Thinking about Pirates

[bvanevery]

Details lucky break

lucky break

MY 2147.  Well, now I have the basic tools to fight.  Just have to use them.

[bvanevery]

Details two fronts

two fronts

MY 2148.  The Spartans and Peacekeepers attack simultaneously.  Fortunately these attackers aren't well armed, so even a synth "ship in port" with penalties should be able to defend against them.

I'm realizing that geography has made me the unwitting shield of Morgan, and not the other way around.

[bvanevery]

Details summarily slaughtered

summarily slaughtered

MY 2150.  Wow.  My Synth Laser Foil didn't even stand up to a Scout.  That "ship in port" penalty is really bad.  I ditched it in my mod a long time ago, so I'm not used to ships being this awful.  It was never fair to the Pirates, who of course are going to be defending sea bases with ships.  Coastal bases, that's debatable, but I always thought the "ships are helpless" game mechanic is stupid.

The Spartan scout was probably Hardened and has now increased to Veteran.  It's got a Recon Rover coming right after it.  Most likely, this city is toast.  I wonder if I'll just restart the game.  It was obviously a mistake to settle here.  The land version of overextending myself, like I did the previous game going up Yang's coast.

Details outta here

outta here

Alright that's it, I'm done.  If my Scout can't even kill a 70% wounded Scout, then I had no business enacting this strategy.  I didn't have to get up onto the land, and now I'm seeing what a huge, huge mistake it was.  Bagging this game.

Can I get a game that doesn't have mostly the same factions in it?  Nice seeing how everyone performs by comparison, but I'm tired of hearing about Morgan.

[bvanevery]

Details better start

better start

New game.  I take the energy special right next to where I landed on Planet.  I see the Garland Crater and will put my 2nd base next to it.  I won't be able to benefit from it unless I crawl onto the land.  I can stop others from having a good time with it though, whether now or later.  I will do more scouting before making land commitments this time.

Details bunch of eggheads

bunch of eggheads

This game doesn't have much in the way of military aggressor factions.  Domai might be the only one who sorta counts, and he hasn't impressed me in previous games.  Lal has been a real jerk, but Yang stomped him in a previous game.  Even when Lal was pretty big, and Morgan was on Lal's flank.  It was a 3-way war.  Yang pretty much ate Lal alive, while Morgan managed to fend Yang off ok.  Then I got nuked.

Anyways, I think this game is going to be less about militancy, and more about coming up with a way to interfere with the piles of supply crawlers, condensers, and thermal boreholes that Thinker likes to put out.  I again wonder about which faction will be diagonally opposite me on the map, and therefore strongest / unassailable.

[bvanevery]

Details ain't broke

ain't broke

I think Build is a reasonably good opening policy, because the Pirates need Rec Commons pretty quickly.  Also Sea Formers are not something one wants to get lost in the shuffle.  So I will pursue Build again.  After initial development, Discover Conquer seems to be the better focus, assuming one has neighbors.  It's necessary to steal from them and kill them, at least under my "house rule" about not exploiting sugar daddies.

[bvanevery]

Details worm control

worm control

MY 2111.  I've discovered the Manifold Nexus, so I think I'll be sticking my nose onto the land after all.

[bvanevery]

Details I hate meeting people

I hate meeting people

MY 2116.  They're in the way of my stuff.  I'm also sick to death of Morgan.  What's he doing in this game??  We sign a Treaty.

[bvanevery]

Details green yabber

green yabber

MY 2119.  I got my colony settled by the Nexus, but I haven't actually revealed the center of its location yet, so I am not collecting +1 PLANET.  I got Deirdre's frequency from a pod at sea.  I seriously doubt she can exert a closer influence on the Nexus than myself at this point, so it's ok to sign a Treaty with her.  If such she'll have.  I sell her Morgan's comm, figuring they'll get into a war sooner or later.  She agrees to a Treaty.  She has less tech than I do.  I ask her about comms but she doesn't have any for the ones I ask about, and she signs off.

[bvanevery]

Details got my planet

got my planet

MY 2121.  If I make another city down the coast, that may prevent anyone from encroaching on the Nexus.  Worst case I may need a 3rd city inland.

[bvanevery]

Details got my mindworm

got my mindworm

MY 2123.  I seem to have gotten the scripted event where the 1st mindworm, spore launcher, and Isle are automatically captured.  I've been confused about why in some games, in whatever mod, it doesn't happen.  Maybe it happens when you control the Nexus, but doesn't happen if you just go +1 or +2 PLANET because you went Green.  Seems like Green can take a lot of "warm up" time before you start capturing things.

So here I am, a pseudo-Gaian.  But who will I stomp, in the great ECONOMICS wars?  Morgan?  Deirdre?  Both?

[bvanevery]

Details a peacekeeper shows up

a peacekeeper shows up

MY 2128.  This my territory.  What you do here.  Signs Treaty.  Doesn't trade tech.  Doesn't know comms.

[bvanevery]

Details eat it up

eat it up

MY 2132.  In this formation, I don't believe anyone can encroach.  I settled inland because a nutrient special was available.  It also saves me having to make a 3rd colony in an indefensible inland position.

[bvanevery]

Details finally got an Isle

finally got an Isle

MY 2133.  The Isles definitely didn't follow the script of "first one's free".  I've run away from a number of them before now.  I have my Odds Calculator on all the time, because it's such a good exploit to have that when capturing mindworms.  If the capture works, you just capture.  If the capture doesn't work, then you get to compare odds and back off from the fight.  I console my cheating by saying that it forces me to more rigorously understand and remember how the odds work.  If they're even correct, as the stock binary does have some well known bugs for psi combat.  I think Will To Power fixed some of them, and I don't know about Thinker.

[bvanevery]

MY 2135.  I've got loads of cash from exploration, that I'm not managing to use up on the very meager facilities I need.  I've already got Rec Commons in several cities, some of them due to completion events, when I couldn't have afforded to SUPPORT anything more anyways.  I've got a Command Center at the Manifold Nexus that's making trained Scouts.  I'm a modest man! 

Details the test of sugar

the test of sugar

I can afford some tech shopping.  But I don't want to get into this allies thing again.  I'm trying to remember that Morgan is someone to knock down, not someone to befriend.  At least, he can easily turn out to be someone I need to knock down.  That's been proven in a couple of games already.

Well it turns out to be a moot point with him.  He's not selling, on account of the Human Genome Project.  Probably going to be the same story with the others, but I'll go through the motions.

Details Gaian flakes

Gaian flakes

Surprisingly, in the opening dialogue, Deirdre coughs up Biogenetics in exchange for Doctrine: Flexibility.  Maybe it has to do with how factions value Explore vs. Build techs.  Morgan wouldn't think it's worth it, being a pure Build researcher, at least how the stock binary handles it.  Deidre, in contrast, is the pure Explore researcher.  I still would have expected greater caginess about an incomplete SP though.

Deidre doesn't have any more tech, and doesn't know any comms.  I got through all 3 unknown factions.

I try bugging Morgan again, but now he's stonewalling me about the Merchant Exchange.   That's understandable.  I'm still researching Build because I want my synth armor.

Lal won't talk to me.  So, I don't have to worry about being Amish this year.

[bvanevery]

Details time to switch

time to switch

MY 2136.  Got my synth armor.  I don't think other Build stuff is important right now.

Details it's the thing

it's the thing

Need some probe teams so I can become anti-social.