Views from the Internet Letters to the Editor

Views from the Internet

Letters to the Editor

by the readers

Kids And Games

Well I have no kids (though at one time I was a kid, allegedly, so I'm not unfamiliar with the subject). My point? Oh yeah, my point. There is a game (by a company called Crown Tactics) called High Ground, which was specifically designed to teach strategy to the designer's children. Takes 15 minutes to learn, half an hour (or less) to play, and has pretty plastic pieces. However it teaches reasonably decent strategic principles (and even comes with a little book on military strategy). Interestingly, it's got just enough luck that a child can often .beat an adult at it, so you don't have the problem of the kid getting bored or the adult having to throw the game all; the time 'I highly recommend it' for teaching people how to play games.

... Scott Orr

Maharaja Tips?

How bad has submission been for others? I can't seem to get a game going where folks remember/use it. This has the result of wiping some nations out really quickly [Harappans, either the Cholas or the Pandyas - depending on who wins the dispute]. -

I know Yellow has a big problem, since the Mauryans/Guptas are doomed to vanish from the map almost assuredly, and only getting a few Raj points and two big victory condition turns. Being left alone doesn't seem that helpful to me.

Meanwhile, the Sinhalese have a very hard time dealing with Pandyas and Cholas. The Dutch [even with help from house rules] can't make up the weak start Yellow seems to be stuck with barring a devastating feud between Pandyas and Cholas.

The Brits keep getting routed in my games. Also, with folks pretty much passing on their opportunities to submit [even when I tell them that they can], the Brits can't build up much steam.

Beyond the problem with Yellow, the biggest imbalance I've seen' is the Mughal nation. They seem fairly unstoppable when played well. I've tried to offer resistance to.them with Muslims [handicapped by the pop increase limitation to the south] and with the Mahrattans. They just can't touch the Mughals, especially with a 14 army major invasion.

The Mahrattans are also vulnerable to a pyrrhic attack from the. Pandyans, which I suffered from last time I played. I could not establish the. Mahrattans at all, since any time I tried to spread out the Pandyans would through all they had left against me. By the time the Pandyans were gone, the Mughals were well established.

... Phredd Groves

Colonial Diplomacy

I played it several times at Avaloncon earlier this month, including twice withg its designer who was looking for feedback on play balance, etc. (It took a long time - 7+ years - for his game to see daylight over apparent controversy about its general value as a game.)

The price Depends on how you look at it. The rules for movement/combat are the same, but the game plays differently for a number of reasons:

b) There's lots more supply centers, but you don't control them even in your own country until you occupy them;

c) There's lots of ocean, making both sea and land action of real significance - esp. the former early in the game for the Japanese, Dutch, and British;

d) The basic game (control of 16 supply centers) can end with every player still in the game;

e) Some special rules for the Suez Canal, Hong Kong, and the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

Because of c) and d), I like it better than regular Diplomacy. However, as several people observed, if you already have the Deluxe Diplomacy game and can learn the rules to Colonial Diplomacy, buying just the board as a "spare part" gives you what you need. Or if you have neither, buy the latter and do the reverse with the former.

In this economic sense, the latter can be seen to be a "variant." The design- er developed it because he had found regular Diplomacy had fallen into a rut and become too predictable. I believe that he, too, felt c) and d) were the key differences in the basic game design which affected how one felt about the play of the game as different from regular Diplomacy.

... Scott Duncan

Alliances in Games

First, on the issue of morals-information, etc..

Clearly, a large part of Diplomacy is psychology. How one's opponents think is extremely important in estimating their likely course of action. Thus, previous acquired information on one's opponents (which does not have to come from previous games of Diplomacy either) is relevant and cannot be forgotten from game to game. Even estimating what other players' opinions of you and mutual opponents is relevant.

What is not relevant is who was an ally with whom in previous games. If, at certain crucial moments, I was an ally with a player who subsequently won the previous game, I do not expect the same player to react favourably to me (if it goes against said player's personal advantage) in the present game. In fact the opposite might be the case - if my alliance facilitated the win, it means that I was outplayed in the previous game and should thus be more cautious with the winner in the future.

But if one or more players is not playing to win in a current game -then the game is less enjoyable and quite likely pointless. If someone is not playing to win then I don't want him/her in the same game as me.

As to a situation where one player is clearly about to win and this can be facilitated: a game of chess does not always end when checkmate occurs. A player, upon recognizing that a loss is inevitable signals defeat by toppling the king - not by exposing his/her pieces to the other player. If someone is clearly about to win then stop the game - it is again pointless to prove the inevitable.

The untenable player who cannot even rely upon the slimmest hope resulting from desperation of sympathetic third parties should not rely upon gratitude as a reward in future games for actions in the present. When self interest no longer has any meaning (for the doomed player) I expect that player to frustrate as much as possible the players who resulted in his/her inevitable demise (to the point of surrendering supply centres to another person even). I also expect that the outgoing player will not spoil the game for those who remain by playing the last few turns as a poor loser (the dying with dignity and resisting the enemy to the last always seems more poetic too).

Whether this is morality or not, I don't care. Those who disagree with me are entitled to do so, but I also don't want to play with them.

...Tim Huyer

Clever Multi-Player Strategy

This is loosely based on the "Alliances in Games" thread. Most of the posters seem to only consider two strategies:

I propose that there is a better strategy. What you should do is convince the leader to use his resources to boost YOU. In exchange, you will help him fend off all of the players with strategy 1. above. At the same time, you do not relegate yourself to a loss, because your goal is to force the leader to bring you up to his level, or else you'll turn on him, and help the other players crush him. If the leader threatens to win, you must turn on him. If you can muster enough strength to bring the leader down to your new higher level, then you do that.

Here is a generic example:

We have a five player game with relative scores a:1,b:3,c:3,d:3,e:5, where higher is better. if a-d gang up on e, they can easily beat him down into submission (that's strategy 1). Strategy 2 would be if d helps e as much as he can, and out of kindness e helps d into a second place victory.

My proposal is that d promises to take care of c for e if e helps d. Thus, after careful manuevering by d, the scores are a:1,b:3,c:1,d:4,e:5. D does not allow e to improve (perhaps even attacks e a little if necessary) but begins to crush the other mid-range players who might dethrone e from his first place position. What d really wants to arrange is a:1,b:1,c:1,d:5,e:5.

Now, if a,b,c, and d are all using my strategy, it becomes a bidding contest of sorts. Each one tries to gain e's support by giving the most, without giving e enough to win. Any who go over-board are accidently playing strategy 2 which will-probably get them second place (bleh).

Of course, e's strategy is to gain support from a,b,c, or d without bringing any of them up to his level. But this is tricky, because all of them are watching out for that. If e can find one of them who is gullible, he has a pretty good chance of winning - but such is the advantage of the one who is in the lead.

The moral is that absolute strategies like 1 and 2 are never the best. A good player should never commit absolutely to 1 unless the leader is NOT going to help him. A good player also doesn't commit absolutely to strategy 2 unless the leader is so far ahead that there is no hope of beating him, even if all of the other players gang up on him. But at this point, it really becomes a sub-game for second place, with a time-limit governed by the victory of the leader.

The strategy I have presented is universalizable within the context of a game (i.e. if everyone plays by it, it still works.) It includes other common strategies as parts of the whole, and it makes for very entertaining games if it is understood by participants. It is also a strategy for players who play to WIN, which is important to the notion of a "game."

...J. Andrew Wheeler

Resin & Elastomer Info for Casters

I'm not sure who all out there would be interested in this information, but since I had asked about resins, and then went and asked my supervisor at work (doh!) and got some answers myself, I figured I'd do my civic duty and pass along what little information I have. The dollars involved are a bit scary, but I certainly intend to write off to Freeman Co. for information on how I can order my own buckets o' Repro. When one of the other guys in the Design shop responsible for pouring molds and masters has a little bit left over, he'll occasionally let me pour some into a makeshift mold, rather than just letting it harden and get tossed in the trash, since it's going to be wasted anyway. Repro is a nice, tough plastic that is easily sanded, and REALLY holds detail nicely, and rarely (I can't recall any instances of it) has bubbles. I've used it to make some castings of "terrain hexes", shields, decorations, and some other odds 'n ends, but haven't experimented with figures yet, so I can't say how it'll work for that.

Repro 83 - 2-part "reproduction plastic" (resin). Hardens in about 90 minutes. High detail, tough, no flexibility, scuffs easily. A good release. is certainly necessary, as Repro will stick to just about anything. Manufactured by: Freeman Mfg. & Supply Co. 1246 W. 70th St. Cleveland, OH 44102 Approximate price: $44.00 for 2 gallons (9 kg) in two cans (part A and B) (That's about $22/gallon.)

PMC-775 Rubber Mold Compound - 2-part "elastomer" molding material. Pour in as a syrupy liquid, and takes about 24 hours to solidify completely into a slightly rubber, amber-colored translucent mold material. Manufactured by: Smooth-On Inc. 1000 Valley Rd. Gillette, NJ 07933 phone: (908) 647-5800 FAX: (908) 604-2224 Approximate price: $540.00 (!!!) for 3 5-gallon buckets. (It's a 2-to-1 mix, so you need 2 of part A, 1 of part B.) Approx. 40 lbs. per bucket. ( $36/gallon.)

C-1508 Urethane Casting Resin - Hard, durable plastic, consisting of a bucket of the liquid mix, plus a hardener. Tougher than the Repro, but takes longer to solidify, and I don't think it gets details quite as nicely. However, I /think/ this is close to what various companies are using for resins. Manufactured by: Smooth-On Inc. (see above) Approximate price: $233.80 for 4 gallons, plus hardener. ( $58/gallon. Ouch!)

Anyway, I don't know if anyone will be planning on rushing out and spending mega-bucks on resins, but since I'd done the research, I figured I ought to post the numbers for a few folks who might have interest in such a thing. Now, if you know of any better deals for resins or molding materials, please let me know! Now if only I could get a "price per gallon" for lead/pewter so I could do -a decent price-comparison to see if the Repro or Resin would be more or less expensive than using metal. (Of course, even if the prices were comparable, or slightly higher for the resin or Repro, there would still be the fact that the resins don't require heating, and therefore would make production a bit easier, and allow a wider range of molding materials.)

... Jordan Greywolf

The works of Tom Wham

Many gamers are attempting to collect MTG. Well my interests are a little more obscure. I'm attempting to collect the works of Tom Wham and associated articles. Most of you know him by his creations Snit's Revenge, Awful Green Things from Outer Space, and Kings & Thing's. Below is a listing of all the games, articles and artwork I know about. Any information on on others not listed would be most appreciated. I would also gladly answer any questions about these works of Tom Wham for those interested.

Games

And remember-Gaming is not just a hobby, it's a state of mind. Thank you.

... Randy Lantrip

Black Morn Manor - Help!!!

I've played a heck of a lot of Chill in my life :) I think the question you are asking is "is orientation of the tiles required to be text up or some such?" and the answer to that is, "no, the tiles may be rotated during placement, but not thereafter." In fact, I think they *must* be in order to build a connected house.

We have a slew of house rules for Chill. Here are the ones I ' can remember:

1. Don't take any cards out of the deck, regardless of the' master. Guessing the master is not something that can be done by logic from the card mix, just experience, so it's far better to use the full deck from a play standpoint.

2. Players *must* role-play the side they are on. No one is allowed to attempt to switch sides in order to win. No one is allowed to attempt to switch sides at all, and must prevent it to the best of theirability. An evil player who is about to become good and knows it must still play his/her tiles and cards in the most evil manner possible. Wringing of hands and cackling is optional, but adds to the game if done in moderation :)

3. All masters must be beaten in combat. No wimpy "just bust the glass box and he dies" nonsense.

4. Start Envoys with only five willpower,_ rather_ than_ six,_ except._ in a_ two-player 'game. (Give war a chance.)

5. Tile placement: house tiles must be played either adjacent to another house tile or adjacent to the crypt. Only one of the two spaces adjacent to the crypt may be a lawn tile.

6. Players are strongly encouraged not to kill tiles by killing sets. If the master really really needs this done, what is a poor minion to do, but the honor-bound envoys will not consider it.

7. Use miniature figures, allowing two per player.

8. Remember that Chill: Black Morn Manor is a Role-Playing game. Heh, heh, heh.

9. We have a special setup for 2-player games, with each player being an envoy, but it is still under development. I'll post it if there is interest.

... Jeff Goldsmith

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