From the Mouth of Sauron
Date: 03-20-95
Issue: E-29
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, kazandar@delphi.com
First Word
==========
>From Tom Walton
First off, I realized in reading a piece of mail concerning submissions
that I made a rather silly error about specifying shorter line lengths.
The line length in your articles doesn't matter for one very basic reason:
I reformat for the shorter length in the Mouth using a wordprocessor.
To those of you who were confused: no, there isn't some arcane bit of
computer wisdom here, just yours truly struggling with yet another mass
misfire of the neurons. I would say I couldn't believe that I'd write
something quite so stupid, but since I've done it before....
For those of you who may want to cash in on articles that you've written
for the Mouth, Stuart (editor of "Whispers" at GSI) has expressed an
interest in contacting some of our writers for reprint rights. I believe
you get a free setup for an article and two free turns for a piece of
fiction. Stuart will try to get in touch with you if he likes what he
sees, and if he doesn't have your email address I'll send you a note and
GSI's AOL address in case you want to talk to him.
Finally and totally off topic, I recently spent a little time downloading
a new usenet newsgroup list and combing it for fun stuff (one of those
late-night I'm-too-tired-to-do-anything-serious-and-want-to-be-entertained
things). For those interested in the truly weird, I'd recommend jumping
in to alt.alien.visitors for a little comic relief. The postings were so
bizarre I completely lost track of time reading them. Did you that I and
other skeptics are actually paid government informants under the mind-
control of the 'new world order', a secret group of government officials
and aliens who're determined to seize the Earth? Ya learn something new
every day....
Tom
Encounters
==========
Info from Paul Erik Lundstroem
Dragons:
The elusive Gostir is spotted at 4202 (don't ask me why I have a camp
there, it's a stand-by position!). There has been some thoughts in a
previous Mouth about Dragon appearence (where they show up, not how they
look!), and it could seem that Gostir only appears in rows 1 to 3, where
it's really, really cold. Also note, that it's a plains hex, so it might
be the only Dragon showing up in non-Mountains.
[Tom's note: actually, Itangast will sometimes appear in the rough hexes
of northern Calenardhon (near Fangorn forest), as will some other dragons
in Dunland and near the Misty Mountains.]
Leucaruth:
state your NAME: injured/killed (DS character, had 25 health left after
the encounter).
Aivnec:
state ALLEGIANCE: recruited (DS) - confirms the list.
Spiders:
Spider encounter at 3108. Spider was named 'Enna San Sarab' - note: it's
outside Mirkwood. DS character fled, and was forced to combat the thing.
Won the battle (character had 53 challenge rank). Note also, that Enna San
Sarab is a Major Spider in ICE. The mother to all the 'smaller' spiders
roaming Mirkwood, and herself daughter of Shelob. She sits in Dol Guldur,
breading little-ones! She is also frequently seen in Pop.centers
influencing loyalty in a Balrog-like manner (if you've ever wondered who
Enna San Sarab was, it's not a persistent Emissary from your opponents
:-)).
Celeborn:
Did not destroy any troops in a Dragon Lord army encounter.
Daeron:
Attacked by a challenge 197 DS character - and killed (sob..). Netted 2000
gold pieces, and a Teleport Spell (68%).
Lonely Mountain:
The guy who finished Daeron (Duran) prombtly moved to the Lonely Mountain
at 3107, and had the famous Troll encounter. He tried to EXPLORE the
caves, and was forced down the mountain by dozens of wild Trolls. He took
12 damage. I can't really figure this one out - maybe you have to have a
High challenge as well as making the right response?? 199 (he went up 2,
after Daeron) should be enough for almost anything (IMHO). Well, he's
going in again, so we might check it out later.
[Tom's note: this has got to be a response item and not a challenge item.
I don't know of anyone who's beaten it yet.]
Ancient Barrow:
The list suggest you can beat the Wight by REMOVE'ing the runes on the
Barrow. However, I can tell you that it doesn't work allways (my 54 Emis
can - well, could have - witnessed that! So a challenge rank of 27 isn't
enough. The encounter stated, that: "Try as he might (though the Emis was
a She!), the enchantments on the door seemed beyond her (hey, the programs
noticed!) skill to break." This could suggest that a stronger character
could have done it, or maybe just a character with Mage skill...
Riddles
=======
>From Rock:
Brian, here's a riddle that one of my teammates in ME-PBM(2950) G 23 got.
Any ideas as to answers? Publish if you want....
Last of the old is she
A force that even the Dark Lord fears.
A place of shadows is her home
And our own screams are the last sounds anyone hears.
Brian's reply:
I'd guess Shelob ("the last child of Ungoliant").
Game 22 - lessons learned about "grudge matches"
===============================================
by Dave Holt
In many ways, game 22 (2950) is similar to any random MEPBM game that you
might sign up for. Unlike many grudge games, the players on all sides in
game 22 didn't know each other and didn't know what to expect from their
teammates, the neutrals, or the enemy. In this way, game 22 is inferior
to a real grudge game where you sign up with a group of players that you
know and have played with and can trust. The BIG positive exception about
game 22 is that everyone in the game is supposed to have email access.
This was a powerful incentive to participate in this game for me.
Properly used, email is a very effective communication mechanism that
allows a team to coordinate and cooperate and work as a TEAM -- not a
bunch of individual nations.
That said, we can examine what went wrong on the Dark Servants team early
in game 22. Without naming anyone, we can point out that some members of
the Dark Servant "team" were, ahem, uh, "ABUSIVE" of other members. In
fact, they FLAMED the other team members in email. Worse, the flames
lacked much in the way of substance.
Lesson 1: Giving advice or proposing strategy to your teammates is GREAT!
But theres a way to do it nicely, and a way to do it coming off like a
total Bozo. Pay attention to the tone of your email. Offer suggestions
without negative judgements or personal attacks.
Lesson 2: Do homework. Read other team-members turn reports. They
contain a wealth of information. Don't jump to quick conclusions without
doing the research to understand your teammate's thinking & strategy. If
you don't understand, often a quick email that asks a question about the
area you don't understand is far better than jumping into an abusive
critique. If you're right, maybe your question will cause the recipient
to think through your point and come to a better idea.
Lesson 3: Email as a communication medium is very unforgiving.
Criticism, even well-intended, can often sound demeaning or insulting.
It's always best to re-read & edit your email after you've written it and
before you send it. I find that this helps me a lot.
Now let's look at the team selection methodology for Game 22. Please note
that I think Tom and Brian tried an experiment here [Tom's note:
actually, this is Brian's baby; he did all the work]. They got a game
together in a new and innovative way. Whenever something innovative is
tried, it's very useful to go back and analyze what worked and what didn't
work associated with the innovation. I think grudge games where the
people on a team know each other are superior to grudge games where the
people don't know each other.
MEPBM is a game that has great game balance *IF* one side doesn't lose too
many nations early on due to incompetent play, special service, dropped
positions, etc. As such, it's my personal preference to play in games
with people that I know and trust on my side, and believe it or not, on
the opposite side as well. The best MEPBM game I've ever been involved in
is just such a game (5x2: 162 - 1650). There's five free people who are
very experienced and who play very well together against five of us dark
servants who are also experienced and play well together. It's turn 21
and there's no clear winner. The advantage in the game has see-sawed back
& forth.
Lesson 4: To create the "most fun" for all the players, the game must be
well balanced. To be well balanced, the players must play as a team and
must be competent. A game where teams sign up, rather than where
individuals sign up (except for neutrals), optimizes the chances for a
well balanced game.
That's pretty much it. Now we've revitalized the game #22 Dark Servants
and are preparing lots of schemes and plans to do what the DS do best...
We're working much better as a team and I really appreciate the team
members who stuck with it for doing so! Also, many thanks to the new
players who joined us! Wes, Michael and Phredd have proven to be excellent
communicators and are really contributing!
"Ji Indur and Adunaphel share Bunk Bed", Story at 11!
=====================================================
by Dave Holt
In the process of keeping game #22 (2950) alive, well, and kicking, I took
on several positions during the turn of transition (#3). I'd like to
thank Phredd Groves for stepping up to the plate and helping the DS make
it through that transition. He ran the WK and DrL turns for turn 3. I
ran the IK,CL, and QA for turn 3. By turn 4, we added Michael Robinson as
the Ice King, Wes Fortin as the Dragon Lord, and Phredd stayed on
permanently as the Witch King. This left the Cloud Lord still in my
hands. I'd like everyone to know that this is only a temporary situation.
I'm trying to find a CL player who can live up to the standards set by our
other new players -
1. good email response
2. good communication content & tone
3. experience
This may not happen overnight, but will certainly happen soon. I've got
a candidate who matches all of the above. I just need for him to decide
it will be fun! Anyway, for those of you concerned that I'm going to have
the only two-nation position in this game permanently, don't worry. I'll
bow out of the CL as soon as we find the right player. I promise!
Player Roster List for Game 22
==============================
>From Brian Mason
The roster of game 22 has seen some changes (many outlined in the
submission by Dave Holt), and in response to one of the players below is
a current roster of players. Note that there are two players listed for
the Riders of Rohan position and one player listed for two Dark Servant
positions. Also note that the Corsairs are no longer listed in with the
neutrals having declared for the Dark Servants (Boo! Hiss!).
Woodmen Steve Latham ozz@majiq.com
Northmen Mike Hostetter michael_hostetter@jhuapl.edu
Riders of Rohan Rochelle Newman v313mdm8@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
Dave Rossell v011l6fc@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
Dunadan Rangers Raul Lundstroem polle@murazor.ping.dk
Silvan Elves Ron Cudworth rcc6@jaguar.uofs.edu
Northern Gondor Mark Jaede v123h3m2@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
Southern Gondor Brian Lowrey brian@majiq.com
Dwarves Chris O'Donnell UaDonaal@aol.com
Sinda Elves Brian Mason mason@chara.gsu.edu
Noldo Elves Tom Walton kazandar@aol.com
Witch King Phredd Groves phredd@nwu.edu
Dragon Lord Wes Fortin baklor@aol.com
Dog Lord Ross Weaver u9214727@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca
Cloud Lord Dave Holt holt@chromatic.com
Blind Sorcerer Mike Tebrinke mike_tebrinke@aud.alcatel.com
Ice King Michael Robinson MRRobinson@aol.com
Quiet Avenger Dave Holt holt@chromatic.com
Fire King Joe Thomas jhthomas@oracle.com
Long Rider Rich Frost rafrost@aol.com
Dark Lieutenants David Ringrose ringrose@ix.netcom.com
Corsairs Jeremy Edmonds jedmonds@gi.com
Brian
IT'S A TEAM GAME......
======================
>From Colin Forbes
There are not many PBM's out there that are first and foremost
team games. To be fair, most PBM's give some scope for diplomacy, but a
game that takes team play as far as Middle Earth does is rare. As a result
it has to be said that many PBMers are not used to playing as a team -
something has been shown up in several games of Middle Earth.
So what exactly is the difference between a normal cut-throat
PBM and this game? Well first and foremost of course, whatever position
you play be it the wealthy Haradwaith or the weedy Woodmen, you have no
chance at all of winning unless your team wins. Far too many Middle Earth
players ignore this and take the attitude of "well we'll pull through
somehow". True enough, on a number of occasions where a team has not
worked well together, their side has still won, and those that just sat on
the sidelines often did well. But hold on a moment. How many people can
truely say that they enjoyed playing in such a game? I'm fairly sure that
most Middle Earth players like feeling part of a team, they like to know
there's someone there to back them up, and (most importantly of all in my
book) aren't games where the team works well more enjoyable?
To take a couple of examples of games I've played in, i.e. games
10 and 17. Game 10 was a close fought battle for 26 turns, and it was not
until the last three or four turns at most that we began to think that as
Dark Servants we might actually pull it off. We'd had armies all over
Mordor, and several team members had been reduced to little more than a
major town and a couple of camps at some stage. Still, teamwork won the
day, for we were able to co-ordinate to the extent that those armies in
Mordor were disposed of by agent action, and nations on the verge of
bankruptcy were selfessly bailed out by those with money (ie Harad and the
Dark Lieutenants). On the contrary in game 17 both sides seemed fragmented
from the very beginning. By the time I (as Dunland) joined the Dark
Servants the game was already degenerating into faction fighting. In the
end I was attacked by two of my so-called allies, making it very difficult
for me to actually go on and wipe out the Dwarves and Sinda (the only two
Free People's left). In the end I won, but I must say that the game was
nowhere near as enjoyable as game 10. I don't think it was a co-incidence
that the enjoyable game was the one where I was part of a team.
So what makes for a good team? Well to begin with a newsletter
is vital, and something that is often underestimated. A newsletter can
serve several functions. Not only does it keep all team members informed
of the other's activities, but it can also build morale (thus cutting down
on drop-outs). Newsletters may also play an important role in convincing
neutrals to join your side. I for one would be far more likely to join a
side if I was receiving regular communication from them, and a newsletter
indicates that they are well organised, in other words people you want as
your friends, not your enemies!
It is essential in a team game for everyone to play as team
members first and individual players second (at least in the vital first
half of the game). From the Free People's point of view this is important
as a number of positions, especially the Noldo Elves, tend to lend
themselves to those whose style of play is simply to sit there and do
nothing. This is counter-productive and endangers the teams chances of
victory - at the very least it will unduely prolong the game. The Noldo
have great characters and really should use them aggressively, especially
those emissaries and of course Elrond can challange just about anyone and
win. The Mantle of Doriath should be used to hide vulnerable population
centres, preferably by being given to a character with a Teleport spell.
Both sides should, at the begining of the game, seriously
consider swapping a few major towns, Olbamarl for Lug Ghurzun is a typical
example as this gives the Long Rider a useful recruiting base and the
Dragon Lord a much needed safe haven. The Eothraim should really see that
their survival is dependant on a co-ordinated attack on Mordor early on
together with North and South Gondor. Similarly the Dark Servants will get
nowhere acting individually in the early stages of the game, but together
they can assemble a powerful military force. I've heard of at least one
Ice King player and several Blind Sorceror's that have disbanded their
forces on turn one. This is irresponsible, and if such a player survives
to the later stages of the game, they will probably find themselves with
only a small number of 'allies' remaining.
As the game moves on it may become necessary to save nations
from going under by giving them a major town. Players should not hesitate
to do this, especially the Gondors, the Noldo and perhaps the Sinda who
are in the best position to help in this way. The Dark Servants have a
more difficult task in this respect, but the Blind Sorceror, Dog Lord or
Fire King should stand by to help out the Ice King should it become
necessary.
The neutrals are of course in a slightly different position in
that they do not start as part of a team, and they will often sit around
for some time before deciding which way to jump. But here again a team
game is important, if only to attract the neutrals to one side in the
first place. Whilst there are people that will join a losing side just for
the fun of it, there are even more neutrals that want to join a side they
perceive as winning. Solid team play and a good newsletter will help this
perception. But what happens once a neutral joins? All too often neutral
players seem to want to retain some 'special' status once they have
declared, when surely they should be a part of the team? To take a prime
example, Harad should be prepared to finance nations on the brink of
bankruptcy. I've seen this happen in more than one game, and in all cases
it's been vital to that team's eventual victory. I should say that I don't
really think Harad suffers too much doing this, by virtue of their
position they will always be in a good position to place well, if their
team wins!
To conclude, Middle Earth is designed as a team game, and it
should be played as one. Any group of ten people willing to make some
sacrifices will find themselves enjoying the game far more than if they
played it as a bunch of individuals. Artifacts, armies gold and even
characters are all essentially disposable, and should be sacrificed if
need be for the good of the team. Of course the most enjoyable games of
all are those with two opposing teams! Then its fast and furious from the
off - very much a case of all for one, and one for all!
- - Colin Forbes.
A Sort-Of Neutral Rebuttal to Colin's Article
=============================================
>From Tom Walton
I've played neutrals a number of times and love the positions primarily
for two reasons: they're all military-oriented; and you have a choice
concerning which team you get to join. This last is especially important,
as it allows you some chance to avoid getting on a team of people you
don't particularly care for (egomaniacs, whiners, etc.).
While I would expect a neutral who joined my side to participate as much
as any other member, I'd also bear in mind that that player most likely
joined the game to win. It's been my experience in games like 1650-68 and
others that allegiance members demand far more from a former neutral than
could reasonably be expected. They want the neutral to sacrifice cash,
towns, characters, materials, and armies without regard to that neutral's
future survival or prospects for winning the game. They portray the
neutral's former status (being uninvolved in the war) as a sin that
somehow must atoned for, preferably by the neutral getting it's teeth
kicked in to the benefit of the other team members.
I firmly believe that a former neutral who holds the well-being of his
nation first and foremost is simply being rational and not asking for any
'special' status. The act of joining an allegiance doesn't require you to
take stupid risks or give up any chance you have of placing simply to
appease the desires of others; nor does it mean that you have to give
others the power to make decisions for you. Mind you, this is not to be
confused with the isolationist neutral, the guy who doesn't declare until
turn 25, or who declares but refuses to participate in any meaningful way.
As a neutral, there were a number of times I refused to declare for either
side because the players sniveled over the fact that I didn't join an
alliegance on turn 1 or 2, or demanded that I make a choice because it was
'unfair' to them for me to remain neutral. Other times I joined an
allegiance only to have everyone and their sister try to tell me what to
do or dismantle my nation for the 'good of the team'. I found the sheer
megalomania inherent in these attitudes to be astounding, to say the
least. [note: this is not in reference to Collin's article and really
has nothing to do with what he said. He never implied that he thought
along these lines.]
On the brighter side, even if both sides prove unacceptable you can still
have fun. On a couple of these occasions I simply remained neutral and
destroyed everyone within reach, enjoying the screams of outrage from both
allegiances as my crazy cav carromed about the countryside burning the pop
centers of one and all. When in doubt, emulate Genghis Khan, a fun-loving
guy if there ever was one!
More On Encounters
==================
>From Darin Fitzpatrick
Because some previously published explanations of encounter investigation
are not entirely clear to some readers, I would like to explain the
encounter process as I understand it. This information is based on both
experience and conversations with GSI.
Types of Encounters
-------------------
Encounters come in two basic types: army encounters and character
encounters. Army encounters show up as reports by the army commander.
They do not allow any response. Character encounters show up either as
something to be investigated (a hidden path, cave entrance, underground
maze, etc.), or as a specific situation with a list of options. They only
occur for characters traveling alone or with a company.
Occurrence of Encounters
------------------------
A random function determines whether an encounter occurs. If one does
occur, it is reported late in the turn sequence -- after movement. Thus
the encounter takes place at a character's new location. If several
characters are at the same location, it is randomly determined who will
get the encounter.
If the encounter is not reported to any character, you can't interact with
it. For example, if you move to Amon Lhaw, but don't get a report of
either seeing the High Seat or finding a hidden path, you cannot use the
chair. I once tried this, issuing order 285. I got the response that no
circumstances were around to react to. Later in the turn, I encountered
the chair after all.
[Tom's note: this is true, and in contradiction to some of the info GSI
gave out about a year or so ago. The encounter MUST be found by at least
one character in the hex for any character in the hex to react to it.]
Since encounters take place after movement, moving a new character to an
encounter location involves another random function. If the encounter is
an NPC, it may move away before your character gets there. (Dragon
chasing is a good example of this.) Also, Gandalf will still be in an
encounter hex after he interacts with an army, but he will leave the next
turn -- before a second encounter can occur.
Encounters also take place after scouting and recons. I recently had a
turn in which I was moving my army with an allied army. My recon showed
him in my hex at the end of movement, but an encounter destroyed his army
after the recon. This implies that icons that you see might not really be
there!
Responses to Encounters
-----------------------
Army encounters do not allow any response. They are over by the time they
are reported.
Unknown encounters are meant to be investigated, using the order 290,
InvEnc. This order will cause you to get the full encounter description
the next turn, assuming you stay in the hex. I don't know if you can
investigate, move the investigating character away, move a new character
to the hex, and still get the full encounter.
Some encounters, when investigated, will simply happen, without allowing
any response. A typical example is the spirits & wights who guard some
hidden artifacts. You either beat them or you don't.
If you give order 285 after an unknown encounter, you will experience the
full encounter as if you had already seen its description. If you guessed
what the encounter was, you might have given the correct response.
Otherwise you are shooting in the dark, and may or may not have a response
that "fits" the encounter. You might want to try this for encounters that
don't move (Amon Lhaw, Lonely Mountain, Paths of the Dead) or if you can
see an NPC in a pop center.
If a character gets a report of an unknown encounter, another character in
the same hex, and of the same nation, can issue the InvEnc order. Note
that this is more limited than the RspEnc order.
Full encounters with a list of responses require the order 285, RspEnc.
I have not seen a difference between giving the "FLEE" response and simply
ignoring the encounter, although some encounters may differentiate the
two. Riddles also require order 285.
Another character of any nation in the same hex can also respond to the
encounter. I don't think you have to be friendly with the first
character's nation, so you could get a Nation Message that so-and-so had
an encounter at your location and "steal" the encounter. It is possible
that you have to be in a company with the first character (or of the same
nation) in order to do this, but I've never tried it.
If more than one character gives a response, they will all have the
encounter. Of course, if one defeats an NPC, the others cannot also
encounter it.
A character with or in command of an army cannot have a character
encounter. They can therefore not respond to a character encounter seen
by another character. The rulebook blatantly misstates this; it should
read, "Only characters traveling alone or with a company can respond...."
Success in Encounters
---------------------
Some encounters are pure combat, and they seem to be based solely on
challenge rank, including all artifacts. The spirits & wights that guard
hidden artifacts seem to work the same way. Certain artifacts give
bonuses when fighting certain types of creatures (undead, spiders, wolves,
etc.)
Others will be easier for characters with certain skills; GSI specifically
states this fact. Except for agents stealing from sleeping dragons, I
have never seen any compilation of skill-based success rates in
encounters. This would make a very interesting project.
Allegiance clearly influences some encounters. Nation may also play a
part. It is also possible that only certain specific characters can
succeed in an encounter. The "NAME" response for dragons implies this; it
might prove true for Aragorn and the Paths of the Dead.
Some luck is also clearly involved in the outcome of an encounter. A
powerful character giving the "right" response can still die.
I hope I have cleared up some confusion without creating more. Encounters
can have a very great influence on the game and can also be a lot of fun.
Be prepared, and enjoy!
Some Encounter Myths
====================
>From Tom Walton
I haven't done this in quite some time, so I though I'd recap some
encounter myths for the newer players.
Olbamarl: no matter what you hear, there isn't any encounter which'll
allow an army to find a secret path to Olbamarl. Armies can't march to or
from Olbamarl (3329) - period.
Paths of the Dead: the army of the dead in the trilogy cannot be
recruited at the Paths in the 1650 game. Maybe in the 2950 game, but
definitely not in the 1650 game.
Demon of Aglarond: the Demon of Aglarond is not a balrog, and the 'a
balrog' report you see at pop centers near Isengard isn't the Demon of
Aglarond ('a balrog' really is a balrog).
Balrogs: balrogs can be encountered by both armies and characters. Any
character encountering a balrog - good or evil - will engage in battle
regardless of the response given. A Free/Neutral army that encounters a
balrog will lose quite a few troops, while a Dark Servant army will get
the balrog in much the same way as Free armies pick up Ents in Fangorn
Forest.
Ents: can only be recruited by Free armies that march through Fangorn
forest. There aren't ents in any other forest, and they can't be
recruited in character encounters.
Eagles, Woses, Hobbits: can only be recruited by Free armies. They can't
be recruited in character encounters. Hobbits are only found in
Arthedain, and Woses are only encountered in the forest hexes in
Calenardhon and Cardolan (perhaps only at 2622 in the 2950 game).
Dragons: no, not all dragons are recruitable. This is simply untrue.
And yes, several dragons can be recruited by the Free. Apart from the
dragons listed in our database, other I.C.E. dragons do not exist!
Werewolves/Vampires: can't be recruited into armies no matter what anyone
tells you. There is no 'favorable' response for Dark Servant characters
(best result is getting away without fighting).
Sauron: can't be encountered by characters, only armies. Evil characters
with armies may receive a skill boost; good characters with armies will
probably be slaughtered wholesale. Don't confuse vampires with Sauron, as
some people do.
There are many other rumors concerning various sites, but in the 1650 game
our database lists all of the 'fixed' encounters. Any others you hear
about are random (barrows, etc.) or simply aren't true. Believe it or
not, a small number of players get some strange kick out of distributing
bad encounter lists or lying to new players - beware of these devious
souls.
2950 Disappointments
====================
(author anonymous upon request)
My gripes about the new scenario fall into two categories: 1) the game
hasn't changed enough; and 2) the game has changed too much.
Like most MEPBM'ers, I was very excited when I heard about the new
scenario.
The shift in time to 2950 seemed like it would make the game more
"familiar", more in tune with the beloved "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
>From a business perspective, it seems like GSI would do even better
business and attract more players with the new scenario. Unfortunately,
they seem to have hastily thrown together an inferior product that doesn't
match the 1650 scenario.
Why are so many characters the same in the 2950 scenario as in the 1650
game?
Same picture, similar stats. Can they really have lived 1300+ years (even
the mortals)? It seems to me that GSI was just cutting corners. Would it
really have taken that much more effort to create new pictures, stats, and
names for characters? Additionally, the artifact list hasn't changed that
much. They may have changed some of the secondary powers, but for the
most part, everyone still knows which artifacts to locate and retrieve.
No newness there. I guess I was hoping for more than a cheap
re-engineering of the old game.
So that covers what hasn't changed. I'm also disappointed in how the game
has changed. Basically, the rules and mechanics of the game are
completely the same. It's the economics that have completely changed, and
that has consequences on the whole structure of the game.
All nations are starting out with few pop centers. The FP have seen a big
decrease compared to the 1650 startup. The DS have also taken a small hit
as well, but can count on more gold production than the FP. This makes
the economic situation much more balanced than in the 1650 scenario. In
1650, the FP had a military and economic advantage, in contrast the the DS
advantages in characters and geography. The economic playing field has
been leveled in 2950, and this therefore levels the military field as well
(in number of troops that they can afford to field). Fortunately for the
FP, GSI has evened out the characters somewhat. However, the DS still
have a geographical advantage.
Because most nations have small economies, they can only afford to raise
small armies -- hundreds to a few thousand. Armies of the size seen in
1650 won't be marching around in 2950 until the economies can grow
substantially. This has made combat spells and combat artifacts much
stronger than before. A 1000 HI army can effectively be defeated by 300
MA if the smaller army has a few big combat weapons and defensive combat
spells. While this is true in the 1650 game as well, you seldom saw it
there since armies were generally much bigger. It really screws nations
that have no mages since they will have no combat spells and little chance
to locate combat artifacts. Since the DS have many more quality mages, I
think this factor favors them.
Another problem with the smaller economies is the character distribution.
Incredibly, some nations are still starting with 6-8 characters that are
primarily commanders. Nobody can afford to be raising so many armies, so
all these duplicate commanders are a waste. Due to the financial
restraints, you can't afford to hire too many new chars, so it would be
nice if GSI at least gave you a good distribution to start with.
Obviously they do for some nations, but not for all. Hiring new
characters to completely fill out the ranks is just too expensive.
Finally, the market situation in the new game is even worse than before
(although again, nothing has changed in the rules or mechanics). Almost
every nation starts laying camps as quick as possible to try to build
their miserable economies. This results in a high product-to-gold ratio
which drives the prices down. You then have to place more camps to make
more product. You can't break the spiral until enough players start to
raise camps to villages. This is difficult to pay for with all the sell
prices falling and your sells bringing in little money. Somebody
commented in the last Mouth that his three buddies in the game all went
bankrupt before he himself dropped. I think this will be a common
occurence in the 2950 game. It also changes the early-game strategy of
eliminating opponents from attacking their MT's and cities with armies to
trying to drive them bankrupt. It will be a long time before you can
afford an army large enough to attack a castle, so you better try somehow
to hurt the enemy's finances.
So that's my assessment of the new game. If GSI thought that they could
eventually replace the 1650 game with this new one, they will be sorely
disappointed. I'm going back to the old game for good, and I don't think
I'm the only one.
Commentary on the Previous Article
==================================
>From Tom Walton
With my boss gone to Zimbabwe for a month, I'm being especially verbose.
Not because I can waste the taxpayer's time, mind you, but because when
left alone I can accomplish everything twice as fast (that's the way it is
in government). The office operates much smoother without executive
management....
In any event, I should point out that the pop center limit for the 2950
game is much lower than that of the 1650 game. So the huge armies one
sees in 1650 will probably rarely, if ever, be raised in 2950 - you won't
be able to put down enough camps over time to support the effort. In
fact, the only way to acquire the economic fortitude for large armies is
to cannibalize your neighbors.
I am also disappointed with the 2950 game, for several reasons. First, it
isn't a new product but a variation on an old one, using many of the same
characters, artifacts, encounters, and pop centers. Second, the economic
gutting that both sides took requires that nations spend time putting down
camps and upgrading pop centers prior to mounting major efforts - which in
turn lengthens the game considerably. Third, it just doesn't capture the
'feel' of the trilogy in the manner I was hoping it would; game events
can't accurately reflect anything close to the actual maneuvering that
took place during the War of the Ring. And fourth, the glaring
discrepancies in certain orders and rules weren't in any way corrected.
This would've been an excellent time to improve the game engine and to
dump those things which don't work (e.g., the light/heavy troops problem).
Like the previous writer, my curent game will probably be my last in the
2950 scenario. My next game is already slotted to take place in the 1650
scenario, where I know the action will be fast, furious, and massively
destructive (playing the Noldo in 2950 can be, um, a bit on the dull
side).
I would, however, like to hear from those of you who prefer the 2950 game
over the 1650 game. An article on why you prefer the scenario would be
even better appreciated.
Commentary on the 2950 Game
===========================
>From Ben Diebold
I had prepared an article whining about what I then felt was the failure
of GSI to accurately capture the flavor of 2950 in their new game. My beef
then was that the disposition of characters and armies seemed to be not in
keeping with what I at least thought it should be. Character-wise, I
thought the evils should have the great Nazgul characters, and then a
bunch of stiffs to carry out their orders, while the Goods had better
average characters, and a few guys as good as the Nazgul. On the army
side, I thought the evils should have a couple of cities in Mordor, just
spewing out troops, preferably geared somehow to lower and lighter troops
types, like men at arms or light infantry, while the goods had many fewer
troops, but with better fortifications, more armor and higher training.
I wrote three pages along those lines, before stopping to actually take a
look at the data. I downloaded the setup info for 2950 from AOL, and
entered it into a database (in FileMaker Pro for Macintosh and Windows --
a great database!). That enabled me to examine the character ranks for all
the kingdoms, and the sides. What I found surprised me a little: the
Goods, led by those fabulous elves, actually have pretty good characters.
But the Good characters are not well spread out; those fabulous elves
really do have the lion's share of character points, which is probably
accurate.
My results were the following:
By Kingdom:
Kingdom Comm Agen Emis Mage Stealth Chal Ranks
----------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- --------
1. Woodmen 31/8 14/5 20/3 10/3 15/7 37 64
2. Northmen 32/5 17/3 27/3 20/2 00/0 30 41
3. Riders 38/7 10/1 17/3 40/1 00/0 43 46
4. Rangers 49/7 17/3 15/4 23/7 18/3 59 84
5. Silvan 33/7 15/2 20/2 58/2 25/8 44 77
6. N. Gondor 37/7 15/2 20/3 25/4 25/1 48 59
7. S. Gondor 49/5 20/1 24/5 30/2 00/0 45 56
8. Dwarves 42/8 13/3 15/2 10/1 10/1 45 53
9. Sinda 30/7 13/4 45/2 52/6 21/8 68 104
10. Noldo 46/5 20/2 33/6 59/7 27/7 76 134
11. Witch King 48/4 20/2 48/2 52/6 30/1 64 83
12. Dragon Lord 42/5 30/1 23/3 44/5 30/2 54 74
13. Dog Lord 39/8 30/1 20/2 55/3 30/1 61 73
14. Cloud Lord 33/3 33/4 20/2 28/4 30/2 32 55
15. B. Sorceror 22/7 17/3 20/2 46/7 27/3 55 81
16. Ice King 28/5 23/3 15/2 49/4 35/2 44 63
17. Q. Avenger 21/7 23/3 20/5 30/4 30/2 35 63
18. Fire King 34/6 10/1 20/2 33/4 30/1 39 52
19. Long Rider 40/3 37/5 20/3 18/4 30/2 41 62
20. Dark Lieuts. 39/7 30/4 40/2 68/4 38/2 72 102
21. Corsairs 28/8 17/3 30/1 20/2 00/0 32 43
22. Rhun East. 30/6 15/2 20/3 30/2 00/0 35 41
23. Dunlendings 43/4 16/5 30/1 45/2 00/0 41 46
24. White Wizard 28/6 20/1 50/2 50/2 20/1 39 51
25. Khand East. 27/6 10/2 20/2 33/3 00/0 34 40
By Alignment:
Alignment Comm Agen Emis Mage Stealth Chal Ranks
----------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- --------
Neutrals 30/30 15/13 29/9 35/11 21/1 36 44
Free Peoples 38/66 15/26 24/33 36/35 22/35 49 72
Dark Servants 34/55 27/27 24/25 42/45 31/18 50 71
Interpretation:
The chart shows the average skill, stealth, challenge and total ranks for
the characters of each kingdom, with the number of characters having the
skill following the slash. For example, the Command column for the
Dunlendings of 43/4 represents the fact that they have 4 commanders, who
between them average 43 in that skill. The 134 in the Ranks column of the
Noldo means that their average character has 134 points of skill ranks
(which DOES include stealth). The Noldo and the Sinda are pretty dominant,
with the Dark Lieutenants a close third. Everyone else is a step or two
behind, at least as far as character ranks are concerned. Of course, every
kingdom has advantages and disadvantage
Comments:
Please note that no weighting is applied, or implied, here; by this
mechanism a 10/10/10 is as valuable as a 30, and emissaries are as
valuable as commanders. That becomes important when thinking about the
implications of the total rank column. As you can see, the Khand,
Northmen, and Rhun bring up the rear in total points. They are hurt not
only in not having many characters with high skill ranks, but in not
having many multi-classed characters as well. The Woodmen, by contrast,
have good overall characters (at least, better than I initially gave them
credit for), as much because they have so many versatile characters as
anything else, plus they have 8 commanders.
The neutrals definitely have weaker characters than either the Free
Peoples or the Dark Servants. Only one neutral character comes with
stealth, and that's Saruman. Of course, that's more than compensated for
by their generally stronger economies, and relative freedom from
molestation. The Corsairs are a very powerful kingdom, perhaps unfairly
so, at least in comparison with the poor Rhun.
There are a few small beefs I have still. For example, take Beorn. Now,
I'll agree Beorn probably shouldn't be a great army commander, but a 65
challenge seems a bit low. If there's anyone in the history of Middle
Earth who could challenge, it had to be Beorn. Remember the Battle of the
Five Armies in the Hobbit, how Beorn carved through an orc army and ripped
up Bolg of the North? Not in 2950; Beorn has to cower and refuse personal
challenges if he suspects Bolg is near, because Bolg has 30 challenge
points on Beorn. In personal challenges, Beorn should be a +50, and in
army combat he should work like an combat artifact. It looks like some
measures have been taken to beef the Woodmen up, but they, and the
Northmen and the Easterlings, could probably use more. The economies seem
very unbalanced, especially when winter comes, but that's grist for
another article I suppose.
And I still think the distribution of the points could be a little
different. I think having some differentiation between the Nazgul and the
rest would be good. No evil non-Nazgul should be more powerful than a
Nazgul -- Celedhring and Storlaga, for example, should not so completely
dominate some of the weaker Nazgul. Of course, the point is arguable; the
Nazgul were fearsome in Tolkien, but there isn't any indication that they
were totally dominating all the time. After all, they did sneak into Bree,
not conquer it, and some hobbits with torches surprised them on
Weathertop.
But this chart did cut at least some of my whining off in mid-stream. I
was complaining that the Goods needed more and better commanders, and,
doggone it, they do. I thought the Evils should have better agents, which
they do, too.
Anyway, I thought the chart was interesting, and felt like sharing it with
the ME-PBM community. I've been enjoying the Mouth, and thought I should
help out with something.
[Tom's note: I think the chart may more accurately reflect the actual
usefulness of skills if you eliminate stealth as a factor for characters
with no agent skill, and eliminate 10 skill ranks on characters who can't
reasonably be expected to improve their ratings in these skills over
time.]
AT BARAD PERRAS
===============
By Mark Jaede
"By the Valar, this place is a disaster!" Argirion poked a tentative boot
at a heap of broken bottles: Balrog Brew, Lugburz Lager, Wild Orcish
Rose. "Didn't these people do anything but drink?"
"They mined a little bronze," Anborn replied, toying with one of his ample
collection of daggers, "but only when the trolls flogged them."
Argirion walked on. "Hard to believe these Barad Perras wretches are our
kinfolk. Have you ever seen a sorrier lot?"
"Actually, I have," the younger man replied, keeping pace with his
commander. "I was once on a scouting mission to Umbar. It was enough to
make you glad that Numenor had drowned. Toothless pimps hawking scabby
whores on every corner, and Sangarunya's thugs demanding their cut.
Naturally, I refused to pay the thugs."
Their musings were interrupted by a crash and a curse. They looked up to
see a cowled figure with glowing red eyes attempting to look nonchalant
while extracting his foot from a discarded can half full of gray-green
paint.
"You want to watch out for those," Anborn called out. "The orcs left them
everywhere. Very limited sense of color."
The scene was much the same wherever they walked. Cracked masonry,
assorted fungi, frightened humans trying to look cheerful while wondering
if the trolls were coming back. The hastily scrawled "Weclome Eclethion"
banner over the entrance to what passed for a city hall testified
simultaneously to popular sentiment and to the educational achievements of
the former Ice King government.
"How long do you suppose these wretches will hold out once we're gone?"
Argirion mused. "Longer than you think, sir. Look."
And as Anborn spoke they stepped out into the main square, where a hastily
assembled militia was listening to their liberator and new lord --
Ecthelion II, Steward of Gondor. "Ye shall be as a city on a hill . . .,"
the old warrior was telling them, and their eyes were locked on his.
"Maybe you're right," Argirion nodded. "maybe they will hold out after
all."
ARMY MOVEMENT IN MePBM
======================
By Paul Erik Lundstroem
There has been, and maybe is, some controversy as to how Army Movement is
calculated in the game. The last thing GAD (UK) did while running MePBM in
the UK, was sending out a Newsletter where they discussed Army movement -
among other things. I have tried to redo the article a little bit,
throwing in my own comments, and hope it will be useful for everybody. I,
for one, were pretty surprised by the article, so maybe you will be too!
The issue of when you block another Army is also discussed.
Example 1: Army A at 2904 (Mountain hex), Army B at 3103 (Plain hex). Both
infantry armies. If I move Army A NE, E (towards Army B) can I prevent
Army B from entering the Mountain hex of 3002? Army A would cost 6
movement points to 'catch' Army B; Army B would take 12 movement points
climbing the Mountain. Both armies have food.
Answer: There seem to be a basic confusion as to how armies spend their
MP, and the time it spends them. If an army has sufficient MP's to enter
the next hex, then it enters the next hex, and SPEND THE MP's (days) IN
THAT HEX!! I.e. MP 0: army moves it's butt out of old hex; MP 1+: army
spends the correct number of MP's waiting in the new hex. So in regards to
Example 1, above: Army A moves to hex 3003 in MP 0 and spends it's time
there (3 'days'), Army B moves to 3002 in MP 0 and spends it's time there
(12 days), thus Army A cannot catch Army B - it's, so to speak, over the
Mountain before Army A shows up in 3103.
Example 2: There's an Army A at 3023 (Forest hex), an Army B at 3022 (also
a Forest hex) and Army C at 3121 (Rough hex). All armies are infantry, and
have food. Through all three hexes leads a Road. Army B wants to leave
3022, as both Armies A and C are Nasty opponents with loads of steel clad
Heavy-guys, with numerous Dragons and Mumaks (Oh, Dear!), and moves W to
2922 (Rough hex - there's nothing plain about that rough hex!). Army C
stands (H, H, H .. or doesn't move at all), and Army A moves NE - doing
the famous NG-Burger move. Will Army B get it's heroic butt out of there,
or will it be forced to stop because Army A enters the hex ??
Answer: Yes, our brave Army B will move out, at the same time Army A moves
into 3022. It does not matter that Army B has to spend 5 MP's (days) to
actually get to 2922, and Army A only needs 3 days to get to 3022! As
discussed above: both armies will move at MP 0! If Army B made just one
Home (H) order before moving (thus, beeing not only brave but also very,
very stupid!), then Army A COULD (see below why it's 'could'!) have caught
him in hex 3022.
Example 3: There is an infantry Army A at 3024 (Plain hex - hey! there's
nothing rough about that plain hex!), and an infantry Army B at 3124 (a
Mountain hex). For some odd reason both want to get to each others hex
(the famous Osgiliath/Minas Morgul charge - the NG's want to go to the
notorious Skiing in the Morgul Vale, and the Witch-king's orcs needs a
bath in the Anduin before going to the Democrat Convention with Galadriel
in Lorien). Who will go where?? What happens if Army B is and exclusive
Cavalry Army??
Answer: UNKNOWN! This is the only time an army might not get it's first
movement through! The first MP 0 move is random - either Army A or Army B
will move their MP 0 move, and thus pin the other army at it's starting
position. The constituents of the armies is not a factor! Both cavalry and
infantry armies move out in MP 0, thus it makes no difference.
Conclusion: armies move to the next hex BEFORE their FIRST movement point!
Important, when you need to figure out how to catch another army. Then
they spend the rest of the movement points 'waiting' in the new hex. When
moving to block an adjacent army (often down a mountain road :-)), then
you can simply flip a coin to figure out your chances! Also note, that if
you have more than one army trying to move and block another army (as per
question 3 above), your chances rises pretty fast with each extra army you
have! Or, the other way around, if you know your opponent has several
armies moving to block you, then you might as well skip the movement order
and do something more useful instead. Also note, that you can not 'catch'
a similar army when both armies move in the same direction, as in 2 above!
An Old Debate
=============
by Brian Mason
Galadriel had travelled far in the past fortnight, and though her muscles
were sore, she was gladdened to exercise them. Rarely had she traveled
this far abroad since she had come to dwell in Caras Galadon, yet the Men
of Bard had need of her. She had received a message from him that an
ancient dwelling of Khamul was hidden in the Mountains of Mirkwood, yet
his scouts had not found it.
Researching into the her archives in Caras Galadon she heard rumors of a
hidden village named Sarn Goriwing, and as she journeyed to the
approximate position that the ancient maps gave she came upon pickets set
out by Duran, a hideous malformed slave of the Shadow of the East. The
very presence of these pickets made clear the truth of both the message of
Bard and her own research.
Avoiding these creatures was not difficult for her, and she made her way
toward a quiet vale where she would camp for the night. To soothe her
aching muscles she built a small fire and warmed herself. Looking into the
fire she regretted many of her past inactions, but she would not let that
happen again. After some time she was aware of someone watching her. Not
a sound was heard, no stirring of leaves or other hint, but she felt
another presence. She got up to surreptitiously get more brush for her
fire and ducking quickly into some brush she came upon a Silvan Elf,
looking on her intently with cold, black eyes.
"Pelnimloth," she said, "welcome to my camp. What brings you so far from
Imladris?"
"I was looking for you, Reverend Lady." The words, thick with a sarcastic
tone, were almost spat out of his mouth.
"Come sit by my fire and warm yourself," she said.
"I have no wish to share your company," he said, "I have come to rid
Middle-earth of you."
Shocked by his bold words, she turned from him and went back to the fire.
She walked around it and sat down, facing Pelnimloth.
He strode forcefully toward her and spoke in a strong and harsh voice.
"I hate you and all the Noldor. We were at peace here in Middle-earth
until you returned. Morgoth came back because of you. Denethor of the
Laiquendi was killed because of you. Beleriand was drowned because of you.
Men have dominated the land because of you. What Sauron has wrought he has
done because of you. I will not let you destroy what little else we have."
She spoke in a restrained tone, "these are like the words of Eol before my
cousin Turgon. He was as wrong then as you are wrong now."
"Oh, yes?" he answered in contempt, "If this is so, why are the armies
which you and Elrond," with this name he spat upon the ground, "send to
war made up of Wood-Elves? Is your blood too noble?"
"What of my brothers, Angrod and Aegnor, Orodreth and Finrod?" she said,
now getting angry in turn, "What of my cousins Fingon and Turgon, and my
uncle Fingolfin? What shall we say of them?"
She lowered her tone and restrained her anger, "your temper has taken the
best of you. Go away and cool your head. I will not talk with you in this
manner."
Placing his hands on his hips, his fiery temper was unabated, "O! You will
do this, and you will not do that! O! How like you! What of your other
uncle, Feanor and his seven sons? What of them? I hate you and all you
stand for! I challenge you to personal combat, here and Now!"
"I will not be bothered by you!" she boomed at him, and in a flash
disappeared into the brush.
For a while she heard him following her, but then the silence ceased as
she outpaced him. When she finally paused it was near the dawn and she was
nearing the path in the rocks she wished to investigate.
Putting aside her debate with Pelnimloth she considered her reason for
being here. At Goblin Gate the orcs had a hidden cave entrance to their
underground realm. It was likely that they would have the same thing here.
She spied a thicker concentration of guards and scrambled over the rocks
and brush to find a narrow, but very well worn track. "This is it," she
thought to herself. Then suddenly behind her, she heard stealthy
footsteps.
She had time to think, "one of Duran's Uruk-Hai," when she was toppled
over from behind as someone leaped upon her.
Throwing the combatant off she drew her sword and quickly slew the hooded
and cloaked opponent. But removing the hood she then saw that it was not
one of the Uruk-Hai at all, but Pelnimloth.
"I am sorry to see you go," she said, ignoring the danger of speaking out
loud here. "I could not teach you truth, but perhaps Mandos can. I believe
you will be with him long."
Picking up his body so he would not lay among these foul creatures she
left Sarn Goriwing, marking the trail so that all could see.
"Zaken's Bad Day"
=================
By Dave and Rochelle
I should have become a mage like gran'mama told me to, thought Zaken
for the third time in what was quickly becoming the longest night of his
life. Mages sit around. They read. Maybe cast a spell. Nice and safe.
But nooooo. I had to see the world, have adventures. Now I'm stuck
in this barbarian encampment, surrounded by vicious horses and their
bloodthirsty keepers.
The moon reappeared from behind a cloud and he slipped into the
concealing shadow of a tent.
Sure. Ji Indur orders me to infiltrate the Rohan camp and kill
commander Erkenbrand. Easy for him to say. He can turn invisible. He
stalks nice, safe infantry commanders. Zaken rubbed the rapidly expanding
bruise on his right leg. I get the cavalry. Someone could have told me
that these damn horses were trained to kick intruders first, ask questions
later.
Clouds drifted back over the moon. Time to move.
"Woah . . ." Thump. Zaken tried to melt into the ground, while he
silently uttered every curse he knew.
"What was that?"
"It came from over there."
Two Rohan sentries sprinted into view. Zaken glimpsed light glinting
off their longswords before burying his head in the mud and concentrating
on just lying still; and creating new permutations on the curses he had
just exhausted.
"Don't see anything. Maybe someone slipped going to the latrine."
No, Zaken thought. Someone slipped *on* the latrine. Stupid
barbarians. Who in their right mind lets horses wander around a camp where
people have to walk?!
"Well, let's finish our rounds." And the morons walked off. Zaken
cautiously lifted his head. Their horses make better sentries than their
people do, he thought. Zaken carefully counted to one hundred, then
slowly, cautiously stood.
Of course the leg would stiffen more while I was laying down. He
tried not to gasp as he limped along toward the commander's tent. He
staggered up near the wall of a nearby tent and looked around the corner.
Ah, I'm in luck. No guards. No torches. Best of all, no horses.
'Bout time my luck started to change. Zaken drew his dagger and held it
inside his cloak to keep it from catching any stray light. Deep breath.
Slow. In. Out.
Good. Just do this, just get out of here, and you can go back to Kal
Nargil and drink orc booze until your leg doesn"t hurt anymore. In. Out.
Relax. Okay, gogogo!
Zaken did his best shuffle/sprint into Erkenbrand's tent.
"Shit! Woah . . ." Thump. "Aarghh!" Zaken screamed as his dagger, oh
so carefully concealed, stabbed him as he landed flat on his face after
tripping over some corpse someone had left lying across the doorway.
"What was that?" asked someone from the darkness of the tent.
Whoever it was, Zaken thought through the curses and pain flashing through
his head, he had a gravelly voice that sounded like it had a broadsword
attached somewhere.
"Alarm! Guards!" came the cry from the corpse, which seemed to be
rising and drawing some sort of blade.
"I thought we were the only ones to use undead," Zaken mumbled as he
desperately rolled underneath the tent wall, groaning in pain from the
horse-bruise and dagger wound.
A torch flared inside the tent. First thing to go right all night,
Zaken thought. They just lost their night vision. Better get out of here
while I still can. Before they rouse the horses.
Commentary on the 2950 Game
===========================
By Ben Pappas
I've never played 1650, but I am in two 2950 games. I play the Dunlendings
in one game and the Dwarves in the other. So far I haven't had either
nation healthy enough economically to mount any sort of army invasions of
enemy territory. Perhaps this is just due to the fact that both games have
been trapped in winter for the past few months. But even figuring for the
increased production I will get when Spring rolls around in a week or so
I don't forsee my nations becoming strong enough to support large armies.
In fact unless I get extremely lucky in placing camps on productive hexes
I don't forsee my economies every emerging into healthy surplus
situations.
The game is still very fun, but more of an accounting exercise than I
envisioned when I first read my rulebook last fall.
More Commentary on the 2950 Game
================================
By Adam Waters
I've been playing with GSI for quite a while now. I started out in
Earthwood back in the early eighties, and tho I haven't played with them
continuously since then, I found the way they handled the respinning of
MEPBM 1650 into 2950 reminiscent of the way they transformed Earthwood
into Earthwood 'Sea Kings.'
Earthwood had a problem you see, it was divided into player
characters and races, the problem being that the player characters always
trounced the races. When I heard that GSI was cooking up a new version of
the game I became very excited. It seemed like a chance to fix some
fundamental failures, and breathe new life and mystery into an otherwise
great game. GSI encouraged input from players; they asked for new NPC
types and city names with an award offered for submissions used in the new
edition. All over the country people scribbled down their thoughts and
pointers and mailed them in (GSI had no e-mail then). Anticipation ran
high, expectations higher, start-up requests boomed, and finally, at last,
after much waiting, 'Sea Kings' was born.
And what a disappointment it was. Instead of alleviating the
inbalance between races and characters, they aggravated it. I was stunned.
How could they have done this? Didn't they understand their own game? I
definitely didn't understand them. I played two games. I beat up the
Halflings, tra-la, tra-la. It was no fun. I quit.
How does this compare to the release of 2950? In addition to the
hype, sky-high expectations, and flood of sign-ups, a functional
similarity exists between the two games. In my opinion, 1650, like
Earthwood has a flaw. It suffers because agent power is out of balance
with the other 3 classes. GSI seems to have felt there was some tinkering
needed here too. I believe they wanted to level the playing field. They
did this by splitting the elves (thus more stealth) and sprinkling a few
agent artifacts among the freeps.
This was a mistake. In combination with the smaller economies of
2950 (and thus, smaller armies), agents have become more important than
ever. It is true that GSI may have given the freeps a better chance of
countering evil agent actions by beefing them up (don't ask me about the
ring of impersonation tho...), but at what price? At the price of making
agents overwhelmingly dominant. What was once an already overly powerful
character class has become even more so. What was a problem in the first
edition, has grown worse in the second.
A better solution to making more artifacts would have been the
exact opposite. Make less. Have only 4-5 agent artifacts in the game. None
over 30 points. Increase the evils economies a bit to compensate and let
them have at it. This would undoubtedly make for a better balance between
the classes. And, in my opinion, a more interesting and diverse game.
Unfortunately, it's harder to market "less" as opposed to "more,"
and easier to screw up a good thing than improve it. Chucking in a handful
of artifacts is simple, enticing, and guaranteed to ignite interest. It's
certainly easier than judging their impact.
Nevertheless, the jury is still out on 2950. By no means am I
calling it a 'Sea Kings.' Or at least not yet. It's still in it's
Wild-West phase, where tactics are loose and varrying, and so-called
'common wisdom' hasn't pushed out the tendency towards individual
creativity. After we've all played a few games we'll know where it
stands. A good game remains compelling after the mystery is gone. But for
now the mystery is still sweet.
Last Word
=========
>From Brian Mason
Well, we've hit the end of another issue. First a heart thanks to those
among you who made submissions. It is marvelous to have such a quick
response!
But, the battle is ongoing. We constantly need submissions for every
issue, so all you writers out there in net land, send us your work. We'd
love to see more from the current group of authors, those of you who
haven't sent us anything yet, and I'd especially like to see some fiction
from the Dark Servant or Neutral side of game 22.
Finally, let me make a brief comment regarding a topic Tom already
addressed in his "First Word:" the issue of articles for both "From the
Mouth of Sauron" and "Whispers of the Woods."
As many of you know, I did quite a stack of articles (of varying degrees
of quality) for "The Mouth" over the past year, and after doing a few I
took it upon myself to submit a bunch of them to "Whispers..."
Now, they didn't publish them all, but they've done quite a few, and the
net result is that I haven't paid for a setup since first starting the
game, and I've got a few "free setup certificates" sitting around at home.
I'd encourage all of you to write something for us, and while you email it to "The Mouth" also email it to Stuart.
Brian