Victory! The Battle for Europe

Last updated

Victory! The Battle for Europe
Victory play-by-mail game title image.jpg
Title image
PublishersRolling Thunder Games, Inc.
Publication1991;32 years ago (1991)
Genres Military strategy, play-by-mail
LanguagesEnglish
Players40
Playing time3 years (regular game)
Materials requiredInstructions, order sheets, turn results, paper, pencil
Media type Play-by-mail or email
Website http://www.rollingthunder.com/OurGames.htm#victory

Victory! The Battle for Europe is a closed-end, military strategy, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame. The game was first published by Rolling Thunder Games, Inc. in 1991 after a period of initial growth in the PBM industry. The game centers on Europe while including parts of North Africa, the Middle East, the United States, and Canada. Forty players start each game with equal resources among countries, although geography causes differences between starting positions. Games last for about three years each. The game received positive reviews and rankings in the PBM magazine Paper Mayhem in the 1990s, including tying for second place in its Best PBM Game of 1995 list.

Contents

Play-by-mail genre

Example turn 1 order sheet for the Border Kingdom Example command sheet for a turn in the game Hyborian War with the Border Kingdom, Version 2.gif
Example turn 1 order sheet for the Border Kingdom

Play-by-mail (PBM) games feature a number of differences from tabletop games. The typical PBM game involves many more players than an average tabletop game can support. [1] [lower-alpha 1] PBM game lengths are usually longer, depending on a number of factors. Turnaround time is how long a player has to prepare and submit "orders" (moves and changes to make in the game) and the company has to process them and send back turn results. [3] The average turnaround time in the 1980s was two weeks, but some modern PBM games are play-by-email (PBEM) with shorter turnaround times of twice per week or faster. [4] [lower-alpha 2] Open ended games allow players to strengthen their positions without end, with players continually entering and leaving the game. Examples include Heroic Fantasy and Monster Island. [5] Conversely, closed end games typically have all players starting on equal terms, with rapid, intense, player vs. player gameplay that ends when a player or group achieves some victory condition or is unopposed. [6] Examples include Hyborian War and It's a Crime . [7] The complexity of PBM games can range from the relatively simple to the PBM game Empyrean Challenge , once described as "the most complex game system on Earth". [8] [lower-alpha 3]

Once a player has chosen a game and receives an initial game setup, gameplay begins. This generally involves players filling out order sheets for a game (see example image) and sending them to the gaming company. [3] The company processes the turns and returns the results to the player, who completes a subsequent order sheet. [3] Diplomacy is also frequently an important—sometimes indispensable—part of gameplay. [10] The initial choice of a PBM game requires consideration as there is a wide array of possible roles to play, from pirates to space characters to "previously unknown creatures". [11] Close identification with a role typically increases a player's game satisfaction. [6] [lower-alpha 4]

History

Some games have long been played by mail between two players, such as chess and Go. [12] PBM play of Diplomacy —a multiplayer game—began in 1963. [13] The emergence of the professional PBM industry occurred less than a decade later. Rick Loomis, "generally recognized as the founder of the PBM industry", [14] accomplished this by launching Flying Buffalo Inc. and his first PBM game, Nuclear Destruction , in 1970. [12] Professional game moderation started in 1971 at Flying Buffalo. [15] [lower-alpha 5] Chris Harvey started commercial PBM play afterward in the United Kingdom with a company called ICBM through an agreement with Loomis and Flying Buffalo. [16] ICBM, followed by KJC games and Mitregames, led the UK PBM industry. [17] For approximately five years, Flying Buffalo was the single dominant company in the US PBM industry until Schubel & Son entered the field in about 1976 with the human-moderated The Tribes of Crane . [15] Superior Simulations was the next significant PBM company to enter the US market. They did so in 1978 with the game Empyrean Challenge . [15]

The early 1980s saw additional growth for PBM. The player base grew and game moderators were plentiful. [18] The PBM industry in 1980 comprised two large companies and some small ones. [19] The most popular games in 1980 were Starweb and Tribes of Crane. [19] In 1981, some PBM players launched another company, Adventures by Mail, with the "immensely popular" Beyond the Stellar Empire . [15] [lower-alpha 6]

The proliferation of PBM companies in the 1980s supported the publication of a number of newsletters from individual play-by-mail companies as well as independent publications which focused solely on the play-by-mail gaming industry such as the relatively short-lived The Nuts & Bolts of PBM and Gaming Universal . The PBM genre's two preeminent magazines of the period were Flagship and Paper Mayhem . [20]

The 1990s brought additional changes to the PBM world. For example, in the early 1990s, email became an option to transmit turn orders and results. [21] It was in this environment that Victory! The Battle for Europe launched.

Description and gameplay

Final map from Game 87 of Victory! Image of a wargame map of Europe.jpg
Final map from Game 87 of Victory!

Rolling Thunder Games, Inc. announced the game's launch in the September–October 1991 issue of Paper Mayhem magazine. [22] [lower-alpha 7] It is a closed-end play-by-mail wargame. [23] Game turns are on a 15 or 21-day turnaround schedule. [24]

Forty players begin each game of Victory! with a starting year of 1939. [25] The game centers on Europe while including North Africa, the Middle East, the United States, and Canada. [26] Each player begins with equal resources, money and factories. [27] However, geography creates differences in starting positions to include country size and number of bordering countries, and terrain considerations. [27] Players can choose a technology suite for their air, ground, and naval forces that are preselected (for the American, British, German, and Russian technology) or manually select technology for their forces for other countries. [28]

Players also have Fixed Defense Units available to array including Local Defense Battalions, Light and Heavy Anti-Aircraft Batteries, Security units, and Special Operations Units: (Rangers). [29] Fortifications for provinces and cities are also available for defense. [23] Special Commanders and Training Programs are additional factors players can employ, the former to influence the success of operations, for example, and the latter to increase the effectiveness of units. [23] Players must also manage their economies carefully during gameplay. [23] Diplomacy plays a significant role during gameplay, although there is a privacy option to prevent contact with a player. [30] Aggressive play is rewarded. [23]

"A game of Victory takes a long time to play. You can start in Northern Russia and end the game battling for the city of Gibraltar."

— Ray Andrews. Paper Mayhem, March–April 1998. [31]

Players work toward victory conditions during the game. [32] The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner. [32] According to the publisher, "success in the game is achieved as a result of survival through manifest destiny." [33] Games can last up to 73 turns. [23] Games last for 1,095 days, or three years each. [32] [lower-alpha 8]

Reception

Donald J. Lund, the organizer of the PBM Player's Guild of the period, reviewed Victory! in the July–August 1991 issue of Paper Mayhem while playing in Game No. 1. Although he suggested "more glitter" for the maps and more photos in the rulebook, he stated that "this game and company are quality". [35] In the September–October 1991 issue of Paper Mayhem, Victory! placed No. 1 out of 82 games in its PBM Game ratings list. [36] The game tied for No. 2 in Paper Mayhem's Best PBM Games of 1995. [37] [lower-alpha 9] Allen Viduka reviewed the game in the May–June 1996 issue of Paper Mayhem magazine, stating that "this game is one of the finest on the market today". [38] In the same issue, Victory! scored No. 2 out of 42 PBM games as rated by its readers with a rating of 8.267 out of 9. [39]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ For example, the PBM game It's a Crime can accommodate 110 players per game. [2]
  2. ↑ For example, the PBM game Covert Operations allows twice-per-week moves, daily moves, and private games where players can specify turn around times. [4]
  3. ↑ Vern Holford, owner of Superior Simulations, developed Empyrean Challenge , a PBM game that reviewer Jim Townsend described in 1988 as "the most complex game system on Earth" with some turn results for large positions at 1,000 pages in length. [9] According to Townsend, in those cases there was a significant investment in time to understand what happened on a turn as well as to fill out future turn orders. [9] He said a player without a spreadsheet was "nearly doomed from the outset". [9]
  4. ↑ This section is taken from the Play-by-mail genre section of the Hyborian War Wikipedia article.
  5. ↑ Flying Buffalo later added games such as Battleplan and Heroic Fantasy along with Starweb and others. By the late 1980s these games were all computer moderated. [15]
  6. ↑ This section draws from portions of the History section of the Wikipedia Play-by-mail game article.
  7. ↑ Rolling Thunder Games stated that it had its first three regular speed games underway in the same issue.
  8. ↑ Although the rules state three years exactly, Rolling Thunder Games notes that a regular-paced game can last for "about three years". [34]
  9. ↑ Victory! tied with Legends for the No. 2 spot. with Adventurers Guild placing 1st.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Play-by-mail game</span> Games played through postal mail, email or other digital media

A play-by-mail game is a game played through postal mail, email or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go were among the first PBM games. Diplomacy has been played by mail since 1963, introducing a multi-player aspect to PBM games. Flying Buffalo Inc. pioneered the first commercially available PBM game in 1970. A small number of PBM companies followed in the 1970s, with an explosion of hundreds of startup PBM companies in the 1980s at the peak of PBM gaming popularity, many of them small hobby companies—more than 90 percent of which eventually folded. A number of independent PBM magazines also started in the 1980s, including The Nuts & Bolts of PBM, Gaming Universal, Paper Mayhem and Flagship. These magazines eventually went out of print, replaced in the 21st century by the online PBM journal Suspense and Decision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flying Buffalo</span> Role-playing game publisher

Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with Nuclear Destruction, a play-by-mail game which started the professional PBM industry in the United States. Loomis added games and players while introducing computer moderation and soon incorporated into the company Flying Buffalo Inc. The company published games in other genres, including card games such as Nuclear War and a role playing game called Tunnels & Trolls, a game similar to Dungeons & Dragons. Flying Buffalo acquired its 10,000th customer account number in 1980 and reached its largest size of 21 employees in 1983.

Starweb is a closed-end, space-based, play-by-mail (PBM) game. First published by Flying Buffalo Inc. in 1976, it was the company's second PBM game after Nuclear Destruction, the game that started the PBM industry in 1970. Players today can choose a postal mail or email format. Fifteen players per game assume one of six available roles and explore and conquer planets within a universe comprising 225 worlds. The object of the game is to attain a predetermined number of points which are generated by various actions during gameplay. Multiple game variants are available. Starweb is still available for play as of 2021 through the company Rick Loomis PBM Games.

<i>Legends</i> (play-by-mail game) Role-playing game with a medieval setting

Legends is a turn-based, role-playing game with a medieval setting. It is currently published in English by Harlequin Games. Jim Landes—owner of Midnight Games, the game's first publisher—began developing the game in 1984, eventually publishing it in December 1989 as a play-by-mail (PBM) game after over a year of playtesting. The initial game comprised a module and game system built on the publisher's existing game, Epic, and was run briefly as Swords of Pelarn before publication as Legends. The first of multiple game modules was Crown of Avalon, which allowed up to 200 players per game. Demand by 1991 was "incredible" according to Bruce R. Daniel in White Wolf. Games could be lengthy, initially between three and ten years of play, settling into an average of three years by 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Loomis</span> American game designer (1946–2019)

Rick Loomis was an American game designer, most notable as the founder of game publisher Flying Buffalo, which he managed until his death.

<i>Heroic Fantasy</i> Play-by-mail fantasy game

Heroic Fantasy is a computer-moderated, dungeon crawl play-by-mail game. It has been active since 1982 when it was published by Flying Buffalo. The initial edition involved nine dungeon levels. Flying Buffalo published subsequent editions due to challenging gameplay initially, eventually limiting the game to four dungeon levels with a fifth outdoors level where players can assemble an army and capture one or more castles. The game is open-ended; gameplay continues until players decide to stop.

<i>Gaming Universal</i> Play-by-mail game magazine

Gaming Universal was a magazine dedicated to play-by-mail games. The magazine was published between 1983 and 1988, in two separate print runs with Bob McLain as editor of both editions. Its first print run was published by Imagascape Industries between November 1983 and 1985. The first issue was called PBM Universal, with a name change by the second issue. The second edition ran between 1987 and 1988, published by Aftershock Publishing. The magazine received average to positive reviews from other magazine editors and reviewers.

<i>Hyborian War</i> Fantasy role-playing game

Hyborian War is a play-by-mail game published by Reality Simulations, Inc. It takes place during the Hyborian Age in the world of Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. The game has been continuously available for worldwide play since its inception in 1985 and has changed little in its overall format. It uses a computer program to adjudicate player orders. Although it relies on postal mail or email and has turnaround times which are relatively long for the digital age of video games, Hyborian War has remained active into the 21st century.

Illuminati is a computer-moderated play-by-mail game published by Flying Buffalo Inc. It is based on the Illuminati card game by Steve Jackson Games. It was originally owned by Adventure Systems but transitioned to Flying Buffalo Inc in 1986. The game's central focus is on conspiracy and intrigue and involved 24 players playing either by email or by mail in turns processed simultaneously by computer. Illuminati has won the Origins Award for Best Play-By-Mail Game seven times, once in 1985 and six times in the 1990s, and was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in 1997.

Midgard is an open-end, medieval fantasy play-by-mail game. It was published in 1984 by Time Space Simulations. Through 1996, the game passed through more than four different publishers, including Midgard USA. As of 2022, Talisman Games is the publisher. At initial publication, Midgard was computer moderated with partial human moderation.

CTF 2187 is a closed-end, computer-moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) game that was published by Advanced Gaming Enterprises in the 1980s. It involved teams of robots, of varying size and capabilities, battling on a hex-grid arena with the purpose of defeating the opposing team or their command post. Players assumed the role of a battle robot pilot. The game was tactically-focused, with combat action beginning on the first turn. Games lasted 5–10 turns, or about six months. Players began at the rank of cadet but could spend experience points earned from a completed game to increase in rank for future games, up to the rank of General.

Monster Island is a play-by-mail (PBM) role-playing game. It was initially published by Adventures By Mail in Cohoes, New York. Jack Everitt, the game designer, came up with the idea for the game in 1985. The game, which was open-ended and computer moderated, was active by 1989, expanded rapidly in North America, and within a few years had spread to Great Britain and Germany. By 1997 it was one of the longest-running PBM games. The game is currently moderated by the UK-based KJC Games.

Beyond the Stellar Empire is a play-by-email (PBM) game. Originally published by Adventures By Mail, BSE was an open-ended "space opera" with a single available game that began in playtesting in 1981. According to Stephen Marte, during the mid-1980s, like "Tribes of Crane and Midgard, BSE [was] the stomping ground of many of PBM's best power gamers". The game had two variants, one monitored by Game Masters who imposed artificial constraints, and another without constraints. Gameplay took place on a vast space stage where mega-corporations formed the dominant organizing framework, alongside various other groups that players could join to pursue tasks to advance, collaborate with other players, and progress to more senior positions such as space colony governors. Beyond the Stellar Empire placed #5 and #11 for Best PBM Game of the Year in 1987 and 1988, respectively, in Paper Mayhem, a magazine for play-by-mail games. In subsequent years, the game did not score well in Paper Mayhem reader ratings for playability, use, and product understanding. Beyond the Stellar Empire: The New System won the Origins Award for Best New Play-By-Mail Game of 1989.

It's a Crime is a play-by-mail (PBM) game initially published by Adventures By Mail in September 1985. On publication, it was an introductory PBM game that took place in New York City in the 1990s where players attempted to raise a gang leader to the position of Godfather. During its initial decade, gameplay was technically simple at the outset, but added additional possible turn orders if players progressed to higher levels such as "mob boss". The coordination and diplomacy among players added additional complexity to the game. The game won the Origins Award in 1986 for the Best New Play-By-Mail Game of 1986 and a second Origins Award for Best Play-by-Mail Game of 1989.

<i>Nuclear Destruction</i> Play-by-mail nuclear war game

Nuclear Destruction is a play-by-mail (PBM) game. It was published by Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo Inc. in 1970. As the first professional PBM game, it started the commercial PBM industry. Offered by postal mail initially, the game is available by email as well in the 21st century. Active for 53 years, as of October 2021, Rick Loomis PBM Games publishes the game. Players use strategic missiles, factories, money, and other elements of gameplay with a focus on diplomacy to win by becoming the sole survivor.

Lords of the Earth (LOTE) is a play-by-email game, first published by Thomas Harlan in 1983 during a growing era of PBM games. Initially played by postal mail, the game featured mixed moderation—computer moderated with some human assistance. By 2002, the publisher processed turns by email (PBeM). Lords of the Earth comprises multiple campaigns, each one a separate game. Campaign 1 is the oldest, set in the mid-1800s in the "Age of Air and Steam". Other campaigns begin from 2000 BCE to 1400 CE. Settings were global in scale, with one campaign featuring an outer space setting.

<i>Battle Plan</i> Play-by-mail wargame

Battle Plan is a closed-end, military strategy, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame. It was first published by Flying Buffalo Inc. in 1972, as one of the company's game offerings after Nuclear Destruction, the game that started the PBM industry in 1970. In August 2021, Rick Loomis PBM Games began publishing the game.

<i>Galac-Tac</i> Play-by-mail space exploration game

Galac-Tac is a closed-end, science fiction, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame. It was first published by Phoenix Publications in 1982. By 1990, the publisher had changed its name to Delta Games, and then later to Talisman Games. In 2010, Talisman Games changed ownership and transitioned Galac-Tac to a web-based game. It is still available for play by postal mail or email for those with web access challenges. The game has been updated as well as reviewed multiple times in its 40 years of active play. Various reviews in the 1980s and 1990s provided both positive and negative comments as well as potential areas for the game to improve. The game has been featured numerous times in the modern PBM magazine, Suspense & Decision.

<i>Quest</i> (game) Play-by-mail fantasy game

Quest is an open-end, fantasy, play-by-mail (PBM) role-playing game. Initially released in the United Kingdom in 1991, by Adventures by Mail, it later became available for play in the United States, Australia, and other countries in Europe. The game has a First and Second Age, initially comprising about twenty worlds of up to 1,000 parties controlled by players. After the year 2000, the worlds consolidated into four. The current publisher is KJC Games.

References

  1. ↑ Greenberg 1993 pp. 8–9.
  2. ↑ KJC Games 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Paper Mayhem Jan/Feb 1993 p. 1.
  4. 1 2 Flying Buffalo 2020.
  5. ↑ Townsend 1987 p. 24; DuBois 1997 p. 4.
  6. 1 2 John Kevin Loth III 1986 p. 42; Paper Mayhem Jan/Feb 1993 p. 1.
  7. ↑ Lindahl 2020.
  8. ↑ John Kevin Loth III 1986 p. 42; Townsend 1988 p. 20.
  9. 1 2 3 Townsend 1988 p. 20.
  10. ↑ Townsend 1987 p. 29; Mouchet 2017 p. 11.
  11. ↑ John Kevin Loth III 1986 pp. 42–43.
  12. 1 2 McLain 1993.
  13. ↑ Babcock 2013. p. 16.
  14. ↑ The Editors 1985. p. 35.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Townsend 1988. p. 20.
  16. ↑ Harvey 2003. p. 26; Palmer 2003. p. 4.
  17. ↑ Palmer 2003. p. 4.
  18. ↑ Harvey 1984. p. 21; The Space Gamer 1980. p. 13.
  19. 1 2 Popolizio, Leblanc, and Popolizio 1990. p. 8.
  20. ↑ Paduch 1993. p. RC21.
  21. ↑ Paduch 1993 p. 2
  22. ↑ Paper Mayhem 1991. p. 31.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andrews 1998. p. 20.
  24. ↑ Rolling Thunder Games, Inc. 2022.
  25. ↑ Andrews 1998. pp. 16–17.
  26. ↑ Rolling Thunder Games, Inc. 2022.
  27. 1 2 Andrews 1998. p. 16.
  28. ↑ Andrews 1998. p. 17.
  29. ↑ Andrews 1998. pp. 18–19.
  30. ↑ Viduka 1997. p. 10.
  31. ↑ Andrews 1998. p. 18.
  32. 1 2 3 Rolling Thunder Games, Inc. 2022.
  33. ↑ Rolling Thunder Games, Inc. 1992. p. 28.
  34. ↑ Rolling Thunder Games, Inc. 2022.
  35. ↑ Lund 1991. p. 28.
  36. ↑ Paper Mayhem 1991. pp. 54–55.
  37. ↑ Paper Mayhem 1996. p. 2.
  38. ↑ Viduka 1996. p. 4.
  39. ↑ Paper Mayhem 1996. p. 29.

Bibliography

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.