Beta 9

Dates: February 2003

Winners: Krilgorians

Best-Known Boraxian LC: ZoneyMalone

Best-Known Ajaxian LCs: VoxDei, ChiliDog

Best-Known Tibran LCs: Britnoth, SpiderWolve

Best-Known Krilgorian LCs: R34p3r, ShaunMeakin

The customary furball at the start of beta 9 left the Ajaxians in control of the Roids early, with their primary targets being the Bors, who lost their first LC very early and consequently didn't get pullout orders - to the extent that the Ajax actually got bored and left first, mounting an attack on the Bor scan tower in Durius Highlands which failed due to the Ajaxians having no bombers at all, and following up by defeating the Bor fleet in Durius Highlands, Dragor and Tripe, leaving the early Bor blob shattered and cowering in Boraxus.

Meanwhile, the Tibs and Krils were engaged in a vicious battle on the other side of the galaxy. The Krils initially seemed to have the upper hand, defeating the Tibs in Aquarious and in MoK, which should have left the Tibs in disarray. However, as the Kril fleet moved round to TMC to attack the Tib scan tower, the Tibs changed LC and then unexpectedly counterattacked in TMC, decimating the Kril fleet and chasing them back home.

These early battles left the Bors and Krils looking for easier targets, and the Tibs and Ajax looking for someone worth shooting at. Following the Tib leadership change, complemented by an Ajax one, a somewhat vague Ajax-Kril NAP was instituted, although initially this was more because the two legions had easier targets to get to than because they felt they needed the other's help. The Ajaxians moved to Star City (after an aborted move towards attacking the Tib fleet in TMC), the Tibs moved to CT6 and a three-day standoff ensued, with neither fleet wanting to be the one to attack. In the meantime, the Krils moved to attack the Bors, defeating them in Acrador and Durius highlands before commencing the bombardment of the Bor scan tower.

While the Krils were bombing in DH (the Bor fleet having been reduced to about five active ships), the Tibs ended the stalemate by attacking the Ajax fleet in Star City. They scored a few early high-profile kills in that battle, destroying the all-but-level-5 repairship of the Ajax LC VoxDei and the top-ranked level 5 bomber of Camelot in the first tick of the battle. The battle continued to rage for five ticks before the Tibs decided they were getting the worst of it and withdrew to CT6 again. The Ajax fleet did not pursue however, since two anomalies had hit Star City during the battle and their fleet was badly damaged.

Shortly after the battle in Star City, the Krils destroyed the Bor scan tower. The Ajax and Krils then started maneuvering to attack Tibrar. A number of the Tibs, discouraged by the (to them) unnecessary NAP against them by the two strongest legions, went inactive, and the as the Kril fleet started bombing the Tib scan tower in TMC, the Ajax fleet defeated a large portion of the Tib fleet in Canopus West. After the destruction of the Tib scan tower, the combined Ajaxian and Kril fleet moved into Tibrar, with the bomber-heavy Kril fleet bombing the planet and the all-but-bomberless Ajax fleet wiping out what was left of the Tibs. The discouraged Tibs self-destructed their base early, leaving the surprised Ajax and Krils to withdraw and repair.

After this battle, the only two significant fleets left in the game were the allied Ajax and Krils. The Kril LC (R34p3r) wanted to move to destroy the Bors before ending the NAP. However, the Ajax LC (VoxDei) regarded the Bors as irrelevant at this stage (their blob still only had about eight ships in it, mostly level 3 or below), but regarded the Kril bomber force as a significant threat that should be dealt with before they became cruisers. The Ajax therefore tried to maneuver into a position to backstab the Krils. However, unknown to them the Kril LC was busy for a couple of days and didn't have a lot of time to direct his fleet. Consequently, the Kril fleet vacillated, splitting itself between Acrador, Aquarious and Southern Sector. This confused the Ajax as to the Kril intentions, and they had difficulty moving to a position they could intercept the Krils from without arousing suspicions. They failed to do this, and the NAP ended with the Ajax fleet in Perosis and the Kril fleet in Mattas. After a few ticks, the Krils sent a small, superactive and high-level bomber force around the western side of the map to attack the Ajax scan tower in Star City. Asking the Bors to help repel this attack, the majority of the Ajax fleet (minus a few who went to try and defend Star City) jumped to Mattas in a bit of a rush and engaged the Kril fleet there. This turned out to be disastrous, and the Ajaxians were heavily defeated. They attempted to withdraw to Perosis, only to be followed by the now-rampant Krils and hit again.

The Ajax LC ordered a withdrawal back up to Star City, expecting the Krils to follow. However, they instead attacked the Bors in Boraxus. This bombing campaign allowed the depleted Ajax fleet to sneak back to Mattas Head and commence bombing of the Kril scan tower, but this didn't get far before the Krils broke off their attack on Boraxus and came home to defend, chasing the beleaguered Ajaxian fleet back round the west side of the map all the way to Ajaxus, although by the time they got there what remained of the Ajaxian fleet after Mattas Head and Perosis had been further decimated. This meant that they were unable to put up significant resistance to the Kril assault on Ajaxus, which was destroyed. The remains of the Ajaxian legion regrouped in TMC, and then attacked Mattas Head with the Bors, who had been quietly bombing it since the Krils left Boraxus and now finally had a fleet worth taking into account (although still nothing to match the Krils). Meanwhile, the Krils split, with some of them attacking the still-standing Ajax scan tower in Star City while some moved down to Mattas to defend their own scan tower. These were repulsed twice, before the Krils finally decided what to do and ignored the Ajax scan tower and their own to mount a final assault on Boraxus. The Bors broke off attacking Mattas Head to attack Planet Krilgore, but failed to make a significant impact on it before Boraxus was destroyed, ending the game.

Submitted by VoxDei on 05/03/03