[Morgoth]

D, on 01 May 2013 - 03:11 PM, said:

I think we can all agree that it'll be nice to not have to scream across the board at other people, telling them to stop letting Lyra or Planta turtle

The Planta deserve to be allowed some turtling. The poor lumps of moss just wish to be left alone.

[Morgoth]

Ganoes Paran, on 01 May 2013 - 03:08 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 01 May 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

Tatts, I'd be very interested in an early exchange of ambassadors if you're game.

Ha ha ha! No way! I thought no alliances anyway?

I can see the benefits ie one extra money slot or whatever but then you burn me to a crisp later!

I'll think on it.

No alliances no. But we can still exchange ambassadors. A little extra boost to the economy early, and an added protection towards attacks is hardly a bad thing.

[Tattersail_]

Morgoth, on 01 May 2013 - 03:18 PM, said:

Ganoes Paran, on 01 May 2013 - 03:08 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 01 May 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

Tatts, I'd be very interested in an early exchange of ambassadors if you're game.

Ha ha ha! No way! I thought no alliances anyway?

I can see the benefits ie one extra money slot or whatever but then you burn me to a crisp later!

I'll think on it.

No alliances no. But we can still exchange ambassadors. A little extra boost to the economy early, and an added protection towards attacks is hardly a bad thing.

I will think on it. I see your advantages.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Dear Twelve,

Considering our past dealings as heads of different empires, I am extending my pirate's hook in friendship early-on.

Yarr, yonder Khell to the south looks like ripe pickins for me galactic buckaneers!

[twelve]

D, on 01 May 2013 - 03:11 PM, said:

I think we can all agree that it'll be nice to not have to scream across the board at other people, telling them to stop letting Lyra or Planta turtle

That was part of the appeal. The vets informed the noobs into what a bad idea it was to let those two races plod along uninterupted and it provided plenty of smack talk in the process.

[Khellendros]

cerveza_fiesta, on 01 May 2013 - 03:26 PM, said:

Dear Twelve,

Considering our past dealings as heads of different empires, I am extending my pirate's hook in friendship early-on.

Yarr, yonder Khell to the south looks like ripe pickins for me galactic buckaneers!

Hah, you won't want to come this way after you see what I intend to do. The strategy I've picked for this game is not predicated on any particular race

[twelve]

cerveza_fiesta, on 01 May 2013 - 03:26 PM, said:

Dear Twelve,

Considering our past dealings as heads of different empires, I am extending my pirate's hook in friendship early-on.

Yarr, yonder Khell to the south looks like ripe pickins for me galactic buckaneers!

I would gladly accept an ambassador from the syndicate but forgive me for wanting to make a connection with your empire a loooong arm of friendship (ie I want no backdoor connections with your empire this time around. Frankly I want the front doors connected by a verry long hallway too.)

[Imperial Historian]

D, on 01 May 2013 - 03:01 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 01 May 2013 - 02:56 PM, said:

D, on 01 May 2013 - 02:49 PM, said:

Exiles next to Orion should be an interesting choice. I think you and me can be good friends - you probably want to stick mostly to the outer sectors where the materials are, while I want to fight over the money in the centre.

I do not see why we should struggle against each other no. I have not played the expansion, but it would seem to me that the Exiles would work best staying away from the most heavily contested areas of the map.

That's what I learned in the last game. I explored to the middle like most races would, but couldn't fight the ancients and couldn't afford to hold more than a few territories with mixed resources. I think the better option is to act like true exiles and stay on the perimeter: a - you can grab discovery tiles from the barren hexes and then abandon them (instead of holding the not-that-great discovery tile hexes in the middle), b - you dont have to worry about other players much, c - you get lots more materials in Tier 3, and since you want to build lots of orbitals anyway and start with the tech then you use those orbitals to get the money and science you want. Essentially, the only planets you need are materials and then you build orbitals for everything else. Orbitals make a bad hex so-so and a so-so hex good, both in resource production and in VPs. The only reason I ended up having more than 3 orbitals in the last game was because I stole a bunch from invading Tattersail.

Personally I'd play the exiles more agressively, building lots of orbitals is going to make you very weak in terms of ships. I think the key to exiles is getting fast ships and neutron bombs out early, then use the cloaking device to smash and grab hexes off stronger opponents, upgrading hexes with orbitals just makes them more attractive for someone with a strong military to take. Admittedly no alliances changes this a little, as the secure borders on one side an alliance gives are a thing of the past.

[Morgoth]

I don't really see how the cloaking device would lead to a good pacifism strategy, no

[Gnaw]

Damn you people move fast. Khell, tell me more about this strategy of yours. I was going to let you have Hydrani because really why not? But you sound rather aggressive.

[D'rek]

Morgoth, on 01 May 2013 - 04:21 PM, said:

I don't really see how the cloaking device would lead to a good pacifism strategy, no

Cloaking device is a good deterrent to your foes. If you have a border hex that has an orbital and one ship in it, and someone moves in 3 ships to attack it, you can still move your ship into the enemy territory where the attackers came from and bomb it to smithereens. It's a good mutually-assured-destruction deterrent.

[Khellendros]

Gnaw, on 01 May 2013 - 04:38 PM, said:

Damn you people move fast. Khell, tell me more about this strategy of yours. I was going to let you have Hydrani because really why not? But you sound rather aggressive.

As I said, whichever race I end up picking, my strategy will remain the same - so it shouldn't influence who you pick. Just go for the one which attracts you the most. As has been said, the Terrans are the best 'beginner' race, the Hydrani are about maxing out your technology paths, and the Magellan are made of liquorice.

[Khellendros]

Also, Gnaw, the fact that you're between myself and Tatts is just about the best you could have hoped for. Neither of us is remotely competent.

[Gnaw]

D, on 01 May 2013 - 02:56 PM, said:

Ganoes Paran, on 01 May 2013 - 02:53 PM, said:

I do not have a lot of choice. My first choice would have been the machines.

Now I will go for Sentinels of Magellan

Oooh interesting. I thought you'd go Lyra and we'd end up with Exiles-Lyra-Hydran side-by-side, making the left side of the galaxy very peaceful

I was wanting the Lyra. They look to be a good choice for conservative, low aggressive play. I.e. sit back, survive, and watch. Steeper learning curve though. So Tatts taking them out of play is worrying.

[Khellendros]

Gnaw, on 01 May 2013 - 04:49 PM, said:

D, on 01 May 2013 - 02:56 PM, said:

Ganoes Paran, on 01 May 2013 - 02:53 PM, said:

I do not have a lot of choice. My first choice would have been the machines.

Now I will go for Sentinels of Magellan

Oooh interesting. I thought you'd go Lyra and we'd end up with Exiles-Lyra-Hydran side-by-side, making the left side of the galaxy very peaceful

I was wanting the Lyra. They look to be a good choice for conservative, low aggressive play. I.e. sit back, survive, and watch. Steeper learning curve though. So Tatts taking them out of play is worrying.

Well, you can see if Tatts is willing to take the Douchebags of Magellan rather than the Sentinels - then you could have the Lyra. Unless Tatts intentionally wanted to keep the Lyra out of the game, but I don't see why he would.

[Gnaw]

Terrans. Doesn't matter which ones, so I'll pass the choice to Khell.

[Khellendros]

Alright, I'll go for Hydrani. How are you aligning your hex Gnaw?

[cerveza_fiesta]

wowzers...that was quick for game setup picks.

Once everybody gets me their orientations and such, I'll set up the board for play and generate the tile reference images and all that.

With tapper not back until late tomorrow, looks like the game might possibly see its first round of actions Friday, but it's more likely we'll officially kick off over the weekend (I have a full plate Friday thru sunday).

Also, I'm not going to worry overmuch about proper colours being with proper races. I have 9 colours that are nice and visible, and will just assign them at random unless somebody has a major objection to that.

[Tattersail_]

Gnaw, on 01 May 2013 - 04:49 PM, said:

D, on 01 May 2013 - 02:56 PM, said:

Ganoes Paran, on 01 May 2013 - 02:53 PM, said:

I do not have a lot of choice. My first choice would have been the machines.

Now I will go for Sentinels of Magellan

Oooh interesting. I thought you'd go Lyra and we'd end up with Exiles-Lyra-Hydran side-by-side, making the left side of the galaxy very peaceful

I was wanting the Lyra. They look to be a good choice for conservative, low aggressive play. I.e. sit back, survive, and watch. Steeper learning curve though. So Tatts taking them out of play is worrying.

I did you a favour. As there are no alliances you need military strength. Khell is right about my incompetence.

[twelve]

cerveza_fiesta, on 01 May 2013 - 05:03 PM, said:

wowzers...that was quick for game setup picks.

Once everybody gets me their orientations and such, I'll set up the board for play and generate the tile reference images and all that.

With tapper not back until late tomorrow, looks like the game might possibly see its first round of actions Friday, but it's more likely we'll officially kick off over the weekend (I have a full plate Friday thru sunday).

Also, I'm not going to worry overmuch about proper colours being with proper races. I have 9 colours that are nice and visible, and will just assign them at random unless somebody has a major objection to that.

I'll take a red or orange color if we are allowed to have a preference.