[Space Sim] X3: Terran Conflict

[TimberWolf]

After doing a few combat missions I decided to get a freighter going for manual trading and get some IRE's and 25 MJ shields produced at local stations. I also did some trading missions which side tracked me from getting any IRE's produced. In the end I did get enough shields for my Medusa and the Dolphin.

After taking a series of combat missions that took me up to Menelaus Paradise and back down to Ocean of Fantasy, I netted myself a cheap Dolphin Tanker, Dolphin Supper Tanker, Octopus Raider, and Barracuda for sale as well as captured a Raijin and Fujin. Only the Octopus had any real equipment on board and almost all of them had major hull damage.

During those mission I did have a near death experience. While combating Pirates near the North Gate of Bluish Snout, I was being over whelmed by their plasma throwers. So I ran and blocked a Thresher from passing through the gate long enough for him to help out. My shields were beaten down regularly and the Pirates fell slowly. In the end, I was close to a Pirate Nova, with his shields down and mine below 50%, and the Thresher spamming the area. My computer blurts out "In Coming Missile" and then my screen is whited out. A moment later the screen clears to show no nova or any of the cargo that was laying around. Something blinking at the bottom of the HUD drew my attention, it was my shields at 7%. Then I realized the other number was blinking as well. My hull was at 12%. And there were still enemy fighters in the sector to eliminate and the Thresher with its escorts just left. While patching up the ship a Xenon M came over. With the hull only at 60% I had to fight it off. Luckily no equipment was lost on my ship and my shields had been fully restored. After dispatching the fighter I was able to finish repairs. I called for my Medusa to meet up with me so I could switch out my "speed" (if you can call a Barracuda fast) for fire power and more shields. After the switch the rest of the battle went easy.

When I was approaching the equipment dock in Ocean of Fantasy where I had been sending all my new ships I noticed that the Fujin was missing. Looking at the logs I saw it was destroyed by a Xenon fighter in that sector. I then went looking in Hila's Joy where my manual trader was to have sold a few hundred Bofu. The station I sent it to had no ships docked. I then checked my property list and didn't see it there. Then checking the logs I found it had been destroyed over 30 minutes ago by a Split Military Dragon. CRAP!!! There goes nearly a million credits of ship, equipment, and goods.

I'm currently in the process of repairing all the new ships I have acquired (both from buying used and capturing). I was going to use the Fujin to escape this corner but that hope was dashed. Now I have to make due here for a while longer. Need to use my remaining transports to get more shields and weapons produced for my new fighters. I may still be able to use the Octopus to escape but will need to come back for the rest of the fighters at some point. I also have already received the start to the HUB plot. I'm also missing having Trading system extension on all my ships. I currently only have it on my Barracuda and after switching ships had hoped to do some remote trading only to find out I couldn't. Well, At least I have about 1.2 million credits in my pocket and two fully armed ships.

Future hopes:
1. Escape through Split space and make it to Home of Opportunity and beyond.
2. Get a TP and start working on acquiring marines then start boarding TM's.
3. Once I get a TM, equip it with a jump drive and ecells, then take it up to Ocean of Fantasy and retrieve my fighters.
4. Try to mend fences with the Split and Paranid.
4a. Train my marines on Paranid and Split ships until I have a small fleet of M6's, at least 2 M7's and at least 1 M7M.
5. Build up a decentralized industry (unlike what I normally do by building large complexes).

Still ticked that I lost that freighter before it has a chance to sell its goods. That really hurts the pocket book. Will make those Split scum pay for it.

[TimberWolf]

Did some playing over the weekend.

From the previous post pertaining to future hopes, I did get:

1. Escaped through Split space in my Medusa Prototype into Teladi home sectors.
2. Picked up the Free TP along the way and have bought 5 marines for it.
3. Haven't gotten a chance to start capturing any ships.
4. Started to repair my Split relations while taking missions in my exodus (this hurts my Pirating activities because I'm trying to play nice, with them).
5. Haven't gotten enough money to build anything but would like to start in the illegal business in Teladi space.

Haven't been able to do much beyond escaping the ever hostile corner and leaving my assets up there. Will be making a new start with almost 2 mil in my pocket.

[TimberWolf]

I'm free at last!

Since I'm in the process of training Marines, I've been unable to board anything. Originally I was trying to not buy any military hardware first hand. In the end it was taking too long for the training with no indication of how much longer they would take. I know have a Magnatar and used it to retrieve all of my fighters from my starting area.

My combat fleet now contains approximately the following:
1 Medusa Prototype
1 Advance Barracuda
2 Pirate Elites (captured at the same time)
1 Magnatar

I do have a handful of M5's setup for scouting and a Blastclaw Prototype. I also have a Raijn and Asp. Need to get another TM to house them or look into getting an M7 with hangers. Currently using the Military Base in Elena's Fortune as a base of operations.

I'm currently sitting on 79.5 million credits. I have no space stations at this time. My money comes from missions, mobile mining, and selling 2nd hand ships or captures. There are 11 freighters actively mining in my game. The Paranid hate me, so do the Split but not as much.

In the effort to keep track of equipment and ability to buy ships from shipyards, I've begun to place satellites in several key sectors. I've put them high enough that no one should cross them and destroy them but it does hinder their ability to see all in the sector.

My next steps:
1. Finish training my 5 marines and use my TM for some boarding.
2. Capture a TL.
3. Use Captured TL to build beginnings of large complex in Antigone Memorial.
4. Capture some M6's to protect said complex.
5. Build a Space Weed and Space Fuel complex in Farnham's Legend.
6. Capture M6's and M7's (if possible) to protect above complex.
7. Explore around hostile Split and Paranid sectors.
8. Begin the Hub Plot and get first gate pair realigned (which has already been given to me).
9. Expand complex in Antigone Memorial for Hub related materials.
10. Begin and finish the Terran Plot (need to figure out how to get out there first).
11. Have second gate pair realigned for Hub.
12. Expand complex in Antigone Memorial for weapons and shields for ships.
13. Begin and finish the Goner Plot
14. Capture an M7M and get boarding pods.
15. Build missile complex to feed M7M.
16. Build Crystal producing complex in Ore Belt to feed other complexes in the universe.
17. Have final gate pair realigned for Hub.
18. Do unfocused jumps to find the Aran and capture it.
19. Begin and finish Final Furry missions.
20. Begin and finish Aldrin missions.

Some of these things will probably require me to make peace with the Split and Paranid. But for now I'm happy trying to capture their ships, especially the Paranids.

[XMEN Gambit]

I have no space stations at this time. My money comes from missions, mobile mining, and selling 2nd hand ships or captures.

I read on the forums that the trading in TC is a more profitable way to go than owning a station, as opposed to Reunion, and your statement seems to bear this out. However they also say that capping isn't as good either. Your thoughts on this?

Also how well does the mobile mining work in TC, since I've not tried it yet?

What kinds of missions do you favor?

[TimberWolf]

Trading is good especially if your feeding the secondary resources of AI stations and you have ships that can take advantage of that. But it does take a lot of micro managing to keep a fleet going between the races filling in those voids and still also supplying the primary resources to keep them producing.

Stations do produce less money per hour but once they are setup then it takes almost no more of your attention to operate. With that in mined if your in the middle of doing a plot mission or working on something else then it would be better to have stations. It is also harder to loose a station to an attack than it is to loose a transport which appear to die as soon as you are notified.

Capping is a random thing. In previous attempts I could go for days with only one or two captures. Then, such as with my Elites, capture multiple back to back. I don't think capping is any worse than in Reunion, but it isn't any better by itself. But you also must remember they have added the boarding system to the game which allows you to get larger ships. In that re-guard I'm not very experience yet. I've only captured a few M6's in my previous game. But with boarding as a potential means of getting larger ships, it then comes down to minimizing cost of training solders as well as loosing them while doing boarding and then maximizing the number of ships you get as well as their hull strength. If you capture a TL in good condition it could be worth 10's of millions of credits. But to get to the point of getting a TL does cost several million in training for your marines.

Mobile mining is something I'm making good use of right now. It lets me feed the primary need of stations without the huge upfront cost and continual cost of a station. All you need is a basic freighter, ore collector, and special software. You can have one of your fighters break up the rocks for it or add fighting software and a weapon for the freighter to do it. As I said, I have several collecting minerals right now which nets me a steady flow due to their numbers. If you use the right commands they will mine and sell the minerals for you. The only downside is that they are exposed to Pirate and other random attacks. In my previous game I lost several to such attacks. In this game I'm never too far away and I have satellites in their sectors and the surrounding one's. In my opinion it is a good way to start, as it takes little up front investment, but in the end produces only a slow stream of income.

Right now I'm trying not to do a lot of combat missions. This is to allow me to get my marines trained and then start capping some of the bigger ships so I can develop a defense force before I need it. But it is also to force me to try other things that aren't big money makers to begin with or things I've avoided in the past. In this case I'm currently doing a lot of return abandoned ship missions (hoping to get one where the ship is something worth stealing) and passenger transport missions. I have found Pirate missions that have you destroy convoys hard to pass up, such as one that took me deep into Paranid space (who still shoot on site) to destroy 4 ships for half a million a piece. Haven't done too much recently with supply station with such and such items as I hadn't had a freighter available to do so or it was items I didn't have the means of getting. I will note that I find non-combat missions harder to do as it takes far more time and effort to actually do them. Combat missions is shoot whatever the mission indicates to kill and not die yourself. The trading missions require you to know where some product is and have the means to carry it, many times being very large quantities of it, to the destination station in a relatively short time.

I'm also currently working on the mission given out by Terracorp. Doing corporation missions do pay decently, not that great, but in the end they do give you awards with some being rare or unique ships. But in the end if you have a high rank in trade, combat, or race relations then any of these missions can be very profitable as the rewards are dependent on those. Better your combat rank then better the combat missions. Better your trade rank better the trade missions. Better the race rank then better the return ship missions. Hope that helps.

[TimberWolf]

One of the rules I've been playing by was to never buy a combat ship bigger than an M3/M3+. Well, I did buy a Mammoth but it was only to accelerate my complex building. But I do have an M6 now, which was *ahem* acquired *ahem*.

I was in the process of putting up satellites in the Pirate sectors near Elena's Fortune when I came across some hostile Pirates in Olmancketslat's Treaty. I began to attack them in my Medusa Prototype and Advance Barracuda. After killing 2 of them the remaining turned blue. There was a Harrier and Osprey remaining. There were no other hostiles in the sector, so I thought this would be the perfect time to practice boarding. Well, it definitely was a practice. I just had 5 marines finish some training, all with at least 2 stars in combat.

I had my toucan jump into the sector and switched over. Set my two fighters to attach target shields and waited as they destroyed the Harrier and knocked down the Ospreys' shields. I then did my best to line up to board and those solders just went off into the void. Try two, same setup but this time they made it aboard, got onto the ship and then hacked it but I lost the Medusa and the Barracuda was badly damaged. Try three, no joy as the solders acted like they were drunk. For the next few hours I couldn't even get them aboard or only one or two made it. I eventually got another good boarding going, got both fighters out of there and into safety and was able to get the ship. Lost 3 marines in capturing it though.

So now I have my first and only M6, a Pirate Osprey. At first I was using it as my main ship only to get annoyed by its slow speed. I've since bought 2 Zephyrus's and equipped one with 4 Solano's as escorts. The other is my personal ship now. I've bought up all the marines I could find with at least 2 stars in fighter and have them going through training right now. I think there are about 20 being trained. Once I get another 5 out of that I will try boarding again.

Right now my complex in Antigone Memorial has the following:
6 Chip Plants
6 Cahoona Bakeries L
4 Cattle Ranches L
4 Crystal Fabs L
1 Solar PP XL
2 Particle Accelerator Forgest

I've begun building a supplier complex for the spaceweed industry in Teladi space with 2 Dream Farms L. I also now have the Hub connected between Argon Prime and Home of Light. Working on getting it the next set of resources to get another gate pair working. Will need to over to Omicron Lyrae area some time and begin the Terran plot and to have a gate mapped for that second connection. I would like to place it at Elysium of Light and Treasure Chest to give me easy access to the area. Haven't progressed much on the corporate missions. Tried to start the missions for Otas only to fail the first mission twice. This game is harder when you don't have several ships helping in combat missions. Will need to start getting escort wings to help out.

Next step, don't know. Probably need to setup more stations and complexes to get a steady stream of money rolling in while my attention is else where. I could use some extra fire power so that points at going through the Terran missions and then doing the Gonar plot to get the Unforcused Jump Drive. By then I will need to get an M7M and a good set of marines to go hunting for the elusive Aran to capture. If I can get that then I have a home base for everything and anything. But I will have to do something about getting an M7M once I get a boarding team ready.

[TimberWolf]

Ok, I broke one of my own rules. I bought myself the Skiron, Otas M6. Reason behind the purchase is because I needed more fire power than my fighters can give as well as something faster than the Osprey. So I bought a ship I have never used before and haven't really heard much about. I will say this much, it is a good ship but it lacks weapon options and maneuverability. I feel like I'm flying a brick in combat.

With that said, I did get another boarding team ready, after a game day or two, and went off into the Paranid space in hope of getting a Heavy Nemesis. With luck I found one in Priest's Pity. Was able to kill of its escorts quickly and began using Ion-disruptors to knock out its weapons and shields. Was able to get most of the weapons destroyed by the time a Deimos came with its own escorts to help. So I began working on the Deimos in hopes of destroying it and then getting back to the Heavy Nemesis. Well, another Deimos and friends came along and joined the party. Now I have 2 M7's and 1 M6 against my one M6. Things were more than just one sided by that time. I used the second Deimos's weapons fire to help destroy the first. But just as the first Deimos was about die it began spamming missiles. Dang. My two turrets where over loaded with targets, my shields were going down fast, and the dang brick couldn't dodge a dang thing. My shields went out and I began taking hull damage. Systems were being announced as destroyed or damaged. Damn. I started the jump sequence to get the hell out of there and with about 80% hull left and half of the systems (weapons and shields were untouched) I appeared in Split Fire's North gate. Quick trip to a ship yard, transfer some equipment over from other ships, and then jumped right back to Priest's Pity only to find neither the Heavy Nemesis or Deimos. But there were plenty of weapons laying around from the Deimos I did destroy.

After that failed campaign, I decided to head on to Pirate Alley near the Southern Paranid sectors. Again, I found a Heavy Nemesis and began working on it. It was basically toothless and only had one 200 MJ shield left when a Split Heavy Dragon and friends joined in. I first tried to knock out the Split ships and get back to the Heavy Nemesis but ended up with it getting destroyed in combat. Crap, there goes my objective. But wait, there is still a Heavy Dragon here. I pounded the sucker and lead it far away from the trade lanes. I then spent a couple of hours hitting it with Ion disruptors and multiple reloads in boarding attempts. In the end I lost two marines and gained a badly damaged Heavy Dragon. Jumped it over to Light of Heart for repairs, brought over my Osprey with almost all of my spare weapons, jumped in a Zephyrus to take some systems off a fighter for it, and transferred my flag over.

Tried doing the Otas mission again with all 3 M6's, escorting freighters with one M6 for each. In the end I still failed the mission as the fighters just flew right by the M6's and pounded the freighters before I could even get turned around. Dang it. Will have to try again as I figured out a couple of things towards the end that made a big difference.

In my game I have added two complexes since my last post:
Teladianium complex in The Hole, consisting of 4 Teladianium stations, 2 Plankton farms, and one stott spices factory.
Shield and Weapons complex in Home of Light, consisting of 2 200 MJ factories, 2 HEPT forges, 1 Drone Mk2 factory, and 2 of something that I can't remember off the top of my head.

Still working on getting the Teladianium for the HUB. Trying out the CLS software and using it to support my stations. So far so good with only a couple of hickups. Now have one supporting the HUB and it is really helping speedup the process of getting resources.

Don't know what I'll be doing next as I'm playing it by ear and will need to wait for two more marines to finish training.

[XMEN Gambit]

Bummer about your failed caps. I generally don't like flying bricks around. Ever tried a space shuttle sim?