Morgan2000 Challenge

[Googlie]

Flo's Morgan Challenge (of 1999) is now available for today's players to experience the thrill of victory (or defeat).

get it from:

http://clik.to/sparta

and go to the last page ("The Fall Challenges")

Post your experiences in this thread.

G.



[This message has been edited by Googlie (edited November 17, 2000).]

[Googlie]

Here's Flo's original comments when setting up the game:

This is the follow-up to Zakharov....

Open challenge for all of us to learn.
You are Morgan on the huge map of planet. Your goal: win the game as soon as possible. By transcending, planetary conquest, or an energy monopoly. It won't be easy; too much riff -raff made it to planet: The Drones, Chairman Yang, Svensgaard and Miriam are your fellow human factions. Last year two alien craft made a landing, too.

Start: 2106

Good luck


[This message has been edited by Googlie (edited November 17, 2000).]

[Aredhran]

As posted in the other thread, I still have Flo's original should anyone want it.

[Googlie]

Thanks Aredhran.

Flo's original map now posted to the Spartan Chronicles site (see this thread beginning for link)

Googlie


[This message has been edited by Googlie (edited November 17, 2000).]

[VoodooChild]

For the first time in a week I was able to play for a couple of hours last night. That game was for the PK Challenge. Now there is a Morgan Challenge? So many different games to play, so few hours in the day *sigh*

Look for the first installment of "VC of the Peacekeepers" to come to a tread near you later tonight.

[Aredhran]

Bombs away !

[Zonk]

I always play with mind worms maxed out, but this was brutal. The worms played havok with early building.

Chang and Miriam really put it to me the first time I played. I was busy building infrastructure and money (in the Morgan tradition LOL) when Chang renounced the treaty and suprized me with his Air Power. This is the soonest I've every seen the Good Chairman with DAP -- it wasn't even 2050 or so -- I don't remember the date.
Anyway, I restarted after my taste of humble pie, and I'm doing much better. Chang even gave me a Needlejet in the restart after I pacted with him, and Miriam soon pacted with me, also handing me a few gifts. As a matter of fact, they were so generous, it caused some support problems.
Overall, a nice senario. It really tests Morgan's weak points.
I noticed on the powergraph that Marr was having his own troubles. Who is kicking Alien butt?

[Gregurabi]

2107: Learned Century Ecology. Switched to Explore+Build. Game is doing
Discovery.
2111: Learned Biogenetics. Game is doing Build.
2118: Morgan Transport founded (103,51).
2120: Learned Social Psych. Game is doing Explore.
2130: Morgan Mines founded (101,35).
2131: Learned Doctrine: Mobility. Game is doing Build.
2136: Morgan Construction founded (104,38).
2140: Learned Industrial Economics. Game is doing Explore.
2141: Set research priority to Build/Conquer.
2145: Domai starts Genome.
2147: Morgan Solarfex founded (105,31).
2148: Marr starts Weather Paradigm. Learned Progenitor Psych. Game is doing
Discovery.
2149: H'minee starts Weather Paradigm.

Status report @ M.Y. 2150:
6 bases, 12 population, 5 recycling tanks
frontier/simple/survival, 50/0/50, 17 income
7 techs, 20 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 9 years
2 colony pods, 7 formers, 5 scout patrols, 2 alien artifacts, 1 unity rover,
2 scout defensives
score: pop 12, tech 7, iron man +100%, total 38

2153: surprise attack by H'minee on undefended Colony Pod. Morgan Metallurgy
founded (112,40).
2156: Morgan Energy Monopoly founded (104,58).
2157: Learned Information Networks. Game is doing Conquest.
2158: Caretakers learn Secrets of the Human Brain (first).
2160: Miriam starts Merchant Exchange.
2164: Acquired Polymorphic Software from alien artifact.
2165: Drones build Human Genome, start Weather Paradigm. Learned Applied
Physics. Game is doing Conquest.
2166: Caretakers build Weather Paradigm. Used second alien artifact to build
prototype Laser Battery.
2167: Caretakers destroy Morgan Energy Monopoly (with their *TWO* Battle
Ogres).
2172: Acquired Nonlinear Mathematics from third alien artifact. Changed
research priorities to Explore/Build. Game is doing Explore, switched
to Build later.
2175: Built Impact Battery prototype. Learned Adaptive Economics. Game is
doing Discovery.
2176: Caretakers build Merchant Exchange.
2179: Caretaker Battle Ogre destroyed by Impact Rover. Morgan Processing
founded (104,58).

Status report @ M.Y. 2180:
8 bases, 23 population
8 Recycling Tanks, 7 Rec Commons, 1 Energy Bank, 2 Network Nodes,
4 Command Centers
frontier/simple/survival, 50/0/50, 11 income
12 techs, breakthroughs every 13 years, all prototypes completed
5 formers, 7 scout patrols, 3 scout defensives, 1 laser battery, 1 recon
rover, 1 impact battery, 5 impact rovers
score: pop 23, tech 12, +100% -> total 70

Comments: Neutralizing the Caretakers is our primary objective, even more
important than expansion, growth and research. We must strike *now*, while
we have (we believe) a staggering technological lead. Caretakers are known
to possess laser weapons and rovers; it is believed that they do not possess
synthmetal armor or impact weapons. Their captured mindworms are a threat,
but not a serious one so long as we remain in a non-free market. We do not
know whether their second Battle Ogre still survives; but if it is alive,
it is heavily wounded. Our next technology is due in 8 years (or perhaps
sooner, if new energy sources can be obtained). There is good reason to
suspect that this technology will bring us probe teams. This will be an
invaluable resource in the effort to neutralize H'minee.

2182: Started Planetary Energy Grid at Morgan Construction.
2187: H'minee boasts of a 4-2-2 unit. A 4-3r-1 is spotted.
2188: Learned Planetary Networks. Game is doing Exploration (prob. Flex).
2189: Pact with Domai vs. Miriam (with whom I have no contact yet).
2192: Drones start Virtual World.
2195: Yang starts Command Nexus. Morgan Biochemical founded (108,50).
2196: Caretakers start Command Nexus.
2197: Drones start Planetary Transit System. Infiltrated H'minee.
2198: Learned Ethical Calculus (suprise!). Game is doing Exploration again.
Reached efficiency warning.
2199: Sold Adaptive Econ to Marr for 100 EC. Captured Tower Preserve. Met
Sven and traded Ind.Econ for Flexibility, Planetary Networks for High
Energy Chemistry, Ethical Calc for Field Modulation. Signed Treaty.

2200: Research priority to Build, game doing Build (prob. Industrial Automation
or Gene Splicing).

Status report @ M.Y. 2200:
11 bases, 28 population
9 Tanks, 8 Rec Commons, 1 Energy Bank, 4 Nodes, 5 Command Centers
frontier/simple/survival, 50/0/50, 18 income
17 techs, 50 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 11 turns
2 colony pods, 7 formers, 6 scout patrols, 5 probe teams, 1 synthmetal
garrison, 4 scout defensives, 1 laser battery, 1 impact battery,
6 impact rovers, 1 impact squad 4-2-1
power graph: Usurpers, Caretakers (very close), Drones (3/4), Hive (2/3),
Pirates (just below Hive), Morganites (1/2), Believers (2/5)
score: pop 28, commerce 13, tech 17, +100% -> total 116

Comments: The capture of Tower Preserve was perhaps premature, for 2
reasons: (a) it puts us over the efficiency warning, and (b) we didn't
get a chance to probe it for tech before capture. However, the continual
arrival of Caretaker reinforcements convinced us to take the opportunity
when it finally arose. Losses have been heavy: they acquired impact
weapons sooner than we hoped they would; they had the very expensive
3r armor all along; and now they've got the cheap but effective synthmetal.
Meeting Sven was a godsend; but now we must decide whether to use nerve
gas against the Caretakers, or to allow peace in the future. We will likely
use Democracy once these last two bases have been founded; the support
costs will be a burden, though. This is a critical juncture for our
people: do we press onward the costly war against the Caretakers? Do
we maintain a holding action against their greatly reduced forces? Or do
we pursue peace and growth? We *need* to pursue growth, but we doubt the
Caretakers can be trusted to keep their bargain (they have already proven
their promises to be worthless). Our terraforming thus far has been modest;
our cities struggle, especially with the inefficiency of our newly expanded
holdings. We shall have to dedicate our scarce production to terraforming
projects, especially in the waters, which have only now opened themselves
to our embrace.

[Gregurabi]

2201: Probed Secrets/Brain from Caretakers @ Phantom Forces. Bribed a 1-3r-1
Caretaker garrison for 174 credits, acquiring prototype for 3r/3 armors.
2202: Drones build Planetary Transit System. Probed Doctrine: Loyalty from
Caretakers @ Worlds: Within Worlds. (Caretakers have no more techs.)
Morgan Metagenics founded (108,36).
2203: Sven gives us an impact rover. Sunspots! Probed world map from
Caretakers @ Manifold: Sixth.
2204: Drones finish Virtual World.
2206: Started the Command Nexus at Morgan Metallurgy. Switched to Democracy
(despite one last colony pod).
2207: Learned Gene Splicing. Game is doing Build. Morgan Gravitonics founded
(106,44).
2208: Usurpers build Planetary Energy Grid! ****, I didn't even get a warning!
Switching to Command Nexus would lose too many minerals; keep building.
2211: Acquired Centauri Empathy from alien artifact. Switched
2213: Probed Intellectual Integrity from Caretakers @ Vimculum. Switch to
Citizens' Defense Force @ Morgan Construction.
2214: Hive builds Command Nexus. Finished Citizens' Defense Force at Morgan
Construction. Switch to Empath Guild at Morgan Metallurgy.
2215: Sunspots ended. Truce with H'minee. Sold Gene Splicing to Sven for
50 EC. Bought Industrial Automation from Domai for 200. Change
allocation back to 50/0/50 (not enough cash to run Wealth yet).
2216: Game working on Conquest research. Switch to Wealth, 40/0/60.
2218: Learned Adaptive Doctrine. Switched research priorities to Exploration
and Discovery (looking for Air Power and Fusion eventually).
2219: Domai starts Maritime Control Center. Game still working on Build
(prob. Planetary Econ or Cyberethics).
2220: H'minee starts the Empath Guild.

Status Report @ M.Y. 2220:
13 cities, 41 population
8 Creches, 12 Tanks, 10 Rec Commons, 1 Energy Bank, 5 Nodes, 5 Command Ctrs
Demo/Green/Wealth, 40/0/60, income 37
24 techs, 116 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 12 years
Citizens' Defense Force
7 formers, 6 scout patrols, 5 probe teams, 1 alien artifact, 1 synthmetal
garrison, 4 scout defensives, 1 laser battery, 1 impact battery,
7 impact rovers, 2 impact squads 4-2-1, 1 sea former, 5 trance plasma
sentinels 1-3t-1, 1 trace scout 1-1t-1, 1 impact infantry 4-3-1
power graph: Usurpers, Drones & Caretakers (2/3), Hive (3/5), Pirates (1/2),
Morganites (1/2), Believers (1/3)
score: pop 41, commerce 34, tech 24, SP 25, +100% -> total 248

Comments: despite our own feeble research talents, much technology has been
acquired through other means. Rumor has it that we lead the world in our
number of technologies. The conflict with the Caretakers has drawn to an
effective stalemate; the vast bulk of our forces is holding Tower Preserve,
and when the sunspot activity ceased, H'minee asked politely for a truce.
Before that, our probe teams managed to tear down 2 whole bases'
improvements, halt production on a special project, and liberate several
dozen energy credits. In the short term, H'minee is not a serious threat;
as our own infrastructure improves, assuming we retain technological parity,
she will cease to be a cause for concern. A more serious long-term threat
is Conqueror Marr, whom we know to have at least Synthetic Fossil Fuels.
He has currently made peace with Domai; we hope that he will expend a great
deal of resources in an assault on H'minee while we continue to grow quietly.
Svensgaard holds the sea to the east of our continent, and has established
at least one land base in the norteast, near the upland wastes. Miriam has
established a few sea bases on the western shore of our continent, and one
boldly positioned land base north of H'minee's most remote outpost. The
watchword for the upcoming years is GROWTH. We need to establish a few
outposts near the shores of our continent, to proclaim rightful ownership
of our continent; but more importantly, we need to develop our core bases.
Once a sufficient number of Supply Crawlers have been commissioned, bases
should build Hab Complexes, Energy Banks, Hospitals, and the essential
Hologram Theatres as appropriate. Our research efforts should be directed
toward Doctrine: Air Power wherever possible; we do NOT want to be the last
faction in the skies.

2222: Sven starts Maritime Control Center.
2223: Sold Centauri Empathy to Sven for 75 EC. Built the Empath Guild.
Trade Gene Splicing to Yang for Optical Computers.
2224: Allocation to 30/0/70.
2225: Sold Gene Splicing to H'minee for 50. She then declared vendetta on me
for being nice to Marr.
2226: Allocation to 50/0/50 (for war).
2228: Drones build Maritime Control Center.
2230: Learned Cyberethics. Game is doing Conquest.
2231: Gave Miriam Centauri Empathy to end vendetta.
2234: Acquired Doctrine: Initiative from alien artifact.
2236: Probed Bioadaptive Resonance from Caretakers @ Resonant Node.
2237: Domai elected governor. Probed Synthetic Fossil Fuels from Caretakers
@ Tau Ceti Memory.
2238: Yang declares vendetta when I refuse to give Bioadaptive Res. Finished
missile battery prototype.
2239: Marr has Doctrine: Air Power.

Status Report @ M.Y. 2240:
13 cities, 52 population
12 Creches, 13 Tanks, 13 Commons, 4 Banks, 7 Nodes, 1 Bio Lab, 2 Holo
Theatres, 5 Hab Complexes, 6 Command Centers
Demo/Green/Wealth, 50/0/50, income 38
29 techs, 117 tech/turn -> techs every 13 years
Citizens' Defense Force, Empath Guild
11 formers, 4 scout patrols, 24 supply crawlers, 3 probe teams, 2 scout
defensives, 1 impact battery, 5 impact rovers, 2 impact squads 4-2-1,
2 sea formers, 9 trace plasma 1-3t-1, 1 impact infantry 4-3-1,
2 trance plasma defensive 1-3t-2, 1 missile rover, 2 missile batteries
power graph: Usurpers, Drones (very close), Caretakers/Hive (3/4),
Pirates (2/3), Morganites (3/5), Believers (2/5)
score: pop 52, commerce 35, tech 29, SP 50, +100% -> total 332

Comments: Things are heating up. After a few years of relative peace,
the Caretakers managed to enrage just about everyone (the Drones are
the notable exception), and anyone left over became a target for the
Usurpers. Our infiltrators report that Marr has Doctrine: Air Power.
However, he is far too distant to acquire the technology by subterfuge.
It is a fair bet, though, that we will acquire it shortly after H'minee
does. Our domestic advisors report that the supply crawler deployment is
going splendidly; in fact, our terraforming operations are hard pressed to
meet the demand. Our sea presence is still a mere token, but is better than
none at all. We have decimated the Caretaker forces (many, many Caretaker
4-2-2 and 4-3r-1 units have fallen before our impact rovers, with support
from the infantry). Tower Preserve is more secure today than it ever was.
The direction of our business in the next few years will depend, in large
part, upon how quickly we can acquire Air Power and lift the resource
restrictions. Of course, it goes without saying that Tree Farms would be
most welcome; Domai has the technology, but has been unwilling to share,
despite our pact. Money has been tight; with the energy restrictions and
with our small size, nearly every credit we've been able to acquire has
gone toward base facility construction, with the remainder going toward
military hardware upgrades. Now that many essential facilities are in
place, however, more energy should become available as our bases grow.

2241: Started Planetary Datalinks in Morgan Construction.
2243: Learned Advanced Mil. Algorithms. Game is doing Discovery (prob.
Pre-Sentient Alg. or Adv. Subatomic Theory).
2245: Marr pronounces vendetta. Probed Doctrine: Air Power from Caretakers
at Caretaker: Reverence.
2246: Changed allocation to 80/0/20 (income 94, breakthroughs 34 turns).
2248: Prototyped first impact interceptor.
2253: Miriam declares vendetta when I refuse to give her Synth Fossil Fuels.
Allocation 70/0/30 (income 67, breakthroughs 21 turns).
2254: Destroyed Balance of Nature.
2255: Allocation to 50/0/50 (income 15, techs in 13).
2259: Built The Planetary Datalinks in Morgan Construction. Captured
Caretaker Reverence.
2260: Changed research priority to Build. Sven elected governor.

Status report @ M.Y. 2260:
14 cities, 65 population
13 Creches, 14 Tanks, 13 Commons, 7 Banks, 11 Nodes, 1 Bio Lab, 10 Holo
Theatres, 10 Hab Complexes, 6 Command Centers, 1 Aerospace
Demo/Green/Wealth, 50/0/50, income 24
31 techs, 151 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 13 years (next one in 2261)
Citizens' Defense, Empath Guild, Planetary Datalinks
1 colony pod, 14 formers, 4 scout patrols, 31 supply crawlers, 4 probe teams,
2 1-2-2, 4 4-1-2, 1 4-2-1, 3 sea formers, 10 1-3t-1, 1 4-3-1, 2 skimship
supply, 2 1-3t-2, 1 6-1-2, 3 (6)-1-1, 6 6-1-10Air, 1 <4>-1-8Air, 1 4-3p-1,
1 <4>-1-2
power graph: Yang, Usurpers (90%), Drones (3/4), Pirates (just under Drones),
Caretakers (3/5), Morganites (1/2), Believers (2/5)
score: pop 65, commerce 38, tech 31, SP 75, +100% -> total 418

Comments: Chariman Yang has surpassed our projected expectations,
and pulled into the lead in every category except tech. The Usurpers
have pushed into Drone territory, capturing several important Drone
bases; the future looks grim for the Foreman. Our fledgeling air force
has been put to good use in a renewed offensive campaign against the
Caretakers; Manifold: Sixth should be acquired next turn. The war has
not been without its price, of course; we have lost some crawlers to
enemy air strikes, and some of our brave young pilots have fallen victim
to the eerie alien defense that the Caretaker defensive units employ.
Our primary goal for the upcoming years must be the lifting of the
mineral and energy restrictions, and to build Tree Farms in our larger
bases. Our secondary goal is the acquisition of the land currently
held by Caretaker forces. When our grip on this landmass is complete,
then we will likely face Conqueror Marr's forces to the west, or Yang's
to the far east, or likely both. We believe that the Believers can be
ignored for the short term; the Pirates seem to be willing to cooperate,
and the Drones have pressing concerns of their own. If they could
be persuaded to share their restriction-lifting knowledge with us
(or with any 2 other factions), then our first goal will be achieved.

[Gregurabi]

2261: Learned Pre-Sentient Algorithms. Game doing Exploration (prob.
Ecological Engineering). Captured Manifold: Sixth.
2262: Morgan Pharmaceuticals founded (99,29). Captured Tau Ceti Memory.
2263: Sven gives us a 6~r-3r-1. Captured Conservator's Mantle.
2264: Yang & the aliens have Superconductor; why don't I?
2265: Captured Worlds: Within Worlds.
2266: Sven gives us a 4-3-1. Caretakers mind-control-probe Worlds: Within
Worlds. Three surrounding planes, 3 rovers and a defensive! OWWWWW!
(I didn't know she had *two* probe teams coming up.) Change allocation:
80/0/20.
2267: Started Hunter-Seeker at Morgan Construction.
2269: Sven declared vendetta when I refuse to give pre-sentient. Captured
Worlds: Within Worlds (left it empty).
2270: Caretakers mind-control-probe WWW. Acquired Ecological Engineering
(from Datalinks?). Game is doing Build. Probed Superconductor from
Caretakers @ WWW. Captured Phantom Forces (including Weather Paradigm).
Destroyed WWW. Caretakers switched production to a probe team *DURING
MY TURN*. Switched to Fundy, 50/0/50, as a last-chance defense
against loss of Phantom Forces and a significant chunk of our army.
(H'minee has 69 energy and is also Fundy.)
2271: Gave Miriam Pre-Sentient and Superconductor for truce.
2272: Miriam starts Hunter-Seeker, launches surprise attack.
2273: Miriam captures Conservator's Mantle. Captured Vinculum (left it
empty). Destroyed Conservator's Mantle.
2274: Learned Environmental Economics! Game is doing Discovery (could be
Fusion, or Adv. Subatomic Theory). Changed allocation to 100/0/0
(income 147). Destroyed Hymn: Modulation.
2275: Priorities to Discover/Conquer.
2276: Built Hunter-Seeker Algorithm. Switched to Demo, 70/0/30.
2277: Caretakers capture Vinculum. We destroy it.
2278: Captured Water to Wine.
2280: Elected myself governor (with Domai's welcome support).

Status report @ M.Y. 2280:
19 cities, 92 population
15 Creches, 17 Tanks, 18 Commons, 12 Banks, 13 Nodes, 4 Bio Labs, 13 Holo,
4 Tree Farm, 7 Hospital, 12 Hab Complex, 1 Pressure Dome, 6 Command Ctr,
4 Aerospace
Demo/Green/Wealth, 70/0/30, income 199
35 techs, 198 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 12 turns
Weather Paradigm, Empath Guild, Citizens' Defense, Planetary Datalinks,
Hunter-Seeker Algorithm
22 formers, 3 scout patrol, 36 supply crawler, 3 probe team (rover),
1 6~r-3r-1, 1 1-2-2, 1 4-2-1, 3 sea formers, 12 1-3t-1, 1 1-1t-1,
1 4-3-1, 2 skimship supply, 4 1-3t-2, 2 (6)-1-1, 7 6-1-10Air,
1 <4>-1-8Air, 1 <4>-1-2, 4 probe team (infantry), 2 1-<3>-1
power graph: Hive, Usurpers (2/3), Pirates (just below Usurpers),
Drones (just below Pirates), Morganites (1/2), Believers/Caretakers (2/5)
score: pop 92, commerce 61, tech 35, SP 125, +100% -> total 626

Comments: We have paid a price, but we have received a fair bargain in the
end. Our armed forces are stretched thin, and our enemies include some
of our former friends. But our infrastructure is shaping up very well;
the resource restrictions are gone, and tree farms are being created as
we speak. Our technology is second only to Domai's, and there is a margin
of only 1 tech between us. Nevertheless, we must pause in our research
efforts (once again); the Fundamentalist governments that all the other
factions (except the Hive) employ will ensure that we do not fall far
behind. Our bases have grown well, and our people prosper; but for this
privilege to continue, we must defend ourselves against these aggressors.
To that end, we are investing a great deal of energy into our tree farms,
aerospace complexes and hospitals, to provide the basis for a competent
military. Even now, our factories are striving to produce enough weaponry
to cleanse our continent of these aliens, and to remove the parasitic
Pirates and Believers from our shores. Once our internal infrastructure
has taken shape, our research must continue, faster than ever before; if
we are to succeed in our goals, we need to acquire fusion power and develop
a mind/machine interface before our enemies do. And we must not stop there;
while our military actions ensure the opportunity for peaceful scientific
progress in our cities, we must press ever onward in our quest to understand
this planet and the universe around us. We shall strive to transcend.

2281: Allocation 50/0/50 (+93, 7 turns).
2282: Captured Fisher of Men. Truce with Miriam.
2283: Acquired Adv. Subatomic Theory (Datalinks?).
2286: Surprise attack by Miriam. Discovered FUSION POWER. Reserach priority
to Conquer. Game doing Conquer (could be Superstring, Neural Grafting).
Allocation to 80/0/20 (+280, 18 turns).

Status Report @ M.Y. 2290:
20 cities, 111 population
17 Creches, 18 Tanks, 20 Commons, 13 Banks, 13 Nodes, 7 Bio Labs, 13 Holos,
11 Tree Farms, 8 Hospitals, 13 Hab Complexes, 2 Pressure Domes, 7 Command,
6 Aerospace
Demo/Green/Wealth, 80/0/20, income 290
37 techs, 151 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 16 years
Weather Paradigm, Empath Guild, Citizens' Defense, Planetary Datalinks,
Hunter-Seeker Algorithm
14 formers, 3 scout patrol, 24 supply crawlers, 2 probe teams (rover),
1 mind worm, 1 1-2-2, 1 sea former, 12 1-3t-1, 2 skimship supply,
2 1-3t-2, 2 (6)-1-1, 1 <4>-1-8, 2 <4>-1-2, 2 6-3-1, 3 probe team (inf.),
2 1-<3>-1, 3 1-3tr-1*2, 1 1-3t-2*2, 1 (6)r-1-1*2, 13 6-1-12*2,
4 <6>-1-9*2, 1 Tr(4)-3r-3*2, 1 1-<3>-1*2, 5 6~-3-1*2, 1 <6>r-1-2*2
power graph: Hive, Usurpers (2/3), Pirates (3/5), Morganites (1/2),
Drones (just below us), Believers/Caretakers (1/3)
score: pop 111, commerce 53, tech 37, SP 125, +100% -> total 652

Comments: Fusion Power is ours, and nobody else has mastered its secrets.
We are diverting the majority of our energy to upgrading our military
reactors, weaponry and defenses. Sven has invested his air force in a
harassment of our crawlers and formers on the eastern front; this has cost
him dearly, and we shall soon take advantage of his weakness. H'minee is
well entrenched, but our superior technology is already turning the tide on
the southwestern front. Miriam's presence in this part of the world is
minimal, and will also soon be assimilated or removed. All the other
factions continue to run their Fundamentalist regimes (except the Hive);
while it is possible that any of them could discover Fusion Power, it is not
likely to occur soon. Domai continues to lose ground to the Usurpers; yet we
dare not trust him with our secrets, lest they fall into Progenitor hands...
err, tentacles... whatever.

2291: Marr starts Supercollider. Destroyed Deadman Tavern.
2292: Captured Provision Point.
2294: Captured Loaves and Fishes. Allocation 50/0/50 (+108, 6 turns).
2295: Captured Barbary Coast.
2296: Prototyped Cruiser chassis.
2297: Learned Superstring Theory. Game is doing Conquest (could be Neural
Grafting, Organic Superlube). Captured Resonant Node.
2298: Acquired Neural Grafting (Datalinks?).
2299: Yang starts Neural Amplifier. Captured Cutlass Cay.
2300: Prototyped Chaos weapon. Captured M'dar Holding, Crow's Nest.

Status report @ M.Y. 2300:
27 cities, 153 population
20 Creches, 20 Tanks, 22 Commons, 13 Banks, 14 Nodes, 9 Bio Labs, 20 Holos,
13 Tree Farms, 5 Fusion Labs, 12 Hospitals, 17 Hab Complexes, 6 Pressure,
8 Command, 3 Naval, 6 Aerospace, 1 Aquafarm, 1 Thermocline
Demo/Green/Wealth, 50/0/50, income 108
39 techs, 469 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 6 years (next in 2302)
Weather Paradigm, Empath Guild, Citizens' Defense, Planetary Datalinks,
Hunter-Seeker Algorithm
17 formers, 3 scout patrols, 21 supply crawlers, 1 probe team (rover),
1 mind worm, 1 1-2-2, 4 fusion speeder probe team, 1 6~r-3r-1*2,
13 1-3t-1, 1 skimship supply, 2 1-3t-2, 2 (6)-1-1, 1 <4>-1-2,
3 probe team (inf.), 3 1-<3>-1, 1 1-<3t>-1*2, 1 8-1-12*2, 3 1-3tr-1*2,
1 <8>-1-9*2, 1 Tr(8)-3r-5*2, 1 1-3t-2*2, 1 fusion skimship supply,
1 fusion sea former Mk2, 17 6-1-12*2, 8 convoy-2-1*2, 6 <6>-1-9*2,
1 Tr(4)-3r-3*2, 1 1-<3>-1*2, 11 6~-3-1*2, 2 <6>r-1-2*2
power graph: Morganites, Hive/Usuepers (90%), Pirates (3/4), Drones (2/3),
Caretakers (1/2), Believers (just below Caretakers)
score: pop 153, commerce 60, tech 39, SP 125, +100% -> total 754

Comments: Business is booming. The merger of the Pirates' coastal holdings
and the Caretakers' land bases is proceeding well. The Believers are out
of the picture for the short term, but we are sure they will attack us
again eventually. The Pirates remain a danger, in large part because we
are not yet aware of the extent of their territory. Yang remains a mystery;
after 200 years we *still* do not know the location of any of the Hive
bases. (Nor have we seen any Hive units. This suits us.) A few of the
factions have developed technologies which we do not yet possess; but as
they trade among themselves, we shall acquire them in due time. Two factions
possess Orbital Spaceflight (the Usurpers and the Believers); two possess
Applied Relativity (Usurpers, Drones); and Domai has Silksteel Alloys. Our
goals for the coming years remain largely unchanged: drive the Caretakers
from this continent, take possession of the coastal bases which Sven built
for us, and master the secrets of advanced technology.

[Enigma]

This is one of the first challenges I have played, and I found it rather fun.

I did not keep a detailed log of events.

I was somewhat lucky throughout the game, although I lost a lot of battles where the odds were in my favor.

In the first half of the first century my most important discovery was biogenetics, this allowed me to hurry in a few recycling tanks and put my energy stores to use.

I think some time between the 60's and the 70's I discovered industrial economics. I also managed to get a lot of comm signals. I went FM fairly quickly, I realized that Booger (H'minee) had a lot of native life but I decided to risk it.

Booger build the HGP, the WP, AND the ME. Domai built the VW. I think Booger built the empath guild too. All and all I totally missed the major SP's. I started stockpiling minerals building SPs I knew I had no chance at winning in hopes that eventually I would get the necessary techs.

The years between MY 2180 and MY 2220 were really pathetic, my power bar was completely flat. I managed to steal or research or trade for techs to defend against Booger, although the action never really heated up. I lost a single base during this period that was in the fray, no big deal. I have to major squares that act as choke points, both are forested/sensored and have roads to a near base to repair. I have a few units with pretty good morale, my defense situation is not bad at all.

Near the end of this period a major crisis arose, Booger pushed me back from my two defensive squares and managed to stack 10 infantry units in those squares. I had a perimiter defense in the base behind them and 3-4 garrisons as well as a probe and an odd impact rover, the impact rover was elite. But one of those infantry units was a commando res laser res armored beast, basically a battle ogre. Because of her annoying defensive bonus I was very reluctant to attack it, my elite rover in a base with a children's creche had +75% to attack because of morale, but the bonuses from the defending "ogre" were equal. I took the risk and attacked, and succeeded! I could have lost and perhaps had to divert some serious resources to defending this city.

In this time period Sven offers to pact with me in defense against Miriam (she is at bottom of power graphs). I accept =]. Domai was probably also sniffing something funny cause he offered to pact also, and I accepted. I was fairly low on the power charts, below Yang and the aliens, but still high enough for him to consider me a valuable ally.

Sven calls council- he managed to get Yang's comm signal, and I just barely am in second place for votes. I am 1 vote ahead of Sven with Yang in the lead. But since he is my pact bro he votes for me and I managed to get elected, this equates to a very nice increase in income again. In the 2220's I research industrial auto! I have been shooting for this the whole game... again I take the risk and go wealth, I have a few veteran units that will still have pretty decent morale. I start cranking out some serious supply crawlers. I immediatly switch my base which has been stockpiling minerals to planetary transit system, which finishes the next turn. I had been expanding away from Booger the whole time, and my economy right now is roughly 120 credits/turn and 1 tech/8 turns. Not bad, but not great. But this tech allows me to get major commerce creds from Sven and Domai, I had 8 bases or so with +4(Sven gets +1) or so, gotta love exploiting those pact pardners. I finished the planetary energy grid too- this REALLY helped. I disbanded 200 credits worth of energy banks, which helped immensly.

Then in a very short amount of time (perhaps 15 years) I research environmental econ AND planetary econ, although not back to back. I had been planning ahead and had a borehole with more being built. Planetary econ was a major turning point, I called council and we voted for a planetary trade pact. The energy really starts pouring in. The only base I build a hybrid forest in is my HQ, which is really a wonder (around this time it has something like 65 energy coming in, from commerce and crawlers and my dual boreholes).

In a five year period or around the 2240's so I build maybe 6-8 treefarms, with the energy grid my economy is fairly huge. I have been expanding like crazy and have many pissy worthless little bases with no upkeep costs- but substantial energy. I look at my position on the world, it would cost 5700 credits to corner the market and I was able to maximise my economy at 500 credits per turn. I start the great energy stockpiling.

The war is a little bit difficult but I know if anything bad happens I can use my huge energy stockpiles. My income eventually grows to +600 credits per turn. After a 8-10 year period I am ready to initiate cornering the market. I start at year 2247-I will hopefully win at year 2267.

Now that that energy is allocated I spend the rest of my resources on pop booming and infrastructure, to put myself in a good defensive position.

Surprisingly Booger never got airpower- she was hurt by being fundy the whole time. Marr had airpower for a lot of the game, but he would never trade with Booger. Booger also never got synthetic fossil fuels so her units were too few to pose a real threat. My plasma garrisons held fairly well.

By 2267 my income was 600 or so and I was getting 1 tech/3 turns. I could have conquered the other factions at this point but it would have been tedious chopper slaugther.

I was D/FM/W for almost all of the game, I tinkered a bit with green at the very end but pacifism worked well enough since I had such a massive energy edge. I avoided hologram theaters completely and that helped me gain the edge in energy.

This was a fun challenge, although I wish the AI would be challenging in a different way- if Booger had better AI and devoted more resources to infrastructure she probably could have outteched me. In per turn tech output I was the leader from year 100 on... technology went fairly well considering the blind research.

Yang eventually shot way ahead of both aliens near the end of the game, surprisingly. I have no idea how he got such decent tech. The believers lost all their land bases fairly early on and the drones never really got going.

My final score was 301%, I was very surprised I did so well considering I only got 4 SP's (PTS,PEG,cit defense, AS virtues)

Thanks for the challenge!

Sorry my post was probably a bit confusing. Gregurabi's posts were very nice and convinced me to try this scenario.

[Gregurabi]

2301: Acquired Orbital Spaceflight (Datalinks).
2302: Discovered Organic Superlubricant. Game doing Discovery (could be Adv.
Spaceflight, Applied Relativity).
2303: Captured Vision: Sound, Harmonic Acolyte.
2304: Usurpers finish Supercollider.
2305: Re-elected governor (Yang asked). Captured Sextant Cove, Great
Intertwining (Merchant Excange).
2306: Drones build first satellite. Captured Melody of Souls.
2307: Learned Advanced Spaceflight. Started Living Refinery @ Morgan
Industries. Game is doing Build (Bio-Engineering, Silksteel, Adv.
Ecological Engineering, Planetary Economics). Captured Decision:
Manifold.
2308: Captured Overtone Song.
2309: First Morganite satellite. Morgan Hydroponics founded (93,45).
2310: Acquired Centauri Meditation from artifact. Captured Parrot Landing.
Allocation to 30/0/70.

Status Report @ M.Y. 2310:
36 cities, 196 population
23 Creches, 23 Tanks, 28 Commons, 14 Banks, 17 Nodes, 12 Bio Labs, 24 Holos,
14 Tree Farms, 11 Fusion Labs, 12 Hospitals, 20 Hab Complexes, 7 Pressure,
10 Command, 5 Naval, 7 Aerospace, 1 Bioenhancement, 1 Aquafarm, 2 Thermocline
1 Sky Hydroponics Lab
Demo/Green/Wealth, 30/0/70, income 60
43 techs, 804 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 4 (next in 2312)
Weather Paradigm, Merchant Exchange, Empath Guild, Citizens' Defense,
Planetary Datalinks, Hunter-Seeker Algorithm
23 formers, 21 supply crawlers, 8 fusion speeder probe teams, 16 1-3t-1,
5 1-<3t>-1*2, 8 8-1-12*2, 6 Convoy-1-4*2, 9 6-1-12*2, 17 Convoy-2-1*2,
6 <6>-1-9*2, 12 6~-3-1*2, and others
power graph: Morganites, Usurpers (80%), Hive (3/4), Pirates (60%),
Drones (1/2), Believers (1/3), Caretakers (20%)
score: pop 196, commerce 57, tech 43, SP 150, +100% -> total 892

Comments: The Caretakers are down to 3 bases, all on land. We've made
scrap metal of a rather large number of Hive needlejets which were stationed
in some Pirate sea bases. The Virtual World is destroyed, care of the
Drone/Usurper wars. Once we've claimed all the coastal Pirate bases
(which will take some time yet), we must decide whether to take their
non-coastal bases. Perhaps they'd make a nice gift for Domai. Our research
is proceeding well, but we need to gather more energy in our headquarters.
The loss of the Supercollider to the Usurpers (as well as the poor placement
of the Merchant Exchange) is painful; but we must press onward.

2311: Captured Energy Nexus.
2312: Learned Silksteel Alloys. Game doing Discovery (Applied Rel?). Captured
Adapt to Live, Port Svensgaard.
2314: Prototyped Shard weapon. Captured Meergard, Lorcha Roads, Drake
Landing.
2315: Built Living Refinery. Learned Applied Relativity. Game doing Conquer
(MMI or Photon/Wave). Captured Resonance: Power.
2316: Prototyped Silksteel armor. Captured The Anchorage, Storm's Lee.
2317: Hive builds Neural Amp. Captured Safe Haven, Penzance.
2318: Gave Storm's Lee (with 1-<4t>-1*2) to Domai.
2319: Learned MIND/MACHINE INTERFACE. Research priorities Explore/Discover.
Game doing Build (Adv. Ecological Eng., Monopole, Bio-Engineering,
Planetary Econ.). Gave The Anchorage to Domai. Captured Capetown,
Pennant Shoals.
2320: Captured Sailor's Delight, Merchantman Run.

Status Report @ M.Y. 2320:
49 cities, 283 population
25 Creches, 30 Tanks, 42 Commons, 16 Banks, 19 Nodes, 12 Bio Labs, 28 Holos,
16 Tree Farms, 11 Fusion Labs, 15 Hospitals, 23 Hab Complexes, 15 Pressure,
10 Command, 15 Naval, 10 Aerospace, 4 Bioenhancement, 2 Aquafarm,
2 Thermocline
3 Sky Hydroponics Labs, 1 Orbital Power Transmitter
Demo/Green/Wealth, 30/0/70, income 133
46 techs, 999 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 4 years (next in 2322)
Weather Paradigm, Merchant Exchange, Empath Guild, Citizens' Defense,
Planetary Datalinks, Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, Living Refinery
(Human Genome, Virtual World, Planetary Transit, Maritime Control are all
destroyed; Hive has Neural Amp & Command Nexus; Usurpers have Planetary
Energy Grid & Supercollider)
22 formers, 21 supply crawlers, 7 fusion speeder probe teams,
3 6~r-3r-1*2, 17 1-3t-1, 6 1-1t-1, 3 6^~-3-1*2, 4 1-<4t>-1*2, 4 13-1-12*2,
5 1-<3t>-1*2, 8 8-1-12*2, 7 fusion skimship supply, 9 6-1-12*2,
24 Convoy-2-1*2, 6 <6>-1-9*2, 10 6~-3-1*2, and others
power graph: Morganites, Usurpers/Hive (2/3), Drones (40%), Believers/Pirates
(1/3), Caretakers (10%)
score: pop 283, commerce 67, tech 46, SP 175, +100% -> total 1142

Comments: We now have the technology to conquer this planet, should we
choose to do so; but that road to domination is long and bloody. For now,
we shall strive to attain a more peaceful future. But first, we will
eliminate the Caretakers (who have 1 naval base) and help the Free Drones,
who have suffered at the claws of the Usurpers. The Pirates are crippled;
and we believe that once we've established control of their bases which
crowd along our shores (which won't take much longer), they can be
neutralized (if necessary, by giving Domai control of the bases which lie
between us and the remaining Pirate bases). Our energy reserves will
likely continue to be low, as we invest in drop pods for our marines. Our
air force, honed against the Pirates in the east, is ready to fly west to
draw the fire of the Usurpers away from Domai. Soon our needlejets will
be complemented by choppers, and the Usurpers will fall.

2321: Started Cyborg Factory @ Morgan Biochemical. Captured Carapace Point
(H'minee captured).
2322: Learned Monopole Magnets. Game doing Build (Bio-engineering, Adv.
Ecological Eng., Nanominiaturization, Planetary Economics). Started
Cloudbase Academy @ Morgan Industries.
2324: Captured Satiation, Privateer Quay.
2325: Yang starts Cyborg Factory & Cloudbase. Learned Bio-Engineering. Game
doing Conquest (Retroviral, Photon/Wave, Unified Field). Captured
Strafing Run (Supercollider), Martial Air.
2326: Captured Point Blood.
2327: Pirates liberate Safe Haven. Finished Cloudbase Academy. Captured
Courage: To Question, Hornbill Point, Plunder Cache.
2328: Learned Unified Field Theory. Game doing Build (Adv. Ecological Eng.,
Nanominiaturization, Planetary Econ.). Started Theory of Everything at
Morgan Industries.
2329: Captured Godhood's Grasp. Gave Sven Organic Superlube and Adv.
Spaceflight for truce.

Status Report @ M.Y. 2330:
58 cities, 347 population
31 Creches, 38 Tanks, 50 Commons, 18 Banks, 25 Nodes, 14 Bio Labs, 43 Holos,
16 Tree Farms, 12 Fusion Labs, 17 Hospitals, 31 Hab Complexes, 19 Pressure,
12 Command, 15 Naval, 4 Bioenhancement, 2 Aquafarm, 3 Thermocline
3 Sky Hydroponics Labs, 7 Orbital Power Transmitters
Demo/Green/Wealth, 30/0/70, income 251
49 techs, 1423 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 3 years (next in 2331)
Weather Paradigm, Merchant Exchange, Empath Guild, Citizens' Defense,
Supercollider, Hunter-Seeker, Living Refinery, Cloudbase Academy
27 formers, 20 supply crawlers, 7 fusion speeder probe teams, 14 1-3t-1,
6 1-1t-1, 4 1-3tr-1*2 Clean, 8 1-<4>-1*2 Clean, 6 13-1-14*2 Chopper,
10 6^~-3-1*2, 14 1-<4t>-1*2, 5 13-1-14*2, 5 1-<3t>-1*2, 15 8-1-14*2,
8 fusion skimship supply, 26 Convoy-2-1*2, 5 <6>-1-11*2, and others
power graph: Morganites, Hive (1/2), Usurpers (40%), Drones (1/4),
Believers (20%), Pirates (just below Believers), Caretakers eliminated
score: pop 347, commerce 72, tech 49, SP 225, +100% -> total 1386

Comments: Everyone now has Fusion Power. Chaos weapons were widespread,
and we believe that the Pirates will share their knowledge of Fusion Laser
and Shards shortly. Nevertheless, we retain a commanding position due to
our size and infrastructure, as well as our units already in the field.
Our gift of technology to them was made as a peace offering; continued war
with us would surely have killed them off, which would be a loss to humanity.
We may have to give them other gifts in the future to soothe them, however,
as they are a savage and unforgiving people. We now hold the eastern shore
of the Drone/Usurper continent, and the Usurpers have been hurt pretty
badly. We will continue to press westward, toward our friends the Free
Drones, until every last alien is gone from that landmass. After that,
we shall decide which bases to give to Domai, and which to retain for
ourselves. Our income and research are at an all-time high, but we have
had to spend considerable amounts of energy to provide adequate defensive
garrisons for our newly captured bases in the west. This has prevented
us from finishing the Cyborg Factory, although we are still ahead of Yang
in our construction of it.

[Gregurabi]

Hey, Enigma -- victory in 2267?! Wow, I'm impressed. I'm at 2330 and still don't even have the tech for the economic victory! At this point, I'm hoping to avoid a "tedious chopper slaughter" as you call it, even though that looks like it might be the fastest way to go. I'm hoping for transcend or econ, but the techs are only just now starting to come in at a respectable pace.

Blind research can be really painful.

[Enigma]

Yeah- a lot of it was luck, again I am not exactly sure but I think I got planetary economics around year 2240 or so. An interesting side affect of the way the tech tree has been restructured in SMACX ( as opposed to the old way it was in SMAC) is that planetary economics is actually lower on the tech tree than environmental economics. So if your priorities are set for build and you have the intellectual integrity- and industrial economics, then it is pretty easy to get planetary economics.
I do not always play Morgan as a pacifist but I decided to this game, fighting H'minee results in lots of size 1 bases that are worthless to you with extra drones, and a LOT of units wasted trying to beat that annoying "alien defense". Her HQ was ripe with SP's that would benefit me but by the time that I would have been able to invade I could just corner the market.
I was really slim on military in this game, basically I just set up a fortress base NW of the northern end of that river/bay thing that runs between the jungle and the desert, this was basically my SWern defense, and Booger sent only a few units into the desert- needless to say this was easy to defend against with only a few rovers on all that open terrain.
I figure I spent less than 500 credits total on defense-upgrading units, hurrying stuff in, and subverting units. I expanded constantly, I made use of the fairly large tracts of land to the NE of my start location and built like 25 bases total, the last few were just there so I could get enough votes to beat Yang.
In a perverse way my stagnant midgame helped me- normally with directed research I am unsurpassed by the 2160's- and never before the 2200's. But with my wimpy power bar rating Sven and Domai seemed eager to be pact brothers- combined with a global trade pact most of my midsize bases were recieving GOBS of commerce income in the years I was earning cash for the cornering.
My entire defense force was roughly 3-8 garrisons and 2-6 rovers (the first number is my early defense, the 2nd number my defense later in the game) for the SW base and 2-3 garrisons plus 2 rovers for the SE defensive area. My main opponent in this game was really tech stagnation- not the aliens.

[Gregurabi]

2331: Unity core salvaged (I couldn't veto, so I abstained). Learned
Nanominiaturization. Game doing Build (Adv. Ecological Eng., Planetary
Econ., Industrial Nanorobotics). Captured Warrior's Harmony.
2332: Finished Theory of Everything, Cyborg Factory. Hive starts Ascetic
Virtues. Captured Tusk and Claw, Honor: Progenitor, Risks of Flowering.
Destroyed Salt: Wound. Allocation to 30/10/60.
2333: Hive finishes Ascetic Virtues. Learned Planetary Economics. Game doing
Build (Adv. Ecological Eng., Industrial Nano.). Would need 26519 to
corner (I have 210). Global trade pact passes. Captured Tau Ceti
Mantle, Red Stick (Planetary Energy Grid). Gave Sven Unified Field
Theory, Penzance (with 1-<4t>-1*2). Allocation to 80/10/10 (+5714,
11 turns).
2334: Captured Union Place. Gave Sven Advanced Military Alg. and Plunder
Cache.
2335: Captured Memories: Pain.
2336: Captured Spires: Ascendant, Redemption Base, Razorwing City.
2337: Yang wants to be governor, but I wouldn't let him. Captured Scorch
Island, The Lord's Truth.
2338: Captured Fragment of Sound, Final Honor, Impaler Dome, Genesis: Destiny,
The Lord's Gift, Dimension: Sky. Destroyed Maar's Dissolution. Gave
Impaler Dome to Domai.
2339: Hive destroys The Lord's Gift. Captured Smokestack Hill, Assembly Hall.
2340: Gave Assembly Hall to Domai.

Status Report @ M.Y. 2340:
74 cities, 426 population
46 Creches, 48 Tanks, 61 Commons, 31 Nodes, 15 Bio Labs, 2 Skunkworks,
56 Holos, 19 Tree Farms, 14 Fusion Labs, 19 Hospitals, 46 Hab Complexes,
20 Pressure, 15 Command, 15 Naval, 2 Aquafarm, 3 Thermocline
4 Sky Hydroponics, 12 Orbital Power Transmitters
Demo/Green/Wealth, 80/10/10, income 1946, credits 13065 (corner needs 47300)
51 techs, 426 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 10 years (next in 2341)
Weather Paradigm, Merchant Exchange, Empath Guild, Citizens' Defense,
Planetary Datalinks, Supercollider, Hunter-Seeker, Cyborg Factory, Theory
of Everything, Living Refinery, Cloudbase Academy, Planetary Energy Grid
37 formers, 20 supply crawlers, 7 fusion speeder probe teams, 15 1-3t-1,
4 1-1t-1, 8 1-3tr-1*2 Clean, 11 1-<4>-1*2 Clean, 8 13-1-14*2 Chopper,
13 6^~-3-1*2, 31 1-<4t>-1*2, 9 13-1-14*2, 5 1-<3t>-1*2, 7 8-1-14*2,
10 fusion skimship supply, 6 fusion sea formers Mk2, 34 Convoy-2-1*2,
4 <6>-1-11*2, and others
power graph: Morganites, Hive (2/3), Drones (1/3), Believers/Pirates (1/4),
Usurpers (20%), Caretakers eliminated
score: pop 426, commerce 189, tech 51, SP 300, +100% -> total 1932

Comments: We have nearly driven the Usurpers from this planet; they hold
6 more bases, all on the same continent. They have received aid from Yang,
and together they have inflicted some casualties among our troops; but
despite a few minor setbacks, our alien-extermination campaign is going
well. Meanwhile, we have discovered a means of cornering the global
energy market; this will require an expenditure of an enormous number of
energy credits, which our economy is in the process of producing. This
has stalled our research; and in particular, Chairman Yang's military
technology is the equal of our own. Our relationship with Yang has never
been a friendly one; but we shall attempt to avoid a full war.

2341: Learned Industrial Nanorobotics. Game doing Conquest (Retroviral Eng.,
Photon/Wave). Started Nano Factory at Morgan Pharmaceuticals. Captured
Guild House, Fear Song. Acquired Frictionless Surfaces from artifact.
2342: ENERGY MARKET CRASH. Captured Conquest of the Weak, Future's Fulcrum,
Skymaster Base. Gave Domai Guild House and Conquest of the Weak.
Have 5456 credits, need 34941 to corner.
2343: Started Longevity Vaccine at Morgan Industries. Captured Freedman's
Park. Destroyed Era of Blood (Marr captured). Gave Domai Fear Song,
Future's Fulcrum.
2344: Gave Domai Freedman's Park, Genesis: Destiny, Smokestack Hill,
Memories: Pain.
2345: (have 11713, need 40794, income 2425)
2346: Solar storm destroys orbital power transmitters; triple energy next turn.
Finished Longevity Vaccine.
2347: Hive seizes The Lord's Truth. Miriam still hasn't learned Gene Splicing.
Recaptured The Lord's Truth.
2348: Lost all accumulated research (not enough Nodes). Would've been 1 away.
2349: Sunspots.

Short Status Report @ M.Y. 2350:
Demo/Green/Wealth, 80/10/10, income 2255, energy 27497, corner needs 45923
53 techs, 443 tech/turn -> breakthroughs every 10 years (next in 2357)

Comments: Random events suck. Will this game never end?

2352: Finished Nano Factory.
2356: Learned Retroviral Engineering. Game doing Explore (Centauri Genetics).
2358: Initiated Global Energy Market cornering for 48787 energy credits (out
of 53897). Victory by 2378. Allocation to 20/10/70 (+326, 2 turns).
2359: Learned Centauri Genetics. Game doing Build (Adv. Ecological Eng.,
Biomachinery).
2360: Learned Adv. Ecological Engineering. Game doing Explore (Centauri Psi).

Short Status Report @ M.Y. 2360:
Demo/Green/Wealth, 20/10/70 -> income 260 (energy 13)
56 techs, tech cost 4508, tech/turn 4036
power graph: Morganites, Hive (3/4), Drones (40%), Pirates (1/4),
Believers (20%), Caretakers & Usurpers eliminated

Comments: Our accountants are in the process of instantiating our master plan
for cornering the global energy market. Meanwhile, our scientists have been
given nearly free reign, and have given us some astounding revelations. We
shall see whether we can transcend beyond our minds and bodies before 2378.
After turning our accountants loose, we had a small pile of energy credits,
which have all been spent -- first on some long-delayed base facilities, and
then on upgrades to our terraforming equipment. Many of you have been
complaining that the swelling population in our bases has outstripped our
land's natural resources; this should soon become a problem of the past.

2361: Learned Centauri Psi. Game doing Conquer (Photon/Wave, Sentient Res.).
2363: Drones build Xenoempathy Done. Learned Photon/Wave Mechanics. Game
doing Conquer (Sentient Res.).
2364: Learned Sentient Resonance. Game doing Discover (Quantum Power, Digital
Sentience).
2365: Learned Digital Sentience. Game doing Explore (Sentient Econometrics).
Prototyped Photon armor. Started Network Backbone in Morgan
Pharmaceuticals.
2366: Sunspots end. Learned Sentient Econometrics. Game doing Discover
(Secrets of AC, Quantum Power).
2367: Sven declares vendetta. Learned Secrets of Alpha Centauri, Secrets of
the Manifolds, Probability Mechanics. Game doing Explore
(Nanometallurgy). Captured Penzance.
2368: Learned Nanometallurgy. Game doing Conquer (Matter Compression).
2369: Yang still wants to be governor, but not a chance. Prototyped 8-Res
armor. Built Network Backbone. Learned Matter Compression. Game
doing Build (Biomachinery, Super Tensile Solids). Start using Cybernetic
(Demo/Green/Wealth/Cyber, 20/10/70, +522, >1 tech/turn).
2370: Learned Super Tensile Solids. Game doing Build (Biomachinery). Started
Space Elevator at Morgan Industries.

Short status report @ M.Y. 2370:
Demo/Green/Wealth/Cyber, 20/10/70, income 537, 373 energy
67 techs, tech cost 5940, tech/turn 6859.2
power graph: Morganites, Hive (60%), Drones (40%), Believers/Pirates (20%)

Comments: It's almost over now....

2371: Learned Biomachinery. Game doing Discover (Quantum Power).
2372: Finished Space Elevator. Started Cloning Vats at Morgan Metallurgy.
Discovered Quantum Power. Game doing Build (Quantum Machinery).
Destroyed Alpha Sector (Pirate).
2373: Learned Quantum Machinery. Game doing Explore (Homo Superior, Graviton
Theory).
2374: Learned Homo Superior. Game doing Explore (Graviton Theory, Will to
Power). Captured Dry Dock, Crossbone Way.
2375: Learned Will to Power. Game doing Discover (Secrets of Creation).
Finished Cloning Vats.
2376: Learned Secrets of Creation, Eudaimonia. Game doing Explore (Graviton
Theory). Prototyped Quantum Laser. Captured Watcher's Eye.
Allocation to 10/10/80 (+6, 8846.4/6480).
2377: Learned Graviton Theory, Applied Gravitonics. Game is doing Conquer
(N-Space Compression). Destroyed Social Artery.
Started Universal Translator at Morgan
Biochemical.

Final Report @ M.Y. 2378:
Economnic Victory achieved.
score: pop 1106, commerce 675, tech 76, SP 425, econ victory 644,
+100% -> total 5852, Rating 548%

[Enigma]

Wow, congradulations! Nice job posting all of your progress BTW, it was interesting. An energy market crash *and* solar flares, that must really suck. I play with random events and have played many games but I have seen each only 2 or 3 times.

My one question about your play style is: why so many hologram theaters? Those facilities scare me, they suck energy rapidly. How was your population distributed, did you end up with a few large population bases? When you are running green you can and if you get the ascetic virtues you can install a brood pit in a base, that will give that base +3 police, combined with 3 1-1-1 clean police scouts I find that holo theaters can be avoided... heck in this scenario the brood pit does the same thing for a lower upkeep cost and has numerous native life bonuses as well!

But hey, I always like to learn new ideas. Your Morgan strategy appears more population focused than mine, I unfortunatly did not post detailed progress reports like you did... but if you could explain your somewhat unusual (compared to my playing style) clump of holo theaters I would appreciate it greatly.

[Gregurabi]

Well, given the fact that you won about 100 years earlier than I did, my strategy may not be terribly good. I haven't been playing this game as long as most of the others who participated in the challenges, so I probably have a long way to go.

Brood Pits come way too late for me to rely on them for police work. (Especially in this game, with blind research and tech stag!) I usually try to get the Virtual World so that I don't have to build all those Holos, but in this game that just didn't happen.

My basic approach was to get a medium-large empire of size 4 cities, with no unhappiness. The only way I could do this was with Holo Theatres -- there just weren't any other options available to me at the time. Of course, I could've had 3 workers and 1 Doctor, but that takes out 25% of my overall productivity. (And before the restriction lifting, too!) I just couldn't live with that.

Yeah, the Holos are expensive. Terribly so for a size 4 city! But I was willing to sacrifice the energy for the minerals in the early stage of the game, where I needed all those minerals. (Morgan's support rating is a real problem.)

Your note about the police units is good; when I retry this challenge, I may try using police garrisons instead of Holos in the early game, and see how well it goes. During the early game, when the war with H'minee was still tense, I was strongly tempted to go with Police State. That would've just slaughtered my energy/research though (especially since I didn't get Wealth for such a very long time). It might have been interesting to try running Police State instead of Democracy; but to be honest I don't know if it would have been any better for me.

Population distribution.... I didn't build any Hab Complexes for quite some time; I had a good number of size 4 cities, as noted above. Captured Caretaker bases were of course size 1, though they tended to grow quickly since much of H'minee's holdings were in the jungle. Once I had the restrictions lifted and had my Holos in place, I built Hab Complexes and let the cities grow to size 11. As they grew I added Tree Farms (top priority once they became available), Hospitals, etc. The Holo Theatres kept my population quite content, so I never faced serious drone problems.

I think that my biggest mistake was in neglecting the Builder technologies for too long. I focused on self-defense in the early game becaue of H'minee's proximity -- and I think that was wise. But once I had H'minee contained I probably should've focused on Builder techs instead of aiming for Air Power so early.
(Looking through my notes... in 2172 I set priority to Explore/Build. I probably should've gone straight Build and left it there until I had Industrial Auto, the restriction lifters and Planetary Econ. I didn't really need boats at that point, and planes were a long way off. In 2218 I went Explore/Discovery, and I didn't go back to Build until 2260 -- and still no Tree Farms!) Since it was blind research, I would've picked up some non-Build techs anyway... and any military techs that the Caretakers got, I could've attained by probes.

Being the first one with Fusion Power was nice, of course; but that only helped in the game and not in the meta-game. (In other words, it ensured that I'd have no trouble winning this game against the AI, but it took me a long time, so my time to victory was abysmally slow -- thus, I didn't do well in the Morgan Challenge. At least this first time around.)

If you noticed anything else that I could've done better, please let me know. I'm still learning....

[Enigma]

Well consider yourself very lucky that you posted such detailed notes. Morgan fans such as myself, and hopefully eventually experts like Vel can post stuff to help your strategy.

All I have to say is that size 4 is not a special number by any means... size 3 is what is most easily achievable through having only forests terraformed. If that extra population point costs you 3 energy per turn it is probably not worth it...

Unlike you I was having some serious drone problems in the last five years right before I won, fortunatley I knew I didn't really have to worry about them since my victory date was set =]. I was just starting to get the money to hurry in hybrids everywhere, the cash for this was delayed a lot for the economic victory. It is worth mentioning that I completely ignore population as Morgan and keep my bases size 3 (the PTS also conveniently removes a drone at this size...) until I have tree farms, then I switch my supply crawlers from bringing in minerals to bringing in food. Then I switch my citizens to doctors, and this creates enough talents for a Golden age which creates a pop boom...

Allright I admit pop booming with Morgan is really tough, and in a game like this you would need to have your crawlers keep focusing on minerals instead of food. In this sort of situation with Morgan I ignore population cause it ends up inevitably cutting into my economy- it is easier to build a supply crawler when all you really want is minerals. My 12 or 15 main bases all had 3-4 supply crawlers. There were 2 times or so when my garrisons and attack rovers were severely depleted in the fighting but my 12-20 production bases were able to replace the losses RAPIDLY with the combination of rush builds and their baseline production. Also I spaced my bases extremely closely together, this was somewhat problematical near the end.

I guess you are right that brood pits were too late in the game to make a difference in this particular game... some games though I often happen to have that tech as an option, it is not all that far away on the tech tree from the conventional builder techs. Fusion is much farther away...

Also if you are looking to improve your strategy then (if Morgan is your favorite?) it is worth mentioning that the person who pioneered "green Morgan" was Mongoose, I haven't seen him here in a while though. But he can do very well with psi units while still making energy, maximising some of Morgan's strengths.

My strategy could certainly use improveing, any things you think I could do better from the (very sparse) info I have posted on this game?

[Gregurabi]

I don't think I have a favorite faction. I do like Morgan, though. He has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses that set him apart. I tend to use Green with him (once available), so maybe I should go through the archives and look for hints....

I tried this one a second time. I was doing really well at the start... and then all of a sudden the Caretakers crushed me. It was really frustrating and depressing. I got IndAuto in 2145 and HGP in 2161. The Caretakers destroyed one of my bases in 2168, captured a second in 2178, and captured a third in 2192 -- at which point I quit. The battle outcomes were very strange; I lost a lot of battles where I had the numbers on my side. (I had some lucky defensive victories, but I think the unlucky losses were far more common.) It's possible that I might have been able to fight it out -- but with no Perimeter Defenses, and only tech parity, and with the Caretakers well over twice as high on the power graph as their closest rival (the Pirates I think), and with the random number generator acting against me, I just couldn't bear it.

I can't really see anything in your description that I could've done better. You were really fast -- I've never won a game by any means at all as fast as you won this one.

In all honesty though, I think luck plays a huge part in this challenge, because of the blind research. If you'd gotten Crawlers earlier, you probably would've done better; if I'd gotten Crawlers and Tree Farms earlier in my first game, I probably would've done better. (Early Crawlers aren't enough by themselves, though, as my second game shows.)

[Enigma]

All I have to say is don't get too worried about it. This was a very difficult scenario, and with the blind research luck was a large part. Heck I *tried* to beeline for industrial auto, and wasnt successful, but some of the techs I got in the mean time were useful. I traded for most of my conquer techs but I may have researched doc:loyalty because it is part of the beeline to planetary economics and a dang useful tech too. My actual base squares where my defenses were were only attacked once, I relied on rovers to destroy her forces in the rolling terrain right next to my base square. Even in wealth the children's creche will actually increase those unit's offensive power by 25%. This combined with the 25% attack bonus in rolling terrain that rovers get was enough to make up for booger's defensive powers.

I think that the key to an early economic victory is getting the PEG, having a small core of pop boomed bases, and having a LOT of bases. The energy *will* add up.