The Alamaze Oracle XIII

Fall 1992

 

 

Eye of the Oracle

Russ McDowell

Fall creeps into the Northeast with last of warm sunlight making the changing leaves glow in their fire colors. The mad dash of the leaf-seekers is a few weeks away, but already the cool is upon us and the squirrels heighten their scurryings. It is the most glorious season for those who live with seasonal variety.

This issue richly mocks unlucky 13. David Kuykendall has another article, elevating him from implicit staff to explicit, I think. I personally thank David for his thoughtfulness and comraderie in making this magazine have such a wealth of help. And Rick McDowell, the revered game designer himself, completes his series on the Second Cycle positions, throwing all those secrets out that will surely determine the next wave of successes. We welcome our new writers and hope others follow their example and submit. The Reader Response sheet had some replies, but to be an effective indication, more makes better.

Alamaze succeeds because it is complex without being unduly complicated, because it requires contact with other players not just the computer. Any number of people have testified that inter-player communication makes winning possible, but keep in mind that these partner players have their own goals, too. And, just maybe, you'll find that the player is a person who is more interesting than just as an avid Alamazer.

This month's cover is part of the portfolio provided by Whitewolf. As always, your support via articles, observations, and news will be gratefully appreciated. Actually, appreciated understates the matter since there is no magazine without your contributions; so get your name in print--it's the next best thing to lights. Next issue aims for a January distribution date.

 

Company News

Phil McDowell

Where has the summer gone so quickly? Did we not all have things that we intended to do that are still left undone? Just wait till next year!

As you may have seen in your more recent results there have been additional delays and interruptions in the amount of time our programmer has been able to spend with the new program. As a result we will may no further announcements of anticipated completion dates. We continue to make progress, just very slowly. We proceed to make changes within the existing program and add to the list items that will find their way into the new program once it is completed.

We extend our appreciation for those who contacted the various magazines with their ratings of both game and company. If you haven't yet done so they are still looking for player input. Along these same lines, Issue #56 of Paper Mayhem is looking for data to compile their 8th Annual Paper Mayhem Awards and Survey. They are not accepting copies of their survey sheet but will be happy to forward one to those who ask. Their mailing address is: Paper Mayhem, 1518 Adams St., Ottawa, IL 61350-4770. They are asking for your favorite PBM game, company, and mod-erator. This is your opportunity to tell the industry of your personal favorites. All sheets must be in by September 30, 1992.

Our designer, Rick McDowell, is continuing to work on his new game. It is very interesting, with numerous completely new ideas. It will, however, be over a year before it is ready; from every indication it will be very special.

As you read The Oracle please remember that many of the articles are the perceived conceptions of the individual writing. That some of the advice and/or suggestions are true, that some used to be true but has been altered within the game system and no longer apply, and some were never true. We do not edit these articles for truth and it is up to the player to decide if a particular idea is worthy of his/her pursuit and the possible repercussion.

May this issue of The Alamaze Oracle find you in good health, enjoying your Alamaze experiences, and looking forward to your next result filled with your victories and the sure demise of your enemies.

 

Ten Tips and Tactics

Joey Browning

1. Be a Diplomat. First and foremost, Alamaze is a game of inter-player diplomacy. It is virtually impossible to win, or even place highly, in a game without allies and good friends. On the very first turn you should send a 3x5 card to all the other positions, requesting communication. No need to "tip your hand" at this point; simply give your name, phone number, and address as a means of further contact. The negotiations will come later, as will the rumors, lies, double-dealing, and alliances.

2. Play to your Strength. This is fairly straightforward. If you are one of the magical kingdoms--Warlock, Sorcerer, Witchlord--your wizards should get first priority. Push your highest starting wizard higher as gold stores allow; one Power 4 is better than two Power 2's! Also, protect your adepts. They represent your future power and are irreplaceable. [It is possible, though difficult, to obtain additional adepts or wizards in the Second Cycle scenarios.] Military powers--such as the Giant, Troll, Dragon, Paladin, Barbarian, Ranger, Nomad, and Urik --should utilize their troops early. Military kingdoms are most powerful early in the game, so don't waste any time. Raise your morale and promote your leaders by defeating weaker opponents and small population centers. Recruit and train to bolster your ranks. The magical kingdoms are your natural rivals, so either crush them quickly, or form a solid alliance with one. They complement your skills as well, if you can work in tandem toward a common goal. Other kingdoms have different fortes: the Westmen, Demon Princes, and ancient Ones are mainly political powers, while the Halfling, Gnome, and Dwarf are economic powerhouses, and the Underworld relies on his agents. The Elven and Darkelven are the only two really balanced kingdoms, but even they tend toward the political side. However, you shouldn't follow this advice blindly. Even though you, as the Warlock, are intent on advancing your wizards, you should still realize that your political emissaries can be useful, and that there are valuable missions that your military can undertake. Don't neglect these assets; just don't let them take the emphasis away from you main line of advancement.

3. Gather Information. I can't stress this enough. Use your low level agents constantly, keep a record of what they see, and when they saw it. Does this correspond with what the players are telling you? Correlate this data with data gained from high priestess divinations, population center reports, group reports, and allies. This should reveal patterns of enemy strengths and weaknesses, and perhaps make you aware of vulnerabilities of your own. Never try to wage a campaign blindly; to do so is an invitation to disaster.

4. Strike First. There will, of course, eventually come a time when you decide to go to war with a rival. Whatever the reason--expansion, self-defense, preemptive strike, etc.--the best way to insure a victorious campaign is to strike first and strike hard. The blitz is the most widely used, and most successful strategy in Alamaze. Fighting a defensive war is sometimes a necessary tactic, but it is a losing strategy. If you can't eventually go on the offensive, you WILL LOSE! A well performed blitz involves several factors: Surprise--the victim should be unprepared, or ill-prepared, to receive an attack; Speed--the bulk of the attacking forces should be committed in a single turn; Variety--the combined arms approach should be used, with armies, emissaries, agents, and mages all participating; and Allies--as many as you can muster, all with preplanned targets to prevent overlap of resources. A perfect blitz can eliminate an opponent in three turns, and a less successful one can force the enemy into a defensive war on his territory. This is important, as this means that it will be the population centers in "his" region that are damaged or destroyed, while your own production remains unharmed. Of course, if an enemy knows the blitz is coming, he can prepare for it, devastate your attacking forces, then counterstrike into your territory. So, don't give away your plans!

5. Don't Let Up. Once you have gone to war with an enemy kingdom, continue the campaign until the end. Eradicate the enemy from the game! Striking an opponent and merely wounding him will only make him hate you. Even weakened positions can injure you, especially if your foe gives up all attempts to win and simply tries to derive personal satisfaction from hurting you. Seize the initiative and press the enemy mercilessly until he submits. There are cases in which a truce can be called, but these are rare indeed, and requires that both parties have a strong reputation for honesty in PBM dealings. In general, plan on making all of your fights to the death; this should also dissuade you from lightly initiating hostilities with another kingdom.

6. Gather Artifacts. Artifacts are wondrous things and are useful in two different ways. First, they directly aid your position by giving you special powers or abilities. Palantirs give you free recons at unlimited range, weapon artifacts add measurably to your army's strength, etc. Second, they are worth status points, and all too often the game is decided on status points alone. Certainly the order of placement after the winner is always decided by accumulated status points; since two powerful artifacts (or 3 lesser ones) can be worth as much as control of an entire region, they will often be what determines final standings. There are two ways to obtain these treasures: find them or steal them. The first option requires a group with a couple of moderate leaders (a general or higher) and some kind of wizard--the more powerful the better. It also requires a High Priestess to divine the artifact's name and location, unless you have the luck to stumble onto an unusual sighting. Stealing requires only a moderate+ level (5+) agent, the short name, and the location. While you can steal directly from a sighting, it is usually easier to let someone else do the dirty work of recovering it. Another benefit of recovering artifacts at the site is the quantity of gold that comes to the original possessor.

7. Secure a Border. Before you can mount an offensive operation against a prospective enemy, it is of utmost importance to have your back covered. Nothing will disrupt a good invasion like being attacked from your rear by yet another kingdom! Thus, it is a good idea to speak with each of your neighbors and arrange treaties that will secure as many of your borders as possible. This is why the corner positions are so desirable (and successful), as you will have fewer early threats to worry about. As an example, consider the Elven player in a First Cycle individual game. Situated in the forests of Oakendell, he really has only three adjoining kingdoms. Securing one of these borders by cementing an alliance with that kingdom will allow him to devote his attentions to expansion along but one axis, allowing him to better concentrate his attacks. This rule is so important, in fact, that I feel it far better to ally with a close neighbor than with a more distant kingdom that better complements your abilities.

8. Don't Antagonize--The Tactics of Politeness. Don't needlessly annoy other players in your game, as this will only cause problems in the future. Quite often, alliances are based not on game considerations, but on personality issues; everyone prefers to work with a reasonable, polite player as opposed to an abusive braggart. Don't call other players at 1am (check the time zones!); you might not annoy them, but you sure will annoy their wives, parents, etc.! Don't be a braggart or a bully in tone and avoid personal insults. Stuff such as this will not only affect the current game, it will gain you a reputation that will carry over into future games.

9. Obtain Numerical Superiority. This doesn't necessarily mean more troops, wizards, etc. (though that certainly helps), but rather refers to kingdoms. Wars in Alamaze are almost always fought by alliances rather than one on one duels. Do your best to insure that your alliance has more members than does the enemy alliance. The extra resources provided by even a weak addition can be tremendously significant. The biggest difference is the number of orders available to the alliance each turn. Let's say that the powerful Westmen/Warlock alliance is fighting the Paladin, who has enlisted the aide of the downtrodden Halfling and Darkelf. Assume that the influence levels are Westmen--20; Warlock--15; Paladin--17; Halfling--14; and Darkelf--12. This means that the "stronger" alliance has only 35 total orders as opposed to 43. Even though the Westmen/Warlock may have more units, they can't use as many in a single turn.

10. Plan Ahead. Don't just look at objectives that you can accomplish this turn or next. Plan ahead, and map out an over strategy for your empire. Set goals for yourself to achieve, say every six turns (which is when the interim status points are posted). This will give you focus and help you more efficiently utilize your resources. Now, this isn't to say that you should formulate a plan and stick to it blindly; you must be flexible in order to take advantage of opportunities and guard against unexpected threats. Still, a broad outline of where you want to go is of great help.

I hope that these tactics will assist you. I have formulated all this during my 5 games and I have been fairly successful, placing first in two of the three completed games. Of course, you'll develop, or have developed, your own favorite tactics and tricks; the depth of the game guarantees that there is no one single strategy for winning.

 

Sandarch

Chris Fitzgerald

The thunder of hooves shattered the chilly night. Jard Lile slowly crept out of his small hut. His fellow villagers seemed impervious to the horses. No doubt they were all still asleep, their minds filled with simple visions. clutching a small lantern, Jard crept through the village's small courtyard to greet the riders. As they approached, his right hand slowly grasped the small dagger that clung to his belt. Standing near a small oak, he waited impatiently.

When he saw the horsemen, he shrieked in absolute terror. Reflexively, he dashed behind the oak, fear gripping his young heart. What could he do? Surely alerting the village would simply cause his swift death. Hesitating slightly, he waited for the dark riders to pass that oak, then he leapt towards them, gripping his small knife. As he drew near, he heard a booming voice. Stopping his advance, he stared at the black figure who seemed to be the leader.

"Fool! We are not your enemy. Was it not two months ago that your petty council of elders accepted the mighty rule of Vendikar, Great Lord of the Black Dragons and Alamaze? We are not here to harm you, yet, but rather warn you. It seems the pitiful Warlock may "relocate" to your fine village of Sandarch. I must speak with your elders."

Sensing the truth in the man's words, Jard slowly put back his knife and headed towards the bulk of the village. The desert sands beneath his feet felt cool; the nighttime brought coolness to the Southern Sands. Reaching a larger hut, he knocked on the door and slowly entered. Resting on a small cot was Rathj Vlie, leader of the village council. Jard gently placed his trembling hand on Rathj's shoulder and woke him.

"Rathj, we have several visitors. They speak of danger to our village and request to speak with you."

Still partly asleep, Rathj mumbled some ancient words and got out of bed. Putting on more formal clothing, he left his humble home. Stepping outside, a small breeze tickled his face. He sensed power. Mumbling, he wobbled over to the dark, foreboding visitors.

"I am Rathj, head of the council of Sandarch. What is this danger you speak of?"

The tallest of the riders spoke. "I am Sleeth, an envoy for the mighty king Vendikar. We have simply come to inform you that your village faces a tremendous threat from the armies of the Warlock. Maxeaga, the potent Black Dragon wizard, is harbored in this 'fine' village, correct?"

Rathj nodded slowly.

"He possesses a powerful artifact. It is so powerful, in fact, that the Warlock risks war by sending his army here. The Warlock king Merlin hopes to capture the artifact by destroying Maxeaga and the brigade garrisoned here momentarily. Though this brigade and Maxeaga are leaving at sunrise, the Warlock may still be foolish enough to show up here."

Jard interrupted. "An artifact?! What is it? Why does the Warlock want it?"

"Fool, that doesn't concern you. Yet, I pity you. So full of life and questions, yet so human ... a pity. The artifact is a smooth, green stone. It contains much power that only a wizard can interpret. Now we must be leaving. Prepare your village for anything. It would be a shame if the Warlock disrupted our already tenuous hold on the Sands. I would suggest evacuating."

Rathj interjected, "Our village appreciates your warning. Truly the Black Dragons are not as ill as most people perceive. But, alas, we cannot leave our homes. After all, it is our home. During the First Cycle of War, we were nomadic. Our forefathers battled Ranger, Warlock, and our new friends, the former Witchlord. We will defend our home. We have a small militia. thank you, Sleeth, and good luck in your endeavors. May the name and power of Vendikar live forever."

"Ah, you are good men. If you were only dragons. Farewell, and good luck."

With that, the dark horseback riders galloped away towards the dark mountains just north of Sandarch. Grunting, Rathj slowly trotted back to his hut to make preparations for the Warlock.

He was tired. His people were tired. For thousands of years they roamed the desert, free. The great city of Vanasheen served as the mecca for his great nomadic ancestors. but now, their home was threatened. He needed to be alone.

Jard, please get some sleep. We have a long couple of days, or week, ahead of us. I appreciate all you have done."

"Sure, Rathj, sir," Jard replied. He headed back towards his tiny hut but then stopped. "Rathj. Were they really dragons? They were human! Also, do you think they know that a Gnomish baron is in our village?"

Sighing, Rathj considered the young man's questions. "The dragons were polymorphed. for thousands of years the dragons have been able to alter their appearance so they don't frighten half the continent. Lately, though, the dragon emissaries have chosen not to polymorph. Thus, most of Alamaze's people simply hate or are suspicious of the dragons. As for the Gnomish emissary, our council has decided that it would be in our village's best interest to raise the Gnome banner. Get some sleep."

Shocked with this news, Jard slowly crept towards his hut. When he got inside, he extinguished the white candle that flickered in his presence. Quietly, he got in bed and fell asleep. Visions of Gnomes, Warlocks, and death lingered in his mind.

When morning broke, the spring sun gently warmed the earth. Jard dressed in the traditional garb of his people. When he stepped out into the village he was surprised to see how active it was. Small children ran around, oblivious to the harms of the world. The village's more skilled militia were busy preparing the defense of the village. Rathj was near a small pool, an oasis. Beside him was Goldfist, the plump Gnomish baron. Large birds lingered in the air as if they expected a great blood bath. Gazing to the north, Jard noticed that the small Dragon force that was stationed at Sandarch was no longer there. Sleeth had told the truth. Could he be right about the future of the village?

Grimacing, Jard walked over to Rathj and Goldfist.

"Ah, Jard, I see you have awakened," Rathj stated indifferently. "Baron Goldfist was just telling me about Gnomes. A curious people. Oh, well. As you can see the defense of the village is being taken care of. The head of the militia, Giri, would like to talk to you ... something about scouting."

Jard nodded and then bowed ever so slightly to Goldfist. How could the village be in the trust of the Gnomes? Shrugging, Jard searched the village for Giri and eventually found him training some older men. His approach did not go unnoticed.

"Jard, thank you for your time. I will be brief as I need to train and prepare for the Warlock. I will need a scout to patrol the east; I have already sent scouts to the south and west, Attack from the north is highly unlikely. Can the village count on you?"

Jard nodded eagerly; anything to escape from this village for a time as a relief--too bad he had left the bustling city of Triesa.

"Good. Take whatever supplies you deem fit from the store," Giri replied. "And be careful."

Jard grabbed a small sword, some food, and a bedsack and left the village. The dark red sand of the desert stung his feet. Already the day was getting warmer. Glancing at the circling vultures, he walked nearly a league from the village and set up his observation post.

His eyes scanned the desert for nearly 3 hours, searching for some sign. Failing miserably, he glanced back at Sandarch. Though it was quite far away, it was obvious that no harm had come to it yet. Another hour passed, then another. Then his eyes finally caught a glimpse of a large shimmer nearly half a league from him. Surely it must be a mirage. Yet something was amiss. The shimmer became larger and larger until it dwarfed all else. Then it began to change, distort. Colors emerged int the desert, as did shapes. From where there was only the heat and the air of the desert sun, a small army now stood before him.

He stared in disbelief. Before he swiftly headed towards the village, he noted the white and gray flag of the Warlock.

Running like his life depended on it, he reached the village and immediately found Rathj and Giri. Panting, he relayed what he had seen. Giri took out a fabulously crafted horn and blew on it. Immediately, the village mobilized their defense. Staring at the advancing army, Jard suddenly realized how close they were. Giri grabbed Jard and directed him towards a small stone wall that surrounded the village. Gripping his sword tightly, he waited for what seemed hours.

The Warlock army finally reached the village. Their approach spoke of caution, as if they expected some kind of attack or ambush. Nevertheless, they reached the outer edge. The army was composed not only of lightly armored men but also the tattered remain of the once living. Numerous skeletons clawed their way through the sand. But by far the worst was the presence of white, translucent wights. Never before had any of the villagers ever seen the walking dead; they were petrified. A bold Warlock general emerged from the misshapen and unorganized Warlock army. Jard felt a little better when he heard the general's human voice.

"Citizens of Sandarch, does fear grasp your hearts?! I offer the security of Merlin, the almighty Warlock lord. You shall never have to fear again if you raise our banner. Let me also say that I am disappointed with the Dragon's absence; we wanted the Stone. Nevertheless, we will spare you."

Jard wanted to embrace the general. Yes, we'll raise your banner if it will save us from the dead!!! Before he could react though, Rathj spoke out.

"Your words are kind, but we must decline. Please return to fair Torvale."

The general seemed dismayed a bit, but he spoke. "As you wish, but with the presence of Goldfist, baron the vile and evil Gnomes, we will punish you sorely."

The general returned to the main body of his small army and signaled his bowmen to strike the village. But a small framed man interrupted his orders, muttering to the general and the army. The bowmen retreated from the front and stood patiently. It was obvious who was in charge. The old man grunted, then began drawing small circles in the sand. His murmurs, ancient and potent, paralyzed the villagers. His voice built to a climax. Overhead, dark clouds quickly emerged, dwarfing the tiny village in a blanket of darkness and despair. The Warlock army retreated slowly. Then everything erupted in fire.

Jard stood terrified. A thick column of fir sprang down from the mighty clouds, striking a hut. Even though the hut instantly burned to a cinder, the fire continue to scorch the ground. Another column from the sky hit a hut. Then another. And another. Within seconds all the huts and fortifications of the village were completely destroyed. The villagers screamed and ran around, searching for escape, yet they could not.

In the panic, all except Jard noticed a light green mist that seemed to emerge from the ground. The screams of fear were replaced by misery and death. The green mist swirled around the villagers, seeping into their skins. Their flesh slowly began to rot away, leaving only the raw muscles and bones. Thousands of people collapsed, screaming in agony. Then the skinned remains of the villagers exploded into a dark green fire, burning their remains to small piles of ash. The stench of death hung in the air. The whole village, thirteen thousand people, was no more.

After the destruction of the small village, the Warlock army slowly crawled through the village. Nothing stood erect. A rather small skeleton slowing scraped through several piles of green ash. Insistant, the skeleton compressed the ashes of Jard until they seemed to blend into the hot, sandy ground.

 

Justice

Darrel F. Morgan, II

My story begins a little over two hundred twenty-five years ago with a young mage fancying aspirations of greatness. I devoured my studies and achieved the black robe of mastery with a speed which astounded and caused fear in many of my mentors. At first, the hardly contained whispers sounded behind outstretched hands and awe-filled eyes brought me pleasure in the way a victorious general basks in the glory of a well-run campaign, but my youthful idealism was soon ripped asunder by the bane jealousy of my new peers and their favored students.

It began innocently enough when I began to notice certain students were following me, but I believed at first they were innocent voyeurs following a master in hopes of overhearing some modicum of information so they could run to the dorms to impress their friends the way we had in our childhood. I soon forgot about them, for I had begun working on a new spell which would have lengthened the life of any magi powerful enough to cast it. The theory of longevity was a relatively new concept, and the breakthroughs I had made caused me to work for the next two weeks so that I might present it at the Archaicon.

Finally, satisfied that my research was complete with only the scribe work and preparation for the presentation left to finish, I crawled to my bed, and, very near exhaustion, slept for the next 18 hours and awoke with hardly a day and a half left to prepare for the Archaicon. I worked straight through; minutes before the bell signalling the assembly, I put my seal upon the finished product and went to the meeting hall. At last I was ready to make my first real contribution to the community which I believed had drawn me to its bosom and nourished me after so many years without direction.

The glorious day had come and nearly all magi in the realm of Alamaze had gathered in the ancient hall of lore. Many a day I had spent dreaming of the day when I would be able to stand before this august hall and speak before such a powerful gathering, but my dreams were to be dashed to the ground. For nearly six hours I sat patiently waiting for my chance to speak when Solovar, master of teleportation and wearer of the black, stepped to the podium. Silence fell upon the assembly, for Solovar was highly respected and feared by many.

"Master magi," Solovar began, "the information I wish to present to you is of an unprecedented finding."

Immediately the hall fell to whispering for wasn't it Solovar who had taken teleportation to its farthest boundaries? Was he not the magi who had created the instant self-teleport and the spell to teleport a full army group?

"As you all know, I have devoted much of my time in the development of the art of teleportation, but of late I have delved into the art of longevity. I stand before you today ready to lengthen the life of any mage powerful enough to wield the energies necessary for this spell."

My hopes were dashed. If the mighty Solovar had been researching the same area as I had, then my contribution would be nought but a grim reflection of his. I listened to his presentation and marveled at the parallelism of our research; it finally came to me that his was not just similar work, but in fact, my work, somehow secreted by him.

"I say thee nay!!" I screamed as I stood and rushed to the fore. "I know not how you gained my work, but let there be no doubt in anyone's mind that the work you are presenting is mine!!"

"Sit down, upstart," he said with a haughty scrawl upon his face. "This is my research I pre-sent before the council. Who do you believe holds more credibility --a proven arch-mage or a snot-nosed upstart? Yes, bring it before the council, for that research belongs to me, and with it the right of presentation."

After a few minutes the council of elders took their positions of judgment, and the trial began. I will not bore you with the details, but I will concede that Solovar had every detail of my downfall worked out, while I was greatly hampered in that I had never dreamed that my work would be pirated. After the facts, or should I say lies, were presented to the elders, they conferred silently, and at last Norland the Elder stood and passed down the judgment.

"We of the Council, whose word is law, having heard the evidence, feel that the accusation of young Jublix carries no weight, and the slandering of the name of Solovar brings great sadness to mine heart. Young Jublix, as punishment for your obvious lack of discipline and humility, we give you a choice. You may serve as apprentice to Solovar for a decade, or you will be cast out and hunted by those you once called your brothers. No man may slander the name of the elite."

The words of Norland very nearly crushed me, for my whole life revolved around the hollow core which was only filled when I began training in magic. The fellowship and camaraderie I had known in my transition years had filled me with a love and pride I had never known before. for nearly ten minutes I stood before the council, struggling with the decision laid before me, but at last my mind was made up.

"Mighty Norland, members of the Council, though the decision laid before me grieves me to the utmost, I must remain true to my heart. Since I was accepted here to study in the arcane lore, my life has been naught but a challenged bliss, and though it grieves me to do so, I choose to be banished rather than serve Solovar--who once held my utmost respect but now holds only my contempt. One day we will meet again," I said turning to my nemesis, "and on that day there will be a reckoning unlike any other that has gone on before in the realm of Alamaze. Solovar, I curse you for a coward and a thief."

The next 20 years I spent traversing the land, deriving pleasure from the hidden knowledge I uncovered. I befriended a Westman cavalry lieutenant named Blackshire, and together we quested and captured the mighty blade, Elan. Then came the Golden Spear. He talked of one day breaking from the decadent Westmen empire and we parted as friends.

I spent a decade as the advisor to the Dwarven king and saw their love for the earth and how the rest of humanity coveted their labors, pushing many to don their armor to defend their hard fought treasures.

Finally, my enemy's agents found me and brought an end to my delusion of contentment. I knew that there would be no peace in my warring soul or safety for my being until I killed my enemies or they killed me.

For many years I had studied my enemies. I knew that to overcome the Council of Magi I would also have to overthrow the decadent Westmen empire. To do this I had need of a huge military. Having studied Dwarven lore for nearly a decade I knew that the Urik, a goblin like race which mainly populated the Eastern Steppes, could easily be recruited by a powerful magi. Like all goblins, they were base cowards with extreme susceptibility to superstition.

I spent the next two years marshalling my forces and preparing for the battle which was soon to come. At last I was ready.

For ten years my armies and magic assaulted the Council and their hirelings the Westmen. Many bloody battles were waged and my magic accounted for many of my enemies. Year after year dragged on, and bitter despair gripped me in its iron grasp. My desire for peace pushed me to hurry my hand, and through that haste many atrocities were committed. Pushing ever west, my armies began to dwindle, yet on I pushed, mile after mile, sacking cities and towns, recruiting brigade after brigade to fill out the ranks of my army until at last in the plains of Torvale we met.

My army consisted of a full fifty brigades of Uriks and twenty-five Human. At my side were the powerful mages Serik and Ryvor; in the field I commanded the grizzled Warlord Asinis and his full staff of lesser officers. On the opposite side of valley stood a full 75 brigades under King Ramses the First, a 10 brigade Elven contingent, and the two who fueled the core of my undying hatred: the Sorcerer Norland and the Warlock Solovar.

For nearly a month our battle raged on; I was sorely pressed to defend myself and my army from the magic of Alcohelon and Solovar. Day after day, night after night it raged on, until pushed past the point of exhaustion, I knew that would not be able to grasp victory. Sick with the blood shed in my name, I became resolute that Solovar would die. Marshalling the last of my mystic energies, I searched through my mind's eye and found him. Channeling the power cosmic, I defused the spatial distance and slew him with Elan before he knew I was there. Moments later I was set upon by his elite guard, and although I acquitted myself well, through sheer weight of numbers they captured me and I was burned at the stake that night. While my body burned and floated into the heavens, my soul sank into the bowels of hell. For nearly a century I was tortured and ridiculed by Asmodius' minions until I proved that my will could not be broken. Barely can I remember what happened in the meeting, for he was like all and nought simultaneously. It was like being frozen and burned, starved and sated, blinded by light and suffocated by darkness. It was excruciatingly painful and deliciously pleasant at the same time. I know not how long I was in his presence, but when I awoke I found myself in a dark cave lying within the confines of a circle of protection. Some unwitting adept had tried to overstep his bounds and I was granted another chance for revenge by the dark lord.

Do not judge me too harshly, for I openly admit that I have become the human personification of evil, but remember the young, idealizing mage who only wanted to please his peers and mentors. I do not deny what I have become, but, in my defense, I have never slain a single Dwarf or Halfling. I do what I do nought for the sake of conquest but for the sake of revenge.

Ramses, I am back and you fear will be your jailer. You will look in every shadow and see my face.

Solovar, son of Solovar the First, I am coming.

Mighty Alcohelmon, once I held you in awe, but now I hold you in contempt. You have used my spell to lengthen your life but believe me when I say your days are numbered, for not even death can hold back my desire for revenge. With the help of my Dwarven allies and my old friend Warlord Blackshire--who saw to the fragmentation of the Westmen Empire and the break of the mighty Paladins from their corrupt overlords--I will destroy my enemies and bring peace to Alamaze.

 

Tips, Tricks, and Odds and Ends

David Kuykendall

Protect your king and capital. A town or village at sea with no less than 10 quality 16 fleets and a group outside is needed to protect your capital. Keep your king's name a secret for as long as possible; a number of spells ("Summon Demon" and "Conjure Scandal") need a name to be effective. If the king's name is commonly known then start warding him as much as possible.

Can a wraith be killed? You must use the "Kill Wizard" spell or the Wizard Slayerrtifact in the Second Cycle.

How to find a capital? (1) If it is not at its original location or in a city, try to recon towns at sea that the player owns. (2) If the region of the capital is known, on the turn before reinforcements, divine all groups of that kingdom in that region. If the person wants his reinforcements, then a group has to be at the capital, even an inactive one. The next turn, just recon these spots. (3) Use "Locate Character" to find his envoy. The envoy's name does not change, and the envoy is nearly always at the capital. This also works with agents Alpha and Beta. (4) If you suspect the capital is on the water, divine his seapower in all four seas. Chances are he will have a sizeable fleet in the sea with his capital. Then recon all his towns and villages in that sea. If he borrowed the pc from an ally, it is likely his capital will be the only pc in that area.

Rescue, a strange order. You can rescue emissaries that are not prisoners. They are taken back to your capital, but not as hostages. Implications? Rescue your own emissaries after they complete their mission; move an ally's emissary over long distance to your capital. Fair warning: your agents can be caught by your own guards, so watch out.

Regional spells. Getting tired of those demonic visions, and that dispel is just not working? Here is a sure fire way to stop them. Cast "Blinding Light/Cold Darkness". Only one regional effect spell per turn will work in a region, and since these spells (#782) come before "Demonic Visions" (#783), they will take precedence. By the way, "Demonic Visions" is wasted against the Troll because he regenerates all attrition each turn and will suffer only the morale loss. So just cast "Blinding Light" and save the high level wizard for something better.

Stopping the political kingdom. What to do with the political kingdom who is friendly everywhere and has tons of governors to take advantage of it? The best wayis to kill his king. This will knock his influence down by at least 80% and will make all those governors less effective. Of course, first you have to find his capital.

Spy out his capital. Set up standing orders to recon your enemy's and potential enemy's capitals. It is always good to know the things other kings are doing, especially things that involve you.

For wizardly kings. Strive to get all your wizards to at least Power 2 to create gold. This way you will have a source of gold if your pc's start to disappear.

Massive Invasion. I once moved 17 governors across Alamaze with only one order. How was this done? Easy. They were all safe in my capital and all moved to the target region by simply moving my capital for a turn to some obscure village.

Block his capital. A capital cannot move past an unfriendly group larger than a patrol. Knowing this, a player can keep a capital from going to a particular city or town. This is not only useful when a capital is taken to keep it from relocating to that 50,000 defense city, but also to keep a player from moving his capital to a more secure spot. Remember, any pc can be taken with a "Diplomacy" spell, except a capital, so don't let the capital be moved into a fortress.

Can't bribe the sleeping. This is something that seemingly no one knows; I don't know why; it seems pretty basic. You can not bribe an emissary if he doing anything--moving, acting, or being slept. So, if you think you're clever because you put the prince to sleep to bribe him, think again.

Artifact hunting. Nowadays, artifact locations are scrambled before each turn, making that list nearly useless. However, the short names seem to be the same, so if you know all three short names of an artifact, you can still find it. Of course, you don't want to have to divine each name until you find the right one, so just use this little trick. Have two level 1 agents attempt to steal the artifact using two of the short names. The location is unimportant. If you get back the message that "This artifact does not exist", then you have the wrong name. However, if you get the message "Could not find the artifact indicated", then you have the right short name and need only divine its location.

Naval quality. The cheapest and the quickest way to get sea quality to 16 is to first scrap any and all fleets in that sea. The quality does not decrease when fleets are scrapped. Next buy back one fleet at the best quality possible. If the quality has not reached 16, then scrap again and buy back another fleet at maximum quality. Once the quality is at 16, then you can start buying fleets at 6000 apiece. Even the Dwarf could have quality 16 fleets in two turns by this method.

Avoiding annihilation. If you think a major invasion by military forces is imminent, and you own forces are hopelessly outmatched, then try to do these 3 things. 1--Move all barons and above out of prospective targets; these guys you do not want captured. Skeletons, and all that nastiness, you know. 2--If you have gold, buy as many high quality fleets as you can. Thus, if you lose a large part of your economic base you can scrap fleets for gold. You can get as much as 80,000 gold from one sea, and this is a 20,000 profit; it only cost you 60,000 for all those fleets. 3--Try to find a way to carry the attack to the invader, either yourself or one of your allies. Never let an attacker go completely free of revenge.

Skeletons from prisoners. Prisoners can be bribed just like anyone else. As a matter of fact, the "interrogation" does not require you to pay the cost for the emissary, only the agent. The best part is that the prisoner probably isn't going to do anything.

Sabotage. This makes people paranoid. Sabotaging defenses makes it look like an attack is coming. Sabotaging fleets where a capital is makes it look as tough an invasion fleet is on its way. Of course, an invasion fleet could be on the way.... Try sabotaging food production. If done at a pc where production is negative, the sabotage will add 2000 to the production! If food is stolen where production is negative, the victimized kingdom will receive food as the agent steal negative food!

Protect those artifacts. The best way to keep an artifact safe, especially ones that don't have to be in a group or with an emissary to use, is to move them into other people's villages. This is done by specifying a village in the transfer artifact order. You can place them anywhere, not just your own pc's. The artifact will still be in your possession. If someone happens to recon that village in the middle of nowhere, they will still not know which kingdom it belongs to since it will appear to be in possession of the village.

Sleep those prisoners. I lied about a prisoner not being able to do anything. You can put them asleep to avoid their being bribed for skeletons. Clever, yes? Of course, they can be warded as well.

Recruiting. Villages above 13,000 population can be recruited from. You can recruit up to four times from a pc without it rebelling; the fifth time it goes neutral.

Bidding for the Council. When bidding for a seat, always bid in multiples of 500, not 1000. Most people will bid in even numbers, like 8,000, so you should bid 8500. Ban recruits. Recruits are so awful they should never be taken into combat; they actually lower the overall combat value of the group. Sure the value may appear to rise, but consider: they have a 125% terrain modifier which is averaged in with the group and have a very low defensive value which is also averaged in. This means that your troops as a whole will fight worse in all terrains and the entire group's defensive value is dropped, meaning more casualties sooner and fewer men who get to attack later. Train those recruits.

Promotions. You can promote emissaries anywhere, not just at your capital. So if that governor does quite get the job done, make him into a baron. Speaking of promoting emissaries, you really need to promote only two: governors and counts. Making governors into barons is very effective for you gain 20% more influence instead of the usual 10%. A count is basically an expensive baron and should be made a duke who are just as good as princes in almost all cases. Over my 4 years of playing, I have found that a duke can take nearly anything a prince can and that a count can take no more than a baron normally could. So barons and dukes are the most efficient nobles; trust me.

Usurpation messages. When an emissary usurps or incites a pc you get a message, something like "secret manipulations" or "emotionally stirring speeches" indicating what the emissary used to complete his assignment. If the message indicated a covert, behind-the-scenes type mission, then the person who formerly owned the pc will not get a report of the emissary's name. On the other hand, if the report said something loud and public was done, then the name will be give to the former owner.

Mega-influence. Influence can exceed 25 (or 20 in the Second Cycle). I had an influence of 31 as the Westmen in Game 85. High Council issues and gaining regions will push influence above the regular max.

Drops. Let's all receive an announcement of when a player drops. It's only fair.

Death to the wizards. Assassinating wizards is easy. The chances given for killing a Power 1 applies to all wizards, Power 1 and up. Killing adepts seems to be even easier, probably easier than anything else. Kidnapping doesn't seem to make any distinction between kidnapping kings or agents, you just have a flat chance based on level. But don't quote me on this one.

Taking on the big guys. Here's a trick I used once. Move a masked group of small to medium size to the same area as a large enemy group--I mean BIG, like 15+ brigades. It is masked so any wizards cannot be known ahead of time. Cast "Wall of Fire" and defend at Tactic 1. If the enemy group attacks, he has to come through the wall and will lose up to half his force before ever attacking your group. You might lose a wizard, but then again you might not. The theory is that the Rambo-type person playing the kingdom will think his group is invincible and attack the "puny Underworld force." Probably won't work for the wizard types as people are wary of such tricks from them, but not the Underworld, or especially kingdoms such as the Dragon or Giant.

Finding the invisible. Try to move an envoy or low emissary to the pc you wish to detect an invisible force at. If he is blocked, then you know the group is in ambush. Agents will sometimes report groups in ambush. The problem is that they will not tell you the group is in ambush, it will just give the report as normal. So, if the agent says the Urik army is there, but your group ways otherwise, believe the agent.

Well, I just can't think of any more at this point. I purposely left out those tips that have been given in previous articles. Good luck, and I hope I have helped a few out there survive and prosper in the deadly world of Alamaze

 

Time of Decision

Ed Pinkerton

The light galley moved into the harbor created by the defensive walls of Viperhead. The incessant movement of the Sea of Terror was replaced by the calmer waters of the manmade indentation which had been carved out of the lands forming the southern boundaries of the Northern Mists.

The weather was abysmal. Though winter was ending, the northern winds still carried the bite of ice. And, of course, there was the always present mist which contributed more than a little to the naming of this part of Alamaze. Between the wind and the dampness of the air, it was hard to maintain an air of optimism.

With a sigh, the barely discernible figure standing along the rail atop the poop-deck tried to pull the collar of his fur-trimmed cloak closer to his neck. His recent month's sojourn in the heart of Amberland had ill-prepared him for returning to the somber moors and highlands of his native land. Although winter had also beset the heartland of Alamaze, it was a beautiful and clean change from the clinging weather of the north. Pure white snow and bright sunshine were a welcome contrast to the browns and grays of the Sorcerer's realm.

Hearing boots approaching him from the gloom which was the rest of the ship, Curinur could barely discern the approaching hulk which he immediately recognized as General Inaros. Thrusting a mug inlaid with precious and semi-precious jewels into the hands of his traveling companion, the General said, "Quit pouting, Curry. We're almost home. I've heated some of that ale we brought back from the cellars of Evanon and spiced it with some cinnamon. Drink up and count your blessings that this trip is only to attend the King's Council, and not a permanent recall. You could have been unlucky like poor Anizikia and drawn duty in the Northern Wastes mopping up the remains of the Barbarian military."

Curinur's only response was to inhale the heady fumes of the Evanian ale and enjoy the warmth of the brew as it spread its invigorating effects throughout his body.

Leaning against the rail, Inaros looked at the person with whom he had spent the last six months of his life. It was hard to believe that this slight, rather non-descript individual was capable of commanding the very earth to swallow up whole cities. Pilgrims on their way to the holy waters surrounding Avalon would fail to see the familiar site of Evanon, thanks to this diminutive mage next to him. Cliffs, small valleys, and the upthrust rock had replaced the think walls and graceful spires of the Paladin capital. He had done in a few moments what the General's army would have required several days to accomplish. He was glad that fate had made this man his friend rather than his enemy.

"I wonder what could bring the King to recall us from the southern campaign," mused Inaros. "Two more months would have seen us in control of all the populations centers in Amberland, and only two army groups to hunt down and destroy."

"I don't know," replied Curinur, finishing off his ale with a flourish, "but we're soon to find out."

Even as the galley approached the walls Viperhead, a barge could be seen waiting to transport the General of the Army and the High Initiate to the royal palace.

The Royal Chancellor took their damp cloaks from them as they entered the hall of contemplation. Portraits of the king's royal ancestors flanked the southern wall. Portraits of famous generals and mages lined the northern wall, along with descriptions of their more famous deeds.

With a grin, Inaros commented, "The portrait does you justice, my friend."

Curinur's only response was a growl as he proceeded towards the room of Judgment where the King waited. The General followed with a chuckle. Everyone knew that the High Initiate hated the fanfare and ceremony which was inevitable when one reached the wizard's current status.

Entering the audience room Inaros was surprised to see that the Duke, High Priestess, and head of state Intelligence were also present. Apparently this was not to be just a strategy meeting. Bowing, Inaros and Curinur took their seats.

Rising to his feet, the King smiled at the latecomers. "Greetings, my friends. Thank you for making such haste to answer my summons. Let us attend immediately to business."

Waving a diplomatic pouch in the air, the King went on. "Yesterday this missive from the Witchlord was delivered. He has advised us to stay in our "little corner" of the world; the rest is his. He has also told me that his allies are off limits. In particular, the Darkelves are anathema. any strikes at them will be viewed as declarations of war."

"Any actions against his peoples, lands, and holdings will also be considered cause for war. He has declared our alliance with the Underworld intolerable, and has singled them out for extermination. Our friendship with the noble Elves is also dissatisfactory. Any moves on our part to defend our allies will be unacceptable."

"I await your discussions." Taking his seat, the monarch motioned for more wine to be served.

General Inaros cleared his throat, thinking furiously. "My liege, how goes the Elven portion of the campaign against the arrogant Paladin?"

With a smile, the King replied, "Zarathon is now an Elven city. All towns and villages in the area are currently changing their fealty to the noble Elves. of course, our noble ruler in question cites this as cause for war since the Paladin was an ally, but I responded that we were not aware of this situation when this campaign began, and that it is too late to bring back to life that which is already dead. After all, Zarathon and Evanon had already fallen prior to our receipt of this message."

With a sigh of relief, Inaros said, "That is indeed good news, my lord. The Paladin is truly destroyed then. That leaves the Uriks and Darkelves as the only ones left that obey the dictates of the Dark Mage. The Uriks are currently busily occupied bringing the Talking Mountains under their sway. What about the stalemate in the plains of Torvale? Do the Westmen still hold the southern Elves at bay?"

Leaning forward in his seat, the head of State Intelligence said, "If I may, my liege." At a gesture from his ruler, the agent continued. "Two months ago an offer of alliance was sent to Meridon with the generous gesture of providing military and arcane support against the despicable cousins of the Elves of the North. No reply has yet been received, so we must assume that the Western realm has been subjugated. The Elves have received no answer to their diplomatic efforts either."

General Inaros abruptly jumped out of his chair and began pacing the chamber, muttering to himself the meanwhile. Smiling, Curinur glanced at the King. He too was smiling as he watched his Supreme Commanding Officer, with hands clasped behind his back, pace the length of the room and back again repeatedly. The General was a little more than just slightly eccentric.

Without stopping his pacing, the General said, "My lord, we must have information on the movements of the Darkelven forces. Without the presence of the Westmen, the Darkelf horde must expand, either in our or the Elven direction. I will not allow my forces mopping up the last of the Paladin armies to become cut off from reinforcements. That would leave the realm unguarded."

"General," said the sultry voice of the High Priestess, "calm yourself. Not only does the King have our ally the Underworld observing the Darkelven forces, but I also have been watching their every move. Our gods have no desire to see the sway of the enemies, the Dark Ones, become the ruling force in Alamaze. They have deigned to grant me continual observance of their plague-ridden movements. We will be prepared."

"How soon can you triple the size of my military, General?"

"Not any time soon, my liege. The funds have not been available for me to recruit."

"Perhaps I can offer some hope in that arena, my lord," said the Finance Minister, Duke Talonkai. "With winter's grip beginning to loosen, our agricultural output will again reach normal and our taxes should regain their normal flow; in addition, the increased revenues from our recently acquired lands and holdings in Amberland will add to the coffers."

Curinur felt it was time for him to speak. Rising to his feet, he gazed at the King. "My liege ... ?" At his monarch's nod, he continued. "I can have your military, not only tripled in size within three months, but also three times stronger."

The King's face reflected his pleasure at this prospect, but his question was more somber. "I don't know if the kingdom can afford it, my gifted friend."

"The troops will cost you nothing, my lord. But you must be willing to spend much more of the treasury on magical research for you loyal servants to attain their true potential."

"How much more?"

"I have calculated that an increase of 75%, maximum, would serve admirably."

The Financial Minister let out an explosive sound of disbelief, and the rest of the table looked incredulously at Curinur. "How would this monopolizing of the kingdom's funds allow the Circle of Initiates to do this."

"My lord, with this level of funding, I could finance the initiation of 3 mages per month to higher levels. This in turn would be reflected i the raising of more suitable troop types for the eventual confrontation against the Witchlord--which we all know must come. Humans cannot hope to fight against the Dark Mage's legions. Unfortunately, we must use what he uses if we hope to survive the coming storm."

"And what, pray, friend mage, would you raise as his majesty's troops?" asked a white-faced General Inaros.

"Only ghouls, wights, skeletons, and wraiths may hope to overcome that which the Dark One's own wizards have provided for him. Have no fear, my friend. You would have no call to deal with these troops. They would be under the total control of myself or one of my colleagues."

The table fell quiet as all in attendance waited for the decision of their monarch. Minutes stretched into what seemed hors as Curinur waited with bated breath for his lord's decision.

Finally, the King stirred from his reveries to look at the Duke. "Draw up the necessary papers, Minister. This truly seems to be the only hope of our kingdom. We will finance this proposal."

But, my lord," protested Duke Talonkai. "The amount of money he requests is abominable."

"Would you fight ghouls with a spear, my friend. Or wights with a sword? Neither would I. And neither would I ask one of my subjects to do that which I cannot or would not do."

"Mage Curinur, I will grant that which you request. But you will do this in close liaison with General Inaros. Your troops will be under his direct command. How soon will you need to contact your fellow Initiates?"

"Immediately, sire, so that we may convene and plan our next steps."

"I will then send out an immediate dispatch."

"No need, my liege. With your permission ...." At the King's nod of permission, Curinur made some arcane gestures in the air in front of him and mouthed a guttural sentence which grated upon the ears of the uninitiated present, and then disappeared. The only sign that he had ever been there were the glowing traces of the symbols which he had traced in the air.

"Plan well, my friend. The fate of the world rests upon your Circle's shoulders."

General Inaros could be heard muttering, "Gods! How I hate that!! Why can't that man ever use a door to leave a room?"

To be continued

 

Fifteen Who Would Rule Alamaze, Part III

Rick McDowell

DWARVES. Briefing: Strategically located in the Talking Mountains, the Dwarves are known for their superior gold production and military advantages in mountainous terrain. Though not themselves magical, they are resistant to the effects of magic.

How to Win: Gaining control of the Talking Mountains is not the cakewalk it is in the First Cycle. Now a minimum of three kingdoms will have at least a single population center in the region. The only one of these intruders that is of major concern, however, is the Red Dragon. As we discussed in previous articles, one of the key first turn events lays with the Red Dragon's actions. As the Dwarves, it is imperative that you strike a deal with him and turn his interest outside the Talking Mountains. If this is not done, your chances are limited, as will be discussed in Red Dragon strategy.

How then should you negotiate with the Red Dragon? First, understand that in most cases you will not strike the deal you want with the great beasts with your first overture. Therefore, try to listen as much as talk. Size up the player running the position. Does he seem hell-bent for a war somewhere, or would he prefer to establish relations before striking out? What is his perception of the situation the two of you face? Learn what you can, and if you can, make him an offer which he can mull over for a couple days. Arrange a time to call again, and then you should know how to prepare for that upcoming negotiation session, which will significantly affect the full length of your campaign.

As the Red is the muscle of the neutral team, his move is key not just to you and him, but to virtually each kingdom. If he chooses to attack, the situation is almost certainly ow nine kingdoms vs. six. Suggest that if he strikes against the Witchlord, you will do one or more of the following: aid the Sorcerer in a campaign against the Darkelf, pay the Reds in gold for their attack, use a High Priestess to divine pop centers in the Northern Mists for him, and/or offer him an additional town in the region. The important thing is that you do make contact with the Red Dragon player as soon as possible, and make the best offer you can to get him to be at worst neutral to your interests.

That issue aside, it should come as no surprise that your first goal is to gain control of the region. Move a group to Zabzanka the first turn to prevent opposing emissaries from locating there. If not friendly in the region, enamor to gain control in the shortest possible time. Use your emissaries--they are the key to an active Dwarven position. Dwarves seem to be frequently made into the cash cow of their team. convince your teammates that you are both entitled to and can make a good run at a more aggressive plan. After the Mountains are secure, you should face a good climate for expansion. The Eastern Steppes are usually difficult for anyone to control, and you may want to send emissaries to gurisek and Zarathon on the first turn to further slow down the progress of your neighbors. Use your gold actively to increase your influence and enamor in the Steppes, targeting that region for expansion if not in violation of any agreements you have made. Make it a political contest. As your troops are very tough in the mountains, and not very fast, they are best used for defensive purposes, unless a way is discovered to get them to Runnimede quickly (!?)

You may want to consider bidding high to get the first High Council seat. When I say high, I mean maybe 40,000 gold. At that price it's a good application of your gold. Frequently, the first seat goes for something in the 50,000 range, which is not as attractive. As noted before, it seems the third seat usually goes for less than any other--something to keep in mind if you don't get the first one. If you bid, be sure to put in the issue for the council, probably to raise your influence. Incidentally, I would prefer to have the Council raise my influence and pay gold for the enamorings, thereby not tipping my hand.

How to Beat 'em. Get the Red Dragon to attack them. If the Red attacks, the Sorcerer, who is located nearby, will help, and it will be difficult for the Dwarven allies to offer much assistance early in the game. The Darkelf and Witchlord both should push hard for this end.

If the Dwarves move their military out of the mountains, they should be relatively easy targets for any of those foes likely to battle them: Darkelves, Witchlord, Red Dragons, or even the Sorcerer. It is not advisable to go into the Mountains to engage the Dwarves, however.

If you can capture or kidnap the main Dwarven emissaries , there will be little the Dwarves can do directly, since their military is of limited mobility and they have little magic. A very high level agent assassinating or kidnapping the Dwarven king in the mid-game would be a difficult blow to overcome for the Dwarves.

If the Dwarves are contained in the Talking Mountains, then start to chip away at their pc's, so that their economic muscle is weakened. Getting a regional reaction of tolerant and using mid-level emissaries to take all his villages in a given turn will cause him serious enough problems so that you don't actually have to wipe him out of the game.

RED DRAGON. Briefing: The preeminent military position. The Red Dragons have so much firepower that no one wants to tangle with them. They have significant disadvantages in most other areas, however, including starting geography.

How to Win: I feel that military kingdoms should strike quickly, as kingdoms with other focuses start weaker and gain strength relative to the military kingdoms. The more military oriented, the more fast action is called for. You should field a flurry of calls and letters in the first two turns. In addition to your own plans, listen to those proposed to you. Decide what you want to do and make whichever side of the epic confrontation benefits from your choice pay dearly for it.

The first order of business is to get to the mountains and recruit wingbeast to help shield your Red Dragons. Remember that brigade losses are based on quality and quantity present. In other words, if a group of yours contains four Red Dragon brigades and one of wingbeasts, and you lose a brigade, you will almost certainly lose a brigade of Red Dragons, not the lone brigade of wingbeasts. Get the margin at around 2:1 (Beasts to Reds) to insure that the wingbeasts are hit for the losses.

The easiest target is probably the Witchlord, as he shares the Northern Mists with you and it is very difficult for his allies to aid him. The Dwarf, Elf, and Giant should all pay you handsomely to attack the Witchlord. Sharing a region means you will be hurting economically, and as the game progresses the Witchlord's wizards and politicals may prove too much even for you. Move your best emissary to Viperhead and maintain status quo. Use your groups to intercept and wipe out Witchlord groups and take his pc's. If somehow, perhaps with the Gnome's help, you can get a wizard to the level necessary to cast "Chaos", then your foes will be in real trouble.

The other logical target would be the Dwarves. In this case, your teammate the Sorcerer should be able to assist with some spells and political actions. The attraction here is that if successful, you'll gain control of one of the top gold producing regions and so can develop a threat other than your military.

Although your stating treasury is good, do not be tempted to get on the High Council. That beginning treasury will have to carry you for several turns until you have some victories from your groups. You shouldn't need a High Priestess either, as you can ask the Dwarves to divine in the Talking Mountains for you. Use your gold for wingbeasts and little else early on.

I don't want to encourage duplicity, but it will be to your disadvantage to allow your true intentions to be known to your chosen victim. Allow all those who woo you to believe that you have been persuaded to take their advice--in exchange for the generous reward they have offered you. After eliminating your first opponent, don't rest on your laurels; move on in conjunction with an ally to take out a teammate of the first enemy. Also, be sure to get your early strategic objective, as its rewards are very important to you.

How to Beat 'em. The Red Dragon will almost certainly have the advantage of first strike. No one wants to fight them at the beginning unless they have to; their military is too tough and their territory is hardly worth having. Therefore, only after war has broken out can you move against them--a serious disadvantage.

Wipe out their wizards with kill wizard spells, while quickly withdrawing from battle. Take away their pop centers while avoiding a serious engagement with their troops. Get help; you shouldn't try to take these guys on alone. consider waiting in ambush at cities as these are likely targets for the Red Dragons, especially if your plan of eliminating his pc's is working. Bumping off his agents is a way to reduce the effectiveness of his groups. Once his economy grinds to a halt, his groups morale will drop and his losses in battle will increase. Then you may have to risk all your military to knock out his weakened force. A tough pill to swallow, but as long as he has dragons, he will be a thorn in your side.

ELVES. Briefing: The classic balanced kingdom. There is no are the Elves can't be good in, although they probably can't be the best in any area either. Again located in Oakendell, their forests offer excellent defense.

How to Win: There are two threats: the most likely is a Troll invasion; the other is an attack by the Witchlord. A combined assault by these two is also a possibility. Frequently the Trolls move into Oakendell. It may be worth your trouble to try to discourage the Troll from this course with some early correspondence, indicating your resolve to protect your lands, including using your High Priestess to locate his groups. Remind him of your political superiority that can be used to easily reclaim any gains his armies make in the region. Suggest that he find a less resolute or defensible opponent. In truth, the Troll military does not match up well against the Elves, as the Elves enjoy excellent archers and leaders and good wizards and cavalry. Compounded with the terrain advantage in the forest, the Elves can thwart the Trolls militarily by unleashing spells and missile volleys, then falling back in an organized fashion.

The Witchlord is probably a more difficult opponent. If he moves against you, it will probably be with everything he has, for he will have determined that Oakendell is a better home for him than the Northern Mists. Unlike the Troll, he will not have to wait several turns to unite his forces. His troops are solid, and his wizards more developed, and with better spell lists than your own. This campaign will be more interesting in terms of your tactical selections. You would hope to outmaneuver him and win a decisive military victory at a key point, probably outside Lorethane.

In either campaign you are defending a region that you will be expected to gain control of. The sooner you can accomplish this the better. Use both your groups and emissaries to gain all the neutral population centers quickly, after diving the location of all the towns in Oakendell on the first turn. After driving off whichever opponent has attacked you, turn your sights elsewhere. If the Troll attacked the Warlock instead of you, assess the situation in Torvale and consider an offensive campaign in support of the Warlock. The second alternative is to move into the Northern Mists, especially if this does not involve a war with the Red Dragons. Even if it did, it would make your conquests harder, but should not seriously threaten your grip on Oakendell: the disparity in terrain modifiers in Oakendell would make this place the last one the Red Dragons would want to go.

Your emissaries should be strong, and your wizards respectable by about Turn 10. It should be possible to win the game by controlling Oakendell, Torvale, and the Northern Mists (along with a few other conditions). This is a formidable task, but not as great an undertaking as that faced by many other positions.

How to Beat 'em. Access to the Elves is quite limited. There are really only three positions capable of damaging them: Trolls, Witchlord, and Demon Princes. Any two of these combined have a good chance to knock out the Elves, although the effort will probably take about twelve turns.

The Witchlord could move strongly against the Elves, perhaps in exchange for a promise from the Red Dragons that in exchange for your non-aggression and allowing him to control the Northern Mists, that he attack either the Dwarves or the Giants. Move at least one strong emissary to Lorethane, perhaps two. Divine towns in Oakendell. Build fleets as required, and raise a second wizard to Power 3. Get the full military across the Sea of Terror, as well as additional politicals to the towns discovered. You may need to get economic assistance for this bold plan, most likely from your teammate the Black Dragons.

As the Troll, concentrate on taking pop centers in Oakendell rather than defeating the Elven military. If you can get the Elves to stand and fight, probably in defense of Lorethane, so much the better. Try to move your mid-level politicals in behind your groups to maintain status quo. Always take extra effort to take the Elven capital, as you weaken his political machine each time you do.

The Demon Prince has a chance to take Lorethane on Turn 2, if he commits three Demon Princes to the undertaking. More likely is that the Troll can persuade the Demon Prince to commit one Prince to maintaining status quo at Lorethane, thereby depriving the Elves of their best pop center.

THE WARLOCK. Briefing: Now primarily in Torvale, the Warlock has a good chance at controlling that region and its plentiful resources; meanwhile the position enjoys low magical advancement costs and very strong spell lists. With some political and military ability as well, the Warlock has interesting possibilities.

How to Win: Frequently, the Warlock gets significant financial aid from his ally the Dwarf. This will greatly accelerate your wizard advancement and will make you a formidable power. You'll have to decide for yourself how fair it is to press your ally for this sort of help; after all, the Dwarves should be able to make use of their own wealth.

Move a small group to Meridon on Turn 1 to block other emissaries. Move a baron there as well. Recon the city, and take action with the emissary and your wizards as necessary to insure that no other kingdom gains control. It doesn't hurt to allow them to make it neutral for you however. Raise your Power 2 to Power 3 on the first turn. Move him and his group to Meridon on Turn 2. Combine with the other group and use "Diplomacy" to take the city on Turn 3. Meanwhile, use either agents or a High Priestess to discover the location of the other population centers in Torvale. Consider moving an emissary to Avalon, especially if it appears that the Giant is not going to do so. You have little chance to take Avalon now, but you don't want it to be easy for the Underworld to get it either.

You must track the movements of the Troll. If he comes against you, you'll have to use your wizards to inflict the greatest possible damage, while retreating before you risk losing your group. Consider denigrating the Troll in Torvale early to make it more difficult for him there.

The other two kingdoms which can impact upon you are the ones which offer the most opportunity for future expansion: the Gnomes and the Underworld. If the neutral team is leaning toward your side, suggest to the Gnome a mutual attack against the Underworld pop centers. Otherwise, Runnimede is a nice region to target, since few kingdoms have good opportunities to reach it. This attack may have to wait until you can teleport two divisions invisibly, those going to Cradia and the largest Gnome town, probably his capital. On the first turn after you have located there, wipe out his groups while using your king to enamor Runnimede. The second turn, sleep any Gnome emissaries within and use diplomacy to gain control. If this works, the rest of the region should come fairly easily.

How to Beat 'em. The best target for the Trolls is probably the Warlock, as he doesn't have the terrain advantage of the Elves and his military isn't as strong. Additional incentive is that sooner or later the Troll must deal with the Warlock, and sooner is better than later when it comes to a wizard position. The Underworld should be enticed to join in for a small share of the booty, and perhaps the Gnome as well. Go straight for Meridon with a good army and take the city, depriving the Warlock of his best gold production. If the Dwarves are engaged against the Red Dragons early, the Warlock won't get much gold support. Try to trail his groups if you can find them. The Underworld's role should be to assassinate his adepts first then his Power 1's.

 

News From the Front

 

Game 203, Giant
David Kuykendall

End of Game

Humbled in defeat, I hasten to get this in this issue of The ORACLE, having missed the last.

The game is over! The Gnome has won via secret victory by controlling Torvale, Runnimede, and, just barely, Oakendell. The Ancient Ones had Arcania and the Southern Sands, with substantial influence in Oakendell and the Mists. The Red Dragon controlled the Talking Mountains and the Eastern Steppes while the Ranger held Synisvania. The Witchlord had narrow control over the Northern Mists while the Giant held Amberland and some holdings in 4 other regions. Also, somewhere out there were the Sorcerer and Warlock.

The game ended on Turn 25, a mere two turns before the Ancient Ones could claim victory. Between now and my last update (Turn 14) much has happened. Turn 15 saw the beginning of hostilities between the Red Dragon and Darkelf, with each moving an army to each kingdom's city. The Red Dragon had some impressive groups, but stayed clear of the Darkelf army group which had Dragonslayer. In Amberland the Underworld incited several Giant pc's and attempted to kidnap a baroness. Though this attempt failed, the Underworld did manage to kidnap an Ancient One Consul! Is nothing sacred?!! In the Northern Mists the Ancient Ones has occupied nearly every single pc and continues to denigrate the Witchlord in the region.

This turn and the next several were the most crucial to the Giant and the main reason why he did not win. I had Amberland and Arcania and was pushing into the Southern Sands. The Black Dragon still held the region, though just barely. Several towns and villages gave me significant; a division was poised outside a town. In the last remaining Black Dragon village was a Giant baron who took a nap at a most inconvenient time. Outside Vanasheen I had a full division with a 157% morale and rated at 43,000. Only 4 Black Dragon brigades stood between my group and the city.

Turn 16 saw 4 regions go uncontrolled, just one turn too late for the Ancient Ones' ESO. The WI, RD, BL, and GN all lost regions. To add to the Black's miseries, his major skeleton was revealed and he was thrown off the Council. At Vanasheen the four brigades were all winged beasts, a major disappointment for the Giant troops who craved vengeance. The city was placed under temporary siege while reinforcements moved in. The Underworld continued to be a nuisance as several of my pc's in both Amberland and Arcania are taken. In response, the new Amberland ogre army is being formed to retake lost pc's.

Turn 17 and my fall. This turn the Giant would have won, but .... Vanasheen was easily taken by a 70,000 value group, but all Black Dragon royalty escaped. I took the High Council seat with a bid of 176,006; then lost it when the Underworld released his major skeleton. The baron, remember him?, was kidnapped by the Underworld, preventing my gaining control of the Sands. I'm getting tired of that guy. However, all of these misfortunes paled in comparison with the Underworld's next sinister move. He kidnapped my king from the island capital; the prince was hastily appointed regent! How dare he!! Because of my king's capture, my influence plummeted from 19 to a paltry 13.5, eight and a half points short of what was needed to win. With an influence so low, it would be nearly impossible for the Giant to win, so the focus for the team shifted to the Ancient Ones.

Over the next several turns the Ancient Ones took Arcania and the Southern Sands from the Giant and was constantly fighting the WI over the Mists. The goal was a standard victory, if possible, and a secret victory on Turn 27 if a standard proved impossible. At the Ancient Ones' height of power, he controlled three regions (1,8,10) with substantial in the Mists. Soon after, however, the Gnome entered Oakendell and the Witchlord renewed his efforts in the Northern Mists.

In the meantime, several players dropped. The Darkelf was destroyed by the Sorcerer and Red Dragon. The Black Dragon dropped soon after Vanasheen was taken. The Underworld left after his tow highest agents were finally (thank you!) caught.

The game ended when the Gnome managed to outmaneuver the Ancient Ones at a crucial point and gained Oakendell for a turn, but it proved to be enough. Status points put the Giant first, Gnome second, and Red Dragon third. My only regret in this game, besides not winning, is that so many players dropped out. If the majority of the players had stayed in til the end, the game would have been one of epic proportions, instead of just legendary.

 

Game 208, Underworld
Philip McDowell

End of Game

The deed is done. Peace and tranquility has been restored to the land of Alamaze. With the benevolent rulership of the human Underworld King prosperity will soon be restored and perhaps there will be limits placed upon the foul actions of malevolence mages and awesome armies that tend to lead to the death and destruction of our citizens and population centers. Is our rise to preeminence not proof that these means are not required?

Throughout the 26 turns of conflict my groups fought only two battles: one to free the citizens of an island town in Torvale from the gripe of the Warlock capital and once to remove a renegade Ancient Ones brigade with a Warlord and power 3 Wizard. Never did my own mages ever advance beyond power 3.

As I had indicated in earlier reports to you, I found that the people of various regions responded well to reasonable requests of my respected political core and that should more explicit actions become necessary it was directed at those figures (emissaries, leaders, and mages) who were the cause of strife. I was thus able to win great support from the common man as a merciful King who had no interest in slaughtering their family members or destroying their homes. My loyal and efficient agents: stocked my prison with over twenty figures, gathered skeletons and released them at the most appropriate time, obtained many interesting artifacts for use by myself and allies from a variety of places and kingdoms, gleaned gold and food from non-allied holdings that was put to good use by every member of our Epic side as well as causing some confusion for our enemies, reduced defenses and non-allied sea powers at my command, gathered vital information for dispersing to my associates, and a number of rival mages disappeared from Alamaze. What more could I have asked of mere mortals?

My congratulations to all thirteen remaining kings for a most interesting and hotly contested game. There are many additional stories to be told of battles won and lost, of imaginative plans that were successful and some that were cleverly avoided, of events that none of these very experienced players had seen or utilized before, of towns and even cities that were destroyed by mighty military machines, of contests that saw the loss of multiple wizards, and more. These however should be told by others.

I will leave you with these two thoughts: I had fun and was successful. Try the Underworld position, you will like it if you have some patience and do not require substantial warriors or wizards to achieve satisfaction.

 

Game 215, Elf
David Kuykendall

Turn 20

What a long, weary campaign it has been. The Elven kingdom has been hounded from almost the very beginning. The campaign started well, as Oakendell fell under Elven control in the third month and a High Council seat soon afterwards. Several artifacts were recovered, including the Crystal of Seeing and the Stone of all Minds, as well as the Spear of Lerix, forged by the Elves of old. All looked good for the Elves, but not for the good-aligned epic as a whole.

The Dwarf was locked in an eternal struggle with the Red Dragon, one that the Dragon eventually won. (How do you win an "eternal" struggle? Doesn't it go on forever??) The Warlock never seemed to do much of anything and passed from the world before the sixth month. The Ranger kingdom is led by a boy-king who knows only the way of the sword, but is yet surviving. My own teammates are just as bad off. The Giant got off to a bad start and did not gain Amberland until Turn 7. He was destroyed by the Troll/Underworld/Demon Princes three months later. The Ancient Ones put up a valiant fight, but could not endure. Without the Giant for military protection, he could not avoid the hordes of Black Dragons that assailed his small kingdom month after month. As a last ditch attempt he Consuls moved their capital to an island location; unfortunately, the Underworld fleets immediately bombarded the town. He was forced out by Turn 10.

By this point I was alone in the game--without allies and facing 5 enemies. So be it. The Elf shall endure. The Troll loomed to the south in Torvale while the Witchlord grew larger in the Mists. Rumors persisted that the Dark Mage had recovered the fabled Ring of Power, rumors that proved all too true. The Underworld ruled Amberland, with a strong Troll presence. The Demon Princes had Arcania and the Eastern Steppes--the Darkelf was never heard from. The Black Dragons had the Southern Sands and Synisvania. The neutral powers were still in the game and control of two corners. Yet they--Rick McDowell, Patrick McDowell, and Bill Flad--seem to be all reputation and little skill as they have done little to affect the campaign.

The Troll was the first to attack, sending large numbers of troops into fair Oakendell. The Elves held them off long enough to stage an exodus into Amberland, the only non-hostile region for Elven take-over. Within four months the Elves had control over the region and had nearly wiped out any Underworld and Troll influence in the region. While the Elf invaded Amberland, the Red Dragon was forced out of the Talking Mountains by the Witchlord and Black Dragon. As a matter of fact, the region turned directly from Red Dragon to Witchlord. What was the Dragon doing? Soon after, the Gnome dropped out for mysterious reasons. The Underworld picked up the empty region just recently.

However, the Lords of Doom and the Cult of Chaos could not work together for very long. apparently, a rift has formed between the Troll and Witchlord team. Just the last turn (20), the Troll lost Oakendell. If he had kept the region, the Evils could have claimed epic victory with nine regions, for on the same turn the Underworld gained Runnimede. But, thankfully, evil will always turn on itself.

This game has been a lot of fun, even though I'm getting beat up a lot. On one turn I was down to three villages, but I hung in there and kept fighting. The Underworld agents have been the biggest pain for they have stolen the Crown of Anzu and the Gem of the Planes, two big time artifacts. But she will get no more artifacts from me. My biggest thrill is seeing the McDowells and friends getting royally creamed by players with far less experience. Go get 'em Brett.

 

Game 218, Giant
Rich Gilson

Turn 13

In the early part of this Second Cycle team game, we decided to concentrate on efforts on the Demon Princes, Troll, and Darkelf team. We quickly allied with the other good kingdoms and went about the job of vanquishing evil from the face of Alamaze.

By Turn 3 the Elf had Oakendell, the Dwarf the Talking Mountains, and the Red Dragon surprisingly gained the Northern Mists. The Troll had apparently dropped after failing in his attempt on Oakendell. The neutral kingdoms have apparently sided with the evils in this game, as the Gnome and Demon Princes are supporting each other on the first two council issues. We Giants have begun what will be a continuing hobby of executing Demon Prince emissaries as fast as we catch them. This turn we eliminated a governor and an ambassador.

The Witchlord took Zarathon from us by use of earthquake. Apparently he has made an agreement with the Red Dragon. My ally, the Ancient Ones, and I decided that the Witchlord will likely move to my capital next. Also, we reason that the Ancient Ones can best hold Amberland while I bring Arcania under my sway.

On Turn 4 we have gained the Standard of Valor. The Warlock took Torvale. The Ranger has gained Synisvania by crushing the Sorcerer. The Demon Princes have temporarily enslaved Arcania. Also, the Darkelves have seemingly dropped. The Witchlord was met at my capital by an Ancient Ones full division with two Power 3's.

Turn 5 sees the Ancient Ones gain a council seat to support the Dwarves against the Gnome and Demon Prince. The Witchlord loses his Power 5 and a Power 3 when he engages the Ancient Ones and is countered by two "Dispel Magic" spells. He also loses the bulk of his military and his best leaders. I meet the victorious Ancient Ones at the Red Dragon town in Amberland, but the Dragon forces have fled this region, and soon the entire game.

On Turn 6 the curse of the Standard of Valor begins. Untimely sacrifices to the delivery gods stop the orders of the Ancient Ones from distribution to his minions and he does not receive the Standard we wished to trade with him. Our friend the Ranger gains a council seat for the excessive bid of 73,650. I take the Red Dragon town, and he drops.

The next turn the ancient Ones gain Amberland by forcefully taking Zarathon. A Witchlord prince is captured and executed in so doing. The Witchlord attempts to bribe my count, but he fails. I forwarded the offending agent's name to the Elf who has him killed. Finally, our army arrives at Triesa.

Turn eight we attack the city and capture two vile Demon Princes; they are immediately executed, along with a Darkelven agent. The Dwarf gains the Eastern Steppes and Arcania is now uncontrolled. Additionally, the Elf begins moving against the Witchlord in the Northern Mists and is helped by the Ancient Ones.

Next I had planned to trade the Standard of Valor to the Elf, but my minions denied receiving any instructions and thought it was a month long holiday to honor the taking of Triesa. Incidentally, we lost Triesa this turn to the last Demon Prince.

Turn 10: the Gnome leaves the council, humiliated by the revelation that he wore a mask to hide ugliness. He apparently leaves the game about this time and the Underworld moves on his region. The Ancient Ones gain the Mists. This leaves only Arcania and the Sands uncontrolled and only Runnimede in the hands of a hostile kingdom. The Black Dragon leaves at this point. We attempt to send the Standard of Valor the Elf again, but his orders were not heeded by his striking minions. The Ranger attacked the new Demon Princes capital and has eliminated his king.

Turn 11 sees the Warlock take the vacant council seat with a bid of 101,800, the second highest bid I have ever witnessed. We moved our capital to Triesa to secure the region and gained a previously neutral town. Our secondary group arrives at the newest Demon Prince capital. We finally get the Standard to the Elf.

On Turn 12 the Elf fails to issue orders, but we are free of the curse of the Standard of Valor and rejoice. The most recent Demon Prince capital is sieged this turn. Our agents reveal to us a party of sorts at Vanasheen; two Black Dragon brigades with a Power 2, 6 Demon Prince brigades with a Power 3, a masked Ranger army group with the Great Axe, plus a Power 3 and a Warlord.

Turn 13: the Elf fails to send proper alms to the greater gods of Waynesville, his orders are not issued, and he is forced to withdraw from the world. the Ancient Ones, believing the game would end this turn when they took control of Runnimede, declared our allies enemies for the status points. The region did not fall as planned and the Ancient Ones dropped for outside reasons. Additionally, we attacked the Demon Prince capital and capture his regentress, eliminating yet another player.

As I look at the world's situation, I see that evil is crushed except for an Underworld presence in uncontrolled Runnimede. Our friends the Warlock, Ranger, and Dwarf hold sway over all else except our own regions. With the strongest forces of evil vanquished, it is time for the Giants, one of the oldest races, to absent ourselves from mortal strife. Therefore, in our weariness with this world, we leave it to our allies the Order of Justice.

 

Game 224, Sorcerer
Russell McDowell

Turn 10

Good moved with such rapidity and power that both the evil and neutral teams were caught off-guard. At this stage the rapid acquisition is arrested, and, who knows, maybe reversed. To recap then.

As usual, in the beginning stages deals were struck everywhere. The Red worked it out with the Witchlord, so he turned his attentions to the Talking Mountains and I looked to the Steppes in concert with the Darkelf. By Turn 2 the Good had supposedly located 8 artifacts; it was a fact the Giant had 5 brigades at Zarathon with a Prince besides.

Turn 3 began the troubles. Both the Ancient Ones and the Dwarf are on the Council, shutting off the Red. The Giant group has left Zarathon and gone to Gurisek where the Darkelf has a sieging army. But equal leadership and magic don't counterbalance the strength of the Giant full division and the DA loses several brigades. By Turn 5 Gurisek is also Giant. Meanwhile, the Elf and the Black (Turn 3) and the Giant, Witchlord, and Dwarf (Turn 4) gain regions. The Elf joins the Council on Turn 5 giving the Good control as the Ancient Ones gain Amberland. More disasterously, a Troll army ran into a Giant full division and staggered away with 7 fewer brigades; the Giant lost a mere 1700 troops.

Due to the Gnome's difficulties in securing Runnimede, I have been short of resources and not contributed much impact. But a coordinated attack on the Ranger may bring the desired results, especially if the siege of Zabzanka by the Red succeeds, but the Dwarf breaks it with a determined attack.

Now the fates smile more kindly. By Turn 9 the Red Dragon has successfully resieged Zabzanka, repelling the Dwarven attack. The economic freedom imbues us with a notable sigh. The Black Dragon has attacked the ex-capital of the Ranger. Had our timing been better we may have secured Almaren before he moved in reinforcements, but that's another story. The Ranger has moved his capital to an island village, obviously content to let the navy do the work. The region he had gained on Turn 6 has been lost by Turn 9. The Gnome seems to be gaining Runnimede and the edge of the Giant/Ancient One sword less active, but still very dangerous. The game has not lacked for shifts, and we only hope that our Grand Alliance can withstand the assaults of the wealthy Good.

 

Game 226, Ranger
Rob Richards

Turn 3

The action was off to a quick start in this game, for me at least, due to my decision to immediately invade the Southern Sands, leaving Synisvania to the Sorcerer with whom I would seek to ally--and only if we did. On Turn 1 I landed three brigades on Vanasheen only to find the Black Dragon military strangely absent. He did, however, send his Prince and his Duchess, which was no problem because so had I, only in the opposite gender. Ironically, the BL was the first person I talked to; I had sent him a card. We really didn't have much to talk about. I may have been satisfied with the city or perhaps a couple of towns, but my Priestess had died, which makes it hard to obtain another region since she had divined the towns in the Sands. So, I wa snot willing to pull out, and, of course, neither was he. Thus, it began.

Other events included my successful enamoring of the Sands, a mysterious .1 increase in my influence due to a drop in the Troll's, an agreement between me and the SO, the Ancient Ones' winning the High Council seat with an impressive first turn bid of 42,500--and he still had enough gold to engage in his regular activities! I spoke with every king except the Elven, Darkelven, Underworld, and Troll.

Turn 2 found a 5 brigade BL division at Vanasheen, but SURPRISE!, my 3 brigades were at his capital. The SO and I declared each other allies and I declared the BL an enemy. An adept of mine was assassinated. Later I found out that the UN was responsible and that he and the Black were friends from another game. The Witchlord shocked all by gaining both the Mists and the High Council seat (7,045). Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway, of course), the Giant was a little anoid ... or is it paranoid? You see, both the WI and the Red landed on Viperhead on Turn 1. The Red probably could have gutted the WI then but obviously didn't; now rumors are flying that the Red is going to go for Amberland and the Giant.

Turn 3 saw the Dwarf and the Darkelf take their regions and the Elf win the HC seat for 28,051. My Count took one of the two neutral towns in the Sands, despite a BL Governor maintaining. My Princess took another despite a Baron doing the same! Unfortunately, the BL division (apparently losing two brigades attacking Vanasheen) landed on the town my Princess took and will probably take it next turn. I lost one brigade attacking his capital and captured his Priestess. The Giant lost his capital to the WI this turn.

For this turn I am sending a nine brigade army to deprive the BL of Vanasheen and having my Priestess divine villages. I expect/hope to have the region by Turn 5. Elsewhere in the world, the Troll is expected to take Torvale next turn. The Warlock had also been interested in the region, but seems to have moved to Runnimede where the Gnome and Underworld are already struggling for the region.

Update: My nine brigade army, which was to land on Vanasheen this turn, turned out to be only 7 brigades. It is more than enough, however, and I will diplomasize the city over this turn ... and lose it ... and attempt to take it again. After taxing Vanasheen, my Countess will attempt to usurp control. If she succeeds, I will gain control of the Sands. The UN has increased from moderate irritation to major problem by kidnapping two of my agents and declaring the BL an ally. The BL did not return the declaration and apparently missed his turn. The GI and WA also missed their turns. The DW won the High Council seat with a bid of 35,600 and the Elf took Oakendell. There is no sign of the Red attacking the Giant yet, and the UN seems to be winning his war against the Gnome.

 

Game 229, Ranger
Phil McDowell

Turn 4

This game is a Second Cycle contest with numerous multiple game winners and several members of the Player's Advisory Board participating. We have just received result #4 and as expected there has been a flurry of activity.

The Darkelven and Black Dragon from the "Evil" side have both taken their regions, the Dwarven is the sole owner of a region from the "Good" side, and the "Neutrals" are still looking for their first region.

The Troll, Underworld, Gnome, and Giant are on the High Council with the Underworld buying two issues. The Troll has taken Meridon and the Warlock Avalon in Torvale. Avalon has received a great amount of interest as there were two brigades of Warlock, Witchlord, Black Dragon, and Underworld troops with many wizards and leaders present on turn 3. The Underworld decided to transport his three wizards, a few leaders and some troops out of harm's way via his navy and was meet by an armada of Ranger ships who destroyed his navy and all aboard. As I had no troops present it will remain the task of those who had troops there to retell the events that transpired.

There have been numerous enemy declarations and the Epic sides appear to be in regular communication and are coordinating well. There have been additional bold moves by several of the kingdoms and it is of great interest as to what the "Neutrals" plan to do. It is well known, in this game alone of course, that "Evil" can not be trusted and must be dealt with firmly less they continue to pollute the very air we breath. Surely the wise leaders of the great "Neutral" team are aware of this.

 

Game 303, Ranger
Todd Honhart

Turn 17

This game is a Challenge Game, with players who have placed in the top three at least once in other games. Therefore, on Turn 17 we have lost only five kingdoms: Barbarian, Sorcerer, Darkelf, Nomad, and Dragon. The game had two early drops which were picked up by the McDowell horde--the Elf and the Witchlord.

The early game drew up along the typical lines, with the stronger kingdoms gaining regions and the weaker ones bargaining for living space. Early on I aligned with the Paladin, who managed to control Amberland on Turn 2. the Underworld and I also drew an alliance. We haven't helped each other with resources, but we have worked well sharing information.

As usual, the Urik took my town in the Eastern Steppes and moved a division into Synisvania. The Nomad also moved in an army group. Things began to look rather bleak on Turn 6 as I scraped and scratched to keep my region. On Turn 7 more politicals were moved into Synisvania by the Nomad, but I caught and subsequently removed the Urik division which showed up at my capital in a division vs. division confrontation. Turn 8 saw Synisvania go uncontrolled; I had only 5 pc's. However, I had been actively recruiting from various towns, so I did have an army roup plus all of my politicals.

Turn 9 was the turning point of the game for me. The Urik stepped up an attack on the Paladin and the Nomad moved down to the Sands to stomp the Witchlord capital with his only real group to avenge some assassination of Warlock wizards. The battle was pitched in various regions at this point, with the Paladin vs. the Urik/Warlock, the Ranger vs. the Urik/Nomad, the Westmen vs. the Darkelf, the Elf vs. the Barbarian/Sorcerer, and the Underworld perched on the fence. The treacherous Warlock moved on and took the Underworld capital which was in Synisvania.

Next turn saw the Rangers get some breathing room--I retook Synisvania and moved my main group into the Sands to pressure the hated Nomad. I also dropped some emissaries into the Steppes. On Turn 11 I pressed the attack to Vanasheen. The Nomad had my group and a Witchlord patrol with good wizards standing on two small groups of his--RIP, Mr. Nomad. He retired from the game.

The twelfth turn saw the Paladin lose Amberland to the Urik/Warlock. This made 4 uncontrolled regions: Oakendell, Mists, Amberland, and the Steppes. Turn 13 I gained more pc's in my enemies' regions and the Paladin regained Amberland.

Turn 15: Only the Mists remain uncontrolled as the Rangers take the Sands and the Urik the Steppes. I begin to seriously contest the Steppes by moving in emissaries and a division. On the next turn the vile Urik lost the Steppes; he and I swapped some pc's but I got the better of the deal. Furthermore, he had an army group destroyed to the man by the Paladin in Amberland! and the Paladin lost only 1,000 troops. The Witchlord lost his capital in the Sands for the third time: first to the Nomad, then the Warlock, and now the Underworld. This left his capital at a village in the Sands; anyone else would have dropped at this point, but he plods onwards. The Halfling has shown up in villages in the Sands, much to my displeasure, and in Amberland. I moved my largest group to Triesa to avenge some indiscretions done to the Paladin by the Warlock. My small group was met at a village in the Steppes by another Urik army group--his last ditch effort.

Turn 17. Triesa is now mine, uncontrolling Arcania. My group then marched back into synisvania to track down the pesky Urik group which is still coming south. My politicals have made me substantial in the Steppes. Only an unguarded Gurisek stands between me and regional control. My emissaries are not resting on their laurels; they have moved into four of the Urik's dwindling population centers. As I march toward my third region, the Witchlord has killed a Power 2 of mine, losing his agent in the process. My ally the Underworld has landed on his capital with an army; this will make it 4 times lost.

The rest of Alamaze has the Westmen moving on Oakendell; the Halfling moving on the Westmen, taking Avalon; the Warlock attacking Halfling towns in Runnimede; and the Paladin moving on Arcania. It's a bloody game but I'm making the most progress so far. The Halfling seems next and then it's a free-for-all. The Dwarf will do well in status points; he has sat in the mountains divining 2-4 times per turn, presumably for artifacts.

I'd like to commend all the players for providing a very interesting game--the Urik especially. He has made good use of limited resources in recent turns to keep me from taking the Steppes.

 

Game 303, Elf
Philip McDowell

Turn 4

Recent events are indeed sad and almost unexplainable. The Westmen King ignores the appreciable threat of his Southern neighbor, the Halfling who is close to victory, and decides to reduce my holdings inside of Oakendell with his politicals. He does this after several kings, including myself, have called to his attention the peril of the prolific preponderance of Halfling politicals and his various holdings throughout Alamaze. Perhaps the High Council should bring up an issue to check the sanity of the remaining kings? Where is the gain or glory? Why, in this individual contest, neglect the obvious, divert resources to take a few minor holdings from a non-threatening king, suffer the loses that he will now endure, and allow the challenge from the fast closing Halfling to continue unabated? If the game were to end the Westmen most assuredly will finish far below the first three positions.

It appears that my enemies, the Barbarian and Sorcerer, have been driven from contention. It was an expensive champaign but the sweetness of the victories helps me to forget the loses. May the ground were the bodies of my enemies lie serve as fertile ground for new trees to grow!

 

Game 319, Elf
Patrick Vanbeek

Turn 6

What a great game this is! From the setup I was off and running. I messed up my first turn or I would have had the region on Turn 2. I got it on Turn 3 and the Dwarf also got his. Something very peculiar occurred this turn also; the Westmen traded his seat to the Ranger. I'm sure everyone would like to know the terms of that agreement. By the way, for those that are curious, they are allies now. This turn the Urik dropped. I'm positive the Ranger decided that the Steppes should be theirs also.

Turn 4 was another excitement as the Westman took control of Torvale. He is obviously a very persistent person because he took it without the Darkelven city of Avalon. Currently, they are fighting at the Darkelven capital of Gnarley (an appropriate name considering that they seem to be throwing a multi-turn party there.) The Ranger has converted the Warlock towards his evil desires as they are preparing to war with my ally the Nomad. The Paladin decided that he had enough fun and exited this world. The Dragon also started sieging Triesa this turn.

Turn 5 began with more excitement. The Ranger got his region and the Barbarian started sieging Zabzanka. He also wiped out a Dwarven group. I took Zarathon and financed a Power 5 to the Witchlord. When Turn 6 arrived, so did chaos. The good names of two very fine kings were ruined and they both were expelled from the High Council. The Sorcerer revealed that the Dwarf has Autophobia; he cannot tolerate being alone. The Ranger revealed that the Nomad king is a heretic. The Ranger and Warlock declared the Nomad an enemy and have probably started moving into the Southern Sands. The Barbarian gained control of the Mists. The Ranger also put up the issue to remove the Paladin and will probably put up an issue to remove the Urik. Thus, if rumors are correct, we should have four consecutive turns of bidding for seats. I feel that the Council has lost its role as doer of good for all and has become an influence raiser and scandal creator. Have you ever realized that more skeletons get released on people on the Council than off?

While the Barbarian has all of his military in the Talking Mountains, I have decided the Mists would make a great place to expand. With 2 princes, a duke, and 2 barons, I exceed even the Westman and his politicos. The best group to date has to be the Dragon with close to 50,000. The ranking wizard should be RyVor who just obtained the fifth circle, but maybe the Sorcerer or the Warlock has a Power 5 or 6. The Darkelf would probably have the highest agent, maybe a Level 8. Of course, the best city would have to be the Dwarven capital of Zabzanka; just ask the Barbarian.

To all in this game: the new Underworld is the Ranger. He has more skeletons than anyone else, and probably some of the best agents.

 

Letters to the Editor

"I would like to compliment you for producing The ORACLE. My first issue (IX) arrived early in my first game and really clued me into a lot of things that the General Rules didn't. As to the issue of play balance, it seems to me that while there are no unwinable positions, there certainly are some easier to win with than others. Again in the Second Cycle, it appears that the military kingdoms are leaving the rest behind. And as well as the Elf always seems to do, the Underworld does just the opposite. Don't misunderstand me, Alamaze is a magnificent game and I enjoy it immensely but there is always room for improvement, no?"

An avid fan,
Rob Richards

 

I've played in several Alamaze games and enjoy the game greatly. But in my one team experience I lacked competent partners. Hence:

WANTED

Team partners for an Alamaze game.
Will play either First Cycle/Steel
or Second Cycle; prefer Second.
I prefer a 3 week game.
Will play any position.
Willing to coordinate all actions
for the alliance. Can do diplomacy.
Call or write GARY PLUMLEE
(317) 357-3879 [M-Th, 8-11 EST]
[S-Sun afternoons]
3424 S. Sadlier Dr.
Indianapolis, IN 46239-1222

 

Reader Response

As decided by the limited number of responses, the following articles were most triumphant in their given issues. Congratulations to these winners, and a hearty thank you to all who submitted material. It works!

Issue 10:

Issue 11: Issue 12:
As for the second issue, the format of the alamaze oracle, you nearly universally indicated that the present format is the one to use. As always, we are here to serve your needs, and so it remains.

In regards to the less successful kingdoms, interestingly those who answered sought to help the Dragon more than any other position. Hear then the suggestions made to improve the chances for these as yet poor-scoring realms.

DRAGON:

GNOME: WARLOCK: ALL:  

Oracle Reviews

Undoubtedly many of you have computers and play various games. Well, let me recommend to you an addiction my brother Rick had told me about months ago. From the design studio of MPS comes Sid Meier's Civilization. Starting in the year 4000 BC with a group of settlers on a totally obscured map, you task is to become the dominant power, either by conquering all other nations or putting a man on the moon.

Levels of difficulty are expressed in terms of the kind of leader--5, from chieftain to emperor--and the number of rival nations--from 3 to 7. Taking a straight military posture has certain advantages, but if you don't develop scientifically and economically, your military becomes antiquated. In addition to the economic and military aspects, you have the ability to choose to build Wonders of the World, each with certain advantages. Another wrinkle comes in your knowledge choices; MPS has rightfully decided that knowledge builds on itself, and that you can progress along one avenue but at the expense of another. The game's save factor makes it possible to play for minutes or hours (far more likely). Game time contracts as you progress, reflecting the impact of information. There is no one way to play the game. In one scenario shared by Patrick, Phil, and I we achieved three dramatically different results from ending in 1904 with battleships to ending in 3000+ with nuclear destruction. Try it!

In the book vein, I currently am enthralled with Mickey Zucker Reichert's The Last of the Renshai. Unfortunately, the book is part of a trilogy and this first volume just came out this year. Nevertheless, her style captivates and the story-line is richly complex. Tied loosely to Norse mythology, she posits a tribe--the Renshai--whose prowess is battle is unequalled who are wiped out but for one child, for the Renshai are fundamental to the prophecies spun in ancient times and whose unraveling falls upon the four wizards. Fascinating stuff, and in paperback!