Gaming with SilentFox: Let's Play Stellaris: Part 25

"The population of the Fox Cartel was positively booming, from a single world they now occupied five others besides their planet of origin. Yet they had no intention of stopping there, as unclaimed territory became more scarce within the galaxy it was inevitable they'd come into conflict with the other empires around them. However the Cartel's branch offices ensured they were already spreading without the hindrance of borders, legitimate front companies hid more nefarious drug labs and illegal research facilities. The Cartel were determined to not just eek out an existence in one small corner of the galaxy, they wanted it all and they wanted every other empire to simply by an extension to them by any means necessary be it war, crime, negotiations or outright bribery. They would have it all. "

Stardate: 05-07-2305

Things are going fairly well for the Cartel so far if perhaps a bit more slowly than I'd like. The preparation will make it all the more fun when we start poking our neighbours a bit more though. First we have to get to that point and compared to my other campaigns of Stellaris I am by and large being ignored by the other empires so, I guess I need to rattle the cage a bit more albeit carefully as most every other race in the galaxy right now is bigger than me.

The Cartels current objectives remain the same, improve the economy so they can build and support a much larger military both offensively in the form of ships and defensively in the form of star-bases and defence platforms. For now the Cartel's position is pretty secure and aside from having a pitiful income of alloys everything else economy wise is doing well. Lycaon Prime should also be established soon and another planet terraformed not long after that so all in all we are doing pretty darned well.

The society science division starts us off today by finishing gene clinics which we chose simply to get it out of the list, next up is another tile blocker removing tech so we can more fully utilise the space on our planets. Our mineral income meanwhile bumps us into the cap again, so I'll sell some of them off and buy some alloys. It's good we have such a strong mineral income though as it's going to drop pretty hard when we upgrade the foundries and factories that use them.

The physics division is next to kick down the oligarchs office door waving a new tech under his nose with the disruptors. Much like gene clinics it was mainly to get it out of the way, I get the improved reactor booster researching next.

For the first time in a long time I can now fully reinforce the first fleet including one brand new Sylo-class cruiser, the Cartels first foray into carrier based warfare. Next on the alloy shopping list is a pair of star bases to seal off our empire to the East so when we go after the Uriy Suns again they won't get very far in our space.

The first of the Sylo-class cruisers enters service with the first fleet.

The physics division quickly finishes that reactor booster research so let's give them something else to get their teeth into. Let's get those mining lasers off the list, I doubt we'll use them now but it's bugging me, also a new tech roll may get us some better options next time. Not to be outdone the engineering division finishes researching the synthetic crystal plants and just as I am about to select the crystal mines as the next I notice a rare tech which will actually be useful for the 'Grand Plan'. Modular Engineering basically reduces the cost of the star-base and any modules by 25%, can't argue with that!

With another world now terraformed let's get another colony ship up and running to settle it, for now I'll hold off on anymore terraforming and colonising to let our newer planets catch up a bit. Another election, hmm, let's keep the current Oligarch in the comfortable chair for now as that population growth bonus is too helpful (and needed) to pass up.

Another world terraformed for the glory of the Cartel.

Now let's see about our defences, I am not too fussed about defending the outer systems that I claimed from the Uriy Suns and they have too many hyper-lane connections to be effective choke points. So I opt to fortify Qabji and Janna which means if they want to attack me they'd have to go through either of those systems. Whilst those upgrade from outposts let's increase the fleet to our fleet command limit, four cruisers, fifteen destroyers and thirty-four corvettes, the first fleet is getting pretty big now. I'll hold off on reinforcing and conserve our current alloys for ensuring those two new star-bases are formidable defensive installations but once that is done and the fleet reinforced the Uriy Suns will be first to feel it's sting.

The physics division quickly knocks out the mining laser tech so let's get something more useful this time. Orbital research station output will do for now as I want to stay ahead of the curve with technology. Aside from the ongoing war to our west and the growing strength of the Ymacera Assembly the galaxy is a fairly quiet place I have a feeling that is not going to last. There are few places left to expand now so border tension is going to skyrocket.

The Cartel stays focused on preparing for the next war with the Uriy Suns, the society division finishes it's tile blocker research so let's drop something else in now. An upgrade to the unity generating building is good enough. The new colony ship finishes and is sent to settle the newest world and shall be henceforth known as Colonia Dwarvian, a small but potentially powerful world, set to be an urban centre (or that is the plan anyway.)

The Prossnakan Star Hunters decide to throw an insult at us calling the foxes an affront to nature. Yeah, maybe you should worry about the Ymacera Assembly more than the Cartel as right now they are thoroughly kicking your purple back-sides.

Let's finish off today's part by selecting the star-base modules for our two new soon to be battle-stations. For the two stations I select a gun battery, a hangar bay and a target uplink computer and a single Gladius-class defence platform for each, my alloy stockpile won't allow more for now.

With preparations well under way for the next foray into Uriy Suns space it's time for today's Stellaris adventure to end. Hope you all enjoyed reading!

As always I welcome all feedback, support, comments and tips whether here or on twitter so don't be afraid to interact, til next time!