Play by eMail

[craig]

One of AH's biggest problems with play be mail was how to generate random numbers. They came up with sporting events, or stock prices, etc for the next day. The first problem is to get hex numbers for the map - newer games have these on them, older ones like Afrika Korps, Guadalcanal, etc needed some help. AH also came up with PBM kits, I never knew the contents of these, but they would have to involve each counter (with unique ID) and a hex location. This is easily done these days with a spreadsheet. I found a website that will roll dice for you and email the results (to your opponent, and maybe both of you), this will be very handy:

http://www.rpglibrary.org/software/securedice/

It also happens to be open source.

I would suggest, if playing these games by email you take the spreadsheet for the game and print it to PDF using, say, CutePDF:

http://www.cutepdf.com/

That way there can be no arguments about the spreadsheet getting accidentally changed by either player. Just name the PDF the side you are p-laying and the turn number and they should stack in a folder in order for later reference.

If any one wants to make a stab at PBEM spreadsheet templates, I'll be happy to post them on the site for free download.

Games like Machiavelli or Diplomacy can easily be played by email and a website where a game master can post the game map by turn with each players counters shown on it. A little finesse with photoshop and FTP and its no problem. The reference CD's we provide here have all the necessary images on them to do it.

[brindlejrb]

Craig:

If I had what they looked like in the past I could do the template. Ideally it should be done by someone who has done this in the past so we don't have to reinvent the wheel. If anyone has done PBM or PBEM in the past please contact me at brindlejrb@comcast.net. I would think the spreadsheet should list each unit in play, the grid square location (we could make one for each game that doesn't have one and make it a PDF for download), the turn and side played like German or Russian. There should also be a column for reduction of that unit if it is reduced. The dice roll should be all we need if we do this or am I missing something?

Joe Brindley

[craig]

Here is a start for a PBEM sheet for Afrika Korps. The game has no hex numbers printed per hex, so it is always difficult to figure out the hexes. A small version of the map on the sheet will eliminate the need to look up hex numbers. The sheet is 8x10.5in at 600dpi and should be readable when printed. Being a B&W JPG it should also be small enough to email. I have reversed the German OB so it is readable. Now, someone needs to add some info to the bottom of the sheet for the counters.

[craig]

One of my sources, Robert Ott, has provided images of an original PBM kit for Waterloo, it also has hex numbering info for several other games. I will post the images as a Free PDF later in the week. Since I already have replacement counters for many of these games, it should be pretty easy to come up with PBEM sheets for several games.

[craig]

The Waterloo PBM kit is linked on the Waterloo page of the website now.