| * All Duel2 content and images copyright © Reality Simulations, Inc. |
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The ongoing Saga of Galaxy #223 in Galac-Tac |
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Careening Towards Turn #5 |
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Turn #5 is an inherently problematic turn. At least, for me it is, even if to none of the other players in this game.
The initial lull of the first few turns has drawn to an end, and the stars awaken! War is at hand, which should come as a surprise to no one. After all, Talisman Games bills Galac-Tac as "a single unit level, science fiction war game." Far be it from me to disappoint.
War came swiftly in Galaxy #223 of Galac-Tac. This is as destiny would have it be. For all that I've written about this particular game of Galac-Tac, to date, people still aren't listening. What I have said has been going right in big space alien ears and out small space alien ears. As Hyborian War could teach Galac-Tac players, inter-player and inter-empire diplomacy is sometimes the most powerful weapon (or defense) of all.
Reading Player Djinni's Grand Tale of Galactic Woe in her player blurb, this issue, brings joy to my heart. Has she lost her affinity for "fireworks," already? I'll give her credit, though - not all of my empire's starships survived the battles that they undertook to engage in, on Turn #4.
Meteor Martin, Dr Gore, and Jubun all seemingly met dire fates, last turn. But can they have somehow survived, in spite of the complete and utter destruction of the starships that they captained? Djinni should be ashamed for violently destroying so many of my empire's ships. Fortunately, more are on order to replace them.
Honestly, I'm really not sure how - and where - to dispatch the bulk of my empire's military assets on Turn #5. My empire's initial forays against enemy forces have largely been successful. Losses are the price of doing the business of war.
With multiple empires in my starships' gunsights, how do I go about striking the right balance of both offensive and defensive considerations? Turn #5 is quite a challenge, in that regard. Get it right, and I'll feel good come this upcoming Saturday morning, when Turn #5's results will become available. I hope that GM Davin doesn't decide to sleep in.
Any warships built by my enemies' shipyards in Turn #5 won't become available to them for use against my Yonds of Droon until Turn #6. No doubt, though, my enemies have already begun stir from their self-inflicted slumber, and Turn #5 will likely see attempts at retaliation forthcoming. We'll just have to be patient and see how that works out for them, eh?
I get this feeling that Player Djinni and those dastardly Krojis of hers are plotting payback and revenge against me and mine, even now. Right now, though, I feel like the Gingerbread man. "Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
Except. . .wait for it. . .some of my starships did get caught, this last turn. Caught and destroyed. I assure you, their missions were peaceful. But the Krojis did order fireworks early on, as I recall. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! |
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Above is a blank map for Galaxy #223. Notice how the stars tend to clump together into clusters? If you ever dare to venture forth and give Galac-Tac a try, those star clusters are a very important consideration. Indeed, they were integral to my own initial planning for Galaxy #223. As you scroll down and read the Kroji Konfedertion's player blurb for this issue, pay special attention to where she said, "We all start out with the general idea that what we can reach with our initial ships is "our territory", but some choose to start grabbing stars further out and then backtrack to get the ones closer to home (if someone hasn't moved in!), and that's a strategy to consider as well." And so it was that I made the conscious decision very early on to embrace a "forward deployed" approach to strategy in the opening phase of this game, Galaxy #223. If there's anything in Galac-Tac that won't change after your game starts, it's the location of the stars, themselves. While other players in Galaxy #223 were concerning themselves with charting stars and figuring out how to grow their respective empire, I did the same, but I did so in conjunction with an analysis of the different star clusters. The word cluster isn't even contained in the Galac-Tac rulebook. Yet, stars across the galaxy bunch together like clusters of grapes, with the occasional straggler lying further out. Players starting out in a new game of Galac-Tac have very little in the way of assets and resources to work with. Me? I chose to stake out what I deemed the "higher ground" on this 2-dimensional star map of the galaxy. You can't really build a wall, per se, around what you view to be your empire's declared space, but your utilization of star clusters can aid you in your empire's cause - if you let them. Playing Galac-Tac is not just an exercise in reading the rules and learning the game's mechanics. Playing Galac-Tac goes well beyond that, much as it does with many other PBM wargames. Things like strategy and tactics quickly come into play, and they remain relevant over the course of the entire game. In a nutshell, you can wait for the stars to bring war to your empire, or you can take war to the stars. You can be proactive or reactive in your war strategy. In real life, if human beings from planet Earth achieved an ability to travel among the stars, and assuming that there were a variety of intelligent (and belligerent) species of space aliens out there looking to explore and conquer entire star systems, what would our species actually choose to do? Just assume that they intend us no harm? Explore! Expand! Exploit! Exterminate! These four words that begin with the letter "E" encapsulates the very essence of what Galac-Tac is all about. However, nothing says what order that you have to embrace each of those four options in. You can also add a fifth "E" to that list - Envy! In battles that rage across the galaxy, the weak will envy the strong. Resources in the form of PV and PI will be envied and coveted. None of the other players in your game of Galac-Tac will be building swimming pools and buying consumer products with all of that PI (Production Inventory) that they amass. Rest assured, it will be going for implements of war! Once they amass resources and construct powerful fleets of starships, they will use them. They will turn their gaze upon you, at some point, and come after you. Thus, I decided to make an early play to interdict some enemy shipping. My primary target was the Wyvern Supremacy, and the Kroji Konfederation chose to venture too far North on that star map. The Yonds of Droon don't care anything about dated and archaic Kroji expansionism and war doctrines. They entered Droon Space, and they lingered there, and they failed to ever respond to an in-game message sent to their empire by my empire. Accordingly, the Yonds of Droon, never known for an overabundance of patience to begin with, proceeded to actively dissuade the Krojis from continuing to be tempted to stick their noses into declared Droon Space. One pretext for war is just as good as any other. The Krojis provided the casus belli (more than one, actually), and my empire reacted accordingly. Djinni's loose lips will no doubt sink more Kroji ships. Even still, her timely and detailed information about "interrupted colonization attempts" is heartily received in the empire that is the Yonds of Droon. It just underscores the soundness of Droon war doctrine, and the implementation and execution thereof, to date. But enemies tend to eventually "wisen up." Already, the Kroji con men begin to transition to a new strategy, due to their plodding course, to date, of learning the hard way the unerring truth of Droon Speak. Player Ajwan and her empire, Saydonia, appear to have gone into hiding, as they currently bask in what can only be described as an "intentional silence." The amassed wealth of the Saydonians may already be beginning to surpass that of the Yonds of Droon (not that we're all that rich as an empire, currently - an active war machine consumes resources without pause, after all). Saydonian expansion in Galaxy #223 means that they will soon, if not already, be bumping into Castle Anthrax, if they are expanding away from Droon Space (which would be wise). Of course, what do King Otto and his empire of Castle Anthrax have in store for all the rest of us? I may need to send King Otto a case of Droon beer, in order to keep his growing empire at bay. 34 lines of orders for Turn #5 is not enough. Similar to Player Djinni, I tend to issue the easiest, no-brainer orders first. Invariably, those tend to be the quickest and easiest orders to issue. New CHART orders to explore unexplored stars tend to comprise a large chunk of these "quick and easy" orders for my empire. For me, Turn #5 will see a shifting around of assets. I will redeploy some starships from their current areas of operation, while maintaining others in more familiar territory. Over the coming two to three turns, other players in this game should begin to be able to discern a change in approach to my empire's military operations. I have to stay ahead of the military thinking of enemy empires. |
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Galaxy #223 Player Blurbs |
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No player blurb received. |
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No player blurb received. |
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There is an old computer term, "thrashing", that goes back to the days when a PC had only one CPU and very limited memory. The only way to "multiprocess" more than one program at a time was to "swap" things in and out of memory, run an application for a bit, roll it back out to disk, and bring in something else to run for a bit, etc. However, when the tasks were too large, priority interrupts were conflicting, etc., the poor computer spent ALL its time swapping things in and out and NO time actually getting progress made. This was "thrashing", and such is my life. Work, family, church music, bill-paying, household maintenance,appointments, and occasional sleep are the "applications" fighting for attention in my mind, and trying to put Galac-Tac into the mix is definitely a challenge. I've got 18 orders in, covering all the easy, obvious stuff. The things that require concentration and thought and time and a clear head are still pending. As often mentioned, this particular game is not proceeding like any other I've played. Furthermore, just because I know the mechanics and terminology very well, I've never claimed to be good at strategy, especially when confronted with players who find joy in "helping others lose" in a game I thought was supposed to be fun, open, and educational, not cut-throat. I'm doing my best to keep up, and offer helpful commentary when I can. Unfortunately, Galac-Tac is rather low on my "interrupt priority", so you don't hear from me as often as I would like. Everyone please forgive me - I'm not "slacking", just overwhelmed. I may be up against that last-minute turn deadline, again, after work on Friday night. I hope not. I'd rather enjoy the game than feel pressured and stressed about it!
So, how's it going in the Konfederation? A bit frustrating. My style is to devote most of my early PI supply to exploration and expansion, and I now need to refocus on defense and hostile actions in response to the early aggression we've experienced. "C'est la vie", as my husband is fond of saying. I was involved in quite a few combats, and did not lose all of them. As Hamlet posed the question: "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the torps and p-types of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a galaxty of troubles, and by opposing end them." Clearly, with very hostile neighbors, if I wish "to be", I must do something differently! We shall see.
Random commentary on things I've read:
Imagining "The Ride of the Valkyries" as background music for an attack is great. May they carry your slain heroes to Valhalla in style. Decades ago, our friend Frank always played Beethoven's 5th as he processed the game (as GM at the time), watching the battles roll by on his screen and chortling at the destruction. Today's equipment processes our turns in a tiny fraction of the time it took then, so no need for musical accompaniment. As we progress and have more and more ships in motion and stars to manage, that processing will take longer, but it will never be like the old days where we actually waited with bated breath for Frank's announcement "Turns are up!" so we could rush to grab that fateful printout. Ah, good times.
I'm sad that Ajwan is giving up on trying to add "storytelling" and personality to her posts, but I certainly understand and agree. Thanks to all who have created personas for the denizens of their empires. I've tried... but that also takes time and mental energy, so the Krojis haven't had much to say "in character".
My last lengthy missive mentioned "errers and misteaks" - that was supposed to be funny, and Charles' error-checking corrected my spelling, spoiling the joke. I still make 'em, regardless of how you spell 'em.
In the "war" between Misraw and Kroji, neither of us has much PI to arm ourselves against aggression, so maybe we'll just stand on either side of the contended area and blow raspberries at each other and throw a few rocks.
I'm a bit baffled by the term "declared space" - unless there has been a specific border agreement with a neighbor (which only applies to them, and is subject to eventual revocation), anything up to and including the star next door to your Home World is my "declared space" - it's ALL mine! (And you are all certainly free to make the same claim!) We all start out with the general idea that what we can reach with our initial ships is "our territory", but some choose to start grabbing stars further out and then backtrack to get the ones closer to home (if someone hasn't moved in!), and that's a strategy to consider as well. You still have to consider how you'll reap the rewards of your long-range colonies - build freighters with more engines, make 2-hop shuttle plans, etc. until you can build a Production Center of your own closer to those more remote stars. Remember you have to have a completed colony before you can then upgrade it to a PC. Until then, you have to somehow get the improved PV back home to get it converted to PI. Of course, having a completed colony means nobody else can pick up its PV, either, and they can't take it away without the time and expense of a Destroy operation.
I did have an interrupted colonization last turn, and the miscreant blew up some of my cargo bays. I have a message in the Action Information report saying "Not enough PI remaining to improve system at xx-yy." As previously explained, you have to get the full 10 PI down in two consecutive turns to colonize. I can't bring in a few more PI to finish the job. Visualize the attack having destroyed the construction in progress at that star (5 PI were down) as well as damaging the freighter. If he had survived the attack with all his cargo bays intact, and no enemy remained alive in system after the combat, then he could have finished the colonize. Yes, this needs to be clarified in the manual, and I have made a note for future reference. BTW, you can't destroy a colony that was never completed in the first place, so if someone was attempting to colonize and never successfully finished it, it's still just a "charted" system and does not belong to them (or anyone else). Destroy is only for completed colonies you're trying to take away from an enemy, and presumably then colonize for yourself. A successful "destroy" takes their name off the star and makes it fair game for a new owner.
FYI, I do have Davin audit my messages for accuracy, when I am describing game processes, so I don't sow additional confusion! The real reason I signed up for this game was to be helpful to new players, make Galac-Tac more enjoyable and understandable, and have a little fun. Your purpose may vary.
Djinni |
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I finally figured out 15 orders that I am satisfied with for the fifth turn of this learning game. Hopefully, these will prove to be quality over quantity. Mainly, because on my previous turn, I submitted 33 orders before the deadline. The Scroids of Misraw seem to only be at war with the Kroji Konfederation in the deep recesses of my fertile imagination. My Misraw war machine sadly lacks the fire power to match the Kroji fire works. My attention is currently focused on figuring out how to best develop the Misraw economics My Misraw survival depends heavily upon the results of my turn five orders. Veteran Galac-Tac players probably scoff at my conclusion. They forget that I am not a veteran player. Hammer, Minister of War |
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No player blurb received. |
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Player Blurb - GrimFinger |
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Upfront, my apologies to Player Djinni for spoiling her intended joke. I don't speak fluent Kroji, though
For me, personally, Turn #5 is proving to be the most difficult turn, yet, to issue orders for. The previous four turns pale in comparison to Turn #5. I do not see a crystal clear path for this next turn, and I will probably end up bungling several of the choices that I finally make between now and early Saturday morning. If I end up making some really bad choices, I hope that Davin has to wash extra dishes. If things go well for me, then Davin can have the whole weekend off from washing dishes. I wonder if the Kroji Kween will go for that?
Thus far, blowing up Djinni's Kroji starships, especially those flimsy freighters of hers, has proven to be more fun than busting dishes. Her ongoing ship losses, as well as those of the Wyvern Supremacy, have imbued Galaxy #223 with a bit of a carnival feel to me. Lots of fun to go around. Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up!
The poor Wyverns lost those three new starships. They got wiped out in the twinkle of an eye. Too bad, I say! At least they're beginning to fight back. I'll give their imperious leader, Brendoon (or was it Brandoon?) credit for that. Will it prove to be enough, though? If only I knew the true extent of the Wyven Supremacy's star system holdings, which I do not.
In due time, as my empire brings more forces to bear, the scope and scale of these other empires will begin to take shape and reveal itself on my empire's star maps. That doesn't do me any good in the here and now, though, as I head into Turn #5. Could it be that I've misjudged the Wyverns' true strength? And are the Krojis weakening, at all, in spite of Djinni's most recent bouquet of verbal fluff?
Clearly, the Kroji con men hold a very different view of what belongs to who in this galaxy. I shall have to provide further enlightenment.
The Saydonias may think that we Yonds of Droon are oblivious to the warships that they are starting to construct. Their lack of patience will yet prove to be their undoing, I believe. But perhaps Ajwan the Saydonian will prove me wrong. She is currently basking in her life of unending ease, boundless luxury, and unparalleled comfort, and she may think we Droons to be the true threat to her star realm. Is she destined to learn the hard truth that will soon dawn upon her burgeoning empire?
Her interstellar ambitions know no peer, and from afar, I sense her greedy eyes gazing intently in my empire's direction. As of yet, though, Saydonia is still largely cloaked in mystery, but has their Galactic Granny not already openly bragged of intending to win this game?
Those clever Krojis now dare to feign weakness, in a bid to beguile the Scroids of Misraw, whom the Krojis sparked a conflagration with no sooner than this game started. Her strength as a player lies rooted in her unquestionable mastery of the economic side of the game, yet how convenient it all of a sudden becomes, as the Krojis put on another mask, and begin to plead poverty of PI. Such unfathomable madness! The Scroids would do well to contemplate the full measure of this latest batch of verbal cookies baked with the intent to lull the Scroids into a false sense of security predicated solely upon the unilateral declaration of their mortal foes, the Kroji con men. Have the Sons of Misraw lowered their guard against the Krojis? Pray that it isn't so! Did the Krojis use raspberries they now speak of to blow up sovereign Misraw starships? Have the Krojis even bothered to offer the Scroids a better deal than fireworks and words that taste of hollow space honey? The Kroji Konfederation is no United Federation of Planets. Rather, they are the Beguilers, they are Those That Speak The Voice Of Confusion. You don't see we Yonds of Droon falling for their act upon the galactic stage. Even as the Krojis sought to further advance their war against the Misraw, even before the Scroids could get their empire's economy to a more productive level, who among the stars came to the aid of the Scroids of Misraw with actual deeds, and not mere words, as is the habit of those accursed Kroji con men, intergalactic robber barons that they do be? On behalf of the honorable Scroids, Yond warships rose to the occasion of further interdicting Kroji shipping, to alleviate the siege that the Krojis had begun to implement, contrary to Scroid interests. The Krojis craved fireworks, and fireworks are exactly what has been visited upon them and their kind. If the Krojis do not crawl back under whatever space rock that they crawled out from, then escalation may well prove to be necessary. But the evil that the Krojis represent runs wholly contrary to the best interests of both the Yonds of Droon and the Scroids of Misraw. Verily, it is so, for Emperor Droon has, himself, said so! In the remaining days before Turn #5's orders get processed by Talisman Games, I fully intend to resume issuing orders for my empire in Galaxy #223. I'm not sure, off the top of my head, how many additional orders that I will issue, but it's still more than just a few. I know that, if I know anything at all.
Turn #5's results will no doubt feature more battles. Peace in the stars is becoming more and more a rare commodity. If only all species in this galaxy were as peace-loving as the Yonds of Droon.
May the readers of PBM Chaos know peace in their hearts and in their lives, as the processing of Turn #5 in Galaxy #223 of Galac-Tac draw ever nearer. Charles of Droon The Star Chancellor of Droon |
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The artistic inspiration of Basil Wolverton. |
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* All Galac-Tac content and images copyright © Talisman Games. |
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Become the main character of your very own zombie(ish) horror story! Travel through the United States while fighting your way through zombie-like skeleton creatures in search of a safe haven called Galvidiere - all from the comfort of your home using the power of the United States Postal Service! From a writer who is passionate about interactive fiction and funding our Post Office. For more information, email: [email protected] |
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Click on that image with the skulls above to learn more about Galvidiere! |
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Galvidiere - A Modern Day Play-By-Mail Game |
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PBM Chaos Issue #52 is late making its way into readers' digital hands, but maybe that's not an entirely terrible thing, bad though it do be.
Awaiting me at the post office, today, was an envelope with the word GALVIDIERE in the upper left corner of the front side of the envelope. The reverse side of the envelope features a wax seal. What other PBM companies are offering that kind of a personal touch, these days?
The pieces of paper that this PBM envelope held were all typed - which means that I had no problem reading what they said. Good and legible!
I haven't issued any orders, and I find myself already in a fight with one called James the Destroyer (or J.D. for short - I actually know a JD in real life). Apparently, this is some kind of "Seventh Blood" fight.
I'll keep this short, and not delve into all of the fight, nor how my character found himself in it to begin with. Instead, I have one of the following four choices that I have to pick from and send back to the Game Moderator.
1. Finish it. Draw seventh blood.
2. Make a deal with James where you both win.
3. Challenge Mr. Leota in the ring.
4. Other:
For the fourth choice, I guess that I can just come up with some other idea, and it may work or not work. I'm gonna have to let my mind stew on this, this evening and tonight, and I'll try to send my order/decision back off in the mail, tomorrow. Long, long ago, I created and ran a PBM game called Starforce Battles. It was basically by-invitation-only, and not open to the entire public at large. At first, I charged no one anything to play in it, and as the game attracted more players, I finally started charging the players just the cost of postage to play. That part of it, Galvidiere reminded me of. I don't know how this new PBM game is gonna go. I have no idea, yet, whether I will like it or not. I went ahead and donated five bucks to the GM's Ko-fi page, which is located at: https://ko-fi.com/galvidiere These days, you don't tend to see many brand spanking new PBM games of the played-via-the-postal-service variety come into existence. At least, I don't, and I wanted to try and encourage the Galvidiere GM to keep going forward with it. Looks like I'll have something to play via the postal system before the forthcoming new Dutchman Play-By-Mail game begins running. Stuff like Galvidiere and Dutchman lift my PBM heart and my PBM spirits! Feel free to send in what you think that my choice of turn orders will be, and I'll let you all know in the next issue, Issue #53, what I ended up choosing. Let's see who's right and who's wrong, shall we? |
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In case you're wondering, the editorial for this issue of PBM Chaos took ten minutes to write. I'm not sure if that's good or that's bad, but that's a fact, regardless.
Until next issue, I'd like to take a nice, long break. And I will take a short break, or perhaps a medium-sized break, but a long break is out of the picture. The pace of PBM publishing gets a bit hectic, at times, but for the most part, it seems to be getting the job done.
Issue #3 of PBM Zombies, the December 2025 issue, will be a good issue, I think. Right now, I have absolutely nothing, whatsoever, written for it, but I don't see that as an obstacle - especially in light of the fact that I know what I want to write about in at least one of the articles that forthcoming issue will contain.
More and more, I would like to transition PBM Zombies to primarily long form content, and transition PBM Chaos to short form content. I'll probably never manage to accomplish that 100% with either, but it doesn't cost anything for me to dream, you know.
I need to get off my ass and send some interview questions out. Somebody loan me a clock or a watch, so that I'll have extra time available to get more and more PBM stuff done.
If you look for me over on the old PlayByMail Discord, you're probably not gonna find me. If you're comfortable there, all the more power to you. I be working on the new PlayByMail Discord chat server more, going forward, but e-mail is always the best way for any of you to get ahold of me. I check it more than I will ever likely check any Discord. I don't ever foresee that changing, as long as I continue to do this sort of PBM thing.
There are times, even now, when I occasionally wonder what will rise to eventually take the place of the PBM publications that I publish. None of us live forever, you know. And besides, I could eventually tire of the madness of it all, and just give up the publishing ghost. Who among your numbers, 'O valued Readers, will dare to then take up the PBM Gauntlet? Me? I'm drowning in silence over here. I'm tired, right now - physically tired. I don't want to do any proofreading, at all, for this issue. I'm still going to, though. As long as I can publish this issue before midnight, my time, I'll count it as a win on my end. I much prefer to publish issues of PBM Chaos in the later mornings or early afternoons, but there's simply no way for me to ever guarantee that I can maintain that narrow of a window for publication, consistently. We're now in the month of November, 2025, which means that a variety of American holidays and non-holiday occasions of note will soon roll around. Know, my PBM friends and PBM adversaries alike, I am thankful for your willingness to hang in there with us. Whomever eventually takes my place at the helm of a PBM publishing ship,I encourage you to hang in there with them, as well. This makes what? One hundred and one issues of various PBM publications that I have managed to craft and toss together? Hip, hip, hooray! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving Day, this year. Turkey, dressing, gravy, and all kinds of other assorted food goodies that Wayne "Smitty" Smith can't have. Poor Wayne! I might send him a can of Spam. I hear that he loves it. Even if you've got nothing to say about PBM, write in to me, anyway, and tell me what book you're reading, what movie you've seen, what TV series you're watching, and what other hobbies are brightening up your days, these days. If you can and if you will, that is. And on that note, I now move on to the proofreading stage of this issue's adventure. Adieu! Charles Mosteller Editor of PBM Chaos |
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