HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: hirai@cc.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai)
Subject: Re: Empires in Arms
Organization: Information Services, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 02:23:00 GMT

bob@sclera.physics.arizona.edu writes:
> A refereed 1805 campaign game is starting here soon with all 7 countries,
> 2 players for each one to ensure attendance.

Gasp!  What a luxury!  How did you get so many people (7*2+1=15) to learn
AND play EIA?  I'm dying of envy.

> We are wondering what you all believe to be the optimal rules options

I believe that using ALL the optional rules is optimal and should be your
goal.  Moreover, the advanced naval rules that was published in the
_General_ is a MUST!  It really enhances game play.

Remember to get the various errata that were published in the _General_
too.  One of them contains a new Forced Access rule which can be useful and
critical in some cases.

--
hirai@cc.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai)    :     :    :   :  : :: ::: :::: :::::
Unix Geek for Swarthmore College        :     :    :   :  : :: ::: :::: :::::
Information Services, Swarthmore, PA, US.       Copyright 1992 by Eiji Hirai.
I don't speak for Swarthmore College.                    All Rights Reserved.
From: cscoging@unpcs1.cs.unp.ac.za (Chris Scogings)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: EIA: I will GM an e-mail game
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 06:59:59 GMT
Organization: Dept. Computer Science, UNP
NNTP-Posting-Host: pc092.cc.unp.ac.za

Ok, all you who babble on about EIA, it's time to put your counters where 
your mouth is.  I am a programmer (for those of you who keep saying you 
aren't) and I am one of those kinky people who enjoy watching other people 
play games (esp. EIA).

I am willing to GM an e-mail game of EIA.  We will have to discuss it a 
little further, but let's DO something.  The first time round will be a mess 
and we'll probably end up screaming and shouting at each other.  But it's 
worth trying.

I propose an area movement system, exact positioning in the area to be 
decided by the GM (me) or, in special circumstances, by the player.  Some 
sort of fun limited intelligence rule could easily be applied.  Naval 
interception can be handled by generally having fleets with standing orders
such as "Intercept the Turks if they move past Greece but never intercept the
British".  I am a firm believer in "never intercept the British" but that's
not important at the moment.  Again, at GM's discretion, special cases could
be referred to the players.  etc.  etc.

Anyone interested please post here or reply to cscoging@unpcs1.cs.unp.ac.za
Chris

Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: clport@eos.ncsu.edu (CHRISTOPHER L PORT)
Subject: Re: Blood Bowl: Undead question
Originator: clport@c00384-346dan.eos.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: clport@eos.ncsu.edu (CHRISTOPHER L PORT)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 20:09:06 GMT


I play an undead team, and the points cost do seem somewhat impossible. 
We currently allow an undead coach to hire an 'apprentice' who provides
an extra d4 magic points at 250GC each.

There's talk of getting rid of this, though; one problem with running a
team w/ modifications is that if you do well, you have a problem.

We also play to 1.5 hours, and are probably going to go to
first-to-three points, which will help the undead (better attrition rate), but
teams like the dark elves just run around me, and will probably be able
to get three touchdowns fairly quickly.

Chris,
Manager, Children of the Grave
Organization: Freshman, MCS general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Date: Thu,  8 Oct 1992 11:45:06 -0400 
From: "Jonathan T. Moore" <jmci+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: A&A: No Russian attack rule

I have heard about the no-Russian-attacks-on-the-first-round rule in
terms of balancing the game. I can certainly see how it relieves some of
the pressure on the Axis--an early Allied assault in Asia thus becomes
much more risky early on, and it gives Japan enough time to adequately
defend. Also, it opens a window of opportunity for Germany to attack
Karelia on the first round, thus getting a (IMO) necessary head-start in
the grind on Russia. This is especially true since it seems that most
Allied strategies generally center on crushing Germany. What I want to
know is this--for those of you who have play-tested this variant, how
well is the game balanced?

Also, just off the top of my head, let me toss out an Allied strategy.
Mind you, I haven't tested it yet, so if there are holes in it, just
point them out nicely sans flaming. 

Ok: This also assumes that Russia is allowed to attack on the first
turn. Now, Russia attacks Manchuria, Britain attacks Kwangtung with the
famous Gurkhas (Indian troops). Now, if Japan doesn't reinforce Burma on
his first turn, the U.S. attacks Burma (if I remember the map correctly,
both China and Sinkiang are adjacent to Burma). Hopefully, if things
happen nicely, _maybe_ the U.S. will be able to build an I.C. in Burma
and hold it. Should this happen, Japan will be slowed immensely, giving
the Allies more time (as if they needed it) to concentrate completely on
Germany. Of course, this plan relies very much upon contingencies
(especially what Japan does). However, many of the attacks would be
helpful anyway, simply for the reason that they kick Japanese troops off
the continent. Another problem I foresee is that the U.S. won't be able
to hold that I.C. forever (should they get the opportunity to buy it),
simply because Japan can bring more stuff to bear than the I.C. can
produce, and the U.S. isn't going to produce much else than inf there at
first. Of course, a fighter might be nice now and again (to defend
either that I.C. or to send to Moscow), or maybe a tank if things are
REALLY going well. Anyway, I think it is inevitable that the Japanese
will retake Burma fairly easily, and many Allied players might be
reluctant (and rightly so) to build an I.C. and then hand it over to the
enemy. My point, however, is that this move buys time. The key to Axis
victory is to make huge gains early on, and if you can effectively stuff
Japan, you have gone a long way towards winning.

Well, let me know what you think.

Jon
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: SFB: Fed CVA vs. Rom SUB
From: $stephan@sasb (Stephan Fassmann, Software)
Date: 12 Oct 92 15:16:35 -0700
Organization: BYU
Keywords: sfb

Here is an interesting tactical problem. 
 We had a discussion in my group about the meeting of the Fed CVA MacArthur
and the Rom SUB Imperial Standard. In one of the scenarios it states that 
the Imperial Standard was destroyed by the MacArthur during Op. Remus. So we 
thought to try recreating this battle.
 So we figure that it was like this: The MacArthur and a NAR and two DAR's
with F-14B's and A-10's. and the Imperial Standard with the redesigned
Sparrowhawk-M and two Skyhawk-EA's with G-III's and G-FSF's. 
 We also know that it is one of at least two major ships in Rom space from 
the alliance. The other is a Gorn Dreadnaught. We are also guessing that 
there is a AxCVA with spare fighters and escorts to backup the CVA so just 
killing the fighters and escorts isn't all that important. The CVA is worth 
everything because the AxCVA can't be used attack Remus, and the operation
should falter enough for the Rom's to counter-attack. And we are guessing 
this is taking place about one day's jouney from Remus so this is a very 
important battle to win. 
  Our biggest problem is that we almost all agree that the Imperial Standard 
will die, but we are divided as to how the Rom's can kill the Big Mac. 
Diving in for the big anchor would hurt but might be possible, or long range 
sniping at the fighters until they are gone then going in.
Sorry it's so long but it is an interesting problem.
Thanks and enjoy.
_____________________________________________________________________
|Stephan Fassmann  Internet: $stephan@sasb.byu.edu  GEnie: S.FASSMANN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|The Random Acts of Kindness will Continue until Morale Deteriorates|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: keith@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Allan Schneider)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: A&A - Tricky bomber strategy.
Date: 14 Oct 1992 10:03:48 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: punisher.caltech.edu

barich@bach.udel.edu (Dewey H Barich) writes:

>In article <1bg25dINNffb@gap.caltech.edu> keith@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Allan Schneider) writes:
>>josh@gacvx2.gac.edu writes:
>>
>>>More on the tricky bomber stragegy:
>>
>>>A close examination of the rules will reveal that all the countries combined
>>>can only purchase a total of 4 Industrial Complexes and 3 AA guns.  So if you
>>
>>Oh?

>>keith

>Yes.  There are 12 Industrial Complexes included in the game.  Eight are
>used for original set-up.  Ergo, only 4 new complexes can be built.

>Likewise, there are 12 AA guns included in the game.  Nine of these are
>used for set-up.  Thus, only 3 new ones can be purchased.  While there
>are no exceptions in the case of complexes, there is a possible
>exception here.  That is if one of the originals is destroyed (by
>sinking on a transport).  Still, though, there can only be 12 at any
>given time....

Oh, THAT rule.  I never liked it much, and thus we didn't use it.   There
is just not logical reason why this rule exists (other than the limited
number of pieces).  I mean, if you can have a stack of 50 battleships,
then why not 10 single battleships?

keith

Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: baldwin@carina.unm.edu (Chris Baldwin)
Subject: Re: Blood Bowl:  General Questions
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 23:51:35 GMT
Organization: Atheist for the Development of a Better God

In article <k-1z1=-@rpi.edu> cleggp@aix.rpi.edu (Paul Jason Clegg) writes:
>1.  Is DungeonBowl worth the huge investment if we're only going to play
>    "stadium-type" games?  (Please say no; there's no way we can afford it,
>    but tell the truth!)
	As I said before, unless you really want the extra peices or have some
extra $$ to toss around, don't bother. We wouldn't have it, except one player
in the league decided that he wanted it. He has since dropped from the league,
but left his DungeonBowl at my house;-)

>2.  How helpful are the Star Players and Campanion books?  Are they worth the
>    (huge) investment, or can our gaming group make up similar rules without
>    putting the money out (aka parallel development).  Note:  I have some
>    articles from White Dwarf on the Elves and Dwarves, Goblin Fanatics, and
>    the stats for most of the major races, and the rules for the big monsters
>    and chaos on the pitch.
	Hmm, I like the Star Player book a lot and would recommend it. I
think that it would be worth it for just the Star Player rules, but if
you can get them from somewhere else, or make up your own, then don't
bother. The Companion is nice, but not essential.

	Btw, did anyone else have a problem with the binding in the books
from GW? I bought the Companion and Star Player book at GenCon and the pages 
were starting to fall out before we got to Nebraska(brutal drive back to New 
Mexico). I don't mind all that much, since I just ripped the pages out and 
bound them myslef. This allows me to insert our league rules where I want 
them. I probably would have done this anyway, but when i pay ~$50 for 2 books, 
I expect the binding to last at least a week or so.

-- 
"Hey, Guido! It's all so clear to me now. I'm the keeper of the cheese and
you're the lemon merchant. Getit? And he knows it! That's why he's gonna kill
us. So we gotta beat it. Yeah, before he lets loose the marmosets on us! - Ren
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu (Josh Smith)
Subject: Re: Titan - what means "slugathon" ?
Originator: irilyth@fenris
Organization: HMC Academic Computing Services
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 20:24:55 GMT

In a prior article, Jerry Siek (jerry@uni-paderborn.de) writes:
> Could someone explain that word to me?

I thought I had an answer, but now I'm not sure. (grin)

Marathon : A 26-mile race--long, grueling, large in scale; only the strong
survive.

Telethon : A televised appeal for money. Jerry Lewis may be the source of
this term, with his annual Muscular Dystrophy telethons. I'm pretty sure
these are all-day events, though I'm not sure exactly what goes on during
them (entertainment of some kind? heart-warming stories of those afflicted
with the disease?). The name might have been a play on marathon, in the
sense that a telethon is a long, intense, high-pitched affair, with "tele"
indicating that it was televised. The fact that Marathon is a place, and not
a particularly long mara, is overlooked. The pattern here is seen in
references to "Irangate", to indicate a scandal involving Iran, despite the
fact that "Watergate" was not a scandal about water, but the name of a hotel
where a scandal took place.

So I suspect that telethon is (incorrectly) extracting "thon" from
"marathon" to indicate something long, arduous, and into which much effort
is being put. Then you have things like "walkathons", "jogathons",
"bikeathons", etc, all of which involve fund-raising, and are apparently
(incorrection) extracting "thon" from "telethon" to indicate a fund-raiser.

Confused yet? (grin) The summary is that "slugathon" is probably making the
same mistake as "telethon", and is intended to mean something like
"slugfest". Slug = fight; thon = long, large-scale, grueling.
-- 
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."
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: prj@pyuxf.uucp (25574-jayne)
Subject: Planes in Flames question
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 92 12:50:11 GMT
Keywords: WiF PiF France

I recently bought Planes in Flames and am confused about the
French planes that can be Lend-Leased from the US.  Just when
do these come into play?  The US entry options don't mention
LL to France, and I can't believe the US can offer these at the
start of the game.  So I guess they are identical to CW units,
i.e.  they are for the Free French forces.  Can they be built
after the LL to CW option is chosen?  If Vichy is never declared?
Can they only be flown by French pilots recruited per the rules,
or can the CW buy pilots for them?

Another question:  am I correct in assuming that the US can have
only one A-bomb every two turns?  There is only one counter in the
force pool, and no exception is given to the rule that limits
builds by counters available.  Same goes for the V2.

	Paul Jayne
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: books@fsunuc.physics.fsu.edu (Roger Books)
Subject: Blood Bowl question
Organization: FSU nuclear physics
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 14:10:18 GMT

Ok, You people made me go out and buy Blood Bowl ($56.00 after tax, ouch)
but now I need a clarification.

In the basic game if you block a down player one of the possible outcomes
is the player is injured.  Nothing is mentioned about this in the veterans
rules.  What happens if you block a down player when using the Vet rules?

In the list of the teams in the Blood Bowl, which are the best three?  Is
any one so unbalanced we shouldn't use it for an initial playing?  We
will be using all the rules, as it's a simple game even with all of them.
(Well, all in the boxed set anyway.)

Roger
books@fsunuc.physics.fsu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: keith@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Allan Schneider)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: A&A -- tips for Axis?
Date: 14 Oct 1992 10:10:57 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: punisher.caltech.edu

bz978@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Charles E Gibbs) writes:


>Well, does anyone have any?  I've heard 80 million tactics on how the Allies
>can win.  I usually play the Axis, but since I don't play with that experienced
>group of players, I've gotten away with some stuff.  Namely, an industrial
>plant for Japan in French Indo-Burma China.  Usually I can hold it with the
>inf. already there plus stuff from the Phillipines.

>I've also tried changing the focus for Germany from attacking Russia to attacking
>Britain. I don't abandon Russia completely.  However, if Germany can maintain
>a moderate foothold in Caucasus, Russia never has enough income to remain a 
>sustained threat to Germany and keep Russia safe.  Meanwhile, Germany buys two
>subs and then devotes the rest of the income on 1st turn and most of the income
>on the second term to inf.  Usually, 3 to 4 subs can cause enough havoc for 
>Britain's navy so that they really can't accomplish that much in the first two
>turns.  Then, Russia ends up fighting a two-front battle with little support.

I've found that it is a good idea for Germany to try to control Africa, at
least for a while.  One or two loads of infantry should do it for a while,
assuming you are able to keep the allied navy in check for a few turns.

I don't know if building subs is a good idea.  The allies can send in some
planes to sink them, and the subs don't get to shoot back (although the
can withdraw after one round).

I like to build all infantry when I play Germany.  You can just start
sending a chain of infantry over towards Russia (always keep them in large
groups so that Russia won't overwhelm them).  Eventually, you will have 
enough infantry to mount a decent attack (and you will have saved your armor
and most of your air force).

For Japan, it usually seems like a good idea to build a bunch of IC's on the
continent.  You can produce infantry here, and start sending waves toward
Russia (again, keep them in big groups).  Of course, you may have to
deal with India first, as good allies usually seem to strongly defend
India (probably an IC there).  Once you have enough infantry fodder built up,
you can build some tanks and go for the attack on Moscow (if Germany hasn't
gotten there first).

keith
From: fuhrman@litsun.epfl.ch (Cris Fuhrman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: SFB: preplotted movement?
Date: 16 Oct 92 12:38:14 GMT
Followup-To: rec.games.board
Organization: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Hi,

For a few years in college, I played my fair share of SFB with a regular
group of friends. Surprisingly, I've never played it without pre-plotted
movement as the friends with whom I played preferred this method saying
that it added a level of complexity to the game which was quite interesting
(trying to second-guess your opponent).

How do most people play SFB? How are tournaments run at gaming conventions?

---------------------------------------
 Cris FUHRMAN, fuhrman@litsun.epfl.ch
 Laboratoire d'informatique technique
 EPFL-LIT, IN Ecublens, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: LIPSCOJA@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu (Andy Lipscomb)
Subject: Re: Blood Bowl -- Star Refs
Organization: Vanderbilt University 
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 14:31:07 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.21

In <vjmpd4a@lynx.unm.edu> baldwin@carina.unm.edu writes:

> 
> 	After a ref officiates 10 games, he gains 1 star ref ability. We
> added this rule about a year ago, but no ref has lived long enough
> to actually gain an ability. There are several teams in the league
> who win games by forcing thier opponent to conceede the game due
> to lack of players and they don't want any star refs around, so they
> kill them. Of course, I have a Snotling ref who has 8 games, but my
> Ogres can't seem to kill the little bastard. He has been the bane of
> my existence.
> 
> Roll	   Ability	    Notes
> =====	==============	==============
> 11-12	AG+1
> 13-14	AV+1
> 15-21	Bad Rep 	(new ability)
>    22	Block		(level +1-3)
>    23	Dislike	
>    24	Dodge		(level +1-3)
> 25-31	Eagle Eyes	(new ability)
> 32-34	Hanging Judge	(new ability)
>    35	Jump Up
>    36	Leap		(special rule)
>    41	Luck		(level +1-3)
>    42	Mighty Blow	(level +1-3)
> 43-44  	MV+1  [Should that be MA+1?]
> 45-51	On The Take	(new ability)
> 52-54	Resilient	(new ability)
>    55	Self Control	(special rule)
> 56-61	SP+1
> 62-64	ST+1
>    65	Thick Skull
>    66	Toughness	(level +1-3)
> =====	=============	==============

Who controls Star Refs?  Traditional refs never block (so Mighty Blow is use-
less), and how do you know when they want to dodge/take a reroll/etc.?

> Special Self Control Rule
> A ref with self-control will lower all racial affects by one (hatred 
> to animosity, animosity to dislike, dislike to no effect). If the ref 
> has no racial preference towards a player (after the Self Control 
> shift) who gets a foul called on him (and the ref sees it), there is a 
> 50% chance that the ref will not call the foul at all! In addition, if 
> a ref started with no preference (i.e., before the self control 
> shift), he will only call a foul 1 in 6 times!

What effect does it have if the ref DOES dislike/hate/etc the player?


Andy Lipscomb
lipscoja@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu (Bitnet: lipscoja@vuctrvax)
From: el0g+@andrew.cmu.edu (Erik Lauer)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Impossible Checker Position
Date: 13 Oct 92 02:14:49 GMT
Organization: Doctoral student, Mathematics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>I know this probably doesn't belong here, but I didn't know where else to post
>it.  My son and his cousin were playing checkers the other day and although I
>don't know how they did it, one of them got into a state where it was his turn
>but all of his pieces were stuck and he could not make a move at all period.
>What is the official ruling when this happens?  Does anyone know?
>
>Ted			Sabat@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com

If you can't move, you lose.

Erik
---=
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: hal@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Hal Wadleigh)
Subject: Re: <Btech> Two Engines Question
Reply-To: hal@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Hal Wadleigh)
Organization: Interleaf, Inc.
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 13:03:10 GMT

In article <s903609.718438051@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU> s903609@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (ACE) writes:
> Greetings,
> 	  What do people think about having two engines in a Battlemech ?
> 	  A Absurd
> 	  B Ludicrous
> 	  C Innovative
> 	  D Brilliant
> 	  E All of the Above
> 
You forgot: F Stupid

Sum the power factors of the two engines to get the result, assign it some
number of crit spaces to cover placement (large enough to be realistic), and
allow it for suicidal pilots.

Engine crits are NASTY!  (Can you say mushroom cloud?)

"Hey, Jack, you know that problem we have, carrying around a controlled
H-bomb that might get hit?  I got a great idea.  Let's carry TWO of 'em!"