My Approach to Turn Arrival

Yah, a Turn has arrived!

Open PDF of newspaper. Skim it all once. Try to focus. Note the particularly exciting bits. Open Turn, check to see if I've screwed myself somehow, and check on results and hope for a research breakthrough. Income turns are my favorites. So many possibilities!

Back to Newspaper. Read it more slowly this time. Wonder what the heck is going on for some other people, like why are there swedish nobles in Greece? Who is trying to kill the Grand Vizier? Why? Realize I'm never going to know and move on.

Open a word document with my next draft turn in it.

Write the obvious follow-on orders to the stuff that appeared in this turn. Ask more questions. Create more 'brilliant' ideas to rule the world. Look up to realize that some hours have passed in my deranged revelry. Look down to see that this turn will cost a small fortune to process.

Open up another word document for the turn after this one. Begin the process of cutting and pasting orders for things that can be put off into that document to par down the current turn to merely unwieldy status. Realize that this process is part of why the current turn is already too long. Rational mind fails to persuade game-player mind that maybe we should cut more brutally.

Look at the order ideas that I've carried over for several turns and haven't made it into my orders. Decide which ones, having failed to make the cut for several months are just going to be dumped into the ashbin of "great ideas that I am not rich enough to pursue". Stop to consider how wonderful it would be to win the lottery.

Edit the turn on and off for days. More great ideas occur, and the turn after document starts really filling up.

Finally decide that sanity requires I be done, so I send the turn in. Sometimes I can't let go and send in a revised turn the day after.

Begin the wait to start the insane cycle all over again.

Occasionally open up the draft turn and put more 'brilliant' ideas in it.

Have you been watching me doing my turns?

Jason wrote:Have you been watching me doing my turns?

I'm thinking of taking up illegal drugs. I think it might be cheaper... and better for my sanity.  

Deacon wrote:

Jason wrote:Have you been watching me doing my turns?

I'm thinking of taking up illegal drugs.  I think it might be cheaper... and better for my sanity.  

Why not combine the two?.........write orders to agema while under the influence?

Mind you to judge from some of the orders we have seen esp in scrabble you have to wonder what some players were being influenced by when they wrote said orders and also why some of them seem to know so much about the Opium Trade.

If my economic position changes, I will have to try out scramble.

I may have to take the Bavarian illuminati!

My approach is... Receive turn by email. Set the turn results to print and meanwhile on-screen scan the front page and my Honour and EH scores. Then scan through the Newspaper on-screen with the usual interest(s). Maybe a little later (or not) - check the printed results against my previous turn's orders on-screen, just to make sure nothing's gone awry (and also to remind me of my general "plans"). In the same process I'm high-lighting (physically, with a high-lighter) the bits in the turn results that will need something doing (this turn or further in the future). Go away for a while and mull over the position and what I want to do. Come back and load-up the previous turn's orders, save them into a new folder under this turn's date/title, and then work through them, editing in accordance with high-lighter and pencil-jotted notes on the print-out. Go through the basics first (training, pre-planned movements etc.), then adding twiddly-bits. Go away and mull a bit longer. Come back and fiddle/adjust. Finally write any diplomatic messages/press releases. Go away and mull a bit longer. Come back and fiddle/adjust. When eventually content after further mulling that it's as much as I want to do this turn, bite the bullet and email away. All this while consulting on-screen Newspaper(s), various rules and rule-supplements, and my own physical folder of past turn front-pages, financial statements and chaotic notes on names and dates and wilder/longer-term ideas. Breathe sigh of relief. Start to anticipate...

Deacon wrote:
If my economic position changes, I will have to try out scramble.  

I may have to take the Bavarian illuminati!

For info scramble is a cheap game to play since you only have 12 characters who can be used to action orders such as a) Move to X b) Build Railways in province Y c) Steal Maxim Machine Gun plans from Z d) Assassinate the 50 men who deserted the Poype Mountain Flamethrower Corps.

You may also wish to use an order to put an "article" in the paper or invest in a trade zone.

In theory you can give a character more than one order but unless they are clearly linked such as move & attack or move & build railways you are unlikely to manage move than one order.  But in my experience you probably will not use several characters on any given turn and 8-12 orders on one side of A4 is fine.

Then of course you have the players who send in a simple order "Admiral B raises X6 Ironclads at Port D" and have to also specify the Ships Name, make of Guns, who manufactured the boilers etc, etc, probably down to the name of the Ship's cat!  Probably with architect's drawing's and photo's attached.

The key point is that unlike Gloire were I think being willing to spend money on extra order can bring an advantage spending extra on scrabble is purely about "guilding the lilly" and bring's no advantage.  But for some such "guilding" seems to be the most fun part of the game.

In this aspect the game scrabble seems to have something in common with is "En Guarde" another game with basic and simple rules which take no account of uniforms etc.  So of course the Army of Sima now has to have Jade Green Uniforms and Tricorn Hats!
Parties, Gentlemen's Clubs and mistresses also seem to be creeping into Scrabble.

I await the first daul with interest!