Is it sometimes just not possible?

[cawsp]

I just lost a game that was going really well. I was very happy for the colony. Defenses were strong, food situation mostly handled. Our first winter was just ending and veggie supply was dwindling. I was excited for spring when we could start growing again. Spring comes around and we start planting our first seeds then all of a sudden the following events happen in a (literally) 10 minute span. Poison Ship > Volcanic Winter > Plague > Boomalopes mad > Boomrats mad > faulty wiring, no more power in batteries > Toxic Fallout > Seige.

Now... for the first year that seems just a little bit unfair. Especially since I have only four colonists, not a lot of wealth, and we just had winter! During the last fall and winter I had 4 seiges, 8 raids, and 2 blights during the first growing season.

Has anyone had a similar thing in the first year and somehow pulled through? How did you do it?

[Spectre]

To be honest if you want a fair game then go for Randy Random. Cassandra is pretty predictable in scaling up, whereas Randy can give you periods of peace which is great (But of course he can bombard you with raids)

[Elixiar]

To be honest if you want a fair game then go for Randy Random. Cassandra is pretty predictable in scaling up, whereas Randy can give you periods of peace which is great (But of course he can bombard you with raids)

That's my favourite thing about Randy. It can be going well for ages. Then boom, sieges, mechs, tribals, man hunters and your once thriving colony is reduced to little more a few survivors.

That happened on my last save. I had a big open plan colony. After the bad period (attacks and such) I had no choice but to leave the ruins of the outer perimeter to ruins and create a wall around the town centre since population and resources had fallen so low.

[cawsp]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try Randy Random now. I've always avoided Randy because I've been afraid of this exact thing happening. I always pictured Cassandra escalating based on how you are doing and giving a challenge that is tough but fair for the current situation but I see now that she doesn't work like that. Cassandra can be just as random as Randy handing out events but the difference seems to be that her events get predictably worse over time while Randy can still be nice sometimes.

Is there any storyteller that is a bit smarter and perhaps decides not to give you a toxic fallout and siege in your first year when you're already dealing with poison ship, volcanic winter, plague hitting both doctors, and some mad animals? Is there any way to really prepare for that or is it just an inevitable restart? I like a learning experience but a forced restart kind of sucks.

[Mutineer]

Cassandra does escalate with how many people you have and how rich colony is. If you have a huge amount or raw resources, you will be very rich. I would not be surprised if you colony have a lots of resources you planing to use but never had chance to, and they just collecting dust and make Cassandra mad at you.

[cawsp]

I would think so too but I am very careful about not over mining or collecting wealth until I am ready to handle the consequences. I don't mine ore like plasteel unless I need it and I only keep 1500 steel at any one time. I also sell unused guns and clothing. Silver was 600. Maybe it was my animals? I had 4 grizzly bears, 1 polar bear, an elephant, a panther, some hauling huskies and boars and 12 pigs ready to be eaten. Hmmm... I'm not really sure what it could have been. I must have missed something that was causing massive wealth.

[Alenerel]

Cassandra is not just predictable but annoying too. I had 1500 of meat and vegetables and had 3 volcanic winters consecutive, 1 cold snap and 1 toxic fallout or toxic whatever, where you have to be under a roof.

Then several raids and sieges. I barely was able to defend... I underestimated the need for weapons and armor, having just what i looted, and my "killbox" consisted of 3 turrets.

It is as one guy in reddit said... It is either you play with a killbox and its boringly easy, or you dont and you get rekt.

[cawsp]

Yeah and I felt really prepared too. My entire base was roof-able to prepare for toxic fallout. I had inside farms with sun lamps to help with volcanic winter. I had snipers to deal with sieges and enough turrets to handle any raids. It's just that everything hit at the same time.

I think what actually killed me is that the plague targeted my only two doctors and one doctor had 4 grizzly bear pets that went crazy upon her death and rampaged through my colony killing everyone. They can still open doors when they go crazy!! No escape. The toxic fallout and siege at the end were just nails in the coffin and made me laugh at how many events came up at the same time.

[cmitc1]

Life sucks man, I once had

volcanic winter (when winter was just ending)>nuclear fall out > cold snap > siege >a shit load of fire burning what plan life is left.

[steenhole]

Keep in mind that IRL colonies (or settlements) usually fail without a constant stream of outside supplies.  Even with supplies there is a good chance of failure.

It's entirely possible to get colony killer conditions where the math says you aren't going to survive.  Basically, where the manhours and productivity of your pawns will not generate enough food (through trade or growing) or defense for your colony to continue.

I look at Cassandra's goal as being the destruction of my colony, even if she has to cheat. 

I have a mature colony, Cassandra Vanilla, tropical, large map, built into the mountains.  I was recently hit with gut worms, sleeping sickness, and the flu--all overlapping.  Out of 28 colonists, 5 remained unaffected.

My general strategy for Cassandra is as follows:

1--Bench depth.  Get as many duplicate skills as possible with as many people as possible.  Small colonies are very vulnerable to losing key talent.

2--Huge resources stores.  For most big colonies I have 2 years of food in huge freezers.  Not in this one in particular though.  I have had a shortage of good cooks until recently.  I am getting ready to build my second big freezer.

3--Fire suppression everywhere.

4--Mortars for raids and sieges.  4 minimum.

5--Distributed battery power grid.  Always have charged batteries ready to power your grid for 1 day minimum.  Isolate them, so they are off grid when charged.

6--Two maxed snipers with some bionics for anyone that gets past shelling.

7--Predator attack force.  Animals don't get sick, and can be used to attack when your pawns are down.

8--Duplication in the power grid wiring.  I always seemed to have key power lines getting knocked out when there was only one. 

Maybe some of these approaches would be good for you.  For me, I find smaller colonies are very vulnerable.  My smallest right now is an 8 person temperate colony in hills.  I lost a 4 person tropical a short while ago.

I don't think there is alot you could do with your bear situation.  It was unbearable.

[Bozobub]

Cassandra is not just predictable but annoying too. I had 1500 of meat and vegetables and had 3 volcanic winters consecutive, 1 cold snap and 1 toxic fallout or toxic whatever, where you have to be under a roof.

Then several raids and sieges. I barely was able to defend... I underestimated the need for weapons and armor, having just what i looted, and my "killbox" consisted of 3 turrets.

It is as one guy in reddit said... It is either you play with a killbox and its boringly easy, or you dont and you get rekt.

Or you just turn the entire map into a killbox ^^'

[cawsp]

Keep in mind that IRL colonies (or settlements) usually fail without a constant stream of outside supplies.  Even with supplies there is a good chance of failure.

It's entirely possible to get colony killer conditions where the math says you aren't going to survive.  Basically, where the manhours and productivity of your pawns will not generate enough food (through trade or growing) or defense for your colony to continue.

I look at Cassandra's goal as being the destruction of my colony, even if she has to cheat. 

I have a mature colony, Cassandra Vanilla, tropical, large map, built into the mountains.  I was recently hit with gut worms, sleeping sickness, and the flu--all overlapping.  Out of 28 colonists, 5 remained unaffected.

My general strategy for Cassandra is as follows:

...

I don't think there is alot you could do with your bear situation.  It was unbearable.

Thank you! That's some beary good advice. I wish I could get two max level snipers in my first year but unfortunately I'm not good enough to do that... it takes me at least a few years. I think I will try Randy for a bit and see how that goes.