Year 2421 – The Spaceman War

I’m in 5th place, 1 point behind the Danis.

The battle at Desert showed me that the new Spaceman destroyer has 3 Beta torps, computer and fuel tank. I intend to build a matching destroyer, but with a maneuvering jet to reduce the ½ square of movement that War Mongers get as a bonus. That, with some armed scouts to draw his fire, should allow me to take out his two destroyers orbiting Desert. The freighter didn’t stop there, but moved on, looking like it’s heading to Castle. The group of ships that had taken out his armed scouts last year left Desert at warp 4 due to their lack of fuel, but that means they’re very close to the freighter going to Castle, so they’ll run after him to see if they can blow the colony ship away before it lands.

Another Spaceman small colony ship is approaching Desert from the southwest, as though this was the ship that was trying to go to Loan Shark when the Makasachi and I met it. Its position places it very close to my Siberia colony fleet, so they’ll divert to take it out before continuing on. There is another medium colonizer coming from Cochise to Desert, which may stay there waiting to invade.

In the meantime, the Spacemen continue to bomb Desert, however, this year they killed 3400 colonists (larger number due to the larger number of colonists there now), but I grew by 2700, so they’re not making much headway, though they have destroyed all my mines, factories, and defenses, few as they were. This year, Desert’s production queue is blocked building a planetary defense due to not enough minerals, and I have no mines. It will never build the defense at this rate, but then it won’t build any mines or factories either, that will just be bombed away. Therefore, I’m leaving the queue as it is, diverting all output to research…in Weapons.

The Minions have a destroyer coming in from the direction of Deneb. I’m warning them off. I’ve not sent scouts past the Deneb/Loan Shark line yet, so destroyers are most certainly not welcome in my space. (Of course, my lone Peeping Zoinker is heading out that way, but he’s not there yet.)

The Makisachi sent me a message saying that until they max out on factories on their homeworld, they intend to just pick at any Spacemen in their space. I guess I can’t count on them in the short-term.

To go after the Spacemen in orbit of Desert, I’ve created the Zoinkifier from the destroyer hull; 3 Beta torps, computer and maneuvering jet. I didn’t put any additional armor on it, because it increased the cost and the weight. While the weight slowed me from 1 move per round to ½ move, I figured we were both going to be closing in, so it didn’t matter much. But the cost is why I left it off, so that I could build more in a shorter amount of time. If I send in a few Zoinkifiers plus at least 6 Little Zoinker IIs to draw his fire, that should work. With four destroyers he has 18 torpedo bays, and each torpedo can only kill 1 target, so his torpedoes will go after the quickly-advancing Little Zoinker IIs, taking at least 2 torpedoes to kill them, while my Zoinkifiers go at him from range. That’s where speed will count; the sooner I can close into range the better. Hopefully, the torpedo accuracy odds will work for me. I’m also adding 4 Zoinkifiers to bolster the Protector fleets, plus 2 to catch up to the Siberia colony fleet.

I’m throwing economic growth to the wind this year, and I’m declaring war on the Spacemen. They may have already declared war on me, but now I’m making a concerted effort to fight back.

Year 2427 – A Turnaround

I’ve been in 5th place consistently up until this year. I slowed down a bit in 2422 due to ship-building, but have been behind the Danis generally by 10 points or so. However this year, the Minions passed me up by 3 points, and I’m now 10 points ahead of the as-yet-unseen Player 14.

Tech Advances – In 2424 I got Weapons 6 (Yakimora Light Phaser) due to research and Electronics 4 (Mole Scanner) from artifacts discovered while colonizing Eisenhower.

Observations - In 2425 I saw the Danis sending in colonizers to Red Dwarf and Walla Walla. This year I built 4 more Cotton Pickers to merge with Kludge Mining and I’m building 3 Zoinkifiers to protect the crowd there.

I’ve got so many scouts in my area now that I’ve set my colony protector fleets on Patrol/50ly. It’s getting crowded out here.

In 2426 I found that Tweedledee, just southwest of Deneb, is yellow for me, so I’m going to go for it. I’ve got a Colony of Zoinks, 2 Zoink-a-longs, and 4 Zoinkifiers for protection on their way there, full of colonists. They will arrive in 2432.

I’ve put Planetary Scanners in the queues of Cherub, Hexnut and Deneb this year. Hexnut’s will be ready in 2 years, the others in 4.

The Spaceman War – The war has not gone well. I had two battles in 2422 with the Spacemen. The first was just south of Desert, with the fleet I intended to kill the freighter going to Castle. Instead, at about the place those ships started from, my 5 Little Zoinkers (and 1 Colony of Zoinks) got toasted by 3 Spaceman destroyers. My fellas got in 15 points of damage, but were all destroyed. I’m trying to figure out what actually happened, and why my ships didn’t go after the freighter. It may be because I couldn’t see them once they were in orbit of Castle (my pen-scanners couldn’t quite reach that far).

The other battle was my Siberia colony fleet vs. the Spaceman colony ship. This one worked out better, with some Beta torpedoes doing in the hapless colonists.

My first War Fleet was assembled in 2422, destined for Desert. It consisted of 4 Zoinkifiers and 8 Little Zoinker IIs. It arrived in 2426 and was totally destroyed at Desert (and the game crashed anytime I tried to view the battle). The Spacemen started with 16 ships there, and they still do (7 bombers and 9 destroyers). Apparently I was overwhelmed. In the meantime, the bombing continues. I’m down to about 45,000 colonists there. The question now becomes, given how poorly I fared, am I willing to cut my losses and give up on Desert having only recently decided to step up hostilities? My destroyer checking out Red Dwarf noticed no Spacemen there, so it moved on to Castle and found a Spaceman colony of about 58,000 there. Therefore, my next tactic may be to start bombing Castle in a tit-for-tat maneuver. If I do that, I may want to create another war fleet, because he may split up his destroyer fleet at Desert to defend Castle, which would make it easier to retake. I’m still considering just how to proceed.

The destroyer that scouted Castle is now on it’s way to Lever. The Danis have let me know they have a small stargate there that I can use to fly farther north, up to Mercury, to see what the planets up there can do for me.

In 2422, the Makasachi had a change of heart, courtesy of the Spacemen:
I will join in this hunt of the Spacemen. He has sent a fleet of four destroyers towards my planet Loan Shark. I'm in the process of building warships now. I will join any attack of Spacemen that is declared.

I’m no longer alone in the war against the Spacemen. My reply:
Those destroyers have 3 Beta torps, so be prepared. My plan is once we remove them from our respective spaces, we make a concerted effort on their homeworld of Cochise. I have a feeling that unless we do that, he’ll keep on coming. He only has two planets, so he’s going to be desperate to take planets. I will set you to Friend and we can ally for the purposes of dealing with this problem.

But no help from the Minions:
We will remain neutral on the matter of the Spacemen. The are ranked #14 and are of little concern to us at the present time.
Be warned we will kill anyone that attacks us.

My response:
Just be warned that the Makasachi took that same "I have no quarrel" attitude until this year when the Spacemen arrived with destroyers. The Spacemen may be low on the totem pole, but they can certainly cause some serious problems with economic growth. If/When you are ready to aid, let me know. Understand that I have no intention of attacking you.

In 2423, the Danis said they didn’t want to go after the Spacemen so early in the game:
I like your "RATS" abbreviation - pretty innovative. I have a destroyer at Lever - but I would prefer not to turn the spacemen into an enemy immediately if I can avoid it. But, since you have planets in your "space" that are so desirable to me, I would rather cast my lots with you than with the spacemen. However, if I don't HAVE to show my hand immediately, that will give me the advantage of waiting till I am much more prepared when we could make an all and all out strike against him. I think when we gang up on him, it will have to be to go for the juggler and right now it is awfully early on in the game to be that effective. So, call me in if you think you are risking losing and I will throw my weight your way. But remember it is only one destroyer. Maybe I will make another to send your way.

In 2424, the Makasachi were seeing new incursions by the Spacemen:
I've noticed his new destroyers. He took out my 1st gen destoyers at Loan Shark, but there is a squadron of my 2nd gen destoyers on the way to take care of that problem. I'd be happy to join on the assault of Cochise. The one small problem I have is that I don't have ramscoop tech, so I'd need to refuel on the way. Are there any starbases for refueling along the way? If not, I could build one at Clatsop if you would be willing to trade about 200kT of Germanium for an equal amount of Ironium or Boranium. That way there would be a close Starbase for both of us to use.

My response:
I’m a bit short on Germanium at the moment, though my reserves are building up. If/when we’re ready to do some starbase building, I think we can make a deal. In the meantime, let me know when you’ve taken care of them in your space and I’ll let you know when I’ve taken care of them in mine. After that, on to Cochise.

In 2425, the Danis wondered how I was faring:
Did you get rid of the bombers that were coming after you? By looking at the scores - it looks like you are going to have big troubles with the wolves. Better watch out!

My response:
I still have bombers at Desert, but I have a war fleet that will arrive next year. Here's hoping.
I haven't angered the Wolves much, so I'm not too worried about them just now. However, they have just started laying mines between Deneb and Lynx

Hope didn’t seem to help the war fleet.

In 2426, the Makasachi continued to be bothered by the Spacemen:
Presently he is trying to attack Loan Shark, but he has been unable to get any bombers there, so it is safe for now. I've sent a fleet to destroy his destroyers orbiting that planet. So far, that planet seems to be the only one he is interested in, or at least the only one in his reach.

That year, the 14th place Spacemen had 48 escort ships, 1 shy of the first place Tobacs, 6 of which were heading for Loan Shark. My reply:
In case you’re not aware of it, the Spacemen have 3 destroyers that should arrive when this message does, and 3 more next year, all heading to Load Shark.

This year I held off dealing with the Spaceman situation, instead working on colonizing and resupplying colonists to outlying worlds. The RATS initiative will take significantly longer than I’d hoped.

The Southern Alliance – Things have been heating up down south as well. There’s been more sabre-rattling these years with the Minions, who are acting as spokesman for an alliance. This year, I found out definitively who they are.

In 2423, they responded to my question about their destroyer:
That Defender is there as a security measure. If the Spacemen are as hostile as you claim we would like to know when they approach.
It is only one Defender and is not meant to attack you. When is has collected enough fuel (ram scoop) it will move on.

In 2426, I put a Skeleton starbase in the queue of Cherub. It’s an empty starbase hull that will at least allow me to refuel and build ships there.

Farther down south, the Wolves saw my Little Zoinker scout heading in, and sent 4 destroyers to take it out. However, my scout came out unscathed. The Chicken battle plan worked well.

The Wolves’ had 6 scouts laying a minefield on our border in 2426, though it was growing rather slowly. This year my ships have moved out of the area enough that I can’t see it anymore, but I’m sure it’s still there. I’m researching Biotech to get some mine-layers myself.

Also in 2426 I responded to the Wolves about my scouts in their space:
I understand you don’t want me in your space, but my scout is certainly not going to hurt anything. Neither you nor the Minions have said much in the past few years, and I was wondering if you’re interested in a more formal non-aggression pact. Depending on your conquest plans, if any, I could be a good ally, falling between you and the Minions in resources and general score. Let me know.

Then from the Minions came a bit of information traded for leaving his space…sort of:
We have been asked by other alliance members to not allow you scouts into our space. As a consiquence of mutual peace so far we will let you remove your scouts. If your scouts has not changed direction by 2428 we will be forced to kill them.
We are not intreseted in any of your known planets because they have no value to us. And if your scout were to return to one of them it would not be presued.

My response:
Trade ya - tell me who's in this alliance, and I'll turn around the scout immediately. Otherwise, we'll wing it. Not lookin' to pick a fight, but heck, if our habitailities are all that different, it's pretty sure I won't be going after any of your planets, correct?

And their response:
We see no harm in telling who are members of our alliance at this time. They are We the Minions, The Wolves, and The Tobac. Now kindly remove your scouts before we are required to.

This year I sent a message to the Archimeans and Tobacs, who are heavily into my territory with scouts:
Scouts in Zoink space will be shot on sight. If you can run away, fair enough. If you want to talk, even better.

It may not be such a good idea to talk to the #1 player like that, but I’m getting overrun. I now have 4 Zoinkifiers protecting Ho Hum set to Patrol/100ly. Since the Tobacs are part of the alliance asking me to remove my scouts from their area, and while I’d like to at least get a few scans from down south, I replied to the Minions:
I’m turning one of my scouts away from you now (you may see him, northwest of Graceland moving north now), but others will remain, in response to all the Tobac scouts in my space. If you want them out, talk to the Tobacs about it. Or better yet, get them to talk to me about it.

I suspect Moonbeam to be the home planet of the Wolves, but not much farther south I’m finding Tobac planets. These guys are very intermixed, and thus must be in it for the long-haul.

The Turnaround - Given the situations with the Spacemen and the southern alliance, I figured I had to get one or the other off my back. While they’re just one empire (in 14th place), the Spacemen still pose a threat to me, at least in the way they can stump my economic growth while I’m fighting them, and in the meantime the southern alliance continues to grow unimpeded. At the same time, I don’t think I can afford to ignore the Spacemen, because it doesn’t seem like they’ll be called off easily. My biggest concern is the southern alliance, because at this point it consists of the players in 1st, 3rd and 5th places. Left uncontested, or a least unconfined, they will either roll over their borders right on to me, or simply grow into such a power that they could win the game without firing a shot if no one wanted to take them on. I considered sending a message to every other player in the game asking for help, but I wasn’t sure if that would really bring about anything. Empires not in direct contact with the southern alliance could read into that message a sign of weakness and consider me ripe for takeover. Therefore, I’ve decided to try to appease the Spacemen and allow all our economies to grow (mine, the Makasachi and the Danis) so that we may better take on this threat to the south. I’ll start by not contesting Castle in exchange for cessation of hostilities.

To the Spacemen:
I’d like to make an offer that I hope you’ll seriously consider. I’ve received a message from the Minions that in fact they are allied with the Wolves and the Tobacs. As of this year, that means the 1st, 3rd and 5th place players are now a rather power force not far away from both of us. So I’d like to make a bargain with you: I planned on sending bombers to Castle and continuing to defend Desert, but I’m willing to concede Castle if you’ll call off the attack on Desert. What this will allow us to do is grow our economies (factories/mines) so that we can build better ships sooner. Look at the scores; you have the 3rd lowest resources, and your War Monger advantages won’t mean much once we catch up to your level of research (which is already happening, notice all the beta torpedoes around the universe?). You need research for better ships/weapons, and you need resources to get research done, but you can’t bring in more resources if they’re being used to build ships instead of factories. My deal is: We both stop attacking each other, concentrate on factories instead of warships, and create a military alliance (in which a War Monger will come in very handy) so that we can take on the southern alliance. I’m hoping to get the Makasachi and the Danis in on this too. If the southern alliance gets too strong, they may win the game without firing a shot because no one wants to take them on. If we strike early, we may hold them off long enough to make -our- alliance a great force.

And to the Makasachi and Danis:
I’ve sent a message to the Spacemen asking for a halt in hostilities and a military alliance in return for conceding to him a planet he has colonized very close to me (i.e. I won’t bomb it to death). The Minions have confirmed that they, the Wolves and the Tobacs are formally allied, and they could be difficult to deal with if they continue to grow unabated, and I see them as more of a threat than the Spacemen to the point that I’m willing to give the Spacemen limited concessions to get them on our side in this situation. (A War Monger would come in handy.) He may contact you to negotiate terms, or he may consider my concession good enough for entry into an alliance involving all of us, or you may wish to speed things up by offering your own concession(s). I will let you know how our talks go, but for now feel free to continue hostilities as needed. What I need from you two is; are you willing to ally together with the Spacemen to start creating better economies and a barrier to the southern alliance?

The Spacemen replied quite favorably. He was unaware of the southern alliance, and was more than willing to cease hostilities, but he really wanted Desert, as his planet count was only 3. His reply:
HI, Zoinks!
For me it's a news - formation alliances in this game! Nevertheless, I find your offer good. I am ready to formation alliance with you. From now I'm stop any military actions against you, and I'm ready to solve all disagreements by a peace way. But - my desire to receive Desert is very high. For me it is necessary for development, which in a present situation is necessary for us both. I would like to receive Desert by a peace way. May you take out your colonist? As an exchange you can colonize any planets on my territory, not engaged by me. I support the attraction Danis to the union. With Makisachi I have only one problem, which I be going to decide by my fleet's progress for south. Other claims to him I have not.

I’m guessing our habitabilities are pretty close since he’s going after planets that are green or yellow for me. However, as my ranges are shifted a bit to the right, I’m also guessing that his are probably centered, as Desert and Castle would appeal to someone in that range, and Castle for him would then actually be green already. And if he had simply refused my offer, I’d have added Desert to the exchange anyway. I’m going to take him up on the offer; one less front to wage war on, and one more ally:
I accept your offer. I will remove all but 1000 colonists from Desert so that you can simply land your people there instead of having to use a colonizer. I will inform you as to when I’ve removed my colonists. In the meantime, setting each other to Friend status under Player Relations will help this cooperation work better. I’ll talk to the Makisachi to see if we can work something out. Thank you.

The Makisachi also replied, and the alliance begins to sound even better:
I like your idea of introducing the Spacemen into our alliance. They would be very useful in pestering the opposing alliance. They could act as decoys, or they could assist us with their unusual warmongering ways. I noticed that one of the members of the opposing alliance in No. 1, so we may want to recruit the Bejavoid into our alliance. If you don't have good contact with the Bejavoid, I could make the contact since we have been good allies since the beginning of the game. Let me know what you think.

This was falling together much better and quicker than I’d expected. The Bejavoid are in a solid second place, and that would certainly help our cause:
Yes, by all means include the Bejavoid, if they’ll agree. The Spacemen are very willing to cease hostilities and sign on, but he has an apparent outstanding issue with you. His words: "With Makisachi I have only one problem, which I be going to decide by my fleet's progress for south. Other claims to him I have not." I’m not sure what that means, but he’s going to stop attacking me right now, and I plan to give him a planet that he’s been attacking in exchange for his cooperation and free movement and colonization near him. I think it’s a small price to pay to halt that war. If you can ease tensions with him, we’re on track. Enjoy!

Instead of Removing All The Spacemen, we’ve Retained All The Spacemen!

Year 2430

I've stayed in 6th place these past 3 years. I've been behind the Minions the whole time, by up to 20 points, but now they've shot up to 4th place. The Spacemen had 1 more escort ship than the Tobacs in 2428, but the Tobacs shot ahead by about a dozen the following year. Still, it's nice to have the Spacemen on my side now. I've stayed ahead of the as-yet-undiscovered Player 14 though they have been closing. Currently, the Danis are still ahead of me, by 11 points. My resource numbers have been leveling off because I haven't been shuttling off colonists from Ho Hum as fast as I should. (Ho Hum had 688,000 colonists in 2429. The southern alliance now consists of the players in 1st, 3rd and 4th places.

Tech Advances - In 2428, I got Biotech 4 (Carbonic Armor, Mine Dispenser 50) and Construction 4 (Privateer Hull). In 2429 I got Contruction 5.

Observations - In 2428 I found a Makisachi planet,Gangtok, with a minefield growing around it, so they at least already have Biotech 4. And given they have a space station and about 900,000 people there, it must be their home planet.

I discovered the planet Faith, in Makisachi territory. It's only a 1% for me (terraformable to 6%), but it's better than nothing. I'm asking the Makisachi's permission to colonize it, but a colonizer and backups went into the queue of Ho Hum in 2429 and was on it's way in 2430. For this effort, I created a new colony ship, the Germinator, from a privateer hull with a colonization module, a cargo pod, a fuel tank and carbonic armor (long range, and can take a few hits while fleeing the scene). The group going to Faith has a couple of Cotton Pickers so they can remote mine nearby K9. I still have 2 Colony of Zoinks ships, but they are on mission to Tweedledee and Siberia and will be used up in due time.

The Siberia Colony, however, has found that Ziggurat, a planet 260 ly NW of Ho Hum, is 33% for me, so they will wound up there this year and established themselves. I've informed the Danis that my plans have changed for the colonists, and that I may send another group later on.

Desert Deserter arrived this year, loading up all but 100 colonists, in preparation for the turnover to the Spacemen. It also hauled up 58kT of Ironium. The people & minerals will be dropped off at the newly-colonized Ziggurat.

A new Skeleton starbase was built at Cherub this year.

I saw a Lothan scout at Desert this year. The only way he could've gotten there without me seeing him before now is that he is a Super Stealth race.

Battles - A Tobac Colibri destroyer (2 X-Rays, fuel tank, maneuvering jet) took out one of my Little Zoinker down south in 2428. There’s another Colibri near the other one.

I saw an unescorted Tobac privateer heading towards Planet X, just NE of Deneb. The Tweedledee Colony ships were in the vicinity so the warships went to intercept. The battle didn't go well. The battle pitted 3 of my Zoinkifiers against 2 Tobac Colibri defending a Tobac Mother (privateer colonizer with 2 fuel pods). The Colibri had Carbonic Armor, and I'd not built my Zoinkifier destroyers with armor to keep them quick and because I didn't even have Carbonic when I'd originally designed them. Therefore, their two ships had a total of 800 armor, while my three had 600. My Beta torps did damage of 48 - 72 each shot until he got in range with his X-Rays, after which he started doing about 60 dps per hit matching my torps shot-for-shot. My torpedo odds began to falter, and I hadn't done enough damage to him before he got in range of his weapons, so that after the shots were all fired I was dead, but I had inflicted 97% damage on his destroyers. Nice, but that still allowed the Mother to colonize and the Tobacs now have a planet that is just under 130 years from Ho Hum.

In 2429, the Spacemen told me they'd set me to Friend status. However, before that happened, in 2428, 5 Spaceman destroyers (2 Beta torps, fuel tank, maneuvering jet) attacked my Siberia Colony. They were set to use the Chicken battle plan, but while they were disengaging they took some shots at the Spacemen. Before my fellas got out of there, they took out 1 Little Zoinker and 3 Little Zonker IIs, and damaged the 2 Zonkifiers 15%. Everyone else escaped unscathed. Hopefully, this is the last battle I’ll have with the Spacemen.

A battle took place at Leviathan this year, way down southwest in Tobac/Wolf/Minion area which killed my last Little Zoinker. It involved a Minion starbase called the Hand of God (Alpha torps, X-Rays and a 100/250 stargate), and some standard ships (Stalwart Defender, Armed Probe). They also had a privateer with 1 cargo pod and 2 fuel pods called the Enslaver. The Tobac were also there with an unarmed scout (the Corona) and an X-Ray scout (the Demitasse). There was nowhere to run.

Other battles went better. The fleet of patrolling Ho Hum Protectors took out a Minion Long Range Scout, and a Tobac Corona, and Deneb Protector destroyed a Wolf Smaugarian Peeping Tom, though all those ships were unarmed scouts.

Due to the colonization of Planet X by the Tobacs, I've created the Little Zoinkificator, a mini-bomber hull with Black Cat bombs. I'll build a few with Zoinkifier escorts to work them off that planet if possible. Their follow-up freighter of colonists is escorted by one more Colibri.

Diplomacy - In 2428, the Wolves sent a message, noting that they are turning down my suggestion of an alliance, which wasn’t entirely unexpected:
You destroyed my scouts for similar actions, now you wish free passage in my space. I agreed to leave you alone if you left me alone. Please consider my space as out of bounds of now. I may negotiate later, when you can live up to your side of agreements.

The Archimeans had a change of leadership that year as well:
The Archimean government has been taken over by a new leader. I am still trying to figure out the dynamics of the diplomacy that has gone before me.
I greatly appreciate the warning before you destroyed my scouts. Other players have not been so accommodating. I lost four scouts on my first turn in the game.
I have stopped my scouts that appear to be going into Zoink airspace until we are able to negotiate your permission for a peaceful mapping expedition.

My reply:
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter of scouting. If your scouts were to do a 180 degree turn and move beyond Deneb, that would be satisfactory.

2429 brought two notes from the Minions. One by Stars mail and one in reply to my E-mail to him:
I would agree to letting the Spacemen join our alliance against the Minion bloc if he will quit attacking my planet Loan Shark. That's really the only sticking point I have with him besides just being irritating. Actually he would come in really handy. I say that we support him to grow his large fleet of destroyers and have him attack the planets of Minions and Wolves. They Minions and Wolves would go after the Spacemen and we could prepare a joint fleet hidden at a nearby planet and attack good planets while they are chasing Spacemen. I really like this idea. Also, I have good relations with the Bejavoid. Perhaps they would like to assist us in our fight against the Tobac-Wolves-Dominion pact.

Then:
Ease tensions? He's attacking me! He began this game by destroying all of my unarmed ships, so the fault in our sour relationship is his. The planet he is trying to attack is not a newly settled planet. It's an older colony with 600,000 or more people on it, so he has no claims to it. I won't approach the Bejavoid to join this coalition until the Spacemen have been brought under control.

That's entirely understandable. My response:
I understand your situation, and it's not very different from my initial encounter with the Spacemen. I'm not suggesting you give up Loan Shark like I gave up Desert; Desert had no more than 55,000 colonists ever on it. I'm just suggesting you talk it out with them and let him see your position. He's been very willing to work things out. I suggest you copy me on any E-mails you send so I can interject my ideas, and so that we can work this out as a coalition, rather than just on a one-on-one basis. The sooner we're all on the same side, the better. I'll talk to the Spacemen as well.

So my message to the Spacemen went:
I understand the Makisachi has a problem with your assault on Loan Shark, and that is what's holding up a full and complete alliance between you two, me and the Danis. I'm aware of your situation in terms of planets, but the Makisachi do have over 600,000 people on Loan Shark. It's not something they'll eventually give up, and I'd hate to have this battle keep our alliance from solidifying. He should be in contact with you soon, and I've asked him to copy me on E-mails so I can offer my own ideas as well. The sooner this is settled, the better for all of us. Enjoy!

Year 2431

I've dropped to 8th place, Player 14 is 1 point ahead of me, but the Lothans are now in 6th place, 9 points ahead of me, probably due to the fact that they had 5 starbases go online this year, and the Danis are 15 ahead of him. The Makisachi are behind me by 20 points.

This year I got Construction 6 (Strobnium, Frigate, B-17 bomber).

I attacked a Minion Stalwart Defender near Deneb with Deneb Protector; a Little Zoinker II and a Zoinkifier. The Minion destroyed my Little Zoinker II, and while his one Alpha torp and one X-Ray were no match for my 3 Beta torps, I destroyed him, taking 32% damage.

Another battle took place off of Hexnut, with Hexnut Protector (same ships as Deneb Protector) vs. a Minion Stalwart Defender and an unarmed long-range scout. The battle went about the same way, except that the scout escaped and the Defender was only 96% damaged when the battle ended. My Protector fleet will continue to pursue.

Northern Scout arrived via Dani stargate at Mercury. He'll now do some scouting for decent planets there.

Deneb has a new Scoper 150 planetary scanner, and that may have been why I now see a rock-solid wormhole near it. I'm adding 3 Peeping Zoinkers to Ho Hum's queue to send into there.

My bomber fleet has been built at Ho Hum, consisting of 7 Little Zoinkificator ships plus Zoinkifier escorts. They'll arrive at Planet X in 3 years. However, they're taking a flight path directly towards Deneb for 2 years, then turning and hitting Planet X the next year. No advanced warning for this excursion. However, at the same time, there is a lone Tobac destroyer of unknown design arriving at Planet X in 2 years. And from another direction comes a Tobac frigate, possibly a mine-layer. Deneb Protector is shooting for it, but may not have enough fuel to reach it by next year. This would lose the element of surprise, as the frigate would just barely not make Planet X, and the Tobacs may not suspect that my fleet would be flying in to take on the frigate. If I don't take out the frigate this year, it'll make Planet X in the same year as the unknown destroyer does, and now that Deneb Protector is just 1 32% damaged Zoinkifier, it would probably not survive. I'll go for it next year, but if I don't make it, I'll turn tail and run.

If enemy mine fields are in my future, it's time to start building ships that can defend against them, and my own mine layers. I designed the Zoinking Field mine-laying frigate ship (complete with Carbonic Armor but no scanners but for the built-in ones). I'm not building any yet, due to a number of other priorities at Ho Hum, and Cherub can only build 1 a year so far. I'm holding off designing a mine sweeper until I get the Phaser Bazooka, or enemy mine-fields are bothering me, whichever comes first.

From the Danis:
If I were you I wouldn't put Siberia too far away from your plans because the Bejavoid are headed there.

For that reason, I've put another colony fleet in Ho Hum's queue. However, I took them out again after reading the next message from the Makisachi:
I have a colony ship on the way to Faith, you may have K-9 r Memos if you can use them.

So instead I redirected Faith Colony to Siberia for the new Siberia Colony. However, it'll be 17 years before they could make it there at warp 5 and not run out of fuel, so I petitioned the Spacemen if I could refuel at their homeworld of Cochise. This will be a test of our alliance.

Year 2432

I'm still in 8th place, 1 point behind Player 14, 13 behind the Lothans, 23 points ahead of the Makisachi.

The number of Wolf escort ships shot up by 20 this year.

A Wolf Sara (scout with X-Ray laser and DNA scanner) destroyed the colonizer that arrived at Tweedledee. The follow-ups will arrive next year because they ran out of fuel. It's unfortunate, because 11 Wolf Sabres (dual X-Ray destroyers) and another Sara will arrive there in two years, and I could've had the planet easily if they'd just arrived at the same time. I've decided to take the follow-up fleet and drop the colonists on Deneb. Looks like it's going to have to be a strong line of defense against the southern alliance.

The Tobac are really planning on fortifying Planet X. Frigates, Destroyers and Freighters are all on their way there. I need to nip this in the bud. My Zoinkifier did not, in fact, make it to the frigate, and I'm not going to pursue, as I now see there are 3 Colibri already there. This means I need to send more destroyers in to protect my bombers. I'm building more at Ho Hum.

I need to get this alliance moving forward, now that the Tobac are too close for comfort. I sent this to the Makisachi, the Spacemen and the Danis:
OK, we need to work out any remaining problems between us and get an alliance working here. The Tobacs have colonized Planet X, which is way too close for my comfort. They're fortifying it with destroyers (almost 10 within 3 years), and I can't let them get this foothold so far inside our space. Tweedledee is not far behind, and from my vantage point these two planets are their closest footholds yet. It's time to do some tech trading and get ourselves in a position to make better ships to go after them. It has come to my attention that one of the members of the southern alliance, probably the Wolves, are Claim Adjusters, and this could explain why their resources are climbing so high; terrforming ships are at work on all alliance worlds making them more habitable and allowing them to grow more colonists. As far as tech goes, I have Weapons 6 and will have Construction 7 in 2433 and am willing to do some trading for Electronics, Propulsion or Energy. Odds of getting tech from scrapped ships is better at starbases, so the sooner we can get bases close to each other the better. In the meantime, anyone with mine-layers needs to start creating them in earnest, to create a barrier. Let the rest of us know what you can do, what tech you can give and what tech you need.

The Makisachi replied:
I'm in the process of building mine layers, so I can concentrate of building a mine barrier. I still have grievances with the Spacemen. They continue to attack me and that's not what I call a good alliance. As for starbases, I have one at Muspell and one a Graceland, and I'll have one at Loan Shark in 4 or 5 turns.

I thought I'd make an ovation to the Bejavas as well, copying the Makisachi:
I understand from the Makisachi that you and they have had good relations thus far, and I'd like to appeal to that for a moment. To the south of us is an alliance of the Tobacs, the Wolves and the Minions, players in 1st, 3rd and 4th places. We have a burgeoning alliance of our own to the north of them, but by ourselves we don't stand much of a chance. I was hoping that we could count on you for support in our attempt to both keep them at bay, and also to snipe at them. The sniping is necessary, because if that alliance gets to strong, they may be intimidating enough that they will win this game without having to fight for it, and all of your economic growth will have been for nothing. Can we count on you?

The Minions didn't like my defense of Deneb:
Your destruction of our Defender near Deneb is inexcusable!
Armed ships will be dispatched to the area and any of your ships found in the area will be destroyed.

My reply:
Your penetration of Zoink space is unwanted. By now you should know where my planets close to you are, and thus should expect that any ships of a rather large alliance that go poking too close will be dealt with. You do not need defenders near Deneb, I do. If defending one's planet is cause for war, watch your back.

Year 2433

I'm in 7th place, 10 points ahead of Player 14 and 6 points behind the Lothans.

I forgot to send in my turn file last year! This made for a number of changes. I also have to re-send the Stars Mail message to the Bejavoid.

Tech Advances - Got Construction 7 (Super Fuel Xport) and Propulsion 5 (Daddy Long Legs 7, Stargate 100kt/250ly, Gravity Terraform 7).

Eisenhower became a green planet for me this year.

My new terraforming capability has made Mocha, near Makisachi space, to become a big yellow planet for me, so the colony fleet I'd planned to send to the wormhole near Deneb will instead go there. The Peeping Zoinkers that were in that fleet will split off to go to the wormhole.

The Danis and I have agreed to trade tech. I'll be building scout ships with a mine layer on them for them to get Biotech 4 and they'll be building ones with Radiating Hydro-Ramscoop engines to give me Propultion 6. I had more available resources at Ho Hum this year due to the fact that the queue went empty (having not submitted my turn), so I didn't expect to be at Prop 5 so soon, but Prop 6 will help me on my way to better ramscoops.

The Tobacs have taken Bonn, just southwest of Deneb. They're surrounding Deneb, so I need another way in. I've created the Zoink-O-Rama starbase, which included the 100/250 stargate, 16 beta torps and 8 Yakimora Light Phasers (mostly for clearing out mine fields that may encircle places like Deneb soon). It also has 6 Battle Computers to make the Betas deadly. I have 3 in planet queues; Ho Hum's will be built in 2437 after a few fleets of mine layers, Cherub' in 2435 and Deneb's in 2440.

Battles - Since I forgot to send my turn, my destroyers followed the Tobac frigates into Planet X, where they were wiped out by 3 Colibri and the Tobac frigate Gnarly Gnat, carrying 3 beta torpedoes. I did destroy 2 Colibri and the Gnarly Gnat in the battle, however (and the remaining Colibri was 84% damaged). This actually worked to my advantage, since now my bombers & escorts can easily move in and start bombing. However, there are fleets of ships on their way to Planet X, the nearest of which consists of 2 Gnarly Gnats,a medium freighter, a Colibri and a Buttnoid, which will arrive in 2 years. This will give me time to let the Tobac know my desire to have them off Planet X, as I've heard from the Danis that they have generally been turning around ships when asked. This, however, is a planet, and I'm not sure how well he'll take to this. So the bombers will move in, but negotiations will start immediately as well. Also, since this was my Deneb Protector fleet, the Zoinkifier that was going to catch up with Tweedledee Follow-up will go to Deneb as the new Deneb Protector.

Speaking of Tweedledee, another side effect of the missed turn is that the colonist fleet that was to drop on a (hopefully) populated Tweedledee did not turn towards Deneb but flew on in to meet it's demise. A lone Zoinkifier, 40% damaged, survived and will meet up with the new Deneb Protector. This battle showed me a new Tobac destroyer, the Buttnoid, with 2 beta torps instead of the Colibri's X-Rays.

Diplomacy - The Tobac have a frigate of unknown design flying north at warp 9 that will pass just to the east of Kludge. I'm dispatching a Zoinkifier to go after it and take it out. If this is either a warship or mine-layer, I don't want it here, and my message to them covers a lot of ground:
I forgot to send in my turn file last year (2432) which resulted in the attack on Planet X and the (obviously insane) debacle at Tweedledee. My intent is that you not have Planet X as it is well within my territory. I'm considering any ships north of a line from Deneb to Lynx as out of bounds and subject to torpedo fire. This includes the frigate speeding north at warp 9 which will pass by Kludge soon. By the time you get this, my bombers will be at Planet X. If you want me to call them off, it will really have to be worth my while. I'm sure you can understand my position. Please let me know how you want to deal with this.

The Makisachi are still having problems with the Spacemen:
Any luck with talking some sense into the Spacemen? They have a fleet of 17 destoyers going to Loan Shark that will be eliminated by my fleet of 25 destroyers with a follow-up of 15 more two turns later. They are wasting their ships that they should focus on Minions.

So I sent a message to the Spacemen, copying the Makisachi:
Spacemen, your attacks on Loan Shark are doing nothing for our alliance. I understand your need for planets, but an extended and large war between you and the Makisachi is simply draining your resources (and theirs) and continuing to slow down growth. The Makisachi have a very good claim to Loan Shark and I would suggest you put your resources to finding other places to colonize, or simply building up the planets you have already. Your War Monger advantages are being removed as the rest of the universe catches up to you; they are building their economies while you are spending precious resources on what will most likely be a long, drawn-out battle over a single planet. We will be able to do nothing as an alliance until this is resolved.

The Spacemen agree to aid me, and need to take a closer look:
Welcome! You can refuel on my base. May I know, where are you going?
I see big population on Desert on my scaners. Can you give me sharp data or take home a lot of your colonist. I can waiting still.

His ships in orbit of Desert can't see the planet. I explained that to him, and he will most likely have that next year. He responded with a thank you, plus:
About Makisachi: last action was a finish of development's plan. Now I don't want even try to attack any Makisachi's planet or fleet. "leave with peace".

Hopefully it's not too late to "leave with peace". I forwarded a copy of that to the Makisachi. They said they were relieved to hear it.

I also made it a point to send my turn file.

Year 2434

I'm in 7th place, and my points didn't change much due to colonists being taken from Ho Hum for other locations. Player 14 is 4 points behind me and the Lothans are 19 points ahead of me.

Tech Advances - I got Energy tech 4 this year.

The Lothans popped in at Hexnut this year. More evidence (if any more was needed) that they're Super Stealth.

Shot out a Tobac Deep Space 0.02, the frigate that was flying at warp 9 north near Kudzu. It has shields, fuel pods and a Possum scanner (using Electronics tech 5).

My Planet X Bombers seem to have had their warp factor messed with while I had been working with them, and they moved at a mere warp 4. This means that I don't get a year's worth of bombing before some reinforcements arrive (the two Gnarly Gnats and the Buttnoid, though that's a different composition than I saw last year). They will arrive next year.

A scout looked at Mocha this year, and the Makisachi appear to have recently colonized it (only 29,000 colonists), but that shuts that door. However, Staff, a planet in Spaceman territory, was discovered this year, and it's green, albeit 13%. Mocha colony is now Staff colony.

The Makisachi sent this message in 2433, so it may have been written before the Spacemen called off their dogs:
I'm sending a colonizer to Arpeggio, so once that gets settled, it will be a perfect base from which to attack the Spaceman homeworld of Cochise.

I'd toyed with the idea of going after the Spacemen once they were calmed down and the situation with the southern alliance had settled, but a War Monger is still generally a good ally to have. My reply:
I imagine you sent that "attack Cochise from Arpeggio" message before the Spacemen said they'd stop attacking. Still, I have colonists at Ziggurat, even closer to Cochise, and if, at some point in the future, we decide to take our revenge against them, that will help the cause. I'm not sure if/when I'd want to do that, because their warships may prove very valuable in the future, but if they fall too far behind due to their early war-making, we may just have to show them -why- one should grow their economy early on. For now, I'm willing to keep the peace.

They replied:
Yes, that message was sent before the peace. I'm willing to give peace to the Spacemen. I'm really becoming worried about the Southern Alliance. Let's focus on that for now.

Then the Bejavoid, whom I'd heard may not be interested in an alliance outside of the Makisachi said this:
The Bejavoid are very interested in your partnership. We have also found the Makisachi to be friendly and trustworthy. Can you tell me about your burgeoning alliance? Meanwhile I am in negotiations with the Ninjas, also for an alliance - to fight of the emerging powers to the south of us. If the Tobacs, Wolves and Minions are indeed together, then our only hope is to join together.

I'm a little worried about tipping my hand completely to them, however they probably know quite a bit already, having info from the Makisachi. So I replied to them, and copied the others in our alliance.
We'd love to have you on-board. I'm sure the Makisachi have informed you that our group consists of the Danis, the Spacemen, myself, and the Makisachi, whom I understand already have good relations with you. The southern alliance is growing too strong, and I think we need to begin immediately to hem them in, in preparation for pushing them back. We're currently getting mine layers positioned to give them a cage to stay in, while preparing for more later on. Are you willing to lend your support to this effort? If so, let's work together to come up with a long-term plan. Are you and the Ninjas allying for the same purpose?

Year 2435

I'm in 9th place, 17 points ahead of the Makisachi, 4 points behind Player 14 and 32 points behind the Lothans. I lost 2 points from last year due to the Spacemen inhabiting Desert this year, but I built 2 starbases, so that must count for something.

Observations - There's been a marked increase in the number of escort ships owned by the Tobac and the Minions. The Tobac jumped by over 20 just this year and the Minions increased by over 50 in the past 2 years. I warned all alliance members of this development. The Makisachi replied that they're mining as fast as they can.

A Ninja Shadow Sleuth (scout hull with a cloaking device) showed up at Deneb at the same time as the Tobac destroyers at Deneb, but I believe it's coincidental, given the note from the Bejavoid and the fact that the scouts path seems to come from the general direction of the wormhole.

I found the homeworld of the rv-988212-g; Arafat. So far, no one's taken it, and it is a 57% planet for me. Taking this planet will be in my long-range plans. Also, I've finally scanned Siberia, and it's a 31% planet. Siberia Colony II is still 12 years away from it.

Battles - A dozen Wolf destroyers took out my hobbled Zoinkifier leaving Tweedledee. This left my single Zoinkifier at Deneb, which was removed by 3 Tobac destroyers, leaving them in control of the orbit of Deneb. Because of this, I've turned the Deneb Resupply fleet back to Ho Hum pending reinforcements at Deneb. The Zoink-O-Rama starbase won't be ready for another 5 years there.

The battle at Planet X went considerably better. The 10 Little Zoinkificators moved out of the way, and my 5 Zoinkifiers took on the Tobac contingent; 2 Colibri, 4 Gnarly Gnats, and a Buttnoid. They had already erected a Stellar Lounge, an empty Space Dock. I destroyed all warships, and damaged the Stellar Lounge 76% before the battle was over. Two medium freighters fled the scene. My Zoinkifiers were 39% damaged after the battle. The presence of the Stellar Lounge means I couldn't bomb this year. Reinforcements from the Tobacs and the Wolves are due next year; 1 Tobac privateer and 5 Wolf frigates, all of unknown design. Due to this, I've taken 3 Ho Hum Protectors and the Ho Hum Standing Garrison (6 Zoinkifiers in total) and sent them pronto to Planet X.

Diplomacy - The Makisachi continue to keep me updated:
Do you have Delta torpedo yet? I would trade mine laying technology for it. I wouldn't feel confident going against Tobac without it. Also, in my campaign of disinformation, I told the Minion that there were no disputes between us, so if that information gets back around to you in the rumor mill, I don't want you to think that I betrayed you. Just trying to "put his mind at ease." Hehehe. As for the Spacemen, they are trying to pick off my transports which is making it difficult for me to build up my planets. I know that you sent them a message to stop, but they seem to be stubborn and evil.

The Spaceman situation has changed since this message was sent in Stars Mail in 2433, so I'm going to ignore that last part for now. My response:
Thanks for keeping me up-to-date. No, I don't have Deltas yet (only have Weapons 6 so far), and I already have mine layers being deployed. If you have Electronics better than level 4 I'd be willing to get it in exchange for Construction 7, Weapons 6 or Propulsion 5. Thanks for keeping the Minions in the dark, though at this point I think I've angered just about the entire southern alliance single-handedly. We're fighting over Planet X (not that I want it, it's just that I don't want the Tobacs to have it.

There still seems to be some trouble getting the word out that the Spacemen want to cooperate, though the Spacemen themselves hadn't been, until recently, making that any easier. Still, word from the Bejavoid was generally good:
The Makisachi have not told me much of your alliance. However, I do know that the Spacemen are attacking the Makasachi, who I am prepared to defend. The Danis have also not responded to any of my alliance requests, and are now at war with the Bejavoid. These disputes would have to be settled before we could effectively work together. If this can be done, then yes, I am willing to support your minelaying efforts. I will leave the Spacemen and the Danis alone if you can assure me they will co-operate.

I replied:
The Spacemen have said they will immediately cease hostilities. I think if you talk to the Makisachi again, you'll hear that is the case. With regards to the Danis, I'll mention this to them, though I understand you're moving in on planets that they can use and are closer to them than to you. I think they would be willing to (mostly) keep the status quo, as long as they could be assured you won't be moving in any further. There may be a planet that is in contention but overall I'm sure they don't want war with you. Given a settlement in this situation, I hope that your help will be quickly forthcoming.

I forwarded his message to the Danis.

Year 2438

I moved up to 7th place in 2436. I've been putting a little distance between Player 14 and myself, gaining on the Lothans (from 32 behind to 21 behind this year), and while I was tied with the Ninjas in 2436 I'm now 8 points ahead of them.

Tech Advances - In 2437 I got Electronics 5 (Possum Scanner, Stealth Cloak, upgraded JoaT scanners) and in 2438 I got Weapons 7 (Blackjack).

Observations - 2436 marked the first time the Tobacs took a hit on the scoring graph; their number of starbases dropped by 1 (the one formerly at Planet X, which I destroyed that year), and their numbers of unarmed ships dropped by almost 20, but that was only temporary. Offsetting that, however, was a sharp increase in escort ships; their jump of 20 in 2435 was accompanied by about 150 more since then. They now have 236. The Wolves have increased their escort ships by about 80 in that same time period.

I completed the Zoink-O-Rama at Ho Hum in 2436 and two new Zoink-O-Ramas at Hexnut and Hell in 2438.

Deneb Resupply was recalled, and 7 Zoinkifiers were added to guard them as they resume moving colonists.

Found that the planet Vacant is owned by the rv-988212-g, but had only 37,000 colonists on it and is 21% for me. I'm built 4 more Zoink-a-longs and a Gas Station to invade. They'll arrive in 2447.

In 2437, the Wormhole sent my scouts to the west-central portion of the universe. They spread out, and I'm finding a lot of Lothan planets.

My Northern Scout, a Zoinkifier, found Dipstick to be a habitable planet. However, it's about 640 lightyears from Ho Hum. Still, if no one's taken it by now, it may still be available by the time I get there. Just in case I'll sent a message to the Danis and the Bejavoid letting them know of my intentions.

This year I'm seeing 30 Minion destroyers on their way to Tweedledee; 15 to arrive next year, 15 the year after.

Battles - In 2436, Cherub Protector took out a Tobac Demitasse moving that way, and in doing so, scanned a Wolf standard mine field surrounding Lynx. Any closer and my protectors would have been destroyed.

In 2437 at Cherub, 3 Wolf Sarahs moved in on a newly-built Zoink-O-Rama and Cherub Protector (2 Zoinkifiers and a Little Zoinker II). They didn't stand a chance, though I think it was an intelligence gathering mission to find out what my starbase had on it.

In 2438 I took out a Wolf Smaugarian Peeping Tom that I'd chased to Walla Walla. They continue to rattle their saber on the frontier.

Planet X continued to be a serious battleground. In 2436, the Tobacs had come in with reinforcements. They had 3 Buttnoids and a Gator (a space dock, upgraded from the Lounge, sporting 6 Beta torps and a 100/250 stargate), guarding 2 Dingleberries (privateers with 2 fuel pods and a cargo pod) which no doubt brought more colonists, as the population is now about 203,000. There was also a Ninja scout, but he quickly ran away. I took care of the Buttnoids, but the Gator destroyed one of my Zoinkifiers before I destoyed it. Even with a couple of Organic Armors, it only had a total of 140 dp of armor. They also mopped up the Dingleberries. When they were done, the Zoinkifiers had 74% damage. Having destroyed the starbase at Planet X, the bombing began. I killed 35,400 Tobacs that year.

Reinforcements from both sides arrived Planet Xin 2437, this time with Wolf ships (5 Salvation frigates with 3 Beta torps each) joining 2 Tobac Buttnoids and yet another Gator starbase (of a new design, this time having 23 Beta torps and 8 Organic Armors) facing my 11 Zoinkifiers. I took out all the armed ships in short order, losing 2 already-damaged Zoinkifiers. However, the new Gator flattened my destroyers, killing them all while taking only 23% damage. I sent my Planet X Bombers to find refuge with Mine Layer 1 until I could muster more reinforcements. Tobac and Wolf reinforcements continue to flow in.

Diplomacy - In 2436, the Bejavoid said they'd not heard back from the Makisachi about the Spacemen, and would cease hostilities with the Danis assuming they wanted a truce. I suggested he contact the Danis ASAP so that things could get moving along.

In 2437 I sent a message to our coalition about the jump in ship numbers for the Tobacs and the Wolves. The Lothans then let me know that there were 50 Tobac and Wolf ships at Lynx, at least 12 of which were warships, and 29 of which were frigates of unknown design. I got a reply to my message from the Makisachi saying that they'd be on the lookout, but that perhaps I'd attacked before we were prepared. I answered:
I've been told that the Tobacs are incredibly peeved at the Archimeans, and that this build-up may be to go after them. I've also just been told they're bulking up at Lynx, which is more near my territory. So I'm not sure how to read these numbers.
I had to go after them. Planet X is way too close to homeworld for me to allow it to stand. I told them as much, but I don't think they care at this point (they don't -have- to care at this point). If I didn't do anything now, you'd have one less member in our alliance soon enough. (Heck, you might anyway!) The problem is, they are ready -now-. We have to get a move on, or it's all over but the salvage operation.

In 2438 word has gotten around about our alliance against the Tobacs/Wolves/Minions. Apparently, we've not been alone. From the Lothan:
You have been marked as friend (Danis and Bejava have been added to the list too). May the triad be broken (Tobac/Wolves/Minions). Visit space docks/star bases at Demski, Leo, Devo, Poly Gone, PiR2, Silicon, Tiger's Tail, or Hay Seed for refueling.
I've decided to attack all their scouts in my space. While negotiating for my scouts in their space they have been attacking without any cause; and they want a .p file and they want their scouts left alone. No dice I said.

And some words of warning from the Makisachi in Stars Mail:
You've started to attack too the Minion too early. Do you have backup from Dani or Spacemen? I can't assist right now, I'm still setting up the mine barrier. See if you can't slow down hostilities for now. As for Bejavoid, they will join our alliance if the Dani stop their war with them. If you could talk to the Dani and get them to make peace, then our alliance is complete. Also you might want to know that there are two sets of 15 Minion Destroyers (III) headed in the direction of Ho Hum. Right now they are close to Deneb.

Having already explained my reason for attacking to them in E-mail, I mentioned I had seen the Minion destroyers, but they appear to be heading to a massive build-up of Minion forces at Tweedledee. Ho Hum may be their ultimate target, but not just yet.

Not having heard from the Spacemen in some time, I decided to try to nudge them a bit:
I haven't heard from you in a while and wanted to know how your empire is doing. I'm hoping you'll be able to lend a hand in this alliance by building superior fighting ships in the future. What are your tech levels in Weapons and Construction? Those will be critical to holding back the Triad of Tobacs, Wolves and Minions.

The Makisachi responded to my message about moving now with this:
Well, you've become a sort of leader for the alliance. Where should we coordinate our attacks?

My response went to all members of our alliance, including now the Lothan:
It's time to start planning a strategy against what we're calling the Triad; the Tobacs, Wolves and Minions. I'm thinking that we need to individually decide on what sort of ships we think we can make that will work for the long haul. For example, if you are close to having cruisers, perhaps waiting until you do may make sense, otherwise you might decide to advance in Weapons and create Delta torpedo or Colloidal Phaser destroyers. Or perhaps you think you could create a huge fleet of cheaper Beta torpedo ships, and start building them now. Bombers will come in very handy as well.
In any event, we need to formulate a plan of -what- we want to use followed by -where- we want to use them. My suggestion would be to pick Triad planets as targets and get two or three races to hit each of them hard. We could pair up, pick a nearby planet, and start building towards a coordinated attack. What would make it even more effective would be to have these multiple planets attacked at the same (or close to the same) time, splitting the Triad's resources.
The reason I see a need to strike and give them something to think about is that we see how fast they can build an armada; they've bulked up considerably in just the past 4 years on escort ships. If that armada is aimed at just one or two races, those races are in for some hard times. But if they were forced to distribute those forces over a larger area, it would give us a little more of an advantage. We have to divide and conquer the Triad. If they have only one or two targets, they can overwhelm them. And if we don't band together and deal with them, their huge growth will make taking them on as individuals impossible, giving them the game without having to really fight for it. I understand that some of you may not be where you would like to be economically. Still, a contribution of mine laying ships (so we can box them in) or cheap scouts (with simple phasers that would draw fire while the torpedo ships fired away) would be good as well.
If this sounds agreeable, I'll volunteer to coordinate this effort. What I'd like to do for the benefit of all involved is create a map showing our collective scan information so we have a better idea of what we're up against. I've got a program that will do that quite nicely and I'd share the info with all alliance members. The catch is that you would need to send me a .pla file generated by Stars, which would show your own planets' information as well. If you feel uncomfortable with that, I understand. But just to insure that we don't have a spy in our ranks, I will only give the resulting map to those who do send me a .pla file. This map will allow us to see where the Triad may be weak enough to allow a successful attack and to give us all a better look at the big picture. (If you don't know how to create a .pla file, E-mail me for instructions.)
And if you have other ideas, do let us know!

Depending on the response, this could be the end of the current cold war, and the beginning of a very hot one.

Year 2439

I'm in 8th place, 5 points ahead of the Thrakians, 3 behind the Ninjas and 34 behind the Lothans. The meteoric rise of Tobac escort ships hit an abrupt halt this year as it actually went down slightly. I didn't take any of them out, so either they have another battle going (possibly with the Archimeans) or this could be evidence of tech trading. The Minions jumped by about 20 and the Wolves leveled off.

Got Energy tech 5 (Temp Terraform 7, Missile Battery), Weapons 8 (Phaser Bazooka, M70 bomb).

I had first contact with the Thrakians this year. I saw a Super Fuel Xport of theirs beyond the wormhole. They are the Player 14 I've been scoring so close to.

Found a 35% planet beyond the wormhole, but after I finish assembling Dipstick Colony, it'll be warships for the near future. The Bejavoid and the Danis both said I could have Dipstick.

The Tobacs and Wolves are beginning an initial look into my space, most likely in preparation for an attack. They have warp 9 scouts flying in from all over and destroyers heading in towards my mine laying fleets. There's a Tobac Buttnoid and a Wolf Sarah zooming in to Ho Hum from Planet X, no doubt to check out the defenses there. I'm recalling the mine laying fleets that are out in space and targeted, and trying to shoot down all the lone scouts moving in near Cherub. Hopefully the mine fields will slow the others down enough for me to make my escape to Ho Hum and regroup. (The smaller field near Cherub did not get created until this year.) The Zoink-O-Rama due at Deneb next year will give me quick access behind their lines and allow a more surprise attack on Planet X once the time comes, not to mention give it badly needed defenses.

The Danis and I have decided to make a more concerted effort at tech trading. They'll have Construction 9 in 2 years (Kelarium and the Cruiser hull) and I'll have Weapons 10 in 2 years. Once we get them, we'll trade for the other (or for more Biotech if they haven't gotten mine layers by then). Stargates will make the trading go extremely quick. Ho Hum and Lever will be the endpoints.

The Makisachi sent me a message saying they're going to pump out mine layers as fast as they can, and suggested that the Minions homeworld is Leviathan, because it has 800,000 colonists and many ships are originating from there. He suggested bombing them, but I'm rather busy all of a sudden. I sent a message to our alliance:
The Tobacs and Wolves are sending in high-speed scouts up the eastern portion of the universe in what could be an effort to get a good scan of defenses before an invasion. They're also targeting my mine laying fleets (which are heading home pronto for now). Please keep an eye out in your area to see what other signs of movement on the part of the Triad that you see. It may be that they're going to make their move here very soon. Watch your back.

Year 2440 - The Incursion Begins

I am in 8th place, tied with the Thrakians, 14 points ahead of the Makisachi and 16 points behind the Ninjas. The Tobacs lost 2 planets this year, while the Wolves went up by one. I'm not sure if there's a causal relationship there. The Archimeans also gained a planet. The skyrocketing number of Tobac ships continues; they dropped a few escort ships but they built about 50 more unarmed ship this year which, given battle information, are probably all bombers. The Danis are making a good showing in starbases (2nd) and unarmed ships (2nd). I also have the second highest number of tech levels, tied with the Bejavoid.

Observations - The end of the wormhole nearest me has moved, though the other end is pretty much in the same place. It is, however, extremely volatile. I'm sending one of my Wormhole Patrols into it to see where it has wound up.

The Tobac scouting missions continue, though I'm taking out most of those that go beyond my minefields. There are some fleets that I'm watching, though. There is a fleet of 8 Pucker Factors that appeared to have targeted the Mine Layer fleet of mine that is now heading back to Ho Hum. However, the Tobac ships are now at warp 4, indicating they've noticed the mine field. There is also a fleet of 7 Pucker Factors with a course that passes just to the west of Ho Hum and past Hydra, with no discernable target in mind. Given they are JoaTs, this could be just a very well armed scouting party. I think my War Fleet at Ho Hum may have to take them on as they pass by. There are 6 Pucker Factors on their way to Cherub, but the large minefield there will slow them down considerably, allowing me to beef up defenses.

Tech Advances - Dani tech trading gave me Propulsion 6 (Radiating Hydro-Ram Scoop), and I researched Weapons 9 (Pulsed Sapper).

Battles - My minefields have helped out a bit. A Tobac fleet was destroyed in the middle minefield that I had been creating, and a Minion fleet was destroyed by one near Planet X. Also, five Wolf Sabres took about 30% damage in my middle minefield as well, making this year a banner year for inflicting damage on all members of the Triad. I've regrouped my mine laying fleets; two at Cherub and one at Ho Hum. Cherub now has 8 Zoinking Fields, with 3 more due next year, and already has a mine field encompassing it, Hell and Eisenhower. Mine Layer 1 will reach Ho Hum next year.

My battles against the Tobac scouts went just fine, as expected. In an obvious attempt to try to escape my destroyers, they have created the Tobac Duff Paddy; a scout hull with a maneuvering jet in the general purpose slot. It didn't work.

A Wolf Sarah, one of the two ships that was moving toward Ho Hum, attacked Eisenhower Resupply, and did some serious damage to it; 46% before it ran off. They were on their way back to Ho Hum, so they'll stay there for now until they can be escorted.

The other ship, the Tobac Buttnoid, made his attack on Ho Hum, but was removed easily. He now has a better reading on my ships there.

At Cherub, the Tobacs brought a Pucker Factor (Yakimora Light Phaser destroyer) and a Duff Paddy. My warships there included 6 Zoinkifiers, one Little Zoinker II, and the Zoink-O-Rama. Both Tobac ships were destroyed easily.

Deneb was the scene of a mass attack by the entire Triad. Among the warships were 12 Tobac Pucker Factors, 11 Wolf Sabres, and 30 Minion Yar's Revenge ships (Beta torp destroyers). I had 7 Zoinkifiers and a newly-built Zoink-O-Rama protecting a couple of Zoink-a-longs and a Gas Station. My entire contingent was destroyed, but I did do some damage to the invaders; 44% to 10 of the Pucker Factors and 7% to the 30 Yar's Revenges. Following this, the Tobacs were able to bomb Deneb, killing 113,500, leaving only 130,100. It appears that the fall of Deneb is imminent, so I've created the orbital fort Dying Breath, consisting of 24 beta torps and 12 Strobnium Armor. I designed it to allow Deneb to build it in one year based on their minerals and resources. If they're going down, they're going down fighting.

Diplomacy - The Spacemen finally responded:
Still alive, but is not happy. My tech levels by this time are: weapons - 7, construction and propulsion - 6. In the next 4-5 years will be no change. That's it. What are the race name of allies in our union? I still don't know each other. Second: I need planets for development, so who is our enemy and where is their colony? ;). Seriously, I'm not good ally with current parameters. The Triad are far away from me, and they are not attack us yet.

I replied with the races in the alliance, a suggestion that he work hard building factories, offered tech trace, and added that should Ho Hum fall, the Triad would be pretty close to them.

The Danis told me that they had a scout stop by Planet X and got blown away, but found out what the Tobacs and Wolves have there; 90 ships defeated the Dani scout. This, in combination with the massacre at Deneb, which left 79 ships, mostly warship, there, caused me to try to get the Bejavoid to put forth a bit more into this alliance, as well as set a little fire under the Makisachi. I decided to tip my tech hand just a bit, to let the allies know what they might miss if I'm severely curtailed by the Triad, so this message went to both of them, and the Spacemen:
A scout of the Danis has informed me that the Tobacs and Wolves have put 90 ships at Planet X, quite a build-up from just 3 years ago. 48 of them are bombers, there are a few freighters, and the rest are Tobac and Wolf designs, most new, with Yakimora Light Phasers and Beta torpedoes. In addition, Tobac, Wolf and Minion ships have blown away the new starbase at Deneb and are now bombing it. They have 79 ships stationed there now, this time mostly warships.
Their ship build-up now seems to be centered mostly around me. However, it's possible that in 3 years I could begin to build Cruisers and gain something of an upper hand, at least in defense of our space. They are, however, threatening that capability. I'm coming to you fellas to ask for some assistance here. With Deneb on the defensive, my homeworld is now vulnerable, and the southern portion of Makisachi space could soon be bordered directly on the Tobac, unencumbered by my forces.
The time to act is now, folks.

The Danis will start building Beta torp frigates (which are small enough to be built at their many space docks) to aid in the defense.

I'd sent the above E-mail before finding out how badly Deneb was faring. Upon seeing it's predicament, I sent another message to the alliance:
Deneb is doomed. In two or three years it will most likely be history if my defense plans fail. All three members of the Triad were present to begin the assault. Prepare your defenses accordingly. The Triad will soon claim it's first combined victory.

And the Bejavoid have officially signed on:
The Bejavoid are preparing fleets (destroyers only at this time) to give to the Makisachi. I need several turns to get them there though. We have also allied with the Danis.

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