Score another one for the AI!
(though the AI's Zenith Reprocessors going after your home settlements is a disturbing bit of emergent imagery)
Funny, however. Rather funny.
Hah, finally found a map where I could start with the Spire Railcluster. To hell with that, with how badly those things ate me last game? GIMME.
On a random personal side note: I'm getting rather sick of cough drops, but they're a hell of a lot better than the alternative.
Alright, startup. Not making the same economic error twice, straight to Harvester IIIs... right after I stop having to restart the game because I CAN'T FRICKIN CLICK THE RIGHT TARGET.... and Mini-Fortress.
So, startup... homeworld is Picard, and it's one away from a cluster-road. This cluster has 3 inroads to it. Sox (2/2), the cluster road and my original intent as the primary whipping boy, is a MK IV with a CoP on it. How special.
My other 'easy grabs' are really weak in resources and are MK Is. Greeeaaat. That's Meander (2/1) and Kirk (1/0).
Misery's a MK III (3/3) and is 3 hops out. That might be a decent next point. Spagetti, the inroad from the other cluster to Sox, is a MK III with a counter on it. Tau is pretty much the same just no counter.
2 Planets north of me on Eridani(2/2) is a grav drill... on the MK IV world. Well, great. Just past that is a Data Center on a MK III on Shawshank (1/2).
5:30 in. Fleet's about half built, both mini-forts up on homeworld. Econ's famine still but that's expected. Open up Grav I turrets and drop a 5 turret screen near the CC to help screen it from problems.
First wave announces at 7:25 again, 75+2 to Homeworld. Fleet should JUSt finish by the time they arrive. I'm still poking my Scout Is around the starter cluster. First defense went well enough but the enemy has fireflies, so there's now a bunch of threat out there.
Finally having gotten all my Scout I's to 3-outs I've got nothing of interest in the immediate neighborhood. I've already begun the engagement on Sox, the MK IV neighbor and eventual whpping boy. The enemy has Gravity Drains, so that's making this more uncomfortable as well. It'll also pretty much negate any Raid SS tactics I'd usually apply.
I've decided I'm going to ride an artifically inflated AIP due to the neighboring CoP to set the whipping boy up properly and early... which is immediately short-circuited when I look at wormhole layouts for Sox. Dammit. Setting up over on Spagetti on the other side makes a lot more sense. Planet is crap for resources though, 1/1... BAH, dangit.
I had to come back with the fleet after cleaning off a FF III with MK I units on Sox to catch a wave that was hitting homeworld from behind. The trap between them and the mini-forts worked nicely. Out of curiousity though I setup a mobile builder. I'm going to try to build a few on Sox. Nope, CoP blocks supply on those, too. Rats.
Map is attached below.
So, hrm. Do I take Sox and it's barely a Grav I distance between the homeworld and the cluster connector, or don't I. I could, in theory, just pop the Warp Gate and move on somewhere else, but I'd particularly picked this world for both the Railgun and the cluster-connector whipping boy/chokepoint. Hrm.
If I break through the Tach emitters at Smurf Village and Tau in the center I should be able to land scouts onto the rest of the cluster worlds. I need to see more options. Sox is basically broken at this point. It's got an SF, the CC/Warp, and the CoP on it. A whopping 7 combat ships, too. Guess I'll punch through the middle. I don't like ANY of my current options.
Problem one... Tau has a Parasite Eye and dual Ions. The ions will need to go. Send the Fleet to Meander to clear the way for the Raids. I don't know how well this will work with that much Grav Drain out there but hell, worth a shot.
I grab a save at 38:00 simply because I'm morbidly curious about what a Parasite eye will actually do to the fleet. Also, since one of the AIs at least is using mines, I fire up a few scout SSs so I can remove some of the space junk.
I... kind of sadly... never really end up actually FIGHTING the eye on round 1 in that system. The fleet ended up running face first into a bunch of MK III and some guardians, and then trying to take out the FF III in that system over one of the posts just stalled up and died a lot. They got sent home without ever lighting up the eye, but they did clear out a nice chunk of enemy. The Raids head out to deal with the little MLRS under glass issue... and promptly die in the attempt, getting it to 31% before dual Artillery Guardians lay them to rest. Oops.
Skipping some back and forth aginst Tau which is just me bitching about a double refleet, I get a lookeeloo at Confederation, with a DC, Z-Gennie, 0/0 world with 4 ions and is MK IV. The only Mk II or less worlds I have seen in two games have been directly adjacent to the homeworld. RNG hate me much?
1 hour update: Not a hell of a lot done. Dig dig dig. Finally decide to drop the K on Scout IIs and hit energy edge. Fire up a converter on homeworld.
At 1:10 I've finally punched through the Eye on Tau with the MK I fleet. The first assault on Smurf Village with what's left goes... poorly. It does release a bunch of defenders however. It'll take a few runs. right on the entry is a FF III with some guardians under glass to harass me to death so I'm refleeting, while the half-fleet hit the freed threat.
About when the Raids visit Smurf Village to knock out that FF/Guardpost that's going to give me so much grief I notice it's got a CSG-E on it... and the massive SF reinforcement that just showed up.. Ho boy.
The fleet had already retreated to prep for an inbound wave to homeworld.
Finally got the cluster scouted about 1:24. There is nothing particularly special... anywhere.
At about 1:35 my little dual mini-fort beachhead on Meander falls to a massive stockpile of Guardian IIIs, in particular the artillery's one-shot pop 'em. The fleet has to go in and cover for the rebuild.
Hey! The new mini-forts gather scout intel. Keith finally got me my pickets! WOOT... alright, not exactly, these still piss off the neighbors. The unprotected beach-head however got itself slaughtered by drifters because I forgot to have the mini-forts stop shooting at a Wormhole Guardpost (note to self... not enough firepower to bother).
2 hour status: Not a damn thing has really happened other than fighting my way off homeworld with my MK I fleet and going nowhere. I've toyed with a few strategies and learned more about the mini-forts and SF forces, and generally gotten a better feel for what the new ships are doing. This game is dead and stagnant but I'm amused with it so far and I'm not done goofing around with a few things yet. The map as I've continued to punch holes out for scouts to get through is a wasteland, but with 100 planets that's to be expected.
I really need to restart. Border world resources were crap, CoP on primary whipping boy blockaded me, and I need to adjust my initial research build, particularly if I'm going to insist on clearing out MK IVs early.
Meh, fuggit, new game. Btw, the railcannon is OP. WAY OP. Also SF ratios need to be looked at. Getting nearly as many reclaimers as I am bombers when they finally get to me, and killing the reclaimers is like trying to kill a maw, just craptons of HP.