OSG 11a - Underkittens Rebooted

[Zed-F]

We've been discussing options over at Realms Beyond, and decided on our idea for OSG-11.

We are playing as the Mrrshan against the Psilon and Klackon empires. They are the two best races, we are one of the worst. We're definitely the underdogs (or underkittens in our case) in this 3 race galaxy.

Difficulty level is set to Impossible, Galaxy size is Medium.

Liquidated was kind enough to restart games with 2 opponents, impossible, medium galaxy until he came up with a game that had the Psilons and Klacks as our opponents.

So, our first attempt, we got a good but not exceptional expansion effort going, and grabbed a decent amount of territory but got boxed in by the Psilons and Klackons. The Psilons then proceeded to snap up everything in sight, and the under-acheiving Klackons didn't grab enough territory quickly enough to stop them from doing so. Despite our attempts to drive wedges between the Psilons and Klackons (but not so much that the Psilons decided to simply absorb them) ultimately the Psilons were elected to the galactic presidency. With the Psilons having over 1/2 the galaxy already and a massive tech lead, we didn't have the heart for final war.

That was then. This is now.

---------

Well, guys, I decided to see if this game was winnable. I think we needed to make a few different priority calls earlier in the game. I went back and tried this same game again, starting from the 2320 save, with much better results so far. The main difference was that I prioritized technology and LR colships more heavily. The Psilons still beat me to Paladia, the Artifacts planet on our border, but I managed to get Kulthos before they did, and then threatened to attack when their colship fleet was about to arrive. (This got me reduced waste 80% off them. I also traded IIT8 to them for Range 5.)

I researched almost nothing other than construction and Planetology until I had IIT8 and Terraforming +20. Then I went straight to Inferno bases (skipping Dead.) I had hoped to perhaps trade for Barren or Tundra bases, but by the time I had Inferno done, I found I could fit an Inferno base on an LR colship, so I didn't need to. With LR Inferno colships available for range 8, and a toehold to the east at Kulthos, here's the result at 2400 AD...









And the save:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142685&stc=1&d=1163908422

---------

Roster so far:
Dathon << UP NOW
Liquidated < On deck
Stuporman
Olorin(?)
??
Zed

Please let us know if you're interested in joining.

 

[dathon78]

I see it; will play this afternoon.

dathon

 

[Liquidated]

currently comatose but sign me up!

Cheers!
-Liq'd

 

[OlorinStormcrow]

I'm in.

I'd enjoy a second chance at this game.

 

[dathon78]

My goal here is simple: to embrace the Art of the Weed (the annoying choke-your-lawn to death type, not the happy-pungent type). Grab as many planets as possible, and grow our exisitng colonies as much as I can. Some minor tweaks in the NW, Stalaz set to produce as col 3.0 instead of 2.0, and re-directed to Misha to grab the Barren world. Meanwhile, two colonies are on their way to Xudax, but Aquilae is in range, so the second gets diverted there. Centauri, Gion, and Galos can terraform in 4 turns with some factory production, so they will. I considered upping trade with the Brains, considering they could swat us in a heartbeat right now, but I hold off. Relations are on the high-side of neutral, and the honorable Brains should respect our claims.

I managed to colonize, Xudax, Aquilae, and Guradas to finish off the NW. Pop for each world has already been sent, or is on the way. In the East, I grabbed all four worlds in range from the start of my turn, and sent pop to all but the size 10 infernos. All the stars on the far eastern edge of the map had habitable planets, with the middle two being size 80 jungles (one poor though). They will be colonized in two turns. The other two were infernos, with the one in Klackon space being ultra rich. Col ships for these two should arrive at Gion in two turns. Two more ships from Fierias and Rana will be ready in ... wait for it.... two turns! The remaining planets up north will be scouted next turn, so those col builds can be cancelled if no targets are available (come to think of it, one of them has to be Orion).

Except for new worlds, everything is terraformed except Misha and Ajax, which are in progress. Gion and Centauri, our two Ultra Riches, maxed their factories, and are working on pop and bases. Stalaz went on pop duty for the NW with the Poor in the area, but it is almost maxed out again, and has been on research. In our core, Denubius is maxed and ready to go. Kulthos has been our pop base for the East, and is almost filled back up again to supply the two jungle planets.

The only tech to pop on my turn was Class II, and I chose PDS over Class III.

There was a vote in 2505 in the midst of our colonizing frenzy. The Psilons voted 6/18 for themselves, while the Klackons (3/18) and we (9/18) abstained. It was amusing to get both the 18-planet news event and the majority news event on the same turn

We have made an excellent land grab, but are practically neanderthal in our tech. Plus, we don't even have cardboard cutouts at our planets; we have welcome mats! While grabbing the rest of the far east and north, the next leader should think about some defense.

dathon

 

[StuporMan]

I will not be able to take the next turnset, Numeric analysis exam on Tuesday + Another homework due after Tgiving + Master's Project = :suicide:

I will not be able to play until after Tuesday.

Stupor(dead)man

edit:
took a quick break to look at the save. Holy crap we own a lot of land, and it looks like we will not own it very long unless we start taking some action. If the Psilons and Klacks know about each other, we may want to start a (spectator) war between them. Klacks currently only have 1-2 places that are threatened, and it will give us the turns we need to get our new colonies going. Once we turn our industrial-research machine on we should be in good shape, and we will not have to worry about the vote unless the Psilons decide they want our worlds. We may or may not need to capture tech from the Klacks to be able to attack the Brains. Currently we can barely damage Psilon SHIPS that are fully shielded, and cannot hope to touch bases. On the plus side, a well timed backstab on Paladia (Artifacts world) can get us an unopposed landing before missile bases go up (but after they have enough industry to take some techs). I am not sure this is a wise idea, though, as we will not be able to hold it and we may not be able to hold our other worlds in a war. Force field tech will either be our friend or our enemy this go round, I cannot tell which yet.

 

[OlorinStormcrow]

Since Stup is busy, I'll pick up the save. I'll play and post before Tday.

Olorin

 

[Liquidated]

I'm still comatose... I need about 16 hours of sleep to make up for this week.

2am and going to sleep if that's any indicator just how messed up I am... I mean if the sun is down Liq is wide awake normally, only sight of the sun puts said liq to 'd.



Cheers!
-Liq'd and d

 

[OlorinStormcrow]

2410: Lots of worlds! I leave most things alone. I switch tech spending to = everywhere. NPGs and RC3 are close. I also take Rana off shipbuilding and move it to tech instead. We have enough colony ships for everything explored right now, and one of the three that is about to be scouted must be Orion. One of the last two might be no planets or toxic+. If they both turn out to be hospitable, I can get another colony ship out of Fieras.

2411: Green is Orion. 1 less scout to upkeep. The other two are a Terran and an Arid.

2412: 2 colships that arrive at Gion sent to the Rich Inferno in Klackon territory and to the Terran near the Psilons. The two eastern jungles are colonized. I find some pop somewhere to send.

2413: Terraforming projects finished. Still no tech luck. Ultra-riches are working on bases. Centauri has max pop and is starting to pump production into reserves. I will use it to help start our new colonies.

2414: NPGs are finally discovered. I choose Scat5s over Neutron blaster or Ion Cannons. Defense is our major need right now. HyperV bases aren't going to be able to hold the line. Colship arrives at Gion and is sent along to the Arid. Fieras will build last colship for Inf25 Seidon next turn. We'll have to wait for better tech to colonize the last few worlds. I design a NPG popgun and start building them out of Yarrow and Stalaz. I start distributing them out to our border worlds...yes, those 2/3rds of our worlds on the border...

2415: next turn

2416: Two new colonies founded. RC3 is discovered.

2417: Computer virus hits our Propulsion, which was almost to % on Stabilizers. Our bad luck in research continues. Ultra-riches back to max factories.

2418: Arietis founded. Last colony ship sent to Seidon. More NPGs are shuffled around.

2419: More of the same.

2420: Colony ship will be at Seidon next turn, you can send some pop from Regulus to start it, as there are 30 pop still inbound to Regulus. I spotted a Psilon fleet moving near Mentar. Hard to tell where it's headed, but keep an eye on it. Not that we can do anything to stop it at this point. I haven't reinvested reserves into Centauri and Gion for this turn, I'll let the next emperor make that call. PDS are at 10%. Tech has been slow because most worlds are still working on RC3. Gion and Centauri have over half a dozen bases each. I don't have bases anywhere else yet, some are working on it, but most of the worlds on the border don't have enough factories to start spending on defense. I've got at least a few NPGs en route or at the worlds on the Klackon border. There's a few going toward Psilon border worlds, but I don't know if they would even slow down the Psilons if they decide to attack. Keeping a few at Centauri and Gion is a good idea though, they can help the missile bases by drawing fire at least.

We need to get finished with the current round of factory building, and then try to get our defense techs improved. Our next weapon tech is Scat5's. I would have preferred a harder-hitting, non-MIRV option instead, but that was the only missile tech available.

Last time I checked, the Psilons were willing to give us Duralloy armor for Sub-Light engines. We might want to consider it (as they are probably working on Warp 4 now). When the PDS comes in, we might want to see what tech we can get for it. At this point, we can't hold any of our worlds against the AIs if they decide to attack; so giving up an edge in ground combat to improve our economy or defenses might save more lives in the long run.

Also, last time I checked, the Psilons were still not in contact with the Klacks.

Good luck to the next emperor. I'm hoping that the Psilons will hold off attacking us for awhile longer. I upped our trade agreement to 300 BC. They are still amiable toward us. The Klacks are still neutral, so you might want to up that trade agreement too. We could also think about forming a NAP with the Brains, and eventually an alliance to give them access to the Klacks, though they'll get that with Range 8 soon enough.

 

[Zed-F]

Liq, do you want a turn in here, or should I go ahead?

 

[Liquidated]

you take this one, I have a civ sg and the holidays just struck .. hard lol. I'll be free after the weekend for sure tho.

Cheers!
-Liq

 

[Zed-F]

Executive Summary of my turns:

- Upped trade agreements with Psilons and Klackons to 1050 and 625 BC respectively. I don't think these will go much higher until the Psilons and Klackons discover new techs which let them improve their existing planets.

- We had a vote at 2425. Psilons 6 themselves, Klackons 4 abstain, us 16 abstain. We should win the next vote almost guaranteed unless something disastrous happens.

- Adjusted tech spending to slightly emphasize Planetology and Computers (the two most important trees, I usually do this during peacetime when I'm not looking for any tech in particular but am just making general progress.) We got Personal Deflectors and Scatter Pack V researched during my turn, working on Class V planetary shields and Fusion Beams now.

- Disagreed with spreading our NPG fleet all across the galaxy in dribs and drabs where they will do no good. I also disagreed with where the NPGs were being produced, and switched NPG production to our two ultra-rich worlds. I concentrated our fleets at Hyboria and Dolz, two as-yet-uncolonized toxic rich worlds. The Psilons made plays for both these worlds during my turns. At Hyboria we lost ~150 NPGs to a fleet of nearly 60 large ships, but destroyed the enemy colony ship. There is another enemy fleet headed for Hyboria (at warp 1) containing a huge... again we won't be able to kill it but we can take out the colony ship and prevent the Psilons from getting the world. At Dolz, our 240 fighters chased off a Psilon colony ship with a single large for an escort (no losses on either side.)

- I have set up our newest worlds to terraform and grow population as well as build factories. I have used reserve pumping to try to get them up to speed more quickly and suggest continuing to do so from Gion (Centauri is building another colony interdiction fleet for Hyboria.) Getting enough population to win the next vote hands-down should be our priority at this time. Controlled Radiated should be coming in soon, at which point we can settle Hyboria and Dolz ourselves.

Some pictures of what we're up against and the save file attached.

 

[dathon78]

Technically I'm after Zed, but Liq, if you want to take your turn, that's fine by me. You may not get another one

dathon

 

[Liquidated]

grab it if you can am up in two civ sg's due to mass holiday passings lol.

Cheers!
-Liq

 

[dathon78]

Apparently, "got it" is too short a message for these boards...

 

[dathon78]

The inital save looked good, sent the NPG's at Centauri to Hyboria.

Controlled Radiated came in on the first IBT , and I chose Atmos Terra over IT+40. Stabilizers also came in on my watch, with Fusion drives being the only choice, as well as Class V Planetary shields, RW60, and scanner. While I chose the next rung in Class V for shields, I went back for Auto Repair and BC IV to get some combat options. BC V cost almost twice as much, and the best computer we have is Mark I. Good thing I did...

Had a strange glitch where the fleet incoming to Hyboria disappeared the turn before it was supposed to arrive. I checked, and none of the ship models were scrapped, so that had me confused until they came into orbit on the next round. Weird. Destroyed the colony and the 3 larges, the huge retreated, and we colonized Dolz and Hyboria in 2435. Turn after I sent colonists to Hyboria, I saw a HUGE fleet incoming from Mentar that we can't possible defeat . May not even be able to take out the lone colony ship. Foreshadowing of the future perhaps...

In 2436, the Psilon leader informed us that our espionage attempts are causing them to revoke our trade agreements. Only thing is, we haven't been! Our last report is 17 years old, no spending, and the setting is even on hide for good measure. We did NOT get the "you were framed" bit at the bottom of the communique. And after the message, relations were down all the way to troubled, but we were still trading WTH?? Only thing I can guess is that they meant to give us a "you're getting too big" message and the wrong one was displayed. The Bugs also voiced their displeasure at our growing size and dropped to wary. Little did I know how displeased they were...

So 2439 rolls around, and things are looking ok. Relations aren't that great, but our colonies are growing well (fueled by reserves), we've got bases on all of the fronts, and a new round of tech has come in so we can perhaps build a real fleet. Click next turn....

Message from the Klackons: "You have chosen unwisely" End Transmission.

Message from the Psilons: "You have chosen unwisely" End Transmission.

Well then. At least the next leader won't be bored!

So my turn ends and we are at war with the galaxy. A check of the race screen shows the Psilons and Klackons in an alliance; that happened within the last 4 turns, after the weird Psilon message. Looking at the graphs, I'm not sure we have enough pop to win the vote in ten turns.

Strategically, most developed worlds on the border already have their planetary shield in place, while the newer ones have some progress towards it. Those shields will not protect against any current Psilon designs, which all have heavy blast cannons. The huge's have 30 Hard Beams and 9 HBC's. The last report on the Klackons did not show any weapons that could penetrate those shields, but that report is 24 years old. One click each has been given to espionage on each race for intel. Laan and Gion, the two UR's in the West, have shields and bases up and are ready for ship production.

Tactically, the Psilons have two fleets inbound (see picture below). The fleet on the left is headed for Hyboria. There will be 363 NPG fighters there next turn. I would consider trying to knock out that col ship so that Hyboria becomes a spud; we do NOT want the Psilons to have a base within reach of our core. Paladia is already too close. Speaking of Paladia, there aren't any bases there and it's up to 130 factories. We may be able to poach some tech there and turn it into a spud. We appear to only be down Zortium Armor on gropo techs, but that could change with intel. Firma might also be an option, but that needs to be scouted.

The second smaller fleet is headed for Xudax, eta 7 turns. Xudax has no bases, but it is maxed with factory and pop, and should build its shield next turn. Centauri can have 240 NPG fighters there by the time that fleet arrives, but I'm not sure that they plus the 12 or so bases will be enough, so some reserves pumping might be in order. There is just enough time to wait for the fleet at Hyboria, then retreat any survivors to Xudax.

The Klackon fleet is at Kholdan, and consists of all large ships (see below). No info available as to what they're packing. I did not design any warships, as the construction tech came 3 turns before the end.

Good luck to the next emperor!

dathon

 

[StuporMan]

I have some time in the next few days, should I try and pick this up?

StuporMan

 

[dathon78]

No objections here, though technically it is Liq's turn.

dathon

 

[Zed-F]

Go ahead if you want, Stup. With any luck, it won't last more than another 10 turns, but you never know. Just make sure our pop is as close to full as possible before the next vote.

 

[Liquidated]

I'm dealing with sleep work sleep so far this entire effing month. I can get turns tomorrow but not sure you want a half asleep liq to hit the turns at this critical a turnset.

I can play friday at the least simply because I'll call in sick if I don;t get the day off. I feel like I'm 12 years old lol.

Cheers!
-Liq