From Howard Whitehouse Thanks for the most recent issue of EGG (5) and the "Great Whopping Handfuls of Dice" game, which I enjoyed. our local group has a comic-book WWII game called "Sargeant Rock", where all kinds of foolishness takes place. I am intending to paint up a squad of my personal favorite unit, 4th Gurka in baggy shorts and big grins. Either that or a French mobile brothel in 20mm scale. Or my grandfather's Home Guard platoon, all old geezers with pitchforks to fend off the German FallschirmJager. My grandad raised chicken and rabbits on his front lawn to defeat the Nazi threat, you know. I'd have a model of my dad (age 12) with a cricket bat and a box of collected shrapnel, too. Yea, this could be a great game ... I enclosed a copy of "Science vs Pluck." How well this will do as a solo game I'm not sure. The mechanics are simple and use lots of dice. If you like acting/storytelling you might try it on a group of RPG players who know little of the period. Half the British officers there didn't know anything about it either. Did you hear about the cavalry subaltern who was so stupid all the others noticed? "Analog games," eh. Not sure I know what an analog is, but that wouldn't stop me inventing one anyway. I am going to be presenting some games/seminars/ridiculous events with shopping trolleys and water pistols at Nashcon. Is that the weekend you're getting married [no but too close to get away]? If not, you might like to come as It is according to my 1/3,000,000,000 map of the solar system, only 3/411 from your house. If interested, I'll send you details. If it's the weekend you are getting married don't even try to come. My wife took several years to accept that wargaming as an obsession is not nearly so bad as a lot of other compulsive behaviors, like dog racing or rebuilding old cars. But - and this is the big point -- don't push it until that reality becomes clear after a lengthy period of time. Have to run to the post office now as one of my more certifiably deranged clients is due in in 30 minutes. That's a clinical diagnosis you understand ... From Jolly Blackburn Just received the copy of EGG#5 you sent. Thanks a lot! I must admit I had never heard of matrix-games before. I was once very, very- heavily into wargaming and I have been meaning to get back into them -- I must say, matrix gaming is really intriguing. The suggestion of swapping issues between EGG and Shadis is great. I will send you a copy of Issue#3. (I'm assuming you've already obtained a copy of #2). B.A. Felton is planning on starting up a review column of self- published magazines/newsletters dealing with gaming, in the near future and be including EGG. As for EGG itself I read the copy you sent me several times. At first, being ignorant about MGs, I found myself thinking, "What the hell are they talking about?" Thank God you just happened to have included a new game (Solidarity) in that same issue. After reading those rules and going back over the turns in the PBM game I managed get a foothold. I definitely want to see more. If you have the time, could you possibly give me some information on MGs? (Or direct me in the right direction). Namely I'm interested in their history. Who developed them, when, how widespread are they currently. I'm thinking of doing an article in a future issue of Shadis to educate our readers, (and myself) on the subject. Well, keep up the good work. I'm going to run your letter in ?ur next issue. It gave a nice rundown on your magazine, including it's purpose and focus. Maybe some of our readers will respond. Well, Good luck with EGG. Hope to see the next issue real soon. [You are not the first to be confused about MGs due to my writing. They are very new and they do require a shift In the way one thinks about games. I'm the one who came up with them (back in 1988) so I'm the one to give you the history. This is an opportunity for me to review the last three years and see how the idea has progressed. I'll get it off to you after this EGG gets out. I've enjoyed reading Shadis. The article on criminal justice in RPGs is a good one. It is a sad comment on the hobby that so many of the players regularly exceed the Hells Angels in violence. I like a good fight as much as the next guy but maybe it is better that we encourage thoughtful games more. There will enough fights even without our comment. From David Reeves Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. Hopefully this letter will make amends. Congratulations an the anniversary of the Experimental Game Group Newsletter !! Since my subscription at EGG 03, I've enjoyed your ideas forum your newsletter provides. EGG, as well an Hal*s MWAN, encourage me to put my game ideas into publishable form. So I don't miss any issues of EGG, enclosed is $7.00 to renew my subscription. Do have any extra EGG 01 and 02, or can you copy them for me? I missed the beginning of the Matrix Game and will gladly reimburse your copying/postage costs. Now that I better understand the Matrix idea, I'd like to suggest a "fog of war" addition. As I perceive the MG, only one player's argument succeeds over all others by the process of elimination. This player's argument (prediction) becomes reality. What if the prediction unexpectedly turned out better or worse? PREMISE:In war there are numerous variables such that one cannot always accurately predict an Outcome. According to this promise, the result coupld turn out slightly detrimental or beneficial. I say "slightly" because major surprises in a small Matrix Game might end it prematurely; although, largerr ones should be able to handle a larger surprise. The mechanism to trigger the random outcome is rolling a 1 on the elimination die for the Succeeding argument. An additional die roll determines a detrimental/beneficial effect: 1-3: bad 4-6: good. The game referee then determines the modification to the succeeding argument. For example, in turn 3 of the "Fury of the Northmen" MG a bad result might he: "The Vikings attacked at dawn, but those who fought back (for family and country) took a toll on the Vikings before they died." This could affect the results of the turn 4 battle? Likewise, a good result could be: "The Vikings totally surprise the villagers and capture some as slaves to help carry off the loot." This advantage would give a small lead on the pursuing Thanes and aid in effecting a clean escape in turn 4. As a self-critique, I point out that 1.) the fog of war requires an uninvolved referee, since he generates the random results. Maybe there is some way to automate this .... 2) the random modification is an arbitrary decision each time, not necessarily equivalent in strength as others. In a game with black-and-white choices, this gray area might cause problems to players and referee alike. For what its worth, here's something for you, Chris, and other EGGers to chew on. As for other matters, I would like to accept your offer to play-test your game inventions. For that matter, I will test anyone's game and submit a detailed, written analysis for EGG and the game designer. With approximately 20 people in my group, any would get a workout. In reviewing material, I believe in the free exchange of ideas where: 1) any invention can he improved. 2) someone else has some insight which I might not have 3) each person's evaluation, good or bad, should be carefully considered so that I won't miss the opportunity to learn and grow. I feel that these attitudes are simply basic courtesy and help to encourage home- grown rules writers that otherwise would not share ideas for fear of ridicule. Well, I'll get off my soapbox. By the way, is there any room for another player in the Solidarity Matrix Game ?? I would like an insider's view of how a MG operates (as well. as the fun). Back to Experimental Games Group # 7 Table of Contents Back to Experimental Games Group List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1990 by Chris Engle This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com