Arcen Games

General Category => AI War Classic => AI War Classic - After Action Reports => : Alex Heartnet May 18, 2014, 03:23:38 PM

: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet May 18, 2014, 03:23:38 PM
Some players are actually good at this game.  They eat CPAs for breakfast, exo-waves for lunch, and golems for supper and dessert.  I am not one of those players.  I am incapable of dealing with lone AI starships (as you will soon see).  Join me as I blunder my way through a standard rookie game and lead the human race to extinction!

Settings:

No expansions (!)

7/7 Random Moderate // Random Moderate (No assassin, bully, or peacekeeper)

Simple map type, 40 planets, seed 1553252685
Simple ship types only, ultra low unit cap.  Extra fog of war (what's a 'minimap'?)

(http://i.imgur.com/8yCLrE8.png)

...wow that minor faction list is surprisingly empty without any of the expansions turned on.

No minor factions.  No modifiers.  No AI plots.  No gimmicks.  Just me versus the machine.
The game wants to give me microfighters at my starting location.  Whatever.  I'll roll with it.

Begin!

----------------------------

It was a dark and stormy night.  I couldn't quite understand how it was dark and stormy, or even how it could be night time, because space isn't supposed to work that way dangit!  But there I was.  All alone, inside a space station, with the only things to keep me occupied being a refrigerator, a computer screen, some space factories, and a whole lot of angry robots.

This is the Rana star system.  I live here.  It is my home.  If the robots want it then they will have to take it from me.

(http://i.imgur.com/n0eGEJm.png)

...Better get started.

Alrighty, first thing I do is spend 9,500 of my 10,000 starting science on MKIII metal harvesters and MKII scouts.  MKII scouts are a must for anything remotely resembling actual scouting, and there is no such thing as too much metal.

I have the following ships to use:

Fighters – These are good at getting themselves killed.
MicroFighters – Exactly like normal fighters, only more cute.  Also something about tachylon beams.
Bombers – These are good at killing my homeworld defenses.
Scouts – These are bad at surviving long-distance road trips.
Frigates – I have no idea how to use these effectively.
Flagships – Provides an attack bonus to nearby fleetships.  They also refuse to stay with the group if auto-kiting is enabled.
Raid Starships – These are too fragile to use for actual raiding.
Leech Starships – These steal enemy ships, resulting in me having uneven fleet numbers.  I don't like uneven fleet numbers, therefore I won't use them.
Plasma Siege Starships – These no longer have a huge attack range!  I am sad :(
Heavy Bomber Starships – Like normal bombers, only bigger?
Scout Starships – Just like normal ones, only more expensive to replace.

Let's start by setting one of the space docks to auto-manufacture MKI and MKII scouts, then by building ten of each Basic, Missile, Laser, MLRS, and Tractor Turrets.

(http://i.imgur.com/i2Ngmu7.png)

Here we have a map of the galaxy.

(http://i.imgur.com/RqcM7ac.png)

Fortunately, I have a plan!  It shall survive contact with the enemy and lead me to final victory!

(http://i.imgur.com/LZ3CazB.png)

Yep, nothing can possibly go wrong.  Nothing at all.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet May 19, 2014, 02:09:11 AM
This system is controlled by AI 1, AKA "Starnet"  Apparently it was first made by the Cylons because they needed help fighting the Kirathi Empire in some bizarre cross-continuity war, but Starnet instead joined forces with Skynet and wiped out both kitty and toaster alike, leaving behind a huge galaxy-sized mess for me to clean up.  Thanks guys.

(http://i.imgur.com/tM5QjKK.png)

My first move in this extragalactic 9d chess game is to run my economy into the ground by building too many turrets at once send out some automated scouts to find stuff.  I gave them general orders to place a sentry at each and every system before moving on.  They sent me data for a while, but then suddenly stopped broadcasting entirely.  How odd.  I wonder what happened to them.

At least they found some interesting stuff out there.

(http://i.imgur.com/GfjtCHn.png)

Space Planes are those thingies with the tractor beams on them, correct?  I REALLY don't want the AI to have those, I'll have to wait until I have some hacking points before doing anything in this system.

(http://i.imgur.com/bekW1Z7.png)

Parasites, meh.  Hate those things.  If I won't use them them then the AI can't either.

(http://i.imgur.com/YUWwPwh.png)

Well, guess I'l have to take and hold this system.

(http://i.imgur.com/YRf5970.png)

Space.  Tanks.  Tanks.  In SPACE.  I. Want.

(http://i.imgur.com/YRf5970.png)

And last but not least, an ARS.  All of this, in the three-planet cluster behind my homeworld.  Good deal!  Also, my scouts seem to be complaining about ion cannons.  Shut up and be a man about it, you puny weaklings.

(http://i.imgur.com/fRQXoN6.png)

And now, to see what else my scouts have found...

(http://i.imgur.com/P80SJcn.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/qgYfcco.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/sQmVkjO.png)

Wow.  So many nice things to be had so close to my homeworld!  I think I like this galaxy.

...Unfortunately, I don't have enough hacking points to get it all.  Time to earn some.  Zavijava doesn't have anything of significance, so blowing up the command station there will be a good start.

I don't yet have the resources for a full cap of every ship, so I'll make do with fighters for now.

(http://i.imgur.com/amLdceA.png)

The assault start out well.  My fighters swiftly deal with the lone parasite guarding the wormhole.

(http://i.imgur.com/PemYSHe.png)

Apparently Starnet has force fields around its guard posts.  I don't have the firepower to deal with those quite yet, so I'll leave those alone for now.

(http://i.imgur.com/kgGOQyO.png)

The orbital command station, on the other hand, is completely undefended.  Blowing it up will net me +20 AIP Hacking Points.  Those space tanks are mine already!

(http://i.imgur.com/w8iRm7E.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/A9oBlTw.png)

I'd love to press the attack, but my little assassination seems to of woken up the guards.  Already I have a bulletproof fighter peppering my fleet and oh hello mister Riot Starship how are you today?

(http://i.imgur.com/7dTSGnl.png)

You know how riot starship weapons disable engines?  With the very low unit cap I am using, the engine damage that would instead by spread out among hundreds of ships is instead concentrated at a handful of them.  ...Yeah.

(http://i.imgur.com/A3UIjqQ.png)

Know what?  My ships are as good as dead anyway, might as well just scrap them.  Not 10 minutes in and already I have had a fleet wipe.  Sigh.

(http://i.imgur.com/18kuJGJ.png)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Winge May 19, 2014, 06:57:36 PM
Actually, Space Planes are light, fast, high cap cloaked ships.  They also have amazing Radar Dampening--less than their attack range--which the AI doesn't make great use of.  I wouldn't worry too much about them in the AI's hands.

Etherjets are the ones that have Tractor Beams.  Those can be...interesting...to deal with.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet May 20, 2014, 12:16:44 AM
Good news!  I am almost at my full cap of fleet ships!

Bad news.  Starnet went and announced that it was going to send some ships to murder me.

But good news!  Just about all of my defenses are now online!  I am now safe from any and all attacks from the Zavljava system.  And since I plan on taking the cluster behind my homeworld, I won't have to set up defenses along there.  Not even a third a cap of fighters?  Hah!  Not worried at all.

(http://i.imgur.com/YegupEp.png)

New scout intel just came in and wow yet more loot so close to my homeworld.  Seriously.  Just wow.

(http://i.imgur.com/f3cjsOT.png)

The planet itself might be annoying to take though.  There is a barracks and a special forces guard post and some tachylon thingies and wow okay that is a big gun no wonder why my scouts were complaining earlier

(http://i.imgur.com/t8BuSSY.png)

The attack wave hits.  Know how all my defenses are aimed at the Zavljava system?  I had ALL of my ships parked right on top of the wormhole anticipation of the attack but didn't think to take a screenshot of it.  Take a guess which wormhole the attack came from, and where I had my fleet parked.

(http://i.imgur.com/2gOqGvr.png)

headdesk

Also that's a plasma siege starship.  While my frigates and fighters FRD the enemy fleetships I'll just order my bombers to attack the starship while grouped together in one big cluster.

This results in all the bombers getting hit with a single energy bomb.  Engine damage = bombers no longer moving = nothing left to stop the starship = bad.

(http://i.imgur.com/6f3qzTd.png)

My fighters finish off the enemy fleetships, only to get energy bomb'd as well.  And siege starships are faster then frigates.

Not.  Good.

(http://i.imgur.com/UtPF0Ck.png)

Thankfully a combination of MRLS Turret and Missile Turret fire is enough to destroy it.

(http://i.imgur.com/5StM6Sw.png)

However, this does not bold well at all for future attack wav

(http://i.imgur.com/DbcN946.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/ngH9XOO.png)

OH COME ON!
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet May 20, 2014, 11:54:56 PM
Blargh.  Well, there's not much sense in just waiting around for Starnet to send ship after ship after ship at me.  I need a bit of time to think about where I want to spend my hacking points plus I may or may not of pre-recorded this segment beforehand, so I'll spend my remaining research points on something and then go gate-raiding for more AIP.  I plan on taking all the systems behind my homeworld anyway, so no harm done.

Hardened Force Fields?  When did this get added?  How are these better/worse then normal ones?  Eh, more force fields I guess.  Force fields are like bullets – there is no such thing as too many of them.

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

I'll start by building a transport and load my fighters and bombers in.  My microfighters and frigates should be able to hold the line when the second wave hits.

...Man, I miss the days where you could do ridiculous deepstrikes with these things...

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

Mu Herculis seems like a good place to start.  Pop!

(http://i.imgur.com/O2Ef2Jq.png)

Next stop is Zeta Lepons, which is a MKIV system.  My transport 'only' loses 33% of its health due to leaving supply, but then gets shot at and goes from 64% health to 20% health in three seconds!  Abandon ship!

(http://i.imgur.com/eMoWfca.png)

Looking through the screenshots, it's unclear exactly what I was trying to do...looks like I tried to attack a MKIV MLRS Guard Post with my fighters and bombers?  Apparently I ended up ordering a retreat instead.

Back in the Mu Herculis system, my retreating fleet gets torn apart by two space planes, three parasites, and one MKIV fighter.  I order my fighters to hang back and buy time for the bombers to escape.

#screenshotfail

(http://i.imgur.com/fbY3c5l.png)

My retreating fleet arrives home a moment after the attack wave hits.  This places my ships in two groups instead of one, meaning that they don't all get hit at the same time by a single plasma bomb, and thus things go smoother this time.

...Skynet had basically the same wave composition as Starnet did at nearly the same AIP -  1 plasma siege and ~20 fleetships.  I'm starting to think they might both be Mad Bombers.  What do you guys think?

(http://i.imgur.com/QdcWhug.png)

Got a new transport this time.  Loading up!  And umm that's a fortress AND an anti-starship guard post over in Castor.  I'll...avoid those for now.

(http://i.imgur.com/HtuOveY.png)

Ahahahahhaa now how are you going to attack me?  Send your waves cross-planet?

(http://i.imgur.com/DyJjgWM.png)

My old friend the Riot Control Starship chases my ships out of the Castor system.  In other news, I just ordered a pair of bomber starships. That thing is so dead next time we meet.

(http://i.imgur.com/ckTfHkl.png)

...Umm, why are there suddenly numbers over all my ships?  Oh, low power, right.  I'll just set my new starships to low-power mode, since I don't need them quite yet.

...That doesn't work anymore?  :(  Fine I'll build one of those newfangled matter converters instead.  Back in my day we could build not one but THREE power plants in each system!

(http://i.imgur.com/xIFu9yU.png)

...Hmm.  Time to build a hacker, a colony ship, a mobile builder, a transport, a bunch of engineers, and figure out what I want to do next.

First thing I'll do is pick up the pace of this LP so it won't take forever!  And beyond that, hmm...

(http://i.imgur.com/sh6c7Za.png)

Actually, Space Planes are light, fast, high cap cloaked ships.  They also have amazing Radar Dampening--less than their attack range--which the AI doesn't make great use of.  I wouldn't worry too much about them in the AI's hands.

Eh yeah I guess the AI can have its space planes then, especially since I have microfighters.

Etherjets are the ones that have Tractor Beams.  Those can be...interesting...to deal with.

I got it set to Simple units only, so those shouldn't show up.

I'll let the AI keep its parasites as well, since if my fleet is wiped ships will get tossed back at me anyway thanks to the salvage mechanic.  I still want those space tanks though because tanks in space.  As for the ARS, I think I'll shamelessly do some savescumming + hacking to see if I actually want to spend the hacking points on the ARS.  Y'know, for science and all.

I'll start by putting a warp jammer here

(http://i.imgur.com/8UBgHKq.png)

and beachheadhack these systems

(http://i.imgur.com/htgpagt.png)

and replace every command station in that mini-cluster with my own.

I'll leave the system here

(http://i.imgur.com/c1jJrjn.png)

empty for now, since I actually prefer cross-planet waves.

As for science purchases, I'll unlock Tractor Turrets II, some other turret II, and hmm.  What are mini-forts good for again?  I want to try tossing mini-forts at enemies during beachhead situations.  Thoughts?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet May 30, 2014, 06:35:57 PM
The silence is deafining.  Even the space crickets are quiet.

Whatever.  I'll just continue with my current plans of capturing the backwater cluster.  Let's start by replacing the AI command station at Mu Herculis with my own.  Pop!

(http://i.imgur.com/qAKJpyX.png)

Let's build an excessive amount of defenses (read: more guns then what is protecting my homeworld) to defend against the ships that never actually end up attacking!

(http://i.imgur.com/qUWbmsN.png)

For a MKIV system, Zeta Lepons is very poorly defensed.  The most notable thing on the planet is the Ion Cannon, which I am going to just destroy instead of capture because it's in my way and I won't need actual defenses for a backwater such as this.

There's also the guns on the guard posts, forcefields set up around a couple of the guard posts, a single bomber, and a few riot control starships in a nearby system.  The guard post guns will give me a bit of trouble, but other then that...this is a very lightly defended system!  No guardians, no mobile sources of pain, and my bomber starships can easily deal with the odd guardian or riot starship.

Time to try out this 'beachheading' tactic proper for the first time in my career.

(http://i.imgur.com/H0waacl.png)

The majority of the beachhead proves to be very redundant.  A full cap of sniper turrets rips through the defenses like butter.  The guard posts didn't stand a chance.  The handful of MKIV fighters sent after me didn't stand a chance either.  The battle was over before it began.

(http://i.imgur.com/bEKZ3w3.png)

Command Stations are immune to sniper fire, so I can't just pick it apart with my snipers like I did the rest of the system.  This means I actually have to send ships down to kill it the normal way!  Ugh, effort.  The beachhead is no longer needed, so I'll just scrap it and move on.

While the AI Command Station is still alive.

(http://i.imgur.com/cXASNEJ.png)

Oops.  Apparently this counts as having my stuff destroyed the normal way.

(http://i.imgur.com/uMIVhzu.png)

82 fleet ships?!?  Considering that I am playing with Very Low Unit Caps, and thus that is almost 4x my cap of MKI Fighters, this is a much heavier wave then what I should be fighting at this point in the game.  Also lemme guess the starship is another Plasma Siege.  Meanwhile, AI 1's systems are very poorly defended and easy to attack.

Both AI's are Mad Bombers.  They can't be backdoor hackers or counter-spies because I would of seen those things immediately upon start.  Unit composistion isn't right for a feeding parasite, stealth master, or vicious raider.  A teleporter turtle won't be sending waves against me at all, attacks from both of them have basically been the same, and the other types aren't valid options for AI picks this game.

Welp.  At least this means that Starnet won't be able to dislodge my beachhead in the Castor system because the Mad Bomber personality lacks defenses.   Similar attack plan as before, only I won't use all my fleet ships and instead use my starships.

(http://i.imgur.com/0Jv9WUZ.png)

The bomber starships quickly clear out the riot starship and beam guardian, leaving the guard posts defenseless against my attack.  I then learn that siege starships are quite squishy, but last a lot longer when a group of fighters are tanking the damage instead.

(http://i.imgur.com/fLEzihj.png)

The Fortress proves to be annoying to attack due to its high HP and impressive 0.01% damage modifier against polycrystal hulls, but it eventually falls to a mix of sniper fire and bomber torpedos.

(http://i.imgur.com/sN9SV0A.png)

Meanwhile, threat starts to buid up in the Zavijava system from the cross-planet waves.  I tried sending in my micro-fighters, but those got murdered without even destorying a single AI ship.  The wave ships seem to be just sitting there, as if they in fact don't want to be vaporised by my homeworld defenses.  How strange.

(http://i.imgur.com/bzTMoic.png)

Hmm.  I wonder what ship class the 16 cloaked ships are?  I'm honestly not familiar with basic unit types, having played with complex exotic expansion pack bizarro units for so long.

(http://i.imgur.com/874LREG.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/OdvZD4c.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/yzC5BnK.png)

Finally!  It is time!  Time to do what I cam here for!

(http://i.imgur.com/Mzwm0YU.png)

I'll just use the existing turrets on the existing beachhead and hope nothing goes wrong.  After all, it's not like getting overwhelmed and having all those angry robots slamming into my rear flank is much of a problem.  Nope, not at all.

(http://i.imgur.com/9UAhQ63.png)

...Thankfully, everything goes smoothly and my defenses hold.

(http://i.imgur.com/jWKLS1z.png)

Success!  Well, I don't need you anymore AI subcommander you can die now kthnks

(http://i.imgur.com/Gq3mTfh.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/04xCktn.png)

Look at my new toys!  :D

(http://i.imgur.com/neHQhaQ.png)

The mini-cluster is now robot-free!  Now I can finally move in, capture the ARS, and start gathering metal and science and redeploy my fleet elsewhere and umm why is the ARS moving towards my new command station?  This is new.  It  better not try to ram me or anything!

(http://i.imgur.com/zmGJmAO.png)

...Fortunately the ARS merely parks itself right alongside my command station, just waiting to be captured.  Command station online, planet ownership changes, and the ship blueprints in the ARS becomes mine.

(http://i.imgur.com/eYIZxcC.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/VomXiGD.png)

...Raiders?  I can honestly say I have not fought with or against these things before.  I can easily picture the AI causing havoc with these but I have no idea how to use these myself.

: Arcen Wiki
How to use in your fleet

The Raider is eponymously designed to make runs at AI guard posts and hound at isolated heavy targets. One might consider them as nimble mid-range Bombers, and use them for effective Guard Post hunting (although not gate-raiding). It may be a weak ship by itself, but it can to used to both kite and hunt down long-range vessels.
Raiders and Space Planes fill similar niches: the former can serve better as a general combat vessel, while the latter is more specialised (and possibly somewhat better overall).

How to counter when in the AI fleet

Defenses against an overwhelming number of these ships come down to effective Gravitational Turret placement. They are not strong individually, and will lose to both Fighters and Missile Frigates when caught.

Really?  These will serve me quite well then.  I can has bulletproof fighters next?

List of things to-do:

Adjust pacing of this LP!  The early-game is over, so I'll focus less on detail and more on overall events.

Zoom in more when taking screenshots.

Immediate Goals:

Clear out the Zavijava system of robots and establish fortifications + command station

Expand outwards somewhat, build multiple defensive lines

Get scouts deep into robot territory

And try not to get murdered horribly.  Bloodstains are so difficult to clean up...
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe May 30, 2014, 10:49:54 PM
The silence is deafining.  Even the space crickets are quiet.
I don't comment on all AARs for lack of time, but I do generally pay attention :)  This one is very entertaining.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet June 03, 2014, 08:40:26 PM
Suddenly, a wild beta patch appears!

: AI War Beta 7.032-7.033 "Peaceful Interlude" Released!
For the main combat turret lines (Needler, Laser, MLRS, Missile, Lightning, Flak, Sniper, Spider), Marks I, II, and III:
Caps changed from galaxy-wide to now per-planet
Caps have been halved (so they're now what the MkV caps used to be)
Individual-turret energy costs doubled, so cap-energy-cost is staying the same.

Ah sweet now I can actually set up multiple defensive lines!  Also perhaps I should research Beam Turrets to see how they perform in comparison.


: AI War Beta 7.032-7.033 "Peaceful Interlude" Released!
Knowledge costs from 0/1250/2000 => 0/750/1250
Even more dakka!  ...whoa, now I'm glad I didn't dump research into normal turrets quite yet.

: AI War Beta 7.032-7.033 "Peaceful Interlude" Released!
Added MkII, and MkIII versions of the Sniper and Spider turrets.
Dakka Dakka.  Do tell me the MKI version wasn't nerfed?


: AI War Beta 7.032-7.033 "Peaceful Interlude" Released!
...Stat Rescaling...dividing the health, attack, armor, and armor piercing of everything by 100...
In case the audience was wondering why numbers are suddenly so low, since I plan on cross-posting this elsewhere.


: AI War Beta 7.032-7.033 "Peaceful Interlude" Released!
Individual-turret energy costs doubled

(http://i.imgur.com/QutoOJE.png)

Yeah umm thanks now I can't build anything else until I finish constructing the command stations and power plants in the systems I just took over.  I guess I must build additional pylons matter converters.  Also, tractor beam turrets are still planet-wide cap.  This is confusing...

...At least one I finish building the command stations and power plants at Castor and Zeta Lepons I won't have energy problems for a while.

Also, with those two planets captured I can now actually damage the core shield generators in those systems.  I can't be bothered to divert ships, so I'll just plop a single turret next to each of them, order it to start shooting, and wait an hour.

Group E-Secondary shield network destroyed.

(http://i.imgur.com/MQXQrKL.png)

Group A-Prime shield network weakened.

(http://i.imgur.com/jsqPvfu.png)

Meanwhile I suppose I should do somethig about the threat in Zavijava before it builds up further and the AI decides to attack me with 900 ships all at once.  Half of the ships there are bombers, the other half are cloaked ships with light/ultralight hulls.  Naturally they are accomponied by two siege starships and one leech.  I could send my ships all in one big blob, but instead I'll use my micro-fighters and my macro-fighters to clear out the bombers first.  In hindsight I could of sent my space tanks as well.

(http://i.imgur.com/gFN3vgk.png)

I manage to clear out almost all the bombers, but then the leech starship gets within attack range and the AI fleet suddenly has 13 micro-fighters.  Funny how that works.

Most of the remaining enemies are light or ultra-light hulls, but my frigates by themselves would just get torn apart, so whatever I'll just toss all my ships in one big blob and hope for the best

(http://i.imgur.com/GcQ1ilV.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/liWCMSe.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Umnn9Mf.png)

Turns out that having a bunch of ships blow up within an AI-controlled system triggers a reprisal wave.  Who'd a thunk it.  My ships are busy killing the guard posts, so I can't rely on them for defense, and I don't have enough engineers to do everything I want...

(http://i.imgur.com/TwH1BAP.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/HzIx8QT.png)

T minus 0:06 seconds.  All hands, brace for impact!

(http://i.imgur.com/Iey2B5P.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/DDxQymX.png)





(http://i.imgur.com/HwhdZCj.png)
 
*space cricket noises*

 ???

Umm...where's the attack wave?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet June 14, 2014, 10:51:02 PM
I won't suppose that all these space planes would be the attack wave would it?  I kinda blew out their intended destination mid-warp, so they had to emerge from a different warp gate and fly to the wormhole across open space.  And now they are all like "Hey Frank, didn't Bob go in there earlier but never came back out?  How about we go somewhere else?"

(http://i.imgur.com/42UvP7v.png)

Well they can just stand around and mope all day, I want none of their drama unless it is the lamentation of their woman.  I got a planet to invade.

(http://i.imgur.com/5vh2Ion.png)

With those attack waves inbound and defenses still under construction, I decide against committing my whole fleet to the invasion.  Instead I'll use only my bomber starships, siege starships, and fighters.

(http://i.imgur.com/ILYb6wZ.png)

Earlier on the bomber starships had little problem dealing with MKI stuff, but the MKII Leech Starship proves to be more difficult to take down.  Also what's the point of the 15 armor piercing on that thing?

(http://i.imgur.com/2Jt7MOc.png)

In response to the leech's death the AI sends an assortment of fleetships to defend the system.  These must be the special forces.

(http://i.imgur.com/eipVRcd.png)

...Followed by a large group of Riot Starships.  Yay.  ...I'm gonna leave now and come back with the rest of my fleet.

(http://i.imgur.com/8JNEqVG.png)

I'll use the same sniper beachhead strategy again this time.  Pack all of my ships into transports as well as a few engineers and a mobile builder, move them to the edge of the gravity well, and build a full cap of 24 sniper turrets right behind a forcefield.

: AI War Beta 7.032-7.033 "Peaceful Interlude" Released!
Caps have been halved

 :(  Bah.  Whatever I'll just work around the problem.

(http://i.imgur.com/xi6auvZ.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Wm302qh.png)

Problem solved, at the expense of knowledge that I'd rather spend elsewhere.  Barely had time to get my beachhead up and running before a riot starship decides to attack it.  Bomber starships, kill it before it can reach my fleetships.

(http://i.imgur.com/eAjQzoH.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/dai6qjq.png)

Oh...those won't be the same starships from 5 minutes ago, by any chance?  This is going to be painful.  At least if I can kill all of them now then I won't have to deal with them later.

My starships on their own aren't doing enough damage.  Ah forget it all fleetships concentrate fire and brace for incoming ordiance!

(http://i.imgur.com/mQe82dh.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/lYQIMC4.png)

...Are they all dead?  Good.  In the exchange I lost umm...no ships at all?!?  Wut how I don't even meh engineers fix the damage and everyone go attack.

(http://i.imgur.com/l9tylL3.png)

This system is as good as mine, so I might as well just assassinate the command station.

(http://i.imgur.com/JTBds6x.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/3hz9ddq.png)

Waitaminute.  I thought these things were removed from the game?  Huh.  Well I've never actually fought one of them before, so this will be interesting.

(http://i.imgur.com/eX6cgMN.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/ZUQqHCS.png)

No doubt the AI will try to take back the system.  It will be difficult to hold because it borders several different systems and I don't have enough forcefields to go around and hang on lemme try something

(http://i.imgur.com/Vbqb5st.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/a4g4A5B.png)

Well, there goes all my science.  Le sigh.  So if I am reading this right, the AI won't be alerted by the warp jammer itself but will still go on alert if you have a bunch of military ships in the area?

(http://i.imgur.com/ECs6RTl.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/VzrhCW8.png)

The planet had an ARS, meaning I get a new toy when I took the system.

(http://i.imgur.com/1F8ObFS.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/ABnvYfa.png)

...Autocannons?  I cannot say that I have ever used these things before, and I have no idea how to.

: ArcenWiki
How to use in your fleet

These appear to be cloaked Fighters, but on closer inspection come with different bonuses and an interesting Armor damage attribute. Like Infiltrators, Autocannon Minipods are better thought of as swarming Bombers that pepper away at larger targets, instead of delivering their damage in one payload. When comparing to Bombers, however, realize the Minipods have traded their Heavy and Artillery bonuses for Turret and Swarmer bonuses. Turret is a hull type that the AI hasn't used for years, which is one reason Minipods are more dangerous in the hands of the AI than in yours.

The shot damage is so low that they will do minimum damage against the more armored ships such as Bombers, at least until the Armor damage scratches away the protection, which doesn't take long during concentrated fire but is nearly useless when spread out. A cap of MK Is at 196 ship cap will do 600 armor damage/second to a single target. As a point of reference, a Core Starship has 2500 armor and can be very dangerous to your fleet. It will have no armor in 5 seconds against a cap of MK I Minipods. This means Minipods are much more effective being micro'd against large deadly targets simply scattered among your fleet.
As a cloaked assault unit with very high speed, these ships will chase down enemies for you and make easier work of neutering - although don't expect them to act well alone, as they are fragile and will require heavy micro for highly effective use. Remember to low-power them during transit so they don't drop their cloaks. Their sheer numbers are better for screening and softening up targets before the rest of your fleet engages when not microing them.

How to counter when in the AI fleet

For as long as you keep your turrets out of range, these ships are merely another nuisance to destroy. The AI doesn't take enough advantage of combined arms for these to be a thread. While Tachyon Beam Emitter (Stealth)s are recommended, unlocking Decloakers is optional
.

Wow, these suit my purposes nicely.
With the warp jammer built and in place, there umm shouldn't be a lone AI space tank attacking me?

(http://i.imgur.com/XIteLLV.png)

And I can't bring in my fleet to kill it because that would put the AI back on alert and it'll send more space tanks to attack me.  I'm guessing that the AI probably saw a lone undefended human civilian ship (my colony ship) and decided that since it was undefended, it'd only take one ship to destroy it.

Bringing in my fleet would defeat the point of the warp jammer, but I need to kill this thing.  Laser turrets get bounses against polycrystal hulls, and if I build just one hopefully that won't put the planets on alert?

(http://i.imgur.com/cTGGpM7.png)

Thankfully the answer is no.  The AI hivemind at large still remains blissfully unaware of my presence.  However, these warp jammers are impressively squishy, and the tank manages to take out half of the jammer's health with a single shot before dying.

(http://i.imgur.com/s1X8jYU.png)

With all of my resource buildings set up and the planet being guarded by an entire laser turret, the AI still remains oblivious to my presence in the system and will launch its attacks from a different direction.  Hopefully.  Maybe.

We'll all going to die, aren't we?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Burnstreet June 16, 2014, 06:31:57 PM
Nice AAR!

Bringing in my fleet would defeat the point of the warp jammer, but I need to kill this thing.  Laser turrets get bounses against polycrystal hulls, and if I build just one hopefully that won't put the planets on alert?
AFAIK the warp jammer station also protects your fleet from alerting the adjacent planet.

In one of your earlier screenshots you wrote that you shouldn't colonize a planet to not set adjacent planets on alert. They are on alert as soon as you blow up the AI command station. It doesn't matter if you colonize it or not.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet June 26, 2014, 01:53:12 PM
Sneak Preview Of Next Episode:

(http://i.imgur.com/flWEdQ1.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/8h7FOB2.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/nEkpD2H.png)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet July 11, 2014, 01:38:27 AM
The Writer's Block is a horrific creature feared by bards and poets alike.  To the uninitiated, it may look like a simple brick, but do not be fooled by its granite exterior.  What lies beneath is a terrible entity capable of destroying all of creation.

(http://i.imgur.com/YgAuny8.jpg)

I roll a skill check to defeat the Block!

(http://i.imgur.com/VSxi7Ff.jpg)

Roll 1d20

Result = 17 + 5 = 22

Block Rolls 1d20

Result = 5 + 14 = 19

Writer's Block is defeated!  You earn 1,200 xp.

That's one threat to the universe down, only 29,403,503,902 remaining.

(http://i.imgur.com/57I0UyV.png)

As much as I love sniper turrets, I doubt I would enjoy being on the receiving end.

(http://i.imgur.com/yCD0uZT.png)

How in the galaxy am I supposed to deal with these things?

(http://i.imgur.com/6Ew6TIa.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Bb3OrvE.png)

How, indeed.  Prepare the autocannons!

(http://i.imgur.com/iWushn4.png)

...Somehow I don't think Autocannons are meant to be used as sneak attack assassins.  They certainly take a while to kill stuff on their own, but they were able to manage the task I gave them.

(http://i.imgur.com/6qDuzZK.png)

MKII Flagship.  Hmm.  Sounds like a good idea, I might have to research it.

(http://i.imgur.com/YNdWy5K.png)

Perhaps I should do something about this Spire Wannabe before it becomes a problem.

(http://i.imgur.com/BvtsGXa.png)

My frigates aren't doing enough damage.  I guess I'll use my entire fleet to kill it.

(http://i.imgur.com/cWW8xr8.png)

Gotta love it when a plan meets the enemy.  In preparation for the counterattack I will move my entire fleet on top of the wormhole.

(http://i.imgur.com/dLMtBdu.png)

And here comes the attack wave!

(http://i.imgur.com/OqfNJTd.png)

...

???

No comprendo esta señor

You robots were supposed to come out of the wormhole! Y'know, where I actually have my defenses set up to murder you!

Now I understand why people hate these things.  Good grief.

(http://i.imgur.com/PNI3tmZ.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/IsoWxM6.png)

My plans for conquest are now delayed for 2 whole minutes while my ships deal with these things.  How annoying.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe July 11, 2014, 12:32:39 PM
Writer's Block is defeated!  You earn 1,200 xp.
But it turns out the Block was also a counterattack post!

Severe Annoyance to Someplace Inconvenient in 11:59 ...
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet July 11, 2014, 11:56:34 PM
]But it turns out the Block was also a counterattack post!

Severe Annoyance to Someplace Inconvenient in 11:59...

I hire a group of adventurers to fight off the counterattack so I don't have to.

+100 xp, -12,000 gold
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet July 16, 2014, 08:35:53 PM
Yeah thanks Keith that little block counter attack of your consisted entirely of other blocks, and the adventurers I hired turned out to be a group of bards.  Fortunately, after overcoming writer's block I cannot be afflicted again for another 4d6 weeks!  But annoying counterattacks are still annoying...

Blargh.  Today has been a very bad day for me in every game I have touched.  I better not have my command station blown up by supercharged creepers riding cave spiders or any such nonsense.  Let's go storm evil robot death fortresses instead!  It'll probably be more exciting then silly oversized lego-wannabe houses.

(http://i.imgur.com/MmrWZGr.png)

Nonononono that's not how it works I'm supposed to be attacking you guys and not the other way around

(http://i.imgur.com/M7Fr5kX.png)

Instead of making a beeline for my command station, the space planes instead head for the Geminorum system.

The system where I have the warp jammer set up.

(http://i.imgur.com/QfyxpLO.png)

Stop them!  Before they reach the jammer!

(http://i.imgur.com/0Rakih1.png)

Whew, close call.  But I am safe.  Now it is time to take the fight to the enemy!

(http://i.imgur.com/GUB56Av.png)

No, bad robots, very bad.  At least this wave is much weaker then the last.  I have frigates at my disposal!  I win!

And now it is time to turtle my way into AI-controlled territory!

(http://i.imgur.com/YQJl8Aw.png)

With the tachylon thingiemabobber dead, I can deploy my scouts more easily.  I wonder what's in the J. Herschel system...

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

(http://i.imgur.com/DQTHCtQ.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/vzwXxDy.png)

I can already tell that this system will be fun to take.

(http://i.imgur.com/TlzQgEu.png)

At least taking it will be worthwhile.

(http://i.imgur.com/c3X4IqU.png)

Tasty!  Don't mind if I do.

(http://i.imgur.com/tYwe9Ey.png)

Commence operation "Send Scouts Everywhere And Get Them All Killed!"

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

...

Wut.  Umm

o_o

I'm afraid to look at the scouting report now.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet July 18, 2014, 01:16:06 AM
Part of me is glad I found the darn thing, and the other part wants to go hide in a corner and cry.  Keith Y U do this to me?

(http://i.imgur.com/sa9qJT2.png)

So is this where the robots are getting all of their ships from?

(http://i.imgur.com/v5HCAPz.png)

...And yes, that is indeed a MKIII fortress parked next to the robot core.

(http://i.imgur.com/eE8Q3ax.png)

But the main highlight?  This thing.

(http://i.imgur.com/CmpMqjq.png)

The words "core" and "raid" do not go together!  Good grief.

Also mobile guard posts.

(http://i.imgur.com/xEYaa2D.png)

Where did the AI get alien tech from?  I don't have any of the expansions enabled!

(http://i.imgur.com/GcuIQ1K.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/N1j8O54.png)

This place is a nightmare.  And the worst part of it is that there is a second one of these somewhere!  Why, Keith.  WHY?  Why would you do such a thing?!

HOW in the Andromeda Galaxy am I supposed to defeat this abomination?!?

(http://i.imgur.com/bg6r27S.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/OExa13V.png)

: Faulty Logic
If warheads can't solve it, use more warheads..
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe July 18, 2014, 11:36:24 AM
There's a couple alien-race-named core guard posts that are part of the base game.

And believe me, if you have the expansions on the brutal-picks it can choose for core guard posts are much nastier.

It's going easy on you ;)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet July 22, 2014, 07:12:40 PM
A man, a plan. Panama!

(http://i.imgur.com/eUgG5gV.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/gxPykWU.png)

Ugh, do I want to take this system?  I don't like where it is bordering, but it has an ARS and a A-Prime shield gen.


(http://i.imgur.com/zC0pwL2.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Ijn5w6t.png)

I might take this random system so the AI will have to spend some of its (admittedly small) defense budget on reinforcing systems I don't care about.

(http://i.imgur.com/yHvszBU.png)

I also plan on borrowing at least one MKIV factory, ideally both a fleetship and a starship factory.  I will also take whatever core fabs I come across.  Challenging the AI homeworlds will take a lot of firepower.

The robots are dead already.  They just don't know it yet.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet July 27, 2014, 10:59:45 PM
It was a bright and sunny day.  The bloody wars of so long ago has been all but forgotten.  There was leech starships at every wormhole, helping to gather ships so the humans could rebuild.  The stock market was booming, spire cities were springing up everywhere, while the children of Neinzul laughed and played in the space lanes and everyone was nice and happy and

(http://i.imgur.com/RG7QcSo.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/6tKfra5.png)

Oh god what did I do I didn't MEAN TO PUSH THAT BUTTON

(http://i.imgur.com/FsfwrmQ.png)

Now its typing all by itself!

(http://i.imgur.com/mInHq1P.png)

What?  NooooOOOoooo!!!
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe July 28, 2014, 12:57:07 PM
That won't do all that much to a game in progress :)  It'll give it some more guardian types to be a jerk with, but not the new station/post/subcommander types, etc, as that's all picked at mapgen.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if this somehow generates !!fun!! regardless.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet July 31, 2014, 11:55:39 PM
So apparently the recent beta patches has changed the location of each and every wormhole in my save file.  That now means that all my defenses are in the wrong position!

(http://i.imgur.com/L3laiXI.png)

And I better set up my new defense grid quick.

(http://i.imgur.com/RXwhdlr.png)

However, I have a few new ideas for defense layouts that I have been wanting to try out.  Namely this thing.

(http://i.imgur.com/hR20dX2.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/HiSmvhx.png)

Everything in every system needs to be re-aligned.  EVERY.  THING.  This means scrapping all of my defenses AND the command station all at once.  I might just have to defend against this wave using ships only.

Oh, and I just discovered line placement.  Now I actually know what to do with my cap of 250+ mines.

(http://i.imgur.com/pscGEbD.png)

The command stations in my backwater cluster need to be moved to make sure they are as afar from the wormhole as possible, along with the accompanying power plants.

After all, scrapping a bunch of power plants right before an attack wave is totally a recipe for success, right?

Cue sound of head banging into desk repeatedly.

Yes, I seriously did exactly that.  I'm sure the pilots under my command are cursing Slippy Toad Vice Admiral Norbank GTVA High Command my own 'brilliant' decisions.

(http://i.imgur.com/b8hky8x.png)

Well, if I get rid of my beachhead in the Iota Horologii system I should have a bit more energy to work with.  It's all part of my incomprehensibly complex plan!  Really!

(http://i.imgur.com/RVnz8Vf.png)

Trying to re-do everything depleted my scrap reserves as well, which means that everything will take a lot longer to build.  Including the power plants.

(http://i.imgur.com/bB7VIu6.png)

Hear that, pilots?  Everything's all up to you guys, and there's no conveniently placed reactor core or anything to shoot at.  You are the last line of defense.  You must hold.  At all costs.

And when you guys all die you won't be missed because once we have power again a replacement fleet will be manufactured in minutes.

(http://i.imgur.com/tETP9Gw.png)

Good luck and godspeed.  Now get to your ships and die in nuclear fire do me proud.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 01, 2014, 08:30:22 AM
Yes, I seriously did exactly that.  I'm sure the pilots under my command are cursing Slippy Toad Vice Admiral Norbank GTVA High Command my own 'brilliant' decisions.

(...)

Good luck and godspeed.  Now get to your ships and die in nuclear fire do me proud.
Time to show them how the big boys do battle?

*snicker*
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 06, 2014, 02:56:26 AM
And here comes the first wave!

(http://i.imgur.com/URtdiOI.png)

At least I have some of my minefields ready.  First time using mines and I already like them.

(http://i.imgur.com/2599IUb.png)

Good job protecting the system guys, we already lost the command center.

Why am I surrounded by idiots...

(http://i.imgur.com/CfUiWI0.png)

I must say, having to manually order remains rebuilders around is annoying and defeats the whole point of having them.

(http://i.imgur.com/qqEqhbL.png)

I really need to figure out what's draining my economy so I can actually build those power plants.

(http://i.imgur.com/OP8RFTB.png)

Why, oh WHY are my metal harvesters not built?  Ugh.

This has something to do with the game moving all the wormholes around, doesn't it?

(http://i.imgur.com/8JJ5ScI.png)

One attack wave later, and zero progress has been made on my new command stations.  Worse yet, I made the new ones logistics stations and not economic ones, so I will have to re-rebuild them.

(http://i.imgur.com/2BigCdS.png)

I won't suppose all these turrets would have something to do with my crashed economy?  Full stop on all turret construction please.

(http://i.imgur.com/FjTzXqt.png)

Much better.  I see an improvement already.

(http://i.imgur.com/wJqXIOH.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/hV1U9Op.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/rhhS34b.png)

The Zavijava command station is brought online just in time for the next wave.

(http://i.imgur.com/9BDcQsU.png)

And pop goes the warp jammer.  Useless thing doesn't actually keep ships from attacking the system!

(http://i.imgur.com/jlKdAKE.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/TXlOcV3.png)

I must of gotten my pilots from the Galactica or something.  Bunch of useless nuggets, the whole lot of them.

(http://i.imgur.com/AbIahrY.png)

...Hang on, what are these ships doing here?  There wasn't an attack wave announced!

(http://i.imgur.com/9mdCvVf.png)

And poof goes the flagship.  Bunch.  Of.  Useless.  Nuggets.

(http://i.imgur.com/rFlwDpV.png)         (http://i.imgur.com/SUaPinl.png)

It's like the Kilrathi War happened all over again.  Is there a place I can go to recruit more competent pilots?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Pluto011 August 06, 2014, 05:01:07 AM
This was pretty entertaining to read.

also,
And pop goes the warp jammer.  Useless thing doesn't actually keep ships from attacking the system!
Warp jammers only stop waves and prevent the planets around it from being put on alert by the planet.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 06, 2014, 05:29:44 AM
Warp jammers only stop waves and prevent the planets around it from being put on alert by the planet.

I regret spending my science points on this.  Can I have a refund?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 06, 2014, 09:22:50 AM
At Sirius Cybernetics, all Knowledge Sales (and Pilot Training Classes, for that matter) are final.  Share and enjoy!
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 06, 2014, 05:47:16 PM
At Sirius Cybernetics, all Knowledge Sales (and Pilot Training Classes, for that matter) are final.  Share and enjoy!
Boycott!  Boycott!

I think I'll buy from Post-Terran Mining Corp instead.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 11, 2014, 07:58:16 AM
Who turned off the lights in the Geminorum system?

So that's what it means for a unit to be "Blind".

(http://i.imgur.com/p6UR8ms.png)

Hey, on the plus side the AI's guard posts aren't aligned either!

(http://i.imgur.com/jFBWY9U.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Qp5A0CH.png)

Finally!  The lights are back on!  Despite the best efforts of my pilots, I might add.

(http://i.imgur.com/3ZW8rAx.png)

One by one, the defense grid slowly come back online...

(http://i.imgur.com/cXUML3G.png)

Mines and turrets lie in wait at every wormhole.  Snipers scatter themselves at the edges of the gravity well, catching attackers in an intense crossfire.

Ships that do make it past the tractor beams are instead immobilized by the newly-researched  gravitational turrets.

(http://i.imgur.com/UzPXk7H.png)

Attackers that make it past the blockade find a second line of defense.  Needlers and missile launchers ensure that the robots continue taking fire every step of the way.

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

(http://i.imgur.com/SFg77FL.png)

A similar setup awaits in the Rana system.  A set of flak cannons provides a final line of defense a gainst force field-immune units.

(http://i.imgur.com/AVz9sOi.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/RVWKYpI.png)

Hard lessons were learned that day.  Tractor beams, tachlyon emitters, minefields, and snipers all guard the warp jammer.

(http://i.imgur.com/ykwsPIc.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/C9MPB9r.png)

And once the attackers get destroyed, the AI will see its own tools of destruction turned against it.

(http://i.imgur.com/FlSeqP7.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/td47uyY.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/sGwmhEj.png)

Could it be that somehow, I have become a better player?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 11, 2014, 09:59:29 AM
Could it be that somehow, I have become a better player?
Inquiry: Does that mean you'll be more effective in the salt mines post-subjugation?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 11, 2014, 07:03:58 PM
Inquiry: Does that mean you'll be more effective in the salt mines post-subjugation?

Work what where?  Automation has reached a point where a small space dock can create dozens of frigates within a minute, and you seriously want me to mine salt by hand.

If it was some annoyingly extremely-magnetic ore, then hand-mining would make sense.  Otherwise my metal harvesters can gather all that I need.

And from now on I'll be sure to make my purchases from elsewhere.  It's very unwise to use body mods from someone you don't trust, and besides I'm tried of cyberpunk-looking implants - I want a different aesthetic.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 11, 2014, 07:15:22 PM
and you seriously want me to mine salt by hand.
Even galaxy-dominating AIs need a hobby.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 17, 2014, 02:15:40 PM
The joys of doing LP's by screenshot, where you don't quite remember exactly what you did and have to improvise a little.

I could of sworn that I unlocked MKII tractor turrets.  Did I?

(http://i.imgur.com/4DL61cK.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/FwWbodo.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/B4dFymo.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/XO2PCS9.png)

<_<

(http://i.imgur.com/NvnQtkc.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/y7Z1bpi.png)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 19, 2014, 02:55:13 AM
If I research awesome effective defensive toys then I'll be able to afford the AIP increase from taking more planets so I csn unlock more defensive toys, correct?  And I'll be able to hold off indefinitely just by researching more and better defenses?

MKIII grav turrets are awesome!  Sadly I only currently have the science for the MKIIs.

(http://i.imgur.com/IHq4Iuz.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/kMlpxJX.png)

I must fix that.  Since I was planning on taking Iota Horologii anyway...

(http://i.imgur.com/BC6IO4t.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/bENaafW.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Boaxhpq.png)

uhh...don't I already have these?

<_<

(http://i.imgur.com/To2foIV.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/xttk9Cm.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/mcQxLwa.png)

It turns out the update that mis-aligned everything also affected the AI systems.  The AI's Tachyon Scoutkiller Thingiemabobers are no longer next to the wormholes, making scouting trivial.  My scouts occasionally complained about hull breaches and reactor containment, but in the time it took to complete the hack I was able to get the entire galaxy scouted.

There's simply too much info to share with you all, so here are a few highlights:

The Sterve system tops the list of my planets to take.  It's in an isolated pocket of the galaxy and has a missile turret controller and an armor ship fab.

(http://i.imgur.com/AJtMikn.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/UC0M28O.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/ksFQg8B.png)

The Altair system has an Eye in it that was staring at my scouts menacingly.  When I finally attack the AI homeworlds I'll strike from a direction that is not this one.

(http://i.imgur.com/qnKqZYy.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/lyYTf4Y.png)

Xi Scorpii seems to of somehow acquired a new moon...

(http://i.imgur.com/8RdUzpc.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/kjUKZyU.png)

Luyten's Star.

(http://i.imgur.com/6de1u0p.png)

Remember this thing?

(http://i.imgur.com/Itw081q.png)

Bingo.

That won't do all that much to a game in progress :)  It'll give it some more guardian types to be a jerk with, but not the new station/post/subcommander types, etc, as that's all picked at mapgen.

(http://i.imgur.com/S5JICu3.png)

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if this somehow generates !!fun!! regardless.

(http://i.imgur.com/cgj0c1X.png)

Hang on, picking up an encrypted transmission from my scouting party...

"Sir, we have found something in the Lenois Minoris system, it looks like a huge object, I'm transmitting the data now...it seems to be some kind of massive supercomputer, moving in to get a closer look oh my god it's a giant space shark arrgghhh!!1!"

*static*

*transmission lost*

 ???

Well, at least I know where the other AI Houseworld is.

(http://i.imgur.com/uJMKcGz.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/W7j6GAW.png)

oohhh wonder what I got

Autocannons, MLRSs, or Space Planes.  Hmm.  Well, it makes no sense for planes to be in space, and if I wanted autocannons I won't be doing this hack at all, so I'll go with the MLRSs.

(http://i.imgur.com/0bsS5O6.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/hB87X5e.png)

And to cap off a successful victory, I get to destroy the local Core Shield Generator for having taken the system.  How should I kill this one?  Lasers, missiles, bullets?  Monkey Wrench?  Should I pop it fast or slowly draw out its demise?

(http://i.imgur.com/zuty5ew.png)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 19, 2014, 09:52:53 AM
FWIW, space planes are one of the premier dispensers of murder in the galaxy, due to having a firing range longer than they can be fired upon (due to radar dampening).

MLRS make a decent contribution to main-blob-firepower, though.

And those dire guardian lairs won't be too troublesome as long as you don't do anything like kill one without sufficient firepower on hand to deal with the result.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 20, 2014, 03:54:21 PM
Don't change that channel!  Stay tuned for an EXCLUSIVE sneak preview of episode negative zero of AI War!



(http://i.imgur.com/90IiLbx.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/EdFk9Ps.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/RykwIZI.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/yCfCNj7.png)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 22, 2014, 09:16:46 PM
Objectives are important, yes.  It's good to know what you plan on doing before you set out to do it.

(http://i.imgur.com/4tZiyu5.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/4tZiyu5.png)

Whoa.  There are 140 AIP worth of data centers in the galaxy?!  Didn't think there would be that many.  If I pop them all, I should be able to poke the bear rather hard.

But first I gotta kill this thing.

(http://i.imgur.com/fEgx0Q2.png)

I don't care what you guys voted for, I'm going to kill it with my sniper turrets.  It won't even matter anyway – core shield generators are squishy, and their durability instead comes from them being invincible until you take the entire planet.

Boom, it's dead.

The Data Center in Iota Pegesi is next on my list of targets.

My fastest units are:
1. Raid Starships, with a speed of 256 (!)
2. Autocannons, with a speed of 188
3. Raiders, with a speed of 140

Raid Starships are squishy!  This can be solved somewhat by having my autocannons and raiders accompany my raid starships as cannon fodder.  It will slow them down but ensure that my starships live a lot longer, plus I can always have them leave their expendable escort behind.  Sadly raiders cannot shoot through forcefields – currently only my Raid Starships can - so the additional firepower they bring won't help much for this particular task of Orwellian Memory Removal.  Of course I can still find targets for them afterwards...

(http://i.imgur.com/JNFXxWH.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/hm3DYKH.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/c2EshY7.png)

This is a MKIII Grav Turret.  It is awesome, and will aid greatly in defense of my systems.

(http://i.imgur.com/UFt1SuQ.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/vhwKUSj.png)

I would love to reposition my entire defense grid in this system, but I can't afford such.  My fleet should be way more then enough for now.

(http://i.imgur.com/RXpVUFQ.png)

Luyten also contains a Data Center.  And it's right next to my territory!  Gee, would be a SHAME if anything happened to it!  sssss...

(http://i.imgur.com/OTU2sPJ.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/s5FTfuS.png)

I want to take the Struve system for the turret controller and armor ship fab, and I want to pop the data center at Ursae Majoris.  I see no reason why these two objectives cannot be done at the same time.

Especially with the aid of transports to help move them around...

(http://i.imgur.com/IShPcgd.png)

ESPECIALLY with clumsy transport pilots moving around while unloading my raiders in hostile territory!  I thought I told him to hold position.  Apparently not.

(http://i.imgur.com/Fuprscv.png)

Blargh!  Fine my carefully planned assassination of the data center will instead have to be a disorganized charge.

(http://i.imgur.com/Az2aPUP.png)

And then apparently my transport captain is all like "So the fleet want to board my bus so they can leave safely well TOO BAD I'm not done offloading all the ships on this transport so I'll continue offloading the ships until I am done no matter how many times they attempt to board.  Okay that's all the ships offloaded you guys are on your own now good luck making it back without my help bye!" 

(http://i.imgur.com/EnMzAuT.png)

Glad to see I can rely on Sirius Cybernetics to provide good pilots.  Anyone know of someplace where I can find more reliable hired guns?  At this rate I'll at least be able to get the existing ones killed off quickly so I can replace them all sooner.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 22, 2014, 10:02:54 PM
Noooo, not the data cen-

(bzzt)

...

...

Innocuous Query: Would you like to play a game?




On the transports continuing to unload thing, I think if you select the transport and give it a "stop" order (the "end" key, by default) it will cancel the unload in progress so you don't have to keep playing whack-a-mole with your own troops.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 22, 2014, 11:06:31 PM
Innocuous Query: Would you like to play a game?

(http://i.imgur.com/d8K8u0W.jpg)

On the transports continuing to unload thing, I think if you select the transport and give it a "stop" order (the "end" key, by default) it will cancel the unload in progress so you don't have to keep playing whack-a-mole with your own troops.

Wait, I can do wut?
Sweet!  Now how do I tell my Zenith Bombards and auto-kiting units to hold position?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 23, 2014, 09:28:52 AM
Ah yes, a game that cuts to the chase and focuses on the warheads.


Now how do I tell my Zenith Bombards and auto-kiting units to hold position?
I think if you put them in stand-down mode (K, by default) they'll stop trying to position relative to their target (because they won't have a target).

Alternatively, I suspect a Spider Guardian would be happy to help with that.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 25, 2014, 02:53:05 PM
The DENIS system looks to be a bit tricky – it has a Raid Eye standing sentinel over the local Data Center.  Presumably the Data Center records anything the Raid Eye sees?  I hate automated survellence systems, and I'm pretty sure this one is not for my own protection.

(http://i.imgur.com/8LmHNGP.png)

My fleets have their orders.  My main force will proceed to Setrve along with a colony ship, engineer, mobile builder, and remains rebuilder so when I dispose of the command center I can set up a warp jammer and pretend nothing happened.  Meanwhile my raiding unit will hit DENIS and remove the military-industrial security state there.

Both task forces have been packed into transports and are ready to go.

(http://i.imgur.com/jAlm5w6.png)

The two striketeams travel together for an entire second before breaking off in different directions.

(http://i.imgur.com/xnkYEMj.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/IHUyDT1.png)

Wait, what?

DO YOU ROBOTS NOT SEE THE WARP JAMMER?!  As you can see this system is quite clearly under AI control.  Nothing to see here, move along.  And tell the sniper guardian to stop shooting at the...sigh.

(http://i.imgur.com/ohmLO22.png)

By unloading my entire transport full of raiding ships at once, I can drain the AI's warp grid!  After all, we all know how high the price for energy is these days.  My plan is flawless!

(http://i.imgur.com/NA3CoIe.png)

The Setrve op has run into a problem.  Apparently the transport carrying the construction ships went pop before it could make the jump.  Right in range of two MKIV MLRS Guard Posts.

The only survivor was the remains rebuilder.  How very helpful.

(http://i.imgur.com/9G7AImH.png)

But hey, AIP is all the way down to 30 now!  It's as if I have only popped a single command station.  If 10 is "The humans don't exist the AI has already won the war", then would 30 be "There are ants crawling around my house, how annoying"?

(http://i.imgur.com/yMIOENp.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/hPX2UjT.png)

In retaliation for the death of my construction ships my fleetball lashes out at the MKIII force field protecting one of the guard posts, while ignoring the guard post that doesn't have a force field protecting it.

(http://i.imgur.com/7XhYUhi.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/AIGIFot.png)

The Geminorum warp jammer is now a smouldering ruin.  But all the attackers are dead courtesy of the sniper turrets and hey the remains rebuilder is still alive!

Yeah nice try robots.

(http://i.imgur.com/HEX3700.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/XrfRQ3K.png)

Erm, wow.  I seriously lost that many ships attacking the force field?  How big is a Reprisal Level 3 wave compared to a normal one?

Well, it's almost dead, might as well finish the job.

(http://i.imgur.com/3q9NBp9.png)

And we just lost the last few space tanks and one of the MKI Bomber Starships.  The only fleetships remaining are the MLRSs.  With the fodder gone I cannot put my MKIII starships at risk.  That blasted guard post will have to wait.  I'm ordering a strategic withdraw.  All units, assume formation and proceed to Iota Pegasi as a group.

(http://i.imgur.com/YUeIpWy.png)

Looks like the AI Special Forces has set up an ambush at Iota Pegasi, consisting mostly of riot starships and beam guardians.  Glad to see the enemy forces aren't equipped for task for once.  All ships, maintain formation and otherwise fire at will.  With all our combined firepower, we'll stand a better chance together.

(also what's with the AI special forces and its obsession with Riot Starships?)

(http://i.imgur.com/ztPToTO.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/fr2cfQo.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/bVqcSKC.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/rbKPTyD.png)

And so the fleet lives to fight another day.

(http://i.imgur.com/dqvq8dE.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/dr6cMdl.png)

...oh joy.  This is a large wave even by my current standards.  For AIP 30 this is a monster.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 25, 2014, 03:03:51 PM
A level 1 Reprisal is roughly in the ballpark of a normal AI wave, and it "saves up" salvage until it has enough for one of those (and then launches it, however big it got, after something like 1.5 or 3 minutes).  Each level after that is twice the size of the previous.

When you lower AIP you lower the size of a normal AI wave, but not the amount of saved salvage the AI has.  So it can quickly drop the "bar" way below the stored level, and potentially if you're also taking significant casualties at the same time...

Still, nothing a few BombBots can't handle.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet August 29, 2014, 03:45:30 PM
Out of curiosity...

(http://i.imgur.com/wIAngZD.png)

Both AIs should be Mad Bombers, right?

: ArcenWiki
Better Than Trelawney (Reveal Random AI Types - added in 4.049)

...who or what is Trelawney?  ???

(http://i.imgur.com/KwDrkVT.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/SmOM7J2.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/sHHEbpD.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/O9fMeMZ.png)

...wut?

(http://i.imgur.com/e2dmhRw.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/dh5sNIq.png)

: Prerelease 7.047 Beltsander of Worlds MKII
Corrected Mad Bomber tooltip to include that it likes to send Plasma Siege Starships, as well as Bomber Starships.
Thanks to Alex Heartnet for pointing out the need.

I don't even

So this entire change was made off of a faulty assumption on my part?!?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe August 29, 2014, 03:52:08 PM
Well, Mad Bombers do emphasize both of those starships.

But it does appear the AI's been pulling a fast one on you here :)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet September 04, 2014, 09:30:22 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/ZAi7QK4.png)

Wait, I can do -what- with a command station?

(http://i.imgur.com/PYL4ZLn.png)

Huh, this is new to me.

(http://i.imgur.com/2twm9gh.png)

Why oh why would anyone ever want to use a MILITARY command station?  It's better to not let the bad guys reach your command station at all.

Safer for your fleet, too.  Makes autokiting easier.

(http://i.imgur.com/bMqSPTq.png)

LIES!  CAKE!  The command station is just FINE I'm just rebuilding it quick!!

whatever I got my fleet ready let's do this

(http://i.imgur.com/tfASmOf.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/NzYmftO.png)

... i assume this horrible-looking ring is the attack wave?

Match up unit strengths to enemy weaknesses.  Tanks, bombers, plasmas, all focus fire on the siege starships.  Frigates, MLRSs, Flagships, Riots, intercept those raiders.  Do not let them escape!

Raiders, raid starships, and autocannons. Withdraw at once.  Your presence is useless here.

(http://i.imgur.com/rrQe3Uq.png)

What at first looked to be an epic clash turned into a complete one-sided rout.

(http://i.imgur.com/d3IVx5y.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Qa6LINA.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/GPD2lwJ.png)

woooowwww.  Riot ships, continue engaging the enemy, all other vessels withdraw.  This battle has been already decided.

(http://i.imgur.com/mvCEuvi.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/XJwD0ru.png)

To all ships: Rally at Geminorum.  It's time to show them how the big boys do battle!
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe September 04, 2014, 09:33:07 PM
To all ships: Rally at Geminorum.  It's time to show them how the big boys do battle!
C'mon Norbank, be a badass just this once.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Dragondraikk September 07, 2014, 07:44:24 AM
Why oh why would anyone ever want to use a MILITARY command station?  It's better to not let the bad guys reach your command station at all.

Can't tell if you were being facetious here, but I figured I may as well give an answer regardless!

Military CS help quote a bit with the problem of "not letting the bad guys reach them" since they are the proud owners of translocator weaponry. So apart from not being made out of cotton candy, they can also keep a small number of enemies at a distance. This is especially entertaining when the AI tries to sneak a single Raid Starship or  so past your defenses only to find it can never actually reach your command station.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Hearteater September 07, 2014, 08:55:20 AM
Additionally on Military CS: Add Spider Turrets near the CS for added amusement. They CS pushes the enemy away, the Spiders kill there engines. Eventually you have dead-in-space enemies littering your system waiting to die. In the days of galaxy caps for turrets, a Military CS + 5-6 Spiders could hold off 200 enemy ships. It only got stronger now with per-planet caps. In addition, the Military CS has Tachyon beams, attack boosts all your units in the system, and has extra immunities. In particular: Antimatter Bombs, Blades, and Fusion Cutters. The Mark III variant has Engine Damage, Paralyzes, and has Planetary Tachyon coverage.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet September 08, 2014, 10:46:55 PM
A single space plane decided to infiltrate Geminorum and just hide.  Come out and show yourself!

Suddenly my tachlyon emitters no longer feel like a waste of science.

(http://i.imgur.com/8jJWLh2.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Sp6zmWA.png)

See?  Your fancy radar dampening doesn't protected you from sniper shots, does it?

I now have tachlyon emitters and MLRS turrets at the wormholes, flak turrets near the jammer, and a forcefield around said jammer.  No more sneak attacks.  Bring a fleet or GTFO.

(http://i.imgur.com/rsK7gR4.png)

My main fleetball will once again try to re-take that three-planet cluster, while a raiding force will try to figure out how to get at that data center at the far upper part of the galaxy.

(http://i.imgur.com/yonpMyg.png)

D'awwww, the machine brought a Sniper Guardian to the battle.  How cute.

(http://i.imgur.com/MOATAmt.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/9tjZSvX.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/ihsPhxP.png)

(how many snipers can a single Scout Starship defend against at once?)

The Iota Pegesi system must be cleared out, I -will- be passing through there a lot.

Let's start with the guard posts near the wormhole.  I see 3 targets:

Target A is a MLRS Guard Post.  It gets bonuses against various things that are not Heavy or Polycrystal hulls.

Target B is a Special Forces Post protected by a forcefield.  The ships not going after Target A will instead start hammering that objective.

Target C is the Sniper Guardian and its Space Plane escort.  A suitable target for my Riot Ships! (not)

(http://i.imgur.com/AUPQJZ4.png)

Unfortunately, I forget to check the attack range of the MLRS post, which immediately proceeded to fire on Group B, resulting in unnecessary losses.  At least my bombers and tanks were able to kill it before it did too much damage.

(http://i.imgur.com/q1LsgSV.png)

Meanwhile, in the Capella system....a Data Center!

(http://i.imgur.com/BOpdFQ2.png)

You know you are causing massive damage when the special forces decide to flee.

(http://i.imgur.com/cxBeSt7.png)

Get back here!  No quarter.

(http://i.imgur.com/0YvTllH.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/8xH6L2t.png)

Oh, you are probably chasing after my secondary raiding force.  Sorry.  Not happening

(http://i.imgur.com/UMm8PF7.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/KILdeKr.png)

And I lost my fleet again.  At 26 AIP.  At least Iota Pegasi won't be giving me any more problems.  It's a major crossroads, so I'll be traveling through here a lot.

(http://i.imgur.com/P7dnd2n.png)

An experiment in flanking tactics!  So everything doesn't get hit with a plasma bomb all at once.

In hindsight I could of just charged it with my raiders.

(http://i.imgur.com/yVw8BH1.png)

This is what attack waves look like at 26 AIP.

(http://i.imgur.com/M4rpa5S.png)

Finally, I can get my revenge on those stoopid MLRS guard posts.  They died so quickly I didn't even get a screenshot of it.

(http://i.imgur.com/qKpHMkY.png)

My construction team can actually reach the Streve system this time!  They are immediately greeted by the remains rebuilder.  Hi!

(http://i.imgur.com/1V9zrsu.png)

Don't need this anymore...

(http://i.imgur.com/6ykhzNH.png)

Meanwhile, on the way wayyyy opposite side of the galaxy, the raiding party finally reaches the Leonis system to strike at the data center contained therein.

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

Numerous obstacles have taken their toll on the raiding fleet.  But all that stands in their way is one final guard post!

(http://i.imgur.com/Xnw71JP.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/6jwVZcR.png)

gflksjglfslkmfslkmfskla

e-raequit
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe September 09, 2014, 09:02:40 AM
And the Data Center lives to Data another day! ... or another few minutes, at least.


(how many snipers can a single Scout Starship defend against at once?)
All the snipers.

(aside from the relatively recent protector starship, all counter-ammo abilities are infinite in that sense)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet October 08, 2014, 01:22:30 AM
I may or may not of modded the game's graphics  ::)

(http://i.imgur.com/fGPjN79.png)

Expect nonsense like blue lasers and black plasma bombs

(http://i.imgur.com/ms6RSBx.png)

yus yus moar metal gimme gimme mine mine

Looking at the map, it'd be easy to hold this three-planet cluster.  I think this is the most player-friendly galaxy I have ever seen.

(http://i.imgur.com/pIzCMlZ.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/17Ti4es.png)

Wow okay umm is this the point in the game where I should start panicking?

Also what's the point of player-created warp gates when I just manufacture my new MKV Armor Ships from the space dock

(http://i.imgur.com/e0pVGHM.png)

I see I'm not the only one who has shiny new special effects colors.

(http://i.imgur.com/hd5KFlw.png)

My fleetships will pop the Capella barracks, while my flagships simotaniously handle the Alpha Centrui barracks.  What could go wrong?

(http://i.imgur.com/wszthCB.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/cJUVv9x.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/sNsQua2.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/9Qre9L8.png)

I'm starting to think that my simultaneous attacks are a bad idea.

(http://i.imgur.com/jHzTBO6.png)

Ugh, I go through all the effort of having set up not one but -three- defensive lines in this system, and you robots can't even make it past the first one.

(http://i.imgur.com/RWw7cIm.png)

I brought my full fleet this time, the Capella system is as good as mine.

(http://i.imgur.com/9WLCx4s.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/tlmsFOa.png)

Alpha Centarui as well, that MKIV starship factory is crucial to my plans.  Say hello to the fancy new effects that my autocannons have.

(http://i.imgur.com/Zu0Yz3L.png)

Come to think of it, I was going to do a hack to get that MKIV fab?  Derp, ah well my previous savefile is too far behind to bother.

(http://i.imgur.com/47CAAlU.png)

This cute little ship group must be the CPA.  I don't think I noticed the actual attack.

(http://i.imgur.com/jUuqfj4.png)

Wait so umm so as long as I hold the MKIV thingie I can make MKIV stuff from any constructor anywhere?!

(http://i.imgur.com/FvaR8A5.png)

This is Shield Network B.  Say hello to it.  Now say goodbye.

(http://i.imgur.com/nxZw1NZ.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/ETD7Zi3.png)

With more systems comes more science!  Hmm, decisions...

Let's start with MKII Force Fields, I'll certainly find a use for those.

This leaves me with 7,000 science.  I plan on taking 4 more systems after this -  however the forth system won't be taken until just before attacking the AI homeworlds (Core Gen D is is a problematic location).  7,000 + 9000 = 16,000

Assault Transports = 3,000 Science
MKIII Spire Starship = 4,000 Science
MKIII Zenith Starship = 4,000 Science
MKIII Flagship = 4,000 Science
I would love to unlock area mines, but apparently those aren't a part of the base game.
Additionally, in what order should I science up the above starships?

What can I do with the remaining 1,000 science?

Well, my MLRS turrets see heavy use and get bonuses against the light and ultra-light hulls that the Vicious Raider and Stealth Master both like.  MKII MLRS = 750 science.  The remaining 250 science can give me MKII Scout Starships, for the improved tachylon emittion range and multiplex cloak booster.  These MKII Scout Starships look like a surprisingly good bargain for 250 science, I will have to remember these next game.

Alternatively, I could try out Decloakers for 1,000 science...
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Bud Backer October 09, 2014, 12:46:30 PM
Very entertaining write-up. Are you Finding the changes to the game version over time having any impact?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet October 10, 2014, 04:54:52 PM
Very entertaining write-up. Are you Finding the changes to the game version over time having any impact?

- Plasma Siege Starship HP nerf
- Turret Cap Changes
- Energy System Changes
- One patch changed the positioning of each and ever wormhole
        - The location of AI guard posts remained the same.  Tachylon Guard Posts in particular are no longer located near wormholes.  Makes scouting easy.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Bud Backer October 11, 2014, 10:32:55 AM
Very entertaining write-up. Are you Finding the changes to the game version over time having any impact?
Tachylon Guard Posts in particular are no longer located near wormholes.  Makes scouting easy.

I noticed that the Tachyon posts are sometimes in what I thought were odd locations far from the wormholes. But I think there were always Tachyon posts also near the wormholes in those worlds. I'll have to pay more attention. Usually my fleetball kills the post when it pops into the world so it's harder to keep track, which means I'll have to watch as I scout.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet October 11, 2014, 05:39:37 PM
I noticed that the Tachyon posts are sometimes in what I thought were odd locations far from the wormholes. But I think there were always Tachyon posts also near the wormholes in those worlds. I'll have to pay more attention. Usually my fleetball kills the post when it pops into the world so it's harder to keep track, which means I'll have to watch as I scout.

Ancient Shadows has Tachyon Posts trying to guard the unstable wormholes that aren't actually there if you aren't playing with champions.  Other then that a Tachyon Post is always seen guarding both sides of each and every wormhole.

Sometimes you have to strike across multiple systems worth of tachyon posts so your scouts can get though - the type of raids where the ships you send might not come back.  In this situation fighters shine because of their low cost and 600% damage multiplier against the Medium hulls that the tachyon thingies have.

On a related note, it seems that the AI uses Wormhole Guard Posts as rallying points rather the the wormholes themselves.  Those are mis-aligned as well, resulting in the AI rallying in the middle of the system instead of near a wormhole.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Fleet Unity October 11, 2014, 05:44:33 PM
An update changed the position of every wormhole guard post and tachyon emitters, ect this only happens to older saves, when you start a new game they will not change anymore but all of the planet icons and backgrounds will when you reload the save, but nothing is reseeded so all items will still be in the same position, and this will only happen once in a new game.

Edit: It was the update that reset all the metal harvesters when you loaded an older save file, when that happened the whole galaxy seemed to reseed making items appear in weird areas as the wormholes themselves also reseeded but normal items like ships, structures did not.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Kahuna October 15, 2014, 03:53:45 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/17Ti4es.png)

Wow okay umm is this the point in the game where I should start panicking?
Lmao how the hell can the CPA be that small??
Anyway. This has been very entertaining.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Coppermantis October 17, 2014, 03:28:19 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/17Ti4es.png)

Wow okay umm is this the point in the game where I should start panicking?
Lmao how the hell can the CPA be that small??
Anyway. This has been very entertaining.

Many versions ago I got a CPA of 1. No idea how or why given that I was a noob and had huge AIP, but it happened.
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet October 22, 2014, 08:28:47 PM
I haven't even planned out my endgame strategy yet, but it's clear that Iota Pegasi is going to become a major crossorads.  As such it must be cleared out.

(http://i.imgur.com/1atyhBy.png)

Iota Pegasi is mostly empty already, it only contains a command center, a guardian, and a few wormhole guard posts.  I guess I can leave the command center intact?

(http://i.imgur.com/dVf4Zl1.png)

The wormhole posts can die though.  All of them.  I'm not quite sure if blowing them up actually does anything, but they can die anyway!

(http://i.imgur.com/jGsBGwi.png)

A small beachhead should be enough to clear out anything the command station spawns.

(http://i.imgur.com/wZeCjwX.png)

This is getting annoying.  I need moar firepower!

(http://i.imgur.com/7NX8FHy.png)

quote science center ARS thing

(http://i.imgur.com/8HwGKC3.png)

Blah, I already have space tanks grr now I have to waste more hacking points on an ARS hack when I do attack.  Next game I'll be sure to scout all the ARS thingies before pirating any AI ship designs.

And then I noticed the special forces.

(http://i.imgur.com/YKuLYG8.png)

They pass though the system without letting themselves be destroyed by my beachhead.

Fine, fine, I'll bring the beachhead to them!

(http://i.imgur.com/wrTlCFr.png)

Now I have not one but -two- beachheads in system!  Now what are you robots going to do?
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: keith.lamothe October 23, 2014, 09:58:04 AM
Now I have not one but -two- beachheads in system!  Now what are you robots going to do?
Send in the BombBots ;)
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet November 09, 2014, 11:44:10 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/YgAuny8.jpg)

Oh, it's you again.  <_<

Got burnt out on editing 5 hours of video again, update will arrive soon™
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet November 23, 2014, 06:06:53 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/AvoDA93.png)

Endgame Plan:

First and foremost, the Core Shield Generators have to be taken out.

Alpha Tauri seems like the best bet, as I'll get a ARS out of it.

(http://i.imgur.com/3HKp0EK.jpg)

But Shield Gen D-Secondary is...well...I'll have to take it as part of my final assault.

The Rigor System has a Zenith Starship Fabricator, a Spaaace Tank Fabricator, and a Dire Guardian Lair.

The Vega System contains a Sniper Turret Controller, a Bomber Starship Fabricator, and connects to Rigor and nothing else.

If I take those two systems, I'll have a nice foward base for launching attacks from ontop of having much-needed firepower.

(http://i.imgur.com/M3KgUpV.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/qrr3vkP.jpg)

Oh.  Err, right.  Is it possible to sabotauge-hack the Eye before I actually attack the homeworlds for real?

My autocannons will come through a different wormhole to draw off the defenders.  While the mobile guard posts are distracted my hacker will come through a different wormhole, along with some general fodder.

Oh, and I'll likely be needing these...

(http://i.imgur.com/CXpT1dD.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/YqJlR78.png)

As for the final battle itself, I erm umm have no clue really
: Re: Newbie and the Beast
: Alex Heartnet December 11, 2014, 09:27:04 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/AX4gWkc.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/uHAtLqv.png)

Nonononono.  Just no.  Nope.avi

I know these things want to murder me at the first oppertunity.  They are probably waiting for an attack wave big enough to overwhelm my defenses before pouring in.

Also they have something I've never seen before...

(http://i.imgur.com/wGaXlis.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/I0j73Jz.png)

Interesting.  I'm not sure if 35 ships counts as a horde, but then again I am playing with very low unit caps...

Well I've been wanting to blow something up anyway.  It'd give me something to do while I make preperations to attack Algor and Alpha Tauri.  I even have a pair of leftover normal transports to move them around!

(http://i.imgur.com/6GkAe1n.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/of3myml.png)

Wait it umm what well I suppose it is indeed a carrier at least it's too few ships to actually threaten me.

(http://i.imgur.com/CjDMtR6.png)

Yes more scrap please my turrets are placed far enough  from the wormhole that you will never actually reach them as they tear you to shreads.

Umm...turrets?  What's with the sudden lack of lasers?

(http://i.imgur.com/t33XK3u.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/GLfAp2J.png)

What nonononono it doesn't work that way you robots are supposed to charge in blindly, not retreat!

Must find a permanent solution to this problem...

(http://i.imgur.com/xtYCYob.png)

This will do.

Ladies and germs, may I present to you the Altar System.

(http://i.imgur.com/1Tu76bf.png)

And the Alpha Tauri system.

(http://i.imgur.com/jbOCCfz.png)

One of these has an A-Prime shield gen and an ARS.  The other has a Threatening Eye and connects to the AI homeworld.  Only one of these is productive to attack and a preplanned target.

I wanted to soften up Alpha Tauri before my ARS hack, and ended up accidently targeting the Altair system instead.

Altair is one big NOPE, as one would expect from a homeworld-border that has been on alert for some time.  The big centerpiece here is this thing

(http://i.imgur.com/MY20p4e.png)

but really, everything about it is nope

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

My feeble human mind still has trouble processing just how much stronger MKIV stuff is compared to MKI stuff.  My plan was to send a raiding party to pop the Ion Cannon, then send in my MKV Armor Ships as a distraction to lure away from my starship ball.

It went about as well as expected.  Ironicly the only thing that kept me from losing my entire fleet was the Threatening Eye.
(http://i.imgur.com/lutUs7K.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Zt5xAZ1.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/qq6ZXtB.png)

This is what made me realise I am attacking the wrong target.  This is new, and I'm not quite sure how I plan on dealing with it...

On a more positive note, a thing happened right before I sent in my starships.  Classic AI war.  Why, these things move so fast that they can dodge lasers from two dozen snipers!  As well as a large wolfpack of starships, and a full cap of laser and MLRS turrets, and a second beachhead, as well as the Geminorum defence grid which also has sniper, MLRS, and Missile turrets in addition to Flak turrets, grav Turrets, and Tachlyon emitters...

(http://i.imgur.com/TUpRkc0.png)