DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date   : 08/16/2019    Duedate: 08/29/2019

NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA

DM 93    TURN 537

This Week's Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

RAMIAL
LOST LEGION (1757)
(93-10276) [4-1-1,58]

Chartered Recognition Leader   Unchartered Recognition Leader

POSITION IS EMPTY              RAMIAL
                               LOST LEGION (1757)
                               (93-10276) [4-1-1,58]

Popularity Leader              This Week's Favorite

FAST CARS                      TONY TATAGLIONI
BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)        THE FAMILY (1756)
(93-10258) [4-2-0,33]          (93-10272) [4-2-0,33]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

OCCUPATIONS (1755)

          TEAMS ON THE MOVE            TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name                  Point Gain  Chartered Team
1. BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)       30 
2. THE FAMILY (1756)             22    BANE'S CHILDREN (235)
3. LOST LEGION (1757)            13    Unchartered Team

                                       OCCUPATIONS (1755)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record           W   L  K    %  Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns    W  L K
 1/ 1*OCCUPATIONS (1755)        17  13  0 56.7   1/ 1*OCCUPATIONS (1755)        9  6 0
 2/ 2*THE FAMILY (1756)         16  13  1 55.2   2/ 2*BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)   8  7 0
 3/ 3*BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)   16  14  0 53.3   3/ 3*THE FAMILY (1756)         5  5 0
 4/ 4*LOST LEGION (1757)        11  14  5 44.0   4/ 4*LOST LEGION (1757)        3  7 2

    '*'   Unchartered team                       '-'  Team did not fight this turn
   (###)  Avoid teams by their Team Id          ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank

                                    TEAM SPOTLIGHT

                     WHAT THEY WON'T TEACH YOU IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
                   SO COME TO NOBLISH ISLE TO REALLY, REALLY LEARN

     Any warrior that loses a fight can die. Dead. Gone. One can die by being 
mercilessly killed by the opponent, and, sadly, every loser has a small chance 
(estimated odds 1 in 50) of dying in the infirmary. Note: There is NO chance of dying 
if one wins! So WIN!
     Any warrior can use any weapon. Not a problem However, there are undefined 
penalties for using marginal, unsuited, inadequate wit, inadequate size, inadequate 
strength, and inadequate deftness weapons. One can certainly win with an improperly 
suited weapon, but, is it worth the chance? Usually not, I say. (I said usually!)
     Warriors are born with certain skills which are dependent on the base 70 point 
stat sheet and the style selected. The 14 points of added stats also add skills to 
those base skills. You really need to know which skills come from what stat. (So check 
out that C.I.C.) Repeat: CHECK OUT THAT C. I. C.!!!
     RSI seldom makes input errors. I said seldom. The best thing a manager can do to 
help avoid input errors is to fill out the strategy sheet accurately and legibly with 
good penmanship. Yes, we have doctors in the warrior management ranks (Slugbait and 
Grimm come to mind) and they probably regret their yucky penmanship. These are 
considered the four best ways to acquire info, knowledge and "secrets" about D2:

          * Terrablood.com
          * Noblish Island (DM93) newsletters
          * Reality.com
          * Assur's site

     There is more to strategy than filling out the warrior's initial armor and weapon 
selection and offensive effort and activity level and kill desire and tactic 
selection. Challenges and avoids are an important way to attempt to give your warrior 
an advantage. Challenge warriors (warrior ID) that your warrior is likely to defeat 
and learn a lot from, and avoid teams (team ID) with warriors whom are likely to 
defeat you. (Remember, if you lose, you could die!) Indeed, your warrior can be 
provided with an alternate strategy for challenging or when being challenged or both. 
A warrior does not have to ever challenge, bloodfeud, or avoid, but it is almost 
certainly in his best interest to do so.
     Ask dumb questions! Often managers, especially new managers, have a doubt or a 
question, but they feel "asking for help/advice" is a sign of weakness or lack of 
intelligence or knowledge about D2. Do not let this be you! Ask! We dumb veteran 
managers ask each other dumb questions all the time. One man's dumb is another man's 
smart. (You heard it here first!)

     What are the best ways to ask?

          * On the Reality.com site
          * On the D2 Chatzy blog site
          * In personal ads in the arenas (especially Noblish Island)
          * By diplo to another manager in D2 (Certain managers will almost always 
            respond; some may not)

     No matter what any veteran, friend or expert tells you about design or strategy 
or concept, it is not necessarily the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth. It may be good or great or common advice, but it is not necessarily the only 
good (or bad) advice. Some advice is best learned first-hand.
     D2 is a normally a friendly atmosphere. While managers are very competitive, most 
of the vets know each other, see each other at FTF Tournaments, chat with each other 
on line, and even help each other out with advice and ideas. The fount of knowledge 
available now, about D2, was acquired by a collective "working together" and sharing 
info. Be advised that an overly mean, overbearing, threatening, haughty, unfriendly 
character/manager is likely to be colluded against and ostracized by D2 regulars. 
Smack talk is desirable and a part of the game. Personal threats, harsh meanness, or 
overbearingness is not at all welcomed. You are forewarned!  
     Noblish Island is a great learning atmosphere. What comes after Noblish? Choose 
wisely an arena (or two!) in which to participate.

          * Fast (two week turnaround) or slow (four weeks)
          * Large (15+ teams participating), medium (8-14ish), small (7 or less)
          * Friendly (usually Andorian arenas are up for role-playing and up for 
            helping newbies, and down on down-challenging or taking advantage of 
            newbies), or Cutthroat (Darkholm arenas tend to be win-at-all-cost).

     You can participate in as many arenas as you want. You can also participate in 
separate tournaments, held quarterly, which allow warriors from all arenas to compete 
with each other for acclaim and prizes.
     There are many other things they apparently didn't teach you, you say?  Well send 
a personal ad or diplo to Assur, or The Consortium rep in DM93 Noblish Isle and give 
them a shot at answering in the newsletter.

                     -- Agent, Occupations (Consortium affiliated and Consortium Rep)

***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***

                           Assur's Guide to Pure Offensives

     Offensives are the easiest type of warrior to design, run, and master.  The idea 
of a pure offensive is that you are going to come out fast and overwhelm your opponent 
with your offensive abilities.

1) Design
When you are making a pure offensive, the things that matter most are:  Damage, 
Endurance, Attack skills, Decise skills, Initiative skills, and wit. While other 
attributes and skills are nice, especially if you want to try fighting differently, 
the pure offensive doesn't care much about them. 

   Damage is dictated by Strength and Size.
   Endurance is dicated by Strength, Constitution, and Will (especially Will)

   You get attack skills at:
     Str: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21        Wit: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
     Wil: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21        Dft: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21

   You get decise skills at:
     Wit: 5, 7, 17, 21                Wil: 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, 21  
     Spd: All even values

   You get init skills at:
     Siz: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21        Wit: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
     Spd: 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 21    Dft: 5, 7, 7, 15, 15, 17, 21, 21

   Wit helps you learn more skills and as you'll notice contributes to each of the 
   skills that you care about (attack, decise, and init).  The only other thing to 
   seriously consider is your weapon selection.

   Damage is probably the most important attribute, followed by decise and then 
   attack. Wit is also very important as you need to learn your offensive skills 
   enough to keep up your ability to overwhelm your opponents.  One of the most common 
   Bloodgames designs for pure offensives is 17-3-3-21-21-8-11 (when a manager can 
   dictate his warriors' exact designs)

2) Style Choice
  * Strikers are the 'best' pure offensive style.  They conserve endurance, learn the 
    best skills naturally (decise and attack), and can use all the good weapons.  
    Their only real negative is that they have fewer attack skills than the other pure 
    offensive styles.
  * Bashers are the next best choice.  They learn the right skills (but learn attack 
    much more than decise) and have more attack than strikers.  However, their weapon 
    choices are not as good as strikers (which makes damage rating very important for 
    bashers) and do not conserve endurance like strikers.
  * Slashers are the last of the styles that are naturally a pure offensive.  They do 
    not learn decise fast naturally, though, so while they are great with their attack 
    and initiative, they are generally slower than their counterparts.  They have 
    access to most of the best weapons in the game, but do not have a great speed 
    weapon.
  * Parry Strikers can also be run naturally as a pure offensive.  They learn lots of 
    decise skills, but learn parry skills to go with it.  They can use almost any 
    weapon and can make fine pure offensives.
  * None of the other styles learn decise naturally, so while it can be a favorite 
    learn for any other style, you can't count learning them, so speed can be an 
    issue. Other styles' strengths are not in the pure offensive category, but there 
    is nothing wrong with running other styles as pure offensives.  Recommend HIGH WIT 
    for these! Many managers run Lungers as pure offensives and because of their 
    natural high favorite rhythms and high skill base it works just fine.  But it is 
    Assur's opinion that Lungers' natural strengths do not make them the best choice 
    for a pure offensive. Aimed Blows with their incredible attack and endurance 
    conservation are also often run as pure offensives.

3) Weapon Selection (with requirements)
The following are my recommendations.  Feel free to try other weapons.

  Speed Weapons (best chance to attack first):
  * Short Spear (9 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
  * Quarterstaff (11 Str, 9 Siz, 11 Wit, 11 Dft)
  * War Hammer (13 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
  * Hatchet (7 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)

  Damage Weapons: (When damage is what you really care about)
  * Battle Axe (15 Str, 7 Wit, 9 Dft -- If using an off-hand weapon, also 9 Siz)
  * Scimitar (9 Str, 11 Wit, 11 Dft)
  * Broadsword (11 Str, 9 Wit, 7 Dft)
  * Halberd (17 Str, 9 Siz, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)
  * Greatsword (15 Str, 9 Siz, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)

  Other Good All Purpose Weapons:
  * Longsword (11 Str, 13 Wit, 11 Dft)
  * Maul (15 Str, 9 Siz, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
  * Great Axe (13 Str, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)
  * Dagger (3 Str, 7 Wit, 7 Dft)

4) Strategy and Tactics
  * The most common strategy used by pure offensives is run hot.  Hot means high 
    offensive effort (OE) and activity level (AL).  10 OE and 10 AL is very common. 
    Realize the hotter you run, the faster you will use your endurance.  Most of the 
    time Assur lowers Activity level before Offensive Effort when trying to lower from 
    the tried and true 10-10-x strategy.
  * If you're fighting a pure defensive, they want you to use all your endurance, so 
    running this hot might not be a good idea.  Running 1 AL is not a bad idea (they 
    are not going to try to attack you).
  * Also realize that every warrior has a favorite rhythm (favorite OE and AL) which 
    will make them fight 'better.'  Some warriors don't like running super hot (or 
    aren't) as well suited to run super hot.  Until you get to Advanced Duel2, you 
    won't know for sure what your favorite rhythm is.  But you can experiment and 
    sometimes get a feel that your warrior runs very well as certain numbers.  For 
    each warrior you run, you must decide if favorites will help you win more than 
    using the 'tried and true' strategy. 
  * I am not a fan of using tactics.  They hurt you as much as they help you.  That 
    said, the Decise tactic is great for making you faster.  It is easily countered by 
    a warrior using the Response tactic.  I've won ridiculous fights (new warriors 
    beating 20 fight warriors) by using the response tactic.  The response tactic is a 
    great way to counter another offensive using the decise tactic.
  * I do not use Bash, Slash, or Lunge very often.

5) Armor
  * No armor is recommended.  But death is a high risk.  Even using the lightest armor 
    (ALE/L) protects against death in a major way compared to no armor.  If you know 
    you're fighting someone faster than you, wearing armor may very well be a good 
    idea (While who attacks first is dictated largely by luck, I'd rather not depend 
    on luck if I have another choice) 

***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***

Duelmasters History 101...

Way back when...

     I remember my first Face to Face experience like it was yesterday. It was 1991 
and I just had graduated from Colgate University in May -- I was already looking for a 
job and planned on taking a month or two to relax and get into the swing of not being 
in school for the first time in my life.
     At the time I was running two Duelmasters teams, the Devil Advocates in Arvat and 
the Angels of Pain in Zukal. As I recall, Vengeance had JUST graduated in Zukal. This 
was pretty much the Golden Age of Duelmasters -- when Primus was the place to be and 
17/17 warriors were highly competitive in tournaments. People had learned many of the 
'secrets' of the game, but they were jealously guarded and the competition was fierce. 
It was also the age of newsletter antagonism, with many 'Bad Guys' in almost all 
arenas and even 'Evil Alliances' like the Dark Circle in full swing.
     Amidst all of that I heard that RSI had decided to try a first ever East Coast 
Face to Face Tournament! In Baltimore! I had some gift money from my graduation in my 
pocket and all of 8 guys to run in the tournament, so I thought it would be awesome to 
drive down and check out the Face to Face scene. For years I'd been envious of those 
who got to go to the Tempe tournaments, and now I'd get to go to one myself! I spoke 
with Mad Mad (who, at that time was all of 18 years old and working as a gas station 
attendant near our Mom's house) and we agreed. We were going to the Face to Face!
     The following day we started making plans, sent in our strategies and figuring 
out a meal budget that wouldn't break the bank. Better yet, a friend of the family was 
a travel agent and she told us that Eastern Airlines (yep, before Delta took over!) 
had a special round trip fare from Hartford to BWI for $79 that summer! Easily worth 
the savings on gas, parking and tolls!
     Just before the tournament I had sent RSI a request for a new team -- yes, just 
ONE team sheet -- and got back a neat one. My brother and I rolled up the team, the 
Erdman Brothers, and we each took 2 warriors and DAed the scrubby 5th guy. These 
warriors became Teddy Brewster and I Backstroke, some of our most iconic guys. And we 
eagerly started running, prepping them for the Novices tournament!
     All said and done, I had 12 warriors set to run, including 6 mis-timed basic 
guys, a novice, a rookie and several ADM guys including my flagship warrior, 
Vengeance, who previously had been my first guy to break 4 wins in a tournament, going 
6-3-1 in his Adepts run. I planned on buying some rollups and adding some rookies at 
the tournament. My expectations were essentially non-existent, but I hoped to learn a 
lot and have an amazing time. Just before the tournament a personal ad we had put in a 
bunch of newsletters was answered and we got a call from a player looking for room 
mate(s). To this day I can't recall the guy's name or much about him, only that he 
knew Phido and at the time Phido was phasing out of Duelmasters and giving away many 
of his warriors. This person had been given 'Spaceman Spiff' -- an up and coming 
warrior of Phido's and he was willing to share numbers and info on all of his 
warriors! We eagerly accepted him as a roomie and were looking forward to meeting him.

     We flew into Baltimore early Friday afternoon and caught the shuttle from BWI to 
the Inner Harbor area. Unlike some of the later FTFs, the hotel was very nice and in a 
business area. We checked in with no mishaps and were incredibly psyched for the 
tournament.
     We sought out and found the convention room and from my recollection, it was 
mobbed. RSI could probably provide more info on numbers, but it felt like well over 50 
managers in attendance. All the tables were already taken up and we knew ABSOLUTELY NO 
ONE.
     Just then the hotel staff moved in a couple of new tables and we nabbed one in 
the back corner, setting up our paperwork. At the next table there was a manager 
eagerly looking through a pile of rollup sheets. He had bought 100 sheets there at the 
FTF. I was stunned. ONE HUNDRED SHEETS??? It was like he had a pile of gold and gems 
in front of him. We assumed he must have been a super-manager or something. And he did 
have one warrior in Primus -- a warrior named Swiftdeath. Who he was very pleased 
with. I think he started out 4-0 in the Primus tournament before getting beat up -- 
which we also thought was a mighty feat.
     We went up front and timidly requested 5 rollups each... Which was as much as our 
meager budgets could allow. Mad Max got a couple of good warriors (one was a 17/17 
lunger type that was a good performer for him) but my rollups were really crappy. I 
knew enough at this point to know that Wit and Will were GOOD and Size was BAD. And I 
had 12 guys SZ 16+ out of those 25 warriors and not one of them could get 17/17 or 
better. I filled the sheets out and was planning on turning them in and seeing what 
happened. But first we had to eat, so we stashed our stuff in our room. Our roommate 
had not yet arrived -- he was arriving in the evening.
     (Segue -- I remember meeting everyone from RSI who was there at that tournament, 
but only vaguely. I clearly remember meeting Lee and Kathy at the Orlando FTF the next 
year -- but I was pretty intimidated by everyone that first year. I'm PRETTY sure I 
met Sue. And Sandy. But that also might have been Orlando! My brother, being way more 
social overall than I am, I'm sure met everyone!)
     At that first FTF there was an actual 'Manager's Reception' with food and drinks. 
It wasn't like a feast or anything, but I recall cold cuts and fruit and whatnot, 
which was great for us -- it saved us from having to pay for a meal! Plus we got to 
talk to some of the managers. However... that was something of a letdown. Most of them 
were pretty arrogant and had zero time to talk to nobodies like us. I recall finding 
out who Sharkey was -- and he pretty much ignored us. And there were several other 
conversations which went like the classic Guardian quote, "I'm Guardian, who the F are 
you?"
     But we met one guy, even younger than we were, who went by Fewmaster Toede, and 
he seemed like a nice kid, and the guy at the table next to us with the 100 rollups 
was nice enough. In fact, as we were eating sandwiches, he started talking about his 
'Quest' to make an army of SZ 21 warriors. His theory was that because size was the 
one unchangeable stat, the only way to make warriors that were superior was to take 
advantage of the 'extra' points of size and make good, big, bonused warriors. It 
sounded like a reasonable idea at the time. He then went on to bemoan the fact that in 
his 100 sheets he didn't get ANY 21 SZ warriors. He said that if anyone gave him a SZ 
21 sheet he would let that person look through his 100 sheets and pick whatever they 
wanted. I thought that was awesome! And I recalled seeing a SZ 21 in my cruddy rollups 
I had purchased earlier -- so I ran up to the room to get my stuff. As I got there I 
ran into our roommate! He had just checked in with the hotel and had gotten the key we 
left for him at the front desk. He was unpacking his stuff. So we started a quick 
conversation about Duelmasters, Phido's warriors and some of his warriors. He had a 3 
ring binder with photocopies of many of the 'famous' warriors of the time -- E. 
Hemmingway, Gypsy Moth... and then he had Spaceman Spiff who Phido had given him. I 
remember looking at the beautiful stats. As I recall he was a SZ 5, 17 wit, 21 will 
marvel... Which was way prettier than any warrior I owned except Vengeance. I shared 
Vengeance's numbers with him and he was impressed. He predicted Vengeance would won 
day win a Primus tournament! I hoped that would be the case! We talked a little bit 
about strategies also, but I then grabbed my rollup sheets and hurried down to the 
convention room.
     As I went down, I sorted through the 5 team sheets. Sure enough, there was a SZ 
21 guy! But wait! The sheet actually had TWO SZ 21s on it! Woo hoo!
     I marched right in and found the guy with the pile of sheets. Proudly I showed 
him the team of giants. True to his word, he handed me the heap of 100 warriors and 
said I could pick whichever one I wanted. So I started digging through. It was pretty 
amazing seeing all those team sheets. There were many warriors with 21 wits! To that 
point the only 21 wit guy I'd ever had was Teddy Brewster. Mad Max had a replacement 
warrior in 32 who also had a 21 wit, but he had no deftness and weird other stats. I 
was tempted by several of the 21 wit guys. But I was looking for Spaceman Spiff! I 
wanted a PL and I wanted one that looked like that!
     Eventually I came across a sheet that had what I wanted! So pretty! A SZ 5, 17 
wit, 21 will warrior with no weaknesses! I greedily took it and sealed the deal. I 
filled out the team with a name I'd saved for this occasion... Satan's Kingdom! And 
the new parry lunger became Rabid Moose! Tortured Trout on the same team was also very 
nice, so I handed in that sheet and strategies for both for rookies!
     Fewmaster Toede also found a SZ 21 guy in the rollups he bought and he picked out 
a SZ 4 monster who also had 17WT, 21 WL and he made it a Wall of Steel.
     I got Rabid Moose back and I was in love! 10-13-5-17-21-5-13 was his design. And 
he rolled good damage (which even then I knew was lucky!) and had an Expert attack! 
The only other warrior I had seen to that point with an expert attack to start was 
Vengeance. I was ready to predict a rookies TV for me!

     So the tournament started. Even though I didn't have anyone in the Primus 
tournament, I followed that class with rapt attention. I also followed my own guys, 
but was most excited about Teddy and Rabid Moose. I was eager to see how young 
Vengeance would do also, but didn't expect much due to his inexperience.
     The actual tournament was AWESOME. The hustle and action, managers shouting out 
when they won fights (or got killed), and the constant output of turns. I tried to 
hang around tables of experienced managers in the hopes that some would want to show 
off impressive fights and I could see their strategies. And during the actual 
tournament people were way more accepting of newbies and I did see and learn a ton.
     By Sunday most of my feeble entrants had ben knocked out. Vengeance was hanging 
in there in ADM at 5-2, which was great! My 2nd ever graduate. T. Deville, a TP, was 
amazingly at 6-1 in ADM! Sadly, Teddy Brewster and Rabid Moose went 1-3 and 3-3 in 
Novices and Rookies respectively. I still had a TP from Arvat, Sir Berus, sitting at 
6-1 in Apprentices also as well as a TP at 5-2 in Novices. Sir Berus was a badly 
designed scum type and the other one was a neat offensive type. Also my new wall of 
steel from Zukal, Justice, was sitting at 5-2 in rookies. Mad Max had Teddy's Brother, 
I Backstroke, in excellent shape at 6-1 in novices.
     In Primus, some upsets had been going on and Donatello had taken some losses. 
Mirage had inherited Teetotaler from Phido and Tee was doing very well, but Doc 
LeGrand was having a great tournament and Gypsy Moth and Madam Butterfly were both 
doing great.
     At our table, Fewmaster Toede had several guys with an inside track to TV 
including the Wall of Steel he got for his 21 SZ rollup. That one was named Fuzzy 
Warrior and he was undefeated! 7-0! We were all very impressed.
     In the end, my guys slowly fell like dominoes... Vengeance went out at 5-3, which 
gave me tremendous hope for the future. Justice got scummed by Fewmaster Toede's TP to 
lose out on a TV going 7-3 in rookies. Same deal with the TP I had in novices -- 
another 7-3. And my big surprise, T. Deville, in ADM getting taken down by Lethal of 
Engines of Doom. Another 7-3. However my crappy scum, Sir Berus, just kept fighting 
guys he could beat and went 9-1, for my first TV. Seeing as my personal record for a 
tournament prior to that had been 6 wins, getting 3 guys to go 7-3 and a TV... I was 
ecstatic. Plus, my new super warrior, Rabid Moose, had ended rookies with ADEX attack 
and experts in parry and defense, which seemed like a great start for him despite his 
3-3 tournament. I Backstroke was strong on day two and TVed Novices for Mad Max, which 
was his first and made him incredibly happy.
     Aaaand as the tournament wound down, Fewmaster Toede's WS was STILL undefeated! 
10-0! In fact... he had TWO undefeated guys, as another of his warriors -- Flea -- was 
also 10-0! I'm pretty sure Flea was a TP, but I'm not 100% on that after 28 years. 
Toede asked Mad Max and me to help him in the runoffs and we were happy to be 
included. So we scouted styles and found out what everyone in the runoffs was and even 
got to look at some fights of the other warriors in prior rounds, scouting attack 
locations, armor, weapons. Back then we thought we were brilliant doing this -- even 
though it is so commonplace today.
     Also from my memory, all the other guys were total parries. And though Fuzzy 
Warrior (and Flea) had plenty of endurance, neither did much damage -- which made 
victory a challenge.
     In round 11, Flea fought another TP and was scummed in 19 minutes. It probably 
could have gone either way, but he lost and was eliminated. Fuzzy Warrior got lucky 
and fought a stand in. We were all psyched by that!
     In round 12... ANOTHER stand in! Fuzzy mangled a Convicted Thief!!!
     And then there were two. Fuzzy Warrior vs. a MIGHTY scum named Veritech Fighter. 
He had previously won fights in 20-30 minutes and clearly had way greater endurance 
than Fuzzy. And Fuzzy wasn't likely to take him on damage since he wasn't critting at 
all and did normal damage. We got to look at two of Veritech Fighter's fights from 
earlier in the tournament, one vs. another Wall of Steel. I noticed that around minute 
12 the TP was getting tired and then getting hit by the Wall of Steel, but not enough 
and the WS eventually toppled over from exhaustion. So we came up with what we 
considered to be a great plan. We put Fuzzy in lighter armor -- ring or scale or 
something, gave him a big weapon -- a GS, even though he was too short -- and ran him 
super slow to start. 2-1-6 for the first 5 minutes, then 4-1-6 bash in min 6+. 
Targeting the left leg to slow him down...
     Then it was time... For 10 minutes the warriors stood, circled and did the 
scumfest tango. Fuzzy made some attacks with his GS, but only landed one. In minute 5 
out of nowhere he made a GS crit, hit Veritch fighter in the left leg and it was a 
massive blow! We all cheered with hope!
     Sadly... in minute 10 Fuzzy started getting tired. And we groaned.
     But then in minute 12 Veritech Fighter was also tired. And the scumfest 
continued.
     Minute 13, Fuzzy Warrior bashed with his GS and Veritech Fighter took a shot to 
the left leg. In minute 14 Fuzzy Warrior bashed with his GS and another hit to the 
left leg! The TP was desperate!
     Aaaand Fuzzy Warrior was staggering with exhaustion. He struggled to hold up his 
weapons! He circled about aimlessly...
     Minute 15... and again, out of nowhere! A GS crit! Veritch Fighter took the blow 
to the left leg AGAIN! Spectators cringed as the horrific power of the blow struck 
home!
     And it was over! Fuzzy Warrior had won! Yes, it was victory for Fewmaster Toede, 
but I took it as a moral victory for me as well!

     So the tournament was over, but the addiction had been stoked and the fires 
burned brighter than ever!

     Hope you all enjoyed! -- The Dark One
     
(Thanks to Assur for having the newsletter.  For YEARs others -- I'm thinking 
Marmaduke -- thought someone else had won rookies that tournament -- but I knew 
differently.)

                                 DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
                             Notes from the arena champ.

     Of course. I have plumbed the depths of Noblish Island and could only find ME 
worthy of being Duelmaster. So with a little hocus-pocus, open-sesame, and what's-up-
doc, I just plain took over. Get used to it!
     So, a little about me and plumbers everywhere.... A plumber is tradesperson who 
specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, 
sewage and drainage in plumbing systems. The word "plumber" dates from the Roman 
Empire. The Latin for lead is plumbum. Roman roofs used lead in conduits and drain 
pipes and some were also covered with lead; lead was also used for piping and for 
making baths. In medieval times a person with expertise in working with lead was first 
known as a Plumbarius which was later shortened to plumber. 
     Come and get me. (If you dare.)

                                             -- Plumbarius The Plumber, DMI

                                      SPY REPORT

     I was going on vacation, see?  Surf, sun...  But what do those bums say?  "Hit 
the road, Debby Tonte.  NOBLISH ISLAND needs a spyreport."  Oh, well.  What was the 
name of that team who got 4-1-0 this turn for a total 16-14-0 you ask?  (Sure)  BASH 
BROS YUPPIE's their name, and fighting's their game!  MVP award for TONY TATAGLIONI?  
THE FAMILY's proud of him after beating PROCTOLOGIST and getting 16 points.  Talk 
about yer big time losers!  PROCTOLOGIST got smashed by TONY TATAGLIONI, and lost 12 
points!  Our last turn's Duelmaster has lost, folks, lost to VENEMOUS CONCUBINE, and 
PLUMBER has made the way for a new Duelmaster!  RAMIAL of LOST LEGION takes PLUMBER's 
place.  (But seriously, who could ever take the place of PLUMBER?  Oh, all right.) Is 
the Duelmaster really being a real snob to his teammates?  Don't ask me!   
     So just why would someone becomes a warrior anyway?  It can't be for these 
really neat Spyreports can it?  BASH BROS YUPPIE was the most avoided team.  Is a 
16-14-0 record really that scary?  Hhmph!  What kind of warriors are OCCUPATIONS?  
BASH BROS YUPPIE, an easy team to beat if I ever saw one, can't get them to accept an 
invitation!  Like, is PROCTOLOGIST popular, or what?  He was challenged the most in 
all of NOBLISH ISLAND!  He's got a 5-1-0, is that good?   
     Challenges, revenges, Bloodfeuds.  All NOBLISH ISLAND ever talks about is 
fighting!  Me, I'm more laid back.  I was SO depressed when I heard ITALIN JOE got 
killed.  He was just a kid, and didn't get a fair chance in NOBLISH ISLAND, or 
anything!  Fight, fight, fight.  Is that all you guys can do?   
     Remember, blood on a purple robe may stain.  Soak it in cold water, and hand 
wash.  I gotta leave.  NOBLISH ISLAND is like such a dump, and you guys smell too 
much!  I had a fun time, see you later-- Debby Tonte  

DUELMASTER                     W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 RAMIAL 10276                  4   1  1  58         LOST LEGION (1757)        

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 SPINX 10273                   4   1  4  45         LOST LEGION (1757)        
 PLUMBER 10265                 5   1  0  43         OCCUPATIONS (1755)        

CHALLENGER INITIATES           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 FAST CARS 10258               4   2  0  33         BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)   
 TONY TATAGLIONI 10272         4   2  0  33         THE FAMILY (1756)         
 SUPERFICIAL 10259             4   2  0  29         BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)   
 SAMMY THE BULL 10268          3   3  0  26         THE FAMILY (1756)         
 ARROGANT 10262                3   3  0  26         BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)   

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 PROCTOLOGIST 10266            5   1  0  21         OCCUPATIONS (1755)        
 MODEL 10263                   3   3  0  19         OCCUPATIONS (1755)        
 FRANK DA FIXER 10271          3   3  0  12         THE FAMILY (1756)         
 REFEREE 10279                 2   3  0  11         OCCUPATIONS (1755)        
 NO FAMILY 10281               2   1  0  11         BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)   
 ENGINEER 10267                2   4  0  10         OCCUPATIONS (1755)        
 ATTICUS 10277                 2   3  0   9         LOST LEGION (1757)        
 SELFISH 10260                 1   5  0   8         BASH BROS YUPPIE (1754)   
 DIEGO 10282                   0   2  0   2         LOST LEGION (1757)        
 TAVIN 10294                   0   1  0   1         LOST LEGION (1757)        

'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.

THE DEAD                W  L K TEAM NAME            SLAIN BY              TURN Revenge?
WASTEFUL 10261          2  1 0 BASH BROS YUPPI 1754 SPINX 10273           534   
ANTHONY MARTINE 10288   0  1 0 THE FAMILY 1756      BANDIT PRINCE         537  NONE
ITALIN JOE 10278        3  2 0 THE FAMILY 1756      SPINX 10273           537   
PAPA JOE 10269          3  1 1 THE FAMILY 1756      SPINX 10273           535   

                                     PERSONAL ADS

Lost Legion -- Speaking for the family now, I really do not know what to say to you, 
but Spinx, you are responsible for the blood of your team.  The Family members will 
make sure that Lost Legion will be exactly that "LOST" if it takes us seeking you out, 
begging to fight every last player you have left.  I will make sure that your Honor 
and your team will be humilated. -- Tony Tataglioni, Sammy the Bull, Frank da Fixer, 
Italin Joe

Proctologist -- The only thing I can say is wow.  I'm coming to see you, I hear your 
exams are the talk of the town, all I'm going to say is, this is going to be your 
final exam. -- Tony Tataglioni

Bash Bros -- I want to say thank you for the information you gave me, it was very 
useful.  Can you please send me a CIC sheet.  I have asked numerous times with no 
reply.  Thank you. -- The Family

     We have sent you two CIC packets already and will try again this turn. -- RSI

Agent -- Diplo on the way.  Thanks for the help. -- Kage, Lost Legion

The Family -- Oh, sorry your papa is gone, my bad! -- Spinx, Lost Legion

All -- Sorry, my boys got to drunk to fight last round, but we're back now. -- Kage, 
Lost Legion

Agent -- You need to find a job.  Counting all my losses is not cutting it (at least 
not for me) --  Assur

Atticus -- Definitely do not trust names of warriors to indicate their fighting style 
or stats.  Sometimes they are representative, sometimes they are opposites, and 
sometimes they have no bearing.  My own style of naming generally follows item #3 
(except that I might use the 'best' name for a team on the best warrior).  Fast Cars 
is about average speed for a good striker (17 wit, 15 will, and 10 speed).  Notice 
that I give wit, will, and speed to represent speed (which is generally measured by 
your decisiveness rating, and those skills come from wit, will, and speed). -- Assur

Agent -- That old friend basher is hoping to make big waves again, very very soon! -- 
Assur

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

ANTHONY MARTINELLI was butchered by BANDIT PRINCE in a 1 minute Dark Arena fight.
ENGINEER was devastated by FAST CARS in a 1 minute one-sided Challenge duel.
TONY TATAGLIONI viciously subdued PROCTOLOGIST in a popular 3 minute Challenge match.
ITALIN JOE was butchered by SPINX in a 1 minute gory one-sided Challenge contest.
ATTICUS was demolished by SAMMY THE BULL in a 1 minute Challenge competition.
DIEGO was viciously subdued by REFEREE in a 1 minute amateur's Challenge fight.
PLUMBER was handily defeated by VENEMOUS CONCUBINE in a 1 minute uneven fight.
RAMIAL won victory over CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute beginner's Title duel.
SUPERFICIAL vanquished FRANK DA FIXER in a action packed 1 minute uneven fight.
MODEL overpowered SELFISH in a 1 minute gruesome one-sided fight.
ARROGANT overpowered PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
NO FAMILY subdued TAVIN in a 2 minute amateur's competition.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|BASHING ATTACK                   6         AIMED BLOW         6 -   3 -  0      67  |
|STRIKING ATTACK                  5         PARRY-STRIKE       3 -   2 -  0      60  |
|LUNGING ATTACK                   3         STRIKING ATTACK   18 -  13 -  1      58  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    2         TOTAL PARRY        8 -   6 -  0      57  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    2         BASHING ATTACK    28 -  21 -  7      57  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     1         LUNGING ATTACK    11 -  10 -  1      52  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      1         PARRY-RIPOSTE      4 -   5 -  0      44  |
|AIMED BLOW                       0         WALL OF STEEL      7 -  12 -  0      37  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      0         PARRY-LUNGE        0 -   0 -  0       0  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  0         SLASHING ATTACK    0 -   2 -  0       0  |

Turn 537 was great if you     Not so great if you used      The fighting styles of the
used the fighting styles:     the fighting styles:          top eleven warriors are:

BASHING ATTACK     5 -  1     STRIKING ATTACK    2 -  3         4  BASHING ATTACK 
LUNGING ATTACK     2 -  1     AIMED BLOW         0 -  0         3  STRIKING ATTACK
PARRY-RIPOSTE      1 -  1     PARRY-LUNGE        0 -  0         2  LUNGING ATTACK 
                              PARRY-STRIKE       0 -  1         1  TOTAL PARRY    
                              SLASHING ATTACK    0 -  0         1  WALL OF STEEL  
                              TOTAL PARRY        0 -  1     
                              WALL OF STEEL      0 -  2     

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
LUNGING ATTACK   RAMIAL 10276                4   1  1   58 LOST LEGION (1757)
BASHING ATTACK   SPINX 10273                 4   1  4   45 LOST LEGION (1757)
STRIKING ATTACK  PLUMBER 10265               5   1  0   43 OCCUPATIONS (1755)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is FAST CARS 10258.  The most popular warrior this turn 
was TONY TATAGLIONI 10272.  The ten other most popular fighters were REFEREE 10279, 
FAST CARS 10258, SUPERFICIAL 10259, MODEL 10263, SAMMY THE BULL 10268, RAMIAL 10276, 
ARROGANT 10262, NO FAMILY 10281, TAVIN 10294, and ITALIN JOE 10278.

The least popular fighter this week was SELFISH 10260.  The other ten least popular 
fighters were PLUMBER 10265, ATTICUS 10277, PROCTOLOGIST 10266, ENGINEER 10267, 
ANTHONY MARTINELLI 10288, FRANK DA FIXER 10271, DIEGO 10282, SPINX 10273, ITALIN JOE 
10278, and TAVIN 10294.