The Clean Death of Us All - SMACX AI Growth mod version 1.52

[bvanevery]

Details what's the point

what's the point

MY 2401.  What's the woolly headed scientist doing?  Nobody else can win an election...

Details overestimating his chances

overestimating his chances

The people have spoken.  There are a lot of people.  A minority of which have been recently conquered.  Most of them were living in police states and now see the benefit of the new world system.

Details wrong kind of election rigging

wrong kind of election rigging

The one time I lost an election, you didn't see me getting bellicose about it.  January 6th, a day that will live in infamy.

[bvanevery]

Details threatening sky

threatening sky

Otkrietia-Discovery is a legacy base that just hasn't managed to get the bureaucratic attention it needs for a healthy, sustainable ecosystem.  An anomaly was detected during the election.  (Election!)  The scouting team found only one Locust, which we thought suspicious and unusual.

Details the Otkrietia incident

the Otkrietia incident

After destroying it, we found another resting in the fungus nearby.  And... more of them, so many as to be beyond count.

Details parsimonious planning

parsimonious planning

We wasted no time appropriating the small amount of funds necessary to complete a proper ecological facility by next year, never wanting to see one of these things again.

Details clipping the corner

clipping the corner

A gung-ho local rushed to assistance, tiring themselves greatly to eliminate but one of the horde in front of us.  We thanked them for their heroism using an appropriate medal.  While our war planners fretted that much stronger measures must be taken.

Details where

where

Long ago, our leading climatologists had us build guns for this contingency.  So long ago, that we never found any real use for them, and abandoned their production.  One of them still exists somewhere.  We cannot for the life of us, determine where.

Details needle in a haystack

needle in a haystack

We put out an All Points Bulletin to the citizenry of Planet.  Have you seen this gun?  It is big, it is round, it is bright red, unlike most service units you've seen.  Any leads you have, please video your local authorities.  We get many small, low quality images from our dedicated populace, which merely occupy our bureaucrats in fruitless act of sorting.

Details this is not the gun

this is not the gun

Stymied, we reason that it may have been inadvertently deployed in the field.  We also have no memory or record of losing a battle with the 2nd piece.  Perhaps it was ravaged in a planetary flood?  Those are ongoing, and cause us consternation, as to whether we should summon the Planetary Council to increase our solar shade.  I can't understand why that has to be an international effort at this point, but people are clamoring.

Details it still works

it still works

I don't understand why one of our brilliant bureaucrats declared this weapons platform to be obsolete.  No we haven't used it in a long time, but these pieces were on standby for a reason!  Where is the last one?  You'd think our planners could have provided an inventory tag and a tracking beacon.

Details now where actually are you

now where actually are you

We eventually reason that this tank crew on the lam, clearly drinking beer in some saloon and not replying to a global APB for their immediate duty, must have a home somewhere.  And furthermore, given the era in which it was constructed, it must be one of our oldest core cities.  We begin searching the manifests of every such city, and sure enough, we find our crew.

Details FFS

FFS

We find them, and they have a perfect alibi.  There can be no court marshal.  They were ordered last year to sink an empty civilian transport!  We give them a medal for it and so order, Now get to a Psi Gate at once.

[bvanevery]

Details effective fire

effective fire

The crew drives up a road, arrives at the gate, takes the system to the site of our trouble, dutifully scouts for additional problems, finds nothing, returns to base, raises their bright red piece to the sky, and blasts an enormous number of rounds at the horde above us.  Many, many die.  What remains is now countable.

Details planners

planners

We still consider this small horde to be a threat, requiring some measure to mitigate or eliminate it.  Our garrisons are stretched thin and have never ending demands of conquest, so it is not feasible to divert them and wait for an assault.  We also have wounded units in the field that need protection.  A bright person in the junior pool points out we could have sent a competent ground assault unit to begin with, that the air bombardment was totally unnecessary.  But others counter that we can't expect these hordes to always be resting on land.  They draw up plans for a new interventive device, to be retorfit on some old artillery pieces that have never shown naval efficacy.

Details sane design

sane design

The existing piece has modest cost, and would clearly be effective at harming Locusts, if only SAM capability was added.

Details insane design

insane design

Someone trying to make their career, thinks that bigger guns make deader Locusts though.  Their design costs ten times the units to be retrofitted. 

Details lacking roads and gates

lacking roads and gates

We cannot have SAM and Drop capability at the same time with a land artillery piece.  Some smartass questions whether these units can even arrive at their target in time?  In this part of the world, only one could make it, and it would arrive out of breath.  Also it would tie up a gate that might be needed for humbling the University.

Details crufty inventory

crufty inventory

This is a job that ships are needed for.  We do have an old ship that's pretty much useless on its own.  We conscript it to task.

Details designed with leaves of gold

designed with leaves of gold

This proposal is even sillier than the last.  But at least it's far more mobile.

Details intermediate boom

intermediate boom

A compromise on the "big gun theory" is reached.  Maybe it will perform against other targets, although we've only really seen 1 enemy plane flying around.

[bvanevery]

Details on to other matters

on to other matters

The newly retrofitted ship drops, fires, and its performance is... sufficient.  We realize it also doubles as a 12-Res garrison.  The base is safe.  We leave the wounded units in field to fend for themselves, presuming that these mindless creatures will attack the base first.

Details small pest

small pest

That one plane... if only we had a few more drop ships, we could complete our roads in peace.

Details ship of the line

ship of the line

We have an old Quantum Antimatter cruiser lying around, back from a time when we thought we might be facing conventional ships, instead of Isles and Locusts.  Such a threat never materialized.  Antimatter armor adds considerable expense to a design, and there's no appetite for further grandiose spending.  We only need to blow up a plane anyways, not a Locust horde of doom.

Details we think we will win

we think we will win

The SAM ship drops to the nearest coastal base, sails to the target, and performs its task.  It takes no wounds at all.

Details deepest adequacy

deepest adequacy

We are so impressed by this performance that we retrofit our other Singularity Antimatter ship, drop it to Otkriekia-Discovery, and fire upon the Locust remnant.  It shoots down... one creature.  Maybe "big gun theory" is correct.  Well it was meant to shoot down planes anyways, and it did that well.

[bvanevery]

Details our new bridge

our new bridge

Time to cow the University.  Our Singularity Tectonic Missile does not have the extent of action expected of it.  We start with an assault on 2 bases, as we will need another missile to raise the other 2 bases.

Details combined arms

combined arms

Now we actually need that R-Bolt artillery, that others talked about converting.  Otherwise our expensive infantry would have to attack an Isle, rendering their expense and deployment completely pointless.  We gate in the artillery, drive it over some hills, and open fire on the landlocked Oceanographic Lab.  Other units receive a light dusting, but the Isle is badly wounded, making it unlikely to defend.

Details defensive glob

defensive glob

Or so we wished.  Would we really have to build all of these with Empath capability, to prevent this calamity?  Further artillery strikes will not damage this Isle any more.  It is already 50% dead, and that's as dead as things get in a base, from an artillery barrage.

Details screen down

screen down

Regrouping, we remember our probe teams and take down their Perimeter Defense.  We are chagrined and will come back to this objective, when we see how our forces are dispositioned elsewhere.

[bvanevery]

Details administer probes

administer probes

Monitoring Station is about to become landlocked, and had a drop transport in it.  Rather than waiting for land to be raised and then sending probe teams overland, we sail out our ship and destroy Perimeter Defenses first.  Now at least we know we won't fail at that task, and our ship is free to wander around and cause more trouble.

Details raise your enemies

raise your enemies

Our biggest production bases were inherited from Cha Dawn, so our Tectonic missiles are within range.  The hovertank transport does its job, and 2 University Base defenders are summarily executed.  The base contains some peons that need cleaning up.

Details old assault plan

old assault plan

Our one venerable Quantum Drop R-Bolt artillery piece lands in Monitoring Station and shells The Marine Institute, seriously wounding a Sealurk.

Details last of artillery

last of artillery

The now coastal Marine Biology Lab had a spore launcher, which took an R-Bolt artillery to eliminate.  We barely manage to bring in a Graviton gun because there's a rail close to target.  The other Graviton gun is stuck in Morganic territory with no more Psi Gates available, and the last R-Bolt is out in the bush fighting mindworms.  We have softened 4 University bases as much as we can with artillery, and it will be up to other units to deal with the wounded Isles.

[bvanevery]

Details the only Isle shot

the only Isle shot

Many wounded R-Bolt gravships are actually in range of the University bases.  They blow apart all sorts of conventional defenders, which doesn't really help with the mission of getting rid of Isles so that Singularity and BHG infantry won't be wasted.  The one place where their assault is good, doesn't have any Singularity or BHG units attacking it.  This isn't a smooth operation.

Details tarfu

tarfu

To add insult to injury, I mis-fly to a base I could have struck, worrying unduly about covering the land.  For Marine units that don't even exist.

Details heal me

heal me

The rest of my R-Bolt gravships are sitting in a base, badly wounded.  They have run out of bases to take over and instantly heal with.  I'm unwilling to commit the BHG gravships towards the feeble University cities.  Their mission is to take out strong Morganite bases, or at least the Cyborgs.

[bvanevery]

Details open up

open up

Since Oceanographic Lab was down to only 2 defenders, I accepted that my expensive infantry was partly wasted, and just opened fire.  At least neither of them took a single wound.

Details zip to my lou

zip to my lou

I drop one of old Photon Skimmer units to heal it, as it's one of the few times I'd like to have abundant movement rather than massive firepower.  Zhakarov is not ready to surrender.  I kill the spore launcher lurking behind New Arzamas, and with wounds, that's all my movement.

[bvanevery]

I'm able to take The Marine Institute but otherwise I'm unable to bring units to bear on the University.  I simply don't have powerful land guns.  All my capabilities were tied up in gravships, and they are badly wounded from vanquishing the Cult.  I've started making a bunch of R-Bolt hovertanks, and also cruisers, because a number of my bases are now in the water.

Details Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark

In preparation for an assault next year, which for all I know might be wrongly positioned anyways, I dropped a boatload of stuff at Monitoring Station.  Or at least I tried to!  That's a ship.  The kind that float in the water.  I didn't think it was possible to drop them on land and survive the experience.  I suspect that ship will vanish at the beginning of next year, but at least I've got the cargo unloaded.  It's pretty annoying that it didn't go into the base like it was supposed to, but it looks like only the ship took wounds from the landing.

[bvanevery]

Details Morgan dent

Morgan dent

In the north I do ok, as many of my BHG Empath gravships are healed and wipe out Morgan's defenders.  I'm questioning investment in land guns as I simply don't have the means to move them quickly to target.  Psi Gates are good for holding ground already conquered, but they're not good for invading new territory.  Perhaps it's time to accept the idea of expensive Drop Empath BHG hovertanks, as I may not even have to fight next year anyways.  If the factions don't resist my Supreme Leadership, the game's over.

Details freakish weapon

freakish weapon

Well here it is.  I think I paid this much for the Cyborg Factory!  Maybe I'll save my cash and use it for a massive upgrade next year, if I actually have to fight.  Beats overpaying for mind control.  I can't mind control Zhakarov's bases anyways, as he's gone for Thought Control.

Details possibly final orders

possibly final orders

New policy: anyone who can build a ship, builds a reasonable one.  Anyone who can't, works on my wonder weapon.  And I'm not going to bother to rush any facilities being built.  It's not like it's actually important to get anything done.  Here's to voting!

[bvanevery]

MY 2402.  After taking minimal casualties and performing some administrativa, I call the vote!

Details it SAYS I won

it SAYS I won

but I don't believe it.

Details oh ye of little faith

oh ye of little faith

Still don't believe it.  It's a trick.  One of the factions is going to declare their undying enmity for me any moment now.

Details I did not

I did not

Well the Peacekeeper banner rolled over Planet, so I really did do it.  It's difficult to get a screenshot of that with Snip & Sketch.  One must remember to use the PrntScrn method.

So, you can toss 2 nukes, become Infamous, not actually trigger major vengeance by Planet, and eventually settle it with all the factions who think you're so horrible.  But you'll have to fight them pretty much all the time, until you conquer them.  Pretty steep penalty for a lousy 2 nukes.

Details comparison is a thief

comparison is a thief

For all that massiveness, for all those mouseclicks, this didn't even rank in my top 5 scores.  Not that I was playing for score.

The replay map is also difficult to capture.  I'm sitting in my lonesome home territory for a long time.  Then near the end of the replay, I expand suddenly all at once.  I guess that's how it went.  This huge number of hours into the game, was only 10 years of actual game time.  I had that many things to build and units to move.

Here's a weird one: if you continue your game, 3 factions are still at war with you.  What's so Supreme Leader about that?  I provide it as a saved game anyways.

I've got a few rule changes to make before I release my mod version 1.52.  And I'm going to do another AAR.  The problem with the narrative of this one, is I didn't have any kind of plan for it.  I took pot luck.  Next time, I'll pick a main character that I want to tell a specific story about.  I'll stack the game with specific opponents who will facilitate the story.  So if the Pirates aren't relevant, sorry, no Pirates, aarg aaarg!

It may seem crazy to get on with another AAR so quickly, but I've been waiting for this to end.  I definitely know more about late game tactics.  I never really thought of Psi Gates as limited before.  But they don't really do you any good, when you're trying to conquer new ground rapidly.  It's Drop all the way.

Almost forgot to check whether that "Noah's Ark" ship died or not.  Yep it did.  All the units were fine though, which is an interesting suicidal exploit.

I wonder if the AI can be taught to use Drop units effectively, other than ground units?  It's something I thought of while playing, and worth investigating.

Also should provide some Algorithmically Enhanced predefined units.  Even though they'd only have fission reactors, at least the AI would have them and do something.

[Vidsek]

An interesting journey.  I learned a few things and tactics along the way.

Thanks for the ride!

[bvanevery]

No prob!  I'm actually now curious how much I can get the AI to use drop tactics, if at all.  The stock binary was certainly ok with using it for infantry, and I occasionally saw them doing it even in this mod.  I've actually got the ability priced the same as in the original game, but different armor and weapon costs might make the AI skittish about designing certain units.  In a new AAR, I'm going to try to persuade it to do more.