Volume I. No. 2 Fall 2014 Price 9 dollars NEFORFIVE.CO O A TABLETOP-SPORTS BLOG M OFFICIAL F OOTBALL G UIDE Your Source For Everything You Need to Know About Tabletop Football Simulations
Edited by Paul Dylan
Featuring: scott simkus on lebron vs. jordan in strat-o-matic1 basketball * the apba football club's geoff giordano on the history of football sims * REPLAY THE SUPER BOWL with FREE Red Zone charts * chris palermo on paydirt! * 2014 world cup ratings for mea copa [and a FREE copy of the game!] * letters to the editor * tim plum of PT Games on the resurrection of avalon hill's title bout * what is the best baseball season to replay? a sabermetric argument * game reviews...and more!! Offense DICE # ON ON # 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 39 38 37 36 3 <------RUSHING PLAYS------> <------RUSHING PLUNGE D=5X O=10 O=5 LINE LINE 11 12 1 B 5 6 2 3 1 4 2 3 7 1 9 8 1 2 1 5 1 1 4 F TACKLE O=10 O=5 D=5 F+3 OFF OFF 10 11 2 B B 3 2 5 1 2 1 4 8 3 9 2 3 3 6 4 1 2 6 7 F D=15X O=10 END END O=5 D=5 RUN 10 12 11 3 B B 4 2 5 4 3 8 1 6 5 3 9 7 8 3 2 2 2 1 F 2013 Denver 2013 DRAW O=10 O=5 D=5 10 11 12 4 B B 8 3 5 1 2 3 4 6 1 7 3 2 2 9 1 2 3 F <------PASSING PLAYS------> Def Off Team SCREEN D=15X D=5X O=10 O=5 Audibles PI 0 12 14 10 21 25 35 11 13 5 8* 2* 7* 1 3 4 4 3 8 6 1 9 F SHORT D=5X O=10 O=5 D=5 PI 6 14* 12 24 13 10 17 31 11 TD -5 6 7* 2 6 4 9 9 8 1 3 6 9 5 3 MEDIUM D=15X INT 14 INT D=5X O=10 PI 19 F+16 O=5 D=5 10* 21* 20* 11 12 28 22 13 25 17 14 10 21 18 13 TD 7 D=15X INT 29 INT D=5X O=10 PI 24 PI 27 LONG O=5 D=5 45* 32* 24* 35 33 22 40 30 25 38 48 28 42 TD 8 F D=15X SIDE- SIDE- D=5X O=10 PI 21 F+27 O=5 LINE 14* 23* 12* 15* 16* 25 10 33 46 18 TD 9 6* 9* 1* 2* 7 8 3 4
Chart Designer * Darrin Hunter Record 13-3 * Points For; 606 * Points Against 399 21* 31* 31* 25 13 13 17 13 20 13 14 19 14 18 15 13 13 28 45 17 18 28 16 13 16 45 13 20 15 13 B QB SNEAK O=10* Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass F-11 QT F-9 F-2 12 9 6 6 4 1 7 7 6 5 1 4 5 3 1 DICE # ON ON # 33 22 27 32 21 17 36 35 34 25 19 15 13 12 30 31 24 26 28 16 38 23 37 10 20 11 39 29 18 14 5 4 2 1 3
Fumble Recovered 10-25 * Lost Ball 26-39 Offense
2013 Broncos Defense A Special teams
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Copyright 2014 © # ON DICE # ON ON # 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
LINE OFF END SIDE- Kickoff PUNT PUNT FUM INT. FIELD # ON -1 DICE DRAW SCREEN SHORT MEDIUM LONG Kickoff PLUNGE TACKLE RUN LINE Return -5 RETURN RETURN RETURN GOAL DICE
(1) (1) (1) 7 (12) 50 18 46 O=15 18 27 10 PLAYS------> <------RUSHING 1 PLUNGE
2013 Broncos Defense A Special teams D=15X O=10 O=5 D=5 LINE LINE A 11 Run 35 1 B B 2 1 1 3 68 22 22 75 44 11 3 9 4 3 2 4 3 3 3 5 1 5 6 4 2 3 8 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Copyright 2014 © F # ON 3 LINE(2) OFF END 16 SIDE- 55 Kickoff18 PUNT46 PUNT81 FUM INT.75 FIELD44 #12 ON Cover DICE DRAW SCREEN SHORT MEDIUM LONG Kickoff PLUNGE TACKLE RUN LINE Return -5 RETURN RETURN RETURN GOAL DICE 3 Run 4 F-1 2 2 1 (9) QT TB 17 60 1 2 42 13 TACKLE D=15X O=10 O=5 O=5
(1) (1) (1) 7 (12) 50 18 46 O=15 18 27 10 OFF
1 F-5 5 2 F+2 2 QT QT 66 105 40* 8 48 14 12 11 10 2 B B 6 2 1 2 8 9 7 5 3 1 4 4 3 2 2 3 1 A 21 (0) 1 (0)1 3 (36) 1 6867 2256 Run40* 35 228 75 4438 1115 CoverB 32 (2)(0) (0) 1 1 2 (21) (27)16 55TB 1824 40*46 8127 O=1575 4443 1216 D=15X O=10 4 F-1 2 2 1 (9) QT TB 17 60 1 2 42 13 END
Short (0) 2 (16) (54) 63 22 40 D=5 43 17 O=5 3 D=5 3 Run RUN 11 10 3 B B 1 7 5 9 6 5 6 5 8 4 4 1 2 2 2 6 3 3 3 5 Run 54 22 F+22 2 QT QT QT (11) 6659 10527 Blk-1840* O=158 TD 4838 1418 F 15 (0)1 1 (0) (36) QT1 67TB 56TD 40*41 TD8 TD NG38 1519 2013 Seattle 2013
B 2 (0) (0) 1 1 2 (21) (27) TB 24 40* 27 O=15 43 16 D=15X DRAW 1 (1) (3) (1) (3) 3 65 10 38* 1 42 20 O=10 O=5 O=5 10 12 11 4 B B 6 2 2 2 9 5 4 2 1 4 5 7 2 8 3 3 3 ShortC 32 (0) 2 3 (5)2 (16)(23) (54) 63TB 2240 4039 D=52 4348 1721 1 Run 43 (3)2 1 2 1 QT (11) 5971 2710 Blk-1845 O=15 TD 3833 1822 Cover 2 Def Off Team <------PASSING PLAYS------>
5 1 1 QT TB TD 41 TD TD NG 19 SCREEN 4 (3) 1 F+2 (18) QT QT TB 27 O=5 5 75 43 23 D=15X D=5X O=10 O=5 D=5 Audibles Flats F+6 12 21 QT QT 13 10 46 11 5 5* 4* 9* 3 2 C 15 F+6(1) (3) (30)(1) F-1(3) F-143 INT 4 65TB 1028 38*49 Muff 1 1 4227 2024 1 6 7 8 21 (3) 23 3 (5)3 (23) (31) 4 5 TB 4029 50*39 Muff2 1 2 4827 2125 1 - D 3 (3) 1 1 0 71 10 45 33 22 2 (4) 3 2 10 16 4 1 TB 25 44 10 F+29 30 26
D=15X
SHORT D=5X O=10
Cover 2 *
O=5 D=5 PI 7
17* QT 26 35 15 11 12 22 10 QT 4 (3) 1 F+2 (18) QT QT TB 27 O=5 5 75 43 23 12 1 3 3 5 (27) 2 TB 39 44* 4 48 27 3 -1 6 4* 7* 2 8 3 1 5 9 6 9
l
Nickel Flats l 54 F+62 (9) (30) F-12 F-14 INT 4 QT a TB 2819 37*49 D=15Muff 1 1 2748 2428 B
Under t 5 15 (35)(3) 6 (30)3 F+6 QT3 INT 16 (31)QT 4 s TB56 2921 50*37 Muff20 1 102 2734 2529 1 o - MEDIUM D=15X L 0 D=5X O=10 D O=5 1 2 (4) 34 2 (13) 107 16 4 TB 2520 4437 101 F+29 3048 2630 D=5 1 e
22* 16* 11* QT QT QT 55 20 18 19 23 10 31 27 21 30 15 26 14 l
7 F * b
E 3 1 4 3 3 52 (27) 2 TB 3922 44*54 4 13 F+29 4821 2731 2 m
l u Nickel l a 43 2 (9)4 2 QT 3 F TB73 1930 37*55 D=1514 60 18 48 2832 B
UnderDime t D=15X INT 25 INT INT 46 INT s D=5X (35) 6 (30) F+6 QT INT 16 QT 56 21 37 20 10 34 29 O=10
5 PI 33 4 2 (35) (8) (16) INT 39 (13) 70 19 48 O=10 60 10 34 33 LONG o O=5 D=5 49* 26* 42* QT QT QT QT QT QT 54 30 34 43 38 23 TD L Prevent 8 4 (13) 7 4 TB 20 37 1 48 30 15 2 1 (30) (30) QT QT e TB O=10 46 O=10 13 3 48 34 l E 4 2 2 b TB 22 54 13 F+29 21 31 21 4 5 3 4 6 28 2 m TB 12 41 6 17 48 35 u
F F 32 2 43 3 3 1 3 QT QT 37 73TB 3031 5551 1412 60 O=1518 48 3236 D=15X D=5X O=10 SIDE- SIDE- F+13 O=5 D=5 LINE Dime PI 8 11* 19* 13* 18* 28* QT QT QT 26 23 20 30 TD 9 5* 1* 4 25 3 (35)1 (8) 6 (16)10 INTQT 39 (13)QT 70TB 1922 4853 O=106 6017 103 3429 3337 8* 3* Prevent 3 Blitz 54 2 1 (30)(3) (30)16 QT QT QT 72TB O=1034 41*46 O=101 13 3 4836 3438 15 (33)4 51 F+2 3 4 INT 8 INT6 13 28 2 TB74 1221 41*41 F+76 171 18 4836 3539 FairF catch column*2 # On2 Die 3 Comp%3 Int%3 Rec1 Ave Run3 Ave Fum/lostQT SacksQT QR7 TB 31 Special 51 Teams 12 DefenseO=15 48 36 Chart Designer * Darrin Hunter Record 13-3 * Points For; 417 * Points Against 231 Muff 3 10-145 OFF3 68.3 1.51 12.1 4.16 27/1610 QT20 QT PowerTB 22 53 6 17 3 29 371 19* 19* 13* 13* 27 19 23 19 13 13 15 18 16 15 19 21 21 13 37 43 17 14 24 13 13 14 14 16 13 20
BlitzPenalty D=154 DEF 58.2(3) 162.8 12.2 QT3.9 25/9 41 229.072 34 41* 1 3 36 382 B Fair catch 5 15-36(33) 1 F+2Pen 3rd D pct Punt INTInt Ret 8 INTKick Ret13 Punt Ret Home74 21 41* F+7 1 18 36 393
Fair Letcatch ball column* roll # 37-39On Die OFF Comp%117 Int%46.3 Rec43.8 Ave Run8.3 Ave Fum/lost25.0 Sacks7.8 QR6 +1.0 Special Teams10 Defense (29) 4 QB SNEAK D=15X O=21* O=5* QT F-8 F-7 22* 13 27 10 10 12 11 15 17 8* 1 1 5 3 7 4 1 1 2 6 4 8 5 2 7 PuntMuff Return 10-14 OFFDEF 68.397 38.11.5 12.146.1 13.14.1 27/1629.3 9.820 Power 73 Blk-4 1 (20) 15 6
Penalty D=15 DEF 58.2 2.8 12.2 3.9 25/9 41 229.0 3 2 Offense Fair catch 15-36 Pen 3rd D pct Punt Int Ret Kick Ret Punt Ret Home 3 DICE # ON ON # 19 32 11 37 26 18 14 38 17 22 21 23 31 30 28 24 16 12 10 36 35 34 25 13 20 33 27 29 39 15 5 4 3 Let ball roll 37-39 OFF 117 46.3 43.8 8.3 25.0 7.8 6 +1.0 10 (29) 4 2 1 Punt Return DEF 97 38.1 46.1 13.1 29.3 9.8 73 Blk-4 1 (20) 5 Fumble Recovered 11-32 * Lost Ball 10, 33-39 DICE # ON ON # 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 39 38 37 36 3 2013 Seahawks Defense A Special teams <------RUSHING PLAYS------> <------RUSHING PLUNGE D=5X O=10 O=5 LINE LINE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Copyright 2014 © 11 12 1 B 5 6 2 3 1 4 2 3 7 1 9 8 1 2 1 5 1 1 4 # ON F LINE OFF END SIDE- Kickoff PUNT PUNT FUM INT. FIELD # ON DICE DRAW SCREEN SHORT MEDIUM LONG Kickoff PLUNGE TACKLE RUN LINE Return -6 RETURN RETURN RETURN GOAL DICE
1 2 (1) 4 10 TB 58 Blk-17 29 30 39 10 TACKLE 2013 Seahawks Defense A Special teams O=10 O=5 D=5 F+3 OFF OFF 11 10 2 B B 3 2 5 1 2 4 1 4 8 3 1 2 9 6 2 3 3 6 7 A 2 2 1 6 (11) 65 37 Blk-18 D=15 16 39 11 F 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Copyright 2014 © # ON Cover 3 LINE OFF1 END INT 39 SIDE-(4) TB Kickoff4 PUNT33 PUNT7 FUM F+1INT. FIELD39 #12 ON DICE DRAW SCREEN SHORT MEDIUM LONG Kickoff 4 PLUNGE2 TACKLE RUN1 (5) QT QT LINE 62 Return37 18-6 RETURND=15 RETURN RETURN9 GOAL39 DICE13 3 Run D=15X O=10 END END O=5 D=5 RUN 10 12 11 3 B B 4 2 5 4 3 8 8 1 6 3 5 2 2 2 9 7 3 2 (1) 4 10 TB 58 Blk-17 29 30 39 10 1 A 15 F-1 1 (5) QT INT 13 20 QT 64 F+17 54 9 30 NG 14 F B 21 (0)2 (0) 3 13 (15)6 (21) (11) 6572 3758 Blk-1855* D=158 1658 O=539 1115 Cover 32 2 12 1 2 (13) INT(38) 39 (4)3 TB71 4 3355 717 F+1 39 1216 Denver 2013 DRAW O=10 O=5 D=5 12 10 Short 43 2 12 1 (5) 2 QT (44)QT (8) 62TB 3715 O=518 D=1533 TD9 39 1317 11 4 B B 8 3 5 1 2 3 4 6 1 7 9 3 1 2 2 2 3 Run 3 F Run 54 F-1 1 (5)(6) QT INT 13 QT20 QT 64TB F+1725 5453 299 3058 NG39 1418 15 (0) (0)1 1 3 F (4)3 INT(15) 11 (21) QT 72TB 5815 55*53 338 TD 583 O=539 1519 <------PASSING PLAYS------> Def Off Team SCREEN D=15X D=5X B O=10 39 O=5 Audibles 21 2 21 3 13 21 (13)(11) (38)8 3 71TB 154 5552 7138 F+19 39 1620 PI 0 12 14 35 10 11 21 13 25 5 8* 7* 2* 3 1 4 4 1 3 8 6 9 ShortC 32 23 1 23 (44)13 (8) TB 1525 O=551 337 TD16 F-439 1721 F Run 43 2 (6)3 (4) QT 5 TB74 F+3025 37*53 2932 5811 39 1822 Cover SHORT D=5X 54 1 1 INTF -1 (4) INT(16) 11 (28) INTQT 14 TB66 1522 5358 3313 TD 373 39 1923 O=10 O=5 D=5 PI 6 2 14* 12 24 13 31 10 17 11 TD -5 6
2 Flats 7* 2 6 9 9 4 8 1 3 6 5 9 1 3 15 F+16 1 F-13 QT3 1 (11)(18) 8 QT - TB 1522 37*52 3814 9 3928 2024 0 1
C 2 2 2 4 (20) 5 68 21 40 1 33 25 21 3 3 13 * TB 25 51 7 16 F-4 21
D l MEDIUM D=15X l 32 22 1 4 32 (4)4 10 (27) 5 74TB F+30F+25 37*41* D=532 1128 39 2226 14 INT D=5X O=10 PI 19 F+16 a O=5 D=5 10* 21* Cover 20* 11 12 25 13 28 22 17 14 10 13 21 18 TD B 7 1 1 INT2 -1 (16)10 (28)(38) INT5 14 66TB F+1922 5844 132 373 Blk-939 2327 43 t s 2Nickel Flats 2 1 o
4 F+16 F-1 QT1 INT 8 INT(18) 17 (39) QT - TB 2221 37*47 Muff14 2826 2428 5 L 0
1 Under e
l QT INT 17 QT QT 67 21 68 1 6 26 29 2 2 2 4 (20) 5 b 68 21 40 1 33 25 15 * D=15X
INT 29 INT
D=5X O=10 PI 24 PI 27
LONG m O=5
D=5 32* 45* 24* l 35 33 30 40 22 25 48 38 42 28 TD D u l 21 23 1 4 2 (11)4 (16)10 INT(27) 52 5 TB F+2524 41*47 D=518 286 3924 2630 8 F F a B E 2 1 2 15 2 10 (38) 5 TB69 F+1923 4435 152 22 293 Blk-939 2731
3 t
Nickel s 43 5 1 1 (9)1 INT 8 INT4 17 (39) (11) o TB 2118 44*47 Muff 2 2638 2832 L
D=15X
Dime e
Under SIDE- D=5X O=10 PI 21 l F+27 O=5 (11) 73 28 36* O=10 2 32 39 33 LINE 14* 15* 4 QT INT 17 QT QT 67 21 68 1 6 26 29 23* 12* 16* 5 b 25 10 33 18 46 TD 9 9* 6* 1* 2* 7 8 3 4
Prevent m
15 31 (11) INT(16) 15 INTQT 52 52 u TB 2422 4742 1812 22 62 2429 3034 F E 21 3 3 2 53 3 109 QT QT5 6970 2320 3545 154 22 29 3931 3135 F 32 56 1 16 (9)4 1 QT4 QT (11)5 TB 1826 44*46* 2 3839 3236 Dime Chart Designer * Darrin Hunter Record 13-3 * Points For; 606 * Points Against 399 43 6 1 1 3 (11)QT QT 73TB 2827 36*39* O=1011 2 3249 39 3337 Prevent Blitz 54 11 (4) QT QT INT 15 QTTD INT2 9 TB70 2219 4250 1222 22 382 2923 3438 21* 31* 31* 25 13 17 13 13 20 13 45 13 14 18 15 13 28 28 19 18 14 17 16 16 13 13 45 20 15 13 15 32 3 F-1 3 F+1 QT3 INT9 17 QTTD INT17QT 7056 2018 4568 194 38 3139 3539 B FairF catch column*2 # On Die 6 Comp%1 Int%6 Rec4 Ave Run1 Ave Fum/lostQT SacksQT QR5 TB 26 Special 46* Teams Defense39 36 QB SNEAK O=10* Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Muff 3 106 OFF1 63.61 2.13 13.1 4.3 26/10QT QT44 PowerTB 272 39* 11(0) 49(0) 39 371 F-11 QT F-9 F-2 12 9 6 4 6 1 7 6 1 7 5 4 3 1 5 BlitzPenalty D=154 1 DEF 59.0(4) 5.3 QT9.9 QT3.9 26/11 TD44 INT2 9 232.570 19 50 22(2) 38(0) 23 382 Fair catch 5 11-342 F-1Pen 3rd D pct F+1Punt IntQT Ret INTKick Ret17 PuntTD Ret INT171 Home56 18 68 19 38(3) 39 393 DICE # ON ON # 33 22 27 32 12 19 21 30 17 35 34 25 13 15 36 31 24 26 16 23 10 38 28 37 20 14 11 29 18 Let ball roll 35 OFF 128 37.3 41.6 13.8 21.2 11.1 +1.0 1 (33) 4 39 5 4 2 1 Fair catch column* # On Die Comp% Int% Rec Ave Run Ave Fum/lost Sacks QR Special Teams Defense 3 PuntMuff Return 36-3910 OFFDEF 63.698 35.22.1 13.146.1 4.32.3 26/1024.0 3.944 Power 2 (0) (0) (32) 15 Penalty D=15 DEF 59.0 5.3 9.9 3.9 26/11 44 2 232.5 (2) (0) 2 Fumble Recovered 10-25 * Lost Ball 26-39 Offense Fair catch 11-34 Pen 3rd D pct Punt Int Ret Kick Ret Punt Ret 1 Home (3) 3 Let ball roll 35 OFF 128 37.3 41.6 13.8 21.2 11.1 +1.0 1 (33) 4 Punt Return 36-39 DEF 98 35.2 46.1 2.3 24.0 3.9 2 (32) 5 DICE # ON ON # 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 -1 <------RUSHING PLAYS------> <------RUSHING PLUNGE D=15X O=10 O=5 D=5 LINE LINE 11 1 B B 3 9 4 3 2 4 3 3 3 5 1 5 6 4 2 3 8 7 F TACKLE D=15X O=10 O=5 O=5 OFF F-5 12 11 10 2 B B 6 2 1 2 8 9 7 5 3 1 4 4 3 2 2 3 1 D=15X O=10 END END O=5 D=5 RUN 11 10 3 B B 1 7 5 9 6 5 6 5 8 4 4 1 2 2 2 6 3 3 3 5 F 2013 Seattle 2013 D=15X DRAW O=10 O=5 O=5 12 10 11 4 B B 6 2 2 2 9 5 4 2 1 4 5 7 2 8 3 3 3 1 Def Off Team <------PASSING PLAYS------> SCREEN D=15X D=5X O=10 O=5 D=5 Audibles F+6 12 21 QT QT 13 10 46 11 5 5* 4* 9* 3 2 1 6 7 8 D=15X SHORT D=5X O=10 O=5 D=5 PI 7 17* QT 26 35 15 11 12 22 10 QT 12 -1 6 4* 7* 2 3 8 1 5 9 6 9 MEDIUM D=15X D=5X O=10 O=5 D=5 22* 16* 11* QT QT QT 55 18 20 10 19 31 23 27 21 26 30 15 14 7 F D=15X INT 25 INT INT 46 INT D=5X O=10 PI 33 LONG O=5 D=5 49* 42* 26* QT QT QT QT QT QT 54 30 43 34 38 23 TD 8 D=15X D=5X O=10 SIDE- SIDE- F+13 O=5 D=5 LINE PI 8 19* 11* 13* 18* 28* QT QT QT 26 23 20 30 TD 9 1* 5* 3* 8*
Chart Designer * Darrin Hunter Record 13-3 * Points For; 417 * Points Against 231 19* 19* 13* 13* 19 27 19 23 13 13 18 19 21 13 15 16 21 15 37 43 13 14 14 17 16 24 13 14 13 20 B QB SNEAK D=15X O=21* O=5* QT F-8 F-7 22* 13 27 10 10 11 15 12 17 8* 1 1 3 4 5 7 1 1 2 4 8 5 2 6 7 6 DICE # ON ON # 19 32 37 26 18 17 14 11 38 22 21 23 30 16 10 36 35 34 31 28 25 24 12 13 33 29 27 20 15 39 5 4 3 2 1
Fumble Recovered 11-32 * Lost Ball 10, 33-39 table of contents
P A G E RED ZONE P A G E INTERVIEW WITH P A G E based on AVALON HILL’S PAYDIRT! PT GAMES’ FOUNDER: 2 CHARTS TO REPLAY 10 5 THE 2013 SUPER BOWL! TIM PLUM
P A G E A Letter From Your P A G E 4 Humble Editor 16 A BRIEF HISTORY P A G E P A G E OF 6 Scott Simkus reports 12 FOOTBALL on the BOARD GAMES BY GEOFF GIORDANO Founder, APBA Football Club
showdown: P A G E 21 MEA COPA Michael Jordan vs. Lebron James 2014 WORLD CUP RATINGS
P A G E
P A G E 23 8 Introducing: BEST. FOOTBALL GAMES GUIDE GAME. the PLAYER’S CLUB EVER.
P A G E 14
P A G E THE CONTINUING LEGACY OF AVALON HILL’S BEST. GAME. EVER. 9 BY THE NUMBERS PAYDIRT! BASEBALL: by Chris Palermo What is the best season to replay? OneForFive.com takes a (not quite) objective look.
I searched high and low to find evidence that someone - anyone - held the copyright to that image from the 1940 Illustrated Football Annual on the right, but I was able to find no evidence that the copyright was renewed in the early 1970’s when it would IMAGE COURTESY OF OFFICIAL MLB HISTORIAN, have been up for renewal. JOHN THORN oneforfive.com a tabletop sports blog editor's note print ed., volume one issue two For any performance to be called a “sophomore slump,” the first qualification is that there must have been a decent rookie performance in the first place. Issue Number One of the OneForFive.com Print Edition was decent, if-I-do- say-so-myself, and I’ve lost much sleep over the past three months agonizing over the fear that the second issue would not live up to the standard set by the first.
I won’t lose any sleep tonight. This issue is good.
If you didn’t get the first issue, but you did get this one, my guess is that the subject matter of this issue (football) was more appealing to you than the subject matter of the first issue (“football”). I hope that you find this issue interesting and thought-provoking.
There is a lot in here for football fans to enjoy: Geoff Giordano of The APBA Football Club wrote a great piece on the History of Tabletop Football Games. I’ve ranked the top 15 most popular football games that are being played today, while providing analysis and justification for my ranking of the top 5.
In addition, lifelong tabletop-football fanatic Chris Palermo discusses Avalon Hill’s Paydirt - an out-of-print football Editor and Publisher: Paul Dylan game being kept alive by fans such as Chris Hunter, who releases his charts under the brand “Red Zone.” When you Business Director: Melissa Dylan receive this issue, you should get a link to a Google Docs folder that will have all you need in order to play Red Zone/ Paydirt yourself. You can start things off by replaying the most recent Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos. Circulation: Paul Dylan Advertising/Sales: Paul Dylan Also in this issue, you’ll find an interview with the ambitious and outspoken Tim Plum, head of PT Games and the Art/Graphic Design/Layout: Paul Dylan man behind the newest incarnation of Statis Pro Football, now known as Football Bones. If you love those old Avalon Hill games like Statis Pro and Paydirt, you probably remember the classic boxing game, Title Bout, too. In his Director of “I think you can do interview, Tim shares some insight into his role and how he brought the original designer of Title Bout (Jim Trunzo) better than that, Daddy”: Ruby Dylan in to work on the resurrection of the game. Dr. Princess of Lalaloopsyland: Eva Dylan Champion Tennis Ball Chaser: Elsa the Dog Geez! There’s so much more to talk about! It was really a pleasure to come up with three guys to honor in The President of Puking on my shoes Player’s Club. Congratulations to Steve Heller, Frank Albidone, and Greg Barath. I hope that I can enlist the help of and then howling for more cat you, dear reader, to point me towards others who are worthy of admission to said club. food as if he hasn’t been fed all summer: Catcher Dylan If he hadn’t already contributed to the magazine this quarter, Scott Simkus would have been a shoo-in to get his laminated Player’s Club pass this time around. Scott is the man, the myth, the legend whose independently Chief of Purrpurrpurr, what? Happy the Cat researched database of Negro League Baseball statistics formed the foundation that famously statistically-accurate Strat-O-Matic Baseball used to create a 108 card Negro League Heroes set just a few years ago. Oneforfive.com Print Edition is a Quarterly Magazine, currently published on the first of July, October, I’ve written a lot on my site about the quick-play World Cup soccer game, Mea Copa. Mea Copa was Anthony January, and April of each year. Apostolico’s game, his ratings, everything. Give AA a HUGE thank you from all fans of World Cup soccer next time you see him, because in the downloads folder that came along with this Fall 2014 issue, there are PDF scans of the Subscriptions: $32 for 4 issues ENTIRE game. Single Issue Cover Price: $9 FULL DISCLOSURE: Anthony didn’t do the ratings for the 2014 World Cup, and he doesn’t know anything whatso- Advertising: Ad rates are available on request. ever about the abridged version of Mea Copa that appears in the pages of this magazine. Those were all my work, which I felt qualified and capable of, since it’s likely that there are very few people on Earth - Anthony included - Editorial Content: Please submit who have played as many games of Mea Copa as I have. all articles, queries, Letters to the Editor, artwork, or any thing else you might want The abridged version of Mea Copa was a necessity, because I wanted to be able to have a version of the game con- to see published in OneForFive Print Ed., tained entirely within these pages. That way, if you pick up the magazine at the dentist’s office or something, you’ll to [email protected] and clearly be able to play Mea Copa even if you don’t have the link or url to the Google Docs folder. indicate your intentions in the subject of Ok, who am I forgetting to thank? Again: Glenn Guzzo, John Herson, Tim Plum, PETE MANZOLILLO - whose scrabble your email. Any email you’d like returned boards at CUSTOMSCRABBLEBOARDS.COM are works of art, and STEVE ANDERSEN - who, coincidentally is releasing must include a self-addressed, stamped a beautiful full-color book (I have a copy already!) all about the history of Tabletop Football games. Is that serendip- envelope. ity or what?
TWITTER: @heyblue Oh, and of course I can’t forget Jeff Polman and the Freaks in the ‘73 Freaks Strat-O-Matic League! Thanks for letting FACEBOOK: facebook.com/oneforfive us dissect your scorecard, Jeff. EMAIL: [email protected] And thank you to my lovely wife and beautiful girls, who totally get me, and that’s amazing. - Paul Dylan page 4 October 1, 2014 Reader feedback is vital to the success of OneForFive.com Print Edition. A primary goal of this publication is to reflect the state of the hobby today, which can’t be done without the voices of those who are keeping this hobby alive - that’s you! MAILBAG If you want to be recognized with your name in print, send an email to [email protected] with the subject “Mailbag.” LOOKING FOR A TOP NOTCH TENNIS GAME
NOT JUST THE STATS Hi Paul,
I read the magazine [vol 1, no. 1] this afternoon and would like to compliment you on Hello Paul, a job well done. I especially enjoyed the interview with John Herson, along with the info on page 9. I’ve always been a huge fan of Second Season football so it was no sur- Nice job on the One for Five Newsletter. I prise to see it being so popular with others. I also enjoyed the soccer game reviews. love to read back issues of the SOM Review and StratFan as well as the APBA Journal. I One question: In the interview with Herson he mentions that the Trunzos wanted like to read about replays, not just the stats, but how the replay was conducted and long him to consider a tennis game, but he wasn’t interested. Do you have any follow up it took. I also like to read interviews with information on this (potential) tennis game, or perhaps know how/where I could get people in the hobby as you have done with in touch with Trunzos to inquire more about it? I have LONGED for a top-notch quality John Hershon on APBA Soccer. tennis game for ages so that specific part of the interview really caught my eye.
-- Tom Nahigian, California -- Kevin Burghardt, Wisconsin
Hi Tom - Thank you so much for this email! Hi Kevin - Thank you for all the kind words. In regard to a tennis game by the Trunzos, I think your perspective is very relevant I’m afraid I don’t have any information for you. Hearing that one exists is certainly since your email probably speaks for most intriguing though, considering Jim Trunzo was the game designer of Avalon Hill’s pop- of the guys who read oneforfive.com, ular Sports Illustrated Pro Tennis, published in 1983.
Future issues of the magazine will definitely Trunzo can be found on Delphi Forums with the username “Jim Trunzo” or, he’s also have more stories about readers’ replays. Notice that I said “stories about” instead of on LinkedIn (just search for Jim Trunzo). Considering the recent collaboration with PT saying “results of” because I firmly believe Games, you might be able to reach Jim through that game company, too. that the most fulfilling aspect of this hobby -- Paul is not compiling results, it’s committing oneself to the journey to get those results. I play mostly baseball and some football on When all is said and done, I always remem- the tabletop. Having tried the computer ONEFORFIVE.COM: ber the journey, but rarely remember the versions for both, found they simply were FULFILLING destination of each player and team in each not satisfying. Unlike many in this hobby I season I replay. do not have a closet full of various games. CHILDHOOD DREAMS APBA, Replay and Second Season fill my SINCE 2014! In this issue, you’ll find a new page called needs completely. Sure I look at the new “The Player’s Club.” The Player’s Club is games that come out but in most cases find When I was a kid, I always wanted to get the new feature that will be in future issues, some issues that turn me off. The games too. In it we’ll highlight people in the hobby mentioned flow well and without extended APBA Journal but didn’t have he money... who are doing extraordinary things, like playing times. because I was a kid. This is fulfilling that posting excellent threads and replay recaps childhood void! on various forums, or curating interesting Let me wish you the very best at your ven- blogs on the subject of tabletop-sports. ture. Thank you, Thanks! -- Thanks for being along for the ride, -- Jerry Hines, Louisiana -- Lenny LaFrance, California Paul Thank you for the thoughtful and kind response, Jerry. Issue Number Two focuses primarily on football games, with a piece JUST NOT FOR ME written by Geoff Giordano of the blog The APBA Football Club that you may find espe- cially interesting. Future issues will have lots Paul, without doubt you are to be praised for of baseball coverage, since baseball games a job well done. There is much care shown in are by far the most popular tabletop-sports your first release and extremely high quality. simulations - and they’re what I play the However, it is simply not for me. most, too! -- Paul page 5 Can’t Beat the Heat? by Scott Simkus I’m equally addicted to the mental gymnastics of cross-era debate. With the internet comments sections and sports radio, arguing the Lebron rubbed his hands together, clapped, stretched his long, relative merits of teams from different eras has become a bigger muscular arms toward the rafters. By the time his trademark pastime than the sports themselves. plume of chalk dust settled on the scorers’ table, King James was Is Lebron better than Michael? Could the Heat beat the already halfway home to Cleveland. The Heatles were no more. 1990s Bulls in a seven game series? Depending on where you live Three amigos, the greatest basketball team ever assembled by and what team you follow (and how old you are), you probably three gargantuan egos, was already in the rearview mirror, a have your own version of sports conversation nitroglycerin. Might footnote to basketball history. be Bird versus Magic. Or Wilt versus Russell. If you’re a modern That’s how quickly it all goes. Point. Click. Delete: ‘Bron’s baseball fan, there was briefly a Trout-versus-Harper debate, build-your-own-dynasty, dismantled. As a long-time Chicago Bulls which quickly fizzled when Bryce started running into walls. fan, this was bitter sweet to me, the pre-fabricated juggernaut I’ll be honest with you, here in Chicago there’d been a lot vaporized. Miami had been a helluva good story. Polarizing. Good of hand-wringing over the Jordan-era Bulls legacy. Lebron had us or bad, right or wrong, the Heat made us pay attention. nervous. After all, if the Heat rattled off four or five championships They got us talking about off the court stuff at the in a row, there would have been more than a few Chicagoans beginning, about what it meant that three of facing an existential crises. We haven’t had a lot of winners here, the game’s biggest stars could manipulate the we’re certainly as provincial a sports city as any in the country, system, loading up as if the NBA were an open and the Bulls’ six rings in eight seasons is an important ingredient gym at the local junior high, but it was the on the of our identity. Knocking the Bulls off their imaginary mantel as court stuff which kept my attention. As much as I the reigning all-time basketball dynasty would be like taking HGH enjoy watching the games-- especially the play-offs-- away from a 1998 Mark McGwire. It would suck the power out of us. We can argue until we are blue in the face, but those of us who enjoy tabletop sports have an outlet other sports fans miss: we can actually put two teams from different eras on the same court (or field) and play our way toward some answers.
HARDWOOD CLASSICS I can’t claim to be the expert on basketball games, but these are my favorite - Paul Dylan
1. REPLAY BASKETBALL - Many gamers will tell you that the modern FAC-only (no-dice) version of Replay Basketball better replicates the sport’s pace and energy than any other game does. The components, including a thoughtfully designed tri-fold game board, are beautiful and pro-quality too. With statistically accu- rate results and a high fun-factor, Replay Basketball is the gold standard for hoops games.
2. STRAT-O-MATIC BASKETBALL - As a simulation that cap- tures the strengths and weaknesses in each individual player and team and ultimately generates realistic results, Strat-O-Matic is terrific. True to the Strat-O brand, the cards are elegant and the basic game engine is solid. Some of the advanced features can
Michael Jordan page 6 Roll Dice in the Kitchen!
I’ve been a tabletop fan since the late 1970s and first became As for the series, well, home court advantage proved interested in Strat-O-Matic Basketball in 1982. My interest in it peaked to be decisive. Despite Lebron James dominating Scottie around 1991, when the Bulls won their first championship and I was Pippen throughout the series, the Bulls depth and varied focusing most of my attention of flunking out of college. It’s all a haze skills (three point shooters, Dennis Rodman on the boards, now, but my mother must have thrown away my SOM basketball game vicious defense) helped them nose out the Heat in a hard- and I drifted away from it for more than twenty years. fought seven games. If the Heat had the home court, it likely Then finally, this winter, when it seemed the Heat were would have gone the other way. But if there is anhy sort of poised for a three-peat, my curiosity got the best of me. Are they poetic justice, Jordan had his best game in the finale (45 better than the Bulls? I went online and tracked down the game, points), while James had his worst (scoring “only” 34, with 7 purchasing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (72-10), the game parts, and the turnovers). Simulations certainly have their limitations, but last championship Miami Heat bunch (2012-13, 66-16). Wanted to see something about that ending passed the smell test. I finished if the Strat-O-Matic simulation could help me sort through the mess. that series with my Chicago pride intact. I’ll spare you most of the gory details, but I set up a best-of- seven series. Because the Bulls had the better overall record, they’d get home court advantage. As any basketball fan knows (especially fans of the SOM simulation), home court is a HUGE factor. Scott Simkus worked as a consultant for the Strat-O-Matic Before getting to the games, I thought about the Lebron Game Company, helping create their first Negro League set. vs. Jordan debate. Who is better? From the cardboard perspective, He is the author of “Outsider Baseball: The Weird World of the answer is Lebron. He shoots for a higher percentage, has Hardball on the Fringe.” better rebounding ability, and if you feed him the ball, he’s going to dominate. And this is where a sim fails us a little bit. In the basic version of SOM, Lebron doesn’t ever disappear in the fourth quarter, like he sometimes does in real life. And the leg cramps are nowhere to be found. Lebron on paper is the beast we all see when he’s at his best, unstoppable. Jordan has a great card, in all facets of the game, but his 1995-96 paper version lags a little behind Lebron of 2012-13.
cause the rhythm of the game to stutter and slow, but when I want to really feel like I’ve got Magic Johnson feeding a no-look pass to Kareem, I don’t think there is a game that brings that to life better than Advanced Strat-O-Matic Basketball.
3. BASKETBALL BONES - Of the games on this list, Basketball Bones has the gentlest learning curve. Its best feature may be that nearly all results come from the player cards - almost zero chart lookups. The components are high-quality and the final minutes of the game have the drama you’re looking for in a bas- ketball game. Some have criticized the game for low scores and “inaccurate” results, but I’m not convinced there is a statistical problem.
Here are a few more of my favorites: 4. Regular Season Basketball; 5. Statis Pro BB; 6. Inside the Paint; 7. TMsg (computer/c&d hybrid); 8. Everyday Player (fka Oscar Robertson’s Basketball);
Lebron James page 7 Introducing:
If you’re the kind of tabletop-sports gamer the that I am, you have probably started tons of projects over the years, yet finished only a PLAYER’S CLUB few.
Fnishing a project, to me, comes with a set of conflicting emotions. On the one hand, there is a certain sense of pride for having completed a goal that may have taken months or even years of dedication and perserverance. On the other hand, there is a feeling of loss, too. Like summer camp is over and I might never see some of my new best friends ever again. And, if I do, it just won’t be the same as it was in this special time.
Because I know that these complicated emotions are awesome and powerful, and because I know that your family and friends (unless they play these games, too) probably don’t appreciate what it means to you to finish a gaming project, OneForFive.com has provided this space to recognize you and your finished project. If you have completed a project recently and you want all the tabletop-sports world to know about it, or, if you would like to nominate someone to be recognized for a particularly amazing project, please email paul@ oneforfive.com with the subject “Player’s Club.” In the meantime, here are our first three more-than-deserving honorees:
HONOREES:
STEVE HELLER, Fort Collins, CO FRANK ALBIDONE, Ontario, CANADA GREG BARATH, Huntsville, AL Steve recently completed a terrifically fun Frank recently completed his 8th “Hall of You might know him as “OGuard62,” but tournament with HOCKEY BLAST, using all Fame League” project with STRAT-O-MATIC Greg Barath has been a fixture in the table- teams from the 1979-80 season. It took BASEBALL. Each of Frank’s HoF Leagues top gaming scene for awhile. Greg is one of 115 games to complete the tournament, has had 12 teams, each playing an 88 game the pre-eminent experts on APBA FOOT- which was won by the Montreal Cana- schedule. After 8 seasons, Frank has played BALL, and posts many instructional videos diens with a thrilling game 7 win against a total of 4,224 games, plus World Series and articles of interest for that specific the Boston Bruins. games. gaming community.
After Boston had tied the game at 2-2 The just-completed 8th project lasted 13 In August, Greg completed his 4th published with 1:21 left to play in regulation, the months and Frank rolled 528 ballgames in full-season replay with APBA FOOTBALL. He Habs’ Doug Jarvis put one in the net with the process. replayed the 1967 season, playing a 14- just 27 seconds left on the clock! game schedule and playoffs for all teams in Frank is something of a tabletop-sports both the NFL and AFL. Including playoffs, Said Heller, “This has been the most fun legend. On top of his Strat leagues, Frank Greg played 180 football games. I’ve ever had with any replay I’ve ever has also completed numerous World Cup done. Hockey Blast is one great game replays and other tournaments with CLASSIC The Raiders triumphed in the Super Bowl, and I’m so glad I found it. Thanks Keith SOCCER, as well as a complete replay (all 76 over the Packers, 20-17. Green Bay missed a for creating this wonderful game. And games for all 12 teams!) of the 1969-70 NHL last-second 41 yard FG that would have tied thanks to EVERYONE that read this thread season with HOCKEY BLAST. His Hockey it up and sent the game to overtime. and gave me such nice comments, it really Blast project took 21 months. helped to keep me going. More at: If you would like to read recaps of all 8 of http://oguard62.com I’d love to do this again sometime with Frank’s Strat-O-Matic Baseball “Hall of Fame another season.....” Leagues” you can do so here:
You can find Steve’s replay thread here: http://forums.delphiforums.com/tabletopsports/messages/?msg=26301.1 http://forums.delphiforums.com/plaaygames/messages/?msg=5101.1
page 8 BY THE NUMBERS What is the Best Baseball Season to Replay? OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS DETERMINES 1964 TO BE THE BEST SEASON TO RECREATE ON THE TABLETOP.* *OKAY, MAYBE NOT 100% OBJECTIVE... To paraphrase a famous quote by Roger Angell, “There will never be Despite its flaws, the fact that this top 15 list ended up with so many a better baseball season than the one you saw when you were ten of the seasons that have been traditional favorites of the hobby tells years old.” me that I’m on to something here.
1964, 1967, 1978, 1934, 1927, 1908... these seasons and a few WHY 1964? others seem to be universally acknowledged as among the best in baseball history. Consequently, these seasons enjoy great populari- * Pennant races in both leagues, with only 5 wins separating 1st - ty among baseball simulation enthusiasts. 5th in the NL, and 2 games separating 1st - 3rd in the AL.
But of all the seasons throughout history, why are these ranked * Active Hall of Famers in their prime: Mays, Mantle, Koufax, Brooks so highly? Are there other seasons that feature some of the same and Frank Robinson, Killebrew, Kaline, Drysdale, Yastrzemski, Santo, qualities, but may be overlooked (so far) by hobbyists? Aaron, Clemente, Oliva, Billy Williams, Mathews, Mazeroski, Banks, Stargell, Pete Rose#, Ford, Marichal, Gibson, Perry, Bunning, Tiant, And, if we are able to objectively determinewhy certain seasons are Roberts, Wilhelm considered the greatest, is it possible that we may be able to objec- tively determinewhich is the greatest season of them all? * Classic 7 game WS featuring the Cardinals and the Yankees, immortalized in David Halberstam’s book October, 1964 THE METHODOLOGY * The Phamous Phillies September collapse I ranked all seasons between 1903 (the first World Series) and 1986* by four measures, in the following order of importance: TOTAL 1. % of teams who finished the season < 5 games behind the leader RANK YEAR POINTS 2. Active % of pitchers + % of hitters in the league who eventually 1 1964 158.20 reached the Hall of Fame 2 1924 154.65 3. % of teams who finished the season <10 games behind the leader 3 1982 153.96 4. How many games the World Series lasted 4 1926 153.65 5 1973 145.87 Additionally, I gave a small bump to seasons from 1961-1987 due to the fact that these seasons are within the memory (or not far before 6 1967 144.80 it) for most of us. 7 1908 143.51 8 1952 134.50 The one thing this methodology did not take into account was his- 9 1916 134.31 toric individual accomplishments or events. Some seasons, I think, are undervalued in this method. 1941, for instance, does not rank 10 1930 134.21 highly in this system because only 3 of the 16 teams that comprised 11 1978 133.25 the two leagues had any reasonable chance at a pennant that year. 12 1950 133.22 However, the chance to replicate Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak and Ted Williams’ .406 batting average have made this season 13 1979 132.49 a favorite for many. This system couldn’t account for such great 14 1969 130.51 individual performances. 15 1974 130.15
In order to account for those significant but intangible aspects of * 1986 seemed to be a good endpoint since many great players who began their certain seasons - here is the non-objective part - I added about 4% career around this time - including Clemens, Bonds, Biggio, Palmeiro, Sosa - have only to the total points of certain seasons and subtracted as much from recently arrived on the Hall of Fame ballot and their eventual enshrinement is still up some others. 1926 came out on top at first, but after the subjective to history to decide. Determination of the best seasons to replay from 1987 to the manipulations, it moved down to 4th best. It seems to me there is a present would require a different methodology. flaw in any system that thinks 1926 was the best season ever. page 9 If there’s a busier guy than Tim Plum working in the tabletop-sports business today, I don’t know him. Plum is the founder and head of PT Games, the game PT GAMES’ FOUNDER company responsible for the hit baseball title Payoff Pitch released in 2013, 2012’s re-release of Avalon Hill’s Statis Pro (updated and rebranded as Football TIM Bones), the continued evolution and support of the classic hockey title Faceoff (now known as Hockey Bones), the hoops sim Basketball Bones, and the resur- rection of what some call the best boxing game ever known, Jim & Tom Trunzo’s PLUM masterpiece, Title Bout. INTERVIEW This interview was conducted via email early in September, 2014.
• 1for5: Why did you get into the game business in the first place? sought out Jim Barnes and received his blessing. I’m the only person When did you get started thinking about publishing and distrib- to ever do that. Football Bones plays exactly as Statis Pro did, same uting games? Was there a specific moment where you decided "I system. have to do this"? I do like to think that we can let the titles evolve. With Hockey Bones • PLUM: My friend and I started PT Games in 2001 to sell we’ve made changes under the hood, while rebuilding the card gen- Dungeons and Dragons products under the 3.5 OGL. erating program we found mistakes in the math and updated to use modern stats like time on ice that were unavailable when the game We branched out into Faceoff Hockey cards to support the Can-Am and program were originally written. I have the original programmer League. A group of guys that formed in 1972 (I believe, I will check on my team as well as professional NHL people and long-time Faceoff the date). Faceoff had gone through some rough times and I saw a players so any changes we do make are genuine. Not just me tinker- chance to keep the game alive, board and computer by bringing it ing. to another friends computer sports company, Wolverine Studios. The deal we had was he distribute the computer and I distribute Football Bones is the same way, I updated the game to a base 10 the player cards. After a few years selling about 10-20 sets, I decid- and am using advanced stats not available when Mr. Barnes made ed to open PT Games Sports. the original game or player cards. In addition, as the NFL game has evolved Football Bones can and has evolved to stay current. The AHA! moment for me and sports board games came when I read a post on tabletopsports.com about a guy looking for testers • 1for5: Speaking of Football Bones, in what ways do you feel FB for a basketball game idea he had. Funny thing was that the post succeeds at simulating the sport better than other games on the was 4 years old and had mysteriously bumped by someone. Long market? story short, Basketball Bones was born. I talked it over with several people and decided to rename Faceoff to Hockey Bones and since I • PLUM: I believe that FB succeeds because we use advanced metrics had been messing around with Statis Pro Football I decided to bring not available to the general public and the game play execution is Football Bones to the market. very simple. All the complexities are there. Deep results with simple play. Play execution is simple, the cards are large enough to read • 1for5: In the case of Hockey Bones and Football Bones, you easily, and play is very smooth. resurrected old franchises that had been out of print but still had a loyal following. What responsibility, if any, does PT Games hold in • 1for5: How does Solo Football Bones differ from the standard edi- regard to the legacies of these fan favorites? Or, do you consider tion? What was the thought process behind designing and releasing your titles to be something brand-new and not necessarily tied to a new version of FB? For someone new to FB, which version of the the games they evolved from? game do you recommend?
• PLUM: I hold the legacies of both games very close to the heart. • PLUM: When I released FB it was from the perspective of a long In the case of Hockey Bones, absolutely nothing is different outside time face to face player. the title. I used the last published rules from 2000. I redesigned the layout and corrected grammar. The audience for these games has grown up and away from other players, so I had people wanting to play/reminisce if you will with FB With Football Bones, I am a long-time player, 28 years and counting but the table space needed was an issue. in an ongoing face to face league so I don’t want the basis of the game to change. Only to improve, modernize, update if you will. I While wargamers setup a game for long time play, sports gamers don’t, they want a small footprint. page 10 ADVANCED TITLE BOUT PROTOTYPE COURTESY TIM PLUM, PT GAMES PT TIM PLUM, COURTESY TITLE BOUT PROTOTYPE ADVANCED
So I removed the individual player cards and displays, transferring the care? Well, common decency. Do you want someone blatantly data to 8.5” x 11” two-sided sheets. I innovated on presenting certain stealing your ideas and creation? numbers, using ranges. Instead of rolling and looking up a yardage result, now the player rolls for a length of play, normal, short or break Most gamers have a code of decency. They want what’s best for and then yardage. Special teams are the same way. the hobby, if that means a little note saying’ “Jim Barnes loves the game and is impressed” all the better. At least Mr. Barnes or some- One other change was to remove a few defensive formations and a one else as creator made the decision to give permission. couple offensive plays. I shrunk the charts to half as many, removing the optional or detail oriented ones. It’s a slippery slope to allow people to use material without permis- sion. And PT Games feels strongly in not stealing or appropriating The game still flows very quickly and the player has the best of both someone else’s work. worlds, a small footprint and a great game engine. • 1for5: I'm a big fan of the old Avalon Hill game, Title Bout, and As to my recommendation. Its really your circumstances. Do you like it was really exciting to me to hear that not only will PT Games be individual player cards? How much table space do you have? The re-booting the game with the new moniker "Advanced Title Bout" games are so similar in execution its really up to the player. but that the original designer, Jim Trunzo, is involved in the project. Can you tell us how much involvement Trunzo will have? Is it fair • 1for5: With Faceoff/Hockey Bones and with Statis Pro/Football to say that Advanced Title Bout will more accurately represent his Bones you went out of your way to secure the blessing and official original vision than the AH version did? rights from the original game designers before re-releasing the prod- ucts under the PT Games label. Why was this important to you? • PLUM: Mr. Trunzo has complete control of the updates of the game as they pertain to game mechanics and documentation. PT Unlicensed fan-created sets for out-of-print games are abundant Games is handling the design work. on the internet – if I’m just a guy who wants to play tabletop-sports games, why should I care if the cards I’m using were created under Yes, it is fair to say that ATB will more accurately reflect Jim’s origi- legal license or with consideration to copyright law? nal vision.
• PLUM: I feel first and foremost the creator of a product, out of print • 1for5: Can you share a few of the new features and/or mechan- or not, deserves acknowledgement if not compensation for their ics of Advanced Title Bout that are an update from the original work. version?
Now a distinction must be made between fan created sets and the • PLUM: Some of the action that required a chart look up will be original game. Card sets are a specialty item. You must have the origi- on the FAC card. nal game to play. As long as the card creator acknowledges the need for the original game and does not build on the game, that’s okay. Better and more accurate cut and knockdown system.
If the ‘fan’ makes changes to the original game. Charts, tables, game If applicable to a fighter he will have prime and past prime ratings. mechanics, that is where I believe all attempts should be made to contact the creator and seek permission. Each set of ratings will be on a different side of the player card. [continued on page 20] To use your words of a guy that just wants to play, why should you
page 11 FOOTBALL GAMES GUIDE
1. SECOND SEASON [Plaay.com] 6. SIDELINE FOOTBALL [FTP Games] 2. FOOTBALL BONES [PT Games] 7. INSIDE BLITZ [Inside Sports] 3. GRIDIRON WARS [Downey Games] 8. 4th STREET PRO FOOTBALL [4th St. Software] 4. APBA FOOTBALL [APBA Games] 9. REDZONE/BOWL BOUND/DATA DRIVEN FOOTBALL
RANKING 5. STRAT-O-MATIC FOOTBALL [Strat-O-Matic Games] 10. MEAN GENE’S MATCHUP [Downey Games]
THE SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT TABLETOP FOOTBALL GAME STARTS HERE...
American Football is an incredibly complicated sport, with 22 men on the field at all times, each with his own specific role which may differ from one play to the next. To attempt to design a Card & Dice game that independently simulates all of the moving pieces on a football field at any one time is a fool’s errand.
It stands to reason, then, that while designing a football game, designers need to compromise certain aspects of “realism” in the name of “playability.”
In the nearly three years that I’ve been doing game reviews and creating other content for OneForFive.com, I don’t know that I’ve ever taken on a more difficult task than ranking the 15 most popular tabletop football games. There are a number of reasons for this, but the chief source of my consternation was the fact that although all of these are statistically-driven football simulations, each is designed with its own philosophy about which aspects of the sport to focus on and which aspects need to be given a more general treatment. The variance of philosophy from game to game can make it nearly impossible to call any one better than any other.
So if we have an apples vs. oranges scenario, how do we decide which is “better?” Is it even possible? First, let’s see what these games all have in common with each other:
* Each game is a Card & Dice (or FAC) Simulation of American Football that attempts to recreate a gridiron contest using statistical records to determine relative strength of each team * In each game, Offensive and Defensive squads interact with each other in a way such that the better offenses should score more points, and better defenses should allow fewer. * Teams are individually rated for skill at executing and defending each of Running, Passing, and Special Teams plays * Individual skill players on each team are rated so that their performance reflects their actual talent relative to the league * There is a mechanism in place within the game to simulate timing of a game. It could be triggered in any number of ways, but the game should flow with a linear timescale so that the clock ticks down in some way each time there is a new event (some games track time play-by- play, others drive-by-drive)
The 5 basic elements (accurate stats, offense/defenses rated for points, offense/defense rated for pass/run, players rated for skill level, some type of timing system) have been approached from a design standpoint with great creativity; from Second Season’s if/then charts on any roll from 24-66, to Football Bones’ 99 different combinations of offense/defense matchups from scrimmage (see insert on page 14), to Diggin’ Deep Football’s chart for runs that break into the defense’s secondary.
How each game approaches these elements says more about its designer’s philosophy and perspective than its quality - how elegantly it solves the problem of reflecting its philosophy is ultimately the only basis on which we can judge. That is to say, we can’t judge these games against each other, except to judge how well each game accomplishes whatever it is it specifically sets out to do. It’s like asking which is a better science fiction movie: Star Wars Episode VI: A New Hope or Star Trek: The Motion Picture. We can’t judge them on their specifics because they are very different movies, but we can say that Star Wars did a better job of being the movie it set out to be than Star Trek did.
Now, if you want to debate The Empire Strikes Back vs. The Wrath of Kahn, get your own magazine.
page 12 6. SIDELINE FOOTBALL [FTP Games] 11. DIGGIN’ DEEP FOOTBALL [Diggin’ Deep Sports] NOTE: This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are just the Top 15 7. INSIDE BLITZ [Inside Sports] 12. GOAL! FOOTBALL [Downey Games] games, and there are dozens more to be explored. The rankings here are wholly subjective though, and if you asked 15 different gamers to rank the 8. 4th STREET PRO FOOTBALL [4th St. Software] 13. EVERYDAY PLAYER FOOTBALL [Everyday Games] best football games, you’re likely to get 15 different lists. Each game on 9. REDZONE/BOWL BOUND/DATA DRIVEN FOOTBALL 14. FAST ACTION FOOTBALL [Downey Games] this list has something special to offer, and every one of them is somebody’s 10. MEAN GENE’S MATCHUP [Downey Games] 15. GAME WINNING DRIVE [Downey Games] favorite. I encourage you to try as many of them as you can to find the game that best suits you.
some sample individual player cards from Football Bones SECOND SEASON Designer: Keith Avallone; Publisher: Plaay.com Availability: direct from Publisher (Pro Quality Components); #1 Price for game + one season: $64; Players: 1-2; Game Time 1.5 - 2hrs; Dice req’d: 2d6, d20; Cards: Team Cards, but each player individually rated
Description: In Issue One of this magazine, we reported on a poll of gamers where we asked, “If you were going to be alone on an alien planet with 5 games, which 5 would you take?” No other game, in any sport, was mentioned in as many FOOTBALL BONES responses as Second Season Football. Designer: Tim Plum (based on Jim Barnes’ Statis Pro #2 Football); Publisher: PT Games; Availability: direct from Among C & D football gamers who fancy themselves amateur Bill Belicheks, Publisher (Pro Quality Components); Price for game + one Second Season has been derisively called a “chart flipper.” That is, some season: $57; Players: 1-2; Game Time: 2+hrs; Dice req’d: would say that it’s a game that doesn’t reward coaches for better coaching as 2d10; Cards: Individual cards for every player in the league (1,950 cards for much as it rewards coaches for better guessing. Offense picks a play, defense 2013-14 season) tries to guess it and picks a formation. You figure out which chart to use based on that matchup and then roll the dice to find out what happened. To Description: an extent, that’s a true representation of the game. Football Bones is a re-boot of Avalon Hill’s classic Statis Pro Football. Avalon Hill (AH) released some great sports games in the 1970’s and early 80’s, but However, where that depiction of the game falls short is in its lack of ac- the company was primarily known for its wargames catalog. As anyone knowledgement for the nuance and creativity of Second Season’s charts. familiar with that genre will tell you, unlike most tabletop sports sims which First of all, each offense vs. defense page offers hundreds of different results, have a limited footprint and can be played in one sitting, wargames of the based on which quarter of the game you’re in and who is on the field at the type Avalon HIll published were designed for the gamer who wanted to time. More importantly, game designer Keith Avallone has a gift for creating be fully immersed in the experience of managing a battle or campaign. game charts that use just enough descriptive text to bring the play to life AH’s wargames could be incredibly detailed and deep with huge footprints without giving so much away that the results grow stale over time. and long game times. Anticipating a crossover audience, Statis Pro was to football what the typical Avalon Hill game was to war. Statis Pro was, and It’s not untrue to call Second Season a “chart flipper,” but it just might be the remains, incredibly popular with a certain type of gamer. best chart flipper there ever was. PT Games founder Tim Plum (see interview, page 10), was careful to keep the core of the Statis Pro engine intact and, in fact, sought the counsel and approval of Statis Pro’s designer, Jim Barnes before releasing Football Bones. The result is a game that offers the same gaming experience as the original AH release, but uses advanced statistics and has evolved to more accurately reflect the modern sport as it is played today.
Those who want a deep strategic experience and who aren’t scared off by the heavy box and dense instruction booklet love this game. It’s the best of its kind.
For a “lighter” version of the game, Solo Football Bones (with a smaller footprint, less bells & whistles) was recently released, too.
Rushers RANGE RATING BREAK FUM Sacks Range FOOTBALL GAMES GUIDE Justin Vincent 23 B (25) AC Chad Lavalais 16 Joseph Addai 34 K (16) DC Marquise Hill 25 Alley Broussard 43 K (16) CC Marcus Spears 35 Matt Mauck 52 Y (2) EC Eric Alexander 43 Shyrone Carey 61 L (15) CC Melvin Oliver 51 B. Edwards 63 M (14) CC Kyle Williams 54 Marcus Randall 64 X (3) EC Lionel Turner 61 GRIDIRON WARS Skyler Green 65 A (26) DC LaRon Landry 64 D. Henderson 66 K (16) EC Travis Daniels 65 Designer: Jeff Downey; Publisher: Downey Games Michael Clayton 66 A (26) EC Kirston Pittman 66 Blain Bech 66 W (4) EC Brian West 66 Availability: direct from Publisher (full-color, indie print Cameron Vaughn 66 Receivers RANGE RATING BREAK FUM Randall Gay 66 quality); Price for game + one season: $29.99; Players: 1-2; Michael Clayton 25 R (9) BC Dave Peterson 66 #3 D. Henderson 36 BC Corey Webster 66 O (12) Game Time: 30 mins - 1 hr ; Dice req’d: 2d6 (FAC system Skyler Green 51 U (6) CC Eric Edwards 53 V (5) DC Joseph Addai 55 Y (2) DC Interceptions Range available, too); Cards: David Jones 61 N (13) CC Corey Webster 26 Dwayne Bowe 62 T (7) DC Jack Hunt 36 Justin Vincent 63 U (6) EC Travis Daniels 44 Craig Davis 64 V (5) EC Lionel Turner 51 Description: Keith Zinger 65 U (6) EC LaRon Landry 55 D. Robinson 66 S (8) EC Ronnie Prude 56 G. Giambelluca 66 Z (1) EC Kyle Williams 62 Jeff Downey, designer of the game says: “First of all, let me state that this Shyrone Carey 66 U (6) EC Marcus Spears 64 B. Edwards 66 Z (1) EC Chad Lavalais 66 is not a quick-play game. It’s a full play-by-play simulation of football that Alley Broussard 66 Z (1) EC plays rapidly. Once you are familiar with the game, you’ll be able to easily complete a game in 40 minutes or less.
Passers RATING INT SACK FUM % Matt Mauck H (19) I1 S1 C 90 The goal in designing GridIron Wars was to create a game that played rapid- Marcus Randall H (19) I1 S1 C 10 ly, was easy to learn, statistically accurate and most importantly, fun. I think Kicker 1-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ KO XP that I’ve succeeded on all counts.” Ryan Gaudet 65 65 46 41 25 C 64 Chris Jackson 65 65 46 36 33 B 62
Punter Rating CC Rate FUM Downey is correct that he succeeds on all counts, which is why Gridiron Donnie Jones QBC
Wars comes in at #3 on this list. GIW is an easy game to learn, a simple Punt Returns Range Rating Break FUM FC Skyler Green 41 J A C 16 game to play, and offers a solitaire system that can leave you with as many Shyrone Carey 63 R C C 16 Travis Daniels APBA65 W E PRO C X FOOTBALL or as few coaching decisions as you’d like. Ronnie Prude 66 Z E C X Kick Returns Designer:Range Rating Dick Break Seitz; FUM D. Henderson 42 Q C C #4Skyler Green 64 S C C Critics of the game will point to the play calling options, specifically the fact Bennie Brazell Publisher:66 A APBA C CGames that you have just two options on offense: Run or Pass. Availability: direct from Publisher (full-color, Pro Quality Com- But it’s precisely because of this simplicity that Gridiron Wars shines, ponents); Price for game + one season: especially for the solitaire player. Without dozens of complicated charts and $122; Players: 1-2; Game Time: 1.5 - without getting bogged down by minutiae the solitaire player can relax and 2hrs ; Dice req’d: 2d6; Cards: Individual roll a game of football on the tabletop with about as much investment as cards for every player in the league one has when watching a game on television. This won’t appeal to all foot- (1,440 cards in 2013 set) ball fans, but to the type of fan that is looking for a casual, quick and fun Description: There are many who tabletop football experience, Gridiron Wars suits the bill as well or better would call APBA Pro Football the best than any other. football simulation game in history. For a gaming experience with more options, Downey Games does offer an First released in 1958 by the original Advanced version of the game, which includes more offensive plays and game designer Dick Seitz, the basic defensive formations. However, it is in its basic form that the game stands version of the game remains virtually out. The Advanced version of the game loses that engaged-spectator feel unchanged in the decades since. and thus is less compelling to play. And it’s no wonder. Of the tabletop football games profiled in this magazine, none has a more loyal and fanatical base than APBA Pro Football. Which may be why APBA can charge $95 for a new card set AVALON HILL’S PAYDIRT! each season. Though it’s a great game that doesn’t have any glaring By Chris Palermo weakness, it isn’t the best at any one aspect either. The game Paydirt (and its lesser-known sibling, Bowl Bound) dates back to the early That is to say: 1970s. Originally called Sports Illustrated Pro Football, it became part of the Avalon * statistically, APBA Football’s results are reasonably Hill catalog when it purchased the entire SI line of games from Time, Inc. Dr. Thomas accurate - though not as good as Inside Blitz’s; R. Nicely, a mathematician specializing in random and statistical probabilities, was * APBA Football is very easy to learn and relatively hired to design the new charts, which were published by the company until the mid- simple to play - but not as easy and not as simple as 1990s. Gridiron Wars, or even Paydirt; * APBA Football comes with cards for 1,440 players - Hasbro purchased Avalon Hill in 1998. Soon thereafter, a handful of enthusiastic fans that includes offensive linemen! - but Football Bones of the game began releasing homemade charts. Each homemade chart was unique – comes with nearly 2,000 cards and linemen are rated certainly, each individual designer used his own unique formulae – but each designer individually for both run blocking and pass blocking. also made slight tweaks to the game play. As there have been no “official” releases * Many games have more seasons in stock, but APBA of Paydirt charts since 1998, all recently charted seasons have been created by en- has nearly 20 seasons available, as far back as 1958. thusiastic and enterprising individual designers. * Though APBA is one of the best in both categories, Strat-O-Matic is better in head-to-head and draft Paydirt is a team-driven simulation; there are no individual players. Instead, each league play. When up against the whole field of foot- overall team’s performance is reflected in its own chart. Each team’s rushing chart is ball sims, APBA isn’t the best in any particular aspect. created from an aggregate of all results of all the rushing plays by all of its running What APBA does best, however, is do everything well. backs throughout the year. The passing plays are the sum totals of all the quarter “I feel very strongly about this: Head-to-head, Strat-O-Matic Football is the best sports game ever invented.” AVALON HILL’S PAYDIRT! (continued from page 13) - Game Designer and Founder of Strat-O-Matic Games, Hal Richman backs and all the receivers throughout the year. With no individual players, there are no individual statistics; however, the game totals for passing, rushing, etc. are STRAT-O-MATIC typically quite comparable to the real-life’s totals. The game uses a unique matrix, called a “Priority Chart”, which shows how results FOOTBALL are calculated. On each play, the defense secretly selects one of six defensive sets. Designer: Hal Richman; Publisher: Strat-O-Matic Game #5 Once the defensive coach indicates readiness, the offense reveals one of nine Co. Availability: direct from Publisher (Pro Quality offensive calls. Components); Price for game + one season: $49.99; Players: 1-2; Game Time: 1hr - 2hr ; Dice req’d: 2d6, d20; Cards: 672 The game uses two unique six-sided dice for defense (which can generate a total cards (per team: 14 offensive skill players, 3 team defense cards, 1 card ranging from 1 to 5 between the two dice – with 1s and 2s more common than with ratings for offensive and defensive linemen) 4s and 5s); and three unique six-sided dice for offense (generating results from 11-39 – without getting in to specifics; the “10s” die has one 1, two 2s and three 3s, making 31-39 far more likely than any other result. In addition, the second two Description: dice are added together and skew towards returning 4s, 5s and 6s (more than the In Strat-O-Matic Fanatics: The Unlikely Success Story of a Game that Became an 1-3 and 7-9) – Remember, Dr. Nicely was a mathematician, specializing in statistical American Passion, author Glenn Guzzo quotes Strat-O-Matic founder (and inven- probability and randomness.). tor of its football game) Hal Richman as saying, “I feel very strongly about this: Head-to-head, Strat-O-Matic Football is the best sports game ever invented.” Here are a few examples to see how the game works:
Let’s say the Broncos called an end run and Seattle, on defense, called a Cover 3 Run. On the roll, the Broncos roll a 36 (7 yards) and the Seahawks roll a 1 (blank). Checking the Priority Chart, a green number (#) by the offense, cross-referenced with a white/blank result from the defense, results in “ADD” –the results are added together and it’s a 7 yard gain by the Broncos on the ground.
Of all the sports simulations, football is one of the best for face-to-face matches, since both players have decisions to make on each play. However, that is also the curse for the tabletop football designer. Since so many results are based on the defense guessing “right” or “wrong” on a given play, the offense is constantly tempted to choose plays non-intuitively: rd3 and 11? Sure – we’ll go Off-Tackle! And, far too often, games reward that non-intuitive play-calling.
When a defense guesses wrong in real life, however, it usually recovers (and the better defenses recover more quickly). So, when evaluating a football game, one of the first things to determine is how well the game handles that temptation.
For a second example (and to show how well the game addresses defensive recovery), the Broncos call a medium pass, rolling an 11 (TD!); and the Seahawks were thoroughly fooled, guessing Short Run. They rolled a 1 (15 in parentheses). Checking the Priority Chart, we see an offensive TD, when cross-referenced with a number in parentheses by the defense, means the defensive result “trumps” the offensive result. In this case, bye-bye TD ... it’s only a 15 yard gain. The Seahawks didn’t stop them, but they recovered in time to deny the TD. RIchman worked on the design for Strat-O-Matic Football for 4 years before releasing the game in 1968. The game was intended for - and excels at - Head- If you check the Broncos’ defensive chart (and, remembering that a 1 is the most to-Head competition between people. According to Guzzo’s book, even Richman common defensive roll), the Broncos would’ve had a blank result. The touchdown says, “it’s not a good solitaire game, but the game was set up to play head-to- would’ve stood. head.” Obviously, the game is a little more complex than that; but not much more. Learn- The game board is a prominent element of Strat-O-Matic Football, and is the ing to read the priority chart (and, eventually, memorizing what trumps what) is most iconic of the boards for any of the football simulations. Besides its aesthetic the key to quick games. A game between two players who know the system should appeal, what makes the board stand out from the crowd is its utility. In the take about an hour. Advanced version of the game, defenders can be physically moved around the board to visually depict the zone each covers. Avid fans continue to make Paydirt one of the more popular in the tabletop football world. Even at the annual World Boardgaming Championships, a convention filled Critics will suggest that Strat’s 50/50 model, whereby half of the results are read with the latest boardgames, Paydirt continues to draw more than 40 players for its from the offensive cards, half from the defense, is a flawed design. Some have tournament. also said the game can feel like an elaborate version of rock/paper/scissors - es- pecially the Elementary version of the game - saying that because the results are The lone limitation might be the lack of individual players; but, the game offers so heavily influenced by whether or not the defensive coach “guesses right” or accurate statistics; realistic in-game decision-making and extremely quick playing “guesses wrong” that the game engine is ripe for manipulation by savvy coaches. times. For most, those pros will far outweigh the cons.
In the final analysis, Strat-O-Matic Football ranks #5 on this list because it offers the following:
* Arguably the best head-to-head experience of any football sim Chris Palermo has been a gamer for * A novel and useful approach to the problem of sorting and visualizing which as long as he can remember. While he now defenders can cover which zones runs a successful gaming club on Long Island * The game company’s wholly earned reputation for attention to detail and (libogroup.com), his first love remains sports statistical accuracy simulations. Of the nearly 2,000 games in * A simple and fun Elementary version of the game, with optional Advanced, and his collection, approximately 300 are unique Super-Advanced sets of rules all included in the game box - giving the gamer the sports simulations. As a regular attendee of opportunity to choose the level of verisimilitude and depth of game play desired the World Boardgaming Championships, he in the experience. continues to enjoy some of the classic sports sims (including Paydirt)! A BRIEF HISTORY OF FOOTBALL BOARD GAMES BY GEOFF GIORDANO - Founder, APBA Football Club
For just about every human endeavor, it seems a game has been created to capture the flavor of the real thing.
Generations of would-be surgeons tried their hand at Operation. Fantasy farmers of America plow through hours of FarmVille. Games of mon- ey and power snowballed in the wake of Monopoly, which received a 1935 patent assigned to Parker Brothers. Games with railroad themes range from Avalon Hill’s Rail Baron, introduced in 1977, to today’s award-winning Eurogame Ticket to Ride and its various expansions.
No surprise, then, that the game of American football (pro and college) has inspired many designers to try their hand at depicting the gridiron in miniature. Since the iconic overtime NFL championship of 1958 between the Giants and Colts — generally regarded as the game that thrust the league into prominence — American football has been rendered in dozens of ways, using various combinations of cards, dice, spinners, player pieces and other, more curious devices.
Growing up on the cusp of the PC age, I first tried to devise my own realistic football game using Topps cards. Of course, that didn’t work — especially when teams like Pittsburgh, Oakland, Dallas and Minnesota had roughly a dozen carded players but cellar-dwellers of the late ‘70s had about half that many.
Next came Cadaco’s Pro Foto-Football, copyrighted in 1977 and featuring a cool plastic stadium and cardboard scoreboard/timer. Touted on the box as “The Original Game of Real Football Strategy,” the game allows players to select an offensive play card, superimpose a transparent defensive card, and slowly move the envelope holding those cards to reveal how a play progresses. (Since the timer featured 30 plays, I ended up using that for my APBA football setup.)
Then I found Sports Illustrated’s Paydirt! (tagline “The Authen- tic Pro Football Action Game”), featuring statistically based team cards with offensive results on one side, defensive and special team results on the other. The current copy we own is a version of our original, copyrighted 1974 and in the familiar box featuring the Redskins and Cowboys on the cover.
Finally, like so many other APBA fans, I saw the compelling- ly-written ad for APBA football in one of the NFL season pre- view magazines. Not only did the game appear more aesthet- ically pleasing than its biggest rival, Strat-O-Matic (launched in 1967-68), but it had what I wanted: cards for each of “my guys” to accurately represent their attributes. Strato, of course, goes the route of featuring cards with results on them for key offensive players, but only team cards for defense (elementary and advanced). Unlike APBA’s game engine, Strato incorpo- rates player matchups to influence results, and its field allows advanced gamers to position certain defenders.
page 16 As the founder of the APBA Football Club, it’s obvious that I’m 1920s-1940s unabashedly biased in my lifetime devotion to the game of APBA Football. The history of the game goes back to 1958 when, pre- Intercollegiate Football by Hustler sciently, APBA founder Dick Seitz launched his version of a statis- Toys. The oldest football board-type tics-driven football board game with player cards based on the game we’ve found. Dating to the ’20s, 1957 season. this game features a tin cylinder in which outcomes are revealed for a Seitz got his start in the game-publishing business by playing and line play, end play, trick play, punt and resurrecting Clifford Van Beek’s then out-of-print baseball game -Na kickoff returns, PAT/FG atttempts, and tional Pastime. National Pastime was, by most accounts, patented forward pass/INT. Instructions call for a in 1925 but not commercially printed until 1930-31. But despite game lasting 20 minutes or 100 plays. sharing the basic concept of individually calculated player cards An August eBay auction listed a buy-it- and dice rolls of 11 to 66 for play outcomes, when compared to now price of $379.99. “Get the thrill of National Pastime and/or APBA Baseball, APBA Football is a different a foot ball game at home” and “Have a animal entirely. foot ball gridiron in your home” with Intercollegiate.
For that reason, we view APBA Football as the company’s first truly Cadaco: The long line of Cadaco football games began in 1936 with unique creation and the original fantasy football product. Though Elmer Layden’s Scientific Football, according to BGG. Layden, a mem- the company’s baseball game far outshadows APBA Football in ber of the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, was coach and terms of popularity, current APBA CEO John Herson is known to athletic director for the Irish at the time. The company later issued a be a “football guy” who has vowed to begin reissuing out-of-print game called Touchdown, as well as a version of Layden’s game called seasons recalculated for the “master game,” which was unveiled Varsity and another disc-based game called All-American Football. in 1983 for the 1982 season (the 1965, 1970 and 1975 seasons are Labeled the “college edition,” versions of the game dated to 1942 slated to be the first reissues). feature results charts that form three walls of a “stadium” around the football playing field. The field features a sliding down marker and football residing in slots at the top and middle of the field, respective- For decades, APBA and Strat-O-Matic have remained the most ly — the style ultimately appearing in APBA. Scientific Football also popular football simulation games on the market, but plenty of uses 30 plays per quarter, another eventual APBA staple. The first of other options have emerged and gained loyal fans over the years. A the company’s many variations on its “foto-electric” football games quick survey of Board Game Geek turns up four pages of results for dates to 1941, BGG indicates. football products. Search for “vintage football game” or “vintage football board game” on eBay and you’ll find plenty of tempting choices to add to your collection.
Generally, we discern three basic types of football board games: statistics based, generically strategy based or franchise-building/ draft based. Not counting electric, PC or web-based football games, here’s a quick-hit (and nowhere near definitive) list of some of the more notable entries into the field, including some from our collection. Pro Football. A simple titled spinner-based game by Milton Bradley that also came in a Canadian version. BGG dates it to 1964.
Strat-o-Matic Pro Football. Like Seitz at APBA, Hal Richman estab- lished his company with baseball before offering a gridiron product in 1968 that is going strong to this day with season sets going back to the late ’50s and a robust website.
All-Pro Football. A big-box, well-packaged game dating to 1967 and branded as the official game of the NFL. Another player movement game featuring checkers-like pieces and field divided into light- and dark-green squares.
1970s
Statis-Pro Football. Originally created by Midwest Research in 1973, Tom Hamilton’s Football Game/Pigskin. Copyrighted by Parker Statis Pro became an Avalon Hill/Sports Illustrated product featuring Brothers as far back as 1934-35, the original features a playing stat cards for each player on each team until Avalon Hill went defunct field labeled “Football’s Classic Army-Navy Soldier’s Field, Chicago, in the 1990s. Statis Pro Football lives on today in a new package, November 27, 1926.” Both the original version and a later version marketed by PT Games as Football Bones. (See interview with PT copyrighted 1960 feature stumpy red and yellow wooden player Games founder and President Tim Plum in the this issue.) pegs. While the more modern version has a green-and-white foot- ball field, the original uses a card-driven system of generating play Fun Football/”The Scrambler.” Our still-unopened version, copyright outcomes using the “Chart-o-graph” and a black-and-silver playing 1973, features a blue “scrambler” offensive player piece and four red board. Vintage Pigskin also uses a rudimentary injury system. Our defenders. The goal is to score (or prevent) a touchdown by moving copy features a filled-out chart-o-graph dated Jan. 21, 1956. pieces on the dark green squares of the board. First player to 28 points wins. Stars On Stripes Football Game. Dating to 1941, “it teaches foot- ball” using a combination of results charts and three dice. Thir- ty-two plays per quarter.
Rose Bowl. “Keck’s Original Football Game” dates to 1949 and uses player-shaped pieces on a green-and-white football field divided into squares. Dice rolls dictate player moves.
1950s
Play Fut-Bal. Copyrighted in 1957, a year before APBA’s inaugural release, Fut-Bal comes in a thin red-and-green box and use a deck of red offensive cards and green defensive cards with play results on them.
APBA Pro League Football Game. The game that raised the bar. The APBA Football Club is producing an unofficial handbook doc- umenting the game’s evolution, which we have synopsized in an article on the game’s many variations.
Avalon Hill Football Strategy. BGG lists its creation as 1959; we own a copy copyrighted 1972 that comes in the more familiar AH bookcase box and features the “Football Widow’s Handbook: A Pro Draft. Using 50 official 1974 Topps cards, this Parker Brothers Wife-Type Manual of Football Knowledge.” game features a large plastic football housing a spinner that tells you how many “contract cards” you can draw to help you build a team. 1960s 1980s Bible Football. Issued in 1963, this trivia game promises “Bible facts plus the excitement of FOOTBALL!” NFL Strategy. An NFL-branded game by Tudor (ours is copyright 1980; BGG dates it 1970) that features a play system quite similar to Cad- Adam Games Football (Taylor Marketing): This 1964 creation fea- aco’s aforementioned Foto-Football but with far more play options. tures team cards based on season statistics. Our collection includes Features a sturdy multifunction plastic gray playing board with green the 1962-64, 1969, 1971, ’74 and ’76 seasons. page 18 football field and sliding plastic balls to indicate probabilities of play success.
NFL Franchise. Dated 1982, this is another team-building game in which you purchase a franchise, choose a coach and add players. NFL-branded.
Clutch Football. According to the manual introduction by inventor Ron Poisson, “Clutch Football was first conceived in West Pakistan, while I was serving an isolated tour in the Air Force” from September 1968 to November 1969. Copyrighted 1984, with a first edition in 1985, this rare and well-packaged product features a sturdy, crib- bage-like plastic football field with four brass pegs, a 26-page large glossy manual, and a variety of play cards.
1990s-present
Inside Blitz Football... Second Season and Cold Snap by Plaay!... 4th Street Football... Pizza Box Football... Diggin’ Deep Football...
The list of new football board games keeps growing in the 21st cen- tury — even in this era of EA Sports, Inc. and their ubiqitous video Geoff Giordano, founder of the APBA Football Club — the first inde- game, Madden NFL Football. And online, Paydirt! (varations of which pendent group of social-media sites dedicated to APBA football — now go by Data-Driven Football, Red Zone, and Bowl Bound) lives acquired his first game of APBA football in 1979. on. In our collection, still unopened, is a copy of Playbook Football, copyright 2008 by Bucephalus Games. It’s a heavy, colorful game featuring multiple play cards and several multisided dice.
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page 19 MEA COPA ‘14 WORLD CUP SOCCER - QUICK PLAY GAME
INTRODUCTION Mea Copa is a quick play soccer game, designed by Anthony Apostolico of Time Travel Games. Apostolico is best known for the full play soccer simula- tion Classic Soccer, which was called by OneForFive.com “the Gold Standard for soccer simulations.”
Mea Copa was originally meant to be a supplement to Classic Soccer; to help gamers work through all qualifying rounds on the way to setting up alternate-universe World Cup tournaments; or, as a way to efficiently complete tournaments created with World Cup sides from different eras going against each other. Mea Copa ‘14 - the version of the game published here - is an abridged version of the game, though a PDF of the complete game with ratings for every World Cup since 1930 is available for free download with purchase of this magazine. This is an abridged edition of the rules, though all team ratings (see inside back cover of magazine) are accurate and will be compatible with the full version of the game. The original, com- plete rulebook is available as a free download with your purchase of this issue.
BASIC RULES To play a game you’ll need these rules, the charts located on the inside 1.40 (team with the greater Power rating moves up, lesser Power rating back cover of this magazine, and 2 10-sided dice. A pencil and paper moves down). will come in handy, too. Now let’s say Belgium rolls a 27. Find 27 on the 1.40 row on the Game Once you’ve decided which two teams are playing, the first thing you’ll Chart. It’s in the 3 column. That means that Belgium will have three 15% do is make a simple pre-game calculation for each team, to determine a opportunities in this first segment of the match with USA. rating for the club in the game at hand. To take these opportunities, Belgium has a choice: they can attempt 3 In this version of the game, each country is rated in 6 categories: shots on goal, each with a 15% chance of success, or they can bundle 1. Offense; 2. Defense; 3. Goalkeeping; 4. Penalty Kicks (shooting and those chances up by taking 1 shot with 45% chance of scoring, or 2 shots saving); 5. Random Events (X-Chart); 6. Overall Power (30% and 15%).
I. DETERMINE MATCH RATING FOR EACH CLUB After Belgium has rolled for their opportunities, the US has a turn. Let’s take 2014 Belgium vs. 2014 United States. Add Belgium’s Offensive rating (1.20) to the USA’s Defensive rating (1.50) and divide by 2, the IV. STOPPAGE TIME answer (1.35) will be Belgium’s rating for this game. Using the same Every match will have a Stoppage Time roll after each half is played. Stop- process for the USA, ((1.25 + 0.60)/2) we get a 0.93 rating for the Ameri- page Time (sometimes known as Extra Time), is played exactly the same cans (always round up from the thousanths place). as any regular 15 minute interval, except now each opportunity is only worth a 5% chance at goal. * Some teams have a number of asterisks (*) attached to their ratings. This means that if the team is competing against a club with a greater V. PENALTY KICKS Power Rating, then the team’s performance will suffer. For each * on Each team has a Penalty Kick rating and a Penalty Kick Defense rating. the Offensive Rating, subtract 1.00 from that offensive rating if they’re Penalty Kicks are required if a match in a knockout round of the tourna- up against a better squad. For each * on the Defensive Rating, add 1.00 ment should still be tied after 120 minutes of match play. to their defensive rating if they’re up against a better squad. Additionally, any time a side rolls 01 during a chance at goal, a Penalty Now that we have each club’s rating for the game, we can get started. Kicks is awarded. To clarify, if a side has a 30% chance at goal (for in- stance) and rolls a 01, they do not automatically score a goal, instead they II. PRE-MATCH ROLL must proceed to take a PK. Before every match there is a Pre-Match Roll [see chart on pg 23] Roll the 2 10-sided dice, check the Pre-Match Roll chart and follow its The base rating of all Penalty Kicks is 81. Find the team’s PK rating (the instructions. 1st number before the slash) and add or subtract it to 81. Then add or subtract the opposing team’s PK Defense rating (the number after the III. THE MATCH slash). The resultant number is the kicking team’s percent chance for a The game is played out in 15 minute increments, plus a stoppage time goal. The chance to score can never go above 99%. period each half. Here is the basic procedure: VI. GOALKEEPER RATING In each 15 minute period, each side will roll to see how many chances The GK rating can come into play on X-Chart events, and potentially after on goal they earn. Each chance is a 15% opportunity to score. THESE a goal is scored. Certain teams (the USA, for instance) have a ** in the CAN BE BUNDLED TOGETHER. GK rating column. Every time a goal is “scored” against any ** GK in this tournament, roll again. If the next roll is 01-20, the goalkeeper has made For instance, Belgium rolls first against the USA. Belgium is rated 1.35 a spectacular save! Any roll between 21-00 and the goal stands. for this game - since 1.35 isn’t on the Game Chart (these averages rarely match up exactly to the figures on the chart) and Belgium’s Power Rat- VII. X-CHARTS ing of 91 is greater than the USA’s rating of 87, we round that 1.35 up to Any time a club rolls a 55 when rolling on the game chart, they will be page 20 This means that on a roll of 01-40, Clint Dempsey was the goal scorer, MEA COPA ‘14 from 41-60 John Anthony Brooks scored the goal, from 61-80 Jermaine WORLD CUP SOCCER - QUICK PLAY GAME Jones was the goalscorer, and from 81-00 Julian Green put it in the net.
To determine time of goal, roll the dice, consult the following chart and referred to their X-Chart result. Every club has an X-Chart result. Find add the number of minutes to whichever 15 minute interval in which the the number in the club’s X-Chart column and reference that number on goal was scored: the X-Chart itself. Some results are ordinary, some are pretty amazing. 01-07: 1 min 08-14: 2 min 15-21: 3 min 22-28: 4 min VIII. GOAL SCORERS 29-35: 5 min 36-42: 6 min 43-49: 7 min 50-56: 8 min Goal scorers are provided to add color to results. Since teams are 57-62: 9 min 63-68: 10 min 69-74: 11 min 75-80: 12 min already rated for goals scored in the tournament, there is no individual 81-86: 13 min 87-93: 14 min 94-00: 15 min rating for, say, Thomas Meuller’s ability to impact the game as opposed to Mario Goetze. However, each team’s goal scorers are rated based on So , for instance, if a goal scores in the first 15 minute interval of play, roll percentage of the team’s goals they scored in the actual tournament. for the time. If you rolled a 44, the goal occurs in the 7th minute of the match. If you were in the 3rd 15 minute interval of play and rolled a 44, Once a goal has been scored in a match, to determine who scored it take the goal would have occurred in the 37th minute (since 30 minutes had a look at the team scoring chart. It will look something like this: elapsed after two intervals of play).
40/Dempsey; 60/Brooks; 80/Jones; 00/Green NOTE: This abridged version of the game does not include Formation Charts, but the Formation Chart rules from the full version of the game can be used if you so choose.
Continued from page 11 - Interview with Tim Plum of PT Games More accurate representation of the fighter through the available metrics on Besides, I’m my own worst critic. I sit down to play a game, find something each card. More accurate system for cuts/knockdowns and knockouts. These that I want to tweak/alter/change and I immediately go to the computer are a few of the updates. open the file and make the change.
• 1for5: When should we expect ATB to be available? I’m trying a ‘64 replay of the Dodgers in Payoff Pitch and I can barely finish a game without sending Joe an email with a suggestion or thought. • PLUM: No release date has been announced. Keep an eye on our website for more details. • 1for5: When you look down the road three or five or ten years from now - what will PT Games have accomplished? What is on the horizon for you and • 1for5: No one can say that Tim Plum and PT Games are not ambitious. the company? What should fans of your products be looking forward to? With the release of ATB, you'll be publishing 5 games, each in a different sport. How do you manage to stay on top of each game, managing card set • PLUM: The future for PT Games is very bright, we have many irons in the releases, updates, and product launches while managing work and life and fire, including new games, better game materials, new cardsets, a new web- finding your own time to be a gamer? site, new ecommerce, bringing on board someone to help me with special projects. Hopefully Wizards of the Coast opens up the new 5th edition D&D • PLUM: One of the things that I decided was to not try and be the creative to an OGL and we can step back into our root products. genius for every game. Greg [Eno, game designer] handles all card making for his game Basketball Bones, Joe [Bryan, game designer] handles all Payoff I hope to bring non-sports titles to the public and open new markets/outlets Pitch Baseball, and at the moment Jim [Trunzo] and I work together on cards for our games before Christmas. for Advanced Title Bout. I maintain the look and feel of every game. So many things to do, so little time.... My life is very hectic and it’s hard to find the time for everything but we manage. The one thing left out for me is time to actually play the games. - thanks Paul That I don’t have much of. BEST. GAME. EVER. On this back page of each issue, we’ll feature a scorecard of the Best. Game. Ever. In this issue, we feature a game from Jeff Polman’s ‘73 Freaks League. The ‘73 Freaks League is a draft league of 12 teams, using the 1973 Strat-O-Matic card set. Jeff invited 12 friends including yours truly to draft a team, make lineups and managerial suggestions, and then let Jeff play out the 162-game season with said teams. This game featured the West leading OneForFive Dotcoms at home (Dodger Stadium) vs. Jason Toon’s 2nd place Kuhnskinners, who were 6.5 gb at the time. At press time, the season still has about a week left in it, and led by Al Bumbry’s league-leading .351 BA, Davey Johnson’s 42 home runs, and Don Baylor’s 57 stolen bases, my OneForFive Dotcoms have already clinched the Western Division pennant. We’ll face the champion from the East (not yet determined) for a 9 game series when the regular season ends.
KUHNSKINNERS AB R H BI
2B MORGAN 5 1 3 1 2B CF MADDOX 4 1 0 0 HBP DH F. ROBINSON 5 2 3 2 HR C TENACE 2 0 0 0 1B TORRE 4 0 0 0 GIDP RF RICHIE 3 0 0 0 -PH/RF A.JOHNSON 1 1 1 0 LF BROCK 4 1 1 2 E 3B HUNT 4 1 1 0 -3B MONEY 0 0 0 0 SS SPEIER 4 0 0 0
BB: TENACE (2); SO: MADDOX, TENACE, TORRE, BROCK (3), SPEIER; E: BROCK
PITCHERS IP R ER H BB SO HR BIBBY 8 6 5 7 4 8 3 HERNANDEZ 1/3 2 2 1 1 0 1
ONEFORFIVE DOTCOMS AB R H BI
LF BAYLOR 4 2 1 2 HR,SB DH BUMBRY 4 0 1 1 3B - PH SCHMIDT 0 1 0 0 2B D. JOHNSON 4 1 1 2 HR 1B McCOVEY 4 1 1 1 HR CF MONDAY 4 0 0 0 3B SANTO 4 0 1 0 C MUNSON 3 1 0 0 SS CONCEPCION 4 2 1 1 HR RF COGGINS 3 0 1 0
BB: BAYLOR, BUMBRY (2), JOHNSON, MUNSON, COGGINS; SO: JOHNSON, McCOVEY (2), MONDAY (2), SANTO, CONCEPCION, COGGINS scorecard by: JEFF POLMAN PITCHERS IP R ER H BB SO HR on Twitter: @JPBALLNUT CLEVELAND 7 5 3 6 2 5 1 HILLER 2 2 0 3 0 2 1 The OneForFive Dotcoms take a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the 7th, after Don Baylor’s 18th home run on the season. Reggie Cleveland takes the mound in the top of the 8th to face Garry Maddox. Maddox is hit by a pitch. Frank Robinson singles Maddox to 3rd and then the bases get juiced when Gene Tenace draws a walk. The Dotcoms have the league’s best bullpen, so in comes fireman John Hiller to put out the rally. He gets Joe Torre to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, but Maddox scores in the process. The precarious 5-4 lead is blown on the next batter, when Lou Brock rolls a 1-3 HOME RUN. It’s 7-5 Kuhnskinners. The next batter grounds out and things are uneventful until the bottom of the 9th. Davey Concepcion, not known for his bat, leads off the bottom of the 9th with a HR, and Coggins draws a walk. Suddenly the tying run is on base an the winning run at the plate, but Ramon Hernandez comes on for Bibby and induces Baylor to hit into a double play. Prospects are meek as there are two out and Mike Schmidt, with his .143 batting average is coming up to hit against the lefty. But he draws a WALK! And with two out in the bottom of the 9th, Davey Johnson stands in and parks the first pitch he sees into the upper deck! THE DOTCOMS WALKOFF! THE DOTCOMS WIN!!
page 22 MEA COPA ‘14 WORLD CUP SOCCER - QUICK PLAY GAME 2014 WORLD CUP RATINGS GAME CHART by ONEFORFIVE.COM
POWER RATING OFF. DEFENSE GK PK X-CHART Germany 95 2.57 0.57 ** 0/-10 4 Netherlands 93 2.14 0.57 0/-40 4 Brazil 91 1.57 1.00**** -10/-40 1 Argentina 94 1.14 0.57 +10/-40 11 Colombia 90 2.40* 0.80* ** +10/0 3 France 91 2.00* 0.60 +10/0 16 Belgium 91 1.20 0.60 0/+10 15 Costa Rica 90 1.00 0.40 ** +10/-10 8 Algeria 87 1.75 1.75 ** +10/0 4 Switzerland 87 1.75 0.67**** 0/-40 3 Chile 88 1.50 1.00 0/-20 3 Mexico 88 1.25 0.75 ** +10/0 14 USA 87 1.25 1.50 ** 0/0 10 Uruguay 87 1.00 1.50 +10/0 9 Greece 87 0.75 1.25 +10/+20 7 Nigeria 87 0.75 1.25 ** 0/0 12 Croatia 86 2.00** 2.00 0/-40 16 Bosnia/Herzogvna 86 1.33 1.33 0/0 12 Côte d’Ivoire 86 1.33 1.67 0/-20 6 Ghana 86 1.33 2.00 0/0 12 Spain 87 1.33 0.67*** ** +10/0 4 Portugal 87 1.33 2.33 0/-20 13 Ecuador 86 1.00 1.00 0/0 10 Korea Republic 86 1.00 2.00 0/0 16 Australia 85 1.00 3.00 0/0 6 Italy 86 0.67 1.00 0/0 9 Corner Kick Chart Russia 86 0.67 1.00 0/0 6 01-05 Goal!!!!!! 06 Ball is headed away by opposite defender...01-30 own goal!!! England 85 0.67 1.33 0/0 3 31-00 another corner!! Japan 85 0.67 2.00 0/-20 3 07-20 Offensive side gets another roll for chances, but a maximum of 1 goal can be scored Iran 86 0.33 1.33 0/0 3 21-00 Save Honduras 84 0.33 2.67 0/-20 3 Cameroon 85 0.33 3.00 0/0 3
X-CHART RESULTS [consult team X-Chart Rating any time a roll of 55 comes up on Game Chart] 1. Neymar is hammered to the pitch! He’s out for the rest of the tournament! Reduce Brazil’s PR by 1, subtract 3% from all Brazil’s scoring chances for the rest of the tour- nament. For instance, if Brazil has a 30% shot at goal, it becomes a 27% chance with Neymar out. 2. Ochoa makes a fantastic save! On the counter, Dos Santos fires it in and scores! But was he offside? Roll again: 01-90 OFFSIDE, NO GOAL! 91-00 GOOOALLL!!!! 3. Team with Greater Power Rating has a shot on goal: 01-67 GOAL! 68-00 Corner Kick 4. Roll again: 01-30 Forward scores a GOAL on an unbelievable header! 31-00 Team with greater Power Rating is dragged down in box & is awarded a Penalty Kick! 5. Team with Lower Power Rating gets a shot on goal: 01-19 GOAL! 20-00 Save 6. Roll again 01-20: It’s an INCREDIBLE GOAL FROM OUT OF NOWHERE!! 21-40: Opponents steal the ball and make an INCREDIBLE GOAL!! 41-00 Corner Kick 7. Team’s captain is shown a RED CARD! Reduce offensive rating by 0.80, reduce team power rating by 8 8. Player #10 finds space in the box, if team has greater Power Rating: 01-10 GOAL!, 11-00 Saved, otherwise shot goes over the bar 9. Roll again 01-50: see X-Chart Result #7, 51-00 see X-Chart Result #4 10. Opponent has a fussilade of shots, but Goalkeeper makes three tremendous saves! Roll again: 01-40 3rd shot goes out for Corner Kick, 41-00 keeper collects ball 11. Roll again: 01-50 see Result #3, 51-00 Higuain has the chance of a lifetime! Roll 01-04 he scores! 05-00 he shoots wide! What a miss!! 12. Roll again: 01-15 Team’s defender scores an OWN GOAL! 16-00 See Result #3 13. Roll again: 01-25 Team Captain sends in a beautiful cross to choice player who scores a GOAL! 26-50 see Result #5, 51-00 see Result #6 14. Roll again: 01-50 see Result #2, 51-00 see Result #10 15. Roll again: 01-50 if opponent is ** keeper, he saves 4 shots, corner kick for team. 51-00 See Result #3 16. Roll again: 01-50 see Result #5, 51-00 see Result #3 IT’S FOOTBALL SEASON GRAB YOUR HELMET AND JOIN THE ACTION
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