[Slynky]

You're much too gracious.

And you sell yourself short, I think.

Let's recap a bit:

Yes, I was bewildered about how long it took to meet you. The longer it took the more careful I got. For my part, I thought you had taken Religious and were working for the Talisman (and keeping it secret as long as possible). Accordingly, I got cautious as I crossed into the 2nd 2/3's of the map.

When we finally met, I knew you had combat advantage but I figured I had "numbers" advantage. As we (and others know), I thought I could whip you with numbers but your training (and combat advantage) killed me!

I got careful...many, many turns later, I broke through but you showed up with a formidable fleet and I backed down from advancing. It was then I decided I wouldn't attack again till I was sure. That's where a long time passed as I built a fleet of over 100 while a fleet of 55 guarded the hole. Your ship desigh and combat advantage was tough to overcome. My only consolation was I had economics...and, really, I could wait till you could build no more. But, that's boring, and a bit chicken-s--t.

I was amazed at how you handled your economics with only 15-16 systems. That underlines your skill. I had 31 and at one point had 50 yards idle because I didn't plan well. THEN, I over-compensated...so many resources, I couldn't store them fast enough! Finished the game with about 1.3 million mins, .7 million orgs, and .6 million rads in storage.

The one thing I worried about most was you consolidating 2 fleets (gambling) and breaking through a point.

It was a good game, a long game, and played fast. Turns took an hour for the last 20 turns. UGH (LOL).