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 13: Twilight of the Iconians
The Battle of New Iconia
I wasted no time in ordering Task Force 42 to engage the heavy fleet of Iconians that was lying in wait. My transports were at a safe distance, and I was fully prepared for disaster - the Iconians had proven tougher then expected on numerous occasions - but what did happen was something I hadn't seen coming at all.
The Iconians were slaughtered.
Some more detailed shots of the battle:
The fleets make their opening pass, costing the Iconians one fighter in the very first round of fire.
The TAS Invincible lives up to her name, taking multiple Iconian shots with little damage.
Exchanges of fire.
An Iconian frigate in action...
...and its destruction (in the center).
Despite its overwhelming nature, though, the victory didn't matter as much in the grand scheme of things as it might have. The Iconians' fleet-in-being had ceased to exist, but a heavy orbital force still defended their homeworld. And that turn had brought some other setbacks as well.
The moment I had anticipated for several years had finally arrived - the Torians had declared war on the Korx. And frankly, given all that the Korx had pulled recently, I wasn't feeling inclined to support them.
So I didn't.
But this came with problems of its own. Now that the Korx were no longer my ally, they wouldn't just ignore the massive influence I held over their colonies by Earth, or the fact that I was good and they were evil. Immediately, relations began to drop.
Also this week, I received my quarterly report...
The Altarian military can be seen on the rise, while the Iconians have vanished from the list.
...and the reign of the xenophiles (perhaps understandably, given the galactic situation) came to its end.
As July began, a few minor skirmishes took place. Task Force 42 destroyed a few more Iconian merchant ships, while Task Force 33 leveled the Altarian mines at Sobek-Re.
Then came the main event. Despite the ease with which I had crushed their mobile fleet, I still wasn't overconfident about taking on the Iconian defenders - if there was one thing they had proven themselves skilled at, it was orbital defense.
But once again, Task Force 42 proved up to the job.
With the last line of space defense eliminated, it was the turn of the Terran Army. My assault force was outnumbered ten to one, but I had an ace up my sleeve: Information Warfare. The crumbling Iconian empire had resorted to increasingly heavy taxes to sustain itself, and as a result their homeworld's approval had collapsed like a house of cards. More then three billion disgruntled Iconians joined my side in the ensuing invasion.
The result? Victory.
Casualties were high among the Iconian defectors, but the planet was now mine, and with it came influence over virtually all of Iconian space. Their last hope was now the ex-Drengin worlds, but with those planets devastated by the war and change in government, it was my hope that the Iconians had just been finished off.
The War Rages On
Despite victory at New Iconia, the war was far from over. Conflict on the Altarian front remained heavy, and was growing heavier with each week as the Altarians shifted to a war economy. And the Drath weren't quite out of it yet, thanks to Torian support.
A duel between the frigate Endeavor and an ex-Torian ship showed just what I would have to expect in a war with the amphibians, and it wasn't a pleasant sight.
Back in Krynn space, an unexpected First Contact occurred. The Enterprise, diverted to scouting while it repaired from the Battle of Satori, encountered the Jessuins homeworld. Apparently, they'd been under siege by the Krynn for years.
There was no time for extensive talks right now, though (plus, they had nothing to offer). Of more interest that turn was Task Force 42's destruction of the Iconians' last known mobile asset, a well-armed but ineffectual frigate.
On the Altarian front, the constant small-scale fighting continued, and was generally going my side's way. The Korx crushed another defender at Frigg III, and repulsed an assault on one of their mining starbases.
Meanwhile, Task Force 33 engaged a heavily-armed fighter at Jotunheim and emerged victorious at the cost of one ship heavily damaged.
Transports were still en route to DalNalten III, but so far at least, the Korx had not made a play for it.
And then came the moment I had been waiting for. The Iconians surrendered - but to the worst possible power:
For some reason I don't have a screenshot of the actual surrender here, so this was the best alternative.
The remaining Iconian military ships - virtually all defenders - defected to various other races, including the hitherto unknown Paulos.
Most were not a concern, but several joined the Drath and Altarians, forcing me to divert ships to eliminate them.
As July 2233 closed out, the Iconian Refuge, my oldest enemies, had finally been eliminated - but at the cost of furthering the power of the Torians, who were now just two years away from an ascension victory. It was now imperative that the war be ended as quickly as possible so that I could focus on this greater threat.
I'll never forgive you if the Torians win Ascension while everyone's not looking...
In all honesty, though, we can revive that acronym from the first page:
KUTGW!!!
Two years? Looks like a blitz is in order, my friend! You're going to have to rally your forces to stop them at all costs!
I've never had the patience to wait out an Ascension victory. Does the AI defend the ascension starbases?
Note to readers: I intended to have the next post of this AAR up today. However, after constant lags and other problems that made writing the first third of the post take over 40 minutes, my internet crashed altogether and destroyed all progress I had made. I am in equal measures enraged and depressed, and it's unclear when I'm going to resume this. While I want to finish at least one AAR, the frustration in seeing my efforts obliterated in an instant means that I won't be posting updates for the foreseeable future.
That's a drag -- this was a great AAR. I can understand your frustration, though. More, shorter posts?
To refer WAAAY back to the begginning of the post... I would like to commend the crew of the TAS Enterprise. Here's why:
Unlike A CERTAIN Sci fi crew who I WILL NOT MENTION, the crew of the enterprise DID NOT have a near omnipitent being to send them back. NOO, they had to suck it up and use minimal power to pass through Drengin territory and to get back to their own quadrant.
My point:
SCREW VOYAGER, TAS ENTERPRISE FOR THE WIN!!!!
Resuming this; cutting down on the number of screenshots and splitting the post in half in the hope it solves the issue with crashes.
Part 14: The War Ends... for now
With the Iconians gone, my next objectives were to finish the conquest of DalNalten III and knock the Drath out of the war. The latter would be the easier task - the Drath home fleets had been seriously weakened by the Krynn, and while the influx of Torian-donated ships and Iconian defenders had swelled their forces some, it would be easy enough to knock those out. The Torian-donated ships were also a good reason to remove the Drath: as demonstrated by the TAS Endeavor's encounter with one, they were significantly more dangerous than anything the Drath themselves could build.
My forces that had been invading Iconian space began mopping up the defenders there.
The Enterprise engaged and destroyed an ex-Torian defender.
Meanwhile, the ships of the Expeditionary Force took on the latest Altarian fighter at DalNalten III, destroying it with relative ease compared to past battles.
With the planet once more open to attack, I sent in my transports, though they couldn't quite get there that week. Fortunately, there was little chance the Korx would beat me to the planet.
Meanwhile, the time had come to open negotiations with the Drath. The sooner the war ended, the sooner I could begin preparing to deal with the Torian crisis. As such, I was willing to offer the Drath extremely generous terms despite their weakness.
I also convinced the Krynn to make peace with them - while the Drath posed little real threat, I didn't want the Krynn to waste effort against the Drath when the far more dangerous Altarians were still at war with me. The Korx, who were both far away and no longer an ally, weren't worth the effort.
It's sort of amusing that I got more from the Krynn as part of the peace deal then I did from the Drath.
Continued in next post...
Part 14, continued
At the same time as the Drath peace negotiations were underway, the war continued to rage. The previous week, I had witnessed a battle between Korx ships and the pirates of the former TAS Avenger task force. The Korx destroyed the pirate fighter with somewhat worrying ease, but inexplicably ignored (and were ignored by) the Avenger. I would have to deal with her myself, once the real war cooled down.
Meanwhile, at DalNalten III, I was astounded to discover that the Altarians had managed to rush-buy an entire frigate during the week since the previous skirmish in orbit. I was forced to immediately send in the Exploration Force to take it on. It would be my first, and, as it happened, only battle with an Altarian capital ship.
With the frigate eliminated, I was finally able to invade. The Altarians were still my match as soldiers, but the Terran Army emerged victorious and took the planet, though with nearly 70% casualties.
The Second Battle of DalNalten III would be the last major conflict of the war. Though I fully intended to press my advantage while I had it, I had accomplished my major war aims, and soon it would be time to settle things with my former friends so I could focus on the real danger. Already, it seemed like the game itself was reflecting this, with more events from the home front:
By this point, my economy - while not quite up to the level of the great powers - was large enough that this didn't hurt much, even on a wartime footing.
The people of the Terran Alliance did not seem all that tired of war.
A look at the galaxy, nearby and overall, at this point. Notice the numerous Iconian "refugee" ships.
The Final Stages
The final weeks of the war consisted of a number of small skirmishes rather than any one all-out conflict.
The TAS Discovery, left undamaged at Second DalNalten, was sent to destroy the pirate Avenger before it could threaten any of my shipping. The result was an all-but-unique experience in Galactic Civilizations - two human-built ships battling each other.
Although the Avenger was the technically superior ship, the pirate rabble lacked the discipline and experience of Terran Alliance soldiers (in other words, they didn't have my advantages from anomalies, military mining starbases, and so forth), and the Discovery emerged victorious. Nevertheless, it was a fairly hard fight, and I sent her back for repairs.
Meanwhile, on other fronts, the Krynn continued to battle Altarian forces at the Satori system, though their inexplicable failure to send transports meant that area was likely to stay stalemated.
A pair of Iconian-turned-Altarian defenders banded together into a fleet, but were easily dispatched by the veterans of Task Force 42.
In more peaceable news, I was intrigued to spot an Arcean freighter entering Korx space. While I knew that they had trade relations, it was the first direct sign I'd seen of Arcean expansion into my region of the galaxy since first contact had occurred.
In preparation for the end of the war, I opened up trade talks with the minor races. The newly contacted Paulos and Jessuins had inexplicably failed to ever research Plague Cure, so I gave it to them in exchange for missile defense technologies - these weren't particularly necessary, as the only known missile-users were the friendly Scottlingas, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have them.
Meanwhile, the Scottlingas themselves were persuaded to part with their latest-generation Kanvium alloy, which I would need when the time came to face off with the Torians.
The final battle of the war was an anti-climactic one: I spotted a Torian-donated Altarian frigate in the process of upgrading near Gabe V (my colony in Torian space), and launched a defender to hit it while its guard was down. This proved predictably easy.
The next week, I opened talks with the Altarians. They didn't consider themselves to have been beaten (which was, honestly, true - I had only taken on the outer edges of their empire), but were nonetheless willing to make peace. As before, I negotiated a treaty with my ally the Krynn as well.
This was the final diplomatic picture at the end of the Great Galactic War. With the exception of the Korx's ongoing war with the Forces of Good (or former good, in the case of the Drath), a few minor conflicts, and the last remnants of the ex-Drengin pirates, the galaxy was at peace...
...until the next week.
But that's a story for the next post.
It's back up! Goody, goody.
Superb work.
Finally! I love this AAR, can't wait to see more!!!
So, bad news: the mouse I used for my laptop seems completely dead, and the one built into the keyboard is useless for playing GalCiv II or any other game. So while I have about one or two more posts worth of material played out, after that, I may have to put this on hold again until I can replace the mouse.
Part 15: Interbellum
The conclusion of the Great Galactic War had not been a conclusive one. True, the Iconians were gone, and the Drath's new evil alignment effectively nullified them as a major threat - it could only be so long before the Torians came after them. But the Torians themselves were still a major danger, one which I would have to deal with as soon as possible; and relations with the Altarians were ruined likely beyond repair. Still, I expected the galaxy to enjoy at least a few months of peace before things blew up again.
So I was surprised when they did so immediately... and even more surprised in that it was a good thing:
The Arceans, generally speaking, are not usually a first-rate power in my games, and certainly one-on-one they weren't a match for the Torians. But they were quite powerful - enough so that they, in combination with the Korx, could easily slow down or even completely halt the Torians' rise to power. This was excellent news.
Arcean frigate fleet on its way to the front lines - the 4/4 frigates weren't quite equal to the Torians' latest-generation ships, but they were an easy match for their older vessels, and (by Arcean standards) they were shockingly fast.
The news got better the next week when the Altarians called me up. Their boast of developing Pulse Cannons was not a big deal, but their unexpectedly friendly demeanor was a different story - checking the diplomacy screen revealed that, contrary to my expectations of a lingering grudge, the Altarians were already back to a "Neutral" stance towards me. This left open the possibility of once more regaining them as an ally.
Of course, that didn't mean I could dismiss them as a threat: as this quarterly report revealed, they had by now surpassed me militarily.
Still, the diplomatic picture looked a bit brighter then it had been just a few weeks before, and so while I continued to focus on preparations for war against the Torians, the Terran Alliance was able to resume its more civilian activities as well.
Post-war expansion
With the war over, I was able to reassign some of my armed survey ships to exploration duties. The TAS Enterprise, upgraded and repaired in Krynn space, now set out towards the unexplored 'south' - once the domain of the Drengin Empire, now a tangled region in dispute between the Arceans, Krynn, Torians, Altarians, and a few minor races, including the Dark Yor, who I now made first contact with.
In the Enterprise's wake, freighters arrived in Krynn space, established trade routes with my most trusted ally to replace those ruined in the outbreak of war. In addition to this, and to the extra-profitable nature of these sectors-long routes, they offered another benefit: possible replacements should a crisis erupt with the Korx, who while no longer an ally still accounted for a great deal of my trading income.
Meanwhile, the veteran TAS Endeavor made a key discovery: the first located Torian ascension starbase. This would be a primary target in the event of conflict.
And closer to home, other survey ships found a number of highly profitable anomalies.
Continued next post...
Highly enjoyable.
Part 15, continued
I continued to develop my planets during this time of peace, creating a few wonders:
But even with the cash flow from anomalies, I was a bit low on funds, less because of any economic crisis then because of the large number of upgrades (structural and ship) that were going on. A number of deals were made with friendly races for small sums of credits.
I also opened negotiations with the Torians and managed to score a bargain, acquiring several engine techs in exchange for the relatively worthless-to-them Sensors IV.
While my dealings with the Torians were still peaceful, they continued to press my ex-ally the Korx hard. Enormous fleets flew "south" from Torian space to the Korx home sectors.
The Korx, in serious economic disarray, were in no real shape to meet them. Reports from my spies on their colonies in Terran space indicated that the possibility for revolt was ripe as the Korx taxes rose ever higher - and it still wasn't enough to keep them in the green. The situation reached its most drastic point yet as Kralax of Korx's Mercantilists were toppled in an election.
As the Torian armada drew ever closer, skirmishing was already in full swing between the Korx and the Altarians.
The mining starbase at Sobek-Re repulses another attack.
Torian and Korx fighters do battle.
I wasn't particularly inclined to root for either side. The Korx were frankly getting their just deserts, as their aggressive behavior while my ally had long been a source of grief. On the other hand, I was in no hurry to watch the Torians defeat another opponent, particularly as they retained their edge over me - and continued to grow stronger.
I was equally dwarfed by the Altarians, but thawing relations made that less of an issue.
Still, the war was not without its positive features. When a Korx squadron annihilated the Torian mining starbase where I had first made contact with them years ago, I had constructors waiting in the wings, and was able to sweep in and claim the influence resource for myself. It would be a useful contributor to my goal of assimilating the Korx worlds within my territory.
Favourite AAR. Really like this one! Very enjoyable story! Please keep going with it, I'd be devastated if it slowed down again. The Great Galactic war may be over, but from what I can conflicts are already heating up again. The Arceans are strong and together with the full force of the Korx they may be able to stall the Torians. One of them needs to realize the real threat and take out those ascension starbases. As that conflict grows, things seem likely to explode. I'm interested to see if the TA can hold the situation together, or whether another Galactic War is imminent...
Part 16: The Second Torian/Korx War
As 2233 drew to its end, the Torian and Korx armadas came together at last. Terran ships monitored the area as all-out war engulfed a huge segment of the intergalactic void.
And things weren't going so hot for the Korx.
Numerous isolated and outgunned Korx ships were destroyed as the Torians' flag squadron - seven advanced ships led by an appallingly well-armed battleship - slowly ground its way towards the Korx core systems. While exactly what was going on with the Arceans remained more of a mystery, it was clear that whatever damage they may have been doing wasn't enough to stop the dismal situation of the Korx.
Closer to home, numerous Korx and Altarian skirmishes took place. Mostly, they went in the Dominion's favor...
...but not always, as the Altarians succeeded in finally taking out the mining starbase at Sobek-Re.
As the major powers wreaked havoc upon each other, I kept up my exploration and expansion programs. While it might become necessary to launch a preemptive strike to destroy the Torian ascension starbases, if at all possible I wanted to prolong any conflict until I could face them on more equal terms. That would take time - the question was, how much did I have to spare?
Survey ships continued to pick up anomalies, though most were not terribly valuable.
More useful was this discovery by the frigate TAS Pioneer: a second Torian ascension starbase (center of screenshot). Only one more remained unknown...
The year ended with a disappointing meeting of the United Planets. The proposed Colonial Tax offered a decent sum of revenue from the Korx planets in Terran space, but widespread opposition scuttled the plan.
2234
The new year opened with some worrying news. The annual quarterly report showed that the Terran Alliance remained a second-rate power at best...
...while intelligence reports showed that aggression was once again on the rise towards minor races.
The threatened minors were not the most important news of the period, though. That honor went to the startling reports from our agents in Korx space.
For some time now, I'd been aware that the Korx government was in bad shape. The recent unseating of the Mercantilists had been its most striking manifestation, but ever since I'd severed my alliance with the Korx their economy had grown worse and worse, and their taxes had grown accordingly higher - and their government had grown more and more hostile. It hadn't been clear just how hostile the Dominion's own people were towards it, though - until now. Fully fifteen different Korx worlds had dropped below 40% approval, and their homeworld had the impressively bad rating of just 29% approval - the worst in the galaxy.
Even raising taxes hadn't relieved the crisis.
And that wasn't the worst of the Korx's problems...
(Continued...)
While I still have no mouse and can't actually continue this or any other game, I recently realized I still have about a post of screenshots and game information left. Expect to see it go up sometime soon.
looking forward to it.
Great game! Thanks for your dedication to this AAR qrtxian, I enjoy it a lot.
Part 16, continued
Two weeks into 2234, the Altarians launched a direct attack on the Korx home system.
Precisely how they'd managed to get this far into Korx space - which had largely withstood ground invasions so far - was a mystery, but the damage they did was considerable. Both Korx and Korx II lost their orbital defenses, though the Altarian task force in turn was reduced to just one ship (and swiftly eliminated by a nearby battleship).
As the war raged on, my exploration and expansion programs continued. Though it would take a painfully long time to research, work had now begun on developing Large Scale Building, which would finally let me construct my own battleships. Meanwhile, on the exploration front, two of my Enterprise-class ships were formed into a scouting fleet headed for the "south" corner of the galaxy - the only area that remained unexplored.
At home, meanwhile, survey ships continued to net useful discoveries.
And in the unsettled region once claimed by the Drengin, the Enterprise witnessed a battle between the Krynn and Paulos that left the latter in a bad position.
These first two months of the new year ended with a number of changes on the diplomatic front, both good and bad.
The Korx colony of Sthenelos IV, one of many they had established in Terran space, erupted into open revolt. My subversive efforts were beginning to pay off.
In Torian relations, however, I made a pair of unpleasant discoveries. Their space now included a fourth ascension crystal - though it was so far unclaimed, that wouldn't last, and there was no possible way I could beat them to it. And equally disturbingly, their relations with my ally the Krynn had degraded to Hostile.
But another bit of news that same week was excellent: a gift of Xeno Ethics to the Altarians improved relations back to Friendly. It now seemed entirely possible that I might manage to re-ally with them - which, considering that they had signed an alliance with the Torians, would be more then just helpful.
Brilliant work qrtxian! I cant wait for the next part! This is even better than the book AAR by Tom Francis
Pleeaase update soon! This is the best AAR I've ever seen!
As noted, I have no mouse except the inbuilt one, so I can't actually play GalCiv 2 or much of anything else right now. There's enough material left over for one, maybe two more posts, but after that there's simply nothing I can do.
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