Well... my go to game at the moment is Stellaris, which is a Paradox Grand Strategy game set in space. Partly, I'm forced to be on my laptop (an XPS 15, which runs this quite smoothly!) as my mother is visiting us, which means that the room where my main gaming computer is housed is not available for gaming use!

Lucky for me, I'm a huge fan of the Paradox grand strategy games, so the fact that I'm "forced" to play one is no punishment at all!

Setup

As I normally play these 4X Space Strategy games, I always choose the hugest biggest universe that my computer can handle! Then I tend to play a research focussed game, this time with the Humans as my first race (as the preset United Nations of Earth), seeing as I wanted to dive straight in and not have to deal with the race editor.

As you can quite plainly see from the universe map, there is quite a great deal of exploration to be done! There is nothing better than starting with a huge empty expanse of mystery! In many ways, I find this to be a nice diversion from the other Paradox games of alternate histories... the layout of the Earth is a relatively known quantity!

Current State of exploration

My current state of exploration for the United Nations of Earth is relatively decent, and I've started to make contact with alien empires as well. My first contact was with the Citizen State of Aeblina (to the "north-west", the purple bordered empire. This was a decent first contact to have, as it was incredibly peaceful and we quickly established trade/migration/research treaties.

My second alien contact was to the "east", with the Eruxo Authority (brown). We hit it completely off on the wrong foot from the start, which later lead to a war which I'll describe later.

My third and relatively quite recent alien contact was with the Yibrak Union to the "south-east" (the Green empire). This has been a bit of a tepid contact, they are neither friendly nor nasty, but there is a potential spark near their border that might lead to later conflict.

In the north and the south, I am hemmed in by hostile Space Amoebas which I could possibly punch through with my single Battle Fleet, but I would surely suffer enough losses to be severely weakened if any of my neighbours decided to take advantage. So, I'm currently researching a technological way to tame the Space Amoebas, which would allow me to hopefully pass through their territory without an unnecessary fight.

Also to the South, I have discovered an interesting Primitive Iron Age civilisation. I am taking steps to build an observation post nearby to keep an eye on their development and to see if I can aid them in taking their first steps into Space!... besides, they are a cute Fungus based race!

I'm a nasty person....

When I first made contact with the Eruxo Authority, they had the Corvall star system in their control. Seeing as they were so initially hostile with me, I decided that I would take that system from them, as it was quite a strategic choke point for fleets that would need to use the hyperlanes. Capturing this star system would mean that I would control the only entry and exit point into and out of our empires at the border. So, I made up a claim on the system and went to war...

... oh come one... they are "Slaving Despots"! Well, at least that was my justification for releasing my dogs of war....

Due to an incredibly lucky early exploration find, I had three relatively advanced Corvettes in my fleet. These were much more powerful than anything that either the Eruxi or I had in our regular fleets. So, the war was quite short and swift, and they surrendered the Corvall system in short order after I surgically destroyed their fleets and then started upon their homeworld.

Currently, we have a temporary truce. But, I think I'm going to push my advantage when the truce ends to capture the next system in the line as it has a very enticing colonisable world that I can use as a forward staging base to keep the Eruxi in line for the future.

Potential Flashpoint?

Just a little to the south, I have discovered a rare resource in the system that borders the Yibrak Union. I really want this resource as it appears to be incredibly valuable for future technologies and engineering, so I'm going to aggressively push my border right up to the Yibrak Union. At the moment, they are pretty neutral with respect to my empire, and I'm hoping that this won't bother them too much. Especially as I am seriously considering starting the second phase of my war with the Eruxi and I don't have the fleet power to deal with two empires.

Conclusion

So there you have my current universal state of affairs for the United Nations of Earth. I have won a short and decisive war against the Eruxi, and I'm planning a second phase whilst they are weakened. I am pushing hard to the borders of the Yibrak to capture some much needed resources, whilst on the other flank, I am hopefully dealing with a future ally.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping my research will provide me with a conflict free way of continuing my exploration to the North and South which will allow me to expand without bumping head to head with my neighbours.

So, there you have it... hopefully my next Situation Report will be a rosy one filled with peace and the greatness of the United Nations of Earth!