A new darkages game has started for people who wish to give this game a test, this thread is for discussion of this game, if any of the new players have questions about the rules you can ask them here.

here is a very dumb question, what is the game about?!

diplomacy

Dark ages is set in ummm the dark ages. The map comprise England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland split up into about 100 areas with many cities. Sea travel is allowed and there are Viking raiders to be wary of.
The game itself is initially economic as you build up your population in the lowlands and cities for income but quickly turns into a free for all as powers start crowding into each other. The quest for more room to expand means you will need to choose who is going to be your enemy and who will be your ally to help. This is of course the diplomacy side and can change from turn to turn depending on current needs.  The first to become big and strong also becomes a target for raiders.  

sounds interesting, where do i sign up?

send an email to peter@pbmsports.com and ask if there is an open slot in the DA78, week 1 just ran so perfect time to jump in, and best of all its free if you use the website and get results by email.

Rulebooks here: http://www.sidetracks.co.uk/Rulebooks.html

Hmmm, there is a lot to get my head around in that rule book!  Will fire off an email now.

Hopefully I can start as the Scots, seeing as I am Scottish!  

Not sure if there are any dropouts yet, as it is only just started, but I wouldn't be surprised, and also if someone gets kicked in the butt early on they might pull out and let you come in as a new viking kingdom (norse or danes its all in the rules).

would anyone have an old game report they could send me, just so i can see what the game is all about?

I emailed you one of my DA74 reports and a map from that game that I made.

The game report has several sections
firstly the front page shows you each of the areas in your kingdom, it details what type of area it is (e.g. forest, sea, city etc) the number of population levels, fortifications armies or ships in the area, it also shows if the area costs you any money to maintain (ie if you have lots of armies in one area you have to ship supplies in there this is represented by being charged "maintainence". This page also tells you what areas your areas are adjacent to and what defensive paramater is set for each of them, (e.g. ambush, retreat etc)
The next page shows the areas you have scouted, these are mostly adjacent areas, or ones you have a spy in. Here you can see potential threeats on your borders and weak areas that you can expand your kingdom into.

At the bottom is the logistical status of your kingdom, how much money you have to spend, your army reserve, fleets, spy location, treasury etc

The next page shows a detailed rundown of each of the 16 actions you submited in the previous turn, so if you attacked an area this is where it will show how it all went, also other kingdoms actions that effect you, like an attack or a bribe or espionage will appear here.

one page shows a crude map for reference

one page shows the order in which each kingdom will act next turn, as well as a summary of their logistics, areas they own, reserves, treasury etc. Also their email contact so you can engage them diplomatically.

the next page shows a summary of everyones actions, but not everything shows here, just attacks, levies, reserves and things of that nature,

there is a message section that is occasionally used to make proclaimations to certain people, used less in these days of email

then there is lots of messages fromthe GM under this, rules changes, advice and so on.

seems daunting but its all very simple once you understand the basics like population, armies, forts and attacks.

Quote :

Alex wrote : seems daunting but its all very simple once you understand the basics like population, armies, forts and attacks.

sure was.  just trying to get my head around it!

the map is split into areas
areas can contain population, forts and armies
population creates income
areas have a population limit
income is spent increasing population, and creating forts and armies.

easy,

to increase your income you need more population, you do this by growing to your maximum possible population level in each area.
after this to increase your income you will have to get more areas, this requires war- that is what the armies are for.
People might try to take your lands, this is what forts are for, and also armies.