Neptune's Pride War Diary #3

Joe - AKA MightyPirate

I'll be honest, I was kind of glad to abandon Neptune's Pride this last week. The fact that I couldn't possibly keep an eye on the game and cover GamesCom 2010 in any detail was just a handy excuse. Truth be told, the game has been getting to me for a while. I've been having dreams about it and checking progress literally every five minutes. It had become too much of an intrusion into my life, so I gladly handed the reins over to Kevin, telling him to use my forces however he thought best; my aim had become merely to stop Harry winning.

To that end, in the days before I gave control to Kevin, I bulked industry on my planets. I knew I couldn't stand against Jamie and Harry's larger and more advanced force, so I aimed for a war of attrition - putting at least one industry point on every planet. The hope was that I could slow invaders down for long enough that Kevin and Alex could get into position. It wasn't a great plan, but after in-fighting caused the collapse of the Northern Alliance it was the only one I had.

I've only just logged back in to the game to see how things fared, but it's obvious my assault wasn't hugely effective.

Kevin - AKA Kempas

“ARRRRRGGHHHHHH!” - That was the sound of me and Oswald (my incompetent, note-taking, tactical adviser) failing to understand why certain parties seemed to lend no aid to the impending 'Jazmataz' impact. I’m talking about His Glorious Inquisition and Dr Zurgle, by the way. Just so we’re clear.

An alliance was seemingly agreed by all parties in the northern territories. The threat of Jayseeyou and Bazmataz combined was huge, and we needed funds and fleets towards the frontline in Pirate's backyard. But only Kempan money and ships and Sifterian technology was forthcoming. Then the bomb was dropped. Mighty Pirate would need me, his most trusted ally, to aid in the defence of his empire due to pressing, Germanic commitments.

I tried the best I could in the absence of any help. Mike nabbed Pirate stars without word, attempting to rebuild his empire, and Zurgle and HGI turned on Sifter, who desperately sought to up his tech advancement for the good of us all.

I batted away an attack on Pirate's home star, only to be bowled a googlie by another huge fleet following up. I managed to cripple another assaulting force by sending gallant Wilson, Henry and some of Pirate's ships to deal a blow. Zurgle mocked these decisions as foolish, yet all the while Jazmataz came nearer and nobody did anything to help

....Finally Zurgle sends ships (he says), but now HGI is overrunning Sifter and I fear for the future of the galaxy. For all hope, and the noblest races, may yet be lost.

Paul – AKA His Glorious Inquisition

Brothers, sisters, gather round for I have news of the latest developments in our holy quest to spread His divine light throughout the galaxy.

Our week started poorly with our border worlds of Mirach and Ascella captured by the purple garbed Kempan foe. These encroachments could not stand as these worlds allowed the Kempans an easy route into our core systems so we committed forces to pushing back the aggressor. Mirach was soon returned to His light and a daring 2:30am raid ensured Ascella soon followed.

During this time our allies to the west, the cunning and slippery Siftans, broke through the agreed demilitarized zone between our empires and captured the prosperous Azmidiske. This, they claimed was to give them an alternate route into the Zurgle Empire, whom they were at war with, but this seemed little more than a thinly veiled lie. We had warned the Siftans from the offset that breaking our agreement would end badly for them as His mighty graciousness is matched only by His capacity for vengeance. We would have our revenge but at that moment the time was not right. Wheels, however, had been set in motion.

Meanwhile, it had become clear that the alliance between Bazmataz and Jayseeyou had become the dominant power in the galaxy. This realization spawned a brief alliance between the remaining six nations but the alliance was crippled by infighting, politicking and self interest. As a result we gave little to the alliance, knowing it would crumble under the weight of its own hypercritic bureaucracy.

We were eventually proved right when the Siftans moved again against their now supposedly allied Zurgle neighbours, targeting their valuable science facilities. This created much animosity between the two nations and sparked negotiations between our great nation and that of the embattled Zurgleites. Both of us had been crossed by the Siftans and both wanted revenge. For this reason we created Project OSMOSIS – AKA Operation Super Mega Overwhelming Surprise Insanity Strike. We shall unleash it, soon…