From the Mouth of Sauron Issue: E-20 Date: 05-20-94 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 Let me start by crowing over the surprise attack I just made against the Easterlings in game 97. Big cav armies running rampant around Khand, burning stuff on the way to Mordor - and no effective opposition in sight. Blind Sorcerer and Cloud Lord, your doom approaches.... But even more importantly, I just got the registered version of Doom, a computer game. If you like computer games, this is the ultimate - truly incredible. If not, then take a look at it anyway; the graphics are beyond belief for a non-CD-ROM package. For you programmers, the frame rate on a good system is about as fast as that for a TV movie - involving complex detail, a 3-D view, and moving objects. I didn't think this was possible using a regular hard-drive at 33 megahertz. But what stirring news do we have on ME-PBM? Well, aside from all of the fun stuff that normally comes with the Mouth, I got a note from Bill which said that the new game would start in 30-90 days. The implication was sooner than later for those of you who're dying to begin trouncing your enemies in 2940. Get those free setups ready, gentlemen, D-Day approaches.... Tom Dragons Turukulon: no new info, but I found out that Keith Petersen was my mysterious benefactor last issue. Thanks Keith, this Alzheimer's thing really makes life difficult sometimes.... Encounters Ents: Eric Ker and Keith Petersen, along with a couple of others who's names I can't remember, have reported what appears to be two distinct Ent encounters. One is Huorns and Ents, another is Treebeard and ents. The first seems to be a straight army add (like Eagles), the second an army add plus the addition of a character (Treebeard, who's like any other NPC). The information is sketchy, since no one's challenged or located Treebeard to see if he stands out in the same way that Saruman, Gandalf, etc. do (so far as I know). Saruman: Holger Eichmann reports that Saruman attacked and disbanded one of his Eothraim armies(!). I saw a copy of his report, and it clearly identifies the fact that the computer knew he was Eothraim. Does anyone else have a similar story of Saruman attacking a Free army? I thought this was impossible; it was my impression that he only trashed neutrals and Dark Servants in the 1650 game. Any info would be appreciated. Other Notes >From Brett Bakke G.S.I. denies that, when attempting agent actions, stealth works as a random addition from 1 to XX, where XX is a character's stealth ranking. They seem to suggest it adds straight on completely. This is not consistent with the Mouth's info, as I (perhaps incorrectly) recall. [Tom's note: thanks for relaying this, Brett. Still, I wonder if stealth is a direct add; my stealth-enhanced agents seem to vary much more in mission success/failure rates than my non-stealth agents. Anyone have any ideas?] >From Sam Freeman Comments on Sinda: Disbanding Sinda army in south is good idea, but ships should first be handed off to one of the Gondors, or used as a recruiting offer for Harad or Corsairs. Other possibility: (mentioned in article on NG winning strategy) move it to 3028 to fight the LR cav -- an almost sure loss, but will damage LR force significantly. Or you could challenge the LR commander -- either killing him (no refusal) or making him stay put one turn until NG or SG show up to wax him. Comments on Drops, Bankruptcies, etc.: As I learned from some astute comments on rec.games.pbm, bankruptcy can most often be avoided. If a player discovers that s/he will go bankrupt this turn no matter what, s/he can call GSI and take their nation off special service (so no maintenance is paid). S/he doesn't send in orders, but allies transfer gold to him/her anyway. You lose a turn, but you stay in the game. Of course, this won't work if an enemy army is about to take you capital anyway. Comments on David Foreman's experiences with GSI: I whole-heartedly agree with all of his ideas for improving customer service from GSI, especially the one about an automatic response to e-mail turns. When I worked for HP, their internal electronic communication system (HPDESK) allowed me to send a message, let me know if the person received it, and even let me know if the person read the thing! I know this much can't be done with normal e-mail (as far as I know), but you would think that the employees of GSI would have enough computer and programming experience in order to do something like an automated response to e-mail. Comments about speculation on 2940 game: I am just as excited about the new game as anyone else, and I applaud your decision not to publish any info on the new game for at least a year or so. However, I think you are starting down that very road (especially since they have turned out to be somewhat accurate). It is nice for all of us (or should I say the few of us who subscribe to the Mouth) to know all the nations in the new game, but this is markedly different than sharing informed guesses about where pop centers are, or what characters may be operative, or what artifacts to start looking for. If you want the 2940 game to hold it's newness and mystery for a while, I suggest you hold off on further speculation. [Tom's reply: from our point of view, there's a big difference between speculation and trading data. We trade data on the 1650 game regularly, especially in the 'Encounters' and 'Dragons' section. We also hand out a file to anyone who asks, giving them all the info on the setups, nation advantages, riddles, artifacts, etc. This isn't speculation, it's stuff that's direct from the game. There's little, if any, guesswork involved here. As far as the 2940 game goes, we take what little information is available in the trilogy and I.C.E.'s products and make a wild guess on what the game might be like. The guesses are little more than shots in the dark, especially since GSI will have to warp history somewhat to get a balanced game. Anyone with access to the trilogy and I.C.E.'s modules can do the same thing that we do, although the conclusions they come to could be very different. All it takes is a bit of time and a willingness to collate what little one can find on the nations. With our articles, we're trying to give the reader some general idea of what he/she might expect in the new game - a 'primer', if you will, of Middle-Earth history, turned into game format. Again, much of the stuff is no doubt wrong, but the idea here isn't to pin down the specifics of the 2940 game (which is impossible) - it's just to let you know what, in general, MIGHT be a possible way to set up the nation. You could do the exact same thing (and many probably are), just so you don't get blindsided by those with a better sense of ME history. Hell, I can't even pin down the location of Edoras because of the inconsistency of scale in the ME-PBM map. And we aren't even going to attempt the Dark Servants, because the info on them during this period is virtually nonexistent. I don't think you have to worry much about is getting much of the setup info right.] [Brian's reply: I initially had the same trepedation starting this that Sam has expressed. However, probably better than you readers do, I know my own limitations in guesswork, and know exactly how seriously to take any of my work. Any person who takes what we say here as near-canonical is in for some rude awakenings. We're just not that good.] Question about e-mailing turns: Does anyone know what computers/programs GSI uses to read our e-mail orders? When I read The Mouth on a UNIX workstation (HP or Sun), all the tables appear perfectly, whether they were created using tabs or spaces. But if I ftp The Mouth to a Mac or IBM and read it on a word processor (MS Word), the tables are always out of whack, no matter if they have tabs or spaces. The first time I e-mailed my orders, I used a text editor in UNIX, and I used tabs to space out the two orders for each character. Before I sent it off the GSI, I tried viewing it in every text editor available on UNIX (looked fine on all), and I also viewed it on MS Word (out of whack due to tabs). I sent it off to GSI and got a note with my next turn results that said basically that my orders were not in the correct format. The next time I used spaces instead of tabs in order to line up the 'required info' under the orders. Again, it looked fine on text editors, but terrible on MS Word. However, I got no response from GSI, so I assume it was more readable for them. Anyone else have similar problems with e-mailing? [Tom's note: I had the same problem with email to GSI. I drew up my turn in ASCII text using spacing instead of tabs, in the expectation that GSI wouldn't be pulling the document into a word processor. Apparently, the columns were all out of whack when they took a look at it, since I got a note telling me to use the standard turn format in the future. No can do if I don't know what they're using to read the sucker in the first place.] [Brian's note: I've also had no problems with emailing of turns on the rare occasions when I use this option. I format mine on a UNIX machine like the turnsheet, and have yet to receive any nasty notes.] Corrections to the info files: Thranduil (Sinda) is 30 Emissary, no 30 Agent. Cargash (1806 WK) has a fort, not a tower. Carach Angren (3222 CL) has a fort. Ovatharac (East.) is at 4335, not 4435. Eothraim army at 3819, not 2819. All Eothraim armies have 900 HC, 300LC, except 3217 which has 600 HC, 600 LC. Gisulf (Eothraim) has 10 Emissary. [Tom's note: much of this info is right in my data files, but maybe you have an old one?] [Brian's note: All these errors were in my copy of the general info files. They have been corrected. Anyone wishing a new copy of the general info files, fire me an email. Complaints to /dev/null.] Info on MT recon reports: MT with 52 loyalty did NOT get report. Question about recruiting characters from an eliminated nation: Is there a rule of thumb for how much gold one needs to offer? Would it be cheaper to recruit a 30 Emissary or to name a new one? [Tom's note: it's been my experience that it's always cheaper to recruit than to name, but much depends on the skill of the emissary doing the recruiting. The more skillful you are, the less gold is required. Also, there're some characters (e.g., Murazor) that you just can't put a price on.] Comments on Long Rider strategy: It seems to be a common tactic for the LR to destroy his harbor at Tol Buruth (4125) early on, if not on turn 1. This keeps the Northmen and Sinda from entering the hex with their navies. The LR can still keep his navy there and use it at will. The Sinda navy may sail up the river, abandon ships, and move the troops into the Mirkwood fray. The Northmen may be using their navy for other purposes once they realize that Tol Buruth is unassailable. So the LR could wait a few turns until the opposing navies are either busy or away and then use that opportunity to strike. The navy could be used to reinforce a pop center that the cav army took, or it could be used to strike up the river if it is known that the Northmen navy is in the southern Rhun area. However, since the harbor is blown at Tol Buruth, this can be a one time strike only. Comments on Northmen/Long Rider strategies: You made a good point that LR agents in the Northmen capital can make life miserable for the Northmen. I wonder if it would be a good idea for the Northmen to move their capital to Esgaroth on turn one. They have the money at start to afford this. Although it is expensive, consider the money it costs to replace assassinated characters. Also, if the Northmen can't change taxes or name emissaries, their economy will be hurting soon enough. Even NatSells become risky ventures if the LR agents have their way. All in all, it seems more cost effective to move the capital and let the LR agents flail around in Shrel-kain for a while. What do others think? Comments on Eothraim strategy: This depends a lot on whether it's a individual game or a grudge game. In an individual game, I would send two of the cav forces (3819 and 3715) east to try to cut off the LR cav as it heads north, or, if you miss this army, continue on around into the backside of Mordor. If you cut off the LR cav, you have enough to destroy it; that makes life much easier for the Northmen (and they will hopefully help you in return). If you miss the LR cav, go for the Dragon Lord MT/tower at 3822. Then keep moving and burning pop centers in Mordor. This is pretty much what Brian said in his original strategy article, but if you plan the movement carefully with the 3819 and 3715 armies, you can have a very good chance of meeting the LR OR ending the turn on the edge of the map OFF the LR map (surprise, surprise!). Your other three armies should try to meet at 3120. Hopefully, you will meet up with either the Dog Lord or the Dark Lts., but not both (remember, I am talking individual games here, so they probably won't be coordinated on turn 1). Combine these forces and take 3120 if possible, but one or two armies of 100 LC need to go back and start recruiting. Brian recommended sending only two groups here, but I think he was using the erroneous info from the set-up file (see corrections above). The 3217 group has significant strength and can be useful in defeating the DL or DkLt forces. In a grudge game, I would do it slightly differently. Send only one army east and combine with the Northmen cav to catch the LR cav. You will need four armies at 3120 if the DL and DkLt are coordinating their plans. You might also enlist the NG cav to help here. If you meet their forces, you can probably crush them. If you make it to 3120 without encountering them, move on to the IK capital. In any case, the big problem with the Eothraim starting position is getting decent commanders to the capital to raise taxes, name characters, and change relations. >From Keith Petersen I think GAD has the right idea. If GSI is at fault for not moving an army, then they ought to move it and tell the approp. people (anyone the army appeared on formerly, and then later) Regarding Rich Eisenman's observations on agent orders and guards. Those of us familiar with ICE (and I don't think he is) probably have a different view (and prob. more accurate) of how the game works. I *assume* that success/failure is based on a comparison roll of the two people based on percentile dice. Hence, the guard can roll very high (and if 96%+ he rolls again) or the agent can low very low. Basicly, the agent in his scenario has a 12-20 pt margin, but it isn't foolproof. (For anyone not certain what I'm talking about still, see the explanation in the book regarding challenges) GSI *may* also add/subtract the skill of the guard again in case of critical failure-success, which would be in line with what Rich was talking about. [Tom's note: an earlier analysis of the data seems to indicate that the algorithm in ME-PBM for skill success/failure rates mimics the I.C.E. die rolls that Keith is talking about above.] >From Darin Fitzpatrick RE: Agent Orders From my limited experience with "Hard" agent orders, I have found that Steal Artifact seems to be the easiest, and Assassinate, Kidnap, and Sabotage Fortifications are toward the upper end of the scale. Can anyone confirm, deny, or fill in the gaps in this data? Also, I recently had a hostage escape before I could imprison him. According to the Sequence of Events, hostage escape attempts come after agent orders. I understood this to mean that they have something like a 699 "order number." Guard Character is supposed to prevent escapes, so the attempts should come after 610, but they clearly come before 645 (Imprsn.) I've also heard of hostages escaping on the same turn they were taken, but I don't know if they were captured in battle, by guards, or by kidnapping. Any help on this issue? [Tom's note: GSI has confirmed that hostages actually get a chance to escape BEFORE executions/imprisonment, rather than after as indicated on the turn sequence chart.] RE: Nazgul Nations Tom is, of course, right on this one. I completely forgot about those "Kings of Men" and "preparing the way" references. The nine Rings were only offered to Men who were already quite powerful, both personally and politically. >From Brian Lowery (our esteemed Witch-King foe in game 97) Regarding meeting players: I'm currently in five games and sorting out who is playing what anymore is getting difficult; but I can now identify most of the players I'm involved with just from hearing their voice. Although I've never met most of you have know some of you for as long as a year. Meeting Brian in Georgia last month was the second time I've actually met a player that I had only communicated with by phone or email. In both cases it was a great time and I would also encourage it when possible. Standouts for me in the last n issues I just plowed through: 1) New game. Sounds great have we got any better idea on when. Summer 94 was mentiond. Can we sign up now? [Tom's note: I don't think sign-ups are open yet, but will be announced soon as indicated in 'First Word'.] 2) Player rating system: I like this idea. If this could be used to match players of similar abilities it would be great. I agree with Tom about victory conditions not meaning much in comparison to a fun and challenging game. But these points in combination with some of the other things mentioned might work. 3) Dragons: As Brian Mason is aware I have used the dragon lists fairly effectly in game #97. But still many unknowns still exists regarding offering gold. Niminaur: Offer 10,000 recruits for Dark Servants. He does not take gold. [Tom's note: my info says he does take gold. Maybe only from certain DS nations or characters?] Barainax: Offer 100,000 recruits for DS. Does he take the money? Has anyone seen or had dragons in more than one army of the same nation? Which army will a dragon go to. Looks like they go to the army with the biggest character all catagorys and artifacts included. Still unsure on this one. 4) Neutrals and Diplomacy (Another example): I am playing the Easterling in game 143. I Found out via a card I received from the Witch King on turn 0 that I was in a grudge game. Based on this I decided to declare my intentions early rather than waiting around for the game to be decided by others. I contacted both the Dark Servants and Free Peoples on turn 0 and declared my intentions. Requirements: Dark Servants: Requested 20 point emissary artifact (Turned out to be 15-fine), location of Staff of Earthmastry. Free People: 50,000 Gold and Major Town. In addition I offered to give one of the Gondors 4228 Mtown in exchange for a town allowing to recruit troops in Mordors back door. Thought both the above were cheap but we all have different ideas on the value of Neutrals. My responses to my suprise were slow. The Dark Servants claimed they were interested but it was hard to pin them down on how and when this would happen. The Free People communication became much more active and this was a major plus as player communication is a big factor in this game. After much correspondance with the FP after receiving turn 1 results I got email from the Northmen asking me when the FP should start transferring gold. I responded right away. My response did not come until I received turn 2 results. At that time the Eothraim and Dwarvs were on four of my pop centers - Hmmmm. Needless to say the Easterlings are now with the Dark Servants. They have since given me the Emissary artifact I requested even though my hand was forced. After I received turn 2 results I phoned the Northmen he sounded a bit disapointed about what had been decided and mentioned that between him and the Cardolan they had acounted for most of the gold requirement. He also said my request offended a few of their players (my guess I offended the Dwarfs and Eothraim). [Tom's note: I could make some comments here concerning my Corsair nation in game 97, but I'll refrain....] GSI "on-line": Talked with Bill Fields within days after their compuserve announcment. At that time the written notifaction had no indication of any charges. I questioned Bill about this at the time he said maybe a buck? Anyway from the conversation it all seemed a bit premature. A week later a teamate in game #97 tried to use this method an got a special service turn. Also at that time I suggested an automated confirmation of turns being received. BIll seemed to feel this was not a good idea. I also tried to explain that I hated to bother them by phone about a turn being received or not and this could eliminate that work for them.... Based on this I trust this less than the current method this plus the excessive charge have kept me using the postal service. Since then I have thought a bit more about this. Most of us on internet/compuserve have pondered the idea of all email access players in a game. What if an all electronic game was put together and turns were submitted via email processed automatically and emailed back. A turn could still be required two weeks after the last game turn had run but each turn could be process when all the turns had been subbmited. If this was perfected GSI could actually lower its turn fees make more money and make the game move a bit faster as servaral turns could actually be run a month vs the current 2. Strategy & Tactics: The Easterlings >From Brian Mason The position of the Easterlings is difficult and challenging, but to get things rolling, lets once more start with an analysis of general information. Basic Data How do the Easterlings compare to other nations? At the start of the game they ank as follows (Allegiance Comparison Tables, Tom Walton, "The Mouth," #3): item for comparison among all among Neutrals =================== ============== ============== Total Tax Base tied for 6th 3rd Resource Base 7th 2nd Combat Strength 5th 1st Character points tied for 20th 3rd Artifacts 19th 3rd The Easterlings have pretty good production, especially in the resources to make more cavalry. Expected production (Population Center Development, Brian Mason, The Mouth," #2) which has not been adjusted for climate for the Easterlings would be as follows: material le br st mi fo ti mo go =========== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== production 1895 122 103 5540 241 448 1863 Choosing Alliances and the Consequences found therein Because of the spread out nature of the Easterling population centers, the Easterling player faces the prospect of losing many of his population centers when he opts for one alliance or the other. Most of the population centers are in the south, in the back yard of the Cloud Lord and the Blind Sorcerer; however, the table below will indicate some of the problems faced by the Easterlings player. The first column gives the hex location, the second the size of the population center, the third what fortifications are present (if any), the fourth column identifies whether or not it appears on your player map, the fifth lists who else can see the location on their map while the last lists to whom the population center is initially most vulnerable. LOC SIZE FORT MAP? WHOSE? VULNERABLE ========= ============== ========= ==== ========= ========== 3538 town none off none 17, 21 3220 camp none off lots! lots! 3713 town none off 2,3 2,3 4228 major town none on 15 14,15,19 4430 town none off none ??? 3605 town none off 2 2,8 4318 town none off 19 2,3,19 4335 town none on none ??? 4014 town tower off 2 2,3,8,19 4133 city castle on 14,15 14,15,19 3319 town none off lots! lots! This, then, identifies the big problems with the Easterlings. An abundance of unfortified population centers and the inability to determine (without effective reports from allies or potential allies) whether or not they are at risk. Joining the Dark Servants would mean possibly surrendering three towns (3713, 3605, and 4014) as undefendable. With two other towns and a camp (4014, 3220 and 3319) in a very debateable area. Joining the Free Peoples the prospects are even worse with your major town and city within striking distance of the armies of the Cloud Lord, Blind Sorcerer and Long Rider. Add to this the unwholesome prospect of having your captial within one turns march of the agents of the Cloud Lord and you have a perilous position in which to be. So, then what is an Easterling player to do? You have an effective military to conduct offensives early, however, your economy is such in the early game that you do not need to tip your hand but can wait and negotiate with both sides. I will freely admit being stymied by this position. There does not appear to be any clear set of "best" moves to take, whether you are planning for a fast strike against one side or the other. Faced with this, let me make a few observations and cut this S&T article rather short: 1. The series of rough hexes (4429, 4330, 4431, 4332, 4433, 4334) on the south of your eastern edge are off everybody elses map. These would make good places to place camps. They will produce some of the resources you need most (metals for armor and timber for fortifications). Also, consider defensive placement of camps. Putting them in places from where you could be vulnerable in the later stages of the game. For example, the rough hexes to the east off your map and especially those along the road to the south. 2. Due to your probable production of leather, mounts, and food, you are one of the few positions which is likely to be able to recruit heavy cavalry every turn from turn one. Take advantage of this. 3. In line with this, consider junking the two starting infantry armies or moving them to your major town to offer some defense until you can afford fortifications. In all events, get rid of the men-at-arms. They are a waste. 4. You start the game with a pretty good crop of mages. Keep them training and grouping them for key offensive or defensive spell actions at the right battle can surprise an unsuspecting foe. 5. Your town at 3538 could be a key to letting you know of impending invasions of the Corsairs or Quiet Avenger if one, it had fortifications to slow somebody down, and two, if it were a major town or city and provided you with recons. Both of these would be good options. 6. Talk tough, but take less. A strong stance will keep many alligned nations off your population centers in the early game, but if you are negotiating later do not negotiate to tough (especially with the Dark Servants). They might give you the 10000 timber now, and plan on taking out you with agent action in the end game. 7. Because of your low level of fortifications raising taxes too high is inadvisable. Take it to 55% or so, but not much higher. Use the excess to name emissaries and create population centers (and then improve them) in the aforementioned hexes. Improve your tax base so that when (not if) you start losing population centers when you join an alliance you will have this additional tax base to cover the loss. 8. Keep the resources at the right spots to recruit your heavy cavalry, but don't recruit it until you are ready. They are simply too expensive to graze for ten turns while you decide which alliance to join. 9. Finally, for those, like me, who strive for the greatest degree of 'historical accuracy' I offer the following culled from the pages of "The Silmarillion." If you decide to go Free, Easterling names include: Bor, Borlad, Borlach, and Borthand, while Dark Servant Easterlings might opt for: Ulfang the Black, Ulfast, Ulwarth, and Uldor the Accursed (see "The Silmarillion," 157-193). >From Tom Walton I've played the Easterlings once. The game was so unusual in terms of in-fighting that I'm sure my experiences with the nation were anything but normal (more Dark Servant characters were killed by other Dark Servants than by Free Peoples). By the time I left, I was allied with one Dark Servant, friendly with a team of three Free Peoples, and at war with two other Free Peoples and three Dark Servants. Sounds confusing? Try playing under those conditions; it's enough to give one headaches (I ended up transferring my nation to the Fire King and boosting him to first place - let HIM deal with the weirdness!). The point here is that my suggestions for the Easterlings are based upon some strategy that might not work in a normal game (not to mention a healthy dose of paranoia). Indeed, what I did might very well be disastrous in a game where everyone isn't slitting the throat of a nearby team-mate in an attempt to take first place. As always, buyer beware. At the Start At the start of the game, the Easterlings are fortunate enough to possess one of the most effective military forces around - lots of cav positioned on the most perfect terrain one could hope for (plains and roads). In fact, of all the neutrals only Rhudaur is better able to immediately join the fray on turn 1. An Easterling so tempted to get into the action immediately could do so, but I'd recommend against it. Regardless of the target, the starting armies of both sides are large enough to trounce the Easterlings and do some serious damage to his pop centers besides. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to jump in while the enemy's fresh, when you could wait a half-dozen turns and mop up what's left following the climactic battles in the Ithilien and Rhovanion. Playing the waiting game can be most beneficial to Easterling interests at this point. The major weakness of the position is the placement and quality of it's pop centers. First, they're spread out across half the map, with many in hotly-contested regions. Second, most aren't fortified worth a damn, so even a small army could capture or destroy them without working up a sweat. Should either allegiance take it into their heads to do the Easterlings some damage, it wouldn't be too hard to accomplish. So, how do you fend off the avaricious allegiances, both of which (rightly) eye you askance and lust after your towns? Much as I hate to say it, diplomacy is the key at the start. Not much, thankfully, but if you wish to remain intact you need to convince your neighbors that you mean them no harm at the opening of the game. Talk sweetly, at least until the bloated corpses of their troops are rotting in the hot southern sun outside of Mordor. Forget the big stick for now. The Military Having one of the best military forces around is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because it makes potential enemies think twice about ticking you off; a curse, because of the detrimental effect it has on your treasury. I suggest a rapid build-up for the Easterlings. As Brian said, the Easterlings are in a good position to begin recruiting more heavy cav right away. Here's a sample opening: - disband all of the infantry in the south. It takes too long to march them up the road and get them into action. Also disband the light troops in the north. - begin recruiting heavy cav at the capitol immediately. - begin recruiting 300 HI at each of the two pop centers in the north. This adds 1100 heavy troops a turn to your forces, all of which are in a good place (or can rapidly be in a good place) to mount an attack. While you're doing this, the allegiances will be creaming each other en masse, making your potential for destruction and mayhem that much greater. Once turn 6 rolls around, two things will happen. First, your economy will be at the breaking point in terms of maintenance, even if you've raised your taxes and sold your excess goods. Second, the starting troops of most nations will be feeding the crows, and the treasuries of these nations will be exhausted. This gives you the window of opportunity required to make a very effective, and devastating, strike. Now comes the time to choose an allegiance. I favor the Dark Servants for this position, primarily because you can't defend against agent attacks (your characters aren't good enough). You also have the benefit of knowing that most of the Free forces in the Rhovanion are gone, while in Mordor the Dark Servants will still be raising troops like crazy to feed to the meat grinder of the Ithilien. Should you choose to go evil, the two HI armies in the north can move on Northmen/Northern Gondor pop centers immediately. The cav in the south, with proper timing, can also strike in the same area. I did this and destroyed seven towns/major towns in two turns (although I'd recommend capture in a normal game). With a well-timed blow, you can seize most of the Northmen's assets and force him out of the game, positioning your troops for a quick march right into the Eothraim core area. Done properly, the blitzkrieg will boost you into first place and secure your holdings in the Rhovanion before anyone else can effectively lay claim to them. It will also spell the doom of the Gondors. The Military: After the Blitz Once the southern Rhovanion is yours, don't go against the Gondors. No doubt the Dark Servants will be ticked that you took all the good stuff from the Northmen and Eothraim and will be plotting your downfall. Let them plot to their hearts content, but also let them fight the Gondors and their Free allies on their own. This will keep them suitably occupied while you consolidate your position. First, move your recruiting base north. It doesn't matter if you've captured everything and there aren't any major towns; you don't stand much chance of running into a whole lot of opposition at this point. Recruit cav only, and make sure it's good-quality: bronze weapons/steel armor. Second, send the remainder of your heavy infantry and poor-quality cav across the river to take the rest of the Northmen pop centers, as well as the Dwarven holdings in the Iron Hills. Lastly, position your armies in key areas where an attack might take place (or where you can respond to an attack) and sit tight. Watch the war to see how it's going. If the Dark Servants are winning (which they should be), kick back and enjoy the show; you did your part by eliminating two Free Powers. If they're losing, consider sending a cav force to trouble spots to bail them out (make sure they're suitably grateful for the timely assistance). Characters Of the first four character slots, I suggest two commander/agents and two emissaries. Since you'll be going to war fairly quickly, a rapid camp development program isn't as crucial as it otherwise might be; two emissaries are good enough. The commander/agents will be needed for the campaign, and should be sent to the north (where you start with only one command character per army). Come turn 6, name one more emissary and two more commander agents. This might seem like too many commanders, but it's necessary if you want to guard your primaries and develop your skill points at the same time. You might want to hold off a bit on naming the commander/agents, as depending on your recruiting schedule your treasury could be too low for multi-class characters at this point. Speaking of developing skills, this is critical if you want to place in the game. In comparison to other Dark Servants, your character base is pretty lousy. By naming double-class commander/agents and playing a military game, you give yourself the opportunity to train nearly every character in two skills per turn (which is something most Dark Servants don't have the resources to do). You should also position your starting double-class characters to do the same thing. As time goes on, your characters will get better much faster than those of the Dark Servants, eventually putting you ahead of the weaker nations. This in turn will boost your victory points and give you the opportunity to place. The Economy It's always a good idea to have a few new villages and towns laying around. As soon as you're able, have your emissaries move off-map to the south and east to begin placing camps in the rough and mountains. Once a half-dozen are down, improve them to villages, then again to towns. With 3 emissaries, you should be able to accomplish this by turn 15 or 20. This gives your economy a needed boost in both taxes and resources, and does so in pop centers that the Dark Servants can't see. If you're so inclined, you could raise one town to a major town, in case it's necessary to transfer the capitol to avoid agent attacks in the end-game. Emissaries Aside from making new pop centers, the primary reason for creating emissaries is to allow them to take double agents later in the game. I'm working off the assumption that the Dark Servants will try to knock you out of first place even if you join them, so this is a rather paranoid strategy. Hey, better safe than sorry. After you emissaries have become demi-gods through camp placement and town creation, they're ready to go forth and double all of those nasty Mordor characters which may later cause you problems. By attaching them to a team led by a commander/agent of skill, you can move into an area and scout, then have your emissaries double anyone who shows up. You can do this in Free pop centers (DS agens will probably be here anyway), claiming that you're 'Influencing Other'. Over time, you'll wrack up quite a substantial list of doubled characters, all of whom will probably fail if they try to assassinate or kidnap your people. You'll also be able to see mass agent migrations moving in your direction, giving you time to move your capitol and hide your characters and armies. This is rather easy to do, as Mordor's regional maps contain many gaps. Imagine the frustration of an enemy who can never seem to find you, or who always fails assassination orders. It's sweet, I can tell you! And it ensures that you'll at least have a chance at winning the game. Other Notes Two other factors will have a big impact on how well you do: Harad and the Corsairs. As I can testify from personal experience, either player can mount a pretty effective campaign against the Easterlings if they're being run by competent player (as the Easterlings in game 97 are finding out - heh heh heh). If one or (Sauron forbid) both go good, things could get very dicey in Khand. On the other hand, if both go evil, they'll no doubt soar to first and second place, probably knocking you out of the running. Both nations are much better positioned to win than you are, and with all three southern neutrals in Sauron's hands the war is pretty much over for the Free. Your best bet here is to have the most competent of the neutrals go evil, while the less competent go good. Talk to your future buddy nicely, complimenting him on his wit, skill, and personal hygiene. Then send insulting and nasty cards to the other guy, trying to irk him into changing allegiance for the enemy. If luck is with you, the two southern neutrals will wreck each other, leaving only a battered and much-reduced survivor to continue on. Certainly not someone who'll be able to challenge you for first place. A war between these two will also secure Khand against a southern attack. In Conclusion My comments were all based on a declaration for the Dark Servants. Fact is, I can't see much point at all in going good, unless you're the suicidal type (or Mordor is very incompetent). If you do, good luck; I don't see how you can do this and still end up placing if Mordor has a half-decent Cloud Lord. Comments on the Sinda S&T, Issue 19 By Dave Holt In game 71 I'm playing the Sinda. My early game plan actually closely resembles what Tom advocates with a few exceptions. It worked ok because now I've got a team of 80+ emissaries who are converting 1 DS MT per turn into a Sinda MT. My economy is growing and I'm actually able to field armies again. Of course I lost the Sea of Rhun pop center, my Mirkwood City, one of my Lothlorian cities, and all other Mirkwood pop centers. But I've still got my capital, and a character position that's hard to beat. The Dragon Lord capital still stubbornly hangs on (MT/tower now) after repeated assaults by FP armies. Our curses squad is really starting to be effective in eliminating those pesky DS armies... ;-) My comments to Tom's: >>From Tom Walton > >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. Rather than do this, I sent my navy to help fight at Osgiliath. I think this is better than disbanding the army. It take 3 more turns to get the character back into the capital, but the help the army gives at Osgiliath is worth it. I especially like a turn 1 move where the navy ends up at 3028 (to meet the LR cav force should they move there), and then moves to Osgiliath on turn 2. [Tom's note: I considered this, but I couldn't get the characters back to Lorien in time for the campaign against the Dragon Lord.] >- sail from Rhubar up to Esgaroth. Anchor the ships and march to >Thranduil's palace to combine forces. Agreed. I did exactly this. There's no way to defend the Sea of Rhun pop center. >The Characters: >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. Agreed. I did this, except I put the camps in Lorian and Fangorn Forest. I also was unaware of Dragon woes in the mountains and put a few camps there. They went away rather quickly to dragons... But now my emissaries are a kick-ass team, able to take any DS MT up to a 70 loyalty. >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. I didn't do so well here. I've got the agents now, but they weren't in place early enough to prevent loss of many characters. Mostly they gaurd characters and locations now, occasionally capturing the poor stray DS agent who is idiot enough to stray into one of my pop centers. > >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. Well, we don't have the DS on the run yet... (And it's past turn 30) However, we have stabilized things and the tide is turning in our favor. Strategy and Tactics: North Gondor By Dan DeYoung Inspired by the facinating commentary on various strategies for MEPBM kingdoms presented by Brian Mason and Tom Walton, I offer my own humble assessment of options for one of the Free Peoples' primary bulwarks against the Shadow. Basic Data ---------- North Gondor is certainly one of the strongest Free Peoples at the start of the game. According to my own statistics, N. Gondor ranks against the other kingdoms as follows: Item for Comparison Among All Among Free People Tax Base: 1st 1st Resource Base: 1st 1st Combat Str: 2nd 2nd Character Str: Tied for 6th 3rd Artifacts: 9th 5th Material Production- (Based on Spring Production) LE- 2755 BZ- 474 ST- 186 MI- 23 FO- 7450 TI- 324 MO- 556 GO- 4200 Character Observations: Name Command Agent Emissary Mage Stealth Duties Alandur 40 10 'Free' Caranthir 50 Army Commander Elatar 60 10 Army Commander Tarondor 60 10 20 Navy Commander Telumehtar 60 Army Commander Vagig 50 Army Commander Veantur 40 'Free' Vinyaran 60 10 Navy Commander Starting Characters are all basically commanders, and six of the eight start as army or navy commanders so options for character assignments are limited. North Gondor's first major decisions involve their numerous exposed pop centers. N. Gondor seems to have been set up to provide the evils with eight pop centers to even out the economic disparity between the sides. Certainly Minas Ithil, Osgilaith, and the three Ithien towns, and the three towns along the Rhohavian road are vulnerable to concerted attack by the Dark Servants. In most analyses I've heard, standard Gondorian tactics call for the immediate destruction of the two bridges over the Anduin in preparation for a 'Fortress Europa' strategy of ferrying troops over the river with the Navy's large transport capacity. The protection of the northern three towns falls to the Eothraim, and one can only hope that player understands how important it is to keep pop centers out of enemy hands early in the game when the freep economic advantage is their strength. I do dispute the theory that the Anduin is indefensible. The many N. Gondor armies and navies in the area can defeat the Ice King and Fire King armies handily, with enough left over to deal with almost any third opponent. Further, in a team game where close coordination is possible from turn 0, North and South Gondor can field a massive force to smash into Mordor proper with small chance of serious opposition. [Tom's note: I've seen this in two team games, big FP thrusts vs DS opposition. Both times, it's resulted in a bloodbath around Ithil and the Gates, with the DS eventually taking the upper hand simply because there're more of them recruiting than there are FP. The meat grinder is won by he who can shove the most bodies into the gap in a limited period of time.] [Brian's comment: This is similar to the approach I used as Northern Gondor in game 131. However, I did not blow the bridge at Osgiliath, but instead, contested this population center, holding it for 10 turns (at least) and causing (with the aid of Southern Gondor and the Sinda) over 20,000 Dark Servant casualties at 3024 alone! The plan was for me to hold the Osgiliath while Southern Gondor funnels huge armies through here and destroys Mordor population centers. Despite the drop of the Eothraim on turn three, the plan has been very successful.] The second major issue confronting N. Gondor is the issue of their capitol. Minas Arnor's proximity to Mordor, its probable huge gold surplus and the kingdom's lack of starting agents makes it an attractive target. Worry over the capitol has even dictated entire opening strategies. One veteran player whom I respect enormously suggested moving the capitol on turn 1 with the two 'free' characters. However it is my belief that only Ji Indur starts the game strong enough to jump right on Minas Arnor and start stealing and assassinating. Tom Walton's wise assessment of the Cloud Lord agent progression recommends training agents at home until they are 40-50 pts before sending them out. This should give N. Gondor a turn or two before a concerted agent effort could begin to hurt. This turn or two buffer is important to getting started on the offensive footing that can lead to major problems for Mordor. [Tom's note: even Ji Indur has problems with many NG starting characters in the first few turns. Odds are that initial assassinations/kidnappings won't work unless Din Ohtar + artifacts shows up at the pass.] [Brian's comment: My experience from game 131 verifies Tom's analysis. The Cloud Lord has failed thusfar on four assassination attempts, two of Ji Indur on Tarondor. He is a Nazgul, and a formidable character, but he's not unstoppable in the early game.] The third major issue to decide upon at game start is what to do with character slots. With only 2 'free' characters not commanding armies and complete deficiencies in all areas except commanders, the problem is a serious one. In my opinion the largest threat to N. Gondor is not from the Dark Servant military, but from agents. The best counter to agents is other agents and emissaries. With the new rules, 30 point agent guards can immediately effect the ability of enemy agents to steal gold or assassinate the excellent N. Gondor commanders. An emissary needs to be in the 45 to 50 point range before being able to double enemy agents, and you have to somehow come across the target agent's name. In view of these two facts, I would spend 3 of the first four character slots on agents to slow the cutthroats and cut-purses coming out of Mordor. I would buy an emissary for the last slot and put down camps. With the number of camps limited in the game, I believe it is important for the Freeps to slap down camps as fast as possible to maintain the economic advantage they depend on to win the game. Possible camp locations would include the popular and scenic Fangorn; the bountiful hills of S. Gondor; the gap of Rohan to hold up incursions by unfriendly Dunlendings; and if one is feeling particularly adventurous, a developable camp in the extreme southern deserts of Harondor along the road and off everybody's maps could prove useful when the Corsairs eventually begin harassing S. Gondor. N. Gondor's initial power is certainly in its military might though, and it is here that serious damage to the enemy can occur early in the game. I offer the following assessment of possible moves and battles for the first three turns of the game. Turn 0 Order of Battle- Army Arnor (2924) - 900HC, 300HI, 300LI Army Ethraid (3028) - 300HC, 300LC, 300HI, 300LI Army Romenost (3116) - 600HC, 600LC Army Angrenost (2119) - 300HI, 300LI, 300AR Navy Osgilaith (3024) - 300HI, 300LI Navy Pelargir (2927) - 300LC, 600HI In determining opening moves for these energetic, well equipped, and skillfully led armies, it is necessary to determine possible targets for the various aggressor nations in the area. Long Rider (3230) - 600HC, 300LC Ice King (3122) - 1200LC, 1200HI, 1200LI, 600AR, 2400MA Fire King (3224) - 1800HI, 900LI, 2100AR One early advantage that N. Gondor enjoys is a relatively limited number of targets available to the economically desperate Servants. Military security can be assured by getting the superior N. Gondor armies into position to confront the Servants at the appropriate time. The Long Rider will almost certainly appear at 3028 on turn 1. His economy is really hurting and he needs to lose some troops or take some pop centers, and it is too far around southern Mordor to be worth paying all that cavalry for all those turns. The Fire King obviously goes to 3124 for the unopposed seizure of Minas Ithil. He will either attack or threaten the pop center then proceed onto 3024 the following turn. It is simply too far through rough terrain for him to reverse course and not show up at 3024 on turn 2. The Ice King at least has some target choices, but the terrain in Ithien limits him to only 2; the town at 3020 or a quick grab for Osgilaith at 3024. I discount the Dark Lt. and Dog Lord armies from the Anduin battle for the following reasons. The Dark Lt. army starting at 3120 simply isn't strong enough to change the outcome of the following battles. If it does choose to come south, its turn 1 target would be 3024 and it would be caught and destroyed with the Ice King. Also, the Dog Lord needs this army's support to have any hope of doing damage to the Eothraim who if left alone, can do more hurt to Mordor than N. Gondor. So, onward against the Long Rider, Ice and Fire Kings. End of Turn 1 Order of Battle- Army Arnor (3028) - 900HC, 800HI, 300LI Army Ethraid (2927) - 300HC, 300LC, 600HI, 300LI Army Romanost (2421) - 672HC, 600LC Army Angrenost (2121) - 600HI, 300LI, 300AR Navy Osgilaith (2924) - 700HI, 300LI Navy Pelegir (3023) - 300LC, 1100HI or (2926) same Long Rider (3028) - 600HC, 300LC Ice King (3023) - 1200LC, 1600HI, 1200LI, 600AR, 2400MA Fire King (3124) - 2200HI, 900LI, 2100AR Turn 1 Analysis - All armies and Navies recruit maximum Heavy Infantry. We should accommodate The Long Riders desire to lose troops by force marching Army Arnor (our strongest army) there to meet him at 3028. The Fire King moves to Minas Ithil unopposed. There is nothing we can do about this right away. But don't worry- he'll get his in a moment. My inexperience showed while planning this turn. I'd like to move Navy Pelegir to intercept the Ice King (and anyone traveling down the road with him) at 3023 forcing him to stop. However I'm not sure if his army can move through my navy on to 3024 without having to stop (help veterans!). If he can move past, we'd like to end our movement on a town so we can recruit the last 150HI our transports can hold. To do this we hold at 3023 on the first 11 days and retreat to 2926 on the last three days of the move. If I can stop him at 3023, the 150 men won't matter in the end. Of course, I'll end up losing Osgilaith in the event he gets by, but I'll get it back next turn. If the Ice King goes to 3020, there is nothing N. Gondor can do to hold the town without serious help from the Eothraim, available this early only in a team game. If the Ice King comes south the following turn, we'll be ready for him. If he doesn't, he becomes the Eothraim's problem or, if you establish a good relationship with the Horse-Lords early, your cavalry at 2421 can move to help intercept. [Tom's note: a navy won't block army movement, or vice versa.] Both 'free' commanders get moved to the capitol and transfer mounts and leather to 2421 for Army Romanost. Army Angrenost is positioned to recruit 400HI at Algarond, and can now move east if desired; hold and deter aggression from the Duns; or force march to join an attack on the Dun capitol if Cardolan/Arthedain don't feel like worrying about their backs in exchange for a potential ally. Army Romanost recruits whatever cavalry it can from the pop center and withdraws down the road to the Major Town at 2421 to recruit next turn. This army cannot stop any of the Mordor armies alone, so in an individual game withdrawing it for reinforcement makes good sense. So ends the first turn. End of Turn 2 Order of Battle- Army Arnor, Army Ethraid, Navy Osgilaith, Navy Pelegir are all together at (3024) - 1002HC, 300LC, 4024HI, 834LI Army Romanost (3024) - 1072HC, 600LC Army Angrenost (2121) - 600HI, 300LI, 300AR Ice King (3024) - 1200LC, 1600HI, 1200LI, 600AR, 2400MA Fire King (3024) - 2200HI, 900LI, 2100AR Turn 2 Analysis- This analysis will proceed assuming I could stop the Ice King at 3023. Army Angrenost will no longer be considered as it will be unable to reach the Anduin in time to aid the battle, and a backup army in the west makes sense for security against the Duns or an incursion by the Dark Lts. or the Dog Lord coming down the Northern road. All Armies and Navies recruit maximum HI. Turn 2 begins with Army Arnor crushing the Long Rider at 3028, taking 22% casualties, and proceeding north. Both Navies sail to 3024 to stop both the Ice King and the Fire King who will appear there. All 3 armies join them by turns' end for a massive battle on Turn 3. The Fire King's troop numbers assume he could threaten away Minas Ithil, no guaranteed feat and a smart Fire King will attack so as not to have to go back later, so his troop numbers could be reduced by as much as 45%! (All those archers really hurt his army constitution). The two 'free' commanders, if Ji hasn't gotten one, can begin hiring agents, changing tax rates, or declaring enemies as desired. Now might be a good time to move the capitol if an enemy agent appeared on turn 1. End of Turn 3 Order of Battle- N. Gondor (3024) - 1013HC, 576LC, 1945HI, 406LI Cloud Lord (3024) - 900HC, 900LC, 900HI, 900LI, 900AR, 900MA Turn 3 Analysis- The turn 3 battle vs the Fire King and Ice King at 3024 leaves N. Gondor victorious but suffering 52% damage. The Fire King has no serious challenge potential, but Hoarmaruth of the Ice King could beat even Tarondor if stacked with all their mage artifacts, so all commanders must refuse challange. We can count on the Cloud Lord attacking on turn 4 because that big army is a drain on his treasury. By virtue of excellent commanders, and the troops' high training and equipment, victory is assured here as well, though at 80% casualties (less the Fort bonus). This leaves no army to speak of in Ithien, but has achieved the destruction of 3 Mordorian starting Armies and left the way clear for South Gondor to mount an attack anywhere they choose. I call a military stalemate in Ithien a victory for North Gondor and the Free Peoples! [Tom's note: actually, I think the resulting stalemate would slightly favor the Dark Servants. Though the economies of the 4 FP in the region are just about equal to all of Mordor, Mordor has more characters to recruit with. This means they can get more troops into the target areas faster than the FP can (same economic drain, it just turns over faster for the DS). Also, Ji Indur's agents will be good enough to start kidnapping at recruiting sites come turn 6 or 7, which can cripple the FP. I used a team of agents to disband three armies in one of my games by hitting recruiting sites in packs (maybe four armies, but I'm not sure).] Certainly by this time, S. Gondor should be able to have a huge Navy or Army at Osgilaith (3024). In a team game, 5000 S. Gondor troops should be available at Osgilaith (3024) on turn 2 and a waxing of all Mordor armies is assured and a strong drive toward Mordor's capitols is possible! [Brian's comment: I tried like the dickens to predict troop movements of the Dark Servants and my own resulting countermoves, but there are simply too many possibilites for me to plan this position more than a couple of turns in advance. Rather than a turn-by-turn plan I favor in this case a more fluid plan, keeping most of your troops in battle and recruiting like mad. Tom and I discussed this position a couple of months ago, just as I was getting started and I decided to march as many troops as possible on turn one to Osgiliath. I was rewarded by the Ice King showing up on turn one with all but 100 men-at-arms, and he was crushed. I'd rather not comment on character creation strategies as that would reveal too much of my middle and end game strategies for this position, and I don't feel confident enough in this game to put my strategies in the public domain.] I'd be interested in hearing tactics for Mordor to defeat a united Gondorian thrust; it looks nearly impossible to me! Perhaps after some thought, this will lead me to another article... I would appreciate any feedback generated by this article. Please send responses to the Mouth or to me at: DeYoung9@aol.com Thanx! Capital Pun-ishment By Darin Fitzpatrick Although I have no feedback on the puns of last issue, except from Tom, I have decided to try to make them a regular forum. (Anyone in oppostion can start an against 'em.) Tom's use of the word "inflict" inspired this title: This week we turn to the region of Middle-earth known as Eriador. It used to be a big kingdom, but that's neither Arnor there. Soon it broke down into Arthedain and their Thedain, which quickly collapsed. Elves lived near the coasts, but everyone thought they were Lune-y. The dwarves developed the first diet waybread here: Luin fat, Luin calories. Early on, the rich folks near Bree (& Camembert) were known as the Chet Set. Soon hobbits crossed the Sarn Chevy and founded their own country. Nowadays they are Shire than they used to be. After a disappointing expansion into the hills near the sea and west of the Old Forest (and Evendim hills up by Fornost) they learned: neither a Barrower nor a Lindon be. Meanwhile, the Witch-King was building more Angmar. The hillmen struggled along, too, but it was clear they were Dun for. Once Arthedain led the winter assault known as "Chilly con Carn Dum," the Witch-King got Murazor than ever. Soon he trounced them and was singing in Erain. Eventually Rangers took over, and they were ruled by chiefnines until the advent of chieftains. Traditionally, their wives had flower names, as every Rose Arathorn. Sorry these have gotten Tharbad, but I hope you'll be Baggins for more. Cheers, Darin Speculations on player positions in the 2940 game: Mirkwood Elves By Brian Mason Again, bear with me as I walk across this tightrope of wild speculation without a net. The good thing is, a fall would not be fatal to the writer, and can only be fatal to the reader if she or he gives this article too much credance. Speculations on population centers: Like the previous article in last issue, the best place to consider a start to the position is to consider its parent position, the Sinda Elves, and breaking it into two positions: the Elves of Northern Mirkwood and the Lothlorien Elves. Allow me to take a look at the Sinda population centers from the 1650 game. The cities within Lothlorien have been absorbed into that realm, so they are not considered here. As most of Southern Mirkwood was overrun by the forces of Sauron it is unlikely that the Sinda village in Southern Mirkwood is still around. Edhellond is probably not present as a population center. In "The Lord of the Rings" Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth states that '...never has one of the fair folk [elves] been seen there for years beyond count.' While the memory of men maybe short, I'd not call the time from 2940 to 3019 'years beyond count.' I suppose it is still possible for Edhellond to be there, but if so, it would be smaller and hidden (and thus unknown to Prince Imrahil); I'd still consider it's presence as very unlikely. Rhubar may still exist, but this evidence is rather tenuous. Reference is made in "The Hobbit" to the wine served in the Elvenking's (Thranduil's) palace as coming from the region of Dorwinion. It is unclear whether this is that of 'their kinsfolk in the South, or from the vineyards of Men is distant lands.' However, given the described quality of the wine, I assume it was made by the elves. The region of Dorwinion is not on the maps of "The Lord of the Rings" or "The Hobbit," however it is on the map drawn by Pauline Baynes Map of Middle-earth and is identified as the region along the northern shore of the Sea of Rhun. However, it is certainly possible that the people at GSI have interpreted Dorwinion as being the region around Shrel-Kain. There is no reason to believe that the population centers along the western side of Mirkwood are gone, and it is possible, and indeed likely given the need for population centers to make the position strong enough, that there are more [Tom's note: actually, Thranduil's elves had withdrawn to the region in and around Aradhrynd by the time Bilbo and crew went adventuring. But, as Brian says, the region is simply too small to hold the pop centers required to make this position viable]. Possibly including small settlements north of the forest road and probably a settlement of raft-elves (as described in "The Hobbit" in or near 3009. I'm going to arbitrarily add two towns and one village as what might be necessary to make the realm reasonable in size. The raft-elves encampment is described as a 'village by the riverside.' The 2907 town could be the source of the feasting party Thorin & Co. went to in "The Hobbit" while the 2909 town would be a purely strategic buffer-town protecting the capital from Dol Guldur. It is also possible that some (or most) of these population centers will be hidden. So, allow me to summarize my guesses: 2907 Town Tower 2608 Caras Amarth Town Tower 2908 Aradhrynd City Fort Hidden Capital 2709 Galadbrynd Town Tower 2909 Town Tower 3009 Village 4413 Rhubar Major Town Hidden With this as a start, the Mirkwood Elves have about 70% of the tax and 112% of the resource base of the Sinda position from the 1650 game. This may be too large. The character shift here is not as drastic as it was for the Lothlorien position. Most of the characters in the 1650 game were associated with the Mirkwood realm and will easily transplant to the new game. Name co ag em ma st ========= ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== 50 20 captain from "The Hobbit" Galion 10 10 10 20 butler from "The Hobbit" Lanthir 30 30 20 Legolas 30 10 10 20 son of Thranduil Ohtar 50 10 20 Ringlin 50 20 Taurnil 40 10 10 20 Tharudan 20 50 20 Thranduil 60 30 20 This represents 102% of the 1650 game Sinda character strength. This seems reasonable or close to it. At this point, also in light of last weeks article, it might be a good time to discuss attributes of Elven characters. One thing which may have been noticed in last issues article, but is much more noticeable here is the skill ranks of the elven characters staying the same as they were in the 1650 game. While this does not seem realistic to me, it was implied as much by Bill Feild when he stated that "because of the declining **POWER** that continued on into the Third Age and Fourth Age, overall the stats may be lower to start than in 1650" ("The Mouth," issue 18). Rather than do the injustice of actually lowering Elven stats, I've kept them the same assuming occasional skill activities in the intervening 1300 years would offset the declining power (which is an interpretation which I vehemently disagree with, however, I'm not doing the programming). [Tom's note: I also disagree with this interpretation. Frankly, it seems silly to me to believe that these characters wouldn't get better at what they do given 1300 centuries to learn a few things] The artifacts possessed by the Sinda in the 1650 game were possessed by Mirkwood characters, so I am assigning all these artifacts to the Mirkwood nation in the 2940 game. However, there will no doubt be some differences, perhaps major ones in artifact makeup. Assigning the two Sinda armies from the 1650 game at Rhubar and Aradhrynd, we have a significantly weaker military. Something entirely consistent with the stated goals of the 2940 game. These two armies would be 49/55 % 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: 3900 Pop Centers: 3000 Characters: 10400 Total: 17300 Current Tax Rate: 40% Revenue expected next turn: 16000 (-1300) I find this deficit larger than hoped for, but still much more reasonable than the one developed for the Lothlorien position in issue 19. More Speculation: The Rohirrim By Tom Walton with mucho help from Brian Mason I have the happy task of speculating on the Rohirrim. Happy, because this is the one and only nation that I.C.E. has detailed specifically during the time of the War of the Ring. The company also included quite a bit of history, and even named a few of the characters around during the new 2940 game. Of all of the nations we'll cover, there's more information available on this one than any other. Thank the gods, because my tolerance for detailed research and educated guesses is far lower than Brian's is. A bit of history The Rohirrim are the direct descendents of the Eothraim. After the first Easterling and Haradrim invasions which spelled the end of Gondor's empire (just after our 1650 game), the Eothraim were soundly defeated by the northern Easterling tribes and sent packing. They eventually ended up settling in the depopulated Anduin Vales, where the Woodmen nation is in 1650. Later, when the Easterlings made another showing and nearly destroyed Gondor entirely, the Eothraim came to the aid of the Dunedain and turned the tide of the war. For their heroic efforts, they were awarded the entire province of Calenardhon and attached territories by the King of Gondor. This wasn't as costly as you might think, since Calenardhon was virtually empty of people by this time (the Great Plague of 1640 killed most of the inhabitants, and the rest relocated to safer areas of the kingdom). The Eothraim, who'd pretty much run out of land in the Anduin Vales, quickly relocated to what is Rohan in 3018. It was during this time that the Eothraim (now Rohirrim) made themselves blood-enemies of the Dunlendings. Since the Dunedain had virtually abandoned the province, the Duns had moved into the area in numbers. Not being much for diplomacy or lenience, the Rohirrim attacked and slaughtered vast numbers of Dun settlers, driving the survivors back cross the Gap of Rohan (and then some). This, along with the fact that they hunted the Woses for sport, gives you some idea that the Rohirrim weren't exactly humanitarians. By 2940, the Rohirrim were firmly in control of Calenardhon from the Gap of Rohan all the way to the borders of Anorien (just west of Minas Tirith). They ranged as far north as the River Limlight and even herded their horses in sight of Lorien. As a military power, they were nearly on par with Gondor. They had no equals on horseback. Characters There're actually some historical notes available on the characters alive at the time, primarily because Theoden's father was a figure during this period. I've listed the four characters I could find names for, and added four more based upon Rohirrim characteristics: Name Com Age Emi Mag King Fengel 40 Prince Thengel 40 10 Princess ? 20 10 Princess ? 20 10 Warleader 30 10 Warleader 30 10 Warleader 30 Warleader 30 This provides the Rohirrim with a total of 290 character points, which is about 95% of the character points availabe to the Eothraim in the 1650 game. Herugrim is still in the hands of Fengel, but no other artifacts are mentioned. The names of the princesses are unknown. Note that King Fengel as known for being greedy and arrogant, always at odds with his commanders, court, and family. Thengel, his son, fled to Gondor and took up service with the Stewards of that land, not returning until Fengel died in 2953. It could be that Thengel is actually a character of Northern Gondor in the 2940 game, but I'm assuming that he returned to Rohan to face the rise of Sauron. Military The Rohirrim were considerably stronger than their Eothraim counterparts in 1650. However, in concurrence with GSI's stated intent to reduce the army strengths at the start of the game, I'm assuming that many of the troops available to the Rohirrim need to be 'called up' (recruited) to be available for war. Hence the smaller initial numbers. Location Heavy Cavalry Light Cavalry (Helm's Deep) 300 600 (Edoras) 300 600 (Plains) 300 300 (Plains) 300 300 Helm's Deep was used as a base to control the Gap of Rohan and keep an eye on the Duns, while the King's Guard was based at Edoras. The other two armies are stationed in the East and West Emnets to keep an eye on orcs that raided from the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood, and to patrol the trade routes. These numbers are pure guesswork. There is no mention of standing forces in the 2940 game (the standing army was substantially increased by 3018, because of the troubles with orcs and the Duns). Economy Rohan sits astride one of the most lucrative trade routes in Middle- Earth. With orcs plaguing the passes of the Misty Mountains and the Forest Road of Mirkwood, and with Moria lost to the Dwarves, the vast majority of merchant travel between Eriador, the Anduin Vales, and Gondor passes through the safe plains of Rohan. The Rohirrim encourage this by sending patrols far outside of their normal territory to hunt down and destroy any who'd prey upon travelers. In addition to the great boon of controlling such a nexus of commerce, the Rohirrim also own some of the best farming and grazing land around. These two factors combined make for a wealthy, prosperous nation. So what does this mean in the new 2940 game? If GSI is going to stick relatively close to history, the Rohirrim tax and production bases should be large. In fact, they should be large enough to support a nice-sized cav army and still run at a decent surplus. In determining the makeup of Rohirrim pop centers, I took several factors into account: - even though the Rohirrim ranged the plains, they generally kept their permanent residences in large, fortified settlements. - the tax base of these towns must be sufficient to support initial costs at a 40% tax rate, with a slight surplus if possible. - towns must, if possible conform to historical locations. Name Location Size Fortifications Helm's Deep 2121 Major Town Castle Edoras 2320 Major Town Fort Aldburg 2421 Major Town Fort Dunharrow 2321 Town Castle Stowburg 2520 Town Tower ? 2619 Town Tower ? 2517 Town Tower ? 2721 Town Tower ? 2818 Town Tower ? 1921 Town Tower This give the Rohirrim a tax base of 57,500 gold and 27 resource points. Frankly, I think the number of pop centers is too high, but historically there weren't any major towns other than those listed. The Rohirrim didn't live in camps at this time (though there were a few villages), which is why there aren't any in the above table (besides, it'd boost the pop center number even higher). Note that the East Emnet extended nearly to the Brown Lands south of Mirkwood. The Westmarch (where the town at 1921 is) is actually in lands that were once held by the Duns. This area was very fertile and thus much desired, but had the drawback of constant skirmishing with the former inhabitants. The locations of some of the pop centers are a bit off. GSI's map doesn't quite conform to the maps found in I.C.E. products or in the trilogy. Also note that some towns (such as Dunharrow and Edoras) also include a number of smaller hamlets that were grouped in the area. Maintenance costs: Characters: 5,800 Fortifications: 8,000 Armies: 9,600 Total: 23,400 Taxes (40%): 23,000 Deficit: -400 I find this deficit unacceptable given the low levels of troops and the stated prosperity of the nation. Again, this can't be fixed without altering the historical data significantly, which I'll take a pass on. Conclusion This is as close as I could come to a historical outlay of the Rohirrim without compromising the game. Frankly, though, I don't think GSI's version of Rohan will conform very well to my own. I suspect that a few of these differences may be in place: - the character roster may more closely conform to the Eothraim start-up. This means no commander/agents (except for -king's son-) and scratch the two daughters (replace them with straight 30-point commanders). - There may be another non-historical major town, fewer towns, and a few villages or camps lying about. - I don't think the army strength will be much higher than what I propose, but there may be less light cavalry and more heavy cavalry. A change like this would make sense, as most of the Rohirrim qualified as heavy cav by this time. That's all. Now I know why Brian called this sort of speculation pure fantasy.... Continuing Observations on the 2940 game: Bridges that Are Not Brian Mason About six months ago I had suggested to Bill Feild that a new me-pbm scenario be developed with it being played in First Age Middle-earth. After telling me about the upcoming 2940 scenario Bill said the First Age option was considered, but was abandoned partially because of the cost of developing a new big color map. In thinking about the new scenario, me-pbm 2940, ir occured to me that there are some problems with this map, some are slight and debateable, for example, I think a pretty good case could be made for having the plains hexes between Mirkwood and Mordor East of Anduin become desert hexes (it was, after all, called the 'Brown Lands'). However, all debating of this type aside, there are some clear problems with bridges being in locations which no longer have bridges. GSI may choose to ignore this problem (after all, the hexside-to-hexside cost is the same for a bridge as it is for a ford. However, for completeness-sake, and a degree of historical accuracy, let me point out which of the following bridges are not (or should not be) on the map anymore. While the distinction here may seem artificial, it is not, and has some real consequences. Namely, that a bridge can be blown up and a ford can not. This allows players in the 2940 game to set up roadblocks that should not be there. All that being said, here are the locations: 1211-1212 1614-1715 2510-2610 2020-2120 3129-3130 It is possible that GSI may have some preface stating that bridges in the 1650 game may not still be here in the 2940 game. However, they may instead take the easy out and simply ignore the problem. If they do this, it will allow players to place roadblocks across rivers that they otherwise would have been unable to do. Customer Service From Bill at GSI [Tom's note: I received this note from Bill at GSI about a week ago. It was directed to yours truly (the story behind it is a bit weird and too difficult to really explain here), but I thought it summed up the GSI customer service credo well. Any commments?] GSI strives very hard to provide fair and equitable service to each and every one of our customers. We are very concerned whenever there are problems with GSI not receiving turns, data entry errors, etc... We are human and will make mistakes, but we do try to do everything we can to correct the errors we do make. We are never too busy to review your questions, nor do we intend to be insensitive to your concerns. Please understand that at times we have to wear two different hats - one as service businessmen and one as game moderators. There are times when the two will conflict. But our intention is never to have the businessman hat take precedence over the game moderator hat. In other words, what is fair is more important that what it costs to make it so. We have a very knowledgeable staff,including myself, Peter Stassun (partner), Harold Ford (office mgr), Stuart Taft (assistant office mgr), Jason Duerstock (programmer), and all the rest of the staff (Lorraine, Gisela, Michelle, Anthony, Shari, & Sean). Feel free to contact our office from 2-5 PM EST Monday through Friday and they will be happy to help. All of them will try to do their best to help you with your problems/concerns. If you ever feel that you have not received satisfaction from any of our staff regarding some problem, please feel free to contact me directly and I will personally see to it that we have done everything we can to explain and/or correct the problem/misunderstanding for you. And, be sure and let me know who you talked to! If I am not available, leave your number and a message and I will gladly return your call. All I ask is that if you have a problem, let us know. We can correct things that we are aware of - but not things that are not brought to our attention!! As there will be some things that go wrong despite the best efforts of GSI, there will also be things that go wrong that are due to outside elements, or due to player error. Player errors are just part of the game. Also, some players **believe** that faxes are 100% sure in arriving, while others believe that the USPS will always deliver their turns to GSI in 2-3 days. Although, these beliefs may be generally true, they are not always true. There are limits to what we can do to resolve or correct problems such as these. Our goal is for every player to be able to get each and every turn into GSI on time (0% Special Service turns), and we continue to try to offer better services to our customers to alleviate these potential problems. And, if you just have some comments you think would make ME-PBM a better game for you and for others, feel free to pass those comments on. Your remarks are welcome and appreciated. ME-PBM is the successful game it is today because the efforts of our staff, but also because of the willingness of all our players to contribute what they think and feel would make a better game. Bill Feild/GSI >From Tom Walton We've had a few articles on customer service lately, and I've been involved with a number of players in non-Mouth conversations on the topic. In light of all the different interpretations presented, I'd like to get some hard data on what you think of GSI's customer service. Basically, I'm requesting that you drop me a line (see my address at the beginning of the Mouth) telling me what you like and/or don't like about GSI's customer service. Give me some examples of how the company's conduct supports your views (good or bad). Anything you want to say will be eagerly accepted. I won't be printing names or game numbers when I get the data together. The closest I'll come is quoting excerpts from your notes as examples. Once I've a fair spread of what people think, I'll put the results here in the Mouth. So here's your chance to sound off! Have at it! From Sauron's Bakery Tom's note: Brian received the note below from someone at his university. I saw it about six months ago in paper form, and we decided to print it in the Mouth simply to annoy people small-minded enough to charge $250.00 for a cookie recipe. We urge you to cut this out of the Mouth and send it to as many people as you can, so that the author can have the satisfaction of knowing that her revenge has, at least in part, been achieved. By the way, if you can't guess this has nothing to do with ME-PBM (unless you eat cookies while filling out your orders, like I do). SUBJECT: "Expensive Lesson" - $250.00 Cookie Recipe ------------------------------------------------------------------- My daughter & I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas & decided to have a small dessert. Because our family are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus Cookie". It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and they said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not." Well, I said, would you let me buy the recipe? with a cute smile, she said, "Yes." I asked how much, and she responded, "Two fifty." I said with approval, just add it to my tab. Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe - $250.00." Boy, was I upset!! I called Neiman's Accounting Dept. and told them the waitress said it was "two fifty," and I did not realize she meant $250.00 for a cookie recipe. I asked them to take back the recipe and reduce my bill and they said they were sorry, but because all the recipes were this expensive so not just everyone could duplicate any of our bakery recipes....the bill would stand. I waited, thinking of how I could get even or even try and get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250.00 and now I'm going to have $250.00 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover will have a $250.00 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus for nothing. She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this." I said, "I'm sorry but this is the only way I feel I could get even," and I will. So, here it is, and please pass it to someone else or run a few copies....I paid for it; now you can have it for free. (Recipe may be halved.): 2 cups butter 4 cups flower 2 tsp. soda 2 cups sugar 5 cups blended oatmeal** 24 oz. chocolate chips 2 cups brown sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated) 4 eggs 2 tsp. baking powder 3 cups chopped nuts 2 tsp. vanilla (your choice) Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies. ** measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. -Have fun!!! This is not a joke----- this is a true story............ Last Word Although I share the great fortune of being in game 97 with Tom, my news is not so wonderful to report. For the fifth consecutive turn I sit buried at 400 victory points. However, I like to think I've done some bit of success keeping a fair percentage of the most competent of our Dark Servant allies occupied. Not that I've done it all alone, but I think the unwillingness to say "uncle" when things were really going sour in Eriador has made the successes in the South safer. I just wish I didn't have to get characters killed just to keep all the agents busy. I'll keep the readers posted, and with a little luck, I might be able to give you some good reports, and crow a little myself. I won't tell you what I'm up to, but when Murazor finds out I've had an agent named Oppenheimer at a town named Los Alamos for a while, he's really gonna be pissed. Brian