From the Mouth of Sauron Issue: E-22 Date: 06-12-94 First Word Since my game 97 turn hasn't come in yet, I can't crow about my victories over the Dark Servants. Instead, lets talk curses, which I seem to be suffering from in abundance in a couple of my games. I don't like curses. Hate them, in fact. Couldn't find a single reference to a curse being used in the trilogy, with the exception of the Black Breath the Nazgul could wield. And to do this, they had to be so close they could cut you down with a sword anyway (as in challenge-close, not just 'in the same hex'). Why do I hate curses? Because there isn't any defense against them. Elrond dies just as easily as some 30-point yahoo from Dunland. Now, can you seriously see a pack of upstart mortal mages being able to inflict a jumped-up version of the flu on a millenia-old elven sorcerer? Or what about the immortal Nazgul? Please, give me a break! And if this is possible to begin with, why isn't there a single instance of such magic described in Tolkien's works? The only 'curses' I could find were not life-threatening and were cast in the First Age by some of the most powerful beings ever to exist - while they were standing right next to the target. In a sense, curses are like dragons: ME-PBM's equivalent of a nuke. They don't take any real skill to develop or strategy to use; you simply pick up a weapon (easy to do if you have our database), order a group of mages learn the spells off of it, then move from place to place slaying characters left and right. Hell, there isn't even any real chance of failure! Compare this to an agent carefully crafted over the course of the game, surviving life-threatening situations time and again to end up one of the premier assassins of his day. Even so, he puts his ass on the line every time he gives an order, and can still be defeated by a foe willing to invest the effort. Not so with a curses team. So, as my best characters fall to the common cold gone wild, I rail against curses and curses teams. The trilogy was an epic full of heroism and glory; yet try as I might, I just can't see anything heroic or glorious in a curses team - or in the death of it's victims. Tom Other Notes >From Paul C. I think the business of sizes is proportional with NO upper limit. I have an army in a long running UK game which is currently 4,500 big. It is reported as an Army, not large. I have another which is 6000 + which is not hiuge, cant remember off hand if its large or normal. So the moral is you have to guage size according to all other game armies, I guess the best way to do this is to talk to people :-) >From Dennis DeYoung Also regarding the new game set in 2940. I have been following your articles/guesses in the Mouth and think you are doing a great job of predicting. You have probably thought it out better than GSI, you may be disappointed in what they come up with. I know zero about the new game. However I am now in a game with a guy (his third ME-PBM game) who lives in Florida near GSI who is also play-testing the new game. He hasn't told me anything yet but I figured I would ask him about what the kingdoms are and the other general stuff that you would find in the rule book before even playing a turn. Would you be interested in me passing along rule book info (he has the rule book) for Mouth readers? I agree with your policy about not passing along info which would spoil the newness of playing the 2940 game (pop ctr sizes and locations, character stats, etc.) but I personally am interested in finding out about some of the "public" info (i.e. rule book as oposed to stuff you learn during the course of play.) Anyway, let me know. [Tom's reply: I expected GSI to play-test with a non-player group, given that the nature of the game means that anyone who's been around a while has a distinct advantage over someone who hasn't. Guess I was wrong. So a warning here: even if you get into the first game open to the public, you could end up playing against someone who already has most of the setups, a rudimentary artifact/encounter list, etc. Don't expect everyone to be new - any of the playtesters or their friends could be in your game.] >From Darin Fitzpatrick RE: Sauron's bakery My mother-in-law reports that this recipe is in her Chattanooga Junior League cookbook, with the same story. This neither confirms nor denies the "legend" status, but the story has been around for a while. My wife, by the way, was not at all surprised at the $250 tab - this is the company that sells his & her Faberge Eggs and Caribbean islands. I baked a batch and brought 5 dozen to work. They were gone by lunchtime. RE: Army size This story, it occured to me, would make a good "How I Got Shafted" entry. As Southern Gondor, I consolidated my navies on turn 2. Turn 4 a QA navy showed up at Fanuilond, and I figured that it was just one of her starting navies, since it was just "a navy." I had moved a small army there that turn by coincidence, and lost the ensuing battle, since I was indeed outnumbered. The consequences were not far-reaching, since the remnants of Ingar's forces were too small to inflict any damage on my fortified pop centers, but I was unpleasantly surprised. I didn't figure out what happened until someone explained the relative sizes to me much later. RE: Pop center combat Is it really better to peel off troops on suicide missions than it is to give the "Siege" order? Any data on the chances of siege success? The Rules say, in the description of the "Threaten" order, that "other threatening armies of the same nation will contribute to the success of this order." Does this mean the other armies need to give the order, too, or will their mere presence help cow the inhabitants? When figuring the bonus for Destroying a pop center, I just consider it a strength bonus of 10%, not a reduction of defense. It's a question of semantics, but a strength bonus is a bit "cleaner." Destruction also adds more army morale than capture, and the rules state on p. 55 that it is easier to do. The "Sample Pop Center Combat" is for both capture and destruction, but the bonus for destruction is not clearly defined. RE: Army hostages I took a hostage after squeaking out of a major battle with 160 survivors. (This was textbook case for mages with armies - "Blessings" saved my bacon.) I captured Bolvag, the commander of a smallest enemy army. I suspect that his force was eliminated in the first round of combat, so maybe that increased the odds. Anyway, a victory need not be decisive. RE: The Rangers of the North I have already expounded on this position, so I'll keep this brief. Having Arathorn II as chieftain in 2940, despite his death in 2933, is hardly a "liberal" interpretation of the "circa" dates. If GSI can resurrect the centuries-dead nations of Cardolan and Rhudaur in 1650, then a seven-year fudge won't even make them blink. Also, I would not be too surprised to find NO starting armies for this position. Maybe a good hiring ability would compensate for this, but if everybody is militarily weak at game start, then the 5000 investment is probably not exorbitant. The capital placement is a tough one. I personally would make it Imladris, and keep the Noldor in the Havens. Fornost Erain might work if it were hidden. RE: New game in general My citing of "ME-PBM 2950" is taken directly from a response from Bill Feild. I asked for info about "the new game" and he wrote "2950." Maybe that's how "circa" things are. I would not be surprised to find the overall positions of Free Peoples and Dark Servants generally reversed. The DS are near the end of a long building program, and the FP are struggling to survive in the Desolation of Smaug, in the empty lands of the Trollshaws, and under the shadow of Mordor in the dying realm of Gondor. Elves are sailing West in droves, and who can blame them? Things are bad all over. The Free Peoples, then, are the ones in need of a rallying cry, a leader in the valiant struggle of underdogs against the Black Shadow that has daunted so many to its will. The Servants of Sauron will have their way unless the Free Folk of Middle-earth stop them. I think I will opt for the bitter, possibly fruitless endeavor of saving Middle-earth. That is, unless I can get Saruman.... >From Doug Bergstrom A couple of things: About Doom, finished it on the hardest level, but have now heard there is even a harder one. [Tom's note: yes! coming out this September is DOOM - Hell on Earth! Version 1.2 with three episodes/27 total levels came out about a month ago.] Battle considerations against pop centers. I was always confused by what was meant by easier to destroy then capture. Is it possible that what GSI considers easier, is really the extra morale bonus for destroying vs. capture (I think 1-15 over 1-10)? [Tom's note: I recently had a battle vs. a pop center where I should have lost the combat - but issuing 'destroy' gave me the extra edge to win (still had the army disbanded). So I know it has to be a bonus to your combat strength, or a reduction of the defense value.] About gliches in the game, I think I pointed out how badly GSI can mess up one turn in an earlier MOUTH. But in all fairness, after my wife (it was her turn) sent a copy (next day air) of the previous turn and her latest, and a nice letter explaining the changes that she expected to be done. GSI did comply and compensated with free turns, of course I don't know what the outcome would have been if these actions would have directly affected another player. I did find it strange that GSI said this had never happened before. It does make me wonder if that sabotage bridge which came out sabotage fortification (my own) was really my mistake or GSI's. It sure allowed the Long Rider to run over my now unfortified Buhr Mahrling. Anyway great job guys! And everyone in my games: ME 27: The FP "ARE" going to win! You can either take a beating Dragonlord or get out now. We had a weenie roast at Dol Guldor and have started building boats to visit your "LAST" ally on his island. ME 43: Reverse, the DS are going to win! There is nothing you FP can do to stop it. I am up to 30+ assassinations would've been more but I kidnapped a couple. Which leads me to point out you don't get any credit for a kidnap/execute. ME 61: I don't want to talk about.....to wishy washy. ME 158: New round, FP are off and running "OVER DS". I predict that we are going to win, if I can just find that Dragonlord guy. >From Darren Beyer I recently had an army situation where my army of over 2000 troops met up with three enemy armies, one of 2000, one of 1000 and one of 126. Normally my army would have overrun the army of 126 and I called GSI for a rules clarification. It seems that your army must be moving to overrun an enemy army. If you move into a hex containing an enemy army small enough to be overrun or you are moving and it meets you then you will overrun it. If you are sitting still and the enemy army moves into your hex you will stop it, but not overrun it. In this case it appears that my army was stopped by the large enemy armies before the small army moved into the hex. Therefore I did not overrun it. Too bad since this small army had a dragon in it which cost me my force and a character in my army. >From David Foreman A point on the SIZE of navies... Like armies, the size adjective on a navy is determined by the relative size of the navy in question with all other navies. UNLIKE armies, navies can appear and disapear quickly (anchor/pickup ships). In game 104, as the Quiet Avenger, I found myself the proud owner of 10 warships and 4 transports called a HUGE navy. The following turn I was again a SMALL navy. This happened several times during the game. I later determined that the other naval nations had anchored all their ships, leving my pitiful squad as the largest ACTIVE fleet in Middle Earth. On the subject of seiging with 100 troops, I lost three characters with 800HI that attacked an undefended castle and they all died. That's not much of a trend, but it certainly says that casualties could be bad. The commander in question was an 89. A point on hostages. If you have a free agent order available in a hex when you are fairly sure you will take a hostage that is pretty good (say a Nazgul), issue 'execute hostage' on the character. Contrary to the book, you can execute ANY hostage in a hex if that hostage is held by ANY character belonging to your nation. Doing this execute order reduces the enemy character's chance of escaping before you can kill him. [Tom's note: I should've mentioned this before. In one game, I've a team of agents who regularly kidnap/execute. The person doing the execute is almost never the person who actually holds the hostage.] >From Keith Petersen For the record, I was part of the #150 FP who quit. (Someone in the last mouth wanted to know). Keith >From Lucas T. Cuccia II Some time between Game 113 and Game 128 (unless this change came for 128), the Nazgul received an overhaul. From Akhorahil through Uvatha, all Nazgul have at least 100 skill points. I have setups from that game and Game 139 to prove this. Current stats are: CO AG EM MG ST Murazor 40 40 70 30 Khamul 30 30 30 40 30 Dendra Dwar 20 20 60 30 Ji Indur 20 40 40 30 Akhorahil 20 20 60 30 Hoarmurath 30 20 50 30 Adunaphael 30 30 40 30 Ren the Unc. 30 20 50 30 Uvatha 60 20 20 30 I guess GSI felt that the principle servants of evil should be "tougher" than ICE thought. News from the Net ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #1 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: aray@cwis.unomaha.edu (ALAN WAYNE RAY) Subject: MEPBM--Woodmen Position Date: Fri, 3 Jun 1994 03:50:22 GMT Hello All! I have a friend who's playing the Woodmen position. It's turn 12. She wants to drop it but I'd like to find someone willing to take it over. A little info. about the position. She has strong Emis., 2 armies. 8 pop centers, one being a City, and the other a Mtown, in about 2 turns she should have another Mtown. She has 2 artifacts. She is in no danger of being put out of the game. Ngondor has been eliminated, and I believe the Witchking was eliminated just this turn, not sure. Rhudaur has dropped, and so has the Harad I believe. Duns and the Corsairs have gone evil, Easterlings have gone good, I believe. The game is still pretty balanced. If anyone wants more info. or is interested in taking over the position please let me know ASAP. Write me at Aray@cwis.unomaha.edu. Thanks, Alan ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: v117gv8r@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Thomas E Burnett) Subject: New Middle Earth team game anyone? Date: Fri, 3 Jun 1994 12:35:00 GMT All: I and a freind or two are considering starting a team for GSI's Middle Earth. We are looking for players who have email addresses and experience with the game to join us in playing as Free People. If you are interested contact me at this address or at: as045@freenet.buffalo.edu Thom Burnett ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: kdmcgee@aol.com (KDMcGee) Subject: Re: MEPBM 155 Date: 6 Jun 1994 20:58:02 In article (lepag001.767116715@maroon), lepag001@maroon.tc.umn.edu (Garrett R Le-Page) writes: Greetings, Easties. Arthedain here. KDMcGee@aol.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #4 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: rta@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Richard Terence ALLEN) Subject: MEPBM newbie Date: Tue, 7 Jun 1994 09:38:40 GMT Hi folks, Im a new player to MEPBM. My preferences where Northern Gondor, the witch king and then southern Gondor. Was this a good idea? The game is just starting in Australia so we're all rather new to it. Any other suggestions? Thanking you in advance, -Tefkin ---------------------------------------------------------------- reply from Patrick F. McGehearty (patrick@convex.COM) ---------------------------------------------------------------- There are 25 positions, and with a number of completed games, most positions have a fair share of results in the top three. That being the case, the real question is what type of game to you want to play? The positions you list all are military/commander oriented. Others are also in that category. If you want to sit back in the mountains and use agents to kill off your enemies, then the Cloud Lord is for you. If you want to be left alone for a while to build your economy, the Haradwaith looks powerful. Each position has its strengths and weaknesses. What you do with it depends strongly on how effective your allies are. If you are one of the front line FreeP countries, and you can convince your allies to feed you money, you can build almost unstoppable armies. If they won't support you, and you overbuild the armies, you can go bankrupt. The dark side has great challenges as well. Have fun learning! ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #5 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: forester@elvis.srl.ford.com (Brian Forester) Subject: ME-PBM, game # 141 Date: 7 Jun 1994 15:05:10 GMT Looking for players in game #141 of ME-PBM. I took over the standby position for the Blind Sorcerer. -- Brian (forester@elvis.srl.ford.com) ---------------------------------------------------------------- reply from trubador@aol.com (Doug Christensen) ---------------------------------------------------------------- In article (2t22b6$qtf@eccdb1.pms.ford.com), forester@elvis.srl.ford.com (Brian Forester) writes: >Looking for players in game #141 of ME-PBM. >I took over the standby position for the Blind Sorcerer. I am the Corsairs in this Sitzkrieg. Will send you other names and addresses later. ---------------------------------------------------------------- reply from eschnurr@netcom.com (Eric Schnurr) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Brian, Good to here from you...I am the Cloud Lord. Drop me a note at eschnurr@netcom.com Anyone else out there from game #141??? - Eric Schnurr -- --------------------------------------- | Eric Schnurr | eschnurr@netcom.com | --------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #6 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: jminor@soda.berkeley.edu (Josh Minor) Subject: Re: ME-PBM Game 164 Date: 8 Jun 1994 20:37:04 GMT I am playing the Easterlings in game 164. Feel free to send me mail rather than a paper diplo. Josh jminor@soda.berkeley.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #7 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: bigegg@vespucci.iquest.com (Greg Lary) Subject: ME-PBM Date: 8 Jun 1994 21:28:21 What is the ME-PBM game I keep reading about? I haven't seen in on any of the FAQ's or at the FTP sites. Could someone give me some info on this? It sounds interesting. ---------------------------------------------------------------- reply from kdmcgee@aol.com (KDMcGee) ---------------------------------------------------------------- ME-PBM is a commerical Play-By-Mail game based on the fantasy trilogy of J.R.R. Tolkien. The company that runs the game is Game Systems Inc. of Miami , Florida. The game costs $25 to start (the first time) and $6.50 per turn. Best, Kevin ---------------------------------------------------------------- reply from Patrick F. McGehearty (patrick@convex.COM) ---------------------------------------------------------------- ME-PBM = Middle Earth Play-by-mail A miltary/strategic/economic/character/diplomatic game based on the Middle Earth meta-verse created by J.R.R. Tolkien. It involved 25 players in a single game, 10 for the Free Peoples, 10 for the Dark Servants, and 5 Neutrals. In the US, it is run by Game Systems Inc PO Box 160129 Miami, FL 33116-0129 305-274-5559 (2-5pm EST) I don't have the contact info for the companies running it in UK or Down Under. New player registrations are $25 which includes the rule book and two turns. Additional turns are $6.50 each. Most games are run at a rate of one turn every two weeks. If you mention my name in your first $25 submission, I get a free turn, so if you are so inclined, I would be pleased for you to give Patrick McGehearty as your referral. :-) Most players have a large collection of data about the game which gives them a significant advantage over those without it. This data is available over the net from various sources. You can sign up with a few friends if you want to be in the same game (call GSI for details), or just sign up and meet your fellow players on the phone or by mail during the game. Don't signup for too many games at once until you get into the flow of things and see what your time commitment and phone bills are like. - Patrick McGehearty patrick@convex.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- reply from gl8f@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Middle Earth (ME-PBM): a commercial strategic simulation of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe. [...] The commercial game Middle Earth (ME-PBM) has a mailing list. The human who runs it is kazandar@aol.com. >From the PBM List: Game: Middle-Earth Play-By-Mail (ME-PBM) Type: Conquest/Adventure (Fantasy, strategic) Duration: (Averages 25-40 turns) Turns: 2 or 3 week turnaround. Phone turns accepted (+$3) GM: Computer-moderated Costs: $6.50/turn, $25.00/$12.50 for first/following setups (150+ Page Rulebook, 2' * 3' Full Color Map of Middle Earth, 3 Month Subscription to GSI strategy magazine, 2 Free Turns) Description: Conquest and Adventure in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle Earth. In each game, there are 25 players who take on the role of a Dark Servant (10), Free Peoples (10), or a Neutral (5). The goal of the game is for Good to destroy all of Evil (or vice versa). An optional victory is attained by delivering the ONE RING to Mt. Doom or to Sauron. Each player controls a kingdom and individual characters. In many ways similar to Alamaze, but more developed. Opinions: THE BEST PBM I HAVE EVER PLAYED!! Your turns are laser printed and you receive updated kingdom maps every turn w/ updated character sheets for your heroes. If you in in love with Tolkien's books, this is THE GAME for you. ME-PBM has been programmed in consultation with Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.), makers of the Middle Earth Role Playing System. - Zach Harman (zharman@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu) Company: Game Systems Inc. (GSI) P.O. Box 160129 Miami, FL 33116-0129 (305) 274-5559 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- The ftp sites don't have anything on this game. I know that there are lists of various items & locations & encounters out there, which I would love to archive. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #8 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: talus@delphi.com Subject: ME-PBM: Encouter-Amon LHAW and Amon Hen Date: Thu, 9 Jun 94 22:39:41 I have just run into an encouter with a chair called Amon lhaw whith one character and a chair called Amon Hen with another. The options are the same for both: Destroy the chair Sit and clear your mind sit and think of a nation sit and think of a character sit and think of an enemy character's death say one word flee ANyone out there have any Idea what I should do in this situation? (Freepeople characters) Thanks ---------------------------------------------------------------- reply from millera@MCS.COM (Alan Miller) ---------------------------------------------------------------- No time to look it up, but I believe you want either NATION or CHARACTER. Most of the others will have no effect. NATION should tell you that nation's relations to you (so use on a Neutral or DS), CHARACTER should tell you something about a character. good luck, ajm -- Alan Miller \\ millera@mcs.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- Post #9 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: eichmann@ceres.amp.uni-hannover.de (Holger Eichmann) Subject: MEPBM: Games 46 (GAD) Date: Sun, 12 Jun 1994 11:34:01 GMT I am playing the Easterlings in game 46 in UK (GAD) and I am looking for other players in that game Holger Eichmann ----------------------------------------------------------------- Post #10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: u2k22@teach.cs.keele.ac.uk (R Vine) Subject: ME-PBM by E-Mail Date: 12 Jun 1994 13:37:29 GMT The UK game of ME-PBM (GAD) now supports turn input via email. The format of input is still being tweaked but the following seems to be working ok. Email GAD Games at 100065.3016@compuserve.com Game # Player # SECURITY # (char) (order#) (order code) (other info) aland 495 ArmyMan aland no order given byron 610 GrdChar aland byron no order given etc. Basically, as you can see, the format follows that given in the results. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ================================================================= The One Ring From Tom Walton I recently heard some odd rumors about the One Ring, which came out of a game where the Ring is currently at Mount Doom about to be thrown into the volcano. I didn't want to print the rumors without some hint of confirmation which, alas, I didn't get. But I did get a nice note from Bill at GSI which may interest you. Here it is: "GSI has deliberatly kept pretty quiet about the nature of the One Ring, other than it uses with regard to ending ME-PBM. It clearly is the most powerful artifact in ME at the time and, as such, it the hardest to locate and then secure. There have been quite a few succesful locations of the One Ring, including once in the orignal ME-PBM playtest. However, to date, all those attempts at bring the One Ring successfully to Barad-dur either went awry or the character lost the One Ring along the way. However, there have been many attempts, with a few being successful, since the 940 spell changes, and we expect to see the first game ending via the mechanism in the not-to-distant future. As much as I would like to comment further, GSI prefers to keep **mum** about the One Ring." Submissions A reader pointed out that many of the articles our faithful readers write are quite good and could easily get into "Whispers of the Wood". Unlike this humble publication, "Whispers" will actually compensate you with a free turn or two or a free setup in a new game. For those of you who've articles in a past Mouth, you might consider doing this. Remember, you own all rights to what you've written, so you can resubmit to "Whispers" at will. It'll also broaden your readership, as many who get "Whispers" don't have email. Think about it; you could actually profit (in a roundabout sort of way) from the articles you've sent to us! [From Brian: Several articles have already appeared in both (namely some of my early S & T, Tom's article on Winners & Losers, etc.). A submission to "The Mouth" would allow you as a writer to "wet your feet" and get some constructive criticism before submitting to "Whispers..." ] GSI and Customer Service This is another installment on the question we asked a couple of issues ago. These letters were picked as representative of a group of comments made (we couldn't possibly print all of the letters, it would take us hours just to mail the Mouth out). The names of both authors have been removed to insure anonymity. Letter #1 Once when I called to check on three turns which were sent in together in a 2-day mail envelope, I was told that only two of the turns had arrived. I explained that three had been sent together, so if 2 were there, then the third one must be there also. Sure enough, after sitting on hold for about 6 minutes, I was told that the turn had been misfiled. In another one of my games, my turn apparently never arrived at all. I was special serviced, so I called to see what the problem was. They said they still hadn't gotten the turn. Then, just out of curiousity, I called back a week later to see if the turn had arrived. It hadn't. So, 11 days had gone by since I mailed it, and they still didn't have it. I don't know if it got lost by the USPS or if it was once again misfiled. I also know that many people have complained about GSI's fax machine. Apparantly it doesn't print the turns very well...the ink gets blotched. I also recently heard a horror story about a "phone-in" turn. A Fire King player had 4 of his orders botched...two were "hire army" and one was "improve pop center". The fourth order caused large amounts of chaos...he had an agent in the Eothraim capital along with some Cloud Lord agents. He was supposed to be guarding one of the CL characters, but GSI says that he put 605 instead of 610. However, in the phone message, the FK said "Guard character" and he also gave a character ID. As a result, 2 of the Cloud Lord agents were captured by the Fire King. Now, I understand that the order # may take precedence over the order code. But I just don't see how they could have screwed this one up, especially when he gave a character ID with the order. Also, why in the heck would the FK be guarding the Eothraim capital? One thing that I think GSI should do to help alleviate problems, is to put players' phone numbers on file when they send them in. I know that this FK player has sent his phone number in numerous times. However, he failed to leave his phone number when he called in his turn. Either GSI doesn't keep them on file, or they were just too lazy to bother calling this guy to iron-out the discrepancies in the orders. It's been a while since I've spoken to this player, but I plan to call soon to see if GSI did anything to correct the mistakes. [Tom's note: many a complaint have been sent about GSI's fax machine. It apparently doesn't print very well and orders can get mangled for lack of readability. One person also told me a way he uses to track whether or not his turns arrived, which he developed after getting special serviced alot. He sends in a check for each game with a minimal amount of money in it ($15.00, now $25.00); if he gets special serviced he checks his bank records to see when the check arrived. Doesn't work so well now with the $25.00 minimum, but it is a thought.] Letter #2 I issued a MovArmy order to move an army to one of my pop centers where I had just shipped food. I FAXed in a correction when I realized I would collide with another army in the area. The correction was to ForcMar via a different route to the same destination. GSI got the FAX, changed the movement directions, but didn't change MovArmy to ForcMar. I ended up short of my destination, nowhere useful. I immediately sent them an e-mail message describing the error; two days passed without a reply. Finally I called, talked to Bill. He wouldn't move my army to the pop center because it appeared on other player's maps, but he did transfer all the food (stores + production) from the pop center to the army's baggage train (saving me an order) and canceled the FAX correction charge. I wonder though if he would have moved the army if it wasn't on an opponent's map. Also, he hadn't received the e-mail message even though almost two days had passed; good thing I called! Speculation for Middle Earth PBM 2940 By Lucas T. Cuccia II There are some character changes that can be considered reguarding The Noldo Elves (Elrond and his people) and The Rangers of the North (Aragorn and his people). As stated in the Return of the King and in other other passages, the twin sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir frequently joined up with the Dunadan Rangers of the North in their fight against the evils of the north. My proposal is that they are move from the Noldo ranks to the Ranger ranks. This would leave the Rangers having Aragorn, Elladan, Elrohir, Halbarad, and 4 others (possilbly some hobbits). [From Brian: The point of Elladan and Elrohir being included in the Ranger setup was metioned in the last issue of "The Mouth," but I doubt that Halbarad and Aragorn will be characters. Aragorn was not old enough, and presumably, neither was Halbarad (but then GSI has been known to get a little free and loose with the facts before).] To fill in these two character slots, the Noldo could pickup the following 2 characters: Galdor- He was Cirdan's envoy at the Concil of Elrond. He would be a second character to start at Mithlond West, with Cirdan being the other. Stats- 20 agent, 20 emmissary, 30 mage, and 25 stealth Arwen- She is the daughter of Elrond, and though she is to wed Aragorn, she still remains with her father at Imladris. [From Brian: Arwen spent most of the Third Age in Lothlorien, not at Imladris.] Stats- 20 emmissary, 20 mage, and 25 stealth By GSI doing this they only have to make up 4 new Ranger characters, this means less guess work on their part. Other notes- reguarding Thranduil's Kingdom of Northern Mirkwood Legolas should have the following stats: Command 30, Agent 20, Emmissary 20, and Stealth 20 Other character possibilties for this position are as follows (as per ICE's Mirkwood module): Camthalion- Commander 30, Agent 10, and Stealth 20 Heladil- Commander 20, Agent 10, ans Stealth 20 Huinien- he is Ringlin's master and is the actual owner Ringlin's 1650 era artifacts: Agent 20, Emmissary 10, Mage 60, and Steath 20 Arien-She is another assistant to Huinien: Emmissary 10, Mage 30 and Stealth 20 Other notes- reguarding Elves in general and their stealth: I feel that stealth in the new game should be on more rigid lines. The elves of this era are of four distinct "Quality" levels and should be awarded stealth in that manner. This should apply to the at start character base and maybe to new hires as well. Noldo should have 25 stealth. The Noldo are as follows: Glorfindel, Ringlin, Erestor, Galadriel, and Huinien and Aegnor of the new characters. [From Brian: Gildor is also Noldo.] Elrond and his family should have 25 stealth also. Even though they are half elven, the are of very royal descent. Elrond family is as follows: Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen of the new characters. Sindar and Nandor should have 20 stealth each. The existing characters are Cirdan, Gaerdae, Celeborn, Thranduil, Lanthir, Othar, Tharudan, and Taurnil. The new characters Legolas, Heladil, Galdor, Aldan, Arvairie, Carihir, Fanar (Nandor), and Turli de (Nandor) The Silvan are the least in stature of the Elves and should have 15 stealth each. They are all newly proposed characters. They are Arien, Camthalion, Haldir, Irven, Orophin, and Rumil. New hires should be given stealth along these lines. Other Note-It would seem to me that all elves should come with stealth. SInce all new characters are "Heroes", one would think that the few dozen (if that many) new characters created would at least be stealthy. Other Note-Beornlings in Middle-Earth PBM: This proposed ability in both games would give the Woodmen potentially great characters and it would make the nation requested more. The 1650 setup provides for the Woodmen to get either a stealth bonus or a bonus to there challenge rank. Why not give a character both and say here is a Beornling ? This would change the following Woodmen characters as follows. Beneoracer -30 command , 10 agent, 15 stealth and +20 challenge bonus Beoraborn-40 command, 10 agent, 10 mage, 15 stealth and +20 challenge bonus Bornbeneor-30 command, 10 emmissary, 15 stealth and +20 challenge bonus. Beorn of 2940- 50 command, 10 agent, 10 mage, 15 stealth, and +20 challenge. He was a real bad-ass. (Note in game 113, Waulfa at start and 5 new hires each had +20 challenge, if that number varies so be it.) By providing the Woodmen with the abililty to get a character with both 15-25 stealth and +20 challenge, they would be asked for often. Strategy & Tactics: The Witch-King >From Brian Mason I've delayed writing this article for some time for a couple of reasons. One, my worth co-editor waxed my Cardolan in game 62 playing the Witch-King, so he undoubtedly has better advice than I, and two, while Brian Lowery has not taken out my Rhudaur in game 97 he has certainly demonstrated that he also is "smarter than the average bear." Also, this article is going to be read by many other "pundits" in the game (hello out there Jeremy, David, Glen, etc...) who will be able to shoot numerous holes in my plans contained herein. Well, if I didn't think I could take a few shots, Rhudaur would have joined the Dark Servants in 97, so drop back, reload, and get ready, here is my effort... I'm first going to look at the usual set of basic data about the position, discuss important developments in the region which may or may not determine early exactly how the position is played. I'll discuss how these affected play in the specific cases of games 62 and 97. I'm then going to make some specific observations regarding the position. The unknowns in the region make such a big difference in how the position is played that it would be foolish to attempt to come up with a specific turn-by-turn strategy. Basic Data First, consider how the Witch-King compares to other positions (Allegiance Comparison Tables, Tom Walton, "The Mouth," #3): item for comparison among all among Dark Servants =================== ============== ========================= Total Tax Base 12th 1st Resource Base 10th 1st Combat Strength 8th 2nd Character points 3rd 2nd Artifacts 2nd 1st The Witch-King has fair production in some areas, very poor in others. Expected production (Population Center Development, Brian Mason, "The Mouth," #2) which has not been adjusted for climate for the nation of the Witch-King would be as follows: material le br st mi fo ti mo go =========== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== production 1359 342 151 13 4326 103 306 2491 Regional Development So many of the early actions of the Witch-King will be determined by how play develops in the region. The important developments which will affect play substantially are listed below as well as how they will pan out. I'll selfishly mention how these activities panned out in the two games I've played where the Witch-King has been my primary adversary. In game 62 I played Cardolan while the Witch-King was played by Tom. In game 97 I played Rhudaur with the part of Murazor portrayed by Brian Lowery. 1. The position of Rhudaur - These two positions essentially share the same map and are parked in each others back yard. This is the only position in the region whose armies are stronger than yours. Which way this position goes and how competently it is played will determine a great deal about the long term status of your position. In game 62 Tom convinced Rhudaur to join him. While Rhudaur did not last long, his attack on Metriath prevented the Cardolani invasion of Angmar. In game 97 Brian Lowery was unable to convince me to join the Dark Servants. We've been slugging it out ever since. 2. The position of the Dunlendings - While not as lethal as Rhudaur, this position joining the Free can be troublesome as it allows Cardolan to focus all her attention on you. If you can't get them to commit, every turn you keep them neutral is one more turn you do not have to face the recruiting power of Cardolan. In game 62 Tom also convinced Rhudaur to join him (Tom will tell you that diplomacy is not his strong suit - Ha!). It was the Dunlendings who eventually delivered the death blow to Cardolan. In game 97 the Dunlendings dropped. 3. The competence of the Dragon Lord - This position is even tougher than the Witch-King. If you can keep this player going he can possibly prevent the Woodmen, Sinda, and Dwarves from paying too much attention to you. I am unsure how the Dragon Lord played in game 62. However, with the drops of the Woodmen and the Sinda, Dragon Lord competence was hardly necessary. In game 97 the Dragon Lord play has been less than stellar (discretion prevents me from telling the truth here, but those in the game know what I mean). 4. How aggressive Cardolan and Arthedain are - If they come right at you with all their strength you will be pressed. If they play soft it will give you time to decide where and how to attack them. In game 62 Cardolan was a tiger (okay, a tabby). Arthedain was humbled into near submission after an early combat with the Witch-King. He became despondent and dropped following an agent assault by the Cloud Lord (courtesy of Jeremy Richman). In game 97 Cardolan was initially aggressive but his later play has been... well it has offset that of the Dragon Lord. Arthedain, despite being a new player, has been very aggressive and has continued to press the attack. 5. Which way the Dwarves go - Usually the Dwarves at Khazad-Dum go straight for Goblin Gate. If they instead bypass Goblin Gate for Mt Gunabad or move West out of Khazad-Dum you might have some problems. In game 62 the Dwarves started off with possibly some of the worst play I have ever seen (except, possibly, the 1988 Atlanta Braves). This position was later taken over by a competent player who was able to take out a virtually undefended Rhudaur. In game 97 the play of the Dwarves has been workmanlike. Heck, he killed Ji Indur, who am I to complain? 6. How martial the Noldo are - Typically, this position is not played in this fashion, however, if they opt for a massive military buildup they can do it quite quickly at Imladris, and put some impressive formations under formidable leaders on the field. In game 62 the Noldo made big plans. I never saw any of them pan out. They are, however, still in the game (anybody out there (Dave Holt? Jeremy?) who knows how this goes? In game 97 the Noldo have been played by three different people. First very conservative, then very aggressive (and foolhardy), and now playing in a more thoughtful manner. Possible Development 1. What to do with Murazor? The only weakness of the Witch-King is that he does not have agent skill. However, he is a formidable emissary, a powerful mage, and an adequate commander. The best place to put this wraith is having him as a backup commander move with your primary attacking army which allows him to: one, train troops to improve his command rank, conjure hordes to improve the army strength, provide artillery support for armies in combat with combat spells or fearful hearts, and provide an effective protector against some of the better challenging characters of Arthedain, the Dwarves, or the Noldo should the army come into contact with those. 2. Emissary Development: While Murazor is your most formidable emissary, he is far more important as a mage, and as a subcommander in your armies. Anguilion is an adequate emissary, and with the pectoral an excellent one. Given his starting emissary rank he can name emissaries early in the game (perhaps three of the first four slots). 3. Where to place camps: Many decisions for where to place camps depend a great deal on whether or not Rhudaur joins the Dark Servants. If Rhudaur remains neutral or joins the Free Peoples the following locations are good spots: 1502-1702 (at these locations you get both the good and varied production of hills and rough (albeit at poor climactic production rates) as well as ideal locations from which to strike at Arthedain (Fornost is one regular march from 1502 by calvary, one forced march from 1602 by cavalry). With Rhudaur in the fold of the Dark Folk, many other spots pop up, namely: 1803 as another hills & rough hex and the jumping off spots where the Cardolan and Dwarf maps do not overlap: 1808, 1810 and 1812. If you do not care whether or not you can be seen, 2105 and 2106 are almost inaccessible as well as many other hill & rough and mountain hexes. Also, 1905, 2005, and 1906 (the three village/towers) can be improved to town/towers. There are many other places all over the map where you can develop, however, most of these are done without having adequate military protection. 4. Bringing an ally North: I've seen this in every game, in various levels of involvement from agent actions of the Cloud Lord and Long Rider to direct military action with the some of the Mordor nations receiving recruiting bases from the Witch-King. Of all the Mordor nations the Fire King might be the best choice because of his free hiring of armies. However, if the South is secure either the Cloud Lord or the Blind Sorcerer (or, as in game 97, both of them) can also free up some resources to fight for Eriador. 5. Army actions: Only Northern Gondor starts the game with a better crop of commanders than the Witch-King. Of those, two (Dancu and Durkarian) have agent abilities and make excellent subcommanders. Also, with a better collection of combat artifacts than any other position, and better command artifacts than all except Arthedain they have an additional combat bonus. At first, the plan should be to recruit until some determination can be made for who to attack. It is possible to make a balls-of-fire attack on any one target, however, doing this on enemy territory might be unwise. Attacking Cardolan exposes your right flank to Arthedain. Attacking either one makes you vulnerable to Rhudaur while attacking Rhudaur leaves you open to subsequent attacks from Arthedain and Cardolan. Without regular recruiting and cooperation with the Dragon Lord, Mt Gunabad also becomes a very difficult position to hold. A strategy I have seen used with success is to place many of the cavalry forces under a good commander which then moves across and into Free People population centers in northern Mirkwood and Rhovanion threatening them away. 6. Mage actions: Both Fearful Hearts and Conjure Hordes are very effective spells for the Witch-King. However, unlike the Dragon Lord and Blind Sorcerer the realm of Angmar does not have an overabundance of mages to put into specific tasks. While Murazor can learn difficult spells, and can find artifacts, using him in this capacity does not allow him to provide army support. 7. The Dwarf population centers: 2004 is a thorn. Threaten it away soon. 8. Dragons: You have several population centers in the mountains and with a good encounter response list for dragons you can get these nukes in your army. These can drastically affect the balance of play. However, even with a good encounter list be prepared to lose characters: you will (so don't send in your good starting characters!). In many ways this position is most similar to Northern Gondor. Your position, while strong, is not as strong as those that surround and oppose you. You spend more time reacting than acting. Good Luck with it! >From Tom Walton Until Arthedain turned his tail between his legs and dropped, game 62 was by far and away the most challenging I've ever played. As the Witch-King, I was hit by combined Arthedain/Cardolan forces fairly early, as well as threatened to 'submit or die' by a very militant Rhudaur. Things did not look at all good until I managed to convince the Duns and Rhudaur to sell their souls to ol' Sauron; and even then, Cardolan still managed to wreck my armies and even get a force inside of Angmar. That was also one of my early games, so my dragon database had yet to be built. Because of that, I never had a dragon in any of my armies, nor, due of the incessant fighting, did I have characters to spare to comb the mountains. Much of my success was due to luck: three times I managed to guess where and when huge enemy armies would strike, catching them before they could hit Angmar; I also had some good fortune in my 'diplomatic' efforts regarding neutrals (despite what Brian says about my diplomacy, I convinced Rhudaur to join me by threatening to take him down with me if he attacked; I won the staring contest). In discussions with other players, I've found that many of my ideas for this position run contrary to what they'd do if they were running it. Ah, well. As with all of our S&T's, please take everything with a grain of salt. The Military This is a military position if there ever was one. You're essentially doomed unless the cards all fall your way, so you might as well give it everything you've got right from the beginning. This means recruiting, and to hell with the treasury or forced tax increases. In essence, you have to recruit 1400-1800 heavy infantry a turn to have any chance of stopping a combined Arthedain/Cardolan team which plays competently. Don't rely on having both Rhudaur and the Duns going your way, because even if they do (not bloody likely) they'll probably commit after the decisive opening battles. In addition, they'll no doubt be tied up with the irate Dwarves and others, limiting their effectiveness (in 62, Rhudaur wasn't terribly competent and was conquered by the Dwarves after doing much of nothing). If Arthedain and Rhudaur are working together, they'll probably make a combined push around turn 6. Good thing, too, because if you recruit at the above rates you'll be running a deficit in excess of 20,000 gold by this time. You'll essentially be on the verge of bankruptcy, so battle is a blessing. This is the first critical juncture of the position. If you guess where the enemy is going to march, you can catch them in a mega- battle which'll result in the utter destruction of most of the armed forces for hundreds of miles around. If not, they'll fly right past you into Angmar and wreak such destruction that you might as well kiss your nation goodbye. Even if you later destroy the nasty invaders, your economy will be so trashed you won't be able to stop the them in the next round. In game 62, I correctly guessed Arthedain's line of approach and managed to bring more troops to battle than he did. Though I lost Murazor that turn (Argeleb challenged my army commander, but Murazor challenged Argeleb first - and was cut down), I destroyed about 90% of Arthedain's armies and opened the approach for an invasion. My remaining forces were enough to capture/threaten the enemy towns. I've seen the above repeated so many times that my general tactics follow an 'after the holocaust' type of battle, wherein much of the armies that start the game are toast by turn 6 or so: - divide your infantry into one force and your cav into another. Have the infantry march directly into Arthedain and start threatening away his towns left and right. Try to draw the enemy to your main army, both to occupy his attentions and to keep him from counterstriking into Angmar. - with the cav force, make attacks to the rear of Arthedain. Don't capture; the Noldo can easily threaten away anything you take here. Instead, destroy all those little towns and villages in the backwaters. This will also lower loyalty, in turn making threats by the big infantry force easier to accomplish. - continue to recruit like crazy in Angmar. You'll need it to stop Cardolan, the Dwarves, and possibly one of the neutrals if they decide that you look too good to pass up. The above tactics provide for three things: (1) Home defense. (2) A second wave of armies if home defense isn't required. (3) The ruin of Arthedain. I don't recommend fighting more than one opponent at a time, especially for this position. You can't possibly out-recruit Arthedain and Cardolan, much less Arthedain, Cardolan, and the Noldo; your best hope here is to cripple or destroy one nation using your initial forces plus massive numbers of new troops, to even out the odds when the inevitable second wave of troops come pouring forth from the Free nations. If you can put Arthedain down, or hit it so bad that it becomes a minor power, the odds of you surviving to the mid-game are much improved. If you fail in doing this, you'll almost certainly be destroyed soon after. The Economy On turn 1 or sooner, raise taxes to 80%; you'll be needing the gold. Don't worry about loyalties, because all of your pop centers are fortified (and thus won't degrade). If you're concerned about Noldo emissaries, just remember that once they're good enough to steal your towns they'll do it regardless of what the loyalties are. Also on turn 1 dump all of your excess goods on the market, including any food in armies that you won't be using (leave your cav with food, though!). Try to build up your treasury to give you a cushion against a large deficit. In game 62, I was at one point running a deficit of better than -30,000, and the only thing that saved my bacon and allowed me to stop my Cardolani foe was a rather enormous treasury. Try to supplement your economy with captures close to home, ones that you can could for some length of time. The Dwarven town at 2004 is a good choice, as is the Woodmen town at 2405. Once inside Arthedain, the towns near Fornost Erain can be taken for a few turns if your main army is in the area and available to engage the enemy. There's some rather heated debate on whether or not this position should develop emissaries. Given the high tax rate and the automatic loyalty degradation, camps will be in peril of being lost if you don't spend several turns raising the morale. Even so, you'll have to come back and give the pop centers a boost every few turns. On the brighter side, the Misty Mountains are overrun by dragons, and this means that you've got some excellent free emissaries already doing the job for you. My approach is somewhat middle ground; I believe you should put down about a half-dozen camps in the mountains of Angmar and in the Grey Mountains, out of reach of enemy armies. Using the Pectoral, you can quickly raise these camps to villages to boost your tax base, then to towns (the only position that can really do this right from the start of the game). These camps will suplement the tax and resource base of Angmar, but their primary use is with.... Emissaries and Dragons Angmar is a military position, not an emissary one. With the Pectoral, however, you can develop a small but very competent emissary team capable of hitting an enemy town - and stealing it - in a single turn. They'll also be able to counter Noldo efforts along this same line. My suggestion would be to create an emissary early on, then have Angulion transfer the Pectoral to him. Create a second emissary to follow the first. Number one creates a camp, number two improves loyalty. Pass the artifact back and forth to let each get the big skill boost. One turn 6 or 11, have the two emissaries run back and create two more emissaries. Give the Pectoral to these two new emissaries and have them improve the camps to villages, while the original two improve loyalty. By turn 15 or so, you should have four very good emissaries AND the pectoral. You'll be ready to go on the offensive, or to work defensively by building new major towns off- map (in case you're in danger of losing Angmar). I recommend against naming more than four emissaries for the Witch- king. You'll need the rest of your character slots for army commanders. One other effect that both the camps and the emissaries will have is improving the chances (dramatically) of running into a recruitable dragon. There's nothing like a dragon to even things out a bit, and putting down camps in the Misty and Grey Mountains attracts them like flies to, well, you get the picture. If anything, this is much more important than adding a few villages to your nation. By using emissaries, you kill several birds with one stone. Characters Aside from the emissaries, build straight 40-point commanders. Your agents are relatively useless except for scouts against Arthedain and Cardolan (the Noldo will kick their butts), yet your characters are good enough to resist Free kidnap/assassination attempts during the opening game. Try to get agent support from other Dark Servants better equipped to be effective. The same goes for mages. Early mages just aren't going to be very useful, taking turns to train up - turns which you don't have. You can't afford to be wasting your character slots on characters you can't use. As for commanders...well, play the Witch-king and you'll see just how many commanders you're actually going to need. If anything, I was almost always short a commander or two even when I was maxed out on characters. Diplomacy and the Switch The entirety of your good fortunate is in the hands of Rhudaur and, to a lesser extend, Dunland. If you want to survive against competent opponents, you'll need Rhudaur's help. Be prepared to offer alot for his early entry into the war (artifacts are a small price to pay for 8,000 troops in aid just at the game start). Dunland usually goes good, so all you can really hope for here is to keep him neutral for as long as possible. Even neutral, Dunland will tie down some of Cardolan's troops, and he probably won't be able to restrain himself from stealing some Free gold. If you can keep him out of the war until one of the enemy is destroyed, you've done better than most Witch-king players. One very useful tactic I've seen and that Brian describes above is to have a Mordor player recommit part of his resources to Angmar after trading major towns. This improves Angmar's chances quite a bit, and provides a nasty surprise for unsuspecting enemies. If a Mordor power is otherwise uncommited, getting him to come north will be a blessing. Speculations on player positions in the 2940 game: Imladris/Mithlond Elves By Brian Mason A Long Digression Before I get into an actual analysis of this position, let me point out a technique I use for determining the abilities of some of the newer characters in me-pbm 2940. GSI uses the supplemental materials produced by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) in the naming of characters, encounters, artifacts, population centers and other aspects of the game. While my actual investment in ICE products is rather modest compared to some of the hard-core fantasy role-playing types out there, even my listing allows us to see some general trends in the table below. The first column list the character name, the second lists the Middle-earth role-playing level (from ICE), the third lists the combined me-pbm skill rank (from GSI), and the fourth lists the ratio me-pbm skill rank divided by merp level. The mean and standard deviation of this ratio is 3.09 +/- 0.6. Given this range, a low and high range is established within which the GSI skill rank may fall. Those are listed in columns five and six along with a flag listing whether or not the true skill rank falls within the estimated skill rank range in column seven. me-pbm me-pbm MERP skill / low high within Name Level rank MERP guess guess range? -------------------------------------------------- Hallas 5 50 3.0 12.4 18.4 no Seammu 7 30 4.3 17.4 25.8 yes Briam 7 30 4.3 17.4 25.8 yes Guntram 8 30 3.8 19.9 29.5 yes Bondan 9 40 4.4 22.4 33.2 no Morwen 10 30 3.0 24.9 36.9 yes Valadan 10 40 4.0 24.9 36.9 yes Alquawen 11 30 2.7 27.4 40.6 yes Chilperic 12 30 2.5 29.9 44.3 yes Broggha 12 40 3.3 29.9 44.3 yes Meneldir 13 40 3.1 32.4 48.0 yes Osric 14 40 2.9 34.9 51.7 yes Marl Tarma 18 50 2.8 44.8 66.4 yes Rogrog 20 50 2.5 49.8 73.8 yes Taurnil 20 60 3.0 49.8 73.8 yes Argeleb 25 70 2.8 62.2 92.2 yes Nimrodel 25 70 2.8 62.2 92.2 yes Elrohir 25 90 3.6 62.2 92.2 yes Elladan 25 90 3.6 62.2 92.2 yes Gildor 30 80 2.7 74.7 110.7 yes Amroth 32 80 2.5 79.7 118.1 yes Erestor 40 100 2.5 99.6 147.6 yes Glorfindel 50 130 2.6 124.5 184.5 yes Cirdan 60 150 2.5 149.4 221.4 yes Murazor 60 150 2.5 149.4 221.4 yes Elrond 65 170 2.6 161.8 239.8 yes Some interesting things are noted about this. First, in general, the higher the level, the lower the ratio (dropping as low as 2.5), and second there are some cases which flat do not fit (e.g. Hallas). These are probably cases of GSI introducing the artificial inflation of attributes to get greater game balance. Back to the Imladris/Mithlond Elves Now, getting back to the position, this one has the potential to be the least changed of all the player positions. I mentioned in a previous issue the possibility that Imladris could be the capital of the Ranger position, but with the exception of that play, not much else is likely to change. Generally, throughout the Third Age, the total number of Elves in Middle-earth decreased, so it is possible that some of the population centers are smaller in size (or possibly one of the smallest ones gone entirely). Apart from this, I would expect few changes in population centers. It is also possible that the Imladris/Mithlond Elves character position is very similar to that of the Noldo Elves from the 1650 game. As a matter of fact, it is entirely possible that they are identical. Listed below are the characters from the 1650 game and a supplemental list of characters. The supplemental list is included for three reasons: one, as mentioned in the article on the Rangers it is possible that Elladan and Elrohir are characters of the Rangers position. Two, it is also possible that the character of Arwen is a character of the Lothlorien Elves or the Imladris/Mithlond Elves. While she is Elrond's daughter, she is also Galadriel's granddaughter and spent most of the years preceding and following 2940 in Lothlorien. Three, it is possible that GSI might just include new characters to "mess with our minds." Note that some of those in the supplemental list have the lower "sinda stealth rank." Before I list this, let me state how I vehemently disagree with keeping stats the same 1300 years following the 1650 game, however, it is likely that this is exactly what GSI is going to do. Name co ag em ma st ============== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== Cirdan 40 20 40 50 25 Elladan 50 20 20 25 Elrohir 50 20 20 25 Elrond 40 60 70 25 Erestor 40 60 25 Gaerdae 50 25 Gildor 30 20 20 10 25 Glorfindel 60 30 40 25 Aiwe 10 20 20 Aranto 40 20 Arwen 10 10 20 25 Ascarnil 40 25 Coibor Dan 10 20 20 20 Hilvanar 30 10 20 Nardhol 50 20 25 Vilyadhol 30 30 20 The final item of business is to discuss what additional artifacts the other Imladris/Mithlond Elves might have (like they really NEED more!). Imladagollo - Arwen's Cloak - +30 ?? stealth or agent?? Runya - Ascarnil's Sword - +1000 ?? combat This position could possibly be a clone of the Noldo position from the 1650 game, or it could be drastically altered with Imladris, Elladan, and Elrohir gone to the Rangers and other population centers degraded slightly from the 1650 game. It is very unlikely in any event that the Imladris army from the 1650 game is still around. It is more likely that the army is even weaker. This position will probably be in a position in the early game to concentrate on population center development in the region most free of Dark Servants. Last Word Here I am, complaining again. Recently, in game 97 I was engaged in a combat at Carn Dum. Playing Rhudaur I was attacking the Witch-King. I had 1441 heavy infantry and I was attacking 1500 heavy cavalry. While my training and morale was better, he had a better commander, combat artifacts, and the benefits of defending the place. All other factors being equal, he should have destroyed my army, and still had enough left to lick his wounds. However, I had a dragon. No I've spent some time in the past issues of "The Mouth" talking about play balance, and nukes, and the general bad properties of dragons. But, I'm no dummy. If there is an inherent flaw in the game (like dragons encounter results being known TOO well), then it behooves you to take advantage of it. So, I found Throkmaw and demanded that he join me. He complied, and just to make it easier for me (or the Arthedain, or the Noldo, or the Dwarves) to find him in the future, I gave him an artifact. Like I said, I'm no dummy. The point of all this is as follows: I took a situation, where through skill I should have lost and because I have access to an encounter list I destroyed a superior army. Those of you who are into fair play, however, are advised that it didn't turn out well for me as he had a dragon, too. So my army also was food for worms. And in another development, he took my capital. But that's another story. Brian