RD: As the guy who came up with the WotR scenario, I take some
responsibility for this. Consider game 29 an experiment. If enough people
want to play it again, we can ask Clint to make any necessary tweaks, like
adding food for the extra troops. If that's the only thing wrong with it,
I
think I can be quite pleased with my work!
I suggest that we wait until the end of the game and poll all those playing
for their opinions on the scenario for any changes that should be made.
Undoubtedly there will be a few suggested, as Richard says it's an
experiment and in my opinion a good one which I'll happily play again and
recommend to anyone else interested.
As you say, there is a long way to go in this game yet, but I for one am
looking forward to a return match (swapping sides) if the guys currently
playing the FP are up for it.
I'm all for a rematch, in fact if you hadn't suggested I would have nearer
the game end. I'm pretty sure that most of my team, game loads permitting,
would be up for it as well. If the rematch goes ahead and others show an
interest then we may have more than one WoTR game running. Hopefully it'll
become a permanent part of ME-PBM.
Seeing that nobody gave the DS a prayer when they saw the setup, I'm very
pleased to be part of the team that's proving 'em all wrong!
However, I'm not so sure that I agree with this statement and would like to
know how you arrived at it. Ok so the freeps start with loads more pop
centres giving a better tax base and more potential recruitment much like
1650. The same though can be said for the DS, several of whom IMHO are
better off pop centre wise in the WoTR than they are in 1650. Namely the
Dragon Lord with the extra couple of villages and the 2nd MT in Mordor,
which is as safe as you can get. Also the FK starts off with the same as
1650 + two new and secure villages in Mordor. The IK starts off with a
larger tax base due to 3223 now being a MT/T (was there any basis for this
improvement Richard or as the IK did you just want to start with nice safe
back-up in Mordor).
This is a situation that the DS are used too in 1650 and in that scenario
they face much larger freep armies early on than they do in either the basic
2950 or WoTR scenarios. Also in military terms the extra troops given to the
DS at game start means that they can hold the freeps at Osgiliath much
easier than before and if SG doesn't arrive on T2 (battle on T3) they can
defeat the starting NG armies, with the potential for an additional 4000
troops arriving end of T3 to support them. This is considering maximum
recruitment from both sides of HI and the Dog Lord sending his armies to
Osgiliath, there's no threat from the north like in 1650 so why shouldn't
he. If you want to see my figures for the armies I'll post them. If anything
I'd say that it's much easier for the DS to weather any attempted intrusions
into Mordor in the WoTR than in 1650, and are more likely to be able to
break through if the FP's aren't careful. Which is what did happen, I wonder
what the game would look like now if NG had brought the bridges down.
So considering this I can't see where the belief that the DS didn't have a
prayer came from, and this doesn't consider the extra troops in the north,
which can instantly cause the FP's problems or the extra gold the DS all
start with.
Anyway I'm looking forward to hearing the replies to this which will
undoubtedly try to correct me. Now I'm off to consider just what we can do
about the situation in Gondor.
Cheers
Alan