Fast Play Football Update

I have now completed 3 weeks.

Week 2

• Wild game in NY. 10-10 at half. Miami then jumps out to a 26-13 lead. NY scores 2 TDs but misses an extra point - game tied. In overtime, NY gets a TD and holds Miami to a field goal. Final 33-29 NY.
• Chicago and Washington are tied 7-7 at half. Washington scores 2 TDs and then holds on for a 21-17 win.
• Despite missing 3 field goals, LA squeaks by Dallas 13-10.
• Seattle scores 10 points in the 2nd quarter to surge ahead for a 23-13 victory.

Week 3

• Chicago gets 3 TDs in the 3rd quarter for a 37-21 victory.
• Miami cruises over Washington 30-14.
• Dallas is up 21-0 at the half. They end up winning 24-14.
• LA misses 3 more field goals! They lose to Seattle 21-17

Week 3 Standings

East

NY                 2-1

Miami            2-1

Washington    1-2

Chicago         1-2

West

Seattle            3-0

LA                  2-1

Dallas             1-2

Denver            0-3

Doldrums Report

Technically I'm not in the doldrums because I am getting a lot done. Just not gaming.

Start of the Season

My LARP group's summer hiatus is over and we are meeting again. We had our first lore battle of the new season last week. I posted a report on my Legends of the Legion blog.

Armor Crafting

Continuing to work on my leather armor.

I previously shared this AI concept art.

I completed a couple of pieces.

• Tassets

• One greave

Battle of Long Island

I'm a little late with this one. The battle took place on August 27th.

I decided to do a little AI experiment. I used Chat GPT to generate the images. I did not use it for dice rolls or decision making.

Opening of the battle. 

I don't know where the stream came from; I did not ask for one. Oh well.

The British attack on the left. Accurate fire by the American militia drives them off. Meanwhile, the American militia in the fortifications unleashes a firestorm that sweeps away the British center.

Next, the British attack the Continentals on the right. Again, American musketry is too powerful. And another volley from the entrenched American center wipes out more infantry. The Redcoats retreat.

Washington saves New York!

GAME NOTES

• Interesting experiment. Not sure if I will do this regularly, but it looks nicer than my PPT battle board. It seems like a viable option for virtual gaming.
• I forgot to use the British rally. Oh well, again.

Return of Fast Play Football

Getting hyped up for the return of football (American style).

This has prompted me to bring back my Fast Play Football League (formerly War Without Miniatures Football League).

Pre-Season Moves

Each team is rated for offense, defense, and kicking. I thought it would be uninteresting if the teams had the same stats as last year. But I wanted some consistency with the prior season. Therefore, I decided to roll to see if one of the stats changed.

I rolled a D6 per team, -1 for each superior trait and +1 for each inferior one. A roll of 1 indicates that a trait gets reduced while a 6 indicates an increase. If there is a change, I chose the lowest to increase or highest to decrease. If there were multiple options, I rolled for it.

Overall, the league did well in improving its skill levels. Four of 8 teams increased while only one decreased.

• Denver and LA improved their offense to average.
• Chicago improved its defense to average.
• Dallas improved its kicking game to average.
• Alas, Washington's offense dropped to average.
• New York, Miami, and Seattle had no changes.

Week One

I also completed the first week of games.

• In a tough defensive battle, NY slips by Washington 19-13.
• Miami surprises with a convincing 23-7 victory over Chicago.
• Dallas and Seattle are tied 16 all. Seattle scores a TD then hold Dallas for the win!
• Another surprise! LA (1-9 last season) wins 31-24. The score is a little misleading. LA was up 31-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Denver scored a FG early in the 4th then a TD in garbage time. An attempted onside kick fails.

Oops

I keep track of results in an Excel spreadsheet. Unfortunately, I accidentally overwrote the Season 1 spreadsheet (stupid autosave). At least I have the season summaries on this blog.

Carolingian Battles

I've been on a Carolingian kick ever since I decided to make some leather armor inspired by Charlemagne's Franks.

By the way, here is an AI conception of my armor.

Battle 1 - Franks vs. Umayyads

I was too lazy to take pictures. Here is a quick synopsis instead.

• After some desultory skirmishing, the Frankish knights on both flanks charged the Umayyad javelins. It is a bloodbath - all units are wiped out.
• This leaves open to a flank attack. The Umayyad cavalry hits the archers.
• The rest of the Frankish army retreats.

Because I don't have pictures, I asked AI to create an image of a wargame between the two armies.

Battle 2 - Franks vs. Saxons

• Both sides lose their archers. The Franks also wipe out 2 Saxon warbands.
• The Saxons throw back a unit of knights, but the Frankish general rallies them. Meanwhile, another warband falls.
• The knights are defeated again. This time, they flee.
• But the remaining knights wipe out another warband.

With a single warband left, the Saxons flee.

Some more AI.

GAME NOTES

• So far, Charlie is 1-1, with more or less historical results.
• Coming up, Franks vs. Lombards and Avars.
• I've grown weary of photographing and posting pictures for the blog. I still like to blog because it serves as a wargames diary. I like to go back and read old posts. But, I am questioning whether photos are necessary. I may just give brief synopses, augmented with some AI illustrations.

Bellicosus Beats the Brits

The Twelve Foes of Rome Campaign

The next chapter of the campaign.

Emperor Bellicosus invades Britannia. The Britons mass their barbarian hordes and attack the invaders.

Note: My phone was charging so I just played the game on a virtual board.

1. Roman cavalry charges but is driven off by Briton slingers. Meanwhile, a Roman legion holds off the chariots.
2. The same legion defeats the Briton cavalry,
3. And then a warband! Meanwhile, the Briton leader rallies another warband.
4. The light infantry for both sides disperse.
5. The second legion crushes a warband.

There is one warband left. They decide to retire from the field.

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Bellicosus adds Britannia to the Empire!

And the Bellicosus family is now 7-2.

"Twelve" Foes Update

My Twelve Foes of Rome campaign is rolling along.

Here are the results so far:

1. Samnites - this turned into 2 foes - Etruscans and Samnites. Both wins
2. Pyrrhus - win
3. Carthage - win
4. Macedon - lose
5. Pontus - lose
6. Gauls - win
7. Parthia - win
8. Germans - win

Current record is 6-2. With all this success, I assume that the Bellicosus family has taken the emperorship of Rome!

Here are my plans for the rest of the year:

9. Britons - added to replace the Carthage duplicate

10. Dacians

11. Sassanids

12. Huns

Looking at this list, I think I should add Goths. Perhaps I'll do a double feature in December.