[Cheeze]

Cheeze vs The Great One, Turn 2414.0

Figured I would remove my Last post and put my game wrap-up here. Geo, thanks for an outstanding game. Playing such a long game, and one with several different fronts, made this one really fun. I am surprised I won this match, as I didn't expect to early on. Seeing the whole map, I think I had the advantage in colonizable planets. I see a higher-than-usual number of gas giants, including several with my atmosphere, and I am surprised by how few rock planets there appear to be. I was denied a fantastic system until late in the game, so it never became a factor. Neither Geo nor I was able to capture the opponent's colonization tech, but each had some of the other's population.

Geo's natural merchants allowed him to develop systems more quickly. Adding his tech advancement, I was getting hit with intel when his first large fleet hit the system two away from my home system. I thought the game was over them, because he captured my planets in that system I had little defense set in my home system. Adding to that, he had run a crew insurrection so he knew my base system. I had to research intel and eventually was able to produce enough to stave off his strikes. I don't know what happened here, save that I think he may have abandoned intel. He didn't attack, and that gave me time to build and train ships. I started by attacking in different directions, and that seem to force him to divert forces to counter the strikes I made. I was making progress, capturing/holding and colonizing systems. I had several fleets, some where tiny 5-10 ship Groups that were geared to seizing or flattening planets. Geo appeard to be working to eliminate each threat individually, and I moved them back and forth into his visibility.

I'm glad I hadn't attacked in some places, because when his large fleet made their "Last run" attack, I think at any warp point my ships would have lost trying to get into his system. Once I saw he was on the move (I had the nebula mined to warn me) and I saw how large his fleet was, I knew I could jump in and start attacking his colonies. He moved faster than I thought, and was in my home system. I had few defenses, but I was lucky in some of my losing battles, because some of his sweepers and supply ships moved right into my attacking ships and fighters. That delayed him. After he had sacked most of my home system, he could have taken my Last homeworld out, as I lacked enough mines. I was emergency building and launching mines. I thought I had some security until he brought in a reserve fleet of ten ships, but what scared me was the additional minesweeper (he only had one). I wasn't safe again, and had dropped out of emergency build so I could construct a space port and resume construction, since his attack had taken my sole spaceport. I was operating with less than 50-60% of my resources. Because Geo delayed his attack, I was able to launch enough mines, and then I worried he was building sweepers. I had much of the galaxy under my control, and was building and training warships to bolster my home defense. He attacked and lost more than half his ships to mines, and the remaining ones in the battle.

My fleets had moved to outside his home system. One smaller group was destroyed by his much more powerful warships (lt cruisers vs battle cruisers and battleships). I didn't dare send my other fleet through the other warp point, since I had seen 40+ warships, and mine were a mix of lt cruisers, carriers, destroyers and frigates. I had a couple small attack Groups doing damage, but one was captured entirely by Geo. When he surrendered I was on my way to building a fleet big enough to invade (and equipped with shields to avoid capture and engine destruction), but they were quite a ways from his systems. I think Geo might have been able to circumvent some of my forward deployed forces and struck out at my colonies. With one homeworld my population was mostly between Indifferent and Unhappy, with some Rioting planets. I think that would have cut my production down, and I was occuppied with re-building. Geo had geared most of his ships for warp point defense and had many boarding ships defending. If he had those battle cruisers and ships I had glimpsed earlier (with PPB's), I think a fleet of 20-25 could have taken my large fleet.

It was a great game, and I learned that my ships neither move nor FIRE when their engines are gone. Geo used these on his planets often, and my small raiding parties were screwed up enough I had to make designs with a cargo bay so those ships could get into range and keep shooting!!! It is a game bug of sorts, because Engine Destroyers keep firing at one ship long after it has lost all its engines. They seem to switch to another target only when they reach the ship's total damage capacity.

Roanan and I have started our game. I hope I reach up as high on the hill as I did Last time!!

[ July 11, 2003, 20:05: Message edited by: Cheeze ]