Turn #1 Results

All of my turn orders issued for Turn #1 of this game of Galac--Tac went off without a hitch. However, after I clicked on the button to process the turn, it was only then that I realized that I had gotten ahead of myself. I never actually ended up issuing as many orders as I could have for the turn.



That deficiency wasn't fatal, though. After all, it was only the first turn of what is a solo-player game, so it's not as if mistakes never happen, or as if my empire's fate will ultimately rise or fall upon me shortchanging myself so unnecessarily like that. It's time to dust myself off, and carry on, come what may.

Davin Church, the Talisman Games GM of Galac-Tac, showed me a neat little trick about GTac, the player assistant program/app for Galac-Tac. See that screenshot image above? Now, look in the lower left-hand corner of it?

While it would be both nice and less confusing if those fortnight numbers (3500-02 and 3500-03) weren't used at all, but instead said Turn 1 and Turn 2, these tabs that appear when you have the Actions box loaded, and then click on Show All Past Actions, are very helpful to you, the Galac-Tac player, to remember what actual turn orders that you issued for previous turns of whatever game of Galac-Tac that you are in at the time.



To be sure, this isn't the feature of GTac that you will use the most, but from my perspective, it is a useful and helpful feature, nonetheless. Kudos and hats off to GM Davin Church, for implementing yet another helpful feature into GTac!

The star map segment in the screenshot above displays my empire's homeworld star system (the big green and fuchsia one at the center of the map segment), a bunch of small white stars (which identify many of the star systems in the game that remain unexplored, as of yet, to my empire - there are a lot more unexplored star systems in this galaxy of Galac-Tac that lie beyond the edges of this small portion of the overall star map on display, above), and some white colored numerals that represent the PV (Production Value - the base value of resources or raw materials that these particular star systems produce on any given turn).



The way these white numerals appear is by my empire having successfully charted them in my turn orders for Turn #1. The little yellow symbols represent all of the star systems in Galaxy #236 that my empire has starships located at, currently. This includes both warships and/or non-warships. Keep in mind, though, that as depicted above, there could actually be more than one starship located at those locations.



The FLEET option can be used to depict the locations where your empire has more than one starship. I will show you the difference, below.

Notice that aqua-colored triangle at my homeworld star system? That's one way of many to depict fleets visually using GTac. So, what this most recent addition to the screenshots in this article tells us is that I have one starship located at 10 different star systems. Remember those 10 different small freighters in last issue of PBM Chaos that were already preloaded with PI that my empire started out with, the very same one that I issued CHART missions to, and which have now successfully completed their respective charting assignments? Well, that's the star systems on the above map segment which only have a yellow ship symbol next to them.

My homeworld star system also has a yellow ship symbol at it, but that's because I chose to use that yellow ship symbol to depict all star systems where my empire has starships currently located at. That aqua-colored triangle takes into account all of the starships still at my homeworld star system (which I didn't issue any orders to - 10 Scout Ships), as well as all of the new ones that my empire constructed due to all of those many BUILD orders that I issued in my turn orders - 30 new Probes, 6 new Destroyers, and 9 new Colony Ships.



So, all in all, that aqua-colored triangle represents 55 starships, if I did my arithmetic correct.



Here's a more zoomed-in shot of my empire's homeworld star system.

Saturday - December 13th, 2025 - 8:41 AM
Now comes the moment of decision. What turn orders shall I issue for this empire that I decided, previously, shall be called and known throughout this Galaxy #236 as Star Federation?

With all of those new starships now at my beck and call, I now have a lot more options for Turn #2. Tell me, what would you do, if the decision were yours? And it could be yours, if and when you decided to sign up for and play a game of Galac-Tac.

The Galactic Statistics section of my Turn #1 results underscore that no empire in the game, either mine or the various computer-controlled ones, have achieved the construction of any Colony Systems, yet. This is something that we need to change, if our empire is ever gonna generate more than the 100 PI (Production Inventory, or cash, if you prefer that term to simplify matters more).



Now, we could just gather/harvest resources from those now-charted star systems. The most that we could gain that way, per turn, would be whatever their base PV numbers are. While harvesting resources from base PV will work in a pinch, if we convert those undeveloped star systems into colony systems, we can then harvest 3 times as much PV from them, which we can then transport back to our homeworld (a fully developed Production Center) for conversion into PI.



If your empire in Galac-Tac is poverty-stricken, then it's never gonna be able to dominate other empires in the same game. So, let's starting trying to create some colony systems, shall we?



In order to do that, it requires 10 PI on your starships onsite that you want to use to issue the COLONIZE command to. Here is an example of how we do that. I have decided to issue the COLONIZE order to all 10 small freighters that just finished charting those 10 different star systems that were unexplored, when this game of Galac-Tac first started, but which now have their base PV numerical values displayed.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!



That wasn't so difficult, now, was it? Issuing turn orders in Galac-Tac isn't difficult, but you do have to make sure that you enter the specifics of each of the turn orders, accurately, as the game requires. Get that wrong, and your turn orders aren't going to yield the results that you're aiming for and hoping for (pretty much the same as with every other PBM game that's ever existed).



Now, let's build on those initial orders for Turn #2, by deciding upon some other things that I want to do.

But first, I decided to have GTac to draw some lines based upon certain distances out from my empire's homeworld star system. These are drawn at distances of 20, 30, and 31 from my homeworld.

But why?

Well, the 20 one is to provide quick visual guidance to me, when issuing orders to those Scout Ships (which have a maximum movement of 19), the 30 one is for those new Probes (that have a maximum movement of 29), and the 31 one is for those new Colony Ships (that have a maximum movement of 30). This way, I can quickly tell at a glance which of these three visual guides I should go by, when determining where to issue movement orders of some kind to each of them in the coming turn.

Let's start with those Scout Ships that I forgot to move, last turn, shall we? 

Notice how with some orders in Galac-Tac, you can issue just one order on a single order line, but for certain others, you can issue the same order type to more than one starship? Remembering this can really help you to pack as many individual orders into your turn orders sheet as possible. The maximum number of order lines that you can send in for any turn of your game of Galac-Tac is 50.

So, instead of using 10 order lines for issuing CHART orders to those 10 Scout Ships that I started this game with, I can actually squeeze CHART orders for 10 different ships onto just 5 order lines.



Now, I'm gonna go ahead and make use of GTac's built in Check for Errors option, and below is what GTac told me, when I did just exactly that.

No problems found. Most excellent!

Let us now proceed to issuing turn orders for those new Probes that my empire constructed, last turn. With 30 of them awaiting orders, we might actually end up using up our maximum allotment of 50 order lines. If so, I will have to make command decisions, and decide which orders get sacrificed, so that other (more desirable) turn orders may get issued and go through, instead. We'll worry about that maximum number of 50 order lines worth of orders, when and if it actually materializes, while issuing turn orders for Turn #2.

I need to send those new Destroyers out that I built last turn, as well.

Note how the column of numbers on the far left hand side of GTac's order box for ACTIONS keeps track of how many Order Lines that you've used, so far.

Now with turn orders to my new Destroyers out of the way, let's continue on with the issuing of even more orders for Turn #2.

Right now, we only have 17 order lines left to fill out. Again, 50 order lies is the absolute most that you can submit for a set of turn orders in Galac-Tac, no matter what.



By building so many new starships on Turn #1, at least now we can ensure that I'm able to issue the full maximum of 50 order lines, even if I end up with not being able to issue orders to all of my new starships, since there are other things that I want to do on Turn #2, also, such as building even more stuff, as well as loading more PI onto those new Colony Ships of mine (in order to build even more Colony Systems sooner, rather than later.



Next up, I'm going to issue some LOAD orders to those new Colony Ships of mine. Here's how that will look.

As you can see, I'm issuing turn orders to an array of starships via their starship numbers. The numbers with the dashes in between them are star system numbers.

As you use GTac and deal with formulas, you may not have to include those dashes in the four digit star system numbers. But when issuing turn orders, you do have to include those dashes in the star system numbers. It's very important for you to remember this!

Small details matter in Galac-Tac, and they matter quite a bit. Get your starship numbers or your star system numbers mixed up (or worse, get them both mixed up), and those kinds of "little mistakes" will result in "big problems" for you and your empire, once your turn orders process. Every star system has its own unique identifying number, and so, too, do all starships and platforms in the game. Using GTac can be a big help to you in keeping these kinds of small details sorted out, once you get used to using it. There is an online turn orders form that you can use on the Talisman Games website, if you prefer to go that route, but my own personal recommendation is for you to use GTac. GTac is a force multiplier, as far as I'm concerned. GTac just makes it so much quicker and easier to issue your turn orders for your empire, and particularly if you've got a lot of orders to issue on any given turn.



With 42 order lines now already used, that leaves me with a maximum of just 8 more order lines for me to cover everything else that I want to do, without deleting any orders that I've already entered.



I went ahead, just now, and transmitted my empire's current turn orders to the Talisman Games website, just in case the power goes out for some oddball reason, so that I won't have to worry about losing all of my work done on my turn orders, so far. What a pain in the ass that would turn out to be, if something like that happened!



Typically, I upload changes or additions to my turn orders many different times, when spending a few days or weeks (depending upon the turn processing frequency for whatever game of Galac-Tac that I am in) going back over my turn orders and what all that I want to do in the coming turn. There's no real limit to how many sets of turn orders or changes to your turn orders that you can submit, as long as you have your final version of your turn orders uploaded to the Talisman Games website before your Turn Due Date. Uploading a new or revised set of turn orders will simply overwrite the last set of turn orders that you already submitted, previously.



The uploading of turn orders or turn order updates to the Talisman Games website takes only a matter of mere seconds to do, and that part of the process always works flawlessly for me. Using GTac provides immediate confirmation within GTac of your turn orders having been successfully uploaded.

Before I continue with issuing the last of my turn orders for Turn #2 of Galaxy #236 solo player game of Galac-Tac, let's take a look at the different starship and platform blueprint designs that are currently available for my empire's shipyard to build from.

My current view of Galac-Tac is that your empire should continuously be building something. Battles and wars can gobble up resources. Once your empire starts losing starships and platforms and colonies and the like, you have to ensure that your empire maintains a robust military and a robust economy. Else, your empire's days are numbered!



Any of the starship or platform types that you don't like, you can eliminate from your shipyard's blueprints by using the DECLASSIFY command. Let's go ahead and do that, right now, with some of the original design blueprints that my empire started the game with.



With just one DECLASSIFY command, I can get rid of up to 5 different designs, as long as the number in the # Active column that corresponds to those particular designs is zero (which is what I am going to do, right now). If you have ships or platforms in that # Active column, the DECLASSIFY command will not eliminate those blueprint design(s) from the shipyard's list of which ones that your empire can build.

To create new types of starships and platforms to build, that requires that I use the CLASSIFY command. I did that on Turn #1 to create some new types of starships, and this turn, I'm going to create designs for some more new kinds of starships and platforms.

I'm just running out of order lines, because of that maximum of 50 order lines limit. Let's see what I can come up with though, to add some new flavor to Galaxy #236, and also, to provide my empire with new capabilities.

The above screenshot reveals that I am designing two new types of ships, and one new type of platform.



The UFO Mothership will feature 4 Phasers, 4 Shields, 4 Hangers (to carry UFOs in), 21 Star Drive engines (for traveling between the stars with), and 14 Inertia engines (which are used in combat situations - specifically, for maneuvering and evading attacks from the enemy during battles). This ship design will be 10 SSD in size, and can be completed in just 1 turn.



UFOs will feature 1 Phaser, 1 Shield, and 20 Inertia engines. Individually, they won't be very powerful in-system ships, but as Galaxy #236 is a solo player game where I am playing only against computer-controlled empires, rather than against player-controlled empires, I am designing ships and platforms primarily for flavor's sake, and also to show you, our PBM Chaos readers, the degree of variety that you can incorporate into your own Galac-Tac empire, should you ever decide to give the game a try. UFOs will be carried by UFO Motherships. That's the idea, here. This UFO ship design will be 2 SSD in size, and it will require only 1 turn for construction of this ship type to be completed, from start to finish.



The Energy Shield is named for flavor, and can be used as a stationary weapons platform, one where I can get more weapons and shields for the overall cost, than were I to try and put the same number of weapons and shields onto a starship with engines on it. This Energy Shield design is 20 SSD in size, so that means it will take 2 turns for my empire's shipyard to complete construction of it.

As I predicted in issue #57 of PBM Chaos, I now have 213 PI available for me to spend, this turn, either some of it or all of it. Any PI that I don't spend, this turn, will simply carry forward to the following turn.

A UFO Mothership costs 73 PI to build, a UFO costs 11 PI to build, and an Energy Shield costs 22 PI to build (but again, it will require 2 turns to build, rather than just 1 turn).

Thus, 73 PI + 11 PI + 11 PI + 11 PI + 11 PI + 22 PI = 139 PI to build 1 UFO Mothership, 4 UFOs for it to carry, and 1 Energy Shield to add to the defenses of my empire's homeworld star system.

Is my empire's homeworld in any real danger of being invaded and conquered anytime soon? Nope, and certainly not in this solo player game of Galac-Tac, where I am only playing against computer-controlled empires, albeit several different ones.



So now, let's use the GTac error checker, again, just to make sure that there are no errors nor problems with this set of turn orders that I have created for my empire for Turn #2.

Uh oh! Looks like I've tried to spend more PI, this turn, than my empire actually has available to spend. See, this is exactly why you want to use that built-in error checker/problem checker that GTac offers, as one of its many features designed to make players' lives easier.

Remember when I loaded 10 PI on each of those 9 new Colony Ships, up above? Just scroll back up, if you're forgotten, already. 

In essence, I'm trying to spend 229 PI, when my empire only has 213 PI at its disposal, at the moment. That means that I need to trim my empire's spending for Turn #2 by at least 16 PI. It's all a matter of what I want to give up and what all that I want to keep, where this set of turn orders is concerned.



What I have decided to do is to only build just 2 of the UFOs, which at 11 points, each, will reduce my empire's spending for Turn #2 by 22 PI, resulting in a total expenditure by the Star Federation, this turn, of 207 PI.



213 (available PI) minus 207 PI (PI spent) equals 6 PI left over, which will carry forward to the next turn. That means that, next turn, I will have that 6 PI available to spend, plus the 100 PI that my homeworld's production center will generate, for a total of 106 PI next turn, if all of my math is correct.



One more time through the GTac error checker/problem checker, just to double-check and make extra certain that my turn orders for Turn #2 are good and ready to go.

And on that note, I will now submit my finished turn orders to the Talisman Games website, once again, and then I can process the turn without waiting, since this is a solo player game of Galac-Tac (and that's one of the advantages of playing in solo player games of Galac-Tac - no waiting on your next turn to process, unless you just want to wait for some other reason).

I hope that you have enjoyed this article, and found it to be informative. Consider giving Galac-Tac a try. Who knows? You just might enjoy it!

Go here to create your own player account for Galac-Tac.

Charles Mosteller

As vast as the human imagination is, it makes even the entirety of all PBM games ever created look small, by comparison. If you were tasked with creating a new PBM game entirely from scratch, and it had to be different from any other play by mail game ever created, in what direction would your creative juices flow?



My good friend, PBMer Wayne "Smitty" Smith, loves to cat sit. Or maybe I've gotten it wrong all this time, and it's others who love for Wayne to cat sit for them. Either way, I will no doubt ever and always view him as a cat sitter, at heart. Thus, you can blame Smitty for this article that I decided to write the night before the publication date for this issue of PBM Chaos (in spite of the fact that I haven't even finished all of what was actually supposed to be included in this issue, yet).



Well, it is what it is, and I'm gonna try to make verbal hay, and see if I can squeeze an article out of this nonsensical, silly-as-can-be idea.



It's less about cats and cat sitting, and more about the ongoing need for new PBM games to come about from the Frankenstein ideas that any of us could come up with. Too many old science fiction movies and comic books, perhaps, took my mind down one rabbit hole too many, back in my childhood and younger man days. But if there actually was a new PBM game about cat sitting a gigantic cat to hit the market, in a sort of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids meets old school sci-fi gone wrong danger, then you can bet your bottom dollar that a game like that would likely appeal to somebody, no matter how it might sound to you, personally and individually.



The world loses nothing from some fictional PBM games that never were, but could be, being bandied about inside our minds or upon the ink-less pages of digital print. Oh, by the way, did I mention that I received turn results from that Galvidiere PBM game, recently. Now, was it yesterday, or the day before? That's how short my memory has become, some days.



Two-and-one-third pages of turn results in typed text form. And it's mine. All mine!



Stupid me, I didn't even think to take a photo of my first turn orders in Galvidiere. I really should have done that. Instead, I was too worried about getting my turn orders into the mailbox. I didn't want to put it off. I really wanted to see what this Galvidiere was all about.



And now, I'm finding out. My character in that game has gone from one danger to straight into another. At least I didn't get him killed off right off the bat.



But this article isn't about Galvidiere. It's about PBM games that don't exist, but should. In the old days, new play by mail games popped up all the time. Naturally, I was too damned stupid to try more of them. But even if I had, would they still be around after all this time?



The proof is in the PBM pudding. Probably not.



Probably, my ass! The vast majority of PBM games, even the really popular ones, are long since dead and gone. Those of us who are left, we outlived them. And now, we live on the crumbs of yesteryear's play by mail games.

Not that there aren't any tasty PBM morsels left, mind you.



For there most assuredly are. And there have also been new attempts at creating PBM games to take their respective turns upon the Grand Stage of PBM Gaming - but most of those didn't seem to last.



Since most play by mail games ultimately turned out to be but temporary in duration, even if some of them lasted years, perhaps there's something to be said for the whole notion of what I previously described as temporary PBM games.



These recent turn results for Galvidiere that I keep on picking up off of my desk and looking at, they also reinforce my thinking about PBM games that are intentionally designed from scratch to not last, forever, to not run and process turns, forever. It's OK, I think, for PBM games to end. Closed-ended PBM games eventually end, anyway, you know.



Not that I want Hyborian War or other PBM games to end. But to reinvigorate what remains of the PBM industry, itself, I think that it requires more than what the current state of the PBM industry has on offer, at present.



New blood. New ideas. New PBM games.



Is it a hopeless cause? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? But there have been countless things in the course of human history that people didn't know, yet even still, human ingenuity was applied to those things. Both failures and successes populate our history - both as a species, and in the context of PBM gaming, specifically.



All of these PBM articles that I write, perhaps it's all a fool's folly. But I kind of enjoy it, just the same. None of what I produce on the PBM publication front is perfect, but imperfection doesn't have to be an insurmountable obstacle too massive for new seeds of play by mail gaming to take root and grow. Maybe one of these days, one of these years, there will be new PBM games that dominate the skyline of this sector and medium of gaming.



If Galvidiere can come out of the blue, like it did, then why can't other play by mail games come out of left field, unexpectedly, also? Somebody just has to take a chance. Many such somebodies.



Or do human beings no longer take chances? Do human beings no longer dream? From what I can tell, all of play by mail gaming and its minions have not all just up and died on the PBM vine.



Tomorrow is a new day, as every tomorrow is. But ask yourself this - what do you want PBM's tomorrows to be like, and what, if anything, are you willing to do to help ensure that PBM's future turns out to be brighter than it is, right now?

Turn #2 Results

Saturday - December 13th, 2025 - 12:26 PM
Well, turn results for Turn #2 now await me. And what does this turn hold for the Star Federation and I?



Both good and bad, from a very quick browse of it. The worst thing about Turn #2 is that when I was adding information to my star map before the turn processed, I forgot to save my changes to my star map from within GTac. I can just hear the Galac-Tac GM, Davin Church, cackling with laughter at this news of my screw-up. I knew better, but I still ended up bungling it, anyway.



My orders that I issued for Turn #2 all processed. However, that doesn't automatically mean that all went according to plan, as you shall soon find out.



The Star Federation experienced no battles, this turn, but it did experience 8 Cease Fires on Turn #2. What this means is that 8 of the CHART missions that I ordered my starships to carry out were automatically cancelled, due to starships of other empires and of my own empire "interfering" with one another's missions. Those other empires' starships were likely given CHART orders, as well. This is a common experience when playing Galac-Tac. After all, it's not as if my empire is the only active empire in Galaxy #236, after all.

Above, you can see that my empire does, indeed, have 106 PI available to spend, this turn, exactly as I predicted. So, I won't be going all hog wild buying new stuff in the coming turn, Turn #3.



In that screenshot image above, you can also see how my newest starships that I ordered have been built, and are ready for orders from me for Turn #3. They have never had any actual turn orders issued to them, yet, hence why in bold blue lettering is says None after each one of them over on the right-hand side.



Just before that blue lettering, where it says 2S, 10S, and 40S, that refers to the size of those different starships and platforms - 2 SSD, 10 SSD, and 40 SSD. That's listed there as a quick reminder to you, the player, thereby making it quicker and easier for you to locate your biggest and smallest ships and installations, when you're reviewing your turn results.



If you have a sharp eye, or if you pay real close attention, then you can see where I forgot to issue any turn orders to those two Skirmisher starships, last turn. Those are starships that I started this game with. See how easy it is to overlook stuff? That's why you don't want to rush things too very much. Invest a little more time in checking and double-checking your turn orders, even triple-checking them, if need be, and you can avoid little oversights, like that. Do yourself a favor, and learn from my oversights and from mistakes of others, where and when possible.



My new UFO Mothership is built and awaiting orders, as are 2 UFOs that were built this turn, as well.



And there, near the very top of that screenshot image above, you can also see how that Energy Shield that I ordered to be built is now 50% completed. Remember? That platform was going to take 2 turns to complete construction, since its SSD size was 20. If it was 21 SSD  in size, it would have required 3 turns to complete.



Here's a quick way to remember it:

Time Required to Build Ships and Platforms

1 SSD up to 10 SSD - Requires 1 turn to complete.
11 SSD up to 20 SSD - Requires 2 turns to complete.
21 SSD up to 30 SSD - Requires 3 turns to complete.

31 SSD up to 40 SSD - Requires 4 turns to complete.

41 SSD up to 50 SSD - Requires 5 turns to complete.



And so on and so forth.

The above screenshot image from inside of the GTac program/app shows you numerous little green circles hollow on the inside. Those all represents Colony Systems that my empire is building, based upon the orders that I issued, last turn. Barring any unforeseen events between now and then, all 10 of those star systems will become Colony Systems, once we have the turn results for Turn #3's in hand.



And if you will cast your eyes all about this star map, you will see that for a lot more star systems, we now know that their base PV (resources/raw materials) numbers are. By "base PV," I do not mean that there is now a base at those star system locations. Rather, "base PV" value is just the amount of basic PV those star systems can generate each turn, every turn. To increase those numbers, you have to build a Colony System, which will triple the amount of resources 

(3 x base PV number). Later on, if desired and if you have sufficient PI, you can then DEVELOP a Colony System into a full blown Production Center.



We now know that all of these colonies under construction will become active Colony Systems, when we receive our next set of turn results back.



For now, though, let's take a glance at all 10 of those star systems currently undergoing the Colonization Process.

If you look above, you can now see how all of those small freighters only have 5 PI aboard them in their cargo bays, instead of the 10 PI that they had, last turn.

Also, take note of the PV value of each of these colonizing star systems. Collectively, that's 55 PI that could potentially be harvested from them, each and every turn. However, here's where reality knocks on your door, because you have to physically transport raw PV back to your homeworld, in order for your homeworld's Production Center to be able to convert that PV into spendable PI. That will require that I begin building more freighters/transports of some kind, in order to haul those scattered loads of PV.



The highest base PV value any star system in Galac-Tac can have is 10, and the lowest PV value that any star system can have is 2. I was erroneously thinking that the lowest was 1, for some reason, but GM Davin provided a very timely response to an inquiry that I made about such. From a low of 2 to a high of 10. Remember that, since I didn't!

Above are all of the Cease Fire messages that the Star Federation received on its Turn #2 results. The empire of Zeus was responsible for 3 of them. The empire of Melchior was responsible for 4 of them. And the empire of Alpha was responsible for 1 of them.



These are the Star Federation's first encounters with alien life in Galaxy #236. Naturally, I intend to dispatch some warships to those Cease Fire locations on Turn #3. Whether that will result in any combat action or not, we'll just have to wait and see. After all, all of those enemy starships could move away from those star system locations in the coming turn (Turn #3).



At a bare minimum, though, this gives us a starting point. Several starting points, actually. Let me go ahead and visually depict those Cease Fire locations for Turn #2 on my star map of the galaxy.

GTac does not, insofar as I know, provide me an in-program mechanism to enter text atop my star maps. So, I just do a screenshot while in GTac, and then copy and paste that screenshot into a graphics editor program or some other kind of suitable software, to lay down some text labels. Then, at a very quick glance, it becomes exceedingly easy to get a much better idea of which of the other empires are where.

Now, tacking down their respective homeworlds should go quicker, from here on out, where these three computer-controlled empires are concerned. We're only two turns into this new game of Galac-Tac, Galaxy #236, and already, our overall intelligence-gathering situation is much better, now, than what is was only a single turn before.



So, let's bring up the star system locations where my Star Federation's warships and fleets (a fleet is comprised of more than one ship, warship or non-warship or some combination of the two) are.

The warships are a deep blue color, whereas the fleet (just 1 fleet, at present), is the aqua-colored triangle. Those blue ships scatted all around in six different star systems that lie in space away from my empire's homeworld, those are the Destroyers that my empire built with BUILD orders on Turn #1.



The three blue warships located inside of those yellow diamonds were involved in 3 of those Cease Fires during Turn #2. Had I issued a SECURE order to them, which is a Combat Type Order, then in all likelihood, there would be 3 less enemy starships in this game, right now.



I am going to go ahead and begin issuing a few orders for Turn #3, based upon the information that I have shared with you, our beloved readers, already.

On order line 1, I am using the ASSIGN command to make those 2 UFOs enter the hangers of that UFO Mothership. These were all just built on Turn #2, but I'm gonna go ahead and get them all ready to dispatch to other star systems, so that they are ready for action.

On order lines 2 through 7, I am issuing SECURE commands, in a bid to launch attacks upon any enemy starships in those designated star systems.

For some of these forthcoming attacks, I have to use an order that will move them from their current location to the locations of their respective targets. I used dashed green line segments to represent the forthcoming ship movements, for easy of visual identification at a glance.

Currently, I have no warships with sufficient range to enable me to attack those two remaining Cease Fire locations in the coming turn. Can't win 'em all, eh?

What I do have available, right now, are 9 Colony Ships already loaded with PI, and ready to venture forth to begin colonizing 9 more other star systems. And because I opted to do so much charting last turn, I can weed through them all, and aim for the ones that possess the highest base PV values of the bunch. Either that, or I can look for some star systems that I think would make good choices for future Production Centers, based upon their location in particular

star clusters that I want to try and begin creating forward-deployed defenses at, in order to try and stay at least one step ahead of my enemies.

Above is a map segment, part of the much larger star map for Galaxy #236. I decided to change some of the settings, to depict the star systems that are currently undergoing the Colonization Process with larger dotted green circles around them, along with the base PV values depicted as orange numerals within these dotted green circles.

GTac offers players of Galac-Tac a wide range of colors and symbols to work with, when customizing your empire's star maps.

Empire Valuation Score By Turn

Turn #1 - Empire Valuation: 100th percentile



Turn #2 - Empire Valuation: 97th percentile

Well, the Star Federation's Empire Valuation score dropped from 100th Percentile to down to 97th Percentile, from Turn #1 to Turn #2. This isn't a major drop, and we'll see if my Empire Valuation score will begin rising again in a few turns, as it recently did in my Galaxy #223 game of Galac-Tac. As we've only had 2 turns, so far, I would caution anyone against reading too much into it.

Here's some detailed information about various other starships that the Star Federation has deployed across the stars, current as of Turn #2.

Below, you'll find the Shipyard Report for Turn #2 of Galaxy #236. I present my turn results in portions, and as part of this, I also squeeze various information closer together, so that the text on parts of it won't end up being too small to read, in issues of PBM Chaos. Sender, which I use to compile and send out issues of PBM Chaos with, typically displays in a space only 640 pixels wide, if memory serves me correctly.

I can do a single screenshot of the entire turn results, but it would end up being very wide and long. The length is less of an issue than the width. I try to present the information contained therein is a way that is easier to read, for reader-friendliness sake.

Below, you'll see what actual turn orders that I ended up issuing for the Star Federation for Turn #3 of Galaxy #236.

I chose to not spend all of my empire's available PI, this turn. I had 106 PI available, but only ended up spending a grand total of 84 PI, and that was so that my empire could build 3 large freighters that I call Galaxy Ships, each one of which will be able to transport up to 30 PV or 30 PI, or some combination of the two.



This will leave my empire with 22 unspent PI from Turn #2's PI stockpile, so those 22 PI will carry forward to Turn #3. When Turn #3 processes, I should have that 22 PI + 100 PI generated by my homeworld, for a total of 122 PI.



Now, I'm gonna process the next turn. Are you learning anything about how to play Galac-Tac, so far?

Turn #3 Results

This weekend has been the biggest dose of Galac-Tac that I've ever consumed. Playing Galac-Tac. Thinking about Galac-Tac. Issuing turn orders for multiple different turns of Galac-Tac. Even writing several different articles about Galac-Tac. Christmas is just around the corner, and here I am, somewhere in outer space.

And with as little feedback as I receive from others about these Galac-Tac articles that I write, it sometimes feels a little bit as if I'm living in a vacuum. In space, nobody can hear me scream. 



Nobody can hear any of us.

But such things are minor concerns, when you've got an empire to run. What to get somebody for Christmas pales in comparison to which empire do I conquer, first? No matter how many enemy starships I destroy, Galac-Tac GM Davin Church still has to wash the dishes. Poor Davin!

But we each have our own cross to bear. I certainly have mine - as do each of you.

Sunday - December 14th, 2025 - 5:44 AM

So, what happened in Turn #3 of Galaxy #236 for me? So glad you asked. Let's get right into it, shall we?

40 Colonies have come online. Colonies are the same thing as Colony Systems. That number of 40 colonies refers to all colonies in the game, no matter which empires are controlling them, and no matter if your empire controls a lot, a few, or none at all.

Let's compare Turn #3's Galactic Statistics to Turn #2's Galactic Statistics, shall we?

Thus, we go from zero colonies to there suddenly existing 40 colonies. This underscores exactly how quickly things can change in games of Galac-Tac in the space of a single turn.



And to demonstrate that another way, but in a visual way, here's a star map of Turn #3 that features all of my empire's starships (in magenta color), and all of my empire's warships (in blue color), as well as all of my empire's fleets (in the form of aqua-colored triangles). Remember, fleets in the context of Galac-Tac are comprised of more than one ship, whether warship or otherwise, of the same empire at the same location at the same time.

Now, ships that comprise a fleet may or may not be working in unison. In fact, they may just be stopped at the same location at the same time for any of a number of different reasons.

And even a starship with hangars carrying in-system-only craft aboard them, such as a carrier that is carrying fighters aboard, can comprise a fleet in Galac-Tac. Here's one such example for your viewing pleasure.

In Galac-Tac, if it has engines of any kind, be they Star Drive engines or Inertia engines, or both, then it's a ship. If it has both engines and weapons of any kind or in any amount, then it's a warship. That part of Galac-Tac isn't complicated, at all.



In fact, many things about Galac-Tac aren't complicated. Overall, I would say that parts of Galac-Tac are confusing, more so than complicated, but confusing and complicated aren't one and the same thing, necessarily.



Formulas in GTac (the player assistant program/app for Galac-Tac), now those can be both complicated and confusing. Nonetheless, as with any PBM game, instances of confusion and and do arise. Some are easily remedied, whereas others may require a little more time and/or effort, in order to make the confusion abate and dissipate.

The screenshot image above is an example of how players in games of Galac-Tac that use GTac can fiddle around with different combinations of colors and symbols, in order to create your own preferred ways of visually depicting a wide variety of different types of information that the game generates, from turn to turn to turn.



Take note, if you will, of how I chose to depict star systems that are colonizing differently from star systems that have already become colonies. That star system with a PV base value of 8, over on the right-hand side, that's a star system that is currently undergoing the colonization process, just as its counterpart over on the left-hand side and near the bottom with a PV value of 7 is, also.



The star systems with the PV values of 6, 10, 5, 3, and 3 have already finished the colonization process, and have become colonies. By playing around with the color and symbol choices in GTac, you can make consuming large quantities of particular information types much quicker and easier. Personally, I like having a lot of information depicted on the same star map at the same time, as I can swiftly digest it and get a better idea of the "big picture," all at once.

But with GTac, you can just as easily create a separate map for each particular type of information, if you want to. GTac is a very flexible program, that way. Yeah, it takes a little getting used to, but for playing Galac-Tac, GTac is one of the best "allies" that you could ever have.



In the colonies displayed above, there is a yellow symbol to the left of the PV value numbers, yet still located within the solid green circles. That's not a GTac error. Rather, I picked that particular symbol with that particular color to designate starships in the game that have no orders, yet. It's not your eyes playing tricks on you. It's just me trying to squeeze in an extra bit of information, in order to make it easier for me to quickly identify which starships that I need to still issue orders to for my next turn.

My Turn #3 results inform me in the Economic/Fleet Report section that my empire's Empire Valuation score has risen back to the 100th Percentile. That didn't take long, now did it? Let this be a lesson to all of the Doubting Davins out there.

Of course, I am playing against computer-controlled opponents in Galaxy #236, so let's not lose sight of that. Who knows? Maybe these computer-controlled empires, which I think that Talisman Games refers to as "robots," may yet kick my ass. The wars have only just begun!

One Cease Fire and six Battles, this turn. Not too bad for it being only Turn #3, I reckon. If my opponents in Galaxy #236 were human beings playing the empires behind those starships that my own starships engaged in combat with, this turn, that would be much greater cause for concern. Since it's computer-controlled positions that I'm in conflict with, news of these 6 battles, this turn causes no alarm bells, at all, to go off inside of my head.



Computer-controlled empires in Galac-Tac tend to play defensively, not offensively. They'll never gain players' respect, that way. They do serve a useful function, however, to practice against, and to hone and refine your Galac-Tac skills by having the equivalent of space-faring crash test dummies to practice your strategies and tactics on.



I fully expect for our starship battles to end up being turkey shoots. Trying to conquer computer-controlled star systems, that may yet prove to be another matter, altogether. Those computer opponents will likely invest more in the defense of their star systems than the average human player, I suspect, and especially in the early turns of the game.



I could be wrong, though, so take everything that I say with a grain of salt.



Win or lose, I'll lay out the cold, hard facts for you, even if my pride ends up taking a beating at the hands of these robots. I just don't feel that these robot enemies are out for a fight. They're just sort of there, if you know what I mean. Such a pity, too. It's not like playing against actual empires of terminators bent on the utter annihilation of human life.



As this game of Galac-Tac proceeds, we'll see whether there's anything to these robots (aka computer-controlled opponents). My own gut feeling about them, right now, is that the way that they're programmed is a missed opportunity for Galac-Tac. If these robot empires with their silly, dull names end up dominating me (they won't!), then you know who will end up having to eat whatever crow they serve to me, in due time.



Speaking of these other empires in Galaxy #223, let's take a very brief look at them, courtesy of GTac.

How is anybody ever gonna get excited playing against empires with such unimaginative names? Do any of those robot empire names in that screenshot image above make you think science fiction?



Of course not!

GM Davin may think that I'm just off on another one of my complaint-filled rants (my choice of words, not his), but the discerning PBM Chaos reader out there might just recognize that what I am doing, here, is but pointing out yet another missed opportunity for Galac-Tac as a game.

It's not like I'm fighting the Star Creatures from Planet Zarton, you know, nor the Invaders from Dimension X. One of the Crown Jewels of Science Fiction as a genre is the colorful. Another is the unknown. A third is the exotic. A fourth is the unexplained.



Phi as an empire name can certainly vie as a competitor for shortest name for a space-faring empire, but it's not a name that is likely to give anybody reason to pause - and certainly not if they know that it's a computer-controlled empire.



If you want gamers to get excited about playing Galac-Tac, then you have to give them reasons to get excited. More colorful names are but one way to do that.



One thing that I do find myself wondering about Galac-Tac, this morning, is whether all computer-controlled empires in Galac-Tac are programmed the exact, same way? Or is there any real variety to them, at all? Are some peace-loving empires? Are some of them true warmonger type empires? Do any of them rise to rival - or exceed - humanity, itself, where aggressiveness of play is concerned?



It's been said, and for good reason, that variety is the spice of life. I don't go to the trouble of investing so much time writing these articles about Galac-Tac so that only the readers out there learn anything about the game. If you want lots of people to play Galac-Tac, and if you want them to be excited about playing it and to stay excited about it, then a lot can actually be done to improve Galac-Tac (my opinion, one no one else has to share), without necessarily involving a lot of time-consuming programming.

Davin — 12/8/2025 2:53 PM

FYI @PlayByMail, most of your names in Galac-Tac are indeed limited to 15 characters, but the empire name can use up to 30.

So, I definitely blew it out of my ass on that one. ACK!!



Keep this in mind, PBM Chaos readers, if you're thinking of giving Galac-Tac a try. Naming your empire will allow you much more of a character length limit than, say, naming your starships and your platforms.



Charles Mosteller

Editor of PBM Chaos and Galac-Tac Player

See how much harder it is to read some of the turn results from Galac-Tac, when I try to keep them pretty much as they are, yet simultaneously try to make them display within the width limits that Sender provides me with for creating issues of PBM Chaos.

All of that text displayed in a wide format, like that, shrinks really small, really fast. This stems from the fact that Galac-Tac wasn't designed to be displayed in PBM Chaos, and Sender didn't create it's newsletter builder based upon Galac-Tac's needs.

Let's see if I can improve that a little bit. It won't be perfect, but it should be a little easier to read.

As you can see, my Star Federation suffered no losses, nor suffered any damaged, in any of these 6 battles that took place djuring Turn #3.



And let me bring up the Galactic Statistics box for Turn #3, again, so that you can see for yourself that there were only just these 6 battles that occurred, this turn, and no others between the various computer-controlled robot empires in Galaxy #236, separate and apart from these 6 battles that my empire participated in.

Viewing the Current Shipyard for your empire, each and every turn, can help you to learn and memorize how much your different designs cost, as well as how long that it takes your shipyard to build them.

As far as I, myself, go (and your mileage may vary), I find that designing my own ships and platforms provides me extra incentive to learn and memorize the cost and the amount of time it takes for them to be built, compared to the stock, off-the-shelf ones that all empires start the game with. Player customization has a way of doing that.



Provide players with ways to customize your PBM game to their tastes, and they will tend to gravitate towards that more than they will to just a constant staple "diet" of the same old thing. It isn't by accident nor mere coincidence that computer and video games that provide robust "modding options" tend to have a better chance of seeing "entire modding communities" grow up around them. Galac-Tac doesn't have to offer the proverbial "moon and stars" of customization options, in order for it to become more player-friendly in the customization department.



Player interest is like fruit on a tree. You can either harvest it, or let it rot on the tree.



Now, I'm gonna move on to getting a start on my turn orders for Turn #4 of Galaxy #236. Care to join me?

Above is a screenshot image of where I chose to start issuing turn orders. You can start wherever you want to, when you play Galac-Tac. There's no "one way" nor any "set way" to go about deciding upon which turn orders to issue first. I tend to just start with whatever pops into my mind as being of particular importance.

And for me heading into Turn #4, I want to make absolutely certain that I did not forget to issue SHUTTLE orders to those 3 new Galaxy Ships of mine that my empire's shipyard built on Turn #3. After all, my empire really needs to begin harvesting PV from other star systems, and transporting it back to my homeworld for conversion into spendable PI. You can't spend PV. It's PI that is a spendable commodity, so to speak.

Each one of those Galaxy Ships can carry up to a maximum of 30 PV or PI or combination of the two. Three Galaxy Ships, then, can carry as much as 90 PV from another star system to my homeworld (30+30+30=90 PV that can then be converted into 90 PI).



Of course, big fat freighters also make big fat juicy targets, also. So, you need to keep that in mind, as well as whatever military threats have manifested themselves in close proximity to where your ships are, when trying to decide what to build and where to build it. Remember, each Production Center that you build over the course of the game, you can also build new ships and platforms there, as well as at your homeworld's shipyard.



My gut feeling is that it is likely a lot easier to escort and defend your freighter types of starships, when playing against computer-controlled empires, than it is to do the same, when playing against player-controlled empires. I wonder if players in Galaxy #223 would agree with this statement.



It's certainly a lot more fun blowing up Player Djinni's ships than it is to destroy these computer-controlled ships. Playing against other players is where the real motherlode of fun in Galac-Tac lies, beyond any shadow of a doubt!



Truly, it's a darned shame that PBMers like Wayne "Safe Driver" Smith and Richard "Got An Article For You" Weatherhead don't play Galac-Tac. Of course, I can't really blame them for being set in their ways and more than a little apprehensive about squaring off against me in deep space PBM warfare. Come on, fellas! Step right up!



I promise. I'll take it real easy on you. At least, right up until the point where my empire hits yours like a bolt out of the wild blue yonder. Hey, it beats the hell out of cat-sitting and honey-do lists, that's for damned sure!

See how you can plot shuttle routes using GTac? Above is a visual depiction of those three SHUTTLE orders that I issued to those 3 new Galaxy Ships of mine. Using that SHUTTLE command will allow the automation of gathering PV from other star systems and returning it to my homeworld for processing into spendable PI, and then automatically repeating the processing - the loading and unloading of PV, the conversion of PV into PI, the movement of the ships, all of that gets automated with the SHUTTLE command.



This kind of automation of various tasks makes Galac-Tac easier to play. There's no question about it in my mind. Playing Galac-Tac without using GTac is really difficult to imagine. GTac makes it so much easier to track and destroy your enemies.



Yes, there's a learning curve to GTac, but there's a learning curve associated with virtually anything and everything in PBM gaming. Pound for pound, though, learning to use GTac, learning to acquire familiarity with how GTac works, is unquestionably one of the single best deals in all of play by mail gaming, today. I am definitely of the mind that GTac is a force multiplier.



Download it. Learn it. Use it. And beat the hell out of your opponents with it!

You're not gonna learn how to use GTac in five minutes, but neither is it one of those PBM monstrosities that will take you half your life to learn the basics of, either. Heck, if it wasn't for GTac, I wouldn't have destroyed as many of GM Davin's wife's starships as I have, in that "other game" of Galac-Tac.

Mu-Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Just gotta love it! Even very experienced players of the game aren't beyond your reach, when you choose to embrace GTac, and learn to wield the advantages that it confers upon those willing to learn what all that it's capable of. The Star Wars universe has The Force. The Galac-Tac universe has GTac.

For certain, though, I still haven't plumbed all of its depth, and mastered it completely, yet. Heck, I really haven't "mastered" it, at all. Be that as it may, I do feel that I have acquired some degree of competence at using it (no doubt much to the eternal chagrin of those who have opposed me while playing Galac-Tac in Galaxy #223).

In Galac-Tac Galaxy #223, Player Ajwan said that she intends to win that game of Galac-Tac. She's done went and lost her mind, if you ask me. Using GTac is like having my very own Motherbox. I just don't see it happening, Ajwan. Hell, it's all that Ajwan can do to hold onto her homeworld, according to rumors that float endlessly across the vastness of the Galac-Tac universe of galaxies.

Why pick on poor, poor Ajwan, though? Because deep down inside, there's a real killer lurking, just waiting to get her space alien paws upon my precious empire that is the Yonds of Droon. Even now, there in her faraway secret lair, she plots the downfall of my empire. She knows, and I know, and she knows that I know. That's what counts.

Now, where was I, before my mind started wandering and thinking about Motherboxes and Galactic Grannies?

Oh, yeah, my turn orders for Turn #4 of Galaxy #236.



But first, let's take a look at the screenshot image, above. Take note, if you will, that the Energy Shield, which is a platform in Galac-Tac, because it has no engines of any kind, at all, neither Star Drive engines nor Inertia engines. It only has 10 phasers and 10 shields. It took two turns for my empire's shipyard to build this Energy Shield.



And last, but certainly not least, here are the turn orders that I have decided to issue for Turn #4 of Galaxy #236. Read 'em and weep!

For better or for worse, these orders are what I am sending in to the Talisman Games website for processing. To find out what happened, though, you'll have to tune in to Issue #59 of PBM Chaos.



Live long and prosper!

* All Hyborian War content and images copyright © Reality Simulations, Inc.