From the Mouth of Sauron Issue: E-19 Date: 05-13-94 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 I'm going to keep this short and sweet (well, short anyway). Tom and I were both excited and very pleased with the tremendous outflow of submissions found herein. There's some great stuff from Rock Chasko, Darin Fitzpatrick, David Foreman, Dave Holt, Patrick McGehearty, news of me-pbm hitting another continent, and the usual pile of comments from yours truly and Tom. About all it takes to get me going on an article is a mild suggestion, and Tom provided that by suggesting we speculate on the player positions in the 2940 game. It is worth exactly what "The Mouth" costs. It is so wildly speculative that it might qualify under Steve Latham's request for more fiction, so read it with special caution. I'm merely guessing (and having a load of fun doing it, I assure you), so take it with a grain of salt. All of you, keep those submissions coming, and Good Reading! Brian Encounters Celeborn: was reported to have raised the command ranks of two Free army leaders by approximately 12 points upon being encountered. Not bad. Thanks to David Foreman for this info. Dragons Lomaw: act MEEK = escaped unharmed for FP. Turukulon: good evidence suggests that Offer TWO artifacts = dragon recruited for Dark Servants. This hasn't been directly confirmed, but it fits well with the info already in hand. Thanks to the unnamed person who helped me with Turukulon. You're unnamed because I erased your note prior to actually writing out this section. With as much email as I get, I can't for the life of me remember who you are. Thanks also to David Foreman for the Lomaw response. Other Notes >From Rock Chasko PLEDGE GAME How about a "pledge" game for the 2940 scenario? Each player would pledge not to access any facility, person, or other source to get information on the game except players in the pledge game. Each player would also pledge not to join any other games of 2940 [<-- GSI would just *LOVE* this]. Both pledges would expire after the first ten turns of the pledge game. This would certainly preserve the sense of discovery in the game for 20 weeks. Unlike yourself, I have very limited gaming time and limit myself to no more than two games simultaneously; for me, such pledges would be easy to keep. [Tom's note: I only plan on playing in one game in the new scenario, so heck, I pledge away!] Here's a list of articles I'd like to see in the Mouth: - Detailed game narratives. I'd like to hear stories of how particular games proceeded, with the emphasis on big events, lucky breaks, shrewd or terrible moves by the two sides, turning points, etc. Sort of a military history of a completed ME-PBM game. [Brian's comment - I think we've got a fair number of game 97 players reading "The Mouth." Between the Free (Arthedain (Jeff Holzhauer), the Noldo (Theo ten Brummelaar), the Corsairs (Tom), and Rhudaur (me)) and the Dark (Witch-King (Brian Lowery), Cloud Lord (Arnold Mohammed), Blind Sorcerer (Steve Latham), and Long Rider (Shane Gray)) we've got a fair number of positions covered. After Tom and I finish this game, we'll tell you about it.] - Short player biographies. I'd like to know a little bit about the players, especially those who write/publish in Paper Mayhem, Mouth, or WOTW. Just a few hundred words each, similar to how Paper Mayhem does biogs on Gamemasters. - A column featuring the Sweetest and the Awfulest turns players have experienced, for example: "There I was with Khamul and half a dozen agents I couldn't see in my capital - I had two army commanders assassinated, lost 4,000 troops. My best emissary was kidnapped, and they stole 23,000 gold...I went from 1175 points to 625 in one turn..." - How to tell whose winning: A front-by-front (Eriador, Lower Anduin, Rhovanion, Upper Anduin/Mirkwood) discussion about what you should have accomplished from the point of view of both sides in order to be winning the game. This could be done for turn 10 and turn 20. - An article, perhaps with a lot of tables, showing the average skill ranks of many of the key characters (perhaps also the skill ranks of generic character types) every 5 turns. I could use such a table to guesstimate what Elrond's or Murazor's skill ranks are likely to be should I confront one of them on turn 15 or 20... >From Darin Fitzpatrick As a GAD player, I recently got an accidental special service turn. GAD lost my turnsheet and thus never entered it. After my initial shock and anger, I called GAD to see what could be done. They managed to correct 90% of my orders, including recruiting, moving characters, naming new characters, and improving skills. I had no combat, assassinations, or encounters, but I don't think they are correctable. An escaped hostage, whom I would have killed, is still at large. The various guard orders resulted in skill increases, but they could not retroactively hinder any theft attempts. Most surprisingly, they also moved one of my armies onto an enemy's pop center and informed that player of the change directly. All these changes were done with a week to spare before the next due date. Has anyone had a similar experience with GSI? I think that GAD is a bit swamped (based on reports from other players) and makes more input errors than GSI. I had a previous case where a navy ran aground because the inputter goofed up. This was compensated by allowing me to carry out two additional capital orders for free (I bought steel and downgraded relations.) This was my suggestion, as I was en route to the capital and would have been delayed. I figured I should ask for whatever they would give me, and leave it to GAD to decide if it was fair. By the way, GAD says that the Recon reports for off-map MT's/Cities have not been implemented, but they are planned. Apparently this depends on when GSI sends out the updates. Also, GAD has no official word from GSI about the new game. This leaves us European players out in the cold, or forces us to take three week turnaround times. Unless GSI lowers their overseas fax rates, I expect Europe will continue with just the 1640 game. This raises two points in my mind. First, the fun of the new game might be worn off by the time it gets started over here. Second, there is still a great need for the Mouth or a similar e-mail publication in Europe. I also think that it would be very useful to continue the Mouth with only 1640 material. It shouldn't be too hard to filter out new game info. The old game is still attracting all kinds of new players, especially in Europe (recently a Spanish team game started) and the data is not very widely distributed here. If Tom and Brian are definitely not going to continue to run the Mouth, perhaps some brave soul will step forward and keep it up? I am not willing to be the first volunteer, simply because I don't think that I can keep up the quality level that we are used to. But I'll go out on a limb and offer to be the Vice-Editor if anyone else is interested. To Tom and Brian, I would be most pleased if you two would continue what you're doing. If not, however, I would like your blessing (and permission) for the use of your data and cool title, with the assurance that we will not use this forum to exchange data on the 2950 game (at least not in the next year and a half or so.) Anyone interested in keeping the 1640 Mouth alive, let me know at DEFITZPA@aofkft.remnet.rockwell.com. Thanks. [Tom's note: the name "From the Mouth of Sauron" is actually under common copyright protection. I'm afraid I've plans for this particular title in the future, especially if we revive the Mouth once the new game has been fairly well explored. There's also the possibility of a paper magazine of some sort that isn't focused on ME-PBM alone.] >From Rich Eisenman I recently had a conversation regarding some facets of the agent rules with GSI - specifically whether some of the various 'hard' agent orders are 'harder' than others (they are) and which is harder, assassinate or kidnap (they are about the same...hints that kidnap is a tad easier) During that conversation, I happened to mention that 'my 90+ agent should have no trouble at all getting past a agent rank (30-39 skill) guard; since even 39*2 left me a 12+ margin, and more likely i easily covered the +20 edge that seems to give really good odds in most ME skill contests.' I was told in no uncertain terms to *not* take the guard doubling literally. The algorithm is not that simple. Specifically, an agent guard may end up stopping someone of *triple* his rank, or even fail to stop someone of equal rank. (that much is a quote)ignoring the 'critical success/failure' potential for the moment, I came away feeling that guards probably get a bell curve modifier, centered on double, but looking something like: +0% (10% likely) +50% (20% likely) +100% (30% likely) +150% (20% likely) + 200% (10% likely)..with the other 10% being really obscure fringe results like -50% or +200%. 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: sjmar3@giaeb.cc.monash.edu.au Subject: MEPBM IN AUSTRALIA Date: 11 May 94 04:40:41 GMT Middle Earth PBM is now in Australia, The first game will start on the 1 July 94. If you would like to play MEPBM or would just like some info about the game contact : Steven Martin P.O Box 351 Newbourgh VIC, 3825 Ph (051) 271037 [Brian's comment - I contacted these guys by email, and they supplied me with the following: We would be pleased to send you more information about Middle Earth PBM. The game is currently being run in the US by a company called Games Systems Inc. out of Miami. We have purchased the exclusive rights to run the game in Australia and New Zealand. We are Strategic Fantasy Games of Australia Pty Ltd and you can contact us at P.O. Box 351 Newborough, Victoria 3825, Australia. We can send you promo. info. as well as copies of articles written by game critics and players. Send us your address and we will send out the material to you. The game was voted "Best new play-by-mail game 1991" and "Best play-by-mail game 1992" by the (US) Game Manufacturers Association Awards. Cheers! Fred & Steven Martin] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: freeman@hp-7.cae.wisc.EDU Subject: ME-PBM: recruiting characters Date: 10 May 1994 Is there a rule of thumb for how much gold I need to offer in order to recruit a character from an eliminated nation? Is it a certain gold value per skill point? Approximately how much for a 30 agent or 30 emissary? Would it be cheaper to name a new character instead (which wouldn't give me 1-10 emissary points)? Sam ---------------------------------------------------------------- Strategy & Tactics: The Sinda Elves >From Brian Mason I'm sure that my redoubtable ally in game 131, Glen Mayfield, could probably do more justice to this article than myself, however, having gotten myself into this mess, I don't think I'll be able to stop until we cover all 25 player postitions. Basic Data How do the Sinda Elves 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 Free Peoples =================== ============== ========================= Total Tax Base tied for 5th tied for 3rd Resource Base 24th 10th Combat Strength 24th 9th Character points 3rd 2nd Artifacts tied for 8th 3rd The Sinda Elves have the worst production of the Free Peoples. Expected production (Population Center Development, Brian Mason, "The Mouth," #2) which has not been adjusted for climate for the Sinda Elves would be as follows: material le br st mi fo ti mo go =========== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== production 244 141 27 0 4124 1215 52 252 This is a list of below of the characters of the Sinda Elves, their starting abilities, and their assignments. Name co ag em ma st assignment ============== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==================== Amroth 60 20 20 army commander Lanthir 30 30 20 army commander Nimrodel 20 50 20 mage #1 Ohtar 50 10 20 20 army commander Ringlin 50 20 mage #2 Taurnil 40 10 10 20 army commander Tharudan 20 50 20 agent #1 Thranduil 60 30 20 special duties This is a very interesting and difficult position to play. There are numerous factors which need to be adressed and dealt with. Among them are the following: 1. While you do have more hidden population centers than any other player in the game, you cannot rely on them. Because the game has been played for so long, they are hidden in name only, and given the mage strength of the Dark Servants (most notably the nearby Dragon Lord), keeping them hidden for most of the game is very unlikely, and trusting that their hidden nature will keep them protected is foolhardy. There are generally two approaches the Dark Servants will take in dealing with hidden population centers. One method is to systematically reveal them all as soon as possible. This tends to make the respective Free Peoples more cautious, and is just the thing for a wiley Dragon Lord player to do. Reveal the hidden population centers of the Sinda Elves in Lothlorien and then attack the Woodmen. The Reveal will tend to paralyze the Sinda and keep him/her from intervening in the Woodmen attack. Another method is to reveal them on the turn an army arrives to attack. While the hidden population centers will not hide armies in the hex, they will hide any fortifications you add. For this reason, I place high priority on upgrading (or creating) fortifications at all hidden population centers of the Sinda Elves. Imagine the surprise to a Dragon Lord player who simultaneously revealed and marched on Caras Galadon with 2500 heavy infantry (normally enough to easily capture or destroy it), only to find it has a fort or castle. He must then beat a hasty retreat. 2. Your population centers are very dispersed making it difficult to simultaneously defend them and attack. Many nations can attack with a large portion of their military and leave a small strike and recruiting force behind to deal with threats which come in range of your population centers. It is very difficult for the Sinda Elves to do this because of the positioning of their population centers. To compensate for this two things should be done: a. Know how long it would take a well-fed all-cavalry army (this is a worst case scenario) to reach your most vulnerable population centers. Then, when within a dangerous range be prepared to deal with them. For example, consider the capital of the Sinda Elves at 2413. The army described above could reach it in one turn from the following hexes: 2212, 2214, 2310-2315, 2409-2415, 2509-2516, 2610-2614, and 2711-2713. Similar "contact ranges" can be found for two turns and for other population centers. b. When having an army approach a defended enemy population center with agressive intentions plot your move such that you would stop him if he were to move to attack you. As your armies must usually pull "double duty" in both defending a vital population center and take the battle to the enemy you should in in an offensive action also attempt to insure the safety of the population center you are defending. 3. Communication with other Free Peoples is essential for success with the Sinda Elves. With North and South Gondor in the South, with the Northmen around the Sea of Rhun, and with the Eothraim, Woodmen and Dwarves around Mirkwood. The Character Situation The Sinda start with three pressing character needs: first, their armies lack backup commanders, second, to both generate needed supplies and revenue population centers must be created requiring emissaries, and third, both for general duties and to take advantage of possible stealthy characters agents should be created. Having these needs and only four character slots makes the situation rather difficult. Because of his high command rank, Thranduil needs to eventually become an army commander. However, in the early game he can perform three important tasks: one, execute command capital orders with a virtual certainty of success, two, improve (or create) fortifications at hidden population centers (at least those in the Mirkwood area), and three, name the first emissary. I would suggest the Sinda create two emissaries and two 10/20 commander/agents. The emissaries will go about creating camps (possible locations discussed below) while the commander/agents will become pure agents if they have stealth or backup commanders if they do not. Your mages can, because of their high mage rank and your possession of a good mage artifact, get into artifact hunting fairly early. I would recommend that one mage locate and acquire artifacts while the other works on other lore type spells. Reveal population center is essential for Tol Buruth and Sarn Goriwing and Divine Nation Forces is very handy to keep track of Dragon Lord army sizes. While Tharudan has a good mage rank, training him early and often as an agent, with the addition of the Sinda stealth artifacts, makes him a very good agent. Keep him moving and keep him active. The Economic Situation A moderate increase to 50 or 55% will get the Sinda in the black. It is imperative that Sinda be able to create the above characters and that they begin creating camps to increase production and revenue. It is also important for the Sinda to increase the size of the army in Lothlorien. As these cities are initially unfortified this is where the Sinda are most vulnerable early. Because of these needs it is probably inadvisable to recruit heavy at all locations until more definite plans are developed with the other Free Peoples in the area. So, given all these things, where should the Sinda place their camps? As their need for timber to fortify their population centers is high the hexes of 2314, 2414 and 2513 would be good. However, given the need for metals as well as timber 2224 and 2326 (adjoining Edhellond) would be good as would most of the hills and rough of Southern and Northern Gondor (for example, 2518, 2519, 2618, and 2620). The Military Situation As described above, it is probably inadvisable for the Sinda to engage in agressive recruiting in all possible locations until communication and plans are established with other Free Peoples in the area. Nevertheless, some things can be established early on: 1. The Lothlorien army: This is army must maintain a purely defensive role until such time as the two cities have adequate fortifications. It is very important to increase the size of this army early on to guard against an early first strike of the Dragon Lord. 2. The Northern Mirkwood army: This army is the only one which can immediately begin planning offensive actions. When Sarn Goriwing is revealed, this army can attack from Galadbrynd. Sarn Goriwing starts with a defensive value of 10,850. To get more than this would require about 2000 heavy infantry. Keep this in mind. 3. The Belegaer navy: At most, available transports can carry 1400 more infantry or 840 more cavalry. While the force that this navy can carry is rather small compared to the huge armies that Northern and Southern Gondor can muster, at the right time, this force can mean the difference between victory and defeat (as I know too well! Thanks, Glen!) 4. The Rhun navy: At most, available transports can carry 150 more infantry or 90 more cavalry. While this is the weakest of all Sinda forces, it has the potental to do the most damage. Every turn one order should be spent on order 830 to patrol the Sea of Rhun. To intercept the Long Rider navy is the goal. Losing the Sinda navy is inconsequential if the Long Rider loses his capability to ferry troops from Tol Buruth to the shore. Carefully planned coordination with the Northmen can allow the maximum coverage of area. >From Tom Walton In just about every game I've been in, the Sinda have gotten kicked in the teeth. Pop centers are burned, characters are killed, and extra gold is just a fond memory from better times. It seems that disaster and hardship are Sinda staples, a fact of life for this nation. At first glance I thought this a bit strange for a position which boasts some of the best characters and artifacts in Middle-Earth. So before I wrote up this article, I decided to go back and take a look at what Sinda players did to try to figure out why they got hit so badly - and why they never really recovered. Several weaknesses in the position were identified: (1) The Sinda are spread out over four locations military, yet they start with only eight characters. (2) Hidden Sinda pop centers are unfortified or underfortified (and 'hidden' is a joke in the 1650 game). Exposed Sinda pop centers are underfortified. (3) The army really sucks at game start (to put it in technical terminology). (4) The economy is more reflective of a Dark Servant position than a Free Peoples one: depressing tax or resource base combined with lots of character points to make for a high deficit (and a desperate need for more gold). In the Sinda case, selling to the market to increase the treasury isn't an option. (5) Despite appearing to be safe from immediate enemy attack, the nation is actually easy to destroy. Pop centers are well out of reinforcement range of each other. Overextended and Overexposed My analysis of the Sinda position, and my recommendations for early game actions, will most likely fly in the face of conventional wisdom. In fact, I've never seen my strategy tried by any player. I believe the Sinda are badly overextended and unable to fully take advantage of their characters and resources because of this. In addition, the wide separation of their forces leaves them open to assault, especially in the Mirkwood region. An example: In game 117, where I played the Dragon Lord, I managed to destroy the Sinda village in Mirkwood by turn 2, as well as both towns near Sarn Goriwing on turns 3 and 4. This didn't take any real skill on my part, only some fancy footwork to avoid being caught on the plains by the Dwarves and Woodmen. By turn 5, I was in position to attack and eliminate one of the cities in Lorien, and there wasn't a thing the Sinda could do about it. Only the failure of my mages to learn 'Reveal Pop Center' at the critical moment saved the Sinda from complete disaster. Had my mages been a bit more diligent in their research efforts, total Sinda losses at the end of turn 6 would've been 1 city, 2 towns, and 1 village - a total of 22,500 gold in tax base and 11 of their 17 resource points. End of Sinda nation. Even with my failure, they still lost 12,500 tax base and 10 resource points, a crippling blow considering it was all inflicted by turn 4. Much of this was possible because the Sinda insisted on retaining all four of his armies at each separate location. Most players in fact do this, and I believe it's a major mistake. The Military To solve the problem of being overextended, I recommend the following moves: - anchor the ships at Edhellond and disband the army. Move any resident characters back to Lorien. - sail from Rhubar up to Esgaroth. Anchor the ships and march to Thranduil's palace to combine forces. This has three primary effects. First, it combines command characters at the capitol and Thranduil's palace, meaning that good leaders aren't stuck with doing maintenance orders without the opportunity to increase their skills (it also makes the armies safer from assassinations and kidnappings). Second, it reduces the demand to make yet more command characters to act as back-ups for the primaries, freeing up the initial character slots for other classes. Third, it beefs up Thranduil's force significantly, meaning that less time is required to recruit before marching (no time at all, if you coordinate your moves right). The downside is that you no longer have defenses at Rhubar or Edhellond. But consider: neither of these pop centers is usually attacked within the first ten turns anyway, since more interesting and less well-defended targets are close by. In all likelihood, these two major towns will remain safe while you're away in Mirkwood. Once your commanders are positioned, recruit like crazy at the major town in Lorien closest to the Dragon Lord. This is the most likely one to be attacked, so having your primary army there isn't a bad idea. In the north, have Thranduil march with all speed to Sarn Goriwing. Thranduil will destroy this site once your mages reveal it. While Thranduil is doing his business, send out a large force to Dol Guldur to fight a losing battle with the Dragon Lord. The reason for this is to reduce the Dragon Lord army below the numbers required to mount a major offensive against one of your cities. Catching him at home means that he won't be able to march around you in some sneaky fashion to hit the other pop center in Lorien. This move also has the benefit of reducing your deficit and forcing the Dragon Lord to deplete his treasury even more to replace the losses he takes. Since the Dragon Lord treasury is only good for about six turns, even holding him off for this length of time will cut his effective offensive potential by quite a bit. If Thranduil met with no opposition at Sarn Goriwing, you should now have enough forces (along with either the Woodmen or Dwarves) to destroy any remaining troops at Dol Guldur and lay siege to it. If your allies are recalcitrant or Thranduil's army got beat up pretty badly, you may want to detour him to one of your nearby towns for a little recruiting (guarding the pop center in the process). Much at this point depends upon how cooperative the other Free in the area are, or if they've dropped (a Woodmen first-turn drop is just about the worst disaster the Sinda can weather). If they're around and semi-competent, you'll end up crushing the Dragon Lord and driving him out of Mirkwood by turn 8 or 9 at the latest (it can be done by turn 6 if the Moria garrison turns out in it's entirety). If they aren't or if the Woodmen are out, you've a serious problem; a long war of attrition looms in your future. Assuming you aren't operating under the less-desirable scenarios, driving the Dragon Lord out of Mirkwood means that you no longer need to keep significant military forces in the area. At this point, you can relocate your commanders to Edhellond and Rhubar to begin raising forces in these regions. If things went fairly well, you'll be back long before the Dark Servants start casting covetous glances towards these towns. Characters Under my plan, more commander/agents aren't necessary in the first four character slots. To keep the drain on the treasury down to a reasonable level, I suggest building two agents and two emissaries (no multi-class characters). Come turn six, add another emissary and two more agents. Emissaries: use your emissaries to place camps in two easy-to- defend regions, namely Fangorn Forest and Mirkwood near Thranduil's palace. Since you'll be raising troops near these sites anyway, they won't be exposed to an early attack. Later, with the Dragon Lord gone, they'll be even safer from the Dark Servants. I recommend putting camps down in woods hexes to increase timber production right away. It's imperative that your cities be fortified, and you won't have the gold to buy it off the market while doing everything else. Later on, place more camps in the plains hexes in the Anduin to increase leather and mounts production (for cavalry). As for metals - well, trade with the Dwarves or someone else that has a surplus. The mountains are too damn dangerous, and others will be vying for the scant rough hexes. Agents: nope, not for stealing gold, even with that nice stealth bonus they usually get. I recommend four agents because the Sinda seem to be perennial favorites for kidnaps and assassinations. Name the agents and use them as guards; their stealth will add to their skill rank while at the same time making them extremely hard to spot with 'Scout Character'. I've only seen this done in one game, believe it or not, yet the Sinda didn't lose a single starting character (even to Ji Indur + artifacts) during the entire time that I played. It drove the Dark Servants nuts, not being able to punch through the guards. Much later in the game, if and when the Dark Servants are on the run, you can use these agents offensively. But don't be tempted to send them off to steal gold; as I discovered in game 97, leaving even one major character unguarded for just a single turn can end in your having to order up a body bag. Not a nice thing to contemplate, considering that your characters are essentially irreplaceable. Economy Resource production is virtually nil. Move the emissaries out right away and roll the dice on camp creation. This will give you the timber you need to build some fortifications, along with some surplus to sell when times are tough. After you've put down a half-dozen or so camps, improve them to villages to boost the tax rate. You'll need the extra funds just to support your new characters. Villages are your best bet economically, giving you 2,500 gold in tax base plus 80% of the hex's resources. Once this is put into action, you should be out of the early game and the Dragon Lord booted from Mirkwood. Move your emissaries to the plains hexes in the Anduin, near Lorien, and put down another half-dozen camps to begin building the foundation for creating heavy cav. Notes - you can capture Dol Guldur, but don't bother doing the same with Sarn Goriwing, Goblin-Gate, or Gundabad. They're dragon-plagued. If you take them, emissaries from Mordor will eventually show up to influence them away (after the dragons have reduced the loyalty to a '1'). - after the Dragon Lord is crushed, you might consider moving an army into/through Fangorn to try to pick up the Ents. - don't overextend yourself again when Mirkwood is secure. One army based at Rhubar, another at Edhellond, and a third at the capitol are just about it if you want to keep enough guards around to protect your commanders. - move non-essential characters out of the capitol! So many people base them here by reflex, yet it's the first place the Cloud Lord and friends will show up on their way to Eriador. Move them into a newly created camp (especially your mages) and let them do their thing there. Over the Long Haul In the mid-game, you'll be in the enviable position of having much of your kingdom out of the enemy's reach. Only two towns remain in real peril, and to effectively guard these you must coordinate closely with your allies in the east. I suggest recruiting HI at both Rhubar and Edhellond, moving into enemy territory to harrass the Dark Servants every time you hit 1200 or so troops. Make a nuisance of yourself. The (former) Northmen towns on Rhun, as well as the (former) Gondor towns in the Ithilien, are great targets for raids. Threaten these, then run off and get destroyed by an enemy army. Repeat the process. Watch the Dark Servants turn scarlet with impotent rage because they have to divert forces to retake their conquests - again and again. At the capitol, begin raising heavy cavalry. Since you can call up 500 a turn, send the army off to the aid of the Gondors/Eothraim/Northmen every time your force reaches a strength of 2,000. This won't put a terrible strain on your economy (if you've been creating camps/villages), yet provides a force significant enough to turn the tide against Mordor. Many Sinda seem to disappear after the Dragon Lord has been dealt with, generally a self-destructive move since losing an eastern ally almost always results in a Dark Servant win. Repeat until you own Barad-dur. The Role of the Neutrals by William "Rock" Chasko I appreciated the recent comments and articles on the role of the neutrals, and also the advice on how a neutral should cope with dubious play by positions in his own allegiance. I think that a forthright, non- threatening announcement early in the game by a neutral that he will use any means to revenge himself if he faces such tactics is probably good play. I have seen pronouncements in Whispers and have also seen attempts in one of my games wherein two or more neutrals announce the formation of a "defensive alliance." This maneuver did not work in my game; I'm wondering if anyone else has seen a neutral alignment like this in operation - - was it effective? Theoretically, a block of solidly co-operating neutrals, especially if it includes Corsairs and/or Harad, would give pause to either faction. Imagine if Corsairs, Harad, and - say - Dunland announced a mutual security pact. What western Freep would want to antagonize that group?! [Brian's comment - let me give you a horror story of neutral alliances from game 131. I joined this game with Jeremy Richman and Glen Mayfield, the three of us playing Northern Gondor, the Northmen, and the Sinda, respectively. Southern Gondor, Cardolan and the Dwarves joined as a group as did the other four Free Peoples. The Dark Servants, likewise, we're filled by three groups. On the neutral side, Rhudaur and the Corsairs joined together as did the Easterlings and Dunlendings. On turn two the Corsairs attacked the Harad while Rhudaur attacked the Duns. On turn three the Duns were out. On turn four the Easterlings dropped and the Witch-King attacked Rhudaur. On turn five Rhudaur was out. On turn six the Corsairs dropped. So, while these neutrals planned cooperatively, they still fell by the wayside. Don't get me started talking about this game. The play of some of our "allies" has been so poor (or non-existant), I'm likely to do a core dump right there.] I see no reason to make any rules changes at all affecting neutrals. I like their effect on play, especially early in the game. The FP especially have to take the myriad options open to the sea-faring neutrals into account in the early turns. Can you imagine the effect on action in the lower Anduin if the Gondors had a free hand and did not have to consider the possibility of a Corsair/Harad amphibious assault? I would also like to see some discussion/commentary on the prospects for neutrals in a *TEAM* game. It seems that a neutral with good diplomatic skills could play off the different factions in a team game and thereby stand a much better chance of placing in the top three than s/he would in a grudge game. Another thought: GSI currently limits neutral 'teams' to two players - how about relaxing this rule in a grudge game and allowing a team of five neutrals in the game? Scary thought, huh? Suddenly, the isolated, individual neutrals are welded into a team as tight as either of the other two grudge teams, and they hold the balance of power... At the heart of the neutral question lie issues of play balance and fair play. We would all like to see three neutrals (including either Harad or Corsairs) opt for the DS every game. That would balance play. If the neutrals which join an allegiance can develop some solidarity among themselves, they can insure that the other allegiance members will treat them fairly - especially if they make it known that they will go "no holds barred" if one of them is messed with by a player on his own side. In reality, what happens with neutrals is that two, three, or four of them drop by turn 15 in most games, leaving the one or two who remain friendless and relatively powerless. One possible solution would be to develop a player rating system such as is used for tournament chess. Players would get rating points based on their final score in their games. The points awarded would be handicapped by the position they play (doing well with Woodmen gets you more points then doing well with Corsairs or Noldo). Players would receive bonus rating points for how long they stayed in a game: *DROPPING EARLY WOULD DAMAGE A PLAYER'S RATING*. I'd love to be in the top 10 (or 25, or whatever I could achieve) rated ME-PBM players *IN THE WORLD*!, and I would play my best to the bitter end if I thought dropping would cost me hard-earned rating points. Games could be filled based on ratings; higher rated players would get the tougher positions. If the data continues to show a win bias in favor of the DS, this could be adjusted by placing stronger players in the FP positions. Most delightful of all, their could be 'bracketed' games similar to the Game of Champions where all players in the game have a similar rating and therefore a similar skill level. Two thirds of the games I've been in have been marred by excessive, premature drops. A rating system, or *SOME OTHER INCENTIVE TO REMAIN IN THE GAME* and play your best would help the neutrals, and increase the quality of the game. Anybody got any other ideas about how to create that kind of incentive? [Tom's note: this assumes that the people in question actually care about the ratings. While I thought the idea was creative, I'm one of those people who isn't worried in the slightest about how I rate against others. It's nice to win, sure, but I can't see much reason to amass large amounts of victory points if it compromises the fun I'm having. In the same vein, I don't see any reason to stay in a game where players are being unreasonably rude and obnoxious, or where one player simply refuses to drop out (and so drags the game on forever). But I can think of one way to keep people in - a non-refundable fee on the first 20 turns. Even if you drop, you don't get your money back. Tough luck. Hit 'em in the wallet to get their attention.] What Would J.R.R. Have Thought? by William "Rock" Chasko Would JRR have turned up his nose at ME-PBM, or would he have embraced it? I think his creative side would have been simultaneously tickled by the ingenuity of creating a 25-player game and horrified at the inevitable mechanistic quality of a 100% computer moderated game. Let me say up front: I LOVE ME-PBM! I plan to play it (and the rumored upcoming variant) for years to come. It is by far the best PBM game I've ever played! That said, let me now say that there is one quality of the game that beautifully recreates the atmosphere of the Trilogy: the epic confrontation between good and evil. I know players who refuse to play the DS as a matter of moral principle! They have read and re-read Tolkien and they *HATE* Sauron and all his works. They'd rather undergo a full IRS audit than play the Dog Lord (maybe that's going too far...). There are other players who revel in the in BADNESS they can express while playing the servants (BWAH, HA, HA, HA, ha, ha.......). The game reflects well the apocalyptic quality of the historic confrontations between the elves and Angmar found in the Silmarillion. But, in some other respects, great and small, the game falls short of Tolkien's vision. Being one who paid great attention to details, JRR would have appreciated an Arthedaini character named Argeleb II, but I think he would have taken exception to many omissions in the game. First, there are hardly any hobbits! I know, hobbits were few and far between in any age of Middle Earth, but hobbits figure so prominently in "The Hobbit" and the trilogy that at least one hobbit character (presumably an Arthedain) seems appropriate. Some fearsome relative of Bullroarer Took with ranks of 20/10/10/0 and maybe a 40 stealth? With wounds healing twice as fast as normal? Another omitted element which I would have greatly enjoyed would have been the inclusion of the great steeds of the trilogy: Shadowfax, Snowmane, Arod, Hasufeld - where are they? These legendary mounts could provide both combat and movement modifiers to characters. Where is the traditional elven-dwarven enmity? The only reflection of this I have ever heard of in the game is a comical tale of a lone dwarf following a Sindar company around for turn after turn, failing every time he issued JOIN COMPANY. And what about the enmity of dwarf for horse? Dwarven cav is not prohibited in the game; indeed, it must be formidable given the dwarven advantage of force march without penalty. [Tom's note: I have a tale of Dwarven-Elven emnity that you might like. In game 70, where I play the Dwarves, the Noldo have stolen a great deal of gold from me, as well as a pop center. In retaliation, I retook the stolen pop center and plan to waste at least one elf before I go down (this game is history for me). How's that for emnity?] What about the palantiri? In the game, palantiri give you nothing but "Scout Area". It's clear from the trilogy that they were once used for *COMMUNICATION* from one palantir site to another. It's also clear that late in the third age, with palantiri in the hands of Sauron and Saruman, the palantiri were dangerous to use and the information they gave was often ambiguous and not at all limited to facts about armies. But leaving all these relatively minor considerations behind, I think JRR would have been most miffed at the preponderance of military and economic factors in the game over character actions and encounters. Consider: what do you send your rank 50 mage into harm's way to obtain? Why a +2500 combat sword for your army commander, of course. To the best of my knowledge, not one of the 30+ games to have ended so far featured the One Ring [which raises a question of interest to me: what does anyone out there know about the roll of the One Ring in the game? Are there any *FACTUAL* stories?]. Rumors I hear suggest that the ring has only even been picked up once or twice, and the character who had the Ring could not hold on to it for more than one turn. The Ring has never once made it back to Barad Dur [any stories to the contrary out there?]. Despite the former potency of agent actions, and the nifty stuff mages can do, the focus of the game remains on the military action. Character action can be decisive in bringing down a nation, but usually it is the onslaught of armies which eliminates positions. How many positions have been wiped because they lost there last viable capital? How many have been eliminated because they went bankrupt? Now, how many have been eliminated because all of their characters were killed? Look at the focus of most of the "Mouth" articles dealing with opening moves for positions. They concentrate on military operations and how best to build your economy. Character actions are secondary. I think JRR would have preferred a game where the desperate actions of two lonely, tired, hungry hobbits could determine the outcome, and not somebody's 5,000 man ST/ST heavy cavalry army. Come to think of it, I might prefer that myself; but, I don't know - I like the game we got very awfully much... [Brian's comment - Some of Rock's comments are shrewd, let me add a few of my own. First of all, there wouldn't be me in me-pbm if there were no me in it (that's obfuscation that'd make even Bilbo proud!). There's nothing to keep the Arthedani player from naming a Marcho or Blanco (historical hobbits alive at the time of the 1650 game), but adding the stealth might be disruptive. Eriador is already tough enough for the Witch-King as it is. Elven-Dwarven emnity would be easy enough to reflect by adjusting at-start relations. You can improve them, but only through orders. It would seem to me that adjusting the at-start relations with all of the allies and adversaries a nation has would be reasonable. There are many "traditional" allies and adversaries that could have realtions affected in this way up or down. Start the game with the W-K friendly with the Dragon Lord and hated with Arthedain and Cardolan, for example.] Diplomacy in ME-PBM by William "Rock" Chasko I was intrigued by a comment in the "In your Ear" column of "Mouth" #5; I *think* the comment was made by our noble co-editor, Brian Mason, although it is not entirely clear. Anyway, in discussing the role of the neutrals, Brian (or somebody) said, "...Many players seem to take great joy in winning the game by getting all the neutrals on their side, RATHER THAN DOING SO THROUGH SKILL AND ACUMEN [emphasis mine]". I take exception to the implication that bribing, cajoling, threatening, or manipulating (my favorite) all five neutrals into your camp is not consummate SKILL AND ACUMEN. In a recent grudge game, we Dark Servants got all five neutrals to join our side by turn ten. We used a combination of diplomatic "methods". We coughed up a little gold, gave away a lot of very good information, and spent lots of real-world time on the phone and writing letters. We demonstrated our competence and cohesion. I did most of the diplomatic work. I had to convince Rhudaur and Dunland that the "unconventional" (incompetent?) WK opening moves were indeed evidence of a deep strategy unlike anything they'd ever seen before (<-- quite true!). I guess it worked. Rhudaur and the Duns went evil, and the WK currently sports the second highest point total (behind those pesky Haradans). The southern powers appreciated our gold, some dubious promises, and our early military successes. The Easterling player probably had The Single Most Awful 1st Turn In The Entire History of ME-PBM [<-- could that be the title of a new column for the Mouth?! The Most Awful Turn I Ever Had...]. His first turn result found FP armies landing on five of his northern pop centers, while the DS landed on four. We also sent him an ultimatum via 3x5 on the first turn, saying we would hold off attacking on turn 2, but that we had better see his army icons featuring the Evil Eye on our turn 2 maps. I'm glad to say he saw the light (Darkness?), went evil on turn 2, and has been razing reep op centers ever since...now, this game is in a most subtle and interesting phase, as we use our preponderance of resources to bring own the FP's while each DS jockeys to become one of the top three. I have also been thoroughly swindled, lead down the path, and ultimately defeated by other guys who were shrewder, better diplomats than me (THEY can tell you those stories...). I respect their diplo skills above anything tactical that they tried. The bottom line for me is that the greatest demonstration of skill and acumen in the game comes from diplomatic triumphs. Once the game mechanics are mastered (admittedly, a long learning curve...), applying them quickly becomes a matter of technique. I think the skillful use of diplomacy - both within one's own faction and with the neutrals - is probably the most important element of the game. The biggest fun for me comes in taking the measure of all the other players in the game (I'm not above dealing with the enemy, on occasion...) and convincing them to co-operate with me for the benefit of my side and - of course - my position. In Reply to Rock Chasko >From Tom Walton Well, Rock, I stand by my 'skill and acumen' comment. It's been my experience that 'diplomacy' often depends on how much time you're willing to spend on the phone. If you're very busy, like myself and many others that play ME-PBM, you simply don't have the extra hours to waste chatting. And frankly, I don't like dishing out yet more money for this game than I already do (in terms of outrageous long- distance bills). It hardly counts as diplomacy if you've more free time to spend on the game than others. As an aside, I just managed to convince a player to join my allegiance in one game through 3 x 5's. But my arguments weren't the determining factors in his decision; my trashing of both Gondors did much more to sway him to Sauron's foul clutches than anything I said. While I couldn't afford the time to talk to him for hours on the phone, I could go out and smash up the enemy as an example of what level of skill he could look forward to in his allies if he went evil. As for the mastering of the game mechanics, there's a big difference between knowing the rules and being able to implement them with brutal finesse. How many times have you seen a truly superior nation fall before a much weaker one, because the weaker nation was being run by a really good player? It's alot more difficult to pull that off than it is to bribe a neighboring neutral to join the campaign and overwhelm your foe, let me tell you. I take a special pride in doing that just because it can be so very, very tough (thus all the sweeter when it works). And to me, at least, *that* is a true demonstration of 'skill and acumen'. Drops, bankruptcies, and other defeats by William "Rock" Chasko Diplomacy, economics, military and character action are all essential aspects of effective, winning play in ME- PBM. But, the biggest one-turn boosts I have *EVER* seen in ME-PBM came as a result of drops, bankruptcies, and other position-eliminating events that happened to players on MY OWN SIDE. In a recent grudge game, at the urging of one of our strongest players, we accepted a young rookie on our team. Since he lived within easy driving distance of me, I became his mentor. I spent a lot of time coaching him and helping him with his turns. But, despite my repeated urgings, he continued to wait until the last minute to mail. He was getting "special serviced" 2 turns out of 3. Finally he called me one night and said he wanted to drop. He had enough $$ in his account to play two more turns, and said he wanted to help the team. Well, now, I can recognize an opportunity when I see one. I invested considerable telephone time on the phone planning his last two turns and making *CERTAIN* he mailed these turns promptly. As a result, I and my allies benefited from a large infusion of gold and other resources. All his (non-capital) pop centers and artifacts were smoothly handed off to other team members. His characters were moved to pop centers of other team members to facilitate bribing or to enable high skill rank characters of our positions to score easy challenge wins. In the same game (which we still seem to be winning, somehow...) one of our "veterans" got ahead of himself economically. I remember the miserable phone call when he told me that his calculations clearly showed that no matter what he did, he was going bankrupt THIS TURN! The rest of the team went into salvage mode and various team members scarfed up most of his assets. To put things in perspective, the loss of these two positions was very bad for the team. While we made the most of the situation - and several positions in our team were significantly strengthened as a result - there is no getting around the fact that we have lost 30-some orders per turn, per position. Had we not had significant early success both recruiting the neutrals and winning military victories combined with spasmodic and uneven play on the part of the opposition, this loss could have been fatal. It is far better to keep all of a team's positions alive if you possibly can; however, it is a rare ME-PBM player who will not experience the loss of positions on his own side. When these losses are imminent, regardless of the cause, the beleaguered player usually has at least one turn which can be dedicated to helping the other positions on his side. The other players in the game should do everything they can to convince the fading player, who will often be demoralized, to co-operate for the benefit of the allegiance. Snatch everything you can from the jaws of defeat - maybe even victory. My Experiences with GSI, Or "Customer Service in a Monopoly" by David Foreman This article is a direct result of comments made in the last couple of issues of the MOUTH. It was good to see that others have had philosophical problems with GSI... I have been playing ME-PBM since December of 1992. In all of that time, I have had MANY occasions to speak with GSI staff. I have had conversations with Bill, Harold, Stuart, and others. So what have I found? Details follow! Like many players, I had (and occasionally have) questions about game mechanics. In this area, GSI will divulge basic facts, but then fall back on 'it is not revealed to the players'. I've always wondered what the purpose of hiding things was. Isn't it enough to say 'plus a random factor' or 'character rank and relations with the target are used to determine a random range of 1-X that is added to the order roll' or some other similar statement? It seems to me that players should be told exactly what happens. Part of that 'happening' can be one or more probabilistic factors (1-100 random, 5-15 random,etc). Then some place else in the documentation the players can be told what type of randomizer is used so that they can understand the likelihood of a given order succeeding. Failure to describe the mechanics fully exacerbates the rookie vs veteran problem. Full disclosure would allow anyone with a basic knowledge of math to calculate a likelihood percentage for an order. NOT disclosing makes the rookie do stupid things to learn what the 'real' ranges are on an order, while the veteran succeeds because he/she doesn't bother to try an order until they will probably succeed. In the first 5 turns or so of the game this variance in knowledge can virtually turn the course of a game. Another problem with lack of disclosure is that of rumor. I will use myself as an example. I learned (in game 22) that emmies ALWAYS failed until they were 40+ when creating camps. I based my ALWAYS on 5 attempts. As a result, I wasted countless orders training emmies up to 40, which made me that much less successful as a nation leader. I didn't learn differently until game 104! Had I KNOWN the probability for a camp create, I would have recognized that my 0 for 5 was a statistical aberration and acted accordingly. Other examples exist. How many of us blamed all of our agent woes on the change of agent order difficulty? Who got mad when they changed the emissary order 500 difficulty? Bottom line, who of us haven't wondered in our heart of hearts what OTHER factors GSI has monkeyed with without saying anything to we poor customers? Many of these issues could be cleanly resolved by TELLING US WHAT IS GOING ON! Does a probability table make me less interested in playing an Avalon Hill game? Does KNOWING my probability of a successful hit on a MARK V Ogre make me less exited about playing a game of OGRE? Hell, I still play Yahtze on occasion, and THAT game is almost entirely probability! The point is that existing game mechanics have random factors built in. Knowing EXACTLY what those random and non-random factors are does not tell you if you will succeed, just the probability! And how about combat? Let's get real. Let's lay it all out. I KNOW that rookies are getting creamed because they don't understand how important tactic vs tactic is. I KNOW that people spend huge amounts of money on weapons upgrades, when they usually aren't worth the money. I KNOW that no one has any idea what total effect the weather has on combat. My team in game 133 just blew Dol Guldar. I did the math, and calculated that we would win ONLY if the loyalty there was less than 20%. According to the damage the attacking army took, it was higher than that. SOMETHING made our army offense better than usual. WHAT? I have no idea! [Tom's note: GSI stated to me that weather has no effect on combat. It's purely decorative.] It's not as if Bill doesn't KNOW. He is the programmer! As I understand it, most order success formulas are of the form: Total = rank - order difficulty + random(1-100) + modifiers If your total is 100 or more, the order succeeds. Then the resulting effectiveness is determined (how MUCH gold was stolen, if you failed, what happens, etc). A simple table added to the manual would take care of it. Tell us what the order difficulty is, and describe the modifiers IN NUMERIC TERMS. That would do it! Tom Peters (of management fame) says that companies keep secrets because they aren't proud of their methods. I have heard (from UK players) that Bill is only an average player. Could it be that he doesn't fully understand all the implications of his own product? Could be! * * * Then there is the simple issue of direct customer service. In this case, I will use my description of the difference between northerners and southerners. I am from Chicago, and live in Richmond Va, so I have a good perspective. In my view, northerners tell you EXACTLY what they think of you, then drop it. Southerners are very polite, and hold a grudge till the last horn blows. GSI is like a heavy duty southerner, they are polite, but tell you nothing! I have had many instances where I have made suggestions to GSI (Bill and otherwise) that I felt would enhance the game. In every case I was given an explanation of why it wouldn't work. Let me point out that I generally follow the negative response with another letter pointing out why LOGICALLY (ignoring the customer service aspects) I am right. Again, I am told it won't work. Sometimes these ideas are marketing concepts that would make GSI money if implemented. STILL... No dice. Let me quote a few: 1) Sell a full set of start up maps as printed in the turn 0 turns. Let's be real here. A nation could get the info with orders, so why can't they buy it on turn 0 to represent what the nation has been doing in the last few years? 2) Sell reduced size, non-annotated (terrain and roads only) B&W maps of all the regions on 8 1/2 by 11 paper. If sold on pads of 25, these maps could be used by players when they want to do strategic planning. Since they are expendable you could write all over them and save them for history. Reducing the big map by 50% you could get the better part of 1/4th of the map on a page. 3) Contract a company to manufacture stickers for pop centers and armies to fit on #2 above. 4) Email turn submissions should be AUTOMATICALLY responded to using a mailer facility so that the player knows the turn arrived. That is cheaper than having a player call and get Harold to look it up! 5) Many of the order changes that have appeared in the MOUTH have been ignored. 6) Order changes should be broadcast (advertised) three months in advance. This one REALLY made me mad in game 104. We built our game strategy on one set of agent heuristics. Right in the middle of the opening stratagem (turn 4!) our plan ran smack into the guard order getting a bit better and the other agent orders changing a bit. The game doesn't just belong to GSI. In part it belongs to all of the players. Changing the rules in the middle of a game is easier for GSI, but much harder for US! 7) The Steal Gold order should NOT allow multiple steals at a pop center to exceed the total (100%) taxes and gold production at a non-capital pop. For example, no more than 5,500 gold should be able to be stolen from a town with 500 gold production, even if 50 agents steal there. It makes no sense! 8) Armies should not be overrun on their own fortifications. (THEY CAN BE!) 9) Army commanders and characters at their own pop centers should be intrinsically guarded based on the level of character. Lets be real! An army commander is surrounded by an ARMY! The character in his own pop center should be given some credit for knowing the terrain and for staying in known places. This should especially be true of characters at the capital. If a nation knows that agents are about, they will have some implicit guarding going on don't you think? Characters in enemy pops are bare to the enemy's knife, and should be treated as such unless guarded EXPLICITLY. The list goes on. Thank's for the spleen vent. There are times when I feel that GSI acts a certain way BECAUSE I said not to. It's good to know I am not paranoid. In a recent note to me, Bill said 'I will take your comments as you meant them, as you used your usual frank method of stating your opinion'. Not exactly what I would say to a customer that has been with me for 18 months, provided a lot of feedback, and spent something like $1,200 on my products! Oh well. As my economics profs used to say, firms with a monopoly that are selling as much product as they can make have no motivation for customer service other than morality! Some day! [Tom's note: anyone know if GSI has an exclusive license from I.C.E.? If so, when does it run out?] Top Ten Rewards for Mouth Submissions By Darin Fitzpatrick 10. Boundless praise 9. Free one-year membership in the Bill Feild fan club 8. A nice thank-you note from Tom's boss 7. A lifetime 10% discount on all "Mouth of Sauron" merchandise 6. Some real cool dice 5. A terrific sense of personal satisfaction 4. A "Middle-earth is Hobbit-forming" T-shirt 3. Three outfielders to be named later 2. An autographed photograph (or photographed autograph) of Tom & Brian doing the "wave" And the Number One Reward for Mouth Submissions is: 1. A bit part in the upcoming film, "Tom and Brian's Excellent Adventure" I mentioned in my survey response that I would like to start a pun forum, a la Spider Robinson's Callahan series. (Brian told me to gopher it.) In the book, someone would pick a theme, and each participant would offer an appropriate pun. Whoever couldn't think of one dropped out, and the last person got drinks on the house. The example was, I believe, trees, which was quite poplar, although many players did have to leave. Many puns were en root, some of which kicked ash, and the subject really grove on you. Wood you agree? Our theme is given: Middle-earth. One could specialize in Dark Servants, certain areas, elves, or whatever. If anyone can help, please do. Prof. Tolkein himself provided this gem: "There are Ents, and there are things that look like Ents, but ain't." My first thrashings, using my homeland (Southern Gondor) as a basis: I've always found that you can count on the Corsairs when the ships are down. Since they went good right after Christmas, you might say they had a January white sail. Tracking down the Quiet Avenger was like a wraith against time. Of course, the Harad waith for no man, but he was soon tide up. Has anybody Sinda Elves? Methir, that's my bay-be. That shore was easy. Anduin fine, thank you. 5000 Gold to land on your island? I'd rather pay a Tolfalas! You know, if Adunaphel were cowardly, but had a sense of humor, she'd be a chicken sand witch on wry. ;) Fortunately, I live in Germany, so I am out of reach of most of your groans, curses, and fist-shakings. If anyone is so inspired, I suggest we use Eriador, which should provide enough material, what with Argeleb the Minute and the Witch-King (that king!) [Tom's note: I just had to inflict this on you all.] On the new information about ME-PBM 2950 by Darin Fitzpatrick I must first congratulate Brian and Tom for their astute judgement and keen insight into the affairs of Middle-earth. You guys made some very shrewd deductions and guesses. If it weren't for copyright laws I'd suggest you write your own game. New Nations Although the Elves declined throughout the third age, I think the addition of an Elven kingdom is well justified. Or rather, the exclusion of the third Elven kingdom in the 1640 game makes sense. The three-way split of the Kingdom of Arnor was perhaps the most interesting political development of this time, so it was certainly necessary to have Arthedain, Rhudaur, and Cardolan. I can't think of another Mannish nation that I would remove in order to have more Elves in 1640. In 2950, Men have declined as well. In fact, there are fewer people of all kinds (except orcs & trolls) throughout Middle-earth. The fact that the Elf-lords were the most powerful, knowledgeable individuals around justifies their role as nations, even if the total population of Elves was low. Another factor could be interest in the affairs of the world. Just as Hobbits were shut off from almost everything "important," Galadriel and Elrond were running the White Council to keep an eye out for Sauron and manage things in the world/ [Tom's note: remember, though, that in 1650 neither Rhudaur nor Cardolan existed. Both were destroyed about 200 years earlier in Angmar's last invasion (with the capper for Cardolan being the Great Plague). So, in actuality, GSI made some big changes to the 1650 game.] Regarding the Rangers of the North, I believe they must have had some significant numbers if they managed to keep all those orcs, trolls and wolves at bay. They certainly didn't populate any cities, but a large number of them must have been wandering about. If they didn't have a settlement at Fornost Erain, then they did at least visit there regularly, according to Gandalf. I would consider that those areas that they protected were part of their "Kingdom," even if the folk were not Rangers themselves. Aragorn (or even Halbarad) could probably have raised a significant number of Breelanders into some semblance of an army, if need pressed. According to the entry in "The Complete Guide to Middle-earth," (which I must have loaned out, since I can't find it, and I don't recall the author) the Corsairs were different people at different times. At first the term referred to those refugees from Numenor who settled in the far South, at Umbar. These "King's Men" are the Corsairs of 1640. Later, as Numenoreans everywhere mingled and declined, the Dunedain became less distinguishable from the Haradrim. Whoever ruled Umbar and harrassed Gondor on the seas were called Corsairs. The Corsairs of 2950 are therefore just as likely to be of Harad stock as Numenorean. Bill Feild says that the Haradrim were integrated into the Corsair culture, but it was really more the other way around. The King of the Harad, who bore the Black Serpent at the Fields of Pelennor, was clearly a Haradan, but so were the Corsairs slaughtered by Aragorn and the Dead in Pelargir. (Speaking of which, the Paths of the Dead were shut until the appointed time, not just until the right guy knocked on the door. Aragorn may be able to summon the Dead in 2950, but I'd have to be pretty desperate to try it.) To digress a bit more - it has always seemed odd to me that the Haradwaith is neutral. It has been giving tribute to Mordor for quite some time now and seems to back Sauron pretty strongly. But I wonder if Aragorn's travels there ("where the stars are strange") were an attempt to muster sympathy for Gondor and the Free Peoples. The role of the Nazgul as leaders of nations strikes me as contrary to history. The Witch-King ruled Angmar, but I don't recall anyone else setting up shop to such a degree. Dol Guldur was possibly ruled by a Nazgul at one point, but later Gandalf determined that Sauron himself was the shadow in Mirkwood. During the War of the Ring, the Nine were essentially a company on the lookout for the One Ring, and then captains on the field of battle. Before that time they were virtually unknown, at least to the Wise. Maybe as Sauron concentrated on the One Ring, the Nazgul had less independence and became more his puppets. At any rate, this is a good example of how playability takes precedence over historical accuracy. The Nazgul are such an obvious set of evil nations that it's hard to think of an alternative. To be really accurate, the evil side should consist of ONE nation, ruled by Sauron, with lots of characters, armies, and influence, essentially amalgamated out of the existing 10 nations. The split of Gondor into two nations is another deviation from history. I suppose that the Prince of Dol Amroth had a certain amount of independence, but the Stewards had authority over him. The division is mostly justifiable because it improves playability. At this time, almost everyone lived in some sort of fear and ignorance about anything outside his own lands. Gondor and the Rohirrim had false ideas about each other (Gondor even thought the Rohirrim sent horses to Mordor!) The Elves and Dwarves also mistrusted one another, to the point that Dwarves were banned from Lothlorien, and Thorin & Co. were imprisoned by Thranduil. Even the Northmen who traded with Thranduil's people didn't have much face-to-face contact, and they loved the idea of screwing them in trade (the full barrels of Thorin & Co.) Beorn welcomed no visitors, Saruman hoarded lore, and the Rohirrim barred all strangers from roaming their land without the leave of the King. I am going back and forth about the implementation of trust and information exchange within alliances. The question is, does ME-PBM accurately reflect this state of affairs? I think the mistrust is there, since each nation is trying to win, and actions against allies are not only possible but even popular. The misinformation, however, is quickly eliminated, as allies share data. Naturally the specific character actions are secret, but the sort of misconceptions and prejudices that are prevalent in Middle-earth just don't occur in the game. Or, maybe, they are simply shifted; so that instead of the Dwarves mistrusting the Elves, everybody mistrusts the guy who doesn't answer letters. The position of Saruman as Lord of Isengard is certainly accurate, and his neutrality reflects his selfish nature. I predict that this position will be the new Corsairs: the one that everyone wants. I guess that over 50% of the position requests will be for Saruman. For runner-up I pick the Rangers, since they're also new, and the Corsairs/Haradwaith, since they will still be able to swing the Mordor front. I would like more information about the various Dark Servant positions. Their history is muddled, so GSI has some free rein here. The Great Goblin of Goblin-Gate and the hordes from Gundabad (the capital of the orcs) are probably around, and Mirkwood will certainly have more Dark power. We may have to rely on the nation descriptions in the new rulebook for tips on who to play. Game Mechanics I am very glad to hear that nations will start out with fewer troops. In 1640, many positions have obvious and necessary moves right away. The situation in the Ithil Pass is a good example: Gondor and Mordor are going at it hammer and tongs as soon as they can march. I would much rather have the player decide what kind of game to play. This should, hopefully, lead to more balance, and the flexibility should make each and every nation desirable. Since certain positions in 1640 are notoriously hard to come by, and others are shunned, this should get people to try different roles and have a good chance of winning, no matter where they start. This can only be in GSI's interest, as games should get off the ground sooner, and the "dropped Woodmen" syndrome should be reduced. I also expect to devote a significant amount of time to exploration. Rather than rush out and overrun Gondor, it will make sense to send out characters to get artifacts, research stuff, explore ruins sites, try to get encounters, etc. This is always more fun, except if it spells early demise for your nation, which can easily happen in 1640. It will also lead to longer games, which is of course also in GSI's interest, but I think the flexibility and novelty will provide more than enough action. I hope that encounters will be more common. A look at the travels of Bilbo & Co. shows a large number of encounters, both perilous and interesting. Encounters could even start whole adventures, if GSI would allow it. Think of the dwarves holed up in the Misty Mountains pass, when a crack opens and goblins leap forth to drag them down into the pits. These characters could easily get a list of options each turn, limiting their choices but allowing them to "solve" the problem using their skills. I picture many commands being no longer available (i.e. MovChar, Recon, any Army stuff, etc.) until the characters escape. It doesn't sound like GSI has revamped the military system to any great degree, which is too bad. This is one point that seems to get a lot of complaints. The overemphasis on troop numbers does not accurately reflect either Middle-earth or real history. Some "names worth a thousand swords" swung many battles in Middle-earth, and well-trained, well-equipped Romans slaughtered huge numbers of barbarians. I will be disappointed if the only smart options are once again recruiting HI and HC. I predict that another trend from 1640 will be continued. The winning side will be determined more by which nations drop out than by the initial setup of the game. The loss of an ally is always significant, and those tenacious enough to hang in there will bring a definite advantage to their side. Especially in the new game, I hope that those who sign up will stick around. Data Collection I have already received one request (besides the one from Alan Ray in the Mouth #15) for an all-Internet group of 25 to join en masse and build encounter tables quickly. I heartily agree with Brian & Tom on this issue and have already decided to decline. My best gaming buddies (from years of MERP campaigns - just 3 of us) and I will sign up together. I will be glad to share info with my allies as it arises, and I will certainly ask if anyone knows what NOT to say to the Great Goblin, but I really hope for a bunch of new experiences, not simply a repetition of what someone else has done. As a general guideline, I will try to keep info within my game. It is possible that GSI has increased the randomness of encounters and artifacts. I can't see any reason for making these things constant from one game to the next, so if GSI doesn't like people amassing encounter data, why don't they just mix 'em up? Also, I think it would be more appropriate to have the right skill be the key, rather than the right response. I expect to find more variation than currently exists, which will help keep things balanced and defeat the purpose of the info societies. The result of all this reading and writing is that I now ache to get started on the new game. If anyone knows of anything (legal) that is more addictive, let me know so I can get in the business. (If GSI ever goes public, I'm buying.) I hope to see many of you in 2950, and I wonder what will happen when 14 game winner certificates are all cashed in for "Saruman." Yet more comments By Tom Walton On the Corsairs: the Corsairs were originally Numenoreans who settled in Umbar and conquered the Haradrim. They soon lost their kingdom with the fall of Numenor and were restricted to the bay itself. In fact, the Haradrim later returned the favor by annexing Umbar, the end result of which was a loss in the distinction between Numenorean and Haradrim. Later, the survivors of the Kin-Strife in Southern Gondor fled to Umbar and took it for their own. This re-established the Dunedain bloodlines in the region, with the Haradrim vassals as second-class citizens. Umbar under the Dunedain managed to take most of the coastal areas in Harondor, but never mounted a campaign of conquest against Greater Harad or Far Harad. In comparison to Harad, the peoples of Umbar were never very numerous, nor could they match the Harad in their native terrain of desert and scrub (or the jungles of the far south). By the time of the War of the Ring, the Dunedain had interbred with their Haradrim subjects so much that there was little distinction between the men of Umbar and the men of Harad. But - and here's the critical point - Umbar and Harad were not a single kingdom at this time. They may have been indistinguishable as peoples, but Umbar was very much a different nation from that which held sway in Greater/Far Harad (where the mumak and their riders came from). In the trilogy, the men which raided into the Ithilien with mumak were from the actual Haradrim kingdom, as were those that took to the field outside Minas Tirith. The men that landed at Pelargir were the Corsairs of Umbar, descendents of those that rule in 1640 (although they may have done so with Haradrim help). On the Nazgul: there are a number of notes from Tolkien which lead us to believe that the Nazgul ruled (in the sense that governors rule the provinces of their Emperor, not as kings rule kingdoms): - The Witch-King and Angmar; enough said. - All nine of the Nazgul were chosen specifically because they were powerful 'kings of men'. This implies that Sauron needed lieutenants that could rule in his name. Given the size of his empire and the scope of his plans, even he couldn't manage the whole ball of wax by himself (remember that 'most of Middle-Earth' was under the Shadow by the time of the War of the Ring). - The Nazgul are often referred to as 'preparing the way' for Sauron. An example: Sauron hung out in Dol Guldur until Mordor was reorganized by the Nazgul and Barad-dur rebuilt. The Nazgul couldn't have done this unless they had reconquered the orc tribes and organized them into a kingdom. - Nazgul are named as reigning in certain places. The Witch-King ruled in Minas Morgul; Khamul held sway in Dol Guldur after Sauron left. Two other Nazgul are mentioned as having organized the Variags/etc. in the East for the assault on Dale and Erebor. So, in some respects it does make sense to have the Nazgul head up nations in ME-PBM. They were Sauron's greatest servants, and preceded any major activity that he embarked on. My guess is that Sauron chose them specifically because they were so capable to begin with. Team Play by the Dark Side by Patrick McGehearty Perhaps I am foolish to think I have something to say about ME-PBM, since I have only played 5 turns. On the plus side, I have read most of the Mouth articles and listened to several current players talk about their successes and failures in other games. So, in response to the call for articles, I decided to put forth my ideas about Team Play and find out what others thought of them. I would especially be interested in hearing some strategic thinking from the Free People point of view. My basic thesis is that true team play by the Dark Side should give them significant advantages over the normal every nation for itself style of play. My assumption is that all ten players are primarily concerned with a team win, and willing to trust each other with full information and reliable debt payment at least into the middle game. In the opening moves, there are several critical activities that must occur for the Dark Side to emerge into the middle game with a strong position. Victory conditions should be ignored for at least the first ten turns. Keep a record of who provides what, but focus on what is needed for group success. First, the basic principles of character development and economy building must be followed for all players. Most of this has been covered in separate player articles. My personal preference is to lean towards extra emissaries. More emissaries means more camps/villages that give resources necessary to build armies. The Dark Side is woefully short of population centers, and with inferior armies, can't count on capturing more than they lose. Of course, more emissaries means fewer of other characters, so those other characters must be used to the utmost. Coordinated use of resources is also important for the Dark Side because of their weaker economies. Rather than buy from the market, they should transfer resources to each other. The Dog Lord and Long Rider can and should conjure as many mounts as possible. They will use some themselves, and can transfer extras to other front line nations such as the Dark Lieutants while those rich in leather can provide them the means to build Heavy Cavalry. In the early turns, since all Dark Side economies are negative, it is critical for each nation to raise 30,000gp in resource sales per turn. These should continue until every nation has 100,000gp in reserves. This approach will build cash reserves and prevent massive price deflation that some games have seen. It also means that your first few turns of recruiting will likely be Heavy Infantry without metal weapons or armor. But the payoff in flexibility and lack of panic selling is great in later turns. Information is critical. With all the Dark Side maps together, much information is available about the location and plans of the Free Peoples. Plotting everything on a master map can help a great deal in understanding the trends of the game, and observing targets of opportunity. Scouting for each other and exchanging rumors also makes a difference. The borders of Mordor must be guarded against superior armies. Coordination of major attacks is critical. Dribbling in several small armies on successive turns is much less effective than moving in a single mass all at once. This principle is especially important in the 3024-3124 battlefield. Having the Dog Lord or Long Rider keep a large cavalry force with an able commander north in Rhovanion can be distracting to the Free peoples. Such forces should avoid enemy armies when possible since their purpose is to capture population centers (threatening is better than capturing), and keep significant forces chasing them. Key assassinations of enemy commanders in the early turns should be especially effective, as few backup commanders are available in these moves. To maximize the likelyhood of success, the agent artifacts need to be placed with the best agents, without regard to which nation starts with which artifact. A 15 point agent artifact in the hands of a newer agent of the Cloud Lord (skill of 45 say) means that their assassination skill is at the 80 level, which should be good enough for most any Eothraim leader who is not guarded. That same artifact in the hands of a 35 point agent of (say) the Dog Lord only gives a skill level of 50, which is not likely to be successful. Transfer those agent artifacts to where they are most needed, without regard to nation. The Cloud Lord can steal enough to pay you back. Don't send the agents to the major battlefields as those will have backup commanders and guards. Go to the widely scattered armies that would otherwise tie down two or three of your armies trying to contain them. When you know the name of an enemy commander, an agent can move to their current location and Scout Army, follow to get in place for a kill the following turn. Giving aid to the Dragon Lord and Witch King to prevent their early elimination is also crucial. The Dragon Lord is especially vulnerable if the Free Peoples decide to concentrate forces on him. By turn 4, he should have an emissary in Mordor ready to receive a backup capital. A swap with the Long Rider of 3329 for 3822 works well. It gives the Long Rider a recruiting center for Cavalry while providing the Dragon Lord with a secure backup city. The Witch King is also a challenge. It is difficult to get armies that far north, so the Dark Side must rely on agents. Getting several good agents in the area has the potential to make significant differences. However, the Neutrals can play a large role in this area, just as they do in the far south. The Witch King may also need a backup capital in Mordor if both the Dunlending and Rhudar go for the Free Peoples. Similarly, if the Corsairs and Haradwaith both go for the Free Peoples, the Quiet Avenger is in trouble. The Easterlings also swing weight in the far southeast and northwest. Neutral negotiations are such an involved topic that I will omit it here and hope that someone will write an article giving experiences and details. I already mentioned that agent artifacts should be put in the hands of powerful agents, especially those of the Cloud Lord. There are many lost artifacts at the beginning of the game. Efforts to locate these should be started as early as possible. The exact characters doing the locating will vary, depending on initial spells, but by turn 3, there should be several Locate Artifact True spells cast each turn. With the new locate rules, I don't know what it will take to find the best artifacts, such as the Ring of Wind, but it won't hurt to put some mage artifacts on those doing the locating. Other characters should be out finding the artifacts, again without regard to nation. It is important to keep agent artifacts out of the hands of the Free Peoples, as their absence delays the need to guard your commanders by several turns. In all your plans, think long term. Assuming you have competent opponents, this game is one of attrition and economics. Strategic development can make all the difference if you don't let yourself get knocked out early. Finally, don't mess up your orders. One might think that obvious, but even experienced players have been known to get burned. A common error is making errors with map directions such as mixing up East and West. Another easy error is to put a percentage for Transport by Caravans (948) instead of the number of units. When the recepient sees 91 mounts instead of 1500, you may lose a battle because of this one. Finally don't miss your turns. If the mail is delayed and your most vulnerable position gets a Special Service, it can ruin your whole plan. How many of you were burned by the postal holiday for Nixon's funeral? I have touched on a range of topics, and omitted others. I welcome comments and criticisms, especially from those more experienced. N. Gondor strategy (or how game 101 was won in 20 turns) by Dave Holt First some background/caveats - although I am writing this article, I would like to give a HUGE amount of credit to the other members of the 101 FP team. Game 101 was won by the Freeps in just 20 turns, and was esentially decided by turn 8 or so. This was due to a large heaping dose of continuous teamwork. My team mates sent me gold, timber and armies to help defeat the DS. It was really a team game and was well worth it. Much of this article is based upon game 101, (the only time I've actually played N. Gondor) and upon game 52 (I played the Ice King and there learned an adversarial perspective to the position). In game 101, N. Gondor finsished in 5th place. As such, I can only give advice that worked to make the FP successful as a team. It didn't result in N. Gondor being in the "winner circle" of the top three. Basic Tenants of playing North Gondor: (also known as the N. Gondorian player's creed) 1. Recruit, recruit, RECRUIT!!! 2. Ignore Mages - in game 101, I eventually hired a mage around turn 18 or so. 3. Ignore Emissaries - in game 101, I eventually hired some emissaries after I had many different armies scurrying around in central Mordor. 4. Hire Commanders and Agents - fast and furious. Agents to gaurd Minas Anor and Osgiliath (bridges), and then to gaurd army commanders. 5. Be not discouraged at loss of characters to assassination/kidnapping - it comes with the territory. 6. Beg, Plead, Cajole, and otherwise convince your allies to send you money to support as many troops as you can pump into the Mordor theatre as fast as you can pump them into the Mordor theatre 7. Get the Harad (required) and Corsairs (nice) and Dunlendings (nice) to be allies or at least to remain neutral. 8. Ignore artifact placement (excepting palantirs), acquisition, etc. USE YOUR PALANTIRS. They're best left on commanders who're doing nothing but recruiting. 9. Focus on the Osgiliath/Minas Ithil/Barad Ungol pass. Let your team mates take up the slack on other fronts. Turn 0 Orders: 2119: DsbArmy movjoin 2927 3116: Recruit as many HC as possible with local resources MovArmy to 3120 2924: Namechar a 30pt agent Natsell food 100 2927: Recruit 500 HI Scry 3431 to see if Cloud Lord Cav are coming south route toward 3028 3124: movchar to 2924 nattran 2924 leather 100 3024: Recruit 400 HI Scry 3223 to see what IK and FK are up to 3028: Recruit 300 HI MovArmy to Osgiliath 2421: MovJoin 2924 NatTran 2924 mounts 100 Turn 0 Assumptions: - Sinda naval force moves to 3028 - Most S. Gondor naval forces move to Osgiliath - Many EO cav forces move to 3120 via different routes than 3116 NG force so that as many DS forces moving out from Mordor can be caught as possible - Duns stay neutral/friendly for a few turns Turn 1 - 5 Orders: recruit 500 HC per turn at Minas Anor (2924) recruit 500 HI per turn at Pelargir (2927) recruit 400 HI per turn at Osgiliath (3024) Every few turns move armies out of Osgiliath & Minas Anor up into the Minas Ithil pass to punch into Mordor (use SplArmy order) create 3 agents, 1 commander gaurd 2927 (beginning turn 2) with agent1 gaurd 2924 (beginning turn 3) with agent2 gaurd best surviving army commader (beginning turn 4) with agent3 Sinda takes out LR cav force at 3028 (if you're lucky) IssPers with your big army commanders against the puny FK and IK commanders. The Thinking: NG & SG can recruit a LOT more high quality troops a lot faster than the NW Mordor DS can. The QA is such a putz position that it is incapable of doing any lasting harm to SG, even if SG drains most of its armies away to fight at Osgiliath. Only an early DS declaration by the Corsairs or Harad can cause SG any hurt. As such, it is in the mutual interest of SG and NG to punch through the Minas Ithil pass and to take Barad Ungol as soon as possible. This opens up a LOT of possibilities. If Barad Ungol is controlled by NG, then FP troops can poor through the pass to take Bard Dur, the FK backup, DkL backup, and Dog Lord backup, as well as threaten the IK and Dog Lord capitals from the rear. The Ice King can be taken out very early on as well, either by combined EO and NG troops from the plains, or from troops coming up from Osgiliath. At any rate, if NG recruits 1500-1800 troops per turn and continues to march them into Mordor, there is little that the DS can do. As soon as it becomes apparant that NG is really pushing hard into Mordor, the DS will try (and they succeeded in 101) to blow the Osgiliath/Minas Anor bridge. This is a big hindrance to NG as it stops the flow of fresh troops into the pass, and can allow the DS to counterpunch and take back much lost territory. This is where teamwork comes in. NG should try to get his/her team mates to transfer the necessary 10k timber to Minas Anor so that the bridge can be rebuilt as soon as possible. We were able to have the bridge back in place (and gaurded!) within 2 turns of it being taken out. The DkL and DogLord have probably sent much of their forces out onto the plains to try to do as much damage to FP pop centers as possible as early as possible, thus they won't be around to defend Mordor. Usually, the FK and IK are left to do most of the defense of the pass, althought the CL cavalry may arrive at some point. If the CL cav force moves W to 3028 on turn 0, this presents a different problem, as his cav force combined with the LR cav force present a formidable and dangerous southern threat. I did not have to deal with this eventuality, and am greatful for it. Whenever possible, issue personal challenge against the FK and IK commanders if you've got a 20-30 point advantage. It's much cheaper to take out an army by getting rid of its commander, and they suprisingly don't rfspers nearly as often as they should. Game 101 NW Mordor capital capture summary: ------------------------------------------- Turn 6: 3224 Barad Ungol falls (FK) [NG] Turn 7: 3423 Barad Dur falls (DkL) [NG] Turn 9: 3426 Barad-wath falls (FK backup - he's out) [NG] Turn 13: 3122 Durthang falls (IK - he's out) [NG] Turn 14: 3221 Morannon falls (DoL) [Corsairs] Turn 19: 3624 Ostigurth falls (CL backup by this time) [NG] 3630 Kal Nargil falls (CL) [Harad] 3622 Minas Durlith falls (DkL) [Corsairs] [Brian's comment - I sent some long, rather elaborate descriptions of my play in game 131 to Dave after reading his beautiful strategy article. They are not going to be added as editorial asides within this article, as I don't want my specific plays (and associated weaknesses) in the public domain quite yet.] Speculations on player positions in the 2940 game: Lothlorien By Brian Mason First of all, let me state that this is probably the biggest jump off a cliff I've ever made with all of my me-pbm writing. Speculating on what a position will be like in a game might be the most fruitless task of which I can think. However, since of all the proposed positions in the new game, this one I want to play more than all the others, I'm strapping on the bungee cord. Speculations on population centers: Consider that we are taking what was one position, the Sinda Elves, and breaking it into two positions: the Elves of Northern Mirkwood and the Lothlorien Elves. Also, Edhellond is certainly gone as a population center although Rhubar seems to still exist. Within what could be considered the "sphere of influence" of Lothlorien we only have two population centers in the 1650 game. Although both are cities in the 1650 game it is possible that Cerin Amroth in only a major town in the 2940 game. It is likely that the other three hexes (2314, 2414, 2513) within Lothlorien proper will have population centers, possibly towns. While fortifications at the other four sites within Lothlorien is uncertain, Caras Galadon should be fortified with at least a fort. It is likely that all five of these population centers will begin the game hidden. So, allow me to summarize my guesses: 2413 Cerin Amroth Major Town Fort Hidden 2513 Town Tower Hidden 2314 Town Tower Hidden 2414 Town Tower Hidden 2514 Caras Galadon City Castle Hidden Capital With this as a start, Lothlorien has about 56% of the tax and 71% of the resource base of the Sinda position from the 1650 game. If we make Cerin Amroth a city, then both the tax and resource base are between 60 and 65 percent of the 1650 values. While their may be additional population centers outside these five Lothlorien hexes, these form an adequate core, already better tax wise than the Woodmen and all the Dark Servants (except the Witch-King) from the 1650 game. In characters we see the biggest shift. Gone are most of the characters, many of them still in Thranduil's realm, some of them, namely Amroth and Nimrodel, no longer in Middle-earth at all. Taurnil should still be a character of the Lorien Elves, but the most significant addition is that of Celeborn, and possibly the best player character in the 2940 game, Galadriel. Listed below are a possible string of characters, as well as possible guesses as to their abilities. Note the following things: first, there are two groups, a mostly likely group of eight and an additional list of five. I consider the first group the most likely slate of characters, however, an additional group of five is also provided as other possible chracters. Also, note that Galadriel has the slighlty higher "Noldo" stealth rank. Name co ag em ma st ============== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== Aegnor 10 70 20 Arvaire 40 20 Carihir 40 10 20 Celeborn 60 10 20 20 Fanar 60 20 Galadriel 20 20 70 100 25 Haldir 30 10 20 Taurnil 40 10 10 20 Turlinde 10 10 10 10 20 Aldan 50 20 Carihir 40 10 20 Ivren 30 20 Orophin 30 20 Rumil 30 20 If we take the starting group of eight as the characters, this represents 128% of the 1650 game Sinda character strength. While this seems huge, it is still less than the projected Rivendell/Mithlond character points, and considering the two significant character additions, is not much of a surprise. Artifacts should also be improved. Adding Galadriel as a character means that you will probably get the following artifacts from the 1650 game: Nenya + 50 mage artifact, hiding pop centers? Mirror of Galadriel + 40 mage artifact, scrying Tintelpe +1750 combat artifact There is also the possibility of the following additional artifacts: Robes of Aman + 30 stealth The Elessar + 30 mage artifact The most likely starting army commanders are Celeborn and Fanar, most likely at Cerin Amroth and Caras Galadon. The exact troop number and strength are difficult to determine. Directly comparing them to 1650 stats leads one to believe that there would be 2500 archers (60/0) and 300 heavy infantry (60/60). This would be 82/62 % of the offensive/defensive strength of the Sinda from the 1650 game. Taking all of these factors into account, and assuming a starting tax rate of 40% we get the following economic position: Armies/Navies: 6200 Pop Centers: 4000 Characters: 13400 Total: 23600 Current Tax Rate: 40% Revenue expected next turn: 14000 (-9600) I find this deficit inconsistent with the discussed plan to have the 2950 game more slow to develop. In that case, I was under the impression that all player positions would have more time to develop into play. The problem can be corrected by one or, more likely, a combination of the following: 1. add more population centers. The problem here is where. While, originally Lothloren extended to Limlight, so it is possible that population centers might be in hexes 2315, 2415, 2515, and 2516. However, these will be small (no larger than towns) and not hidden. 2. make characters less dominating. This is possible, but anything more than a 25% or so reduction in forces would be unrealistic. 3. make the armies smaller. While this is possible, (up to two-thirds could be realistically be retired) this alone cannot make up the revenue shortfall. Last Word Alas, I don't have my game 97 turn so I can't tell you what other harm has been inflicted on the Dark Servants by the vengeful Corsairs and their allies. But I can tell you this: the Death Star scenario in Xwing is fairly tough, especially if you've a tendency to slam into the floor, walls, or other annoying obstacles whilst speeding down the trench. Forget the Force, give me a good autopilot instead; hell, even an altimeter would help.... I've not much to say, other than Brian and I were jumping with joy over all the submissions. Yes indeedy, the Valar were kind! Had we been close enough to drive to each other, we might actually have done the 'wave' and digitalized it for you. Now if only this endless bounty will last! (insert appropriate prayers and supplications here) Happy Friday the 13th, one and all! Hope your games are going well (unless you happen to be fighting one of the editors, in which case I wish you all sorts of nasty luck). Oh, and if you see a new agent wandering about named 'Jason', you can guess at who's sick humor is running wild.... Tom