The Cold Equations

This is the fourth postal (PBM/PBeM) game of Star Trader GMed by Mike Dommett and published by Pevans in my postal games 'zine, To Win Just Once. This is the web version of the turn. Follow the link for an introduction to Star Trader.

Turn 12

Previous reports: Turn 11 Turn 10 Turn 9 Turn 8 Turn 7 Turn 6 Turn 5 Turn 4 Turn 3 Turn 2 Turn 1 Start-up

Sections: Report, Corporations Table, Press, GM Notes, Star map (separate page) PDF map (22k)

The Flute hull bobbed on the water. Even from a distance the damage to the hull was visible and the patching was obviously temporary even now.
But the pods were undamaged, and the hover tanks were driven across the calm waters from the shore into the open ports.
Sat on the beach, the EON FLASHCORP Captain raised a glass to the short military figure opposite: “To big deals and good landings.”

Trading started at Epsilon Eridani, where MONOGRAM sold 2 units of Alloys for 5 HTs each. MONOGRAM also sold Spice: 9 units at 14 HTs apiece to gain a Dealership. ARCHANGEL sold 7 Isotopes for 4 HTs each and HOUSTON FEARLESS sold 5 on Contracts. EON FLASHCORP also gained a Dealership, selling 12 Monopoles at 15 HTs each.

GATES LEARJET sold 8 units of Isotopes at Mu Herculis for 10 HTs each, after which HOUSTON sold 5 on contract. Monopoles were bought by MONOGRAM: 12 units for 13 HTs apiece to become Contractors. EON FLASHCORP and HOUSTON FEARLESS bought 5 Monopoles each on Contract.

At Sigma Draconis HOUSTON undercut MONOGRAM, buying 8 Isotopes for 2 HTs apiece to shut out their competitor. ARCHANGEL gained a Dealership in Spice by buying 21 Spice for 11 HTs each. HOUSTON lost out this time, having only bid 10 HTs to buy.

Beta Hydri saw HOUSTON selling 4 Isotopes at 1 HT and MONOGRAM selling 2 Monopoles on Contract.

ARCHANGEL enjoyed their excursion into trading and then took on their 40 passenger groups. A new Cargo pod went into the Sigma Draconis Warehouse and new Warehouses were bought at Beta Hydri and Epsilon Eridani. They then upgraded the crews on Asmodai and Azazel to A class.

EON FLASHCORP took 4 units of Weapons on Epsilon Eridani on Planet. It was noticed that both of their ships that landed in Spaceports immediately docked into a safe berth – obviously concerned about further sabotage attacks. They also bought a Warehouse at Epsilon Eridani.

HOUSTON FEARLESS loaded two passengers for Tau Ceti at Gamma Leporis. OP 9 was delivered for 150 HTs paid into the Corporation coffers. The Isotope Factory at Sigma Draconis went under the hammer. Ur- Silver swopped Light Weapons for Cargo pods, receiving a poor price for the armed pods. A new Phoenix Hull, Ur-Iridium, was laid down at Tau Ceti with A crew, Augmented Jump and 6 Cargo pods.

Two new ships were laid down for MONOGRAM at Gamma Leporis and Tau Ceti Shipyards, with Augmented Jump and A class crews. They will be launched next Quarter.

MCRADIE’s boasting and threats were notable by their absence!

Corporations Table

Corporation letter & name		Conn'n Levels Bus/Crim/Pol			Init Bid	Turn Order	Cash	Rep'n	Player
A	Archangel Lines	5	0	2	0	5th	147	34	Jerry Elsmore
B	Eon Flashcorp	7	9	9	0	3rd	421	40	Paul Evans
D	Gates-Learjet	9	6	5	0	4th	169	29	Dominic Howlett
E	McRadie’s Crew	5	10	0	N	6th	39	0	Martin Jennings
F	Monogram Industries	10	0	7	5+5	2nd	186	40	Michael Martinkat
G	Houston Fearless	10	0	5	20	1st	487	40	Przemyslaw Orwat
H	GamLepCo	5	0	4	N	7th	134	26	Player wanted
'N' under Initiative Bid indicates No Move Received; ‘F’ indicates the Corp was floated

GM Notes

Note the long deadline, due to Mike’s holiday.

A replacement player for GamLepCo would be welcome—it’s a chance to learn the game.

Eon Flashcorp took OP 23 this turn.

There are four new News chits this turn (in bold):
Turn 14 C3, P8, B3
Turn 15 P8