Always War(Apollo)-No Free Techs

[Kaitzilla]

Hello Lurkers!

I liked my last illustrated game so much, I've decided to do another one.
Something to itch my inner Montezuma.

The rules are simple:
1) As soon as I meet an AI, I declare war on them, forever.
2) No temporary ceasefire deals to gobble up Energy and cities.
3) No Free Technologies from any abilities, synergies, or random technology thefts, etc.
4) Steal is allowed.
5) No spy exploit sending them back and forth to a city to build up intrigue.
6) Must win a Domination Victory.

Now, I've never declared war on an AI in Civ: Beyond Earth before, but I've done it in other civ games so I know how it works in theory.
I'm pretty sure I'll die badly trying this, but everyone says this game is too easy so we'll see.

Apollo Difficulty (Rawr!)
Standard Size World (7 AI)
Standard Speed
Brasilia Units have +10% in melee combat
Engineers +2 in every city
Lifeform Sensor reveals alien nests on map
Machinery Free Worker at start of game
Terran World - Icarus 614-c Continents
Civ: Beyond Earth, version 1.0.0.574
Version 1.0.1.607 for Turn 185+

That seems like fairly warmongerish settings.
Will get a chance to see how good Might+Production trees are.

Should I go Supremacy or Harmony this game?

And in case you can't remember the building quest rewards off the top of your head yet, GGMoyang has a nice Building Quest Guide.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=534847

 

[Kaitzilla]

Rerolled 10 times until I found a map I was comfortable with.
Here's the capital I'm going to die in:



A whole lot of marshland and tubers!
Gonna need a building to turn it all into pseudo-grasslands.

Decided to land on that hilltop for the extra 5 city defense and +1 boost.
A real shame hilltops only give +2 when you settle on them, just like floodplains and deserts.
Flatland plains give +3 and grassland gives +4



Thinking of going Old Earth Monument->Soldier, unlocking a few Might virtues, and hunting aliens down for
Anyone know how easy it is to steal workers from AI that you are at war with?

Looks like ocean to the southwest and snow to the southeast, I'll explore northeast first probably.

Uploading the start for anyone who wants to play along.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 1

Apollo difficulty doesn't waste any time.
Met my 1st AI after a single turn.



"...welcomes me" he says.
The rules say Montezuma is in charge of diplomacy.
What do you think Monty?

Minister of Diplomacy​

​

Ya, that's what I thought.



Really loving the war music and the angry Russian language.


Here is a zoomed out view of my city and the Slavic Federation.
Can see there will be good alien hunting to my northeast thanks to my Lifeform Sensor.
Every Xenomass is a potential Alien Nest.

Spoiler :

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 12

3 more AI landed and I'm at war with all of them.

Spoiler :

The closest to land near me was Polystralia.
Should be a solid 1st war target after the aliens get put down.




Already the aliens pressure me.
I found a Progenitor Ruins to the north, but a wasp creature kept blocking my path over and over.

Spoiler :

Thankfully the Solid State Citizen questline appeared, and I now have a Crashed Satellite to explore to the east
Progenitor Ruins can wait until later when it's safer.




Thanks to my Old Earth Relics, I earned enough to pick my 1st Virtue.
Chose Adaptive Tactics for +50%XP from combat.

Spoiler :

My tech rate is really slow, so still teching Genetics to get the +1 to marsh building.

The Old Earth Relics building quest triggered right away too!
Picked +1 of course.

My 1st Resource Pod gave a nice little payout of 50 Energy.
Should be useful buying a hill tile.


City built Old Earth Relics, then started a Soldier.
Will probably build a 2nd Soldier after the 1st is done.

Here is my city as of turn 12:

Spoiler :

Notice that I have ocean to the east and southwest along with snow to the southeast, so I appear to be boxed in a bit.
That should help with defense unless the AI is really good at attacking across oceans.

Scout is going to excavate the Crashed Satellite and stay safe while the Soldiers take care of business up north.
I think there is a chance for a reward, so I'll try to time it to boost the +1 marsh building if possible.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 17


Wait a minute, that's not marshland, that's tundra!

Gah! I just wasted 60 on a tech I don't need.
And my capital isn't nearly as good as I thought it was.

Mmmm, switching to Pioneering then.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 19

No new AI landed this turnset.
So no new diplomacy to report on other than a bunch of refused peace offers by the AI.


The Crashed Satellite that was part of the "Solid State Citizen" questline yielded 80.

I decided to go the Supremacy route for my affinity when choosing the reward, so those hoping for a miasma filled game will be disappointed.
Have to found a 2nd city to continue the questline and reap the free affinity level.

Amazingly, my scout found a 2nd Crashed Satellite just to the southeast of the 1st one.

Gained enough to earn my 2nd Virtue.
Picked Survivalism for +25% vs. aliens.
I'm looking forward to trying to speed up teching by hunting them.
Could try to rush an AI soon, but I doubt I'd be able to hold what I took.

Spoiler :

I quite evidently made a mistake thinking I had a marshland capital when in fact it is plentiful tundra.
Thus on turn 17, I immediately switched to Pioneering and will have to live going 67 deep into a bad tech choice (Genetics) to start this game.


City built 2 Soldiers and started on a Worker.
Thanks to the Crashed Satellite reward, the worker will be done soon and I can make a 2nd Scout and another Soldier before starting on a Settler.

Here is my city as of turn 19:

Spoiler :

Further exploration has revealed that I am nearly surrounded by ocean.
That leaves a nice land bridge to the north to turn into a killzone later.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 34

Still no new AI.
I assume the last 3 will land sooner or later.

My Soldiers are gaining 7XP every time they attack something.
Looks like the flanking bonus in this game is +10%.



Pretty sure units can only level up 2 times against aliens.
Anyone know how many levels they can get fighting AI units?

Fighting seems pretty fun, but the healing times are a drag.
+??hp per turn in enemy land.
+10hp per turn in neutral land.
+20hp per turn in friendly land.
+30hp per turn in friendly city.
Does this game have Medic promotions?
Hate burning promotions for +50hp, but I'll do it if needed.


That 2nd Crashed Satellite gave 95 to Robotics!
Perfect for me techwise, but I'd rather have had the 80 for my settler.

Progenitor Ruins was a disappointment.
It gave 496 for Field Theory.

2nd Resource Pod gave 60 Energy.
3rd Resource Pod gave 25
This completed the quest "Gift From Home" for 40
4th Resource Pod gave a free Solar Satellite.

Spent a bundle of energy buying a forest tuber and 2 hilltops.

A very pleasant station landed up north named Lalibela.
Starts out at +4 per trade route, but at Tier 3 it will give out a whopping +10

Spoiler :

Gained enough for my 3rd and 4th Virtues.
Picked Scavenging and Adaptive Sciences.
equal to the of murdered aliens is sweet, and 60 for every destroyed nest is even sweeter.
+20% Affinity XP per technology is a bit premature to pick, but I wanted to test if a free affinity level from an excavation or a quest was affected.
Will find out when "Solid State Citizen" completes.

Spoiler :

Exploring north revealed the narrowest of land bridges.
If it gets any narrower I'll be on an island!
Will squeeze my 3 Soldiers up through it as soon as possible.
They've already earned 10 from killing a Drone and need to earn more.



My nearest AI target Polystralia is due west of that land bridge.

Spoiler :

Found a Derelict Settlement and a 5th Resource Pod to the southeast, but it is being guarded by aliens I can't clear out just yet.

Spoiler :

Teched Pioneering, Genetics (only 4 turns left so why not finish it), and started Chemistry.
I love Chemistry because it has 2 very strong buildings.




City built Worker, Scout, Soldier, and started Colonist.
Will start a Trade Depot next. Try to get some trade routes going.

Here is my city as it currently sits on turn 34:

Spoiler :

 

[Erikose]

I really like what you are doing here, Kaitzilla. After a frightening 3930 hours logged in Civ V - deleted it months ago in favor of a heavily modded Skyrim obsession - I have been getting an urge to scratch that civ itch again

Might still wait a few DLCs and some modding progress (devotee of Communitas for Civ V, but lurking on the Community Patch pages these days), but your illustrated games are intriguing me into rethinking that! The tundra mistake is something we all can relate to making, and kudos for not rage-quitting like I might have in my quest for gaming perfection. Chuckled at your description of 10 map rolls, btw . . .

Thank you for sharing, and I look forward to watching as you struggle to rule the world

Cheers!


- E

 

[Kaitzilla]

I really like what you are doing here, Kaitzilla. After a frightening 3930 hours logged in Civ V - deleted it months ago in favor of a heavily modded Skyrim obsession - I have been getting an urge to scratch that civ itch again

Might still wait a few DLCs and some modding progress (devotee of Communitas for Civ V, but lurking on the Community Patch pages these days), but your illustrated games are intriguing me into rethinking that! The tundra mistake is something we all can relate to making, and kudos for not rage-quitting like I might have in my quest for gaming perfection. Chuckled at your description of 10 map rolls, btw . . .

Thank you for sharing, and I look forward to watching as you struggle to rule the world

Cheers!


- E

Erikose, thanks for the encouragement!
I'm sure I put over 1500 into IV over the years.

The music and artwork are excellent right now in my opinion, but the AI is too meek and there are some bug and balance issues.
Potential for greatness with future patches and expansions/mods is definitely there in my opinion.

I hope the AI manages to burn me to the ground.
That's what gets my attention in civ games because the 2nd time I play has way more tension when I know it can happen.


This is the most complete reference I've been able to find for units in Civ: Beyond Earth so far.
Someone at Well of Souls put an awful lot of effort into it.
http://well-of-souls.com/civ/civbe_overview.html

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 52

The last 3 AI finally landed.
I am now at war with the entire world.

Spoiler :

Further exploration revealed that I am on an island.



Embarrassingly, I hadn't even started teching Planetary Survey yet to allow my Soldiers and Scouts to embark and swim across water because I really didn't expect to start on an island.
So I marched everyone across the entire island towards the southeast to finish off the last aliens on it while waiting for techs to finish.

Spoiler :

Met a Siege Worm on my journey across the island.
I've got a quest to kill one now, but they are 48 and impossible to kill unless they stay near a city for 10 turns taking fire from it.
They have 1 and only occasionally attack a nearby Scout/Soldier, but if they do they will one-shot it.
I've never seen one attack a city, but they can damage tile improvements which take 2 turns to fix using a Worker.

Spoiler :

5th Resource Pod gave me +16
Killing two Wolf Beetles also gave me +16
Derelict Settlement gave me +30
The Trade Depot building quest appeared and I chose +1
Completed the quest "Found an Outpost", and it gave me +1 Free Soldier.
Got a new affinity quest named "Familiar Exotics", and completing the first part of it gave me +35
Finishing Solid State Citizen for a free affinity level now requires me to build an Autoplant, which I will happily do once I tech Robotics.
Finishing Familiar Exotics for a free affinity level looks impossible.
Check this out:



Build a Petrochemical Plant in my capital it says.
You must have an improvable and workable Petroleum for a city to be able to build that building.
My capital doesn't have any Petroleum within 3 tiles to improve.
The nearest is 4 tiles away and thus won't unlock the building in my capital.
Sigh, not the 1st impossible quest I've seen.
There is a bug report for it here.

At least I have 22 Petroleum to myself on my island.
That will be awesome for lots of satellites later!

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 52, part 2

Earned enough to get my 5th Virtue.
Picked Martial Meditations for +1 Free Affinity.
Since it was my 5th Might Virtue, I also gained +5% to units.

Spoiler :

Thus, I reached Supremacy 1 on turn turn 48.



Not only do my 2 Explorers now have 2 expeditions instead of 1 (don't have to return to a city after every excavation), but my Soldiers upgraded to Marines!
10 became 14.
It was free and automatic for all 4 of my Soldiers.
A Marine costs twice as much as a Soldier (100 vs. 50), but is only 40% stronger not counting the perk.
Next upgrade for my basic Soldier unit will be when I reach Supremacy 6.

I had a choice of which perk I wanted. (+15% attack or +5 Healing per turn)
Both are really strong, but I want max modifiers this game and picked +15%

Spoiler :

Made a mistake near the end of my turnset trying to build a road to my new outpost.
It said connecting cities produces a lot of Energy (thus paying for the road maintenance?), but I got no bonus when I connected to my outpost.
Maybe when the outpost turns into a city I'll get the bonus?

Spoiler :

Teched Chemistry (for buildings and Petroleum), Planetary Survey (for crossing water), and started Engineering.



Hopefully Engineering will reveal lots of Titanium, a great tile.

I'm torn on whether to tech Robotics->Physics next, or Computing.
Robotics->Physics unlocks Autoplants, which will complete a quest and give me Supremacy 2 in addition to giving a city +1 trade routes.
Physics unlocks a very nice ranged attack unit that doesn't take damage killing things.
The Ranger has 8 ranged, but Supremacy 2 unlocks the upgrade for it and Gunners have 14 ranged (6 melee).
Computing unlocks the Spy Agency which is simply amazing for stealing Energy and .
It also unlocks Gunboats 16 ranged (6 melee) which would murder enemies in the water.
Choice, choices, choices...


City built a Colonist, Trade Depot, Trade Convoy, and started a 2nd Trade Convoy this turnset.
The 1st Trade Convoy was sent to my outpost, speeding its growth +50%
Since my civ is still at positive health, my outposts also have growth +20%
Every time an outpost "grows", it gains a tile, and once it is surrounded by 6 tiles it becomes a Pop 1 city.
With both bonuses, I gain a tile every 2 turns it appears.

Here is my city as of turn 52:
Should have a 2nd city in a few more turns once it gains its last two tiles.

Spoiler :

Notice my Energy crunch (getting close to 0) from my road blunder has forced me off my +4 tuber tiles.
This is quite annoying and I think I will launch my Solar Collector soon from that 3rd Resource Pod to give my city +20% Energy and +1 Energy on 7 tiles for 60 turns.
I can work maybe half the tiles with the bonus energy, but I'd be able to work all my tubers again.

Got one Explorer heading northwest towards my nearest AI opponent Polystralia.
His odds of living are bad on the hostile continent, but he's got nothing better to do and I can use the information.

All 4 of my Marines are sailing northeast toward the vast array of Xenomass that my Lifeform Sensor indicates.
Should be a lot of aliens nests and aliens and miasma there!
Will give me tons of and a bit of Energy I hope.

 

[GeoModder]

Build a Petrochemical Plant in my capital it says.
You must have an improvable and workable Petroleum for a city to be able to build that building.
My capital doesn't have any Petroleum within 3 tiles to improve.
The nearest is 4 tiles away and thus won't unlock the building in my capital.
Sigh, not the 1st impossible quest I've seen.
There is a bug report for it here.

Orbital Fabricator is your best shot here.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Orbital Fabricator is your best shot here.

That would probably work given enough time.
Not sure I'll tech far enough to unlock Orbital Fabricators, but I'll keep it in mind.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 63, Combat Report

Bullets have finally started flying!

Explorer out west run into some trouble.
Some kind of squid monster attacked out of nowhere.



After losing half its hp, I moved it 1N1W onto land because I feared the Wolf Beetle 8 I saw earlier standing on that Resilin 2E.
Those of you with good eyesight can see why that was a fatal mistake and why 1N1E onto the Firaxite was the superior move.

Spoiler :

So Dead

Well!
That takes care of the Western Front for now.

The 4 Marines had a much more interesting turnset on the Eastern Front.
Landed in an area known to have 7! Alien Nests thanks to the Lifeform Scanner.
Those nests spawn Aliens...



Shot one Alien and the rest went crazy.
The 10 Drones darted out onto the Ocean where I couldn't attack them and more moved into their place.
At one point 4 Drones had my 3 Marines surrounded and then decided to all attack my weakest Marine in the back.
He barely survived and I had to have 2 Marines use a promotion of +50hp just to stay alive.
Once the Drones were defeated, a tidal wave of 8 Wolf Beetles attacked.
They were destroyed after I formed a 3 Marine-wide line and they charged it.

By the end, 4 Drones and 5 Wolf Beetles died netting me 80
There is an Alien Nest 2 north of my Marines that I can go get as soon as they heal up.
Should yield 25 Energy and 60 thanks to my Scavenging Virtue.

Spoiler :

Here's a screenshot of what I'm hoping to go for in this game by going Supremacy.
Lots and lots of attack modifiers (+95%)!




Strategic Overview Turn 63

Spoiler :

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 63 Empire Report

Very first thing I did was launch the Solar Collector satellite I got from an earlier Resource Pod.
It fixed my Energy Crunch and put me +1 Energy per turn right away!




Once my outpost became my 2nd city, I checked the road situation and it was still giving 0 Energy.
Checked it again 2 turns later, and it was giving +1 Energy per turn.
Two turns after that, it was giving +2 Energy per turn.
A few turns after that, +3 Energy per turn!

Maybe it takes a while to build up?
How high does it go?
Those 4 road tiles are still costing me 4 Energy per turn to maintain.

The 2nd city also cost me 5 when it was founded.
By the end of the turnset, I was -6 and suffering from -10% and -10%, but it is an easy price to pay if I don't have to construct any health buildings.


My capital got a 2nd trade route going with Lalibela for +4 per turn.
Notice that the trade route cannot go through miasma which is redded out.

Spoiler :

The Recycler building quest appeared and I chose +10% Worker speed.


Teched Engineering, Physics, and started Robotics.
I'd like to build a bunch of cheap 50 Rangers next turnset and upgrade them to 14 Gunners once I complete Robotics and build an Autoplant for "Solid State Citizen".




Cidadela (*Capital) built Trade Convoy, Recycler, Trade Convoy, and started a Colonist.
Santo Adriao built Trade Depot and started an Old Earth Monuments.

The 1st trade route of the game is giving Santo Adriao +3 +6 and Cidadela +1 +3
Both and should skyrocket once I get more cities and trade routes, but and Energy will need some work since I'll never have foreign trade routes.

Here are my cities as of turn 63:

Spoiler :

My island has a source of Titanium(2) to the north and a giant source of Titanium(7) to the east.
Not a big deal since I'm going Supremacy which tends to have units requiring Firaxite. (The orange fiery looking stuff)

Gonna upload the game in case anyone wants to try it themselves for fun.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 75, Combat Report

The AI finally got around to sweetening their peace offer deals, even though I have yet to fire at one.

Spoiler :

While I was busy ignoring these, the Marines out east were involved in a bloodbath.
The 1st Alien Nest of the game fell for a cool 25 Energy and 60.



Advancing further, there is very little space that isn't miasma.
Only the fact that there are 4 Marines (14) who can alternate and overpower 8 Wolf Beetles is making any progress at all.
All told, they managed to kill 1 Drone and 11 Wolf Beetles.
This earned me another 98.

Spoiler :

If I keep going east past all the Alien Nests, I hit a nest of AIs.
5 of the 7 have landed quite close to each other!



I should probably attack them after killing off the other 2.


Strategic Overview, Turn 75

Spoiler :

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 75, Empire Report

After finding 36 from a Derelict Settlement, my lone Explorer traveled east right up to the AI borders in search for more relics.
This lead to an amusing encounter.



Perhaps there will be an Explorer fight in the next combat report?


Elsewhere in the Empire, the Laboratory building quest triggered, and I picked +1


Earned enough to reach my 6th Virtue.
Picked Labor Logistics for +10% for buildings.

Spoiler :

Teched Robotics and started on Computers.
Should reach Supremacy 2 once I build an Autoplant and my Rangers will all upgrade to Gunners (14 ranged).
The Marines are making a real difference in tech speed in my opinion.




Cidadela built Colonist, Ranger, Laboratory, and started an Autoplant.
Santo Andriao built Old Earth Monuments, Laboratory, Ranger, and started another Ranger.
Hoping Santo Andriao can squeeze out a 4th Ranger before "Solid State Citizen" completes and they all become Gunners which cost twice as much .

Here are my cities as of turn 75:
Notice that my road is now giving +6 Energy per turn

Spoiler :

My rate should pick up once I construct some Firaxite mines and build some Observatories.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 87, Combat Report

One AI upped their amusing Peace Treaty offer by including some Strategic Resources in it for the first time.

Spoiler :

Killed my 1st AI unit in Beyond Earth!
A PAC Explorer sailed around my Marine who couldn't attack it in the ocean and climbed out onto land right next to my Gunner.



Extremely satisfying.
Then a few turns later, I started to chase a Slavic Explorer, and it turned around and attacked my Marine!
I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it.

Spoiler :

My Marines continued to earn their pay by capturing nests, murdering aliens, and barely managing to survive.
The miasma was so thick, there was real trouble finding places to stand!

Here are a few pictures highlighting the main thrust this turnset.
It all started with a Marine charging a Manticore which is weak vs. melee and the east-most Marine withdrawing southwest to heal.

Spoiler :

Zone of Influence really saved my Marine.
It means enemy units can only move 1 tile when trying to walk past your unit.
I think that's right (haven't check with 3 units yet).
Anyway, it's a huge deal because a retreating unit can't be run down by a lot of melee units if you move reinforcements in.
In this case, Zone of Influence played a role saving the Marine up north from a 3v1, and killing the nest made the other 2 aliens up north retreat east back into the mist.

Here on turn 87, 2 Marines and a Gunner just got done destroying my 3rd Alien Nest, and another Gunner up north is threatening a 4th.



In all they killed 2 Alien Nests, 1 Manticore, and 8 Wolf Beetles producing 50 Energy and 194
The next turnset should see the razing of nearly all the remaining nests now that their numbers have dwindled and the Gunners have arrived.

Currently have 4 Marines and 4 Gunners on the eastern front.
Explorer is retreating back to the homeland to heal up and get 2 more expeditions.


Strategic Overview Turn 87

Spoiler :

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 87, Empire Report

Founding a 3rd city has put me at -17 for unhealthiness.
As many have said elsewhere on these forums, it's not a huge deal.




My lone Explorer finished excavating a Crashed Satellite near Manoel (no idea where it came from) and my capital received 80!
Always love to see that reward.


Since an Autoplant got built, I also finished the quest "Solid State Citizen"
It didn't get any bonus from my Adaptive Sciences virtue (+20% Affinity XP per technology), but it did get me to Supremacy 2!
This instantly upgraded all of my 4 Rangers (3 melee, 8 ranged) to Gunners (6 melee, 14 ranged)!
Much like with Marines, the production cost doubles so its always nice to build a bunch before the upgrade.




Earned enough to obtain my 7th Virtue.
Picked Commoditization for +1 Energy to basic resources (like tubers!)
This largely fixed my Energy problems and I can purchase more Firaxite tiles in the future.

Spoiler :

Teched Computers and started on Power Systems.
The Spy Agency that just got unlocked will be a huge build priority since spies are so good.

Thanks to my Adaptive Sciences virtue, Power Systems will have just enough Supremacy XP(+14 instead of +12) to get me to Supremacy 3.
Supremacy 3 makes roads/magrails free to maintain and upgrades Combat Rovers(12 3) to Armor (18 3), a very powerful unit!
So I plan to tech most of Power Systems, then start on Tactical Robotics until I have a bunch of Combat Rovers, then finish Power Systems and upgrade them all to Armors.




Cidadela built Autoplant, Colonist, and started a Trade Convoy.
Santo Adriao built Ranger, Ranger, Trade Convoy, and started a Trade Convoy.
Manoel built Old Earth Monuments and started on Trade Depot.

Here are my cities as of turn 87:
My road is now giving +9 Energy per turn and I've just about connected to the 3rd city.

Spoiler :

Planning on making the Spy Agency, a few Workers, and lots of Combat Rovers next turnset.
As the East Alien Adventure™ dies down, eyes turn to the west and all the damage 18 Armors can do to unprotected trade routes, tiles, and workers in Polystralia.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Turn 102, Battle Report
A Nest too Far...

The deeper I penetrated into the miasma, the tighter the land became, and the more injured my troops became.
Quite simply, there was only enough clear spots for half my army to heal up.

Right away on Turn 88, the aliens swarmed my lead Marine, forcing me to scramble to save him.
Found out Gunners can't fire over hills and Zone of Influence doesn't apply to units approaching and then veering away from a unit diagonally.

Spoiler :

I figured my nearly dead Marine was safe at that point with 2 others providing Zone of Control protection.
Then on turn 89, that injured alien ran between both of them and attacked my critically injured Marine anyway.
Thankfully the Wolf Beetle was already injured, and my critical Marine got the +25% hill defense bonus and the +20% flanking bonus and squeaked through with 11hp.


In their infinite wisdom, the Pan-Asian Coalition placed a city 2NW of my target Alien Nest (1NE of that fungus).
This helped form the Corridor of Doom™.
One way in and one way out.
With a city waiting to fire rockets at anyone who got within 2 tiles of it, my army had to march single file through the miasma to carefully conquer the last 2 alien nests.
There was an urgent need to tech Tactical Robotics and unlock my Supremacy 4 unit, the CNDR (38), so there was no question that I would go get them for 120.



Was a little disappointed that the PAC already killed the northmost nest with their city, but luckily a fresh one spawned way back where I started near some of my reinforcements and was easily destroyed.

Spoiler :

Had a Marine stand on the fungus tile until the Gunner and some luck freed up the nest 1NE of the fungus.
Then I walked onto it and beyond on turn 94, making sure the PAC city couldn't bombard me.



At that point, there was only 1 alien nest left, 3SE of the one I had just destroyed.
So I sent 5 troops into the miasma to steamroll the aliens and finish it.



3 Marines and 2 Gunners, and the Gunners were useless because of the hills!
So I split the Gunners out of the way and sent in 2 moderately healthy Marines to kill the last 2 aliens and their nest.
Another turn or 2, and I was ready to hand out medals for a flawless Operation East Aliens.



OH #@^!



There goes 100
PAC moved 3 Tacjets (10 ranged) into her city!
The little devils have a 4 tile range.

Spoiler :

She really picked the perfect time too.
Any later I scoot out.
Any earlier I don't go in.
As it was, 3 of my units were trapped and 1 was dead.


After doing some calculations, I finished off the aliens and determined that the Marines didn't have enough hp to make a run for it.
Thus, I pushed them further into the canyon beyond the 4 tile range of the Tacjets so they could heal up.
Both Marines made it, and one did it with only 1hp!!!



Tried to shoot that naval Trade Vessel, but my Gunner couldn't attack it, so I guess only Gunboats and hovercraft units can destroy them?
The game continued...



OH COME ON!
PAC gonna settle another city right next to my walking-dead Marines, and there is a sea monster just begging for them to swim for it too?
Do outposts have a 2 tile attack range like cities?
Can Tacjets be stationed there???
Thankfully, the Colonist saw the Marines and went back where it came from.


My Gunner at least had good hp and 30% defense against ranged attacks, so I made a run for it.
After getting shot to within an inch of my life, I ran onto the hill behind the mountain and prayed it blocked me from Tacjet attacks.
And it did! I was home free.



Wait, she sent a Ranger after me!
If I move 1NW to avoid the Ranger, Tacjets probably kill me.
If I go 2S onto the miasma hill out of Tacjet range, I go to 1hp and the Ranger probably steps up and shoots me dead.
So I moved 1SW, hoping the mountain still blocked the Tacjets, and braced to maybe survive the Ranger attack with all my defense bonuses.



And there goes another 100
With half my army dead or trapped, I withdrew the other 4 units back to the ocean to head west for the upcoming campaign against Polystralia.
Killing all those aliens and nests was worth it, despite the debacle at the end.
By the end, they killed another Explorer (Franco-Iberian), 2 Manticores, 6 Wolf Beetles, and 3 Alien Nests for 248 and 75 Energy.


Strategic Overview Turn 102

Spoiler :

Now that I look, I see that my 2 Marines are awful close to the PAC capital Tiangong 6 tiles to the east.
Maybe I'll just leave one there to forever be a pest, clogging up the north pass and not letting any Colonists through. ^_^
The other can start swimming north once it heals up and the squid monster goes away.