From the Mouth of Sauron Date: 02-15-96 Issue: E-41 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@rio.com Back issues of "From the Mouth of Sauron" and the general info files are available at chara.gsu.edu via anonymous ftp. First Word ========== The holidays are long past and the Mouth is back in business. We planned to skip the 12-31 issue for obvious reasons, but not the 01-15 issue; that came about due to a rather nasty flu bug my niece gave me during Christmas. I haven't any news on my end, other than I really, really, really hate dragons - so on to the good stuff! Tom Dragons and Encounters ====================== From Lawrence G. Tilley ----------------------- I have been discussing dragon recruitment with my good friend Mark Seward. It is often useful to know which army a recruited dragon will join. Conventional wisdom says it's the army of the commander with the highest challenge rank - we are now questioning this. My own data is as follows: Dragons recruited into armies Source #Armies Chal Comm Size First Far Near ME3T6DrLo 3 Yes Yes No Yes Yes No ME51T31DrLo 2 Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ME51T21DrLo 2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ME51T16DrLo 2 Yes No Yes Yes Yes No ME51T16DrLo 2 Yes No = Yes No Yes #Armies: Number of armies from which the recruited dragon could choose Chal: Where the dragon chose the army commander with the highest challenge rank Comm: Where the dragon chose the army commander with the highest command rank Size: Where the dragon chose the largest army First: Where the dragon chose the first listed (alphabetically) army Far: Where the dragon chose the most distant army Near: Where the dragon chose the least distant army This would suggest the highest challenge rank. Mark however has found: Back in October in Game #11 I recruited two Dragons to the same army. The commander had a natural challenge rank of 34 (Com 28, Emis 53). I had six other army commanders three of which had higher challenge ranks. The character was not first listed, closest, biggest army or best anything with the single exception of a 53 emissary rank, no other commanders were emissaries but did have higher command ranks eg 59. No rule seems to predict this one, I still can not work out the logic of a Dragon joining which army. Also another couple of titbits from Phil Quirk (can other players verify the first one?): If a dragon joins a navy (in a shore hex/harbour), it immediately leaves when the commander does a MovNavy. By the way: you can practise cursing on a char. of your own nation - you are told that you were unable to complete the casting of the spell, but the casting % goes up anyway. The char. is unharmed. From Shawn Glass ---------------- Brian and Tom--I got bored one night and went through a few old turns to check the theory that the Dragon Lord cannot have characters killed by dragons. We have always heard this, however, even though I am playing the Dragon Lord (game 115, now turn 60), I thought it to be a myth. Guess again...not one of my numerous dragon encounters resulted in death, even when the response should have made my characters toast. When I began playing the Dr Ld. I didn't have the encounter lists yet, so I just guessed. Realizing I would die on my own I eventually found out Tom was my teammate and had them e-mailed. In all cases when my responses should have led to my death, I was instead reduced to 25 health and left for dead. This happened at least 5 times with encounters for Scorba, Lomaw, Daeloman, and Scatha. Some characters were starting level and could never have naturally survived a fight (33 Emis and 36 Mage). In other games as a DS or FP the same responses led to death or 1 health at the most. I have also had 4 dragons in one army at the same time, so there seems to be no limit (I didn't note which dragons they were, but I can find out if necessary). Wodurishak was the commander (over 100 command with artifacts). In the same game I also noticed my 3 army encounters with Celeborn didn't cause any troop loss, which surprised me. I eventually challenged Celeborn (Khamul chall. 155). The odds were given at 2 to 1 (my advantage) and I won, reduced to 52 health. In general game turns I have noticed there are 2 types of artifact undead encounters. One with spirits and another with spirits and wights. They both read identically (except for the "and wights"), except the second is considerably harder to defeat. I had an 87 challenger die to this encounter, seen numerous 60 and below challengers fall, and had a 103 challenge character reduced to a 20 health before beating the undead and claiming the artifact. I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I bet this may explain why 40 challenge characters can succeed at times while tougher characters fall to the attack. A quick recheck of the turn may show wights were the deciding factor. I have also found that woses are always present to attack DS troops at 2622, even if the pop center is owned by the nation. I had this happen at least twice, and an opponent in another game had it happen 3 times (when I was NG). This is great news for NG, especially if the DS are pushing him towards Angrenost. This would be an ideal pop center to upgrade and turn into a FP capital because of this added defense and since it is just off the DS maps. I also had the Ghostly Army Encounter at 1319 as NG. My character (a low level emissary/agent) decided to declare ALLEGIANCE, but "her words went unheeded as the two groups closed around her." Her health was reduced, but she came out of it with a command skill of 3. That's it for now...although I still have 15 other games worth of turns to go through. Next time I'm bored... BTW, have you ever heard of a use for order 805, Use Movement Artifact? The order requires only the artifact number, so I would think the artifact moves you to a predetermined location (a certain hex or ones capital). I have yet to see an artifact that requires this command. What's up with this? From Shayne Gray ---------------- Some info about encouters... In the stuff I ftp'd showed that it is rumored that Galadrial has artifact 164 (Tintelpe). In Game 97 I assassinated Galadrial with Din Ohtar and she did in fact have that artifact. Also with regards to an encouter with Gandalf it says that it is rumored that he gives a lost list spell. A friend of mine while playing the Noldo had 6 (I think) characters in his army when he had the encounter. Every character recieved emisary rank as well as a lost list spell. Another friend had the encounter with Gandalf and had 2 characters in the army both recieved mage rank (neither had it previously) and one of them got teleport (lost list spell) the character was Argeleb II. The same Noldo player also had a generic layer encouter with an unnamed dragon with Glorfindel and attacked the dragon, the fight was very close and Glorfindel came out with 1 health (I think) I can't remeber what he got from the fight it was either gold or a lost list spell. I'll know more later (he is bringing his turns over). From Dennis DeYoung ------------------- Brian, I got this from a friend in Spain whom I met through the rec.games.pbm newsgroup. He thought it would be good to share and I hope you will do so! - Dennis DeYoung >From ii030@rossegat.uji.es Fri Jan 26 06:26:44 1996 I writing to you because, I have and encounter with Daelomin, and got this week the answer. I think this will interest your friends from the MoS, and you. I am the DL and I DEMMAND OBEDIENCE to Daelomin. The result was a combat with her, but when my char got hurt, (Lhachglin- CO: 0, AG: 25, EM: 10, MA: 40) he cast fireball, a spell that he does not have, and Daelomin run away. I had my char left with 25 HP. Thanks, and good gaming. Camaleon. Special Abilities in Middle Earth...One Man's Opinion ===================================================== by Marc Parker I'd like to present some opinions reguarding the current set of special abilities available in both scenarios of Middle Earth PBM. Below are all of the nation special abilities known to me. I will try to rank their effectiveness based on the following criteria: 1. How many times the ability will be used in the game by a nation 2. The relative strength of each of the abilities (advantage each of the abilities gives) 3. The usefulness of each of the abilities in the context of play from an experienced gamer's view 4. The cost to a nation to take advantage of the ability Each ability below has a letter in behind of it, ranking it on the following scale: A - Outstanding; one of the most desirable and useful special abilities B - Excellent, but not outstanding due to some limitation C - Average, but could live without D - Not really useful, but could come in handy on occasion; could definitely live without F - Virtually useless in MEPBM gaming; would rather have almost any other ability. Before beginning discussion, please remember these rankings are based on my experience in play both on my side and against me. Also, it is possible that a specific style of play can help optimize the use of one of the above in conjunction with other abilities, but this discussion is directed toward ranking each of the above separately, and independently of the others. Type I - Bonus to Starting Character Skills a. Name 40 Commanders, Emissaries, Agents, and Mages (B) b. Chances of a Stealth Bonus (A) c. Heal at double the normal rate (C) d. +20 to kidnap/assassinate (A) e. Chances for a Challenge Bonus (D) Type II - Bonus to Scouting a. Double all scouting/recons (A) b. +20 to all scouting/recons (B) c. All characters scout/recon at 50 (A) Type III - Army Morale a. All armies begin with 40 morale (D) b. Armies force march with 1-2 morale loss when force marching (2-5 without food) (F) c. Armies without food gain 1-2 morale points when stationary and lose 1-2 when marching. (F) d. Armies force march with no morale loss (F) Type IV - Troop Bonuses a. All new recruits start with a training rank of 20 or 25 (D) b. Hire armies for free (B) c. All Heavy Infantry recruits start with a training rank of 30 (D) d. All mercenaries start with a training rank of 25 (F) Type V - Learn Lost List Spells Ability to learn one of the following: Conjure Food (C), Conjure Hordes (C), Conjure Mounts (C), Fanaticism (F), Fearful Hearts (F), or Summon Storms (B) Type VI - Timber Uses a. Build ships at 1/3 or 1/2 cost (D) b. Build fortifications at 1/2 cost (C) Type VII - Other a. 20% market adjustment on buys and sells (A) b. Hidden pop centers (B) c. All characters uncover secrets at 40 (C) d. Ships never suffer storms or are lost at sea (E) First, let's cover type I. Naming characters with an extra 10 points of skill is definitely an advantage, but only when naming characters of that certain type. Therefore, this is the limitation preventing an A rating. The addition of stealth, as I understand it, is one of the best abilities, since it counts as agent skill and also on the chance of a character being seen in opposing pop centers and by scouts. One would have to consider downgrading this ability if you had to do a stealth roll, which added (.01-1.00*stealth) only a part of the stealth rank to agent rank, but personally, I feel stealth is in use for a character at all times, even for non-agents. The +20 kidnap/assassinate is also applicable every time these orders are used. Although this is effective only with agents, I feel this is such a destabilizing effect on play that it still merits an A grade. Lastly, in my experience, very few of the characters receiving the challenge bonus actually fight in challenges, with the exception of army commanders in military nations. In that usage, I'd upgrade to a C, since you gain some flexibility (like not having to refuse) for the characters who receive the ability if they are an army commander. Type II looks like this. In my opinion, the bonus to scouting is a very destabilizing ability. Why? Imagine always being able to see all characters in a hex...none of those annoying unknown free people male messages. And of course, the people who show up as unknown free people male are the ones whose presence you really need to know about. This order can free up other character orders as well, like mages casting Reveal Character or Locate Artifact to try to track certain powerful characters. How many times did you ask if a Woodmen or Dragon Lord or Quiet Avenger agent was available to support one of your character offensives? If youre smart, many. Granting all characters the ability to scout/recon at 50 is extremely useful, since usually the number of characters able to perform this task are limited, and the ones who do it well are the characters you want in action roles rather than support roles. This allows much more information to be gathered. A great second order for a commander, mage, or emissary training in a pop center. The +20 ability is still great, but not as good as the other two. Analyzing Type III involves first analyzing the effect of morale on combat in the MEPBM combat engine. As currently set up, the morale modifier, along with command rank of army commander, nation climate modifier, and nation terrain modifier, averaged equally together compose the Average Army Modifier, which is then multiplied as a decimal times the attack strength of the army in calculating the total army troop strength. Basically, the interpretation of this, is each four points of morale results in a one percent gain of your attack maximum army strength. Therefore, if the total MAXIMUM army strength is calculated to be 16,000, the gain for each four morale points is 160, or one percent of the maximum. So in the three type three morale savers, it would take several turns to accumulate a meaningful amount of additional strength. Generally speaking, many, if not most armies, are killed within a relatively short time of creation (perhaps 8-10 turns at most in my experience). Therefore, if say 2 morale points can be saved each turn, a total of 16 to 20 morale points would be added, resulting in a 4 or 5 percent gain of maximum strength for that army, if it lasts that long. As you will find out, this is a best case scenario, especially since this effect is lessened further (in gross terms) by the Average Troop Modifier. In the grand scheme of things, whether you agree or not, mathematically speaking morale in an army is just not that significant a factor unless armies of opposite sides have a tremendous disparity of morale. At least if all new armies start with 40 morale, this allows a 30 point morale boost (resulting in a 7.5% gain) over a normal starting army (10 morale), but only a 10 point morale boost over a normal split army (2.5%). It is not to say these gains are nothing, but in my opinion, the added value over the long haul is much less than most other starting nation abilities, so I would enjoy virtually every other starting special ability over the morale based ones. This brings us to Type IV abilities, which are really similar to the Type IIIs since they merely modify a similar Army Troop Strength component, the training rank. This, along with weapons rank, troop terrain modifier, and troop tactic modifier, averaged make up the Average Troop Modifier, which is treated much like the Average army modifier, but used specifically for each troop type. All of the abilities mentioned here, with the exception of hiring armies for free, modify the Army Troop Strength calculation the same as the morale component above, and hold, in my opinion, little value for the same reasons discussed above. The hire armies for free is a pretty nice benefit, especially since this can result in a large number of recruits in a very short period of time, especially if you have several closely packed pop centers. If used in a position like Haradwaith in the 1650 scenario, this can be considered an A ability, for its ability to destabilize, since a large number of troops can be brought to bear much faster than would normally be expected. In addition, regardless of ones gold reserve, an army can always be hired, versus having potentially severe military problems if all one's gold is stolen before being able to hire an army. The only truly useful of the Type IV abilities appears to be the Hire Armies for Free. I assess the Type V in the following way; some of the spells are useful while others are virtually useless. Fanaticism and Fearful Hearts only provide a slight morale boost, and we know from above what that means. The conjure spells can prove useful, since they can provide both military and economic benefit. However, a pretty good mage is required to get the full effect of the spells, and unless your nation is Mage heavy, this cannot be done on a grand enough scale to have a truly devastating impact. The Summon Storms spell is interesting, since it forces any opponent into the standard battle tactic. This at first seems insignificant, but note that the Troop Tactics Modifier is a direct modifier to Army Troop Strength. This means, with adequate knowledge of tactics (like which pummels standard the hardest), a significant military advantage can be achieved (I have heard some predict it to be as high as 40%). This is therefore a much potentially a much greater influence on battle outcome than any of the spells affecting troop skills or army morale. It is not an A due to the amount of time it can be used. Type VI abilities are simple to analyze. Very few nations can compete in a naval buildup due to several factors; nation's location relative to the sea, pop center attributes (like if a port is present), production (what if you make no timber), ship strength, economic standing (1,000 gold per ship to build, and much more if timber must be bought), and opposition (why build warships with no one to kill?). In almost all games which I've seen or heard of, naval tactics have been almost solely limited to having a portable dock cart troops around, and the attempts to sink such by warships. If naval units could, for instance, reduce pop center size by bombardment, the naval option would conjure many more strategies and uses. As it sits, unless a nation REALLY needs portability (Gondors and Corsairs in both scenarios), the navies really do not play as big a part in the war as many other factors. With all this being said, on the rare occasion in which navies must be built, the reduced timber cost is nice, but probably not the difference maker in the entire war, as armies would be on a consistent basis. As you can tell, I dont feel the naval advantages are very significant, but could only be helpful on very rare occasions. The build fortifications at 1/2 timber cost is much more significant, as every nation is likely to use this at some point. In addition, this may actually be a REQUIREMENT for some nations (like the Sinda in both scenarios, having to fortify major pop centers in close proximity to enemy lines), and certainly welcomed in others. Arguably, this is a B attribute, but the extent of use is often a question, since some nations begin with many or all strategic pop centers fortified, or cannot fortify in enough time or size to prevent conquest. Type VII abilities are varied, as they cover the all other abilities not included elsewhere. It contains perhaps the biggest advantage of all, which is the 20% cash adjustment to all buys and sells. Read that again: A 20 PERCENT CASH ADJUSTMENT TO ALL BUYS AND SELLS. This essentially gives you an extra 20% cash on all non-tax base and gold transactions. This can make a nation very powerful, and can help a nation which may otherwise have trouble support itself. In addition, this nation will gain market manipulation abilities by having its buying power inflated by 20%. Also, if the market spread between buy and sell comes in too close, the nation possessing this may gain instant profit on buys and sells without having to risk broader market factors by waiting a turn to see if manipulation/arbitrage was successful. Many people consider it the single biggest asset in the game, especially since it is an ability which can be used very often with no incremental cost to the nation involved. Hidden pop centers are also a great advantage, and would be an A if they could not be unhidden. As it is, it takes a nation substantial resources to unhide a hidden pop center unless it is very lucky and begins with the reveal pop center spell. All of this assumes the unhiding nation has a decent mage to begin with. Some don't like the Uncover Secrets at 40 or better, but I do. This can be a useful order at times, and especially if your nation is emissary light. An agent in a company could issue this as a second order, and youd be surprised at what you may find out in some of these excursions. Things like capitols moving, nations dropping, and a potential rival's victory conditions are all potential information points. This is also a great order for that nation who is not in great communication with other nations (not generally recommended), since it could be the only source of information besides the map and nation messages. Ships never suffering storms or being lost at sea really has very little consequence for most nations to start with, and even sea faring nations tend not to stray far from shore, even with this ability. There are still pirates on the seas, as well as sea monsters, so this ability really does very little, considering its specialization and minimal depression of bad circumstances. The views above are really my own, and I am actually open minded to feedback regarding the above, as well as open to being enlightened with some new strategies to take advantage of abilities I may have overlooked above, or even new strategies to take advantage of already beneficial abilities. Which nations are the winners and losers? Here is a table of all nations in both scenarios. Listed is their abilities, and total points of special abilities (A is 5, B is 3, C is 2, D is 1, and E is 0) 1650 Scenario Free people Woodmen I.b, I.e, II.a, III.b, III.c 11 Points Northmen I.a, IV.d, VI.d, VII.a 10 Points Eothraim I.a, III.d, IV.a, V Cj Mts 6 Points Arthedain I.a, III.b, IV.a, VI.b 6 Points Cardolan I.a, II.b, III.a, IV.b, IV.d 10 Points NG I.a, III.b, IV.a, VI.b 6 Points SG I.a, III.b, IV.a, VI.b 6 Points Dwarves II.c, III.d, IV.c, VI.b 8 Points Sinda I.b, III.b, IV.a, VI.a 7 Points Noldo I.b, III.d, IV.a, VII.c 8 Points Dark Servants Witch King I.a, III.b, III.c, V fh, V ch 5 Points Dragon Lord I.b, II.a, III.b, III.c, V t 13 Points Dog Lord I.b, III.b, III.c, IV.a, V cm 8 Points Cloud Lord I.a, I.b, I.d, VII.c 16 Points Blind Sorcerer I.a, V ss, V ch, VII.e 8 Points Ice King I.a, I.b, III.b, III.c, V ss 11 Points QA I.a, I.a, II.a, VII.c 13 Points Fire King III.b, III.c, III.d, IV.b, V f, V ch 8 Points Long Rider I.a, III.d, IV.a, V cm 6 Points Dark Lts. I.a, III.c, V ch, V fh 4 Points Neutrals Corsairs I.e, VI.d, VII.d 2 Points Harad I.e, IV.b, IV.d, VII.c 6 Points Dunlendings I.a, I.e, II.a 9 Points Rhudar I.a, I.e, III.d, IV.b 7 Points Easterlings I.a, I.e, III.b, III.c 4 Points Totals Free 78 Points Average 7.8 Dark 92 Points Average 9.2 Neutrals 28 Points Average 5.6 How can this distribution be explained. First, the game must be balanced, or else no one would want to take the side at the disadvantage. The free people have a large advantage in economics and in military force. In order to combat this, GSI has tried to do some things to even the sides. For instance, Dragons help to offset the free army advantage. However, the economic advantage is a long term one, so GSI uses two items to balance this. First, artifacts are used to help balance the game. Almost every DS nation has multiple artifacts; by and large these are powerful. The free have no where near the same number of artifacts. Of course, some of this is historical, but the actual powers of the artifacts are open to some subjective opinion. Secondly, nation abilities are used to help counter the free economic advantage. In looking at the data, you can see specifically individual nations are helped. For instance, the QA and Dragon Lord have some of the best special abilities in the game. This is certainly to offset the large number of foes immediately surrounding these nations. One might respond, But what about the Witch King; his special abilities stink and he's surrounded. Good point, but keep in mind how good WK starting characters and artifacts are (as well as a sound tax base, relative to other DS). In fact, if you remove the WK and Dark Lts., the average DS nation becomes a 10.4, which is as an average almost as good as the best free nation (Woodmen). If you remove the Woodmen and Northmen, the Free average is only 7.1. This gives, on an adjusted average, an almost 50% advantage to the Dark Servants. Like I said earlier, this is to try to compensate for the enormous free advantage in economics. Neutrals. Why are their abilities so horrid? Well, to combat the biggest advantage in the game; deciding what alliance to join. I'm sure this is why the neutrals have little in the form of artifacts, and on average, poor starting characters. All of these things counter the fact that the neutrals have several turns to farm or just see how things are going before deciding to jump in on the winning side. These neutral disadvantages arent hurting enough; neutrals have won about 30% of the games to date. Now the 2950 Data: Free people Woodmen I.b, I.e, II.a, III.b, III.c 11 Points Northmen I.a, IV.d, VI.d, VII.a 10 Points Riders I.a, III.d, IV.a, V Cj Mts 6 Points Rangers I.b, III.b, IV.a, VI.b 6 Points Silvan I.b, III.b, VI.a, VII.b 9 Points NG I.a, III.b, IV.a, VI.b 6 Points SG I.a, III.b, IV.a, VI.b 6 Points Dwarves II.c, III.d, IV.c, VI.b 8 Points Sinda I.b, III.b, IV.a, VI.a 7 Points Noldo I.b, III.d, IV.a, VII.c 8 Points Dark Servants Witch King I.a, III.b, III.c, V fh, V ch 5 Points Dragon Lord I.b, II.a, III.b, III.c, V t 13 Points Dog Lord I.b, III.b, III.c, IV.a, V cm 8 Points Cloud Lord I.a, I.b, I.d, VII.c 16 Points Blind SorcererI.a, V ss, V ch, VII.e 8 Points Ice King I.a, I.b, III.b, III.c, V ss 11 Points QA I.a, I.a, II.a, VII.c 13 Points Fire King III.b, III.c, III.d, IV.b, V f, V ch 8 Points Long Rider I.a, III.d, IV.a, V cm 6 Points Dark Lts. I.a, III.c, V ch, V fh 4 Points Neutrals Corsairs I.e, VI.d, VII.d 2 Points Rhun East. I.a, I.e, III.b, III.c 4 Points Dunlendings I.a, I.e, II.a 9 Points White Wiz. I.a, I.e, IV.b, IV.d 7 Points Khand East. I.a, I.e, III.b, III.c 4 Points Totals Free 77 Points Average 7.7 Dark 92 Points Average 9.2 Neutrals 26 Points Average 5.2 Once again, same result in the 2950 game, and for the same reasons. This is only one mans opinion. Feel free to write a response to this, as Im sure there are several ways of interpreting this data. As a side note, you may decide to upgrade all of the economic advantages in 2950 (most notably hire armies for free) since GSI decided to use a one sided economic model to determine costs (i.e. less money in 2950, but same hire army cost of 5000, regardless of market in either scenario) In the Midst of the War ======================= By Brian Mason The delays in messages had been abysmal. Despite the proximity of Argeleb's and Pelendur's army exact positions were unknown and messages between them were slow. The messages had to travel three hundred leagues and more: from Argeleb by courier to the Court of the King at Fornost, then through the Arthedani bureauocracy to another courier to Metriath, then via the Cardolani courier network back into the field to Pelendur. Despite the lofty goals of reuniting Arnor, the practicality in reorganizing the current governmental institutions was one that was best done in peacetime. Now was not the time to reorganize the Cardolani merchant class. The proper course of action in the heat of action was to stick with the tried and true: maintain the current administrations. The disadvantage of this was the loss of life due to the heavy-handed command of Pelendur. Argeleb had to admire Pelendur's goals, and there was no doubt as to his value to "Greater Arnor," but he spent the thin blood of the Dunedain of the North too cheaply. Pelendur did not have the bloodline to command the respect of the Lancers. All he could do was cow them, and bait their youthful elan. True, the Lancers had proved valuable in the assault on Eldanar, but they had casualties which were far too high. Among lesser men, the units would have broken and ran, but they held their own against trolls almost twice their height and over four times their bulk. Yet, what could Argeleb have done with troops of this kind? He could have moulded them into a great fighting force. Had Arnor been reunited in action as well as word these "Royal Arnorian Lancers" could have been slapped in line by their true lord and Elendil's Heir, Argeleb II. As it was, the Blood of the Kings was diminished even more in Cardolan. Argeleb had to wonder what would eventually happen in Cardolan. While there was no question as to the loyalty of the Noble Lords and the Roquen of Cardolan he wondered what would happen if the Cardolani nobility were thinned even more. He also had no doubt that their were dissident Dunadan among the Rhudaurians who also shared his goal for a greater Arnor. He was prepared to show mercy to them. He wondered if Pelendur and his "new army" mentality was also capable of mercy. While he knew the potency of Pelendur as a weapon, his methods could be dangerous. Would the blood of the Dunedain in Cardolan become so thin that Cardolan would be like Rhudaur in the times of his grandchildren? Could he fight this war, only to leave to his heirs the same dissention his sires had left him? Would the thin blood of Cardolan come back to haunt him? But all that was of no matter now. If the war was won, Cardolan and Rhudaur AND Arthedain would all be brought into line. No, no, he had to keep telling himself, it was when the war was won, not if. It had been hard, the war thusfar. The Witch-king had proved to be a far deadlier opponent than they had expected. Much had they done. They had killed goblins, orcs, and trolls by the thousands. They had burned cots, villages, towns, and orc holds, and still they came. The supply of those Worms of Morgoth seemed to be unending, and bold spies had crept even in his own camp and stolen that multi-thousand year old heirloom of his house: the Ring of Barahir. And still they kept coming. Yes, Pelendur and his "new army" was a necessity in this war. Sometimes he wondered if even that would be enough. Poetry from Geoffrey Allbutt ============================ Here is a poetry submission for "The Mouth of Sauron". I hope it meets with approval. It was inspired by recent events in game 197, MEPBM 1650, and Tolkien's poem, "Gil-Galad" *Ahhemm* An Ode to Murazor, The Witch-King. Murazor was a Nazgul King, Of him the harpers sadly sing. The last to flee, the first to fight, Between the mountains, in the night. His sword was long, his lance was keen, His darkened helm afar was seen. His magics fierce, his tactics bold, His troops marched quickly in the cold. But long ago he rode away, And where he dwelleth none can say. Those Curse'ed Elves have stuck him down, And burned his kingdom to the ground. But hope, like Evil, never dies, And the age of elves quickly flies. For help comes swiftly from afar, In Mordor where the Shadows are. Last Word ========= From Brian Mason I recently finished game 3 of me-pbm 2950. This was my first foray into a character heavy position where I played the Sinda Elves. I won't go into some long discussion of one and a quarter years of playing this game. I'll just say, in summary, that the good guys won and I had fabulous allies. When I received my Final Status report at the end of the game I was happy that despite some severe pounding I had finished in 6th place with the top challenger and mage, and the most artifacts. However, when I scanned down the page I saw that the most kills were recorded by the Cloud Lord with 8. That was such a startling revelation that I had to go back and see how many I had killed. In reviewing the 32 turn reports, I saw that I had killed 9 by challenge, 13 by assassination, and even one by a guard. Heck, I had as many kills as the Cloud Lord did in the last three turns of the game. As usual, when I didn't know what was going on, I fired off an email to the folks at GSI and asked what had happened. Their response was (at least to me) a bit surprising and a bit of a revelation. For the three victory conditions: most mithril, most artifacts, and most kills, GSI only keeps track of those positions who have that as a victory condition. As killing at least 10 people was not one of my victory conditions, GSI had never kept track of how many kills I had made. Also, I have no idea whether I truly had the most artifacts. I just had the most artifacts among those positions who needed to acquire 10 or more artifacts. If you're worried about these victory conditions you need only be concerned about others who have the same victory condition. I can't imagine that this will affect my (or anybody else's, for that matter) play, but I do find it interesting. Brian Mason