Moderator: MOD_DW2
I also heavily depended on fuel ships, though I often issued a command to them here and there. All three offensive operations would have been outright impossible without them.Well, by absolutely dominating... it wasn't easy. I used robotic troops in defense. It proved to be a critical move, as I couldn't afford much. It was a difficult galaxy. The humans almost won, but they failed to land enough troops on my single non-capital Dhayut colony, which was dedicated to building robot troops. Crushed their invasion beneath my Dhayut mercenary brigade invasion force, part in thanks to the resilience of the robots. Muhahahaha! Their garrisons proved no match for my Octomech-reinforced mercenaries, automatically picked up and handled by the invasion fleets. I garrisoned all robot forces and ensured I had enough mercenaries to fill the invasion fleet.
I waited long enough for war weariness to fade before turning to my other neighbor, the Mortalen, who had been greedy and stole an independent colony in war while I fought the Humans. They didn't have a chance, as my war with the humans was able to be ended in subjugation instead of following up on their remaining colonies after taking the capital. My ships perfectly countered theirs, though a little technologically inferior, most notably through the Velocity Drive. It proved especially decisive against their Gerax. Having fleets 50% faster than theirs enables a lot of power plays. Though comparatively massive to my little spider web of 5 colonies (including the 3 major Human colonies I won before subjugating them), relying on automated invasion fleets, I successfully invaded 16 colonies within 6 years, including one nestled in a Radiation nebula. Though they destroyed many of my stations thanks to their initial superior numbers, I could divide their forces enough to take them down individually and maintain a fuel logistical advantage by capturing their fuel depots, filling up my fuel ships with them, then scuttling them.
The Ikkuro fought well and took many of my precious growing Dhayut colonies, but couldn't make a decisive enough blow, like the humans. Thank goodness for stealth. I only had to take their capital and level a couple of their super-rich worlds before they capitulated under the weight of my former growing colonies. Their troops were too strong to invade consecutively and too far away from my core worlds to supply enough fresh troops, as still limited in budget, in part thanks to all those Mortalen lizard-breeding colonies. Again, though I only assaulted their capital, it was using both my fully automated invasion fleets. They coordinated that assault successfully, which was a demanding task. I waited for them to position with troops at their new home base before starting the operation. That cost several worlds, but my core worlds were beyond their reach— they couldn't get enough caslon to my former colonies. A fatal mistake on their part. I was losing by war score, but the war was mine. They couldn't retake their capital with their invasion forces garrisoned on those colonies, though I couldn't maintain control of its space. It became a war of attrition that I would eventually win by having access to their core worlds.
