For some reason I dug up my old copy of Ascendancy, and while i'll be damned if it doesn't crash my computer any time someone tries to MSN me (up to the point where it apparently corrupted my system32 file which had to be reinstalled from CD, I don't play it with MSN on any more), it's still as much fun as it was when I first played it. Although, I now realise how idiotic the AI can be.
A cookie to anyone who has even bloody heard of this game.