50 years in after a conventional start and the galactic map has had to be redrawn several times to account for unexpected loops of jump connections. Exploration of the Barnard's Star and Lalande branches look strange now, and the Barnard's Star connection effectively forks off into its own sector. Exploration and exploitation of both though made sense at the time.
Unexpected variety in spoilers compared to my quick test game prompted a rush for a much faster system defence corvette than had been initially planned. Even that redesigned initial corvette was still too slow though. In spite of that, the Battle class corvettes been in service now for 20+ years, and remained in production until about 5 years ago. Of the 40 built, 6 have been lost - although probably the same again or even more have had to be repaired almost from scratch after engaging the enemy. They're now slowly being phased out by faster, but more importantly turreted, system defence corvettes. System defence frigates of twice their size will probably replace both though in the years ahead.
The raiders in my game move at approx. 6250km/s, and apparently at some point they'll research better engines? I thought for sure my second generation would outpace them easily. Instead I'm just able to reach their speed so I'm probably still going to have to do some kind of a pincer move to bring them into range. Research is slowly getting to the point where I can start designing an offensive fleet, which will eventually be armed with missiles. I'm not sure if it's the conventional start, poor luck in scientists, changes in the game, or me being rusty but everything feels much slower than I remember. Not in terms of performance, but research / construction.
First system defence corvetteBattle class Corvette 5,985 tons 161 Crew 815.8 BP TCS 120 TH 600 EM 0
5013 km/s Armour 4-29 Shields 0-0 HTK 40 Sensors 8/8/0/0 DCR 2-3 PPV 15
Maint Life 1.88 Years MSP 370 AFR 143% IFR 2.0% 1YR 134 5YR 2,007 Max Repair 150 MSP
Commander Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 7 months Morale Check Required
Korolev M300-30 Nuclear Gas-Core Engine (2) Power 600 Fuel Use 51.96% Signature 300 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 14.5 billion km (33 days at full power)
Clayton-Zweibel 19cm NUV Spinal Laser (1) Range 192,000km TS: 5,013 km/s Power 9-3 RM 30,000 km ROF 15
Clayton-Zweibel 10cm QF NUV Laser (3) Range 90,000km TS: 5,013 km/s Power 3-3 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Rowley Gun Battery Fire Control R96-TS5100 (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 5,100 km/s ECCM-0 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Rowley Spinal Gun Fire Control R192-TS5100 (SW) (1) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 5,100 km/s ECCM-0 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Korolev Gaseous Fission Reactor R4 (3) Total Power Output 12 Exp 5%
G-Class Small Active Missile Detector Mk2 (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
G-Class Large Active Search Sensor Mk2 (1) GPS 8000 Range 66.2m km Resolution 100
G-Class Small EM Sensor Mk2 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
G-Class Small TH Sensor Mk2 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
Upgraded system defence corvetteWeapon class Corvette 5,988 tons 170 Crew 1,120.8 BP TCS 120 TH 750 EM 0
6263 km/s Armour 4-29 Shields 0-0 HTK 36 Sensors 11/11/0/0 DCR 3-5 PPV 15.65
Maint Life 2.24 Years MSP 638 AFR 76% IFR 1.1% 1YR 171 5YR 2,564 Max Repair 375 MSP
Commander Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Morale Check Required
Korolev M750-60 Ion Drive (1) Power 750 Fuel Use 24.49% Signature 750 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 18.4 billion km (34 days at full power)
Single CZ 20cm UV Laser Turret (1x1) Range 256,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 10-4 RM 40,000 km ROF 15
Twin CZ 10cm QF Laser Turret (1x2) Range 120,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 6-8 RM 40,000 km ROF 5
Rowley Gun Battery SR-TSW Fire Control Mk1 (1) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 16,000 km/s ECCM-1 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Rowley Gun Battery LR-TSW Fire Control Mk1 (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 16,000 km/s ECCM-1 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Korolev Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor R5 (3) Total Power Output 15 Exp 5%
G-Class Small Missile Detector Mk3 (1) GPS 21 Range 8.6m km MCR 771.7k km Resolution 1
G-Class Large Active Search Sensor Mk3 (1) GPS 10500 Range 89m km Resolution 100
G-Class Small TH Sensor Mk3 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
G-Class Small EM Sensor Mk3 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
Ground forces have been growing over time and in 2-3 years I expect to have 2 million tonnes which I'll be able to use to launch an invasion
of a Rakhas held planet. Hopefully that's enough. Work will continue on a much larger force to - in time - invade the homeworld of the Iota Ursae Majoris aliens. They haven't yet left their home system
presumably they're a minor race - I don't think that there's a way to tell? Honestly though for performance I might just set NPRs to 100% minor races.. A survey ship maintains a lonely picket of the known jump point into their home system while design work continues on a more long-term solution. The lack of available shipyard space preventing construction currently is particularly concerning as very large shipyards (18k tonnes and above) have sat idle for decades awaiting a decision on the battle fleet.
I haven't played in about 2 years and it's been a real pleasure to get back into it. I'm 50 years in and very much looking forward to the next 50!