The year is 2225. The galaxy is on the verge of civil war. The Drengin Empire and Yor are becoming increasingly menacing in the galaxy. The Terran Alliance and their friends, the Altarian Republic struggle to build friendships with other civilizations to keep the mighty Drengin at bay. But only time will tell how events ultimately shape up.

The Terran Alliance homeworld, Earth sits in the center. The mighty Drengin Empire and the Altarian Republic are our immediate neighbors with neutrals scattered.

 My first job is to build more colonies and expand my influence. Then I will build my relations with my neighbors in an effort to fend off the Drengin Empire.

To that end, I design a faster colony ship -- the advanced colony ship -- to get my people out there, faster. (I still love designing ships I admit!).

The Drengin let me know what they think of my colonization efforts...

The consolidation of the galaxy

As the colonization phase ends and each civilization has its own territory marked, things start to get interesting. The technology rate (set by me) has been set to the the very slowest one so that technology comes very slowly. This means that players who get weapons first will be building ships for a long time versus players who go other routes (for instance, I have went for trade first and so am the only one with it).

As President of the Terran Alliance, my job is to ensure the survival of our species. That means making some tough choices.

Akilian III is a class 15 planet. To have any chance against the power of the Drengin Empire, I will need to take that world. And in terms of using trade as a weapon, I am also going to have some trade with the Drengin Empire. We're not openly at war yet and I am hoping they will put their adventures elsewhere while I build up.

My first offensive ship is the F-1 Wisp. It has a single laser canon on the bottom. It is quite primitive. It's little more than a space shuttle with a single weapon.

Pride. I have none. I give in to their demand.

What has me concerned is this. The Drengin Empire (red line) are doing almost twice as much research as I am.  In fact, I'm now in last place.  This is something I must correct or I'm doomed.

The Altarians and I make some deals.

The United Planets makes a deal with regards to how starbases operating outside their sphere of influence should be treated.

The sparks become fire

With the first real war now underway, I have an opportunity to study the Drengin Empire's military hardware.

The Akilians and I are not at war. They do not know about our long-term goals. But their successful stealing of Drengin technology makes them interesting for now.

The evil Drengin get theirs finally. Well, not really. But they are distracted.

Meanwhile, the Torians have put out their latest hardware, the Mark II fighter.

It's basically the same as my fighters except they have better engines.

While they are distracted, I begin my move against the Akilians.  But I must be delicate because it's a huge military build up right in the Drengin's backyard.

The Drath are crushed by the Drengin Empire.

Time to bribe the Drengin Empire.

The Akilians notice my move! Is it too late?

Out in the fog of war, the Akilians had a ship. A ship that is now rampaging.  It destroyed all 5 of my transports! Ack! One freaking ship. Just didn't see it parked out there.

My invasion is thwarted.

And my long-term strategy is in ruins...

The Drengin Empire are steamrolling over all its opponents.  My successful sucking up has kept me out for now. But the Drengin have control of much of the galaxy and the Altarians are going down. And I can't even take out a freaking neutral!

I quickly send in the F-2 Warrior. It's still basically a shuttle but now it has two laser canons instead of 1. The problem is, the Akilians have the Drengin technologies they stole and so their ships are quite nasty.

And so now the Altarians are gone too.

The fat lady is warming up...

The very next week after the Altarian Republic was destroyed (not surrendered but annihilated by the Drengin Empire) I get:

This is bad. My trade routes wiped out (Altarians and Drengin). I'm doomed.

I sell my soul to the other civilizations to get some technologies so that I can design a next generation fighter years early.

And with that I build the F-3 Vigil.

3 advanced laser canons.  I also make peace with the Akilians since I can't spread my forces between them.  The other ship, the one I combined both human and alien technology to design is the F-4 Condor. 4 attack. Will it be enough?

Homeland Magazine has a devastating article. The Drengin Empire have a military rating of 664 and ours is only 96. They massively outpower us.

My fleets are a joke compared to theirs. Their three sips average an attack of 6. Mine average an attack of 1. Worse, my fighters are no match for their frigates.

Florin I is now gone. I have two worlds left.

One of the few times we're evenly matched in a battle. And my first military victory against the Drengin Empire.

Not that I should get too excited because they have more where that came from.

There would be no peace. The next week Cordelia III was taken by the Drengin.

In a final bit of irony, the Akilians declare war on me, the minor race I sought to destroy is invading Earth.

In the end, I'm conquered by the Akilians. So ironic that the minor race I sought to destroy would ultimately defeat me. Not a proud moment for the human race.

Yes. I'm dead.

The Drengin would go on to conquer the galaxy.  What would be done with the survivors would ultimately be up to them.  As for the Akilians, even as I write this, they and their Drengin friends are sitting in a chair in a pub in Plymouth Michigan laughing at the foolishness of humans. A human skull acts as their mug.

So...how did I lose?

I read on-line how people find the game "too easy".  Which makes me wonder if they're playing the same game I am.  I'm a pretty good strategy game player. I don't see how I could have won this particular game.

Here were my settings:

• All players on Intelligent except for Drengin who were on Gifted
• Occasional good planets
• All players in
• Medium sized galaxy
• Technology rate changed to be very slow

I went for Trade early on then moved to military while I built up trade routes. I had plenty of money and was able to buy lots of ships (especially thanks to the trade). I built starbases to improve my economy and trade and production.  Overall, it was a pretty decent strategy I thought.

If I had to do it over again, I would have gone for military first, got minit, and taken out the Akilians much earlier so that I could then build up a much better world (none of us had any really high quality planets).