Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!newsxfer2.itd.umich.edu!portc01.blue.aol.com!news-res.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!nntp.coast.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!usenet.ucs.indiana.edu!ahabig From: ahabig@bigbang.astro.indiana.edu Newsgroups: rec.games.board,rec.games.board.marketplace,news.answers,rec.answers Subject: rec.games.board FAQ and intro Followup-To: poster Date: 2 Aug 1996 21:49:49 GMT Organization: Indiana University Astrophysics, Bloomington, IN Lines: 532 Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu Expires: 15 August 1996 Message-ID: <4ttt5t$d49@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> Reply-To: ahabig@bigbang.astro.indiana.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: bigbang.astro.indiana.edu Summary: useful information for readers of rec.games.board Keywords: faq, intro Originator: ahabig@bigbang Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.games.board:88220 rec.games.board.marketplace:18060 news.answers:78332 rec.answers:22798 Archive-name: games/board-games-faq Last-modified: 1996/08/02 Version: 6.39 Frequency: twice a month Archive-frequency: once a month Revisions : v6.39 : Luding games URL updated. Revisions : v6.38 : A3R mailing list changed, Fine Games URL added, game company address list updated. Revisions : v6.37 : Abacus games email added, Scrabble FAQ location updated, Starfire info added and updated, pbmserv at prc.com removed. Revisions : v6.36 : Boulder games URL added, AVRO Car Wars URL added. Revisions : v6.35 : Mayfair games URL added, Fat Messaih Games URL added, Gamebase URL added, direct ordering of German games info added This FAQ, and a number of others, can be viewed using a WWW client, by pointing to: http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/ An HTML version of this FAQ can be had at : http://www.astro.indiana.edu/home/ahabig/rgb.html Also, nearly all usenet FAQ's are archived for anonymous ftp at rtfm.mit.edu. rec.games.board FAQ and introduction ------------------------------------ Welcome to the rec.games.board newsgroup! This is a group in which board games of all sorts are discussed (with the exceptions of certain popular games which have their own groups, see below). This is a group with unusually large scope, given the huge number of different board games. Games that have popped up in the past seem to come from a few distinct groups : 1) "Parlor" games like scrabble, monopoly, and risk; 2) Military and Historic simulations of all kinds; and 3) games that don't fit into any of the above categories, but which are often played by the same folks as play #2. Following are different sections of information of interest to those reading this group. They are moderately long, but are separated by "=====" 's, so use the "g=====" command to skip to the next section if you like. The topics are : 1) Specific game discussion areas (other newsgroups and mailing lists) 2) rec.games.board netiquitte 3) Network Resources of interest to readers of rec.games.board 4) Game FAQ's 5) Auctions 6) Where to get games and stuff? 7) The "Distribution: " line 8) Threaded News Readers 9) Killfiles and rec.games.board example killfile entries 1) Specific game discussion areas ======================================================================= There are several games which have their own dedicated discussion forums. If you have a question or want to discuss these games, you'll get a much better response from the specific forum than you will from rec.games.board. Also, in general, cross-posting is a waste of bandwidth - try to avoid it. Here's a listing of games with their own home : Games which have their own newsgroups : ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract games : rec.games.abstract Backgammon : rec.games.backgammon Battletech et al : rec.games.mecha Chess : rec.games.chess Cosmic Encounter : rec.games.board.ce Diplomacy : rec.games.diplomacy Games For Sale : rec.games.board.marketplace General game design : rec.games.design Go : rec.games.go Magic: The Gathering : rec.games.trading-card.... Miniatures : rec.games.miniatures.misc Historical Minis : rec.games.miniatures.historical Warhammer Minis : rec.games.warhammer Play-by-Mail games : rec.games.pbm Role-Playing Games : rec.games.frp.... Trivia games : rec.games.trivia Mailing lists (and where to write to be included) : ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Note that many of these mailing lists are run by automated mailing list programs, or "listservs". Those that are can sign you up with no need for human intervention. Lists that can do this have a second line below, with the string that you need to send in the message body to sign up. For instance, if I was signing up for the Blood Bowl list, I'd send a message (subject irrelevant) with the message body subscribe bbowl-l Alec Habig and everything would be taken care of. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Advanced Squad Leader : majordomo@list.pitt.edu listserv, "subscribe advanced-sl" Advanced Third Reich : LISTSERV@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU listserv, "subscribe A3R" Air Power : air.power-request@umich.edu Blood Bowl : majordomo@cs.utk.edu listserv, "subscribe bbowl-l YourName" or "subscribe bbowl-digest your name here" Car Wars : listserv@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu listserv, "sub carwar-l YourName" Centurion : listserv, "subscribe centurion-l" listserv@netcom.com Command Decision : cdmailer-request@cwi.com Conflict Simulation : LISTSERV@listserv.uni-c.dk listserv, "sub consim-l YourAddress" Empires in Arms PBEM : majordomo@indiana.edu listserv, "subscribe eia" Europa : europa-request@lysator.liu.se Flat Top : FLATTOP-request@aclcb.purdue.edu listserv, "subscribe YourName" The Gamers : majordomo@www.ee.washington.edu listserv, "subscribe gamers-l" Harpoon (naval mins.) : cz-admin@mbnet.mb.ca Mechwar : gt7805b@prism.gatech.edu listserv, "SUB MechWar YourAddress" Modern Era Wargames : LISTSERV@VM1.SPCS.UMN.EDU listserv, SUBSCRIBE MODMIL-L Ogre/GEV : hcobb@io.com Pre-gunpowder mins. : alr@hoqaa.att.com Renju : tommy.maltell@lemes.se Shogi : listserv@technion.technion.ac.il listserv, "SUB SHOGI-L YourName" Space Marine : Majordomo@ts.umu.se listserv, "subscribe space-marine YourName" Squad Leader : epass@nyx.net Starfire : starfire-request@soda.berkeley.edu Star Fleet Battles : hcobb@slip.net (ADB sanctioned) Strat-o-matic : majordomo@indiana.edu listserv, "subscribe strat-misc" Strat-o-matic baseball : majordomo@indiana.edu listserv, "subscribe strat-bb" Up Front : upfront-request@harte-lyne.ca listserv, "subscribe" Warhammer 40k : war40K-request@bismarck.gatech.edu Warhammer Fantasy Batt. : Majordomo@direwolf.com listserv, "subscribe WarHammerFB" World In Flames : listserv@server.uwindsor.ca listserv, "subscribe wif" Of the above games, many have a strong PBEM (play By E-Mail) following. Most notably Diplomacy, ASL, and EiA. Scrabble even has an internet server for interactive games (telnet eel.st.usm.edu 7777, or look at the URL http://elf.udw.ac.za/scrabble/), as do Othello (telnet telnet faust.uni-paderborn.de 5000), Go (telnet imageek.york.cuny.edu 9696), Trax (mail pbmserv@netcom.com with a subject of help), and MahJong (http://newmath.princeton.edu:5555/mj.html). You can even play against Chinook, the world champion checkers program, at http://web.cs.ualberta.ca/~chinook If you are interested in joining in in a PBEM game, try the respective group. Also, Eric Pass, (epass@nyx.net) maintains a PBEM Gamers Directory, to help in finding opponents. Contact him if you want to be included in this directory. Also, http://www.irony.com/mailroll.html will roll dice for you, which is a very handy thing to have for PBEM games. 2) rec.games.board netiquitte ======================================================================= Due to the fact that there are so many different games to talk about, and few people are interested in every one of them, please keep a few items of netiquitte in mind to make reading this group easier for all. 1) Put the name of the game in the "Subject :" line of your post. This allows uninterested people to quickly skip over your posting to get to the ones they want, and the interested parties to easily find your post. Included below are quick introductions to kill files and threaded news readers, the use of which can make your usenet life much easier. Here's a list of some common abbreviations for games or companies to use in your subject lines : A&A: = Axis and Allies A3R: = Advanced Third Reich ANNOUNCE= Announcement of a Con or new game ASL: = Advanced Squad Leader AUCTION:= This is a game auction posting (should go to .marketplace) BB: = Blood Bowl EiA: = Empires in Arms SFB: = Star Fleet Battles WiF: = World in Flames GW: = Games Workshop GDW: = Game Designers Workshop (a very different company than GW) RR: = Robo Rally STRAT: = Strat-o-matic sports games Titan: = Titan So, for example, an Axis and Allies post would have a subject line like "Subject: A&A: - Yahtzee or Craps?" Note the colons. Adding the colons makes searching for the strings easier. For instance, someone searching for Blood Bowl articles using the string "BB" will pick up all threads containing two B's in the subject - searching for "BB:" avoids this. 2) Make use of the "Distribution: " line with your posts. Announcements of conventions, games for sale, opponents wanted, or questions about directions to gaming stores are of only limited use to people outside of a certain geographical area. The distribution line prevents, for instance, an announcement of "CAPCON XIX, a gaming convention at Ohio State University" from tantalizing those in Sweden who couldn't possibly attend. See below for a quick description of how to use this feature. 3) If you make a dumb mistake in a posting, accidentally cross post it, or accidentally post two copies, cancel the bad/extraneous ones. Do this by hitting "C" while reading your own post (in rn/trn - other news programs have different commands - read your manuals). 3) Network Resources of interest to readers of rec.games.board ======================================================================= ftp sites : ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ftp.indirect.com:/pub/rpg/miniatures - minis related stuff. bigbang.astro.indiana.edu - EiA stuff ftp.cwi.com - Command Decision archive ecn.purdue.edu:stuff/ - WH40k archives, painting tips chimera.gene.cwru.edu:/pub/chris/18xx - 18xx games stuff sara.cc.utu.fi:A3R - Advanced Third Reich archive carlo.phys.uva.nl:/pub/bas/asl - Advanced Squad Leader archive ftp.pi.se:/pub/pc/games/renju - Renju, other 5-in-a-row games ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/misc/bg - Bone Games (Public Domain games) tetrad.stanford.edu:/pub/DBM_stuff/ - DBM stuff ftp.indirect.com:/pub/rpg/axis+allies - Axis and Allies ftp.cs.colorado.edu:/users/seidl/starfire - Starfire WWW pages : ------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://ftp.cwi.com/cdmailer/.www/cdmailer.html (CD page) http://www.cabm.rutgers.edu/~hooper/miniatures/miniatures.html (minis) http://access.digex.net/~jappel/ASL.html (ASL page) http://www.cabm.rutgers.edu/~hooper/miniatures/bill/bludbowl.html (Blood Bowl) http://www.gamecabinet.com (non-Wargames) http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/ (FAQs) http://www.cis.ufl.edu/~thoth/magic/ (MtG) http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~dove/jyhad/jyhad.html (Jyhad) http://ntia.its.bldrdoc.gov/~bing/mayfair.html (Railroad games) http://www.vt.edu:10021/cns/mage/ce.html (Cosmic Encounter) http://www.teleport.com/~stevena/scrabble/faq.html (Scrabble) http://www.nyx.net/~epass/home.html (PBEM gamer's list) http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/org/gc00/gc00 (CMU Gaming Club) http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d2patrik/bb.html (Blood Bowl) http://www.pi.se/renju/renhome.html (Renju,Gomoku,Pente) http://gwis.circ.gwu.edu/~gwugs/civilization/ (Civilization) http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/home/dalamb/Talisman/ (Talisman) http://world.std.com/~ctate/strategy.html (Strategic Gaming) http://world.std.com/~ctate/eia/eia.html (Empires in Arms) http://clever.net/grognard/ (Wargames) http://www.access.digex.net/~rshipley/bp.html (Beer & Pretzels) http://clever.net/grognard/titledk.html (Europa) http://www.halcyon.com/stouten/shogi.html (Shogi) http://www.kdcol.com/~val/games/RR/RoboRally-FAQ.html (RoboRally) http://cordelia.fnal.gov/~jhkim/fun/sfb.html (Star Fleet Battles) http://www.uwm.edu/~cthulhu/thrust.html (Full Thrust) http://pease1.sr.unh.edu/1/bluemax (Blue Max) http://iquest.com/~jwalbea/plateau.shtml (Plateau) http://members.aol.com/chrmcd/aaclub/aahome.htm (Axis and Allies) http://tetrad.stanford.edu/DBM.html (DBM) http://www.abs.net/~anomaly/upfront/upfront.html (Up Front) http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ad090/HomePage.race_car_games_hp.html (Race Car Games) http://www.ionet.net/~skip/ (Skip's Wargame Conn.) http://www.webspace.com/~tanker/ (Tank Games) http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/redshift/assist.html (PBEM Gamers Aid) http://www.irony.com/mailroll.html (Die rolling) http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bradb/silentdeath.html (Silent Death) http://elf.udw.ac.za/scrabble (On line Scrabble) http://mailer.fsu.edu/~grobinso (Wargaming Page) http://www.virtual-cafe.com/~tdewey/diesiedler.html (Die Siedler) http://newmath.princeton.edu:5555/mj.html (Mahjong) http://web.cs.ualberta.ca/~chinook (Checkers) http://weblifac.ens-cachan.fr/~O.MARCE/WarshipGames.html (Naval wargames) http://www.massey.ac.nz/~DBailey/trax/trax.html (Trax) http://www.gyugyi.com/wham/wham.html (Tom Wham games) http://www.vivanet.com/~crokinol (Crokinole) http://www.cistron.nl/~amzweg/geneatw.htm (Europe at War) http://www.luding.com (Luding Games page) http://www.interchg.ubc.ca/brucel/avro.html (AVRO Car Wars) A wais database of rec.games.miniatures - http://server.wais.com/directory-of-servers.html (type in "miniatures") A mail server with ~100 game reviews (in German) : INFORM@NAD-MEER.gun.de Send the message HELP and/or DIR SPIELE: More game reviews : http://www.wolfe.net/~peter/tgr/ (The Game Report) 4) Game FAQ's ======================================================================= There are too many games of really wide variety discussed here to try to answer FAQ's about specific games in this document. Some games (notably Axis and Allies, Diplomacy, and Scrabble) have their own regularly posted FAQ's. These FAQs can be found in the same places as this FAQ (news.answers, rec.answers, and via ftp from rtfm.mit.edu). Just spout out your questions, and they'll get answered! Here's how to reach some other ones : Axis & Allies : ftp://wais.com/pub/games/axis+allies/ Blood Bowl : http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d2patrik/bb_faq.html Crokinole : http://www.vivanet.com/~crokinol/faq_crok.htm Magic Realm : ftp://bigbang.astro.indiana.edu:/pub/magic_realm.faq or email daniel_t@mailhost.gate.net Pirateer : http://www.mcn.org/mgc/piratenewsfaq.html Rec.games.* : http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/ Risk : http://www.bath.ac.uk/~mapodl/html/riskfaq.html or email odl@maths.bath.ac.uk RoboRally : http://www.kdcol.com/~val/games/RR/RoboRally-FAQ.html Starfire : http://www.task-force-games.com/stf_faq.html Scrabble : http://www.teleport.com/~stevena/scrabble/faq.html Squares : http://www.getnet.com/~dvgc/ Talisman : http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/home/dalamb/Talisman/ A list of gaming companies who are reachable via email is maintained by Skip Franklin. Look at: http://www.ionet.net/~skip/twceal.html. Also you might try: http://www.cqs.washington.edu/~surge/gaming/companies. A list of upcoming gaming conventions is kept by Coyt Watters. Finger him at cwatters@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu to see a copy of this list. 5) Auctions ======================================================================= This is a popular forum for people who want to buy and sell old games. Please use the group "rec.games.board.marketplace" for this purpose. Some suggestions about good conventions for auction related posts : - Put AUCTION in the subject - Information on the game for sales version, condition, etc. are useful to include. - the newsgroup rec.games.frp.marketplace may be more appropriate for somethings, or a crosspost might be useful. - Please conduct as much of the auction as possible via email, although a post once a week or so to r.g.b. is useful for attracting new bidders, and informing the rest of us about what games are worth what. 6) Where to get games and stuff? ======================================================================= Eric Pass has set up a 'Counter Exchange & Swap Shop', to make it easier for people to exchange game parts. Email him at epass@nyx.net or check out http://www.nyx.net/~epass/home.html for more info. From Brian Bankler (bankler@rtp.ericsson.se) : I think that the FAQ should have a section on "Where can I get European games in the US?" For now, here is a quick answer: Ray Pfeifer (R&D Games, randd@earthlink.net) is, in my mind, the strongest importer of games in the US. He can be reached at 410-788-4280. Don't call at odd hours. Games People Play is nice, but (since they operate a store, have multiple employees) have to mark their games up a bit more. GPP is located in Boston. Games by Email has some French stuff, notably Formule De. (While I got my FD set from them 1.5 years ago, I've also been very impressed with Mr. McGartlin, who specializes in auto racing games. (804-465-0534, but only car racing inquiries, to the best of my knowledge). Just Games, in London, is highly recommended if you want to put together a big order. But that is probably beyond the scope of this question. A full list of names and addresses of the above (except Mr. McGartlin) can be found in Ken Tidwell's Amazing Game Cabinet, http://www.gamecabinet.com. Put a bookmark there, it's well worth it. (Ed. note - translations of many German games' rules can also be found at this site). Aforandy@aol.com provides info on a place to order stuff direct from Germany, if you want to take that route : Adam spielt OHG Post fach 100127 61141 Friedberg /Hessen GERMANY tel; 06031 5029 fax: 06031 63761 Or, email Abacus games at : abacusspiele@t-online.de, or Peter Wolfgang at 101621.727@compuserve.com. Both do german game orders via email. Gaming company URLS : http://www.ionet.net/~skip/twceal.html (A list of addresses) http://www.winning-moves.com (Winning Moves) http://www.eskimo.com/~graham/the-gamers.html (The Gamers) http://www.duke.edu/~kuhlmann/warhorse.html (Warhorse Sims.) http://www.jumbo.com/ (Free/Shareware games) http://www.bonegames.com (Bone Games) http://io.com/sjgames/ (Steve Jackson Games) http://www.columbiagames.com (Columbia Games) http://www.demon.co.uk/the-net-effect/tfg/ (Task Force Games) http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/ (Flying Buffalo) http://www.grdgames.com (GRD - Europa) http://www.games-workshop.com/ (Games Workshop) http://www.vivanet.com/~crokinol (Filip&Carom Inc) http://www.getnet.com/~dvgc/ (Deer Valley G.C.) http://www.tru.com/ (Toys-R-Us) http://www.coolgames.com/ (Mayfair Games) http://www.io.com/~wasson/fmg.html (Fat Messaih Games) http://www.ionet.net/~skip/BoulderG/ (Boulder Games) http://www.teleport.com/~finegms/ (Fine Games) 7) How to use the "Distribution :" feature ======================================================================= From: spaf@cs.purdue.EDU (Gene Spafford) Newsgroups: news.announce.newusers,news.answers Subject: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 16. How do I use the "Distribution" feature? When your posting software (e.g., Pnews or postnews) prompts you for a distribution, it's asking how widely distributed you want your article. The set of possible replies is different, depending on where you are, but at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, possibilities include (for example): local local to this machine mh Bell Labs, Murray Hill Branch nj all sites in New Jersey btl All Bell Labs machines att All AT&T machines usa Everywhere in the USA na Everywhere in North America world Everywhere on USENET in the world Many of the posting programs will provide a list of distributions, if your site admin has kept the files up-to-date. If you hit return, you'll get the default, which is usually "world.". This default is often not appropriate -- PLEASE take a moment to think about how far away people are likely to be interested in what you have to say. Used car ads, housing wanted ads, and things for sale other than specialized equipment like computers certainly shouldn't be distributed to Europe and Korea, or even to the next state. It is generally not possible to post an article to a distribution that your own machine does not receive. For instance, if you live in Indiana, you can't post an article for distribution only in New Jersey or Germany unless your site happens to exchange those particular distributions with another site. Try mailing the article to someone in the appropriate area and asking them to post it for you. If you cannot determine what distributions are valid for your site, ask someone locally rather than posting a query to the whole network! 8) Threaded News Readers ======================================================================= Threaded news readers are news readers which track down all articles that are part of the same discussion, making it easier to a) follow the logical flow of conversation; and b) kill a whole topic ("thread") which does not interest you. Try to use and understand one, it makes life much easier! An example of this kind of software is "trn" - see your man pages for more info. Anyone who wants to write a blurb for this space describing these suckers please do so - I (the FAQ maintainer) don't have time at the moment. 9) How to use a Killfile ======================================================================= From: phillips@syrinx.umd.edu (Leanne Phillips) (Trimmed down for brevity by Alec Habig, see news.answers for the full article). Subject: rn KILL file FAQ Rn and trn, and other varieties of rn, have a very useful feature called the KILL file, which allows you to kill (skip over) articles that you don't want to see. There is some support for killfiles in xrn, but the support is limited; nothing in here is guaranteed to work for xrn. See the xrn man page. KILL files come in two forms: Global: In your News directory, you will have the file KILL. Local: In your News directory, the killfile for group foo.bar will be foo/bar/KILL. The difference between the two is that there can be one killfile for each group (the local killfile), and that killfile affects only the particular newsgroup (foo/bar/KILL affects only foo.bar; baz/quex/KILL affects only baz.quex, etc). The global killfile affects all newsgroups. (There's a way to change the default names of the killfiles, but it's more complicated than I want to get into here. See the rn(1) man page.) Killfiles allow you to kill articles based on a number of criteria: a subject line, a general subject, articles from one poster, articles from one site, articles cross-posted from any other group, or from one other group in particular, and articles that are follow-ups to anything at all (that is, anything with the Re: in the subject line). You can also kill articles with a particular string anywhere in the article. For a complete story on killfiles, look in the group news.answers. For the purposes of this newsgroup, the most important thing to know is that if you don't want to hear about a particular game, you can put it in your kill file and not worry about it anymore. In rn/trn, hit k to edit the killfile for the group you are reading, and add lines similar to those below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some example Rec.Games.Board killfile entries and what they kill : /1830/:=:j /* 1830 railroad game */ /a3r/:=:j /* Advanced 3rd Reich */ /civ/:=:j /* Civilization */ /diplomacy/:=:j /* Diplomacy */ /rec.games.strategic/:=:j/* the group split argument */ /space/:=:j /* anything with "space" */ /wif/:=:j /* World in Flames */ See where those handy-dandy standard game subject abbreviations listed above come in handy? -- Alec Habig, Indiana University High Energy Astrophysics ahabig@bigbang.astro.indiana.edu http://www.astro.indiana.edu/home/ahabig/ Ban the Bomb: Make the world safe for conventional warfare!