From the Mouth of Sauron Issue: E-14 Date: 04-01-94 Note: all authors retain exclusive rights to their material. Reprinting is allowed for non-commercial game use only. The Mouth is edited by Brian Mason and Tom Walton. All correspondence can be sent to them at: Brian Mason - mason@chara.gsu.edu Tom Walton - kazandar@aol.com First Word From Tom Walton April Fool's and I've nothing funny to say. Fortunately, others do and have, and you'll find their submissions at the end of the Mouth. But on to business: Mailing lists: my AOL mailing lists were destroyed after I sent out Mouth #13. I've reconstructed them, but I might have lost a few new subscribers during the process. If you know someone who hasn't received Mouth #14 by Monday, tell them to send another note and I'll add them to my list. Data files: Brian is the prime source for data files right now. My connection with AOL is spotty and has a tendency to lock up during large uploads. I'm looking into alternatives as we speak. An observation: a long-time subscriber to the Mouth asked me a question concerning an encounter, one that had been answered in a previous issue. However, he was still working off the database I sent him when Issue #1 went out. He never updated his files with the information in the Mouth. Please note that the data files are set up so that you can update the info with what you read in the Mouth. This was done for your convenience. If you haven't updated your files and have erased your old copies of the Mouth, I'd suggest getting new ones. Encounter information changes/grows regularly, and you don't want to be poring over an old database when your character's well-being is at stake. Mailing Times: The Mouth will now go out sometime over the weekend, rather than every Friday. Due to a lack of time during the week, it's become necessary for me to have an extra day or two to do the editing. This means that you could get the Mouth anytime between Saturday night and Monday night, starting with issue #15. Survey: Our readership is growing at a fast rate, with a new name or two coming in almost every day. In order to better serve you, Brian has drawn up a survey which'll appear in Mouth #15. We intend to tally the results and see what we can do to make the Mouth a more interesting newsletter. I'm informing you in advance so that you'll have more than a week to ponder this weighty question. Any suggestions are good suggestions, so long as no personal comments are made concerning our parentage, body odor, and so forth. GSI New Player Packets: I just saw the new player packet that GSI put together and will be sending out with all new registrations. While it doesn't contain the extensive database files that the editors of the Mouth and others have, it goes a very long way to correcting the play imbalance between those who've been in the game before and those who haven't. Now a new player won't be completely lost when firs joining the game. Features: - a nation summary list, giving special advantages, location, general troop strength, and so forth. - a series of articles on Middle-Earth, including works by Keith Petersen. Good going, Keith! - a hint sheet detailing common pitfalls and how to avoid them. There's more, but I for one am happy that the new guys will have a better chance of surviving their first game. It should also keep people from getting frustrated and dropping out altogether, which seems to be a common occurrence in Middle-Earth. I don't know how you could go about getting the packet from GSI. The one sent to me was done as a courtesy for some contributions, so I'm not entirely certain if a) it's available yet, and b) if you can get if you aren't a new player. Still, it's worth looking at if you're still not entirely comfortable with the game. That be all this time around. Here's hoping my Corsairs weren't special serviced in 97, Tom Artifacts Staff of the Wanderer: This artifact is GOOD, not NEUTRAL. Some versions of the data files are incorrect. Dragons CULGOR.... MEEK (I tHINK, I need to check) URUIAL... I know but dont have it here SMaug likewise. Ando-ANCA ... Meek = survive Bairanax... Meek = survive. All these for DS. Khuzadrepa ---> MEEK ---> recruit Itangast ---> MEEK ---> recruit Ando Anca ---> MEEK ---> escape Bairanax ---> MEEK ---> escape (Paul Comber) Dragons Daelomin: Flee = injured/killed for all allegiances. This was tentative, but has now been confirmed. Note that the number of reports are starting to lean towards the 'combat' result, so it may be that getting killed is more often the case than escaping. Thanks to Wei Wang and Paul Comber for their help with the dragon information. Encounters Hobbits: the Hobbiton clan of Hobbits has been discovered to provide no combat bonus whatsoever to the army it's attached to. Other clans of hobbits may or may not provide a combat bonus, but this one most certainly doesn't. They do, however, increase the morale of the army they're attached to each and every turn, and this bonus to morale remains even after the hobbits leave the army. Personals This section has been tentatively revived for the sole purpose of giving people a way to contact their email counterparts in their games. Should you wish to get in touch with allies or enemies, drop a note here with your address. - I'm playing the Witch-King in #153 and am interested in talking with any other players. -- Ed Bailey (bailey@hagar.ph.utexas.edu) Other Items From Paul Comber According the Paul Comber, the following is the formula for success of threats goes something like this: + Command Rank(Inc Artifact) - loyalty of pop centre - 20 per level of fortification - 20 if capital + 100 if required amount of troops present. (Tom's Note: while the presentation of this algorithm is interesting, I've had several instances where threats which were better than 100% by the above formula failed. My own experience with threats points to a somewhat lower chance of success than the one given here - though I could just be terribly unlucky). Therefore it is perfectly possible to threaten a city if command rank is high enough, also perfectly feasible for a com10 character to threaten a pop centre. Also, Paul reports the following bugs: Ship pickup Bug: There is a bug with the order destroy/Pickup ships. Several times in a row I have issued the order Destroy/Pickup ships, the answer has been you captured 0 warships, 0 transports all the other ships present were destroyed. In the same turn and after this order a scout reported the presence of ships of N Gondor and S Gondor. (I was the QA). Now, nothing has been to the hex to leave these ships behind in the time I have been there. SO, either the scout report is wrong or I am not destroying the ships when the order says I have done. It seems impossible to affect these beached ships. I have repeatedly (3) asked GAD games (the UK licensee) to sort this out but they never do anything. Anyone else ever notice this ?? (Tom's note: This may be specific to GAD games and not to GSI. Anyone experience the same problems here in the U.S.?) Attack Enemy Bug: The Attack enemy order does not work correctly. If this order is issued you should (according to the book) attack all armies present who you consider to be an enemy. i.e. your relations to them are disliked or hated. In fact you will NOT fight with a country which does not regard you as an enemy. This means that you cannot attack (with this order) a nation with neutral relations to you. This has important implications if you are faced by armies of more than 1 nation. Imagine a DS force coming out of Mordor with say 4 different nationalities and N Gondor can only fight 1 of them !!! (Tom's note: This may be true for GAD games, but it isn't true for GSI. This bug doesn't exist in American version of ME-PBM). Article from Jeremy Baxter, Issue #13: With Regard to an article from Jeremy Baxter about ME-PBM game #2 in the UK and the Dragon Lord win (A follow up to who wins most, who loses most) I was on the winning side here (I organised them). Jeremy must have been one of the opposition. From our side of things the QA, LR dropped out on turn 1. The Corsairs, Easterlings also were inactive as far as we could tell. Several of the FP's also dropped (can't remember who) and several we pushed out pretty Early (Woodmen for one who didn't like people ganging up on him !) Anyway the point I am trying to make is that there were 5 of us who joined essentially as a team, IK, BS, DragL, DkLts, CL. We quickly got most of the other DS cooperating and finished the game in about 25 turns. We were interested in seeing how quickly we could end the game and so to stop any squabbling and unnecessary dragging out of the end game it was decided that we would 'let' the Dragon Lord win. Since he had taken out the Woodmen, Sinda, Cardolan and chunks of North Gondor as well as administering the Coup de Grace to the dropped Noldo. Without this decision (and the consequent sending to him of large amounts of funds) who knows what might have happened but we didnt want to pay large amounts of money for very boring mopping up operations. Anyway, after all that, the upshot is you should really discount the Dragon Lord win form you stats for who wins most. Observations and Critique From Paul Comber The game never ends if a player is determined to last out. He just builds capitals in lots of out of the way sites, its nearly impossible to find and detroy one before he builds another. There is a game in England where 1 DS has held out against 6 FP's for about a year, each FP is many times more powerful than the DS but its very hard to actually find and kill him. Now, if the FP's did this with the mantle of Doriath it would be well nigh impossible. Also, economic system. Its fatally flawed. The price of goods is directly related to the total amount of money in peoples treasuries. Therefore upward and downward spirals can be achieved, e.g., people have lots of money in treasury, prices are high, people sell make more money and prices rise even further. Or, people have no money in their treasury, prices fall people can't make any money on the market and things get worse. Anybody else experience this ?? From Tom Walton These concern Paul Comber's remarks. I heartily agree with the first observation. If too few people stay in one a side, it becomes nearly impossible to hunt down and root out a player determined to stay in the game. A number of games have turned around and ended in favor of a defeated side because one or two players simply refused to give up, and the members of the winning team just dropped out one by one until no one was left. This isn't a test of skill; it's a test of how much money you're willing to throw away on a game gone dull. Any moron can win if he runs away and hides and waits for everyone else to drop out in frustration. My solution: have the emissary order 'Uncover Secrets' give away the locations of characters/pop centers/armies. This would reveal the locations of 'hidden nations' much sooner, allowing you to corner and destroy the enemy before he can build a back-up someplace else. As for the comments concerning the economic system, Paul is partially correct, but only partially. It isn't true that the economy and market pricing rely solely upon the amount of gold in one's treasury. GSI itself has said this is not true. Pricing relies upon gold in the treasury AND other factors, these factors being just as important (production rates as a prime example). Rumors to the contrary are incorrect and should be ignored (no insult to Paul; this misinformation has been making the rounds for over a year now). From Jeremy Baxter In Mouth 9 and 10 there was some discussion of the use of army tactics and whether or not they were useful or irrelavent. The first thing I would like to say is that it is difficult to know without having the changed percentages known how important it is but there are situations where the army tactic can be used to your advantage. It was pointed out that in the situation where armies are evenly balanced the tactic can swing the battle in your favour, in the same way as artifacts or spells do. The main problem with this is that in Middle Earth the troop losses are so bad in evenly matched battles that the victor ends up with a fairly weak army anyway. The best tactic is always to out manouver your opponent so that you always have such an advantage in troop numbers that you win in one round. Even if you can do this you still take that one round of losses which will weaken your force. This is where the army tactic is important, not in improving your chances of winning but in reducing your losses. The Tactic vs Tactic modifier is the only chance you get to reduce the attacking strength of the opposing force ( appart from spells ). If you are reasonably sure of victory, even with a reduced strength yourself the best move is to chose the tactic which will work best against your opponents favourite tactic. For instance in UK game 4 as the Arthedain I have 2400 HI, 900 LI, 1700 AR and 500 MA facing 1800 HI of the Fire King. From scouting etc I estimate that the Fire King has a troop strenght of 12,500 and Constitution of 27,000 while my force manages 43,000 strength and 47,000 constitution. Obviously a walk over but I stand to lose 1440 troops, probably more with all those unarmoured archers. Since I can assume that the Fire king will try to maximise troops tactic bonuses by using Flank what should I do? To maximise my attacking strength I would use Flank also, but that is not necessary since I will win anyway. Instead I plan to use Surround, sacrificing some of my attacking strength from all those exhausted Heavy Infantry running around the battlefield but reducing my losses by imposing a much smaller modifier on the enemy. Even should he second guess me and try to use Hit and Run He will still suffer from the reduced troop tactic modifier by not using the best tactic for Heavy Infantry so hopefully I can reduce my losses and keep the force viable for longer. (Tom's note: Michael Hostetter did an excellent analysis of the usefulness of combat tactics in the game, which was printed in "The Free People's Press". He demonstrated just how critical tactics can be to battle, and what a difference they can make over the course of the game. I might suggest contacting either him or David Foreman for the original, if they still have it (and if it's on-line)). News from the Net Editors' note: this is a new column suggested by Brian Mason. Brian uses his access to the newsgroup rec.games.pbm to digest the on-going conversations and provide questions and answers that other people may have about ME-PBM. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #1 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: dubb@parrothead.nrlssc.navy.mil () Subject: MEPBM: riddles and encounters Date: 22 Mar 1994 15:59:07 GMT I'm having trouble with the following riddle: Great and noble was he. Wolf slayer was he. Fee to leave the Evil and join the good to slay the grat evil yet slain be. So far Finrod has failed as an answer. I'm rather perplexed by this one. I also have the following rather interesting encounter this turn. ----- travled long into the night in an attempt to shorten the travel for the following day. Finally, trail tired ahn ready for some much needed sleep, he began looking for a place to camp. Suddenly, a dark shape flew across the face of the full moon and landed ahead in the clearing for which he hadbeen headed. As he slowly and cautiously advances toward the clearing, an man of great beauty seems to walk toward his place of concealment. The man apparently has mo weapos and is smiling disarmingly. Choices are: ATTACK ALLEGIANCE REQUEST him to join HIDDEN Say _______ FLEE This is happening to a dark servant charater in mordor. I think either Allegiance of request are the correct actions but I have nothing to base this on. Also how do you get away from giant spiders. Any advice on these matters would be helpful. -john dubberley ---------------------------------------------------------------- Answers below were supplied by Arnold Mohammed ---------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Huan Vampires Description: usually encountered as men or women of great beauty, or mysterious voices coming from the night. Location: anywhere, but Mordor is most common. Options Result ATTACK the man/woman All: combat State your All: injured/killed ALLEGIANCE JOIN the man/woman All: injured/killed HIDE from the man/woman Say "CELGOR"FP, NT: injured/killed; escape unharmed* DS: escape unharmed SAY (one word) FLEE All: injured/killed Notes: in most cases, escape from a vampire will leave the character with one health point. Should the vampire be defeated in combat, the character will often receive a variable amount of gold and possibly a lost list spell. It's possible to be killed by this encounter if the result of the response is 'escape injured'. Vampires have a challenge rank of somewhere between 75-100. Giant Spiders Description: the character encounters a giant spider intent on making him it's next meal. Location: anywhere, but most often in Mirkwood and Mordor. Options Result ATTACK the spider All: combat Offer FOOD All: combat COMMAND the spider SAY "Elbereth" All: combat SAY "Ungoliant" All: combat SAY (one word) FLEE All: combat Notes: giant spiders generally have a challenge rank ranging from 50-60. Even should combat ensue, most characters will escape with their lives if they lose the battle. Defeating a giant spider often results in the character finding a stash of gold, a lost list, or both. The information is from the Mouth of Sauron, a player-produced e-zine on ME-PBM. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Wed Mar 30 09:01:08 EST 1994 From: freeman@cae.wisc.edu (Samuel Freeman) Subject: ME-PBM: xfer ownership order What are other players' experiences with the transfer ownership order? How important is the emissary rank of the RECEIVING emissary? How is the loyalty affected? Sam freeman@cae.wisc.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: tolley_t@wums.wustl.edu The emissary rank is not important. what is important is your tax rate, your average loyality rating. those will affect the loyality once it is transfered. ---------------------------------------------------------------- That's the News from the Net for this week. ================================================================ Strategy and Tactics: The Witch-King From Wei Wang Some Witch-King Strategy I thought of. I've only played the Witch King once, but with Rhudaur's help I conquered Arthedain and Cardolan on turn 10. (game 93) 1) Raise your taxes to about 79% or so. All of your pop centers are fortified and you'll need the cash. 2) Murazor locates the Ring of Wind, Curifin, etc. And names an emissary. 3) Send the cav east into Mirkwood! This is the plan. Send all your cav to Mt. Gram. Split all the cav together and move onto Zarak-dum (this must be taken or the dwarves can kill you). Threaten it and land on Buhr Fram on the next turn, along with the Gundabad army. Mirkwood is your hope for a better future. 4) Improve all your villages to towns. Improve Zarak-dum to a major town. Use Angulion to do this until it is convenient to meet up with your new emissary. 5) Raise troops like crazy and try to use the blind spots in the FP maps. If you can survive for more than 10 turns consider raising light infantry for cheap threatening power. 6) Name that one emissary, a commander/agent, and two more commanders. I was fielding 9 armies at one point. 7) Bribe or beg Rhudaur for help. 8) Try to trade the Fire King or Blind Sorceror for a major town. The Fire King is good since he doesn't have that many concerns down there and he can put up instant high morale armies. 9) You'll still need a lot of luck! Observations on the Previous Article From Tom Walton I also have played the Witch-King once, and I find some of Wei's tactics to be a bit dangerous in the face of competent opposition. However, in light of the sheer fact that he conquered Arthedain and Cardolan by turn 10 (even with Rhudaur's help), it's a good guess that Wei's opponents weren't exactly skilled. My comments: - I wouldn't use Murazor to locate artifacts. Agent artifacts best belong with the Cloud Lord and Ice King, and the Witch-King has more than enough artifacts in other areas. Murazor is more useful as a challenge god and information gatherer (plus he's rather good at summoning hordes, a move that has great potential). - the Witch-King cav is quite powerful. Sending it into Mirkwood seriously weakens the western front. Had I done that in game 62, Brian, your co-editor and the Cardolan player in that game, would've rolled right over me. Only the timely appearance of my cav kept him from trashing most of Angmar (it also helped me defeat Arthedain's entire army, which arrived outside of Angmar on turn 6). - I wouldn't raise light infantry under any circumstances; it isn't cost-effective. If you want threatening power, raise MA or summon hordes with the Witch-King mages. - of the beginning characters, I'd name one emissary (for the pectoral), two commanders, and one mage (for combat duty and summoning hordes). Wouldn't bother with the double-class characters, as they cost too much and probably won't see alot skill improvement until Eriador is firmly under control. - fielding armies under single commanders is always dangerous. Even if you're relatively safe from assassination (which the Witch-King is not, considering that the Noldo are so close and are quite capable of picking up agent artifacts early in the game), accidents happen. Example: in game 62, Rogrog was killed in battle while fighting Cardolan. Just an unlucky roll. Rogrog was the cav leader and carrying all of my command artirfacts at the time (since Murazor died in personal challenge with Argeleb). If a secondary commander hadn't been in the army, I would've lost my commander, my cav, and virtually all of my best artifacts through one unlucky event. Considering Cardolan's skill, that would've been the end of Angmar. Strategy and Tactics: The Corsairs It is rather difficult starting off this strategy and tactics column, discussing effective strategy for the Corsairs, and never having played them before. Especially, when I know I am going to be followed immediately by a better tactician than myself . So, I'm going to avoid some of the specific moves I have discussed before, and rather, concentrate on listing specifics about the Corsairs, and making a few observations which might assist the novice at the position. How do the Corsairs compare to other nations? At the start of the game they rank as follows (Allegiance Comparison Tables, Tom Walton): among all among Neutrals Total Tax Base 4th 2nd Resource Base 25th 5th Combat Strength 20th 5th Character points 6th 1st Artifacts last last While the Corsairs have a good resource base, their production is on the poor side due to developed state of the population centers which it starts the game with. Expected production (not climate adjusted) for the nation would be as follows: le br st fo ti mo go 345 212 123 2196 668 121 6722 Because of the poor production in almost all areas, to effectively recruit troops with good weapons or armor, to build ships or increase fortifications, the Corsairs must either manipulate the market (a difficult task given the poor production available for sales), take advantage of the market manipulation of others as it presents itself, or create new camps. Because of the close proximity of the Haradwaith, these can either be your closest ally or your most implacable enemy. The fact that very little which you do can go unnoticed by the Harad makes surreptitious actions difficult. The only area on your map not observable by the Harad are those hexes west of and including the 22 column, and only those south of and including the 36 row are unobservable by Southern Gondor. This leaves you only two hexes: 2139 and 2239 which can be developed without Harad knowledge. It is rather important that you decide rather quickly what course of action you will take with the Harad. If they cannot be trusted, almost every movement you make can be monitored. If you cannot trust them, then begin making plans right away for their destruction. Another hex you might plan for early development would be 2538. Placing a tower there could slow movement of any force towards your capital. While other hexes, further along the road might be better, hexes east of and including the 26 column are seen by the Quiet Avenger, and their is no reason to advertise this to more than are necessary. Because all but one of the Corsair population centers starts with a fortification, raising taxes to around 60% or so is possible early. The increased revenue of one turn would pay for the tower at 2437 preventing reduction. Raising taxes to this level will put you in the black, but not by much. If you do not anticipate early combat retiring some troops, especially the Men-at-Arms might be a good course of action. With your excess gold create emissaries and camps. Most important to you is improving your economy. You are also paying for harbors and ports at the rate of 2000 gold per turn. First of all, a harbor is redundant at 2337, so get rid of it. I would also consider removing the harbors at 2236, 2137, 2337, 2039, and 2339. This would leave your only port at 2438 and your harbor which is closest to the rest of the map: 2136. Fortunately, three of your four starting armies are off the Harad map. Therefore, it is relatively easy to combine these into an effective fighting force at 2136 early. The final point I wish to make is points for Corsair landing. Since you do not have to sail along coastlines you should avoid them as wandering navies of other alliances, can only slow you down. I comment now on places of attack ideally suited for the Corsairs. There are many population centers which can be struck from sea with no warning at all. Among them are: Arthedain 1211 Camp/Tower S Gondor 2225 Town Cardolan 1113 Town/Tower S Gondor 2227 City/Fort Cardolan 1014 Town S Gondor 2328 Town/Tower Cardolan 1015 Town S Gondor 2527 M Town/Fort Cardolan 1614 M Town/Castle * S Gondor 2628 Town/Tower Cardolan 1514 Town/Tower * Sinda 2325 M Town/Fort Cardolan 1317 Town/Tower * Noldo 0408 M Town/Fort Cardolan 1219 Town/Tower Noldo 0508 Village N Gondor 2926 Town/Tower Noldo 0708 City/Fort N Gondor 3026 Town/Tower Noldo 0808 Village N Gondor 2927 City/Castle Noldo 0710 Town/Fort N Gondor 3028 Town/Tower Noldo 0611 M Town/Fort * Only if 1319 has not had a population center placed in that tower. Because of their location, Free People dwellings are the most easily struck. It is advisable to have an onground commander doing a Recon in the area of a possible landing so that you know what to expect. Many of the population centers above are suitable only for a full scale invasion, and you'll want to know precisely what you are facing before striking there. But some of the population centers above, escpecially the unfortified ones, are well suited for raids by a small force simply to destroy. Again, since your force is small you'll want to not strike when their are armies present. So, again, a spotter for the raiding force is advisable. While most damage can be done against the Free Peoples, it is also possible to do some dirty deeds against the Dark Servants and neutrals. Because of their location it is not always as easy, but a Corsair looking for fun, can, like Captain Blood, raid for king, country, and the forces of good. Options include: 1. A surprise raid on the Witch-King. Making a landing at 1302 will take some time (at least four turns), but can ruin his whole day. 2. Taking out the Quiet Avenger. This nation is much weaker than you. Simultaneous strikes on 2135 and 3034 are easily possible, and with adequate planning you can take out this pesky nuisance quickly. 3. Osgiliath, why not? It is easy for the Corsairs to reinforce this deadly bloodbath. 4. Dealing with the Haradwaith. Between the Corsairs and Southern Gondor the Haradwaith are an easy mark. With advance planning you can handle them on your own. These are only some of the options for the Corsairs player. I'm sure more will be mentioned below. From Tom Walton The nation of the Corsairs ranks as one of my all-time favorites in Middle-Earth. Something about having an entire kingdom of pirates and cutthroats at my beck and call, just dying to plunder and pillage the shores of distant lands, does much to fire up my interest in the game. Indeed, I could talk all day about the various Corsair tactics; the original text of this article was only half-finished and occupied about 50% of the Mouth. In the interests of not putting our loyal readers to sleep, I'm going to cut out the details and simply address those items that Brian didn't, or that I have a different opinion on. I'm assuming here that you already know alot about the game and tactics, to keep this article as short as possible. The Corsair strengths are easy to see: good tax base, well- fortified pop centers in an easily defensible area, some of the best characters in the game, and, of course, their incredible navy (supported by appropriate nation advantages). Their weaknesses are less obvious but critical, especially in the early game: - lousy resource base. As you can see from Brian's table, the Corsair resource base is tiny. When raising troops or conducting construction projects, the Corsairs will have to buy what they need from the market. This could be easy if the prices are low, or crippling if the prices are high. - pathetic army. The Corsair starting army truly stinks. The entire force is barely capable of taking out Vamag, and that only if it isn't heavily defended. Adequate for defense in the early game, it's nothing more than a nuisance when on the offensive. - naval weakness. I know this sounds like a contradiction in terms, since the Corsairs are capable of defeating any single player on the open seas. Alas, that's any SINGLE player. Should the Corsairs go evil, they'll face a combined Free Peoples fleet about twice the size of their own, easily strong enough to wipe them out if they get caught in naval battle. - neighboring Haradrim. As Brian said, the Haradrim can either be cooperative or hostile. A Harad-Corsair combo can wreak havoc on the Free and cause some serious difficulties for the Dark Servants; a crazy or obnoxious Harad can force the Corsairs into a long, bloody war of attrition which'll occupy most of the game and ruin both nations. In most of the games I've been in or heard about, neutrals tend to get paid alot of attention until recruited. After they actually join an allegiance, the allegiance seems to forget about them, essentially telling them to 'sink or swim' on their own. Given that you won't be able to rely on your 'allies' most of the time, it's imperative that the Corsairs correct their weaknesses and strengthen their position prior to entering the fray. Here are some ideas: - consolidate the army and fleet immediately. Leave the navy in one big chunk and make sure the commander has a back-up and is well- guarded. I suggest two recruiting points: 2438 and 2136 (the latter because it's the most strategically located pop center in Umbar). - name three or four emissaries out of the first four character slots. These emissaries should move out and begin to put down camps as fast as possible. Don't worry about doing upgrades to villages; the Corsairs have enough taxes, what they need right at the start are resources. - speaking of taxes, raise the tax rate to 79%. This will nearly double revenue. Better yet, when the Corsairs have eight or ten camps down, they can drop taxes to 60%, giving all of their camps a loyalty increase of 1-19 points. Instant village material. - if the Haradwaith aren't crazed for battle or simply too stupid to figure out they can't conquer the Corsairs at the beginning of the game, disband all troops except the heavy infantry. Don't start recruiting again until the Corsair economy is stable and running a nice surplus. While this is suicide for the Free Peoples and Dark Servants, the Corsairs can disband troops with little fear of invasion in the first ten turns. - if the market gods have smiled upon Umbar, think about building more warships. The stronger the fleet, the more likely it is the Corsairs will be able to defeat a combined Free force. Of course, if the Corsairs are leaning towards the Free, building warships is a waste of time. - think about blowing the bridge over the Harnen. This prevents a land invasion by enemy forces unless they're willing to march around and through Easterling territory, a very long haul even with cav. Ten turns of judicious planning will put the Corsairs in a position to inflict some serious damage upon their foes. Not only will they be able to shore up their weaknesses, but their nation will become an economic powerhouse capable of supporting a very large army. A few more suggestions: - most Corsair characters are double and triple classed. Attach them to armies right away and start training them in their off- skills. By doing this, the Corsairs can get some fairly skilled agents, emissaries and mages - without having to waste character slots or gold. At the same time, they'll also improve their already nice command ranks. - Meriot is a decent mage, able to learn 'locate artifact true' by turn 3 (sooner if he lucks out and already has a spell or two in this area). Artifacts are icing on the cake for the Corsair characters, improving upon their already excellent abilities. If Meriot is lucky and acts fast, he can pick up some nice artifacts before his competitors can reach them. - think about putting camps down in off-map areas. This can give the Corsairs a good resource and tax base well away from the action. While western Gondor is a good choice, it's also too obvious; I'd suggest south and east of the Easterling capitol, a place that virtually no one visits. How to battle with the Corsairs? With the above plan, the Corsairs can become a powerhouse without having to plan to join any one allegiance. By turn 10, they're capable of doing serious damage to any opponent they choose. The tactics used will vary depending on the target: - Free Peoples. I favor going Dark Servant as the Corsairs simply because it's boring not to. If the Corsairs go Free, they deprive themselves of the joy of ravaging the coastal cities of Middle Earth. Brian has already listed a set of good targets outside of Southern Gondor. If the Corsairs wish to make nuisance attacks, then put as many troops on the fleet as possible and move from town to town making threats. With a fleet, the Corsairs can threaten and move all in one turn, safe from attack by land-based forces. Unfortunately, many of these threats will fail (since the Corsairs don't have a slew of good command artifacts), but those that succeed will put a crimp in the style of the target nation. If the Corsairs wish to make a major invasion intent on doing serious damage, or even with conquest in mind, I'd suggest first building 7 more transports. This gives them a lift capacity of 7500 HI, a very respectable force. Have the navy move to some hex in the area that isn't obvious, then on the next turn order the naval commander to split the army and move away. The new army will immediately be able to march to a target, while the fleet can flee to some place safe from interception by Free warships. At this point the Corsairs conduct a traditional land campaign, while the fleet goes back to pick up a second army (now recruiting) at Umbar. - Dark Servants. I only recommend hitting the Dark Servants if you're in a suicidal frame of mind. The Corsairs almost always lose the game when they declare for the Free, primarily because they're within easy reach of Mordor's agents. If it looks like the Dark Servants will be the intended target, I suggest naming pure agents early on, then training them up and attaching them to army/navy commanders before Mordor finds out which way the wind is blowing. Without proper agent support, the Corsairs can be decimated even before battle is joined. In this case, conquest of the Quiet Avenger is the first priority. This is an easy campaign if Harad isn't inclined to support them. In fact, with proper planning both of the QA major towns can be taken in one turn, and there's not a thing the QA can do about it. Destroying the QA navy is also a priority, to prevent counterinvasion in Umbar. After the south has been secured, I'd suggest making a landing in trouble spots in support of the Free. If Eriador is going down to the Witch-King and his allies, think about landing in Cardolan or Arthedain and lending 7500 HI worth of troops to the cause. This could turn around the battle completely. If the Gondors are struggling with the enemy, the Ithilien is a nice place to strike, as so many targets suggest themselves and are easy to reach. I wouldn't recommend a direct strike against Mordor proper until allies are ready and willing to come along, as this will only attract more agent attention than the Corsairs can really handle. If the Dark Servants are to be the enemy, the Corsairs may also want to move their capitol, preferably to a major town with a harbor that's entirely outside of Umbar. - Harad. Harad will become a target if the player in this position is hostile, overbearing, or just plain stupid. When invading Harad, do two things right away: (1) blow the bridge over the Harnen, and (2) destroy the Harad navy. If these objectives are accomplished, the Corsairs will carve Harad into two separate nations which aren't capable of reinforcing one another. The Corsairs can then mount a major offensive in southern Harad to take the towns there, recover, then go for a sea invasion in Harondor (northern Harad). An attack against Harad needs to be well-planned. Harad has a better economy and resource base than Umbar; by rights, it can conquer Umbar should war rear its head. Only the division of Harad into two nations gives the Corsairs an advantage in this campaign. If Harad suspects such a strike and moves/raises all of its troops in the south, it may be able to make a surprise strike that Umbar can't counter (I did this in games 55 and 68 with great effect). If Harad is the target, surprise is a useful ally. Lull the Haradrim into thinking that they're safe from the Corsairs, then hit them while they're not looking. If you insist on fighting a 'fair' war against a good opponent in the Harad position, you'll get your ass kicked (and deserve to, in this case). As I said in the opening of this article, I could wax lyrical on the finer points of Corsairs strategy for pages. But in the interests of avoiding a cancellation of subscriptions, I'll end my comments here. I'm especially interested in criticism and comments concerning neutral nations. I tend to play neutrals, and Dark Servants when I'm not doing that. So, anything regarding the neutrals, the Corsairs in particular this issue, would be most appreciated (especially if you see that I've made some major gaffe somewhere). Tom The Problem with Dragons by Tom Walton and Brian Mason Recently, a debate was engaged with another player concerning dragons. A concern was put forward by the player that dragons are necessary for the Witch-King and Dragon Lord to effectively fight the Free Peoples. While we are sympathetic to these two positions, and recognize their weakness, the fact remains that there are positions which are as weak or weaker than these two. Specifically, of the first 31 games which have concluded in Middle-earth Play-by-Mail, the Witch-King has been in the winners circle an average number of times and while the Dragon Lord has never placed in a game, he is not alone, sharing this distinction with the Woodmen and Rhudaur (Tom Walton, "Winners and Losers in Middle-Earth," The Mouth #8). These positions are difficult for the same reason that the position of Northern Gondor is difficult: so many nations are focused on your destruction. In the game, as they are, dragons make powerful emissaries for the Dark Servants, constantly lowering Free People and raising Dark Servant loyalties and being, essentially, enchallengable. These beasts are a constant problem to those Free Peoples with population centers in the moutains, as any player of the Dwarves will tell you. Also, they provide a rather impressive reason for the Free Peoples and Neutrals to stay out of the mountains making these havens for new Dark Servant population centers. This article, however, is not about what can be done to balance the table among the nations. All of them are different and have inherent strengths and weaknesses associated with them. The purpose here is to discuss the problem with dragons. Specifically, why they should not be "less common and more likely to join your armies." The reasons fall into two areas: one, historical, and the second, play-balance. Unlike other fictional games of this kind, Middle-earth Play-By-Mail is based on a place which has a history associated with it. While the game can (and does) make changes, these changes should be in the spirit of Middle-earth. Dragons are historical creatures, bred by Morgoth and used extensively by him in the battles of Belariand and the War of Wrath of the First Age (as described in "The Silmarillion"). The fact is, that after the First Age dragons were not, to the best of our knowledge, used in warfare by Sauron or any of his minions. Smaug was certainly capable of destroying a Major Town (ala Esgaroth from "The Hobbit"), however it is by no means certain that they would necessarily show any predilection to attacking population centers of the Free Peoples. There is, however, a faint suggestion that using dragons in warfare might be possible. The following quote comes from "Unfinished Tales" by JRRT. Gandalf is speaking. "It might all have gone very differently indeed. The main attack was diverted southwards, it is true; and yet even so with his farstretched right hand Sauron could have done terrible harm in the North, while we defended Gondor, if King Brand and King Dain had not stood in his path. When you think of the great Battle of the Pelennor, do not forget the Battle of Dale. Think of what might have been. Dragon-fire and savage swords in Eriador! There might be no Queen in Gondor. We might now only hope to return from the victory to ruin and ash. But that has been averted -- because I met Thorin Oakenshield one evening on the edge of spring not far from Bree. A chance-meeting, as we say in Middle-earth." I think the implication is clearly here that Smaug would have fought, if not with the armies, at least to loot and pillage. Tom's note: I interpreted this to mean that Smaug would take advantage of the fighting and confusion to loot and pillage Northmen territory. I believe he would've done the same thing regardless of which allegiance was in control of the area (what does Smaug care if orcs or men have the gold?). That the Northmen had the region was incidental to the dragon (though certainly not to the Northmen!). However, it is in the area of direct play-balance that dragons cause the greatest problem. Dragons are a no-brainer battle-winner, destroying the best-laid plans through luck rather than skill. All you need is a table of encounters, and whoops, there goes the enemy's 5000 man army. Don't bother recruiting, just send characters into the mountains and meet as many dragons as you can. Worse, this becomes more and more true as time goes on and better dragon lists are made (or verified). It's discouraging for those of us who spend a great deal of time and energy executing a perfect campaign against our opponents, only to have it ruined by such a mindless tactic as recruiting a dragon. What's the point of going to the trouble if some half-baked would-be Napoleon can whip your ass simply because a kindly veteran gave him a dragon list and he got lucky (comments on the availability of our dragon list should be kept to yourself!)? Dark Servants will, of course, scream bloody murder if it becomes impossible to recruit dragons. Without them, they're in a worse position than they currently occupy. But the point isn't whether or not dragons are needed; they aren't. The point is that if dragons are required to fight on even terms, then there's a serious flaw in some of the positions of the game. This flaw needs to be addressed APART from dragons, not intertwined with it. Both of us have heard many arguments for the presence of dragons in Dark Servants armies. All, however, sound like excuses to have a Middle-Earth equivalent of nuclear firepower, using this in lieu of skill to acquire an advantage. As one who favors Dark Servants and has played both the Witch-King and Dragon Lord (Tom), I sincerely sympathize with the poor saps who get stuck in these positions; but I, for one, can't condone dragons as the answer (it is possible to win an Eriador campaign without them; I never had a dragon when I played the Witch-King, yet with my allies managed to defeat our enemies in the region. The same is currently true for a Dragon Lord player in one of my other games). Some players are of the opinion that the possibility of character deaths more than makes up for the recruitment. I (Tom) disagree; having played the Witch-King, Dragon Lord, Duns, and Dwarves, I've had more encounters with dragons than any other single player that I know of. Yet using my own dragon list and a little common sense, I haven't had a single character death in just under a year. Anyone who loses characters to dragons except on rare occasions either has the worst luck imaginable, or is doing some really silly things. It's our opinion that dragons need to be removed from recruitment entirely and made more rare, perhaps mostly confined to the Grey Mountain area (which was historical, both by I.C.E.'s standards and Tolkien's; the latter mentioned that most of the dragons were in the Northern Wastes, far from the inhabited areas of Middle-Earth). At the same time, corrections need to be made to certain positions to make up for the loss and take care of their specific problems. This will provide the weakened positions with the resources necessary to press an advantage in their area, and perhaps win, but only if the player in charge of that nation is skilled enough to take the lead through wit and not luck. We welcome all comments and would enjoy printing a rebuttal to this article. Brian and Tom COMMENTARY By Leslie Foreman Editor's Note: we held this over two weeks specifically so it would appear in the April Fool's edition of the Mouth. I feel confident that most have you have read the article in the "Whisper of the Wood" related to the different play styles of the people who are involved in ME-PBM. These "types" of people were also discussed in the Free People Press, for those of you who were involved in that publication. It occurred to me that not only do the 'players' of the games have characteristics, but so do the wives/girlfriends of the players. ( I realize that there are women who are the only ME-PBM players in their homes, but I do not know any of them personally. Therefore, I do not feel that I can comment on the male observers of The Game.) In considering the types of non-players, here after referred to as NP, I feel that there are five different kinds. I have assigned each to a person, fictional or non-fictional, who I feel personifies the characteristics associated with that kind of NP. BONNIE BLAIR: The Bonnie Blair NP is the kind of person who is very interested in the game and the interest eventually leads to her becoming a player herself. I know of several Bonnie Blairs who are now players and are enjoying the interaction between the players and the competitive spirit inherit to the game. If you want to talk competition, who else is there but Bonnie Blair? If you want to enter into a previously male dominated activity, who else is there but Bonnie Blair? If you want to work hard and to exercise your independence, who else is there but Bonnie Blair? DIANE SAWYER: The Diane Sawyer NP is the kind of person who is interested in the game because the player is interested in the game. She asks about the results of turns and discusses the specifics of battles and confrontations with the player. She is also interested in the dynamics of the game and often has insights about the other characters/players because she is an objective observer and has listened to the player discuss the pros and cons of previous turns and is able to put everything in perspective. The Diane Sawyers are just like their namesake - they are like reporters. "Just the facts ma'am. I don't want to be involved, but I want to know what happened." MRS. WIGGINS: Many of you will not remember this character. She is one Carol Burnett portrayed on the Carol Burnett Show. Mrs. Wiggins was the secretary for Mr. Tudball. The Mrs. Wiggins NP is the one who takes the messages from the phone and the answering machine and passes them on to the player. She generally does not have the slightest idea what they mean. (That's what makes her like Mrs. Wiggins!) All she knows and all she really cares to know is that the character Frost Bite is at some "hecks" number. MURPHY BROWN: The Murphy Brown NP is the one who is not interested in the game, but she doesn't care if the gamer plays. I think it would be accurate to say that she does not want anyone to tell her what to do, therefore, she does not tell the player what to do. While the gamer is occupied with the game, she has interests in which she is involved. She does not sit quietly. When it comes to hobbies, the couple's lives run parallel - they don't cross at any point. CLEOPATRA: The Cleopatra NP is the person who completely dislikes the game and does not want the gamer to play at all. She does not tolerate the game - she completely dislikes it. The reason why she feels this way is because the game takes the attention away from her - she has to share the limelight and this is not a position she takes kindly to. The gamer has to play on the sly. I understand that Marc Antony was a gamer; he was in Game #25 BC and I guess it just lasted too long. He probably would have rather encounter Smaug than that asp in his chair. Author's note: The ideas represented here are uniquely those of the author. Any resemblance to significant others, current or otherwise, is purely coincidental. This article is not designed to be the authority on the various personalities of the female non- gamer. There are MANY reasons why we women act the way that we do. That statement is fact even if this article isn't. LRF- A New Nation By Brian Mason Recently, I received a letter from Bill Feild, the game designer of Middle-earth Play-By-Mail. He was concerned that the unbalanced nature of having an odd number of neutrals might lead to pitting 13 against 12 at some stage in the game. To offset this game imbalance he had advocating adding a sixth neutral, and he asked me to make comments on the following position. I could think of no one better able to evaluate the position than the loyal readers of "The Mouth." I enclose a summary of the major attributes of this new position number twenty-six in a format similar to that of Tom Walton's nation data. Also, I provide the map ranges, warship strengths and a further list of artifacts. They were added by Bill spcifically for this position. Before I turn it over to you, I though we might take a look at how it compares, specifically with the other neutrals. I will rank the neutrals, 21-26 in each of the following areas from lowest to highest. As you can see, it compares favorably with its neutral counterparts. It's relative weakness, however, in both tax base and combat strength is somewhat overcome by the additional artifacts which they possess, far in excess of the other Neutrals. Tax RB Combat Str CP 22 22 25 21 21 26 24 26 25 25 23 23 23 & 24 23 22 25 26 24 21 22 & 24 21 26 26. Siam Special Advantages: (1) All new heavy cavalry recruits start with a training rank of 20, all new light cavalry recruits start with a training rank of 20, all new heavy infantry recruits start with a training rank of 20, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. (2) Any character whose challenge rank exceeds that of the King is automatically retired (the King's head must be highest, and so must his challenge rank). (3) All Lore spells and scouting/recon orders doubled in casting rank or skill level (Why? It is a Puzzlement!) (4) New emissaries can have a skill rank of 40 (everybody has to grovel to the King). Population Centers Name Hex Size Fort. Docks Ayutthaya 1324 Village Bangkok 1227 Major Town Fort Port Chiang Mai 1323 Town Tower Harbor Chumphon 1324 Village Kamphaeng Phet 1327 Town Tower Khon Kaen 1423 Camp Nong Rong 1427 Camp Surat Thani 1725 Village Takua Pa 1626 Town Tower Harbor Initial Forces Hex Morale HC LC HI LI AR MA Ships 1227 50 1000 1000 16W, 8T 1323 20 500 500 8W, 4T 1626 20 500 500 8W, 4T Warship Stength = 4 Initial Characters Name Com Ag Em Ma St Chal Art Anna Leonowens 40 20 191, 194 King 50 10 51 192, 193 Kralahome 10 20 20 32 195 Lady Thiang 20 10 13 Lun Tha 10 30 25 196 Prince Chulalongkorn 20 10 10 23 Sir Edward Ramsey 20 10 40 26 Tuptim 20 20 17 197 Map Ranges ULeft URight LLeft LRight 1117 1917 1129 1929 Additional Artifacts (all alligned neutral) 191 Robes of Dancing +20 emissary 192 Sword of the King +1000 combat 193 Mantle of Ego +20 command 194 Whistle of Happy Tunes +500 combat 195 Turtle's World +15 mage 196 Rendevous Boots +10 stealth 197 Slippers of Assignation +15 stealth Tolkien and D&D (author unknown) Many people have noticed that Tolkien's novel "The Lord of the Rings" bears an uncanny resemblance to the game of Dungeons and Dragons, in that it contains elves, dwarves, orcs and so forth. Clearly Tolkien was much influenced by D&D, and a recently unearthed recording, probably made by MI5, shows him playing Dungeons and Dragons on the floor of his rooms in Merton College, Oxford, one evening, with C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and various other luminaries. Here is part of the transcript of the recording, which all will agree is of great historical interest. C.S. Lewis: Well, Tom, it's really good of you to come along and act as Dungeon Master for the evening. Haven't enjoyed myself so much since I played in G.K. Chesterton's dungeon and slew Father Brown. T.S. Eliot (for it is he): Thanks. Anyway, is Father Aslan going to go and explore the Waste Land further yet, or will he have another drink? Lewis: That depends on the rest of the party. Radagast? Tolkien: Yes, I want to go and see Madame Sosostris the clairvoyante and see what she has to say. (Murmurs of assent from Dorothy L. Sayers, Charles Williams, Bertrand Russell (visiting), etc. etc.) Eliot: O.K. Radagast I want you to roll a D20 at this stage to see what happens as you walk across the Waste Land. [LOUD BANGING ON THE DOOR.] Tolkien: Who is it? Voice outside: Iss only me, Professor Tolkien. Juss poor Smeagol. He's brought his essay for the nice Mr Professor. [Tolkien goes over to open the door, doing his best to block the view of the dice, counters and miniature monsters on the floor. Meanwhile the rest of the party hurriedly leap into chairs and pretend to be having a deep discussion.] Lewis: Yes but we all remember what St Paul says about the Numinous in his Epistle to the Confusions... Tolkien: Well, Smeagol, where this essay? Can't you see I'm busy discussing the Numinous? Smeagol: Don't be hard on poor Smeagol, he couldn't find his precious elvish dictionary. That nasty Baggins had borrowed it. Oooh, what's that on the floor? Tolkien: Er, nothing. My son must have left his toys there. Smeagol: Can Smeagol be an orc? Bertrand Russell: Certainly not. We don't want any orcs. I've come over specially to play White Head the dwarf. Lewis: You mean, 'to argue the non-existence of God,' don't you? Russell: Er, yes. Sorry. Tolkien: Off you go boy and hand your essay in on time in future. [Door slams]. Now, my character Radagast threw a 12. What happens to him? Another item from the Mythcon XXIV Songbook copied shamelessly and without permission from Mythprint, Vol. 30, No. 9-10, 1993. Periodic Table of Elvish Names by Carl F. Hostetter and Patrick Wynne Sung to the tune of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Modern Major General" with apologies to Tom Lehrer There's Baragund and Belegund and Beregond and Barahir, Beren, Mandos, Luthien, Isildur, Tar-Atanamir; Umbardacil, Hyarmendacil, Romendacil, and Ardamir, Castamir and Cirion and Gilthoniel and Firiel, Nienor, Lothiriel, Lindorie, and Miriel; Hallacar and Hallatan and Huor, Hurin Thalion [take deep breath] Beor, Beleg, Bregor, Brodda, Tuor, Turin, Calion. There's Gloredhel, Adanedhel, Tindomiel, and Aravir, Aravorn and Belegorn and Boromir and Faramir; Tar-Ciryatan, Atanatar, Tar-Minyatur, Anarion, and Herunumen, Herumor, Elendil, Tar-Aldarion. Isn't that interesting? I hope you're all taking notes, because there's going to be a short quiz next period. Gildor, Galdor, Fundor, Uldor, Arador and Bregolas, Haldir, Handir, Brandir, Mardil, Mormegil and Legolas; Araphant and Araphor amd Arvegil and Arathorn, Araglas and Argeleb and Aragost and Aragorn; Elu Thingol, Melian, and Elured and Elurin, Maedhros, Maglor, Amrod, Amras, Celegorm and Curufin; Finwe, Finrod Felagund, Finduilas and Feanor [take deep breath] Daeron, Dior, Dragluin and Diriel and Denethor. Elwe, Olwe, Inwe, Manwe, Tinwe Linto, Elrohir, Elmo, Ulmo, Namo, Sulimo and Curunir; Quenya and Taliska and Koronolorin and Lindarin, Adunaic, Dwarvish, Orkish, Danian, and Sindarin. These aren't the only ones of whom the news has come to Arda, But we could not include them all: that would have been much harder. Last Word Hello all. Greetings from elsewhen. I was sitting at home this evening, minding my own business, and wondering how am I ever going to get Tarondor out of all the mess I've piled on him in game 131 when I though I might check my email. And there, sitting in my bin is the first draft of the issue you currently have in your hands. I read through it, and it seems fine to me, but then I hit the last line of it and the last line says, simply, Last Word. Damn. Here it is a few days from press (archaic isn't it?) and while I've come up with First Word for issue 15, it has suddenly hit me full in the face that I've got a deadline to make. Damn again. So hear I sit listening to Beethoven hoping that he can inspire me to write something wonderful for the Last Word this month. Obviously it is not working. You see, this is I suppose the problem that you encounter when we say "write us an article," or something to that effect. What?!?! Me?!?! Now?!?! Write?!? It's commonly known as writer's block and it's the sudden panic that often occurs in these circumstances. Writing however will beget writing, and once you start putting pen to paper (or fingertip to keyboard) it becomes easier the more you do. Ideas usually come to me as I'm doing something else,casually thinking about a topic, or wondering what I should do in a specific game. Once you begin working in this way, you will find that articles can come pretty free and loose. Others among you have not written articles for fear of rejection or ridicule. Hey guys, it just doesn't happen. I've lofted some stinkers in past issues of "The Mouth" (and, if the truth were known, I think the weakest piece on me-pbm I ever wrote got me my first free setup (in game 131)). And even from that load of hooey did not generate one negative response. So, send us your prose, your tomes, your written refuse, yearning to be read. Until Murazor hangs from the gibbet in game 97, Brian