Re: Belter

From: ccchu@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Conrad Chihta Chu)

Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1991 21:07:11 +0000

Well there are some general hints I think everyone should know about the
game Belter.  Having played a few games and won one already I feel my
suggestions or comments could prove useful.
First, Find yourself an Ally, preferably more.  IF you don't have an
Ally you might as well be playing for fun and not to win.  No one can
win a game of Belter alone unless he or she is operating several companies
simultaneously.  This fact you should be very aware of.
Second, keep to a plan.  You have only so many orders available in a given
year to accomplish everything you need to do.  Make good use of every one
of them.  Do now what you would do later in another turn, thus saving
yourself an order.  Example, building factories of the same kind on
consequtive turns can be considered wasteful of orders.
Third, find out everything you can about your neighbors.  They may be looking
for allies as well and may have technology you lack.  Some will have dropped
and are easy to eliminate and confiscate their assets.  Consider taking out
certain mines of theirs.  It is very difficult for the average player to
defend all his assets, especially their mines.  You will find it common that
certain kind of players will ignore mining altogether and concentrate on
increasing the size of their company.
Fourth, Grow, GROW, and KEEP GROWING.  If you fall behind by alot you will
lack the resources to win.  No matter what the conditions if you can keep
getting larger the better off you will be.  It doesn't matter that you are
spending more to maintain your company, you should be large enough that you
can afford to do so and still 'make' more money.  Increasing the size of
your company will make it slightly more survivable.
If people are interested I'll submit more personal experiences and advice
for the game Belter.  BTW I won the game playing a single company from the
start.

References

Belter
rlewis@isi.edu (Roger Lewis)
Wed, 23 Oct 1991 03:44:50 +0000