Thinker mod military capability, attempt 2

[bvanevery]

MY 2191.  A Usurper probe team destroys my Children's Creche, but at least I don't lose the base.  Unfortunately it will be easier for them next time.  They pillage the forest next to the base, destroying the cover that was protecting them.  I attack, destroying all threatening units but leaving 1 wounded unit vulnerable in the field.  I scout down the road to see if any more probe teams are coming.  I don't see any, but a Laser Infantry is inbound.  I park a Synthmetal Skirmisher on a rocky river square in front of it, hoping I'm tougher on defense than he is on offense.

Details jet interference

jet interference

My obstruction worked.  I'm able to retreat my wounded Speeder and reinforce the base with a Plasma unit.  A few more turns and all of my bases will be secured with Plasma.  That just leaves the ongoing probe team threats.  I stall a couple of advancing armored units with my Unity Jet.

Details Pirate caution

Pirate caution

The Pirates have left a coastal city open.  I'm approaching with a Scout Rover on a Transport.  I've seen no ships in the area.  If I take the base, maybe he'll sign a Truce.  Or get pushed closer to doing it.  I've got a lot of Foil Probe Teams in progress but they're nowhere near ready.  I'd be happy to have him out of the war, as I know I can handle Marr and Yang myself.

[bvanevery]

MY 2193.  My picket unit survived an armored laser attack.  The Usupers declined to attack again, even though they could.  I retreat safely to my base and replace it with another.  Unfortunately the Pirates cover their city and I don't get the walk-in.

Details your sea base is trash

your sea base is trash

MY 2196.  I take an empty Hive sea base and knock him out of the war.  I even get him to sign a Treaty, and tell him to stop fighting Morgan.  I make the same request about the Cyborgs, but he says they need to be convinced.  I won't bother.

Details Pirate weaklings

Pirate weaklings

I come very close to taking a Pirate base, due to the unexpected efficacy of an artillery duel with a wounded Pirate ship.  I didn't think my strength 1 Gun was good enough for anything, but for an artillery duel, it was.  Unfortunately his Transport resists the attack from my other wimpy ship, just barely.  I have 2 more wimpy ships coming, but they won't get there in time.

[bvanevery]

MY 2199.  I walk into a size 1 Pirate sea base that they had just settled.  Svensgaard signs a Treaty.  My puny ships, I send to explore the oceans.  My better ships and Foil probe teams, I pull back to my own sea bases.  Yes I could have stolen more techs from Svensgaard, but I think it is better to not be at war with him.  Now I only have to fight the Usurpers.  My border is secure with Plasma units, I have a couple of Impact units ready to wipe out some of his armor points on my border, and soon it'll be offensive time.

MY 2200.  The Morganites are at war with the Caretakers.  I'm not sure how long they've been at it, but this turn Morgan took a Caretaker sea base.  The Caretakers land a Cloaked Scout next to one of my bases and want to trade tech.  I refuse.  Then they declare war on me.  Ok, fine, I really don't think you're going to give me much of a problem at your distance and with the much more powerful Morgan as your next door neighbor.  I will go steal Centauri Genetics from you, which in my mod gives mindworms.  And some other things, actually they have quite a bonanza available.

MY 2201.  I get the Cyborgs to call off their wars.  Svensgaard now fights only the Usurpers.  Morgan fights the Caretakers and the Usurpers.  Yang and Aki aren't fighting anyone.

Details a long time to colonize

a long time to colonize

MY 2209.  I finally colonize the other part of the Ruins.  I've got Marr stalemated, no real progress towards him for lack of productivity.  He isn't quite the pushover that Yang was in my other game.  I'm going to attribute that to his directed research.  Yes he had the 3 colony spam advantage, but I also started close enough to him to wipe out 1/4 of his cities.  With more pressing need to make my own cities get bigger, I just can't do anything about his.

Morgan, the Pirates, and even the Caretakers are going nuts, they're way in the future.  I'm stealing stuff from the Caretakers and have even captured a sea base near their territory.  I might actually be able to hold it, as I've sent quite a flotilla of warships and probe teams that way.  It is proving a useful staging area for stealing more techs.  I suppose that's a partial success story, that I'm doing fine expanding at sea.

[bvanevery]

MY 2214.  I go Democratic.  The reality is I'm not making much of a war against Marr.  I'm just killing whatever he sends over my border and stealing techs.  In my last game, I made a big mistake staying on a war footing much longer than was appropriate.  My POLICE rating changes from +1 to -2, so I have to change my budget to 40-30-30 to compensate.

MY 2216.  I've stolen many techs from the Caretakers including Industrial Automation.  I have 914 cash so I could complete a Secret Project.  I notice the Planetary Energy Grid isn't actually finished.  I switch to Wealth to make it even cheaper.  I cash 1 Artifact and am so close on credits, that I wait until next turn to rush.

MY 2219.  I'm making 157 credits/turn.  My existing units are still enough to fend off the Usurpers, even with some morale reduction.  They aren't probing my western flank anymore.  They have been in a skirmish with Pirate probe teams for a long time, south of my southernmost city.  I even see a Pirate hovertank down there.  Also the Caretakers and Pirates have occasionally attacked their west coast.

[bvanevery]

MY 2222.  I have stolen everything the Caretakers and Usurpers have got.  Only now have I stolen Intellectual Integrity, which gives Non-Lethal Methods.  Just as well that my society can't use police.  The Morganites and Pirates both have more techs, but I am not at war with them.  The Cyborgs could sell me Gene Splicing but we're in sunspots.

I have 878 credits.  Only Marr is working on the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm and he's nowhere near finishing.  Soon I will make it mine.

MY 2225.  Sunspots have ended.  Nobody cares about fighting the Caretakers.  I've stolen all their tech, and their cities are worthless to me, so I don't care either.  We sign a Truce.

MY 2226.  The Hive stole from me, so I've declared war.  Although he has left me 2 walk-ins, I sent all my ships far away.  I rush the HSA.  That Hive Foil probe team can come again, so I hope it completes before they move.  I've got a bunch of Usurper 3-Pulse probe teams coming at me as well, but I've put 3 armored probe teams in that city to garrison it. 

MY 2227.  The Hive steals a minor tech before the HSA completes.  At least I haven't lost a base.  Now I have a whole pile of excess Foil Probe Teams I can wreak havoc with.  I slaughtered most of the probe teams sent against my southern base, using my Unity Jet to pin a 3-Pulse team so that it couldn't escape my Impact Infantry.  I don't actually need to worry about the last 3-Pulse team as it may commit suicide.  The AI is not very bright that way.

MY 2228.  Former allies Yang and Svensgaard are at war, with Yang getting the short end of it.  Meanwhile I walk into a sea base he put on my coast, using a specially designed Amphibious Plasma unit.  He thinks he wants to keep fighting.  Fine Yang, I'll take sea bases until you get the message.

Morgan decides he wants war on the Caretakers just as I've started moving my troublemaking units away.  Sigh.  At least they do have 1 tech to steal.

Details Morganites destroy it all

Morganites destroy it all

MY 2234.  The Morganites and Pirates are ridiculously far ahead.  I don't have the productivity to do much about it.  So, a nearby faction can't harm me, but I experience so much production spam of one kind or another, that I can't make any progress against distant AI factions either.  I guess the only remaining question is, will something shift before either of these factions Transcends.

I finally sail into an undefended Hive sea base.  Yang signs a Treaty.

Using an Elite Foil Probe Team I steal Doctrine: Air Power from the Caretakers.

[bvanevery]

MY 2235.  Yang doesn't honor the Treaty and attacks me immediately.  He kills the Synthmetal defender of one of my sea bases, leaving it with only a Scout.  I upgrade the Scout to Plasma to hold it together.  My prototypes are getting super duper expensive, even with a Skunkworks.  I don't have the productive capacity for this stuff.

MY 2238.  Now that the Morganites and Pirates aren't making any Secret Projects, I'm able to buy a pile of techs from the Pirates.  Including Fusion Power.

Details a dumb thing to do

a dumb thing to do

MY 2239.  Very strangely, the Usurpers let me walk into an undefended city containing the Citizens' Defense Force.  I suppose it's possible that they got hit with a Conventional Missile, but I haven't seen any falling.  I was doing the 2 plane escort thing, just running around destroying Sensor Arrays.  I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this as I have nothing to reinforce with.

[bvanevery]

MY 2240.  I'm upgrading old units to bolster my defenses.  Svensgaard blew out one of Yang's sea bases, leaving me with a walk-in.  I sign another Treaty with Yang.  Let's see if he honors it this time.

MY 2244.  The Morganites and the Pirates have gone to war.  I will try to stay out of it.  The Morganites also asked me to whack Yang, so I'm doing it.

MY 2245.  You know, it's 3 AM, and I just don't have it in me to deal with so many cities anymore.  I'm quitting.

Once again, I did not use my Artifacts for anything, because it feels like "wasting" them.

Yes I stole a fair number of techs, but at an enormous mouse clicking cost to do so.  In the past, this alone has caused me to quit games.  Looking back on it, it doesn't really feel like progress when the Morganites and Pirates are so far ahead.  It feels like mouse clicking.

When I slaughtered the Hive in the previous game, I think it had a lot to do with having 2 planes for escorts to take out Sensor Arrays.  1 plane doesn't really work.  You have to keep flying back to base, which leaves units vulnerable.

Also in the previous game, I made piles of probe teams to take out Perimeter Defenses.  This game I hardly made anything.  I think that's a basic function of having a cramped starting position next to the Usurpers.

There was a point early on when I clearly was doing fine against the Usurpers.  Then I started building city improvements instead of military units, because I feared "falling behind" the Morganites and Pirates.  Well clearly, in hindsight, I was never ever going to catch them by building city improvements.  It's impossible.  I might have caught up by crushing the Usurpers utterly and becoming very very large.