OSG-25 with kyrub's patch (1.40m)

[RaiddinnRZ]

I read that comment as jesting frustration with espionage luck (more on which below) rather than snarking at another player

That is more how I meant it, yes.

Likewise, when "Emperor Raiddinn" makes comments about "Emperor Ref," I take those all as a fictional character with an established slave-driving/murderous personality commenting about a fictional character I've taken to calling "Emperor Crazy" - not as RaiddinnRZ commenting on my play. I'll nevertheless reply to those very comments below because I think some of them throw some interesting light on the game (this game in particular, Orion in general, or both).

Indeed, it was my feeble attempt at RPing a character that is angry about everything that isn't just perfect.

I don't mean that it was a bad idea to, say, spend all the reserves, just that the character would hear the bad news and try to blame somebody for it. I could have made my own reserves on the first turn if it was that big of a deal. Ref just happened to be the leader directly before Raid and that is the easiest person to blame for all the problems in the galaxy then. It could have been anyone.

I guess it has a lot to do with be being new in these parts. If I meant that I thought you made the wrong call, it would probably include the word "instead" some where in it.

Yeah. This was more or less the tail end of the absolute mess to which I referred

Again, it was my feeble attempt at RPing a character that is angry about everything that isn't just perfect. In my own play, I don't spend a lot of RL resources (attention, planning, etc) to ensure that people all land at the same time. People just get there when they get there.

RaiddinnRZ clearly made the right move in sending our defensive fleet to Centauri (in spite of his joke about "Emperor Raiddinn" flipping a coin).

I guessed that it would turn out to be the right call a few turns down the road. I just tried to RP it to sound differently, yes. The idea of the char is that it knows a lot about maximizing production, but not much about military things and affairs of state.

Not this advisor. By the end of my turn set, the Darloks had class V planetary shields, for 10 layers of shielding at their homeworld. It's going to be a little while before we're ready to crack that ... although...

More RPing in regards to a call I thought would turn out well in the end.

...this is of course an excellent pick, as Fusion Bombs will be terrific against anyone who (unlike the Psilons, who we're not planning to fight soon/at-all anyway) lacks class X planetaries. As for the spying though, I actually got the same number of spy hits as you did, in 12 turns instead of 8! Even the rate I got, at the spending levels I used, is very much worthwhile though (especially as marginal value over the strategic advantage and cost of keeping a spy ring in place just to know an enemy's tech).

More RPing in regards to a call I thought would turn out well in the end. I didn't want others to have to try to steal the bomb when they could instead try to steal, say, Gaia.

I also often feel like my success rates are frustratingly low though

According to my information, which could admittedly be wrong:

There are two parts to a spying attempt, the first roll is a sort of "penetration" roll, where you roll a d100 and add your computers level and subtract your opponent's computers level.

The second roll, though, is a "success" roll, which is unopposed. On this roll you again roll a d100 and add your computers level to the roll, but there is no subtraction based on enemy stats. On this roll you have to break an 85 to have any success at all. A 100+ result on this is a frame.

So, if you have computers tech level 10 and the opponent has computer tech level 1, you still have a 75% chance of failing the second roll. Contrast with yourself having a computer level of 85 when you can't possibly fail to steal something and when it will be very rare when you fail to frame. A skill level of 99 would guarantee a frame every single time you succeeded the first roll.

Thus, success on the second roll happens more and more often every turn that goes by and its not usually worth hoping for any steals at all in the early game and even if your opponent is way ahead of you in computers you will get very many steals in the late game.

Currently, our computer skill is mid 30s, iirc, which is still a 50% chance to fail the second roll even if we succeed the first one.

So, instead of viewing it as low success rates, I view it more as we just haven't gotten to the point in the game where success is high, yet.

RP wise, Emperor Raiddinn would threaten to or kill his hackers for a lack of success even though in RL I know that it isn't their fault that they weren't succeeding early.

But RaiddinnRZ was able to get the fleet there in time to save the planet - excellent!

I try very hard to acquire and hold targets of opportunity. I will be the first to admit that I am not the best person at prosecuting a war in this game. Often, I am content to just sit around until I get Gauss Autocannon + High Energy Focus and then just own everything. Taking and holding planets against real opposition isn't my forte. Still, when the opportunity does present itself I do a lot to try to secure it and sacrifice pretty much everything to keep it afterwards.

Yup. This is in part of course because RaiddinnRZ played a great set of turns! It also highlights something important about our game so far though, and part of the reason Maniac went so quickly from concern that we might lose to certainty that (if we survive the next election) we would win: The gaian ocean world of Centauri (which was in the Sakkra empire instead of ours, with most of the transports to capture it in space, where they contributed neither pop nor production nor total power to our graphs, at the end of my turns) is kind of a big deal for our empire.

Indeed, we weren't close to 33% of the galactic population before, but if things go on as they are currently we should be able to get and keep at least 1/3 and keep the opponents from winning by a 2/3 majority of votes.

If the opponents properly increased the size of their planets, this would remain a threat in the long term, but the AI doesn't do this and it allows the player to get and keep 1/3 of the galactic population far too easily.

Raid

 

[RefSteel]

Indeed, it was my feeble attempt at RPing a character that is angry about everything that isn't just perfect.

Well, I wouldn't call it feeble - I've been enjoying your "Emperor Angry" reports - but yeah, I understood it was all RP; as mentioned, I commented on some of the things the imaginary character said in anger because they brought up interesting things about e.g. spying, and stuff I felt I hadn't sufficiently detailed/explained in my report. So it was another opportunity to do so!

(On coordinating transports: I've been known to do what you're talking about too - just sending what I can when I can, and letting them arrive when they do. It wasn't going to work against Cloning Sakkra on a large Gaia world though in this case, and there are other circumstances when careful coordination is needed. On the other hand, not every invasion has to look like this:

Spoiler info from my playthrough of Imperium 23 :

Yes, all those green transports and starships are going to arrive on the following turn - and there was more going on off-screen. I took eight Psilon planets in the first year of the war! That game was crazy.)

I am available tomorow, so I would play the next turnset.

Sweet! Please do!

 

[ToddMarshall]

Alright, then. If it's posted and up in the next 31 hours, I can play, otherwise it's you 3 till the 9th.

 

[TheArchduke]

Turnset played. Nice success. I hope you guys are okay with my non-fancy writeups without a story. Just not enough time in the evening for that.

I write it up now, but if you are on tight shedule, feel free to use the safe.

Only Nordia has incoming that should worry you.

Writeup:

Taking a look around, I guess I will have to play it defensively again.
We just have too many planets which need defense right now thanks to the valiant efforts of those before me.
Nordia lacks shields and bases completely and Centauri though nicely stood up is far away to produce any reinforcements in the form of spaceships in time. Primodius looks like a target of opportunity though at 16pop/0bases, so let´s look into that.

2420
So I up defense spending on Nordia and dial the Sakkras and broker a peace. Hopefully 1-2 flees turn around thanks to this. Everything else looks decent, I build about 20 Talon 3.1 next to Primodius for a possible quick snatch and off we go.



2421
Espionage breakthrough with our agent in the Sakkran empire. Construction and Weapon are possible and I decide on weapons where we could stand a boost.
And we score Fusion Beam, a nice success. We even manage to frame the Klackons for the theft.
Thank you, Sakkras! And as an added bonus, they turn around and do not attack Centauri.
1-2 shields finish this round and I decide to start expedition “Cautious Eagle” towards Primodius.
I also invest in Nordias defense shield from the treasury and build more Talon 3.1 for it. Also I send back 30 Gulls from Centauri to Moro where we have massive incoming from the Klackon side.

2422
The Sakkra fleet turns away from Nordia due to our peace, but the 115 transports come next round. Still no shield or bases, so the fleet will have to do. I only managed to get about 30 more talons over there in time.
The expedition to Primodius nets 4 dead klackon mediums and 3 dead alkaris small. Next round our troops come in.



2423

And they land. From 115 transports, 50 come through to meet our 41 valiant defenders. Our slight edge thanks to hand lasers saves the day. 14 Alkaris survive. And unexpectedly the Klackons managed to build enough factories so we get a tech:



Why not this fight before our defense at Nordia. We could have used the new shield. Ah well.

2424
New incoming at Centauri. A Huge Ship from the Sakkras. Primodius looks safe for now. So Moro and our Homeworld must be defended next. I look what is up diplomatically and we can exchange advanced eco for BCVI. With our huge espionage efforts I guess this a no brainer. Get it.
We could have gotten Impulse Drives for Soil Enrichement or Cloning. But those techs I am hesitant to give away. I also exchange Death Spores (useless I think) for Anti Missile Rockets from the Meklars. We have enough enemies as it is, so anything helps.

Our main battle fleet goes from Nordia to Moro, as I really do not want to loose that planet.

2425

This is getting harder then I thought. The second I left for Moro, the Sakkras resend a nasty fleet our way. I try a second time to get them to dow the Klackons without luck. They asked for Automated Repair, something I do not want an AI to have. Hope that was not a queer move.

Primodius has incoming. 5 turns away a massive klackon fleet. Thank God for their non-existant engines, but I doubt I can stand up Primodius. For now.
Warp Dissipator comes in and we can research Rejax Fuel Cells (range 9) next. UGH..
At least the council vote is tied between Klackons and Sakkras for the Sakkras and everyone else voting for us. Nice.



2426
Moro holds without a problem. I did not expect the Klackons to be such wussies, really.
Minimal losses and nearly their fleet destroyed.
So I divide our fleet to cover Nordia and Primodius against attacks three turns from now.

2427

Guradas is attacked by Laser wielding Darloks. Really?
Our spies get lucky in Sakkraland, but with force fields and construction I choose construction this time and get redundant battle suits. Yay.
To protect non base planets like Primodius I use our first serious beam weapon and equip it on a large design full with the latest tech. Not something others would do I guess, but the automated repair should be useful for taking down those repulsor beam ships.

2428

You gotta be kidding me. Our spy in Sakkraland is busy. This time I go with Force Field. We get Repulsor Beam and frame it on the Klackons, thereby breaking up those buddies down the road. At least I hope so.

2429
Primodius holds. Thanks to using one stack as a bait, I am able to whittle down 5 of the 6 large Klackons ships and thereby holding Primodius.



And, surprise, surprise. The security of the Sakkras must be awful. This time we get the Jackpot:

Advanced Soil Enrichement!

2430
Primodius seems safe. We snatch Controlled Inferno from the Darloks. (Only field I could choose from)

And I finish. Nordia has a nasty stack incoming which will probably attack us despite the peace. The two bases might not be enough, but with Primodius taken I hope the team forgives me a possible glassed Nordia.

 

[TheArchduke]

Pictures.

 

[RaiddinnRZ]

Jammer 4 is the Sakkra's highest computer tech, which puts them at about tech level 21 maybe and we have tech level 31 ourselves, so that gives us 10 better to spy success on every roll.

That should give us a success on the first roll of 60% and a success on the second roll of 54%, multiplying that out we are about 32% likely to steal a tech from them every turn right now. That is per spy.

Based on that math, your results don't seem abnormal.

None of our planets are threatened by the incoming fleets except the new one with no missile bases yet. We just need to retreat our fleets from everywhere and send them to the planet with no bases until it gets stood up.

We can afford to put 25% of our spending on economy per planet and the other 75% between research and war.

Luckily, the two people coming up next both seem to like war and to be pretty good at prosecuting it. There is no reason that both of them shouldn't be able to get at least one planet each on their turns. Fusion Bombs should get done in 1 or 2 turns to aid in the aggressive effort.

All in all, the challenge from anyone but the Psilons is essentially over.

- Edit -

BTW, I just wanted to point out that Steve Jobs is someone that is pretty much a clone of the personality type I am using.

Per this article : http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/the-creativity-of-anger/

Jobs: “Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, “So why the f*** doesn’t it do that?”

For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. “You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation,” he told them. “You should hate each other for having let each other down.” The public humiliation particularly infuriated Jobs. Walt Mossberg, the influential Wall Street Journal gadget columnist, had panned MobileMe. “Mossberg, our friend, is no longer writing good things about us,” Jobs said. On the spot, Jobs named a new executive to run the group.

- End Edit -

Raid

 

[ToddMarshall]

Alright, looks good. I'm at lunch so I haven't dug indepth into things yet, but unless I will after work. Got it!

 

[RefSteel]

Terrific turns, TheArchduke! Great job holding off the enemy at all our worlds and claiming another from the bugs! I wouldn't have traded AdvEco to the brains (nor Death Spores to the Meklar unless/until we have an antidote) myself, but we're growing powerful enough now that we can afford to pretty much give our enemies whatever they want if the return is sufficiently valuable for our empire. (Exception: We definitely shouldn't trade planetary shields to anyone who still lacks them!) At this point, if Cloning for Impulse Engines is still on the table, I'd take it in a heartbeat. Cloning Psilons won't light any of our worlds on fire, and the jump from warp 3 to warp 5 (doubling the speed of our transports too) is huge: With our Inertial Stabilizers, they're enough to form what Maniac calls "Doom Drives." Which, with a decent bomb, (Fusion counts for now unless/until we have to go after the Psilons) pretty much just means we win the game.

Turnset played. Nice success. I hope you guys are okay with my non-fancy writeups without a story. Just not enough time in the evening for that.

I absolutely love your writeups - I have ever since you played my Meklar Challenge, when I first showed up on this board. You provide all the details that matter, a great sense of the suspense as the enemy attacks with unknown forces, and no extraneous fluff. I sometimes suspect my fancy writeup stories could do with less narrative/dialog and a bit more of the hard, specific details yours provide.

Note to Maniac: For the present, under our variant, our only legal targets are the Klackons. Unfortunately, they have one of the galaxy's most dangerous fleets. (Those Cutlass fighters are fusion bombers - fortunately with just mark 1 computers and 1 combat speed.) Fortunately, they also, for now at least, still lack planetary shielding! I agree with Raiddinn that the only currently incoming fleets that can bother us (barring loss of bases from sabotage) are the bugs inbound to Primoidus - and even of those, next year's is the only one that really needs attention from much of our fleet. Of course, other fleets could appear in the interturn, so....

I believe Primodius can build a shield and missile base in 4 turns if it's doubled with reserves (i.e. scrapping an old ship type to double it this year, and feeding reserves from other worlds to keep it going after that) and starts right away. That's just a guesstimate though.

 

[RefSteel]

BTW, I just wanted to point out that Steve Jobs is someone that is pretty much a clone of the personality type I am using.

Yeah. Like I said, I've had bosses like that. The "Emperor Raiddinn" character you invented might seem really over-the-top, but the difference between him and a certain managers unfortunately is just the power to do what he wants. (e.g. removing the heads of those who "fail" him instead of just their jobs.)

I'm not sure if I should hope there really aren't any world leaders like my "Emperor Ref" ... or wish there were....

 

[ToddMarshall]

Half done with the turn, will finish tomorrow. If you're expecting a grand turn of conquest, I'm going to disappoint, nevertheless, I think I've nearlt accomplished what I set out to do, which is to set up the person who follows me... Will have to finish tomorrow.

 

[Zed-F]

I'm back in town, now, so let me know if/when you'd like me to jump in.

 

[TheArchduke]

I absolutely love your writeups - I have ever since you played my Meklar Challenge, when I first showed up on this board. You provide all the details that matter, a great sense of the suspense as the enemy attacks with unknown forces, and no extraneous fluff. I sometimes suspect my fancy writeup stories could do with less narrative/dialog and a bit more of the hard, specific details yours provide.

Cheers for the praise.

The Meklar challenge, is probably one of my most favourite games so far. You got incredibly (un)lucky with such a challenging position.

 

[RefSteel]

I think I've nearlt accomplished what I set out to do, which is to set up the person who follows me...

I'm back in town, now, so let me know if/when you'd like me to jump in.

This looks like the perfect storm to me! Zed, if you'd like to play the next set, and make use of whatever Maniac's setting up, that would be great!

Settings and so forth, just to have it posted again:

1) Playing with kyrub's unofficial patch, version 1.40m (see this thread if you're lurking and don't know what I'm talking about)
2) No attacking anyone's planets unless either we or someone allied to us is at war with the target.
3) Unarmed ships must always retreat from combat ASAP.
4) Research is equalized across all fields (using the = key).

Roster:

RaiddinnRZ
(Catwalk on skip due to family issues)
TheArchduke - Just Played
Maniac Marshall - Now Playing
Zed-F - On Deck for a one-time cameo?
RefSteel

 

[ToddMarshall]

Well Zed, you're going to get an extended cameo, because I'm stopping a few turns early. I've completely consolidated our core, and I have all the tech I want except robotics iv, which I no longer think is needed before we switch to all out conquest, and I've done as much with our planets as I want to, and I'd feel silly picking out which designs to make considering I'd not be the one flying them into battle. Yes, it's now time to build the fleet of doom and start waxing all our enemies. I've got a few things to do here, then I'll start uploading the report...

 

[ToddMarshall]

OK, I do a quick look around and decide that my 10 turns are going to be used to consolidate our position for the most part. Lets get everything terraformed, shielded, factories, and then the next several players can kick arse. I tend to play defensively, and, besides, the ship I REALLY want to make, we can't yet make. That would be a Merculite Missile small, aka a bomber as far as the Klackons are concerned. Of course, the COULD develop planetary shields in the meantime... it's a risk I'm willing to take at this point. I'd rather make our position relatively unassailable first, then everyone who follows can kick their arse while I'm at Dragon*Con.

2430 - Lets get some trades out of the way first...



They didn't offer the drives we needed, so I picked something else that was rather useful.



Yeah, I can hear the protests over this trade all the way over here in my little corner of cyberspace. Sorry, but we need the engines, and I don't fear the Psilons, or really, anyone at this point. It's all about us, it's as simple as that.



Hey, it's armor. You never know when that armor will come in handy...



This one kind of falls into a just because I could category. The Darloks are hopelessly pathetic, so even a bad trade helps us more than them.



This one was just because you can never have too much computer tech.

OK, now, lets tidy up our planets! I set everywhere to max out pop, then factories, then leftover in research, with the exception of our planets under siege. Those are told to build shields.

I turns spying down on the Darloks to single click. Class V deflectors is not enough of an upgrade to bother with much investment imo. I turn spying on the Psilons down to 1 click. More is not needed to keep surveillance. I turn spying down just a little on the Sakkra... they're pretty picked over, and we'll probably get what we want with a lower budget anyhow. Then, I turn spying UP vs the Meklars and Klackons. The Meklars have Advanced Scanner and BioToxin Antidote, both of which I want. The Klackons have Stingers and Megabolt Cannons, both of which will be a miniaturization boon.

IT - OK, lets see if we're going to lose Nordia...



Nope, not going to lose Nordia. Nothing there can penetrate the shields... I just order our fighters to retreat, and sick the bases on the Fusion Beam Frigates. We get 1 before their fleet retreats.

Next up is Primordius...




Nothing uber scary there either folks...

Their 2 paladins get away, and we lose 2 or 3 fighters of different designs.

Oh, here we go.



Can you guess which field I will select?



Petty much a no brainier, wasn't it?

The good news just keeps rolling in



Now, what to research next?



The two choices that lead up the tree are kind of meh. There are three good techs at this level, and we got NONE of them Yeah, I've seen better (and also far worse) weapons trees. I decide to just stay back and research Stingers, the first "real missile" according to the Sirian Doctorine. Maybe we'll get lucky and steal Megabolt Cannons...

Our new scanner proceeds to scan most of the universe... Starting with a Rich Radiated up near the Sakkra (reasonably this planet was either R or n)

Ref said I only had one choice of who to attack? au contrere.



Well, these guys didn't declare war, but they probably will soon...



And, yes, all of that happened in my first Turn and Interturn

2431 - I adjust some planets to finish factories and work on the new shields... Oh, and I send all remaining ships to Primordius. Everywhere else can defend itself fine with bases, or so I figure.

IT -



Oh yeah, I see a war declaration coming. Lets see if we can get the Antidote...



And Bingo was his name-o!



No war declaration after all. Same screenie as above, because he said the exact same thing after this theft.

2432 - I turn spying down on the Meklars, not because of his protests, but because I want to turn it back up vs the Sakkra. I want those megabolt cannons a lot more than Shield 5, Mass Drivers, Range 7, or Terraforming +60. The Klackons now have RIW40, which will be my main goal with them for miniaturization, but only if we can get it quickly, as we're researching it ourselves, otherwise, default back to weapons. I'm not going to design a bomber yet, because we're getting close to more robotics factories...

The Sakkra now have a HUGE fleet headed to Nordia... at warp 1... I put Nordia onto making a shield. You never know, they might have Merculites or Heavy Fusion Beams in that fleet..

IT - I repel a joke attack on Primordius, then this happens AGAIN



Well, stealing Mass Drivers aka the worst gun in the entire game that isn't a laser, or Range 7 would be kinda silly... lets just proof our planets vs Merculites and Megabolt cannons (Now only Heavy Fusion Beams are a threat from the Sakkra)



I messed up that screenshot, but I framed the Klackons of course.

Unfortunately, Class VII is forced at the next level, so no cloaks to get past repulsors option.

The GNN guy shows up with some rather BAD news. This is going to strain relations...



Cygni is a Klackon world not far from Kholdan. Lets hope they do something about this...

2433 - Sakkra now have Terraforming 80, Klackons now have Tachyon Beams. OK, now we have a problem...



We know the Spirits are not a problem, but those Juggernauts might be carrying Nuclear Bombs or Heavy Fusion Beams, and THOSE could be a problem. I've got no reserves, and I'm not sure 1 turn of reserves will be enough to finish the base... All I can do at this point is Whip up some reserves, and also send a batch of fighters over to assist the base. I'm unwilling to make a new design at this point, so I just make a batch of our most modern fighters reloc'd from the homeworld.

IT - This fleet shows up at Guradas.



It's no thereat to the planet, but it tries anyway?! The spore ships get slagged.

OK, this is getting ridiculous



OK, Mass Drivers it is Is suppose



Uhhh, ouch



Continued next post...

 

[ToddMarshall]

2434 - Confirmed, we're going to come up a year short on the shield at Nordia... Lets hope our defenses can hold... I think they will, but...

OK, here we go



Oh, that's ALMOST no threat to the planet. Leave it to the AI to put a combat speed of 1 on ships with higher warp speeds. Nevertheless, lets try to shoot down as much of that as we can... In the end, we lose 30 fighters, he loses all but one of the Large Ships.

What's this, another success vs the Meklars?



Nope, vs the Sakkra, and that means we just got this...



But wait, there's more, because my uber spies are not done yet!



Well, I don't want Planetology, and I don't want propulsion. Construction can give me a alost useless tech, or one that we're half done with. Weapons can give me one dud tech, or Stingers or Tachyon Beams... Odds are on Weapons...



So, what are our new choices...



Oh yeah, a scatter pack AND my absolute favorite mid to high end gun! I LOVE Auto-Blasters, and yet, I'm not going to research them right now, since we just got Megabolt, which is a close second. I'm going to go for the scatters, and HOPE the next player with a pick in weapons picks up my beloved AB's before moving forward.

But wait, there's STILL more?! OMG, you HAVE to be kidding me. Did I fall asleep and miss the point where we started playing as the Darloks?



Well, I'm still not excited by Range 7, so I guess I'll be stealing this...



The cyborgs complain some more...



Well, he DOES only have 1 more tech that we don't know I give him directions to Sirian's complaint department.

2435 - I've decided to only play a couple of more turns, just long enough to terraform and get a little more miniaturization, then hand off. It's silly me making designs for someone else when I may never use any of them. I set the worlds to terraform, then I dial up the Psilons and make one final round of deals...



Mass Drivers are the ultimate in suck, so I might as well miniaturize some, and possibly get a "next level" fighter weapon, right?

Then I got a little construction miniaturization for this...



They already had range 10, so why not?

IT -

Yet another boring theift. Yawn



Well, that can only mean we've finally had to acquire this...



And a bit of good news from our robot pal



2436 OK, all the core worlds are maxed out and ready to build stuff, stealing has been atrociously easy, and I've finally gotten enough miniaturization that I can build really good ships, like these:

Welcome to uncle Al's Space port and gunnery shop. We've just gotten several new models in, lets have a look at them.

First up, there's this little guy.



Ever wish you could have a bomber, and a solution to slagging ships with repulsor beams all at once, and do it all on a budget? Impossible you say, even in this low shield technology universe? Not for Uncle Al! *Also available in a high accuracy, lowe speed version

*Alternatively, I can squeeze an extra level of computer if I drop to combat speed 2...

These puppies are dual purpose. They can slag bases behind the pitiful shielding of our opponents, and they can also slag Repulsor Ships.

In the way of Bombers, Uncle Al presents this bad boy for your approval.



If guns are what you want, Uncle Al's got you covered with several newly available models. First, for those fights where one barrel just isn't enough, we offer the Derringer.



For the discriminating duelist, who appreciates the the advantages of high accuracy, Uncle Al recommends this model.



For those who prefer a little extra firepower, Uncle Al has you covered with this little killer.



Of course, those are only the small hulls. There are many more options available, including several medium hull ships featuring such high tech toys as Megabolt cannons, a favorite of those who prefer accuracy over brute force, and Heavy Fusion beams, for the captain who prefers to meet the menace of repulsor beams, with the renewable option of beams, not missiles. These models are so new, that no pictures were available at press time. And hey, we'll even CUSTOMIZE these medium ships to fit your tastes. Who else but Uncle Al would offer such a bargain!

And on that note, I've had enough turns. It's silly for me to be the one to pick which designs we make, when I'll never be the one using them, so, Zed gets to decide what he wants to make, then go with it. You got 14 turns, go get em.

So, what models will Zed choose to build? Stay tuned!

 

[RefSteel]

Wow, Maniac. Just...

Great trades - no, I'm not complaining about trading Soil to the Psilons at this point. We traded them Advanced Eco when they had no cleanup techs, and I wasn't complaining then. (The return on that trade, by the way, BC6, is a big part of the reason we've gotten so many spy hits lately, I'm guessing....) And I'd have traded a lot for Impulse Drives given our horrible Propulsion tree. If we get the Diplo event with the Psilons or something, it'll be fun to demonstrate just how much better we can use any set of techs than can they.

Great consolidation.

Great defense.

Great espionage work (not just the spy hits, in which luck is of course involved, though you were the one deciding how much to spend on each race, but the selections and attention to tech availability).

Great report.

Great ... just great everything. I want to take my feathered family to visit Uncle Al's!

Oh, I'd do some things differently if I were designing the fleet: Titanium instead of Zortium on the Derringer for instance, just to save a couple BC. Give the Deadeye a Stabilizer and NPG instead of its Ion Cannon (but I'd be using the Derringers in their place anyway, considering the fleets we've been seeing). But by Quetzalcoatl, those ships look pretty!

[EDIT]

It's no threat to the planet, but it tries anyway?

At least in vanilla Orion (and apparently also under the patch, given this) the AI doesn't take Antidotes into consideration when deciding whether to retreat on the combat screen. So it probably just didn't realize it posed zero threat.
[/EDIT]

 

[RaiddinnRZ]

OK so the count was
5 --> 10 planetary shields
4 --> 5 Ship/Missile Base shields
Omnicient Space Scanner
12 --> 20 Bombs
40 --> 60 Terraforming
10 --> 15 Missiles
0 --> 1 Anti-Bio-Weapon
3 --> 5 Speed
80 --> 60 Waste Reduction
x1.5 --> x2 Armor
3 - 4 new weapon types
4-5 pure miniaturization techs

?

It pained me to see the Psilons get some of those techs, but all in all that set of turns pretty much doubled the strength of our empire.

Raid

 

[Zed-F]

Ok! I have the save.

I also have company. Good for family relations, bad for getting gaming time in.

So, I won't necessarily be able to take my turns all that quickly. But I will endeavor to get them done as I can find time. May take a few days but I will update on progress as I am able.

 

[ToddMarshall]

It pained me to see the Psilons get some of those techs, but all in all that set of turns pretty much doubled the strength of our empire.

At this point, if the Psilons have something we want, they can have almost whatever they want in return. WE, not they, are the tech leaders. I'm pretty sure by the time Zed is done, we'll have 2x as many planets as we do now. Only the Psilons have defensive answers to our weapons.

My suggestion for this game is we take out everyone but the Psilons, leaving one other race a single planet, and vote ourselves in... unless the Psilons turn on us, in which case we just take over the universe.

And just back on ships briefly, considering the designs I see out there, I'd build the double barrel npg fighter too. The first thing I'd build though are those missile boats. Those will just shred everything out two attackable opponents have, ships AND planets, right now. But again, I'll let the next player make what they like.