Trani - 24th February 20:30 - Tick 0 (3 hrs til game starts), Cycle 1

This is the first in the Trani galaxy series of posts. https://solaris.games/#/game?id=62100437f554192d5f781a80

Trani is an 8-person real-time galaxy with standard rules. 500 starting credits. 60 starting ships. Starting infrastructure 5 Econ, 5 Ind, 1 Sci and 5 starting specialist tokens.

Other players:
My Record at time of game start: 8 wins, rank #43 overall and rank #6 in 1v1's

Dust (Goliath) 
Record: 6 wins, rank #63 overall and rank #23 in 1v1's.
A very familiar face. My most frequent Solaris opponent/ally so far. We were allied in the 32 player game Mintai where we both finished well. We also teamed up in the 3v3 tournament (still in progress) and we've played a turn-based 1v1 against each other (which I won.) I know I'll need to work hard to finish ahead of him in this game. He's a formidable friend/foe and a good all-rounder. My hunch is we're going to be enemies here since we've been on the same side in other games.

Darrow 
Record: 1 win, #rank 48 in 1v1's
Came 4th in the 8-player game Othan that I won. We didn't interact too much because I was already well on my way to victory by the time we had a border. He will probably remember me and see me as a threat (I hope) so I'll need to factor that into consideration. 

Inerz
New player. Won their new player game. 

Anita
New player. Couldn't find their new player game.

Gilgamesz
New player. Has played 3 new player games. Won 1, winning another.

Ktøc
Relatively new player. Has set up his own guild [NHRE] active on discord.

[Player Quit]
Hopefully this slot is filled by someone else. 

Initial thoughts:

• My starting stars are fine/good NR 50/48/39/28/27/26 no complaints. Lots of access to stars around me. A wormhole on Dalcha leads north. Overall a very good starting position.
• I'll research banking first in this game and aim to get Banking 2 on Cycle 2. I think Experimentation/Terra/Banking are all good first options.

Key questions

• What do I do about the Visya end of the Dalcha-Visya wormhole?
• Do I gun for Gilgamesz or work with them. My gut says cultivate an alliance because I think Dust and Ktøc will and Darrow and Inerz should. An alliance may stagnate my growth though.

Strategic priorities:

• Expand peacefully and seize as many stars as I can before war kicks off.
• Ensure the Visya end of the Dalcha-Visya wormhole is controlled by someone friendly to me. Either me or Ktøc. If Ktøc then ensure I have a scout there.
• Get a path into the centre.

Diplomatic: 

• I've reached out to every player wishing them good luck. 
• With Gilgamesz/Ktøc, I've entered discussions on potential borders. My preference in the early game is to agree on reasonably fair borders everywhere around me initially and gather information.
• The aim is to go light on Science and trade freely into most early game (L2/L3) tech.
• I need to cultivate a good relationship with Darrow as a counter against a likely Dust/Ktøc alliance. 
• Need to keep my Gilgamesz options open with Anita

Tactical: 

• N/A