Slowest painter ever...Opie finished.

Got my first Orx (Opie) done.  sorry for the quality of pics.  I promise to do better in the future.

Ignore the Power armored mini in the 3rd shot.  It was a proxy for Buzzcut, in a league game.

Bullpen League: Week one postgame report.

As somewhat an unofficial tradition we failed to take pics of games down in the bullpen yet again.  Will make some signs to remind us for future games to see if that helps.

On to the postgame.  We played week #1 of our Bullpen league Friday night.  8 teams 2 of each race.  To speed things up and help with folks learning the rules, we played Race on Race for week #1.  meaning Corp vs. corp, Orx vs. Orx, etc.

Veer-myn (Jeff) vs. Veer-myn (Alex)...Jeff wins in an overtime match where Alex's misses a game winning strike and an fast pitch scattered the ball all the way down to the other end where Jeff got the one point win.

Orx (Fab) vs. Orx (Rob)...Fab in a totally dominating 6-0 win.  2 deaths and 4 guys hit the "3 rush" Injury bin for Rob.  Rob missed two 4 point shots.

Forge Fathers (Chris) vs. Forge Father (Dereck)...7-0 win for Chris.  Game was over so fast I missed what actually happened.  No deaths on either side.

Corp (Lee) vs. Corp (Gregg).  2-0 win for Gregg.  Lost of scoring in this one.  Both owners had a player killed.

Week 2 matchups set...

Orx (Rob) vs. Forge Fathers (Chris).  Rob with the big underdog points adds Buzzcut (11MC of underdog cash), and a Corp Jack free agent (cruddy roll there) to help even out the odds vs. the top rated FF team.

Forge Father (Dereck) vs. Fab (Orx)  Dereck adds Number 88 for his entire underdog fund of 17 MC  to his roster to try and help speed up his team.

Veer-myn (Jeff) vs. Veer-myn (Alex).  Rematch from week #1, though Alex has added the Enforcer this time through the use of his underdog funds.

Corp (Lee) vs. Corp (Gregg), another rematch...Lee replaced his lost guy, Gregg went another route.

That's all for now.

Bullpen League - 5 hours till kickoff.

I wanted to make a quick post about the Kickoff of our Bullpen Dreadball league.

1. We will have food first.  I made two batches of Chili with some baked potatoes.  Fill the tank and go over some rules, and how the league will work.  I have a lits of things to go over while we eat and during the first session.(Odd number of players comes to mind)
2. We will shoot to have 2 games tonight.  Session #1, will be a preseason / training game as we have a couple of folks they have yet to play a game, with others that have played half a dozen times.  Session #2 will be week #1 of the league for everyone except me (see #3 below).   
3. Looks like we will have 9 players.  Here is how we will handle the odd number.  In session #1, I'll put my Orx team against the "Fill in on odd # of players team" the Charming Princes and play my Week #1 game.  One of the new Corporation players will co-run the team with Fabby and we will use this as the new players training game as I teach them the rules.  Fabby will be the odd man out, not running a team in session #1 helping with rules questions and keeping things moving. other than he will be co- running the Charming Princes.  This will get my week #1 game out of the way.  Freeing me up for session #2 to be the rules / helper guy when everyone else is playing their week 1 game.  Just got a call and one player can't make it tonight...back to 8 players.
4. Friendly's and teams status for those.  Friendlies may be played between gamenights.  you may only play one vs. any single opponent   You may use any MVP's and free agents assigned to you for your next weeks match.

Team Painted League reward system.

I have been thinking of a gentle way to motivate folks to finish painting their teams, but nothing too over the top.

I came up with this simple solution for leagues.

If your entire team is three color Painted and Numbered, after each game your team earns and extra 1 MC.  I know not much, but after 10 games you could get another player.  Say the extra revenue comes from jersey sales from the impressive appearance of the team that game.  MVP's / free agents would not count toward the "Complete team" aspect and not be held against you.

Made a painting progress chart for the minis I have to paint.  Snap shot of it is to the right.

I've told Jeff from our league that I would paint his minis for him, so in the Bullpen League I will not take the 1MC award for my team until his team is completed as well.


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiKPflpBkcQldENaSHI2amUzS1JNckktZ3hWOVpGX2c#gid=1


*** The Painting extra cash only applies to League games.  It does not apply to friendly matches between rounds.***

Getting ready for Bullpen League night.

Small update before we kick our Bullpen League off this Friday.

Set up the tables on an angle.  The standard gaming table width of 4' is just a little too far to reach across for Dreadball.

Also made up a few charts for folks to reference during play / between games to help speed them along.  Made from scrap wall paneling from my Bathroom remodel...stuff works great as whiteboard.

Finally made a league standings board.

Things to do and to Teach folks for League night kickoff.

To do List:

1. Buy some new dry erase markers. Done
2. Be sure all minis are numbered in one way or another Done
3. Be sure each team roster sheet is complete before the league starts
4. Make "Charming Princes" Roster sheet, and number team in case we have odd number of players.
5. Paint facing dots on Proxy minis (without hexes) that are to be used. Done
6. Make a What to track board that all can see when playing.  (Fan checks, EXP, scoring diff) Done

Things to be sure to teach folks:

1. Scattering ball.  A 1 is always away from the player whose turn it is.
2. Where the Ref can move...we had been playing it wrong.  She can go in the yellow lines, just not on the DB squares in the center of the board.
3. Correct way to roll dice, Leave those 6's and other successes up and roll another die.
4. What to track for experience (3+ turn injuries, 3 or 4 point shots, keep stack of fan checks)
5. Track which players hit the pitch...to be eligible for Man of the match.
6. Team with most fan checks gets Man of the Match Exp point...not necessarily the winning team.
7. Cost to revive a player.  Cost to recycle parts.
8. Bouncing ball of the walls, 6 corner places..goes back directly from the direction it came.  So a ball bouncing from the sin bin entry hex to the end point of the board would bounce back toward the entry hex, not up the middle toward the 4 pt strike hex.

Piney's Oxygen tank...WIP

Small "Sons of an Orky" progress report today.

Following up on the "Piney needs an Oxygen tank." project.  Turns out Greenstuffing a strap was harder than I had hoped.  After the third attempt didn't quite look right I changed my mind and decided to make it a chain that was holding up the Oxy tank.

I took one of the old GW double fuel tanks...from a Chimera set I think.  Cut it in half, then cut the fuel tube off and used the connector as the cap for the tank itself.  Here are three images of the Work in progress.

I still need to add the fishing line for the Oxy tubes, but I will not add them until after Piney is painted.  Will try to run the tubes out of the front of the tank then around the far ear, and split it behind the head to loop back into the nostril holes.

You can click on the pics to see a larger image.  Figure I'll paint up the chains rusty to hide their sloppiness compared with the armor.  Tank will get the dull oxy green color.  His is the 4th Orx on the team...so for him to even hit the roster I'll have to do well in the league.

Setting up the Two Leagues...

Wait Wut'...two leagues?

Yeah I'll be setting up two Dreadball leagues.  This will be more accommodating to peoples hectic schedules and limited gaming time.  Each league will only play once a month (that is where my limited gaming time comes into play).

Apocalypse game down in the basement.

One in the Gamer's Bullpen...aka my basement, one Friday night a month (probably mid month).  Will take the place of the Monthly Battletech game.  Three 4' x 6' tables, we will sit on the corners or long sides, as reaching across the 4' edge is a little tough. 5-6 Dreadball pitches...for now until more can be constructed.  Sorry folks this will be an invite only league...Got to keep the numbers down at the house.  First event will be Jan 18th, 6pm.

269 Water Street, Gardiner ME

The second league will be once a month (toward the end of the month), Saturday's (Afternoon or Evening to be determined) down at Greenhouse Games in Gardiner Maine.  First session or two will be training sessions teaching folks the rules.  Then we will kick off the league.  This will be an open league for anyone at the G-House that wishes to partake.

http://www.greenhousegamesonline.com/

People can play in one or both leagues.  I have posted the Google docs for the leagues to the right.  I will also post the next planned event date and time over to the right as well (once I lock in the time).

We will use the MVP's from the Kickstarter Striker Package.  I'll be playing my Sons of an Orky team in the Bullpen league. I'll be putting on my Mantic Games Pathfinder hat and acting as Judge / League sponsor in the Greenhouse league (playing only if there are an odd number of teams).

More to come...

Random Monday morning thoughts...Edited

Couple of Random thoughts on a Monday morning.

Played a training game over the weekend with a good friend.  He made a suggestion that will send one of my Orx back to the greenstuff table.

My 4th Orx Guard and first add on to the team in a league, will be Piney.  Piney has some breathing issues and needed an Oxygen tank for much of the show.  So the Piney Orx will be getting a small oxygen tank and some translucent Fishing line running to his nose for the air tubes.

Second random thought is about The Ball scattering rule and the rush does not end until it stops scattering.  Though if an opposing player has a chance at the ball and fails, it can end their rush as well, (it does not end their rush).  This can lead to some confusion (even by me).  (Special thanks to FanofDreadball for the comment below)

Edit:  The confusion can be cleared up by the phrase "Lose the ball during your rush, your turn ends."  It is the potential "Free action" earned by doubing a scattered ball catch, and the timing of those free actions that can lead to confusion.

So here it my attempt to make the situation as confusing as possible and keep you all on board for the solution.

Corporation Player A has the ball, on rush 6 with 3 actions left.  He uses his 3rd action to attempt a pass to one of his strikers.  The striker manages to botch the catch and the ball scatters.  This starts the "rush is not over until the ball stops scattering" grey area.  

The ball scatters to Player B's Veer-myn Striker who manages to Double the inaccurate pass - scattered ball catch roll and gets an immediate free action.  This free action takes place now because technically the ball has not stopped.  Going through the end of turn sequence (Moving Ref, Sliding players down the sin bin) at this point is a little early as you will see.  So the Veer-myn player with his Free action declares a throw action with his Striker and runs down the pitch to get to a scoring hex, though in getting there he fails an Evade check and falls over...scattering the ball again.

The Ball scatters back to the Corporation striker for player A, who also doubles his Inaccurate Pass, bounding ball roll, getting a free action.   He takes his free action as a Run and moves up the pitch.  The Ball has now stopped "Scattering" from the first drop and it is still player A's 6th rush and he has 2 Action tokens left.

Now lets look at it the incorrect way...
If you had gone through the entire End of turn sequence once the Veer-myn striker had the ball, it could get even more confusing.  Say you did do the end of turn sequence before the free action, which would be understandable as the ball seems to have "Stopped" scattering.  It becomes Rush 7, the Veer-myn player does the free action before any of his Action tokens, and Evade falls with the scatter...losing his turn without using any of his 5 action tokens.  The ball scatters to the Corp Striker and another end of turn process starts, making it turn 8.

Can be a little tricky...hope I have helped some of you.

Guess the real point of this post.

"Free actions earned from a scattered ball catch are taken immediately and count as the ball still scattering."

 

Team Lab Rat vs. Clan Nova Rat?

So I'm painting up the Rats from our Kickstarter set for a friend.  Came up with two potential schemes...
I had some old "High Tower" or Dark Tower" minis of a Lizard space faring race that look close enough to use at test minis for the Veer-myn schemes.

First up was Team Lab Rat which I had posted about before.  Essentially albino Lab Rats in Medical Scrub colored armor.

Second was Clan Nova Rat...a blatant rip of the Battletech universe Clan Nova Cat.  I had some extra waterslide decals of the Clan Nova Cat logo, and with the size of them the "Cat" looks close enough to be a Black "Rat".

Turns out I wasn't thrilled with either of them (even though they are only base coated).  Chances are what I'll do is a spin with both.  Veer-myn will have Black skin and Fur, Red and Ivory armor with the Nova Cat logo on one shoulder pad.

That is all for now...

Throwing the ball, Couple of rules clarified...

Pulled right from Jake's Dreadball FAQ.  Good stuff here, that I think helps the Rats (striker in the strike hex), and the Forge Fathers (Throwing at a downed target).

THROWING THE BALL 

Q: Can I have a friendly player on a Strike Hex when I Throw the ball at it? If so, what happens if the Strike attempt is missed? Can that player try to catch the ball (as an inaccurate Throw)?

A: Yes. A friend facing the wrong way will be struck as if he was an opponent. A friend facing the Thrower must make an attempt to catch the inaccurate Throw.

D: An intriguing conundrum here, and not explicitly covered in the rules. The ruling is based on the following logic. Firstly, you can choose to target the Strike Hex or an opposing player if they share the same space, so it would seem strange if you could not differentiate between friend and Strike Hex. So yes you can choose to either pass to your team mate or try for the points. In fact, you must make that choice as you can’t do both at once. And yes, there will be times when you do want to Throw the ball to your friend rather than at the Strike Hex.

If you score then all is well and the game continues as normal.

If you miss then an opponent would be struck. This should also apply to a friend who does not have the Throwing player in his front arc. He cannot see the ball coming to avoid it – even if he knows it’s on its way. 

If the ball misses the Strike Target and the friendly player on that hex is facing the Thrower then they must try to catch the ball (as an inaccurate Throw). This is the closest to the normal rule. Essentially you have to decide whether it should be more like a attack or a poor pass, and given that all DreadBall players have linked headset comms built into their helmets it seems reasonable to assume that a friendly player facing the right way will know what’s coming. 

I wouldn’t expect to see this happen much as it costs an action to get the player onto the Strike Hex on top of everything else and he only has a marginal chance to catch the ball. However, some folk are bound to try it    

  

Q: Can I Throw the ball at an opposing player who is on the floor? If so, what modifiers (if any) apply?

A: Yes. The target cannot Dodge, and the normal modifiers apply to the Throw.

D: While it’s a bit mean and underhand to Throw the ball at fallen opponents, it also seems to be entirely in character with the game and I can’t see why you shouldn’t. The rules say that a target player only gets a chance to Dodge if they have the Throwing player in their front arc. As fallen players don’t have arcs they can’t possibly have the Thrower in their front and so cannot Dodge.  The modifiers and results apply as written with the obvious note that the target cannot fall over as they are already on the ground. They can however, be knocked back into other hexes by the force of the impact and can be required to make armour checks. As they are on the floor they have no facing so do not need to be turned if pushed back.