So, I'm in the middle of a game on TOA that has been one of the most interesting I've had in some time, especially in the way my allies and enemies have been repeatedly shaken up, unlike a normal game where diplomatic relations are frequently static overall. It's not over yet, but it will be soon, so this is technically not an After Action Report.
There isn't really going to be any story here, as that tends to make writing these things take much longer and would probably get it abandoned like my other AARs have more or less been.
Settings
This game was actually the one I described in this post - the idea was to have twelve "major" races by creating minor race versions of the Thalan and Yor - which I deemed the civilizations that would make the most sense to have under the restrictions of being a minor race - and playing with the other major races. Six non-colonizing minors rounded it out.
This was begun before I did any real tech tree modding, though things worked out surprisingly even anyway.
Other settings included
Immense galaxy
Tight clusters for stars (combined with a range penalty mod, this resulted in a longer game then normal)
Common everything for planet/star settings
Mega events on
Tech trading, but no tech brokering
Super Abilities off (I was a bit tired of Super Diplomat making for easy alliance wins)
All victory conditions enabled
Part 1: The early expansion
I found my Terrans starting near the left-most corner of the galaxy. Earth was a relatively mundane planet, but did possess a 300% manufacturing bonus tile, which proved a mixed blessing - while it enabled me to turn out colony ships quickly, it also took a hefty toll on my economy. Not helping matters was the loss of my survey ship - imaginatively named the TAS Enterprise - to a wormhole that sent it halfway across the galaxy.
The economic woes caused me to expand relatively slowly. During this time, I encountered the Iconians, to my left in the very corner, and the Korx to the right, as well as the Scottlingas and Carinoids. The Enterprise also encountered the Drengin on its way back to known space.
I set up trade routes to the Korx and the minors, which, combined with the construction of an economic capital on Earth, helped me solve the economic issues. In early 2228, my region of space looked something like this:
Expansion continued for some time after this - I discovered an economic resource in the void "north" of Earth that further helped solve the economic crisis, and expanded into the Carinoids' home cluster (located to the south on the minimap), though all the remaining non-extreme planets in this cluster were claimed by the Iconians.
Overall, the colony rush wasn't a huge success for the Terrans, though my planets certainly represented a triumph of quality over quantity - Quatrale I (located near the center of the screenshot above) had two 300% research tiles and became my technological capital, while the unclaimed second world in the Carinoids' home system was a PQ 20 wonderworld.
An early random event. The Scottlingas had this happen to them several times, which would have an important effect later on.
By the beginning of 2229, the galaxy had begun arming for war. It didn't take long for the Drengin to get up to their usual tricks, with one of the most astonishing demands for tribute I have ever seen:
Needless to say, I denied their request...
But it was a problem I would have to deal with. Also hostile were the Iconians, thanks to some overlapping borders they weren't happy about. Only the Korx (with almost no military) were friendly.
I started building fighters myself, but also tried an unorthodox strategy to deal with the Drengin: I exchanged research treaties with them. The AI (almost) never attacks its treaty partners for fear of the diplomatic hit that comes with it, and since the Drengin research was surprisingly good, I figured this would be the simplest way to fend them off. It did prevent a war, but the diplomatic penalty worked both ways - which would later return to haunt me.
My stats in mid-2229.
All other events, however, were abruptly halted by the Great Spy Infestation of June 2229.
I immediately removed all my foreign agents and used them to nullify some of the spies, but it would take a long time to finally rid myself of them. In the meantime, with my economy badly hit (again), I slowed down both expansion and shipbuilding, devoting much of my income to getting more spies.
Part 2 coming soon.
Part 20, continued
With the collapse of the Korx, the galactic political situation now stood thusly:
The continued hostility between the Torians and Krynn was a concern, especially now that the Torians were only fighting weak opponents such as the Drath and Scottlingas. But it could wait, as there was a much more urgent matter to deal with: the pirate crisis. Although the Korx military had been gravely weakened, they still had a decent amount of ships left near my territory - more than enough to cause some trouble. That trouble began almost immediately, as a pirate fleet destroyed the defenseless influence station OwnGame 7. I dispatched the battleship TAS San Francisco - the sole capital ship in the Earth orbital fleet - to avenge it. But first, the San Francisco confronted its opposite number: the advanced Korx battleship Yux Ulnar II.
As the above screenshots show, I was mistaken when I said I'd converted all of the Korx colonies in Terran space. Alioth III had remained Korx and was now under Arcean control.
The Yux Ulnar II was surprisingly effective - if the Korx had had a few more ships like it, they might have been able to put up more of a fight. But the San Francisco still won the battle, afterwards destroying the pirate fleet with ease.
That same turn, I had an unexpected success as one of my new armed freighters (running a route to the Arceans) successfully repulsed a pirate attack:
Because my internet is sluggish tonight, I will be splitting this update into many short posts so that I lose less work in a crash.
Battles against the pirates raged across Terran space:
In general, I was able to destroy them without much difficulty. The conflict saw the operational debut of my new Quendor-class battle cruisers, ships I was designing to use against Torian soft targets when the war broke out. Massed into fleets and set to "Auto-Attack", they proved to be very effective pirate-killers.
While the pirate war raged at home, I continued to work on upgrading my fleets at Rigel and Gabe to the most modern designs. Weapons sales to the Scottlingas played an important role in funding these upgrades:
Mo' pirates, mo' problems
As if the conflict with the ex-Korx pirates was not enough, an entirely separate band of buccaneers now appeared on the galactic scene. As I had half-anticipated at the time, the Galactic Prison on DalNalten III had ultimately proven a little overconfident in its security measures:
The escapees used a mixture of Krynn and Iconian ship hulls, with an unusual loadout of heavy armor and light missile weapons. Fortunately for the Alliance, Task Force 33 - a veteran of the Altarian front during the GGW - was on the scene. The ensuing battles were swift and almost completely bloodless. Before the new pirates could cause any harm, they were obliterated.
Meanwhile...
The rest of the galaxy had hardly stood still while I sought to crush the pirates. The Torians and Altarians also helped destroy pirate ships, as did the Arceans once they began building defenders at the ex-Korx planets. While this was helpful, the Torians' new push against the Scottlingas was much more alarming. As can be seen above, large fleets were now entering the Carinoids Cluster en route to attack the Scottlingas homeworld - and coming dangerously close to my space.
One fleet had already come close to the homeworld, where it vaporized a Scottlingas starbase:
I continued to make deals with allied races to gain money and material for the Torian conflict:
Part 20, concluded
By early October, the combined efforts of the Terran, Altarian, and Torian militaries had swept the pirates out of populated space.
A few were left in more isolated regions of space. In my first casualty during the pirate attacks, one of these destroyed the survey frigate TAS Argo:
But other events were now taking more space in the galactic news and my priorities list. The annual Terran Senate election left my Federalists with an overwhelming majority, thanks to relatively low taxes and the construction of many morale improvements.
In a semi-tragic - but really predictable - turn of events, the Arceans conquered the feeble Vegans.
More significant then these minor events were the Torians' wars. They had begun a counterattack against the Drath, easily crushing Drath defenses at several planets:
But their push towards the Scottlingas homeworld was thwarted, as a Scottlingas fleet defeated the attackers in a bloody battle:
While these wars went on, I was continuing my preparations for an all-out attack. A fleet of transports and escorts - "Task Force Provocation" - was being assembled in Terran space. Its goal was to move beside a Torian planet and provoke them into firing the first shot, therefore getting my allies to enter the war on my side. I wasn't sure when I would send it in, but with the Torians steamrollering the Drath and continuing to threaten the Krynn, I knew it would be soon...
Can't wait for the next instalment!
Same here I can't wait, I enjoy a good AAR.
Part 21: The Die Is Cast
On November 8th, Task Force 16 took part in a joint operation with the Altarians to crush the last two pirate ships located near any strategic location.
That same turn, news arrived that the Arceans had conquered the Paulos. Although unfortunate to my self-image as the protector of minor races, from an astropolitical perspective it wasn't really important. Much more interesting was the discovery that the Arceans had begun donating ships to the Drath.
I continued to exchange technologies with them.
The Drath-Torian war continued, with the tide now definitely turning against the Drath, who suffered defeats at every encounter. Their strategy of avoiding hard targets to hit starbases was no longer working.
Not much happened on the Scottlingas front militarily, although they did steal the Altarians' techs.
Continued...
Part 21, concluded
On December 8th, an interesting but apparently insignificant event occurred as the Enterprise-class TAS Gagarin discovered a pirate Arcean frigate, apparently having been donated to the Korx, with Arcean fleets closing in on it:
Unexpectedly, the pirates attacked the Gagarin...
...but she was much more advanced then the Argo had been and the pirate frigate was destroyed.
Meanwhile, I finally finished researching Particle Beams III with the help of an anomaly. The newly-formed Terran Alliance First Fleet - formerly the Rigel defense force - had all of its ships that were not already using Particle Beams II upgraded immediately.
The beginning of the end
While these relatively unimportant events had occurred, the Torians continued to roll up the hapless Drath invasion force.
The Drath were starting to collapse. On one level I didn't really mind - they remained implacably hostile and would have to go one way or another - but with Torian transports now starting to move out, I knew I had to stop the Torians from conquering them outright. Task Force Provocation was not having enough effect, as the Torians were simply too overconfident in their military superiority. So - reluctantly, but confidently - I decided to handle things in a more formal fashion:
Next time: News from the front lines!
These instalments were well written, but not very exciting. Although I MUCH prefer this style of short-but-often updating, you do have to consider the action contained within each episode as well. Though this ended with a cliffhanger--which is good--its content is still just a string of minor events, so it basically just feels like the most recent 2 parts were leftovers from Part 20. Try to consider the rhythm of the posts and not just the length--while having the updates split so that we can have them regularly is awesome, they need to all be worth reading, so you have to find a balance.
Your criticism is noted, but I'm honestly just writing this thing in chronological order, with a few alterations to keep strings of related events together. It's not a story-type AAR and it's not meant to flow like a story.
As noted earlier, my internet connection has been very bad lately, so I'm intentionally making short posts to try and avoid a damaging crash. I chose to make this a new installment because this was more about the final events before the Torian war began than the pirate conflict in part 20.
Sorry I haven't posted here in a while - term papers kept me away from my computer. I'll update this soon.
Part 22: The Torian War Begins
The first week of the war against the Torians saw numerous actions, as the forces I had previously readied for action now struck. I suffered one setback immediately, as the ancient UP law against first strikes resulted in a number of my ships being ejected from Torian space.
Two task forces that had been just outside Torian space were unaffected, and quickly struck at a pair of mining starbases, destroying them without much effort. The loss of the Torians' morale resource was particularly significant, as it would make their planets more vulnerable to Information Warfare.
On the Rigel front, the First Fleet swept over the border to find that the Torians' standing fleet in the area had inexplicably disappeared. With no significant resistance in its way, it swept aside the obsolete Torian defender at their colony Avignon I, paving the way for an invasion.
The Torians put up very stiff resistance, but Avignon I fell to the invasion. Although it was basically a worthless planet, every planet of theirs lost was one step closer to defeating them.
Back near Terran space, meanwhile, Task Force Provocation (or what little I had assembled of it, anyway) launched a preemptive strike on a first-rate Torian frigate. This was the first really difficult battle of the war, and it showed how dangerous the Torians could be. Ultimately the frigate was destroyed, but not without inflicting fairly heavy damage on the TAS Paris.
Also near Terran space, I used a spare transport to strike at a target of opportunity - the former Iconian colony Cheli IV, which the Torians had left without any orbital defenses. The invasion failed, but inflicted high casualties.
As 2235 came to an end, there were no major actions on the Drath front. The UP meeting led to an unexpected success with a vote to open up the tourism market, a prime source of income for my influence-heavy nation:
But as the New Year's article in Homeland Magazine warned, the success of these first skirmishes against the Torians meant nothing. They were still more significantly more powerful than I was, and my only advantage lay in my ability to out-think them...
(cont.)
I have enjoyed reading your report I found it both entertaining and informative, thank you for sharing it with us.
So is anyone (er, anyone who doesn't come across as a spambot) still interested in this? I do intend to finish it either way, if only because I'm trying to avoid writing one of those AARs that just die off, but I would be a lot more motivated if I knew anyone else cared.
I've been following this AAR since the start, and I'm definitely still interested in it.
I've been following for years now and I still check in about once every week--because a new episode of this thing will make my day! I know how a lack of motivation with something like this feels man, but please know that you still have fans out there. This AAR is the only reason I'm ever on this site, and it's outlived both my time actually playing the game. I still maintain that it's the best AAR I've ever read anywhere. All I can say is keep it up!
Sorry for the late reply, please continue it.
As it happens, I'm actually working on a post now, though it might wait a day for my internet connection to improve. The Torian War is in full swing and is proving pretty exciting; it's rare that I fight a war of this scope at this level of technology in TA.
Part 23: Apocalypse 2236
As the new year began, four major fronts existed in the Torian War. In local space, a few former Iconian colonies remained under Torian control. With the help of the Scottlingas, I was moving to eliminate these colonies before the Torians could use them to advance their fleets left over from the Korx conflict against Earth or the other worlds.
By Torian space, the First Fleet and Task Force 39 continued to strike at lightly defended Torian starbases, while avoiding confrontations with the major Torian fleets or their heavily defended planets. Curiously, there seemed to be few of those visible, and the Torian fleets I could see were doing little in the way of aggressive action.
At Gabe V, entirely surrounded by Torian space, the newly-formed Third Fleet and the planet's defense force remained on alert for any sign of Torian approach. However, for the moment the enemy seemed focused on mopping up the remains of the ill-fated Drath invasion force.
As for the fourth front - the Torians' counter-offensive into Drath space - I knew very little, as my observation ship in the area, the TAS Washington, had been recalled to join the Third Fleet.
In the first major action of the new year, Terran troops landed on Cheli IV, completing the job of the failed invasion a few weeks earlier. The Torians were now down to just three former Iconian colonies.
The Torians struck back that same week by ambushing the trade route to Altaria. The trade ships' light weapons were useless, and for the first time in the game, I actually lost freighters.
Meanwhile, the faltering Drath teetered on the edge of total collapse, as pro-Torian revolts began to break out on their planets - which were now mostly defenseless.
As the Drath crumbled, the First Fleet launched a daring raid directly into the heart of Torian space, disrupting the Torians' attempts to assemble a new fleet by preemptively striking at their lone battleship.
But that same week saw a military disaster unlike anything since the first war with the Iconians. Task Force 39 - including several long-time veteran ships - was ordered to strike at a Torian mining starbase in what I assumed would be little more than picking off another target of opportunity. But the Torians had installed extremely advanced defenses on the starbase. The task force was utterly annihilated. Among the casualties was the TAS Tokyo, the first New York class battleship lost in action.
Part 23, cont.
Three weeks into the new year, the remaining Drath ships in Torian space all formed into a single fleet for their last stand. This did them no good, as they were completely wiped out by the Torian fleet that had been formerly defending Avignon without inflicting a single casualty.
But while the Drath had proven utterly ineffectual as a war partner, other civilizations were not as useless. The Arceans and Krynn proved unwilling to enter the war despite all entreaties, but were willing to trade me useful techs.
Meanwhile, the Scottlingas had directed a large fleet against the Torian defenders orbiting New Iconia V. It was spearheaded by this lightly-armed but heavily-defended (and shockingly fast) battleship.
My own fleets remained active, though I was now pursuing a somewhat more cautious strategy after Task Force 39's shocking demise. The Fast Reaction Force - a special formation consisting entirely of Quendor-class battlecruisers - saved the shipping lanes to Altaria by obliterating the marauding battleship, while the First Fleet continued to ambush the Torian ships assembling piecemeal near their homeworld.
Meanwhile, in a wholly unexpected (if insignificant) setback, one of my space miners near the Carinoids Cluster was suddenly ambushed and destroyed by a Korx pirate frigate, the Bolfirx. Although I had been previously inclined to ignore the remaining pirates, this infuriating event caused me to send the newly-commissioned Second Fleet on a mission to wipe them all out.
In fact, though, there were about to be many more pirates...
The End of the Drath
With the collapse of most of the Drath's effective resistance, the Torians had finally begun sending in transports. Inexplicably, these transports traveled directly past Gabe V without any escorts, allowing the Third Fleet to destroy several of them.
But it did the Drath little good. The miserable remnant of their fleet launched a final attack on the Torians at the Haber system and was destroyed by a single battleship.
And thus, with the proverbial whimper-not-a-bang, they surrendered. Luckily, it wasn't to the Torians:
Though the Drath had never been a major power and by this point had been reduced to a virtual irrelevancy, their surrender still represented a significant development. With their elimination went the last civilization who was not either one of my allies or the Torians. The Torian War had always represented the ultimate struggle for the fate of the galaxy, but now that was literally true: defeating the Torians meant I would immediately win an alliance victory.
Of course, defeating the Torians was still somewhat more easily said than done... particularly because of the other consequence of the Drath's defeat: the Torians were now free to focus all of their forces on me!
Galactic map at this point
Wow, the surrender of the Drath really is a mixed blessing.
As for the unwillingness of the Arceans and Krynn to fight against the Torians, it's probably because the Altarians would then declare war against them (the Altarians and Torians are allies). It looks like you have to do this on your own.
So, we draw towards the epic conclusion. I am really, REALLY pumped for the remainder of this AAR and also a bit sad--this may be the first of several conflicts between the two great factions, but either way, this AAR is now in its final stage, and I doubt that I'll find anything like it again.
In any case, something tells me the worst is yet to come. Personally, I believe that soon enough there will be a second Great Galactic War.
*Grabs popcorn
I can't wait!
I just wanted to check in and say I've been enjoying this immensely.
I'm sorry this has taken so long to update. I should have another post up fairly soon.
Part 24: War! Continued
While my war with the Torians raged, my allies were occupying themselves with somewhat less epic struggles. The Krynn had begun a campaign of conquest against the miserable Thalan, and the Arceans soon joined them.
Meanwhile, the Altarians wiped out a tiny fleet of ex-Drath pirates in a pretty one-sided battle.
My own forces were also engaging pirates, as the Second Fleet continued its mission to eradicate the Korx remnants and avenge the Space Miner 6000.
The battles weren't very dramatic, but did make for some impressive displays of firepower.
In the Torian War, meanwhile, the First and Third Fleets continued to destroy isolated Torian ships in an effort to prevent them from building up any larger fleets.
I suffered an annoying but strategically irrelevant defeat when a Torian battleship ran down two of my survey ships. I had banded them together into a fleet for protection, but it did little good.
The Scottlingas remained my most useful ally, destroying the Torians at New Iconia V and Kievi III.
But this only temporarily removed the Torians from threatening the home front, as many fleets were beginning to descend through Altarian and former Korx space, presumably the forces the Torians had used against the latter and whose whereabouts I had been wondering about for some time. Before they arrived, I struck first, sending the Fast Reaction Force and the veteran Task Force 33.
Minor events during this time included an unsuccessful attempt to purchase a planet from the dying Thalan, the Altarians constructing a Shrine of the Mithrilar, and a galactic recession that would have been a major problem had it lasted more than a single week. More problematically, the Torians constructed a Hyperion Shrinker on their homeworld:
By the way, I'd appreciate any feedback on the amount of details people want me to go into here. This is a seriously huge war.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
