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Galaxy #223

The ongoing Saga of Galaxy #223 in Galac-Tac

Turn #4

More Battles, More Bluster, Just Don't Be Like Custer!

It's 2:35 AM on Friday morning, October 24th, 2025 - the due date for Turn #4 of Galaxy #223 of Galac-Tac - as I set about the task of writing this article. The turn won't actually get processed until tomorrow morning, on a Saturday.

Saturdays, as many of you reading this might well remember, used to be a really big day - arguably the biggest day of the week. After all, when young and growing up, Saturdays was the biggest day of the week for cartoons, bar none.

Does playing Galac-Tac rival the feeling that Saturday cartoons used to bring me? No, not really, but then again, Galac-Tac isn't a cartoon. These days, I could watch all of the cartoons that I want to watch, each day, every day. Yet, I hardly ever watch them at all, anymore.



But Saturdays weren't just about cartoons, back then. You also had Shock Theater, Tarzan, and movies like The Blob and Creature From the Black Lagoon. Don't forget that still-memorable The Fly movie, either. Saturday was, in a nutshell, Entertainment Day.



One thing that Galac-Tac turns being processed does generate on my end is anticipation. Like those old Heinz ketchup TV commercials used to sing, "Anticipation. Anticipation. It's making me wait."



You may or may not remember that, though. I won't hold it against you, if you don't.



I have to wait until tomorrow, before I can tell you about what actually happened in Turn #4 of this particular game of Galac-Tac. If I don't have the results of Turn #4, then I simply can't share the results of Turn #4. It's not rocket science, even though it is a space warfare game.



So, what can I write about Galac-Tac, until I have my turn results for Turn #4 firmly in hand?



How about some scattered thoughts about it that just pop into my head, here in the dark early morning hours of this new day fresh out of the oven?



Why isn't Galac-Tac more popular than what it currently is? I don't think that you can chalk it up to any one, single reason. It's a game with a whole lot of potential, but it's also a game that could likely benefit substantially from some additional changes. But what's the incentive for it to be changed?



For all that I and others have written about Galac-Tac recently, how many new players (or returning players) have actually signed up to give the game a try? Any? PBM companies like to guard pretty much any information regarding player numbers, these days, so is there any point in me even asking?



If ten thousand people signed up tomorrow to play Galac-Tac (or any other PBM game, for that matter), I bet we'd hear about that.



Or maybe not. The world's a crazy place, these days - and so is PBM!



I wrote a 7-page article about Galac-Tac for Issue #2 of PBM Zombies magazine, recently. Not sure if I will actually leave it in, though. To voice one's opinion, after all, runs the risk of offending people. To be or not to be? To write or not to write? To change Galac-Tac or to leave it exactly as it is?



For those that want the facts, just the facts, ma'am, and not my opinions, I refer you to Joe Friday and the old television show called Dragnet. If "just the facts" is all that matters, then what are the actual facts about Galac-Tac? What are the actual player numbers? Can't say. Too top secret. That's classified. Right?



Why isn't Galac-Tac more popular, now, than it actually is? Again, just the facts, ma'am. What needs to be changed? What can - and will - be changed? Is the current version of Galac-Tac in its present form the final stage of Galac-Tac's gradual evolution? Don't pester me with opinions. Just give me the actual, 100% verifiable facts.



You want facts? Here's a fact for you.

The number of positions filled for Galaxy #228? It's still at one. Weeks later, and it's still at just one. How's that for progress?



I could say that it's sad, but that would be an opinion. I wonder how long that we'll have to look at the Positions Filled number for that particular game of Galac-Tac to change? I'm waiting.

Hammer's waiting. What about you? Are you waiting? Do you even care?



How many days or weeks or months or years do you want that number to remain unchanged?



That right there is a hard question, but it's still a question, and besides, characterizing it as a hard question is just an opinion.



Me? I want to see that number of Positions Filled change - and change frequently. But what I want doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Avoiding hard questions won't fix the underlying problem (or problems, if there's more than just one underlying problem).



Maintaining and perpetuating the current status quo won't likely make Galac-Tac popular, again. That's an opinion, of course, and not a fact, per se.



Changes have been made to Galac-Tac before, in fact. More than once, in fact. Yet, we are where we presently are, in spite of those past changes. For some, for many, all of the changes in the world likely won't make a difference. That, too, is an opinion, and not a fact.



But then again, most people have never played a PBM game, neither the old type nor any of the various new types of PBM games - the digital lineal descendants, as I sometimes refer to them.



I am of the opinion (there goes that word, again) that Galac-Tac doesn't need a million players, nor even thousands of players, to achieve a noticeable degree of popularity, again. No need to reach for the stars (millions), nor to aim for the moon (thousands), when hundreds (or just a single hundred) will do. Once more, that's opinion, no fact.



What is Galac-Tac's current roadmap to get from where it currently is, to wherever its owner(s) want it to be? Where do they want it to get to, compared to where it currently is on the Popularity Chart?



How often do they want a new game of Galac-Tac to start? Does anybody reading this know what the factual answer to that question is?



It's not a trick question, nor is it even a particularly hard or difficult question. I ask that question, even as I have no idea what the correct answer to that question is.



Personally, I'm an advocate for change, because the alternative is more status quo. It's not my call, though. I can write about change in PBM or status quo in PBM, one or the other. It's no more difficult to write about one than the other.



If dramatic change is what one seeks, then are no change or only incremental change likely to achieve that kind of a result?



The underlying programming for Galac-Tac isn't broken. The game has a pretty solid foundation, in my considered opinion. But again, that's just my opinion. I don't recall a single instance of the game's programming yielding errors or gibberish on my turn results. Not once. Never!



Now, I've experienced errors with GTac, before, the player assistant program for Galac-Tac, both the fatal error type and non-fatal error messages. In fact, I keep a running tally of the fatal error messages that I have received since Galaxy #223 started. I report those, and they've either been resolved or will get resolved. In spite of them, I am a bigger fan of GTac, now, than I have ever been. To me, that's progress - real and genuine progress!



All that a fatal error does in GTac is result in you having to close the program out. You can immediately restart it and carry on with using it to study your turn results and to issue new turn orders for your next turn. Just look at Microsoft Windows. It's been around, now, for what seems like ages, and yet, you can still experience all kinds of different errors or other problems associated with it. And that's software that has entire teams of people assigned to it.



If what we are interested in is facts, just the facts, then those kinds of issues - errors - with GTac fall directly under the category of facts.



But again, the underlying program that creates new games of Galac-Tac and processes turns for Galac-Tac, my own first-hand experience with Galac-Tac, thus far, has been a zero rate (0%) for errors of any kind, at all. That's a 100% success rate, from what I have seen and from what I have experienced first-hand. That's a pretty solid track record, folks.



Ever buy a video game or a computer game that yields errors, fatal errors, or other problems that make a game dysfunctional, or even unplayable? I have. Galac-Tac, by comparison, is a very playable game. If only all games of every type were as playable.



When I undertake to focus upon a specific PBM game, I immediately begin to analyze it. Hell, I tend to analyze virtually anything and everything, PBM-related or not. The process of analysis tends to yield a range of different conclusions. The same holds true if and when I focus upon PBM gaming generally, rather than on just a single PBM game or PBM company. Analysis tends to look for problems, shortcomings, deficiencies, and/or inefficiencies. The point of analysis is not to deliberately skewer the analysis, itself, in order to unilaterally confine it to just the pros but not the cons, to just the positives without regard for the negatives. Analysis of a PBM game, in conjunction with the first-hand experience of playing a particular PBM game, isn't conducted for the sole and dubious purpose of only confirming what is right or positive about said PBM game. 



Talking about what all on an automobile is working won't fix what isn't working. The air conditioning may yield some really cold air to keep you cooler in the hot summer, but no matter how much that you focus on the air conditioning, that won't fix a broken transmission. And so it is with PBM games, also.



From my perspective, the current version of Galac-Tac has a lot going for it. That said, something is clearly holding it back. I haven't encountered anything along the way of trying to take a deeper look at Galac-Tac that leads me to conclude that the culprit that is holding back Galac-Tac from becoming more popular is but a single, solitary problem. If only that were the case. And Galac-Tac isn't the only PBM game that finds itself in that boat.



New players for Galac-Tac can be achieved via raising awareness about the game, and raising awareness of Galac-Tac can be achieved via advertising. The reach of PBM Chaos and PBM Zombies is limited. Paid advertising isn't free. Not every publication or outlet subscribes to the philosophy of providing free advertising. Indeed, in this day and age of monetizing anything and everything, to reach a lot of people often requires paying through the teeth for it. Just because PBM gaming is in a bit of an extended slump doesn't mean that you're gonna be extended free advertising as a courtesy or as a mere act of sympathy. Plus, it sometimes takes time, in addition to advertising, to reach your desired objective.



In the absence of free advertising, other options available to you, no matter which PBM company or PBM GM that you are, include utilizing your network(s) of people that you have spent time building over the course of your personal and/or professional life. Not got a lot of reliable contacts in your network(s)? Then good luck to you, because you're likely gonna need it. Even just one reliable contact can be worth its weight in raising awareness. Know any famous

celebrities with lots of followers that owe you a favor?



Additionally, the option of pouring your own energy into raising awareness of your PBM game is there for you.



Got more time than energy, then you can take the long road and invest your time into raising awareness.



If you don't have time, energy, money, or a network of contacts, then that can be tantamount to being up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Without any of those, what do you do? Where do you turn? What's likely to aid you in your efforts or your desires to gain a bunch of new players for your PBM game, whatever PBM game that might be?



Sometimes in life, we are the authors of our own predicaments, it would seem.



When was the last time that my PlayByMail.Net mailings gained a new subscriber? October 21st, 2025. And before that? October 8th, 2025. And the time before that? October 1st, 2025. Three different people from three different countries in three very different parts of the world, each one separated by thousands of miles from either of the other two. What about Galac-Tac?



Have you read the Galac-Tac newsletter? Me, either. As far as I know, there currently isn't one. Such a thing doesn't exist. It used to - though to be perfectly honest with you, I've never read a copy of it. Anybody out there know where any copies of the old Galac-Tac newsletter are posted online? Me, either.



Anybody interested in an old quote about Galac-Tac?

Quote from Talisman Games GM Davin Church.
September 23rd, 2008

I wish that I would have known this earlier, and I'm not sure what, if anything, affects Empire Valuation in games of Galac-Tac differently now, compared to what was the case in that PBM year of 2008. However, it was a nice shinny nugget of potentially useful information that my recent research into Galac-Tac turned up, this week. No need for me to hog that potentially critical information all to myself, now is there?

You owe me, Ajwan.



Certainly, it would help account for my own empire's progress in Turns #2 and #3 of Galaxy #223, I think. Military building does nothing for me with those percentiles, particularly those early percentiles, huh? Well, that's certainly gonna cause a shift in my approach to calculating such things.

And to think, some people think that I never read anything.



With as many as 10 new colonies scheduled to come online for the Yonds of Droon empire, soon, I'm feeling all the better about my chances of my empire remaining in the 100th percentile for Turn #4.

The e-mail arrived at 9:02 AM on Saturday, October 25th, 2025: Galac-Tac galaxy #223 has processed the current turn and the turn results are ready for your review.

Looks like my empire remains in the 100th Percentile, as far as Empire Valuation goes. Dire news, however! Player Ajwan, one of two Galactic Grannies playing in Galaxy #223 with me, informed one and all in the Galac-Tac chat channel of the PlayByMail Discord chat server that her empire, Saydonia, was now in the 100th percentile, also. Curse my luck!



While the other players in this game guard their empires' secrets zealously, here I am broadcasting tidbits of importance to all that will listen. Now, my homeworld produces 100 PI (cash) per turn (as all homeworlds in Galac-Tac do).  Above, where it says, Imports: 78 PV in-system; 19 PV expected next turn, that means that 78 PV (raw materials) have arrived from other star systems to my homeworld location, and they will be automatically converted by my homeworld's production system into 78 PI in the coming turn, with a mere 19 PV from other star systems expected to arrive at my homeworld the following turn, also.



Pah! I really need to pimp the ride of my transport fleet. Surely, my enemies are now mocking my pathetic excuse for an economy. We're getting there, though, albeit much slower than I would prefer. I have been focused upon. . .other things.



Namely, interdicting the shipping of some of the other empires.



It's all a gamble. Not enough resources to deal with all other empires in the game, simultaneously. I'm feeling overstretched, already, and this game has only recently gotten underway.



But do I feel any worse than the Wyvern Supremacy or the Kroji Konfederation?



Between the two of those empires, they've lost oodles of starships, already. It's the freighter losses that hurt them the most, though. Plus, they can simply construct more freighters the following turn. If they're having to construct replacement freighters to take the place of the ones that I blew up, then that's money that they can't spend on warships.



This turn, Turn #4, I received the following news in my turn results:

In layman's terms, that means that I had starships that engaged in combat on Turn #4, but my ships lost, and I had no surviving starships at those three different star systems to report back about the outcome of the battles. So, those mini-reports, as I'll call them, don't even tell me who my starships that were destroyed were fighting.



Since all three of those star systems were in Kroji territory, it's a safe bet as to what empire is responsible for their destruction. I ordered my starships to those star systems with Secure orders, whose very purpose is to engage in combat (there's more than one type of order in Galac-Tac that can yield battles). I wanted to find out what was there - but didn't.



Now, let's also take a look at the starships of other empires that were damaged or destroyed in other battles, battles where I had starships that survived (the majority of them survived unscathed).

All things considered, my empire got the best of the battles that it participated in. In the Payer Blurbs below, you'll notice that there's not much bragging going on by the enemies of my Yonds of Droon empire. This is as it should be!

Yet, make no mistake about it. They are schemers, and as schemers, they are constantly scheming. They plot revenge against my peace-loving Yonds (for all the good that it will do them).



If you look closely at the results for that last battle, above, which took place in Star System 89-83, each one of those new warships that the Wyvern Supremacy built recently cost 30 PI apiece, according the the Ship Designer tool below - for a whopping loss of 90 PI in that one battle, alone. The Wyvern Supremacy's homeworld only produces 100 PI per turn, so that one battle cost those nasty Wyverns 90% of their homeworld's entire PI production for one turn. Yowsa wowsa!



In my turn orders for Turn #4, the Yonds of Droon constructed five more starships, and all five of them are now ready for action as we head into Turn #5. On my turn orders for Turn #5, while my turn orders are not yet finalized for next turn, my tentative orders for Turn #5 include the construction of 10 more starships, plus the construction of 1 platform. In Galac-Tac, a platform is very similar to a starship, only it has no engines, at all, neither Star Drive engines nor Inertia Engines. You can name platforms starbases or pretty much anything else that you want to, within the character length limit previously set by Talisman Games.



These evil and conniving alien species will at some point begin to come after my empire, militarily, and so I've decided to try and stay at least one step ahead by initiating the gradual construction of platforms for defensive purposes.



Even though the results for Turn #5 of Galaxy #223 won't be processed for another 12 days, on Saturday, November 8th, 2025, I already have 32 orders entered and submitted to the Talisman Games website, giving me a good head start on getting ready for the next turn.



The Galaxy Statistics for Turn #4 reveal that there are now a grand total of 50 colonies that have completed construction in star systems scattered all across Galaxy #223. When I received my Turn #3 results, my Yonds of Droon had 5 colonies fully constructed.



My Turn #4 results added another 10 fully constructed colonies to those previous 5, so all in all, 15 of those 50 colonies in this game of Galac-Tac are under my empire's control - leaving 35 others split somehow or other between the other 5 players in this game. Or said another way, the Yonds of Droon currently control 30% of the colonies in this game, as of Turn #4. I don't know if that's the most, but it's definitely better than average.



After Turn #4's charting of previously unexplored star systems came in, included in the results for charting missions was my empire's very first discovery of a star system with a base PV value of 10 (which is as high as there is). Now, if I can just build a colony there and begin transporting PV from that location back to my homeworld for processing and conversion into PI.



I would just go ahead and reveal the location of that resource-rich star system to you, our readers, but rumor has it that enemy spies would soon catch on, and they might spare no effort to seize it for their own foul ambitions.

At present, the empire that is the Yonds of Droon have a total of 32 different blueprints already created via the Classify order, to facilitate my empire's shipbuilding needs. If only my empire had the PI to build all of them, or even most of them!

::sigh::

I can always discontinue existing blueprints, by way of using the Declassify order, but only as long as none of the ship types being declassified are not already built and available for current use. Even though Galaxy #223 has only went through 4 turns, thus far, the wisdom of some of those 32 ship and platform designs is now in question. While playing Galac-Tac, I try to continually reassess the threats that my empire faces.

The screenshot of the star map above shows my homeworld in the middle, the red with yellow trimmed stars are the homeworlds of the other 5 players in this game (Galaxy #223) of Galac-Tac, the white stars include all other unexplored stars and stars that may have been turned into colonies (but I withhold that info for security reasons), the orangish/yellow dot is the location of a known Kroji Konfederation colony, the red octagrams denote locations where my empire experienced combat on Turn #4, and the purple squares denote locations where my empire has engaged in combat over the last several turns (to include this turn).

With regards to the homeworld locations of other players, starting at the very top and going clockwise, that's Player's Brendan's homeworld, Player Richard's Homworld, Player Hammer's homeworld, Player Djinni's homeworld, and Player Ajwan's homeworld.

Player Blurb - Ajwan

Nice turn. I am at 100%, too.



Circumstances change, and that's where the fun is.

Player Blurb - Brendan

Silence emanates from the Wyvern Supremacy.



Player Blurb - Djinny

Re: maps, I have scribbled all over a map I printed, and since things change so rapidly (especially at this early stage) I will probably keep printing maps to scribble on for a while. The Gtac ability to just hover over a star and get history, status, ships present, etc. is a far cry from the colored pencils and arrows and notes and such that I really enjoy doing.



Have you heard about my giant wall map? I printed it in the 1980s, put it on a big cork board, and used different colored push-pins for the empires I encountered (as I got scouting info back). I tied a thread between my home world and each colony to indicate completed shuttle routes. I used those little red plastic flag pins to highlight fleets or combat areas. It was a huge amount of fun! 



We had a party at the house and invited all our friends in the game (already close friends of long acquaintance), and I covered the map with a sheet! All the unknowns - who is where, what person is actually playing what empire, how widespread everyone's colonies are, etc. was part of the fun.



This "open game" is losing some of that charm for me, since the joys of discovery and pondering the Mysteries of the Universe has been diminished by knowing without having to ferret out that knowledge. Of course we don't know EVERYTHING about what's out there, unless someone chooses to boast about a kill or list locations of their conquests. For the purpose of this unique game, that's fine, it's just not typical game play. I do miss my wall map, though!



I love the amazing AI art derived from a comic style. Fascinating! Hammer's Grave Decisions article reminded me of the old days of Dungeons and Dragons, when I spent many hours pondering my character's possible strengths and weaknesses, training, armament, temperament, etc. etc. etc. Wish there was time to play like that, or even explore a new game. I do read everything about Galac-Tac, just can't keep up with other games, now. I'm not retired, just TIRED!

Player Blurb - Hammer

I managed to submit a total of 33 Orders before the Friday night midnight deadline.



A quick look at the Saturday results showed that Misraw reported the following Ships as missing:

A Skirmisher at 32-81, Two Scout Ships at 48-76, and at 61-79 another Skirmisher.



If I read my report correctly from two weeks ago, Misraw was ranked in the 91st Percentile, but from my Saturday report, Misraw is now ranked in the 97th Percentile for Empire Valuation.



Misraw failed to destroy any enemy ships.



I have a few days to be able to figure out the best way to proceed with the economic growth of Misraw, while the Scroids still must deal with the bitter taste of war against the Kroji Konfederation that lingers in their collective mouths!



Hammer, Minister of War

Player Blurb - Richard

"Is it that time again?" thought King Otto, as a heavily armoured messenger arrived in the throne room bearing a note from the Ministry of Stuff. First of all, we need new names for these places that we're sending the B-Arks to. (Well, we had to send the graphic designers and telephone sanitisers somewhere). More pub names.



What? Ships need names too? Oh hell. Let's just follow the example of Ye Olde Eddye Stobarte, and name the freighters after girls.

At least he was able to assign all that tedious "collecting and bringing back resources" to some flunkies. More of those to hire. Is this going to happen every fortnight?



Hang on - what's this? The Yonds of Droon? What kind of name is that for a castle? And what are they doing in our space? Still - leave them alone and maybe they'll go away... Or maybe take them for breakfast at Milliways..?

Player Blurb - GrimFinger

Here it is on Tuesday, October 21st, 2025, and I think that I have finalized my turn orders for Turn #4 for Galac-Tac game Galaxy #223, approximately 4 days before Turn #4 will be processed. I managed to use 45 out of a maximum possible 50 order lines. That's not too shabby!

All of my starships should have orders assigned to them for the coming turn. Now, whether they're the right or the best turn orders possible, that's another matter altogether, right there. I am attempting military strikes with more than 20 warships. Some will likely come up empty handed, once Turn #4 is processed, but I don't have 100% total control of everything that matters (no player does).

Still, I am hopeful that this set of turn orders will help bolster my empire's economy, plus inflict sizable losses on enemy empires lurking out there in the dark vastness of outer space.

My empire currently controls 5 colonies, and if all goes according to plan, I will hopefully add 10 more colonies to those 5 in Turn #4. Even if all of my colonies under construction aren't completed on Turn #4, I have a high degree of confidence that most will be completed. Of course, I'll still need to figure out how I am going to reliably and safely transport all of the PV (raw materials) from that many colonies back to my empire's homeworld star system, where the PV will then be automatically converted into PI (the game's equivalent of spendable cash).

Having a colony fully constructed will multiply the amount of PV that those star systems can produce, each turn. Just take the base PV value, and multiply it by 3. Voila, triple the resources!

But while the multiplication of resources will make a lot of difference, it's only potential difference, until and unless I have enough starships available to load and haul that many resources back to my homeworld for processing, each turn, every turn. Then it will become realized potential.

If any enemy species from other empires is foolish enough to attack my homeworld system on Turn #4 (which I don't think is really very likely, at all), then they will run into noticeably more firepower than they would have, had they chosen to attack my homeworld on Turn #3.

All things considered, I think that my empire, the Yonds of Droon, is going to still be ranked 100th Percentile in Empire Valuation, once the turn results for Turn #4 are in hand. Compared to every other empire in the game, with perhaps the exception of Ajwan (and maybe Djinni, but her recent freighter losses probably will dent her colony numbers), I think that I'll be sitting in high cotton.

Build-ups, whether economic or military, take time, and to try and do both, simultaneously, that's a pretty steep hill to climb, especially this early in the game.

Even taking into account the likely probability that I pretty much wiped out the Wyvern Supremacy's initial colonization attempts (probably 90% of them, anyway), I don't see any way that I could successfully invade the Wyvern homeworld system anytime soon. So, if Player Brendan wanted to, he could just get cozy in his homeworld location, build up more defenses there and begin building some bigger warships (or just build warships and let them double as homeworld defenses in the meantime), and it probably wouldn't take all that long spending the 100 PI that his homeworld will produce on its own, each and every turn, to begin to amass a fairly powerful space armada.

Had he only taken the initiative to communicate, empire-to-empire, then he might well have saved himself and his species a lot of headaches.

Those Galactic Grannies in Galaxy #223, Djinni and Ajwan, they will both have to be crushed and their homeworld physically conquered, in order to defeat them. Realistically, there's simply no way for me to achieve that, right now, even if I wanted to, and even if I made it my top priority. The amount of resources that it would take to crush and conquer even one of them is probably thousands of PI, at a bare minimum - and that's not even counting the number of turns that it would take to accumulate that many, and then there's also then amount of turns needed to build really large starships. Both of their empires are growing stronger, after all, even if Djinni is experiencing some current "inconveniences" with her empire's transport fleet. 

Djinni is too experienced at the art of playing Galac-Tac for me to be able to expect anytime soon that my own empire is in any position to pull something like that off. Ajwan, on the other hand, has much less actual first-hand experience playing Galac-Tac than Player Djinni, but Ajwan is a clever, crafty sort. Plus, she actually wants to win!

Well, she might want to win, but let's just see if she has what it takes to figure out how to do that. Who is she gonna come after first, even when she builds up the nerve to try something of that magnitude? Me? She had better think again. I won't be going silently into the night. There won't be any surrenders coming from the Yonds of Droon, either now or ever. No way that I would surrender to either of these Galactic Grannies. They would be better off staying in their neck of the galactic woods.

But you know how it is, even if you're never played Galac-Tac a day in your life. At some point, they'll get tired of waiting and seek to try something. It'll probably some kind of sneak attack. I think that they will begin coordinating, and then try to attack my peaceful empire in unison. When they bungle it, I will then ravage and lay waste to their empires. Great will be their wailing and terrible will be their gnashing of teeth. Remember that you read it here, first, readers of PBM Chaos!

The artistic inspiration of Basil Wolverton.

* All Galac-Tac content and images copyright © Talisman Games.

I can't believe that I'm actually here, the last article of this issue. Shazam!

Well, no lightning bolt out of the blue, thank goodness, but it is raining outside. It's been raining all morning and afternoon, so far, today, I think. Rain, rain, and more rain!

Who knows, maybe it will start raining new PBM games. It might not be likely, but it's happened in the distant past, so who's to say that it can't - or won't - ever happen, again?



If I counted right, the PlayByMail Discord currently has around 344 members, or thereabouts. Some may be duplicate accounts, but newcomers continue to join this Discord chat server. Lots don't seem to participate in the public discussion chat channels there, but the spark of life is still very much in it. Not to the degree of the MEPBM and TribeTalk Discords, though. Can't win 'em all.



I'm going to be doing some occasional experimenting with PBM Chaos in coming issues. Relax, people - I'm not gonna kill it off. Just gonna be testing and experimenting, is all. In fact, you might not even notice.



I'm surprised that there aren't more PBMers who are members of the Discord for The Land. Lots of promising stuff going on with that game's development.



PBMer Hammer seems to have sure taken a liking to that Gravenheim game. So, they must definitely be doing something right, over there. It would be nice to get a look at some actual turn results for these newer game arrivals on the PBM scene.



I will be giving Galvidiere a try. When I receive whatever I get sent for that game, I'll share more about it with you all.



In PBM Zombies Issue #2, which is just around the corner, I wrote an article titled Galac-Tac Meets The Guillotine. It's not 100% about Galac-Tac, and it's not about Galac-Tac getting beheaded. For the very reason that I am playing Galac-Tac, currently, my focus upon that game is increasing, not decreasing. And with that will come more scrutiny and criticism, but all is not lost. If you're more interested in praise, then Issue #3 of PBM Zombies might be more to your liking.



I write articles as words come to me. If any of you out there wish to provide contrast to articles about PBM that I write, you're free to do so. There's plenty of space available. From time to time, my mind dwells upon particular things about PBM games, and my mind also sometimes revisits things about PBM games that cover old ground, while occasionally offering up new twists and angles on select items or aspects about a particular game.



Whenever I begin to dig my teeth into a new PBM game, it invariably tends to be the case that bad things or things that I do not like tend to be first up on the menu. Digging through PBM games and their documentation tends to take some time, and I'm highly unlikely to cover it all in one fell swoop, whether the good, the bad, or the ugly of it. Have a little patience, and your patience might just end up getting rewarded.



If I hate a given PBM game, I am more than capable of just coming right out and saying so, after all. Some things will always be simply a matter of personal opinion, whereas other things night well be areas ripe for improvement or revision to strengthen a given PBM game's chances of having a new day in the fresh sunshine of people's gaming habits.



The world's not gonna end, simply because scrutiny or criticism emanates forth. Likewise, most revisions and improvements that can be made to old PBM games usually aren't of the self-executing style. At times, the sum totality of my opinions (plural) about a given PBM game is often complicated, and not an exercise in simplicity, itself. It might be worth keeping in mind that there are numerous additional articles about Galac-Tac (and other PBM games) that I haven't even started writing, yet, much less finished.



So hang in there, but if you find my opinions too grueling to navigate, then feel free to either take them in small doses, or just skip past them entirely, if need be. You can always come back to them at a later date, if you choose to go that route.



And on that note, I've got to try and allocate some time to proofreading what is in this issue, in a bid to iron some of the kinks out of it.



I hope that you enjoyed this issue, and until next issue, you hang in there and don't let the world get to you.



Godspeed to you on your PBM gaming!



Charles Mosteller

Editor of PBM Chaos

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