[DISTRUGGETE BASE LUNA :: DESTROY MOONBASE] With thanks to Licio (angelo.zumbo@tin.it) I now have a copy of the matter in the game "Distruggete Base Luna" (note spelling) = "Destroy Moonbase". I translated the text aided by the auto-translater http://translator.go.com (as Babelfish has gone 404). With such diversions as it translating the name "Ed" (Straker / Bishop) as "and", and when it found a participle plural in "-ati" always treating the "-ti" as the pronoun "you" (intimate / condescending form), and rendering "tuti" (here = "spacesuits") as "coverallses", and going totally off the rails with "casco" (= "helmet"). It is basically a dice-driven race game. It seems to use one ordinary 6-sided dice. It is for 2 to 5 players; one plays Straker defending Moonbase, and the others are UFO pilots. The board shows a stylized sky star chart. Round its edges are various pictures and text about SHADO and its vehicles, but they are not directly part of the game. In top left of the game area is a picture of SHADO Moonbase, which represents the Moon in the game. In top right of the game area is a red inset square labelled "Basi UFO" (= "UFO bases"). From the UFO bases four tracks with small numbered circles on meander across the board to Moonbase. A separate list lists hazards etc (e.g. meteor swarms, UFO radio breakdown) at various of these points, which tell the player to miss turns or go back; but one point on each track lets him go forward 3 (e.g. "Interceptors have to go back to base to refuel".) One player on each track. On each track are two "reticoli di battaglia" (= battle grids). 4 consecutive points on the track are inside the grid. If the UFO is 6 or fewer points before the grid, the Straker player chooses one point inside that grid, and marks it with a marker on an enlarged copy of the 8 battle grids that he has; this copy represents one of his display screens in Moonbase. If the UFO lands on the marked square, it must return to its base. If the same UFO lands on a marked square again, it is out of the game and is considered to be disintegrated along with its pilot. Once past both battle grids, the UFO some time reaches the Moon, where conceptually this happens:- {It arrives damaged and lands in a remote crater. Its crew dress in [copied or captured] SHADO-type spacesuits and try to infiltrate Moonbase, to sabotage Moonbase's lunar module landing ramp, to cut Moonbase off from supplies from Earth [until repairs can be carried out]. But inevitably there is a risk of being detected.} The security check is represented by a quiz of 3 questions about SHADO and real space exploration and the Solar System. If they answer all questions right, then conceptually {they sabotage the lunar module landing ramp}. If not, {Straker knows he better alert Skydiver etc on Earth}. (I think :: the Italian is a bit unclear here and its story scenario seems to have logical flaws.) Whether any or all of the UFO pilot players pass the quiz or not, the first to land on the Moon plays Straker in the next game (I think). There are 60 questions, 2 on each of 30 cards. Of them, a few of the answers are out of date or a bit wrong, and two of them look silly in English because they lose point in translation. When Straker is marking a "firing position": if a player is now on position 0 of a route, the chances of him landing on a chosen position ahead (either in his next turn or later) is:- 1: prob = 16.67% 2: prob = 19.46% 3: prob = 22.67% 4: prob = 26.47% 5: prob = 30.67% 6: prob = 36.03% --------------------- 7: prob = 25.36% 8: prob = 26.81% 9: prob = 28.03% and after that the probability quickly tends to 2/7 = 28.57%. If Straker always can choose the position six ahead of the UFO, the UFO has 41% chance of getting through both battle grids that time. But as the UFO must he hit twice to be out of the game, it has 71% chance of reaching the Moon. [DISTRUGGETE BASE LUNA :: DESTROY MOONBASE] With thanks to Arturo Zumbo [RULES FOR THE GAME] The game consists of 4 routes for UFO's, named after colors, across a board representing various constellations. Each route has positions numbered 1 upwards. In each of two places in each route are interpolated four un-numbered positions [which I here name A B C D, E F G H], where the player's UFO is vulnerable to SHADO Interceptor fire. The routes start from "UFO Bases" and end at SHADO Moonbase. On each route, the UFO Base are the next position before position 1, and Moonbase is the next position after the last numbered position. The game is for from two to five players, who should choose from among themselves a Commander Straker; the rest are UFO pilots. To direct the UFO's towards Moonbase could be a single player or two, or three, or four. In this last case, obviously, everyone of the four UFO's (one for each route) will have its pilot. The shooting of SHADO missiles will be entrusted to a single player, the one with the role of Commander Straker. The game equipment is:- A) A large board representing the sky with the greater constellations and the four UFO routes. On the board is SHADO Moonbase, Straker's command building, who has special anti-UFO kit, as equipment to organize land defense. B) Commander Ed Straker's shooting table; C) A table of hazards etc at various numbered points on the UFO routes; D) UFO markers; E) Disk markers representing the shooting; F) A pack of 30 cards with the questions to ask on attacking; G) A dice numbered 1 to 6. The game starts with sorting out the roles by throwing the dice; the player with the highest score has the role of Commander Straker; the others that of UFO pilots. They choose approach directions freely or by throwing the dice. One UFO uses each route. The UFOs start at the "UFO bases" and proceed along their routes towards the Moonbase, throwing the dice each move. They will come across two types of obstacle and warning: shooting by SHADO at the un-numbered positions A B C D, E F G H, and the indications given in the hazards table. In the hazards table is indicated for several positions on the UFO directions retreats, pauses, or, more rarely, advances. When a UFO reaches one of the six positions next before that route's positions A B C D or E F G H, Moonbase carries out shooting inside the grid, choosing as target (similarly to in the "Battleships" game) one of the positions A B C D, or E F G H, accordig to which firing zone the UFO is reaching. The target will be indicated by one shooting marker disc. If the dice throw does not carry the UFO to the position chosen by the defenders as a shooting target, the UFO can continue its route; otherwise it must return to its starting point. The second time this happens to the same UFO, it must be considered to be disintegrated and is out of that game. On the green and yellow directions the UFO base is within shooting range of that route's positions A B C D, and the pilots will be able to leave base only after Moonbase has fired. If the UFO, proceeding along its route, manages to get past the shooting of Moonbase and the other obstacles, it comes down, damaged, in a remote crater of the Moon, where its crew dress in spacesuits like those of SHADO and will try to get confused with Earthlings in order better to catch up to sabotage the Moon landing ramp. This ramp guarantees the connection between Earth and the Moon. Commander Straker and his fellows ask the arrivers three questions to assess their identity. In practice each UFO pilot must take from the pack three cards and hand them face-down to the defender of SHADO. He chooses between the two questions on each card, that one that he will think opportune. If the alien can answer the three questions, the game finishes favorably for the UFO's: with the Moon landing ramp for the lunar modules sabotaged, Moonbase will be practically isolated. If instead the alien crew are unmasked, the SHADO outpost will only have the Skydivers and other land means in front of itself, whereas before they were counting on the men and the means of the Base prepared on the Moon. Regardless of the result of this quiz, the first UFO pilot to land on the Moon plays Commander Straker in the next game. ------------------------------------------------------------------ [THE QUESTIONS] (1) The two questions in each paragraph were on the same card in the original. (2) ***[ ] marks where the original answers were queryable. (3) To choose a "card" from this list, I suppose he could do this: Throw the dice twice. If this gives numbers X and Y, work out Z = (6 times X) + Y - 6. If Z is bigger than 30, try again. Else choose the Z'th "card". Q: When did a man first come to the Moon? A: 20 July 1969. Q: Who was the first man who set foot on the Moon? A: Neil Armstrong (U.S.A.), commander of the Apollo 11 mission Q: What are galaxies? A: Gigantic masses of stars. Q: Which star is nearest to Earth? A: The Sun. Q: What is the name of the place where Russian spacecraft leave from? A: Baikonur. ***[the original incorrectly said "Baikanor"; I know how to spell the place: I've been there!!] Q: What is the length of a revolution of the Earth round the Sun? A: 365 days. Q: What are comets? A: Celestial bodies with a central luminous nucleus and a tail. Q: What is a planet? A: A celestial body that has no light of its own and orbits a star and receives its light. Q: What are meridians alias lines of longitude? A: Imaginary circles that go through the poles. Q: What are parallels alias lines of longitude? A: Imaginary circles parallel to the Equator. Q: What is a satellite? A: A little planet that orbits another planet. Q: What is a star? A: A celestial body that shines by its own light. Q: At which base are the SHADO Interceptors based? A: Moonbase. Q: What is the word for creatures that do not belong to our planet? A: Extraterrestrials or aliens. Q: Who was the German scientist who became director of the USA's space program? A: Wernher von Braun. Q: Have Russian or American astronauts died during missions? A: Yes. More Russians than Americans. Q: Is more of our planet occupied by sea or by dry land? A: Sea. (Dry land is about 30% of the Earth's surface.) Q: What are the names of our planet's 3 biggest oceans? A: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian. Q: Do you know at least 4 planets of the Solar System? A: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. Q: Which planet is nearest to the Sun? A: Mercury. Q: What is the Milky Way? A: The galaxy that the Solar System belongs to. Q: What is the name of the rocket that carried the first Apollo mission to the Moon? A: Saturn 5. Q: In the UFO series, have aliens landed on Earth? A: Yes, various times. Q: What is the circumference of our planet? A: About 40000 kilometers. Q: What does "full moon" mean? A: The phase when the moon shows its whole disk illuminated. Q: Which planet appears the brightest to people on Earth? A: Venus. Q: Which man first went into space? A: Yuri Gagarin (USSR) Q: Who was the first woman to go into space? A: Valentina Tereskova (USSR). Q: How many satellites does Jupiter have? A: 12. ***[Space probes have found several more since then] Q: What is the name of the missile-firing aircraft issued to Skydiver? A: Sky. Q: How long does the Earth take to rotate on its axis? A: About 24 hours. Q: What is the atmosphere? A: A gaseous wrapping that surrounds Earth. Q: What is the name for the place where the Moon is furthest from Earth? A: Apogee. Q: What causes sea tides on the Earth? A: The Moon. Q: What was the name of the Russian female dog who first went into space? A: Laika. Q: How many cardinal points are there, and what are they? A: 4: North, South, East, West. Q: Which planet is furthest from the Sun? A: Pluto. ***[It wasn't the furthest from about 1960 to 1990] Q: What is the other name for UFO's? A: Flying saucers. Q: What is the Equator? A: The maximum circumference of the Earth's globa. Q: Name at least 2 of the spacecraft that Russians and Americans have used? A: Vostok, Mercury, Gemini, Soyuz, Apollo. Q: Do Earthquakes occur only on the Earth? A: No. They occur in many places in the universe. Q: What is the nae of the instrument that finds direction? A: Compass. Q: Are mountains on the Moon higher or lower than mountains on the Earth? A: Higher (up to 9000 meters). ***[Not if you reckon the height of Earth mountains above the ocean floor rather than above sea level] Q: Does the Moon have earthquakes (or better, moonquakes)? A: Yes. Q: What proverb describes the shape of the Moon when going from New Boon to Full Moon? A: Bulge to west, Moon waxing; bulge to east, Moon waning. Q: What is the name of the place where the Moon is nearest to Earth? A: Perigee. Q: Who acted Commander Straker in the UFO series? A: Ed Bishop. Q: Are UFO's talked about commonly on our world? A: Yes, as strange objects that appear in the sky. Q: What types of aircraft does SHADO have? A: Sky and Shadair. Q: What are SHADO's ground attack vehicles called? A: Mobiles. ***[The original for the last question was "Q: What is landing on the Moon called? A: Landing on the moon."; Italian has a special word "allunaggio" for landing on the Moon.] Q: Does Ed Straker have a superior? If so, who? A: Yes. General James Henderson. ***[the original said "Anderson"!] Q: Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a multitiude of tiny planets. Are they more or less than 1000? A: More. Much more. Q: Have the Russians landed vehicles on the Moon? A: Yes, automatic unmanned vehicles. Q: Can people find their direction by the Sun? A: Yes. Q: What is the name for the base that Amnerican spacecraft leave from? A: Cape Canaveral. ***[The original said the old name "Cape Kennedy"] Q: What was the first rescue carried out in space? A: When Apollo 13 had to use its lunar module's motor to return to Earth. Q: What are meteorites? A: Fragments of cosmic material that become incandescent from atmospheric friction. Q: Where do American astronauts return to Earth? A: In the sea. Russians return to the land. ***[But USA space shuttles land on the land] Q: What is the name of the body that directs space actiivities in the USA? [9] A: NASA. ***[The original said "air and space activities"] Q: What planet in the Solar System has conditions most like Earth? A: Mars. ------------------------------------------------------------------ [HAZARDS] 1) PURPLE ROUTE (44 numbered steps) 4: Wait a turn. [Electromagnetic storm of solar origin.] 7: Wait a turn. [Signal about a meteorite swarm.] SHADO Interceptor fire zone of 4 positions inserted between 13 and 14. 17: Go back 3 places [SHADO probes signal to Moonbase about UFO routes.] 21: Wait a turn. [Space debris hazard.] 27: Advance 3 places. [Radio interference affects Moonbase. Favourable moment for the UFO.] SHADO Interceptor fire zone of 4 positions inserted between 34 and 35. 37: Go back 3 places. [SHADO lunar modules have left orbiting mines.] 40: Go back 3 places [Anchored orbiting mines] 2) GREEN ROUTE (47 numbered steps) SHADO Interceptor fire zone of 4 positions inserted between 5 and 6. 8: Advance 3 places. [The first big wave of Interceptors re-enter as their fuel is at limit. Favorable moment to the UFO.] 14: Wait a turn. [Meteorite zone. Possible damage to external equipment. verification is necessary.] SHADO Interceptor fire zone of 4 positions inserted between 20 and 21. 24: Go back 3 places [Straker ordered orbiting mines to be placed.] 29: Prudent retreat of 3 places. [They run across patrolling Interceptors.] 33: Wait a turn. [Electromagnetic burst damages radio apparatus. Repairs in progress.] 39: Go back 3 places. [Obstruction by SHADO Interceptors.] 43: Wait a turn. [Computer signals possibility of shooting directly from Moonbase.] 3) RED ROUTE (45 numbered steps) 4: Go back 3 places [Explosion of orbiting mine.] 9: Advance 3 places. [SHADO Interceptor in difficulty. Favourable moment for the UFO.] 15: Wait a turn. [Electromagnetic storm removes radio communication.] SHADO Interceptor fire zone of 4 positions inserted between 18 and 19. 22: Wait a turn. [Cosmic ray burst.] SHADO Interceptor fire zone of 4 positions inserted between 26 and 27. 29: Wait a turn. [Meteorite zone. Control external equipment.] 35: Go back 3 places [A formation of lunar modules.] 40: Go back 6 places [Shooting directly from Moonbase.] 4) YELLOW ROUTE (46 numbered steps) SHADO Interceptor fire zone of 4 positions inserted between 5 and 6. 9: Advance 3 places. [Signal of a moonquake of exceptional violence in progress on the Moon. Favorable moment to the UFO.] 14: Go back 3 places. [Unexpected concentration of Interceptors.] 18: Go back 3 places. [Explosion of orbiting mines.] SHADO Interceptor fire zone of 4 positions inserted between 22 and 23. 25: Wait a turn. [Space debris in the way.] 29: Wait a turn. [Meteorite presence. Necessary to control external apparatus.] 35: Go back 3 places [New big waves of SHADO Interceptors.] 41: Wait a turn. [Computer signals arrival of new reinforcements from SHADO to Moonbase. Observation necessary.]