HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Bruce_Harper@mindlink.bc.ca (Bruce Harper)
Subject: Re: Adv Civilization variant - 2nd draft - missing part
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 23:10:23 GMT

The first is shipbuilding.  Rather than collect taxes and spend
to build ships, independent kingdoms may automatically build one
ship for each of their cities, to a maximum of four ships.  Since
independent kingdoms don't bother to maintain ships, the simplest
way to handle this is to remove all the independent kingdom's
ships at the start of each turn, and build new ships where
desired.  Independent kingdoms may also build ships by levy.

The second is movement.  Independent kingdoms always move first,
even if the controlling nation holds Military.  Independent
tokens may be used to attack other nations, but only if the
independent kingdom has enough cities on the board or under
construction in safe areas to meet the city requirement of the
current epoch (as determined by the nation furthest along the
AST).  A "safe area" is defined as an area which cannot be
reached by any other player, (including the controlling player).
If no safe areas are available, the independent kingdom must try
to build cities in less secure areas.  Thus in the Early Iron Age
the independent kingdom would have to be assured of having four
cities before it used any tokens to attack other nations.
From: ccjm@st-andrews.ac.uk (Colin Charles James MacDonald)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: The makers of SFB
Date: 16 Dec 92 20:55:35 GMT
Organization: St. Andrews University, Scotland.

In article <1ga97cINN1o4@master.cs.rose-hulman.edu> wongrr@NeXTwork.Rose-Hulman.Edu (Ryan R Wong) writes:
>Why do so many people hold FASA responsible for SFB rules?
>They get enough flak for their own games. They don't need
>to be slashed for someone else's. SFB is made by the Amarillo
>Design Bureau and Task Force Games, and released under TFG.
>Why do these people blame FASA?
>
>>....*thinks* "But, hold on. What does BPV stand for? If I could only  
>remember.
>Great Scott! It's Basic Points Value. Value, now what is that again? Ah!  
>It's
>relative worth - but! That means that two ships with the same BPV should  
>be
>equal in ability. But, that means..."
>And so on.
>Anyone know of any ships which seem badly pointed? I doubt it, we all know
>how dilegent FASA are with their points system. :)
>
>FASA? They don't make the game!
>
>>Yes, but I fear FASA. You never know what they'll do. I bought the boxed  
>set
>>of SFB almost 12 years ago. I gave it up when it FASA started going  
>through
>>bizarre undulations when writing their rules. Plus, I got burnt out after
>>playing a 6 hour session between four sides and got off off only half a
>>dozen shots. aaagh.
>
>If FASA did make it all those years ago, they definitely don't now!
>As far as I know, TFG was always the maker of the game until the  
>arrangement they made with the ADB.
>
>There are several more, but I think you can get my point.
>In the words of my Resident Assistant:
>
>		"Nuf' Sed" -Andy McConnell-


AAAAAAAARGH!!!! No more flames please, my mailbox is groaning. I'm sorry,
I truly am. I know ADB and TFG make SFB. It was late at night, I
copied someone else's mistake, I was drunk, there was an earthquake,
a terrible flood, locusts...

-----
COlin
-----
From: appel@soda.Berkeley.EDU (Shannon D. Appel)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Review wanted: Timjim games
Date: 15 Dec 92 23:45:30
Organization: csua
NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.berkeley.edu
In-reply-to: sos@oz.plymouth.edu's message of 15 Dec 92 21:20:33 GMT

In article <1992Dec15.212033.14408@oz.plymouth.edu> sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan) writes:
>Mystic War

I bought this game on Sunday because I kind of thought it looked
interesting.  I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but from the
rules, I think the game will be a good one.

First of all, I was happily suprised when I pulled out the components
to the game.  Unlike some things, like recent SJG products which
provide components that are often really bad [I don't buy a game so I
can pull out my scissors and sit cutting for an hour], Mystic War had
high quality pieces.  Nice colored plastic markers, sturdy cards and
sturdy "resources maps."

The basic idea is that you get some randomized victory conditions,
based upon followers, magic power and money.  There are four
possibilities, all balanced to be the same total, with different
spreads.  Then, through game play, you try to get your resources to
the appropriate levels.  Every time you go through the deck, victory
conditions are checked, and at that point, your own conditions can be
changed.

Through game play, you can exchange some resources for other types and
destroy other peoples resources, depending upon how much of each
resource type you have.  In addition, you can play cards to increase
and decrease resources as well as protect against attacks from others,
or modify such effects.  A few of the cards are [NECROMANCY - May play
any time to gain Folowers just lost by one other player], [STRAY
ENERGY - May play any time on any Sorcery RESOURCE card, doubling the
Mystic power gamed], [GOD KING - May play any time to prevent ANY
Mustic power loss].  Over all, I think the game looks pretty
interesting.  It seems to be simple to learn, but something that
allowd a good deal of intricacies.

Shannon

Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: gjschmid@cantor.math.uwaterloo.ca (Greg Schmidt)
Subject: Players wanted for Youngstown Diplomacy
Keywords: two day game this weekend
Organization: University of Waterloo
Distribution: kw
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 04:19:22 GMT

I am hosting a two-day game of Youngstown Diplomacy this weekend, and am
looking for players.  For those who don't know, Youngstown Diplomacy is
just an extended version of Classic Diplomacy, with more of Africa, all
of Asia, and large parts of the South Pacific.  Japan, China, and India
are added, for a total of ten players.  For those who don't know what
Diplomacy is, it's a completely strategic (no dice) military game of
alliances (and backstabbing) in turn-of-the-century Europe.

The game will start around 1:00pm on Saturday, and run until 10:00 or 11:00
that night.  It will pick up again Sunday at 1:00pm, and go until either
we are done, or people have to go home.  If you are interested, drop me a
line, including your name, e-mail address where I should reply to, a phone
number where I can find you if I need to, and a very short summary of your
Diplomacy experience.  Player selection will be mostly first-come, first-
serve, with slight preference given to any experienced players.  There are
two (possibly three) players already, so I am looking for seven or eight more.
If I get way more than that (which I am not expecting, given the amount of
notice), two games _may_ be organized.

Rides may be available if required (let me know ahead of time).  I am in
downtown Kitchener, and there is lots of parking nearby (map will be sent
to those playing).  No charge, but munchies and beverages would be welcome,
and either bring supper or be prepared to order a pizza or something.

Sorry about the short notice, but I've been sort of busy.  Here's hoping we
can get a full game in!
 _________________________________________________________________
/ _ \     Greg Schmidt (gjschmidt@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca)    \
\__) \                                                             \
     |"The world is such a stupid place." -Tom Cochrane & Red Rider|   __
      \  "If you're optimistic, you're forgetting something." -me   \ (_ \
       \_____________________________________________________________\___/
From: jrzorn@garnet.berkeley.edu ()
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Epic Space Marines
Date: 15 Dec 1992 16:59:13 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.berkeley.edu

     Does anyone out there play Epic Space Marines and want to hash out
the inevitable(?) problems in the GW rules? If so, I have a long list
to select from. One example:

     What effect does the wave of an eldar wave serpent's wave have when
the unit runs into a titan or gargant? Is the t/g pushed to the trailing
edge of the wave and disrupted like regular infantry/vehicles, or does
it just take a hit, or is there a third option?

     Epic is actually pretty fun, it just needs to have some rules ironed
out.

Many thanks,
JZ


Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: jdoucette@venus.cc.hollandc.pe.ca (Jingle bells, mortar shells, VC in the grass...)
Subject: Re: Federation and Empire
Summary: Get ready for a LOOOONG war 
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: Holland College - Charlottetown PEI
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 00:44:00 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.210842.25936@nscf.org>, warren@nscf.org (L3 Warren) 
writes...
>All these posts on F&E!!
> 
>I'm amazed. I really like the game, but I have never managed to play one
>through.
> 
>The last time we tried (with DF&E), each "turn" took somewhere in the
>vicinity of 4-6 hours. My partners only made it through turn 3 or 4,
>about the time the Hydrans and Kzinti were one-hex races with partially
>devastated capitals. Me being the Coalition, I thought things were just
>about to get interesting, but they gave up.
> 
>Does it take this long for you guys to play? If not, how do you speed things
>up any?
> 
>Warren.
> 
	That's a bit slower than we go.  When we play we usually play for 
about 6-8 hours and we usually finish about a turn and a half to two turns 
a session, more when one or more races have burnt themselves out.  
Personally, I like the game taking this long.  I usually play the Alliance 
and I start fighting tooth and nail right off and that makes it a lengthy 
game.  I enjoy nothing more than a hard-fought victory (or defeat, for that 
matter).
	Cheer up, the pace of the game generally picks up around turn 5 or 
so, slows to a crawl until turn 12, and within 3-4 more turns speeds up 
dramatically as races spend two years trying to build up a strike fleet only 
to see it fade away after one or two battles...

John Doucette

Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: Stein J|rgen Rypern <steinry@ifi.uio.no>
Subject: PB/PL new scenarios, anyone ?
Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 11:36:19 GMT
Originator: steinry@nikud.ifi.uio.no


  Hi,

  anyone out there who have created new scenarios (Playtested and either
balanced or historically interesting scenarios, of course :-) for Avalon
Hill's Panzer Blitz or Panzer Leader ? I picked up a copy of their 'Wargamers
Guide to Panzer Blitz' a couple of years ago, and enjoyed the extra rules and
scenarios in the magazine. I like the system a lot, and as soembody said in
this newsgroup earlier, it plays fast.

  Have even tried a few (~10) moderated blind games. Gives a whole new
meaning to the word 'tension' :-) At last a way to use those small AT guns.
Anybody on the net who do PBeM PB/PL ? I'd love to try the system as PBeM
sometime, if there are any would-be GM's out there :-)

  Smile,

  /Stein, "That was a 4-1 attack, what do you mean by 'D' ?"

==========================================================================
Stein Rypern, student      !            SOL-3 (TERRA) 
Department of informatics  !    HOME OF THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS
University of Oslo, Norway ! (and a species descended from squirrels, 
steinry@ifi.uio.no         !  but I forget the name - homo something ?) 
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: zippy@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (steven.s.albert)
Subject: Re: VGs Civil War question(s)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 18:08:13 GMT

In article <BzEnMp.19D@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>, charbonn@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (gary charbonneau) writes:
> >depends on the north.  In our game, the north didn't build lots of armies.
> >One in the west under Grant with 25 sp and one in the east under Lyon
> >with 25 sp.  They just plowed through everything I had.  I was able to
> >delay for a while by picking off garrisons and occupying empty towns, but
> >eventually the ANV got pushed out of Virginia when the Army of the James
> >under Sherman was formed and hit Virginia too.
> 
> Whoa!  Max strength for a Western army is 20, so how you do that (unless
> you promote him to four stars and move two armies at once)?
> 

We were playing with the optional rule on army sizes and placement.  Unless
we misinterpreted it, it allows all union armies to be up to 25 and
all southern up to 20 (yeah, like I had that many men!).  We decided that
rule was a rebel-killer and aren't going to use it again!  I wouldn't
recommend that anyone else use it either; the historical size limits restrict
what you can do, but help balance things out.

	Steve Albert
	ssa@usl.com
From: camelsho@tony.ksu.ksu.edu (   James A Seymour)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: WANTED: Russian Front by Avalon Hill, Co.
Date: 18 Dec 1992 11:31:04 -0600
Organization: Kansas State University
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: tony.ksu.ksu.edu

Greetings one and all,

One of the lurkers at our local game store is looking
for RUSSIAN FRONT by Avalon Hill.  Personally, I have
no idea what its worth, but I will forward any replies
back to Luis.

For the right price, Luis is willing to pay postage.

If you or one of your buddies has a copy in decent
shape that needs a new home, please let me know.

james seymour/camel/camelsho@matt.ksu.ksu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: cracicot@us.oracle.com
Subject: Wanted to buy:  War of the Ring
Organization: Oracle Corporation, USA
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 08:04:11 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.

I have a friend who wants to obtain a copy of
the game "War of the Ring" (probably SSI).

He's not too concerned with the condition as long
as all the parts are present, but obviously he
would prefer to have it in good condition.

If anyone is willing to sell this game please
send email to sayan@eng.trimble.com or to 
me at cracicot@oracle.com.

Thanks.
From: ccjm@st-andrews.ac.uk (Colin Charles James MacDonald)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: F&E: # players to use?
Keywords: F&E
Date: 17 Dec 92 14:01:46 GMT
Organization: St. Andrews University

In article <1992Dec16.041737.3809@leland.Stanford.EDU> stanford@leland.Stanford.EDU (Scott Stanford) writes:
>Well, seeing as F&E seems to be crawling up on the net, I guess there
>ARE a few people who play it (I tend to get frustrated with all the
>bookkeeping (any good tips?)).  Anyway, maybe I'll have to dust it off
>and play it again.  My question is for people that are playing the
>historical game (General War).  How many people do you have on a side?
>Just one person running the allies and one the axi...coalition?  Or
>one to a race, several to a race?  How do you like playing with that
>number of people?
>
>Scott
>-- 
>Scott Stanford                 |)  Eenie meenie miney moe.
>stanford@leland.stanford.edu  /|   Catch a tiger by the toe.
>                             ((|,) If he hollers...yeah whatEVER.
>"MORE Doctah Peppah!!"        ~|~  He's EATIN' your ass.  Run, you idiot.


We got so frustrated with F&E that we tried playing a multi-player on a
made up map with about 8 players, all starting equal in fleets and points.
We had much more fun, but it took much longer with more players. I really
think that F&E is meant for 2 people; any more and you get politics coming
in, and the side with the least players tends to have a huge advantage, as
they are much more co-ordinated in their actions.

-----
Colin
-----
Organization: Doctoral student, Mathematics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
From: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Subject: Re: Any more news on HOT LEAD!
Organization: Plymouth State College - Plymouth, NH.
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 16:07:26 GMT

cal@fang.att.com (Charles A. Licata) writes:
>
>I was just wondering if anyone would care to comment on what stage
>Hot Lead by SJG is in.  I drool as I wait :-)

February, at the earliest.

-- 
  - Steffan O'Sullivan		         sos@oz.plymouth.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: bicker@hoqax.ho.att.com (Brian C. Kohn)
Subject: Re: Several questions generated by a game.
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 16:38:27 GMT

JH> 3) We got into an argument about what defines "Every player must be able to
JH> meet this condition" for the Schitzoid's additional win condition. The person
JH> playing it wanted to make it that you had to have 6 foreign bases and only 1
JH> home base. It was pointed out that if he approached that condition, he would
JH> lose his power and so the Schitzoid conditions would go away and he could
JH> never win by meeting the conditions.

And therefore his conditions were invalid.  He must be able to win via
his own win conditions.

--
/kohn/brian.c                  AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center   
The Resource,                  E-MAIL: att!hoqax!bicker  (bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM)
Poet-Magician of Quality       PHONE: (908) 949-5850                           
   'Hope, not fear, is the most positive advocate of action.' - S.R. Lawhead

Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: gellenb@rainbow.ecn.purdue.edu (Brian K Gellenbeck)
Subject: wanted
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Distribution: all
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 16:30:11 GMT

 I would like to purchase an original set (eon) of cosmic encounters , hopefully with all the expansions.  I am willing to pay a good price for it.  If anyone has one write to Boxholder   222 W. Wood St. Apt. 8   W. Lafayette, IN 47906 or call (317) 743-5053 and ask for Sean or Brian.  Thank YOU!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 11:52:47 -0500 
From: "Andrew C. Plotkin" <ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Vulch, Mesmer and Sting

Excerpts from netnews.rec.games.board.ce: 14-Dec-92 Vulch, Mesmer and
Sting Tony R. Marasco@psuvm.ps (1012)

> 2)    Mesmer may change only one edict per challenge.  We played as many per
>       challenge, until a Plague, Plague, Plague situation came up.  Once per
>       challenge seems to contradict the explanation above, but creates a
>       "balanced" game.

Officially, Mesmer can use his power as often as he wants. Multiply
plaguing someone is unpleasant but legal. (Ideally, Mesmer won't want to
drain his hand quite so badly.) 

There are so many "unpleasant but legal" options in various Cosmic
powers that it's not worth trying to plug all of them. In the long term,
they balance out. (And in the short term, they make life entertaining.)

--Z

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 13:26:49 -0500 
From: "Andrew C. Plotkin" <ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Several questions generated by a game.
	<BICKER.92Dec12113827@hoqax.ATT.COM>

JH> 3) We got into an argument about what defines "Every player must be able to
JH> meet this condition" for the Schitzoid's additional win condition.
The person
JH> playing it wanted to make it that you had to have 6 foreign bases
and only 1
JH> home base. It was pointed out that if he approached that condition,
he would
JH> lose his power and so the Schitzoid conditions would go away and he could
JH> never win by meeting the conditions.

Excerpts from netnews.rec.games.board.ce: 12-Dec-92 Re: Several
questions gener.. Brian C. Kohn@hoqax.ho.a (861)

> And therefore his conditions were invalid.  He must be able to win via
> his own win conditions.

I don't remember anything about having to be able to WIN by the extra
condition -- you just have to make sure that everybody can MEET the
winning condition. Which is true, for the example.

I don't even agree that Schizoid cannot win by that condition. If he
meets it, then he wins. Right? (I use the logical if/then, not the
causal.) 

--Z

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
From: davoli@natinst.com (Russell Davoli)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: MCE reviewed by an addict
Date: 11 Dec 1992 12:22:45 -0600
Organization: National Instruments, Austin, TX
Distribution: USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: eagle.natinst.com

In article <Bz23JI.Cn6@willamette.edu> pdudey@willamette.edu (Peter Dudey) writes:
>Goodies (explained for Mayfair players, like me):
>
>-Reinforcements.  Play these after challenge cards are revealed to add a
>few to your side or subtract from the other side.  The nifty thing is,
>allies can play them too.

Anyone else using the Mayfair set notice that these seem to come out all at
once?  Seems like most of the challenges are won by a wide enough margin that
Reinforcements aren't played or a bunch come out as soon as one is played.
I have been in a game where the winner had a couple left in his hand, and when
his total was 3 short of winning, he slammed down his Reinforcements.  I guess
they aren't always useless.

>-Negative and zero attack cards.  Sort of annoying, unless you're
>Anit-Matter or something...

I saw a post saying these are annoying unless you're Anti-matter or Loser.
These are great for the Spiff, too.


I'm new to this newsgroup and I'm wondering what people think of the new
Mayfair set in general.  My impression is that one power games using the
basic set is quite a bit more balanced than before, but with the expansion
set and esp. with multiple powers the balance isn't as good.  The group I
play with generally doesn't play with moons and Lucre and the funky new
destiny cards, so maybe these were meant to help.  Then again, these add a
lot of chaos, so maybe not.

-- Russell Davoli
From: davoli@natinst.com (Russell Davoli)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Vulch, Mesmer and Sting
Date: 15 Dec 1992 13:26:39 -0600
Organization: National Instruments, Austin, TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: eagle.natinst.com

In article <92349.230211TRM900@psuvm.psu.edu> Tony R. Marasco <TRM900@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
>Recently my group had several disagreements on Vulch, Mesmer, and Sting.
>
>1)    We play that Vulch may grab all edicts, no matter how many times Vulch
>      uses it's power during one challenge.  Is this correct?

This is the way we play, too.  I don't remember the wording, but the power
does say that the Vulch takes any edicts played by other players rather than
the edicts going to the discard pile.  This power seems to fall into a class
of powers that can be invoked multiple times per challenge.  Other powers
like this are Healer, who can heal any tokens going to the warp at any time,
or Zombie, whose tokens never go to the warp no matter when they are "lost".
This could happen multiple times in a challenge if the Zombie is plagued
and loses in a challenge, for instance.

>
>2)    Mesmer may change only one edict per challenge.  We played as many per
>      challenge, until a Plague, Plague, Plague situation came up.  Once per
>      challenge seems to contradict the explanation above, but creates a
>      "balanced" game.

I think we play Mesmer like Vulch, but I can't remember the wording on the
power.  You've laid out an interesting situation that I don't think we've
ever come across.  I guess we haven't had many games with Mesmer in them.

-- Russell Davoli
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce