Part 156: Episode XV: 2325

2326: The Alkaris showed up at Volantis, the artifact planet. A pair of colony ships were sent packing.




I think I want the Irridium here. Next up we'll crash Improved Eco Restoration.




They get to Ajax the same time we do, but with a couple of destroyers with them. This is very early, about 15 years before escorted colony ships usually show up. And now we have no choice. I have to build some laser fighters and try to take it. The Mrrshan think they are Meklar, apparently, because they are Xenophobic Industrials. Seriously.

I also now have two Colonizers clogging up the economy with maintenance costs, and nowhere to send them.




Recon parties are doing a great job finding planets that are already occupied. This is Mrrshan; also Misha, an Alkari system.




Now things will probably get real. The Mrrshan declare war, to nobody's surprise.




The Mrrshan Front, GY 2339. 26 transports inbound to Ajax which is no problem; I probably would have done better to send fewer troops there but they'll easily repel that. Xudax, shown here, is the only planet in range. Just colony ships in orbit, and no bases(yet).

** ProTip: Each transport group has their combat resolved separately in terms of approaching the planet, and aren't combined until they land - even if they arrive on the same turn. Coordinated groups from multiple systems then, are only a good idea if you are confident of having control of the orbit. If you don't, and the transports have to make their way through defenses, it's much better to have one big group than a few smaller ones. The way it basically works by the way is that it's a matter of how much damage the defending ships/bases can do to your transports before you reach the planet. It's very possible, for example, for them to have enough firepower to, say, take out six transports. So if three planets each send five, probably none of them make it. Same amount comes in one group(15 total) and most of them will make it through.

I think the above is ... suboptimal. If they arrive on the same turn, they should be combined for the off-screen abstracted approach phase AND the ground combat phase. But since they aren't, the best way for me to do things here, which I haven't set myself up for perfectly, is to keep Ursa near maximum so I can send big groups from there. I could send 17M from Ajax, and then a bigger group from Ursa. Idea being, the Ajax transports would get there faster. And in fact, I'm going to do just that. I can always send colonists back or whatever if I end up with too many. Sending from Ajax gets them there faster(so less chances of significant defenses) - half the time, three years instead of six. Sending from Ursa means a better chance of getting through said defenses. It's not super-efficient obviously to send from both places and thus really put a damper on my economy, but right now the most important thing is making sure I take Xudax. If I do, I could have the upper hand in this war.

I'm learning a lot of stuff about early warfare these last couple games. Some of it the hard way. In terms of the fleet, I've got laser fighters trickling out in two classes(Patrol and Panda). They are 'massing' at Ajax for the time being. And meanwhile I shift a bunch more population from Iranha back up to Ursa. While all this is going on there's a whole crapload of production being lost, because people in transports produce nothing(I'm lucky I don't have to pay maintenance on them, apparently they are in cryostasis or somesuch). But the economy is still going in the tank, so I HAVE to win ... losing is catastrophic. And I also send a Recon to Spica. If we take Xudax, that would be the next target. I need to know what's there.

2341: The Mrrshan transports land at Ajax. 5 of them were taken out by our fighters. The rest killed 8M Bulrathi, but we easily defended the planet. As our transports approach Xudax, I don't think the first group will have quite enough to take it. However they have only colony ships and scouts in orbit, so that's a plus.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l0B-i_HiW0



Well that was a fine killing spree, especially at the end!




We also got ECM Mk. I. Now, the question is whether we can hold the system. With only four million there, the group from Ursa is still incoming, and it looks like some Mrrshan cruisers probably get here by the time they arrive. Not sure how all this will work out.




Fierias is in range but sure to have significant defenses. That's a non-starter. Spica here has been largely emptied though; that group of transports holds 39M Mrrshan, and they appear to be headed probably not for Xudax but for a system well beyond it. Four Mrrshan cruisers and colony ships/scouts as well are at Xudax, so assuming they stay there, a significant bite will be taken out of our transports that are set to land next year. But the key thing here is that Spica is a fantastic world ... and right now it is undefended. Nothing is near it. Now that could easily change. I'm not of a mind to wait around for that to happen though. Another big group of transports depart Ursa immediately; 45M of them. Unless the Mrrshan get significant fleet assets to intercept by the time they arrive, we could potentially do a clean sweep here and cut the cats down to just their homeworld. And as a kicker, that might bring the artifact world Volantis within range as well ... assuming the Alkari haven't taken it by then.

It's a long 7-year journey. And a lot can happen in seven years.




Heh. Looks like this is where those Mrrshan transports are headed. Cryslon, ever the Silicoid homeworld. Above-left of us basically. So they are over here too. The galaxy conspired to cram everyone in around us, and hand the left side to the most dangerous foes(Psilons/Klackons). Splendid. Also, the Mrrshan fleet takes out about two-thirds of our transports at Xudax. They aren't bombing or anything though, and we're up to 20M. That's enough that it won't be particularly easy to dislodge us. We can't take on that many cruisers, so we pretty much just have to wait and see what they do. And hope.

Looks like they have three more heading for Spica as well. That's ... unfortunate.




More rocks. Cryslon is the yellow star a ways directly left. Just scouts here. It's Talas(Toxic/Rich, 30M max). The green one between the two is revealed to be Simius(10M, already a Silicoid world). Talas is open but won't be for long I expect. And also ...




This could not come soon enough ... and it didn't. But it's a big boost to our economy. Both Tundra and Dead environments are available. We go with Dead, because there's a system in range(Ryoun) of that type. Even though it's more expensive, with our lack of options I think we need to crash that research as well. Turns out those transports were headed for Xudax. We survive ... narrowly. Just 3M left, and there are six Leopard-class cruisers in orbit. I don't know how well all this is going to pan out.




2348. We fought off most of them, but not all of them. We can't compete with the Mrrshan fleet. If we don't succeed at Spica ... which looks doubtful ... then we could be locked in a 3-3 stalemate at best with the Mrrshan. And our chances of winning in that circumstance are highly dubious.