So that we might have all the chips on the board: do all of us have a NAP with each other? Or is there a possibility that Kobolds will shoot Crainky, etc. I would like to fully know the dynamic since we are now speaking more openly.

It is my belief that the next steps should include:

* The four of us conclude a group-wide NAP with agreeable terms. This NAP should include a provision for moving warships through our claimed space.

* Stargates of any of us be opened up to any other of us. (This will require setting everybody to 'Friend', as I understand it.)

Great write up! I think Altruists fantastic maps and data shows how things can be deceptive. I can't help but think our alliance was nothing more than a paper tiger when we look at it deeper.

This is a tricky situation. As I see it our options are:
#1 Help the Witchetty to hold off the Beetlebrox.
#2 Attack the Witchetty and try to grab his space before the Beetlebrox.
#3 Cooperate with the Beetlebrox to divide up Witchetty space.
#4 Defend the Diablo-Farragut line and instead look to the north to
either the Kobolds or Zorks for expansion territory.

What worries me is not the meatgrinder, but the Blitzkrieg. Here is
what I would do if I was the Beetlebrox:

I would build cheap shielded frigates and minibombers across my
empire, all while feeding excess minerals up to Stamp and Selenium.
Then I'd gate the horde to Selenium and then move the armada to
Schwiing which does not appear to be under scan. In year one of the
attack I would destroy the station and bomb Peekaboo, fire a packet at
Misery from Stamp and fire a packet at Peekaboo from Selenium. The
next year move on to Oh Ho Ho, bomb that while firing another packet
from Selenium. The third year, bomb his HW, while continuing to packet
his defenceless planets. The main idea is destroy the base, thin out
the defences, reduce the pop with packets, then finish it off with a
pop drop. I reckon in five years I'd have his HW invaded and all of
his major population centres destroyed and/or occupied.

• almost all planets are scanned
  
• additionally obviously several waves of scouts were built to keep possible hotspots and the surroundings of colonized planets under watch
  
• 5 wormhole entries are detected (at 2425!), surprisingly it seems they weren't tested to see which connect with each other

1. It's rather expensive for an initial scout: 30res. And wait, haven't JoaT scouts, FFs and DDs not INbuilt scanners? Yes, the expensive scanner isn't really necessary. With the Zorkians' stats a scout without a scanner would still have 160-ly scanning of which 40-ly would be penetrating. Above scout with the mole scanner has 216/40, not really worth the higher price.
   
2. The mole scanner is not only expensive but as an electric level 4 device something quite prized for players who haven't got that tech level yet. Which again will give your neighbours the incentive to build armed ships to collect not only some "free" tech but, once those armed ships are around, you might need to build more escorts for your freighters...

1. The other players make it easy for the PP to scan. It would be so easy to detach any freighter to pick up the even penetrating scanner-packet and voila: darkness for the PP. But they let the packets move thru their space.
   
2. Not only due to the above descibed countermeasure, it's risky to rely completly on packets for scanning, some scouts would be needed, too.
   
3. It's rather expensive to scan with packets. It's also giving away your PRT too easily, nobody wants a PP as a neighbour and gone the advantage of surprise when a PP starts to throw big ugly chunks to annihilate whole planets.
   
4. On the other hand the ability to make penetrating scans with packets, if the other players allow those packets to pass thru, is surely a nice thing.

1. Previously I was refering several times to "2nd wave or later waves of scouts". Here you can see that only 1 wave of scouts was built. Meanwhile the direct surrounding of the core planets is not under watch anymore.
   
2. Some of the Grubs' planets were not colonized in force but there are only 3.000 pop on them (mistake), easy prey for a pop-drop from an enemy.
   
3. It would be very cheap and easy guard at least the "entry"-point to his corner. The arrows indicate the positions for only 4 needed scouts to detect every incoming ship. This is a tactic possible and useful for everybody but a JoaT has the additional advantages that often enough his penetrating scanners detect ships while they are even not aware of being detected (and possbily marked and targetted for shoot down).

Then, I changed laptops -- and lost my files. All of my planetary scans were gone, I had to redo everything.

...Then, I changed laptops -- and lost my files.

I would build cheap shielded frigates and minibombers across my
empire, all while feeding excess minerals up to Stamp and Selenium.
Then I'd gate the horde to Selenium and then move the armada to
Schwiing which does not appear to be under scan. In year one of the
attack I would destroy the station and bomb Peekaboo, fire a packet at
Misery from Stamp and fire a packet at Peekaboo from Selenium. The
next year move on to Oh Ho Ho, bomb that while firing another packet
from Selenium. The third year, bomb his HW, while continuing to packet
his defenceless planets. The main idea is destroy the base, thin out
the defences, reduce the pop with packets, then finish it off with a
pop drop. I reckon in five years I'd have his HW invaded and all of
his major population centres destroyed and/or occupied.