The City Is Growing!

I haven't posted much about our 3D printer since those earlier warehouse pics because we've been troubleshooting some bed adhesion issues. Now we're using a raft with each print and it's working out very well. Construction of our city continues apace!

Above is a free model that Corvus Games Terrain allows you to download from their site. Why not include a game shop in our town?!

I love this model because it's so versatile. It's a modular design, so you can print and stack as many stories as you like. I'm going to use the same files to create a three-story building next. As you can see, there's an empty rectangular space just above the door and street-level windows; this area is for gluing one of the many signs that were included among the files, so I'll glue different signs onto this building and its future three-story cousin. Plus, the building has internal floors, so you have lots of opportunities for interior play as well!  

And now my favorite: the pizza parlor! I might re-print the roof to try to get better resolution on the letters and numbers on the sign, but for now it's fine. We also have quite a backlog of stuff to print, as Matthew and I went on a bit of a shopping spree on Corvus this morning, purchasing files for more city shops, an industrial building, and a military base. 

Just please don't ask me about how these are going to get painted...

Creighton Cup Finals

Season 7 came to a close with the presentation of the Creighton Cup! And on Canada Day, no less!

Stumbling into Game 1 of the Finals, the discombobulated Comets were no match for the businesslike Victorias and their star winger, Newsy Lalonde. Shrugging off a chorus of boos and taunts from the Comets' hometown faithful, Lalonde recorded his first playoff hat trick and led the Victorias to a 4-1 triumph. The Comets managed to eke out a 3-2 road win in Game 2, setting the stage for one of the wildest and sloppiest playoff contests I've seen in this league. In Game 3, a Joe Hall penalty in the opening minute gave the Vics an early power play. Blair Russell, however, scored a shorthanded goal to stake the Comets to the lead, only for (who else?) Lalonde to tally on the power play mere seconds later. Both teams had scored on their very first shot on goal! Lots of penalties and lots of goals ensued, with the Victorias emerging as 5-2 winners. Remarkably, the road team had won all three games, a trend the Victorias hoped to break as they headed home for Game 4 with the chance to wrap up the franchise's latest title.

Game 4 was at once epic and anticlimactic. Lalonde beat Percy LeSueur just moments into the opening frame, and captain Hobey Baker doubled the Vics' lead around the midpoint. The score remained unchanged until the Comets' George Richardson notched a goal in the closing moments of the second, setting up a final period in which the Comets would need to throw everything they had at netminder Bowse Hutton to get the equalizer. The visitors got an early break when Newsy Lalonde went down with an injury and did not return, but they struggled to get quality chances throughout the third. A late score by Dubbie Bowie restored the Vics' two-goal advantage, and that was that. Riding a 45-save masterpiece from Hutton, the Vics cruised to a 3-1 win and claimed yet another Creighton Cup. 

They deserved it, too. The Victorias went 6-2 in this postseason run, leading all playoff teams with 3.50 goals per game, 1.88 goals against per game, and a +13 goal differential. Check out the special teams: 31.82% on the power play and a mind-boggling 95.24% penalty kill. 

That level of dominance has earned them their fourth title in seven years. They won back-to-back cups in Seasons 1 and 2, then went through a bit of a dry spell, and now have championships in Seasons 6 and 7. Is this the beginning of a new -- or, should I say, "Newsy" -- dynasty? Only time will tell!

Grudge Match

I picked up the wood elves set for Blitz Bowl (technically, it's for Blood Bowl, but the two games use the same miniatures) to see how a pass-focused team plays in comparison to the versatile humans and the run-based dwarves. In today's game, Matthew elected to play the elves, and Nathaniel claimed the dwarves. Although Matthew scored a pretty touchdown in the early going, the dwarves soon caught up and began to grind out points on challenge cards. The game ended with a 14-8 triumph for the dwarves, and in observing the action I learned a great deal that I'll be able to apply to my league once I get through my hockey playoffs.

First Round Report!

The first round is in the books!

As I predicted, the second-place Victorias defeated the third-place Bulldogs in four games. The Dogs were lucky to win the one game that they did, as their entire team -- aside, perhaps, from Gord Roberts -- really underperformed. The Vics, meanwhile, paced all first-round playoff teams with 3.50 goals per game, 2.00 goals against, and a power play that clicked at a robust 30%. Billy McGimsie, Cyclone Taylor, and Hobey Baker led the team with seven points apiece. 

The other matchup was rather more complicated. The Comets cruised to victories in the first two games, needing just one more triumph to reach the finals. The Thistles, their backs to the wall and without injured star Alf Smith, gutted out a gritty 3-2 road win in Game 3. In Game 4, on home ice, they beat Comets netminder Percy LeSueur on their first two shots on goal and never looked back, tying the series with a 5-4 win. The Comets were now on the brink of the greatest playoff collapse in league history. In the do-or-die Game 5, former Playoff MVP Mike Grant gave the Comets an early lead, but the Thistles simply did not quit. Top center Dan Bain was a real thistle in the Comets' side, and his nine points (5 G, 4 A) in five games led all players in the first round. However, third-period goals by Dick Irvin and Grant (again) put the game out of reach, and the Comets hung on for a 5-3 victory and a date with the Vics in the Creighton Cup Finals. 

What to expect in the best-of-five championship? The Comets have a playoff-best 92.86% penalty kill to help neutralize the Vics' elite power play, but otherwise they're a bit of a mess right now and the defending titlists look superior in just about every respect. The biggest disparity, I think, is in goal; Bowse Hutton is locked in, whereas LeSueur started hot but has turned back into a pumpkin over the last three games. On the positive side, rookie winger Shorty Green, a healthy scratch for the first three games, scored in both Game 4 and Game 5, so he'll get another look in the finals. In any case, the Comets will likely need all the help they can get; they may have finished the regular season in first place (and thus will have home-ice advantage), but all that is ancient history now, so I'm picking the Victorias to win in five games.

Free RPG Day Is Today!

It's Free RPG Day! Hope it's a good one!

Free RPG Day 2022

Free RPG Day is coming up on Saturday! It's been quite a few years since I've been able to attend one, but I always had a great time.

Touchdown!

Is it just me, or does it seem like every NFL game reaches a point in the fourth quarter after which defenses evaporate and the teams keep trading scores until the clock runs out? Nathaniel and I got to experience that phenomenon today in our first-ever game of Blitz Bowl. 

I've been waiting for the latest edition of this slimmed-down version of Games Workshop's celebrated Blood Bowl to be released, but with Amy and Matthew enjoying the gifts of Grandfather Nurgle, today seemed as good a day as any to drive up to our semi-local Barnes & Noble and pick up a copy of the soon-to-be-obsolete current edition. This boxed set includes models for humans and dwarves, but also game stats for all the other factions. I'll see if I can pick up the models for another team or two and create my own solo-play league, like with my historical Strat-O-Matic stuff. 

First, of course, I needed to learn how to play the game. Nathaniel and I worked our way through the "drills" that teach the basics of the rules, and then we jumped into our first match. He opted for the fleet-footed humans, leaving me the slow but solid dwarves. I jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after completing some objective cards (one or two points each) and scoring the game's first touchdown (three points). Nathaniel fought his way back and we were running neck-and-neck as time (measured by the deck of objective cards) was running out. Nathaniel pulled into the lead at 12-10. On my penultimate turn, one of my lumbering linemen managed to pick up the ball at midfield and went rumbling, bumbling, stumbling toward the end zone. Nathaniel deployed his forces for a goal-line stand, but, on my last turn, this surprisingly balletic bruiser managed to spin away from the defenders and leap into the end zone. I scored three for the touchdown and another point for completing an objective, so that put me in front 14-12. Nathaniel had just one last turn and needed a touchdown to win or two points' worth of objectives to tie. With half my team off the pitch due to injury, there was a lot of open space for the ol' two-minute drill. Nathaniel managed to run the ball, hand off to another player, and then run again into the end zone on the very last action of his final turn. With that buzzer-beater, the humans came out on top by a 15-14 margin!

Playoff Preview

Our 3D printer has been running virtually non-stop. Based on our experience thus far, I think it's going to be fantastic for printing terrain and buildings, but less so for printing minis. We've now printed four of the generic trooper dudes from my earlier post, and two of them are essentially unusable because the printer somehow messed up the rifle and/or the right arm. 

Anyway, back to hockey! It's playoff time for my historical guys, and Season 7 is the first to feature two full rounds of best-of-five play. Sadly, the Millionaires and the expansion Bearcats are heading home, but the other four teams now have their opening-round playoff assignments.

Comets (1st) vs. Thistles (4th)

It was a magical season for the Comets (11-3-6) and many of their players, four of whom finished in the top ten in points: Blair Russell (third), Mike Grant (fourth), Frank Foyston (fifth), and captain George Richardson (seventh). Behind this elite quartet, the league's all-time goals-scored leader, Frank McGee, notched a dozen tallies. If the team has a weakness, however, it's on the penalty kill. The Comets finished dead last with 70.37%. Their first-round opponent, the Thistles, had an uneven year. They were the only playoff team to finish below .500 (6-8-6) and with a negative goal differential (-5). On the positive side, Alf Smith came alive in the second half and finished with 14 goals and rookie Jack Darragh chipped in 10 of his own. 

Prediction: Comets in four.

Victorias (2nd) vs. Bulldogs (3rd)

The Vics had the league's best goal differential (+19) and absolutely dominated on special teams, pacing the circuit in both power play (24.62%) and penalty kill (92.16% -- the best percentage in league history). They weren't as strong at five-on-five, but stars Newsy Lalonde and Cyclone Taylor finished first and second, respectively, in the scoring race. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, were carried by veteran netminder Paddy Moran, the odds-on favorite to win his first Goaltender MVP trophy after backstopping the team to a league-low 2.40 goals against per game. His fine work covered for down years (relatively speaking) by Gord Roberts and the Dogs' other stars. Journeyman winger Jack Ruttan, a trade deadline acquisition, exceeded expectations by scoring five goals in eight games to close out the regular season.

Prediction: Victorias in four.

First 3D Building!

Behold, our first 3D-printed building! This warehouse features double doors that actually slide open and a removable roof to allow access to the interior. 

Matthew has already claimed it as his hero's lair in our Tales of the Ternion campaign! Next up, we'll be printing a pizza shop. It's not Picnic Pizza, but it will have to suffice!

Hot Off the Presses!

The image isn't great, but Matthew has made a successful test run of our first custom-designed Hero Forge mini that we've printed on our own 3D printer. 

We took what we learned from the Hero Forge sample mini and created a more streamlined figure that requires fewer supports and has fewer skinny appendages that would easily break. I can quickly shave off the stringy filament residue and have this mini ready for painting in no time, in stark contrast to the hour it took me to carve the previous mini out of her plastic scaffolding and then re-assemble her broken parts. 

This generic helmeted trooper will work great for our futuristic Shattered Realm campaigns as well as our current Tales of the Ternion superhero game!

First Mini!

Hero Forge has a couple of sample models that you can download for free and test out on your own 3D printer. Here's our first attempt...

When we loaded the model in our slicer software -- I know, so cyberpunk, right!? -- we saw immediately that in order for the printer to properly build all the stuff that sticks out from the torso, the slicer would need to add extra "support" plastic. The arms, the book, the torch, the sword hilt, the pony tail -- all of it was encased in a kind of plastic scaffolding. This poor adventurer came out looking like she was trapped in some sort of fiendish magical prison.

With my trusty Games Workshop tools, I set about clipping and scraping away the plastic supports as well as the stringy residue left by the printer. In the process, several appendages came off. I glued them all back on, but the whole process was very tedious and, as you can see in the photographs, there's still a fair amount of that leftover filament that I have yet to remove.

For future minis, we'll probably use Hero Forge to design something a lot simpler. It will need to be a straight up-and-down pose with a weapon resting against the shoulder rather than extending perpendicular to the torso. We'll also opt for a closed helmet rather than a face, as the resolution of the printer doesn't seem to support significant facial detail. 

More experiments to come!

Villains of Gotham Beware!

Matthew's first official print job is complete! 

Now, where are all the 28mm minis he promised me?!

Now the real fun begins...

Little plastic dogs are all well and good, but now it's time to get down to business. Here's the start of Matthew's first creation...

The Printer Prints!

And now the 3D printer prints! We were on the phone tonight troubleshooting with my software engineer brother-in-law, and he suggested loading the sample printable files onto a different micro SD card to rule out a faulty card. Nathaniel had another such micro SD, so we tried using that one in the 3D printer -- and it worked! We ended up with a cute little dog that Nathaniel has already claimed. Next up: Matthew is going to design a simple but usable miniature -- something we can bring right into our Tales of the Ternion superhero campaign -- and purchase the STL file so that we can try printing it at home!

Tales of the Ternion

The 3D printer has been something of a bust. Although all the mechanical components are fine -- the motors work as expected and the extruder heats the filament properly -- the printer essentially freezes whenever we initiate a print job. I'm thinking it must be a firmware issue, so I hope the manufacturer's tech support folks can walk us through a potential fix. Otherwise, back to Amazon it goes! 

The boys are pretty disappointed, but the blow was softened a bit by the start of our long-anticipated superhero campaign, Tales of the Ternion. Drawing upon characters and themes from all of my past modern-setting campaigns (superhero and otherwise), I've concocted a fiendishly complex web of mysteries and conspiracies for the boys to unravel. After just a few sessions (rather, "issues"), they're knee-deep in cryptic clues and feeling proud that they've been able to answer a few questions. I think we need to finish up Cursed City before we get too deep in this campaign, but it's been a fun treat over this long weekend!

Our Latest Rabbit Hole

After exhaustive research by their top engineer (Matthew) and with the backing of a wealthy investor (Nathaniel), my kids have purchased a 3D printer. Now they'll be able to print miniatures (with an assist from Hero Forge) for minions, troopers, civilians, and other background characters in our roleplaying games, as well as 3D terrain for our wargames. I'll be sure to share photos of their creations once we receive the printer and get it up and running!

Deadline Deal

The trade deadline has come and gone, and, as I anticipated, the thin talent pool that we're experiencing during this expansion season has resulted in very limited player movement. Just about every team went out and kicked some tires, but there just weren't a lot of great options out there. I always try to be objective and make the best-possible decision for every team, so if a transaction doesn't benefit both clubs, I won't make it. 

As it turned out, just one deal went down. The Bulldogs flipped winger Scotty Davidson to the Bearcats for fellow forward Jack Ruttan. This deal made sense for a lot of reasons. First, the Bulldogs currently sit in third place, just a point behind our co-leaders, the Comets and the Victorias. The Dogs are just about a lock to make the playoffs, but Davidson's frequent penalties (he's second in the league in PIM) are costing his team points in the standings. It's been so bad lately that I've had to bench Davidson in the third period in close games to avoid meltdowns. If the Dogs want to make a deep run in the playoffs, they can't give offensively-oriented teams like the Comets and Vics even more power-play chances. Davidson is just too much of a risk for them. His production is way down this year, as well (12 games, 3 G, 2 A, -6). Coming back to the Dogs is Ruttan, who has played in only six games but still has nearly the same production (2 G, 1 A, -1); moreover, in terms of Strat-O-Matic game stats, Ruttan is in the lowest penalty bracket, whereas Davidson is in the bracket is most likely to trigger a penalty. Why would the Bearcats want Davidson? Well, in this situation they have the opportunity to buy low on a solid player who is vastly superior to internal options like Fred Scanlan and Rusty Crawford. Davidson is an elite skater, and the Cats are the slowest team in the league by far. He also brings a great deal of offensive upside, so a bit of positive regression will provide some dividends for his new team. He'll take more than his share of boneheaded penalties, but the Cats need talent and they're not in contention for a playoff spot this year. Davidson gives them a useful everyday player for next year, or someone they can trade back to an offense-starved contender if need be.

Today Is Free Comic Book Day!

Mosey on over to your friendly local comic book store for some free stuff! You can read all about the FCBD offerings here.

FCBD 2022

Heads up that this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day!

A Plucky Challenger!

We've just rolled -- or, rather, skated -- past the midpoint of Season 7, with all sorts of fun storylines shaping up in this first campaign with a full six-team league. One of those storylines is the sheer dominance of second-year forward Newsy Lalonde of the Victorias. With 12 goals and 7 assists in just 11 games, Lalonde ought to be cruising toward the scoring title and the Forward MVP trophy.

Except, he isn't.

There's another player with 12 goals and 7 assists in 11 games played, but also a league-leading +13 plus/minus rating (compared to Lalonde's pedestrian +1). One might reasonably guess three-time MVP Gord Roberts to be that other player, but Roberts, despite having a fine campaign, is all the way back at tenth in the league in total points as of today. No, Lalonde's plucky challenger is Comets left winger Blair Russell. 

The Comets are loaded with offensive talent, starting with two-time MVP Frank McGee, the league's all-time leader in goals scored. They've also got Dick Irvin, Frank Foyston, and George Richardson, plus high-scoring defenseman Mike Grant, and yet Russell has more goals and points than any of these luminaries. What gives? Well, Russell was a bit of a minor star in earlier seasons, finishing sixth in the scoring race in Season 2 and fifth in Season 3. Since then, Russell hasn't even sniffed the top ten, or even the top twenty. This year, he's on a brand-new line, skating with crafty winger-turned-center Foyston and either Shorty Green or defenseman-turned-forward Joe Hall on the right wing. Their stellar play has propelled the Comets to (currently) second place behind the lordly Vics. 

I can't wait to see if Russell outduels Lalonde by the season's end, or if another challenger emerges to steal their thunder!