Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
IP: Logged

I'm sure there's some fans of Mornington Crescent here - we should have a game. (If you don't know how to play, it's a great game, but the rules are too complex to explain here while doing them any sort of justice - there's a few good sources if you Google it (Wikipedia unfortunately makes a bit of a hash job of it) but jump on in and play and we'll let you know if you've made an invalid move.)

I want to get the game going, so let's play with a relatively straightforward rule set - Chester-Arthurson (1979), which like most rulesets is played with the London Tube map, with Mornington Crescent as the goal, and also means that Paddington, King's Cross and Bank are wild and the Tuffington Cross-Line gambit is illegal.

So I'll start with a gentle opener and go for Bond Street.

____________________________
What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

calamarain
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 933
Registered: 03-25-2007
IP: Logged

Just to clarify, it doesn't affect this next move, but for future moves - are you allowed to play an outer Metropolitan like Amersham without consolidating on the Jubilee? I've never been clear on that.

But for the moment, I think I need to build early momentum with the nice safe move of Leicester Square

____________________________
My Holds

Znirk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 613
Registered: 07-28-2005
IP: Logged

[off-game] If, like me, you're vaguely aware of the game, but have never even seen a London tube map, look here.

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1218
Registered: 05-12-2005
IP: Logged

[edited due to illegal move]

Sorry about that. I'll head to Victoria via the Green Park station change...

---

[Last edited by Syntax at 10-04-2007 04:53 PM]

Jason
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1076
Registered: 05-05-2006
IP: Logged

Are we allowed to block off Acton Town (and South Acton) by taking North Acton, meaning the orthagonal route by cornering White City? If so, I will play

Latimer Road

____________________________
Play my holds?

calamarain
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 933
Registered: 03-25-2007
IP: Logged

Syntax wrote:
Sorry about that. I'll head to Victoria via the Green Park station change...

Oooooh, that's a bold move, I must say. Gets you a lot of power in the east but you don't build so much of a strong outer limit. You do realise that you've made the Kensington gambit impossible to pull off now though? And Jason following with Latimer Road just makes things worse.

I think I'm going to risk Aldwych.

____________________________
My Holds

---

[Last edited by calamarain at 10-04-2007 05:14 PM]

BeefontheBone
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 184
Registered: 05-11-2006
IP: Logged

Risky, indeed. I think I'll let you off the hook though and go Blackfriars - I gain more from a Zone 1 riverside set since Gribley's Thirty-Second Amendment.

____________________________
Braindead's Mordor Site - Dungeon crawling having nothing whatsoever to do with LotR. Plus a freeware remake in-progress, featuring descriptive text written by yours truly!

Beef Row wrote: Actually, it doesn't really matter because the soap is a lye.

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1218
Registered: 05-12-2005
IP: Logged

calamarain wrote:
Oooooh, that's a bold move, I must say. Gets you a lot of power in the east but you don't build so much of a strong outer limit. You do realise that you've made the Kensington gambit impossible to pull off now though?

Erm... You do realise we're playing Chester-Arthurson rules right? Mattcrampy posted that at the start.

Silverlink to Notting Hill Gate still gives me the Bakerloo connection which, with Paddington being wild means the Waterloo bypass is dead in the water (unlucky mate!).

BeefontheBone's Zone 1 move worries me somewhat though...

---

[Last edited by Syntax at 10-04-2007 09:22 PM]

Dex Stewart
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 355
Registered: 01-19-2007
IP: Logged

Since I enjoy being quite sadical, I picked up the habit of always choosing Dollis Hill as my first move...

But alas, it is impossible from this position, so I shall pick Chalk Farm.

---

[Last edited by Dex Stewart at 10-04-2007 10:56 PM]

calamarain
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 933
Registered: 03-25-2007
IP: Logged

Ah, but *now* Dollis Hill is possible due to the Chalk Farm switch. Unfortunately, that sets up the Dollis Hill loop until it's broken but regardless. It's better for me than for you by a few percent, so I move Dollis Hill

____________________________
My Holds

---

[Last edited by calamarain at 10-05-2007 12:45 AM]

Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
IP: Logged

Ah well. The only move I can make until someone breaks the Dollis Hill loop, I guess: Stanmore.

____________________________
What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

Hmmm, I'll be safe and take Kings Cross.

Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
IP: Logged

NiroZ wrote:
Hmmm, I'll be safe and take Kings Cross.

I don't think NiroZ has the momentum for that move, at least until someone breaks the Dollis Hill loop. There might be a by-law that allows it though - can anyone confirm?

____________________________
What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

coppro
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1309
Registered: 11-24-2005
IP: Logged

Hmm... Well, given the jump to the end of the Jubilee, it looks like he might just be able to use the Aldwych earlier to springboard away for a turn. I don't think the loop's broken, barring some unusual situation involving a Hammersmith Loop-Around via Mile End.

I, personally, play on the standard 2007 Tube map, meaning that, among other things, Aldwych is no longer a legal play (a shame, too, but Aldwych is always risky for everyone involved. I personally don't like the risk of promoting Moorgate at the airport for the win.)

I tend to play defensively though, and so I'll go to Earl's Court. That should lock the loop in, unless someone were to play Angel, but that's an extremely dangerous move.

---

[Last edited by coppro at 10-05-2007 02:42 AM : added a parenthesis]

Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
IP: Logged

Ugh. Dollis Hill loop, here we go.

____________________________
What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

Mattcrampy wrote:
I don't think NiroZ has the momentum for that move, at least until someone breaks the Dollis Hill loop. There might be a by-law that allows it though - can anyone confirm?

The rules which I got taught state that Kings Cross requires the most amount of momentum, until Aldwych has been taken.

---

[Last edited by NiroZ at 10-05-2007 02:25 PM]

calamarain
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 933
Registered: 03-25-2007
IP: Logged

Mattcrampy wrote:
Ugh. Dollis Hill loop, here we go.

There must be some way to break the loop without having to consolidate power in the primary stations. The trouble is, you then get into the Major and Minor gambits, and you know how those tend to end.

Let's try Knightsbridge so there's more opportunity for expansion.

____________________________
My Holds

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1218
Registered: 05-12-2005
IP: Logged

calamarain wrote:
Let's try Knightsbridge so there's more opportunity for expansion.

Ha! I warned you about the Bakerloo extension. Northwest circular with Harrow & Wealdstone (direct station run) which makes the Watford link mine (for now)...

calamarain
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 933
Registered: 03-25-2007
IP: Logged

Well done for breaking the Dollis Hill loop, by the way.

____________________________
My Holds

krammer
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 904
Registered: 02-12-2003
IP: Logged

Just noticed this thread... looks like there's been some quite interesting play already. However I think I'll jump in and liven things up with a move to Vauxhall.

____________________________
+++ Divide by Cucumber Error +++ Please Reinstall Universe and Reboot +++

"Oook!"

Dex Stewart
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 355
Registered: 01-19-2007
IP: Logged

I shall be using the bonus I earned earlier from Chalk Farm and shall go to the Monument.

zonhin
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 99
Registered: 10-18-2005
IP: Logged

As a Yank, I have to say, what the heck is going on here? Google taught me nothing.

____________________________
I looked at the world through apple eyes
And cut myself a slice of sunshine pie
I danced with the peanut butterflies
Till time went and told me to say hello but wave goodbye

asmussen
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 188
Registered: 04-02-2004
IP: Logged

zonhin wrote:
As a Yank, I have to say, what the heck is going on here? Google taught me nothing.

Really? The first link in a Google search for "Mornington Crescent" explained everything to me pretty well.


____________________________
Shawn Asmussen

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3684
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

I'm an American, but I think Southeast Harrow sounds like a great place to go next, since I am a bit smarter than a pile of pond scum.

____________________________
Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

---

[Last edited by Chaco at 10-06-2007 12:04 AM]

coppro
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1309
Registered: 11-24-2005
IP: Logged

Hah! The Royal Back Door is open!

Victoria (triumphantly)

Citrus
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1233
Registered: 01-08-2006
IP: Logged

I used to play the Boston themed version of this! I haven't played on the original in a while, but I think I remember the basic strategies. If memory serves me, I think Seven Sisters would be good to play as of now. After that would a viable strategy be to go to Gospel Oak or Homerton? I completely forget which way the Cambridge Variant swings in the Chester-Arthurson ruleset. Anyone care to remind me which?

____________________________
Call me Citrus.

---

[Last edited by Ezlo at 10-06-2007 01:25 AM]

Bunches
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 192
Registered: 03-17-2006
IP: Logged

I can't believe that you guys somehow got me out of lurk mode.


I love to suicide, and make the game impossible for others. Okay then, Oxford Circus it is. *ducks*

calamarain
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 933
Registered: 03-25-2007
IP: Logged

I'm afraid you're wrong there. Remember that the Ruffley stratagem isn't illegal in this ruleset. We're more limited now, but the game certainly isn't impossible, strategic buildup can still occur. Suicide averted.

And to prove this concept, I think it has to be Goodge Street

____________________________
My Holds

coppro
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1309
Registered: 11-24-2005
IP: Logged

Tsk, tsk. Careless play. A move from a Victoria junction sandwich onto a northern single is never a good idea. The game could be over next move unless the next player makes the right move. Fortunately, I'm not one to let the game go so easily, so I'll attempt to build myself in for a win next turn with a little-known UUUBG play of FoW (also known as Fulham Broadway for those who haven't heard the term, which is rarely used outside of Forsythe-Rose play).

Also, for those of you who don't know what the game is about, it's simple. On your turn, you name a Tube station. The first person to name Mornington Crescent legally is the winner. The game is actually quite complex, and so I won't bother explaining all the rules right now. It's extremely difficult, though, and it requires much practice before you become any good.

---

[Last edited by coppro at 10-06-2007 04:16 AM : I need to stop forgetting parentheses]

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

What are you talking about coppro? Your move in no way prevents me moving to Mornington Crescent. Did you forget that I was on Kings Cross by any chance