Let me try, too...
I started with the pacifist party, and loaded up on diplomacy & influence bonuses. I was planning on playing an evil diplomatic game & going to go for the cultural victory. Played on a tiny galaxy, sub-normal intelligence
(Incidentally, who said a Tiny galaxy game would only take a couple of hours? This game lasted about 14 hours, played over 3 days.)
I got a terrible start, with Sol being the only star in my sector. Had to outrun the Arceans to even colonize a second star. I settled on a couple of class 14 & class 13 stars & the colony rush was ended.
The Drengins had the best starting position (4 livable stars in their home sector), and pushed that to a huge starting advantage. The Alexians and Torians surrendered early, to the Arceans & Yor, respectively. The Yor were already decimated, and we took the former Torian stars in a sneak attack. The Yor, reduced to their home system, surrendered to the Arceans soon after.
Meanwhile, the Drengins were getting tribute from everyone. Finally, the Drengins & Arceans went to war. Straight up, the Arceans were no match, but we covertly supplied them with techs & starships, all the while paying Drengin tribute to avoid being sucked directly into the war. The Drengins did declare war once, but we took out their trade routes, and they decided they were better off having us as trade partners.
Even with our covert help, the Arceans were slowly falling, until we traded them Battleship tech. With the new capital ships, they slowly turned the tide, until the Drengin were reduced to the 4 systems in their home sector. At this point, we were still trading with the Drengin & Arceans, and the Drengin's economy was reduced to the point that 70% of their income was from trade with us.
At this point, being the sniveling, evil race that I was, I decided now was the time to take advantage of things. Under the guise of helping out the Arceans, we declare war on the defenseless Drengins & take 2 of the systems, while the Arceans, having done all the work, took the others. (hehe) Obviously, this annoys them, and our relations slowly plummet.
Thus, it was down to us & the Arceans. Meanwhile, we're building up a huge cultural advantage over them, and their 2 former Drengin systems defect to me. This proved the last straw, and they declared war.
War continued for about 2 years, with them having a huge military advantage--due to their tech advantage, it took 2 of our dreadnoughts to match with one of there's. At one point, Earth was left defenseless, but our lone Battle Hammer managed to take out the invasion troops that were enroute via unescorted Combat Transports.
Eventually, we agreed to a Peace Treaty, with neither side getting any payment. We still had a huge influence advantage, and soon after, 2 more of their systems defected. They declared war once again, but this was a last gasp, as they were out of funds & we controlled 13 of 16 sectors. We invaded & took over all but their home system. We had enough influence for a cultural victory by now, but we had something else in store.
--
Lord Vega sat within his palatial estate. His Arcean subjects were scrambling about. He thought back to how he ended up in this predicament. The Humans were so weak, so feeble, so... morally repugnant, but somehow he had lost to them. He realized now that he had been manipulated during the Drengin Offensive, he had been manipulated all throughout their "agreement."
The once-mighty Arcean Empire had been reduced to only a single star, his colonies had defected, his shipyards destroyed, his coffers were completely empty. Vega, with his tail between his legs, had contacted the humans and begged for peace. His response was "Of course! Peace will be obtained by your total surrender." A member of a proud race, Vega had ordered the build up of traditional defenses and the mobilization of the entire population. The 30 billion people had answered and prepared for the assumed assault. "If they want this planet, they'll be in for a helluva fight."
Rumors had drifted in that the Humans were constructing a starbase with innumerable offensive power; a starbase capable of destroying an entire solar system. This so-called "Terror Star," his technologists had assured him, was scientifically impossible, and merely propaganda spread by his enemy. As he looked up into the sky and saw the humongous satellite, he wished he had more time to have his scientists flogged.
As the Terror Star charged, and the Arceans below panicked, prayed or whatever people who know their fate is sealed do, Vega merely sighed and wondered, "But we were supposed to be the good guys!"
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