Part 110: Episode X: 2550 - 2575

Episode X: 2550-2575




What sticks out most to me here is the Bulrathi tech. It really looks like Smurch is running away with this, and even our relatively poor efforts at keeping up are now really falling by the wayside. This reinforces my general impression: getting on their good side will help us last longer.




Here, supporting Smurch in the Council improved relations but not enough to bring peace. Three low-level tech bribes later, a truce was signed. I offered a max trade deal as well(525 BC).




This never ceases to make me chuckle. Yes, I offered the galaxy's tech leader the lowest of two first-tier range advances. 250 years into the game. And it meant something to you. You should have been insulted. But I digress.

I was surprised to see their relations boost all the way to 'Amiable', so I proposed and had a NAP accepted. I'll let the Silicoids figure out that we aren't really allies with them on their own time, and will do some more bribing in a few years to try and get an Alliance with the bears.

The Meklar wanted better tech to end the war, but we got away with just two gifts. The one they liked the most was Class V shields ... even though they already have Class VII. Somehow they've managed not to research any Robotics improvements, and they wanted both of ours. Nope. Therefore they stopped short of signing a NAP, but I did get peace. I'll have to keep working on them more.

So after all that, the division of power in the galaxy is basically this: Bulrathi-Meklar-Sakkra vs. Silicoid-Mrrshan-Alkari. With the Bulrathi and Meklar squabbling and far from fast friends. I definitely think I'm on the winning side now. It probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans, but it beats the heck out of being on the losing side.




I think Rayden should be fairly secure now as we are not at war with anyone(for the moment) and friendly(ish) with the two races most likely to come for it. Five systems for us. The rest of the list:

** Silicoid -- 24. Still the biggest on the block but headed in the wrong direction.
** Bulrathi -- 15. Stopping them from getting any more permanent gains is top priority, if we have a choice in the matter.
** Mrrshan -- 10. Pretty much holding steady for almost two centuries now.
** Meklar -- 7. Good news is they haven't grown much.
** Alkari -- 1. They'll get wiped out once somebody bothers about doing it. I doubt I ever speak to them again.




Here's the immediate problem. We got Ukko back but Mrrshan ships are incoming and I don't see any way of stopping them. Hoping the kitties are nice isn't much in the way of a strategy but it's all I've really got here. The few Silicoid ships on this side of the galaxy seem to be in retreat everywhere. I think my best play is to put a modest amount of resources into getting more torpedo ships(the Hydras) out there.




Apparently 'being nice' was indeed not on the Mrrshan agenda. After a couple more bribes, I tried to get an alliance with the Bulrathi. They said 'why should we trust you now, when you have broken so many past treaties?'

I'd like to argue with them, but they do have a point.




Over/under on how long I keep this is now at 2-3 years. Better than the 1 year it usually is.




Industrial Tech 5 is in. I think Andrium is the best value here as we have almost no waste spending right now.

RigelLost


Yep, three years. A couple of interesting things here. They have Andrium ... but no Battle Suits or shields. Losses were 10 Sakkra, 18 Mrrshan. So that's good to know. Also, they came from at least 3x as far away but I couldn't get relief transports in time. Would have been a year late(and then put us at war) even though Rayden is much closer. I really need engines, darn it. 2557 and I still have Warp 2.

I had to give away more crap, but Smurch did finally agree to an Alliance. So that should prove useful.




Much-needed. I go back now for the Repulsor Beam, and then Granid says hello. He wants me to break the Bulrathi alliance. I tell him to go fly a kite.




Yeah the rock Alliance ain't lasting long, methinks.




The next year. Astonishingly cordial under the circumstances. War came in 2567.




Rigel and Altair change hands more often than some people change socks. They are the centerpiece of the war. The Bulrathi appear to have secured the rich toxic world of Ukko unfortunately, but our Alliance with them was enough to get us Lyae(and they unaccountably have one of their largest fleets in orbit as well). The Silicoids have destroyed a couple of our colony ships at Rigel -- they are so fast we can't retreat -- but haven't done anything else yet.

So we're back at five systems which seems to be where we've held for at least a century, unable to permanently grow beyond that. Ship activity is higher from all factions: Mrrshan, Bulrathi, Silicoid, Meklar all flitting about.

A couple of years later we had Rigel for a year -- but didn't have enough ships to protect it from the Silicoids. And so things went. The Council set to vote again with the fate of Altair and Rigel as yet undecided, despite a significant portion of the galaxy's tears and treasure being devoted to the task of figuring it out. I keep sending in Colonizers because if the Bulrathi do eventually get the upper hand, I want at least some shot at coming out of it with these systems in my pocket.

** Silicoids(37) -- Dang. Out of 97. There's some serious growth going on somewhere for them. Now they are back in veto territory.
** Alkari(1) -- Granid.
** Bulrathi(32) -- One vote shy of a veto.
** Mrrshan(13) -- Abstain.
** Meklar(7) -- Smurch.

We have 7 as well, a new high! Whoop-dee-doo. I stick with Bulrathi. Smurch is my horse, and I'm going to ride him to a defeat as late in the calendar as I can. 46-38, Smurch will a small edge here.

It's no longer obvious that the Bulrathi are winning the war though -- I'll take a look at that to start the next update as always. Combined Bulrathi + Silicoid population is now at over 71% of the galaxy. This is as stable, in a twisted sort of way, as the Human game was. Difference here is that I have virtually no input on how the war goes. In the former case, once I was able to turn the tide I ended things quickly. I have no confidence in the AI to do that.

I've started thinking of some really strange possibilities. Like, for example, what if this is a nearly-infinite stalemate? I'll eventually research unlimited range(hopefully), or if not maybe I steal it somehow. Then I could potentially find Orion still. And an unlimited war might, in a long enough timeline, yield positives.

Alternatively, maybe I don't get the range and I can't get anything out of the war. A near-infinite hopeless sideline struggle, in which I can't influence the outcome/can't make either side lose/can't do anything but keep going. And going. And going. And ... Energizer-Bunny time. Follow the Pink Rabbit.

Eventually somebody wins I think, but I've never seen a game like this, as has already been mentioned by others, with two AI titans slugging it out and proxies on both sides. I don't know how long they can go at it. I think exploring that possibility, as potentially tedious(err, make that already tedious) as it is, might well be the point of this 10th game.