I must be getting old and senile, it would appear I’ve forgotten how to play the game. All kidding aside, I’m stunned at some of the things I’m seeing now. I sat down with Alpha2a today, determined to finish a game and win. I’ve set it on severe with a grand emperor start for me, not that it matters much, because at even less difficult settings the accursed AI is not to be underestimated. I’ve seen it min-max its planets, stack three support ships on new colonies, and expand like a space borne plague. It consistently gets a solid lead and holds it like a pit-bull, I’m genuinely impressed. Even the AI factions are not as one dimensional anymore, for example in this session it is the Moltar who hold the dominant leading position. When I began this session, I spawned in the lower left corner and stayed out of trouble as much as I could. I made nice with anyone I met and tried to build up my empire, unfortunately the Moltar built colonies and bases right next to my border, suffocating me as it was. I attacked them and wrested three of their systems from their greedy clutch, Pleadsu, Oyeet, and Chuxuter. We have been fighting at this line ever since, Pleadsu rebelled and I had to invade it a second time, while strong enemy forces forced me to withdraw from Oyeet, but a counterattack is in the works now. At least I’ve created a strong fleet and my tech is somewhere in the middle of the pack, and while I am not in the best position, I believe I can win, in either case I’m determined to play this one to the very end. However, I also believe I have only a single path to a possible win, I must stay aggressive and decide the issue on a tactical level, at times winning battles against superior numbers. Why do I feel this? Every session I’ve played so far has seen the AI outpace me, the longer the game goes, the more I fall behind, I’ve yet to be in a position where I was in the running for the council. That doesn’t mean that diplomacy doesn’t play a role here, quite the opposite, I must keep excellent relations with the other factions while I concentrate everything I have against the Moltar.
Arg, now the bastards are producing some excellent war-ships as well, effective long range weapons and class 5 shields. I've had to run...er I mean tactically withdraw from a few battles, and make them chase me around. I was able to isolate and defeat one of their superb battleships, but this is proving quite difficult. Their ships are faster than mine, with probably the same range, this is causing me to disperse my forces so as to deny them any forward bases and protect my core worlds. Still, I'm a wily old veteran that has been playing war-games since Adam was in diapers, and I've managed to not only hold the line but actually push them back a bit. Now my goal is to hold them till I finish my current research, which will allow me to produce some highly advanced kick-ass ships of my own.
I’m struggling. I’ve kept the Moltar at bay, but whatever damage I’ve caused them seems to be negligible. To make matters worse, they have just about eliminated the Kaek and are now in an even more overwhelming position. The AI is using multiple support ships to set up their colonies quickly and then moving on, it’s a good strategy, and one I will have to start using myself as soon as one of my ship producing worlds are free. Twice I tried to destroy their colony at Ragiyama, only to be beaten back both times. The AI still has a speed advantage and they are employing a re-active defense, in other words before I can get to the system, they send heavy reinforcements. The second time I tried this, they showed up with a vast mixed fleet that included two Titans… I lost a cruiser before I could retreat. The Sulak have overtaken the Nova for second place, the map now consists of three super-powers and the rest of us. I’m now researching hyperdrive in a last ditch attempt to be able to defeat the Moltar fleet piecemeal… but I’m not optimistic. My fleet has grown but theirs has grown more. To make matters worse, most of my ships are of an older design that can’t put out enough damage to fight effectively, I’m upgrading some of them, but it’s a long process.
Reprieved! At last things are starting to look up. It all started once I researched hyperdrive, this gave me the speed I needed to be more flexible with my fleets, and man did I take advantage of it. I caught 5 support ships un-attended at Ragiyama and destroyed them, very satisfying indeed! I pulled back after that and held my lines, occasionally raiding Ragiyama (2 colonies), and Hogorth (3 colonies). All the while I fended off numerous raids by the Moltar at Pivenia, Usilev and Usagla. Things started to get ominous when the Moltar assembled two huge fleets, one at Ragiyama and the other at Hogorth, I thought I was done for… Then it happened, the Nova declared war on them and the Moltar pulled out many units from my front to face this new threat, I pounced at once. I destroyed all the colonies at Ragiyama and Hogorth both, before returning to my lines. This makes it harder for the Moltar to attack as their effective range has been reduced. I’ve also managed to upgrade almost all of my ships, with only my 5 cruisers still under refit, and I have a second support ship which I rotate out to colonies that need a boost. Now for the bad news, the Nova have filled in the vacuum I have created, so other than damaging the Moltar and gaining breathing room, I haven’t benefited much from my offensives. Unfortunately, I am in no shape to fight the Nova yet…the humans on the other hand… I’ve decided to hold the line against the Moltar and attack the much weaker humans, my primary objective will be to occupy the border colonies at Rognar, Khaba, Iyiaga, Suter and Faomdac. If I can accomplish this task, I will be on the way to becoming a super-power myself, at that point, the game will enter an entirely new stage. It’s a risky plan as it involves a two front war, but if I just sit still, I’m guaranteed to lose.
I began the campaign against the Humans, and the #*@%s pulled off a vicious counter-attack. They have advanced logistics and struck several of my core worlds, including my capital and Sobyria (see map). Well I chased them down and destroyed some of them while forcing the rest to flee back towards their space. I’ve taken the system at Rognar but it was a long drawn out affair as there are four colonies and an outpost there, still the offensive is bearing fruit. Now I just have to hope they don’t put down warp-interdictors on their colonies as it will completely derail me. (Let me also share a battle with you lest I forget. It happened a few turns back against the Moltar. They attacked a system with one of their Battleships, I had a Cruiser, 2 Destroyers and a Frigate defending. Normally I would view that as an easy win…except it wasn’t. The Moltar ship was so well shielded that I exhausted all my missiles and failed to bring down its shields. In a panic, I tried a desperate move. I maneuvered my two destroyers behind the enemy Battleship and used my direct fire weapons against their unshielded rear. All the while, I kept my Cruiser in front of the enemy ship and prayed it could take the beating it was getting long enough for my Destroyers to bring it down… My wife came rushing into the room to see what I was cheering about, that had to be one of the most satisfying moments I’ve had playing this game) I’ve now increased my fleet to over 30 war-ships, more or less evenly spread among five fleets, yet I’ve fallen in ranking and only have the 4th largest navy. I’m cranking out more ships now, Battleships in particular, and all ships have been upgraded to more advanced versions, some of these ships now have 5 stars experience so I’m glad I didn’t scrap any. I also have a third support ship on the payroll as I am now emulating the AI strategy of using them to give key colonies accelerated growth. The Human and Moltar AIs are both conducting occasional counter-attacks and constant raids, the later keep me from concentrating my forces more effectively as I have to be in a position to defend these raids, even if sometimes they are conducted by a single Frigate or Destroyer. With my forces deployed roughly 60% against the Humans and 40% against the Moltar, the object is to take as many human colonies as quickly as possible, while maintaining an adequate defense against the Later.
I can't beat this... no matter what I do the AI outpaces me. I've managed to win a few more systems and have had some outrageous battles, but it's only a matter of time before someone wins the council vote. I'm not giving up though, at this point I'm interested to see how long I can fight against these odds, who knows, maybe I'll even catch a lucky break and steal a victory. I'm laying down even more advanced ships now and if I can get to Tachyon drive, I just might be able to take out an enemy Homeworld or two before they see me coming. Apart from that, it's more of the same with the AIs putting up a solid defense and making me really earn my victories, I've even tried to make peace multiple times so I can re-organize and buy some time, but they keep turning me down.
