From the Mouth of Sauron
Issue: E-16
Date: 04-15-94
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
How about the shortest editorial yet? Nothing earth-shaking going
down, no real news to report. So let's skip my blathering this time
around and get to the good stuff!
Tom
Dragons
I'm in the process of completing a survey on the range of particular
dragons that move outside the normal bounds of the Grey/Misty
Mountains, the Withered Heath,and surrounding rough hexes. No real
surprises here, but some information you may find marginally useful:
Rough hexes in Northern Gondor: the group of rough hexes in
Northern Gondor just east of Angrenost and south of Dol Guldur will
sometimes see visits by dragons. The most common encounters are
with Itangast, Khuzadrepa, and other dragons that are generally
found in the Southern Misty Mountains. Strangely enough, these
dragons won't be found in any of the non-rough hexes between this
location and the Misty Mountains (i.e., no encounters in plains or
forest hexes).
Sarn Goriwing: Sarn Goriwing and the two rough hexes to the north
will commonly be haunted by Nimanaur, Bairanax, and other dragons
found in the Grey Mountains to the north. Again, they won't be
found in the intervening forest or plains hexes.
Iron Hills: dragon visits are very infrequent in these rough hexes,
but the most common encounters are with Bairanax and Gostir. These
dragons can also be found in the Northern Wastes between the Iron
Hills and the Grey Mountains. No dragons range east or south of the
Iron Hills (with the exception of Lamthanc in Mordor).
All other dragons are encountered in the mountain hexes of the Misty
or Grey Mountains, adjacent rough hexes, the Withered Heath (the
plains hexes between the two branches of the Grey Mountains), or
rarely, in the Northern Wastes north of the Grey Mountains. Dragons
are not found in any other location on the map, unless attached to
someone's army (so far as I know).
If you're looking to find the recruitable dragons, the best places
to be are pop centers in Angmar (mountains), Gundabad, Goblin's
Gate, or the mountain hexes within this triangle. Most of the
recruitable dragons have ranges which cross in this area.
Encounters
Tom Bombadil: Dave Rossell and Rochelle Neuman report that after a
visit to Rochelle's army, Tom raise the morale a few points but did
nothing else useful. Bear in mind that it appears that Tom's
influence may be variable. Note that there were no encounter
options; it was strictly an army encounter.
Balrogs: okay folks, positive confirmation. When recruiting the
Balrog, it's an army encounter and not a character encounter. The
Balrog runs into your army (if you're a Dark Servant) and decides to
join up for awhile. But he cautions that you'd better fight alot,
or bad things could happen (eat the army commander?).
Once again: if you get this as a character encounter, you
CANNOT recruit the balrog. If you get this as an army encounter,
he'll join a Dark Servant army automatically (for a Free/Neutral
army, he'll attack and slaughter troops left and right).
That settles the quest for the balrog info, which some of you
sneaky persons had but wouldn't divulge. Hah! The editors of the
Mouth will find out sooner or later, secretive ones; you can't hide
anything from us for long....
Ents & Huorns: Another firm confirmation. You can't recruit ents
through a character encounter. The only way to do it (and this is
for Free Peoples) is to run an army through Fangorn Forest. If you
get the encounter, they'll join automatically.
Unfortunately for Dark Servants and Neutrals, an encounter
with ents is a very bad thing and will result in massive casualties
among the offending armies. This makes Fangorn a great base for the
Free, as they have a built-in patrol ready to take on any invading
Dark Servants.
Well, we had a great week for encounter info. These items were
suspected since they appeared on other encounter lists, but it took
awhile to get actual confirmation either from personal experience or
from people we could trust not to dish us bad info. Hope this helps
you some. We should also have a spate of new info on dragons coming
soon - I'm trying out four new responses in this next set of turns
alone.
Other Notes
From Tom Walton
While many of your turn reports list email as having no additional
charge, I recently spoke to GSI concerning the matter. They said
that they had reconsidered and decided to tack on $1.00 to all email
turns. Reason? To cover the expenses passed on to them by CIS.
Checking with those of you who regularly access CIS, I found that
the average charge is about $0.15 per file. Downloading mail (or
cut-n-paste, if that's the way you operate) only takes about a
minute for a file the size of a 21-character order sheet (actually
less for me, but I'm erring on the side of caution). Since CIS
charges $0.10 a minute, this would come to a total cost of $0.25 per
email turn to GSI.
If GSI were to do the wise thing and open an account on AOL, the
cost would be nothing for incoming mail, plus about $0.06 per
minute. That's a grand total of $0.06 per email turn - assuming
that GSI has already used up the five free hours per month it gets
with it's AOL account.
I don't know about you, but this struck me as somewhat
opportunistic. Unless GSI has terribly incompetent employees who
need 9 minutes to download/cut a file, or they write out everything
by hand from the email (this is clearly not the case), it seems the
company doth overcharge quite a bit for the email service. In fact,
it seems to be intent on making more profit (I see this behavior in
government all the time - charging far beyond the actual cost of the
service).
After gawking at the reply I received on my question, I told GSI
that I, for one, wouldn't be using the email service unless it was
an emergency, as the charge was far too much. While it might help
to avoid being special serviced, this has only happened to me three
times in about 250-300 turns (I really don't know anymore). Even
taking the low figure, that's one special service turn per 80
regular turns, or at email charge figures $80.00 to avoid a single
special service turn. And I have notoriously slow mail service,
rivaling our Canadian cohorts (I have to turn my mail around in 48
hours to get it to GSI on time).
So is it worth it? I don't think so, but then, I'm in six games.
That's $12.00 a month for me, equivalent to the cost of an entire
new game. I'm curious to know what all of you out there think about
the charges and the usefulness of email turns.
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
----------------------------------------------------------------
What follows are more answers in response to Brian Lowery's post #1
from last week.
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From Doug Christensen (trubador@aol.com)
I'm also curious as to how this feature will work. In one of my
games as the Long Rider I hold three major towns: 4215 (my
capital), 3707, and 2912. I recieved a recon report for 3707 but
not for 2912. Why?
Also, will the MT/City recons tell you the composition and leaders
of enemy armies like the Recon and ScoArea orders?
----------------------------------------------------------------
From Brian Cash (bcash@bnr.ca)
Existing games are included.
You will not get a recon from any mt/cities on your map, even if it
is on the edge or corner.
You will also not get a report if the loyalty is too low. I don't
know what the cut-off is yet, but 15 is too low.
I haven't heard any input on this yet.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Reply from Brian Mason
Thusfar in other games of mine I've only seen it not work (with a
loyalty of 40). I do, however, have a reliable report of results
with a loyalty of 59. So apparently, the cut-off is somewhere
between these two values. I am still looking for more data (hello
out there) to firmly establish this. Send me info on loyalty of
major towns and cities off your main map and whether or not they
provided the info to mason@chara.gsu.edu.
There was also some question as to whether or not this applied to
all games or only new games. It has apparently been applied to all
games, new and old.
Also, the nagging question remains, does it provide you with only a
map or does it also give you army information (as a recon does). As
far as I know, the jury is still out on that.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Post #2
----------------------------------------------------------------
From: v011l6fc@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (DAVE ROSSELL)
Subject: ME-PBM Long Rider encounter?
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 18:18:00 GMT
I've heard rumors that there's an encounter that will allow the Long
Rider get an army out of its mountain-locked major town at 3229.
Anyone hear anything about this, or how to get it?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Reply from Brian Mason
This has been a longstanding rumor. As yet I have never heard of a
confirmation of this. Anyone knowing anything, pass it along.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Reply from Tom Walton
As Brian said, this is a long-standing rumor. GSI wouldn't deny or
confirm it when I asked them, but they made it very clear that one
shouldn't give credence to all rumors, for many aren't true (the
reply was very strongly worded in the negative). I found this to be
a roundabout way of saying that the rumor is bogus and not to waste
any effort on it.
So far as either of us know, no one has ever had this encounter. I
class it with the nonexistent dragons, i.e., deliberate
misinformation passed along to confuse and annoy other players.
Other Notes
From Darin Fitzpatrick
RE: The "Kill Guard" order
This order already exists; it goes by the name of "Issue Personal
Challenge." In fact, an agent good enough to be assassinating
someone probably has a much higher challenge rank than a typical
guard. This tactic is especially effective if the agent also has
some command rank (easy to build up quickly) and a good combat
artifact. Ideally, this assassin could nail an average of one
character per turn, moving and scouting and then challenging and
assassinating.
A corollary bit of advice is to have one's guards refuse personal
challenges. In this case, two assassinations may be necessary
(either with two assassins or over two turns.)
RE: Nation Transport and Caravan Transport
If you want to send all your stores of one resource (or a given
percentage of them) to an ally, it is most efficient to "Nation
Transport" to whichever Pop Center has the most of that particular
resource, thus minimizing the 10% fee. Caravan Transport can
originate in any Pop Center, not just the capital. This tactic
ensures that your ally gets the most for your generosity. Also, if
you happen to have a character in that Pop Center, you can now have
him transport the goods, thus saving a capital order for something
more useful.
RE: Troop Diversity
Many writers have complained about the lack of variety in troop
recruitment. The fact that heavy troops are always best rob the game
of a potentially critical strategic decision. It seems difficult,
however, to come up with a simple solution, one that does not
involve substantial restructuring of the combat system.
I have collected a few thoughts about possible directions a solution
might take:
- light troops could gain movement bonuses, similar to those
currently enjoyed by cavalry
- light troops could have strength of 75% of the heavy troops
(instead of 50%)
- the distinction between light and heavy could be removed
entirely, and the influence of weapons and training greatly
increased
- archers could have strength higher than heavy infantry
(e.g. 12), but retain their low constitution
- improved archers (as above) could require a resource to
recruit, such as timber
- a minimum armor/weapon requirement could be set for heavy troops
- light troops could have higher strength than constitution
- maintenance costs could be based on equipment (armor, weapons)
rather than troop type, or on a combination of the two
- certain troop types could complement each other, i.e. an army of
only cavalry and archers could gain a 20% advantage
- certain combat spells could affect some troops more than others
(a Heat Metal spell against armor, or Wild Mounts against cavalry)
Obviously, many factors influence most decisions in ME-PBM. It
would be nice if the recruitment decision were also less simplistic
and led to many possible army configurations.
Reply to Darin Fitzpatrick
From Tom Walton
Only one point: if the enemy is using commander/agents for guards,
they'll often have a higher challenge rank than enemy agents. This
could make a challenge order on the part of the attacker a very
risky proposition.
Strategy & Tactics: The Long Rider
By Brian Mason and Tom Walton
From Brian Mason
Coming rather close on the heels of the article on the Cloud Lord is
another fun and exciting position which tends to be rather character
based: the Long Rider.
Basic Data
~~~~~~~~~~
How does the nation of the Long Rider compare to other nations? At
the start of the game they rank as follows (Allegiance Comparison
Tables, Tom Walton, "The Mouth," #3):
item for comparison among all among Dark Servants
=================== ============== =========================
Total Tax Base tied for 21st tied for 7th
Resource Base tied for 15th tied for 3rd
Combat Strength 7th 1st
Character points 10th 6th
Artifacts tied for 6th 5th
The Long Rider has pretty poor production. Expected production
(Population Center Development, Brian Mason, "The Mouth," #2) which
has not been adjusted for climate for the nation of the Long Rider
would be as follows:
material le br st mi fo ti mo go
=========== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== =====
production 1089 436 175 20 3414 0 234 2538
Among the Dark Servants, the Long Rider wins more often than any
other position except that of the CLoud Lord (Winners & Losers in
Middle-earth, Tom Walton, "The Mouth," #8).
This is a list of below of Long Rider characters, their starting
abilities, and their assignments.
Name co ag em ma st assignment
============== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ====================
Din Ohtar 30 10 10 30 Agent #1
Drugandra 40 Army commander #1
Goldwine Frec 10 10 10 Train this puppy
Hargrog 30 20 Army commander #2
Lomelinde 30 10 Agent #2
Morlammen 30 Mage #1
Uvatha 60 10 10 30 Army commander #3
Voisol 30 Mage #2
The Long Rider start the game in a very interesting position.
Because of the command skill rank of Uvatha, the ability to create
40 commanders, the ability to summon mounts, the starting training
rank of 20 for troops, and the impressive array of starting forces,
this is potentially a very powerful position for armies. However,
the Long Rider is in a rather unenviable position in two ways, one,
the armies are scattered all over the east side of the map, and the
only location suitable for recruiting at start (Tol Buruth) must
ferry troops to get them in play, and doing that runs the risk of
running into two navies (the Sinda and Northmen) which are superior
to your own. On the other hand, you start the game with two of the
best agents (due to Long Rider artifacts). So, there might be a
desire to run a character game. How you decide to play the position
might have a great deal to do with what characters you develop. For
example, if it is possible to get your troops from Tol Buruth to one
of the Major Towns on the Sea of Rhun and to take it (without
encountering enemy navies en route) then it will be much easier to
get into a military game, and you may then have the need to create
good commanders and commander/agents to act as army commanders and
back up commanders. If, on the other hand, you are unable to secure
a recruiting base, you might be better served adopting a character
based strategy. While the army you have starting at 4324 can engage
in agressive action around the Sea of Rhun, in my opinion, you are
still forced into a character strategy if you cannot move troops
from Tol Buruth to the mainland freely. The only way to do that is
by destroying the Sinda and Northmen navy, and the only way to do
that is through the 4324 army winning an engagement along the coast
or through direct agent action assassinating or kidnapping all
commanders. So, the fundamental decision of how you might play the
position depends a great deal on how the first few turns go.
Accordingly, it is very difficult to plan strategy for character
creation.
The Character Situation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However, in this area one thing is obvious. The Long Rider lacks
decent emissaires. One should be named on turn one and he should
name another, although you might want to leave the other two
character slots open depending on how you want to play the position.
To make your two new emissaries offensively effective you need to
get their skill ranks above 50. To do this by InfOthr would take
eight turns (More Character and Skill Improvement, Tom Walton, "The
Mouth," #3), however, if you can do it by CreCmp it could be done in
only five turns (ibid), the problems of doing this are twofold: one,
you have limited gold, two, you have few places you can do it
safely. Because of the volitility of the Rhovanion region, creating
camps anywhere on your starting map outside of Mordor invites their
destruction. Even those you make in Mordor will be especially
vulnerable. I would therefore recommend the far north (rows 01-03
all across). It does not appear on any maps of the Free Peoples, and
if these are not discovered accidentally, they will form nice
population centers to be improved later in the game. From these
locations after turn 20 you can come down upon Arthedain or the
Northmen from an unexpected location.
What you do with Lomelinde and Din Ohtar is very important. These
two characters can effectively lay siege to the Northmen capital.
Move them on turn one and scout for characters. Assassinate or
kidnap whoever shows up, and if no one shows up then have one of
them scout for characters while the other steals gold, sabotages
fortifications, etc. While these two excellent agents are present
the Northmen will be unable to name new characters, raise his taxes,
or use one of his primary recruiting locations.
Your mages will take some time before they can train to a sufficient
level to get into the artifact hunting business, so keep improving
them, and have them cast offensive/defensive spells in your armies.
Goldwine Frec is a puppy. It will take him quite a while to become
an effective anything (6 turns to have any skill reach 30 rank), so
keep him safe. He can, through time, become a very effective
agent/emissary to be used to StlGld and InfOthr at enemy population
centers and/or as a company commander. Use him for this later in the
game.
The Economic Situation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You are hurting. Raising taxes much at all threatens the loss of
camps through loyalty drops. Captured population centers will be
very hard to keep, and your troops are very expensive. The best way
to improve your economy is to capture population centers with
fortifications (which will help protect them), destroy unfortified
population centers (these will be very difficult to hold). Taking
these actions will also lose troops, which will also improve the
economy.Actions must be taken fast. Sells will probably be necessary
to keep things going early in the game.
The Military Situation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The armies are spread out all over the map and will be dealt with
individually.
The Mordor force is weak compared to armies in the region, however,
if the primary Dark Servant forces in Mordor (Fire King, Ice King,
et al.) can keep the Gondors occupied, opportunities exsist to take
3028 and 3026.
The Rhovanion force is very vulnerable to attacks by the Eothraim.
It simply is not big enough to hold up. There are, however, many
population centers surrounding the Sea of Rhun which make viable
targets.
The Tol Buruth army should try to reach the mainland, if only to be
lost. The only exception to this would be if Uvatha commands it. If
so, troops should be retired to cut costs and the Sea should be
avoided. The chances of loss on the open sea (and thereby the death
of Uvatha) are too great.
Future Development of the position and final points
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The position has many opportunities, but how it handles the economic
crisis early on will determine many things. Can the Long Rider
develop population centers in the far North? Can Din Ohtar and
Uvatha keep the Northmen from executing capital orders (thus
weakening this position considerably)? Can the armies capture a few
population centers and destroy the rest? All these questions are
difficult ones to answer, and the success (or failure) of the Long
Rider depends a great deal on them.
There remains then the problem of Olbamarl. The tendency is to get
complacent with this population center. There is a rumor, still
unconfirmed, that it is possible to get to Olbamarl through an
encounter, however, even if this rumor is disallowed, keep in mind
that very agressive emissary action by the Northmen, Noldo, or a
blitz by some other nation could take this place. It might be
worthwhile to keep an army of 100 Men-at-Arms here just to require
them to assassinate the commander and delay the InfOthrs by one
turn. Watch out for agressive action in this area! Keep in mind that
it will take you two turns to get agents from Northmen territory to
Olbamarl. This might give your opponents enough time to take the
place.
From Tom Walton
Considering that Brian has never played the Long Rider, he did a
remarkable job in covering all the critical points. Rather than
repeat his comments, I'll just add a few of my own:
- I emphasize economic development with this nation. Even should
you lose your armies, you'll still be running a deficit at a 60% tax
rate. I'd suggest building three emissaries with your first four
character slots and getting them out to create/upgrade camps right
away. You'll need at least six villages to break even, just over
character costs.
For camp development, I suggest the Northern Wastes and the
Grey Mountains. Both are off-map, both within reach of the
Northmen. Both areas also have lousy production, but what you're
looking for here is extra revenue. Putting the pop centers close to
the primary targets is a good way to provide future recruitment
sites as well.
- I'd suggest building a new mage right away as well. With three
mages in the stable, all can learn 'Conjure Mounts' while
prenticing, adding to your stores each and every turn. If you're
doing great economically, you can use these mounts for more cav. If
not, you can sell them for additional revenue. Three 50-point mages
will conjure 750 mounts a turn, a not inconsiderable figure.
- Of initial characters, I'd also opt to retire Goldwine Frec and
replace him with a 30-point agent. You can hand the new agent an
artifact and make him effective right away. With Din Ohtar and
Lomelinde, your team can go forth and steal gold to give the economy
an added boost.
- Of the armies, I'd send the Mordor cav force into 3028 right away
and try to take it. If successful, move on to 3026 and repeat, then
disband the cav and wait for the Gondors to repossess their
property. The added gold is worth it in the early game, and the
army isn't quite large enough to do anything else in the region.
In the Rhun area, the cav force should hit the Northmen right
away. Again, this army isn't capable of standing up to the Free,
but with so many available targets you should be able to burn a few
towns right off, hurting the enemy in future campaigns. At the
least it'll prepare the way for other Dark Servants (e.g., Blind
Sorcerer).
For the naval force, I'm a bit more cautious. Sailing in the
limited area of the Sea of Rhun is dangerous, and can result in the
death of your characters if you get caught in the open. Unless your
enemy doesn't know what he's doing, I'd suggest sitting tight and
disbanding everything but the heavy infantry. Start recruiting more
heavy infantry (until you hit your lift capacity), and wait for the
opportunity to make a big strike. Don't worry, it'll come if the
other Dark Servants are doing a proper job.
- Acquiring/trading for another major town where you can actually
recruit is a major concern. If your allies are recalcitrant, you
may have to wait until you can create one of your own, relegating
your nation to the character game for some time. If they're more
friendly, you might be able to get a good one (trading the Dragon
Lord backup for Olbamarl is a good choice).
- If Uvatha starts in the capitol with Din Ohtar, consider having
Uvatha transfer him an artifact and moving both him and Lomelinde to
the Northmen capitol. Din Ohtar can challenge, and both agents can
attempt a kidnap, taking out three Northmen characters on the second
turn. This will cripple the Northmen right away (with thanks to
Jeremy Richman for this neat little trick). It requires a bit of
luck in character placement, but is well worth it if the cards fall
your way.
- the Long Rider position is one of the few that I favor a 'vanilla'
approach for, i.e., a good mix of agents, emissaries, and mages.
Unlike other DS positions, the Long Rider doesn't have access to a
great character base, and his position often requires him to act
without support from other Dark Servants. In playing this position,
I'd say the most important rule is to act as if you won't get one
whit of aid from any other Dark Servant - become self-sufficient
early, and stay that way.
The Long Rider is one of the toughest DS positions to play, but also
one of the most likely to win if the player is canny. I wouldn't
recommend it for anyone new to the game - it's just too easy to get
your nation killed.
Proper Usage of Nation Titles in Middle-earth
By Darin Fitzpatrick
In reading the various items in the Mouth, I have been slightly
irritated by sloppy usage of Middle-earth terminology. At first, I
thought that I was just a nit-picking Tolkien fan with a fixation,
but I think that other players and writers may be interested.
Evidence of respect for "flavor" and cohesion with the primary
sources has shown up, for instance in the list of place names by
Brian Mason.
My pet peeve is the incorrect usage of "the" with nations. For
instance, "The Arthedain moved his troops into the Rhudaur."
Arthedain is a country (or kingdom), much like France or Germany.
Other nations' titles are derived from peoples (Noldo Elves,
Dwarves) or places (Haradwaith). I have compiled a table of correct
usage for any purists out there.
The column "Nation" gives the official ME-PBM title of the nation.
"Derivation" lists the origin of the name, and "Usage" shows whether
the definite article is appropriate.
Nation Derivation Usage
============= ================ =========================
Northmen People the Northmen
Woodmen People the Woodmen
Eothraim People the Eothraim
Arthedain Kingdom Arthedain, the Kingdom
of Arthedain
Cardolan Kingdom Cardolan, the Kingdom
of Cardolan
Northern Kingdom (part Northern Gondor
Gondor of one)
Southern Kingdom (part Southern Gondor
Gondor of one)
Dwarves People (race) the Dwarves, the Khazad
Sinda Elves People (race) the Sinda Elves, the
Sindar
Noldo Elves People (race) the Noldo Elves, the
Noldor
Witch-King Leader the Witch-King, Angmar,
the Realm of Angmar
Dragon Lord Leader the Dragon Lord
Dog Lord Leader the Dog Lord
Cloud Lord Leader the Cloud Lord
Blind Leader the Blind Sorcerer
Sorcerer
Ice King Leader the Ice King
Quiet Avenger Leader the Quiet Avenger
Fire King Leader the Fire King
Long Rider Leader the Long Rider
Dark Leaders the Dark Lieutenants
Lieutenants
Corsairs People (faction) the Corsairs
Haradwaith Region the Haradwaith, the
Haradrim (a people)
Dunlendings People the Dunlendings, Dunland
Rhudaur Kingdom Rhudaur, the Kingdom
of Rhudaur
Easterlings People the Easterlings
Here are some real-world examples and ME parallels:
"Germany moved troops into the Alsace."
"Southern Gondor moved troops into the Haradwaith."
"The Gauls routed Caesar's legions."
"The Northmen destroyed the Dog Lord's capital."
Looking at the nation titles, as established by GSI, I see that none
incorporate "the" in the name. On resultsheets the titles are
printed correctly in sentences, although computer-generated text is
notorious for this kind of error.
I have not found good adjectives derived from most of these names.
"Gondorian armies" seems to work, but "Arthedainian" is bit hard to
keep straight. The best solution is probably to avoid the adjective
form by rephrasing: "Troops from Arthedain crossed the border into
Rhudaur," rather than "Arthedainian troops crossed the Rhudaurian
border." Another alternative is to use the name directly as an
adjective: "An Eothraim army and two Northmen navies converged on
the Easterling town."
I realize that usage will not be cleaned up overnight, but perhaps
some of those who are merely uninformed (as opposed to lazy) will
avoid sloppy grammar.
Tom's note: no doubt I've been guilty of the sloppy usage of place
and nation names in ME. You've seen me use 'Arthedaini' and
'Cardolani' for plural forms, which to my knowledge have no
historical basis.
My only comment is this: as one who writes professionally on
occasion, I've discovered that what you say is far more important
than how you say it. Here in the Mouth we operate under the same
philosophy and care not a whit how you mangle the English language,
nor what damage you do Middle-Earth names or titles. So long as
people can figure out what you're talking about, that's good enough
for us.
Of GAD Games and Middle-earth in Europe
By Darin Fitzpatrick
I was first introduced to ME-PBM by a friend in Virginia, who wanted
desperately to get me involved in this great form of gaming. We had
been forced to cancel our semi-regular MERP sessions since I am
currently on an expatriate assignment for Rockwell International in
Frankfurt, Germany. I had hoped that we could play by mail
together, but alas, that would have meant 3-week turns at GSI.
Fortunately, Mr. Feild (the eternally revered and perpetually
misspelled) gave me the phone number for GAD Games in the UK. I
signed right up and have been playing Southern Gondor since August
93.
GAD Games runs the ME-PBM game under license from GSI. Their prices
are comparable (4 pounds vs. $7, I believe) with a two-week
turnaround. The staff are very helpful, answering most questions
right away and researching tough ones with GSI. Also, they accept
faxed-in turns at no extra charge.
The software at GAD is, as far as I know, identical to that at GSI.
I imagine that changes may not be implemented as soon, but the new
agent, emissary, and transfer orders are definitely in effect. A
notice announcing these changes appeared right around Christmas '93,
along with the new, smaller format. I have not yet seen anything
about Recons by Major Towns or Cities, but our first April turn has
not been run yet. The prinout has been changed slightly to feature
the GAD Games title, list prices in pounds, and also includes
messages from Sean, the game manager.
I specifically requested a beginners' game when I signed up, as I
had heard about the killer level of play in the US. Since I am in
Game 27, I assume that GAD does not have all that many players with
more than a year or so of experience. Several British players I
know are involved in several games at once, but all in all the total
number of turns played does not yet approach that of the US. The
result of these two factors is that the type of co-ordination and
sophisticated play detailed in the Mouth has not been evident.
Aside from the Haradwaith, however, no one has played particularly
poorly, either. Quite a few players have dropped out, as well.
One GAD game has finished. Game 16 was won by the Free People
(batting 1.000), with the Dunlendings as overall winners. This news
was announced in the "Special Messages" department.
I am leaving Germany in August, so I will most likely not play
another game with GAD. I will certainly finish this one, however,
and though the postal system is slow, I may have the results faxed
or e-mailed. I have had two result sheets faxed to me, and so far,
I have not paid extra for this service, although GAD does list a
charge for it. Even with a charge, however, it may be viable to
play from the US via fax. I would request the large format printout
for any faxes. Also, GAD now accepts VISA payments, so one needn't
bother getting an international money order, like I had to. (What
we won't do to feed the gaming habit...)
All in all, I am very happy with GAD and wish them the best of luck
in developing the European market. To anyone heading overseas for
study, work, or long-term goofing off, I can highly recommend their
services.
Building a framework for your Team/Nation's success.
By: Wes Fortin
I've been a loyal reader of the 'Mouth since issue #1 and an often
dissappointed reader of Whispers of the Wood for about a year and a
half. I have seen lots of articles, including some fine ones by the
two editors of this e-zine, about strategies on this nation or that
and the various strengths and weaknesses of each. Having played a
variety of nations (4 currently, and another on the way) and sharing
the experiences of others, I noticed some common ground for all
nations and teams. So, I decided to submit something that addresses
these basic issues that often get forgotten in the micro level
management of a nation.
Assumptions:
1) All statements I'm about to make assume competant play by your
opponents. Giving bozos the otch doesn't take very long.
2) Grudge (Team) Game vs. Standard (Pot Luck) Game. The only real
difference between these two SHOULD be that in the grudge game you
already know and communicate effectively with your team-mates. In
the stardard game, you probably have to start from scratch.
Hopefully, the teams of a grudge game have some sort of master plan,
but this is often not the case.
That said, let's get started with these survival hints.
First, The National perspective
1) Every player should prepare for a very long game. The idea here
is that you need to have certain expectations about yourself and
your teammates in your planning. The mind-set that guides your
plans are formed on the basis of your expectation of the game. If
you expect to end the game in 15 turns and build your plans
accordingly, you will not be prepared for turn 20.
How many teams have broken up or become ineffective because they
planned for 15 turns, experienced great victories, then lost
momemtum as nations realized the enemy was still alive?
There are also certain realities that each team member needs to
accept. If you are the Dark Servants and you expect your armies to
sweep over the land devastating everything in it's path, you need to
read the 'Mouth more often. Dark Sevants are designed to fight the
first 10-15 turns in attrition mode. They will loose armies and pop
centers, and will often be fighting for life. Nothing worse than a
ally who drops because they lost a major town on turn 5.
If you, the Dark Servants, survive relatively intact after the Free
People have rammed thier starting armies down your throats, your
chances for victory go up dramatically.
2) Every player should seek to make thier nation self sufficient in
all ways. This goal will define your character, army, and economic
growth plans.
Characters are fairly easy to prepare for. As a rule of thumb,
EVERY nation should have two Agents, one Emissary, one Commander,
and one Mage at 50+ rank by turn 15. If you start with these
already, you can build to meet other needs and take advantage of any
character advantage you may have. If not, guess what your first
builds should be. I recommend building multiclass characters as
much as possible/feasable. They cost more at first, but by turn 20,
you'll be glad you did. Especially useful are Command/Agents and
Agent/Emissaries. Mage/Agents are good for quick moving agents
(learn transport spells) with a decent challenge rank, but real
expensive. I find that paired command/agents cross-guarding in an
army will stop most agents in the early part of the game. As they
get better agent rank, they can be practically untouchable by enemy
agents under the new rules.
That brings me to my other point on characters. Strive to train in
at least one skill each turn. Mages PreMgy, Commanders ArmyMan or
TroopsMan, etc.
Army needs are a bit more variable. If you can get to the front
lines in two turns, you need to be building troops. They can help
support your allies and if the enemy somehow gets troops into the
backfield, you'll be glad you had something to throw at them. If
you're four turns from any possible conflict (like the Noldo often
are), pick up a pop center closer to the front. If you are all
alone (like the Witch King often is), build armies on as many pop
centers, larger than villages, as you can reasonably afford. YOU
WILL NEED IT!!!
Economic needs are also fairly basic. Every nation should strive to
meet all it's expenses, have two turns worth of reserve, and close
to a zero deficit (or, better yet a surplus) - all at 65% taxes.
Most nations won't meet this goal, but everyone should strive for
it. If you have a -10K deficit and are relying on that Food sale to
save your lard, you aren't going to last long. So, the best way to
do this is to add more pop centers. Emissaries should be creating
camps and upgrading pop centers. You may even use an army commander
to post camps, but this is real expensive. However, if you need the
pop center base and don't have a decent emissary, this may be one of
your only options.
Tom's note: I'm not sure if the 65% tax statement is a typo or not.
The break point for loyalty loss is 61% (at 60 or below you lose no
loyalty, 61-70 it's an automatic loss of 1 point per turn per pop
center).
Also plan on losses! You WILL loose pop centers, characters, gold,
armies. Prepare for it. If you're neck of the woods gets hot,
build a MT elsewhere just in case! If you're down to two commanders
- guess what you should build. If you're running low on funds and
can't make it yourself, you need allied help. Don't get discouraged
if that 5000 HI army with the high training and morale just got
wacked when all 5 commanders were eliminated via assassination or
curses. IT WILL HAPPEN!
3) Every player should know when they should be asking for help, and
when they should help themselves. If you perpetually need money,
turn after turn, you need to add to your taxbase so you don't need
to rely on your allies. Orders do get hosed. But, if enemy armies
are moving towards your capitol, you have no backup, and no way to
stop them - it's time to ask for help. Don't wait till the last
minute. Emissaries need to exist/be moved. Nothing worse than an
ally saying "I need a backup this turn, or I may be eliminated" and
you're emissary is on the otherside of the map harrassing the enemy.
Or, the endangered ally has NO emissaries.
Tom's note: I have a good example for this one. In a game where I
play the Long Rider, the Eothraim showed up on the Ice King capitol.
Various calculations showed that they couldn't possibly have enough
force to blow away the IK army and take his major town. But, being
the paranoid soul that I am, I decided to transfer Olbamarl to him
anyway as a back-up.
What do you know? The calculations were wrong, and Durthang
fell. Only the timely transfer of Olbamarl kept the Ice King in the
game. As Wes says, it pays off to plan ahead and plan for the
worst.
4) Know thine neighbor! If your idea of diplomacy with a Neutral is
"join or die" speach 336B, you are going to have another enemy. At
the first turn, each nation should send cards to every player in the
game, even the enemy, introducing yourself. If you need a Neutral
on your side (and everyone does) you need to establish good HONEST
communications with them. If they lie and are, in general,
untrustworthy bozos, still be nice to them till your armies are
firmly on all thier potential capitols. Then nuke 'em and move on.
Most competant Neutrals will NOT lie to anyone - neither should you!
Tom's note: heh heh heh - that's what YOU think, Wes!
Talk to your enemy. Get to know them. You may get information.
But more likely, it adds to the fun of the game. Furthermore, they
might be your ally in the next game. Another good thing to keep in
mind if you like to hose people over. If you're the Witch King and
find out the Dragon Lord is the guy you treated in a lowdown
dishonest fashion in the last game, you could be in for a short,
lonely, game.
Next, Team planning hints.
1) COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION. This does not mean
talking at your team mates every turn, or writing long reports.
This means exchanging ideas and information with the purpose of
mutual success. I'm in a team game where we exchange reams of data
each turn, but there is no coordination of effort. It's just
useless data at that point. And we are facing a well coordinated
team of Dark Servants and are slowly loosing ground. This is the
single most important element to the game.
2) YOU are responsable for your nation's success or failure. This
is not to say that a lack of assistance is necessarily your fault.
No one is a mind reader!
If you need help, it is your job to be the eyes for the team and to
arrange for coordinated actions for your benefit. This is a
survival trait for the Witch King, Dragon Lord, and Woodmen nations.
3) Be prepared to issue capitol orders. This means you should have
a 50+ commander dedicated to that task. Yes, it's annoying having
an expensive character just sitting there. But it's worse when you
need to, for instance, upgrade relations with an allied Neutral so
they can pass by your pop centers and forces instead of getting
stopped every three hexes making them easy agent-bait. If you're
ally needs gold, you've got lot's in the bank, but no one at home to
issue that order - you may have just cost your team a nation, the 42
orders each turn that can come with it (assuming 21 characters)
various resources and strategic positioning.
4) Keep team morale high. This is tied to communciation. If you
are, for instance, the Noldo and no one knows what you are doing,
some nations are getting pounded and they ask you for help but all
your orders are taken with other tasks - they are going to get mad
at you!
5) Be prepared for disasters. If the enemy concentrates on a single
nation and your ally can get to one of your pop centers for that all
important pop center transfer, but you never built up any pop
centers to Major towns, your ally is hosed. If you won't build up
your pop centers for yourself, at least do it for your allies since
they may need that remote backup capitol someday 10 turns down the
road.
6) Be prepare to get drilled! No nation in this game, even the
Noldo, is exempt from the possibility of rapid and intense strikes.
You can loose BIG very quickly if the enemy insists on your untimely
demise. Player skill can prolong the process, and probably keep you
alive. But you need to be mentally prepared for this worst-case
scenario. If your answer to this is to drop the game, you've just
cheated your allies. Of course, if they aren't much in the way of
allies it's probably no loss. Players will remember those that
bail out all the time, and will not play with them long. Player
dropout is probably (and I think facts will bear me out on this) the
single largest factor in team victory. Even a bunch of dopes can
put up a decent fight if they stick together. But if the Cloud Lord
drops because his pet character died, the whole alliance starts to
unravel.
Well, enough of my rantings. I hope this is of value to you.
Especially newbees. If you want openning turn blow-by-blows, Tom
and Brian offer sound advice in many past, and hopefully future,
publications. If you want to lay the framework for a successful
nation, this should help get you started.
Fini
The New Game
By Brian Mason
with added notes by Tom Walton
What is Middle-earth like in T.A. 2940?
First of all, keep in mind that there are some "historical
innacuracies" in Middle-earth Play-By-Mail, T.A. 1640 (hereafter me
pbm 1640). For example, in T.A. 1437, the palntir of Osgiliath was
lost, also, most of Cardolan perished in the Great Plague of 1636,
and while it is stated that the events of take place after the
plague the ravages of the plague do not seem too severe (it is
expressly stated in "The Lord of the Rings" that "most of the people
of Cardolan perished.") While this may seem like picking nits, the
fact that Northern Gondor still holds the Palantir of Osgiliath is
in fact an error. So, keep in mind that what is described below is
a historical description which will strive to be as accurate as
possible. However, it remains pure speculation, and Bill and the
people at GSI may intepret it in an entirely different manner.
Probably the most specific and important difference is how exact it
will be to the T.A. 2940 year. There were many important events that
closely followed 2940 (many detailed in "The Hobbit" which is set,
mostly, in T.A. 2941), specifically:
2941 - Bilbo find's One Ring, Smaug killed, Battle
of the Five Armies, Erebor re-established,
Dain II (Ironfoot) becomes King under the
Mountain
2944 - Dale rebuilt, Bard becomes King
2951 - Sauron declares himself, Barad-Dur rebuilt,
Aragorn's ancestry revealed to him by Elrond
2953 - Saruman fortifies Orthanc, Ecthelion II
becomes Ruling Steward of Gondor, Thengel
becomes King of Rohan
2954 - Ithilien abandoned
So, how free and loose GSI is with dates (or how liberally they
interpret "circa 2940") can have a great deal to do with how some
nations, especially the Dwarves and Northmen, will be played.
Careful reading of the nation descriptions (when these become
available) will answer most of these questions.
Caveat Emptor - The following nation descriptions will take a firm
start date of 2940, so none of the above events will have taken
place. However, the complexion of things changes quite dramatically
in some cases if some of the above events have taken place.
Comments about and possible changes to setups:
Woodmen Could Beorn (the shapeshifter from "The
Hobbit" be a Woodmen character? If so, he's
going to be a very good one.
Northmen Bard the Bowman (also from "The Hobbit" and
destined to be King of the Northmen) should
be a character. Many Northmen population
centers lost to are destroyed by Easterlings,
and Dale is destroyed by Smaug (2770).
Tom's note: the Northmen pop centers around the Sea of Rhun were
lost in the Easterling invasion. To my knowledge, the Northmen
never returned to Rhun in the Third Age.
Eothraim After being driven from the eastern side of
Mirkwood, the Eothraim are given Calenardhon
in return for rescuing Gondor in war with the
Easterlings. Now the Rohirrim, they are given
Northern Gondor population centers (less
Angrenost, though Calmirie is uncertain) and
name others (Edoras, Dunharrow, etc.). In
2903 Fengel becomes King, and they still
possess Herugrim (artifact #181).
Tom's note: by 2940, the Eothraim were almost as strong as all of
Gondor militarily, though not so economically. They were certainly
a more vibrant people.
Arthedain These nations no longer exsist. The Palantiri
& Cardolan of Annuminas and Amon Sul were lost, while
the Ring of Barahir and Silver Rod of Anduni
are in the keeping of Elrond. At least one
Arthedani population center still exsists
(Bree) and possibly others (although Tharbad
has been abandoned for forty years). The
Hobbits have had self government for almost
five-hundred years, and they should possess
many population centers. Could the location
of Arthedain and Cardolan be replaced by a
Hobbit position? What of the Rangers of the
North? Although only nineteen years old
Aragorn is Chieftan of the Dunedain of the
North.
Tom's note: this may not mean much. Rhudaur was destroyed prior to
T.A. 1650, with the remnants firmly in the hands of the Witch-King.
Yet it's still a nation, and a neutral one at that, in our game. A
few petty kingdoms remain in Eriador in 2940 (mostly in the
southwest), yet even together they couldn't match Arthedain or
Cardolan of old.
I'd have a problem with a nation of hobbits. Just can't see
them going on a campaign of conquest, or even forming an army of any
sort (other than a militia for self-defense). I'll be sorely
disappointed if the hobbits constitute a Free nation in the new
game.
Northern Many population centers of Northern Gondor
& Southern have been lost. Is this still two positions
Gondor or is it one? Have some of the Southern
Gondor positions of me-pbm 1640 been given
to Northern Gondor to keep it the stronger of
the two? Much of Northern Gondor given to
the Rohirrim (Eothraim), Saruman (Angrenost),
lost to Easterlings (Southern Rhovanion) and
to Orcs and Haradrim (Ithilien). Gondor has
weathered numerous attacks of Mordor, the
Haradwaith, Corsairs and Easterlings. Minas
Ithil and its palantir have been lost (2002)
and Ithil renamed Minas Morgul. Minas Anor
has been renamed Minas Tirith. Gondor is now
ruled by the Stewards (since 2050) Osgiliath
(2475) has been overrun. Turgon (2914)
becomes Ruling Steward and builds the secret
refuge of Henneth Annun (a hidden popultation
center?) and the island of Cair Andros
fortified to defend Anorien. Denethor II born
is 10 years old. Of the four palantir
possessed by Northern Gondor in me-pbm 1650
they now have one.
Tom's note: Gondor has declined considerably in 1300 years in all
respects. During this time, it also lost its close ties with the
Elves.
Dwarves This position is has also seen significant
changes. First, in 1981 Khazad-Dum falls, in
1999 Erebor founded. From 2000 to 2590 the
Dwarves settle in Southern Grey Mountains but
are driven out by Dragons, mostly to Erebor
and the Iron Hills. In 2770 Erebor taken over
by Smaug, and the Dwarves flee to Iron Hills.
From 2793-2799 is the War of the Dwarves and
Orcs and in 2845 King Thrain II loses Dwarven
Ring of Power to Sauron. The Dwarves will now
possess several larger population centers in
both the Blue Mountains and Iron Hills.
The Dwarves of "The Hobbit" are all active
characters in this time. Thorin Oakenshield
is King.
Tom's note: it's said that the Dwarves never really recovered from
their war with the orcs, and continued to diminish in Middle-Earth.
The dwarves also started several ventures in the northwestern hills
of former Arthedain, and were rumored to have some operations in the
rough terrain where Rhudaur used to be. Thorin Oakenshield was a
part of some of these ventures.
Sinda Elves In 1981 many Sylvan (Wood) Elves flee
Lothlorien and Amroth and Nimrodel are lost.
The Sinda port near South Gondor is gone.
However, many other Sinda characters are
still around, and Lothlorien (and presumably
all the Sinda?) will now be led by Galadriel
and Celeborn. Will this be split into two
positions, one for Lothlorien and one for
Northern Mirkwood.
Tom's note: the unity among elves has declined considerably. While
Elrond and Cirdan are still closely allied, Lothlorien and
Thranduil's kingdom are clearly separate. Lothlorien has a number
of Sinda Elves, with a few Noldo thrown in. Thranduil's kingdom is
almost entirely Sylvan Elves, with some Sinda overlords (no Noldo).
At this time, Thranduil holds nothing south of the Mirkwood road,
and is having problems contesting everything south of the river
(there are LOTS of orcs in Mirkwood).
Noldo Elves Strange calling these the Noldo Elves when
the most powerful of all Noldo is not one
of their characters (Galadriel). These
characters will only get better over time.
And you thought the characters were
impressive in me-pbm 1650?
With the loss of Arthedain and Cardolan the Free Peoples are
down two positions. It is possible that there may now be
three rather than two Elven positions, making one and if
there is a nation of Hobbits (or combined Hobbits and
Rangers) that makes the other.
Tom's note: while the Rangers are few and far between, really
nothing more than a tribe of warriors under the command of the line
of Arthedaini kings, they're also the real military power in
Eriador. It's said that they alone were responsible for the
protection of the hobbits, and from keeping orcs and other nasties
from occupying Eriador (which was mostly unoccupied at this time).
Generally, these positions will have fewer population
centers, fewer troops, but possibly better characters.
Witch-King Angmar fell in 1975, so he has moved to Minas
Morgul.
Dragon Lord This position is very strong if it also
consists of the population centers at
Mt. Gunabad and Khazad-Dum (a Balrog is
here). Could there be two Dark Servant
positions in the Mirkwood area? The
population centers could support it. Is the
Balrog a character or an encounter?
Tom's note: Goblin-Gate is alive and well also, and with the
dwarves being driven out of the Grey Mountains there are several
major holds in this area that weren't present in 1650. While the
orcs suffered considerably in the war with the Dwarves, they
recovered much more quickly. In fact, the orcs of the Misty and
Grey Mountains were so strong they nearly defeated the combined
armies of Dwarves, Elves, Men, and Eagles at Erebor only a year
later.
Also of interest, Sauron was firmly established at Dol Guldur
as the Necromancer at this time (he was driven out by the White
Council the next year). Unlike the years around 1650, he'd stopped
wandering Middle-Earth, and made only one other move after this time
- to Barad-dur. Does that mean that Sauron won't be a wandering
encounter anymore?
Mordor nations More or less the same, although they will
move around to keep the game fresh.
Tom's note: true, but Mordor also has Minas Ithil (now Minas
Morgul), as well as several newly-established orc-holds in the
mountains on the Ithilien side (Gondor has given up trying to keep
them contained). Orcs also travel freely from Morannon to Mirkwood
and the Misty Mountains, virtually untouched by Gondor, the
Northmen, or the Woodmen.
It is possible that these may be like the Free Peoples of me-pbm
1650. Better in starting troops and population centers, although not
as good in characters (though each position will have at leat one or
two EXCELLENT characters).
Neutrals Corsairs, Haradwaith, Easterlings, and
Dunlendings more or less the same. Rhudaur
has fallen but is possibly replaced by
Saruman (with the Palantir of Orthanc) at
Angrenost.
Tom's note: the Easterling suffered grievously in their war with
Gondor and Rohan, with the alliance collapsing following their
ultimate defeat. Much of the Rhovanion was abandoned and left empty
afterwards, though the kingdom of Khand remained intact.
Some final observations by Tom:
- In 2940, Eriador is a backwater of little importance, and would've
remained so except for the discovery of the One Ring by Bilbo.
Aside from the Noldo and the Rangers, there simply aren't any powers
of any size in the entire region. In fact, following the final
conflict with Angmar, most of the residents fled to Gondor and the
area was thoroughly depopulated. It never recovered in the Third
Age; in a conversation involving Gandalf, he refers to Eriador as
being almost entirely empty of people of any sort (with the
exception of Dunland).
- the balance of power has shifted significantly in 1300 years.
Mordor clearly has the upper hand militarily, with Sauron delaying
his invasion only because he wished to find his Ring first. In
fact, the evidence points to Mordor possessing more than enough
force to defeat the Free at this time (the final conflict outside of
Morannon during the War of the Ring gives a good idea of just what
Sauron was capable of fielding - the guy believed in overkill).
- though they may officially be neutral, the Easterlings and
Haradrim have been cooperating with Sauron for centuries now,
supplying Mordor with goods of all sorts. The Easterlings have also
been hiring on to Sauron's armies in droves.
- the seeds of corruption have been planted in Saruman by this time,
but he has yet to succumb to the madness which possessed him during
the final years of the War of the Ring. He hasn't fortified
Orthanc, nor started his breeding program with orcs. I believe he
has secured the aid of the Duns by this point, though not in great
numbers.
It could be that the Duns will be eliminated as a neutral
power and some of their pop centers given to Saruman.
What would a nation under Saruman be like? My guess is
mediocre economy, small army, some good nation advantages (good
agents/emissaries), and one of the best characters alive.
- I'm told that the 2940 game will require a longer build-up than
the 1650 game (in which almost every nation starts armed to the
teeth). This makes sense for the Free, who're are much weaker; it
doesn't make sense for the Dark Servants, who're quite a bit better
established than they were 1300 years earlier. What it means from
a player point of view is longer games and more money dished out to
the company.
If this is so (and I don't have official word on this), I
won't be pleased. I don't know about you, but without exception all
six games I'm in look as if they're going to drag on for a very,
very long time (the first six were getting to be pretty damn long
too, before I dropped out - even the ones where we whipped the enemy
good early on). For example, one game just saw turn 30, and the
balance of power is almost exactly what it was on turn 1; virtually
nothing has changed, with almost all of the battles being fought
outside Morannon or in the Ithilien. I for one don't want a game
that'll take a significant portion of my adult life to complete (not
to mention several hundred dollars). My attention span simply isn't
long enough to find this kind of thing entertaining.
Last Word
Hello, everyone.
Well, as you can plainly see, we have no survey results to report.
Some of the comments I have received so far have been quite helpful,
however, I'd truly like to see more of them. Take a few moments to
fill out the survey, what, don't have it? Well, that's okay, for
Last Word, this week is dedicated to reprinting it for your
convenience. Just `cut' it out and email it to mason@chara.gsu.edu.
And if it makes you feel any better, I haven't filled mine out yet
either.
And neither has Tom.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Email address: ___________________________________
2. Name: ___________________________________
3. Number of me-pbm games played: ___________________
4. Number of turns played: __________________________
5. Number of me-pbm games currently in: _____________
6. Nations Played: __________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
7. Top 3 Finishes:___________________________________
__________________________________________________
8. Rating of Editorials: ____________________________
9. Usefulness of Editorials: ________________________
10. Rating of Encounters: ____________________________
11. Usefulness of Encounters: ________________________
12. Rating of Dragons Section: _______________________
13. Usefulness of Dragons Section: ___________________
14. Rating of Q & A: _________________________________
15. Usefulness of Q & A: _____________________________
16. Rating of Wish List: _____________________________
17. Usefulness of Wish List: _________________________
18. Rating of How I got Shafted: _____________________
19. Usefulness of How I got Shafted: _________________
20. Rating of Strategy: ______________________________
21. Usefulness of Strategy: __________________________
22. Rating of Humor Articles: ________________________
23. Usefulness of Humor Articles: ____________________
24. Other Comments: __________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
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Explanation of questions:
Questions 1 and 2: Believe it or not, we have people to whom we mail
"The Mouth" whose name we don't even know!
Question 3: This will give us an idea of the experience of the
readership.
Question 4: A probably more accurate gauge of experience.
Question 5: How much does the readership play at one time.
Question 6: What does the readership like to play.
Question 7: How well has the readership done?
Question 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22: How much do you like these
sections of "The Mouth" on the following scale
0 = strongly dislike
1 = dislike
2 = neutral or no opinion
3 = like
4 = strongly like
Question 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23: How useful are these
sections of "The Mouth" to you on the following scale
0 = not at all useful
1 = rarely useful
2 = neutral or no opinion
3 = sometimes useful
4 = very useful
Question 24: Your chance to sound off on on things that the survey
does not adequately address.
Thanks for your time.
Brian