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RWIAB IIB - Game Review Wed, 03 March 2004 20:37
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Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 403
Registered: November 2002
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

RWIAB Series II (Galaxy B): A Game Review
"Rabid Weasels in a Box II" (RW-IIb) was a Stars! game run on
Autohost on a Monday-Friday generation schedule until a victor
was declared by virtue of "modified" high score in 2500.  The
game name was based upon the main game condition that all races
conform to the "factoryless" (-f) standard of having cost 25
factory settings, or by being the AR PRT.  A long ago newsgroup
post referred to these races having to act like rabid weasels in
their drive to expand and grow and thus I adopted the term for
the game.

The game was played in a small, packed galaxy, ACC BBS start,
random events on, and public scores off.  There were eight
active participants plus a neutral observer race run by the
host.  This game was also run in parallel with two nearly
identical games (RW-IIa and RW-IIc).  The "modified" score was
adjusting the standard Stars! Scoring so that resources
generated fewer points and planet count for each race was a
minimum number of 50 since planet count sets a ceiling on most
of the scoring parameters.

Summary
No expectations other than the close quarters possibly causing
some early race deaths.  About 2430 the game looked like an
alliance of northwest races and an alliance of southeast races
were working on terminating immediate neighbors.  As of 2450,
some of the targets are now allies as well and the game looked
to be turning into a North vs. South match.  As of 2470 the game
was a North vs. South match and the southern alliance was
starting to win.  The northern races were in full retreat by the
mid-2480s with the Tanu being eliminated and the other two races
asking for terms.  Given their clear superiority the Mortis and
Goblins then agreed on a war against each other starting in 2490
to select a clear victor.  The Mortis won the decade long battle
while some of the lesser races warred on each other for third
place.

Startup
The races started in roughly the following positions:

..3..2..7..
..1..4..8    (corresponding to player #)
..9..5..6

(1)  The Random         JOAT    2nd Place (1627)
(2)  The Selaeraa       SD      7th Place (651)
(3)  The Slan'td        PP      6th Place  (889)
(4)  The Watcher        WM      Host Observer
(5)  The Mortis         IT      1st Place (2163)
(6)  The Goblins        SD      3rd Place (1562)
(7)  The Tanuth         IS      8th Place - eliminated in 2483
(8)  The Hubrin         SS      4th Place (1549)
(9)  The Meanzeii       IT      5th Place (952)

Race Comments
1) Hell (Randoms)
JOAT w/19% PGR, Grav Immune, Rad wide, Temp narrow and
centered.  (1in4).  IFE, ISB, NRSE, OBRM, NAS. Weap and Con
cheap. Rest expensive.
Started in middle-left and rapidly scouted in all directions.
Leading game in score in 2410.  In 2nd in 2430 with Jihad CA
capacity and at least one active alliance.  In 4th in 2450 with
Jugg BB capacity but still mainly using cruisers.  Allied with
Rig A, Goblin, Meanzel, and Hubrin.  Seem to be opposed to the
Selaereaa, Slan, and Tanuth.  Still in 4th in 2470 with Doomsday
BB tech.  Part of the southern alliance attacking the three
northern races.  In 2nd at 2500 with a growing Nubian fleet
while still operating some older Weapons 20 tech battleships. 
Allied with the Meanzeii against the Hubrin for the end-game
wars.

2) Selaera (Selaeraa)
19% SD with three wide hab bands (1in3).  IFE, TT, NRSE, OBRM,
NAS. Weapons cheap, rest normal.
Started in  top-middle.  Expanding, but trailing in population
and resources in 2410 - perhaps due to colonists in transit
rather than growing on a planet.  Fighting the Randoms in 2430
while trailing in resources and distribution of tech (almost as
many levels - but broadly spread instead of concentrated towards
weapons and hulls.)  In 2nd in 2450.  Broad tech still - Jihad
CA level; but close to battleships.  Allied with the Slan and
Tanuth. At war with the Randoms and Meanzel.  In 3rd in 2470,
trailing in Weapons tech.  Part of the three-race northern
alliance fighting the southern races.   Race was a shell by 2490
and is in 7th in 2500 while remaining neutral in the remaining
conflicts.  Some Weapons 20 tech battleships still about however.

3) Slan (Slan'td)
PP w/19% PGR.  Grav Immune, Temp wide, Rad narrow and left
shifted (1in6).  IFE, ISB, NRSE, CE, OBRM, RS.  Energy, Weapons,
Const cheap. Rest expensive and start @3.
Started in top-left.  Expanding slowly early on, and conditions
might be too crowded for this race to succeed.  Some interesting
design choices however and a fairly unique hab range.  Looking
for intersettling perhaps?  In 3rd place in 2430; has a few
small groups of beamer CA built and researching Energy heavily. 
In 5th in 2450.  Jihad BB tech.  Allied with the Selaeraa and
Tanuth.  Enemies of the Randoms, Meanzel, Goblins, and Mortis. 
In 6th in 2470 with Juggernaut BB tech.  Part of the northern
alliance.  Finished 6th in 2500 with a number of Weapns 20 tech
battleships remaining.  Neutral in most of the end-game
conflicts.

4) Watcher (Watcher)
One-world-wonder 18% WM.  All narrow and fully right-shifted
(1in171)*. 15/8/23 factories.  Elec cheap, rest expensive and
start @3. [*] And found a 81% green in 2405 of course.
Observer race starting in middle-middle.  Built additional low
tech scouts in 2402 and 2403.  About 2407 starts researching Con
4 (Privateer hulls to hold orbital pop) and then to start
ramping Elec to get pen-scanners.  WM PRT used to facilitate
looking at ship designs of the other races.  Galaxy about 90%
covered by pen-scanners in 2430.   In 7th in 2450; operating two
fully topped off planets and also picked up nine tech levels
from a passing MT.  In 9th in 2470.  Final score position
roughly 7th.  Added some warships that boosted score late in the
game.  Mystery traders ended up supplying over 20 tech levels.

5) Rig A (Mortis)  
IT w/19% PGR. Rad Immune, Temp centered, Rad narrow and centered
(1in4).  IFE, ISB, NRSE, OBRM, NAS, RS.  Energy and Const cheap,
rest expensive.
Started in lower-middle.  Middle of the pack in 2410; no
expansion yet beyond the initial starting planets.  Expanding
heavily, and appears to be allied with the Goblins while
fighting the Meanzeii, Randoms, and Selaeraa.  In 4th in 2430,
but not trailing by too much.  2nd in 2450.  Jihad BB tech, but
has pushed Construction to get to any/800 gates.  Now allied
with the Goblins, Randoms, Hubrin and Meanzal.  All other races
but Watcher are "neutral" though there has been combat with the
Tanuth recently.  In 2nd in 2470 with Doomsday BB tech.  Nubian
hull expected by 2475.  Part of the southern alliance.  Finished
in 1st place after defeating the Goblins decisively in a decade
long war starting in 2490.  Fleet is primarily Nubian hulls.  A
few older battleships might still be about as well.
 
6) Goblin (Goblins)
SD w/19% PGR.  1/900 efficiency.  Three wide hab bands with some
offsets (1in4).  IFE, TT, GR, NRSE, OBRM.  Energy, Weapons,
Const, Bio cheap. Prop and Elec expensive.
Started in lower-right.  Early expansion establishing a number
of small colonies by 2410.  Will be interesting to see if these
colonies can be successfully defended or reinforced.  Leading in
2430 by a narrow margin.  Also fielding some beamer CA forces as
well.  Leading by a wider margin in 2450.  Jihad BB tech. 
Allied with the Mortis, friendly with the Randoms, Meanzel, and
Hubrin.  Neutral to the Selaeraa and Slan, enemies of the
Tanuth.  In 1st in 2470 with Doomsday BB tech.  Part of the
southern alliance that crushed the northern three races by
2490.  Finished 3rd after losing a war to the Mortis in 2490
2500.  Surviving fleet is primarily Nubian hulls with a few
older Weapons 20 tech battleships.

7) Tanuth (Tanuthandanan)
IS w/20% PGR.  Three centered hab bands (1in5).  IFE, TT, ISB,
NRSE, OBRM, RS.  Energy, Weapons, Const cheap, Bio normal, rest
expensive.
Started in upper-right.  Aggressive expander, but transit times
seem to have slowed their initial resource growth by 2410.  In
the pack in 2430.  Using Croby FF, but has beamer CA
capability.  Seems to be fighting off Goblin attacks as well. 
6th in 2450.  Jihad BB tech, but still using a variety of croby
frigates for main war fleet.  Friendly with the Selaeraa and
Slan, neutral to all the others.  In 8th in 2470 with Juggernaut
BB tech.  Part of the northern alliance and appears to be
catching the brunt of the southern offensive.  Race was
eliminated in 2483 when the Hubrin killed a remaining refugee
fleet.

8) Hubrin (Hubrin Fleet)
SS w/19%PGR.  Grav immune, Temp and Rad fully right-shifted
(1in5).  IFE, ISB, CE, OBRM, RS.  Energy, Weapons, Const cheap,
Elec normal, rest expensive.
Started in middle-right.  Still solely on HW in 2410.  Missed a
few turns as well already.  Only operating three scouts, so
intelligence gathering to find potential colonies might prove
too slow for this race to succeed.  Taken over by a substitute
in the mid-2420's.  Race is in last in 2430, trailing heavily in
resources and colonies.  Still comparable in tech still and has
beamer CA capability.  9th in 2450.  Keeping up in tech, has
Jihad BB capability.  Still trailing massively in resources. 
Friendly with the Randoms, Mortis, and Goblins, enemies of the
Tanuth.  Neutral to the rest.  In 5th in 2470 with Juggernaut BB
tech.  Part of the southern alliance and a second-tier power. 
4th place in 2500 with a beamer Nubian main fleet.  At war with
the Meanzel and Randoms.

9) Meanzel (Meanzeii)
IT w/20% PGR.  Temp immune, Grav centered, Rad narrow and right
shifted (1in7).  TT, ISB, CE, OBRM, RS.  Weapons and Const
cheap, rest expensive and start @3.
Started in lower-left.  Middle of the pack in terms of
expansion, resources, and score.  Middle of pack in 2430, with
beamer CA capability.  Allied and exchanging tech heavily with
the Randoms.  Substitute brought in during the mid-2440's right
when the Mortis and Goblins began an offensive that took over
the Meanzel homeworld.  8th in 2450.  Jugg BB tech, fielding
Jihad and collodial BBs in current fleet.  Allied with Randoms,
Mortis, and Goblins..  Enemies of the Selaeraa, Slan, and
Tanuth.  Neutral to the Hubrin.  In 7th in 2470 with Juggernaut
BB tech.  Part of the southern alliance.  5th place in 2500 with
a battleship main fleet still.  Under attack by the Hubrin while
receiving aid from the Randoms.

Empire Statistics
The observer gathered data on the various races each decade
starting in 2410.  Thus the relative power of the various races
could be compared and analyzed.  Here's the data in tabular form.

PLANETS
Race      2410  2420  2430  2440  2450  2460  2470  2480  2490  2500
Random	    7     9    16    17    18    21    22    29    35    34
Selaeraa     8    15    17    29    34    32    35    26     9     9
Slan'td	    3     8    14    14    20    17    19    16    10    10 
Watcher	    1     2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2
Mortis	    2     7    19    29    37    41    44    51    60    68
Goblins	   10    28    31    32    33    40    42    46    50    28
Tanuth	    9    15    20    20    28    23    15     0     -     -
Hubrin	    1     8    10    10    13    17    19    21    29    32
Meanzeii     5     7    13    13    13    21    20    23    26    17

RESOURCES (in 1000s)
Race      2410  2420  2430  2440  2450  2460  2470  2480  2490  2500
Random    0.60  2.38  5.46  8.83   12    14    16    18    22    27
Selaeraa  0.41  1.42  3.35  6.75   11    15    17    16   5.76  5.93
Slan'td   0.77  2.50  5.16  7.34  9.00   11    13    12   8.35  8.17
Watcher   0.97  2.32  5.44  8.67  9.79  9.79  9.79  9.79  9.79  9.79
Mortis    0.56  1.64  4.89   10    15    19    23    28    35    34
Goblins   0.62  2.18  5.46   12    19    25    30    34    41    26
Tanuth    0.54  1.87  3.09  6.15  9.26   11   8.91    0    -     -
Hubrin    0.55  0.76  2.25  3.79  4.39  8.15   13    16    20    25
Meanzeii  0.64  1.89  4.21  6.33  6.82  8.81   11    12    14    12

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