Let's Play Pregame: Mad Fighty Galaxy Gangster Pirate Gods / One Habitat or Planet Challenge

[mrt1212]

I didn't know a better place to put this after my main Stellaris Forum thread got no traction what-so-ever.

So here goes in perhaps a better home to A. Design a Test/Challenge B. Show how barf inducing the challenge winds up being

Fluff/Mechanic Interplay:

Basic Conceit is you're doing a pirate pressgang that wants to get everyone in on the pirate life whether they like it or not. I've done this playstyle for months now and I really enjoy it, there's actual game system support to fudge the large parts of idea, praise Zarqlan!

The primary fluff MO is kidnapping pops for self and/or turning out sub gangs that are part of the larger pirate syndicate that treat you as kind of the head of the whole outfit. You will need to take one ethic that allows resettlement/kidnapping. Criminal Syndicate is also required at the start because the game recognizes Criminal Syndicate/Letters of Marquee as a 'Pirate Haven' and are we a Pirate Haven or Slavers With Pirate Pretensions and Pirate-Like Attributes? The former, you can ask for us by name. Letters of Marquee has to show up. I actually take Refurbishment Division as my 2nd Civic, and it feels fluffy as hell, but since I refuse to take anything but Letters as my 3rd, it feels fine and congruent on the whole.

The secondary fluff MO is that there is no reason for pirates to extend themselves into the whole Domestic Economy Fandango as a way of life, so the starting Habitat (or Planet if you want to pick this challenge up and have a different idea for Origin), is all you need and all you got - Pirates let the saps and suckers do the work for them and skim the cream off the top! Allowances made for starbases on Cool Things, where Cool Things is vaguely 'Merc Enclaves, Archaeological Sites, Megastructures, Wormholes/L-Gates/Gateways', I am sure I am forgetting a few other Cool Things that exist but these are the major things I've actually already done on pilot playthroughs of the idea. Pirates are cool and part of that is being fascinated by cool things and hanging around cool things - booty any way you define it, hehehe. If you conquer a planet/hab/ringworld, take what you need and spin off what you can't take ASAP. Wars intrude on ASAP, and that's okay, but its like, if there is any daylight to release, you gotta release.

The third fluff MO is that Relics and Artifacts are Very Cool Things, so Letters of Marquee to potentially ever fight for Relics on purpose is a requirement either at the start or taken as 3rd Civic. I have never taken it as one of the first two Civics, because I always take it as a third without question, but I do like trying things out and I can't wait that long to try things out, I digress. Archaeo Engineers as AP is up to you, not required - admire them in a case or use them to unleash the beast, wanting them and then having them is the important part.

Beyond that, a lot of things go and generally can find some irksome truthy rationale for taking it as a Mad Fighty Galaxy Gangster Pirate God. I think Federations-as-Fronts is totally fine but if you don't want any Federeenos up in your business, let them lay low. Trade Leagues and Martial Alliances mostly spring to mind.

Mechanical Limits/No Limits without the fluff.

0. Must start with Criminal Syndicate and must take Letters of Marquee at some point. Start is fine, along the way is fine, but you must take it.
1. Must take Ethics that allow resettlement and/or kidnapping.
2. One Hab/Planet/Ringworld Segment, must gift/vassal conquest gains with obvious mechanical exception for Wars in progress.
3. Starbases allowed on vaguely defined 'Cool Things', and can not go over limit.
Edit; 4. Must put at least 1 pirate haven on all BOs

Is there anything else out there that I missed or would be a good impediment or requirement to toss in there? I really want to test the limits of possibility and spite the naysayers who claim its too hard or not fun. If it ain't your cup of tea, fair enough, but if you've been kind of intrigued by how much you can get away with NOT doing that is considered 'solid standard play', I think it's a pretty good specification and type to give it whirl.

Now lest you think I haven't even attempted it yet...

I have attempted it and am on my....6th? Pilot game where I am getting a feel for it and trying to suss out any oversights to limit or impediment or must do's. The first pilot games made it obvious that 1 hab/1 starbase was going to ludicrously hard with all the tools and methods I use not strictly relying on multiple habs, theoretically, but most certainly enjoyed being able to found more than one merc enclave or net the -5% fee at the market by setting up shop on a Mercantile Enclave, and just for the pretense of aping a more 'normal' game with Archeological Sites or even getting to the L-Gate first. I want a challenge but thats less of a challenge and more of seeking a 'perfect' start, with 'perfect' partners nearby, with 'perfect' enemies just beyond...like that's already too many potentially perfect dominoes to predicate the experience.

The 2nd pilot game was going very well after removing that limit as it actually allowed me to sensibly expand to planets more than 4 jumps away, but put the pilot on ice after I got stabbed in the neck via a Federation War where - 1. I was not the primary defender 2. It was a humiliation war 3. I was right freaking next door to the primary attacker 4. I basically got locked out of my hab immediately, like a child lifting the keys off me and hopping back in the car, and I was potentially stuck for years without a habitat to do anything on really. Sad about that one because that war was declared right as I was wrapping up another war that went ludicrously well, and would have gone even better with even 1 day between them to vassalize out the booty gained, but no such happenstance. I could have sat and waited and done other things, but it was a pilot game and 'get stuck doing nothing because you got invaded' is a potential discovered, but damned if I'm gonna keep going with it to test out parameters for the challenge itself. If I were primary defender I would have just surrendered and moved on with the penalty and shame. Caught with my pants down on a victory lap is totally a 'got me, well played' moment that doesn't need me to actually whittle my fleets down to try and prevent the inevitable from inevitably happening.

3rd pilot - Crummy start and limit violation because I miscounted hops due to parallaxing stellar systems and couldn't create a vassal due to the 5 jumps away rule on sectors.

4th pilot - Crummy start with even crummier neighbors than previous start, and I set up a Trade League with a Rogue Servitor only to realize that everyone nearby kinda hates them and will have nothing to do with them, so already preseeding the 2nd pilot's problem before I even get to do anything glorious.

5th pilot - In a drunken and high stupor, I try a rush because I am sick of trying to force a federation and winding up with an unlikable bozo as my partner and maybe I should switch it up, only to pick on the wrong neighbor (I shoulda guessed they were an advanced neighbor but didnt have intel yet...which was impetuous of me, I admit) and having to limp home with half a fleet that was half busted and the albatross of an unresolved war I should have never declared.

6th pilot - The one I'm on. It's going, not quite as aggressively good as the 2nd one but already have a 3 partner federation under the belt and just won my first war, which was an Ideology War to split up an adjacent rival. Annoyingly the liberated became they rival's vassal straight away but so far the limits and impediments have been upheld. Settled a few colonies into vassals, snagged two Observation Post sites within 4 jumps of home (another example of why I don't think 1 starbase is sensible. On top of all limits you can't even watch xenos play stickball and pick up a few strategic tactical tips or soak in the legend of Rollie Tentacles? cmon).

I will probably start taking screenshots and sharing 'The Sauce' sooner rather than later but I did want to get some kind of clearance that this

1. A Challenge
2. The limits and must dos make sense
3. I am not missing anything so far

I would love some guidance and assistance though on figuring out the parameters and finding edge cases or situations I haven't covered or experienced yet. Basically I want to be able to type it up as a One Sheet to hand off to someone else and they can get into it with minimal instruction or question about what they're are and aren't allowed to do. And if you wanna give it a go yourself, all the better, the galaxy is too big to go it alone!

 

[mrt1212]

0. Must start with Criminal Syndicate and must take Letters of Marque at some point. Start is fine, along the way is fine, but you must take it.
1. Must take Ethics that allow resettlement and/or kidnapping.
2. One Hab/Planet/Ringworld Segment, must gift/vassal conquest gains with obvious mechanical exception for Wars in progress.
3. Starbases allowed on vaguely defined 'Cool Things', and can not go over starbase limit.
4. Must put at least 1 pirate haven on all BOs
5. If Federation, Must Become Head of Federation with Strongest Succession and Either Fleets or Economy as measure at some point, and stay there till game end.

Added 5. because I realized I really should be the Head Pirate In Charge of the Whole Outfit, and even though even in fleets with next best in federation and current fed prez...thats gotta be the permanent situation. Pilot Game 6 Screenshot showing why I had to introduce this must-do:

 

[mrt1212]

Spoiler: Pilot Game 6 Screen Dump So You Can See How It Is Working At The Moment

Unions Map Mode:

Yellow Arrows show Federation Partners. NW Partner was first, W Partner 2nd, W by NW is a vassal of W partner

Red Arrows indicate War Targets. NE was a Ideology War spin off by Dorian Stellar Bloc wasnt hobbled enough by it, and peacefully vassalized Dorian Bloc shortly after

E by NE and S by SW were three separate campaigns that folded two Federated empires in the end into my vassals. First was a Raid CB, 2nd Humiliation, 3rd Conquest. E arrow is current subjugation campaign, because they were 3rd partner in the folded Fed and were free to be subjugated by force right away. I tried voluntary method but they chose the Fed instead.

Orange Arrow was voluntary subjugation at their request.

ECs:

Minerals:

Food:

CGs:

Alloys:

Influence:

Unity:

Research:

2

Exotic Materials:

Empire Size:

Pops:

Envoys:

Naval Cap:

Vassals:

Traditions and Perks

Habitat:

Empire Spec and Modifiers

And finally...Scoreboard

Bonus:

Merc Enclaves and my general stomping grounds:

Blue are Mercenaries I founded, Grey is Riggan

 

[mrt1212]

Probably gonna put Pilot Game 6 down for a nap - we are at the place in the experience where its not a matter of if but when on scooping up other empires.

So some analysis:

1. This was not as challenging as a I expected because the standards of 'Federate You Fools!' and beaucoup Vassals with Shared Destiny provides a success floor on the experience. Yes, having one Habitat does alter how you do things in some ways, but I found it mostly reduces Micromanaging headaches more than seriously imposing. If you are let out of the gate at all and can start doing some standard things with Federating, Vassals and Wars...it took me 6 games to really dial it in and get a sense of how to explore, where to spend accumulated Influence before encountering BO opportunities, etc etc.

2. Megacorps really are suited for this stuff. I want to put my finger on a single thing but its a combo of things. Federations and Vassals as mentioned, but Sprawl being a trifle thing that at least with Unity, has direct Domestic Economy injection, Vassal Holding injection with Aid Centers, and Branch Office injection with Front Office. Research has some of that to a lesser degree, like the Satellite Campus holding does similar but the Illicit Research Lab doesnt provide as much as the unity counterpart. Branch Office Sprawl bites, but never to the extent that Colony+District+Pop is going to.

I think its economies of scale run amok overall. This is the case with Habitat Spam too, but this just feels more...efficient...lithe...and less accident prone. So my prior MO has very much been Hab Spam and I feel kinda foolish about all my prior games being kind of grindy and excessive (my wife would say Im very grindy and excessive on the dancefloor after a couple cocktails, so fair enough as my characteristic MO) After doing One Habitat a few dozen more times Im pretty sure I could go back to more sensible regimes than barking at my little Lithoids to get that damn hab up in space as we're behind on plastering the core sector with them. Nice to take self made burden off.

But when I say economies of scale and scale benefits with Branch Offices and Vassals, its basically a lot of micro producers of resources in conjunction with no real end to their possible creation and every positive incentive to keep replicating it one enemy empire at a time. Yes, this is a pittance under normalish conditions and it be terrible if you think a half dozen vassals are gonna cover it but its like the whole galaxy is a petri dish of food for your own pathogenic empire to feast upon.

3. Allegiance Wars are dope and I feel like the larger player base is sleeping on them or mystified about how you actually procure secret fealties and then act upon them. The question of 'why not just subjugate and take the whole entity, Overlord and Vassals, in one fell swoop' is about power equiveillances. If I am evenly matched in theory, I plain dont have the option to do the Subjugation CB. Having CB options to tackle ANY other empire is good though. Pirate Raid is up there just for tossing a live proton grenade into the heart of another empire, but Allegiance Wars are your playing for keeps CB when the power equivelancies don't work out for one fell swoop. I kinda got a hint about this in prior playthroughs but One Habitat absolutely goofs on your Power Ratings such that you might be Equivalent-Inferior-Inferior compared to that bozo next door.

4. There's not that many must have Traditions in this experience, and I am actually kinda baffled by the playerbase insistence that they need the ability to take even more Traditions or has hard choices with them. I finished out with Mercantile, Domination, Diplomacy, Supremacy, Enmity, Prosperity, and...I don't wanna say the last one...fine fine! Subterfuge...

Of those, the only real essential ones are Mercantile, Diplomacy, Supremacy. There are so many Traditions where the benefits applied to a single Habitat are just...they're just weak as a hell. Prosperity and Domination...I dont have that many Habitats, buildings or pops or anything at all, so getting discounts on buildings I dont need to build or extra output from pops I barely have any of...these are not essential. But I really don't know what else to take because bar the big 3 traditions I do consider essential, the tradition is either borked and weird, doesnt really help 1 planet experiences much at all, or is subverted by your own success.

Enmity is really cool but hilariously falls off a cliff in utility if you do everything right and work diplomatic channels like the most glad handed chatterbob that ever existed. I was so likable that I couldn't muster 4 rivals by 2319...and only had negative relations with a total of 3 empires...

5. Research is also like this where some techs just cant possibly apply well in effect and are basically skippable. +25% Planet Build Speed...I will wait until the repeatables run out or it can be done in a month. Beeing...able to beeline past barely applicable techs, combined with debris salvage boosts, creates kind of a phantom weakness in tech power evaluations, where yes - I dont have half of them researched but the ones I do have researched are directly applicable on day 1 after their discovery. I am curious how Tech Power is calculated because I dont get the feeling that it really accounts for 'less overall tech, but the ones I have are straight game grease' against 'more overall techs including the terraforming ones despite no will or intent to ever terraform'. I dont really have a complaint about it but it makes for a little harder read on other empires and what their actual tech power is.

My feeling of this dynamic with both Traditions and Techs/Research has me casting some doubt on whether 'Tall Play' is functionally impossible. It might be much harder if played straight with Domestic Economy as the major driver and engine, but some of the benefit is tighter focus on what you actually need and benefits you. Part of this is informed by...

6. Planetary Ascensions on One Habitat is actually very good still. More in output bonus and less in Sprawl but still in Sprawl. It becomes available right around the time you're getting into Sprawl penalty which is fairly minor anyway, but takes a small chunk out. And consistently being able to take a small chunk of sprawl out while boosting output applied to one habitat doing all domestic economy showed up in effect noticeably, so think about what it could do across more.

Ive earnestly said that having a false sense of what you must do because it is available is a trap in this game, a cognitive trap, where I do way better if I run out of room to expand at some point, because I really dont know when to stop if the expanse between me and an FE and Raider goes on and on and on. Similar with tech, where i do better with 1 obvious option that applies than 3 equal options that apply to different things. And in this challenge/experience, I did run out of room to expand, but skipped a whole helluva lot of expanding too. And I didnt have a lot of must have things to research. I feel like this extends into Traditions a ton, where I used to be bent out of shape I couldnt take more until it was kinda concrete only a handful really benefit me.

*****************************

Alright, so thinking on how to up the challenge quotient here - gonna identify what lends power to the spec

1. Vassals - I think this is what the whole thing comes down to. Not even going out of my way to exploit them, just leaving everything at default in taxes, and gaming the war relations for more holdings at most, they're the primary factor of overcoming supposed impediment. I am absolutely gaming Influence with balkanization and Ministry of Truth as the defacto first building but, if you put Shared Destiny on the table like that...well....Fighty Megacorps with Vassals need all the Influence they can get.

2. Federations - if Vassals are the bread, then Federations are the butter. The passive benefit that most are overlooking when they think they shouldnt have any barrier to access or access through something they would do anyway, is that a Federation can keep you from getting attacked in a weak position - damn the fleet and damn the Fed XP unlocked benefits and recouping on them permanently through gaming the internal politics to become Fed Head - just not being a soft target to get after that sets a floor to build off of is good! Throw in Trade Leagues in specific and its straight game grease.

2b. Diplomacy Tradition Early/Shared Destiny as first AP - It is really hard to be unlikable with empires outside the federation/vassal compact, with so many envoys so early. There will always be jerks in the galaxy but not being the jerk is part of the game.

3,4. War/Merc Enclaves - 10/10, No remarks.

5 - Branch Offices - Pirate Havens are so good as an end around on Naval Cap that pays you and there is nothing to do about it s a Pirate Haven.

So new impediments

0. Must start with Criminal Syndicate and must take Letters of Marque at some point. Start is fine, along the way is fine, but you must take it.
1. Must take Ethics that allow resettlement and/or kidnapping.
2. One Hab/Planet/Ringworld Segment, must gift/vassal conquest gains with obvious mechanical exception for Wars in progress.
3. Starbases allowed on vaguely defined 'Cool Things', and can not go over starbase limit.
4. Must put at least 1 pirate haven on all BOs
5. Can not Federate with another empire unless they too are Criminal Syndicate
6. Must try to rival other Megacorps that are not Criminal Syndicate
7. Must release Vassals that are Criminal Syndicate
8. Vassals can not join Federation
9. If in Federation, Must Become Head of Federation with Strongest Succession and Either Fleets or Economy as measure at some point, and stay there till game end.

The fluff idea to 5-8 is Criminals will work with criminals and the vassals resemble fronts or shells - the real partnership is all the Criminal Syndicates. And there should be some natural animosity towards other megacorps that are mucking up your BO opportunities. This might cut down on some of the benefits from vassals and make for a tighter window to sneak through to recoup on Vassals and Federations respectively.

I do default galaxy settings with 1000 stars, 15-30 Empires, 3-6 Advanced, and half warp gates and not much else on Grand Admiral...thinking on adjustments there now...but not yet

More General Commentary:

I wish the AI was better about getting relics. I wanna fight for relics and its rare I get to. The Pirate Raid CB is good on its own for the no limits thing but I wish I could capture more elics. I got 3 on my own in Pilot Game 6...and the AI had none. Does anyone notice if the AI gets more relics with less empires total or is it just like this?

Espionage needs Influence costs cut to by a quarter to a third. When I got the paragon that provided that as councilor, there was a debatable question on whether stealing tech or another BO was the right call in the moment and going forward at 56ish Influence.

We also need more intel from intel - seeing traditions and APs as my first choices just so if I know Im pissing up a rope in espionage in a galactic ecosystem where everyone has Subterfuge and the techs researched.

 

[mrt1212]

Pilot Game 7 Ends with violation in 2218 - miscounted hops between Capital and new colony. It was kinda meh anyway.

Pilot Game 8: Its going! Will post screenshots if I remember to take them - basic gist - not being able to Fed early with no CrimSyns nearby, really slowed things down. I also took Diplomacy and am seeing just how useful it is for scooping up Vassals. No luck so far despite the Non Fed subtrads being taken and working the Envoy. I did do a really idiotic Bulwark pickup and had to release 2 months later, like those subsidies were harsh, lol.

Did finally release a CrimSyn Vassal I created after some PreFTL wouldnt play nice...and right in time with getting the Federation Forming Subtrad. 2260 rather than closest friendly xeno in like 2230? or similar.

 

[Macavity116]

I wish the AI was better about getting relics. I wanna fight for relics and its rare I get to. The Pirate Raid CB is good on its own for the no limits thing but I wish I could capture more elics. I got 3 on my own in Pilot Game 6...and the AI had none. Does anyone notice if the AI gets more relics with less empires total or is it just like this?

That's something I never considered before. In nearly all of my games, I play in a galaxy filled with maximum custom-made empires. I never have more than one Barbaric Despoiler per galaxy. So I've never seen a relic being stolen in gameplay, either by an AI or by myself.

Until you posted this, I actually did not know it was possible to steal relics other than the Galatron. Had to look at the wiki to make sure. Kudos for teaching me something new about the game.

 

[mrt1212]

That's something I never considered before. In nearly all of my games, I play in a galaxy filled with maximum custom-made empires. I never have more than one Barbaric Despoiler per galaxy. So I've never seen a relic being stolen in gameplay, either by an AI or by myself.

Until you posted this, I actually did not know it was possible to steal relics other than the Galatron. Had to look at the wiki to make sure. Kudos for teaching me something new about the game.

Ive stolen a half dozen over the course of a couple hundred hours on a dozen playthroughs but the AI just doesnt have them a lot of times.

You can check on the Victory Score Screen for who has them if you have intel on them - even minor ones show up, so the Drake Fang registers as a relic even though its a capital planet modifier.

 

[mrt1212]

As I near the century mark, highlights and thoughts. Screenshots will be taken at the 100 year mark on the dot, I think.

1a. I have all but the Artisan Troupe and Shroud enclaves under my control. Incredible start put the 3 Mercantiles and Curator within spitting distance, and Salvager just up the way. I settled 2, captured the rest. Eat space dust Market Fee! (So minor but I didnt waste any thought on Galactic Market bid)

1b. I've successfully fought to victory A Conquest, A Humiliation, A Raid, and A Subjugation War. But I've kind hit a wall with my next one. But I do like trying to get as many types of wars under my belt as possible, The Cycle as it were. It's nice that each kinda taps on a different thing, and big ups to the other empires that joined in my Humiliation War to smoke a fool because we were all rivals with the fool.

1c. I have 3 Merc Enclaves up now and the last one was entirely composed of Salvage and Merc Dividend Fleets. Neato, just how I drew it up on the Holographic Board!

2. Ive released 1 Criminal Syndicate that became my sole Federation Partner, and released another that...my Fed Partner doesnt want in the Fed! Fed Partner turned phobe and its basically arrested the other CrimSyn...hehehe...arrested them from joining until I can maybe I can change the Fed vote to Majority? Total kick in the pants to the idea and I shoulda known better but...is what it is. Will keep on trying and finding a way before I become The Big Boss of The Syndicate.

3. AI CrimSyns without Influence costs cannibalize your opportunities with Branch Offices. Holy crap they are setting up shop. I have about 27, about 22 on outright friendlies and vassals but...i could have 2 dozen more? But I dont because location, Influence and opportunity being taken by my partner. I dont hate them for it, like, this can prove useful in a way where maybe the seeds of rebellion with all that criming and instability are planted and then I can go on the Offensive without having to close my own Branches to strike if there is a rebellion but...yeah, total yoke in play. I can mostly get mine by going further out towards potential peaceful subjugation requests and the Vassals I've created via Balkanization, but definitely missing half the opportunities because of my impediment/contrivance.

4. The impediment of not allowing Vassal to join the Fed is...well...it didn't really hurt that much yet, but now that some Federation/Vassal consolidation around the galaxy with AI empires, I really do have kind of a hole in my forces. I'm rating Equivalent with Fleet Power with most anyone next door, but 2 are in a Fed together and Friendly with me despite that and I do have a couple of Branch Offices, so that's a way bigger bite than I can probably chew at the moment. Those just yonder that I have a clear shot to go smack around are at least 2 years away by jumps, so that's probably what I'm gonna go on and do but yeah, I have way less oomph in the punch because I don't have 11 fleets around 11k provided by Vassals tagging along.

5. I have some irons in the fire as it were with trying to set up Allegiance Wars and it's slow going. Not yet, but I did take Defenders of the Galaxy and have been working my diplomatic angles. I idiotically decided to approve the Fed measure for 'no outside treaties' which has totally put a crimp in it, but luckily my outstanding ones remained as they targets to pry them off their Overlord are associated with our Fed. 2000 days to go...eeeyow.

6. I am having to rework extant Vassal negotiations so some of them can join me in Offensive Wars. Since I can't skim Free Loyalty off them anymore, and I am very much of the attitude that Loyalty isn't supposed to be a Dump Modifier since I'm using lack loyalty to potentially pry Vassals off their Overlord, I have started out with Overlord: None/Vassal: All and then when they reach level 3 of specialization, flipping them to be attackers as well. I'll push for the resolutions in the Senate to bump up holdings by 1 and also increase loyalty by a bit but this is different than my SOP of milking Free Loyalty to get another holding out of Vassals while they fight alongside me because the have to. Not allowing Vassals to join a Fed is a good call for intrigue.

On the whole, the change with Federations and Vassals have absolutely slowed the game down a ton in providing 'Game Grease'. Federating in the mid 2260s is way later than otherwise and had me economically pinned a bit. No Vassals in Federation means I can't be so heedless in my wars (I mean I could be I guess but I am so wary of a colossal screw up and blowout. You don't have to win every war you fight but you certainly can't lose one outright and stay on target especially if you get shredded to the bone. I'm actually way more conservative a player than my bravado lets on and that shows up in not taking on more than I can chew unless there's a golden opportunity with a 3rd party war/Rebellion/Allegience War/Independence War). If I didnt have that limit, I probably woulda been federated before 2220 with a neighbor that eventually voluntarily became by vassal and who I attacked to get a few enclaves and a busted MegaStructure Command Center in my hands.

Secondly, this is kind of a spiteful aside to the entire Diplomacy Tradition Sucks talk, but Diplomatic Networks is generating 4 times the amount that my Factions are. Picking up voluntary vassals is totally enabled by my trust caps and envoy work and even though I've only voluntarily secured the 1, the unlocker and right side of the tradition absolutely is there for that kind of stuff - generating good relations for Secret Fealties is part of working Diplomacy as a tradition. I really can't shake the sensation that people who treat Diplomacy: The Mechanic, as a useless chore they shouldn't have to do are only correct in the capacity that anything you treat like junk is going to act like junk in your hand. It's not total junk in my hand, but I am playing like I have to use it without other ways to get around it. This isn't entirely true I suppose but the Diplomacy Tradition is kinda more obvious if you embrace it and go for it.

Overall, the profile of the Galaxy is interesting - the Galaxy Roll provided over 2 dozen empires and 4 FEs and there's a lot of political blocs and things kinda settling, but my neighborhood had a Free for All vibe to start that has moved into my Syndicate Fed and Vassals, the Friendly Fed Next Door, Rival Fed up a ways, A couple of Buff Overlords, a handful of Vassals all over - like there's a nice set of affinities and animosities in my quadrant and empires are attacking other empires. I do wish there was another Megacorp or two on the board just so I could get some light RP in with sticking it to those uptight by the book bozos, but alas, just us CrimSyns in this one. Beyond my neighborhood, there's more going on but I'm not really aware of it. I'm about 5th or 6th in Diplomatic Weight and all the resolutions I like are passing so far but I am not in the Driver's Seat of this game by most measures. I'm doing my thing but it's impacted and impaired from the 'No Holds Barred' previous runs and absolutely resembles unfortunate regular games where the game itself provides these challenges by the luck of the Galaxy Roll.

I like the feel of it, it feels right, it doesn't feel like I'm absolutely a lock to be in the same position Pilot Game 6 was in by 2319 where I was the only collected head on the board and running away with it even if the full appearance wasn't there yet. You play enough games to recognize the tipping point, and I'm not at the tipping point which probably will be around 2360-2380 at this rate with the situation and what I can do, and I won't even be mad if we cruise into 2400 and I'm not the top dog, but in the mix to potentially become so. This is kind of what I've wanted the better I've gotten at the game and am not painting myself into a corner - the journey from the bottom to the top over time because I've done my due diligence of fighting for it and working my diplomatic angles when war isn't quite a clear cut option. It's kinda how the game SHOULD be in feel at least, even if I've highlighted a few things in this recap that other complain about as being big unfun problems - no, they're slight yokes on your way to glory that you gotta work around and sometimes be patient about. A Fed partner that gets all the new good branch offices on new colonies is an unfun problem to most, but it's just the right medicine for a Megacorp player that knows exactly what they're doing and can run the empire on semi-autopilot after a certain point. Having your Vassals not be part of the Fed is unfun to a lot but it actually makes the actual Partners important and the flummoxing refusals to invite another identical empire type because of 1 ethical difference just the kinda medicine someone who always gets their way in their Federation needs.

I like the new impediments I tacked on, they're making for a more interesting 'fight for it' playthrough.

 

[mrt1212]

Crossed 2300 and I had a grave hunch, a very grave hunch. This game was too perfect. I revealed Sol X, Kaldaiescope and the Alien Cache all at the same time, had all the enclaves was top of the scoredboard bar FEs...and I was like...hmmmmm...I shoulda faced more resistance to get here.

And guess what.

I borked the entire thing from the start by selecting Difficulty Scaling to Mid Game and AI Difficulty Modifiers to Off, ENTIRELY FREAKING BACKWARDS FROM INTENT AFTER RESETTING TO DEFAULT AS IS MY HABIT.

Charmed run, 100%...very interesting 100%

But not a challenge.

Pilot Game 8 ends because I accidentally cheated and had a great time.

Pilot Game 9 starts up with

Spoiler: Settingss

 

[mrt1212]

Impediment Update because something silly with a relic and archeological site (I woke up the cat with a loud swear about this)

0. Must start with Criminal Syndicate and must take Letters of Marque at some point. Start is fine, along the way is fine, but you must take it.
1. Must take Ethics that allow resettlement and/or kidnapping.
2. One Hab/Planet/Ringworld Segment, must gift/vassal conquest gains with obvious mechanical exception for Wars in progress. Exception also made for Archeological Sites that pop up after settling colony. As soon as complete, must release as Vassal. No resettling of pops allowed in this situation.
3. Starbases allowed on vaguely defined 'Cool Things', and can not go over starbase limit.
4. Must put at least 1 pirate haven on all BOs
5. Can not Federate with another empire unless they too are Criminal Syndicate
6. Must try to rival other Megacorps that are not Criminal Syndicate
7. Must release Vassals that are Criminal Syndicate
8. Vassals can not join Federation
9. If in Federation, Must Become Head of Federation with Strongest Succession and Either Fleets or Economy as measure at some point, and stay there till game end.

 

[mrt1212]

Pilot Game 9: 2239 - Yeah, this is the stuff. 1 Vassal, we both are last place, I got a rag tag crew of 2 defensive pacts and one in the making...Won a humiliation war but totally missed out on taking claim on capital with claim during war by 2 months. Cant wait for the truce to break. Its tough... lets see what happens.

Oh yeah, I got humans, Sol III humans, about to be my babies

I totally blew it...missed my shot to declare humiliation war again with claims...argh

Edit:

Totally blew it - tied to do a hasty war to capture the claims piggybacking on prior ally in humiliation war - they peaced out a vassal, my fleets got trapped i had to status quo out with no gain and a pretty much stuck.

 

[mrt1212]

Weekend Update:

Pilot Game 9 Ends ~2270 as those bungled wars back to back cost me dearly and left me like a tortoise on its back. Just a botched effort on my part. I do try to make it so no war can with me empty handed and I had 2 such wars in a row...

Pilot Game 10 Started and then ended in ~2241, when by topographical quirk, I run into 1 non FE empire in 40 years of game time. Would be a beauty for any other empire with any other spec, but basically took an hour - the last 20 years were played at top speed in the hopes Id meet someone besides first neighbor, and I didnt.

Pilot Game 11, the current one. More updates later.

*A short time later*

So I started this Sunday during the Seahawks game, totally perturbed that I had two playthroughs totally challenge me in two different ways where I simply did not have the patience to see it through.

And it's probably the best proof of concept since Pilot Game 6 as I top the leaderboard in 2336, have a messload of vassals, am fighting 2 wars to basically eliminate a neighboring overlord who has 1 vassal (that wouldnt join me in Secret Fealty, the jerk). The 2nd war is for that vassal's territory initiated by my own Vassal, lol. I got the Zroni precursor finally and did a psionic ascension because it seemed entirely appropriate (it's been 3 years? since I have).

So I started off with a pretty crap position in a way (but it might be advantage? I was scared based on Pilot Game 10) - basically edge of galaxy with one hyperlane in and out of home system. I was able to expand and spit out a few vassal colonies, humiliate war with an ally for some claims, conquer some claims, voluntarily vassalize a couple others, secret fealty war for 2 empires (which required a secondary raid war to smack around the nemesis power bloc that tried to piggyback claimjump my war and almost stalled it out completely), and I am now taking down one half of the nemesis powerbloc and likely should have 9 new vassals for the trouble, and one freed up empire that I should be my vassal given our great relations.

I have a 4 CrimSyn Federation, all self created and release by me, they have build about a dozen ships for a fed fleet which is kinda hilarious, but I was able to pass Fed Laws to make invites Majority Vote and Economy=Vote Power, so that I could invite anyone I created into it without hassle. Prior Pilot Game showed me that was the way if I wanted to keep tacking on CrimSyns, since invariably one of them is going to have an ethics change and be blocked out by the first partner.

I think this challenge comes down to a few things.

1. Creating Vassals 5 jumps away and the more the merrier. This is how you get some earlier branch offices that'll eventually grow into usable Branch Offices. Also it blocks off territory and creates a buffer so you never suffer Border Friction malus.

2a. 1 Friendly neighbor and 1 unfriendly neighbor that's about even and fightable.
2b. Winning your first humiliation war for claims (and vassalizing them out) with an Ally - this keeps being something that happens and works and it's basically taking advantage of one neighbor rivalling another. I would put it as a significant factor on whether a playthrough has legs or not, after having colonizable planets/space

3. 1 Friendly neighbor that can have Branch Offices at all, and medium to small size so they can eventually peacefully submit to you.

4. Diplomacy as a mechanic, Diplomacy as a Tradition. Envoy->Agreement->Trust->More Agreements->More Trust->Defensive Pact/Voluntarily Submit/Secret Fealty, is basically 2 parts Diplomacy over time, 1 part Alloys into ships so your Empire power rating is legit. I am routinely taking Defenders of the Galaxy as my 4th or 5th AP in this challenge to go nuts with it, but turns out that being likable and engaged in Diplomacy does smooth out a lot of relations and also keeps you clean of wars you don't wanna fight. Picking my fights is so important, and one neighbor empire I'm friendly with got attacked by an FE once and I ended the Defensive Pact immediately after because that's a fight I couldn't pick and couldn't win.

Everything else is making sure your economy doesn't barf on you, if you do go over Naval Cap you have some way of making sure the Alloys don't hit 0, not being too early with specializations on mature empires so that your research withers (or conversely, if you try to shore up research with an early Scholarium, being short in Minerals/Food), and generally winning your wars and walking away with territory whether outright win or status quo settlement.

Gonna take this one to the end methinks and will try to get screenies although there's not a ton of interesting eye candy in this one. Like through 11 playthroughs now, it really doesn't get better than this so it's time to see it through and see how it goes against a 5x Crisis.

Edit: I really like Secret Fealties, like they are such a perfect fit in the overall game system and this particular scheme of things where you might not be strong enough to subjugate their overlord out, but you are strong enough to make a better offer and get a 2 vassals+yourself+your team, against one equivalent or stronger, playing for keeps. There are so many times in this game where until you are purposefully playing in the dirt and hobbling yourself, you don't know why a thing exists because you can do the superior expedient thing already and don't need to play in the dirt. Yeah, they take time, yeah sometimes nobody will play ball, but carving up an overlord and taking their vassals has a nice place in this game.

 

[mrt1212]

2361 and plugging along -

Actually got involved in an Independence War against an Overlord I was already planning to attack for territory - I am begging the Devs to give players 1 week notice on Independence Wars because I've spent at least 1400 Influence during the war itself to make claims (the war is 10 years deep now) because the whole damn thing popped off with my 700 influence worth of claims sitting in the claims window, unpressed. Maybe that'll teach me to make a claim ASAP, which I don't like doing because of the diplomatic malus, but...it is kinda annoying that those fighting for liberation don't tell their main backer they're doing it. I know, I know, leaked intel could screw the whole thing up but sheesh.

Definitely trying to get 3-4 more wars in by 2400 and I have two Overlords with two vassals a piece who are entertainingly and amusingly fighting one another simultaneously with my own war going on. I was worried about timing because secret fealties aren't ironclad fixtures and trying to get both dogs in the tub to bite their master takes time and both of them agreeing at the same time - so I'm kinda thankful that I didn't miss the boat on a future Allegiance War by getting involved in my own without warning. I did put a date on it ~ 2354-2355, but theirs popped off in 2350 and mine popped off 2351 so just as well.

Nothing too major to report though, steady as she goes. Building a 2nd science nexus after I repaired the found one I settled, looking to build a command center next and finish off a Mega Ship Yard I started but there's nothing major. The next biggest power bloc (2 Overlords allied to one another, with 1 vassal being as good as their overlord and maybe even slightly better than me scares the bejeezus out of me, like I don't wanna fight that but...) is super friendly and my neighbors directly so I don't know what to do about that...I like backstabbing fools but only if they can't pull the knife out and gut me with it, and it is hard to muster the...dastardliness if they're holding it down in their quadrant while I make a run for the other two that are kind of up in the air and not in their sights yet.

Like I said in the above post, this one is going to Crisis and 2500 win lose or draw because it feels this is like the peak form for this challenge - definitely in the driver's seat but not ridiculously so, so it might get the best of me if I don't sew up 3/4ths of the whole galaxy in the next 40 years. I think it's entirely doable but I always think wars will wrap faster than they do and I always start them a year later than I really should thinking on the past 11 games.

I'm pretty sure that it'll be a done deal and I'll pull it off, but I wanted to take this the distance since 3.10 and the new DLC are gonna shake it up and this might be the last time you get to see something like this in Stellaris.

 

[mrt1212]

2377 and the game is in what feels like cleanup mode now. Rolling highlights of the past 15 years.

6 Wars:
-2 Allegience Wars fought against two overlords who were simultaneously engaged in a war with one another. 2x Victory
-2 Vassal instigated offensive wars against the former nemesis bloc that I mechanically separated into ~20 Vassasls. 2x Victory
-1 Vassal instigated war which caused me to get one of my Merc Enclaves captured along with a Mega Art Exhibit. Luckily this was a far flung one I had captured 10 years prior, but I was caught entirely off guard by it being a Total War CB since I was planning on Subjugate some years later. Backing Vassals of Offense is a mixed bag because of this stuff, and Ill take it back but...Status Quo Settle with 3 planets taken and 1 stellar system given.
-1 Conquer War against FE for an empty planet. Wanted the Tech from Salvage and got it. Victory.

- Raiding the L-Gate as I speak, finally, which is why I status quoed out - I was not up for another 10 year delay on that. Picking my fights matters and whoever tossed that Total War CB down will get a stern talking to.

I have 44 Vassals now and 10 Criminal Syndicate Partners part of the Federation and Im getting kind antsy about starting a new game for experiential reasons. Not ready to do another stunt game yet but have a list of things I miss and some ways to challenge myself...I am absolutely missing the late game 'menagerie of Mega Structures' where I used to go conquer other's Megastructures for keeps. And the Galactic Market. And Merc Enclaves. I also think I should reverse releasing CrimSyns and keeping mundanes as Vassals - especially with 3.10 throwing a wrench in my lovely Shared Destiny First AP pick. Oh, and I actually do miss building more than one Habitat - its been nice not having to think about my sole one for decades but I do miss poking at them a bit, tis true. I miss Minor Artifacts out the wazoo.

Onward on wrapping this one up...the Friendly Fed Next Door has grown and we're probably gonna have to square up and duke it out at some point - I have 2/3rds in my 'union', they basically have the remaining 1/3rd. There's a few stragglers out there that should be subjugated by 2400 if I can wrap the L-Gates in the next 3-4 years.

Edit: I wrapped it in 3 months going for broke for the main hub. I am worried about time at this point...I am always worried I am dawdling but I want to be sure things go my way you see...

2378: Now custodian and also...two released CrimSyns formed a Federation with each other...and one released CrimSyn subjugated another released one...funny stuff, and what makes me think I should do the fed/vassal think in reverse.

 

[mrt1212]

2393: Wrapped a subjugation for that previous total war CB target. So it turns out that the reason the total war CB was available was for the 'Planet Soaker' egg the target possessed. I stepped into a war in progress for another subjugation and started getting notifications about them turning worlds into ocean worlds...

and laughed my ass off for 5 minutes, like, no wonder you're considered a galactic villian...jeeze guys, you're drowning entire worlds into totally bodacious surf spots but cmaaaaaaaaaaan.

The other subjugation war is almost a wrap too, but I am actually nervous as hell right now.

1. 2 robot uprsings in about 10 years, one in the friendly fed one in my vassal
2. Potential for a two vassals allegiance war against the friendly fed next door,
3. where the friendly fed is fighting off a robot uprising.

I think im gonna go for it but I am nervous for a few reasons -

1. the enemies are gonna be hella close to home and outposts, dont like that.
2. what if robot crisis happens in the middle of that? Its gonna be a long war methinks based on size of overlord and fed partners+vassals
3. no breaks from war to do any fed invite upkeep tasks and with vassals and voluntary submits...
4. its for 2 vassals and not much more...od I sweeten the pot with claims and if so...gosh...how long is this war gonna be?

IDK folks...like I do not wanna miss the chance for a twofor with the best vassal that scares me plus one that aint so shabby, against overlord+2 fed partners+2 vassals...god...its...gonna be a huge dogfight so close to home. Do I have the fleets for this? Do I have enough vassal ready to rock n roll?

Paused and thinking on it. 8 warscore to go before I clear the last subjugation...

Edit:

Here's the Map with the situation 3 years later:

SV= Secret Vassals I'd fight for
FP = Fed Partners I'd fight against
FV = Fed Vassals I'd fight against

As you can see, this is like for half of the remaining marbles...and I'm inclined to go for it because that final subjugation is going to time out - the two saps that I'm trying to subjugate in one fell swoop dont have anything left to take and no ships to blow up so the war score is...slow...very slow.

So if I take the plunge, I figure I'm going to need to do the following

1. Win the war outright for two vassals and take a couple of claims on Enclaves to have a good launch off point for more claims later.
2. Switch to being a jerk ass rival so I can pursue the Enmity Agenda and go for broke on Subjugation against the closest Fed Partner and take their vassal along with them, ASAP after winning the Big Allegiance War
3. Round out the last two Fed Partners with Subjugations.
4. Do all of this before I have a crisis in my lap, which who even knows when...

One little tidbit - a lot of empires are sitting on vast amounts of alloys right now and Empire to Empire Trades for alloys are only surpassed by...wait for it...buying Reliquaries and being lucky as hell - raking in 36k in alloys every time that hits...like I have about 450k and 3000 Naval Cap in outstanding ship build orders (basically a whole new armada with 12 fleets and no Titans) which seems like a really stupid idea to fulfill already pressing my Naval Cap this high and over...but I want the be absolutely certain this one doesn't escape me and I have the muscle upon muscle that already is a muscle to lay this one down the winner at 2500.

I am extremely paranoid about borking it. I have borked games on Crisis before but it's been 5 years but it still left a bitter sour taste in my mouth.

Oh and here was the AP/Tradition path. Took Psionics as a final treat and will finally touch the shroud at 2400...I don't wanna End of Cycle either...

2399 - 3rd Secret Fealty...I am still stuck at 6% to finish my own war. Gonna keep letting this go as the Friendly Fed might snag another vassal, one of the last remaining...and I can probably tack it on to the half the marbles...


Also, having to trade for the friendly fed's alloys only to use it entirely for them shortly...muahahha

ERE WE GO...

 

[mrt1212]

2399 Early War Report:

Crystal Cartel Swoops in on entire Vassal Armarda 2 weeks into it. Gonna knock them entirely out of the fight here, then head east to take on fed partner 1.

Meanwhile, in the Central NW region...Fed Flagship Fleet is gonna get the hell outta there.

Down Southern tip of the Galaxy...Fed Partner 1's Flagship Fleet...due to Gates, I should be able to send my 1st Armada down along with Merc Armada and roast them real good basically taking them out of the fight.

What should happen is all my vassals, plus the 3 revolting vassals, plus my fed partners, should overrun their territory if I can lick the flagship armadas.

2 Scant years later and...well...it went according to plan. But I am gonna have to wait out the 10 year truce cause 2nd Strke is on cooldown

 

[mrt1212]

2408 and its going great, but with 92 years to go, kinda twiddling my thumbs and thinking about what I want out of a game of Stellaris going forward and ways to achieve it. This has been a fun experience in a lot of ways, kinda flouting the suppostas of Domestic Production, seeing just how many Vassals I can pick up, observing the behavior of micro states in taking vassals and forming Federations, conducting Allegiance Wars on purpose because they're a fun way to pants an peer or bully for vassal pickups.

I think going to such an extreme was a challenge more of patience in game and making peace with things be suboptimal for no good reason but to see if it could be done despite that. But still, I dont know if I'll revisit this stunt game type for a while because of things I didnt enjoy dealing with:

1. CrimSyn competition. If I ever do balkanize another empire into microstates, I am definitely eliminating any CrimSyns ASAP simply to have more dominant Branch Office reach. Like Im sitting on 90, but I should have at last twice that amount if not for all my Claim and Release CrimSyn Fed Partners. It was an interesting wrinkle to keep me on my toes of opportunity but, it really affected Naval Cap in ways that if Anchorages and Fortresses were more available, I could easily get around it supplementary - but no dice in this game.

2. Branch Offices interfering with offensive wars. This is a known outstanding issue with CrimSyns and perhaps is a fair yoke so we're not just running roughshod over the game, but...it leads to this dilemma of friendlies being your best bet with Branch Offices so you can be at liberty to attack empires without any of yours. I dont really know of larger strategy to deal with this - its either joining onto a war by pact/support independence or closing Branch Offices and reopening them in victory which is stupid inefficient.

So if you're already cajoled into finding friendlies to set up Branch Office shop to keep offensive war opportunities available, why exactly bother with a CrimSyn at all? Well besides it being cool? And if successful at being a CrimSyn, you run out of opportunities to ever be on defense. which provides some opportunities to get feisty - which I want since Refurbishment Division thrives off generating salvage.

3. Not enough fighting. I'll probably finish with over 3 dozen wars under the belt but I could have fought a lot more if 'Galactic Domination' was not the goal. Subjugation and Allegiance Wars are very efficient at 'once and for all' outcomes. Growing Federations reduces fighting and is 'once and for all'. And there are very necessary reasons to have breaks in fighting but I want more fighting either by own prerogative or an empire being sick to their stomach with their empire turning to crap because of my free criming ways.

4. Lack of capturing and holding onto cool spoils - Capturing a relic world or Gaia planet, any megastructure, archeological sites not dug up yet but settled with a colony already, any and all of that was just less possible. Even though I am not consciously about that when doing any other method of play with a core sector packed like sardines with Habs, or only settling Good Spots to reduce empire drag and reach for some efficiency, I really missed taking cool stuff and holding onto it.

5. Too many vassals of no consequence or meaning but the influence and first crack at opening a BO. I mean, yeah, the cook gets to complain if they dont like their own attempt. I think with the changes in 3.10 and exploring the outer reaches of sensibility, I will adjust accordingly to slim down 3 at most with transitional vassals into release and not squeeze as much Influence as I can but...vassals after a certain point are just out of the game entities. The taxes are great and a relief to having to do it yourself, but when Im looking at the subject taxes for alloys alone, I am utterly convinced I could scratch out more than 1700 alloys from 10 colonies, ezpz without any thinking. And for much a much wider empire, so much Naval Cap issues with even 1 fortress and/or military academy on every colony would melt away. I didnt feel pressed upon in research or unity or ECs or Minerals or anything but Alloys and Naval Cap by the end of it.

Subject Taxes are easily the largest share of income for everything too, but...I think I could do better at the one thing I really care about - alloys.

So in 3.10 I think I'm going to try and deduce a way to

1. Be the only Megacorp with a much larger BO portfolio
2. Be sneaky powerful where I do not vassalize or occupy 75% of the galaxy, but I am a mover and shaker who cant be easily messed with, but some of the Big Dogs will take a crack at me and i'll bop them on the nose for the trouble. Instead of raising myself above all, I simply cut everyone into itty bitty pieces while growing my hand more subtly.
3. Balkanize targets of offensive wars so I keep the best or coolest colony, gift some to an extant vassal, then release the rest into independent micro states for BO setup and potential Fed partners - but if they wont play ball, rinse repeat claim and release.
4. More fighting in general.

One thing I did fall in love with though, which might be tougher to figure, is how much I didnt think about domestic production for research much at all. Thank you low Sprawl count for a large portion of the game running only 1 Habitat and a small but healthy BO portfolio. Most the game I had 6 Lab Districts at most, a handful of research stations, holding satellite campuses, and research agreements and then later, two Science Nexii?. Lest you think Scholariums saved the day, at no point have I been net positive on research from vassals. Prospectoriums always are one step ahead of me in that regard. For all the Best Practices Meta about research, I think this capably shows that it simply determines how FAST you can come to dominate a playthrough, rather than being the sole predicate. Yeah, I am on mostly default Grand Admiral settings and pacing without a huge fire under my butt to wrap everything up in a neat little package before a 25x Crisis in 2350 but...it is possible to rely on other things if you have them to wring a ton of play time out of a playthrough and still come out on top.


I really wanna see how much I can avoid the standard meta and thrive, if not for other's sake in seeing how much latitude the game gives to succeed, my own sake to stumble into thread after thread with contrary opinions, hahaha.

Edit: 87 years now...think im gonna resume this on rainy day on my 2nd rig since theres not much to do but fight a couple wars and Crisis tops. One FE tried to awake, I killed it.

 

[mrt1212]

2413: Stuck in another Vassal declared Total War that might take forever to resolve because once again, theres another war against the target and half their territory is taken. I am sitting on the other half...

Uhg, late game Stellaris...There is absolutely a reason I love the narrative conceit of heroes running off into the final battle rather than the final battle itself being written out and its because the story is left to the imagination, forever enduring. Not vassals declaring total war that probably cant be status quo resolved for 10 years.

Edit: New Relic!

Crystal of Odryskia!!!​

Lmao, I dont have capacity for 180k EC...Zarqlan's head again it is.

Zarqlan's Head Fleet is actually pretty dope as far as 'Unconventional Fleets' go. The Deus Vault parody is clutch, lol

2415 War: