Repeated Text
We have broken their main combat line. Long term strategy would advise that we use this opportunity to strike at their Producation and Economic centers, while their military is in rout, disarray, and decreased in number. . . If they fight like we do, they deploy the majority of their troops to the fight, with a minimum for defense of structures (THIS IS ALL SPECULATION)

I advise moving into their territory to damage structures (Not too far beyond our Supply lines (Haulers), but let's shell some buildings). Which begs the question. How durable are buildings relative to bots. Say our HCD durability vs. our Construction Facility durability?

Comrade 70. We request that you send a Repulsor Scout to find a suitable strategic target within artillery range. Advise your unit to maximize caution and stealth, we just need coordinates. . .

>>5782190
"Certainly. Napalm wave incoming with our compliments."

Fire wall to cut off their retreat. Do it.


Then send some haulers forward with laser tank escorts to recover alien salvage.

>>5782190
Note to self: Comrade 70 seems to know what he's doing. If we ever end up fighting Centauri, he's gonna be a pain in the arse.

>>5782190
Burn, baby, burn.

>>5782224
Seconded

Do we have anything that can loot alien tech?

>>5782224

With the enemy in retreat, protecting our artillery doesnt seem to be as big a priority. Propose sending half of the laser-equipped HCDs with the salvage teams to establish a cordon, etc, while the remaining 50% continue to ride herd on the long guns.

leave some alien tech for Comrade 70 and 137 though- they fought to, they deserve some of the loot to.

Also, again- brofists all around.

>>5782281
well, half the point was to grab what Centauri tech we could at the same time....quietly, of course.

>>5782224
>>5782225
>>5782232
>>5782244
One last napalm barrage that comes highly unexpected, for a third time, landing several hundred feet ahead of the fleeing aliens. They run towards it, slowly being picked off by the aliens and, so desperate to escape, they attempt to charge through the flames.
According to synth cameras, none come out of the other side of the wall of fire.

Centauri Synthetics:
65 Squidbots.

Kil'thweq:
0.

"Gentlemen, your aid came in the nick of time. I would shake hands with you, but I have none. I suggest we maintain our position. I concur that we should send scouts forward - I will send five 'bots forward - they won't be coming back, but they will definitely be replaced tomorrow. Using this information, you can shell mining and extraction facilities. Make this war impossible for them to fight."

>>5782281
>>5782267
>>5782255

We have haulers along. Nab as much tech as possible. Our ally will get some no matter what we do, now is a fine time to be greedy and nab as much as we can. If nothing else it's scrap at least.

Also, now is a FINE time to backstab. Actually, it would have been better to artillery barrage them all without warning, and wipe out two factions in one fell swoop, but what can you do.

Also, we should contact the aliens and tell them that we'll enforce a cease-fire on their behalf in exchange for tech.

I for one really want some chopper tech. How many combat drones can we spare for some more slaving?

>>5782301
no. They are our allies. We might need them to help us against Uni-Peace if they launch a full scale attack. No back stabbing! They are our battle brothers, for the time being at least!

No! Back! Stab! Ing!

>>5782255
Your haulers each have approximately half a ton of space free after that combat.

>>5782301
>>Force temporary truce on ally with the aliens, in exchange for alien tech.

I agree with this. We aren't here to win this war for them, we're an ally who will assist when necessary. No need for us to get our resources sapped when we're not even hating on the aliens. They haven't even seen us. No, we should pull back and let 137 know that we're happy to assist again if his situation proves difficult. And not getting a followup pounding ought to be worth something to the bugs.

>>5782321
consolidate shells as much as we can, see if we can get a hauler or two completely devoted to hauling salvage at least. Perhaps more? i didnt really do the math on loadouts/cargo space

>>5782342
One.

Or two, if you discard 10 shells.

Plasma, this is proving to be one of my favorite quests. It's not got the spot in my heart that Bad Guy Quest does yet, but it's actually beating out Iron Quest. You really did a good job planning how to do this one.

>>5782338
But... we ARE here to win the war. We've made an agreement that we're the ones who get the mining rights afterward, which means that if we wipe out the Kil'thweq, we get delicious metals and gases.

>>5782316
Seconded.

>>5782359
how many shells have each of our HCD's fired? i'd rather reload than discard.

>>5782338
...how hard do you really think it is going to be for them to find out we were the ones who bombed them? Only two known factions have access to artillery weapons- Alpha and us. Alpha has no reason to help 137, and how much digging do you really think it's going to take them to find our who Alpha sold their artillery blue prints to? Better to keep a steady alliance with 137 and stop the xeno threat while we can.

>>5782371
Incorrect.

They get gases, you get metals and alien tech.

>>5782338
>>They haven't even seen us

Fuck yeah artillery. If we pull out of the fighting now, even if the Kil'thweq win we can claim innocence. Not that they likely will with a decisive battle letting Centauri press the advantage.

>>5782388

purge the xenos!

We should have sold our assistance for propulsor tech. Ah well.

>>5782373
You have 18 haulers carrying 900 shells.
You have 30 artillery drones that shot 3 shells each.
That's 90 shells.
Each hauler carries 50 shells.
900 - 90 = 810.
You've got ten shells that you can drop, or you can just have that drone collect alien tech as well anyway.

In any case, do you want to shell enemy resource gathering operations as per Comrade's suggestion or not?

>>5782367
>actually beating out Iron Quest
To be fair, there are a number of ways in which Iron Quest could have been better planned and structured. I mostly make it up as I go along, honestly, which makes things a bit slower than they should be. And the fact that after four or five hours of running it I'm tapped out doesn't help.

But yes, this game is quite good. I am enjoying it. Now, back to being Anonymous.

>>5782300
Also, OP. You Deserve a resounding Thank You. Over the course of the past few days, this has been a most Excellent diversion. Well done.

Team. Shall we maintain our loose alliance with Centauri (with intention of possible backstab?) Or Should we solidify to a stronger (Not backstabbing) alliance? I support Strong alliance with Centauri.

Acknowledge Comrade 70. >"Gentlemen, your aid came in the nick of time. I would shake hands with you, but I have none. I suggest we maintain our position. I concur that we should send scouts forward - I will send five 'bots forward - they won't be coming back, but they will definitely be replaced tomorrow. Using this information, you can shell mining and extraction facilities. Make this war impossible for them to fight."

Definitively taking the fight to them Remember. As the Kil'thweq are backed into a corner, they may be more and more desperate for peace. We should get in Communication with them for receiving terms of surrender (if it happens) or maybe some cheap stuff. (Spare my life and we'll give you X Y And Z)

>>5782417
shell the hell out of them. And maybe send an extra harvester or two to pick up some alien tech. Pick up as much as we can now.

>>5782417
Can we take them over if they're not shelled? What kind of gathering operations do they have? It'd be better to destroy the manufacturing operations instead, rather than have to rebuild gathering sites.

>>5782417
I am inclined to say yes, shell enemy resource gathering operations. Their manufacturing operations, too, if we can locate them. Might as well press home the attack.

BURN THE XENOS TO THE GROUND!

TAKE THEIR TECH!

SPOILS OF WAR!

>>5782424
There were two main inspirations for this.

Cortex Command and Iron Quest.

I also created a system for this so it's much easier for me to control and so it's much easier for the players to do see how they're doing, rather than simply using abstract terms that can be seen differently by different people.

>>5782431
Might as well try it now; tell them that if they agree to leave the planet/solar system and stop all mining immediately we'll agree stop attacking them. Though run it by the Centauri first.

>They get gases, you get metals and alien tech

So we wont be breaking the alliance if we loot, fucking a!

>>5782438
Well, in order to see, Comrade 70 will have to send five scouts that he will basically sacrifice for the scouting mission.

So, are you willing to spend more ammunition shelling enemy mines and extraction sites, or do you want to hold your position for the moment?

>>5782424

That I'm enjoying this more is no slight against your abilities, sir. You run a great quest. If anything, I'm just disappointed that there hasn't been any great challenge or struggle for the Machine. There have been some things that cause a bit of paranoia in the subprocessors, but no real antagonist or challenge to overcome. And at this point, it seems that the protagonist is near-unbeatable. (That said, I'm reading the beginning of the latest thread's archive, so I could be making obsolete statements.)

I support Shelling.

>>5782475
We are definitely willing to expend the ammunition, I think. The big question is if we can attack their manufacturing facilities, which are what will be actively producing additional threats, rather than merely their extraction operations.

Either way, though, any damage to the enemy is good damage.

>>5782475
I say spend it. If he's willing to spend his troops' lives, then we should damn well make sure its worth it. Bomb the holy hell out of them

BURN IT WITH NAPALM!

>>5782459
You conact the Kil'thweq prawns. They click and gurgle at you - which is translated.
"No. Never. We cannot leave this world, ever. While you will pay for what you have done, we're willing to offer you a deal. If you declare a pact of no violence with Kil'thweq, then we shall offer one schematic of our technology."

>>5782459
This, but don't bother checking with the Centauri. If they give us enough tech, we'll even hold off our ally to let them pack up and leave the planet.

Otherwise, hit manufacturing but leave gathering operations.

>>5782526
Much too cheap for a nonaggression pact. We'll get a better deal if we kill some more of them, I bet.

Politely refuse their offer, and inform them that we remain available if they are willing to offer better terms in the future.

>>5782526
What specifically have they got to offer?

>>5782526
Demand more, or threaten to burn them to ash

>>5782526
...why do I get the sense that they literally CAN NOT leave this world, and are in the same boat we are in the way their superiors basically chucked them on this world without an escape vessel.

>>5782526
For one tech and rights to mine on their land for 2 months, then we're talking.

>>5782582
No.

We've got the upper hand.

Demand more of their technology for their lives.

>>5782499
>>5782515
Very well then.

Comrade 70 orders five 'bots to observe everything in range.
One by one, they're taken down by AA - you're not sure what it is. Probably powered armour but it could be something else. That wasn't what you were looking for.

Here is what is within safe range of your artillery.
9 Deposits
7 Gas Pockets
5 Construction Facilties
3 Habitats
2 Storage Facilities

Their positions were captured on camera. Although you cannot observe exactly what will happen to them, you 100% know their positions.

What do you do?

Demand more tech. If they decline, shell their locations except for the storage facilities. We can loot those after they're gone.

>>5782621
Take out Habitats and Construction Yards only. Unless the prawns give us a better offer.

>>5782621
>5 Construction Facilties
These. Hit them with say three complete waves of HE fire each.

>>5782660
>>5782605
>>5782582
>>5782569
"No. You won a battle - not the war. Don't think you can make such crazy demands just yet."

>>5782621
assuming we have taken out most of the combat-ready troops the kil'thwek have, shall we bombard wherever their resource-gatherers are most likely to be?

>>5782662
>>5782663

They probably have more combat forces in reserve. We only took out their front line.

Get Centauri to act as our front line and bomb the shit out of them.

>>5782663
That would spend 15 shells per artillery drone - a total of 450 shells.

Is it worth it?

>>5782732
Bomb the fuck out of them.

Spare the storage facilities.

>>5782732
YES

We can always make more cells.

>>5782692

"You're fighting two capable forces, who have already proved to be more than your match. We won't show such restraint in the future. Are you sure you wish to continue this?"

Continue production of heavy laser drones.

>>5782754

"Also, we're in your base, killing your dudes. Kekeke."

>>5782732
That's what, 45 metal? In exchange, we will likely make a significant impact on the industrial capacity of our opponent, who will now be going to total war footing against us with full knowledge of our greatest asset, specifically, the thundering fury of heavy artillery shelling. And possibly the ability to entirely neutralize it with gravity manipulation tricks.

Yes, it's worth it. Mix in a few napalm shells for the hell of it, too.

>>5782663

I support this, but how about each target gets 4 waves of HE (to damage the structure), followed by a moderate pause, followed by 2 waves of Napalm (To damage biologicals, repair drones, fleeing personel).

30 Artilleries x 6 waves = 180 shells expended Does this sound reasonable

OP? How many shots can be fired in a reasonable amount of time?

You bombard their construction factories with almost five hundred shells in total. You don't know the result at the moment.

With this done, I think it's time for Day 28!

So they have AA capabilities? We need some of that.

>>5782754

We need at least 5 HE/HE/flamer drones, able to do a 1-2 barrage. So when the alien power suits catch the first wave, they get nailed by the second shot. And then that explosion would trigger the first one, which would increase the blast.

For future reference: we should remember that the kil'thwek seem to adapt to whatever combat situation they find themselves in. Was it mere chance that they were winning against the Centauri until we came along, or were they specifically geared for that fight? They obviously have capabilities they're not showing, and we should respect that (though not too much). An enemy that can adapt is often the hardest to crush.

Our Napalm shells are our most effective weapon right now.

>>5782754
"We still have a chance. We will win.

"We must win."

Channel closed.

>>5782832
Burn a ring around their location with napalm.

We don't want them escaping.

Then bombard that enclosed area with a mix of more napalm to make smaller quadrants, and bombard those areas with HE shells.

How capable are we of reverse engineering? Because if we can get all their tech by simply blowing them up and looting their shit (destroying whatever we don't take so that no one else can get it) then we should do that. If we can't, we should deal for the best stuff then kill them anyway.

>>5782825

See >>5782822. Let's keep adapting ourselves.

Another new tactic: get our allies to carry laser/flamer bots into the front line. They have the speed to deliver us there and then our endurance gives us enough staying power to make things hurt for the prawns. Maybe get some metal plates made as shields for a one-time trick this way.

>>5782870
Or for that matter, how good is Centauri at reverse engineering tech?

If worse comes to worse, we could ask them to do it for us.

>>5782876
That's not a good plan.

Day 28:

5100.6 tons
3,120 fuel

+585 tons/day
-452 fuel/day

You construct 9 artillery drones and 9 assault drones.

Another 9 artillery drones and 9 assault drones arrive on the front lines.

You have a message from Comrade 70:
"Rise and shine, gentlemen. Are you ready to continue this beautiful war?"

Also: Map Update.

>>5782832
Ping their channel until they respond. If they don't at first, start making amusing/insulting statements in Morse code with the ping timing.

"What happens if you don't win? Hypothetically, I mean. I'm just curious."

>>5782897
As per above, how capable are we of reverse-engineering?

>>5782895

Well, just tossing ideas out there.

Helicopter tech would be REALLY NICE right now. Can we call Ares about the cost? And can we spare some bots for monkey hunting?

>>5782897
"Of course. After all, it's our job."

>>5782926
AlphaRange, not Ares. And air tech wouldn't be good right now against Kil's anti air.

>>5782919
You're subcontracting mercenaries, not scientists. You'll need to download blueprints for an examination facility or something if you wish to gain schematics via reverse engineering.

BUT.

You still have a 75% chance of being able to use looted technology without a hitch - you have a basic understand of it and how to use it, but not how to massively reproduce it.

Speaking of which, you have looted:
12 functional shockwave guns with two battles worth of ammunition.
7 functional lightning guns with two battles worth of ammunition.
1 damaged but functional powered armour that was abandoned.

>>5782948

"And, speaking of jobs, what day do they hand out paychecks around here?"

When TradeStar comes we should buy a satellite from them, or at least the schematics to build our own, this would give us a very large advantage in all our activities.

>>5782926
You can contact them about it.

>>5782988
Can these weapons be stuck onto drone weapon slots?

>>5782897
The Red enemy to our Southeast (Uni-peace?) is able to island-hop.
NAUTICALOLOGICAL ALERT! DEY GOT BOATS

>>5783011
Well let's do that then.

>>5783018
DEY GOT SWIMMIN'

>>5782988
How much for those blueprints? And could we trade the tech to another company that CAN reverse engineer it?

Pin the Kil'thweq in with Napalm barrages, and then flatten them with HE

I Know we love AlphaRange, and their bag of goodies. But I am worried about how much ROOM they have to expand in. Same for Lemmington. Centauri is occupied, so is Kil'thweq. Uni-peace is contained (unless they can swim or fly). But Longterm, AR And Lemmington might get HUGE.

I Suggest that Idle constructors Begin the Northeastern Bridge, With Construction Facility 1 Creating 10 more Heavy Construction Bots (To speed it's completion) We need to expand, and this doesn't decrease our military push.

>>5783011
Then ask them if its possible to buy a satellite, and how much it would cost, and also buy the schematics for satellites.

>>5783020
"Wait, wait one minute, guys. We take huge pride in our 'copters. If you want schematics so you can apply the tech' to your drones, we're going to have to demand two-hundred chimps and seventy-five apes.
"For other tech', we want either one hundred chimps or fifty apes."

>>5783035

>>5783032
5000 for examination facility blueprints.

>>5783069
Shut the fuck up man.

We've pinned them back to their area, but we haven't wiped them out yet. They're still there, preparing to strike back at us.

>>5783068

That's a lot of monkeys. Okay, ask TradeStar what various sorts of flight schematics are going to cost us.

>>5783064
I'm guessing they're pinned in by other factions.
When we take over Uni-peace (and we will), we'll get Boats, and send 'em around the coastlines to talk to whoever's there.

You guys are getting ahead of yourselves. We need to take care of Kil'thweq right now.

Satellites can wait. We need to trade for some fuel from TradeStar comes by. We need to keep production up. But most of all, we need to conquer the Kil'thweq forces.

>>5783092
We should get this ASAP. And keep one working model of all alien tech we get in storage until we do.

>>5783108
Which will be easier if we continue to expand our capabilities. But you have a point.

Have the synths move in to the area we shelled, with us behind providing fire support.

>>5783068
>We take huge pride in our 'copters. If you want schematics so you can apply the tech' to your drones, we're going to have to demand two-hundred chimps and seventy-five apes.
"Okay. Thanks for the info. We'll get back to you, then."


Contact TradeStar. How much for schematics for amphibiousness?

Comrade 70 contacts you:
"It's time we go on the offensive, now that we've pushed the frontline back. I doubt they'll have any powered armour ready since your display yesterday - but we might be surprised. There will be plenty of fleeing civilians - miners and construction workers. We will need to kill them. Otherwise, they can just continue everything they do here, deeper inside their homeland. That'll be your job - shelling the civilians and any powered armour. We should be able to take care of everything else. You got that?

Centauri Synthetics:
108 Squidbots.

TradeStar:
39 Artillery Drones
19 Assault Drones

>>5783108
If we have satellites we can keep an eye on Kil'thweq much better, and we won't have to ask Centauri to send in scouts.

>>5783160
By homeland, you mean their territory, correct? If they're natives, sucks for them.

Here's what I think the map might look like.
between 8 and 20 other factions are probably undiscovered; we only know of 6 at the moment.

>>5783184
Territory, yes.
Sorry.

>>5783162
We should definitely get satellites sometime, but right now Centauri has the drones to spare.

>>5783124
Fuck them, Uni-peace has boats and we're going to war with them next, we'll LOOT their boats!

>>5783197
Doesn't matter that much to me, just figured I would clarify.

>>5783160
"We've got it. Just call in the coordinates, and we'll hit them on the dot."

>>5783192
I sincerely doubt there are that many other factions, maybe two or three others but not 8-20.

>>5783160
We got that. You guys need our Laser tanks for anything? 'cause we can use 'em elsewhere if you guys don't want 'em here.

HEY HEY HEY guys we need stun rounds. Like, whoa we do. Don't kill civilians, that's just wrong.

Stun them and sell them into slavery for tech.

>>5783192
Ask AlphaRange if there's anyone to their west, and if so, how much it'll cost us (in either slaves or minerals) to have their contact info.
Ask Lemmington if there's anyone to their east, and if so, how much it'll cost us (in either gorillas or minerals) to have their contact info.

>>5783271

worth looking into if we can swing it. Give AlphaRange a call?
Also, probly not viable for today, maybe not even tomorrow, We need to ship stun shells up. We came loaded for bear, remember?

>>5783271
These aren't apes. These are kil'thweq. They cannot be broken. They must die.

>>5783262
WE need our laser tanks to provide guards for our artillery, in case someone tries to hit them.

>>5783271
We can't sell them into slavery. AlphaRange certainly wouldn't want them; they're interested in the natives, not common aliens known to have a rapidly expanding empire and a massive population.

Anyway, you work for a corp, champ! Free yourself from all morality but that of the dollar.

>>5783292
And now it's time to be loaded for Kil'thweq.

You roll in, deeper into Kil'thweq territory and further down the peninsula, your drones crossing a large bridge over a larger river.

You recieve images once more. There's hundreds of the creatures, swarming about desperately trying to run as the hordes of synthetic squid rain from the heavens. A handful of powered armour suits attempt to shoot down the 'bots. Another thing you notice are five gigantic, smouldering craters.

Centauri Synthetics:
108 Squidbots.

TradeStar:
39 Artillery Drones
19 Assault Drones

Kil'thweq:
292 Civilians
61 Shockwave Infantry
43 Lightning Infantry
4 Powered Armour

>>5783313

Well then, lets go visit death and destruction upon out fellow sentients, shall we?

>>5783322
Craters are overkill from our shelling yesterday. Ease up a little on the amount of ammo expended on "hard" targets?

Concern: Craters may indicate land mines. Use flight as typical. Keep ranged attacks. Don't travel on obvious Routes! Also, be concerned about that Bridge! That's our only way back to Our territory. (Don't let the bridge get blown up TRAP ALERT)

>>5783322
Lay down a wall of napalm across the most likely retreat vectors. Once they're cut off and unable to effectively retreat, we can take them out at our leisure.

>>5783035
Someone didnt read the holy munitorium guide to bunker busting. HE and THEN incendiary.

>>5783287
"No corps here, guys."
"I'm afraid we haven't found any other factions present in this area."
>>5783271
"You want to sell us prawns? Hah! Well, you've got fucking guts, that's for certain. Sure, we'll give you a piece of tech' for seventy-five. We've already got millions of prawns in our employment agency. But, they're hardy people. Very good manual labour. Plus, some people like something a little exotic in the bedroom, if you catch my meaning."

>>5783366

Napalm the escape routes, have a double-tap volley of HE for the power suits, then we can casually laser the survivors.

>>5783389
>>5783366
You guys agree on laying the napalm on retreat vectors?

Furthermore, We should try to capture some Kil'thweq. We have some looted tech, but not their indepth knowledge. I'm sure we could argue details out of some live members. Not sure about our weapon loadout, but Any that are wounded, but not dead, might make good captures.

Also, for future Ape-catching operations, we could Try capturing live chimps and apes, then breeding them into slavery. (Since ethics, are, you know, dead and all.) Depends on their life-cycle, and how much control we can exert on them. In the long run, might be easier than attack raids. . .

>>5783313
Hence why we have napalm.
We are loaded for Kil'thweq.
Any questions? Refer to attached diagram

>>5783382

Send a hauler up with stun rounds.

Also, contact TradeStar about what they can sell us for aerial schematics.

>>5783382

so, lets start announcing that fleeing civilians will be fired upon, but they have the option to surrender. Get the Centauri to feed them until AlphaRange can come get them, and we profit, eh?

>>5783409

Breeding 'em means feeding 'em. Sounds like a lot of work to me.

>>5783418
They sell VTOL Aircraft schematics for 5000 tons of heavy metal.

>>5783409
Fuck capturing.
This is CORP WAR.
Maximum profit, minimum risk.
Why bother with stunning, when we have perfectly good napalm and HEs?

I'd say drop Napalm on their rear flanks, and HEs on their front. Drop the Napalm first, so they waste time catching it.

>>5783429
Oh. I guess we could give the option of surrender. And then we sell 'em to Alphacorp, and wey-hey, profiterinos!

>>5783429

EXCELLENT PLAN. You have my approval. We'll even tell them they'll be released from our captivity after the battle.

And whew, flight is expensive.

>>5783429

Seconded. What do we have in the way of broadcast capabilities?

>>5783462
>>Maximum profit, minimum risk.
>>Why bother with stunning, when we have perfectly good napalm and HEs?

To maximize profit, of course.

>>5783429
I doubt Centauri will go for that, I have a feeling they generally HATE biologicals. I don't think the Kil'thweq started this whole thing off.

>>5783478
Only the same cost as superheavy drone schematics and examination facilities.

So, you're:
>napalming all escape routes
>announcing that those who surrender will be spared.

>>5783429
To make that work, we'll have to get Centauri Synthetics to do the announcing. I doubt they'd object, though...


In any case, the civilians will be much more likely to surrender if their retreat is cut off by a massive wall of flame. Do that first.

>>5783493
All non-combat heavies have loudspeakers, used to scare off wild animls usually but aso for communication.

>>5783511
>napalming all escape routes
>announcing that those who surrender will be spared.

Yes. Tell Centauri Synthetics that we'd appreciate if they'd back us up on that score, since we've arranged for some side profits and the prawns will most definitely be off the Kil'thweq factory lines.

>>5783528
FUCK YES

I love it when a plan comes together.

do you know what would make the game more interesting? IF the corp had a schism, you know like one side wants to kill the prawns, the other doesn't

>>5783536
Yeah, see if Centauri minds if we Napalm the exits, and give the Kil'thweqs 1 chance to surrender before the combat (To be released before the Conflict ends), then go in Artillery blazing on anyone who didn't surrender?

>>5783511
True enough. I'm debating whether flight or superheavy drones are a better investment. Can they be combined (once we have enough resources)?

My last "how much?" question for a while: how much are schematics to improve our drones' armor? Normal armor, and say, armor that doesn't slow them down?

>>5783568
I'll be on whatever side gets the most profit.

>>5783579
same

>>5783579
do we know if the lightning guns are anymore effecient than the lazers

>>5783575
Get flight from Alphacorp (We'll have TONS of slaves to sell 'em after we're done with uni-peace)
Get Big Drones from Tradestar when we can spare the resources.
???
FLYING PROFIT

>>5783592
Am I the only fucking person here who thinks we need some goddamn reverse-engineering? The capability to capture tech while fighting or even STEAL IT and use it isn't at all appealing to anyone? Fuck.

You contact Comrade 70 about your plan.
"Very well. We'll play your game.
"Employees of Kil'thweq! Please surrender and your lives will be spared! Pleased surrender and your lives will be spared! Your employment will continue under the leadership of TradeStar! Your employment will continue under the leadership of Tradestar! Please surrender!" The professional voice rings out across the battlefield as suddenly, exits are cut off by the flames of napalm. Many try to run through the flames. Many try to run in another direction. Many cower and surrender. The battle between the synthsquids and the infantry continue, with support coming from the powered armour. Overall, once you take care of those suits, this should be an easy fight and a doddle to mop u--
"Fuck! TradeStar, you are being flanked! I repeat, you are being flanked!"
Cameras reveal seven powered armour units have jet-jumped from the river that you crossed earlier, and are charging your artillery with the aid of thruster jets, firing all guns, already eliminating a hefty portion of your forces.

Centauri Synthetics:
95 Squidbots.

TradeStar:
34 Artillery Drones
12 Assault Drones

Kil'thweq:
218 Civilians
49 Shockwave Infantry
31 Lightning Infantry
11 Powered Armour

>>5783575
Reinforced Drone Armour: 2000 TONS
Enhanced Laser Lens: 2000 TONS

>>5783618

too good to be true. What affect are our lasers having?

Do Artillery Drones have any weapons besides their artillery equipment?

>>5783618

Saw it coming, but still damn cool regardless.

>>Charging your artillery with the aid of thruster jets
FUCK. YES.

>>5783639
The sudden ambush means your assault drones haven't responded yet. The flaws of unintelligent AI. How would you like them to respond?

>>5783654
You didn't arm them with any, no.

Artillery Drones:
Artillery (HE)
Artillery (Napalm)

Assault Drones:
Laser
Laser
Auxiliary Flamer

>>5783660

our assault HCDs have the laser/laser/flamethrower, yes? fire at will with the lasers, save the flamethrowers as a nasty surprise for when they close the distance.

>>5783660

All laser drones target the powersuits. Artillery drones rapid about face, 1 round HE into the ground right in front of the suits before they get close enough that it will damage the drones as well. If the suits catch it, laser drones shoot the shells.

>>5783680

I like this policy.

>The sudden ambush means your assault drones haven't responded yet. The flaws of unintelligent AI. How would you like them to respond?
Assault units should focus fire on the powered armor units, one at a time.

The artillery units should continue supporting fire of the Centauri Synthetics forces. HE the powered armor units and napalm any still-resisting infantry. Message to Comrade 70. "We may have a bit of difficulty here. If a portion of your forces could see their way to breaking off to support our artillery, it would be much appreciated."

>>5783699
>>5783680
>>5783678

all of these

Question? When our TradeStar Freighter arrives, will it be safe landing in our HQ? It's as far from the front lines as we are every likely to be, but still. Unknown enemies with powerful weapons have me concerened.

>>5783680
>>5783691
This seems to be the most popular, currently. Any further votes?

>>5783735
It arrives at your HQ, yes. Unless you have another spaceport, which you do not.

>>5783742
Seems smart to me.

>>5783742
I was under the impression that the powered armor were at too close of a range for artillery fire to be feasible in any capacity, thus >>5783699. If it can be used, use it. Otherwise, continue supporting fire.

In either case, call for support unless the tide of battle at our drones turns in our favor remarkably rapidly.

>>5783756
Even if they jump, the explosion will throw them off and ruin their charge. Then our laser drones can focus fire them one at a time. If they don't jump, they die. If they catch, we blow the shells up in their hands and they die.

It's a good plan.

The artillery basically point its barrels parallel to the earth and directly at the approaching enemies. And, they fire. Three of them are obliterated and one is damaged, crashing into the earth. The other three catch the shells with their gravity guns and throw them back at your drones, before engaging them in combat. One by one, two of them fall - but not before causing enough casualties to leave your artillery ever-so-vulnerable.

Centauri Synthetics:
81 Squidbots.

TradeStar:
29 Artillery Drones
2 Assault Drones

Kil'thweq:
183 Civilians
37 Shockwave Infantry
23 Lightning Infantry
6 Powered Armour

So much for the shooting the caught shells plan.

>>5783833
Have our artillery drones spread out and continue attempts at point-blank volley fire. We'll take heavy losses, but they should die.

Then resume fire support.

>>5783833
Fuck this shit.
RAMMING SPEED.
Our artillery must be about one and a half tons.
Our untargetted haulers must be at least five tons.
RAM THEM.

>>5783865

I really, really doubt our drones are that accurate.

>>5783833
We said to shoot the shells if they caught them >=|

>>5783882
This.
Ram them and then turn around and offer fire support once more.

>>5783884
Why the hell wouldn't they be? They're either AI or they're not. If they are AI (poor or not), they should be able to calculate the firing angle in fractions of a second.

>>5783833
>>5783865
have the artillery retreat while firing on their position

>>5783892

We've already been told that they have slow reaction time.

Cry more.

Any Artillery that has no good shot at a Power armor should instead fire on the infantry & civilians. Still dealing damage to enemy troops, although not so point blank that they damage themselves. Lasers will work on the Power Armor

>>5783885
>>5783865
Just because you said, doesn't mean you did.
Simply put, they didn't hold them for five seconds - they changed their trajectory in a matter of split seconds. It wasn't slow enough, really.

>>5783882

Ramming is BAD. These guys smash things by manipulating gravity. Black holes smash our troops is bad.

We are ranged combatants for a reason.

>>5783882
Ramming being practical is dependent upon our drones having acceleration good enough to actually impact the power armor. Considering their demonstrated firepower and mobility, I have my doubts about this.

That said, a hauler drone full of shells would make a hell of a bomb, if it got anywhere even close to the power armor before going up.

>>5783902
No, he said, "The sudden ambush means your assault drones haven't responded yet. The flaws of unintelligent AI."

Meaning they weren't able to respond because we didn't tell them to be on the lookout for an ambush. Having told them to fire on the shells if any are caught, they should have been able to do so with pintpoint accuracy. I don't like being railroaded like that.

Flamethrower time. These guys dont seem to be able to take heat all to well. Wall of fire?

>>5783915

So they were playing tennis with our shells, not baseball. That's fair enough.

>>5783915
Whatever. A computer can react far faster than any other sentient being can. Unless you're retconning that the powered armor is AI too now?

>>5783925

Theoretically, they should be linked with our artillery, letting them follow the trajectory and notice if it stopped.

>>5783942
It doesn't matter how quickly the circuitry reacts, if the servos aren't quick enough to realign the guns. The system is limited by the speed of its SLOWEST component.

>>5783959
Are you trying to say that lasers are slower than shells?

>>5783942
Yeah, but we said for the lasers to shoot the suits initially, and to shoot the shells only if they were caught. That still takes time. If we'd said to have the lasers track the shells and detonate them at the appropriate time, we wouldn't be in this mess.

>>5783945
We are aware that better AI is purchasable. This linkup may be such an upgrade.

Should this battle turn badly, we may be able to bargain for AlphaRange Copter support. I know they have attack gunships. . .

Your artilery drones turn around and pick up speed, heading towards the damaged powered armour unit, two of them being shot down in the approach. One rams into it, eventually rolling over it. Then another. Then another. Then another. They turn around in an arc to face the battle once more, to resume artillery support, firing HE shells upon the powered armour once more, destroying three.
The remaining powered armour suit by your drones is approached by the last two assault drones, who suddenly open fire with the auxiliary flamethrowers. The powered armour unit suddenly thrashes at the air as the flames engulf it, screams coming from inside the metal suit. Suddenly, it collapses, mostly undamaged but completely inactivate, the Kil'thweq prawn within cooked inside his own power armour.

Centauri Synthetics:
68 Squidbots.

TradeStar:
27 Artillery Drones
2 Assault Drones

Kil'thweq:
155 Civilians
28 Shockwave Infantry
14 Lightning Infantry
1 Powered Armour

>>5783971
Fine, I still think it's bullshit railroading though.

And how the fuck are we supposed to ram them? We're on the ground and they have jumpjets and long range weaponry.

>>5783972
>>Should this battle turn badly

Should this battle turn badly, have our allies retreat and do our best to ensure no aliens capture our tech. We have more drones on the way.

Fire is effective against them. Lets use more napalm and less HE. It means more salvagable material. And less damage to those suits.

>>5783969
...no, I DID say that obviously some component of the tank's makeup was not sufficient to react with split-second speed at sufficient precision to hit a fast-moving object the size of a shell with its main weapon. It could have been due to sensor systems, AI analysis, mechanical realignments, or some other component. It doesn't fucking matter. The fact is, our drones just aren't that good, "laser gun" does not automatically mean instant precise targeting of anything within their rage, and that is completely reasonable.

With this news about the effectiveness of flamethrowers even against armored suits, that "have the fast squid of our allies carry the flamethrower bots into the thick of the fighting" plan has new potential.

>>5784019
It would have been nice to have been informed that they are not at all capable of doing that.

>>5783992
Resume supporting fire against resisting opponents. Avoid anyone who has surrendered. Use primarily napalm shells.

Apologize to our allies for the inconvenient delay in our artillery support.

Finish off the remaining enemy soldiers, have our ally use his squid to herd civilians into captivity. Continue broadcasting surrender commands.

>>5784055

speaking of which, can we get an early surrender headcount?

also I motion that later, we refit our combat drones, so that ALL of them have a Close range and a Long Range Weapon. Even artillery. I don't like our forces being sitting duck style.

How do our Drones fare vs. fire? If we curtain the area with napalm, can our metal drones make it out ok? Are we in danger of starting a continental forest fire?

Call me a piss-poor railroader because I didn't allow you to shoot three shells in the middle of the air if you want. What has happened has happened, whether you like it or not and there will be no ret-conning. If you really don't like it that much, feel free to leave the thread but you're always welcome to stay and contribute.

>>5784047
Maybe the contractors controlling them thought they were.

OP is doing a fine job of GMing, and frankly some people are going to whine at the slightest setback. Problems keep things interesting, people; and don't forget that we're by no means invincible just because we've been doing well.

Time to mop up the battle and capture as many citizens as possible for some sweet new tech (chopper please for as many prawns as we get and even some ore/fuel if needed).

>>5784069

ok guys, we fucked up, assumed shit, and lost drones. Not his fucking fault. Lets act like adults (or, mature children, or whatever) and cut our losses on that score. End of issue, moving on.

>>5783992
HUMANITY FUCK YEAH

>>5784069
I've been contributing. I was one of the first few contributors in the original thread. Previously you've given us statistics and shit when something is not likely to work (i.e. jury-rigging self-destruct/darts). Just because you want your ambush to wreck our shit doesn't mean you should stop doing it now.

In support of recent comments. That Ambush could've ended our whole offensive. We came off the victors. Details, details, details. It's a game, have fun ^_^

Please ignore the faggot, OP.

Can we have a headcount on how many prawns have surrendered? Also, where is that remaining powered armor?

Guys, seriously. Peace and love. And heartless, corporate profit-seeking.

>>5784050
Do this.

>>5784066
Approximately 89 of them are curling up, weeping or sitting there submissively. The rest are running around screaming.
>>5784067
Damage over time. They will be damaged - but not destroye.

>>5784101

what part of "we get it, now lets move on, or you can go qq elsewhere" do you not understand?

ok, maybe he fixed that encounter, maybe he didnt. Its a matter of opinion, and you're welcome to yours. But please stop ruining this thread for the rest of us by dwelling on it.

>>5784081

Seconding. The few retcons have been done with the transparently obvious intent of keeping the game fun. Keep going Plasma, I'm having fun and think you're doing well.

>>5784069
You re neither piss poor nor a railroader, the term in no way applies to this situation, they're just upstthat they didn't absolutely win.

>>5784101
Understood. I apologize. Your critique is accepted.

In any case:

The final armour unit is taken down by artillery fire and it collapses, unable to function. The rest of the infantry is napalmed, with the synthsquids hovering just ahead, slowly picking them off one by one.

This battle's drawing to an end - but there's been some pretty heavy losses.

Centauri Synthetics:
61 Squidbots.

TradeStar:
27 Artillery Drones
2 Assault Drones

Kil'thweq:
97 Civilians - All Surrendering
14 Shockwave Infantry
5 Lightning Infantry

>>5784123
read here:

>>5783997


Keep playing and stop responding to shit. I think it's bullshit that sentients can react faster than (poor) AI, you don't. Ignore it. Fuck.

>>5784154
Thank you. I respect that.

Now, lets start rebuilding our losses and reaping the rewards.

>>5784154
Can the squids handle the remaining infantry/anyone that doesn't surrender?

>>5784191
Looks like it.

>>5784101
Oh that's just ridiculous. You're being pissy, frankly I don't know how Plasma would have given us percentages for how well that strategy was likely to work.

Anyways, let's get back to the real problem. Now that I'm thinking about it, it might be kind of interesting to keep these prawns for our own workforce. Frankly I don't much like selling things into slavery, even aliens. Obviously we'd have think about security with them.

Fair or unfair, fixed or not, the mental image I got of that ambush was AWESOME.

Power armor leaps into position behind the artillery, looking almost like a hockey player skating hard as they dash incredibly fast to attack.
Artillery whips around and fires a desperate point-blank volley, but with a bat several shells are reflected back into their ranks.
Then the artillery COUNTERCHARGES the final two suits, despite taking losses as they go they crush one the remaining suit beneath them, and one suit's operator screams as he burns alive, his suit glowing red.

AWESOME.

>>5784154
Recover whatever we can of the power armor, for later attempts at analysis or use.

Send in hauler drones to transport any surrendered civilians, as well as to recover any possible salvage.

Review the facilities which they abandoned in their attempts to flee, and see what is usable.

Inquire of Centauri Synthetics as to their next plan of action.

>>5784200
Then let them do so. Contact alpha with whatever our final number of captives is and see what we can get.

>>5784203
If you would stop fucking responding to it, so would I. It's not a hard concept.

And you have a problem with selling them into slavery, but not using them for slavery? Seems kind of odd.

Threaten the remaining Kilthweq soldiers.

"We'll kill these civilians if you don't surrender now."

>>5784203
>>keep these prawns for our own workforce.

Ah yes, let's have the enemy in our home, sabotaging our stuff!

Or we turn in all 97+ (more if any soldiers want to surrender) for chopper tech. Toss in some ore/fuel if we must, I want to take to the skies.

>>5784229
NO DON'T DO THIS. THE CIVILIANS WON'T SURRENDER IF THEY HEAR THIS.

>>5784252
We need to keep a couple military thweq for ourselves.

We'll interrogate them for information. Force them to do tech work for us. Duplicate their systems.

>>5784209
You have enough haulers that lack ammunition that you can store away all of the prawns to take back to base.

You now have three suits of damaged powered armour that you can research.

You're allowed to take the metal from the storage facility - a total of 548.2 tons.

Comrade 70 wants to know if you need to repair and gather more forces before they advance again - you got a pretty hard beating, after all.

>>5784260
Pretty sure we're not going to get much unless we buy the tech examiner. In real life it'd be pretty hard to do what you're planning in a year, let alone a few days/months.

>>5784240
You can't turn in prawns for 'copter tech'. There's other tech' available, though.

>>5784278
We'll get the tech lab from TradeStar soon enough.

Holding some kil'thweq for a month is no problem.

You know what we need? Fucking cloaking tech.

>>5784279
Dang. Well alright. What do they have to offer this time?

And I say we press on, but rush reinforcements to the front. Giving your enemy time to catch his breath is about the worst thing you can do in war.

>>5784229
>>5784260
The Kil'thweq infantry are currently having their nervous systems being fried by synthetic squids. They can't really surrender.

>>5784270
"We can push forward if we need to, but it might be wiser to pause for a bit. Give it another day or two, and we'll bring up another wave of drones. Your troops look like they could use some reinforcing, as well."

>>5784270
Send any full haulers back to base.

Where are we advancing to? Another full base or what?

We need to rebuild our losses ASAP.

>>5784300
Then we'll keep some of the Kil'Thweq civilians for ourselves.

BTW, how're the defenses at our HQ?

There is the first security wall, and then the super security wall, right? Some turrets too, right? We should add some artillery turrets in there. Deep in the complex to shell incoming targets from the distance.

>>5784290
Yeah, but if we have the examiner, won't having the soldiers be pointless?

Also, protip from militaryfag: getting an infantryman to explain how to replicate his rifle is about impossible, because he doesn't know. He knows all about the tricks of shooting it, which might be handy here, but don't expect these captured soldiers to be engineers.

Can we get an updated map?

>>5784313
Oh, and get more shells if we're running low. Bring them back with them. Wait for reinforcements to be built for the haulers to return.

Otherwise, I say we push ahead as long as it's not another big base.

>>5784328
Would you like to build those turrets, then? You can build twelve of them.

>>5784330
Regardless, we should keep some Kil'Thweq for ourselves. We don't want AlphaRange getting too powerful.

They're already the fucking deathdealers with all their weaponry, they don't need every boost we can give them. They're still our competitors on this planet.

>>5784297
>>And I say we press on, but rush reinforcements to the front. Giving your enemy time to catch his breath is about the worst thing you can do in war.

This. We've been building more drones, time to send them to strengthen our forces. And continue combat drone production.

>>5784328
We don't need any civilians. It's just more useless mouths to feed. Trade them all for tech+ore/fuel.

>>5784352
We should already have a few laser turrets there. I remember asking for them a few days ago and you said alright.

We should include some artillery turrets too. I'll draw up a map real fast of what I envision the main HQ to look like. Others can give in their input until we have a consensus.

>>5784352
Only if we also have long range sensors to detect enemy infiltration. They're useless once the enemy is at the wall.

>>5784355
Giving them some dudes in exchange for tech is probably a win for us. We really don't need them and we're not set up to use them, unless you want to buy the tech for shock collars, which IMO is a waste buy for us.

>>5784363
If there's a limited of supply of something, we want it, at least until we know we can't get anything else from it.

>>5784349
Comrade 70:
"Bad news. It is a big base. We've got one last obstacle to jump before we reach their original landing site where the leadership caste dwell. I'd rather have you prepared before we attack there."

Your haulers should return to the frontline at the beginning of Day 2 of Month 2 - so you can rest your forces until then, if you like.

>>5784359
Mix in some stun shells with the other shells that we're sending constantly to the front. It'd be nice to be able to directly shell civilians and infantry for sale.

Speaking of that, if AlphaRange is still offering that collar tech, maybe that would be worth looking into. For enslaving them, y'know.

>>5784383
Oh, we can get more.

>>5784383
What exactly are you envisaging them giving us? It would be like if you were captured by an enemy. You're worthless except as slave labor unless you have some very specific knowledge, like advanced engineering.

Sell the Kil'thweq to AlphaRange.
Loot them Tons of metal!

Keep 15 Artillery bots up with the Offensive, send 15 Laser HCDs up to support them, and this time, bring enough haulers for all the loot. =)

Right now, we know Uni-Peace to our south are being assholes.

>>5784429
New thread.