Companies

    by Christopher Dexter


    For all those Middle-earth PBM mediocrities out there that have not yet figured out all the ways to make their game more efficient and exciting, this article contains some information that could help any player become more respected or feared in the realms in which they roam, that is if they roam with a Company. Two to nine Characters can form a Company, providing one has some Command Skill, and different types of Companies can be created to perform special actions which would enhance the nation's ability to improve its situations in the game.


    The Emissary Company

    An Emissary with some Command skill leading a Company of eight other Emissaries can be used to build up population center loyalty more quickly than just one lowly Character on his own. The Commander of the Company of Emissaries at one of his or her own population centers can issue the 'Influence Your Own Population Center Loyalty' order and then a move order to another population center. The loyalty will go up between 1 and 5 points per character which becomes a range of improvement of 9-45 points in one turn, with the average being about 27 points of improved loyalty. Raising population center loyalty in this way is much more effective than having lone Emissaries at several population centers raising each only 1-5 points a turn.

    With this increased loyalty the same Company can also improve the population center size more easily. A successful method that is presently in use in current games is that eight of the Emissaries issue the 'Influence' order while the highest ranking Emissary issues the 'Improve Population Center' order. If that 'Improve' order was successful, then the population center goes up in loyalty and increases in size all in the same turn. The recommended Emissary rank for the aforementioned "highest ranking Emissary" is about 50. Loyalties and revenues grow more quickly with this method, which in turn makes the nation stronger and capable of accomplishing more in the game.

    As a result of repeated 'Influencing' and 'Improving,' the ranks of these nine Emissaries should rise to an adequate level which would allow the Emissary Company to become an offensive tool against an enemy nation. Arriving at an enemy population center, they could all issue the 'Influence Other's Population Center Loyalty' order. If all the characters were successful, the loyalty of that population center should come down 5-15 points per character. That range of decreased loyalty would be 45-135 points with the average being about 90 points of loyalty being drained away. Most population centers do not even have that many points of loyalty and are very likely to become the property of the nation who owns that Company.

    Is it becoming clear just how much power a nation with a Company like this could wield in the course of a game? Yet, as powerful as all this sounds, power in one nation is often balanced by power in another. A Company of Emissaries can be completely or partially eliminated by a Company of another sort; a Company of Agents.


    The Agent Company

    An agent Company can spred ominous doom and creeping fear upon opposing nations. The threat of them can cause great armies to turn from their intended destinations and march elsewhere. Their sabotage can remove great fortifications in a single turn to allow their nation's armies to attack without too much resistance. Gobs of gold can be stolen from wealthy Capitals. Stealthy weapons can slip quietly between the unprotected ribs of targeted Characters leaving several dead every turn. In short, Agent Companies are just plain NASTY! Which is why every player should have one.

    An Agent with some Command skill can form the Agent Company and begin their training by 'Guarding Location' at the Capital. If the Agent Company is not at a population center, then they can guard each other. Some players claim that when Agents reach the rank of 40 that they can easily steal gold from unguarded population centers. At the rank of 50, Agents become fairly successful at kidnapping, assassination, and sabotage. But it should be noted that there are too many factors in the game to make total success possible no matter how high the Agents' rank. Yet, the player that chooses his or her targets carefully can have success much of the time. When an enemy Army approaches, the Agent Company can attempt to obtain the same hex as that Army and 'Scout for Characters' to learn the names of all the Commanders. Then the Agent Company can attempt to assassinate or kidnap all those Commanders. If successful in eliminating all Commanders, the Army will disband. Any Agents that may be in the Army guarding those Commanders often will thwart these attempts, so if Agents are also discovered in the Army, have the better Agents in the Company target the Army's Agents. Quite often, the artifacts held by any of the target characters are picked up by the Agents in the Company during the successful execution of their orders. These same devastating tactics can be performed on enemy Companies or at enemy Capitals where often lower skilled characters are doing the buying and selling for the enemy Nation.

    As alluded to earlier, an Agent Company, if successful in issuing 'Sabotage Fortifications' order, can bring down all fortifications at an enemy population center in a turn. This would weaken the enemy population center's ability to defend itself against an attacking army. The Agent Company in Middle-earth PBM has offensive, defensive and economic advantages and is the ultimate disruptor, but can it handle those random encounters? Could they kidnap a Dragon? Or steal Galadriel's mirror from the Queen of Lorien? How about assassinate a Balrog? It is unknown if any player has ever tried any of these. It would seem that success would be more likely if the Company dealing with such encounters were made up of mixed character types.


    The Multi-National Company

    This Company can only be formed when all nations involved have 'Friendly' relations with one another. The players should have excellent communication between themselves so that all are aware of where the Company is going and what is to be done when it gets there. That is, unless one nation has its own ideas and follows their own selfish designs no matter where the Company goes like Boromir did in The Fellowship of The Ring.

    This article contains only a hint of what is possible for Companies in Middle-earth PBM. Other possibilities could exist and exploring those possibilities, as G.S.I. ever expands the game, is what makes these PBM adventures into Middle-earth a continuously exciting experience for those Middle-earth PBM mediocrities who seek that excitement.


    Click Here to return to the GSI Article Index