Actually I generally wouldn't go without ISS either, even on a small map.
DSS -> RC3 -> ISS is a pure farmer move, though. If I sniff war on the horizon, I'd trade for a computer, or failing that go back for BC3.
ECM 1 at the first level is not a bad move either. I just like DSS because I want my planets and scouts at unoccupied planets to be able to see something. I hate having bad intel on enemy fleet movements.
Agree on pop movement, and I hadn't realized the trade agreements were biting a tenth(!) of our imperial budget! Still very pleased with d0om's turnset, but as for the guy Mrrref II banished to Deep Space 13...
MHC: Former Commerce Advisor Trradorr? This is Mrrshan High Command, responding to your request for redeployment to the capital.
Trr: Thank Bast!
MHC: Per the orders of the new Yalara, your present deep-space assignment has been extended indefinitely.
Trr: ...
Trr: ...
Ensign: I think he's fainted.
Obviously I will try to build up Willow quickly and my philiosophy with URs is they never operate at less than 100% reserve boost from founding to victory. They build factories, defenses, ships or pump reserve; they never tech.
I fully support this philosophy! (Especially the part about victory!)
Overall strategy: I think we're approaching a crossroads, where we need to think about choosing our friends (if any!) and our enemies. If we think anyone will be reliably peaceful, and they're willing to trade us Ion Cannons or NPGs, that would be a huge relief. If we're planning to be at war with the galaxy, or if only our sure enemies have the things we need, we should probably concentrate on computers (even more than we might anyway in hope of Robotic Controls) in hopes of stealing things. And obviously, the presence or absence of Planetary 5s and high-level beam weapons behind Shield 3 and Scatters will have a huge impact on our strategy....
EDIT: We actually did have a choice in our first computer tier this game, but no battle computer. I considered ECM I to get up the tree faster, but wound up choosing DSS for exactly the reason Zed mentioned. Part of the calculation was, since it would be a long time before we could have secure defenses everywhere, I wanted what advance warning we could get, to assemble defenses when and where needed.
You lose 1 person for most of the time 0 turns, some of the time 1 turn. They save 20BC or 40BC at hostile world for growing extra pop.
Your growth when nearly full is basically just the fractional growth, +overspend on your current eco setting to avoid waste. This means that most of the time the pop is replaced instantly, costing you nothing. The rest of the time it costs you 3BC in lost production, which is more than made up by with the 20BC gain in forced pop savings, or extra production the pop makes at the other end when it arrives.
I don't see how anyone could think this was a bad deal!
Re:Trade
Yes, its hurting us now, but they will provide more incentive for the trade partners to not attack us in the future, as well as increase relationship for votes and giving a healthy income when they mature. (I can't see us attacking the Meklar or Darlocks any time soon for our gain, with the Alkari and Silicoids as our main opponents.)
Re:BattleComputers
I normally pick Meklar or Darlock so I just spend most of my income on computers and always pick
Doom, you make good arguments for your pop movement and trade deals. I am still not convinced but others will have different views so do not worry about it. Just for your information note that pop movement always loses productivity for the turn you send the transport - the production figures shown ingame do not show this but they are wrong. As I said, you made good progress in your turns and I am very happy with the position you leave me in.
If the pop is regrown do you still lose the productivity? I can't remember what order all the steps happen in! Do factories produce on the turn they are built? Well, either way its a 3 or 6 BC cost ish for a pop unit (RRP 20 BC! Get it now at massive discount sales!)
Meklar are taking a very long time to get a spy planted for intel, which means they must have a high computer tech level. (ETA for spies are based on the last known tech report for that race, I think. So will be wrong if you don't have up-to-date intel. I think cost of spies scales linearly with races computer tech level)
Good luck anyway There is 800 BC in the reserve IIRC, which should fund Willow for a little while. Be good to have Willow up and pumping reserves with feedback, transferring to our artifacts planet
[EDIT] See post near end correcting below - only ECO/TECH happen before growth, SHIP/DEF/IND after.
Investment in SHIPS/DEF/ECO/TECH happen before growth so would be affected; investment in IND happens after pop growth so could escape. Factories do not produce on the turn they are built.
Thanks for the info on spying and for the reserve which will speed Willow growth very nicely.
My take on the one-pop shipments:
My first reaction: Wha...?
My second reaction: Well, it got the job done!
My eventual conclusion: In the early (expansion/churning colships) phase, I often want my homeworld producing at absolute full steam, without losing even a few BC (and new pop units won't yet have factories to work at their destinations) so I always keep that 100th pop unit at the homeworld, seeding pop from other colonies. Could be sub-optimal, but it "feels right" to me. At this stage in the game, I'm not pinching pennies, and want new colonies standing up ASAP. If they need more pop, I'll either force-grow it on site or send transports in a batch from the nearest world(s) and force-regrow them, willingly eating the costs now for faster maxing down the line. This discussion has made me realize I do too much of the former however; new worlds could be working all-out on factories while feeder planets pay for their pop growth, and in most cases, that's faster and better.
Related note: No matter what system you used, I'm glad you optimized the spending settings at our developing worlds. I'd been MMing these to keep facs just ahead of pop (so that new population remains fully employed) but then left them at essentially arbitrary levels going into your turnset, and forgot to mention that they should likely be changed. (Sorry!) So, thank you for catching it anyway!
On Trade Agreements: I have every hope that these will pay for themselves in the long run (that's what fueled my initial reaction), but even though I won't pinch pennies at this stage, I think we're in too critical a stage of the game to lose 10% of our income on trading. (We're still short on defenses and combat tech, I still have pipe dreams of being first to Misha, we still have no Robotic Controls, and 10% of our budget is potentially a lot of RPs.) Nonetheless, I love what you've done with the empire overall, and that more than pays for the trade agreements (especially as their cost will be continually decreasing)! Here's hoping for long and profitable relationships with both the Shifters and the Machines!
Adjusted sliders, adding more to reserves ready for new tech and increased propulsion spend. Deflector Shield III came in and we have Planetary Shield V over DS4. Pump reserves through artifacts planet to put deposit down for PS-V. Then Scatter Pack V comes in, Hard Beam (only new choice ) and pump reserves to artifacts for deposit again. Meklar find cure for plague at Keeta and spy reports borg have RCIII and Robotic Controls IV!! Despite their much smaller pop, 3 times as many factories keeps them up in production; they also have Fusion Rifle!
Willow founded and GNN confirms we are first to 12 systems and immediately 2 races aim for our planets! Silicoids come with 2 Colony ships and 1 large to Willow (easy) and Darloks come with 6 large and 4 medium to undefended Paranar. Manage to get 2 MB’s at Paranar before Darloks arrive and dispatch the 6 large for loss of 1 base. Note I missed this movement initially (damn scanners) and the Darloks have a sizeable contingent of larges in our sector.
While this going on our spies manage to infiltrate a bird base and choosing computers I am surprised to get Battle Computers III – excellent! Meanwhile Fusion Drives come in and can only advance via Range 9. Then the key moment arrives after RIW60% hits for a nice productivity bonus and choose Zortium then ECMIII hits and our choice is … Battle Computer V. Arggh .. no Robotic Controls again!
To summarise we have good deal of land and pop but lack Robotic Controls, scanners and guns. The Darloks are moving threateningly close by and the borg look frightening, not to forget the birds and the rocks. Willow will max this turn but defenses look inadequate although PS-V is close. I have not made any deposit whatsoever on BC-V, Zortium or Range9 – too busy pushing PS-V and adding more missile bases to key planets. We need to wheel and deal to fill crucial gaps but up till now we haven’t had much to offer. Still, we are close to Radiated which could give us a UR size 40, if we can stay safe long enough to exploit it.
[EDIT] Forgot to add, I have been pumping reserve to Willow, of course, but short of reserve have been doing this turn by turn and fiddling sliders. This turn, 2480, Willow has enough reserve for double production with maybe a couple BC spare.
Hmm, have to see if we can trade with the Meklar I suppose. I load up the game to see how demanding they are, but they don't even offer it to me.
The Darlocks are willing to swap Imp.Space scanner for 60% waste reduction though, which seems like a very good trade to me.
If that wasn't just a fluke on my part then getting imp.space scanner for 60% tech to the Darlocks sounds like a steal for us, accurate ETA on enemy fleets is of immense value!
I personally love Hard Beams, they do lack a large damage range which means they won't be so good for us once BCM V hits though (as we should be well into the ++damage part of hit then) but they are still excellent beams
And Zortium! <3 was getting worried about armour, lack of decent armour can be fatal for bases and ships.
Pop wise the alkari are back in seconds place, allied to the rocks which could cause problems. Maybe we need to try some warmongering to get the Meklar+Darlocks+Us VS Alkari + Silicoids?
Excellent points, Doom. I do not like giving AI economic tech but Darloks already have RIW80% and we NEED scanners so make the deal. I am not a fan of the shield halving guns because of size but hard beams could serve us well. I was worried how our planets would cope with a heavy shielded ship.
I like the diplomatic break up also. I would have liked go storm a factory heavy borg world to capture tech but that is beyond us at the moment.
Refsteel, note the Darlok fleet is warp 2 and only 4 parsecs from Fierias & Iranha! Good luck.
Great turns, Sargon! Thanks for bringing in Fusion Drives and making such good progress toward Planetary 5s! My only gripe would be with taking Range 9. Even though your choice advances the tree, I'd have gone back for Warp Dissipater first. As for Hard Beams, I agree with d0om: That's good news! No, they won't fit on our fighters any time soon, and sure, I'd rather have the Fusion variety, but it's a beam weapon! Finally!!!
Great job repelling the enemy (and "friendly" 'Lok) incursions on our worlds too! Two unshielded missile bases beat 6 larges?! Wow, d0om wasn't kidding: S-Packs in a nebula rock!
The Meks showing up with Fusion Rifle and a massive computer tech lead means we won't be stealing from them any time soon, and a land invasion would be a nightmare even if we could deal with their fleet. I suspect we'll be very happy about d0om's trade package with them before very long. Getting BC3 for free was also a coup; that'll help us immensely once Hard Beams come in!
I'll grab the save and try to at least get started on the game when I get home this afternoon ("tonight" in your time zone(s), I believe - I'm eight hours behind Greenwich Mean) but might not be able to finish until nearly the end of the weekend. If you'd like, I'll post a partial report and save at whatever point I've reached later today. (I don't want to rush the turns). In the meantime, more of Rookie Discussion Strikes Back:
I haven't looked at the save yet, but these are my priorities as I understand them:
1. Repel enemy fleets, if any. (And, of course, those of our 'chine and 'shifter "friends.")
2. Get as many techs in or into percentages as I can and make solid investments in (especially) Armor and BC V (as well as Propulsion if possible).
3. Try to nab "the other UR World!"
4. Make sure we have adequate numbers of bases, especially in the south.
Shopping list: Robotic Controls, Improved Scanner (much more likely to be available now/soon), and Some Beam We Can Put On Fighters 'Cause Lasers Don't Count. I'll try and find reasonable trades for these, remembering that RW60 isn't such a high price for someone who has RW80 already, but also that waste reduction helps make Meklar scary! If I can get Imp Scanner for it though, I think I have to. It's a critical tech, especially in an SG.
Finally, I like the war-mongering idea; when/if we get Misha and stand it up (or see the 'Coids take it), it might be time to finally execute a d0om blitz on the 'Coid worlds in our territory. I'm almost sure this will not happen on my turn set, but it might happen as soon as d0om's (hard to say without playing my turns yet or even looking at the save). In any case, to set things up for d0om, I'll do my best to:
-Make sure our spy reports are up to date on all other races.
-Build up our reserve (while keeping Willow fed)
-Get prebuilds started at Willow, Iranha, and other strategically located worlds if it looks like we'll be able to crack the Silicoid fleet/bases, kick them out of our territory, and get our "friends" to join us in the ensuing war.
Thanks RefSteel. I know Range 9 is expensive and not a great tech but I thought it important to keep progressing after so much catching up. WD was a consideration though and no doubt the choice of many.
The Darlok ships are unshielded anyway and our high attack scatters do serious damage to them but it was close with unshielded bases. Next attack could be 26 large though so be ready. The current trade proposal is ISS for RIW60% to shifters who already have RIW80%. I would not give Meklar RIW60% - as you say, it is massive for them.
Take the time you need for your turns. I cannot play my next turns anyway until after the weekend; have been in Florida for 2 weeks but fly home to UK this weekend. Plan sounds fine, just keep defences up. Coids have nothing we fear and I was considering preparing for assault during my turns but they started allied to Meks and we needed tech. Good luck, Doom awaits.
I don't think they're entirely unshielded; it appears that way in your screenshot because Paranar is in a nebula; all shields in Nebula battles show as zero, regardless of what the ship is actually carrying. If these guys could really drop 26 larges on us with one turn's warning, I'm definitely building bases and officially crossing out what I said about "especially in the south."
The current trade proposal is ISS for RIW60% to shifters who already have RIW80%. I would not give Meklar RIW60% - as you say, it is massive for them.
Oops; right. Your screenie shows the 'chines have neither RW80 nor the Scanner we hope to get, and d0om said quite clearly the deal would be with the 'Loks. If this deal turns out to be on the table, I'll take it in a heartbeat. One question though: If the machines decide they're willing to part with RC3 for RW60 (unlikely, I know; the AI values Robotic Controls very highly), would that be worth it in spite of the advantage it would give them? (I'll say definitely not if the birds or rocks have the tech, for the reasons stated and because I'd rather steal it if we can!)
Of course, you are right, the nebula hides the shield values if any are there. Yes, 26 larges with possibly only one turns notice - I left several key planets in the save on base building but with enough to still push tech but your choice. Only unshielded planets are Willow, which can build them quickly, and poor Laan which I do not think we can defend if Darloks come knocking.
RW60 for Meks RC3 is interesting. Our productivity bars are similar and I think this benefits them far more than us - keep up on intel though because this could change (they already have improved eco). Unfortunately no-one else has RC3/4 yet - maybe Darloks will steal it for us!
Okay, I took a look at the save, and played around with the inherited turn a little, but haven't yet hit next turn. The 'Loks were in fact prepared to make the suggested deal, so I took it. They also have Ion Cannons for trade, but only in exchange for Fusion Drives, so that was a no. I did check on the Meklar, partly because dialing up a race and clicking on things affects the race's patience, so finding out from d0om that they have nothing good to offer without confirming would be a kind of cheating. I would have done it anyway though; trade offers do depend on the random number generator, and I'd really like Robotic Controls 3. That was not on offer, unsurprisingly, and the most tempting-looking offer was Personal Deflectors for ISS or ECM3, so I left without making a deal.
@Sargon: When you said you'd made no investment in Comp/Const/Prop, I didn't realize you meant the fields were abandoned entirely! Won't be a big deal though, I think. I'm taking advantage of a small first-turn research budget (I need reserves and more bases!) to start those up again, hoping for a future chance to invest more heavily.
Finally: Looks like all our planets will be maxed within a couple turns! (Even Laan!) And our trade agreements may go into the black by the end of my turnset! Plus, Planetary V Shields are in percentages already! Mrrref III is very pleased.
I'll play the turns as I get a chance over the weekend, and may post the report piecemeal, or all at once when I'm finished, partly depending on d0om's preference.
Robotic Controls 3 would be big for us and having thought some more over the option of Mek RC3 for Cat RW60, I've decided it is a good deal for us. Depending on waste levels, we gain noticeably more on production but have to build the extra factories to see benefit whereas Meks get productivity bonus immediately. Still would be a big gain in the unlikely event it is offered. Also note that I did not have up to date intel on Silicoids & Darloks (or Bulrathi) so someone may yet have RC3/4 other than Meks.
Yes the research in some fields had stopped; times were tough and could still be for a while yet! You have a lot of priorities and cannot cover them all, just how I like to leave it!
So, my goals changed pretty severely almost as soon as I first hit "Next Turn." I don't know quite how to say this, but ... you know that war I wanted to set up for d0om? Well, the timetable kind of got moved up by ten or fifteen years. Not by my choice, believe me.
I think it's working out all right though. And yes, I did save you some Silicoids!
(By the way: I wrote the introductory quote below before I started playing my turns. C'est La Vie.)
The Chronicle of Emperor Mrrref III
I am named for Mrrref the Second, long called The Victorrious, in whose rrule we firrst destrroyed an enemy space vessel, but I am a student of historry, and have learrned that the fifth Yalara would be better known as The Peaceful, steadily developing Mrrshan worrlds and technology, and rreluctantly prreparing forr battle only when the trreacherous Darrloks sent theirr prrobing fleet. In this, I hope to emulate my namesake and d0om the Glorrious who came after, but it may be that like my prredecessor, Sargon the Grreat, I shall be forced into battle by ourr adverrsaries. Bast forrfend! Forr I do not wish to go to warr ... until we're rrready!!!
2410: I spoke to the Darrloks, our trrading parrtnerrs and rratherr questionable frriends. They have lost a grreat battle in rrecent yearrs to Sargon the Grreat, and, humbled, were willing to share the knowledge of ourr peoples peacefully. So ourr engineerrs learrned to fit ourr earrly-warrning satelites with Imprroved Space Scannerrs in exchange forr teaching theirr Darrlok counterrparrts ourr most advanced factorry waste rreduction technology. Perrhaps the Shifterrs were taunting us, forr I immediately obserrved that two of theirr Black Widows, and a Viper, are flying toward Paranar! Forrtunately, they are hopelessly slow, and won't arrrive forr a good five yearrs.
2411: So much forr my peaceful intentions.
The murrderrous Rrocks have begun my rreign with a declaration of warr. There is good news though: Willow and Lann have finished theirr factorries, which means all ourr planets are now prrepared to put one hundrred perrcent of theirr prroduction into the warr efforrt! And the Darrlok death fleet at Tau Cygni has deparrted for Whynil, with slow Venom Destrroyers in tow! It's not out of rrange, but it won't be doing anything for thrree yearrs! I headed at once to my warr rroom forr a brriefing, and here's what I learrned:
Most of the Silicoid fleet is eitherr leaving ourr space orr slowly apprroaching Firrma. A few crruiserrs will be there in two yearrs, severral more (including a Shark on whose strength I have no rreporrts) in five. Firrma has thrree bases in place, with at least Hyperr-X Rrockets and Class 2 Shields. I rregrret having 12-yearr-old intelligence on the Silicoids; I orrderred deployment of a new spy networrk on the spot. A new Silicoid drreadnought, the Monitor, is apprroaching Firrma as well, but it won't arrive for a dozen yearrs. Hmmmm. Well, I orrderred my militarry advisorrs to get to worrk on design suggestions, but firrst I had otherr fish to frry: The rreporrt also included a note that both the Alkarri and the Meklarr were allied to the Rrocks!
I called up ourr frriend QX-537, and asked that he join in ourr warr on the trreacherrous Silicoids, or at least end his alliance with them, but he turrned me down flat. This is terrrible news; we can not afforrd a multi-frront warr! I closed the hologrraphic connection, sighed deeply, and opened anotherr ... this time, with the Alkari! It was a move of desperration, but in trruth, I've always been fond of birrdies. So colorrful! So prretty! So grraceful in flight! And so, so good for supperr!
Even so, I was shocked to discoverr that they were willing to go to warr on ourr side, in spite of ourr naturral enmity, in spite of ourr rrecent warr (no matterr how phony), in spite of ourr uneasy rrelations, in exchange for a tech they would likely soon learrn orr exceed forr themselves! Perrhaps their offerr of peace a decade and a half ago was honestly meant afterr all! I looked up at Highsoarr's hologrraphic image, and ... agrreed! (I hope this doesn't get me crrucified....)
Next, I called up ourr "frriend" Ssithra of the Darrloks. Surely, while ourr defenses are shrredding his second prrobe at Paranar, he will be willing to send his main fleet afterr the Rrocks?
Perrhaps not such a questionable frriend as I thought!
Soon enough, my militarry advisorrs unveiled theirr ship designs. Varrious options were suggested, but these are the ones I liked best:
I orrderred ourr Fierias and Paladia shipyards to build as many Scat 4.0s as they immediately could, and to ship them off dirrectly to Iranha. The ships more nearrly in Firrma's vicinity are meanwhile building starrship parrts, prre-assembly, so that we can confirrm orr change ourr choice of prrimary warrship when more intelligence comes in. The one exception is Xendalla, which is building a CatsEye to give us a morre prrecise intelligence rreport.
2412: The latest rreport on the Silicoids has come in frrom ourr highly-efficient spies, confirrming the weakness of theirr planetarry defenses, but indicating that they now can build ships with Neutrron Blasterrs. This is trroubling news, but by no means disastrrous. The Laser 2.0s from Willow are sent to Firma in preparation for the battle that will take place there soon ... forr if we are to surrvive this warr and still grrow strrong, we must evict the enemy immediately frrom ourr back lines! Scats of both varrieties are being built even as I write these words, at everry worrld surrrounding Firma. It shall be ourrs!
2413: Some dastarrdly spy destrroyed one of Paranar's missile bases! Forrtunately, it has two more, and will build anotherr, and perhaps more, before the Darrloks arrrive. Still, if that was a Darrlok spy, and not a Silicoid, I am disappointed in them ... and more than a little worrried. Nonetheless, ourr best hope rremains the capture of Firma, and so we prress on!
Once again, spoiler tags used for ease of scrolling.
2413-14: The First Battle of Firma.
Spoiler:
I am a firrm believerr in the strategic philosophy of my chief militarry advisorr, Generral Colin Prrowl. And what is the Prrowl Doctrrine, do you ask? Simple:
BRING
OVERR-
WHELMING
FORRCE!!!
2414: Grrrrrrrowl! Considerring ourr rresounding victorry, the rresults of the battle were about as poorr as they could possibly be! Frrom fifty one factorries, we rrecoverred none of the Silicoids' technological secrrets ... and ourr fellow rrock haterrs actually feel less frriendly towarrd us now than they did just last yearr! Meanwhile, we've discoverred that the Silicoids' new Barracuda destrroyers are fitted with Fusion Engines! Fourr will rreach Firma in two yearrs, along with two Sharks and seven Makos. The Barracudas are also musterring at Kailis - twenty are there alrready, with two more due next yearr. Forrtunately, our defense has not been neglected. Every planet within rrange will have at least two bases by next yearr - even poorr Laan! - and some will have more. I hope it's enough! Meanwhile, we're musterring at Iranha! Bast willing, we'll take Crypto in two yearrs! Xendalla is alrready sending trransporrts.
2415-2416: The Battles Rage On...
Spoiler:
2415: The Darrlok fleet reached Paranar this yearr. Our unarrmed Scout 1 rretrreated immediately, but ourr fourr Scatterr Pack bases shrreded theirr Black Widows, and the Viper rretrreated in terrrorr! I was not fool enough to rrest on my laurrels though: I immediately consulted ourr scannerrs to learrn the disposition of the Darrlok Death Fleet, and discoverred it was on the move, again, this time to attack! Its tarrget? The Meklarr worrld of Nyarl! Forr the next thrree yearrs, it will be in trransit, and afterr that, it will likely be decimated by the Meklarr bases! I won't know until they arrrive which side I'll want to win; the Meklarr refused again to declare warr on the trreacherrous Silicoids, or even to brreak theirr alliance, but ourr massive trrade agrreement with them, only now beginning to make a prrofit each yearr, will collapse if they lose Nyarl! Of course, it will also collapse if they heed the Rrocks' call to declare warr.... Still, it's a grreat rrelief just to know that fleet won't be coming forr us! Even now, I can still hearr the cheerring of my militarry advisorrs! So amid theirr cheerrs, ourr fleet deparrts for Crypto!
2416: The Second Battle of Firma rrevealed that the new Barracuda destrroyers are arrmed with ... Gatling Laserrs! The Sharks, with a five-rrack of Hyper-X missiles, were the only ships in the battle that could scrratch ourr shield-3 base, so I fired on them firrst, and orderred ourr Laser 2.0s to rretrreat ... because I wanted the Silicoid ships rretrreating instead of dying, to spend ages flying uselessly thrrough space! The Sharks were all destrroyed by our Scaterr Packs, but the otherrs fled indeed.
Next came the Battle of Crypto, featuring anotherr fine example of the Prrowl Doctrrine in action!
It's a good thing, too, since the Silicoids acquired Class fourr shields in the time it took ourr ships to fly here! That cuts the formerr effectiveness of ourr Scatterrs in half! Forrtunately, I brrought enough of them to win the battle with no losses anyway! This is especially imporrtant since we have one hundrred thirrty five trransporrts arriving simultaneously with ourr fleet!!!
Overrwhelming Forrce.
Among the factorries of Crypto, we discoverr that my prredecessor was prescient when choosing the dirrection of our Prropulsion rresearch!
Why ask Nep-Tech's Fusion Prropulsion Laboratorry to rresearch Warrp Dissipatorr when ourr soldierrs can do the job so much more quickly? It also appearrs that the rreason we found no technological secrrets at Firma was that they saw ourr fleet on apprroach, and moved everrything to Crypto for safekeeping! In addition to the Dissipatorr, we find all the necessarry plans to constrruct Durraloy Arrmor ... and theirr state-of-the-arrt Class Fourr Deflectorr Shields!
There's just one prroblem: Apparrently, the Alkarri don't like it when we take overr Silicoid worrlds instead of bombing.
I fearr they're going to have to lump it. Perrhaps we'll have an opportunity to bomb Silicoid worrlds laterr on ... but rright now, we're busy taking our core back frrom them! We shouldn't rregrret giving the Birrds our Dotomite Crrystals at least; firrst of all, the existence of a mutual enemy might help us brring an end to the warr when theirr diplomat rreturrns, and second of all, it doesn't allow them to rreach any of ourr planets that they couldn't have rreached alrready!
Back to the scannerrs. The Barracudas from Kailis are deparrting for Jinga, leaving Kailis extrremely vulnerrable. We send the fleet down at once, with twenty trransporrts to back it up! And it looks like ourr Meklarr trrade agrreement will die when they declare warr on us, if at all. In additon to theirr fourrteen bases, they now have a huge Nemesis drreadnought at Nyarl, and a trrue death fleet on its (forrtunately slow) way up from Meklon: Two more Nemesis ships and a dozen Intruder destroyerrs due in eight yearrs, just behind anotherr dozen Intruders, anotherr Nemesis pairr ... and eight of theirr old Devastator drreads! Meanwhile, ourr scientists claim there's a ten perrcent chance of learrning the secrets of Class V Planetarry Shields by next yearr ... and I've been told they always rreporrt half the actual odds so that we'll apprreciate them more.
2417: We had an excellent yearr diplomatically, underr the cirrcumstances. The Darrloks, though still Uneasy with us, have apparrently had enough of getting theirr ships shot down overr ourr worlds, especially as they can see theirr main fleet is about to burrn at Nyarl.
They might also have noticed that ourr main battle fleet is within strriking distance of Tau Cygni, stopping overr at Fierias en rroute to Kailis, where it will meet smallerr fleets from Phyco and Paladia next yearr. The Silicoids will have a Shark and seven Barracudas there, plus whateverr they can build there while we trravel ... but I don't believe it will be enough to stop us.
The otherr imporrtant diplomatic change is that the Meklarr are now neutrral towarrd us ... and more imporrtantly, no longerr allied to the Silicoids! The Machines' only allies are now the Bulrrathi, who have yet to meet us. Neitherr the hateful Rrocks norr the scrrumptious birrds have any allies at all! Here then is a toast to victorry! And confusion to ourr enemies!
I orrderr ourr hopelessly outdated Wolverines dismantled, in favorr of a starrship that will prrobably be used only verry brriefly, the Nukerr 4.0, a few dozen of which will be built this yearr, mostly at Phyco and Mu Delphi. And meanwhile, we make rready forr the Battle of Kailis!
2418: Grrrrrrr! The battle does not go as planned! Not used to firing against high-maneuverrability ships, ourr gunnerrs launch some of theirr missiles prrematurely, and the Shark and a single Barracuda surrvive! We even lose a pairr of Scat 4.1s! All but one of ourr trransporrts nonetheless make it thrrough to the planet, but forrtune is against us, and this time, I brrought insufficiently overrwhelming force! The Silicoids hold the planet, with fourr million surrvivorrs! The fleet rreturrns to Laan to lick its wounds - mainly wounds to its prride - and we prrepare forr the next rround of battle! With the planet's missile bases destrroyed, and few Silicoids rremaining, it should be simple to conquerr it on the second trry. Meanwhile, both the Darrlok death fleet and the Meklar dreadnought were destroyed in the battle for Nyarl, but the Machines still have fourrteen missile bases standing.
2419: The Second Battle of Crypto took place this yearr, as the Mako that retrreated frrom the Firrst Battle of Firma finally arrrived at the planet to which it was "retrreating" - at the time, a Silicoid worrld! Forrtunately, I had a missile base in place alrready, and the enemy's heavy laserrs can't penetrrate fourr layerrs of shields. Knowing this, the pilot rretrreated ... no doubt toward Kailis, which will also be ourrs when he arrrives! The fleet that was holding Kailis has left, leaving only the 28 Barracudas that arrrived this year, and though thirrty thrree of theirr trransports are heading there, they should just be tarrget prractice forr ourr gunnerrs. So in the final days of Mrrref III, the fleet frrom Laan rreturrns to rreclaim the barrren worrld that should have been ourrs in the rreign of Mrrref I, but for the Great Mistake! So, onward! To warr!!! To victorry!!!
2420: The Second Battle of Kailis is decisive, as the enemy fleet deparrted before it began, perrhaps in terrorr at the mere prroximity of ourr ships! In the surrface battle, forrtune was against us once more ... but this time, I rrememberred the Prrowl Doctrine, and did brring overrwhelming forrce!
Should anyone wish to complain that I haven't done enough rresearch in my rreign: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a beam!!! In addition to our beautiful new Neutrron Blasterrs our rreverse-engineerring experrts learrned Imprroved Industrrial Technology 7, which should help if we someday learrn the secrrets of Rrobotic Contrrols, and finally pulled in Perrsonal Deflectorr Shield as well, which means we'll be betterr able to crrush the Silicoids in ourr next invasion! Of courrse, not everryone is happy about all this....
Nonetheless, ourr rrelations rremain neutrral. The same is trrue of rrelations with the perrplexing and dangerrous Meklarr, but they have unforrtunately rrenewed theirr alliance with the Silicoids. Something will have to be done about this ... but not by me. It is time forr me to hand the rreigns of goverrnance overr to my worrthy successorr, and leave to d0om, the Ninth Yalara, the prriviledge and the rresponsibility of choosing and prrosecuting warr and peace!
So ends the Chronicle of Mrrref III, Eighth Yalara of Fierias. However, additional archival material has been included from the end of Mrrref III's reign: A long-range transmission between the Yalara and a Scout pilot in the furthest reaches of the known galaxy:
Spoiler:
Mrr: Forrmer Commissionerr Trradorr? This is the Yalara speaking.
Trr: (whimper) what now?
Mrr: I wish to apologize forr yourr trreatment by my namesake, the fifth Yalara. I am rrecalling you to Fierias, effective immediately.
Trr: ...
Trr: Serrriously?
Mrr: Indeed. You may not be up to date on currrent events, so let me fill you in. Know that d0om, the Sixth Yalara, implemented a trrade package with the Darrlok people verry like the one you once prroposed, and it has rrecently begun to turrn an annual prrofit, helping rrelations between ourr peoples immensely. Besides, twenty-odd yearrs is quite long enough to sit arround at the edge of known space, going slowly crrazy.
Trr: Uh...
Mrr: Oh, rright. Sorrry. I withdrraw the bit about insanity.
Trr: Yeah. Thanks.
Mrr: At all events, you have serrved the Mrrshan people well with yourr timely rreporrts of doings in the heart of Meklarr space. I have here for instance yourr latest trransmission, indicating that a Silicoid colony ship and Barracuda escorrt are apprroaching Misha.
Trr: That is corrrrect. And all we've got forrr fending them off is an unarrrmed, Warrrp One scout ship, piloted by a septuagenarrrian.
Mrr: Then I suppose we shall have to let them have the planet ... forr the time being. I'm sorrry that I could not rrewarrd you forr yourr yearrs of diligent serrvice with a goverrnorrship of the worrld overr which you've watched for so long ... but you shall be given an extrremely generrous pension, and perrhaps someday - perrhaps even in yourr lifetime - there will be an opening forr the goverrnorrship of Misha afterr all!
End Transmission.
Many thanks to d0om both for suggesting a blitz of Silicoid worlds ages ago in the first place and also for suggesting Scatter Pack ships for use as multi-purpose bomber/defenders. So far, it's been working out great!
The Map:
Orion and the homeworlds are marked as usual. The "scary Meklar fleet" detected by Trradorr some years ago is headed for Nyarl (there's also a Huge ship on its way away from Nyarl however), which isn't necessarily threatening but might be, especially if war gets declared. The main body of our starfleet is gathered at Kailis, with a few more small Warp 4 bombers (Nukerr 4.0s) next door at Laan (sent there because it was sort of central and still just two turns away from Rana, like Kailis). My original intent was to make an attempt at taking Rana, the Silicoid Artifacts world we scouted ages ago in the far south, but I'm leaving that up to you. Note that the Silicoids will colonize "the other U-R" next turn - the colship just showed up on scanners this turn, and it's too far away to do anything about it. If Radiated comes in soon enough, you might try sending an LR fleet to glass the place and build a colony of our own. Again, your call. If we wait until after your turnset though, the planet will likely be very hard to crack with LR ships (dunno what we can do in terms of LR firepower even now, for that matter). Currently, all six design slots are taken, but any or all of the first three can be scrapped: The first is our Scout 1 slot, and those have outlived their usefulness now that every planet over which one is sitting either has one or more missile bases already or (in the case of Misha only) is about to become a Silicoid colony. The second is the Laser 2.0 design, which is slow and packing lasers and otherwise obsolete. The third, the CatsEye, is just a scanner ship, and we only have one built (about par for a ship of that type), so if you'd rather scrap it and have the slot for something else, feel free. You can scrap the bombers too, especially if you don't want to attack Rana. The Scat designs on the other hand should be good for mobile defense and fleet harrassment for some time yet, depending on how other empires design their fleets.
Heads-ups:
- Several of our worlds are still regrowing pop from invasions (or from being invaded by us), so those will need to be watched (Crypto still needs to build factories when its pop catches up). Apart from that, all our worlds are set to either research, bases, or (in the case of Willow) Reserves. If you want more ships or whatever, of course you can change them. I don't think I would actually leave them this way either if I were continuing the game instead of handing it off.
- Note that ship maintenance is still under 6% of our budget, which should leave you a fair amount of leeway.
- I have not fed reserves to Willow yet this turn. I've been doing it one turn at a time and adjusting sliders accordingly, watching for an emergency reserve need, and I didn't want to make an irrevocable move on the turn you'll be inheriting even when it's as obvious as feeding reserves to our Ultra-Rich world.
-More of our transports are due to hit Kailis next turn. It looks at a glance like there's no room for them, but actually there will be as soon as the 'Coid pollution is cleaned up.
-Remember to cycle through f8 every turn. (Yay, Improved Scanner!) You'll note that as of the inherited turn, we have 3 incoming Silicoid fleets:
1. Seven large Makos and four medium Barracudas are due at Crypto next turn, but I already have a base up, and it is immune to their fire.
2. A large Mako is due at Kailis in five turns. Our war fleet is stationed there right now, but you might/will-probably want to give the fleet something else to do in the meantime and put up a missile base. I'd want a base up quickly on that planet anyway (I'd have immediately fed it reserves if I weren't handing off the save), partly because it is currently the only planet we own that the Silicoids have range enough to reach!
3. A huge Monitor is due at Firma in three turns. We only have one base there, but that's enough if its armament is anything like the other 'Coid ships we've seen. Still, be wary: It might have Heavy Blast Cannons for all I know. Note that if the huge ship wins the fight, transports will be sent (assuming it doesn't/can't glass the world), but the huge itself will be destroyed (out of range).
-Finally, note that you've got another vote coming up in five turns. It looks to me like we won't have a veto, but if anyone we've met votes for us or abstains, we should be safe.
Mrrreff III's Report Card:
Let's see how I did on my goals. ... Uh ... good thing I made them open-ended.
Spoiler:
1. Repel incursions: Check. I lost one base to sabotage, and nothing else on defense.
2. "Research": In spite of having Planetary Vs in percentages (admittedly lowish in the percentages) throughout my turnset, no techs came in through actual research. I did get Radiated into percentages, and the bulb on Hard Beam is nearly full, and I have invested a little in each of the other fields, but the operative word is "little." On the other hand: I pulled in no less than six valuable technologies - Dissipator, Duralloy, Shield 4, Neutron Blaster (Yay! A beam!), IIT7, and Personal Shield - via the pointy stick!
3. Try for Misha: Well, I gotta admit I missed this one. I spent too little on tech this turnset to even get a chance to try. On the plus side, I did nab three other worlds! And we may yet get that UR!
4. Bases: We have at least one missile base on every world we own, except for Kailis (which we just captured this turn). Our most exposed worlds have several, though not enough to make me feel safe (Except from the 'Coids. They're hopeless.) ... especially since Planetary Shields are yet to come in. Apart from the Planetary Shield debacle, this is actually going about as well as I expected, going in.
Shopping List: Scanner, check (thanks to d0om for the tip). Fighter Beam, sort of (we can fit a Neutron Blaster on a Small, but not with our best engines, at least until Hard Beam miniaturizes it some more). Robotic Controls, no luck, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. Note: I haven't talked with any other race in the past few turns, so there may be a new deal on the table that's worth our while. Also, the patience of those races who are not at war with us should be reset to its maximum-under-the-circumstances value.
Setup for d0om:
-Some of our spies were just caught, but all our spy reports are Current! (Check!)
-Reserve currently stands at something over 700 BC, though about a hundred fifty of this is still needed at Willow. (Check!)
-No prebuilds, unfortunately ... but we've got some finished ships for you to play with if you'd like.... (Check? You tell me.)
Wellll ... I warned you this would be long - even more long-winded than usual! Good luck, d0om!
w00t! The Mighty Catz assert their dominion over our planets Looking good so far. We might want to research fusion bombs next, as if they get shielding then scatter packs will cease to function.
aha you ninja posted while I posted
Have the save now, looking like a very nice position as long as our "allies" don't vote for the alkari at the next election. Fleet looks strong, I think I will mount an attack on the remaining silicoid worlds soon.
Just to check: are we playing that retreated missile ships have to go somewhere else before they can return, or can they return on the same turn?
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There is 800 BC in the reserve IIRC, which should fund Willow for a little while. Be good to have Willow up and pumping reserves with feedback, transferring to our artifacts planet 
) and pump reserves to artifacts for deposit again. Meklar find cure for plague at Keeta and spy reports borg have RCIII and Robotic Controls IV!!
Despite their much smaller pop, 3 times as many factories keeps them up in production; they also have Fusion Rifle!
Meanwhile Fusion Drives come in and can only advance via Range 9. Then the key moment arrives after RIW60% hits for a nice productivity bonus and choose Zortium then ECMIII hits and our choice is … Battle Computer V. Arggh .. no Robotic Controls again!
