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.