Scenario 3 Human AAR

[Hydro]

Scenario setup – see Scenario thread.

NOTE - I edited the year (2229 should have been 2226)

This is atechnical AAR which describes my exploration of the Terran Super Diplomat ability. It also provides some insight into my strategy and techniques (for what that’s worth).

I haven’t really played the Humans before, and certainly never the humans with the Diplomacy Super Ability. Moreover, these humans are goosed with even MORE diplomacy – they have a 75% bonus, all totaled! That includes the 10% diplomatic bump from the Pacifist Party, which also has a nice 10% morale bump, too. Of course the Terrans pay a price for this emphasis in other areas. My industry and military are relatively weak, and my economy has a 20% boost that should help overall. The objective of this game is to wring the AIs dry of goodies and protect my fledging empire from being run over economically and militarily.

Moreover, my starting world is wonderful - not quite perfect, but wonderful: 2 300% lab tiles, 1 100% lab tile, 1 100% industry tile, and a influence and food tile (that I’ll likely build over). I’ve purchased factories on three tiles, including the 100% bonus tile. I’ll let the labs build normally. Now, I wonder where my technological capital will be? Hmmmm?


Image 1: Earth development in 15 Jan 2226

One of my main weaknesses will be in industrial production and likely economic standing. Earth is a normal size world – 10 tiles – so there isn’t room for a whole lot. I know the galaxy is pretty small so I’ve purchased my first colony and then will buy future colony ships when they’re half done – this will save money, since there is about a 4x penalty for rushing. With my economic sliders set at 50% military my colonies still take 6 turns after my factories are build, which is far too long. I’m going to deplete my treasury fast at this rate, but so be it.

My first colony is heading to the right. I’m guessing there are planets there – not having stellar cartography is a drag. My next colonies are heading left, and perhaps north a bit. I have to get whatever good planets there are before the Drengin or I’m toast: the Drengin are not known for being good neighbors.


Image 2: Galaxy map in 15 Jan 2226

Note the PQ 7 and 12 planets to the south. My next colony ship is heading to the PQ 12, of course. I may or may not get Mars and the PQ7 planet. It depends what the Drengin does, but I expect they’ll come into my territory like dogs to poo.

[Hydro]

15 March 2226

Wow. All I have to say is WOW!

I’m really starting to like the Super Diplomat ability!

I made contact with the Korx, Drengin (of course), Torians, and Krynn and made my first deals. Here is the rundown:

Korx Deal
Terran – Economic Treaty
Korx – Eco treaty, research treaty, Planetary Improvement, Trade, Advanced Trade, Master Trade, Space Militarization, Xeno Biology, Galactic Warfare, Ion Drive, 266 BC

Drengin Deal
Terran – Trade tech
Drengin – 277 BC

Torian Deal
Terran – Universal Translator, xeno communication, xeno bio, advanced trade
Torian – Xeno Eco, Xeno Industry, 20 BC

Krynn Deal
Terran – Research Treaty, Trade tech
Krynn – Research treaty, eco treaty, 2 scouts, and the planets Dester IV (PQ11) and Dester I (PQ3) [I didn’t know anything about these planets until the deal was done – it was a blind guess]


Image 3: Worlds and ships acquired from the Krynn

Now, keep in mind that because of an error it turns out the Torians are at war with me. Looks like I made an error when I set up the scenario. Oops.

So, in exchange for the Terran economic and research treaty and a few techs I’ve more or less cleaned out every other empire – now THAT is a master diplomat!! Do I feel any guilt? Nope. None at all! I am, after all, a sneaky Terran.

Closer to the home front, the Drengin is invading my space with two colony ships. He’s colonized Mars and is heading for a PQ7 planet, and it looks like he’s rush-buying colony ships from Mars. I’m not going to contest that. There is a pair of ~PQ11 worlds to the left in the Gladstone system that I’m heading for. Since I have my capital near Mars and a PQ11 planet next to the PQ7 planet in the Cassius system I may be able to flip them both Mars and the PQ7 Cassius world – maybe.

So now I have speed 3 colony ships, a few Krynn scouts to explore, the best tech in the galaxy, a soon-to-be huge tech rate for myself due to my tech bonus tiles on Earth, and 6 colonies. I’m researching Sensor to construct a few fast survey ships. Not bad. Not bad at all!!

[Hydro]

July 2226

The first round of colonization is done and all that are left are extreme worlds. Most of the AIs are researching one of more of the extreme techs, and so are the Terrans: High Gravity Worlds. There are three or so near me, and I guess I’ll be able to trade this to the other AIs for other colonization techs – and get a bonus in the process.

I completed the second round of Super Diplomacy, with similar results.

Korx deal
Terran – advance computers, xeno economy, advanced miniaturization
Korx – Extreme colonization, 166BC

Krynn deal
Terran – advanced trade, basic miniaturization, new propulsion, universal translator, xeno communication, planetary improvement, xeno eco, diplo relations, sensors
Krynn – the planets Dexter II (PQ6), Dexter III (PQ9), Dexter V (PQ8); 220 BC (this makes 5 planets from the Krynn)

Drath deal
Terran – Advanced computers, basic miniaturization
Drath – xeno factory, research center, 70BC

Drengin – had nothing worth trading for, and had a negative bank account. I may ask for colonies in the future to get his colonies out of my territory.

So, by July 2226 the Terran has 12 worlds, which is almost twice what anyone else has. My economy is negative and my balance quickly decreasing (I still have ~900 in the bank), and almost all my colonies are poorly developed. But my populations are increasing nicely and, with time, I’ll be able to dig myself out of the economic hole.

My next priority is to grab nearby galactic resources. I have an influence already, and hope to get a proximate morale, 2 military, and perhaps an eco (which is by the Torians). Freighters will be constructed and sent to my neighbors – I want to keep them relatively happy and willing to trade. Plus the Terrans have a 25% trade bonus and 1 extra trade route!


Image 4: Galaxy map July 2226

[Hydro]

Here are a few items I’ve recently noticed or come to appreciate in GC2: DA.

AI intentions: you can tell a lot about the direction of the AI by looking at what they are researching (and how long it will likely take them to get there). This valuable information is in the Diplomacy tab, Report section, under Misc. For instance, all the AIs in this scenario are researching extreme colonization and development techs, so I can be fairly sure I don’t need (or want) to invest in a military. Moreover, if I do get sidetracked by investing in military I’ll likely fall behind in colonization and/or galactic resource acquisition. I had this problem in my last AAR where I completely missed the boat on extreme colonization, and it was a good thing I had a good start or I might have gotten run over.

The Report section also is useful to see how the AI’s economy/development is doing. For instance, the Drengin have a negative treasury balance and when I graph their stats I see their economy has collapsed. Their research rate is flagging and it is likely it will take them a while to dig themselves out of this hole. The Drath and Korx, but contrast, are doing just fine and are still progressing. This is useful to identify likely threats, or AIs that I’ll need to suck up to by means of trade routes. Or, alternatively, I could support these flagging AIs by trade routes, which give them the same cash it gives me.

Super Diplomat observations – with this super ability I have a real interest in not seeing the AI’s empires be at or in wars. I’ve managed to get most of the research and economic treaties from the AIs, which will be a major long term bonus for me since it is effectively 10% of the AI’s empires economy and research. Therefore, I lose a lot if there if war starts pulsing across the galaxy. This is heightened by the Terran 25% trade bonus and the extra trade route – the Terrans like peace. In this game the exception is the Torians, who are at war with me. I can still trade with them, but I’ll need to keep a good eye on them since I’ve seen the Torians go to war early, and their huge population growth bonus gives them an early economic/tax edge. I don’t know if it’s possible to get good relations with them, but it will be interesting to try. If I manage to get Diplomatic Translator and/or Galactic Bazzar I’m a shoe in for future trades and negotiations – the AI won’t know what hit them!

AI planets – the AI does a good job in colonization, and without my planet trades with the Krynn I’d be at best even. That said, first two of the planets I got from the Krynn had populations of <30M. This is long-term death for the planet since it will never grow, and it will be economically crippled. Significantly, it will also have a tiny influence since population is a fairly large factor in the influence calculation. Also, it seems the AI places a value on population, which might be why I got the low-pop planets so cheap in the initial trade. The other planets came at a dearer price (although it was still a bargain – a treaty and a bunch of techs for 5 planets in one system; in a small galaxy this is absolutely huge!). The planets had or were building spaceports with little additional infrastructure, so my observation on colony ship construction (see above) seems to be true. Another problem is that the AI doesn’t distribute population to fix very low populations. For instance, I’m building a colony ship to ferry population from systems with ~1B pop to the planets with ~50M pop. This will help both planets out, and get the tiny pop planets in the game. Tiny pop planets are also terribly vulnerable to invasion, so they need to be helped out. This game is either Tough or Painful (don’t remember) and maybe the AI is better with this at more advanced levels.

Extreme colonization – I’ll have to check a bit more, but the AI does seem to go after the right extreme colonization techs based on the nearby planets. It also seems to expand the colonization phase (and neglect military) until most or all extreme planets are taken. This is generally a good thing, but it might be possible to play a war monger and get some easy early kills if the AI is distracted and fails to respond to an early military buildup. This is especially true since the colonization phase is so long in GC2: DA – you actually have time to research and build a few transports to take out early undefended colonies. Note that planets with 30M or even 500M population are fairly easy to take over with a few ground combat bonuses (Yor, Korx, Drengin, and Korath – are you listening?). Going the opposite direction as the A*I might have certain advantages!

[Hydro]

February 2227

NOTE – my previous posts incorrectly stated the year was 2229. Oops. Only off by 3 years (and 156 turns).

The second wave of colonization is on and almost all the races are in the game The Drengin got aquatic before I expected (their tech rate said 24+ turns), so I took my eye off the ball and they grabbed a bunch of great aquatic worlds (PQ10-12). Regardless, a veritable fleet of Drengin colony ships are now running through the galaxy. The Drengin now have 10 colonies (several of which are in my sphere of influence) vs my 19. The other powers are about a third my size.

As for diplomacy – the juicy part for my Super Terrans – the deals continue:

Toria Deal
Toria – peace, fusion power, xeno medicine, basic logistics, Vissad I (PQ3), 10,000 influence
Terra – peace

Korx Deal
Korx – rad terraforming, 95BC
Terra – fusion power, advanced diplomacy

Krynn Deal
Krynn – impulse, 19BC
Terra – fusion power, basic logistics, space weapons

Drengin Deal
Drengin – aquatic terraforming, 94 BC
Terran – advanced computing, advanced trade

I researched toxic, high gravity, and am now researching barren, so I’ll have all the extreme colonization techs soon. Still, I’ll have to work to get too many more colonies with the Drengin having snagged most of the good aquatic worlds and the Korx the rad worlds.


Image 5: galaxy map on February 2227

I did try something I saw Korn do: reduce taxes until my happiness hit 100%. This did have the effect of hugely goosing my population growth (doubled), which when done long term did wonders for my economy. It won’t be too long before I’m breaking even, which is a good thing. I will definitely remember this tactic!

Many races are now building their first few defenders. The Drath have defenders with no armor and now weapons (???). Very strange.

I’ve snagged a number of galactic resources, too: influence, economy, morale, research, and soon military. I’ll have to build a military or other empires will start casting a covetous eye toward the Terran Alliance. After the Torians made peace with me I gave them Trade and they became neutral, so perhaps they’ll be friendly after all. Right now all are neutral to warm, so with a few more trade routes I should be in good shape.

Now my strategy is to snag the last few colonies within my sphere of influence (low PQ planets), build enough defenders to keep the AI off my back (military rating ~100; need some more weapons tech), get freighters to establish trade routes, and keep building my galactic resources. Stay tuned…

[Hydro]

Aug 2227

The Terrans now have 27 colonies, 2 of which revolted from the Drengin. A few other Drengin planets revolted to other AIs, too. Apparently planting small population colonies in someone else’s sphere of influence is a bad idea. Imagine that.


Image 6: Galactic map August 2227 – revolted Drengin planets

My economy has really turned around: Korn’s 100% morale gambit is paying off. My population is soaring, as is my income. I’m running a Democracy now with a nice 20% bonus, and my trade centers are starting to kick in. There are a few trade routes, which is nice. The AI seems to prefer the Terrans for their trade routes too, which I don’t mind. Normally I base all my trade routes out of my capital, but this time I’m basing some out of the Dexter system (north central corner), which is a system I got from the Krynn. It already has an eco starbase set up, and since it is in the corner its trade routes are longer. Industrial utilization is 100%, and it looks like I’ll be generating a healthy surplus.

I’ve continued to trade techs with the AI:

Korx Deal
Terran: basic logistics, basic rail gun, impulse
Korx: advanced aquatic colonization, 224BC

Krynn Deal
Teran: xeno entertainment, heavy gravity colonization
Krynn: space mining, soil enhancement

Torian Deal
Terran: impulse, mass driver theory
Torian: anti matter power, manufacturing centers, 158BC

Drath Deal
Terran: anti matter power
Drath: research academies, enhanced logistics, 51BC

Getting manufacturing centers may have been a mistake. Many of my colonies have a very poor manufacturing base, and now with the auto upgrade they may take forever to build. I may have to go 70%+ social for a while go get them going. In a few turns I’ll get Diplo Translator, so even better deals will follow. Whoohoo!

The main worry is that the Drengin is starting to go negative. He is building transports, and fortunately he hates his other neighbors (Drath, Torians) more than me. The Drengin has the second most planets and a fairly large population, so I’d imagine he’s going to war soon – probably against the Drath.

My military rating is 115%, though, which will hopefully be enough to deter an early warmonger. The problem is that there are a number of exposed colonies that will be impossible to defend – yet. I’ve only gotten to Laser 3, and right now I’m researching invasion techs. It doesn’t hurt to get a good ground combat in case a stray transport rolls in. Plus, if the Drengin get feisty I’ll be prepared. More beam tech, basic shields (the Drengin is also beam), and maybe medium hulls are next.

[Hydro]

May 2228

Most of the 30 Terran planets have close to their population maximum. The economy is rolling along with a weekly surplus of 400 BC/turn. Overall the Terran is at 8 time (vs Krynn) to 3 times (Torian) than any other empire. We’ve built all of the early projects and trade goods, and there is rarely any technology that we don’t have.

Moreover, Terran influence is spiking significantly. There is one influence starbase and the Restaurant of Eternity. Almost all of the Drengin territory has disappeared under the blue Terran sphere of influence, and the Drengin has already become cool and seems to be slipping toward worse despite there being 3 freighters to his territory.


Image 7: Terran sphere of influence May 2228

Most of the other races are neutral (Drath) to warm (Korx). The only race that likes my neutral stance is the Krynn. It seems my diplomatic standing has decreased even as my diplomacy rating spikes.

I switched production to 90% social for a ~ 4 months to get my manufacturing base up and running after my economy had turned around. As a result my manufacturing has spiked, as has building economic structures, research, civilian ships, and warships.

My military rating has also spiked. My small-hull DD with advanced lasers are, surprisingly, the terror of the galaxy with an attack rating of 4 and 2 defense. The first medium hull cruiser with a massive attack of 6 and defense of 4 (spd 5) will roll out in a few weeks. None of the AI empires can stand up to that kind of firepower.

The Drath and Korx are forming fleets and it seems they’ll be at war soon. As for the Drengin, they hate just about everyone. The Terrans are going to try to stay out of all wars. But, if someone declares war on the Terrans they’ll be dealt with.

[Hydro]

Nov 2228

I’ve finally committed to neutrality and am building neutrality learning centers, which should give the Terrans a huge research boost. I’ve never played neutral before, although I’ve seen the prestigious amount of research these babies crank out. I also like the neutrality trading with the 3 extra trade routes. The improvement that gives me a portion or neutral trade income is a bit dubious, though, with only the Krynn likely to be neutral in this game. It would make much more sense to have this (or any other similar building for good and evil) if there were more players or if your counterparts were larger.

There is also a spy problem. I’ve acquired 5 of the pesky buggers in the last few months, and that is with me spending 2% on spies. They target my best improvements, such as big manufacturing bonuses. I’ll have to crank up my espionage.


Image 8: Terran home area in Nov 2228

The Drath and Drengin have been at war for a while. It is strange to watch their fleets move in sllooooowwww moootttioooonnn, and then attack in ones and twos. The Drengin have a PQ14 world in the middle of Drath space, but it still holds its own. The Terrans have given some advanced shield tech to the Drath, and we may have to give them a fleet to ensure they don’t get squished. I’ll keep an eye on the military standing and will be ready. I think 3 top-of-the line Terran cruisers (med hulls) with plasma III with shields (Drengin used beam) should do the trick to blast anything the Drengin might field. I’ll make sure they are in Drath space so they can make a difference. It will be interesting to see what the Drath do with the ships.

On the home front my improvements are topping out. Having 90% social for a few months did wonders, so now when a facility improvement comes along I can do something about it since my planets are well developed.

Diplomatically, the AIs like me more since I’ve cranked out a number of cruisers (I name my hulls based on a favorite game: Star Fleet Battles: FF (frigate, tiny), DD (destroyer, small), CA (cruiser, med), DN (dreadnaught, arge), BB (battleship, huge)) and my military rating has spiked. Most of the AIs don’t have any research that I care about any more. Interestingly, they won’t trade for the tech I would like – advanced terraforming. I suppose that is a good thing. I still need 2 advanced terraforming (toxic and rad), but they are a low priority since I have only a few worlds of that type.

Overall this game feels like I’m coasting. Because of my huge advantage in economy and planets I can do pretty much what I like. I’ll be interested if a special event shakes up the universe.

[Hydro]

Aug 2229

NOTE: I upgraded GC2: DA with the 1.50x patch.

Ok, something odd is going on. I’ve set my tax rate to 72% and my morale is still 100% at all planets! I’ve never seen this before. I only have 1 morale galactic resources (maxed out), and many planets have 1 morale enhancement tile. Most of my planets are at either 6B to 12B (depending on whether I built farms or not – if I do usually only 1 farm).

So what gives? Normally if I’m evil or good with a setup like this if I push my taxes much above 50% or, heaven help me, 60% then my morale starts collapsing. Heck, I could probably have pushed it farther, too. I would really appreciate anyone’s insight on this item. Is this normal for neutral?

Anyway, I’ve continued to push my weapons tech (plasma 3) and defensive tech (barriers 2 or 3) such that my cruisers have an attack of 8 and defense of 9. They haven’t seen combat, but my military rating is huge. I gifted 3 cruisers to the Drath who have been using them to eviscerate the Drengin. They Drath seem to be focused on the Drengin planet in their territory, so I’d be a little surprised if they started angling south.

The Krynn and Korx have been beating each others brains out, and the Korx are losing. It is interesting to watch. Due to the new colonization the empires are intermingled so there are lots of sources for irritation, and likely victims close by. The Krynn have a few fleets in Korx territory and are establishing superiority. The Torians are sitting on their hands.


Image 9: galaxy on August 2229

Near the home front Mars finally revolted against the Drengin, along with a few mining platforms. I’m not being aggressive about my influence (e;g. – planting influence bases), but I’m not shy either. About every fourth tech or so is diplomacy or influence based since I want to keep that line going. I’m building clusters of economic starbases, which cover 4 to 6 planets each due to how the galaxy is clustered.

One annoying item is that the spies keep coming. Right now I’ve got 9 infesting my empire, and my espionage spending is 5%. I really hate spending more. I did invest in counter espionage, which I’m building at my tech capital (Earth) and major manufacturing centers. The AI really knows where to hurt me by placing a spy on my uber-research centers on Earth (reducing research from ~450/turn to 320/turn due to all the multipliers from structures and eco starbases) or a 3x manufacturing tile at my manufacturing capital.

I’ve started constructing a number of heavy transports (1B each and spd 7 (spd 9 with impulse and warp bonus) since my planets are maxed and have a huge growth rate. This way I can respond very quickly if there is a problem, and it won’t set back my empire much. My tech isn’t quite good enough to get 2 advanced troop modules (for 2B/transport) and maintain a good speed. Such are the trade offs in GC2: DA. I’ll have to get some more engine or miniaturization tech to up my transport design. Regardless I don’t like having more than 2B/transport since larger versions really deplete population. I’ve seen other posts of folks who construct large and mini transports to optimize planet invasion, but I really don’t see the point. Plus in this game I’m not planning to go to war, and the AI doesn’t look inclined to push the issue (and if it does it will be over pretty quickly).

Diplomatically all the races are close except for the Drengin, with whom I bought an eco/research treaty from. If they ever all become close I’m going to offer alliances to them all to win the game.

[Hydro]

March 2230

A few more Drengin planets and mining platforms have defected to the Terrans, and the Krynn are rolling over the Korx, who are down to their last 2 planets. The Drath were doing OK against the Drengin, but then the Drengin started constructing high-firepower ships that wipe the map with Drath. My Terrans are able to make comparable ships, but only with superior tech and 2 military galactic resources. Maybe these are the Evil super-weapons? I haven’t played evil all that much so I’m not sure. Strangely, the Krynn and Korx now have a peace treaty, although the Torians are sending their pathetic low-tech ships across the galaxy at spd 1 to be pasted by the Korx.


Image 10: galaxy in March 2230

Regardless, I’m now allied with everyone by the Korx, who are close. I’d call them up and offer an alliance but I just gave them a cruiser (I’m such a nice guy) so I’ll have to wait a few weeks.

Also, my morale has decreased from 100% to ~78%, which is what I’d expect. I had no other changes, so I’m even more confused about why my morale seems to vary.

I also finally have my spy problem under control. I’m spending 10% of my economy, so I think the key is to keep on top of it better and not let the spies build up. My economy has largely maxed out, too. Building more pop is counter productive after 9-12B, and most of my planets have their max population. I have all the terraforming (and the nifty instant-availability once the tech is researched as a neutral), so any new tiles will have to be for stock markets. Of course it would be nice if I weren’t spending so much on anti-espionage. Perhaps now that I’m allied my allies will leave me alone!

[Hydro]

May 2230

Diplomatic victory in May 2230. I gifted the Korx Alliance and then offered – they accepted. The rest of the races were already allied with me.


Image 11: population and some events in May 2230

A few thoughts:

• Once the Terrans had 2x the planets of anyone else the game was almost over, pending a nasty Event or ineptitude on my part. The game was effectively decided when I was able to buy 6 or 7 planets from the AI in the early game.
• It was much too easy to get planets from the AI in the early phases of the game. Perhaps the 1.50x patch fixed this.
• The Diplomatic super ability is very powerful. This is especially true when paired with even MORE diplomatic ability by using points during the setup and by following the ‘yellow path’ (diplo and influence tech lines).
• Setting early morale to 100% by lowering taxes can do wonders. Of course, you’ll have to have a bankroll to do this, but the idea is to grow your way out of an economic hole sine population = taxes.
• The AI did conduct meaningful attacks and defense. In particular, the Krynn came very close to completely eliminating the Korx. Battles between the Drath and Drengin ebbed and flowed.
• The benefits of being neutral (neutrality research; neutral trade) are very nice
• Spies can be a pain, especially if all the races gang up on you. In order to deal with them jack up spy spending ASAP to neutralize them. Don’t let it ride like I did or they’ll just build up.

There are a few things I never quite understood:

• How did the Dregin get such powerful ships? Is this an evil ability?
• What caused the spike of morale to 100%? It lasted for a while, but then died away. Perhaps it was an event that I didn’t notice. As I recall there was a Council vote for a happiness year with a mandatory contribution (I voted for 1000 BC donation since I had lots of cash) – could that be it?