Some of these were already answered, but I am waiting 15 minutes for a build to finish... ;)
> I'm guessing that when someone referred to a
> "Gemini homeworld" that means that both pieces in
> the homeworld are the same, right?
Gemini are the twins... in this case, two of the same size. At least, that's what I assumed. I haven't really discussed homeworlds a lot, so I'm making a lot of guesses at the terminology and I'm co-opting terms from other games.
> Can someone explain what is meant by "small
> universe" and "large universe" as well?
Essentially, there are three distances in Homeworlds. You can be one hop away. Eg. a medium star is one hop from a small star, a large star, or a binary system with a large and a small. Two binary systems are one hop away if they don't share a size in common. This is rare, it means that at least one player picked two stars of the same size.
You can be two hops away. Eg. A small star is two hops away from another small star or a binary system that contains a small. Two binary systems are two hops away from each other if they contain exactly the same sized stars.
You can be three hops away. Two binary systems are three hops away if they contain all three sizes between them. For example, A large/small (goldilocks) system is three hops from a small/medium(banker) system. A single star system can always reach any other system in two hops.
I think of the universe as being "small" if the homeworlds are two hops away. I think of it as "tiny" if they are one hop away from each other.
> What is fools mate?
A reference to a quick win that should be easily defeated by a competent player. It basically requires your opponent to help you out. Hmm... what's the Fried Liver Attack of Homeworlds?
-JEEP