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*                Round A Prizes and Awards, Part 1:                  *
*                                                                    *
*        THE WARLORDS OSCARS - BEST PICTURE AWARD - ROUND A          *
*                                                                    *
*         "Honoring the Greatest overall group role-play."           *
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Warlords and Gentlemen!

Many moons have waxed full and waned away since the last battles
raged in Round A.  Long have been the nights when the six
volunteers of the Prize Committee sat up, studying the scrolls
of the thirty-six games of Round A.  It was, by all accounts,
an impressive and eventful round!  To do full justice to all
the tremendous tales of this Round proved impossible, but we labored
on for as long as we dared, and did the best that we could.

Each game history was read in its entirety by at least one
member of the committee.  As the average game history comes
to well over 100 pages if printed, and we had 36 to read,
this proved no small task!

But from this vast mountain of wonders we mined out the 
greatest nuggets, and identified the veins of ore that 
were the best games of the round for role-playing.
Though one member of the mining squad (prize committee) was trapped 
in a mining accident (actually he went on a long trip),
the rest of us labored on, only occasionally daunted by
real-life (and the perils of Round B).

Gathering up our gleanings from this great search, 
we sat down to decide who would receive the first
and greatest of the Tournament Prizes:  The Best Picture Award!
 
Six games of Round A were called forth for consideration.
They were A03, A10, A14, A16, A17, and A27, in order.
(Other games were no doubt worthy of mention as well, but these 
were the ones that caught the eye of their official readers...)

What did we seek?  Each of us had his own ideas, of course, 
but there were some common themes.  We wanted a game that
had a meaty story, with good interaction between the players,
but not so long that it became tedious to read.  Many games 
got off to a good start in this regard, but many fell down 
on the road to completion, so not so many ended as interestingly 
as they began.  Still, several games had consistent ongoing themes,
and characteristic motifs that made for nonstop entertainment!

We wanted a game where all the players were "into" the role-playing,
or at least contributing a bit.  We sought games where the players
stayed in character for their diplomacy, as well as the narrative
part of their turn reports.  A sense of humor, a spirit of 
adventure, and the occasional poignant moment were all things
we looked for.

Finally, there was the question of spirit.  Some on the Prize
Committee felt that the game that was chosen for Best Picture 
should stand out above all others as an example of 
"What the Tournament Is All About."

Would any game be good enough to meet everyone's desire for
a great Warlords role-play?  We had no idea, but we read them all, 
and in the end, the voting clustered around two very good games...

One of the two was A17 ...

A17 began with the most impressive first two turns of any game
this particular author has read.  In the northwest, L'ennemi du Bien
(Organizers, White) brought forth two of the greatest spy-heroes
ever seen.  One was of course James Bond, retired agent of 
Her Majesty's secret service.  The other was a new character,
Red Harris, rumored to have been born in the Martian colonies...
Red was always early, always in total control, and born of grim
determination to finish the job flawlessly.  Bond tended to get
tangled up in either scrapes or romantic interludes (or both!), 
and consequently tended to arrive a bit late.  But even if he was 
sometimes shaken, his character never stirred.  The subtleties 
in the stories of these two characters make them virtually 
indistinguishable from the real thing seen in the Bond films.
The introductory episodes have to be read to be believed!

In the northeast, the Orange Athletes under Sir Boo played the 
great comedian to L'ennemi's serious straight man.  Where the 
Organizers scoured the earth for the best talent money (and prestige) 
could buy, Boo's man in charge, Charles, was lucky to get a pair of 
musclebound numbskulls named Brian and Andy, whose slapstick antics 
would draw forth more chuckles than enemy blood.  Charles faced some
unusual tribulations that deserve a quick quote:

>"Are you Charles, leader of the Athletes?"
>
>"Yup. And you are?"
>
>"Police detective Stan Stanley. You're under arrest for impersonating a
>person impersonater."
>
>"WHAT??!!??  What on Earth are you trying to pull?"
>
>"I'm trying to pull a gun, but it won't come out. Anyway, come with me."

In the southwest, the Reporters in Green were led by a most
entertaining Avenging Angel, whose leader Larry brought forth
an investigating team the likes of which have not been seen
since Charlie's Angels (dis)graced the television airwaves.
As told from the perspective of that first pathetic scout:

>    And then you hear it.  A knocking at the door!!  What kind of killer
> reporter have they sent against you?  Clark Kent? Lois Lane?  You hope
> and pray it's Jimmy Olson.  Maybe you can break his camera and he'll run 
> away.  Sob, there is no hope,  even Jimmy Olson never loses.  You're
> dead meat. 

But no, the superheroes were not going to come out this time:
Avenging Angel brings us a most capable, yet professionally risque
tribe of politically incorrect dominatrix investigative reporters:
the heroines Barbie Bosom and Lana Lay, accompanied by the allies 
Angelica Archon, a "Horny Little Devil", and the elemental duo
of WhatsOn and Surelike Homes.

The role-playing intensity had already reached mythic proportions by 
Side 4 of Turn 1, but Professor Pat was not intimidated, summoning forth
first Piddly Pat and then Dr. Doom, two mad scientists to lead his 
Spectators in Blue.

What would this crazy world come to?  

The sparring began almost immediately, as Professor Pat tried
to negotiate with Avenging Angel for the southern flight item.
Meanwhile, in the north, Red Harris was searching the Cairn of Bazza
in a most tantalizing way:

>     She climbed to the top of the cairn and began moving rocks.  Piece
> by piece, as hour after hour passed, she lifted and rolled and carried
> rocks away from the pile.  By noon she was sweating, and stripped to
> the waist to be more comfortable.  'I wonder if they'll show this part
> during prime time,' she wondered, wiping her brow.  'It isn't exactly
> exciting in any other way.'

And brave Sir Boo got off to a slow start and quickly became the
focus of diplomatic attention, as Avenging Angel did everything he
could to prevent L'ennemi du Bien and Professor Pat from overrunning
the tactically incompetent but otherwise creatively inspired comedians
of the northeast (who later fell prety to the Lost Player syndrome, alas).  

The storytelling raged on in the turn reports, as the diplomatic
communication between these four Warlords grew increasingly intense.
With such strong characters on the map, intense conflict was inevitable.
(One of the few drawbacks of this game was that the diplomacy was 
separated from the role-playing.)  Given the enigmatic character
of the four actual Warlords, who were never introduced as their
heroes were, in hindsight it is no surprise that suspicions began 
to envelop the spymaster in White and the muckraking reporter in 
Green.  With both sides trying to control both the map and the plot, 
a war of words was inevitable.  

But while everyone wanted to *be* The Greatest, no one wanted to
*look like* The Greatest.  With Boo weak in the northeast, neither
Professor Pat nor L'ennemi du Bien could afford to look strong, lest
Avenging Angel ally with the other and crush him.  So both began
to whine about their inadequate forces...

The intensity ratched ever tighter over the first five turns.
Something - or someone - had to give way to the tension!
Things began to unravel on Turn 5, as L'ennemi smote Sir Boo's devil
and stormed the first of the central cities.  Surely L'ennemi 
would not ally with Boo, and Professor Pat had refused all alliances
for the time being.  Avenging Angel and L'ennemi tried to negotiate, 
but kept casting inadvertent insults.  Providing a note of comic
relief, Ringleader Boo kept up his circus by "accepting" an
Avenging Angel alliance offer to L'ennemi, as though it was 
meant for Boo instead!

Tensions continued to mount on Turn 6, nearly causing one player 
to resign in frustration.  Meanwhile Sir Boo commented on the
diplomatic blizzard:

>I've been trying to follow all the diplomatic messages flying around 
>(it's not that easy when you're 13) and it seems I'm ok with green, 
>borderline with blue, and lost with white. 

The diplomatic dice were then thrown, as Avenging Angel rejected
the possibility of alliance with L'ennemi once more, on the grounds
that L'ennemi would feast upon poor Sir Boo while Avenging Angel
got devoured by Professor Patrick's pair of worms.
Professor Pat gave a succinct if not-really-roleplayed academic
analysis of the diplomatic situation at the end of Turn 6:

> While [alliances] might be fair in a game in which 4 players of roughly
> equal experience and raw materials are playing, I don't think it works very
> well in, say, a three man game.  In such a game, the person who gets left out 
> when a formal alliance is set has almost no chance of surviving for long. 
> Now, our game seems to be essentially a three-man game because of Sir Boo's
> lack of experience and inability to group his armies in an efficient manner. 

On Turn 7 the game finally crystallized, as L'ennemi killed off
one of Boo's heroes, and took over Rome, while simultaneously razing
Avenging Angel's undefended border city Moscow and preparing to defend
against him.  Unfortunately the diplomacy continued to diverge from the
role-played narrative, which remained fantastic.  Avenging Angel and 
Professor Pat managed to find a way to work together, leaving L'ennemi 
du Bien and Sir Boo stuck at the sharp end of a very pointed stick.

When Turn 8 arrives, we find L'ennemi in full Don Quixote mode,
disbanding one of his heroes while simultaneously giving detailed
tactical advice to Sir Boo on how to repel Professor Pat.  What happened
to Bond?

> James Bond removed his miniature TV from his RIGHT wrist and threw it as
> far out into the lake as possible -- possibly having something to do with
> the image of Barbie Bosom it was currently displaying.
>
> He then dived into the lake to join a new acquaintance, forgetting he had
> his golden Starters Gun with him, and it sank to the bottom of the lake
> and disappeared in the mud.
> 
> He had come to his senses and realized the war was a waste of his talents.

Meanwhile, Sir Boo disappears and has his turn skipped!  And Avenging Angel
finally gets around to putting parental warnings on his graphic role-plays:

> WARNING: THE FOLLOWING STORY DOES CONTAIN GRAPHIC
> VIOLENCE AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER FIVE.  

However, he forgets to caution against the sexual innuendoes...
Meanwhile, his heroine Barbie Bosom reacts to the disappearance of Bond:

> Barbie seems distracted. "Oh I don't know.  I was looking forward
> to stripping him naked and stealing all his clothes."
> 
> "What?"
>
> "Oh, don't misunderstand me my red-faced little friend,  but you
> can't leave James alone, even with a shoe string on, or he's likely to 
> blow things up.  We would need to strip him, and then keep him prisoner
> while I gently interrogated him. You understand, don't you?"

Not to be outdone for either his role-plays or his quirky diplomacy,
Avenging Angel *then* promises Professor Pat that Pat shall not be
attacked until Turn 15.  At the time, it must have seemed like a wise
choice, but...

After making the alliance with Avenging Angel, Professor Pat leaves 
a hero exposed, and (much to L'ennemi's disgust) Avenging Angel honors 
the treaty and spares the hero.  This seems to be when L'ennemi gives up 
on trying to play, and settles for finishing off his amazing stories.  
In pursuit of his storyline, he sends his surviving heroine, Red Harris, 
on a suicide mission against Professor Pat.  Her stack ties down 
Pat's forces and prevents them from rapidly conquering Sir Boo's 
Static Defense.  Meanwhile, Avenging Angel quickly conquers the 
surviving White cities in the northeast.  And instead of Prof. Pat 
making swift work of Boo while Avenging Angel struggled against 
L'ennemi, the balance of power tips swiftly and heavily in favor of 
Avenging Angel!

And now Avenging Angel chafes at his own alliance, as he realizes 
that he shall be done with L'ennemi's evaporating forces well 
before he is allowed to attack Professor Pat.  The delay gives 
Pat a chance to regroup after Red Harris' behind-the-lines sabotage, 
and delays Avenging Angel just a bit longer...

The good Professor and Avenging Angel jockey for position a bit longer,
but then Avenging Angel begins to take apart his brother's 
battered blue battalions, pushing him back into his homeland.  
Unfortunately, the story is almost entirely one-sided, and 
despite some hiccups as Avenging Angel runs afoul
of the Tournament Bureaucracy, the busy Professor Pat appears 
to be doomed, and his pen begins to fall as silent as his guns.
But, just as Pat is in danger of being eliminated, his hero 
Dr. Doom pulls a rabbit out of a hat and slays Barbie Bosom 
in a kamikaze mission over the water!

Escaping from what appeared to be imminent Doom, the Professor
decides to enjoy the struggle to survive:

> Professor Patrick enjoyed his "last" turn so much that he's 
> decided to stick around for a couple more.

And indeed he does!  When the dust settles, Pat has managed to cling
to 2 of 38 surviving cities, and denies Avenging Angel the total
victory that would have brought him a top ranking.

Avenging Angel's Reporters go out of print in classic style, though:

>     Somehow through the tangled mess of carnage and corpses Professor
> Pat would somehow find justification to declare victory.  Perhaps
> he would use the "New Math" to show that two of 38 cities is good.
> They just don't teach students basic arithmetic in school any more.
> 
>     But despite the taunts from the Mad Professor, the Reporters were
> tired of fighting.  After all, some Specators will be needed to listen to
> the Reporters when they report the Olympics, even if all the athletes
> are dead.  And some of the Reporters needed to begin athletic training,
> so they could compete and report on each other.
> 
>     The world was at peace once again.

A17 was a great tale.  Some of us have already copied the story parts
and emailed them to our friends!  We want the memory of what
these warlords achieved to live on in the annals of great Warlording.

Yes, A17 was a great game indeed... but it took second place in the voting.

In the end, 4 of the 5 votes that were cast went to...  another game!
(We have to build up the suspense, you know... :)  )

Before we tell you about the wonderful story of the Best Picture, 
here is some of the praise it received, and some of the reasons
why it was chosen over the mighty A17:

From one commentator:
>This is what I imagined a "roleplaying" game to be like, but 
>[one player's] songs just put it over the top.  I was falling off 
>my chair....  :-)   I can't imagine putting THAT MUCH EFFORT into 
>roleplaying.  (Unless he's just "gifted" at it?)
>It's one thing to just "speak in other toungues" and recite names 
>from fantasy novels... (ala [another player])
>It's Wholly Another (Holy Another?  :-) ) to begin to recount a 
>possible hero victory to the tune of "Take the Money and Run!"  
>(Me the Stevie "Guitar" Miller fan!)
[...]
>A17, while "elaborate"-- struck me as overkill.  Dirk writes a 
>great yarn, full of subtleties, but I didn't find "the game" 
>in it as much as [Best Picture].  [Best Picture] was WARLORDS.  

From someone else:
>Both game histories were really fun to read, and players in both
>games definitely deserve prizes, although we can't give out so many.
>Neither game was entirely perfect, though, so I couldn't instantly
>favor one over the other.
>
>In the end, though, I must join the crowd and vote for [Best Picture].
>A17 had better "highlights", and more parts that I would enjoy
>clipping out and giving to someone else, but if I were to go to
>some other Warlords player and say "This is what this Tournament
>is all about," then I would show them [Best Picture].  A17 was better
>at being funny (to me) and making use of the premise of the scenario,
>but [Best Picture] was more thoroughly role-played (particularly 
>the diplomacy) and was a more courteous game.  [Best Picture] 
>had the Spirit of the Tournament, and felt like a real fantasy story; 
>A17 had good moments, but overall wasn't as coherent.  
>I also felt [Best Picture] was a more universal fantasy story, while A17
>would not be so enjoyable to someone unfamiliar with U.S. culture.
[...]
And:
>[Best Picture] is an integrated game and story; 
>you can't separate the two.  A17 was more like a game with stories 
>written on the sides - you could take out the role-played "events", 
>keep the basic turn reports and diplomacy, and still have a game 
>history that reads a lot like most standard game histories.  
>In [Best Picture], you can't take away the role-playing and
>still have a game history.  It was so tightly woven into the game
>that the game and the role-playing became one.


So: The Winner for Best Picture in Round A is the game...






                           **********
                           *        *
                           *  A10!  *
                           *        *
                           **********
                         



Yes, the Winner for Best Picture in Round A is the game A10!

Congratulations to Little Puppy, Slayer of Dragons, Celeborn the Wise,
Bosquito, and Gor Bonecracker. Each of these four players had distinct
characters and roleplaying styles:

Little Puppy (White)
His two heroines were Gosling Puff and Babyseal often called Naughty and Nice.
Most of his roleplay was devoted to their shenanigans and their sisterly
competition between the "bad" girl and the "good" one.  These two continually
broke into humorous songs and poems. They seemed so sweet, but they still
managed to take all the cities in A10 save one. Little Puppy was the primary
roleplayer in this game, and his turn reports were so impressive in their
creativity and their incredible length that they intimidated the others on
their own.  His full name is Little Puppy, Slayer of Dragons, Defender of
Things Both Weak and Small, And Yipping Tormentor of Greater Warlords. In this
he was mostly true to his name for he slew a great many dragons in victory and
proved to be quite the tormentor to the other supposedly "Greater" Warlords.


Celeborn (Orange)
He was led by his wife Galadriel and Glorfindel.  Celeborn and his High Elves
are part of the elven mythos of Tolkien. In his roleplay, he convincingly
played the role of a great elf in both speech and attitude. And like most
elves, he was not always understood by the humans in his world who often could
not quite grasp what he was saying. In the end, Celeborn and his elven kingdom
were left with only one city, but that last magical city was never discovered
by the howling white hordes of Little Puppy. Celeborn, the last great elven
King, remains hidden there even to this day. In real life, Celeborn got
married during A10, yet he persevered and continued to play. And in case 
you were wondering.........he didn't send in his gamefile while he was 
on his honeymoon.

Bosquito (Green)
Beren II and Regina were the leaders of the mysterious forest dwelling
Bosquitoans. His roleplay was a stark contrast to that of Little Puppy. A man
of fewer words than the rest, however, when he did emerge from his woods, his
words always were prophetic, truthful, and to the point, but like all great
prophets his words were only heeded when it was too late. His greatest impact
was on the actual fighting of the war. He was voted the Warlord of the Game in
the A10 Awards despite the fact that he was the first Warlord eliminated. With
a style of war that the Mongols or Attila the Hun would be proud of, Bosquito
swept over his enemies, who swore the end of the world was at hand, destroying
everything in his path. In so doing, he caused his own death, known forever as
Bosquito's Doom, but the Blue and Orange kingdoms were brought down as well
with his fall.

Gor Bonecracker (Blue)
Known to most as The Great Gor. He carries the Bonecracker which has given him
his name. He was joined by his half-Devil daughter Blood Dancer. Unfortunately
he couldn't escape the recklessness of his youth, as she brought her mother
with her, his She-Devil wife! His fantasy kingdom is based on the Vikings who
were enlightened at home but ruthless in the extreme to their enemies. His
character is best summed up by his own quote, "Scheming, treachery, wanton
slaughter, preying on the weak are as mother's milk to me.". With a hot temper
as well, he proved to be the perfect foil for Little Puppy. His kingdom 
fell in the final battle, but so great was his resistance that Little Puppy 
honored his fallen foe in the final gamefile. If the "Armies" section of the 
"Report" menu is opened on the Turn 21 gamefile, you will see on the small 
strategy map, Little Puppy's salute to him. On the actual game map, 
Little Puppy has spelled out with his armies: GOR!

These four very different characters and styles came together to create an
epic tale full of intrigue, betrayal, despair, and, at the end, honor. The
competitive passions grew so hot that twice the god Heeter had to be summoned
to cool the fires created by its overwrought competitors. But in the
beginning...........

Little Puppy began the war in awe of what he thought were mighty opponents and
fearing he was no match frantically set about to gain an ally. After much
wrangling, he and Gor Bonecracker diagonally opposite were to swear an eternal
friendship and alliance.  Bosquito alone saw the truth behind Little Puppy. As
he told Celeborn on Turn 1:

>Ye Gods, Celeborn!
>How quickly thou hast forgotten the foul name of Melkor--Morgoth.
>Doest thou not hear the familiar chime of flowery lies from His latest
>incarnation:  Babyseal. How many of thy kindred perished?How much of thy fair
>land hast been swallowed in hate; thy fair forests of Dorian lain in waste.
>Verily, I have met this formidable, yet foul, opponent in battle.  In
>the year "P08"  she mercilessly rampaged through the countryside at
>will.Honor, trust-- Pah! I hath first hand witnessed his mighty hordes slay
>man and woman alike without remorse. Trust her not! Once the people of
>Bosquito art vanquished thou wilt be next.
>--Beren II (in faith), defender of the Bosquitoians.

And Bosquito was right. As always. It would be a mere two turns after the
treaty, that Little Puppy would commit the Great Betrayal that would haunt the
rest of the war. At the moment of Gor Bonecracker's greatest need, Little
Puppy switched his alliance to Celeborn, and they were to fight side by side
for most of the war. Celeborn, the winner of The Silver Tongue Award"
for Diplomacy, convinced Little Puppy to spare the life of Galadriel and 
join him to create a powerful alliance. That lasted until Celeborn 
learned the lesson that Gor had been taught, and Bosquito knew: 
Later in the war on a single turn, both of Celeborn's heroes 
were killed by Little Puppy, and his kingdom siezed.

Thus by Turn 5 the war had taken a hard turn. The "gentleman's" war was over,
and grim times were to follow. Celeborn razed the city of Seoul for defensive
reasons causing Gor to name him "Soulburner" and proclaim a crusade for
revenge. History records that Celeborn razed the first city in the war, but
the match that burned the city of Seoul created a blazing inferno that none of
the players could control. In the end, 19 cities were burned to the ground,
the most in all the Round A wars. Only three Green cities were left, and
amazingly every Blue city was razed save the one where Gor Bonecracker made
his final stand.

Celeborn was saved from Gor's crusade by the brilliant tactic of "flying
wolves," used by Bosquito on Turn 5 to kill Gor's heroine.  So brilliant was
this maneuver that Little Puppy's real life wife declared that she wanted
Bosquito to win, not her husband. As happened in so many wars, the early loss
of his heroine collapsed Gor's empire, and he set about creating a Verdun-like
fortress where he could make his final stand. Strangely Bosquito and Gor found
common cause after that, and they joined forces to raze all the cities 
they could:  Bosquito for the excitement and Gor for his anger towards his 
betrayer and for his grief over the loss of his heroine daughter. 
As fast as Bosquito moved towards Gor's armies, he fled Little Puppy, 
moving all his forces into the Blue lands abandoning his Green forest 
in an attempt to get to the Orange forests and strike at Celeborn. 
He never made it that far, though, falling on Turn 12 but inflicting a mortal 
wound on Celeborn, which undermined the Blue kingdom as well.

Throughout all of A10, White's Gosling Puff and Babyseal, while fighting and
scheming, were also singing and dancing.  Most of the turns in the game, they
composed a lengthy song to describe what had happened in the last turn, leaving
the diplomacy to Little Puppy himself. These songs were variously accompanied
by the music of: The Devil went down to Georgia, Oh Mandy, Take the Money and
Run, The Titanic, Day-O The Bananna Boat Song, On Top of Spaghetti, You Shook
Me All Night Long, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. One example:

>Gosling Puff's Turn Report (to the tune of Turkey in The Straw):
>
>Gosling Puff did wake in a town called I.O.C.
>With a dragon there to keep her company
>Oh how her head did throb and her eyes saw stars
>'Cause she'd ended her last war in Bob Heeter's Bar!
>Come on, get up, Puff, come on, get up!
>Come on, get up, Puff, come on, get up!
>You've a war to fight and you've gotta search some ruins
>Or our erstwhile enemies as victors will be shoo-ins
>
>So she headed down to a place they call Steve's hand
>And a mighty blown tire she and dragon did disband.
>The Official Sponsoring she took from this dark hold
>Making all her cities give out quite a bit more gold.
>Then her dwarves went east, sire, her dwarves went east!
>Oh her dwarves went east, yes, her dwarves went east!
>To the fine city Athens owned by Gray who will be fleeced
>As soon as they were built her little dwarves they headed east!
>
>CHORUS:
>
>So they took the city and they killed the scout,
>and they bludgeoned all the people 'til their brains ran out!
>But for all their troubles they just got a little gold
>and another minor city that would be a pain to hold.
>Build up that city, build up the town!
>Build up that city, build up the town!
>We need catapults, pachyderms, archers and some pegs
>But if we ain't got the money give us anything with legs!
>
>Down around LA Babyseal she headed south
>On a big expensive bat with a harness in its mouth
>To the stronghold called Dirk's Cavern such a dark and frightful place
>Where two big nasty ghosts appeared right before her face!
>Bid them make haste now, bid them make haste!
>Bid them make haste, Babe, bid them make haste!
>Down way of Mex'co City so's not to be a waste
>her first little wimpy ghost there a minor foe it faced.
>
>CHORUS!
>
>Up in Athens town giant spiders they were built
>So if Celeborn turned mean many armies could be kilt!
>In the crowded southern city light infantry instead
>So if elementals took it no one would lose her head!
>Then a ghost flew over mountains so high!
>Yes a ghost flew over mountains so high!
>Out to Stockholm where an archer they did hope to buy
>Oh a mighty little ghost flew over mountains near the sky!
>
>CHORUS!
>
>Finally, a musing on whether Celeborn had hoped to use a loophole in his
>order about the southern hills (same tune):
>
>To find a lodestone draw in the south is quite a chore
>For the southern hills they have no ore
>To Celeborn's armies: South go freely forth
>'Cause all the magnetite is concentrated in the North!
>Granite and slate, boys, granite and slate!
>Granite and slate, just granite and slate!
>The great campaign against Gor really needn't wait
>'cause the mountains down there are just granite and slate!
>
>-- Gosling Puff

And so it continued turn after turn, song after song, 
for the entire game, but Gor Bonecracker with a different style 
tried not to be outdone:

>The razing of Seoul was a very Foul deed
>The gods punished Celeborn with all consuming gold-greed
>He looked at his wife and said I need gold
>Thus to Death was beautiful Galadriel sold
>
>She left his side on a mighty Dragonsteed
>All to fulfill her husband's gold need
>The price of a Pegasus is what Death shall pay
>When I waste my life this very fine day
>
>As she waited for the end, she heard from afar
>A loud raucous roar coming from Bob's Bar
>It was Puff and her Minstrel throwing down more than a few
>Oh, for precious Galadriel to lose her life to this crew
>
>Alas Galadriel was not the only one lost that day
>For the Great Gor Bonecracker also had a debt to pay
>When Seoul did fall, he cursed Celeborn both far and loud
>The gods sent him the gold-greed for being so proud
>
>He abandoned his troops and raced for the gold
>I will keep this until the mountains grow old
>Victory in war I no longer need
>The gathering of gold will be my only great deed
>
>--Gor Bonecracker

But during the Christmas holidays Little Puppy made sure to spread all the
cheer he could - for the other three needed it very badly by that point:

>'Twas the night before Christmas and all through A10
>Everybody was frightened, not least the big men.
>Bosquito and Great Gor have wrecked what they could
>Now they're all heading North, surely up to no good.
>Poor Babyseal, oh her feet are so sore
>From marching for weeks now, in the ashes of Gor.
>But at least not much farther those two baddies can come
>Between great elven armies and Puppy's, in sum.
>With fear in their eyes as they torch the whole land
>Those nasty old grinches gave each other a hand.
>Slowly, oh slowly, surrounded they've gotten
>And perhaps soon they'll see what you get when you're rotten!
>
>Munich seems safe so off some armies have headed
>But with no promises made, for we two are not wedded.
>Munich will always be kept safe as a bear --
>In the future I may wish to put armies back there.
>For this city no matter what happens won't fall
>That is a vow that I make above all.
>
>Sadly I say, I have little to tell
>My armies all walked over mountain and dell
>And again they took nothing -- there was nothing in reach
>And heros learned nothing -- there was nothing to teach
>And armies all stayed safe -- there was no one to fight
>I suppose a fine way to be Christmas night
>
>Our cities are sixteen, our gold ten fifty-nine
>Our income 4-5-6, our expenses -- not fine!
>For alas, to my sadness, the time has come yet
>That the money paid out is worth more than we get.
>A full five-twenty-three do we pay to our fighters
>But fighting they don't do -- they just smoke and light lighters.
>Ah, when will this change, this boredom, this walking?
>My once-lean killer forces grow lazy just talking!
>
>Perhaps this next period we will get to see battles!
>We will do some fine slaying and hear some death rattles!
>But wishful thinking I fear is all that I do
>For Sapporo's poor fate is in the hands of those two.
>But at least some consolation I take from this thinking:
>Without any cities, to death Green will be slinking!
>
>And on that fine, happy note I leave you all now
>As you sit down to your tasty holiday chow.
>And to thoughts of a wondrous post-Christmas fight
>Happy Solstice to all, and to all a good night!
>
>
>-- Little Puppy, Slayer of Dragons
>   Defender of Things Both Weak and Small
>   And Yipping Tormentor of Greater Warlords

And so it came to the end. Bosquito was gone, and after his doom, Celeborn
lost both his heroes to Little Puppy on the same turn, and his once-proud
kingdom began to collapse. Thus Gor and Celeborn were left with one 
city apiece.  Celeborn again used his famous diplomacy, and Little Puppy
offered both of his former allies mercy, letting them keep one city. 
Celeborn accepted (after all, he suggested it), but Gor Bonecracker refused, 
as he was too proud to take mercy from someone who had betrayed him. 
And so we all must say, 

"All hail Little Puppy, the Lord of A10..............yip yip yip yipee!"

But Celeborn spoke the last words:

>From the treetop splendor of Caras Galadhon, the legend is recorded:
>
>And so it is written; so shall it be done. Our peace made, our fate
>decided, our ambitions humbled. In memories future past, the deeds
>of Little Puppy, merciful slayer of the West, and Gor Bonecracker,
>unimpeachable battlemaster of the southern realm, will again be
>heralded though, as fates only can foresee, likely not by mine tongue.
>
>Verily, I was glad to walk this path, and tarried not in the roadside
>rests of regret. Thusly, my fate could easily have been darker.
>But let now our banners now be lowered, our failures and triumphs set
>aside, our hearts and hopes raised to the coming of a second dawn.
>As the road goes ever on, unimpeded but not unchanged by the world
>through it moves, so too shall I travel affected not lightly by both of
>you in my future paths.
>
>And with that, the best of times to you. Naamarie is farewell.
>
>--Celeborn of Caras Galadhon

And the best of times it was!  Congratulations again to all four!

***********************************************************************

Before we move on, let us reflect a little on what was learned.
To really understand these games one must read the full histories.
But some things were said that might someday help future Warlords:

>Taking both of these games as examples, here is what I learned about
>creating a great game history:
>
>(1) It's important to have a sense of humor and be entertaining.
>(2) It's important to have a role-played character for your *Warlord*;
>      the individual heroes and allies add color to the turn reports,
>      but it's the Warlord that sends out the diplomacy, and only if
>      the diplomacy is role-played does the game read like a coherent
>      story, instead of a bunch of guys talking about a game. 
>(3) Brevity is definitely the soul of wit; a short, well-aimed message
>      is better than long-winded rambling. 
>(4) It's difficult to invent new characters.  But if you recycle
>      other people's characters and ideas, and do it well, you can
>      still do a very good job.  

To which it was added:
>(5) Above all, don't let the game become personal.  Neither the 
>      roleplaying or - especially - the diplomacy. 
>(6) It's OK to be evil and do an evil roleplay, and it can be fun 
>      if you don't let the game become personal or become overly graphic 
>      with the violence. 

So, many thanks to L'ennemi du Bien, Sir Boo, Avenging Angel,
Professor Pat, Little Puppy, Celeborn, Bosquito, and Gor Bonecracker,
for giving us two great examples of awesome Warlords play-by-email gaming!

And, once again, congratulations to Little Puppy, Celeborn, Bosquito and 
Gor Bonecracker for A10, the Best Picture of Round A! 

You will be contacted shortly (well, after Headquarters gets back
from vacation on September 1) so that we can work out which 
specific prize you will receive from SSG, and make arrangements 
for having it sent to you!

(For the vast majority who didn't win Best Actor or Best Picture 
in Round A, there's still time!  Round B may be nearly over, but
Round C is only just beginning...)

Before you all go back to your wars, however, we hope you take
some time to look over the huge collection of highlights from
Round A that we gathered up while doing the prizes.  Round A was full
of sublime moments and exciting stories!  Some of the best stories and
statistics are described in the Warlords Pulitzers, the Scroll of Honors, 
the Gossip Column, and the Tomb of the Fallen Warlords, all of which 
you will have waiting in your mailbox momentarily...  :)

-- The Tournament Round A Prize Committee 

(Matthew Wellens, Denis Lacasse, Alex Vickers, 
 Ivan Baird, Max Fulton, and Bob Heeter)