Author Topic: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2 (victory!)  (Read 10908 times)

Offline keith.lamothe

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #30 on: May 03, 2012, 09:03:00 pm »
I just hope to see the perma-alert issue fixed someday.
Oh, right, that one ;)  Yea, should be able to make the sphere itself not cause alert.  The gatlings will probably keep doing so, though.  But that means it won't alert at the beginning of the game.

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And the last thing I have decided is that I will NOT go through with the fallen spire campaign for now.
That sounds wise ;)

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Please let it be Gnome then.
...
Great, Gnome has a planetary cloacker
;D

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Another disappointing exo :(
(sounds of notes being taken)

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I guess my AIP isn't high enough yet to see a lot of golems or at least a few H/K's.
The AIP doesn't change the size of the exos, just the rate at which they accumulate.  The strength of each exo is about 25% higher than the previous one.

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Since warp jammers are all new and better, I figured I would try them out in this game. I will need them anyways if I have to move inside the grid to get that last A-type CSG. Though I'm not sure if they work on core and homeworlds. Do they?
They do indeed work on core/homeworlds.  That's one of the main purposes, really.

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and of course a wave warning -.- 896 mk II neinzul tigers.... and of course not at my old turretball on Lapyx. My fleet won't be able to handle a wave like this yet, so I'll have to sacrifice a martyr.
And the overlord punches the "make it go away" button ;)
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Offline zoutzakje

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #31 on: May 04, 2012, 01:17:59 pm »
I would be really happy if only the dyson gatlings cause alert. That way it's up to me to decide when I want to alert the sphere's neighbouring planets, instead of having to hope the RNG is friendly to me (it usually isn't).

I always thought the AIP also increases the exo's strength, not just it's build up speed. I guess it makes sense that my most recent exo was disappointing then, since this was only my 6th or 7th exo.

It makes me very happy to hear that warp jammers work on homeworlds. This should make my endgame significantly easier (If I even manage to get to the endgame).


Allright, just got home from another exhausting day of work. Time to relax with a game of AI war.

So I destroy the neinzul tiger wave with a martyr and decide that Rock Golem needs immediate neutering. I know my fleet won't survive an all-out battle so I send my fleet in, gather some threat, get back out, provoke them to attack, and destroy them. Rebuild and repeat.
Meanwhile 3 mining golems spawn. Gatekeeper, Dirge and Seafighter. That can wait till I finished setting up my turretball.
Nearly 700 mk II fighters arrive in a wave. luckily it's aimed directly at my old turretball on Lapyx. Good thing I didn't scrap it yet.

Rock Golem and Meagaera have been neutered, turretball is ready and I destroyed everything but the warp gate on Samael. Good, time to get that AIP below 210 again (245 atm). I really hope I can do all of this quickly, without much interruption from the AI. I'm expecting the next CPA in about an hour and this high AIP won't do me any good.

Running out of time, so I'll continue later.

Offline zoutzakje

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #32 on: May 08, 2012, 01:10:17 pm »
had to pay attention to a wave (escaping mk II missile frigs are NOT good) and now I can finally get some AIP reduction started. I'm not going to take the ARS at Torent yet. I want to keep AIP as low as possible for when I'm taking those mk IV worlds in the upper left corner.
Next exo is on it's way, but only at 54% so I got some time.
Crap, it appears I did something wrong with placing my turretball. It can hold smaller waves, but no longer the missile frig waves... Guess I'll just have to blow up martyrs until my fleet is done.
Allright, managed to destroy the data center and the first co-p. Just 3 more to go and my AIP should be well under the tech II threshold again. It was kind of chaotic actually. I had a wave of about 1000 teleport raiders (which my turretball can't deal with) so I had to blow it up with a martyr and pay attention to how my fleet was doing at the same time. But I survived.
40 minutes later since I started all of this, so I'm expecting a CPA any minute now. Oh and the exo is at 79%... that's gonna be fun. Better start the martyr factory again.
The 3 remaining co-p's are all at mk IV worlds... That's going to get ugly.
While keeping numbers low on Rabbit again, I discovered that there were actually a few mk V bombers among them. I'm curious what causes mk V ships to spawn on a non core mk IV world? They weren't threat or anything. Just low powered at the command station.
I'm also seeing mk II ships at an mk I world. So I'm guessing it's the threshold.

The second co-p (Geode) was tough to take down. Had to free little bits of threat at a time, which would then go straight for my homeworld. I tried sending my entire fleet in and fight till death.... but that turned out to be very helpful for the enemy teleporting leeches, so I had to change plans :D
Exo at 89% and still no sign of a CPA... I won't be able to take down the other 2 co-p before it hits though.
I'll deal with the incoming wave of 1200 youngling tigers later.

Offline zoutzakje

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #33 on: May 13, 2012, 09:44:38 am »
I managed to take down both the data center and the co-p on Shadow before the exo would hit, so that gave me absolutely no short-term advantage AIP related :P just 1 more co-p to go and I'll be below tech II again for a while (at least until I finally get some golems).

The exo was at 99% when I finished with Shadow so I had to rush my fleet back to my homeworld. The exo spawned a mk I H/K which managed to destroy my home before I could take it out. Great. Savescummed and this time the exo was split up in 5 groups without any H/K's. One group managed to destroy the command station at Clay Gargoyle but my homeworld stayed safe. Good.
Rebuilding, destroying the Warp gate guardian that just spawned at Ooze and off to kill the final co-p. I want to get this done before CPA warning arrives.

Woohoo, somehow managed to pull it off. I lost my entire fleet in the attempt to kill the last co-p, but I did succeed. AIP is back at 157 and the CPA warning just arrived. I lost Meld to a double wave, but I can rebuild that quickly. I got a full caps of mk II and III martyrs ready so this CPA of just 565 ships shouldn't be to much trouble, especially since I let a few low mk planets build up forces.

haha, 176 mk I space tanks to Meld. That's so much better than the 600-700 mk II space tank waves I was getting earlier.

The CPA was easily taken care of (only mk I and II ships) which means I can finally take that ARS at Meagaera. Let's hope it'll bring me a nice ship.
Tigers, Cutlasses or Electric bombers.... I think the electric bombers will be most useful to me so let's start a hacking attempt.
The first hack hardly gave me any trouble and I now got electric bombers woohoo ^^
Now I quickly have to take those mk IV worlds on top before another CPA or exo arrives. I'll have to start using warp jammers soon, I'll be getting way to close to the coreworlds.
Shadow falls fast and I now finally have my first golem, after 16 and a half hours. This brings my AIP to exactly 210. Out of the 3 black widow golems I will capture, this first one is going to be my defender. It will help with waves and it will protect me against CPA's and exo's. The other 2 will go with my fleet at all times.
Next time I will capture 3 more planets, repair some golems and hopefully use a mk IV scout to reveal the rest of the galaxy.

Offline zoutzakje

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #34 on: May 15, 2012, 10:42:36 am »
After getting that first golem I immediately took 2 more planets (Wind Element and Rat Soldier) which gave me another black widow golem and an Advanced Factory (finally). I unlocked Blade spawners mk III to celebrate this event. I'm suddenly feeling really powerful with the extra bombers, blade spawners and 2 fully functional black widow golems. AIP is back to 273 but I don't have any trouble dealing with waves anymore.
Rat Soldier will most likely be the planet from where I will push to the homeworld. That reminds me, I just scouted the second homeworld with my mk IV scout... An AI eye and a Core Raid Engine... That's going to be 'fun'.
Meanwhile a few mining golems spawned, but my black widows and resistance fighters took care of that.
New turretball is up and now I just need to scout the rest of the galaxy. I'm also going to destroy the planetary cloacker at Gnome now. I really really hope there is an ARS there.

Data center at Living Sword.
Yng Commando mk V and Missile Frig mk V fabricators at Gold Dragon, along with a C-CSG. It's a bit to far away though.
Data Center at Serac.

Destroyed the planetary cloacker on Gnome and of course no ARS :(
Found one at Cybit though (that's 4 ARS at edge worlds :O)
Gnome had an AI eye and I blindly rushed inside with all my force. Not that it matters much though, my golems can take care of things pretty well.
2 more fabs and C-CSG at Gnome Mage.
ARS and Regen golem at Man o' War. Good, this will be my target. I probably don't need to keep this world, I just need to blow up that A-CSG.
Captured Rock Golem, which gave me my third black widow golem.

And now the entire galaxy has been scouted (finally). Next time I will take the ARS at Torent, destroy the C-CSG at The Fugutive (and take the Artillery golem there as well), take the ARS at Man o' War and then I can finally begin the endgame.
I'm really surprised I actually managed to get to the endgame. Now just hope I can finish it.

Offline Wanderer

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #35 on: May 15, 2012, 09:43:32 pm »
Out of curiousity, what are you using to defend against waves, just a mobile defense fleet?
... and then we'll have cake.

Offline zoutzakje

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #36 on: May 16, 2012, 04:16:34 am »
I stopped using a mobile defense fleet when the number of enemy ships got higher than 500. A massive turretball works better. Full caps of mk I lightning turrets and mk I and II Heavy Beam cannons, well placed around a single wormhole. Combined with gravity and tractor turrets and mines, this works wonders. Hardly anything ever slips through. And whatever does gets through, gets killed by the few resistance fighters I've got roaming around. I rather have my fleet available for making progress than having to retreat it every time just to stop a wave.
And with the arrival of a few black widow golems, defending against waves is even easier. I'm over 300 AIP right now, but the tech II waves make little difference. It's just the exo's and CPA's that can penetrate my defenses and stir up some chaos.
However, my turretball is not build to deal with teleporting ships. I use martyrs for that. The command station at my turretball planet is pretty much undefended (besides a forcefield of course), so teleporting units got free game.

oh and I don't use a forcefield to cover my wave wormhole. That just gets all the enemy ships at annoying places plus they will be able to target my turrets way faster. I rather place a dozen tractor turrets to keep them from fleeing.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2012, 04:20:58 am by zoutzakje »

Offline zoutzakje

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #37 on: May 16, 2012, 08:59:19 am »
I've reached the endgame, woohoo! I've done absolutely everything I needed to do. Destroying core/homeworlds is all that is left (and it's about bloody time).
First I took Torent and the ARS on it. I didn't take The Judged or Spiked Snail, even though those 2 worlds still seperated me from the ARS. I figured my economy is good enough, don't need the extra resources. And besides, I don't have any turrets left to defend them properly (plus not taking those worlds saves me AIP). The ARS gave me armor rotters, which is nice considering that the AI has a lot of armored ships (The Tank AI type).
After I was done on Torent I moved my fleet back to Rat Soldier. Then I neutered Winged Dragon, Ulysses and Moloch (destroyed the data center at Moloch), after which I captured the last ARS I needed at Man o' War. The ARS gave me bulletproofs, which is nice but I rather had the Zenith Bombards that were available as hacking option. I didn't feel like hacking though. Time is ticking and I want those homeworlds destroyed ASAP. I don't think I will survive the next CPA.

I did not take The Fugutive for the C-CSG. Instead I took Gnome Mage. It has a few nice fabs and I have easier acces to the homeworlds from here (plus Gnome Mage is connected to Man o' War, which makes it easier to move forces between the 2 worlds). And that's the end of the Core Shield Generators.

I have used ALL 5 Warp Jammers. One at Rock Golem, one at Rat soldier, one at Torent and of course both Man o' War and Gnome Mage got one as well (as they would have alerted coreworlds if I didn't). Because of the Warp Jammers, the 3 worlds I have neutered to get to Man o' War are not on alert, making it easy for me to move my fleet back to my "main empire" in case I have to.

I've been getting waves of 1000+ mk II Missile Frigs and such, but my turretball can take care of that (I unlocked mk III Heavy Beam Cannons). I'm always keeping a few martyrs ready just in case though.

AIP is at 356. Exo is at 83%. My fleet is 622 man strong, including 3 black widow golems. Got nearly 20 martyrs waiting for the enemy. I'm ready, bring it on. The next hour will decide if I'm victorious or if I have wasted 18+ hours in an attempt to beat the crosshatch.

Offline keith.lamothe

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #38 on: May 19, 2012, 12:24:29 pm »
3 Black Widow golems.

"We're sorry, sir, but the fleet was just... stolen."

Sounds like you've got a solid chance at this one :)  If not, nothing a little Cheese can't handle ;)
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Offline zoutzakje

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #39 on: May 19, 2012, 01:50:32 pm »
I can actually get my hands on a 4th black widow golem if I want to, but it's just to much trouble to get it. I'll just see how it goes with just the 3 I got. I literally rampage through heavy defended mk IV worlds, so I'm guessing I should be allright. If the AI eye + Core Raid engine combo turns out to be to tough to take on, I'll get the 4th black widow, a hive, armored and artillery golem.

I'm definitely a big fan of the black widow golems ever since they got paralyzing tractor beams. Before this they were too weak and squishy. Hard to keep alive and there were plenty of other more useful golems out there. But now they're powerful, exactly like I think they're supposed to be. This golem is now definitely my second choice (botnet first of course if there is one available).

Offline zoutzakje

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2
« Reply #40 on: May 20, 2012, 12:08:45 pm »
Allright this is it, the final battle. I have decided to neuter the toughest homeworld first (Dark Spear) and then quickly destroy Meredy.
First I had to neuter the coreworld Commander, which has an AI eye on it. Attritioner in and out, 2 martyrs ready and goodbye enemy ships. There were a few heavily shielded guard posts so I figured it would be faster to just kill the AI eye itself. Moved the rest of my fleet in after the job was done and now they're just defending the place.
Meanwhile I'm constantly getting waves from the Core Raid engine. The black widows can paralyze 600 ships in total, so I'm doing just fine. But having to deal with waves constantly is a pain in the butt so that Raid engine has to die.
First I tried to attack it head on with just my 3 black widow golems. They succeeded in destroying the raid engine, but they all died. Plus it triggered 2 EMP guardians to attack so that was a quick savescum for me.
I realized the best thing I could do was kill one core guard post at a time and slowly move my way to the core raid engine. Had to retreat a couple of times to deal with a wave (my fleet alone would get shot to bits without the help of the black widows) and after destroying about 5 or 6 waves I finally succeeded. The core raid engine and the OMD that was next to it have died. One of my black widows almost died because of the mk III fort, but thankfully they all made it through alive. Repairing and finishing up now.

Allright, Dark Spear has been neutered mostly. All guard posts are dead, which means the AI eye had blown up too (good). I left the mk III fort alive for now, I want the other homeworld destroyed as quick as possible first.
Exo is at 99% and I got some defenses up... I will reload to a save from right after I killed the raid engine in case I can't beat the exo without my fleet. But I will see how far I can get.

The exo wasn't too hard to kill. 3 out of 5 enemy groups wanted to kill my black widows, which was of course a foolish attempt. One of them went for my homeworld, which was also silly. They would have defeated me if all groups came to my homeworld, but a single group had no hope.
The last group managed to kill my Advanced Factory. That's a bit disappointing but it doesn't matter much. I don't think i need it to win the game.

Time to get to the second part of the endgame. No nasty structures at the second homeworld so this part should be easier.
It is :D No AI eyes and raid engines means I can just march right through nearly everything. I have to repair my black widows often, but mk III engies are awesome for that.

Bombers and black widows to destroy the fort III and the homeworld Meredy falls. Repairing and quickly moving to destroy Dark Spear. I don't care if a CPA warning shows up now. I'll have won the game before it hits anyway :D

A wave of 438 bombers at 504 AIP... The AI is getting pretty desperate. You'll need to do better than that to break my turretball.

I decide to just storm the last fort III with my whole fleet for giggles. Only about 200 ships die and I won the game :D


Finally I have beaten the crosshatch ^^ 4 new achievements as well. First time I got dif 9 achievs and I got them without even abusing the dyson sphere or botnet golem (I had neither in my game). The endgame actually took slighty less than an hour and still no sign of a CPA. I find that odd though it was quite lucky for me.


A few notes:

Resources were hardly ever an issue in this crosshatch game. The biggest issue I had was caps limit. There simply weren't enough turrets around to keep me protected. I set up a nice turretball, but my other planets were very weakly defended the whole game. This is exactly why I've been keeping threat so extremely low the whole game.

Black widow golems are extremely useful. They're not overpowered in any way because they die fast and don't have ridiculous firepower. But their ability to paralyze so many ships at once is extremely useful. The regular ships at the core and homeworlds posed 0 threat to me. I only had to deal with the guardians and structures.

Warp Jammers were probably the most important thing in my victory. I don't think I would have been able to pull it off without them. They actually allow you to capture coreworlds or worlds bordering coreworlds without any serious consequenses. In a map with many connections like crosshatch they're probably overpowered. I'm wondering if the caps should go to 4 or 3 perhaps.


This was a pretty solid game in general. Didn't make too many mistakes and neither did I use much cheese. The AI was very challenging but not overwhelmingly so. I'm now confident that I can beat 9/9 random AI type games in a realistic map. But I'm done with the crosshatch for a while lol. Had enough of it, time to go back to regular games =)

End time: 19 hours and 8 minutes
Final AIP: 605
Total kills made: 78,476
Total Losses: 12,651
Kill to Loss: 620%

Offline keith.lamothe

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2 (victory!)
« Reply #41 on: May 20, 2012, 12:55:30 pm »
Congratulations!  Turns out chokepoint control isn't quite the crutch I thought it was, with multiple players succesfully beating high-difficulty scenarios with very little control over AI entry points (though the warp jammers are a neat trick for crosshatch).

Thanks for taking the challenge :)
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Offline Mánagarmr

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Re: Keith's Challenge Attempt #2 (victory!)
« Reply #42 on: May 20, 2012, 12:58:15 pm »
Well played!
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