-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
You know those people who always complain about how you never hold parties, and then every time you do throw a party they complain about how lame the party is? I'm beginning to get the sense that the Zhun-Kirs populace are something like those people.
Defensive alliance, shmefensive dalliance. This Council of Otaku or whatever they call themselves are just begging to be defeated en detail. Show them the might of the indefatigable Zhun-Kir fleet!
Well General Tupam is quite sympathetic to the people's wants - he just needs to be sure the Zhun-Khirs win.
The job of running the Zhun-Khirs League is not an enviable one, it's true!
Exactly right!
This is the conclusion that our fearless General may be about to come to. Update coming up...
How to Lose Friends and Influence People
(2270-2282)
(2270-2282)
At the end of the last episode we left General Tupam deliberating as to whether the Zhun-Khirs Fleet was as yet strong enough to declare war on the Aruchetteans and their allies, the Drutheans and the Blanvoq. He was of course Commissary-General, but he tended to drop the Commissary prefix since everyone already knew him simply as “General Tupam”. He decided he needed more intelligence regarding the Blanvoq and Druthean military capabilities, and so he ordered the ZLS Existential Tourist to undertake a spying mission through their empires to find out more. Unlike the Aruchetteans, neither of these empires had closed their borders to the Zhun-Khirs.
What the Existential Tourist discovered was encouraging. The Blanvoq Fleet looked to be no match for the Zhun-Khirs Fleet, and the Druthean Fleet was even smaller. As long as the three enemy fleets were not allowed to join forces in a concerted counter-attack, the war should be a piece of cake.
The Druthean Fleet spotted above one of their eight planets
By the middle of 2277 the Fleet and Army were in position at the edge of Aruchettean space and General Tupam, now re-elected for a second term in office, contacted Ceecs of the Pale Brothers, Commissary-General of the Blanvoq Independent Alliance, to try to limit the diplomatic fallout.
Ceecs of the Pale Brothers: Ah, Commissary-General Tupam, how nice to see you.
General Tupam: The pleasure is mine, Commissary-General Ceecs.
Ceecs of the Pale Brothers: And what can I do for you?
General Tupam: Well, really I was just wanting to give you a heads up about something we're planning to do in the near future.
Ceecs of the Pale Brothers: Oh – what's that, then? Another invitation to a war, perhaps? Sorry we couldn't help the last time.
General Tupam: Ahem, well, close, but not exactly.
Ceecs of the Pale Brothers: Oh, what then?
General Tupam: We're about to declare war on you, actually.
Ceecs of the Pale Brothers: What? But we have a Defensive Pact! A Migration Treaty!
General Tupam: Yes, well that's the thing, see. I'm afraid you seem to have been a little over-enthusiastic with your Defensive Pacts. We're not actually going to declare war on you, exactly, just on your friends those repugnant Aruchetteans. And we expect you'll be in the war on their side.
Ceecs of the Pale Brothers: Ah – right. I see.
General Tupam: So you see, it's nothing personal. And anyway, I'd say there's no real need for us to come to blows at all. I mean, you'd probably like to keep your nice fleet intact, right?
Ceecs of the Pale Brothers: Well, yes, if you put it that way.
General Tupam: You wouldn't actually consider it worth getting it badly smashed up just to defend a bunch of stinky, whining fungoids, would you?
Ceecs of the Pale Brothers: Well, protocol doesn't really permit me to say one way or the other, but I can see your point.
General Tupam: Excellent, Commissary-General. I knew we'd see eye to eye on this one.
And so General Tupam declared war on the Aruchetteans, and the Drutheans and the Blanvoq came to their ally's defence, at least they claimed to be doing so.
A response from the whining fungoids
General Tupam's demands were once again the complete annexation of the Aruchettean Polity into the Zhun-Khirs League. They had just six inhabited planets, five in the main sector of their space, and then the one outlier in the Baggol system.
Admiral Nasi took the Zhun-Khirs Fleet of 12 Cruisers, 24 Destroyers and 48 Corvettes to the Eknyugal system where he encountered the far smaller Aruchettean Fleet and quickly wiped it out, with the loss of 8 Zhun-Khirs Corvettes. He then set about bombarding, invading and capturing the five planets in this main sector. Within two years, all five were in Zhun-Khirs hands.
Another Aruchettean Spaceport comes under fire from the Zhun-Khirs Advanced Railguns
Meanwhile, unsurprisingly the Blanvoq were nowhere to be seen. More surprisingly, neither were the Drutheans. Apparently they also valued their precious ships more than their friendship with the fungoids. Admiral Nasi had expected to have to make a detour to deal with the Drutheans, who could easily have taken out a few Zhun-Khirs Spaceports and Orbital Stations, but instead he pushed straight on to Baggol. By the middle of 2280, that planet was also captured and General Tupam decided to make an offer to President Poobala of the Aruchetteans.
General Tupam: Now then, President Poobala, where were we? You were just saying that your forces were ready for us. Those were your words, weren't they? Where exactly are your forces now?
President Poobala: Treacherous murderers! I don't need to waste my time speaking to the likes of you! The blood of our innocent people is on your hands!
General Tupam: Innocent people? We've only been killing the members of your armed forces. A perfectly legitimate wartime activity.
President Poobala: And what about the millions of civilians who have perished under your brutal orbital bombardments?
General Tupam: Oh yes, them too I suppose. Collateral damage and all that.
President Poobala: We will never surrender to war criminals!
General Tupam: Ahem, well, you don't actually have any planets left under your control.
President Poobala: We have our allies! You must reckon with them first!
General Tupam: Oh yes, my apologies. It had somewhat slipped my mind that you had allies. Now why on earth could that be? Oh, maybe because they don't seem to have lifted a finger to help you in the last three years.
President Poobala: They merely bide their time, you despicable butchers! Even now they are preparing to strike back!
President Poobala was nothing if not stubborn, and so Admiral Nasi was obliged to take the Fleet around to pay the Drutheans a visit. By the beginning of 2282 two of their planets had also been captured. The Druthean Fleet had been spotted lurking in the area, but it had managed to keep well away from the Zhun-Khirs Fleet and made no attempt to invade Zhun-Khirs space. President Poobala was forced to accept the painful truth – his so-called “allies” were not going to be of any help. He surrendered unconditionally, and the Aruchettean Polity became history.
Following the war, the Zhun-Khirs seemed to be shunned by the rest of the galaxy. Apparently their treatment of the Arkattaaq and the Aruchetteans was considered rather anti-social. Everyone seemed to hate them now, apart from the Elemmilan Watchers who apparently had no opinion at all. For most Zhun-Khirs, this was a perfectly acceptable state of affairs. Warmongering bullies are always going to face persecution for their beliefs and actions. It simply made it all the more likely that more wars would be coming along in the future.
Last edited:
The Empire Eaters
(2282-2300)
(2282-2300)
The Zhun-Khirs as a race were now in fact a minority within their own empire. Only about one in four citizens was actually a Zhun-Khirs, and they were outnumbered by both the Arkattaaq and the Aruchetteans. It might be expected that this would create the makings of a people's uprising on a massive scale, as these subject races rose up in rebellion against their hated overlords. But this was not, in fact, the case.
To understand why, we must recall that the Zhun-Khirs League was a very egalitarian society. Every conquered race was immediately granted full citizenship and guaranteed a decent standard of living. The Aruchetteans, at least those Aruchetteans who had survived the horrific orbital bombardment of every one of their planets, were a case in point. Unlike the Arkattaaq, they did not actually seem too upset at finding themselves in the Zhun-Khirs League. General Tupam did not even need to station garrison forces on their planets in the aftermath of the war. Most likely, being in the League was considered to be a lot safer than being in an empire on its borders.
Thus the years following the Aruchettean War were a period of peace and prosperity. To the Zhun-Khirs, peace was simply seen as the waiting period between wars, and prosperity was merely a means to build up the Fleet to ever greater size and capability. To everyone else, peace and prosperity were perfectly OK for their own sake. To the Zhun-Khirs' neighbours, it made for an ominous interlude.
To keep the Zhun-Khirs happy, General Tupam continued with the long-standing “Crystal War”. By 2291 the Fleet, now equipped with Shields and Gauss Cannon, were able to take on the Crystal hordes and the Crystal Nidus in the Nalitia system. Following their destruction, there were no other known Crystals anywhere in the galaxy, and the Crystal War was deemed to be over. There were still other unwanted aliens around: pirates, space amoebas and void clouds, and the “Pesky Aliens War” continued as Admiral Nasi took the Fleet around mopping up these undesirables one by one.
The last hours of the Crystal Nidus
But these of course were not “real wars”, and General Tupam was only killing time until he could go to war against his two neighbours once more. He now had the Drutheans in his sights, and it seemed a reasonable bet that, if he didn't attack the Blanvoq, and did not demand any of their worlds as war goals, they would once again stay out of any hostilities.
In 2293 all was ready. The main Fleet now numbered 18 Cruisers, 36 Destroyers and 72 Corvettes, and even as war was declared a Reserve Fleet was being assembled. The Drutheans had eight inhabited planets, but unfortunately only seven of them could be demanded as war goals, so wholesale annexation of the Drutheans would have to wait for the time being.
NB Galactic “north” is to the left in this chart
As can be seen, the Drutheans were by now severely hemmed in not only by the Zhun-Khirs, whom they had foolishly declared to be their rivals in 2288, but also by their supposed “allies”, the Blanvoq, who had left them no room for expansion in the other direction. In 2293 General Tupam declared war and sent the Fleet and Army into Druthean space. The Druthean Fleet advanced to meet them. The first two Druthean planets had been bombarded and captured, with the usual rhetoric about atrocities and war crimes being bandied about in the Druthean media, before the two fleets met in the Ratladn system. The Drutheans were totally annihilated, with no losses on the Zhun-Khirs side.
The Blanvoq, who up till now had kept well out of things, continued to do so. It took the capture of three more Druthean planets before General Tupam received a message of surrender from Reverend Elder Bazoshk of the Drutheans. The Zhun-Khirs League grew by another seven fully populated planets in one fell swoop.
But what of the Zhun-Khirs other neighbours? Was nobody going to stand up to what was now known throughout the galaxy as the hideous League of Evil? We must take a look to see who might be in a position to do so.
The galaxy in 2300
The Zhun-Khirs League had now become a bloated horror, occupying a vast swathe of the galaxy. In ten years time, the Blanvoq, and the last vestiges of the Drutheans (now a Blanvoq vassal) were likely to have been swallowed up and absorbed into the League, where they would no doubt become model citizens.
The Chokelk Covenant were growing distinctly uneasy, but had so far not joined any Defensive Pact. The Endanardan Union were the closest thing to friends that the League still had, offering occasional exchanges of star charts and supplies of strategic resources. The Coalition of Lem, the Hentan Combine and the Empire of Soseptemwy were unanimous in their denunciation of Zhun-Khirs aggression, but they were all relatively far away, and none could equal the League in military power.
That only left the two so-called “stagnant ascendancies”, the Elemmilan Watchers and the Human Shard. With both of these somewhat unknown players the League could be said to be sailing rather close to the wind. The vast uninhabited stretch of the Elemmilan Arm which can be seen in the chart above was completely devoid of habitable planets. There was just one planet, a desert world, right on the borders of Elemmilan space, and it had now been colonized by the Zhun-Khirs. The Elemmilan had so far not reacted to this provocation in any way. Meanwhile the Endanardans were playing the same game on their opposite frontier.
As for the Human Shard, the League had not yet expanded in that direction, but General Tupam certainly had plans to do so. There were five habitable planets between the League and the Humans, one of which was already home to a race of primitives, who would of course be delighted to be incorporated into the League as soon as the assault divisions got around to this task.
What the rest of the galaxy wanted to know was whether either of these two stagnant powers would reawaken to save the galaxy in its hour of need? And if they did, would the galaxy actually be saved, or would the awakened giants subject it to an even worse fate? Or, horror of horrors, would the Zhun-Khirs “League of Evil” prove a match even for them as well?
Last edited:
Mmm, I think I have some advice for the denizens of this galaxy.
Do not trust humanity. *whistles*
Do not trust humanity. *whistles*
But, once all the creatures, nations, and factions are eaten by this jollified, gladiatorial roman empire simulacrum you've created, what then?
If they awaken soon, they might at least be trusted to save the galaxy from the depredations of the Zhun-Khirs, but beyond that, I agree - definitely not to be trusted!
Then of course we'll need to find a way to get to other galaxies - those Galactic Nomads seemed to have the secret, and if you recall, we have some of them in our empire now. In fact I have one of them as Head of Society Research at this very moment.
And a question for those more experienced than me. Is this normal behaviour on the part of Defensive Pact allies? I declare war on one empire that has one or more DPs with other empires, but I only claim war goals from the first one. The allies are individually inferior to me militarily, so, apparently they just do nothing. A bit of a disappointment for the Zhun-Khirs it has to be said, but on the other hand, it's exactly how I would behave in their place, so I can't really complain!
I have no experience of DP allies I am afraid. Federation allies in my 1.04 game were quite willing to engage in suicidal attacks on superior forces, but I haven't yet been in a proper war in a 1.05 game.And a question for those more experienced than me. Is this normal behaviour on the part of Defensive Pact allies? I declare war on one empire that has one or more DPs with other empires, but I only claim war goals from the first one. The allies are individually inferior to me militarily, so, apparently they just do nothing. A bit of a disappointment for the Zhun-Khirs it has to be said, but on the other hand, it's exactly how I would behave in their place, so I can't really complain!
That was my experience as well, so I would hope fighting a Federation is still pretty tough. What I don't remember is whether I was ever in this precise situation pre-Banks. It certainly seems to be a general rule in this game, i.e. DP allies will not take part in a war in which they stand to lose nothing, except their fleet if they send it into danger. As I've said, it seems sensible enough behaviour to me!
Giants in the Playground
(2300-2312)
(2300-2312)
ZLS Gentle Persuasion, the first Zhun-Khirs Battleship, built in 2301
In 2301 General Tupam died, after ruling as Commissary-General of the glorious and, to most other empires, extremely worrisome Zhun-Khirs League for over half a century. Once again it was time for the Shadow Council to pick a successor from among their number, and this time they made an unusual choice. Anait Nuria was the first female Commissary-General of the Zhun-Khirs League, former Governor of the Arkattaaq Sector, and leader of the Alien Rights Institute, a faction dedicated to securing equal rights for all races of the empire. But the main reason why she was chosen as the next Commissary-General was that she was also passionate about the Fleet. She did not simply want a Fleet capable of defeating the Blanvoq or the Chokelk. She wanted a Fleet that could stand up to the Humans or the Elemmilan, if ever that became necessary.
Meanwhile, that same year relations between the Zhun-Khirs League and the Blanvoq worsened even further when the Blanvoq declared the Zhun-Khirs as rivals, and signed a Defensive Pact with the Chokelk Covenant. This was only to be expected. It was obvious to any creature with half a brain that the Zhun-Khirs' next move would be to annex the Drutheans and the Blanvoq into their growing empire. The Blanvoq were obviously hoping that the Chokelk would come to their aid against the fearsome Zhun-Khirs war machine – something the Blanvoq themselves had of course signally failed to do for their own allies.
War could not be declared until 2305 when the truce ended, so Anait Nuria gave orders that the Fleet should finish clearing the pesky aliens from the empire, and from nearby regions which she intended to colonize in the near future. And then she ordered some massive training maoeuvres on the edge of Chokelk space, to send an unmistakable signal to the Chokelk that they would be foolish to intervene in the coming war.
Unfortunately the near-legendary Admiral Nasi, veteran of every war that the Zhun-Khirs League had fought so far, died while en route to these manoeuvres. This at least gave her the opportunity to become truly legendary, as all sorts of improbable tales of her amazing exploits began to circulate in the wake of her death. She was replaced by Admiral Qiga Cika, who was already a seasoned campaigner himself. The Chokelk naturally objected to the Zhun-Khirs manoeuvres in the strongest possible terms, and were completely ignored.
It was not until 2308 that the Fleet was back in position and ready to invade the Blanvoq Alliance. Anait Nuria contacted Commissary-General Gnaact in person to break the news.
Commissary-General Gnaact: What do you want, Zhun-Khirs?
Commissary-General Nuria: Oh dear, you seem a bit grumpy, Commissary-General. What's the matter?
Commissary-General Gnaact: The matter? I'll tell you what's the matter! Here we are stuck on this godforsaken end of a spiral arm, completely hemmed in by the bloated horror of the Zhun-Khirs League! How are we supposed to conduct our glorious crusade to rid the galaxy of injustice and oppression like this?
Commissary-General Nuria: Ah – yes, I can see that must seem a bit frustrating for you. But you've got your vassals the Drutheans of course.
Commissary-General Gnaact: The Drutheans do not practice injustice and oppression. In fact they are even more just and un-oppressive than we are!
Commissary-General Nuria: Well, what about the Chokelk Covenant? They're a bunch of slaving despots. You could rid the galaxy of them. Oh, but I forgot – you signed a Defensive Pact with them - that was kind of dumb, wasn't it?
Commissary-General Gnaact: We only did that to try to dissuade... certain empires... from declaring war on us. Of course, we wouldn't actually help them if anyone attacked them.
Commissary-General Nuria: Yes, we've noticed how much help you give your allies. Do you really think the Chokelk are any different from you?
Commissary-General Gnaact: Are you threatening us?
Commissary-General Nuria: Ah, well – now we come to the real business in hand. You'll perhaps have noticed our gigantic Fleet poised on the borders of your vassal's space.
Comissary-General Gnaact: Well, you can annex the Drutheans if you must. Just leave us alone!
Commissary-General Nuria: Oh dear, I'm afraid that wasn't our plan at all. In fact what I really wanted to give you was my congratulations.
Comissary-General Gnaact: Congratulations? What are you talking about?
Commissary-General Nuria: You're about to become the thirteenth race in our empire. Unlucky for some, if you're the superstitious type, but I wouldn't think you are, are you Commissary-General?
Comissary-General Gnaact: You're going to take one of our planets from us?
Commissary-General Nuria: Errm, no. We're going to take all five of them actually.
Comissary-General Gnaact: What? But that will leave us...
Commissary-General Nuria: As one more race of the glorious Zhun-Khirs League! Finally you'll be able to enlist in a real navy, and fight some real enemies! Wouldn't you say congratulations are in order?
Comissary-General Gnaact: I warn you, Zhun-Khirs – we will not give up without a fight!
Commissary-General Nuria: Naturally, Commissary-General, we wouldn't expect you to, And may the best empire win!
And so began the Blanvoq War, in which the galaxy's two egalitarian, fanatically militaristic races finally met on the field of battle. Unfortunately, only one of them stood any chance of winning.
Half of the Zhun-Khirs Fleet annihilates the Blanvoq Fleet in the Battle of Buin'ja
By late 2311 every Druthean and Blanvoq planet was in Zhun-Khirs hands and Commissary-General Gnaact surrendered. The Chokelk had of course done nothing to help their allies, which was little surprise to the Blanvoq. The Blanvoq were now welcomed into the Zhun-Khirs League and given full citizenship. Most of them were overjoyed at this, although nobody admitted this too openly for a few years at least.
And then, one month after the end of the war, something very worrying happened.
The Elemmilan finally woke up. And evidently they were feeling in need of a hearty breakfast as, just a few weeks later, they declared war on the Endanardan Union, along with their allies the Coalition of Lem and the Hentan Combine. At the same time, they demanded that the Zhun-Khirs League submit to dominion status under their fanatically religious regime.
Commissary-General Nuria was uneasy. The Elemmilan had a superior Fleet and overwhelmingly advanced technology. On the other hand, they were already at war with three sizeable neighbours on their borders. Surely they would not want to try to fight the Zhun-Khirs as well? After some agonized consideration, she finally gave her response. The Zhun-Khirs would bow to no-one.
Err.. thanks, but no thanks, Your Scarily Awake-ness
Last edited:
Well, the Blanvoq wil finally get their wish to fight the forces of oppression. With friends. Always best to fight the forces of oppression with friends.
Some huge growth going on in those last two updates! Soon you'll have a domination win.
Oh, I seem to have missed an update before I posted! Awakening eh... War in Heaven soonish?
Looks like the Zhun-Khirs are finally going to get the proper fight they always desired. Be careful what you wish for...
A proper Zhun-Khir just enjoys the fight, if that leads to crushing defeat then so be it.
Yes, it's nice that the Zhun-Khirs and the Blanvoq will finally get to fight along side each other in the end. It obviously turned out to be a long and fruitful relationship after all!
Some huge growth going on in those last two updates! Soon you'll have a domination win.
You'd think, with the size of my empire - but in 2312 I have only 40 planets of the required 77 for Domination - will I be able to pull it off before the Elemmilan run out of victims and turn on me?
Yes, the general public will be perfectly happy to go down in flames in a war with the Elemmilan. The Shadow Council, on the other hand, still want to actually win the game!
Now we're getting to the part where I need my trusty advisor Pchang to help me out!
Well, I have to apologize for the sudden loss of images. My crappy web hosting service just stopped working so I'm busy transferring everything to Imgur, but it will take a while. First and last updates done right now, but I'd rather get the rest done too before the next update. I've actually finished the game now, so there will probably only be a couple more updates. How did it end though? I'm saying nothing!
Once you've seen an FE/AFE in action and defeated them, you no longer need any help. The only question is whether or not you have advanced your economy enough by the time they want to declare war on you.