King of kings englisch

King of Kings

Rules for a game of strategy

Third Edition 1999, Version 4.4e

Copyright: Jens Niemann, In den Hessengaerten44, 61352 Bad Homburg, Germany

1. Introduction *

2. Basics *

2.1 Troop Units *

2.2 Provinces *

2.3 Generals *

2.4 Culture *

2.5 Isolation *

2.6 Alliances *

3. Movement and Combat *3.1 Land Movement *3.1.1 Two-To-One Superiority *

3.1.2 Blockade by Enemy Assault *

3.1.3 Neutral Provinces *

3.2 Sea Movement *3.2.1 Putting Ships Ashore *

3.2.2 Enemy Naval Forces *

3.3 Sea Battles *

3.4 Land Battles *

3.5 Tactics and Retreat *

Modifier and Retreat *

3.6 Raids *

4. Production *4.1 Food Production and Supply *

4.2 Storage *

4.3 Builds *

4.4 Expenditure/Excess Materials *

5. Orders *5.1 Place units *

5.2 Sea Movement *

5.3 Raid *

5.4 Land Movement *

5.5 Defensive Orders *

5.6 Name King *

5.7 Alliance *

5.8 Cede Province *

5.9 Espionage *

5.10 Build *

5.11 Bombard *

6. Game Phases *Phases *7. Scenarios, Set-up and Victory Conditions*7.1 World Creation and Game Options *

7.2 Start-Up *

7.3 Victory Points and Victory Conditions *

8. The Game Report *8.1 The Head Report *

8.2 General Tribe Report *

8.3 The Map *

8.4 Battle Reports *

8.5 Error Messages and Warnings *

Tables *

1. Introduction

King of Kings is a completely computer moderated play-by-mailgame set in an ancient or medieval world. Each player is in control ofa tribe in this world, governing all decisions and leading it to eithervictory or defeat.

King of Kings is capable of handling two different modes;the public, and the individual mode. In the public mode there are no ‘secrets’in the game. All information is accessible to all players at the same time.It is therefore highly suitable as a ‘zine’ game but may also be playedlike any other, individual report play-by-mail game or a private game playedat home with friends. An obvious advantage is that you get more informationwith your turn report and can see what happens ‘on the other side’. Inthe individual mode players get only information about their own territory,directly adjoining provinces and those scried out by agents. To add tothe atmosphere, there will also be detailed information about any battlesfought anywhere in the game world. It is assumed that news of recent battlesspread fast and are hard to keep secret.

The game map is tiled into square provinces. Provincesmay be occupied and must be kept in control by troops. During a game turn,a player may gain victory points for controlling many provinces, showinggreat valour in battle or a number of other things. The game ends whenevera player’s victory points exceed the victory point limit set for the game,or at the end of a pre-set game turn. The victor is the player with themost victory points awarded.

2. Basics

Provinces produce supplies to maintain existing troopsand to build new ones. These supply goods are defined as follows:

Food is necessary to maintain troops. At the end of eachturn, one troop unit must be supplied with one unit of food, or else theunit will be disbanded.

Gold is a term that represents primarily money, but alsothe availability of recruits or weapon smiths. Gold is required to levynew units.

Wood is required to build ships. Not every type of terraincan provide wood for the construction of ships.

2.1Troop Units

On the military side of this game there are 6 differenttroop types. Their properties can be learned from the following table.

Units Symbol To Hit Armour Movement Costs
Bowmen B 45 2 6 Gold
Foot Soldiers F 35 2 6 Gold
Horsemen H 50 15 3 12 Gold
Castle C 45 15 0 12 Gold
General G 50 15 3 -
Ship S 66 10 10 Wood

Remarks:

1. The "To Hit" value of bowmen decrease to half ofthe original value after the first round of combat. This rule assumes thatonly in the first round missile fire is possible and after that melee occurs.

2. If a general is with an army, all units increase their"To Hit" value by 10. In addition, all units may move over land at a rateof 3. This rule does not apply to sea movement.

Castles, ships and generals need not be supplied withfood. There may only be one castle constructed in any province. castlescan not be conquered by an opponent. If an enemy conquers a province, thecastle will be destroyed (if not already destroyed in battle).

Ships may be used to transport other units across thesea. One ship is capable of transporting only one other unit. On the otherhand, each two ships require one land unit to man the sails. This ruleonly applies to fleets that are going offshore or are already at sea. Thereare no restrictions if ships are to remain in a coastal province. Castlescan, of course, not be transported over sea.

Hits in battle are determined in the following way: "ToHit" is the chance in percent that the unit will hit an opponent. Someunits have "Armour"; thus they are harder to hit and reduce the "To Hit"chance of the enemy. Terrain may affect the hit chances of the attacker.The "To Hit" chance may not be higher than the value stated for this terraintype. Finally, the bonus for a general in command and the tactical bonus(or malus) is applied.

See chapter 3.4 (Land Battles) for details.

2.2Provinces

Provinces differ in their terrain, which in turn attributesto specific properties of the province. The following table reveals allimportant information.

Terrain Food Gold Wood Mov.Pts To Hit*
Cultivated 3 3 0 1
Plains 2 2 0 1
Grassland 2 1 0 1
Desert 0 0 0 1
Steppes 1 0 0 1
Forest 1 0 3 2 25
Hills 2 1 1 2 20
Mountains 1 0 0 3 15
Marsh 2 1 1 2 25
Swamps 1 0 0 3 20
Town 3 10 0 1 20
City 4 15 0 1 20
Metropolis 5 20 0 1 20

Troops that defend a province with a "To Hit" value statedare more difficult to hit as a result of the terrain which favours thedefender. The maximum chance for the attacker is the value given in thetable. Only generals and tactical modifiers may affect the chances further.The defender’s chances to hit the attacker are not affected by this rule.The "to hit" value of a unit is usually higher than the "to hit" valuesof the land type. So the defender will have an advantage on those landtypes.

A player is in control of a province if and only if hehas at least one land unit stationed in this province. This includes castlesas well as a lone general unit, but not ships. Ships may also not conquerland provinces. Provinces which contain no land units at the end of a gameturn will become neutral, independent provinces. Neutral provinces cannot be conquered but are instead occupied whenever a land unit moves intoit, thus gaining control over it. There will never be a battle for neutralprovinces! The first one to move in is the new owner for the rest of theturn.

2.3Generals

Each tribe may only have a limited number of generals(which will be stated with the game sign-up information). After a playerhas reached a certain amount of VP’s (Victory Points) a new general becomeseligible for placement, typical every 25 VP’s, so new generals become availableat 25 VP, 50 VP, 75 VP and so on.

2.4Culture

Each tribe has its own behaviour, customs and laws. Theculture determines the troop types which can be levied by this tribe. Inmost cases, tribes will be civilised, but certain tribes may also haveother culture. The cultures available within the game system are:

a) Primitives. They can only levy foot soldiers andbuild ships. They may also have generals.

b) Civilised. They can build all units.

c) Barbarians. They can build all units except castles.

As culture strongly affects the capabilities of a tribe,most games do not make use of different tribes to avoid imbalance in thegame. However it may add spice to certain scenarios.

2.5Isolation

The supply of troops with food is simplified so that theplayer is not harassed with the tedious work of logistics. Food is collectedand distributed to the troops no matter where they are located. Usually,it is impossible to cut an enemy off his supply lines. The isolation rulemakes an exception here.

A province (and with it all units located there) is isolated,if it does not border to any of the following areas:

a) A province owned by the same player.

b) A province owned by an allied player.

c) A sea area which is occupied by allied or own troops.

d) An unoccupied sea area, if ships are located in theprovince itself.

Isolated units are subject to losses ("siege losses") andsome orders may not be given to isolated provinces or units.

All orders may be given to isolated cities (towns, metropolis).
LAND and SEA orders may be given to any isolated provincecontaining a General.
DEF orders may be given to any isolated province.

With the above exceptions, no orders may be given to isolatedprovinces.

2.6Alliances

Players may ally freely to each other. How closely twoplayers are tied by alliance is described by the alliance status. The alliancestatus can assume values from 0 to 5. The status is at first declared unilateral.Example: player A raises the status to player B from 0 to 1. Player B’sstatus to player A stays at 0. At the end of each turn, the alliance statusis set for the lower value of the two players. So both players must issueorders to raise the status, but just one player may deliberately lowerthe status. Please note that in the example before player B has certainadvantages over player A. Because player A has raised the status, he maynot attack player B. But player B, having not issued such orders, may wellattack player A! The alliance status can be raised or lowered by 1 perturn.

An alliance status of 0 means no alliance at all. Playersmay be neutral or at war. Players do not support each other and block troopsthat march into their territory.

At a status of 1 or higher two players are allied. Theymay move through the other’s provinces without being blocked. Attacks uponallied provinces are impossible. Should a movement end in the provinceof an ally, the entire movement is cancelled; exception: allied status5 (see below).

A status of 5 is a special case. At this level playersmay support their allies in battle, either in offence or defence. By movingtroops into a province where battle occurs between an ally and anotherplayer, the troops are put under control of the allied player. Note thatyou can not support an ally attacking another ally of you, but you mayhelp in defence against another allied player.

3. Movementand Combat

Moves are only allowed into the four cardinal directionsof north, south, east and west. Diagonal moves are not possible. Each landprovince or sea area entered counts as one move. The troop table givesthe number of moves allowed by each unit.3.1Land MovementA land movement is a number of consecutive moves bya stack of units, all beginning in the same province and ending in thesame province. To split or combine troops, several movement orders haveto be issued. Units may only conduct one movement per turn. After movement,the destination province and all troops in it are earmarked as having executeda movement. So note that if you move troops into one of your own provinces,all troops in this province are considered to have conducted a movementand may no further move this turn. If you want to move troops from A toB and others from B to C, the movement from B to C should be conductedfirst.

The movement points of a stack of units is that of thelowest member, e.g if you move 2 horsemen and 1 foot soldier in one movement,they only have 2 movement points. Units may move as long as they have apositive number of movement points left. Movement points are deducted forevery province entered by the troops, depending on terrain type. Movementmay be ended prior to reaching its intended destination if one of the followingoccurs:

a) An attempt to move into a sea area cancels this onemove.

b) The entering of a province causes the movement pointsgo to zero or below.

c) A move led into enemy occupied territory. Enemy troopsalways block movement (reduce movement points to 0) except for the circumstancethat the player moving the force has already troops in this province whichattack with at least a two-to-one superiority in numbers (see detailedexplanation below).

d) The move attempts to enter a province which is currentlyunder attack by another player, i.e. where a battle will occur after themovement phase between the defender and the invading player. Such a movewill not be executed.

e) An attempted move across the map boundaries will notbe executed.

f) Isolated units may not move at all.

3.1.1 Two-To-One SuperiorityA two-to-one superiority is in effect if one playeris attacking (not defending) with at least the double amount of land units(not ships) than the defender can muster. Once a player has sent enoughtroops into a province to satisfy this condition he may move troops acrossthis province into the next. If the conditions are not met and a move acrossthis province is attempted, the force’s movement will be blocked in theprovince, these troops coming then to augment the forces which are alreadypresent there.3.1.2 Blockade by Enemy AssaultA movement may not be possible if the province whichthe troops to be moved occupy is by itself assaulted by enemy forces. Ifthe enemy’s strength in numbers is at least equal to those of the defenders,then all defending troops must stay in the province and defend. On allother occasions the defending units are free to move out of the province.They may even leave it undefended in this case.3.1.3 Neutral ProvincesNeutral provinces are provinces which contain no units.They are considered friendly territory for movement purposes, i.e. theunits moving through the province will be not blocked. A neutral provincecan be captured by simply moving a unit into it. The province immediatelybecomes player-controlled by this move.3.2Sea MovementA sea movement may start in any sea or coastal province(a province is termed ‘coastal’ if at least one sea area is adjacent toit). A sea movement must end in a sea area. It may not end in a coastalprovince. If an attempt is made to move into a non-sea province, the movementis halted immediately in the last sea area that the movement led through.3.2.1 Putting Ships AshoreTo put ships to land, a land movement order must beissued, listing all ships and troops that are to disembark. This is toprevent troops running into an obstacle that was overlooked by the player.

Units which took part in a sea move may later take partin land moves. Units which moved by land earlier in the turn may notmove by sea later.

3.2.2 Enemy Naval ForcesEnemy naval forces may hinder a sea movement. Each shiphas a ten percent chance of detecting a moving fleet. If the fleet is detectedit must halt its movement and battle the opposing fleet.

If a fleet ends its movement in a sea area that also containsan enemy naval force, a sea battle is fought immediately.

3.3Sea BattlesThe procedure of a sea battle is very simple. On eitherside, only the ships take part in the action. Ships score a hit if theyroll the number given in the troop table or higher. Each hit results inthe sinking of an enemy ship. The sea battle is divided into combat rounds.In each round, both sides roll for their chances simultaneously. Then lossesare taken away. The battle continues until one side has been completelydestroyed.

After battle, the winner’s losses for the transportedland units is computed. The ship losses expressed in percent are identicalto the percentile losses of transported units. These losses will then beapplied to the land units. Please note that through rounding losses maybecome higher or lower than the ship losses.

3.4Land BattlesBattle occurs after all land moves have been conducted.In provinces which contain other forces than the owner of the provincea conflict will take place. Battles are resolved consecutively and notsimultaneously. The order in which battles occur is determined by the orderof troops moving to assault the province, i.e. during the movement phase.If a player wishes that a battle is to be processed first, he should sendtroops into that province first.

The land battle is, like the sea battle, divided intocombat rounds during which both sides resolve their hit rolls simultaneously.After each combat round either side may give up the fighting and may possiblywithdraw.

The hit rolls of each unit are resolved one after theother, in a predetermined order which is basically ruled by the order ofthe units as they are listed in the troop table. That is, bowmen go first,then foot soldiers, horsemen, castle and finally, general. In the samemanner it will be determined which unit on the opposing side is being attackedby a hit roll. Let us assume that percentile dice are rolled to determinethe hit chances (lower or same = hit). The following example shall depicthow a combat round is resolved.

Neither side has a tactical advantage, so no bonus isapplied for tactics (tactics are dicussed in the following chapter). Theterrain is plains, so there are no terrain modifiers. Side A attacks with2 horsemen and 1 general, side B is on the defensive and comprises of 1bowman and 1 castle. Side A’s first unit (which is the first of two horsemenunits) fights against the first unit of side B (the bowman). The chancesare 50% plus 10% general’s bonus. The dice are cast, showing a 74 - nohit. Now side A’s second unit (which is the second of the two horsemen)fights against the next unit of side B which was not hit, that isstill the bowman unit as it did not take a hit before. Side A now rollsa 4, which suffices for a horsemen unit to hit the bowman. Now the thirdunit of side A (the general) fights against the next unhit unit of sideB (the castle, as the bowman was already hit). The chances are now 50%+ 10% - 15% (for the castle’s "Armour") for a total of 45%. A 46 is rolled,so no hit was scored.

The same procedure is now applied for side B’s units.The first unit of side B (the bowman) fights against the first unit ofside A (the first horsemen unit). The chances are 45% (the bowman’s chancein the first combat round) - 15% (Armour of the horseman) = 30%. A 26 onthe dice indicate a hit. Then, side B’s second unit (the castle) fightsagainst the next unhit unit of Side A (which is the second horsemen unit).This last roll did not result in a hit. Both sides have now resolved theirhit rolls and losses are applied. Side A loses one horsemen and Side Bloses one bowman. These units were subject to hits during the combat round.

After each combat round both sides are checked for theirretreat conditions. The tactical orders of both the attacker and the defenderdetermine when a force will give up the fighting and try to retreat. Thereaftermorale points are awarded. Morale points are calculated from the differencebetween units lost by one player and units lost by the opponent. If youinflict higher losses on your opponent than you have on your side, yougain a positive number of morale points. Otherwise, your points will benegative or zero. Surrendering units do not count as losses. Morale pointsare accumulated during the game turn and victory points may be awardedto players with the most points.

3.5Tactics and RetreatThere are five different tactics to choose from. Eachhas its advantages and drawbacks. Tactics affect not only the chances tohit in combat but also the willingness of the troops to commit themselvesto the fighting.

*Tactic*	*Abbreviation*
Frontal Assault	F
Pincer Attack	P
StandardAttack	T
Outflank	U
Counter Attack	C

Please note:

Pincer Attack may only be used by forces containing at least one horsemenunit.
Amphibious assaults always use the Frontal Assault tactic by default, nomatter which order is given

The following table shows how a combination of attacker’sand defender’s tactics influence combat. The first number is the modifierto the attacker’s chances. The second, separated by a slash, is the modifierfor the defender.

Def F P T U C
Att
F +10/+10 +10/+5 0/0 0/+10 +5/+10
P +5/0 0/-5 +10/0 0/-5 0/+10
T 0/-5 0/0 -5/+5 0/-5 0/-5
U 0/-10 -5/-5 -5/-5 -10/-10 -10/0
C 0/0 -5/+5 0/0 -10/-5 0/-5

The decision to retreat or stay depends on the modifiers.A favourable modifier will tend the troops to fight more fiercely, evenagainst stronger numbers whereas lower modifiers may cause them lose theirhearts.

Note: tactical modifiers ar applied as final modifiersto the to-hit chances.

Modifierand Retreat

-10: Retreat will happen automatically after one combatround, no matter how the outcome of the fighting was (even if the enemywas completely eliminated).Defenders will try to retreat unless all attackersare eliminated or retreated from combat, too.

-5: Fighting will only continue if your own numbers exceedthose of the opposing force.

+/-0: Fighting will continue unless the enemy is strongerin numbers than the force itself.

+5: Retreat will only happen if the opponent’s strengthin numbers exceeds the double own numbers (more than two-to-one superiority).+10:Retreat is out of question: fight till death!

If the conditions for a side’s retreat orders are met,their forces will try to retreat. Attackers retreat into the province theycame from. If this province is no longer in control of the attacker dueto other battles fought there, the attacker surrenders to the defender(all units are removed from the game). Defenders try to retreat into aneighbouring province that the defending player controls. The provincemust not be currently under attack by an enemy. Under such a circumstance,the province does not qualify for retreat and another province must befound. If no neighbouring province qualifies for retreat, the defendersurrenders to the attacker and all defending units are removed from play.

If neither side opts to retreat, a new combat round isfought. If necessary, until one side is annihilated.

3.6Raids

A raid is an attack against a province in an attempt topillage the province. This pillage will result in gold being stolen fromthe province and added to the central storage of the raiding player. Nocontrol over the province can be gained by the attacker even if the defendingunits are eliminated in the fight. After a successful raid, the raidersretreat back to where they came from.

In a raid, a battle occurs between the defenders of theprovince and the raiders. This battle is very similar to the land battleabove. To-hit chances are decreased by 10% for both raiders and defenders.The raiders will always retreat after the first round of combat. Each retreatingraiding unit steals up to three gold from the province’s local storage.The defenders, should some of them remain after the combat, stay in theprovince and keep control over it.

3.7 Morale Points

Morale points are the difference beetween units lost byhostile and by friendly forces. The higher the difference, the more moralepoints. Morale points are only used for determination of Victory Points.

4. Production

After all orders have been executed and all battles havebeen fought, the production sequence is run by the computer program. Pleasenote that gold production is not computed during the production sequencebut, instead, in the beginning of each game turn (before movement and combat),the gold being stored temporarily in the producing province. From thislocation it can be stolen by enemy raids.

The production sequence includes the production of woodand food by provinces. Units will be supplied with the food that was producedin this turn. If there is not sufficient food supply to maintain all units,then surplus units are disbanded. The gold is collected from the localstorage into the central storage.

4.1Food Production and Supply

All food is considered to be in a central storage, providingall units on the map with food no matter where they are located. To determinewhich units are out of supply the program compares each province’s foodproduction rating to the number of units stationed in this province. Wherethe greatest difference between units and food production rating occurs,a unit will be disbanded first. Then the program seeks out the provincewith next greatest difference, and so forth until all surplus units areremoved from the map. It is also not possible to lose control of a provinceas a result of lack of supply.

Please note that generals, castles and ships need no foodsupplies whatsoever. They are always considered ‘in supply’.

4.2Storage

Wood and gold are stored for the next game turn whileexcess food is lost at the end of the turn. Gold is used the next turnto levy units and construct castles. Wood is used for the constructionof ships. The food is always used for consumption in the currentturn. Storage figures for the basic game are 5 gold, 20 wood and 0 food.Advanced games may feature a change in storage capacity, even food storageis possible.

4.3Builds

At the start of a new turn players may build new unitsfor the gold accumulated in the previous turn. Units may be bought fortheir gold value given in the troop table and may be placed anywhere onthe map regarding the following restrictions:

a) Only one land unit may be placed into each province.

b) Units may never be placed into sea areas.

c) Ships may only be placed into coastal provinces. Itis possible to place multiple ships into one province and into provincesthat also received land units.

d) All units may only be placed into provinces under thecontrol of the player. No unit may be placed into neutral, enemy occupiedterritory or that of a friendly or allied tribe. As an optional rule, unitsmay only be placed in original (home) provinces. These are provinces whichthe tribe controlled at the start of the game.

e) No unit may be placed into an isolated province.

4.4Expenditure/Excess Materials

Gold and wood should be expended as completely as possible.After the unit placement phase all gold in excess of 5 points and all woodin excess of 5 is lost. The limit for excess materials may be altered bythe game master.

5. Orders

To lead his tribe through the course of history eachplayer issues orders for the actions that his tribe will conduct duringa turn. The orders which a player may give to his tribe are limited toa certain number which the game master will state to all players priorto the beginning of a new game.

Orders are to be written on a piece of paper which isto be handed out to the game master, or sent via mail, fax or other means.The player is bound to keep his orders to a fixed format to ensure thecorrect typing-in of all his orders by the game master. If order formsare issued by your game master, please make use of them before you writeon a clear sheet. Players are advised to write all orders in capital lettersand as legible as possible.

The following notes apply to all orders:

1) Spaces separate statements from each other.

2) Expressions put in angular brackets may be repeatedseveral times.

3) Expressions put in curved brackets are optional. Theymay be omitted.

4) Order abbreviations are printed in capital letters.

For the correct processing of orders the player must usecertain key words in his orders. The following key words may be used inorders:

Directions: N, S, E, W (for north, south, east, west,only the first letter is used!)

Tactics: F, P, T, U, C (for frontal, pincer, standard,outflank and counter attack).

Type: BOWMEN, FOOT, HORSEMEN, GENERAL, CASTLE, SHIP. Toease writing, the first two letters are sufficient to indicate the correcttype, that is BO, FO, HO, GE, CA, SH.

AT statement: Instead of stating the amount and type ofevery different unit, it is possible to abbreviate all troops in a provincewith AT. You can combine AT with any unit type specification (meaning alltroops except those explicitly specified). Ships are never included withAT and must always be specified. Because the AT statement can easily leadto emptying a province, it is not recommended for beginners.

X-C, Y-C: Co-ordinates; please give the co-ordinate numberhere (of the province or the location of your troops).

Amount: A numerical expression is expected here. If atype is stated, the amount of '1' may be omitted. However this abbreviationis only recommended to players alreadyacquainted with the order scheme.

The game knows the following orders

5.1Place units

Format: PLA [X-C Y-C Type]

Description: Up to three units may be placed into threedifferent provinces. Gold or wood must be paid for the units to be placed.

Example: PLA 7 18 FOOT 8 18 CASTLE

One foot soldier will be placed into province 7/18 andone castle will be built at 8/18.

5.2Sea Movement

Format: SEA X-C Y-C {AT} [Type Amount][Direction]

Description: Units starting at the location given by theco-ordinates will move by sea on the route given by a series of directions.

Example: SEA 12 7 BOWMEN 3 SHIP 3 W WS W S W W N

This order moves 3 bowmen embarked on 3 ships, startingat 12/7 to 7/8.

5.3Raid

Format: RAID X-C Y-C {AT} [Type Amount][Direction]

Description: Conducts a raid against a province.

Example: RAID 7 8 HO 3 N

A raid will be made against the province 7/7 by the 3horsemen located in 7/8.

5.4Land Movement

Format: LAND X-C Y-C {Tactic} {AT} [TypeAmount] [Direction]

Description: This order moves troops overland. If theplayer fails to state the tactics his forces will use in a possible battle,the tactics used by the province where the troops began their movementwill be used.

Example: LAND 8 18 T AT FOOT 1 E E

One Foot Soldier and all other (non-Foot Soldier) troopslocated in 8/18 will be moved two provinces to the east. Should a battleoccur over the destination province, the force will use a standard tactic,as stated by the ‘T’ expression.

5.5Defensive Orders

Format: DEF [X-C Y-C Tactic]

Description: Gives retreat orders for a province, i.e.state the tactics which will be shown by units defending this province.Similar to the PLA order, up to three provinces may be given retreat orders.This order may always be given to isolated provinces.

Example: DEF 10 18 C 11 18 C

Orders the defending troops of the provinces 10/18 and11/18 to counterattack.

5.6Name King

Format: NAME {X-C Y-C} Name

Description: This order is meant to allow players to givenames to their provinces or kings, respectively to themselves as they arethe ones who lead their tribe in the game.

Example: NAME 5 15 Barad Dur

Province 5/15 is now called "Barad Dur".

Example: NAME Erik the Red

The new king’s name is "Erik the Red". Please try to avoidnames that do not fit or might harm the atmosphere of the game. Note thatthe game master may cancel the order if he finds the name offending orotherwise unsuitable.

5.7Alliance

Format: ALL Player Status

Description: This order alters the alliance status toanother player. Note that you may only raise or lower the status by one,e.g. from 0 to 1 but not from 0 to 5.

Example: ALL 5 0

Sets the status to player 5 to 0.

5.8Cede Province

Format: CEDE X-C Y-C Player

Description: Cedes one province to an allied player. Thisorder may only be issued once per game turn. Note that you must have analliance status of 5 with player in question.

5.9Espionage

Format: ESP [X-C Y-C]

Description: Sends agents to scry out enemy provinces.Similar to the PLA order, up to three provinces may be given spied upon.

Example: ESP 10 15 11 15 11 16

Spies are sent to the provinces 10/15, 11/15 and 11/16.

5.10Build

Format: BUILD X-C Y-C

Description: Builds infrastructure, wells, canals, housesand walls in the stated province. The building will lead to a change inthe terrain type. These changes always lead to an increase in either goldor food production, or both. Because building is a time and resource consumingactivity, each BUILD order only has a chance to yield the desired changein terrain. Each BUILD order costs 12 gold.

Example: BUILD 10 15

Starts building in province 10/15.

5.11 Bombard

Format: BMB X-C Y-C Target-X-CTarget-Y-C

This order can only be used in an advanced game that featuresthe Artillery unit.

Description: Bombards an adjacent province with Artilleryunits located at this province. This order can only be executed by armiesnot having moved already (so be careful when moving troops into this province).Effects: Each Artillery piece consumes 1 gold representing fired-off ammunition.Each Artillery piece has a 10% chance of destroying each unit in the targetprovince. This order marks the army as having conducted a land movement(no LAND and BMB order possible in the same turn).

Example: BMB 25 17 25 16

All artillery in 25/17 bombards the northern border province.

6. Game Phases

The actions of each player are resolved in a pre-determinedorder, the so-called phases. In the order phase, player orders will beexecuted, in some other phases the program is working all by itself. Inevery new game turn, the players will be ordered into a randomly determinedsequence. In the order phase the program picks orders to be executed accordingto the following scheme:

1) The first player’s first order.

2) The second player’s first order.

....

..) The last player’s first order.

....

..) The first player’s second order.

....and so forth.

Phases

Phase 1) Provinces produce gold and store them at theirown place.

Phase 2) Order phase.

Phase 3) Food will be collected from provinces. Unitswill be supplied with food. Unsupplied units are disbanded.

Phase 4) Gold is collected and wood is produced.

Phase 5) Victory points are awarded.

Phase 6) All information is printed out. The game turnis ended.

Note: Phases 3) to 5) are also referred to as productionsequence.

7. Scenarios,Set-up and Victory Conditions

The concept of the game is intentionally held in generalto allow room for expansion and improvement. A game may in fact be situatedin any epoch of human history or in an arbitrary world of fantasy or fiction.7.1World Creation and Game OptionsThe game master forms the game world after his own intentionsand according to interest from players. In his creativity he is currentlylimited by the program code to the following:

· Upto 50 player tribes or non-player tribes.

· Differentcultures to choose for any tribe.

· Aworld up to 50 times 50 provinces large.

· Tendifferent terrain types and three city types.

· Victorypoint awards for meeting certain conditions.

· Differentstarting options such as additional gold or wood for the first game turn.

The GM also determines some specific game options, whichmore or less affect gameplay:· Thegame mode (public or individual mode).

· Maximumnumber of generals per tribe.

· Thehome builds option. Units may only be built in home (original) provincesif this option is chosen.

· Excessmaterials limits. Gold and wood must be spent during the order phase tobuild new units. Unused (excess) materials are lost. The GM may raise orlower the excess materials limit to affect the losses, e.g. to save playersfrom the adverse effects of a missed turn.

7.2Start-UpAt the start of the game each tribe is in control ofa set number of provinces. Each province is occupied by one foot soldier.Neutral provinces have no defending troops. The game master may distributemany neutral provinces or even none, as he sees fit for the game. Occupiedprovinces use the standard tactic as a default. Each player also startswith a given amount of gold and wood to levy troops in the first turn.7.3Victory Points and Victory ConditionsIn phase 5 of each game turn victory points are awardedto players who qualify as one of the first three leading tribes in thefollowing categories:

· Forthe most troop units controlled by the player.

· Forthe most provinces controlled by the player.

· Forthe most morale points accumulated during this turn.

· Forthe most gold which has been collected during production.

N.B.: victory points are only awarded to players who achieveda higher rating than the next lower in rank. If the first ranking playerhas achieved the same numbers to qualify as the second ranking player,then victory points are only awarded for the second rank to both players.Also note that if four players achieve, for instance, the same amount ofmorale points higher than all other players, it follows that none of thoseplayers will score victory points as none of them was able to gain morepoints than the player in the fourth rank - for which no victory pointsare awarded.

The game master determines the game ending and victoryconditions. He may rule that the game ends on a specific game turn, orwhen a player reaches or supersedes a victory point limit installed bythe game master. Or he may govern that only one of these two conditionsmust be met for the game to end. Possible vitory conditions are: The playerwith the highest victory point score wins; The player with the highestgold production at game end wins.

8. TheGame Report

Closing with the game turn the game reports are printedout in phase 6 for all players. It is important to know that the reportis the same for all players participating in the game, which is in contraryto many other play-by-mail games but common to ‘zine’-style games. An updatedmap showing all troop deployments will be printed out just as all otherinformation like battle reports, verbose error messages and general tribeand player information. With this complete and informative report the playeris not forced, as in many other games, to book-keep over all his belongingsand troop positions or draw his own maps and mark his forces on the map.8.1The Head Report

The head report states general game information such asgame number, turn number, processing date, deadline for the next turn etc.

A remark has to me made to the alliance table. The playerfinds his own tribe by counting down the rows of the table. This row containsthe status to the other players. Cross-reference it with the top row ofplayer numbers to find the player for which you seek the status. Example:You are player #3 and seek your status to player 10. You take the 3rdrow and count 10 numbers to the right to find the status that you haveto this player. Note: you may also swap the player numbers. Why? Becauseat the end of the turn the status of two players is set to the lower ofthe two numbers.

8.2General Tribe Report

The general tribe report table reveals all important datawhich is not contained on the map. The following abbreviations list isgiven to cancel out all possible misunderstandings.

Gold: Gold that is available for builds in the nextturn.

Wood: Available wood for the construction of ships.

Ship: Total number of Ship units.

Hors: Total number of Horsemen units.

Bowm: Total number of Viking units.

Foot: Total number of Foot units.

Cast: Total number of Castles.

Gene: Total number of Generals.

Trp.: The sum of all land units.

Food: The food production capacity of all controlled provinces.

Prov: Total number of all controlled provinces.

8.3The Map

The map contains and depicts all provinces, their terrainand their owning tribes. It further shows all land and ship units thatare in play. Home provinces are denoted in capital letters. The amountof units is given as a numeric value followed by a letter determining thetype of unit (e.g. S for Ship). Kings and Castles are only indicated bytheir letter as there can not be multiple of such units in any province.Lower case characters inform of the tactical order of the province. Usinglower case was necessary to prevent confusion with the troop type letters.Please refer to chapters 5. (Orders) and 2.1 (Troops) for a list of keyletters.

8.4Battle Reports

All battle reports are printed in narrative style so thatfurther explanation on this topic should not be necessary.

8.5Error Messages and Warnings

All errors that occurred during order processing are printedout on the error report. The program may also give warnings if the playertried something unusual or the action tried runs a high risk of leadingto mistakes, or to explain further why an order could not be executed successfully.

An error message is initiated with a *, followed by theplayer number and the offending line in the order sheet or file. An errorindicated that the order has failed completely, or partially in case ofa multi-order (e. g. PLACE can be a triple order, each placement can fail)

A warning is showed by encasing the player number andoffending order line in brackets. A warning indicates that an order hasprobably been conducted in a fasjhion other that desired by the player(e. g. an attempt to move 3 Bowmen out of a province that only contains2 Bowmen will lead to a warning and the movement of those 2 Bowmen).

Tables

Troop table

Units Symbol To Hit Armour Movement Costs
Bowmen B 45 2 6 Gold
Foot Soldiers F 35 2 6 Gold
Horsemen H 50 15 3 12 Gold
Castle C 45 15 0 12 Gold
General G 50 15 3 -
Ship S 66 10 10 Wood

Province Table

Terrain Food Gold Wood Mov.Pts To Hit*
Cultivated 3 3 0 1
Plains 2 2 0 1
Grassland 2 1 0 1
Desert 0 0 0 1
Steppes 1 0 0 1
Forest 1 0 3 2 25
Hills 2 1 1 2 20
Mountains 1 0 0 3 15
Marsh 2 1 1 2 25
Swamps 1 0 0 3 20
Town 3 10 0 1 20
City 4 15 0 1 20
Metropolis 5 20 0 1 20

Tactic Table

Tactic Abbreviation
Frontal Assault F
Pincer Attack P
StandardAttack T
Outflank U
Counter Attack C

Def F P T U C
Att
F +10/+10 +10/+5 0/0 0/+10 +5/+10
P +5/0 0/-5 +10/0 0/-5 0/+10
T 0/-5 0/0 -5/+5 0/-5 0/-5
U 0/-10 -5/-5 -5/-5 -10/-10 -10/0
C 0/0 -5/+5 0/0 -10/-5 0/-5

Build Table

Terrain Chance Transforminto
Cultivated 15 Town
Plains 30 Cultivated
Grassland 75 Plains
Desert 75 Steppes
Steppes 15 Grasland
Forest 75 Grasland
Hills 15 Grasland
Mountains 50 Hills
Marsh 15 Grasland
Swamps 50 Marsh
Town 20 City
City 20 Metropolis
Metropolis 10 Desert

*Units*	*Symbol*	*To Hit*	*Armour*	*Movement*	*Costs*
Bowmen	B	45		2	6 Gold
Foot Soldiers	F	35		2	6 Gold
Horsemen	H	50	15	3	12 Gold
Castle	C	45	15	0	12 Gold
General	G	50	15	3	-
Ship	S	66		10	10 Wood

*Terrain*	*Food*	*Gold*	*Wood*	*Mov.Pts*	To Hit*
Cultivated	3	3	0	1
Plains	2	2	0	1
Grassland	2	1	0	1
Desert	0	0	0	1
Steppes	1	0	0	1
Forest	1	0	3	2	25
Hills	2	1	1	2	20
Mountains	1	0	0	3	15
Marsh	2	1	1	2	25
Swamps	1	0	0	3	20
Town	3	10	0	1	20
City	4	15	0	1	20
Metropolis	5	20	0	1	20

*Def*	F	P	T	U	C
Att
F	+10/+10	+10/+5	0/0	0/+10	+5/+10
P	+5/0	0/-5	+10/0	0/-5	0/+10
T	0/-5	0/0	-5/+5	0/-5	0/-5
U	0/-10	-5/-5	-5/-5	-10/-10	-10/0
C	0/0	-5/+5	0/0	-10/-5	0/-5

*Terrain*	*Chance*	*Transforminto*
Cultivated	15	Town
Plains	30	Cultivated
Grassland	75	Plains
Desert	75	Steppes
Steppes	15	Grasland
Forest	75	Grasland
Hills	15	Grasland
Mountains	50	Hills
Marsh	15	Grasland
Swamps	50	Marsh
Town	20	City
City	20	Metropolis
Metropolis	10	Desert