I would say my best and worst are both from my current vsAI game.
I'm playing solo 1.49 no mods, large map, not all wp connected, medium number of AIs on high difficulty & bonus. My race is methane/ice.
So far the only races I've met are the Terrans and the Space Vikings. I established good trade links with both but the unconnected warp points meant that territory was limited and soon a 3-way war started.
The Terrans were sandwiched between me and the Vikings, so I decided to use the Terrans as a buffer: The vikings were clearly winning against the Terrans and I had spent nearly all my research on developping warp point technology.
I put almost all my ships and satellites into defending my one exposed warp point and let the Terrans occupy the Vikings' time until I could research enough military technology to fight a war.
Worst moment: In one turn, the vikings wiped out an entire Terran system in one turn - their final system and home system, which was the only thing between the Vikings and my warp point. All diplomatic contact with the Terrans was lost. *In the same turn* the Nordic bastards waltzed through my warp point defences as though they weren't there, wiping out my entire fleet and a massive group of satellites *with no losses of their own*, leaving my entire empire exposed.
In the next year or so they conquered 2 of my systems (about 35% of my empire), glassing some planets and conquering others with troops.
Best moment: Only the turn before, the stupid (or desperate) Terrans had sent a coloniser through the heavily defended warp point into my space. My first reaction was to destroy it, but I had a better idea: I let it through. The following turn, the rest of the terran empire was extinct. They had a few carriers dotted about, but their Last colony ship was in my space, with a turn's head start on the Viking invasion fleet. I let them come deep into my territory, allowed them to colonise a planet and then demanded their surrender.
I gained a population of oxygen breathers, rock colonisation tech and fighter tech. The first two of those allowed me to expand my resources within my shrinking borders enough to support my just-built stellar manipulation fleet. The fighter tech allowed me to slow the Viking advance long enough close a few strategic warp points and to consolidate my empire to the point where I am into a viable defensive position.
Once I have finished my warp point defences (I would consider cutting myself off from them and then re-establishing contact as a friendly to be cheating), constructed/ colonised a few more planets and built up a decent attack fleet, I plan to start making lightning raids with my warp point openers: Appearing deep in the heart of Viking territory, conquering unprepared worlds, stripping them of population, units and facilities, then abandoning them and disappearing.
I shall be revenged...
Things I have learned from all this:
- You might think you're well defended, but your enemy may surprise you.
- Sometimes it pays to be nice, even to your enemies.
- There is such a thing as a successful tactical withdrawal.
- and never, *ever* underestimate the
Space Vikings.
Seriously though, no other game I have ever played comes anywhere close for this level of involvement and the subsequent sense of loss / acheivement.