Re: FREE/COMMERCIAL Fantasy Strategy PBeM

From: "BK" <ogood@idirect.ca>

Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 00:00:00 +0000

>250+ Unit Types, 14 races, 80+ spells, 40+ Buildings.
>
>Hundreds of allies and opponents are waiting to play with you!

If anyone is interested in a review of Wizards of War (WoW), I have been
playing for a few months now. I have a wide range of gaming experience, from
rpg to strategic war games, to PBM before the advent of the internet. This
doesn't make me an expert, and I have not played a number of the
contemporary offerings, but I do have some basis of judgement.

My criteria for selecting this game was that, as I am currently a student
(once again), I have limited funds, thus, I am only able to financially
participate in one game. I am involved in a couple of free ones, but I also
like to return some value for the effort GMs, game designers and programmers
put in. I point this out because the reason I decided to try out WoW instead
of, say, Adventurer Kings (which also looks very attractive), was because,
instead of a few turns, I was able to try out a complete game for free. My
experience playing the game definitely decided me to a financial commitment
to a further game. I am sure that it means a lot of work for the GM to run
multiple, and completely free games, with the added complications of having
many players dropping out and needing replacement, and so on, to maintain
the game experience for the more dedicated players. I don't know the
percentage of players who move on to the commercial game, but I find it
difficult to believe that it pays dollar for dollar for the time invested.

WoW - There are a number of "Lands", with different scenarios, that can be
played. The free one is called Arragoth, and is based on the awakening of a
slumbering Fire God that once enslaved most of the world, except for those
few races that managed to escape (12, the players). This enslavement took
place long ago, and Arragoth (the Fire God) is stirring once more, as
foretold, and will awaken soon. Already his minions are starting to stir
from thier volcanoes. Those races which once fled Arragoth's domination are
rebuilding to meet the threat.

Of course, in an ideal world, all differences are put aside, and the common
foe is met. Like any other world, the ideal is not reached, and a mixture of
diplomacy is needed to get the players focused on one important goal -
survival! Arragoth's threat must be met, or it is likely that all of the
players will perish, eventually, but there is nothing forcing the players to
act together.

One of the things I like about this game is that much of what is possible is
not known to you as a player when you begin. Of course, this can only happen
once, by the time you enter a second game, you know that if you build such
and such a building, these are the benefits. That makes you better able to
plan a strategy, and develop a focus for your race, of course, but it is fun
discovering these things, especially when you do not have a financial
commitment in case you make a fatal mistake (unlikely, anyway).

You are not in touch with your neighbors, have to expand and capture
territory before you meet them, and find out who your neighbors are, and as
the scenario takes place on an (as yet, unknown) number of islands, where at
this initial stage, knowing all of the players on one's own continent is a
matter of rumour (unless you have appropriate magic otherwise), much less
those on other continents.

With the threat of Arragoth hanging over our shoulders, we race to build
sufficient might and resources to withstand his awakening, and subsequent
actions.

The map is made up of diamonds, with squares inside. The diamond represents
a full "region", the square inside is the home "shire", which is connected
to the 4 triangular shires that make up the rest of the region. Each of
those other shires is connected to the home shire, two of the other shires
in the same region, and one shire each of two other regions. This also makes
strategic and tactical planning unusual. Terrain applies to, and affects
entire regions. There are "special places" that can be explored. Benefits
accruing from owning an entire region, depend on how you have built up the
home shire, more so that simple ownership. Each shire has it's own
population, and resources that can be produced. There is sufficient empire
management to keep things interesting, while not being so complicated so to
interfere with the strategic portion of the game.

Of course, each player is a wizard, and developing magical abilities among
the 9 or 10 branches of magic (some of which are mutually exclusive) is a
trial & error priority, especially as some spells appear as a result of
joining more than one branch.

There is an atral plane, and an underworld that can be traversed, although I
have not, as yet, managed to do so in this game, but I will be summoning
some flying units (not astral plane, though) this turn, and I do have a
small navy.

What all is available to you as a player is affected by the choice of race,
both where units and buildings are concerned.

I have tried to be careful in my review not to let anything out that would
interfere with that learning process I described earlier, thus have not
referred to anything that cannot be learned from the rules.

If you want a closer look, come check out my character.
http://wow.alphalink.com.au will get you to the home page, choose GAMES from
the menu, I am in game 21 on this page. If you go to that section, you can
click on the "gamesite" link to reach the game's home page. Read about my
character in the blurbs, and this weeks (game month's) turn. My character is
Ssizzler, player 7.

If you decide to play, tell them Ssizzler sent you, maybe they will give me
some free mithril, or something **grin**.

This is a good NG, and I hope that this submission is welcome. Looking for
information such is this is the reason I subscribed.

Bauke Kamstra aka Ssizzler

References

FREE/COMMERCIAL Fantasy Strategy PBeM
David Harris <harry@wow.alphalink.com.au>
Sun, 15 Aug 1999 00:00:00 +0000