Jump 146: Sins of a Solar Empire

Jump #146: Sins of a Solar Empire
>Knight of Wands (A hot temper and domineering nature, coupled with a love of false drama and all things theatrical.)
A jumper not showing his hand? Say it ain't so.
>Faction: TEC
>Homeworld: Oceanic
>Drawbacks: Lost Titan (+800)
Titans? Let me look at these things ... ... ... oh. Oh hell, this is going to be ugly, isn't it?
>Deep Core Metal Mining (1700)
Oh, better mining techniques. Very handy, and useful since I basically have to spend the entire jump building up this faction's military at a breakneck pace without killing the economy.
>Rapid Development (1600)
Well, of course speeding up construction is a good idea.
>Modular Architecture (1500)
And designing things so that they are easier to build and easier to maintain seems obvious.
>Civilian Ship Safety Act (1400)
Look, we're part of an interstellar war. If they don't want to put shields on their freighters, they don't get to leave the gravity well with them.
>Titano-Ferric Plating (1300, Loyalist)
Again, interstellar war. Better armor is a must.
>Expert Damage Control (1200, Loyalist)
And being able to fix damage as it occurs is equally important.
>Impact Analysis (1100, Loyalist)
Again, better hulls. One might think I intend to turtle, but no - I intend to roll out a steady wall of steel for the enemy to break against and be forced to fall back.
>Shield Generator (800)
Planet-wide shields, eh? Sounds useful. I'd like to study these for further refinement later... a pity I didn't have them in earlier jumps.
>Argonev Starbase (0)
Ah, now this is a thing of GREAT interest to me. We're going to make sure every single planet has one of these, if I can help it...
>Ship Budget (+1000)
>Shriken Corvette (Free)
>Arcova Scout Frigate (Free)
>Cobalt Light Frigate (Free)
I'm not going to say no to free ship designs. I am going to have to introduce people to the concept of point defenses, though.
>Javelis LRM Frigate (950)
LRMs? Yes, a good tool to hit the enemy from long range.
>Garda Flak Frigate (900)
Anti-fighter frigates? I'll be building many of these. Fighters are annoying, anyway. Wonder if they're effective against incoming missiles from afar?
>Hishiko Robotics Cruiser (800)
Having the means to repair the fleet while it's underway is helpful.
>Cielo Command Cruiser (700)
Well, every fleet needs command.
>Kodiak Heavy Cruiser (500)
I have heard very good things about these ships. We'll see how they go.
>Ogrov Torpedo Cruiser (300)
And, again, something to hit the enemies with from afar.
>Akkan Battlecruiser (x2) (First two free)
And the first two are definitely going to help me expand my empire at a rapid clip.
>Marza Dreadnought (0)
The big guns, and the backbone of the primary fleet. Should be very useful.

Now... this jump wasn't as easy as I hoped. Still, went rather well, and up until the Titan showed up, the Advent and Vasari were getting their asses handed to them. TEC rebels... well, perhaps not so much, but quite honestly I was happy to live and let live with them. Right up until the damned Titan appeared, like I said.

Now, I managed to kill that sucker. It ended up causing the death of three quarters of my fleet and the Marza, but it did eventually explode. I immediately set to rebuilding the fleet, but in the midst of rebuilding, the Scabites came in like the damned Mongol hordes. I met their numbers with my own and drowned them in frigates, and while that worked just fine to deal with many of them, the rest of my fleet was pretty much wiped out - I pulled the Akkans back but I was left with perhaps five percent of what my fleet was at its peak, by the time those two Titans were dealt with.

I lost so many planets after that. Not all of them, but more than enough to push me back badly. Rebel scum. If it weren't for the end of my jump coming due and the fact that I was sticking with local tech... I'm not sure I would have been able to get a legitimate victory here.