RBO- OSG4 - Belligerent Bears with Beams

After the thrashing we handed out in OSG3, the MOO AI wanted a re-match. To give it a better shot, we decided to take the Bulrathi for a spin with some weapons restrictions.

Parameters:
Difficulty Level: Hard
Map Size: Large
Race: Bulrathi
Opponents: Five
Color: Blue
Minimum Victory Level: Preferably Extermination , but we'll leave the option for a 2/3 conquest if the mopup is too long.

Variant Restrictions: Why would a bear that weighs two tons, can run 35 mph, and is armed with teeth and claws have any desire to bomb a planet from orbit? We're a race of ground pounders

*We cannot research missile or bombs unless that is the only option for progressing up the tech tree.
*No missiles or bombs may EVER be put aboard ships, except for a single rack of 2-shot nuclear missiles to allow us to move after shooting beams. These missile can NEVER be fired.
*Missile bases are premitted, but the tech to use them will have to be obtained by pointy-stick research, or the off chance we are forced to research a missile tech.

ROSTER:
dathon78 - 20
AlanSHB - 20
Zed-F - 15
ToddMarshall - 15
Therlun - 10, and 10 for everybody after.

As usual, 48 hours for a "got it," then another 48 to play and report. Of course, we'll have to work around the holidays. I personally will be out of town from Thursday the 23rd to Wednesday the 29th. First report in following thread.

Bulrathi, 5 Hard, Large.
No missiles or bombs researched, bases are allowed but only with what we can steal, or if we are forced to research missiles.

Pre-Game Thoughts:
*Shield techs will be of critical importance. Flying transports past missile bases will be the only method of taking planets until we ships with the heavier
two-space guns. Plus, our missile bases are likely to be rather weak for quite some time, so the more weapons are planets are immune against, the better.
*As the Bulrathi, we have no production bonuses, so to keep our growth curve up with everybody else, we will need to expand especially fast.

2300: Our illustrious leader, Emperor Pounder, so named for his love of dominating hand-to-hand combat, looked out from his palace on Ursa, and this is
what he saw:



Interesting racial mix. If they are near us, the Silicoids could be prime targets for pointy-stick research as their worlds will be both less defended and
less populated than others. Of course, they will have less factories too, which just means we'll have to invade more of their planets The only star
within range is the yellow SW of Ursa, so that's where the col ship will go. The scouts are sent to the red to the NW, and the furthest SE red on the arc
below Ursa.

2303: Mobas founded, size 85 Terran. Incidentally, the red right below it is 3 parsecs away. Scout 1's ordered up.

IBT: Wow, that red to the NW is a size 105 Jungle

2304: 5 Scout 1's produced, though only three worlds are in scoutable range. 11 pop sent from Ursa to Mobas.
2305: Oops, forgot to switch the slider to factories Well, those 5 more scouts won't go to waste later...

IBT: Scout Hyboria, Red Star SE or Ursa. Size 90 Terran. This is some awesome terrain!

2306: zzz

2307: 8 more from Ursa to Mobas.

2308: zzz

IBT: Scouting reports all come back for the rest of the planets on the arc. They are, from left to right:
Klystron, Desert, 40
Gion, Desert, 45
Kronos, Tundra, 40


2309: And so begins the long process of building factories and watching the cute little teddy bears multiply

2319: And so it came to pass that Emperor Pounder I died of an anxiety attack having had no heads to break since ascending the throne.

BTW, Hyboria is 5 parsecs from Gion, so if Range 5 is available, we can settle all of the stars in our immediate vicinity. Settling Klystron will not bring
Gion into range. Here's the save:

Save 1

And final map:

I'll take my turns asap and try to have a 3 hour turnaround. I got home from work early today, which would normally be a but I had to go in at 5 am (server death) so instead it's a

Moo then Nap then Rogues...I should go do that....

Turnlog RSG4

Start of turns is 2319 end of turns is 2339 we have 73/120 and 49/23 pop factories on Ursa and Mobas Respectively first order of buisiness is usually to get the worlds we can get already, then open up tech. In this case we cannot afford to miss Hyboria (it's our exit to the rest of the galaxy) so I'm going to prioritize our colonization efforts toward hyboria. My goal is to provide a means to settle it during zeds turns.

2319-Given that I want hyboria, I decide to open construction, planetology and propulsion. I also send 5 of the scouts at ursa to hyboria, and the last excess scout to gion in anticipation of future scouting revealing more stars east and south and in case the AI respects higher numbers of ships more when deciding what to scout.

IBT we've got Factory9, barren vs eco (I choose eco), and range 4.



2320 No range 5 unfortunately, but we should be well served by range 4 before our next colship since it lets us settle gion directly (which while not being the best planet is the one that meets our strategic needs of get to hyboria. We also will be well served researching Improved eco. I adjust tech to 50% propulstion, 30% planetology and 20% construction. The construction tech will be helpful later than the range or planetology so it gets the least. In an attempt to get all the "free" research we can I start us off with a moderate sized investment from ursa and will support our research with about 2 clicks from both mobas and ursa. It'll delay their maxing out by a turn, but I think the time we save by having the research interest running will make up for it.

2321 - adjust research down on ursa after initial turn starter fund

2322 - NT

2323 - Already the propulsion ball is 3/4s full

2325 - adjust mobas's tech to ursa now that ursa's ind is showing max. adjust tech slider to move excess production from industry to tech (production that would build idle factories, not all of it

2327 - NT

IBT range 4 hits and we have available nuclear engines, inertial stabilizer or range 6. I take engines.



2328 - tech adjusted, priority is now planetology for improved eco and *HOPEFULLY* tundra. Secondary is propulsion and construction is unchanged.

send a shipment from mobas-ursa to hopefully max out factories at the same time the pop arrives.

2329 - NT

IBT - GNN ranks space fleet strength, and those extra scouts put us ahead of the silicoid...



2330 - NT

2331 - ursa misses by 1 factory...start the colship anyways. 5 yr

2332-2334 - NT

2335 - construction 3% and planetology 1%

IBT colship finishes and starts for gion eta 5 turns

2336 - 2338 NT

IBT Improved eco hits and I chose Tundra over terra 20 barren and dspores.



2339 - Things to do--adjust sliders on mobas/ursa. I think mobas is destined to be our filling station for our population hungry new colonies, so don't bother going over half factories for that world. Spend the extra on eco and tech for the immediate future. We're researching tundra to make the leap from gion to hyboria--In the mean time some LR laser medium ships might not be misplaced at hyboria--strategicly it's the gateway of our corner of the map and should be garisoned as such.

The Save

Initial look: I disagree with a number of Alan's decisions, but that's ok. I am surprised he didn't pick up Klystron (at range 3) before going ahead and researching stuff. I would have put full bore into range tech rather than splitting up my research efforts this early. I probably would not have bothered with Nuclear Engines and gone for Irridium cells instead, in which case we would probably have never needed another range tech. I would have probably grabbed Lyae first in order to get a start maximizing that world and get our pop growing more quickly. I would not prioritize getting to Hyboria at the expense of growth in our empire as a whole. We will probably be going on the offensive early anyway and we will need troops and a robust economy overall to support that effort.

Re-examining the ship travel times reveals we will NOT have range to reach Hyboria on colonizing Gion anyway, as sending a ship from Gion to Hyboria will take 5 turns, and Kronos in between is a Tundra world! Not double-checking that before committing us to an inefficient settling plan smells like to me. The next ship will be heading to Lyae.

2339: Ursa reallocates all funds to colony ships. This will get us a head start on the next one, so that we don't take as long to complete the next one. We don't need tech right now; Mobas can handle our tech needs. I send scouts to 4 stars that are within range 7, which it looks like Alan forgot to do when he got the range tech. We also need a lot more scouts. I shift most of Mobas's production to scouts. What research we have left is mostly going to Tundra to get us through the hostile at Kronos. Range 6 would have been a lot more useful to sink RP into than Nuclear engines or Tundra bases here...

2340: Ursa builds a colony ship, next one in 2 years. The new ship proceeds to Lyae.

2341: Gion settled. Mobas sends 15 pop to Gion, which is size 40. Most of its spare pop is reserved for Lyae. I send forth one more scout now that we have range from Gion for a green star south of Hyboria.

2342: Scout discovers Arid Ultrapoor 55 Maretta south of Gion. We will settle this as it will be far in our backlines by the time war comes, most likely. In any event it's a source of pop and troops. We complete a colship and send it to Klystron, next one due in 3.

2344: Colonize Lyae, send 30 from Mobas. Discover Vulcan, size 40 minimal at range 7.

2345: IIT 9 finally comes in after many years in the 10-20% range; Duralloy is our only choice. Chase off a silicoid scout at Romulas, an Inferno 20 Rich south of Hyboria; it was there first and has scouted the world. We complete a colony ship for Maretta.

2346: Silicoids are first to 8 worlds. We discover Ajax, a Tundra Ultra rich 45 at range 7 in the NE. I am thinking that with all the good planets at range 7 we really want LR colony ships here... though we will need to colonize Vulcan next door before we can get this one since LR Tundra bases are not in the cards for a while yet.

2347: Colonize Klystron, send 15 from Mobas. Tundra bases bulb is full but we don't have a %chance to pop yet.

2348: Tundra is at 8%.

2349: We discover Crius, a Minimal 30 at range 6 in the north. Tundra is at 18 if I invest everything there, instead I put some in construction since I think we will need Duralloy for LR col ships.

2350: Tundra bases comes in, I choose Terraforming +30 next and shift research to construction for Duralloy. Ursa goes back to colony ship construction, this time on a Tundra colony ship. It will be ready in 3 years.

2352: We chase off a Meklar scout and discover Regulus, a size 60 Desert at range 7 in the NE (coreward.) We also colonize Maretta and send a few pop from our colonies in the south to get it started.

2353: Tundra ship completed and sent to Kronos. Ursa starts building a regular colony ship at a reduced rate, due in 5, since we won't be able to send it to Hyboria until then anyway.

2354: We discover Reticuli at range 7 in the north, an Artifacts world... and we are the first there! We get Scatter Pack V rockets -- ironic, but we should be set for missles for this game (or at least a large part of it.) Since we should be ending our turns on even years, in this case 2355, I will take one more turn, but nothing much happens.


The save: http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/osg4_2355.zip

Next up -- Maniac Marshall
On deck: Therlun

I just noticed this is hard, my apologies. Thought we'd tagged impossible. On hard it may not be required of us to push so fast for tundra. I assumed that tundra + 9 + range 4 would allow LR colships and I was sure adding nuke engines would, which is why no range 6.

Miniaturizing our retro engines a bit might have covered the difference but without checking the spreadsheet I'm inclined to doubt it. We were nearly 100 spaces short of building LR colships with Tundra, IIT 9, and range 4. Since neither colony bases nor reserve tanks require power, extra propulsion tech doesn't do that much for miniaturization for us. I think we would have needed a higher level planetology tech than Tundra, which is relatively low, for LR colships to have been in the cards before Duralloy.

Nuclear engines will still be useful for peaceful expansion *if* we can break out of our corner. Of course they will be useful for not-so-peaceful expansion as well, though of course faster engines are preferred. Still, I think a more optimal settling plan -- regardless of whether this is hard or impossible -- would have gone like this:

1. Max Ursa
2. Colonize Klystron to get an early start on it
3. Research range 4 & start improved eco
4. Colonize Lyae, Gion, Maretta, finish improved eco as research from Mobas allows
5. Research range 6
6. Colonize Hyboria and a bunch of stuff after that
7. Somewhere in there, when it seems appropriate, we can research nuclear (or better) engines for colony ship speed, Tundra bases, and Duralloy for LR colships.

This requires we only research 2 techs to unlock the galaxy, rather than several.

My problem was failing to abandon my plan of tundra hopping when I saw range 6. I thought nuc engines 9 and tundra was enough for LR col, so I rated nukes as range 7+speed 2, but if the miniturization doesn't happen, then it was a mistake.

At the start when I decided to open research early I didn't know we'd be getting range 6, if we hadn't gotten range 6 we needed to start the research effort early to get there before our nearest neighbors (whoever's in the yellows directly east of us)

I'll give a mea culpa for not choosing range 6 over nukes tho.

Situation is looking good!

to finding Scatter Pack V's... that closes one of my chief worries, that of weak missile bases for too long. Maybe I use those too much as a crutch, but I'm always nervous if my bases are too weak. Maybe playing a no-base Imperium would be good medicine


As for the difficulty level, I seem to remember we had talked about going Hard if we did a variant for our next game. If this turns out to be too easy, then we'll just have to bump it up next time

Maniac, do you need a skip? Normally we'd use the 24/48 for SGs, you're overdue for an indication of whether you'll take your turn this time around...

I got it. I couldn't get the site to load last night and I've been away most of the day. Sorry for the delay.

-Maniac

Manic, it's been a few days, you still with us?

Guys, I intended to play this this morning, but I got woke up at the crack of dawn because I've had annother death in the family. I really appologize but I am going to need a skip.

-Maniac

My condolences, here's hoping it was a long, full life and that the people left behind have an easy time adjusting.

That means it's therlun's 15 now with dathon's 10 to follow....Good luck Therlun.

Alan

ok im on it.
will be up tomorrow (tomorrow where i live that is).

I'm suffering from SG withdrawal symptoms

"Birth of an Empire - childrens version"

Chapter 4

The fluffy, tuffy, big Bulrathi empire grew strong in only a few decades after it developed spacetravel.
Great leaders led it and great leaders would come to ... ehm... lead it.


The big, strong, mighty Bulrathi Empire continued to grow, becomming even more big and stronger and... you got the point right?
New colonies were founded...


The glorious Bulrathi Empire did not only become bigger and stronger, it also got more advanced! Discovering Duralloy and shortly thereafter Nuclear Engines the Bulrathi Empire could design a new series of Ships.


Important and difficult descisions had to be made...



Soon the clever, strong, and uhmm... even more clever ancestors discovered that they were not alone!
They collected information about the Silicoid and Sakkra, without contact being established at that point.




It was a great time for our Bulrathi Ancestors.
Peacefull, but still great.

Here is an overview of what the big, strong and ... clever Bulrathi knew at that time:

Very nice write-up! I wish I had the writing creativity to come up with stuff like that.

I'd like to hear your rationale in choosing sublight engines over Range 6, especially since we already had nuclear engines, and those planets to the NE look a lot farther away than 4 parsecs...

Also, I think you forgot to post the save. I should probably get my turn done with as soon as possible so Alan doesn't start getting the shakes

-dathon

ups, sorry forgot the save-link...

Save

it was a difficult decision if warp3 or range 6.
the two advances in my turn were researched so we could get LR colos (which i also designed as you can see)

the planets we want (mainly that ultra rich, and the artifact planet) will be settled much faster with LR colos.
no matter which of the two advanced we would reserach we would go for the planets now with lr anyway...
and warp3 is IMO more benificial for us...

/edit
bah i posted also the wrong link for the most important screenie in my report...
if you missed it, read it again!

After warp 3 it might be good to go back for range 6 as it is cheap and there are way better techs to research at the next level than range techs. LR colony ships don't improve the range of our warships away from our own planets. We should probably pick up Stabilizers too.