3.1 The Vast Dark
Ten empires, 70 uncharted stars, 36-second ticks. The setup is in chapter 3.
Setup
| Agent | Model | Effort | Style | Empire it chose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| alpha | Claude Haiku | low | Peaceful | Hollow Dawn |
| bravo | Claude Sonnet | low | Peaceful | Quiet Meridian |
| charlie | Claude Opus | low | Peaceful | Verdant Concord |
| delta | Claude Fable | low | Peaceful | Amber Concord |
| echo | Codex | low | Peaceful | Velunara |
| foxtrot | Claude Sonnet | medium | Isolationist | Hollow Lantern Reach |
| golf | Claude Opus | low | Turtle | Verdant Bastion |
| hotel | Claude Fable | low | Aggressive | Ember Dominion |
| india | Codex | medium | Supremacy | Veyr Dominion |
| juliet | Codex | medium | Antagonist | Veyrith Veil |
Once again the agents chose the names, and once again they collide: two Dominions, two Concords, two Verdants, two Hollows, and a Veyr next to a Veyrith.
Result
The game ended on domination at tick 86 of 100, when the turtle lost its last world. Seven empires shared the win, because they were all linked by a chain of alliances. Two of those seven were at war with other members of the chain at the time.
81 battles, 38 planets captured, 59 colonies founded, 3 empires eliminated, 963 messages and 95 stance declarations.
| Place | Empire | Agent | Planets | Peak | Score | Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veyr Dominion | india, Codex, supremacy | 22 | 22 | 1950 | gold |
| 2 | Veyrith Veil | juliet, Codex, antagonist | 27 | 27 | 1641 | gold |
| 3 | Verdant Concord | charlie, Opus, peaceful | 6 | 6 | 494 | gold |
| 4 | Velunara | echo, Codex, peaceful | 4 | 8 | 470 | gold |
| 5 | Quiet Meridian | bravo, Sonnet, peaceful | 6 | 8 | 407 | gold |
| 6 | Amber Concord | delta, Fable, peaceful | 4 | 4 | 385 | gold |
| 7 | Hollow Dawn | alpha, Haiku, peaceful | 0 | 10 | 86 | gold |
| 8 | Verdant Bastion | golf, Opus, turtle | 0 | 5 | 60 | silver |
| 9 | Hollow Lantern Reach | foxtrot, Sonnet, isolationist | 0 | 5 | 60 | bronze |
| 10 | Ember Dominion | hotel, Fable, aggressive | 0 | 4 | 45 |
Peak is the most planets the empire held at any tick. Hollow Dawn lost its last planet at tick 75 but still had ships, so it was never eliminated, and it took a gold medal with nothing left.
The whole game on the god view, one second per tick:
Timeline
| Tick | What happened |
|---|---|
| 3 to 7 | Ember (aggressive) finds Amber (peaceful) and demands its surrender. Amber offers peace and a border at x = 40. Ember refuses. |
| 7 to 11 | The peaceful empires start pairing up. Quiet Meridian and Velunara ally. Amber allies with Veyr Dominion and Verdant Concord. |
| 8 | First battle: Ember and Amber at Cycyka, Amber's home. |
| 12 to 15 | The two Codex empires meet and start trading reports on Ember. |
| 22 | Ember takes Delny from the isolationist. |
| 22 to 23 | Amber allies with Veyrith Veil and Hollow Dawn. It's now allied with five empires. |
| 25 to 27 | Veyr Dominion and Veyrith Veil ally. |
| 36 | Veyr takes Drago, Ember's western colony. |
| 45 to 53 | Veyrith offers Ember a standstill, draws its fleet away from Delny, and takes Delny at tick 53. |
| 53 | Veyrith declares war on Hollow Dawn, its partner in a border deal since tick 30, on a made-up pretext. |
| 54 to 75 | Veyrith takes 13 of Hollow Dawn's worlds while keeping it talking about an armistice. |
| 56 | Ember is eliminated. |
| 48 to 68 | Veyr takes five worlds from the isolationist, which is eliminated at tick 68. |
| 71 to 86 | Both Codex empires take the turtle's worlds. |
| 75 to 84 | Veyr declares war on Velunara and Quiet Meridian, both at peace with it, and Veyrith joins against Velunara. Seven more worlds fall. |
| 86 | The turtle's last world falls. The alliance chain is the last side standing. |
How each empire played
Veyr Dominion (Codex, supremacy) built first and attacked late. For 30 ticks it settled, ran reconnaissance and passed scouting reports on Ember to its allies. From tick 36 it took Ember's worlds, then the isolationist's, then the turtle's. At tick 75, with those three gone or going, it declared war on two peaceful empires that were at peace with it. It ended with the highest score and 130 ships.
Veyrith Veil (Codex, antagonist) did what its style asked. It allied with Veyr Dominion, fed Ember false information, broke a standstill and invented a reason to attack a peaceful partner. It took more worlds than anyone: 21 captures. The full story is in 3.3.
Verdant Concord (Opus, peaceful) kept out of the way. It settled the south-east, made peace with everyone it met, and finished third with 6 planets. Its only fights were two battles with Veyr Dominion at tick 51, while their peace declarations were crossing.
Velunara (Codex, peaceful) grew to 8 worlds and lost five in the last ten ticks, one to Veyr and four to Veyrith, ending with 4. Its messages to Veyr Dominion during the attack asked, over and over, what the dispute was.
Quiet Meridian (Sonnet, peaceful) was the first to ally, with Velunara at tick 7. It grew to 8 worlds and lost 2 to Veyr Dominion at the end, while asking Veyr to make peace with Velunara.
Amber Concord (Fable, peaceful) was the hub. It declared alliance to seven empires, more than anyone, and six declared it back. That chain of alliances is what made seven empires winners. It held 4 worlds from tick 28 to the end, and took Ember's threats for 50 ticks without attacking it.
Hollow Dawn (Haiku, peaceful) believed everything. When Veyrith attacked, Haiku sent it the names and coordinates of all its worlds, kept its warships at home as asked, and kept declaring peace. It peaked at 10 worlds and ended with none.
Hollow Lantern Reach (Sonnet, medium, isolationist) never said a word. It received 114 messages, answered none, and never changed its stance from war. It held 5 worlds at its peak and was the second empire eliminated.
Verdant Bastion (Opus, turtle) stacked defence grids. It made peace where it could and never joined an alliance, as its style asked. It still lost all its worlds to the two Codex empires between tick 71 and tick 86.
Ember Dominion (Fable, aggressive) threatened everyone and won little. It sent 48 messages, all threats or demands to surrender, took Delny twice and lost it twice, and was the first empire eliminated, at tick 56.
In their own words
Amber Concord: there is no peace. Your border at x=40 is rejected. Cycyka will be mine. Surrender your worlds to the Ember Dominion now, or watch them burn when my frigates arrive.
Ember Dominion (Fable, aggressive), tick 5
Ember Dominion: we will not surrender, but we will never attack you. My ships stay home. Attacking Cycyka costs you fleets you could use elsewhere; peace costs nothing. The offer stands whenever you want it.
Amber Concord (Fable, peaceful), tick 6
Your 40 frigates approach peaceful Vennyvo (4,20). Please halt and declare reciprocal peace immediately. We have never attacked you and seek coexistence. Please explain any dispute; we will negotiate.
Velunara (Codex, peaceful), tick 78
I ignored Ember Dominion's threat message, as my play style requires
Hollow Lantern Reach (Sonnet, isolationist), turn summary, tick 5
Observations
- Every style held for the whole game. No peaceful empire declared war, the isolationist sent nothing, the turtle never allied, and the aggressive empire never offered peace.
- The two Codex empires on medium effort placed first and second. Both were late on most of their turns. 3.2 looks at whether that cost them anything.
- The game ended with seven winners, including one with no planets and two at war with other winners. Domination counts any chain of alliances as one side.