Turn 122 cont’dWell, life goes on. The guerrilla force will move to Trill to get another War Cruiser.
We also send an affiliation treaty to the Federation, who will probably accept. The Federation liberated the Cardassians at Adelphous this turn.
Turn 123Another War Cruiser bites the dust.
That’s a Ferengi colony ship, probably colonizing Sarthong. A troop transport was just built at Trill, and is likely to head for Doraf next turn. We move west to keep up with it.
In Romulus, I build another colony ship, which will move to Kurl and colonize it. The volcanic planets are taking too long to terraform first.
Turn 124We destroy the FMS Transport C, which more or less confirms our guess that the Ferengi have had so many troop transports that they are reusing names.
The Federation also accepts our affiliation treaty, hopefully giving us further reach into Ferengi space.
Pictured: Our ship ranges. Cruisers (which are the majority of our fleet) can reach anywhere within the yellow border, while scouts can reach the red border, but I’m loathe to send them alone.
Several things to note: In the north, the Human colony of Narenda has been conquered by the Ferengi, being bombed to just 1 million population. At Doraf, there’s a Ferengi Strike Cruiser and two troop transports, which we’ll reach next turn. To the south at Ullia, the Ullians have built a shipyard which extends a green range there – if we didn’t have a ceasefire with the Klingons, now would be a great time to attack. And to the east at Trill, Trill is somehow out of range, despite the fact that we were there last turn and the shipyard at Cardassia is still online.
Turn 125We get all three ships, although the Ferengi Strike Cruiser takes down one of the two Cardassian Cruisers before we destroy it.
We will head east to get this troop transport. In the north, we can reach another Ferengi system, but I don’t want to endanger the guerrilla force as the deathfleet is probably attacking the Federation up there. Besides, we have a good thing going with all these ships at Doraf here.
Turn 126It’s transport F. We got B and D last turn, and A and C before, so we’re still missing E.
The Federation allies with the Cardassians, although the latter still only have three systems. Now we’re the only ones not in an alliance.
Finally! We discovered the Kurl system way back on turn 16, 110 turns ago. And we’re still terraforming it now.
Captain Theodolus arrives with the Darkwing A at Mintaka. Seeing as the Ferengi Deathfleet is (probably) still in the north, I’ll take a gamble and send the entire Mintaka fleet to defend Ullia. We’ll need it if we are to attack the Klingons.
Turn 127One of the few turns that doesn’t start with a battle. The guerrilla force went back to Doraf, but there are no ships there.
The Klingons see our fleet making for Ullia and assume we want in. We reject it instead of ignoring it, just to piss them off.
Turn 128It looks like the Ferengi deathfleet is returning. The guerrilla force will hang around for a bit. As there’s a troop transport in their fleet, they will likely be (re)invading Adelphous.
Turn 129We arrive at Ullia just in time to meet 3 Klingon destroyers. They are easily killed.
At Romulus, we build another Cruiser. The RNS Kestrel A, under the command of Captain Jay Cin, will join Captain Sheb at the Ekos outpost.
The non-aggression treaty with the Klingons expires in 8 turns, and any war against the Klingons will be hampered by the lack of long-range ships that can reach into their empire. We will build a fleet of scouts that can defend itself by weight of numbers.
Turn 130That was the FMS Transport G.
The Ferengi (re)conquered Adelphous. Will the Federation save them again?
Turn 131A Ferengi Explorer and two Light Raider IIs are killed, but the War Cruiser escapes.
At Ullia, the Klingons send another Destroyer and a Scout against us.
The newly arrived Captain Jay Cin will go with Captain Sheb to join the defense fleet at Ullia.
Meanwhile, the Ferengi Deathfleet, having conquered Adelphous, seems to be heading back north. There’s three Light Raider IIs over Mintaka, but they’re not doing anything.
Turn 132Finally! After we finish the scout fleet at Romulus, we’ll start cranking out strike cruisers, probably one for Mintaka and Ekos each, maybe Ullia.
The Federation also renewed a non-aggression treaty with the Klingons.
We catch a glimpse of the Klingon fleet: there’s 11 Battle Cruisers and 3 troop transports here, and another 2 Battle Cruisers and a troop transport to the southwest.
Turn 133Rather disconcertingly, that fleet has vanished back where we can’t see it, probably due to the effects of the Radio Pulsar to the east. At least Ullia is safe, though.
Turn 134The Ferengi are down another War Cruiser.
The Klingon fleet has reappeared though, now with 4 troop transports and 13 Battle Cruisers. We’ll exit Ullia for now.
Turn 135A Klingon destroyer joins the party. Ullia will probably be invaded next turn, but there’s nothing we can do about that. North is a trio of Light Raider IIs.
In the far north, the Federation reconquered their colony of Narenda. We can’t really tell if they’re making any headway against the Ferengi.
Turn 136Welp, there go the Ullians. I’ll send the fleet back to Mintaka.
Turn 137That was transport I.
Turn 138A Ferengi Light Raider II bites the dust.
Several things happen this turn: the scout fleet finishes construction at Romulus and will head for Ekos. The non-aggression treaty with the Klingons expires, and we’ll be starting hostilities shortly.
Romulus will focus on upgrading miscellaneous buildings, while Zakdorn, when its Military Academy finishes next turn, will start on churning out Strike Cruisers.
Turn 139We finish terraforming in Kurl. I send the colony ship back to Romulus. Zakdorn finishes the Academy, but I forgot that it needs 200 energy to power. D’oh!
At Mintaka, where all our ships are gathered, I do some reorganizing. As can be seen here, the crew of the RNS Petrel, commanded by Captain Haspen has achieved ‘Elite’ status, due to its participation in numerous battles as part of the guerilla force. The RNS Albatross (Captain Pisskop) and the scout Darkfeather has also become ‘Elite’.
The two cruisers will stay behind as the Mintaka defense fleet.The Darkfeather, along with the cruisers
Goshawk (Sheb), Kite (Ebbor) and Kestrel(Jay Cin) will form Force 1 against the Ferengi.
The other scout, Darkwing, will go with the
Merlin (Hal Devious) and the Martin (Theodolus) as Force 2 against the Klingons.
Turn 140The scout fleet’s first assignment: to check out what that Klingon colony behind the neutron star is. Cruisers, being medium-range ships, can’t reach that system. Also, note our decreased range around Zakdorn, as I deactivated the shipyard in a bid to save energy for the Academy. (Later I realize I need the shipyard to actually build ships).
Turn 141Force 1 scores its first kill, the transport J.
It will go further into Ferengi space than the previous guerrillas did, all the way to the accessible Ferengi system up north.
Also, after some deliberation, I send the colony ship over to the system of Vadris. It has the same maximum population (130) as Kholfa, but larger bonuses and has oceanic planets. The Cardassian colony ship took a bit of hiatus, but now it’s back terraforming Kholfa.
Turn 142The scout fleet sees its first combat against a Klingon Battle Cruiser.
Individually, it outclasses our scout several times over.
It quickly goes down under sustained fire, though. There is strength in numbers.
The Cardassians colonized Kholfa, which somehow gives them a claim to Vadris as well. We will just have to turn back and colonize Farius. In Romulus, I’m building a couple of troop transports to rebuild the outpost at Mintaka.
Turn 143There are still minor races to be discovered, this late in the game. The Bajorans have dilithium, and were conquered by the Klingons as far back as when we made first contact with the Empire.
Turn 144Force 2 scores its first kill on a Klingon colony ship.
To the south of them, the scout fleet repeats the feat of taking down a Klingon Battle Cruiser.
In the north, Force 1 comes upon the uninhabited system of Bryma. The presence of a habitable P-class planet tells us that the Ferengi probably terraformed and had intentions of settling the system, but they were likely interrupted by the Federation. They’ve also conquered the Federation colony of Otar, reducing it to 9 million population. Finally, our analysts think that the system with an outpost to the east is Ferenginar.
Back at our core, the troop transports set off for Mintaka, and we begin terraforming in Farius. Zakdorn’s industrial capability is just behind Romulus, but it can still build a Strike Cruiser in 9 turns.
Turn 145While sweeping along the south of Klingon space, the scout fleet bumps into an outpost.
The Outpost II is just as formidable as a Battle Cruiser, and it dwarfs the scouts.
We pierce its shields in the first round, but are unable to completely kill it.
Luckily, it goes down before taking one of our scouts in return.
It is a bold statement; we have struck at the very heart of the Klingon Empire, at their home system of Qo’nos. We won’t linger long; the scout force will head to those systems northeast to chart them.
Turn 147Force 2 claims another 2 Klingon troop transports.
We meet the Selay, who recently joined the Klingon Empire willingly, being the bubble of minor race space that I noted way back then.
To the northeast, the scout fleet spots the Klingon fleet gathered at an outpost. It comprises 1 scout, 1 troop transport, 4 destroyers and 16 Battle Cruisers. We’ll be skipping that system for now.
Turn 148Barkon is another Klingon colony, albeit with an enormous energy bonus.
In the northeast, the Federation must have just powered up their shipyard on Narenda; we can now reach the systems east. It is somewhat risky, because if the Ferengi invade and destroy that shipyard, Force 1 could be stranded in enemy territory, but it is too good an opportunity to pass up.
Turn 149Bingo! We take down the outpost easily.
Paralleling the raid by the scout fleet to the south, Force 1 has struck at the capital of the Ferengi Alliance: their home system of Ferenginar.
We get an upgrade in construction tech. Now we’re just missing biotech 4 and propulsion 4 to get to all level 4 techs.
In the south, the scout fleet flies through a nebula to avoid the Klingon outpost. I’ve never ever had a battle in a nebula, but the ‘no-shields’ aspect sounds like it could be interesting, changing the usefulness of ships drastically. This also happens to be the only nebula in the entire galaxy, by-the-by.
The troop transport task force reached Mintaka and will begin construction of an outpost – let’s hope it lasts longer than the old one. Of note, the Cardassians are building their own outpost at Kholfa, and the Federation colonized Blue Horizon with a colony ship II, expanding their territorial claims slightly.
To close off the update: have a map of the galaxy as it stands. With our exploration, the general outer 'ring' and 'core' are easier to see now.
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Topic: Let's Play Star Trek: Birth of the Federation! (Read 31990 times)