Turn 19

891 - 895 a.d.

Greetings and salutations!

FEES & LEVIES:

BASE COST + PER BL POINT

$ 2 + $ 1

For example, if you have a BL of 3, it will cost you $5 a turn. The maximum cost is $5 a turn. Turns are bi-monthly.

NEWS

Longtime players in this game will probably remember a time wherein I had to adjust the trade factors -- that time may be coming upon us again soon, as I have been coming up with some very unsatifactory numbers, such as a few civilized nations who receive much more that 50% of their income from trade. Be aware that these changes will take place, but probably not until turn 21. Enjoy it while you can!

Many of you are aware that in some campaigns, technology can have a backsliding effect. Up to this point in time for this campaign, the backslide has been OFF. Starting with turn 21, it will be ON. What this means to you, is you probably will want to start investing HEAVILY into your University, or you may soon find yourself losing Tech Levels. There are a few of you who have been making a goodly amount of investments on a regular basis, but generally if you have less than a couple of hundred gold invested, then you’ll want to start investing more real soon.

CLARIFICATIONS

A point needs to be made, regarding minor leaders, how they are generated, and what “exactly” is a Minor Leader.

First I am not going to duplicate all of the rules on how to build them (that’s covered in the Rules

Supplement); what I’m doing here is making a point that really is not mentioned in the supplement, but does make sense.

Minor Leaders should not be thought of as a single leader, but rather a team of individuals. Much smaller in numbers that a regular unit (such as infantry or calvary), but still more than a single person.

Consider how they’re built: 1 NFP (which is 500 men) builds 5 of them; or 1 Agro point each on rebuilds. This is approximately 100 men per team, at least initially. As when any military unit is started, there is a training period, wherein those who are unsuitable for such service, are then weeded out.

With the case of Diplomats and Explorers, the number involved is usually about 40-50 men. Abit less with the Diplos, a bit more with the explorers. Spies are generally about 10-20 persons. Each of these “minors” should actually be thought of as a team rather than a single individual.

That’s why I don’t allow players to name them, as there are more than just one of them. It’s just easier to deal with them as if they were a single person, when assigning them orders.

I hope this helps clarify what has been a lot of player confusion, up to this point.

One last thing, for all you newbies (and some of you longer term players, who are still missing the boat): NFP Total & Total Avail (Gold). These are the totals available for your empire. Do not apply your 10% Census to these figures -- it’s already there.

The next turn is due 31 December, 2001.