Galactic Dreams(Stellaris, Interactive/Community)

[Brian Swartz]

This recently completed research will have far-reaching consequences, and in the long run will be a major boon for the economy. In terms of immediate, core world investment, a number of power plants are to be prioritized for upgrades. Humboldt has four, Bakangi three, Eskogg three, and Agglor four. Gabbog of course, does not yet have the infrastructure to support such large provincial developments. In any case, these improved energy sources will help defray the costs from the war, however long it lasts, and put us a much better footing afterwards. Say, perhaps, for funding a few battleships? It may well be so, but first things first. As always, the most productive provinces will be prioritized for the initial round of upgrades.

It should also be noted that the latest colony ship has just landed on Pavagh. I'm not sure how interaction will go with the pre-sentient race that is there, but I wasn't allowed to land on any province they presently 'occupy'. We'll see how that goes. The next new planet will be another case where we rely on the Shantari, expanding the Perj sector towards the nebula and fallen empire, outward on the middle arm.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Frank Justyce

** Space-Time Theory(Computing, 70 mo.) -- Unlocks two new levels of Physics Labs(III & IV).
** Interlinked Support Systems](Computing, 36 mo.) -- Unlocks Barrier Point Defense, an upgrade to our present Sentinel systems for the point-defense role.
** Planetary Power Grid(Industry, 27 mo.) -- Unlocks Power Hub II. This building improves from our current Power Hub I, allowing a 15% bonus in planetary energy output. Presently that bonus is at 10% wherever a Power Hub exists.

Obsolete weapons systems Disruptors and Blue Shard Thrower are still available.

Dr. Frank Justyce, you are now on the clock.

[chesapeake]

The High Inquisitor orders that sufficient ground troops be raised on our new colony of Pavagh to ensure that the existing inhabitants of the planet do not provide any 'surprises.'

[mrkilla22]

Let's start research on Space-Time Theory

[Brian Swartz]

As far as Pavagh goes, that really can't be done -- we can't build armies there until the colony is set up. We'll just have to wait and see what happens then. Proceeding with new research orders now, looks like we've got a couple years until the next one is finished so there should be a decent period here of progress in the war unless something new pops up.

[Brian Swartz]

The War Continues(2274-75)

2274.04.04 -- First mining station in Soldar goes down, and the fleet pushes in across the system to other targets.

04.14 -- The transports in Bastamore have been intercepted. Meanwhile, Agglor has finished the mining network and begins upgrading power plants as well.

06.01 -- All but one of the transports in Bastamore escaped back to the Djomar home system, but at least they will be of no more threat for now, and all sustained some damage. In Saldar, the spaceport and a corvette stationed there have been eliminated, and the fleet moves on to a wormhole station in the system.

06.25 -- A destroyer and a corvette arrive in Bastamore. The ships that were left stationed there are getting a workout.

07.12 -- The wormhole station has been eliminated, and the fleet moves to begin bombardment of Naff'Evamul, the Djomar world in the Saldar system. This will be quick, as it is smaller and barely half as fortified as Bastamore, which was by far the toughest target. The rest here are all newer settlements.

08.11 -- The ships in Bastamore, led by *** Djomar admiral Fern'huss, have been eliminated.

08.21 -- Ground combat on Neff'Evamul commences.

09.18 -- The army has secured Naff'Evamul. The fleet will now move on, again leaving a few ships behind to make sure it stays secure.

10.17 -- The fleet reaches Zarim, an important system. It needs to be cleared to allow the science ships safe passage, and this is where the crystalline entities are that destroyed Aslik Deesh's ship years ago. Time to repay them, and sanitize this system.

12.05 -- Djomar transports arrive in Saldar, and once again the ships left behind intercept them.

2275.01.07 -- The first group of crystals has been defeated, and the fleet moves on to the other one. The way is now clear for the science ships. It may be too late, with just under a year left, to reach the observation post and deal with the implant situation, but we will try anyway. The lot for that falls to Dr. Tarc and the Jaschalgur. The other two science vessels will deal with the battle debris from the war.

03.01 -- The Pavagh colony has been established. It appears that the deal here is that we can only take unoccupied provinces; the ones the current inhabitants have, they will keep. This will be a very minimal colony as a result.

03.11 -- The rest of the crystalline entities in Zarim have been eliminated. The fleet moves on further down. We will not attack any more Djomar planets for the time being; right now, the goal is to eliminate their frontier outposts and wormhole stations. It's a bit of a search-and-destroy operation at this point. It's expected that, at most, we will need to occupy only one of the three remaining systems to force their surrender, but even that may not be required.

03.23 -- Eskogg is the first planet to finish uppgrading its power plants.

04.05 -- The recently built Shantari colony ship is dispatched to Edellimar, a couple systems away from the extent of our space in the Perj Sector. The expansion in that direction will begin here. It's the closest system, of modest size(max. 14) and has a moderate cost to settle(101 influence). Others nearby will be easier once we have this one in our empire though.

05.09 -- The fleet has reached a previously discovered frontier outpost as it's next target, and is in the Shultam(sp?) system en route to eliminate it. Meanwhile, the upgraded power plants have considerably reduced the energy deficit we are sustaining in the war, and the plot stinkens on Ovastivum ...




How will we handle this latest issue, Inquisitor?

[chesapeake]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

As far as Pavagh goes, that really can't be done -- we can't build armies there until the colony is set up. We'll just have to wait and see what happens then. Proceeding with new research orders now, looks like we've got a couple years until the next one is finished so there should be a decent period here of progress in the war unless something new pops up.

I don't want excuses. I want action!

Demand an apology of the troglodytes.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Chesapeake

I don't want excuses. I want action!

VIR instructs you to build a freaking bridge and get over it, Inquisitor :P.


2275.07.03 -- The frontier outpost in the Shulmak system has been eliminated, and the search for other installations will resume. There has been, as yet, no response from the subterranean life forms on Ovastivum to our demand. The elimination of the Shulmak outpost has freed two systems from the clutches of the Djomar already.

08.12 -- Power plant upgrades completed on Bakangi.

09.01 -- In the Alioth system, the most remote and recently colonized Djomar system, the fleet has discovered a wormhole station. That's the next target.

09.25 -- A new matter has come up. It seems this war is destined to be a time of many diversions.




In other words, close the borders or do nothing. What say you, Inquisitor Laren?

[chesapeake]

Who is P'Dykna? Are they/is it one of the Qravadox? If they choose to disrespect Boojie, the All-Powerful, out they go!

[Brian Swartz]

P'Dykna is the Qravadox scientist mentioned above. So we will close the borders(later today, work now).

[Brian Swartz]

2275-76

2275.11.01 -- Dr. Tarc is still four jumps away from Jabeth, and just over two months remain to get there. The status of our observation efforts there is going to go right down to the wire, it seems ...

11.05 -- A new Power Hub is up and running on Gabbog. This gives our fifth core world a good economic base, and we are nearly up to breaking even in total energy now, despite having to sustain the fleet's operations. It's clear that we'll be in a good position economically in the post-war period. Meanwhile, the wormhole station in Alioth has been eliminated, and the fleet moves on to continue it's search-and-destroy protocol.

11.20 -- Agglor has finished upgrading it's power plants as well, inching us into a positive monthly balance for the first time since the war started!

12.15 -- Another remote Djomar frontier outpost has been discovered in the Minokh system.

01.06 -- Bad news from Jabeth:




The Jaschalgur had arrived in system just two days prior, and was en route to the planet. Unfortunately the delay while everyone was stuck on the far side of Djomar space proved fatal in this case. Nothing to be done but send the science ship back on the long journey to assist in the debris efforts.

02.01 -- It seems the natives are getting restless on Pavagh ...




02.04 -- The latest outpost has been eliminated, and it seems the Djomar are about ready to accept to our terms. The fleet will search for other targets that need 'sanitizing' before we allow hostilities to be terminated though. We must be sure they will not be a threat in the future.

02.18 -- The first several debris projects yielded nothing, but one of the fields in Bastamore has given us a moderate insight into something called Armored Torpedoes.

03.15 -- Another wormhole station has been found on the opposite side of the Antares system, another of the Djomar's minor holdings. This is a more developed system though, and there may be momentary opposition on our way to intercept.

05.14 -- More debris yields minor further progress in Armored Torpedoes. Also, the colony ship has finally arrived in Edellimar. This necessitates the forming of a new sector. Another colony ship will be built to further expand our holdings in this region.

07.02 -- Amoeba Breeding Program research finished. Another toy for the navy to play with after the war, if they so choose.

[Brian Swartz]

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. David Corperial

** Deep Sinkhole Removal(New Worlds, 10 mo.) -- These are fairly common on the dry worlds that we are now beginning to settle more of with the Shantari and Thek'lak doing the heavy lifting.
** Orbital Hydroponic Farms(Biology, 6 mo.) -- These allowing for spaceports to produce some food, freeing up the surface provinces a bit more for other pursuits. It can be a risky thing as the loss of the spaceport could mean problems for the planet, but our empire is large enough that they could be useful a distance away from our borders.
** Frontier Clinic(Biology, 10 mo.) -- Frontier Clinics produce a moderate amount of food, as well as slightly(5%) increasing a planet's habitability.

Three quick projects to choose from, and no reverse-engineer options left. Dr. David Corperial, you are on the clock.

[DavidCorperial]

Deep Sinkhole Removal

[Brian Swartz]

2276-77

2276.08.10 -- The Antares wormhole generator has been eliminated.

09.08 -- A mining station attacks the fleet immediately upon entering the seemingly unimportant Wolgun system, and another wormhole generator is here as well. They are buildling the things everywhere it seems.

11.03 -- The latest target has been eliminated, and there are only a few more systems to check. The Djomar are being surprisingly obstinate though and are not yet ready to give in to all of our demands. We may yet need to occupy one more planet.

11.13 -- More progress on Armored Torpedoes from another debris field.

11.30 -- The Mithar system is found to contain another frontier outpost, along with a couple of mining stations. The outpost must be eliminated next.

2277.02.13 -- More progress on Armored Torpedoes.

02.27 -- Humboldt has finally finished upgrading it's power plants. Our first four core worlds are all full and completely developed. It took longer on the homeworld as that's the only place that can build, via the Imperial Capital, the biggest and most productive provincial structures.

03.20 -- Mithar has been cleared, leaving only two more relevant stars to visit.

04.05 -- Next is Jinkath, where another wormhole station is found. Like weeds the Djomar are ...

05.02 -- Deep Sinkhole Removal researched. The war is very close to being finished now, but it is not quite over yet.

[Brian Swartz]

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. David Corperial

** The Collective Self(Statecraft, 76 mo.) -- +2 leader capacity, -10% leader recruitment cost(influence).
** Atmospheric Filtering(New Worlds, 24 mo.) -- Colonial living conditions are improved across the board with advanced biofilters. +5% Habitability on all planets.
** Quicksand Basin Removal(New Worlds, 10 mo.) -- Another problematic province type typical of the drier worlds(arid, desert, etc.)

Dr. David Corperial, you are on the clock again with a somewhat more interesting choice this time.

[Brian Swartz]

I decided to proceed a bit further since we were so close to the end.

2276.06.01 -- The Edellimar colony is now up and running, and a new colony ship(Vurl'Xagh) departs for the nearby system of Troidom. Three other systems in the area can now be developed orbitally, including Cordip which has an available 'Troutstone' deposit.

07.19 -- Jinkath wormhole station has been destroyed.

08.04 -- The Djomar League has accepted our offer of peace. We will need to pause roughly here, as there will be many new decisions to make. Unfortunately their sniveling, sneaking constructors managed to build four(!!) wormhole stations in what is now our space, most of them after we eliminated the previous ones. This will prove no more than an annoyance, as they won't be of much use.

[DavidCorperial]

The Collective Self

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

+5% Habitability on all planets

Refresh my memory on how that works exactly.

I mean, I get the "fish live on water worlds" basics but I thought planet types / species was like a 4 type deal with 1 perfect/2 so-so/1 impossible as the basic setup for each.

Is it actually species by species for a can/can't, and a 5% change would make the difference on some world/race combos?

[Brian Swartz]

You have the basic idea right.

7 types of planets. For each race, one is optimal(80% habitability), then it goes to 60% for two more(i.e, Arctic and Continental for us), another pair are 20%, and another pair are 0%. Habitability is the base happiness your species will have living there. So a +5% would give us 85/65/25/5 instead. Not a big deal by itself but if you can stack it with other similar techs, stuff like frontier clinics that also give a bonus, etc. that can make a significant difference. Eventually, for example, the 20% tier can end up being half-decent to settle.

.02

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

You have the basic idea right.

7 types of planets. For each race, one is optimal(80% habitability), then it goes to 60% for two more(i.e, Arctic and Continental for us), another pair are 20%, and another pair are 0%. Habitability is the base happiness your species will have living there. So a +5% would give us 85/65/25/5 instead. Not a big deal by itself but if you can stack it with other similar techs, stuff like frontier clinics that also give a bonus, etc. that can make a significant difference. Eventually, for example, the 20% tier can end up being half-decent to settle.

.02

Thanks. I figure by this point I ought to at least know the hell I'm thinking about when I make the various choices in my head

[Brian Swartz]

GALACTIC OVERVIEW

Several 'maps' will follow, which leadership of the Collective, esp. the Inquisitor, will probably wish to refer to in charting our course from here on out. Present date is 2277.11.01, just under three months after the war, so things have stabilized, all fleets returned to a starport, etc.

The first star chart here shows the recently annexed territory, with everything below Bastamore in blue having been added by our recently concluded conflict. The areas in the white outline have been added to the Kroll Border Sector, which by this point comprises basically half of our empire's space. This sector is badly in need of renaming. Perhaps the Deesh Sector, in honor of our deceased scientist some while ago in the Zarim system?

The red in the upper left is all that remains of the Djomar League. They notably retain control of Jinkath, and therefore the jump into Hakibori space(light blue to the upper left across to the inner galactic arm). The Tycan Nation is the second red blob lower down. They are a small protectorate of the Djomar. As such, we cannot attack them for the same 10-year period of time. Militarily, this means there is nothing we can do in this area.




Next, this is a galactic overview shot. This may be useful for seeing the relative positions of the major players on a larger scale. We know who occupies roughly two-thirds of the territory at this point, with the undiscovered area lying directly across the galaxy from us to the left. Basically, if you can easily read the name of an empire, it's at least marginally important. If you can't, they can be easily ignored(with the exception of the Buhavilaa Ascendancy, given their technological prowess).




Now we'll look at a few other regions, with each area followed by relevant coomments. First up, the galactic core -- or at least that part of it closest to us.




The Bhenn'Thell Imperium continues to hold sway here, and they are the only 'normal' empire that still considers itself our equal. They have not expanded as quickly as we have, but just concluded a conflict of their own, a second victory against the continually diminishing Uthonian Star Coalition. The Bhenn'Thell are considered to have roughly equal naval capacity and fleet size to us, although I think we have surpassed them at least somewhat. They continue to have superior technological advancement. The Imperium has 21 planets(we now number 32) and a total population of 295(326 for us). In general, their systems are more developed than ours, but we are bigger. The Polity of Oxx-Oxx has basically done nothing but saber-rattling for a couple decades now. The Beldross Empire is worth remembering for a bit ...

The next map shows our recent developments outward on our 'middle' arm of the galaxy.




Tried to use a reasonably zoomed-in view here so everything could be a bit clearer. Just visible at the top is the green territory of the Buhavilaa Ascendancy, which still considers us insignificant specks beneath its notice(Overwhelming in comparison, all categories). The blue at the bottom is the furthest extent of the Perj Sector. It is named Edellimar at the moment just because, but I plan to eventually rename this the Ibannic Sector unless there is a better suggestion, due to the Ibannic Veil that it will eventually encompass. More on the colonization of this area later. At this point it is worth noting that a few years ago a Beldross science ship passed through some of this region, the first alien vessel ever spotted in the area.


Next up, the area of space closest to the Qravadox.




Not all of this is owned by the Qravadox, who are the light blue in the lower left. The navy blue(Hegemony of Yssom) and the one between them(Ethneri Polity) are a protectorate and vassal respectively, so they might as well be. The other player here, the Scyldari Confederacy in the maroon/pink along the left, also has a non-aggression pact. On their own, the Qravadox are inferior to us in naval capacity and fleet size, but they do have superior technology and would be able to add whatever amounts from their two servants to their fleet. We could still probably take them, but they would not be likely to be pushovers, esp. if the Scyldari decided to join the fun. Our border here is as locked as locked can be.

Finally, a look at what lies beyond our recently acquired territory. This is the 'bottom' of the galaxy.




This is a mish-mash of several empires, none allied and none at war. There are a couple with 11 planets at the largest, with a few others somewhat smaller. The balance of power in this area is the most stable of anywhere that we have explored so far. The Norillga Coalition seems most likely to break the peace if anyone does, but so far they are just shouting at the wind it seems. The purple is the Anathurian Mandate, and we need to take a closer look at the possibilities between their space and ours.




More on this area when we look at colonization closer. The number of images is necessary to convey the current state of the empire -- we are not just a minor nebula-bound race anymore.

[Brian Swartz]

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

** Energy -- 1590(4250 max). With the fleet back in port we have a stunning monthly surplus of about 50!! 35% of expenses go to the fleet, 5% to the army, 32% to various orbital stations, and 27% to provincial buildings. The army amount will increase a bit I expect with new recruits needed for the recently acquired territories.
** Minerals -- 1828(16k max). The surplus here has been growing more slowly in recent decades, but continues to increase and is at 277. For reference, we have enough to build a new colony ship and almost enough for a starter spaceport each turn. The larger fleet ships(cruisers, etc.) take multiple months' worth of raw materials.
** Influence -- 154(1000 max). We gain 5.15 per month here, and for the first time in memory are producing more than we need.
** Research -- 179 Physics, 220 Society, 192 Engineering. Roughly the same balance we've had since basically forever.
** Strategic Resources -- Still the same two 'Troutstones', though we are working on acquiring a few more that we've found. Those are still the only type our scientists have discovered.
** Naval Capacity -- 187/347. The population influx and spaceports being built on the acquired Djomar worlds have given us a much bigger margin to work with here.
** Leader Capacity -- Still 14/14, 1 Admiral, 1 General, 6 Scientists, and 6 Governors.
** Sector Capacity -- 5/11 after a re-organization; the four sectors in the outer arm were combined into two -- Haribas by the crossing, and Saiph down closer to Qravadox territory. This still leaves us four governors short of a 'full complement', but at the same time we have plenty of room to expand here and create new ones if we need to.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

After peace was declared, three more empires including the Anathurian Mandate closed their borders. Nobody likes us at this point. A small amount of that is disagreements with our ethics ... purging and slavery continue to make us somewhat unpopular. Most of it is threat, and I'm not sure exactly how that works. Nearby, the Hakibori have an opinion of us of -254 ... all but 20 of that is due to our threat. Further away empires tend to have much lower threat, but generally they still mildly are not in our favor. I'm going to track a few of them and see if it increases with a period of peace, but generally speaking my theory right now is that we've just gotten big enough that almost everyone is afraid of us. Perhaps it is the will of Boojie that we not have many friends of the voluntary nature.

[Brian Swartz]

Inquisitor's Briefing: The End of our Beginning

It's lasted quite a bit longer than expected, but we are now soon to approach the point when we will no longer be able to have room to peacefully expand(not that we've been all that peaceful anyway, but ... ). At the moment there are no vaguely compelling conflicts to recommend, unless of course the Inquisitor sees things differently.

Initial steps that have been taken so far are to get the construction ships working on building new orbital stations -- our borders have continued to expand a bit, the work on gradually upgrading spaceports continues, and quite a few new armies will need to be built. Additionally, a constructor is on the way to build a new frontier outpost in the Lyctabon system near Anathurian space. The reason for this is to provide a bit of discouragement against them advancing further and assure control of the Troutstone deposit there, along with the nearby one in Tatanga.

Pursuant to previously established instructions, the intent at this point is to gradually continue to colonize, emphasizing ocean worlds which are fitting for the Architreuthis. To that end, as mentioned before, there are some lucrative ones in the areas recently acquired from the Djomar and just beyond. Those would be targeted first, followed by renewed expansion in the opposite direction towards the Ibannic Veil -- a second arid colony is about to be settled in that area.

From a strategic point of view, it should be mentioned that our rapid expansion, particularly the successful wars we have fought, have greatly increased our territory but also made it more difficult to keep up in terms of research. The policy to have sectors focus on research and to build as many labs as is sensible on the core worlds has not been able to make up the difference. We are bigger than our rivals ... but most empires are at least as advanced, and the Qravadox, Bhenn'Thell, and a few others have better technology than we do.

It would also be assumed unless there are new instructions that some funding will be made available to the Navy to prepare for and eventually start building the newly engineered battleships. Also worth noting is that our sizable energy surplus will continue to accrue unless it used for either colonizing efforts or new military assets. Once again it is up to the Inquisitor to decide how we will proceed, with contributions elsewhere also potentially useful.

** Colonizing/Expansion -- The status quo is to continue settling new worlds, approximately one a year with two planets producing colony ships and then sending out a new one once the new colony is operational. This could be accelerated or diminished/eliminated based on how much of a concern research is; it's basically a size vs. advancement, wide vs. tall thing. Also, if there are any priority adjustments to be made about where we should settle first, that would fit here.

** Naval Investment -- Our fleet is plenty large enough to handle defense and any minor offensive actions such as the ones we've had so far, but continued shipbuilding will be necessary to keep pace with our stronger neighbors. The status quo here is to continue building in the core worlds(and beyond if the spaceports are developed enough) until there isn't enough income to support it without hurting colonization efforts. It's basically a tug of war between the navy and the expansion.

Inqusitor Roe Laren, you are now on the clock. Any instructions you want to change here, or questions you may have, are now in order.

[Brian Swartz]

Faction Overview

It's been a while now, some years anyway, since I update the factions information. All is going well basically, but it's worth taking another look.

** Loyalists -- 147 of 326(45%). This was a little over half before, but part of the decline might be due to trying to assimilate a few dozen Djomar.
** Docile Slaves -- The 'good' slave faction has 85 members, and 20% support. It's been virtually inactive for quite some time now.
** Malcontent Slaves -- 24 here, as the positive trend of having most of the slaves as docile continues. Right now though, probably due to the war, the malcontents are slightly more popular(192 to 184). At 15% support, they aren't threatening anything immediately and the only action they've managed to take so far is to smuggle two slave pops out of the empire over the past few decades. That's nothing, basically. Gov. Palmieri's leadership continues to get the job done.
** Emancipation Movement -- 50 members, but they aren't particularly popular and have virtually no support.
** Kroll Border Popular Underground -- 1 member, 20% support. They want a free sector, and since it basically constitutes half the empire that's a laughable idea.
** Djomaran Homelanders -- 14 members, which is already well down partly because many have been enslaved. They want to return to Djomar rule. They'll get over it.
** Perj Nationalist Vanguard -- 3 members. The most unpopular faction, yet it continues to persist. They want a free Perj Sector but have never gotten anywhere with their demands or goals.

So basically, everything's still quite fine. Combination of Palmieri and regulating slavery has worked well in maintaining order and productivity.

[Brian Swartz]

Naval Briefing: Admiral SirFozzie

It's battleship time! I wasn't sure if I would get to this before the Heinlein patch(which is going to change a lot of stuff, and will probably require a top-to-bottom adjustment if not complete redesign of the fleet). However it's not due out until 'sometime in October', which probably means late October, over a month away. So yeah, we're moving on here.

First though, and you may want to refer to the maps for this, it's time to do a little redeployment. The Qravadox area in the outer arm needs attention -- it's almost a year's journey for the main fleets to get there, which is far too long. The rank-and-file recommendation is to add a third task force. Presently we have two:

** Home Defence Force -- Defends Humboldt and surrounding systems. Generally bored. 3 cruisers, 5 destroyers, 10 corvettes.
** Fist of Boojie -- War fleet that has been stationed at the Djomar border or on the attack against the Kroll/Djomar when not needed for clearing out systems from hostile 'natives'. 21 cruisers, 21 destroyers, 1 frigate(it's still around!), 26 corvettes.

In general, unless you have a better idea in which case the beauracracy will of course enact that, a fleet to defend against any local problems or border incursions by the Qravadox would be siphoned off. In any case, a new distribution of forces is needed.

But yeah, battleships. The good news is, they aren't that much more complicated that cruisers. Each ship still has three modular sections, the same amount. There are more choices, more equipment, more firepower on each though. So let's get to it!

** Breaker Section -- Six choices here, all of which carry 1 small, 2 medium, and 2 large utility slots. It's about the number and type of weapons they can mount, per usual. Star(2 small, 1 medium, 1 large), Titan(4 small, 1 large), Pulse(2 large), (2 small, 1 medium, 1 strike), Life(4 small, 2 medium), and Soul(2 small, 3 medium) are the options.
** Core Section -- The middle or core of a battleship also has six choices. All carry 1 small, 1 medium, and 2 large utilities. Options here are Nova(4 small, 2 large), Stormbringer(4 medium, 1 large), Thrasher(2 medium, 2 large), Singularity(3 large), Vengeance(4 medium, 1 strike), Garganthian(4 small, 2 strike).
** Bulwark Section -- It's ok if you breathe a bit here, as there are only four options this time. Lots of utility space here, with 2 small, 1 medium, 3 large. Aeon(2 small, 1 medium), Infinity(1 large), Epoch(2 medium), and Zenith(4 small) are the choices this time.

It's a guns. Lots of guns. Thing going on here. As always you can choose as many or as few configurations as you like. It'd be nice if you didn't go for the maximum though(there are 144 possible combinations of modules for the battleship!!!). I'd suggest something close to the three for the destroyer and cruiser that we have and some different roles, maybe four if you want. But it's up to you.

** Combat Computers -- Options are still the same here. Mixed is the default; Attack charges straight at the enemy with +5% damage, +5% evasion, and +10% speed; Bombardment attempts to fire from a distance with +3 to Hit(accuracy), +5% firing rate, and +10% weapons range.

Weapons Systems

We now have 12 of them. No, I'm not going to list them all, just the best ones to fill a specific role.

** Sentinel Point-Defense -- This is only used on small weapons slots and combats enemy strike craft. Other than the space amoebas, not seen in decades, we have not encountered any enemy that uses these -- but you never know when that might happen.
** Railgun -- Third-gen projectile weapon. Projectiles are distinguished by a 15% damage bonus against shields. As bonuses go, it isn't that great of one, though I would expect against a reasonably powerful enemy they'd have at least the option of shielding by this point. I'll use them as a baseline.
** Red Shard Thrower -- Only 82% of the railgun's base damage, this is the best of the shard throwers adapted from the crystalline entities. It's bonus is a 50% increase in armor penetration, which is significant esp. against larger ships. They also use a third more power than the railguns, which means a ship equipped with them needs more utility space devoted to reactors -- and less for shields/armor/plating.
** Ion Disruptors -- Another one we didn't have last time around. Double damage against shields, and they do 90% of railgun damage. The power requirement is the same as the red shard thrower, a third more than the railgun.
** UV Laser -- Third-gen 'standard laser' system. Almost exactly the same damage as a railgun, and also the same power usage, but they get 33% armor penetration. Unless going against an enemy with a lot of shields and little armor, which I've never seen and think we are unlikely to, I'd say this is a better choice than the railgun.
** Amoeba Flagella -- The bad news is that they have to survive enemy point-defense ... if they have any, otherwhise I don't think they can be targeted ... and close to point-blank range. Also, each 'strike craft bay' or whatever houses four and the power requirement is slightly worse than the hungriest large weapons we have so far. Good news is, their rate of damage is a little more than twice that of a railgun ... and they have double damage against shields along with +50% armor penetration. So they're amazing, if they can survive long enough to hit the enemy.

Ship Defenses/Survivability

Crystal-Forged Plating is still the best choice. It adds 50% more protection that our best deflectors and a little over double that of armor at worst(both at second-gen right now). Further advances such as the incoming third-gen plasteel armor may eventually change that, but right now we're still cramming as much of the stuff on the hull as we can fit after power requirements have been met. It sure hasn't let us down yet ...


Admiral SirFozzie, this completes your wall of text. Specifications for the new battleships and fleet division and composition orders are now indicated. I'll assume equal numbers of battleships to the other sizes unless you say otherwhise. Feel free to ask any questions you may have as always.

[Brian Swartz]

And that's that. Input from all leaders/lurkers is encouraged here as the Oncorhynchus Collective prepares for the next phase.

[chesapeake]

The High Inquisitor is concerned about trailing in research. Since we have a solid surplus in influence at the moment, are there any unused edicts available that would boost our research? I also think we need to boost out construction of research supporting station mods and planetary buildings.

The Collective's priorities for now are:
1) Research and Development
2) Naval investment
3) Colonization

As always, input from other members of the Collective is appreciated, and dissenting opinions in most cases will not result in execution.

[Brian Swartz]

'in most cases'? Lol. The thing about boosting planetary buildings and stations for research is that's already been done for some time. Any province that isn't more suitable for other things is already devoted to research on the core worlds. Any sector that has enough minerals and energy has its focus set to improving research. When the last war started there were no systems in our territory that hadn't been tapped for building research stations. A few more now but that process is already underway. Etc. So I can't really accelerate this, it's been at max effort for some decades.

In terms of Imperial Edicts, there are three research ones. Each provides a 30% boost to one branch(society/engineering/physics) with a 10% penalty to the other two, and costs the standard 0.85 influence. If we implemented all there, that would be 2.55 influence -- in that case I would cancel the new outpost as our montly income would still be cut in half to 2.6. This would give us, overall, +10% research to each branch.

There are no Planetary Edicts that boost research, at least none we have. Having the science ships assist at specific planets when they are free to do so will help, but they only increase each planet by 25% and none of our planets have enough research output individually for this to make more than a marginal difference.

As much as VIR hates to be the bearer of bad news -- though he knows that, being merely a computer, a virtual intelligence, it's not really possible to 'execute' him -- the main factor is simply our rapid growth. From the perspective of 'keepin' up with the Joneses ... or Bhenn'Thell/Qravadox, anyway' in research, we simply have gotten too big for our britches, too quickly. There's only so much that can be done to compensate for that.

Would the Inquisitor wish to implement any or all of the three research grants? Otherwhise his wishes seem clear at this time. Perhaps this concern could also be taken as a 'forceful encouragement' to our research directors that they should prioritize any options that might increase our technological advancement.

[chesapeake]

Execute all 3 research edicts.

Since we have to indefinitely defer the outpost (assuming that we don't have any other outposts that have outlived their usefulness and can be disassembled) what does the colonizable planet on Obetellus look like? A colony there at least pulls one of the troutstones into our sphere of influence.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

Execute all 3 research edicts.

Since we have to indefinitely defer the outpost (assuming that we don't have any other outposts that have outlived their usefulness and can be disassembled) what does the colonizable planet on Obetellus look like? A colony there at least pulls one of the troutstones into our sphere of influence.

A quiet question that seems ... relevant.

If growth is the primary contributing factor to our less-than-optimal research situation, what impact would an additional colony have on the 10% gains from the research edicts?

[Brian Swartz]

Research costs increase by 10% per planet, 1% per population above 10(which is only a relevant thing at the beginning of the game). So, colonizing one planet would make us slightly worse off than we are now, even with the edicts, since the population is constantly growing. Some of our planets are 'full', but most are not.

Obetellus has an ocean planet that is barely worth colonizing(size 10, just enough for the Planetary Capital, the top administrative tier we can build on colonies). I did already check on the other outposts. Yiriam, up by the Perj Sector, is basically going to need to be there forever as their are no worlds we can settle in the vicinity. Hanneri is the other one, in the outer arm and is there to support the extensive physics research that goes on in the system. Our nearby planets are not yet big enough to support controlling the system without it -- that may change in a few years but for now we can't take it down either. Of course we could just build the new outpost anyway, but that would put our influence at 1.6 per month and we'd have almost nothing to work with.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Research costs increase by 10% per planet, 1% per population above 10(which is only a relevant thing at the beginning of the game). So, colonizing one planet would make us slightly worse off than we are now, even with the edicts, since the population is constantly growing. Some of our planets are 'full', but most are not.

Thanks. Had a feeling that might be about the case.

[chesapeake]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Research costs increase by 10% per planet, 1% per population above 10(which is only a relevant thing at the beginning of the game). So, colonizing one planet would make us slightly worse off than we are now, even with the edicts, since the population is constantly growing. Some of our planets are 'full', but most are not.

I didn't realize the penalty for additional colonizations was quite so steep. In this case, it would seem that the best policy might be to cease focus on expansion and simply seek to grow taller for a while, until our research efforts catch up to those of our galactic rivals.

Do not impose the edicts. Build 2-3 frontier outposts where we can grab significant resources without having to colonize a planet. Colonize only planets that will develop over a reasonable amount of time such that it won't be a long-term drag on research. The Collective's priorities remain as stated earlier. We focus on research and economic development until we reach the top of the tech tree, and then we bring the love, peace and wisdom of the almighty Boojie to the rest of the galaxy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

... then we bring the love, peace and wisdom of the almighty Boojie to the rest of the galaxy.

... by any means necessary

[Brian Swartz]

As an fyi, there is no such thing as 'top of the tech tree'. There are procedurally generated techs that come into play eventually which can be researched essentially an infinite number of times. These provide small bonuses to various things. So if we wait until we have discovered everything there is to discover, we'll be waiting a long time.

Queue Snickers bar commercial ... 'not going anywhere for a while?'

[chesapeake]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

As an fyi, there is no such thing as 'top of the tech tree'. There are procedurally generated techs that come into play eventually which can be researched essentially an infinite number of times. These provide small bonuses to various things. So if we wait until we have discovered everything there is to discover, we'll be waiting a long time.

Queue Snickers bar commercial ... 'not going anywhere for a while?'

Sure, but I think you know what I mean. We need to get to the point where we can be confident that we aren't going to be bringing a knife to a gun fight.

[Brian Swartz]

I actually wasn't sure exactly what you meant. I don't think we are in a particularly bad situation right now -- technology advances in a fairly linear manner and being somewhat behind isn't crippling. We wouldn't want to take on the fallen empire(Buhavilaa Ascendancy) but from a tech point of view I'm not particularly worried about anyone else. Of course it's not my call to make and switching to a focus on growing taller will also have it's advantadges. I just try to clarify so I'm doing more or less what you want.

In that vein, it seems what we are looking for colonization-wise is to only go for the biggest, most lucrative planets, and space out the colony ships by probably a few years in between. I'll see how fast our research efforts improve. There are several habitable 20+ size worlds we can still go for, so plenty to keep us busy. We won't settle any of the smaller ones for the time being at least.

Since we haven't heard from the good admiral, I'm going to build three classes of battleships roughly along the same lines as the destroyers(1 close-range with strike craft, one long-range, and the third to deal with smaller ships). I expect a relatively quiet period of time upcoming, but I've been wrong before ...

[chesapeake]

My own natural play style is to go wide and not tall. I get frustrated with games that impose an artificial barrier to expanding, which I think this research penalty is.

My sense is that we're going to win this game UNLESS a competitor gets an unbeatable tech advantage over us somehow and we end up sending our dozens of musketeers up against a smaller but undefeatable group of armored infantry. A little time consolidating our gains also allows us to let our badboy go down.

I think you may be 2 task forces short of a full deck. Looking at the starmap, I think we need 3 speedbump task forces--one near the Djomar, a second by the Qravadox and a third to address any incursion from the Bhenn'Thell. Their job is to slow down the progress of any unexpected attack. The Fist of Boojie, containing the largest part of our Navy, lives at the homeworld or another central location and is prepared to deploy to any hot sector where it is needed to lay down the law.

[Brian Swartz]

2278-79

2278.05.01 -- Humboldt Spaceport finishes the upgrade to prepare for battleships; Bakangi is shortly behind. Each of the massive ships will require over five months' mineral supply, and take 16 months to construct.

08.09 -- Colony ship finished at Gabbog Spaceport. It will head to Rakaron, a max-size ocean planet just beyond the former Djomar territory. This will be the last new planet we settle for a while.

09.23 -- As one of the last debris fields is finished from the war, Armored Torpedoes have been blueprinted. These ignore shields and do about 15% more damage than our UV Lasers, but don't have the armor penetration. The long-range battleship variant will make use of them immediately. Power requirements will be slightly higher, but seemingly worth it in this case. As a general rule, torpedoes are slow, but they never miss.

11.10 -- Dangerous wildlife has been removed on Gabbog, so that a new science lab can be built there. Meanwhile the newly dispersed fleet is on its way to the new stations -- more on that when all assets have arrived.

2279.03.27 -- Last of the debris analyzed.

07.24 -- Physics Lab finished on Gabbog.

07.26 -- Qravadox have announced they are integrating the Ethneri Polity, their vassal. Soon, there will no longer be even the pretense of independence.

08.02 -- Fleet redistribution is in place.

What I did was a combination of my proposal and the Inquisitor's suggestion. There are three task forces instead of four, since the Fist of Boojie, stationed near the homeworld, would only be a few jumps away from any Bhenn'Thell incursion. The fleets near the Djomar and Qravadox areas have 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers, and 6 corvettes each at the moment; the Fist of Boojie has over 20 of each type. A 3:1:1 ratio will be basically maintained for now, until and unless the Admiral returns.

Energy surplus is at 52 a month, and that's with the one colony ship out there. Two battleships are on the way and there will be more over time -- they'll eat into that eventually. The first frontier outpost in being built in Lyctabon. All is progressing fairly quietly, and in about a year and a half there will be new research news if nothing else happens in the interim. I'll get a shot of one of the new battleships up for that to provide a bit of visuality.

[Brian Swartz]

2280

2279.12.01 -- First battleship completed at Humboldt Spaceport.

Here it is en route to the rest of the main fleet(Fist of Boojie) in Impal Tov.





2280.03.01 -- Frontier outpost finished in Lyctabon. Another will be built in Huntur to seal off any further advance by he Anathurian Mandate.

06.11 -- Bakangi completes a second battleship.

10.01 -- The Rakaron colony has been established.

10.02 -- Space-Time Theory research completed. A new set of provincial upgrades, better physics labs for the core worlds, will now begin.

12.25 -- First contact with the Fex'Klanga Hierarchy. Haven't had one of these in a while. They don't appear to be of any real significance.

2281.01.02 -- Plasteel Materials research finished. Building of new orbital stations etc. continues, but overall progress on increasing research is slow, if steady.

[Brian Swartz]

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Frank Justyce

** Self-Aware Logic(Computing, 27 mo.) -- +1 to research alternatives(at least four each time instead of three)
** AI Controlled Colony Ships(Computing, 14 mo.) -- Increases speed of setting up colonies by 25%(9 mo. instead of 12)
** Gravitic Sensors(Voidcraft, 7 mo.) -- Increases survey speed by 15%. Sensor range and weapon accuracy are also slightly increased.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Coffee Warlord

** Deep Core Mining(Industry, 8 mo.) == +1000 mineral storage(presently 16k). Unlocks Mining Network III.
** Superfluid Materials(Industry, 82 mo.) -- Unlocks Engineering Facility IV & V.
** Impulse Thrusters(Rocketry, 67 mo.) -- Impulse Thrusters give an additional 10% sublight speed and +5 evasion over our present plasma thrusters.

You know what do, gentlemen.

[Coffee Warlord]

We'll do a quick one this time, and see what comes up. Deep Core Mining.

[mrkilla22]

Let's research Gravitic Sensors

[Brian Swartz]

As it turns out, VIR gave some bad info. Deep Core Mining isn't an 8 month project ... it's a little over two years. Still the shortest of the three though, and in the interests of keeping things going I'm sticking with it. Will try to be more accurate in the future.

[Brian Swartz]

2281.05.09 -- Eskogg finishes upgrading it's physics labs -- the other planets are still working on theirs.

05.29 -- Frontier outpost finished in the Huntur system. Building orbital stations for everything will take some years yet, but we've secured all the territory up where the Anathurian Mandate lies.

06.02 -- Gravitic Sensors research completed. That didn't take long, esp. since there was some saved up and the physics investment that is going on right now.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Frank Justyce

** Interlinked Support Systems(Computing, 35 mo.) -- Unlocks Barrier Point Defense, an upgrade for anti-strike craft duty to our current(unused) Sentinel point defense weapons.
** Database Uplinks(Computing, 7 mo.) -- Unlocks the Assist Research mission. That would be a nice thing for our scientists to give us a minor research boost, as they are presently all three inactive and twiddling their thumbs in various locations with nothing useful to do.
** Plasma Throwers(Particles, 26 mo.) -- Plasma Throwers get a nice 75% armor penetration, but are not as powerful as our best weapons otherwhise. Of course, it may be possible to develop more advanced variants if we take this step ...

Dr. Frank Justyce, you are on the clock again with a quick turnaround.

[mrkilla22]

Let's research Database Uplinks

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by mrkilla22

Let's research Database Uplinks

I like the choice.

Aside from the obvious boost, I like the quick turnaround stuff right now. Who knows what we might unlock or have pop up with frequent choices to make.

[tarcone]

Im bored. This gives me something to do.

[SirFozzie]

Sorry, I didn't know there was something requiring my attention. That's good though

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Sorry, I didn't know there was something requiring my attention. That's good though

Let me know if you wish to make any rudder orders, else I'll keep on keepin' on.

[Brian Swartz]

2281.10.20 -- First contact with a race styling themselves the Haddam Commonwealth. Weird purplish insect-like things, they are individualists and fanatic pacifists. Don't see us getting on well with them. They are yet another Qravadox vassal. I'll say this for the QSC, they are doing things their own unique way; strength through quasi-independent servants. Incidentally, the QSC's most recent expression of good will and hopes for peace was to refer to the entirety of the Architreuthis race as 'simple-minded herd animals'.

11.30 -- Bakangi finishes upgrades on our third Troutian power plant. We should be able to get two more soon, but the deposits near the Anathurian border have not yet been tapped.

12.16 -- Physics labs upgrades are finished on Agglor. Our first two planets still are working on them.

2282.01.02 -- Database Uplinks research completed. I'll have to look into where the best places are for our scientists to deploy now, but first things first.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Frank Justyce

Again :P.

** Zero Point Power(Particles, 108 mo.) -- Unlocks Zero Point Reactors, which are somehow able to extract energy from microscopic particles contained in the vacuum of space. There are no even theoretical ideas about any possible way to improve from here. Energy storage is increased by 250(presently 4250), and these reactors are 20% more efficient than our present antimatter variants.
** Hyperspace Slipstreams(Particles, 64 mo.) -- Improves our hyperdrives to allow for another 25% decrease in charging time per jump, from our present 75% to 50%.
** Uplink Miniaturization(Computing, 25 mo.) -- This doubles the effectiveness of our scientists assisting research on a planet by vastly expanding the data stream they have access to(or some such pseudoscientific poppycock)

Dr. Frank Justyce, it looks like you'll have to pick a somewhat longer task this time.