Invasion plans for University/Lal Axis

[Googlie]

Originally posted by KrysiasKrusader
Don't worry. Zakharov is controlled by the AI. He'll be a push over. Even if he has... (Strike that. You'll see later on.)

Tut, tut - did someone "play ahead" and sign a pact with Zak on a trial basis and thus get a peek at his bases?

[Maniac]

Hundred push-ups for punishment! NOW!

[KrysiasKrusader]

Originally posted by Googlie


Tut, tut - did someone "play ahead" and sign a pact with Zak on a trial basis and thus get a peek at his bases?

?
Not at all. (Actually, I'm surprised you said that.)
That's against the rules.

I'm not sure if I wrote it; here, or in the strategy forum, or even at another site.

The AI factions, no matter how beefed up (suped up), is still controlled by whatever its programming allows. It cannot adapt to changing circumstances and react accordingly. A human on the other hand can. Hence human controlled factions, can adapt and overcome the obstacles put in their way. This is something the AI cannot do. The AI factions are predictable. Humans can maneouver around their predictability and use it to their advantage.

I just didn't want to spend extra time typing, for a situation that won't become evident for quite some time to come yet.

[Googlie]

Ah - my profoundest apologies.

(I was reading into the "Even if he has.......... " unfinished sentence my own unexpressed fears that the sentence might be completed " ...... ECM Plasma Armor defenders in all his bases")

This seemed to be bolstered by your following comment:

Originally posted by KrysiasKrusader
Rushing things before one is properly prepared, is among the greatest downfalls I('ve) see(n).

which seemed to be suggesting to us that we wait until we have better equipment or armor

Originally posted by KrysiasKrusader
That's against the rules

In the last game we had a (Pirates) player who joined mid-game and sent ships scurrying hither and yon exploring (he wasn't the turn-player) and was unaware of the no alternate play rules. I thought perhaps - especially as you had done some AI Diplobox scenario work early after you arrived - you had pacted and inadvertently seen the base defenders in Zak's bases.

Again, my apologies for casting aspersions your way

[KrysiasKrusader]

No problem buddy.


I figured it was just a missunderstanding due to individual perception.

If I could type as well, as fast, and as eloquently as the rest of you... We wouldn't have these instances.

[Googlie]

The projected route of the SNC Hermes (fungus permitting):

[Googlie]

SNC Hermes on her proving trials outside Vladivostok

[KrysiasKrusader]

Any reason why you think that north will reveal a UoP base faster than south? Is it a hunch? I don't have the turn open at the moment, thus not really remebering how close Zakharov might be to the top of the map edge.

[Googlie]

See the 2126 mapset here

We met further north than VV's location (by a couple of tiles) and his trannie was pointing south, suggesting he'd come from northeast of VV

[KrysiasKrusader]

Ou yeah.

Thanks. I member now...

[Snoddasmannen]

The recent diplomatic events seem very positive for our invasion of the Uni. I would be very surprised if the Gaians or the Morgans chose to mess with us in the near future, so it seems likely that our attack will go without the brutal retaliation I was afraid of before. We know little of the Angels, but if they are close with the Gaians, like the Morgans would have us believe, they are likely to follow a similar foreign policy.

Of course, it is possible that they have set this up to appear that way, but I doubt it

[Googlie]

My only concern is that notwithstanding our 2 Ogres and our Elite rovers, our might is still classified as feeble which is baseline bottom (there are 7 categories, and each of the 7 factions is assigned a relative category, and we, the Spartans, are propping up the other six!!

(The 7 are:

feeble, anemic, wanting, sufficient, formidable, potent, unsurpassed.

[Kassiopeia]

I still wonder why that is. Is it technology? AFAIK should not be. It can't be population either. So it'd have to be either energy credits, or military might.

[Googlie]

(copied from the 2146 turn thread)

We currently have 165 ec's in the kitty, and will get another32 in the 2 years to 2148 (assuming we renew the Morgan - Hunter deal), making 197 in total

We'll need 40 to change to Fundy, leaving 157.

If we reset the sliders in 2148 to 30:10:60 we'll net 9 ec's from our own resources, totalling 22 with the Morgan payments

Establishing the invasion force

It costs 60 ec's to upgrade a Scout Rover (1-1-2) to an unarmored Impact Speeder (4-1-2), so we'd need 180 to allow 3 upgrades. The earliest that we'd have that in treasury would be 2150

We have currently an Impact Infantryman (Spartan Kel) and will have an Impact Speeder rolling off the production lines at Santiago Citadel in 2152. Assuming we morale-boost it thru the monolith at Sparta Command, the earliest it could board a ship would be 2155

So the results of this mini-analysis is that it's prolly not worth persevering with the Impact Rover build at SC2 - we'd get another Impact Infantryman for 1/2 the price (and could rush it for 10 ec's next turn for completion in 2148 - but it wouldn't reach Vladivostok until 2151)

So the question becomes:

do we wait till 2150 and upgrade 3 rovers to Impact and then set sail?

do we change SC2's to an infantryman, and set sail in 2151 with 2 rovers and 2 infantrymen?

do we wait until 2155 and set sail with 4 impact rovers?

(actually, it looks as though the new podpopped rover could pass thru the monolith and reach Vladivostok by 2154, so that, too is an alternative - but the cost for that option is 240 in upgrades)

[Googlie]

To which Maniac replied:

Posted by Maniac in the 2146 turn thread
I've also giving some thought to that. Here's what I came up with:

IIRC University Base currently has three defending units.
So we could capture that base with upgrading only one elite rover.
First the Spartan Kel land with their first move and destroy the UoP impact infantry. Secondly the upgraded elite rover lands and destroys the IIRC two remaining scout patrols. Then there are two units left in the transport to take the empty base.

So if necessary we could begin invasion with only part of our force upgraded, and upgrade the rest a few turns later when we have the money.

As for changing or keeping the SC2 rover production, it's all fine by me. We could certainly use those minerals to build something else like a former, crawler, colony pod... But if we'd decide to keep building it, it not catching the first trannie to Zakland isn't a problem as far as I can see: could our transport not simply take a second trip to Zakland, filled with for example the SC2-built rover, a probe team, the podpopped rover or a second probe team, and perhaps a colony pod from the crater area?
And if we don't want to send it to Zakland, it could safeguard our homelands: a mental reassurance against those massive Hivean hordes.