HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: To Tim Swenson
From: jdriver@netlink.cts.com (John Driver)
Date: Sun, 08 Nov 92 22:40:34 PST
Organization: NetLink Online Communications, San Diego CA

 
        Tim, I lost your email address, but I wanted to thank you 
for the Ogre information you sent to me.  Thanks for taking the 
time out to do that, I appreciate it.

--                    
INTERNET:  jdriver@netlink.cts.com (John Driver)
UUCP:   ...!ryptyde!netlink!jdriver
NetLink Online Communications * Public Access in San Diego, CA (619) 453-1115
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: m91kgh@tdb.uu.se (Karl-Gunnar Hultland)
Subject: Re: BTECH: What would you do???
Organization: Dept. of Scientific Computing, Uppsala Univ.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 19:32:11 GMT

Phil (phygod72@nic.gac.edu) wrote:
: 
: } > Objectives:
: } >   Player 1: capture the city or destroy 800 tons
: } >   Player 2: destroy Player 1 completely or force his retreat
: } 
: }    By capture the city, I assume that you mean more or less intact?
: 
: Right.  No nuking the city--what's the point in having a city if it's rubble?

Someone may argue that preventing your opponent from using it
is victory enough. (ever tried to subdue a hostile population ?)


			Karl


-- 

Karl-Gunnar Hultland              Vox Dei, Vox Populi
m91kgh@bellatrix.tdb.uu.se
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: khalsa@echo.gsfc.nasa.gov (Tej)
Subject: to Alan McNeely
Organization: NASA GSFC Code 910.1, TRMM Ground Truth
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 17:51:42 GMT

Alan 

Mail to you keeps bouncing.  Please e-mail me your address or phone
number or both.  Or another place where I can try e-mailing you.
This is Re: Kings and Things

Tej
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: charbonn@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (gary charbonneau)
Subject: Top 10
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 14:37:27 GMT

1. Civil War (Victory Games)
2. Johnny Reb (not a board game, but what the heck?)
3. Empires in Arms
4. Britannia
5. 1830
6. A House Divided
7. Lee vs. Grant
8. Bull Run
9. Napoleon's Last Battles
10. Chickamauga (West End)


-- 
Gary Charbonneau
charbonn@silver.indiana.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Subject: Re: Classic games...
Reply-To: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Organization: Plymouth State College - Plymouth, N.H.
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 13:57:08 GMT

wlw@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Will Walker) writes:
>
>> AH's Blitzkrieg, 1965 - first step-reduction system.
>
>Excellent!  I was hoping an old timer would point out which games
>were the real trail blazers.  I confess innocence though -- what's
>a step-reduction system?

*Wheeze, cough*    Well, this old timer can barely get to the keyboard,
but a step reduction system is a way to reduce the power of units that
have been in combat without having to simply remove them from the board.
Before Blitzkrieg, there were Attacker Elims and Defender Elims.  With
Blitzkrieg, you could lose just 3 of your 8 combat factors, for example,
instead of the whole unit.

>> I'd also include the Wooden Block games and Up Front as being ingeniously
>> innovative, though they haven't had the mass appeal of the others.
>
>Never heard of them.

Ah, you have a couple of great surprises waiting you!  Check them out!
Up Front is a war game from AH with no dice, no board, and no pieces -
how's that for innovation?  In addition, it's an excellent simulation
of man to man combat - for example, the very common tactic of Advance
under Cover can be simulated better in Up Front than in ASL.

The Wooden Block games were originated in the early 1970s by Gamma Two,
which is now called Columbia Games.  AH produced one of their games:
Napoleon.  These use wooden blocks as playing pieces, which is not only
aesthetically pleasing but allows Fog of War and step reduction to be
accomplished effortlessly and smoothly - a great example of game
mechanics that are unobtrusive to the point where the player can
concentrate on strategy and tactics and not worry about needing one
more combat factor to get a three-to-one . . .  While all wooden block
games are fun, I'd have to say EastFront (which won the Charles Roberts
Award this year) is the best.

-- 
  - Steffan O'Sullivan		         sos@oz.plymouth.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: gkatz@csws4.ic.sunysb.edu (Gerald W Katz)
Subject: Re: insect/wrack/void combo question
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 21:21:16 GMT

In article <1daa4pINNad9@MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU> randall-joshua@yale.edu (Joshua Randall) writes:
>In article <40546@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> cs161feu@sdcc10.ucsd.edu (Anthony Minkoff) writes:
>
>[much stuff deleted]
>
>>Hey, here's an idea:  Let's take a vote of the 10 Most Powerful
>>Aliens. [...]
>
>I vote for Zombie.  Because you never lose tokens to the warp, you can
>be an ally in every challenge.  If you are smart you will almost
>always be a defensive ally, and will soon have so many cards that
>you'll be unstoppable.
>
>Parasite (??--the one who can be an ally regardless of the other
>player's desires) is also very powerful.  If nothing is done to stop
>him, and people aren't careful, he'll win after five challenges (by
>being an offensive ally every time).  Of course people can start
>throwing challenges, but it's still a nice power.
>
>-- 
>Joshua E. Randall                       randall@minerva.cis.yale.edu

Here is my two lucre worth:

Anti-Matter,Loser,Void,Pacifist,Mirror,Connoisseur,Zombie,Wrack,Sorcerer,
and Vampire.  (I hate to leave out Fungus, but I'm only allowed 10 :-)

If we add in powers from at least Eon, the following could be 
replacements to the above, perhaps instead of Connoisseur or Vampire:

Warpish, Virus, Mesmer, Diplomat, Dictator, Assessor, Plant, Silencer,
Schizoid, Force.

Of course, this is not to say other powers are week.
I would not mind playing Macron, Vacuum, Butler, Sniveler,
and the list goes on.

(Personally, though, out of all the powers, I never, ever
 want to play Lloyd.  Others may like, but I don't.)

Don't forget to tip the Butler!

					gkatz

P.S. Remember, the key to Assessor is never to make deals
and keep all the tokens.  However, I heard that in MCE
Assessor is now a Lucre power and so loses some of its power.
Oh well.
From: holcomg@atlantis.CS.ORST.EDU (Gordon Holcomb)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Sting
Date: 9 Nov 92 21:35:18 GMT
Article-I.D.: leela.1992Nov9.213518.6438
Organization: Computer Science Outreach Services - Oregon State University

In article <BxGpM9.1vn@inews.Intel.COM> dmccart@gomez.intel.com (D. J. McCarthy) writes:
>
>I nominate Sting as the worst-phrased MCE power.
>
>
>	"Whenever you lose tokens involuntarily, you may
>	designate another player to lose them instead."
>
>Symmetrically, when does someone "voluntarily" lose tokens?
>
>
If you Plague yourself!
You agree to give up tokens in that flare that makes everyone discard each type   of card and 3 tokens.

There are bound to be others.

Gordon

>--
>| D. J. McCarthy
>| dmccart@gomez.intel.com
>| ...!intelhf!mipos3!modl01!dmccart
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: khalsa@echo.gsfc.nasa.gov (Tej)
Subject: Re: Demon
Keywords: Demon demon
Organization: NASA GSFC Code 910.1, TRMM Ground Truth
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 22:09:42 GMT

What frequently happens is that somebody who looks strong will
play a weak card on purpose, get "demoned" and then have a 
hearty laugh as demons tokens go off to the warp.  Even if Demon
anticipates this strategy it becomes a guessing game as to 
whether or not he (she) should use his (etc) power.  Obviously
this can be a gamble, but it definitely doesn't end up with Demon
taking over offence all the time!  Also certain owers can win
with their card while Demon taking over and using the same card
cannot (Sorcerer, Pacifist, Empath, Virus, Gambler, Duece, Calculator,
Chronos, etc, etc).

Tej


Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: stranger@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (William John McNelis)
Subject: Anyone else think some powers are TOO powerful....
Organization: HAC - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 23:19:24 GMT

Just got MCE a few weeks ago, and after about 30 games in four nights
(classes? what classes?) we decided to toss two powers out of our set
because they seemed a little TOO powerful...

DEMON: i dont remember how this was phrased, but i think it lets you
always  take over for the offensive player...
Doesnt that make it almost impossible for anyone to get a base?!?!?

VIRUS: even if you only put two tokens in a  challenge, it makes a 
whole lot of difference... allies would almost ally with four, since it
would almost guarantee a win... its like the "dont bother playing a
card" power.  

There wer others, but i cant think of them...
Any comments?  Did i totally misinterpret these powers?

The sig-less (my first post ever...  except for one last year...)
	Frantic Bilbo
From: phil@miracle.com (Phil Hill)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Sting
Date: 12 Nov 92 20:18:19 GMT
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants

"Joseph E. Beck" <jb8n+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>>It's a good power, but it's not as bad as you might think.  The Sting
>>tends to not be invited to ally because you have no idea who he will
>>go after next.
>I think it would work in the opposite manner.  Simply announce:  the
>first person who refuses to let me ally (you may wish to put a good
>reason clause in) will be Stung for
>the entire rest of the game.  If someone insists, carry out your
>threat.  But it probably won't happen.  Basically:  the first person
>to hose me will be hosed badly.  Works wonders.
>
>>Also never having a hand hurts a lot
>I don't know what you're talking about, this is a *good* side power
>for Sting.  You draw a hand, immediately use all edicts even if of
>marginal use, play kickers with high attacks/compromises.  Very
>quickly you will only have junk.  So most of the time you lose your
>junk and draw a new hand (looks good to me), only occasionally should
>Sting give up good cards, and should almost never give up an edict.  
>Draw hand.  Play edicts.  Make opponent lose tokens.  Draw new hand.
>Looks good to me.

It's not quite that easy to get a new hand... You have to wait until you are
defensive player, or for your turn to start...  And the fact that you tend
to not be asked as an ally hurts also.

I have to agree with the comment that Sting (or Psycho) was orignally designed
for Eon, and the Eon Flares.  Loss of a good Eon flare from you hand can really
hurt.  Another example of Mayfair's attempt to make the game better, when they
actually are hurting the game.   BRING BACK REUSABLE FLARES!!!!

>
>We don't permit Sting in our group.  The concensus here is that it's a
>suped up Zombie.  Of course, this is the same expansion that brought
>diplomat....

I'll play it...  But I DON'T play with Mayfair flares.

>
>	joe
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Phil Hill                     | "All you people in TV land,           |
| Miracle Computer Consultants  |   I will wake up your empty shells.   |
|                               |  Peak time viewing blown in a flash,  |
|                               |   as I burn into your memory cells.   |
| Email: phil@miracle.com       |  'cause I'm alive." - Peter Gabriel   |
From: hankins@cs.swarthmore.edu (Luke Hankins)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Sniveler
Date: 5 Nov 92 21:32:45 GMT
Organization: Swarthmore College

irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu (Josh Smith) writes:

>In a prior article, Jeff Hildebrand (hildebra@math.wisc.edu) writes:> 
>> 	Well if the Eon version doesn't specify, then I think in this
>> case Mayfair may have done the right thing modifying the power. There are
>> some very nasty circumstances that can arise if Sniveler can snivel for
>> flares. In a game I was in we were misplaying Sniveler and the following
>> happened. (Let's see if I remember this right. Luke, are you out there to
>> verify this?)

>This story sounds familiar, but I don't think I was actually in that game.
>What was I doing at the time? You don't have to answer that, especially if
>it involves jello. (grin)

	Yea, Jeff, that situation sounds quite familar.  As I recall that
was another situation where we decided that a 4+ hour game was more than
enough... (I _still_ like conscription, though...)

>"I don't have a car more expensive than a Corolla..." (grin)
"I'm not gonna have anyone to snuggle with toniiight... *sniff*" (Grin)


		-luke

-- 
______________________________________________________________________________
Luke Hankins hankins@cs.swarthmore.edu |   "Le coeur a ses raisons que la
for(MyAge=0;!Dead;EnjoyLife);          |      raison ne connait point" -?
While not (EndOfLife) do Havefun(me);  |"...stay sane inside insanity..." -RHPS
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: gkatz@csws13.ic.sunysb.edu (Gerald W Katz)
Subject: Re: History of (EON) winning Powers
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 16:46:10 GMT

In article <1992Nov13.145614.27392@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> jrrt@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (robert.l.mitchell) writes:
>*
>I've been keeping track of which Powers win in the games of COSMIC I've
>played since I was introduced to the game in 1980.  Below is the list,
>in order of winningest powers.  This is *not* meant to suggest that the
>Powers that have won the most are the most powerful -- rather that the
>Powers that have won the most are the favorites of the best players in 
>my circle(s)...  We tend to allow players to draw some number of Powers 
>and select some subset of those, so people can usually play with some
>Power they like.
> 
>Only EON Powers are included here, and naturally, older
>Powers are more heavily represented because they've been in more games
>(although I'm surprised Philanthropist has never won).  One final comment:
>multiple Powers, and Powers for joint winners, are all included, so one
>cannot determine the number of games played from the data available.
> 
>Rob Mitchell

This is certainly interesting.  However, in my group, we don't go
by which powers tend to win games.  We have concluded that all powers
are equally likely to win, though some are more equal than others :-)
However, we do judge a person's chance of winning by who is playing.
I don't mean to boast, but I do tend win 95% of the games, hence whenever
anyone has an option of who to make lose tokens, cards, or something
of that nature, everyone says "Attack Jerry, he's most powerful", and
then proceed to make me lose the tokens or cards.  :-()
Kidding aside, everyone agrees and accepts that I am an expert at
the game, and that I memorize all the cards. (I do) But they enjoy the
game anyway, win a few times, and have fun, and that's the point.
Of course, I do play with other experts occasionally, and they do win.
The point I'm trying to make is that it's not the power so much who
determines the winner, but also a combination of getting good hands
and the ability and ingenuity of the players.

On an ironic note, at ICON XI we playtested MCE.  There were six of
us, four experts and two newcomers.  The newcomers had a joint win.

Don't forget to tip the Butler!
					gkatz
	
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: woodhams@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Michael Woodhams)
Subject: Re: insect/wrack/void combo question
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University Observatory
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 23:00:14 GMT

In article <0eyLlFC00YUoEaYLFM@andrew.cmu.edu> "Joseph E. Beck" <jb8n+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>
>Macron -- Counting your tokens as 4 is kind of nice, but being only
>able to gain 1 card as a defensive ally sucks.  And if assasin is in
>the game (or anything that lets someone kill tokens of their choice)
>you're just doomed.  Again, it's questionable if this is a plus or a
>minus.
>
This is why I have always played with a house rule that macron can
bring up to 4 tokens like anyone else. This makes it a good power, but
not I think in the top 10 list.

Michael W.


Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu (Josh Smith)
Subject: Re: insect/wrack/void combo question
Originator: irilyth@fenris
Organization: HMC Academic Computing Services
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 06:10:25 GMT

In a prior article, Joshua Randall (randall-joshua@yale.edu) writes:
> I vote for Zombie.  Because you never lose tokens to the warp, you can
> be an ally in every challenge.

(tune: chorus of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer")

I'll ally
I'll ally 'cause I don't die,
I'll ally
I'll ally, yes I'll ally,
'cause of I can't die

Folks at Swat playing Zombie would often sing or hum this, grinning madly,
as they threw four tokens into every single challenge... Definitely
powerful, and particularly fun as well in a multi-power game, since it lets
you safely participate in every challenge, allowing you to use a second
power which you can only use as an ally or main player (Mind, Seeker,
Cavalry, et al).

At Swat, we found Vulch to be pretty powerful, especially if you horde
Edicts; it can get progressively harder to win as the game goes on if Vulch
plays it right. Healer is also a strong power, since you again end up with
just bunches of cards, and can foil a number of other powers if you've a
mind to (or just want tons of cards)--Assassin comes to mind as the most
obvious. I've only played with Eon Mesmer, but Mayfair's looked similar
(I've only played one game with MCE), and seems pretty strong.

I've only played one game since The Six Hour Game From Hell that Jeff
described in an earlier message (I was one of the ones who quit CE after
that game--in fact, I sold my set on the spot to one of the other players),
so my memory has faded somewhat. I'm sure others will make many other
suggestions to which I'll say "Oh, yeah, of course!" but here are a few
thoughts anyway.
-- 
Josh Smith, User Support Coordinator  ::  irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu
Harvey Mudd College, Claremont CA     ::  consult(std-disclaimer.pl).
"Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why
several of us died of tuberculosis." -Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Ranking Powers
From: "Joseph E. Beck" <jb8n+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 08:04:12 -0500 
Distribution: rec
Organization: Junior, Math/Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA


>I am sorting the powers out between Very Strong, Medium, and Very Weak.
A couple of questions about this.  Are you using Mayfair or Eon
edition?  If Mayfair are you including MCE?  Should lucre powers be
counted? 

	joe
From:  (Spike)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Sniveler
Date: 10 Nov 92 19:48:16 GMT
Followup-To: rec.games.board.ce
Organization: GE Power Generation

> >I also have another question, relating to a "lien" on
> >your hand when your opponent plays a Compromise card.
> >We had no argument, I'm just curious about other people's opinions.
> 
> [Description of situation. Ends up with Insect holding a cosmic zap
> and another card with two cards consolation due, and wanting to zap
> zombie.]
> 
> >Question: Is the playing of the Cosmic Zap legal even though
> >it was played while there was a lien on my hand yet it was
> >the only time I could play the Zap on Zombie?
> >
> >Again, everyone accepted that I was allowed.  I just want to
> >know what others think.
> 
> No, it is not legal. (Unless, of course, you wan't to make a house
> rule to make it legal.) You may only play a card that breaks the lien.
> (Most notably stellar gas.)
> 
> Michael W.

Not true! The player is entitled to take the two cards as consolation at
the end of 
the challenge. As the timing symbol for Cosmic Zap is infinity, the player
playing
the Zap could specify that it takes place before the end of the challenge.

Spike (Not Jones)

===============================
Sigs? We don't need no steenkin' sigs.
From: purtill@idacrd.UUCP (Mark Purtill)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Silencer power - need opinions
Date: 5 Nov 92 14:46:56 GMT
Organization: idacrd, princeton, nj

dmccart@gomez.intel.com (D. J. McCarthy) writes:
>The Resource, Poet-Magician of Quality (bicker@cbnewsi.cb.att.com) wrote:
>> 
>> I guess I
>> didn't realize that the Silencer could keep the offensive player from
>> ever taking a second challenge.
...
>	In fact, I think the argument is stronger the other way:  being
>Silenced *forces* you to take a second challenge because there are ways
>you can indicate you will be challenging again without communicating,
>and there are *no* ways you can indicate you will not be taking a
>second challenge without communicating.
	But that can't be right because if you don't have any more
challenge cards in your hand, you CAN'T make second challenge.  That
would put whether you make a second challenge into the category of
mandatory communications, which (IMHO) the Silencer can't stop.

^.-.^ Mark Purtill, purtill@ccr-p.ida.org || purtill%idacrd@uunet.uu.net
((")) \@_: IDA/CCR-P, Thanet Road, Princeton NJ  08540;  (609) 924-4600.
Alternate email: purtill%idacrd@princeton.edu UUCP: uunet!idacrd!purtill
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu (Josh Smith)
Subject: Re: Sniveler
Originator: irilyth@fenris
Organization: HMC Academic Computing Services
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 10:03:15 GMT

In a prior article, Adam Logan (amlogan@room.princeton.edu) writes:
> Suppose that Sniveler whines about having the most tokens in the warp in a
> game with Zombie.  Is there any way (short of Cosmic Zapping Zombie) to 
> prevent Sniveler from removing all its tokens from the warp?  Zombie's
> tokens cannot go to the warp.

At Swarthmore, we played the same way someone else described later in this
thread: that Zombie could "lose" tokens to the warp, but that they came
right back. Same sort of thing that happens with Assassin vs. Zombie:
Assassin tosses a Zombie token into the warp, Zombie pulls it right back. No
effect, unless Zombie has been foolish enough to leave a base with only one
token on it. To get back to the Sniveler case, as someone mentioned, if
Zombie would have to temporarily pull enough tokens to make him lose bases,
then he does lose the bases, though the tokens come back to the remaining
bases. 

In any case, Zombie typically hoses the other players when Sniveler whines
about tokens in the warp, since he (Zombie) has no incentive to agree to let
Sniveler have his tokens back. Even if Zombie had to lose bases, it might be
worth it... Say Sniveler has seventeen in the warp: even though you drop to
three bases, you still have twenty tokens on those three bases, whereas
everyone else has only three tokens on the board! Play to hose, eh. (grin)
-- 
Josh Smith, User Support Coordinator  ::  irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu
Harvey Mudd College, Claremont CA     ::  consult(std-disclaimer.pl).
"Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why
several of us died of tuberculosis." -Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts
From: tac6189@hertz.njit.edu (Tom Carmichael)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: A possible use for the Chosen!?!
Date: 10 Nov 92 16:36:23 GMT
Article-I.D.: njitgw.1992Nov10.163623.15539
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.
Originator: tac6189@hertz.njit.edu

We had a very interesting Mayfair game last night were the Chosen was 
actually a power to be reconned with.  It was used in combo with the 
Connoseur.  This makes it a nasty combo.  The Chosen can keep drawing
cards two at a time until he gets a card he wants or draws two challenge
cards.  Boy did we burn through the deck fast.

Just an interesting combo I thought I would share with the net.

Tom