The Council of War

[Snoddasmannen]

Originally posted by sentry33
Regarding the attack plan - they still can spot plane from the water. I am not sure about military situation in this region - do we have any sea units around?

No not really. The Morgans have two probe foils and a 2-3 foil which I believe are unaccounted for.

Can they still spot the noodle if we "park" it over a fungus square?

[Kassiopeia]

Though I do not agree that presence of he Air Force is only tactical concern - It affects whole strategic situation.

But if we fear a Morgan-Angel-Gaian alliance, whether we have AP or not is not of major concern. They are going to establish the alliance anyway, in my opinion, and our possible increase in strength won't change that. If they are to establish it, they would have done so based on the PTS raid already, so I don't think AP would be the straw that would break the camel's back.

I could suggest to the Angels that they keep IntInt to themselves for a turn. However, this means that:

1) We reaffirm to them (and probably the Morgans) that we are gunning for the SP (not that this isn't clear to them already, but perhaps we can lull the Morganites into thinking we are focusing our resources on an impending attack - in fact, we could do some dodgy maneuvres to let the Morganites think so, via The Phalanx perhaps - while that would make CDF all the more important for them, it might be of use to us that they'll think we won't be building it ASAP)
2) The Angels can try to play us against each other by asking us for a "better offer"
3) Our strategy would depend on a third party (the Angels), whom we can't completely trust and whose motives clearly point to wanting the Morganites getting the CDF (makes the war between the two big factions longer and more stagnating).

I therefore don't think the diplomatic route is the good option here. Of course, if we can't destroy the supercrawler, we may have no other choice, but it will be a shot in the dark at best.

[Googlie]

I'd go ahead and bite the diplomatic bullet, along the lines of:

Suggested embassy post by Googlie

We acknowledge your communication wherein you indicate that you will be in a position to send us Intellectual Integfrity in 2164

In our negotiations, we asked for - and pbtained - your and Gaian assurances that you would not build the CDF (and in exchange for which assurances we removed any onward trading embargo on etchs that we sent to you)

At that time we also had an assurance from Morgan Corporation that they, too, would refrain from building the CDF (this in sxchange for technologies we sent to them in recompense). As a result we did not place restrictions on Angels trading of Int Int to Morgan. However, with our 2 factions being in Vendetta, I imagine that the Morgan guarantee is not worth the paper it was written on

Accordingly, some Junta members are asking what we need to offer you to induce you to withhold Int Int from Morgan until the year after you send it to us (ie, 2165. (Otherwise, of course, with turn order, Morgan can complete the CDF the same year we do, but would then have it by virtue of turn order.

The CDF is important to us if we are to contain the Hive (we note that the gaians have established a very effective choke point with some mindworms and a probe unit - alas, we do not have that geographical advantage, and must rely on offensive and defensive strength to offset the dozen of Hive Gatling Rovers heading our way)

Our energy credits reserve is meager (thanks to sanctions) and thus we could offer a technology of your choice from among:

• Secrets of the Human Brain
• Polymorphic Software
• Nonlinear Mathematics
• Synthetic Fossil Fuels

We look forward to hearing from you

At least we'll know - if they refuse - that there is a Morgan-Angels deal

[Kassiopeia]

Hmm, I feel a bit queasy about it, but it can't really hurt us, and it'll clear the air vis-a-vis our speculations on the extent of their co-operation.

[Kassiopeia]

But haven't we already provided them lots of trust and technology before we have even received the assumed payment (IntInt)? Wouldn't it be bending over backwards to give them yet another tech just for this purpose? Of course if the CDF is really worth it, but it may mean we can be seen as an "easy mark" to squeeze some extra from. But then again, a bit of desperation from our side making us seem a bit weaker than we really are might put some sand in the great cogs of Morgan-Angel co-operation ("They can't be as dangerous as you say they are!").

[Googlie]

Well, I'm not so sure of Morgan-Angels co-operation. After all, they didn't Pact.

Maybe by Pacting with Lal, the Angels are sending us subtle signals??? (that they don't mind being aligned with us to a certain extent)

[Snoddasmannen]

I wouldn't send that either ... If the Angels wanted to negotiate with us, they would have initiated talks already. The fact that they have not indicates to me that:

1. The conspiracy is already deep enough that any offers we can make are futile OR
2. The conspiracy is not there and the Morgans have not even approached the Angels an IntInt trade

Either way, giving the Angels more incentives for this trade seems kinda pointless, and if B is true we would only be putting ideas in their head

At least the Gaians can't send it to Morgan since they are ahead of the Angels in the turn (unless they probe it).

Well, I'm not so sure of Morgan-Angels co-operation. After all, they didn't Pact.

It is entirely possible that A is true, and that the Angels/Morgans have opted not to pact simply to hide the conspiracy from us.

[Googlie]

In any event, unless they (Morgan) sense something is up, we'll take out their crawler next turn.

They'll see the Njord still in their northern waters, ao may think that we're planning another invasion from the north, and so be off guard re hiding or tagteaming their crawler

And, btw, if we do kamikazi it, I suggest we rename our B-6's as Amphibious Chaos ECM Speeders - for a moment it will make them think we have Chaos weapons and Neural Grafting (but the 6-1-10 designation can't be changed, unfortunately)

see below:

[Modo44]

Originally posted by Kassiopeia
But haven't we already provided them lots of trust and technology before we have even received the assumed payment (IntInt)? Wouldn't it be bending over backwards to give them yet another tech just for this purpose?

Yes, it would. I was saying this all along. Our deep trust has been shown already. If they will stay our friends, they will do so without additional payments. If they conspire to trick us, they would just get another tech for free. No point giving it to them IMO.

[Snoddasmannen]

Originally posted by Googlie
And, btw, if we do kamikazi it, I suggest we rename our B-6's as Amphibious Chaos ECM Speeders - for a moment it will make them think we have Chaos weapons and Neural Grafting (but the 6-1-10 designation can't be changed, unfortunately)

Haha
How about naming it pwned! or something?

Sending a missile noodle on a kamikaze mission is quite an act. They'll wonder why we used a B-6 and not a B-4. The only possible conclusions I can think of is that we are being opportunistic or desperate. I hope they'll think desperate so that they'll continue building infrastructure. They're building rec tanks for crying out loud - yummy!

[Maniac]

Hmm, the fact that the Morganites are producing almost only crawlers could support the hypothesis that they're preparing to build the CDF with Angel help.

[Googlie]

Here's their 2162 base data:

[Kassiopeia]

That's a lot of crawlers. Definitely SP-buildage going on. And it has to be the CDF, any sane person would be building up defensive hardware otherwise - but crawlers = defensive hardware when the CDF is the case.

We need to cripple them before it's too late. That's the only choice I can see - the diplomatic route, as I have said, is uncertain, and I see no reason why the Angels would go with it. It's obvious they have hijinks going on.

Should I just confront them on this? That might risk our receival of IntInt in the first place, but on the other hand, maybe roughing them up a bit on it would make them quaver just a bit to keep them from helping the Morganites. But on the other hand, again, it might just drive them further into their laps...

And any more techs to the Angels would mean merely making them stronger for the inevitable confrontation.

[sentry33]

IMO they will use lot of crawlers to rush-build instant airforce once lal researches doc air - thats why they are not building defences but crawlers now

[Googlie]

I don't think it's as sinister as that.

They have lost the key to their middle-game strategy, (the Kody Tactic),and now can't pop boom thru base multiplication, nor can they work 3 pops in a base without a strong psych allocation.

They can crawl nuts to a base to spur regular growth, or minerals to make up for that lost worker (same reason they are building recycling tanks in some bases - for the 1-1-1 bonus)

Without crawlers, they just don't have the minerals to support a strong standing army until they get clean reactors which will be their next tech after Neural Grafting, I bet (they'll trade for, or steal, Doc Air)

Then I think they'll go for the Longevity Vaccine and run a green economy for the 1-less-drone-per-base benefit (and I bet they've discussed that with the Gaians, hence the Pact - a green Morgan, after all, makes a lot of sense)

So I see their crawlers as being primarily for food and minerals, with the objective of getting the LV (and if, in the meantime, they get a chance at the CDF, they'll be opportunistic enough to grab it)

They have 2 crawlers being commissioned next turn ( Hindenburg and Micha) - it's the latter we're worried about 'cos that will be sent to work the mine their supercrawler is currently on, so where will it go?