the Seven Clans of Una

[B'tai Hazra]

Ah, the memories.

 

I recall well the joy of discovery; the excitement of laying down short, medium and long term plans for the expansion and development of my races; the multiple practice sessions I had with sulfuric Anglo-Saxonisms when I screwed up......

 

My perspective is a little different... I look at my colonies and wonder. How the heck can players field 50, 100 or even 200 million tonne fleets... On the other hand, all stages of the game have their beauty I suppose. I like this exploration and development phase and just hope I can lay down a good foundation (=better than my neighbours) for he rest of the game.

[NeilGartner]

Ah, the memories.

 

I recall well the joy of discovery; the excitement of laying down short, medium and long term plans for the expansion and development of my races; the multiple practice sessions I had with sulfuric Anglo-Saxonisms when I screwed up......

 

My perspective is a little different... I look at my colonies and wonder. How the heck can players field 50, 100 or even 200 million tonne fleets... On the other hand, all stages of the game have their beauty I suppose. I like this exploration and development phase and just hope I can lay down a good foundation (=better than my neighbours) for he rest of the game.

 

There is a few ways to reach that level. One way is to search out for dropped empires and capture them. Regardless, it takes time and the right technologies to grow up as one of the big boys but you can do it.

[B'tai Hazra]

Cycle 4:

 

News from the moon Kaish Neer indicated that the new settlement already showed sign of prosperity. The Kaish Neer clan showed no negative effects of the low gravity and even enjoyed their new environment. Some scientists had been surprised by this and even believed this could be evidence that the Hraas actually came from another system and had been a space faring race before falling down into the dark which had been their life for so long. This was just another proof of their destiny to claim the universe as their own.

 

B’tai Hazra had also just received a message from Voyager Kilanuman that they had found signs of previous habitants at Kaish Neer. A very old linear accelerator. Strange mutants had made a living in the dark tunnels and after a brief clash Kilanuman and his survey team had been forced to withdraw. An interesting find though.

 

Much of the events of late were the product of the hard work of Kilanuman. Perhaps it was time to promote him. Pathfinders had entered two more systems, Mardina and Sasonii, and were just about to start survey them. Even though B’tai Hazra had lots of hostile clans that needed to be deported to new planets he realised it would take a long time to populate all these systems. And they would all need to be defended. A Senior Colonel of some exceptional talents had been found and would, together with Evil Claw, plan the military build-up.

 

Professor Shai-Elerist and the Development ministry was about to complete the work to update all the factories with the new manufacturing bots. The coming weeks should see a large boost of their output.

 

B’tai Hazra wondered in which area to focus the manufacturing output. Professor Shai-Elerist had told him that they had major projects that would be completed soon that would revolutionise the exploration fleets. He should hold production of new explorers until they had been completed. New weapon systems were also under development that would make any ship built now obsolete. He decided that focus would stay on shipping out as many to Kaish Neer as possible. This would have the positive effect of generating new resources for the factories allowing him to boost production even more.

 

... and he would get rid of some very irritating clan members...

 

Comments cycle 4:

 

Orders used: 51

Completed technologies: 2nd Generation Industrial Science

New ships: 4 Pathfinder mkII

Claimed systems: none

 

Yes! 2nd Generation Industrial Science is complete and next cycle will see my output increase with 10%. Now I must decide where to go next. There are three areas that I “must” advance while I still have spared points for my slot-1:

 

Weapons and defences: The Seven Clans of Una is a militaristic and expansionistic empire (Piratic Hierarchy). If we are to conquer the whole universe we better have supreme weapons… No more comments needed.

Transwarp drives and better engines: As our empire grows it will become more and more important to become faster. This is still not a problem but when we have explored a few more systems out from Una it will be essential if we are to move fleets quickly from one side to another.

MkIII or better JSS: We have already been stopped at Vimond (one of the systems leading from Una) and at Ludica there are some warp points that have stopped our explorers. Without better JSS we might face a situation where we are closed in by W.P. and can’t expand further.

 

It goes without saying that if we are stopped in all directions by difficult W.P. we will not need any better engines (empire won’t grow much). Weapons are always of use (we will meet other empires but it might take longer time) but I have decided to develop better JSS first. The Seven Clans of Una want to continue expanding at all times. When new JSS are completed I will decide what to develop next, weapons or engines.

[B'tai Hazra]

Cycle 5:

 

Voyager Kilanuman stood on the bridge of the Pathfinder mkII and watched the majestic Rayaat large colonial transport working to offload a new shipment of colonists to Kaish Neer. The Rayaat was by far the largest spaceship built by the Hraas. It was even larger than the fortress guarding the home world, Dhalad Hur. All in all the convoy weighted around 1.6 million tonnes and it was growing every fortnight. Kilanumans own operation at Kaish Neer had not made any new progress but his exploration ministry made new discoveries all the time. 5 Pathfinder mkII with equipment to explore and claim new planets had entered Ludica. Older Pathfinders had surveyed and claimed two new systems, Mardina and Sasonii. Mardina looked to be a warp nexus with no other warp points than the link to Ludica, but Sasonii was a new Ludica. It had plenty of planets and moons with breathable atmosphere that could be colonised, not many warp points though. Being two systems out from Una it would not be possible to colonise yet but Technologist Shai-Elerist had recently held a speech where he promised that advanced engines were being developed. That guy did promise a lot though! Kilanuman wanted to see the results as well. His ministry was becoming desperate for the new survey equipment that was rumoured to soon exist. Two more warp points at Ludica had been surveyed and Kilanuman waited for reports from the pathfinders that had entered them.

 

Inner circle reports of late had been focusing on what looked to become a major shortage of raw resources. The most alarming even suggested that factories would have to be shut down in order to produce more mines. Not good news. The industrial output needed to increase, not decrease. Kaish Neer would be of some help as the colony was starting to produce iron and light metals, but much more was needed and major projects at Dhalad Hur had been directed to build strip mines. This stress on the other clans had again showed itself with several clans close to rebellion. Clan Elder B’tai Hazra had ordered to prepare training of several new divisions, some would be need to keep peace at Kaish Neer but more was also needed at Dhalad Hur. A second senior colonel had been recruited to help with this.

 

Administrative work was also being done to set up a convoy system to ship all resources mined at Kaish Neer to Dhalad Hur. In a fortnight the first shipments would be completed. If this became a success it would be followed by more convoy routes serving the other colonies that was about to be constructed in the Ludica system.

 

Comments cycle 5:

 

Orders used: 67

Completed technologies: Mk II Jump Survey Sensor

New ships: 2 Subaan-Raat and 1 Rayaat

Claimed systems: Mardina, Sasonii

 

This cycle I tried to create my first convoy route with orders to ship resources from Kaish Neer to Dhalad Hur. The two completed Subaan-Raat was built into a new fleet designed to work in the convoy. It will be interesting to see if it works out next cycle.

 

With all the Pathfinders mkII reaching Ludica I will be able to start the work to explore and colonise Ludica. It will still take a few cycles before I have the colony beacon up and running and can get the first shipment of colonists to it but hopefully it will have resources that make it worth it (I haven’t done a GEO on the moon yet).

 

My intention is to wait with building new explorers until I have researched mkIII JSS. They are really needed as the pathfinder that entered Sasonii isn’t able to survey any of the warp points, not even the one leading back to Ludica. MkIII JSS will be completed cycle 7 making it possible to have the first new wave of explorer’s ready cycle 9 (tech completed cycle 7, build new JSS cycle 8 and build ships cycle 9). Until then I will focus on colonising Kaish Neer.

[B'tai Hazra]

The Seven Clans of Una wish you all a merry christmas!

 

Enjoy the holidays. Eat, drink and have fun like it will be the last christmas your empire ever celebrates. Next year it might be under Hraas governance!

[Paradigm]

Don't forget you need improved materials for the Mk III Jump Survey Sensors.

 

Cycle 5:

 

My intention is to wait with building new explorers until I have researched mkIII JSS. They are really needed as the pathfinder that entered Sasonii isn’t able to survey any of the warp points, not even the one leading back to Ludica. MkIII JSS will be completed cycle 7 making it possible to have the first new wave of explorer’s ready cycle 9 (tech completed cycle 7, build new JSS cycle 8 and build ships cycle 9). Until then I will focus on colonising Kaish Neer.

[rfouasnon]

well , at least improved refined crystals , improved synthetic mats , and improved electronics.....so without those , not much use to srp the MkIII JSS.....sorry.......however , if you build your scouts with at least 10 MkII JSS'es , then you can crack up to D's without too much problems , it has been working for me pretty well .

[El Capitan]

Have you thought about putting explorers on your warp point survey ships. They can make a big difference, especially after they start getting promotions. A single Mk II JSS with a Voyager can get most D class WP's. Do you have the Warp Point Survey Supplement?

 

The others make a good point that it's not much use to rush down and get Mk III JSS if you haven't also finished research on the improved components that will be needed to build them. Keep that in mind with all your research choices.

[Krelnett_of_Kraan]

As an example, we were very happy to learn how to build Cloning Centers...

...until we realized we don't know how to build Advanced Black Market Goods.

[B'tai Hazra]

Thanks for the advice all of you. Sometimes you need to learn things the hard way...

 

Cycle 6:

 

Even with all clans focused on building new stripmining complexes the supplies of raw resources dwindled by the day. The last report showed less than 18 million tonnes and it was still decreasing rapidly. The new colony Kaish Neer had reached a population of 350 000 Hraas and the first shipment of 100 000 tonnes light metals had reached Dhalad Hur a few days ago. But it would still take a long time before Kaish Neer made a major impact on the situation. Clan Elder B’tai Hazra had slowly realised that something needed to be done, and quickly. He needed to shift a large part of the workforce from working the factories to building new mines. This was an unfortunate event.

 

More bad news had arrived from the frontier. Well, not all of them were bad. Two new systems had been claimed by the Clans, The Reubin and Shamon systems. Both looked promising in regard to new possibilities to set up colonies for the defeated clans. It seems that the universe is full of planets and moons that look possible to colonise. That was not the problem. The problem was that they had been closed in. No more expansion possibilities. Sure, there were plenty of more warp points but what use when their warp sensors weren’t good enough to investigate them. This was also an unfortunate event.

 

B’tai Hazra had ended the long tunnel war to become the most powerful Hraas ever. But he had always looked beyond this and had even further goals for the Hraas, for the Clans. He believed the Clans were destined to something more than lurking around in the Una system. He believed they were superior to all other species. He believed they deserved to rule the whole galaxy!

 

Brief news:

 

Military promotions – Today former Colonel Darken Rahl received his long overdue promotion to Brigadier General. During the ceremony at Dhalad Hur it was also announced that he have taken command of the Home Guard and control all military forces on Dhalad Hur. Darken Rahl led a crack regiment of marines during the assault on the Eleran clan during the last years of the tunnel war.

 

Kaish Neer – The exploration team led by Voyager Kilanuman at Kaish Neer discovered a ancient building believed to be the centre of administration for an old culture long gone. Voyager Kilanuman has mentioned that they made several interesting finds that will advance our understanding of advanced drugs.

 

Tyrqa Araan – Ship designers at the naval ship yards around Dhalad Hur have recently announced their ambition to build a ship that will be able to colonise worlds in the Ludica system. They call their creation the Tyrqa Araan. The ship can carry 25 000 Hraas.

 

Comments cycle 6:

 

Orders used: 39

Completed technologies: 2nd Generation Space Science

New ships: 1 Subaan-Raat and 1 Rayaat

Claimed systems: Reubin, Shamon

 

Summertime! Vacation! Hooray! I never got the chance to print the results from cycle 5 and did spend less time with doing orders for cycle 6 than usual. Our babycat, Viggo, took a lot of my focus as well...

 

Anyway, things progress as planned. It was a disappointment that Reubin and Shamon didn’t have any warp points that my current technology can survey, effectively stopping my expansion. But cycle 7 should see the Clans completing mkIII JSS. After that I will put all my effort into sending out a second wave of explorers.

 

The moon at Ludica wasn’t what you should say a good place to mine stuff. I’ll probably setup a colony there anyway to produce fuel and use as storage for my rebellious population and equipment bound for systems farther out. I’ll have to think more on how to organise the effort to colonise one of the planets with breathable atmosphere in Shamon, Reubin or Sasonii.

[B'tai Hazra]

Cycle 7:

 

Technologist Shai-Elerist was hiding. Death squads had stormed his cave only minutes after he had fled. News shows reported that he was wanted, dead or alive, by Clan Elder B’tai Hazra. They called him traitor, coward and much worse.

 

The Eleran clan had never been among the larger clans but they felt it was their turn to be given a new place to live. Shai-Elerist was not against using them to survive. If he could stay hidden just a cycle or two more he planned to board the first Tyrqa Araan bound for the Ludica system. It was a win-win situation. If the Eleran clan kept him alive long enough he would see to it that he managed to get aboard the ship as well. He didn’t have many friends left, but he knew the system and how to modify the computer systems.

 

Shai-Elerist had worked hard the last cycles, more desperate as each day passed. He had promised them all new equipment and B’tai Hazra had even stopped the ship building program to wait for the new mk III warp sensors. But he had failed to deliver. They had worked out the theory behind it but they lacked the sophisticated tools to build it. It looked like it was going to be at least three cycles delayed. It was apparently long enough to guarantee his death sentence.

 

4 new divisions of marines had completed training the last days. This was a major boost to the Home Guard and would also make sure that Kaish Neer could be protected in the future. Field General Darken Rahl had been on of those lucky to profit from the stop in the ship yards. Factories that once built equipment for the explorer ships had been diverted to build tanks and weapons. This whole affair with Shai-Elerist was a real mess and orders to his factories had arrived. They should all start building mk II warp sensors. The expansion must continue.

 

Brief news:

 

Geothermal Coretap – Captain Tyyr Elraan, leading the 102nd Recon Group, has made a strange discovery in the Ludica system. Ruins of what must be a Geothermal Coretap station indicate that Ludica have been populated long before the Clans arrived in the system. It is still unknown who this race can be or what happened to them.

 

Mining report – A new report from the frontier systems indicate that many planets and moons have very poor resources. Almost to the point making it useless to colonise them. Clan Elder B’tai Hazra have commented it with the wise words, ‘This will not change our efforts to settle the new systems. We destroyed the clans and by letting them settle poor worlds we assure our dominance.’

 

Traitor on the run – There are still no news about the whereabouts of Shai-Elerist. Security troops patrol all space ports to make sure he won’t be able to leave the planet.

 

Comments cycle 7:

 

Orders used: 64

Completed technologies: Mk III Jump Survey Sensor

New ships: 2 Subaan-Raat and 1 Rayaat

Claimed systems: None

 

Horay! MkIII JSS finally completed. But… but… NOOOOOOOOOO!!! It needs improved electronics and synthetic materials. And improved electronics also require improved refined crystals… It seems that I’ll have to send out some mk II JSS explorers to keep going while I continue the race to actually being able to build the mk III JSS. Not happy…

 

What makes this worse is the thought that if I would have known this I could have started to build mk II JSS two cycles earlier and have the first ships ready by now. It’s impossible to say now how this will affect the Clans but there is a real chance that I will meet my first neighbour a system or two closer to my HW than otherwise.

 

I have now created a second convoy to handle shipments to Kaish Neer. This leaves me with only needing to construct installations manually, the rest it on automatic. Good as it saves me a few orders now that I’m about to start building a new wave of explorers.

[cestvel]

A few points you may already know:

1) turn sheets consist of 40 orders, so 64 orders are a bit of waste ...

2) you can ANZ items that are researchable, so you know in advance what items are needed to build it.

3) first two levels of an item normally require "normal" items, third and forth normally improved and after that

advanced materials.

[rfouasnon]

Another thing I have found out on cracking warp points...if you use massive amounts of your best JSS , and also still use amounts of the lower JSS , I have been able to crack E warp points without any leaders......expensive ships to be sure , but hey , another step away from the HW....I built a ship with 35 mkII JSS and 25 mkI JSS'es , and it cracks E's with no problem......like I said , the thing is hideously expensive in materials , but it works.....on turn 11 with that position , and I have already cracked two E's......wonder if the thing will do an F......

[Vince]

Another thing I have found out on cracking warp points...if you use massive amounts of your best JSS , and also still use amounts of the lower JSS , I have been able to crack E warp points without any leaders......expensive ships to be sure , but hey , another step away from the HW....I built a ship with 35 mkII JSS and 25 mkI JSS'es , and it cracks E's with no problem......like I said , the thing is hideously expensive in materials , but it works.....on turn 11 with that position , and I have already cracked two E's......wonder if the thing will do an F......

 

Yes, that combination should do an F, but will be a little short to crack a G - 47 Mk II JSS will get an F and 68 MK II JSS will get you a G

[B'tai Hazra]

A few points you may already know:

1) turn sheets consist of 40 orders, so 64 orders are a bit of waste ...

2) you can ANZ items that are researchable, so you know in advance what items are needed to build it.

3) first two levels of an item normally require "normal" items, third and forth normally improved and after that

advanced materials.

 

Yeah, I recently found out that I could ANZ items that are researchable. That will help. I also happened to repeat the mistake now that I run towards fusion engines and have forgotten (missed?) to I need improved processed radioactives as well...

 

Another thing I have found out on cracking warp points...if you use massive amounts of your best JSS , and also still use amounts of the lower JSS , I have been able to crack E warp points without any leaders......expensive ships to be sure , but hey , another step away from the HW....I built a ship with 35 mkII JSS and 25 mkI JSS'es , and it cracks E's with no problem......like I said , the thing is hideously expensive in materials , but it works.....on turn 11 with that position , and I have already cracked two E's......wonder if the thing will do an F......

 

Quite expensive ships... I have cracked a couple of E's by using explorer characters and observatories. If I encounter more of these high level warp points I will have to follow your advice and build one or two of these ships. By then I should have transwarp as well as good engines making it worth investing such an amount of production in a single explorer.