The Tree Hugger - SMACX AI Growth mod version 1.52

[bvanevery]

Details what wondrous works

what wondrous works

MY 2297.  Is this better than we would have researched anyways?

Details deathmongers

deathmongers

Well it's an interesting technology of conquest, that we would not usually expect to learn from our planetary and pure science research efforts.  At present its use would also be highly illegal.  We're not interested in legalizing its use as this kind of population control is rather severe.  Nobody pollutes the planet enough to be worthy of genocide.

[This is a bug, from changes made in version 1.51.  This tech used to give Thought Control, which does have an Explore benefit due to +++POLICE.  Now it doesn't, and should be a pure Conquer tech.  Changing my mod accordingly.]

[bvanevery]

Details air supply

air supply

Wiping out a Free Drone sea base heals our Locust.  Ordinarily this would be a good time to ask Domai for a Truce, but we are still in sunspots.

Details dogfight

dogfight

A battle with Aki's marauding needlejet might be close, but our instincts tell us to engage.

Details don't ever tell me the odds

don't ever tell me the odds

Whatever beancounter performs the force estimates, is completely and utterly wrong.  We absolutely fry the hapless cyborg craft, taking only 10% damage in return.  It helped that our enemy was flying over fungus at the time.  We think though, that the beancounters simply don't know what they're talking about, when it comes to estimating the outcomes of psi combat.

[Well known bug in the stock binary.  Need to check on whether Scient's patch fixes this.  The Will To Power mod reworked the combat odds, but I don't know if it fixes incorrect psi combat or not.]

Details magical reappearance

magical reappearance

And there is our Former again, that mysteriously seemed to vanish last year.  Perhaps sharing our location with the Cult, was responsible for it.  Did they perform woo?

[bvanevery]

Details Morgan evicted

Morgan evicted

With the destruction of Morgan's last homeland base, our anti-capitalist campaign is complete.

Details capitalist tri-cities

capitalist tri-cities

Morgan still has an enclave at the south pole.  How he managed to get there, and why these cities have survived so long, is a mystery.  He's very much at war with the cyborgs, who seemingly could take them at a whim, if only they had such a whim.  Morgan is oddly allied with the anti-capitalist Domai, but the latter has provided no meaningful material support.  Even the nearby Caretakers want Morgan's head.  These cities shall remain a museum curiosity, until such a time as we're ready to accept Morgan's formal surrender.

[bvanevery]

Details science coup

science coup

MY 2298.  The Network Backbone was not terribly well defended, at least not from mindworms.

Details advance

advance

The rail to Alpha Prime is open, but the city is backed by a Sensor Array on top of Mount Planet.  Presently we cannot access it.  It is also best to have fully healed mindworms for the assault.  We've swept the fungus on the western flank clean of enemies.  Their most dangerous units tend to be artillery pieces, which tend to destroy our own.  All of ours are donated by Cha Dawn.  They accomplish only limited objectives, such as wounding speeders and mindworms and blowing up Sensor Arrays.

Details societal temptation

societal temptation

With the Network Backbone, we can embrace a machine culture without doing any harm to Planet.  It will irritate Cha Dawn, but we are still in sunspots and he can't do anything about it right now.  The increase in our Economy boosts our income by nearly a factor of 4.

Details distant empire

distant empire

We don't need nearly so much money, but we could use additional happiness, in our conquered Morganic territories.

Details joy

joy

Our economic adjustment has the elegance of making bricks fly.  But truthfully, our cash reserve is large, and continually bolstered by conquest.  We mainly need antiaircraft units to garrison our cities, and soon, Marines to clear our coasts.

[bvanevery]

Details air control

air control

MY 2299.  We use our plane to escort a ground unit to the Sensor Array atop Mount Planet, and destroy it.

[bvanevery]

Details now we speak

now we speak

MY 2300.  We're not ready for the cyborgs to capitulate, as we have a number of additional secret project cities to take from them.  A surprising number of them are sea bases.  We've realized that our sealurks are probably the easiest way to clean out the oceans, but we have to build them.

Details Morgan the pill

Morgan the pill

How can a man so beaten be so defiant?

Details a reasonable socialist

a reasonable socialist

To be honest I've completely forgotten about the front with Domai.  Nothing has happened in the vicinity of our 1 city in quite some time.

Details they are freaks

they are freaks

The Caretakers will respond to eventual violence.  They are fighting everyone.

Details the throes of death

the throes of death

The Usurpers have had this 1 city for quite some time.  They are continually shelled by the Cult, who can't seem to manage to conquer it.  Only now are we bringing up a surplus of R-Laser speeders to do them in.  Will they surrender?

Details complete insanity

complete insanity

Extermination it is.

[bvanevery]

Details we have the votes

we have the votes

This time, it would have been difficult for anyone to oppose us.

[bvanevery]

Details Alpha Prime falls

Alpha Prime falls

MY 2301.  We're rich!

Details payday

payday

They're never getting the Planetary Energy Grid back, so we pocket the money from all the Energy Banks we don't need anymore.

Details drown

drown

We've kicked the cyborgs off the land, losing our needlejet in the process.  Let's face it, its armament was not powerful.  We still need to take 4 secret project sea bases from them.  That will take some time as we don't have a navy, an air force, or any marines.

[bvanevery]

Details linkage

linkage

We've completed our land bridge to Domai's western border.  Soon we will have a rail through it as well.  Cha Dawn is still at war with Domai, so perhaps he will harass while we're still in a state of Truce.  It would be easiest to sweep through Domai just to get to the Caretakers.

Details long western link

long western link

Alternately we could build a new rail from our western border directly to the Caretakers.  If we eliminated them, we could probably convince the other humans to accept our eternal rule.

[bvanevery]

Details the key to control

the key to control

MY 2302.  The Empath Guild will easily elevate me to the unchallengeable status of Supreme Leader.  If only the Caretakers all die.

Details Locust clearing

Locust clearing

We realize we do actually have a few Marine units, bequeathed to us by Cha Dawn long ago.  They merely do not have powerful armaments.  They are perfectly adequate for garrisoning, if other means of taking a coastal base are available.

[bvanevery]

Details huh

huh

MY 2303.  This cannot possibly do the Free Drones any good.  Domai seems to lack the capacity to estimate how close he is to being invaded and utterly wiped out.  He's timed this right as my land forces have nothing better to do, indicating his military intelligence is exceedingly poor.  And his big victory was over what, a former?  It doesn't even count as military activity, it's pure spiteful provocation.  Well if that's what he wishes his reputation to be, we can't argue it.  We can only force its utter surrender.

Details backup

backup

Cha Dawn intervened with small mindworms and utterly destroyed the offending Free Drone unit.  We searched for any more lurking in the bush and found nothing.  Maybe we should empty these cities of defenders and leave them all as walk-ins for the Cult.  We really don't need to administer a larger empire at this point.  It just makes people unhappy.

Details vector

vector

The rail to our easternmost outpost is complete.  It might be prudent to bypass the bulk of Domai's dominion, instead raising Deep Platform Nine and sealing him in a landlock.  Then down the coast to exterminate the Caretakers.

[bvanevery]

Details the last alien stinkhole

the last alien stinkhole

And so end the Usurpers.  It's been a long and leisurely time coming.  It accomplishes the strategic objective of refocusing the Cult.  I'm not sure why they never knocked this one base off.  They shelled it forever.

Details tell us only of your trees

tell us only of your trees

We don't actually go in for the theatrics of Punishment Spheres and so forth.  But we do enjoy burying the corpse of an adversary at the base of a really tall, beautiful tree.  Roots need nourishment!  Even if it's all alien goo.  Have I been hanging out with Cha Dawn too long?

[bvanevery]

Details peon Marines

peon Marines

MY 2304.  Cha Dawn's 'scraps' are making it easy to take coastal sea bases.  Our sealurks are beginning to command the waves.

[bvanevery]

Details pow zap

pow zap

MY 2305.  Our new air force begins shooting down cyborg planes.  We already have AAA units in nearly every base, so it's only the formers in the field that are generally vulnerable.  Aki's planes amount to no more than a nuisance.  When we have sufficient interceptors to take out her handful of marauders, we'll cease making them.  Then it's back to bombers.

[bvanevery]

Details leverage

leverage

MY 2306.  We raise Deep Platform Nine out of the water and to its summary takeover.  It was guarded by 1 entire Plasma unit.  We are now in direct rail contact with the Free Drone empire, and in particular, to their capitol Free Drone Central.

Details shore trees

shore trees

Our long ago captured sea base gains the use of land for the 1st time.  Ironically we had begun a Tree Farm just to keep people happy.

Details protectorate

protectorate

Domai actually got the idea to defend his base with at least 1 Hypnotic Trance unit, something that our other adversaries have very much neglected.  We desired to attack with conventional forces as an alternative, but the Perimeter Defense was daunting.  We thought of destroying it, but it's been hardened by repeated abuse.  We may have to sacrifice a mindworm to crack this nut.

Details fat roly poly worms

fat roly poly worms

We bring in the biggest one we can find.  The beancounters say it's an even match, and this time they're actually correct.  We die, but our opponent takes 80% wounds.  As that was the only Trance defender, proper slaughter may now begin.