OSG 15a - Puissant Psilons

[Zed-F]

Our Psilons are so confident of their innate technological superiority that they see no reason to research anything other than in their own sweet time...

Psilons, Medium, Impossible, 5 opponents

Variant rules:
1. Must research all techs in order from cheapest to most expensive
2. All research set to = in all fields
3. All ships with large hulls, unless unarmed
4. No tech espionage

Attached is the starting save file and a shot of the galaxy map.

Roster:
Zed
Dathon
StuporMan

 

[Zed-F]

Colonized:
Maretta - Minimal 45 Artifacts -- gives us Scatter Pack V
Scouted:
Tyr - Radiated 25 UR, Range 2
Paranar - Minimal 50, Range 3 -- Our only colonizable world in range
Obaca - Terran 100, Range 6 -- Has seen Bulrathi scouts
Rha - Minimal 45, Range 5 -- Our gateway south
Klystron - Radiated 10
And a couple asteroids.

Slim pickings except for Obaca but we will need range 4 to get it. I invested 1 turn in colony ship construction, intending to pop two out quickly to snag Obaca ASAP what with the Bears having scouts inbound (after we got there -- we chased them off), but then realized Obaca was at range 4 from Paranar. You can use that 1 invested turn in ship construction to build a colship for Paranar anyway, or to build a LR DEF ship for Obaca. Either way we're going to need to start at least trickle research soon; this is set up in the save although I haven't opened research yet. Getting range tech ASAP is now top priority so we can expand.

Attached is the save file and a pic of the Bulrathi scout fleeing from Obaca. You can see Maretta peeking out in the bottom left and the likely Bulrathi homeworld to the right.

Roster:
Zed <-- Just played
Dathon <-- UP NOW
StuporMan <-- On Deck

 

[ignatius]

hi guys

I missed the call on RBO, but as I'm out of office next week, I'd like to join, if you can spare a seat. I'm lurking around for quite some time now, and would really like to get into the action.

cu

Ignatius

 

[Zed-F]

If you're comfortable playing on Impossible, sure. We can add you to the end of the roster. Bear in mind that it might well take more than 1 week to finish the game though, so please only sign up if you're sure you can commit beyond that point if need be.

 

[ignatius]

Sure, no problem!

 

[dathon78]

Checking in, will play tomorrow.

dathon

 

[dathon78]

I started my 20 turns by opening the tech fields; that would determine what I did at Mentar. If we got Range 4, we could probably churn two colony ships while it was researched. If Range 5, an LR def ship was probably in order. We got Range 4, though were extremely unlucky in that it got to 47% before popping. On the way, we also discovered, ECM I, IIT9, Class II, and Controlled Barren. Range 5 and 6 are both absent from our tree (figures), so an LR col ship is going to be needed for Rha. I've got a re-designed LR def ship 2 turns from completion at Mentar to secure the planet.

Scouts are on the way to the only two systems the range tech opened up. A Bulrathi scout might be inbound to Maretta, so it is set to build a scout next turn. Mentar has maxed on factories, and is trickle-building it's last pop alongside the LR def ship. Paranar was founded, and the col ship is 4 turns from Obaca. Hope we get it! Oh yeah, and Sakkra are up to their usual expansionist selves, reaching 6 planets by 2327

Roster:
Zed
Dathon <-- Just played
StuporMan <-- UP NOW
ignatius <-- On Deck

dathon

 

[StuporMan]

I will pick up the game and get my turns done either today or tomorrow.

Stup

 

[ignatius]

Fine - I'm on deck (my local timezone is UTC+1 - don't know if this is good or bad for turnover).

Another issue: As it might well be that during my turn we come in contact with 2 or more races (and maybe also face the 1st vote), how should I proceed WRT starting spectator wars?

My take on this is that everything that isn't forbidden is allowed (after all, it is part of the game, even if I don't like the possibility), so I would usually try to get them at each others throats barring unusual circumstances, esp. considering our variant rules which hurt weapons research more than any other fields, while barely hurting force fields at all (at least in the beginning), so it feels natural and within the spirit of the VR as well as the race to try to stay out of hot war during the early game. Still, I'd rather not decide this myself, so if a majority is for a strict "no spectator wars" variant rule, please say so (will probably not affect Stupor's turn, so there should be enough time to raise your objections).

cu

Ignatius

 

[dathon78]

I generally try to play without spectator wars. The diplomacy system in MOO, while revolutionary for its time, is a little too easy to manipulate. The fact that the AI is more willing to declare war on an ally than simply break the alliance is testament to that. I would say let's avoid the spectator war if at all possible, leaving it in place only for the most dire of circumstances (early council vote, clearly more powerful race declaring and coming after us, etc). Think of it as a last resort.

While we're on the subject, I'd also like to take the usual missile-boats-must-retreat and no-missile-boat-pinning-on-tactical-screen rules for this game too. The problem with these types of tactics (including spectator wars), is that 1) the AI doesn't know how to even remotely cope with it and 2) if used, they are so powerful that all games end up being the same. You see the same couple tactics ridden to victory over and over ad nauseam.

dathon

 

[StuporMan]

Well, I had a quite interesting turn set, and decided to only play 10 turns due to new strategic implications resulting from events that transpired.

The first item of note is the discovery of SP V, I choose Hyper X as per variant restriction. The next item is the founding of our new system, Obaca. This brought us into contact with the Bulrathi, whom our scout chased away at Obaca the turn our Colship arrived. They have 6 systems (one is an artifact) and completely block us to the East. To make matters better, they have an alliance with the election-cheesing apes. I set up the minimal trade agreement for pacification, but a LR Laser ship is parked in orbit just in case.

In other news, the Bulrathi and Silicoids are probing our scout defenses to the south (our only method of expansion right now). We have a LR Laser parked over the 45 minimal down there, but we may need something over the Dead 35 soon since Rocks came knocking. We need to do whatever we can to secure these two planets, otherwise we will be backed in a corner for a long while to come.

Stup

 

[ignatius]

OK, got it! Seems like the end of the beginning ...

As for the warmongering issue: dathon, your points are well taken, however since Zed and Stupor didn't cast an opinion yet, I will stick to the current variant rules for the upcoming turnset - we may of course reconsider later. I will adopt the following policy, however: As long as we have not secured 1/3 of the votes, rival alliances are fair game i.e. if either or both of the two parties are part of an AI alliance, I will try to get them to war, to proactively avoid an early dogpile and a lost vote. I will not use it as a tool solely to weaken unaligned races to soften them up for future campaigns (although there is of course no way to guarantee that events won't take this turn eventually).

I've come up with this idea before reading Stupor's report, so I wasn't aware that we might get into this kind of situation soon. Still, since the issue is somewhat controversial, I wanted to lay out my policy beforhand for this turnset, and not in the heat of the battle. Please bear with me, this is my first OSG, so I'd rather play it safe than chivalrously risk losing us the game.

So, enough talking, let's get into action ...

 

[Zed-F]

Ignatius, you might want to wait more than 8 hrs for people to cast opinions on matters. Most of us probably don't check the board more than once every day or two anyway.

If a spectator war is absolutely needed to avoid an election loss or an early dogpile (i.e. once we are at war with one race, to prevent others from being dragged in against us as well) then I would say go ahead. Otherwise, not.

 

[ignatius]

2350

Designed a huge (unarmed) placeholder ship for production at Mentar as computers and construction are in the percentages, might revert to LR-Def in 2 turns if nothing pops or improvement not worth the slot.
Notice an incoming human scout sse of Maretta from a rather strange direction. Our backyard has no scout covers, so I build an emergency scout at Maretta and redirect from Paranar and Rha to Tyr and Mentar resp.

2352

scout arrives at ursa: 20 missle bases, only 2 cols and 1 scout in orbit
deep space scanner pop, bc2 next
sakkra colship + 1 medium escort sighted north of Ajax, probably heading for Galos or Rha, so we should be ok.
Set Mentar back to LR-Def + 81 RC
Erratic Bulrathis are allied with Humans and Silicoids

2353

Sent LR-Def to Ajax, Mentar back to research
Bears no longer alied with the Humans

2354

cnn gives tech reports, we are 2nd:

and we have our 1st vote: bears vs. frogs

Sakkra 5 for themselves
Human 2 for Bears
Alrakis 3 abstain
Bulrathis for themselves
Silicoids 3 for frogs

Our 3 brownie points go to the Bears

Bears are again allied to Humans and Silicoids

Sakkra fleet reappears, but col ship is missing (or it's a 2nd fleet), heading still unclear but probably Rha

2355

Maretta, our artefact world, is maxed out
relations with Bears amiable, alliance with Humans dissolved again
Allthough I don't like playing w/o reserve, I decide pushing our 40 BC into Obacca, before cleanup techs hit, as this is currently probably the only planet in enemy range

2356

still no luck, tech wise (IW80 @ 27%, impr. eco @ 24%)

2357

Sakkra medium repelled (silly me forgot to take a picture)
improved eco hits terra+20 next, reserve tank for rha still 109 short

bad news: silly medium incoming to Klystron, the radiated 10 near our core. My first major screwup, as I neglected to put a defense there (wanted at least construction to pop before designing a new class).

While it would not have made it in time from Mentar to pervent scouting, it would have been there in time to get a shot at the col fleet which will certainly follow.

Now there's a tough decision to make:
A regular cruiser will take at least 9 turns from Mentar to Klystron (including 3 turns production), which may be too late.
The LR-Def at Obacca will probably arrive in time and might be able to stop a col with a weak escort but would leave Obacca undefended.

Since glassing Klystron will put the 'coids out of range again, I decide to put Mentar on placeholder and leave the Obaca LR-Def where it is (later it can be sent to the southern front)

2358

Sakkra Fleet ne of Ajax, same as above
seems like Silly medium is headed for Tau Cygni after all (sigh of relief)
construction @ 34% :-(

Bears are at war with Humans and Alkaris!!!

2359

IW80 finally pops, IT8 next, reserve tank for rha still 14 short :-(, but at least in time for the new design. Since we neither have a gun nor inertials yet, I opted for an unshielded missle boat with 3 large racks of scatter pack V and a 1 heavy laser + 3 las combo to finish colships and weak survivers off. I'd much rather have left the decision to Zed, but after the close call at Klystron, I don't want to delay another turn.

2360

I've set the SPV-MB enroute to Klystron and Mentar back to tech.

Our fleet:

The tech situation:

The glorious Psilon Empire:

Two planets are up, we have reasonable cleanup tech and comp, ff and weapons are about to pop. I neither began bases nor spying.

My almost losing us Klystron shows that I still have much to learn ...

I'm really glad that I didn't have to make a tough decision on the diplo front and even more so, that the issue settled itself nicely with the Bear (+Silicoids?) vs. Humans + Alkaris war. Sorry Zed, I probably should have waited longer for opinions, but this would have meant delaying my turn and the game for a day (it's 3 AM here at the time of writing). I have abolutely no problem with banning "dirty tricks" like spectator wars, but lacking OSG experience, it's difficult for me to decide when to willingly forgo an advantage for the sake of a more interesting but also riskier game if it's not stated as a variant rule.

cu

Ignatius

 

[Zed-F]

Looks like I'm up... I'll try to get this as soon as I can.

 

[Zed-F]

Inherited Turn: We desperately need range tech to get out of our corner. Waiting for LR colony ships would take much too long, and designing a huge colony ship is incredibly wasteful. So I call up our neighbors the bears and see if they will trade. Deuterium Fuel Cells for Reduced Waste 80%? We'll take it! Mentar starts on colony ship construction at max speed.

2363: On the interturn, destroy a Sakkra medium ship and colony ship headed for Rha. Lots of heavy lasers, but our large survives due to superior close range laser firepower. Our colony ship completes at Mentar this turn and I send it toward Rha.

2368: We colonize Rha and gain contact with the Erratic Expansionist Sakkra. Great, we have 2 erratic neighbors. The Sakkra have gobbled up most of the southwest side of the map already so we are unlikely to be able to expand much in that direction. Our scouts attempt to explore two additional stars in range 8, a purple just north of Gienah and a green just southwest of it, and both turn out to be Silicoid colonies guarded by warships. We also send scouts southward to see if we can snag any other worlds near Sakkra space but pickings down there are looking pretty slim.

Summary: We've drawn a real dud of a start, which might have been challenging even as Psilon without tech restrictions. Hopefully we can hide in our corner long enough to be able to claw our way out of it but this is going to be one long row to hoe... and that's without considering that our two Erratic neighbors are, someday, quite likely to declare war on us for no particular reason whatsoever. At least they are both currently involved in wars against the Humans and Alkari.

Incidentally -- ship maintenance is already up to 6.7%. We can't afford many more ships at this rate, which means our navy is going to be a paper tiger for a long time to come.

 

[dathon78]

Oh, ha, yeah, I'm after Zed. Um oops.

Will play tomorrow.

dathon

 

[dathon78]

I agree that we are in a tenuous position, but hopefully our erratic neighbors will be too busy fighting the other races, and each other. The scatter pack's and Hyper X's should keep us around for a little while at least.

The 2375 vote went down with everybody but the Sakkra and ourselves voting for the bears. Interesting situation there, as both the Humans and Alkari are at war with both council contenders. If we can ever get our population up, we might be able to steal a council win. Right after the election, the Bears drew the assassination event against the Silicoids, so they are now at war, and for now, the Rocks are allied with the Sakkra. The Bulrathi and Sakkra also finally descended into war.

Scouting revealed a Silicoid planet (unscouted) at the purple star N of Gienah, a tundra at the Green W of Gienah, and an unclaimed size 30 minimal at the Blue star in the W corner I built a col ship to go after it, fully expecting to lose out to the Lizards, but they seem to be distracted by their wars, and if they don't land it in the next 4 turns, it's ours With the Rocks so close, I also built one of our Scatter Pack ships for the Dead world.

IIT 20 popped on my watch, and I had to choose Controlled Dead next. Our planetology tree is kind of full, and unfortunately we'll have to research Dead, Spores, and Inferno before Enhanced Eco and +30 IS popped on my last turns, I took the only option of Rng 7.

Our planets are terraformed (except for Rha, which should finish first turn), and everybody will be maxed next turn as well. No way we can pass the Bulrathi in population, but judging by the bar graphs it looks like the Lizards might be lacking early terraforming, so we have a remote chance of coming up in the next election. Very remote, but it's there

Good luck Stup!
dathon

 

[Zed-F]

So remote as to be about the same as our odds of winning the lottery without buying a ticket, but yeah.

At least Dead bases will let us colonize that one planet on the Silicoid border, if we can hold onto it long enough with a couple of larges.

 

[StuporMan]

Have had a busy weekend. I will hopefully be able to pick up the save tomorrow.

Stup