Odessa StepsThis is a postal (or PBM) game of Star Trader run by Mike Dommett and published in my postal games 'zine, To Win Just Once. Below is the turn 1 report, as published with TWJO 33 (April 2003). Follow the link for an introduction to Star Trader. Sections: Report, Corporations Table, News, Press, GM Notes, Star map (separate page) Previous reports: Start-up Latest Report Turn 1 "Do we do a discount?"
Gamma Leporis saw much competition for buying Alloys. First TRANS SOLAR TRADING Inc bid 6 and bought 10 units, gaining a Dealership. There was still enough for THE UNIVERSAL to buy a further 6 units at the same price and for the same reward. KATKORP and VIBRANT LIFE were bidding too low to compete. At Alpha Centauri, THE CULTURE and THE UNIVERSAL were bidding to buy Liquors, and bid too low here as well. At Delta Toucanis, SHYLOCKS bid 10 and bought 3 units of Isotopes, while TSTI bid 9 for Petroleum, and bought 10 units. Some unfortunate remarks about the latest popular music sensation on the mining system is believed to have ruined their chances of gaining a Market Position. INTERSTELLAR METALS also bid 9 to buy and put 3 units in their ship, while NEWBIE's bid of 8 was ignored. Tau Ceti was quiet, with only THE UNIVERSAL at work, buying 2 units of Isotopes as the price stayed at 4. The shipyards were busier. Mu Herculis saw SHYLOCKS buying 3 Alloys for 11 HTs apiece, while VIBRANT LIFE, who have renamed their Corporation as THE CULTURE, bid 14, bought 7 Monopoles and became Dealers as a result. Sigma Draconis saw competition for Isotopes as the price was driven up to 7. GRAND LARS bought 8 for 7 HTs and became a Dealer. THE CULTURE bought 7 more for 7 HTs and also were made Dealers. Bids by TSTI, TOTAL TRANSIT 2070, INTERSTELLAR METALS, THE UNIVERSAL and SHYLOCKS were all too low at 5 or 6 HTs offered. Spices was being bid for, but THE CULTURE, bidding 10, and TRANS SOLAR TRADING Inc. bidding 9 were too low. Salesbeings were out in force touting their shipyard's wares. Chief taker has to be TAU CETI EXPRESS, motto "We get you there - sometimes". At Tau Ceti they laid down two Corco Zeta hulls and a Phoenix Hull. Then at Epsilon Eridani they added a further Corco Zeta hull, and yet another at Alpha Centauri shipyards, before rounding the quarter off with a Phoenix hull to be laid down at Beta Hydri. The one ship they started with, the For Sale, was sold to GRAND LARS THENI for a sum between 210-230 HTs. Not content with buying ships, TCX also bought 7 Isotope factories at Tau Ceti, and bought a Business Connection. It is to be hoped that next quarter sees crews and pods on these hulls, though a major financing operation may be needed for this. NEW EXPENSIVE WEAPONS BRING I EMPIRE laid down a Flute Hull, the BOFH at Epsilon Eridani, with an Augmented Jump and some Cargo pods. Both this and the Lart have now got A crews. An agent was hired, Tender, who will be useful if violence erupts on the Spaceports. TOTAL TRANSIT 2070 laid down two Phoenix hulls on Alpha Centauri Shipyards and invested further in the system with a warehouse and three production facilities for Liquors. They also increased their Isotope production on Sigma Draconis by one. To help fund this they took out a 200 HT loan over 4 turns. TRANS SOLAR TRADING INC also hired an agent, Badger. He's sitting at Epsilon Eridani in the company offices while he waits to be collected. The Corporation's two ships have been renamed Adam and Eve, but are still together at Delta Toucanis. A problem was found when the two ships' stewards were found to be fighting over the limited quantity of passengers wanting to jump to other systems and the ruinous offers were rescinded by the captains. Alliances with some of the other Corporations were hinted at and the Corporation's Reputation rose as a result. This was further lifted by purchasing business connections. INTERSTELLAR METALS were slow to start this quarter, but did recruit Agent Dwarf. The operative is of uncertain gender and appearance, but has a fearsome reputation. IM sold their ship Chromium and raised a 40% premium on this. This allowed a 400HT loan over 8 turns, and the laying down of two Phoenix hulls, one at Alpha Centauri, and one at Epsilon Eridani, both with A class crews and assorted pods. Warehouses were bought at Delta Toucanis, Sigma Draconis, Mu Herculis and Gamma Leporis. This was puffed very successfully to increase the Corporation's Reputation. It was followed by purchase of Political connections with selective donations at Tau Ceti and the buying of three Isotope Factories there. THE UNIVERSAL upgraded the crew to Green Circles and laid down a Corco Gamma Hull, Tin Soldier, at Tau Ceti. Agent X joined the Corporation, a Petroleum Factory was bought with a warehouse at Delta Toucanis, but attempts to raise Corporation Reputation failed. Not discouraged, representatives visited Federation banks, raised a 240 HT loan over 4 quarters and increased Business Connections. The SWISS MERCENARY'S FLEET increased its Reputation and then its Business Connections with a show of intent to trade, buying 6 Spice factories at Sigma Draconis and 3 Liquor Factories at Alpha Centauri. The Pike was jumped to Mu Herculis, where it was re-equipped as an armed merchantman. The loan for 250 HTs over 9 turns was needed to fund this spending. SHYLOCKS bought 4 Isotope factories at Tau Ceti and a Warehouse to store the production. They also increased their Business Connections to 8. KATKORP hired Agent Willy at Gamma Leporis, then added Warehouses at Gamma Leporis and Tau Ceti and 7 Isotope factories at Tau Ceti. This was followed by an attempt to raise their Reputation, which rested uneasily with reports of the Corporation talking to known terrorists, raising Criminal Connections, leaving their position unchanged. The loan for 197 HTs over 4 quarters was coldly received. BLAND & BRASS bought 2 Alloy Factories at Gamma Leporis and laid down a Flute Hull at Epsilon Eridani, the Eightball, with a strong crew and a mix of pods. THE CULTURE tried to hire an agent but failed. They did succeed in raising Reputation, increasing Business Connections and laying down a Monarch Hull at Epsilon Eridani shipyards, the biggest, though not most expensive, hull laid down this quarter. GRAND LARS & T. HEFT bought 2 Alloy factories at Gamma Leporis and, as previously noted, has a second ship in its fleet, the Grand Thief. Finally, NEKEKAMI hired an agent - they got Two Gun - and increased both their Business Connections and their Reputation. They laid down a Phoenix Hull at Alpha Centauri, and a Flute Hull at Tau Ceti. They joined the long list of Corporations who will be adding crews and pods to their hulls next quarter. Corporations Table
NewsThere were 4 new chits this turn. New chits are shown in Bold:
PressPress Releases for Trans Solar Trading Inc
"The Trans Solar Trucking Inc. (TSTI) and Bland & Brass (BB) agree not to attack, intercept, capture or sabotage the other companies factories, warehouses, or ships"
GM NotesIf a player says "bid 4 for Alloys at Tau Ceti", for example, he will buy as many as he can at that price. If you do not state a maximum or minimum purchase, I will assume you want to buy/sell as much as possible. If a player says "Bid 5 to buy Isotopes at Sigma Draconis, maximum 10 minimum 6" and less than 6 are available at that price, the player will only buy 1 unit of Isotopes. Rule 13.1 1st sentence. If you have a good idea or a sneaky ploy, ask me first just in case I rule against it. Monopoles, Spice and Liquors effectively take up no storage space (Rule 15.3). You can have a warehouse with 10 Isotopes and as many Monopoles, Spice, and Liquors as you like. No pod space is required to carry these goods. In fact a Piccolo hull can only carry Monopoles, Spice, and Liquors (and Tempus, Gems and Furs if you get the appropriate Opportunity chit). Yes, it is possible on, for example, turn 3 to pay to see a news chit on turn 4 and to discover that the chit is an Opportunity Chit and that you can't take it. But if it is an event chit, you will still be forewarned about the event. The choice is yours. You will only ever pay once for seeing a News Chit. You do not get charged every turn for seeing the same chit. Sales of ships between Corporations will not require hiring a new crew. Please say where you want an agent to go. Otherwise I place him at random. Please say where you want a ship built. The table at the bottom of page 17 shows which systems have shipyards. Prices may change for factories. Several orders said "buy factory for X HTs." I brought the number of factories specified at the current price. There are only so many passengers to fly between systems - the sum of the port classes. Also, you may find someone else has already taken these passengers. I will not be printing inter-player agreements on their sheets every turn. Many sets of orders were very late this turn. I will adjudicate on the deadline next time. Don't forget that the deadline for this game is a week earlier than for Les Petites Bêtes Soyeuses. Game end statements to Mike Dommett, 119 Victoria Road, ALTON, Hants GU34 2DD or to mike_dommett@yahoo.co.uk by 18th April 2003. Page created 10th May 2003. Last modified 7th June 2004. This website produced by Paul Evans. © Copyright Paul Evans 2003. All trademarks acknowledged. Problems, comments and feedback to the Webmaster. |
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