Part 226: The Nest

The Nest (24:37)




So apparently we're going all retro in this one; connect-the-Totems is back. That was tried but failed in CW3, but I'm assuming this one works properly.




I actually forgot that I'd made a few more adjustments here already, since I recorded this mission some while ago. The changes basically are moving a missile launcher from each wing towards the rear of the ship, removing a cannon from each side, and adding a couple more reactors.




The yellowish thing the cursor is aimed at is one of the various Totems. Otherwhise, looks like we're going left-to-right here.




Well before the two-minute mark, a hostile Cruiser wades in. I would eventually realize though that they do a raid-and-retreat pattern through the middle of the map instead of an all-out sustained attack. Because reasons. With a Wolf soon joining it though, they did significant damage to our HQ before I could get up the ships to repel them.




The combat fleet mostly barricaded that middle, gradually pushing out against the plasma, while Omni Reactors were used to allow expansion on the various bits of land. Also visible here is the Gem Harvester towards the bottom, which will be of good use.

With 2k+ particulate, emitters that we can't shut down, and a limited fleet, there is ... work to do.




After spending some quality time clearing out more struc, it was time for the omnis to take more land ... against significant resistance. But eventually we got a small hold and gradually expanded it. With a totem on this particular island, it's a must-capture.




Then I started this experiment with the tanker while clearing out more territory at the top of the map. The guppy drones are able to keep it and a couple of ships supplied outside energy range much more effectively than I had previously thought. I needed to try this to see how useful the Thor-supplying Supertanker idea was ... and as it turns out, I think if designed properly it'll work well.




After that, it was on to the lower-right of the map where another large island with a Totem greeted us. It was getting more difficult gradually to fight off the particulate, because there's just as much of it but now concentrated into a smaller area. Here, only a single Omni survived the initial landing but a few more follow-up additions soon gave me a growing patch of mire. By this stage we held a 66-33 edge overall in that department, and it was still increasing.




Here's a good section of that fun particulate mob.




Not fully realizing I'd hit all of the Totems, I kept pushing ... until the last one activated. Quite the laser light show ensued, followed within a few seconds by the victory screen. This was the shortest mission I've had in quite a while.




The 'guest author' is back for the Inception finale. A curious title here intrigues me. I'm half-expecting to endure plot at some point. We'll see what that has in store next week.