The Planet Rising - May2014 GotM scenario for the Pirates

[Buster's Uncle]

I wonder if EM has played?  This thread/GotM needs EarthMichael.

[Yitzi]

Tried again. Stopped in 2132 already: locusts took Port Svensgaard and another base and killed 4 or 5 formers...

To have a chance, those early locusts should be removed.
To be more in theme, Cult should be in vendetta with factions other than Deirdre and those factions should be well-inclined towards the Pirates. That would show the "mankind unites against a common threat" factor. While, in my previous game, I had to fight Zak who was in Treaty with Cha Dawn and who, I suppose, gave him Fusion Power! 

I've found that he'll show up with his locusts really early about half the time; in that case there's nothing to do but restart and hope that this time he doesn't.  (Although in the scenario editor units can be set to "sleep" until a certain turn, so that might make for a better scenario.)

[Kirov]

I beat the normal version in my first attempt, it was a challenge, but not that much. Maybe it's because I knew the map, but after 2-3 restarts you should get a decent picture of things as well. If you think you need it, you can open the scenario in the editor and analyze the map. I think it's not against the rules, although it's probably more fun to rely on your own exploration. Simply open your last failed save and study the map. In this scenario, careful base placement is crucial. I think I figured it out for the hard one, although I still need to polish other tactics like unit design and use.

Yes, there is a factor of luck due to random movements of locusts, but I don't want to change it. The entire idea behind this story is that you have to deal with tough units from turn 1 and you can't just employ your standard opening and hope for the best. If I postponed the attacks or put some distance between you and the Cult, then standard gameplay would work. And that's the last thing I want. Besides, I uploaded the easier version as well, why nobody submitted such a save?

For the tough scenario, I strongly discourage you from going the standard tech b-line to IA. Building a fleet of formers also seems a waste of time, in my last attempt I didn't build a single sea former (they die too often). The most important thing is the base placement and quick use of certain techs you probe away. I hope I'll beat it soon (right now I have a lot of work to do) and post some more detailed AAR.

As for the bombing attack with weapons - I think it's completely fine, this is not a PSI attack, but a good ol' cannon barrage. Use your Battleship carefully and it will help you a lot, this doesn't imbalance the scenario in a bit. On the contrary, it can be fun to try to find a good balance between pod popping and bombing IoDs from the safety of your bases. And sooner or later it will probably die as well, so don't get too attached.

May Thor guide your Recon Empath Rovers!

[Buster's Uncle]

Kirov, should we consider extending the contest into June?

[Kirov]

I'm all for it and then we can think about July. People should be able to try 2-3 versions at their leisure and then have the option to beat previous contestants. So yeah, give it another month or so. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Folks, Kirov is in charge of the contest, and that there's official.

Deadline 30 June.

Submit winning saves now and earn our gratitude.  Submit better ones up to the deadline.  Comment comment comment in between.

[Vishniac]

Besides, I uploaded the easier version as well, why nobody submitted such a save?

Coming...
I've been on it the whole afternoon; I should post a victory in the night.

The map was not the problem in Normal.
Much more the locusts, the Dream Twister and the fact that other human factions are not on your side (and sometimes openly help the Cult).
But it's like pole vault: first I secure a badge by posting Easy victory, then I'll think about Normal once again. 

[Vishniac]

But it's like pole vault: first I secure a badge by posting Easy victory, then I'll think about Normal once again. 

It took forever...so I'll probably not try it again.
But here is my victory! 

[Buster's Uncle]

Now I have to knock out some badges...  Kirov, I'll need input...

[Yitzi]

But it's like pole vault: first I secure a badge by posting Easy victory, then I'll think about Normal once again. 

It took forever...so I'll probably not try it again.
But here is my victory! 

If it was that hard to do easy with the artillery exploit, I don't think I'll try for more (as I'm not really such a skilled player, just good at theory.)

That said, I'm pretty sure that if someone does want to try, techsteal plus artillery (even with a patch to make it not ridiculously OP vs. psi once I get that finished, though then you'll want empath artillery) is almost certainly the way to go; techsteal to keep tech parity (and allow putting heavy energy into psych for golden age pop booms), and artillery (remember all ships are artillery-capable) to safely destroy the enemy forces and gain breathing room.  Most important techs (worth getting even if he doesn't) are Doctrine:Initiative (for naval yards=morale=really important vs. psi), and Centauri Empathy if playing with an artillery fix for empath and green.  Most important projects (as there's no way you're getting them all) are (after the psi combat boosters, which he starts with on hard, and I think on normal too) maritime control center (for +2 speed; if you control the oceans, you have breathing room, and a large speed advantage is very good for that) followed by cyborg factory (as you want bioenhancement centers but they're expensive) and then cloudbase academy.  Minerals are very important, so you'll want some land formers for Mount Planet Island for boreholes, forests, and mines.  (And don't be afraid of ecodamage; you need a strong antiworm military anyway, and larger seas are to your advantage if you can keep things at ocean shelf for the mineral bonus).  For social engineering, the best when not pop booming is probably fundamentalist/green/power until you have bioenhancement centers, and then fundamentalist/green/knowledge since that'll give you the needed MORALE for auto-elite without an INDUSTRY penalty.  (If you get the cloning vats, democratic/green/power.)

[Vishniac]

I still don't see what you mean by artillery exploit.

Whatever in easy there are much less native units controlled by Cha Dawn and Deirdre and most of their forces attacking you are conventional.
Artillery won't be exploited against other naval vessels, especially when they get fusion power sooner than you.
It certainly won't against all the planes the Cult and Gaians will deploy.

If it was that hard to do easy with the artillery exploit, I don't think I'll try for more (as I'm not really such a skilled player, just good at theory.)

You should.
If not only because the fun of this game is, well, to play it! 

Easy is not hard    By playing seriously you have little risk to be defeated.
It's just that it takes a long time to get the industrial potential and the techs necessary for a long-distance raid on Cult HQ (since it's what the game is about).
I probably could have been faster but it becames tedious after a while. Perhaps I can load a previous autosave (20 turns?) and try to scrape some turns.

[Yitzi]

I still don't see what you mean by artillery exploit.

The fact that if you attack an isle of the deep with a 4/1 ship, not only will it not retaliate, but you'll have a 4:1 attack advantage (before modifiers), as though you were attacking a 1/1 ship.  Since sea units can be destroyed with artillery, this makes the native units a lot less scary.

Whatever in easy there are much less native units controlled by Cha Dawn and Deirdre and most of their forces attacking you are conventional.
Artillery won't be exploited against other naval vessels, especially when they get fusion power sooner than you.
It certainly won't against all the planes the Cult and Gaians will deploy.

True that it won't help against conventional units...but only their sea bases can produce naval units, and you should have a strong advantage there, so I'd think that could be handled.

As for planes, there I suspect AAA units are the answer.

You should.
If not only because the fun of this game is, well, to play it! 

Easy is not hard    By playing seriously you have little risk to be defeated.
It's just that it takes a long time to get the industrial potential and the techs necessary for a long-distance raid on Cult HQ (since it's what the game is about).
I probably could have been faster but it becames tedious after a while. Perhaps I can load a previous autosave (20 turns?) and try to scrape some turns.

Maybe I will play on easy just for fun...though I've got quite a lot of other fun games to play too, and I don't think a vs. AI scenario without mods shows the full potential of SMAC/X.  Perhaps with some mods, though...

[Kirov]

Vishniac, well done, your submission is accepted. Interesting approach to the conquest, I expected people just slowly steamrolling through the ex-Pirate bases. Feel free to replay the scenario, but I'm afraid you can't just go back a couple of turns and submit a better save, the rules explicitly say that this must be done in one shot, without any reload.

Can I ask what you did with that first transport when you have to choose between the elite scout patrol and 2 CPs? Put it in the spoilers, please. My approach was:

(click to show/hide)

I rescue both CPs and get them to that northern island which was colonized by Yang in your submission (you can actually squeeze in 8 bases there). However in the hard version, I'd rather take them elsewhere.

With the Battleship I bombard the first row of mind worms and then finish them off with the scout patrol, which is then left to die.

Good work and we're waiting for more submissions! 

[Kirov]

Yitzi, the feature that native life is very susceptible to bombarding was well known. It works well with land artillery as well. This doesn't skew the scenario in a bit, in fact make sure to make the most out of the Battleship before it eventually dies.

[Buster's Uncle]

...It's a feature, not a bug - at least in the design decisions made for this scenario...