So one of my favorite things about this game has always been the atmosphere. The music, the art, the setting- it all contributes to a mood where I imagine a lot more going on in the universe than what is actually happening in the game. Just winning against the AI isn’t a challenge so I set specific objectives for myself and play in a way that creates a little story, even if strategically it doesn’t make much sense.

For example, in my current game (1.4 emperor wars, haven’t tried 1.5 yet) my mission as The Hazat is to kill every House Decados noble in the Known Worlds. All of the successful assassinations I’ve carried out have had a noble in the attacking stack. Similarly any incursion onto a new world or exploration of a ruin I have a noble leading the troops, and I’ve got a few just wandering around on their own exploring sparsely populated planets. Completely unnecessary but as a house with a military history and nobles that “pursue dangerous sports and seek testing duels” it is quite fitting to have them out facing unknown dangers or at the tip of the spear in important battles.

On the Hawkwood controlled planet of Gwynneth I have a small holding and some wandering Decados Vladimer-class ship started bombarding me. Obviously this is completely unacceptable but rather than sending in a show of force to totally smash them I sent a few smaller ships with no capability for planetary bombardment. Much riskier and the AI doesn’t give a fig what I've got orbiting their planet, but in my mind it makes sense The Hazat would show they intended no threat or encroachment on Hawkwood territory and were simply preventing harassment from the villainous Decados.

Recently The League made an ill-advised surprise attack and captured my palace on Sutek, killing a noble and raising their flag on my planet. So the next turn on all planets that I had a sizeable force I attacked all the agoras, wiping out their troops and seizing all their trade goods in a coordinated blitz. I didn’t really need a peace treaty with The League and probably could have gotten it much cheaper, but I love the idea of political intrigue in an interstellar empire. So thinking The Hazat would not want to further destabilize the Imperium just yet I paid The League a huge sum for a peace treaty that same turn. The death of thousands of their troops would be accepted by The Hazat as equal to the blood of one of our nobles, and the firebirds would be a marked-up purchase of all the goods acquired. That way both parties are even and their status in the Imperium undiminished, with all the bloodshed and destruction just being… complicated negotiations.

Anyone else do this and have mini-stories of their conquests and exploits?