What's Next?

The 1922 baseball tournament is coming along and I am nearly done with the 36 ancient battles for Dominion of the Spear. I've been pondering my next steps.

Baseball

People are probably getting a bit bored of baseball posts. I'm getting a little burnt out so I may put baseball aside when I finish this tournament.

When I resume, I don't think I'll do any more season tournaments. Instead, I think I will return to the Roaring 20s League - 8 of the top teams from the 1920s.

Dominion of

I won't be playing the 36 pike & shot battles or any of the battles from other Dominion titles (with one exception). Instead, I'd like to do a campaign. I haven't decided which, but I am leaning towards 1683 - Turks vs. Austrians. Stay tuned.

The American Revolution is the exception. I'd like to play the battles in Dominion of Patriots and Redcoats on the 250th anniversaries. For July 4th, I'd like to start a campaign playing out Galvez's West Florida campaign.

Super Quick Play Gladiators

Last year, I was working on a project I called Arena of Heroes. It was a team skirmish game set in an arena. I played one game then the project fizzled. I'm thinking of reviving it in a slightly different format - fantasy gladiators.

Now I'm working on some rules. I tried Kaptain Kobold's Munera Sine Missione and Two Hour Wargames Red Sand series before but they never really clicked with me. Then it dawned on me that my quick play dogfight rules might actually work.

One of the key features of my dogfight rules is the maneuver phase. All movement is relative based on how well each plane rolls. The high rollers get into firing position and then can attack.

The maneuver phase seems like an easy way to replicate the gladiators jockeying for position without tracking movement on a hex board. I think I'll give it a try.

Duels in the Desert

More Battles Using 36 Ancient Battles for Dominion of the Spear

Taking a break from baseball for some more Dominion battles. Now we turn our sights on Crusades.

Summary

Here are the results for the battles. Battle reports below.

• Dorylaeum (1097) - Turks , Crusaders 1
• Hattin (1187) - Crusaders 2, Saladin 1
• Arsuf (1191) - Richard the Lionheart 2, Saladin 1
• Kosovo (1389) - Turks 5, Serbians 1

Battle Reports

Dorylaeum

The Crusaders (red) lose their knights and then spears in the center. This allows the Turkish horse archers to flank and rout the right wing spears.

Hattin

While Saladin's horse archers whittle down the Crusaders, King Guy's knights run roughshod, routing some spears and the Mamluk horse archers. Saladin tries to shoot down the Crusader spears, but they get in grips and rout the remaining horse archers.

Arsuf

Both sides have lost two units. Now, Richard's Hospitalers (red left) face Saladin's Mamluks.

The Hospitalers send the Mamluks packing then slam into the flank of Saladin's archers.

Kosovo

OK, not desert. But still in the Crusader-ish theme.

A disaster for the Serbs early on. They lose their knights.

Then the Janissaries flank the Serb's horse archers, routing them. 

National League Play-In Games

Results from the Play-In round of the 1922 Fast Inning Baseball tournament.

Pairings

The New York Giants (1) and Cincinnati Reds (2) have byes.

The matchups of the remaining teams are:

• Boston Braves (8) at St Louis Cardinals (3)
• Philadelphia Phillies (7) at Pittsburg Pirates (4)
• Brooklyn Robins (6) at Chicago Cubs (5)

Results

First Round

• Boston Braves 7 - St Louis Cardinals 4
• The Braves get 6 runs in a big 5th inning, sparked by Al Nixon's hit.
• Pittsburg Pirates 8 - Philadelphia Phillies 4
• 2-run HR by Reb Russel breaks 4-4 tie in 3rd inning
• Brooklyn Robins 3 - Chicago Cubs 0
• Zack Wheat sparks 3-run rally in 6th

Second Round

As the highest seed, the Pittsburg Pirates advance to the semi-finals. Boston and Brooklyn fight it out for the remaining playoff spot.

• Brooklyn Robins 2 - Boston Braves 1
• Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th, Ray Schmandt knocks in 2 runs to win.

Ray Schmandt

Semi-Final Matchups

The matchups are set.

• Brooklyn Robins vs. New York Giants
• Pittsburg Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds

American League Play-In Games

Results from the Play-In round of the 1922 Fast Inning Baseball tournament.

Pairings

The New York Yankees (1) and St Louis Browns (2) have byes.

The matchups for the remaining teams are:

• Boston Red Sox (8) at Detroit Tigers (3)
• Philadelphia Athletics (7) at Cleveland Indians (4)
• Washington Senators (6) at Chicago White Sox (5)

Results

First round:

• Detroit Tigers 11 - Boston Red Sox 5
• The Tigers get two 4-run rallies, both sparked by Topper Rigney
• Philadelphia Athletics 7 - Cleveland Indians 5
• Bing Miller sparks 3-run and 2-run rallies, including go-ahead run in the 5th inning
• Washington Senators 3 - Chicago White Sox 2
• Patsy Gharrity hits two 1-run HRs, including the game winner in the 10th inning

Bing Miller, the Athletics hero of the day

Second round:

As the highest seed, the Detroit Tigers go to the semi-finals. Philadelphia and Washington play for the final spot.

• Philadelphia Athletics 7 - Washington Senators 4
• Two 2-run homers and a 2-run rally send the Senators home

Semi-Final Matchups

The semi-finals are set:

• Philadelphia Athletics (7) meet the New York Yankees (1)
• Detroit Tigers (3) meet the St. Louis Browns (2)

Fast Inning Baseball 1922 Tournament

I decided to play tournaments using Fast Inning Baseball with the 1920s era teams. I'll start with 1922. I hope to go all the way through 1925 this year.

Why 1922? Back in 2022 I went on a baseball kick. I eventually created my own rules and planned to play an abbreviated version of the 1922 season. Sort of a 100th anniversary celebration. Well, that never panned out. Now I'm going back to 1922, closure I guess.

Tournament Structure

Every team in the majors at the time gets a shot at the championship. However, I want to favor the top teams a bit. Therefore, the top two teams in each league get a bye while the remaining teams meet in a play-in round

• Play-In Round - The bottom 6 teams square off in 1-game playoffs
• Seeds 8 vs 3, 7 vs 4, and 6 vs 5
• The highest seeded winner goes to the semi-finals
• The lowest seeded winners face off. That winner goes to the semi-finals
• League Semi-Finals - The top 2 seeds face the Play-In winners in 3-game series.
• League Championship Series - The semi-final winners in each league meet in a 5-game series.
• World Series - American League vs. National League champions in a 7-game series.

Time to Complete

To complete the tournament requires a maximum of 37 games. If the series don't go the distance, it could finish in 26 games. That equates to approximately 260 to 370 minutes, or 4.33 to 6.16 hours.

A New Logo

I used Chat GPT to create a new logo for my "league."

And Then There Were None

I continued the adventures of Roderick using Demonslayer.

Last time, he defeated the fifth of six demon lords, Zorrak the World Eater

Here is the map of his quest to find and kill the last demon lord. He started at the star and ended at the shield. X's are encounters.

Here is a list of encounters. Purple shading indicates a combat encounter.

At the ancient obelisk, Roderick usea the clues he gathered to summon the last demon lord, Xal'Vyr the Plague Herald. "The demon of pestilence and disease, Xal’Vyr spreads corruption wherever he goes. His rotting, festering form oozes sickness, and his breath carries death."

Chat GPT's conception of Xal'vyr

Roderick rushes into the attack, striking the demon. Surprised by the blow, Xal'vyr misses with his counterattack.

Then the demon surprises Roderick with his quickness. Roderick's attack falls short, but the demon strikes him.

Then they trade blows, slowly whittling down each other's strength. The foulness of the demon lord makes Roderick sick, furthering weakening him.

Roderick parries a blow and then counters with a savage strike. Roderick presses, exposing himself to a hit. He shrugs off the pain and slashes, slicing open the demon's abdomen. Foul entrails spill out. The demon lord collapses in a heap.

Roderick has defeated all the demon lords!

What's Next?

After his harrowing adventures, it is time to retire Roderick. At some point I will replay the game with a new hero.

Fast Inning Baseball

I decided to try Fast Inning Baseball

Overview

Fast Inning Baseball (FIB) is a quick play baseball dice game. Instead of rolling for each at bat, you make one roll per half inning, then cross reference a chart to find if and how many runs score in the inning. Some results are conditional. For example, the half inning may end in a strikeout if the pitcher is highly rated, otherwise runs score. This makes team and individual statistics meaningful.

The game succeeds in creating a realistic and interesting narrative. There is a mechanic to determine who the hero of the game is. For example, in the test below, Mike Lowell had a key hit that sparked a big rally.

FIB has a stated game length of about 10 minutes.

Short play? Interesting narrative? Sounds perfect for me.

Test Game

I decided to try it out.

Welcome to game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series. The Chicago Cubs hold a 3-1 lead in games. One more win will send them to the World Series for the first time since 1945. The Florida Marlins, in their 11th season of existence, seek their second World Series appearance.

Carl Pavano gets the start for the Marlins while Mark Prior pitches for the Cubs.

Here is the game box score (minus the pitcher stats).

What a barn burner of a game!

• The Cubs strike first in the 4th with a home run by Aramis Ramirez
• The Marlins tie it on a Cubs error
• The Cubs build a lead in the 6th and 7th inning. The Cubs faithful are jubilant! Will this be the year?
• Disaster for the Cubs! The Marlins' Mike Lowell sparks a 5-run rally in the 8th inning
• The Cubs almost get runs in the 8th, but a sharp hit ball is caught at the warning track
• Derek Lee drives in another run in the top of the 9th
• Cubs rally! They score 2 runs but then Braden Looper shuts the gate. Cubs lose.

Ironically, this played out much like the real game 6. The Cubs had a 3-0 lead but the Marlins scored 8 runs in the 8th inning to put the game away. The Marlins ended up winning game 7, then beat the Yankees in the World Series.

Thoughts

• The game is easy to play. I picked it up in minutes.
• It is very chart heavy. I used charts on the computer for this test but I would print them out if I continue to play the game.
• As you can see from the test, the game gives a very good narrative, which I like.
• It took me about 15 minutes, a bit long. I may get quicker with time. I also may use this to play 3-4 innings, giving a couple of rerolls per game.
• The game relies on team cards. Unfortunately, they don't have them for the 1920s teams I'd like. There are instructions on prepping your own teams.
• CORRECTION: There is a Facebook page for the game with player-made content, including team cards for every season of the 1920s.

Battle of Bunker Hill

Steve Parker has released another title in the Dominion series, this time covering the American Revolution. Called Dominion of Patriots and Redcoats, you can find it at Wargame Vault (link).

The timing is perfect as I planned to do Bunker Hill using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet, as I had done for Lexington-Concord. Steve saved me the effort because Bunker Hill is one of the scenarios in the booklet.

The Battle

The British decide to drive the colonists from their positions on Bunker and Breed's Hills across the river from Boston. They opt for a frontal assault on the colonist defenses.

In the first charge, a hail of shot from the colonists (blue) wipe out two British infantry units.

The British bring up their artillery but it gets shot to pieces. They try an assault in the center, which also fails.

Note: I decided to add red markers to indicate bayonet units.

The British form column and charge with bayonets fixed. They manage to storm the fortifications in the center. But a relentless counterattack wipes out the British.

Breed's Hill remains in colonial hands!

Pyrrhus's Macedonian Wars

I'm continuing Pyrrhus's adventures, this time in Macedon. This campaign is purely fictional, following upon Pyrrhus's defeats in previous campaigns in Italy and Sicily.

Fearful of having Pyrrhus as a close neighbor, Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia, tries to eliminate the Epirote king on the high seas. This merely provokes Pyrrhus. Upon landing in Epirus, Pyrrhus gathers his army and marches into Macedonia.

Battle of Lugios

Antigonus confronts Pyrrhus's invading army near the little (fictional) village of Lugios.

The opposing armies:

• Antigonus (blue) - Archers, pikes, and elite cavalry in the front line, lots of spears in reserve.
• Pyrrhus (red) - Ferocious armored elephants, archers, and elite cavalry in front, spears and armored pikes in reserve.

Pyrrhus unleashes his elephants (left), but the archers pepper the beasts with arrows. The elephants rout. Meanwhile, Pyrrhus's archers are not so accurate. The Macedonian pikes advance through the hail of arrows and cut down the archers.

The Macedonian arrows continue their success. Desperate, Pyrrhus orders his cavalry to charge the enemy's counterpart. There is a brutal melee that leaves both sides blown

Pyrrhus's pikes find themselves alone. They retreat from the field.

Battle of Ambracia

Pyrrhus retires to his home country while Antigonus pursues. Pyrrhus makes a stand at his capital, Ambracia. As Antigonus prepares for a siege, Pyrrhus sallies out to challenge the Macedonians.

• Pyrrhus (red) fields elephants (ferocious armored), pikes (armored), and elite cavalry with spears and archers in reserve.
• Antigonus has archers, pikes (armored), and elite cavalry with 3 spears in reserve.

Pyrrhus drives off the enemy cavalry while his elephants stomp the archers.

The elephants continue their rampage, this time taking out some spearmen.

Pyrrhus then wipes out more spearmen. His cavalry is spent. The elephants then rout more spearmen.

Antigonus abandons the field.

Battle of Telikos

This time Pyrrhus pursues. Outside of the (fictional) town of Telikos, Antigonus confronts Pyrrhus.

Same order of battle as previously.

• Pyrrhus (red) fields elephants (ferocious armored), pikes (armored), and elite cavalry with spears and archers in reserve.
• Antigonus has archers, pikes (armored), and elite cavalry with 3 spears in reserve.

Again, Pyrrhus's elephants scatter the archers. But Pyrrhus's cavalry charge fails and his horsemen rout.

The archers try to stop the Macedonian cavalry. They fail.

The cavalry then overruns some spearmen. On the other flank, more spearmen sacrifice themselves to take out the elephants.

Aftermath

Because his army has suffered many casualties, Antigonus lets Pyrrhus retreat into Epirus.

Later, delegates negotiate a truce between the two kingdoms. But Pyrrhus's eye begins looking for new lands to conquer (try to at least). When will he ever learn?

The Quest for Speed

A speedy baseball game in particular.

AI generated image of Rickey Henderson stealing a base

What Do I Mean by "Speed?"

Something in the 5 to 10 minute range. For wargames, the Dominion series really scratches that itch. I'd like to find something similar for baseball.

Why Speed?

Because:

• My time is limited
• I have the attention span of a gnat
• I like to have time to write the narrative of the game
• I'd rather finish more games and complete a campaign, or for baseball a season

My Quest

Back in 2022 I went on a baseball kick and previewed a few games. I ended up making my own. It works well enough, but I find it takes about 15 minutes to play. I'd like to knock that down by half.

Some Interesting Titles

I have begun a new quest for games. I'm looking for that hidden diamond (like Dominion) that perfectly fits my style.

Here are a couple of games I'm looking at:

• Quick Play Baseball - I gave this a look in 2022 but passed. Now I'm giving it a second look. in 2022, I felt it did not give enough narrative but I may have been too demanding then.
• Fast Inning Baseball - This is a new one.

I'll give updates as I try them.

Recommendations?

Let me know in the comments if you have any recommendations for baseball games.

Let's Be Frank

More Battles Using 36 Ancient Battles for Dominion of the Spear

This time featuring Frankish and Frank-adjacent armies.

Summary

Here are the results for the battles. Battle reports below.

• Tours (732) - Umayyads 3, Merovingian Franks 1
• Lechfeld (955) - Magyars 3, Eastern Franks 1
• Civitate (1053) - Papal States 5, Normans 1
• Agincourt (1415) - English 3, French 1

Tours

King Charles of the Franks (blue) tries to stop a Muslim incursion.

The Franks repulse the Muslim attacks, but losses leave their flank open.

The Umayyad spears flank and destroy the cream of Charles's army.

Looks like we won't be calling him Martel.

Lechfeld

This time the Eastern Franks (red) under Otto try to stop a Magyar incursion.

The battle starts off well for Otto.

But the Magyar horse archers whittle his army down, and then breach the flank.

Desperately, the remaining knights charge, only to be struck down by a hail of arrows.

Civitate

Normans (blue) vs Papal States in southern Italy.

In the initial clash, the Pope's Swabians overran the Norman spears in the center.

Then, the Papal levy held off the Norman knights on the right.

This allowed the levy to flank the Norman reserve spears and put them to flight.

Agincourt

The English (red) under Henry V are raiding French territory. The French pursue and bring him to battle. Between volleys of English arrows and muddy fields, the French knights must dismount on the right and center.

The remaining mounted knights charge but get cut down (left). Meanwhile, the English longbowmen on the right finish off the dismounted knights.

The knights in the center manage to overrun the English blades.

Then they chase off the archers. But the knights get flanked and annihilated.

A Viking in Sicily

A Mini-Campaign from A Viking in the Sun

Previously, we followed the adventures of Harald Hardrada in the Holy Land (part 1 and part 2).

Now we turn to the second mini-campaign, using Dominion of the Spear rules to conduct the battles.

Background

The Byzantines launch an expedition to reclaim Sicily from its Muslim conquerors.

Harald commands part of the expeditionary force.

Harald's Command

Harald command consists of the following units:

• A contingent of the Varangian Guard (elite melee infantry)
• Archers (missile infantry)
• Byzantine heavy infantry (melee infantry)
• mercenary knights (armored melee cavalry)
• Byzantine cavalry (melee cavalry)

Battle 1 - The Landing

The Byzantine commander, Georgios Maniakes, decides to make a landing near Palermo. He hopes to catch the Muslims by surprise and seize the city by assault before the defenders get organized.

Harald's command lands on the beach of Sicily. A Muslim force (consisting of 2 units of missile infantry, 2 units of missile cavalry, cavalry, and spears) bars the way. Harald's cavalry is dismounted in reserve.

Harald leads a charge against the enemy archers. A hail of arrows cuts down the Varangians.

Then the Muslim archers pepper Harald's heavy infantry and dismounted knights.

The Byzantine heavy infantry charges the archers and wipes them out. But then they get flanked by more archers. The infantry does not last.

The remnants of Harald's force rush back to the boats. Maniakes's hope for a quick victory are dashed.

Rolling lots of 6's is a really effective way to win with missile troops. 😉

Battle 2 - Seize the Gate

The Byzantines settle in for a siege. After learning of a secret tunnel into the city, Harald proposes a bold stratagem. He will lead a force through the tunnel then rush the gates. His force will hold open the gates until the main army can relieve him.

Harald enters the city. His Varangians, the dismounted knights, and archers form the front line. Muslim heavy and light infantry contest Harald's assault.

Again, archers cut down the Varangians. The dismounted knights have better success.

And they continue to cut down archers.

The Byzantine spears take up the offensive in the center.

The knights fall! But Harald's archers clear out the right flank.

The reserve dismounted cavalry then clear the other flank.

Rushing past the remaining defenders, the flanking forces secure the gate.

The first part of Harald's plan succeeds!

Battle 3 - Hold the Gate

After seizing the gate, Harald manages to rally some of his force. Alas, his command his smaller due to casualties. Actually, I reduced both sides to reflect casualties.

The Muslims launch a counterattack to retake the gates.

The Muslim spears overrun Harald's archers.

The Varangians manage to check the spears, but are exhausted in the process. Meanwhile, Harald's infantry scatters the Muslim archers.

Harald's men close up to protect the gate. I know, not in the rules. It just made sense in the context.

The Byzantine spears take out their counterparts but then get flanked and defeated.

Note: The marker is on the wrong Muslim spear counter.

This leaves the dismounted knights alone. They are forced to retreat through the gate. The Muslims then shut the gates before Byzantine reinforcements arrive.

With this defeat, Maniakes abandons his campaign.

NOTES

• Harald loses this campaign with 1 victory and 2 losses.
• I had a turn limit for the last battle. Harald needed to hold for 2+D3 turns. This came out to 5 turns. I ended up forgetting to count turns, engrossed as I was in the narrative. Nevertheless, I don't think Harald made it.