Ride forth to the Weekend (Friday Thread)

[panzerde]

It was Combat Mission: Black Sea versus Cyrano and a new freind/opponent I met at the Bawbaversary named Gary. On top of that was Commander: The Great War and a Campaign Series: Rising Sun PBEM game also against Cyrano. In between turns I played a bit of Rising Sun solo, a scenario depicting the initial advance of the Japanese into French Indochina.

Yesterday I broke out Band of Brothers: Ghost Panzer and got it on the table. Now that I've refreshed my memory I'm finding I want to play that more than I do most of my PC games.

Tonight is mostly getting organized for a departure for Origins tomorrow afternoon.

[Anguille]

I ended up playing...nothing  >:(

As usual...to much things to do at home (wife, 3 kids etc...).

[JasonPratt]

Finished Far Cry 3 last night; may pick up the (reportedly) superior FC4 (plus a few DLC) while it's on sale somewhere. Notably the Gamergate sale doesn't go through Steam but directly through UPlay. Can't decide if that's a feature or not...

(But more likely I'll play Blood Dragon since I already have it, and it isn't very long.)

[JudgeDredd]

Finished Far Cry 3 last night; may pick up the (reportedly) superior FC4 (plus a few DLC) while it's on sale somewhere. Notably the Gamergate sale doesn't go through Steam but directly through UPlay. Can't decide if that's a feature or not...

(But more likely I'll play Blood Dragon since I already have it, and it isn't very long.)

Far Cry 4 is better. Not a lot in it - but I really like it. Pretty much the same thing with a different location and different story. There's other subtle differences and additions. Don't be fooled by that - it's totally different enough to give a different gaming experience.

[Martok]

My Dominion campaign in Birth of the Federation (Ultimate Mod 5) is going swimmingly...perhaps a bit too much so!  I did set the other four major powers at the next higher civ level than me (so they started out with more money, tech, and population), so time will tell.  Still, the Founders are pleased with how things are progressing. 


I've colonized around two dozen systems so far, including 4-5 very good-sized ones (larger than my homeworld).  Along with my home system, my oldest colonies are now fully developed and devoted to virtually nothing but building ships -- just colony ships, troop transports, and destroyers (those beetle-like Jem'Hadar attack ships you saw on DS9 a lot in the later seasons) so far, but that's going to change very soon...  O:-) 

I've been busy with the various minor races in my sphere of influence as well.  The Vorta diplomats have done their usual thorough work, and I now have alliances (affiliation treaties) with the Trill, Betazoids, and T'lani, plus a trade (friendship) treaty with the Breen; I can look forward to all of them eventually joining the Dominion.  The treaties with the Betazoids and T'lani were especially important/beneficial, as it allowed us the use of their shipyards for refueling (and vice-versa), which was critical to our expansion plans where colonization was concerned. 

Um, I may have also conquered two other minor races, the Parada and the Benzites.  The former, mostly because they were in my immediate backyard, and because I could (I sort of used them as a "test bed" for my new fleet).  >:D  The latter, because they have a large system, and their special structure is a boost to industry -- combined with the Dominion Work Camp (which also boosts industry), it will be...interesting to see how quickly they can produce ships.  :D  I may also have, ah, "vigorously persuaded" the Halkans to join the Dominion; don't ask me how.   

My biggest achievement so far, however, was finally persuading the Tellarites to sign a membership treaty.  Adding their resources to the Dominion will turn me into a true powerhouse almost instantly.  In terms of population and infrastructure, the Tellarites' star system is simply enormous -- twice that of the Founder's home system!! (it's the biggest I've ever seen in this game) :o -- which that alone would've made them worth acquiring.  Even more than that, however, the Tellarites also have two race-specific structures -- one that boosts their industry, and another that specifically boosts shipbuilding -- meaning that I can crank out the biggest, most powerful ships in just 2 turns.  (In contrast, my next largest system would need 6 to build the same ship.) 


In general, things are going extremely well for me -- to the point that it's admittedly starting to feel like a Monty Haul campaign.  I'm halfway tempted to quit and restart with more difficult settings, except for one thing:  When I look at the power graph, the Federation's line is still above mine (although I'm rapidly closing in on them).  I really want to meet them first to see just how we stack up against each other...and then ream them back to the Dark Ages.  Gotta keep them Solids under control! 

Played several Civ IV BtS duels.  The one further upthread, I won.  A cultural victory.  ONE TURN BEFORE TIME RAN OUT!!!  It would have been sooner, but Napoleon declared on me with 35 Turns left and it took me some time to extricate myself.  Two more came and went quickly, as it was island hopping maps and I just am not ready for that.  This last game took though.

It's me and Ragnar on Pangaea.  He started a war with me with even troops and more cities than me.  I blunted his drive and counterattacked, taking all his cities but one.  That's when my entire civilization went on strike!  I was in Civ HELL until I was able to get Code of Laws and build Courthouses in all my cities.  Finally, I was able to get everything going forward.  By that time, Ragnar had filled the rest of the open land and, while not as powerful or researched as I am, it's going to take a few more Turns until I can wrap this up.  It is a foregone conclusion though.

Sounds fun!  O0  Is that a random event (your civilization going on strike), or does it get triggered by certain things? 

I ended up playing...nothing  >:(

As usual...to much things to do at home (wife, 3 kids etc...).

I'm sorry man.  No UM5 even, huh?  :( 

[Kushan]

As I expected I played Elite most of the weekend, with some Distant Worlds and Command in there. Bought and outfitted a Cobra Mk. 3 late Sunday night, only to have it get destroyed in my first outing with it last night....25,000 credit re-buy cost. Was in a low intensity combat zone, and was doing well until it seemed like every hostile ship there decided to turn its guns on me.

[Anguille]

My Dominion campaign in Birth of the Federation (Ultimate Mod 5) is going swimmingly...perhaps a bit too much so.  I did set the other four major powers at the next higher civ level than me (so they started out with more money, tech, and population), so time will tell.  Still, the Founders are pleased with things are progressing. 


I've colonized around two dozen systems so far, including 4-5 very good-sized ones (larger than my homeworld).  Along with my home system, my oldest colonies are now fully developed and devoted to virtually nothing but building ships -- just colony ships, troop transports, and destroyers (those beetle-like Jem'Hadar attack ships you saw on DS9 a lot in the later seasons) so far, but that's going to change very soon...  O:-) 

I've been busy with the various minor races in my sphere of influence as well.  The Vorta diplomats have done their usual thorough work, and I now have alliances (affiliation treaties) with the Trill, Betazoids, and T'lani, plus a trade (friendship) treaty with the Breen; I can look forward to all of them eventually joining the Dominion.  The treaties with the Betazoids and T'lani were especially important/beneficial, as it allowed us the use of their shipyards for refueling (and vice-versa), which was critical to our expansion plans where colonization was concerned. 

Um, I may have also conquered two other minor races, the Parada and the Benzites.  The former, mostly because they were in my immediate backyard, and because I could (I sort of used them as a "test bed" for my new fleet).  >:D  The latter, because they have a large system, and their special structure is a boost to industry -- combined with the Dominion Work Camp (which also boosts industry), it will be...interesting to see how quickly they can produce ships.  :D  I may also have, ah, "vigorously persuaded" the Halkans to join the Dominion; don't ask me how.   

My biggest achievement so far, however, was finally persuading the Tellarites to sign a membership treaty.  Adding their resources to the Dominion will turn me into a true powerhouse almost instantly.  In terms of population and infrastructure, the Tellarites' star system is simply enormous -- twice that of the Founder's home system!! (it's the biggest I've ever seen in this game) :o -- which that alone would've made them worth acquiring.  Even more than that, however, the Tellarites also have two race-specific structures -- one that boosts their industry, and another that specifically boosts shipbuilding -- meaning that I can crank out the biggest, most powerful ships in just 2 turns.  (In contrast, my next largest system would need 6 to build the same ship.) 


In general, things are going extremely well for me -- to the point that it's admittedly starting to feel like a Monty Haul campaign.  I'm halfway tempted to quit and restart with more difficult settings, except for one thing:  When I look at the power graph, the Federation's line is still above mine (although I'm rapidly closing in on them).  I really want to meet them first to see just how we stack up against each other...and then ream them back to the Dark Ages.  Gotta keep them Solids under control! 

I ended up playing...nothing  >:(

As usual...to much things to do at home (wife, 3 kids etc...).

I'm sorry man.  No UM5 even, huh?  :(

Not even UM5 

However...i will be on a business trip again starting next sunday for 12 days and i am resolved to play it EVERY evening! It's installed on my netbook. Reading your galactical adventures really makes me want to play it.

[Martok]

Well I'm glad I could inspire you.  ;D 



(On an unrelated note:  Why is it that I never notice errors/typos in my posts unless/until someone else has quoted them...? :-[ ) 

[MetalDog]

Sounds like you have yourself in good position to come out on top, Martok.  That's a satisfying feeling.

In answer to your question, my Civ going on strike is due to a negative income per Turn.  In pursuing my war, I turned the economy to building solely military units.  Each new unit had an upkeep cost.  I rapidly added cities,which experienced several Turns of Anarchy before officially joining my empire, further bringing my monthly expenditures into the red.  At one point, I was -71 gold per Turn.  If I could have captured his one, last, city, I would have eliminated him and won the game.  I was two Turns away from doing just that, when my last Gold reserves dried up and the strike began.  I didn't know what to do, so, I just pressed End Turn a bunch. 

When that didn't work, I went in to each city and sacrificed Population to complete buildings. Then I used the excess Food, that would have rapidly expanded my cities again, and moved it into Science spending.  The reduced population and increased science allowed me to FINALLY research Code of Laws.  That allowed me to build Courthouses in each of my cities.  Courthouses reduce corruption in the city which returns a portion of gold to me each Turn.  Once I was able to start turning a profit again, it was only a matter of time until I won.

[Martok]

Gotcha.  (Note to self:  Do not let cash reserves disappear when playing Civ IV. :P )  Yikes, what a pain! 

So did Ragnar ever had an actual shot at you?  I know you said he had more cities when he began the war, but I well know (as does any veteran grand-strategy gamer) that the side with more territory/resources by no means necessarily has the advantage in those situations. 

[MetalDog]

We were even up in Tech and Units.  And he declared just a few Turns before I was going to declare.  So, I was ready for him on the board as well as in the production queue.  Once he attacked, it was a matter of defending the attack stack he sent and then counterattacking at a place of my choosing.  It didn't hurt that I had War Elephants and he didn't. ;)

[Martok]

Ha!  Nice. 


Damn.  You're almost making me want to go fire up Civ IV again (assuming I can find my copy) and play as Persia now...  (Must be strong!  Must finish Dominion campaign first!)  :P 

[MetalDog]

Come on over to the Civ side.  You know you want to...;)

[BanzaiCat]

Civ V!

[undercovergeek]

Come on over to the Civ side.  You know you want to...;)

i re-installed it today

is time altered somewhat in the games you play? you winning when there are still elephants and law courts to be constructed - i assumed it would go on much longer than that