So, I did immediately leave the federation.

They wouldn't let me go to war by myself, and they wouldn't go with me without a vote. So out the door I went.

I'll have to take them on eventually, and while I'm pretty sure my combined fleets dwarf theirs, the smaller wars I've been fighting show I won't be able to manage a war on several fronts just from an organisational point of view. Nine full strength fleets, one on each 1-9 key, doesn't really work that well, because they can each take territory quite easily but then it'll be hard to hold, having to move them around to seal holes and chase the enemy.

So I decided to restructure the fleets into multiple smaller ones. Spent about an hour, and ended up with roughly the same thing as I started with.

I also had the problem of how to access so many ships, even if I did have smaller fleets, because there are only 10 hotkeys. Then someone on the Stellaris forums commented that they simply have multiple fleets per key. Obvious in retrospect!

So I had a good long think, and landed on a solution I've just finished implementing. Each "fleet" is now comprised of four squadrons, A-D, plus a Titan. Each combat squadron is 250 fleet cap, and I've gone with four battleships, one carrier and five picket destroyers. Each fleet is one hotkey, and totals 1080 fleet strength.

When I actually go to war, each fleet will fight as one unit, or possibly two units of two squadrons with the titan supporting, and will then split into squadrons to hold the territory.

Apparently there's a limit of 9,999 fleet cap (I'm currently in the 8000s). Call it 10k total. With 10 fleets of 1080, I'll be 8% over my fleet cap, so everything will cost 8% more to maintain. I think I can live with that.

I've also gone with repair modules, an even mix of shields and armour, and the battleships have shield-stripping guns plus very high armour/hull damage weapons. Basically, I've gone general-purpose.

And then we'll see how it goes on some of the nations not in the megafederation.

And then, one day: the galaxy.

#Stellaris

Also: lol at joining the federation just to win the game and then immediately leave.

(I'm not going to do that. I'm going to deal with the rest of the galaxy first, and leave them for last)

#Stellaris

I'm not really sure what I've learned from this session, to be honest. I had way too many worlds to manage comfortably, but I don't know any other way to play.

I'll probably keep playing, and see if I can conquer the galaxy. Or at least convert them all to space communism.

#Stellaris

and so:

#stellaris

Bingo. I guess diplomacy (and deep pockets) works!

Now to put the nanites out of their misery...

#Stellaris

Well, my fleet is double in size. I've now come to the limit of the dyson sphere and the matter decompressor.

But something else has occurred to me. I don't have to beat them if I join them, right?

So I'm furiously bribing my way into the federation with the squillions of motes, crystals and rare gasses that are otherwise sitting idle in my warehouses...

#Stellaris

...no, you can only have one matter decompressor. Aww.

Oh well, I'm still 900+ minerals up, should be okay.

#Stellaris

@rastilin I really ought to try playing it with humans again.

I played a few years ago, only it didn't really go well. I just got so utterly left behind in tech. Well, and one guy went way too hard as an evil robot and took fully half the galaxy...

My current game has crises and fallen empires switched off. Both just as a mechanics learning exercise and because, well, I do enjoy winning 😅

#Stellaris

@rastilin well, I did just wrap up a war on my northern border to gain a vassal, and it was against a small federation.

But yeah, I see what you mean. If I go after this other federation, it will be a hell of a lot of work!

Funnily enough, I did start up a federation myself, with a tiny neighbour that likes me, but they voted no for war, so I was like "well bugger this federation business, then!"...

#Stellaris