For the next installment of RB succession gaming, I will host a Training Day Game. This concept was originated a couple of years back for Civ3--and in this incarnation, it plays a bit differently than a normal succession game. (Thanks to Sirian for the original PROD training day game framework)

Here's how it will go...

Rather than play as a normal SG rotation, with me taking a turn every so often as I come up, and same for others, I'm going to play the whole game -- AND so is everybody else. However, instead of each playing the game separately, there will be one Official Game, progressing like a typical Succession Game.

It's going to look something like this:

Turn Order:
Bam-Bam
Player 2
Player 3
Player 4
Player 5
Player 6

Year 1, 2178AD is posted and everybody plays. Everybody posts their turn report, including me, and I will always post my version of the save game. I'll offer my view of each player's moves, the good, the bad, the ugly. Questions are welcome, then at some point we move to next turn.

Since I was "Up", my save game is used by everybody, to start from for the next turn. Everybody plays and posts a report, and I will always post my version of the save. In this case, however, Player 2 is up, so he should also post his save. I'll offer feedback based on the reports (the more detail you put in your report, the more I can examine and critique, so you'll get out of it what you put in to it.) After the analysis is done, we move to next turn.

Since Player 2 was "up", his save is used by everybody to start the current round. And on and on it goes. Everybody plays the whole game and gets continuous critiquing (according to how detailed their reports are) and they get to see what I do in the exact same situations -- and those who are on the roster also get as much input into the course of events of the "Official Results" as they would in a standard succession game.

A little complex-sounding, but in practice it will be smooth and easy to deal with. I'll handle directing the traffic and keeping track of what's where.

THE RULES:

* When you are Up, you are REQUIRED to play, and to do so in a timely fashion.

* When you are not Up, you are not required to play, but are strongly encouraged to play as much as you can. The more you play, the more critique you can get.

* No critiquing of other player's results, except by me. If you are playing in this game, then by definition you're no expert. mmm-kay? This rule is aimed at keeping each player's focus on their own performance and development, and off of getting into comparisons with the other players, and to minimize any chance for hostilities. Questions involving "what if" scenerios, regarding other players' results, are OK.

* No question is too dumb, no move too weedy, no results too poor. Nobody will be dropped or turned away for lack of skill or experience. This is your chance to stop being a wallflower and get out onto the dance floor.

* When you are Up, your results will be official, whether they are good, bad, or ugly. When you're not up, feel free to try stuff out, to take risks or do things you wouldn't normally ever dare, to see where it leads -- or play as if you were Up. Your choice.

* 24 hours for the player who is Up Next to acknowledge that they have Got It and are playing. This is a HARD RULE, so when you are On Deck or your turn is upcoming, you need to make sure you take time out to keep an eye on the board. If you do not acknowledge within 24 hours, you will be skipped as far as being Up and having your results affect the Official outcome.

* 96 hours maximum between every one year (12 turns) round. If the playing and reports and analysis finish early, we'll move on early. If 96 hours comes around, we'll move on regardless.

There will be a thread for the Official Game. What shall be posted there is the reports and results of the player who is Up on each turn, along with my critique and any questions and answers players have in regard to those results.

* The Shadow thread will handle everything else, including the turn reports of all players not Up on that turn, all critiques of these reports, and even my own reports from my shadow turns.

* Players who are UP should avoid reading any further in the shadow thread once others start posting shadow reports from the same turn. That is, it's OK to refer back to the shadow thread as a reference, but I ask that you not do so when you're Up, especially in regard to finding out what others have done on the turn you're about to play, so that your official turn results will be as "pure" as you can manage under these conditions.

I do not plan on running this as a typical SG. This will be a bit of sink or swim, with me saying little or nothing in advance, and then commenting on the results. There are many ways to do things successfully in this game. I am not at all interested in copying my gameplay, or in showing formulaic methods to succeed. The intent is to offer thoughts into what tactics and strategies are strong or weak, risky, safe, uninformed, or weedy about your decisions; i.e., help teach you how to strategize, not what to think.

Version: GalCiv Standard 1.20.086
Difficulty: Painful (All intelligent AIs)
Galaxy Stats: Huge, Loose, Common
Party: Technologists
Bonus Picks: 3 picks sensors (+4) and range (+1), 1 picks each influence (+10%), morale (+10%), trade (+10%), and weapons (+15%)
Victory Type: Any

Varient Rules: No selling techs for cash. This is a crutch that is not present on higher difficulty levels, so we will train without it.

I have picked the map size and habitability to get a somewhat longer game. No speed picks and loose clusters means we will have to think through settling strategy. Party choice is to help the team develop use of SiBCaT (in other words, learning to manage free research when the game does not correctly display it).

Roster

Bam-Bam
Brackard
G-Force
Hegetaga
Rojo96
black smoke

- Bam-Bam

I have created the game, and played through the first year (12 turns).

For this first round, I intend to give you all a chance to play without any input from me, then I'll post my turn results and report and offer my critiques, once all the players have posted or the four day limit approaches.

Here's the opening game file. Play twelve turns (stop when you get to January 2179) and then write up as detailed a report of everything you did as you can manage, to be posted in the Shadow thread. Might be a good idea to note everything that you do. These first few rounds, that won't be too painful. Later on, it will get to be too much and we'll all have to cut back on the detail, but for now, try to note EVERY move or decision you make, and what your thinking is behind the bigger decisions.

RBGC SG5: Training Day Start (http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-start.zip)

I dont think Ill be able to get in on this, I was in the process of reinstalling due to some pretty nasty bugs when I realized i dont have my disk.. So im getting it sent to me but it will be a while before I can get back in sorry.

Sorry to hear that Hegetaga. Feel free to lurk, and post a shadow turn (as an observer) if you get the chance.

Ok. We start slightly south of the center of the galaxy. Earth is a PQ20, with another PQ16 in the Sol system. With our enhanced sensors, we spot a yellow star, Cherryh (PQ15/15/14) to the southeast.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2178a.jpg

The first decision is whether to send the colony ship to the Cherryh system or to colonize the PQ16 planet in the Sol system. I take the latter, and here's why. The Cherryh system is in no danger from the AIs, settling the Sol planet will allow for large population colony ships to be produced more frequently (from Earth and Sol IV), and the ships to colonize the Cherryh PQ15s will have at least 150M pop versus the 100M pop in the starting colony ship.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2178b.jpg

Looking at the tactical map (F9), we spot no visible AI influence anywhere. You can perform influence scouting by selecting a sector and pressing F8, but I usually do not do that unless I am trying to pinpoint the AI starting location (sometimes even this is not needed, which I hope to show later).

January

Sol IV settled. I then call up the domestic advisor (F4) and set spending to 100% military, with total spending set to complete a colony ship at earth every 2 (+1) turns. Taxes are raised to the max amount while keeping planetary morale at 100 for all planets.

That task complete, it is time to move the survey ship. Looks like moving NW will put that other nearby star into view with one move. Done. Good--that star is also yellow, PQ16/14. The surveyor continues west--there are 4 stars within quick scouting distance (again relying on our enhanced sensors, which are great with the surveyor that has a +sensors bonus of its own).

February

Oh--now here's something interesting!

http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2178c.jpg

Looks like the Alterians are in our neck of the woods. From the tactical map, you can see their light blue influence. Since the initial influnce from a starting planet only extends into adjacent sectors, we can easily see that the Alterian homeworld is either immediately west or northwest of the colored sector (the homeworld cannot be in the colored sector, since we would be able to see influence in closer sectors).

March

Junk white star spotted just west of the Cherryh system.

April

Colony ship launched from Earth with 200M souls. Ship heads to the NW PQ16 system.

May

Another junk white star spotted by our surveyor.

June

Colony ship launched from Sol IV with 150M souls--heads to Cherryh system. A blue star system, Devra, is spotted with a PQ13. The system is tagged with a rally point (the small arrow button in the top right of the main display). Rally point name is changed to "PQ13" (click on the rally point--click on the name, and type in a new one). I generally tag non-yellow stars with PQ14/13/12s for later settling. I also tag resources.

July

Colony ship from Earth launched with 150M colonists. This one heads west to either settle the 2nd PQ15 in the Cherryh system, or to backfill one of the two nearby systems so that the earlier colony ships can poach a yellow star closer to the Alterian homeworld.

August

Star system to the SW of the PQ13 system is junk. Based on our surveyor location, the Alterian homeworld is NW of the original influence spotted. Colonize the PQ16 in the Unukalhai system, getting a morality event.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2178d.jpg

With the Alterians so close--I choose to pick the good option. Morality is now 51. Production on Unukalhai set to colony ship.

September

Surveyor heads west to scout the last star close in Alterian space.

October

Colony ship from Earth with 175M. Heads northeast. Cherryh II colonized with no morality event.

November

Cherryh IV colonized, and we get a PQ morality event.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2178e.jpg

As tempting as the evil option is--the neutral option gives a nice benefit with no impact. Cherryh IV ends up a PQ17 base planet. In hindsight, perhaps sending the colony ship to continue south would have gained us more systems, but time will tell. Getting a +2PQ morality event for no morality hit is a good thing (TM).

December

PQ12 planet spotted in a star just south of the Alterian homeworld.

End of Year

Colony ships complete from Earth and Unukalhai. Launched with 200M and 75M, respectively. The latter choice was designed to keep a reasonable base population on Unukalhai... >150M.

Here is our current tactical map and planet listing (F9 and F2).

http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2178f.jpg

You can see the Torian influence to the Southwest. Good thing we were not picking evil choices, eh? The sector with two stars (highlighted with the yellow box) has a settled planet. Based on the lack of Torian influence in the sector immediately north, this is not the Torian home system. You can also tell that the Alterian homeworld is the one-star system to the NW of the 3-star system, since we cannot see any Alterian influence south of our surveyor.

Folks, with the exception of Brackard, who is UP, take this save and play another shadow year, reporting in the shadow thread. Brackard will take this save and report the official turns for the next year of our empire, and report in this thread.

Good luck to Brackard!

Roster:
Bam-Bam (just played)
Brackard (PLAYING)
G-Force (ON DECK)
Rojo
blacksmoke

The game (http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2179ad.zip)

Brackard, you have 24 hours to post a got it, and 96 hours total to play and report your game here. The rest of us have 96 hours to play and post in the shadow thread.

Got it. It will most likely go up Friday night.

Ok, let’s take a look at our situation. We’ve got three systems colonized, five planets, and a few more to be settled. The Altraians are relatively close to the NW, the Torians close to the SW. The fact that we haven’t seen a colony ship from the Altarians most likely means they’ve found greener pastures to the W/NW of their homeworld. They look to be in pretty good shape. The Torians, however, look to be in pretty sad shape. With their homeworld likely to be W/SW of the spotted influence, they have slim pickings. With two majors and us in close proximity, that leaves the Arceans, Dren, and Yor with the rest of the galaxy. Seeing as the northern portion of the galaxy seems to be more densely populated, we could be in for a bit of a ride (especially if another one of the majors gets caught in the E/SE portion of the map).

My first goal for this turn is to crank out a few more colony ships to complete filling in the PQ 14’s at Unukalhai and Cherryh. I will pass on Devra (PQ13) and the PQ12 south of the Alt homeworld for the time being. I’ll take a second look at it when we get the basic env control tech. I will send out a few colony ships to the E/SE. With luck, we’ll find a system or two out there. The Hero will scout to the S/SE of its current position, and I don’t know why (cough), but I don’t think we’ll find anything out there. From Hero’s position, we know the NW is covered as well as the SW, we might as well head E/SE and see what is down there. I’d like to minimize contact with the majors until we are ready, so I’m backing the hero back into our space. We might even get lucky. (Maybe the Caranoids didn’t settle down there right?)

My second goal is to begin researching. I will adjust taxes to make sure we keep morale at 100% on all planets. As long as morale is at 100% (and we are still have money in reserves), I shouldn’t have to worry about social spending. Or that is my thinking anyway. If morale becomes a problem, I will move to social spending and set up soil enhancement at the minimum. The cost is relatively cheap at 50pp so it shouldn’t take too long. Otherwise, I’ll continue on with research.

Ok, so following are the beginning techs and associated costs to the paths I generally start with:

Med Theory (50), Basic Env Control (220), Improved Env Control (320)
Comm Theory (50), Univ Trans (120), Diplo (120), Trade (130)
Wpn Theory (50), Photons(120), Phasers(120), Corvette(400)
Prop Theory (50), Cold Fusion (100), Impulse Drive (300)
Def Theory(50), Deflectors (200)

The situation normally dictates which path I start with. If I have no contact with the majors, and a good number of stars, I’ll go with the Med Theory branch. This allows me to work on my PQ and population. If I have the Dren knocking on my door, I’ll go with Def and/or Wpn Theory in order to get some cardboard cutouts on deck quickly. If I’m stuck in the corner, I go with prop theory. However, in this situation, where we have a decent start, and will soon have contact with two majors with matching alignments, I will go ahead and go comm. theory. This will allow us to put out some freighters for trade/relations and a chance (if the next leader is so disposed), at the all mighty diplo translators. So with that being said, let’s begin:

Load it up and this is what we get:

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr2-start.jpg

January:
Hero moves SE. Colony ship with 75M at Unukahai settles the PQ14 there. Yes, I know it’s a bit high, but it was better than creating another one at the time. We also get this:

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr2-jan1.jpg

We obviously don’t understand it, so we don’t touch it. The sol colony ship moves SE, the other colony ship moves NE. towards the collection of planets there. The sliders are still at 100% military for the final colony ship.

February:
Hero continues SE. Colony ships continue NE and the other E.

March:
The final colony ship is produced at Cherryh. This is where I made a misclick. Instead of launching the ship, I simply clicked the planet. The result, a larger than wanted majority of the planets’ population fled to the lesser PQ planet. Not good. I don’t save every turn because of the tech trade ‘feature’, so I apologize to the team for that one. Anyway, I move sliders over to 60% research/ 40% social. Spending has been around the 60-75% mark. I’m trying to hit zero roughly about the time that banks come online. My initial research project is comm. Theory. Comm theory can still be completed in one round at 60%, so I do it. The governer is set up with the two projects we have, soil enhancement/entertainment. Colony ship moves E, and NE. The NE surveys a useless Rhea.

April:
Comm. Theory comes in, begin Univ Trans. Ships SE, E, NE.

May:
Universal Translators come in. Set up for diplomacy at 100% research. Running roughly 75% spending. Ships, E, SE, NE.

June:
The NE colony surveys Sivil, a PQ 15. The next question, take it or mark it and move on? I think I’m going to take it. That will increase our range for another ship. An econ resource is spotted and tagged. The hero spots a Caranoid colony ship to the SE heading E. Wow.

July:
Still researching, hit a +2 morale with Hero. Colony continues E.

August:
Diplomacy comes in. I change governments. Move on to research trade. Hyadea surveyed, worthless. Alconius surveyed, PQ13, tagged.

September:
ELECTION DAY!! We win. 84 votes. Lacroix surveyed, worthless. NE colony ship colonizes Civil. Hey this looks familiar:

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr2-jan1.jpg

Again, we don't touch thing we don't understand.

October:
Trade comes in. Hero continues E. Switch to 100% military spending. Set up the governer with Soil/Bank/entertainment in that order. Morale still at 100% but has been dipping now and then. Having to move the slider to compensate. Set up Earth and Sol IV with freighters due next turn. Another colony ship is due as well.

November:
Colony ship from Cherryh IV. Put on 75M and head them eastward to investigate the new borders. 2 freighters from Sol. Head one NW towards Altarians, one SW towards Torians. Hero continues E.


December:
Spending set to 100% social. We will have several planets due for soil and banks here shortly. Move Hero E. Investigate Maestro. Maestro has a PQ14 unsettled. That must be what the Caranoid ship is heading towards. Xasica surveyed and tagged. (PQ13). The caranoids are up cold fusion and defense theory, and down trade. I did not make any trades at this time.

Ending stats and maps below.

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr2-end.jpg

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr2-end2.jpg

edit: Save game (http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/rbgcsg5-2180.zip)

First thought--you could have just restarted from the beginning to correct that misclick. Being only three months in, that would not have taken too much time to replay, and we are not about perfect clicking. Food for thought for the next time this happens. I have done that too many times, so don't feel bad about this one.

Your approach on spending was a bit different than I usually take it, spending on social while researching. I think that might shave a few months off hitting a good self-sustaining economy, but I will have to test it out. I usually do not do this for a couple of reasons--1) it keeps my initial cash around longer, and 2) slider management becomes a real pain in the butt. From what you wrote about your spending on diplo and trade, I suspect you overspent for these techs. I did a quick check on your savegame--switching to imperial gov and setting spending to 75% (100% research). That is about 88rp (which is probably higher than you were at the time). That means you probably wasted around 40bc on the diplo research and even more (over 100bc) on trade if you kept spending at 75% after the government change, since you still took 2 turns to research trade. Ouch. Our treasury is going up in :smoke: . Not good.

You should have checked the Caranoid techs right after getting translators--they may have had dipomacy. They have it now, so I do not know when they got it. It USUALLY (see exceptions in some of the shadow turns) is one of the first few techs to be researched by the AIs.

I am not sure I would have switched to social this early, but with no contacts with any majors, this is not a bad move. Good work on getting the freighters out first, especially both of them coming from Sol. :goodjob: Would have been nice to get another one out in anticipation of advanced trade, but not critical.

Overall, a solid turn. Biggest drawback was burning up the treasury during reasearch. Reread the ending of my shadow post, and visit the link for SiBCat.

Could you post a link to your tech spreadsheet. That would help out the team.

For the team--it is not necessary to continue to mark things (PQ13s, resources) with rally points, Though this is good practice, there is a bug in 1.20. The rally points are invisible. They still can be seen from the rally point menu, so we haven't lost what we have marked,

G-Force, you are up. Please post a "got it" in a day, download Brackard's save, and post your turns in a total of 48 hours (note the change). I am trying to speed up the game a bit. The rest of us should download the game and post to the shadow thread in 48 hours. My comments will be posted not later than a day after that, and then we can move on to the next round.

Oh, and One More Thing (TM): G-Force, if your schedule is too nuts to play the official game right now in 48 hours, let me know and we can switch the rosters. Since we all have not played in our slots yet, it is easier to switch now than later.

Roster:
Bam-Bam
Brackard (Just played)
G-Force (UP)
Rojo (ON DECK)
balcksmoke

You are probably right about me overspending on tech. What I was attempting to do was spend at 75%, using only the required amount for the tech, and the other proportion for social. That way I could work on soil/habitat/banks with no slowing of research.

Seeing as I didn't account for the bonus tech, I know I overspent. I'll need to go back and check out Sibcat. I'll report my success/failure rate with it next turn. ;) One thing I traditionally do not do in my games is check with the other races on a tech by tech basis. I see I will need to begin this.

Link to spreadsheet is posted in shadow thread, but here it is again:

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galcivtech.xls

Originally posted by Brackard
One thing I traditionally do not do in my games is check with the other races on a tech by tech basis. I see I will need to begin this.


Not so fast. I am overemphasizing this right now because 80+% of the time, you can get diplo and trade for peanuts (two starting techs) from the minor AIs. I do not check diplo after every new tech. This is not Civ3--the AIs do trade but they are not the tech whores that Civ3 AIs are. You can get away with not checking. Besides, one of the joys of GalCiv is the lack of micromanagement. Once the middle game comes along, you can usually cruise along with minimal micromanagement. The early game is important enought to keep a weather eye.

Got it

I hope I did ok :)

January 2180:
- We are the most wealthy :)
- I marked an economy resource on the map

February 2180:
- 3 soil enhancements are completed
- We discover the Piers system in sector (10 - 11) with PQ 14,16,3

March 2180:
- 2 more soil enhancements are completed
- We trade with the Carinoids:
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/2180TradeCarinoids.GIF
- Our surveyor gets transported accross the galaxy to Torian space, I mark a morale resource.

April 2180:
- We meet the Torians
- Several improvements complete
- We spot a Torian constructor heading for the morale resource, unfortunately it doesn't show on their trading list
- We trade with the Torians:
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/2180TradeTorians1.GIF

May 2180:
- We colonize Piers 2 (PQ 16) with 200M, no events

June 2180:
- Earth is done with social queue, I allow just enough research to get Industrial theory next month: spending 0/57/43

July 2180:
- Most powerfull, ubnfortunately not:
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/2180PowerStatus.GIF
- We get Industrial theory, I shift spending to 0/100/0 and add a manufacturing center to the build queue

August 2180:
- We trade with the Torians:
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/2180TradeTorians2.GIF

Next few months are a bit boring: they consist out of ship movements and improvements completing.

December 2180:
- Earth completes manufacturing center: I set it to Diplomatic Translators.

In this year I also marked a militairy resource due North of Unul (you know wich system I mean). We have 1 colony ship remaining heading east.

End year image:
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/2180EndYear.GIF

Save is here (http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/RBSG-SG5-2181.zip)

G-Force

First---you broke a game rule :nono:


Varient Rules: No selling techs for cash. This is a crutch that is not present on higher difficulty levels, so we will train without it.


That said, we did not gain a whole lot of coin on this. In fact, your trades gave more than you got. V1.2 does not let the minors piss away their cash on techs with the player, which is A Good Thing (TM). Trade for cold fusion and defense theory is a bad trade. The problem I had with this trade was not with getting cold fusion--that is good tech to get--rather, you were giving more than you were getting out of this trade. You can get something more useful like impulse drive from a minor for Trade. Defense theory is not usually worth getting, especially for such a valuable tech.

GAA--letting your surveyor hit a wormhole at this stage of the game is another gaffe. Not a game breaker, but gives you contact perhaps earlier than desireable. Since the Torians are so close, it is not a big deal here--but better to first meet majors with freighters.

Propulsion theory is worthless, since we already have cold fusion. Good recovery--using defense theory to get med theory was a good trade. More :nono: on the cash for tech front.

I think you stayed too long on social. We haven't the economy to be pushing manufacturing centers, and diplo translators can wait for now). You missed out on the opportunity to push a few more colony ships eastward and to get basic environment. Habitability improvement is more important than manufacturing centers in a general social build queue.

Looking at the save, you missed an opportunity to get impulse drive from the torians, who are well behind us in tech.

Mediocre turn overall. Too much emphasis on social too early, and your tech trading was too generous to the AI. Tax rate looks good, but the social spending has already put us in the hole while neglecting key tech that needs 2-3 months of research. You've got some room to improve, but that's why we're here. :D

Ok. Time for Rojo to show his stuff!

Roster:
Bam-Bam
Brackard
G-Force (just played)
Rojo (UP)
blacksmoke (ON DECK)

Rojo, please post a "got it" in 24 hours, download G-Force's save and post your turn in 48 hours. The rest of us will download G-Force's save and post our reports in the Shadow Thread.

BTW--overall, the official game is in a very good position. That may not be the case if this were a maso game, but we are in good shape here.

All--please re-read the rules of the game, so we do not break any more variant rules. I will make penance for the cash-for-tech on my official turn.

Good luck to Rojo!

Got it!

Rojo (2181 - 2182)

Jan 2181
Opening shot:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181a.jpg

We have met the Carinoids, and Torians and see influence to the west representing the Altarians. We are currently at 100 social spending with most planets working Manufacturing Centers which will come within 3 - 7 turns and Earth is building Diplomatic Translators in 16 turns.

Tax rate: 39%
Spend rate: 60%
Approval: 100%

Net Income: -38bc
Treasury: -9

We have 2 freighters and 1 colony ship on the move. We have too few colony ships in circulation so I have the option to change back to Military to pump them out or continue with the social spending. I decide to stick with Social spending for 1 more turn to allow 1 bank center to be built. I drop Spend rate down to 53% which will still get the bank next turn and save us 17bc.

I check in with the Carinoids and Torians to see what they have to offer.
Carinoids:
+ Deflectors
- Industrial Theory, Medical Theory

Torians
+ Impulse Drive
- Diplomacy, Industrial Theory, Trade

I like the Impulse Drive but the Torians are asking for everything which is too much so I skip this round of Tech trades.

Feb 2181
Bank Center built. I switch to 100% Military to start pumping out colony ships. At current spend rate it will take too many turns to get some out, so I boost tax rate to 50% and increase spend rate to 89%. This will allow me to get 1 colony ship out next turn and 4 more in 2 turns at the cost of us going further into debt, but I believe this is worth it.

I check in again for trades and the Carinoids now have Impulse Drive. I make the following trade:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181b.jpg

Mar 2181
Unukalhai builds colony ship. Load up 150 colonists and send SE.

April 2181
Earth builds colony ship. Load up 200 colonists and send E.
Sivil builds colony ship. Load up 100 colonists and send NE.
Cherryh builds 2 colony shipds. Load up 150/150 colonists and send E and SE respectively.

Change spend rate to 58%, but we are still negative income at -12bc, but will still allow us to get 3 colony ships next turn.

May 2181
Sol builds colony ship. Load up 200 colonists and send NE.
Cherryh builds colony ship. Load up 150 colonists and send NE.
Piers builds colony ship. Load up 75 colonists and send E.

June 2181
Earth builds colony ship. Load up 200 colonists and send SE.
I switch to 100% research. I keep tax rate at 50% for the income. I set research to Basic Environment Control. Dial in SiBCaT which tells me that for 220rp at 20% research bonus, I should spend around 184rp. I change spend rate to 45% to give 100rp to be sure. Tells me it will be ready in 3 turns, but I am trusting SiBCaT to give it to me in 2 turns.
We spot Tacitus in the north east but it has nothing.

July 2181
Mid year report:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181c.jpg

Check in with both the Carinoids and Torians, but only the Carinoids have something to offer, that being Deflectors. No deals here.

Aug 2181
We get Basic Environment Control. Switch to Interstellar Refining. Dial in SiBCaT and determine for 200 with 20% research bonus, I need to spend about 168rp. I set spend rate at 40% giving 90rp which should be more than enough to allow me to get it within 2 turns.

I see Tor influence in sectors 10-6 and 11-6. Best guess is that their home world is in sector 12-3 or 13-4.

We spot Umera system (16) with colony ship and direct it to settle there.

Sept 2181
Ships move.

Oct 2181
Meet Altarians with our freighter.
Meet Alexians with our surveyor.
Election is held and we continue to hold power.

No Interstellar Refining!!!! I am sure I had set the calculations correctly, but I guess I did not put enough fudge into it. If I drop spend rate to 0% it still shows 9rp in research and me getting it next turn which should be correct, but I do not trust it so I put spend rate at 8% which gives 21rp. Curse the fear of over-spending!

Check in with every one for techs.
Alexians:
+ Nothing
- Basic Environment Control, Cold Fusion, Impulse Drive, Medical Theory, Industrial Theory, Propulsion Theory.

Carinoids
+ Deflectors
- Nothing

Torians
+ Deflectors
- Basic Environment Control, Industrial Theory, Trade

Altarians
+ Deflectors, Shields
- Medical Theory, Trade, Universal Translators, Impulse Drive, Cold Fusion, Diplomacy, Basic Environment Control, Industrial Theory.

I try to go for Shields, but the best offer with least techs is as follows:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181d.jpg

I think the deal is good, but based upon Bam-Bam's evaluation of IP's being over 100 means I should wait till there is more from them to offer, I turn down the deal.

I settle Umera and get the following event:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181e.jpg

I pick good selection since we are in close proximity with Altarians and Torians.

Nov 2181
Get Interstellar Refining. Switch to Artificial Gravity. SiBCaT says to spend 168rp. I reduce tax rate to 39% and change spend rate to 37% giving 94rp which should definitly be enough to get it in 2 turns. Treasury at +1 bc and we are at positive income at +8bc.

Surveyor spots Decimus (Alexian Home world) in sector 9-14.

Colony ship spots Thebes System (20/15/15) in sector 13-10! Make beeline for system. Another colony ships spots Vitellius system in sector 12-9 but it holds nothing. I redirect ship SE.

Dec 2181
Ships move.

Jan 2182
United Assemblies meet:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181f.jpg

Torians win it.

We get Artificial Gravity. I set research to Controlled Gravity for now and leave rates as is for next person to decide where to spend. We will be able to settle Thebes this turn, and we should check in with the majors to see if there is anything worth trading.

Year end shots:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181g.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181h.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc5-2181i.jpg

Save Game (http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/rbgc-2182ad.zip)

Nice report. Lots of detail, and lots of screenies. :goodjob:

Good reasoning on your opening analysis. Like I said in Brackard's shadow, I turned down the impulse drive trade with the Torian's too. It's a good trade with a major, but the minors will give a much better deal. The tradeoff here is between getting a +speed tech sooner (Brackard's choice), vs. getting more value out of a trade. Either are valid options. You ended up getting impulse one month later, so I think you picked the right move (sometimes it is better to be lucky AND good :D ).

I like your reasoning on spending a bit more to get the colony ships out on a specific timetable. That's the kind of thougt needed before you choose to prolong having debt.

You look to be putting the right amount of folks on colony ships. I would have stopped production in may vs. June, but that's a judgement call.

You missed interstellar refining. Remember, SiBCaT is finicky---you need to check in for multi-turn research. The game will get the bonus research right for the current spend rate after one month of spending, so if the game is telling you a two-month tech is not coming in after the first month of spending, believe the game and up spending.

After you got interstellar refining, I would have stopped research. The AIs will go for the gravity techs, and you could have started some needed social spending (habitat everywhere). You did place it in the right slot (actually one of the 2 slots I prefer) in the queue.

The trade I would have done (and did in my shadow) for shields is Trade, Diplomacy, and Propulstion theory. I never hesistate to trade away 1st tier techs, and I want the AIs to have Trade. I have never beaten an AI to Diplomacy in any of my maso games, so I haven't experienced this.

Overall, solid turn. I am glad the official game has all these colony ships enroute. :goodjob:

We are in a very solid position--check out the population graphs between us and the Alterians and Torians. Good stuff.

Ok, blacksmoke is up. 24 hours to post "got it", 48 total for him to post his turns here, and for us to download Rojo's save and post our turns over in the Shadow thread.

Roster:
Bam-Bam (ON DECK)
Brackard
G-Force
Rojo
blacksmoke (UP)

My apogies to the team for being a day late with the comments--if I get a weekend around this house without someone being sick, I will be a happy man.

Good luck to blacksmoke! :hammer:

got it

Hello team

I am sorry that will be delay this turn. Our small company had I change in ownership yesterday. The new owner has put some demands on me. It might be better if Bam-Bam or someelse takes my turns.

I will try keep everyone inform

Blacksmoke

Consider that a swap. I will play the next official game turn, and you will slot in after me, unless you are still unavailable. Please advise us when you think things settle out. I hope the ownership changes are a turn for the better.

First things first. Again, I have to tip my hat a bit to Rojo. You ran a pretty good last turn. Ok. Emperor Bam-Bam decides to pull out the veto stamp and change our spending from research to social.

Time for some trading. Dial up the Alterians and make this trade

http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2182a.jpg

Torians are up Controlled Grav and Deflectors, and down basic env., ind theory, impulse drive, shields and interstellar refining. Alex is up controlled grav, down a bunch, and caranoids are up deflectors and down a bunch. Ok, I'll make the following trade with Alex:

http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2182b.jpg

That's it for trading.

January

Send the colony ships on their way. Hero picks up a starfighter. Our first trade route completes with the Alterians. I set research to Advanced Trade to pick up any research anomalies.

February

Nothing much. Majors have weapons theory available.

March

Settle PQ15 @ Thebes with 77M colony ship, getting this event.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2182c.jpg

Our morality is now 55.

Colony ship just SE of Thebes spots a yellow system, Sidal, with PQ16/PQ15/PQ14. PQ16 settled, no event.

April

Habitat completes on Earth. Second trade route connects with the Torians at Gauss.

May

Northernmost colony ship spots a PQ12 system. Tagged. Spot another alexian system. PQ 12 system spotted south of Piers. Tagged.

June

Habitat completes on 6 planets.

July

Earth completes its fusion plant and starts on Econ capital. Habitat completes on 2 planets, soil on Umeria. Junk system spotted in the NE, and a PQ16 yellow immediately thereafter. Hero finds a +1% economic anomaly. Caranoids connect a freighter.

August

Two planets complete manufacturing centers. Spot another PQ16 system in the northeast. Colony ship enroute.

September

Two soils and an entertainment center. Settle Betelgeuse PQ16 and get this event.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2182d.jpg

I take the good choice in line with our bent toward good, even with the 9% penalty.

The Torians come a-calling and offer Photons for interstellar refining. Oh my, you want to give me a 120bc tech for a 200bc tech? :rolleyes: No thanks fish-boy.

October

Another manu center completes.

November

Manu centers and two fusion plants complete. Rather than let two planets build nothing, or something I don't usually build, I switch to research for a turn, wake SiBCaT from napping, and set spending to get Zero grav. research in a month.

Hero picks up +4hp from some space junk.

December

SiBCaT goes back to napping, as zero grav. research completes. Back to social, with research labs added to the end of the queue.

Spending is set to have all planets (except one) complete their current social build in three months. The one planet that will not finish is building a manu center, so no big deal.

PQ20 spotted just east of the 3-star cluster with two PQ16 yellows (one settled). Colony ship rerouted, and Thindor (PQ20) settled with the following event.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2182e.jpg

Again, I take the good option (-12% morale will not greatly affect a PQ20). We are now at a morality of 60, in which the game calls us saintly, and we get the good interface :rolleyes:

End of Year

One habitat and one manu center complete. Spot an influence resource to the SE, along with another PQ15/PQ13 yellow. That one has two colony ships within settling distance. There is another PQ15/PQ12 just southeast of Sidal, with a colony ship a couple of months out. We may need a come military spending (and buying of colony ships) to get some more planets up to the northeast. We should have enough to pull all the southeastern systems.

Remember, the spending is set to complete some needed social builds in 2 months. Up to the next player whether military spending (for more freighters/colony ships) or research is in order.

Here is the tactical map. The yellow stars of which I spoke are highlighted in yellow.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2182f.jpg

The Game (http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2183ad.zip)

Ok. We are ready to go to the next round. I apologize for the delay in posting my turn--I had a bit of medical event last night--a strong allergic reaction to a antibiotic I took. One ambulance ride and 4 hours in the ER later, I got to come home and try to sleep off the effects. Let me tell you, it is not a feeling I wish on anyone. Thank God I live in a community where a 911 call means that the EMTs show up at your door in about 5 minutes.

Now, onto the game. Blacksmoke should take the next official turn, since he switched with me. However, I am not sure he will be available, and G-Force has been MIA. So, before we move on, let's give blacksmoke 24 hours to post "I got it". That means that Rojo and I (and G-Force) can play our shadow rounds. Brackard, you should go ahead and play, but hold off on posting until we get word from blacksmoke. If he waves off, then you post the next official round.

Roster:
Bam-Bam (just played)
Brackard (up if blacksmoke cannot play)
G-Force
Rojo
blacksmoke (UP)

Good luck to the next player!

I am still bury under work with the new owner. I can post a game on Friday night (PST) let me know

Friday night is good enought. Consider yourself UP.

Roster:
Bam-Bam (just played)
Brackard (on deck)
G-Force
Rojo
blacksmoke (UP)

blacksmoke, where are you??

You have until tomorrow, when my comments go up. If your official turn is not posted, then we will use Brackard's turn.

Ok, we open this puppy up:

We’ve got a few colony ships on the way towards their destinations, a few more planets needing colonizing, and in the process of completing some social builds which includes the Econ capital on Earth. (should help bring in some much needed cash).

Although I’m generally a research freak, I’m actually thinking another round of military for a few more ships might be in order. We have quite a few double/triple planets that still need work and quite a few 13/14’s if we decide to use those as well. (Why not)

As far as the military victory goes, we need to push for a few trade goods such as Tristonium steel (I believe) and gravity accelerators. That means pushing towards the appropriate tecs, tri-stronium alloy and controlled gravity (which we have). We will also need a good size population base for invasions. This would indicate that we need to grab as many planets as possible, if nothing else for use in invasion forces. Look out PQ13/14 planets, here we come. This will also make the growth techs/trade goods more valuable. Because of our massive landgrab, our initial social/research push has been delayed, but if we can make it out of the slump, we’ll be just about unstoppable. Or those are my initial thoughts anyway.

Let’s take a look at the research side for trades:

Torians:
+ weapon theory, photons, deflectors
- interstellar refining, 0 grav research

Altarians:
+ weapon theory, photons, deflectors, phasers, battle armor
- interstellar refining, 0 grav research

Alex: Nothing to offer
Caranoids: deflectors, photosns

No trades made.

Jan: Free ship, moving to Beetlegeuse (most likely where needed) Anderson scouted PQ14. Tagged. Jotunhem PQ15 settled.

Feb: Research, 2 fusion, manu, and Econ capital come in. 1 more turn of social to go. Grav accelerators and Diplo set up in social queue for two planets. 17 months to complete apiece. I didn’t really know what else to queue. Thebes 2 settled with 150M. Thought it was more. Got this event.


http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr5-event1.jpg

Chose the good option. Settled Pithra I. Got this event.

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr5-event2.jpg

Ouch, on the PQ. I chose neutral.

Mar: Alexians freighter hits. 2 fusions, 2 habs, and a soil complete. Amber I, PQ15 scouted. Colony ship en route.

April: 2 researches and a fusion hit. I have several planets without anything viable to move on in social, so I’ll have to stop right here. Moving over to military spending. Looking at our colony ship needs:

Needed:
2 colony ships at Sidal: PQ15/14 (east)
2 colony ship at Thebes PQ15 (east)
1 colony ship at Alva PQ16 (way up north, immediately)
1 colony ship at Piers PQ14 (central)
1 colony ship at Anderson (possibly one of the two already down there)
So that’s a minimum of 5-6 colony ships

So looking at my military spending graph, let’s see what we have here: The worst needs are in the north. Beetlegeuse, Umera, and Thindor having build times of colony ships of 3, 4 and 4 turns. Ugh. That will be difficult. I’ll have another army from the rest of the fleet by that time. Sivil will have a colony ship out next turn. Good. That will be the best we can do for the NE. The others can wait from planets currently in construction.

Due May:
Sivil: Load with 200M, head to Alva (PQ16)
Unukalhai colony ship: load up with 200M, head to Thebes (PQ18)

Due June:
Freighters: Earth, Sol IV, head up north to Dren/Yor
Cherryh I: Load with 100M, head to Sidal
Cherryh IV: Load with 150M, head NE

Due July:
Piers: Load with 50M, move to Piers (same system)

Due August:
Umera I: Load with 100M, head to Alva area, explore NE (or switch with the Sivil CS depending on distance)

Due September:
Beeltegeuse: load with 50M, explore E
Thindor: load with 50M, explore N

We’ll need some additional ships, but we’ll need to switch back over to social/research here shortly.

May: Meet the Kwinlisians. 3 colony ships produced.
Unukalhai: 200M to Thebes PQ15
Sivil: 200M to Alva
Cherrryh II: missed this one, 150M to Sidal PQ14

Kwin: up phasers, deflectors, wpn thry, down a lot

June: CS
Cherryh I: 150M to Sidal
Cherryh IV: 150M NE
Colonize Amber – event below, chose neutral

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr5-event3.jpg

July: Dren pull in diplo translators
2 CS
Sivil: 200M, heading NE
Piers: 100M settled the PQ14, pirate event, chose the good side
In the above CS calculations, I didn’t take into account the small amount of time for some of the quicker planets, thus the multiple CS per planet. Good stuff. So with that being said, I can take off the last month. I only have 1 more month of CS production before back to research.

August: Umera, load 100M, head E Move the ship. Autoturn moves into next turn before I have a chance to change spending. Damn.

September: 3 colony ships produced.
Sivil – load with 100M head NE
Beetlegeuse – load with 50M for exploration
Thindor – load with 50M for exploration

Change spending first. 100% research Nano-metal comp. 500 needed, 416 dial up sibcat. Spending set to 230 for 2 turns. We COULD get it in one turn, but would take huge financial loss.

October: ships move

November: Gladstone scouted down in the bottom corner. Colony ship in route.
Vote: we win, 95 votes. Research comes in. Next up: Imp Env, spending set to make it for next turn.

December: Imp Enviro comes in. Gladstone settled, no event. Research set to adv trade for the extra trade routes for the freighters in progress.

Take a look at end of turn trades:
Alex: they are up adv trade and the weapons tree techs, let’s see what they want for adv trade (even though we’re one month in already, yeah, I’ll take the smack for this one).
Shields (500) & Basic enviro (220) for adv trade (900). Well, they won’t move from those two techs for adv trade, let’s see if we can get something else from them: phasers (250). Sure what the hell. I’ll take it.

Kwils would trade, but it was a bit uneven, so I declined for the moment. Same with Caranoids. Same with the majors.

Close with Torians, Friendly with Altarians.

End of year map and populations graphs:

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr5-end.jpg

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/yr5-pop.jpg

Save (http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/rbgc5-brackard-2183.zip)

edit: Posted from shadow thread per BamBam. Note to next emperor, on the military build, I have many prebuilds of constructors for those planets that were not moving ahead with colony ships. If you choose to start spitting out military ships, these planets should have a good head start on anything you decide.

Brackard, solid turn. Your rationale for most of your moves makes sense, even if you chose differently than I would have. A couple of points, though.

Be careful with the pop size on the colony ships bound for PQ14s. I like to keep them at or below 100M, and stick with 150M for the PQ15s (of course, if there is a 200M ship next to an unclaimed yellow PQ15, I'll take it). This is for the 2nd/3rd round of settling, mind you. You don't want these planets sitting too long with lower than 100 morale, while you research or wait for their initial social builds to complete. Likewise, you would not want to lower taxes throughout the empire just for the last few rocks settled. What you want is a balance.

You noted that you didn't shift off military soon enough--you also could have split spending between military and research to get those last few ships to complete. Good call on the freighters from the Sol system--that's smart thinking.

You noted that you had invested some research into a tech and then traded--that's not necessarily a bad thing--it just shows that you did not check what was available before beginning research. I do not claim to be the best at this--remember, this game is about NOT micromanaging for me (I am now a reformed Civ3 junkie :lol: ). That is one of the things I do check--what is around before I start investing my own economy.

You probably could have made some more trades, too, but the game doesn't seem to trade as much between AIs on reloads as it used to in earlier builds, so no harm done.

One other note--you should have either shifted spending to social or shifted research to another tech-so that the next player would not mistakenly research weapons tech as some of us have...

Should have put econ exchanges at the end of the queue after getting advanced trade.

Good settling, good exploration, solid work.

Ok, here is the roster.

Bam-Bam
Brackard (just played)
G-Force (UP--Please claim in 24 hours)
Rojo (ON DECK)
blacksmoke--MIA

Rojo, be ready to play and post an official game turn if G-Force does not claim by tomorrow evening. We all play from Brackard's save posted above. Good luck, everyone.

Got it, will play my turn immediatly :)

G-Force

Glad to see you back, G-Force. Good luck on your turns.

I start by looking around:
- I marked another militairy resource in sector 12-6
- I add economic exchange to the building queue after fusion power plant
- The Torians are close, the Altarians friendly.

As both the Torians and Altarians have the exact same techs, I'll only put them here once:
+ Improved Environmental Control, Interstellar refining, Nano-Metal composition, Zero Gravity Research
- Battle armor, Deflectors, Energy Channeling, Photons, Space militarization, Weapons Theory.

Opening status:
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/intro.GIF

JANUARY:
- Basic ship movements

FEBRUARY:
- Basic ship movements

MARCH:
- We colonize the Alva System(PQ 16, no events)
- I cancel the 2nd colony ship heading for that system, a PQ 10 is not worth it.

APRIL:
- Sad news: the Yor got their hands on Gravity Accelerators

MAY:
- Earth is set to Manufacturing Capital, Cherry IV to Galactic Stock Exchange
- Research is Nano Electronics, spending 0/75/25
- We find the Apeori System(15,15,7,12,2)
- I mark an economic resource in 12-6

JUNE:
- Altarians build Economic Capital
- We complete: 2 research centers, 1 soil enhancement and 1 manufacturing center

JULY:
- We meet a freighter from the Scottlingas
- Yor steal the Apeori system from under our noses, colony ship was 1 spot away :(
- We devellop Nano electronics and go for instant communication
- Spending set to 0/60/40
- I trade with the Yor: they get some techs the Altarians & Torians already got:
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/tradeYor1.GIF
- By meeting the Yor it seemed we also met the Drengin, they got diplomatic translators, I can't make a deal with them that would be in our favour.
- We complete: 1 fusion power plant, 1 banking center

AUGUST:
- We complete: 2 soil enhancements, 1 research center

SEPTEMBER:
- We complete: 1 soil enhancement

OCTOBER:
- Instant communication is researched, I head for anti-matter
- We colonize the Umeria system, no events
- We complete: 1 habitat improvement, 2 banking centers, 1 fusion power plant

NOVEMBER:
- Ship moves

DECEMBER:
- We complete: 1 habitat improvement, 1 soil enhanement

End game screenies:
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/endGame.GIF
http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/endPlanets.GIF

Final thoughts:
- We should start getting some resources, as we're going for a militairy victory, a militairy resource will come in handy.
- Our influence is good, as you see the Torians are almost surrounded :)
- Being good now also has its disadvantages now that we met the Yor & Drengin.
- 2 good trade goods are being held captive by the enemy, we should release them ;)
- I hope I didn't screw up, I'm still a little confused about that SibCat thing ans research manipulation.

Save is here (http://users.pandora.be/gforce2/Galciv/Succession/rbsg5-GForce-2184.zip)

G-Force

I am not sure what your spending was at the start of the turn. You missed out on an opportuninty to push social for wonder/trade good building.

Too bad on grav accelerators, but you couldn't have built it that fast anyway. This gives us a bit more of a challenge for the game.

I am surprised that you lost the system to the Yor--none of the other players did, and the colony ship was in the same position. Did you waste movement getting there?

Your halfway and later spending priority is putting more of the trade goods/wonders at risk to the AI to snag. We have enough tech right now--we need to snap up those wonders/trade goods that are available, the research the rest of the first wonder/trade good tech and blow through those.

Splitting spending hurts a game. I generally do not generally split spending unless I am at the end of a run of military/social, and I do not need 100% to complete the things I want at the time I want. I may also split spending later if I am researching and have a surplus. Otherwise, I am a 100% focus. When you are competing for wonders/trade goods, it is especially important to focus on your goal.

I cannot evaluate your tech trades--you did not specify what you got from the Yor.

Overall--some work needed.

Team comments--

Overall the team seemed to miss some of the points made in the shadow thread about concentration on wonders. Jaxom in particular greatly stressed the 100% drive to get wonders/trade goods when he shifts to that focus.

Research also needs to be focus. WHAT do you want out of the tech ? Why is it worth putting our economy to it vs. trading from another. Since it is relatively easy to trade for non-capital ship tech, it does not always make sense to be the one doing all the research.

FOCUS. That's the key.

Ok, time for the next round. I don't have an active MoO game going, so I should be more available this round. Sorry about my absence.

Roster:
Bam-Bam
Brackard
G-Force (just played)
Rojo (UP--show us that maso form :hammer: )
blacksmoke (where are you??)

Turns up by Saturday night, my comments up by Sunday. Good luck, and remember to keep you moves focused.

Got it. Oh sure... put the pressure on me. I make no promises that I will not make some goofs, but I will try and do my best to give us a solid turn.... I hope.

Hey, you weren't the one that got, not one but TWO smokin's on his turn. :p

No pressure on the maso vet, eh? :p :lol:

Seriously, I probably dole out the :smoke: too easily, but I'm getting paid to be critical. :lol:

Don't worry about making mistakes. It's a game, and we are all here to learn.

Rojo (2185 - 2186)

We open up and we have the following:

Tax Rate: 42%
Spend Rate: 60%
Net Income 95bc
Treasury: 1907
Approval: 81%

Income Distribution: 60% Social, 40% research

Relationships are as follows:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185b.jpg

We are currently researching Advanced Engineering, and Earth should produce the MFG Capital next turn.

Jan 2185
I check in for trades to see what is available. Overall we are under by Corvette, Deflectors, Energy Channelling, Space Militarization, and Turbo Phasers. It appears most have a combination of these. We on the other hand have a handful or more techs that we could work with. Drengin have Diplomatic Translators and the Yor have Gravity Accellerators (got to get those somehow).

Before making trades, I decide to see what is available on the market in terms of Wonder/Trade goods.
- Aphrodisiacs (we can pass on those)
- Frictionless Clothing (no big loss. A nice to have)
- Galactic Exhibition (Would love to have this)
- Galactic Stock Exchange (A major benefit, first priority)
- Tri-Strontium Steel (For military victory, a major plus)

Decisions, decisions. I see that the Yor are willing to part with Gravity Accelerators for anti-matter, instant communication, improved environment, interstellar refining and cultural trade. I can live with all except Cultural trade as this allows the Yor to work towards Galactic Exhibition and is a tech that no one else has. I am able to remove this from the equation and add 29bc for 50 years, but this could help make it difficult to get some of the wonders etc a little earlier. I decide to wait until earth builds the Mfg Capital next turn to see what options I have.

I switch to 100% social and boost spend rate to 73%. Since we are doing ok tech wise, I feel putting all to social is better as we still have plenty of planets trying to get the basic social builds such as soil and habitat.

I look around and notice we have colony ships on the move and some sitting around on planets. My thinking is that there will not be too much to get anymore so I do the following:
I sent 150 colonist back to Alva. Launch 20 colonists from Betelgeuse and send NW to explore and laucnh 20 from Silva and also send NW. The other ships I continue on their merry way and also decide to split up the the 2 freighters going north and send 1 each to the Drengin and Yor.

Feb 2185
Earth builds Mfg Capital. I now check to see what my options are. If I boost social spending to 100% and not touch tax rate (not much effect here) I can produce the Galactic Stock Exchange or the Galactic Exhibition in 4 turns. I notice that Cherryh IV is currently working Galactic Exhibition and will get it in 10 turns. However my math tells me that Earth can produce BOTH the Galactic Stock Exchange and the Galactic Exhibition in 8 turns, so Cherryh IV is better off working on something else, say Tri-Strontium Steel and get it in 12 turns. The only downside of all this is the -202 to the income and the possibility that someone else develops these. It would be a wasted effort, but I think the risk is well worth it considering our relations, not too bad off technolgy wise and we have some cash in the bank. I decide to go this route.

I then think about the trade and the Yor for Gravity Accelerators and realize that my plan cannot really afford having the Yor get a chance at the Galactic Exhibition nor do I want to give them 29bc a turn as that would hit me further in the pocket. So I do not do any trades.

Mar 2185
I settle last planet in Thebes system and get following event:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185c.jpg

I go neutral.

Apr 2185
I settle Sidal IV with no event.

May 2185
I settle Sidal II with no event.

June 2185
We get Galactic Stock Exchange. I switch to Galactic Exhibition. I check in to see how we are doing on the tech front. Nothing has really changed. We are still down only the same techs as we were we we first started the year and it appears that majors and minors are doing alot of swapping. We are still up a fair number of techs. Getting GSE helps drop negative income from -202 to -185. Anything helps, especially with all the social builds going on.

July 2185
Spot Aldra system (14) just north of Lasitus and I decide to settle with 20 colonists. Get following event:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185d.jpg

I go good this time around.

I notice that some planets are starting to run out of social builds. I put them on some of the other trade goods.

Aug 2185
Ships move

Sept 2185
Ships move. Earth should build Galactic Exhibition next turn, so I check in for trades with the various people. The Yor are still willing to trade to me for the Gravity Accelerators. I make the folowing trade with them:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185e.jpg

I also decide to make the followng trade with the Alexians:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185f.jpg

I notice that the latest tech to come on the scene is Interstellar Tactics of which only the Drengin and Scottlingas have. Scottlingas are willing to trade for it but want the following:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185g.jpg

I do not think so, considering we are able to get in within 2 turns, so I turn it down. So after all this, we are only down Corvette, Deflectors and Interstellar Tactics, and still have a handful of techs to work with.

Oct 2185
Earth builds Galactic Exhibition, and Carinoids build Aphrodisiacs. Now I have another decision to make. Do I continue and go for Tri-Strontium Steel which I can get in 4 turns, or do I move onto research as some planets are running out of social builds that I feel are important. I decide to continue and have these other planets work on Embassy as it does contribute to morale and and the economy. I also change spend rate from 100% to 88% as I notice that Tri-Strontium Steel can still be built in 4 turns but we can save about 100bc per turn this way.

Nov 2185
Ships move.

Dec 2185
We win election.

Jan 2186
New Minor makes the scene: Debians, but we do not make contact. United Planets meet for the following and the decision:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185h.jpg

Year end notes:
We should get Tri-Stontium Steel next turn and should focus on research as most planets are starting to run dry on builds. We are only down 3 techs and still have some to work with. Here are the year end shots:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185i.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185j.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2185k.jpg

Save Game (http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads7/RBGC_SG5_2186.zip )

Solid work here. That cash was burning a hole in our pocket, and you spent it to good use. Nice job getting Gravity Accelerators. I decided to give it a miss in my shadow round, mainly because I am sick of paying per turn, but that's a personal choice.

Solid work recognizing when another planet could build a trade good and give you an overall shorter social build stretch.

One the first turn, you could have gotten a useful small tech (say nano-frequency electronics), while getting the manu capital at the same time. That way you could have one more thing in the queue while Earth is wonder building. Just food for thought. I like to keep plenty of good moral or economy boosters in the queue while I am chasing the wonders/trade goods.

Good work splitting the freighters, and sending them to the proper locations. Question: what is the main thing you look for in the planet to which you send freighters?

Overall--solid turn. Guess you bring out the big guns when playing for keeps, eh? That's two good official turns in a row.

Roster:

Bam-Bam (ON DECK)
Brackard (no-PC hell)
G-Force
Rojo (just played)
blacksmoke (UP, but still MIA)

Blacksmoke, you have 24 hours, otherwise I will play and post the official game. The rest of you, play and post by Tuesday night. My comments will be up Wednesday. You all should be thinking and playing this turn to start setting us up to do some Alien stomping. :hammer:

Originally posted by Bam-Bam
One the first turn, you could have gotten a useful small tech (say nano-frequency electronics), while getting the manu capital at the same time. That way you could have one more thing in the queue while Earth is wonder building.

Just to make sure I understand this. Are you saying that I should have split my income distribution between Research and Social? Would I have had enough to get both the next turn?


Question: what is the main thing you look for in the planet to which you send freighters?

I tend to look for population figuring that I get more return on my trade with a larger population that I would with a smaller one.

Well, well... look at that. I learned something new again. It never even occurred to me to even try it, but I decided to answer my own question.

I went back and played the first turn again, but this time keeping the income distribution the same. I also dialed in SiBCaT and saw that by increasing the amount spent on reasearch up to about 262, should allow me to get it next turn as well as getting Mfg Capital. Played the turn and voila, I got both. This would have indeed helped with my dilemma on running out of social builds later on.

Good answer on the trade question--the ones I love are the AI double/triple/quadruple planet sytems.

I also knew it would work when I made the comment, since I did it in my shadow turn. :D

Ok. With blacksmoke still MIA, I've got the game. Turn will be posted tonight.

Ok. Looking good. We are doing 23% of the galactic trade. I drop spending a bit to keep TS Steel due next month, but save 32bc. Minor tweak. Add shipyard to the end of the queue, since we will be wanting beefier ships. :hammer: Add a tick to the espionage slider for the majors, which uses the 32bc I was saving on the social spending.

January

:sleep:


February

Good news.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2186a.jpg

Some other social stuff completes. Time for some research. Here kitty-kitty. Warp Drive will take two months? What say you SiBCaT? One month with a 100bc deficit? Ok, kitty.

March

Warp Drive comes in. Good kitty (meow). Tactics needs about 100bc less. Done. I reroute the freighter heading to monkey boy to one of his more populous planets, delaying its connection.

April

Tactics comes in. Next up, Alliances. Time to restock the treasury--due in 2 months at +250ish.

Monkey boy declares on the Yor? When did he join the Guardians? :lol:

May

Mark an econ resource in 7-0. Keep scouting with a couple of colony ships and a free freighter.

June

Alliances comes in. SiBCaT says that I can dial up the deficit and get hyperspace in a turn. Since we have over 400 in the bank, 150 deficit won't hurt.

July

Oops. :blush: Guess I did not pad kitty's estimate enough. No hyperspace. Ah well, dial up a social round with 100bc to research. That'll do the trick. Tag an economic in 13-2. Consider that a :whipped: to the trainer.

August

Hyperspace, and a few socials. Dial up spending to get Star Democracy in two.

September

Our freighter with the Yor connects, and we get a 25% research bonus anomaly. That's 500bc for this tech.

October

Star Democracy comes in, and we have a new government. Time to head to battleships.

November

More scouting of Yor space, and our Drengin freighter connects.

Alterians and Yor make peace.

December

More scouting. I have all but one Yor planet out of the fog.

End of Year

Battleships is due in two months. Trust SiBCaT, but check what the game tells you after one turn with no adjustments. If it says it's due in next month (which is should) we are good to go. That will give us capital ship capability and combat transports. We can build the hyperion manu center at Earth for more production boost. Next player will have to decide what will put us further down the path to military glory. We are going to have to do something about morale, though--our largest planets are hovering around 54.

Not a lot of screenies here, but the research was not very interesting, other than interacting with SiBCaT.

The Game (http://civfanatics.net/uploads7/rbgc5-2187ad.zip)

Wow - Did I ever go a different route than you. You will defintely have to explain the reasoning behind the research route. This is the part of the game where I stumble along and I would love to get an understanding of your thinking here.

I will wait for your critique of my round before asking further questions.

Ok. Since Brackard is still down for the count, we are going to take a couple of day break from the action--I'd rather this not be a rojo-Bam-Bam only show.

Brackard, any ETA on your ability to play again?

I should be getting my PC back today and I'll catch up and post my turns over the weekend. With a bit of luck, I might get my turns up tonight, but that's a long shot. (redownloading galciv and other necessary items).

Got it.

After a brief hiatus, I am back.

Okay, upon opening up, I see we are still the most powerful nation. We are doing 20% of the trading in the galaxy. We are 1+1 turn away from battleship, so that should be the easy part of the turn. A few of the majors are up 1D phasing on us, but nothing serious to worry about.

I believe I’ll just finish up working on battleship, then start churning some of these out and see where we end up at the end of the round.

Other things of note. The Torian Hoth system is unhappy but we have no cultural influence there. Also, the Yor and Dren are at war. That helps our cause a bit. They should both be concentrating on military build up against each other. Research will not be high on their priority list. The Dren have a nice little cache of battle cruisers at their disposal. The Yor, frigates, defenders, and corvettes. Waste that military there you two!

Looking over the trading opportunities, I trade culttural trade to the Caranoids for Aprhodisiacs. While on paper, this looks like a poor trade, all the other majors already had cultural trade, so we lost nothing in terms of a monopoly on the tech. I thought it was worth it.

And off we go:

Jan: Nothing

Feb: Alexians get a Man Cap.

Mar: Dren freighter arrives. Battleship comes in. We are the first with BS tech. We currently have a LOT of planets. I’ve set all but the bottom seven producing battleships. The bottom seven I have producing constructors. If nothing else, we should be able to at least ‘claim’ these resources without producing starbases.

We should have a nice little battleship force in progress for the next emperor. Spending set to 77% (even). If we feel like it, we could always research for the next level manufacturing, but we have such a military output it shouldn’t matter right now. Let the military spending commence.

Apr: Torian freighter comes in. Constructor completed, set to military resource claimed by Torians just north of production.

May: Dren freighter comes in.

June: Nothing

July: Alexian freighter comes in. Yor, Econ Capital. 1st Battleship produced at Earth. Dren/Yor make peace.

Aug: A few constructors produced, sent on their way to the nearest resources (concentrating on military).

Sep: The minor Adinians settle Lacaille 3 spaces away from Beeltegeuse on our northern border. They will be taken by the end of the year. Alva switched to a combat transport, and yes, we lose some production because they were producing battleships and were halfway done. Combat transport due next year. Wait a second, I note a Dren constructor headed towards the military resource in our area. We have two turns. I will delay the order on the combat transport. I switch Avla to constructor, Beetlegeuse to combat transport. We will end up losing some production on both planets, but I think it’s worth gaining the military resource and an additional planet. Time will tell.

Oct: Alexians get Frictionless clothing. Altarians declar war on the Dren. Military resource claimed in the north. Okay, now on to the Adinians. They have 120M on the planet. How many to bring? It’s a PQ16, so I don’t want too many left over, but want to be assured the win. I bring 540M. It ended up being a 9-2 tech advantage, so I brought way too much, or so I think. Here are the results:

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/2186war-start.jpg

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/2186war-end.jpg

Wait a second here, isn’t 524M what I BROUGHT to the invasion? Why yes, yes it was. I will build a colony ship out of here and send some back. Then again, we have a morale of 90 there at the moment, but we won’t be building social any time soon…

Whole bunch of constructors produced and assigned to various resources including upgrading the military to claiming unclaimed, to getting ready to poach various resources in the upcoming Torian battle.

I trade Alexians warp drive for Frictionless clothing. Only 120IP difference, so the trade was pretty tight. All majors had warp drive.

Nov: Dren produce Man Cap. Nothing exciting

Dec: Make contact with Arecans? Dang, forgot they even existed! They look to be in the stone age in terms of tech. 5 battleships, 3 constructors produced. Torian and Altarian freighter come in. I forgot to launch the ships. The autoturn kills me before I can move any ships and skips to the next month.

Jan: A few more battleships produced. I launch all the battleships from the various systems that I meant to do last turn, but I have not set auto. The next emperor can decide what to do with the navy.

We started the turn 5th in military, end it in 2nd? I thought we’d be first, but alas, we have another year before that will happen. The next emperor has a lot of fun coming up!

http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/2186-end.jpg

And the save (http://www.kingwoodcable.com/brackard/games/galciv/train/rbgc-sg5-2187.zip)