Matrix Games Forums

Im sorry, but i have to surrender. I have no supply base so i will not be able to supply my forces. Also, as i understand it, there will never be any chance of me capturing such a base.

I know i can produce a little supply at my other bases. But that production would be so small that it could never support any forces. I also have no other places to build any other bases.

So i am lost.

That brings me to another point. I think there should be supplyproducing sites spread over many locations. Or other locations being able to produce more supply so that you could support your forces.

Did the surrender went ok?
( all units should have dissapeared if scenario was set to block AI)
 
Just send turn on to Nicolas.
 
Appart from one outlying and puny moon i now firmly controll Jupiter.
building up space navy.
 

Well the Yellow Empire was still in and the game said to forward to the Future Foundation so I did that...

I have basically two fleets: One is on the way to Jupiter and the other is forming around Mercury. So some space combat might come soon...

Well if I can still trust my own eyes I would say fleetbuilding activity has gone up mightily in the last turns?
Also it seems both Blue and Green have a favorite ship...
Agree also with Vic that setting winning to 50% of powerpoints and production was a mistake. Will set to 60% at least.
Am looking forward to some space battles.

Won (with some luck) a space battle near Jupiter and lost a space battle near Venus.
I think the system works not bad but found some more bugs (of the mod):
- in the description it says Capitol ships are slower then normal ships but I think I removed this feature so all ships move with equal speed (except scouts, raiders and late transports)
- will tune down bombers a bit (although higher tech bombers will remain fearsome)
- finally understood the counter-attack feature for defending units. This is set to 100% strength for naval units and bypasses shields. I overlooked this. Will set naval counterattack much lower for naval combat. In the meantime this makes Seilles all-Destroyer fleet VERY intimidating on defense...

Here is the situation near Jupiter:
After having defeated the Mercantile Alliance navy in a large space battle near Jupiter the road to invasion is open. Or so I thought before I sent out a spy to get a full overview of Vic's forces. Actually the Merchants managed to build a new fleet and they have a cruiser! This would be too much to take on directly so I will build not only an invasion force but also some more ships and then I will be back...

Heres an update on the battle for Jupiter from the ongoing game, posting with a 1 turn delay:
After having suffered the slings and arrows of the outrageous Mercantile Alliance for too long we (Explorers) have decided to do an invasion of Jupiter, the main base of the Mercantile Alliance as far as we know. In the last turns there was a sharp price hike for the price of metals from 23 to 30 as a sign that tension was running high while fleets were being built.
By a lucky coincidence a cruiser from the Mercantile Alliance ran directly into our fleet buildup and we were able to dispatch it but this has been a challenge to our timeline.
Our fleet consists of 4 elements:
-> a protective barrier of raiders which are faster than the other ships and act as scouts as well as to quickly move to support the main fleets
-> the main attack fleet (circled in green) which is very strong on attack and has the objective of ensuring naval superiority.
-> a carrier fleet (circled in blue) which brings in bombers, fighter cover as well as ground support
-> the reserve fleet (circled in yellow) which has replacement ships as well as ground attack vessels and transports loaded with Marines
Due to the 10 ship stacking limit per hex the fleet is spread out, it is actually spread out more than I planned as I actually wanted to wait 2 more turns before attacking.
The main Jupiter base is shown below, it is actually well stocked with missiles and small crafts so I expect a bloody battle...



Also many thanks to the Trade Federation for backstabbing me which lead to the swift departure of my second carrier fleet for a defensive mission.

Next update, Turn 49:
As a reply to our invasion the Mercantile Alliance did a fleet sortie against our right flank with several destroyers and a small carrier and sank a bomber/raider pair there (shown in red here).
As a response our main attack fleet engaged them supported by the remaining raiders (shown in green) and prevailed in the fleet action, eliminating most of the Merchants fleet.
Our invasion fleet then dropped the Marines on a small outpost just outside of Jupiter to build a beachhead (yellow). Our assault ship started an artillery duel with Jupiters main base in the hope to reduce the readiness of the planes and missiles stationed there but did not get very far (blue).
As we managed to capture a port near Jupiter we poured in all available troops and fighters from bases as far as Saturn and Mars as well as from our carrier fleet to defend against the inevitable counterattack. Transport losses were very heavy though...

At the same time our valiant fleeet has to fend off an invasion of Uranus from the Traders...

Jupiter Invasion Update turn 50:
The Mercantile Alliance did some counterattacks on our invasion fleet in the form of some missile bombardment and an air raid. Losses were with one assault ship lighter then expected.
We continue to ship in reinforcements to Jupiter in the form of Marines and fighters. Our fleets are patrolling the area in stand-by mode.
The Merchants send a unit with Marines and some tanks to reclaim the beachhaead. As the tanks are not too intimidating when fighting on asteroid terrain the Invasion fleet containing the Assault ships bombards the advancing Marines doing heavy casualties ...

Jupiter Invasion Update:
Disaster strikes: The Merchants manage to somehow produce a Dreadnought out of nowhere.
Did not see that coming. They make a nice naval attack and eliminate my invasion support fleet (see picture).
In my counterattack my concentrated fleet manages to get rid of the dreadnought as it is coming along without shields or defenses. However the damage is done and I cannot even reinforce my beachhead as the anti-supply value on the hex stay during my whole turn...
It will be hard for my beachhead to survive.

Jupiter Invasion Disaster Part II:
As feared the Mercantile Alliance launces a deadly counterassault against my beachhead:
First with an airstrike and then the Merchant Marines storm my beachhead.
This effectively ends the Jupiter invasion. In total I see it as a strategic draw: I managed to gain fleet superiority and wipe out the Mercantile fleet but get nowhere on the ground. And my losses are very heavy, too...

This concluded the first Space Colonization Testgame.
For me it was fun but there were still a lot of required adjustments as well as balance topics and bugs needing fixing (more than I actually thought but this is gaming life).

Included most things into the new version 0.91 which is now uploaded to the scenariobank.
Some major points in the new version:
- higher production (actually all 3 stations produce more and ships and ground units cost less)
- higher transfer and production range (is in although I capped both at 40 hexes in order to prevent transport over the whole map)
- resources can be built faster
- additional construction pods cost less
- everybody gets some units to defend his stations (including the earth spaceport) in the first rounds so the start is sped up
- took out the supply bug (i hope )
- there is now a defensive unit (garrision) and the jump troops are now offense units
- you can no longer build stations on asteroids. However you can produce small (non-producing bases) on moons and asteroids if you like which can act as ports and airfields
- there are now 3 missile types: normal, shield-killing and a missile against ground units. Missiles are however still expensive and will only work if the enemy is badly defended or if you overwhelm him
- I strenghtened the units which were rarely used (artillery, assault pod) and did lot of other balance adjustments
- small autorepair for all orbital constructions

Now starting testgame #2 to see how things go. Created a new thread for all comments, bugs etc on testgame #2 which is here:
tm.asp?m=2128418

This thread will then contain questions and updates on the mod itself....