Newbie - commonly used maneuvers
Fish-face
Having recieved the secret of Mornington Crescent from my parents, I
have developed a great liking for this "game" and have been cunningly
using my double-underhand-oaks to great effect... however!
To take part in any "official" game, I really need to understand some
of the conventions. Basically, definitions of commin maneuvers, states
etc. (e.g. loops, reversals, passes) and to what playing style they
apply to - whether it's actualy rule-based, or free-form.
Thanks!
Harry Mason
The problem here is that there is no real standard set of rules used
throughout the world. Here in Southampton, England, the common convention
seems to be the British Standard Reformed ruleset, though we generally play
with many optional amendments such as weekend rules. The World Championships
use United International rules, but they are not recommended except for very
experienced players. The "I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue" team still play with
the now antiquated British Orthodox rules (as defined in 1927 by the National
MC Players' Union), and many traditional players choose to use this ruleset.
Of course, just about all rulesets will include the standard moves such as
shunt, strile, and loop, and the common states such as knip, spoon, and huff.
The game wouldn't be the same without them! These days it's unusual not to
include token play, spin, and LV calculations, as they increase the degree of
challenge for experienced players.
--
| Harry Mason | .------------. | .___, |"Whatever you do will be |
| University of | | hjm200 @ | | ___('v')___ | insignificant. However, |
| Southampton | | zepler.net | | `"-\._./-"' | it is vitally important |
| England | '------------' | hjm ^ ^ | that you do it." Gandhi |
Andrew Paul Landells
> Fish-face wrote:
> > Hi, all!
> >
> > Having recieved the secret of Mornington Crescent from my parents, I
> > have developed a great liking for this "game" and have been cunningly
> > using my double-underhand-oaks to great effect... however!
> >
> > To take part in any "official" game, I really need to understand some
> > of the conventions. Basically, definitions of commin maneuvers, states
> > etc. (e.g. loops, reversals, passes) and to what playing style they
> > apply to - whether it's actualy rule-based, or free-form.
>
> The problem here is that there is no real standard set of rules used
> throughout the world. Here in Southampton, England, the common convention
> seems to be the British Standard Reformed ruleset, though we generally play
> with many optional amendments such as weekend rules. The World Championships
> use United International rules, but they are not recommended except for very
> experienced players. The "I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue" team still play with
> the now antiquated British Orthodox rules (as defined in 1927 by the National
> MC Players' Union), and many traditional players choose to use this ruleset.
>
> Of course, just about all rulesets will include the standard moves such as
> shunt, strile, and loop, and the common states such as knip, spoon, and huff.
> The game wouldn't be the same without them! These days it's unusual not to
> include token play, spin, and LV calculations, as they increase the degree of
> challenge for experienced players.
That's a nice summary, but you've not really explained much, have you. :)
Anyway let me explain how the standard moves work. For this example, I'm going
to assume that all players have equal and constant LV and spin (obviously this
never happens in play, but it's the best way to explain the concepts).
Obviously it's important to note the similarities and differences between moves
such at the Shunt and the Strile. Both manoeuvres require you to have a low
spin, but the Shunt works best with a high LV, whereas the strile is best
suited to low LV.
Anyway, Harry has failed to mention the cannon, possibly the most useful
defensive play tactic in use in modern MC. Obviously there are only certain
situations where this is a valid move (You can work this out from your LV
coefficients table) but when employed it can have overwhelming results.
For example:
In this example, there are four players, who we'll call North, East, South and
West. Their current status is as follows, and they play in the order above
North: Bethnal Green, LV: 3.27, Spin 1.25c
East: Tower Hill (Attached to the District line) LV: 5.46, Spin 0.75a
South: Camden Town, LV: 0.23, Spin 0.00
West: Mile End (Unattached), LV: 1.02, Spin 1.00a
North moves to Holborn, thus opening one of the diagonals, but opening an
attack vector too.
East moves to Liverpool Street, blocking North's return on the Central line and
restricting Zone 2 play.
South then moves to Kings Cross, St. Pancras to place the Northern Line in
knip, preventing all players from exiting via this route.
West attaches to the H & C line, but moves on Central, towards Liverpool
Street. The result is that East is moved to Holborn and shunts North to
Greenford (this is the cannon), but as East has such a high LV, they continue
to move to West Acton.
This is only a short example, but you can see clearly how West has improved
their position greatly, by virtue of this stunt. It should also be pointed
out that I have not taken token play into account, as this would have opened up
new possibilities. Additionally, had East chosen to Bifurcate, then the
resulting overall LV would have unlocked the Piccadilly line and modified the
shunt parametrics.
Hopefully this should be fairly clear to anyone with a reasonable understanding
of the basics. I recommend purchasing a copy of the latest BSR Basic ruleset,
(dated June 2002, as I recall), but they're getting harder to come by these
days. If you can't find this, then Simmond's Mornington Crescent Advanced game
draws most of its groundwork from BSR, so the first few chapters of the
Simmond rulebook are very rewarding reading for the novice seeking proficiency.
--
Andrew Paul Landells <apl...@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
WWW pages at <http://www.landells.cjb.net>
Fish-face
> throughout the world. Here in Southampton, England, the common convention
> seems to be the British Standard Reformed ruleset, though we generally play
> with many optional amendments such as weekend rules. The World Championships
> use United International rules, but they are not recommended except for very
> experienced players. The "I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue" team still play with
> the now antiquated British Orthodox rules (as defined in 1927 by the National
> MC Players' Union), and many traditional players choose to use this ruleset.
>
> Of course, just about all rulesets will include the standard moves such as
> shunt, strile, and loop, and the common states such as knip, spoon, and huff.
> The game wouldn't be the same without them! These days it's unusual not to
> include token play, spin, and LV calculations, as they increase the degree of
> challenge for experienced players.
In that case, could you (or someone else, for that matter) explain the
aforementioned moves, states and suchlike. The only one I understand
is Nidd where you can't move for three turns, but I think that's just
Knip with a different name (incidentally, I spent a holiday near the
river Nidd)
Thanks for your help so far.
Fish-face
style, or I know less than I thought! What exaclty is line velocity
(apart from speed) and how is it worked out? Ditto for spin.
In the meantime I shall carry on using Middler's original rules with
Thimble's 2nd amendments.
Andrew Paul Landells
Well, let's face it, the rules for all games are made up. Somebody has to make
them, so MC is no different from any other game, except that there are an awful
lot more rulesets for MC than most other games!
Fish-face
> Well, let's face it, the rules for all games are made up. Somebody has to make
> them, so MC is no different from any other game, except that there are an awful
> lot more rulesets for MC than most other games!
There is that, although I haven't played another game where the rules
change *quite* so frequently!
In any case, that answer, although truthful, doesn't answer my
question :) So, uhm, LV? Spin? how to work out/work with? And the same
for virtually every other Mornington Crescent term mentioned so far :D
If they're just numbers that one randomly invents on the spot, I can
live with that, and, until such a time as hear otherwise, I shall have
to play with them as that!
Andrew Paul Landells
> There is that, although I haven't played another game where the rules
> change *quite* so frequently!
The rules rarely (if ever) change in-game, more likely, people are playing
with their own house rules (This is very common in MC). Again, there are many
different rulesets and not all are necessarily compatible.
> In any case, that answer, although truthful, doesn't answer my
> question :) So, uhm, LV? Spin? how to work out/work with? And the same
> for virtually every other Mornington Crescent term mentioned so far :D
> If they're just numbers that one randomly invents on the spot, I can
> live with that, and, until such a time as hear otherwise, I shall have
> to play with them as that!
Well, obviously LV is your line velocity and spin is the rotational component
of the LV. You calculate them using the standard equations of motion, based
on your displacement vectors (Starting and terminating stations, and any
stations between where you need to change, taking into account the Central
line exceptions)
Many players have found they can make them up on the spot as most players are
too lazy to verify the maths, and often lose track of the other players, but
this is considered cheating by the powers that be and is forbidden in any UK
championship match.
Initial LV and spin are random, but based on your chosen start location, the
formula to calculate initial spin and LV, as well as token distribution and
travel coefficients is available in any good MC rulebook.
Fish-face
> Well, obviously LV is your line velocity and spin is the rotational component
> of the LV. You calculate them using the standard equations of motion, based
> on your displacement vectors (Starting and terminating stations, and any
> stations between where you need to change, taking into account the Central
> line exceptions)
>
> Many players have found they can make them up on the spot as most players are
> too lazy to verify the maths, and often lose track of the other players, but
> this is considered cheating by the powers that be and is forbidden in any UK
> championship match.
>
> Initial LV and spin are random, but based on your chosen start location, the
> formula to calculate initial spin and LV, as well as token distribution and
> travel coefficients is available in any good MC rulebook.
That makes sense! (I think...) I assume that LV and spin affect
various factors of gameplay, and restrict them in some way: how?
Andrew Paul Landells
> That makes sense! (I think...) I assume that LV and spin affect
> various factors of gameplay, and restrict them in some way: how?
I'd have thought that would be fairly obvious, if you don't have enough speed,
then you can't travel very far... Spin affects your direction of travel at
any given set of points.
Jamie
<fish_fa...@hotmail.com> writes>pae.a...@shamen.ecs.soton.ac.uk>...
[shakes head slowly in disbelief...]
--
Jamie
Andrew Paul Landells
> In article <32ca54ec.03082...@posting.google.com>, Fish-face
> <fish_fa...@hotmail.com> writes
Fish-face
> On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 09:36:58 +0100, Jamie <jay...@hornbeam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> > In article <32ca54ec.03082...@posting.google.com>, Fish-face
> > <fish_fa...@hotmail.com> writes
> > [shakes head slowly in disbelief...]
> [Frowns, with a look of confusion on face...]
Jamie
Landells <apl...@ecs.soton.ac.uk> writes
>On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 09:36:58 +0100, Jamie <jay...@hornbeam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>> In article <32ca54ec.03082...@posting.google.com>, Fish-face
>> <fish_fa...@hotmail.com> writes
>> [shakes head slowly in disbelief...]
>[Frowns, with a look of confusion on face...]
of sincere and helpful advice...
[smiles faintly with ambivalent providence]
--
Jamie
Sacrebleu
Longleat Accord. This was introduced for the now abandoned Home
Nations Series (1957-1974). As a result of the Northern Ireland teams
protests concerning their under-representation on the Great British
Olympic MC Commitee, a meeting was held at Longleat and the
controversial Vann-Hoff rule was implemented.
Ironically this backfired on the very person who most pushed for the
rules introduction, Northern Ireland's controversial captain and one
time World Champion, William McFarlane. During the Northern Ireland Vs
Scotland match he was positively stumped by the previously unheard of
call of Bristol Templemeads (only allowable under the Van-Hoff rule).
his only move was East Acton leading straight to Mornington Crescent
for Cameron McVey for Scotland.
Luckily the rule and the longleat Accord are merely MC history after
the Home Nations Series was abandoned in 1974. Although it still
proves that knowing all rulesets can give the scholarly MC competitor
a big advantage.
Hope this helps rather than confuses the newer more amateur readers.
For a better explanation you could do worse than Mornington Crescent
Made Easy (ISBN 4537353-3463)
Regards,
Matt
On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 11:26:29 +0100, Jamie