PBM Mailbox

A MITRE FALLS

Among other things, BRENDON KAVANAGH bids farewell to Mitre Games and welcomes a new fanzine to the PBM scene, read on...

AS I wipe a tear from my eye, I must sadly inform you of Mitre Games’ demise (at 12:30 on Wednesday June 8). Suffice to say a fair few debts are hanging in the air. I understand that the company was no longer a viable business proposition (large overheads and few GMs being only a minor problem).

What now happens to the players who have credit balances with Mitre? And what of their games? Well, in general, all is not lost. Midgard is returning to the States, so present players will be able to continue playing by Air Mail, without financial loss — hopefully. Global Supremacy is presently up for auction, with several large companies hoping to get hold of the game. Starmaster and Starship Commander may not be so lucky: these two games are time consuming to moderate and may have difficulty in finding a buyer. Whilst Tribes Of Crane has almost certainly had its chips.

I do not know whether any games taken over will continue. Or, if the new owners will take the old players and start them up afresh in a new game: only time will tell. Hopefully, no players should lose any money — the sale of the games should raise enough to refund all credit accounts. I shall keep my ear to the ground.

PBM START-UP

Ian Lacey has recently sent me a copy of a new PBM fanzine, which he has co-written with Stuart Rimer, cleverly entitled Start-Up (+2 free turns). It’s still in its infancy, though. The small sample copy I received bodes well for the future. An intelligently written editorial, followed by a couple of well planned reviews (including a ‘marks out of ten’ system) and a comprehensive library of rulebooks for readers. More information about Start-Up when I get a production copy. Meanwhile, for information you can write to Ian.

Issue Five of PBM Scroll is currently available. This little organ has really grown since I first plugged it all those months ago. It is now in A5 size with 32 pages, including reviews; a readers chart; hints and tips: a feature on Feudal Lords; a large section dedicated to sports games and much more! John Woods holds all the information.

Next month they’ll be more on KJC’s future plans plus an update on all that’s wild and wonderful in the crazy world of playing by mail...

MISSING KNIGHTS

‘Where was the Avalon section last month?’ I hear you cry. Well, to put it bluntly, I waffled on for too long and subsequently ran out of space. To make up for it, here are the leader tables for both last month and this...

JULY
GameLeaderPointsTitleGame
1Borago The Bibulous1231Knight3
2Frikkon Five Fingers1198Knight2
3Cogan Lister1159Knight1
4King D’Susulis Maral1032Knight4
5Fernorn713Squire5

Fernorn, King D’Susulis Maral and Borago The Bibulous have large leads in their own games while other game leaders are being caught by Torak Mentor (1150 points in Game Two) and Simon The Narcolept (1122 points in Game One). Game Five players are doing well considering the fact they’re four times behind the other games. If Fernorn was a player in Game One he would be ninth on that particular game leaderboard. Keep it up!

Congratulations to the Knights, don’t let the new title go to your heads now!

AUGUST
GameLeaderPointsTitleGame
1Frikkon Five Fingers1644Knight2
2Borago The Bibulous1545Knight3
3Cogan Lister1443Knight1
4Farmair1324Knight4
5Fernorn1107Knight5

Well, a fair few movements there. Frikkon Five Fingers leaps into first running for that majestic castle, while in Game Four the top position is seized by Faramir from King D’Susulis Maral by only 11 points. Congratulations to Femorn, Game Five’s first Knight. Fernorn is well ahead of the others in that game.

What’s his secret? (Sch — Ed)

HELP AT HAND

Kevin Taylor, an expenenced player in The Chronicles Of The Knights Of Avalon, kindly sent in a long list of informative points. Here are the best...

  1. The most important part of the game is alliances. Avalon cannot be won by a single player, no matter how brilliant you are. Finding some good friends and forming an alliance is therefore top priority. As soon as possible (if you haven’t already), write to as many people as you can through the internal mail. As with all games though, trust no one but your best friend (and you cannot always trust him! — BK).
  2. Your second priority is mapping. It is essential that you keep track of all your armies and that you exchange province maps with everyone — aiming to find out where you are on the master map. The system that works best is to use four sheets of centimetre graph paper stuck together; these provide the exact dimensions of the master map.
  3. Build your cities close to the sea, as these are your production centres for boats.
  4. It is imperative that you enter and name as many provinces as possible and build, build, build! As a suggestion, try to build all your settlements four or eight squares apart. This will help when creating large armies to attack other players. War is a very expensive thing — try to be as diplomatic as possible — resources are often better directed towards building settlements; a much better investment!
  5. For the purpose of colonisation, keep your armies to one platoon. Incidentally, a home garrison is not required till you are actually engaged in war.