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:) Smiley
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USCA, Berkeley
Feb 2001
time: 21:37
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Recap: History of the Galaxy, Part I
Galactic Year 0
The Decline and Fall of the Jamski Empire
Under Overlord Jamski's leadership, humanity ventured out beyond the solar orbits and settled the stars. The first Empire was forged this way.
As the Empire grew rapidly, Jamski appointed ten Lords to help rule the galaxy. They were the following:
Duke o' York
Smiley
Urban Ranger
Skanky Burns
Trokair
General Ludd
Spaced Cowboy
Ljube
DrSpike
Vlad Antlerkov
Before long, each of these Lords consolidated power in their own regions and gained increasing autonomy. Finally, know one quite remembers who started it, but a party gone bad at the Imperial Palace led to a rapid dissolution of the Empire into ten mini-empires.
With their initial three bases and pilfered resources, each lord rapidly built ships or more bases. Ljube was less impulsive though. Choosing to maintain secrecy, he stockpiled parts in preparation for a surprise build the following turn. Already, the Emperor Jamski from his exile could see a promising commander.
Galactic Year 1
Pearl Harbor in Space
Duke 'o York and DrSpike fought a war of attrition, but the real action was in Urban Ranger's space. Here, he was attacked by not one but two empires, that of General Ludd and Smiley.
Smiley, who had opted to go for the momentum of conquest rather than the careful strategy of building, had fewer bases but more ships than any other lord. He second-guessed Urban's formations and wiped him out. Urban's lack of lasers also proved a fatal flaw. Ludd learned that cherrypicking doesn't always pay, as by the time his fleet had arrived, the action was over.
Galactic Year 2
A Tale of Two Warriors
By now, both Smiley and General Ludd had gotten considerable fame and notoriety as being the most aggressive of the Lords.
Ludd bore the disgrace of arriving late to battle, and sought to rectify this with a rush on Ljube. Facing a stronger enemy than Urban without as much luck, he met with defeat.
Worse, the last round had left him at odds with Smiley, who made a preemptive strike and eliminated Ludd before he could take revenge. Smiley now held an incredible lead, with twelve bases. But he would also be the first to learn that the top is a dangerous place to be.
Galactic Year 3
Speed Bump on the Smiley Highway
Smiley's war fleet, while powerful, was made up entirely of battleships, as his meager industrial base had not the ability to produce anything larger. This coupled with the constant attacking meant that all the best soldiers under Smiley's commands were captaining the ships and things such as espionage were neglected.
Consequentially, the war machine was brought to a halt by numerous spies from the other Lords, each of which feared that they might be the third target. The possibility of further allied action became apparent.
Interestingly, the 3rd lord that was spared by the horde of spies would eventually be the one to rule the galaxy.
Galactic Year 4
Cloak and Laser
Doc wiped Duke out in another "sharp end of the scissors" move, but the real action was with Ljube and Smiley.
What was seen when Ljube descended on Smiley's ships in port was but the tip of a very large iceberg. The rest lay beneath the oceans of espionage. Had the Ljube Plan worked, fleets around the galaxy would have been smashing themselves into each other and laying waste to homeworlds.
Nontheless, the successes gave Ljube the resource base needed to catch up in the tonnage race. Some of the lords had yet to take losses in battle.
Galactic Year 5
The Year of Peace
A supernova disrupted communications around the galaxy, and nothing of interest occured.
(For some reason, Jamski went straight from 4 to 6)
Galactic Year 6
Chaos Theory
Aside from Ljube, who took the year off for victory celebrations and fleet strengthening, every single one of the six surviving lords went to war. There was everything from full alliances to confusion to downright treachery.
Somehow only Duke failed to emerge from the scuffle, though Vlad barely hung on with just one conquered base. In an odd twist of luck, his ignorance that had let resources sit stockpiled saved him, as he evacuated with enough material to build an empire from scratch.
Galactic Year 7
Turtles in the Shell
After that craziness, the five survivors feared followups, and all built or raised shields.
Galactic Year 8
Target: Ljube
Ljube had not just gained Smiley's vast holdings, he had also gained the mixed blessed position of Most Powerful Player and most undesirable position of Most Desirable Target.
Skanky and Trokair attacked simultaneously. Now, new tactics employed by all admirals resulted in more balanced but quite bloody wars of attrition. With both sides almost evenly matched, superior tactics by Ljube secured a the edge that allowed him to keep his bases.
The cost was high, though, more than 20 titans were lost. This would come back to haunt him.
Galactic Year 9
Trokair's Last Stand
While the six-round style of attacking had brought more balance, the new formation tactics introduced new ways to lopside a battle, this time with more strategy and less luck.
The effects of fighting at close range were made clear here. While only Spaced closed in with lasers, that was enough to deal tremendous damage to Trokair and tip an otherwise balanced engagement into a total victory.
But victory came at the price of the Target Number One crown. Though many felt Spaced's victory was assured, he would be the first of the remaining four to fall.
Galactic Year 10
Vlad the Defender, Part I
Spaced was set to increase his holdings to nearly half the galaxy with a knockout blow to Vlad.
The wise and patient Vlad, however, cheated death a second time. Raising the shields, he saved both his and fellow lords Skanky and Ljube's collective behinds.
Galactic Year 11
Clash of the Titans
Knowing that Spaced would divide and conquer, Ljube and Skanky put aside their differences and combined forces to hit Spaced in an unlikely alliance. Vlad joined in, and together the Allies overwhelmed Spaced in a very one sided fight.
It was a very wise decision. The results of the battle showed fifty Spaced titans reduced to dust, yet there were still more active and more on the assembly lines. A delay could have been fatal.
Galactic Year 12
Heavenly Peace
In the usual cycle of events, a round of galactic war was followed by one of peace.
Galactic Year 13
The Last Grand Alliance
Spaced met his end when the Allies struck a second blow. This one was fatal and dismembered the empire, and along with it, the shaky alliance. Now, in a world of two giants and big man, all-out war was on.
Galactic Year 14
Vlad the Attacker
Pushing his luck, Vlad used spies and ships in a gamble to take Skanky's worlds. Ljube's own agenda crossed its path, however, and Vlad was dealt a crushing defeat of his entire fleet. All he seemed to have accomplished was to hand victory to Ljube by weakening Skanky. But he would rectify that.
Galactic Year 15
Vlad the Defender, Part II
This time, Vlad took the defense. In a battle fought at unprecedented close range, his fleet was wiped out a second time, but not before he eliminated Ljube's attacking fleet. Later, Skanky would come in and finally end the illustrious saga of Vlad's empire. The stage was set for a final clash to the finish.
Galactic Year 16
Skanky the Great
Now finding himself on top in planets, Skanky was set to win a war of attrition. Ljube knew this, and made a final gamble, hurling his entire fleet at Skanky. Though they won the battle, they lost the war by leaving his entire homeland unguarded against two frigates.
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I would have to say, Skanky may have won the game, but Ljube and Vlad take the "it's how you played" award.
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03-07-2004 05:07
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