GOOOOOOOAAAL!

Watching the World Cup has got me interested in some soccer action.

This happened before in 2014. Someone posted a free, quick-play soccer game on TMP. I tweaked it to fit my needs then went on a binge. I eventually changed the game to grav ball. 

I formed a league and played several seasons. Alas, the rules and season results are mostly lost. Perhaps I can reboot.

Rules

One night, I jotted down some simple rules. I play 5 possessions per half.

For each possession, I take these steps:

• Determine who gains possession
• Determine if attacker can get a shot
• Determine if the shot scores

If the attacker can't get a shot or doesn't score, then the possession ends and I start the process over. I determine results using opposed dice rolls. I rate each team for offense, defense, and goalie; ratings modify the dice rolls.

That's the basics so far.

Test Game

I played a couple of test games, using Excel to keep track of results.

Here is the tracker for one game.

In the other game, team B won 3-1.

R20BL - Season 1 Part 2

I'm being a little lazy today. Instead of full write-ups, I'm just posting a couple of pictures from my Excel tracker.

Here are the games for the week.

A lot of close games. Here are some highlights of the week:

• Lefty Grove (PHA) and Jim Bagby (CLE) pitch gems. But Grove gets the win when Mule Haas knocks in 2 runs in the 9th.
• Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth both hit home runs
• George Grantham (PIT) knocks in 4 runs in 2 games.
• Taylor Douthit (SLC), an F-rated player, continues to shine. This week, he gets a game winning home run

Here are the standings at the end of the week

The Yankees and Pirates are in control of their leagues. Both teams are undefeated.

Player of the Week

While Taylor Douthit shined again, the spotlight of the week belongs to George Grantham (PIT) for his 4 RBIs.

George Grantham

Bellicosus vs Gaul

The Twelve Foes of Rome Campaign

The next chapter of the campaign.

NOTE; Today's battle was played using downsized Horde of the Things. Explanation later

Battle for Gaul

After the debacle of Bellicosus the Least, another Bellicosus steps to the forefront.

He beats Julius Caesar to the punch and invades Gaul

As the armies begin to form up, storm clouds delay the battle.

My cat Onyx sat on the board. Time for plan B. I played the game on a virtual battlefield.

Leaving his archers on a hill, Bellicosus advances against the Gauls. He has success in the middle and right, but loses a legion on the left.

Bellicosus leads a legion against some Gallic cavalry. They destroy the barbarians.

But another legion is lost on the left.

The archers swing into action. A warband charges them, but a hail of arrows cut them down.

The Gauls panic and flee. Bellicosus then mops up the remnants and adds Gaul to Rome's possessions!

GAME NOTES

• As mentioned, I used Horde of the Things (HotT) for today's battle. I am debating introducing it to some friends and wanted to test using smaller armies.
• The experiment worked well enough, I may look into it further.
• Because HotT takes longer than DotS, I chose to do a single battle.
• The Bellicosus family is back on top. They are now 4-2 in the campaign.

Crazy Thoughts Continued

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about a couple crazy thoughts. Here's a follow-up post.

Space Campaign

My plan was to start a campaign with the scenarios in Voidfighter. I lamented that I did not have any spaceship counters.

I rectified that last issue with a purchase from Wargame Vault.

What I really like is this set has 3 levels of craft for each faction - scouts, fighters, and corvettes. That fits nicely into the Voidfighter classifications of snubfighters, gunships, and corvettes.

I just need to get around to printing and mounting them.

Fantasy Wargame

I did a trial game of Horde of the Things, using half-sized armies. Battle report is coming this weekend. It worked well enough. However, I think that a gridded game might work best. To that end, I should experiment with the Portable Wargame.

I'm also experimenting with counters. I could not find any for sale that I particularly liked. I decided to try using the counters I made for my arena game, but putting them on 1.5" wide bases.

Here are my first attempts - goblin horde, archers (shooters), shaman (magician), and rats (beasts)

R20BL Season 1 - Part 1

Results for the 1st week of the Roaring 20s Baseball League season 1.

Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees

CLE    0-0-0-0    0

NYY   2-0-1-x    3

WP - Waite Hoyt, LP - Jim Bagby

NYY   0-0-1-0    1

CLE    0-0-0-0    0

WP - Herb Pennock, LP - Stan Coveleski

Tony Lazzerri knocks in the sole run.

Philadelphia Athletics vs. Washington Senators

PHA    2-1-0-1-1    5

WAS   2-0-2-0-0    4

WP - Lefty Grove, LP - Stan Coveleski

Yes, Stan Coveleski is pitching for two different teams - the 1920 Indians and the 1925 Senators

Mule Haas knocks in the tying run in the 9th. Utility man Sammy Hale surprises the crowd with a game-winning single!

I started using the cards from Fast Inning Baseball, which created an unexpected hero.

WAS    2-0-0-2    4

PHA    1-1-0-0    2

WP - Walter Johnson, LP - Rube Walberg

Roger Pekinpaugh hits a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th to put the Senators ahead.

Chicago Cubs vs. New York Giants

CHC    1-0-1-0-1-2    5

NYG    1-1-0-0-1-1    4

WP - CHC bullpen, LP - NYG bullpen

Hack Wilson drives in 2 runs in the top of the 11th inning.

NYG    2-0-4-2    8

CHC    0-0-1-0    1

WP - Jack Scott, LP - Pat Malone

George Kelly hits a grand slam in the late innings.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St Louis Cardinals

PIT    1-2-1-0    4

SLC   0-0-0-1    1

WP - Lea Meadows, LP -  Bill Sherdel

Meadows pitches a gem and Eddie Moore knocks in 2 runs in the mid innings to secure the win.

SLC    0-0-1-2-0    3

PIT     2-1-0-0-1    4

WP - PIT bullpen, LP - SLC bullpen. Grover Alexander and Ray Kremer no decision

The Pirates race off to an early lead. Taylor Douthit slams a 2-run homer to tie the game in the 9th. Then Clyde Barnhart knocks in the winning run in extra innings.

STANDINGS

American League

New York Yankees        2-0

Philadelphia Athletics   1-1

Washington Senators    1-1

Cleveland Indians         0-2

National League

Pittsburgh Pirates        2-0

Chicago Cubs             1-1

New York Giants        1-1

St. Louis Cardinals     0-2

Player of the Week

Many good candidates - Waite Hoyt and Herb Pennock pitched shutout games. Tony Lazzerri, Roger Pekinpaugh, Sammy Hale, Hack Wilson, and Clyde Barnhart had game-winning hits. But this week, we honor George Kelly and his grand slam.

George Kelly

Crazy Thoughts

Last weekend, I had some crazy wargame ideas that led me down a couple of rabbit holes.

Space Campaign

It started in a very innocuous manner; I was just clearing up some books from my coffee table. I caught a glimpse of one out of the corner of my eye. For a second, I thought it was one of my Ace of Aces booklets. 

It wasn't, but I got a hankering for some air combat. Then I started thinking about a new campaign. Then I remembered that Voidfighter had a bunch of scenarios. Then I started thinking about a space combat campaign. Then I remembered that I have no starfighter counters. And that's where I am now.

Fantasy Wargame

I'm not exactly sure how I went down this path. I guess I was thinking of games to play with my fantasy LARP group when the weather is too bad for sparring.

I'd like a game that fits in a small space, perhaps 2 ft square, and can be played in an hour or so. Fantasy theme, naturally. Perhaps use counters instead of miniatures.

A number of ideas ran through my head - HoTT (expensive!), Battlelore (also expensive and OOP I think), The Portable Wargame (need to tweak the ancients version for fantasy). I also looked into Fantastic Battles (looks like it uses individually based figures unfortunately) and a couple of other games. Right now, I'm still pondering options.

Like many of my manias, I think these will fade away soon without any progress.

Bathtub Baseball

Spurred by the success of my bathtub baseball experiment, I decided to try a short league. After some consideration, I chose to resurrect the Roaring 20s Baseball League.

The Teams

Here are the 8 teams of the league.

• 1929 Chicago Cubs (98 wins, National League champions)
• 1920 Cleveland Indians (98 wins, World Series champions)
• 1923 New York Giants (95 wins, National League champions)
• 1927 New York Yankees (110 wins, World Series champions)
• 1929 Philadelphia Athletics (104 wins, World Series champions)
• 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates (95 wins, World Series champions)
• 1928 St. Louis Cardinals (95 wins, National League champions)
• 1925 Washington Senators (96 wins, American League champions)

The Schedule

Like last year's initial schedule, I plan to play two games (home and away) vs. every other team. However, I plan to keep the American League and National League teams separate. This means each team will play 6 games, 2 against every other team in its league. League champions will meet for a 3-game World Series.

There will be 3 "weeks" of games, with 8 games a week. I'm not sure how long it will take me to play a "week" but once I do I will post the results.

A Sampler

Games are underway. Here is a little taste.

Chicago Cubs 5 - New York Giants 4

Chi    1-0-1-0-1-2

NY    1-1-0-0-1-1

The Giants jumped out to a 2-1 lead but Charlie Grimm ties the score late. The game goes into extra innings. Both sides score a run in the 10th. Then in the 11th, Hack Wilson (Chi) drives in 2 runs. The Giants get a solo home run in the bottom of the inning, but then the Cubs bullpen shuts the door.

Bull Run

I planned on doing a Civil War battle over my holiday, so here it is. I decided to forego my Florida campaign and instead start playing scenarios from Dominion of the Blue and Grey.

The first scenario is First Bull Run.

The Union attack succeeds on the right.

And center.

Stalemate on the left.

McDowell rallies the Union infantry. However, Stonewall Jackson (left) and Jeb Stuart (center) smash the Union line.

Jackson then overruns the Union artillery.

The Confederate reinforcements (left) arrive by train. But they are disorganized, and get swept away.

This leaves the Confederate flank open. The Union takes the opportunity and routs Stuart.

With that, the path to Richmond is open. Well, that was a short war.

Bathtub 1925 World Series

I'm working on my own rules for very quick play dice baseball games. I have the general concept sketched out and was ready to test it. Initially, I did a couple of quick test games using made-up teams. It showed promise but lacked a little drama because individual players did not have a role. Inspired by Fast Inning Baseball, I added a rule where star players can affect the game. I was ready for a test but I wanted to use real teams. I decided to "bathtub" the 1925 World Series with a best of 3 games series.

The Series

The 1925 World Series featured the National League champions Pittsburgh Pirates vs. the American League and defending World Series champions Washington Senators.

Game 1

Pittsburgh 5 - Washington 3

Pitt        0-1-0-4

Wash    1-0-0-2

This shows the bathtubbed box score. I do not play all 9 innings. Instead, I play early, middle, late, and 9th innings.

Kiki Cuyler breaks a 1-1 tie with a grand slam in the 9th. The Senators' comeback attempt fails. Stan Coveleski takes the loss.

Game 2

Washington 7 - Pittsburgh 6

Wash    2-2-1-2

Pitt        2-1-2-1

Goose Goslin (Wash) and Pie Traynor (Pitt) trade homers early. Goslin drives in 2 runs in the middle innings. Pittsburgh ties it up on a 2-run homer late. In the 9th, Washington rallies for 2 runs. This time, the Pirates' comeback attempt fails. Walter Johnson gets the win.

Game 3

Washington 6 - Pittsburgh 5

Pitt        2-0-1-2-0

Wash    3-0-1-1-1

The Senators get a 3-run homer early. Pittsburgh scores 2 in the 9th to take the lead. Washington ties it up in the bottom of the 9th, then scores a run in extra innings. They win the game and the series!

Evaluation

How did my rules work?

• Very fast play, but still gave an interesting narrative
• Much less chart flipping than Fast Inning Baseball
• Perhaps a bit too much scoring, but not totally unrealistic
• I liked how star players get a nod. However, there were crucial moments where I did not roll a star player. In these cases, the result is a generic player. I'd love to give credit to the person who knocked in the series-winning run. Thinking about using FIB's player finder.

Halfway to Nowhere

I am at the halfway point of my vacation and I have done nothing.

OK, that's not really true. It just feels that way because I have not played any games worth posting. 

What I haven't done

As my vacation began, I had a few game-related items on my to-do list.

• A Memorial Day Civil War battle
• The next expedition into the Caves of Chaos
• The next mini campaign in my Twelve Foes of Rome series

What have I done?

As I mentioned, it's not really true that I've done nothing. I made some progress in other areas.

• Completed some yard work
• Worked on a couple of shields
• Dabbled with some baseball rules

Shield Work

Here they are so far. I cut everything out; I just need to glue everything and then add covers.

I experimented with a design change. I used to use PVC pipe for my handles. Being round, they had a tendency to twist. This time, I'm using square dowels. They should not twist. I used a Dremel to round the edges for the handhold.

Baseball

I've had a hankering for baseball, but I haven't been feeling Fast Inning Baseball, which was my jam last year. I've been hunting around for alternatives, but found nothing that  I like.

Now, I'm dabbling with some ideas of my own. The key concept is to resolve an inning using an opposed die roll (inspired by DBA).

We Remember

May God bless those who gave their all for our country.

Kobold Caves

My Keep on the Borderlands Campaign

The continuing adventures of Aldric the fighter, Corvin the mystic, Rook the rogue, and Lothariel the elven pathfinder

After exploring the region around the Keep, our heroes discover the caves. They rest for a night without incident. The next morning, they begin their delve.

Notes:

• As I mentioned last time, I'm not going to do a full blown narrative. Instead, I'm just publishing my notes.
• I'll be making a number of changes to the caves to make them more interesting for my solo play:
• While I'll use the general creature in each cave, I may add or swap out ancillary encounters.
• I'm not using the maps from the published module. I often don't even map in solo play; I'll just have a series of encounters leading to the big boss. If I do map, I won't stick to the originals.

Our heroes enter the cave. It spirals downward into the bowels of the earth, with passages randomly leading out from the main tunnel.

Here are the party's encounters:

• Kobold miners – A hits. A and R hit. The rest flee
• Pit trap! A and R fall in. Bandage R
• More miners – L gets hit. Wipe them out. L recovers.
• Fire beetles – R gets hit. C and A stomp them. C heals R.
• Kobold guards – wipe them out in 1 turn!
• Kobold priests – A fried. C heals A. A, R, and L get hit. L and R hit. R takes out high priest. A, R, and L recover.
• Salamander – A, R, and C take heat damage. R hits. C’s luck negates a hit. A, R, and L hit and kill it.

Note: In my mind, the kobolds tunneled down until they met the salamander, which they worshiped as a god. I nerfed the salamander's stats to make it a suitable boss for a party of 1st level characters.

Image created by Chat GPT

The party loots the cave, retraces its steps, and returns to the Keep.

Note: I'm not keeping track of treasure, but I added the "looting" part just for narrative purposes.

Pontic Problems

The Twelve Foes of Rome Campaign

The next chapter of the campaign.

Another sire of the famed Bellicosus family has a chance to win renown. This time, the Senate sends him east to deal with King Mithridates of Pontus.

Battle of Bithynia

Mithridates invades Bithynia. Bellicosus defends this Roman ally.

The forces involved:

• Bellicosus: 2 legions (elite, armored), cavalry, and allied spears
• Mithridates: Cavalry, pikes (armored), spears, slingers, and scythed chariots (elite)

Note: Camera was charging so I scribbled down a battle map then transcribed it.

1. Roman cavalry advances but gets cut down by slingers.
2. The Pontic cavalry takes out a Roman legion but is spent.
3. The scythed chariots flank and rout the other legion.

Battle of Chalcedon

Bellicosus retreats to Chalcedon and sets up defenses on and around a hill outside the city.

Same forces as above but one legion is downgraded from elite to normal and the Romans get a hill.

Note: I probably should have downgraded the armor instead of elite. Or better, I should have put the spears on the hill so it could take advantage of the defensive bonus.

1. The scythed chariots and Roman cavalry take each other out.
2. Roman spears defeat the slingers but Mithridates rallies them. A legion defeats the pikes.
3. This time, the slingers defeat the spears.
4. Pontic cavalry rout a legion.

Aftermath

A disaster for Bellicosus, who earns the sobriquet "the Least." It will take a better general to defeat Mithridates.

Explorations

The Keep on the Borderlands Campaign

I'm changing the way I document the campaign. No more narrative, just some notes. I'll explain why below.

I just use the characters' first initials. For reference, the party consists of Aldric the fighter, Corvin the mystic, Lothariel the elf, and Rook the rogue.

The Second Foray

March N through woods. No event.

Turn W. Enter fens. Camp for the night.

R is on guard. Hears something and quietly warns the others. Lizardmen attack.

Hard fight against lizardmen. Kept hitting but had trouble penetrating the lizardmen’s tough skin (DR prevented damage). Ultimately, they cut down the enemy. All but C wounded. Used heals and bandages.

Return to Keep – no encounters.

The Third Foray

Head S, past the area where they fought the bandits. No encounter.

Turn E, into grasslands. Meet some human farmers. Get supplies. Spend the night safely.

Turn N. Meet a hermit. Encounter a mountain lion. Just then, hermit backstabs C, who goes down. A and L drive off the lion. R struck down by hermit. A wounds hermit, who runs away.

Revive and bandage C and R. Return to Keep.

The Fourth Foray

Travel N through woods then W into grassy plain. No encounters.

Travel E through woods. No encounters,

Turn S into hills. Run into a goblin band. C runs amok. Then A and L finish them off.

Turn W into wooded hills. Discover a ravine and the Caves!

My campaign map

Next time, they begin to explore the Caves of Chaos!

GAME NOTES

I decided to get a little lazy, primarily due to the way I am playing and recording results. Previously, I played on the tabletop and recorded notes in a journal. Then I transformed the notes into a narrative that I posted.

However, I also used the computer for some recording - specifically the game map. Then I thought, why not just put the characters on the computer. I can just play at my desk (using dice - I'm not going totally digital), I started a Word journal with my game notes. I figure it will just be easier to copy my notes to this blog.

The Dark Wood

Keep on the Borderlands Campaign

In the tavern at the Keep, our heroes learn that bands of monsters have been raiding in the area. It is said that they have a lair somewhere nearby. Reputedly, there is also plenty of treasure. This piques the interest of our heroes. They decide to find the lair, end the monster threat, and pocket the treasure.

The party begins exploring the region around the Keep

First Foray

The party begins its exploration. They head west into some woods. They find an area where thick spider webs run from tree to tree.

"Be careful," Lothariel warns. "There are tales of spiders the size of a large dog. Their poison can even incapacitate a human."

Not long afterwards, they hear clicking from the trees. There is one of the giant spiders!

It leaps at Aldric. Lothariel looses an arrow; it strikes the creature right in the eye. It bounces off Aldric's shield. The fighter rushes forward and stabs the monstrosity. It dies.

Suddenly, another spider lands on Aldric's shoulder. It bites him, but he shakes it loose before it injects its poison.

Rook rushes to help. The spider turns and bites him. Aldric tries stabbing it but also gets bitten. Finally, he slashes the monster, chopping deep into its vitals. It also dies.

The party finds the spider's lair. There are skeletons strewn about. One was a human fighter. He has a battered shield, but Aldric takes a liking to it.

"With a little love, this will be a fine shield," he declares.

With Aldric and Rook badly wounded, the party heads back to the keep. Corvin stocks up on medical supplies for a longer journey.

Dungeon Crawl Rules Notes

Notes about the rules I'm using for my Keep on the Borderlands campaign.

Characters

I started building the characters using the rules from Swords and Six-Siders. Then I started making some tweaks.

• I don't record all their attributes. I only make note of any exceptional ones that give bonuses or penalties.
• I don't roll for hit points. Instead, I give fighter types 3 hp and the others 2 hp.
• I record the attack and damage bonuses direct from the rules
• I don't bother with buying equipment; I just assume that they can get most of what they want. I do roll for armor. For example, Aldric the fighter could start with medium armor on a roll of 4-6. (He failed).
• I record armor and weapons but I don't bother with all the doo dads. If something is needed, I'll assume they have it. If it is unusual, I might require a roll.
• One thing I do record are bandages. They can be used to heal wounds after a fight. The Party started with 3 bandages and can add D3 when visiting the Keep.
• Damage resistance comes direct from the rules.
• I've added LUCK as a party resource. The party can trade it to negate a wound. They start with 1 per character and can add 1 at the end of a successful mission.

Game Play

• I use the monster stats from S&SS, specifically AC, damage resistance, and damage bonus.
• I don't track individual hit points for swarms of minions. Instead, I have a total HP pool. When it is 0, the enemy is defeated. I usually give them 4-6 hp. For individual monsters, I use hp = monster level. I may add hp for particularly tough monsters.
• Characters attack as per S&SS - roll >= AC to hit.
• I do a damage roll - 2 or less = glancing blow (no hp loss), 3-5 = 1 hp damage, 6+ = 2 hp damage. Damage bonuses and damage resistance modify the roll.
• Monsters do not roll to hit. Instead, characters make a defense roll. They need to roll the enemy's AC or better, modified by any defense bonuses.
• Characters gain defense bonuses from shields or dexterity. As I think about it, I will need to give a bonus based on level as well.
• Against swarms, each character must make a defense roll. They only roll once, even if outnumbered.
• Big monsters can make 2 attacks per turn.

Bandit Attack

Keep on the Borderlands Campaign

After the encounter with the giant crab, the caravan sets out for the Keep. Later in the day, they find themselves traversing hilly ground. Lothariel notices a glint of metal on a distant hill.

"We're being watched," she tells Scar, the guard captain.

Shortly after, the caravan is winding through a ravine, As it nears the end, they see a roadblock.

One man calls from the barrier. "Stop! Throw down your weapons and abandon your wagons. Or else!"

"Bandits!" calls Scar. "We need to fight"

Then they hear battle cries from behind them. More bandits!

Scar commands our heroes to take the ones in the rear. He, Mutt, and Geoff will deal with the barrier.

⚔ 

The hiss of crossbow bolts pierces the air. Corvin tries but fails to cast a shield spell. Lothariel pulls out her bow and shoots down a bandit. Aldric and Rook charge forward. A bolt buries itself in Aldric's shield. Rook manages to knock one aside with his twin blades.

Corvin casts another spell, this time freezing a bandit in place. Then there is a clash as the two sides come together. With his dazzling swordplay, Rook slays an enemy. But he and Aldric take wounds. Then Rook strikes down the last bandit.

⚔

Then they hear a cry. Turning, they see that Mutt and Geoff are down. Scar is battling 3 bandits near the roadblock. Our heroes rush to his aid.

Corvin casts his last spell - a magical bolt that slays his foe. The party then joins the melee, They hack down the last bandit.

⚔

They tend to Mutt and Geoff (both thankfully still alive), tie up the frozen bandit, and proceed on their way. Night draws near but the caravan continues on, driven by fear of bandits. Near midnight, they arrive at the Keep. Safety!

Caravan to the Keep

Keep on the Borderlands Campaign

It had been a long, boring journey from the civilized lands to the Keep on the Borderland. Over that time, four plucky individuals, hired as guards to protect a small caravan, have grown close.

Aldric, a fighting man, Corvin, a mystic, Rook, a rogue, and Lothariel, an elven pathfinder. formed the core of the guard. They were led by a drunken veteran named Scar and two inept fighters, Mutt and Geoff.

⚔

It is morning. The caravan is camped by a small lake, about a day and a half from the Keep.

Our heroes hear a cry from a servant girl drawing water from the lake. A giant grab emerged from the waters and tried to nab her with its massive claws. She ran, screaming for help.

Lothariel unleashes an arrow, but it ricochets off the hard carapace. Aldric and Rook rush past, interposing themselves between the crab and the girl. The crab strikes them, wounding them with its claws.

Lothariel drops her bow, draw her blade, and rushes into the fray. While Aldric keeps it busy, she ducks underneath it, striking upwards into its vitals. Again and again it plunges deep, until the crab shudder and collapses. Lotahriel barely escapes being crushed.

The Campaign Begins

As I mentioned previously, I'm beginning a new dungeon crawl campaign using the classic D&D module, Keep on the Borderlands.

Reading through it, I noticed that the player characters must first find the Caves of Chaos before delving into the dungeon. So I decided to create a "hex crawl" (although I'm using squares). Along the way, they might encounter wandering monsters and other denizens of the region.

Here is my hex crawl map.

The party begins in square A4. I rolled randomly for terrain and it came up as fens. I also rolled for a wandering monster. I used the table in the module and got a giant shrew. That seemed silly so I changed it to something more water-related - a crab. I also changed the terrain to a lake to fit the story of someone going for water.

The Characters

The characters may seem similar - I initially created them for my experiment with Order of Eventide. I just converted them to Swords & Six-Siders stats.

I decided to create the caravan backstory to give a reason why they end up in this isolated outpost. I thought that a guard of 4 seemed a bit light, so I added some NPCs. I made them somewhat useless so that the party needs to do the heavy lifting.

And with that, they're off!

A New Campaign

Get ready - I will be journeying to

I decided to start a new dungeon crawl campaign, and I'll be using this classic D&D module. I chose it based on commentary from Professor Dungeon Master. Here he recounts a campaign he ran.

I am heavily revising my Micro Dungeon rules. I am using Swords & Six-Siders as the basis for my design. This way, I can just use the S&SS monster stats (and it is easy to convert from D&D to S&SS)

Stay tuned!

More Random Thoughts

On Skirmishes and Dungeon Crawls

Some of my recent thoughts:

• I've reversed course and now lean towards "small skirmishes" with individually based figures.
• I'm reading Five Leagues from the Borderlands again. Some good ideas but I don't think it will work for me.
• It calls for 8 figure bands. I prefer 2-4 heroes vs. the enemy hordes.
• There are a lot of pre-battle steps. I just want to get stuck in; I don't want to game a shopping trip.
• I am looking at a simplified wound system. My dungeon crawl rules ran into the same issue as D&D - at higher levels, combat drags because of higher hp. Five Leagues has a system that could work, however.
• Why not go back to Four Against Darkness?
• I don't like having to switch dice at higher levels
• I'd like all possible enemies in one place, not scattered over multiple volumes
• Dungeons are too random. And crafting specific dungeons takes too long.

On Arena Fights

Thinking about skirmishes led me back to my arena fights with Nocan.

• Thinking about ditching the junior/senior circuit. Graduating to the senior circuit seems too much like starting over.
• But then, how do I do levels? My tables that generate opponents are all predicated on 3 levels per circuit. I would need to redo all my tables.
• I also thought about adding possible death rolls during bouts, just to make the games more risky. No decision on this yet.

Soccer and Star League

With the World Cup approaching, I've been thinking about some prior gaming. Back in 2014, I played some soccer dice games, then modified the rules for Star League - grav ball style sporting contests. I wonder if I can dig up these games?

Stuck and Some Random Thoughts

I find myself in the wargame doldrums again, and I don't care. It has me pondering my gaming.

The LARP Effect

I've mentioned before that my favorite hobby is actually LARP. Things have been going well, with lots of new players. I've also been busy with some crafting projects (mostly weapons).

Alas, the season is drawing to a close (we shut down for the miserable Florida summers). That has me thinking about using games as a substitute. But how?

Dungeon Crawls

This seems like the perfect substitute for LARP, but I've been having issues.

• I'm not satisfied with my rules and I haven't found commercial rules that work for me.
• Setting up a game can require some work - I have to come up with the dungeon encounters. I could use a random generator, like Four Against Darkness, but it can feel too random. Playing a battle, like the Dominion of series, is actually simpler to set up.

I'm still thinking about how to do quick and easy dungeon crawls, but I'm not really getting anywhere.

Skirmishes

In lieu of a dungeon crawl, perhaps I could do some fantasy skirmishing.

As part of my stalled American Revolution skirmish project, I made some counters with small numbers of figures per stand.

I designed these for "big skirmishes" where each unit is approximately a "squad."

But I haven't printed them because of printer problems. First, I ran out of toner. When I refilled, my tablet that was linked to the printer died. I have a new tablet but I have to figure out how to link it to the printer.

Regardless, I am still wondering if I should do small or large skirmish (1 figure vs. multiple figures per counter).

Posting Less

I'm writing this as a way to sort out my thoughts. But I'm feeling that I'm wasting time with blogging. I may reduce posts to just battle accounts, in which case there may be long periods of silence when I fall into the doldrums.

Bellicosus vs. Philip

The Twelve Foes of Rome Campaign

The next chapter of the campaign.

Carthage is defeated but now Macedon is making trouble. Rome sends Bellicosus the Younger to resolve the issue (in other words, conquer Macedon).

Battle of Kleisoura

Bellicosus (red) advances into Macedon through a hilly pass. King Philip V of Macedon waits for him.

• Romans - Cavalry, legionaries (armored elite), allied spears. Reserve: spears and legionaries
• Macedonians - Peltasts, 2 phalanx. Reserve: 2 Allied spears, cavalry

Note: Peltasts should be treated as spears. I used a light infantry marker to distinguish them. Unfortunately, I forgot they were spears and treated them as lights.

The Roman legion in the center drives off the phalanx.

But the Roman allied spears rout.

Roman cavalry takes out the peltasts.

Once again, the center legion is victorious.

The legion then routs the reserve spears (not pictured).

And then flanks the remaining spears.

Philip retreats into Macedon.

Battle of Kallisarissa

Bellicosus pursues the retreating Macedonians, catching up to them near the town of Kallisarissa.

Note: I used the same lists as above but dropped one unit of spears from each army.

Bellicosus sends his legions forward. They rout the peltasts.

There is a stalemate on the left.

But the Macedonian cavalry routs a legion.

Then routs the other.

Bellicosus loses. The Romans retire.

Battle of Phiasko

Bellicosus and Philip meet in a final showdown.

Same armies as last battle.

The Romans are victorious on the right but lose on the left. Bellicosus tried to rally the cavalry but gets killed in a melee.

The Romans are disheartened. Then disaster! The Macedonians overrun both flanks!

The Romans lose! They must retreat from Macedon.

Aftermath

The Romans blame the loss on Bellicosus's untimely death.

He failed to rally the cavalry. I made up the death result to give a more fitting end to his career.

They send another army to avenge Bellicosus's death. The Romans ultimately succeed in conquering Macedon.

Game Notes

• Ouch! That was a tough end after a promising beginning.
• I wonder if removing a unit tilted the favor towards the Macedonians. I could replay the last two battles to find out, but I'd rather not.
• Instead, I will move on to the next foe - Mithridates of Pontus.
• Previously, the Bellicosus family was undefeated in its campaigns. Now they are 3-1.

Dominion of the Spear Revised

There's been no progress on my naval counters. Instead, I've been perusing the revised version of Dominion of the Spear. It is available on Wargame Vault.

It incorporates rules changes that have been proposed and included in later Dominion titles. I already use many of them but I wanted the official revision.

In addition, I picked up 36 More Ancient Battles for Dominion of the Spear. As the name implies, it includes 36 more battle scenarios. I noticed it had Heraclea (a Pyrrhic battle) and Zama, among others. I'll have to give some of these scenarios a go, although I don't plan on playing all of them.

Rethinking My Naval Counters

Back in December, I explained that I was not happy with my square naval squadron counters. Instead, I worked up some new, rectangular counters. I planned to make two sets - line abreast (for galley warfare) and line ahead (for age of sail and modern).

I never got around to printing them. My ink cartridge ran out and I kept forgetting to order a new one. I finally resolved the cartridge issue, but now I am rethinking the counters.

The Problem

I created these simple, generic ships so they could represent any era - from galleys to dreadnoughts. This should reduce the number of counters I need.

But having different counters for different formations kind of counteracts that. I end up making more counters anyway.

The Solution

Now I'm thinking of mounting ships individually. This gives me more flexibility - I can arrange them in line abreast or line ahead, or even separately for small ship actions.

I will probably use 2 ships per squadron for Dominion of style battles.