Imperium Four - Veteran's Challenge

[Brackard]

Report at the link.

Imperium 4 - Veteran's Challenge

[Sirian]

Good job hanging in there! :wub: I'm sure you learned a lot of useful things that can help you the next time out. Here's one you may not have thought of: setting the AIs against one another is not always wise. You can see weaker AIs disappearing faster, and larger fleets flying around. Getting the AIs to fight amongst themselves can be a powerful tool, but it's not all up side. "Handle with Care".

I think you also caught a bad break with your Darloks disintegrating so early. That looked like a tougher row to hoe than the one I was digging at.

Great report!


- Sirian

[Factoid]

Hi all, Brack, Justus,

Brack, I mostly-expected to end up the way you did, stuffed in a corner with arbitrary neighbours taking planets whenever they wanted. I think the assassination event is the equivalent of you inciting rebellion (through sabotage) in a race that forces a change of personality. Maybe when the majority (by population) of your empire is in rebellion? With two planets, a rebellion on the larger would do it. Don't take this as gospel, I'm not sure of my facts. Thats why I call myself Factoid, master of the plausible (but possibly wrong) explanation.

Justus, your Darloks were SCARY. They look more like aggressive expansionists, are you sure they weren't impostors, framing the Darloks? :P Two planet Darloks were bad enough for me. Well handled.

Thanks for your generous words on my report. I had trouble producing non-fuzzy enlarged screenshots too. What finally worked for me was using IrfanView's Resize rather than Resample. I couldn't get MS Pain(t) to enlarge without sh!tting all over the crispness, so my freeware graphics editing is an annoying switch backwards and forward between IrfanView and Paint to avoid the weaknesses, not that IrfanView *claims* to be an editing program, unlike Paint. Anyone know of good freeware tools?

Cheers,
Factoid.

[Sirian]

My report's not going to be done by tonight, so I'm posting a brief summary:

I managed to grab seven systems in the initial grab. (Did not think to build large class LR Laser ships, like Zed, and did not mature my planets as far before teching and building colony ships).

I never spent a BC on spying. Got attacked only twice. Once when the Darloks wrested Beta Ceti from my five Laser One medium ships, and once by an obsolete Darlok SoD of 9 huges and assorted flotsam, which my scatter packs (24 bases) absolutely ripped to shreds and back at Incedius.

I ended the game with the same seven systems, won by unanimous acclaim in the election of 2450AD.


- Sirian

[DaveV]

Put me down for an "Incomplete" on this one. I didn't have time to finish the game, although I think the outcome is inevitable at this point. I went back to my old bad habits on this game, turtling for centuries. The Psilons spent a good portion of the game (starting in 2571) with negative fleets.

And, later:


Pre-game: a tough draw on opponents. At least the Silicoids like me...
2300 Fighting the last war, I send my colony to the range 3 star (Mobas) and a scout to the range 2 (Crius). The other scout goes to the SW blue.
2302 Crius scouted.
2303 Mobas colonized. Transport 7M Meklon->Mobas.
2304 Transport 4M Meklon->Mobas.
2305 Transport 2M Meklon->Mobas.
2306 Zhardan scouted. Transport 3M Meklon->Mobas.
2307 Transport 4M Meklon->Mobas.
2308 My scout chases a Psilon scout away from Zhardan.
2311 Reticuli scouted; Kronos scouted, after chasing away a Darlok scout.
2313 Beta Ceti scouted, after chasing away a Darlok scout; Pollus scouted; Incedius scouted; Cygni scouted.
2314 Jinga scouted.
2320 Turn on research on Mobas, 100% propulsion (Range 4, only choice).
2326 Crius colonized. Transport 5M Meklon->Crius, 10M Mobas->Crius.
2332 Guradas scouted (Psilon, pop 54). Propulsion at 4%.
2333 Contact with 4-planet Psilons (they must have range 6+), they agree to 25 BC trade. One click to spies (hide). Propulsion at 10%.
2334 Propulsion at 13%; reduce it to 10%, split the leftovers between Construction and Planetology.
2335 Pick Industrial tech 9 over waste 80%, Terraform +10 (only choice). Reduce Propulsion to one click (10%).
2336 Hydrogen Fuel Cells researched, Inertial Stabilizer next (only choice). Psilons have colonized Zoctan. Send out next wave of scouts.
2337 Cygni colonized. Transport 8M Crius->Cygni.
2338 Imra scouted (Psilon, pop 54). Send the scout back home so as not to aggravate our very good friends, the Psilons. Transport 2M Crius->Cygni.
2339 My scout arrives at Willow; it already has 1 base and a large Corona, which comes after me at speed 2 and fires a missile. Time to retreat. Primodius, Escalon, Vox scouted. Transport 2M Crius->Cygni.
2340 Sakkras attack Primodius with 3 smalls; my scout retreats and returns. Transport 1M Crius->Cygni.
2341 Sakkras attack Primodius with 3 smalls; my scout retreats and returns. Transport 1M Crius->Cygni.
2342 Sakkras attack Primodius with 3 smalls; my scout retreats and returns. My scout chases 2 Darlok scouts away from Escalon.
2343 Sakkras attack Primodius with 3 smalls; my scout retreats and returns. Planetology at 5%.
2344 Sakkras attack Primodius with 3 smalls; my scout retreats and returns. Psilons attack Escalon with 3 smalls, 2 scouts, 3 (unarmed) colony ships. I retreat, they plant the flag. Planetology at 12%, reduce to 10%. Newsdroid says: Psilons control 6 systems.
2345 Sakkras attack Primodius with 3 smalls; my scout retreats and returns. Planetology at 14%, reduce to 10%. Construction at 4%.
2346 Improved Terraforming +10 researched; Controlled Dead next (over Death Spores). Open up all research, Construction drops to 5%.
2347 My scout chases a Psilon scout from Kronos, Mrrshan medium Cheetah chases my scout away. Research Computer 2 (only choice), Class 2 Shield (only choice), and Hand Lasers (over Gatling Laser). Incedius colonized. Transport 15M Mobas->Incedius. Construction at 6%. Psilon fleet appears to be headed to Incedius.
2349 Darloks attack Primodius with 13 mediums, 1 small, 2 scouts, 4 colony ships. My scout retreats. Psilons attack Incedius with 3 small, 2 scouts, 2 colony. My 4 laser smalls fend them off (whew!. Contact with Darloks (at range 5); they refuse to trade. Construction at 8%.
2350 Improved Industrial Tech 9 researched, Waste 80% next (over Industry 9 and Duralloy).
2351 Reticuli colonized. Transport 16M Mobas->Reticuli.
2352 Darloks agree to trade 25 BC.
2354 Newsdroid reports production rankings: Silicoid, Sakkras, Psilon, Mrrshan, Meklar, Darlok. Psilons are coming back to Incedius, with large ships this time. Uh-oh...
2355 ... or maybe not; the Psilons appear to be headed elsewhere.
2357 In fact, the Psilons are headed to Jinga and Primodius.
2359 Pollus colonized. Darloks attack my scout at Beta Ceti with 13 medium Scorpions (apparently laser armed), retreat.

2361 Psilons sign NAP. Transport 8M Crius->Pollus, 8M Cygni->Pollus (Two tuns late. Grr.).
2362 Hand Lasers researched, Hyper-X next (over Gatling Lasers, NPG, Ion Cannon).
2363 Darloks attack my scout at Beta Ceti with an armed colony ship, retreat. My scout arrives at Esper (Sakkras, 1 base, pop 80, 35 factories), retreat. Event: Pollus is rich. Two games in a row! High Council: Psilons against Meklars (uh oh). Psilons (5) themselves, Sakkras (4) Psilons, Mrrshans (3) Psilons, Silicoids (4) abstain, Darloks (3) abstain, me (4) abstain. Darloks and Psilons both agree to increase trade to 175 BC.
2364 My scout arrives at Rigel (Sakkras, 1 base, 60 pop, 87 factories, 3 colony, 2 large, 5 medium, 31 small), retreat.
2366 My scout arrives at Orion, the Guardian toasts it.
2368 Psilons are up to Amiable, but no diplo options are available.
2374 Battle Computer Mark 2, Class 2 Deflector Shields researched; RC3 (over ECM 2), Personal Deflector (only choice) next. Psilons have colonized Jinga and Vox (giving them 9 planets total), have allied with Sakkras and dropped to Relaxed. Psilons agree to declare war on Darloks, refuse to cancel alliance with Sakkras. Press "Next Turn" with crossed fingers...
2375 Galactic Council: Psilons against Meklars redux. Psilons (6) themselves, Sakkras (4) Psilons, Mrrshans (4) Psilons, Silicoids (4) abstain, Darloks (3) me, me (5) abstain. Dodged the bullet again. Psilons, after I failed to vote for them, are back to Amiable (?), and are now allied to Sakkras and Mrrshans. Psilons have colonized Zhardan, giving them 10 planets.
2378 Psilons agree to break alliance with Sakkras, refuse to break alliance with Mrrshans.
2382 Psilons agree to break alliance with Silicoids, refuse to break alliance with Mrrshans.
2383 The Darloks have taken Jinga from the Psilons. Good.
2384 Reduced Industrial Waste 80% researched, Duralloy next (over Industrial 8).
2389 Psilons have colonized Misha (10 planets).
2393 ECM Jammer Mark 2 researched (wrong click in 2374 - arrgggh!, Robotic Controls 3 next (over ECM 3).
2394 Hyper-X Rockets researched, Scatter Pack V next. Event: Seidon (Mrrshan) becomes Poor. Psilons agree to break alliance with Mrrshans.
2395 Psilons agree to declare war on Darloks.
2397 Contact with Sakkras (range 7, 5 planets, Unease), they agree to trade 80 BC. Psilons agree to declare war on Sakkras.
2398 Psilons retake Jinga (11 planets).
2399 Psilons are now at war with the Mrrshans.
2400 Personal Deflector Shield researched, Class 4 Shields next (over Planetary Shield 5). Galactic Council: Psilons against Meklars for the third time. Psilons (8) themselves, Sakkras (4) me, Mrrshans (4) me, Silicoids (5) abstain, Darloks (4) me, me (6) Psilons. Psilons are now Calm. Darloks retake Jinga. Psilons agree to increase trade to 475 BC.
2402 Controlled Dead Environment, Inertial Stabilizer researched; Terraforming +30 (over Spores, Inferno, Toxic), Sub-Light (only choice) next. Darloks agree to NAP, increase trade to 475 BC, give Improved Eco Restoration for Inertial Stabilizer. Diplomat gone.
2403 Psilons cancel NAP. Danger, Will Robinson!
2404 Psilons are coming against Incedius.
2405 Improved Robotic Controls 3 researched, ECM 3 next (only choice). Generate some waste on Incedius so I can build 2 bases this turn.
2406 Build another base on Incedius.
2407 Oops, the Psilon fleet is going to Primodius (captured from the Darloks by the Sakkras).
2411 The Psilons are now coming against Mobas. Again, one tick of waste produces 3 bases.
2413 Psilon fleet bypasses Mobas, headed for Pollus. Event: plague on Rigel (Sakkra). Psilons refuse to sign NAP, diplomat gone. Sakkras agree to trade 675 BC.
2414 Contact lost with Darloks.
2415 Psilons attack Mobas with 163 Starfighters (small, 1 Ion Cannon). I kill them all, no losses. Psilons refuse to sign NAP, diplomat gone.
2418 Psilons attack Pollus with 98 Starfighters, 57 Seekers (small, 1 laser, shield 3). I kill them all, no losses. Scatter Pack V Rockets researched :D, Stingers next (over Gatling Laser, NPG, Ion Cannon, Ion Rifle, Hard Beam, Fusion Beam).
2419 Psilons attack Pollus with 98 Starfighters, I kill them all, no losses. Duralloy Armor researched, Battle Suits next (over Industrial 8, 7). Psilons refuse to sign NAP, diplomat gone.
2420 ECM Jammer 3 researched, Robotic Controls 4 next (over ECM 4, Computer 5).
2421 Newsdroid says: Psilons control 12 systems.
2422 Event: pirates in Orion (I didn't know that was possible).
2423 Newsdroid says: pirates at 90%.
2425 Galactic Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (9) themselves, Sakkra (5) Silicoids, Mrrshans (4) Silicoids, Silicoids (7) themselves, Darloks (2) Psilons, me (6) Psilons. Psilons are now Calm.
2426 Sub-Light Drives researched, Warp Dissipator next (only choice).
2428 Psilons are allied with the Darloks (still at war with the other 3 races).
2431 Sakkras have cured the plague on Rigel.
2432 Class 4 Deflector Shields researched, Class 5 Planetary Shield next (over Repulsor Beam, Class 5 Deflectors).
2434 Pirates in Orion still reducing trade by 90%.
2435 Improved Terraforming +30% researched, Soil Enrichment next (over Spores, Inferno, Toxic, Antidote). Psilons agree to trade 675 BC.
2438 Battle Suits researched, Zortrium next (over Industrial 8, 7, 6). Newsdroid reports fleet strength: Psilon, Mrrshan, Sakkra, Silicoid, Darlok, Meklar. Not good news. Sakkras agree to NAP.
2439 Improved Robotic Controls 4 researched, Advanced Space Scanner next (over ECM 4, Computer 5, 6).
2441 Psilons agree to break alliance with Darloks.
2449 Psilons have glassed Primodius (Sakkra).
2450 Galactic Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (10) themselves, Sakkras (5) Silicoids, Mrrshans (4) Silicoids, Silicoids (9) themselves, Darloks (1) Psilons, me (7) Psilons.
2453 Psilons have colonized Primodius (13 planets ).
2456 Class 5 Planetary Shield researched, Repulsor Beam next (over Deflector 5).
2460 Contact with Silicoids (Range 8, 14 (! planets, Restless). Silicoids refuse to trade.
2461 Event: industrial accident on Incedius. Sigh.
2462 Incedius cleaned up: pop drops from 85M to 72M. Psilons agree to cancel alliance with Darloks.
2463 Stinger Missiles researched, Fusion Rifle next.
2464 Silicoids refuse to trade.
2468 Psilons break NAP , Reticuli finishes planetary shield (good timing). Silicoids refuse to trade.
2469 Soil Enrichment researched, Advanced Eco next.
2470 Advanced Space Scanner, Zortrium Armor researched, Robotic V, Industrial Controls 6 next. Psilons are coming against Meklon: pour in some reserve and build some bases.
2472 All invading Psilons destroyed at Meklon, I lose 2 ships. Newsdroid reports population: Psilon, Silicoid, Meklar, Sakkra, Mrrshan, Darlok.
2474 Warp Dissipator researched, Impulse Drives next (only option). Silicoids refuse to trade.
2475 All invading Psilons destroyed at Reticuli, no losses. Galactic Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (12) themselves, Sakkras (4) Silicoids, Mrrshans (3) Silicoids, Silicoids (11) themselves, Darloks (2) Psilons, me (8) abstain.
2477 Silicoids refuse to trade, Psilons refuse NAP, Sakkras agree to increase trade to 800 BC.
2480 Psilons refuse to increase trade, Silicoids refuse to trade.
2481 Repulsor Beam researched, Class 6 Deflectors next (over Class 5).
2482 Silicoids trade Terraforming +40 for Soil Enrichment .
2483 Silicoids declare war. Psilons refuse to increase trade.
2484 ECM Jammer 5 stolen from Silicoids.
2487 Event: Mrrshan ambassador attempts to asssassinate Silicoid leader.
2488 Silicoids destroy 4 bases on Incedius . Psilons are coming after Reticuli. Psilons agree to increase trade to 1350 BC, sign NAP.
2489 Psilons defeat me at Reticuli .
2490 Psilons capture Reticuli (with 30 troops to my 110!, get Warp Dissipator and ECM 2. Psilons now have 16 planets.
2492 Psilons destroy 5 bases on Incedius . Time for some spy defense, I guess.
2493 Sakkras destroy 4 bases on Meklon. Sigh.
2499 Improved Industrial Tech 6 researched, Armored Exoskeleton next.
2500 Galactic Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (15) themselves, Sakkras (4) Silicoids, Mrrshans (3) Psilons, Silicoids (12) themselves, Darloks (1) Silicoids, me (8) Psilons.
2501 Battle Computer Mark 3 stolen from Silicoids.
2509 Newsdroid reports fleet strengths: Psilon, Silicoid, Sakkra, Mrrshan, Meklar, Darlok.
2510 ECM Jammer 1 stolen from Silicoids.
2511 Improved Robotic Controls 5, Advanced Eco Restoration, Fusion Rifle researched; Hyperspace Communications, Atmospheric Terraforming, Phasors (no missiles available ) next.
2513 Silicoid spy destroys 9 factories on Meklon. Contact with Sakkras lost.
2516 Give Darloks Advanced Eco Restoration for Automated Repair System.
2518 Battle Computer Mark 6 stolen from Silicoids.
2519 Class 6 Deflector Shields researched, Cloaking Device next (over Class 5 deflectors).
2520 ECM Jammer Mark 4 stolen from Silicoids.
2523 Impulse Drives researched, Trilithium Crystals next (over Ion Drives). Psilons agree to break alliance with, and declare war on, the Darloks.
2525 Galactic Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (16) themselves, Sakkras (3) Silicoids, Mrrshans (1) Silicoids, Silicoids (11) themselves, Darloks (1) Silicoids, me (8) Psilons.
2527 Deep Space Scanner stolen from Silicoids. Event: comet at Mobas (9 years).
2529 Death Spores stolen from Silicoids. Comet destroyed.
2532 Silicoids spy destroys 17 factories on Incedius.
2535 Atmospheric Terraforming researched, Advanced Soil Enrichment next.
2539 Newsdroid says: Psilons control 18 systems.
2540 Silicoid spy destroys 4 bases on Crius. Psilons agree to declare war on Silicoids, increase trade to 1450 BC.
2541 Hyperspace Communications researched, Robotic Controls 6 next.
2542 ECM Jammer Mark 7 stolen from Silicoids.
2545 Armored Exoskeleton researched, Andrium Armor next.
2546 Battle Computer Mark 5 stolen from Silicoids.
2549 Phasor researched, Gauss Autocannon next.
2550 Newsdroid reports technology leaders: Psilon, Sakkra, Silicoid, Meklar, Darlok, Mrrshan. High Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (18) themselves, Sakkras (3) Silicoids, Mrrshans (1) Psilons, Silicoids (12) themselves, Darloks (1) Silicoids, me (8) Psilons. Next time, I'll probably have to abstain.
2552 Range 7 stolen from Silicoids. Darloks cancel our NAP.
2555 Psilons cancel NAP .
2556 Unknown spy destroys 13 factories on Meklon. Cloaking Device researched, Class 9 deflectors next.
2557 Event: earthquake on Incedius.
2558 Ion Stream Projector stolen from Silicoids.
2559 Fusion Beam stolen from Silicoids.
2560 Darloks declare war.
2561 Sakkras give Class 10 Planetary shield for Impulse Drives.
2563 Silicoid spy destroys 12 factories on Cygni. Newsdroid reports technology leaders: Psilon, Sakkra, Silicoid, Meklar, Darlok, Mrrshan.
2571 Psilons have 32000 smalls in a fleet: negative fleet bug?
2572 Edit fleet at Zhardan to 1 Comet (instead of 32000).
2574 Pulson Missiles stolen from Silicoids :D - this makes me feel a little more secure. Event: Space Crystal. A quick scan of the map reveals that it's started near Obaca. Goodbye, Darloks. I hope the Crystal will eat a couple Psilon planets.
2575 Class 15 Planetary Shield stolen from Silicoids. High Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (22) themselves, Sakkras (3) Silicoids, Mrrshans (1) Psilons, Silicoids (15) themselves, Darloks (1) Silicoids, me (8) Psilons. Psilons agree to NAP.
2577 Silicoid spy destroys 3 bases on Crius. Newsdroid give me a "Planets" picture and a blank text window? The Psilons have 20 planets.
2578 Trilithium Crystals researched, HEF next. Newsdroid says: Psilons control 20 planets.
2579 Darloks destroy the Space Crystal. I didn't think they could do it! Newsdroid also says: Psilons control 19 planets.
2580 Improved Robotic Controls 6 researched, Battle Computer 10 next. Newsdroid says: Psilons control 18 planets. I like this trend.
2581 Psilons agree to increase trade to 1650 BC.
2583 Advanced Soil Enrichment researched, Complete Eco Restoration next.
2584 Unknown spy destroyed 13 factories on Crius.
2585 Class 7 Deflector Shields stolen from Silicoids.
2588 Andrium Armor researched, Tritanium Armor next.
2591 Reduced Industrial Waste 80% stolen from Mrrshans, they issue a threat.
2592 Unknown spy destroyed 10 factories on Cygni.
2594 Silicoids offer peace, I accept.
2595 Improved Industrial Tech 5 stolen from Silicoids.
2596 Event: rebellion on Pollus. Grrr.
2598 The rebellion is crushed.
2600 Uridium Fuel Cells stolen from Silicoids, Psilons framed. High Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (27) themselves, Sakkras (3) Silicoids, Mrrshans (1) Psilons, Silicoids (18) themselves, Darloks (1) Silicoids, me (9) abstain.
2601 Class 9 Deflector Shields researched, Class 11 next.
2602 Gauss Autocannon researched, Pulse Phasor next.
2603 Silicoids steal Atmospheric Terraforming.
2604 Improved Industrial Tech 8 stolen from Mrrshans.
2613 Cloning stolen from Silicoids, they issue a threat.
2615 High Energy Focus researched, Ionic Pulsar next (no teleporter, I'll have to get it from the Psilons ).
2617 Improved Industrial Tech 3 stolen from Silicoids.
2618 Complete Eco Restoration researched, Universal Antidote next.
2619 Newsdroid reports population: Psilon, Silicoid, Meklar, Sakkra, Mrrshan, Darlok. No surprises there. The Psilons have 32000 Comets in a fleet at Zhardan again . Apparently, I can't edit it, because the Psilons have advanced tech .
2625 Battle Computer 10 researched, Robotic Controls 7 next. High Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (33) themselves, Sakkras (3) Silicoids, Mrrshans (2) Psilons, Silicoids (21) themselves, Darloks (1) Silicoids, me (9) Psilons. Silicoids declare war.
2626 More negative numbers in Psilon fleet .
2630 Improved Terraforming +60 stolen from Silicoids; Tritanium Armor researched, Powered Armor next. Newsdroid reports production rankings: Psilon, Silicoid, Meklar, Sakkra, Mrrshan, Darlok.
2636 Mrrshans declare war.
2637 Complete Terraforming stolen from Silicoids :D.
2639 Improved Space Scanner stolen from Darloks.
2641 Unknown spy destroyed 13 factories on Pollus.
2542 Unknown spy destroyed 13 factories on Pollus.
2645 Deuterium Fuel Cells stolen from Darloks.
2646 Unknown spy destroyed 3 bases on Incedius. Ionic Pulsar researched, Sub Space Interdictor next. Darloks offer peace, I accept.
2647 ECM Jammer 9 stolen from Silicoids.
2649 Irridium Fuel Cells stolen from Darloks, they issue a threat. Pulse Phasor researched, Proton Torpedos next. I have a serious missile (and bomb) problem . Psilons agree to increase trade to 3350 BC.
2650 My fleet of 6 huge ships is smoked by the Guardian. Back to the drawing board. High Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (38) themselves, Sakkras (3) Silicoids, Mrrshans (3) abstain, Silicoids (22) themselves, Darloks (1) Silicoids, me (14) abstain. Psilons trade Hercular Missiles for Cloning.
2651 Improved Robotic Controls 7 researched, Battle Computer 5 next. Event: Sakkras discover the ancient derelict. At least it wasn't the Psilons.
2652 Class 11 Deflector Shields researched, Class 13 next.
2654 Fusion drives stolen from Silicoids. Universal Antidote researched, Advanced Cloning next. Darloks declare war.
2656 Psilons offer an alliance, I accept.
2657 Battle Computer 5 researched, ECM 8 next.
2663 Powered Armor researched, Adamantium Armor next.
2666 Mrrshans offer peace, I accept.
2668 Sub Space Interdictory researched, Inertial Nullifier next.
2671 Ion Drives stolen from Silicoids. ECM Jammer Mark 8 researched, Computer 9 next.
2675 Obaca cleared. High Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (40) themselves, Sakkras (3) Silicoids, Mrrshans (2) abstain, Silicoids (25) themselves, Darloks (1) Psilons, me (14) Psilons. Silicoids issue an attaboy for attacking the Darloks.
2677 Obaca captured, Darloks exterminated. Controlled Toxic Environment, Ion Cannon, Tri-Focus Plasma Cannon, Nuclear Engines, Gatling Laser, Improved Terraforming +20 discovered in ruins. Silicoids issue another attaboy.
2679 Tachyon Beam stolen from Sakkras, Psilons framed.
2681 Fusion Bomb stolen from Sakkras, they issue a threat. Advanced Cloning researched, Controlled Inferno next. Silicoids ask me to break alliance with Psilons, I refuse.
2682 Proton Torpedoes researched, Scatter Pack 10 next. Event: Space Amoeba (near Obaca ). Psilons ask to increase trade to 3425 BC, I agree.
2683 Class 13 Deflector Shields researched, Class 15 next.
2684 Newsdroid reports fleet strengths: Psilon, Silicoid, Mrrshan, Meklar, Sakkra.
2685 Silicoid spy destroyed 6 bases on Crius.
2687 Battle Computer Mark 9, Controlled Inferno Environment researched; Jammer 10, Bio Toxin Antidote next.
2689 Psilons destroy the Amoeba at Reticuli.
2690 Rigel colonized.
2691 Neutronium Bomb stolen from Sakkras :D. Mrrshans declare war.
2692 Personal Absorption Shield stolen from Sakkras, they issue a threat. Silicoid spy destroys 4 bases on Pollus. Psilons ask me to declare war on Sakkras, I agree. 1523 small Neutronium bombers built.
2694 Adamantium Armor researched, Neutronium next.
2695 Bio Toxin Antidote, Inertial Nullifier researched; Terraforming +100, Combat Transporters next.
2697 Neutron Blaster stolen from Silicoids.
2698 Hyper-V Rockets stolen from Mrrshans.
2700 High Council: Psilons vs. Silicoids. Psilons (40) themselves, Sakkras (3) Silicoids, Mrrshans (2) Silicoids, Silicoids (24) themselves, me (18) abstain. Ssla cleared. Battle Computer Mark 9 stolen from Sakkras. Psilons issue an attaboy for attacking Sakkras.

[Brackard]

I'm not exactly sure what else I could have done here. Even as early as 2375 (check the map), the rocks had 6/7 systems, as did the Sakkra AND Psilons. The Darloks and Mrrshans pretty much were swallowed from the beginning. If I didn't set them against each other, I would have left the game much, much earlier as pacts were being disintegrated rather quickly "in order to expand".

I'm not exactly at what point I lost this game.

I'll definitely have to read the other reports in greater detail to see how everyone else pulled it off.

Time to go back and try a "Normal" rock game. :D

[Maniac Marshall]

2300 -It looks like a fairly standard corner start. There are 2 stars in range, both red just like Imperium 3. This time, however, they are in the same general direction so it won't take forever to redirect the colship from one to the other. I decide to send a scout to the 2 parsect red, the colship to the 3 parsect red because it is much more coreward, and the other scout to a red star 6 parsects to the southwest.

2302 - First scout finds Crius, a size 40 desert planet. I send the scout over to the star to the east of it. If the colship isn't redirected here I'll send a scout II to defend it shortly.

2303 - The colship arrives at size 70 Arid Mobas and settles. I dispatch 14 million to Mobas. More will follow in the next couple turns. Time to make scout II's. We'll need 7 of those for starters.

2304 - The first 4 scout II's fan out. Send 3 more million to Mobas.

2305 - The scout sent from Crius finds size 60 Arid Cygni. The last 3 scout II's fan out. I send the last 4 million to Mobas.

2306 - The original scout finds size 55 Ocean Incedius. Aparently, this planet is hogging all the water in this quadrent of the galaxy as we'll soon see.

2309 - Scouts find size 55 Poor Arid Retculi. At least it is in the back yard where it should have time to max out.

2310 - Scouts find size 55 Arid Pollus (what a lot of arid's so far) in the top right corner.

2311 - Chase a darlok scout off Size 65 Poor Steppe Beta Ceti, the green planet to the northwest of Meklon.

2312 - Chase a darlok scout off Kronos, the no habitable nebula sysem.

2313 - The last scout finds Jinga, a size 50 Dead planet at the white star above the nebula.

2322 - We could now make a Colship in 5 years so factory building gets a hiatus. We switch to Full blast research on propulsion.

2323 - Range 4 is the only option. It's over half full.

2326 - Range 4 hits. Stabelizer is the only choice. Research halted. Colship production started.

2331 - First colship heads for Retculi to bring the other northern stars in range.

2332 - Silicoids have 7 systems.

2335 - Retculi Founded.

2336 - Settler heads for Beta Ceti. Restart Factories.

2339 - Make a batch of fighters off Mobas to go watch Incedius.

2343 - Chase a Darlok Colship off Beta Ceti with our own then found a colony. I got lucky they didn't escort this colship, something the Darloks often do. Still, it was a Poor Planet, so it wouldn't have been a tragic loss, unlike Incedius. This gets us contact with the Darloks -forgot to screencap it grrrrr- . I start minimal trade to improve relations. Speaking of Incedius, the darloks have a fighter/colship headed to Incedius. Good thing I have 7 fighters waiting for them there.

2345 - Darloks run from our fighter wing.

2347 - Mobas is ahead of pop on factories and can make a colship in 5 turns to grab Incedius. I tell it to do so.

2348 - Chase both Sakkra and Silicoid scouts off Vega, the purple planet behind the Darloks. It's a small Radiated UR planet.

2351 - Meklon maxes out. I set it to making colships to claim the 3 remaining non hostile planets.

2352 - Colship from Mobas heads to Incedius. Mobas goes back to factories.

2354 - Plague strikes Beta Ceti - forgot to screencap it doh! - . Mobas Maxes out, starts research full blast on Planetology. I feel like those Dead planets are required to have a realistic shot to win. I pray controlled Dead is in the tree. Settler from Meklon heads over to Cygni.

2355 - Terra +10 is the only option. It's allready at 12%.

2356 - Terra +10 Hits. The options are Death Spores and Controlled Dead! I go full blast at controlled dead. Incedius founded. We are voting allready?! Psilons 4 votes themselves, Sakkras 4 votes themselves. Kitties 3 votes Psilons, Silicoids 4 votes abstain, Darloks 3 votes Sakkras, me 3 votes abstain. Contact is made with the Sakkras. They are playing as pacifists!.



Lets take a look at the universe as we know it so far.

The Settler at Meklon heads for Crius. The First 2 planets are set to terraform. I form minimal trade with the Sakkras.

2357 - Cygni and Crius founded.

2358 - We find Orion.


2359 - Meklon remaxes, goes back to making the last colship.

2360 - We scout Vox, a tundra planet in the south.

2362 - The plague is finally cured.

The last colship is produced for Pollus. Mobas maxes factories, goes to pop growing. we chase a darlok scout off Vox.

2364 - I forgot to send the last colship to Pollus somehow :rolleyes:. I do so now. Psilons found living at Willow and Guradas, the green planets south of Cygni and Crius. Sakras want to up our trade. I reject the offer for now.


2367- Psilons found living at Imra. Mobas Remaxes.

2369 - Controlled Dead hits. The new choices are Inferno, Toxic & +30. Since I haven't seen any Inferno or Toxic's, and probably couldn't get them anyway with the Psilons Silicoids and Sakkras running arround, I take +30. I can go back for Toxic if Radiated isn't available. Research Killed. I design a Dead Colship and make them from both planets.

2370 - On a hunch, I change strat and make one round of fighters to send to Jinga ahead of the Colship. There are fighters allready guarding the other dead planet (the earlier batch from Incedius was sent there). This turned out to be completely unecessary, but better to be safe.

2371 - First Dead ship heads from Meklon to Zhardan.

2373 - Meklon goes Rich!! . I was so excited I forgot to cap it. Terraforming begun at all the new colonies except Pollus. The 2nd dead ship heads to Zhardan for Redirect to the Tundra Planet.

2374 - The last settler heads out from Mobas to Jinga. Mobas kicks over to research with all fields open. Time for the vote. We have pulled into the top 2 in pop.

Psilons 4 votes abstain, Sakkras 5 votes themselves, Kitties 5 votes abstain, Silicoids 5 votes Sakkras, Darloks 3 votes the Sakkras, me 5 votes abstain (voting for the Sakkras would have just given them the win).

2375 - Research starts on BC II (Only option), Reduced 80% (Over Improved 9), Class II (duh), and Hand Lasers (over gats). I begin transfering Meklon's reserves to other planets, doubling everywhere for now.

2377 - Zhardan founded. Contact is established with the Psilons, who are also playing as pacifists!!


Contact is also established with the Mrrshans, who are Ruthless.

Minimal trade of 65BC is started with both. Time for a status check


We now know that the Silicoids are in the southwest as there is only one unflaged yellow star left. The original scout design is scraped since neither of them is doing anything useful now and it doesn't appear they will ever have any use again.

2379 - Hand Lasers hits. The new choices are npg, Hyper-X, and Ion Cannons. I think I'm in general agreement with Selentine on my favorite weapons path early (HL - npg/ion - Scatter/Mercs - Fusion Beams or AMB, whichever is needed most (I often trade for Fusion Bombs when possible and research Fusion Beams)). Therefore, hoping for Mercs or Scatter Packs, I choose the npg for decent fighters if needed. Settler at Zhardan redirected to the Tundra planet.

2380 - Jinga founded.

2382 - Vox, aka the Tundra Planet, founded. Thats all she wrote for expansion most likely. Scouts are headed to check out 2 planets newly in scouting range, but both are out of normal settlement range even if they are habitable by me. Relations have improved enough with the Darloks to get a nap so I pull the trigger. I also up my trade package with them to 400BC/year. no sense fooling myself about attacking them. Even the weakest opponent dwarfs me in tech right now. I check into trading, but the best they offer for Controlled Dead is range 5. It isn't worth it right now imho because range 5 doesn't appear to do anything for me. I decide to go max trade with everyone else as well. Thats 475 across the board with the others. One last look at our empire



2386 - Scouts find no habitable neptunis behind the Darloks.

2389 - Class II hits, Personal is the only way forward. Scouts find Regulus, a hostile size 35 in Mrrshan territory, along with Thraz, a Toxic size 30 on the Mrrshan/Psilon boarder. I don't have much hope of getting any of those, but you never know.

2391 - BC II hits. We go for Robotics III over BC III.

2392 - Silicoid Death Star arrives at Thrax. Our scout runs.

2394 - We get the wealthy merchant event.



2395 - Reduced 80% hits (yea!. We go for Improved 8 over duralloy. Crius maxes out, giving us a 2nd research planet. Kitties are Relaxed, we get a nap. We also trade them Controlled Dead for Hyper-V. Just in case.

2398 - Incedius and Cygni max out.

2399 - Vote time again. This time we again have a new candidate, the Silicoids.

Psilons 5 votes abstain, Sakkras 5 votes abstain, Kitties 5 votes Silicoids, Silicoids 7 votes themselves, Darloks 3 votes abstain, me 7 votes Silicoids.

[Zed-F]

Some possible pointers, for what they are worth...

Though I only skimmed your report, I didn't see much mention of what you did in order to exercise your diplomatic options. I did notice that you managed to get several races at war with each other early, which is good, but don't let that early success fool you -- you have to keep working the diplo situation. If you're getting harassed with cold war attacks by a strong AI, that means there aren't enough open planets being fought over. Pick on a weak neighbor, and see if you can generate some hot potatoes. If the aggressor already has a lot on his plate, you can afford to be a bit more brazen and threaten to attack if he sends a fleet your way. Even if he calls your bluff, the fact that he has given himself a big dogpile may mean he won't have much attention to spare for you, and you might be able to snag a few quick gains with the help of some enemy-of-my-enemy action.

It is important that you *must* respond in some way to cold war attacks -- not necessarily all of them or immediately, but you must take steps to make someone else a better target. If you allow cold war attacks to persist unchecked, you will eventually get nibbled down to nothing, as happened here. The best way to stop cold war attacks is to improve your powergraph and fleet strength ratings and disimprove someone else's so that you are no longer a prime target.

[Maniac Marshall]

2400 - Pollus maxes out. Just the Hostile planets and the Poor planets to go.

2402 - npg hits, we go for those scatter packs right quick as opposed to ion rifles.

2403 - zhardan maxes out. Relations with the Kitties up to Amiable.

2404 - Stableizer hits, the only option is Sub Light Drives.

2405 - Robotics III hits. I hold off on Factories till Factory 8 comes in. Its at 4%. The only new option is Jammer III. Jinga maxes out.

2407 - Silicoids bring a big fleet to Regulus. We run. Meklon maxes out.

2408 - Improved 8 hits. The choices are Battle Suits and Improved 7. We go for the Suits. Meklon takes over research, everywhere else goes back to factories. Sakkras will Trade Planetary V for Robotics III? OK. We really need those shields plus it will let us skip to Repulsors. Done.


2410 - Personal shields hit, we select Repulsors over Class V. Meklon finishes planetary shields. Most everywhere is set to max out factories next turn and can start working on shields.

2411 - Everywhere but Beta Ceti maxes factories, goes all on shields.

2412 - Mobas finishes shields, takes over research. Meklon goes back to reserves.

2413 - Beta Ceti maxes factories. Everywhere except Vox and the poor planets finish shields.

2414 - Vox and Retculi finish shields.

2415 - Beta Ceti finishes shields. Terra +30 hits. The new choices are Soil Enrichment and Antidote. Soil is kind of a no brainer here. Radiated isnt in the tree, but I can't see going hard after Toxic in a mad dash to beat the Silicoids to one size 30 planet we may not get. Everywhere is set to terraform.

2417 - Meklon maxes out. Most other planets max pop and work on factories.

2419 - Scatter Packs hit, the new choices are Stingers, Hard Beams and Fusion Beams. I SHOULD begin crashing up bases now, but for some reason decide to wait We need a 2 space beam so I go for the Fusion Beams. I'll need to collect a bomb of some sort soon as well. Several Planets max out again. Everywhere that didn't will max out next turn.

2421 - Jammer III hits. The new choices are BC V and Robotics IV. I go for the Robotics. Sakkras go relaxed. We nap with them. Psilons make a brush move for Zhardan. Because they are pacifists, I can probably threaten them off. I'll crash up some bases just in case. It's just 2 Large ships.

2422 - Sub Light Drives hit. The only choice is Dissipators. Psilons go Relaxed. I sign them up to a nap.

2423 - Well, the ships have 2 HFB's and 1 Fusion Beam and shield 3
.
I think 8 shielded Scatter Pack Bases should be no problem. They weren't worth threatening off. One ship gets toasted, the other retreats.

2424 - Battle Suits hit. The choices are Improved 6 and Zortium. Both would be useful but since we skiped Duralloy we go for Zortium. We have final contact

The universe view shows the Silicoids own nearly every planet that didn't have a flag or one of my scouts over it. The lone exceptions being Orion, a couple no habitables, and one as yet unknown star in the northwest that is probably uninhabitable also.

Well, now that we have met the Silicoids at an opportune time, it's a good time to see who'll declare war on them . I THInK I'm safe from losing because I think they would need everyone to vote for them and they don't have contact with the Darloks, but I'm taking no chances. Heck, if everyone signs on against them I could win. Here we go: The Psilons choose wisely

The Sakkras also choose wisely.

The Kitties want a hefty bribe of 2000BC, but hey, its only money (money that can be replaced in 3 turns from Meklon feeding the reserves in fact). After we "cave" to their demand, the kitties wisely sign on to the elect RBO4 campaign

For fun, I then dial up the Silicoids and get a nap and a hefty trade agreement of 1150BC per year .

Election time:
Psilons 5 votes for me

Sakkras 5 votes for me

Kitties 5 votes for me

Silicoids 7 votes themselves

Darloks 3 votes for me surprisingly

RBO4 10 votes himself

Final Score (picture 26).

From the final save we see the winning "fleet".

Thats every non colony ship I ever had except for the 2 Scouts and the Scout II that bought the farm at Orion.

From the Racial Stats screen

we see we are first in Production, Planets and Population, while being dead last in Technology, Fleet Strength and Total Power.

From the Planets screen

we see an interesting gambit has just paid off. Yeah, thats right. Those 8 bases I crashed up in 2422 & 2423 were the only 8 bases anywhere in my empire. Why in the world did I play defenseless and how in the world did I get away with it? Well, first off I got SO incredibly far behind in technology at the start I was desperately trying to catch up to at least the laggard Darlok/Mrrshans for most of the game. Second off, my neighbors made it less risky than it ordinarily could have been. Thirdly, I didn't have any engine tech till 3 turns from the end, nor any decent missiles till 6 turns from the end so I really had little way to defend myself anyway. I was, in fact, waiting till after the vote in 2424 to decide who to go after (darloks or mrrshasns), or if I should just Turtle for a while, when the Silicoids showed up just in time and obviated me from having to make that decision heh.

So how did these opponents make it less risky?

The Darloks were weak and signed a nap with me early. They would have had to have broken their nap and given me warning first Their planet of choice to hit would have probably been Beta Ceti, a poor planet that I'd have had a hard time defending anyway, and would have chalked up to survivable loss. I'd have crashed up bases and fighters at the other 3 systems (Jinga, Incedius and Retculi) and hoped to hang on. The Darlocks were actually my biggest concern believe it or not.

The Mrrshans were weak and signed a nap with me quickly. Again, they would have had to break the nap and given me warning. The only planet exposed to them was Vox, the Tundra planet that would have been almost impossible to defend as it was small and the last planet founded by me. Again, I'd have considered it survivable loss, and drawn the line in the sand at Zhardan.

And the strong Sakkras and Technological runnaway Psilons? I didn't have nap's with them till the end. If either of them had come for me before I got scatter pakcs and Sub Light drives I was a sitting duck most likely anyway, but the key factor here is that both of them were extremely unlikely to come for me unless they had an overwhelming tech/power advantage because they were both PACIFISTS. If they made a brush war move, a threat was almost a surity to turn them back with a profit to me of some kind or other most of the time on top of it. Know thine enemy.

This was an interesting game. I don't often play the Meklars because, frankly, I don't often win with them on impossible. I usually get screwed in the land grab waiting arround for factories to max, hence my paranoia this game in not waiting for that. The computer usually does way better with them than I do. It does better with Psilons too for that matter, though I do OK with them. On the flip side, I find the Klackons are almost impossible to lose with barring a horrendous start, but the AI rarely does well with them in my games. They are one of the 2 weakest opponents in my games about 80% of the time. I tend to play the Bulrathi and Alkiri the most, but I don't think those races are nearly as weak on the small maps I favor playing on as they are on larger ones.

I played almost the whole game with this sense of impending doom hanging over me actually. I kept thinking that I'd end up having to do a "survivable loss" plan at some point or other, but luck was with me and that never happened.

I'll be looking forward eagerly to the other reports to see if I can get some insights as to how to play these guys on Impossible. See you all in Imperium 5 .

-Maniac

[Brackard]

I was in a decent position in most of the early/mid game in terms of relations with my neighbors. I had the Psilons eating out of my hand as well as the Sakkra (nasty lizards). I kept them both in constant war with one another (the number 1 and number 2 powers at the time). I thought that would give me the time I needed as they wasted resources fighting each other. Along come the Silicoids and I toss them into the fire as well to get a 3-way going. Unfortunately, the only weak race in the area were the Darloks, and they left the game pretty early (as I was massing my fleet to invade no less).

Comparing our games, by the year 2400, you had 11 systems, while I had 7 and was coming down. I tried to porcupine up with missle bases, but the damn stellear converters? just ripped ripe through me. I couldn't take down the SOD fast enough.

It looks like I did the following wrong:

1) I'm still entirely too conservative in early expansion. Since you were able to expand, you're able to get into the voting. Had I gotten into the voting, I would have won (assuming the game didn't last to the point it did where each of the major powers had 30% pop).
2) While I did ok in terms of race wars, I did not use the threaten option which have saved me more than one world (assuming they would have agreed, but based on some of the assumptions of your game and mine, they most likely would have)
3) The, oh I don't know, fleet? I never seem to be able to get a fleet up in time which makes me easy pickings. By the time I did get a fleet up, I couldnt match tech, nor penetrate missle bases. Thus I couldn't conquer planets. Not a way to win the game.

These mistakes are forgiven in easy and in my very limited time in hard. Not so in impossible. Oh well, we'll see what happens next time.