2151 End Turn and 2152 Discussion

[jtsisyoda]

The new turn is up. I plan on playing it later today. Here it is if you want to take a look...

P.S. Who glued this crazy hat to my head?!

[jtsisyoda]

We have infiltrated the Hive. They have 30 impact infantry and 9 impact speeders. They have zero transports, so Choke On This will be our only possible point of contact.

PEG is complete. Our income is now officially through the roof: 125 ec/turn.

PEG provides +25% for stockpiling, so increasing min production also provides a modest income boost. Does anybody know if we need 8 mins to take advantage of that (8 mins -> 4 ec -> 5 ec)? Most bases have 4-6 mins. One rocky mine per base would increase that to 8. If we get the +25% on the first min, then 10 mins -> 5 ec -> 7 ec. That 10 min threshold is also good for rushing something every turn to full completion.

The Spartans completed the Command Nexus. They've also started the Maritime Control Center! As we noticed before, they're in Fundy. They are preparing to create the ultimate war machine. They will pump out fast, cheap elite infantry, and put them on super-fast cruiser transports (speed 8!), invading everything in sight. I'd like to point out that Missile Infantry are only two rows. So, the Spartans getting SFF will be a turning point in this game. We may not be able to leap-frog to DAP with them, because they could probably land a huge missile infantry force before we could build any planes.

We need HEC ASAP, then SFF and DAP. It doesn't look like our 'Gator Boat can get to a Hive port in time to steal Soc Pysch before we finish it. We may need to buy Soc Psych from the Spartans so we can get HEC sooner.

[arginine]

I was hoping on us getting a badass navy and the MCC, but :P

Espionage on the Hive? I'd rather us steal from Uni. They'll be easier to defend against.

Hmm... the nefarious "Santa Claus" has struck again. He can put stuff on our heads, but he can't make us... give to (of all people) the poor.

[jtsisyoda]

I forgot to mention that cruiser transports carry four units. That's another big step in their invasion power.

Can we consider stopping all payments to the Spartans until they give us infiltration? Or is that too extortionist for anybody? I bet Chaunk wouldn't like it.

They've infiltrated us... I think the writing is on the wall-- they're going to invade us and take our SP's. Wouldn't you? So, let's switch from the ally mode of keeping our word to the survival mode of not giving them one more cent of invasion funds.

[jtsisyoda]

We could tell the Spartans they have to give us all their information (maps, etc.) on the other two factions, provide a plan for attacking them, and proof the plan is being carried out. Otherwise the treaty and other agreements are void, on account of their overly-aggressive posture. Or maybe they could alternatively provide Soc Psych, free.

[arginine]

They've started the MCC :P. I was really hoping the Spartans wouldn't give much attention to the navy so we could quietly nab the MCC.

If we are really concerned, I'd pump out coastal cities, and have them pump out laser foils until we can steal better tech from the Uni. I'd also send over transports with probe teams to nab tech from the Uni.

As for the tech trading we can mention that we can steal those techs and/or they are not valued highly. I suspect the Spartans have acquired most of their techs via espionage or trading, so we could acquire those techs ourselves.

If we want to be really risky, we could try to induce one of the AIs (hopefully Yang) to declare war on the Spartans by bribery (unlikely to succeed) or try to do an illegal probe action and frame (also unlikely) the Spartans.

Also if we want to be evil, we can agree to research I.I. then build the CDF once we get it (leading to war of course).

We might even want to consider switching out of free market once an assault begins.

bleh :P We should ask for a time extension on this turn.

[jtsisyoda]

We have another 24 hours. I know I said I'd do the turn today, but it'll probably have to be tomorrow, in about 12 hours.

[arginine]

Feel free to delay. The slower the turns go during the holidays, the better.

[jtsisyoda]

Turn's posted. I sent Sparta 4 ec's... that takes care of the 50ec attorney fees. I'm not sure we want to send them anything next year, but I figured 4 ec's was a small price to pay for not tipping our hand on that. Plus, with people not very active, I didn't want to unilaterally end relations with Sparta.

EDIT: The 4 ec's were sent, but that was an error on my part. I forgot we already paid for the PK commlink in full. They still owe us 15 ec's for attorney fees. We can take it out next year and the year after that.

[jtsisyoda]

Some info on the Hive Garrisons...

[jtsisyoda]

Our base operations...

[jtsisyoda]

More of Spartan territory was uncovered. Unfortunately, our 'Gator Boat will be detected by their rover when they open the turn.

[jtsisyoda]

Nothing new to the west...

[jtsisyoda]

Some calculations...

18 bases, Demo/FM/Wealth, 40/20/40 econ/psych/labs, effectively 60/20/40 w/PEG. Average energy/base: 11. Multiply by effective allocation and base count: 120 econ, 80 labs.

27 bases, Demo/FM/Wealth, 30/50/20 econ/psych/labs, effectively 45/50/20 w/PEG. Average energy/base: 11. Multiply by effective allocation and base count: 135 econ, 60 labs.

24 bases, Demo/Green/Wealth, 1 police/base, 50/0/50 econ/psych/labs, effectively 75/0/50 (alternatively, 100/0/0 for an effective 150/0/0). Average energy/base: 7. Multiply by effective allocation and base count: 125 econ, 85 labs (100% econ gives 250 econ).

If PTS converts a super-drone into a regular worker, and not just a basic drone, then we could do 27 bases with Demo/Green/Wealth, with 140 econ and 95 labs.

So, basically, we gain very little energy by building more bases with Demo/FM/Wealth or Dem/Green/Wealth. We do gain minerals, but a crawler on a volcano mine would gain more.

[arginine]

If we PTSed, I'd try to get a bunch of size 2 bases. The 3rd person has to work a let productive farm anyways. Are there any penalties for letting a person starve?