Icehenge
Star Trader game 5
This is the fifth postal (PBM/PBeM) game of Star Trader GMed by Mike Dommett and published by Pevans in my games magazine, To Win Just Once. This is the web version of the turn. Follow the link for an introduction to Star Trader.
Previous reports: Turn 16 Turn 15 Turn 14 Turn 13 Turn 12 Turn 11 Turn 10 Turn 9 Turn 8 Turn 7 Turn 6 Turn 5 Turn 4 Turn 3 Turn 2 Turn 1 Start-up
Turn 17
Sections: Report, Corporation Table, News, Press, GM Notes, Star map (separate page) PDF map (118k)
The Federal Auditors landed by drop ship in the yards of the CAESAR WHOLESALE INC offices all over the system. The lack of warning - there had been no tip offs - meant that their systems were open to inspection. With the forced removal of the head of Federal Revenues, there was no longer the option of wining and dining Mr Hartnett and having him agree fractions of the dues owed in return for future employment.
It was clear that some Corporations had seen the Federal Audit coming, and had made plans to remedy any Reputation loss, and that others had not. The big surprise of the Quarter was not the uneven distribution of loss, but the complete withdrawal of TEGWIN TRUCKERS by its Parent Corporation. Everything has gone and there were hordes of concerned passengers wandering the departure lounges once it was realised that this wasn't a precautionary measure as a result of Pirate attacks, but a Corporation decision.
Beta Hydri saw SOLAR SPICE & LIQUORS selling 5 Spice on Contract. MU HERCULIS sold 5 Petroleum and 5 Monopoles on Contract. LISPING TREE also sold Monopoles on Contract. TRANSURANIC sold 12 Monopoles at 8 HTs each and gained a Dealership. PERF also became dealers, selling 10 Alloys for 9 HTs apiece.
MU HERCULIS were also selling Spice on Contract at Alpha Centauri. LISPING TREE sold 5 Monopoles on Contract as SOLAR SPICE & LIQUORS sold 12 Monopoles for 9 HTs each and gained a Dealership. SSL and TRANSURANIC wanted to sell Liquors, but PERF undercut them and sold 15 for 3 HTs each and a Contractor's position. CAESAR WHOLESALE sold 4 more on Contract.
BULGAKOV LINES sold 2 Petroleum for 6 HTs each at Sigma Draconis and then 1 Spice for 4 HTs. SOLAR SPICE & LIQUORS bought 5 Spice on Contract and sold 2 Monopoles on Contract. PUM CORP bought 5 Isotopes on Contract as the price stayed low.
Markets were busy at Mu Herculis. SUNDOG sold 8 Alloys for 13 HTs each and became Contractors. Isotopes were being sold, too: 5 by MU HERCULIS at 5 HTs each, 1 by LISPING TREE at the same price. PUM CORP then bought 2 on Contract. TRANSURANNIC sold 1 Liquor for 10 HTs and CAESAR WHOLESALE and SOLAR SPICE & LIQUORS both sold 5 on Contract. PUM CORP sold 10 Monopoles at 7 HTs each and took a Contractorship, while LISPING TREE and MU HERCULIS both sold 5 on Contract. Lastly here, PUM CORP bought Petroleum on Contract.
MU HERCULIS sold 5 Alloys on Contract at Tau Ceti. PUM CORP bought 12 Isotopes for 4 HTs each and became Contractors. LISPING TREE sold 4 Petroleum for 5 HTs each, JANET sold 1 for the same price and PUM CORP bought 5 on Contract.
Delta Toucanis saw SUNDOG selling 8 Isotopes for 5 HTs each with LISPING TREE and PUM CORP both unable to sell. PUM CORP did buy 12 Petroleum for 4 HTs apiece to take a Contractor's position. SUNDOG sold 6 Petroleum for 1 HT apiece and MU HERCULIS bought 5 on Contract.
BULGAKOV sold 9 Monopoles for 9 HTs each at Epsilon Eridani and were made Dealers. They then sold 8 Isotopes for 6 HTs each and were made Dealers in this commodity too. JANET sold 5 more on Contract and sold 5 Petroleum on Contract. Then BULGAKOV sold 4 Spice for 6 HTs each for a successful Quarter's trading for the Monarch-hulled company.
Finally, at Gamma Leporis CAESAR WHOLESALE bought itself 5 Alloys using its existing Contracts.
MU HERCULIS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION spent a large amount of HectoTrans to be first to take the rare earths, OP 39, at Gamma Leporis. The Corporation's Reputation was increased, but not by very much considering that they had managed to pay off their loan to the bankers and had decided not to roll their finances over into another one.
LISPING TREE had hoped to take the rare earths, but had paid less to ensure an early get away and arrived too late at Gamma Leporis.
SWISS MERCENARY FLEET loaded OP 23, taking 6 units of Weapons on board on planet at Epsilon Eridani. To deflect criticism, they improved their Political Connections.
SUNDOG increased their Reputation and also attempted to legalise their captured hull, but failed.
JANET loaded passengers to her ships, as did TRANSURANIC TRADE CORPORATION.
PUM CORP's plans ran into the buffers. Having bought many goods in successful trading this Quarter, it could only equip the new ship, PUM5, on its launch with an A class crew, Augmented Jump and a single cargo pod.
PERF increased its Political Connections, having considered and turned down the opportunity of buying Factories.
SOLAR SPICE & LIQUORS sold OP 41, 7 units of Tempus for the top rate, collecting nearly 500 HTs, mostly due to Agent Willy's efforts. Despite this involvement in illegal trading, SSL still managed to increase their Reputation almost back to its starting level. They sold their Dagger Hull at Mu Herculis at 90% of list price, which may not amuse them so much.
Corporation Table
| Corporation letter & name | Conn'n Levels Bus/Crim/Pol |
Init Bid |
Turn Order |
Cash | Rep'n | Player | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Bulgakov Lines | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7th | 329 | 30 | Andrew Burgess |
| B | Caesar Wholesale Inc | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6th | 865 | 29 | Simon Burling |
| C | Just Another New Energy Trader | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 5th | 505 | 34 | Mark Cowper |
| D | Sundog | 10 | 1 | 4 | 0+6 | 4th | 681 | 38 | Mike Dyer |
| E | Tegwin Truckers | 10 | 1 | 9 | NMR | 599 | 32 | Jerry Elsmore | |
| F | Solar Spice & Liquors | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 11th | 1114 | 39 | Paul Evans |
| G | PERF | 10 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 10th | 831 | 40 | Witold Gertruda |
| H | Cigarettes, Wine and Wild Women | 8 | 2 | 0 | NMR | 415 | 20 | ||
| J | Swiss Mercenary Fleet | 9 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 3rd | 484 | 40 | Martin Jennings |
| K | Astradyne Enterprises | 1 | 0 | 7 | NMR | 80 | 27 | ||
| L | Lisping Tree | 10 | 8 | 5 | 15+4 | 2nd | 716 | 30 | Michael Martinkat |
| M | Mu Herculis Dev't | 10 | 1 | 7 | 30 | 1st | 295 | 28 | Przemyslaw Orwat |
| N | Pum Corp | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9th | 40 | 40 | Paul Holman |
| P | Transuranic Trade Co | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8th | 950 | 36 | Bob Parkins |
| 'NMR' under Initiative Bid indicates No Move Received; âFâ indicates the Corp was floated | |||||||||
Press
Is this a Dagger I see before me? Or have I just sold it? Pevans van Rijn
News
Three new News chits were drawn this turn. Current News chits (new ones in bold) are:
Turn 18 P6
Turn 19 P5, C5
Turn 20 B7
Turn 21 P6, C6
GM Notes
If you are buying or selling on Contract, you can't also trade by buying and selling UNLESS you are the Market Manager for that commodity at that Spaceport.
We say goodbye to Jerry Elsmore, who has had to withdraw for personal reasons. We wish him a good resolution.
OP 39 was taken by MU HERCULIS, OP 23 by SWISS MERCENARY.