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Given how much planetary engineering and construction he's done, to be fair, I expect that his four systems are individually quite well fortified and defended. Even if you know where all the planets are, that's no guarantee you know where all the fortifications are. Or the asteroids (if any are left).

Thus, he does have a defensive advantage tactically, assuming he concentrates all his ships and resources on the defense of those four systems. He does not, however, have any real defensive advantage on the strategic level, because those systems are far apart and the space between them is effectively terra incognita as far as the MEH is concerned. It's as if his entire country were four isolated fortresses, spaced a thousand miles apart.

We can contrast this to your own state, Akhlut, which also features very few star systems actually inhabited (based on your own description)... but which you've held for a long time. Therefore, it's safe to assume that you know what's in all those sectors better than anyone else does, and have long since identified any possible trouble that might result from controlling them. And that you probably have well-established systems of patrols and remote outposts that let you keep track of what's going on in your own five-sector 'territory.'

That is what I call a defensive advantage.

I've no interest in seeing a neighbour dismantled by an army of deluded war robots, even if it is the MEH.

And besides that, I don't find him as annoying as the rest of you do. XD

Ryan Thunder wrote:I've no interest in seeing a neighbour dismantled by an army of deluded war robots, even if it is the MEH.

And besides that, I don't find him as annoying as the rest of you do. XD

Noted for future reference, though obviously people should probably hold off on reacting to this until they see what Ryan does IC as he watches events unfold.

Who knows? He might decide that throwing the MEH to the loud lunatic robots is a good idea after all.

Simon_Jester wrote:Thus, he does have a defensive advantage tactically, assuming he concentrates all his ships and resources on the defense of those four systems. He does not, however, have any real defensive advantage on the strategic level, because those systems are far apart and the space between them is effectively terra incognita as far as the MEH is concerned. It's as if his entire country were four isolated fortresses, spaced a thousand miles apart.

True, but I don't need to hold the entire sector, I only need to hold my home systems. They are not four isolated fortresses, they are one spread out fortress. All of my planets have a warp gate, and all but one have a hyperspace junction.

Very well, we now know the MEHN's defense strategy.

You do realize that if anyone's planning to crack that defense, and they're smart, they're probably not going to tell you until they've tricked you into doing something stupid, right?

They're not going to tell me what until I do something stupid? Even if I have most of my ships funnel into one system, I can just have them go back to where ever I am attacked.

Also, how do you build a hyperspace junction? I read that hyperspace can be stabilized to create one, but I don't know the time or money required.

Also, the official MEH response to the leaks are "Well that was rude! We would have given them to you if you asked, you don't need to steal them!"

Simon_Jester wrote:Noted for future reference, though obviously people should probably hold off on reacting to this until they see what Ryan does IC as he watches events unfold.

Uh yeah, please do that.

EDIT: Ryan, I like the new story post. Short, sweet, and amusing.

Chaotic Neutral wrote:They're not going to tell me what until I do something stupid? Even if I have most of my ships funnel into one system, I can just have them go back to where ever I am attacked.

I repeat: if the person thinking about how to crack your defense is smart, they will not tell you what the flaw in your plan is until they trick you into doing something stupid. That is all I have to say on the matter.

Chaotic Neutral wrote:Also, how do you build a hyperspace junction? I read that hyperspace can be stabilized to create one, but I don't know the time or money required.

Hyperspace junctions, warp gates, and new colonized sectors are considered to be expensive enough that it is not feasible to create them during the timescale of the game.

Steve may correct me on that, but that's the de facto situation: if anyone's working on building any, it's a project so long-term that it isn't really factored in as far as month to month or year to year issues go.

Birds of the same feather...

Simon_Jester wrote:

Dark Hellion wrote:Trying not to tower over most species when you are basically a titan-grade warbot that happens to have a very sophisticated and eloquent AI is always a losing proposition. Its sorta like Transylvania sending Dracula to be its representative in the UN. Sure he is qualified but it probably isn't the most politically astute move move.

...So why did you do it? Do you use vacuum tubes like Bragulans and therefore find yourself unable to miniaturize your robots into smaller spaces?

Ambassadors use top of the line miniaturization They just have that much damn power that's all the smaller they can be made. The idea that a species would be highly intimidated by something bigger than them is much more of a thing that the Emissaries know intellectually but cannot empathize with. Some intimidation was intended but clearly this inability to empathize has caused a major miscalculation. So while the Ambassador is imminent qualified to perform diplomacy in nearly any environment on paper, in person it is a giant scary killbot that just happens to want to talk first.

@Ryan. Neighbor? The MEH is about 20% of known space away from you. With multiple stellar factions in between. I am as much a neighbor with the Pfhor as you are with the MEH.

Dark Hellion wrote:Ambassadors use top of the line miniaturization They just have that much damn power that's all the smaller they can be made. The idea that a species would be highly intimidated by something bigger than them is much more of a thing that the Emissaries know intellectually but cannot empathize with. Some intimidation was intended but clearly this inability to empathize has caused a major miscalculation. So while the Ambassador is imminent qualified to perform diplomacy in nearly any environment on paper, in person it is a giant scary killbot that just happens to want to talk first.

Some day Geppetto is going to want a word with you. A lot of words. If I ever write those scenes with him and the Refuge.

Simon_Jester wrote:Some day Geppetto is going to want a word with you. A lot of words. If I ever write those scenes with him and the Refuge.

Gepetto: the great communicator!

PeZook wrote:

Simon_Jester wrote:Some day Geppetto is going to want a word with you. A lot of words. If I ever write those scenes with him and the Refuge.

Gepetto: the great communicator!

Speaker to Robots!

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:Birds of the same feather...

Get fucked.

Dark Hellion wrote:@Ryan. Neighbor? The MEH is about 20% of known space away from you. With multiple stellar factions in between. I am as much a neighbor with the Pfhor as you are with the MEH.

*checks map*

Ah, I misplaced it. Never mind, then. Dismantle away.

Is antimatter generation common in our universe here, or is it ridiculously expensive? Because I just figured one could build a 21 Mt hand grenade using that shit, which is frankly kind of worrisome.

Ryan Thunder wrote:Is antimatter generation common in our universe here, or is it ridiculously expensive? Because I just figured one could build a 21 Mt hand grenade using that shit, which is frankly kind of worrisome.

Not really, as:

1) it requires detectable active containment

2) Reaction inefficiencies will make the explosion significantly less energetic (even on top of the fact the energy is mostly radiation)

3) Shielding is commonplace, presumably at spaceports as well

4) Manufacture of antimatter is unlikely to ever become miniaturized enough that it won't require extensive facilities that are easy to regulate, much like pure fissile material today

Alright, cool. I just wanted to make sure we'd considered it before something happened that anybody might be invested in.

Ryan Thunder wrote:Is antimatter generation common in our universe here, or is it ridiculously expensive? Because I just figured one could build a 21 Mt hand grenade using that shit, which is frankly kind of worrisome.

Antimatter generation seems to be common; I posit it as a common starship fuel. In order for ships to be able to "pew pew" at each other using shipboard beam weapons competitive with nukes for raw firepower, you need some kind of power source with that kind of energy density, just to fit the power plant onto the ship.

But yeah, the tricks with the antimatter hand grenade are mostly containment. If there are ways to passively contain antimatter they'll be very mass-inefficient, at which point your nuclear hand grenade drops into the kiloton range or below (see Schlock Mercenary for reference, with an eye to "epaulet grenades." Still horrendous as an explosive, and still causes a lot of the same problems... but come on, there's intrinsic humor to the idea of nuclear hand grenades and you know it.

You know, that makes me think of a story idea: Somebody figures out that the galaxy is a playground for higher powers (us) and that he/she/it can get away with pretty much anything os long as it's funny or awesome enough.

Master_Baerne wrote:You know, that makes me think of a story idea: Somebody figures out that the galaxy is a playground for higher powers (us) and that he/she/it can get away with pretty much anything os long as it's funny or awesome enough.

Refuge in audacity as a shield against the very laws of physics and practicality? Worth a shot.

Bear in mind that the entire Bragulan Star Empire already runs on this trick...

Heh, 'bear' in mind. More seriously, how much do the Bragulans run on their own belief that the laws of physics are really more like guidelines? I thought they were fairly standard capability-wise, just with brute-force solutions to problems everyone else has solved long ago.

Unrelated note, the BEEEF will be a wonderful thing. Just imagine, French and Ascendant fashionistas rubbing shoulders with Bragulan artilleristas and Feelipeeni communistas in a multicultural frenzy of fun!

Just remember not to look too deep into the sunglasses.

Simon_Jester wrote:

Ryan Thunder wrote:Is antimatter generation common in our universe here, or is it ridiculously expensive? Because I just figured one could build a 21 Mt hand grenade using that shit, which is frankly kind of worrisome.

Antimatter generation seems to be common; I posit it as a common starship fuel. In order for ships to be able to "pew pew" at each other using shipboard beam weapons competitive with nukes for raw firepower, you need some kind of power source with that kind of energy density, just to fit the power plant onto the ship.

But yeah, the tricks with the antimatter hand grenade are mostly containment. If there are ways to passively contain antimatter they'll be very mass-inefficient, at which point your nuclear hand grenade drops into the kiloton range or below (see Schlock Mercenary for reference, with an eye to "epaulet grenades." Still horrendous as an explosive, and still causes a lot of the same problems... but come on, there's intrinsic humor to the idea of nuclear hand grenades and you know it.

I gave my supersoldiers an anti-matter grenade launcher. Is this bad? I think I put it around 1 ton TNT.