What is a play-by-mail fanzine?
Dead simple. In today's busy world, it's often difficult for gamers to find face-to-face opponents. One answer is to play games by post. Unfortunately this raises a host of difficult issues, like making sure that all players have the same set-up, can play their turns without the fear of dishonesty, etc. It's not always easy to find opponents either. A play-by-mail (PBM) fanzine (usually abbreviated to zine) overcomes these problems by providing a vehicle for gamers to find opponents and have games refereed impartially. The zine often has a bunch of uninteresting articles, unashamedly plagiarised humour, and a sprawing incoherent letter column, so it ends up being fatter and more rambling than it really needs to be.
... and The Tangerine Terror?......
..... is (of course) a PBM zine, of dubious quality and no great vintage. It's about games and chat and stuff. I tend to run games that you probably won't see in other zines; other folks can do Diplomacy much more smoothly than I ever can. I want to have a go at some of the wargames that are impractical to run face-to-face. I do features on stuff; the playoffs, chips & gravy, the gravy train, long hops, Kentish hops, the Red Sox, hot tunes, Looney Tunes, Murdoch's grip on RL, the reverse sweep, Sooty and Sweep. Basically it's whatever you want it to be. If you want to see a FREE sample copy, just drop me a line (by snail or silicon) and I'll send you whatever is the latest issue. The Tangerine Terror costs a paltry 75p an issue. It's probably best if you sign up for a few issues in one go. The actual games are actually free. Bargain huh?!
