“Strange as News from Bree…”
The Lord of the Rings Chapter 9
Welcome
Welcome to News from Bree!
It’s been a good year here at Middle-earth Games. We have created a new website, updated the player rating system, added Champion characters to Fourth-age games so that your Kings and Princes have three orders a turn, and started many new games, with over 25 now running.
And we’re just getting started! We have more great things planned for 2018, including a brand new module, an updated version of our gaming software specifically designed for Automagic users, and an extensive marketing campaign designed to bring more players, old and new, into the game.
In this edition you will find the results of our ‘favourite player poll’, answers to some of your most asked questions, and game reports from the Free Peoples of Game 32.
We hope you enjoy reading it, and if you have any content you would like to see included in the next edition, please do Get in Touch.
Favourite Player Results
Thanks to everyone who voted in our recent ‘favourite player’ poll. The results are in, and we are pleased to announce that the winner is:
John Abbott, who was described as a “great team player and voice of reason”.
Runners up are Rob Schmitt (“the best individual player out there”), and Ben Shushan (“a dream to play with”).
Congratulations to all three, who will be receiving their free turns shortly.
And an honourable mention also to Jeffrey Young, Jeremy Richman, Ernest Hakey, Rob Newton, Clif Weatherford, Brad Brunet, Steve Hall, Scott Baltes, Ulrik Bisgaard and Anders Stockmarr
Thanks to everyone who voted!
Q&A
The following are a selection of answers to questions we’ve received over the past months. We hope you find them useful, and if you have anything you would like to see answered, please do not hesitate to Get in Touch.
Q: Can an army with a dragon be overrun on the 5 to 1 rules?
A: Yes. The dragon does not add ‘mass’ to the army.
Q: If I send a scout into a hex with an enemy pop center and do a 910 order, will a harbor or port (if present) appear on the mini-map generated by the order? Or would I need to do a 920 order to see if a harbor/port is or is not there?
A: If the 910 order is successful, you should get a full map with the harbours/ports showing.
Q: Which versions of ME allow order 412 (research artifact) for up to 6 artifacts?
A: All of them.
Q: Do spell orders 418 and 428 also have this option?
A: No, just 412.
Q: In Gunboat games, are offensive actions against allies permited if the nation is dead? For example, influencing away a pop centre?
A: Yes.
Q: If a navy commander, in a port of their own nation, transfers command of their navy to a character who not currently a commander of an army or navy, do the boats automatically anchor?
A: No.
Q: If a subcommander in a navy does a Make Transport Ship order, are the ships automatically part of the navy, so the commander does not need to PckShp?
A: The ships are automatically asigned to the navy.
Q: Is it possible to have two characters issue 185 against a neutral nation, and go from neutral to hatred (if both successful) on same turn?
A: It doesn’t appear to be precluded, so we suspect you can do it.
Q: I have an army with NO food. If I issue an 850 or 860 order with a H movement, does the H cost 1 or two movement points?
A: A Home movement always costs 1 movement point.
Q: Can a character respond (285) to another character’s investigate encounter (290)?
A: Yes. Any character can respond to any other character’s discovery of an encounter, as long as they are not an army/navy commander or with an army/navy. A character can also attempt to respond to encounters discovered in earlier turns, though the encounter might not still exist.
If multiple characters respond (285), a randomly chosen character gets the result. Only one character can get a result a turn.
The exceptions to this are riddles and the Amon Hen/Lhaw encounters:
With riddles, multiple characters can get an ‘incorrect’ result, until one character answers correctly. (If two or more characters answer correctly, a randomly chosen character gets the reward.)
With the Amon Hen/Lhaw encounters, multiple characters can get a result.
Game 32 Reports
Below are reports from the Free Peoples of Game 32, by John Abbot and Michael Blomquist. For ease of reading, they are broken into four sections.
Note that ME Games bears no responsibility for, and does not claim ownership, of these reports.
PS: Got a report of one of your own games that you would like to see published? Then send it in!
