Master Belisarius, your Tessellate are awesome!

[Slick]

MB, as you know, following AI Deathmatch 3, I got ahold of all the races that participated from you. I was a little surprised to learn at that time that I was still using TDM 3.4 beta which didn't include the Tessellate (and promptly rectified that situation). Well, I have played against them a few times and in the latest game, they sure have developed well. I'm now facing large fleets of their Baseships. I'm especially impressed with their ship designs. They seem to be extremely well designed to handle most opposition. Their Talisman-armed, shield depleter/shard cannon designs with phased shield/crystal armor are especially tough. The shield depleters knock out enemy shields and then the shard cannons gut the enemy by skipping armor. The Talisman ensures that all shots will hit. With the room on the baseships to put all that crystal armor, the full effect of the Religious/Crystal combination comes to life. I have noticed that they field a wide variety of designs in each area; satellites, fighters, ships, etc. In fact all their hull sizes are well designed. I like to play Crystal from time to time and, for the first time in years, I actually thought that some of the Tessellate AI designs were better than my own; even if you take away the Talisman.

I have also noticed that they sure know how to develop a system too. Combining the various Religious and Crystal facilities enables them to increase production, increase combat effectiveness, shields and lower ship maintenance.

I'm not surprised that the Tessellate won AI DM 3.

MB, I just wanted to tell you that I think you did a hell of a job with this race and it's a pleasure to play against them. They are definitely one of the best races to play against for a great challenge.