Part 117: Episode X: 2725 - 2750(I)

Episode X: 2725-2750




Our fleet is a lot more respectable in terms of this than it is in practical terms. It also looks like we've decisively left the Mrrshan behind and emerged as the third wheel here. Gaining slowly on the Silicoids.




** Bulrathi -- 22(+4). Trouble. For the first time they take the top spot from the rocks.
** Silicoid -- 20(--). The bleeding has more or less halted here.
** Sakkra -- 13(-1). Developed planets are +2 to 10, but most of our project colonies have been taken away. Not all of them though. We've twice defended Iranha with the Dragons, an artifact planet that would otherwhise have been lost.
** Mrrshan -- 7(-2). The cats ability to project significant power appears to be nearly over.
** Meklar -- 1(--)
** Alkari -- 1(--)

We're in another period where there is squabbling over a consistent group of systems, after the Bulrathi snagged a couple of ours when they broke the alliance they have not since come after us.




Research spending won't stay nearly this high, but Orion is contributing about 7.5k a year so it still should remain at 10k or more. What you see here is basically maximum effort. Along with shields which are prototyping right now, it won't be too long before another Battle Computer arrives. But I can't wait any longer for the next generation. It's vital to profit from the Mrrshan demise ASAP, before there is nothing left of them.




Haven't shown this in a while I don't think. Of the four races that still matter, the Silicoids are at war with the Bulrathi and Mrrshan. There are no alliances of significance(Silicoid-Alkari, but who cares). I'm fighting both Mrrshan and Silicoid so I'm not really completely on either side of that. A lot of nibbling going on with most of the weight being thrown around in the Sphere of Chaos, which continues to move rightward.




Again it's hard to show in one or even a few screenshots a real good picture of all that is going on, but here's where a good part of the action is. The three on the right have changed hands as much as anything. Vega here looks to be solidly Silicoid for now. Keeta above is one the Mrrshan lost and have been increasingly unable to retain. Tao below we had multiple times, once fending off a Mrrshan attack, but then the Silicoids came in force. It looks the Bulrathi fleet is going to snag Keeta for the moment but who knows how long that'll last. To the left, Crius is one artifact planet, the one the Meklar were bombing, and that's just recently joined the ranks of secure developed worlds. We're getting there on Iranha, second artifact system directly above that and just off-screen. That's where we've been most successful defensively, including taking down both Mrrshan and small Silicoid incursions.

This is more or less an intersection of all four empires, although it's not the only one, and who knows when and where the battleground will move next.

If you look back at the galactic map, you can see that it would be really nice to keep the Bulrathi from moving further to the upper-right section, and snag the Mrrshan systems there. I don't know how much of that I'll be able to do, but it's the next goal: build up the fleet with upgraded designs, smash the Mrrshan, and in so doing get some 'research by alternate means' done by invading and stealing their tech.

Design Thoughts

The experiences of the Dragon I bring a few insights into how to deal with this. We need something that can deal reasonably with any enemy, but especially the Mrrshan.

** Silicoid and Mrrshan ships are generally using a lot of long-range beam weapons.

** The Silicoid Tech Nullifier essentially makes the Death Ray useless against them, because it can only fire a few times before it basically never hits(our computing is still inadequate, but better ones would only delay this). In any prolonged engagement, and with the well-protected capital ships that everyone is deploying now that's what they all are, the Tech Nullifier essentially renders any beam weapons all but useless.

** Pro Tip: This does not impact missiles and torpedoes though, which have their own separate guidance systems and onboard targeting computers. For reasons of space magic, the same special equipment that renders the targeting ability of an entire starship increasingly impotent has no effect whatsoever on smaller, weapon-specific weaponry housed within that target starship. So when I fought the Kraken, our torpedoes did consistent damage and very quickly were the only things doing virtually any.

** The Bulrathi basically all have Displacement Devices and they royally suck in being hard to hit. Also, while they haven't deployed it yet, they do have access to the BHG(Black Hole Generator). With their BioTerminators(they appear to be the only race that has it), they are also the only race that can threaten our planetary defenses at present.

** I don't have enough experience against the Bulrathi, but I think the Dragon I is roughly equivalent to Mrrshan counterparts, and outclassed approximately 15:1 by Silicoid capital ships.

Conclusions

Ok, so throwing all of this together, it appears that the most effective course of action will be to go with a design featuring the Anti-Matter Torpedo. That's counter-intuitive since we have the ancient, super-destructive Death Ray, but it really doesn't matter much damage you can do if you aren't going to hit anything. Using the Death Ray means being at a huge, self-inflicted disadvantadge against the Silicoids. Too much of one to to make it even close to worth it.

So here I am in the late game, going up against super late-game opponents when it comes to the superpowers, and my best choice is a mid-level(TL 23) weapons system. But it is what it is. Combining that with the best beam defense(speed + shields), and only modest computing since the torpedoes don't use it, seems to be the best choice for our general-purpose anti-ship design. There's another special slot open with that approach; the HEF is irrelevant if we're not packing beam weapons. There I want to use the Repulsor Beam. Which is pointless against the long-range weapons we're primarily dealing with of course, but in doing that I'm simply playing against the BHG. If the Bulrathi deploy it, I want to be able to neutralize it, and that's the only way.

So with all that in mind, here's how it looks. Presenting the Dragon II:




The Megabolt Cannons are tacked on at the end to give us a bit more punch vs. any smallish Mrrshan ships. The Mrrshan deflectors suck -- Class IV is the best they've managed -- so they should help chew up any destroyer or fighter-size designs a bit. Note that with the Adamantium armor we now have 40% tougher hulls. Still not as good as the others, but a lot closer. I'm hoping that we've closed the gap significantly and can perhaps equal a Silicoid capship with say three of these.

We can't crack the Mrrshan systems with just this though. The torpedoes won't do anything to their planets, which feature Class XV Planetary Shields just like ours do. For that, we'll need bombers. Enter the Colossus:




In order to get a decent bomb payload, I needed to choose either the Inertial Stabilizer or the Zyro Shield for a defensive special. The Shield is almost twice the size and not worth it against the Zeon Missiles the Mrrshans have in my opinion. They are the most advanced missile in the game and would get through the shield 66% of the time. The +2 defense bonus of the Stabilizer combined with the extra space will, I hope, be a little more effective. Each drop from one of these should, I estimate, take out 1-2 missile bases each. We'll still need to invest quite a bit in them to get enough to handle any highly-fortified planet.

Only the smaller systems, or poor/artifact/Orion worlds will be doing research. Everywhere else it's now going to be a a crash program to get an invasion fleet ready. Right now that's six ship-producers; four on the Dragon II, the other pair on the Colossus. Even Rigel takes two years to make one of these behemoths. Meanwhile research is down to half of what it was, a little under 10k. But it'll still proceed.




Bastards. Oh, that is a low blow. Time is of the essence now more than ever, before they can deploy it. The next year, I encountered a new Bulrathi capital ship, the Warbear. Which has the BHG. Yep, Repulsor was the right move.




The Bulrathi didn't snag Keeta as expected, so I sent in some troops. Low odds of keeping it but as long as there's a chance ...

They naturally declared war. I don't care. In fact, I'm happy. Now I'll start spying on them again. A couple more years, and that which I've feared came to pass.

The Bulrathi came for Rigel.


https://youtu.be/rPnEWRMx6NA



Colony destroyed. Easily. In one turn. Okey-dokey then. This right here is how this whole comeback could still very much go sideways. We exist still because the Bulrathi permit us to exist still. Or in the words of another:




At any time they could change their mind on that, and we would very quickly go away. Stronger we get, the more attractive we become as a target. Back to 9 developed worlds, and our one top-notch ship-producer is gone. Please be nice, Mr. Smurch. Leave us enough scraps from your dinner to survive on. We're begging you. Be a nice teddy bear.




Class XI Deflectors arrive. Our turn for the BHG, the only thing moving us forward.




Only took a few years to get a solid hack of the Mrrshan to yield some fruit. Another couple, and the Silicoids decided it was time to smash Keeta. Ahh well, easy come, easy go. They had several capital ships so resistance would have been pointless. But at the same time ...




Back up to 10. Kulthos is no Rigel, but it is our current largest-sized planet and will definitely ease the pain. We have fought for this world so many times, for a long time it was right in the center of the fighting. Another world that we would have lost in the pre-Dragon era. But now it's defensible against all save the Smurchians.




This is trouble. Iranha is not yet ready ... but it is really close. As in, the planetary shield is being built. I don't know what the Silicoids have on those capital ships -- both are new designs. But there was hope if we could get the shield up, so I did a max transfer to the system. That would get the job done. Then we could only hope it was enough ...


https://youtu.be/KU2EAySdIzo



HA! HA!! HA!!!!! Thought you were special with those Neutron Stream Projectors(the tan cone thingy) didn't you!! Don't do any good if all your weapons can't penetrate the shields though. Have fun running away.

Literally just in the nick of time after decades of buildup, Iranha becomes developed system #11, and a second artifact world. A very nice save here, if I do say so myself. And I do.

That Battle Computer is the top of the Computing tech tree, so we'll be going back to get other stuff there now. Like I've done in planetology, I'll reduce spending to a minimal amount and refocus in the remaining four categories.




Bulrathi again. There is no price too high to pay to stop this, even as repeated Silicoid attacks at Iranha fail. Why can't you two go back to fighting each other?!?




After handing over four techs of middling value, they also want this to re-sign an Alliance. Thing is, I don't know how long it will last. But I also don't care. We agree. Eventually we're going to have to fight these bastards. And that's probably going to go very badly. But I just can't have them rampaging through my territory. Go rampage through someone else's. Anyone else's. Give us more time to try to figure something out. With that in mind, we try more trading, but the Bio Terminator isn't on the menu. I'll keep trying, but I don't expect much results. I really wish one of the other two had it. Meklar have the Doom Virus and that's just about all.

The Silicoids pick off another core Mrrshan system, and it looks like we're running out of time to gain much from their demise ... but we're not ready yet. Only a few Collossus are finished.