The Economic Planning Agency

[Zeiter]

Ah, yes, that spot 3 tiles southwest of Arcadia Regional Command (or the spot 3 tiles southwest and 1 tile southeast on the river) would be great spots. That base would have access to the monolith, the energy bonus in the sea, the nutrient bonus, and the pod would be inside the base radius.

[vishniac]

There are different factors to take into consideration.

Founding the city southwest of ARC would provide maximum security. However, it would need to build a naval vessel (probably a seaformer to maximize investment) to harvest the 2 pods.

The middle location on the west-strip,however (my favorite one):
-- would grant immediate access to the pod to our military ships.
-- would offer 7 tiles already terraformed (6 forests and 1 monolith) + bonus mins and nuts.
-- would offer a splendid base for air patrols above the channel to the Gaian shore (and thus enabling air support and air superiority in case of...degraded relations! ). It could make them afraid enough to shift from builder mode to semi-military one, thus wasting resources.

Its relative isolation shouldn't prevent us from making it a major base by sending naval crawlers!

[Modo44]

Originally posted by vishniac
Founding the city southwest of ARC would provide maximum security. However, it would need to build a naval vessel (probably a seaformer to maximize investment) to harvest the 2 pods.

That base spot has potential for good productivity regardless of the pods. And we can build it soon, while the other bases will need protection. So, they will have to wait anyway, while this closer base will not. Just an opportunity I see here, that is all.

[Googlie]

Proposal: Instabuild the Supercollider at Arcadia University

Cost: 300 minerals

Assets required:

• The ginfreighter (150 minerals) - currently convoying 2 minerals to Iaci Base - it has a 2-nut surplus so would revert to just feeding itself)
• The Builder Bob on the mine to AU's southwest (110 minerals) - currently convoying 4 minerals to Argos (would drop Argos from 11 mins to 7 mins, but Argos has a completed crawler in base for MM'ing a network node that could be diverted for mineral production if necessary)
• The regular supply crawler just north of Ironholm (30 minerals) - currently convoying 2 energy to AU
• no credits would be needed as AU is producing 14 minerals (and only ten more are needed for completion)

(We could, of course, wait a turn and let it complete another CDF, allowing more population growth now that we can use 3 units as policemen)

[Zeiter]

I vote for instabuilding it this turn. :b

[vishniac]

The Ministry of infrastructure presents :

THE 2183 COMPREHENSIVE DECENNAL REPORT

Its goal is to provide the Junta with the latest analysises about Sparta civilian infrastructure and to offer guidelines to enhance our potential in the areas of concern. Though (very) important, military infrastructure won’t be discussed here as it is under responsibility of the Ministry of Defence.

I – Adressing the scientific emergency

Taking the lead in tech is not enough when competing against several powers. We should make the gap so as to seize any SP we choose before the others.
Speaking short-term, we are also in a race (not yet decided) to grab the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.
That means the first priority is to boost massively the research output, and the best way to do it is to spend money where it will bring back the most. The recommendations here are to:
- build the Supercollider without delay (for fear of any trick and instabuild by an enemy). The fact that AU gets -1 energy/tile doesn’t change the fact that The Sup. doubles the lab output and can save us a few turns to PSA.
- build the Hybrid Forest at Fort Sup without delaying further (this turn if possible).
These are the immediate actions. Further, we ask to:
- build Hospital + Hybrid Forest + BioLab + Rec Tanks at AU as a priority
- turn all production in Northern Arcadia to crawlers so as to adress this need ASAP.
- build a BioLab at Fort Supwhen available to take opportunity of the huge lab output there.

Not only should that take us under the 10 turn/tech in 2193 (when AU’s haze will have vanished), but it is also in adequation with the need to have superbases to grow infrastructure faster in small bases.
A last point: though it won’t be required in every base, the BioLab should be made a priority in every base with more than 6 forest tiles as soon as the Tree Farm be built: not because we need the lab output (though it won’t hurt in a well-developped base) but of course for fear of Planet Blight.

II – Arcadia: from North to Center

A quick look at the map shows that Northern Arcadia is almost completely covered with forest. Then, down from Tegea Harbor, it becomes less common, mainly following the coasts . We follow the reasoning called “Growing Snowball” here: the bigger the snowball with which you begin, the quickest it will become huge. That means that credits invested in big bases bring back more and quicker than to spread them to many little ones.
It was fortunate that the 2 priorities (AU and FS) are neighbors and surrounded by woods. So we support Chapter I: Once FS and AU completed, they’ll send all their production crawler-wise to Fort Liberty and Tegea Harbor, perhaps diverting 30% to help Argos. Then, these 4 will help Argos and Ironholm and will already send crawlers down the Transarcadian Highway to the next growth target, and so on.

The fact that forests are self-replicating enable to ‘former-focus’: concentrate the formers on rocky tiles (or even defungusing to help propagate woods) around the next targets of growth. Thus, instabuilding several facilities in as many turns in a certain base won’t take delays to take effect but will be almost immediately rewarded. That can’t be the case if the formers are painfully working one by base. Each base should first see a swarm of formers,then a flow of crawlers:
Fort Sup need some tiles more
Ironholm is particularly in need of more forest.
Argos could like to see ‘something’ on its 2 energy bonuses.

Some details here:
AU won’t need its condensor tile much longer. Better make it reapt by another’s base crawler. Same remark for the condensor at Tegea Harbor now that TH has a Tree Farm able to boost it to pop 9.

Now, the other bases form North to South:
- Vijayanagar: only 3 forest tiles, but there sure will be much more by the time the former-swarm arrive. That said, it could use a former to farm the nut-bonus, then help forest the south of the city (the forest coming from the North).
- Iaci Base: 6 exploitable forest tiles but No Raw Materials. No worry! Let it wait the crawlers flow. That’s all it needs.
- Assassin’s redoubt: a few forests and rocky tiles. Will need the formers swarm.
- Kel Harbor and Bunker 112: Just put Rec Tanks in B-112 and Tree Farm on both and we’ll get another developpement pole in the center.

III – Arcadia Center/South

We recommend to invest to get another developpement pole in this region. As said in Chapter II, the twin cities of Kel Harbor and Bunker 112 could be popbooming with little effort.
Otherwise:
- ARC has many mines but sorely miss forest. A solution to make it an industrial center would be to rehome 2 crawlers and send them to the farm and nut bonus tiles south of the city, with a former to farm the bonus (and begin foresting after that).
- Aid Station: with 6 forest tiles, would make a superb naval base. Rec Tanks + worker relocation would put it at +2 nuts, and then it’s the Tree Farm job to boost it.
- Health Autorithy: Many forests and 2 tiles already at 3 nuts! (the base itself is already +3). With a Creche and a Farm, it’ll go direct to pop 9.

As we see, infrastructure would get immediately rewarded in Southern Arcadia. It’s now the Junta’s role to decide which city to subsidize according to the ‘Growing Snowball’: concentrate on one city at a time.
The way to go is to use crawlers to upgrade cities in North/Center, and credits to hurry infrastructure in South.

IV – Laconia: a struggling infrastructure

Due to the necessities of early colonization, the bulk of cities in Laconia don’t have as much space as they’d like to.
Consequences: All forest tiles are already reapt (even though there are free tiles where it can spread…slowly) and almost all cities seem destined to stay regional centers unless we former-focus again on one city at a time.
The fortunate exception could be Gythium Harbor, the only city able to become superbase in short time. As previously agreed, we advocate to forest its south-east, and to mine the 3 unclaimed rocky tiles. Then skyrocket its industrial capacity by crawlering all 3 mines, and use production from the other cities to MM facilities to the max. That should do it. Once it reaches 30-35 minerals/turn, it’s all the way to crawlidize a second base…if it got enough forest around.
That means a few formers more too. But that would probably be the matter of the 2193 Decennal Report.
Details: Messena doesn’t need so many nuts. They could feed Rio Grande via crawlers.

V – Laconia: the Messena Syndrome

What we call ‘Messena Syndrome’ is the tendency to ‘artificially’ popboom a city without adequate mineral production.
Messena (pop 7 , mins 9) and Vladivostok (pop 7, mins 7) are prime exemple, compared with Santiago Citadel (pop 7, mins 13) and Gythium Harbor (pop 7, mins 12). Worse, that result comes at the price of too many former-work years. A farm + condensor cost 13+9 former-work years to get 4-1-0. The same effort would get 3-4 forests, just waiting the crawlers flow to give 6-8 minerals.
It wouldn’t be time-efficient to relocate all the formers working around the peripheric (?) bases, but it would be wise to change to forest-planting and mine. In need of more nuts, a few kelp farms would come handy without costing too much former-wise.
Resources should be spend 70% on a superbase (GH) and 30% on incremental steps in other bases according to necessity (popboom leading to drones…)

VI – Colonization prospective

Though facilities should be given priority, it’s up to the Junta to make decisions about new colonization. Here are our guidelines by importance:
- South of ARC, a base to go fishing the 2 pods.
- a base on the landstrip facing the Gaians to provide the Air Force with an airport. The site is rich with good tiles.
- South of 2Nutstrand, a base to consolidate our position facing Yang.
- A base between Iaci and Assassin, right on the mineral bonus (lots of forest already)
- A naval base on the nut bonus west of Fossil Field Ridge (all 6-tiles inside base radius)
- 2 naval bases in Geothermal Shallows, with specialty energy.
- either a naval base on the mins-bonus north-east of AU, or a base on the land in the same region (lots of forests)
- 2 bases on the Unity Wreckage. It can wait as forest must still grow in this area.

Conclusion

This report adresses all questions on how to get the biggest bases and the most minerals the soonest. However, it’s just one in a series of concerns that the Junta must deal with: Crypteia units and operations, military infrastructure (mainly bio-enhancement centers) and units, diplomacy,…
We look forward to see our propositions discussed and implemented, whatever the time it will get.
We serve Sparta!

[Googlie]

Good summary

I'm thinking we need to grow AU to its max of size 16 asap, then crawl energy from that tile (with a solar collector to be built) on the hillside in Argos' base radius, plus trawl the 2 ocean tiles after clearing the fungus and plopping down a tidal harness (basic 2, plus 3 for the harness, plus 1 for the ME bonus, then doubled withe Supercollider)

On another note, our balance of paytments with the others is:

Running Planned:

Morgan - 27, Sparta - 14
Angels - 8, Sparta - 9
Gaians - 8, Sparta - 9

Running Free Market:

Morgan - 27, Sparta - 23
Angels - 13, Sparta - 15
Gaians - 13, Sparta - 14

(of course, we couldn't run free market with all those units away from home)

[vishniac]

Speaking of money, if we want more, we can also build energy banks once superbases are finished and at pop 16.

I had the idea a few weeks ago of relocating the HQ in Fort Sup or AU when the region will be more productive. Would be nice to run a projection to see whether it's valuable or not. (No energy loss in the HQ base and fewer inefficiency around).

[Maniac]

Looks good.
One minor thing I'd like to comment:

Regarding biolabs. Is it really worth building bio labs at 60 minerals in each base for the small chance that we might get a random event? My guess would be that it would be cheaper to just replant all the forests should we be so unlucky to actually get the random event.

[Googlie]

I see that the University has founded a 4th base - we should rush a longstrider (prolly at Fort Soup, this turn) and get it there to protect our research

[Maniac]

Originally posted by vishniac
V – Laconia: the Messena Syndrome

What we call ‘Messena Syndrome’ is the tendency to ‘artificially’ popboom a city without adequate mineral production.
Messena (pop 7 , mins 9) and Vladivostok (pop 7, mins 7) are prime exemple, compared with Santiago Citadel (pop 7, mins 13) and Gythium Harbor (pop 7, mins 12). Worse, that result comes at the price of too many former-work years. A farm + condensor cost 13+9 former-work years to get 4-1-0. The same effort would get 3-4 forests, just waiting the crawlers flow to give 6-8 minerals.

Santiago Citadel and Gythium Harbour were popboomed the same way as Vladivostok and Messena. The difference is that, SC2 & GH being our oldest bases, forest has had a long time to spread out. Meaning there were some spare forests that could be immediate used after condenser farms gave us extra popboomed workers. Vladivostok and Messena were somewhat lacking in terraformation, however after as you suggest some forests are planted, I'm sure they should become as productive as SC2 & GH.

[Modo44]

Originally posted by Maniac
Regarding biolabs. Is it really worth building bio labs at 60 minerals in each base for the small chance that we might get a random event? My guess would be that it would be cheaper to just replant all the forests should we be so unlucky to actually get the random event.

They are of lower priority but I think the superbases deserve all they can get in terms of improvement. The research bonus alone would be worth it in my opinion.

[vishniac]

According to the report, a biolab should be built when 6 or more exploited tiles are forest.

In lesser bases, I agree it would be a waste of resources, but in places like future Argos or Kel Harbor which would have more than 10 forests around, 60 minerals aren't much: about 2 turns worth, comparing with losing hundreds of minerals the time we build/reassign formers from elsewhere, then each take 5 turns for 1 forest... Dreadful!

I'd prefer the Prometheus Virus any day than Blight striking a superbase.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Modo44
They are of lower priority but I think the superbases deserve all they can get in terms of improvement. The research bonus alone would be worth it in my opinion.

It's only +2 labs, and the facility cost 1 credit upkeep. So that's one extra energy for 60 minerals. One can build two crawlers or three formers (to plant forests) with that.

[Modo44]

Originally posted by Maniac
It's only +2 labs, and the facility cost 1 credit upkeep.

You mean the lab bonus is not cumulative? Like, a steady +2 instead of a percentage?