Zhakarov is killed by aliens

[bvanevery]

Comments and questions about the strategies I'm using in this game, are expected and encouraged.  Please make them in this thread.

In my last game I learned a lot about superfluous building and the perils of boredom.  One thing I found interesting though, was the degre to which enemy air force would commit suicide against Formers that have superior armor.  I might make deliberately expensive Armored Formers at some point in this game, just to help others wipe themselves out.

Another lesson is that although centralized planning around a capitol may be important in the early to mid game, by the endgame where population growth is satellite driven, it doesn't matter very much.  "Mad money" just doesn't really have any concerns.  It's more about not boring myself at that point.  I thought making land bridges everywhere was entertaining for awhile, until it wasn't.  I'm expecting this game to be more violent and less sit-back.

Once the late game comes around, I don't even think it matters what faction I am.  So I chose Random factions this game, including myself.  I drew Zhakarov.  A little dull to have a high research faction after doing so much Aki, but I will play it.  I would have rerolled Aki or Yang though, as I've done quite enough of those recently.

Huge map, average settings, Yitzi patch.  I started on what looked like a rather large land mass.  I figured I'd have to fight for it, so I chose Explore, Conquer focus.  I check the Help section to see what factions are in the game.  Got 2 Aliens to tangle with.

Initial exploration shows I'm surrounded by a lot of fungus barriers. I gain an Artifact.  I realize it's going to be very easy to pop Artifacts with Zhakarov, with all the free Network Nodes.  I don't do it at this time though, it's a little early for that.

To the west I meet the Usurpers, and we can't communicate.  I've already researched Nonlinear Mathematics and Doctrine:Mobility so I'm not worried about it.  In all likelyhood he will be my 1st victim.

[bvanevery]

Marr grumbles about my units on his land, but does nothing about them.  I've researched Resonance armor but it's taking me forever to get a prototype done.  My minerals output is not very good yet, so I have refrained from making war with Marr.

I accidentally forgot to turn off Explore once I got Doctrine:Mobility, so I ended up with Doctrine:Flexibility as well.  Exploring the seas, guess who's my near neighbor?  My title for this AAR was prescient (University pun intended).  H'minee declared war on me, so I'm going to have the unique pleasure of exterminating both Alien factions at close quarters at the beginning of the game.  Where's my nerve gas?

[Geo]

Looks like you'll be saving Humanity from extinction on the whim of an alien 'god' then?

[bvanevery]

I wonder which god I'll be saving people from?  The Believers are in the game after all.  Or will it be the Almighty Dollar ala the Morganites?  One thing's for sure, there's going to be fighting over Politics.  We've got the 2 Democrats in the game, both the Peacekeepers and the Data Angels.  Meanwhile I've been trying very hard to reserach Police State and The Command Nexus, but it has eluded me.  I did get Polymorphic Software though.

I've been expanding at sea, to stay out of reach of the Caretakers and the Usurpers.  On land, I've been dancing around in front of Marr forever, preventing him from settling any new bases.  I don't know how many bases he actually has because I've been unable to get a ship over that way.  I just don't have the minerals to support every conceivable idea right now, and my 1 military ship had to divert to defend a new base against a spore launcher.  That ship is now exploring again, but its path is quite a bit farther north of our shared coast.

I've met the Data Angels.  She started out Ambivalent, but I sold her a comm frequency for the Caretakers, I think.  Then we traded a massive amount of tech.  We could still trade more, in particular I badly need her Social Psych, but she cut me off.  Next turn?

I've got 2 Artifacts and enough money to complete 1 Secret Project.  I have my capitol nominally working on The Merchant Exchange, but The Weather Paradigm is also still available.  It won't be for long though.  The Human Genome Project has already been built.  What I really want is The Command Nexus, but I haven't found the tech.  In 7 turns I should get a new tech, but my tech spectrum is so broad now with all the trades, there's no telling what I'll get.  I suppose as Zhakarov I am supposed to care about getting The Virtual World, but I've been under conquest pressure since the beginning of the game.

I have enough defensive Plasma units, so I've started to produce X Impact Rovers in my big minerals city.

Ok, I admit I feel nervous about Secret Projects.  7 turns seems like an awfully long time to wait for something to happen.  I don't really want The Merchant Exchange, as I don't feel like having my capitol be fixed early the way I played last game.  I'd rather choose the best possible capitol later on, in The Supercollider era.  So I will complete The Weather Paradigm this turn and call it good.  Nothing wrong with terraforming faster, and I might want to connect these islands.  If Roze will negotiate more next turn, then I'll know what my budget for Social Psych actually is, since I'll have finished my SP.

The next turn, Roze refuses to talk.  But 2 turns later, she sells me the badly needed Social Psych.  After the transaction I have 10 credits left!  She also offered to sell me a map of Caretaker territory, which would indeed have been useful, but I need a bunch of Rec Commons.  It's fundamentally limiting my productivity.  I would have traded more, but she cut me off again.

Roze is Magnanimous.  I don't know if that means she'll ally with me.  If she doesn't and I go Police State, I suppose that means I'd have the most powerful human faction right next to me and I can conquer it?  I played a game recently where a 'friend', Morgan, was allowed to have too much power.  I don't like the endgame of that, because it forces me to Transcend when they want to Transcend.  I will meditate on what I want to do with Roze, particularly if she builds The Virtual World.

[bvanevery]

Well I was right about not holding out for The Command Nexus.  Several turns down the road, I researched Adaptive Doctrine.  Not that useful at this time, as it's more expensive to produce such units, and I'm not really faced with any speeders from anyone.  Nor am I fighting any naval battles, nor would I wish to capture ships and sap my productivity.  It's a consequence of tech trades that one's portfolio can become a bit too broad.  I figure it's the price of keeping up with the Joneses.

I picked up Biogenetics from a pod.  That's definitely useful.  I contacted Roze afterwards to do more trading.  She has no further tech to offer, being bent on The Virtual World, but she sold me the comm frequency for Lal.  He signed a Treaty.  He's in contact with the Believers but I was too poor to afford the frequency.  3 credits left!

No terribly interesting visual event this time, so I'm just going to illustrate my exploration and settlement of islands to the northeast.

It occurs to me that I've never so much as signed a Truce with Marr.  Can I attack him outright and still retain my Nobility?  It's a moot point right now as I don't have the offensive forces or the infrastructure.  I need Rec Commons and Recycling Tanks everywhere.  It also wouldn't hurt to explore his coast.  My 1 military ship is on its way south towards him now.

[bvanevery]

I talk to Lal.  He wants a Pact to wipe out the Usurpers.  Who am I to argue?  I've been preparing for this the whole game.  Offensively I'm not ready, but I think I'll manage.  I just wish we had agreed to this while my rovers still had movement left.

Got the frequency for Miriam from him for free.  Contacted Miriam; sold her Roze's frequency.  That reduced her from Quarrelsome to Obstinate.  Miriam wouldn't sign a Treaty.

Contacting Roze because maybe she got a map out of Miriam.  She did, but she wanted a tech for it, which isn't worth it.  Roze has researched Doctrine:Loyalty!  She claims she'll sell it to me for 225 credits.  I don't believe her.  The price will probably raise by the time I have that much cash, and then she'll just decide not to sell.  Since she's got 2 copies of The Merchant Exchange in the works, it is more likely that she'll choose to finish the SPs herself.  But if I should happen to pop a pod and become incredibly wealthy soon, I'll get back to her.  Myself, my next projected tech is in, uuuh, 25 years.  Not so good.

Since I'm now at war with the Usurpers, I tried contacting the Caretakers to see if they want a Truce.  They don't.

[bvanevery]

Marr killed my 4-1-1 on rocks with a scout rover.  I'm a little surprised that he had that available to deploy.  There isn't any continuous road for him to just zip out of the city, so he might have hid in the fungus a long time ago.  I'm also surprised that it survived shooting at my guy on the rocks.  I suppose my 4-1-1 was only Disciplined.  Whatever, a scout rover can't threaten me further.  Meanwhile I fried one of his colonists with my own scout rover, and a Former with my recon rover.

Marr has had an 80% healed scout rover sitting south of me forever.  I had hoped when I sent my X Impact Rover south, that he'd walk into my line of fire and die.  But he didn't, which might mean he's crawling through fungus towards me.  I've turned west to avoid being hit by the rover from an unpredicted position.  I'm going to be quite annoyed if he gets me.

I've rushed my Recycling Tanks.  The money came courtesy of some dead mindworms.  My Sea Colony Pod is about to complete.  That's been building for eons.

Someone decided to hold an election.  We elected my ally Lal.

Now I get to talk to Morgan.  He wants me to go to war with the Believers, but doesn't even offer me a Pact.  Not that I was going to do it anyways, there's no strategic value in it.  Although if he had offered a Pact, I might have accepted it as conflict with Lal and Roze is inevitable anyways.  Morgan's attitude towards me is Ambivalent.  Just for laughs, I offered him a Pact.  He asked if I'd attack the Believers.  I said no, because I've got a Treaty with them, and I'm pretty sure that would degrade my reputation.  So he didn't accept my Pact.  Fine, fight them yourself, you loser.

[bvanevery]

Marr killed my 4-1-1 on rocks with a scout rover.  I'm a little surprised that he had that available to deploy.  There isn't any continuous road for him to just zip out of the city, so he might have hid in the fungus a long time ago.  I'm also surprised that it survived shooting at my guy on the rocks.  I suppose my 4-1-1 was only Disciplined.  Whatever, a scout rover can't threaten me further.  Meanwhile I fried one of his colonists with my own scout rover, and a Former with my recon rover.

Marr has had an 80% healed scout rover sitting south of me forever.  I had hoped when I sent my X Impact Rover south, that he'd walk into my line of fire and die.  But he didn't, which might mean he's crawling through fungus towards me.  I've turned west to avoid being hit by the rover from an unpredicted position.  I'm going to be quite annoyed if he gets me.

I've rushed my Recycling Tanks.  The money came courtesy of some dead mindworms.  My Sea Colony Pod is about to complete.  That's been building for eons.

Someone decided to hold an election.  We elected my ally Lal.

Now I get to talk to Morgan.  He wants me to go to war with the Believers, but doesn't even offer me a Pact.  Not that I was going to do it anyways, there's no strategic value in it.  Although if he had offered a Pact, I might have accepted it as conflict with Lal and Roze is inevitable anyways.  Morgan's attitude towards me is Ambivalent.  Just for laughs, I offered him a Pact.  He asked if I'd attack the Believers.  I said no, because I've got a Treaty with them, and I'm pretty sure that would degrade my reputation.  So he didn't accept my Pact.  Fine, fight them yourself, you loser.

My X Impact Rover did not get attacked the next turn.  But it turns out Marr has probe teams and I don't.  That's a problem.

I'm also realizing my cities are pretty darned feeble in the scheme of things.  Marr's sitting there with a size 6 city.  I can't just spend 1 X Impact Rover attacking it, as it'll probably die.  I'm realizing I don't have the productivity for Pulse armor.  I'm seeing Recon Rovers coming at me, so I'm making my own to fight back with.  I do have 1 good "big minerals" city so hopefully that gets the X Impact Rovers I need.

[bvanevery]

I quit.  This is ridiculous. One probe team.  I don't have any answer for this, I will get killed.

I've generally hated what probe teams can do in this game.  I will not be quick to call this probe team overpowered, as I don't know the extent of Marr's empire or how much money he saved up.  Also I'm remembering that I'm critically weak to probe teams, weaker than any other faction.

I do know that I was overburdened this game.  I did everything seemingly necessary to fight an Alien successfully, from the very beginning of the game, and it still wasn't enough.  It seems I would have been required to wait around, dancing in front of Marr's colony pods to stall him, until someone else completed The Virtual World and I finally got defensive probe teams.  Or else I would have had to research differently to begin with, which would risk not having the weapons needed to repel Alien weapons.  I do know that failure to get Social Psych earlier and grow bigger cities, was pretty crippling to me.

I was fooled into a false sense of confidence because Marr never attacked me.  I thought therefore he must be weak!  Whereas, maybe the AI was specifically stupid and confused about how to handle my units on his front line.  Why wouldn't Marr just kill my speeders and steamroll over me?  Well, to be honest now I don't really care, because the question is academic for this game.  If some other game arises, I'll be doing things differently.  Somehow.

I wanted to believe "you can have a war without probe teams, if you're quick enough" and that just isn't true.  I think it is very tedious to always have to play "the restricted" Zhakarov, who's got to get The Virtual World settled before doing much else.  I've done that in countless numbers of games.  I wanted to play like Santiago and it doesn't work.  Or arguably I did play like Santiago... with no productivity.

I changed the title of this !####$# game.

[bvanevery]

EPILOGUE:

I lost this game.  That is unusual, but on rare occasions it can happen.  I was lulled into a false sense of security, thinking Marr's lack of response meant he was weak.  He wasn't.  Especially, he had probe teams and I didn't.  I could have scouted more to learn his true strength.  I could have waited for probe teams before going on the offensive, in which case I probably would have done fine.  But I got tired of waiting, and that was my undoing.  Let that be a lesson to you all.  Either wait... or restart, like I did!