New Ball Launch Rules...

http://quirkworthy.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/s3-launching-the-ball-v3.pdf

http://www.manticblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/gabe-rules-for-manticblog.pdf

Ultimate Dreadball sighting...

They posted a pic of the Ultimate (6 player) Dreadball pitch over on the Mantic site.  They took as they were playtesting the rules.  Looks like a blast!

Also Jake posted the Beta rules for the Teratons on his site.  They look interesting....That you can't slam them in the back is a pretty handy ability.
http://quirkworthy.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/teraton-team-beta-v1.pdf

Also Beta rules for the Nameless...
http://quirkworthy.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/nameless-team-beta-v1.pdf

Beta rules for Asterians...
http://quirkworthy.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/asterian-team-beta-v1.pdf

Finally Beta Zee rules...
http://quirkworthy.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/zee-team-beta-v1.pdf

Finally a pretty sweet Excel sheet that can track a team...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rzlyusdplfl9m5p/KDM%20Dreadball%20Sheet.xlsm

Summer got in the way of our League....

I know it has been a while.  We have been having a hard time getting the group together for one last go of it for Season 1.  Season 2 minis are in house and have yet to be passed out.  Fear not the Maine Dreadball league is not dead...just in Limbo.

To pass the time I saw this post over on the Dreadball group on Facebook.  Too good not to share...some commercial director has apparently seen the game of Dreadball...

Season 2 Shipment...Mid April?

The Mantic folks have a big convention over in England on April 20th called SALUTE.  They have said the shipping order for the new Season 2 product will be...

1) Kickstarter Backers
2) Salute
3) Game stores / distributors.

We should be getting our season 2 Shipment Mid to Late April.  Here is a reminder as to what we drafted / purchased.  Still not sure about Yurik for Chris and Wyn for Gregg...neither are listed on the Pre-order page.  Also the Prone Markers, Season 1 & 2 Keepers and Extra stance Season 1 minis were pushed off to the Season 3 shipment (August?).

We should also be getting Dereck's Season 1 rulebook, Derek and my copies of the Season 2 rulebook, and 2 extra decks of cards.

The Rulebook for Season 2 is said to include.  New leveling up tables for players, and you can choose if you want to use the season 1 or Season 2 table with each roll.  The rules for Cheerleaders and Coaches.  Optional Injury rules...not sure if this is if your player has been killed or in the sin bin at the end of the match.

I picked up an about of extra teams for the buy one get one price.  Females for my Daughter.  Z'zor team is available if you want them Dave.$12.50.

Interesting bit of info I just discovered.  Judwan and Robots only start with 6 players on the team.  Following the rule of Double the starting position players...where Robots are all jacks (to start) and Judwan are all Strikers...they both are limited to 12 players, and have to leave the last two slots open for Free agents or MVP's.  EDIT: just got the season 2 rulebook...turns out the 12 cap is true for the Judwan, but Robots can go upto 14 due to their ability to transform.

Though noone has come close to having 12 players in our league yet...much less the cap of 14...so it looks to be a non-issue.

Season 1 Playoff Rules.

So we have one game session left in April before we have our Season 1 Playoffs in May.
Figure this would be a good time to go over the playoff rules we will give the test run.

1) All players will make the playoffs, The Proxy/filler teams in each league (Charming Princes in Bullpen / Sons in Greenhouse) will not take part in the playoffs.

2) We will seed teams 1-8. based upon.  Standard 8 team bracket. We will not reseed through the rounds.
     A) League Record
     B) Score Differential
     C) Team Ranking
     D) Coin Flip

3) Should any player miss the May event then the Top remaining seed will receive a bye in the 1st round.  Meaning only 6 people can make it...the top 2 seeds will get a bye, and we will match up teams 3-8 with those that are there.

4) Winning team advances to the next round...Should there be a Draw.  Both teams are eliminated from the playoffs, and the team they were slated to meet in the next round gets a bye.

5) MVP's...No MVP's will be available the playoffs.  However, underdog funds may be spend on one game only Coaching Dice or Cards. Free agents may also be purchased with underdog funds.

Got the digits on the Ladies...now how do you like those apples?

So Jake is posting over on Quirkworthy again, this time with the low down on the ladies.

• 1 Guard, 4 Jacks, 3 Strikers on the starting team.
• 0 Cards and 4 coaching dice to start as well.
• All Jacks start with Running Interference.

Jake says they ladies and the men have the same stat line "for the most part".  I'm assuming he is referring to the Running Interference skill...but yah never know.

Corp Teams (Men and women) can be proxied for each other.  Meaning you can run the Gals as a boys team, or the boys as a girls team.  You can't mix and match.  You just have to let your opponents know before the Match or the start of a league which template (boys or girls) that you will be following.

Stats for Mee-Kel Judwan revealed on Mantic Blog.

Our friends over at Mantic are starting to hype Season 2, and with that they give us a sneak peak at one of the MVP's...Mee-Kel Judwan.

Guesses for the new Special abilities...

• Pacifist - Can't throw the ball at opponents
• Long Arms - added Range to throwing 4-8-12 hexes?
• Misdirect - Judwan ability to move folks out of their hex?
• 360 Vision - Over the shoulder catches?

More info on Season 2 teams....

Jake over on Quirkworthy has posted some info on the season 2 teams.

First up the Robots...

http://quirkworthy.com/2013/03/23/dreadball-season-2-design-theory-mr-roboto/


I like the Roll to transform...and double gets you two changes.




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next the Z'zor (Bugs)...

http://quirkworthy.com/2013/03/25/dreadball-season-2-design-theory-bugs/


Seem a lot like the Orx team...but tougher.  Glad they only have one Guard to start with.  Slide for all their Jacks is sweet.  I'm assuming their Jacks are Skill 4+ where their Strikers are 5+.

Season 2 Pre-orders up on Mantic sales page.

  So Mantic has updated their sales page and some interesting tid bits are apparent from what you can see there.

http://www.manticgames.com/Shop-Home/DreadBall/Teams.html

First up the Ladies...

• 4 x Plastic Female Jacks
• 3 x Plastic Female Strikers
• 1 x Plastic Female Guard

"The roster relies on their Jacks and their training focus on Running Interference. This, together with an extensive additional coaching schedule, enables them to react swiftly to opposing plays, and makes the Sirens very tricky to predict. "

Robots come with 10 minis...6 Jacks, 2 Guards and 2 Strikers.

Judwan...
A Judwan Striker needs no glove to catch or throw the ball, instead using his long, lithe arms and slender fingers to launch the ball with as much or more speed as other races.
What the heck does that mean?  Skill 3+? Longer Passing range than the other races?  We will find out soon.

Z'Zor...

5 x Plastic Z’zor Jacks

2 x Plastic Z’zor Strikers

1 x Plastic Z’zor Guard

Hmmm.  Bet their Guard is awesome...so good they had to limit them to only 1.

MVP's have hints too...http://www.manticgames.com/Shop-Home/DreadBall/MVPs.html
The robot Firewall is a Keeper.
Ludwig the Z'zor...Sounds like he has Jump.
Helder...can potentially be a striker or a guard?  Play for anyone?
Mee'Kel...If there is a 2+ Skill MVP striker in the game...this will be the guy.
Rico...Not much info...Guess he is a Striker.

MVP's and Friendly matches.

So here is a slight adjustment to the MVP rules for our league.  We actually have been kinda doing this from the start, just adding it in writing now.

We split the MVP's in to two Pools each week the League pool and the Friendly pool. We randomly determine which MVP's are available for league games each week, random between 2 and 7. They are the League MVP's and are bid on as according to the rules (League MVP pool). The MVP's are auctioned off and linked to that team for all games that week (League and friendly). Any MVP not bid upon in the auction is placed in the friendly pool. Their auction value is added to the team for Friendly games only.


Those MVP's not available for the "League" that week are in the Friendly pool. Friendly matches calculate their team ranking (adding in any league mvp's they may have) and determine underdog funds. The MVP's in the friendly pool may be taken with underdog funds. MVP's in the Friendly pool can take part in multiple friendly games during a given week. So the Friendly pool is there to help balance all friendly games..not just a first come first serve basis.  Potentially, there could be two friendly games happening at the same time, it is perfectly fine if both of those games have the same MVP playing from the friendly pool.


This could also add the potential of MVP's on both sides of the field...which is sure to make games even more interesting.

Started on Jeff's Veer-Myn

  Whoa...over a week since the last post.  Been a little busy with the Kids break week and 2 league game nights.

  Small update.  I started painting up Jeff's Veer-Myn for him.  Here is the base coat pic.

Will drybrush light grey over the black to make the details come out.  I was initially going for an Ivory and crimson...though the basecoat of off white has grown on me.  Kinda gives them the look of the new Iron Man 3 armor.  Plan to paint the circle for where the number goes in black and use the white waterslide decals.  Will be putting some old Clan Nova Cat logos on one shoulderpad, small enough so they look like Rats and not Cats.

Sons of an Orky, finished.

Back Row:   Clay 01, Opie 02, Tig 03, Piney 04
Middle Row:  Big Otto 08, Happy 10, Chibbs 12, Kozik 14
Front Row:  Juice 11, Jax Stellar 07, Bobby Elvis 09

Running Interference and the Stall foul.

  Here is a neat little trick that might be useful to some of you.  Saw this on one of the forums, darned if I can remember which one.  Eventually in a League you will get Jacks with the Running Interference ability.  Or you may just have the card in your hand and are not quite sure where to use it.  Consider using it to make it a heck of a lot tougher for your opponent to use his bench for one turn.

  This will take some setting up, but may well be worth it in a tight game with lots of players cycling through the sin bins.

  First you will want to have a numerical advantage on the pitch, and have some of your opponents player ready to come out.  No point in doing this if your opponent has all 6 players on the pitch, or no one on his bench.

  Next you will need a Jack with the Running Interference ability, or the card in your hand, even better if you have both.  During your Rush, move this Jack to one hex away from the Yellow entry hex of your opponents bench.  When it is your opponents first action, declare Running Interference and move the Jack the one hex to block his entry hex.

  Now the Stall Foul can be called at "the end of any action by the opposing team".  Jake has clarified that you opponent can call a Stall Foul here.  He will have one chance to get your guy off the hex, if you make it past the foul roll you will be in good shape.  Your Jack will be in position for your opponents entire rush and they can not check again until your rush, and then only at the end of your first action.

  With your first action of your next rush, move your Jack out of the hex and avoid the foul being called (unless you want to risk it that is).  Now if you have the Card, with your last action you can move back in, and do it for another whole Rush...driving you opponent quite mad.

  Now to get really nasty with this trick.  If you have the MVP Wildcard on your team for the match...she is the ultimate player to utilize this trick.  Her "Even the Odds" ability lets you do this any rush you do are losing the game.  So move her in at the start of your opponents rush, then use your first action to move her out....until you tie the game or take the lead.  Effectively locks the door to the opponents bench, so long as your luck with the foul rolls holds.  ;)

The Sons of an Orky, first batch done.

Back row from left... Clay, Opie, Tig, Piney with his oxygen tank.
And up from Jaxx Stellar, Goblin Jack modded from the Slippery Joe mini.

Storms a comin'...Bumped Bullpen league one week.

  With the coming Nor'easter we are going to bump our league night one week to Friday the 15th.  I was hoping to avoid the Valentine weekend for those of us with significant others...but guess that was not to be.

  This will give folks one more week of painting time to work on their teams for that bonus 1MC.  Speaking of which I finished Jaxx Stellar last night.  I REALLY have got to get me a photobooth for taking shots of my minis...sometimes they come out OK...but others, well.  I promise to get a nice group shot when the entire team is done.

  But for now...here are a couple of Jaxx

MVP's. Free Agents, Friendly Matches, and Post Match Revenues

Friendly Matches can throw a little bit of a wrench into things.  Things only get confusing when MVP's and Free Agents are involved.

Here is the situation, League night wraps up with the end of week events, the next weeks matches are selected, team rating s compared, MVP's and Free agents assigned.  Then we all go our separate ways for a month but the opportunity is out there for Friendly matches to happen.

Jake addressed the question in the FAQ...

Q: During a league, how should the Underdog rules interact with Friendlies?  If I’m reading correctly, the Underdog value is set based on the week’s schedule, that money is used to buy MVPs and/or Free Agents, and then you get on with the week.  It’s specifically mentioned that teams keep MVPs for any Friendlies they play during the week (pg 60), but that seems to remove the balancing mechanism since it’s no longer based on the teams that are actually playing.  Any advice for handling this?

A: As the rules stand, the MVP(s) involved do not modify the Team Ranking so they are effectively “invisible” to the balancing mechanism for friendly matches.

D: I noticed this after the book had gone to press. Most of our play-testing had focused on the match rules and league games, with little time for friendlies in between. This meant that this issue never arose. But you’re right, it could be unbalancing. 

What I would suggest is one of two options, depending on your style of play. On the one hand you could just let it ride as is. That’s what I’d do. In this case you take the in-game background view that it’s all just part of the rough and tumble of the game, and as you’re playing outside the strictures of the league proper (and it’s just to provide a fun and exciting spectacle for the fans) exact fairness is less important than making a good show and rolling out the famous names.

On the other hand, if you want a fairer friendly game, you could expand on the rules on page 53. My suggestion here would simply be to add the MVP’s cost to the Team Ranking when you worked out the underdog values before the match. Easy! Of course, you need to decide whether to use the amount they are nominally worth or the amount you paid for them (I’d suggest the latter as it scales to your league and the nominal values are quite cheap!).

*** So here is the official ruling on how we will handle Friendly matches in our league. ***

1) When you are setting up the Friendly match add in the value of the MVP (your bid price) and any Free Agents (10MC...not the players actual value) you may have to your Team Revenue.

2) Compare both Teams Team Revenue - apply all underdog rules except for the hiring of MVP's.  So the underdog may add a "Friendly Free Agent" and will gain an extra d6 revenue after the match for every 10MC they are shorthanded.

3) Occasionally a team will play their league game before the other teams get their league game of that week in.  The team that played their League match still gets use of their MVP and Free agents in any friendly matches for the rest of the month.  When they sign on the MVP they get them for the full month, not just the one league game.  The MVP leaves their roster only when the end of week processing happens and new available MVP's are chosen.

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.