| * All Star Fleet Warlord content and images copyright © Franz Games, LLC. |
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PBM Personality Column #1 |
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Daryl P Holloman aka Hammer |
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NOTE: This article was originally scheduled to appear in Issue #3 of PBM Zombies. |
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I recently received a New Realm Set Up for Forgotten Realms, because I wanted to get another Regular Game in my Forgotten Realms Pipeline.
You may read more details in Issue 56 of PBM Chaos as to why I chose to do this!
Forgotten Realms is the only Reality Simulations Game that you have No Idea what Realm and Communities that you will receive with a New Game Set UP!
I am still waiting for my First Forgotten Realms Regular Game to start, which is now around 9 months of waiting, so my New Forgotten Realms Set Up may not get started until next September!
Playing Forgotten Realms is well worth the rather lengthy wait-time for the start of a New Game!
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Sadly, the Gravenheim Game has apparently Fizzled, because the Game Master decided to pause the game around the first week of November!
No explanation was given for the pause!
Three of the Player Characters did die, including mine, but I chose to roll up a New Character! Only Time will tell if this pause will totally kill any interest for resuming this game in the future!
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My Misraw Empire in the Galac-Tac Galaxy 223 Learning Game still affords me some interest in playing that game, but I must figure out what other Orders to submit via the GTAc App, before the December 5, 2025 Friday Midnight Deadline!
I currently have 11 Orders and must figure out what else I need to do before the Deadline! Good thing this Learning Game only runs every two weeks!
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Galac-Tac Galaxy #228 still has Openings for Players! Check out talisman-games.com for more details regarding this Outer Space War Game!
##### Galvidiere has proven to be an entertaining game!
Now I need to purchase some more mailing envelopes and postage stamps, in case I decide to continue playing, because my Email Option has run its course!
If you are interested in playing this game, you may send an Email to [email protected] to learn a bit more about this New Play-By-Mail Game titled Galvidiere that was advertised in Issue 51 of PBM Chaos!
As Advertised: 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!
I have found this game to be entertaining, but I must decide if I will continue playing and what choice that I will make for my Character, once I have purchased more mailing envelopes and postage stamps!
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It took about 9 months for the FR 259 Slow Game to get started, but it was well worth what seemed to be an extremely-long Wait Time!
I should have my Turn-2 results sometime during the first week of December!
Playing Forgotten Realms is Well Worth the Wait Time!
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Hungry and Thirsty for More Play-By-Mail Information?
Send an Email to [email protected] to subscribe for Free to PBM Chaos, which currently publishes every Monday, in a Labor-of-Love to Feed Your PBM Imagination. |
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Editor's Note: To subscribe to mailings from PlayByMail.Net, which includes PBM Chaos, then click here. Sending an e-mail to me won't get you subscribed, as I require everyone to use the subscribe option, rather than me manually subscribing individuals. |
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The ongoing Saga of Galaxy #223 in Galac-Tac |
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With Electric Light Orchestra playing in the background, replete with lead singer Jeff Lynne belting out the words of Evil Woman, Galactic Granny Djinni and her Kroji Konfederation of intergalactic conmen spring to mind. Welcome to Turn #10 of Galaxy #223!
The final day to get my turn orders in for Turn #10 was Friday, January 16th, 2025. In spite of having put off messing with my turn orders very much for almost two weeks, I finally managed to get a full set of turn orders issued and submitted to Talisman Games via the GTac player assistant program/app about an hour or so ahead of the midnight deadline.
Between arm/shoulder issues and just not feeling all that well, I had put it off as long as I could. It was slow going. I tried getting my turn orders issued and finished up sometime earlier in the day on Friday, but not much progress actually happened, until my back was against the wall of the clock counting down towards the hard deadline.
Somehow or other, I managed to submit 45 order lines with 51 orders, total. Hell, yeah! Take that, Hammer! Hammer is always piddling around, and proclaiming that he is only submitting a relatively small number of turn orders (even as his empire seems to defy conventional thought and continues to thrive). |
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Turn #10 83 Colonies 8 Production Centers
Turn #9 81 Colonies 4 Production Centers
Turn #8 79 Colonies 3 Production Centers
The number of Production Centers in Galaxy #223 has begun to proliferate. Last turn, my Yonds of Droon empire drew first blood on the destruction of Colonies in this particular game of Galac-Tac. As you might well remember, Player Djinni's Kroji Konfederation paid the iron price, witnessing from afar as my empire destroyed the Kroji Colony at star system 49-65.
I can't imagine how many dishes that her husband, Galac-Tac GM Davin, had to wash, after I laid waste to her pathetic colony that once thrived there. Yeah, I'm still out here, Djinni, spoon-feeding you crow for allowing your empire to get its ass kicked in that star system. What were you thinking?
But somebody in Galaxy #223 had to be a guinea pig for me and my empire. And what a fine guinea pig Djinni made.
And in predictable fashion, she chose to retaliate in Turn #10. She dispatched forces to star system 49-65. The only thing that her forces encountered there when they arrived a whole turn after losing this Galactic Granny's Colony was a small, unarmed Spy Satellite that was attempting to CHART this star system, to try and learn what its PV value is.
By that time, my war fleet had already moved elsewhere. Several elsewheres, in fact, as I took the war to a multitude of different Kroji star systems, wiping out numerous different Kroji starships in the process.
And the body count? I toasted no less than 6 Kroji freighters and 1 Kroji warship. In return, the Krojis killed none of my empire's starships in these other battles. I'll just go right ahead and reveal the exact losses that the dastardly Krojis suffered in these other star systems in Turn #10. |
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Combat Reports from Turn #10 |
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It sure looks to me like the Krojis need to go back to the drawing board. Perhaps their galactic empress, Player Djinni, feels otherwise, though. I'm not sure exactly what she accomplished, though, leaving so many of her other Colonies so utterly defenseless.
It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Poor Djinni!
I suppose that it's theoretically possible that she's got the bulk of her forces fighting Player Hammer's Scroids of Misraw, but that's not what my gut instinct tells me. I'm sure that she would much rather smash my empire than Hammer's empire.
Blundering her way from turn to turn to turn is no way to wage interstellar warfare. If you're out there and you're reading this, Galactic Granny Djinni, you really need to wake up. Otherwise, I'm going to decimate your empire. That's no mere idle threat, either.
Of the half-dozen Kroji star systems that my empire struck, this turn, there was but a single, measly system-only small ship defending. This translated into another sizable chunk of her empire's freighter fleet biting the dust.
And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust!
Ten full turns into the game, and the empire that is the Kroji Konfederation continues to piddle. This is one hell of a way to wage a war.
Thus makes what? The fifth Cleanup vessel that my empire has destroyed, now. That ship class can't defend itself, much less Kroji freighters - and especially when deployed as a standalone defensive force!
It's basically the same thing as a game start Fighter, rebranded under the Cleanup moniker. Sure, it has 4 phasers, but it only sports a single shield, rendering it fairly vulnerable prey. That's better than it having no shields, at all, but even still, a single shield is only gonna get your ship just so far, once the shit hits the fan. |
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Cleanup1 4P/1;;/-16 Cost to Build = 21 PI
Truck15 /;;15/16-1 Cost to Build = 12 PI |
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12 PI x 6 Truck15 destroyed = 72 PI 21 PI x 1 Cleanup1 destroyed = 21 PI
72 PI + 21 PI = 93 PI Replacement Cost |
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Djinni's homeworld star system only generates a maximum of 100 PI per turn. Thus, in these six battles, alone, Djinni lost 93% of a whole turn's PI production for her empire's richest star system. Smooth going, Ace!
In fairness, she can replace all of these 7 lost ships in a single turn, but in order to do so, that's PI that can't be spent on anything else. Hey, what's a single turn, though, right? Well, when your empire is under unrelenting pressure, even a single turn can sometimes make a lot of difference.
Why? Because even a single turn can still result in a widening of the gap between your empire and your enemy's empire.
In the Combat Reports above, you can also see that my empire destroyed an unarmed Misraw Scout Ship and a Wyvern Tug1 freighter. I can't help but to wonder whether the empire that is the Wyvern Supremacy is even actively played, anymore. I figured that GM Davin would probably let all of us playing in Galaxy #223 know, if and when other players in this game of Galac-Tac drop out. Perhaps the Wyvern player is no longer playing. Or possibly, he could be trying to lure the rest of us into a false sense of security. |
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Empire Valuation: 91st percentile |
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My empire managed to maintain it's position of 91st Percentile in the game's Empire Valuation scoring. Hammer recently posted that his empire of Misraw in Galaxy #223 had fallen to 96th Percentile. It serves the old goat right.
And Ajwan the Cruel recently posted, "Remind me again what determines the percentile?"
All of the other empires in the game, mind included, have basically allowed Ajwan's empire of Saydonia to just cruise right along, growing both her empire's economy and her empire's military for the bulk of the first ten turns of Galaxy #223. I have no doubt, whatsoever, that this is going to end up biting us all squarely in the ass, in due time.
But Galac-Tac presents a complex set of considerations for players to internally process, and especially early in the game, there's just not a good way to go to war with multiple different empires, simultaneously, and not bleeding your empire dry and opening your empire up to sharp vulnerability by way of overextending yourself too much, too quickly. I've tried to take a somewhat balanced approach to waging war against more than one other empire, simultaneously, thus far in Galaxy #223. All things considered, I think that I've done pretty good, so far. Things can always change on a dime in Galac-Tac, though, depending upon what all of the other players in the game with you choose to do.
I've tried in Galaxy #223 to take a somewhat measured approach to the array of considerations which my empire faces, each turn, every turn. Sometimes, you get it right, and other times, you flub it. Much as I do when I play Hyborian War, I take each new turn as it comes, and I start afresh with my approach to strategy and tactics, whether my turn results from turn to turn are great or terrible or somewhere in between. |
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Droon ships that went missing on Turn #10. |
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Turn #10 Star Map depicting battles for the Yonds of Droon. |
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Two weeks between turns for Galaxy #223 worked better at the beginning of this game of Galac-Tac for me, than it does, now, after we're already several turns into it. Yet, here I go and, against my better judgment, join the currently forming and soon to start Galaxy #238 game. What in the Sam Hill was I thinking?
Well, playing against human opponents yields a vastly more interesting gaming experience than playing against computer opponents. The difference in what Galac-Tac is like, from an experience perspective, is enormous.
Galaxy #238 will feature several of the same players that I'm playing with and against in Galaxy #223, but there will also be one or more other players, also, to pit my wits and my skills against. Hopefully, Galaxy #238 won't turn out to be a snorefest of silence, but do I intend to write about it, similar to how I have been writing about Galaxy #223? Honestly, I don't know. Perhaps I shall only mention it in passing, now and again.
The whole penchant for silence that most Galac-Tac players of the game's current player base display robs the game of some of its potentially greatest strengths and appeal. It's just less exciting, when Galac-Tac players practice and embrace silence. Granted, to each their own, but just try and imagine longtime PBM wargames such as Hyborian War and Middle-earth PBM, if their own player bases were as silent, overall, as the Galac-Tac player base of today is. Both of those PBM games would likely have died out long ago, if that were the case.
There have been times, in fact, when I have considered dropping out of my Galaxy #223 game of Galac-Tac, due to the pervasive silence that emanates from my fellow players in that game. That overabundance of silence creates temptation on my end to reallocate my time to more interesting pursuits. This isn't a flaw Galac-Tac's design. Rather, it's more of a problem that traces its origin to player choices and habits. If silence is what today's generation of Galac-Tac players prefer, then perhaps my own empire should fall silent, in totality. It reminds me of trying to watch a silent movie.
But such is life, I reckon. When silence prevails and reigns, enthusiasm becomes all the harder to discern and detect. |
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Galaxy #238 will soon start. Dare you join the fun? |
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Will you make your presence felt in this new galaxy? |
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Galaxy #238 already has at least 5 players signed up for it, which is enough for it to start, but it won't actually start until February 7th, 2026. Thus, anyone else out there who might want to give the game a try still has a little bit of time to sign-up and join the game.
Give it a try. What do you have to lose, but an empire? |
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Galaxy #223 Player Blurbs |
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It's gonna be so embarrassing when my first colony falls to one of my opponents LOL |
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Misraw currently has Zero Order Lines filled as of the Sunday before the Friday, January 16th Deadline.
Misraw Still Values Quality Over Quantity.
Misraw Must Decide on Investing Gold for Military or Economy.
Misraw Knows there are Military Empires that are Making Ready to Strike.
Misraw Must Make Preparations.
Hammer, Minister of War |
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Player Blurb - GrimFinger |
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Care for a dose of scattered thoughts about Galaxy #223 to tide you over until the next issue of PBM Chaos?
Well, let's address the elephant in the room. Namely, the coming war between Ajwan the Cruel's evil empire that is Saydonia and my peace-loving Yonds of Droon.
It's enormously unlikely to expect to see the two Galactic Grannies in Galaxy #223, Ajwan and Djinny, go to war with one another anytime soon, if ever. They're in cahoots like that, you know. Never you mind that whole "which of these two women is the better Galac-Tac player?"
No-siree, I'll always be portrayed as the bad guy. Go figure!
Ajwan isn't worried about the Wyvern Supremacy (Brendan) nor Castle Anthrax (Richard). She definitely isn't bothered in the least by the Kroji Konfederation (Djinni), in light of the fact that she reached a deal with Djinni early on in this game. That only leaves my Yonds of Droon and Hammer's Misraw.
And dare I say it, she probably feels that I've given her more reason to go to war with me, than Hammer has given her to go to war with him. And I, of course, realize this.
Her destruction of another ship of mine, this turn, didn't go unnoticed. I didn't attack her ship, her attacked mine. She claimed that it was a spy. But Saydonian isn't the native tongue of truth in Galaxy #223.
As far as her recent quip of it's gonna be so embarrassing, when her first colony falls to one of her opponents, it's interesting that she mentioned that. Is it gonna happen? Hell, can it even happen? Anytime soon, I mean.
Did Djinny expect for one of her colonies to get destroyed on Turn #9? Probably not, if I had to venture a guess. That was done when it was done, primarily, to play head games with Djinni. To undermine her morale. To sap her will. A little bit of the practicing of unnerving of an enemy, if you will. It wasn't really about conquering her Kroji Konfederation, nor obliterating her empire's economic strength. Even the loss of the most productive production center outside of an empire's homeland will only set that empire back a maximum of 50 PI per turn.
The fact of the matter is that Player Djinni needed a good jolting. She had already become far too complacent, which is plainly visible no where more than in her demonstrated and persistent willingness to allow her empire to suffer a half-ass defensive strategy, one that is overreliant upon piddly little Cleanup fighter craft deployed in really small numbers. If anybody out there playing Galac-Tac, right now, ought to know, realize, and understand that, it's Djinni.
Me? I'm just sending the message to Djinni and reminding her of the obvious. Galaxy #223 is a Learning Game of Galac-Tac, after all, and even Djinni can afford to learn things that may have slipped from the forefront of her mind. In real life, she's overworked, it would seem, if her past comments are any sort of indicator, at all, but no amount of excuses, however valid, will save your empire from a lack of proper oversight. Attention to detail matters, even on Turn #9 of a game of Galac-Tac.
Her colony getting zapped out of the blue, unexpectedly, will stick in her craw. Guaranteed!
That sort of thing will never sit well with the Galac-Tac player of old that Djinni is. One aspect of war is the psychological component, you see. Get under their skin. Infiltrate their mind. Manipulate their emotions. There are many such ways that one can make one's enemies in Galac-Tac pay the iron price - as Djinni is no doubt learning in Galaxy #223.
Ajwan is still sizing me up as a player. To her, my approach to playing Galac-Tac is probably not what she had grown accustomed to when playing against others in other galaxies. She grasps and understands the value of timing. She really doesn't want to blow it, if and when she makes the bold (even if foolish) decision to lay into me with her empire's star fleet.
After all, if she mucks it up, I'll never let her live it down. Bungling it will go down in infamy, in both her mind and in her memory. She's not building all of those ships for no reason, you know.
Or do you? I do.
War in Galac-Tac, however, is less about what you have, and more about how you use it. That's one of my lessons learned, thus far, since Galaxy #223 first began. So far, I've had more of my theories of war in Galac-Tac validated than refuted. Making mistakes goes with the territory of learning how to play the game. There's no real way around that, no matter how much that you study the rulebook. It's part of the price of acquiring experience, firsthand.
Ajwan has the basics of the game down, already. In her mind, she sees her empire attacking me, over and over and over. But her mind isn't the mind that I plot and scheme and strategize with.
And there's the rub. She doesn't really know what I will do, nor how and where and when I will respond, once she takes things to the next level. Rest assured, Ajwan the Cruel sees how Djinni's war against my empire is playing out in real time. The last thing that Ajwan wants is a repeat of the Kroji-Yond War, with her precious Saydonia on the receiving end of a galactic ass-whipping that just won't end.
If Ajwan knows anything, at all, it's that I will beat her over the head with her failures, if there be any, once her empire and my empire finally lock horns for real. If she beats me, you think that I won't hear about it? But it's dicey, see. There's a very real price to be paid, if she attacks my empire and it ends up biting her in her royal Saydonian behind.
Right now, Saydonia is a more powerful empire than the Kroji Konfederation, both militarily and economically. But is it powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with the Yonds of Droon?
Every turn, I ponder my star maps. Every single turn, I assess the threat posed by the empire that is Saydonia. I'm out here in the deep space of Galaxy #223. Waiting. Watching. Observing. Learning. In a way, Djinni is but a guinea pig, not the main course.
Rather than conquer Djinni's empire, I see it as far more satisfying to string her empire's punishment out. She chose her words poorly at the beginning of the game, resulting in a Misraw-Kroji War. Having to deal with me and my empire and the pressure that keeps getting applied to Djinni and her Krojis leaves her precious little resources to fend off Hammer's Scroids of Misraw. I am keenly aware of this.
While Djinni struggles, Ajwan's empire grows fat. Slowly. Surely. Deliberately.
I always plan for a multi-front, multi-empire war. It's one of the ways I try to sharpen my mental sawdust. I also build a war machine for that very purpose.
The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Ultimately, those are the two primary end games for any and all empires in Galac-Tac. Part of Ajwan's trouble with sizing me up as an enemy in this particular game of Galac-Tac is that she is largely flying blind. She's never played against me, before. If only she had played Hyborian War in a past PBM life. Woe unto her!
Experience deficiencies suck! No two ways about it.
I've heard from Player Richard several times, lately. I suspect that his empire will enter the fray against one of us fellow players, in due time. He doesn't seem inclined to drop out of the game. To the contrary, in fact, I sense a rising sense of resolve on his part to learn the basics of the game better. He's just distracted by a host of other things, at present, and he's out of his natural PBM element in a wargame. Richard Lockwood is a vintage role playing man. Trying to "get into" playing the PBM wargame that is Galac-Tac is an ill-fit for him. Yet, he still wants to play it, anyway, in this particular galaxy if no other.
Hammer continues to sandbag. The other players in Galaxy #223 should underestimate him at their own peril. He understands more than he lets on about. He's methodically gaining a really firm grasp of the game's rules and mechanics. His empire grows stronger with every passing turn. He just needs to learn to not let his starship crews fly drunk.
Has Player Djinni learned from her empire's past mistakes? No, not really. At least, not from what I have seen, thus far. I suspect that I will vividly demonstrate that come Turn #11, in order to remain any last vestiges of doubt on her part. Of course, it typically takes time to fully transition away from one strategy and to another, no matter who is playing an empire that is faltering. The only question is, does Djinni and her Kroji Conmen have the luxury that is time? Thus far, at least, time doesn't seem to have been on her side.
And when she finally pivots, what - exactly and specifically - will she pivot to? |
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* All Galac-Tac content and images copyright © Talisman Games. |
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"We heard another game of Galac-Tac is just about to start!" |
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Games of Alamaze Forming as of January 19th, 2026 |
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* All Alamaze content and images copyright © Old Man Games, LLC. |
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Right now, my thoughts are on artificial intelligence - good old AI, as some prefer to call it. I like it. I hate it. It frustrates the hell out of me, even as it sometimes saves the day. Ah, the tales I could tell!
As probably all of PBM Chaos' readers know, by now, I make regular use of AI art generators when crafting issues of PBM Chaos. I'm no artist, and with no budget allocated for creating and publishing issues of PBM Chaos, I have no qualms, whatsoever, about drafting artificial intelligence to handle the artistic portions of PBM Chaos. Hey, I need something to break up all of the masses of text, you know.
The trade-off, of course, is that the art generated via AI mechanisms frequently suffers from all kinds of different imperfections. All things considered, imperfect art strikes me as a much better option than having no art, at all. If you don't like AI art, then feel free to ask for your money back. What was the cover price, again?
Various artificial intelligence companies remind me of cable television companies (and now, streaming TV channels), in that they want to charge you for stuff that you may not have any interest, whatsoever, in using AI for. Personally, I don't need nor want any kind of AI-generated video. Me? I need still imagery. Crappy bundling of capabilities on the part of artificial intelligence companies is no different - and no better - than crappy bundling of television programming by cable television companies. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
I won't hesitate to state that the paid subscription models' pricing methodology leave a lot to be desired. And while AI can do quite a lot, not every AI does everything equally well. Even the vaunted ChatGPT suffers from some serious drawbacks in its capabilities. And I'm not even trying to use it for some rocket science purpose. Extracting text from an image and organizing it, as some recent attempts I undertook to use it for, resulted in it being a task that was a bridge too far for ChatGPT. And artificial intelligences routinely fabricates data, when all that you want them to extract and organize data. I may have mentioned this, before.
I am tempted to undertake a paid AI subscription on a temporary basis, just to experiment with it, and to see if it will provide me enough improved value to warrant continuing with the subscription. For the most part, free versions of AI typically fill the gap adequately for me, but when in a rush or on a tight schedule, various different AI have a bad tendency to suddenly stop generating art. It's not a life or death issue, but it can be - and has been - annoying as hell.
Separate and apart from that, whenever you read issues of PBM Chaos, always resist the temptation to read into various things that I say and write. An example? Near the very beginning of this issue, the question was posed: Will PBM Chaos Survive?
That the question is asked doesn't mean that it is a reality waiting in the wings. I often accompany art with words. Some of it is just to tease the reader, even as other of its ilk is there just to make you think or to wonder or to consider a range of possibilities.
As I type these words to you, Conway Twitty is singing in the background. The song? I May Never Get To Heaven. Breakfast this morning was a hamburger with some BBQ sauce on it. And yourself?
A couple of days ago, my son and I started watching a television series that has been around a while. It's called The Strain. Thus far, we've only watched two of the forty-six episodes that comprise this series. It first came out a little more than 10 years ago. ACK! Behind, as always.
I still haven't managed to send in my second set of turn orders for Galvidiere. Intending to and actually having done it are two very distinct things. The extended delay isn't a Galvidiere or GM issue. The fault is 100% my own. Maybe I will send in my turn orders via e-mail, instead. I should be able to get that done later on today or tonight.
The latest Middle-earth PBM Newsletter can be found here. Check it out, and you can learn who Game Systems International's newest employee is.
I used to create new PBM image ads for a variety of PBM games. These days, I mostly just provide an occasional text link or two for PBM games.
Of late, I've pondered shrinking the size of issues of PBM Chaos more than has already taken place in recent issues, and sending out multiple PBM Chaos mailings per week. I haven't made a decision on this, and may not for a while, and may not ever. Just pondering possibilities, nothing more, nothing less.
PBMer Toz offers AdventuresByMail games. Click here to check them out. No GM needed, the website says.
There's gonna be no proofreading of this issue. Sorry, I just don't feel up to it. Besides, I've gotta go take a walk.
In other non-PBM news, my blood pressure readings seem to be improving, though it still reminds me of buckshot, scattered all over the place, at times. Yesterday yielded the best blood pressure reading that I've had, since I started trying to track it, coming in at 114 over 80. Today's reading was 125 over 83. This is an improvement over the 150 and 140 range. Ah, the joys of growing older!
Maybe I should change the name of PBM Chaos to PBM Geezers. |
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