Apparently I'm Spoiled

[Faulty Logic]

Because 10/10 straight up is hard.

(Finished my other game, converting to PoV.)

Simple clusters  70 planet  (76566529)  Shield Bearers
Experimentalist/Neinzul Viral Enthusiast
Schizophrenic, Complete Visibility
No minor factions or plots

===Operation Fade Out====
Operational Goals: survive, plan, prepare to take first planet.

0:00:02 pause. Evaluate map. Apparently my bribery of the RNG paid off. By core network:
E: No ZPG. Oh well.
D: Spire Archive!
C: Nothing of profound interest.
B: Nothing beyond the FactIV.
A: Archive  + Decoy Fab , Warbird fab , Interplanetary munitions booster
... There's a reason I don't use smileys much. Mainly because there's not an *Evil Laugh* smiley.

Edit: now that there is an Evil Laugh smiley, I'll just use that. Thanks Keith!

AI 1: CPA + double Squid               }Could it be?
AI 2: CPA + Pinwheel + Tarpit         }Yes.

The AI are BLIND!   >D

Design riots, place minefields, unlock Harvester IIIs (my planned empire has lots of resource points, and better sooner than later).

0:00:02 Unpause.

6:30 First wave declared.
10:00 Second wave declared.
Riots are awesome (henceforth abbreviated RAA).

21:00 raid group ready to pop a DC: three raid SS in five transports. 2 return. Raid starships aren't immune to translocation? You never stop learning.
24:00 raid fallout cleaned.
27:00 second raid ready.
34:00 scouted the two nearest ARSs, one with the booster has cutlasses/shredders/zelecs. This is a great candidate to never take. The other has sentinels/muniboosts/...bulletproofs. No hack.

44:00 the second data raid was a bit trickier. A raid engine was involved. RAA.
44:00 popped first warp counter post on my target.
49:00 popped second counter post on my target.
53:00 cleaned the target of everything but the Ion V. Shield bearers are immune to instakill now  >D
1:06:00 mopped up counterwaves. Leech starships can reclaim speed boosters and translocators   >D

===Operation Double Take====
Goals: take the two archives, and the ARS which lets me get to them.

1:07:00 colonized.
1:10:00 all mkI starships online.
1:14:00 researched and installed Warp Jammers.

1:30:00 finished carving a path to the ARS (raider/weasel/siege engine no hack) + archive + decoy. This path included 2 DCs.
1:32:00 popped the enemy command station after
1:38:00 mopped up the fallout.
1:40:00 constructed command station. AIP17.

Nothing much happens for the next 50 minutes. I fortify the HW, respond to waves, raid the second-to-last DC, and scout out the remaining ARSs:
Warbird fab ARS has grenades/armor boosts/minirams. Will hack for rams.
Mundane ARS has tachyon microfighters/spire stealth battleships/mlrs. Might hack for ssbs.

2:20:00 Unlocked/build RiotIIs, CloakerIIs, fighterIIs, and shieldIIs. 1000 k left. With the archive safely out of existence, I carve a tachyon-free pathway to the next target.

2:30:00 Cloaked subfleet reaches its target, pops the warp counter post, then the command station. Why is there 900 threat onscreen? Oh, I guess it is technically 5 hops out. Wait, since when is deepstrike actually threatening? I've got 10 groups of 50 mkIII ships buzzing around, and they didn't come from the HWs like they used to. And they appear to immediately enter threatfleet behavior. I approve.

2:40:00 fallout dealt with. It appears threatfleet do not know the power of ion cannon.
2:44:00 world colonized. AIP 23.
2:50:00 counterwave teams up with a normal wave, but they can't do anything against riots at this low progress.

Mercenary fighters are actually almost reasonably priced.

3:00:00 unlock CondensedAwesomeIIIs.
3:06:00 repel wave.
3:08:00 unlock bomberIIs
3:14:00 Archive extracted. Unlock FlagshipIIs.
Operation complete.

State of Empire:

[ErictheRed]

Hey I took a look at the galaxy map; doesn't variance have the core world on alert?

I've got to make more use of the cloakers; I want my maps to start looking like this instead of the bloated mass of systems stemming out from my homeworld that result from my strategy.  I may be too focused on creating a buffer zone for my homeworld.

[Aeson]

Variance and Singularity would both put core worlds on alert, unless Warp Jammer Command Posts are installed at both worlds. I assume that Warp Jammers are at both worlds, since Faulty Logic stated that s/he unlocked and installed Warp Jammers, though s/he did not specify where the Warp Jammers were installed.

Both worlds would have been alerted for a short time while the command station was building and while Faulty Logic had his/her fleet present at those worlds, but not otherwise.

[Diazo]

Variance in fact does have a Warp Jammer.

Note the difference between the worlds adjacent to Variance and the player home world.

Specifically the Red Highlight the ones next to the Player Homeworld, that highlight means those worlds are on alert.

D.

[Dichotomy]

AI 1: CPA + double Squid               }Could it be?
AI 2: CPA + Pinwheel + Tarpit         }Yes.

The AI are BLIND!   >D   

Those are the gentlest HWs of doom I've seen described. Especially with the update.

21:00 raid group ready to pop a DC: three raid SS in five transports. 2 return. Raid starships aren't immune to translocation? You never stop learning.

That must have been a FUN thing to learn.

44:00 the second data raid was a bit trickier. A raid engine was involved. RAA.

You're not describing that any more? Ok.

49:00 popped second counter post on my target.

I thought only Retaliatory was allowed to have multiple warp counter posts.

Shield bearers are immune to instakill now

Their one weakness, gone. Though they can still be translocated.

I've got 10 groups of 50 mkIII ships buzzing around, and they didn't come from the HWs like they used to. And they appear to immediately enter threatfleet behavior. I approve.

"This almost killed me. I approve." See my signature.

Mercenary fighters are actually almost reasonably priced.

Mercenaries? Reasonable prices? What madness is this?

3:00:00 unlock CondensedAwesomeIIIs.

For when you need MOAR engine damage.

Any reason you always have Fade Out and Double Take as op names?

[Faulty Logic]

I thought only Retaliatory was allowed to have multiple warp counter posts.

I assume its a priviledge of difficulty 10.

"This almost killed me. I approve." See my signature.

Deepstrike was almost completely ignorable before.

Any reason you always have Fade Out and Double Take as op names?

They're US DEFCON levels (5 and 4, respectively). Round House (3) and Fast Pace (2) come up from time to time; Cocked Pistol doesn't sound nearly as awesome.

===Operation Cross-Planet Defense====
It wasn't difficult. 2700 scattered ships took out my decoy fab, but that's it.
4:30 fallout scrubbed.

===Operation Hacking the Ram====
Spire minirams will be instrumental to the HW attacks.
4:35 Hacking commenced.
4:38 All's well.
4:40 Now is not a good time for a wave. I send half my fleet off to deal with it.
4:41 Wave arrives, fleet still en route.
4:42 Fleet arrives on HW, use of riots/minefields wins the day, though many threat ships escape. Hacking fleet still OK.
4:45 Hack complete.

===Operation Round House====
4:47 ARS colonized; commenced warbird construction.
4:55 Unlocked and build modular fortress on HW, carved path to the next target: the CorvetteV + Heavy Bomber StarshipIV fab.
5:08 Popped target command station, AIP 51.
5:12 Fallout cleaned.
5:18 World colonized, Wave declared.
5:20 Wave repelled. Threatfleet has trashed the starbomberIV fab.
5:25 Fleet in position to attack the Co-Ps.
5:34 Game Lost. Reset.
===Operation Don't Provoke the Core Worlds, Moron====
Turns out that MkV guardians don't like me. Go figure.
Some more caution this time, though one of the Co-ps is on a core world (and a world next to it has a Raid Engine), so this won't be pleasant. In fact, I should put off the Co-P raids until after the next CPA, so the AI doesn't get any clever ideas. I know it's coming, and in the meantime, I will prepare.

5:20 Wave repelled. Threatfleet killed by a Corv V and warbirds before it could trash the SB IV fab.
5:30 Heavy bomber starships complete.
5:42 Wave repelled.
5:46 Wave fragments scrubbed.
5:50 Carved a path to the next planet to take (E-network).
6:00 Horrendous damage repaired.
6:10 fleet back on HW, another wave repelled, still no sign of the CPA.
6:13 K-raid begins.
6:17 unlock gravity turrets.
6:18 CPA declares (of course).
6:23 forcefields II, miniforts, and zenith/spire Is unlocked (some playing with these led to my "underpowered" opinion).

6:25 Fleet in position.
6:28 5,000 ships enter threatfleet. Saved the game.

Update to 6.011

6:29 A true cpa, with 1k ships attacking each of my satellites. I had a buffer of 150k energy, but they knocked out two of my systems. And about 5 seconds after they caused the brownout, a wave declares for home. Death ensued.

6:29 All of them went for one planet this time, killing it, but it looked like I had won (using one lightning warhead). Then a nemesis frigate swooped in on an undefended system, brownout, wave, game loss.

6:29 3700 for one planet, and two sub-thousand attacks. One lighting warhead and careful fleet management won it for me. The nemesis engaged my main fleet, and the Corv Vs + HBS IVs took it down fairly quickly. RAA.

6:36 The main threatballs are gone, and the fleet is rebuilt, still approximately 400 belligerents about.

State of Empire:

[keith.lamothe]

6:29 All of them went for one planet this time, killing it, but it looked like I had won (using one lightning warhead). Then a nemesis frigate swooped in on an undefended system, brownout, wave, game loss.

Ah, perhaps another AI motto: "If at first you don't succeed, exploit bugs."

[Winge]

6:29 All of them went for one planet this time, killing it, but it looked like I had won (using one lightning warhead). Then a nemesis frigate swooped in on an undefended system, brownout, wave, game loss.

Ah, perhaps another AI motto: "If at first you don't succeed, exploit bugs."

A difficulty 10 AI special, perhaps?

[Dichotomy]

They're US DEFCON levels (5 and 4, respectively). Round House (3) and Fast Pace (2) come up from time to time; Cocked Pistol doesn't sound nearly as awesome.

Hmm.

Operation Don't Provoke the Core Worlds, Moron

Well, they do seem to have a hair trigger (there is one ship: release EVERYTHING).

6:29 A true cpa, with 1k ships attacking each of my satellites. I had a buffer of 150k energy, but they knocked out two of my systems. And about 5 seconds after they caused the brownout, a wave declares for home. Death ensued.

6:29 All of them went for one planet this time, killing it, but it looked like I had won (using one lightning warhead). Then a nemesis frigate swooped in on an undefended system, brownout, wave, game loss.

The AIs get revenge!

Ah, perhaps another AI motto: "If at first you don't succeed, exploit bugs."

[Faulty Logic]

===Operation Parallel Processing====

Threat cleaned to ~100. RAA.

Now to raid the co-processors. A necessary evil, but I still wish Co-ps would have more AIP reduction, or at least erase the damage done to the AI floor. They're strictly worse than data centers in multiple ways.

These co-ps are a nasty bunch. Two are easy, but one is protected by two heavily-defended planets, and the other is on a core world with a raid engine next to it.

That said, riots are awesome.
7:20 raid engine and co-ps popped, fallout mostly dealt with.

===Operation Final Three====

Worlds, that is. There's an ARS (microfighters), a FactIV, and an E-network all next to each other. It will take a gate raid and two old-school warp jammers (empty systems) to make it work (meaning wave can only come to my HW).

7:27 Tiny bug: when your ships first enter a system with a timed eye, it automatically counts down its first second. Not a big deal, but really creepy with nuclear eyes.

7:29 wave repelled, fleet in position to take the next planet (E-network, BHG).
7:35 E-net taken, logistics station up.
7:40 gate raid complete
7:42 ARS taken.

7:44 FactIV gate destroyed, establishing safety from waves.
7:46 Popped the command station on the FactIV world, releasing 500 mkII ships.
7:47 Planet flash-colonized, Wave declared for home with 1300 ships.
7:49 Wave decides to go trash the FactIV, succeeds. I did get a cap of MiniramIVs out of it, though.

7:55 mopping up.
8:00 operation complete, k extracted, FactIV lost. Unlocked MiniRamIIIs, engineerIIs.

===Operation Welcome to Carthage====

Unlimited non-nuclear warhead use authorized.

8:03 fleet in position, time to attack the first homeworld.
8:07 Cloaking pathway established, core world pacified, for now.
8:08 Wave. 3200 ships inbound to home.
8:11 Wave repelled (see signature).

8:13 HW entered, CPA post triggered.
8:15 Wrath Lance destroyed (minirams under cloak).
8:20 Grav Reactor destroyed (same).
8:21 While I'm cleaning threat, a 3000-ship wave declares.

8:23 Fleet racing home, wave turns out to be missile frigates (that's just cruel; my warheads are useless).

8:29 The CPA joins the wave against my homeworld (of course), and I nearly lose. Lost 3 cryo pods. All my turrets are gone, my economy is nonexistant, and my fleet needs serious rebuilding. There's a 600 ship threatball, and about 170 other threat ships. Two of my satellite worlds are down. My friendly distribution nodes are used up, and I can't hold the AI off indefinately at 112. But I should be able to...
 
8:30 Actual CPA declares with 6700 ships. I... I don't even... that's not...is the AI allowed?...
AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

Edit: State of Empire:

[keith.lamothe]

They're strictly worse than data centers in multiple ways.

Yea, they're basically penalty structures with a silver lining.  DCs are pure bonus.

7:27 Tiny bug: when your ships first enter a system with a timed eye, it automatically counts down its first second. Not a big deal, but really creepy with nuclear eyes.

You mean it always counts down 1 second even if you don't have enough ships to cross the threshold, or the timer doesn't show until it's already counted down one second (to 0:29 or whatever)?

7:47 Planet flash-colonized, Wave declared for home with 1300 ships.
7:49 Wave decides to go trash the FactIV, succeeds. I did get a cap of MiniramIVs out of it, though.

I bet that was the fastest that factory's lines ever ran..

Unlimited non-nuclear warhead use authorized.

Uncommon restraint.

8:23 Fleet racing home, wave turns out to be missile frigates (that's just cruel; my warheads are useless).

Not useless.  You just need a lot more of them (or can they not even directly target a frigate?)

8:30 Actual CPA declares with 6700 ships. I... I don't even...is the AI allowed?...
AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

Unlimited non-nuclear warhead use authorized.

Fixed that for you.

[Diazo]

8:23 Fleet racing home, wave turns out to be missile frigates (that's just cruel; my warheads are useless).

Not useless.  You just need a lot more of them (or can they not even directly target a frigate?)

As far as I know (changed around patch 5.070 I think?), AOE immunity only protects against the AOE, not being directly targeted.

So yes, a lighting warhead can take out a single missile frigate....

This applies to all AOE btw, so flak turrets, grenade launchers, etc. all can hit AOE immune ships by directly targeting them.

The exception is the Martry (and I think the self-destruct gaurdian).  For whatever reason their AOE ignores the "AOE Immunity" and does damage to all ships in range.

EMPs should still work I believe on missile frigates though, EMP immunity is a separate ability. Tricky to use an EMP in your own territory though.

D.

[Faulty Logic]

Yea, they're basically penalty structures with a silver lining.  DCs are pure bonus.

Fair enough.

You mean it always counts down 1 second even if you don't have enough ships to cross the threshold

Yes.

EMPs should still work I believe on missile frigates though, EMP immunity is a separate ability. Tricky to use an EMP in your own territory though.

Yeah, EMPing on my homeworld would not have helped me.

[TechSY730]

Again, I would like to point out my suggestion to give warheads "immunity to AOE immunity", or at least maybe for the higher mark ones.
(mantis link to come later)

[_K_]

Again, I would like to point out my suggestion to give warheads "immunity to AOE immunity", or at least maybe for the higher mark ones.
(mantis link to come later)

Yeah but then some ships would have to get an immunity to immunity to AOE immunity.