This is the ninth in a series of anonymous reports that mysteriously appeared on the Editor’s desk. These redacted versions were approved by the Senate for immediate publication, to be read by commanders of each respective race so they can review their own vulnerabilities in the face of the unknown external threat that commissioned the studies. In this dispatch we focus on that faction known as the Lizard Alliance: its strengths, its weaknesses, and how best to defeat it in battle.

Overview

Ease Of Command: Novice and Up
Difficulty To Defeat: High
Style: Aggressive

General: The Lizard Alliance is a racial confederation formed between various reptilian and saurian life forms.  Their soldiers are physically formidable, possessed of great strength and natural armor; their engineers are brilliant and adaptive, giving Lizard warships exceptional durability in combat.  Their many advantages combine to make them a fearsome foe.

Identification: Your first warning in the event of a Lizard attack will be the unexpected loss of your support starbases to enemy clan drop, combined with the simultaneous destruction of several of your freighters and light warships. The sudden appearance of small, strategically placed minefields within your expansion perimeter will complete the chaos of the initial incursion.

And then the battleships will appear on the border.

Fleet Composition: The T-Rex Class Battleship is the least massive ship in its class, but the Lizard combat advantage makes it one of the deadliest. The Lizard Class Cruiser, with its heavy armament and large fuel tanks and cargo hold, makes an ideal fleet support vessel — and it cloaks. Several other cloakers of various strengths fill secondary duties, and the Madonzilla adds affordable parity in ship stacks against heavy carrier fleets.

Strengths And Weaknesses:

Economic: The Lizard Alliance relies on having top-end engines and weaponry for their ships. Fortunately, they can gain these readily through application of the Hisss! mission on heavily taxed native populations, generally using the cheapest disposable hulls to provide the income boost — including a fleet terraformer.

Military: The Lizard combat bonus makes their otherwise lightweight fleet highly effective in combat. They are also Loki-immune, vulnerable only to the Glory Device and web fields — neither of which is wielded by a race with even a heavy battleship. Expect heavy raids on your economic and support vessels, your light freighters, and even on your alchemy ships. The ground-combat advantage means worlds with populations exceeding a quarter million are still vulnerable to ground assaults. Large defensive minefields, web mines, and glory devices are the best defenses.

NOTE: The Lizard Alliance has advanced factions with access to Chameleon Devices designed to disguise battleships to resemble freighters and vice-versa. Some can also construct the mighty Zilla Class Battlecarrier.

Key Vulnerabilities:

• A large percentage of early Lizard construction is dedicated to Hissss!-only vessels, which often lack any meaningful combat ability.
• Ground combat aside, Lizards lack an economical method to defeat well-populated enemy starbases.

Trade and Alliances:

• The Lizard Class Cruiser is one of the better fleet support vessels available, with a Cloaking Device, a vast cargo hold, large fuel tanks, and three torpedo tubes.
• Low-cost HISSS!ing can be performed for allies at minimal expense.

The only lack in Lizard construction is an ability to produce heavy carriers; economically, while they would benefit from free fighters, the benefit would be less than for others due to the tremendous value of HISSS!ing. Gravitonics, Fireclouds, and Super Star Destroyers are all of interest.

Summary:

The Lizard Alliance, if competently led, is one of the most deadly threats in the cluster. Their reputation, much like that of the Birds, is one of treachery, but it is perhaps unjust; the Lizards have their fair share of honorable commanders. Rather, it’s more correct to observe that treachery from a Lizard is far more likely to be effective than from most other factions, and it serves them better than direct confrontation.

---

As always, you can make a PayPal donation to support the Planets Magazine, or click the button below to Buy Us A Coffee — and don’t forget to leave a note!