HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: taia_a@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: BTECH: Wolverine/Minnesota ........
Date: 13 Nov 1992 03:53:42 GMT
Organization: Wellington City Council (Public Access), Wgtn, Nz
Reply-To: taia_a@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
NNTP-Posting-Host: kosmos.wcc.govt.nz


 After picking up _BLOODRIGHT_ which I thought was ok, but the Wolverine
story etc turned me off as well as the KILL THE SCUM/WOLVIES etc. I thought
that we had grown out of our KILL-IT-FOR-THE-XP attitudes :(
 I noticed that finding Minnesota members was big and bad business. Though
whether the Bloodname was replaced for the Wolvie ones was not clear. Just
that a new one was created.
 Anyway I came across an odd bit of info in the Wolf Dragoons Sourcebook
on page 61, there is mention of a possible Minnesota tribe connection. It
seems that a Captain Danielle Rondema of Charlie Battalion, Beta Regiment
had her Atlas painted with the silhouette of Minnesota as well as wearing
a patch on her left shoulder. Since the Wolvies are so disliked I presume
that this Captain is/was part of the Tribe etc. Guess they missed this
one and does it surprise anyone? :)

 Anyway I hope they forget the Wolvie connection, who needs them anyway?

This has been....
 Tony Taia
   TAIA_A@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
BTW Clan Punisher? *sigh* What's next, Clan Batman? :)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: zkg5144@usl.edu (Girouard Zachary K)
Subject: RE: BTECH leg destruction
Organization: University of Southwestern Louisiana
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 16:18:02 GMT

    Hello, I just thought I'd offer one little thing about leg destruction(sorry about the lack of proper format, I seem to have "lost" the original article).
    When a mech loses a leg it automatically falls down(this was correct). What was not mentioned was staying up. I'm not sure if this an official rule or a    house rule that has wedged itself into my brain, but here goes: a mech with one leg must make a piloting skill roll every time it runs.  The rule stating that amech can always move forward one hex also states that for all came purposes the
move is considered a run, so this leads to the piloting skill roll. Considering the piloting skill roll is a 10, you'd be better off on the ground. :)


Zakk
quark@usl.edu
(that was an e-mail address=internet)
.

Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: colorado@stars.gsfc.nasa.gov (Martin Snow)
Subject: 10 games for every shelf
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.4-b1  
Organization: NASA/GSFC-Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 16:53:00 GMT

It's strange to see that some people put games on their 10 favorite list
that I thought were really lame, but I'm sure the reverse is true as well! :-)

1. Advanced Squad Leader -- the finest tactical wargame ever made!
2. Civilization -- haven't tried the "Advanced" version
3. Cosmic Encounter (EON version, not Mayfair's revision)
4. Shogun (MB)
5. Merchant of Venus (aka "rails in space")
6. Dune
7. Axis&Allies (unbalanced, but still fun)
8. Adel Verpflichtet (superb with five players)
9. Diplomacy
10. Minion Hunter (better rules than Arkham Horror)

plus of course some non-board games:  deck of cards for Bridge and Hearts,
and an assortment of RPGs.

Martin Snow

snow@lyrae.dnet.nasa.gov
snow@cololasp.bitnet
msnow%cygnus@vaxf.colorado.edu
From: 91vanderkolk@gw.wmich.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: SPACE MARINES: Forces, who's best..
Date: 5 Nov 92 11:55:28 EST
Organization: Western Michigan University



Yes I have fielded an Eldar/Imperial force. How effective they are depends on
how many points the battle is. The Imperial Guard Artillery Co. is goo to have.
The only problem with this force combo is how fast it can "die". The Imperial
Guard and Eldar armies have relatively low break points (or so it seems when I
play :) ). 
	Warlock shouldn't be free cards because of their nature. Warlocks are
the controling elements of the force. Also wierdboy towers, Shock Attack Guns,
aren't specials and they should be. Also in the face of some of the other
force's "specials" the Warlock gives the Eldar a counter. What the Eldar should
have is a Farseer Special card. As to god like forces....all the Avatar is, is
a big target.


John
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: rbr@well.sf.ca.us (Bob Rossney)
Subject: Re: Rail Barons
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 08:00:53 GMT


Another way to speed up Rail Baron:  rewrite the rate chart so that the
starting and ending region, and not the city, determines the payoff for a
run.  This simplifies the game and does much less violence to it than you'd
think, and it reduces the amount of time that you spend on your turn
perusing that damned chart.

Bob Rossney
rbr@well.sf.ca.us
From: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Naval Combat Games
Keywords: Thar She Blows!
Date: 9 Nov 92 22:21:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: oz.1992Nov9.222105.24670
		<BwDE7w.BEF@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>
		<1992Oct19.135515.9871@oz.plymouth.edu>
		<BwDH1E.EqA@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>
		<1992Oct23.223147.10844@athena.mit.edu>
		<1992Nov9.184731.1400@mis.mi04.zds.com>
Reply-To: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Organization: Plymouth State College - Plymouth, N.H.

rmorley@mis.mi04.zds.com (Ron Morley) writes:
>
>Where can you get Close Action?  I have been a long time fan of WS&IM and am
>definitely interested in anything which claims to be better.

Tempest Games
426 South St.
Plainville, MA  02762

Sorry, I don't know the current price.  I had version 4.1, which was
near $20, but the game designer said last April that the next version
would be a significant jump in price because of better components.  I
don't know if that has happened yet or not.

-- 
  - Steffan O'Sullivan		         sos@oz.plymouth.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: hacker@access.digex.com (Dark Hacker)
Subject: Monopoly DELUXE (and expensive) edition Franklin Mint
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 05:27:08 GMT


Anyone seen the "Deluxe Edition" of the popular Monopoly board game by
Parker Brothers?  The "board" is actually a mhogony frame, with gold or
silver plated tokens, extra special neato printed money etc etc.  And
the cost is (gasp) $500.  So does anyone actually HAVE one of these and
are they any good (quality wise)?  Is it worth the money?

I guess you really have to be into Monopoly to want something like this
but global domination is one of my hobbies so....

- Hacker
-- 
Dark Hacker @ Black Silicon, Fortress Of Computation
Phone: (703) 356-6514    Internet: hacker@black-silicon.mclean.va.us

"I am the very instantiation of object oriented evil!"
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: BTECH:The Bounty Hunter
From: ppugliese@pimacc.pima.edu
Date: 13 Nov 92 03:09:41 -0700
Distribution: rec

In article <CRUSADER.92Nov12152754@kyy.cc.lut.fi>, crusader@lut.fi (Crusader ,the Holy Soldier of Metal) writes:
>> In article <1992Nov11.234723.7160@pimacc.pima.edu>, ppugliese@pimacc.pima.edu writes:
 
>> Wasn't there also a discrepancy between the book _Wolves_on_the_Border_
>> & _The_Wolf's_Dragoons_Sourcebook_ relating to the chain of events that
>> resulted in Kerensky's loss of her Marauder to the Bounty Hunter? I also
>> wonder why the Bounty Hunter , in the book, was so anxious to track down
>> Natasha. What was the point?
> 
> Discrepancy? The way I remember it, N.K. lost her Marauder during Wolf's
> Dragoons service to Marik. The incident in "Wolves on the Border" happens
> somewhere in the Davion/Kurita border. In it Natasha is forced to 
> co-operate with the Bounty Hunter.
>

That wasn't the incident I was talking about. In the book there is a place
where Natasha 'flashes' back to the last time she encountered the Bounty
Hunter. As I recall, her remembrance doesn't jibe with the passage in the
sourcebook.
 
> But back to the original topic: 
> 
> Who is / Who was / Who have been the Bounty Hunter(s) ?????? 
> 
> --

And why was he so anxious to nail the Black Widow after all those years?

And how did the title pass on to a successor?

PHIL
From: kgnome@cs.concordia.ca (MATIS stephane)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Battletech Mags
Date: 8 Nov 92 02:35:25 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec

From: rb6t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Robert Everett Brunskill)

> "Don't shoot!!  DON'T SHOOT!!!"
> 
> I apologise to Stephane Matis for misspelling her name in a previous post.

It's "his" name. Apology accepted.

> REB

Damn ... now where did I throw that grenade pin ... damn.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Stephane I. Matis |  E-Mail : kgnome@cs.concordia.ca  | Viva NeXTSTEP 3.0 ! |
|.............................................................................|
|------------ bla bla Mecha*Press bla bla Dream Pod 9 blabla FASA ------------|
| BATTLETECH ----------------------------------------------------- NeXThead ! |
|------------ aka : Major Adrian Hammerhand, WolfNet Intelligence ------------|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

BTW if you can't see :-) in there, get a new prescription.
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: hoetker@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu (Glenn Hoetker)
Subject: Republic of Rome - Reviews?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 13:44:34 GMT

I'm considering Republic of Rome as a purchase and would like to get
some opinions.  Do people find it a fun game?  How are the two
and one person games?  Also, it is rated as "very complex," does that
come from their being lots of strategic points to keep track of or
is the playing system itself complex?

Thanks for the input.

Glenn Hoetker
hoetker@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
From: fannicm@wkuvx1.bitnet
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: BTECH: What would you do???
Date: 10 Nov 92 19:23:16 GMT
Article-I.D.: wkuvx1.1992Nov10.132316.3850
Organization: Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

In article <1992Nov10.102349.2224@gacvx2.gac.edu>, phygod72@nic.gac.edu (Phil ) writes:
> Since Player 2 is defending, he may use hidden units in the beginning, as well
> as have fortifications (of any size desired).

   Do the fortifications count against your total weight?

> 
> For simplicities sake, assume all pilots are average.
> 
> 
> 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?
-----
Master Hawk
Last Lord of Aracnis

   The deed is done, and all that shall be left to oppose its authors have
been swallowed by the darkness of thier own souls.
From: wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Patrick Chester)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: R.A.H. Started walking tanks? Was:Re: BTECH: Jap Crap
Date: 6 Nov 92 03:04:15 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <1992Nov4.011517.17446@nstn.ns.ca> bbaydar@pcpc-next.ucis.dal.ca writes:
]In article <1ct9evINNps8@charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu> tdunn@ecst.csuchico.edu  
](Tim Dunn) writes:
]> 3) Seeing as the entire sub-genre of walking tanks was popularized by the
]>    Japanese (though arguably started by R.A.H) why not have the units in
]>    Battletech look japanese-designed?  Asthetically, they are much better
]>    looking to my eyes than the Waltrips' stuff.
]> 
]Ok, Assuming that R.A.H. Is in fact Robert Anson Heinlein, which novel did  
]those appear in. (I'm sitting here racking my brain, and I can't think of it.)  
]Even though I know I'm going to kick myself when I find out.

Prepare to kick yourself. It was _Starship Troopers_. Printed in 1958-1959, I
think. Had the Mobile Infantry which used powered armor suits to do battle
in. Also had the idea for dropping Mobile Infantry from orbit using drop pods
for reentry. Now why do drop pods sound so familiar? :)

]
]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
]BBAYDAR@HUSKY1.STMARYS.CA        |   Never believe you have plumbed the depths
]bbaydar@pcpc-next.ucis.dal.ca    |        of any place... or of any human. 
]THE_FOO   on IRC                 | - Reverend Mother Superior Alma Mavis Taraza
]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


-- 
Patrick Chester            |----------------------------------------------------
wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu |"The earth is too fragile a basket in which to keep
Politically Incorrect      |  all your eggs." Robert A. Heinlein
Future Lunar Colonist      |"The meek shall inherit the Earth. The rest of us
#^%$!! Militarist          |  are going to the stars." Anonymous
(Of the Sun Tzu mentality) |----------------------------------------------------
From: dxb105@phys.anu.edu.au (David Bofinger)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: WiF naval rules
Followup-To: rec.games.board
Date: 12 Nov 1992 01:32:32 GMT
Organization: Theoretical Physics, Australian National University
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 150.203.15.19

In article <1992Nov9.164728.8415@med.umich.edu>,
caraher@pn32.petnet.med.umich.edu wrote:
> One guy I used to play with constantly redrew sea zone boundaries. In
> particular, he added and Adriatic Sea zone, which eliminates the rdidculous
> predicament the Italian player frequently faces in the Central Med.

Makes a port strike on Taranto harder, if the Italians have two sea zones
to run to. I still say the whole idea of sea zones is a bad move, though.

Some other changes I've seen in Canberra are extra zones west of Hawaii
(based around Wake island, Midway, etc), the Great Australian Bight, extra
West Coast of US zones (but no West Canada or Alaska boxes), splitting the
Bay of Biscay. All improvements, IMO.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Bofinger  AARNet: dxb105@phys.anu.edu.au
                Snail:  Dept. of Theoretical Physics, RSPhysSE, ANU, ACT,
2601
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Organization: Doctoral student, Mathematics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
From: cpf@alchemy.TN.Cornell.EDU (Courtenay Footman)
Subject: Re: Classic games...
Organization: /usr/local/lib/news/organization
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 19:45:24 GMT

In article <9770139@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> wlw@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Will Walker) writes:
>In rec.games.board, sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan) writes:
>> AH's Gettysburg, 1958 - miniatures on a board.
>> AH's D-Day, 1961 - first hex-grid game.
>> AH's Blitzkrieg, 1965 - first step-reduction system.
>> AH's Panzerblitz - lots of innovations here - too many to list!
>
>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?

Other important innovations:
AH's Africa Corps -- First Overrun rule.   (Are those c's or k's?)
SPI's Strategy I:  the FIRST "monster" game.
The first game with a second movement phase
either AH's France '40 (designed by SPI) or SPI's Kursk;  I am not
sure of dates.  (Unless, of course, one counts SPI's Blitzkrieg Module
System.)

A step reduction system is where a unit can be partially damaged by
combat, rather than being either totally eliminated, or OK.
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Courtenay Footman			I finally got back on the net.

cpf@alchemy.ithaca.ny.us		Now I will never get anything done
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: brian@tpocc.gsfc.nasa.gov (Brian Youse)
Subject: Re: Games that belong on every gamer's shelf...
Organization: Computer Sciences Corporation
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 15:45:03 GMT

In article <1992Nov13.132742.2848@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> jmb@athens.cc.bellcore.com (bennett,jay m) writes:
>My list:
>
>8. Panzer Command (neglected VG masterpiece; better than Tank Leader)

	I've gotta agree with this one.  This is an EXCELLENT game which
everyone (who likes German/Russian tank games) should own.

>Jay Bennett

Brian Youse
From: m91kgh@tdb.uu.se (Karl-Gunnar Hultland)
Subject: Re: BTECH: Us vs. Them vs. who?
Organization: Dept. of Scientific Computing, Uppsala Univ.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 18:45:30 GMT

andrew robert polis (arp2@ellis.uchicago.edu) wrote:
: Hmmm...  Interesting point about the intelligence capabilities...
: Maybe a year from now we'll all be playing 'Battlespies'?  :)


This is not really Battlespies, but I think I remember something
about a sourcebook detailing the different intelligence agencies
of the BT universe.



			Karl

-- 

Karl-Gunnar Hultland              Vox Dei, Vox Populi
m91kgh@bellatrix.tdb.uu.se
From: curtis@eos.ncsu.edu 
Subject: INFO! Btech, Po-Mo...
Originator: curtis@c00090-100lez.eos.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: curtis@eos.ncsu.edu
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 00:14:02 GMT


Hi.  I'm doing a research/thesis project on popular culture concerning gaming 
based around the FASA Battletech gaming system and all of the associated
media/materials/systems that surround it.  Any information 
concerning:

	The VR battletech,
	Battletech MUDS, etc,
	GENIE's new Btech simulator game,
	Battletech newletters, groups, etc,
	Anything concerning the Btech novelizations,	
	Any battletech software/shareware,
	FTP sites, 
	resource listings, 
	newsgroups,
	and anything related that comes to mind

would be excellent.  Thankyou.

curtis@eos.ncsu.edu
--
From: paul@sco.COM (Paul Jackson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Rail Barons
Date: 10 Nov 92 16:40:03 GMT
Organization: SCO Canada, Inc.

In article <0ezPuRm00VokA4h0RK@andrew.cmu.edu> cd23+@andrew.cmu.edu (Carl I. Dockhorn) writes:
>I played the game for the first time this weekend and enjoyed the early
>part of the game of buying up rail lines.  But the second phase of the
>game when everything had been bought was boring.  The payoffs for most
>deliveries were far smaller than the cost of delivering, and the influx
>of money is so small that it took forever for there to be enough money
>in the players hands to allow someone to win.

It sounds like you're playing with a lot of players or people aren't buying
up efficient networks. In my experience, the best strategy by far is to
build up ones own network so as to get into as many divere places as
possible. I've only seen real problems with coming up with a network in 5 or
6 person games (one player will often be fatally unlucky, however). In most
games, networks are sufficiently efficient that there is a reasonable cash
inflow.

>	Has anyone come up with a way to speed up the second part of the game? 
>Are there any optional rules out there for making the game better or
>faster?  Any alternate winning conditions that seem reasonable?

There was actually an article in an early Dragon magazine that gave
alternate rules. Every city was assigned a value based upon the probability
of getting there and once every rail line was bought (and some fixed time
had elapsed, I believe) everybody counted up their cash and added the total
values of all cities that they could get to (double value for all cities one
had a "lock" on, lower value if the network was disconnected).

I never played under these rules, they were written by Gary Gygax and so
probably need some fixing to make them playable :-) I remember that I'd
concluded on glancing at it that a viable strategy was to buy a superchief
and almost no railways.

>	Also, if there is no way to complete a contract and make a profit why
>would any company bother to do it, any optional rules for re-rolling
>contracts that pay less than the cost to complete?

This would greatly reduce what little strategy the game has (I enjoy Rail
Baron but, once its played a few times, there is very little skill in it).


>A second and minor nuisance:
>	It was easy for players to forget to pay the bank a thousand to move on
>their own or unowned track, any ways of fixing this easily with out
>added book keeping?

We find that a chorus of "pay one"'s works well.
From: rnlee@sdcc3.ucsd.edu (Profess'nal Agitator)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Machiavelli question
Date: 9 Nov 92 01:06:19 GMT
Organization: MAWL - Mudd Alums Without Lives

Well, here's a simpler one.

Is there an initial treasury or does everyone start off with zero ducats?

Thanx in advance,

Agitator
  #->

*Diplomacy-Illuminati-Civilization-Shogun-Nuclear War-Rail Baron-Merchant*
*of Venus-1830-Cosmic Encounter-Empire Builder-Junta-Acquire-//-Skitgubbe*
*------------ R E M E M B E R   B E I J I N G --------------//-----------*
*IBM PC - Who wants a politically correct computer?     \\ // Only AMIGA!*
*================================ Bring Back the Caltech \X/ Cannon!! ===*
*Roderick Lee, HMC '91    "The Professional Agitator"   agitator@ucsd.edu*
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: brian@tpocc.gsfc.nasa.gov (Brian Youse)
Subject: Re: Classic Games
Organization: Computer Sciences Corporation
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 16:13:15 GMT

Gene writes...

In article <1e0dffINN64f@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> cg533@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (James Eugene Alloway) writes:
>
>
>1)I think Diplomacy is good, but for sheer diplomacy, I prefer:
> REPUBLIC of ROME.  Greed, nobility, religion, and world dominance.  What more

	Well, i've heard a LOT of people praise this game, so I thought i'd
offer a differing position 8).

	A group of six got together to play this game about a week ago.  Two
people were very experienced in the game, two had played before, and two 
totally new to the game (I was in this catagory).

	First, it took 30 min to an hour to explain the game mechanics to 
us novices, and then I had *NO* idea of what to do, only how it was done. Not
a simple game to pick up the strategy/nuances.  The guy who explained did a
good job (as he always does explaining new games) so I doubt that was the 
problem. 

	I quickly jumped out to the lead gaining a "personality" card. Some
guy who was a good military leader (name escapes me).  Then, both punic wars
and some other wars (macedonian?) appear.  They need my military ability,
so I get elected dictator so I can fight the wars.  Quickly, I gained HUGE
influance points, (something like 28 or 29) and was very close to winning.
THEN, I sat there.  Who would help me, vote on my side, accept my ideas.  Even
if/when I offered GREAT deals to people, they couldn't help me or i'd win.

	To sum up, THE BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME I'VE EVER SPENT GAMING!  I was
bored, the voting systems seemed rather stupid, and IT WAS NOT FUN!  I was
winning (if that makes a game fun for you) and it still wasn't fun.

	Overall, I wish that the six of us had played Civ, Adv. Civ, 
Diplomacy, or A Mighty Fortress.  Hell, we could have played poker and it
would have been a better use of time.

	Does this make the game bad?  No.  A lot of people swear by it.  I'd
suggest to everyone who THINKS that they want this game that they play it
before buying.  You could be suprised...

As usual, just my opinion.
Brian Youse
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: richard@smok.demon.co.uk (Richard Clyne)
Subject: Monopoly Rules 
Distribution: world
Organization: Richard Clyne (Home System)
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 21:56:47 +0000


In article <1992Nov6.094137.10301@netcom.com> obrien@netcom.com writes:

>
>I have to doubt that Parker Brothers has significantly changed the rules
>over the years. I have access to a pre-1940 rules set that differs
>almost insignificantly from what is published today.
>
>As for these specific examples some are from other games that may or may
>not be derivative of Monopoly.  After all, Monopoly itself is not an original
>game, but directly descended from a sort-of public-domain game usualy called
>"The Landlord Game"

Do you have any info about 'The Landlords Game'. I have seen a copy in a
museum in Edinborough, but would like further information.
>
>
--
Richard Clyne
319 Violet Lane, Croydon, Surrey, CR4 4HN. Tel +44 (0)81 686 7159
richard@smok.demon.co.uk (Prefered)    rclyne@cix.compulink.co.uk
Newsgroups: rec.games.board