Mornington Crescent

[duke o' york]

I wouldn't be overly concerned at your expansion of the boundaries of play for in the last game Storm continued his move to Liverpool Street by taking a trip to admire the Dutch tulip fields. We are not, therefore, likely to be stymied by such excursions, seeing them rather as bracing and a pleasant change of scene from which we can return to the more traditional zones with renewed vigour. It would be a particularly boorish and cynical player who tried to upbraid you for your inventive style and one I hope who would not be welcome in this game.
Having said that, I had trouble finding whereabouts orthodoxy was on the tube map and will assume that your move finished with Barnet and you haven't bifurcated. (Apologies to all for that atrocious joke, but I'm in the mood for atrocious humour and decided to indulge myself ).
Having chosen to try and capitalise on the orange token windfall I siezed last turn I shall unfortunately be unable to entrap the next player at Shoreditch until peak time comes around again as I have also missed it, but will leave you at Shadwell to gaze upon the forbidden fruit of the DLR (Ancient Modern rules, remember) and admire the shiny if equally unreliable new trains .

 

[stormerne]

Well perhaps I shall relax a little after all.
I shall visit my chums in Sloane Square for cocktails.
Care to join me anyone?

 

[duke o' york]

Don't mind if I do, that would be simply delightful old bean. How you come to have friends in Sloane Square is beyond me, but I am growing nervous and too aware of the yawning social chasm as we hobnob with the glitterati and yearn for something more down to earth. I therefore propose a trip to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub on Fleet Street for some Sam Smith's real ale, at the right price! Having indulged in the charms therein, I stagger back to Blackfriars and incredibly manage to find a seat on the platform for better easing of my aching head.

 

[Jimcat]

This is great! I used to follow alt.games.mornington-crescent in my Usenet days, but that was about ten years ago and I'm amazed to see what variants have spawned since then. Still, like the evolution from Civ1 to Civ2 and Civ3, I think that they enhance the gameplay even if they do make it a bit complex and occasionally frustrating for old-timers.

An amusing story about my own introduction to MC: my father taught me a game called "Foggy Bottom" that uses the Washington DC Metro system, when I was a wee lad in the early 1980's. It wasn't until the 90's and my introduction to Usenet that I realized that Foggy Bottom was nothing but a cheap Americanized version of Mornington Crescent!

I wonder how many other ignorant Americans fell into this trap...

 

[stormerne]

Welcome to our little thread Jimcat. Perhaps you can enlighten our audience further about Foggy Bottom. How does it compare to MC? Are the basic rules the same? Does it allow for the depth and complexity that goes hand in hand with MC? Or is it strictly for beginners only?

It seems that either I have scared polymath away or that he is taking a short skiing holiday. Either way I shall take advantage of the hiatus.

Duke, I have friends everywhere. It comes of marrying into Sicilian blood in part. Though I would seem simply to be a social chameleon, my designs are much deeper. You shouldn't let it tax your brains, especially with a head in your condition.

Blackfriars eh? That reminds me, I must visit some 'colleagues' down in the East End. We go on, via Aldgate East to Bangla Town and discuss business over a curry. You're not invited to this one.

 

[duke o' york]

Although chicken tikka masala may be the new signature dish for Britain, at this time of the morning I don't particularly feel like expressing my Britishness in such a spicy way, especially given the nasty jolts that the Underground can give you. I might have had to alight early to search for an empty cubicle were I to have a curry this early. Not that I was invited.....
I am intrigued by these wild tales of versions of civilised sport in other lands and shall instead travel to Tottenham Court Road to ask at the American Embassy for more details of Foggy Bottom. For those who have seen the Coen brothers' seminal O Brother Where Art Thou? I wonder if there are Foggy Bottom Boys who travel the country delighting the crowds with their close harmony singing and skewed version of MC .

 

[polymath]

Contrary to rumour and surmise, I have neither been scared nor skiing, at least not in the last month or so. In fact, I have been unwell in the stomach, thankfully not with the virus that causes one to be able to spraypaint a large radius with vomit.
Well, well, Tottenham Court Road? And onward, one short stop past the gaudy electronic retailers to Oxford Circus, since the journey will be much easier to bear in my invalid condition.

 

[Jimcat]

The BASIC, as in most basic, rules of Foggy Bottom are the same as those for Mornington Crescent. But you have to keep in mind that the Washington Metrorail is far less complex than the London Underground, and that right there takes away much of the original game's richness. On the other hand, it is much easier for beginners, children, and Americans to learn. I for one am glad that I had a few years of Foggy Bottom under my belt before trying to take on Mornington Crescent.

One intriguing thing about the evolution of Foggy Bottom over the years has been the expansion of the Metrorail subway system itself. When I first learned the game in 1981, there were no Green or Yellow Lines at all! It's hard for recent players to imagine not being able to play the Potomac Cutoff or the Chinatown Bypass, to name just a couple of classic plays that have emerged as the system construction expanded. Just the extension of the Orange Line past Rosslyn did wonders for the skilled player's ability to recover from a formerly untenable position.

As far as the music goes, I'm a fan of American traditional music myself, but there's no connection between the Foggy Bottom Boys and Foggy Bottom, the game. The place name does seem to be a popular one in the south, which says a lot about the area.

 

[stormerne]

Welcome back polymath. With all this sickness going around, it's the perfect excuse to open the fifth quadrant. (For beginners or for those think that's clearly ridiculous, that's the first octave by way of right ascension.) Thus I will play Elephant and Castle, get a little exercise by walking down the Walworth Road and call in at Baldwins at number 173 to stock up on herbal remedies. The more astute observers will recognise this as the key move of the Black and Tan Foldback, generally regarded as a safe strategy in the circumstances. What?? Stormerne playing safe?? Hmm... perhaps not... we'll see!

 

[GenghisK]

E&C? Mmm, isn't there a trick here I can't see? That seems a bit quiet. Too quiet Maybe he's preparing something...

 

[duke o' york]

My my, Stormerne has actually just told us of his Black and Tan intentions, which ought to immediately signal to all the other players that he has no intention whatsoever of playing out this tactic. But where else will he move, and to what effect. Since my own, slightly smaller, MC version of Deep Blue, Deep Puce as I call it, has ceased to function reliably since the move to Saxmundham exposed my negligence in not pre-programming all possible shunts, I shall be forced to wing it in a foolish Biggles style. Complete with stiff upper lip, beige scarf and mighty whiskers.
Employing the Stoker's Shift from Elephant and Castle to Latimer Road, I notice that if I boost the trip a little further to Royal Oak, then with my casino chips rake I can use a little sleight of hand and end up with a lap full of tokens. Players of your calibre really oughtn't fall for the old "Look over there" token swoop.

 

[stormerne]

Overlook? I think not, my dear Duke, I think not. Those in our audience who are familiar with chess (as I know Khanh is) will know the "Poison Pawn" variation of the Sicilian Defence, and they will shortly see the Mornington Crescent version of it.

I would not have your tokens Duke, if Mrs. Trellis herself handed them to me! Under the circumstances, you will find they are only of use to you if you can convert them into some more tangible advantage such as Line Velocity, and you will have little chance to do that. Otherwise they will simply weigh you down, and I think you will find a little greed goes a long 'weigh'.

So, either you have fallen into my trap, or you are simply accepting the gambit. Either way - and I think Acton Town will expose which - I think my bluff will have paid off.

 

[duke o' york]

Crikey! I have waited three days for another one of our increasingly occasional players to accept Stormerne's floored gauntlet, but alas no!
Very well then, since no-one else has neither the courage nor the gumption to chance their arm against our reigning champion, I shall have to see what LV I can muster by using tokens and the Circle Line. Please stand back ladies and gentlemen as this is a particularly dangerous manoeuvre and should most definitely not be attempted at home. From Acton Town I can slip down onto the Circle Line at Notting Hill Gate, using a couple of tokens to boost my LV and ensure I make it round the corner toward Bayswater. This will be followed by some rapid orbits of the Circle Line, using tokens to pick up even more LV each time, and of course with the potential danger of my shooting off and ending up in the Barking sludge beds each turn. In the manner of a spaceship using the earth's gravitational pull to catapult it towards the moon, so shall I rapidly circle Tottenham Court Road before releasing and shooting violently away, only managing to brake at Plaistow. Now with this bisection of the Circle Line, how will my rivals fare with the increasingly open play in these conditions?

 

[stormerne]

That's a courageous move Duke, and I applaud your Yorkshire grit. You deserve recognition far beyond the dusty halls of CFC for that fine play, one that I would have been proud to make myself. Well done sir!

It puts me a bit of a quandry for, in making that move, you have showed creativity far beyond that of a run-of-the-mill opponent. Indeed I believe you are showing your true potential at last. But if I reply in like kind, we will effectively exclude anyone else from taking part as their moves will appear frivolous and scarcely credible. Whereas if I reply in a more modest fashion, I will not play you with the quality that you deserve in an opponent and you will rightly win in short order.

I have time for one waiting move and one only. In doing this I am passing the question to you and leaving you to decide whether we should be inclusive or exclusive. So since I have spent two of the last three days researching the Central Line at first hand, I will play Monument/Bank and translate all Line Velocity into Spin using that recent innovation by Mrs. Trellis, "The Englebert Manoeuvre". (It took me two days of solid practice before I could do it with the same grace and elegance that she exhibits, but it was worth it.)

 

[duke o' york]

Well it would appear that none of the other players have been invited to stay for the MC bar lock-in and so we shall have to continue playing by ourselves Stormerne.
Were you a MC newbie then I would forgive you your last move and be gentle on you but since I wouldn't want to appear patronising toward such a noble adversary then I shall press ahead regardless and take advantage of your generosity. Hopefully the game will henceforth be played at a pace and level of complexity that should wow the watching masses, if Genghis can really qualify as a mass, and we shall shirk all pretense of allowing the newer players an easy ride.
Having managed to successfully extricate myself from the sizeable hole I found myself in earlier, I shall once again bifurcate the game from Monument/Bank and thereby allow myself at least the chance to make it doubly difficult for you to reach MC. Speaking of MC, where better to take my first bifurcated move from Monument than Mornington Crescent itself? To further spice things up, from the Bank I shall make what many would consider a vainglorious gambit, using the risky Revy Centre to move to Ladbroke Grove which will bag me another green token but will give Stormerne an easy chance to put me in nidd next turn. I'll definitely have to keep my wits about me now that things are getting more serious here......

 

[stormerne]

Excellent moves. OK, gloves are off now. No more shillyshallying. Keep up if you can Khanh!

Arnos Grove is my choice in thread one. In thread two I will forego the chance to put you in nidd, Instead I'm going to gain rather a lot of momentum with a long-range reverse shut to Ealing Broadway, since I think that the apposite response to your fork is to put you in spoon.

 

[Sixchan]

I'm actually reading this too. I have absolutely no idea what's going on, but I find reading this very interesting. Don't try to explain, it may spoil my interest.

 

[duke o' york]

Thank you to all the lurkers who reveal themselves. I assume that we have Cornmaster reading this thread too, since he's supposed to be moderating this forum. Hello Cornmaster.

Back to the heat of the action then. Although it is tempting to force a three-pronged attack and bifurcate one of my already-bifurcated lines, I think that I might just tie myself up in all the myriad possibilities so I have opted to continue playing as we are lest the trident attack detract from the panache and verve of this encounter. Your move to Arnos Grove would suggest a potential Hamilton Shift, although those MC historians among the lurkers will also detect a nascent Freya Flip from the lengthy archives of pre-Norman conquest games compiled by the venerable Friar Augustus. With both these options in mind I shall play a little safer than I have been recently and strile to Caledonian Road, in honour of our newest lurker.
Bespooned at Ealing Broadway is not as troublesome as it might
first appear. Although my range is significantly reduced as a result of your spoon, I can maintain my LV and dart to Hanger Lane by virtue of the lesser known Heimlich manoeuvre. (His real fame comes in restaurants, but this neat little straddle deserves equal recognition in the MC free house we have set up here )

 

[stormerne]

Welcome Sixchan.

I do believe you're trying to wrest the initiative from me Duke. But my waiting move at Bank was finely judged and I now return to the attack.

And I believe I can attack because you have, consciously or not, fallen in with my web of Synchronicity. As you no doubt remember, I am Heathen by religion, and talk of the old deities by the mention of Freya is bound to make me take notice. But the fabled flip is not on the cards, at least not yet. Juxtaposed with Hanger Lane, this is doubly synchronous since my patron god is Odin, the gallows god, to whom this game may yet become dedicated. And the final node of the synchronous net: close by to Hangar Lane station is the Fox and Goose Hotel where I am staying one night next week.

This gives me every justification for playing the Synchronous Cyclone. Since Synchronicity is a term originally coined by Carl Jung, I advance the second thread to Notting Hill Gate, because that is the home of the C.G. Jung Analytical Psychology Club. This will be the centre of the cyclonic vortex, a storm which - I fear - will engulf your play and cause your greedily hoarded tokens to be flung off in the maelstrom. Pity! :flamedevi A storm, eh? Another synchronicity for the Storm Eagle!

But what of the first thread? Dare I say it Duke but you were playing to the gallery with Caledonian Road. Still I shall not allow such showy play to unnoticed, nor - dare I say it - unpunished. We will swing over to Fairfield Road in Bow and visit the Caledonian Arms for a pint. Synchronously once more, my home in East Anglia stands upon a different Fairfield Road. Off we go then to Bow Road.

 

[Ohwell]

"Don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to"
Ohwell, welcome nonetheless.

Welcome Sixchan

I sence a little more hostility to me than to Sixchan...

That map you gave, stormerne, isn't working on my computer anymore, considering that I now use a mac. Do you know where I can find another "tube" map? I am still struggling to understand this game.