The Tlaxcalan Hegemony - SMACX AI Growth mod version 1.46

[bvanevery]

Details blockages

blockages

MY 2312.  If I ever get around to making more units, they'll be tougher.  It'll be awhile before I have any cash to upgrade anything, with these 3 very expensive Secret Projects I'm working on.  Perhaps I should cut my research budget, as I definitely don't need any more right now.  I need the money!  Since I'm so just, I shift my budget to 60-30-10 and suffer no penalty.  This doubles my income to 1411 credits/year.

Details maintenance access

maintenance access

I start digging a canal to the other side of my isthmus.  The Cyborgs will probably exterminate the Cultists shortly, and I might want to invade by sea at some point too.  I could go the long way around, but it will take a lot more time, and the Believers might shoot a number of my Cruiser Formers as they pass.

[bvanevery]

Details always a pleasure to meet you

always a pleasure to meet you

MY 2312.  All she actually had to say is what a wretched Democrat I am, before she blew up my Cruiser Former.  That had taken that base a rather long time to build.  I suppose I should send the new Probability armored version up there.  I've only got 1 of those though, made as a prototype to finish the armor.  And it's on the wrong side of the world right now.

Details air hostility

air hostility

We're having an air war near New Eden.  I've given better than I've gotten, killing 2 of her planes to my 1.  But I'm not replacing my Interceptors and suspect that she'll wear me down with spam soon enough.  Nevertheless, stacking a city with a lot of Interceptors is an effective defense for Formers on the ground.  If you have enough Formers and can complete your jobs quickly enough, you could just move on to the next city and do the same thing with your Former and Interceptor fleet.  It's definitely less mouse pushing hassle than putting AAA units all over the ground to defend the Formers.  I've never used this technique before this game.  It arose from having spare Interceptors and figuring hey, let's mass 'em near the enemy!  This tends to draw out the enemy's air corps, and I'm giving better than I get.  Historically I've avoided Interceptor strategies because there was a pretty amazing bug for a long time, where getting your Interceptor triggered would crash the game.  But it all seems to be stable on Windows 10 nowadays, so I can do this sort of thing now.

Details depth of cut

depth of cut

Sadly I must sacrifice 3 squares of perfectly good Soil Enriched farmland to make this canal.  There's no other way.  That probe foil better not try to block up my channel when I'm done either.  It's a Cultist unit so it should be dead soon anyways.

[bvanevery]

Details big bridge coming

big bridge coming

MY 2313.  I complete my Tectonic Quantum Missile prototype.  Where can I make the most trouble between the Cyborgs and the Believers?  Or are they going to keep up this charade of being such eternal close friends?  Missiles in my mod stay aloft a very long time and can hit anything on even a Giant map, but it does take time to get there.  This turn, I can only hit the point of land just southwest of Godwinson's Hope.  I believe hitting just south of that base, would landlock both the Cyborg base Gamma Flats and the Believer base Consecrated Waters.  On the other hand, it would also create direct rail access straight to Morgan Chickenscratch.  That's not actually what I had in mind.  I want Miriam to go fight the Cyborgs, not me.  So I will grudgingly wait until next turn to fire this thing off at closer range.

Details get out of my way

get out of my way

Did that foil probe know a canal was just about to open up?  Does the AI have some internal map?  That unit hasn't moved in forever, far as I remember, and now it's just miraculously in the way.  Well fine, next year you'd better be outta there.  Or I'll cry.

[bvanevery]

Details resource intensive

resource intensive

MY 2314.  Last year I decided to finish the Manifold Harmonics first.  Fungus is now valuable!  Pity I spent the whole game preparing to go Capitalist by stripping fungus away from my cities.  I didn't really expect to reach the Manifold Harmonics in a timeframe where it would be useful.  Now I see that I didn't have much long term vision in that regard.  Golden Ages don't work either, people have too many drones for it.  I'm only going to get pop booming by finishing the Cloning Vats.

Details may they come to blows

may they come to blows

After contemplating all sorts of trajectories and rebound angles, I calculate the one spot that seems like it will do maximum political harm, while shielding me from the general movement of Miriam's forces.  I could create an inland sea out of them.  However I don't want global warming or flooding, as that's contrary to my landlocking agenda.  In fact launching a Solar Shade might be a decent idea, but I don't like how it tends to destabilize stuff I've already built.  I'll just hope their alliance wears thin.

This is weird.  I keep thinking my year counter is off.  I go back and edit my screenshots according to what seems correct, and things don't end up being in synch.  Looking at the autosave files, which I thought I had hacked to save every 10 years forever, I'm not sure I've got the files I would expect either.  I need to monitor this.  Right now I'm definitely in MY 2314 though.  Hitting TURN COMPLETE.

Hm, I guess I really did start playing this AAR on August 20th.  This game has gone on a lot longer than I realized.  I guess there's no problem with the "save every 10 turns forever" mechanism.  I just need to watch the turn counter and see if there's some irregularity.  The other possibility is I just get distracted by something when typing things up, and lose track of whether I've actually entered a new year.

[bvanevery]

Details three in a row for destruction

three in a row for destruction

MY 2315.  I get the bug where someone tries to contact you 3 times in a row, can't talk to you, and then declares war on you.  It can be a bit difficult to escape.  Best chance is to take a city and make sure there are no units anywhere next to your conquering unit, so that you don't have to talk immediately upon taking the city.  Otherwise you'll just get the 3 times in a row bug all over again.

Details active restraint system

active restraint system

Some of my cities are finishing their Flechette Defense Systems.  It's time to upgrade my defense.  Fiddling with unit designs, I see that for a Quantum unit, a Speeder doesn't cost anything extra over an Infantry chassis.  However in my mod you can't have ECM on a Speeder.  Usually I combine AAA and ECM for defense.  Since I can't do that, and having free wheels seems marginally kewl, I make this a Cloaked unit.  I thought about giving it Air Superiority but I don't know that a strength 1 handgun is going to be that good against enemy planes.

Details circling the Trojans

circling the Trojans

I eliminate all of Roze's units in the field that I can find.  She doesn't take Truces seriously, so I'd like her to have the minimum amount of offensive capability.  I take her city without triggering the bug again.  I summon her using 2 Campbell's soup cans, and she makes a most remarkable claim.

Details sure you do

sure you do

I'm sorry dear, but in my mod, having a blueprint and having a completed prototype are quite different things.  Huh, but I'll be darned, she really does have one.  Well she does sign my Truce.  If she backstabs me next year, her Planet Buster is going bye-bye.  Pity it would be so expensive to capture the city it's in.

[bvanevery]

Details I dread this robot

I dread this robot

MY 2316.  I hate these conversations.  She declares war.  But, good news: a message goes by that Miriam has declared war on her!  My plan worked.

Details mindworm awesome

mindworm awesome

There's all kinds of damage I could be doing to everyone with Locusts, that I'm not doing.

Details loop de loop

loop de loop

Domai is blocking up my rail, so I finish a loop to the west, to have a way of going around him.  I didn't really want to link with that Datatech city, but it was the cheapest way to get the job done.

Details pathetic

pathetic

I haven't made new offensive weapons in quite some time, but the Cyborgs' armor is old and is easily blown to bits.  My object lesson is enough to get a Truce.  I also get her to make peace with the Drones.  As usual I can't chime in about the Cult of Planet because of my lack of a diplomatic relation with them.

I could go conquer a Believer city to get them to beg off, but by deliberate stratagem, I have no rail link with them.  Nor have I had time to build ships.  I'm still busy trying to build old Secret Projects and garrison my cities with modern AAA units.  I've been completely gunshy about building bigger factories because I don't like my land ending up underwater.  Even with the Pholus Mutagen completed I feel it's a risk.  It just has a way of becoming a pain.

Perhaps I should have tried to contact the Believers while I was still at war with the Cyborgs.  I'll try now anyways.  Well, so much for that.  They're ignoring me.

Details but Cha Dawn has been foolish

but Cha Dawn has been foolish

With 1 city left, I finally get Cha Dawn to sign a Treaty.  I can't get him to stop his wars.  He says I have to talk to the others.  I get Domai to beg off; they sign a Treaty.  Aki Zeta-5, I already finished talking to this year.  If she wipes out Dawn of Planet next year, then that'll be that.

Details master of the pickett

master of the pickett

To prevent that from happening, I interpose a single Scout.  Cha Dawn may tell me to get lost 2 years from now, but for right now, it'll stop any ground attacks next year.  He could in principle be attacked by air or sea, such as with Marines or Drop troops.  But I doubt it'll happen.  The Cyborgs are mostly interested in shelling the city with a few feeble Spore Launchers.  I think I wiped out all their ground troops in the region.  The ones they have left in the cities they took over, are still pretty beaten up.  Plus they've got the Believers to go fight.

Details back to business

back to business

I will have enough money next year to complete the Cloning Vats.  With the Cyborg Factory and Quantum reactors, I don't need a lot of expertise for my new AAA garrisons.  Frankly, even the old ones have never been attacked.  I change back to Wealth and adjust my budget to avoid penalties.  Now I can freely move 1 military unit per city out of my territory.  I'm gonna send all my Isles to mess with the Believers.

It's funny, I just realized for the longest time, I've been playing as though I have 0 SUPPORT.  Really my faction has +1.  Sometime during the AAA ECM Silksteel Garrison era, I plumb forgot!

[bvanevery]

Details northern drama

northern drama

MY 2318.  Boy the Believers really have it in for the Cyborgs!  I presume this was a probe team action.  Wonder if they'll hold it?  In my mod the Believers are immune to mind control, so the Cyborgs won't be mind controlling it back.  I find that over time, the Believers do tend to hold their ground and advance, because they can't be subverted.

Details I grow a foot longer

I grow a foot longer

I'm seeing a Diplomatic Victory in my near future.  It's a bit leveling to realize I've been playing this game since August 20th.  I don't consider it to be one of my better games.  The vacuolization idea is nice, but, impractical.  Completely victimizing a faction and leaving them only 1 city, completely surrounded, would make a lot more sense.  Even then, taking the time to surround a city rather than outright conquering it, is an odd aesthetic.  Then again I guess the Aztecs were odd.

Details kicking them to the curb

kicking them to the curb

With the completion of the Cloning Vats, Power no longer has any disadvantage.  I'd say it's an overpowered Secret Project, except for the fact that I clearly would have won this game by conventional means long before now.  I've at least made it a late, expensive project.  I'm just that good!

I keep forgetting to talk to Cha Dawn again.  Deirdre is attacking him again.  I really don't feel like bothering to straighten this out between them.  The game is almost over anyways.  It can't be that much longer before I have the votes to win.

[bvanevery]

Details quantum space cadet

quantum space cadet

MY 2319.  I thought I was building quantum versions of these things all along.  How did I manage to not do that?  Sometimes I think these mistakes are because these AARs get so long.  I get interrupted by real life, or the need to sleep.  Probably when I put games down and pick them back up again, this is how these things happen.

Details a proper design

a proper design

Look how much faster and better armed I was able to make the things with a proper quantum reactor on them.  No cloak because having 2 abilities doesn't come for free in this configuration.

Details guy... guy... guy... die!

guy... guy... guy... die!

3 times bug again.  That's the other thing about my style this game.  I never actually pacify anyone.  X turns later, someone's getting uppity again.  Or my ally the Gaians starts attacking someone again, freely moving through my territory.

Details sucking up to the Angels

sucking up to the Angels

I don't need GROWTH, nor do I need my PLANET rating stellar high for combat.  Thought Control has no downsides anymore, and it's definitely in-character for Morgan, if he's not money grubbing too hard.  Hm, why does my income say 3991 credits/turn ?  That seems improbably high compared to previous norms.  Have the Cloning Vats been responsible for that much increase in wealth so quickly?  At that kind of rate, even Economic Victory is a possibility.  Although, the current price on that with my choices is 112k credits.  That's 28 turns assuming no change, and I think I'll have Diplomatic Victory a lot sooner than that.  Upon further investigation, we're having a solar flare and it won't last.

The Data Angels won't even talk to me.  So for now, the sucking up idea is for naught.

Details pacifism sucks

pacifism sucks

A quick slam into a Believer sea base earns me no credit with Miriam at all.  The war continues.

Details paving over the enemy

paving over the enemy

I kill all of Domai's units in the field, to deter him from surprise attacking me once we've got a Truce again.  Also because many of my ancient units aren't strong enough to penetrate a base with Probability defenders, but they can kill the stuff Domai's had milling around in the open.  Mindworms are needed to take out a base, and I've never built new ones.  I actually take a couple of losses, but Craftsman Keep falls readily enough.  Domai accepts his weakness, and I get him to make peace with the Data Angels as well.

Details spending spree

spending spree

MY 2320.  With the massive number of credits gained from the solar flare, I rush all kinds of stuff.  Mature bases are either working on valuable sea stuff or AAA garrison units if they're landlocked.

I think this entry was another one of those got interrupted by real life, lost track of the year sorts of things.

[bvanevery]

Details useless space rocks

useless space rocks

MY 2321.  Hard to get excited about this one, as my SUPPORT was already +3 from social engineering choices.  Now it's +5, which confers no additional benefit.  Game mechanically, it would be logical for this Secret Project to come earlier in the game.  However its video is of asteroid colonization.  Narratively, I just can't abide having it come before orbital construction facilities are available.

This is reminding me that minerals from a Nessus Mining Station are 'clean'.  They don't do eco-damage.  That feels to me like a cheat or exploit though.

Details not feeling sentimental

not feeling sentimental

I want to dig a canal to The Jeneba Complex so that I can improve the sea squares of the 2 bases up there.  I start using excess land Formers to lower the land south of it, while my Sea Formers dig the canal.  I tried to dig at the Energy special, but bizarrely, the game told me that would mess up Gaian territory.  That doesn't make any sense as they don't own that water, it's international.  Nor do they own the coastal land, it's mine.  Well whatever.  That entire coast, gave me the same error message.  So I had to dig on the other side of the peninsula, and part of the Unity wreckage was a casualty that.  Guess any school field trips are gonna need scuba gear!

Details senesless precaution

senesless precaution

I really don't like the AI throwing Conventional Missiles at my bases.  I'm going to extraordinary lengths to prevent it from ever happening again.  In reality they've only done it twice, to some distant sea bases I conquered, to take out a couple of Isles.  My approach is like spending trillions of dollars to prevent 2 million dollars of damage.  But hey, isn't this whole game about being silly?  I've blown almost all my money this year on this stuff.

[bvanevery]

Details attachment

attachment

MY 2323.  The Believer air force has been rather quiet as of late.  I think if there's anything left, it's busy with the Cyborgs.  I've completed all my terraforming elsewhere, so now I'm attaching these far flung conquests to my empire.  I'm going to take over the land by raising the sea bases onto it.

[bvanevery]

Details claimancy

claimancy

MY 2324.  I assert myself on the land, and I take another Believer sea base.  They're still riled up and won't let it go.  I will end up with the whole subcontinent at this rate.

Details Suez who

Suez who

The Unity-Jeneba Canal is open for business!

[bvanevery]

Details paddywagon

paddywagon

MY 2325.  I'm starting to have extra cash again as my Hab Domes complete.  For a modest cost, I correct the mistake I made earlier with making a Fusion unit design.

I take another Believer base and they still want to fight.

[bvanevery]

Details high end real estate

high end real estate

MY 2326.  I'm rich enough to pay this exorbitant price for raising land in enemy territory, but I still don't like it.  It's important for my takeover of the subcontinent though.  I want to lessen Deidre's ownership of the land.  Once raised, I trash Miriam and she still wants to fight.

Almost 5 AM.  Is this game worth it?

[bvanevery]

Details to take a sea base

to take a sea base

MY 2327.  Miriam drops a Conventional Missile on top of one of my Isles.  That will limit how much I can take over by water.  I also don't like paying a lot of money to raise an enemy base onto land.  It's more cost effective to take over the base first, then raise the land.  Miriam shows no likeliness of being easily cowed, considering how many bases she has and how peripheral the ones I've taken over are.  I expect to be doing a lot of coastal invasion before ever getting to her mainland.  Consequently, it's more economically practical to use my new, greatest weapons, instead of the old ones for this job.  I'm also incurring gradual attrition with the old weapons.  They do work well against weak foes in the field, but I tend to lose a number of them when throwing them at walled bases.

Details coastal enforcement

coastal enforcement

These are gonna be great for blasting coastal defenders to smithereens.  They come off my assembly lines as Elite units.  They're cheap!  This is not because of unarmored units being cheap, that's a thing of the past.  Weapons are exorbitant in my mod and there's no bargain loophole for being unarmored.  Rather, this is cheap because I've got a "Fusion class" weapon mounted on a Quantum reactor core.  With this kind of platform, I'm supposed to be using a Plasma Shard.  I don't have that, or need it, because I'm way ahead in tech.  Most of it non-military tech, but way ahead.

I mean, if I really wanted this game over, it should be over.  There are all kinds of ways I could win now.  I will keep up the vacuolizing stuff, but let's face it, Miriam's Planet Buster capability is a nominal threat.  I think if I were going to play this style of game over again, I'd focus less on the happiness of my own citizens.  That just causes them to grow, which tends to become its own end.  Leading to Diplomatic Victory, because let's face it, I've got massive votes.  Why should I keep playing when I've actually won?  Whatever excuse is devised for that, it resembles sandboxing.  And more to the point, why should I keep playing when I've been at this since August 20th?  That was 2 weeks ago.

Details double the damage

double the damage

A hovertank configuration costs more to build, but a speeder does not.  I won't want to use only speeders because the defenders may have 3-Pulse armor and ECM.  However when I can use speeders, I'll be able to do more damage more quickly, or the same damage with less of a rail completed first.

Details safety in space

safety in space

Nobody's launched a satellite yet, let alone an Orbital Defense Pod.  I think I am first with these capabilities.  I will build a few, since there are some Planet Busters floating around Planet.  I still haven't even bothered to figure out how to make a Planet Buster, because why would I use one?  It can only ruin what I've spent time building.  I could have committed innumerable atrocities by now if I'd wanted to.  Miriam had them legal for years!

I decide I'd rather have ODPs than any new offensive toys.  I change my production orders and start building 8 of them.  With the Space Elevator they'll all be done in 2 years.  The reality is I can raise bases out of the water first, if I really feel I have to, because I am rich.  I've got 4374 credits as I write this, and I'm making 2047 credits / year.  You could say that earlier, I was whining.  "247 credits??  For crying out loud...."

Details ship with soap bubbles

ship with soap bubbles

There sure is a lot of funny residue on the bottoms of these ships!  Maybe they're toilet scrubbing bubbles.  Sailing halfway around the world to improve my conquered waters is old fashioned.  I'm gonna jump through the stratosphere.  I upgrade 13 of my ships for the low low price of 910 credits.  None of them started in a city so none of them can drop this turn though.  I move half of them into a base for use next year.  I spend some more money to upgrade some slightly different designs as well.  I have 3134 credits when I'm done, so this was about a 1200 credit refurbishment.

Details working the conquered land

working the conquered land

Not a lot of military action this year.  I fried a couple of defending artillery pieces with my spore launchers.  I don't think Miriam is capable of air combat in the region.  I've focused this year on using my Formers with perfect efficiency, given they are a mixed fleet of normal and Super Former designs.  Next year I'll raise at least one of those cities and take it with old troops.

[bvanevery]

Details I complained too much

I complained too much

MY 2328.  My next victim costs a pittance to raise out of the water.  It is only defended by a battleship.  Those unfortunately have rather impressive resistance to land attacks in my mod, because I removed the "ship in port" defense penalty.  It was affecting ships in sea bases and that makes no sense at all, especially if you're the Pirates.  So fixing sea base problems, makes land ship defenders awfully tough.  In fact, my new drop ships are something like ideal land defenders if I wanted to exploit them like that.  I'll refrain.

Details the human tragedy

the human tragedy

I don't feel like fooling around with it.  The battleship is just 1 unit lacking any particular psi defense, so I blow it up with a Demon Boil.  Miriam slightly surprises me by signing a Truce, ending my rampage.  Looks like I don't need those new Marine units after all.  I'll switch this turn's production yet again.  I get her to knock it off with Deirdre, but she's at war with everyone else.

Details get off my land you warmongering SOBs!

get off my land you warmongering SOBs!

This shall be the One True Unit from now on.  I'm really tired of other factions milling around my land.  Maybe I'll finally start making some Treaty threats, now that I don't have a real enemy to go conquer.  Like how long until Domai caves in?  I make the diplomatic rounds and actually talk to him.  I get him to knock it off with Deirdre.  I tell Deirdre to knock it off with the Cult of Planet.  Cha Dawn says others have to cease and desist, and he foolishly ignores my generous offer of an alliance.

Vote check: Believers 247 +  Cyborgs 183 + Drones 94 + Angels 70 = 594.  I have 1630 votes.  I think I can count on Deirdre, and I don't think Cha Dawn is significant.  I suppose whatever I am doing, I don't need any big plan.  This should be over soon, if not the way I originally had in mind.  I sure would need to do something different about all this milling around.  Maybe lots and lots of Clean Synth Garrisons instead of whatever else I thought was important to build?  But if you don't get the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, how would you keep anyone in check?

3:30 AM.  Another feeling of bleh.