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Back to the AAR:
Update to 6.0 for awesome music. Regret updating to 6.0 for awesome music because 20(!) enemy champions just appeared on each AI Homeworld. But that is a later concern.
For now I mean to hack until I can hack no more. And I have 12 mkI planets (2 of 14 had co-ps) around my HW on which to do it.
The first two hacks (of this session, so the fourth and fifth) go well, at response- High, then Very High, then Extreme.
The next two hacks (Forest Fire) are somewhat trickier. Raid starship groups decide to be cute and simply ignore my gravity turret network. Save-reload teaches them some respect.
You know how I said that tackle drones were made for hacking? Add in spire blade spawners I-IV and neinzul enclave drones I-II, and you barely need any other ships. In fact, it is the zombie spawns on other planets, and raid starship spawns that are threatening. I also have a near-ideal setup to deal with random threat: two planets, HW (High Lab) with 2 mod forts and half the turrets, and FactIV (Apex) with the other mod fort and the remaining turrets.
The AI can de-zombify (and thus de-moronify) its huge numbers of patrolling zombies by pulling them into carriers, which then behave as a mini-cpa. I have to stop hacking while I redeploy to the FactIV world to deal with them (this happens a few times).
In the middle of my 8th hack, a normal cpa (7000) ships declare, right after the AI deployed 3000 threat zombies into carriers. I call off the hack until after the cpa is dealt with.
The 3 former-zombie carriers threatball on Apex. The battleship+shadow shields+riot tractor grab technique teaches them the error of their ways. The Riots Is and IIIs grab them, then the waiting riotIIs taze them on the other side, and it is a slaughter. Now that those are dead, there are two minutes on the cpa clock. Normal wave hits, last stragglers elimated just as the cpa declares.
Wait, why are there suddenly dark spire ships everywhere? That makes no sense, unless the AI redeploying into carriers counts toward the death count. Anyway, the DS are pretty ignorable.
The three-stage champ-shield deploy, riot tractor grab, riot taze (hereafter the Tripple Ripple) is an awesome tactic. And whatever isn't shot to pieces or tazed gets tackled, sliced (SBS), and swarmed (enclaves) I do have to operate on a core world to do it, though (fortunately not next to a CRE).
Time to finish k-hack 8. The high frequency of short-warp-jumps makes hacking much easier than it would be. It can cause its own problems, but usually doesn't, because the zombies are idiots. Their trickle is laughable against turrets, let alone modular fortresses. So the high frequency of short warp jumps makes hacking both significantly easier, and significantly more annoying to deal with.
Ok, groups of 40 raid starships are annoying. They can't kill anything essential, because of the gravity turrets, but they can do a number on the supporting fleet. Anyway finished hack 8, unlocked missile frigates II, time to reavaluate my k situation.
I have 0 k.
I want to unlock triangles, Railclusters, and minirams III. This will cost 30,000k.
I only want to take 6 more systems (7 if a colony rebels on a non CSG.) 18,000 (21,000).
One of my target planets has an archive. 24,000 (27,000)
So I need to sacrifice an unlock, or perform two (one) more Forest Fire hacks. Hacking time!
"But sir, isn't that insane?"
"Do I need to have Admiral Glau "talk" to you?"
*pales* "No sir."
"Good."
Hack 9:
... to be continued shortly.
