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FANTASY GENERAL LADDER- GETTING CREATIVE WITH PBM: by Orpheus
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So you say you're getting bored, eh?  
Tired of the same old grind?  
You know... random plains, 5 skyhunters, 5 magic, one skull, heroes ok. 

Getting tired of outsmarting your opponent with purchasing alone?  

Here are a few scenario ideas to bring a breath of fresh air to your 
PBM games. But I must warn you... these scenarios are bound to throw 
a monkey wrench into your well oiled war machine. Play with caution!  
And most of all, enjoy...

Autobuild:
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Create the scenario with all of the normal parameters.  
The only change is that you choose "autobuild army".
You get what you get- no reloading.

The Lone Hero:
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Start with a Hero (any hero) - Use just enough purchase gold to buy that hero.
Begin the scenario with a preset amount of start gold on whatever map the players 
decide upon. Bring a hero onto the board and buy the army after the scenario starts.

Assassin:
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Pick a number of heroes or other units that the opponent must kill to win.  
Whoever kills the other's heroes first is the winner.  Heroes can not have the 
ablility to turn invisible.

Assassin Variation:
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Another variation on the theme above is unlimited money but no experience allowed;
so you have 64000 gold and a big map, and must track down the enemy heroes. All other
kills are mostly irrelevant because you can replace them at will with all that money.
The only other unit that matters is the skull unit because it cannot be replaced. This
one is a lot of fun and very tough to win! A completely territorial battle!

No Replacements:
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Play one of the few maps out there with no cities (such as Giant's Throw Island).  
No replacements can be purchased.

King of the Hill:
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Winner must take a landmark or several landmarks to win; 
another variation is to get a random map with one town in the middle, 
then both players try to take and hold the town. Nobody can place units 
there even if they own it, and whomever holds it after 10 turns is the winner. 

Mechs Unlimited:
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How about an all-mech scenario???  You know you want to try it!

Mech Advantage
No exp allowed, no magic items/units allowed (mechs become more
interesting in this scenario!)

Air War:
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We don't need no stinking terrain!!!   
The only ground units allowed are archers and seige engines.  
Max 3 each. The rest are skyhunters and bombardiers. Winner take all.  
Another variation is to have one ground unit that has to take a 
pre-designated city owned by the other player.  If that unit is killed 
it can't fulfill it's victory conditions.  If both units are killed the 
game is a draw. The winner is the first to take the opponent's city.  Very tricky.

Mirror Duel:
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Both sides have an identical army.  
You can play this with or without start gold. Strategy is key.

Ultimate Variety:
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No beasts or magic units, limit of 3 of each unit (money is less of an
object and you have to use all the units types), 5 items allowed.

Junk Only:
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No heavy infantry, cavalry, or flyers... 
stock up on the junk units. Actually, kills are very tough to 
come by in this variation so strategy and movement are key.

Duel Arcana:
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Only spell casters may be purchased.  Unlimited magic items.  
Be careful with this one - it can get ugly!

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As you can see, the possibilities are endless.  
I hope this article will help you to spice up your games on the FG ladder.  
I'd also like to thank Nick for some excellent additions to the scenario list.

Orpheus
Salient Columnist
E-mail: "behnkenj@us.ibm.com"