hey
wasnt sure where to put a first 'hello' post, so I stuck it here.
Im pretty new to this Thud buisness but having a great time getting to grips with it. I hope in good time to be worthy of playing some of you 
Ive just started a few weeks ago. Left the UK to go on holliday in India - and took the new Thud novel with me. While away, after finishing the book I decided it was about time to give the game a go. So a visit-to-an-internet-cafe later, me and my brother were sitting in a resteraunt in Kerala playing our first game of Thud on a checked tablecloth using bottle tops as Trolls and 1 Rupee coins as Dwarves...
To try and get my head around possible strategies, as advised by other posts, Ive downloaded ThudBoard (which is great) and worked through a couple of games. But I have a question about a couple of moves in one game that I dont understand the logic of at all.
Erik vs NiDochartaigh from Oograhs site. http://www.geocities.com/oograh_boike/frame-games.html
Move 11. Theres a clear opportunity for a Dwarf (G2) to capture the Troll but for some reason the dwarf at F2 is moved to the bottom of the board instead. Why? I thought someone whos done the rounds a few times might be able to explain what was likely to be the reason? As a beginner, whenever I play Dwarves its so hard to get the Trolls on the back foot that I cant imagine not taking an opportunity like that.
Thanks in advance 
Re: hello from a new chap....
Hello and welcome
**snip**
Erik vs NiDochartaigh from Oograhs site. **snip**
Move 11. Theres a clear opportunity for a Dwarf (G2) to capture the Troll but for some reason the dwarf at F2 is moved to the bottom of the board instead. Why? I thought someone whos done the rounds a few times might be able to explain what was likely to be the reason? As a beginner, whenever I play Dwarves its so hard to get the Trolls on the back foot that I cant imagine not taking an opportunity like that.
**snip**
Just to confuse I'm NiDochartaigh (other forum name).
If you point out which game it was I might be able to help/explain the apparenet madness behind it. although there might not be any...
Right I think I worked out which game it was - the first one? - didn't take much working out...
What I think might have happened is ...
As some point later in the game, we worked out that our boards were not the same - a peice misplaced - it happens, and in reorganising the board, some peices were moved not necessarly in the same sequence as would show on the forum thread.
the text file stored the reshuffled game play and was up loaded.
I think the troll was captured before the Dwarf on f2 went south....
Can i take it as a deliberate mistake... 
heheh! fair enough. and thanks for the reply.
I wont sweat anymore trying to uncover the strategic genius behind the move then.
Happy Christmas.
Hi crowner,
I'm Oograh Boike and I'd like to welcome you to the Thud community, and to thank you for visiting my site.
Happy Thudding!
**snip**
strategic genius
**snip**
Who, what, where....
you obviously haven't played me yet then.
happy christmas...
i'm new here too, and was interested in playing an online game;
how does this work? There seems to be a chat facility but very few people on there, and virtually no one responding.
what actually happens when i start a game?
is there someway of sitting down to a game on my own and waiting for someone else to join me?
Crastney.
The current theory is that your best chance of finding an opponent is sometime around 20:00 to 22:00 GMT, but obviously the longer you're online the more chance you've got. Basically once you and a prospective opponent are both there you can select their name in the list on the right and click "challenge" to start a game - I'm afraid you cant start a game and wait for an opponent.
The other alternative is to go to the "Forum Thud!" section of these forums, where you can play "slowfire" thud - you find an opponent, then one of you posts a move to the forum, and the other replies. It gives you more time to think, which probably leads to better games, tactically speaking, but it loses that "live" feeling you get on quickfire thud.
Hpe this helps
Mr Scrub
"LOOKS PERFECTLY LOGICAL TO ME"