Armageddon

[Coppermantis]

I'm going to play a game of AI war in which I will attempt to win after detonating a mk. III Nuclear Warhead. Not at the beginning of the game, of course, as I must build an economy to support the construction, but as soon as I can I will detonate it.

My strategy is to rely heavily on alternate means of gathering a force (I have a Botnet Golem at the time of writing, I'll be using Neinzul Enclave Starships and my bonus ship is Spire Blade Spawner. I'll load everything into transports upon detonation so that everything survives then go on the offensive. My AIP is going to skyrocket, but with no guard posts or command stations on any planets I might be able to blitz and overcome the AI quickly enough before the core worlds begin to lay on the pain. The map is on the smaller side, so the Core worlds aren't too far away.

I don't have anything special on, really, except the dyson sphere and Easy Golems.



On to the actual game. I'm starting this after a little progress, so I'll sum up what's happened. I'm playing with Vanilla and Scorched Earth AI Types (I think that was a random pick). Two nearby planets have been destroyed, a third captured for the valuable stash. A regenerator Golem, good for sustaining my fleet I suppose, and a MK. V BLADE SPAWNER FABRICATOR. THANK YOU RNG!

I also have Armor boosters somehow, must have had an ARS somewhere.


Nuclear Development progress at 40%.

The AI currently sees me as worthy of a 29-strong fighter wave. Oh, how that will soon change.

[HellishFiend]

Nice. When I first saw the mk 3 nuke, I tried brainstorming about how I would win after using one, but quickly got frustrated with that chain of thought and moved on. 

Looking forward to seeing how it goes.

[zoutzakje]

use the nuke right before triggering the fallen spire end fleet. That should take care of things I suppose (unless they don't have nuke immunity, which i dont remember). Of course you'd need fallen spire enabled for that
sounds cool though.. I still need that achievement

[Eternaly_Lost]

use the nuke right before triggering the fallen spire end fleet. That should take care of things I suppose (unless they don't have nuke immunity, which i dont remember). Of course you'd need fallen spire enabled for that
sounds cool though.. I still need that achievement

That how I got the achievement, and well they are nuke immune, you do need to wait a bit before you trigger it otherwise the AI counter attack for doing so will be enough to take out your home system, or at least it was before the last patch.

[Coppermantis]

I don't have Fallen Spire enabled, and my idea was to try and survive in the supply-less high AIP galaxy. If I detonated right as I was about to win, it's be sort of cheesy In my opinion. Gonna be tough.

[Wanderer]

I don't have Fallen Spire enabled, and my idea was to try and survive in the supply-less high AIP galaxy. If I detonated right as I was about to win, it's be sort of cheesy In my opinion. Gonna be tough.

I'm pretty sure that's the ONLY way to win with it.  At 5000 AIP the first wave on AI 1/1 might kill you.

[Coppermantis]

Well, we'll see. I did remember I have 1/2 AI Waves on, and the only warp gates alive should be on the homeworlds, unless there's any other AI structure immune to nukes that can launch waves. It's going to be pretty much a race to storm the homeworlds before threat builds up and hopefully before the first wave reaches my homeworld.

[HellishFiend]

I would imagine the first reinforcement wave or attack wave after using the nuke would kill you. That being said, I dont think you need to worry about cheesing with it. As far as I can think, there are pretty much only two ways you can win after using it, and those would be the Spire alternate victory, or having nuke immune fleets ready to take the homeworlds immediately after using it.

[Coppermantis]

Regarding the achievement-It doesn't have to be a Mk. III Nuke, right? Can a Mk. I Nuke on every planet suffice? It would be more AIP efficient. Also, do Scorched Earth detonations count?

[HellishFiend]

I think there are separate achievements for nuking every planet individually and for winning after using a mk3 nuke.

I dont think Scorched Earth counts, but I'm not sure.

[keith.lamothe]

I think there are separate achievements for nuking every planet individually and for winning after using a mk3 nuke.

No, it actually doesn't have any memory of how the planet got nuked, just that it did.  There's a variety of ways it can happen.

[Coppermantis]

But since Scorched Earth only destroys the Planet, not the ships, does it count as a full nuke or do I have to go with the Mk. III/nuke the destroyed planets?

[keith.lamothe]

But since Scorched Earth only destroys the Planet, not the ships, does it count as a full nuke or do I have to go with the Mk. III/nuke the destroyed planets?

Scorched Earth counts; Nuclear Command is the only form of "nuking" that doesn't count (I wonder if anyone actually plays with that option on, it seems like it could be useful to clear out large swarms of enemies by raiding the station with a small force).

Basically: does this planet look exploded?  If not, explode it

[Coppermantis]

Big news.

Black Mesa has an ARS on it, time to test the new hack mechanic.

Dyson golem scouted on Korrithia. When freed, it will help me a lot. Next to it is a...HIVE GOLEM. The game seems to realize what I'm trying to do and is seemingly trying to help me as much as it can. I assume Wasps don't get regenerated by the regen golem, otherwise that would be a massively overpowered combo. Waves at this point are little more than a blip on the radar, so I jsut have to sit tight for another thirty minutes.

EDIT: Hack begun. Zombie Tractor Platforms, no big deal.

"In Response to your hacking, the AI has blanketed the platform in tachyon radiation"

That was mean.


Nuclear Development Progress at 75%




The Hacking has begun. I move the hacker out of the gravity well so enemies will have a harder time getting to it. Seems irrelevant though, since the AI hasn't used a tachyon burst yet, must only do it once. Blade Spawners and Friendly Dyson Gatlings are defending well.

There's another burst. Now the positioning is relevant, yay.

[Coppermantis]

Nuclear Missile Ready

Mk. III Nuke is now sitting on my homeworld. All my fleet is loaded up in transports, ready for armageddon. I have a regen, botnet and hive golem but I don't think I can have them all powered simultaneously since I'll have a 30,000 energy cap. A fleet of Friendly gatlings is on patrol. I'm ready to press the button. We'll see how this goes, most likely not well.


BOOM


 

So apparently if a transport is nuked the ships don't survive. This does not bode well. I only have about 3,000 ships coming in though, 1000 of which will arive in a minute but the remaining 2/3 will be delayed for a good fourteen minutes. I can only sustain the hive golem and two mk. V Blade spawners. Moving for the first AI Homeworld.



What remains of my fleet has arrived on Talnon, the first homeworld. The AI Fleet is arriving on my homeworld though, and the Gatlings are losing ground. I may be able to take out one AI, but I don't believe I'll survive.

I did realize that my home command station is not cloaking immune. I may reload the game and position a cloaker starship by the home command station.