| * All Star Fleet Warlord content and images copyright © Franz Games, LLC. |
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The ongoing Saga of Galaxy #223 in Galac-Tac |
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Turn #9's results for the Galaxy #223 game of Galac-Tac have been processed. The time has come, once again, to share news and details from that game, so what better place to start than the Galactic Statistics box?
Above is the Galactic Statistics box for Turn #9, and below is the Galactic Statistics box for Turn #8 for comparison's sake, so that we can quickly see how many Combats (battles) took place, as well as how many changes, if any, there have been to the number of Colonies and Production Centers since the previous turn. |
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The number of Production Centers in the galaxy increased from 3 to 4, and the number of Colonies increased from 79 to 81.
I went back, just now, and looked at Turn #8's results, and I manually counted how many Colonies that my empire had. The number for my Yonds of Droon was 16 Colonies. And for Turn #9, my empire has. . .wait for it. . .16 Colonies. Think about that unchanging number, for a minute, when next you PBM Chaos readers out there contemplate who the real powers in this game of Galac-Tac really are. Clearly, somebody out there is growing, even when my own empire isn't.
In the articles and player blurbs that I write about Galaxy #223, you might read them all, or perhaps just some of them, and it leaves you with the impression that my empire is currently the most powerful empire in the game. Yet, is that an accurate impression that you're left with, there on the outside looking in?
My empire currently controls just 16 of 81 Colonies. That's just 19.75% of the Colonies in the game, at present - a minority of the Colonies that currently exist. That leaves 65 Colonies controlled by other empires. Since there are 5 other empires in this game of Galac-Tac with me, if you divide those 65 Colonies by 5, then you end up with an average of 13 Colonies per empire.
And since economic power drives any empire's ability to grow and expand and amass military armaments, perhaps overall, most empires in Galaxy #223 are still fairly close, even after 9 turns.
It's important to keep in mind, though, that the number of Colonies that you control is not the same thing as the number of PV resources that your empire is converting into spendable PI, each turn. Production Centers, once established, will convert their respective star systems' PV into PI, automatically.
Out of 4 Production Centers that now exist in Galaxy #223, my empire only controls just 1 of them. ACK! My empire successfully created the first Production Center in this game of Galac-Tac. Since then, though, the initiative has shifted to others. What a sad reflection on my playing skills!
Or is it?
By that, I simply mean that it's quite normal for other empires to also build things, like Production Centers, as the game progresses from turn to turn. Also, even though Production Centers automatically convert PV into PI, the PI that each Production Center creates is only spendable at its own location, separate and apart from all of its empire's other Production Centers, except when investing in growing your empire's Tech Level (technology level).
And this creates challenges of its own, even though it also generates opportunities.
I only have 1 Production Center in Galaxy #223, aside from my homeworld's starting Production Center. Even generating 5 times the base PV value in PI of the star system in question, the most that my Production Center could conceivably generate in PI, each turn, would be 50 PI. There's no way to rapidly build massive starships, or even large numbers of relatively smaller warships, with just 50 PI per turn being generated there.
And this doesn't even take into account the need to build defenses at each Production Center, lest some other empire suddenly appear and destroy your Production Center. And building defenses requires the expenditure of PI. And when you spend PI on building defenses, that's less PI that is then available to spend on other purposes. That's quite the conundrum, eh? |
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Noomite Patrol 1 1P//30-20 //27-14 Destroyed |
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Over in the old PBM Discord server, Player Ajwan posted the message, above, about one of my Noomite Patrols that her warmonger forces destroyed on Turn #9. This announcement coincides with the following message on my turn results for Turn #9. |
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Ship #2405 at 61-24 has failed to report in! |
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Noomite Patrols, which fly the Skyrocket class of starships, was one of the very first ship designs that I created for Galaxy #223. For the most part, their day in the sun has passed. They cost 11 PI, each, to build. By this point in the game, there are very few of them that remain in my empire's overall star fleet. Over the course of this game, thus far, I have only built a grand total of 6 of them.
If memory serves me correctly, this class of starship did destroy a few enemy ships, but by and large, they proved themselves to be much better at damaging enemy freighters than they did at destroying enemy freighters. That's why I quit building them several turns back.
In the example provided by Ajwan, above, her Saydonian forces destroyed 3 Star Drive engines and 6 Inertia Drive engines, prior to my Noomite Patrol ship blowing up. Know, dear readers, that my entire empire mourns the loss of this ship's crew.
I went back and double checked, just now, and that particular ship was undamaged, when it headed out on that mission to try and Scout star system 61-24. There just isn't much that a ship this small has a realistic chance of doing, by this stage of the game. Even if I had returned it to a Production Center for scrapping, it wouldn't have generated very much in the way of PI. So, why even bother, I figured?
Checking my turn results for Turn #9 closely, once again, I quickly take an inventory of how many ships that my Yonds of Droon empire has that are currently sporting some kind of battle damage from previous turns. At the moment, that figure is 6 ships, all of which have very light damage. Some of the damage in question won't even require any PI to fix. |
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Colony system at 49-65 has been destroyed! |
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The big news for my empire, this turn, was word received that the Kroji Colony located at star system 49-65 has been destroyed. Yeah, baby!
Now, that's what I'm talking about!
Player Djinni and her dastardly Kroji Konfederation have numerous other colonies in their possession and under their control, so the loss of this one colony isn't going to really make much of a difference to the overall Kroji economy.
It is, however, the very first colony that I've ever destroyed. Besides, I have to practice destroying colonies on somebody else's empire, and Djinni was as good of a choice, as any. In fact, this particular colony was ripe for the plucking. . .er. . .destruction. After all, it's not as though Djinni invested any real effort or resources into defending it.
The last task force that she put in place to defend it proved woefully inadequate for the task at hand - namely, the defense of the colony!
Psychologically, the destruction of her colony, which was also the first colony of any player and of any empire to be destroyed in this particular game of Galac-Tac, would no doubt be bad for her morale. If you want to defeat your enemy, then getting inside of their head is one surefire way of doing that. For Djinni, the challenge is to not allow the bad news that her turn reports deliver to her to get to her.
A demoralized force, or a demoralized player, tends to be a noticeably less effective force or player. Where war is concerned, there is a very large opportunity for the state of one's morale to either aid or undermine their cause. If you give up, I don't have to defeat you. And when you lose your will to fight or to resist, as a player, then the totality of your empire and its assets and its potential cannot save you from that. Undermine your morale enough, and you'll defeat yourself. In essence, you will do my job for me.
Remember, this is a "Learning Game" of Galac-Tac. Learning the rules of the game is arguably the easiest thing to do. The rulebook, though, doesn't tell you how to safeguard against yielding to the temptation of low morale. The real fight in a PBM wargame like Galac-Tac is against opposing players, not opposing empires.
I don't dislike Player Djinni, at all. Rather, I just particularly enjoy destroying her empire's assets, one by one by one. I enjoy pulling back the Curtain of Her Experience, to reveal that experience will only get you just so far, when playing Galac-Tac against a determined and resourceful enemy.
Just imagine if I wasn't splitting my attention (and my empire's limited resources) across multiple different foes. Djinni has more experience playing Galac-Tac than I do. She's also played in more games of Galac-Tac than I have, also. Yet, her empire that is the Kroji Konfederation is like a fish flopping around outside of water. If she isn't going to wake up when an event like the complete destruction of one of her empire's colonies transpires, then when, exactly, does she intend to wake up?
Her strategy, if you want to be generous and call it that, isn't working. I say that as a player bent upon her empire's destruction. This isn't empty propaganda. There's substantial truth to what I am saying.
I'm not anti-Djinni. I'm just anti-Kroji. The two are not one and the same thing.
I am going to eat her empire's lunch, if she doesn't wake up. I destroyed her big fleet. I destroyed her colony the very next turn. This isn't Turn #1 nor Turn #2 that we're on. We are now headed into Turn #10, and Djinni has proven herself to not be up to the task of successfully defending a Kroji Colony located a movement distance of a mere 6 units of movement away from her homeworld. Red flags should be going up all throughout her empire's admiralty at the realization of such! |
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The Kroji Konfederation suffers destruction of a colony! |
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If she's not gonna change her empire's strategy, now, then pray tell me, when is a more opportune time to change it? How many Kroji colonies must fall, before she's willing to face the stark reality that the truth of the current situation reveals?
My job, as a player and as her enemy, is to make her job in the game harder. That's what I'm doing. That's what I've been doing, all along.
Running the clock out on my empire is neither a realistic - nor attractive - option. Her "Plan A," strategy-wise, clearly isn't working. So, what's her "Plan B?" Or does she even have a Plan B that her empire can fall back on?
Excuses will not save her empire. Neither will lamentations. Static thinking will ultimately lead to her empire's annihilation, if left unchecked.
Time isn't on her empire's side. I taunt her with these words, in a bid to wake her up. Her empire's house is on fire, and I'm trying to shake her awake, before all is lost. It's not as if anyone else in this game of Galac-Tac is trying to awaken her to the dangers that inhere in sticking to her by-now-demonstrated losing strategy.
Certainly, Player Djinni is free to ignore everything that I am saying, but deep down inside, she knows that I am telling the truth. The truth, in this particular instance, is just unsavory. It's distasteful. And trying to craft a new strategy on-the-fly isn't always a quick or easy thing to do, much less both, simultaneously.
But enough about Djinni and her nasty little Krojis, for now. Instead, let's take a quick glance at the Wyvern Supremacy. |
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This combat report screenshot was created from a PDF version of my HTML turn results. |
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The only battle that took place, this turn, between the Wyvern Supremacy and my Yonds of Droon, was the one above, the battle at star system 01-82. The results and the outcome of this battle, you can see for yourself, ye faithful readers of PBM Chaos.
Behold, the complete destruction of the Wyvern fleet located at 01-82. Sound familiar?
Clearly, Player Brendan is still building ships. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to participate in such one-sided turkey shoots against his empire. Much like his fellow player, Djinni, Brendan's results are the outcome of sticking with outdated thinking as a driving force in one's Galac-Tac strategy. He needs to be improvising and adapting, but instead, he keeps on doubling down on a failed strategy.
This particular Wyvern task force, much like others before it, back when it still existed before my empire put the torch to it, this turn, was comprised of a grand total of 15 phasers, 0 shields, 42 Star Drive engines, and 42 Inertia engines.
It ain't rocket science, people. Ships without shields lack what's known as "durability." Imagine building tanks without armor. What's the most likely outcome of such a scenario in a combat situation? In layman's parlance, it's what's known as a big, fat, sitting duck.
At 30 PI a pop, losing those three starships, this turn, proved to be a waste of 90 PI by Brendan's Wyvern Supremacy. 90 PI is 90% of Brendan's homeworld's PI production for an entire turn. Just do the math.
If your empire's starships don't survive in combat, then that makes it all the harder for your empire to ever get ahead. Brendan's empire doesn't like to communicate, so Brendan and his empire, the Wyvern Supremacy, just keep on paying the iron price.
His basic ship class of choice that he keeps on doubling down on is accomplishing nothing of note for his empire. That failed choice is burning through his empire's finite amount of spendable PI. In a nutshell, where is it getting him? What is he achieving with it? Plus, he bunches them all together in groups, like above, making it all the quicker and easier to dispose of them as a threat. It should go without saying that making it easier for your enemy to destroy your empire's starships is the exact opposite direction of where you should be headed, in the crafting and execution of your empire's strategy. |
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Yet another Wyvern fleet obliterated, this time at Star System 01-82! |
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This Wyvern fleet was destroyed at a movement distance of only 15 units of movement from the Wyvern Supremacy's homeworld.
The Wyverns prefer to do things their own way, no matter how obtuse. So be it! Therefore, let me now turn my attention away from them, and towards the warlike Saydonians of Player Ajwan.
Terrible are her ways, and many are her machinations, this Empress of Saydonia, Ajwan the Cruel. Yet, who is she attacking, you ask? Who is she at war with?
It might be better to ask, who is she plotting to overthrow? Who is she aiming to destroy? It's not as though Ajwan is turning her swords of war into plowshares of peace, you know.
Well, you may not know, but I do. She's cranking up her empire's economic output, which is but a prelude to all out war. She's biding her time, even as her empire's schemes of treachery are nurtured by her own hand. I am not oblivious to what she has in mind.
But when her empire comes for mine, blade in hand, she shall most assuredly rue that day. I'll bleed her empire dry, before my empire goes silently into the night. Great will be her gnashing of teeth! Vast will be the destruction that shall be unleashed, once she sets into motion her dire plan.
Better for her that her empire face off against Khan Noonien Singh, himself, instead.
In the meantime, we wait. She waits. I wait. We all wait. If her timing proves to be off, when she at long last unleashes her foul deed, then high will be the price that I exact from her for her foolishness and inability to schedule decisively.
No doubt, Ajwan the Cruel will seek the element of surprise, but even on the best of days, that is a gambit that inherently carries great risk. If everything goes smoothly for her and her forces of evil, great. But what if everything doesn't go smoothly? What if everything doesn't go according to plan. What then?
Will her empire be able to successfully attack and defend, both? Or does she fancy our forthcoming War of Extermination to be little more than her leading a series of successive charges against my star realm? Will she gloat, when I cut her empire's tongue out?
And to think, our empires could have been such great friends.
But Ajwan's greed, her ambition, they fill her head with crazy ideas. The thing about war is that it rarely, if ever, goes "according to plan." "According to plan" is another way of saying "wishful thinking."
I already know what her empire's economic Achilles' heel is, but does she even have a clue what my empire's military center of gravity is? If not, how will she counter it?
I've already proven that I can destroy the Krojis' colonies. Does Ajwan fancy her empire to be invulnerable to my ability to destroy her colonies, as well? All this time, Ajwan the Cruel has been sitting back, milking the cow of economic progress, all the while plotting future mischief and woe.
Dot your I's and cross your T's, Little Ajwan. War is about balance. Do you have it? Can your empire maintain it, even if it does manage to achieve it in the first place? If you are rash and bungle it, then just imagine, if you can and if you dare, the never-ending dish of crow that I shall spoon-feed you, Ajwan.
Remember, I don't play to win. I play for you to lose. That, alone, imbues my empire with a greater degree of flexibility than empires that play to win enjoy.
I am not bothered by loss or destruction. You are, in a nutshell, destined to fight a war against chaos. How familiar are you with that doctrine, I wonder? This very PBM publication is named after chaos. Thus, I am no stranger to its ways.
It's one thing to come up with a strategy. It's another thing, altogether, to implement and execute it, effectively. Rest assured, Ajwan - You'll get your chance. Know, also, that I eagerly await that day. For on that day, Ragnarok shall be sounded!
And your empire's power shall be squandered, and the wolves and the ravens that remain shall devour your empire's bowels and peck at its eyes. Are you out there, Ajwan? Are you listening to me? Pay tribute with some freshly baked cookies, Galactic Granny!
Your forthcoming war with my empire will leave your own empire weakened and spent. That's the quandary, you see. And I know this, and because I know this, I shall work our empire's war against one another to your empire's ultimate detriment.
Already, you are on record as intending to win this game. And me? I already know that you can't. And that's the rub, you see. I am not a kingmaker, but a kingbreaker! Ah, such good fun, and an empire free for the taking! |
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Empire Valuation: 91st percentile |
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On Turn #9, the Empire Valuation score was the 91st Percentile, up from 90th Percentile on Turn #8. Hammer (and likely others, as well) keeps on kicking my empire's ass, where Empire Valuation is concerned. Pah! He's definitely sandbagging, and he seemingly has acquired some degree of master over the Empire Valuation aspect of the game.
I wonder if his mastery over this part of the game is what keeps PBMer Wayne "Smitty" Smith from giving Galac-Tac a try. Wayne couldn't possibly do any worse at Galac-Tac than he does at playing golf, so I don't know why he's dragging ass on joining a game of Galac-Tac. Smitty needs to quit piddling, and go ahead and join that Galaxy #228 game that is forming. Whatever happened to old Smitty's competitive spirit, I wonder?
PBMer Richard Weatherhead, I know that you're out there, hiding in a cave, somewhere, like some old cave troll, but you need to sign up for the Galaxy #228 game of Galac-Tac, also. So what if you lose? So what if Hammer kicks your ass? You sign up for it, Richard, and you and I can tag team Hammer. In fact, we'll hammer him, pardon the pun!
New players can sign up and play Galac-Tac for free, yet where are they? We need a minimum of 4 more people to sign up for the Galaxy #228, game, but where are they? Come on, people! Take a chance. Give it a try. After all, in space, no one can hear you scream.
We all know that Djinni screamed, when I destroyed her precious little colony, this turn, in Galaxy #223. Mu-hahahahahahahahahahaha! Talk about some funny shit. Boy, it's a really good feeling, when you lay waste to a helpless colony that some other Galac-Tac player left utterly defenseless.
This Galactic Granny is gonna bite the dust, before all is said and done.
Galaxy #223 is like a boxing match, and Djinni is reeling from the punches that my empire is throwing at her empire. Her Kroji Conmen took a powerful body blow, when I snuffed out that colony of hers, this turn.
Come on, Djinni! This Turn #9 round might be over, but this match-up between your empire and my empire is still going. It sure don't look to me like Player Djinni's got the eye of the tiger.
Somebody cue the music!
Christmas has come and gone, but Galactic Granny Djinni must have been on the Naughty List, because some Interstellar Krampus came along and stole that colony of a present right out from underneath Djinni's Christmas tree. Ho! Ho! Ho!
What a terrible thing it must be for some other empire to come along and snack on your colony like it was nothing more than a measly little old potato chip. Not that it wasn't tasty to devour that colony, mind you.
Santa Claus comes only on Christmas Day, but this Intergalactic Krampus can arrive at your empire's star systems on any day that turns get processed.
Tell me, Djinny - do you have a preference on which of your remaining colonies that I come for, next? Like Galactus, I. . .Hunger! So speaks Galac-Tacus!
Galactus has a herald. That's what I need - a herald. I have a container of mixed nuts, but not a herald. That hardly seems right.
Even though it's only Sunday, January 4th, 2026 at 10:36 AM, as I type these words to you readers out there, I need to get a move on and finish this article up, so that I might begin working on some other article, or perhaps on creating some AI-generated art for inclusion in this issue of PBM Chaos. |
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Tired of being stuck in some boring ordinary star system? |
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A whole galaxy awaits your conquering hand! |
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Editor's Note: Galac-Tac players in any galaxy of Galac-Tac are invited to submit Player Blurbs for whatever galaxy that you are in. This offer extends beyond just players in Galaxy #223. A section for your galaxy of Galac-Tac will be created in PBM Chaos to accommodate any player blurbs that you may want to send in. |
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Galaxy #223 Player Blurbs |
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I have been slacking on my blurbs. Spending too much time out in the garden, torturing small trees to turn into Bonsai. The weather is beautiful here, and this is our only chance to sit out in the garden. |
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Editor's Note: The fate of the empire that is Saydonia hangs in the balance, with its empress, Ajwan the Cruel, distracted by Bonsai trees, as she basks in her own personal Garden of Eden. Ah, the frivolities of luxury! Is it any wonder, then, why her homeworld in that other game of Galac-Tac was destroyed? |
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2025 WAS a good year. I celebrated turning 70, and had many good things happen. I look forward to having my life loosen up a little and having time to make Galac-Tac a GAME and not a CHORE... I would have been playing in other games, if I'd had the time, but I knew better than to start something I couldn't really keep up with.
But this "learning game" came along, and I decided to do my best to help and encourage new players. My "vast experience" spanning parts of five decades doesn't make me an "expert." I've just seen how it works, better than a newbie.
I've always had my late husband, Danny, and our then-best friend, Davin, to guide and advise. I'm trying to fly solo on this one, only asking for advice when I'm not sure how something functions, and only asking questions that any of you might ask, and get the same patient and accurate answers.
I've usually let a "partner" work out strategy, and I maintain my role as "bean-counter," managing the underlying economic structure. So, bad choices are at least MY choices, and we'll see if I can handle an empire all by myself against players whose thought processes are far different from mine. That's not a bad thing... that's why we all start out equal, so that different strategies and designs can make the difference, rather than the luck of the draw. (Of course, star locations and PV ARE random, but within certain acceptable tolerances, so it's as balanced as possible). |
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Editor's Note: A very happy, though belated, 70th Birthday to Galactic Granny Djinni! May she have a great many more. |
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Misraw currently has zero order lines filled as of the Sunday before the Monday PBM Chaos Issue 60 publication date.
Although I have opened my GTac App and looked at the map, I still must finish reading the report for my previous Misraw turn.
By the way, I did manage to submit 37 Order Lines before the past Friday deadline.
No guarantee as to how many Order Lines I will fill, before the next Friday deadline.
Misraw values quality over quantity.
Misraw has continued to be ranked in the 100th Percentile Empire Valuation.
According to the report, another Misraw ship has gone missing.
There were no reports of Misraw ship battles.
Misraw encountered one ship from the Castle Anthrax in a reported Cease Fire.
Misraw also encountered one ship from the Kroji Konfederation in a reported Cease Fire.
Misraw has no reports regarding Wyvern, Saydonia nor Droon Empire activities.
There are rumors that the silent Saydonians are secretly building a few war fleets.
Silence is golden.
Misraw must make preparations!
Hammer, Minister of War |
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Player Blurb - GrimFinger |
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My taunts and jabs and such for this issue of PBM Chaos, I incorporated those things into my article for Galaxy #223, this time around. Let's use this Player Blurb for something else, instead.
How about some genuine thoughts about the Galaxy #223 game of Galac-Tac, fresh off the top of my head? Let's start with some brief thoughts about each of my fellow players in this game with me.
Ajwan - A nice lady, and I really love the fact that I'm able to play Galac-Tac with her. She's actually more experienced at playing Galac-Tac than I am, but simultaneously, she's still a lot less experienced at playing Galac-Tac than our fellow player, Djinni.
She strikes me as cautious, but a fast learner. She doesn't want to blow it in this game. She wants to demonstrate that she's learned from her past mistakes in other games of Galac-Tac that she either played in, or is still playing in. She has a decent grasp of Galac-Tac, but she still makes mistakes or misses things that she shouldn't miss, by now. I view Ajwan to currently be the biggest threat to my empire in Galaxy #223.
No one has really begun attacking her empire in earnest, yet - not even my own. I've cut her some slack, in this regard, to ensure that she's able to get her empire's economy off on a more sure footing. Compared to Player Djinni, Ajwan has substantially less experience, and less experience often translates into either recklessness or excessive caution in PBM wargames. Ajwan doesn't fear war with my empire. She's just not quite ready to commit to a slugfest that she can't predict the outcome of. For the very reason that she grasps how to grow her empire's economy, she knows that she can't afford to muck that up.
If she goes to war with a weak economy, that raises the stakes for her, and noticeably so. Plus, she's not oblivious to how my empire's wars with both the Kroji Konfederation and the Wyvern Supremacy have been going for players Djinni and Brendan. Ajwan isn't eager to end up in their shoes.
In recent turns, she has been building up her shuttle routes and guarding them with escorts. It's not just a "knock down drag out war" with my empire that Ajwan has to worry about. What if Hammer's empire of Misraw begins to lay into her empire, right when she's going toe to toe with my empire? I can tell you, right now, that she's not ready for that, not at Turn #9 in this particular game of Galac-Tac.
Brendan - Mister Silence, himself. I nailed his empire pretty good earlier in the game, and he and his empire are still paying the price for my empire's earlier interdiction of his empire's freighters.
After 9 turns, his empire is still behind both the curve and the 8-Ball. He has shown no real inclination to communicate, so I continue to facilitate his empire's suffering, albeit on a low-heat setting. I'm not trying to kill his empire off. Rather, I'm quite content to just kill his empire's ships, now and again. At present, I would count his empire as a 3rd Tier threat to my empire in Galaxy #223.
Economically, his Wyvern Supremacy is in a bind.
Revenge is a common staple motivator. By attacking Brendan's empire early on and hard, it generates a tendency to seek revenge. Pursuit of revenge will often transition a player in a PBM wargame to a more predictable state of mind. Revenge is an emotion-based motivation. It can blind a player, and it can increase the likelihood of making mistakes. Notably, none of my empire's enemies in Galaxy #223 seem to be putting their empires' best interests at the very top of their "to-do lists." There are very real reasons why nations in real life tend to spend (or waste, depending upon your preferred perspective) a lot of time talking to one another, via their diplomats.
He keeps on building ships, though, which I know, because I keep on finding them and destroying them. His empire's PI deficit, though, is kicking his ass.
Richard - I received an e-mail about Galac-Tac most recently from Richard on yesterday evening. At the moment (always subject to change on little or no notice), I don't feel threatened by Richard's empire. Richard is an RPG man, not a wargamer, per se. So, he's a bit out of his natural element, here in Galac-Tac.
As of yet, Richard doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on how to play Galac-Tac. Is his heart fully in it? Probably not, but he's still in the game, with no plans to leave it anytime soon, would be my estimation.
Once the Galac-Tac light bulb goes off in his head, his empire's threat status may well change on my hierarchy of threats to my empire. For now, though, I feel that my empire's primary focus is best placed elsewhere.
Hammer - Hammer grasps that, even though his empire has lost several ships in battles against my empire, my empire isn't really at war with his empire. Economically, he's gained his footing in Galaxy #223, I think.
Honestly, I have no real idea of how strong or how weak his empire is, militarily. His continued presence in the 100th Percentile of Empire Valuation scoring is never far from my mind.
Hammer's first, and still foremost, enemy in Galaxy #223 is Player Djinni's Kroji Konfederation. Her choice of words early on, he hasn't forgotten.
Hammer suffers under no delusion. He simply doesn't want to be the first empire eliminated from Galaxy #223. Not exactly ambition on a grand scale.
As his empire isn't openly hostile to my empire, primary threat status does not attach to him and his Scroids of Misraw. While Hammer's empire and Ajwan's empire aren't going at it, right now, I suspect that he trusts her less than he trusts me.
On a personal level, Hammer is a nice guy. He and I have both played Hyborian War. Now, whether he understands how my play of Hyborian War impacts and affects how I play Galac-Tac, I have doubts. Indeed, understanding how I play Hyborian War would provide substantial insight into how I have been playing Galac-Tac in Galaxy #223, all along. Have any of my other fellow players in Galaxy #223 with me ever played Hyborian War, or ever studied my strategies, tactics, and habits developed and refined from playing that PBM game over a period of many years? Probably not, if I had to venture a guess. This, in turn, bestows disadvantage upon them.
Thus far, some 9 turns into Galaxy #223, my opponents in this game of Galac-Tac have proven themselves to be prone to making some of the same mistakes that players in Hyborian War make.
While Hammer is not what I would call a "fervent communicator," even still, his empire has communicated more with my empire than every other empire in this game, combined, thus far. Effective communication tends to be the primary mechanism for avoiding or putting off wars. Brendan, Djinni, and Ajwan increase their respective empire's vulnerability by way of failing to value and wield the tool of communications as robustly as they should. This is a player shortcoming, and not an empire shortcoming, per se. It's a problem that no amount of PI can fix.
Djinni - Poor Djinni! She never had a chance. For the very reason she is the most experienced Galac-Tac player in Galaxy #223, she's always had a target painted on her back.
That experience of hers is an attractant to me, in that who better to test myself against, than by going up against the most experienced Galac-Tac player in the game? If I can beat her, then I can probably beat most players (not that Galac-Tac has a lot of players, at present, due to its overall player base deteriorating over a period that spans both years and decades).
My assessment of Djinni's empire, at present, is that it's hurting. She's experienced at playing Galac-Tac, but she's also rusty. Not playing Galac-Tac much, if at all, in recent years has resulted in her game play skill sets deteriorating.
Oh, for sure, she's still very knowledgeable about how to play Galac-Tac. But how well can she adapt that reservoir of game knowledge to the present situation that this Learning Game of Galac-Tac presents?
When you're rusty at playing a game, its' invariably harder to play at an equivalent level to what you were previously used to. Djinni is not at the top of her game - and it shows. That can be improved and remedied with time and focus, but time isn't necessarily on her side in Galaxy #223. Her strength in Galac-Tac, from what I gathered and from what others volunteered, is the economic side of the game. As such, that is where she was - and still is - the most comfortable.
All the more reason, then, to drag her empire into the military side of the game, early on. And as recent turns have demonstrated, I continue to maintain some degree of military pressure upon her empire and its assets. No doubt, she would much prefer a reprieve, at least long enough for her to regain her empire's footing and balance. Right now, she's losing her empire's war against my Yonds of Droon - and she knows it. Thus far, nothing that she's tried has seemed to work.
The longer that I "slow cook" her empire, the less likely she is to win this game. I don't have to beat her empire. Rather, I just have to slow it down. At some point, she'll pass the point of no return, kind of like passing the event horizon of a black hole. The gravity of reality will then prove to be too much for her and her empire to overcome. The irony of it is that her strength as a Galac-Tac player is the economic side of the game, yet I am waging a form of simple economic warfare against her. Our war has cost her more than it has cost me. The current trend is not sustainable over the long run. Her current approach to strategy cannot successfully defend her own empire, much less defeat mine. She can certainly feel free to disagree, but my war against her empire has already begun to tilt noticeably in my favor. How long, I wonder, will she stick with a losing strategy. Time will tell. |
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* All Galac-Tac content and images copyright © Talisman Games. |
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Games of Alamaze Forming as of January 7th, 2026 |
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* All Alamaze content and images copyright © Old Man Games, LLC. |
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Want more PBM articles than you can shake a stick at, more than PBM Chaos can provide? Then what you need is a PBM time machine, so that you can travel at your leisure and convenience years, or even decades, into the past.
"No such thing," you say? Think again!
When you don't know where to start, just pick a point. Any point will do. Doubt me, do you? Fair enough, but look at the proof in the literary pudding.
Let's start with a couple of examples.
Conquering the stars by mail https://archive.org/details/MicroAdventurer03-Jan84/page/n15/mode/2up
Discover Crasimoff's World https://archive.org/details/micro-adventurer-11/page/n9/mode/2up
Just because micro Adventurer magazine wasn't a PBM-specific publication does not mean that you couldn't ever encounter any material specific to Play-By-Mail gaming within its pages.
Granted, this particular magazine from the past didn't publish a lot of PBM articles, but it did publish some - notably, the couple of examples above.
One thing that I hated about the Internet Archive for many years was its search feature. Trying to find what I was looking for invariably proved to be a royal pain in the ass.
But once I finally "discovered" the trick of enclosing my search terms inside of quotation marks, a whole new universe of old PBM articles opened up to me.
So, the next time when you're in between issues of PBM Chaos, or when the hour of reckoning for PBM Chaos finally arrives and this digital PBM publication is no more, just look on the screen shot, below, and your eyes can be opened, too, to a plethora of PBM articles (provided that you can find them, of course).
Feel free to mix your searches up with a variety of different search terms, or even more than one search term, simultaneously. Even after all these years of using the Internet Archive website, I'm still no master of using their search feature. The example in the screen shot, below, though, should get you off to a good start. |
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Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?
Narrow or broaden your search terms to better yield a wide variety of different results. Search for "play by mail" and you may end up with a different set of results, compared to if you did a search for "play-by-mail" or "pbm" or "pbm games." Search for PBM articles by prominent PBM personalities, also, such as "Rick Loomis" of Flying Buffalo fame. Don't forget to search for PBM companies, also, such as "KJC Games" or any other PBM company.
The Internet Archive didn't get its start until the PBM year of 1996, and by then, a vast amount of PBM-related material was no longer around for it to archive for posterity's sake.
Now that I've taught you to fish, Internet Archive-style, you should never go hungry for more PBM material. Oh, sure, you'll eventually run out of new PBM stuff to find, but as is always the case with play by mail gaming, it tends to be either feast or famine. |
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Fill your gaming tank with some high octane PBM! |
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This will be the second time that I wrote this article. More gets written, over time, than PBM Chaos readers ever get to read. Some issues of PBM Chaos aren't impacted, this way, but many are.
This issue turned out to be shorter than planned, shorter than I expected. That will likely remain the case for at least the next issue or two. It's inherently difficult to see into the future, so there tends to be a lot of guesswork involved.
PBMer Toz, whom I am not familiar with, recently posted in the old PBM Discord. He said, "Hey all, I'm a game designer of pbm games who only just now discovered this community."
Hopefully, I'll have more to report on about Toz and the PBM games that he has designed, or is in the process of designing, real soon. I dropped a message to him, this morning. Not sure how often that he logs into Discord, so a response from Toz could arrive sooner or later, just depending upon how quickly or how slowly that Toz gets back to me.
The holidays have come and gone, and I still need to send in my next set of turn orders for Galvidiere. I got sidetracked, but maybe I can get that done, today. Initially, I got hung up on what orders to issue. The GM offers some ready to go options, on possibilities for orders, but for this particular game, I'm more inclined to off at least something slightly different.
If you're looking for new articles about Galaxy #236 of Galac-Tac, that solo player game of Galac-Tac that I'm in, then be sure to tune in, next issue, when I will resume writing about that game, picking up right where I last left off.
The last two items submitted to me, previously, for what was originally going to be Issue #3 of PBM Chaos, I have decided to include in a future issue of PBM Chaos, instead. There's just not going to be an Issue #3. I'll try to include them in Issue #61 of PBM Chaos, if I can remember to do so, once I start on that issue.
PBMer werewolf_punch posted the following on the last day of December 2025 in new PlayByMail Discord: |
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I like the red and green colors themed through the text (particularly the PBM Chaos logo). Favorite image is probably "Play PBM or else" Santa. He looks so pleased with himself. I like the red and green colors themed through the text (particularly the PBM Chaos logo). Favorite image is probably "Play PBM or else" Santa. He looks so pleased with himself.
werewolf_punch |
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This is why there's so many giant ant images appearing in this issue of PBM Chaos. Not sure if this "themed issue" will resonate with werewolf_punch or not, but I thought that I would give it a try. A little feedback goes a long way, sometimes, I reckon.
Hey, I tried. Surely that's worth something, eh?
Or maybe not. Who knows?
That "Play PBM or else!" image that appeared in Issue #59 originally started out as an attempt to create a Christmas-inspired image for an image ad for that It's A Crime! PBM (Fan Site). I had the artificial intelligence to change the wording on the sign to what it ended up as. That wording is why I ended up using that particular image, at all.
I was gonna go back in and dig up the original AI generated version of that image, and see what that sign originally said, but apparently, Google Gemini decided to not retain any of my Christmas-themed images that I had it generate. Go figure!
And on that note, this issue draws to a close. Happy reading and happy PBM gaming to one and all!
Charles Mosteller Editor of PBM Chaos |
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If your are PBMer Sarakss, then click here - but only if you dare! |
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