HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: carlton@apollo.hp.com (Carl Hommel)
Subject: Re: BTECH: Comments about the mecheditor
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 14:58:54 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA

Karl-Gunnar Hultland writes:
>First I must say that it is a good program as long 
>as you don't do "extreme" mechs.

Around here, we call them "munchkin" mechs.  Another common munchkin
mech that every newbie creates is anything with more than 2 LRM-5s.
We disallow them with the (admittedly feeble) excuse, "The electronics
in your mech can't handle that many different launchers.  Use a LRM-20!"

>Since I often run my mechs by the Solaris duelling rules
>I usually have a lot of machine guns (0.5 tons NO Heat NO Delay)
>but the program only allows for 20 Weapons/Jumpjets/Ammo and that is
>not enough. I have a mech with 40 MG,2 Case, 2 Tons Ammo, 3 jumpjets, and
>two Large lasers which equals a need of 49 equipment lines (51 crits)

Yep, that's a real useful mech to put in a drop ship, all right.  :-)
Version 32 supports a 50 line VGA editor, if you have a VGA display.

>Another thing that is annoying is that you don't get to know what
>you have been doing wrong it just says that there is an error in your
>design and it took me a half an hour to find that I had tried
>to put a Large laser in the head of the mech.

This is easy to determine.  Go back to the first page, and look for
a question mark in one of the crit locations.  In this case, you would
have seen something like
    Spaces Used: 40
    Head:		?
    Center Torso: 	2
    L/R Torso:		4 / 2
    L/R Arm:		2 / 2
    L/R Leg:		0 / 0

A common mistake is trying to build a mech with double heat sinks, Endo
Steel, and Ferro-Fibrous with lots of weapons.  In this case, the
"Spaces Used:" number would be "?".


>Another thing is when your design gets to heavy then the actual
>weight goes ????? and there's no easy way to see how much you
>have to strip away to get it legal.

Yes, this is a pain.  I turn on XL Engines, and that usually drops me
below the maximum weight.

>And I'll try to register to get upcoming versions which brings me
>to the next question is the address to the programmer still valid??

I don't know.  The phone number isn't...

Carl Hommel
carlton@apollo.hp.com
From: bakerj@gtephx.UUCP (Jon Baker)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Advanced 3rd Reich
Date: 18 Aug 92 17:42:15 GMT
Organization: AG Communication Systems, Phoenix, Arizona

In article <1992Aug14.150433.3474@desire.wright.edu>, demon@desire.wright.edu (Stupendous Man) writes:
> In article <1992Aug13.125844.10208@exu.ericsson.se>, exukozi@exu.ericsson.se (Tom Koziatek) writes:
> > In article <14239@mindlink.bc.ca> Bruce_Harper@mindlink.bc.ca (Bruce Harper) writes:
> >>b. If the Axis restrain themselves or are losing (or both), U.S.
> >>entry into the war might well be delayed until 1943 or later.
> >>U.S. participation in the war on the Axis side is an historical
> >>absurdity and is not permitted in the game.
> > It wasn't that absurd. Prior to the Lusitania, there was a lot of Pro-German
> > sentiment in the US. Had Hitler curbed his maniacal tendencies a bit, iand 
> > Britain make a few anti-US mistakes, we could have entered on the opposite
> > side. What would the US reaction to say, a British sub sinking the Lusitania ??
> 	For those with the investigative bent, a scanning of NY Times papers
> from the late 30s and early 40s will reveal considerable pro-German letters. 
> It took the sinking of merchants and a Coast Guard cutter to really inflame the
> natives to anti-German feelings.
> 	Now the thing is, Germany was perfectly in its rights in sinking ships
> bound for England.  Especially after we not-so-under-the-table started aiding
> England.

Perhaps a reader who was born before 1930 could enlighten us on the issue of
American sentiment in 1941.  But, as I've interpreted it, America entering
the war on the side of the Germans was not a real possibility.  America had
a strong isolationist sentiment at that time, and I think the pro-German
camp was more interested in having America NOT help the British, and in
general NOT enter the war; more or less, let Hitler and Germany have their
way in Europe.  I think A3R handles this well, by permitting a late entry
of the US in the European theater, given certain circumstances.  If, for
instance, Germany had invaded the British mainland I suspect America would
have hopped into the conflict quickly.  Perhaps too little, too late, though.

Thus, I see only two possibilities for the US wrt Europe - stay out of it,
or enter on the side of the British.

Germany would never have allied with Russia, but it is also a possibility
that Russia would never have allied with Britain/US, despite a concurrent
strong Communist contingent in the US at the time.  From Bruce's remarks,
it seems that this is accounted for as well.  It seems feasible for Russia
to basically sit out the conflict, and still achieve a decisive victory by
doing a lot of minor-netural grabbing during the war, and a bit of land-
grabbing in Poland at war's end, after Germany is crippled.

Thumbs up, Bruce.  Sounds like some definite improvements in this area in
A3R.  BTW, I did finally order it last week.  Do you get a commission on
these sales?

--------------------
J.Baker
enuucp!gtephx!bakerj
From: asymptot@sbe (Mike Mathews)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Phalanx (sp?)
Date: 14 Aug 92 17:24:23 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: School of Business, California State University, Hayward

hello all-

I have been trying to remeber a game I used to play as a kid.  The purpose
was to capture opposing player(s) triangular shaped playing pieces with your
own, while peventing your own pieces from being surrounded.  

Does this ring a bell with anybody?  I *think* the game was called 'Phalanx'
or somesuch.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
mike mathews
mmathews@csuhayvm.csuhayward.edu -or- mmathews@csuhayward.edu
.sig-less while in job transition
From: bill@frog.CRDS.COM (snow)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: 1830
Date: 12 Aug 92 22:19:59 GMT
Organization: Charles River Data Systems

In article <DRESNICK.92Aug11214139@e40-008-6.mit.edu> dresnick@athena.mit.edu (David I Resnick) writes:
>In article <1992Aug11.234121.15593@riacs.edu> nicholso@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Melvin H. Nicholson YBH) writes:
>
>   In article <1992Aug11.211615.24450@uwm.edu> bruno@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Bruno Wolff III) writes:
>  >We have just started playing 1830 recently and have run accross a couple
>  >of things we don't like.
>  >Bankruptcies are very annoying. This is especially true since people may not
>  >try to prevent bankruptcy if they aren't doing to well.

One of the interesting parts of the game is managing the pace of the game
so bankruptcies do not happen.  Or play a conservative game so you are the
winner if there is a bankruptcy.

>  >The practice of buying and then selling a share of stock in company in order
>  >to drive the price down is time consuming and can prevent any stocks from
>  >becoming valuable by the end of the game.

Yes it can be done, but it is not always a good thing to do.  (Remember that
once you sell a share then you cannot buy that share again until the next
stock round.)  While you are hammering stock prices other players can be
buying the good stock, leaving you with nothing.  Companies with lots of
shares in the middle capitalize themselves, letting them buy more trains.

-- 

bill masek		charles river data systems, inc
(617) 275-4565 (h)	(508) 626-1122 (w)
mit-eddie!frog!bill	eddie.mit.edu!frog!bill
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: tmartin@nyx.cs.du.edu (Thomas Martin)
Subject: Btech: MechEdit
Summary: Where to find Mechedit author
Keywords: Battletech, Btech, Mechedit
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Distribution: na
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 19:41:23 GMT


The author of Mechedit, Henry Link, has moved. He can be found on TechNET
BBS in Brooklyn, New York. (718)852-0347 2400 baud 8N1 He has also
released an update to ver. 3.2; I think he's up to 3.3 or 3.21, in any
case, the latest version can be found on Technet as well.


Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: deaker@mcnc.org (Ed Deak Long Gone Engr)
Subject: ASL/Europa Games for sale
Organization: MCNC Center for Microelectronics, RTP, NC
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 13:10:45 GMT

It is the typical story:  I have a wife and children now.
I haven't seriously played these games in years, although I
continued to collect them.  I've decided to clean out the 
closet and rid myself of a few material possessions.

Let me describe first the Advanced Squad Leader series.
It includes:
	Squad leader boards from Squad Leader, Cross of Iron, Cresciendo
		of Doom, and GI Anvil of Victory.
	ASL Game rules up to 89 revision.
	Beyond Valor
	Paratrooper
	Yanks
	Western Desert
	The Last Hurrah
	Hollow Legions
	Historical Module: Red Barricades

	Price: $150.00

I'll also include the playing pieces from the old Squad Leader series. (Not of
much value except to the serious gamer who wants to cross reference the French
and Polish armor for the new game).  I'm also willing to send a few military
books which cover the war at the tactical level, if you're interested.



I have one Europa game for sale: Fire in the East.  This is the famous monster
which treats the war on the Eastern front on the Division level with
regimental level support units.  Almost all of the counters have been punched,
but due to fanatical discipline, ALL of the counters are still here and in
very good condition.  All rules, maps, charts and errata are included.  
If you're interested, I'll include copies of Manstein's "Lost Victories" and 
Mellenthin's "Panzer Battles" which cover this theatre.  Price is $50.

I'll entertain offers for at least 1 week.  If there seems to be a lot of
interest I'll post updates to this group, but I'd prefer to handle it via
email.  

deaker@mcnc.org

fancy .sig not included to avoid ostentation.


Xref: sparky rec.games.board:8093 news.groups:17055
From: irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu (Josh Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board,news.groups
Subject: Re: rec.games.strategic
Date: 21 Aug 92 21:29:25 GMT
Organization: HMC Academic Computing Services
Originator: irilyth@fenris

In a prior article, Bruce Hoover (hooverb@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu) writes:
> If you are having problems with twenty posts in a day, perhaps you should
> see about getting a better newsreader. (Seriously).

I'll second that motion. I play very few of the games discussed on
rec.games.board, but I use trn (threaded rn) to read news, and find it
trivial to avoid the threads in which I have no interest. trn brings up a
screen at the start of each group with the new posts listed by subject, and
allows you to tag the ones you might want to read; you then hit X to mark
all the untagged posts as read, and begin reading the tagged posts. I simply
glace over the subject list, tag the very few things which sound
interesting, and ignore anything that doesn't.

I'm told that nn behaves similarly. I don't know about threaded newsreaders
on VMS or other non-Unix systems, but threaded newsreaders are the way to
go. Of the various groups to which I subscribe, I only read all the posts in
a very few of the low-volume ones, skipping the vast majority of posts in
the others. I subscribe to rec.music.newage despite the fact that I only
read posts about Tangerine Dream and Mannheim Steamroller; I subscribe to
rec.music.folk despite the fact that I'm only really interested in British,
Irish, and Celtic folk; I subscribe to comp.dcom.modems (a monstrously
high-volume group) despite the fact that I only read messages about Supra
modems (I own one, and read about bugs and fixes for it). In all these
cases, trn makes it possible to follow my interests without needing a
separate newsgroup for them.

Don't split up reasonably low-volume newsgroups; get a threaded newsreader.
-- 
original text by Josh Smith    ::   Comments, questions, etc. welcomed
irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu   ::   #include <std.disclaimer>
"If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll
look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy."
From: parkhill@email.sp.unisys.com (parkhill)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: final auction update
Date: 14 Aug 92 14:54:13 GMT
Organization: UNISYS - Eagan, MN

Final update

Welcome to the "I'm Not hauling this stuff to ORIGINS/GENCON" sale! 
                                         Company/     Min./Top  Bidder
                                        Condition       Bid   
BOXED GAMES
-----------
 
 8th Army Operation Crusader             GDW/mint       $20     erwinrd
 Last minute bid. Others being given chance to counter
    
 
 The Normandy Campaign                   GDW/mint       $10     erwinrd
 Last minute bid.  Others being given chance to counter  
 
 Drive on Stalingrad                     SPI/mint       $30     johnh
 SOLD
  
 PanzerGruppe Guderian                   SPI/pchd       $19     khp
 SOLD
  
 Kharkov                                 SPI/poor       $5      che755v
 SOLD
 
 Cobra                                   TSR/poor       $10     che755v
 SOLD

 Auction Rules:

     5. If someone outbids you close to the auction deadline I will
        inform you and you will be given a chance to counter that
        bid.  This will continue until one person drops out.
     6. No new bidders will be allowed to enter the auction after
        the final update is sent. The final update will be sent
        48hrs before the auction deadline.
     7. All winning bids must be paid within 10 days of auction
        close.  Payments can be made by check or money order.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to email.

Robert Parkhill                     1-612-456-7367
                                    parkhill@email.sp.unisys.com
From: moe@hardy.u.washington.edu (Joe Shippert)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Blackbeard - how bad is it?
Summary: Require archive of earlier net.discussion
Keywords: Master Ninja Theme Song
Date: 20 Aug 92 20:34:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Aug20.203400.18070
Organization: University of Washington

I remember a few months back there was a discussion about the AH game
_Blackbeard_ which I cleverly managed to not save.  Well, having seen this
game recently in the General and at the store, and having an interest in
the subject matter and a desire to buy a game that can be played by the 
non-hardcore gamers I find myself surrounded by (if that), I was wondering
if anybody could relate again what you thought of the game.  I seem to
recall the net.consensus was not real favorable, but I don't know why.  

	Thanks a lot,


-- 
Joe Shippert
"If we are going to stick to this damned quantum-jumping, then I regret
that I ever had anything to do with quantum theory."
                                        -E. Schrodinger
From: den@cci632.cci.com (Dennis J. Buttery)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Avalon Hill's Upfront
Date: 14 Aug 92 17:20:34 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: [Computer Consoles, Inc., Rochester, NY


Hello all,  I new to this group and was wondering if anyone out here plays Avalon Hill's Upfront game.  If so, what are some of your general comments, likes/dislikes about the game, etc...
 
Also, if there is anyone in the Rochester, NY area that is interested in getting together to play scenarios now and again, please let me know.
 
Thanks!
 
                                  -DJB-
From: rnlee@sdcc3.ucsd.edu (Profess'nal Agitator)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Nuclear Proliferation
Keywords: Nuclear War Escalation Flying Buffalo
Date: 15 Aug 92 19:17:56 GMT
Organization: MAWL - Mudd Alums Without Lives

Coming soon to a store near you:

Nuclear Proliferation, the newest addition to the Nuclear War card
game series.  As with Nuke Esc, Proliferation can be played standalone
or combined with one or both of the previous installments.

More missiles, more defenses, an atomic cannon, and distinct countries
with separate attributes.

Sounds as if they're trying to take some of the aspects of the
computer game and incorporate it into the card game.

This information comes straight from the Flying Buffalo booth at the
San Diego Comic Con.

Agitator
  #->

"A political deadend."                  Bruce Herschensohn for U.S. Senate!!!
    --Gore on the Vice Presidency when    Not the ten-year       //  The REAL
      asked about a Dukakis-Gore ticket   Congress insider      //   outsider
--------------- R E M E M B E R   B E I J I N G ------------\\ //------------
IBM PC - Who wants a politically correct computer?           \X/  Only AMIGA!
========================================== Bring Back the Caltech Cannon!! ==
Roderick Lee, HMC '91      "The Professional Agitator"      agitator@ucsd.edu
From: asymptot@sbe (Mike Mathews)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Pente, size of board?
Date: 18 Aug 92 18:57:20 GMT
Organization: School of Business, California State University, Hayward

just a quick query-

what is the size of a Pente board?  I am trying to play on a Go board, and
the Go board just seems too large...

thanks!
mike mathews
mmathews@csuhayward.edu
From: bruno@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Bruno Wolff III)
Subject: 1830 "first" stock round
Originator: bruno@cerberus.csd.uwm.edu
Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Computing Services Division
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 19:32:44 GMT

Most of our questions about the rules were answered by a set of answers
someone sent me that had been posted a while back.
There are still a few things about the "first" stock round that I haven't
seen an answer to.
If no public company is bought in the first stock round does the prohibition
on not selling stock apply in the following stock round?
If there are outstanding unresolved bids on private companies at the end of
a stock round, do they carry over to the next stock round?
So far this has only happened once. What we played is that the bids still
applied in the following stock round and that stock could be sold.
From: jtisdel@digi.lonestar.org (J. Michael Tisdel)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Advanced 3rd Reich
Summary: Some books on pre-war US.
Date: 20 Aug 92 13:13:09 GMT
Organization: DSC Communications Corp, Plano, TX

In article <1992Aug18.174215.27825@gtephx.UUCP> bakerj@gtephx.UUCP (Jon Baker) writes:
>Perhaps a reader who was born before 1930 could enlighten us on the issue of
>American sentiment in 1941.  But, as I've interpreted it, America entering
>the war on the side of the Germans was not a real possibility.  America had
>a strong isolationist sentiment at that time, and I think the pro-German
>camp was more interested in having America NOT help the British, and in
>general NOT enter the war; more or less, let Hitler and Germany have their
>way in Europe.  I think A3R handles this well, by permitting a late entry
>of the US in the European theater, given certain circumstances.  If, for
>instance, Germany had invaded the British mainland I suspect America would
>have hopped into the conflict quickly.  Perhaps too little, too late, though.
>
[some stuff deleted]

There are some books available on the pre-war situation which might be of
interest:

(1) _The Deadly Embrace: The Nazi-Soviet Pact_  This is a very good book on
    German/Soviet relations leading up to the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact
    and then on to the begining of Operation Barbarossa.  It does very well
    in showing the mind-sets of Hitler, Von Ribbentrop, Stalin, and Molotov.
    It goes a long way in explaining how the two 'declared' enemies signed an
    agreement.  It also explains why the British/French weren't able to sign
    an agreement with Stalin prior to N/S Pact.

(2) _From the Crash to the Blitz: 1929 to 1941_  A survey of the US from the
    Stock Market Crash to the entry into the war.  It gives some idea of the 
    isolationist movement (complete non-involvement in European affairs) but
    not much of any depth.  Nothing on German sympathies.

(3) _Why the Heavans Did Not Darken_  A study of antisemitism in the world
    prior to through the Second World War.  The parts on US antisemitism and
    pro-German feelings are of direct interest to this discussion.

These are only reccommendations.  There are *many* books on the subject.


    

-- 
-----------------------------------\\\\\\\\\\\\\---------------------------
J. Michael Tisdel                   \\\\\\\\\\\\\ jtisdel@digi.lonestar.org
DSC Communications Corporation       \\\\\\\\\\\\\   ...!uunet!digi!jtisdel
1000 Coit Rd, MS 120, Plano Tx 75075  \\\\\\\\\\\\\        jmtisdel@aol.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: fred_s@earwax.pei.com (Fred Scott)
Subject: Re: Eurorails house rules
Organization: Protocol Engines Incorporated
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 23:17:48 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.230331.11865@uwm.edu> bruno@cerberus.csd.uwm.edu writes:
>One rule we have played in all of the Mayfair rail games is that when you
>dump you lose all of your loads. This prevents people from dumping hoping
>to draw a card for something close buy. This was mostly a problem in
>Brittish Rails, where the are a number of valuable Jute destinations in close
>proximity to each other.

Why is this a problem?  I always though it was one of the more important
aspects of the game - converting those "spec runs" (i.e., guessing what a
good "extra" load would be which might come up on a card).  It was also neat
to grab an extra load which might be the last counter of the type available
just because you could see that someone was about to try to pick it up (heh,
heh!).

Fred
From: Bruce_Harper@mindlink.bc.ca (Bruce Harper)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Advanced 3rd Reich
Date: 20 Aug 92 22:12:03 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada

The Spanish diplomatic table seemed to have enough modifiers, but how would the
additional ones of an Allied invasion of Portugal, French North Africa and
Italy work?

Two of the three happened, with no appreciable effect.  Would Franco have
thought that the Allies were winning, thus making him pro-Allied, or would he
have thought the Allies were threatening him, making him pro-Axis?  Despite an
earlier comment that an Allied invasion of Portgual would have stampeded Franco
into the Axis camp, I would think the former effect would be more likely.  With
Italy's brilliant example of entering a won war, Franco seemed very reluctant
to risk anything, and the modifiers reflect this view.  Spain leans in the Axis
direction only when the British are in serious trouble (or, in game terms, when
their help isn't as valuable).

In A3R, Spain is a very valuable ally for the Axis, but, as in the actual war,
it is hard to activate.
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: cpbeaure@napier.uwaterloo.ca (Chris Beauregard)
Subject: Re: BTECH: Comments about the mecheditor
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 17:13:23 GMT

In article <1992Aug20.220814.13906@tdb.uu.se> m91kgh@tdb.uu.se (Karl-Gunnar Hultland) writes:
>carlton@apollo.hp.com (Carl Hommel) writes:
>: Around here, we call them "munchkin" mechs.  Another common munchkin
>: mech that every newbie creates is anything with more than 2 LRM-5s.
>: We disallow them with the (admittedly feeble) excuse, "The electronics
>: in your mech can't handle that many different launchers.  Use a LRM-20!"
>
>Hmmm, I've never considered using four LRM-5s instead of a
>LRM 20 saving 2 tons and a crit but as you pointed out thats not
>a "clean" design.

I've seen it done.  I think that the extra two heat pretty much makes up
for things, except where the four LRM-5s are the only weapons on the
mech.  And if the mech is so strapped for space, it's probably a light.
Even the extra two tons of armor aren't going to help that much...

The major advantage is the fact that a crit on part of the LRM system
doesn't take the whole thing out.  If someone plugs you with enough to
actually take out _all_ four LRM-5s with critical hits, you're probably
already FUBAR.  With the LRM-20, when one critical takes it out, your
probably going to _be_ FUBAR much sooner that you'd like...


>Karl-Gunnar Hultland              Vox Dei, Vox Populi
>m91kgh@bellatrix.tdb.uu.se

Chris Beauregard                                cpbeaure@napier.uwaterloo.ca
Warning:  These premises protected by reality.