OSG-37 - 1ooming Lizards

[haphazard1]

Thanks for the status update, RefSteel. And for taking this turnset -- life has been crazy busy lately.

Hopefully we will manage something with our spies, without getting a war decalration out of it. There is so much great tech out there that could help us a lot, we have quite a few holes in our tech tree this game. Clean up tech, battle computers, engines, the list goes on. And we still have no idea how the Klackons and Psilons are doing.

[RefSteel]

I've only played half the set so far, so the rest will have to wait until tomorrow - sorry!  For now, here's a report of the first half, complete with cliff-hanger since I don't know the outcome yet myself!

Pilot Comm Reports:

[2390, Kulthos]

Gamma base, this is Gecko Fleet leader.  We're on our vector and ready to jump on your command - under protest.  They've got two missile bases already built up there at Kronos, and more shielded fighters than we've got left in our shieldless fleet!  We're the only defense you've got down here in the Kulthos system - that lonely Scout doesn't count!  You can't be serious about sending us away!

You have your orders, Gecko Fleet.  We've got Obaca just three light-years out; they can produce plenty of ships for us if it comes to that.  You'll be using Misha as a waypoint anyway, and most of the alien worlds are so far away, you'll be able to get back in time if there's an emergency while your en route.  Don't worry about us too much; just get out there.

Yeah, look, I know it sounds selfish:  Misha's got nothing but a young colony on a dead world.  Your planet down there is gorgeous in comparison, and we're all going to miss the ground leave, at least until we hit Kronos - and if - but I don't fancy an assignment to the tail end of nowhere at the edge of the galaxy!  Kronos may be isolated, but it has the strength to take care of yourself!  It makes no sense to send me!


(A late decision after posting the pre-flight info - and, as the story suggests, a mistake.)

Ours not to reason why, Captain Ssssscient.  For better or worse, you're out of here.  Now go see that Misha and Kronos stay safe.

Hssssssss ... well ... Roger that.  I'll do my best.


[2391, Obaca]

This is Captain Leythhen Evir of the Monitor-class destroyer Voidtaster.  Heading and nav coordinates confirmed:  I'll be off for Crypto as soon as my hyperdrive spins up.  We'll have to see what readings I can get on the Mrrshan fleet ... always assuming assuming you don't see them first.  Almost wish this thing were built with a laser cannon now:  Maybe I'd still be bound for Crypto to get a little advance intelligence, but at least my sister ship might not be making the long flight to Ursa if it could contribute even a little to our more-urgent and immediate defense!



Two Sabretooth cruisers and thirty-three Bobcat destroyers, with Mrrshan gunners for all their weapons are no joke, and if I'm reading their vector right from our hyperspacial deep scanner, they're going to be hitting Kulthos in just a few years!  It's just too bad the defense fleet we had there up until last year is on its way up to Misha, isn't it?  Well, here's hoping I can dig up some information for them!  I'll be out of contact for four years as of...

Drive engaged.  Prepare for hyperjump in 3 ... 2 ... 1...

...now!


[2392, Kulthos]

Well, I'd say there's no question about where those Mrrshans are headed now.  I seriously doubt that my little Scout craft is going to scare them off.  I mean, a whole fleet could have been on its way here to meet them from Celtsi by now, but I guess everyone thinks lasers are no good and they want to have ion cannons to field instead, and they figure Obaca can handle it.  Well, if that was the plan, the Eighth Speaker should have started emphasizing weapons technology before a Mrrshan fleet was spotted heading up this way!  Two years back, when the big lizard took office, I'll bet this isn't what the tech boys thought their job was going to look like this year!


(Still nearly ignoring planetary shields.  That may well be another mistake, but I couldn't have realistically gotten them in time to help on my turnset no matter what I did - and Kulthos wouldn't have been able to build one for a long time under any circumstances.)

Ion cannons will be a big upgrade when they're ready, so I hope we get to see 'em in time ... but those techies aren't promising anything.  They're working hard on duralloy armor too, for whatever that's worth, and ever since we saw those cat ships coming in last year, terraforming's been a much lower priority than anybody was expecting.  It's going to make things complicated when they finally figure that one out, but that's not my problem.  I'm basically here to stare down that Mrrshan fleet, hope I get backup in time to make a difference, and keep double-checking my ETA to Crypto, since that has to be where they came from:  Still six years according to the nav computer, every time, and we know they've got the same style of hyperdrives we do, so give they must have set out two years ago, with the nebulae pretty far away, we should be safe to assume we have another four years before they get here.  If not ... well, let's just say I'm not sticking around to find out how many different ways they can kill me.


[2393, Obaca]

Alright you hatchlings, it's time to earn your scales!  We're not getting saved by secret agents or flighty scientists in their labs; it's us and our laser fighters against the Mrrshan attack fleet!  The spaceyard kept holding off on finalizing everything, but we can't wait any longer if we want to hit Kulthos in time, so its one Gecko apiece and off to the races!  We need to be in hyprespace, already on our way, as soon as our ships come off the assembly line!



The governors can whine and complain about how building all these is a waste - well, it's just up to us to prove 'em wrong!  Let's get out there - all eighty-four of us - and teach those cats they can't beat us in our own skies!  The Kulthos colonists should be able to help out; they've been getting some help from the treasury to get a missile base into play, and Misha sent five transports there way back in 2390 when somebody noticed almost a third of the transports about to arrive there would have had to suck vacuum for lack of space if nobody left to make room, so that's more reinforcements on the ground anyway, and they tell me Sssssla's calling in nearly all its last deferred shipyard contracts to get a couple of Pop1 fighters down there to join us, but that's close to nothing for practical purposes.  We're going to be the main force, and practically the whole force up in space!


[2394, Misha]

Kappa base, this is Captain Preh Ssssscient of the First Gecko Fleet.  We're fueled and ready and preparing for the jump as we speak.  I want to ask you one more time:  Can you absolutely confirm our orders are for Kronos?  Because everyone knows by now that the ion cannons our scientists came up with are a year too late!


(Our scientists are obviously as unimpressed as I am with the pRNG's sense of humor.  I chose not to advance the tree here because fusion bombs will be needed when we go on the offensive, and neutron blasters are relatively uninspiring since we just got ion cannons:  I'm hoping to trade or steal our way past that tier.  I will note that the chances of having only one third-tier weapons tech, and then that it be the most-expensive one in the tier, are extremely low.  Construction, by the way, was up to 39% last turn, and I'm pushing it to nearly 60 now, just hoping it'll be enought help!)

We've confirmed it for you three times already.  You'd be two years late to the battle if you left for Kulthos now anyway.  Set your course.

I know that, and if we win, okay - but if we don't, you know the cats will send transports in, and we're not going to lose forever:  We'll send in whatever fleet it takes to dislodge theirs, and my Gecko fleet can help with that, and help to shoot down the transports!  But if that happens, if their troops are coming from Crypto, if I'm on my way to Kronos when it happens, I'll get back a year too late!

Captain Ssssscient, we need you hitting hyperspace, not playing the sunning-rock strategist and spinning "ifs."  I appreciate your anxiety for the fate of the planet your fleet protected for years, but Strategic Command is taking the threat seriously.  Multiple fleets are on the way, and the planetary defense base will be well-armed.  You don't have to worry.

(I was reluctant to make this trade - twenty more population on each Alkari world could lead to problems down the line, if they vote against us in an election especially - and Hyper-X rockets are only a two-point damage upgrade over Hyper-Vs, with a 1 point accuracy bonus.  That's not nothing, but I'm not sure it was worth it.  I should at least have waited until next turn to ask, but if they turned up with Terra+40 in the meantime - or if they get it or +30 anytime soon, really - then waiting would have been a mistake, and making this deal will look good in hindsight!  With no battle computers to work with yet, the advantages of Hyper-X rockets over Hyper-Vs are pretty significant too, especially if the cat ships have shields.)

Did you see what our fleets look like though?  And what good are better missiles when they're only coming out of three tubes across the entire planet's surface?  I'm telling you...

Captain, there's a limit to how much purposeless argument I'll put up with, even from you.  What would you have me do?  Do you suppose I'm the Eighth Speaker in disguise?  Or are you hoping I'll authorize you to break your orders so when they court-martial you, you can share the blame?

...okay, you're right.  I apologize.  Course set for Kronos.  I just hope the people of Kulthos don't regret that I'm following orders instead of my own better judgment.  Good luck with the colony.


[2395, Crypto]

This is Captain Leythhen Evir of the Monitor-class destroyer Voidtaster, transmitting via secure hyperwave from orbit above Crypto III.  Check this out while you can, because I'm about to bug out of here!


(If the bears built ships like these, I'd laugh - but with the cats, and with these numbers, this is actually pretty scary!  If they keep building these as they have been, planetary shields may be even more important, since they would render this fleet - and the new scatter packs the Mrrshans have developed - incapable of harming our missile bases.)

No Sabretooths or previously-unidentified ships in sight, but we have an even larger fleet of Bobcats here than are already coming for Kulthos!  No targeting computers on these things - just the cats' natural gunnery abilities - but they're stabilized, and they carry a five-pack of Hyper-V rockets apiece!  With thirty three of them on the way, that's enough to wipe out the entire Gecko fleet on its way to Kulthos now, or if they fire on the planet, it's more than enough to take out a base with every volley - without even considering the Sabretooths we've yet to see!  And yes, that's including our boosted defenses from the armor the lab lizards developed this year.


(I played these turns too late at night, and - as you may have noticed - made a number of mistakes.  Improved Industrial Tech 7 would be great if we got it now, but by the time it does come in, we might not ever need to build another factory.  Okay, that's probably too much of an overstatement, but RW60 would be better if we don't get any waste cleanup technology, and Battle Suits would have been best of all, in my opinion.  Or I could have gone back for II9, knocked it out quickly on the theory it would still pay for itself, and then pick up with Battle Suits.  A missed opportunity.)

Good luck, everyone on the Kulthos colony - it's looking like you're going to need it!

[DaveV]

Having to choose among a variety of equally attractive alternatives is one of the hallmarks of a good game.

Good luck with the battles, RefSteel!

[jez9999]

offering to exchange the secrets of the Hyper-V rockets we picked up from their Mrrshan "buddies" for a working, if minimally effective, ECM jamming device.  I have no idea what they want those rockets for - I suppose they take up less space on a ship than their own Hyper-X rockets and Stingers? - but I'll take the little defensive boost for our missile bases - and more importantly, the little offensive boost to our secret agents!

Out of interest, how does the ECM jamming device boost our secret agents' offense? I see nothing about that in the manual.

[DaveV]

In the spying roll, there's a factor of our computer tech level minus the AI computer tech level. +1 to our tech level therefore gives a very small boost.

[RefSteel]

Having to choose among a variety of equally attractive alternatives is one of the hallmarks of a good game.

Good luck with the battles, RefSteel!

Agreed, and thanks!  And at long last...

Picking up the report where I left off:

[2395, Kulthos]

I'm ready to fly as soon as they finish hooking the fuel cell on; I just can't believe we're building warships here!  Even just a pair of these new ion fighters could be eight of the same if we'd built them at Obaca - or a dozen at Laan - but the enemy's going to be here next year, and there's no time for anyone else to get them here before it's too late!  I have a feeling I'm basically going up there to see if I can decoy any missiles away from the planet or our other ships, and add my little fighter's firepower to what we've got on the main fleet, but at least what I'll be  flying is the state of the art!


(The computer is a little questionable:  It adds to the ship's effective firepower, especially against high-maneuverability ships, and is worth the cost on that basis in this case, but it also means slightly fewer hulls in space, which can be a problem if e.g. you know you're going to be eating a lot of missiles before you reach targeting range.  In the case of the upcoming battle, it's worth it, because with only two ships of this class due to be finished in time, if any missiles target it at all, that's a good thing:  It means they're not targeting our missile base or the huge Gecko fleet, and they can't destroy more Hydrogen fighters than the only two that will yet exist!  We could also have improved the armor, but that would have increased the cost while providing zero additional protection against missiles and very little against beams on a ship this small.)

It's not much, but my Hydrogen 1.0 has the best beam weapon ever seen by Sakkra in this galaxy, and the best targeting computer in our fleet.  The cats have way better ones in their feline brains, but there's nothing we can do about that yet; we just don't know what we're up against.  And if it comes to that, at least our missile base - and our cruisers, if Obaca has to build some to help out - will have better computers soon!


(The bears have lots of things we want.  I went for the quickest fix for now - something with immediate military value that will also help our spies a little bit, but won't cost an arm and a leg.  As DaveV says, the +1 to computer tech provides only a very small bonus to our spy rolls - but it applies to every roll for every spy, every turn, and at that rate, a small bonus or two can add up surprisingly fast!)

The techs are installing new Mark-II battle computers at all three missile tubes now, thanks to the Bulrathi scientists who taught them how.  We did teach them to field ion cannons like my fighter's in exchange, and they withdrew their diplomat again as soon as the deal went through apparently, but I'm thinking it's worth it.  We have better answers to stronger Bulrathi gunships than they do to Sakkra ships with better targeting - at least as long as they're flown by pilots like me!  Now it's just a matter of getting into space and taking on those kitties!


[2396, Kulthos]

It's go time, all you soft-bellies!  Get out there and earn your scales!  We've got Mrrshan bogies incoming, and the only thing standing between them and seventy-eight million of our civillian broodmates is one defense base and this fleet!  Go!  Go!  Go!  Base command there!  What're we up against?


(...seriously?)

Baaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ... alright!  Listen up, you hatchlings!  Mrrshan ship-design teams and all other jokes aside, we're here got to give our lives for all the Kulthosians on the ground!  As long as we hold firm and don't retreat to hyperspace until they've exhausted their payloads, those idiots can't beat us!  They only get seven missile volleys all told, and they need five of 'em just to take out our Gecko fighters even if we fly like we're still curled up in our eggs!  Just count up our squadrons and that means we're still going to have something armed and dangerous in play when their entire loadout is down to empty missile tubes!  We've won this one before it started, so let's play it smart and see if some of us can come home to supper instead of spinning off in pieces across empty space!  So here's the deal:  Your flight instructors probably told you some stuff about perpendiculars, and it's not exactly wrong, but it's more about how you set up before they launch than how you fly.  So don't forget the main points:  If you can force their missiles to fly through asteroids, that's the best thing.  Either way, you want to always be as far from their missiles as you possibly can be.  And try to make those missiles fly the longest, most-roundabout path to get to you that you can!  We're a little handicapped here by the crowd of ships taking off to defend the colony, and by the interface on our read-outs here:  The old-school version animated the missiles that were going after you so you could see which ones had you painted at a glance.  These new-fangled displays animate all the blasted things, so you have to look and see when they move.  Well, we'll work around it!  Everybody move out and get ready to fire if you get a chance without eating missiles - those Sabretooth cruisers are going to bug out with their feline tails between their legs before we can knock 'em down, so go after the Bobcat destroyers if you can.  Missiles are after you, just race for the edge along the back row and look for your opportunity to get out when their missiles are gone!  Hssssssssssach!  That wasn't as clean as I'd like, but we took down four of their Bobcats and we've still got Gecko fighters left and nothing else got scratched!  We can do even better next time; they did a lot of damage, but I'm not afraid of these cats!


[2396, Kronos]


(Soil Enrichment is still an excellent tech, but Advanced Eco will be a huge boon for our economy - especially if we don't manage to get any other cleanup tech in between - and it's the only way forward through the tree for us this game.  If we have Advanced Soil available, going back for the regular version won't be worth it anway - and since Atmospheric isn't in our tree (nor is basic Cloning; they're the two alternatives to Advanced Eco in the fifth tier for Planetology) we'll never be able to enrich the soil at our many hostile worlds anyway, unless and until we can get Atmo from one of our enemies.)

Great to hear that there's going to be more space down there for everybody soon, with the new terraforming technology.  I feel bad about taking off with that fleet of Sakkra ships practically next door at Nordia, but Captain Preh Ssssscient of the First Gecko Fleet will be here by next year, and you've got your missile bases and a great production base, so I'm sure you'll be fine without us.


(Ugh, this could have been a much better composite image.  But you get the idea anyway.)

Can't say the same for Kronos, with six Bulrathi cruisers incoming there from Ursa, including five of a design we've never seen, so I understand the orders I've been given.  My fleet should get down there right about the same time as those Bulrathi, and one of our Monitors may give us more information on them while I'm on my way.  Good luck and good 'forming while I'm away!  I'm sure everybody in the empire's eager for more space, so the research budget's probably catch as catch can, so a big shout-out especially to all your scientists!  Hold steady!  You'll be racing back up the priority list in no time!


(Notice I'm finally taking planetary shields seriously, alongside our scanner-to-be.  This turn's light funding will probably mean about a turn's delay in developing dotomite crystals, but I thought that was worth it to improve all our worlds ASAP.  I actually delayed terraforming specifically at Obaca for a turn or two though, to ensure I'd still have a place from which I could add to the reserves.  I still made a mistake with that though:  Knowing I'd be terraforming it soon, I should have sent transports there from Kulthos right away.  At least I remembered to send some to Laan from Xengara - in fact, I sent too many, erring on the side of filling the planet since Laan is so amazing.  I will add that Obaca is not adding to the reserves this turn, but this is because of reasons.  Specifically...)


[2397, Obaca]

Everything on board is working brilliantly!  My only complaints are that the name is a little iffy and the thing still flies so slowly!  Best we've got is fine with me though:  I've got two million cold-storage colonists and the temperature and toxin reisistant biodome to keep 'em alive when we unpack on the planet, and I'll be setting them all down on the volcanic surface of Thrax Prime, at the blue star out beyond Fierias, in eight years' time!  The extra fuel tanks should get us there, and if the official name of my Viper Farlander has to be Vipercol 1L, well, I'll chalk it up to the Eighth Speaker being a little crazy.  See all of you in the next administration!  I'm about to jump!


(Also visible:  Me sending 11 million colonists from Kulthos to Reticuli before Obaca, because I guess I somehow forgot I'd be terraforming the latter in short order too.)


[2398, Ursa]

Do you copy, central command?  I've got a positive reading on the Tooth cruisers!  They've got two in orbit here at their homeworld!


(Unbelievable.  Is this a random coincidence this game, or does 1oom's Classic+ AI have such an intense love affair with missiles that it can't figure out how to put beams on a ship?  Original MoO AIs would use a wide variety of designs - arguably too large - and though kyrub's was pretty random too, it had a propensity for turning out some pretty terrifying war fleets.  This ... I mean, we'll suffer some attrition, but we'll never lose a world, especially if this is normal and we know to plan for it.)

Nine merculite missile tubes, each with a payload of two, and no other armament.  Combine that with the known fact that a Punisher killed just six Gecko fighters with missiles before retreating the last time we saw one, and we're basically in the clear.  If our fighters can't dodge all their mercs, we'll lose more in the battle, but we may well be able to do it anyway ... and our obsolete laser fighters, built at our shipyards on mineral-rich worlds, are really cheap.  I have to get out of here before their mercs wreck my Monitor, but I'm not afraid for Kulthos anymore.


[2400, Obaca]

Reporting for duty aboard the new Viper long-range colony cruiser, awaiting the Ninth Speaker's orders.  Apparently the Rayden Rocket Propulsion Labs made a breakthrough this year, but I don't think that changes anything for me.


(Let me just say, arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!  I picked the Warp Dissipator because we have absolutely no use for yet more range technology, and it could be useful to freeze enemy ships in space if either they ever build a ship armed with anything but missiles or we decide we want to blow up some of their missile boats and can build something with actual maneuverability so we can get close enough in time to use this to freeze them in space.  I was really hoping for Fusion Drives though - the chances of having neither nuclear nor sublight nor fusion engines nor even stabilizers in our tree is awfully low, though of course once we knew it was Fusion or bust, the chance of this happening was more than 40%.  I'd really like to get Sublights from the Bulrathi, but espionage takes time and die rolls, and so far we've gotten no hits, invasion against bears with fusion rifles - have I mentioned that they got fusion rifles? - will be costly even for our Sakkra breeders, and it's going to be expensive to get those engines in trade.  Note that if we trade them our new Dotomite Crystals for something else though, they should be willing to trade sublights (assuming/after they're willing to talk again) as long as we have something they regard as valuable enough to make the trade. Up to you if you want to pursue this.  They do have a number of things we want, including Improved Eco Restoration!)

Hopefully the extra range will be good for somebody!  Seems the empire's going strong now with trade in the black again - the Mrrshans may have broken their pact with us, attacked our most vulnerable and unmilitarized world, and killed dozens of our pilots, but no matter what their ambassador said, they never stopped trading with us - and a few hundred billion credits in the treasury.


(Our transports are so slow and our Sakkra breed so fast that I'm just letting nearly every planet grow naturally back up to the new terraforming levels.  Obaca has some transports due to arrive and help out next year though, and Laan just got its own infusion this year, bringing it to max in combination with natural population growth - it even sent back a few transports last year to prevent nearly a third of the new arrivals from dying of overcrowding!  Note I haven't boosted any planet's spending yet this turn, though there may be some minimal overflow from last turn.)

I think I can see why the Mrrshans and Bulrathi keep taking swings at us:  They can see we're a serious threat to their dominance - such as it is - in the galaxy!


(Leading in Population, Planets, and Production (even with no reserves yet spent this turn!) and competitive in Total Power and Technology against Impossible AIs does suggest we're going to win this thing - but there are a couple of caveats:  All the cheesy alliances mean there's a real risk of losing the election, which we (or an AI) might trigger with any given colony at this stage.  And the two races we haven't met are the Psilons and the Klackons; there's no telling how advanced and productive they might be!)

We're only going to keep growing stronger, with a colony ship already on the way to Thrax and mine ready to deploy wherever it's wanted.  I'd like to go to Hyades, with its big, rich, toxic second world, just discovered earlier this year, on the far side of the central nebula, but especially with the nebula, it's just so far away....  Maybe the Eighth Speaker will settle for sending me to the nearest little inferno and try to get the bears' sublight drives in time to build a ship that'll beat me to Hyades!  Honestly, I'm kind of glad it's not up to me!


(Just to reitterate, the Bulrathi cruisers and our Pop1 fighters are all due at Kulthos in two years, I believe, while transports should be hitting Obaca next year.  I haven't given new orders to any ships in orbit, including the new "Vipercol 1L" long-range toxic colony ship at Obaca.  Orion is still at the nearby white star of course, as labeled.  Good luck, DaveV!)

No real time right now, so for my notes for the next Speaker, I'll just refer back to my report.  The save is attached!

[jez9999]

Steep, steep, steeeeeeep learning curve.  I'm gonna have to ask some more questions here...

How come you traded them Ion Cannon instead of controlled Toxic?

It's go time, all you soft-bellies!  Get out there and earn your scales!  We've got Mrrshan bogies incoming, and the only thing standing between them and seventy-eight million of our civillian broodmates is one defense base and this fleet!  Go!  Go!  Go!  Base command there!  What're we up against?


(...seriously?)

Firstly, any chance you could get an animated GIF for these battles with something like LICEcap so we could see precisely what moves you make for the whole battle?

Secondly, how did you figure 7 missile volleys?  Looks to me like 9 + 1*5 which would be 14?

Thirdly, and this is one that the manual is abysmal at explaining clearly, is there any fundamental difference between Hyper-V Rockets and Hyper-X Missiles at all other than the name?  Can the missiles do something fundamentally different than the rockets, or are they literally just the same weapon type with one having a different name and improved stats?  The manual distinguishes anti-missile rockets from missiles (and torpedos), but these appear to just be plain old 'rockets'.  Could they just have been called Hyper-V Missiles, in order to be a heck of a lot less confusing?

(Soil Enrichment is still an excellent tech, but Advanced Eco will be a huge boon for our economy - especially if we don't manage to get any other cleanup tech in between - and it's the only way forward through the tree for us this game.  If we have Advanced Soil available, going back for the regular version won't be worth it anway - and since Atmospheric isn't in our tree (nor is basic Cloning; they're the two alternatives to Advanced Eco in the fifth tier for Planetology) we'll never be able to enrich the soil at our many hostile worlds anyway, unless and until we can get Atmo from one of our enemies.)

I forget; although some techs are skipped over, once a tech appears as an option for research, does it continue to stay there forever once you research newer techs?  In other words, if we never researched soil enrichment, would it stay there as an option forever?  Or would it disappear immediately after advanced eco was discovered?  Or does the game have certain later techs (such as advanced soil enrichment) marked as 'obsoleting' this tech, which would make it disappear?

I feel bad about taking off with that fleet of Sakkra ships practically next door at Nordia

Did you mean Bulrathi ships, or did I miss something?

(Ugh, this could have been a much better composite image.  But you get the idea anyway.)

Can't say the same for Kronos, with six Bulrathi cruisers incoming there from Ursa

Actually, I'm afraid I don't get the idea.  Did you mean Kulthos here?  Looks like that's the one that's more at risk from Ursa and where you're moving the ships to.  Maybe planets in future should be named to ensure they all have very different names from one another as these two sound irritatingly alike.

Everything on board is working brilliantly!  My only complaints are that the name is a little iffy and the thing still flies so slowly!  Best we've got is fine with me though:  I've got two million cold-storage colonists and the temperature and toxin reisistant biodome to keep 'em alive when we unpack on the planet, and I'll be setting them all down on the volcanic surface of Thrax Prime, at the blue star out beyond Fierias, in eight years' time!  The extra fuel tanks should get us there, and if the official name of my Viper Farlander has to be Vipercol 1L, well, I'll chalk it up to the Eighth Speaker being a little crazy.

Aren't planets like Thrax, being deep into the heart of Mrrshan (and presumably other potential enemy) territory, extremely vulnerable to attack?  Presumably once you get faster engines such as fusion drive, this problem is somewhat ameliorated, but until then is the plan just to build a ton of missile bases and keep a permanent defensive fleet stationed there?

(Also visible:  Me sending 11 million colonists from Kulthos to Reticuli before Obaca, because I guess I somehow forgot I'd be terraforming the latter in short order too.)

This being sub-optimal because you'd want to boost the Obacan population first as it's a mineral rich planet?

This ... I mean, we'll suffer some attrition, but we'll never lose a world, especially if this is normal and we know to plan for it.)[/i]

Is this purely because of the limited ammo of missiles?

Nine merculite missile tubes, each with a payload of two

I see the 9, but where are you reading 'payload of 2'? All I see is "1c" (what is that 'c' supposed to mean anyway? Or the 1, for that matter... missiles are frigging confusing in this game. Or should I say rockets? Rockiles? Missets?)

I'd like to go to Hyades, with its big, rich, toxic second world, just discovered earlier this year, on the far side of the central nebula, but especially with the nebula, it's just so far away....  Maybe the Eighth Speaker will settle for sending me to the nearest little inferno and try to get the bears' sublight drives in time to build a ship that'll beat me to Hyades!  Honestly, I'm kind of glad it's not up to me!

Is there a 'find planet' shortcut in MOO1? Seem to remember using something like that in the past but I may be thinking of a different game.

No real time right now, so for my notes for the next Speaker, I'll just refer back to my report. The save is attached!

So, I just played this game on a couple of turns and the missiles that Bulrathi fleet fire have enough range and speed to cover the entire screen width in 2 turns. I see absolutely no way for any ship to possibly avoid them. Either I'm missing something, or by this point in the game, you just have to accept that missiles are going to reach your ships.

[haphazard1]

Looks like some good turns in a tough situation, RefSteel. A few things could have been done differently (as you noted), but good job.

jez9999, yes, Hyper-V's are confusingly named. They are missiles, not rockets. The only rockets I am aware of are the ship special that helps defend against incoming missiles.

On the missile payload/ammo question, the "1c" refers to the remaining ammunition in the launchers. I think this stands for "1 count." Ship missiles come in 2-count and 5-count versions (and maybe 10 count? I forget). In the image in RefSteel's report, the enemy ships have presumably fired one of their two missiles already. The big weakness of missiles on ships is the limited ammo; once you have fired all your volleys, if you have no other weapons or specials on the ship it is unable to hurt anything. Beam weapon ships can stay in battle as long as they are alive, or up to the maximum round limit which is pretty large.

Other stuff.... Thrax will be deep in Mrrshan territory, and with our slow engines very hard to defend. But the cats presumably do not have the environment tech to settle it, or they would have already colonized it. And the AI tends to ignore planets it can not settle; the cats certainly can not send ground forces to invade although they could bomb it from orbit. I have no idea if this might be different in 1oom, but in classic MOO Thrax would be sort-of safe. The cats could potentially destroy it, but could not capture it and get techs. At least until they research, steal, or trade for better environment tech.

Our overall position from the stats screen looks promising. Usually if you can reach parity with the AIs in total power and production you have a good chance of winning. I wish we had even a vague idea of how powerful the Psilons and Klackons are, though.

[DaveV]

Got it, I should be able to play later today.

A bit more on missiles: the Sabretooth has nine missile batteries, each holding two missiles. When the missiles are fired, all nine will attack the same target, even if it's a single ship and the nine missiles will be ridiculous overkill. So by having four groups of ships to kill, Ref is tricking the Mrrshans into wasting their missiles on our easily replaced ships, leaving our missile base intact to drive off the attackers once they've used up their ammo.

[DaveV]

After loading the save, I checked the diplo screen. Since the Bulrathi ambassador was home, I asked him for a NAP. Accepted. The Bulrathi fleet will still attack at Kulthos, but they won't send another fleet without first canceling the NAP. Ref seems to have all the sliders set optimally (how do you get the half-click on the tech screen, Ref?), so I hit Next Turn.

On turn 2402, the Bulrathi fleet arrived:



They fired their two rounds of missiles, then retreated. I probably could have done a better job of hiding behind asteroids, but the losses were tolerable:



The Mrrshan diplomat had returned from his vacation, so I asked about a NAP. He said he'd agree in exchange for Controlled Toxic. No.

2404: Alkari relations improve to Relaxed. NAP proposed and accepted. Force Field research is at 24%.

2405: Thrax colony founded, giving contact with Klackons (Xenophobic Technologist, 1 planet), and Psilons (Pacifistic Technologist, 2 planets). We are still looking very competitive:



The Psilons are willing to trade Sub-Light Drives (on my second try):



This is a terrible deal in terms of tech level, and there's a chance the Psilons will shop around their new tech to the other AIs, but better engines are essential. The timing is good, too, because our transports to Thrax can now move twice as fast.

The Psilons accept a trade route for 40 BC/Year, the Klackons refuse to trade (after I refused a tech trade for ECM II). The Mrrshans are willing to sign a NAP for 725 BC; I accept. It's only money, right?

New Monitor 3 design:



Obaca can crank out 6 of these puppies, which can scout the newly in-range stars, and maybe see some ship stats. I deleted the Pop1 ships to make room for the new design; I think I should have deleted the colony ship instead (which I just realized has been sitting in orbit at Obaca, mea culpa). It's worth noting that 12 planets is considered "too many" by the AIs on this size map, and we will receive a diplomatic penalty for every planet we settle beyond our current 11. If we find some good planets, though, it's worth taking that diplo hit to settle them.

After some more thought, I scrapped the colony ship, leaving an empty ship design slot. We can build new colony ships that are 3x faster.

2406: spies break through against the Mrrshans.



I haven't done my homework and dither a bit over which category to choose. I settle on Ecology, hoping for waste cleanup, but:



. After checking their techs, weapons would have probably been the best choice, since Scatter Vs are game-breaking improvements to missile bases (although anti-missile rockets would have been just as meh as death spores, I think the fact that we stole a level ten tech in planetology means we probably would have stolen the level 11 tech in the weapon category). The other choices, for completeness: BC3 and IIT9, either of which would have been better than death spores. Sigh.

Force field research finishes:



The ensuing choice:



Repulsor beams won't help us at all against missile ships, but would be useful against beams, bombs and spores. Level 3 shields are a pretty minor upgrade; maybe we can steal something better?

2407: Computer tech comes in (at 19% ):



The ensuing no-choice:



And then Weapons research completed, at 18%:



With an easy choice:



And then the Mrrshans threw my 725 BC into the kitty litter:



That was a waste of money  . At least the F8 key doesn't show any fleets on the way.

2408: the Bulrathi want more trade.



I accept. It should help relations, and since we're already at Amiable, the trade deficit shouldn't last too long.

2409: we scout Palladia, the yellow star WNW of Mentar. It's an Inferno 40, which could be a pretty good planet for us. I crank up a colony ship, and finally spot the size 40 Toxic Rich planet Ref probably intended as the destination of the late lamented colony ship  . Obaca gets some reserve cash so it can complete a P COL L3 next turn.

2410: our Monitor 3 arrives at the Psilon homeworld to scope out their defenses:



Too much for our unarmed ship; we retreat toward Denubius, which will put us into position to scout near Hyades.

The Klackons arrive at Proxima, the no-planet system near Orion.



We get another spy penetration on the Mrrshans. I pick the category I wish I'd picked last time, Weapons.



I get Fusion beams (!) instead of the expected Scatter V. Sorry, no screenshot. The Mrrshans' diplomat is still not at his post, so they can't complain, but it looks as though both of our spies were spotted. Relations are now Tense.

Colonists finally arrive at Thrax. I give them several turns' worth of reserves, and set the sliders for my usual development mode:



Probably not optimal, but we certainly want all of these things: better protection, more factories, more population.

Summary: sorry, team, this was not a great turn set. I missed the juicy target of Hyades, wasn't prepared properly for the Mrrshan spying success, and wasted 725 BC on cat toys which were spurned by the kitties.

Notes for the next leader:

1) Hit F8 at the start of every turn. This will reveal any of our planets that have hostile fleets/colonists on the way. Keep hitting F8 until you cycle through all the threatened worlds. As of now, there are no threats on the way (nothing happens when you press F8).
2) We'll complete another colony ship next turn if you don't adjust the sliders; I intended it for Palladia, the yellow star near Mentar. I took the liberty of sending the colony ship produced this turn to Hyades.
3) Keep pumping reserves into Thrax, and into Hyades when the colony ship arrives.