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Warlord
Local Time: 04:53
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: of the Anti-Alien Forces of the Cult of Planet
Posts: 263
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my first victory on transzendent level!
Yeah, I've got it! My first victory in transzendent level!
I played one of my selfmade factions, main features
+1 research, -1 economy, +1 moral, -1 probe, 1 talent per each 4, 1 drone for each 8, no starting techs and facilities.
Played huge random map, blind research, random AI factions, other settings on default.
I started on a medium-sized continent with place for around ten to twelve bases. Contacted Deirdre early, who suggested me a pact against Miriam. I agreed.
Tried to get some of the early SP's, but Human Genome went to Morgan, and Miriam got the Weather Paradigm short before I would be ready. All I could get was the Merchant's Exchange, which seemed second choice to me at that time. Learned better during the game! Perhaps I would have not won if I got WP instead of ME! I will never underestimate the merchants exchange any more!
Pacted with Lal who was fighting with Morgan in the Northeast. Both factions never got any importance.
Domai and Cha Dawn were sharing a big continent in the west, Domai has the southern and Cha the northern part.
Domai and I were trading some tech and making pact against Cha.
In the central part of the map there was a very huge continent (this was a map with only few oceans, only narrow channels between the continents), and Deirdre in the N and Miriam in the S. Miriam smashed Deirdre like a bug, left Deirdre only one base on my continent. I tried to help Deirdre, landed on the big continent with some troops, destroied one of Miriams base, but couldn't conquer a bridgehead. At the end, I had to rescue the rests of my units from Miriams continent.
Miriam, with all her occupied Gaian bases, rocked up to the sky in powergraph and even in research. She got some SP's, including the Empath Guild and the Marine Project. Since that, she ruled the seven seas. I never got a foothold on the sea and was caged on my continent. My big luck, the AI doesn't build skimship probes, so I was secure from her probes. And meanwhile I had got the Citizens Defense, so I had a very good defensive position. My only problem was that the base with the Citizens Defens was the city most to Miriams neighborhood. Of course she would try to land troops and conquer it.
At this moment, my plans were clear. Unable to cross the ocean, I had to develop my bases and build up a good defensive force. At this time, the Merchant's Exchange beins to pay out it's value. Slowly, with that money from the ME, I conquered the first place in tech graph. But, perhaps because of the blind research, I only got non-SP-techs, and although I was leading in tech, Domai was building all the SP's.
I waited till Domais has finished his SP's, and than made a real big tech trade with him. From that moment, I was far away in tech and build all the follwing SP's.
Miriam tried several times to invade, and was regulary beaten on her dirty fingers. Only once I sweated blood and water. A transport with infantry has slipped through my air patrols and landed near the the Citizens Defense base, and at the same time, around 30 or more of Miriams needle jets appeared. I had good 1-5-1AAA garrisons in my base, but if Miriam had sacrificed 15 or 20 of her needlejets, she certainly would have conquered this base. But none of the needlejets attacked the base, they only dared to attack my helpless formers and crawlers. The next turn, I shot done some with my interceptors, brought heavy rovers by my mag tubes and killed Miriams infantry. I learned from that, build some AAA-hovertanks, never had trouble with Miriams needlejets any more.
From 2350 on, I invented the advanced military techs one after the other. The only thing I still have to fear were planet busters, Domai and Miriam have build them. So I decided to invade in Cha Dawns and Miriams continents to get some space between my SP-bases and ther PB's. Domai had begon to conquer Cha's bases very fast. He was a very reliable pactmate, but nethertheless, I didn't want his PB's in direct neighborhood to my best bases.
With four of my heavy hovertanks, I sliced through Cha's Bases like a knife through warm butter, and after I had conquered six bases, I mad Cha my slave. To my surprise, Domai doesn't complaint about that. I like this guy, he is always a reliable pactmate.
On the other front, my invasion on Miriams continent failed because of the sheer masses of their troops and needlejets. The only succes was a surprise find of a ungarded morganite size-3 seabase. Useful as a base of airborne needlesticks on Miriam.
In SE I was running demo/planned/green, later added by cybernetic. Except some mines and boreholes for my crawlers, nearly all my continent was forest, I had a lot of tree farms and hybrid forests. So, added with my SP's, I had no problems with effic (+7!) and didn't even know what what ecodamage was until 2410 (+3planet and all my trees). But Domai made some sea level raising by his mass production. All factions agreed to use the solar shield. My research was getting faster all the time, at the end a got new tech every two turns.
Again I had problems because of the blind research. I had to wait very long to get hab domes to exceed population limit of my bases above 14. I had the clone tanks and coudn't pop boom. :-(
But that was my only problem. By 2390 my SDI system of flechettes and defense orb pods was booting, and I had so many SP-bases, that a PB penetrating my SDI-shield (if it could) would make damage, but didn't kill me.
My orbs ruled the sky, at the end I had about 18 hydroculture orbs, 13 energy orbs, a few nessus and more than ten defense orbs. My pactmate build a few hydroculture and energy orbs, no problem for me. But surprise, good old Morgan build a hydroculture orb around 2410. I sniped it down with one of my defense orbs the next turn. :-)
From 2420, my production exploded because of SP's, and I got a lot of worm boils. I sent my empath rovers and got a lot of mone to rush-build the voice of planet in
2428. I took a well defended base near the northern margin of the map, switched the production on ascendence to transcedence, abandond my PB there
(got me a lot of minerals), harvested a lot of crawlers and payed the rest with 5000 bucks of cold cash.
The next turn, all other faction begon transcendenting as well, but to PB attackes. I think my bases were to far away from them and to well-protected. I transcendented in 2429! :-)
But victory and defeat are so close! The next game I got the spanking of my life.
Started with my good old amber searchers (good in economy, but more sympathic than this morganites) and got a very good start. In 2130, I had four prospering bases, one in the Manifold nexus, and planned to expand and start some SP's. Then the anarchists of the Scipetarion faction visited me with a rover and wanted money. I refused, destroied one of their bases, killed a colony pod, produced some laser-infantry and thougt I was quite safe, because I thought, the fast-growing, non-enhanced Skipetarian bases must shiver with drone riots at that time.
What an error! Around 2140, a army of two 2-2-2 rovers,
six 4-2-1 infantry, an ogre and even two 4-3r-1 infantry invaded my territory! I have never seen such a big and strong army so early in the game!
My only explanation: They pacted with the Caretakers or Ursupers and were given some Christmas presents of tech and/or units. In 2150, they had conquered my capital and crashed me like a bug.
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