Odd starts in RotP

[haphazard1]

The shifters were not all that much smaller than my cyborgs -- they had about 15 planets when I started the invasion. They were the number 3 power in the galaxy, based on council votes. Once I finish annexing their territory, I should easily be number one. With my recent atmo terraforming and soil enrichment of all my hostile planets, I may even have a veto block. I have started researching terraforming+50, which will be a nice upgrade from my current +20. Applied to 26 worlds plus new conquests (I am not sure what level of terraforming the shifters have), I should be pretty close to half the galactic population.

I have no idea what techs the shifters pulled from those artifact worlds. But they did expand very rapidly early; maybe some propulsion tech? Or something economic?

[RefSteel]

Ah, cool - thanks for clarifying; I misunderstood what the 'lok situation was: Sounds like their empire wasn't a small one ... until you conquered most of it! With three different ART planets, it would almost be surprising if they didn't land some kind of useful tech like super-early Range or Controlled Environmental tech - or just an early economic boost like IER, II8, or RW80 that everyone else would catch up to only after they got off to a lightning-fast start. Great job catching up in spite of their ongoing Artifacts research, taking them on, and taking them down!

[haphazard1]

Found time to play another dozen turns or so. The war with the shapeshifters continues, planets slowly falling as huge numbers of cyborg troops are shipped from every available world to help with the fighting. Having equal ground combat tech has made things somewhat better, but it is still taking a huge number of troops to wear down the defenders. The shifters had a lot of large-ish worlds, and conquering a size 100+ planet at equal tech takes a lot of troops.

Andrium armor has entered the percentages, so hopefully I will have a small tech edge soon over the current zortrium. The brains have developed personal absorption shield, which I would love to get my hands on. But as their newest tech, they will not be willing to trade it. I have cleaned out all the shifters' older techs, which will help with miniaturization at least.

The turns are very slow to play, as there are ships and troops going all over the place. Lots and lots and LOTS of lines on the map. Maybe I should have tried a more focused effort, and concentrated my fleet and transports on just a couple worlds at a time. The mass invasion of many systems at once has worked, but it is a lot to manage.

[RefSteel]

Oh, cool! I begin to worry that my (bad?) habits may have rubbed off on you with regard to all those lines on the map and simultaneous invasions. I enjoy spending a long time on each turn, but I suspect the game actually goes faster when playing more but simpler turns - and for some players may be a lot more fun! I'm curious to learn how your empire will compare with the rest of the galaxy once you've accomplished your goals in Darlok space, and what the next plan will be - but it sounds like the 'loks had a lot of territory and it may be a long while yet before that conquest is complete!

[haphazard1]

The micromanagement did get a little crazy for a while. Ships and transports going everywhere, total chaos!

I managed to play another 15 turns or so, and reached the next galactic council meeting. I do not quite have a veto block -- I need about 5 more votes. But I recently finished Terraforming+50 (up from +20) and was still in the process of adding the new pop, so I should be in pretty good shape for the future.

The great crusade against the shape shifters is finally over, after hundreds of millions of cyborg troopers fought and died to conquer their worlds. The newly claimed worlds still need a lot of development, but the cyborg empire is now solidly the strongest in the galaxy. The shifters even came up with a tech surprise -- Omega V bombs -- right at the end, which I was able to loot. I am waiting on one more tech to pop (warp 5 engines), then I will design a new battleship with improved armor, shields, engines, battle computer, and bombs. Same mass driver guns for now, but the shield halving effect gives them a longer useful life span.

The shape shifters are left with a single poor world at the galactic rim. It is also next door to the bugs, who have been at war with the shifters for some time. If the bugs decide to wipe out that last world, well the blame would fall on them rather than me, right? 

I will try to get a few screenshots of the state of the galaxy up tomorrow.

[RefSteel]

Congratulations on successfully concluding your war with the shifty shifters - those of them who remain, on their one-planet zoo! I'm curious to see how long they last there, and what your new plan will be for the (virtually or soon perhaps entirely) post-'lok galaxy. It'll be neat to see the pictures too, though I know for me those are always the most-difficult part of playing and reporting any given set of turns!