Arcen Games

General Category => AI War Classic => AI War Classic - After Action Reports => : Volatar October 15, 2012, 12:33:17 PM

: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 15, 2012, 12:33:17 PM
As probably no one here knows, because I don't think I have mentioned it, I am Mormon. In two weeks I leave on my Mission. (To Las Vegas amusingly enough.) That's two years away from games and the Internet.

So, in those two weeks I want to do something that I have not yet done.

I want to win a game of AI War.

This will be the story of my attempt.
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 15, 2012, 01:00:12 PM
Interesting; years ago in school my wife roomed with a Mormon.  The subject of whether her roommate would go on mission did come up a few times, iirc.

For once, I hope the AI gives you a decent shot at winning, as this probably won't be the same game when you get back ;)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 15, 2012, 01:16:49 PM
Interesting; years ago in school my wife roomed with a Mormon.  The subject of whether her roommate would go on mission did come up a few times, iirc.

A much smaller number of women go on missions than men. They aren't expected to go, just encouraged, and had to wait until they were 21. Many of them got married before that. Men on the other hand ARE expected to go and can go at 19.

Last week this was changed though. Men can go at 18, and women at 19. There will be a lot more women going on missions now. :)

I am a guy though and 21 so none of this affects me. It will affect my possible pool of companions though. :)

For once, I hope the AI gives you a decent shot at winning, as this probably won't be the same game when you get back ;)

I expect two more expansions by the time I get back. You have work to do.  ;)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 15, 2012, 04:10:34 PM
And so I begin. 80-planet Maze B Easy. All 4 expansions enabled. Not using a champion though.

Normal ship availability. CSG's disabled.

Combat style Epic, normal caps. (My computer should be able to handle the numbers. :))

Human Resistance Fighters. Zenith Traders. Broken Golems Easy. Fallen Spire. Spirecraft Moderate. Reveal Random AI Types. 1 AIP every 30 minutes.

No plots.

7/7 Random Easier.

I pick a single HW with Beam Frigates.

And it begins.

(http://i.imgur.com/sf4Eg.jpg)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 15, 2012, 06:13:56 PM
Explored a bit and built my basic HW defenses and first fleet, as well as scanning for the first shard.

(http://i.imgur.com/xr1EP.jpg)

First shard is on Arkintoofle Minor. Not an intimidating world.

Axel Nebula though? Definitely intimidating. It has a Fortress, a Grav Drill, and a Special Forces Alarm post.

I just popped the alarm, and lost the coin flip.

Uh oh...
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 15, 2012, 08:01:28 PM
Luckily I am early enough in the game that the alarm response is handled by my fleet alone.

I proceed to take out the command stations on both Arkintoofle and Axel so that I can deny the Fortress on Axel supply.

My first unlocks are Bombers II and Fighters II. Fighters are going to come in good use since the AI seems to have a lot of Viral Shredders.

I successfully take Axel Nebula, and scrap the Grav Drill. As much as I would like the resources I judge the slow to be too detrimental to my logistics.

Half my turrets go to my Homeworld, the other half to Axel. I then gather my fleet and stick them and the Survey ship in Arkintoofle and wait for the oncoming hoarde.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 15, 2012, 08:19:47 PM
Woah, the shard has a speed of 48. Thats... a lot faster than I remember. (A Quick search shows that this was changed in 5.080. Thanks Keith.)

The Shard being fast just means it gets home before I get hit with the Chase Exo. It doesn't make said Exo any easier.

In Fact, I looked pretty close to losing Axel there for a few minutes. I am going to need more firepower.

EDIT: Whoops. Somehow I forgot to actually enable Spirecraft.

Well, oh well. Guess I can do without.
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 15, 2012, 09:23:05 PM
Woah, the shard has a speed of 48. Thats... a lot faster than I remember. (A Quick search shows that this was changed in 5.080. Thanks Keith.)
Don't thank me until y-(sounds of loud explosions).  Yea, until you handle those guys.

4x faster shards, 4x more-frequent chase spawns :)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 15, 2012, 10:11:14 PM
4x faster shards, 4x more-frequent chase spawns :)

Ah, I wondered if you had changed the spawning to compensate. Good to know.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 16, 2012, 05:32:54 PM
The Refugee ship turns out of also be on Arkintoofle. I recover it without too much difficulty.

The first city shard though, that signal is located on Brontitall. I use up the rest of my energy and knowledge and flesh out my fleet fully. I plan to grab that shard before I expand my territory.

I escort a Survey ship to Brontitall. (A new one, as each time I survey I forget about the little guy in the confusion of the chase afterword and he dies.) I vow to remember to send this survey ship back when the chase starts.

I forget again. Bah, Scientists are cheap anyhow.  :P

The chase this time is much larger and much more intense. The chasers start to outpace my fleet in its race back to the homeworld.

(http://i.imgur.com/piXa9.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/Y9sPT.jpg)

Welp. Ok, that plan didn't work. Expansion it is.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Oralordos October 16, 2012, 06:26:36 PM
The first city shard though, that signal is located on Brontitall. I use up the rest of my energy and knowledge and flesh out my fleet fully. I plan to grab that shard before I expand my territory.
Sounds like my type of plan... if I have a suitable defensive line first.

I escort a Survey ship to Brontitall. (A new one, as each time I survey I forget about the little guy in the confusion of the chase afterword and he dies.) I vow to remember to send this survey ship back when the chase starts.
I'm sure that vow is very comforting to the surveyors on-board.

I forget again. Bah, Scientists are cheap anyhow.  :P
So... apparently only the scientists survived the AI purge? That would explain how they are cheap at least....

The chase this time is much larger and much more intense. The chasers start to outpace my fleet in its race back to the homeworld.
Oh my. That is fast all right.

[img snip]

[img snip]

Welp. Ok, that plan didn't work. Expansion it is.
:)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 16, 2012, 07:08:28 PM
I am also going to need some better fixed defenses to deal with the spirecraft and guardians that come in. I'll have to check whats good against those hull types.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Bossman October 16, 2012, 07:31:27 PM
As long as the groups are led by Spirecraft, they'll run right through fixed defenses without slowing down. Aim your Raid Starships at the Shield Bearers and your bombers at the Implosion Artillery; they're the fast ones. Siege Towers are, thankfully, not so speedy.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 16, 2012, 07:54:24 PM
As long as the groups are led by Spirecraft, they'll run right through fixed defenses without slowing down.

Unless I put a shield wall in their way.  8)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 18, 2012, 01:40:49 PM
So I expanded out, took Arkintoofle, Jijo, and Buzzel. Fleshed out my caps of things and gave it another try.

Which, again, resulted in failure. Things were going great until suddenly my defense fleet started getting dropped and about 600 enemy ships managed to punch through to my homeworld, which I could not set up a second line of defense on quick enough.

I am not sure what I am doing wrong here. I don't remember it being so hard last time I tried.

I have two ends to defend from. The left and right. The left seems to get a much smaller chase Exo than the right. I put half my turrets and mines on the left and it defended itself without much difficulty.

The right however is where the enemy punched through. Here is my defensive setup. Note: I had my fleet on FRD when I tried earlier. I think that might have been unwise.

(http://i.imgur.com/Zh7SG.jpg)

There are no less than four mk I shields over that wormhole. Half the caps of all my turrets are here. (except Lightnings. Haven't built any of those anywhere.) as well as my entire mobile fleet.

My unlocks so far have been mk II's for the fleet triangle and mk III fighters. Heavy Beam Cannon I's, Basic Turret II's, and Grav turrets. (Oh, and Scout II's)


I have 9k knowledge to spend, and 180k energy from my Collectors alone. What am I missing here that will let me defend this successfully? (Starting to regret the mistake of leaving out Spirecraft for myself here.)
: Re: One last attempt.
: LordSloth October 18, 2012, 02:33:06 PM
Things are a lot tougher, and able to outpace your defenses. I might suggest a lightning warhead placed right next to your shield generator. And LOTs of mines, since it isn't like they'll be stopped by tractor turrets for long.

Yes, it is really hard, and I'm having to adjust as well, since they blew through my chokepoint.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 18, 2012, 02:34:38 PM
If I need a Lightning Warhead to beat this Exo, I am going to need one for the next, and the next... until death by AIP.

I don't like Warheads.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Hearteater October 18, 2012, 03:45:27 PM
You're doing FS right?  AIP is less critical there.  As you get the big ships, the amount of AIP will be less important.  So if you need a warhead or two for early Exos, that's a fair trade.  Think of it this way: You have 1 AIP/30 minutes on.  A Mark I Lightning Warhead costs 1 AIP.  So if you are in a situation where a Mark I Lightning will save you 30 minutes of game time, use the warhead.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 18, 2012, 03:47:18 PM
You're doing FS right?  AIP is less critical there.  As you get the big ships, the amount of AIP will be less important.  So if you need a warhead or two for early Exos, that's a fair trade.  Think of it this way: You have 1 AIP/30 minutes on.  A Mark I Lightning Warhead costs 1 AIP.  So if you are in a situation where a Mark I Lightning will save you 30 minutes of game time, use the warhead.

Oh, I thought they were 5 AIP.

Wellllll then.  8)
: Re: One last attempt.
: LordSloth October 18, 2012, 04:27:25 PM
...I tend to play with Civilian Leaders on, and do a bad job getting ahead of the automatic growth. So I'm usually seeing 7-10 AIP an hour, which should be taken into account with regards to my occasionally building a full cap of lightning warheads in desperation. That said, as soon as you get those cities up, the sooner you can leverage those shielded destroyers into other game advantages. I tend to view the first spire city as the most important - I want my railguns bad. Forgot to take Sniper as starting ship type? No problem.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 18, 2012, 05:27:41 PM
Well, the two Lightning warheads I used certainly helped, but in the end about 500 ships broke through. (Note: The shard spawned further out this time, so there were more spawns.)

Hmm....
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 18, 2012, 06:26:15 PM
And success! I modified my defense again.

You see, what was happening before was that my fleet would duke it out with the Exo at the wormhole. The turrets were too far to assist. When the fleet died the AI was able to walk right past my turrets, barely taking any damage from them before destroying them.

So, I moved the turrets up, AND gave it more tasty targets, namely a capful of tractor turrets on top of the wormhole, AND provided a safe way for my engineers and remains rebuilders to continuously refresh the bait for it's fire.

This is what it looked like.

(http://i.imgur.com/fsxvU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YPpfn.jpg)

All of this death and destruction brought to you by the glorious metal band Demetori. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVVxqvSOAoM)

Finally I can move forward.
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 18, 2012, 06:27:18 PM
Nothing like atmospheric densities of lightning to spice up an AI attack's day :)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 19, 2012, 11:17:09 AM
Ended up spending that 9k knowledge on harvesters III. I didn't want to wait around forever for the resources to build the spire city stuff.

So I immediately plopped the city down, grabbed some engineers, and watched it build.

It wasn't until the AI taunted me that I looked at the map, to see an Exo breaking through my left side while I wasn't looking. I forgot about that Exo trigger.

RELOAD.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 19, 2012, 01:23:02 PM
So, after not dying to the city building wave I proceed to build said city (on Buzzel).

I take the main bulk of my fleet over to Arkintoofle and examine the situation next door.

(http://i.imgur.com/5BDzJ.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/4EMah.png)

Well crap. Those are gonna suck.

Oh hey, a CPA. They all form up on Synchrony. I bait them to attack and clean them up without difficulty, netting me 19 Sentinel I's in return. Sweet.

I form up my fleet and stick my head into the meat grinder of Synchrony (not enough to trigger the eye). My Raid SS's manage to take out the Ion Cannon and two of the guard posts before I retreat. Unfortunately the Fortress is sitting right next to one of the remaining two guard posts, so Raid SS's aren't going to cut it.

I lick my wounds (having lost nearly 200 of the 600 ships I brought to that system) and start to build the Spire Fleet ships that I now have access to.

A Exo is imminent but since it is the first one I am not concerned. My static defenses should handle it fine.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 19, 2012, 04:40:29 PM
I poke my head into the same system again after the Exo, and my single Spire Destroyer picks off both guard posts while sitting at the wormhole in seconds.

Well that was easy. Guess I don't have to worry about that fortress after all.

On to Narn!

Exo at 90%? Ah that's not that big a deal. I can fit in a quick raid on the Ion Cannons before it hits.

or not

I manage to take out the Ion cannons before the Exo hits. The wave races right past me and through my wormhole before I realized it had spawned.

My defenses take care of it, but in my haste to bring my fleet back my Spire Cruiser and Destroyers get caught out alone left in Narn, their engines down to a quarter speed, getting swarmed by little ships.

The Cruiser, slowest of all, gets out at 40% hp right before a wave of bombers reaches him. That was close. That could have been expensive.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 19, 2012, 04:59:46 PM
So, the city reveals that the next city shard is on Flargathon. As I suspected might happen. (That's why I have been working on Synchrony and Narn.) Well, guess I better punch some scouts through to Arcturus next door.

Only two make it through, and, knowing they would die quick, I make sure to be watching the system with my hand over the P key when they enter.

(http://i.imgur.com/4tpRx.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/tanB5.jpg)

O.O

I have severely underestimated the AI.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 19, 2012, 05:33:45 PM
Managed to clear out all the threatening things from those two systems (apart from that fortress).

Also, this amused me in one of the waves:

(http://i.imgur.com/cewLG.jpg)
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 19, 2012, 09:58:38 PM
Those ships really have no concept of personal space.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 19, 2012, 11:56:26 PM
So, after that battle with the Eye on Narn, everything that was not a starship in First Fleet had either retreated (to keep the number's from being imbalanced) or died (when I couldn't retreat them fast enough). So, at the end of it all my First Fleet group selection only consisted of Spire Fleet ships and Starships.

Well, I guess I might as well use these guys I think. I hop them over to Narn after the Exo mentioned above and pop the barracks from afar, and kill all the contents before they reach firing range.

Then, suddenly, these guys show up.

(http://i.imgur.com/5QPMe.jpg)

RETREAT!

I guess the AI considered the now-barren system of Narn worth defending?

Anyways, that reserve fleet of theirs goes back to Synchrony, I gather my fleet and hop over to attack it. Unfortunately it's too far away and said enemy fleet has nearly a hundread zenith sentinels. Not duking it out at long range with that.

So I hop back over to Arkintoofle, then to Narn, hoping to come in behind them at much closer range.

They oblige me with the fight I wanted.

(http://i.imgur.com/jInkF.jpg)

Cleaning that up should reduce the threat out there.

I send out scouts to report on that buildup at Arcturus. I manage to get one through permanently.

(http://i.imgur.com/PfRcp.jpg)

Looks like that fleet I just killed came from there, so it is reduced, but still a large threat.

I plan now to go for the second city shard in Flargathon. Hopefully that reserve fleet doesn't throw itself into the battle. Things could go badly quick if that happens.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 20, 2012, 12:25:31 AM
Fortunately they do not use that reserve to hit me at the same time as the chase. The chase is hard enough, though on the way back with my fleet quite a few of them conveniently line up for my photon lances and Zenith beams. :)

(http://i.imgur.com/zZZGB.jpg)

I manage the chase, though the last bit decides it doesn't want to attack and sits in Synchrony on the wormhole, taunting me. So, I pull my fleet back a system and they decide to actually join the party.

I now have the colony ship to build my second spire city.

And that's where I leave off for the night. It's late.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 20, 2012, 11:42:38 PM
Not much to say from tonight's play. I built my second city on Arkintoofle. The third city shard appeared in Flargathon as well, so I grabbed that. I managed to forget to take it all the way back to my homeworld though without noticing (probably caught it in a selection accidentally) until I went "why the heck is this chase lasting so LONG?"  :-[

Currently expanded over to Hawalius and preparing to build my third city there when I hit the resource cap again.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 21, 2012, 12:11:43 AM
I moved up my entire defensive setup, mines and turrets and grav turrets and shields and everything.

(http://i.imgur.com/teeTm.jpg)

And then I find out that I need to move one more system out, because APPARENTLY I need TWO systems between hubs, not just one.

Whoops.

Well, heres a map status update since I located my first ARS.

(http://i.imgur.com/bU8E3.jpg)

Luckily that huge buildup of AI ships seems to be the Special Forces reserve, so they may not commit to that fight. Still, it's a ways out and has an Ion IV.

On the other hand, blade spawners sound cool. Never seen those in action before...
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 22, 2012, 07:35:51 PM
When I move my entire defensive line forward a system to Bespin and set up my third city there, I also poke scouts out and discover an ARS on Oakka.

Wellllll then. That sounds nice.

I fly my fleet out and eat a counterattack guard post. It sends a wave to the empty world next to my HW.

Well crap.

(http://i.imgur.com/bBQjm.jpg)

Anyways, in Oakka I grab the ARS and it's shiney unlock, and all the knowledge from the system before I run back home to defend against the simultaneous counterattack wave and Spire Exo.

The next shard is, again, on Flargathon. Prepping for taking that now.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 01:02:04 PM
Behavior I am witnessing currently in my Exos:

A Spire Shield Bearer will have a group with it, and will move at really high speed until the shield gets killed, at which time the group will resume normal speed.

I wasn't aware that shield bearers were speed boosters too. What the heck is going on?

EDIT: Looks like Exo's are just really fast, and my Riots slow things down once they lose shield coverage.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 01:12:02 PM
I have recovered the fourth shard. This is now the farthest I have gotten in AI War AND the FS campaign.

Previously I was considering the concept of taking a four-city fleet and hitting the AI homeworlds now.

I no longer want to do that. The FS story has now hooked me, and I want to see it to the end.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Toranth October 24, 2012, 02:39:29 PM
Behavior I am witnessing currently in my Exos:

A Spire Shield Bearer will have a group with it, and will move at really high speed until the shield gets killed, at which time the group will resume normal speed.

I wasn't aware that shield bearers were speed boosters too. What the heck is going on?

EDIT: Looks like Exo's are just really fast, and my Riots slow things down once they lose shield coverage.
Not sure you you already know this, but Exowaves have some special rules applied to them.  Namely, in order to make sure the entire wave stays together, all ships in the group assume the speed of the 'Leader' (most powerful) unit.  When you see that group zipping along with the Spire Shield Bearer, it's because all those ships are grouped under the Shield Bearer.  When you kill the leader, the rest of the ships become 'free' and will move around at their normal speed.

Incidentaly, this speed-matching overrides things like Grav turrets.  So a gravity immune unit, like the Spire Shield Bearer, will keep its followers moving at full speed through a Grav Turret's range, even though the ships would be slowed under normal circumstances.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 03:27:55 PM
Behavior I am witnessing currently in my Exos:

A Spire Shield Bearer will have a group with it, and will move at really high speed until the shield gets killed, at which time the group will resume normal speed.

I wasn't aware that shield bearers were speed boosters too. What the heck is going on?

EDIT: Looks like Exo's are just really fast, and my Riots slow things down once they lose shield coverage.
Not sure you you already know this, but Exowaves have some special rules applied to them.  Namely, in order to make sure the entire wave stays together, all ships in the group assume the speed of the 'Leader' (most powerful) unit.  When you see that group zipping along with the Spire Shield Bearer, it's because all those ships are grouped under the Shield Bearer.  When you kill the leader, the rest of the ships become 'free' and will move around at their normal speed.

Incidentaly, this speed-matching overrides things like Grav turrets.  So a gravity immune unit, like the Spire Shield Bearer, will keep its followers moving at full speed through a Grav Turret's range, even though the ships would be slowed under normal circumstances.

Ah, yes, that explains all the behavior I have seen. Thanks.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 03:56:06 PM
So I began pushing out to make room for my fourth city. Here are some screenshots.

First, I spotted the special forces several systems out.

(http://i.imgur.com/0cX4p.jpg)

That's a lot of stuff.

They withdraw before I reach that system though.

When I enter the system (with it's ARS) suddenly my game slows down significantly. I pause and look in task manager to make sure no other processes had popped up and sucked down my CPU. Nope, seems it was AI War. I didn't know why though.

And then I found out.

(http://i.imgur.com/xblk6.jpg)

Oh hi guys. Glad you showed up to the party.

They shoot me up, but my spire fleet ships shoot them up far faster.

Then the Sentinels show up. OWOWOWOWOWOW.

(http://i.imgur.com/IYXDv.jpg)

I rush at them to take them out, but after the battles are over I find I have lost over a third of the fleet ships and two of my spire frigates. That was a lot of shooting.

Anyways, looks like I have pretty well smashed the AI at this point. Now to consolidate, eat the Exo and Counterstrike waves, and put down my fourth city.
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 24, 2012, 03:59:27 PM
Dazzalotta-Sentinel-Fire! ;)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 04:21:21 PM
Dazzalotta-Sentinel-Fire! ;)

Well, they DID have ten ship caps of the things.
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 24, 2012, 04:32:36 PM
Yea, SF keeps part of its budget just for long-range stuff, if there's any to be had.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 04:46:11 PM
Bloody effective it is. You made the SF pretty darn evil. 
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 09:49:31 PM
In fact, you made them so evil, that by the time I had to go back into Ericon to

A) Clear it out so that the neighboring city could grow
B) Grab the Fabricator (Blade Spawners. I get to see these in action finally)
C) Grab the ARS (Got Raiders)

That when I poked by head back in there, the SF attacked again with their full force. Of 3000.

Here they come:

(http://i.imgur.com/IQXXn.jpg)

Again I fight them off. FS stuff is crazy powerful. (I haven't bothered bringing Bombers to mk III because photon lances eat any forcefield I encounter in seconds.)

Readying for the fifth shard now. It's behind my lines so all I have to do is survey and defend. No chasing and running this time. :)

Also, I looked at the firepower counts for once, and I am going to go out on a limb here and say that this one here is a bug.   ;D

(http://i.imgur.com/MtTbZ.jpg)

Want the save Keith?
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 24, 2012, 09:57:18 PM
I think that firepower count is from the parasite eye, which is more than a little botnetish in that regard ;)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 10:01:59 PM
Kinda throws off the usefulness of the firepower display though don't you think?
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 24, 2012, 10:02:50 PM
I think the firepower formula accomplishes that quite handily already.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 24, 2012, 10:05:01 PM
Actually, I have mobile military selected. Why are eyes Mobile Military anyways?
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 24, 2012, 10:09:21 PM
There's probably something funny with the "mobile" part of that filter if it's doing that.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 25, 2012, 05:38:00 PM
Why are a couple of the waves from my latest Exo not attacking and instead sitting outside my planet as threat?

(http://i.imgur.com/wV3Pc.jpg)
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 25, 2012, 05:40:50 PM
Are you sure they're really part of the exo, and if so is it possible you killed the lead ship?  Without a lead ship they become a lot more like  normal threat.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 25, 2012, 05:43:55 PM
Unless groups of high mark ships spawn with Spirecraft and fly at high speed to my planets in any other way...

I did not kill the lead ships of those groups. They are sitting in the middle there actually.
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 25, 2012, 05:50:54 PM
Hmm.  Save?
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 25, 2012, 05:55:57 PM
Since they wouldn't be baited I had to take my fleet through. Started with 1136. Ended with 856. The fight took about 15 seconds.

Save (before I killed everything) attached.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 25, 2012, 09:09:40 PM
What is it about screenshots like this that I find so amusing?

(http://i.imgur.com/Z2JA0.jpg)

(Also, this was a Counterattack wave that I forgot about and lost a command station to before I was able to pull some fleet assets to defend with. I kinda freaked out for bit there heh.)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Dichotomy October 26, 2012, 07:05:45 AM
There's probably something funny with the "mobile" part of that filter if it's doing that.
Actually, I have mobile military selected. Why are eyes Mobile Military anyways?
Cmon, Keith, the appropriate response is clearly evil laughter. Followed by implementing eyes that actively try to kill the humans.

Why are a couple of the waves from my latest Exo not attacking and instead sitting outside my planet as threat?
This happens to me, too. Sometimes their lead ship came through and got instagibbed, other times they all just sat their, exo-logic notwithstanding.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 02:11:34 PM
New high score!

(http://i.imgur.com/2veJu.jpg)

Also, state of the Galaxy:

(http://i.imgur.com/tQFfc.jpg)

P8's are Advanced Factories, P9's ARS's, and P6's Data centers. Still looking for the AI Homeworlds. Should be easier once I push up into those neutral planets and put down my fifth city. (Waiting on the current Exo before I do that.)
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 26, 2012, 02:23:49 PM
If that bounding box really does contain 1000+ sentinel frigates, it shouldn't give a number, it should just say "DOOM".
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 02:47:23 PM
Only 400 sentinels fortunately (as you can see on the right)
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 26, 2012, 03:54:36 PM
Oh, then it doesn't have to use all caps, "Doom" will do.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 04:24:26 PM
Sure is doom to my FPS. Even when I attack a planet on the other side of my empire that massive group decides it wants to send some forces over and my system starts to crawl.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 05:09:27 PM
So, I pushed out, build my fifth city, and then built the Galactic Capital (no response Exo?). Unlocked Battleships and the Dreadnought. Man is that thing huge (with an even larger icon).

And then it scanned for the final shard.

Which is on a place called Preliumtarn, marked with P0:

(http://i.imgur.com/qKInG.jpg)

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THAT?!?
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 26, 2012, 05:41:33 PM
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THAT?!?
Vewwwwy Carefuwy (/bugs-bunny)

Do you mean to say your spire capital fleet (with DN and BBs) can't just sail straight through AI space wherever it jolly well pleases, at this point?
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 05:58:08 PM
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THAT?!?
Vewwwwy Carefuwy (/bugs-bunny)

Do you mean to say your spire capital fleet (with DN and BBs) can't just sail straight through AI space wherever it jolly well pleases, at this point?

Won't I still trigger Deepstrike threat? (or does that just attack my fleet?)
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 26, 2012, 06:57:40 PM
Ah, right, deepstrike.  Yea, I'd say glass a planet every 4 hops, but perhaps that would be too much AIP?

Kind of a question of whether you'd rather deal with the deepstrike stuff (which shouldn't be too awful on that difficulty), deal with the AIP (not a huge deal on Fallen Spire), or just not get the final shard.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 07:04:37 PM
I'll try a beeline first and see if I can handle the deepstrike. That's quick to test.

If that doesn't work I will go planet hopping. The AIP shouldn't be a problem since this is the last shard and I should be winning within an hour of bringing it back.

Question: Do I need to TAKE a planet every four hops or just kill it off?

EDIT: The latter.
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 08:15:12 PM
Things were proceeding pretty well. I hadn't lost many ships in the first few jumps.

Then I hit a Special Forces Alarm.

And it triggered.

11000+ ships are now headed for my fleet.

(http://i.imgur.com/8dNun.jpg)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 08:16:51 PM
Oh, wait, I made a wrong turn. I don't actually have to go into that system.

RELOAD
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 08:51:19 PM
While my fleet was away an Exo happened. Now, my defenses can handle Exo's at the moment.

What they can't handle is an Exo PLUS 2k threat deciding to join in.

And unfortunately I am out of time. I will not be able to finish this game.

It was fun though. :)

And I will be back. I promise.
: Re: One last attempt.
: keith.lamothe October 26, 2012, 09:39:24 PM
Aw, and you were doing well :)

Glad you had fun; I hope your journey is safe. 

AIW may or may not be recognizeable when you get back ;)
: Re: One last attempt.
: Volatar October 26, 2012, 11:02:20 PM
AIW may or may not be recognizeable when you get back ;)

It will still be the second best game ever made. :)