The naming choices of the Empire continue to be exquisite. I admire the boldness in choosing to name the new class of exploration ships after failures and incompetents; Valens (terrible Roman Emperor), 'Bloody Mary', failed rocket scientist Goddard, failed revolutionary Gevara, useless politician Lord North, international capital of ineffective diplomacy The Hague. Wonderful stuff.

I concur with my associate nuclearslurpee that the Venusian mining endeavour seems ill-judged, though what can one expect when the mining industry thought Kilbum was an acceptable name?

Although power shifted bloodlessly, there was a minor, yet vocal, faction that worried about tyranny and yearned for democracy

Ironically, the matter was swiftly resolved by putting things to a vote.

Going even further, Kilbum Mining Corporation founded the first entirely civilian colony on Van Biesbroeck on 17 October 2162.

This is an excellent name for a mining corporation.

During this same time, automated miners were being shipped to Venus to reap the abundant mineral wealth present:
[...]
Although hard to obtain, the Assembly believes her resources to be beyond plentiful and worthy of investment.

Here we see that the Assembly is not made up of the finest economic minds in Sol, unfortunately. With such a low rate of return the value of mining on Venus is highly questionable this early in humanity's history. While later on the corundium deposits in particular may prove highly valuable, this is a very long-term plan and probably too long-term for the present needs of humanity. Then again, with the low resource demands of conventional industry this may not be so much of a consideration.

To say that Hector I was a large man is... an understatement. Standing at just over 2 meters, 6' 7", and weighing as much as two men.

Hector I was noted as smiling large enough for three men

I look forward to the continued exponential growth of Hector I.

That's all we could recover your Majesty.

May God have mercy on their souls.

And thus we have reached the traditional first alien encounter with the Precursors as always. It will be interesting to see how they are treated in this narrative saga unfolding before us.

----

I always play with a house rule that I MUST maintain a fully fleshed out OOB and garrison forces.

Always commendable, really I cannot understand players who don't do this. However I will comment that your force requirements seem a bit light given the listed populations...a single battalion per 100m people is a very small ratio, unless you've radically re-defined the term (conventionally it is <1,000 soldiers). At the same time, this is somewhat of a necessary concession as Aurora while doing this better than many other games/settings still struggles to allow truly modeling the realistic scale of ground forces which match the scale of populations.

This is why I mentioned the rebellion issues in the AAR. I've played several games of Aurora now, but this was the first where the economy and colonial populations exploded as fast as they did, especially on a restricted start like this.

This is I suspect due to the combination of a conventional start and the very delayed colonization of Sol, which no doubt allowed the civilian shipping lanes to build up in advance and drive a huge spike in colonization. Conventional starts are already quite free with money because of the low unit operating cost for conventional industry compared to TN installations.

edit: apologies for the delay.

AAR writing is a hobby in spare time, no apologies are ever necessary unless you start charging us money for this engaging work. 

Recap:

The second half of the 21st century was wrought with cataclysmic warfare and disasters. The toll taken on humanity was nothing short than catastrophic. At the close of the Great War of Final Unification in the early 22nd century, future emperor Lucius Garner Canmor successfully captured the final resistance stronghold nestled in the ruins of Old Berlin. Lucius Garner's battlefield prowess and industrial mindset made him the obvious choice to lead the newly unified human empire. With him at the helm, Earth experienced three decades of prosperity and expansion. Mankind once again reached out to the stars, this time as one.






With his father's passing, Valens Canmor ascended to the throne of humanity. Although power shifted bloodlessly, there was a minor, yet vocal, faction that worried about tyranny and yearned for democracy. As his first order of business, Valens I further empowered the Assembly and crafted the Bills of Succession for the Office of the Imperator. Humanity would continue to be a centralized empire, but with guaranteed personal freedoms and liberties.

By 2150, the final industrial expansions of Lucius Garner I came to a close. Valens I immediately put this to use, drafting a proposal for the Assembly to significantly expand the research and development sector of the empire. He gained approval for a 200% capacity increase. It would not take long for this expansion to be put to use.

In 2154, Valens I officially declared the Sol System and all of its celestial bodies to be territory and property of the empire. Although this was largely symbolic, it nonetheless motivated the masses to turn their attention to the stars. The Imperial Naval High Command was thusly reworked with a logistical command, dubbed the "Better Worlds Initiative," incorporated into the official hierarchy of command. To spur on this initiative, Valens I declared Luna, Mars, and Mercury to be official Imperial Colonies and ordered the designing of cargo shuttles and cryogenic capable transports.

Previous successful business enterprise, Bartzsch-Helvig, was finally challenged in their monopoly by Dawson-Barlow Industries. DBI ingeniously adapted the BH design to a more efficient and economical component. One that would be fit for civilians, this engine would go on to be mounted on the first freighters and colony ships of the empire. Initial deployment fielded in late 2158.

The Roaring 60's

The 2160s began as any other decade. Gradual growth of industry and research, wealth invested and injected into new projects, and steady population growth. However, by mid 2160, 14 July to be exact, this would all change. The first permanent residents of Mars touched down on the surface at 1000 hours, Earth time, and promptly began their homestead. This kickstarted the economy of the empire in a fashion no one would have been prepared for. The rise of the Nova Captains of Industry was at hand. By the end of 2160, a fully civilian own company began shipping colonists to Mars by the thousands. The tariff revenue and docking fees alone made the Assembly, quote Valens I, "Squeal like sows on slop."

Luna and Mercury were not far behind Mars, with their first residents coming ashore on 16 February 2161 and 26 May 2162, respectively. Here, again, the private sector jumped into action rapidly expanding human domination across the system. Going even further, Kilbum Mining Corporation founded the first entirely civilian colony on Van Biesbroeck on 17 October 2162.

Plans for colonial expansion on Europa, Callisto, and Titan were developed mid-decade. Each of the three moons received shipments of colonists between April and June 2165, but they themselves would not see the grandiose expansion of the inner colonies until later decades. During this same time, automated miners were being shipped to Venus to reap the abundant mineral wealth present:

Duranium      17,853,226    0.10
Tritanium       25,077,192    0.20
Boronide        33,825,012   0.30
Uridium         19,787,782    0.10
Corundium    11,303,732     0.50
Gallicite         9,696,017      0.30

Although hard to obtain, the Assembly believes her resources to be beyond plentiful and worthy of investment.

In 2168, Valens I was struck with a grave illness. He would suffer the rest of his life with permanent impairment. Although, perhaps for the better, his life would not last much longer. Almost as if his task and vision were all that kept him around, Valens I survived as emperor long enough to see humans on every celestial body capable of sustaining humans with minimal terraforming. As one of his last actions, Valens I organized a Sorium harvesting operation in high orbit of Jupiter. These harvesters would be able to produce an excess of 15 million tons of fuel per annum, with expansion all to easy should the demand ever spike.










Part One: Ascension to First Contact

To say that Hector I was a large man is... an understatement. Standing at just over 2 meters, 6' 7", and weighing as much as two men, he was indeed large. His physical size, however, was stunted compared to the size of his bravado. As the nephew of Valens I, and grandson of Lucius Garner I, Hector I had large shoes to fill, and he knew it. He ascended to the throne at the age of 41, only slightly older than his grandfather at his coronation, and was prepared to lead humanity through its next frontier. Hector always dreamt of extrasolar travel and made it his life's goal to see it happen.

Science teams under Marisha Kodhanch immediately went about researching and testing possibilities for Hector's dream. FTL travel, even with the Transnewtonians, was still impossible under the laws of physics so many simply believed it would be impossible. However, this could be mitigated through the manipulation of gravitational fields. On 8 December 2175, Kodhanch and her team successfully stabilized a miniature gravitational field and "jumped" a pencil to some unknown region of the universe! This technology would immediately be adapted for use on engine designs to carry entire vessels through natural gravitational points.

Despite this initial success, the masses continued to question if Hector's dream could truly be achieved. As of the annual Assembly meeting in 2180, no ships had yet been outfitted to travel through these points safely yet. Additionally, the massive commercial sector put pressure on the empire to expand its police force as crime and instability began to grow on her new colonies. Many of the empire's resources were put into quelling these issues. At one point, Luna almost rebelled in 2178 with nearly a third of the populace losing faith in the imperial structure. Much to the chagrin of Hector, his pet projects simply had to be put on hold in order to deal with Homefront problems.

On 16 July 2180, the ruins on Mars that were first discovered forty years prior were declared to be fully explored and exploited. The outpost was a fringe mining operation of a nation that called themselves Orto Plutonia. Most of the recovered facilities were a mix of automated and manned mining drills, as well as a few caches of supplies and fuel. It would appear this ancient race also was able to manipulate the Transnewtonians and required similar diets and atmospheres to humans. As no other evidence of this race could be found elsewhere in Sol, Hector I was able to convince large swaths of the empire of the viability of extrasolar travel. If these creatures had achieved it, there was certainly nothing keeping mankind from greater prowess!

The threat of rebellion was quelled in 2183 and colonial operations returned to normal levels, allowing for R&D to dedicate more resources to the pet project of Hector I, now referred to as the Canmor Protocol. On 20 November 2186, Madivalar Thrust Company won the bid for their prototype jump engines. They more than outperformed the competition and provided prototypes fit for both military/police service and civilian. These engines were designed upon new Ion thrust technologies, allowing for far greater thrust to weight ratios than ever before. Hector I was noted as smiling large enough for three men when the prototype vessels were able to instantaneously jump from Earth to Mars without detonating like their competition.

Expansion and retooling of the high-orbit shipyards on Earth was immediately ordered to accommodate the new Valens-Class Exploration Ships. On 1 September 2191, the first four Valens-Class ships were put into service. The HMS Friedrich North, Queen Mary, Robert Goddard, and Yamasmega were christened by Hector I personally before their maiden voyages. Hector I addressed the empire via the mass communications network, delivering a thunderous and fiery speech. The Phoenix was reborn, she was hungry, and her eyes were turned to distant stars.

At 1900 hours, 15 October 2191, the HMS Friedrich North, under the command of Commander Françoise Michaud, becomes the first vessel and first humans to leave the Sol system. The Aldebaran Gateway was explored and both ship and crew survived the voyage.




Five more systems would be explored by the end of 2195, with many suitable exoplanets ripe for colonization. In 2196, four more Valens-Class Exploration Ships were put into service. The HMS Che Guevara, Patrick Henry, Sir Walter Raleigh, and The Hague began to map the stars.

At the same time that the HMS Che Guevara was exploring the Beta Aquilae Gateway in 2197, plans were underway for the stabilization of gravitational points for extrasolar colonization. The two most promising nearby systems were that of Alpha Hydri and Alpha Centauri. Both contained worlds of massive size that were nearly perfect for habitation. Additionally, Alpha Hydri contained vast mineral wealth. On the other end, Alpha Crucis contained only one truly suitable world, one that was smaller than even Mercury. However, within the system was another planet, one that was far more habitable than a Venusian, but less so than even the Mercury analog. The mineral wealth on this planet was astonishing.

Duranium           143,939,100      0.80
Neutronium            5,108,875      0.20
Corbomite              1,608,290      0.20
Mercassium           12,235,913     0.60
Sorium                 11,742,388      0.20
Uridum                   4,536,863     0.10
Corundium            32,249,988      0.50
Gallicite                  1,799,305      0.10

Many other exoplanets contained similar materials or similar accessibilities, but none thus far had combined both and were capable of supporting 11 billion souls with terraforming. At the time of its discovery, it was estimated that this world would cost nearly 400 infrastructure per million people to support. A trivial cost, Hector I declared, when considering the destiny of Man and the mineral wealth available.

Alpha Centauri had the privilege of being the first system to be colonized, with the planet of Alpha Centauri A-III being colonized and named Terra Nova on 29 November 2197. Alpha Hydri was quick to follow with Alpha Hydri A-V being colonized and named New Eden on 10 April 2198. Not long after the first colonials set foot on the planet, a massive dormant structure was discovered at the sister star. On 9 August 2199, the HMS Robert Goddard detected a dormant construct on Alpha Hydri B-I. Only time would tell what lie within its bowels....



Commander Laurence Surrette reporting. The HMS The Hague stands poised to make another jump. Engines are spun up, T-Minus 1 minute to jump.

All functions green Commander, initiating jump drive.

...

Where did we land ensign? I want star charts up on my monitor.

Sir, we've arrived in the Casseopia system.

Marked, HMS The Hague arrives in Casseopia System at approximately 1330 hours, Earth time, on this day 01 July 2204, Earth Year. Beginning initial mineral surveys. Deployment window, 36 months, 3 months accrued in transit. Commander's logs to update at regular intervals.

...

Commander's Log: 01 January 2205.
So far this system seems devoid of any value. The outer asteroid belt, despite being expansive, holds zero mineral wealth, and only a single outbound comet yielded any value. Next on the survey plan will be Casseopia IV and the Super Jovian, Casseopia III. Hopefully they will prove more fruitful.

...

Commander's Log: 22 August 2205.
Initial scans of Casseopia show little value. Only trace amounts of Neutronium. However, there are subterranean anomalies. Ground survey team requested. The Super Jovian, Casseopia III is completely barren. No value at all. Initial scans of Casseopia system are bare. Continuing on.

...

Emergency Broadcast recieved: Error. Error.De-Fragmenting.Error.redacted
This is Commander Surrette of the HMS The Hague!
We are taking fire from an unkno-redacted
All hands prepare to aband-redacted
THEY ARE KILLING US

Error.Error.Error.

Ensign! Get to the lifeboats now!

Sir! Another volley app-redacted


...


That's all we could recover your Majesty.

May God have mercy on their souls.

Another note on the playthrough setup. I have 0 NPRs starting, with 0% spawn for me, 15% for other NPRs. They are set to activate swarm and precursors.

The way I am spawning them in is as follows:

If 0 NPRs exist then formula is:
New system < 3 jumps from Sol = 0%
= 3 = 10%
≥ 4 < 6 = 20%
Every additional jump = +5%

For every existing NPR, the final value is deducted by 10%

These percentages ignore habitability of the new system.

When a successful roll occurs, another roll of 1-5 happens. This roll determines how far from that system the NPR's homeworks will be. I spawn in a "Space Master" race, explore the required distance, spawn in the NPR homeworld, then I delete the SM race.

This allows for a more controlled buffer between myself and the NPR, the randomization makes it so I don't exactly remember or know where the NPR is, and keeps me from simply waltzing into a likely more advanced race's home system.

This is a most intriguing new project, not least due to the displayed commitment to use tasteful formatting of headers and sub-headers. Truly it is the little touches that make an excellent AAR.

Out of context, is this a scenario with an actual start date of 2115 and a brief report on the conventional era, or is this background before an actual starting date? 33 years seems a bit of a long time to get a survey ship out the door, but with the apparent changes you've made to the starting setup I could be way off base here.