[FAQ] rec.games.miniatures.warhammer Monthly FAQ

Archive-name: games/miniatures/warhammer-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-Modified: January 17th, 2003
Version: 3.1
URL: http://www.rgmw.org
Copyright: (c) 2002 Robert Singers
Maintainer: Robert Singers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

This article covers questions frequently asked by new comers to
rec.games.miniatures.warhammer and those wishing to understand common
practice and courtesy in the newsgroup.

HTML versions of this FAQ can be found at http://www.rgmw.org

The following topics are addressed.

1) What is RGMW?
  1.1) What is the history of RGMW?
  1.2) What topics are appropriate for RGMW?
  1.3) What topics are inappropriate for RGMW?

2) Posting to RGMW
  2.1) What should I do before posting?
  2.2) What format should my post be in?
  2.3) What can I include in a post.?
  2.4) What are tags?
  2.5) I want to ask a question, any tips?
  2.6) I posted and no one has answered what do I do?
  2.7) I want to sell or advertise something on the newsgroup.

3) Flame Wars
  3.1) What do I do if I get flamed?
  3.2) To kill file or not.
  3.3) Who is Erik Setzer and what is 'the shunning'?

Appendix One: Tags
  Game Systems - Fantasy and Historical
  Game Systems - SciFi
  General Topics
  Commercial Posts

1) What is RGMW?

1.1) What is the history of RGMW?

  Once upon a time there was a newsgroup called rec.games.miniatures.
  A request for discussion was called to split it into three groups
  rec.games.miniatures.historical, rec.games.miniatures.misc and
  rec.games.miniatures.warhammer.  You can read the RFD here
  http://www.faqs.org/ftp/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/rec/rec.games.
  miniatures-reorg.

  The charter for rec.games.miniatures.warhammer is

    'Rec.games.miniatures.warhammer shall be an unmoderated
     recreational newsgroup devoted to the discussion of various
     fantasy and science-fiction miniatures games set in the
     "Warhammer" universe, including but not limited to such
     games as Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WFB), Warhammer 40000
     (40K) and Man o' War (MOW).'

1.2) What topics are appropriate for RGMW?

  The appropriate topics for RGMW are the games produced by Games
  Workshop and modelling or painting discussions related to said games.
  Discussions about other game systems are not appropriate unless they
  are comparisons to Games Workshop games.

1.3) What topics are inappropriate for RGMW?

  RGMW has a very high tolerance for off topic posts as long as they
  are properly tagged as such (see 2.4) What are tags?).  However
  having said that there are a number of topics that spark long
  and nasty flame wars.  These are
   - Splitting the newsgroup
   - Ethnicity or Race
   - Gender or Sexual Orientation
   - Copyright Infringement or Theft of Intellectual Property
     (leeching).
   - Telling people to stop complaining about the business practices of
     game and miniature companies.

2) Posting to RGMW

2.1) What should I do before posting?

  Before posting to RGMW you should read this FAQ in its entirety and
  bone up on your netiquette.  RGMW as a whole has a low threshold for
  poor netiquette and top posting in general.  For more information on
  Usenet and Netiquette, refer to news groups such as
  news.announce.newusers and news.newusers.question
  (http://members.fortunecity.com/nnqweb/) or search for "netiquette"
  with your favourite search engine.

  Netiquette may seem a trivial thing but RGMW is a truly international
  newsgroup and many of the posters do not have English as a first
  language.  Add to this that discussing rules or army lists is made
  difficult by poor netiquette such as top posting, it is essential
  that you follow Usenet conventions if you wish to get any value out
  of RGMW.

  Another good idea before posting is to use a search engine before
  asking questions.  Google (http://www.google.com) is a good search
  engine to use as it also allows you to search news group archives.

2.2) What format should my post be in?

  All posts to RGMW should be in text.  None of the RFCs relating to
  newsgroups specify HTML as a valid message format.  Not all
  newsreaders can read HTML posts and they display as garbage.
  Newsreaders and WebTVs that default to HTML are the misbehaved
  applications not those of us with properly configured newsreaders.

  You should also try to post in English as it is the primary language
  of the newsgroup.  If your English is not good then by all means
  explain this and ask for help.  Often there will be someone who
  speaks your language that can help.

  There are also various non english web forums and an Italian news
  group for Warhammer nttp://free.it.giochi.warhammer.

2.3) What can I include in a post.?

  You can include text in posts.  RGMW is not a binary newsgroup so if
  you want to include a picture then you will need to place it on a web
  server and include a link.

  There are plenty of free web servers such as Tripod or Freewebz that
  you can use.  Your ISP might also provide a certain amount of space
  free or at a low cost.

2.4) What are tags?

  Tags are an indicator of what subject or game system you are
  discussing. They are not mandatory but they definitely a good idea.
  Common netiquette does dictate however that anything not on the topic
  of the news groups should be tagged as Off Topic [OT]. Tags are
  simple to use. You simply include the appropriate abbreviation in
  your subject line. They should be enclosed in square brackets "["
  and "]" and separated from the subject text by a space.

  Many people use tags to colour code the subject line based on games
  system.

  See Appendix One: Tags for a list of current tags.  You can use
  multiple tags, just remember to include a space between the tags as
  many newsreader filters don't appear to work without it.


2.5) I want to ask a question, any tips?

  Chances are that any question that you may want to ask has been asked
  before.  It's a good idea to use the Google newsgroup search facility
  to check.  You can save yourself time and get more information by
  being able to expand on previous conversations.

  Make sure that you use the tag appropriate to the topic so you catch
  the attention of the right people.  If you have a question about
  Chaos in Warhammer 40K then having Warhammer Fantasy Battle players
  respond is not likely to help much.

  Make sure your spelling, punctuation, and grammar are the best you
  can manage.  Answering a question when you don't know what the
  questioner means is difficult.

2.6) I posted and no one has answered what do I do?

  RGMW runs on Usenet time.  There is a propagation delay as your post
  travels between servers around the world.  If no one has answered
  your post it's for one of two reasons.  The first is that no one's
  interested and the second and more likely due to the promiscuous
  nature of RGMW is that no one has had a chance to.  Give it at least
  twenty-four hours before posting the same thing again.

  If you do post the same or similar thing you will get flamed.
  Multiple posts equate to spam in most people's minds.

2.7) I want to sell or advertise something on the newsgroup.

  The newsgroup is not a commercial notice board.  People don't read it
  with the aim of purchasing items.  For selling your best option is to
  use Ebay or a national auction site, as most people who buy second
  hand miniatures and rules don't take notice of ads on RGMW.  If you
  must make posts about buying, selling, or trading items then use the
  appropriate commercial tags (see Appendix One: Tags - Commercial
  Posts).

  If you have multiple items for sale them combine them into one post.

  RGMW is however a good place to discuss various online merchants and
  give feedback.

  If you are a commercial operation do not constantly spam the
  newsgroup with advertisements.  The members of the newsgroups will
  take every opportunity to make complaints to your news provider and
  ISP and have you closed down.  If you must advertise and it will only
  garner you poor will, then make sure you use a tag.

3) Flame Wars

3.1) What do I do if I get flamed?

  Flame wars are common in RGMW.  They are part of it's charm.  If you
  find yourself being flamed and are surprised the first thing to do is
  go back and read whatever it was that you wrote that caused you to be
  flamed.  If you were in the wrong or may not have explained yourself
  well then apologise.  It's amazing how much goodwill an honest
  apology will buy you.  If you are in the right then stick up for
  yourself or let it go.  Just be aware that anyone who has been
  around the newsgroup for a while is likely to have a thick skin and
  a certain amount of skill flaming, or is just obnoxious, be careful!

3.2) To kill file or not.

  At some stage you are bound to run into someone on the newsgroup that
  you just can't stand or won't cut you a break.  Think about using a
  newsreader with a kill file.

  Check out http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile/killfilefaqhtm.htm
  for information on how to use kill files with various news readers.

  Kill filing people cuts down on pointless noise on newsgroups.

3.3) Who is Erik Setzer and what is 'the shunning'?

  Erik Setzer is RGMW's most persistent 'troublemaker'.  Many new
  comers to RGMW complain about how unfairly he's being treated, until
  they experience his hypocrisy for themselves.  The shunning is an
  attempt to teach Erik restraint by asking people not to encourage
  him.  Any 'shunning' posts should include the [SHUN] tag so they can
  be filtered.  If you want to know about Erik, use Google to look at
  his past exploits. The best option is to kill file Erik if you
  don't like what he posts.

Appendix One: Tags

Game Systems - Fantasy and Historical
  [WFB]   Warhammer Fantasy Battles
  [MORD]  Mordheim
  [WM]    WarMaster
  [LOTR]  Lord of the Rings
  [BB]    Blood Bowl
  [MOW]   Man o' War
  [AHQ]   Advanced HeroQuest (MB/GW)
  [TAL]   Talisman
  [WAB]   Warhammer Ancient Battles (Warhammer Historical Wargames Ltd)
  [WFRP]  Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play (Hogshead)
  [WQ]    Warhammer Quest

Game Systems - SciFi
  [40K]   Warhammer 40,000.  [40K2] can be used for comments specific
          to 2nd edition, and [RT] for comments about Rogue Trader (the
          original version of Warhammer 40K).
  [INQ]   Inquisitor
  [BFG]   Battlefleet Gothic
  [EPIC]  Epic Warhammer 40,000 includes [SM] Space Marine and [TL]
          Titan Legions
  [SH]    Space Hulk
  [NEC]   Necromunda
  [GM]    Gorka Morka

General Topics
  [Paint] Questions regarding painting, non-system specific (you never
          know when a 40K player will have a good idea pertaining to
          your fantasy figures).
  [Model] Questions about modeling, non-system specific (you never
          know when a  40K player will have a good idea pertaining to
          your fantasy figures either)
  [WD]    Questions or comments on White Dwarf
  [GW]    Anything regarding Games Workshop, but not related to any of
          the above, such as prices.
  [FAQ]   Questions or discussion regarding either the RGMW FAQ proper,
          or the RGMW MiniFAQ, including posting of said FAQs.
  [RGMW]  For any group business.
  [OT]    Anything that has nothing to do with Warhammer in all it's
          incarnations such as birthday announcements, season's
          greetings, etc.
  [Rant]  This tag is to be used in conjunction with any of the above
          tags, and denotes the post as a rant (read: long, impassioned
          complaint, or whine).  For example [40K] [Rant] denotes the
          post as rant directed at Warhammer 40,000.

Commercial Posts
  [WTB]   Want To Buy
  [WTS]   Want To Sell
  [WTT]   Want To Trade
  [FS]    For Sale
  [FT]    For Trade
  [AD]    If you have to post an advert use one of these tags.
  [ADVERT] As above.
  [AUC]   For posting or responding to auctions.
  [EBAY]  For posting or respondin to EBay auctions.
  [SWP]   Shameless Website Plug: If the topic at hand happens to
          relate to something you are involved in and you want mention
          this then you can use this self-depreciating tag.