Champs...Again

A typical orky game. Dropped passes. Strong running. A lot of stomping of the opposing team's quarterback. If you roll with the greenskins in Blood Bowl, that's the game you're going to see.

But what a beatdown!

It's tough that Zach Charbonnet tore his ACL, as he's our third down / red zone back. For all Kenneth Walker's talent (and he IS talented...extremely), he doesn't have the same nose for the endzone. If Charbs is on the field yesterday, that 19-0 lead going into the 4th quarter is probably more like 27-0. 

But I'll take it. Heck, I would have taken a 6-0 victory. Just like I'd take a 1-0 victory in Blood Bowl. Because a win is a win is a win. And a trophy is a nice memento to commemorate a really good season. Which is what the Seattle Seahawks had this year...a really great season.

Way to go, boyz. Well deserved. This time I'll be at the parade.

Waaagh!

Coming Together

Another interlude. The reviews will continue tomorrow; just pushed 'em back for a day.

Sunday afternoon I had a chance to watch the Seattle Seahawks clinch a Super Bowl berth for only the fourth time in their 50 year history. I've attended three of the four NFC championship games that they won, missing only the game versus the 49ers (when I was residing in Paraguay). The 'Hawks have had a great season, and man, that was a tough game...another time and on a neutral field, the results might well have been different. Skaven are a bad match-up for orks, and the Rams have often had our number since we moved back to the NFC West in 2000.

I haven't written much about the Seahawks (or Blood Bowl) this year, in part because I've been super busy (I don't think we've broken out the BB set since September) but ALSO because...as the writing was on the wall that Seattle was fielding one of the best teams in the NFL, I felt more and more that talking about it might, well, jinx it. And I didn't want to jinx it. I mean, I had to help keep the Pope's streak alive, right?

But now we're back in the Big Game, where I fully expect Mike Macdonald's ork squad to stomp the living hell out of the dark elves. It's not that Vrabel's not a good coach or that Drake Maye isn't a nice surprise this season. It's just that they aren't Bellicheck and Brady...and I trust that with two weeks to prepare Mac will have this team tuned and ready to tee off on the second year QB. This is not the McVay-Stafford-Nakua offense we just saw. Yes, the Seahawks might still lose...but if they do. it's going to be due to some catastrophic system failure. They're just the better team...this year.

I'm thinking something in the 27-9, 31-6 range?

REGARDLESS (that is, win or lose) the streets of Seattle will be mostly empty on Super Bowl Sunday. That I've experienced before. It's always fairly dead on this, our country's unofficial national holiday, but in the city of one of the two championship-vying teams...well, most people are going to be glued to their screens. Or, at least, engaging in some sort of party/celebration with fellow Seattle-ites, regardless of whether or not they have any interest in the game results. That's the power of sport: the power to bring people together. Common ground...a way of making connections with our fellow human beings.

Right now, in addition to the nation-wide blizzard/Ice Age that's wrecking crap all over the country, we've got this whole ongoing issue of federal agents MURDERING PEOPLE in Minnesota. I mean, the current presidential administration has been nothing if not an extensive exercise in corruption and criminality, bribery, kidnapping, lying, extortion, and murder (no, Virginia, the actions taken by our U.S. military in Venezuela and off its coast are not "lawful" no matter what lies the administration spins). But video of masked "law enforcement" officers pumping ten rounds in the back of a prone, restrained, and unarmed individual is FUCKING EVIL SHIT and kind of ANTITHETICAL TO EVERYTHING THIS COUNTRY IS SUPPOSED TO STAND FOR. 

I'd think most of us could find some common ground on that, too. 

Just so people know: I am paying attention. And while the gaming thing is all well and good as a nice little escape from the ho-hum mundanity of daily life (and fun to boot), it's NOT a great thing to use it as an excuse to check out and be apathetic when it comes to real life atrocities being committed in one's own backyard. Yeah, the stuff in Gaza and Ukraine and Iran, etc. are pretty damn horrific. But now our government seems bent on waging war against its own citizens? Any citizen that dares stand up to it? Anyone who interferes with ICE actions by protesting or filming with a cell phone is in danger of being pepper-sprayed, beaten, "detained," and possibly SHOT IN THE FACE. Yeah...no.

Can't stand for that.

However, sadly, unfortunately, the LAST thing, the WORST thing for folks to do, is to fight back with anger and hate and violence. I can already see that possibility on the horizon: revolution. Civil war. Guerillas. REAL "domestic terrorism" where anyone with a mask or a badge is dragged out and lynched and a well-armed America population starts pushing back with bullets. THAT would be the real end of this American Experiment. That would be really, really shitty.

Plus, Trump would just invoke martial law and set himself up as "Dictator for Life."

SO. Be brave. Be resistant. Be engaged. And most of all, be TOGETHER with your fellow Americans. Regardless of the differences you have with them. Build bonds; build connections. Stand and oppose, but do not give in to hatred and violence. If we allow grief and anger to consume us, then evil wins. 

That's it. Adventure reviews will resume tomorrow.

Drafting For Orks (Blood Bowl)

Welp, had a lovely four days on Orcas Island with the family, and missed the bulk of the 2025 NFL draft, so I've been spending much of today catching up on the new Seahawks that will be competing for roster spots in training camp.

My oh my...how things change.

Seattle started the draft with ten picks (for seven rounds)...they ended up with eleven picks by the end. Here's what they got.

Guard

Safety

Tight End

Quarterback

Defensive Tackle

Wide Receiver

Fullback

Guard

Running Back

Guard

Wide Receiver

A lot of beef in that draft. The QB lacks accuracy but he's as fast (or faster) than Lamar Jackson and built like a linebacker. The running back is a straight ahead bulldozer who runs with the ferocity and violence of Marshawn Lynch (though not the elusiveness). The safety has been compared to Kam Chancellor in terms of size and strength, but has the speed of Earl Thomas. And the last wide receiver on the list won the special teams player of the year in his conference, making a name as a kick/punt blocker. 

Size. Beef. Toughness. Three guards? A fullback? There ain't no "finesse" in this draft class...this is just orks getting back to being orks. 

I kind of love it.

Of course, it is stupid to fall in love with rookie draft picks. They are nothing compared to the veterans in the league...most of these guys won't even see the field during the regular season, unless catastrophic injuries occur. Or the season falls apart. Or both. 

But in a couple years? 

Interesting that seven of these guys were captains on their college squads. Eight of them finished their college careers at the same schools they originally declared for (and one moved solely to follow the coach that recruited him). In today's NIL world, this is unusual if not unheard of...the first round selection turned down huge deals to finish his college career in North Dakota State. North Dakota State?!

Dedication. Loyalty. Leadership. Plus solid athleticism.

Wonder if the coaching staff can turn them into professional football players. That's always the challenge.

But I'm more excited and curious than ever to see what next year's season has in store. The home team seems to be getting back to the kind of football that's helped them (in the past) to championship games...championship games we haven't been to since we traded away our last Pro Bowl lineman (Max Unger) for a tight end that couldn't block (Jimmy Graham). 

Ork football. I dig it.

6'4", 275# fullback...my new
favorite ork: Robbie Ouzts.

Blood Bowl Stars

Superstars.

Pass rushers. Quarterbacks. Shutdown corners. Workhorse running backs. Receivers that are just bigger, stronger, faster than anyone else.  These are the playmakers and game-changers that every NFL team wants to have...and never have enough of.  Players who carry your team to the playoffs...and who can derail your season if injury or suspension keeps them from the field.

Our most recent Blood Bowl games have been great; I really need to emphasize this. We've played humans versus wood elves, orcs versus wood elves, Amazons versus orcs, Amazons versus wood elves...lots of different player types competing against a variety of opponents. And all without roster construction. That (to me) is the most amazing part: we simply say 'play with your sixteen players.'  We don't worry about the player costs. We give everyone two team re-rolls per half. No stars...just roll with what you want (subject to the normal limitations of the team type).

The elves are quite good with their excellent agility and speed. But they're not dominant. And part of the reason they were able to eke out wins against tougher teams (like my orks) is that my son had the luck of the devil when it came to rolling injuries...just boxcars after boxcars. And sometimes that happens in games (it's Blood Bowl, after all); luck doesn't always run in your favor. Each team has its strength, and learning to play to those strengths...and neutralizing your opponent's strengths...is part of the coaching process.

But adding superstars to the game is the next step of our game's evolution.

In a "salary cap" league (like the NFL), it is the hard top on payroll that prevents the wealthiest teams/owners from filling their roster with ringers from top to bottom. But every team has the money to pay some players extra money. Sometimes those players play up to their contract; sometimes they don't. If they don't, they might be cut or traded. However, sometimes it's the coach that gets fired, not the player...and the new coaching staff comes in with the aim of rehabilitating these under-performing stars or 'using them in the right way.' You see it all the time.

But even with all the money in the world, superstars don't just grow on trees. Sometimes you want a blazing pass rusher or a road-grading offensive guard...and there ain't one available. Teams that have stars are reluctant to trade them away...it's hard to improve by getting rid of good players. Not that it doesn't happen, but there is only so much (star) talent available. 

Here are our (soon to be play-tested) rules:

• Each team may hire six star players.
• The maximum number of stars at any particular position is equal to 50% of allowable number for the team. So, for example, a human team can have no more than ONE star thrower, no more than TWO star catchers, no more than TWO star blitzers, and up to SIX star linemen. 
• Not all stars are created equally: each star is assigned a number from one to six. This is the number of improvements the star possesses.
• The first improvement is chosen by the coach; all other improvements are determined randomly.
• Big Guy Stars have only half as many improvements (rounded down) for their star rating as a normal star player. For example: an ogre whose assigned number is "four," gains TWO improvements, one of which is chosen by the coach and one of which is determined randomly.
• Stars have the same chance of injury as any other player; star players who have been injured/killed cannot be replaced until the offseason.

With regard to injuries, I should probably provide our updated casualty table. After the final whistle sounds and the game ends, for each casualty roll D68 (d6 + d8) on the following table:

11-18 Good to Go!:  the player will be ready to play by next game.

21-38 Dinged Up:  the player must miss the next game.

41-48 "Legit" Injury:  the player must miss one or more games; roll 1d6 at the beginning of a game, if the roll is less than the number of games missed, the player is ready to suit up and take the field.

51-52 Lost a Step:  as "Legit" Injury but MA permanently reduced by 1.

53-54 Nagging Issue:  as "Legit" Injury but AV permanently reduced by 1.

55  Bad Back:  as "Legit" Injury but AG permanently reduced by 1.

56  Gone Soft: as "Legit" Injury but ST permanently reduced by 1.

57-58 Severe Concussion: as "Legit" Injury but player acquires the Bonehead trait. If the player already has the Bonehead trait, they acquire the Really Stupid trait.

61+ Dead! Rest in peace.

All right, that's enough Blood Bowl for now.  Yes, yes the Adventure Site Contest reviews continue...but there's playoff football going on, baby! Did you really think I could neglect the BB talk?

Last Post Of 2024

Going to be pretty busy today (mostly cooking and cleaning) as we somehow managed to invite 10 people over for New Year's Eve dinner. 

*sigh*  So much for my relaxing holiday.

Ah, well, I'm sure it'll be fun. Plus, I'm not driving anywhere so I don't have to ration my fuel intake (i.e. alcohol consumption). The wife is doing "dry January" this year, and I'll probably join her...want to lay off the liquid calories for a while, not to mention rest the liver.

ANYway, I'm going to keep this one short.

Item #1: if you plan on submitting something for Ben Gibson's Adventure Site contest, this is your last day to do so. Or contact, Ben...I don't know, maybe he'll be lenient with late entries depending on your time zone. I'm going to be one of the judge/reviewers and I look forward to reading everyone's entries. Good luck!

Item #2: our revised Blood Bowl rules have worked great. I lost my first game against the wood elves 6-0 (we have not yet instituted extra points), but it would have been a lot closer if the blizzard conditions hadn't stifled any field goal attempts from my orks. I am now playing the Amazons and am leading 6-0 in the first quarter...although the ladies are driving. 

A couple/few notes:

• The 2E NAF rules calls for four, eight turn quarters (each turn being a "down" of football). This is too many (i.e. the game would take far too long), and so we've cut this time in twain (so that each half is eight turns long). Worries that this would make the game feel less like "real football" proved to be unfounded, especially given A) that the 2-minute rule is in effect the last two turns of each half, and B) a turnover (i.e. a fumble recovery or interception) does not run time off the turn clock. The game still feels like gridiron football (with pressure to score within four downs), and yet it's still Blood Bowl...by the end of the game, both sides were down to ten men on the field (due to horrific bloodletting).
• When it came to roster building we ignored all the price values and just said: everyone has a full team of 16 plus two team re-rolls (that's two re-rolls per half). We also said we weren't going to worry about star players or SPPs...just play with the skills on your roster (5E with regard to orks and wood elves, 4E with regard to dark elves and amazons). Turns out the teams are still pretty well-balanced! Diego needed (and got!) some pretty good rolls to injure as many orks as he did, or I would have really ground him down in the attrition battle. Except for those damn war dancers...those guys are dead-hard to bring down (knocked out his treeman, though).
• We've added the gridiron football rules regarding the line of scrimmage. For those who don't know, this boils down to three basic additions:

1. There must be at least seven players on the line of scrimmage
2. Only the players on either end of the line are "eligible receivers" (in addition to players in the backfield).
3. Only eligible receivers may advance beyond the line of scrimmage on a passing play.

In practice, this has meant that the five interior offensive linemen (the center, two guards, and two tackles) can throw a block to start the down but cannot "follow-up" if the opponent is pushed/knocked over. After the ball is passed (beyond the line of scrimmage), these players are allowed to advance.

2nd Down at the 50 yard line. The orks are
set up in a 4-3 with a safety in the box.

Anyway, it's worked great and we're already considering ways we can spice it up, including calling 'audibles' or pre-snap adjustments, and implementing time outs and play clocks (i.e. time limits on setting your team). So far, though, it's working great. I'll post some photos when I have a chance.

Item #3: I am looking forward to the New Year, but there's going to be quite a bit going on in January/February including getting Diego's high school nailed down, selling my mother's house (which I've decided to do), and coaching volleyball for the kids.  I suspect posting will be rather light, other than ASCII reviews and my (planned) 2024 retrospective. I am working on some D&D stuff (mostly adventures), but I don't want to post about that until after I've had a chance to do some play-testing. My dive/analysis of the Unearthed Arcana is all-but-over, and I'm quite happy with where I ended up on that one. 

All right, that's it for today. Happy New Year everyone!

: )

A closer look at the Amazon team; painted
in the Bills color scheme (very patriotic).

A Very Blood Bowl Christmas

Yes, another blog post before 2024. Man, my blogging has trailed off these last three years, but at least I'm up from 2023. Which isn't say much (I took a couple months off in 2023 due to the death of my mother), so...improvement? Mm.

Still...well, never mind. This isn't the "New Year's retrospective" post...we'll get to that in a couple days.

Our Christmas holiday has been (mostly) spectacular, the one blemish being my idiot brother and his asshole behavior. But aside from that, it's been great...the shopping went off without a hitch, got the tree trimmed and the house decorated (mostly my wife), got to Mass on time, got invited to a Christmas party where we made a bunch of new friends, had some other new friends over for day-after-Christmas dinner (that was great), and...yeah, been mostly relaxing and eating stuff that other people have been making for a change.  I don't think I've had to cook in over a week, except maybe one or two breakfasts for the kids.  Between my wife making all her holiday favorites and my kids baking pies and cookies (yes, my children bake...a lot), the only thing I've had to cook is a hot pot of coffee every morning.

Yeah, my life is blessed. I know. And I am thankful.

My kids were pretty thrilled with the gifts they received, Diego going so far as to remark this was one of the best (if not the best) Christmases he could remember...despite not receiving a single video game system or massive Lego set on their list. One of their highlights was my own Christmas gift to them, something entirely NOT on their list: a portable carrying/storage case for their miniatures from GW, capable of carrying a single Blood Bowl team. While this in and of itself was pretty neat, they were quite astounded/pleased to open them up and find their own fully painted teams inside, decked out in color schemes I'd slyly elicited from them in conversation!

Damn, but that was a tricky one to pull off, and I don't mind saying I take quite a bit of pride in pulling it off. I believe it was last Christmas, that I want to get them their own (painted) Blood Bowl teams, and I ordered them on-line from an Etsy group that does really nice work. Unfortunately, the delivery was slow and plagued with issues (one team arrived without bases) and I was unable to do more than deliver the figures in a box with the promise that we'd "paint them together." Still a nice gift, but underwhelming considering my expectation. 

Well, it's been a year and they've never gotten painted (though we did prime them, we got into painting the SW Legion minis instead). And while they've been used several times for our BB games, it's just not the same, you know? Hard to keep track of which lineman is which when they don't have any numbers on the jerseys.

So it's been a few months since the last time we'd even pulled out the Blood Bowl, and longer still since the paint pots had come out.  And I saw those carrying cases at the Warhammer store in Lynnwood when we were out window shopping, and I thought: this is my chance. So for the last 5-6 days before Christmas, I started getting up between 4 and 5 in the morning, sneaking downstairs, gathering all my gear, and then painting-painting-painting like one of Santa's slave-elves. An hour or two before I estimated the kids would be waking up, I'd stow all the supplies and clean up any evidence of my nefarious work before grabbing a couple more winks of sleep.  It was a near thing: I stayed up Christmas Eve after the kids had gone off to bed, in order to finish the last bits. Then I boxed 'em, wrapped 'em and put them under the tree. It worked out to be a delightful surprise come Christmas day...and all the lost sleep was worth it for the excitement on their faces.

Personally, I'm just glad I could still paint. My eyes have gotten so bad with regard to close-up vision that I really can't see without reading glasses, even with really good light. And I'm one of the vain idiots that refuses to wear glasses (I never needed them for 50 years of life, why should I start now?)...heck, I can still read in bed with the use of a portable lamp. But for the painting project I HAD to wear readers (2.0 magnification!)...I just could not see to get the paint down without them. Plus, the eyestrain/fatigue of the early morning hours didn't help make things any less blurry.

*sigh* At least no one saw me wearing them. 

So, yeah. A very Blood Bowl Christmas. There were other games under the tree (including a murder mystery game and the latest versions of BattleTech and Crossbows & Catapults), but now we're all in the mood for some BB mayhem. Probably spurred on by the fact that the NFL play-offs are right around the corner (come on, Cards, we need you to bear the Rams tomorrow!), there's an excitement for the old pigskin (and elfskin and dwarfskin, etc.) that's been missing since September and the start of the football season. Yeah, I think today is the day we start our own little tournament. The board is already laid out on the dining room table.

The last couple days I've been re-reading the 2nd Edition Blood Bowl Companion supplement, again familiarizing myself with "Official NAF Rules" which attempt to model actual gridiron football, including downs, drives, punting, field goals, etc. For the most part, I think they are really quite good...much, much closer to American football than the rugby/soccer combo that has been the standard BB play since 3rd edition. I think I'd even be willing to simply adopt them "as is;" they'd work well enough with the other 5th edition rules once you get used to the idea that a guy falling over does NOT automatically create a turnover. But the urge to tart them up and make them even more in line with the NFL I know and love is...strong. Very strong. 

BUT (stifling that urge)...the other League rules, draconian as some of them are (the training rules, for example...wow!), make quite a bit of sense. For a dedicated group of Blood Bowlers, such a League (along with a commissioner armed with a laptop and spreadsheets) could be...entertaining? Yeah, I think "entertaining" is the word I'm looking for.

I find myself intrigued, rather than nonplussed (which I think was my previous reaction). These are worth a spin. 

An eight team league, divided into two conferences. Official NAF rules (except that we need to include halfling and gobbo teams. Sorry...can't play without 'em!). All the fiddly crunch of the old school league rules (including apothecaries, salaries, rookie drafts, "disenchantment" points, training, benchwarmers, etc.). We'll leave out some of the weirder items: dwarf steamrollers, hired assassins and pit traps, for example. But I'm feeling everything else. Yeah, man...I'm feeling it. I'm feeling expansive this holiday season; like the Grinch growing his heart three sizes larger. I don't feel like 'playing small' right now. 

Yeah. This is going to occupy my attention for a moment.

; )

Happy holidays to everyone...and if I don't write again before January, have a happy, happy New Year!

New Orks

September drizzle...finally starting to look like Seattle fall around here. Not that I don't like an abundance of late year sunshine (sure makes the soccer games less miserable), but when I need to recharge my batteries...and I've been sick as a dog the last few days..."comfort," for me, is more a piece of "normal" or "usual."

Anyway...I had a couple of deep think-thoughts I was intending to blog about, but they were semi-political in nature, and for a Monday morning that might not be everyone's cup o tea.

Let's talk Blood Bowl instead.

; )

SO...I don't think I've had a BB post since the end of the Pete Carroll era. 

[checking Ye Old Blog archives...nope, sure haven't]

I've written this before, but FOR ME...and understand I'm a weird kind of guy...NFL teams have their equivalence in the Blood Bowl realm. That is, to say, each NFL team identifies as a particular team type (again, in my mind) by the way and style in which they play...and in which they play best. For some teams this is fairly obvious, for others it's murky, but it's there. 

If you follow American football, you see it. New coaches (often) talk about "wanting to change a culture" when they join a team...but it doesn't really happen. You can change the perspective of being a perennial loser (or winner), but the identity of the team? No. Even high profile free agents tend to take on the existing culture of the team, once they get there. Peyton Manning didn't change the Broncos into the Colts, for example.

Yes, I'm weird. And part of my perspective...this mix of Blood Bowl and the NFL in my brain...no doubt has to do with my BB hobby beginning with the 2nd edition game, when the setting still included conferences and divisions analogous to the actual NFL. Back before they made the thing into something resembling English Premier League with its cups and tourneys and tiers. 

*sigh* I digress. 

ANYhoo. The Seahawks. New coach. New "culture." Except it's the same culture. It's just a different coach. They're still orks. 

Which, again, doesn't mean their dumb or mean or cheaters or whatever. What I'm saying is that they are a team whose culture plays like orks...the way an ork team plays in a game of Blood Bowl. 

The Miami Dolphins, on the other hand, are a wood elf team. I've been saying that for years...at least since 2010. Lot of reasons for this. Marino, of course (he was the 'Fins captain till '99...years after BB was first published). But also the weather in Miami...televised games at their stadium always conjures to mind the "summer lands" of Games Workshop's dark Tolkien setting. Regardless, it fits...especially with their current, high-flying, high speed, high octane offensive juggernaut.

[that Zach Sieler guy? He's the Treeman on the team. What a beast]

Treeman

Yesterday's 24-3 (Seattle) victory is what happens when things start going horribly wrong in a game of orks versus wood elves. 

I say this as a person who's played a lot of ork v. wood elf teams (my son's favorite squad). Things do NOT always go that way...sometimes you see the elves doing their swift footed crosses and dodges and sprints down the sideline for a plentitude of touchdowns. But sometimes the orks start breaking the armor on the elves, and it snowballs into a beatdown.

Tua is a great QB. Listening to the post-game analysis this morning, it is clear the orks dodged a bullet by not having to face Miami's normal trigger-man; the Dolphins ran their same offense even with their back-ups. Thompson and Bailey just weren't going to get it done; it's like when the team thrower gets injured and...because the wood elves are so expensive...you're forced to play the game with a journeyman line-elf. Who still has a high AG score, but no re-rolls (team or otherwise) available. If Tua had been available, we're probably talking about a much closer game (especially with orks coughing up the ball as orks do) if not a crushing home loss.

Geno Smith has played great through the first three games of the season; his profile in BB terms:

Ork Thrower MA 5 ST 3 AG 3 AV 9

Skills: Pass, Sure Hands

His new back-up, Sam Howell (a starter in Washington last season), has this profile:

Ork Thrower MA 5 ST 3 AG 3 AV 9

Skills: Pass, Sure Hands

All apologies to Geno's ego and strong right arm (both are notable) you'll notice that he is, still, just an ork thrower; Howell, who looked good in preseason (and great against Seattle's train wreck defense last season) is pretty much the exact same thing. They are cheap (by quarterback standards), they are serviceable, and they need good coaching and good skill pieces around them to function at their highest level. Which fortunately they appear to have in spades this season. 

An ork in Washington, and an
ork in Seattle. Yeah, just another ork.

And, no, don't say "duh." There are QBs that can elevate the team around them. You know the guys: the Mahomes, Rodgers, Allen, etc. factor. Some QBs do this, or have another factor (Lamar Jackson's legs, for example) that force an opponent to account specifically for the guy's particular skill set. That ain't the case with Seattle's quarterbacks.

Meanwhile, the coaching change...for the better...has been noticeable. Yes, the Seahawks are 3-0 after playing a rookie, a rebuilding New England, and a pair of back up QBs, but the difference is Seattle was losing those games a year ago; they were getting killed by the Colt McCoy's and Mason Rudolph's of the league. That the team can take care of business...beating bad teams that they should beat...is a promising sign of things to come. As a fan of the team, I find myself not just hopeful but darn near optimistic. Despite the crap-tastic orc sloppiness on full display for some 2-3 quarters of the game (bumbled snaps, batted passes, double-digit penalties, etc.).

No dropped passes Sunday, though. And the defense was on point...great goal line stands, at the end of both halves. Nice to see some real orkish thump on that side of the ball...haven't seen that for three or four years. Good, good stuff. We'll see how it holds up on the road next week in Detroit.

All right, that's enough BB stuff for one day. The NFL season is in full swing and the home team is trending up. What with the drizzly weather and my cough nearly gone, that's about all the joy I can handle for one, late September day.

; )

[don't ask me about the Mariners]

Happy Super Bowl!

There is something distinctly American about Super Bowl Sunday...and that's part of why I love it. Oh, I dig on football and sport and competition in general, of course. But this year, as with most years, my team is not in the big event...and, yet, that will not stop me from watching. And it will not stop me from rooting HARD for the Kansas City (Amazon) Chiefs to upset the favored San Francisco (Dwarf) 49ers.

Because I hate the 49ers...and it is O So American to root against things we hate. 

And I embrace that about America, as I embrace many of the ridiculousness things about my country. No nation is perfect...we all have our flaws and foibles. Some are worse than others (in my estimation, of course) and some of those of the US of A are worse than a LOT of other countries. 

Still...we don't make things better by running out on it.

This is (as usual) a silly post to write, but it's what's on my mind at this moment as (again, as usual) I am pressed for time. The family is upstairs getting ready for church, while I'm drinking coffee in the kitchen, wearing a blue sweater over a Captain America t-shirt. I am not much of a suit/slacks guy...just plain old blue jeans (but clean and un-holed) for Yours Truly.  Hoping I'll have time to get some ribs in the oven in time for the second half (no grilling today...it's pouring rain in Seattle)...but chances are the fam will want a Sunday brunch after Mass.

Which is fine. It's just what Americans like to do...and we are having an extremely casual Super Bowl event this year: just us, "snacky food" (as my daughter calls it), making spot wagers with each other over what type of commercial comes up during the break.

The usual really.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun (American) holiday. Later, gators.

; )

Space Wars

So the Seahawks season is over and, despite yet another close win (against a 4-13 halfling team...big whoop), the orks are out of the playoffs (*sigh*). I may discuss that in later post (or the playoffs in general), but at the moment I'm not in the mood for Blood Bowl.

[not that Blood Bowl hasn't been on the mind a bit...the kids have been clamoring for it in recent days and are in the process of painting up a couple BB teams (wood elves and amazons; Christmas gifts from last year, if I remember correctly)]

It should come as little surprise that in MY household, there's been plenty of game playing that's been going the last couple weeks (during the holiday vacation season). What might be surprising is that almost none of it has been D&D related. Instead, it's been card games, board games, and war games...specifically a new war game that was on the boy's Christmas list: Star Wars Legion. Prior to New Year's eve (when we had to clean the table for a dinner party) our dining room was dominated by battlefield detritus and unpainted models. Now...well, the battlefield hasn't returned (yet) but the table is once again dominated by scores of miniatures...primed miniatures that are in the process of being painted.

Since it IS game related and it's been the main thing occupying my attention lately (at least, the bandwidth I reserve for gaming), I figured I might as well write something about it.

Under the tree this year.

Star Wars Legion is a miniature war game; the core box set comes in two varieties Republic vs. Separatist or Empire vs. Rebels. The rules for both are the same, but the models included in the box are different. We, of course, have the latter set because...duh. 

I find the game VERY reminiscent of 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000. Not necessarily in game play (initiative and turn procedure is NOT 40K-esque, and the thing uses custom dice rather than standard d6s), but in terms of army construction and general paradigm. Each player picks up a faction. Unit types are given "rank" categories, which limits how many of each type can be included in the army list. There are normal generals and whatnot or "special" (Unique) figures based on film characters. There are "upgrade" cards that can purchased for specific points...very much like 40K's "war gear" and "psychic power" cards. And just like 2E 40K, the special characters, can punch above their point value, absolutely dominating the battlefield...something that the 40K designers endeavored to rectify between 2E and 3E.

[when it comes to 40K, I logged the most "game time" playing 2E, though I spent more years collecting & building 3E and/or 4E, before chucking the thing around the time of 5E]

Which is FINE...it is very Star Wars. Luke Skywalker should be able to carve his way through a unit of stormtroopers. Vader should be a big, menacing presence on the moving (slowly) about the battlefield. Mandalorians with jetpacks should be highly mobile, elite units. Etc.

The game has a LOT of fiddle to it: a lot of special rules and spot mechanics and tokens, reminiscent of Magic cards...a fairly obvious influence on the design of Star Wars Legion. But I like the game...a lot. For a NUMBER of reasons:

1) Star Wars is fun. Star Wars as a war game (stormtroopers vs. rebels) is a blast. The models are all recognizable by anyone with even a passing knowledge of the films, and their capabilities are well-modeled by the game mechanics.

2) Really quality components (easily stored in a nice box) and fairly straightforward rules that, after a couple play-throughs, are fairly easy to grok. No issues for the 12 year old, despite being for ages 14+.

3) Dirt-cheap investment. Anyone familiar with GW stuff knows how much money can be spent on the miniatures hobby. I remember when a single rhino tank was $35 or a landraider was an "outrageous" $50ish. Just checking Amazon this morning, the prices on these are up to $89 and $140. 

Holy. Crap. 

Star Wars Legion, by contrast, are cheaper to buy BUT (more importantly) have an 800 point structure limit. The core box provides two forces of circa 500 points...you can customize a legal army with the purchase of 2-3 extra units, probably with less than $70ish total in extra expenditure.  They're cheap enough you can outfit multiple "800 point armies" of the same faction for little money (the core box is currently available on-line for $95...compare that to 40K!). I bought myself a late Christmas present of the "Blizzard" box: three snowtrooper units (21 models), 2 speeder bike units (4 models), another Vader, and an AT-ST (!!) all with associated cards, upgrades, and extra tokens. Total price: $105. Scheduled to arrive tomorrow. One of these days I'll throw down the extra $13 to buy General Veers, and my "Hoth assault" army will be complete. 

[never mind...just took 2 minutes to place the order. It's still only $15 with tax...arrives tomorrow, too]

Arriving tomorrow.

Back in 1996 I paid $18 a pop for each two-pack of space marine terminators. I got six (total), all with thunder hammers and painted them up to be Khorne berserkers. Less than a year later, they were outlawed by 40Ks new rule set and (so far as I know) have never since been a legal 40K unit. Screw you, Games Workshop.

4) Easy assembly. The kids have been doing (most of) the cutting and gluing...I just do all the priming, out in the garage (to save on their young lungs). Even the really fiddly models (the AT-RT, the Mandalorians)...the kid put them together no problem, without adult help.

5) Lego compatible. Over the years, my kids have acquired quite the collection of Lego sets, many of which are Star Wars themed. While these have been used for plenty of "Lego wars" in the past, they are pretty close to the same scale as Star Wars Legion...which means that we have ready-made "terrain" for our battlefield. Who needs plastic forests and spray-painted "hills" when you can battle in the Tattooine cantina? Plus, I just like repurposing toys...or anything...in ways that make it useful. 

6) Fast gameplay. The game plays quite fast...once you get a handle on how each unit's special rules and instructions work. That part is kind of a pain, as each unit generally has at least 1-2 special rules associated with it (even before adding various "upgrade" cards), and you're bound to make mistakes in the first battle or two (we did). However, the limited NUMBER of units (that 800 points is only enough for 6-7 groups), combined with fast turn sequence means you get ramped up pretty quick. The whole "issuing orders" phase (a card drawing mechanic that takes the place of initiative rolling) allows for interesting tactical maneuvering, and the quick attrition means game play speeds up substantially as the game goes. Six turns (again: memories of 2E 40K) goes VERY fast, but battles are tight right to the end. We dig it.

7) With regard to rules, I'm generally fine. Yes, Luke is a beast. He's also been shot to death in every battle we've played. Same with Vader. The only mechanical issue that bugs (or that I'm not used to) is that troop models cannot be screened by other troop models. So, even though the stormtroopers advance in front of DV (because Darth is Sooo Slooow), rebel forces can ignore the troopers, focusing fire on the commander behind. In practice it hasn't been a big deal...but it does feel odd.

Anyway. War gaming is fun. War gaming in spaaaace is also quite fun. Even the nine year old is into it (she's currently painting her Amazon team, but has a Chewbacca and Leia for SWL and plans to get in on the next battle). The kids are getting to an age when I can fo this kind of thing with them...an age where I can unpack my old crates of 40K minis and not worry about them smashing them crazily, or pitching one in a tantrum of frustration (always a possibility with young or immature players). 

But I'm kind of over 40K. I mean, there's a lot of sly Star Wars references in the original 40K game (which I own, but have never played), and I'm tempted to run some first edition 40K using the SWL miniatures in place of GW stuff (now that would be a hoot!). I thought about introducing them to 40K proper, but even though I've got the stuff for it...what edition would I teach them? I mean...how many editions are there now? Eight? Nine? I've got rule books for the first four (five? Maybe) editions. But do I have a favorite? Not really. It's such a simple system, but there are changes to every version that changes the game in significant ways. 

Nah. I think I'll stick with the new Star Wars game for a bit. I'm sure 40K will still be around in ten years...in a twelfth edition with $300 tank models...if the kids want to try it out.

*** EDIT: Sorry, almost forgot: Go Dawgs! ***

And Finally (*sigh*) Blood Bowl

This will not be a long post. 

We are 12 games through the (now) 17 game season...more than 70%. The end is fast approaching and the Seahawks are probably looking at missing the playoffs. Losing to the Rams twice means the skaven have the tie-breaker over us (even though they are a bad, bad team).  The Packers, Lord help us, are probably going to get 10 wins down the stretch with their remaining schedule. And the Vikings, despite all their woes might...might...even have a chance to sneak in over us. 

Even after a 6-3 start. Even after acquiring everything Pete Carroll said they needed to acquire in the off-season, two years running: offensive linemen. Pass rushers. More stellar defensive backs. Bobby Wagner. And more offensive weapons (Charbonnet and Smith-Njigma) to add to a full cupboard of offensive weapons (Metcalf, Lockett, Walker).

What. The. Hell. Is the problem?

Orks. Orks being orks. That's it.

Oh...and Jamal Adams. And Geno Smith.

Smith is...fine. He's an ork thrower: no more, no less. Not every team in the NFL is composed of high elves and wood elves...they just ain't. There are those teams, make no mistake. But the Seahawks have never been that type of outfit...not when they've been good, certainly not when they've been bad. They are a waaagh team; always have been. We can go down the list:

Jim Zorn: ork thrower

Dave Krieg: ork lineman (but with a lot of star skills)

Rick Mirer: ork thrower (add dodge...happy feet!)

Warren Moon: ork thrower (with a LOT of arm talent, despite being long in the tooth)

Matthew Hasselbeck: ork thrower (good number of star player points)

Tavaris Jackson: ork thrower

Russell Wilson: goblin (with a lot of star player skills)

[there really no need to mention guys like Gelbaugh, McGwire, Stouffer, Whitehurst...oh, boy, we've had some baaaaad ork QBs]

None of these guys fit the mold of the high elf...or even human!...thrower. And that's fine. In Blood Bowl, ork throwers are plenty serviceable. No, they're not going to be setting any passing records (on this team...Moon did most of his damage before coming to the 'Hawks).  But that's not the orks' game. They are grinders that play solid defense.

Problem here is you're counting on a damn goblin to play linebacker.

I am sorry, Jamal Adams. I know I've called you trash before (and a "pigeon") later retracting the former accusation. But you're an idiot. Not only were you the obvious target in the Dallas game (giving up a touchdown and 2-point conversion on back-to-back plays against the dark elves), but then you take shots at a critical reporter's wife? Pretty f'ing classless, considering the impact you've had this year while healthy (spoiler: zero sacks, which is especially damning when you consider A) this is supposed to be his specialty and B) 12 different Seahawks have at least one sack this season, including guys who aren't even starters). What an a-hole.

SO...ork thrower (Gino). Fine. But, generally, not going to win you any games with his arm. Going to have some good offensive performances (vs. Detroit, Dallas) and some stinkers (Rams, Niners) depending on how the dice fall. That's to be expected. But when you're giving up a bunch of points on defense, it makes it tough for the orks to catch up...in Blood Bowl, ork teams are just not built that way.

I've talked about it before: the NFL has a LOT of similarities to BB, the way it's structured. Most NFL teams have a maximum of 7 or so STAR (i.e. standout) players on their roster; the others are position guys who are...fine. Nothing special. How the Stars perform (and how the coaches use the players they have) are going to go a long way towards determining the outcome of games. Seahawks current stars this year include:

Kenneth Walker III (blitzer)

Abe Lucas (black ork blocker)

DK Metcalf (blitzer)

Tyler Lockett (goblin)

Jackson Smith-Njigba (goblin)

Bobby Wagner (blitzer)

Devon Witherspoon (goblin)

And Walker's hurt. And Lucas has been injured for most of the season (he just came back, in the Cowboys game, and it showed on offense).

Charles Cross is a black ork blocker. Jordyn Brooks and Charbonnet are standard blitzers. The tight ends (and Jake Bobo) are simply lineorks. And Adams is nothing but a goblin who woofs at opposing teams every time he makes a tackle on some "big guy," even though he gave up 12-15 yards (and a first down). 

Embarrassing.

Sevenbastard suggested (in the comments of my last post) there might be some worry about the Seahawks winning another game this season. This is not my worry...I am CERTAIN the Seahawks will win another game. Heck, I'm 95% sure they'll win THREE more games, achieving a 9-8 record...a winning season in a year where every team plays 17 games. 

But I don't see them making the playoffs this year...not if they insist on continuing to play Adams on defense...and they have shown that they absolutely Will NOT Stop playing this guy, no matter how bad he sucks. They let Ryan Neal WALK even though he showed...again and again...that despite his cheap salary, he was a better asset on the field as a replacement when Adams was injured. It may just be that the Seahawks managed to get to the playoffs last year precisely because Jamal was out (he played only one game in the 2022 season) and Seattle was forced to make do with "lesser" talent. 

You play the pigeon, and opposing teams will target the pigeon. 

And 9-8 simply will not cut it this year when it comes to making the playoffs. And THAT is disappointing. Because there is a LOT of star power on the Seahawks team...real star power, real talent. And it would be nice to see them do some damage in the playoffs.

Ork teams cannot rely on goblins. That's just not good roster construction.

SO...just like the 90s, we're going to see a middling record, and a middling draft pick and a tough time clawing our way out of this hole. The Seahawks aren't exactly "risk averse" (when it comes to picking players), but they can be loyal to a fault, and doubling down on their mistakes (like Adams) is going to hurt them. It's already hurt them. Second chances are cool, but sometimes you have to admit you were wrong and cut bait.

*sigh* It's oh so silly. It's just entertainment. It's just live-action Blood Bowl.

By the way, I am fully aware that I am (probably) being overly harsh on a guy who's selling his body for my entertainment. Oh, well. I'm a fan...that's what fans do. He's paid millions of dollars (in a league that has a hard salary cap). I'm allowed to be critical. 

At least I continue to watch the Seahawks. At this point, I've all but decided to boycott the Mariners.

WAAAGH!

Yesterday, as my son and I left Lumen Field following the Seahawks' overtime victory over the Rams, I started chanting, 'Let's go Lions! Let's go Lions!' and it didn't take long before other voices joined me in the cheer. Not that I had any faith in Detroit's ability to beat the Packers at Lambeau.

And then the Lions, with nothing to play for but pride, curb-stomped Green Bay.

I'm not a man to have the optimism of Ted Lasso (or Pete Carroll)....I've been disappointed just a few too many times over the years.  But I don't consider myself to be a true cynic, either. And so I was surprised at how, well, stunned I was that the Lions actually won, sending the Seahawks back to the playoffs for the 10th time in the 13 year tenure of Seattle's head coach. Amazing. 

On the arm of Geno Smith. Double amazing.

While I'm not one to shy away from admitting when I'm wrong (I'm actually well-practiced in it), my assessment of Smith's quarterbacking ability has not changed all that much. Still: as a pro bowler this year (triple amazing!) I feel I have to assign his Blood Bowl profile some extra skills. It's only fair to upgrade him to 'star player' status when he was one of the stars of the team this season.

Here he is:

Geno Smith

#7 Ork Thrower  MA 5 ST 3 AG 3 AV 9

Skills: Leader, Pass, Safe Throw, Sure Hands

It's been a good year for Geno, for the team, and for Seattle sports fans.  The Russel Wilson era has finished, the Pete Carroll era continues. Looking forward to Saturday's playoff game versus the Niners.

Have a good week everyone. D&D posts to resume shortly.

Go Seahawks!

; )

Orks Be Doing Ork Things

In the middle of yet another soccer tournament (both kids) which started yesterday, but did have a chance to watch the final Seahawks preseason game last night.

Orks. Back at it.

Blood Bowl coaches know full well that you don't...you can't...rely on orks to have a great passing attack. Great defense, pounding run game...yes and yes. But in the "modern" Blood Bowl game, putting your hopes in the stone-hands of orcish receivers (not to mention thick-headed decision making of orcish quarterbacks) is a non-starter. And if you have any doubt about it, just look at the QB "competition" that went on in preseason this year as the 'Hawks attempt to replace aging (and now overpaid prima donna) goblin star Russell Wilson.

Geno Smith. Drew Lock. Jacob Eason.

Bad, bad orks.

It doesn't matter that the team has DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, star players both. Everything around them is ork. Receivers #3 through #5 (well, really, all the receivers just vying for a spot on the 53-man roster)...typical goblins and lineorks. But the QBs...the QBs.

Did you know that the Seahawks are the only coaching staff in the NFC that do not have a former quarterback in some coaching capacity. Not as a head coach, OC, QB coach, or even some other assistant coach. How do you coach a player to play the position of quarterback in the NFL when no one on the staff has any experience playing the position?

Answer: you don't. Because you don't need to. They're orks.

We loves Geno Smith, my Precious, but he is a career backup. Naming him the starter for a team that hopes to get back to the playoffs is...so...very...orkish. Pete Carroll is showing his green bloodedness. Again.

A decade of star quarterbacking from Wilson never scrubbed the memories of Charlie Whitehurst from my mind's eye...the archetypal "Checkdown Charlie" (semi-affectionately known in some parts as "Clipboard Jesus" based on his appearance and long-practiced role of standing on the sidelines as a stalwart QB2...or QB3). Pete Carroll duly proclaimed at the beginning of the 2011 NFL season that they had no reason to trade or draft for a new QB (to replace pro-bowler Matt Hasselbeck, released in the off-season), because they HAD their QB in the form of Whitehurst and could win with him just playing "solid" football, in front of a great running game and fantastic defense.

The Seahawks went 7-9, missed the playoffs, and would (very fortunately) draft Russell Wilson in the next season. On the way to that, Whitehurst around midseason for a dude with a torn pectoral muscle. 

The Geno Smith experiment will be Whitehurst 2.0.

Do I need to cite stats for this. Probably not...the number of people reading this post who care about the Seahawks, their quarterback situation, and Blood Bowl in equal measure are probably, um, few. Probably just me. Which is, you know...fine. Nerds gotta' be nerds, y'all. But for the curious, Geno's stats passing stats for this preseason (three games), which won him the job as a starting quarterback for an NFL team (only 32 of those in the world) boil down to:

23/39, 256 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 4 sacks (36 yards)

No touchdowns. An average of 6.6 yards per passing attempt (not including some terrific "yards after catch" from some of his checkdown throws to running backs). An aversion to risk. A tendency to hang onto the ball and take sacks.

But it's the "zero interceptions" that Carroll cares about. Never mind that preseason is ALWAYS the height of Smith's season potential, when he faces vanilla defenses, and has easy reads to make. Never mind that he choked away multiple games last season (in relief of the injured Wilson), having unforgivable turnovers (picks and strip sacks) in the 4th quarter. Never mind that his ONLY won a single regular season game (playing as a starter) in the last five years.

Never mind that the Seahawks CUT Smith in the off-season, allowed him to swim the waters of free agency, and then signed him back on a one year deal. And then handed him the job. 

*sigh*

I have to go wake up the kids now for day 2 of the soccer tournament. Thank goodness. And thank goodness for the Mariners and the Storm. JB out.

[by the way: there is no need for me to post BB stat lines for Geno Smith. If you want to include a Geno Smith in your Seahawk-themed Blood Bowl team, the basic (unaltered) Ork thrower will suffice. The same holds true for your Drew Lock backup...just make sure you chuck a lot of long balls for picks when desperation time sets in and your team is trying  ANYthing to generate offense. Oh...and good luck with that]

Rising Again

All right, I'm back. 

Mostly. It is Easter vacation, after all, so my kids are home this week (Catholic schools in the USA do Spring break after Easter/Holy Week, as opposed to during like some countries), which means I'm on entertainment duty. Still, it's raining at the moment, so they're allowed to play on my old XBox.

Even without the blogging, it's been a pretty busy few weeks. Gaming-wise, I'll go ahead and start with this: we didn't play any 5E. I did enough reading that I could probably run the system (though perhaps not super effectively), and I offered to run it for my kids. Both (especially my son) vehemently balked at the idea. Diego has a character or two made, in case his buddy ever gets around to actually running the game (he hasn't yet), but despite being willing to play (to be a good friend or whatever) he has zero desire to play when other options (like AD&D) are readily available (i.e. in our home). 

And I don't blame him. While delving into the 5E rules I kept a running list of notes on all the things in 5E that I find to be downright stupid. It is a very, very long list. As I ease back into blogging, I'm sure it'll provide good fodder for a post or two. A bone for all the haters (like me) out there. 

[I have not shown the list to the boy; his hate for 5E is all his own]

Instead of running 5E, I converted much of Icespire Peak to AD&D. Well..."conversion" might be a bit of a stretch. I retained the maps, and some of the barest ideas of places, and otherwise restocked places completely, creating a mini-"sand box" of adventure areas around the town of Rose Valley and its vicinity. Reasons for taking this approach are many (including 'time constraints' and 'laziness'), but in the main I am starting to find that it is VERY difficult to run a solid, living 1E world that is sufficiently accessible (and forgiving) for 1st level characters.  This will be a (future) post in and of itself, but for now it suffices to say TPKs in AD&D without your typical "Castle Greyhawk" (or whatever) megadungeon, makes a tough row to re-hoe over and over again. 

Welcome to Phandalin...er, Rose Valley.

Mm. Yeah. A long post on that subject coming.

Other stuff...

Did a lot of deep diving into the AD&D systems/procedures, especially with regard to races/classes, combat, and spells. Curated lists for ALL the spell-casting classes (except rangers and paladins). Rewrote the bard from the ground up. Fixed the height and weight tables (important for grappling) based on race, sex, and strength scores. Updated age tables. Went through the entirety of the weapons/armor list with a fine-toothed comb comparing things to their real world counterparts as well as their evolution over the development of the game (starting back in Chainmail); curated the lists in a manner that I can live with. Found the druid (strangely) to be pretty much perfectly suited to the AD&D game exactly as written. Did a cursory examination of the monk and while somewhat unsatisfied also left it mostly unchanged, other than moving it back to being a subclass of cleric (as it was originally) and making sure its combat/saves are based on that class.

Have not started rewriting the spells (yet); for now, just nailing the lists down is sufficient. Clerics have two separate lists (depending on divine orientation)...amounts to about 70 spells each. Put a lot of thought into clerics recently...especially this last week, sitting in church half-a-dozen times. That'll be its own post.

Reworked my conversion of Blood Bowl to gridiron football in a way that's less crunchy, more true-to-life, and makes better use of the original systems/procedures. Game is now very fast, very fun. Needs a second (third?) pass to work out some minor kinks; however, I believe a totally free rule supplement might be seeing publication by Yours Truly in the very near future.

[yes, I know the Seahawks traded Russell Wilson. Mm. Mixed feelings on that. However, the sudden interest/attention to Blood Bowl in the last couple weeks has largely been due to excitement surrounding the impending NFL draft]

And that's (more-or-less) all I've been doing, gaming-wise. Lot of kid stuff, of course...soccer, baseball, softball, flag football, school, church, etc. Sofia turns eight this week...eight!...and there's a party to prep. My son is being heavily recruited for the priesthood. We'll see if they can pull him away from his soccer dreams...had a road trip to Spokane in March for a tournament game in which they came back from a goal deficit to win win 6-1 (Diego, the team captain, scored twice from outside the box; he plays left wing). Double-header coming up this weekend with Sunday's game being in Olympia.

Mostly though, other than managing my family (wife is well, though stressed), I have spent most of my waking hours studying and paying attention to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When not doing taxes, or watching the Sounders/Mariners, or playing with my kids, or whatever...that is the MAIN THING that's been on my mind. I've been following it closely, not so much on the news (though, of course, that's been fairly non-stop) but also reading the daily reports from ISW, listening to the podcasts from War on the Rocks (Michael Kofman is pretty amazing), tracking its impact on other countries abroad. It's a preoccupation...one I can do, well, nothing about. Except pray, of course. For both sides. Make no mistake: regardless of the outcome here, there will be no winners in this conflict. None. The Russians dying in Ukraine are dying for...what? The ambitions of one man? Of several? Not reason enough. 

I caught myself the other day, hoping that the Ukrainians defending their homes, their loved ones, their children would kill as many Russians as possible...that they would kill so many men that the "powers that be" in Russia would find their invasion impossible to prosecute further. And then I realized how terrible, how awful and wrong such thinking is. Soldiers go to war because they're ordered to go to war; soldiers abroad fight for their fellow soldiers, for their comrade next to them. This is not an invasion of a ravenous horde of monsters and maniacs...of goblins and orcs and ogres, fantasy creatures that worship dark demons or diabolic demigods. These are humans...humans of close proximity, humans of close relation to each other, humans who tend to follow the same religion, who worship the same God in the same fashion. Humans whose friends and loved ones in Russia miss them and pray for their safety and will mourn their injury and death as much as we all mourn the suffering of those closest to us. 

Just people...people suffering and dying. Ukraine is the victim here, the ones who need all the help and support and sympathy the world can give. But there are victims on both sides of this war...all of whom need our prayers. For all the good it will do (take that as you like).

Anyway, my main thought during yesterday's Easter Mass.

Apologies for taking this long to write...the day caught up with me today and prevented me posting this till the evening. More tomorrow, I hope. Cheers, folks.

Retraction (NOT Trash)

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, because I have a different post planned for later today.

RE Wednesday's Post

Jamal Adams, the football player, is NOT "trash."

He's been a frustrating player to watch in a frustrating football season for my frustrating home team. Most parts of the team have turned in terrible performances this year, none more so than our quarterback, a beloved Superbowl champ who'll probably be going into the Hall of Fame some day with a Seahawks hat.

[man, Wilson's been awful]

Adams is a talented player. He's also a leader for the team whose teammates speak highly of him. He's a pro who works on his craft...he'd been staying late, working on his ball handling skills, and it was showing up in the last few weeks with a pair of interceptions. 

Sorry, dude.

He hasn't been used in a method that plays to his strengths. But unfortunately, his strengths as a talented player are not the things the Seahawks need from a player at his position. Trading for Adams, masking his deficiencies with the scheming that allowed him to set a sack record last year, giving him a huge contract...these things were poor moves by the team. Trash moves. But that's on the coaching staff and GM, not the player.

In Blood Bowl if you try to play bashy with elves or pass-happy with orks and you get soundly beat...that's on the coach. You don't blame the dwarf troll slayer for being poor in pass coverage. You have to use your team the way that's most effective and hopefully the dice gods will favor you.

My apologies for blaming the player in my last rant. 

Trash

Not a D&D post.

Jamal Adams...a Seahawks player that I've mentioned far too many times in this blog...is injured and out for the rest of the season.

Back in 2009, the Seattle Mariners (FWIW: the WORST baseball franchise in the history of MLB) signed a player named Chone Figgins to a four-year $36 million dollar contract (about $46.4 million in 2021). He was terrible, having his worst season of his (till then) 7 year career. The next year (2011) he was worse, being replaced halfway through the season, batting .188 in 81 games. In 2012 he started as the leadoff only to be benched by May of that year and finishing .181 in 66 game appearances (for non-baseball fans: there are 162 games per season). He was DFA'd before the final season of his contract and played nary a game of Major League Baseball (for ANY team) ever again.

General consensus around town is that the man stole money and was one of the worst, most bone-headed trade "deals" in the history of Seattle sports.

As we watched Jamal Adams fail miserably at attempting to tackle George Kittle on Sunday (launching himself out-of-bounds and out of the play...perhaps this was when he re-injured his surgically repaired shoulder), one of the fans in our section said he was worse than Brian Bosworth. "The Boz" (whose poster I had on my wall as a child) was taken with a first round draft pick in 1987 and was given a 10 year, $11M contract (back before salary cap and fixed rookie contracts) with $2.5M guaranteed. He played 24 games over three years (12 games, 10 games, 2 games) before retiring due to injury (shoulder), and was ultimately a disappointment, with few memorable moments. In terms of 2021 dollars, he made maybe $7 million in salary. Maybe.

Jamal Adams has a four year, $70M contract through 2025 of which $38M is guaranteed. Guaranteed. Meaning that even if he doesn't play another snap of football because he decides to retire...due to, for example, the fact that his shoulder simply cannot hold up under the stress of playing like an undersized linebacker...he will still receive $38 million dollars, not counting what he was paid by the Seahawks year. In a league with a hard salary cap. 

On a team that has a bargain bin offensive line that has not been able to keep its franchise quarterback from being beat up (again). On a team that has no draft picks because they traded them away to get Adams in the first place. 

I'm angry again. But I'm not terribly angry about Adams being hurt...the team plays better when he's not on the field (observe Sunday's game: Kittle went for 120 yards and two TDs in the first half...when Adams was in...and only 60 with no TDs when he was out. And the 'Hawks gave up 0 points in the 2nd half compared to 23 in the 1st half). No, I'm mad that it takes a season ending injury to get him off the field. That instead of cutting bait with Adams before the season began, they doubled-down on last season's mistake and paid the man. I'm mad that it takes a season-ending injury to bench a liability, that has helped lead the team to eight losses for the season, led to us not re-signing players like Shaquille Griffin and K.J. Wright. 

We are going to see Ryan Neal, still on his rookie contract (making league minimum) play for the rest of the season at strong safety, and I'm going to guess the defense plays better. We've already seen Neal make more (and better) plays than Adams coming off the bench. But Neal was un-drafted whereas Adams was a Top 5 pick (by the Jets).

$38 million for 12...poorly played games. That's more than $3M per game. I did the math and estimate that if I went back to my old job and worked till the age of 68 I'd earn, maybe, $1.3M for my entire life. Dammit, I can dress and be shitty on the football field for a million bucks. Do you need me to fail in pass coverage? Throw myself out of bounds? Ole running backs into the endzone on goal line plays? Jump around hooting and hollering when a receiver drops a ball? Get blocked by a skinny wide receiver and injured? Man...I can do ALL that. And at half the price.

Trash. The guy is trash. When you sign someone to the highest contract ever given for player at his position, one should not be discussing whether or not he is a "good" player...you should be debating HOW good, HOW legendary, HOW impactful he is compared to other notable, superstar players. You should be debating whether or not he's more valuable than a Bosa or Watts or Donald; you should not be debating whether or not he should have been replaced by Ryan Neal weeks ago. Pro Football Focus should not have the highest paid player at his position ranked as the #97 best player at his position...out of 64 starting safeties in the NFL.

Yeah, I'm angry. I love my family. I love Dungeons & Dragons. I love God and country and my city and state. And I love my home football team just a little less than those things. And things that hurt the things I love...like Jamal Adams...get my dander up. I guess I could care less. I guess. First World problems. People starving and dying of COVID and all that. But shoot. It's tough not to care.

Blood Bowl.

It was the second edition of the game that introduced the concept of "star players:" players with abilities and skills above and beyond those found in a player at their position. Any human team might have a human "thrower" (the BB equivalent of a quarterback) whose ability to pass the ball was head-and-shoulders above other position players. But Jacob Von Altdorf of the Reikland Reavers is/was even better, receiving a fat +2 bonus to pass attempts, plus having the "luck" skill (an individual re-roll, usable once per match). All Blood Bowl teams in 2nd edition had a maximum of 16 players on their roster, of which up to SIX (possibly seven with the BB Companion rules) could be "stars."

3E Blood Bowl (and later) re-vamped the star system, requiring teams to actually shell out money to hire mercenary stars (and pay exorbitant sums to retain them over the long haul)...or else develop them within their own system through an advancement system not too much different from D&D (players earn star player points through actions, eventually "leveling up" and gaining skills/bonuses). In theory, given enough matches and success, every single player on a late edition BB roster could...eventually...become a "star" player.

But using BB to model the actual NFL...well, that just doesn't happen in real life. In BB, players that survive will ALL (eventually) grow to be superstars. In the NFL, most players survive and yet, only have the potential to become competent veterans, not "stars." And those that DO become stars command huge salaries that...because of the salary cap...restrict the number teams can carry on their rosters. The 2E version of stars is far more representative of the "real" NFL.

I realize I've written about this before (at least in passing)...you can look at just about any team in the NFL and pick out half a dozen noteworthy players and the rest are "just guys." Competent guys, perhaps...veteran guys, perhaps. Guys who know their job and do it well. But not flashy superstars. The stars (and "stars in the making") are limited.  Not only is talent limited (in the league) but potential talent is limited. 

Making that bank.

Let's return to the Seahawks for a moment. Back when they were going to back-to-back Superbowls, the Seahawks had stellar safeties in the form of Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. I understand WHY the Seahawks went after Adams in free agency...the team was trying to find a replacement for Kam, just as they acquired Quandre Diggs as a replacement for Thomas. Diggs has been fantastic: a Pro Bowl free safety. But Adams has simply failed to be the hard hitting, fear inspiring enforcer and run-stopper that Kam was. For all his reputation as a "fierce tackler" Adams is just a goblin. A speedy spark plug with great straightline speed and reckless disregard for his own body's inability to take punishment. Not the same thing at all.

But that's what was available. There was no "Kam Chancellor" on the market or available for acquisition. And the Seahawks needed/wanted another playmaker on defense, someone that could bring an attitude and fire and an ability to rush/pressure an opposing QB...but that didn't have the price-tag of a premier defensive end. Because the Seahawks couldn't afford a real "pass rusher" (the Watts, Bosa, Donald type) because they're paying a Hall of Fame quarterback $135M. 

So they picked up a blitz specializing safety instead (safeties being the lowest paid defensive players in the NFL), not realizing that part of why he was so good was the defensive scheming of Gregg Williams (defensive coordinator for the Jets during Adams's tenure on the team that drafted him). In terms of 2E Blood Bowl, the gobbo was the only star player left on the (free agency) board that the team could afford. And they've been trying desperately to make it work. Despite there being no evidence that it can work with the way Pete Carroll structures his defense.

*sigh*

Current stars on the Seahawks team:

1. Russell Wilson

2. DK Metcalf (developing)

3. Tyler Lockett

4. Bobby Wagner

5. Jamal Adams

6. Quandre Diggs

7. Michael Dickson

Everyone else qualifies as...pretty much..."just a guy." Some are playing better; some (like the offensive line) are not.

[for the record: the Super Bowl champion Seahawks had the following stars: Russell Wilson (developing), Marshawn Lynch, Max Unger, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Kam Chancellor, and Earl Thomas. But we had a LOT of blitzers and black ork blockers on that team (especially on the D-line), and don't have quite as many now]

Okay. That's enough venting. Sometimes you just need to exhale the bile.