Napoleon in India By John Rutherford 17th May 2003 A game of intrigue, glory, betrayal and corruption set in late eighteenth-century India. Campaigns will be fought. The accumulation of vast personal wealth may be a key objective for many players. |
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Newsletter Issue 25, Spring 2003 |
EDITORIAL Dear Megagamer, Be an Honourable Man (or Woman)! As I drew together our programme for 2003 it struck me just how varied were the subjects of our next four games. NOT in chronological order we have a political game of Ancient Rome from Richard Hands, a reprise of Nick Luft’s excellent take on the Wars of the Roses and an examination of exotic skulduggery in 18th Century India with John Rutherford. And skulduggery, in fact, seems to be the theme of the programme since our remaining game, on the Peace Agreements which followed the Treaty of Versailles, is unlikely to be free of it! Our first game is John Rutherford’s game “Napoleon in India” – a new subject, a new theatre of operations and certainly a different bunch of characters. Those who enjoyed Nick Luft’s first game about the Wars of the Roses will certainly look forward to the sequel to “Shameless & Impudent Lords” in June 2003. And finally, no aspiring “honourable person” will want to miss Richard Hands’ game on the Roman Republic in November – “The Die is Cast”. Where does honour meet skulduggery? Turn to your Shakespeare and read how, in Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony turns the crowd against the conspirators with his famous and devastating “honourable man” speech. Better still, go and see it – there isn’t much better guidance for participating in the next year’s worth of megagames! Andy Grainger Editor |
Game Programe 2003 |
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| Date | Title |
| 17th May 2003 | Napoleon in India |
| 14th June 2003 | Shameless & Impudent Lords 2 |
| 22nd November 2003 | Alea Iacta Est! The Die is Cast |
HOW THE ADMIN PROCESS WORKS Most of the interest in the games comes via the Megagames Newsletter, which we send out twice a year, in the autumn and the spring. Obviously we also pick up interest from the web site and particularly by word of mouth from those who have played and enjoyed themselves and then kindly recommended our games to friends. If you send in the interest slip enclosed with the newsletter we note your preferences against an interest list for each game. To save on costs we don't acknowledge receipt of your interest slip. (In passing its worth noting that players often send in an interest slip after the autumn newsletter and the spring issue with different preferences – we take the last preference expressed.) You won't hear from us until we send out the acknowledgement letter for a particular game. This is about 7 or 8 weeks before the game. Obviously they go out just after the game is cast and roles allocated. While we are always happy to accept bookings up until the last minute before the game (and even on the day!) it is worth noting that once the game has been cast that it is very difficult to fit in group bookings where the group wishes to take part as one team – it would mean that we would have to ask players already allocated to change teams so that we had a complete team free. The moral is that groups should book early! The acknowledgement letter allocates you a role and asks you for your game fee. We offer a discount if you reply by the deadline (usually a few weeks before the game). This helps us feel more confident about who is coming and what roles are filled so that we can allocate late-comers to teams which need making up to strength. A word about the roles allocated. In some cases the role may be quite vague, e.g. 'Jacobin' or 'Noble'. We don't specify this more exactly to help designers ensure they fill key roles on the day. It can cause a problem if we allocate exact roles and then player don't show on the day – designers are then faced with asking players to change roles at the last minute. Once we receive your acknowledgement letter and game fee the game list is updated and you'll be sent the briefing material for the game, usually two or three weeks before the game. After that all you have to do is turn up on the day and, hopefully, enjoy yourself! There is one final bit to the whole process. At the end of games we hand out a questionnaire which asks you for your opinion on various aspects of the game. We get very useful feedback both in terms of the ratings you've placed against each question and the additional comments, so we would ask you to please take the trouble to fill in the questionnaire and hand it back. |
PRICES FOR 2003 Megagames in 2003 will cost £20 for players, or £10 for game control (umpires) and the unwaged. Pre-PaymentPay the game fee in advance, by the specified deadline, and you pay only £15 if a player (or just £7.50 if game control/umpire or unwaged). First Game Discount
Group Booking Discount
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Napoleon in India By John Rutherford 17th May 2003 A game of intrigue, glory, betrayal and corruption set in late eighteenth-century India. Campaigns will be fought. The accumulation of vast personal wealth may be a key objective for many players. |
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The British East India Company is a major Power; from its base in Bengal its officers cajole, bribe and threaten their way to influence. You are a skilled soldier and you know the value of money….. vast fortunes are to be made. Will you ride jewelled elephants and hunt tigers, build a seraglio full of concubines skilled in the arts of love, or amass a fortune of silver rupees and return to England to a nabob’s palace, as did Robert Clive? Officers of King George’s army arrive in India to support British interests. You are tough and professional, but can you do as well as that ‘sepoy general’ - Arthur Wellesley? |
| Indian princes, nizams,
sultans and nabobs are influential in their own regions
but vary in wealth and power. You intrigue and
strike deals, and may plot endlessly against other
princes or the British, often with the help of French
mercenary captains. Or you may aim to amass gigantic
wealth and influence - and palaces, seraglios, elephants
and jewels - under British protection. ‘French’ mercenaries (some of other nationalities, but I am using ‘French’ as shorthand for ‘European and Decidedly Anti-British, especially in India!), some wild Republicans, others hard-bitten cynics, are everywhere they can see an opportunity for profit and mischief. They play a major role in helping Indian princes build European-style armies with which to thwart the perfidious English pigs STOP PRESS There are rumours that a French general – perhaps Buonaparte? - has sailed from Toulon with fifty thousand ravening Jacobin troops destined for the Orient and intent on emulating the Glory of Alexander the Great! British Panic! London will reinforce India from the Cape and the Navy will block the sea-routes to India! The stage is set. Players will be aware that as in all megagames, history will not necessarily repeat itself. |
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| Shameless
& Impudent Lords 2 By Nick Luft 14th June 2003 Game
Synopsis |
| The original game
was played in 1999 and ended in yet another messy
compromise between Henry VI and the Yorkists, with the
balance of power being taken by the non-aligned Lords. In
the sequel the players are placed in the middle of a
crisis with no option but to go for broke and risk all.
You need to trust your followers and fellow Lords: are
they loyal, what price will their loyalty cost? All former allegiances and loyalties can be re-negotiated. What prizes will you be offered to fight for the Lancastrians or to support the Yorkists? Will you take up arms to support one or the other before you know who will win? Greater prizes and even greater perils accompany the greater risk. Historical
Background |
| The Lords Each player takes on the role of a historical character, usual a Lord of the realm. Instead of teams there will be factions
Battles
and Campaigning |
"ALEA IACTA EST” - The Die is Cast By Richard Hands 22nd November 2003 60BC. The Republic of Rome has lasted for 450 years since the expulsion of King Tarquin the Proud, but with growing overseas commitments the republican system of government has grown increasingly unstable. The Republic has been in a state of perpetual crisis for forty years, with corruption rife both at home and abroad and military strongmen vying for the public support that will propel them to the top of the heap. These populares threaten the very existence of the Republic itself, but the optimates – the great and good of the Senate – have not yet found a way to tackle this threat that will not overturn the very system of government that has brought such rewards to the nobility that they represent. Indeed, Senate attempts to rein in the populares has merely driven them to pool their resources. As a result, the Senate now faces the threat from within of the Triumvirate, the self-styled “three-man government”, which has wedded Rome’s most popular man, Pompeius, Rome’s richest man, Crassus, and Rome’s most ambitious man, Julius Caesar, into one power bloc. But each of them knows that at the end of the day Rome is only big enough for one of them. Can the Republican senators, led by the wily Cicero and the idealistic young Cato, divide and conquer the Triumvirate or its hangers-on? Can the Triumvirate be placated and brought back on board? Or will it seize power, and if so, which, if any, of the three will rule the roost? Perhaps it will be none of these things – remember in reality it was Caesar’s adopted son Octavian who finally scrambled to the top as Emperor Augustus. Opportunity beckons for those who are bold enough to seize it with both hands. Alea Iacta Est is a megagame of the death throes of the Roman Republic. Covering a notional period of 15 years or so, it will focus on the power struggle within the Senate and the city for power and prestige. Most of the players will represent important Senators caught up in the annual round of elections, law-making and prosecutions, and, ably assisted by a small team of civil servants, attempting to administer the city and its Empire. However, while the bulk of the action will take place in the Senate House and the city of Rome, postings to the Provinces will allow Governors to make their fortunes and military reputations, while having to cope with both internal and external problems for their Province. Reflecting the complexity of Rome’s growing Empire and its intricate foreign policy dealings, small teams will also represent Rome’s neighbours; the equally unstable state of Egypt, where the dynasty of the Ptolemies is in its own terminal crisis - in which Rome is meddling; the might of the Parthian Empire, Rome’s only serious international rival; and the assorted petty kingdoms and barbarian tribes that represent both threats and opportunities for Rome and its various factions at the edge of Empire. |
ADMIN Acknowledgement Slips Megagame ID Number Telephone Messages Please do not say “Ring me on 123-4567”. This is unlikely to be answered. There are usually spare places available right up to the last minute so this will allow us a chance of getting a briefing or letter in the post immediately. Contact |
