The Game Engine

A friend(Qarl) and myself discovered A Fistful of Planets a while back. It's a reasonably old PBM (play-by-mail) game where the turns are processed by your opponent which allows 2 players to play without the need of a game master. The rules are pretty simple and in some areas they are open to interpretation. We've started playing this though. We're currently up to turn 7 and still in the expansion phase of the game. I thought I'd start posting the turns here as my opponent usually gets attachments stripped from their e-mail.

To recap;
I started on Eladrel. My first wave of expansion was towards the blue stars of Zebulon and Sadir. These were raised and this turn produced their first transports.

At this stage I'm expanding in all directions and making a quick grab for the nearest rich (Yellow/Green) star systems. The question will become; At which point do I start producing combat craft and fortifying systems?

There was no colonisation this turn. Next turn I see my territories growing quite significantly though.

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A FISTFUL OF PLANETS
ORDERS SUMMARY    Turn #7:

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PHASE I
Step 1 - Colonization
Location    From which fleet?
n/a

Step 2 - Fleet Reorganization
Combining:
n/a

Transferring:
Ships 	From fleet	To fleet
1T	E		F

Step 3 - Production:
Colony		Size	Producing	To fleet
Eladrel(9)	5	2T		G
Zebulon(9)	2	1T		H
Sadir(8)	2	1T		I

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PHASE II
Fleet Orders
Fleet	Location	Fleet Orders
E	Crucis(12)	Move to Antony(13)
F	Crucis(12)	Move to Wolf(14)
G	Eladrel(9)	Move to Izar(6)
H	Zebulon(9)	Move to Izat(6)
I	Sadir(8)	Move to Cephei(10)

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TURN REPORT
MOVEMENT:
C    Gaza (30)    Move Imrin (28)	Success
D    Gaza (30)    Move Imrin (28)	Success
E    Arcturus(28)    Move Scorpii (26)	Success
F    Arcturus(28)    Move Scorpii (26)	Success

WITHDRAWALS:
Player 1
Fleet Ships From  To
n/a

Player 2
Fleet Ships From  To
n/a

COMBAT
Location  P1 Fleet Ships||  vs.  P2 Fleet Ships  ||Winner  Ships
n/a

FINAL LOCATIONS OF FLEETS
Gold:
Crucis(12): E,F
Eladrel(9): G
Zebulon(9): H
Sadir(8): I

Qarl:
Imron(28): C, D
Scorpii(26): E,F

FINAL FLEET COMPOSITION
Gold:
E: 1T
F: 1T
G: 2T
H: 1T
I: 1T

Qarl
C: 1T
D: 1T
E: 1T
F: 1T

COLONY REPORT (Sizes)
1 Gaza (30)
5 Arcturus(28)
2 Scorpii (26)
1 Crucis(12)
5 Eladrel(9)
2 Zebulon(9)
2 Sadir(8)
1 Izar(6)