Galactic Dreams(Stellaris, Interactive/Community)

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've passed on this several times previously, so I guess we'll go Dark Matter Drawing on this pull.

[Brian Swartz]

2432 - 36

Society goes for Propaganda Transmissions II, expanding our border range, because why fight for what you can just peacefully 'acquire'?

2433.01.01 -- With the latest new year arriving, spaceport construction in the systems we acquired in the last war has been finished. That basically means more resources available to accelerate shipbuilding. Gabbog gets back in the game as a third dedicated spaceport, and Eskogg will as well once it finishes the Battleship Assembly Yards -- no point in wasting resources, we're only building the big dogs these days.

Meanwhile we've found another primitive civilation(Iron Age) to study, and we'll work on exploiting that while survey efforts continue. Probably in a few years it'll be time to 'visit' the Ul-Tur.

2434.01.01 -- The new systems have all of their new armies as well, and effort switches to finishing up the outer arm.

04.?? -- It is believed that evidence of an alien barracks from a past civilization has been found on one of the systems we are surveying, known as Vana. Once the rest of the area has been surveyed, that will bear closer study ... it should be noted that Dr. Tarcis is on survey duty by now as well, but he was a assigned a different system at the time that proved less fruitful -- in fact it was extremely routine and boring, according to the reports.

09.09 -- The last debris field from the war is assessed. While the Imperium is still listed as having 'Superior' technology to us, we learned of nothing new; only minor incidental applications were discovered. It would seem that at least in matters of fleet combat, they have nothing left to teach us. Dr. Palmieri can finally return to his previously scheduled studies.

12.23 -- The barracks investigation is complete.





The long and the short of it is the good doctor got an xp boost and is now more proficient in researching matters of Military Theory.

2435.01.01 -- We're now up to 80 operational battleships, with five spaceports going strong on those ... and still not using all of the minerals we produce. Craziness. It's not really worthwhile to add more though, as each one has it's own upkeep -- the Battleship Assembly Yards suck 4 energy per month per location. We should easily be back on the offensive before the end of the decade, and logistically we are approaching two-thirds of the maximum allowable fleet size anyway. Most of the available 15+-size planets have also been colonized at this point. Lots of progress in the cleanup part of this cycle, and it's all gone off without a hitch.

02.14 -- The Imperium begins integrating another vassal. Regardless of what they do, they've been reduced to the point of barely being relevant.

10.02 -- Propaganda Transmissions II research finished. Xenology is next, just to get the stupid option from continuing to pop up. We did get one new system out of the increased borders, but we're so tight up against the planets of other empires as it is that there really isn't much more to be gained I don't think.

2436.03.02 -- Corps of Engineers is the first Engineering project to be finished in decades.

05.02 -- Dark Matter Drawing research finished.

A number of things are wrapping up. Probably about three years before the Uri conflict begins. Our relative fleet strength remains fairly constant, which implies everybody is probably using the period of peace to rebuild. We won't delay as soon as we are ready; that would give them extra time to recover. In the meantime, they have this to say(Empress Fermess'l I):

"Architreuthean larvae are perfectly sized for some of the slimmer crevices in our mines. And I think about this."

They won't be so smug once we've killed a few billion and educated the rest in the finer points of Boojie's teachings ...

[Brian Swartz]

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

Incidentally our total dark matter resource count is ... two. Still better than nothing. Have to figure out where the build them.

** Focusing Arrays II(Particles, 40 mo.) -- +5% Energy Weapon Damage.

** Phase Disruptors(Particles, 64 mo.)

** Shield Harmonics II(Field Manipulation, 40 mo.) -- +5% shield HP

** Gravitational Analysis III(Computing, 48 mo.) -- -5% building costs


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Deacon Palmieri III

** Deep Space Installations(Voidcraft, 38 mo.) -- Unlocks the Fortress, the third tier of space stations. It's the biggest one we've run into, might be the biggest available.

** High-Density Munitions(Materials, 33 mo.) -- +5% Kinetic Weapon damage

** Teldar Crystal Mining(Materials, 8 mo.) -- The Teldar Ammunition Factory is a +10% bonus to kinetic weaponry.

** Heat Recyclers(Voidcraft, 33 mo.) -- +5% Strike Craft attack rate.

** Kinetic Artillery(Materials, 3/64 mo.)

There you have it. Next choices are due at your leisure gentlemen.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Gravitational Analysis III

[ntndeacon]

Deep Space Installations

[Brian Swartz]

2436-2439


2436.06.02 -- Xenology research complete. Xeno Zoo is another cheap one, allowing for a happiness-boosting building. This could be useful for making systems like those tomb worlds productive. Maybe the Alien Pets do have a use.

07.02 -- A Machine-Age civilization, more advanced than the other ones we are studying, has been discovered near the Buhavilaa border. They are pacifists and invidualists, but despite being idiots, they are also good merchants and miners. Absorbing this culture into the Collective is probably the best option here.

Having knocked out all the other candidates, it's time for those two tomb worlds. But who shall we send? Frankly there's no better choice than our own people, given how adaptive we are. It'll be a very hard life at best for those who go, but we've never shrunk back from fresh frontiers.

12.30 -- Observation post above Sol'Ahnace is finished, and covert infiltration begun. It's been almost two centuries since we had a chance at this(the Shantari back on Wexellia way back in the early days) but it's a fresh opportunity for our operatives.

2437.04.02 -- Xeno Zoo research finished. Talent Acquisition II will reduce leader recruitment costs a bit more.

11.10 -- First contact with the Multyx Remnant. An empire resembling beetles, they are another 'fallen empire'. They state that they 'may refrain from annihilating us' if we stay away from their holy sites. Internally we now view their fleet(and that of the Buhavilaa as well) as Inferior, though with equal technological capabilities. The Multyx are on the opposite side of the galaxy, and we are not concerned in the least.

2439.01.01 -- It is time. Every internal project is complete or nearly so:

** Army recruitment: Probably about three years away from being finished. We don't need Gene Warriors everywhere, but we've almost completed doing it anyway. It's one of those luxuries of over-defense that only an absurdly powerful empire can afford. An empire like us.

** Energy surplus is about 250, minerals over 1500 per month. Even with massive shipbuilding and infrastructure(spaceport) construction, we can barely use it all. We want to keep energy at about the +200 mark at this point, so there's only minimal building that can still be done.

** One Dark Matter reactor up, another coming.

** There's a colony ship being built to head to a large continental planet recently surveyed. Otherwhise, everything 15+ has been settled, and only a few spaceports remain.

** The last two unsurveyed systems are being finished up.

** Even the infiltration work is going well.

** A few factions are still causing disturbances, but they simply aren't enough to matter. The sheer overwhelming force of our size and the massive overall economy dwarfs any little disruptions they achieve. They are insignificant specks beneath our notice.


The Uri are now to feel the brunt of our fleets. I honestly feel sorry for them, truly I do. We're now at the previously-unthought-of level of 97 battleships, and rising(776/1000 naval capacity). Think of the monologue at the beginning of Patton by George C. Scott. The Hegemony has over 80 planets, by far the second-largest power in the galaxy; we have 133. They're listed as Inferior in fleet power, Equivalent in other measurements.

This is basically the last chance for aggressive despots like them who do not listen to the voice of Boojie. His glorious doctrines and dulcid tones will reign without fear of contradiction in increasing measure if we prevail here as anticipated. And so the word goes forth from our esteemed to Patriach to Admiral Shugglerm and General Paggro; the dogs of war are to be unleashed once more ...





Practically speaking, the Uri's victory against the Imperium made things easier; it gave us a common border. The green area is where we will make our push; the black is a vassal of the Bhenn'Thell, but almost all of this area belongs to the Uri Hegemony. Much like the last war, we'll be seeking surrender of a large area, around 12-15 planets.

As it turns out, I miscalculated and we had already overbuilt the fleet; energy negative big, giving us only a year and a half worth of operations as soon as the fleet left. That's not enough. All current shipbuilding was canceled, and . The issue here was the negative happiness from offensive wars, which I didn't take enough into account. Knocking the fleet down to 85 battleships upped things to about two and a half years. I left it there for now, figuring we'd take some losses, grow the economy, etc. during the interim some. Will have to watch it closely and make further adjustments though. Above a certain fleet size, the energy cap makes it quite difficult to wage a big war.

02.01 -- The first couple of infiltration stages on Sol'Ahnace have gone off without a hitch.

03.05 -- Just over two months after the declaration. Sensors have picked up no hostile Uri ships, and we enter their territory for the first time.

03.30 -- All survey efforts have been completed for the time being. The science ships return to planetary research assistance while waiting to see what happens in our latest conflict.

04.29 -- A rogue agent is disrupting matters on Sol'Ahnace, much like happened in our last attempt. We've located him though, and plans are drawn up for a small orbital bombardment to eliminate the city block he is located in. Rather than send a battleship there, a single corvette is designed for the task. We still have the Defender design, which is armed with plasma accelerators. That'll do fine. There is an absurdly generous two-year clock on this operation.

09.02 -- Deep Space Installations research finished. The army is landing on our first target, Athanebia. We've seen one small task force but have only had token resistance from a spaceport and orbital stations so far. 32 months of energy reserves are available right now, actually slightly more than the start of the war due to economic improvements, most notably the second Dark Matter Reactor coming online. It's early, but it looks good so far.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Deacon Palmieri III

** Anti-Matter Missiles(Rocketry, 15 mo.) -- A very outdated missile tech, but it is the next step down that path.

** Synthetics(Industry, 48 mo.) -- Another shot at this RARE/DANGEROUS path, should you choose to take it.

** Fortified Core Layers(Voidcraft, 34 mo.) -- A new option here. This allows for 10% increased HP for our military stations, due to additional layers of armor plating being employed.

** Hull Integrity II(Voidcraft, 42 mo.) -- Another 5% increase in the hit points of our ships.

** Kinetic Artillery(Material, 3/66 mo.)

Dr. Deacon Palmieri III, you are on the clock. The war with the Uri will continue when you've had your say.

[ntndeacon]

Fortified Core Layers

[Brian Swartz]

2439-40

2439.09.18 -- That didn't take long, less than three weeks for the ground combat to finish up. One planet down.

10.23 -- Now starts the Uri response. Just as the Fist of Boojie is about to jump out to the next system, a fleet of several dozen ships, mostly corvettes, arrives. Then a second one shortly afterwards.

11.05 -- Now a third, almost on top of us. Between the three of them, they outnumber us about two to one.




Of course, our ships are far larger with almost all of the Uri fleets being corvettes, but still we may take some losses here.

11.18 -- Having seen about 40 corvettes obliterated in a single salvo, I then watched a fourth group jump in!




It was a real light show at knife-fight range, and even our nearby transports did not emerge unscathed. There were only so many weapons, and far more targets.

2440.01.28 -- After exactly three months of fighting, it was over.




This doesn't show everything: there were seven different groups of Uri ships altogether. Still you can see that the damage was rather one-sided. For our side, we did lose 70% of our troop transports; they were so close by due to being readied to jump out to the next system. This is simultaneously a great tragedy and almost completely irrelevant. Gene Warriors from a few systems, easily replaced later, were mobilized and sent in. This will amount to a delay of maybe weeks at most; perhaps not even that. Amazingly, not a single battleship was lost, though some were damaged pretty badly. On the Uri side though, the ledger read as follows:

13 transports
285 Corvettes
49 Destroyers
16 Cruiser
9 Battleships

It was so overwhelming that we even destroyed a ship that wasn't even there; the summary showed that for one flotilla, 44 out of 43 corvettes were eliminated! 372 total vessels blown into so much space debris. I'm not sure we exceeded that in any single battle even against the Scourge. This will definitely be a day long remembered. Even though we lost so many armies, the overall picture was still an overwhelming victory.

Intelligence reports that we have smashed the vast majority of their fleet here. Already we can potentially enter the mop-up phase of this war.

02.03 -- Setback on Sol'Anhace, as a few of the planets leaders have not been replaced yet on schedule.

04.01 --




Another small matter to deal with.

05.19 --




Unlike last time, we were able to find the bastard this go-round.

06.17 -- Gethmar, governor of Eskogg, dies at 162. It has been some time since we lost one of our leaders. It was a small matter to find a fairly young candidate skilled in the sciences.

07.02 -- Gravitational Analysis research completed. The Uri tried the usual tactic of sending transports in after our fleet moved on, but leaving a few battleships behind has put a quick end to that. Slow, steady progress in the war is expected, and the energy balance is now almost up to even so we can do this as long as is necessary. It would seem only a matter of time.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

** Planetary Signal Boosters(Voidcraft, 41 mo.) -- +10% planetary sensor range

** Sentient Combat Simulations(Computing, 48 mo.)

** Assembly Algorithms II(Computing, 41 mo.) -- -5% construction time

** Applied Superconductivity II(Industry, 41 mo.) -- +5% energy

Dr. JIMGA Jr., at a mere 261 years of age, you must choose again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Planetary Signal Boosters

[tarcone]

AwesomThe universe seems to be ours.

[Brian Swartz]

At least the galaxy seems to be at any rate.

2440-42

It was the usual slow, but steady progression through Uri territory. The bombardment of such a massive fleet meant that the armies would launch shortly after it had begun; it takes a week and a half to reach the surface, and by then the planet would be defenseless.

2441.04.02 -- Talent Acquisition II finished, followed by Nerve Dampeners II(+10% Army Health). We don't really need that -- or anything else on offer.

05.02 -- Upon investigating an underground vault on the Tomb world Xir, disaster struck ...




A handful of Gene Warrior Armies from nearby Khamb were sent to deal with the situation, though they may be too late. It is expected that the local garrison will be overrun by then.

06.13 -- Xir has been lost as expected. The relief force has just reached the edge of the Khamb system, and is powering up drives for the jump. We can only hope they will arrive in time ...




07.26




The situation is worse than we thought. The mutant horde on Xir has taken over our spaceport! A contingent of battleships is dispatched from our main fleet to deal with this mess, but that will take more time ...


12.01 -- Sol'Ahnace has joined the Collective; work there is complete. Meanwhile a fairly notable counter-attack of three smallish fleets in Niffra has been eliminated as well.

2442.01.06 -- We were too late on Xir ... only by weeks, but the mutant horde wiped out everyone and we will have to recolonize it. This time we'll have armies in place at the start in case more of them show up. It appears we underestimated the depth of the secrets and devastation here.

07.19




The Uri did it again, or rather their vassal the Uindar Hegemony this time, attacking our transports just as they were about to jump out. The fleet returned, but it was far too late ... all of our attack force was obliterated. There are plenty more, but we are starting to become annoyed. Strangely, while the fleet is doing fine, we've lost more armies in transit than from all causes in all previous wars combined.

08.02 -- Fortified Core Layers research finished. Despite all the unpleasantness, the war is successful overall. The army is getting hammered, but we're more than halfway done and have taken several Uri systems.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Deacon Palmieri III

** Teldar Crystal Mining(Industry, 8 mo.) -- +10% Kinetic Weapon Damage

** Synchronized Firing Patterns(Voidcraft, 33 mo.) -- +10% Military Station weapons damage

** Heat Recyclers(Voidcraft, 33 mo.) -- +5% Strike Craft attack speed

** High-Density Munitions(Materials, 33 mo.) -- +5% Kinetic Weapon Damage

** Kinetic Artillery(Materials, 3/66 mo.)

[tarcone]

Maybe Bring a construction ship and build a military station as quickly as possible.

Great stuff.

[Brian Swartz]

I think it'll be more effective to deal with it on the ground: for all I know they would simply take over the military station too, making things even worse. 3 Xenomorph armies were generated, which would not be fun if we were lower in our research, but a few Gene Warriors would mop them up quickly.

[Brian Swartz]

Just a ping for Engineering here, I'll progress tomorrow.

[ntndeacon]

Heat Recyclers

Sorry I missed that update.

[Brian Swartz]

No problem. As it ended up I was too busy to do much with this anyway, so it's probably going to be a day or two.

[Brian Swartz]

2442-47

2442.09.22 -- After about a month of fighting, we got revenge on the Uindar fleets. Only a single cruiser escaped out of several dozen ships, including 7 battleships and 11 cruisers. With replacement invasion armies on their way again, it was time to press forward.

2443.01.01 -- Ul-Tur army recruitment, suspended at the start of the war to conserve energy(it's a fairly expensive training process at 50 energy per army) is resumed to begin replacing our losses. Meanwhile, another colony ship departs for Xir. Shipbuilding will remain inactive though; until we replace some of the armies and end the war, we don't really know how the energy situation is going to look. And there's no need, what we have is enough overkill as it is.

Meanwhile the Bhenn'Thell haven't had enough war yet; they are invading the Conglomerate of Shantaxavani, one of the larger middle-range powers at 28 planets, just on the other side of the core. Just don't know when to quit I guess.

2444.01.02 -- Planetary Signal Boosters research finished. In accordance with previous instructions set, I choose in place of JIMGA for this round. Both of the quick items this time would give us some benefit to our main weapons: Flash Coolant II increases the firing rate by 5%.

07.02 -- Nerve Dampeners research finished; Transgenic Crops(+5% food empire-wide) is the quickest useful project next.

2445.03.22 -- We have smashed enough things and killed enough of their people to convince the Uri to surrender. 17 new planets were acquired in this campaign. All of the usual post-war consolidation activities now swing into action ...







The latest star charts. The area in the first shot that we just conquered is in the upper middle here.

07.21 -- First contact with the Union of Vurxac Planet-States, a new member of the galactic neighborhood in our neck of the woods.

10.25 -- With the fleet back in port as it were, shipbuilding begins again. The energy surplus is even larger than the last time, nearly 700 per month. I'll be keeping a bigger margin there, probably about 350-400, but that still leaves plenty of room to grow. Rather absurd the numbers at this point. With a ton of new spacesports to build though and the constant expense of new armies, we'll need every last bit of an almost 1.9k mineral surplus for the next few years.

2446.01.14 -- Admiral Shugglerm dies at the age of 160. He is a veteran of many campaigns, including against the Bhenn'Thell and the Uri. It was his leadership and 'never retreat, never surrender' dictum that made him the greatest military hero in our history during the eventually successful fight against the Prethoryn Scourge. A blind drunk could win any conflicts we are expected to face now, but that was not always the case.

Due merely to the loss of his skill, over 150 energy per month more is needed to keep the fleet running. That's a huge, and very practical, measure of what we've lost.

2447.03.02 -- Transgenic Crops research finished. Aggressive Conditioning II will increase the damage output of our armies by 10%. They can already take over most planets in a little over a week, but why not.

07.02 -- Flash Coolant research finished.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

By the way, you have now officially broken the laws of mathematics. It's been obvious for a long time now that you are 'bugged', but your monthly death chance is at 111%. Apparently the universe needs to be educated on how percentages work ...

** Applied Superconductivity II(Industry, 40 mo.) -- +5% energy

** Planetary Signal Boosters III(Voidcraft, 47 mo.) -- +10% planetary sensor range

** Sentient Combat Simulations(Computing, 46 mo.)

** Assembly Algorithms II(Computing, 40 mo.) -- -5% construction time

[Brian Swartz]

The Final Chapters

Ladies and gentlemen, it is now almost time for the tale of the Architreuthis and the Great Boojie to come to an end. In the end-game, at least prior to the last few patches that we can't use on this file, things very much become more work than game. Anyone who wants to see the actual victory screens, youtube is your friend. Our power is absurd to the point where none can challenge us.

However, this story would be not be complete without visiting the justice and benevolence of Boojie upon one more adversary. I'm speaking of course about the jaw-flapping arrogance of the Buhavilaa Ascendancy. Fallen empires have some uniqueness to them which is worth experiencing; I haven't seen all of it, only bits and pieces myself. So we'll go through one more round of peacetime consolidation and then we'll hit them with everything we've got. Consider this a victory lap. If there anything anyone wanted to see done, research that you still want to get to, etc., now's the time to speak up. The Oncorhynchus Collective has been led in general quite well -- but you've all worked yourselves out of a job at this point. I plan on showing more screenshots of this final conflict than usual, which will feature a fleet that is at least close to the logisitical max. The sheer absurd overkill will be displayed as we show our would-be overlords the true meaning of enlightenment.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sentient Combat Simulations

[chesapeake]

The High Inquisitor strongly supports introducing the wisdom and love of Boojie to the Buhavilaa. All (and he means ALL) necessary resources are to be allocated to this effort.

[Brian Swartz]

2447-2450

There isn't a lot to actually report here, but it was a lot of time and work to plow through these years. The hardest part is done now though.

2447.07.25 -- Apparently there are still some things we can learn. Debris in the Kerensa system, after several fruitless studies, revealed progress towards no less than four different possibilities.

2449.01.01 -- Spaceports in the newly conquered territories are all up and running; the usual mid-level with Solar Panels(to pay for the maintenance) and Observatories(to counteract research slowdown). Long way to go yet on Gene Warrior recruitment and survey work; still a bit left on debris studies. Also put some of our saved-up influence to work on a couple of integration campaigns. We have about 3-4 provincial buildings get destroyed a year by conquered dissidents, and as expected the Uri are becoming troublesome. Nothing to worry about, but any problems like that we might as well minimize if possible.

2450.03.10 -- All debris work is now done; survey efforts will multiply at this point. The army is almost ready as well. The Uri territories have been garrisoned, except for a few systems that are actually outside of our travel range. Oops. A second pass is being made through the entire empire to ensure everyone has enough: over time populations grow in the newer colonies, so some of them will need the occasional reinforcement of new Gene Warriors.

All in all we appear to be only a few years away from being ready to embark on our crusade against the Buhavilaa. Not quite there yet though, and it looks like survey efforts will be the last item to complete. The navy is maybe three years at most from completing it's latest round of expansion. When we are a little closer, I'll switch over the sectors from research to energy focus and hopefully get a few more ships built just for the heck of it.

05.02 -- Aggressive Conditioning(increased army damage) research finished. Society moves on with Doctrine: Reactive Formations. We don't need anything that's up as an option, so might as well go with the quickest useless one.

06.02 -- Heat Recyclers research finished.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Deacon Palmieri III


** Synthetics(Industry, 45 mo.)

** Loader Efficiency(Materials, 32 mo.) -- +5% kinetic weapons attack speed

** Garanthium Mining(Materials, 8 mo.) -- I think this is actually a new one. Garanthium Ore can be used in forges which increase ship HP by 10%; they also require energy for maintenance. A good idea that might be too late for this game, as we don't have many more ships to build.

** Antimatter Missiles(Rocketry, 14 mo.)

** Kinetic Artillery(Materials, 9/62 mo.)


Dr. Deacon Palmieri III, you have the floor.

[Brian Swartz]

Just want to add a ping to Engineering here after the holiday weekend.

[ntndeacon]

Let's go synthetics

[Brian Swartz]

2450-51

Not a whole lot happened.

01.02 -- Doctrine: Reactive Formations completed. This unlocked some interesting military techs. All of them were ignored so that we could get Sentient Resource Management II, increasing the leader cap.

05.02 -- Sentient Combat Simulations research finished. Once the current round of shipbuilding is finished in a couple of years, we'll upgrade to the new combat computers.


Research Director's Briefing: DR. JIMGA Jr.

** Focusing Arrays II(Particles, 38 mo.) -- +5% Energy weapon damage

** Shield Harmonics II(Field Manipulation, 38 mo.) -- -5% shield hitpoints

** Gravitational Analysis IV(Computing, 54 mo.) -- -5% building costs

** Flash Coolant III(Particles, 46 mo.) -- +5% energy weapon firing rate.

Four procedural options. How exciting. There are several reverse-engineered things also, but none worth mentioning at this point. Dr. JIMGA Jr., you still must pick one.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Does Shield Harmonics II require re-fitting on our ships or is it an immediate boost?

If immediate then go Shield Harmonics II
If it requires retrofitting but can be done with new combat computer upgrade, then also go Shield Harmonics II

If it would require ships to rotate through for upgrade & that would be out of synch with other work then go Gravitational Analysis IV

[Brian Swartz]

All of these are immediate effects, so Shield Harmonics II it is.

[Brian Swartz]

2451-54

2453.11.?? -- The Confederation of Ir-Vol-Ta, formerly semi-friends, has decided to declare us rivals. This is a bit humorous, but completely irrelevant. They are a little under a third our size and we could crush them at will.

12.04 -- Shortly afterwards, the fleet upgrade is finished with the new sentient combat AIs. Trials have been better than expected, with over a 6% increase in expected effectiveness. Survey efforts are nearly complete; one colony has been set up and a second ship is nearly to it's destination. No others are planned.

In short, we are nearing the time for the final campaign. A couple of matters still need attending to though. We could build more ships; naval capacity is at 92%, 115 out of a maximum of 125 battleships. It'd be nice to get there, but wouldn't help if we just have to disband some of them immediately. Our estimates, revised but usually off, are all we have to go by. The current target for monthly energy surplus for the existing force is 438 pre-war; we are presently at 441. That's about as close as it gets, but the army recruiting continues. New colonies need troops, and those worlds that are still growing occasionally need reinforcements. In an empire of 150+ planets, that's a surprising amount still needed. So we are still a few years away there.

When it looks like we are almost done with the army's needs, sector priorities will switch over to energy and we'll see if we can afford any more battleships. For now, the spaceport construction facilities are quiet.

2454.01.04 -- A surprisingly diplomatic request ...




We told them to shove their suggestion, of course.

02.08 -- Their reply was less kind.




We once again told them where they could shove their opinions.

02.23 -- Another item checked off the list as the last remaining system within our grasp is surveyed.

04.02 -- Synthetics research completed.

08.02 -- The day after the Sadatoni colony is up and running, Sentient Resource Management and Shield Harmonics are finished also. So far the Buhavilaa bluster has been just that and nothing more. If they do attack, all they do is hasten the start of the war by a few years. And if not, preparations continue. Society moves on to Nerve Dampeners III(increasing army health more), and a new governor is recruited. Meanwhile we need more instructions from the other departments.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

** Applied Superconductivity II(Industry, 38 mo.) -- +5% energy

** Assembly Algorithms II(Computing, 38 mo.) -- -5% construction time

** Planetary Signal Boosters III(Voidcraft, 45 mo.) -- +10% planetary sensor range.

Only three options this time, for reasons unknown.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Deacon Palmieri III

** Heat Recyclers II(Voidcraft, 39 mo.) -- +5% strike craft attack rate

** Teldar Crystal Mining(Materials, 8 mo.)

** Matter Compression II(Materials, 39 mo.) -- +5% armor

** Synthetic Personality Matrix(Industry, 53 mo.) -- RARE. Allow a policy choice that permits synthetic leaders, making them fully equal to us in all aspects of society.

Dr. JIMGA Jr. and Dr. Deacon Palmieri III, these may well be your last peacetime selections. Choose wisely.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Applied Superconductivity II

[ntndeacon]

heat recyclers II

[Brian Swartz]

2454-57

2455.01.01 -- Two years is set as the target date to be ready for invasion. It's time to switch the sectors over to energy focus. Another round of five battleships are built. When they're done, we'll see if there is enough funding for more.

05.01 -- Looks like our energy will be more than sufficient; a final round of battleships is ordered. That'll put us at the max, sometime in early-mid 2457. Then it will be time to strike.

2457.07.02 -- Heat Recyclers II research finished.

08.01 -- A month later, the word is finally given; the last campaign of the Oncorhynchus Collective is to commence. It is war with the paternalistic meddlers of the Buhavilaa, who foolishly usurp Boojie's place at the head of the galaxy.




Arrogant to the last.




They have but two systems, but they are unique. We'll start with the more minor of the two, the Beacon of Stability. There are about three years or a little more worth of energy reserves. That should be enough, but we'll keep a close eye on it.




The insufferable enemy has sent a single battlecruiser, which appear to be similar in capability but somewhat inferior to our battleships, to each of three border systems. A handful of battleships are split off to deal with each of these threats. Perhaps our spaceports can handle these on their own, but there's no point in being foolhardy.

10.02 -- Applied Superconductivity II research finished. Energy is now back in the positive, so we can sustain this conflict for as long as we need to. A mining station in Tirmana reports contact with the enemy, but help is on the way -- and the Fist of Boojie is preparing for the jump into Buhavilaa space. This will be the first time anyone has dared attack them in known history.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

** Focusing Arrays II(Particles, 39 mo.) -- +5% energy weapon damage

** Shield Harmonics III(Field Manipulation, 47 mo.) -- +5% shield hitpoints

** Gravitational Analysis IV(Computing, 54 mo.) -- -5% building costs

** Flash Coolant III(Particles, 47 mo.) -- +5% energy weapon attack speed

Pretty safe to say there is nothing but procedural techs in your future. Not that it matters at this point.


Research Director's Breifing: Dr. Deacon Palmieri III

** Synchronized Firing Patterns(Voidcraft, 32 mo.) -- +10% military station damage

** Antimatter Missiles(Rocketry, 14 mo.)

** Garanthium Mining(Materials, 8 mo.)

** High-Density Munitions(Materials, 32 mo.) == +5% kinetic weapons damage

The war will get properly under way once we have new directives here.

[ntndeacon]

antimatter missles

I guess we can try them

[JonInMiddleGA]

Shield Harmonics III

[Brian Swartz]

2457-END

2457.10.12 -- The main fleet makes the jump into Buhavilaa space.




Why are they so powerful with only two systems inhabited? Well, they have ringworlds! Also notice that the fleet(this is top-down, so no perspective distortion) is as big as the star or bigger. 125 battleships is an absurdly large force by any reckoning. Sensors indicate almost all of their fleet is in the other system. I think we could handle them all at once fairly comfortably ... but I'd prefer not to have to find out.

12.07 -- Oh look ... visitors.




By now one of their raiding battlecruisers has been eliminated, and the other two will be soon. That will give our science ships something to do; more debris work.




A bit later, here's a close-up of what they look like.

2458.03.08 -- Everything in the system has been defeated, and Admiral Sagglor gains two ranks (** to ****) as well. Time to land the army.

We lost five battleships, as well as some transports before we sent them away to avoid further problems.

04.02 -- Nerve Dampeners III finished. Interstellar Fleet Traditions is next, allowing for a new module(Fleet Academy) and an edict(The Grand Fleet). It's too late to matter, but otherwhise those would be useful.




Side view of the ring as our men are about to land.


05.27 -- They have only standard defensive armies and the invasion doesn't take long. Now for the real work: the Beacon of Infinity.




They decide to come to us. That was probably unwise. Several fleets jump in, combined about half of our strength or a little more. I'm surprised the fabric of space-time doesn't rip apart under the strain. Ultimately they lose over 100 ships in a matter of a couple weeks; we lose nothing, though we did take some damage. This really should be over now.




It takes some time to pound away at the four spaceports in the Infinity system. It takes some time to get into range, and those things have lances on them, and several battleships worth of HP, with heavy armor. We take a few losses, but still have over 100 battleships when they are cleared out. The spaceports are the only thing we've run into that out-ranges us ... but once a few battleships get close enough to fire, they go down quickly enough.

2459.08.18 --




Interesting. Once debris is done we'll look into this.

11.28 --




They finally acquiesce to the inevitable. All is left is the science. There is a third ringworld as well. The debris research ultimately turns up nothing new. We can study the ringworlds with for significant engineering value. The Living Metal study is the most profitable, allowing a new armory which utilizes the material to build hulls that are 10% more resistant to damage and regenerate 2% per month. These are interesting steps up the ladder of science, but they are mere curiosities at this point.

The great struggle of the Stellaris Galaxy is over. The Architreuthis have won under the guidance of the Great Boojie. All that is left for us is the slow subjugation, peaceful or otherwhise at their discretion, of the rest of the galaxy. None are left to challenge us; this story is over.

Thanks again for playing!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Pretty sure the is the longest co-op game I've been personally involved with of any sort. That alone says something I think.

Thanks for the ride.

Now I'm gonna shuffle off and enjoy some pudding. At my age, tapioca night is a BIG deal.

[Tellistto]

Good run of game, Brian. Kind of interested to see if you ploy this game patched up fully at this point given the time sink so far.

I'll read it if you do!

Tell

[chesapeake]

Thanks for sticking with this to the logical conclusion. It sure was fun to finally bring enlightenment to those arrogant Buhavilaa. I doubt that they will make very good slaves, but it is about time that we found out!

[ntndeacon]

This was a lot of fun!

[tarcone]

Thanks for doing this. It was a great time.
Im glad I was able to bring immortality to the game, if for only one person.

If you run another, look me up. I will be in.

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks for all the comments. I don't plan on doing anything else with Stellaris. Sometime I'll look up what the later patches changed, but I want to do something in the same genre but somewhat off the beaten path. It'll be up soon. Doesn't really lend itself to an interactive project I don't think, but of course I'll still be interested in all contributions.

[muns]

Wanted to chime in as well, even though others have already said pretty much everything. Really enjoyed the ride Brian and your writing makes it that much more fun. Thanks for taking the time and for making it what it was.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The experience I had here has made quill18's current YT playthrough with the 2.0 update considerably more interesting than it would have been otherwise.

I can actually follow some of the stuff that's changed, despite having never actually played the game conventionally.

[Brian Swartz]

That's an unexpected benefit -- thanks for sharing Jon.