As of my last session, I realized something quite critical. I have Beachheads enabled, I plan to tank waves at Home, and the enemy has very fast unlocks (Neinzul + Speed Boosters). The last thing I need is to lose simply because the AI was quicker to my home than I was to a Beachhead. Not sure if Gravity Turrets work without supply (probably not), I decided to go another route: Mines.
1:25: Unlocking EMP mines. I will use these, in conjunction with regular mines, to try and eliminate the threat. Neinzul themselves are immune to mines, but not Paralysis attacks. As such, I will EMP mine the wormholes that threaten my home to stall out the primary threat that I might face. Regular mines will help a bit in case of a stray Raid Starship coming through too. Technically, the setup would render me to Train + Beachhead, but Trains haven’t really been through my planets much. Not sure why. Unlocking Basic Turrets II for a few more defenses/drones.
1:31: Mark IV planets are proving difficult to push through—not helping that every single guardian on them wakes up when I enter (don’t think I have that much FP in my fleet yet). Going to have to wait for Heavy Bomber or Siege Starships, I think.
1:37: Pop into Holy to clear the threat from Sleepga, have to turn around almost immediately to repair. Fun fact: I hate Zenith Bombards. Fun fact 2: the AI loves to unlock Zenith Bombards against me. The threatball foolishly suicide into my defenses. Silly AI. Considering capturing Vivi (P0) for the Zenith Power Generator. I don’t want to boost AIP any more than I already am, not before I find a few more Data Centers or the last Co-Processor. Wave of 147 ships to launch to Immobilize. Yeah, let me know how that works out for you. Adding a few EMP mines there to keep the wave from immediately becoming threat, and a few more turrets to speed up destruction of any attacks. I’m already down to around 3,000 Energy…I grudgingly build another Matter Converter.
1:43: Wave launches right next to Immobilize’s command station. They take out the Power Generator, putting me in brownout, followed quickly by the Command Station. Grav Drill survives the attack, and I manage to rebuild quickly. Down Wakka’s command center to free the Civilian Leaders. That brings next hour’s AIP burst down to +6. Bit more manageable.
1:48: Curaga has a Data Center and an Advanced Factory. While I really won’t make use of the Advanced Factory this game, I may need to take it for the CSG-B. We shall see. I’ll take that Data Center now, though...rebuilding Raids. On the other side, Blizzaga has an ARS and a Spire Archive. That means that Dark is another core world, and Reflectga must be one of the AI homeworlds. Marked accordingly.
1:52: Another Spire Civilian Leader found on Blizzard. With a Black Hole Machine. Right next to the ARS/Spire Archive world. That’s just not right
I might use my Raids to snipe that leader, rather than try to free it. Considering I am still building Raid Starships and have no economy, I probably won’t have to worry about it this hour.
1:55: Raids destroy the Data Center on Curaga. No real surprise, Riots die afterwords. I would upgrade them, but I still have no resources.. The AI threat decides to run onto Cloud. They do not fare too well. Threat now down to 4, AIP back down to 31. It should increase to 37 after the next Civilian Leader tick.
2:00: Civilian Leaders tick. Yup, AIP at 37. AI said “Did you think we wouldn’t see.” Never seen something that before…wonder if that had to do with me scrapping an unnecessary scout. I’m having trouble getting intel on the last few worlds, so every scout counts. Aeroga has another Civilian Leader. Esunaga, just beyond it, has a Data Center. Both should be nice targets for sniping.
2:06: 365 Ships and 3 Starships to Immobilize. This time, I’m getting Spire Starships near the CC, just in case they warp in that wormhole. So mad at the RNG for that Gravity Drill placement. Considering moving my CC to the other wormhole, and splitting my defenses a little bit.
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EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!
This just in: Spire Starships are made out of a very advanced material formed from wet tissue paper, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap, sealed together with hot butter. Also, Marauders are a bunch of pansies who don't have the courage to fight the AI. Sorry, had to get that off my chest
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2:28: Progress is really slow. Decided to free the Dyson, then strike at the Data Center on Protect while trying to finish scouting on this side of the galaxy.
2:29: Dyson freed. Too many Gatlings and freed Barracks, so I’ll have to come back for the Data Center. Only lost one Raid…that’s a first. PS: I hate Interplanetary Munitions Boosters. I’d kill them, but I don’t want the same AIP I get for killing a AI Command Center.
2:43: Almost defeated by the random number generator. Combined waves with Cutlasses against Immobilize. Lost the Grav Drill. Literally scrapped my Cloakers+Enclaves to power shields around my Home Command Station in time. RIP Low Power mode. Last save was hours ago, not worth the scum. Oh well, I guess I’ll relocate the Immobilize Command Center. RNG or no, I will beat this AI. I might have to change my Starship strategy, though. The buff really wasn’t enough to justify the Energy cost increase.
2:47: Almost rebuild, unlocking Cloaker II’s. I’m going to try and raid a few Civies before the next hour. Given my luck so far, I’m not thinking it will go well.
2:51: There is something very off about the AI’s response to attacks this whole game. Even the most basic incursions will cause the whole planet to attack me. Is this related to the AI difficulty? Scrapping my original gameplay plan. Time to blob!
3:00: Still rebuilding. Civilian Leaders tick, up to 63 AIP now. I swear, the minor factions and RNG are worse than the AI difficulty level this game. Haven’t even seen a Beachhead yet…I probably shouldn’t say that…
3:09: My attacks have done one thing: I’ve cleared a lot of Tachyon Guardians. Let’s try a Raid with Raid Starships and Cloakers. Wave incoming for 372, 3 to my home. I have a ton of Turrets in place, so I should be ok. I’m more worried about the Counter Post(s) I’ll have to pop to free the next few Civilians.
3:16: Popped Aeroga’s Command Center, freeing another Civilian Leader. That should put me at +2 AIP/hour. One more, and I will start dropping AIP per hour. That would be nice…not sure if it’d be worth the cost. I am considering killing the remaining Civilians instead. My next targets will be the Data Centers on Protect and Esunaga, followed shortly by the ARS on Infuse.
3:22: Protect Data Center down, lost all Raid Starships. What on earth is the AI hitting them with? AIP at 68. Also, found an interesting Feature. Souleater has a Planet Cloak, but I can still see the Civilian Leader if I enable the AI Progress Reducer filter. I guess you technically could tell what the planet had, if you could scroll through the list of cloaked enemies. I might have to create a Mantis for something like that.
3:42: Esunaga’s Data Center is destroyed, one Raid lost. AIP now at 53. Wouldn’t have lost any, but an Astro Train tagged my Cloakers while en-route to Aeroga. I want to free the Bravery Civilian Leader as well. That would put me at -2 AIP for the 4th hour.
3:53: Low on time, I am attempting to eliminate the AI Command Center on Bravery, to free the Civilian Leaders there. All of the defenders were freed in my last attempt. Gogo gadget Raids+Cloakers!!!
3:54: Raid Successful. That’s 3 leaders freed, so my AIP for this hour will be +7 -9. I’ll take it.
3:55: Uh oh…I freed an EMP Guardian III trying to get the Poison Data Center, and it’s coming from the worst possible direction. I’ll see if I can intercept it on Esuna.
3:56: Nope, too much enemy firepower on Esuna. Immobilize is going to have to tank the EMP. Still have a defense squad waiting on Cloud.
3:58: That went surprisingly well. Gravity Turrets held the AI in place (despite EMP, bug?), while I picked off their forces with Missle Frigates and my other defenders. I lost a lot good number of my reclaimed ships, though. Unlocking Raid II’s. Only reason I haven’t yet is because I haven’t had the resources, but that will change very soon.
4:02: Civilian leaders tick off; I am now at 71 AIP, with a floor of 29. I have no knowledge or resources, but I am not running any Matter Converters, and I’ve stopped the Civilian Leader AIP bleed.
Scouting has revealed all but two of the Civilian Leaders, the second Advanced Factory world—Red XIII—complete with Data Center (yay!) and Missle Silo (ugh!). I have fully explored the Northern section of the Galaxy and all but two planets on the East side, but Esuna is keeping me from scouting any further East. I suspect that the final Co-Processor is hiding in the East too. My next task is to raid the Data Center on Poison, followed by Neutering Esuna (finally!). I now know why Esuna has so many defenders, btw: the AI focused on Autocannons there ><. Add in two Ion Cannons, and it will be an annoying world to deal with. I want to capture Kimahri and Infuse soon to get the ARS stations there and to get the available Knowledge from Bravery and Aeroga without capturing them (I want the AI to treat my Civilian Leaders kindly, now!).
But for now, I am hungry. It’s well past time for me to eat.
