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[andrea]

Well, I just came to the thread to post a plan that was basically that.

The reasoning:
1) In the jungle, all our stuff fares decently; grubs and drillers are resistants, embers are immune or highly resistant, ember+ are hot enough to char wood so good luck with that, shrooms. This is a good place to send anything and probably shouldn't dictate our deployment, but can benefit from any leftover from the other 2 areas.

2)In the seabed, grubs are basically useless. Last time they achieved a whole lot of nothing and nothing has improved since then. Drillers may have some marginal usefulness, but short lived as they are and without being able to make stable tunnels, their usefulness here is diminished. Still fares better than the grub. Ember however shines. This seems more a very hot 24/7 desert, with temperatures one could reasonably expect to see in the hot regions of an habitable planet. The internal temperature of the ember should be high enough to make the seabed feel like a warm comfortable spring day. Ember+ is likely overkill. Its temperature is 200+ °C, so assuming the seabed is 60-80, it would feel rather cold. In essence: no grubs, few drillers, most of our embers. Have an higher proportion of base embers and send elites where they can have an added value, since on seabed they likely have little benefit over the base version.

3) In the Howling crevasses, grubs and drillers fared particularly well. More of the same is encouraged. As for embers, the wind surely won't help with thermal regulation. Plus the risk of shards flying around and splattering their hot innards on the rest of our forces exist.And they don't have the adhesive slime of the grub. Finally, I can't see any use for them there beyond as a mobile campfire, so they should only be here for research purposes.

(1) Something Like Specialism: MoP
(1) Even more specialism: Andrea

[frostgiant]

(1) Something Like Specialism: MoP
(2) Even more specialism: Andrea, Frostgiant

Yep, This plan basically is exactly what I wanted out of this turns deployment plan.
Maybe if were lucky the Grub flood in the crevasses will make some big progress.
 

[Kashyyk]

I'm happy with this.

(1) Something Like Specialism: MoP
(3) Even more specialism: Andrea, Frostgiant, Kashyyk

[m1895]

(1) Something Like Specialism: MoP
(4) Even more specialism: Andrea, Frostgiant, Kashyyk, m1895

[Happerry]

(1) Something Like Specialism: MoP
(5) Even more specialism: Andrea, Frostgiant, Kashyyk, m1895, Happerry

[Naturegirl1999]

(1) Something Like Specialism: MoP
(6) Even more specialism: Andrea, Frostgiant, Kashyyk, m1895, Happerry, NG1999

[Draignean]

It is now Design Phase 3
You have 1 Design and 0 Credits.


Starter Contest: The Map (Art)  [DUE THIS ROUND]

As your ingested memories become organic and begin to fade, you struggle hardest to hold on to the map of the region, committing it to mind time and time again. What does it look like?

For this contest you need to draw a map that shows the 9 regions and the 2 sequestration caverns. Have fun, it’s the memories of a giant bug-monster.

The winner will gain a credit to make a design at full advantage. You have until the 3rd battle report to submit a map. Only submissions in the core thread are valid.

[frostgiant]

Lithovore Scavenger (T2 digger)

An Evolved digger, designed to follow its lesser cousins into the mines, The lithovore scavenger uses a pair of shovel-like "Mandibles", similar in colour and size to the Digger head, to shove Stone, dirt, and the corpses of Diggers into its Large maw. Aside from its mandable and oversized maw, The Lithovore scavenger is 99% Stomachs and Guts, and sits at twice the mass of your average digger, ever including its lack of hardened carapce in order to make space for all of those stomachs and Guts.

The creature's maw contains a pair of grinding, Gear like Palates that it uses to crush and mulch its food into smaller particulates, Whereupon it enters a series of the stomach. The first number of stomachs share the same purpose And are design to run in parallel, ensuring that the scavenger never needs to stop eating while it digests its food. After entering these Stomachs, the Stone/dirt and Organic matter are introduced to a powerful acid, rendering it down into a nutritious slurry, with the various matter particulates serving to balance the Powerful acid. After being rent a slurry, These stomachs enter the guts of the beats, where a Miles upon miles of Highly Voracouis guts and cilia, Wound and stacked on itself,  do all they can to extract nutrients from this slurry. By the end of these Extremely Powerful Guts, What remains is excreted as a waste slime, Which will harden on the Tunnel walls and the Scavengers skin.

The scavenger Uses these nutrients to feed a variety of Highly nutritious and vitamin-rich internal "Flora" Kept in non-acidic Stomachs while they grow. When the growth process is done, The scavenger can expel These stomach through a series of Sphincters on the outside of its skin. As a result of this, The Scavenger does, however, lack the carapace of its less evolved digger.
This internally produced gut flora allows the Scavenger to feed the Digger swarms that it follows after, Converting stone, Dirt and digger corpse into food for the rest of the digger swarm and any other hive lifeform that it may accompany, Even outside of the tunnel the scavenger find regular use, Turning its surroundings into food for the swarm, whether that surrounding be stone, Flora, Fauna or Other.
 To prevent asphyxiation from a lack of oxygen or dehydration from a lack of water, The Lithovore improves upon the Digger+ internal stomachs, carrying a series of three air stomachs and three water stomachs, ensuring its survival.

LithoWyrm
A large size increase, Sitting nearly 10 times the mass of the digger+, The lithowyrm posses a Massive Drilling head, Capable of clearing large tunnels for its fellow hive creatures to follow.  Earth and stone dislodged by its massive head are soon scooped up by a series of mouths surrounding this drill-like skull. These Mouths transfer the surrounding stone to a series of stomachs were in the stream of Mineral desirous is broken down into a mineral slurry.
This mineral slurry is then used to feed the lithorwyrm, ensuring that the large creature never needs to take a break to feed itself, Instead feeding its bulk on the go.

Excess nutrients are shunted to a series of Limbs hidden underneath its carapace, Whereupon it is stored in "Fat fruit" that are actually even smaller limbs or "Fingers". If the Lithowyrm Begins to starve, it is capable of drawing on these internal fat stores making Starvation incredible unlikely. If accompanied by an escort, The Lithowrom is capable of opening these Carapace spaces, Thus allowing the creatures around it acess to the Fat fruit to feed themselves, In the event that the surrounding terrain lacks suitable alternatives.

This makes a lithowrym and its escort incredibly independent, Capable of creating large tunnels for as long as the creature lives, Feeding itself and its escorts even as they leave the range of the hives supply chain. This could be incredibly useful in the future, given the hive creates some for of Outpost or breeder, Leaving uit capable of creating Small hives that are Independent of any supply lines.
For now, though The lithoworm is capable of the creation of large tunnel networks and Long-range exploration

In the event of combat, The lithowyrm will use its large bulk and Head to reduce enemies to paste, Using its sheer weight and incredibly hard head to shatter most hostile creatures. After combat, The lithowyrm does as it does best and will consume the remains, Feeding itself and its escorts with the harvest of war.

We discussed doing a t2 lithovore for this turn, so here are the two existing designs, Rated as Moderate for the Scavenger and Hard for the Wyrm.

[Kashyyk]

It returns. And something like it will continue to until it's niche is filled.

Evolving from the Grub, it is still approximately 1 meter long, but instead of undulating it runs on six limbs, the rear and central pair ending in a claw/hoof, whilst the front two end in tough bone in a vague blade shape, that can be swiped and slashed hard by powerful shoulders muscles. It has four camera eyes, above a maw lined with short, sharp teeth.

The most notable feature though, is the large fin along its back, full of blood vessels. The fin can be extended outwards like a sail, to maximise heat radiation, or it can collapsed under the front-most spine, that is covered in carqpace to protect the fin when not in use. The carapace also covers the rest of the back and head.

Less obviously, this morph is cold blooded. Whilst it may be lethargic in some of the cooler regions, the inclusion of an oversized adrenal gland will allow for a rapid burst of energy, such as when leaping ten plus meters (thanks to its strong back legs) into combat or to cross difficult terrain.

Also have a flyer filling a combat/scout niche.

As long in body as a Grub, but much thinner, with toned and supple musculature and a pair of broad bat-wings ending in a pair of claws. The lower body is balanced on a pair of legs ending in gripping talons, used to cling onto perches and pincer targets before pulling them into air and ripping them apart with its sharp beak. In difficult terrain, the Pterohawk can walk fairly quickly using its wings as a pair of forelegs, and can climb trees and sheer cliff faces.

The most important features however are its eyes, a pair of front-facing cameras that can spot movement and pick out details as well as any "natural" bird of prey. This is paired with its ability to project the imagery it sees into the minds of nearby organisms by piggy backing on the psionic net all our children share as part of our swarm.

[frostgiant]

T2 Alaskan bullworm

A giant lithovore mutated from the driller and many many times more, The Alaskan bullworm cruises through the earth using its four front claws and Gigantic Mouth to break up and swallow dirt. From their the dirt and stone enter the Massive industrial complex that is the Bullworms Digestive systems. While traveling forward its claws pull double duty Dragging the worm foward while at the same time breaking up what can't be swallowed whole by the gigantic mouth.
The first number of stomachs share the same purpose And are design to run in parallel, ensuring that the Massive Bullworm never needs to stop eating and tunneing while it digests its mineral food. After entering these Stomachs, the Stone/dirt and Organic matter are introduced to a powerful acid, rendering it down into a nutritious slurry, with the various matter particulates serving to balance the Powerful acid. After being rent a slurry, These stomachs enter the guts of the beats, where hundred upon hundreds of Miles of Highly Voracouis guts and cilia, Wound and stacked on itself,  do all they can to extract nutrients from this slurry. By the end of these Extremely Powerful Guts, What remains is excreted as a waste slime, Which will harden on the Tunnel walls and the Bullworms skin to ensure that the large tunnel left behind its bulk doesnt collapse.

The Bullworm Uses these nutrients to feed a variety of Highly nutritious and vitamin-rich internal "Flora" Kept in non-acidic Stomachs while they grow. When the growth process is done, The bullworm can expel These stomach through a series of Sphincters on the outside of its skin. As a result of this, The Bullworm does, however, lack the carapace of its less evolved digger, and is instead of covered in soft, elastic skin.
This leaves the bullworm a rather large non-combatant, serving mostly to feed and transport its smaller cousins. If it must fight, it will typically writh around its bulk and attempt to swallow the enemy, if it can't get its claws on it.

Through this process, the bullworm is capable of creating nutrition for its fellow hive mates, even as its eats nothing but stone and the long-dead present in the dirt.
In addition to this industrial-sized digestive system, The bullworm posses a series of Secondary stomachs, These stomachs lack acid, and instead are kept at comfortable living conditions, with Water, air, and food regularly secreted into these stomachs from the storage and growing stomachs.
These stomachs serve toward the bullworms secondary purpose, as a masssive living trasnport.
The bullworm is capable of swalling its hive mates and sending them down the second track to these heavily armored stomachs. Both the inner and outer walls of these stomachs are Incredibly tough, allowing them to carry dangerous and caustic creatures including the ember without even a hint of an ache.
When the bullworm reaches its destination, It will throw up the contents of these transportation stomachs, deploying the alpha hive creatures in its stomach directly onto the battlefield.

[Naturegirl1999]

Alphaling (1) NG1999

[andrea]

Difficulty check on pterohawk?
It is interesting, but I wonder if we might be underestimating difficulty considering it does flight, great eyes and minion to minion psionics.
I would guess Hard, but who knows. If it is very hard, we might have to shrink it down to a bathawk.

[Draignean]

Ptero-Hawk is definitely upper Hard to lower Very Hard. It assumes a new and highly competent body structure, with good mobility on land and in the air, as well as possessing capable melee tools and much-enhanced senses over the grubs. This is a strong base, which may be pushed into the bottom of the Very Hard category by the greatly enhanced psionic ability (all other swarm units are simple receivers for the Alpha Entity) that allows it to send images to the rest of the swarm.

A lowered form of psionic communication, rather than being able to send image data, to the minds of the other swarm units might keep things closer to the Hard.  I imagine you're just trying for psionic conversation, but one can imagine that there is considerable nuance (and utility) in being able to usefully and directly relay the images of the advanced eyeballs of one unit directly into the mind of a unit whose eyes are barely more than light sensors.

[NUKE9.13]

While I acknowledge the great value of a flier, I think supply is an equally important factor in our continued expansion. I don't think the Ptero-Hawk is worth the risk of VH at this point.
I might be persuaded to vote for a simpler scout-flier, though.

Alphaling: (1) NG1999
Lithovore Scavenger: (1) NUKE9.13

[Kashyyk]

To stay within Hard, here is a simplified Pterosaur. We switch out direct image transfer in exchange for offering directions to any organism that wants it, and reduce walking capability in favour of relying on climbing and flying more. A side effect hopefully means that drillers won't get sucked into a Death Seeth if a Pterohawk is nearby to tell them that everything is dead.

As long in body as a Grub, but much thinner, with toned and supple musculature and a pair of broad bat-wings ending in a pair of claws. The lower body is balanced on a pair of legs ending in gripping talons, used to cling onto perches and pincer targets before pulling them into air and ripping them apart with its sharp beak. In difficult terrain, the Pterohawk can walk using its wings as a pair of forelegs, fast enough to easily avoid Grubs, and to keep up with the relaxed pace of a dedicated walker, but to evade them in combat a Pterohawk must either fly or climb using its gripping claws to scale trees, sheer cliffs or other difficult terrain.

The most important features however are its eyes, a pair of front-facing cameras that can spot movement and pick out details as well as any "natural" bird of prey. This is paired with its ability to form two-way communication with other members of tbe swarm, providing directions to our forces on request. This ability does not come with any form of seniority, so it cannot command organisms, it merely acts a biological sat nav so We do not have to micromanage every movement.