2143: Pre-planning discussion and build/movement orders

[Googlie]

The Angels

So when we open the turn we'll have the Angels commlink, so we need to develop a strategy toiwards them

Trade - we should sell them Gene Splicing for sure, and maybe Doc Mobility (as we did with the Gaians), and sound them out re their interest in Secrets

Morgan

I'm assuming that we'll be treatied when the turn reaches us (they are fickle things in the diplo window - I should post in the Embassy for jtsisyoda - 'cos when he opens his turn he'll see our pre-accepted Treaty - if he hits "treaty" then it reverts to 'negotiating' he has to hit "Accept" then the Treaty is in force)

They want a shopping list of the techs, or type of techs, that we can supply in our "gunrunners" role. We should get that going in this 2-player interregnum so that when they get the turn they can execute and ec's or techs in the diplo window on an accepted basis for us to get when we open ours.

I don't know if we'll see any commerce profit-sharing this next turn - I'll need to test it on the simulator to see if they'll get 2143 commerce bonuses after they accept the treaty at the turn's beginning

Gaians

They have the 2143 turn right now, so i imagine that the diplo-pouches will be flying back and forth in the Embassy as they seek to get their hands on our juicy techs as cheaply as possible.

Kassi will be busy !!!!!

[Googlie]

Oh - and another thing - we will be infiltrating the uni this turn, all being well, and will be able to see the techs he has that we don't, then stealing one immediately after.

In the sim a few days ago, I did that, and got a wrist slap from Zak (and he's presumably a bit friendlier even now, after our trade exchange)

If we find that he has Doc Loyalty, how does the Junta feel about aither buying it from him before trying to steal a tech (in case it doesn't come up as a tech to steal)?

I doubt that he has it, though, 'cos in the Ind Auto trade he offered biogenetics, and i countered with what the Boc offered, which was Secrets (I think that the game mechanics always lets you ask for the highest tech the AI has that you lack)

Mind you, both Secrets and Doc Loyalty are equibalent level techs, so he might have. (heck, he might even have Int Int !!)

[Maniac]

I read in the 2142 Battle Report that the Crypteia in GH is a placeholder production?

Gythium Harbour – Scout commissioned – put a Crypteia there as a placeholder

What would you really want to produce there? A Navy Seals task force? If so, what would you think of sending a few loads of Olympian iron ore to the Gythium shipyards? (Or in other words, use a crawler in combination with the 'delete-unit-design' trick to hurry production in GH?)

[Googlie]

I'd go for that.

That way we'd get at the Gaians and Angels, to infiltrate them (or even Lal)

[Zeiter]

Or, how about a former at GH? Or, a navy seals would work. Although moving a crawler from OA to GH and back to the min special would lose us 4 turns of using that crawler. Therefore, I strongly protest to that.

Wow, excellent diplomatic deals this last turn. Two turns ago, I never would have thought that we'd have IA, EthCalc, and SotHB just two years later! Woohoo!

[Googlie]

Originally posted by Zeiter
Although moving a crawler from OA to GH and back to the min special would lose us 4 turns of using that crawler. Therefore, I strongly protest to that.

If I understand the concept correctly, we lose the crawler completely, cashing it in.

(but you're right in that it'll take 4 turns to commission another crawler)

[Zeiter]

Ah, I was assuming we were thinking about crawling that 7 min tile to GH. But anyway, cashing it in basically means the same thing. Sacrificing that crawler will mean we'll have to wait 4 more turns for another crawler (unless we rush one, but that will cost). If we freed up the worker working the 7 min tile, we could transfer that worker to maybe a 2-1 tile. That means we'll lose 8 nuts and 4 mins from cashing in that crawler. It would be worth it if we were confident that we could infiltrate the others, but I would assume that the Gaians and Data Angels already have some basic probe defences up, or will have them up by the time our lone foil arrives. So, I don't see much point in pursuing that course.

Also, is this unit design workshop trick legal? I don't remember it being mentioned in the official rules thread. Should we ask the mods to make sure?

[Googlie]

isn't anything that's not forbidden allowed?

[Zeiter]

Well, I read over the official rules thread, and it didn't say anything against this (in fact, it said there was "Total freedom in Design Workshop" so I guess it would be okay.

[Googlie]

yeah!!!

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Zeiter
Ah, I was assuming we were thinking about crawling that 7 min tile to GH. But anyway, cashing it in basically means the same thing. Sacrificing that crawler will mean we'll have to wait 4 more turns for another crawler (unless we rush one, but that will cost). If we freed up the worker working the 7 min tile, we could transfer that worker to maybe a 2-1 tile. That means we'll lose 8 nuts and 4 mins from cashing in that crawler.

A crawler could work some squares en route to a new base, reducing the resource loss a little. But you're right of course there is still an inefficiency because of resource loss.
However consider the following:

Hurrying GH Navy Seals production with an OA crawler would cost the following:
8 nuts & 34 mins from OA transformed into 30 mins over at GH.

On the other hand, hurrying GH Navy Seals production while there's still 30 mins missing would cost no less than *105* credits.

Having this in mind, I'd consider the first possibility (hurry with crawler) the better option of the two, even though there isn't 100% efficiency.

It would be worth it if we were confident that we could infiltrate the others, but I would assume that the Gaians and Data Angels already have some basic probe defences up, or will have them up by the time our lone foil arrives. So, I don't see much point in pursuing that course.

Good point indeed. Another possibility could of course be to crawler-hurry a Navy Seals taskforce in the new Rio Grande base? With such an extra unit we'd have a group of three probes to try infiltration at a nearby Morganite base. (Or do we want to forget about Morganite infiltration for now, so we can focus more resources on fomer & crawler construction etc?)

[Googlie]

Originally posted by Zeiter
I would assume that the Gaians and Data Angels already have some basic probe defences up, or will have them up by the time our lone foil arrives

I dunno about that.

Do we? Will we?

I'd imagine their probeteam efforts are geared to getting information rather than preserving it, much as ours are.

[Kassiopeia]

Umm, so what about the repercussions of infiltrating? Will this not mean a vendetta or something?

[Googlie]

no - infiltration is clean - it's everything else that triggers the "must declare vendetta" rule
(even if we kill a few probe defenders in the act of gaining infiltration)

[Kassiopeia]

Ahh, relieved to hear that.