Game 39

[Ed Mills]

That gurgling sound is Ossim drowning next turn. Looks like Haruth (AKA The Tatooed Ape) will be more than just the front man.

[mythadventurer]

Did you think that we Corsairs were sleeping in our ports?

[Gixxer]

Mythadventurer,
I've given an excellent Corsairs-position to your hands !

Looks like you're beginning to make something out of it !

Have Fun !

Gixxxer

[Brad Jenison]

Not as much crowing from our esteemed opposition this time. Does this mean the turn's results were not quite so satisfying?

[Another Darrel]

News from around Middle Earth:

-Arthedain proposes to balance WK budget via arms reduction initiatives. Many orcs and trolls are expected to lose arms and other appendages during the first round of cost cutting. Fortunately, the savings will allow the WK to fully fund their new employee medical plan...which is expected to be quite costly.

-Red Cross workers accuse Dunlending guards of prisoner abuse. Commander Briam of Rhudaur claims that he is being forced to wear an orange frock and watch pro-Dunlending puppet shows all day long.

-Rumor has it that a band of Woodmen have taken to constructing a giant wooden rabbit somewhere in the depths of Mirkwood. What plans they have for this varnished engine of destruction is unknown at this time.

-Dog Lord, slays young woman on way to grandmothers house. She was described in the Mordor times as being 5'8, brunette, meaty but not too fatty and with nice mild flavor. The going rate for for Emmissaries found around Mordor remains unchanged at $6.39 per kilo.

[leonidas]

Brad,

My turn was fine, just ask the Northmen. I thought I'd give you a break last turn, by not killing any of your characters to go along with your victory over my cav. DinO needs a break, three kills in two turns! He's filing a grievance with the Assassin's Union!

Chris
LR

[Brad Jenison]

What?

Sending a Nazghul to challenge a hapless rookie emissary. Then killing Barlin after he had accomplished his mission. Glad you're happy. Did you get the encounter then? Drugandra can't be too happy about the turn.

Oh by the way Ed the armies and commanders will probably happen at about the same time. Sure does make doing orders go quickly though.

Brad

[lionatus]

Hey whats Ji Indur up to, playing with stones at his age? or did he drop his knife?
Shame about the bridge, I want my ships back guys. We were just organising a party too, you guys not wanna come?

[Gixxer]

Stolen ships,
Hoooo really great.

Have Fun !

Gixxxer

[lionatus]

Not stolen just mising. Turns almost due. Next turn the hammer falls, but where?

[John Simpson]

Sorry to be a kill joy but we have 2 threads on this. I know the UK players prefer short threads per turn (some people still have pay for when you on line)

So keep to one thread for the game please and for the sake of UK players (and our poor service prividers) if a new thread starts at when the turn comes back use it.

thanks

John S

[John Simpson]

So lets keep this thread for this turn.

From what I've seen so far it doesn't seem bad for us.

Now where do I ask the ClL to send his agents.

Hope Viny enjoys his stay.

Cheers
John S

[lionatus]

News just in, Ji Indur fails yet again. Thanks for that you can kill of my commanders after the battles ok? Not much else happening apart from that dolt Caranthir stopping to take fotos and getting caught. He really should know better than to take pics of secret installations those MIB are pretty ruthless.

[John Simpson]

Sorry if our US players don't get this.
Viny must have been a UK plane spotter in Greece.

By the way, what is Cardy doing in North Harad??????????????
Did he get lost?
And shouldn't the FP be driving the DS out of Mirkwood not the other way around?

PS I love dragons. :)

[John Simpson]

Sorry I posted too soon,

As team captain I'm going to give the Cloud Lord Player a good kickin'

Ji Indur is obviously working for the wrong side. More mistakes thana rookie QB.

Cheers
John S

[Brad Jenison]

Double agents are nice aren't they?

Good turn for us as well, but isn't Din getting tired of killing hapless Eothraim characters? As for Mirkwood yes you are running rampant, but that is not our priority at the moment. When priorities change it will get more attention. The game is gettin more interesting. No tethered goats this time except maybe me. Thanks to all involved it has proven a challenge.

Brad

[Another Darrel]

By the way, what is Cardy doing in North Harad??????????????


Well, since there weren't any Harad in North Harad....(or anywhere else) it doesn't seem so strange. :)

Also, I've heard that you can find artifacts in this game. We've been thinking that we should start looking for some of them....when are you guys going to start? :)

Seriously though...excellent game...very interesting...it's looking like this is shaping up to be a beauty.

[John Simpson]

Harad had sent his people on a holiday further north but there on there way back.

Artifacts who needs them! (well OK some would be nice but we thought we'd let you find them and then kill you for them. Nice Mallorn staff by the way)

Yes game is interesting and nicely poised at present. Got to let you think you still have a chance.

Cheers
John S

[lionatus]

More troops, more troops. Whatd do you mean the commanders are off sunning themselves with the DS agent squads? Right then we'll lure them back with offers of a cruise. Whatd do you mean our ships haven't returned either? Ok build somemore. What do you mean the timber was sold to buy new armies? Ok break out the armbands they can swim across!(exerpt from NG high command strategy briefing)

[Ed Mills]

Swim the Great River with arm floaties?

This reminds me of the memoirs of a Soviet officer during WW II. He was, then, an infantry company commander and his unit was composed of Central Asians. Men who had never seen a river until they were drafted into the army. They certainly did not know how to swim.

At one point dueing the war a large river separated the Soviets from the Nazis. As part of an offensive, his unit was to make a diversion by crossing the river and causing the Nazis to prematurely commit their local reserves. The Soviet officer asked about boats or pontoons and was told he had his orders and an officer of competence would caRRY them oet. The implication being that there was room in the gulags for incompetents.

The Soviet officer had two sergeants bring his troops, one by one, to the riverbank and at pistol point ordered them to swim to the other side. The men drowned, of course. When he had killed about one-fifth of his troops he radioed that his crossing had failed and that he was suffering heavy casulaties, but the Nazis seem to be reinforcing the position. He was congradulated and ordered to cease the attack.

[lionatus]

Yes btu Im not planning on letting anyone come back. Swim or die suckers. We're lighting the banks and having another Bbecue. Damn conscripts anyone would think thy were expected to draw more than one months pay.

[Another Darrel]

A true Darksider! Let us negotiate an alliance.

Aren't you supposed to negotiate with neutrals?
Then again....I'd want to get some replacements for your "neutrals" if I were you too. (And no...you can't swap us for the Duns and Corsairs... :D )

[Another Darrel]

After this thing is over, I would LOVE to swap turn sheets with some of the DS.

I'm not at liberty to say what nation I'm playing at this time (unless Brad changes his mind on this).

I would be curious to hear a short write-up of things your team did well and mistakes that were made due to strategy, coordination etc. Certainly, our team has made no mistakes ;) and certainly not myself ;) but I would be happy to comment on those too if any were to occur in the future. :D

[Another Darrel]

Brad doesn't want you guys knowing who is playing what nations...and even if you knew who I was playing I wouldn't want to say too much about the ongoing game and tip my hand.

I think I've made some good moves...and have also made some mistakes...but not too many (I hope) :D

Are you the team captain for the DS? If so, aren't you playing Rhudaur and the WK?

[John Simpson]

No Ed isn't the team captain and isn't playing Rhudaur and WiK.

I am the team captain and as Ed says Brad knows where he and I are on the map.

In my opinion there have been many mistakes all over the map so far. There always are because to get this right you have to know what the other side are going to do, which just isn't possible.

Ed suggests writing a joint report with him at the end of the game. This I think would be a good idea. I would be happy to swap most information at the end of the game and also ask questions myself. For example I'm amazed that cardy has shown up in Harad. Ed will send him packing I'm sure but why is he here? Still surprise is always a good weapon. So at the end of the game lets share most secrets and both sides can learn the errors they made. We have all the PDF's so can answer any factual question. Things like "Why did you do that" will require a little memory work.

So far thugh thanks for the game. It is going well and is balanced at present. Still the longer it continues the more it favours the DS.

Cheers
John S

[Another Darrel]

Egads...I've tried to respond 3 or 4 times now...this website must hate me. ;-)

Anyway, I'd be happy to do a joint write-up post-game. I am keeping a list of interesting things to ask about or I'd probably forget if the game goes long enough.

What I was meaning by "mistakes" wouldn't be caused so much by the actions of your opponent as they aren't supposed to make it easy on you. The mistakes I was talking about would be things like incorrect movement, having a team-member sell a product while you are trying to buy it out, not recruiting correctly etc etc. Some of these "mistakes" may actually turn out to have little or no consequence and can possibly work out to be a benefit.

The mistake that I made involved the use of a split army command to TRY to transfer troops to a guy that army had troops. Frankly, it might have worked out for us BETTER with this error but otherwise I have played a flawless game. (lol sarcasm)

Congrats on the steel buy-out this turn...I suspect that some of your team-mates are to the point where they are digging through the couch looking for spare change to keep the orcs in slop. :-)

[John Simpson]

Sorry I mis understood your point about mistakes because I'm perfect and never move East when I mean West etc. (I wish this was true :-))

As for loose change, yes you just aren't doing your job right. You aren't killing them quickly enough, and the Mordor chairs have been around for a while and therefore are full of loose change.

Can't wait for Thursday

Cheers
John S

[lionatus]

Turns in. Haven't looked yet though.

[Brad Jenison]

Stop your whinging Ed think how fast you can now write your orders you should thank Mythadventurer for simplifying your game processing;-)

Brad

[lordmonkeygod]

ME News Network – “Orc numbers dwindling in Northern
ranges, biologists say”

The Middle Earth Environmental Protection Agency
(MEEPA) announced today the results of a recent study
indicating that Orc numbers, over a variety of
geographies, have declined drastically. So much so in
the case of one increasingly rarified variety, the
Northern Speckled Orc, that MEEPA is placing them on
the list of endangered species. “We just don’t see
many any more”, said Angmar Dept of Parks and
Recreation ranger Jarls Argonson. “There was a time
when you would see massive herds of them marching here
and sacking there but now we can only identify one
such herd over a single thousand”. What is the reason
for such a population freefall? “Causation is typical
as with many endangered species”, said Argonson,
“human encroachment on habitat and outright predation
by humans”. The MEEPA study shows that in Angmar
human settlements have indeed popped up in what was
previously an Orc haven and the alarming increase in
mass poaching from adjacent towns and cities has been
devastating. Out on patrol with Argonson we point out
a figure moving in the distance and asked it’s a
Northern Speckled Orc. “Yes”, he says, and proceeded
to pull out his bow and shoot the shambling creature.
He can tell by our expressions that we are somewhat
taken aback. “Well”, he shrugs, “I am, after all, a
ranger”.

(Reprinted courtesy of Arthedain news corporation).

[lordmonkeygod]

I played alongside Brad in my first game (85) last year. Got recruited after that game finished.
Sorry don't know Phil, is he still playing ME? This is only my third game so there is a good chance that we haven't been in the same games.
Was all going quite nicely for me until this turn...poor old Tharudan. I had a feeling Gothmog was still lurking, but decided to take a gamble. It appears not to have worked :(
At least my cities are safe ;)

[John Simpson]

Doh!

Now what does 215 mean said Tharudan?

Now where are our agent artifacts said Brad?

Oops said FP team?

Gift horse mouth look at never a in the (please rearrange) said DS team!

Risk worth taking? Notttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:p

[Brad Jenison]

Now John, nobody likes a gloater;-) Hell we're used to getting murdered here and there, it is the thing that quickens the pulse. Thanks Din for not whacking Leofigild this turn by the way. We should have anticipated that tactic as we used it on our last opponents as well, but there were so many tasks and not enough orders to go around. I feel my green recruits are shaping up into a pretty good team under the tempering that you guys are giving them. The key thing is that they seem to be excited about the game and having fun and that was the objective. True the longer this goes the harder it will be for us; but you guys aren't getting off scot free either. The game has a long way to go. This will be an attrition game I think and not like what I feel is an unfortunate trend of games being cut short because one side quits rather than trying to make a comeback. We're in it for the long haul as I am sure you guys are as well. Greetings to you guys Miguel, Kev, Peter, and all that haven't posted hope you guys are having a good time too.

Regards
Brad

[leonidas]

Brad,

DinO thought he'd spare you a turn, so our ears could get some peace from your boo-hoo yabberings about losing chararcters!

Bravado aside, it was getting a bit hot in that hex for DinO! You know death-dealers don't like to stay in one place too long. Don't worry, I'll catch you later!

Chris G
LR

[Brad Jenison]

My Boo hoo yabberings? I don't see any boo hooing in this thread unless it was Ed's. Din has done quite a bit of damage to me that I'll admit, but it comes with the territory.

Brad

[Another Darrel]

Doh!

Now what does 215 mean said Tharudan?

Now where are our agent artifacts said Brad?

Oops said FP team?

Gift horse mouth look at never a in the (please rearrange) said DS team!

Risk worth taking? Notttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:p

Thats a cheeky post for a guy that's losing 2 capitals in 2 turns.... ;)

[John Simpson]

Heh, I've got to do something to take my mind off my own troubles.

Cheers
John S

[Another Darrel]

Wow. Now that was an interesting turn.

1) That failed food buyout is going to hurt. 100k gold flushed down the toilet and those markets are NOT going to recover anytime soon.

2) I'm playing the Cloud Lord in a new game....I'm taking notes on what NOT to do from this game.

3) Thanks for upgrading those towns and major towns in the north....it makes it so much more worthwhile when we capture them.

4) Look on the bright side Harad....you are doing A LOT better than Rhudaur. :D

[Another Darrel]

Sorry, A.D., it is late August--harvest and near harvest, depending on your latitude. The time for a food buyout is late winter and early spring, the 'starving time' in pre-industrial economies.

Yes...perhaps there is some confusion over who bought all the food?

[Another Darrel]

It sure was not us and the computer only resets to zero around 300 k food.

Ah, I bet that's what happened...buncha people dumping food and it rolled over 300k.

[Brad Jenison]

I see our brilliant plan to keep Din O occupied is still working

[Gixxer]

Greetings Mates,
sometimes I'm looking on your conversation and I haven't seen much concerning the Corsairs.
I hope they were able to kick the Darkies back to hell ?

Have Fun !

Gixxxer

[Brad Jenison]

Pshaw Ed,

Didn't you just lose an army commander and an army to the Corsairs? Whose that facing your army at 2635 and at your town at 2634? I know it is not a Haradrim town but didn't I read about the recent fall of Vamag as well?

Then looking north of the river it seems to be full of Gondorians so I'd say far from stablized.

I'm sure Mythadventurer will chime in later, but the Corsairs seemed happy about their turn, something like Yo ho ho and the QA's next.

[Another Darrel]

..... the situation can be called stabalized.

You better hurry up and stabilize the North West too....we're running low on hotdogs, sticks and matches.

Almost got a 2 for the price of one with Drurgandra and his buddy. Oh well, we'll pick up the spare this turn. :D

Let's see, WK and Rhu are going to have about 1 MT and a village left out of their entire starting PC's after this turn.

[leonidas]

Pointy-earred punks,

I'm unimpressed with your weak assassination skills. You've got one, and your bragging?!? That's it! DinO has killed eight in eight turns! When you get close to that, then, MAYBE THEN, I'll be impressed!

Uvatha

[Brad Jenison]

Yes,
8 in 8 is impressive, some day DinO will get complacent and dead, at least that is our plan. :)

[Gixxer]

Greetings Leonidas,
please don't forget the "advantages" for DinO's kills.
It's always easy to kill with some agent-arties, sometimes stealth will help you too !

Have Fun and some luck for the Freps !

Gixxxer

[Brad Jenison]

Alamo? we know of no such term in Endor. Vamag held for one turn as we tried to spare the populace the horrors of the assault. It was taken. We will discuss with the Corsairs where to sail to next.

[Brad Jenison]

Me riled?

Chris, I'm not riled. It will take a lot more than what you guys have tried to make me extinct. Din Ohtar has had a good run, but his days are numbered. The characters he has been killing have not been critical so while his score has gone up the effect on the game as far as we are concerned has not been all that great. Keep him in the east kill the occasional newly named character if you want. I have the resources to keep naming them.

Enjoy the game.

Brad

[Brad Jenison]

What? Chris you slacker, two sucker emissaries just waiting on Din Ohtar and company and you can only manage one kill. Tsk Tsk.

[Another Darrel]

What? Chris you slacker, two sucker emissaries just waiting on Din Ohtar and company and you can only manage one kill. Tsk Tsk.

Perhaps there was a mix up in orders and they thought the plan was to kill emmissaries at the Witch Kings capital. If so, they were rousingly successful. ;)

[Another Darrel]

Haven't heard from you guys in a while....you guys doing ok?

[John Simpson]

Having had a good turn last time we are ploting for how to have an even better one next turn. The longer this goes on the more it benefits the DS ;)

Still you are putting up a good fight and the game has been fun so far. I would even say I expect at least another 10 turns.

Here's to a good game; that the DS will win :cool:

Cheers
John S

[Brad Jenison]

Well met, we're not ready to concede. Yes it was a good turn for you. We got our licks in as well though and though you won the character battle this turn we are winning where we expected to and the economy is really poor and that can't be good for you in the long run. The loss of 3 emissaries cannot but have a bad effect on the Witch King plans.

You are right though we are in for a grueling hard fought battle of attrition with two determined teams which will fight to the end.

Brad

[lionatus]

Mmmmm assassinations, burnt bridges, dragons. Dont you guys want to come and play at all. We even built a new fun fare for the orcs to play on. ranted the safety regulations were a bit slack but a few deaths is inevitable for orcs in gondor anyway.

[Bobbins]

Isn't Lionatus dead already? (It's hard to keep track).
And while there might not be any Orcs in Gondor, there's not many Gondorians in Mordor either though is there?

[lionatus]

Yes old Liona is dead but weill soon be brought back if the DS wanna play. Im getting bored guys. Team isnt letting me build bridges so was it is then. I still have navies....

[mgrazebrook]

Just because you're a character doesn't mean you've GOT character. (Unless your name is Ji Indur).


Indeed. So we have character. Nice to know. Ji's corpse mounted for display at one of Gondor's learned academies.

[lionatus]

Ach damn it. So Im now implementing swimming lessons for the troops. Saves on timber at any rate.

[Gixxer]

Hi Darkies,
game 34 against Brian Mason will be over soon.

The next turn will be the last turn for the remaining Freps.

Hi there Mr. Simpson !

I'wasn't able to play this game to the end.

Now, I need to play you with my team !

You've promised me something like a revanche in a private mail.

What do you think ?

Have Fun !

Gixxxer

[Another Darrel]

Where are the FP? You guys have made some nice moves and should talk a little smack.

Excellent game so far.

-Darrel

[Gixxer]

Greetings Darrell,
well I'm not sure if you meant me with your latest mail.

At the moment our team is playing against Brian Mason's team.

They will give-up the next turn, but they should have done it on turn 10.
On turn ten 5 of their nations were out of order, still in the game but without homeland.

Have Fun !

Gixxxer

[John Simpson]

Sorry we have just got turn 14 back. This is going to go another 10 turns at least. I would suggest that you find another team to beat in 10 turns before you lose to my team. I will only play one game at a time (My misses woudn't let me play two).
So keep in touch. My aim is to make this team excellent. We have won one as FP against a good team we are now going to win as DS. I claim that this team is undeafeated. We are happy to defeat you but it will have to be later

Cheers
John S

[John Simpson]

Sorry,
we are too busy planning your down fall to give "smart talk".
Thanks for the agent artifacts. Harad is no going to rival the Cloud Lord.

I reckon we can kill 9 of your guys to 1 of ours per turn.

Then end is nigh, but it will take 10 turns to prove it to you.

Cheers
John S

[Brad Jenison]

Are those chickens or eggs John? ;-)

[John Simpson]

That would be both.

FP chickens and Dragon eggs. We just seem to keep hatching dragons when we need them and more and more FP characters will come "ready for the oven" as our agents gut them :-)

:)

[Gixxer]

Sorry we have just got turn 14 back. This is going to go another 10 turns at least. I would suggest that you find another team to beat in 10 turns before you lose to my team. I will only play one game at a time (My misses woudn't let me play two).
So keep in touch. My aim is to make this team excellent. We have won one as FP against a good team we are now going to win as DS. I claim that this team is undeafeated. We are happy to defeat you but it will have to be later

Cheers
John S

Greetings John,
it's okay, I've found an opposition in Clint and the GMs.
So maybe later.

Have Fun !

Gixxxer

[John Simpson]

So when Clint has taught you how to play the game in 10 turns time we will just be about finished, then we can party.

Seriously, when we finish you are top of the list to challenge if you are free at the time.

Cheers
John S

[John Simpson]

Very quiet from you guys,

Was it the loss of 2 agent artifacts to harad or
the death of 4 NG characters? or
Harad stopping your armies doing any damage every turn? or
the Fire King in the NG Back field? or
the abject failure to threaten a Witch King village? or
the inevitable defeat of the FP? or
all of the above?

that is keeping you so silent. You have battled well for 14 turns but the tide is turning. I'll give you one piece of advice. Make sure that when you march an army you have at least 5 commanders with it. ;)

Cheers
John S

PS well fought. It is only a matter of time

[Brad Jenison]

Yes,

But we're not done yet.

Harad has a bunch of badly injured army commanders let them bring on their piddly armies some more.

You killed characters of NG woo hoo they have sat there long enough.

Nothing you have done except the killing of the army at the Black Gate has had any effect on our major plans so while we are paying a high character price we are still full of fight. Your posting to Gerhard was just the type of encouragement these rookies thrive on.

See you on the battlefield.

Brad

[Gixxer]

So when Clint has taught you how to play the game in 10 turns time we will just be about finished, then we can party.

Seriously, when we finish you are top of the list to challenge if you are free at the time.

Cheers
John S

Greetings John,
the next grudge, it will be a tough battle.
I'm pretty sure about it, but also the GMs will have to cook with wather.

I've played for the first time with this team, it was a new creation.
Looks like the "creation" have worked fine.

I've never seen a tough Freps-team beaten so early.

Let's stay in contact John ( GKille@web.de ).

Good gaming further on ( also to Brad and his team ).

Have Fun !

Gixxxer

[mgrazebrook]

Has the Cloud Lord turned pacifist? I've never seen a Could Lord so reluctant to take another's life. Are you going for a record on the number of CL kills?

[Brad Jenison]

Thank you.

[mgrazebrook]

Kudps to the Free on their invasion of Mordor. Is the Northmen bankrupt yet?

Dk Lts

Thanks. It was fun planning it. Many thanks also to Bobbins for all his good advice at the face to face, see what good students we are! (Actually in fairness we took great care not to discuss our Mordor plans in front of him).

Still, you lot are doing all to well in other arenas.

- The woodmen-in-exile

[mgrazebrook]

The cut and thrust of the Mordor war seems to have become particularly personal at the Cloud Lord capital with agents slugging it out toe to toe, all stealth and finesse thrown to the winds.

Are the DS planning to oppose us in Mordor, or is there some gentlemans' agreement behind the scenes to swap Mordor for Mirkwood?

[mgrazebrook]

Mordor is cold in the winter. I prefer the South Gondor coast.

Aye, and fair Harad even better, the ruins provide some shelter from the heat.

[John Simpson]

We are tree hugging Orcs. We drink Peppermint tea and like the forests. Who wants to live in a desert. Mirkwood is ours! We like it. Lots of herbs to make hot drinks with.

Cheers
John S

[Tine]

Let's hope then you won't find any nasty surprises in your cups. How do you heat your tea that far away from your homely fire places? But it's sweet to travel a little...
Best wishes to the CL!
Tine - Cardolan

[Tine]

I'm only too happy to exchange turns - dying of curiosity! Well, why shouldn't I have gone there? Nice coast, nice view - my army was enjoying the time. And Harad didn't move troops out.

Tine

[mgrazebrook]

We are tree hugging Orcs. We drink Peppermint tea and like the forests. Who wants to live in a desert. Mirkwood is ours! We like it. Lots of herbs to make hot drinks with.

Cheers
John S
No! Never! Mirkwood belongs to the Woodmen! Precioussss Mirkwood! Leave at once or we'll ... er ... we'll ... um ... think of something? Shoo!

[lionatus]

Oh and no-one mentions killing off the fine upstanding men of Goindor. MMm, tis easy seen tree-hugging goes on far too much in Middle Earth

[Tine]

Who says Bobbins didn't give me his bank account number ;) ? I've just had a look at my turn and noticed you've paid some attention to me. Guess I feel honored... (sigh) - such nice characters! By the way, it might be worth it to run a few of my character names through Google... just because of the CIA...

Cheers, Tine

[mgrazebrook]

Tree hugging is good. The trees like it. Maybe you would like it if you try. Just be careful which kind of tree you hug.

Congratulations to the DS on the efficiency of your economies. I can't seem to steal gold anywhere! You clearly aren't wasting a single penny. And look at those crashed markets. You're doing a great job of ensuring we have to tighten our belts.

Fortunately my Woodmen seem to be able to get by on meagre rations, herbs, dragon steak, that sort of thing, doesn't cost much.

[Brad Jenison]

So,.... you're trying to convince us that Tine is a mole are you? Won't work, won't save you now. While the pyres for our fallen heroes lights many a night sky we will keep coming until your foul kind is driven from Middle Earth forever. This has been one of the hardest fought games I have been in. What is the count of the dead now? I have lost track. What has been best for me is seeing the momentum swing one way then back. I am glad John took up the gauntlet and that we have had such a good game. Both teams have shown their worth in this game and since only Team Simpson would pick up the challenge I again compliment my old team mates for such a good and competitive game.

Brad

[Another Darrel]

And our opponents have really worked us over in some key areas. Kudos to Rhuduar for putting up such a great guerilla delaying defense in the early going. I look forward to exchanging pdf's....I'd like to know just how close we came to knocking him out back around turn 10-11 or so when we influenced Goblin Gate right after it had been handed to him. (Perhaps not close at all?)

I just know I'm going to have a hard time voting for "best enemy" this game as you guys have done a lot of noteworthy things.

-Darrel of the Duns.

[John Simpson]

To answer two Questions from two different people at once

I calucalte the kills to be as follows:-

You have lost 54

(Didn't expect me to give you our losses did you!)

More than happy to exchnage ALL pdf's after the game. Brad has made a point of you lot being "Newbies" I don't believe it and if you are then well done.

Brad knows I play the "long game" and I still am happy that you will all die. :)

If you are new then you will have learnt a lot this game, probably not least that it takes more than one nation to form a plan.

I think your days in Mordor will shortly be over and our plans may surprise (At least I can hope). The ClL will soon catch up with you with a bit of luck and you STILL haven't won the war of the west.

Cheers
John S

PS how many agent & curse artifacts do the FP have?

[Brad Jenison]

Only 54 you slackers :-)

Well they're not Newbies anymore they are hardened veterans thanks to you guys. When we started though we had me, Rob, Dave and Gerhard. for the experienced guys then we had Darrel, Chad, Brian, Duane and Tine all in their first or second games, James has a couple of games behind him as does Michael. Gerhard and Dave are now departed Gerhard's replacment is a first time player as well. So yes the experience level was on the low side but not the ability level.

No we haven't won the war anywhere but we are still holding our own and then some everywhere and that was as much as I could hope for.

As for the long game it generally favors the DS so we will see, but the game length is giving us a good training program. We don't need no stinkin artifacts, we earn our kills the old fashioned way by rigorous training. Yes you have most certainly killed more characters than we have but we can more easily replace the fallen than you can. I agree John we're in for a grind but we will end the game with two battle tested teams I think we can agree on that as well.

Regards
Brad

[John Simpson]

Did I say 54? I actually meant 61 :-)

Some star names lost last turn but as you say you can easily replace them with C30 types :-)

We will endeavour to keep up the training programme for your newbies.

Seriously they have done well but this turn saw a swing of power back to us a little. Lets see what happens next turn.

Cheers
John S :cool:

[mgrazebrook]

The ClL will soon catch up with you with a bit of luck ...

Then Ji Innur must have a particularly long reach beyond the grave, even for a wraith. Creepy.

[Brad Jenison]

Now, John, not all those were kills this turn. Still it is painful to see some of them go. We name a lot of characters in the 40's now and since most of the new bodies are going to be agents we may eventually catch up in agent effectiveness.

Brad

[John Simpson]

Brad,

Sorry I got it wrong. It wasn't 7 kills this turn but 8. I name them for you if you would like. :-)

Cheers
John S

[Another Darrel]

Brad,

Sorry I got it wrong. It wasn't 7 kills this turn but 8. I name them for you if you would like. :-)

Cheers
John S

We are employing the strategy of the tropical sea penguin of Bali. In the wild they will hurl themselves into the jaws of attacking sharks until the Sharks litterally choke to death on the bodies.....it's quite fascinating.

Granted, the fact that they lay clutches of 150 eggs a month ensures the viability of this tactic.

[Brad Jenison]

Damn it Darrel always giving away our secrets, now they'll probably stop assassinating us I hope that makes you happy.

[Pfendi]

We are employing the strategy of the tropical sea penguin of Bali. In the wild they will hurl themselves into the jaws of attacking sharks until the Sharks litterally choke to death on the bodies.....it's quite fascinating.

Granted, the fact that they lay clutches of 150 eggs a month ensures the viability of this tactic.

With tactics like that I would prefere to be the shark than the penguin, at least you die with a full stomache. :)

[Brad Jenison]

But you still die

[Another Darrel]

With tactics like that I would prefere to be the shark than the penguin, at least you die with a full stomache. :)

You can have the full stomach....we get all the penguin sex before we die. ROFLMAO. :)

P.S. Brad, at least I didn't tell them about the giant wooden badger we're buiding or the holy handgrenade Tina found.

[John Simpson]

Not the Holy Hand Granade of Antioch.

You've all been VERY quiet this turn. Does that mean it was good for the DS :D

You have won the west. All we can do is put up token resistance. You ain't won any where else.

You could conceed now but I know you wont. It will take some time to prove to you who is the best.

Well done newbies.

Welcome to the BIG league.

In UK terms you are Liverpool but we are Chelsea or Man U.

Cheers
John S :p :cool:

[Brad Jenison]

Well John I dunno, I noticed the death toll dropping for us, and the fact that you are stealing gold wherever you can. Hmm hurting economies, or sudden need for bribing perhaps. We have agents good enough to steal gold too, doing that will soon make them good enough to kill, we have already demonstrated pretty good emissary strength and you know the strategic mobility those emissaries have.

I see you still have those pesky dragons in tow and that is a challenge but the fight is going to be a hard one for both sides before this war is decided. Thanks for the compliments to the lads and ladies they hope to earn even more of your respect in the upcoming turns.

We have quieted down as we plot another telling blow, that and the fact that I just got out of the hospital with the flu slowed me down. Thankfully I have able theater commanders.

Regards
Brad

[Another Darrel]

Not the Holy Hand Granade of Antioch.

You've all been VERY quiet this turn. Does that mean it was good for the DS :D

You have won the west. All we can do is put up token resistance. You ain't won any where else.

You could conceed now but I know you wont. It will take some time to prove to you who is the best.

Well done newbies.

Welcome to the BIG league.

In UK terms you are Liverpool but we are Chelsea or Man U.

Cheers
John S :p :cool:

It's hard for me to post here...keeps logging me out.

You guys built up a nice lead early on as we were still wet behind the ears...but I've noticed the playing field level out a bit as the game has worn on.

P.S. How many did you kill off this turn? Did you beat the over\under? lol.

In regards to your talk of concession....

Nuts.

[Tine]

As for being quiet - you should have seen all the silent smiles around. And my BIG grin for my characters survival rate. I take it Din O was a bit short of cash, hm? TOO bad there wasn't much to steal. TOO bad about the market prices as well. And I'm afraid we're waiting for your side to conceed. It must have been SUCH a blow to you - how many nations have you lost now? (I'm CLing in game #67 and enjoying the hell out of it - as Brad might tell you. Maybe my writing style has been influenced...)
Cheers, Tine

[John Simpson]

Tine & Darrel,

Well meet. OK so our kill rate wasn't as high as last turn but we were just repositioning to get at important targets. You still have at least 64 dead characters so far and this number is going to rise dramatically.

As for conceeding, I didn't really expect you to yet, just wanted to wind you up.

Let's see if you are still silently smileing on Thursday. I hope not. ;)

Brad,

Sorry to here you've been ill. I hope you are fully recovered now. It's nearly summer and that must be a good thing. Bet it get's warm in Kansas. :)

Cheers
John S

[Brad Jenison]

John, nothing like a hospital stay to make you want to be well. On the road to recovery now. We're repositioning as well. Where will the strike come next? As for the Premier league comment we've got to be as good as Arsenal now.


Brad

[Gixxer]

Not the Holy Hand Granade of Antioch.

You've all been VERY quiet this turn. Does that mean it was good for the DS :D

You have won the west. All we can do is put up token resistance. You ain't won any where else.

You could conceed now but I know you wont. It will take some time to prove to you who is the best.

Well done newbies.

Welcome to the BIG league.

In UK terms you are Liverpool but we are Chelsea or Man U.

Cheers
John S :p :cool:


Ha, Ha, Ha !

Who's playing the BIG league ?

Play against the "Saturn Star Soccers"´alias " The Circle of Wraith " and you won't see a shining sun !

Have Fun !

Gixxxer

[Brad Jenison]

Probably like you all felt at the collapse of the Cloud Lord.

[Another Darrel]

Probably like you all felt at the collapse of the Cloud Lord.

...and the Witch King....I warned them about the wooden badgers but nooooooo......they didn't listen.

[John Simpson]

I Like wooden badgers and I won't have a word said against them, Thank you,

We are the knights that say "wooden badgers or Ni or somehthing like that"

I wonder if that line above means anything to our American bretheran :)

Cheers
John S

PS what do you call an NG city?
An FP City

:cool:

[Another Darrel]

I Like wooden badgers and I won't have a word said against them, Thank you,

We are the knights that say "wooden badgers or Ni or somehthing like that"

I wonder if that line above means anything to our American bretheran :)

Cheers
John S

PS what do you call an NG city?
An FP City

:cool:

Ouch. Now that was harsh. Hmmm....did the WK get rid of enough troops? I look forward to tracking and visiting his best characters this turn.....:-)

[Bobbins]

Probably like you all felt at the collapse of the Cloud Lord.

Trust me Brad, I felt a LOT worse when we lost the CL.
Losing the CL was the first time I thought we might not win the game.

The thing was, it was totally avoidable despite the sterling efforts of Tina. He had more than enough cash to get by - he just blew himself up. [John feels suitably abashed, I can assure you]!

Kev (DrL)

P.S - Have the dwarves become pacifists? ;)

[lionatus]

Ng checking in. Quiet of late but so few chars left we dint have much of a debating team.

[mgrazebrook]

I see you want to borrow my Mordor camps for a while.

My but you were working hard! The evil barbs of your dark propaganda are of small use against my loyal citizens, see how a mere handful of Woodsmen see off an emissary force which could have taken cities!

Please carry on. We'd much rather you spend your emissary might on castles in the sands of Mordor than places where it actually matters.

You may as well leave me with Caras Angren, the Cloud Lord surely has no further use for it!

Please send my regards to the Witch King. He is in good company following where the mighty Cloud Lord and Rhudaur have gone before. He put up a brave fight. We will place the final nails in his coffin with care and artistry, as befits one of his noble heritage.

[Another Darrel]

Rob, thanks for the 14,000 in gold. Just in time to save my keester.

Oh, we're harmless...some say we've even lost and don't know it yet? ;-)
Some also say the earth is flat though.

The DS agent at Carn Dum was lucky my scout was wearing both eye-patches last turn....otherwise he'd have joined poor Angulion on the soccer fields. :-) I think it was the same scout that missed your curse squad at The Dragon Lord capital those many turns ago....sour luck indeed. :-)

Oh well, good game guys! Every turn a bloody slugfest.

[John Simpson]

Every turn is a bloody slugfest?

You don't know the meaning of the phrase :-)

We are only just getting started and may soon visit the west in force, then you will know what a bloody slugfest is :-)

Meanwhile we will just continue to rack up 11 kills a turn.

Current score is 83 FP dead and that doesn't include any you may have lost to dragons etc. N Gondor and Art are leading the race with 12 dead each!

All the best, this has been a good game but we will win :p

Cheers
John S

[Brad Jenison]

Come now John you aren't killing 11 characters a turn, if you were we would be out of characters by now. Yes you are killing our characters faster than we are killing yours, but we are killing your nations faster than you are killing ours. I'm not so certain you are going to win. You're right though it has been a good hard fought game, the type you would expect from two well organized grudge teams. Our hats are off to you but we are far from beaten. Obviously you feel the same way so let's keep bleeding each other.

[John Simpson]

Brad,

My mistake. I overstated the case. It was 10 not 11 :)

1. Belfalason (Assasinated)
2. Lionatus II (Challenged)
3. Belechael (Assasinated)
4. Nwankwo Kanu (Suddenly taken ill)
5. Dernwyn (Assasinated)
6. Osric (Assasinated)
7. Bartold Baggins (Challenged)
8. Marl Tarma (Assasinated)
9. Aelred (Assasinated)
10. Veantur (Suddenly Taken ill)

As you say, at this rate you won't have any characters left :)

Cheers
John S

[Ed Mills]

The FP are putting up a heck of a fight. Tine is a warrior goddess. Looking at the top three nations victory points the DS had 1783 points on turn 14 and 3817 points on turn 21. I like the direction of drift.

[Brad Jenison]

Sometimes you come home victorious, other times they carry you home on your shield.
The Eothraim exhort their brave allies to continue to take the fight to the enemy. To the minions of evil our grudging respect.

Brad

[Ed Mills]

The embatted citadel of Minas Arnor remains an island in the Dark Tide. The Misy Mountains are the boundry between good and evil. The four western powers are strong and well led. More bloody work ahead.

[Brad Jenison]

Not really, Mirkwood is contested and Harad and the QA are hanging on by a thread.

[Another Darrel]

Not really, Mirkwood is contested and Harad and the QA are hanging on by a thread.

Losing another player...let alone Brad...hurts. I realize that we are screwed at this point but since my teamates seem to think we can still do some damage and learn some tricks...so be it.

[Bobbins]

Not really, Mirkwood is contested and Harad and the QA are hanging on by a thread.

Really? Hanging by a thread? REALLY!!! Harad is a little pressed maybe (at a push) but I assure you the QA isn't.

And Mirkwood contested. Given that we have removed the Sinda, the Northmen, the Woodmen and the Eothraim from Mirkwood, which part is contested?

Have to agree with Ed's earlier comments though..... we're very impressed with Tina's Cardolan. Especially considering this is her first game.

Bobs

P.S - we don't think Brad is out btw, you've shacked him up somewhere like the peace loving, tree hugging, freedom loving 'freeps' you should be. :D

[Brad Jenison]

I refer you to the original Star Wars, Darth Vader too thought he had seen the end of Obi Wan Kenobi. From deaths door I spit at thee, Mirkwood will soon have the free again fighting there. Only took you guys 21 turns to relocate the Eothraim.

Brad

[lionatus]

Hey John S, how many NG chars you wiped out? Am interested as Im still here.

[lionatus]

we dont have any gold left. The magic curse mirrors that peddler sold dont work and I wont have any armies left soon. I still think we won some freak DS tour of a Freep nation sweep. Any chance you drawing another name?

[mgrazebrook]

And Mirkwood contested. Given that we have removed the Sinda, the Northmen, the Woodmen and the Eothraim from Mirkwood, which part is contested?


Aye, contested. Thanks to the generosity of the Sinda, the Woodmen are back in Mirkwood.

We will taking special care to hunt down any nasty orcs who have been careless in their stewardship of our forrests while we were away. So whether you be orc or troll, I suggest you take good care to collect your litter and take it with you when you leave.

We would like to thank the Fire King for giving us Tir Limlight without fuss. It was exceptionally well cared for. We trust the other temporary tenants of the Mirkwood region will behave in an equally civilized manner.

[Bobbins]

[QUOTE=mgrazebrook]Aye, contested. Thanks to the generosity of the Sinda, the Woodmen are back in Mirkwood.

Hmm, very generous. You don't know how lucky you are with managing to get the Sinda city. We know he didn't give it to you btw.

Technically, the Woodmen aren't back in Mirkwood - but I won't split hairs with you over it!

Anyway, lets see how long you can hold it shall we? ;)

Bobs

P.S - Pass on my thanks to the Duns for the RoW and other sundry artefacts. Rest assured I'll put it to good use.

[mgrazebrook]

You don't know how lucky you are with managing to get the Sinda city. We know he didn't give it to you btw.

Technically, the Woodmen aren't back in Mirkwood - but I won't split hairs with you over it!


We have Caras Galadhon by acclamation of the people, given in free and fair elections with not a postal vote in sight. And who can blame them? Given the choice between a wraith and a werewolf, who would YOU vote for?

As for "back in Mirkwood", is it possible you missed my army at the Dragon Lord capital? Maybe not the most scary threatthe dragon lord has ever encountered, but at least we get to tread on hallowed ground and wave our cudgels in the air with a big shout.

[Another Darrel]

[QUOTE=mgrazebrook]Aye, contested. Thanks to the generosity of the Sinda, the Woodmen are back in Mirkwood.

Hmm, very generous. You don't know how lucky you are with managing to get the Sinda city. We know he didn't give it to you btw.

Technically, the Woodmen aren't back in Mirkwood - but I won't split hairs with you over it!

Anyway, lets see how long you can hold it shall we? ;)

Bobs

P.S - Pass on my thanks to the Duns for the RoW and other sundry artefacts. Rest assured I'll put it to good use.

I'm playing the Duns. Yeah, a skillfull play on your part to gain the ROW....lol.
Remember this turn when in some future game you lose Din O in challenge to a low ranking character. ;-)

[Another Darrel]

Too bad about Enion this turn but I figured that might happen and it was totally worth it. :-) I love the smell of Dk lts burning MT's (and cities) in the morning. :-) Losing Enion but burning 2 is better than sitting put for the cursers\assassins you no doubt sent over to seal the deal.

12k in a single steal attempt this turn from the Dog Lord is my new personal record. (Granted turn 1 of this game was my 6th turn (not game...turn) of ME so my "career" is still young. ;-)

P.S. Those were teleporting wooden badgers...brought them all the way down from the ruined WK MT's. :-) Honest!

Good game all...you guys are quite good...I'm still taking notes on some of the stuff you've pulled off.

-Darrel of the Duns.

[Another Darrel]

Yeah, I figured NG would go this turn...no shocker.

I figure there will be a concession soon.
I'm very happy with the game...I think that Brad's goal of getting the KC crowd up to speed is a success.
I'm just glad we managed to last as long as we have and give you guys a fight (as much for learning purposes as anything).

Happy to share pdf's when it's over? Or at least discuss some things?

[Tine]

Who says we're quitting? If you ask the Woodies or Cardolan, that's a no way. Too many nice things going on. Our vote is to play on...
Cheers, Tine

[Another Darrel]

Please, please don;t quit. The entire game I led the DS in victory points but this turn fell to 5th. Give me some time to claw my way back.

I take it you are not playing the Dark Lietinants or Witch King then...the game wouldn't last THAT long. :-)

[Another Darrel]

Only one DS got slapped last turn. That was me.

Too bad the Noldo emmissaries sucked it up so bad at your 2nd road MT. The plan was for the DK lts. to pick up their pdf and see they were down a city and an MT with me sitting on the other on the road. (2 outta 3 ain't bad). Don't know if that woulda knocked you out or not...but I've got to think you didn't expect my forces from 3120 to swing up on you...and a Dragon is the only thing that will save the other MT...you've likely got some armies in range but we'll see.

I still have to get bobbins to teach me the command that cost me the ROW last turn....I think it's misc. command 666...bone the Dunlendings. (DS only) :-)

I have something hillarious to tell you when the game ends...the WK will find it particularily ironic.

[Ed Mills]

Just received the FP concession memo. Thanks to all that played and good fortune to all.
Ed Mills

[Pfendi]

Hey Ed,

I think that should read as "I just received the FP concession memo" we DS won not the FP.

Martin

Long Rider G 39 Turn 13 - now

[Another Darrel]

Just received the FP concession memo. Thanks to all that played and good fortune to all.
Ed Mills

Good game all...thanks for the lesson. :-)

A couple random thoughts.

-A big thanks to Brad for taking on the task of so many newbies on a team. We now have 6 more MEPBM’ers in Kansas City.

-We dug ourselves a big hole early on but played better as the game progressed. I’m glad we lasted this long…we learned a lot.

-For humor, the Pectoral has been lying on the ground in Goblin Gate for 10+ turns. I challenged/killed the emissary there but was killed by militia stealing the same turn so it dropped to the ground.

-Din Othar gets the single character MVP for the game.

Ed, not for a second do I actually believe there are secret order numbers. ;-) I also don’t believe your comments about the Dk lts. being fine even if the Noldo had influenced your MT. Personally, I think you might have gone under had that been successful but all moot as we aren’t playing this turn anyway.

-Darrel - Duns

[Brad Jenison]

Congratulations to the DS. We had not lost the means to resist and could still do damage as was shown in the last turn, but the majority of the team felt that in the end we would go down in defeat. For a mainly rookie team with 5 or less turns experience for most of the team I think we made a challenging fight out of the game and with the lessons learned would be a tougher opponent now.

Tine and Mike came up with the Cloud Lord plan and after tweaking Mike saw it through to a successful conclusion. It was that time when I felt that we had drawn the game even and the decision was in doubt. However we did not maintain the pressure for a variety of reasons and my compliments to the DS for the effiiciency of their reaction.

We had some gaffs in the game opening which put us behind, given the experience gained from this game I do not think such mistakes would be repeated. It was a challenge and I congratulate all who played on both sides.

Brad

[Ed Mills]

Game 39 ends. A salute to our noble FP foes. Top three nations were Dog Lord (John Taylor), Dk Lts (Ed Mills and Long Rider (Martin Pfendtner). Thanks to all who played.

[lionatus]

Oh and guys just for the record NG was still up and running

[lionatus]

Hey Tine found the thread. We bl***y well lost. How'd that happen.