The History Of The Terran Federation

[Lara White]

This Let's Play/game has been approved by Than.

Lloyd: The White Wolf presents

aka Let's Play: 10-Minute Space Strategy

As the name implies, 10MSS is intended to be played during a coffee break or such, so the game mechanics (thankfully for me) are very simple. However, that doesn't mean that this LP will be done over the span of ten minutes. No, I decided to let you guys have some fun here, too: You'll be telling me what to do for this LP. At set intervals (initially turn-by-turn, though this may change to keep up the pace of the LP), I'll make a report of what has transpired since the last vote and give you some alternatives to choose from (this is to keep the game focused and not have everyone voting for their own idea). You all will vote, and I will execute your decisions in the game.Oh, and I'll also be adding in some fluff to make it more entertaining.

Gameplay

Gameplay in 10MSS is turn-based and the map is a hex-map. Hexes are either empty space, planets (which come in nine varieties--more on that in a minute), or Anomalies, which will grant you bonuses for stationing Fighters on them (again, more on ship types in a moment).Planets are either Water (Earth-like worlds), Desert (Something like the Moon), or Lava (Venus should spring to mind) worlds. Depending on what kind of planet your homeworld is, you will receive population growth penalties on the other two kinds of worlds. Planets can be Large, Medium, or Small, and this will affect how many buildings you can put on them. Large planets have four, Medium have three, and Small have two. Planets are sometimes (read: often) defended by Space Monsters, which means you're going to have to clear them out of orbit with fighters before trying to colonize.Ships also come in three (and only three) varieties. These are Colonizers, Bombers, and Fighters. As I said before, Fighters can control Anomalies, but their primary use is space superiority. They are the only kind of ship capable of attacking in space. Bombers are used to bombard enemy-held planets, which reduces their population. if the population of a planet is reduced to zero, the player holding it loses control of that planet. Colonizers have a dual purpose. First of all, as their name implies, you can fly them to a planet and order them to plant a colony there, which will use up the colonizer to claim that planet for you. Their other function is to build Space Stations, which will give passive boosts to certain things near it, depending on what you choose to build. I'll go in-depth on what the options are once you decide to build our first one. However, there is one important thing to note: ships' range is dependent entirely on planets, so they can only travel a set distance from that planet You can either build a Supply Depot on your planet to increase the range, or research Propulsion tech (more on that, again, later) to get you further.Tech is rather important, but builds slowly. It grants you a permanent passive boost to your entire civilization. The player selects a tech type to research, and all of the Research Stations in the player's control will begin work on that area of research. They will slowly build toward

• Environment alleiviates penalties on non-Homeworld-type planets and increases maximum population by .01 per level.
• Industry increases the construction speed of Fighters and Bombers by 10% per level.
• Propulsion allows your ships to move farther away from your planets. The base movement is 3 hexes.
• Warfare increases the effectiveness of ships in combat by 10% per level.
• Empire increases the amount of planets you can control and the amount of fighters you can have. The base limit is 100.

Each planet can have several types of buildings, although it has a limited number of slots to put those buildings in.

• Factories create 1 fighter per population per turn.
• Research Centers give a population-dependent research bonus per turn.
• Cities give +100% population growth and +1 maximum population. They are required to build Colonizers.
• Bomber Factories, as the name implies, are required to build Bombers, which they will do automatically.
• Supply Depots will increase the range of ships departing from that planet by 2 hexes and increase the Fighter cap by 100.

~+~

The map is randomly generated, and the player can customize the size of the map and density of the planets on it. We will be playing a Large map with Medium planet density and six civilizations (including ourselves. Now, let's take a look at who we shall be playing, hm?

There are several races, credos, and traits to choose from.

• Humanity, whom we shall be playing as (did you think the Terran Federation was run by Martians?). I think we know ourselves well enough. Our default Homeworld is Water and our default credo is "Jack of all Trades" which gives us two starter colony ships, +1 to our ships' range, +50% building speed, and 3 extra trait points.
• Amazons, a race of all-females who excel at intellectual pursuits. Their default Homeworld is Water and their default credo is "Scientific", which gives +20% to research speed, starts with Level 2 on all techs, and will allow Research Centers to be built twice as fast. It also grants them the special building Babylon Project, which aids in research every time it is constructed.
• Insectoids, who, as the name implies, are a race of bug creatures who share a hive-mind. Their default home world is Desert and their default credo is "Unified," which gives +1 population on all planets and +1 starting population, as well as letting planets under siege shoot down 4 times as many fighters. it also grants them the special building "Hive," an expensive building which provides research, builds fighters, and adds +1 population. When destroyed, it creates 50 (!) fighters.
• Tentacles, a Cthulhu-inspired race from an alternate dimension whose stated goal is to unite all races under their "Discipline of Friendship," that is, slavery. Their default Homeworld is Desert and their default credo is "Alternate Dimension" which converts a random number of Space Monsters into Fighters and allows construction of the "Sacrificial Temple" which kills 2 population and gives 200% population growth.
• Siliconitis, a race of silicon-based, rock-shaped creatures who have the ability to shapeshift as needed. Their default Homeworld is Lava and their default credo is Expansionist, which gives +50% to population growth and removes the need to have a City to build a colonizer. It also gives the building "Megapolis" which gives +2 Maximum population and +100% population growth.
• Mechanized Menace, a race of once-organics who uploaded their minds into robots, which cost them their emotions save mindless aggression. Their default Homeworld is Lava and their default credo is Warmonger, which gives them a +20% effectiveness bonus in combat, causes Bombers to be built twice as fast, and gives them Warfare 3(!) to start with. It also gives them the special building "Omnifactory" which builds both Fighters and Bombers.

While customizing Humanity, you many pick any homeworld type and any credo. If you do not state your preference, I will assume it to be the default (Water and Jack of all Trades, in our case).Also during customizing, you may select from a set of traits for Humanity to use. Each trait costs a certain amount of trait points, and you have 7 trait points to distribute (unless you picked the Jack of All Trades credo, in which case you have 10). The cost will be in parentheses next to the name.

• Fertility (4), increases population growth by 100%.
• Tolerant (3) removes growth penalties on non-Homeworld planet types.
• Ferocity (2) gives +20% efficiency in the fight following a victorious one.
• Natural Armor (2) gives 10% effectiveness bonus for all ships.
• Banzai (1) Gives 50% effectiveness bonus if the enemy's number is twice yours or more.
• Observers (2) gives a research bonus per planet.
• Eternal Race (1) tells you the types of planets under fog-of-war.
• Twin Planet (2) ensures that you will start the game with a nearby planet whose planet type is the same as your Homeworld.
• Blitz (3) gives you 50 starting fighters.
• Rapid Colonizing (2) starts you out with an extra colonizer.
• Monster Hunters (2) gives a 50% effectiveness bonus against Space Monsters and a research bonus for every one killed.
• Planet Assault (2) gives a 20% effectiveness bonus when attacking planets
• Space Aces (2) gives a 20% effectiveness bonus when attacking non-planet hexes.
• Armada (1) gives +20% effectiveness if you have 100+ Fighters in your fleet.
• Heavy Torpedoes (1) adds +1% to the effectiveness of your fleet for every Bomber in that fleet.
• Armed Colonizers (1) adds +5% effectiveness to a fleet for every Colonizer in that fleet.
• Star Control (1) means that Fighters stationed on Anomalies will be counted as two Fighters when counting bonuses from Anomalies.
• Experimental Weapons (2) gives a research bonus in a random tech for every enemy fighter shot down.
• Capture (2) gives a 10% chance that you will capture enemy ships instead of destroying them.
• Escape (1) means that every destroyed ship has a 10% chance to flee to the nearest friendly planet instead of being destroyed.

Hopefully that wasn't too much for everyone. I very much don't think that I'll be doing that much talking in one post again.Now for the part you guys are looking forward to: Voting Time! (to catch your attention, it'll always be in bold underlines.Please choose a Homeworld type, credo, and traits as listed above (there's a reason I posted them.) Please post your votes in bold so it's easier for me to find them.Also, feel free to post some fluff if you want. That'd be things like history, character journals, things like that. It's fun for everyone else to read and I personally think it's fun to write. Don't feel obligated if you don't want to--it's just something to make it more fun.

Edited June 20, 2012 by Lloyd: the White Wolf

[Havelock Vetinari]

Scientific, Desert, Observers, Rapid Colonizing, Experimental Weapons, ArmadaLet us build a glorious technocratic utopia!

Edited June 20, 2012 by Basilisk

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

Warmonger, Desert, Ferocity, Natural Armor, Heavy Torpedoes, EscapeLet us crush the universe beneath our military heels!

[Lara White]

@ Lhikevikk: This attitude is sufficiently . I approve. :PAlso, if y'all could spread this by word-of-mouth I think we can get some more activity in here. it'd be boring with only a few people.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Bah! We will need new *shiny* weapons to conquer the universe! Research is the way! Especially morally bankrupt research that would make a Sith Lord cry!

[Alex Humva]

Scientific, Water, Eternal Race, Blitz, Star Control, Observers.Let us purge the galaxy of the unintelligent and weak!

[Lara White]

Side note: Just to keep this moving at a decent clip, voting will end at 9:20 PM today.

[Silvan Haven]

Warmonger, water, star control, experimental weapons, twin planet, blitz.

[Sisen]

I think I did this right...? :shrug:Mechanized Menace, Lava, Omnifactory, Planet Assault, Space Aces, Armada, Experimental Weapons.

[Lara White]

Well, aside from the race bit it looks fine. We're going to be playing as humans but we can use the Warmongering (Omnifactory) credo anyway.Alright, voting has ended. We'll be using Water, Warmongering, Blitz, Observers, and Experimental Weapons.

~+~

It's been ten years since Earth died. Ten years since we escaped the inferno of our exploding sun. Even as we tested the first faster-than-light engines, we found it necessary to employ them in our escape. Only a few billion of us escaped. The rest died in nuclear fire.Since then, we've been working to rebuild what we'd lost. We found a hospitable planet that we named "Kjornia." Now, as I write, we prepare to venture into space once more.

Session One

Right then, let's get this meeting over with. The first session of the Parliament of the Terran Federation will come to order! As I'm certain you all know, I'm the Prime Minister, former Colonel UNSC, Jon Oddsson. I've taken the liberty of assembling all the star chart data we have and putting it together. You can see it on the screen at that end of the hall. I'm not one for pontificating, so I'll make this quick: Our assets at the moment are our homeworld, Kjornia. It is currently occupied with a Factory, Research Center, and a City, which at the moment gives us a well rounded out set of production assets. We also have the remains of the UNSC Navy, 50 space-combat ships, or "Fighters" as I've heard a lot of yokels call them. Due to our extensive experience in warfare, we also happen to have rather advanced weaponry for a race of our age.Now, why we're here. You need to decide how we're going to start. As you can see, we've got a few uncontested but tiny planets nearby, all of which are hospitable to humans. There is a much more appealing target, in my opinion, that is just to the galactic "south" of us. However, it's occupied by some riffraff aliens. I assure you it's nothing the Navy can't handle.More pressingly, we lack colony ships entirely, so I'm going to need your authorization to build those. If you do decide to authorize that construction, please state where you'd like to send that colonizer. Also keep in mind that we can build space stations with our colonizers as well, but until we research better logistics (which our boys refer to as "Empire" tech...I'm not much for the idea of running an empire myself) we can only control three planets and three space stations.Speaking of tech, you're going to decide where the money goes as far as research. We've got some good weapons, or at least I like to think so. However, we've still only got basic hyperdrives (Propulsion), logistics (Empire), Industry strength, and our colonists will suffer greatly on inhospitable planets (Environment).Finally, we have enough land on Kjornia to fit one more construction project. Our options are a Supply Depot, an Omnifactory, a Bomber Factory (We'll need these eventually to clean out any enemies we might face), another City, Factory, or Research Center. If you'd like to demolish some buildings to make room for others, feel free to say so, but be aware that it'll take a while for the new building to be installed.Anyway, enough of my blathering. You've heard all you need to hear, now it's time to vote.Issues on the table:Should we colonize, and if so, where?What should we put into the last open slot on Kjornia?What kind of technology should we focus on developing?This session will end tomorrow at 10:13 PM.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Lloyd: the White Wolf

[Alex Humva]

~We should colonize Earf~A need for a Research Center is clear~More Propulsion technology would be greatly beneficial

[Havelock Vetinari]

Nikolai Aleksandrov, Provost of the Terran University: Whilst I do not contest the need to secure human interests via purging the vile creatures that have the planet of Gintonks under control, I believe we must first build up our strength. We need colonies ladies and gentlemen and lots of them. The last thing we need is a repeat of the Nova Crisis. We must scatter our people across the stars, it is the only tactic that may spare us the tender mercies of yet another supernova. An event, I note, we still have not discovered the cause of. I urge caution to be our watchword. I suggest we build a colony vessel and send it to the planet known as Earf, I trust all members of this council will see the wisdom of this action.Furthermore, to speed along the colonists on their journey, We need to develop faster propulsion technology. That said, I feel I speak for the entire university when I say we need to build a research center to better coordinate our efforts, I feel these elements, when taken together, will ensure our survival as a species in the long run. We need to fortify our position, our place in the galaxy before we get down to the business of war.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Basilisk

[Silvan Haven]

Research centerPropulsion technologyAttack Gintonks

[Lara White]

Just in case there's some confusion, I want to remind you all that you can destroy the Space Monsters around Gintonks and colonize that planet in the same turn.

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

Research CenterPropulsionColonize EarfIs it just me, or does "Earf" sound like a two-year old trying to pronounce Earth?

Edited June 21, 2012 by Zyke the destroyer

[Havelock Vetinari]

Look, the 67th president of the USA let his kid name a few planets. He didn't know that in a few short years humanity would have to flee towards one of them to survive. We could change it, but for some reason it's froze into our databases and frankly, the university has better things to do.

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

I vote to build to build a BOMBER FACTORY that builds BOMBERS that drop BOMBS that EXPLODE.I also vote to invade GINTONKS and to research more technology for our glorious EMPIRE.

[Lara White]

Session Two

The second session of the Parliament of the Terran Federation will come to order! Those of you who are angry at me may chew me out at your leisure afterward. Now, to business. As you can see on the status display, the colonizer is well on the way to Earf, although it could have reached another planet sooner. Nevertheless, the Parliament's decision has been rendered. You can see our progress in our Propulsion research in the upper left hand corner, and the Research Center is currently under construction. Now, those of you who don't follow the news might notice something else slightly different about the display. The alien riffraff protecting Gintonks are gone and our Navy (reduced from 50 to 47) is currently in an asteroid field. This will accelerate construction of further ships and of the Research Center.I used my own judgement in the matter of directing the Navy to eliminate the riffraff around Gintonks.*BEGIN RECORDING* Turn back or be destroyed! Doesn't work that way. We have fifty ships. You have, what, eighteen? And look at them--have you ever been in a fight in your life? This is your final warning! Turn back or be destroyed! All ships, open fire!

*END RECORDING* We suffered a relatively few 3 losses. As my old Captain used to say, fair fights are the worst kind. Anyway, we now have Gintonks open for colonization should the Parilament should you so wish. At the moment it's a matter of deciding whether to carry on our current course or to change our plans.What should we build on Earf, and what should we do next? Our population size permits two more colonizers, but that will reduce the rate at which we produce Fighters. In addition, we can currently only control three planets.From now on, it would probably be a good idea to state what you want to fill the slots on a given planet with when you state that you want to colonize it.This round of voting will end at 10:44 PM tomorrow.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Lloyd: the White Wolf

[Havelock Vetinari]

Nikolai Aleksandrov, Provost of the Terran University: I want one of those creatures on the dissection slab at the university yesterday. I trust your pilots shot to disable? How will we learn the weaknesses of these vile aliens if we do not know their biology? At any rate, I suggest, after the colonization of Earf, we send a colonization vessel to Gintonks. After our research into propulsion is complete, we should focus our research into the logistics/empire tech path. On these two new colonies, I strongly suggest we build research centers. The faster we advance, the quicker we will crush the vile aliens.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Basilisk

[55555]

As a representative of the League of History I advise building our population and colonizing as many planets as possible. As a relatively young civilization we should strive for long term investments and building up our infrastructure. Our most crucial and valuable unit is that of population, as it is, to use a phrase from the ancient days "a gift that keeps on giving." I do however wholeheartedly support our continued development of propulsion systems, as this will speed our colonization efforts and subsequently our population growth.Once we have established a sizable network of planets we should be able to easily convert to a more aggressive stratagem, and the galaxy will hear our name.With all due respect,- Vistantium V, Representative of the League of History, and owner of Baby Bibs, Bags & Bottles Inc.

Edited June 22, 2012 by 55555

[Lara White]

Session 3

Research Centers, really? At this rate, by the time we run into any real enemies, our Navy will be the size of a dime. Attrition through clearing out small-timers has its effects, you know. Regardless, on to business.

The ordered research on propulsion has been executed, permitting our ships to travel farther (Colonizers and later Bombers are still and always will be abysmally slow--putting up Space Stations carrying Logistics Modules will alleviate this. If you wish to put one up, please inform me where you wish to do so). One side effect of this is that our scouts can now travel further away from planets and we can therefore see further into space. For example, the very nice Large planet we've entitled "Aetheris." These space beasties seem to be everywhere, but they're easy to clear out. The next thing that our researchers will begin working on is a logistics plan to expand the amount of planets we can control.As for colonization, let me be the first to say: 'Welcome to Earf." We've established a base here, although the planet is disappointingly small. See, if we'd not colonized that we could have colonized Aetheris instead. Regardless, I have attempted to interpret the will of the Parliament as best I could and placed a Research Center and City on Earf. A similar template was applied to Gintonks, leaving two slots open on this quite massive planet.Now, if it pleases the Parliament, you may vote for your chosen actions.What other buildings should we place on Gintonks?Should we begin placing Space Stations? If so, where and with what modules?This AND ALL FURTHER voting periods will end at 8:00 PM the day after the Session is posted.

Wysp here. I suppose now is a good time to explain Space Stations. They are built by moving a colonizer to an hex with nothing in it and ordering it to build the station. Once put down, it cannot move or un-build. It will remain unless destroyed by a hostile fleet. However, you can change out what module it carries at any time with no penalty. However, as it uses up a colonizer, this means it will eat 1 full population point from a planet, slowing that planet's production of research, fighters, and/or bombers until that point is regrown. All Space Stations have an Area of Effect of 2 hexes unless you unlock the Unique (not really, I've never played a game without it) Tech Long-Range Space Stations. That won't be for quite some time. if you want to know what our Unique Techs, their requirements, and their effects are, let me know.

The four types of Module are:

• Military Module: Gives an Effectiveness bonus in combat to fleets within its reach..
• Orbital Factory: Increases the building speed (effectively, how many are built per turn) of all buildings, fighters, and bombers on planets within its reach.
• Logistics Module: Increases the move range of all ships that start the turn within its reach by 1 hex.
• Worker Drones: All Anomalies within its reach count as staffed by 10 Fighters for bonus calculating purposes (they are still not defended).

[Havelock Vetinari]

Nikolai Aleksandrov, Provost of the Terran University: I have been...."informed" by the Prime Ministers...."aides"....that we should focus on developing the military. I endorse any actions that will result in this. I would suggest building some Omni-factories and other facilities to aid in the expansion of our military. As for Space Stations, I leave that to the Prime Ministers capable hands. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go visit the infirmary. My ribs seem to be broken.

[Lara White]

Session 4

As the Parliament has seen fit to let me choose what else to build on Gintonks, I have placed an Omnifactory and a City there, to accelerate our development of a Navy. There has not been much else to report in this cycle. If the Parliament so wishes, I can change the schedule to a semi-regular one where I will execute regular maintenance and only alert the Parliament when something of interest happens.Change the schedule?

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

Yes

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

Aye!