MOO 2 Meklar - Impossible Large Galaxy

Harv, you see to be in good shape here and your game has gone differently than my 1 play from your save. I won't give too much detail and certainly won't tell you where Orion is, but noting that you have an army of spies and are concerned about Orion, I suggest that you expand your area of explanation with a string of outposts unless you're are war with someone and can't manage that.

I'd suspect that some of those Human or Darlok systems have something that can take an outpost. You also may meet some AI's from across the map who you can victimize with your spy army. You took Cyber Security rather than EMG so you'll need some big powerful weapons to kill the Guardian and quite a few ships.

I've played countless Impossible Pre-Warp vanilla games and only once did an AI take Orion in less than 300 turns. That was when the Saks were a total run away civ and had over 40% of the galaxy and took it about turn 292. I've seen Orion left alone for me to take a bit atter turn 330. Scratch's mod is different in that races start with some basic techs and leaders all give a tech and everyone is Warlord..ie clearly faster to get bigger higher tech fleets into battle and thus, they aren't afraid to go after Orion.
 
My thinking about the Battleship was really what I might face against an AI Battleship. The idea is to run away from their fleet while firing at them from a distance with 360 degree Mass Drivers. The first couple of volleys would be for the shields, then follow up with AP.

Eel Killer was a misnomer because the ship was completed when it was on its way. What I should have done then was fill up the hull with heavy mount 360 degree autofire mass drivers. The eel was sure fast and we were in a lot of trouble until the missiles started hitting. When the eel's speed was reduced to 10 it meant I could run away and fire at it indefinately.

The upgrade to an anti-AI ship could have been done when Zortrium Armor was finished.

Thanks for the discussion on Ship Design. :) At the end of the next round I might get some input on the next generation.

ADDIT: I will try to get a round up tonight - This time I am distracted by Faster than Light.
 
I've played countless Impossible Pre-Warp vanilla games and only once did an AI take Orion in less than 300 turns. That was when the Saks were a total run away civ and had over 40% of the galaxy and took it about turn 292. I've seen Orion left alone for me to take a bit atter turn 330. Scratch's mod is different in that races start with some basic techs and leaders all give a tech and everyone is Warlord..ie clearly faster to get bigger higher tech fleets into battle and thus, they aren't afraid to go after Orion.

I had forgotten that my mod speeds up the AI. :blush:

My thinking about the Battleship was really what I might face against an AI Battleship. The idea is to run away from their fleet while firing at them from a distance with 360 degree Mass Drivers. The first couple of volleys would be for the shields, then follow up with AP.

Eel Killer was a misnomer because the ship was completed when it was on its way. What I should have done then was fill up the hull with heavy mount 360 degree autofire mass drivers. The eel was sure fast and we were in a lot of trouble until the missiles started hitting. When the eel's speed was reduced to 10 it meant I could run away and fire at it indefinately.

OK, now it makes sense. :goodjob:

I usually build ships for specific roles in fleet battles. The mass driver ships are to hang back and pound the AI, because their weapons are effective at long range. But before firing off the mass drivers, I have my close range ships peel off the shields. For these ships I use fusion beams with the enveloping mod. I like enveloping because it removes all 4 shields, so I can attack or board the ship from any angle.

For a companion fast fusion battleship to go with the mass driver battleship, I use AE, and sometimes IS also if I think the AI has a good computer. And may also use RH and HA, again depending on AI computers and what kind of armor I have. Then I fill up the ship with heavy enveloping fusion, leaving enough room for 1-2 regular enveloping fusion (to tackle missiles and fighters).

The tactic is to move the fusion ships forward as close to the AI line as possible, and peel off the AI shields with their fusion beams. Then I bring forward the AP/AF mass driver ships to hopefully finish the job. If the AI ships don't have hard shields or heavy armor, this usually tears them up. Since AP mass drivers destroy structure and equipment, bypassing the armor, they often immobilize ships and knock out most of their weapons or computer, rendering the ship helpless, even if they don't destroy it completely. If practical, when the 2nd round starts, I usually try to board these immobilized ships and capture them, using the faster fusion armed ships. Most often this fails, but sometime it succeeds.
 
I finally got around to playing and am up to Turn 244. I should be able to post Saturday.
 
41 years later, we have started a long distance war

Research:
Turn 205 Planetary Gravity Generator
Turn 208 Pulson Missiles stolen from the Gnolam
Turn 210 Subspace Communications
Turn 220 Warp Interdictor
Turn 220 Stealth Field stolen from the Gnolam
Turn 226 Class 5 Shield
Turn 230 Assault Shuttles
Turn 233 Shield Capacitors
Turn 236 Titan Construction
Turn 240 Recylotron
Turn 244 Phasors stolen from the Trilarians

History:
Spoiler :

Turn 204 The Klackons and Darloks sign a peace.

Turn 210 We hired Brainac the Weirdo and sent him to the Neptunus System. Ailis went to the Vaht System. We retained Garron for his Fame.
meklar210brainac.png


Turn 211 The Trilarians have an issue with one of their star systems.
meklar211penn.png


Turn 220 We stole another technology from the Gnolam. That was the last straw and they declared war on us. Why we will never know. We can reach them but they cannot reach us.
meklar220steal.png


Turn 221 With their hands full in the new war, the Gnolams sign a peace with the Humans.

Turn 226 The Bulrathi Empire got destroyed by the Klackons before we could meet them.
meklar226bulrathi.png


Meanwhile with our war with the Gnolams gearing up we re designed our Battleships.
meklar226fb.png


meklar226md.png


Turn 228 The Galactic Council has met for a second time. We got 31 of 50 votes, 3 short of a victory, and 11 of which are our own. Our situation is improving.

The Gnolams and Mrrshan have a war that lasts until Turn 239.

Turn 230 The Humans and Darloks go to war until Turn 232.

Turn 235 The Humans and Klackons go to war until Turn 237. Their diplomacy is second to none!

Turn 240 The Battle of Kadath took place - Our 5 Battleships and 2 Missile Destroyers against their 8 Battleships, 5 Cruisers, and 2 Destroyers. It looked like an epic battle.....
meklar240battle.png


.....but it was not. Class 1 Shields are so 23rd Century. We blew every one of them up and lost one Destroyer because we did not remember to update the shields for them.

Among the fallen:
Jarred the Explorer
Slag the Arms Dealer
Kerr the Smuggler
Kytryl the Privateer

Following the battle we took Kadath.
meklar240kadath.png


This put us into contact with the Trilarian who have a whole host of characteristics going along with Repulsive and Uncreative.

Turn 241 We hired Tulock the Bounty Hunter.
meklar241tulock.png


The Antarans have arrived and are heading for the Tejat System.

Turn 242 The back of the Gnolam Fleet is broken. We captured the Gnol System.
meklar242gnol.png


Turn 243 The Humans and Trilarians have gone to war.

Turn 244 We captured Scheader from the Gnolams.
meklar244scheader.png


With the help of the Phasor Technology stolen from the Trilarians we defeated the Antaran Raider sent to the Tejat System.
meklar244raider.png



Here is a map of our situation:
meklar244map.png


Gnol has been defeated and captured and broken but with Deuterium Fuel Cells we can not reach all of their star systems. It looks like they will be left with 3 Systems.

We can contact the Trilarians but we cannot reach them either. So we will capture 4 Gnolam Systems and leave the Gnolams with 3 and consolodate.

The next Galactic Council meeting is 9 Turns away and we have 13 votes this time and we blew up a lot of Gnolam votes. The Klackons also ate the Bulrathi Empire and may be in the runner up position.

Here are our colonies:
meklar244colonies.png
 
Things are going well, Harv but there's still much work to be done. I think if you try to use outposts to extend your reach, you may be able to finish off the Gnols. Perhaps that unexplored red star below Gnol can take an outpost. There's an unexplored orange star below Hut, perhaps you can get a scout there somehow and see if it can take an outpost.

Urridium Fuel Cells would make the rest of the game go considerably easier and I think quicker. Then you should easily be able to explore the entire upper galaxy and likely find Orion as well and be able to get there with some ships and some with EMG MIRV Pulson Missiles to blow up the Guardian once a shield is down at they can get thru.

U-cells are an expensive 4500 RP tech and this means that you won't research N-armor, but you may be able to steal N-armor from the Gnol conquest and spying and if X-armor comes from Orion, you won't care about lessor armors anyhow.

The F9 key is useful to check distances between stars and it looks to me like a couple of well placed outposts could enable you to get at more Gnol systems and finish them off or at least wound them more critically while your empire grows.

.. neilkaz ..
 
No Orion yet. It is probably that blue star below Tur or the orange one by Oki.

There is a chance that those Gnolam systems have unoccupied planets or a gas giant or asteroid belt. A way to find out is mod your warships with extended fuel tanks and send them to the remaining Gnolam systems accompanied by an outpost ship. Once the outpost is in place, you can bring in the transports over to capture any occupied planets. If done soon enough, you might be able to capture the rest before the Gnols build up their fleet again.
 
This is a long segment, especially for the middle game. We cut a bloody swath around the corners of the Galaxy.

Research:
Turn 245 weather Control System
Turn 249 Robotic Factory
Turn 254 Astro University
Turn 258 Anti Matter Drive
Turn 260 Phasor Rifle
Turn 263 Psionics
Turn 266 Structural Analyzer
Turn 271 Imperium
Turn 275 Neutronium Armor
Turn 277 Transporters
Turn 283 Galactic Currency Exchange
Turn 286 Deep Core Mining
Turn 289 Plasma Cannon
Turn 292 Megafluxers
Turn 297 Star Fortress
Turn 330 Hard Shields

Espionage:
Turn 245 Urridium Fuel Cells from the Mrrshan - We score big!
Turn 246 Cloaking Device from the Mrrshan
Turn 247 Gyro Destabilizer from the Gnolam
Turn 255 Auto Lab from the Mrrshan
Turn 257 Zeon Missile from the Mrrshan
Turn 258 Class 3 Shield from the Mrrshan
Turn 260 Irridium Fuel Cells from the Mrrshan
Turn 263 Dimensional Portal from the Mrrshan
Turn 264 Ion Drive from the Mrrshan
Turn 269 Anti Missile Rockets from the Mrrshan
Turn 272 Neutron Scanner from the Trilarians
Turn 273 Alien Management Center from the Trilarians
Turn 276 Android Workers from the Humans
Turn 277 Cybertronic Computer from the Humans
Turn 279 Emissions Guidance System from the Humans
Turn 283 Fusion Drive from the Mrrshan
Turn 285 Warp Dissipator from the Humans
Turn 286 Antimatter Bomb from the Humans
Turn 287 Nano Disassemblers from the Humans
Turn 291 Tachyon Scanner from the Trilarian
Turn 300 Biospheres from the Trilarian

History:
Spoiler :

Turn 244 We fired Garron to make room for another Colony Leader in case one comes.

Turn 245 The Klackon ask for 5% Tribute but we tell them where to go.

Turn 247 Scera 2 Captured along with the Gyro Destabilizer.

Turn 248 There is a population boom on Hermidon 5. They are going to need every man they can get.

Turn 253 Third Galactic Council Meeting inconclusive. We get 22 Votes to Vale's 11 out of 52 votes.

Turn 256 With the capture of the Muru System, this is all she wrote for the Gnolams.
meklar256gnolam.png


Meanwhile back on our side of the Galaxy, the Klackons appear to be knocking.
meklar256map.png


We quickly muster up a Titan filled with Phasors and move our Battleships back for refitting for the next war.
meklar256phasor.png


Turn 258 To add to the action, the Antarans decide to go after the Tejat System as well!

Turn 262 The Klackons decided not to attack with a Titan waiting for them but the Antarans did attack and were defeated.

Turn 264 For all that spying, the Mrrshan demand a 5% Tribute Treaty. We start a war over this.
meklar264war.png


The Klackons see this as an opportunity to grab some money. We actually decide this is preferable to a multi front war in an opposite corner of the Galaxy.
meklar266tribute.png


Turn 269 Captured Ras from the Mrrshan and Anti Missile Rockets

Turn 270 Captured Habor Prime from the Mrrshan. This is as far as we can go without more Transports.

Turn 272 Space Pirates strike, attacking the Jube System.
meklar272pirates.png


Turn 274 The Honorable Backstabbing Humans declare war. We will see what they got.
meklar274humans.png


Again the Klackons see this as an opportunity to grab an easy 5% off of us.

Turn 276 We get another offer from Dalan the Legendary Captain. We hired him ten turns later and fired Gizmo. He looks Human but he knows which side is going to win this war!
meklar276dalan.png


Turn 277 Captured Caph from the Humans. It is liberated on Turn 280 and recaptured on Turn 282.

Turn 278 The Glactic Council meets for the fourth time with no conclusive results. The vote is 27 to 12 out of 56.

Turn 281 Captured Hermidon 3 from the Humans. Hermidon Prime falls on the next turn. and Hermidon 3 falls on Turn 283.

Meanwhile the Antarans send a Destroyer after Gnol.
meklar281antaran.png


Turn 283 The war rages on in Mrrshan Space and Maalor Prime falls. Have you seen Class 5 Shields and Titanium Armor?
meklar283battle.png


Turn 284 The Antarans are stopped again at Gnol. Meanwhile we capture Dame.

Turn 285 Kraken falls for the Meklar and Sol falls for the Humans.

Meanwhile the Mrrshan discover Phasor Technology way too late to help them.
meklar285breakthrough.png


The Klackon continue to collect 5% off of us. They must be getting very rich.

Turn 286 Wag falls.

Turn 287 Vector and Celano Systems taken. This finishes off the Mrrshan Empire.
meklar287mrrshan.png


Turn 288 The Human Empire Falls, taking down about 50 of our spies with it. :(

Turn 292 We defeated the Guardian at Orion.
meklar292guardian.png


We fired V'Larr since we obtained Loknar's Battleship. Here is our new technology:
meklar292technology.png


Turn 293 Orion Colonized
meklar293orion.png




Turn 303 The Fifth Galactic Council Meeting gives no conclusive result. At 32 to 16 we fell a mere four votes short of a victory.
meklar303vote.png


We can obtain our victory either by plowing another empire, or by going after the Antarans.

Colonies:
meklar303colonies.png


Map:
meklar303map.png
 
Nice job.

I thought that blue star would probably be Orion. It's usually near the center of the map, but every once in a while it's not.

Have you seen Class 5 Shields and Titanium Armor?

Often in the stock game, along with similar armament mixes and lack of computer tech and specials. If it were not for the Mrrshan ship combat bonuses, that Panther II would have been completely hopeless at that stage in the game. :lol:

We can obtain our victory either by plowing another empire, or by going after the Antarans.

I would recommend getting a better computer and some targeting specials first, before going after Antares. I tried going there with moderate tech before and got stomped cause my beams mostly missed the Antaran ships. And theirs didn't miss mine. :eek:
 
Harv, good looking game here and nice leader management and great job with the spys.

How many spies did you have on the enemies and how much of a spying advantage did you have.

Re: Antares..it is trivial to kill all their ships there with EMG missiles, so then your beam ships can pound away at the star fortress.

Harv has a good computer since he stole own allready.

This should be a win in the next GC if you keep expanding by conquest.

.. neilkaz ..
 
Re: Antares..it is trivial to kill all their ships there with EMG missiles, so then your beam ships can pound away at the star fortress.

I had forgotten about using EMG missiles on Antaran ships. By the time I've sent ships there, I've already switched to beam weapons and dropped missiles. Do EMG affect star fortresses? That critter was always the main problem at Antares.

Harv has a good computer since he stole own allready.

I missed the cybertronic computer theft in the list and had thought the ship design he posted up was done with his latest tech. :blush:
 
EMG doesn't help vs Star Bases and their upgrades. It only helps vs ships. When I go to Antares, I kill the ships with EMG and then can pound at the Star Fortress with what ever else (usually many ships with high end beams) I've brought along.

.. neilkaz ..
 
Back
Top Bottom