Re: What are you playing From: dani@netcom.UUCP (Dani Zweig) Date: Fri, 04 Jan 1991 05:01:42 +0000 >jhthomas.US1.oramail@us.oracle.com ("jhthomas.US1"): >What games are you playing? I'm in Hyborian Wars, and in the set up phase of >Adventurer Kings, Out Time Days, Vietnam, Company Commander, and War 1940. The best fantasy-oriented game I've found has been Alamaze. Unfortunately, the superb design of this game is somewhat undermined by very poor customer service: There's only a single GM for close to a hundred games, so if an error is made (the program still has a few bugs) trying to get satisfaction can be very frustrating. That's at Pegasus Productions. I believe Reality Simulations (the folks who run Hyborean Wars) has licensed a version of this game, but I don't know how similar it is. Fifteen players/races play on a relatively small (26x26) map, each starting out with a substantively different set of strengths, weaknesses, assets and potentials. For example, the Dwarf king starts out with a strong territorial base in the mountains, a [resultingly] high income, good political emissaries (a duke can generally pursuade a town to swear allegiance; sending a baron isn't as expensive, but he might fail if he's operating in hostile territory), but almost no magical potential, and very weak agents and spies. His armies are relatively weak, but get strong bonuses in mountainous territory, which makes them very effective on the defense. The Witch Lord begins weak in almost every respect, but with respectable wizards. More to the point, if he survives (and accumulates the needed gold) he can raise those wizards to levels unattainable by most players, at which levels they can teleport armies around the map, level city walls, conjure large sums of gold, and generally walk over most of the other players. In my current game, I'm playing the Underworld. This position starts with moderately good emissaries, decent wizards (the Warlock's wizards can go up to eight level, the Underworld's can go up to fourth and the Dwarf's can go up to second), and superb agents. By this point (turn twenty) I've managed to survive long enough to train my agents to high enough levels to be a devastating force, able to assassinate powerful wizards, steal magical artifacts, and allow me to keep tabs on the doing in any major city. I've been trying, in outlining some of the positions, to give an idea of the variety of factors and options contained in this game. There are far more things each player *could* do than resources (each order costs gold, and there is also a limit on the number of orders, though this limit may be raised -- for a high price in gold) permit. Diplomacy is hyper-active in the early part of the game (the map is crowded, and any player who fails to communicate with others is going to get ganged up upon) and then tends to level off to regular communication with one or two allies and occasional contact with the others. The game costs $6 per turn, with turns every two weeks, and tends to run 25-30 turns. Victory is determined by status points, with most points being gained by controlling territory and magical artifacts. If you enjoy games of this type, this is the best of the lot. ========== Some other games (much more briefly): Space Combat: A very well designed tactical game. Each player chooses and controls a fleet of monsters (yes, monsters) of varying capabilities, and a free-for-all ensues. Games are relatively short, and victory depends primarily upon good tactical skills, and secondarily upon good planning. Hyborean Wars: You control a kingdom set in the world of Conan. The best aspects of the game are the well-defined characters (if you want to rob an enemy, send a character strong in intrigue, and preferably with some skills in personal combat; don't send your best diplomat) and the fine control you have over the composition and tactics of your armies. The last game I played in sort-of collapsed because too many players dropped out. Legends: This is the most ambitious fantasy-oriented game currently out. It has a strong D&D feel to it, with 300 players per game, spread over a large map. You have complete freedom in designing your characters, and can play the game as a role-playing game or as an empire-building game, as you prefer. It's new enough that I don't know yet whether it will live up to its potential. That's mostly it for now. I've played in other games, but I prefer the fantasy-oriented ones. ----- Dani Zweig netcom!dani@apple.com God helpe the man so wrapt in Errours endless traine -- Edmund Spenser Referenced By Up