Another Alien Game!

Wow, there are a lot of tabletop games based on the Alien franchise. My boys and I love this universe, however, so if companies keep makin' 'em, we'll keep buyin' 'em. 

Today we picked up Alien: Fate of the Nostromo. With Amy and Matthew in San Francisco at a swim meet, Nathaniel and I ventured out to Target. I had intended on buying the Gargoyles board game, but we were both intrigued by another take on the Alien mythos, especially since this one gets right back to the roots of this franchise. 

More akin to Forbidden Island and games of that ilk than skirmish games like AVP, this Alien game features virtually no combat. Instead, you move around iconic locations from the Nostromo, gathering resources, accomplishing objectives, and working toward an escape plan, all the while doing your best to avoid the xenomorph. Sometimes you know where it is and can plan accordingly, while other times you only think you know where it is and then it appears exactly where you don't want it to!

On our first try, Nathaniel was Dallas and I was Parker. We had some bad luck on card draws and only managed to win on the last-possible turn when I remembered that Parker had an item that could clear the xenomorph out of our escape path. The second time, I tried Dallas and Nathaniel opted for Lambert, whose ability to see the next encounter card (essentially, the next action taken by the alien) proved to be incredibly useful.

Here's a pic of the game board from early in our second adventure.

And now here's a shot of the game's final turn, when Dallas obliterated the xenomorph with an incinerator unit.

We won that second game handily. When Matthew and Amy get back, we'll try a four-player game. I'm sure Lambert will be among the character choices, and I'd be surprised if Nathaniel didn't want to use her again. And what about Ripley? In our opinion, she's actually the least effective character in the game!

All-Star Break

How is it possible that I'm already through the first half of Season 7? The games sure do go quickly; I can get through a nine-inning game in about a half-hour. Even so, I'm surprised at how fast the season is speeding by. Today I'm pausing for a moment to take stock of where things stand here at the midway point.

Haymakers (8-4, +16 run differential)

The league's perennial powerhouse is pacing the circuit in scoring (4.25 runs per game) and in run prevention (2.92). Cap Anson is having another fine season at the plate (in contention for a possible third Position Player MVP trophy) and Mickey Welch (4-1 in six starts, with a 2.57 ERA) is leading a strong pitching staff.

Resolutes (7-5, +3)

The defending champions have thus far escaped the injury bug that ravaged them last year. Overall, they're having a pretty solid but unspectacular season; their scoring is up (3.50 runs per game, second-best in the league), but they're also giving up more runs (3.25) than last year's pitching-first squad. First baseman Jake Beckley could be a dark horse candidate for Position Player MVP.

Canaries (5-7, -5)

The Birds are showing signs of life after two abysmal seasons. Their hopes and dreams are pinned on second-year phenom Addie Joss, currently the frontrunner for Pitcher MVP; with a 1.93 ERA through five starts, Joss has a shot to beat Welch's 1.61 ERA from Season 4 as the all-time best mark. If the Canaries' offense comes around -- and defending Position Player MVP Ed Delahanty is heating up, along with slugging first baseman Roger Connor -- they could make a late run for a spot in the championship series.

Blue Legs (4-6, -14)

Over the years, the Blue Legs have been known for one thing: Power hitting. So many iconic Blue Legs moments have involved towering home runs from sluggers like Nap Lajoie, Dan Brouthers, and King Kelly. It's ironic, then, that this year's squad has hit zero home runs through the first half (12 games) of the season. Ouch! On the field, they're giving up a league-worst 4.33 runs per game -- a full run per game worse than the next-worst team.

Command Points to the Rescue!

This past weekend, while Matthew was dominating his swim meet -- he finished first overall! -- Nathaniel and I hung out at home and finally had time to dive into the current edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. He wanted to play the Stormcast Eternals, so I took the Orruks. The starter set did a pretty good job of introducing the rules piecemeal over several small-scale scenarios. In one memorable episode, his line of spear-wielding, golden-armored warriors charged headlong into my ranks, slaughtering half my troops. After a feeble response by the Orruks, they failed their Battleshock test and the entire group fled! It was, needless to say, a rather ignominious way to lose a game! Once we layered in all of the game rules, however, I was able to use command points to keep my panicky greenskins from fleeing. That proved to be decisive in one of our battles, as I was able to hang on long enough to win the game by controlling enough objectives!

Joss Goes Yard

In this young season, the top two pitchers in the league have been veteran Mickey Welch of the Haymakers and Canaries sophomore Addie Joss. Both had pitched complete-game shutouts in their previous starts before squaring off against each other. 

The Haymakers held a slim 2-1 lead in the seventh when Joss came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first. Briefly, I considered pinch hitting for him, but yanking Joss in that scenario would have provided only a marginal chance of scoring a run while removing the Canaries' best pitcher from the game. A sacrifice bunt wasn't an option with two outs, so Joss had the green light to swing away and hope for the best. Now, Addie Joss is no John Clarkson or Al Spalding; in fact, he's one of the three or four worst-hitting pitchers in the league. Imagine my surprise when Joss belted Welch's offering into the left-field stands for a two-run homer! 

It was just the third home run ever hit by a pitcher in this league. John Clarkson of the Resolutes hit the first two back in Season 5. In an odd twist of fate, the pitcher who surrendered the first of Clarkson's bombs was none of than Mickey Welch. 

Oh, and as for the game? That home run was the difference, as the Canaries won 3-2.

Opening Day

Our first game was a rematch of last year's championship series between the Resolutes and Blue Legs. The Legs wasted no time in snapping their pesky 18-inning scoring drought by plating a run against John Clarkson in the top of the first. The Resolutes, however, shelled Old Hoss Radbourn and Al Spalding en route to a 9-4 triumph as they seek to defend their team's first title.

The Canaries hosted the Haymakers in the other game. Slugging third baseman George Davis was injured midway through the contest, which doesn't bode well for the Birds' efforts to rebound after their last-place finish in Season 6. The Haymakers took a 5-0 lead and held off a late rally to win 5-4. All in all, it was a typical Haymakers win -- a workmanlike start from Cy Young, an offense that grinds out quality at-bats, and a save by flamethrowing closer Amos Rusie.

And with that, Season 7 is underway!

Spring Training

Yeah, it's not spring yet, but in the world of my ghostly Field-of-Dreams-esque Strat-O-Matic historical baseball league, it's always springtime. I've completed all offseason transactions for the four teams -- the Blue Legs, Canaries, Haymakers, and Resolutes -- and finalized their rosters, so now it's time to get started with Season 7!

What's on tap this year? Well, the Resolutes are defending their first-ever championship after defeating the Blue Legs in an epic come-from-behind series that ended with back-to-back shutouts by Christy Mathewson and John Clarkson. Indeed, the Resolutes' co-aces blanked the homer-happy Blue Legs over the final eighteen innings of the series. These teams will face each other again on Opening Day, and I'm eager to see if the Blue Legs can recover from last season's collapse. I'm also keeping an eye on the Haymakers, who failed to reach the championship series after five straight appearances (including three titles). And what about the Canaries? They went 8-16 with a league-worst -18 run differential, but there's so much talent on the team that I think they'll experience a bit of positive regression, especially if second-year pitcher Addie Joss continues to build on his strong finish to Season 6.

Play ball!