Polystralia

• Sponsor benefit: +2 Trade Routes available for the Capital.

When they realized that the rising seas were creating a common threat, Australia, the Pacific archipelagos, New Zealand, and the major South Asian Colonies united to form the Commonwealth of the Pacific, better known as Polystralia. Together, these Colonies tried to safeguard and preserve their coasts and the unique biodiversity of the Pacific and South Indian oceans, and they became a world leader in climate engineering. Long a crossroads for trade, Polystralia's economic power stems from its unique relationship with the great oceans. Its port cities bustle with freight cranes and train shipments, as well as new ideas and technologies. Resilient and rich, Polystralia's relatively small Seeding program is one of the best financed and most focused.

Playstyle

Hutama thought that he would make a bad expedition leader? Bah, nonsense! Hutama is a man with many friends and few enemies. His Colony's focus on trade keeps them out of trouble most of the time, earning them a huge amount of resources in the meanwhile. Expect Polystralia to be a late-game powerhouse if you leave them alone. They have all the tools that they need to explode in the early- to mid-game. They'll have energy to burn, resources galore, and few real problems from neighbors compared with most.

Don't let them get into that position. Use Hutama's weaker military against him. Gobble up his land while it's still soft.

If you're playing as Polystralia, it's time to earn! Use trade routes as a dynamic way to shore up any weaknesses in your nation. Settling a new city? Use internal trade routes to get it up to speed at a blinding rate with free food and production. Nothing new to develop in terms of cities? Trade with other Colonies to keep the peace, bring in Energy, and earn free Science, as well.

Polystralia can be incredibly flexible under the proper leadership.

Hutama

• Strengths: Diplomacy, Energy, Health
• Weaknesses: Production, Expansion

Hutama first came into public notice as a 20-year-old college student at the Universitas Sumatera Utara in Medan, Indonesia, heading a grass-roots movement protesting differential resources assigned to reclamation projects across the Commonwealth. Ubiquitous on social networks and media broadcasts, Hutama's cheerful face, trilingualism, and informal quips endeared him to audiences across the Commonwealth. From Perth to Vanuatu, Hutama was instantly recognizable, parlaying this into a career in politics. He is urbane and polished, a natural diplomat with a flair for the dramatic. Empathy, humility, humor, and respect are all virtues that define Hutama in his interactions with others, and his considerate tone and linguistic training makes him an ideal diplomat and proxy for his people. Although he is calm by nature and his primary concerns are the health and well-being of the colonists, he is a pragmatist and will use force when warranted in his view. He is also a savvy economist and has even mastered the intricacies of modern warfare and trade as diplomatic tools.

Elected to the Commonwealth Parliament before his 30th birthday as a junior member of the opposition, he famously launched the Platypus Inquiry, which ended up splitting the majority of the coalition. The old government was toppled and a new government was ushered in, with Hutama as Interior Minister. Once in high office, he continued his work against corruption, crony contracts, and waste, all while retaining his famous irreverent, informal sense of humor. His weekly Internet broadcast "Question, Minister" mixed populism, no small amount of flashy production, and occasionally serious politics. Hutama is credited with delivering the popular vote needed on a referendum on funding Polystralia's merchant fleet, on being an early backer of the Tahiti2 Island Project, and on providing universal access to fresh water.

Hutama's "spread the wealth" populist politics were key to his success, but it would be wrong to assume that these were cynical ploys. His sharpest criticisms were always reserved to people exploiting the public well-being, and his own personal charities were devoted to alleviating suffering throughout the Commonwealth. Gadfly though he might be on the screen, this was motivated by a strong sense of public justice.

Notably, Hutama seems to have misread public attitudes about the Seeding. After publicly calling into question the Commission Report on the Inflection Point, he resisted Polystralia's efforts to strengthen its space program and start Seeding construction. After a series of sharp political defeats (and a decline in his weekly show ratings), Hutama reversed his position, although his support carried something of a satirical edge. But when the time came to nominate leaders, Hutama's loyalists across the Commonwealth put his name forward[md]even after Hutama devoted an entire program to reasons why he would be a bad expedition leader.