been lurking, decided to register ;)

[NotQuiteANewbie]

Free versus paid versus donation.

Price versus value.

If only things were really quite so simple.

(snip)

Considering the amount I have spent on tabletop roleplaying game books in the last 3 years, and the very few times I have actually gotten to play them, I am pretty sure I'd get better value from a paid PBM at this point, although I'd have to set a budget and stick to it. In some games that would limit how big my position could grow.

On BSE - yeah I've heard of it going back many years to those old Paper Mayhems and Dragon Magazines, and some old 1980s Space Gamer issues I picked up years ago (heck they are so old there are StarMaster reports in some of them).

Always sounded a bit intimidating to learn the ropes.

That may be part of why I never got all that deeply involved in an one PBM back then - I shied away from the ones that seemed to have a high learning curve, even though the promised experience would have been higher as well.

For instance I spent a few months doing SuperNova II back around 1994, but all I did was "turtle" and build industry and defenses for 10 or 12 turns for fear of encountering an experienced player and getting squashed. Never left my home system at all before I gave up playing.

However, 20 years later I realize I should have just concentrated on having FUN, instead of making it too much like doing chores.

In computer strategy games such as Master of Orion, I always play to the bitter end these days even if getting squashed, just for the experience of fighting heroically to the end even if I lose.

[John M]

I did go check your site and Facebook out after hearing of it from GrimFinger.

I played a few of those old Avalon Hill hex wargames back in the day as well.

I'd think about it if you are still starting the Greek scenario games, as I need to ease back into things before getting tossed in amongst a large number of opponents. So I can learn the mechanics before having to dive so deeply into the diplomacy.

Funny, I never thought how our games relate to Avalon Hill. They had a huge influence on my gaming preferences, for sure. I think it is fair.

We do have Greek Battles scenarios, we started 7 games this year alone. It is not as fast to start as the other scenarios with 13-20 players.

[Silver]

In computer strategy games such as Master of Orion, I always play to the bitter end these days even if getting squashed, just for the experience of fighting heroically to the end even if I lose.

I second that. In fact, as part of my sadistic nature, I tend to enjoy more games where I am badly cornered or clearly losing. I have enjoyed mostly games where I managed to turn an impossible situation. Off course most of the time I am getting squashed

[NotQuiteANewbie]

I am also a player in Olympia G4, working out of the Falconlake safe haven. Whether you join my alliance or the other alliance working out of Falconlake, I'd be glad to help you out.

I'm leaning towards signing up for Olympia G4 as my first PBM in 15 years. Certainly thinking of one of the more northern cities to start out in. Falconlake might be as good as any.

I have read through all the rules once, but will certainly be learning as I go.

Thinking of just trying to build up a wandering company of soldiers as a first goal. Just explore, gather resources, make some weapons and soldiers, before deciding what else to do.

Sound like a reasonable idea for a newbie?

[NotQuiteANewbie]

As for CTF 2187, I played maybe 3 games with Advanced Gaming Enterprises. It was very similar to the tabletop miniatures game BattleTech. Sadly their website has not been updated since the middle of 2006. Always regretted never trying their Crack of Doom game.

Just as an FYI, I received an e-mail from Duane Wilcoxson of Advanced Gaming Enterprises on January 24, 2014 (a little more than a month ago), and in it he told me that they are still running games, in response to an inquiry from me.

They should at least put a brief sentence news blurb on their website every year or so to let prospective players know they are still a going concern. It's been since 2006 that any update at all was done to any section of the AGE website.

Even the CTF fan Yahoo group seems to have been abandoned to spammers sometime in 2007.

---

I am also a player in Olympia G4, working out of the Falconlake safe haven. Whether you join my alliance or the other alliance working out of Falconlake, I'd be glad to help you out.

I'm leaning towards signing up for Olympia G4 as my first PBM in 15 years. Certainly thinking of one of the more northern cities to start out in. Falconlake might be as good as any.

I have read through all the rules once, but will certainly be learning as I go.

Thinking of just trying to build up a wandering company of soldiers as a first goal. Just explore, gather resources, make some weapons and soldiers, before deciding what else to do.

Sound like a reasonable idea for a newbie?

OK I have touched down in Falconlake in Olympia G4, and have just gotten my initial setup report. Have drafted preliminary orders, but will wait a few days before submitting them.

May be looking for potential allies soon if I manage to get my little unit of soldiers going after a couple turns learning skills in the safe haven zone before heading out to look around the countryside.

[swift2plunder]

Thinking of just trying to build up a wandering company of soldiers as a first goal. Just explore, gather resources, make some weapons and soldiers, before deciding what else to do.

Sound like a reasonable idea for a newbie?

OK I have touched down in Falconlake in Olympia G4, and have just gotten my initial setup report. Have drafted preliminary orders, but will wait a few days before submitting them.

May be looking for potential allies soon if I manage to get my little unit of soldiers going after a couple turns learning skills in the safe haven zone before heading out to look around the countryside.

Yes, you should be able to support a small unit of pikemen (10-20) for a short time by pillaging. You won't be able to do that once players have castles and start garrisoning them, though. I was going to try that myself to see how well it worked, but it's no inconvenience for me to settle back and apply myself towards being an arms merchant.

When a new noble shows up in a safe haven with 25 peasants, they are usually contacted right away. You should have 2 alliance/mentoring offers in your mail box this week - one from Freelords (my alliance) and one from Phoenix Dominion. If not, send me an email through this board and I'll help you out.

[NotQuiteANewbie]

Yes, you should be able to support a small unit of pikemen (10-20) for a short time by pillaging. You won't be able to do that once players have castles and start garrisoning them, though. I was going to try that myself to see how well it worked, but it's no inconvenience for me to settle back and apply myself towards being an arms merchant.

When a new noble shows up in a safe haven with 25 peasants, they are usually contacted right away. You should have 2 alliance/mentoring offers in your mail box this week - one from Freelords (my alliance) and one from Phoenix Dominion. If not, send me an email through this board and I'll help you out.

I was thinking of doing a bit of forest resource harvesting and maybe hiring out as garrison troops. Perhaps eventually go full-on mercenary? But it will be at least 2 whole turns learning skills before I even think of leaving the safe haven.

[NotQuiteANewbie]

Galactic Overlord by GEM Games was my first game, then I think a few games of CTF 2187 by Advanced Gaming Enterprises, a couple turns of Samurai Warlords (run by an Aussie GM), a few turns of The Bloody Blade by Damien Games, a few months of Supernova II by Rolling Thunder Games, and lastly a bit of Monster Island by Adventures By Mail about the end of the 1990s or maybe early 2000s? (There was one other game I don't remember the name or GM, but the game I think folded after about 2 turns or so. Was a fantasy wargame about an evil horde about to overrun the land, and players had to design & build castles to protect their villages.)

Digging through lists of PBMs, I am pretty sure the one fantasy game I could not remember before was "Jurien Range" by PBM Adventures. (I remember designing a hexagonal castle and starting to build a palisade wall around my village, then the game just stopped. Never got another turn result.)

"Samurai Warlords" was being run by Bill Paspaliaris if I remember right. (I remember I messed up inputting order codes on my 2nd turn and ended up looting all the temples instead of praying at them to improve what the conquered populace though of me.)

I also think I tried "Stars of the Dark Well" from Mindgate for maybe 3 turns or so.

I also even tried to design my own PBM at one point about 1995 or so, but I stopped work after realizing I would never be able to have time to do hand-moderation of more than a handful of players, and my programming skills were not up to the task of automating it - mainly I needed to know how to get a database to keep track of everything without inputting changes by hand (some kind of batch input). (Being limited to some BASIC, Visual BASIC, and a little bit of C that I could barely make work.) (Subsequently I learned some COBOL, DOS batch programming, HTML, and Java, but I really don't remember much of anything from lack of use for almost 15 years. These days can barely edit my own webpages I created years ago without looking up how. I ended up going into hardware repair instead of programming.)

[GrimFinger]

"Samurai Warlords" was being run by Bill Paspaliaris if I remember right. (I remember I messed up inputting order codes on my 2nd turn and ended up looting all the temples instead of praying at them to improve what the conquered populace though of me.)

I also think I tried "Stars of the Dark Well" from Mindgate for maybe 3 turns or so.

I don't remember Samurai Warlords, but I do recall seeing ads for Stars of the Dark Well.

What do you recall about that game?

[NotQuiteANewbie]

"Samurai Warlords" was being run by Bill Paspaliaris if I remember right. (I remember I messed up inputting order codes on my 2nd turn and ended up looting all the temples instead of praying at them to improve what the conquered populace though of me.)

I also think I tried "Stars of the Dark Well" from Mindgate for maybe 3 turns or so.

I don't remember Samurai Warlords, but I do recall seeing ads for Stars of the Dark Well.

What do you recall about that game?

If you mean Samurai Warlords, it was a pretty much standard treatment of the Warring States period from 1560 - 1600+ or so, culminating in the Tokugawa shogunate. If anybody is familiar with the old KOEI Nintendo / Super Nintendo games "Nobunaga's Ambition" or "Lord of Darkness" it was pretty close to those.

You had a daimyo (one of the historical province lords) and a number of subordinate officers to lead your troops. You had to pay your officers to maintain their loyalty. You had to keep the peasants from revolting in order to have enough rice/ gold production to keep recruiting soldiers.

The goal I believe was to control X number of provinces, and hold the capital province of Kyoto for a certain number of turns. Whoever accomplished that would be declared Shogun. I think you had to have a certain amount of "Imperial Favor" from what the Emperor thought of you as well.

I joined the game about 1 turn late after it had already started. I had Tokugawa Ieyasu (who historically did become Shogun). I strained my economy to the breaking point and raised every soldier I could on my first turn, then stormed into an adjacent province in the direction of the capital. It fell easily.

On my second turn I raised more troops (including from the newly conquered province), and had intended to pacify the population and increase my Imperial Favor by donating / praying at the temples. I stormed into the next province on the road to Kyoto, and it too fell.

Of course when i got my next turn report I found I had entered the wrong order codes and LOOTED the temples instead of donating to them. This resulted in the populace and the Emperor thinking less of me instead of more. No disaster, but it would need some work to correct the situation.

I informed the GM on my next turn about my error, but never heard back at all. No next turn. I hope I didn't cause him to abort the game at that point. (Either from my errors, or how quickly I was building an unstoppable juggernaut army. Of course other human players could have been doing the same thing.)

Another couple of turns and I would have probably been in the capital province. Not sure if I ever came close to another human player at all.

What I remember most was the HUGE map of Japan with all the province borders. It had to be around 18" by 36" inches if I remember right. Of course my memory might be exaggerating a bit, but it was quite large.