Hey guys! Just bought the game on Friday and have been absolutely loving it. I played for about five hours today, and experienced an amazing series of events that I feel compelled to share with you (and perhaps persuade people who are trying to decide whether or not to buy this game).

I played the Gateway map as TEC with two TEC allies, two Advent enemies, and one Vasari. I quickly began colonizing the nearby planets and eventually reached my empire's peak at about 10 planets. For those of you who don't know, the Gateway map involves a central planet called Gateway, which is the only way into orbit around the system's star...that leads to another distant star system packed with resources.

I heavily fortified all of my planets, as this map offers few chokepoints. At first things went smoothely. I was able to coordinate a strike among my two AI allies (wow--the AI really does respond to your tactical requests!) to take out the pirate base early on, as they were disrupting the supply chain. Because of the placement of the map, my empire lied behind the other two TEC factions, which provided me with a fairly sufficient buffer. In order to help them, I accomplished thier missions and put a few small fleets in thier systems to assist them with thwarting the nearly constant Advent harrassment.

My left-flank ally had a border system from which he sent a strike fleet into Advent space, leaving the system ill-defended. And wow did the enemy AI pounce on that opportunity. A massive fleet came in, pounded his planet to dust, and used that system (which was a four-way intersention in the phase lanes as a corridor for further incursions. Before I knew it, his empire was crumbling, causing me and the other TEC AI to suddenly go on the defensive.

All the while, my economy was strong, planet infrastructure was increasing, and I increasingly fortified my planets. Soon, the first probing fleets came in and though they were easily dispatched, I had witnessed the massive fleets these Advent could put together. Meanwhile, the other TEC AI (I believe he was a Hard--Fortifier) was getting torn limb from limb. I watched him pull a valiant last stand on his homeworld and resisted the thought of sending in reinforcements to help him. With the size of these fleets...he was as good as dead no matter what I did. I had to focus on defending myself and finding a way out of this jam if I were to survive through the hour.

Then they came, easily wiping out my fringe colonies, coming inexorably. My homeworld had its back up against interstellar space...there would be nowhere to run. I then realized I was trapped. I needed a way out. Then it hit me--if I put some hard resources into research, I might be able to develope long-range jumping, break through the Advent blockade, reach Planet Gateway, then the local star, and make a jump to the uninhabited starsystem beyond. A long shot, for sure, but no other way out of decimation sprung to mind.

I pulled back all of my fleets to my homeworld in reserve. The planetary defenses that I'd set up would hold the Advent long enough. But I would need every ship I could get my hands on. It was an awesome sight to behold: probably a hundred frigates of various types, half a dozen capital ships, and a few cruisers. Fighters and bombers waiting in thier hangers for first sight of the enemy. Amazing stuff.

By the time I finally was able to procure long-range jumping, I had lost all of my outer colonies and now my old mainstays were beginning to fall, too. It was time to move. Every last ship in my home system I formed into a single massive fleet centered around the Dunov-class carrier, the Vindicator (including a dozen colony ships...those would come in handy down the road). My empire was arranged with the phase-lanes forming a vague "C" shape, with my homeworld at the apex. The enemy onslaught was coming from the right flank, so I disembarked with my fleet out through the left side. It struck me as ironic as the massive fleet obscured the gravity wells of these tiny, backwater rocks that they would soon be dead, this fleet long gone.

Finally, the attack against my homeworld came. I had twelve gauss cannons and eight hangers with bombers only. And when I saw the enemy fleet come in, I was glad that I had fled. It was unbelievable...the two Advent factions had pooled thier forces together with devestating results. They easily chewed through my defences and bombarded my capital into dust.

Fortunately for me, though, they hadn't blockaded the left flank of my empire, and I snuck out without any resistance. One jump after another, I brought my ships through the remnants of my remaining ally's tattered systems, through the old pirate system, once running into a small Advent force, but nothing that my fleet couldn't handle. Finally, I made the jump to Gateway--

Which was filled with the Vasari that I hadn't seen the entire game. I briefly hoped for some reason they would be neutral to me, but when thier capital ships started attacking, all hope died. I had my fleet concetrate fire on thier capital ships, and was just about to break through when the Advent jumped in behind me! The bastards must have had an alliance. I ordered my ships to jump--and quick--to the green spectra star. This ammounted in the loss of probably ten frigates and a pair of cruisers. All considered, though, I got off the hook easy. Once I got to the star, I wasted no time in jumping to the distant Xi star system.

When I arrived, I first sent a few scout frigates to reconnoiter the half-dozen planets in the system, and discovered amazingly that it was empty. I had played this map several times before and they had always been there. Good luck for me. I sent my colony ships to begin work colonizing as my fleet kept a careful eye for any intruders.

Which, hilariously so, eventually came. First the Advent, then the Vasari sent scouts to check up with me. My fleet decimated them. All the while, I was making progress with my own planets, building up thier infrastructure and defences, and rallying a fleet reinforce my holding action around Xi--the Advent were coming in greater and greater numbers.

Then, about two hours after I arrived in the Xi system (and about six hours after the beginning of the game) they stopped sending incursions into my star system. Confused, I sent a scout frigate back to my old home system to see what was going on. To my amazement (really--I don't know if I've played a game that is so thrilling) I found that the two Advent factions were now fighting each other and the Vasari were shooting whoever moved on either side!

That is where I am right now. I am planning on a continual military build up before I think about retaking territory in my old system. I want to let my enemies wear each other down before I strike.

I'd like to thank Stardock and Ironclad for making such a great game that allows players to experience an epic saga of thier own creation each and every time they play. This was probably the most amazing experience I've had gaming--to have enemy AIs that are actually smart, allied AIs that actually listen to you and help you, and the tools to outwit them, even at heavy loss. I could have given up the game when the enemy reached my homeworld, but I am glad I didn't--this exodus has proved far more fun!!!

Thanks for reading this.