A Year Already?

I used to keep detailed game session notes back in high school -- probably still accessible on the hard drive of our old Tandy 1000SX in my father's basement! -- but I got away from the practice as an adult and always regretted it. I resolved to start drafting session notes again when the boys and I started Tales of the Ternion, a superhero campaign that was, essentially, a sequel to my first-ever campaign, Earth Commanders. I was just looking through some records and noticed that Tales began exactly one year ago today. Wow, a whole year! I'm surprised it's been that long. 

I'm really proud of Tales, and would rank it among my top ten or even top five campaigns of all time. It was character-driven, dealt with a lot of weighty and topical issues, and featured some really nifty plot twists -- all while stitching together the most important threads from our modern-setting campaigns of the '80s and '90s, bringing them fully into the Front Porch multiverse. We'll be returning to the setting of Tales in a few months with a follow-up campaign, for which I'll be using all that 3D-printed terrain I've been painting...

Middle of the Second Period

I'm hustling a bit to get through Season 9 of my historical hockey league before our summer plans, so the games are coming fast and furious. At the halfway point of the season, the Victorias, Thistles, Millionaires, and Bulldogs are in playoff position, while the Comets and Bearcats are on the outside looking in. As is often the case, the Vics occupy the top spot in the standings, and their +12 goal differential suggests they're for real, whereas the second-place Thistles (only a single point behind them) are just breaking even, so we might see some regression from this year's surprise contender. Speaking of surprises, the Bearcats have taken a big step backwards in their third season of play, but they're tracking toward a historically good penalty-kill percentage (currently north of 95%!). 

For the individual awards, two races are really standing out. Looking at Forward MVP, all the buzz is on the starboard side. Three-time runner-up Newsy Lalonde (10 G, 6 A, +3) got off to a hot start, but he has some tough competition coming from his own locker room; the Vics' captain and second-line right wing, Hobey Baker (9 G, 7 A, +9), is playing a phenomenal 200-foot game this year. Meanwhile, Bulldogs right wing Tommy Dunderdale (9 G, 5 A, +3) is lurking in the background, ready to pounce if the two Vics begin to falter. Turning to Defenseman MVP, in a down year (relatively speaking) for perennial winner Cyclone Taylor, Hod Stuart (2 G, 9 A, +8) of the Thistles and Si Griffis (3 G, 8 A, +7) of the Bulldogs are neck-and-neck for frontrunner status. 

The second half of the season begins tonight!

Raiders Rule!

The Cylon starship, that is, not the football team.

The boys and I have played a few skirmishes in Battlestar Galactica: Starship Battles and the player controlling the Cylon Raider(s) has won every time. Granted, we haven't added in all the optional and advanced rules yet, but it's tough out there for Colonial Viper jockeys right now!

Which Team Reigns Supreme?

I've been solo-playing a lot of sports games over the past couple of years, so I thought it might be interesting to take a broader look across the three leagues -- baseball, hockey, and football -- to see how all the teams have fared. Who are the lordly Yankees or Canadiens of my fantasy leagues, and who are the title-starved Mariners or Senators?

In the table below, I've listed the teams in order of championships won. Each entry also includes the sport, the number of seasons the team has existed, and the number of seasons the league has existed (the latter two numbers are different only if a given franchise is an expansion team).

 

Team	Sport	Titles	Team Seasons	League Seasons
Haymakers	Baseball	5	9	9
Victorias	Hockey	4	8	8
Reavers	Football	2	3	3
Bulldogs	Hockey	2	8	8
Blue Legs	Baseball	2	9	9
Giants	Football	1	3	3
Millionaires	Hockey	1	5	8
Resolutes	Baseball	1	5	9
Comets	Hockey	1	8	8
Canaries	Baseball	1	9	9
Champions	Football	0	1	3
Grasshuggers	Football	0	2	3
Bearcats	Hockey	0	2	8
Avengers	Football	0	3	3
Thistles	Hockey	0	8	8

Where we have ties -- for example, with all the teams that each have won a single championship -- the tiebreaker is a lower number of team seasons. A team that has achieved a certain level of success in fewer seasons is more dominant than one that had more opportunities to do so but failed. 

Some good news, at least, for the lowly Thistles: As of this writing, in Season 9 of my hockey league, they're in first place. Could this be the year they rise out of the basement?

"Set Condition 1 throughout the ship! Launch the alert fighters!"

Recently the four of us finished watching all ten seasons of Friends, and it sparked a conversation about acclaimed television programs that either had a pitch-perfect ending (like Friends) or a complete dumpster fire (like Seinfeld). Of course, one man's trash is another man's treasure -- defending the final episode of Game of Thrones is absolutely a hill I'll die on! -- but in this conversation, Amy and I both agreed that our favorite final episode is from the modern Battlestar Galactica. The boys weren't familiar with BSG, so I provided a little context and then, before I knew it, I was ordering the complete series on Blu-ray. 

It's been a pleasure to revisit this top-notch program, and as soon as I saw the boys starting to design Vipers and Raiders in their 3D-modeling software, I figured it was time to check out the BSG gaming scene. I recalled a semi-cooperative game in which players try to figure out who among them are secretly Cylons (Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game), but I lamented that there was never any sort of miniatures-based game along the lines of Star Wars X-Wing. That would've been super cool! So I ran a quick search to see if I could track down a copy of the aforementioned board game, when I suddenly realized that, yes, Virginia, there is a Battlestar Galactica miniatures game! And it looks frakkin' awesome! Battlestar Galactica: Starship Battles seems to have come and gone without my notice and is no longer being manufactured. Fortunately, there are still plenty of copies of the core set and the various ship expansions floating around. Can't wait to check it out!

FCBD '23

Heads up! Today is Free Comic Book Day, y'all!

Hockey Season 9 Preview

Next up in my sporting rotation is Season 9 of my pre-NHL Hall of Fame hockey players. Last year, the Bulldogs upset the favored Victorias to claim their second Creighton Cup. Other highlights of the season included the Comets' Frank McGee scoring a record 21 goals, Joe Malone turning heads as a rookie, and (thanks in part to Malone) the Bearcats improving from 2-11-7 to 8-4-8. 

What's on tap for Season 9? Rookie Didier Pitre may have the best shot this side of McGee, but can he help the dysfunctional Thistles get back to the playoffs? Will the Bearcats continue to improve in their third campaign and make a deep playoff run? And will the Comets shake things up after a lost season of inexplicable injuries?

Dungeons Pop -- Final Two Weeks

The Dungeons Pop Kickstarter has two more weeks to go. Some great stretch goals still within reach!

Season 9 Awards

Another baseball season in the books! Here are the awards for our Season 9 stars...

Position Player MVP: Buck Ewing, Canaries

There was no hands-down favorite this year, as a lot of players put up fine but not necessarily great seasons. Second baseman Bid McPhee of the Haymakers had a very strong showing, but ultimately it came down to a pair of Canaries teammates: catcher Buck Ewing and first baseman Roger Connor. While Connor led the league in home runs and (surprisingly) was the best defensive first baseman, he also lost a chunk of time to injuries. Ewing, meanwhile, played in every contest, provided flawless defense at a crucial position, and tied for second in the league in home runs. 

Pitcher MVP: Pud Galvin, Canaries

Another very close call! Galvin and the Blue Legs' Al Spalding were the only serious candidates this year. Galvin edged Spalding for the league's best ERA (2.75 to 2.85), while leading the Canaries to the biggest single-season turnaround in league history. 

Playoff MVP: Cap Anson, Haymakers

There was no clear-cut winner for this award, either. Cy Young, Mickey Welch, Roger Bresnahan, Pud Galvin, and Billy Hamilton all had big moments, but power-hitting first baseman Anson was the constant who delivered consistent results over the entire series and led all players in total bases.

Season 9 Championship

With Pud Galvin starting for the Canaries and Cy Young for the visiting Haymakers, I expected Game 1 to be a pitcher's duel. It wasn't. Although Young became the first pitcher in league history to hit a playoff home run, he also gave up nine runs in a slugfest that ended 9-6 for the home team. 

Hoping to take a two-game series lead, the Canaries started Addie Joss in Game 2 for his first-ever playoff appearance. The Haymakers nickel-and-dimed him for four runs, which was more than enough for Mickey Welch. With pinpoint control of his breaking pitches, Welch induced harmless popups and soft grounders. One after another, the Canaries flailed helplessly at his diving pitches. Three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen in a row! Welch carried a perfect game into the eighth inning. However, after retiring the first twenty-one batters, he issued a leadoff walk to Honus Wagner and, two batters later, a single to Hugh Duffy. The perfect game and no-hitter were gone, but the shutout was still intact. I sent Welch out for the ninth to finish his work, but he promptly departed the game with a season-ending injury. To go from a possible perfect game to a devastating injury in a matter of moments was a truly stunning turn of events. Amos Rusie came in throwing triple-digit heat to secure the 4-0 shutout win and even the series, but the loss of Welch was a gut-punch to the Haymakers.

Now at home for the next two games, the Haymakers handed the ball back to Young, while the Canaries countered with Galvin. Game 3 gave us the pitcher's duel we'd been waiting for. Young and Galvin traded zeroes until Sam Thompson's run-scoring single gave the Haymakers a slim 1-0 lead in the sixth. It was all Young would need. The proud old warhorse pitched a complete-game shutout after being humiliated in Game 1. After that nail-biting 1-0 victory, the Haymakers now led the best-of-five series two games to one. The Canaries, meanwhile, had been shut out in back to back games after scoring scoring nine runs in the series opener. My thoughts turned at once to the Season 6 championship series in which the Blue Legs were on the verge of a title but then were shut out in consecutive games by the Resolutes' Christy Mathewson and John Clarkson. 

With their season on the line, the Canaries started Joss in Game 4. The Haymakers, without Welch, were forced to start swingman Happy Jack Chesbro. On paper, it was a big mismatch in favor of the Canaries. When the dice hit the table, however, it was another story. The Haymakers came at Joss with hard contact in the early innings and led 4-0 before the Canaries finally managed to end their drought with a run in the fourth -- a span of twenty-three scoreless innings going back to Game 1. They would tack on a few more, as Chesbro was in and out of trouble all night, although he never surrendered the lead. With the Haymakers up 8-5 going into the top of the ninth, they turned to closer Amos Rusie to lock down the game and the series. Pinch hitter Charley Comiskey popped up for the first out. Speedy leadoff man Billy Hamilton, who had been running amok on the bases all series, promptly lashed a single. I agonized over whether to send him. If the next batter were to hit into a double play, the series would be over, and Hamilton is the fastest man in the league, so, yeah, I sent him. Star catcher Roger Bresnahan threw a perfect strike to second and Hamilton was out by a country mile. Two outs! Next up, Ed Delahanty singled, bringing Roger Connor -- a strong candidate for this year's Position Player MVP -- to the plate. Rusie unleashed the heater, Connor could not square up to it. A lazy pop fly to Bobby Wallace at short ended the game. 

So the Haymakers are champions for the fifth time in nine seasons. I'm actually rather disappointed. Although I typically don't root for specific teams, I had hoped that the Canaries could cash in on their turnaround season and claim the title they deserved, but alas, it was not meant to be. Maybe next year!

Birds Taking Flight

The Canaries are the feel-good story of the year in Season 9 of my historical baseball league. They've gone from worst to first with a vengeance, improving from last year's .292 winning percentage to a league-leading .625. That's a huge jump! I can't say I'm entirely surprised, however, because bad luck contributed a lot to that ugly .292 figure; their Pythagorean winning percentage was much higher, at .464. Even so, vaulting over the rest of the league to secure first place was a major feat for a team that hadn't had a winning record since claiming their only title way back in Season 4. With the league's best runs scored per game (4.46) and runs allowed per game (3.29), and a run differential that was third-highest in league history (+28), the Canaries are a clear favorite to win the championship. 

Standing in their way are the second-place Haymakers, the New York Yankees of this league, who overtook a fading Resolutes squad to reach the title series for the seventh time in nine seasons. The Haymakers' second-half surge was the product of great pitching from Cy Young and Mickey Welch, but their championship hopes took a hit when catcher Roger Bresnahan was injured in the regular-season finale. Without their star backstop for at least the first game of this best-of-five series, the Haymakers will be at a disadvantage offensively and defensively. My prediction is a Canaries triumph in four games.

Dungeons Pop

In my never-ending search for RPG and wargaming terrain, I love the idea of using 3D terrain, but there are a lot of complicating factors -- cost, storage space, time and effort for painting, etc. -- that make it tough to implement 3D on a large scale. To date, I haven't found a great solution that addresses all of those considerations...until, maybe, now? There's a new Kickstarter called Dungeons Pop, and it offers full-color 3D terrain at an affordable price and requiring very little storage space. How do they pull it off? Well, it's basically like a pop-up book! I'm backing this project not only to get the products shown on the page, but in the hope that the creators eventually branch out into other genres, like sci-fi and modern urban settings. Keep an eye on these folks!

It Was Okay!

Matthew, Nathaniel, two of my local buddies, and I all took in a screening of the new D&D movie yesterday. It was okay! I actually enjoyed it less than I thought I would, but I still enjoyed it. It was a fun, Marvel-esque romp with some genuinely good humor, and -- this is no small feat -- managed to be accessible to those who aren't D&D aficionados but still had plenty of Easter Eggs for those who are steeped in the lore of the Forgotten Realms. My favorite bit was a couple of quick cameos of the six plucky kids from the D&D cartoon of yesteryear. I guess I would have preferred a whole movie about them!

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

It seems like we've been waiting forever for this moment! The new D&D movie opens today, and although it won't have Tom Baker playing the king of the elves, I feel quite confident that it will be a super fun D&D romp. The boys and I will be there at our local theater to laugh and cheer all the way through!

Opening Day (The Real One)

Ah, there's something satisfying about watching baseball on Opening Day while also playing my Strat-O-Matic baseball league. Huzzah for the return of (real-life) baseball! 

Let's go Yankees!

Middle of the Fifth!

I've been playing through ball games fast and furious lately, and already I'm at the halfway point of Season 9. The Resolutes, Haymakers, and defending champion Blue Legs are all treading water, but the Canaries have shaken out of their years-long slumber to lead the pack at 8-4 with a solid +15 run differential. After finishing below .500 for the past four seasons, they're vying to make playoffs for first time since they won their only championship back in Season 4. One of the key contributors to their success is pitcher Pud Galvin; although he's a former Playoff MVP, he's typically been more of a #2 starter than a true ace. This year, he's sporting a 1.76 ERA and a perfect 5-0 record through five starts. He's got the inside track for Pitcher MVP, but he'll need to watch out for Blue Legs hurler Al Spalding, building on last year's career renaissance with a matching 1.76 ERA (albeit with a middling 3-3 record due to lack of run support). Both men will try to best the single-season ERA mark of 1.61, set by Mickey Welch of the Haymakers in Season 4.

Shazam!

Superhero fans, don't miss Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which premieres today!

The Walking Dead RPG

The official RPG for The Walking Dead funded on Kickstarter in just eight minutes this morning, and I'm pleased to say that I was one of the backers who jumped in right when the project launched. I'll be using this system (the same ruleset as the Alien RPG) for my upcoming post-apocalyptic campaign. (Even Amy is going to play in that one!) With a delivery date of November, I now have plenty of time to finish painting all those 3D buildings I've printed. Oh, wait, now it sounds like the preliminary digital rulebook will be available next month...

Opening Day

From Blitz Bowl straight to baseball! Now I'm on to Season 9 of my nineteenth-century Strat-O-Matic baseball league. Last season, the Blue Legs ended their title drought with a dominant series win over their chief rivals, the Resolutes. Tonight, the Legs hosted the Haymakers on Opening Day, with a marquee pitching matchup featuring reigning Pitcher MVP Cy Young against Tim Keefe, who just won the Playoff MVP award for leading the Legs to victory in his first campaign with that team after many years as the Canaries' ace. Young got the better of Keefe in this contest, as the Haymakers eked out a 3-2 victory over the defending champions. Can't wait to see how this season plays out!

Hey Look, a Dungeons & Dragons Toy...

About the only thing keeping me from sinking hundreds of dollars into this line is that the figures are six-inch scale and I have nothing else that big.