"On air. On sea. On land. Still the Internet's greatest wargame simulation."
A Wolfpack Empire Publication
"All the news that fits, we print."
December, 2003
In This Edition
rec.games.empire has been uncommonly active, lately. Apart from the
customary rants, insults and flaming, there's interesting stuff on how
to reduce micro-management, how to make missing updates less fatal, on mobility, stacking limits, treaties, and more. If you have the
patience to sift through the gravel, there are quite a few nuggets to
be found.
The steady stream of WinACE releases continues. See `Clients and
Player Tools below.
Lord of the Rings Empire II is in the end game. See `Current Games'
below.
Links/Resources/Getting Started
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| Usenet : | news:rec.games.empire |
| More : | http://www.wolfpackempire.com/links.html |
There are rumors of Havok II - "Designing Nations".
Lord of the Rings Empire II is running at empire.tau.ac.il, port 1617.
Deities are Geoff Cashman, Roman Parparov and Eric James.The game mostly recovered from its update woes.
A number of major wars have been fought in the past month, and many of
them ended. The most significant event was the end of the Mirkwood
wars, who for some time had threatened to escalate and engulf much of
the northeast and center of Middle Earth. In yet another bewildering
diplomatic twist, the warring nations buried the hatchet and formed
the Alliance to Conquer Middle Earth (ACME, naturally ridiculed as
ACNE by its enemies). The northwest soon fell to a giant pincer, led
by Mirkwood in the North, and Rohan up the coast and across the
Greyflood, and surrendered.Mordor attacked ACME members, first Balchoth, then Rhun, both of whom
accused Mordor of violating non-aggression pacts. Elaborate Mordor
defenses were pushed back. Rohan raids into the Plateau of Gorgoroth
allowed Balchoth to occupy Mt. Doom. More ACME members arrived on the
scene. The Dark Lord conceded defeat.Meanwhile, Harad, Harondor and Umbar managed to expel Gondor and
Dol_Amroth from the east side of the River Anduin. Umbar, however,
fell to a Rohan lightning invasion across the Bay of Belfalas. Rohan
ships were sighted sporting propaganda names like `Unexpected Guest',
`Revenge for rb#34', and a rather cryptic `Blutwurst'.ACME then declared victory, with its major powers Rohan, Rhun,
Mirkwood and Iron_Hills as winners, and Balchoth, Dale, Lorien and
Rivendell as supporters. Surprisingly, the intrepid / impudent
southern Barbarians of Harad and Harondor refused to accept, and are
now under heavy attack.New game reports can be found at
http://groups.google.de/groups?selm=bpdc64$me1$1@hood.uits.indiana.edu
http://groups.google.de/groups?selm=br29gm$o90$2@hood.uits.indiana.edu
Newbie IV running at 208.187.205.245, port 5000; deity is Lanny
Andelin. There's talk about declaring this game over without
winners.- = [ Empire Power Report ] = - as of Mon Dec 8 22:22:10 2003sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money Epirus 215 100% 465K 17K 17K 5.0K 61K 43K 300 57K 1.8K 190 290 2.6M Nova 555 89% 451K 12K 25K 4.0K 54K 149K 4.6K 12K 1.1K 180 170 1.0M RimFire 310 97% 421K 14K 37K 1.4K 7.3K 100K 4.3K 18K 150 110 80 505K Armengar 270 98% 316K 8.7K 43K 2.1K 102K 193K 5.8K 5.7K 330 120 110 1.3M EmpireKin 225 99% 401K 15K 28K 3.0K 61K 77K 1.9K 6.5K 440 180 110 575K Salann 50 94% 43K 900 475 75 10K 6.3K 32 1.0K 7 20 2 430K Diondega 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 80K PromisedL 0 0% 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 40K Raist 0 0% 0 150 50 30 0 0 0 0 20 6 0 -5.2K POGOland 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 SkyBunny 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 488 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- worldwide 1.6K 95% 2.1M 68K 151K 16K 295K 567K 17K 101K 3.8K 800 770 6.5M
The Changeling Blitz is running at blitz.wolfpackempire.com, port
6789. This blitz resets at 7:00pm US/Eastern (currently 00:00 UTC)
every day. Updates are enabled at 7:30pm. There is a 60 ETU update
every 10 minutes. Note that world size and some options change daily.
It is up to players to figure that out each day, but typing `version'
helps.
The Zebra Blitz is running at blitz.wolfpackempire.com, port 5678.
This blitz resets at 6:00pm US/Eastern (currently 23:00 UTC) every
Sunday. Updates are enabled at 6:30pm. There is a 48 ETU update
every hour on the hour.
Havok I - "Scurvy Dogs on the High Seas", was won by SalManilla.
Deity was Bob Marchese. The game is still running at 66.92.172.65,
port 6665.The game had a few additional low tech units, like pikemen and
observation balloons, and a super battleship. Ships in general were
more expensive than normal, the idea being that this would slow the
game down a bit by limiting sea power.Except for the sanctuaries, all sectors had 5 deity military and some
uws. No chance to conquer the twenty sector expansion islands with
just an understaffed exploration frigate. Each island had a mountain,
and explorers often captured bits of dust there. If they survived the
attempt.A dispute over one of these islands escalated into full scale war
between nuke_em and SalManilla. nuke_em lead an alliance with
Fodderton and Minimax against the evil germ monger, but they didn't
last long. SalManilla scored a cap sack on Fodderton, and Minimax
(now a replacement player) just folded. SalManilla declared victory,
and no one disputed it.- = [ Empire Power Report ] = - as of Wed Dec 3 07:06:59 2003sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money SalManill 188 100% 172K 7.1K 6.3K 982 7.5K 15K 1.0K 7.3K 167 150 80 37K 11299.92 Wicked 90 95% 63K 6.6K 4.8K 462 4.6K 27K 860 17K 63 43 49 124K 6478.76 nuke_em 82 100% 75K 3.7K 2.4K 419 2.3K 9.5K 519 1.5K 53 45 31 25K 4226.09 Fodderton 1 100% 99 25 0 0 0 0 90 0 0 0 0 17K 49.95 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- worldwide 395 98% 312K 19K 14K 1.9K 16K 60K 2.6K 26K 280 240 160 -79KWed Dec 3 07:07:03 2003 # name tech research education happiness capital 0 POGO 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0 1 nuke_em 146.92 121.18 24.44 21.51 -17,9 2 Minimax 104.28 40.77 0.81 0.00 11,29 3 Wicked 155.96 112.55 33.48 10.33 -49,21 4 SalManilla 156.26 107.03 22.86 14.62 46,-6 5 Fodderton 120.10 67.92 2.63 0.00 3,-15 6 visitor 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0
The basic Empire client can be found at
http://www.wolfpackempire.com/clients.html, source as well as binaries
for many platforms.The latest version of WinACE is 2.3.3. Read the announcement at
http://groups.google.de/groups?selm=ae2bf018.0312041455.1fd91f33@posting.google.com
and download from http://sourceforge.net/projects/winace/
The latest version of PTkEI is 1.18.1. See the PTkEI home page at
http://www.lfmm.org/ptkei/The latest version of eif is 1.3.2. See the eif home page at
http://www.stack.nl/~marcolz/empire/The latest version of LAFE is 1.0. Get it from
http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/e/empire-lafe/
or any other Debian mirror.
The current Empire server is 4.2.12. Download it from
http://www.wolfpackempire.com/server.html
I apologize for the delay of this issue. I had hoped to cover the end
of LOTR II, but unexpectedly, that game isn't quite over, yet.Markus, a.k.a. Dorwinion
Non-aggression pacts are a useful diplomatic tool. However, a
non-aggression pact isn't a declaration of friendship. You can't just
assume the other party bears any goodwill to you. In fact, many
players will gleefully exploit loopholes in such pacts. This hint is
about making agreements that resist exploitation.Keep it simple. It's all too easy to overlook ramifications. For
instance, complicated clauses of the form `if X happens then Y is
allowed' are dangerous, in particular if you don't have full control
over X. Keep it simple, keep it stupid.Make your intents clear. Attempting to list all the possible cases is
not only futile, it can be dangerous, as people can conclude that
anything not in your list must be allowed. Better establish general
principles. `No intrusions' is such a principle, and it covers all
ways to enter your territory. If you fear your general principle
could be misinterpreted, illustrate it. For example, you could say
`Intrusions include over-flights and entering our land with spy units'.Be reasonable. It's one thing to forbid mapping of coasts, and
another thing to forbid navigating coastal waters no matter what. You
don't want your butterfingers to give the other side an excuse to tear
up the pact. Accidents happen. Allow for them.Make sure the agreement covers actions by allies. Do you really want
to forbid just over-flights by the other party, or do you want to
forbid _any_ over-flights from the other party's land?Make very sure to understand the exact terms and procedures of expiry.
You can't be too explicit there. By the way, I consider it proper to
give the exact date of expiry whenever I give notice of expiry.But the most important bit of advice is: keep it simple, keep it
stupid. KISS.
From Lord of the Rings II:> Announcement from Harondor, (#31) dated Fri Dec 5 15:39:32 2003 King Antonatar groggily propped himself up on his bed. The next few minutes were spent unplugging his coffee maker (The coffee being fed intraveniously into his arm) staightening his mussed hair and muttering something about the worst hangover he had experienced. He slowly raised his eyes to the window cursing that blasted sunlight. The once narrow slits of his eyes grew round at the sight. "VANNOR!", he screamed. The old grizzled servant ran into the room, "Yes m'lord?". "Vannor, what in heavens name are all these troops for? Catapults line the streets, military are practicing in my rose garden, and why in blazes is there a land mine UNDER MY BED!" Vannor sheepishly looked up at the King. "Well sir, there have been a few developments while you were out at your party" Vannor then began relating the event to the king in a hushed voice. The castle reverberated with the kings voice, his words travelled throughout the country, over the Anduin, and drifted over the seas. "I PICKED A FIGHT WITH WHO?" > Announcement from Harondor, (#31) dated Tue Dec 9 15:13:12 2003 'Twas the night before the update, when all through the land Not a creature was stirring, not even an Orc Band; The Catapults were stacked in the forts with care, In hopes that Rohan soon would be there; The Acme Supports were nestled all snug in their beds, With visions of the next game dancing in their heads; While The Man in Harad, and I in my cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap, When out on the front line there arose such a clatter, I sprang to the Palantiri to see what was the matter. The bulletins gushed in and scrolled like a flash, I Enlisted more mil and double checked my cash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, When, what to my wondering eyes should come into sight, But an enemy Trebuchet, backed by an army of the light, With a little old ruler, forces so large and grand, I knew in a moment it must be the armies of Rohan. More rapid than eagles their corsairs they came, He assaulted and attacked, my units he did maim; "Now, Dwarves! now, Hobbits! now, Calvery and Elves! On, Cats! on Trebs! on, Rams and Give 'em Hell! To the top of the fort! to the top of the wall! Now shell away! shell away! shell away all!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane flee, When met with an obstacle, he shelled it to diety, So closer to my Capital the Units they drew, With trebuchets full of shells, and Gondor Guards too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard sounds from overhead of Eagles pinbombing the mil I had once to battle led. As I drew my bow, and turned around, Down the chimney came a Wizard's Bolt making a thunderous sound. My country was occupied, my shells were all spent, The air defenses were stripped, and my cap was at five percent; A last ditch advance is futile I thought, But time for an escape could hopefully be bought. First I saw Theoden! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, I think he is a fairy! very odd I thought, for I was expecting a wraith. > Announcement from Harondor, (#31) dated Tue Dec 9 15:13:21 2003 I'm not sure about the children, but at least the women will be safe; Next appeared triplets, I almost dared not watch. Ruhn leadership was so confusing, I almost regret drinking that last Scotch; "Next game perhaps, I'll have a chance to even the score, For this game, I didn't even meet you long enough to properly declare a war". Then I saw Mirkwood, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; He wore Bunny Slippers on his feet, just as it was said, Soon gave me to know that he was sick in the head; Dain spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, While enslaving my civs; He turned and gave me a smirk, That look told me volumes, probably more than it should, For then I knew it was my sheep he desired, to love them as only a Dwarf could; I sprang to rampart, to my Eagle gave a whistle, And away I flew away like the down of a thistle. My last words to exclaim, ere I flew out of sight, "Congratulations to All, And Thanks for the Fight!"
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