Mind Worm Armageddon!!!

[Zeiter]

Okay, I was playing as Lal in a transcend difficulty game on a huge map. I had a +2 eco rating (running green). I had neural amplifier. I also had mostly elite units (command nexus and cyborg factory combo). I had at least 2 units guarding each of my bases, even my piddly just-conquered bases. In fact, I was owning the AI. I had shard copters while they still had missle needlejets. I could have easily won by a diplomatic victory by just voting myself in (I had over 1000 planetary council votes). But I decided I'd have some fun first, and totally terrorize Yang. I had recently built about 10 nerve gas shard choppers, so I went in and just laid waste to Yang's cities with nerve gas attacks. I probably used over 30 gas attacks in one turn. To top it all off, I nuked him with a fusion planet buster missle. Of course, everyone declared war against me, but I was so far ahead it wasn't even going to matter.

Or so I thought...

Next thing I know, all hell breaks loose with a HUGE round of fungal pops. I'm guessing probably over 25 fungal pops in ONE turn, each of them yeilding about 15 demon-boil locusts of chiron. I immediately looked at my eco-damage, and it was over 200 in some cities!!! Even in my piddly size 3 bases it was over 50! (before this my eco-damage had been 0 in almost all of my cities.)

Now, if they had been mind worms, I could have taken care of them with my elite rovers and artillery, but as you know, locusts of chiron can't be bombarded because they are air units, and they don't all die in a square when you kill one of them like mind worms do. I had dealt with the usual planet freak-outs in transcendence games before, but I had never encountered anything like this.

The fungal pops continued for about 5 turns. Needless to say, I was screwed. Even with my elite units and neural amplifier, they just kept on taking my units out and devouring my cities. At the end pf about 5 turns, my population was down from about 500 to less than 20! All of my powerful core bases with all of my secret projects were gone. Yep, they went from size 18 down to nothing from the relentless locust attacks. I ended up losing the game.

My question is: What did I do to those poor mind worms to tick them off so badly? Was it the nerve gas and the nuke? If it was, I'll know to never do that again.

My second question is this: Have you ever had this happen to you? What's the worst planet freak-out you've ever encountered?

[GeoModder]

It is the worst planet freakout I ever heard, and the planet buster is undoubtedly the cause.

I think, in game mechanics, all bases on planet get an increase in pollution with every pb that is dropped. The later in the game, the more powerfull the native life. On the size of your population I gather you were already late in the game. And since you had the most pollution on Planet, all popups gathered at you. Did the other factions had to endure native attacks as well?
And that is new from me, native life actually attacked your core bases at least 20 times so that they really went extinct?

[Vev]

For every 5 atrocity, your major atrocity increases by on. This is important because I think major atrocities decreases clean mineral rating by 5. I'm not sure if your clean mineral rating can go negative but if it can, then I could imagine you would have accumulated -35 clean mineral in that turn. 30+ nerve gas attack + PB = around 7 major atrocity = -35 mineral rating.

This is an oddity, if you repealed UN charter before launching that assult attack and what you have done is not declare an atrocity then the mass ecodamage scenario shouldn't occur.

I am also curious, did the planet create a volcano after your attack?

[Chaos Theory]

You should have been able to use SAM artillery against the locusts of chiron, to greatly soften them.

[Flubber]

Chaos theory has it right-- SAM artillery will just slam the locusts.

Also vev has the concept for ecodamage after committing atrocities. I have also done this for fun just to play with the worms but the reality is if you nerve gas more than a couple of times you will be eating worms. If you plan to nerve gas a LOT, you better have at least one artillery and one empath unit per base and preferably 2 to 3.

Having the neural amplifier and trance units is hopeless in a sense due to the massive numbers you were facing. Defenders will get killed. The only way to have a hope of fightinf offf the worms is to be the attacker and enjoy the benefits of killing or damaging entire stacks.

Oh and don't forget about the possibilities of self destructing a unit-its great tp give damage to 4 or 5 stacks of worms all at once

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I heard once that missiles defend perfectly against natives.

If so garrison a missile at each base and allow the natives to throw themselves at your missile.

[Jamski]

I'd love to see "before and after" pictures of this. I'm REALLY amused.



-Jam

[dacole]

Glad to see that in the expansion that the mind worms are more powerfull it always seemed to me that the penalties for atrocities are way to low!

[dacole]

Glad to see that in the expansion that the mind worms are more powerfull it always seemed to me that the penalties for atrocities are way to low!

[Barinthus]

Originally posted by Jamski
I'd love to see "before and after" pictures of this. I'm REALLY amused.



-Jam

Me too, Jamski. Also I think this would make a great theme or backdrop for a fan fiction. A faction grows powerful but in its hubris, trigger a massive reliation upon themselves by the Planet, leaving few survivors whom many probably has gone mad.

[Zeiter]

Thanks for the advice and info. SAM artillery! Never realized you could do that! Next time I'm anticipating a worm attack, I'll definitely be stocking up on those. the self-destruct thing isn't a bad idea either. do missles also work?

Yeah, those locusts absolutely devoured most of my bases, right down to the last person.

Another thing: due to all of the eco-damage, global sea levels were going to rise more than 4000 meters over the next 20 years, even with the coucil voting for the solar shade! Whoa, Waterworld...

I don't think any of the other factions had trouble with the native life.

I also forgot to mention: Yang had also just used a PB on me after my initial round of nerve gas attacks, so that might have contributed too.

About the volcano, funny thing happened. A volcano had already erupted about mid game when I wasn't experiencing any eco-damage or attack. I'm not quite sure why. I don't know if two volcanoes can erupt in the same game, can they? Well, there wasn't an eruption during the attacks.

No, I couldn't get the U.N. charter repealed. I tried, but all of the other factions took one look at my nice shard nerve gas copters, and decided otherwise.

Okay, I've uploaded two save files with the upload service. the planetfreakout2282.SAV one is my game right before the mayhem. the planetfreakout2286.SAV file is the game four years later, in the midst of the onslaught. I hope that helps. thanks again for all of the advice!

[Zeiter]

http://apolyton.net/upload/view.php?file=46140_planetfreakout2282.SAV

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http://apolyton.net/upload/view.php?file=46140_planetfreakout2286.SAV

[Frankychan]

Holy crap, and I thought I had it bad with mindworm attacks!

At least you guys know that I'm not the only one who gets screwed over by Planet.

[Zeiter]

Ya know what's funny? It kind of reminded me of the fall of the Roman Empire. The native life was kind of like the Germanic tribes and the Huns invading Europe. All of those secret projects being lost was kind of like some of the ancient learning and knowledge being lost after the fall of Rome. And it was kind of like the other factions and I were back in the "middle ages" of the game. I was small and weak again, and they had never gotten very strong. Interesting...

I probably would have been able to beat that game if I had stuck with it and given it my best. My heart just wasn't really in it after seeing all of my awesome size 18 bases vanish. Hey, maybe I should try to go back and beat that game. There's a challenge. Or maybe I could go back to the beginning of the mind worm invasion, and see if I could do better now with the info that I've learned here. I'd like to hear how other people do with the game, and see if they can withstand the onslaught.

[gwillybj]

major events can happen more than once

Originally posted by Zeiter
About the volcano, funny thing happened. A volcano had already erupted about mid game when I wasn't experiencing any eco-damage or attack. I'm not quite sure why. I don't know if two volcanoes can erupt in the same game, can they? Well, there wasn't an eruption during the attacks.

I've experienced multiple volcano eruptions. Several games had two, at least one game had three. I've had two "Asteroid Strikes Base!" in some games, too (what a mess).