HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ruelle@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Travis Ruelle)
Subject: Re: Chameleons
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 21:44:08 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.032933.20497@u.washington.edu> aranta@milton.u.washington.edu (Aaron Ranta) writes:
>In article <1992Jul29.230138.6522@leland.Stanford.EDU> toddc@leland.Stanford.EDU (Todd C. Merrill) writes:
>>	I posted this a while ago, but nobody responded.  Does a 
>>chameleon have the power of the monster's shape it assumes?
>>
>Since no one has answered, I will. Yes a chameleon has the powers of the
>monster it transforms into (but it still has the chameleon hit points)
>
>As another matter, since everyone is talking about pets...
>A pet chameleon is loads of fun!
>You can also tame them by throwing them some food when they are dogs or
>cats.  Thereafter they periodically change into something else, just to
>make a normal dreary dungeon expedition far more interesting. *grin*

No kidding!  My girlfriend once got a pet chameleon.  At one point it 
was in the form of a pudding of some sort.  Some monster came up and 
bashed the pudding, dividing it in two.  At a later point in time, she
found she had _two_ pet chameleons, both by the same name, but polymorphing
independantly.  Quite an interesting way to gain extra pets... :)

--------------------
  Travis C. Ruelle       Academic Computing and Network Services
   ruelle@nwu.edu           Student Consultant / C Programmer
   (708) 475-6623                  VAN HALEN RULES!!! 

Religion and sex are power plays -- manipulate the people for the money
they pay -- Selling skin, selling God -- the numbers look the same on
their credit cards -- Politicians say "No to drugs" -- while we pay for
wars in South America -- Fighting fire with empty words -- while the
banks get fat, the poor stay poor -- the rich get rich, and the cops get
paid -- to look away, as the one percent rules America!
		-Queensryche, "Spreading the Disease"
From: doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: mounting maps on boards
Date: 21 Jul 92 19:40:59 GMT
Reply-To: doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu
Organization: Department of Chemistry, UCLA

Now there's an idea... would anyone happen to know if someplace like Builder's
Emporium would sell 3/16" sheets of plexiglass?

-Doug Gibson
 doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu

Neither UCLA nor the National Science Foundation has a clue what I am doing.
They just pay me to do it.

This is a properly spelled version of the mimetic signature virus.  Copy it
into your .signature file and join in the fun today!
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: rleroux1@sol.UVic.CA (Roger Leroux)
Subject: Re: Canadian Wargames Journal
Organization: University of Victoria
Distribution: na
Date: 22 Jul 92 03:55:10 GMT

In <21JUL199211361944@mars.lerc.nasa.gov> smpod@mars.lerc.nasa.gov (Stefan) writes:
>In article <STONE.92Jul20192518@gershwin.cs.unc.edu>, stone@gershwin.cs.unc.edu (Donald Stone) writes...
>>Subscriptions are $12.50 per year (4 issues) and $23.00 for two years.
>>Cleverly, this is US or Canadian dollars (thus covering the extra postage).
>How good is it?

IMHO, it's the best independent game magazine around. Note: They do *not*
cover role-playing games. At all. Ever. They are entirely devoted to
wargames and simulations. They also have a column called "Around the Block"
which is devoted to Columbia Games (and they are, incidentally, the
official spokesmagazine for them).

Roger

-- 
Roger Leroux          | "Climate is what we expect; weather is what we get." Me
rleroux1@sol.uvic.ca  |	"Everybody lies about sex." Lazarus Long
----------------------+ "Six of one, half a dozen of the other." Number 2.
rec.motorcycles DoD#43| Be seeing you...
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: wallace@dtc.hp.com (David Wallace)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: WiF Offensive Chit erratta needed; 2 Risk variants
Date: 22 Jul 92 15:42:50 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Design Technology Center, Santa Clara, CA

In article <1992Jul16.194418.23098@terminator.cc.umich.edu> brj@terminator.cc.umich.edu (Brian Jarvinen) writes:
>Here are two Risk variants we used to use:
> 
>1) Cards may be turned it at any time, including right after you eliminate
>an opponent and acquire their cards. This makes the game much more ruthless
>and tends to keep players from pursuing a dull defensive strategy which
>makes the game too long. You can start a turn with five other players still
>in the game and win it all in one turn.

This is almost the way it is in the standard (US) rules: if eliminating an
opponent gives you 5 or more cards, you must turn in cards and keep going.
I don't have my game with me at the office to cite chapter and verse,
but it's there.

Dave W.		(dwallace@dtc.hp.com)
From: mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at (Markus Stumptner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Pacific War questions
Date: 21 Jul 92 18:06:01 GMT
Organization: DB and ES Subdivision, TU Vienna

From article <1992Jul21.114743.11649@nntp.hut.fi>, by aleksei@vipunen.hut.fi (Akseli Anttila):
> 1) Submarines can attack when they are in the same hex as the enemy
> surface units (except deactivated units in ports). Does this mean that
> they can attack EVERY game turn if somebody stays in the same hex with
> them gturn after gturn? For example ships deactivated in atolls &c.

Good question.  If you take the rules (which don't make an exception
for this case) literally, then yes.  Of course, this makes open
anchorages kind of a death trap if subs are nearby.  I don't know
whether that's historical.

> Ships run out of torpedoes quickly. Do subs use torpedo counters?

No.  The problem is that the sub system is very abstract anyway, and
attempts to achieve about the historical amount of clout by giving
subs more firepower in exchange for their slow and open movement
across the board.  From what I know, this results in subs being too
powerful (I know people who successfully used their subs for hunting
destroyers, of all things).

> 2) 1E air units can strafe airfields. Can they strike an airfield AND 
> strafe it?

Yes.  First they strike it, then they strafe it.  Note that hits from
the strike are applied to the airfield itself and to (unalerted)
aircraft on it, while hits from the strafe (using anti-air strength)
are applied to the aircraft alone (again, only to unalerted aircraft).
 
> My errata is old but the game is great,

True.

-- 
Markus Stumptner                                mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at
University of Technology Vienna                 vexpert!mst@relay.eu.net
Paniglg. 16, A-1040 Vienna, Austria             ...mcsun!vexpert!mst
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
I have been away a couple weeks and the local archives lost a number of older
articles (including the original on this topic).  However, I did not see a
reply to the following, so thought I'd offer one:

In article <1992Jul17.155557.15938@gtephx.UUCP> bakerj@gtephx.UUCP (Jon Baker)
writes:
>In article <1992Jul13.082959.16156@rdg.dec.com>, johnston@heart.enet.dec.com () writes:
>> There are also a number of circular counters representing I think, army
>> headquarters (XXXXX) and supreme headquarters (XXXXXX). These counters
>> seem to have no use in the game. I could find NO rules concerning them;
>> they dont have holding boxes associated with them so you cant use  them
>> to store Corps units in.
>
>They may have been included for historical purposes only.

No...the optional rules in the Battle Manual note specific (supply-related)
purposes for them.  In the Basic Game, they can also hold cities, ports, etc.
And, because of the combat factor enhancements due to terrain, they can actual-
ly resist other units!

>A question - is this release of D-Day in any way similar to the old
>classic D-Day?

Not at all really other than the general theme of the game and the need for
an Allied invasion or two.  All combat, supply, movement, etc. is different
as is the scale.

(By the way, I am running the D-DAY'92 tournament at Avaloncon, but few have
signed up for it -- below the minimum for a title/trophy.)

Speaking only for myself, of course, I am...
Scott P. Duncan (duncan@ctt.bellcore.com OR ...!bellcore!ctt!duncan)
                (Bellcore, 444 Hoes Lane  RRC 1H-210, Piscataway, NJ  08854)
                (908-699-3910 (w)   609-452-9054 (h))

Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: rleroux1@sol.UVic.CA (Roger Leroux)
Subject: Re: Diplomacy - Time for an Update?
Organization: University of Victoria
Distribution: na
Date: 26 Jul 92 23:24:08 GMT

In <1992Jul26.004133.25745@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> bz556@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Joshua E. Randall) writes:
>Isn't it about time for Avalon Hills to update some parts of Diplomacy?  I
>refer particularly to the Rulebook and the Gamer's Guide.  The Rulebook was
>last updated over 10 years ago, and the Guide is vintage at 15 years!
>ought to be a general revision for clarity--some of the writing is
>downright legalistic, and this makes it hard for beginners to understand.

Here I agree with you. Although the mecahnics of the game are as trivial as
chess, the rules are not nearly as clearly understandable from just reading
them.

>The Gamer's Guide, while still worthwhile, is woefully outdated.  It is

Not really. Although "new openings" have been developed they are very
similar to the ones presented. (Basically variants of classic openings).
I do agree that an update would be nice. Some mention of email would be
great (IMHO, PBeM is the best way to play Diplomacy, although I would
probably enjoy it more if the players who sign up would not keep dropping
like flies and being replaced)). Also, the cartoons in the players guide are
really lame. (What did you really expect from the 60's anyhow? :-).

Roger

-- 
Roger Leroux          | "Climate is what we expect; weather is what we get." Me
rleroux1@sol.uvic.ca  |	"Everybody lies about sex." Lazarus Long
----------------------+ "Six of one, half a dozen of the other." Number 2.
rec.motorcycles DoD#43| Be seeing you...
From: farrell@blueberry.cis.ohio-state.edu (christopher k farrell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Diplomacy - Time for an Update?
Date: 27 Jul 92 17:17:50 GMT
Organization: The Ohio State University, Department of Computer and Information Science

In article <1992Jul27.154029.2382@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> brian@tpocc.gsfc.nasa.gov (Brian Youse) writes:
>  Coming Soon:  "Deluxe Diplomacy" (I think this is the title!)   
[stuff deleted]
>  Also, judging AH's new, improved, drive the nail home pricing
>policy, it would not suprise me if this game went for about $45 to $50
>bucks.  (Just my guess!)
>

	I hear $60.

	Just a moment, let me shoot myself in the foot ...

						Chris




-- 
"Oh, what a wondrous piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite
in faculties,  In form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like
an angel, in aprehension how like a god ..." - Hamlet
"If all you told was turned to gold - if all you dreamed were new ..." - Enya
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: DSVOWE01@ulkyvx.louisville.edu (DAVID S. VOWELS/HSC)
Subject: Supremacy Rules 3.0
Organization: University of Louisville
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 12:56:11 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.11

	The problems with Nukes and the Market were addressed in the latest
version of Supremacy, 3.0.

	The market is handled just the way another poster suggested. Play order
is randomly determined by rolling 2d6, and each player is only allowed to buy
or sell (depending on the phase) one resource at a time. After all players have
had a chance to buy or sell, then the first player may buy or sell any one
resource again.

	As to the nukes, the 12th nuke is no longer a guaranteed kill. On the
12th nuke, the world is destroyed on the roll of a 6 on one die. On the 13th
nuke, 5 or 6. On the 14th, 4-6, etc. 

	Another new rule is that you can now sell surplus resources (ones that
would run off your supply chart) to another player. Both players agree on the
price in phase 6 (I think; the one where you buy resources) and on the next
turn, during phase where resources are generated, the surplus units are
immediately transferred to the buyers supply chart.

	Something else that I think is new (it's been awhile since I played an
older version) is that when you capture all of another players home
territories, you not only get there money, but they're supply center as well!

	If anyone wants the new rules, I'll post the address of the makers of
Supremacy. They sell the new rules for $4.95.

	Also, could anyone that has MegaSupremacy, or any of the supplements
(Boomers, Tanks, Middlepowers, KillerSats. and Neutron Bombs) please post a
description of them. I'd like to know more about them.

							Scoot.
From: demented+@pitt.edu (Scott E Berry)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Aerotech: Yeck!
Date: 22 Jul 92 20:57:05 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh


How about the absurd rule that you cannot strafe with machineguns (range < 4).
I don't care what the range is if I fire a solid projectile it will hit the
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott E berry           | "wave upon wave of demented avengers march
demented+@pitt.edu      |  cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream"
                        |          from Sheep by Pink Floyd 
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: dave@admiral.uucp (Dave Litchman)
Subject: Re: BTECH Scenerio
Organization: The Admiral's Unix System & The Grid BBS
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 17:01:33 GMT

In article <7851@sirius.ucs.adelaide.edu.au> dlow@sirius.ucs.adelaide.edu.au.ua.oz (David J Low) writes:
>From article <1992Jul19.070128.12901@admiral.uucp>, by dave@admiral.uucp (Dave Litchman):
>> Actually, as long as you play intelligently, one Locust is enough to take down
>> an Atlas, barring extreme good luck on the part of the Atlas.
>
>       But what if the Atlas is played just as intelligently? :-)
>
>   Against a computer opponent I'd agree with you (I've seen the equivalent
>   done enough times!), but against an intelligent human I'd disagree.  If
>   you are ever in Oz, drop me a line and we'll try it out....

Well, the time I tried the scenario, I was commanding the Locust, and another
player, who I would describe as 'experienced' drove the Atlas. Based on the
outcome of that battle, and the general design of both 'mechs, I'll put my 
money on the Locust every time. The Locust makes up for its lack of firepower
and armor with its speed and flexibility. 

In the battle I staged, I made sure that every round I was in a position to
fire, I was in the Atlas' read arc, because 1, the armor is thinner there
(relatively) and 2) all he can bring to bear from that position are his two
read mounted ML's, or, if he torso-twists, one of the lasers in either arm.
Also, I always traveled the 10 hexes necessary for a +4 to-hit modifier, and
stayed 8 hexes away at all times. So, if he fired his MLs at me, he'd need a
12 to hit if he did nothing but stand there, and if he moved at all he couldn't
hit me, period. I didn't allow him to bring his front arc weapons to bear, but
if he had managed it, He still would have needed 12's for his AC/20 and SRM6,
with a minimum of 10 for the LRM20 (if he somehow managed to get the LRM20 to
bear on me without him having to move). I usually needed to roll 10's to hit
with my paired ML's (I do love that Steiner Locust!) but I was rolling 10's a
lot more often that he rolled 12's. He did manage to hit me twice, one hit the
armnor soaked up, the other resulted in an internal, but no crit, while I just
whittled his rear armor down until I got enough CT/Rear crits to drop him.

 

-- 
"Dammit Jim, I'm a free man, not a number!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a copy of the mnemonic signature virus. Remember to copy it into
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Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: stoodt@cis.umassd.edu (Michael Stoodt)
Subject: Re: MetaGaming
Organization: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Distribution: rec.games.board,world
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 18:05:39 GMT

In <HARRES.92Jul29094348@sundance.uwyo.edu> harres@sundance.uwyo.edu (John M. Harres) writes:

>I was wondering if anyone knew the names of the following games from
>MetaGaming?

>MicroGame 8
This was G.E.V.

>MicroGame 10
Black Hole.

>Weren't MicroGames 1 and 2 Ogre and G.E.V. before Steve Jackson sued them?

Number 1 was Ogre, but see above for G.E.V.; 2 was Chitin:I.
(Number 3 was The Fantasy Trip: Melee; 4: Warpwar; 5: Rivits; 6: TFT:
Wizard, 7: Olympica, 9: Ice War, 11: Sticks & Stones....)

>They also released two bookshelf-format games, of which I can remember only
>Godsfire.  I remember the other one being called something like Stellar
>Conquest.

Stellar Conquest was the title; it was bought and re-released by
Avalon Hill, I believe.

    Michael Stoodt                               stoodt@cis.umassd.edu
From: zst@ecl.psu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Aerotech: Yeck!
Date: 21 Jul 92 15:09:09 EDT
Organization: Engineering Computer Lab, Pennsylvania State University

In article <BrpD79.9E7@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, dv52151@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Axly) writes:
> 
> 	Upon an indepth look at the Aerotech rules, we decided to
> 	convert the numbers into some real world figures. This
> 	is what we came up with:
> 
> 	Each mapsheet being 18 hexes long, the mapsheet length
> 	is 540 meters.
> 
> 	An Aerospace fighter expends 1 thrust point per hex it
> 	travels while on the low altitude mapsheet.
> 
> 	This means that the average Aerospace fighter with
> 	75 fuel points can travel a maximum distance of 
> 	(Drum roll, please!) 40.5 kilometers.  
> 
> 	Now, this seems to me just a WEE bit ridiculous. 
> 	Using these rules, an aerospace fighter will run out
> 	of fuel (assuming a reasonable speed of six, given
> 	that that will give you a speed around 725 mph.) in
> 	2 minutes of flying. How does one do air support with
> 	fighters that perform this poorly?
> 
> 	
> 	I would have to say that Aerotech is BROKEN in a major
> 	way. Does anyone know if FASA is planning on doing 
> 	anything to fix these shortcomings in the near future?
> 
> 	Axly
> 
 
The biggest problem I have with AeroTech is the ridiculous range (and velocity
of the shells, if applicable.)  FA$A wants us to believe that, in the BTech
universe, the fire control, electronics, and weapon technology is SO backward
that NONE of the BattleMech weapons besides artillery can shoot more than one
kilometer, which is less range than machine guns now. Yet in AeroTech, during
any battle in space, all those same short-ranged weapons can suddenly shoot at
targets tens of thousand of miles away. And the fire control systems will allow
them to hit at that distance targets that are moving at millions of miles per
hour. Furthermore, ballistic weapons, which travel at a speed nowhere near the
speed of light, CAN hit those targets instantaneously. To me, all these are a
bunch of bulls__t. The bottom line is that AeroTech has no place in Btech
universe (or maybe we should just allow mech weapons to shoot 10 times
farther?)  Now come to think about, maybe I will just break out my Star Fleet
Battle sets from cold storage and use that system next time a
dropships/aerofighters battle is played (of course, dropships and jumpships
have to be redesigned to fit that system, but perhaps we can use PFs to
substitute for aerofighters.)  Just my $.02 on AeroTech, the un-BattleTech.


Zachary Tseng
Khan, Clan Ghost Bear
Commander, Sigma Galaxy, Clan Ghost Bear
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: 10726446@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (LAU WAI KUEN)
Subject: spacehulk games
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Monash University 
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 00:37:08 GMT


   If anyone out there wants to try to play spacehulk via e-mail, then go 
ahead and mail me.  If more than one person is willing, I'll hand out e-mail 
addresses and see that everyone who mails gets a game (I hope).  If you     
don't know what spacehulk is; don't mail me!  You're going to require the 
game to play it (obviously perhaps).

Halcyon

"Lawyer;  One who is practiced in circumvention of the law."
From: doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: AH - Panzer Blitz
Date: 24 Jul 92 15:59:11 GMT
Reply-To: doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu
Organization: Department of Chemistry, UCLA

I've played PanzerBlitz, but not for a long time; I only own PanzerLeader.
If I remember right, you could probably improve the game significantly by
simply pasting some of the PanzerLeader rules which differ (I forget what
ones seemed particularly different, but LOS comes to mind... it's been a long
time!).  Of course, you don't want to change the setting-specific rules
(primarily terrain rules), but I think that PanzerLeader is a somewhat
better fleshed-out system.  If you don't have it, you might want to take
a look at it somehow...

-Doug Gibson
 doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu

Neither UCLA nor the National Science Foundation has a clue what I am doing.
They just pay me to do it.

"We have to tear you to shreds because we care." - EAC
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: idefix@cs.tu-berlin.de (Michael Scholz)
Subject: Re: 2 player Britannia
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 09:48:36 GMT

ciao dave,

   Have you tried a bidding version?  Give both (all) players 100 points each,
   and let them bid for each new power as it appears.  It supposedly works well
   for multi-player games.  Frankly, I'm dubious that you'll ever get a good
   2-player version, but this might be worth a try.

we tried a bidding version sometimes (with 3 and 4 players). maybe it works
with 2 as well. it is done the following way:

starting with turn two each player is allowed to bid for new powers. the bid
is made in victory points. no one is allowed to bid more than n-1 points, where
n is the number of victory points the player with the least has achieved so 
far. only the player who gets the power, pays the bid. in case of ties the
power goes to the player with the least points. it makes an interesting and
normally well balanced game, but *beware*, it changes the game considerably.
as a result it is much harder to keep track of who's currently leading and
which forces belong to whom!

have fun
				ciao idefix

*******************************************************************************
* Michael Scholz              *                                               *
* Tech. University of Berlin  *  ##  #  #  ####  ####    ###   #  ####  ####  *
* Dept. of Appl. Com. Science *  # # #  #  #     ###     #  #  #  #     ##    *
*                             *  #  ##  #  ####  ####    ###   #  ####  ####  *
* idefix@cs.tu-berlin.de      *                                               *
*******************************************************************************