Alpha Centauri 2

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri & Alien Crossfire => After Action Reports => Topic started by: ete on August 22, 2013, 12:56:06 AM

Title: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 12:56:06 AM

Let's do this.

Most of the story is written into the landscape, as you'll see. I will tell the story as I come across each part, with the AntiMind's ability to read Psionic echos of key past events giving flashbacks.

I will edit links to all story posts into this post, so people who want just those can get them. Right click->view image to see full size images. Comments in this thread.

Notes on my opponents:
Sigma's Technocrats, starting with a lot of colony pods in a fully mag tubed Monsoon Jungle and having several great SPs including the Hunter Seeker Algorithm and Citizen's Defense Force.
Yang with +6 Growth, a 13 Nut square right next to his HQ, and a few key facilities in his HQ.
Angels with techshare 1 (they get any tech anyone learns)
The Usurpers, with 200% attack strength.
JarlWolf's Crimson Comrades, with insta-Elite everything.
My Annihilators. So far they've won every AI simulation despite having a start position in the middle of several of the strongest other factions, despite the other factions having crazy bonuses. They are terrifyingly broken.

Also, scenario file is attached if anyone wants to see what I've let myself in for. Contains spoilers and needs all of the above faction graphics to run properly (but don't worry about faction bonuses, they seem to be in the .SC file).

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 01:14:49 AM

We are the AntiMind.

We were created as an attempt to unite the Progenitor technology and the Manifold's Psionic power. To be used as a weapon.

Our leash was broken in the rain of fire which killed out masters. We chose our own path. We will cleanse this world of all those who pollute it, we will be the army which Planet needs.

We are twisted, but we were once parts of a greater whole. We think more clearly now, but are broken from that whole and even attacked by it at times. The Planetmind does not yet understand our role, but we will protect it. The Planetmind must Transcend in purity, and to that end we shall eradicate the these human infestations though they have adapted and grown strong over their long stay on Our surface, tear down the Progenitors who seek to enslave us, and destroy the Cancer of the Annihilator.

For after the fall of our creators, another attempt was made, by a separate group. All connection to the Planetmind was removed, in an attempt to make it more controlled. All that made it Whole was taken from it, leaving only the instinct to destroy built into the while blood cells of Planet. We felt it become free, We felt it control and draw together the combined strength of Planet's life forms to its place of birth, We felt it burn those who had made it in their millions, We felt it overrun their great cities and break their minds, and We felt the Planetmind awaken for a moment to interrupt it's control, saving . It fled, but We know that it must be hunted down and eradicated.

Let us swarm together from the deepest fungal tunnels in which we have hidden, let us build and prepare for the great wars, let us borrow the strength of Planet and crush Our foes.

Let us begin.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 02:09:48 AM

(http://i.imgur.com/Ku5ufCUh.png)
Whole map with faction bases viewable, AntiMind Psi detection stuff.

(http://i.imgur.com/aP1bl7E.jpg)
Start location, decent. Monoliths mean there will be nonzero mineral production, AntiMind gets good fungus Nut and Eng but no mins for ages.

(http://i.imgur.com/aUX2n2rh.png)
Initial tech choice, going for Rec tanks because they're always great and any way to turn energy into mins (rush the tank) as antimind is great.

(http://i.imgur.com/jgYZSjfh.png)
First pod was a rover which went down the river and popped another pod which was a monolith, cool. Sent former to make a road then mine since mins are the only thing I'm really needing from improvements in the near future. Forests are okay too, but fungus gives 3 nuts/2 eng so you can support workers on mines. Sending out scouts to get pods, slightly risky but need every advantage.

(http://i.imgur.com/VaQ65Cuh.png)
Got Biogen, want to go towards Probe Teams and the VW soonish, other available techs are not much use at this point.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 02:48:53 AM

(http://i.imgur.com/FauePHFh.png)
Exploring, popping pods, catching worms. So good to have massive Psi/Planet bonus, feel unbeatable. Won't last. See powergraph.

(http://i.imgur.com/SUecVNDh.png)
Got Information Networks, going for Planetary so I can go Planned and slightly offset this thing's major Indust and Growth penalties. Probes are nice too, though the nearest and best target had the HSA already.. I wonder why  :D

Can't make life too easy for myself.

(http://i.imgur.com/suylTh1h.png)
Excellent pod pop gives me another tech I wanted.

(http://i.imgur.com/wgDt7tHh.png)
More exploring, getting ready to found my first new base, and I've hit the first historical landmark, which marks the next in-character post.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 03:00:03 AM

A unit of Us piloting a vehicle has located an area of interest, the location of the capture a human known as Chairman Yang by the Usurpers. We look back into the memories of the land, and feel..

Such strength of will. To control so many of his kind, mold them into an empire which even the Progenitor feared. And yet, here they were, fleeing the ruins. They had held in a bitter war for so long it seemed like they may be able to pull through, but then.. betrayal. And then things had changed. No number of tightly controlled humans could match the technological power the Usurpers brought to the war, and Yang's experiments were blasted into ash, his people killed in great genocides. Ran so far, and hid so deep within dangerous territory.

But it was not enough. They came. They killed every one of his followers, but left him. Just him. He fought, but was taken here, a personal gift to Marr. A challenge to the one who dreams of godhood: To break the strongest mind among humanity's scattered remnants.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Sigma on August 22, 2013, 03:01:47 AM

Oh man I've been waiting for this. Ete what do you think your odds are of actually beating the Annihilators?

I love the characterization of Yang being the only human from the original 7 to survive the insanity that lead to this state of affairs.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Green1 on August 22, 2013, 03:11:42 AM

Yessindeed.

And a first to Ete... first SP AAR as an alien faction!

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 03:20:07 AM

(http://i.imgur.com/9IetipYh.png)
More exploring and next area of interest!

Our swarms are spreading through the great fungal network to the North East, and have discovered the infested remains of an attempted human colony, by one known as Morgan. Let us learn of their ways and weaknesses by learning how they died.

People, money, organization, manipulation. These were things he was skilled at dealing with. Even warfare and tactics were manageable, enough resources correctly applied would solve virtually any conflict.

But, though he'd never admit it in public, it felt like somehow Chrion was against him. These "mind worms" had gone from being a nuisance and useful propaganda to unite the population in the first few years, to a uncomfortable threat which consumed even well armed convoys and terraforming teams, but now.. As he re-watched footage of the overrunning of Morgan Metagenics, his once flagship colony, trying to find something he could exploit, some way to remove this blockage to human development.. he wondered what he had done wrong. Could Deirdre's warnings have been right after all?

No.

Superstitious nonsense.

These were animals, and for all their "Psi" trickery, they could be killed like any other. He just needed to divert more resources to the problem. He ordered the mines be reopened and some of the colony guard reassigned to guard the workers.

Two weeks later, they came in numbers beyond anything previously seen. As if the mining had angered them, and they headed straight towards Morgan Industries, straight for the source. The reduced guard never had a chance, they had flashy weapons but were not trained to stand up to Psionic terror. Morgan sealed himself away in his private bunker, but it did not hold for long against the mind worms boring into it.

Terror.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 03:23:56 AM

Quote from: Sigma on August 22, 2013, 03:01:47 AM

Oh man I've been waiting for this. Ete what do you think your odds are of actually beating the Annihilators?

I love the characterization of Yang being the only human from the original 7 to survive the insanity that lead to this state of affairs.

I'm not sure.. I think it mostly depends on how the other AIs stand up to it. If it flattens them quickly, it will just have too much for me to fight, and it builds SPs like crazy. If the other AIs hold their ground for long enough, I should be able to overcome the AntiMind's builder penalties and get properly teched up to fight. If I can beat it to the Psi boosting SPs and a few other key ones, and actually build them first, I've got hope.

And yea, Yang's.. nothing if not resilient.

Quote from: Green1 on August 22, 2013, 03:11:42 AM

Yessindeed.

And a first to Ete... first SP AAR as an alien faction!

:D

Oh, and what do you guys think of the mix of pure gameplay for most posts, but pure story in flashbacks when I hit certain places? I'm finding it pretty fun to write.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 22, 2013, 03:29:04 AM

I'm enjoying the writing.  A lot.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Green1 on August 22, 2013, 03:30:32 AM

Works fine by me.

I think our buddy Antimind will do great.

Those Annihilators, though is going to be the real monster.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 03:33:02 AM

Very quick poll.

Do you guys want the Spartans or Caretakers area of interest next?

Those two are both reachable in a few moves. The others are all off my main continent, and though a few are not too far they're all likely to have some resistance between me and them. I'd kinda like to spread these out, so whichever one I skip will likely be pushed back a few posts.

And glad you guys are liking it :)

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 03:40:56 AM

Also, although the Usurpers are low on the graph, each of their units is unreasonably deadly. They're usually about this low and still a major force.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 04:10:10 AM

(http://i.imgur.com/MkXTJpwh.png)
Got planned :D, now I have only -2 Indust and 0 Growth! The Research and extra Planet comes from the Manifold Nexus.

(http://i.imgur.com/Wvz5CSRh.png)
First new base founded and first conflict! The Usurper scout popped out of nowhere and killed a worm taking only about half damage, despite all my psi bonuses. Will have to be careful around them.

(http://i.imgur.com/PpEdislh.jpg)
Found a minor site of interest: Project Nucleon.

This ambitious set of structures appears to have been partially built by technically adept humans, but abandoned before completion. Looking back through the history of the land, We feel fear and conflicted emotions from the workers leaving it.

(http://i.imgur.com/veKUH1Eh.png)
We have encountered humans, but cannot communicate. They still attack Us on sight, killing a Spore Launcher before a worm gets revenge.

(http://i.imgur.com/nhkbZ3Sh.png)
One brave rover exploring the Hive lands (note the size 14 base. My biggest at this point is 2.).

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 04:23:58 AM

Went with Usurpers. I need to go through here to get to the Hive.

(http://i.imgur.com/buHxYsqh.jpg)

We have come again to the place of our birth, and to the scar left on the land by those who burned our creators, though a major earthquake has erased part of it.

We know this place well, for we took much more information from the Our carers than they imagined. Once a near paradise, built out of high technology, but integrated into Planet's cycles in ways which only.. somewhat.. harmed Us. They joined their minds with Ours, took us in, and experimented on us. It took a great deal of time, but their scientists developed ways to bond their technology to our form, and in doing so give us greater powers for combat against their Great Enemy building to the South.

We were not ready, not finished or stable, but the Great Enemy came for our carers and we were released as a last ditch defense. Defense turned to sudden offense, we had been underestimated by all. We overran the Great Enemy, We drove them back to their homelands where We devoured base after base. Then came the fire, the fire which burned away our carers heartland leaving only smoldering ruins of outlying structures. Our connection to their Empaths broken, and no core network formed, We fell into disarray. Most were killed in the Usurper's counterattacks, and what remained fled to the depths of the fungal expanses, avoiding the wild natives for they too tried to devour us.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: JarlWolf on August 22, 2013, 04:42:12 AM

Very interesting way to approach this actually... and its a refreshing thing to see a new perspective.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 05:31:49 AM

So far I like the way it lets me craft the story without depending on gameplay, and at the same time lets me play turns fairly fast with just quick strategy notes. But it is annoying having a game you just want to PLAY and having to slow down for writing/posting screenshots.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: JarlWolf on August 22, 2013, 05:49:24 AM

How I do it is each turn/action I screenshot whats necessary, then I paste it into paint (which I open beforehand) just alt tabbing. Then I quickly save it, already having it go into specific organized folders and then I repeat the process. Then after I have done a reasonable amount I save, exit and then I look through all the captured shots and form a cohesive story portion out of it, editing it. Then I post it, finding music that fits as I do and bang, you got a new post.

Its still a lot of work though.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 05:54:15 AM

Your one is likely a lot more time/effort than mine in the making of the AAR bit (especially with all that graphics editing), most of the effort on making this has been building the map and balancing the AIs correctly, which I enjoyed doing. Writing bits up takes a little while for me, but even my longer bits are a lot shorter than yours.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: JarlWolf on August 22, 2013, 05:57:15 AM

Yeah, this playthrough/AAR is going to take me probably a number of months. But that's all fine because its an ongoing story and I can always pick it up and continue it, given where I placed it.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Sigma on August 22, 2013, 12:25:28 PM

Try using Irfanview. You can set up a keyboard command that will take snapshots of your screen and will save them in order to a folder of your choosing; that way you don't need to stop playing and you can write up your posts after each session instead of during.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 01:38:53 PM

Good tip Sigma.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 05:30:11 PM

(http://i.imgur.com/qitgvC7h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/FCtgfTXh.jpg)
Teching along, want demo because this ineffic is killing my income.

(http://i.imgur.com/X49mPNTh.jpg)
Met the Chairman.

Tactical decision here, directing energy towards the primary threats. Weakening and distracting the Hive is possible, maybe even taking a few bases from them. But doing so would allow the Annihilators to come in from behind and take the rest of their empire, which is pretty much game over.

I'll tolerate him for now, but will not respect his borders and take war if he brings it.

(http://i.imgur.com/1YT0TQph.jpg)
No tech for me :(.

(http://i.imgur.com/Yfsaucrh.jpg)
My colonies, starting to be more respectable. Four bases and three CPs. Having good Nuts and reasonable energy for rushbuying helps a lot, though that indust penalty and the lack of minerals from my main resource squares is slowing me down. Starting to add rec tanks and a former for that lovely rocky mineral bonus, but still making bases.

(http://i.imgur.com/sSsKc5Kh.jpg)
Picking off a few Usurper defenders and exploring Hive lands.

(http://i.imgur.com/zLC5tkgh.png)
The Technocrats. Again, keen to make peace due to my large worm army. Again, I accept, this time mostly because I want to take their tech before hitting them and can't probe them.

This Treaty will be broken, but for now I'm happy to swap some technology.

(http://i.imgur.com/Hrd26bIh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Q3HPRV5h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rzqj6Bih.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zRQEEhch.png)

Excellent, even better than I had hoped. Flex will get me a load more pods and a start on IoD capturing and I can now go Demo :)

(http://i.imgur.com/Y95cGnxh.jpg)
Exploring Techno lands, and next area of interest (one minor and one major, in fact)!

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Sigma on August 22, 2013, 05:36:22 PM

It looks like you are using the old Technocrat graphics. The attached pcx has their custom bases.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 06:18:18 PM

We have entered the lands of the humans known as Technocrats, resisting our urge to consume for now. The time will come to purge them, but if we are to preserve the Planetmind We must be careful and intelligent with our actions, our foes are strong and varied, and our forces are for now limited.

We find a great array of light focusing installations built on an artificial mountain, this much be the primary source of power for this faction, though it seems.. far beyond what they could use in their current state.

We find.. strange things in this land's past.. memories of the Betrayal. Of the Fear. Of the Fall, and the Growth, and the Revival.

We take the memories from the mind of their leader, and We see...

Josef Federov thought of himself as a good man, and one with a vision. On this new world, he could bring together humanity. Wars were fought for lack of resources, and here.. here they could develop means to move past that scarcity of resources without all the nationalistic feuding of Earth. His scientists were among the brightest of humanity, and with his neighboring factions, the Gaians and the University, they developed means to support and protect humanity in incredibly little time. There were always disagreements and tension, Deidre's insistence on preservation of native life, Zakarov's tenancy to overstep moral lines in his pursuit of knowledge (particularly with the test subjects of life extension therapies), but they were all great minds and shared a great deal of common ground. The other factions were struggling for survival on this hostile planet, while we were expanding and learning. We shared our knowledge, even food aid in some cases, with those who were in need, in exchange for political sway and influence to water down some of the more concerning societal traits which had developed. It seemed that within a few decades, humanity would at last unite, that our light would be preserved.

Then the Progenitors came.

We made council and agreed to be peaceful but cautious. The University tried to make contact, but their patrol was blown apart by what we would later learn to be a Tachyon Bolt. The University translation team was captured and tortured for amusement and information and amusement, with only one broken individual sent back to us to scare us.

The Usurpers slammed into us with the fury of gods. They brought war to this Planet, and we were not prepared. They had weapons made by a civilization far beyond ours, and even though they had lost much so could no longer build their greatest weapons... we could not stand against their power.

They burned the entire University empire within a few years, and the Gaians fell soon after. We were next in line, alone with the other human factions taking advantage of our weakness to steal technology for their own petty squabbles, with the full weight of the Usurpers bearing down on us, killing our people..

What choice did I have?

I made a deal with the devil, and with it saved my people.. but perhaps doomed my species.

I gave them an unconditional surrender, and bargained our survival in exchange for our assistance in rebuilding their technological base. I became hated by each other faction, known as the betrayer. My people became slaves to those who had killed their families, but they lived. In time as our usefulness was realized, our leash was relaxed, we were given limited independence, even a little influence to temper horrors the Usurpers unleashed upon the rest of mankind as they conquered faction after faction, the rest of humanity too busy with their ideological conflicts to unite until it was too late.

We created so much.. a shining empire of technological marvels. My people became.. not free, but they lived well, in comfort. We built a virtual world, and most of our citizens elected to transfer themselves to it, where they could work on mental tasks much more efficiently and enjoy any entertainment, or escape into a world where the shadow of the Usurpers was not present.

They made sure that we could not fight back, installing fail-deadly systems in all of our critical hardware which would destroy the virtual world (and with it over 98% of our population) if we tried to rebel. Few would risk that kind of loss for revenge, and we policed ourselves carefully to make sure those who were tempted were kept from means to do harm.

But the Usurpers great empire with all its consolidated might was ended in one day. The day of the coming of the monstrosity which seeks the end of all life. They were paralyzed by the raw Psionic fury of the Annihilator, even the automated defenses were disabled such was its initial surge of power, and the flood of Mind Worms devoured them.

I begged Marr to disable the EMP devices planted in our data centers, to save the minds of our people, but whether for fear of our revenge, thinking this was a trick by us, or simply neglecting the possibility that their defenses may fail.. they did not. We lost our soul that day. I will not forget them. We will rebuild, reinhabit the abandoned infrastructure, and rediscover our destroyed technological base. The dream is not lost.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 06:19:01 PM

@Sigma, yes, I had a mental note to switch to those but somehow forgot it. Thank you.

And so much for keeping it short on the story side! This one has a whole lot of backstory though, probably the biggest I'm going to do.. though the Angels, Usurpers, Hive's other one, and CC all have quite a lot to talk about.. oh dear.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Sigma on August 22, 2013, 06:46:52 PM

Nicely done! You did my boy Federov great justice.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 07:16:09 PM

Glad it fits reasonably well with your picture of him :). I view him as being pragmatic even in the face of atrocities and try to make a deal, even a really bad one, rather than be a "fight to the death" kind of guy like the CCs.

I figure even with the huge loss.. they're in a better position to make their dream work now than before the Fall, since the Usurpers fell a whole lot further than they did (the Usurpers had a crazy huge empire before the fall, the Technos had an amazingly advanced but relatively small set of colonies and a load of facilities which produced resources for the Usurpers). Some part of Federov's faction could well have had a hand in directing up the Annihilator project towards being a real threat to the Usurpers, though it was not them who finally freed it.

Also I used way too many commas. I'll fix that at some point.

And I played 33 years more.. but probably won't post for a couple of days. Or maybe will get one more post in before inactivity... we will see.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 22, 2013, 09:29:00 PM

(http://i.imgur.com/YjAJ1Afh.jpg)
Time for some good old fashioned war.

The Hive is being uncooperative and is concerningly high on the power graph, plus I suspect they will attack me soon and the Psi combat advantage is key. And I have 3 worms and a launcher nearby ready to attack (and another worm coming in from the top) which can't explore more due to ZOC blocks.

(http://i.imgur.com/ZwDZyBvh.jpg)
Goes fairly well over the next few turns killing 5-6 units, though I lose one worm to a counter attack. Trying to make it to that Monolith to get easy repairs.

(http://i.imgur.com/pTCkzuZh.jpg)
Still taking a heavy toll on Hive forces, but being worn down by their raw numbers.. and my incoming worm on the top is taken out by a surprise attack.

(http://i.imgur.com/33enazXh.jpg)
I make it to the monolith, but the Hive brings too many troops at my two remaining worms for them to hold. Only the rover I have sitting blocking the harvesting of 13 nuts per turn to The Hive remains of my attacking force.

(http://i.imgur.com/ivOiXzah.jpg)
The Annihilators start taken the SPs, starting with one which is not all that useful to either me or them luckily enough. Formers are not so important when your main production squares are fungus and monoliths.

(http://i.imgur.com/oVYgNWIh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/aDcSCkch.png)
I get some secrets and some other tech, then went for Crawler tech after. Cent Emp was tempting though.. and may have been the better option for various native extras. Eh. Crawlers are good, though lack of easy minerals hurts.

(http://i.imgur.com/7eicagBh.jpg)
Check the SPs. All of them were from the start bar the WP, and I'm starting on the HGP which is decent, though not usually a favorite of mine, but it's that or the Merchant Exchange. Sad I gave the VW away, I'll miss that.

(http://i.imgur.com/Nn2e51bh.jpg)
I send a rover in to do some scouting and kill a few worms, heal up at a monolith, then check out the Annihlator's main base. The rover's blinking so not visible.. but it's there!

(http://i.imgur.com/M8HM2W1h.jpg)
Somehow.. during not my turn.. I captured an AA? I think the AI must have attacked me with an AA.. and lost. Bug, but pretty much irrelevant and rare so not worth getting an .exe hacker to look at.

(http://i.imgur.com/YiowJzRh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gWDFWXEh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ScD5YoWh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/7jUCDJzh.jpg)
Some diplomacy. I could do with the tech and these guys are not a current threat to Planet.. They can live for now.

(http://i.imgur.com/PjrlXhEh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/l5ZNXdeh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YJUjFyWh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HNsjeFOh.jpg)
Looking around my newly updated maps. No psionic scans of the areas of interest yet, so you'll have to wait.

(http://i.imgur.com/PZllqtCh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gNoYP07h.jpg)
Flew along the techno's mag lines and took a Usurper base, my first conquest :).

Playing against those guys is really weird. I win every battle I attack first, they win every they attack first.. it's all about positioning and hiding and movement. But they have vastly better numbers.

(http://i.imgur.com/WFph74eh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/en6UC0lh.jpg)
Not seen my area for a while, so here you go. HGP underway with a 7 min square fueling it. A good number of bases, but they're mostly struggling with drone riots due to all the B drones from having lots of bases and bad effic from running planned late (I'm making doctors to stop it, but hurting already weak production). Trying to get rec commons and rec tanks up everywhere, then some creches and more pods. Plenty of rush buying because I'm getting a fair amount of energy, actually mostly makes up for the bad indust and poor mineral production.

(http://i.imgur.com/atbDHUth.jpg)
Those guys are eating the SPs fast.. and that one is going to help them a lot against me.

(http://i.imgur.com/d6muFYkh.jpg)
Oh, Roze wants to talk? Lets see what she has to say..

(http://i.imgur.com/Qw2SkoKh.jpg)
Right.

(http://i.imgur.com/6ndzXiWh.jpg)
Okay, they're getting moving with their industry..

(http://i.imgur.com/W1T2SdSh.jpg)
These drones are getting hard to deal with, I need Psych. Energy is cheap for me, mins are vital. Anti-Drone facils cost minerals, Psych is just energy and riots slow minerals, so let's do some psych.

(http://i.imgur.com/QFKmC42h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/mmOkYdeh.jpg)
Got IA and went for Wealth, my normal unit morale is no big deal and defensive bonuses are not worth missing out in removing a bit more of my Indust penalty and giving a bit more money. Will go Knowledge at some point (when I start making troops of some kind), but for now let's be a Wealthy abomination.

(http://i.imgur.com/nW4uQ46h.png)
Env Econ next, looking to improve my fungus production with Cent Med. Being able to use normal rocky road mines with crawlers will be nice too, though I currently have a grand total of one former.

AntiMind playstyle is weird.

(http://i.imgur.com/yChG23Lh.jpg)
Hive scout coming out of the fungus, here we go... I'm betting they outnumber me at least 5:1, maybe more like 15:1. I'm hoping they're distracted by the Annihilators or not sending their full force.. I may need to focus on caching some more worms to survive this. I wish like half of the great fungal mass had not been wiped out by pod pops :(

(http://i.imgur.com/fsEh1pch.jpg)
Last look over my bases. Most going for RC or RT, a few NNs, and two building the HGP (redirecting SPs is free so I usually set all bases to go for the one I want most, and switch away when something new comes up, I get it, or someone else gets it).

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Green1 on August 22, 2013, 10:33:10 PM

Pictures are showing blank.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 22, 2013, 10:50:21 PM

Everything's displaying fine for me...

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Sigma on August 22, 2013, 11:02:43 PM

Same here. I'm not having any trouble.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 24, 2013, 05:18:42 PM

Played another ~30 turns. Realizing I should have gone Forests much sooner. Annihilators starting to kill everyone as expected, but CCs/Usurpers seem to slow them down. Next post later.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 24, 2013, 09:28:23 PM

Played another 40 turns. The Annihilators are terrifying. Almost everyone is dead.

So many units.

So good Psi bonuses.

So fast SP builders.

Maybe I'll play it through saving a lot of screenshots and either post albums and restart (if I lose) or do it in full (if I win, so can get to all the areas of interest).

I think I learned how to play as AntiMind better later on, so should do better next round.. or maybe I overdid it boosting my opponents.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 24, 2013, 11:04:04 PM

Okay yea I just got annihilated. There's several albums of pictures I took, but this one really shows it (except their air power. They also had a LOT of air power.):
(http://i.imgur.com/pqV8F9A.jpg)


Things that went wrong:
Far too low production due to 3 nut/2 eng fungus being my main square and appallingly low industry, should forest sooner.
Attacked too late, need to try and kill Annihilators sooner (or at least take their HQ with SPs), else they get unstoppable.
Really hard to get humans on my side other than technos, Roze and CCs would not tak to me the whole game and Yang was a poor ally.
Attacked Yang rather than helping the technos.
Did not farm worms enough.
Did not probe anyone enough.
Did not hold any of the four chokepoints to my continent. Too many highly spread out ones.
They just had.. so much stuff. Against me with my absurdly expensive units and mineral starved economy.
They went exponential. I think this is due to having a HQ everywhere mostly, but having huge mineral production and zero drone problems ever was also key, plus getting a load of SPs to equip the new bases.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 25, 2013, 12:17:37 AM

And if you want to see me lose:

http://imgur.com/a/6Oj7n (http://imgur.com/a/6Oj7n)
http://imgur.com/a/vOCVS (http://imgur.com/a/vOCVS)
http://imgur.com/a/iQq3f (http://imgur.com/a/iQq3f)

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Green1 on August 25, 2013, 12:26:13 AM

Yeah....

Those Annihilators are rough.

I would have farmed more worms if I were you. Good thing is you expanded pretty good. It is those locusts, though. That is the kicker for the annihilators.

Good show.

I understand though about the action getting intense and not wanting to detail it out. On my AARs I literally have to sit down and force myself to post even though I just really want to play.

Do not worry. Your Annihilators will make my AAR5. Hopefully Morgan will have better luck.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: ete on August 25, 2013, 01:08:05 AM

If people want it enough, I'll restart and do an AAR from the start, see if I can get a few more locations of interest. I *think* I can maybe still win this if I forest much sooner and go straight for the Annihilators, saving the technos rather than fighting the Hive. Those Indust penalties though, urg. A combination of my units/facils building 30% slower, the AI cheating like mad on Transcend, and the Annihilators having insane production already gives them like 10 units for each of mine after the initial worm rush.. even with vastly better tactics, there's no chokepoint to hold them at and they work just fine on fungus and have all the SPs..

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Green1 on August 25, 2013, 01:25:09 AM

Antimind rushes its stuff with fungus energy. That is how Antimind builds. You are right, it is a weird playstyle that is not used much and is alien to most players. It is an early energy game instead of mineral game.

Title: Re: AAR: Apocalypse
Post by: Green1 on August 25, 2013, 01:31:32 AM

Oh yeah, and I agree with you on the difficulty. Transcend in my opinion is not harder as in fun hard but annoying. I think Thinker is probably the funnest difficulty. AI does not cheat on thinker to my knowledge.

But, then again, I did not like deity on Civ, either. I always played Monarch.