Mind Controlling Worms - SMACX AI Growth mod version 1.37

[bvanevery]

Details finally captured an Isle

finally captured an Isle

MY 2219.  This has taken forever.  I've played games where I've had a vast fleet of Isles by now.  I'm complaining to the PLANET friendliness authorities!

[bvanevery]

Details no need for theft

no need for theft

MY 2220.  Unfortunately I think I may have just researched this on my own, instead of being able to steal it.  I don't get another tech for 33 years, because I haven't built squat for research infrastructure.  No need so far.

Details coordinated shelling

coordinated shelling

Pirates suddenly and simultaneously show up in force in different locations.  They sink my 1 Transport that I was supplying my beachhead with.  It has enough to defend itself for awhile, but that's the end of offensive operations down there.  I will need my land rail more than I expected.  I sink the southernmost interloper with a reserve X ship, but the northern 2 will probably get a number of potshots on my shore before I can intervene.  Heavy Artillery doesn't come until C4 Nonlinear Mathematics and I don't think anyone knows it yet.  I suppose I do know how to make Spore Launchers.

[bvanevery]

Details it slips by

it slips by

MY 2221.  They have been working on it for awhile.  It wasn't my highest priority and I was short on cash to rush it anyways.

Details more valuable to me

more valuable to me

A choice between the HSA and the PEG is pretty typical in my mod, because they both cost 500 minerals.  At this point in the game, that's not easy to come up with.  The AI factions tend to build whatever I don't.

Details better for conquest

better for conquest

This is what I rushed last year.  It took almost all of my cash and my last Artifact.  It'll make it really easy to do probe team incursions.  It also makes my Spore Launchers more able to hold up to shore bombardments as a home defense.

[bvanevery]

Details well supported spam

well supported spam

MY 2222.  I'm being overrun.  I'm actually surprised that the AI is fighting ok, even though this is my mod.  I guess I can't take the production disparity between us for granted.  It's an advantage they have that I don't.  Still, many of my cities have built Tree Farms, so my output is going to get better.  I'm finding though, that I definitely didn't have the productivity to quickly rush Chemical Death on much of anyone.  Nerve Gas Pods themselves aren't a free lunch.  They change the cost of a Recon Rover from 20 to 30.

Maybe Planet isn't mad because I just didn't do that well.  Maybe I got killed more than I gassed.

[bvanevery]

Details the new supply line

the new supply line

MY 2223.  I've completed a rail network connecting all of my cities.  It's probably best not to drive this towards the Morganites, but rather to use my Xenoempathy Dome ability to skirmish across the fungus on their frontier.  I also need to produce more plain Recon Rovers to screen my more deadly chemical units.  A really major change in warfare is going to occur once I get Doctrine: Air Power.  I'm in the perfect position to make air attacks on Morgan, with a moat to keep him from getting at me.  The main problem will be the expense of Needlejets.  In my mod they're not cheap, and adding chemical weapons will make them more expensive still.

My beachhead is doing poorly against Morgan militarily, but I sure have destroyed a lot of infrastructure with my probe teams!  That may be a pattern to continue.  It fits well with my intent of completely destroying bases.

[bvanevery]

Details think Haliburton

think Haliburton

MY 2224.  The Morganites have gone Democratic Capitalist Power.  That would explain why fights have gotten more difficult with them.  Despite this, my Plasma Garrison and Mindworm managed to heal up and hold on.  I'm still running sabotage missions out of my beachhead, completely unimpeded.  They'll have to kill me to stop me!

Details a tooth pull to get here

a tooth pull to get here

A number of years ago, I figured the University had gotten closer to my border, so I set out to infiltrate them.  My probe team got sent back by an armored Rover that happened to be milling about unexpectedly.  Then they threatened to complete the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.  Surprisingly, they didn't.  I don't know what happened, but now I've got infiltration.  That's better than being blind over the long term.

Details infinite sanction

infinite sanction

Ok for fun I checked how many years of Sanctions have been imposed upon me.  That's way longer than the Longevity Vaccine is going to keep me alive!  There must be no upper limit to it.  I wonder if I can get the number high enough to cause bugs?  I'm definitely living up to the ideal of a regressive, barbaric society with no respect for human rights.  The University is like 10 techs ahead of me.  I'm doing fine compared to the Morganites though.

[bvanevery]

Details not my greatest city

not my greatest city

MY 2228.  The Morganites liberate what's left of their city.  Perhaps I should have built Plasma units instead of a Children's Creche.  The bias of thinking you're superior can be hard to overcome.  The reality is that X Recon Rovers are easily killed by plain Recon Rovers, and they're 50% more expensive to build.

Details I want the money

I want the money

The University finally finished the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.   Unfortunately now everyone wants to build the Planetary Energy Grid, same as me.  I'm not really making any money from exploration anymore.  My economy isn't that strong, only 18 credits / year.

[bvanevery]

Details I love you Aki

I love you Aki

MY 2229.  My ally tells me to get lost.  I wonder if everyone declaring war on me, is a prelude to Planet doing so?  Or do I have to see some fungal pops?  What is the causality?

Details removing the Sensor Array

removing the Sensor Array

My plain Recon Rover has an important job to do: getting rid of the Sensor Array that provides extra defense to the base.  While writing this up, I actually forget to destroy it.  One of my X Recon Rovers has to take out a Rover and a Former that are blocking the approach to the base.  The other could attack the base, but the odds are reported 8 to 9 in their favor, so I back off.

MY 2230.  I destroy the base.  I can really only engage in hit-and-run tactics against weak targets with these X Recon Rovers though.  I don't have enough of them to take out larger bases, and I'm lacking probe team support to take out Perimeter Defenses.

[bvanevery]

Details struggling to get to target

struggling to get to target

MY 2234.  I have plenty of units to liquefy Morgan Biochemical, but all these neutral University units are marching around in front of me for some reason.  Perhaps they want to get to the Monolith?  It's annoying.  Fighting the University isn't very worthwhile either as they have the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.  Since I have enough units for my objective, I've started building Network Nodes in my home cities.  This is not so much to catch up on tech, as to avoid a network overload.  And who knows, it might get me something sometime.

[bvanevery]

Details doesn't really matter

doesn't really matter

MY 2236.  We enter a solar flare.  In a previous game, this became a great excuse to get started on chemical attacks without penalty.  But I am long since past that.  I am also guessing a solar flair wouldn't hide a nuke going off?  Geez I would hope not, they're so big it would defy common sense.

Details unpleasant enemy

unpleasant enemy

MY 2237.  I restrict Zhakarov's units in the fungus, trying to force a path to the Morganites.  Zhakarov reacts by attacking me.  I had a feeling that might happen, but I didn't do anything to prevent it.  I opened up on him with the chemicals, because my units aren't tough enough to prevail otherwise.  Even still I lost half of them.  Offensives in this game are starting to really annoy me.  I've only managed to nip at the Morganites and curtail their expansion.  I haven't done them any serious damage to put them out of commission.  And now I'm facing off with a 2nd power in the region, who has superior tech and is unaffected by my probe teams.  If he nukes me, well, I guess it will have been all about elbows thrown in the fungus just to move around.  That's a pretty stupid thing to lose a game for.

[bvanevery]

Details my priority

my priority

MY 2239.  I complete the Planetary Energy Grid.  It takes all my cash and my last Artifact.  I don't think I'll be able to manage another Secret Project for awhile.  I could start on the Maritime Control Center somewhere, but I don't think I'll actually get that one.  It would turn into something else.

At least the University is fighting the Morganites.  What a waste.  Another problem is every time I try to deploy my own troops that way, wild mindworms pop up.  You'd think with +2 PLANET I'd capture more of them, but nope!  Typically I just get torn up.

I'll go trash a couple of small cities east of me, that the University never should have bothered to settle.  I think they mostly occupy the Monsoon Jungle, but I have no map of it.  I can see its western edge of settlement.

[bvanevery]

Details repetitive

repetitive

MY 2245.  I wiped out the 2 isolated University cities without problem.  That left me with feelings of "what now?"  I thought perhaps I'd encroach west along the Morganite coast, so that they can keep sending troops at the University without interference.  However as I advance, I realize I'm going after ground I can't really hold.  I've destroyed the city at Morgan Trade Center twice already.  I've captured Morgan Pharmaceuticals once.  This is a bad adventure.  I'm also missing the support of plain Recon Rovers and probe teams to take out fortifications.  I think I'm probably better off wearing out incidental targets at the Morganite / University border.

[bvanevery]

Details the bigger gun

the bigger gun

MY 2248.  It sure has taken a long time to get this!  Maybe it's better to just do one's own research earlier in the game.  I can't say that all my chemical attacks have amounted to anything decisive.

[bvanevery]

Details talk to me

talk to me

MY 2251.  The solar flare is over.  I met the Gaians at sea and they didn't declare war on me, so I guess Infamy isn't everything.  I've had like 1 fungal pop, a fair number of turns ago.

Details coastal terror

coastal terror

I stole C5 Superconductor from the Morganites.  Marine attacks with bigger guns are probably the key to breaking Morgan's back.  The sea hasn't been contested much, perhaps because the Pirates, the Morganites, and the University are all at war with each other.  The Pirates did complete the Maritime Control Center.  I couldn't afford to go for it.  I'm pretty happy with what the Xenoempathy Dome has been buying me on land, and the money from the Planetary Energy Grid is handy.

It's 1 AM and I'm going to bed.

[bvanevery]

Details first attack with X Gatling Marine

first attack with X Gatling Marine

Details jumping on the bandwagon

jumping on the bandwagon

MY 2255.  The moment I actually use my new terror weapon, 2 factions declare war on me.  Is it coincidence?  Or does the perception of atrocity depend on the strength of the weapon?  Maybe I've been flying under the radar all this time because I was only using X Recon Rovers.  If so, that's a good trick!  It would explain the lack of fungal pops.  Well, now I'll be watching for Planet's anger.  No question that these weapons work better than the old stuff, so I am going to keep using them.  But, I'm going to stop manufacturing new ones, because this could be my undoing.