Imperium Eight - The Ancient Race - Reporting Thread

[dathon]

Hope I'm not stepping on toes by starting the reporting thread, but if I don't post now I won't have a chance before Jan 11.

Pre-Game Analysis

I always enjoyed the xCC challenge in Civ 3, mostly because I don't have the time or patience to be micro-managing dozens and dozens of cities, yet hate not playing the best game I can. So when Zed came up with this scenario, I knew I had to give it a whirl. First, let's look at the scoring options:

The base score is calculated via your ending date to encourage finishing as quickly as possible. I tend to be rather conservative in my game, waiting until I can strike with decisive force. To get a higher score, I will probably have to step out on a few limbs. Since each year translates to one point, all of the bonus scoring can be looked at from that perspective.

+50 for settling Orion without exceeding 5 planets: This seems like a red herring to me, designed to throw player off track. I imagine some will try and go 4CC until they have the tech to kill the Guardian, and that will probably cost them more than 50 turns. I do not intend to get this bonus.

+50 for triggering final war at the first possible opportunity: Wow, that's a lot of points for a random happening. I'm sure there will be some games where an AI rises to power quickly, especially with the Silicoids in the mix. A combination of expansion and early alliances could lead to a very early first final war before player is ready. Some people will also probably never get this option. I intend to take it if at all possible.

+25 for avoiding final war entirely: Consolation prize if final war never comes.

+15 for extermination victory: This may seem like a no-brainer, but if it would take more than 15 turns to go from conquest to extermination, than taking this option is the better one. That is if Final War has not been declared.

I do not intend to incur any penalties for colonizing past five planets. I will take the final war option if at all possible; even if it will extends my game more than 50 turns, it will be worth it for the challenge. And that's my philosophy for this game: enjoy the challenge and novelty of the 5CC, and place the scoring priority a close, but distinct second.

Now, looking at the starting map, we would appear to be alone in the NW quadrant, as the two yellows to our south are very unlikely candidates for an AI homeworld. There are six of the generally habitable star types within easy reach. We might get lucky and find a not-too-hostile rich in all the blue stars to the south. Scouting will be of paramount importance in this game, as I will have to choose my four other planets very carefully. As for the rest of the planets in my space, my strategy will be one of denial. I will maintain a starfleet, and prevent as many colonies from taking root as I possibly can. This will undoubtedly lead to early wars, and could speed final war. Not that that matters to the borg.

Looking at the racial mix, the clear threats are the Silicoids and Klackons. Those rocks could be particular trouble if they are close to me, as that will force me to keep a bigger denial-fleet to protect hostile worlds.

Game

There are two stars in opening range, the red to the north and the yellow to the south. The yellow has better odds, so the col ship goes there. The scouts head for the second yellow and the red 5 parsecs away. Normally I don't build scouts first turn, but I will be here. If that yellow star turns out to be a marginal world, I want to know what my other options are. Oh, and thank you Zed for cleaning up the fleet screen for us

When she colony ships arrives, it finds a Terran size 100. Well, I probably won't find four worlds better than this, so I decide to take it without waiting for the scouting reports. The first batch of scouting reports come in, and I'm not very excited. There's a size 90 ocean world south of Volantis that's already in range that I will probably grab. Unfortunately, the stars to my East and North are all medium size, with one each Dead and Ultra Poor, although one is fertile. Much more interesting reports from the blue stars. There's a size 45 Tundra rich and a size 85 Fertile Arid SE of Volantis. Even better, they can both be reached without range tech, though I will need the environment tech for the Tundra. There's also a size 40 ultra-rich nearby, but it is radiated and I don't want to wait that long for my fifth colony. This will be a nice option later if I should really need to take another world (provided I have the planetology tech to get it). My plan is to stick with the southern planets, which will give me two size 100's, a size 90, a size 85, and a size 45 rich.

Cthulhu maxes population (with help from Volantis) in2323. Time to see what planetology tech are available. Or I could pull some serious and dump the investigation money to the range slider by accident. Range 5 there. My only option Planetology-wise is Improved Eco. I'd have rather drawn +10, but that's better than Barren. Before I begin research, though, I need a col ship to get Nitzer online. Once that's done, I will be reasearching the tech from Cthulhu at a rate of 100BC per turn. That will ripen the tech in about 9 turns. If Tundra is not in the tree, I will need the extra production to keep climbing the Planetology ladder.

Nitzer is founded in 2334. I decide to take Charis's growth formula out for a spin. Volantis is at 86/100, and Nitzer is 2/90, so according to the equation, I should send 39.68 or 40 colonists to maximize total growth. Sounds good to me. Colonizing Nitzer did not bring any other worlds into scoutable range, so that will have to wait until Tundra tech can be researched.

I catch a minor break when Improved Eco pops a couple turns after it went to the percentages. And now the moment of truth:





And a huge sigh of relief is heard issuing from the ruling palace on Cthulhu. This tech I will be researching full bore to get my last two worlds up and running as quickly as possible.

My first sighting of another race comes in 2342 when an unarmed Silicoid col ship tries to touch down on that radiated ultra rich. My scout yips ferociously, and the rocks run in terror. Guess I'll need some protection there sooner rather than later. I do not intend to let the Silicoids have tha world. So I design a medium gunship, LR tank and 2 lasers, produced out of Volantis alongside factory construction. Tundra comes in 3 turns later, and ooh, we can nab both +30 and Enhanced Eco, which I will be researching in that order after Cthulhu builds the colony ships for my last (hopefully) two worlds.

2351 marks the first declaration of a race getting to 6 worlds. It is the Silicoids, of course. I've been shipping the LR lasers off to the UR every turn, and now have a fleet of 18 there/en route. I'd like to get that to 30. Overkill? Not with the prospect of the rocks owning the planet.

Anraq is colonized in 2354, and the col ship I've been building alongside factories at Cthulhu completes the same turn, and will land at the last planet in 2361. Volantis is almost maxed out, and Nitzer is developing nicely, though it will be slowed a little by seeding Anraq and Willow. I decide now would be a good time to check my options in the other research fields. Let's see, Scanner, IIT9, Class II, and Gatling Laser. No choices, heh. IIT9 will go a long way towards helping the last worlds develop, so I decice to research that before opening up all fields, which will also give Cthulhu a chance to max out. GNN reports in 2357 that I am dead last in tech. Not for long. Volantis and Cthulhu are maxed out and ready to churn out some serious RP

IIT9 pops, and blah, my only choice is IIT8. A turn later, Willow is colonized. The Glorious Meklar empire:



Scanner pops, and my only option is BC III. Range 5 completes, and my only option is Nuclear Engines. What is this, the no-choice tech tree?? Oh well, at least now I can send some LR lasers out for a little scouting of the surrounding neighborhood. Silicoids come back for that planet with 3 mediums and 3 col ships, which are handily defeated. It's now within range, so I deploy a better warship, this one with new gatling lasers, normal laser, Class II shields and MK I computer. The rocks are packing missiles on their ships, so this should be able to handle that. In the mean time, I'm now researching Class III and Hyper X's. No Ion cannons, but I will be going after those Fusion Bombs next. Then this little gem hits:



Could have been worse, though, if it had hit my planetology and wiped out progress towards +30. Nitzer maxes both pop and factories on the same turn in 2371, and takes over warship production from Volantis. Meanwhile, my scouts have found Kholdan in the south, and another Ultra Rich radiated world as well. Looks like the rocks have already colonized the toxic in that nebula, probably putting them within range of the Steppe worlds close to home. Time to post some sentries there. My rich world will be at full capacity in a few more turns, so that will help out the ship-building effort.

Ah, good. I have access to Range 7. Not enough to reach Kholdan, but enough to secure a neutral zone of unoccupied planets around me. Even better, a few turns later when IIT8 comes in I learn I have access to the mighty automated repair special! However, lack of planets is already having a noticeable effect on my research curve. Hyper-X's come online in 2381, showing that I have Scatter V's as my next option after I nab Fusion bombs. Hmm, not many beams here. May have to go the missile boat route. Couple turns later, I nab BC III and begin work on Improved Scanner.

Willow maxes out in 2393, providing a significant boost to my research economy. +30 should pop any turn now, which will improve my economy even further. I'm now almost 100 turns into the game, coming up on 200 base points. And I realize my game plan may have had a fatal flaw. By settling close to my homeworld, I nabbed very good planets, and got my empire up and running rather quickly. However, until my range improves, I'm not going to be able to reach the far side of the galaxy. I'm going to have to prioritize propulsion tech heavily, or turn in a very poor score. Probably both +30 pops the very next turn, and wow. My Meklars have access to +40, Soil Enrichment, Controlled Toxic, Controlled Radiated, and Enhanced Eco? Unusual. I think Soil would help me the most, so I go for that. I now have sentries posted at all of the critical worlds around my empire, so after terraforming completes, I can devote even more to research, leaving my rich world on warship production/reserves. Didn't mention that I was building gatling's at my homeworld for the north? Oops

Improved Scanner comes in, which doesn't reveal any new info, but does open the door for RC IV. At least our tech tree is well-suited to the scenario. Wonder if that's not purely by chance...

2400 rolls around, and I'd say I'm in pretty good shape. Nitzer, Volantis, and Cthulhu have just maxed out, and Anraq will follow suit next turn. I have sentries posted at all key worlds around my empire, making a nice buffer. Range 7 should pop any turn now. In fact, next turn it does. Both Range 8 and Fusion Drives are available. I can now design an LR gatling with Nuke engines, which will be useful in guarding a couple worlds on the fringes. Anraq can build 6 per year. With Willow maxed out, I can pull 1562 RP a turn; not too shabby for a 5PE.

Spot Klackon col ships heading out; they must have learned a range tech. Too bad for them I got there first. I almost feel like a petulent two-year old, stamping my foot and clutching those planets even though I can't have them My scouts find Fierias; their homeworld is 9 parsecs away. and HOLY COW!! There's an artifacts world in the corner, SIZE 100 I bet Zed threw that in to tempt us. Now it's decision time. The world is at Range 10. Thus I would have to colonize two whole worlds to get there, incurring a 50 point penalty. Would nabbing that world shave 50 turns off my end date? That's a tough choice. I already made one mistake in choosing Range 8 over Fusions; now I'm praying that I get Impulse Engines so I don't have to go back for the Fusion Drives. Even worse, I've been operating under the assumption that unlimited range was always available, when it is in fact not. So, I may have to capture a planet to get at the right-hand side of the map. Hmmm... no, I'm not going to colonize that artifact world. However, I will still have to guard it heavily, lest the Klackons manage to nab it.

2413 sees the invention of RC IV, with Advanced Scanner as my chosen tech. 2416 marks the date the Meklar's learned Fusion bombs, and then decided to try and make beams out of the same stuff. Auto repair was learned in 2418. But most importantly, Range 8 comes in at 2420. Nuts, I do have to go back for the Fusion Drives before Range 9. I finally gain contact with both the Klackons and Silicoids.



Looking at the map, another fatal flaw in my plan occurs to me. My blockade of planets may never allow the vote to happen! That's a lot of worlds I'm not allowing to be colonized. We'll see. If it comes to it, I can let the rocks colonize the radiated and tundra near me, and then destroy the colony. Rather dasterdly, but this isn't exactly an honorable rules set I am ahead of both species in tech, production, and population. Spying is opened up to see what we can learn from these backwards people. Also of note, both are at war with the apparently OPE Kitties. I can probably save the cats from the bugs, but not the rocks. Both races have Inerial stabilizer, and the Klacks have a surprising amount of computer tech. However, the bugs have yet to learn any missile techs. If they don't soon, I may order up an early bombing run on Kholdan

The Meklars learn Soil Enrichment techniques in 2422, adding another boost to my economy, although neither Anraq or Willow benefit from the tech. Enhanced Eco, which I'm going back for, will stop some of the waste cash hemmoraging. Now check out this weed:



The rocks are sending a single col ship at a world guarded by 30 warships. But wait, it gets better. That world is Ultra Poor. The green to the south is the same size, fertile, and guarded by only a single ship Looks like the rocks need to research Basic Strategy tech

Get my first tech steal in 2430, BC II from the rocks. Yes it takes our relations down to Troubled, but I don't much care as we are ahead of them in every category but planet count. Next turn, we follow it up by stealing RC III. Why am I stealing computer techs? All the better to pick the AI trees clean with, my dear...

Anraq rebels in 2423. Arrgh. At least I reclaimed the planet.



Fusion Beams, Fusion Drives, and Enhanced Eco come in about the same time, a turn or two after I stole Range 4 from the rocks, and this gem from the bugs



Time to see what kind of glass maker I can construct.



Yeah, that should work nicely, especially against the bug's nuke bases. Anraq can make 50 a year. Advanced Scanner comes online in 2442, revealing information on the lands to the south. I'm almost to 2450, the halfway point in the scoring system. I can pursue one of two avenues: a)start looking at what planets I need to invade to reach the other side of the galaxy, trying to minimize the penalties or b)commit to unlimited range being in the tree. Plan B has the greater reward potential, but also great risk, in that I might have to resort to plan A if range isn't in the tree, and lose time (and therefore points). In the end, I decide to go with the concept over scoring potential. This is a 5CC, and dammit I'm going to stick to that unless I absolutely cannot. I am prepared to make one concession for scoring and challenge, however. I decide to pull my scouts back from a few worlds with the intention of letting them be settled to trigger the vote and (hopefully) Final War. That should also, in theory, speed up the AI tech progress, which I can hopefully take advantage of through spying.

I wait until I have 500 bombers accumulated over Anraq, then dispatch them to Kholdan. And whoa, where did that fleet come from???



All the scanners showed was a few of the medium ships in the 124 stack. Must have come up from the south, and arrived this turn. I manage to destroy all the bases with a little collateral damage, but it cost me half the bombers. Good news is it appears those are all laser designs. Well, I was planning on building a new line of warships anway... Range 9 comes in, and I have Star Gates, Range 10, and Ion's available. In keeping with Plan B, I choose the Ion Drives. Hopefully, Range 10 won't be necessary. Oh yeah, and the range increase puts me in contact with the OPE Mrrshans. Wow, they've been concentrating on missile tech and have merculites. Probably the only reason they are still alive.

Wait, what's this? The Klackon fleet is moving to Vox and will arrive in 3 turns? And my bombers just arrived at Nitzer and can return to Kholdan in two? Anybody see where this is headed? I also took the opportunity to design a modest warship



And score another point for AI



And the next turn



There's one 5-point penalty that I won't be incurring Two turns later, my little glass makers turn Proteus into a marble, cutting the Silicoids off from my core area. Amusingly, this also eliminates all of my contacts I guess that was the ultimate "talk-to-the-hand" gesture Oh yeah, somewhere in there I scored Atmospheric Terraforming, and was overjoyed to learn that Advanced Soil was in the tree. Darn good list of Planetology techs for the cyborgs. The Silicoids finally managed to scout that Ultra rich radiated, but my first Devastator just rolled off the lines from Anraq.

The Klackons get the derelict event in 2460, and they still have two sizes 115 and 70 in their backlines. But still, this is Average. I allow the bugs to colonize the dead world to the north of me, and the rocks the ultra poor steppe, hoping to kick off the vote. Besides, now I can resume my spying on them Ion drives come in, and of course I take High Energy Focus.

Hmm, lots of Klackon col ships heading for my backlines now. That's ok. My ships are MUCH faster, and I can easily smack down those little colonies. Especially with my new Megabolt cannons Ooh, and I have both Pulsons and Scatter Pack VII's available. I decide on the Scatter's, but hindsight I think the Pulson's would have been the better choice. Still too defense-oriented in my thinking. The Silicoids have now colonized the non-fertile steppe to my east, still no vote. They're also going to nab the 80 Arid up north, while the bugs will get the size 95 in the corner. Not that any of these are going to become permanent establishments Amazingly enough, nobody has re-colonized Kholdan or Fierias yet.

Finally, all of that settling near me has brought on the vote, 2470.

Darloks: 5, abstain
Silicoids: 7, themselves
Bulrathi: 4, abstain
Klackons: 3, Silicoids
Me: 17, Silicoids

Darn, if either the Darloks or Bulrathi had voted, we would be at war. Oh well. Now that the vote is being held, time to get rid of these extra colonies floating around. Heh, got the Silicoids attention too, as they come calling for peace. "We are the Meklar. Diplomacy is irrelevant. Peace is futile"

2475, and another vote is held. This time, the Bulrathi do not abstain



Bring it on! The Bulrathi have settled the hot potatoes near me, bringing me in contact; I think that's what did it for them. The first few turns of the war saw nothing interesting. The other races were too busy trying to juggle the hot potatoes to actually strike against any of my planets. I needed some faster ships to force damage before retreats, but both propulsion and shield techs were about ready to pop, so I held off.

2481 comes, and work on High Energy Focus is completed. And now the moment of truth...



:mad:

My gamble did not pay off. Now I will have to invade and hold worlds to get to the corners of the galaxy. Started work on Range 10, which would be the extent of my reach. Looking at the map, I'm guessing Fierias and Spica will give me what I need to reach out. 2484 saw the invention of Advanced Soil, and I chose +60 for my next tech there. OUCH! Glad this didn't happen to me...



Now that my techs are in, it's time to design a new ship:



I went with a large hull this time, so I could cover more planets with my fleet. Fierias was taken in 2489, incurring my first 25-point penalty of the game. This puts me in range of every planet on the southern side of the map except 3 right along the fringe (when I get Range 10, that is). My first offensive was at Vox in the South. The AI's shiny new Class X planetary shield dramtically reduced the effectiveness of my bombers, however. It took to 2496 to eliminate Vox, same turn Range 10 came into effect. I needed something with more punch. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything within my arsenal. I did design a faster, two-bomb bomber and built them out of Anraq, but I sorely needed some new bomb tech.

Well, I completed my Scatter Pack research in 2503, and the only option it opened up was the Gauss Autocannon. Bah. Well, let's give these Pulson missiles a try... The space amoeba also decided to make an appearance, up North near Firma. One more turn, and I'll have glassed that planet myself. The lifeform was destroyed in 2509 by the Bulrathi when it tried to enter their space.

My assault on Spica was an absolute disaster. I completely underestimated how many bombers I'd need to destroy the bases; as such many of my first wave transports were cut down, and given my disadvantage on the ground (the AI had more gropo techs), I needed 3 waves and tons of troops to take the planet. And all I got was Duralloy, ECM I, Sub-Lights, Controlled Dead, IIT7, and some other crappy tech I didn't bother to note. I had been hoping for the anti-matter bombs the AI had researched, but oh well. I had the planet by 2514. Way out of the running for any sort of decent score on this one. As it stands now, I'm at 2600 - 2514 + 50 - 25 - 25 = 86 pts. I'll actually be lucky to break even on this one. Claiming Spica put me in range of all but 2 planets, both on opposite ends of the galaxy. However, I could reach them both with LR bombers. Ha! Has anybody ever put LR tanks on a bomber before???



2518 marked the year that a squad of 666 (hey, production chose that value, not me! :P ) bombers and megabolt ships began The Great Purge. First up, the Klackon's; their last planet was just within range of my fleet. At this point, I shut down research completely; I needed to finish this soon if I was to get a positive score. My bombing on the bugs was successful in 2521:



The Silicoids had 5 planets in an arc in the middle of the galaxy; my next goal was to try and take these planets out in rapid succession. That would leave the Darloks and the Bulrathi in the corner, and I was already well on my way to assembling a fleet to deal with the Bulrathi. Cryslon with its Class X shield proved too much for my little bombers to handle on the first try. Wait a second, Class X!? I noted that before, but didn't consider one vital piece of information. I'm in final war mode!!! This is distinctly NOT GOOD. Now the Darlok's and Bulrathi will be much harder to take. I did manage to glass Ursa in 2526, but at the cost of 200 bombers. I MIGHT have enough for the rest of the Bulrathi worlds (only 3 of them). If they don't all have the Class X shields built. Only Cryslon had one with the Silicoids; let's hope the bears weren't any smarter with their defense planning. But they were. I have no choice but to hold at Ursa until more bombers are built, especially the LR version to take out Uxmai. I took some consolation by destroying Cryslon in 2528:



Thankfully, the Darlok's only had a Class X shield at Nazin. Ten years after the Silicoid's demise, the GNN robot made one final report before he was decommisioned to the scrap heap.



Base Score: 2600 - 2538 = 62
Final War Bonus: 50
Extermination Bonus: 15
Penalty for Planets Beyond 5: 2 x -25 = -50
Final Score: 77

Bah. I had hoped to do better than that. Then again, not having unlimited range really hurts under this scoring system. Anybody who did not claim five planets early will no doubt have a slower growth curve. Orion is pretty far away from the homeworld to make it a reasonable grab. It will be very intersting to read the other accounts come reporting day, to see if the slower growth of those who went with less than five planets cost them more than the extra two penalties cost me. However, as I said in the opening, my primary goal for this Imperium was to enjoy the challenge and novelty of a 5CC, which I did. Kudos to Zed for a creative scenario

[Zed-F]

Good effort.

Your initial analysis of the scoring conditions was spot on, though I had been hoping that the various bonuses and penalties would make more of a difference than I now think they will. I should probably have doubled at least the Orion one, but I didn't want to playtest to any great degree as I planned to play in this one. To that end, the map was completely unedited, despite whatever fluky planets might have been present. You're correct in that settling all 5 worlds off the bat and choosing not to eat the scoring penalty for settling more worlds probably were the two choices that cost you the most in terms of scoring potential.

[Mike]

Could an admin please enable attachments for me, so I can report. Thanks.

[Zed-F]

Pre-game analysis: We start almost certainly on our own in the north-west corner of the map; there are two yellows nearby that are very unlikely to hold AI planets, and 11 other yellows ranging from the SW to SE to NE. We are in a position to potentially deny the AI the ability to settle a large percentage of the galaxy -- maybe enough to prevent a vote from ever occurring? Maybe. We'd need quite a few ER larges though, with no guarantee they'd hold up under any significant pressure.

Going with the Lovecraftian theme to planet naming in honour of our ancestors and their world-ships, I decide to name our 5 planets Cthulhu, Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, and Yog-Sothoth -- or at least as close as the game will allow. I know normally we should all name planets the same for comparison purposes, but since no-one will have that many planets, I figure we can afford an exception this once. Looking at the ranges, we have enough reach with ER ships to cover our own corner with no problem, and reaching most of the SW corner looks do-able with even only a bit of expansion in that direction. The problematic side of the map will be the east side, but if I hold back two colonies for that side of the map then I should be ok to reach the rest of it. So my initial goal will be to found 2 colonies on the best planets I can find locally and build up. Even if I find Orion in a sub-optimal spot and have to make do with only one colony on the east side of the map I might be able to squeak out coverage of enough of the map to claim conquest -- especially if Thorium cells happen to be in our tree. I will have to see what planets are nearby before I can decide upon immediate research targets, however.

The main races I might have to watch out for are the Klackons and the Silicoids; they are the only ones reasonably likely to get off to a good start and get the votes going quickly. Probably, however, we will see a first vote that's relatively far into the game.

2300: Best bet for the colony ship is to head to the yellow, so that's where it goes. Otherwise, the scouts start scouting.

2303: We colonize Azathoth, a Terran 100. Can't get too much better than that. I transport a whopping 28 people to get the planet going quickly. This drops Cthulhu to 30 pop, on the edge of the high growth envelope.

2323: We have scouted everything within 6 parsecs of our initial two colonies and the best star available appears to be the yellow south of Azathoth, which is in range to colonize immediately. I'll build a colony ship for it as soon as I can do so within 5 years of construction.

2332: We colonize Nyarlathotep (minus one letter.) Scouts proceed forth to scout some more... or they would if anything new was in range. Bummer. We send 24 pop from Azathoth, which is the most we can and still be clean with one extra tick of Eco.

2335: I decide to open up all fields of research to see what we can get before I max out on Cthulhu and am ready to start devoting major bucks to research: Scanner, Industry 9, Shields 2, Improved Eco (yay!), Range 5, Gatlings (boo!). Looks like Planetology will be a pressing need short-term. Propulsion will be a constant theme as well, though less urgent since we don't plan on colonizing any more at the moment and since we have not yet encountered any enemy scouts. Otherwise, computers are always a good choice. We go back to building industry.

2346: I finished building on Cthulhu and swapped to full research on Improved Eco, which now pops. Pollution drops from crippling to painful. Tundra environment is my only option next. I could go for range 5 at max research but decide to make a quick stop at computers first. I want to see if RC III is in my tree. More production never hurts -- at least, not once Nyarlathotep is on its feet. Azathoth is about to max as well.

2347: Well that was fast. We have scanners, but no RC III; bummer. Back to propulsion.

2350: We complete Deuterium Fuel Cells, Nuclear Engines is next. I send out scouts. I went for Tundra bases next to see what the next planetology tech will be. I'd rather go through two levels of planetology to get a +production tech than 3 levels of computers, and I have a better chance of getting a terraforming tech than RC anyway. At least, that's the theory...

2352: Industry 9 and Tundra bases pop. I get Industry 8 next for construction plus an actual choice for a change in Planetology, Terraforming +30, Enhanced Eco, or Toxic bases. I pick Terraforming +30 over Enhanced Eco but I may come back for the latter. Depends on what's coming up in construction I guess. For now I am researching Propulsion in my spare time.

2354: Nuclear Drives come in and I pick Dotomite Crystals next for range 7 over Sublights. I hope to get Fusion Drives next. However, research is still concentrated on Planetology for terraforming.

2359: We get our first contact with enemy ships. We barely beat a pair of Silicoid colony ships to Herculis, an Ultra-rich Radiated world in the south and chase them away with our scout. Our other scout discovers Kholdan, which has 9 bases and a bunch of smalls in orbit. We start construction of LR DEF 2.0 ships to attempt to blockade the Silicoids; they have nuclear engines and heavy lasers and can whittle away at slow enemy ships more-or-less indefinitely. I will need at least 3, maybe more, but 3 will be a good start I think. Fortunately Azathoth can build them in just over a year apiece.



2364: Terraforming +30 comes in. I choose Soil Enrichment next, there's another priority given that we have large planets to enrich. Research pauses while we re-max.

2368: GNN says we are the leaders of advanced technology. No sign of anyone other than the Silicoids and Klackons yet, and no contact beyond those initial encounters. Cthulhu and Azathoth will re-max this year, after that it's Soil. I wouldn't be pushing the farmer's gambit nearly so much if I were being pressured at all, but I'm not.

2372: Nyarlathotep maxed last year. This year, a Silicoid colony ship shows at Tyr; this one is armed with a Hyper-X 5-pack. Not enough to deter my DEF 2.0, which can absorb its pitiful damage output with no problem, forcing it to retreat.

2375: Soil Enrichment comes in. Advanced Eco Restoration is not in our tree so we go back for Enhanced Eco Restoration. Maybe we should have gone for Enhanced Eco first, but I suppose it was worth it to see whether Advanced was in there or not. I think after this we will leave the Planetology tree alone for a bit as after this things will start to get a bit expensive. Everyone starts working on Soil, followed by pop and factories.

2379: Everyone re-maxes. I built a fourth LR DEF 2.0 and reinforced Tyr.

2382: Enhanced Eco Restoration comes in. My choices are now Controlled Radiated, Terraforming +40, and Atmospheric Terraforming, none of which are overly appealing. I am pretty sure I need to pick atmospheric terraforming to proceed, however, and there may come a day when I am able to continue to research in this field. Still, from the point of view of being able to pick the right planet to land on to extend my range, perhaps Controlled Radiated is the better choice. I go with that and shift funding to computers and propulsion. Next year, BC III comes in and we pick Improved Space Scanner next. I position scouts for when range 7 comes in.

2387: Improved Scanners comes in, and Robotics IV is in my tree. I go for that next. Maybe I should have gone for this first anyway, since it turns out the total RP to get here from Scanners would have been comparable to the total RP to get from Improved Eco to Terraforming +30. However, there was no guarantee that Robotics IV would be in my tree, and it offers a smaller boost relative to a pop boost since I am Meklar anyway. I think going for planetology still was at least as good an option.

2389: Dotomite Crystals come in. I have all 3 options next, Fusion drives, Uridium Cells, and Warp Dissipators. I go for the former. GNN reports that I am the master of production! Small surprise there on average, even with only 3 planets.

2392: Robotic Controls IV and Improved Industry 8 come in. I select Advanced Space Scanners and Automated Repair Systems next. The astute observer will note that I still have not researched any force field or weapons research project yet. In fact, all my worlds are still completely defenseless. Of course, no-one can reach me to attack me yet...

2396: Our scouting efforts have discovered a steppe 45 ultra rich on the east side of the map; it's a bit on the small side but will give us a much needed range boost on the eastern side of the map and of course being ultra rich is a big draw in and of itself. I send a LR DEF 2 to reinforce our claim while I rush a colony ship to send in that direction. We also discover Fierias and a Silicoid colony world.

2401: We discover Automated Repair systems. Zortium Armour is next.

2402: We discover Fusion Drives and select Range 9 next, then colonize Shub-Niggur(ath). We immediately get contact with the Silicoids, Bulrathi, and Darloks. Scum, all of them. I transfer my entire planetary reserve to Shub-Niggur and enough population to fill it entirely (before T-forming of course,) then regrow pop on Cthulhu and Azathoth. Darloks are Xenophobic Technologists who have 5 planets in the east. Silicoids are Aggressive Expansionists who nevertheless are still stuck with only 5 planets in the south. Bulrathi are Xenophobic Ecologists who also have 5 planets in the far NE corner. I know the Klackons have only one or two planets stuck in the SW -- maybe three but I doubt it -- and have not expanded much. The Mrrshan are, typically, doing some OCC variant stuff or else I would have contact with them now. These opponents are beyond pitiful. 100 years and this is as far as they've managed to get?



Checking ranges, it appears the farthest Bulrathi world is 12 parsecs away. There are some other worlds further south that are farther away but I am close to having all the range I need for an extermination win. I just need one world a bit further south that I can use as a base of operations to take the remainder of the map. Cryslon or Fierias might make good choices. Unfortunately, it looks like Orion is going to be tucked in some obscure corner of the map this time as I have not found it yet, though there are a couple of possibilities east of Shub-Niggur. I will probably have to forego that bonus for an early victory instead; teching to the point where I can take out the Guardian plus teching to Thorium cells would take too long.

I am not convinced that stealing rather than teching is the economically smart choice at this point. It seems too chancy when I could simply research the stuff myself in a handful of turns. If I am going to spy, I had better at least make sure that I am stealing stuff that's worthwhile to steal. I start researching weapons and shielding tech, as well as Advanced Scanners. Still, I'm not ready to gon on the offensive just yet. I will want at least Range 9 first so I can finish off anyone I start in on, as well as better weapons and shields, and possibly Zortrium Armour if I am going to make some autorepair gunships (though I may not.) Still, I at least want to know what the other races have, starting with the Bulrathi, who are often easy bait for tech steals due to low emphasis on computers.

2403: Shields II came in this turn and I pick Personal Deflector next since I expect to engage in a ground war for at least one planet. Bulrathi have gobs of weapons tech, and not much else. They have Stinger missles, but their best techs otherwise are Duralloy Armour and Class III shields. Sounds like a good candidate for spying, though, as their computer tech is the lofty Mk II Battle Comp. They are not a threat to expand much since they are limited to range 4. They don't look too difficult to annihilate.

I might be best advised to go capture and stand up my southern base first, though. I dial up spying on the Silicoids to see what they have.

2404: Gatling Lasers come in this turn and I take Fusion Bomb next. The Silicoids are doing a bit better than the Bulrathi in the computer department but otherwise look pretty similar -- weapons and not much else. At least Cryslon has the advantage of being 7 away from Shub-Niggurath right now and in the correct direction; Fierias is better positioned but I would need range 9 to harvest it. We'll see how things develop. I am not quite ready to start a fleet yet anyway.

2407: Personal Deflectors come in, but only Class IV shields are available next. I notice a Silicoid colony ship headed to the dead rich world near Shub-Niggurath, so I send a LR DEF 2 to chase it off. There is also a large fleet headed to claim the radiated ultrarich near our core. Hmm, I am not sure I can prevent them from settling there; it will depend on what that fleet is armed with I suppose, but likely they can kill my blockader before it can kill their colony ship. The Silicoids may be my first target.

2409: Advanced Scanners come in, the only next choice is Jammer VI. Might be worth it if I ever get attacked to thin out enemy missles and bombs, but otherwise I am not really interested at the moment. We should have fusion bombs maturing next, but I also need Range 9 tech, so I start that in parallel. Next year, fusion bombs complete, and Scatter V is my only option -- a good option to get, to be sure.

2415: Scatter Pack V comes in, I choose Fusion Beams next. Silicoids have settled Vox in the far southwest, courtesy of an alliance with the Klackons. That could let them break out if they send a sizeable fleet in that direction. It looks like I will need to send a fleet to deal with them soon. Fortunately I am nearly ready to begin construction of one; in fact, Shub-Niggur has just now maxed so I start construction of a placeholder huge ship.

2417: Reajax II fuel cells (range 9) arrives. We gain contact with the Aggressive Ecologist 2-planet Klackon empire and the Ruthless Expansionist single planet Mrrshan empire. I am now ready to start going on the offensive. I will need a fleet of bombers to glass planets and possibly something to defend my captured colony once I take it... but maybe I can rely on bases for the latter. Really I only need bombers -- lots and lots of bombers. Here's what I come up with:

I immediately start transports on the way to Cryslon from Cthulhu and Azathoth. Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath start bomber construction. If I want to be able to fit a MK III computer on my bomber someday then I will probably need the next level of weapons tech, so that's what research is set to.



2418: It looks like the Silicoids just scrapped the bulk of their fleet. Bad timing, rock-boys. The Klackons are making a play for Vox, the silicoid colony in their corner, and sending a wad of troops, which the Silicoids won't be able to fend off. Moreover, I'm about to tear the heart out of their empire.

2421: My forces arrive simultaneously at Tyr and Cryslon, starting bombardment of the former and capturing the latter, gaining us several techs, including Inertial Stabilizer and Duralloy armour. Unfortunately I don't quite have the room to fit the former on a bomber, but completing a construction or weapons tech should correct that. Also unfortunately, only 16 of my troops survive the assault on Cryslon; I had brought over 150, so that's bad luck on my rolls. I'll need to scramble to be able to get bases up at anything approaching a reasonable rate. First order of business is more population; I start soil enrichment on Cryslon and send more pop from C. My bombers won't help defend it so I send them to the next planet in line, Argus.

I was planning to rename Cryslon to Yog-Sothoth, but either I didn't get the option or I forgot to. Oh well.

2422: Argus and Tyr are glassed. My bombers at Argus move toward Simius. The ones at Tyr will wait for 1 turn for reinforcements then head to Fierias. I stop building bombers for now as I want to research for the next weapons tech. I start building some beam fighters to help take the heat off Cryslon, but my best beam is still a laser. Well, they just need to survive 50 rounds against the Huge the Silicoids have orbiting the world. Maybe I should move the bombers back, they could probably do the job... I decide to move 72 bombers back to help, the rest proceed to Simius as planned.

2423: Our 11 laser popguns manage to bring the Silicoid huge orbiting Cryslon to a stalemate, and thus force their withdrawl. Our bombers destroy the Bulrathi colony of Regulus and the Silicoid colony of Simius. The Bulrathi and Darloks declare war. Our fleet is closing on Fierias and Escalon. 35 Silicoid transports are due to arrive soon at Cryslon; I hope we can shoot enough down to retain control of the colony, but if not, at least we will recapture it again right away.

2424: We destroy the Bulrathi colony of Escalon, next up is Ursa. The Mrrshan fleet are there in force to greet us at Fierias and we lose 150 bombers but manage to drop all our payload before having to retreat. We will be back next year with the forces that destroyed Simius. Cryslon manages to barely repel the Silicoid troops, so remains in our hands. New population from Cthulhu and Azathoth will be there soon to reinforce our production. Our next Silicoid target is Rana.

2425: The Mrrshan have sent the bulk of their fleet to Cryslon, which just means that they will die before they get there as I will eliminate the Mrrshan next turn. Ursa has a huge defender but it flees as soon as it runs out of missles to lob at my bombers. Rana manages to take out a couple bombers but in the end succumbs as well. Bombing does not destroy any of these worlds outright but it should only be a matter of a couple more turns at most.

2426: Ursa, Rana, and Fierias are all destroyed. Next targets are Beta Ceti to eliminate the Silicoids, Kholdan, and the Bulrathi Uxmai.

2427: Or not quite eliminate the Silicoids, I forgot they had resettled Tyr. Beta Ceti is destroyed along with Uxmai, however, and Kholdan will fall next turn. My Beta Ceti stack attacks the southernmost Darlok system, which happens to be Nazin. I am not certain they will fare well without the inertial stabilizers but weapons research for miniaturization should be arriving soon. Aurora is the next, and hopefully last, Bulrathi target.

2428: Fusion beam arrives. Otherwise, it is a slow year, with only Kholdan dying this turn. I design a new bomber; it's the same as the old one except it incorporates an inertial stabilizer and BC II instead of BC I. This will probably be enough to take care of the Darloks even with scatter packs. I start rapid production. Next turn I will hit Nazin, Aurora (Bulrathi), and Obaca (Klackon.)

2429: Aurora is destroyed, Nazin and Obaca are rendered defenseless but not eliminated outright. I could probably have saved a few years by just continuing to build my original bombers and not going for an improved one. Oh well. We're talking about a dozen turns since I started going on the offensive so I probably couldn't have saved all that much time.

2430: Reticuli (Darlok), Nazin, and Obaca (Klackon) are destroyed. Kholdan has been resettled but should die soon. Tyr will die next turn, and Gienah and Lyae (both Darlok) will also be assaulted. The Silicoids have managed to spring up another colony at Laan in the far east though, so they will have to go soon as well.

2431: Vox (Klackon), resettled Kholdan, Crypto (last Darlok world), and Laan (Silicoid) are on the block to die next turn. However, the Silicoids have one more huge escorting a colony ship headed to Tyr, which I might not be able to prevent from landing (even if I chase them off, the colony ship can still land.) My new bombers are not even going to make it into combat in any meaningful way. Too bad.

2432: Still bombing Vox and Crypto. My ships didn't make it to Laan last turn, but neither did the Silicoid fleet heading to Tyr. They should land this turn. There might be still one more turn, if they don't die from extinction before they get the option to colonize.

2433: Zortrium armour comes in. Everyone is dead other than the Silicoids which did manage to colonize Tyr. They will die next turn.

2434: Extermination victory.

Base score, 2600-2434 = 166
Bonus +25, No final war
Bonus +15, Extermination win
Total score: 166+40 = 206.

Not too shabby, though I expect it is quite possible to beat. This will largely depend on what the AI empires do. A player facing a more active Silicoid empire might actually trigger a first council vote, which I never got -- and accordingly, never got a chance to trigger final war. I didn't playtest this game since I wanted to participate, and as a result, there might have been a few tweaks in the scoring I would have made, but overall I'm not too unhappy with the results -- only with the poor showing the AIs made in my game. I had hoped that on a medium map they might grow large enough to pose some kind of threat, but evidently not. Probably that's in large part due to the difficulty level selected and the random draw of the map that kept a large portion of the galaxy's stars easily blockaded by the player.

Out of curiosity I tried again after the most recent comparison game with Catwalk. Ultimately I think I could have shaved somewhere around 10-15 turns off my victory time using a combination of better research ordering/choices and a more efficient cleanup stage. I might have also been able to allow the other AIs to settle worlds in my backyard for the sole purpose of triggering final war, and thereby gotten some extra points that way. The main challenge there would have been doing it early enough that it would not have taken extra time for my fleet to wipe the colonies out again, but not so early that building at least something of a fleet would take a significant amount away from my growth and final tech goals.

[Zed-F]

Could an admin please enable attachments for me, so I can report. Thanks.

Another option would be to find some other host for your images and then link to them there. I don't think attachments are enabled for anyone here, though I could be mistaken.

[Mike]

My plan was to avoid final war with an initial blockade, but to pick up extra points by taking Orion. I planned to settle only three colonies initially, including my homeworld, to avoid having to hold more than 5 planets.

Opening:
Sent colony ship to the lower yellow sun 3 parsecs away, and scouts to the red and purple at 5 and 6 parsecs. Built 4 scout2s to assist with the blockade and hopefully grab some Artifact techs.

2302:
Settled Volantis, and have a total of 8 scout2s headed out on blockade/artifact scavenging duty. Turned out there were no Artifact planets in scouting range, but I find it fun to gamble on a quick tech grab. Sent 24 peasants to Volantis.

2310:
Been building industry and did a couple of 2-pop transfers to Volantis. Scout2 bumped into a Silicoid and Klackon scout at Tyr (ultra-rich) on this turn.

2315:
Bumped into a Mrrshan scout at Maretta. Started researching tech at Cthulhu. Set all research equal, since I thought I wanted to get into some early wars. Started building a Colony2 at Volantis.

2330:
Settled Nitzer, transfered 30 grunts from Volantis.

2340:
I've got IIT9, Shield2, and Deep Space techs researched. 8 more Scout2s to send to my expanded frontier.

2350:
In the last ten years, I got Gatling lasers and range 5, Fierias went fertile, the Silicoids got 6 sytems, and I got the first galactic report. It's tech, the ranking is: Klackon-Meklar-Silicoid-Mrrshan-Bulrathi-Darlok.

2355:
Scout2s arrived at their destinations, including one populated world: the Silicoids have Proteus (in the Gas Cloud).

2360:
Got fleet strength reports (I'm last) and population reports (I'm first). Trying to get industry maxxed on my planets, researching auto-repair and tundra now.

2365:
Got nuke engines. Designed a large bomber to nuke Proteus and stop the Silicoid expansion: 5 Nuke bombs, 3 Gatling guns, and reserve tanks. Built a couple and sent them on their way to Proteus. Still no contact.

2370:
Got Hyper-X rockets, built a medium with reserve tanks and 2 rockets. Bombed Proteus from 10 pop down to 9. Silicoids are on their way to Tyr (the ultra-rich).

2375:
Contact with the Silicoids! I killed a few more at Proteus, so they don't like me very much. Here's our standings:


2379:
Designed a Medium with no reserve tanks, a Mark III computer, one Gatling gun, and 3 Nukes, to stop the Silicoids from building up Tyr. Bombed Proteus to dust, still using the long-range ships. The Silicoids declare war:


2380:
Bombed Tyr to dust. Three turns later 15 Silicoid colonists crash into the rock that was once Tyr.

2390:
Got improved eco, skip +30 and go for Soil Enrichment (+40 is in the list). Got Improved Space Scanner, Fusion Bomb, and Auto-Repair. Researching Robot Controls 4, Scatter Pack 5, and Zortrium Armour.

2400:
The Silicoids continue to send Colony ships to Proteus and Tyr, sometimes with a weak Large escort. I continue to blow them up or chase them off. Got Class 4 shields, and Range 7. Researching Repulsors and Fusion Drives. Scouted Xudax and Firma (upper left and middle of screen).

2402:
Got Scatter Pack 5, research Graviton Beam. Scouted Silicoids at Simius, they had no fleet and no bases, but 25 pop. Waiting for my Fusion drives before building a fleet.

2403:
Finally scouted an Artifact planet, Stalaz, but some else's scout got there a long time ago.

2420:
Oh no! A random event disaster Pirates have infested Lyae! What will this do to my massive trade empire

2424:
Klackons are headed for Anraq, Nordia, Phantos, and Stalaz, with colony ships and escorts. I still don't have any contact since I glassed the Silicoid planets way back. I don't have any fleet, because I'm waiting for my engine and guns to tech in.

2425:
Got my engines, research range 9. Put nearly all tech into guns temporarily.

2427:
Got Soil, research +40. Guns are at 21%.

2428:
Klackons settle Nordia. They're at war with the Silicoids! How'd that happen? Start spying on them.

2429:
Got Beams. Research Fusion bombs, set reseach back to equal, and build a new design:


2431:
Klackons have a bug in their tech, that's weird:

Sending my new ships to bomb the upstart Klackon colonies. Now would be a great time to threaten to attack, too bad I can't.

2433:
Klackons can't touch my ships. Nordia and Anraq glassed. Klackons got mad.

2437:
Glassed Phantos, and no more contact with the Klackons. Scrapped all my old fleet except the scouts.

2445:
Klackons and Silicoids still trying to colonize the nuked planets. Sent a fleet to Fieras, but their 16 merculite bases scared me off. Redirected to Kholdan. Sent a single Large to Spica (at the top of the Gas Cloud), but 6 Silicoid Hyper-X bases chased me off. I'm never sure if planets on the edge of the clouds are inside or not, so I don't know if my shields are effective.

2447:
Kholdan was stacked with bases to, so redirected to and bombed Simius. Ran into a Huge Silicoid with 88 Pellet Guns -- I'll build a new Large with a Repulsor to counter.

2455:
Got IIT5 and Battle Suits. I'm feeling a bit behind schedule. Never got an inertial stabilizer to assist in bombing runs.

2460:
Glassed Stalaz and Proteus (the Silicoids had grabbed it again).

2469:
Got Advanced Scanning. Spica is habitable and Ultra-rich, and hopefully close enough to put all planets in bombing range, depending on where Orion is too. I want Spica! Build a Huge so auto-repair regens fast enough to counter base missiles:

I'll have to glass Spica, then send a Colony with tanks, since it is out of range.

2472:
Made contact with the Klackons again, and the Mrrshans. The Klackons offered peace, so I refused in hope that they would offer a present, but they didn't. The Mrrshans like me (must have some kind of "silent type" thing):


2474:
Got +40, nothing else I want now so research Atmos. Terraforming. Stole Robot Controls 3 from the Klackons, but really want their Inertial Stabilizer.

2478:
Huge arrived at Spica, and cleared out the bases. Orbital bombardment commenced.
Klackons appreciate the good work.

2479:
Arghh! Spica's going Nova. What to do, what to do?

2482:
Finish glassing Spica, and decide to build a Colony Ship to send to there. Maybe it will arrive in time.

2483:
Oops! Forgot reserve tanks on the Colony ship! Scrap it and build a new one.

2486:
Colony Ship arrived in time, sending 40 colonists to Spica. Met all the races, started spying on everyone except the Darloks. Long range scanner found Orion.
Here's how things look:


2488:
Stole Inertial Stabilizer from the Klackons. Scrapped my Huge, and started building new ships with the Statibilizer.

2489:
40 colonists got to Spica. All output set to research, maybe I can get a Stellar Converter built. No idea how much time is left.

2491:
News report: 584 RPs needed for the Stellar Converter. With max reserves going to Spica, it only produces 78. If only I had made up my mind about Spica a couple of turns earlier, and had a Colony ship waiting, I would have been okay. Now I'm just glad I'm already researching Atmos tech. Nova, here we go!

2493:
Got Spica to Fertile status, in hope that it would still be there after the sun went Nova. Klackons are sending missile boats to try to break my planetary blockade. Espionage is going well.

2495:
Darloks want an alliance! I wonder if I screwed up here -- maybe if I had accepted, I could have orbited all their colonies and bombed them all at once. Or, maybe my fleet would just have vanished when the alliance broke. Turned them down.
Spica is no longer Fertile .

2497:
Mrrshans declare war on me, so start building some planetary shields.

2506:
Shields finished. Bomb the Darloks at Gion (Rich).

2507:
Bomb the Darloks at Lyae (Artifact).

2509:
Gion and Lyae are dust. Whoops, the Silicoids only have one planet left, better wipe 'em out before someone else does! Darloks showed up with a pretty good fleet at Lyae, so head to the Silicoid planet.

2511:
The Silicoids are the first to go:


2515:
The Darloks have Huges loaded with Merculite Missiles, and the Mrrshans have Larges with 22 Graviton Beams. Can't Auto-combat either. Glassed Darlok's Crypto, Reticuli, and Chrysslon, which was recolonized by Mrsshans. Bulrathis declare war.

2517:
Start building PelletGun Smalls for taking Orion.

2518:
Darlok fleet is looking not too shabby, if a little slow. Huges with auto-repair:

Looks like my smalls will get a little practice before they head to Orion.

2522:
Bulrathis broke my blockade at Firma. My ships upkeep is high, but I'm spread thin.

2525:
Bulrathis have got an okay fleet too, thankfully there's no auto-repair:


2530:
Got Megabolt cannon. Time is going by pretty quick, I'm gonna hit 2600 soon if I'm not careful. Can't fit the cannon on a small chassis yet.

2534:
Woohoo! Volantis turns rich. Got Force fields 6. Reseach Zyro, but move Shields
research into construction, so I can fit the cannon on a small.

2536:
Darloks are putting repulsors into their fleet.

2545:
Ships upkeep is eating 30% of my income. Mrrshans are putting auto-repair into their fleet. Still building smalls to take Orion, Pellet guns only.

2555:
Sent fleet to Orion:
3420 Intruders (one NPG), 357 Drachmas (2 NPGs), both have Mark 5 computers, stabilizers, no shields.

2556:

I get:
Death Ray
Displacement Device
Advanced Soil (I was 25% on this)
Neutronium Bomb

2558:
Colonized Orion. New large ship design:


2563:
Bulrathis will be the first to go. They've got two planets left.
Crap! Selia has rebelled. This planet is nothing but trouble. Good thing I just sent half the population to Orion. Send Imperial troops from Cthulhu.

2564:
Bulrathis genocided. I'll sweep from the left, so Klackons are next.

2565:
Got Spica back:


2568:
Klackons are genocided, Mrrshans have 3 planets left. No contact with the Darloks, they must be hiding on the outskirts of the galaxy. Here's where I remember them, from when we had contact:


2572:
Mrrshans genocided. Oh no, need some range tech. Scrap old ships in my fleet, put Rich panets on Reserve, and do heavy Propulsion research at Orion.

2573:
That was quick. Got Range 10, but unlimited range is not in the tree this time. No choice, have to build a Colony Ship to reach the Darloks.

2576:
Settled Argus (6th planet). The Darloks want peace, which I thought was weird, since we are the only two races left:


2578:
Looks like I turned them down:


Final Score:
2600 - 2578 + 50 (Orion) + 25 (no final war) + 15 (extermination) - 25 (6 planets)
= 87

Analysis:
Hey, that was fun! I almost ran out of time. I'm too cautious, and probably didn't need to wait for as much tech as I did. Getting stabilizers earlier would have helped to take on missile bases sooner. Maybe I shouldn't have nuked my neighbors so soon, if I hadn't I would have had more chance to steal tech. Suprisingly good mid-game AI fleets from the Darloks and Bulrathis, of all races. I never got any presents out of rejecting peace agreements, though I frequently do in other games.

[dathon]

Good show!

Comparing both your and Mike's game to my own, the extra two planets I had did not actually speed my tech development that much. Certainly not worth the extra 25 turns it cost me in penalties.

I also noticed that the AI's were beyond pathetic in becoming any kind of a credible threat. The only difficulty I had with them was Final War time when somebody managed to reasearch Class X planetary shields, making everybody a lot harder to glass.

-dathon