The rumour spreading hurt you, in that case. BTW, what's the story with Krikkit? Do we all just pillage him or what?
Not sure to be honest, I assume AFK player systems continue to generate ships, but there's no AI moving them around.
Day 14 Missed a day, blame the bank holiday, drunk. There is some evidence that I tried to turn on my computer...
There's also fat fingers trying to play on phones. I've so far sent one fleet with only one ship in it (d'oh!) and another fleet today to entirely the wrong place (D'OH!). Sorry Throbbi!
Well done Cei. My lack of attention/organisation at the end got the better of me! I'll see you all again next year for more scheming
The Rise of The Empire In the beginning there was a loose confederation of planets, joined in the common interests of commerce and exploration. The same race of people had colonised these planets over the years, spreading over a few light years of space, content to remain insular and compact. Yet some felt there was more elsewhere, beyond the range of scanners and space telescopes, and sent out small fleets to the worlds they could see. And it was good. Expansion began to accelerate, and the faction controlling the expansion felt its fortunes rise. Small fleets flitted from star to star, claiming territory for the new settlers, and back on the established planets, researchers began to look at how ships could travel further, scanners see further and how industry could fuel the production of more and more. The economy boomed, wealth abounded. And it was good. Suddenly, we were not alone. The forces of Krikkit, far to the south, made their presence known, and a non-aggression pact was signed. With this cultural shock, the expansionist party fell out of favour, and an admiral rose to power, and ultimately became the most influential and wealthy individual in the galaxy. Yet this was all to come. With the discovery of other races, the war machine began to ramp up, and carriers began to build up forces to the north, near the vicious race of savage monkeys discovered there. Even their sigil colour was offensive to our eyes, a bright green, reminding everybody who looked at it of the colour of bile. Other fleets began to form a defensive line to the east, holding key planets that restricted access to the space of the valiant colonists. War raged. Slow progress was made against the monkey men, with victories costing dear, and the time taken to travel to the front extreme. Scientists began to experiment with warp gates, allowing travel speeds far faster than could otherwise be achieved, and the start of a network was created on the homeworld. Soon this network would be spread across the stars, but its origins were in fuelling the war in the north with the lives of thousands. The glory of the Admiral, and his strategic genius ensured victory over the monkeys, with a triple-pronged assault on key systems. An unholy agreement with the galactic yellow bin men provided a vital distraction, drawing off the chittering monkeys to their other borders, allowing a rapid expansion in to their space, with the homeworld falling shortly after. The monkeys were doomed, but made a brave stand on several systems, but death comes to all in the end. With the conquest in the north, the Admiral's position was absolute, and the Empire was born. At this time, a friend was made. The fellow lovers of blue were sorely pressed by the bin men and a ragged band of merchants, and retreated towards our space. We defended their honour, and gave them a home to live in. Who can say we are not generous to our friends? Shortly after the assault on the monkey lands, our ally to the south, the being known as Krikkit, fell from power, leaving the government in turmoil and anguish. No leader emerged, and the Empire moved in to the region to establish stability and provide leadership to those bereft and rudderless. The bin men also tried to move on the area, but the Empire's glorious alliance guaranteed our smooth progress. The Admiral's wisdom was proving to be profound, with the military expanding constantly, and the economy going from strength to strength. Warp gates provided a fast transit network, boosting the fleets from their shipyards to the front lines. Our glory was acknowledged across the galaxy. First amongst all races for our economic prowess, and strength in arms. A hand reached out from across the galaxy - the beleaguered citizens under the wise Beni were being crushed by opposing forces - but we were too far away. In the dying days of their civilisation, the treasuries and museums were emptied on to ships and sent to safety in the Empire. This way, their efforts would live on, invested in to the war machine that would one day remove their oppressors. Yet suddenly we were stuck. The bin men had sent their diplomats, pleading for an exchange of technologies and war assistance against the purple demons of Throbbi and the militant traders, to which we agreed. Yet space was tight, and we simply couldn't reach any new systems for our colonists and fleets. The Admiral bided his time, building up the military fleets to unseen levels and numbers. Treachery struck. The bin men no longer held up their end of the agreement, taking technologies and not returning anything. The Admiral reached out to the space merchants, looking to see if a joint strike at the bin men would punish their perfidy and greed. A price was agreed, with technology and intelligence trading hands...and a date was set for the great invasion. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Empire's fleets jumped in to their warpgates and flew to the edge of their scanner ranges. Victory was swift, but losses huge, and on the newly conquered worlds came the worrying sight of incoming enemies. Yet where were the allies? The Admiral began to doubt his new friends...but a day late, they arrived, pulling pressure off the brave Empire warriors as they renewed the offensive. Warship production rocketed, with huge fleets arriving daily from the shipyards in the deep interior, as well as newly captured and upgraded key worlds. Our brave allies, The Saints, lent their single fleet to the assault, with war raging across the entire galaxy from north to south. Stars fell, and ships were annihilated with their brave crews, but the reinforcements kept flowing. Over forty fleets were now under the direction of central command, forcing the enemy ever backwards. Yet treachery. The fickle bin men began assaulting Empire worlds, but had underestimated their foe. Fleets arrived mere hours and minutes before the assaults would begin, rebuffing the attackers time and time again. Some stars fell, only to be retaken moments later. The Empire was the largest in the galaxy, producing more ships, more money and more technological breakthroughs than anybody else. The war would rumble on for decades, but the end was inevitable. Long live the Empire! So yes, I won! To be honest, I think it was down to my choice of prioritising economy early on, which allowed me to afford warp gates early on, and then later a massive expansion of my manufacturing to bring it up to the levels needed to compete. Careful alliance choices, and enough ships waiting in position to take advantage of situational changes also helped. My rapid expansion in to Krikkit's space was simply due to having 5 huge fleets already on his borders - without that area, I think I would have lost.
Apologies to all that I couldn't plow enough time into this - I've had a combo of extremely busy work and social life this past month that meant when I hadn't forgotten, I didn't have chance!
I don't suppose you'll be having another game at any point? I was quite keen to try this, and the first one, but the nearest i got was a game with randoms in the first game, and they all went terminally AFK after about a day and a half
I don't see why not! I'm stuck with med school exams until the middle of July though, so really can't be involved. Anybody else?
I've created a custom game with the 'Dark Galaxy' option (can't see each others starting areas) here: http://triton.ironhelmet.com/game/5229219 It's password protected so message me if you want in.
Might be worth seeing if Cei can change the name of the thread to let people know that another game has opened.
