New MEPbM scenarios

[mbarber999@...]

Hi all

TO try and get things going...........

As I understand it, Harlequin now have considerable freedom to amend start up details of the game. I would really like to see some development of the 1650 scenario base to allow new challenges.

For example these could include:

A variant just using local arenas - eg Art Cardolan vs WK Rhu

A variant giving additional startup flexibility (eg each nation may have an extra character, or rename 2 characters, or switch around artefacts, or another MT etc etc

How about getting some detailed ideas together. It would be really interesting, I think, if the Dragonlord started with 2 city/ castles at 2715 and 2814, say, and the Woodman started with a 50 emmy, and the WK started with an extra 800HC at 1804, and no kidnap / assassinations are allowed before turn 5, and , and , and.....

Lets get some ideas going, and lets get Clint offering prizes to the best (cheers Clint !). Note that I would expect us to pay an increased set up fee - but that neednt be huge. Say everyone pays an extra £3 - that is £75 for Harlequin which should be a fair few hours of messing around with a startup.

What do you all think?

[Harlequin Games]

Yeh I like the idea of playing with the game. As a point of order we have
to be careful about what we do change as we are under contract here but I
think that we can do some nice changes. Ideas on what and where are very
welcome.

Clint
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-----Original Message-----
From: mbarber999@... <mbarber999@...>
To: mepbmlist (AT) onelist (DOT) com <mepbmlist (AT) onelist (DOT) com>
Date: 14 June 1999 18:41
Subject: [mepbmlist] New MEPbM scenarios


>From: mbarber999@...
>
>Hi all
>
>TO try and get things going...........
>
>As I understand it, Harlequin now have considerable freedom to amend start
up details of the game. I would really like to see some development of the
1650 scenario base to allow new challenges.
>
>For example these could include:
>
>A variant just using local arenas - eg Art Cardolan vs WK Rhu
>
>A variant giving additional startup flexibility (eg each nation may have an
extra character, or rename 2 characters, or switch around artefacts, or
another MT etc etc
>
>How about getting some detailed ideas together. It would be really
interesting, I think, if the Dragonlord started with 2 city/ castles at 2715
and 2814, say, and the Woodman started with a 50 emmy, and the WK started
with an extra 800HC at 1804, and no kidnap / assassinations are allowed
before turn 5, and , and , and.....
>
>Lets get some ideas going, and lets get Clint offering prizes to the best
(cheers Clint !). Note that I would expect us to pay an increased set up
fee - but that neednt be huge. Say everyone pays an extra £3 - that is £75
for Harlequin which should be a fair few hours of messing around with a
startup.
>
>What do you all think?
>
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[Gavin Wynford-Jones]

Clint:

> As a point of order we have to be careful about what we do change as we
are
> under contract here but I think that we can do some nice changes.

It would be helpful (before we all (all?!?) go wild with proposals) if you
could actually specify the limits of what is changeable and what is not.

Thanks,

Gavin
PS Is there anyone else actually on this list...?

[Kevin O'Keefe]

>PS Is there anyone else actually on this list...?

Well I am (although last time I looked there was a princely total of 8
people so don't expect too many posts)!

Anyway,

I don't consider myself an expert, I've only started playing the game
recently, but I would say think carefully before making any changes.

The game has been around since 1991 and been very successful. In that time
hardly anything important (anything?) has changed. Clint wrote that the
score was 7-5 to the DS team for Harlequin games - well 58% isn't exactly
dominant is it? I know that there is a general perception that the DS
teams tend to win more often, (Richard made the statement 'the vast
majority of games are won by the DS') - well just how true is this? Is
there any stats to back this up?

I'm not really in a position to comment on what should change or not, but I
think that as the game has been around for so long, its obviously popular,
why change anything?

You can't make a proposal that won't be objected to by someone.

What might seem totally reasonable to you - example limiting the 'Steal
Gold' order, might be unthinkable to a DS player. They would argue that
they need good agents who can steal gold because their economies are so
much inferior to the FP.

And if the cloud lord manages to last until the end game, then why
shouldn't he be able to churn out agents? If he and the rest of the DS can
hold off the initial FP superior armies in the first 10-20 turns then you
could argue they deserve to be stronger by turns 20-30.

Still, what would I know.

Kev


>

[Harlequin Games]

Yep there are around 10 players and more joining. Keep em coming...

Clint
>From: Gavin Wynford-Jones <GavinWJ@...>
>
>Clint:
>
>> As a point of order we have to be careful about what we do change as we
>are
>> under contract here but I think that we can do some nice changes.
>
>It would be helpful (before we all (all?!?) go wild with proposals) if you
>could actually specify the limits of what is changeable and what is not.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Gavin
>PS Is there anyone else actually on this list...?
>
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[Gavin Wynford-Jones]

> What might seem totally reasonable to you - example limiting the 'Steal
> Gold' order, might be unthinkable to a DS player.

It's the ridiculous effects of that order that seems to gall more than
anything else. After all, someone strolling out of a village with all of a
nation's gold ought to raise an eyebrow or two in the local populace... <g>
(That happened to me on at least two turn in a 2950 game.)

I'd love to see the calculation of how that order determines the amount of
gold stolen. I don't think I'm alone in that.

I would however modify the order to only allow thefts from nations which
are hostile to the thief; no stealing from your buddies or nations towards
whom you are neutral. That alone would cut down on a lot of the perceived
abuses.

Gavin

[Harlequin Games]

>From: Gavin Wynford-Jones <GavinWJ@...>
>
>> What might seem totally reasonable to you - example limiting the 'Steal
>> Gold' order, might be unthinkable to a DS player.
>
>It's the ridiculous effects of that order that seems to gall more than
>anything else. After all, someone strolling out of a village with all of a
>nation's gold ought to raise an eyebrow or two in the local populace... <g>
>(That happened to me on at least two turn in a 2950 game.)

** heh - you never heard of careful embezzling etc?


>
>I'd love to see the calculation of how that order determines the amount of
>gold stolen. I don't think I'm alone in that.


More information about the game - surely not...
>
>I would however modify the order to only allow thefts from nations which
>are hostile to the thief; no stealing from your buddies or nations towards
>whom you are neutral. That alone would cut down on a lot of the perceived
>abuses.


Um - I sort of agree about this but haven't played enough to make a decision
myself.

Clint
>
>Gavin
>
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[Gavin Wynford-Jones]

>> >I'd love to see the calculation of how that order determines the amount
of
>> gold stolen. I don't think I'm alone in that.
>
>
> More information about the game - surely not...

If you don't behave, I'll ask about market price calculations... <g>
(Another area of the game in which the rules description and reality of
play are, shall we say, out of synch...)

Gavin

[Harlequin Games]

>>
>> More information about the game - surely not...
>
>If you don't behave, I'll ask about market price calculations... <g>
>(Another area of the game in which the rules description and reality of
>play are, shall we say, out of synch...)

** Heard it all before... :-)

Clint
>
>Gavin