Master_Xan

(Here's one for you Imperial fans to read... at least, the last paragraph should be a good one for you.) I decided to set up Kothlis as my central operations center in Sluis (its centrally located and has some construction yards, so it’s a good choice). This means my Enshroud fleet (the carrier Enshroud and my three corvettes) is stationed there, along with my excess fighters. I’d just begun collecting my people there, including an injured Mon Mothma (injured when a diplomacy mission was foiled), when an Imperial fleet shows up! Not to worry, its just one ISD and fighters. I drove it off, only minimal damage to a corvette. Destroyed three TIE squads as well, since the silly fools tried to stick around and fight against my 18 assorted Xwing/Awing squads… I even managed to damage that ISD’s shield recharge, though only a tiny bit. On day 268 I managed to finally bust Page out of captivity on Vagran… and guess what? He’s going back for revenge. Going to capture General Nothos! Other that this, I’m keeping a tight leash on my personnel; I want fleet battles after all. I’ve also begun to consider bombarding neutral planets in other sectors to give the Empire a quick boost in popular support. This obviously isn’t something the Alliance would do, but then again, they wouldn’t keep their people sitting around doing silly missions instead of sabotaging shipyards, either. I'll think about the bombardment, not sure if I'll do it or not. (I later captured Nothos on day 278.) Pretty quiet until day 318… they blockaded Bothawui and started doing bombardments! It’s an ISD, Grave, galleon, carrack, and even a strike cruiser. How the heck did they get strike cruisers researched already?!? I’m moving in with my local fleet, I can't win but I should hopefully be able to take down the galleon, thus preserving my planet… My fleet arrives on 321, but by then my noble defenders have been brutally killed from orbit, and the Imps control the system. Even worse, they have more fighters then I thought; 7 squads of interceptors. As the battle begins, he launches his TIEs and moves the capital ships in towards mine… I wait as long as possible before setting all my ships and fighters after his TIEs. Unfortunately, the big guns on his ISD Exterminator came into range of Smooth before all his fighters were launched, meaning that Smooth was at half shields before I’d even managed to fire a shot. One squad of TIEs falls to my corvettes… another falls to my Awings… in the end, I destroy all his fighters and damage the Grave’s shields, but do little more. I just lost a planet and my entire Enshroud fleet! Okay… this is bad. I’m sending all available ships from Sumitra and Corellian sectors, amounting to three dreadnaughts, two nebulan b-frigates, and my remaining carrier Swarm. They will become my new Cutlass fleet when they arrive at Kothlis… I hope its enough.

I got tired of superweapons as well. But they are fun to criticise, don't you think? Really? I was under the impression they fired it at a worldship or something else rather large, managing to burn through half the ship in the split second before a void appeared for protection. It was decided that with the technical problems and rather large upkeep for the ships, it wasn't worth such a small payoff... but I could be wrong. I've got another superweapon. Ganner

"WOOT!" [/spam]

Correct, Worf from the movie First Contact. [crash course in rafting] Before I confuse anybody, I'd better explain what rafting is. It sounds like you did go rafting Tofu, but because when I first moved here and mentioned rafting, nobody had a clue what rafting really was, I think I'll quickly explain. By rafting, I mean on an inflatable raft going through rapids (usually on a swift moving river, often through a canyon). Rapids meaning whitewater, when the water churns/flips/spins in some way to produce a rollercoaster-like effect. Only wet, more fun, less predictable, and for longer periods of time. Class 3 rapids are the fun ones, fours were the best but harder to navigate and less frequent. I've never been on a 5, as they are rather dangerous, and 6 is supposed to be impossible. [/crash course in rafting]

"hmm... perhaps today is a good day to die! Prepare for ramming speed!" (Quick! Who said that? Even better, tell me why I thought of it in responce to Mitth...)

There certainly are plenty of them in the Star Wars universe. Here's a list of a few I can think of off the top of my head, my thoughts on them, and (lastly), a cool superweapon I came up with just today. 1. Death Star. Obviously, its pretty useful to be able to destroy a planet or a ship in one shot. Unfortunately, its slow to build, slow to travel, takes a lot of resources, and has a serious problem fending off star fighters. 2. Sun Crusher. The ability to destroy a star, in a small and mobile ship like this, is incredible. So much so that I don't like this one; its too powerful. Quick, agile, with a nearly indestructable hull, but not capable of doing much to capital ships and with vulnerable turrets. 3. NR project, whos name I've forgotten. Several ships align themselves and channel energy into one focusing ship, which then fires a superlaser similar to that of the Death Star. Much easier to hide, more mobile and cheaper, but harder to defend, more prone to technical problems and harder to fire in battle. Does have a nice range to it though... 4. The superweapon I just thought up today, when contemplating possible ways the NR could have escaped BS scenario in his Empire Rising thread. Several capital ships, lets say six, align themselves in a ring around one central vessel. These ships then channel energy into the center vessel, which channels the energy through a central "firing chamber" in the center of the ship, firing it off in one concentrated burst through the nose of the ship. Not intended for planet-killing, but rather for ship combat. The shields of said vessels would continue to operate (except maybe for the center ship...?), and because its seperate ships they are more mobile and easier to hide, along with cheaper, then a DS. They are also easier to defend, as they are capital ships with turbolasers and quad lasers, not to mention stronger shields. I'd guess around the size of a Carrack ship, or some other light cruiser. (I thought them up in an attempt to deprive the Imperial fleet of its four admirals/grand admiral for SB's story; simply line it up, fire off one of these blasts at a SSD's bridge, and watch the admiral die. Though the laser wouldn't be powerful enough to destroy the ship in one blow, I think taking down the forward/bridge shields should be possible, even on something like a SSD.) Thoughts on this one? I feel like I'm missing a few superweapons, but I'm too tired to go look them up. Anybody know what I missed?

You know what? This latest installment got me thinking, and I came up with a pretty neat and actually useful superweapon. I was trying to think of a way, anyway, for the NR to escape the trap, and somehow got to thinking of the superweapon... I'll post my idea in the general forum. But anyways, its great! Got me thinking in addition to the entertainment value!

Naw, just bomb the trees and use bunker-busters on those pesky hills. Honestly though, the beach is nice, but I like forested mountains more. Much more. Especially since they aren't so windy. And usually have cool (both 'cool' and cold) lakes to swim in, and most importantly of all, rivers to raft! (Rafting is my favorite activity outside of video games. It might overtake even gaming, except for a few unfortunate and unwanted side effects of rafting, like sun burns and bug bites. Any of you guys been rafting?)

*runs from swordfish beatings* I'm not a real big fan of wind, and the coast is always windy. Not a problem for visits (I've visited the Oregon coast at least 6 times), but I wouldn't want to live there.

Maybe in a few years I'll reach 2,000... I mean, I've been around for a few months and I'm still only at 300ish...

Riding a bike, drunk? I'll bet that was a sight to see... I agree, informing teenagers will always be more effective then simply outlawing alcohol. After all, some people just like to defy authority, nicely evening out those who actually follow the law simply because its there.

Strangely enough, me. My great grandparents died from other diseases, my grandparents are still alive (minus one grandfather, who died in a car accident), and no cancer among aunts/uncles/parents. Yet. I did have a teacher with cancer once, but that's as close as I've come to it. I count myself very, very lucky. I'm rooting for her too, GMC. Once she gets rid of the cancer for good, I'm sure she'll adapt to the prosthetic leg. I have known people with prosthetics, and they agree its hard at first but that you get used to it.

Surprisingly, no. I downloaded it and even installed it, but haven't played it yet. Partly because I worked all day Saturday and spent most of Friday (my day off) playing Rebellion or reading. And since I don't play video games on Sunday (I'm a wacky religious dude, remember), so I'm not going to try it out today. Tomorrow is the day though, as I have a short 5 hour shift and then Tuesday off. Just curious, who (or what?) is that in your siggy? The inquisitor-looking dude with glowing eyes and mouth...

Not true. We can't get legally drunk until 21, but anybody who thinks that most people wait that long is a fool. I personally know that most of the students in both high schools I attended drank on a regular basis, starting around age 14-16. There were a few that didn't or that I wasn't sure about, perhaps as much as 25% of the people I knew. I assume that others I didn't know might have been better about it, but still, many people drink looooong before their 21st b-day...

I like the green look, but the Sovereign in the logo simply must go. Cool, yes, but I could think of better ships to go there (can anybody say, "Borg Fusion Cube?")

Jedi Chewie... wow, that's odd. And 4000?!? What did you do, send him on a mission to Corescant, rescue him, and send him out again?

Yep, that's why I like him. Once got him trained up to Jedi Master, the guy had better stats then even Luke! Sorry I didn't get that second segment up last night, girlfriend distracted me (don't you just hate it when they call? )

I seem to be getting good at these double posts... Anyway, its time for an update. Day 192, and they took Wistril. Assaulted it, but there's still good news. My two Mon Cal regiments managed to fend off four Imp fleet regiments, a stormtrooper regiment, and a dark trooper regiment. That's 6 losses to my 2! Also, I now know the makeup of their fleet... and it doesn't look good. Two ISDs, two galleons, and a Grave. Plus 6 TIEs and 1 Interceptor. The only good thing is that I've managed to get some shipyards operational in the Sumitra sector and have begun my first fleet. Modest beginnings, I'm building two B-Frigates right now, but its a start. Day 196 saw more bad news. Page was captured by General Nothos during an espionage mission to Vagran. Fortunately, I've got the people power in that sector to free him, and that's a high priority because I rather like Page... By day 215 nothing else terrible has happened... Wistril is uprising for me, the shipyards in Sumitra are continuing my modest fleet, and I just received word of three carrack-class cruisers enroute to Drall (Corellian sector, just above my planet of Talus). I won't be able to get reinforcements there in time, as the fleet is still under heavy construction and even if it wasn't, Talus is about as far away from them as you can get anyway. This doesn't bode well. I've slowed down my operatives, don't want them getting too far ahead or I'll make the AI too busy replacing troops and mines to build any ships. Its day 240 and I've got 24 Xwing squads on Yavin, and my newly commissioned fleet of two B-Frigates and two Dreadnaughts, with the dreadnaught Cutlass as flagship (complete with command personel). That's all the resources I'm willing to put for Yavin's defense right now, time to get some ships to Talus (I've been sabotaging enemy missions there on a regular basis now). Infrastructure is nearly complete, minus the Sluis sector which still has plenty of extra energy. Soon I'll make a grab for the Corellian sector, but not too quick or I risk hurting the Imp war machine too much for optimal fleet combat. More tonight, as I continue to play...

Well, even with that glorious review, I still am going to try it out. Like I said earlier, I can't see it meeting my expectations from playing the board game, but its like Episode 2. No matter how bad Episode 2 is in comparison to the original trilogy, you still end up watching it...

Sounds good to me. Dang, now the last few hours of work are really going to crawl...

!!! You say you did find a PC game called Diplomacy?!? I don't know if its any good, but the board game was awesome! *gets on Google* EDIT: Demo available here. I'll try it out tomorrow, as I have the day off. It won't live up to my expectations, I don't think its possible. But that doesn't mean it won't be a good game...

Try looking for a 'Diplomacy' game. Its supposed to be a really sweet board game, WWII era that allows you to play each side however you want (I played Japan and instead of attacking Pearl Harbor, I landed tanks in Oregon ). I imagine if there's a computer version it would be really good, but I haven't seen one.

I never managed to get that map thingy working for me... I'm not on it as a result. Maybe I should take a look at it again...

Whenever I played Red Alert multi, I disabled the superweapons. It was just more fun that way. And I too am a fan of FMV (Jedi Knight comes to mind... and Return to Zork! Ah, the memories...) If you wanted to branch into space strategy, there are more then I can count. Homeworld is among the best; the Armada Star Trek series is good, and there are many more complicated 4x games (like Space Empires). At this rate I'm going to end up going back and playing some Red Alert again... maybe I'll even get in some multi with you guys.

Couldn't tell if it was critism or not, but I still wanted to explain my thoughts on replacing the VSD. You should hear some of the wackier things I've tried...