Intially, I send scouts to the nearest stars and hold off on sending the colony ship to the nearby stars. Shortly thereafter the scout discovers Crius (D40) and the next turn, the other scout finds Mobas, an A70. The colony ship is sent to the larger planet.
On turn 15, we encounter the Darlocks. By turn 30, the Darlocks already have colonized 5 planets and are heading towards one of the planets I had hoped to colonize. On turn 44, we encounter the Psilions and within the next couple of turns, the first election happens. It was the Psilions versus the Sakkra.
By turn 49, the Psilions had parked themselves in orbit around my ocean planet (I didn't take very good notes in this game...). The next election (next turn) was again the Psilions versus the Sakkra. I vote for the Psilions. The same turn, we discover an artifacts planet, but unfortunately, it has already been scouted.
In 2356, a major quake hits Meklon, kills 30 million and destroys 277 factories. My notes say: "Game over..." But, I decide to continue playing to see how long it would take to get eliminated...
In 2368, the Psilions control over 12 star systems... Shortly thereafter, the Sakkra ambassador goes diplo and attempts to kill the Mrrshan ruler.
Several more years pass while I am struggling to maintain my colonies in spite of Psilion and Darlock incursions and attempting to get other rulers to break alliances and start wars... In 2384, we lose Incedius to the Darlocks who brought well over 50 ships to ensure space superiority.
The vote in 2400 is still the Psilions versus the Sakkra. I lost contact with the Sakkra sometime over the past couple of years, but in 2404, they reappear on our diplomatic screen and declare war... The Meklar are very far behind all other races in terms of technology. The fact that I had only grabbed about 5 planets before losing 2, didn't help the situation much...
In 2415, my dreadful luck changes a bit as a wealthy merchant aids the Meklar cause with 1100 BC. The lack of waste cleanup techs has really hurt. Shortly after the 2425 elections (Psilion versus Sakkra), we manage to steal enhanced eco restoration from the Sakkra (after having just made peace with them...
)
Sometime thereafter (in the 2440s), the Sakkra declare war on us again. Another election (Psilions versus Sakkra) where we vote for the Psilions. How do the Psilions show their gratitude for having such a loyal friend? They glass Cygni on me. Then in 2466, a computer virus wipes out over 2000 BC of weapons research and the Darlocks declare war.
I didn't expect to live much longer, so I stopped taking notes... But, somehow, I survived to 2656 when the Psilions declare war on me. A few years later, 77 million foment a revolution on Crius. A few turns later, another rebellion (125 million) occurs on Meklon. In 2672, the Psilions glass Meklon. After this, they come offering peace. Since I just want this game to end, I refuse and they offer 15275 BC. Well, if you put things that way... So I take it.
In 2675, I vote for the Sakkra, but they then turn around determined to kill me. Shortly thereafter, the Silicoids declare war, and then another few turns later, the Psilions declare war again (on me, a 2 planet empire...). Mobas was destroyed by the Psilions in 2692. Shortly thereafter, the Sakkra come begging for peace and even offer 14750 BC for it. The Psilions then offered almost 20000 BC for peace.
The Sakkra then redeclare sometime shortly thereafter and then make peace with me again (offereing the Mauler device). Finally, in 2750, the Psilions manage to get enough votes together to win (of course, had I abstained (with my 2 votes...), they wouldn't have won.
Hopefully the next time I try Impossible, I won't have quite so much bad luck... (and now, knowing that the AI will offer really high level techs for obsolete ones that weren't in their tech tree, I might have decided to keep trying to win...)
Thanks for the game!
JMB
