Overview

Latest Updates

March 19th, 2025: Getting closer to updating all my old Imperium reports, I've now finished everything from Imperium 15 onward. Our variant rule for Imperium 15 was simple: We were never allowed to spend any production on Industry - ever! I still love this report, which - apart from the first introductory page and final post-game notes page - was written entirely from the perspective of "my" bug peoples' nearest, most-dangerous, maniacally xenophobic rival! Just half a dozen more of the old reports to update after this (admittedly including Imperium 11, which probably counts as about three) and then I'll finally start adding new stuff, hopefully!

October, 2024: We've played a couple of new Succession Games over at Realms Beyond lately, playing Remnants of the Precursors, Ray F's updated near-clone of the original Master of Orion, with updated graphics, including the interface. We're hoping to start another soonish (and both Remnants itself and a Realms Beyond account are completely free) so if you're interested, feel free to stop by the forum! SGs like this are a fun way to learn more about the game from other players (like me) - and share your own tips and thoughts with us as we take turns as rulers of a galactic empire together. Plus you're welcome to just stop by and read along and/or contribute comments even if you don't take part in the game!

The Gambit

The Meklon Gambit is an opening I came up with for the Master of Orion strategy game; to learn exactly what it is - it's pretty simple in the end - you'll have to have a look at my original Meklar Challenge thread on the Civfanatics forums or my Imperium 12 shadow replay here on this site.

One thing about my Gambit: It's not the ultimate winning strategy. It's not even the optimal opening for virtually any situation. On the contrary, it's an incredibly risky move that's more likely to cost you than to help you win the game - except, perhaps, on certain rare maps, in the very long run.

The beauty of the Meklon Gambit is that you have to execute it at once if you're going to do it at all, before you can possibly know whether the map you've got is right for it; the best you can do is to make an educated guess based on the star layout. And being a crazy, risky move that's only possible because of the unique trait of the Meklar, it can result in extremely unusual games ... and be a lot of fun!

That's the way I like to play the game. Like my fellow gamers at Realms Beyond, I like to seek new challenges, new ways to tweak an enjoyable game - to turn the game into a good story, or just to make it more fun. That's my goal in playing and sponsoring Imperia, and this site is where my future Imperium reports - and eventually the old ones - will appear.

Oh, and who am I? And why "The Ref"? Well, I'm RefSteel on the Realms Beyond and Civfanatics forums, a reference to my other blog - a perpetual work in progress, now more or less permanently on hold, but meant as a reference source for my long-running Black Steel fantasy campaign. Whether that site will make sense to anyone who hasn't played in the campaign itself, I honestly don't know ... but I like the little shafts of light it sheds on its game world anyway! Apart from that, I'm just here to post my Imperium reports, so here goes:

Imperium Reports

Imperium 10, Return to Glory
Imperium 11, Rise of the Triad - once my favorite, years ago; I wonder how it holds up now!
Imperium 12, Anti-Environmentalists | Gambit Shadow
Imperium 13, Top Gun - another of my old favorites!
Imperium 14, Ursine Archaeologists - the first Imperium I sponsored!
        (Check out its official site at Realms Beyond)
Imperium 15, Bug Brawn, AKA Power of the People - my shortest yet!
Imperium 16, Holiday Special
Imperium 17, Beyond Poverty
Imperium 18, Loony Lizards
Imperium 19, Pax Crystallica
Imperium 20, Give Peace a Chance
Imperium 21, Resting on Our Laurels - sponsored by me!
Imperium 22, One-Track Mind
Imperium 23, Resistance is Futile - wherein I sponsor an extreme ... wait, no, I'd better make that EXTREME Imperium!
Imperium 24, Never Mind Maneuvers - a variant I sponsored in honor of Admiral Purrratio Nelson
Imperium 25, Revenge of the Grinch, sponsored by Maniac Marshall!
Imperium 26, The Pride of Eagles
Imperium 27, There Can Be Only One, sponsored by Horist!
Imperium 28, Shattered Worlds, with a new "map script" devised by sargon0 and me.
Imperium 9, Hiber Nation - yes, I said 9. There was a ... slight delay.
Imperium 29, Beyond the Dreams
Imperium 30, the Magnificent Seven
Imperium 31, the Black Box
Imperium 32, the Fate of Trethlyis
Imperium 33, the Dark Side of Orion, sponsored by episthene.
Imperium 35, Going Green, the first Imperium after a long hiatus - and one of the most EXTREME!
Imperium 36, Space Opera
Imperium 37, Declaration of Independence, perhaps the most thrilling game of Orion I've ever played!