Imperium One - Off to a Flying Start

[Sirian]

Players have until Monday night (their local time) to complete this event. Reports are due by the end of Tuesday night. Please post your game summary, or report, or a link to your report, in this thread. Reports or additional information to supplement game summaries are welcome any time, but at least a summary must be posted on time to be included among the list of official participants for this inaugural event.

Let the comparisons and discussions begin!


- Sirian
Event Sponsor

[Sirian]

I invite you to read My Report for Imperium One. I'm looking forward to seeing how games compare, and how the game itself behaves across multiple games. I put some extra care into this report. Don't hold me to this standard for every game!

- Sirian

[Zed-F]

Imperium 1 - Alkari, Medium galaxy, Average difficulty.


2300: We are on the eastern side of a 48-star galaxy, slightly south of the N/S midline. There are a couple stars south of us, then a significant gap. North and west of us there is a somewhat more densely packed region of stars to expand into, so that is the direction we will most likely expand first. One of those westward stars is in a nebula, which means it is more likely to contain a rich world, but will be harder to defend. Within range 3 are two stars, one northward and one southward. The northward star is green, while the southward star is blue, and thus less likely to have a fertile planet. We will send the colony ship north both because it is more likely to be possible to settle immediately and so as to open up more chances for immediate expansion. Our two scouts will head NW to a star that looks to be within range 3 of the star our colony ship is heading toward, and SE to the blue star within range 3.

Looking at the map screen, we have detected emissions from several neighboring races, including the hated Mrrshan, but not including either the Psilons or the Humans. On a more difficult setting, if they got a government that prioritized rapid expansion and a decent start, the former might be a candidate for a runaway tech win, the latter for a quick diplomatic win. We do have Silicoids, Klackons, and Sakkra, however, all of which on a more difficult setting have the potential to expand into monster empires.

2304: We have explored our first two stars, both are small habitable worlds, with the northward one being slightly larger. So far, so good; we settle Kailis. We also scout Bootis, which has a quite nice size 95 terran world in orbit. We have been building factories and have neglected scout construction on the first three turns, so I design a new scout and alter spending to correct that. I plan to send out a wave of scouts, plus a bunch more to continue scouting as we settle more worlds. I will also send a total of 13 pop from Altair to Kailis in 2 batches in order to get some population growth going.

2312: We chase away a Silicoid scout at Incedius. This is bad news as we have several hostile worlds nearby, some rich. We will likely need a fleet to prevent Silicoid expansion into our space. The Silicoid homeworld appears to be in the north-central portion of the map; there are three yellow stars in that area, one of which is likely their homeworld. There is another yellow star in the center of the map, but central starts are impossible on small and uncommon on medium maps, and no Silicoid scouts have been seen at Bootis yet, suggesting that is not their homeworld.

2315: I like to start colonizing new worlds once it takes 5 turns or less to build a colony ship. If I think that population growth rather than colony ship production will be the limiting factor, I may start building ships sooner rather than later, but I will still build at least 100 factories, which allows full production at maximum pop growth rate. Occasionally I will delay colony ship construction until my homeworld is completely developed, depending on what my second colony is like and what else is nearby. In this case I have lots of planets to colonize in multiple directions, so colony ship production will likely be the bottleneck for the moment, but I will still need to draw some pop from the homeworld to get my colonies up to speed. Accordingly, I will follow my usual plan and build more factories to bring the construction time down to 5 turns, which should put me near the top of the fat part of the curve for population growth, but should also let me build colony ships fairly quickly. I have several good quality planets nearby I can tap for population as they grow.

2329: Colonize Bootis, and I get contact with the Silicoids at Gorra, so they must already have range 4 tech, which is not a big surprise. The Silicoids have 4 planets; besides Gorra and Cryslon, they also have Romulas and Hyboria. They are Aggressive Expansionists, which means I'll have to deal with probing attacks relatively soon; I should at least have until the stars in the local neighborhood start filling up, however. It already looks like Bootis will be a key defensive stronghold, and Incedius as well. I will need range 4 tech myself in order to continue to expand northward, however. Kailis, which is near max pop, sends half its population to Bootis and starts working on research for the moment as building more factories right now would put it over the max it can use. It will continue to supply a pop or two per turn until Bootis gets near 1/3 of its max pop. I find out what techs I will be researching, and the two techs of most interest are Pop+10 and Deuterium Cells for range 5, so I split my research evenly between planetology and propulsion. I often split my research between these two fields at the outset in order to get some critical early momentum in these areas -- Pop+10 and Improved Eco restoration are great value for the RPs and Range 4 or 5 is usually essential for early expansion -- but later on I will adjust spending to a more balanced distribution.



2340: An eventful year, as I both discover range 5 tech and colonize Maalor on the same turn, having already colonized Quayal. I send 23 pop from Altair to Maalor in order to get it to 1/3 its max pop. This is not a big problem for letting factories go idle as I have been spending at Altair on terraforming and research rather than factory construction the last few turns while waiting for the colony ship to arrive at Maalor; this let me get the range 5 tech done faster and not waste time building factories that would just sit idle when I needed to send pop to Maalor. This is a bit unusual for me as normally I would have maxed out my homeworld by now, but it seems to have worked out ok this time. Now that I have range 5 tech Altair will go back to colony ship construction so that I can colonize my northern areas before the Silicoids try the same. Unfortunately I don't have Inertial Dampers in my tree, which are very helpful especially for Alkari, so I will have to trade/steal/conquer for them. In any case, I split research evenly between all fields, remove one tick from construction, force fields, and weapons, and add one to each of computers, planetology, and propulsion. I pick the first two of this latter set to pursue improvements to production, and the last of these to pursue engine techs which will give my ships high maneuverability, complementing my racial bonus and making my ships virtually untouchable.

Range 5 also got me contact with the Meklars, who are Xenophobic Technologists, at Maalor, a poor world in the southern part of the galaxy 5 parsecs away from Maalor. I realize I never started trade agreements with the Silicoids so I start one with them and with the Meklars for 75BC/year apiece. The next turn, we get a message indicating that the Silicoids have settled Herculis, their sixth planet. Of course we are not far behind, with 5 planets and at least two more due soon. The Meklars also have 5 planets. I have sent scouts to two Meklar worlds on the chance that they don't have bases or a defensive fleet there yet; this could enable me to see what those worlds are and potentially coordinate an invasion there more easily, but I don't dare do this too much or else I will piss their Xenophobicnesses off. Once or twice should be safe though.



2353: I colonize Incedius. In the meantime my scouts have explored Primodius (Terran 100), Helos (Arid 60, Artifacts) and Ajax (Jungle 75, Poor) in the north, Omicron (Terran 105 Fertile) and Drakka (Desert 35) in the far south, and two Meklar colonies, Rigel and Phantos. Unfortunately the Silicoids must have explored the Artifacts planet ahead of me as I don't get a tech out of it. I have another colony ship ready to send north, and send it to the artifacts world. Subsequent colony ships will also head north, as Omicron and Drakka will require reserve fuel tanks to reach them.

2373: I colonize Ajax, having already colonized Helos and Primodius. This triggers the first senate vote, with the candidates being myself and the Silicoids. Everyone abstains but the Silicoids and myself; Geode cannot win even with my support, so I vote for him for the gratuitous relations boost. Two years later, another vote occurs, with the same result. This may, if I'm lucky, encourage the Silicoids to pick on someone else when it comes time for their aggressive trait to kick in, but we shall see. I am, as I would expect, behind the tech curve, but I should start catching up now as a couple of my earliest colonies (not including Bootis, unfortunately, but it has been a primary population supplier for new colonies) have matured and are now pumping research, and Altair will soon follow suit. I have foregone researching an early missile as I would normally do in favour of Ion cannons for better fighters; hopefully I have Merculite Missiles, or, even better, Scatter Pack V, to make up for missing out on Hyper-V and Hyper-X rockets. Fortunately, Improved Robotic Controls III is in my tree, and while I didn't get Improved Eco Restoration, I at least got Reduced waste 80%.

2381: I have waited a bit too long to build a denial fleet to prevent the Silicoids from grabbing some of the hostile worlds near my space. I could have afforded to build a laser-armed fleet before now, but I wanted to wait until I had Ion cannons done so that I could equip my fighters with some real weapons. Unfortunately, the Silicoids have now settled Laan, before that tech came in, so that turned out to be a failed gambit. Fortunately, the Silicoids don't have the range to reach my back-lines rich worlds just yet. I had even bumped up my funding for weapons research, planning to lower it again after Ion Cannons came in, but did so too late to win this race. Dead colonization comes in a couple turns later, giving me the ability to build a large ship with extended fuel tanks and a standard colony base, so I start a new colony ship design to send toward Omicron and Drakka. I choose Toxic colony bases next so I can colonize Mobas and Jinga in my back lines. Ion Cannons comes in the turn after that; I have no choice but to go back and pick up Hyper-X rockets again as no missile tech is available at the next level in my tree and I can't continue with just nuclear missiles for my planetary bases.

2392: Sublight drives, Improved Robotic Controls III, and Improved Industrial Tech 8 have come in, and my planets are refitting and building more factories. Unfortunately, I am still hurting for cleanup techs to choose from, as I have gotten neither Enhanced Eco Restoration nor Reduced Waste 60%. I get an event that turns Altair into a rich world, woohoo! There seem to be a lot of rich planets in this game, at least on my side of the map. I have gotten a spy into the Silicoids just to see what they have; it looks like they are concentrating on force field tech and weapons, but they only have Battle Computer Mk II for computer tech! They might be easy to steal from later when I am ready to fight them; I suspect they will be my first target. I also note that they have Fusion Bombs, Inertial Stabilizers, and Merculite Missiles, all of which would be nice to get. Their concentration in force fields will mean I will have to come in with some bombers and/or missile ships of my own to take down what bases they might have, but I can wait for a bit on that. At least they seem to be missing Class V Planetary shields, so some success may be possible with non-energy weapons.

Now that I have a decent weapon (Ion cannons) and a decent engine (Sublight), I could start now-rich Altair building attack ships to go after someone. Of course, since quite a few of my colonies are still developing, and don't have missile bases yet. I will also be getting Toxic bases soon, which means starting up a bunch of brand-spanking-new colonies that will also need development; normally this might not be a huge deal since the AI tends not to bother attacking colonies it can't land on, but in this case, my planned target is the Silicoids, who can land on anything and would go after any new colonies I had with glee. I would need a defensive fleet to protect my holdings, as well as an offensive one. That could get a bit expensive, but with my defensive bonus it probably could be done. However, things are sailing along pretty smoothly here; I have reasonable relations with my neighbors, and enough territory to feel comfortable about the vote. I also have an opportunity to use Altair to pump up my reserves and distribute it amongst my developing planets to speed their growth, in lieu of building a big fleet. I opt to go with the peaceful builder approach for now.



2400: Another day, another vote. This time the Mrrshans side with the Silicoids, so I am forced to abstain. Everyone else does too. I outstrip everyone I know (still just Silicoids and Meklars) in production, planets, and population, and am starting to catch up on tech. I also have a small fleet as a contingency -- 114 Ion-cannon equipped speed 2 fighters. Otherwise, I am continuing to use Altair to speed colony development or double the research produced at my Artifacts planet.



2416: Toxic bases comes in, and I use it in a new design with intent to colonize Jinga, Mobas, Proteus, and Paladia. Unfortunately, the only choice I have at the next level is Controlled Radiated, which is not exactly useful right now. I elect to go back for Improved Terraforming +30 rather than push onward for now as I often skip the middle-range Improved Terraforming techs in lieu of Atmospheric Terraforming and Advanced Soil Enrichment, given the opportunity. I also still am hoping Advanced Eco Restoration is in my tree, and I will need to pursue that in lieu of a mid-range Improved Terraforming tech.

2420: I settle Proteus near Meklar space, and encounter the Mrrshan, who have a 7-planet empire in the far southwest of the galaxy. It looks like, uncharacteristically, the Klackons and Sakkra have been by-and-large shut out of the landgrab and relegated to minor power status. The Mrrshan are Xenophobic Expansionists and are allied with the Silicoids. I expect that at some point they will declare war on me; nevertheless, I opt to sign a minimum-value trade agreement in the hopes of postponing the inevitable. I also sign a larger-value trade agreement with the Meklar; I hope to bring them in on my side against the Silicoids and Mrrshan when I do eventually go to war. The Silicoids offered me an alliance earlier, but I declined, as I am eyeing their planets hungrily. It won't be too much longer now that I will be in a position to start considering going on the offensive; I just need to get my last few colonies at risk of a counter-attack built up some more first. I am up to 14 planets now, stretched all across the eastern side of the map. I expect to be using cash from Altair to bring them all up to speed quickly. Note that even had I not been so fortunate as to receive that event, it would have made only a small difference to my overall progress, as I have also got rich and ultra-rich worlds in Jinga and Mobas, respectively, which give me the same capability.



2450: The best laid plans...

Most of the last 30 years have been occupied with building up my planets, rather than my fleet, as Improved Terraforming +30 came in, followed by Improved Robotic Controls IV. In 2446, I decided to start playing a more active role in galactic politics, in preparation for building a fleet and going on the offensive, by formenting a war between the Mrrshans and the Meklars. My plan was to intervene on the side of the Meklar and I expected that the Silicoids would intervene on behalf of the Mrrshan, so I would then be able to launch an assault on the Silicoids once they were involved in a 2-front war... things didn't quite work out that way. It started out well enough, with the Meklars agreeing to declare war on the Mrrshan, and convincing their Sakkra allies to join in. The next turn, the Mrrshan declared war on me. While the timing was suspicious, I had known it was only a matter of time, so it wasn't a huge shock. In 2450, however, the Meklars then declared war against me as well! Listen to the sound of guns tracking a new target... the Meklars just painted a big bullseye on themselves. But I don't also want the Silicoids at war with me, so I up my trade agreement with them (which I had left at base for a very long time, anticipating breaking it), signed a non-aggression pact, and brought them into the war against the Mrrshans. While I could probably stand up to whatever they could throw at me, I don't really need extra distractions right now, and besides, my offensive fleet (when I build one) will only be able to be in one place at a time anyway. I expect the Sakkra will soon fulfill their alliance with the Meklars; three foes will be quite enough, thank you. Good thing I have enough population to block a vote, and that I have Antimatter bomb tech due any year now...



2467: My extra emphasis on propulsion research is about to pay off. I noticed that shortly after Anti-matter bombs came in, Ion Engines would be ready for use as well. Ion Engines are a TL30 tech, more than 10 levels higher than Antimatter Bombs -- a little extra emphasis in a particular field you're good at can go a long way. I normally wouldn't use Ion Engines this early in the game with most races as they are relatively expensive and bulky, so I'd want to wait until they were miniaturized a little, but in this case I'm Alkari, so speed is life. While I waited for Ion Engines to come in, I held off on designing a fleet for a few years and tried to steal some tech from my hot-war enemies. Unfortunately, I was only successful at stealing tech AFTER Ion Engines had come in and I had designed my ships... ah well. I did get Inertial Stabilizers off the Mrrshan, and Enhanced Eco Restoration as well as Scatter Pack V off the Sakkra, so at least the steals I got were good quality ones. In any case, while I was building my fleet, I fended off a couple of attacks, one poach attempt from the Silicoids, and one attack from the Meklar. Now, however, my fleet is ready. My fleet is composed of 400 Ion cannon fighters w/ Mk IV computers and Maneuver 8 (11 since I'm Alkari) and 350 bombers, unfortunately equipped only with Nuclear bombs, but also with MK IV computers. I will need some more weapons tech miniaturization or else to steal fusion bombs in order to be able to mount a better bomb on my fighters. However, for now this is sufficient as the Meklar have only Class III shields on their planetary bases. I also built a medium ship with the sole mission of being a scanner -- it also mounts a couple antimatter bombs for fun. For now I've stopped building more ships as I just got Atmospheric Terraforming and want to go back on infrastructure for a bit. By the time that's done I should have a bunch of captured Meklar planets (and tech for miniaturization) and good idea of what changes if any I need to make in my fleet composition for the next round of shipbuilding. Off we go to terrorize the Meklar...

2481: The Meklar are reduced to one small, poor planet, Maalor, and I have four new planets in my empire, plus a whole lot of captured tech. In one sense, my ships didn't do so well -- I mistakenly left my stack of ion fighters next to one pulsar-equipped Meklar large ship, and boom, all gone in one shot, on the first planet I attacked, Meklon. Fortunately, I didn't really need them. My bombers were sufficient to take out the Meklar planetary bases at all their other planets; they always seemed to move their fleet away right when I wanted to attack (fancy that! so I never really had to face many of their ships. Once the bases were down, it was a simple matter to coordinate a massive ground assault, given the speed at which my Ion-engine equipped transports move. I then would use my massive planetary reserve to quickly build up a class X planetary shield and some Scatter-pack-equipped missile bases to scare off any would-be attackers. By the time the ham-fisted Meklar could mount a counter-attack, the planet would already be secure. I even captured Advanced Space Scanner tech, which was quite nice to allow me to coordinate the arrival of my bombers simultaneously with my transports. All in all, it was a relatively straightforward affair, and shows off the advantage of high strategic mobility quite nicely. It also illustrates why the Meklar are such a tasty opponent to go after, if you can crack the shell of their missile bases and fleets; their planets are so heavily laden with factories that they are quite easy to stand up defenses on after they've been captured, and you tend to get lots of tech from them as well. Still, I think this fleet has served its purpose. I might use it against the Sakkra, but it would fare less well against the Mrrshan -- not so much because they are better gunners, but because they actually have planetary shields that a butter knife can't penetrate. Fortunately, by the time I get around to dealing with the Mrrshan, I expect my Antimatter bombs will have miniaturized nicely -- and if not, I did capture fusion bomb technology, which will do in a pinch...

I now have enough planets (or will when I capture the Sakkra worlds) that I should be close to being able to win by voting myself in. If not, Gaia transformation is right around the corner, which should push me over the threshold.



2499: I did take over two of the Sakkra's three worlds, leaving them an ultra poor jungle, and Gaia transformation indeed came in, giving me close to 2/3 of the galactic vote. I wasn't *quite* at 2/3 of the vote, but close enough as to make no difference, and there was no way the Mrrshan could have hoped to handle the fleet I could have prepared to throw at them. Swarms of small ships with anti-matter bombs, strategic speed of six and combat speed of 5, huge maneuver rating, and subspace teleporters to boot... when their best computer is Mk IV and their best missile is Hyper-V... I don't think so. As far as fleet support goes, I had my choice of small ships armed with graviton guns, or huge ships with massive hitpoints, heavy shields, autorepair, and high energy focus. Either way, the Mrrshan could not have done much to stop me from rolling them up like a cheap fur rug. In any case, I had made peace with Sakkra, and both they and the Klackons voted for me; their 4 combined votes plus my 29 were sufficient to put me just over the threshold, so the Mrrshans were spared the indignity of oblivion this time.



I could have won earlier, if I had been more aggressive. I could have gone after someone earlier, with sublight or even nuclear engines if I had had to... but I didn't have to, and I was happy to just expand peaceably and build up to a critical mass unopposed. With such smooth sailing, there was never any real reason to go for a fast win. As far as my overall strategy when I did go to war, regarding what ships I would design and who I would attack, the former was dictated by my tech situation, and the latter by the diplomatic situation. Since I had great propulsion tech but lousy offensive missiles, and since I was more-or-less left alone all the while I was building up, I mostly skipped the mid-game missile-oriented combat phase and went straight to the bomber-dominated end-game.

Anyway, hope this AAR is informative, even if it doesn't have the amount of detail a training-day style report might have, and I look forward to seeing others' reports.

[Sirian]

Good show.

My first observation is how differently your random events went. Looks like they are more random than I would have hoped. :unsure: If that proves too problematic on swinging performance differences, we can disable events for some games. We'll see.

Something else that struck me while playing was the severe shortage of defense bases (compared to what I'm used to seeing) for the AI. I forgot how thin they run at this level. I was dozing for a good while and could have gone on the attack much sooner.

You got the two planets I flagged in my report analysis as the most important. We played fairly even on what we grabbed, although I lost one of my systems to an early cold war and so went a system shorter than you through the midgame. Events also put me down about a system's worth, give or take. Your Mrrshan was stronger. As far as diplomatics, not ever ending up at war with the Silicoid was interesting. That turn was unexpected, and took us down quite dissimilar paths, ultimately.

This map was a little tougher than I had in mind for an intro game. Hope none of our players new to MOO got bounced around too much.


- Sirian

[Zed-F]

I forgot how thin they run at this level. I was dozing for a good while and could have gone on the attack much sooner.

Probably. I was dozing a bit too, until I got close to AntiMatter bombs and Ion Engines, and decided it was time to get the show on the road. That's when I started up my political maneuvering. It got me a war, which was my goal, just not the one I was expecting.

I guess you won your vote in 2549, right? It seemed like the tech pace in your game went a bit slower. I was working on similar end techs in 2499 as you were in 2549. I imagine that's partly the effect of being down a system for a significant part of the game (though, in compensation, you did get Laan,) and partly the effect of more cash spent on base maintenance and possibly spying over the course of the game. In terms of actual tech levels, I expect you'd have been ahead as you wound up with more intermediate techs getting researched by other empires (and stolen by you.)

It's possible we may have some other players coming in with wins significantly before 2499, if they played aggressively enough. The Meklars were in fact vulnerable in my game to assault with Warp 3 fighters and bombers, due to never getting significant shield tech going. I could have gone after them sooner, had I not fixated to some degree on the Silicoids for poaching Laan and because of the large common border. The Silicoids, however, had relatively strong shield technology, so an attack on them would have had to wait until stronger weapons than nuclear bombs and ion cannons were available.

[Sirian]

I got Laan and Simius, then lost Simius. You got the poor planet in the north and the desert in the south. My Incedius was reduced to half its size, and your homeworld went mineral rich. That latter may have been the biggest difference. You said you used it to feed reserves and help your newer systems stand up much faster.

I didn't foment any wars. That's one of the vectors we will have to watch. Fomenting wars tends to kill the quick diplomatic option, but can significantly speed military success. It's not a vector I've ever maxed to the limit, so it's one of the few areas of the game I don't know inside and out.

I'm mildly surprised there haven't been more reports tonight, but I guess we'll see them rolling in tomorrow.


- Sirian

[Garath]

This report written as the game was being played, a good couple of weeks ago now, and I don't really have the time to go over it now. Apologies for the sketchy grip on the past tense, and all that.
Report follows:

began by sending scouts to the only two available systems.

sent the colony to the Northern planet, Kailis, since there seemed to be more systems accessible from it, and it was very slightly bigger.

Built 5-pack of scouts as it landed. sent population from Altair to bring Kailis to about 30%, following the Sirian Plan, it's worked for me so far in other games.

Boring turns as planets grow, scouting reveals a fair number of decent systems nearby, including a 95 Terran reachable from Kailis without expanding range, and a 75 Jungle available after settling the system to the south. might not have to get going on the research as early as I have had to lately. Last to be scouted is the 100 Terran to the North, Primodius, although that will require some range extension. All in all a *very* nice starting area, especially as the hostile planets that there are seem to be rich, which will provide a welcome boost once I actually get them settled.

Send some pop back home as Kailis passes half and Altair begins to fill up. Pop and factories max on the same turn, so I start some research and pop out a couple more scouts before beginning on the colony ships.

Fairly standard tech selection, one of the cleanup techs, range 5 (cheaper on this difficulty, or for the Alkari?), standard stuff really. I shove the 20bc research into propulsion and construction for the cleanup, but everything there is secondary to more colonies at the moment, so I don't increase the budget

The 5 turns for the first colony ship are uninteresting, and it heads straight for Bootis, the 95 Terran, relocating via Kailis would actually be slower. Second colony ship heads South. Form the first colony and "Harken Emperor RBO-1, the manificent, industrious and godlike Silicoids have arrived".

Erk. That's gonna make it rather harder to claim those rich hostile worlds, but at least I can take heart from the fact that they haven't shown up on the news before I've got my first new colony ship out, as they have in other games. Arrange a small trade route for the rep boost with the (Aggressive, Expansionist. eek! Silicoids.

Transfer colonists from Kailis to ootis, leaving it with half its max pop, although annoyingly that's not enough for Bootis really, and I'm not going to have many to send to the next colonies either. Ah well, such are the breaks when you get a small first colony. With the reduction in its population, though, Kailis has some production not needed for factories that can help with the research effort, with the silicoids around I want to get to that 100 Terran sooner rather than later, which means I need those warp 5 engines.

Have very few people to send to each of the second and third colonies, the two in the south, but it's not worth sending anybody from Altair, I think, I need the production of one decent world. With the building of the third colony ship I kick into full research mode for just a little bit, long enough to get the range, before heading straight back to colony ship production.

Silicoids hit the 6-planet news in 2339. I have 4 planets and a ship on its way to Maalor at this point. Scouts fend off some Mrrshans, propulsion research comes in and I head back to colony ship production. Still at 5 turns though, annoyingly. Turn an unarmed Silicoid colony ship away from the ocean planet, but I don't think I'll have time to get to it, even if I go straight for it before the Terran 100 since I don't think the Silicoids have the range to get past if I do.

Scouts sent out from the founding of Maalor discover the South not quite as uninhabited as I had hoped, there are Meks at Phantos, and now I have to try to decide whether to settle nearer the Silicoids first or the Meklar. I just can't get those ships out fast enough. Reduced Industrial waste 80% drops the time to 4 turns for a ship, though, although in the same year the Silicoids settle the artifacts world to the north, and I decide that the first ship heading that way is very definitely heading to the Terran world, I fully expect to lose one of the two and I would much rather it were the smaller Ocean world. The Silicoids have 8 systems now, though. Eeek!

Piece of bad luck in 2356, though: Plague broke out on Kailis, my second colony, although fortunately the colonists had already been sent out to Primodius. everything else was going pretty much my way for a bit, I was overdue something else bad. Made the +10 terraforming I had just got a little less useful, though. Went to controlled Dead, although it seems that everything around is either Inferno or Toxc, so I'm not sure now much use it'll be.

The founding of Poor Simius in the south gave me contact with the disappointing 2-system Meklars, although they did have the largest space fleet in the galaxy. Impressively their total power was supposedly above both the Silicoids and I, 5 times their size, in the rankings. They got a small trade agreement as well.

Colony ships finished, I thought about building some basic ships, then realised that the meklar fleet could pretty much take whatever it wanted from me anyway, and I had no weapons, so it would be a better idea to research some decent weapons instead. Research evened out, with slight bias towards the weapons and the Nuclear Engines.

The first vote was held in 2369 as the Meklars finally settled a pair of systems reaching towards the left edge of the map. Abstentions from everyone except the Silicoids and I, the two nominees, meant that I was free to vote for him and the game was in no danger of ending anytime soon. I completed my own landgrab the following turn with the settling of the Fertile world in the extreme Southeast, and realised that I was pretty much trapped in by the Silicoids and the Meklars, I might never even meet anybody else, which could make a real mess of the votes. Unfortunately the Meklars were Xenophobic and thus not liking the idea of the non-agression pact I tried to form to get a colony further across the galaxy, and I wasn't about to form one with the Silicoids, they'd just steal all my hostile worlds that I was trying to keep safe until I could get the requisite tech. That same turn they settled their 12th system, though, and I still didn't have the Hyper-X missiles I was researching to give me any chance of deflecting them from Laan and especially Mobas, the rich and ultra-rich worlds in the local area. And good grief were they pulling ahead on total power.

Laan, of course, took all of 2 turns longer to fall. Next super-priority after Hyper-X Missiles was Factory Controls III, of course. I just hoped those missiles were in time to block the Silicoids from starting in on (what I hoped was) MY territory. A few more of my colonies started to come into their own, at last, too, so I was finally able to muster a decent research budget and still build a few ships.

Not much of actual interest happened in the next few turns: the Silicoids seemed to stop trying to expand, for a wonder, and a couple of Klackon ships were sighted around, apparently with a non-aggression pact with the Silicoids from where they were, and then the factory controls came in at last, but nothing of really great impact, all pretty standard. Minor scare when the Meklars sent a colony ship to the Inferno planet, Paladia, in my back lines, but they seemed unable to actually settle it and so my hyper-X boats arriving a turn later were sufficient.

With the new factories completing in my core and bases slowly but surely accumulating also, I was feeling quite good about holding what I had, at least until the AIs managed to put together a decent fleet.

The Mrrshans, with the 3rd highest number of votes, voted for the Silicoids in the 2400 elections, which will not be good since I have no immediate prospects of meeting them, and the Meklar, the only people I know who can vote with me, are Xenophobic and still abstaining and not liking a Non-Agression Pact. Which I think I would have to sign now if I could, even though it would probably lose me a couple of these Hostile planets. On the other hand, Controlled Dead coming in, although no use in and of itself, gives me the option of Controlled Toxic, which will be.

And then Altair goes and irradiates itself in 2402, 'major industrial accident'. BAH! Now that's a nasty random event if ever I saw one. That Will Not Help. (rant, rant, grrr...). Population drops from 110 to 65.

Another one of those bits where nothing much happens ensues, but then Range 7 tech allows me to send out a couple of more advanced scouts, revealing a Tundra planet just past Meklar space. My miniaturisation is 20 space off allowing me to get a Dead Base and Reserve Tanks on a Large ship, though, so I decide it will be better to try to improve that rather than shell out 3 times as much cash for a Huge ship, as urgent as this is. Discover a Klackon fleet in orbit of Seidon, the other advanced system, but they are still a good 9 parsecs away, so no contact yet. There will be if I can get that Tundra world, though.I *think* my research in Controlled Toxic, rapidly maturing now, should give me enough to cram them onto one ship, as well as settle the backline worlds.

Which it duly does, with a lot of space to spare. I duly design that and a standard Toxic colony ship, and start building them from 5 different worlds. And so of course I need *more* bad luck, Primodius rebels, 55 rebels, whilst in the middle of building me a colony ship. And so I have to send people from other planets, slowing *their* ships as *well*, and they won't even arrive for 6 turns. That's a lot of production down the drain there. Grrrrr.... And then my 65 troops prove unable to defeat their 55, aargh!

Still, by 2431 I had settled all of the planets in my back lines, and for a wonder I actually got Crypto as well, the Tundra planet beyond Mek space, giving me contact with the Sakkra and the Mrrshans. Unfortunately my troop transports haven't realised that we actually have Warp 2 Engines, and so they're all still moving a parsec a turn, meaning it will take me 10 turns to get more population there. I send 20 Hyper-X ships as well, but I don't pretend they'll be able to hold anyone off if they come for me there, only some bases will do that, and they'll be a while coming along yet. I could really do with a new generation of ships too, of course.

The Sakkra have a whole 2 systems, but the Mrrshans have 6, and, surprise surprise, they don't like me all that much. This also restricts the location of the Klackons to the one remaining yellow star, up in the far northwest corner, since the Meklar have grabbed the one in the southwest. They've got at most 4 systems up there.

I'm impressed, though. it took the Mrrshans an entire turn to go to war with me. I rebase a few more ships to Crypto, not that it's likely to do much good against by half again the most powerful space fleet in the galaxy. I finally remember to dial up some espionage spending, too, 2 clicks internal and 4 to the Mrrshans, with one each to get a spy into the others. The Mrrshans will probably pull their allies the Sakkras in against me too, soon enough. 2 turns later, we see the problem. The Mrrshan fleet is coming for me. 50 of some sort of medium ship, missile boat perhaps, and a grand total of *over* *two* *thousand* little fighters. Crypto is *GONE*. But we should be able to hold just about everything else, nothing is very close to that, and all my main worlds have some bases and planetary shields are just about to come in.

Starting to hurt for cleanup tech, still don't have an Ecology tech and I don't seem to have the reduced waste 60 either, I'm throwing away a lot of production on cleanup.

Oh, and when I said 50 medium ships, you knew I meant Large, right? I kill a few fighters with a volley of missiles and run away. They shell the colony into the ground, interestingly, which breaks my contact with both them and the Sakkras, and means that they can't get to any more of my colonies, which is something of a blessing, I'm *scared* of that fleet. They do recolonise it the following turn, but it's actually 8 parsecs away from my real colonies, and so we don't get contact back.

At which point, entertainingly, my initial troops to stand up the colony arrive just as their fleet leaves, and so I actually retake the colony temporarily. Research started into Fusion Beams for the next round (hopefully) and I realise that I do actually have Energy Pulsar, which though I have never used it before, could be rather useful in this situation with thousands of fighters coming at me.

Robotic Controls IV coming in at 1% likelihood is a welcome blessing, should be kinda handy. Improved Terraforming 30 on the next turn will keep me busy for a while to come. extra research to Industrial Tech 6 to compensate for the cost. Buy Improved Eco Restoration off the Meklars for some bombs, noting that they have *neither* Factory Controls III *nor* IV. That explains their lack on the production scale, although it's going to make for a scary jump in power when they finally get Controls V and shoot up to 7 per pop. Meanwhile, the Mrrshans are *still* faffing around sending ground troops to take Crypto back, their first lot lost since they only sent 5 and only shelled me down to about 8 or so. It does finally fall again though, a good 15 years after I retook it.

Developments in 2463 as the silicoids declare Cold War. Their fleet was theoretically bigger, but I had decent bases and a new design of ships due any minute , so I wasn't actually too worried. Relations had been slowly going downhill despite my best efforts recently, so I was pretty sure it was coming. What I did *not* need, though, was "Maintaining relations with your pitiful race is no longer beneficial. We are mobilising our fleets and preparing for war." That was the message from the Meklars 2 turns later, and if that isn't a declaration of hot war I don't know what is. My defenses weren't quite up to speed down there away from my core, that worried me rather more.

The first attack was the Meklars, who sent a single huge ship armed to the teeth with heavy blast cannon, neutron blasters, death spores and some hyper-X as well (and of course anti-missiles), against my most recent colony world on their border, with but a single base as yet, and a 'guard' of 46 Hyper-X boats. So the colony died, just couldn't put enough damage on it to stop it before the death spores got to work. That said, they didn't actually quite kill the colony, they just started shelling it from orbit a little. I had battle suits up on them though, if they were actually trying to capture the colony I might be able to hold for a while. I rebased a hundred or so more missile boats down that way as well, as backup. I was waiting on Fusion Beams to design my next wave of ships, but they were currently at 36% chance of discovery and not cooperating at all.

Got it the next turn, of course. The new design was a large ship with speed 3, computers, shields and 12 Fusion Beams. A few of them should be able to turn back even dreadnaughts, with my bases. I immediately got several systems to building them.

The vote the next turn was just about as close as it can get. Only the Klackon's 2 votes abstaining kept me from losing it, and the vote was 25/38 to Geode the Silicoid. Given that 2/3 of 38 is 25 1/3, that seemed pretty close to me. And, frustratingly, there was nothing I could do to influence the vote. The only two people I knew were at war with me, and one of them was going to be my opponent anyway.\

I couldn't quite manage a 2-1 kill ratio against the Meklar troops, though, and Proteus fell in 2476. And, of course, the Meklars looted me. 4 irrelevant techs, and... Robotic Controls IV. THIS IS NOT GOOD. That gave them 7 systems, and soon to have 6 factories per population. Oh, boy. This is not going to be pretty.

The Silicoid fleet on its way contained 10 huge and 16 large vessels of various designs, but it seemed to be coming against my best defended world, with a total of 33 bases, behind a total of 9 shield. We shall see... Or, I could be wrong, and they could be headed straight past that one to a lesser world behind it. Kailis. Oh no. Death Spores and Antimatter Bombs. Kailis didn't have a prayer with 17 defense bases, and I had nothing else that could stand against that force either. I had *no* *idea* how to stop it, or even slow it down, despite the fact that the status bar still thought my fleet was almost as good as theirs.

On the other hand, after I gave them tribute and offered a Non-Aggression Pact, they came back the next turn and offered me one right back, even after they refused mine. You never know, it might even hold. Back to research, I've got to take the teeth out of these somehow.

Retaking Proteus after rebasing some fleet and building some fusion ships, I got ECM 4, Battle Computer 6, Reduced Waste 40 off the Meklar. Not quite enough to make up for what they took, but still significant.

Not that the Non-Aggression Pact with the Silicoids lasted long. They needed more room to expand. On the other hand, as they said that, their fleet was on its way out of my territory, and at least they didn't declare actual war. Next on their list was Mobas, though, my Ultra-Rich planet, which was just one hop from Kailis, that they had already resettled. No warning, and even 36 bases did not save me there. Anti-Matter bombed into oblivion. Pay the Meklar to sign peace with me, maybe if I send all my ships north I can stop them. Or slow them down, at least. The fusion boats have had some fairly material success against the Meklar dreadnoughts. Class X Planetary shields appears next on my Force Fields list and I divert significant resources to getting it, as well as the weapon research that I hope will give my bases some more serious teeth. Ooh, Pulsons or Scatter Pack VIIs, tough call. I go for the scatter pack, their shields aren't *that* enormous yet.

Oh. And then the Silicoids won the vote in 2499. 30/42 votes, 'only' 15 of them his. And there was me just thinking the war was starting to turn, as well. The Klackons' 2 votes the only ones for me rather than them, despite that they were at war with the Mrrshans as well. Blast that Mrrshan-Alkari enmity. I reckon it's just lost me another game there. Normally I believe they could be expected to abstain, at war with both of the powers, but special circumstances clearly applied. How depressing.

Few bits of bad luck, I think, but not enough to have lost me the game, I suspect. Clearly more practise is in order. Still, an irradiated homeworld is never a nice thing to have happen.

Anyway, comments welcome. I'll look into trying to get some pictures into the next report, since I'll probably have to figure them out before then for the SG anyway.

Thanks for a great game, looking forward to reading the reports of those more experienced than I. (Perhaps I should have tried Final War, especially since I haven't done one yet. In fact, I may just go back and play that out at some point soon. When I've handed in this computing project, that is.)

Garath

[Urugharakh]

Originally posted by Sirian@Apr 26 2004, 04:44 AM
I'm mildly surprised there haven't been more reports tonight, but I guess we'll see them rolling in tomorrow.

One reason is the time difference between Europe and America. There was simply not time reorting tonight after the thread opened and not enough time this morning before work. My reoprt will be available after I'm back home this evening.

Just one information now: I too overestimated the number of AI missile bases on average difficulty resulting in a late attack and late victory.

Urugharakh

[DaveV]

I used to think I was pretty good at this game, but the Average AI did a pretty good job against me! I hadn't learned about the cheaper new designs at this point, so I used the default Scout and Colony designs. After scanning the earlier reports, I'd have to agree that I wasn't aggressive enough early enough, although the Silicoid fleet was able to take out two worlds that I thought were well-defended.

2300 - move colony ship north to green planet; scouts to western red star in nebula and to southern green star. Set slider for 2.1 industry, 2-turn scout production.
2301 - one click from industry to ships (2.0 turn industry).
2302 - send new scout to NW green star. One more click from industry to ships.
2303 - colonize Kailis. Send 2 new scouts to red and yellow stars beyond Kailis. Transport 15 million Altair->Kailis. Take a click away from ships to keep Ecology clean.
2304 - dial Ecology back one click, Industry to 2.2. New scout to WNW red star.
2305 - two scouts produced, send them to purple and blue stars to the east. All stars now explored, start a colony ship (30 years with 2.0 factories).
2307 - one click from industry to ships (22 years, 2.0 factories).
2309 - Ecology appears at +1; take a click away and give it to ships (16 years, 2.2 factories).
2310 - another click from industry to ships (13 years, 2.0 factories).
2312 - I chase a Silicoid scout away from Incedius. He appears to go due west.
2314 - another click from industry to ships (7 years, 2.0 factories).
2315 - Kailis: 1 click to ships (scout, 10 years, 2.0 factories), 1 click to tech (100% propulsion).
2316 - Kailis: 8 years to scout, 2.0 factories, 2 RP research.
**** - Computer locked up while I was alt-tabbing from VDMSound to Notepad. 28 years of logging lost.
2344 - Transport to Maalor: 5 million from Quayal, 10 from Altair, 10 from Bootis, 5 from Kailis.
2346 - My scout over Denubius chases away two colony ships (which had previously been chased from Laan).
2348 - Nuke/Laser and scout chase a colony ship away from Incedius. Silicoid colony ships will now spend a long time bouncing between Gorra and Denubius.
2349 - Altair builds colony ship.
2353 - Kailis is fully developed.
2354 - Terraforming +10 researched.
2355 - Hand Lasers researched.
2357 - Incedius colonized. Newsdroid says: I am first to control 6 systems. Transport 20 million Bootis->Incedius.
2361 - final colony ship built. Crank up factories to 4/turn on Altair.
2364 - Deep Space Scanner researched. Robotic Controls 3 next!
2365 - Class 2 deflectors researched. Gorra builds a missile base and my scout retreats. Helos colonized, transport 20 million from Bootis.
2367 - Primodius colonized. Transport 25 million from Bootis.
2368 - Nuclear engines researched. New design: nuke/laser3. The galaxy:


2376 - Reduced Waste 80% researched. Silicoids control 10 planets.
2380 - High council: Meklars (2) abstain, Silicoids (5) vote for themselves, Sakkra (3) abstain, Klackons (1) abstain, Mrrshans (4) abstain, I vote for Silicoids. Contact with Meklars, they agree to trade 45, trade ECM Jammer 1 for Deep Space Scanner.
2387 - Robotic Controls 3 researched.
2388 - Silicoids refuse to break alliance with Klackons.
2391 - Silicoids refuse to break alliance with Klackons.
2394 - Silicoids refuse to break alliance with Klackons.
2397 - Silicoids agree to declare war on Meklars.
2398 - Hyper X missiles researched. New design: HX/Laser.
2399 - Silicoids refuse to break alliance with Klackons.
2400 - High council: Meklars (4) me, Silicoids (8) themsevles, Sakkra (3) abstain, Klackons (1) abstain, Mrrshans (4) abstain, me (7) Silicoids.
2401 - Controlled Dead Environment researched.
2402 - Class 3 shields researched.
2404 - Newsdroid reports production rankings: Silicoids, Mrrshan, me, Meklars, Sakkra, Klackons.
2412 - Sub Light Drives researched.
2414 - ECM 3, Duralloy Armor researched. New design: HX/Laser2. A slip of the mouse gives Robotic Controls 3 to Meklars for Battle Computer 3 .
2415 - Crank up trade with Silicoids to 475 BC/year.
2420 - Newsdroid reports population rankings: Silicoids, me, Meklars, Mrrshan, Sakkra, Klackon. Silicoids agree to declare war on Meklars.
2422 - Newsdroid says: Silicoids control 12 systems.
2425 - High council: Meklars (5) me, Silicoids (9) themselves, Sakkra (3) me, Klackons (1) abstain, Mrrshans (4) me, me (7) Silicoids.
2426 - Class 5 planetary shield researched.
2434 - Neutron Blaster researched. New design: HX/HBC.
2441 - Terraforming +30 researched.
2442 - Automated Repair Systems, Uridium Fuel Cells researched. Newsdroid reports population rankings: Silicoids, me, Meklars, Sakkra, Mrrshan, Klackon.
2444 - Industrial accident on Kailis.
2445 - Robotic Controls 4 researched.
2448 - Controlled Toxic Environment stolen from Meklars. Silicoids agree to break alliance with Klackons.
2450 - High council: Meklars (6) me, Silicoids (10) themselves, Sakkra (4) me, Klackons (2) abstain, Mrrshans (3) me, me (8) Silicoids. Increase trade with Silicoids to 675 BC.
2453 - Silicoids offer alliance, I decline.
2456 - Silicoids offer alliance, I decline.
2457 - Silicoid colony ship destroyed at Mobas, Battle Computer 4 stolen from Silicoids.
2458 - Silicoids attack Laan with 2 huge, 79 large, I retreat. I destroy a Silicoid colony ship at Mobas, establish a colony. Transport 30 million Primodius->Mobas.
2460 - ECM Jammer 4 stolen from Silicoids.
2463 - Meklars destroy Laan and leave.
2465 - Newsdroid reports technology rankings: Meklars, Silicoids, Mrrshans, me, Sakkra, Klackon.
2467 - I colonize Laan, sign non-aggression pact with Silicoids.
2472 - Silicoids cancel non-aggression pact.
2473 - Meklars come back to Laan with 10 large ships, against my 3 large. They have Hyper-X, lasers, and Death Spores; I have Hyper-X, heavy blast cannon, and auto repair. They spore me down to a population of 2, but I prevail .
2474 - Controlled Barren Environment stolen from Meklars.
2475 - High council: Meklars (6) me, Silicoids (11) themselves, Sakkra (4) me, Klackons (1) abstain, Mrrshans (5) me, me (9) Silicoids. I could have won cheaply here.
2478 - The Silicoids come to say, "Thanks for voting for us": Incedius destroyed. I am caught stealing Death Spores tech from the Meklars, they issue a threat. Change Meklar spies to "Hide". Reajax II Fuel Cells researched.
2479 - Industrial Tech 7 researched.
2480 - Fusion Beam researched. Silicoids refuse a non-aggression pact, diplomat gone.
2481 - Controlled Radiated Environment researched. Meklars declare war. Spies go back to Espionage.
2484 - Meklars attack Laan: I defeat their fleet, but they destroy it with death spores.
2485 - Silicoids agree to non-aggression pact, refuse to increase trade. Diplomat gone.
2488 - Silicoids refuse to increase trade.
2489 - Rigel (Meklars) becomes Fertile.
2490 - Battle Computer 6 researched.
2491 - Silicoids cancel non-aggression pact.
2494 - Meklars take Laan from Silicoids.
2495 - Meklars attack Altair; I lose two of my medium-hulled obsolete ships and kill all the invaders .
2498 - Silicoids take Laan from Meklars.
2500 - High Council: Meklars (6) Silicoids, Silicoids (13) themselves, Sakkra (4) me, Klackons (1) abstain, Mrrshans (5) me, Me (8) abstain. Class 10 Planetary Shields researched.
2502 - Silicoids demand Uridium Fuel Cells for non-aggression pact (I refuse), refuse to increase trade. Diplomat gone.
2503 - Personal Deflector Shield stolen from Meklars.
2506 - Class 4 Deflector Shields stolen from Meklars. Meklars take Laan from Silicoids.
2507 - Meklars attack Altair, I destroy two out of three stacks, the third retreats. No losses. ECM Jammer 5 stolen from Meklars.
2508 - Silicoids take Laan from Meklars.
2510 - Atmospheric Terraforming, Ion Drives researched. Meklars offer peace, I accept.
2511 - Meklars refuse to trade.
2513 - Sabotage against Silicoids? I must have mis-clicked, should have been espionage . I try to sabotage Laan, no bases.
2514 - Silicoids are coming against Kailis. New design, Fast Repuls, relocate all planets to Kailis. Here are the Silicoids at their apex (but before they take Kailis):


2515 - Silicoids destroy Kailis, and my brand-new fleet . Plague on Primodius.
2516 - Plague continues on Primodius, 3549 RP to go. Sigh.
2518 - Improved Industrial Tech 9 stolen from Meklars, they issue a warning. Silicoids colonize Kailis.
2519 - Meklars declare war.
2520 - Silicoid main fleet withdraws to the west.
2521 - Megabolt Cannon researched.
2523 - ECM Jammer 6, Reduced Waste 40% researched.
2524 - Silicoids withdraw from Kailis, Meklars are coming with a colony ship. Send brand-new Condor to Rigel.
2525 - High Council: Meklars (8) Silicoids, Silicoids (14) themselves, Sakkra (4) me, Klackons (1) abstain, Mrrshans (4) me, Me (8) abstain.
2526 - Battle Computer 2 stolen from Silicoids.
2528 - Improved Eco Restoration stolen from Silicoids. Plague on Primodius has ended. Silicoids issue a warning.
2529 - Bomb Kailis and Rigel. Silicoids issue a warning. Move from Kailis to Incedius.
2530 - Bomb Rigel some more, Silicoids go to Peaceful.
2531 - Incedius and Rigel bombed, Rigel destroyed. Newsdroid announces population rankings: Silicoid, Alkari, Meklar, Mrrshan, Sakkra, Klackon. Meklars issue an attaboy, I pay them 3000 BC for peace. Silicoids are at Feud, diplomat gone.
2532 - Incedius destroyed, Silicoids declare war. Move Condor from Rigel to Laan (should have done this last turn!. Move Condor from Incedius to Ajax. Move new Condor from Mobas to Kailis.
2533 - Cloaking Device researched. Kailis destroyed. Move Condor from Kailis to Jinga. Silicoid fleet has left Gorra, and is off the radar.
2534 - Silicoid ships retreat from Ajax, Ajax bombed. Sakkras colonize Rigel.
2535 - Ajax bombed, contact lost with Sakkras. At Jinga, I kill one Silicoid ship, the others retreat.
2536 - Ajax bombed. Newsdroid says: computer virus hoses Silicoid research. Couldn't happen to a better guy. Meklars conquer Kailis.
2538 - In a battle over Incedius, I kill 9 Silicoid ships, the rest retreat. Ajax destroyed, Incedius bombed. Ground battle on Jinga, 127 of my guys against 90 Silicoids. I win with 45 survivors. Techs found: Inertial Stabilizer, Improved Industrial Tech 4, Class 6 deflectors, Advanced Eco Restoration, Dotomite Crystals. New design.
2539 - Incedius destroyed. Meklars sign a non-aggression pact.
2540 - Laan destroyed.
2542 - Main Silicoid fleet chases my Condor away from Incedius, Silicoids re-establish colony. Send new Dreadwing from Mobas to Gorra.
2543 - High Energy Focus researched.
2545 - Gorra bombed.
2546 - Gorra bombed some more, another attaboy from the Meklars. Contact with Mrrshans, they agree to a non-aggression pact.
2547 - Meklars offer alliance, I decline. Silicoids offer peace, I accept. Mrrshans agree to break alliance with Meklars, refuse to declare war. Meklars refuse to declare war on Mrrshans.
2548 - Gorra destroyed, Incedius captured by ground troops. Silicoids declare war.
2549 - Denubius bombed. Meklars refuse to declare war on the Mrrshans; Mrrshans agree to declare war on the Meklars. Send new Dreadwing from Mobas to Simius.
2550 - High Council: Meklars (9) themselvs, Silicoids (8) Meklars, Sakkra (3) me, Klackons (1) me, Mrrshans (4) me, Me (9) abstain.
2551 - Denubius destroyed, contact lost with Mrrshans.
2552 - Thrax bombed. Move new Dreadwing from Mobas to Cryslon.
2553 - unknown spy destroys 11 factories on Jinga. Thrax, Simius bombed. Newsdroid says: Rigel about to go Nova.
2554 - Bio Toxin Antidote stolen from Silicoids. Thrax, Simius destroyed; Kailis captured, Meklars successfully defend Laan. Meklars declare war. Move Dreadwings from Thrax to Hyboria, Simius to Omicron.
2555 - Cryslon cleared. Andrium Armor, Scatter Pack 7 :D researched. Laan captured. New design.
2556 - Omicron cleared. Hyperspace Communications researched. Hyboria bombed. Mrrshans offer alliance, I accept.
2558 - Industrial tech 8 stolen from Silicoids. Meklars capture Laan. Contact with Mrrshans lost.
2559 - Industrial tech 7 stolen from Silicoids, Meklars framed. Advanced Soil Enrichment researched. Invasion of Cryslon fails, 8 Silicoid survivors.
2561 - Ajax destroyed. Cryslon captured, new techs: Trilithium Crystals, Impulse Drives, Industrial Tech 3, Hyper-V rockets, Zortrium Armor, Terraforming +50. Invasion of Omicron fails, 95 Meklar survivors .
2562 - Romulas, Proteus bombed.
2563 - Romulas destroyed. Meklars recapture Laan. Sakkras offer alliance, I accept.
2564 - I recapture Laan, find techs: Energy Pulsar, Class 5 Shields. I capture Omicron, new techs: Hard Beam, Enhanced Eco Restoration, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Armored Exoskeleton, Battle Computer 7.
2565 - Proteus destroyed. Newsdroid says: Rigel has gone super nova. Silicoids ask me to break my alliance with the Mrrshans, I agree.
2566 - Volantis, Meklon cleared; Denubius destroyed. I defend Laan successfully against the Meklars.
2567 - Klackons offer alliance, I refuse.
2568 - Phantos bombed. Meklars ask me to cancel alliance with Sakkras, I agree.
2569 - Volantis captured, new techs: Fusion Drives, Anti-Matter Bomb. Meklon captured, new techs: Intergalactic Star Gates, Terraforming +40, Improved Space Scanner, Battle Computer 7, Gatling Laser, Tritanium Armor. Time for another new design.
2570 - Phantos destroyed.
2571 - Palladia destroyed.
2573 - Thrax destroyed.
2574 - ECM Jammer 2 stolen from Sakkra. Zyro Shield researched. Maretta, Drakka destroyed.
2575 - Palladia destroyed. High Council: Meklars (1) Sakkra, Silicoids (3) Sakkra, Sakkra (4) themselves, Klackons (1) me, Mrrshans (4) me, Me (19) abstain.
2576 - Battle Computer 5 stolen from Sakkra.
2577 - Neutron Pellet Gun stolen from Klackons.
2578 - Kholdan cleared, Terraforming +20 stolen from Klackons (Mrrshans framed). Romulas, Phyco destroyed.
2579 - Scatter Pack V stolen from Meklars, Sakkra framed. Phantos destroyed.
2580 - My Warhawk destroyed at Fieras. Simius destroyed. I need a bomber design for the Mrrshan and Sakkras, and for the Silicoid nebula planets.
2581 - Hyboria destroyed; Kholdan captured, new tech: Irridium Fuel Cells. Klackons exterminated.
2582 - Fieras cleared, Rigel destroyed.
2585 - Gion destroyed; Fieras captured, new tech: Industrial Waste 60%, Mass Driver, Anti-Missile Rockets, Omega-V Bomb, Warp Dissipator, Stinger Missiles.
2588 - Sssla cleared; Seidon destroyed.
2589 - Controlled Tundra Environment stolen from Sakkras (Mrrshans framed). Moro, Centauri destroyed. Meklars exterminated. Silicoids and Sakkra issue attaboys (I thought genocide was supposed to be a *bad* thing).
2590 - Controlled Inferno Environment stolen from Sakkras. Herculis destroyed, Silicoids exterminated. Sssla captured, new tech: Complete Eco Restoration, Doom Virus.
2591 - Vega, Dunatis destroyed.
2592 - Reticuli, Crypto destroyed.
2593 - Tau Cygni, Xudax, Vega destroyed. Sakkra exterminated, Mrrshans sneaked a colony in on Gion.
2594 - Gion destroyed. Sub Space Teleporter researched. Another new Mrrshan colony on Dunatis (the cursor in this screenie).


2595 - Dunatis destroyed, Mrrshans exterminated, game over! Here's my final fleet:

[JMB]

In 2300, the only two stars in range for my colony ship are a green star and a blue star. I am
going to play it safe and send out my scouts before sending my colony ship (heading to the
green is likely the better move though...). The green star turns out to be a minimal system
size 45. The blue system is a desert size 40. I decide to send the colony ship to the green
star as there is a yellow star nearby that 1) might have another AI, or 2) will be a good
star to claim...

In 2307, I settle my first world (Kailis); 13 colonists are sent to the planet. The start
seems quite fertils as there is a Jungle planet in our SW (Pop 75) and a Terran planet to
the NW (Pop 95). Shortly thereafter, I have scouted all the stars within range until I get a
few more colonies up and running. I decide to send my first produced colony ship to the N as
there is a fairly sizeable bap between the stars to my south and other stars in the area. I
luck out as the yellow star in the N is another Terran planet (Pop 100). Once I can increase
my fuel efficiency, I'll be able to claim it. There is also another ocean planet up that way
(Pop 60).



In 2327, I start researching, and produce a few more scouts in anticipation of being able to
explore more distant regions... For computers, I can select between deep space scanner and
battle computer II, I go with the deep space scanners as they are less expensive. I get
reduced industrial waste 80%, class II deflector shields, improved terraforming +10,
deuterium fuel cells, and hand lasers or gatling gun (I go for the hand lasers...).

My first colony is built on Bootis and we meet the Silicoids who think we are a pathetic and
worthless race (they appear to be agressive expansionists). We sign a trade treaty for 50
BC/year. The next colony ship goes south (the only habitable planet in range) in 2333. The
next year, the Silicoids have settled over 6 star systems.

During a lapse of attention, I forgot to leave my scout parked on the rich inferno planet to
my W and now there is a silicoid scout parked there. So, rather than just take the loss, I
decide to fight for the planet by building several fighters to fight for that star (probably
a weedy move...). Our next colony of is founded on the desert star to the south and after
that, Maalor is colonized. In 2340, we learn the secrets of terraforming and begin
researching how to colonize dead environments.

According to the GNN Fleet Strength Rankings, we have the fifth strongest fleet (Mrrshan,
Meklar, Klaxkon, Sakkra, Alkari, and silicoids). Around 2342, deuterium cells finally com in
and we begin researching nuclear engines. Way to the south there is a large fertile terran
world; I plan on colonizing it before the Meklars do.

In 2352, we barely beat the Silicoids to Incedius (by 2 turns) and force them to flee a
couple of turns later. A sakkra colony is hit by the plague. Over the next several years, I
dissuade several Silicoid colony ships from settling the toxic and inferno planets in our
west. I doubt I really have a hope in hell of protecting these planets, but I plan on
staying there until they kick me out.

Shortly thereafter, we found a colony on the poor steppe to the south and meet the Meklars
and colonize Simius a few turns later. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll probably lose this
colony as the Meklars have sent a big fleet that way... If they take/destroy this planet, my
colony ship en route to the fertile planet will perish. So, I sign a trade agreement with
the Meklars (I forgot to do this earlier...) for 150 BC/year and then threaten them just
before they begin to orbit my planet. It is extremely unlikely that this will work... It
doesn't and I think they declared war.



After destroying my colony, the Meklar fleet disappeared, so I refound the colony about 6
turns later (just before my colony ship en route to the fertile planet went out of range.

Several turns later, the first election arrives. It is us versus the Silicoids. Seeings as
Geode will have just slightly under 66% of the votes, I vote for him. A couple of turns
later, the silicoids take over 12 star systems.

After discovering nuclear engines, I opt for sub-light drives as opposed to dotomite
crystals (I don't expect I'll be able to colonize anything further unless I get more
controlled landing techs). The high council convenes again (after only about 6 turns) and
the results are the same as last time. It would be really nice to contact some other races
(I am boxed in though by the lack of habitable planets towards the center of the map... The
silicoids have already colonized all of the hostile planets in those areas...) , since I
think that is why the vote is so one sided... (for the Silicoids)

After finally discovering deep space scanner, I have the choice between Mark II computer,
Mark II Jammer, Improved robotics III, and Mark III computer. I begin researching the Mark
II computer. Shortly thereafter, my spying pays off and we steal ECM Jammer I from the
Meklars.

The Silicoids then defeat my fighters and they begin colonizing my rich and ultra rich
backworlds. My spying pays off again and we steal contorlled barren environment from the
Meklars. After discovering the MArk II computer, we begin researching Robotics III.

Being extremely sick of warring with the Meklars, I decide to offer them improved
terraforming and then sue for peace. Of course, the Meklars accept the gift and refuse to
offer me peace...

In 2397, we survive our first invasion by the Meklars at Maalor, but lose the second time.
Sometime thereafter (I am not sure when...) we force the orbiting Meklars to retreat from
Maalor and from Simius. In 2400, another vote is held, and support for the Silicoids has
increased slightly, so I abstain from the vote (if I voted for them, they would have won).
Then a computer virus takes out 133 BCs of research into Hyper-X rockets and we lose Simius
to a Meklar transport.

After recapturing Simius, I ask the Meklars to give peac a chance... Unfortunately, he wants
robotic controls 3 for peace... I am really sick of this war and there is another transport
on its way to one of my worlds. Finally, I decide to tell him to forget it. In 2413, I lose
Drakka, but in 2424, I recapture it.



The next year, I lose the vote to the Silicoids.

Here's a map of my planets:


This was a very enjoyable game, but I can't seem to figure out how I would have gotten
contact with the other races... Hopefully the other reports will shed some light on the
subject. I was rather disappointed with my performance though as just before beginning this
game, I won a game on Hard as the Alkari and was doing very well in another Hard game as the
Sakkra (I wone this one too...). I guess I've just got to figure out how not to get boxed
in...

Thanks for the game!

JMB