0.X lurking under the hood that prevents me from going higher than I. Turn 171: The Klackon send another stack with an Avenger to Sol. After I destroyed pretty much everything else, they turn around again. It's weird. It seems sometimes the AI understands when its ships can't be hurt, but my lone Scanner ship throws it off. It might be a good time to invade Sol, but I'm worried that they finally do drive me away. In other news, I make a NAP with the Silicoids, we're now at peaceful relations. Turn 174: The Klackons capture Kailis. Turn 175: I receive 21 out of 32 votes, just one short of winning. The Silicoid, Meklar and Darlok support me. (I'm not even in contact with the Darlok!) The humans cast their single vote for the Klackons despite being at war with them. Turn 176: I take back the hot potato Kailis since the Klackons moved their ships away and find the Warp Dissipator tech. I gather 129 of my new Fighter HX ships at Sol to see if that's enough to take out an Avenger ship. Turn 177: No Avengers showing up. I decided that I wanted to take Sol now, but I underestimated the strength of my bombers and accidentally destroyed the whole colony. Turn 180: I manage to steal Robotic Controls IV! The Klackons are willing to pay 3450 bc for peace, but they are my main competitor, so the answer is no. Turn 181: While fighting over Kailis, I determined that 100 Fighter HX can take out about 2 Avengers per shot. However, they attacked with 25 of those, so I'm forced to retreat and Kailis is destroyed yet again. Turn 182: The Silicoid break the NAP. I conquer Kulthos, a Klackon colony that has been passed between the Silicoid and Klackon many times. It had surprisingly many factories left, but damn, Klackon ground troops have become tough. The first tech I found was Class V Planetary Shield. I'm not sure what to think of those techs...they undoubtedly make missile bases very strong, but it's annoying that you don't have the choice of building bases before shields. I also got Industrial Tech 4 and Anti-missile rockets. Conquering this colony has put me in contact with the Darlok. Thanks for the vote, guys! Turn 183: The Klackon drive my ships at Kulthos away with a stack of > 2000 small ships. On the next turn, a bunch of human transports arrive from the other end of the galaxy and take it back. They're again allied with the bugs. Turn 185: I steal Battle Suits from the Klackons. Turn 192: I've destroyed the Klackon colonies at Kailis and Sol. No point in taking those hot potatoes. Turn 193: I research Zortium Armor. The new choices are Armored Exoskeleton, Andrium Armor and Reduced Industrial Waste 20%. I go with reduced waste here. Most of my colonies are at their new factory maximum. The Klackon reestablished colonies at Sol and Kailis. I blow up Kailis again, but they decided to guard their new colony at Sol with a fleet. There seem to be Klackon transports on the way to the human colony at Kulthos now. They're not allied any more, but not at war either...turns out I misread that. I don't see the transports anymore. Turn 199: I take Kulthos from the humans, mainly to steal tech. (It still has > 100 factories). Human soldiers are squishy now. The new tech was Shields IV which I was actually researching right now. I select Shields V next. My other choice was Repulsor beam. The Klackons move their stack of doom to Kailis to reestablish their colony. I take the opportunity to attack Sol while they're away. Turn 200: With the support of the Silicoids, Meklars and Darloks, I'm voted High Master of the New Republic (with 23 out of 33 votes, 9 of them my own). |