From the Mouth of Sauron Issue: E-17 Date: 04-29-94 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 First and foremost, an apology to those of you who get "From the Mouth of Sauron" from me. Due to a severe snafu. for which I alone am totally to blame, issue 16 of "The Mouth" was sent out several days late. Sorry, Gang! One of the big reasons for the problem was cmy getting ready to leave the country for a little while. I write to you now from the control room of the 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in the midst of the dryest place on earth, the Atacama Desert of Chile. This brings to mind something you may have noticed in this and past issues of "The Mouth" is our increasing international flavour. We have had (and welcomed!) recent discussions related to the other destributors of me-pbm, GAD gamein England. Despite this (and excepting the excellent play of Arnold Mohammed as the Cloud Lord in game 97, curse him!), I think cross-pollination between the two gropus will tend to be rather limited. In game 131 I found out that four of the people running GAD had joined and were a part of our team. Despite their having a Compu$erve email address, communication was VERY limited, To call the adventure bordering on disastorous woulds be kind. It is this communication issue that makes it very difficult to play in an inter-continental mode. Both sides must be committed to email, or the game becomes very difficult. Now having arrived back in the U.S., I can go through my email bin. First, an apology to those who received delayed replys to their email, and also those who received more than one reply. Also, the surveys have been coming in quite thick as of late. I will, in the next issue publish the survey results, so any of you who have not filled yours out (and that includes me!) send it to mason@chara.gsu.edu, your friendly editor. Also, coming in the next issue with the survey results are the following items, one, I've been getting quite a few responses to my request for information on MT/City loyalties vis a vis the new recon reports, and I've also sent a letter with questions to GSI. The compiled list of data, as well as the answers to my questions will be presented. Two, I got a very interesting and informative email from Eric Schnurr about the new game. I had already written a long letter to Bill Feild asking him to provide us with more info on the new game. I should have this data, and will include it all in issue 18 of "The Mouth." Brian Artifacts This note from GSI was forwarded to me by Jeremy Richman. It clarifies the very recent changes to learning/using the spells which locate artifacts: The announcement about the 412/418/428 changes were put on to recent resultsheets and will appear in this months newsletter. The changes may slightly improve the positions that you describe, but more likely they will simply discourage players from looking for the better artifacts until later in the game. It also will encourage players to use the 418 order more (than the 428 order) since the casting ranks will be generally higher and 2-3 such spells is as good as one of the harder 428 spells. Besides, although mage rank is one factor for determining the casting rank with a spell, it not uncommon to see a 60 mage learn a spell at 30 and a 30 mage to learn the same spell at 60. Thus, there is a slight benefit under the new mechanics for Mage-powerful nations, but the advantage is not big. The big impact should be on the equalizing of chances for newer/older players with regard to securing and using the full range of artifacts. The main point is that casting ranks for all those spells will generally be lower and slower and harder to improve. This should allow newer players to play on a more equal footing with the experienced players, who know all about the best artifacts and go for them early on in the game. One important note: the changes DO NOT decrease the chances of locating the One Ring. Actually, the changes will see more spell failures, but if the spell succeeds, players will be likely to get the location, then the ususal "The One Ring defied efforts to find it..." We have spent considerable time reviewing the impact of these changes on the game, and only implemented the changes after much discussion with many players (new and old) and our staff. We feel that the changes will be beneficial in the long term for all players!! Give it a chance and see if you do not agree. Bill Feild/GSI Tom's note: I already do not agree. The game is too long as it is. Delaying the search and retrieval of important artifacts will only make it longer, while doing nothing for the new player. Remember, it isn't the speed with which artifacts are located that's detrimental to the new guy, it's the fact that he doesn't have an artifact list in the first place! Dragons Angurth: state your ALLEGIANCE = combat for FP. Daelomin: offer ONE artifact = injured/killed for all allegiances. Nimanaur: state NAME = injured/killed for all allegiances. Encounters Balrogs: a clarification on the balrog. As with all other encounters, the editors are very careful with their sources; we won't publish info that hasn't been verified. The encounter results for the balrog have been verified, in part by yours truly (who's army was badly chewed up by a lone balrog). Balrogs will indeed attack a Free or Neutral army by themselves, killing many troops in the process. Unlike dragons, they don't have to be attached to a DS army to initiate combat. Other Notes Clarification on email charges: Keith Petersen pointed out that for those on Compuserve, there won't be a charge for email. That charge only applies to the 95% of us who aren't on Compuserve. >From Eric Schnurr These are reported errors to the nation info files sent out by the editors of the Mouth: @3712 is a Northman village/tower - I don't remember the name. @4413 (Sinda MTown) is hidden @2209 (Noldo MTown) starts out hidden @0708 (Noldo City/Fort) is not hidden @3234 (QA) is a village/tower, not a camp/tower @3437 (QA) is a village/tower, not a camp/tower Eric also went to the trouble of actually locating all the ruins on the map: @1108: Fort @1609: Castle @1410: Tower @1411: Tower @1319: Tower @2013: Tower @2321: Castle >From Patrick McGehearty I have query for inclusion in the next Mouth of Sauron, if none has compiled it before. What data is available on success rates for threatening cities town, etc given various command skill levels and numbers of troops? I recently discovered that you do not always need the nominal number of troops on one hand, while on the other, you can have excess troops and still fail. Does the type of troop matter? Do men-at-arms work as well as Heavy Cav? Are we sure, or just guessing? How much does the town loyalty matter? Reply to Patrick McGehearty >From Tom Walton I don't know what the exact formula for threats is, nor do I know of anyone actually doing an extended analysis of a data set. The few guesses that I've seen were proven to be at least partially incorrect by myself and others. What I can tell you is this: troop type doesn't matter; town loyalty matters quite a bit. This isn't guesswork, it's straight from GSI. >From what I've seen, if you have the minimum number of troops to conduct a threat, the primary factors involved are: (1) command rank of threatening commander, (2) loyalty of pop center, and (3) presence of fortifications. Please note that having special attachments to your army count not at all in threats. That is, dragons, balrogs, eagles, ents, etc., won't give a bonus to your army when doing threats; they're only effective in combat. Strange, but true. >From Tom Walton GSI has made another recent change to the game. Loyalty losses/increases will now range around a central figure, the fixed loss that was common in the hold game. An example: at a loyalty of 61-70, your pop centers suffer a loyalty loss of 1 point a turn under the old rules. With the new, your pop centers will now suffer a loss of 0-2 points per turn (a range with -1 being the average). This is apparently true at all brackets (although GSI was very vague about the whole thing). These changes were made at the beginning of April but not announced by GSI (along with the artifact/spell changes). Apparently they'll be announced in May. For those of you who unexpectedly lost camps because of these changes, join me in a group grumble session whereupon we curse GSI with a loss of virility until the company learns "the customer is always first".... >From Rochelle ? You asked for info on MT recon reports: I'm playing Cardolan in game #119, and did get a report from Fennas Drunin with a 55 loyalty (off my map, at 1910). Personally, I think the worst thing about this $1 email charge GSI has instituted is that they charged before announcing it -- Last I had heard, email was free. Then I send in a turn, and get charged, along with a note saying that they didn't really mean it was FREE of course.... No different than a sleazy car salesman who tells you what a great sale this is and then hits you with a bunch of extra, hidden charges. I wonder, if I had only had $7 in my account, would they have deducted the $1 without warning and then not run my turn for lack of adequate funds? 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: kain@terranet.cts.com Subject: Me-PBM - UK 102/103/106? Date: 13 Apr 1994 21:39:04 Is there anyone out there in UK games 102, 103, or 106? I'm Harad in 102, North Gondor in 103, and the Witch King in 106. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: bbakke@quads.uchicago.edu Subject: MERP Game 157 Date: 19 Apr 1994 07:41:10 Het, anyone out there in game 157? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Personals >From Doug Bergstrom I'm looking for players in game 158, especially FP and Neutrals. But I'd also love to banter back and forth with DS. bergstre@pirmasens-amedd.army.mil >From Robert Lepper Looking to contact new FP/Neutral players in ME 155. E-Mail: lepperr@pirmasens-amedd.army.mil - Rob Lepper Sinda Elves >From Dennis and Tori DeYoung, Game 156 Please contact Dennis DeYoung or print your name, numbers or E-mail address in the next Mouth so he can contact you. His number is 716-385-2627 and you can write to him through my address (Victoria DeYoung) .... he will not have an account in a few days. Thank you, Tori Strategy & Tactics: The Duns >From Brian Mason I think this would be a very fun and exciting position the play because of the impressive potential which the Dunlendings have. Before we get a look at this very interesting position, lets take a look at the basic data which I usually present in these articles. Basic Data ~~~~~~~~~ How does the nation of the Dunlendings 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 Neutrals =================== ============== ========================= Total Tax Base tied for 12th tied for last Resource Base tied for 8th 3rd Combat Strength 8th 3rd Character points tied for 15th 2nd Artifacts tied for 18th 2nd The Dunlendings 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 Dunlendings would be as follows: material le br st mi fo ti mo go =========== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== production 1210 347 179 7 4682 587 306 3558 This is a list of below of Dunlendings characters, their starting abilities, and their assignments. Name co ag em ma assignment ============== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==================== Aonghas 40 10 Backup commander #1 Daonghlas 40 10 Capital Commander Elharian 50 Mage #1 Enion 50 Army commander #1 Eribhen 50 Mage #2 Raonull 20 10 10 Company Commander Ulf Dilan 40 Army commander #2 Urdrek 30 10 Backup commander #2 The Character Situation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Dunlendings start the game with a very good assortment of characters. Two good commanders, two good backup commanders for those armies, a person who can execute those stay in the capital and execute those capital only orders with a large degree of success, someone who is tailor made to be a company commander, and two fine mages. I would recommend that the first four character slots of the Dunlendings be appropriated this way: 1. Spend 10000 to get a 30 agent. The Dunlendings are one of only three setups that can name 40 agents, and they need to get a thirty and train him up to begin doing this. After this is done, 40 agents can be named and a very effective agent company under Raonull can be created. 2. Spend 10000 to get a 30 emissary. The Dunlendings need to develop there resource rich region, both for production, and to increase their tax base. 3. Spend 5000 each on the next two 30 point emissaries. Continue the work. The two mages should improve themselves every turn. With two 50 point mages, the Dunlendings can get in the quest for artifacts early. The Economic Situation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seven of the nine Dunlending population centers have no fortification, so raising taxes much above the 55% level is inadvisable. However, doing this and retiring the 900 men-at-arms will give the Dunlendings a surplus of a thosand a turn. It is imperative that the Dunlendings increase their tax base so that they can more effectively meet their financial needs. A higher risk strategy would involve retiring the Dunlending archers and light infantry. This would save the Dunlendings an additional 4000 gold per turn. The Alliance Situation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fortunately, the Dunlendings are in a relatively safe position. Their immediate neighbors of Northern Gondor and Cardolan have more pressing concerns, and the greatest threat (as was revealed in game 131) that the Dunlendings face is early agressive action by Rhudaur. The Free Peoples have a great deal to gain by wooing the Dunlendings. First, the get access to 40 agents for the alliance, second they allow Northern Gondor and Cardolan to not worry about a second front. The Dark Servants also need the assistance of the Dunlendings as it is very difficult for the Witch-King to win in Eriador without the aid of both Rhudaur and the Dunlendings. Despite all this, it is likely that the Dunlendings can maintain neutrality very easily to turn ten and prehaps beyond that. The Military Situation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The armies are spread out all over the map. They should be consolidated into two forces. One, an all cavalry force, and the other consisting of the footmen. Their resource production in metals is not outstanding, however, they do produce enough leather and mounts such that the Dunlendings can field cavalry armies without resorting to market buys. Future Development of Dunland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are many prime real-estate locations for camp placement by the Dunlendings. The ruins at 2013 and 1319, the gap of Rohan hexes (these will certainly need fortifications!) of 1920 and/or 2020. There is also a wealth of forest and rough hexes south of the 19 row (and not on anyone elses map) which can provide the timber needed for fortifications and the bronze and steel needed for more troops. >From Tom Walton The Duns occupy a special place in Middle-Earth unmatched by any other position. This nation can be one of the easiest to play on the game - if you eventually go Free - or one of the hardest, should the Dark Servants tempt you from the path of Political Correctness. In fact, no other nation provides such a wide degree of difficulty right at the start of the war, while at the same time leaving the choice firmly in the hands of the player. Brian has already detailed the stats on Dunland, so I'll jump into opening moves. This set of actions leaves open the opportunity to declare for either side without predisposing the nation to one allegiance. Note that I favor a declaration for the Dark Servants, simply because it's so hard to fight a successful war against competent Free opponents. I most emphatically do not recommend a predisposition for Sauron unless you like desperate, and probably doomed, causes. Characters: - as per Brian's suggestion, name a 30-point agent on turn 1. Train up the agent with guard actions, which should give you a 40+ character come turn 6. On this turn, name two more agents. - also on turn 1 (or close to it), fill the remaining three character slots with emissaries. - this leaves Dunland a spare character slot on turn 6, which can be dedicated to an agent if you plan on going on the offensive with covert operations, an emissary if you want to accelerate the buildup of your economy, or a commander/agent if you intend on fighting the Free. The commander/agent isn't necessary if you decide to fight Mordor, as the front will most often be so far away that you can pick and choose your fights. - I recommend against the creation of multi-class characters for Dunland (with the exception of commander/agents). The economy isn't strong enough to support a host of relatively useless characters early on, and such characters defeat the nation advantage of being able to build 40-point agents. I also recommend against creating more mages; Dunland already has two 50-pointers, which is more than enough for this position. Economy: - though painfully obvious and vastly overused, the hexes in Southern Dunland (off-map of everyone else) are a great place to put down camps. In this region, I suggest building four camps in mountain hexes, four in forest hexes, and four in plains/rough hexes. This should give Dunland a nice mix of resources which can be used for a variety of purposes (not the least of which is building a slick cav army). - if you create camps in the mountains, don't put them in hexes near Aglarond. The Demon of Aglarond and one of the two balrogs hang around this area, which can result in some unpleasantness for visiting emissaries. They also lower camp loyalty. Instead, concentrate on the string of mountain hexes near the sea (the balrog doesn't range this far west, and the Demon hardly ever goes there). - again, NEVER put down camps in the Misty Mountains, or rough hexes adjacent to the Misty Mountains. Dragons will eat your emissaries and destroy your camps. I learned this one through hard experience in an early game while playing the Duns (and gained much of my dragon data in the process). If you go evil later, then the Misty Mountains suddenly become choice real estate (because of those same dragons). - as an alternative to placing four camps in the forest hexes to the south, instead put them down in Fangorn (if you can beat everyone else to it). Fangorn is also off-map and not quite as obvious, since the Duns can't easily reach the area should it be attacked. An army raised in Fangorn also has a fair chance of running into ents if the Duns turn Free. In some games, Fangorn is left virtually untouched and almost never visited, making this a great place to create a secret base. In other games, everyone and their brother shows up to get a piece of the action. Putting down camps in Fangorn can therefore be risky, as you might be competing with both Free and Dark Servant nations for hexes. - once Dunland has 10-12 camps down, it's imperative that they be raised to villages. This reduces production somewhat, but each village significantly raises the tax base. Twelve such villages will improve the base by 30,000 gold which, with natural gold production, should double the funds available to the Duns. - As per Brian's suggestion, change the tax rate as soon as possible. I recommend 60% instead of 55%, as 60% is the upper end of the 'no gain, no loss' bracket. You chance a precipitous drop in the loyalty of some villages, but what the heck - roll the dice. Military: - unless one side or the other consists of complete putzes, one thing the Duns can virtually rely on is short-term peace. For the first ten or fifteen turns, the war in Eriador will more than occupy the attention of your neighbors, while the Gondors and others to the east will be hard pressed just to contain Mordor. The end result is that no one with their head screwed on straight will want to push the Duns into the enemy camp by attacking. This allows you to cut costs drastically be disbanding everything but the cav and heavy infantry (or keep just the cav). This one tactic will do more to improve the economy than anything else in the early game, keeping the Duns solvent until their villages start to kick in. Depending on your leanings and your willingness to take risks, you can do this one of two ways: - disband everything but the cav and heavy infantry. Separate the two armies, stationing the cav at the capitol and the heavy infantry at the town adjacent. - disband everything but the cav and 100 heavy infantry. Keep the cav at the capitol, with the HI core force at the town adjacent. - don't recruit for at least the first five turns. If it appears that you're going to go Free, disband the remaining heavy infantry and concentrate entirely on cavalry. It's a long march to Mordor, and unless the Corsairs go evil, you won't have to worry much about a Dark Servant invasion of the homeland. Recruit cav at the capitol, sending it forth to do battle every time it hits 2,000 or so (to keep the strain on the economy to a minimum). - if it looks like you're going to join the Dark Servants, you'll need heavy infantry to bolster your cav in the upcoming campaign. There're simply too many Free nations close by to rely on a moderate-sized cav force alone. Once you suspect that this is the way events will pan out, start recruiting cav at the capitol and heavy infantry at the town adjacent. March both forces into the target area, then use the cav's superior movement to hit towns deep in enemy territory and burn them. Use the infantry to attack closer targets, or engage enemy garrison forces. - In a campaign against competent Free opponents, your chances of surviving are slim. To improve those chances, you need to hurt the enemy as badly as possible, preferably with a surprise attack against an unprepared opponent. Don't bother to capture; use scorched earth to its fullest value to cripple, or perhaps destroy, the most likely target. Putting even one neighbor out of the running will do much to lengthen Dunland's life span. - One thing about declaring for Mordor is that there's a definite time limit to the wisdom of this choice. Even should Rhudaur join the Witch-King, chances are the Free in Eriador will eliminate their enemies. If you wait too long, the Witch-King will be defeated, leaving Arthedain, Cardolan, the Noldo, and the Dwarves free to pound your butt into an early grave. It's been my experience that declaring after turn 12 is most often too late, as Angmar will be too weak to significantly distract the Free by this time (Rhudaur joining the Dark Servants will extend this another six turns or so). - Since the campaign areas are relatively volatile, and Dunland should stay neutral for at least ten turns, likely Free targets are hard to determine. If Cardolan is still in the running (which it should be), this is a good, though obvious, choice. Blind hexes to the north of Dunland allow a cav force to make a surprise hit from off-map, which may be enough to put Cardolan out of the game. Rhudaur is a nice alternative if Rhudaur has gone good and the Witch-king is still going strong. This eliminates Angmar's nearest enemy, allowing that nation to throw its strength at Arthedain and Cardolan, thereby distracting them from your own lands. This, of course, assumes that the Witch-King doesn't withdraw and leave you out to hang while he recovers. Should the Free in Eriador be total idiots and are falling to the Witch-King without your aid, go for Gondor. Gondor will be straining just to stave off doom at the hands of Mordor; an attack by your forces will allow you to capture vast amounts of territory at little cost. It might also prematurely end the game, as most Gondorian players don't have the stomache to stay in after being attacked on both fronts. Artifact Hunting: - you have two of the best mages in the game. If you choose, you can get into the artifact game right away. Even better, Dunland is centrally located, which means that your characters have a fair chance of reaching an artifact hex before an opponent can get there. I recommend that you attempt to locate the lesser neutral agent/stealth items immediately. While Dunland can build 40-point agents, it's characters get little, if any, stealth (I didn't get a single point in more than 30 characters while playing this nation). After grabbing a couple of these babies, try to pick up the Dragon Helm of Dor-Lomin, Angbor, and a few weapons with secondary powers (curses would be nice). Other Notes: - think about blowing the bridge across the river to Tharbad. This will put an end to any idea that Cardolan might have about slamming your capitol. - put a camp down at 1920 and fortify it, blocking the gap of Rohan. - if you're going to go evil, get a backup major town as a concession from the Dark Servants. Refuse to change allegiance until the town is yours, or your 'allies' will probably screw you on this one. - again, if you go evil DO NOT broadcast your intentions to the Free. Honor has no place in war, especially if you're the Duns; to survive, you need to make a SURPRISE attack, which isn't possible if you continually drop hints about an unfavorable allegiance change. If you can't handle this, either go good or play another nation. - watch the Corsairs closely. Strange as it may seem, they're probably the biggest threat to Dunland early. If they favor the Free, they may be able to mount a naval invasion of your kingdom - but probably not, as Mordor will most likely give them hell. You're most at risk if they favor the Dark Servants while you opt for good. If you want to win the game, you can't do it with Dunland by making a full commitment to the war. It's extremely important that you preserve what assets you have, always working to build on them first and foremost. This means not giving up pop centers to your allies, not risking good characters in chancy operations, and not stripping your nation of troops when it's possible the enemy will attack while they're gone. Dunland doesn't have any 'padding', as many other nations do; one bad move could permanently take them out of the running for the win. This isn't a particulary team-like thing to do, but I'm talking about what a good course of action would be if you desperately want first place. With alot of cunning and a little luck, you can take Dunland into the ranks commonly occupied by Harad, the Noldo, and the Cloud Lord. Last Word I play in alot of games; six, to be exact. Until the beginning of February, I actually had some small amount of time to devote to these games and give each the attention it deserved. Recently, it became quite apparent that that's no longer the case. Indeed, I've so little time for gaming activities now that when I get my turns, I simply glance at them once, hastily write out my orders, and then send them in without even double-checking to make sure I haven't bungled something. By the time the next turn rolls around, I have difficulty trying to figure out what I was thinking of doing during the last. Obviously, this isn't good for me, my allies, or my checking account. So, with regret, I'm preparing to hand off four of my six games to other players. Even though I'd rather keep all of the games, and am somewhat leary about handing off a nation I've been playing for over 30 turns (and which holds 1st place), I believe it'll ultimately work out best for all involved. This 'Last Word' is shamelessly dedicated to my teammates in all of the games I'll be leaving. I had a grand time playing with you all, friends and enemies alike, and sincerely hope to test my skills with or against you again in the future: Game 68: for my Dark Servant buddies, who managed to throw back the Free time and time again even though the situation was so hopeless that any reasonable player would've cut out. Thirty-two turns of unflagging excellence and no drops; that's the most impressive record I've ever seen. The teamwork of the players in this game stands out as a shining example of what a group can REALLY do if it puts it's mind to it, even when defeat seems certain. Game 70: to my Woodmen allies, who proved to be the most trusting and stalwart friends a Dwarf could want. The Dark Servants are coming, Carl; the end is near. But it was fun while it lasted. Thirty-three turns and they STILL haven't conquered Middle-Earth, even when just about everyone else dropped out. Game 117: probably the strangest team game I've been in. Certainly the most exciting in terms of team dynamics. My thanks to all for actually accepting the invitation in the first place, even though the game turned out much differently than what anyone expected. I very much hope that you pound the Free into dust, and I'll be anxiously watching from the sidelines, cheering you on to ultimate victory. Thanks also to the entire "Dark Servants Inc." crew for patiently provided the test-bed for what you're reading now - "From the Mouth of Sauron". Game 140: this one hardly got off the ground. My regrets to Jeremy Richman, Paul Mihok, and Aaron Wyatt for not being able to go the distance. I especially regret having to give up the Long Rider, which was the first position I played in ME-PBM, and which I've been dying to play again. Ah, well, maybe next time. Kick some ass, guys. Tom