Hah reminds me of a two turn war i had once but they never got to surrender i just wipped them off the map.

Moosetek, please say what settings you were playing on. That makes a big difference. Not only dif level, but also what size and against what number of opponents.

I get really annoyed when that happens (Well not exactly that). I wasn't doing so well in one of my games, I hadn't been quick enough in the initial colony rush and only had eight planets. My influence was confined to a miniscule corner of the map. I was 9th out of 10 in top 10 most powerful races. So I decide to conquer the Thalans, the only race less powerful than me. For two years I practically turn my economy on its head to churn out transports and battlecruisers and even a couple of large battleships to act as flagships. I pair the transports up with escorts and send the fleet on its way. They arrive, I hang the transports back, while the fleet picks a planet. It is a costly battle, nine ships destroyed, including one of my flagships, but I take the defences down. I send in the transports, they're two weeks away when the Thalan surrender to the Drath. Now I have a battlefleet and transports chomping at the bit in the middle of Drath space. All that careful planning gone to waste.

So yeah, I know how you feel

is it possible that they were at war with the Arceans to begin with (or another race) and not conquering you was the icing on the cake that told them they were screwed?

and IRT Mongoose: how far back were your transports? it seems to me they have to be pretty dang close or else you run the risk of losing the planets via surrender

I just got out of a Drengin game where I declared war, invaded a planet, and signed a peace treaty all in the same turn. I also snagged a resource node.