Turn 1 to turn 68 The start of the game is recorded here. You can join the fray by downloading the savegame with the starting position. As the difficulty setting is hard, the first thing you will notice once you begin exploring is that the planets and systems nearby are not favourable. Also, I already encountered a rival fleet in turn 2, which means opposition is close by, so space to expand will be reduced. As the encounter was on my western flank, I sent my sole colony ship in this direction to claim at least one system there before a rival does. The Moltar are indeed close by. Gone are the hopes that there may be a nice pocket of space in the corner for my faction to claim. The upside is, if there is no other faction in the corner (which is unlikely), that the Moltar have sufficient space to expand, which will help to avoid tensions. Also, as all the rivals have favourable starting conditions, there will be a lot of lava and barren planets in the space around them, which normally are not my faction's main priority early on. Strategically, it would make sense to develop good relations with the Moltar, as this will secure my empire's western flank. Naturally, the Moltar are much more advanced in all areas, owing to the starting boni, and going by watching the fleet power graph they seem to have found a powerful ship early on, which may complicate things. In general you will notice that the Moltar have only one colony, and from the size of their influence area they seem to have a home system with multiple high-value planets. It seems that the map generator this time created home systems that give each faction multiple strong colonies at home as a base. My home system has also an additional large and huge planet. It would have been a viable strategy to build a strong base this way, so sending out my colony ship is a bit of a gamble. It will be tougher to get a second colony off the ground to build items that support expansion. But it is a bit mitigated by forging relations with the Moltar early, including a trade treaty. Much effort needs to be spend on getting your colonies off the ground. It's tough going. There were a few events, but they mostly only drained my treasury. My first SCP picks were higher ship speed (+2, which is invaluable in the long run) and a free survey ship and the appearance of an exploration leader. The only find of note that my survey ship made so far was a colony leader, Wan Ironshard. This is more than ok, because he also boosts my diplomatic skills, which may be important in a tight setting. As you can see there is a ship of another faction close by. Oh well, it's going to be tight. A small silver lining is the discovery of a good brown dwarf system nearby, but it's guarded by a space amoeba. As the options for exploring are very limited, I am going to research enhanced logistics and will forgo to build up my home system with a second colony in exchange for settling the system to the east. The Nova are to the northeast, and there are clear signs that the SE area of the map is Draguul space. Wan Ironshard's empathic trait allowed me to arrange a trade treaty with the Nova right away. In principle, the current strategic situation is stable, but it is almost like there are a ton of projects that my empire would need to tackle immediately, but only a limited amount of production and research can be done at a time. I'd need to build at least one outpost further out, have two leader desires for a strong defensive fleet and another colony in the Voyonus system, the need to build more colonies in my home system and to research pop growth achievements, and so on. There are so many build and development priorities that I need to develop a sound plan, what to tackle and in which order.
Turn 68 to turn 108 As a plan, I settled on fulfilling my leader desires first, i.e. putting three destroyers in orbit around my homeworld and colonizing Voyonus V, then building a few outpost ships to grab strategic resources (which the AI left alone so far) and another colony ship to colonize the second huge planet in my home system. The Draguul have entered the fray by taking over Nova space. This development didn't seem alarming so far, because I assumed that it will take time for the Draguul to make more inroads. So I continued with my strategic plan to build up my base. The Draguul have claimed all Nova colonies. Meanwhile I built an outpost on the triple neutronium resource in the center of the map, which brought the Sulak within range and allowed my survey ship to explore more space. Aside from that a good white dwarf system has been found nearby, so my next colony ship will go there. The Draguul seem ready to move on and declare war by seizing the tantalizing triple neutronium outpost right in front of their nose. It seems it is time to examine the militaristic angle. It is insofar problematic as the Draguul seem to have found a powerful ship early on and have a vastly more powerful fleet than mine, which is really just my two starting frigates and three basic destroyers. So we will need to see what can be done.
Loving these side by side AARs guys. Interesting to see the Draguul have completely wiped out the Nova in your timeline, while they are much more subdued in @Konstantine timeline. I guess that ship they found may be the difference, but it is hard to say for sure. I am glad to see those honorable warriors doing what they do best though.
Turn 108 to 122 The problem is that the Draguul have a much more powerful fleet. On the other hand the Draguul are comparatively low-tech. One thing was clear, to get my defenses ready I needed a bit of time. The Armistice special would be useful, but ten turns can be a lot of time if the Draguul would throw everything they have at my core worlds. A few distractions would be valuable. The first thing I tried was a simple diversion. Spoiler I contacted the Draguul to see whether there is an offer I could make them. As I couldn't find one, I simply proposed a peace treaty. Spoiler They accepted with the dry comment "for now". Funnily the Draguul diplomats weren't available anymore after that, as if they were embarrassed that I talked their emperor into a peace treaty. Anyway, the strategic situation was unstable now. They could simply amass a fleet without me noticing and strike anywhere. At this point it was not clear what ship the Draguul found earlier. If it is The Punisher, I'd need some serious hardware to repel an attack. So far I didn't do any weapons or defense research. However, my survey ship found a functioning matter streamer and the chaos chain tech. The Moltar also gave me Class III shield. As I had already built a battle station orbiting my homeworld, I could build a battleship that is big enough to contain a matter streamer and a chaos chain. To cope with a threat of The Punisher magnitude, I would possibly need two. I normally wouldn't dare to dawdle in a situation like this, but my homeworld was just two turns away from completing the Galactic Relic Wonder, and next up was an outpost ship which would allow my surveyship to explore more space and possibly find more ancient ruins. I decided to stick with this plan, because what the surveyship can turn up could also aid my defense. The other problem was that I hadn't done any scanner research, so I had no clue about opposition whereabouts and fleet strength. So I redirected my research effort to ultrawave scanner, as intel is the key to winning a war. Seven turns later, in turn 115 the war declared icon popped up on the start of the turn and I thought, ok, now, it's going to be hot, with my first battleship still 11 turns away from completion. But instead it was the Sulak declaring war on the Draguul by seizing the triple neutronium resource I had earlier. The Draguul still turned their attention to me in turn 118 by putting forward a demand. They put forward a demand for a tribute of 25%, but I denied that assuming that their fleet was already in Sulak space and that I would have enough time to finish my battleship. But instead of the Draguul declaring war, it merely lowered my diplomatic standing with them by -1. Four turns later I had the ultrawave scanner tech researched, which gave me the intel I needed. After carefully studying the map, it seemed the Draguul didn't present a threat currently. Their main fleet wasn't to be seen, possibly beyond my scanner range in Sulak space, and the ships present were no serious threat, neither in terms of their design nor their numbers. Plus they seemed clueless how to use them, like sending a fleet on a 9-turn-voyage to a system that could be reached via a wormhole in one turn. My surveyship and explorer leader had also found a good frigate and a pirate cruiser, and from extrapolating the change in the fleet power graph, it was clear that the Draguul possibly found a cruiser earlier on, way below the threat of a Punisher. Given these developments I considered already the possibility to free the former Nova worlds from the Draguul, as I hadn't seen proper combat in ISG at all.
Well now, it seems you've been infected by my war-mongering virus Of course, I understand that you are out to "liberate" (cough, cough) worlds where as I am the bad guy in my alternate universe.
By your own choice I assume. Well, there was no reason why the Draguul provoked me. Taking the former Nova worlds from the Draguul is also the fastest route to winning the game. And how am I ever going to see combat between fleets in ISG? Meaningfully, I mean, as long as the Draguul still could be considered a worthy rival (although I have my doubts seeing how they use their fleets).
I won't lie, I admit it, I burned their homes, killed them all, and ate their livers with some fava beans and a nice Chianti... Yes. I have my doubts too, they are engaged elsewhere and your Battleship should be more than adequate at this stage, keep in mind, in my Time line I defeated the Moltar with scant forces and but a single Cruiser as my Flagship. This early, even at this difficulty, I don't see much fight from the AIs... but you never know... I'm enjoying this by the way, the parallel universes as it were, it's far more interesting than a single AAR
Absolutely, it adds to the human dimension. There is a ton of potential for smart TBS multiplayer modes that hasn't been touched yet, and which doesn't involve waiting for your opponents' turns. I am actually torn between helping out other 4X developers or developing my own game. There is so much potential for breaking new ground for TBS with fully developed functional AI, so the latter most likely will win out. The Draguul and Sulak have now made peace. The Draguul have also built a few battleships, but they are so low-tech that they mostly would serve as target practice for the matter streamer. Anyway, the Moltar have now begun to settle colonies in my empire on planets I thought to have reserved by being included within my faction's borders. Apparently they can simply fly a colony ship to my home system and build a colony there. So, I have to focus my effort on settling the good planets I thought save, by churning out colony ships. Anyway, that will let the Draguul of the hook. But I will aggressively settle colonies close to their space, maybe they will send another invitation for my fleet to have some combat practice later on.
I'm not sure. I've entered alliances once or twice but never a mining treaty, and my borders were always respected. Hopefully @Adam Solo can shed some light on this
I agree that it should normally not be possible, at least not without the game telling you about this possibility. But I will continue playing with this. It makes the game more difficult, and it might be interesting to see to what scenarios it will lead.
Turn 122 to 143 Military-wise researching hyperdrive seemed like a good choice, because with the +2 speed bonus from the space culture perk and a +1.5 bonus from leaders it would yield a speed of 9.5, which would allow my fleets to be relocated between my core colonies within a single turn unhindered by nebula, should a threat emerge. In turn 125 I encountered the Humans which didn't change anything really because they seemed to lag behind in most areas, though going by the diplomacy screen they hadn't encountered anyone and could have developed freely, particularly with a very favourite start. By turn 136 the Moltar had begun to settle colonies in my empire, the Sulak and Draguul had made peace, and the Kaek were encountered. Interestingly, the Kaek had a development level that was close to the Moltar's and mine. The biggest fleets were owned by the Kaek and my faction (almost level), followed by the Moltar. The Draguul had found the Stellar Hammer, the Kaek found The Punisher and The Demolisher, and my survey fleet had found The Mothership. Militarily, from my point of view, the strategic situation was now stable. As the Moltar were slowly taking away planets in my empire, a strategy shift was required to accelerate building my empire's infrastructure and getting colony ships out as fast as possible. Military conquest was postphoned, but I kind of decided not to build up my fleet further, and wait until someone would perceive my empire as an easy pick. Though this was not going to happen soon with the development speed of the AI. By turn 143 I had established a remote colony mostly to extend the range of my survey fleet and to establish a foothold near Draguul and Kaek space. No need to defend it. The Kaek declared war on the Draguul. The Moltar, my allies, claimed that they couldn't fulfil my request to make peace in their war with the Humans, because these were too stuborn. I also tried out the spying system for the first time, in this case to influence another empire's leader. All in all it seems nicely done. It's also not overpowered, because the spies need long setup times. Nothing to do for me except of building colony ships and infrastructure. In theory I could build up a fleet and create havoc, but why, if the game seems easily won anyway.
Interesting... In my time line the Moltar are no more and this has allowed the humans to fill in part of the vacuum. They are in far better shape than in your time line.
My point was more along the line, if they didn't encounter anyone, why didn't they develop a sound power base with their favourable starting conditions? Turn 143 to turn 154 As my currrent plan was to build up the infrastructure and churn out colony ships, I expected this to take a while. Maybe a stretch of 50 turns. By turn 152 nothing had changed at the front between the Kaek and Draguul. With the Draguul only having half the fleet strength of the Kaek, they still decided to declare war on the Sulak by seizing that triple neutronium resource again. Turn 154 revealed that two other factions had researched titan construction by now. Looking at the production charts, only 11 turns after the begin of this session, showed: With the tools at your disposal you can achieve nearly an exponential growth of your production capacity. You can simultaneously improve your infrastructure, ecology (growth/morale), buildings (space mirror array is pretty powerful), build galactic wonders, gain achievements by tech research, and more. Still, achieving this kind of growth in production in merely 11 turns is significant. It would be exhilarating to race the AI with tools like that, particularly if you add smart strategic maneuvering with your fleets to the mix. It would make for a truly grand game of possibilities. Only the AI simply doesn't cope ... Before my motivation to continue this game wanes, before I ever had a chance to witness my fleets doing meaningful combat, I decided to change my strategic plan again. Now that the Draguul have this triple neutronium resource back, I will ask them nicely to hand it back. If they refuse I will send a fleet to claim it and follow up by finally liberating the Nova core worlds. At least there is still something to do. Recommendations (and bugs) "An offer you can refuse" has its options greyed out and inaccessible.
Turn 154 to 167 A friend used to say: onwards! After realizing that I can't ask the Draguul for a specific system or astronomic object, it will require ships to seize the Aliri triple neutronium source. In turn 155 the Sulak declared war on the Draguul. In the turns after this there was a frequent change in the occupation fleets at Aliri, either Draguul or Sulak, so I have to pick the right moment to seize the Aliri accretion disk from the Draguul. In turn 158 the Draguul and Kaek made peace, so the Draguul should now have their hands free. Somehow, regardless of whether the Draguul occupy Aliri, the triple neutronium resource remains in the hands of the Sulak. In turn 163 the Draguul declare war by seizing the Marz accretion disk. Questionable. But at least we are going to see some action. In principle the Draguul have a much weaker fleet, possibly 2/3 of mine, and only a quarter of my faction's production capacity. So, every ship they loose will cost them. Still, the situation is not that simple because my main fleet is far away at the western border, at Ekreins. The main fleet contains The Mothership, the Stellar Flare, the Dark Lance and the Lynx plus all my fleet leaders for them to level up more quickly. That leaves me with a single battleship and two destroyers only to defend my core worlds. Kai, Suborix, and Lemuria are highly valuable systems. As the Draguul have hyperdrive, giving them 6 parsecs speed, and found adamantium armor (so far only on their starbases, but a boost to ground combat strength regardless), they present an acute threat to Kai and Suborix, particularly because they have 9 assault ships in range stationed at Oyaissic. If they would split their assault ships and bring their fleets to focus on these worlds, they could possibly conquer one or two. Contemplating the dilemma, I simply chose to send my battleship to Kai and a destroyer to Suborix. However, the next turn, 164, the Draguul did do nothing except of sending a single battleship on a 2-turn-journey to Lemuria. Which meant Kai and Suborix were getting battlestations the next turn, 165, a few backup destroyers were joining my fleet and my main defense fleet will be in Aliri, ready to reach my core worlds in a single turn. In the meantime my battleship will defend Lemuria against the low-tech-battleship the Draguul sent. Still, the Draguul could use their fleets and assault ships to take Kai or Suborix in a single turn. Will they? The Draguul battleship fled from its attack on Lemuria, otherwise the Draguul didn't do anything of note. Their 9 assault ships were still sitting undefended a Oyaissic, which gave me an idea. So, I send a single destroyer to Oyaissic and because the Draguul remained passive I dispatched my main fleet and my battleship that defended Lemuria to Chith, expecting to test their defenses for the first time. In turn 166 my single destroyer destroyed the undefended Draguul assault ships at Oyaissic. The battle at Chith was totally one-sided. One turn later the Draguul at least tried to defend the system. The ensuing battle was straightforward. All Draguul ships somehow tried to damage The Mothership, but they couldn't penetrate its shields. Their battleship was destroyed quickly, the Stellar Hammer captured, another Dragon DS destroyed and the rest fled. After the battle it was time for a Galactic Council meeting. It ended in ... This was somehow the best point at which this could happen! It allowed me to finish the game and admire the beauty of the fireworks, while still preserving a nice memory of a game that was fun to play! Thanks a lot @Konstantine for keeping company! Recommendations (and bugs) The computer empires let unguarded assault ships simply be destroyed. The capture of outposts is bugged. Computer empires having the only force at a system with outposts fail to capture these from factions they are at war with. The outposts are not attacked. How do I launch fighters? There is an icon that said the fighters are ready, and I tried a few things including clicking on enemy ships, but to no avail.
My pleasure. It seems the game was too easy. Your race, coupled with Wan being found early, the number of found ships, and your own skill combined to make it a breeze. Even my own timeline which differed substantially from yours is not challenging enough to pursue. Perhaps if you are interested, I will set the starting race and conditions, we could play for our own amusement or perhaps even have a part 2 to the AARs. I am fairly certain I can give you a far greater challenge to face with me. At this stage, (1.04) the only chance the AI has of presenting a serious challenge to certain players, is to achieve critical mass, something that didn't happen in either of our sessions. Care to have another go with my Terrans?
