Mistakes Were Made - A Stellaris AAR (Image Heavy)

[trekfan]

Hello all! Welcome to Mistakes Were Made - a lighthearted AAR chronicling my journey to figure out exactly how to play this game. The bulk of my Stellaris playtime came during its first year or two on the market - back when the planets had tiles, when there were three FTL types, and when the borders were based on influence. Stellaris has come a long way since then, and I want to get back into this game and explore all that has been added in the time since, doubtlessly making lots of mistakes on the way. Before we begin, however, allow me to preemptively answer a couple questions you may have:

Q: Does this mean The Liberty Bell Rings is cancelled?
A: No. I fully intend to return to The Liberty Bell Rings at some point. However, that project has not been exciting for me for a while, and I'd like to get back into AAR writing with something more casual before delving back into it.

Q: Will this be in a similar format to The Liberty Bell Rings?
A: No - this AAR will have a casual tone and lots of screenshots. However, like The Liberty Bell Rings, I welcome any and all constructive criticism.

Q: Are you any good at Stellaris?
A: The bulk of what I know about playing on the recent patches comes from YouTube videos. We're about to find out how effective of a teaching tool that is.

Now, let's meet our empire:

I like playing human variations because I find it easier to engage with this kind of game if the "main characters," so to speak, are human. Perhaps I am just a boring person. I went with the standard human trait set-up - not optimized, but not that bad either. I went with the Imperial ship types because they are new and they look cool (or at least the science ship does). We are a Megacorporation, which I have never played before. I would assume they are about making lots of money, so they can't be that bad. I don't know which civics are good so I picked the ones that looked useful and/or fun.

Here are the game settings. Note I put scaling difficulty on. In the past I have gotten very bored in the midgame due to me steamrolling past the AI. I'm hoping this will help keep things interesting.

 

[trekfan]

Our position in the galaxy, and our neighborhood within it. I think (?) being near the rim is good as it is more defensible. But, we'll see what happens.

Our starting research. I won't show most techs - just the significant ones.

Our glorious CEO. The other trait gives a bonus to mineral production. Not bad at all.

It's not long before we discover a habitable world, right on Earth's doorstep. The shareholders are practically salivating at the economic opportunities this planet will bring. It surely won't be long until we discover other intelligent life...

And we find another habitable world, again close to Earth.

I go with Discovery for our first tradition. I figure that, with all of the surveying and exploring going on in the early game, there a lot to gain from taking this early. Megacorporations get a special building that gives Unity, Society research, and Trade Value. I go on to build a couple of them on our worlds, which should give our Unity production a nice boost.

We rolled the Cybrex. I think that's one of the better precursors.

+35% survey speed sounded pretty good to me.

Our first colony makes planetfall in Alpha Centauri.

Aliens! Intelligent aliens! Just, not as intelligent as we are. As we are Fanatic Xenophiles, of course we want good relations with this civilization. Unfortunately, we can't build a corporate branch office on a primitive world. If only there were something we could do about that...

The next tradition.

Mysterious aliens! Not that I would ever bring out of character knowledge into a game like this, but I don't think we'll be able to trade with them either...

Our first colony is all grown up. That nice physics modifier screams "tech-world."

Continuing with the traditions.

It seems that these drones will not be interested in our goods after all.

Our second colony in the Sirius system is up and running. Looks like another tech-world to me.

Another tradition.

Our first factions. So long as they don't misbehave, they should help with our influence generation.

We begin the enlightenment process. Soon, Courus IV will be an open market for Human traders.

We finish off Discovery traditions and get to pick an Ascension perk. I opt for Technological Ascendancy. The sooner we get that research bonus, the better.

Spooky.

We finally meet another space-faring civilization! Unfortunately, Fallen Empires don't want to host corporate branch offices. Vool space entirely blocks us off from the Eastern half of the galaxy, so I redirected the science ship West. At least they are friendly...

On the bright side, we find a ruined Sentry Array right next to our space. I wonder what destroyed it? I'm sure it has nothing to do with the tomb world in the same system.

Eh, not that spooky.

Tradition time. I opt for Expansion because there are a lot of outposts to build. Even a small discount will save us a lot of influence.

In the blink of an eye, the 20-year tenure of Santiago Solano as our CEO is over. Annoyingly, his elected replacement is one of my experienced scientists from an exploration ship. So I have to replace him. Given our lack of enemies, Warlike doesn't do much for us at the moment. His other trait gives a discount to colony ships, but we haven't found any more worlds suited to humans. Swell.

 

[Nikolai]

Go go Amazon-Disney corporation!

 

[trekfan]

We find a mysterious purple space station.

We research robots. I immediately build robot assembly plants on all of our planets. The more pops, the better. Once I get Droid tech, I should be able to colonize the low-habitability worlds in my space. More resources, please!

Our good friends, the Vool, request that we donate one of our pops to ensure the preservation of the human species, should our empire collapse. Now, my first instinct was to punch Mr. Vool over here in the nose. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he has a nose, so that option is out. After consulting with the shareholders, I decide that one pop is worth ensuring good relations with a Fallen Empire. Someday that pop is going to come home, though, one way or the other.

First contact with the Artisan Troupe. Being enlightened creatures, they offer a few things to buy from them. I buy some of their stuff to increase Unity production and to improve relations. If we can get relations about +50, we'll be able to build an Art College on the starbase we will eventually have in their system, which generates even more Unity.

Reject modernity; embrace tradition.

We meet the Caravaneers. I'm not really sure what the deal is with them. They offered to sell me a trinket that didn't seem all that useful, so I declined.

Welcome to the civilized galaxy, Rethellians! I looked forward to our profitable relationship. Now, about that branch office...

Oh. It seems our reptilian friends here became a little too civilized. They became a Megacorporation, and you can't open corporate branch offices on the planets of other Megacorporations. This is... unfortunate. Oh well, at least we have a new friend. Since they are a subsidiary subject, they pay me energy credits every month. However, I cannot integrate them. Ugh. Mistakes were made.

Another tradition down.

Without doubt, the worst pirates I've ever heard of.

We find an ocean world. It's small and pretty far away from our core territories, but a planet is a planet.

I wish there were more tradition trees. As it is, every empire will eventually get every tradition, just in a different order. Some more variety would be nice, and would give players more meaningful choices.

If the galaxy explodes in 42 years and 3 days, at least we know why.

Our heroic CEO suddenly passes away. Presumably to honor them, the board elects another one of my experienced front-line scientists, meaning I have to replace them again.

We find more primitives, this time on a tropical world. I decide to uplift them as well. I don't know if all primitives I uplift will become Megacorporations, or if I just got unlucky with the Rethellians. Only one way to find out.

Something something tradition.

A nerd faction spawns. Hopefully they won't cause too much trouble.

Okay, I'll just stay out then.

An alien ship!

Corporate branch office, here we come!

See, selling our population isn't always a bad thing.

Would you know it, another tradition!

Looks like our new friends finished the first contact before we did. No matter! Let's meet the neighbors!

They seem to be about the same size as we are. Which means they should have plenty of planets just waiting to watch The Little Mermaid for the first time.

I finish off Expansion and take Universal Transactions in preparation for these branch offices.

...
...
...


...
Damn...

 

[Tim0307]

Bummer with the rivalry declaration! Nice AAR so far!

 

[HistoryDude]

In the future, Amazon and Disney bought the world? Not really surprised.

Good start.

 

[trekfan]

Well, it looks like we have an urgent need for information about our rivals, so I authorize a mission to gather intelligence. Cloaked by the radiation from a solar storm, specialized corporate operatives (or, "interns") will venture into Xanid space on a fact finding mission. Armed with Blu-rays of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, they should be able to bribe their way out of any sticky situations.

A natural wormhole on the cusp of our space. I'll have to remember this for later.

We humiliate some more pirates.

I go for Diplomacy traditions next. I want to form a Trade League with my uplifted primitives.

Speaking of which, welcome aboard Armonicans!

One of the interns survived and brought back some valuable intelligence. It seems that our technology is superior to our rivals'. No word about their fleet, though.

Our colonists on the ocean world find abandoned alien terraforming equipment, apparently still waiting to complete its assignment. I choose to let the terraforming process continue - let's see what happened!

Well, that's not great. Our species is not suited for this - habitability low and our colonists struggle to survive, much less produce anything. Mistakes were made.

Hey, not cool!

Let's form a Trade League!

Ah, a new era of galactic peace and cooperation! And profits!

...
Or not.

 

[Macavity116]

It was all going so well until the Xanids showed up.

 

[trekfan]

Okay, so our tactical situation is... not great.

Here is the battlefield. One advantage we have is my strategic expansion towards choke points. I have built fortified star bases in the Segathia and Hauer systems. Segathia isn't fully upgraded yet, but it will be in a matter of days. Both star bases will have enough power to stop a medium-sized fleet. Hopefully this will buy some time.

The corporate fleet. We don't know the size of the enemy fleet, but it's safe to assume that they wouldn't have attacked if they didn't think they have an advantage.

There's another problem, too. The fleet is currently stationed in Sol, and it will take years to reach the front lines. In that time, there will be nothing but star bases to oppose the invaders.

Time to set the war goal. Throughout the war, I will place claims on Xanid border systems. They need to be punished for their transgressions.

The first sighting of the Xanid fleet. Surely they have more waiting.

War won't stop our traditions.

That is... considerably larger than our fleet.

With no reinforcements from our fleet, the Hauer system Bastion falls. The Southern corridor into Amazon-Disney Space now lies open.

Some good news, though! We manage to finish the Precursor chain and locate the Cybrex home system.

Not a bad find! Being able to get a quick 5000 alloys is a nice ace-in-the-hole to have. Which is why I completely forgot about it for the rest of the war.

It seems other species are rising against Xanid oppression. Anything that draws their fleets away is okay with me.

I use the unity from the Cybrex event to plow through some more traditions.

At last, the fleet is here! You can see we have a lot of work to do, but at least now we can fight back!

We manage to cut off one of the Xanid fleets. Led by a newly commissioned Cruiser, we tear them apart. Eat that!

Our CEO unfortunately does not live to see the end of the war. She is replaced by someone with a research bonus though, so I'm not too sad.

It seems one of the members of our trade league has been busy. Our fleet continues to mop up captured outposts in the South.

Eviscerated.

The fleet has pushed the Xanid back in the South, but now we have a problem. The Hauer Bastion has been repaired and threatens to halt our progress. Equivalent in power to our fleet, any attempt to retake the station will be bloody. That's what I get for trying to be prepared.

After finishing off Diplomacy traditions, I take Galactic Force Projection. The Amazon-Disney Corporation will never be caught off guard again.

We retake Hauer with acceptable losses. I pause the offensive to allow time for repairs.

Unfortunately, the Xanid have been busy. Somehow, they managed to slip by the Segathia Bastion and now have free access to the North. Ugh.

Take that!

Ha ha ha... no.

Allies are driving deep into Xanid space. The corporate fleet is not far behind.

Contact with another empire! After the war is over, we'll see about corporate branch offices.

Our forces occupy two Xanid colonies. They will make fine additions to the Amazon-Disney Corporation.

Prosperity is next.

The Xanid surrender, ceding several border systems. They'll think twice about attacking again!

The new border. Note the two colonies in the Havonchir system.

 

[Surt]

You could really use some gateways!

 

[trekfan]

A better picture of the post-war borders. Not too shabby, but I definitely want to fill in those gaps.

During the war, I unlocked the tech that gives an extra civic slot. Now, it's time to reform! I figure more diplomatic weight will be useful to leverage the soon-to-be-founded Galactic Community. The envoys are nice too.

We bring in the Caretakers as associates of the Trade League. This gives me enough intel to get a clearer look at them and, tragically, they have the Inward Perfection civic. This means that they are locked out of most diplomacy and I cannot open branch offices on their worlds.

Speaking of the Trade League, I push through a longer term for the president. I don't intend to lose the presidency. Ever.

We meet the Curators, and I immediately buy access to their data banks. I will renew this throughout the rest of the game.

It seems we are not the only humans! Descendants of a lost colony, the Commonwealth of Man has established a military dictatorship and seems to have established itself as a regional power. Don't know what they are prattling on about, with this "UN" thing. Due to the Vool, we do not share a border despite our proximity.

Tradition, get!

One of our worlds had pre-sapients, and I turned them into customers.

Another new contact - they aren't too friendly.

Another tradition.

A rash decision to inject every human with alien space juice pays off! I doubt this is the best result, but I'll take it!

The whale probe from Star Trek IV - I mean, the Enigmatic Cache - stops by our space.

It seems the Commonwealth of Man has some internal dissent! One of their colonies revolted and formed their own megacorporation, doubtlessly emulating us. The Commonwealth is letting them go, for now, so welcome to the galaxy!

 

[Nikolai]

More traders in the galaxy surely will profit us all.

 

[Surt]

One of our worlds had pre-sapients, and I turned them into customers.

They might buy the wrong products if they remained uninformed.

 

[ZeeHero]

Had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong!

 

[Macavity116]

Had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong!

Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients; sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps.

 

[ZeeHero]

FROM PROTEIN WE ARE FOOOOOORMED!

 

[trekfan]

The vile Xanid move against their rebels.

New friends! Or perhaps not - their fanatic egalitarianism is at odds with our own authoritarianism. We might have to educate them.

Keeping on with the traditions.

Vile Xanid.

We establish a branch office on Unity, capital of the Commonwealth of Man. Soon our lost colony will rediscover many cinematic masterpieces, available for a low, low price!

It seems we have a new world to colonize! Not bad at all.

The trade league reaches Level 2, so it's time to push through some reforms.

A new market? Intriguing!

The birth of the Galactic Community provides an unparalleled opportunity to develop commercial ties across the galaxy. We immediately propose Buzzword Standardization to facilitate the flow of commerce.

 

[trekfan]

It seems we have some more neighbors!

Guess what? A tradition!

We meet another Fallen Empire. Thankfully they are pretty far away.

The Commonwealth of Man becomes an associate to the Trade League. This will facilitate free trade and, someday, political integration. Hopefully.

Some new reforms drastically changes the Federation presidency. Now, the office will go to the highest bidder. As is proper.

Time for an Ascension Perk! I picked Mastery of Nature because... well, because I confused it for one of the genetic engineering perks. Oops. Mistakes were made.

Always happy to help...

Hail the Glorious CEO!

I find a relic that periodically reveals new resource deposits in my space. It's not all that great, but it is pretty neat.

I nominate Earth as the seat of the Galactic Market. This would be a boon to our economy.

I switch my war philosophy in preparation for my super-secret-ultra-sneaky plan to deal with the vile Xanid once and for all.

Harmony next.

Excellent.

We manage to force Buzzword Standardization into law.

Always happy to help...

Well that was rude.

Good night, sweet prince.

Tradition, get!

As you can see, the new system is behaving rationally.

Never forget.

On the bright side, the newly not-a-megacorp Colony gets a shiny new branch office.

A new world! I never really got the hang of how to effectively use these things, so we'll see how this goes.

Ah, utopia!

Further galactic deregulation will allows us to more effectively serve the customers of this galaxy.

Long live the CEO!

 

[trekfan]

Dude, uncool!

The Trade League levels up, and we centralize our control even more. Oops, did that sound sinister?

Operation Super Sneaky Plan is a go! Winning an ideology war, which as far as I can tell is only accessible with the Liberation War philosophy, will allow me to do a bit of completely benign regime change. I can put a MegaCorp in control of the Xanid, who I can then bring into my recently-centralized Trade League.

Tradition.

Continuing to centralize the Federation.

Tradition.

The Xanid capital falls. We far outclass them at this point, so the war is not a challenge.

Two more habitats come online.

Terraforming project completed.

An archealogical dig ends up giving us a new governor! Not good for research, but the stability is nice. And this "Oracle" is immortal. Neat.

Another Ascension Perk - I pick Voidborne to improve my habitats.

Uh oh. Thankfully they are far away from me.

I turn the newly terraformed world into a Resort World to boost every other planet's amenities.

The Great Khan chooses to genocide a hive mind.

I unlock the Ascension Theory technology for a free Ascension Perk. However, I don't make my choice right away.

The Great Khan continues their rampage.

We're going Domination next.

The Second Xanid War concludes with a friendly government being installed. Rejoice, for the Xanid are finally free.

 

[Surt]

We manage to force Buzzword Standardization into law.

An not a day too late ...