Standard (and non-Standard) variants

General
#1

It would be nice if their were a comprehensive listing of variants to the game.

Someone was kind enough to tell me what the 1650 and 2950 splits were in 12 vs. 12 and gunboat, but I’ve heard about all kinds of variants, War of the Ring, Second Age, etc. It would be nice to know (or have in a location, maybe the Misc area of the Library? Hello, Darrell?) what the variants were and what the rules were for them.

I’d probably (eventually) like to give all of them a try.

Brian

Note to Clint: Your flexibility with all these variants is great. It keeps the game fresh, and is just another example of your great customer service!

#2

Bofa [Battle of the Five Armies]: Limited orders available (about 1/3rd the normal games) designed for new players. 3 FP vs 2 DS 10 turns - very fast and aggressive.
Veteran version of the above - all orders available no turn limit.

1000:
Normal (one nation per allegiance allowed +20% kid/ass ability)
LAS [Limited Assassination Scenario] Following SNAs are not allowed: +20% kid/ass, 2x Scout, Stealth bonus
NKA [No Kidnap or Assasinate]
Variant: We occasionally do variants for Grudge games.

2950:
Wotr [War of the Ring] - designed by Richard Devereux. Extra starting armies and PCs for both sides.
Gunboat: 12 players - duo of nations no diplomacy and other special rules. Pre-aligned Neutrals.
Grudge games: 12v12 with pre-aligned Neutrals. Team 1 (randomly determined) chooses a Neutral, Team 2 chooses the next two Neutrals and then Team 1 selects a 2nd Neutral. The last Neutral is removed from the game. Also do 10v10 with 5 Neutrals.

1650:
Gunboat: See 2950
Grudge games: 12v12 and 10v10 with 5 Neutrals. 12v12 has the Easterlings removed, a fort on 4217 and 1910. Cor/Dun FP, Rhu/Har DS
Variants: Upto players, one variant is a quick smash and grab with 6v6 and some of the nations not active.

Note with all variants we’ll support them if there is a player base but be aware that the variants are much harder to fill than normal games. There are no Second or 1st Age games.

Clint

#3

Why not put this information on the MEGames website under “Which Scenario Should I Play?” link? I find lots of stuff, but not this kind of succinct “information”.

Brad Brunet

#4

Clint,

Thanks for the info.

What are the other mods of the WotR game?

The 1650 6x6 variant sounds interesting. Which twelve, or does that vary? What happens to the other 13?

Btw, thanks for the flexibility on variants. Bill Feild was never this flexible when GSI ran it.

As for the 2nd age game, I thought I recalled somebody discussing it on the yahoo discussion page, but maybe I’m misinterpreting. Maybe they were discussing it as a feasible variant, since the map doesn’t change, though the nations would need a lot of changing.

I’ll echo Brad’s comment regarding website availability. It’d be nice, along with a column for how full the currently filling game is and how long it typically takes to fill up.

Brian

#5

I went ahead and added this information to the “Miscellaneous” section of the Library here in the forums. I’ll try to keep it updated as much as possible.

#6

What are the other mods of the WotR game?

Do you mean 2950? There aren’t any that I am aware of. If you mean Richard’s WoTR variant then there’s just the one form of that.

As for 2nd age we had a 1000 game based on the Last Alliance but I could never get enough players for more than the one game.

The 6v6 - that’s upto the players - but generally for the FP you’d lose 1,2,5,6 an DS 15,16,19,20.

The rest of that nations are still there but take no active part. You get points for collecting 4 designated items, and PCS of the opposition (something like 4 points for an item, 5 for capturing a city, 4 for mt etc).

At present we’re very short staffed, Stu’s taken a month off, and John who used to do the accounts has moved away and wants to do part-time work. Helen also is off on maternity leave so doing extra things like the website (and there are 100s of such things) is not possible at present. If you guys want to do it that’s fine - we can add it on to a present webpage and upload it.

Also the problem with variant games is that they are very hard to fill. Last Alliance we had 6 months available and never got above 18 players. Ditto Richard Devereux’s team has been waiting for a WOTR game for a while now and no-one to take him on. So I now only offer such games if you guys bring forward half the players.

12v12 games are the most succesful “variant” (about 1/3 the games set-up are that) but in real terms
Gunboat is the most successful variant with around 14 games in around a year. It’s pretty clear to me the reason why. Bofa has been next best with around 20 games and brought a lot of players into the fold. I recently put up a + 10 rank to a single character 12v12 normal game (no Neutrals) but got little or no response.

Wotr is the next best with around 5 games in a few years - of which Richard’s team has played in all but one of them. We can always do additional variants of the game if there is a player base for it.

So if you want the games to be played I need you guys to want to play them… :slight_smile: But I think that 1650 normal (or Grudge 12v12 is my particlar personal choice) is the best game still by a long way. I enjoy GB a lot but it lacks the best aspects of team play for which Middle Earth is best at - Catch 22 though. (Our Grudge team gets together a week after the turn turns up and we plan out our moves - great fun).

Something I’d like to see is a GB 1000 game - that would be fun I think - although I am not sure how we would do it. Probably 11 players in the game with 3 Nations not played.

Clint

#7

Clint,

Thanks for all the info. And thanks, Darrell for squirreling (sp?) it away. I KNOW it will come in handy for me.

I’m sorry the Last Alliance game didn’t take hold. If you ever give thought to trying it again …

Brian

#8

Brian Mason is right when he says that GSI was never very flexible about game variants. That attitude frustrated many players. Brian’s also right to observe that Clint’s support for the variant games helps to keep ME PBM fresh and alive for players. I, for one, would not play at all if not for the Gunboat variant.

And speaking of the Gunboat variant, Clint, you simply must stop the cutting remarks about it. It does not “lack the best aspects of team play.” It lacks the WORST aspects of team play. It embraces the BEST aspects of team play.

Oh, yes, there is plenty of team play in Gunboat. It is just of a much more subtle nature than the standard or grudge games. In fact, subtlety is the whole game in Gunboat.

Players are not bullied or nagged into helping their fellow allegiance members. Nor are they bombarded by 20 to 25 emails daily. Orders are not coordinated to the Nth degree. And information outside one’s own realms is harder to come by.

If obnoxious or annoying players are playing the same Gunboat game as I – well, I never become aware of it. :smiley: Character actions and military strategies are worked out alone without the “advice” (i.e., interference) of my allies. (In some standard games I’ve played, players have actually ridiculed and attempted to humiliate their allies who would not accept their “advice.”) The intensity of that Gunboat “alone-ness” and the immense satisfaction of waging my own battles and actions more than outweighs the cost of missing out on coordinating my moves with other players.

When military orders and character actions are coordinated so thoroughly as they usually are in standard games, I find it hard to take much enjoyment from their success nor do I find the experience particularly suspenseful or intense.

But you are never truly alone in Gunboat. You have two nations at your control. Also, you have allegiance members who often provide support and aid to other nations of their allegiance – aid and support that is all the more welcomed and satisfying for the fact that it comes unsolicited.

As for communication with other players, I do all the communicatin’ I feel the urge for from this forum and the ME Games Yahoo group.

Gunboat is a great game! It’s not for everyone; but as far as its devotees are concerned, it is not lacking much at all in any respect. Many thanks, Clint, for offering and supporting the Gunboat variant!

#9

2950:
Wotr [War of the Ring] - designed by Richard Devereux. Extra starting armies and PCs for both sides.

Is there a web site or post that provides information about this varriant? Ie what extra starting armies and PCs etc etc. :slight_smile:

Thanks.
Shayne.

#10

Originally posted by Nimdraug
Players are not bullied or nagged into helping their fellow allegiance members.

You do realize that you’ve posted more about Gunboat games than most “allies” email about their “Team” games. Maybe you should “taste them again ~ for the first time.” You obviously like to be heard, and by the rules, Gunboat obviously doesn’t satisfy you adequately.

#11

Originally posted by Player
You do realize that you’ve posted more about Gunboat games than most “allies” email about their “Team” games. Maybe you should “taste them again ~ for the first time.” You obviously like to be heard, and by the rules, Gunboat obviously doesn’t satisfy you adequately.

You must play with a lot of sub-par players in team games then. Both my 2950 “open games” outpost the mepbmlist group.

#12

Darrell - I was looking over the Library post - glad to see it there - but, you have the GB pairings reversed. The 2950 pairings listed are actually the 1650 ones, and vice-versa.

I love to see how responsive you guys are to the player-base. It makes for a very welcoming atmosphere.

#13

Originally posted by Iatronas
you have the GB pairings reversed

Woops. Thanks for the heads-up. Fixed it.

#14

PLAYER WROTE: You do realize that you’ve posted more about Gunboat games than most “allies” email about their “Team” games.

Ah, Player, the forum policeman, making sure that others are not found violating his laws. Thanks once again for bringing me over to your side of the law.

Actually, I realize no such thing as you’ve described. Most allies email far more in standard games. At least, that’s been my experience.

PLAYER WROTE: You obviously like to be heard . . .

Player, can you say such a thing with a straight face? There is nary a thread on this forum that hasn’t “heard” from you. I confine my postings to Gunboat. And the postings I do offer are designed soleley to increase interest in and knowledge of the GB variant.

If I’ve offended by the volume of my GB postings, I apologize. I try never to chide, ridicule, or “flame” others – although I’m happy to make an exception for you, Policemen Player.

I returned to ME PBM some time ago due solely to GB. I would not now play if I could not play GB. I believe there are others out there like me, namely, folks who love Middle-earth and the Tolkien world, who like to game but do not appreciate this or that aspect of the standard game. GB is well-suited for them.

But perhaps Player is correct, and I have posted too much on the GB threads. I post mostly during down times at work. But I’ll try to tone it down a bit from here on.

#15

Keep posting, keep posting… you’ve nearly convinced me to try a 1650 gunboat…

#16

Originally posted by Nimdraug
Ah, Player, the forum policeman

At your service. And thanks for confirming my presumptions so admirably. Enjoy your games.

#17

Originally posted by Nimdraug

But perhaps Player is correct, and I have posted too much on the GB threads. I post mostly during down times at work. But I’ll try to tone it down a bit from here on.

Nim,

Don’t let the master of inane prattle dictate what you should or should not post. Post what you like and don’t be influenced by the insignificant.

Steven
GB-229 & 20

#18

Celebion, thanks for the note of support. I guess I should have learned by now to ignore certain minor annoyances. Thanks for reminding me of that.

By the way, I too am playing in GB 229 and GB 20.

#19

Originally posted by Nimdraug
[b]Celebion, thanks for the note of support. I guess I should have learned by now to ignore certain minor annoyances. Thanks for reminding me of that.

By the way, I too am playing in GB 229 and GB 20. [/b]

I think there are at least 2 others in 229 and 20 also.

It will be interesting to see if I have deduced any of the person/nation pairings correctly in 229.

Happy Holidays to all the GB players, the maelstrom approaches :wink:

#20

Glad to be of service to you all. If it weren’t for me, who would you feel so superior to? :wink:

Happy Holidays!