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193


Subspace Static - 193 January  [Recruit]

******BSE Newsletter January 1993******

First off, I would like to wish everyone a happy new year. Hopefully I will be able to keep the same fast service which you have been used to during 1992. We are experimenting with introducing a network linking all the computers here at KJC. One of the main reasons for this is to enable more than just myself to process BSE turns. I will let you know more on this as things progress.

***Postings***

The first postings of ships has now begun. If your affiliation has ships posted it may not be a good idea to have a standing order to support your affiliation in the case of a battle. If a battle does take place and you are in the same space square you could end up fighting several heavily armed ships and maybe a colony as well! Not a good idea if you are still a surveyor!

***Research***

Twice a year, each affiliation is allowed to suggest one new item which they would like to be added to the game. It can be anything but remember that it has to be programmed into the game so it has to be relatively simple. We will then consider all suggestions and a couple will be accepted. If your item is one of these, one or more of your colonies will be able to produce it.
Other affiliations will have to either buy the item for them or do research to learn the production process. If you have a good idea for an item, why not send it to your affiliation leaders. Could each PD send the item you wish to produce to me by the end of February.

***Hostile Aliens***

Some players are still asking me to choose a planet to visit when they first jump to a new system. You must make your own choices especially as now that the first hostile aliens are moving about.

***Intergalactic News***

The next issue is out and should be enclosed with your turn. If for some reason it is nor, let me know and I can include a cope with your next turn.

Subspace Static - 193 February  [Recruit]

******BSE Newsletter February 1993******

Some of the upgrade which have been done to ships say that the ship is a merchant class and that it cannot fire weapons. The only ship class which can not fire weapons is the Supra Freighter. If yours says this and is not a Supra freighter bring it to my attention and I will change it for you.

***War***

Things seem to be hotting up now and war seems to be fairly likely1 I just want to remind players that the Capellan System is a safe system and that hostile action is not allowed here so please don't try to do it. If you do, your turn will probably be delayed.

***Just a Game***

One of the affiliation leaders wanted me to mention that BSE is just a game! Things which happen in other games, including the American BSE game, should stay out of our game. I don't think anybody wants revenge attacks just because of something which has happened elsewhere.

***First Class Issue 12***

This is now available ad can be ordered with your BSE turn. A single copy costs 1.90. There is not a lot in it for BSE but there is a two page BSE cartoon strip by Jake May and a short article on why not to join the DTR. There is material on the other KJC games and some general stuff such as news and players letters.

***KJC News - February***

This is at the printers now and should be out in a couple of days. I just wanted to mention the Pub Meet which is being arranged in Swindon. This is actually by a BSE player for BSE so if you feel like going down...

***8th PBM Convention***

This will be held on 6th March at York Hall Baths, Old ford Road, Bethnal Green E2 9PJ 10.30am -6pm. While KJC is not having a stand some KJC staff will be there, including myself. If you go, please introduce yourself, you will probably find me in the bar! Quite a few BSE players will be there as well so it should be a good day. Any votes you send our way will be appreciated.

***Intergalactic News***

The February issue is out and should be enclosed with your turn. If for some reason it is not, let me know and I can include a copy with your next turn.

***Extra***

Due to the increasing number of ships and ground parties I have found it increasingly difficult to find enough time to run BSE and to devote time to the day to day running of KJC, let alone any long term goals. I have decided that the time has come to hand over the reigns to another, namely Justin Parsler. Some of you will know Justin, he was previously the PD of the SSL. Justin will be processing the turns from 22nd February and will have overall control of the game. I would like to thank everyone for their previous turns. I have enjoyed running the game, and I hope you enjoyed the turns. I am sure that Justin will do an equally or better job.
Over the last two weeks, a copy of KJC news should have been enclosed with your turn. If you did not receive a copy of have a turn processed during that period and would like to receive a copy, drop a note with your next turn.


Subspace Static - 193 March  [Recruit]

******BSE News March 1993******

By the time you read this I should have been running BSE for two weeks and I am surprised by how few mistakes I have made. You have probably also noticed that I have a lot more time to devote to BSE than Kevin had and therefore a whole lot more has started to happen. This, I hope, will continue. Please let me know your opinions and do not think that just because I am slow in responding to letters that I do not want them. It is just that processing the turns themselves has got to take priority. Meanwhile, I have a few points to make.

***War and Enemies***

Previously, with no legal combat taking place, Kevin could ignore requests for battles. Now the situation is a little more violent could everyone remove erroneous enemies from their lists. You may only put a position on an enemy list if it has been posted by your affiliation, which you can do by prefixing your own affiliation number with 8000. Otherwise enemies are only permitted if your affiliation is at war with somebody. Currently that means the FET and DTR can put any or all of the other positions on their enemy lists.
The Flagritz and the RIP can also be put on anyone's list, their numbers are 26 and 17 respectively.
I will be ignoring all other enemy requests.
REMEMBER: Before you can attack someone your affiliation must have posted them or a formal state of war must exist. Whole affiliations cannot be posted.
ALSO REMEMBER; Combat is not permitted in Capella itself. Any battles called for here will be ignored. It is a no fire zone.

***Out of Character***

Everything must be kept in character in the game. I will not type up any affiliation message which mentions real people other than as contact addresses, especially if the comments made are derogatory.
Likewise I will be asking Richard not to print anything in IGN that makes mention of real people. This is a game and any abuse should stay within the confines of the game. There is nothing I can do to stop out of game vendettas, but if they start to impinge on the game too much then I maybe forced to take some action. This will not stop the vendetta, but it will take it out of BSE.
Generally there is no need for all this unpleasantness, but if you need to be, please keep it in character.

***Phone Calls***

Anybody is free to call me, but could you try and keep calls to Wednesdays and Thursdays if possible as these are my less busy days.

***Misc***

Just to clarify a point. I am not still the SSL Godfather. It would be ludicrous for me to play and ref. at the same time, though some people thought I would be. Likewise the SSL will get no special favours.
I will be at Gamesfair n reading in April, possibly even wearing my KJC badge. As I come from London (though I now live in Blackpool) I shall be down fairly often and will try to make the London pubmeet. I will also try to make any pubmeet anywhere near Blackpool and any conventions a lot of BSE players go to. I have a lot of family in Scandinavia, so this summer I may get to a Scandinavian meet at some point, as we have a fair number of Nordic players.

***RIP***

For everyone who has ever asked, you can join the RIP (the BSE pirates) if you can find someone in the RIP to swear you in who does not blow you away first.
As numbers of players keep increasing we should be able to include some new affiliations of players design. This is not going to happen at the moment as we have too few players for the current affiliations to be 'full'. Inquire for details.


Subspace Static - 193 April  [Recruit]


No issue for this month.

Subspace Static - 193 May  [Recruit]

******BSE News May 1993******

An eventful month, may. Most of the things tat went on are not common knowledge, so I cannot mention them here. Prominently, however, was a combined FGZ DTR assault on the former DTR colony Blackvoid (renamed FET Windhook). The DTR got Blackvoid back but are now being slated as 'enemies of humanity' for selling out to the alien invasion.
Also a combined IMP/FET task force took out the leader of the RIP, throwing the pirates into disarray, making the universe a safer place to live and claiming a big fat reward into the bargain.

It has been announced that the Emperor's son, Lysander, is to arrive in the periphery at the end of June. This is part of a round the universe tour with his new bride princess Saphire. A competition is to be held: whoever presents the best gift to the princess will receive an upgrade to dreadnought. The gift should be something found in the periphery and be presented at Jax to core empire administrators via a special action. There will be a number of runner up prizes for other interesting submissions. Remember, this is a wedding present for an artist, so we are not talking pulsar tanks here, and probably not anything else that has an 'item number' as such. Be creative.

The SMS PD has retired and the SMS is undergoing a referendum.

A couple of rule points:
The maximum amount of anything that can be ordered with a pickup authorisation is 30000. This includes stellars.
MAIN is the operational part of your ship, CARGO is just that, cargo. Although the combined space of these are based on the main hulls, they are different areas. When you take off from a planet you do not have to enter orbit, it happens automatically. To move to another space square you do need to leave orbit however.

Players should take care to avoid suns. There is a 10TU penalty written into the game system for ships which hit suns. I will not enforce this on new players but will on those that ought to know better.

Colonies can now produce ship hulls. However, the first time you do this you must mention this on your turncard as certain alterations much be made to your colony stats before it will work (nothing you will notice).If you do not mention it the hull production ill not work.

The research rules have just come into operation. This is only really of relevance to colony governors. They are not properly types up yet, but should be in a week or two. If they are relevant to you then ask for a copy.

That's about it. There have probably been some turn delays around the beginning of this month. This is due to the bank holiday, which always throws everything out of kilter and the KJC flyer which has meant a large number of new ship starts. Delays should only be a day or two at most.

A player wrote to me a while back and said 'this game is all boring - all I ever do is GPIs and trading'.
If that is all you ever do then it probably will get dull. The answer is simple - do something different. There is so much potential in the game but this is not the sort of game where you will get spoon fed.
The easiest way to find interesting things is via surface exploration. Do one of these occasionally and you never know what you might find.

For those of you that do not know, there is a regular pub meet on Marleybone station every first Friday of the month. This is in a pub called the Victoria and Albert and starts around 7.00. there are always a lot of BSE players there, usually including the heads of the IMP, SSL, FET as well as a host of other players. I keep saying I will be there, but circumstances conspire against me.

Subspace Static - 193 June  [Recruit]

******BSE News June 1993******

Big news of the month is the combined declaration of war on the DTR by the FET and IMP. The charges they base the declaration on are that the DTR has joined with the Flagritz to attack humanity. This they can prove by the simple fact that the DTR joined with a Flagritz attack on Windhook, the former DTR colony Blackvoid. The DTR got Blackvoid back, but after a 4 week Flagritz bombardment there was little left to take. The aims of the war are, briefly, to destroy the DTR as an effective fighting force, ensure they have no colonies in the core systems and prevent them from being any further use to the Flagritz.
The FET also wants compensation for losses and the IMPs want to bring JB Westbrook, former IMP PD who defected to the DTR, to justice.
An early engagement between IMP and DTR forces resulting from the posting of Westbrooks ships proved to be indecisive.

War starts week 26 and has started as I write. The three sides involved in the war can put their opponents on their enemy lists. Others not in the above affiliations may join in, or be dragged in, as a result of support or defend orders. You will only be dragged in this way if you END your turn in the location of the battle. Passing through a battle will not do, unless you do a free special action and specify where the battle you wish to join is taking place.
The SMS has elected Keith Baggot as its new PD. The referendum was a close run thing.

You may have experienced a few turn delays at the beginning of the month. This was again caused by the chaos the postal service undergoes during a bank holiday. Also, I went on holiday and Kevin was up to his eyeballs in work due to other staff holidays and illnesses.

The war is going to generate a great deal of extra work on Friday. Can I thus ask you to get your turns for the next week in before Friday if at all possible. It is likely that Friday second post will be too late as I will have started on battles, colony printouts and the like by then.

Method of distribution on the research rules is to be changed. Combined with the black-market rules and some other random bits and pieces, plus some rules clarifications, these will be sent out to everybody.
The ideas for items submitted to us for approval and inclusion has been scrapped. Only one of the items would have been approved anyway, so it is no great loss. The research rules should open up new avenues.

From the end of June there is a rule alteration: you will not be able to repair a ships hulls with non complex repair. If your ships hulls are damaged you are going to have to visit a repair complex.

BSE had its two biggest weeks in May, the number of turns roughly doubled in the last three months. Also, players seem a lot happier with the game. Please keep on letting me know what you think, it is the only way I can respond to player wishes.

Several people keep asking me 'when will the new ship classes be available' - well they are. There are an infinite number of ship classes available, just not readily available. Several people now have ships not listed in the rules. If what you are really asking is 'when are you going to give me a huge ship on a plate' then answer is

Subspace Static - 193 July  [Recruit]

******BSE News July 1993******

Events

The war has not gone well for the DTR. In the first week they lost Starzone to an Imp attack, a result mostly of bad luck combined with IMP cunning. An ongoing battle in the space square over the IMP colony St Petersburg has resulted in casualties to both sides, though the IMP finally seem to have come out on top.
Though the DTR have acquitted themselves well in the last two weeks in various space battles the biggest blow to them has been the mass defection of their political players. Their PS has left the game entirely and other political players have defected to other affiliations. There is, at present, nobody running the DTR at all.

The month passed with no new citings of the Flagritz. It was thought that they would attack again in week 30, but there has been no sign of them. Colony governors outside of Capella are no doubt waiting with baited breath.
The Empire ha encountered the forces of the Emperor's bastard half brother who leads a collection of outlawed affiliations called the Confederacy. A state of cold war exists between the Empire and the Confederacy as each is afraid to attack the other outright. More information on this state of affairs will be soon forthcoming.

Notes

Several people are still confused as to how accounts work in BSE, so I will explain in detail.
No matter how many positions you run, all turn charges are debited from a single account. You do not have a single figure for each ship. Charges are debited as the turn come in, so if you submit a turn that it not yet due to be processed your account will still be debited. If you were them to submit a turn that was due to be processed you might see a lower account balance than you would expect. This is because you have already been charged for a turn that has not yet been processed.
Charges for colonies are levied when the printout is generated. This is normally done every Friday. You are not charged at the time you submit your orders, but at the time we send it back.

Black-market and research rules have been delayed for various reasons. You should get these in the very near future.

One last point: when writing to your PD or other political player, it is polite to include some stamps. Some of these people are writing an awful lot of letters and the bills for this sort of thing, and for photocopying soon mount up. Please lend them a hand as it is not really fair for them to pay to keep you informed.

Subspace Static - 193 August  [Recruit]

******August 1993 News******

July and early august has been rather busy, quite a lot of new stuff has been set up in the game, which I will talk about in a minute, and I wanted to wait until it was all up and running before issuing any public comment.

The London pubmeet was full of BSEers this month and a good, reasonably drunken time was had by all. For those who do not know about this meet it is at the 'Victoria and Albert' pub which is actually on Marleybone station. The BSE crowd usually congregates in the right hand bar. People get there around 7.00pm and it is on the first Friday of every month.

Several new affiliations have been set up in BSE. The PDs have been chosen for these already, based on those I knew had an interest in such activity.
These affiliations are part of the Confederacy, a kind of 'anti empire' run by the Emperors half brother. It is possible for players to join these affiliations by talking to the appropriate PD. The names are Andy Marshall (a nutty religious group called the Brotherhood), Pete Betts head of a spy agency (CIA), Mark Brown of the smugglers/thieves called the RAT, Alan Salt of a mercenary group called the DIE, and lastly Nick Allonby running the Confederacy (CNF) itself.
The Confederacy is set up in a set of new systems. You will have to find out how to get into these systems yourself, whether you join a new affiliation or not.
More details on these will be published in a forthcoming rules errata-but as they are so new there is no reason for anyone to know anything much yet anyway.

In answer to the frequently asked question 'When will larger ship upgrades be available at Hypso' the answer is NEVER.

The Princess has finally come to the periphery. Competition winners were Keith Baggot of the SMS Mercury for his floating museum and Pete Betts (Trace Windhook) of the much maligned Empress Sarah for his sky resort in Yank.

The war with the DTR is over. Detinus has been handed over to the EEM and DTR power in the periphery is broken. Rumour has it that the DTR has done deals with the CNF and will be setting up in the new periphery. Anyway up, there is no more war.

You may note that when you land at a colony you get a short description of it. These are written by me but colony governors should feel free to make their own suggestions. This is a feature we have just set up.
The new rulebook is underway. If you could please send to me details of anything you find to be confusing or badly written about the last one then I would be grateful. Do not expect a reply though.
Also I need a number of short anecdotes, events and quotations to bring the text to life: all submissions gratefully received.
Colony governors please note: there is a moral penalty for not feeding your colonists.

A number of additions to BSE are in the offering. I will give particulars as they arise but they will include a lot more detail for colonies, a decrease in the cost of GPIing a sector, more possibilities for political positions and some alterations to the battle program. This will all take time, so watch this space.

Subspace Static - 193 September  [Recruit]

******September 1993 News******

A few delays early in the month, only of a day or so, but my apologies none the less. The bank holiday combined with the new KJC flyer caused chaos - I have done about 50 new starts in the firs week of the month.

There has been a bit of a discussion going on about the posting and declaration of war system in BSE. A number of players have said tat it should be thrown open and that everyone should be ale to attack anyone they wish. A number of players have written to say that they are satisfied with the present system, but by reading the letters of both sides it became clear that neither side knew precisely what the system was. The rulebook is unclear so I will attempt to outline the system for you.

Any ship can put the entirety of its posted list as an enemy. It can also put anyone else's posted list up as an enemy provided the affiliation concerned could be considered an 'ally'. A ship can also put individual posted positions on its enemy list, but must say as such in a 0TU special action.

If a state of war exists a ship may put the entirety of who it is at war with on its enemy list, or individual positions provided it accompanies that with an action as described above.

Basically, if you are at war with the DTR (for example) and you want o put a single DTR up as an enemy do not just write 'add to enemy list 345'but add on something to the tune of 'that's a DTR ship, Justin, so don't be a wally and let me shoot at it'. Otherwise I will not know what ship 345 is!

The more complicated and subjective bit is how you go to war or post a ship. Both activities are only done by the PD of the affiliation.

POSTING: This is to let you shoot at a single ship. You cannot post a whole affiliation, though you may want to post a fair number of individual positions.

To post a ship the PD tells me, in writing, why he wants to post the ship. He also tells me his political position number and puts in the posting order, provisionally.

If I agree with his reasons then I let it go through, the ship is posted. The target of the posting has no say n the matter, though he can try to prove his innocence at a later date, once he has found out he is posted. I will not tell him.

So why can you post someone? A million reasons. You just have to convince me that you truly believe you have cause to redress against this person. What justified posting varies from affiliation to affiliation. For instance, the IMP could post a ship for carrying contraband. The SSL for a breach of honour. The DIE because they have a contract.

Subspace Static - 193 October  [Recruit]

******October News 1993******

BSE should go through a few changes during the following month or two, some of which you may already have noticed. We now have a full network up and running in the office as well as a new junior programmer, Jason. This will all mean that programme updates will be happening somewhat faster and that life will become easier for me (could it get any easier? I hear you all ask).

Accounts are to be computerised, which will save me an our or so each morning and cut down on the inevitable errors. This is one thing of many that will make the game run smoother at my end, though it is the only one that you will notice.

Colonies and Political turns have been done on a laser printer for a few weeks now. Very soon, perhaps by the time you read this in fact, all turns will be done by laser. This has required some program changes, mostly to give me more on-screen feedback. This should save me craning my neck to look at the printout (pretty difficult on a laser anyhow), save my eardrums from being bombarded by the racket of a dot matrix 8 hours a day (this is turning into a sob story) and, most importantly, drastically improve printout quality.

GPIing sectors will soon be reduced to 10TU rather than 14. I will let you know exactly when, but it is a more complex alteration than it would seem. Other alterations in the pipeline include ships library computers, more stuff for colonies and battle experience for ship captains.

The new rulebook is well underway, though every time I sit down to work on it it gets longer! We do not know whether we will be charging existing players for the new rules. If we do, it will be at cost and errata sheets will be available for those who do not wish to fork out.

Rules Update

Research: It should be noted that the maximum number of research complexes that can be present at a single colony is equal to twice its colony class. To clarify some other points: You can add more complexes to a project once it has started. It is the PLAYERS responsibility to note when a project is complete.
Luxury Goods

I have separated the term 'luxury goods' into several new categories. Colony governors may note that their special complexes may start to produce a more specific form f luxury rather than the generic one. No colony is going to lose out in any way as a result of this change. It is intended to add more interest and some variety into the profitable luxury good trade.
GPI

As long promised the cost to GPI sectors has now been decreased from 14 to 10.

Subspace Static Week 43 Year 193  [Recruit]


Planet maps are currently undergoing a overhaul. Those of you that probe worlds will note that the map is printed on your turn there and then, rather than being a separate entity. System maps will stay the same, though I am hoping to change them all to the full page format used for the Darkfold systems.
I must say that the turn-printed maps are being steadily improved. At present they divide terrain into land and sea, but we hope to print different symbols for each terrain type, as well as the locations of colonies in order to get a 'view from orbit' sort of feel. Quality of the maps will improve markedly when we switch to laser printed turns, which should be in early October.
Let me know what you think of the new maps and how they can be improved, bearing in mind what I have said concerning them.

Subspace Static Week 46 Year 193  [Recruit]

Ship data:

The EEM has released statistics on the numbers of ship hulls registered as active in the peripheries:

IND: 1571
IMP: 2641
GTT: 545
SMS: 1203
AFT: 1334
SSL: 1866
FET: 3854
DTR: 680
RAT: 277
DIE: 175
BHD: 1351
CIA: 441
CNF: 710

War in Darkfold

Confederacy Prelate Thebian D'Kerrigan has posted a number of ships for 'trespass' on CNF property...namely the Darkfold Periphery! He seems to be able to make good his threat and several 'trespassers' have already been shot up. An evil, conniving, mad dictator he might be, but at least he has more bottle than the IMP Viceroy who seems incapable of taking action against anything.

IMP Execute Own!

IMP Governor H.A. Vest has been charged with treason. According to the Viceroy the accusation is true and Governor Vest was duly executed on the spot. Obviously the IMP do not like paying retirement funds.

SSL Flagship lost.

Whilst trading with the RIP, which has to be a pretty dumb thing to do in the first place, the SSL Flagship Fist of God was boarded and taken over. If this the SSL Godfather (nicknamed 'the mouth') had previously said 'it will never be taken'. After the event he claimed that he suspected the attack so had sent an 'expendable ship'. What has the SSL got that it can afford to throw away a triple thorlium coated battlecruisers loaded down with photon guns? This reporter wants to know.

Kastorian Talks.

(from our political correspondent in KAS Rubis)
The IMP, after a period of some months following their assault on craft in KAS airspace, have finally tendered a new peace offer. What will come of it is yet to be seen.

Subspace Static Week 48 Year 193  [Recruit]

Mass Resignation

The leaders of both the Brotherhood and the SSL have resigned.
The Brotherhood leader, ex AFT Master Trader Amos Trask is said to have left the periphery due to the refusal of Core Confederate leaders to let me shoot at anyone he liked. Trask apparently wanted the right to shoot at anyone he liked provided that they were not allowed to do the same in return.
SSL's 'The Mouth' has left after going into a massive sulk over the failure of some scientists to produce what they said they could. Sounds pretty typical of the scientific community to me. Inter System link Discovered Rumours persist that a link between the Darkfold and Capellan peripheries has been discovered. The link, said to join Yank to Kastor, is likely to lead to a lot more long distance trade and the possibility of open conflict.

Subspace Static Week 50 Year 193  [Recruit]

Squidy Declares himself Emperor

The self styled 'Magnificent Squidy', urban terrorist, Naplian freedom fighter and general all round dubious person has crowned himself 'Emperor of the Periphery'. His claim to rulership is based on the fact that the Naplians were in the periphery first and that by rights makes him, their ruler, rightful Emperor.
The fact that similar claims have been made through the ages on earth itself and have usually been met with total scorn does not seem to deter him the slightest.
The Viceroys office has not yet issued a statement, we expect to receive one in the next year or so, but we would guess that they will not agree with Squidy's claims.
In a press announcement Squidy claimed that he acted for periphery peace and that he was much better suited for the job of running the periphery than the current Imperial faction. He further stated that he would be 'taking measures' in order to ensure that his rulership was not challenged by the IMP faction.
EEM Director Phillippa Beumont stated that she would be talking with Squidy with a view to possibly the EEM ban on trading with the Naplians. This was in light of the Naplians 'New found social conscience' and because 'The IMP seem incapable of protecting us.' More news as it happens.

GTT Scramblers

The GTT have been testing a new 'scrambler' that when fitted to a ship misleads the sensors of any other crate that scans it, making the ship appear a bigger class. Field trials have so far not been a success and the device is not believed to be available for use as yet.

Crime Figures

New figures from the Central Bureau of Criminal Investigation, as run by the IMP in order to track down crime in the periphery, reported that no arrests were made this month, which makes a total of ... ..... three arrests. These were of a defecting IMP PD, Westbrook, a defecting IMP political officer and a bunch of students caught giving out seditious anti-slavery literature. Sentences were Death, Death and light torture respectively though Westbrook got away.
This clearly indicates that there is absolutely no smuggling, piracy, theft or, in fact, any crime going on in the periphery. Either that or the IMP couldn't catch a cold.

Flagritz

The Flagritz are to be handed out to player control, I need three players to take over the three FGZ political parties. These parties control the FGZ in concert and a majority decision is needed for any declaration of war.
Each party will be permitted two baseships and will have control of a colony. One party is aggressive and violent, one insular and one which wishes to encourage trade. The FGZ are fairly powerful, but not overly so, and are working under a number of serious disadvantages. They begin, as they currently are, at war with everybody else.
Do not choose to play these if you merely want an awful lot of power: they are not as tough as they might seem. If, however, you want to play something interesting then drop me a line with your turn telling me your choice of party, and a second choice. You MUST be prepared to role-play the party you choose and if you fail to do so will be removed. Players who take this option must drop all of their other positions.

Subspace Static Week 51 Year 193  [Recruit]


All Flagritz places have now been assigned. BSE will be shutting down over Xmas. I will be away from the 24th which effectively means that the week ending on the 24th will, as far as BSE I concerned, end the Friday after (7th ish). BSE time will not advance in that period. As there are a lot of bank holidays in that area and the post is bound to be clogged with Chrissy cards and thank you letters this seems the best course.
All other KJC games will continue as usual.

There should be a copy of the latest IGN in with this turn.

Subspace Static Week 52 Year 193  [Recruit]

Empire Acts

The Imperial colony Sevastopol launched a pre-emptive missile assault against the Naplian colony Squidygrad which resulted in the total destruction of its civilian population, but made little impact on its military potential. An orbiting IMP ship, the Sledgehammer, is believed lost with all hands as a result of a missile attack by the Naplians.
This exciting development may herald the dawning of a new ago of Imperial policy. In fact, they might have actually got themselves a policy.

Drug Runners Let Off

The AFT have recently been accused of the manufacture and sale of the illegal drug dalium hydroxide. The IMP has, however, let them off the hook. Rumour has it that the dropping of the charges coincided with the delivery of a large number of factories to Jax courtesy of AFT Ariel.

New Imperial Momentum

Not content with their decision to attack Squidygrad the IMP, after months of debate, has decided to make another change that will effect the life on the periphery for all time. They have changed the name of Starzone to Sevastopol

SSL is Disarray

The SSL, it is alleged, is a spent force in the periphery. It seems incapable of keeping its leadership for more tan a week and it looks as if Godfather 10 is soon to make an appearance.

Bids on Megahauler

Bids on the brad spanking new hauler from the Core empire that is being sole by the EEM are hotting up. The bidding currently rests at 300000 from the FET.
In a surprise announcement Ms Beaumont has announced that she will be only happy to divert the ship to the Darkfold system if a sufficiently large bid is placed. Bidding is open until the end of the year.

 
News
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*** Inter Galactic News ***

Solo claim swings back and forth

The situation in Solo appears to be getting even more heated. First the NHS dropped 600,000 troops to contest the system and then the DTR answered with enough troops of their own to trump the NHS claim. The NHS found yet more troops, taking the contesting claim up to 750,000 and once again the DTR answered, bringing Solo back under DTR control. Now the NHS have had a look down the back of the sofa and found yet more troops, taking the contesting claim to a massive 900,000 trained troops. We wait to see if the DTR have an answer to this. We can only guess where all these troops are coming from, but what is clear is that the established affiliations clearly have far larger armies than many thought.
 
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*** Inter Galactic News ***

NHS attempt to claim Solo away from DTR

In a shock move the NHS have contested the Solo claim with a huge garrison of 600,000 trained troops. In a move that nobody saw coming, especially as it was unknown the NHS had such a large force of troops to draw upon, the NHS seem to be provoking a response from the DTR. Currently there has been no word from the DTR in how they are going to deal with this claim jumping, although rumours are that they are pretending the Solo claim doesn't really matter to them and so action is unlikely. However this may be a smokescreen and we may yet see the DTR's powerful fleet cause havoc in the system of Solo, which has for a long time been an important junction and fought over by many different factions.

DNA Chairman TonTon resigns

The following communication has been leaked from the DNA to the GTT's PD.

Greetings CEO Fox.
It regrets me to have to inform to you that the DNA nation state will be renouncing its claim on Aladdin system following a ceremony planet side, shortly.
However, it gives me great pleasure to have to inform you that these ceremonies are being planned by Vladimir Tavikovitch, the South Road Traffic Coordinator. He is also responsible for all DNA and .ore. assets in the Outer Naplian (Capellan) periphery so if there are any further issues, please take it up with him.
For any and all other matters, please forward your request directly to the DNA directorate services at NexusID: DNA people.
The Foreign Ministry objects one last time to your illegal claim jump of Aladdin, but we realise it is time to de-escalate.
Normally i would sign off with Naambta, but doing so would be hypocritical. Let me say good riddance instead.
I hereby resign in protest!

Chairman TonTon,
Foreign Minister, DNA
cc: Directorate Services personnel coordinator - !urgent resignation!


DTR threaten WMB with fines for multiple breaches of DTR Law

Lady Sylvansight of the DTR has issued a fine of 1,000,000 stellars to the Wimbles for multiple breaches of DTR Penal and Territorial Law. This seems a very brave move of the DTR to risk upsetting the huge and warlike WMB when they also have the rival NHS Solo system claim to deal with. No word has been recieved yet that the Wimbles are going to pay, but if the formidable WMB warfleet is seen heading for the DTR home systems we will know what their thought are on the matter. The DTR and WMB fleets going head to head would be a sight to behold.

*** Affiliations ***

AFT Association of Free Traders (54) - Marion Tweedy
BLG Bolg Organisation (22) - Akhenaten
CIA Combined Intelligence Agency (64) - Laton CIA
DNA Displaced Natives Asylum (66) - DNA people
DTR Detinus Republic (58) - Morley Decker
DWK Dewiek Packs (19) - <Unknown>
FCN Falconian Republic (70) – Graspien
FEL Felini Tyranny (49) - Kr'Shan
FLZ Flagritz Republic (47) - Kayxaer
FET Frontier Exploration & Trade (56) - Cu Chulainn
GTT Galactic Trade & Transport (52) - Xavier Fox
HEX Hexamon (23) - Tranquility
KRL Krell (30) - Namica
KRT Krell of the Reverence Temple (37) - Cyn
KST Kastor Kastorians (12) - Kastor
MOH Mohache (73) – Listens
NHS Noble Houses (41) – Roy Roberts
NLF Naplian Liberation Front (38) - NLFHQ
SMS Stellar Mining and Smelting (53) - MikhailM
WMB Wimble Nations (25) - zz

* Leader MAY be inactive, affiliation may be active
** Only known contact, please update us if this is incorrect.

NPC / FoC: ARC, CIV, CGT, FRE, HBO, HEF, IND, ISP, JCN, MEK, MRC, PIR, PRV, TCA, TRN, KAS
Inactive: ANT, COD, BHD, DEN, DOM, GCE, HVE, IDC, IMP, RIP, RCF, SKW, TAG,

*** Submissions ***

By private message to The Editor or via Mica if you prefer to remain anonymous.
 
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*** Inter Galactic News ***

DNA and GTT clash over Aladdin system claim while Pirates look on.

The GTT have this week launched an attack on the DNA outpost in Aladdin, in what appears to be little more than a turkey shoot. Around 100,000 GTT Naplian Startroopers attacked the DNA position to remove the rival system claim. Reports indicate the DNA garrison were taken by surprise and lost control of the base in the first few hours of the fighting. The base has since been reflagged from [Free Naplian Capital] Peaceful Protest to [Loyal Naplian Capital] DNA claim Ended so it's fair to say there was a clear message being sent by the GTT. We have been waiting for the DNA leadership to comment but so far they have been unusually silent. No doubt when they have crawled out from under their desks they will have something to say on the matter.

While this attack was going on several pirate ships were also seen in Aladdin, according to the GTT in what may be true or may be a diversion, with reports of a pirate GP and scout being destroyed while a 150HH pirate warship slipped away and escaped from incoming anti-pirate patrols.

Secret meeting of the EEM

A recent communication intercepted by one of our top reporters today made us aware of a meeting of the EEM. This is underway in a top secret location called Black Pool, which sounds suspiciously like the lair of a pirate band. After pulling in many favours, we were able to identify some of the attending members. On the bases that they won't be named we were able to find out some slight information of the subjects to be discussed at the meeting and one thing is for certain, there could be huge impacts to the lives of everybody living in the galaxy. Details to follow. When the shadowy figures of the EEM come together with the top political players in a pirate base the possibilities are endless!


You are never more than 6 systems from a RAT 🐀

A new saying has arisen in the bars and spaceport of starbases throughout the many peripheries; you are never more than 6 systems from a RAT.

It is understood that this saying originated in Yank and spread by trade vessels to peripheries far and wide. Many starbases have heightened their security and added additional sensors and locks to various entry points including foul and grey water outfalls. Beer and drug stocks are undergoing increased proofing to avoid the critters gaining entry and consuming the stockpiles.

Will this present as a new plague of proportions never before seen or is this some simple urban myth being spread for the amusement of some mischievous entity? Who knows, but to be certain... check the shadows.

 
This year we will again be returning to the Briardene Hotel. They were welcoming, the bar didn't run out of beer pre-covid and there was room for quiet chats. Along with Wetherspoons there is the Victoria just down the road (Sam Smiths - last time beer was around 2 shillings per pint and a full round was less than £10).

Mostly drinking beer and talking toot though we have a good few things on the agenda.

Bookings are done directly with the hotel. Book by phone and say that you are with KJC Games

Briardene Hotel
Telephone: +44(0)1253 338300
All staff should be able to deal with the booking but if there are any problems ask for Tracy (manager) as she dealt with all our foibles in previous years.
 
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*** Inter Galactic News ***

Dog days are over

With the fall of the DEN and the implosion of their home territory as the AFT, DTR and GTT moved in, it was unlikely the Dewiek would rise again. The DWP gave the species a little hope with the Dewiek Pocket Periphery kept under lock and key. But news has reached us of the AFT's penetration of this private area of space that's been locked down. With a base and claim in one of the three visible systems it seems that the end of the Dewiek is near. A once noble and aggressive race, determined to make an impact on the galaxy is now little more than a species that lives under the command of others. A sad end to a once powerful species that used to control a significant part of known space.

Pirate activity continues

Yet more reports of pirate activity have been received, one from the WMB, losing a freighter in Solo and another from the FET who reported they had engaged and hit the attacking pirate ship with several weapons before it managed to make off with it's prize. Hopefully the pirate ship took significant damage and will now be out of action for some time. The Corewards periphery seems to have been plagued with pirates recently and many travellers would welcome a break from attacks.


MEK incursion into Corewards

The FET and GTT have mounted a joint venture into Nog-Kesri to tackle a MEK force. It isn't known where they have come from, with the only other MEK ships seen so far being located in the Orion Spur. The lack of a known link between where they have appeared in Corewards and the Orion Spur has caused some concern among planetary populations as who knows where they could turn up next! Fortunately the combined FET/GTT task force dealt the MEK a heavy blow and the threat has been eradicated. But we all know this is unlikely to be the last we hear of the MEK in Corwards and we would encourage ship captains to keep a keen eye on thier sensor screens when travelling near Nog-Kesri.

 
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*** Inter Galactic News ***

  • CIA freighter fights off overwhelming pirate forces

  • Fin Saine media broadcast, What is Hot in the galaxy?!?!

  • MEKlan forces attack in Corewards Arm


  •  
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    *** Inter Galactic News ***

    Aladdin faces ongoing DNA/GTT tension

    The tensions between the DNA and GTT in the Coptuv system recently spilled over into the DNA system of Aladdin. A significant party of GTT ground troops has reinforced one of their bases in the system and claimed it, forcing the system claim into turmoil as the DNA finds itself under threat of losing the system. With the DNA chairman asking for help, several affiliations have been seen sending ships to evacuate any in the local population that want to escape the GTT. But so far not a shot has been fired and despite the AFT, FEL and DTR assistance no reisistance to the claim jump has been encountered so far. It remains to be seen if the DNA and it's friends will scatter before this hostile take over or put in a last minute counter claim to thwart GTT intentions.

    Increasing pirate activity

    Recent reports indicate a new surge in pirate attacks with the AFT and GTT reporting ships lost. Knowing how some don't like to advertise losses we wouldn't be surprised if this is the tip of the iceberg. Reports passed to us show the ship PIR Scavenger running ID 43174 and another ship of the same name running ID 68668 have both been in action with successful boarding attempts. It's unknown whether these are seperate ships or the same ship reregistered, but our information suggests that it would be hard for these pirates to cover the space where these attacks happened with just one ship. One thing is for sure, be on your guard as open space is not as safe as it once was.


    GCE ships loitering in deep space

    After the fall of the GCE and a lot of their assets being shared or purchased it was thought that the affiliation was no more. Yet deep space scans indicate that there is still a significant number of GCE warships holding station in deep space between Coptuv and Yank on the transport route into the Corwards Arm. Nobody knows what these ships are up to and why they are still flagged GCE, but our best guess is that are captains either awaiting new orders or owners after the fall of the GCE command structure.


    *** Affiliations ***

    AFT Association of Free Traders (54) - Marion Tweedy
    BLG Bolg Organisation (22) - Akhenaten
    BHD Brotherhood (63) - de Molay
    CIA Combined Intelligence Agency (64) - Laton CIA
    DNA Displaced Natives Asylum (66) - DNA people
    DTR Detinus Republic (58) - Morley Decker
    DWK Dewiek Packs (19) - <Unknown>
    FCN Falconian Republic (70) – Graspien
    FEL Felini Tyranny (49) - Kr'Shan
    FLZ Flagritz Republic (47) - Kayxaer
    FET Frontier Exploration & Trade (56) - Cu Chulainn
    GTT Galactic Trade & Transport (52) - Xavier Fox
    HEX Hexamon (23) - Tranquility
    KRL Krell (30) - Namica
    KRT Krell of the Reverence Temple (37) - Cyn
    KST Kastor Kastorians (12) - Kastor
    MOH Mohache (73) – Listens
    NHS Noble Houses (41) – Roy Roberts
    NLF Naplian Liberation Front (38) - NLFHQ
    SMS Stellar Mining and Smelting (53) - MikhailM
    WMB Wimble Nations (25) - zz

    * Leader MAY be inactive, affiliation may be active
    ** Only known contact, please update us if this is incorrect.

    NPC / FoC: ARC, CIV, CGT, FRE, HBO, HEF, IND, ISP, JCN, MEK, MRC, PIR, PRV, TCA, TRN, KAS
    Inactive: ANT, COD, DEN, DOM, GCE, HVE, IDC, IMP, RIP, RCF, SKW, TAG,

    *** Submissions ***

    By private message to The Editor or via Mica if you prefer to remain anonymous.
     
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    *** Inter Galactic News ***

    Tension in the Corewards Arm

    With the DNA obtaining several ex-GCE bases in the Coreward Arm it has found itself in the middle of an asset grab of serious proportions and aggression. Our reporters witnessed several GTT troop carriers heading for the Corewards system as the DNA published information suggesting they were accidental owners of the system and that the assets were to be moved on. As the GTT ships started to arrive the bases were quickly passed to the CIA, thus thwarting the GTT intentions as they were hardly likely to start dropping troops on their allies bases. This shrew move by the DNA seems to have calmed matters in the Coreward arm temporarily, although the shift in relations between the GTT and DNA has taken a negative turn. When asked what their next move might be the GTT refused to comment.

    GCE collapse

    The GCE are no more, save for some scattered light freighters. The affiliation which enjoyed a sharp rise and profiltable relations with many has ceased trading. Rumors point to the GTT buying up GCE assets before stripping the rival corporation of anything of value. Although our reporters at the SSS have been quick to point out that any GCE assets not in GTT systems have been taken over by both the DNA and FET. So it seems many different affiliations were able to profit from this development including a new group called the HSH who appear to have taken over the GCE war fleet. No doubt many in the peripheries will be watching with interest where these ships are used, who the HSH are and how they were able to get thier hands on so many warships so quickly.


    Secudus trials

    In the Cluster Secudus has continued his trials, claiming to root out terrorists working against the Empire. With tends of thousands of beings being sent to the camps or worse. There is no sign of these actions stopping as the NHS clamp down on the locals and bring them under the harsh control of the Empire.


    *** Affiliations ***

    AFT Association of Free Traders (54) - Marion Tweedy
    BLG Bolg Organisation (22) - Akhenaten
    BHD Brotherhood (63) - de Molay
    CIA Combined Intelligence Agency (64) - Laton CIA
    DNA Displaced Natives Asylum (66) - DNA people
    DTR Detinus Republic (58) - Morley Decker
    DWK Dewiek Packs (19) - <Unknown>
    FCN Falconian Republic (70) – <Unknown>
    FEL Felini Tyranny (49) - Juris
    FLZ Flagritz Republic (47) - Kayxaer
    FET Frontier Exploration & Trade (56) - Cu Chulainn
    GTT Galactic Trade & Transport (52) - Xavier Fox
    HEX Hexamon (23) - Tranquility
    KRL Krell (30) - Namica
    KRT Krell of the Reverence Temple (37) - Cyn
    KST Kastor Kastorians (12) - Kastor
    MOH Mohache (73) – Listens
    NHS Noble Houses (41) – Roy Roberts
    NLF Naplian Liberation Front (38) - NLFHQ
    SMS Stellar Mining and Smelting (53) - MikhailM
    WMB Wimble Nations (25) - zz

    * Leader MAY be inactive, affiliation may be active
    ** Only known contact, please update us if this is incorrect.

    NPC / FoC: ARC, CIV, CGT, FRE, HBO, HEF, IND, ISP, JCN, MEK, MRC, PIR, PRV, TCA, TRN, KAS
    Inactive: ANT, COD, DEN, DOM, GCE, HVE, IDC, IMP, RIP, RCF, SKW, TAG,

    *** Submissions ***

    By private message to The Editor or via Mica if you prefer to remain anonymous.
     
    ******Empire Syndicated News Network (ESNN) ******

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    Welcome to the latest version of ESNN, giving the news and views from the ESNN's reporter and news anchor, Ainsley Moore, making this the peripheries' most favourite and most reliable unbiased publication in the known universe from our home in the Heartland,

    And so with the news from the last couple of weeks,


    Cluster War! DNA Gather Fruit
     

    Free Ship when you sign-up
    Complete missions for in game rewards
    Control everything, up to an entire empire
    Dedicated human moderators
    Player and Moderator driven plotlines
    Discover new worlds to explore, exploit & colonise
    Over 20 years of content development
    Persistent Browser-Based Game (PBBG)

    I’ve played on and off for approximately 10 years, over a 20 year spell. After some interesting debate on the in-game forum, I did wonder what, exactly, has kept drawing me back to the game, when for so many others I’ve generally lost interest after a few months.

    Ultimately, I think it is a combination of automation (that allows the game to handle thousands of positions to interact on a daily basis) coupled with Special Actions (that allow the story arc to develop in a way that could not be catered for by a set of predefined list of available orders).
    -Zigic