Universes Beyond

Maybe I need to give MTG another try?

Heroes of Saltmarsh

In June of 2019, after wrapping up our long-running Shattered Realm campaign, our Skype D&D group (Matt, his daughter, my boys, and myself) created new characters and began to play through the Ghosts of Saltmarsh D&D book. Over a year-and-a-half later, we're about to embark upon the seventh and final adventure in that volume. To commemorate this epic campaign, Matt commissioned an artist to create illustrations of the four PCs.

Without further ado, I give you...the heroes of Saltmarsh!

How cool is that?!? From left to right, we have the triton hexblade Vlaryn, the dwarf barbarian Moe, the lizardfolk monk/rogue Seven, and the fallen aasimar sorcerer Ciara. A truly great party, now memorialized in artwork!

Better Than a Battle

We're making good progress in our family Alien RPG campaign. The intrepid colonists have struck out across the frozen, irradiated surface of their new world (thanks to a pesky xenomorph whose acidic blood caused the colony ship to crash) in the hope of reaching a Weyland-Yutani outpost that (they hope) is waiting for them. This part of the campaign is all about survival, and it's shaping up to a a really fun change of pace from typical combat encounters. Amy makes no secret of her disdain for lengthy, tactical RPG battles, and I too was looking for different kinds of threats and challenges in this campaign. 

We've had our share of cool, memorable moments so far -- I particularly enjoyed the bit where Nathaniel's character, a ten-year-old kid, piloted the escape pod down to the planet -- but one episode really serves to highlight what makes this campaign so different from our usual RPG fare. After dispatching a nasty scorpion-like creature in a hail of gunfire, the heroes stopped for a breather. Matthew's character, a smarmy Weyland-Yutani executive, botched his consumable resource check (rolling four 1's on 4D6!) and thus, in narrative terms, the character ended up spilling his entire water supply on the ground. The impact of that roll was far better than any battle, as dehydration is a foe that cannot be fought with pulse rifles or incinerator units. The other characters then had to share their own precious water, and now they're not feeling quite so confident about their ability to reach the outpost...

Midseason Review

We're at the halfway point of Season 5, and it's turning out to be the most fun season since our inaugural campaign. Here are some of the major storylines so far!

• While the Haymakers (8-4) have been comfortably in first since the start of the season, the other three teams are locked in a tight battle for second. As of this writing, the Blue Legs (6-6) hold that spot, with the Resolutes (5-7) and Canaries (5-7) on their heels. At the end of the regular season, the first- and second-place teams will face off in a best-of-five series for the Creighton Cup. Will the Haymakers reach the championship series for a fifth consecutive season?  
• With the expansion Resolutes now in play, the talent pool has been diluted quite a bit. Not surprisingly, scoring is way down. Thus far, teams are scoring 3.48 runs per game, more than a half-run drop from the 4.18 per game that the three original teams were scoring last year.
• On a related note, pitchers reign supreme! The single-season ERA record (1.61, Mickey Welch, Season 4) is in jeopardy as the Resolutes' John Clarkson (3-3, 1.53 ERA, 53 innings pitched, 2 shutouts) and the Haymakers' Cy Young (6-0, 1.84 ERA, 49 IP) have dazzled in the first half. Meanwhile, Pud Galvin (5-1, 3.18 ERA, 51 IP, 1 SO) has exceeded all expectations after coming over to the Blue Legs prior to the start of the season. Although Clarkson and Young have the inside track for Pitcher MVP, Galvin seems to be getting better with every start. As for some of the other accomplished moundsmen, Tim Keefe of the Canaries (2-4, 3.77 ERA, 43 IP) and Mickey Welch of the Haymakers (2-2, 2.54 ERA, 39 IP, 1 SO) have struggled in comparison to their past standards; Keefe, however, did manage to strike out a league-record six consecutive batters during one of his starts. 
• The Position Player MVP race is shaping up to be a two-man contest between Cap Anson of the Haymakers and Nap Lajoie of the Blue Legs. Lajoie is tied with teammate Sam Crawford for the league lead in home runs (three), but last year's top sluggers -- George Davis and Sam Thompson -- have experienced a major power outage, with nary a home run between them. 
• Finally, three cheers for the Resolutes, who are solidly competitive in their very first season! Led by rejuvenated hurler John Clarkson and slugging left fielder Fred Clarke, the Resolutes are a threat to reach the Creighton Cup series. How are they succeeding? In a word, pitching. They're dead last in defense and their offense is scoring a paltry 2.50 runs per game (also last), but their pitching is ranked second behind the Haymakers. 

The second half begins tomorrow! Hmm...for future reference, maybe we need a midseason All-Star Game or something...

Tiny Supers

As much as I want to give Champions its due, I'm struggling to muster the energy to slog through the rest of the rulebook. I need a system that gets to the fun faster. In the words of Comic Book Guy...

I'll see if Nathaniel, who enjoys reading highly detailed game rulebooks, might want to give Champions a whirl. In the meantime, I'm switching over to Tiny Supers, part of the TinyD6 family of minimalist RPGs. Lots of flavor and fun, with fully customizable characters. If I ever do run a superhero campaign for the boys, it's gonna be a Tiny one!

Spreadsheet Sold Separately

Matthew got up late last night to go to the bathroom and found me in the living room reading the latest edition of the superhero RPG Champions. 

"Tell me about Champions when you finish reading it," he said. I could barely stifle a laugh. It's going to be a while before we have that conversation. Holy hell! This game is complicated. 

I have a newfound admiration for my twelve-year-old self. How had I managed to keep all these esoteric rules in my head? How had I created countless Champions heroes and villains without Excel and formulas to crunch the numbers? 

Game design has come a long way over the past several decades. I know a few grognards who still yearn for the days when games had rules to cover every possible situation and the quality of a system was directly proportional to the size of its rulebook, but I've come to appreciate the elegance and adaptability of games that have light, flexible core rules with the ability to layer in complexity through exception-based mechanics. 

I'll finish reading Champions Complete -- I owe it to my younger self to get through the rulebook, at the very least -- but if I ever do run a follow-up to the Earth Commanders campaign or play any sort of superhero RPG with the boys, I think I'll keep my eye out for another system.

Full Circle

Matt and I have been exchanging emails about superhero RPGs, and it got me thinking about my first true RPG love, Champions. Long before the Druid Cycle world, long before the siren song of AD&D lured me into TSR's clutches, I was a dyed-in-the-wool Champions fanatic. In fact, the original Front Porch campaign -- one of only two that was actually conducted on my parents' front porch -- was Earth Commanders, which employed the delightfully fiddly Champions system to tell a tale of cosmic superheroes based (where else?) in Montreal.

Earth Commanders got me hooked on gamemastering, but my favorite Champions memory is unrelated to Front Porch stuff. Decades before taking part in the D&D Fifth Edition playtest, I was a twelve-year-old kid who somehow managed to get access to playtest materials for Champions and related HERO System products. I used to dial up a BBS (remember those?) based in Texas, and, as my parents fretted their long-distance bill with every bit that trickled through my 1200 baud modem, I downloaded drafts of HERO System books and read them with a kind of awed reverence. One day, I mustered the courage to email a fan letter to prolific game designer Aaron Allston -- a fixture on that BBS -- and he sent me a very nice note in response. (Sadly, Allston passed away a number of years ago.)

I think it's high time to share Champions with my own kids, so I've ordered a copy of the most recent edition of the game. With our Alien RPG campaign starting up again soon and our ongoing Shattered Realm stories to continue, I have no idea when we would actually play this game, but it certainly will be fun to share all my old stories with the boys.

Snyderbronies Unite!

True story: I decided to sign up for HBO Max the very day I learned that the Snyder Cut of Justice League would be screened on that platform. Now the Snyder Cut has an official release date: March 18.

Sorry, Mugsy!

I'm reading a great book on iconic ballgames from the nineteenth century and happened upon an anecdote featuring the legendary John "Mugsy" McGraw. I grimaced at the sudden realization that I had somehow forgotten to include McGraw among the Hall of Fame players for whom I've created Strat-O-Matic cards. Prior to Season 5, I'd created cards for Connie Mack, Charlie Comiskey, and all the other early HoFers who were inducted in non-player categories. How had I missed McGraw? Not only is he one of the towering figures of baseball history, he's also a fellow upstate New York native; we used to go right past his memorial monument in the town of Truxton every time we'd drive from my parents' house to Colgate. 

Today I pulled some numbers from Baseball Reference and plugged them into my custom Strat formulas to calculate game stats for hitting, stealing, baserunning, and defense, and now I have a card for McGraw. Sadly, it's too late to include him in Season 5. The expansion Resolutes really could benefit from his services; as one of the nineteenth century's better third basemen, he'd address our newest team's greatest area of need. Now he'll have to enter the player draft with all the other players I'll be adding for Season 6, so there's no guarantee the Resolutes will be able to nab him. I'm disappointed to have missed him the first time around, but excited for him to join the league next year!

Pause for Applause

I'm still only in the fourth inning of a key contest between the first-place Haymakers (4-0) and the second-place Resolutes (3-1), but I had to put the game aside for a few moments to honor John Clarkson, whose tremendous 21-inning scoreless streak has just ended. 

Here's how it all went down. The Resolutes are hosting the Haymakers tonight. With Clarkson going against Cy Young, it's a marquee pitching matchup. Both men were on their game, trading zeroes through the first three innings. In the top of the fourth, Bid McPhee, the Haymakers' second baseman, led off with a bloop single. Testing the strong arm of catcher Connie Mack, McPhee managed to swipe second to put a runner in scoring position without nobody out. Into the batter's box stepped my fellow Western New York native, Deacon White, who was hitless through the Haymakers' first four games; in fact, White had yet to reach base by any means here in Season 5. It was ironic indeed that White promptly lofted the ball into the right-field corner, motoring around the bases for a triple. McPhee, of course, had already crossed the plate, which brought Clarkson's streak to an end. 

I'm sure the hometown Resolutes fans gave Clarkson a warm round of applause before the game continued. 21 innings without a run! (And it's 24 innings if we include his preseason action.) This was no Orel Hershiser-esque feat (59 innings!), but it's still by the far the longest scoreless inning streak in the five-season history of my nineteenth-century league. Watch out, Mickey Welch: Clarkson is still looking like the frontrunner for Pitcher MVP!

Back on the Upswing

Ever since I started my pre-NHL Strat-O-Matic hockey league, I've wondered if I should just abandon the baseball version and focus entirely on hockey. That first baseball season was a magical run (the charismatic King Kelly absolutely owned the league!), but Seasons 2 and 3 were rather humdrum affairs that provided few memorable moments. In Season 4, things started to get interesting again, with George Davis's home run heroics and Mickey Welch's mind-bogglingly dominant pitching. Season 5, however, is shaping up to be an all-time great. This league is back on the upswing!

Where do we stand after three games played for each team?

• Blue Legs: They're in third place at 1-2, but with six homers in three games, they're smacking dingers at a record-setting pace. The best single-season total for a team is 12, set last year by the Canaries over 21 regular-season games. Star second baseman Nap Lajoie has two of the Legs' six homers, and he's looking like an early MVP candidate.
• Canaries: At 0-3, with a -17 run differential, the defending champs are experiencing a serious hangover. They have yet to commit an error in the field, which is just about the only positive thing I can say at this point.
• Haymakers: This perennial powerhouse has jumped out to a 3-0 mark and +17 run differential. Once again, their pitching leads the way; Cy Young and Mickey Welch have pitched every inning thus far.
• Resolutes: The expansion team is 2-1 and in second place. Slugging left fielder Fred Clarke is tied for the league lead with two homers, but the real story here is the Lazarus-like return of John Clarkson to the upper echelon of moundsmen. He's pitched complete-game shutouts in both of his starts to date, meaning that he's working on a league-record 18-inning scoreless streak that he'll put on the line against the Haymakers in his next appearance. 

Opening Day

There's nothing quite like Opening Day, and the debut of a brand-new team only sweetens the experience! Season 5 kicked off with the defending champions, the Canaries, visiting the expansion Resolutes in the latter team's first-ever regular-season game. And what a game it was!

John Clarkson delivered the first pitch in team history, and a moment later he struck out Hugh Duffy to notch the team's first out. Clarkson looked sharp from the get-go, and the mighty Canary sluggers had trouble squaring up to his curve. 

Clarkson's opponent, Tim Keefe, retired the first three Resolutes in order. In the top of the second, however, left fielder Fred Clarke stepped into the box to face his former teammate. Clarke caught Keefe's fastball and belted it over the right-field wall. Fred Clarke had just recorded the Resolutes' first base hit, and it was a home run! I can only image the scene if this game had been real -- the Resolutes' fans would have lost their minds as a jubilant Clarke rounded the bases and a stunned Keefe could only shake his head in dismay.

Keefe did a lot of head-shaking, as it turned out. The Canaries' ace never had his best stuff, surrendering walks and hits left and right in seven laborious innings. He was fortunate that he had allowed only three runs, as the Resolutes struggled all game with runners in scoring position. 

Meanwhile, Clarkson was cruising. Aided by fine defensive work from middle infielders Monte Ward and Frank Grant, not to mention the strong throwing arm of catcher Connie Mack, Clarkson silenced the league's most potent offense. A leadoff single to Ed Delahanty in the top of the ninth provided a minor scare, but Clarkson made short work of the heart of the Canaries' lineup and completed the first shutout of his career. Not only that, Clarkson won a ballgame for the first time since Season 2, when he took home the Pitcher MVP award. His career unraveled after that magical run, but maybe, just maybe, John Clarkson is back!

If the rest of the Resolutes' games are going to be this intense, I'm in for a long season!

Spring Training

The four teams have just completed spring training, assessing their talent after the biggest player shakeup in league history. I've run a few preseason games and already we have some intriguing highlights and storylines to consider prior to the start of Season 5...

• The Haymakers' slugging right fielder, Sam Thompson, was the runner-up for the Player MVP in Season 4. He suffered an injury early in spring training, and although he'll be back in time to start the regular season, his absence has underscored just how thin the Haymakers' lineup has become. 
• The lack of a solid cleanup hitter was especially painful for Cap Anson, who precedes Thompson in the Haymakers' usual lineup. Anson was absolutely locked in during our preseason action -- reaching base in all five of his at bats -- but came around to score only once.
• The Resolutes' best player thus far has been hard-luck pitcher John Clarkson. The former MVP tossed three scoreless frames and, notably, was the only Resolutes hurler who did not allow at least one run.
• Speaking of pitchers, we saw standout springtime performances from Mickey Welch (Haymakers), Cy Young (Haymakers), Kid Nichols (Canaries), Joe McGinnity (Canaries), and Pud Galvin (Blue Legs), but the Canaries' Tim Keefe utterly dominated, retiring all nine batters he faced. If their ace is in top form, the Canaries will be really tough to beat as they seek to defend their championship.
• My favorite spring training highlight was when Canaries star Honus Wagner homered off of the Blue Legs' Vic Willis in the twelfth inning of their preseason matchup. Wagner's shot was the only homer of the spring.

Opening Day is next!

Season 5 Preview

We've got a new team ready to make its debut and nine new Hall of Fame players to add to the league! It's almost time to get rolling with Season 5 of my nineteenth-century Strat-O-Matic baseball league! Let's take a look at the teams...

Blue Legs

• Where They Stand: After a 6-14 season and a -33 run differential, this team has a long road back to respectability. They just suffered through the worst season in the brief history of this league.
• New Faces: Frank Chance, 1B; Pud Galvin, P
• Outlook: Galvin, the reigning Playoff MVP, slides in as a solid #2 behind Old Hoss Radbourn, giving the Legs a pair of battle-tested starters. Chance will provide much-needed offensive and defensive help. Even with these reinforcements, however, the Legs seem like a .500 team to me.

Canaries

• Where They Stand: The defending champions finished the regular season in second place with a 12-9 record, but their +27 run differential was the best ever, as was their scoring rate of 5.24 runs per game. 
• New Faces: Wilbert Robinson, C/1B; George Wright, 2B/SS
• Outlook: The addition of Wright makes the league's most dangerous lineup even more potent, but the Canaries lost a lot of their depth to the Resolutes in the expansion draft. Still, my money is on the Birds to win their second consecutive championship at the conclusion of Season 5.

Haymakers

• Where They Stand: They finished in first place for the third consecutive year, but fell to the Canaries in the championship series. These days, the Haymakers rely on their elite pitching, which managed to paper over the team's shoddy defense on the way to allowing only 3.57 runs per game -- the lowest rate in history.
• New Faces: Sol White, 2B/3B
• Outlook: Their stellar .619 winning percentage in Season 4 was driven largely by luck, as the team posted only a +6 run differential and had a .538 expected winning percentage. I anticipate some regression this year, but I think the Haymakers remain strong enough to finish in second place.

Resolutes

• Where They Stand: This expansion team is a unique mix of new players I've added to the league and bench players who never got a real shot with their previous teams. They haven't played a single game yet, but I'm already loving this ragtag crew!
• New Faces: See my previous post!
• Outlook: The Blue Legs set a new standard for futility last year. Can the Resolutes do better than 6-14? I...rather doubt it.

Meet the Resolutes!

After playing through four seasons of nineteenth-century baseball in a mini-league consisting of only three teams (Blue Legs, Canaries, and Haymakers), I'm super excited to be able to bring on a fourth team -- the Resolutes! Unlike my analogous hockey league, however, I haven't been adding a handful of new players each season; rather, I'll be adding a whole bunch of new guys all at once. In narrative terms, it's as if a competing league has disbanded (a not uncommon scenario in the early decades of professional baseball!) and some of its players have found a new home in the surviving league. With nine new players (eight position players and one pitcher), I'll have just lads enough to fill out the roster for an expansion team (although all three legacy teams will see their rosters contracted by one position player and one pitcher). 

I'll spare you the tedious details, but in summary, first I divvied up all the new players among the four teams via a player draft. With an expanded talent pool, each of the three original teams decided on which players they would protect (three pitchers and eight position players). The remaining players would be eligible for the Resolutes to draft. Knowing that most of their depth players would be taken from them, however, the original teams conducted some trades to shore up their rosters as much as possible. (Among those players who changed sides was Playoff MVP Pud Galvin, who was traded from the Canaries to the Blue Legs in return for infielder George Wright, one of the new players.) After the original teams finished their trades, the Resolutes selected players from the final lists provided by each franchise.

So, who will take the field when the Resolutes begin play in Season 5? Read on!

• Jake Beckley: All bat and no glove, Beckley was behind Cap Anson on the Haymakers' depth chart at first base. Now a starter, he'll get a chance to show off his lefty power swing for the Resolutes.
• Fred Clarke: He wrested the left field position from Pete Hill, but the Canaries elected to protect the more versatile Hill during the expansion draft. Clarke has great pop and will be a potent middle-of-the-order bat for his new squad.
• John Clarkson: This guy needed a fresh start. He won the Pitcher MVP award in Season 2, but has not won a single ballgame since that magical run. The Blue Legs just traded for Pud Galvin as a more reliable starter behind Old Hoss Radbourn, but Clarkson could end up being a steal for the Resolutes if his luck evens out. He's the nominal staff ace.
• Candy Cummings: Like Clarkson, Cummings is a curveball specialist. In fact, many baseball historians believe that he invented the curveball! Cummings has been maddeningly inconsistent over the years, but is likely the Resolutes' best option as a #2 starter. 
• Elmer Flick: After struggling to get playing time with the Haymakers, Flick will be the Resolutes' leadoff man and starting center fielder. I suspect he'll be among the team's best hitters. 
• Frank Grant: Grant is one of the new players added for Season 5. In real life, he's regarded by many as the best African American player of the nineteenth century. He can play all around the infield, but will start at second base for the Resolutes. 
• Clark Griffith: According to Baseball Reference, Griffith, another of our new players, has strong similarity scores to the Canaries' successful closer, Joe McGinnity. For that reason, I'll pencil in Griffith as a reliever for now. He might get some starts if Cummings flames out.
• Ned Hanlon: I don't know quite what to make of Hanlon, a new player who has blazing speed and provides elite defense in center field, but isn't much of a hitter for an outfielder. He'll see playing time as a pinch runner and late-game defensive replacement, but he may end up getting traded, as the Resolutes already have four other players who are primarily outfielders.
• Connie Mack: Mack, too, is among the nine new players added to the league for Season 5. He'll be a first-rate defensive catcher, but currently would rank as the worst everyday player in the league in terms of offensive value. 
• Tommy McCarthy: This jack-of-all-trades has been a valuable bench player and pinch hitter for the Blue Legs. He would be a great defensive outfielder, too, but the Resolutes don't have a spot for him there. Instead, he'll land at third base, where his defense will be absolutely atrocious. Grant would be a far better option at third, but his glove is more valuable at the keystone; as such, the Resolutes will have to limp along with McCarthy at third until a better option arises. 
• Jim O'Rourke: Here's another Blue Legs bench player who now gets a shot at the starting lineup. O'Rourke can play just about any position on the field, but plays none of them well. The team will hide his iron glove in right field. His bat, however, will make him a leading offensive force for the Resolutes.
• Rube Waddell: Hands down, he's the hardest-throwing pitcher in the league. The Resolutes opted to select Waddell from the Haymakers instead of Amos Rusie, the league's all-time saves leader, because Waddell may have more upside. Like Clarkson, he's been snakebitten and might put up some solid numbers with a little positive regression to the mean. 
• John Montgomery "Monte" Ward: Sometimes the baseball gods can be cruel indeed. Ward was the de facto captain of the Canaries team that won the Season 4 championship, but their trade for George Wright made Ward expendable. On the Resolutes, he'll shift from second base to his natural position of shortstop and provide excellent defense but middling offense.

Will the Resolutes be any good? Well, the worst single season in league history was authored by the Season 4 Blue Legs, who turned in a 6-14 record and a dismal -33 run differential. It wouldn't surprise me if the Resolutes more or less matched those numbers in their first campaign. They'll be featured on Opening Day of Season 5, hosting the champion Canaries. 

The King Is Crowned

Ah, the bustling city of Tokyo!

It was just an ordinary, monster-free day until Godzilla (Matthew), King Ghidorah (Nathaniel), and Megalon (yours truly) showed up for an epic smackdown! Our first foray into Godzilla: Tokyo Clash involved a lot of head-scratching over rules ambiguities (Do you have to discard a defensive card when you block an attack on another monster's turn? Can you block the damage suffered from being thrown into another monster or just the damage from regular attacks?) and fumbling around for effective tactics, but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless.

The best part came when Megalon threw Godzilla into a skyscraper, and then King Ghidorah and Godzilla proceeded to throw Megalon back and forth at each other. It was like something out of a Three Stooges routine! 

Ultimately, Matthew had a lot of bad luck attempting to damage the other monsters, so it ended up a two-way race between Nathaniel and myself. His kaiju, King Ghidorah, squeaked past mine by one point to end the game as the king of monsters!

Happy New Year!

Good riddance to 2020! I'm glad to have started the year off right with a couple of new board games, courtesy of my amazingly awesome (and awesomely amazing) team at work. Thanks to their lovely holiday gift, the boys and I will be exploring Godzilla: Tokyo Clash and Santorini: New York. 

Holiday Fun

We're enjoying some downtime this week, basically just bumming around and playing with Christmas presents. One one of the kids' big gifts this year was Hockey Sauce, and although Matthew and I both consider ourselves pretty accurate shooters, I have to admit that we need to hone our skillz!

On the indoor gaming front, we've enjoyed a few memorable rounds of Butts in Space and are now poring over the contents of Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps. It's a bit like AVP, but without the "P". I suspect we'll mainly use the components to enhance our Alien RPG gameplay experience in the next campaign. I've also tried introducing the boys to the second edition of Pathfinder, without much success; they're ho-hum about a system that's like D&D but not actually D&D. 

Finally, Nathaniel got a full set of fencing gear for Christmas, so here are a couple of photos of us in action!

WW84

It's a lot later than we had hoped, but Wonder Woman 1984 opens on Christmas Day, in theaters and on HBO Max. 

Building a Better Box

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Paizo does the best RPG starter sets. Although D&D hit home runs with the original Basic Set and the less renowned but still totally awesome Basic Game from Third Edition, most other starter sets have been lackluster at best. Paizo once again dunks on D&D with the Pathfinder Beginner Box for Second Edition. Like similar products for First Edition and also for Starfinder, this set is an absolute triumph of value for the gamer and a wonderful introduction to the game system. I look forward to giving it a test drive with the boys over the holidays. There's precious little chance it will displace Fifth Edition D&D as our system of choice, but it will be fun to play through the starter content and see how Pathfinder and D&D have gone in very different directions over the past decade!

Season 4 Awards

It's awards season again! Read on to find out who took home the hardware!

Scoring Title: Gord Roberts, LW, Bulldogs

Roberts notched 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points, and joins Cyclone Taylor as the only players ever to crack the 30-point barrier (Taylor had 32 in Season 2). Roberts bested Taylor by two points and linemate Bruce Stuart by five to capture his first scoring title.

Runners Up: Cyclone Taylor, D, Victorias; Bruce Stuart, C, Bulldogs

Forward MVP: Gord Roberts, LW, Bulldogs

Roberts was the first-ever winner of this award back in Season 1, and he had an even better year this time around with a career-best 30 points and a plus/minus of +10, which was tops among all forwards in the league. 

Runners Up: Alf Smith, RW, Thistles; Frank McGee, C, Comets

Defenseman MVP: Cyclone Taylor, Victorias

Taylor, the league's premiere blueliner, takes this award for the third time in four years. He finished second in the league in scoring (13 goals, 15 assists) behind Roberts, and his +8 was fourth in the league and second among defensemen.

Runners Up: Jack Laviolette, Bulldogs; Hod Stuart, Thistles

Goaltender MVP: Bowse Hutton, Victorias

Like his legendary teammate Taylor, Hutton is now a three-time winner of the MVP award for his position. Hutton's save percentage of .924 was the second-best in league history, and his 2.13 goals-against average was the best ever. This year, he also became the first goalie to post two shutouts in a single season. 

Runners Up: Paddy Moran, Bulldogs; Riley Hern, Thistles

Rookie of the Year: Jack Laviolette, D, Bulldogs

After a slow start, Laviolette took the league by storm and set a league record for the most points by a rookie with 14 (5 goals, 9 assists). His +13 led the league and tied the mark for the highest single-season plus/minus rating.

Runners Up: Hugh Lehman, G, Millionaires; Harry Hyland, C, Victorias

Playoff MVP: Paddy Moran, G, Bulldogs

Bowse Hutton had the first-ever playoff shutout, and Gord Roberts and Tommy Dunderdale scored huge overtime goals, but Paddy Moran was truly the most valuable player in this postseason. His 2.80 goals-against average and .915 save percentage led all playoff goaltenders, and he set a single-playoff-game record with 42 saves in the overtime victory that clinched the championship for his team.

Runners Up: Bruce Stuart, C, Bulldogs; Bowse Hutton, G, Victorias

Creighton Cup, Game 4

Congratulations to the Bulldogs on winning their first Creighton Cup! Check out the recap below for all the thrills and chills!

With their season on the line, the Victorias struck first. Cyclone Taylor tallied an early goal, but the injury bug bit the Vics again when captain Hobey Baker headed back to the locker room in pain. Baker had already shifted from right wing to defense to cover for the injured George McNamara, so forward Dubbie Bowie spent much of the first period camped out in front of Bowse Hutton as a defenseman. Remarkably, the Vics managed to escape the first period with a 1-0 lead.

The courageous, gallant Baker (read up on his real-life story!) returned in the second to give his lads an emotion lift, but it didn't translate to the scoreboard. Tommy Dunderdale and Scotty Davidson scored to make it 2-1 in favor of the Bulldogs at the end of the second.

Taylor scored his second goal of the game to knot the score at two in the early stages of the third period. Bruce Stuart, however, restored the Dogs' lead a few moments later. Then, midway through the frame, Davidson took an ill-advised penalty to give the Vics a power play and a golden opportunity to tie the game once more. Penalty killing had been the Dogs' bugaboo throughout this postseason, and this game was no different; the hobbled Hobey Baker scored to make it 3-3 with just moments to go in regulation time. The Vics made a furious push in the final minute, and it all came down to Paddy Moran stonewalling Cyclone Taylor on two point-blank shots as time expired.

Overtime! The Bulldogs had needed OT to get past the Thistles in the wild-card game, and now they had a chance to win the Creighton Cup with a sudden-death goal. If the Vics scored, on the other hand, the series would culminate in a winner-take-all Game 5. The overtime period began with a scare for the hometown Bulldogs, as Gord Roberts took yet another penalty. Roberts is a superstar in this league and will take home multiple trophies at the awards ceremony, but damn, it seemed that this guy spent more time in the penalty box than on the ice here in the postseason. (He was, in fact, the league leader in both points and penalty minutes during these playoffs!) Given the Dogs' penalty-killing woes, I was expecting the Vics to strike for victory on the ensuing power play, but the Bulldogs held strong and the period continued. 

And then, before I knew it, the game was over. Rookie defenseman Jack Laviolette led the rush out of the Dogs' defensive zone and flipped a pass to Stuart. Stuart connected with Roberts, who skated in and knifed the puck past Hutton. Game over, series over! The Bulldogs had won the Creighton Cup! After four seasons of futility, the Dogs racked up more wins over the Victorias (three) in this one series than in all previous regular-season and playoff games combined (two).

Creighton Cup, Game 3

Back at home, the Victorias looked to rebound after losing Game 2, along with losing star winger Marty Walsh to injury. Game 3 did not begin auspiciously, as Bruce Stuart beat Bowse Hutton on the very first shot of the game. The Vics had little opportunity to recover from this setback, as stay-at-home defenseman George McNamara soon went down with an injury and did not return to the game. He's expected to miss Game 4, as well. Walsh is likely to return for Game 4, but for Game 3, at least, the Vics were forced to soldier on without two of their key players. They closed out strong in the first when Frank Rankin scored to tie the game. Rankin suffered through a miserable regular season, but, as in years past, he's elevated his game in the playoffs. With a goal in every contest thus far, Rankin has been one of the few bright spots for the Victorias in this series.

In the second period, the Bulldogs' second line took over. Tom Hooper and Oliver Seibert had quality chances, but it was power forward Scotty Davidson who did the damage. Davidson skates like a runaway train, and when he manages to put his speed, skill, and attitude together at the same time, he can be a fearsome opponent. Davidson scored early in the second to restore the Dogs' lead, and then he scored again on the power play midway through the frame. With three goals in four postseason games, he's been a solid contributor who's taken pressure off of the Dogs' big stars.

The third period featured a lot of back-and-forth, but little in the way of scoring. The Dogs' PK woes continued, as they surrendered yet another power-play goal, this time to Billy McGimsie. The Vics' top center made it 3-2 with that strike, but Paddy Moran slammed the door shut and backstopped his team to a 3-2 win and a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 takes us back to the Dog Pound (with apologies to the Cleveland Browns), where the Bulldogs can claim the first Creighton Cup in franchise history if they win at home in Game 4. For the Vics, they'll need to prevail on the road in order to force a fifth and final game on home ice.

Creighton Cup, Game 2

The Bulldogs came home needing a win, and boy howdy did they answer the call! It all started with a Victorias power play early in the first period. Superstar left wing Gord Roberts set the tone by stealing an errant pass and scoring a beautiful breakaway goal against Bowse Hutton. It was the first shorthanded goal in playoff history, and it was also the Dogs' first goal of the series. Minutes later, Tommy Dunderdale struck to give the home team a 2-0 advantage. Scotty Davidson increased the lead to three when he scored in the closing minutes of the first. The Vics had embarrassed the Dogs in Game 1, and now the Dogs wanted to return the favor!

The Vics, however, found some life in the second period, courtesy of one of their star players. Marty Walsh scored to bring the Vics within two, but Oliver Seibert picked up an unassisted goal for the Dogs shortly thereafter. Not to be outdone, Walsh scored again late in the frame, this time on the power play. With three tallies in the series thus far, Walsh was tied with Dunderdale for the league lead in postseason goals and was starting to look like a candidate for Playoff MVP.

As such, it was a cruel blow when Walsh went down midway through the third; he'll also miss Game 3 as he recovers. Adding to the Vics' misery, Bruce Stuart had just scored to put the game out of reach. Frank Rankin picked up a late goal on the power play, but the game ended in a 5-3 triumph for the Bulldogs. 

The series is now tied at a game apiece. The Bulldogs have regained their scoring touch, but their penalty killing remains a serious problem, as they've allowed six power-play goals in nine chances through the first three games of the postseason (including the wild-card game against the Thistles). The Vics, meanwhile, will have to find a way to win without Marty Walsh, and hope that Bowse Hutton recovers quickly from his worst-ever playoff performance.

Creighton Cup, Game 1

It's a rematch of the Season 1 championship series! Will the Victorias claim their third Creighton Cup in four years, or will the Bulldogs win their first? If Game 1 was any indication, Bulldogs fans, don't plan that parade just yet.

Less than a minute into the first period, Vics captain Hobey Baker got behind the Bulldogs defense and rifled a shot past Paddy Moran. Two minutes later, the Vics were on a power play and Marty Walsh popped one into the back of the net. The game had hardly begun and Moran had already allowed two goals on two shots. The Bulldogs managed to stop the bleeding and push back a bit, but the period ended 2-0 in favor of the Victorias.

After a scoreless second in which the teams were on mostly equal footing, the Vics elevated their play and put the game out of reach in the third. Billy McGimsie tallied on the power play to make it 3-0, and Frank Rankin scored a garbage goal two minutes before the final buzzer put the Dogs out of their misery. In the end, the Vics notched goals on two out of three power-play attempts, meaning that the Bulldogs are a woeful 33% on the penalty kill over two playoff games thus far. Gord Roberts has been a no-show, with costly penalties and nary a goal. And what about the Vics' stars? High-flying defenseman Cyclone Taylor assisted on all four of his team's goals, which set a record for assists and points in a playoff game. And most impressively of all, Bowse Hutton achieved the first-ever shutout in postseason history. 

The Bulldogs will be on home ice for Game 2, and they'll have winger Tom Hooper back in the lineup. They need to treat this game as a must-win if they have any hope of getting back into this series.

Creighton Cup Finals Preview

The wild-card game is now behind us, so we have our teams for the best-of-five Season 4 Creighton Cup Finals! Let's take a look at how the Victorias and Bulldogs match up. 

Forwards 

• Bulldogs: Gord Roberts (12 goals), Bruce Stuart (7), and Tommy Dunderdale (10) make up the most dominant line in the game. What makes the Bulldog attack even stronger, though, is that they get tremendous support from role players like Tom Hooper (7 goals), Oliver Seibert (6), and Scotty Davidson (8). One complication they'll face is the temporary absence of Hooper, whose injury will keep him out of at least the first game of the series.
• Victorias: The versatile Victorias mix and match their players rather than roll consistent lines. They're led by captain Hobey Baker (6 goals), Billy McGimsie (7), and Marty Walsh (7). Supporting players Frank Rankin (6 goals), Harry Hyland (3), and underrated two-way forward Dubbie Bowie (5).
• Advantage: Bulldogs

Defensemen

• Bulldogs: Rookie star Jack Laviolette tied the single-season mark for plus/minus (+13), but Art Ross and captain Si Griffis (both +7) were also rock-solid defenders. There's no one here who can equal the sheer offensive output of someone like Cyclone Taylor or Hod Stuart, but the Bulldog defensive corps is the best in the league.
• Victorias: Cyclone Taylor had another superlative season (13 goals, 15 assists, +8) and is almost certain to win the Defenseman MVP trophy, but there isn't much depth behind him. George McNamara and Phat Wilson are average players at best.
• Advantage: Bulldogs

Goaltending

• Bulldogs: Paddy Moran, in his second season with the Dogs, posted solid numbers in the regular season (2.63 goals against average, .908 save percentage), but good luck played a large role; his Strat-O-Matic stat card shows a far less competent netminder.
• Victorias: Bowse Hutton dominated this season (2.13 goals against average, .924 save percentage) and will undoubtedly win the Goaltender MVP.
• Advantage: Victorias

Special Teams

• Bulldogs: They were first in the league in power-play percentage (30.43%), but their penalty killing was...not so good (75.61%). The Dogs finished fourth in PK, although this unit did manage to score two shorthanded goals. Troublingly, they also gave up two goals in three chances in the wild-card game against the Thistles.
• Victorias: At 25.93%, the Vics' power play finished third, although typically the Vics have the best power play in the league. Their penalty killing (88%) was tops in the league by almost a dozen percentage points.
• Advantage: Victorias

Prediction

It's hard to bet against the team that has gone 13-2-3 against its opponent over the past four seasons, but I think the Bulldogs are the better team. Bowse Hutton is likely to steal a game or two, but the Bulldogs are a deeper team with an overwhelming offense. It's going to be an amazing series, but I'm calling it here: Bulldogs in five.

Wild-Card Game

Tonight was our first-ever wild-card game, where the second- and third-place teams duke it out for the right to face the first-place team in the Creighton Cup Finals. This contest between the Thistles and the Bulldogs was a game for the ages -- it had everything but Don Cherry, Gritty, and Marty McSorley's illegal stick!  

Tommy Dunderdale, playing in his first career playoff game, got the scoring started early in the first period. The hometown Bulldog fans were ecstatic, sensing that a date with the Victorias was at hand. Riley Hern, however, had other plans, and stonewalled the Dogs on shot after shot. The next goal would come late in the second, when the Thistles' Dan Bain tallied on the power play to tie the game. Moments later, the Dogs picked up a power-play goal of their own, courtesy of a Bruce Stuart lamplighter. It was 2-1 in favor of the Bulldogs at the end of two.

Then things got kind of crazy. On just their second try with the man advantage, the Thistles scored again, tying the game once more. This time it was Fred Whitcroft, the Thistles' midseason acquisition, who found the back of the net. Two power plays, two goals. The Dogs were on their heels, dumbfounded that they just couldn't put away this vastly inferior Thistles team. The specter of sudden-death overtime loomed with each passing moment. Then, with under five minutes to play in regulation, Bulldogs winger Tom Hooper went down with an injury and was removed from the game. Gord Roberts took his spot and, as time was expiring, the feisty superstar hauled down Whitcroft and was called for a penalty.

It was looking grim for the Bulldogs. Their best player was in the box, their foes were already two-for-two on the power play, and now the game had gone to overtime. The Dogs could feel their extraordinary season slipping away. For a brief moment, a shorthanded breakaway by Oliver Seibert brought fans to their feet, but Hern turned him aside with ease. As soon as the penalty expired, Roberts joined linemates Bruce Stuart and Tommy Dunderdale, and the league's top trio got to work. All it took was a couple of crisp passes, and Dunderdale found himself in the slot with the puck on his stick. He snapped a shot past Hern for his second goal of the game -- a goal that has sent the Bulldogs to the Creighton Cup Finals!

Playoff Preview

First Place: Victorias (9-3-4, 22 PTS)

After a lost year that saw them slip to third place, the Vics returned strong in Season 4 and reclaimed their customary spot at the top of the standings. As such, they've earned an automatic berth in the Creighton Cup Finals and will play the winner of the wild card game. The Vics will be a tough opponent in that series, as they boast a potent combination of offense and defense. They scored at a rate of 3.13 goals per game (second in the league) and allowed only 2.13 (first in the league and the best single-season mark in league history). Scoring a full goal per game more than they allowed, the Vics racked up a +16 goal differential that tied for first in the league. Led by their two superstars -- offensive-minded defenseman Cyclone Taylor (13 G, 15 A, +8) and goaltender Bowse Hutton (2.13 GAA, .924 save percentage) -- the Victorias are looking to win their third Creighton Cup in four years.

Second Place (1st Wild Card): Bulldogs (8-4-4, 20 PTS)

A record of 0-2-2 against the Vics cost this dominant team the first-place finish they deserved. They scored at a ridiculous rate of 3.63 goals per game (first in the league and the second-highest single-season average ever) and, like the Vics, they gave up exactly one fewer goal per game than they scored (2.63, good enough for second in the league); the Bulldogs, too, had a goal differential of +16. This team is loaded with talent. Gord Roberts led the league in scoring (12 G, 18 A, +10), and Bruce Stuart (7 G, 18 A, +8) and Tommy Dunderdale (10 G, 13 A, +8) both finished in the top five. Rookie defenseman Jack Laviolette tied the single-season record for plus/minus (+13). I should also mention the crucial role of supporting players like Scotty Davidson, Tom Hooper, and Oliver Seibert, all of whom had career years. I fully expect the Bulldogs to annihilate the Thistles in the wild card game. 

Third Place (2nd Wild Card): Thistles (6-8-2, 14 PTS)

The Thistles finished a very distant third, edging out the Comets and Millionaires by a couple of points for the final playoff spot. Their 2.69 goals per game, 3.13 goals against, and -7 goal differential all ranked third in the league. This team is making its second straight appearance in the playoffs, but in many ways Season 4 has been a step backwards for the Thistles; centers Dan Bain and Tommy "Tools" Smith, along with defenseman Hod Stuart and netminder Riley Hern, all regressed from their award-winning Season 3 performances. How, then, did they make it back to the postseason? Star wingers Alf Smith (16 G, 8 A, -1) and Tommy Phillips (8 G, 12 A, -1) carried the team with MVP-caliber seasons. Additionally, midseason pickup Fred Whitcroft helped improve the league's worst power play by a full 10% in the second half.

Wild (Card) Finish

Incorporating the wild-card format turned out to be a great decision. Without it, the Vics and Bulldogs would have punched their tickets to the Creighton Cup Finals weeks ago, leaving the other three teams to play out a bunch of meaningless games. Instead, the remaining teams all had a shot at a wild-card berth. Although the Millionaires were eliminated from contention in their penultimate contest, the Thistles and Comets met in their respective final games with a playoff spot hanging in the balance. The Thistles would clinch with a win or a tie, while the Comets needed to win outright. 

It was a heated affair from the first minute of the game, when the Comets' Blair Russell took down MVP candidate Alf Smith. Of course, the Strat-O-Matic game system has no way of knowing the emotions that real-life players would feel in this high-stakes game, but it was a cool coincidence that my Action Deck draws resulted in all sorts of aggression and mayhem. There were five penalties in the first period alone! 

The teams traded power-play goals in the first, with the legendary Frank McGee scoring for the Comets and captain Tommy Phillips for the Thistles. Alf Smith gave the Thistles a 2-1 lead in the second; that strike was his sixteenth of the year, tying him for the second-most goals ever scored in a single season. It's probably not enough to push him past Gord Roberts for Forward MVP, but it was certainly a memorable season for the rugged winger. In the third, Mike Grant blasted a slap shot on the power play to tie the game at two. For the Comets, however, a tie would still end their season. They tried to keep up the pressure, but the Thistles would not relent. The game ended in a draw, and thus the Thistles claimed the second wild card. They'll face the Bulldogs for the right to battle the Vics in the Creighton Cup Finals. 

There's only one more game left in the regular season (the Millionaires hosting the Bulldogs in a game that matters only for individual stats but with no playoff implications), and afterwards I plan to take a little break before beginning the postseason. I need to catch my breath -- Season 4 has been a blast!

Thank the Scheduling Gods!

Creating the schedule for a professional sports league is a herculean task; for my five-team Strat-O-Matic hockey league, however, the scheduling is essentially random. When I generated the Season 4 schedule, I plugged in the team names without giving much thought to who was playing whom and when. I certainly had no way of knowing that the Victorias and the Bulldogs -- last year's third- and fourth-place teams -- would improve so dramatically and dominate the other three franchises. I also had no way of knowing that first place in the regular-season standings -- and an automatic berth in the Creighton Cup Finals -- would come down to a Vics/Dogs matchup in the former team's final game of the season and the latter's penultimate game. 

But here we are! Tonight the top teams of Season 4 squared off for the fourth time this year. Historically, the Vics have owned the Bulldogs, and came into this contest with a record of 1-0-2 against their favorite foes here in Season 4. (A quick check reveals that the Bulldogs had defeated the Vics only twice in 17 prior regular-season and playoff games.) 

Phat Wilson and Bruce Stuart traded goals in the first, and then the Vics' Marty Walsh tallied on the power play in the second to put his team up by a goal. The stage was set for a wild third period. Tommy Dunderdale tied it moments into the final frame, with assists going to Gord Roberts and Jack Laviolette, both of whom had assisted on Stuart's earlier goal. Cyclone Taylor had assisted on both goals for the Vics, so the race for the league scoring title will come down to either Roberts or Taylor. Laviolette, meanwhile, continued his march toward setting a single-season plus/minus record; not only is Laviolette the strong frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, he's also giving Taylor a run for his money as both men vie for the Defenseman MVP trophy.

With the score knotted at two apiece, the Vics knew that a tie would secure first place. Even so, they pressed the attack and made an emphatic statement late in the third. Dubbie Bowie set up rookie Harry Hyland for the go-ahead goal, and then Bowie fed Taylor a moment later for a strike that sealed a 4-2 win. The Dogs must now face the third-place team (either the Thistles or the Comets, as the expansion Millionaires have already been eliminated) if they're to join the Vics in the Creighton Cup Finals. As for the Vics, they can rest easy for a few days, admiring their astounding 13-2-3 all-time record against the Bulldogs.

Down to the Wire

We're down to the last few games of Season 4, and the playoff picture is coming into focus. The Victorias and Bulldogs are running neck-and-neck, and both teams have clinched playoff spots. Whichever team finishes in first place (at the moment, it's the Vics by a whisper) gets an automatic berth in the best-of-five Creighton Cup Finals. The second-place team, meanwhile, will host the third-place team in a one-game, do-or-die contest that will determine the other spot in the Finals. The Thistles have the inside track to claim third place, but technically the Comets and the expansion Millionaires are still in the hunt for that last playoff position. The Millies were dealt a blow last night, however, when rookie defenseman Joe Hall suffered a season-ending injury. Up to this point in Season 4, there had been no serious injuries for any player league-wide, but it looks like our newest franchise will have to rely upon the services of free agent blueliner Harvey Pulford for its last-ditch playoff push.

9th Edition Blues

I picked up the smallest of the 40k 9th Edition starter sets back in August and I've been painting the minis on and off for the past couple of months. Why has it taken so long? Honestly, it's been hard for me to get excited about 9th Edition, which I feel is a real step back from 8th. Even so, the starter set provides some nice reinforcements for Nathaniel's Ultramarines, and the Necrons will augment the impressive army that Matt so kindly gifted to us a couple of years ago.

I was rather pleased with the painting until I saw the high-resolution photo images. Argh! Digital photos highlight every imperfection. Well, to the naked eye, at least, they look pretty good. 

The starter set includes a Primaris Lieutenant and a squad of Assault Incercessors. 

The Necron lineup, meanwhile, consists of a Royal Warden (the bigger guy in the center), three Canoptek Scarab Swarms, and ten Necron Warriors. 

As with the previous edition, the starter set includes a battle map and a box insert that doubles as a terrain piece. It's a fast, easy way to create cool-looking, multi-level battlefields!

Here's the Lieutenant in a showdown against the Royal Warden.

My favorite aspect of any of these miniatures is the Lieutenant's awesome shield!

9th Edition does have some cool new units like the Hammerfall Bunker, but I don't have immediate plans for any more models. The boys and I are already hard-pressed for time to play our regular RPG campaigns, so wargames have taken a backseat over the past year or so.

Forward MVP Race

We're at the three-quarter mark of Season 4, and in addition to jockeying for playoff position (currently the Victorias, Bulldogs, and Thistles are in, and the Comets and Millionaires are out), the players are vying for the various end-of-season MVP trophies. Aside from Cyclone Taylor cruising toward his third Defenseman MVP in four seasons, the other awards are all up in the air.

The most exciting race is for Forward MVP, and it's quite a contrast from Season 3. Last time around, Frank McGee won his second consecutive Forward MVP trophy because...well...no one really stood out. It was, on the whole, a ho-hum year for forwards. This year it's a whole different story. I could make a strong case (at least as strong as last year's case for McGee) for Bruce Stuart (C, Bulldogs), Tommy Phillips (LW, Thistles), Jimmy Gardner (LW, Millionaires), and even McGee (C, Comets) again. 

However, it's really coming down to two phenomenal players: Gord Roberts (LW, Bulldogs) and Alf Smith (RW, Thistles). Roberts, the Forward MVP from Season 1, is having his finest campaign (12 GP, 11 G, 10 A, 21 PTS, +5), and currently leads the league in points. Sitting one point behind him is Smith (13 GP, 14 G, 6 A, 20 PTS, +0). Roberts has been the better all-around player (the plus/minus difference is hard to ignore), but Smith has an eye-popping 14 goals in 13 games. He's on pace to match or beat McGee's single-season record of 18 goals back in Season 2. (Side-note: McGee managed this prodigious feat in a mere 12 games, whereas today the seasons are 16 games long.) I think Roberts has the edge for now, but if Smith does, in fact, break the record, it would be hard to deny him the award, especially if all the other numbers are close. After all, a forward's job is to score goals!

G-Mac Gets the G

George McNamara has spent his entire career with the Victorias and has won two Creighton Cups with that team over the past four seasons. This durable defenseman has suited up for all 48 games that his team has played to date. He brings an intimidating physical presence to a team that otherwise lacks it, and has been a valuable penalty killer as well. He's done a little bit of everything except, well, scoring goals.

Tonight, however, G-Mac scored for the first time ever. The big blueliner somehow found himself on a two-on-one break with star winger Marty Walsh. Walsh had the puck, and everyone -- including Bulldogs goalie Paddy Moran -- was thinking shot, but Walsh had other plans. He dished to McNamara, who buried the puck to end that pesky 48-game drought, the longest in league history.

Headshot

It was a tough slog, but the champions of the futuristic Shattered Realm defeated their monstrous foes and saved the solar system! Here's a shot of Nathaniel's hero Demorus, who used his jet pack to fly up above the uber-beholder and finish it off with a final devastating blow!

That moment when you score a crit on Demogorgon...

Well, not Demogorgon, per se, but a nasty extradimensional beholder with the same stats as the CR 26 demon lord. Here's how it went down!

In the climactic battle of our science-fantasy Shattered Realm campaign, this suped-up beholder and its mighty dragon underling had designs upon conquering the solar system, but standing in their way was a coalition of champions. The two sides met upon the barren surface of an asteroid, with the fate of the entire system hanging in the balance!

Most of the characters moved up to engage in melee, while Matthew's character Kai crouched upon a ridge overlooking the battlefield. You can see Kai in the image above; he's at the bottom with the bluish-gray cloak and a rifle aimed at the beholder. While other heroes distracted the beholder, Kai lined up the perfect shot with a devastating antimatter rifle borrowed from an ally. Matthew rolled a natural twenty, so his damage ballooned to 12D8 from the rifle and 10D6 from sneak attack. All told, it brought the beholder down by about a quarter of its hit points. We still have a long way to go in this battle...

Also, if you look closely at the photo, it appears that Garm -- the king of dire wolves -- is farting out a fireball. I assure you, it's just glare from the bright overhead lights!! :)

Godzilla: Tokyo Clash

The title sounds like a movie that Matt and I would've rented from the local Blockbuster during our Jolt-fueled doctoral studies in Rochester. As it stands, Godzilla: Tokyo Clash is a board game that delivers monster mayhem a la King of New York, but with gameplay that more closely approximates the action of kaiju films. I'm thinking about picking up a copy for the boys for Christmas, but this game has one major flaw: there's no Gamera. Come on, he's the friggin' Friend of All Children! The lack of Rodan is also problematic. Maybe they'll show up in a future expansion set...

NHL '94

I've always been more of a paper-and-pencil gamer than a video gamer. Keep your first-person shooters and your MMOs, and give me board games and roleplaying games any day of the week.

However, one of the few video games that has left an indelible mark upon my life is NHL '94 from EA Sports ("It's in the game!"). Every day after school, my good buddy Jason (the legendary Sir Roberts from the original Druid Cycle campaign) would come over and we'd load up '94 on the Sega Genesis. We played through countless postseasons, winning Cup after Cup. Although we were both die-hard Rangers fans, we kept coming back to the Maple Leafs. Those early '90s Toronto teams were a lot of fun. There was Doug Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk, Wendel Clark, Felix Potvin...and then, after the season, the MATS SUNDIN trade! Rocked our worlds. 

Now, EA Sports is bringing back NHL '94, and I can't wait to download it. I've posted a few times here about playing the last couple of EA Sports hockey games on our Xbox, and they're very good, but nothing can compare to the original! (Well, technically it wasn't the first game in that series, but it was the one that created a decades-long phenomenon!) I can't wait to share it with my boys!

Halfway Point

We're halfway through what's shaping up to be a fantastic season! Much like last year, the teams are closely clustered in the standings. The gap between first and worst is very narrow as our five teams fight for three playoff spots; if the playoffs started today, the Victorias, Thistles, and Comets would be in, and the Bulldogs and Millionaires would be out.

Let's take a look at some of the key storylines in Season 4.

Forward MVP

In the early going, it felt like a two-man race between the Bulldogs' Gord Roberts and the Thistles' Alf Smith. Roberts (9 G, 5 A, +4) is tied for first in goals and is second in points (one point behind high-flying defenseman Cyclone Taylor), while Smith is tied for first in goals and is tied for fourth in points (9 G, 3 A, -2). And what about two-time defending Forward MVP Frank McGee? After a painfully slow start, he's been pouring it on lately and has climbed all the way to third in the scoring race (8 G, 5 A, +1). The Bulldogs' Bruce Stuart (3 G, 9 A, +3) and the Millionaires' Jimmy Gardner (7 G, 4 A, -2) are dark horses worth watching.

Ridiculous Rookies

When the expansion Millionaires were taking the league by storm, it seemed that goaltender Hugh Lehman was a slam dunk for this trophy. Now? Not so much. The field is wide open, as all five rookies in this year's class have made significant contributions to their teams. The Vics' Harry Hyland (2 G, 5 A, -3) leads all rookies in points, but first-overall pick Jack Laviollete is really starting to impress me (2 G, 3 A, +6). As of this writing, the young blueliner is tied (with the Vics' Billy McGimsie) for first in the entire league in plus/minus!

Millionaires' Playoff Hopes

They had sole possession of first place at the one-quarter mark, but they've hit a rough patch and now are in last, albeit just one point behind the Bulldogs. There's plenty of time, of course, for them to get hot again and make a serious run for the postseason. After much deliberation about whether they should be all-in or should start focusing on the future, I elected to make one trade that helps them today and down the road: The Millies shipped Fred Whitcroft to the Thistles in exchange for Harry Westwick. Whitcroft never really got it going for the Millies, but the the Thistles will appreciate his offensive upside and ability to play defense as well as forward. In Westwick, the Millies are getting a good faceoff man (they're hands-down the worst faceoff team in the league), penalty killer, and puck-possession maestro (as rated by my informal metric that looks at three different Strat-O-Matic stats and assesses how well a given player maintains possession of the puck for his team) who will help them for the stretch run but also serve as an important long-term asset. 

La Belle Draft sans Merci

As with last year, the two teams that miss the playoffs may fall short by just a couple of points. Heartbreaking, yes, but there's an upside: Duke Keats and Frank Foyston, the two top prospects in the upcoming Season 5 entry draft. In particular, the team that finishes in last place will get the honor of adding Keats, a truly special player the like of whom we have not yet seen in the entry draft. (And I promise some sort of Keats joke in every single post that references this guy. Gotta put that English degree to use somehow, right?)

Ode on a Creighton Urn

Season 4 has been a nonstop thrillride, with our best-ever crop of rookies, a back-and-forth MVP race between Alf Smith and Gord Roberts, and of course one very precocious expansion team. I've thought a lot about he overachieving Millionaires and what their first-year success might mean for the long-term future of our newest franchise. Prior to the season, I'd figured that the Millionaires would ice a respectable team but finish in last place, allowing them to secure the first overall pick of the Season 5 entry draft. 

And what an interesting draft it will be! Five members of the Hockey Hall of Fame will be joining the league next season, and among these entrants are two defensemen who are unlikely to earn much playing time, one versatile winger who projects as an everyday player, and two absolute studs: Frank Foyston and Duke Keats. Foyston is a slick-skating right wing with great scoring skills and the discipline to stay out of the penalty box; he's a shoo-in to become a first-line player on just about any team. Keats, meanwhile, is a generational talent who will quickly become a number-one center and MVP candidate right from the get-go. I'll have more to say about Keats when we get closer to the Season 5 draft, but damn, this guy is a beast!

Now let's get back to the Millionaires. They were lined up nicely to draft a true franchise player in Duke Keats -- until those pesky castoffs started winning! Now what? As the coach and general manager of all five teams, I'm trying to make the best decisions for each. Championship flags fly forever, so do the Millies go for it in their first year? They don't have a lot of assets at this point, but they could flip a couple of veterans to upgrade at center and perhaps one other position. At that point, they'd be as strong as any team in playoff contention and would have a reasonable shot at the cup. But if they fail, I will have torpedoed their future by robbing them of the perfect player to lead this team to many seasons of glory. No team could benefit from a top-line pivot more than the Millies. I have a little more time before the trade deadline to determine if the Millies should be all in, but there's still going to be a lot of  uncertainty -- and the future of a franchise may be at stake!

Only in the Shattered Realm...

The Druid Cycle setting is a place for stately high-fantasy storytelling, with narratives drawn from classic myths and works of epic poetry. It's a stark contrast from the anything-goes genre mashup of my Shattered Realm campaigns. To wit, I'll share a couple of pics from this past weekend's climactic battle. First up, here's a purple worm (deployed by the heroes as a living weapon against their foes) munching on an android trooper. Before the end of the battle, the worm had devoured three such androids along with a smallish dragon.

In the next photo, we have a silver dragon harassing a tank, while Garm -- the elephant-sized lord of all dire wolves -- ambushes the dragon from the rear to save the human soldiers trapped inside the vehicle.

Although many human and monstrous lives were lost, the allied army defeated the invading force of robots and undead. As it turned out, however, the attack was a only a ruse, and the true threat is about to manifest...

Battlefield

Our science-fantasy Shattered Realm campaign, set in the distant future of this setting, has been building up to an epic showdown. On one side, we have an alliance of human colonists, goblinoid legions, and various allied monsters (including an enormous dire wolf and a purple worm!); on the other, a merciless cadre of androids, undead, and a pair of young dragons. 

Here are a few shots of the battlefield before we began...

We've got human tanks and hobgoblin trebuchets firing side by side at strafing dragons, while a pike hedge advances ploddingly toward a line of robots with laser rifles. It's been a crazy battle so far, and we're nowhere near being finished. The purple worm just tunneled underneath the battlefield and emerged behind enemy lines, however, so things are about to get really interesting...

Deja Vu All Over Again

Are we going to see a first-year team make a historic playoff run, like the real-life Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season? It's still way too early to get excited, but the expansion Millionaires have hit the one-quarter mark of Season 4 in sole possession of first place! 

How are they doing it? The Millies are averaging 3.75 goals per game (first in the league) while allowing just 2.75 (second). Their penalty killing unit is ranked first, although their power play is fourth out of the five teams. That's just about the only blemish. Individually, our newest franchise boasts a balanced attack led by Harry Watson (3 G, 3 A), Jimmy Gardner (3 G, 2 A), and Barney Stanley (2 G, 3 A), but every single skating player has at least two points. Remarkable! They also boast four of the league's top ten players in plus/minus (Joe Hall, Harry Watson, Fred Whitcroft, and Rusty Crawford all at +3). Goaltending, too, has been a major strength. Hugh Lehman is making a strong case not only for Rookie of the Year, but also Goaltender MVP; he's currently second among netminders in GAA (2.75) and tied for first in save percentage (.904) with the Thistles' Riley Hern, last year's Goaltender MVP. 

Bring on the next quarter! If the Millies are in first place then, at the season's halfway point, then it might be time to start taking these upstarts seriously!

First Win!

Season 4 is shaping up to be quite a wild ride! Cyclone Taylor has resumed his customary place at the top of the scoring chart after a mediocre Season 3, the defending champion Comets are mired in a brutal slump, and Thistles winger Alf Smith is finally living up to his enormous potential and making a strong (if very early) case for Forward MVP. Amidst all the excitement, I don't want to overlook one important milestone: The expansion Millionaires won their first game.

And boy did they win! After a narrow loss to the Thistles in their first game and a tie that probably should have been a win in their second game against the Victorias, I felt the Millionaires were thisclose to a victory. Their third contest pit them against the Comets, our latest Creighton Cup winners. Eager to shake off their sluggish start, the Comets came out on the attack. In the opening minute of the game, Billy Gilmour chipped home a Frank McGee rebound to put the Comets ahead.

And then...the champs fell apart. A series of bad penalties gave the Millionaires three power plays in rapid succession, and they didn't squander the opportunity. Jimmy Gardner notched his third goal in as many games to tie the score at one apiece, and then Ernie Russell picked up his first of the year. All of a sudden, the Millies were 2-for-3 on the power play! The score remained 2-1 into the latter stages of the first period, when Harry Watson scored twice in just over a minute to give the Millionaires a commanding 4-1 lead heading into the second.

There was only one lamp-lighter in the middle period, but it allowed the Millionaires to pad their advantage. Ernie Russell scored for the second time, shattering any hope of a Comet comeback. Rookie netminder Hugh Lehman did his part, as well, robbing Frank McGee at the tail end of a power play late in the frame.

The third period was largely uneventful until, around the midway point, George Richardson scored to make it 5-2. In moments, however, the Millies restored their four-goal lead when rookie defenseman Joe Hall tallied his first career goal. When the game ended, 6-2 in favor of the Millionaires, I imagined lusty boos raining down upon the hapless home team, which remains winless at 0-2-1. The expansion Millies, meanwhile, are now 1-1-1, with a +3 goal differential. Remarkably, they're also leading the league in goals scored with 11. They can't keep this up...can they?

Season 4 Begins!

The first day of Season 4 featured the Thistles hosting the expansion Millionaires in their first-ever regular-season game. 

The contest opened quietly with a lot of dump-and-chase, and about the only remarkable thing through the first half of the first period was that the normally faceoff-savvy Thistles kept blowing draws. As such, the Millionaires had a possession advantage early on, but it was the Thistles who struck for the game's first goal when defenseman Dickie Boon fired a shot through traffic that eluded Hugh Lehman. Just moments later, however, the Millies' rookie blueliner Joe Hall snapped the puck to Harry Watson, who chipped it past Riley Hern to tie the game. So now there's an answer to the trivia question, "Who scored the first goal in Millionaires history?"

Not long into the second period, Alf Smith scored to put the Thistles back on top. The Millionaires answered right back when Jimmy Gardner tallied on the power play. The new squad was certainly demonstrating a lot of resiliency, but late in the frame, Tommy "Tools" Smith set up Moose Goheen to give the home team their third lead of the night.

The Millionaires put on the pressure in the third, but Hern was up to the challenge. He did, however, benefit from some good puck luck. The pivotal moment came when Millies winger Barney Stanley had a wide-open net in front of him. The Strat card gave him a 90% chance of scoring with no possibility of a saving throw (so to speak) for the goaltender. Stanley missed the gimme and his team fell 3-2.

Still, it was a pretty successful debut for the Millies. Lehman was solid in goal, the team was a perfect 4-4 on the penalty kill, and if not for some bad luck in high-leverage scoring chances (there was Stanley's blunder, of course, but several other unlucky dice rolls as well), they might've had another goal or two. I don't see this team making the playoffs, but they may well prove to be respectable even in their first year.

Preseason Game 3

In giving the Thistles and the Bulldogs a preseason game, my main intent was to see first overall pick Jack Laviolette in action. The rookie defenseman had a rather quiet debut, but his teammates certainly made a statement. The Bulldogs went out and thumped the Thistles and their MVP goaltender, Riley Hern, by a 4-0 score, with Scotty Davidson, Bruce Stuart, Tom Hooper, and Art Ross all lighting the lamp. Although it won't count in the standings, Paddy Moran posted a 23-save shutout. It's just one game, but if the Dogs keep up this kind of play, they'll be serious contenders for a playoff spot in Season 4.

Preseason Game 2

This is probably how it's going to go when the regular season starts. Although the Millionaires showed up well against the Comets in the first preseason game, they got annihilated by the Victorias in the second contest.

The game started quietly enough. Late in the first, still scoreless, Vics blueliner Phat Wilson took a shot from the point that eluded Hugh Lehman. It remained a one-goal game through most of the second period, until Hobey Baker scored on the power play to make it 2-0. Shortly thereafter, in the final minute, first-year forward Rusty Crawford atoned for an earlier penalty by setting up Millies captain Art Farrell for a blast that cut the Vics' lead in half. The rally was short lived. Right at the buzzer, Dubbie Bowie found rookie center Harry Hyland alone in the slot to make it 3-1. Things really fell apart for the Millionaires in the third. Early in the period, Marty Walsh and Hobie Baker struck in rapid succession to make it 5-1. A glimmer of hope arose for the home team when Jimmy Gardner scored on a nice feed from Ernie Russell to cut the deficit to three, but Cyclone Taylor picked up a power-play goal late in the third to put the exclamation point on a resounding 6-2 triumph for the Victorias. Taylor led all scorers with four points (1 G, 3 A), while Baker, Wilson, Bowie, and Billy McGimsie all had multiple-point efforts for the winning side. Penalty killing was again a major problem for the expansion team, as they allowed two power-play goals on four chances. They failed to score on their only try with the man advantage.

I was most curious about the performance of rookie goaltender Hugh Lehman, who got torched in this game but had a solid effort in the first one. Over the course of the two preseason games, he finished with a 4.00 goals-against average and .897 save percentage. If Lehman puts up numbers like these during the regular season, the Bulldogs will have been justified in passing over him to select Jack Laviolette instead. Speaking of the Bulldogs, I ought to give them an exhibition contest (I'll set them up against the Thistles, who also have yet to take the ice in the preseason) to see how young phenom Laviolette fares.

Preseason Game 1

Prior to Season 1, I conducted a mini-tournament so that I could learn the Strat-O-Matic hockey rules and experiment with line combinations and strategies. Each of the four original teams played two games, so I thought it fair that the expansion Millionaires should also get two exhibition games before I commence with Season 4. As such, the Millionaires took the ice was for the first time tonight, at home, against the champion Comets. The outcome and stats won't count toward league totals, but they'll help me assess how this new team might hold up against the established clubs.

The game started with a bang when, right after the opening faceoff, Comets sparkplug Billy Gilmour leveled his former teammate, Jimmy Gardner. I know it was just a random outcome of the Action Deck, but damn, it seemed appropriate! Gilmour is always right in the thick of it, and he immediately gives the Millies a heel they can despise. Shortly thereafter, Ernie Russell got some payback when he took down superstar Frank McGee. These early penalties set the stage for a rough, physical contest.

The home fans had plenty to cheer about late in the first when Fred Whitcroft, the defenseman-turned-center, scored unassisted on a breakaway. The lead was short-lived, however, as playoff hero Mike Grant tied the game early in the second with a power-play goal that was set up by Gilmour and McGee. Later on, Percy LeSueur made a couple of big saves against Whitcroft and Harry Watson, and the second period ended with a one-all deadlock.

The final frame featured more penalties and clutch saves by both netminders. Lehman impressed with stops on Grant and Fred Maxwell. Just when it looked like the Millies might come away with a draw in their first game, George Richardson scored for the Comets on the power play, with the assists going to McGee and Grant. Special teams really were the difference in this game. The Millionaires went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Comets clicked at 2-for-6.

Not long after Richardson's tally, the clock ran out and the Comets skated away with a 2-1 triumph. It was a tough loss for the Millies, but they acquitted themselves well. Lehman stopped an eye-popping 38 of 40 shots. (It was 25 of 26 for LeSueur, who had a much lighter workload.) If the Millionaires can avoid the penalty box and find a way to get a few more shots, they'll hold their own in this league.