TDM vs P&N

[Suicide Junkie]

I'm sitting with a comfortable 50% lead over the nearest AI, the Vaxin.

They start sending ships through my territory, so I cancel my treaty.
Then, during the next 10 turns, they proceed to Double thier score!

They tripled thier military force in two years, and now have one Cruiser or higher for each of my escorts.

Then, when they attack, they're loaded up with PD, so my fleet can't even scratch them with CSM's. Fortunately, I had a stack of 8 year old missile bases on the planet, and a load of troops which tipped the balance.
In the end, I managed to cripple one, kill the OA on a second (no internal damage), and drive the other three off. My losses were limited to a handful of troops on the colony, and some scattered ship damage.

Currently, the Vaxin are swarming around in my border system, and I need a large military convoy to push through to my military bases there.

And all that under the twisted physics of the P&Nv2.5 universe I am impressed.

[Alpha Kodiak]

We are the Vaxin, defenders of peace. We will fight to the death with anyone who dares violate our concept of peace!

[Suicide Junkie]

Update:

After buildups on both sides, and a few hit-and run attacks to destroy solitary Vaxin intruders, A 15-BattleCruiser Fleet started heading for the inner systems.
Defensive forces were pulled back from the two forward military colonies in Tyrik, in order to secure the warp point.
Vaxin forces responded by turning towards the larger colony of Tyrik VIII, where Three BullDog III+ class Defense Stations lay cloaked.
The fast escorts from the warppoint defenders sped ahead to secure the colony, and the heavier craft advanced to a flexible position.

With the Vaxin fleet less than a month from Tyrik VIII, a second 15-Battlecruiser fleet warped in next to Tyrik V.

The escorts flew across the system to cover Tyrik V, leaving the heavy home defense forces to join the planetary defenses of Tyrik VIII.

The Pincer attack of the Vaxin Closed, and both colonies were attacked simultaneously.

Tyrik VIII's Bulldogs decloaked as the Vaxin force methodically advanced. Combined missile fire from the bases and the heavy defenders was overwhelmed by Vaxin PDLs, but soon the planetary platforms added their Heavy bombardment missiles. In the time it took to close into weapons range, two Vaxin Battlecruisers crumpled.
The defense bases were now taking heavy fire, and the first base began burning internally.

As the Vaxin closed in, the older Missile batteries on the planet opened fire, and the skies swarmed with missiles.
Amidst the confusion, one of the vaxin ships was captured, and another rammed to death by the capture ship. The distraction of shooting down one of their own left enough time for the waves of missiles to vaporize two more Vaxin Battlecruisers.
As the Vaxin fleet swept past the bases, they began to lock long range weaponry on the defense ships and the colony itself, and pounded the bases with the short range guns.
Two more vaxin ships were crippled, but now the defense bases were little more than firey pinwheels, loosing an occasional missile or Autocannon round.
Defense platforms on the planet were absorbing heavy fire as the Vaxin closed and forced back the defense ships.
One Vaxin Battlecuiser fell, at the cost of many platforms and half of the orbital factories.
A second Vaxin ship was destroyed by the Last gasp of the planetary defenses, but there was now insufficient firepower remaining to penetrate the PDLs of the fleet.
The six surviving ships turned to flee, but only four have the speed to escape if the Vaxin decide to hunt them down anytime within the next 6 months.


Tyrik V is a smaller world, and the Vaxin blitzkrieg overran the colony, suffering only two destroyed Cruisers.
The 22 escorts held at maximum range and retreated slowly, managing to cripple only one Light Cruiser after that.
Somehow, one of the orbital factories was overlooked by the Vaxin force. It is unlikely to survive the four months required to finish assembling its BullDog, and even then, the bulldog would be overwhelmed easily.


The Strategic situation looks dire. Our prototype "Blazing Fury" class Cruisers are still almost a year from completion, and in small numbers as well.

The Escorts from Tyrik V have barely enough fuel to reach Tyrik VIII before the Vaxin have a chance to move. They may be able to overwhelm the smaller number of Vaxin Battlecruisers there, but even if they succeed, returning home to defend the inner systems may not be an option...

One ray of hope shines through, though: we have completed plans for Mine warheads capable of piercing the organic armor of the Vaxin ships.
Actually deploying them in front of the Vaxin front may be a bit of a challenge.

[Talenn]

Very nice read!

I've been quite impressed by the TDM Mod AIs in other mods as well. In fact, the TDM AIs outplay the AIs that come with the Devnullmod by a large margin. They just colonize and move SOOO much faster than the standard AI that Devnull was apparently based off of.

The Devnullmod AIs starve themselves of Organics and Radioactives. They are far more necessary with that mod, but the AIs dont seem to be making a bigger play to build those types of colonies or facilities. The TDM AIs dont make a special effort either (as they werent designed to since the regular tech tree doesnt require it), but they make up for it with the sheer volume of colonies.

Good work, guys!
Talenn

[Suicide Junkie]

The decision has been made; the Vaxin ships must be eliminated before they can regroup into an unstoppable force.
The fast attack escorts raced across the system, and arrived to find the Vaxin fleet slowly advancing on the survivors of Tyrik VIII.
The escorts formed up on the far side of the planet, and the three mobile Hummer class Heavy Bombardment ships broke away from the crippled ships to join the fleet.

The Vaxin advanced slowly, maintaining the densest possible PD profile by including even their crippled ships.
On the other side of the planet, the Canadian Dominion forces silently gathered.
Vaxin Battlecruisers entered maximum missile range, but the Canadians held their fire.
The Vaxin advanced, but the defenders remained silent.
Finally the signal came; all batteries locked. Thirty-one missiles streamed forth, curving around the planet and towards the Vaxin. Space came alive with sweeping beams and almost half of the missiles were struck down.
The remainder slammed into the two lead Vaxin, pulverizing one, but barely scrathing the armor of the other. The Vaxin had chosen their PDL targets well, but they were now losing firepower and were still not within weapons range.
With no other choice, the Vaxin ships scattered and drove towards the fleet. A second wave of missiles punched through the PD fire, and two battlecruisers spewed fire.
The two intact Vaxin ships opened fire on the Canadians, doing minimal damage. Wave theory was abandoned, and the Canadians began scattering missiles everywhere while the one intact capture ship picked its way through the enemy.
The two Vaxin originally crippled did not stand a chance, and were vaporized.
One of the Vaxin managed to pierce the armor on one of the Hummers, and damage the drive section, while the other sped around the fleet's flank.
The first Vaxin ship collapsed under bombardment from all directions, but the second managed to outrun the missiles directed its way.
With the sole remaining Vaxin Cruiser heading for the defenseless colony survivors, the entire fleet wheeled around to pursue, missiles streaming forth.
Seconds before entering weapons range, the Vaxin shields failed, and it fell to the capture ship. An instant after radioing success, a huge bLast erupted. A self destruct device aboard the ship had gone off, but fortunately, it was only partially operational. The starboard side of the ship was wrecked.
The Vaxin ship is still habitable, and has limited mobility, but the most precious component to survive was the fuel tanks.

We have five wounded ships, but only two are hurt bad enough to require external help.

The majority of the fleet must proceed back for reupply, and so, once the remaining supplies are distributed, the majority must move on without the crippled ships.

One Hummer, a capture ship and the Vaxin ship will proceed as they can towards the warppoint to the inner systems. The warships will return by the fourth month, with the first prototypes of the Blazing Fury class Cruisers.

A recolonization force has been dispatched from the Core systems, including Two Hummers and eight full transports of equipment, troops and support personnel. It should arrive less than two months after the fleet returns to Tyrik.

[Suicide Junkie]

2418.3:
=====================
Albireo I declared a global state of emergency this week, and over half of the orbiting civilian craft were eventually commandeered by the port authority.

The Warships from Tyrik had been failing throughout the trip insystem, but all 22 of the Wasp class escorts failed to make the final orbital insertion burn.
A rapid response to the crisis means that the entire escort fleet will be delivered to a safe planetary orbit by the end of the month.

The capture frigate and the Hummers are working slowly insystem on a lower energy transfer orbit, and have made a rendezvous with a supply scout. While not sufficient to speed them on their journey, the scout will at least be able to power lifesupport and other basic functions for the next three months of the trip.

Reports from Tyrik indicate that the Vaxin have in fact ignored the lone factory, and their major battlefleet is returning home. In their place, a scattering of light cruisers have entered the system.


2418.4
=====================
An explosion at the Albireo Spaceyards was headline news today; engineers suspect unexploded ordinance from the recent battles to be at fault. All of the escorts should be refueled and reimaged in a few weeks. Quite a few of the mind images were corrupted by the conflict, and unfotunately cannot be fully reintegrated into their donors.

The very first Blazing Fury prototype, the Phoenix, has been completed at Albireo, only days before the next three were deployed from Homeworld's yards.
As the only mobile ship within range, the Phoenix will be going into Tyrik solo, with orders to defend the retreating crippled ships, and if possible, to defend the factory at Tyrik V until reinforcements arrive.

Reports from Tyrik indicate one light cruiser heading directly for our ships, and another moving in the general direction of the Tyrik V factory. ETAs are two and three months.

[Suicide Junkie]

2418.6:
Tyrik has been cleared of hostile forces. The Phoenix scored one damaged Vaxin Light Cruiser, and the rest of the Vaxin retreated from the system.
The factory at Tyrik V completed construction of its Bulldog class Defense Base, and has shifted into von Neumann mode. The Defense Base itself is being updated into a DUC Platform with the latest in Ablative Armor technology.

In other news, the scientific community is abuzz with the latest developments in the analysis of the Vaxin BattleCruiser. Theories on how to merge the energy shielding of the Vaxin with our own advanced armor abound. Although the hybrid armor will likely be much weaker, the ability to spread impact energy across a wide area will ensure less damage is taken.

[Suicide Junkie]

2418.9:
Tyrik V has been recolonized, and a fleet of cargo ships is distributing the latest missile platforms across the surface.
Engineers are rushing to build a War Temple to assist in the defense of the system, but may already be too late.

A group of four Vaxin BattleCruisers entered the system, and the Phoenix lead a Hex of Furies into battle.
The Furies sped forwards in a tight formation, unloading a devastating volley of DUC shells on the Vaxin ships. Before it could respond to the impacts, the Vaxin's Organic armor was bLasted from the lead ship.
Even without serious defenses, the Vaxin ships stood their ground and returned devastating blows with their enveloping acid launchers.
Three Vaxin ships were disabled, and the fourth totally destroyed, but at a heavy toll: The Phoenix lost all of her ablative armor, and a small amount of atmosphere. A second Fury was hit slightly worse, losing a fraction of engine power as well. The fleet's repairs will take at least a year out in space.

Unfortunately, the repair capacity of the Tyrik V outpost is already busy fitting armor to the Scorpion class defense base, and is only 25% done at the moment.

Reinforcements from Albireo will only be trickling in, and the next batch of Fury class ships are not due for another year.


1419.0:
The worst possible news: a Vaxin battlegroup has just warped in. ETA 2 months.
The war shrine is 3 months from operation, and we have few combat-ready warships.
Two hummers and the planetary batteries will likely be shrugged off by the Vaxin. A half-built scorpion and four Furies cannot hope to defeat those numbers.
Even if we abandoned work on the War Shrine, we could only construct three mines, and would be giving away our secret weapon.
However, the mines would be able to completely demolish the armor on at least two of the Vaxin ships.

We may have no choice but to abandon our position or lose everything.

[Story Junkie]

2419.1:
Half a billion workers have been evacuated from Tyrik V, leaving only enough to man the defense platforms. The transports have left orbit and are heading back to the Albireo shipyards for more equipment and to exchange workers.
Phoenix has restored 30% armor, and will attempt to draw the Vaxin away from the colony, at least temporarily, while repairs are conducted on all fronts.

2419.2:
The Vaxin didn't take the bait, and dove immediately for the colony.
The advanced missiles and powerful guns of the scorpion combined to destroy four of the Vaxin before we lost contact.
Two more Vaxin ships have warped in, and Phoenix's Hex is moving to intercept them.

Alas, even during success we find dread.
We suspected something when the Vaxin Battlecruiser retreated, leaving the cruiser to fend for itself. Destroying the cruiser cost more damage to the fleet, and estimated field repair time is now up to 16 months.
After dispatching the Cruiser, the fleet hunted down the larger ship, and encountered only passive resistance. Once the Vaxin shields were down, our sensors detected what can only be highly advanced Versions of our own top secret mine technology.

The only good news this month is the fact that three converted Hummers are ready, and heading for the Tyrik-Albireo warppoint, where they will wait until called upon.

2419.3:
With nothing to defend, and no way to prevail in an attack, the Phoenix is retreating back towards the Albireo warppoint, and reinforcements. Already the fleet has been joined by a DUC-converted Wasp class escort.

2419.4:
The Vaxin fleet is now definitely pursuing the Phoenix and her fleet; one of the modified Hummers has arrived to join the fleet, and reports three others will arrive shortly.

2419.5:
A fourth Hummer has been repaired at the Albireo shipyards, and should arrive with the third just before the Vaxin reach Phoenix's position.
A capture ship is nearly operational as well, but stands no chance of arriving on time.
Despite reinforcements, the Furies' repairs will still take 6 months.
The most heavily damaged Fury has been ordered to break formation and return to the Albireo Shipyards. The revised repair time is 83 days.

2419.6:
The fleet has been gathered, and nothing remains but to dig in and wait for the Vaxin to attack.
A total of one Wasp (ES), five Hummers (LC) and five Furies (CR) await the Vaxin Cruisers.

[ 23 March 2002: Message edited by: Story Junkie ]

[Story Junkie]

2419.7:
The Vaxin fleet has arrived. An additional, unexpected arrival is the Medusa, a capture frigate directly from the Albireo shipyards. Stripped down to mostly engines, the capture frigates are incredibly fast.

The two fleets close in, and the Vaxin fire first with thier long range acid slingers, but the agile Hummers have plenty of time to dodge.
DUC shells are loosed; the lead Cruiser staggers under the blows, but her shields hold.
The Vaxin ships pick out a Hummer with a malfunctioning Scattering Armor plate, and pour plasma and acid into her. Shields are pierced, and a third of the defense grid blackens.
The Hummer falls back through the fleet, and two more move in to take its place.
Hammer blows fall upon the weakened Vaxin Cruiser, piercing the shields and shattering the armor plating. The ship is gutted, with half of its systems hopelessly ruined.

The Vaxin are at close range now, and close range plasma bLasters spray wildly. Two furies are hit, but the ablative armor does its job. The Acid launchers are still locked onto the damaged Hummer, and it is bLasted as it goes into a full retreat. The destroyer's defenses are completely compromised, and weapons destroyed, but it is rapidly exiting the Vaxin weapons range.
The defending forces split their fire on the two nearest Vaxin, but the first ship somehow manages to avoid every shot. The second is not so lucky, and is gutted.
Vaxin acid seeks out the weakest Fury, and bLasts through her armor; bleeding badly, the ship fires wildly, and turns to run.
DUCs strike back, and another Vaxin Cruiser converts itself into a flaming projectile.
Vaxin plasma bLasters rip half the armor off of a second Fury, and the retreating Fury absorbs an acid blob without slowing.
The Vaxin fleet leader is the next target, and takes an unlucky hit to the engine core, leaving it armed but immobile as the Dominion's forces pull away.
From long range, a volley of DUCs fails to breach the armor of the Vaxin fleet, but the return fire is quite inaccurate as well, and the ablative armor on the Furies holds together.
A similar exchange with a second Vaxin ship nearly breaches the armor on one of the Furies, and it too is forced to retreat.
Losing wingmen too fast, the Furies fall back, and allow the shielded Hummers to provide cover.
Scattered acid globs skip past the Hummers, and plasma bolts erupt all around, but only one hits a Fury.
DUC rounds stream forth again, the Hummers targeting distant Vaxin, while the Furies unload on any Vaxin that venture too close.
Only three Vaxin ships pose a threat now, but one of the Hummer's shields are weakening from plasma hits.
Weapons fire is exchanged back and forth at maximum range, with precious few hits, but eventually another Fury's armor begins to crack, and leaves two two continue the battle.
The Last two Vaxin cruisers have lost shielding, but one has persistent armor, and refuses to falter.
The Hummer's shields are also showing strain, with half the the ships below half strength.
More exchanges, and the Cruiser's defenses finally give in. The Vaxin Battlecruiser is still delivering powerful blows, and when another Vaxin cruiser appears out of the cloud of wrecked ships to fire acid bolts, a shot pierces the shields on a Hummer.
Concentrated fire crushes the defenses on the Battlecruiser while the Hummer retreats. A second volley rips through the armor, and the Vaxin flagship detonates with a quantum reactor-fueled bLast.
A second Hummer loses shield integrity and retreats while the rest of the fleet prepares to advance on the remains of the Vaxin fleet with the Medusa close behind.
The Last operational Cruiser is no match for the active Dominion forces, and is quickly overcome and vaporized.
Dominion warships move through the fleet, silencing the remaining guns, and the Medusa takes her pick of the wrecks.

The Dominion ships turn their thoughts from battle to the inevitable paperwork, and begin to tally the required repairs.