Pre-turn: We are looking very good now. Our planets are pretty much untouchable thanks to our new shields and missiles. The AM bombers are ready to roll off the production line. I plan on using them to take Aurora, the largest Human planet. The bad news is that going by the graphs, the Psilons are already ahead of the Humans in population, so the Psilons will likely be our opponent in the next election.
Depending on how well the takeover of Aurora goes, I may move on and take more Human worlds, to see if we can get enough pop to win the election by ourselves (or with the Silicoid vote).
I dial down the spying on the Humans. I'm about to get all their techs by pointy stick anyway. I start espionage vs. the Psilons, as they have lots of nice tech, and since they are going to be our election rivals, I don't care if we get them mad.
2541: Repel the Human attack at Chryslon. They lose 2 Huges and a few cruisers, we lose our 1 Large, then they retreat. We also build 420 AM bombers. Thanks for the pre-builds ignatius!
I decide to send the fleet to Tyr first, as it only has 24 bases rather then the 41 at Aurora (Aurora also has a big fleet defending it).
2542: Silicoids declare on us. I talk to the Psilons, and they agree the those Rocks are a menace.
2543: We lose 28 bombers in the first volley, but 3 ISP shots have dropped the bases down to 37 health, and 392 bombers take out 13 bases. The last 11 bases are toasted before the next volley has a chance to hit.
2544: Our spies steal Megabolt cannon from Humans.
2545: We steal Range 5 from Humans. First wave of 75 lands on Tyr, 43 survivors. We get FF 11, Repulsor, Adv. Soil, Warp Dissipator. I shift Planetology research to Terra +60.
I reject peace with the Humans.
2546: All non-hostile planets finish Gaia and start aggressively growing pop. I'm hoping to grow large enough by the election to take it solo. I'll also get peace with the Humans and Silicoids just before in hopes of getting their votes.
2547: I send a fleet to Aurora. 1 Huge, 2 Large ISP ships, and 720 bombers. They've got a lot of ships in orbit, so I'm hoping they send them off this turn, or we might lose a lot of bombers.
2548: They did send most of their fleet away. 13 Mediums and 7 Larges left. Still that's a lot of guns they can use to whittle away at our bombers, and I need the ISP ships to hit the bases, which will also waste their beam shots. Ouch, Warp Dissipator slows the bombers, only 507 reach the planet. Still, only two rounds of bombing are needed, thanks to the ISP shots reducing the armor of the bases. We manage to win with 460 bombers remaining.
Before sending an invasion force, I realize that they wouldn't land until 2450, and therefore, taking Aurora would not help us in the election. The Rock diplomat is still gone, so I want to make peace with the Humans.
I decide to leave the fleet at Aurora, but just glass it next turn, then ask for peace.
2549: My plan goes awry, as the Humans sent a large fleet to Aurora, and their Warp Dissipator froze my Huge, and they had enough firepower to take it down. My bombers all got away, but I didn't get to glass Aurora.
I dial up the Apes and ask for peace regardless, and they accept for the price of PAS, ouch. It does mean that I don't need Tyr to finish bases next turn, leaving them free to grow 24 pop instead. I also make sure that all other planets will max out too.
Election: We have 14 of 28 votes, but our opponents are the Humans? I later checked the status, and they are in a dead heat with the Brains in pop, though they were definitely behind earlier. Must be the Brains lost a lot of pop due to transports in flight, or losses on the ground.
Anyway, the Humans (5) vote themselves, joined by the Rocks (2). But the Psilons add their (5) to us, so we take the election 19 to 7.
Wow, that was a long one.
Congrats all around!!