Hunt for Zsinj (Maldrood, Cruel)

[turtle225]

Dang this is tough. Anyone try this?

Had one of the most fun campaigns I've ever run on this even though I lost. I apologize for spelling errors in advance.

You have to defend 6 border worlds: Centares, Columex (or Antemeridias), Roche, Togoria, Kashyyyk, and Bimmisari and you only really start with enough units for two fleets. Further, you face a 3 pronged attack from the NR, Empire, and Zsinj who are all very aware that you are vulnerable and feel no shame in ganking. With two fleets you can defend 4 of those worlds by having one fleet guard two at a time but that leaves Roche and Bimmisari exposed which led to my downfall.

Spent the first few turns selling nearly all of my ground buildings to get taxes and Hypervelocity Guns. Blitzed Kashyyyk and Antemeridias.

Early on Zsinj gave me a lot of trouble. He caught me on Columex  and I was forced to go for it because your fleet spawns so far forward on that map that he literally killed Larm before I could issue a command. Managed to kill him through the power of Crimson Vics but lost most of the fleet including the Allegiance hero (forgot his name) and Larm but thankfully Teradoc just barely survived. I ceded Columex and fell back to Antemeridias where I had the Teradoc brothers commanding what was left of that fleet.

The female hero that starts at Columex I moved to command the fleet over by Togoria/Kashyyyk. That fleet took a large beating when it was forced to fight Han, Wedge, and Tycho at Kashyyyk. Opening seconds I actually one shot Chewie in the Falcon with an H-Gun blast I aimed at Han so that was fun. Killed the Rogues but had to flee the battle. Luke led the ground assault and I literally had to survive for like 20 minutes with almost no units, dodging bombers and bombardments, against never ending Wookies while Luke cloaked around and played a very smart coward. Somehow he was still dumb enough to let me kill him and win. Got space control back and later killed Rogriss when he showed up with an imperial stack. Idk if Han died somewhere, I never saw him again though despite the NR constantly hammering me.

Despite taking some losses here and there I was holding on quite strong for awhile. I think my biggest mistake was investing too heavily into Validusia Space Stations. I managed to get 4 of them which is about 34000 credits at the discount. If I try this again I think I would rather grab two Golans instead or rather some more ships. Four Crimson Vics have to be better than the station and they have the benefit of being mobile for counterattacks if necessary. When I did finally lose Bimm and Roche my fleets were too worn down to do swift counterattacks, and once the border fell the inner worlds were defensless leading to my resignation.

As I mentioned before, Roche and Bimmisari are the problem worlds. They are too far away for your two fleets to support. The NR ignored Bimm for quite awhile which is good. If I try again I won't even bother caring about space there at all. The ground map has an extremely good shield generator placement (which I found out thanks to the NR who took it briefly and built one) so I think just defending it on the ground might be totally viable. With a ground defense at Bimm and spending that 34k on a third fleet  instead of space stations maybe I will have a better shot.

Anyway, thanks for reading. If anyone is looking for a challenge, give this one a try.

[turtle225]

Ran it again and it went much better this time. Things went a little different. Empire seems completely inactive when last time they were doing work. NR hasn't been as aggressive toward me either.

You actually do start with enough units to run 3 fleets as long as none of your fleets gets blown out early. So Togoria (also guards Kashyyyk), Roche, and Columex (also guards Centares) are the hold points. Bimm we ignore because NR won't attack there until like week 20. You also start with a very generous 27,000 credits to get going.

Teradoc's fleet takes Antimeridias as your first move so you can get the economy hero as soon as possible. His first job is to get 2 H-Guns and 2 Golans at Columex. Teradoc's fleet then holds on Columex because Zsinj himself will attack here before week 10. The Economy hero goes around getting double H-Guns on Centares, Kashyyyk and Togoria. Next priority was getting one level 2 or 3 Golan on each border, and then getting each fleet to 120, and then getting a second Golan and Validusia on each border, finally get an interdictor into each fleet because at this point I was strong enough to want to trap things.

Zsinj himself did indeed attack Columex before week 10 but I was ready for him. Even better a Raid fleet spawned right behind him and blew out his engines so he never even made it to my Golans and ended up attempting to retreat after I destroyed his pals thus removing himself from the game. Unlike last time he didn't start in range of my fleet either so I was able to safely pull them away to the Golans. Defeating Zsinj and his pals with no losses is a gift.

NR attack on Kashyyyk was less fierce this time. Since my guard fleet was on Togoria, Han apparently thought he could take Kashyyyk with a 70 pop fleet. But when he arrives my 120 Togoria fleet is there to welcome him. With those two attacks beaten back I got a lot of breathing room and since I hadn't lost any ships I was in a really good position. The Empire like I said seems silent this time. Only fighting two enemies instead of three is a lot easier.

After I had my Interdictors, Zsinj goes after Centares with a 260 pop fleet that I completely destroyed without losses. The majority of the fleet was Quasars, Neutron Stars, CR90's, and Nebulons which aren't very threatening when he only has a handful of good combat ships to hold the line.

Eventual attack on Bimm was way different this time. Last time they crushed it with a 100 pop fleet and this time its just 20. I scouted Mon Calamari and there's not much there either. Idk why this turned out so different. I just swatted it back and I'm in the process of building my 4th fleet which is going to go take Mon Cal since my guard fleets are doing just fine and I have all of my defensive stations. I'm in a very good position this time and have probably turned the corner where not much can threaten me.

When Zsinj dies the CSA takes control of Etti IV but they need a lot of help. I'm not sure how the script works or how much you can give them as an emerging faction, but as it is right now they just die immediately.

I know that the Hapans are getting some work in 2.4. Will they get separated as their own faction on this conquest or will they still be merged into the NR? If you separate them idk how you prevent the NR and Hapans from attacking eachother which would be a problem. As it is right now the NR and Empire attack eachother when they aren't supposed to until Zsinj dies.