|
Thotimx posted:Rigel falls; we lost 89M troops in the invasion, and about 10M more die of exposure as our glorious ground troops were more effective than anticipated. Nonetheless, it is our first successful endeavor, and we capture the Inertial Stabilizer. 89 million brave eggs, larva, pupa, and adult Borg died in glorious battle to assimilate the Psilons. A loss of ten million more to exposure is but a statistic. They shall be replaced. Edit: Update on the last page.
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2018 06:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 28, 2024 12:58 |
|
|
By "assimilate" I assume we mean "steal their tech and turn everyone into food pellets," since there definitely aren't any Psilons left on there. Can Rigel be renamed to a matrix number if captured instead of destroyed and resettled?
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2018 15:40
|
|
|
Decoy Badger posted:By "assimilate" I assume we mean "steal their tech and turn everyone into food pellets," since there definitely aren't any Psilons left on there. Can Rigel be renamed to a matrix number if captured instead of destroyed and resettled? Definitely true on the first count. On the second part, no it can't; we're stuck with 'Rigel'. General Revil posted:A loss of ten million more to exposure is but a statistic. They shall be replaced. That's the spirit! In fact, most of them already have been. The process began as soon as their transports departed.
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2018 21:18
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2405, Part I This is literally the first year in which we are #1 in everything, have just barely surpassed the Meklar in Fleet Strength - though I actually think theirs is still stronger, but with our tech edge I could be wrong there.  Still pretty much the same here; the Humans haven't joined the war yet but they are on the verge of it. Their restraint is actually remarkable when you think about it. Bulrathi-Mrrshan and Psilon-Meklar alliances are active as well. I mentioned recently that the Psilons had added Sublight Drives; the Bulrathi have developed the Ion Cannon recently, but that's the only other furtherance I've noticed. The ineptitude on the research front, even with small empires, has been even more than I expected. We're #1 in battle computers and deflector shields, and while there's scattered techs they have that we don't yet (Fusion Bomb, Enhanced Eco, Ion Cannon, Iridium Fuel Cells) the only one honestly that really matters is the fact that half of the galaxy has Robotics III. I don't think it'll be long till I get it via invasion. And honestly, it doesn't matter that much anyway. Population, not ship production, is what is holding us back. That and how long it takes to get places, but there's no better warp drive coming anytime soon, so -- really at this point it's a case of hurry up and wait. I don't see anything I can really do to address that pair of most-pressing issues.  Prices have been reduced slightly by recent advances. I'm at the point where I'd like to build a better version of the Pegasus soon, but probably not just yet. In a few years I'll be able to get rid of one or two of the Colonizer designs - by then it may be time. 81 destroyers sounds like a lot, but we're still not paying very much for them. We're close to having fleet supremacy in the key sectors, but the more we have the less we'll lose in any confrontation.  We're not so much conquering the Psilons as pushing them to the left. That works fine for me, really. ** Psilons - 7, +1 ** Humans - 5, -- ** Bulrathi - 3, -- ** Meklar - 2, -- ** Mrrshan - 2, -- The Meklar are throwing their military weight around but haven't done anything with it in terms of grabbing more territory ... even when they had the chance. I'm still bemused by their decision to bomb Matrix 162 instead of invading, then promptly take their fleet and go home. The Psilons are really the only ones doing anything to increase their territory. They've played this smart, and against a less overwhelming Klackon empire they would be a legitimate thorn in the side. It's just too late for them to take the good planets on the other side of the galaxy and do anything with them in time.  We have other irons in the fire but it's all about the Terraforming right now. That'll improve the maximum population cap of the Empire by two billion all on its own. And also herald an age of, aside from the few just starting out, several years at least worth of micromanagement on EVERY.SINGLE.MATRIX. That'll be super-great.  The most hilarious single fact here is that, even with our 'wimpy' economy, we are spending less than 3% to maintain the greatest star fleet in the galaxy. It's also a little weird to have 60-some-od 'Matrix XXX' systems, and also now 'Rigel'. The Borg will annihilate the galaxy before they attain naming rights to systems within their own borders. Collective Data, GY 2405 ** Matrices - 68 of 94(+8) ** Projected Completion Year - 2446 ** Projected Completion Date IRL - March 10 ** Operational Drones -- 2.290 billion (+345M) ** Production -- 8499 BC (+1567) I think the projected end dates here have become quite optimistic, but we'll see how things go. The sheer logistics of navigating this galaxy at Warp 3 probably argue against that on their own. Economic growth was a solid but unspectacular 23%, population a little under 18%. That's the lowest we've seen in a while, but the war is the main reason. There are only 31 million drones on 12 convoys, and there's little point in continuing to count them now. Aside from invasions, that will become a very insignificant matter. Hostile Action Report ** Meklar - No enemy casualties, 2M Borg drones KIA ** Psilons - 60M enemy casulaties, 92M Borg drones KIA ** 9M additional were lost to exposure in the after math of Rigel. ** Total - 60M enemy casualties, 103M Borg drones lost No fleet hostilities either way have yet been commenced. While winning through sheer numbers is still winning, it would definitely be better if we could improve the success ratio here. We need more situations like that at Matrix 137 in particular, where 10 million Psilon troops were killed in their transports before they could disembark on the surface.  Population and travel time are the biggest issues with progressing further against the Psilons. I'd prefer not to try taking on Mentar at the current ground combat disadvantage. That makes Zhardan, which has similar population and more factories to find blueprints in compared to Rigel, the next target of choice. I still need to come up with 150M troops in order to do that though. As this screenshot kind-of, but not really explains, we need to have the system scouted first in order to do that. Since we don't have planetary scanners that can accomplish the task, we'll need to take control of the orbit for at least one year.  It's just far enough away that this will take two years. We'll need Rangers to see their first action and take out the missile base, but they are a year closer. Meanwhile further to the south, most of the Bulrathi cruisers are headed to Nordia, their closest system. They could strike at any time. They probably won't ... but you never know. Hotspot Rundown This, along with the Hostile Action Report, is a new feature. I'll be taking a look at all the systems where we have incoming hostilities, and reviewing what actions if any we plan on taking, on an annual basis. Then the usual plentiful parade of peaceful planetary tweaks will proceed.  Nine years until a trio of Meklar Ajax cruisers show up. Wait till they arrive and kill us is basically the drill here. Positioned deep in the lower-left quadrant, this is as remote as any outpost we have and there's no chance of any military relief.  The reserve transfer in the next image made this level of spending possible. It's time to find out how we fare against a Nemesis. Unless the Meklar chicken out, our first conflict with them is imminent.   Another case of supporting documentation of a transfer following, but this one of a different sort. We continue to evacuate, but previous drone shipments are arriving as well so there will still be a hopefully minimal number caught here.   Five years until the Psilons arrive. Best-case scenario would be for the Meklar to bomb the system or send transports to fight over it, but so far they have done neither.  I decided to forego any more funding transfers here; we probably have enough to hold off the Mrrshan attack, and I don't want to overdo building bases on a system that is no longer that important. Collective Analysis At this juncture we expect to hold Matrix 118 and Matrix 137, while losing 47, 61, and 67. A period of decline in our total operational matrices is considered acceptable and possibly unavoidable collateral damage in the years to come while we ramp up our infrastructure and invasion tempo. In the long run, one Rigel is worth several of these expendable systems.   The last group to arrive. Notice also the brilliant Human fleet maneuvers; having concentrated at Pollus, they now redeploy elsewhere, so that they can move yet somewhere else I'm sure once when they get there. Sound and furying, signifying nothing. And what do they leave unguarded? Trax ... and the homeworld of Sol. Legit.  Switching back to the Ranger as we have more destroyers coming from other sources, and probably have local superiority over the Humans already. We don't have enough bombers to strike Sol though.           
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2018 21:19
|
|
|
I would have figured 147 would have been able to rush a few missile bases before that fleet arrived, since it appears to have a decent level of production going on.
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2018 21:48
|
|
|
I probably could have gotten 1-2 up, but not very many. I assumed that with five cruisers coming that wouldn't be close to enough … which as it turns out, wasn't necessarily true. Also, I didn't realize at first how many people were coming in. So I think you're right on this score, but normally with that small of a population and just starting out I didn't expect it to be possible.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2018 21:22
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2405, Part II     Most of these last group are just small tweaks, one or two clicks here or there.  Others like this one are jumping all over the place; last year it was half industry and no research.         This little ball of rock in the corner is gradually becoming useful.  Matrix 168 is remote enough that it is higly unlikely to come under attack. Once the decision was made to send in drones, another investment was needed ...  Now where was I? Oh yeah ...   These two are so far from the current conflicts that they may just be able to industrialize in peace. Or maybe not, depending on how extreme the need for drones becomes.    Responding to another one of those rare growth spurts.        Another defensible system near Meklar space is definitely a good thing.      Nothing was changed here, but I figure it deserved a place in the rundown being a recent conquest. I guess I'll just put all of the 'default-named' systems at the end, lacking something better to do. In any case, there's only 32 factories here so the industry needs work.  2405 Despite the efforts of our foes, the Borg added a new system to our numbers. Much to my amusement, neither the Meklar or Mrrshan were armed with anything that could so much as scratch the paint of our bases. Our first enemy starship kills were recorded. They will not be the last.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2018 21:23
|
|
|
I have to wonder how useful it is to have a planet in a corner of the galaxy producing ships, considering the wait time before the ship can get anywhere useful and the extra maintenance you pay just for having it exist. There has to be some point at which it's more useful for the planet to contribute to the reserve and then have a more usefully-positioned planet draw from the reserve to enhance their own production, even given the efficiency penalty you pay from using the reserve. Or just have the remote planets spend their efforts on research I guess.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 17:42
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2406, Part I Hotspots  While our destroyers head to Zhardan, the Psilons sent theirs to retaliate against Rigel. A natural and not entirely unexpected move. Fortunately I think we've got enough ships to handle both tasks.  These will allow us to have almost double their number, and we have superior weaponry as well. Success is anticipated.  Meanwhile our bomber-cruisers will head to make quick work of the base on Zhardan, the first step to an invasion there.  I've decided it is also time to commence the war on humanity. Like on the Psilon front, it will take several years to see fruition. Current projections indicate a 50-50 casualty split is expected on Yarrow. That means in order to have a decent population afterwards, we'd like to have 120M incoming. Starting from this far away is necessary to get that many drones.    The Meklar were headed to this just-colonized world before we got there, an overkill scouting expedition almost certainly. It's only prudent to assume they will blast the inferno system from orbit.  Eight years until they do the same here.  The last year here, so it's time for final evacuations.   If you're going to lose, having them fight over your corpse is the best way to do it. I really don't care who wins here, the fact that they are going to bleed each other is the most important thing. They're allies, and the Meklar will get here a year earlier, which means 39M Psilon transports will likely get self-destructed. Analysis We'll save Rigel, but lose 147, 161, 167, and 169. All are still temporary and expendable.     More cloning to get one of our top industrial worlds in this sector back up as quickly as possible.     We're still going to need several Rangers to handle Mentar - possibly as many as 10 of them. So Matrix 112 will keep sending those out.     A second Ranger-producing system down here seemed prudent to ensure we have enough of them by the time we need to take on Mentar.  I thought of doing the same here on the Human front, but I think we'll be needing drones from Matrix 120 before too much longer so I decided not to go that route.  Cloning here as well.    So it just now occurred to me that I've been continuing to sink BCs into a base for a system that is radiated *slaps self*. They can take it if they want, it's definitely not worth the trouble of prepping.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 20:56
|
|
|
TooMuchAbstraction posted:I have to wonder how useful it is to have a planet in a corner of the galaxy producing ships, considering the wait time before the ship can get anywhere useful and the extra maintenance you pay just for having it exist. There has to be some point at which it's more useful for the planet to contribute to the reserve and then have a more usefully-positioned planet draw from the reserve to enhance their own production, even given the efficiency penalty you pay from using the reserve. There are situations where this would be the case, but I'm confident this isn't one of them. Justifications: ** I'm paying just over 3% still in ship maintenance, whereas the penalty for the reserve is flat 50%. I.e. one is a fairly negligible loss; the other one isn't. The amount of maintenance over the several years travel is miniscule in comparison to the loss from reserve transferring. ** It takes years for invasions to collect as well, and anytime I want to move ships over a long distance, such as between fronts etc., that's going to happen also. It's just the cost of doing business with a huge galaxy and warp 3/sub-light drives. ** I think the destroyers - not the bombers which I'm being more careful about how many I build - are worth it anyway as planned cannon fodder for the eventual assault on Orion's Guardian. I'm going to need a LOT of them to soak up the damage that thing dishes out, and I won't be able to pump them out when the time comes in a year or two. Gradually building up is the best way I can think of to do this.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 22:09
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2406, Part II     One of the systems that basically reached its ultimate destiny this year. It'll grow more, but mostly just - like the other smallish hostiles - a research contributor.     Terraforming finished, Matrix 136 similarly begins to settle into its role.  From what we've seen, there doesn't appear to be a reason to have more than a handful of bases. If I'd gotten to this point sooner, I might have been able to attempt a defense of Matrix 161. As it is, this is the next step in gradually working towards a defensive fleet/opening onf the Meklar Front out here.     Should be wrapping up terraforming efforts here.       Another generation of systems is starting to produce enough to more than negligible to the Empire.  I pondered this move for a while. Nobody seems interested in Matrix 163 (Ocean), but they could come after it at any time. I decided it was worth trying to get some drones there before the others decide to attack it. It may be useful, or it may be just a waste of organic units. Probably a coin-flip.         Terraforming is a lot more pricey than factories on these lucrative systems.   Another shipbuilder.  2406 Broke 3k annual research for the first time, and got Terraforming +40M. Bring on the micro! Also loled at the five Meklar cruisers destroying two factories with their bombardment at Matrix 147. Meanwhile we smacked aside the resistance at both Rigel and Zhardan with ease. It's clear the Psilons have nothing with which to challenge us. The next Planetology pick was a rough one. I went with Death Spores because I think it'll help us make quicker work of the Bulrathi when the time comes, but I'm conflicted about the choice. Atmos Terra and Adv Eco are both awfully enticing as well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 22:15
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2407, Part I First time I've needed funding on all five fronts for a while here. Hotspots No new transports to Yarrow this year while we wait for them to get closer, so nothing happening on the Human front.  In the latest fit of AI brilliance, not that it really matters for my purposes as I could have destroyed them anyway, the Psilons have sent all of their destroyers - 19 in all - to the extreme left edge of the map, at newly colonized Zoctan. Meanwhile, it seems best to me to get the new terraforming done before invading Zhardan, so all will basically be quiet here.  With the surprisingly weak bombardment capability of the Meklar, I switch courses here and decide to try to out-produce their damage and get a missile base up to fend off their ships. This will take a few years even if it works, but I may yet be able to save the system.   Nearly a hundred million combined troops are bearing down here. The carnage will be glorious.  With just a single cruiser incoming here, the outcome may not be foregone. It's too late to get any drone transfers in, but I'll give saving the system a shot.   If this wasn't a poor system, we could almost certainly rescue it I think. Since it is though, I judge it not really worth the effort at the moment. Analysis Things are looking up even where it concerns the remaining dangers. 147 and 169 might be salvaged; 161 and 167 won't be, but only losing two of them would be better than all four.    Any system that doesn't have too low of a population and can afford it will spend 120 BC each raising their ceiling by an additional 30M.   Research is going to take a deep dive for a year or two. As is my tradition in these situations, I'll keep the artifacts systems investing at least some small amount in research during the interim, until the bulk of the empire has enough production freed up to invest again. This prevents any atrophy of previously-earned progress.   The smaller systems get more complicated; even here, we can't quite afford the full amount.  We'll see a lot of full Ecology spending bars this year.    Meanwhile the larger systems will see much less interruption, being much more able to absorb the expense.        The Toxic ship for Seidon now complete and underway, we switch to the Pegasus here.   Below a certain population threshold it's not even desirable to try and terraform all the way; the result would be the planet having a capacity more the double the current amount of drones. Here we'll only try to get a little over half of it done at first.      Cloning naturally slows down when the expenses automatically go to terraforming first.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 22:03
|
|
|
Important question, did the Borg high-five and go "lol nice," when they settled Matrix 169?
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 22:21
|
|
|
They did not. They might have yawned, but basically just moved on to the next task. They are Borg.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2018 01:11
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2407, Part II      Switching to destroyers here as we've got our first Ranger finished for the Meklar front.   This is the first one of the 'we're not even done with the minimal terraforming tech we already had' category. All the increased amount will do for them is to lengthen the growth phase; the important immediate impact for them is only paying 4 BC instead of 5 for each increase in capacity.            Another good example of a system that can still contribute to research, because it's basically at the halfway point right now so terraforming will happen more gradually.         And then there are those frontier systems where terraforming hasn't even begun yet. They are a small minority at this point, but we still have pockets of them.       These are the kind of systems where the gains will eventually be the most dramatic; peak population will more than double, and being ultra-rich will allow them to outproduce most much larger matrices.     Already to the point where we're waiting on more drone growth - or transfers - here.  A long road ahead for Matrix 165.  2407 All in all we retained about a third of our normal research effort, still over a thousand RP which is more than I anticipated. The same encounters over contested systems, but otherwhise nothing particularly noteworthy happened.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2018 21:05
|
|
|
That was quite the bit of indecision on which tech to choose. I was hoping for atmoshperic terraforming though. I like getting ride of the hostile penalty with it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2018 08:37
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2408, Part I I think - and desperately hope - these occasions are few and far-between, but this year will be split up into a 3-parter. Buckle up!  The Humans are Restless ... but still haven't pulled the trigger. They'll get pushed over the edge when we start taking their territory, if not before. Hotspots  Transports are four years out from Yarrow; in two years' time, I'll add in the final drones to that attack but right now we're just waiting. I don't think we have enough population to hit Pollus, our next target, just yet.  Every year we wait, the price for taking Zhardan grows higher as the population grows. Even bringing them from far away though, the terraforming boom has increased the ceiling on our planets enough that I don't think we can spare the drones to launch the initial convoys just yet. Maybe next year ...  I don't recall how specific I got with this before, but aside from the starting Nuclear Bomb(3-12 damage), they have nothing that can damage our planets. The Hyper-V Rocket(6 damage, 3 vs. planets) is their best in terms of anti-ship weapons, and our Class IV shields will totally nullify that and reduce the bombs to the 0-8 range.  That's important, because they have the majority of their fleet headed here. They really want Matrix 137, which is clearly going to be a key battleground. 5 Ajax cruisers, 4 Colony Ship cruisers, and 75 Tormenter-class destroyers are coming. I don't know what the Tormenters have, so I thought it was worthwhile to transfer in more funding to increase to something like 10 missile bases here, or whatever I can get in the two years it'll take them to arrive.   The situation has complicated itself here, with 29M Meklar transports now four years out. It would have been so much easier if I followed PurpleXVI's advice and not initially given up the system for lost. The bombardments have stopped, per AI SOP when they send an invasion in. Meklar transport tech is exactly what the Psilons had when they originally invaded Matrix 137 - duralloy armor and retro engines. We took out 10M transports then with two bases, or 5M each. We currently have equivalent ground combat tech with them, so we'd expect a 55-45 advantage as the defenders. Our odds are good of winning if we can take down enough of them to make it an equal fight in terms of numbers. By my calculations, we'll need help in order to get bases up in time to do that; three will likely be needed. Five would be better, as we'd probably take them all out and not lose any drones. Of course we'll need to get rid of the orbiting cruisers as well, but based on what we've seen that is unlikely to be problematic.   We'll lose this system next year.  Two years isn't enough time here.  Still several here. Analysis I expect to keep 137 and 147, while 161, 167, and 169 will probably go away. I say probably, because with only one cruiser incoming we may well be able to outgrow the bombardment damage at Matrix 169. So I think we'll save 2-3, and lose the same amount.  Just because.  The second year of a terraforming boost is always the heaviest in terms of industry spending. That's because spending happens before population growth, meaning that we have a year of drone gains without being able to get the corresponding factories built ahead of time as I would usually try to do. Any system that was previously maxed out will effectively be producing roughly double the normal amount this turn to catch up.   I don't expect research to reach previous levels yet, but a significant bounce-back should occur.  And then of course there are other systems, who will enter a longer stretch of gradually terraforming and growing similar to their early years after colonization.       I expect this to be the last year of the production run for the Pegasus. I should have another ship slot opening up next year, and we've advanced enough to justify an improved design IMO.  The Ranger will continue; I intend to keep using this model as long as bombers are needed. It could also be marginally improved, but it's a lot more important to increase the effectiveness of our anti-ship designs.    A miscalculation here resulted in only half of the terraforming work being completed.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2018 20:56
|
|
|
General Revil posted:I was hoping for atmoshperic terraforming though. I like getting ride of the hostile penalty with it. I plan on getting that next. Just couldn't pass up Death Spores when they are available for a fraction of the price.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2018 20:58
|
|
|
Thotimx posted:I plan on getting that next. Just couldn't pass up Death Spores when they are available for a fraction of the price. Guava plan intensifies.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2018 01:45
|
|
|
Finally caught up. I've been enjoying this LP quite a bit, and it encouraged me to get a copy of MOO1 and play. I forget if it was mentioned, but the 1oom engine recreation is quite good for making the UI nicer. It adds a bit of cheaty stuff, though, so be aware. I started a game here recently, and it pulled both the Psilons and the Klackons with me as Meklar. This may turn out to be pretty tough, but let's send out our first colony ships---  oh
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2018 15:51
|
|
|
How did that happen?
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2018 16:57
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2408, Part II That's a lot of cloning.  Even a full commitment fell just short of the terraforming mark last year. It'll be a couple more years before Matrix 117 begins reserve contributions again; we should have more than enough to suffice for any immediate needs, but it's not nearly as much as I'd like to have in there.        Some of the systems like this could produce a lot of drones - but have forever to send them. They also are in no-Borg's-land in terms of whether I want them to keep doing research or switch over to shipbuilding. For now I think I'm going to wait until they get close to 100M before transitioning, but I really don't know what the 'right' answer is.        More waiting-for-dronepower territory.    Not an inspiring amount of research coming out of this artifacts system due to the other requirements.       
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2018 19:53
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2408, Part III      Most places are right on, but clearly I went overboard on terraforming here. Probably forgot it was hostile or somesuch.  Matrix151, which is so remote that it will almost certainly never be important for anything - research, maybe, but the game's probably over or close to it by the time it even does that well - begins the first bit of terraforming.             The drones fleeing prematurely from Matrix 147 are starting to be put to good use accelerating progress here.  Our first alien conquest is almost completely 'assimilated', i.e. straightened-out for Borg usage. Total research is right about at 90% of what it was two years ago, so it was little more than a one-year terraforming diversion overall - and next year we'll get a better handle on what the new normal will be. 2408 We gain one and lose one; Matrix 161 falls to the Meklar, though we took more than our share with us. Meanwhile we reached the far upper-left, and that ultra-rich barren now known as Matrix 170 replaced it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2018 18:22
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2409, Part I All back on again. Hospots  We're still waiting at Yarrow with the invasion transports three years out. Here, we don't need quite as many. That's good, because we aren't going to get much - a poor system with less than 30 factories as of press time. Still, almost everything near Pollus is still growing and around the population midpoint. Looks like a couple years at least before we're ready, and that's even pulling the drone-power from as far away as our homeworld.  Here it gets more complicated because Zhardan is going to grow significantly. Therefore the further away we have to draw transports from, the more we'll need to overcome that. Because of that and our fleet superiority, I don't think we need as much of a buffer - I don't care if we barely take the world, but I do want to make sure we take it. Assuming a fairly minimal buffer of 20M troops, we would still have expected losses of 137-138M here and that's assuming no population growth, which again WILL happen. So realistically I need 200M in order to make this happen. Also complicating this are the nebulas covering most of the approach vectors above this area - a few potential matrices that could send troops would find them taking an impractically long time to get here for that reason. Bottom line; we're getting close, but still don't have enough post-terraforming growth to launch the attack here either. This kind of thing helped inform the need for Death Spores, and it's interesting because in a typical game of mine they are useless - because everyone has the Antidote by the time you can deploy them. Here, nobody has it, or the likelihood of acquiring it anytime soon. Bioweapons are viable as a pre-endgame tactic which pretty much just isn't a thing on Impossible for the most part. It's another idea that I didn't even consider or think about for most of this game. I still wouldn't have gone for them any earlier most likely with the need for terraforming and such, but it is a curiosity of the situation in this game.  Reserve transfers continue here, as we race to get bases up and chase off the fleet overhead. It appears that it is going to be very, very close. Our first base will be ready in two years, and assuming we chase the Meklar away with that, we'll have one more year to try and add another before their transports arrive. Thing is, I think we need three.   These should arrive at the same time as the Meklar, but after we've cleared the airspace. Of course this means they are doomed if we don't clear it. Juggling quite a few things here to make this work.  Here, the buildup continues to ensure we can fight off the larger Meklar task force. Arrival is more imminent here, but if we don't have enough bases by now then we were probably going to lose the system anyway.   Hostilities will also commence here by year's end. We'll see if a single cruiser will even bother trying to bomb us out.  Halfway here - still five years away. We'll be waiting for this well into the next decade. By which time this system might be producing a full factory per year. :sadface: Analysis I still think we'll keep the first two, lose 169, and who knows about 167. Matrix 147 is looking more dicey though. I think we'll hang onto it, but I'm far from certain. It's very much hanging by a thread, as it were.  So far as I can tell, nobody is yet headed to this system in the lower-left. The Psilons can reach it, but at the very least we'll get there first. I see three Colony Ships of theirs: ** One on a return trip from the Toxic system on the far left. A 12-year journey. ** Another taking a 19-year trip out to another remote system they already own. I'm sure there's a legit reason for that. ** Last one is near Mentar, which is nearly a half-galaxy away from here. Suffice to say they won't be bothering this effort anytime soon.  Ladies and gentlemen, the Lancer class. It's the next anti-ship effort, an upgrade on the Pegasus with better shielding - compared to none - and armor. I thought about cramming a third mass driver on, but I wouldn't have been able to put anything but that and engines so that idea was quickly jettisoned. I like the synergy of these defensive systems for both of our conflicts. Against the current foes, a 50% increase in HP going from Titanium to Duralloy, plus the Class II Shielding takes a significant bite when no enemy weapon does more than 8 - unless the Bulrathi invest in Heavy hardpoints for their Ion Cannon. More importantly, these can absorb two hits from the Guardian's Scatter Packs, each doing 13 damage and requiring a third to take the last shred of hull plating keeping the ship alive. We can't put a mass driver on a fighter, not even close in fact, so this seems to be the best option for both current and future space superiority needs. It is 21% more expensive, but I think more than worth it.  To make room, we say good-bye to our Dead-rated Colonizers. At this point I'm transitioning to Toxic-only for those, to make room for combat vessels.  I think we have enough Rangers to handle the Humans; only a few, but our shields can absorb the full impact of their nuclear warheads so until they get something better, which may well not happen, we should be able to destroy their bases with impunity. Therefore we switch to the new Lancer exclusively for shipbuilding on this front.    One more year of cloning - to be followed shortly after by sending out the clones to take another human system. Lovely.       Due to one of those quirks I've never quite figured out, I spent the same amount on terraforming here as the 'sister system' of Matrix 106 - which didn't finish the job and needs another year. *Boggle*.   Here I want to play it safe and keep producing a few more Rangers. Not a lot, but some.   Another aggravating 'terraforming didn't finish for no good reason' planet.   Starting to work our way back towards reserve funding. It won't take long - until I need to suck more drones out for invasions.    With the design of the Lancer, I think I want systems like these last two joining the ship-building effort. I haven't calculated an exact number but I know we'll need a stupid amount of them to take on Orion. We're no longer expanding the fleet faster than the economy, which is not a good thing when mobilizing.     I'll stick to research a bit longer here - but not much.     It won't be long until we have a chance to oppose expansion even here on the far side of the map. In less than a decade, I expect the war to be truly galactic in scope. In some cases on the frontier, deployment decisions could become quite speculative.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2018 21:22
|
|
|
With most of the galaxy already arrayed against them, do the Borg care about the genocide diplomacy hit? Time for the guava plan!
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2018 23:11
|
|
|
The Borg indeed do not care at all. Diplomacy is irrelevant.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2018 00:41
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2409, Part II   Starting to get pretty big for an Inferno Matrix.         Still terraforming on this high-potential pairing.                   The rare incoming drone transports will be most welcome here.  Terraforming starts up for the umpteenth time.   Here as well.   2409 I'm confused as to how the Meklar are getting through our missile bases; their missiles shouldn't be able to do any damage through our shields. I must have a miscalculation somewhere. In any case, we still took some of them with us but that's going to complicate things. Wayne's World I think I'm still a handful of systems ahead, while Wayne's economy and mine seem to be roughly keeping pace with each other for the past decade. He's stayed about 7k BC ahead, largely on the strength of the Atmospheric Terraforming that General Revil wants and also because of the superior robotics of course. Also interesting that his fleet is more than double my size - but still not that much bigger than his rivals, and the Psilons are much more advanced tech-wise in his run. Partly through differences in playstyle and probably even moreso through RNG, they are doing better to a degree at putting up a fight against him. I think the tech gap has closed a bit, but he's still well ahead and spending almost twice as much as I am there as well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2018 00:43
|
|
|
Thotimx posted:I'm confused as to how the Meklar are getting through our missile bases; their missiles shouldn't be able to do any damage through our shields. I must have a miscalculation somewhere. Missiles do in fact do full damage to planets, which is why I was so aggressive about sniping empires without Planetary 5 in the Bulrathi game. Even the lowly Scatter V will do 10 damage per tube to a planet with Class 4 shields (which is pretty typical for the phase of the game I used them in). Those and bombs are "physical" and everything else is "energy" (including torpedoes, which... well,  I guess).Thotimx posted:Partly through differences in playstyle and probably even moreso through RNG, they are doing better to a degree at putting up a fight against him. Yeah, those big planet invasions are bloodbaths and I didn't get the tech haul I was hoping for yet. At least with Advanced Space Scanner I can send drones from those Fertile planets way in the backlines early and let my fleet meet them as I sweep onward. I'm glad you reminded me about the Bulrathi before I recorded again, too; need to decide between Guava Bombers or just glassing the planets when I get there.  Speaking of I should be recording again on my next break. I've been called in a ton at the hotel lately but I get New Year's and 2 after that off. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2018 10:17
|
|
|
Wayne posted:Those and bombs are "physical" and everything else is "energy" (including torpedoes, which... well, I guess). Guhhh … .that's what it is. My brain puts torpedoes and missiles in the same category.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2018 21:28
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2410, Part I There is clearly an arms racing starting to heat up; our stay as the top fleet in the galaxy has proven to be short-lived, even with the losses we've inflicted on the current #1, the Meklar. Elsewhere though, our economic and tech advantages continue to grow.  We remain on the verge of war with the Humans, but that last domino has yet to fall. The Bulrathi now have Scatter Pack V Rockets, which will significantly improve their planetary defenses. The Psilons have added Dotomite Fuel Cells(Range 7), allowing their ships to reach further than anyone else can.  ** Psilons(7) ** Humans(5) ** Bulrathi(3) ** Meklar(3, +1) ** Mrrshan(2) The cybernetics finally getting a third planet, at our expense of course, is the only news here.  125 Pegasus destroyers ends up being the final count of those, and so far we haven't lost a one. In fact, aside from our encounters with the Guardian well over a half-century ago, we haven't lost any ships of any kind to hostile action. One way to look at our buildup here is to compare it to the missile damage we'll need to absorb from the Guardian. Right now the destroyers (Pegasus/Lancer) can absorb 307 of the 2250 warheads we'll face from the alpha strike, 13.6% of it - they are advanced to enough to hit our ships 100% of the time, unfortunately. In other words, we can't even survive the first of those five initial hellacious combat rounds. I may reach a point where I feel I have enough 'extra' to hit Orion before I have the population to take out the remaining systems from the other empires - but if so, that point is a very long way off.  The coming decade should see another wave of advances come in, with our next small step up the shielding ladder just beginning the testing phase.  Ship maintenance is slowly growing again, while base spending gradually shrinks - it was once at a full 2%. Collective Data - GY 2410 ** Matrices - 69 of 94(+1) ** Operational Drones - 2.873 billion(+583M) ** Production - 11,579 BC(+3080) ** Projected Completion Year - 2450 ** Projected Completion Date IRL - April 10 Economic growth was a staggering 36%, a combination of the terraforming gains and a number of planets getting their legs fully under them industrially. Population is up a solid 25% as well. Only one system was taken though, leaving more than two dozen of them outstanding, and until we can ramp up invasion efforts I expect further progress to continue to be slow. Projections here assume we'll have some 2-part and some 3-part years. Hostile Action Report ** Meklar: 9M killed, 7M Borg Drones KIA. 7 Meklar cruisers destroyed, with 2 Borg Missile Bases lost. ** Psilons: 60M killed, 92M Borg Drones KIA. 9 Psilon destroyers and 1 missile base destroyed, no Borg space casualties. ** Mrrshan: 5 cruisers and 17 fighters destroyed, no Borg space casualties. ** Guardian: Still alive; 3 Borg Recons destroyed ** 9M drones lost to exposure. ** Total: 69M troops killed, 108M losses sustained. 12 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 17 fighters, and 1 missile base destroyed; Borg losses are limited to 3 fighters and 2 missile bases so far. Hotspots  It's time to get an updated view of what the Humans have at each of their systems. A small dispatch of destroyers will head to each, timed to coincide with the Yarrow invasion. Sol is the only system that we both haven't scouted and requires a two-year travel time to reach.  The final small addition to the Yarrow attack, which now totals 106 million drones.  These are headed to Pollus, our second target. A slightly longer wait even than Yarrow, but I can't think of anything we gain by waiting more. A rare dispension of troops from the homeworld to attack, but we need them in this case.  This is quite a bit more extreme even, but I see no useful alternative. A seriously long-range attack on Zhardan is finally underway. It'll pick up more additions along the way and will end up somewhere in the 200-250M range eventually by the time it gets there. After pondering the matter for a while, I thought it best to launch now and then do whatever cloning is needed for the donor matrices, adjusting the numbers along the way as we go. We still don't have quite enough at the present time, but we're close - and our collective population should grow more than fast enough to make up the difference on the planets that will be sending troops along later.   I'm conflicted about whether to even keep trying here. I may well be throwing good money after bad to do so, but we do have those incoming transports and enough population to fight off half, maybe a little more, of the Meklar troops. We'll get one more try with another base in a couple years when everything shows up ... hopefully take out another cruier or even two. Then maybe some of the drones get through - or maybe not. It doesn't look good but I'm not convinced I should just write off everything as a loss yet.   No transports incoming that I can see, and they didn't bother trying to bombard the system. Analysis Who knows pretty much sums up how I feel about the three matrices that we have under threat. Meanwhile it's good to be up to three of our own invasions underway - but the two just begun will take significant time to bear any results.  The former and future site of Matrix 162, it'll be interesting to see if the Meklar decide to actually do anything here.   Almost half of the drones sent out will be reconstituted within a year.              We should be able to secure enough reserve funding to deal with any potential emergencies for quite a while now.    Two more years of peace up here. I'm a little curious how the Humans respond and whether they'll try to counterattack. Not that it really matters.  Sort of a strange routing order, but what else? We need the ships more than we need research right now, this is too big a planet not to utilize, and there's nebula obstructions between here and the Meklar side of things. We'll have to head left here to get past them, then a manual re-routing to reach the rally point.   Cheaper cloning would be really nice - but we haven't seen that as an option yet and won't anytime soon.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2018 21:28
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2410, Part II          Terraforming everywhere - and many planets have a long road ahead of that continuing.                Given the Meklar aggression in the region, I'm definitely looking forward to getting a couple of bases up here.  Our latest research contributor.   Periodic bursts of growth activity still bring everything to a halt, ultra-rich or no.     Looks like our transports will arrive at Matrix 163 safely, and nobody has interfered yet, so we'll probably be able to keep this.    This will probably be our first decent population source on the left edge.   2410 The Psilons want peace. I'm a bit flabbergasted, but I reject the offer. There's no point to such games. If they reach the point of wanting to bribe us, then sure - otherwhise we're taking their systems and slaughtering the lot of them methodically, and we will not be dissuaded.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2018 21:09
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2411, Part I Hotspots  We're a year out from the attack on Yarrow, and most of the fleet on this front will head there - but a couple of other systems need a quick visit as well.   Next turn we'll have a much better idea where and when to strike next. While none are at our immediate target, they've begun building larger ships so we may get a workout for the destroyers. Six years remain until we hit Pollus.  The next smidgeon of a contribution to the Zhardan campaign is all the activity on the Psilon front -- at least from us.  Three years till this long-awaited attack that may or may not even be one shows up.  Still no evidence they are planning on doing anything but sit in orbit. I'm calling this one a win due to the enemy not having enough force/caring enough to even engage.  The Psilons are coming; a cruiser, two destroyers, and a fighter. They are six years out though, and by then we should have missile defenses here. I've seen no evidence they have anything capable of penetrating them, and we could also send ships if needed - I think not though. A total waste of their fleet assets it would seem.  Matters are less positive here. We continue to invest, hoping against hope, but the most likely result is that we end up losing a system that we could have held had I taken immediate action. It would help a bit if we get the new shields in this year for the last base here, but that's not likely to happen.  Analysis We continue to slowly but perceptibly escalate offensive operations, while Matrix 147 appears to be the only immediate clear vulnerability. For the moment at least, we seem to have reached a tipping point where we are the aggressors more than not. This must continue, and accelerate.           Cloning seems to be part of the annual routine now.   I'm not entirely certain, but I think it is time to shut off the Ranger flow completely. I can always build more later, but I've yet to see any reason why a few of them couldn't take out whatever planetary defenses we run up against.   For now at least, this is the final missile base I plan on putting up.    Another place where I'm making the switch from Ranger to Lancer.    Should get back to enough drones for full production after this.  It's weird seeing some of these systems that I stopped by every year for decade after decade suddenly growing much larger. I hardly recognize them anymore.   
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2019 21:43
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2411, Part II   As usual there isn't a whole lot to say about the mass of growing systems.    Done terraforming here, and Matrix 135 is ready to start boosting its research output more.   Bunch of changes here but basically not on the hotspot list anymore, set on missile defenses, and the latest to switch to Lancer production. I'm starting to entertain thoughts about when I might want to work on taking back Matrix 161 ...      Still growing here, I forget what the current cap is on terraforming.          It seems almost every planet in parts is at that 30M out of 60M max level right now.      Once these two get up to full power - eventually - we'll have a lot more ships coming out to deal with Orion.    Still curiously un-noticed by the others who should be quite interested, Matrix 163 races to get an industrial base up and running before hostile powers intervene.     2411 Lots of fighting. We take Yarrow from the Humans, and lose Matrix 147 to the Meklar; didn't get any more cruiser kills, though we probably would have if the shield advance had come in even a year earlier. I'm finding that I may not have needed the bomber-cruisers at all; the mass drivers are doing just fine against enemy bases though we may need more than that when going up against the AI homeworld systems. Another overestimation of enemy technological effectiveness, but I most definitely don't want to build any more. We take more ground losses than expected in both cases. Something like half of our troops got through the Meklar blockade, yet it still wasn't enough. Would have sent more if I knew it was going to be that close - I basically just miscalculated at 147 from start to finish, and it ends up losing us the system and a couple of techs to the cybernetics. I also get a kick out of the Human diplomatic statement as we finally get their last DOW in. For once, it is actually accurate. They have been reasonable, and devoted to peace. That was always a pipe dream in this galaxy though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2019 18:46
|
|
|
That's certainly a surprise to see something accurate and sensible from the AI text.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2019 20:44
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2412, Part I Another 3-parter this year.  For some reason our spies are not getting caught as much the last couple of years. At least for the current turn, we'll save some cashola as a result. Hotspots  We don't have the population for it yet, but Trax will be our next target. A good system with a modest amount of factories and no defenses.  Five years till we hit Pollus, and it's time to flesh out those convoys.  This should do it. Somewhat more than I was planning on sending, but I'm playing it safe a bit after the heavier losses we sustained at Yarrow.  The Zhardan task force gets beefed up considerably with this contribution.  The wait continues.  Business as usual, with five years until the Psilons show up and get punished.  The new Human cruiser class, the Dreadnought, is incoming. We'll leave our fleet here to deal with that, but I'm not particularly concerned. Analysis The unnecessary loss of Matrix 147 was unfortunate, but it is in the past now. At the moment I expect to be able to fend off the attackers everywhere they are coming from. Before long, there won't be anything they can do.  It appears that the Meklar have scrapped their cruiser that was in orbit here.  I've decided to target Matrix 147 for recapture, and for now I want to re-route all of our ships out here in that direction.   We also have well more than enough ships on the Psilon front, so I'll send some spares out to help with the Meklar. It'll take some time for them to get there, but it should still help a bit when the time comes.  A temporary catching-up with the cloning efforts on the homeworld.    Back into cloning for a couple of years.        Another cloning diversion here with a big convoy leaving for Zhardan.  
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2019 22:09
|
|
|
Even though we already know the outcome, this is like a tense war epic.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2019 22:26
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2412, Part II   The planet formerly known as Matrix 162 has still not been taken, despite the Meklar visiting it again after having bombed it and left a while back. We'll soon have enough ships out there to try and defend it, so I figure it's worth getting a Colonizer going out that way.    And more cloning here. On one hand, we won't gain that much from it terms of production - but the people are more valuable, and it's not as if we can get much else done with the funds an an ultra-poor planet.    Latest ship-building matrix, though it may well be temporary.               
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2019 22:17
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2412, Part III  Looks like this will be the end of terraforming here, and Matrix 142 figures to end up at 125M max.         Any general offensive against the Meklar has to wait until these systems are ready. Matrix 153 is as good a benchmark for that as any of them, and there's still terraforming work to be done here.         Still doing the acceptable-waste shuffle here.      Freed from the Meklar threat - but still nearly useless.  Limping along at the 'I forgot to hit the spacebar' system.   Looks like Death Spores at any time, and it shouldn't be long after that before we can accelerate the conquest. Main reason for adding this though was the fact that we have four advances in prototyping, and by a fair margin this is a new high for us in research as well. All of them will help our ship designs to one degree or another. 2412 We lose that artifacts system to the Psilons finally - but gain a quality planet ourselves not far away. No combat this year.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2019 22:14
|
|
|
Match the Master: 2413, Part I  We have another hole in our rotation of ship slots now that the standard Colonizer is no longer needed. If you've been paying attention, you know what will replace it soon ... Hotspots  We'll finally find out what the Meklar intend here, as they are set to arrive this year.   Time to find out what the humans have on these cruisers of theirs. Meanwhile we're four years out from Pollus, and need another year or two to get the population to take on Trax.  On the Psilon front, it's time to add more to the Zhardan effort.   This takes the total drones committed to 150 million. A decent start, in other words.     Here's one of the bad ideas of the MOO AI rearing it's head; having conquered a system, they abandon it. Bad idea. Really bad idea. Matrix 147 is now effectively defenseless for several years, because of the slow Meklar engines; it'd take them four years to get here from anywhere. So naturally, we'll be taking advantadge of this situation:  We'll want a task force in orbit to guard it.  I'd send more if Matrix 154 could spare it. On the other hand, my calculations indicate that 10M should be enough, so nearly twice that ought to put us in the safe zone in terms of retaking the planet. It'll be a long build, but this should comfortably get the job done.  The last Colonizer to head out to a system nobody has yet settled.     The spread of cloning to more matrices is, thankfully, only going to be a temporary issue.       And more cloning.    This is the zaniest part of the map right now - it's a mess if you don't know what you're doing. Also ... it's a mess even if you do.     Both of our big ultra-poor systems have reached the point of industry catching up to population ... after decades of work. They'll be research systems now - after their usefulness as troop sources is over at least.      
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2019 21:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 28, 2024 12:58 |
|
|
What purpose are the Nuc Recons still serving? Just picketing Borg worlds too small or distant to justify cruisers? The number of Recons hasn't dropped even years after the entire galaxy was reconnoitered. I guess they're cheap as hell to maintain but it's still a ship slot being used up for a museum piece.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2019 17:17
|
|