This is a brief list of some of the more common abbreviations you are likely to find bandered about in the world of RTW multiplayer - then you can get straight into the blood.
cav, inf, zerks, HAs, art, eles - you will find many of these used around these forums as well as in multiplayer. Respectively: cavalry (ie horses - may or may not include chariots), infantry (ie foot-soldiers), berzerkers, horse-archers (including chariot-archers), artillery (ie catapults - ballistas, onagers etc), and elephants. No eles, no art rules are extremely common, and thus breaking them tends to make people most annoyed.
cwb - probably the most common set of rules, and one of the hardest to remember. You will simply have to learn them: it stands for Clan War Belt, and means you are allowed a maximum of 6 of the same unit, a maximum of 8 cavalry and 8 archers, a maximum of 2 horse-archers or berzerkers, and no artillery or elephants.
ffa - quite commonly used, and one of my personal favourite rule-sets; it means simply "free for all", so everyone is against everyone else. Although unofficial temporary alliances are usually not forbidden, they are generally best avoided for the sake of your reputation if nothing else.
glhf - people often say this at the end of the deployment phase. It stands for "good luck, have fun." Likewise gg stands for "good game". Just post glhf to all players at the beginning and gg at the end of a battle, it just shows you're a nice guy.
Remember: it's always best to ask what a set of rules mean rather than going into the battle not knowing, because people can get pretty irritated when someone breaks the rules, which can result in you being "kicked" from the game. So when in doubt, ask! Better to be perceived as n00b than to be kicked.
Anything important I have missed, please say so.
Anything important I have missed, please say so.
[This message has been edited by Edorix (edited 11-13-2010 @ 09:03 AM).]