Ahoy Crew!
Trailblazers 3.4
Trailblazers 3.4 [
New PC2 & ARX
After the (
As we wrote (
Later in the week, FDEV also announced that the ARX “pricing policy” will change for the next new ship release (a large size ship), with an increase to 19020 ARX (from 16520) for the new base ship unlock and to 38000 ARX (from 33000) for the “Stellar” version. ARX prices for small and medium ships remain the same.
Threesome CG & Ngurii
After the CG in Beta-3 Tucani, which ended with a (
There has been no additional information from FDEV regarding the exploit that would have been used by the Invisible Hand for its attacks, but it has been confirmed that they are working for the restoration of the settlement powerplay data (on the same Trailblazers 3.4 update post). This "temporary stalemate" situation is having various repercussions on the Powers. In fact, some find themselves without alternative resources for some activities, especially offensive ones (since combat is one of the least effective), while Ngurii has returned to being trafficked by combining the boom and civil liberty states (resulting in Soontill Relics again offered at 400t batches).
Service notice: Pegasi Sentinel correspondents and editors will be on summer vacation for the next few weeks (until the end of August). As a result, from the next Cycle report and onwards, coverage and other news reporting will be limited to the most important news/topics (this notice will be published as long as necessary for the courtesy of our readers).
The Numbers
As expected, it was a Cycle in the name of territorial expansions (+329 total, the biggest number of additional systems so far)... after all, let's look at what we anticipated earlier: no CGs, Soontill Relics offered again at 400t, settlement data still suspended (argh!). All Powers ended up the Cycle with a double digit growth… what else to do, if not push acquisitions and/or (
- A. Duval +55
- Mahon +41
- Antal +39
- Yong-Rui +32
- Kaine +27
- Grom +24
- Archer +23
- A.L. Duval +22
- Patreus +20
- Torval +19
- Delaine +14
- Winters +13
Aisling’s’ Big Leap
The blue-haired princess Aisling has scored a great Cycle, with +55 new acquisitions, most of them unopposed and linked to new colonies. A good strategy no doubt (perhaps not even too pushed by the Imperial Court), also because the economic and demographic dynamics introduced with Trailblazers should not be underestimated. In fact, if well supported, colonies can become invaluable resources for the Powers.
She won a couple of contested acquisitions against the techno-nerd Yong-Rui who, as we discussed on our Cycle 34 report, slowed down the CPs pursuit just above the halfway point of the threshold. The two systems in question, both small, are Wolf 289 (agri/hi-tech controlled by Starfleet, an independent multi-role group) and Urabey (refinery, controlled by the 9th Legion, an Imperial Special Operations group pledged to Lavigny's side). The latter is located on the frontline where the strongholds of Katocudatta (Sirius) and Simyr (Cubeo) already face each other and where the Federation is also approaching with auntie Winters (from the BD-01 1707 stronghold).
The ancestral battle between the Empire and the Federation also involved Col 285 Sector IX-P b20-2 (a small industrial colony) attacked by Rhea's forces supported by the Winters’s stronghold in Belgitan. Whilst it was exclusively a family dispute for the control of Col 285 Sector SO-I a39-1, an extraction/refinery colony situated in the heated frontline between the young Aisling (winning side) and donna Arissa. It's probably more difficult to keep the Imperial extremist fringes, or “rogue groups”, at bay when it comes to the colonies... anyway these situations remain classified as small skirmishes that don't seem to be causing much concern to the Imperial Court (at the moment).
Arissa’s Struggle
The situation is more "complicated" for empress Arissa. After the bad numbers resulting from the Cycle 34 (in part inflicted by the hands of the Raiders of Tortuga, taking advantage of the distraction offered by the CG), Kamadhenu's forces have been engaged in numerous contested acquisitions. Among these, some internal to the Zyada conglomerate and again connected to the border colonisation activities. For example, this is the case for LHS 1939 and Puppis Sector NI-K a8-3, where the granny Torval was on the opposition side (not with a “soft touch”) and required Arissa’s command to pour more than 500k CPs to secure these acquisitions… elsewhere (Maka and Ember) senator Patreus’ fleets didn’t bother to grind CPs at all.
In Duulngari, an industrial system controlled by the Sacra Oculus theocratic faction (known among the Galaxy trading guilds for their “Crusade to Liberate Rares”), a subversionist group tried to slow the empress Arissa’s effort. The increasing opposition convinced Kamadhenu to send a team of auditors (Imperium Quaesitores) to investigate… they shortly found out that the local Regiment of Imperial Mongrels was responsible for the situation. At that point Lavigny’s agents had no other choice than counter the Mongrels’ tentative staging a false-flag corruption scandal (
The blogger Justinius Mattonius then topped it all off with one of his usual clearly biased posts. "He who strengthens himself with slander is inevitably destined to fall by his own hand... such is the fate of the traitors of the Empire and of those who conspire against the Lavigny family" he wrote on the pages of Acta Imperialia, and then "[...] the falsehoods behind which they hide and the crimes these heretics commit, can only be washed away with their own blood!" ...and then they claim that we pirates are the ruthless ones, go figure!
The Bear is Back
Things in Clayakarma are (more or less) slowly returning to normal. After the FDEV’s managed to roll back the Invisible Hand attacks, acquisitions and other backlogged activities have resumed under the guidance of the Eyes of Leshak. On the other hand, the self-proclaimed dictator Grom is in a stable situation in the leaderboard, his closest pursuer is Yong-Rui, but the advantage (around a hundred of systems) is still quite comfortable.
With Wally Bei, a system that had been lost several cycles earlier, secured, Clayakarma's fleet focused on strategic acquisitions, including some contested ones. Among these, opposition prevailed in a couple of situations (i.e. Winters in LHS 222 and Antal in Col 285 Sector QL-Q b20-2) but the bulk of the targeted systems fell under Grom’s dictatorship… the same fate happened for Tau Sagittarii and Amala, where the bearded Yuri clashed with the burly Edmund.
Looking at the engagement numbers, the Alliance’s prime minister prioritised Tau Sagittarii (a 400+ million industrial system, controlled by the People’s Dictatorship Union, or PDU) over Amala, but Grom's powerful grinding maintained a solid lead… it doesn't seem a surprise to us, given that of the top three, Mahon is the one who generates CPs well below average (in particular for reinforcements) considering the size of the players’ base and the systems count.
PDU's assembly comrade Fanqia Wang, expressed his concerns in an interview with Vox Galactica "[...] we are waiting to receive the Clayakarma delegation to discuss some administrative aspects, as has already happened for other PDU controlled systems. Unfortunately, we have not had, up to now, unequivocal negotiations with Grom's envoys" and then added that "the situation must therefore always be addressed at a single system level, and we will do everything possible to protect the interests of People’s supporters”.
Pegasi Sentinel tried to reach Alliance’s representatives in Gateway, but they declined the invitation to comment on the news.
Muscular Fed
Like other combat Powers, the Federation found itself in the throes of another Cycle where it had to fight for several acquisitions, some of them blessed by the God of PCZs. Felicia Winters was not discouraged by the close defeats incurred in Taured, Hyroku and Orulanqui, instead focusing on other systems, especially those where she was opposed by Zyada’s powers. The overall outcome allowed Rhea to extend the Federal dominions and, at the same time, a strengthening of the frontlines as well as a consolidation of the areas considered vulnerable, as evidenced by the reinforcement CPs generated last week (the highest absolute value in the lower bound of the leaderboard).
Earlier we mentioned LHS 222, a called shot for the victory in this military colony against the bear Grom, given it’s controlled by the Earth Defense Fleet (aligned to the Federation), It was definitely not an easy walk in Taexalk, where they found Torvalians at the opposition. Even though Synteini's forces were stretched by the reinforcements of the systems acquired in previous cycles, they still attempted to block Rhea where possible... considering they are direct opponents in the Powers’ leaderboard.
A victory in Taexalk would have anyway put the matriarch Zemina in a potentially "thorny" situation, given that the system is controlled by the Federal Security Administration, an agency created by former president Zachary Hudson with the specific goal of defending federal space from hostile powers (but also from terrorists and pirates).
There was no time to waste for shadow president Archer either, as he was caught up in a wave of contested acquisitions, some of which required Nanomam’s agents to flex their military muscles. Surprisingly, one of the most hard fought (above >2 million CPs total) was against Sirius at the small extraction colony of LHS 129, controlled by Paladin Consortium (a large group indeed, but closer to the Empire than to other Powers). Being a colony, the system is “under construction” and does not offer (yet) any interesting resources, given its proximity to Delaine’s territories we will have to follow its development... or wait for some official statement from the parties involved to have more details.
Or maybe that system was used (
Zemina’s Slog
With Archer mostly busy dealing with Sirius, the granny Torval took the opportunity to land a few targeted strikes, where it was (of course) most convenient for her… for example that’s very likely the case at LFT 1728. A hi-tech colony, still to be developed in full (East India Company faction is present), but which has clearly captured the interest of Synteini, being located in an area disputed between several Imperial Powers and the Federation.
After the huge expansionist effort in the past cycles under the direction of Constantia Torval, resources and manpower have been engaged like never before also in Cycle 35. On the one hand, in fact, it was necessary to secure these new systems, immediately targeted by carpet undermining, but also to carry on the other acquisitions (taking advantage of Ngurii's benevolence) to keep the pace of nearby Powers’ advance.
Whether they are enemies, or almost friends, it matters little to the matriarch Zemina... in Checha she had to face the opposition of the jelly-haired Patreus. A direct clash that could end up further complicating the relationships between the chairs at the Imperial Court... even though the system hosts the HQ of the Dark Armada, an ancient secret society tied to the Empire. As has happened on other occasions (even recently), Synteini has always been open in expanding the internal network of relationships towards other Imperial affiliates. Whether it is mere proselytism or whether there is a well-aimed strategy behind it (
Angry Neighbors
The super-favorable background combination obviously gave a nice boost to our (
In Pemeowa, a tiny system controlled by the G.O.M. Collective (aligned with the Empire), simguru Antal and senator Patreus played their cards, but the system's bias ended up favoring Eotienses. The defeat did not provoke any reaction from Polevnic, as the successes achieved in other acquisitions (including those inside our range of attack, like Ezerishapa, HIP 100259 and HIP 104124) pushed any other negative news into the background.
Senator Patreus could probably have also obtained more significant numbers (having a merit bonus on rares for acquisitions), however he got "bogged down" in some long-lasting contested systems against the King of Pirates (see below), including Ancate, the second most intense of Cycle 35, after LHS 129 (Archer vs. Yong-Rui).
Pirates!
After the last cycles spent a bit "quietly", sorting out pirates' affairs at home, the time has come for the Crew to think less about repairs and more about new constructions. Frankly, it's not that they hadn't thought about it in the previous weeks, they simply preferred to deal with other strategic priorities (
So, priorities for the Cycle 35 were more or less set as follows: let's focus on acquisitions... but only after securing the new systems, especially Poseidon (upgraded to fortified), as it's in a key area, and countering widespread undermining (i.e. in LHS 4046, Badjarans, Albardhas, LTT 16422 and Turd Wu). We didn't really understand the rationale behind these low level attacks, given that the Ngurii rares trading route offered much better return. Anyway, overall reinforcements were just below 3 millions CPs, enough for what was needed... and onwards these will have to cope with the "decay factor".
The Crew had to quickly react in order to catch and beat Patreus’ at Ancate, a 12+ billions population agri-industrial system (controlled by the Winged Hussars), situated in the area around the Gandui stronghold, where Delaine did recently expand. Archon’s position was initially behind the opposition score, then he had to race until the controlling threshold was reached.
With 50k CPs of advantage, Harma almost thought it had secured the victory, but it was the first days of the Cycle and so the enemy would have had time to close the gap... among other things with the disappearance of the PCz the Crew would also have lost the main resource, and so it was: the Eotienses hauling fleet continued to push, and so the pirates were forced to react by moving part of the reinforcers to the system as well.
A necessary "sacrifice", but that translated into an alpha strike for over 700k CPs of advantage over the opposition… then the resources were redirected to other priorities, whilst a bunch of scallywags were tasked to control the situation (closing gap was just below 500k CPs). Other contested acquisitions required a “special pirate care service”, including a bunch of new colonies, as well as in Mochi, a small refinery system controlled by Coldsun Impireacht and where the Utopians were trying to set up a pivot point.
An undoubtedly tiring Cycle... and already last night the tables of the Wise Sharks tavern in Harma were full of noisy Kumo pirates. Some barrels of grand-reserve Harma Silver Rum, said to have been offered by one of the richest Arch-Corsairs, went empty to the last drop. Less "thriftiness" on acquisitions translates into more effort later on for reinforcements, and for that we have already prepared a list of priority targets below. In case rare commodities are not available, alternative routes have already been identified for some (follow Tortuga Radio Frequencies transmissions for updates)... happy reinforcements everybody!
Cycle 36: Preliminary Targets
Reinforce: Ancate, Mochi, Englar, Taurina, Ceti Sector RJ-Q b5-0, Tagoman, Krivia (new acquisitions).
Acquire (clearing the backlog): HIP 113699.
Undermine: OpSec
FOR THE ARCHON!!!
Source: Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/kumocrew/comments/1lqrdxe/cycle_35_that_race_should_never_have_gone_ahead/
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it's like trying to streal a toy from a rabid dog 