Journal: Rim 100x100 (62 worlds), 2 enemies, difficulty=hard

[tenbsmith]

I'm keeping this journal for myself as much as anything else, but I thought others might find it interesting. Mainly I'm going to keep faction level stats as things go along to try and maintain balance. I play very slow, sometimes taking week-long breaks, so this will also help me remember things.

AE 5.31
[colonies, ships, trade points, espionage points, morale]
Thulun-: 2c, 3s, 09tp, 06ep, 9m
Cadar--: 3c, 3s, 10tp, 05ep, 5m
Rychart: 3c, 3s, 09tp, 11ep, 8m

Both Nyktos and Sidtax have been active, Nyktos for longer. Things were going well when a Solar War started at the same time the Sidtax started sending a steady stream ships. Than a Spy Battle erupted and income went negative on AE 5.31. A more detailed description of conditions at that time and information used to make decisions is provided here:
startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/11753/solar-duel-assasins-negative-income#ixzz3djEgchgg

[elwoodps]

I'm probably missing something simple, but why aren't you logging RP?

[tenbsmith]

elwoodps, Based on reading here, I had the impression RP didn't play as much of a role in creating faction conflicts as TP or EP.

Several turns after my last entry I initiated Duel of Assassins and began building the Colony Ship for Thulun's 3rd colony. By letting all current projects complete and not starting new ones unless they were necessary (e.g., Hab Units), income stayed at or close to 0 and was no longer draining our accounts. Duel of Assassins successfully deescalated the Solar War. The third Thulun colony balanced colony count across factions. And, around that time, the Spy Battle ended on its own. The economy turned positive and i started building/upgrading factories.

AE 5.51
[colonies, ships, trade points, espionage points, morale]
Thulun-: 3c, 3s, 11tp, 07ep, 10m
Cadar--: 3c, 3s, 12tp, 05ep, 10m
Rychart: 3c, 3s, 10tp, 11ep, 09m

Even with all Colonies but one working on projects, income is at $309. Bank is at $2733.

For the next while, I'll focus on Colony upgrades, but keep several colonies idle so the CP can boost income and I can increase my bank.

Once another round or so of upgrades are installed and income is up. I'll probably create three new colonies which will solidify my hold on the Northeast quadrant. I may try to unlock Colony Module 3 for these Colonies (especially Rychart).
A couple of other things that need doing.
--Expand my fleet to 18.
--Build Military Transports to remove the 2 new Sidtax Colonies on my Southeastern border. These Sidtax colonies are only 2-3 tiles from my colonies. (I want to create the 3 new colonies first because both Sidtax and Nyktos are sending more colony ships and the likelihood of settle high quality systems falling under Xeno control is increasing). 

[tenbsmith]

Minor Update. AE 6.3.

With all the primes idle, Profit has risen to +678 and Treasury to 3767. Having just unlocked Orbital Mine 1, I'm about to start installing those on Colonies with sufficient minerals, but...

Those sneaky Sidtax just sent a World Killer and a Colony Ship at the same time. We're forced to commit local forces to destroy the Worldkiller, which may allow the Colony Ship to slip through and Xeno-ize a system slated for colonization by Thulun.

Just a few turns ago, we had a near miss with the Nyktos. They sent a bunch of ships in a sort of pincer movement at the two ends of the front and then tried to sneak a Colony Ship through the middle. We barely intercepted the Colony Ship in time.

We may need to expand the fleet and build Military Transports sooner rather than later.

[En1gma]

Honestly this is my favorite map, so I'm excited to see how you do! Thanks for an awesome read, tenbsmith

[tenbsmith]

En1gma, this is a good map. Forces conflict early and also gives plenty of room to expand.

The Sidtax gambit of sending a world killer and a colony ship at the same time came very close to colonizing a system inside the triangle created by our primes. In response, we expanded our fleet with new designs using Fast Reactor 5, the first to provide 2AP and 4MP which significantly improves both Strike and Assault Fighters. With the addition of three new, improved fighters, weve halted Xeno expansion in the North-East quadrant.

We continue to emphasize victory through economic might, which is manifest several ways. 1) Our greater investment in Planetary tech (23 techs unlocked) then Ship tech (12 techs unlocked). 2) Our continued sufference of 2 Sidtax colonies within 3 tiles of 2 of our primes. 3) Our lack of planetary defenses; we have only 1 Palace and 1 FDF Garrison installed on Thulun prime which is within 3 tiles of a Sidtax and the first Faction system on the path of Sidtax incursions

Now our Primes each have 3 Mine 3's. We are holding off on Orbital Mine 1 because of the higher maintenance and cost (Mine 2's can be upgraded to 3's relatively inexpensively--frugal).

We are also holding off on Palace 3's for the Primes. We want the research and espionage bump, but need to found 3 new colonies and stabilize our economy before we take on the extra maintenance costs. Before building Colony Ships, we will check the balance of power between the factions.

AE 6.19 (i go really slow.)
[Faction: colonies, ships, trade points, espionage points, morale, (less political stats: construction points, research points)]
Thulun-: 3c, 4s, 21tp, 08ep, 10m (22cp, 23rp) All 3 colonies idle.
Cadar--: 3c, 4s, 21tp, 05ep, 09m (31cp, 16rp)
Rychart: 3c, 4s, 17tp, 11ep, 08m (29cp, 22rp)

Faction Politics: 2 Trade Routes, 1 Duel of Assassins
Economy: $1.3k Profit, $6454 Treasury (7 idle colonies)

Fleet
Thulun-: Assault Fighter-IIa, Assault Fighter-I, 2 Strike Fighter-IVa
Cadar--: Assault Fighter IIa, Assault Fighter IIb, Strike Fighter IVb, Strike Fighter IVa
Rychart: Strike Fighter Va, Strike Fighter Vb, Assault Fighter I, Strike Fighter I,

Next steps include: upgrade an Exchange for Rychart to up their TP, improving Cadar's EP (Palace 2 or 3), improve Rychart's morale, continue building new design fighters and demolishing old. Maybe this balancing will improve my chances of ending the Duel of Assassins and improving Trade Routes to Trade Alliances.

Once that's done, we'll build Colony ships for three highest quality systems remaining in the Northeastern quadrant. (And after that we start to push back the Sidtax.)

[tenbsmith]

AE 6.29
The big question at this point is which Xeno to attack first. The Sidtax have infested systems very close to our colonies, so there'd be less refueling issues and we'd remove the threat on our doorstep. But, the Sidtax are relatively inactive, so maybe it's better to let sleeping dogs lie. In contrast, the Nyktos are further away but highly active, sending an almost constant stream of war and colony ships our way.

We have implemented all "Next steps" listed at the end of the entry from AE 6.19, although the fleet upgrade is still underway.

Here's a quick summary of recent events.
---The anomaly we explored last turn had signs of Xeno infestation and morale on Rychart Prime plummeted from 10 to 3. Not sure how much more exploration I want to do.
---We just founded the 4th Thulun Colony. Colony Ships for Cadar and Rychart are en route to their destinations.
---Two turns ago we enhanced the Trade Route between Rychart and Cadar into a Trade Alliance. We've initiated a Trade Treaty in hopes of a similar upgrade for the Trade Route between Thulun and Rychart. The Duel of Assassins  between Thulun and Cadar is approaching a year in duration.
---Overall the economy is good: Treasury is $9,389, Profit +$629 with all colonies in production (no idle colonies). Profit should pick up after the Spice Festivals on Rychart and other low morale colonies are completed and the Colony Ships found new Colonies.

In the near term, we'll found 4th colonies for all factions, upgraded those new colonies a bit and completed another round of upgrades to existing colonies.

Then we'll begin work on some Military Transports to remove xeno infestations from near-by systems. We will likely expand our fleet of fighters from 15 to 18 at that time in anticipation of Xeno retaliation.

[giddion]

Interesting.
Probably map size, but I am in 3.6 ish AE, and starting to produce a planetary invasion fleet. Just need to complete drop pods 2 in a few turns, then design ship and start to build em.

My map is 32x64, 2 enemies extreme.
I also only have 6 worlds (8 just now, fresh colonies). I am thinking that I'll focus on a limited number of faction world's, the rest will be Indy, mainly due to the invasion tactics to lay waste to all, fitting my character personality, I am playing.

Thanks for sharing.

[hissrad]

Huh I usually wait til near 10 A.E. before I'll even start with invasion ships. I focus on building defenses and a fleet I can afford until I start running into alien colonies.

[tenbsmith]

I think smaller maps do tend to push you into contact with the Xeno earlier. This 100x100 map I'm playing also seems to do so. This is my second game on it and both times I ran into Xeno pretty early.

I don't think I want to hold off on invading until 10AE, I've got Sidtax infested systems within 3 tiles of two of my Prime colonies.