Rematch of the "Old School" variant

General
#1

I have the name wrong, but this was the 1650 variant that ran for 2 years and ended a year ago.

It was a limited communication game. Each nation was allowed to send a 50 word diplo to each individual nation. No other communication was allowed. ID’s of the player and his nation were kept secret.

Is anyone interested in this variant?

#2

This is different from Gunboat…how?

#3

We didn’t get enough interest in this format when I tried to fill a 2nd game of it. Game 75, Alliance format.

We’d be happy to support if there’s enough players. My best guess here is that in order to get enough players we’d need to have some players allowed to play 2 nations as aligned nations. Some players really enjoyed the format, others less so.

Rules for Alliance Game

Setup

  • One nation per player, normal format of 10xDS, 10xFP, 5xN. 5 nation choices must be sent in (more is helpful).
  • The game is anonymous as to who is playing what nation, but 25 players are known. You may encourage others to join, but not discuss your nations choices with them.

Diplos and information sharing

  • No .pdf or .xml sharing allowed.
  • Each nation may send no more than one diplo to each other nation in the game, every turn, 50 words or less, these diplos will be sent with the turn. 3423 is one word, as is Dark Lieutenants for these purposes.
  • Diplos can include subterfuge, lies, etc. (e.g. a diplo can pretend to be from the IK, when it’s in fact from NG), they cannot reveal phone numbers, identity, email, or any contact information. They are restricted to in-game information & strategy, but could request help on attaining a VC.
  • You can send diplos with your first turn, but not before the game starts.

Winning

  • First, Second and Third place finishers are determined by nation score plus Individual Nation VCs plus 200pt bonus for One Ring victory if you are nation who delivers One Ring to Mt Doom (3423). First place finisher must be on the winning side. 2nd and 3rd place do not have to be on the winning side.
  • Game ends when one One Ring victory occurs or when one allegiance (DS,FP) outnumbers the other 2:1 in active nations or when 2/3 of players on one allegiance (DS,FP) concede (dead nations counting as a vote to concede). Request for voting can be sent in at any time, with a maximum of once per 5 turns (so turns 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 etc, and we’ll email the players with the next turn.
  • After the game has finished, the total points that each nation received is revealed, both with and without individual nation VCs. Each individual player’s nation is not identified unless the player decides to do so of
    their own volition.

Other miscellaneous rules

  • Dropped nations are not replaced and are allowed to SS as normal until the end of the game. They are not picked up by another player.
  • There is no internet posting of information about the game by the GMs (i.e. no dead nations list like in some of the GB games). No player, or proxy, may post details of their positions, or diplome on the forum, yahoo list or similar locations. The ONLY contact between players allowed is via the 50 word diplo sent via ME Games and forwarded by them.
  • Normal House rules and 1650 rules apply, you can’t send in Shadow orders for another players, nor are pick ups allowed.
  • Set-up charges: an additional £7/$12.90 per set-up will be charged and on turn 11/21/31/41 we will charge this again. We expect between anything from 400-600 emails per turn. This could be upto 5 hours extra work per turn for us. I’ll keep you posted on how this goes.

Clint

#4

Loved the first one and would be happy to go again.

#5

I would most definitely be up for it…

Rob

#6

I would be up for playing this scenario and would be interested in playing two nations - particularly if they are not limited to the normal GB pairings.

Mike

#7

5 won’t be enough guys… :slight_smile: :o

clint

#8

Clint, you don’t want to pick up the last 20 nations??? :hug:

Well, I will commit to two nations as well, along with Mike. So that makes 6?

Rob

#9

I would do two nations also

#10

That makes it a regular gunboat instead of a single nation “olde school” indie though, defeats the purpose doesn’t it…?

#11

I’ve taken this from an old thread, but these are my thoughts on the core benifits of a game setup as is being suggested.

-You communicate by sending a 50 word report with every turn. You can send to allies, neutrals and the enemy individually or as a group. This allows you to coordinate, but not directly; you are effectively on a one turn delay. Getting your allies emails is almost as interesting as getting your own turns. Your not flooded with emails constantly as happpens with a strong team.

-You don’t get team pressure. For me as an captain it means I only worry about myself. I’m not being an ogre to 1/2 the team saying do this that and the other. For a newer player you don’t get some experienced players telling you to do it their way or the team will die. Your nation, your destiny.

-With hidden player to nation links the five neutrals don’t know the other players for any nation so no pre created alliances are formed. If Rhu goes DS turn 1 it is because the player thinks that is best for his nation, not because his friend from G?? is playing the WK.

-A list of special serviced active and inactive players in your alliance. You see how strong your team is and can make game decisions based on this data.

-No restriction on what action your character can perform. There are some GB rules preventing speculative actions or stopping you acting without solid information. Under this format you have that additional freedom to steal from allies, inf their camps or do other action as you see fit. If you do these to your allies you may annoy them and you may possibly create civil war in your alliance. Sometimes training guys is worth the small hit to your allies like when your all madly camping to get emmies or agents up and running. I’d occasionally steal from an ally and send him gold the same time to cover the theft.

-The no replacement if you drop format encourages people to stay in the game. We had some drops early in the game, but those that wanted to actually play stayed from turn 15 to turn 50 with few exceptions. Special circumstances may/should allow a replacement player perhaps. One of my friends got taken to hospital for several weeks after some serious health issue. He never rejoined the game which is sad, even though he was my enemy.

#12

I tried to get a 2nd game of this set-up before and had no luck. If you can badger some friends and allies to play then get back to me. Otherwise for now I reckon we can’t get a game in the near to mid-term.

Clint (GM)