FS 29/8

mepbmlist
#1

Hello Everyone...

24/8 1650 Scenario, Game 60, A Win for the Dark Servants! (Player report)
Formal Game Winners:
First Place: Dragon Lord (Greg Shaffer)
Second Place: Easterlings (Andrew)
Third Place: Noldo Elves

A well-coordinated team victory by the DS on turn 14. The Northmen missed
turns and was eliminated early, followed by an Eothraim who had economic
support but not army support from his allies. Way too few FP troops were
mobilized for them to fight this war effectively (the Dwarfs couldn't do it
alone). The FP finally conceded when 11,000 DS troops with dragons and war
machines arrived at the NG capital, Long Rider cavalry arrived in western
Gondor, and the Woodmen couldn't stop a Dragon Lord invasion.
Due to generous team play, no DS nation (other than Rhudaur, briefly DS) was
eliminated or even driven from their homeland. Most of the neutrals had
already responded positively to superior DS team play & diplomatic efforts;
Cardolan was overrun with Dunlendings, and Easterling armies drove all FP
resistance from Rhovanion. The non-existent race with the Elf mages for
locating lost artifacts was firmly won by the DS, making DS agents deadly
from the very start. Dragon recruiting was pursued aggressively by DS, with
no preventative measures taken by FP to reduce the number of dragons
recruited. Chock up another win for well-coordinated allies who support
each other selflessly!

20/8 The Pubmeet went with a bang - thanks for all those who turned up we
had 22 players turn up all told and had a cool chat about the game,
mechanics and a fun time with the 77 crowd. :slight_smile:

20/8 Pubmeet part II: Okay looks good for the weekend game of ME in
Copenhagen. 19th Jan start, pubmeet in the evening of the Sat, and finish
late Sunday. Please get in touch if you are able to make it. We've got
around 13 players so far.

10/8 Latest update done on this. Neutrals still show up but the rest should
be sorted now. Thanks for the input it's been very useful. Please tell us
if you notice any irregularities here please!

I have drop-outs available - don't forget you get a free turn for taking
these up...
E= 0-10 turn, M = 11-25, L = 26+
1000: 5 - two of them are NK (m,l)
2950: Quiet (m), Dark (m), Rhun Ea (m)
1650: Noldo DogL (e), Corsairs (e), East (e)

and the following new games filling up:
1650 2wk [Game 86]: 3, 12, 18-20, 24 (1 DS taken)
1650 1wk [Game 130]: Send me a LIST of nations - when I get to 25 players I
will allocate the positions - 14 positions taken so far (Note 95% of players
get their 1st choice)
2950 2wk [Game 222] 2 nation game (ie any aligned player can play 2
nations): 1, 4, 6, 7, 21, 24
1000 2wk [Game 46]: NKA (No Kidnap or Assassination game] we need 1 player -
FP prefered - go on let the nightmare end.

Grudge Games we need opposition for:
2950: 1 team 10/12 Any alignment 1 wk Ben Shushan, 1 Team of 2x6 = 12 Tom
Francis, 1 Team of 10 with 4 new players - Matt Lincoln, 1 team of 2x6 Bjorn
Petersson
1000: 1 team of 9-12 player team (any alignment) David Ruzic
1650: 1 x 6 player Team Nick Nicolau needs 4 more players, 1 team of 10 Jon
Phipps

Thanks

Clint

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#2

I notice that your NKA game is close to being filled. As a
participant in NKA#1 I would strongly advise the folks in this one to
make some significant setup changes before proceeding. The idea of a
game without assassins *could* be interesting, but I think that we
uncovered some major flaws in the first go-around. The whole idea is
to test variations.

I really have two issues: geographic and play balance (e.g. fun) and
capital locations. NKA#1 suffered from very clumpy setups (dark in
the far NW, free in the far SE, and neutral scatered between). Once
the dark were taken out by the neuts, this led to a painfully long
march to get from the northern military bases to the SE. Which is
boring but tolerable, but...

ME PBM rules make it a real nuisance to climb into mountains, etc.
with no agents to clear the way. AND there are weakness squads that
can kill your commanders while they roll the 50-50 crapshot of getting
into the mountains before they run out of food.

Finally, the kingdoms are insanely powerful without agents to clip
their wings.

I'd recommend:

1. A 2-way game, kingdoms on opposite teams.
2. Geographic distribution. I think the absence of this is a
serious 4th age design flaw.
3. MOST IMPORTANT: no assassinations makes a boring game if you can
plant your capital in locations that are effectively impossible to
capture. This means no major towns or cities in 2430, 3829, or ANY
mountain hex.

With these changes you'd have a dynamic military game. Without
them...well, go to it but be prepared to be disappointed.

cheers,

Marc Pinsonneault

#3

This game is going to be a Neut vs FPs game. 12 N vs13 FPs.

ยทยทยท

I notice that your NKA game is close to being filled. As a
participant in NKA#1 I would strongly advise the folks in this one to
make some significant setup changes before proceeding. The idea of a
game without assassins *could* be interesting, but I think that we
uncovered some major flaws in the first go-around. The whole idea is
to test variations.

I really have two issues: geographic and play balance (e.g. fun) and
capital locations. NKA#1 suffered from very clumpy setups (dark in
the far NW, free in the far SE, and neutral scatered between). Once
the dark were taken out by the neuts, this led to a painfully long
march to get from the northern military bases to the SE. Which is
boring but tolerable, but...

ME PBM rules make it a real nuisance to climb into mountains, etc.
with no agents to clear the way. AND there are weakness squads that
can kill your commanders while they roll the 50-50 crapshot of getting
into the mountains before they run out of food.

Finally, the kingdoms are insanely powerful without agents to clip
their wings.

I'd recommend:

1. A 2-way game, kingdoms on opposite teams.
2. Geographic distribution. I think the absence of this is a
serious 4th age design flaw.
3. MOST IMPORTANT: no assassinations makes a boring game if you can
plant your capital in locations that are effectively impossible to
capture. This means no major towns or cities in 2430, 3829, or ANY
mountain hex.

With these changes you'd have a dynamic military game. Without
them...well, go to it but be prepared to be disappointed.

cheers,

Marc Pinsonneault

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