OSG 32-B: Two birds with one game

[RFS-81]

Nice turns! Our empire is growing so well that the other leaders start complaining already!

We manage to steal Propulsion tech from the Bulrathi (couldn't select anything else, sadly -- why?), which gives us Range 6 and I'm not going to grace that with a screenshot, but at least we get to frame someone else for stealing useless knowledge! Recalling that the bears are allied to the Sakkra, who are Target No. 1 on my list still, I choose them over the Silicoids in the hope of damaging that alliance. We lose one spy everywhere. Yeah, probably automatic. Other than that, factories.

In short: There's some randomness involved regarding the techs you can steal.

In not so short:
When a spy succeeds at an espionage mission, a random number between 1 and the target's highest tech level is generated. You can only steal a tech if its level is below that number, and of course if you don't have it already. After selecting a field, you get the highest-level technology from that field that you can steal. If a field contains no eligible techs, then you can't select it. If you can't select any, then you're not notified of a success.

If multiple spies succeed on the same turn, a random number is generated for each one, and you take the maximum. If you're interested in more details, the manual explains quite a lot about the formulas for spying. And the strategy guide doesn't contradict it in that area, so it's probably at least somewhat accurate

And we do pop it eot! Happy terraforming to the next First Talon. I clicked the 75% spending option, but feel free to adjust that. I chose Enhanced Eco Restoration as the next tech; Cloning and Atmospheric Terraforming are also both available, but I supposed that our Hostile planets haven't built enough factories/pop yet to benefit off the latter, and Cloning seemed weak (as growing pop via IC usually seems to be). If that was a mistake, at least EER isn't that expensive

It won't open up any new research options, but we can't research Advanced Eco Restoration (otherwise, it would have appeared as an option now), so I don't think it's a bad choice. I'd probably have picked Athmospheric Terraforming, though - more people and quicker growth on Thrax! Cloning is good to have when you're launching a large-scale invasion, otherwise you're right that it's not very useful.

[RefSteel]

RFS-81 explained spy hits very well. Just one other thing:

Unfortunately, we lose a spy each with the bugs, rocks and lizards as this happens (maybe that's automatic after you succeed at stealing?)

It actually isn't; it just happened that way by random luck! Spies are randomly lost at random times: There's a die roll every turn, just as there's a die roll for spying success; if you set your spies to "Hide" instead of "Espionage" then the chances that they'll be caught each turn are significantly reduced.

Herculis just builds research (for 76 BC/t) because I vaguely (always vaguely) remember that you need to put minimal investment into tech categories every turn to gain and retain a cumulative bonus.

This is basically right; you lose ground (research points are lost, not just unchanged) on any turn when you spend less than 1 RP in a field, so it's good to keep at least some research going even when spending heavily on other things.

I think it's heading for Orion, which makes me suspect the Lynx is outfitted with Reserve Fuel Tanks, because that's quite far from the Mrrshan worlds.

AIs never send ships to Orion, and they never put reserve tanks on anything except Scouts and Colony Ships. But when two races are allied, they can use one another's planets as "fuel bases" as though those planets were their own. The cats were probably taking advantage of an alliance to do some scouting here.

You can see I went GermanJoey on forge whips ;) -- let it not be said I'm not trying to learn from that game

I grinned. And yeah, like forges in civ4, factories don't always have to go up everywhere immediately in MoO, but almost every city/planet will want one/them quickly if possible so they can start paying for themselves and turning a production profit - which they eventually will do handsomely!

This is the second-least sensible diplomatic effort that I've ever made towards someone whose avatar is a cat.

I was going to ask because that is a very intriguing line, but then I suddenly realized just as I was about to start typing this line the kind of "diplomacy" you meant, and what Krill's forum avatar looks like. Heh - okay.

forgot that Construction, not Force Fields, holds Duralloy Armor.

I don't blame you; I do love this old game, but it has the kind of interface you'd expect from something almost 25 years old: nice and simple in some ways, but utterly useless in others: A modern version of the game would surely let you click somewhere to see your spy reports on your target when deciding which field to choose! ... Unless it was Civ6.

In space, no one can hear you adjust sliders.

Ha!

If that was a mistake, at least EER isn't that expensive

This is actually a good reason to go back for an old tech: If it doesn't cost much and gives us benefits over a big empire like ours, it may not be a mistake at all! I'd have gone for Atmospheric Terraforming, thinking not about where our empire is, but where it'll be when the tech completes - but I don't oppose choosing Enhanced Eco here at all.

The Sakkras and Bulrathi both warn us that we've been playing a 4X game and done too much of the Expand thing and they'll try and do some other X to us. I sure hope it's Explore.

I cracked up laughing at this one, then I said that last line aloud and cracked up again. Great stuff!

So one issue I notice in the save that I should have said something about before: In Orion, mere technicalities like not being at war will not deter a race (especially at Neutral relations or worse) from launching a cold war attack on you. Which is why, though we're safe from the Mrrshans for now (thanks to that peace treaty) it looks like there's a Klackon fleet (probably visibly approaching for the first time just last turn) about to arrive at Thrax. With two armed colships, sixteen "large" cruisers spread between two different designs, and 307 Dagger fighters. Can't build a missile base or any significant number of ships in time either. Hmm.

Cool! This is going to get interesting!

Also: Got it!

[haphazard1]

Sounds like some good turns, Coeurva. And a very good report. Especially this line:

In space, no one can hear you adjust sliders.

Any chance of suggesting this for the QotM? I know those are usually from the MP forums, but this made me laugh. And it might help attrract more players to MoO.

We got some key techs, we built tons of factories, and now the bugs appear to have chosen unwisely. They may have a bigger fleet for now, but with our economic edge I think they will regret this move. They already tried this kind of cold war invasion once at Denubius, but we had other worms to catch at that point in the game. Might be time to feast on some bugs.

Of course, we might have to, like, come up with some bomb tech, and maybe even build a few ships first. But I am sure we can manage something.

On tech choices, I like the Eco Restoration tech -- better clean up tech is almost never a bad idea, especially with a big empire with IRC3 as we have. It will save us a lot of cash. We will probably want Atmospheric Terraforming as well at some point -- there really is no substitute for what it does. But reducing our clean up costs first is a solid choice.

I am looking forward to seeing what RefSteel comes up with. Also, thanks for the explanation of the spying mechanics -- useful to know in more detail just how that works. I knew you sometimes got more limited choices when you got a "hit" but was not aware of how the choices you are shown were determined.

[Coeurva]

If multiple spies succeed on the same turn, a random number is generated for each one, and you take the maximum. If you're interested in more details, the manual explains quite a lot about the formulas for spying.

I confess, the last game manual I've ever read must have been that of Civ4 BtS in 2009 or so (apart from, of course, that of the excellent Shenzhen I/O). Mostly because choice parts of The Internet tend to have people who explain or understand the game better. Such as this one.

This is basically right; you lose ground (research points are lost, not just unchanged) on any turn when you spend less than 1 RP in a field, so it's good to keep at least some research going even when spending heavily on other things.

I assumed this also from the one slider tick that haphazard had kept invested into Computers.

But when two races are allied, they can use one another's planets as "fuel bases" as though those planets were their own.  The cats were probably taking advantage of an alliance to do some scouting here.

They must have pit-stopped at the Silicoid planet closest to Zhardan, in that case.

I was going to ask because that is a very intriguing line, but then I suddenly realized just as I was about to start typing this line the kind of "diplomacy" you meant, and what Krill's forum avatar looks like.  Heh - okay.

It is called gunboat diplomacy. And ours was roughly motivated like, and as successful as that of the German Empire in Morocco but enough has been written about that.

Of course, that's just meant as self-irony (also in the vein of patterns far-removed from game mechanics accidentally repeating across games), not a snipe at Krill.

I don't blame you; I do love this old game, but it has the kind of interface you'd expect from something almost 25 years old:  nice and simple in some ways, but utterly useless in others:  A modern version of the game would surely let you click somewhere to see your spy reports on your target when deciding which field to choose!  ...  Unless it was Civ6.

I once played a single-player game of Civ6. England, Immortal. I spammed dockyards for the powerful and cheap trade routes, including at lakeside inland cities. Without the least effort of pursuing them, I generated seven Great Admirals in total. All of them spawn on three-tile lakes to remain stuck there for the rest of the game.

Also I beat up everyone with Redcoats in 700 AD while they were running around with 250 horseman corps during the Modern Era. Best-case. Deity wasn't any more interesting after I figured out that 2 (rarely 3, such as to avoid costly encampments if two excellent horse sites are available) cities, then early conquest with archers/horsemen (battering ram nice to have, but optional), is always the way to go. Unless you roll Vedic Aryans on T25, that's effectively gg. Isolation might be interesting, but I can't get myself to care enough about the game. And of course, despite excellent multiplayer games here (PBEM2, 4...), the promised cross-platform play has never in fact been available, and guess how many people play this game on Linux.

(To be fair, I've heard you can exchange saves between Linux and Mac OS X, but that's still not much of a remedy.)

I'd have gone for Atmospheric Terraforming, thinking not about where our empire is, but where it'll be when the tech completes - but I don't oppose choosing Enhanced Eco here at all.

Hm, Atmospheric Terraforming costs ~15000 BC and we were making 2500 BC a turn; I thought our planets wouldn't be autonomous enough in 6t and reduced waste should help with Eco-slider terraforming. Although I suspect beaker output will take a dive now that we're dealing with the Bug Fleet I managed to overlook (might be efficient to finish EEC before building the fleet, maybe, and see if we can steal better weapons / spores during those 2-3t?) but on the bright side, we can now make as many small ships as the Klackons have in a single turn, if need be. The Dagger model probably doesn't have Class IV Shields (unless the AI cheats) since they had it before they researched their tech, so our NPGs should Work As Designed.

NON INSECTVM, SED IMPLEMENTVM EST
LABORAMVS SICVT DESIGNATI SVMVS

(Slogan and motto from the coat of arms displayed on the Klackons' naval ensign.)

So one issue I notice in the save that I should have said something about before:  In Orion, mere technicalities like not being at war will not deter a race (especially at Neutral relations or worse) from launching a cold war attack on you.

Sounds familiar. "Can declare war at Pleased." Civ4 does in fact even have an AI leader who can declare at Friendly: Catherine, but only if she is bribed. Of course, the lack of WHEOORN makes Orion's knives that much more subtle...

Cool!  This is going to get interesting!

Yeah, I'm just looking forward to getting to play in all the corners of the sandbox. Sure, our empire's BC output looks much better, but it's hardly my work rather than that of Improved Robotic Controls III; tactical combat, that's a different thing.

Any chance of suggesting this for the QotM? I know those are usually from the MP forums, but this made me laugh. And it might help attrract more players to MoO.

It would be for a noble cause, but I don't think that's QotM material.

Of course, we might have to, like, come up with some bomb tech, and maybe even build a few ships first. But I am sure we can manage something.

We have three spies with the Mrrshans right now and have a 50% chance (I suppose) to pick up Fusion Bombs from them. Iirc the Bulrathi have it as well, but only at a 33% chance. Alternatively, stealing Planetology from the rocks is guaranteed to be Death Spores (if we get a good spy roll), and with our absurd edge in population, I think we won't even need to engage their modest fleet to cripple their resources if we can pick that up. They won't be able to defend everything all at once, and they won't conquer as fast as we can damage their industrial base. Just go wherever their fleet isn't and throw Fun Spores. (Or do they have the tech that mitigates spores? I didn't check the bugs that closely... as is evident )

[haphazard1]

I think there is something about having multiple spies acitve for a rival race that affects whether they are detected? Not sure I am remembering this correctly. Each additional spy does seem to escalate the cost of the next a fair bit, so constant low levels of spy spending seem to be more efficient than bursts of higher spy spending.

There is also the spy defense option, or counter-spying spending. I pretty much never use it, and just absorb the occasional sabotage of factories or missile bases that the AI likes to engage in sometimes. (Darloks especially, of course.) And sometimes the AI will manage to steal a tech. But mostly I prefer to put those resources into more research. I am not sure if the AI regularly uses counter-spying, though.

[RefSteel]

Mostly because choice parts of The Internet tend to have people who explain or understand the game better. Such as this one.

Many thanks for the collective compliment!

single-player game of Civ6

I hope you've had fun with it in spite of the interface, AI, and questionable design decisions. (Is there a reason they couldn't let Great Admirals ever step on land?) I've been enjoying loony stories like this one from outside at least, to say nothing of the excellently-reported MP scene.

Hm, Atmospheric Terraforming costs ~15000 BC and we were making 2500 BC a turn; I thought our planets wouldn't be autonomous enough in 6t and reduced waste should help with Eco-slider terraforming. Although I suspect beaker output will take a dive now that we're dealing with the Bug Fleet I managed to overlook

The main thing is that we have a lot of other spending priorities. Even without that fleet, we weren't going to spend anywhere near our full imperial production on one planetology tech (even tech-wise, Fusion Drives was in the wings!) Enhanced Eco is definitely worthwhile though, as has been mentioned. And that tech we could get in just a few turns!

The Dagger model probably doesn't have Class IV Shields (unless the AI cheats) since they had it before they researched their tech, so our NPGs should Work As Designed.

You're correct: Their ships are built with tech they had when they designed them, and aren't upgraded while they exist. (Even their colships have to be scrapped before they can "design" a new one - though they do get colships for free....)

Sounds familiar. "Can declare war at Pleased." Civ4 does in fact even have an AI leader who can declare at Friendly: Catherine, but only if she is bribed. Of course, the lack of WHEOORN makes Orion's knives that much more subtle...

It's even more extreme: They can casually attack us withoout ever being formally at war! In fact, during my turns so far, the Klackons [spoilers pre-emptively redacted] while their merchants kept right on trading with us to the tune of 125 BC (Billion Credits) per year!

Of course, we might have to, like, come up with some bomb tech, and maybe even build a few ships first. But I am sure we can manage something.

Oh - I'd better go finish my report! (And the last couple turns of my set....)

I have not launched any attacks on alien worlds or anything. Haven't even built an attack fleet. Buuuuuuuuuuuuut...... (That's going to have to hang there a few more hours I'm afraid....)

[haphazard1]

Now RefSteel has left us with an evil cliffhanger.

The AIs in MoO can definitely cause you all kinds of difficulties despite not technically being at war with you. Just sort of casually sending an invasion force to one of your planets and wiping out all your people there and taking it over, oops, so sorry, thought that was an uncolonizeed world! If you couldn't keep it, then it wasn't really yours in the first place, was it? The whole cold war aspect does make the game interesting, and the diplo a lot blurrier around the edges than games where war is a much more binary state.

For Atmospheric Terraforming, we can always grab it later when our economy is larger and we have more hostile planets that could benefit. It is a key tech since nothing else has the same effect of transforming hostile planets into regular planets; many things in MoO have more than one possible tech for a given effect, but that one is a unique one. The other big planet transformer, Soil Enrichment, was not in our tree but maybe we will have Advanced Soil Enrichment if the game lasts that long.

[RefSteel]

I am not sure if the AI regularly uses counter-spying, though.

They do, especially after they catch somebody stealing tech from them. (The Psilons in particular like to do periodic "spy sweeps" with a high counter-espionag slider for a single turn, I'm told....

Also in the news...

Report:

-2410-

The First Talon was late again. He'd missed about half of the official transition briefings: The first half; he always eventually showed up for each, and crammed what was absolutely essential into the second half -- or stayed late and was consequently even later for the next. On the other hand, he was the one who, in the middle of what was meant to be an explanation of fleet logistics, had noticed the Thrax-bound Klackon death fleet: He was paying enough attention to get some things right at least. Nevertheless, this was no routine briefing: He had been confirmed and inaugurated as First Talon already and the admirals gathered in the Situation Room were preparing for de-facto war with the Klackons - the de-facto war that he had been the first to notice was already underway.

"Where is he?" demanded Senior Admiral Kreef Stonycrest. "Doesn't he know this is important?"

Another senior admiral, Luuf Tempestwing, half-spread her wings noncomitally. "He said something about seeing the lab boys and conducting diplomacy."

There was a silence, brief and pointed. Then Kreef asked, "Is that even fair to them? With all our other advantages..."

Luuf cocked her head to one side. "I guess he really wants to keep Thrax."

Burying his head beneath his wings, Kreef said, "I don't see how he can."

As it turned out though, the First Talon was working on more than just Thraxian defense.



He breezed into the room just as the slowest-eating admirals were finishing up the second round of pizzas they had ordered while they waited: Birdseed pizza for the vegetarians, the rest with different varieties of gourmet carrion or extra worms. Though he'd neglected his own meals, the First Talon didn't seem at all nonplussed that no one had bothered to leave any pizza for him: If they'd left any from the first round, it would just have gotten cold to no purpose anyway. Apparently in the meantime, he'd been making a handful of deals, among others, with Grunk of the Bulrathi - deals that left Kreef sputtering. "Fusion bombs are not defensive weapons!" he complained. "And we had better environmental controls than Tundra already! In fact, you just traded them for the bombs! Those massive bear soldiers will be able to invade any world we own!"

"Should be interesting then, I guess," the First Talon answered cheerfully. "Although for what it's worth, they've promised not to."



The non-aggression pact between the bears and birds had already been signed by the time they agreed to exchange scientific secrets - but only by a matter of seconds. The new First Talon had been very eager to pick up new technology. In the situation room afterward, he explained, "A little miniaturization and extra production efficiency should help us get a few more fighters into space for our Kestrel fleet. Plus in case the other races keep attacking us, we can use the bombs for ... hrrrm, what's the word I'm looking for? Starts with a D ... or mayve a V? Or..."

"Deterrence?" one admiral suggested.

"Retaliation?" hazarded another.

"No, no, it's on the tip of my tongue," the First Talon answered. "Maybe a G?"

Senior Admiral Luuf Tempestwing cleared her throat. "Burning down their planetary defenses like mounds of matchsticks?"

The First Talon beamed. "That's the one! That's the word I mean!"



A little more to the point had been the deal struck with Yalara, who - like the Bulrathi - were being taught the secrets of Alkari industrial technology. Instead of tundra landings though, the Mrrshan scientists were helping the Alkari build basic ECM jammers, which would help - a little - with their espionage efforts, but also (still a little) with their planetary defenses against missiles, bombs, and spores aboard enemy fleets. There was a chance that it would be needed right away, against bombardment from the incoming Klackon fleet.



Soberly, the First Talon admitted to the Council, "We can't stop that fleet. Not way out at Thrax, with the resources we have in the area and only one year's warning. Let's be honest: Even if the previous administration had spotted it last year, as soon as it was en route, there wouldn't have been enough time to intercept it with anywhere near enough force. The best we could have hoped for would have been for the Kibitzer to stick around and let us know what we're facing a little earlier than it's going to anyway." He gestured at the reports with one wing. "We'd need a hundred-fighter Kestrel fleet just to fight those Daggers to a standstill, and then with the Avengers and Dragoons ... well, can you blame me for trying to improve on our industrial output? 'Cause Tyranid really helped with that just to get his ships some decent range."



Doubly-obsolete terraforming tech would provide only an incremental improvement to Alkari production capacity, but somethuing similar might be said of Deuterium Fuel for Tyranid's by the time that deal went through, and Sakkra waste reduction techniques provided a very real boost to the Alkari economy, just as Irridium would greatly enhance the effective range of Tyranid's fleets.

"And we do need that production, the First Talon reminded the Council: "We need new fleets. Our scouts aren't armed; I'm having them scrapped for parts since we might as well and I want more design flexibility. And with that done, here's a reminder of what we have guarding Thrax right now. What we had, I should say. Considering what they're facing, I told them to just get out of there; they can come back in time to join our real fleet.



"When we have a real fleet, I mean. I just hope the Thraxians can survive out there long enough for everything to arrive: They'll have to weather an invasion from one of the Klackon worlds - but they won't have to deal with two! That fleet might bomb them and make it impossible for them to hold, I know, but I'm doing my best to give them a shot when the bugs invade: I'm sending them some other blueprints we picked up! See, I talked to Carnax too...."



"...and he wanted our Irridium cells for better range so he could ... uh ... we might have to think about those radiated worlds ... er ... but anyway, he wanted that and samples of our best terraforming microcultures, which - okay, but hear me out: We get better computers for our spies and guidance systems - and our troops get heavy battle suits for taking on the enemy! Oh, and that Kestrel fleet I was on about? It's getting a slight upgrade. The 2.0s will have the new battle computer. When those bugs try to conquer Thrax, they'll regret it!"

As it turned out though, they didn't: The First Talon was mistaken about the bugs trying to conquer Thrax in the first place.


-2411-


On the contrary, they just bombed it right down to the frozen bedrock. That accomplished, they simply flew away, not even deigning to replace it with a fresh colony. This called for a slight change in tactics from the Alkari, who suddenly needed to rush a colony ship up to reclaim the planet ahead of as many of their own incoming transports as they could manage - while still sending up a fleet to defend the place!


-2412-


Yalara wasn't fooled by the loss of Thrax; she knew who was on their way to taking over the galaxy. So did the birdies though, so they ignored her completely. As it would turn out though, by the time she sent her threat their way, the war fleet she had sent in the same direction had already been en route for years.


-2413-


Initial espionage results were disappointing, as when a secret Sakkra research lab turned out to be a "secret weapon" facility with no functioning plans for anything except a "gatling" laser array; the spy involved took his "Escape" route without even bothering to frame anybody for the theft. And that same year, GNN - the old automated information broadcast system of the Ancients - reported that the Klackons had advanced beyond Alkari technology - though the Birdfolk were still superior in that respect to the Bulrathi, to say nothing of the Silicoids and especially the Sakkra. As for the Mrrshans, in dead last, they appeared to have other things than science on their minds. Like foie gras. And roast squab. And coq au vin. And ambelopoulia. And...


-2415-


Fortunately for the people of Denubius (official motto: "Why does it always have to be Denubius?") their sharp-eyed First Talon had seen the fleet coming and guessed its destination some three years previously - coincidentally soon after Yalara had complained to him about Alkari expansion - and unlike Thrax several years before, Denubius was at the productive heart of the Alkari empire. Dozens of fighters were already en route to intercept the kitty fleet - three Leopard cruisers, two armed colony ships, and 23 destroyers divided between Lynx and Cheetah varieties - and Denubius was building more of its own. But the First Talon could have sent more: He had forgotten just how deadly Mrrshan gunners could be, especially with Merculite missiles...


-2416-


...so it's a good thing he wound up sending just enough anyway, on the theory of "better safe than sorry." More than fifty fighter pilots died, but that still left more than twenty in the local Kestrel fleet when the last of the Mrrshan ships were destroyed or forced to retreat.


-2417-

Right around the time Alkari scientists developed bulky mass driver railguns to probably never use on any ship, singing about the joys of stinger missiles to come in lieu of hard beams (like mass drivers but even bulkier) and Various Beams We Can Probably Steal From Somebody, Alkari colonists were claiming another critical world for the empire...



...for the second time. They managed to put up the transport landing beacon just in time to keep about ten million of their fellow space-faring Alkari, packed into interstellar transports, from crashing. They all went to work immediately trying to prevent the place from ever being bombed down to the icy soil ... again. They were about to get some help with that, fortunately.


-2418-


Alkari spies in Sakkra space finally brought in the prize of duralloy armor - ignoring weapon and planetology labs - just as their scientists were making even more important strides, with Fusion drives leading to Impulse engines, and enhanced ecological restoration techniques as a prelude to terraforming planetary atmospheres. It was a good year for an Alkari emperor to be alive, in spite of the latest call, this time from Carnax, for his empire to stop expanding - and it called for another update to the Kestrel fighter design: Identical to the 2.0, but with twice its warp speed and maneuverbility. More than two hundred would be built in the next two years ... unfortunately mostly a little too far from Thrax.


-2420-


The latest First Talon of the Alkari people left the office as he had found it: With a large Klackon starfleet about to arrive at that beleaguered world. He could only hope the defenses he had assembled there would be enough to hold them off - and wonder why he hadn't thought to send still more.

Notes:

- Things are kind of a mess right now, with a bunch of ships and transports en route at different speeds. The latter are going to Thrax, where another Klackon fleet will arrive (from Morrig) next turn. We have some ships there, with more Kestrel 4.0s due to arrive next year and we can build a very few more, but I don't know if it's enough. Good luck!

- There's also a much smaller Klackon fleet that's probably heading to Denubius, but several years out.

- We're winning. Obviously! If we want to go on the offensive, it is very doable. I haven't built any bombers, though I designed one just to have it on the list.

- You have a few hundred BC of reserves to play with. I've already fed Thrax the max this turn, but haven't added them anywhere else.

- If Thrax repels this invasion, it'll need to finish its terraforming (20 more points, costing 80BC total) to accomodate all the incoming transports. (Some are a few turns out though.)

- I only have one click of spying on the Mrrshans right now (nothing on anyone else) because we have one spy in everyone else's space, and I'm willing to jjust let those single spies do their thing. Obviously you can change things up if you'd like.

- Have fun with it!

Roster:

RFS-81 - UP!
haphazard1 - on deck!
Coeurva - waiting in the wings
RefSteel - just played

[haphazard1]

Another fun to read report, RefSteel.

Lots of good news, with new techs researched, stolen, and traded for -- our overall tech levels should be improving nicely. And we still hold Thrax (for now, at least). And Denubius. And we now have effective bombs if we choose to use them, plus much faster drives for our ships, making fleets much more effective.

Any thoughts on the upcoming council vote? I have not checked the save yet, but I would guess we probably have enough pop to block a loss. Our conflicts and large empire may cause the AIs to all vote against us.

Good luck, RFS-81!

[Coeurva]

I'm quite sure we have as much pop as everyone else combined, roughly.

I like the play of signing an NAP and only then trading away Controlled Toxic... and shame about the misplaced Kibitzer, which I must have fired at Neptunus the same turn as the Klackon fleet got moving. Any other intel on those bug ships?

I think I should have traded for some techs during my turnset already (such as the Mk. III Computer)... and scrapping that colship turned out to be a bad decision as well; so it goes.

Excellent work at Denubius, too.