Reavers Repeat!

The Season 3 Sigmar Cup goes to the Reavers! 

The title game opened with slow, cautious play on both sides. The Reavers managed to keep the ball away from the Avengers and claim points here and there on challenge cards. With leads of 5-2 and 6-3, the defending champs looked for an opportunity to deliver a knockout blow in the second half. A fumble by their thrower, however, led to a wild series of plays, by which the agile Avengers got the ball into the hands of their speedy catcher, who sprinted for the end zone and a potential game-tying touchdown. To make it, he needed a 5 or 6 on a d6 roll, but despite a card allowing him a reroll, the best he could muster was a 4. As such, he ended just shy of the goal line, where a Reaver lineman pounded him into the turf. From there, the Reavers looked to run down the clock. Both teams claimed a few more challenge points, and the final score ended up 11-7. With back-to-back titles, the Reavers have now staked their claim to a mini-dynasty. Can they make it a threepeat in Season 4?

Undead Turned

With the regular season at an end, it's time for the Blitz Bowl Season 3 playoffs! Who's in and who's out?

The Reavers claimed their third straight first-place finish, but it was only on the basis of tiebreakers over the Avengers: Both teams had identical points and wins, but the Reavers won the season series 2-1-1. As such, they earned a bye into the championship game, while the Avengers settled for second place and would host the third-place Champions. The unlucky Giants, with the league's second-fewest wins despite the second-best point differential, just missed the cut, as did the Grasshuggers, who got hot way too late after a winless first half of the season.

In the wild-card game, the Avengers jumped out to a quick start. The fleet-footed elves racked up five points on challenge cards while the plodding undead struggled to impose their usual brand of physical punishment. The unequivocal highlight of the game came when an Avenger lineman, backed up into his own end zone, hurled a long pass to the catcher, who then sprinted to the Champions' end zone for the touchdown. It was the longest touchdown play in league history. The Champions managed to pick up a single point on their next turn, but the game ended shortly thereafter due to the ten-point mercy rule. With an 11-1 victory, the Avengers notched the most dominant postseason win we've yet seen in this Blitz Bowl league. Next they'll face the Reavers in the championship game...

Uh Oh

Okay...okay...don't panic, duder. Just because you discovered this doesn't mean you have to buy anything...

Let's Get a Pet!

Sorry, kids, I meant in D&D. The latest round of One D&D playtest materials are available (here), and they focus on the druid and paladin classes. I was pleased to see new rules for Find Familiar and Find Steed; anyone who loves pets in D&D will love these updates to make your familiar and paladin mounts way more useful!

Spoiler Alert!

We're at the three-quarter mark of the Blitz Bowl season, and the red-hot Champions -- an expansion team consisting of various types of cadaverous undead -- have moved into first place at 7-5-1. Perhaps the biggest story, though, is the Grasshoppers' stunning turnaround. Those plucky halflings started the season 0-8-1, but have now won four in row -- they've beaten all four of the teams in front of them! It may be too late for them to make a playoff run, but at the very least, they can play the role of spoiler for the last quarter of the season.

Home Field Advantage

Nathaniel got the highly regarded Game of Thrones board game for Christmas, and we recently gave it a whirl. First of all, the game is great. It mixes politics, combat, resource management, intrigue, and all the sorts of stuff you'd want to see in a true GoT experience. 

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (the official title) is designed for three to six players, so with Matthew unavailable to join us, we each played two of the great houses -- he took Baratheon and Greyjoy, and I established an (unlikely!) alliance of Stark and Lannister. Why those four families and not, say, Martell or Tyrell? The number of players determines which houses are available and which are, essentially, NPCs that players can conquer. Therein lies the game's greatest flaw. Team Baratheon gets a huge home-field advantage in a three- or four-player game. While I was battling the Greyjoys with both of my factions, Nathaniel had Baratheon calmly marching across the southern portion of Westeros, gobbling up territories before I could get anyone down there to oppose him. For future reference, we'll have to make it clear to Matthew, Amy, and anyone else who joins us that Baratheon has the easiest path to victory, so it's important to team up against them early in the game!

Return to IWD

With Amy and Matthew at a swim meet this past weekend, Nathaniel and I were on our own. We did a bit of modeling, but he was keen on some D&D video game action, so we played a bit of the classic '90s Chronicles of Mystara games on our Xbox. He was looking for something more, so I suggested we check out the renowned Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale series; after I described both in detail, he opted for Icewind Dale, so we picked up the Enhanced Edition on Steam and jumped into some old-school second-edition character creation! Nathaniel created three heroes based on some of his favorite characters of past campaigns, and I contributed three of my own -- including a new incarnation of my all-time favorite character from my first-ever IWD play-through. We're still early in the game, but he's loving it so far, and I'm glad to be able to share this experience with him!

Halftime!

I've blitzed my way to the halfway point of Season 3 of my Blitz Bowl league. The Reavers, defending champs, are tops at 4-1-3, with a league-best point differential (+27), offense (11.13 points per game), and defense (7.75 points allowed per game). About the only thing they're not leading the league in is touchdowns, as the run-and-gun Avengers rank first in that stat. The Avengers are also in second place at 4-2-2, followed by the Giants (3-1-4). If the playoffs started today, those would be the teams. The expansion Champions are holding their own at 4-4-0 and will likely threaten the clubs above them for a playoff spot. The only team that is basically out of the running is the second-year Grasshuggers, who are limping along at an abysmal 0-7-1 thanks to a league-worst offense and defense.

Dear Diary...

Today, for the first time ever, one of my kids knew an obscure bit of superhero lore that I did not. Nathaniel brought up a character called Dogwelder (yes, that's right) and when I said that I had never heard of such a character and it could not possibly be from DC or Marvel, Nathaniel showed me that Dogwelder is indeed a superhero from DC. Still have no idea how he knew it, but he knew it!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBAAAAAAL?!?!?

Yes. Yes I am.

Season 3 of my Blitz Bowl league commences this weekend with the human Reavers defending their Season 2 title against the dwarf Giants, the elf Avengers, the halfling Grasshuggers, and the brand-new Champions, a team made up of various types of undead. With five franchises now in the league, each team will play a total of 16 regular-season games (up from 12 in Season 2 and 8 in Season 1). In a change from the past two seasons, we'll add a Wild Card round to the playoffs. The first-place team will get a bye into the championship game, and then the second- and third-place teams will have a play-in game to see who joins them. Will we see the Reavers and Giants battle in the title game for the third season in a row, or will another team crash the party?

Season 8 Awards

Time to put my hockey stuff away and get ready for some Blitz Bowl football. But first, the awards! The lowly Thistles and the middling Millionaires failed to claim any individual trophies, but the other four teams are represented in the list below.

Scoring Champion: Cyclone Taylor, D, Victorias
Taylor set a single-season record with 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) and beat runner-up Frank McGee by eight points to claim yet another scoring title. There's just no stopping the greatest player in league history.

Forward MVP: Frank McGee, LW, Comets
McGee, the league's all-time leader in goals scored, broke Newsy Lalonde's record of 19 goals in a season (set just last year) with 21. The one-eyed wonder had 33 total points to lead all forwards, although Lalonde was right behind him with 31 and had a much better plus-minus (+9 vs. McGee's -5). I really agonized over which star should get this trophy, but at the end of the day, a forward's job is to score goals, and this year McGee bested Lalonde in that category 21 to 14. McGee now has three Forward MVPs, moving him into a tie with the Bulldogs' Gord Roberts for the most of any forward.

Defenseman MVP: Cyclone Taylor, Victorias

Taylor really is the best in the business, as evinced by his sixth Defenseman MVP trophy in eight seasons. Not only did he rack up a record 41 points, he led the league in plus-minus at +16, which was six better than any other defenseman. A rejuvenated Graham Drinkwater of the Bearcats and Taylor's steady teammate Phat Wilson also received consideration, but how do you not give this award to Taylor? We might as well name the award after him.

Goaltender MVP: Hap Holmes, Bearcats

Holmes dueled runner-up Bowse Hutton of the Vics all season, and while Hutton had a slightly better goals-against average (1.95 vs. Holmes's 2.00), Holmes, more importantly, led all goalies in save percentage with .936 vs. Hutton's .931. Needless to say, this was a very close call, but Holmes got bonus points for pulling his mediocre Bearcats team all the way from dead last to second place.

Rookie of the Year: Joe Malone, LW, Bearcats

Speaking of that mediocre Bearcats team, Malone certainly did his share, as well, to get the Cats into the playoffs. Phantom Joe scored a new rookie record of 14 goals, and his 24 points put him sixth overall in the league in scoring. I see great things ahead for Malone, who will likely challenge for Scoring Championships and Forward MVPs in the years to come.

Playoff MVP: Tommy Dunderdale, RW, Bulldogs

Gord Roberts led the league in playoff goals with eight, but his series-ending injury robbed him of the opportunity to add a Playoff MVP to his sizable collection of trophies. Instead, his teammate and linemate Tommy Dunderdale claims this award, as Dunderdale led the league in playoff points (6 goals, 8 assists), and scored some clutch goals in both series, most notably the pivotal overtime goal in Game 3 of the Dogs' first-round matchup against the Bearcats.

Victorias Dethroned!

The dynasty is over! There will be no threepeat for the Victorias! In the Creighton Cup Finals for Season 8, the Bulldogs upset the Vics to claim their second title in franchise history. 

In Game 1 of this best-of-five series, the Bulldogs scratched and clawed their way to a gritty 3-2 triumph on the road. The Vics needed a road win of their own to knot the series at a game apiece, but that didn't happen. Star winger Tommy Dunderdale scored twice -- on the game's first two shots on goal, no less -- to set the tone for a 5-2 Bulldogs win. The defending champs came home in Game 3 needing a win to stay alive. They got some good fortune in the second period when the Dogs' best player, Gord Roberts, took a nasty spill and departed; he was soon ruled out for a potential Game 4, as well. Regulation ended with the game tied at two. In overtime, hotheaded superstar Newsy Lalonde took a bad penalty; while the Vics' fans held their breath, Lalonde's teammates killed the penalty without allowing a single shot. There was no better way for Lalonde to show his appreciation than to snap home the game-winning goal! Thanks to Lalonde's overtime heroics, the Vics had an opportunity to keep the series going. The Bulldogs hosted Game 4, without Roberts, and sought to claim the cup on home ice. The contest was tied at two in the third when the Dogs' top-line center, Bruce Stuart, flung the puck on goal from long range; in game terms, the shot had only a 5% chance of eluding goaltender Bowse Hutton, but the d20 roll landed on a "1", meaning that Stuart had scored a miraculous goal. The Vics threw everything they had at Paddy Moran in the closing moments, but Moran held the line and, at the final buzzer, the Bulldogs celebrated their Creighton Cup championship!

Cup Finals!

We'll finish up a record-setting Season 8 with another showdown for the Creighton Cup! 

In the first round of the playoffs, the Victorias/Millionaires matchup featured the best goaltending of any playoff series in league history. In Game 1, Bowse Hutton led the Vics to a 3-0 shutout, but Riley Hern returned the favor by blanking the Vics 1-0 in Game 2. The defending champs stormed back to win the next two games by scores of 3-2 and 2-1 to claim the series, but Millies netminder Hern may well have exorcised his playoff demons despite the losses, as he put up incredible numbers: a 2.00 goals-against average and .944 save percentage. Hutton, meanwhile, jumps to the front of the line for Playoff MVP with a 1.00 GAA and .962 save percentage.

The other series featured the second-year Bearcats in their inaugural postseason appearance against the grizzled veterans of the Bulldogs. Although the Bearcats were favored and opened the series at home, they were stunned by the Dogs in Game 1 by a 5-3 margin. The Cats rallied from two goals down to win the second game 3-2, and took the lead three times in Game 3 only for the Dogs to tie it up and then finally win 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Tommy Dunderdale. In Game 4, with their backs against the wall, the Cats folded as the Bulldogs thumped them 4-0, with Paddy Moran notching a shutout victory. 

So, for the fourth time in eight seasons, the dance card for the finals will be Victorias against Bulldogs -- the absolute best rivalry in this league. The Vics are in search of their third consecutive title (and fifth overall!), but their first-round performance against the Millies was not exactly overwhelming. Moreover, reliable left winger Marty Walsh will miss the first game of the championship series with an injury, depleting the Vics' firepower. The Dogs, meanwhile, have firepower to spare, with a league-leading 15 goals in the first round. Gord Roberts (5 goals, 2 assists) and Tommy Dunderdale (3 goals, 4 assists) are pacing the circuit in playoff points. 

Will it be a threepeat for the Vics, or will their dynasty end here?

OGL Update

Wizards of the Coast is in the process of rolling out seismic changes to their Open Game License (OGL), and it's been the biggest story in gaming over the last few days. Now WotC has come out with some revisions to those controversial changes. You can find their statement here. It's, well, it's not really that much of an improvement over the initial draft that was leaked.

Near Year, New Games!

Lots of great game stuff on tap for us here in early 2023. I need to challenge the boys to a rematch of Conquest of Nerath after they crushed my evil empires last week, and Nathaniel and I are both itching to get started with the Game of Thrones board game (although the real question is whether we can get Amy and Matthew interested). Both boys got lots of Warhammer stuff for Christmas (the new Astra Militarum boxed set for Matthew and the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy core set for Nathaniel) that still needs to be put together. On the RPG front, I'm almost ready to get the boys into a full-scale Doctor Who campaign using the Doctor Who Exterminate! wargame miniatures and a hodgepodge of other minis and maps. On top of all that, my niece and nephew are interested in joining us for some D&D, so I'll be creating a new campaign set in the Druid Cycle world. I guess I really won't have time to finish panting all those 3D-printed buildings...

Happy New Year!

Lots of great game-related stuff to look forward to in 2023! Tops on my list is the D&D movie! Time to start counting down the days to the March 31 release! 

Playoff Preview

There's nothing like playoff hockey! Although the Comets and Thistles failed to qualify for this year's tournament, the second-year Bearcats will be making their first playoff appearance. The previous expansion team, the Millionaires, won the Creighton Cup in just their second season. Will lightning strike twice with the Cats? Let's find out! Below are the matchups for the best-of-five opening round.

Victorias (1st) vs. Millionaires (4th)

The Vics' 13 wins and +26 goal differential were both the best in history. Their offense (3.25 goals per game) and defense (1.95 goals against per game) were tops in the league. Can anything stop this squad from a steamrolling to a threepeat? Here's one troubling stat: 2-2-0. That was the Vics' record against their first-round opponent, the Millies. Against everyone else, they went 11-2-3, so why the .500 record versus a team that finished 7-8-5 on the season with a -7 differential? Maybe it was bad luck, but this was the dance partner the Vics absolutely didn't want. Even so, I'm picking the Vics to win this playoff series in four games.

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

Goaltender Hap Holmes and rookie phenom Joe Malone led the plucky Bearcats to a surprise second-place finish. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, got solid contributions from up and down their balanced lineup. The teams had similar goal differentials (+7 for the Cats, +5 for the Dogs) and their season series was pretty close, going 2-1-1 for the Cats. A Bulldogs win would be a mild upset, but the team has really been coming together in recent weeks, so perhaps this veteran Dogs squad is peaking at the right time. I'm concerned enough by their dead-last penalty kill (68%), however, to call this one for the Cats in five.

Conquest of Nerath

Conquest of Nerath is a board game based on 4e D&D. When it was first released, many years ago, I didn't feel that I could justify the expense. This year, however, as I was looking for cool board game ideas for Nathaniel for Christmas, I got to thinking about Nerath again and figured it would be very much to his liking, as it's a D&D product but also heavily influenced by Axis & Allies, which is probably his all-time favorite board game. I managed to get a copy of Nerath on eBay for a reasonable price, and today we got set up for our first game.

Axis & Allies in a D&D setting really is the best way to describe this game. Oh, and freakin' awesome is probably another way. I mean, just look at that map and all those delightful units! In addition to typical military units like infantry, ships, and siege engines, there are skeletons, elementals, golems, and, of course, dragons! We haven't rolled a single die yet, but we had tons of fun setting up our empires this afternoon. Nathaniel will be playing as the human and dwarven alliance of Nerath (gray pieces in the upper-left) and will be teamed with Matthew as the Vailin alliance of elves and humans (yellow pieces in the lower-right). I'll be controlling the two evil factions, the undead Karkoth (black pieces in the upper-right) and the monstrous Iron Circle (red pieces in the lower-left). 

In addition to the large-scale battles between opposing armies, the game has a dungeon-exploring component, too, as certain types of units can delve into famous dungeons of D&D's history (Temple of Elemental Evil, Tomb of Horrors, etc.) and claim powerful treasures to aid their faction. It will be interesting to weigh the risks and benefits of dungeon exploration, as the heroes who venture out in search of treasure are, naturally, unavailable to help out on the battlefield. 

Can't wait go get started!

Record Setters

Always a bridesmaid! Star forward Newsy Lalonde of the Victorias has just completed his third season of play, and, for the third year in a row, he's likely to finish runner-up in the Forward MVP race. Back in Season 6, his first campaign, he established rookie records of 12 goals 25 points and finished runner-up to  18-goal-scorer Gord Roberts for Forward MVP. Last year, Lalonde set single-season records of 19 goals and 37 points, and yet still lost the MVP trophy to Comets forward Blair Russell, who had 17 goals and 31 points but dominated at both ends of the ice as an elite defensive forward (his +12 was tops among all forwards) as well as an offensive threat. This year, Lalonde has continued to excel with 14 goals and 31 points, but once again he's been overshadowed. Frank McGee eclipsed Lalonde's goal-scoring record with a stunning 21, while Lalonde's teammate Cyclone Taylor racked up a new single-season mark of 41 points. And what's more, Lalonde lost one of his rookie records, as well, when Bearcats freshman Joe Malone tallied 14 goals. I guess Lalonde will just need to find solace in his Season 6 Rookie of the Year award, his Season 7 Scoring Title, his Season 7 Playoff MVP trophy, and the back-to-back Creighton Cups that the Vics won in his first two years -- and, when it's all said and done, a third straight title this year?

McGee Magic

No one in my historical hockey league will ever catch Cyclone Taylor for most career points. Taylor entered Season 8 with 195, a whopping 40 points more than second-place Gord Roberts. He's the Gretzky of this league. 

Taylor's point totals are beefed up by the prodigious number of assists he amasses by dishing passes to his talented Victorias teammates. When it comes solely to goals, however, it's a different story. The goal-scoring king is not Taylor, but that one-eyed wonder, Frank McGee. Coming into this season, McGee had scored a career total of 86, ahead of Taylor (77), Roberts (75), and Thistles winger Alf Smith (69). A strong season by any of those challengers could put that player within striking distance of McGee.

Yeah, not so much! Although Taylor, Roberts, and Smith are having solid campaigns, they're all trailing a rejuvenated McGee, who just became the first player in league history to score 20 goals in a season. The previous record for most goals in a single season was 19, set just last year by young superstar Newsy Lalonde. Before that, Roberts had scored 18 in Season 6, and McGee had first set the bar at 18 in Season 2. McGee still has one game remaining on the schedule, so we'll see if he can get to 21 or beyond.