Let's spin the dice, Game 48, 4th Age

Specific Games
#1

Seeking enemies, allies, neutrals. It’s time for a new game. Reading through the Forums for Game 225, a 2950 campaign that I played in and lost 15 years ago, got the juices flowing again. As fun as that one was, I couldn’t help thinking what MEPBM would be like if we brought the “fog” back into the fog of war. In FAS, nations (players) know precious little about other nations. The neutrals are a great power and able to steer their own course. Artifact numbers are randomized. In other words, discovery would be fundamental to the game. This style makes it less like chess and more like war.

Further, I really like the racial modifiers and design updates for the Fourth Age. Please read the Front Page that was updated recently and zoom in on Game 48, a FA military campaign. Hear the sound of hooves and marching boots! Players can play two nations, so with 7 more Pros we can get this war raging. (14 nations left).

Tell a buddy to crack his knuckles and read over the Nation Design pdfs. Half the fun is in imagining your nation and designing the gears that will make it tick. I’m thinking this game could be wicked fun. Do we have to wait until Christmas? [Edit: Let’s get it started in summer when everyone is enjoying higher production rates.]

#2

I like the racial modifiers and the Champions in FA currently. However, I still prefer that agents be able to do their direct offensive actions.

#3

I’ve never played the Cloud Lord before, in either scenario, but I can imagine it being quite fun. I had some good luck with new character stealth abilities while playing the Noldor–one of my commander/agents had a stealth of 39–and their agents gave me a taste of the assassin’s life. Moreover, I’ll admit it’s a blast playing Northern Gondor when you know the ***** storm is coming and you’re scrambling to survive while keeping one eye on the shadows because of those DS agents. But at this point in my MEPBM “career”, anything new sounds tempting, and an all-military campaign would certainly fit the bill. This kind of campaign could lead to a lot of original “moves” and keen strategy to win the day, after all, with no assassins and emissaries to do the dirty work, there are very limited options when you need to take down a City/Citadel. The idea of DS agents just camping out in Minas Tirith, assassinating army commanders at will, strikes me as Un-Tolkien-esque, a word which just made my spell checker spazz out.