Stuff That Doesn't Exist Yet

Did a little previewing last week. First up was our monthly Strange Aeons night at Trilogy. Uncle Mike and James were there with some newly made terrain pieces when I arrived. As soon as I sat down Uncle Mike nudged a binder at me, "check in there and make sure I spelled your name right" he said. Opening it up I found the printer-proof of Shocking Tales of Madness & Mayhem, cool!

Inside the upcoming book are three different Black Dossier adventures, the conclusion the "The Council of Thirteen" and tons of new Lurker profiles. Plus the book looks excellent. I can't wait to receive my copy as soon as it arrives.

Mike and I also had time to play a game. I ran a Lurker list comprised of a Winged Nightmare, Cult Leader and two measly .22 pistol-armed cultists. I ended up losing, but was able to drag one Agent off the board and kill another. Mike's character survived but will be in pretty tough shape after this adventure. I'm sure I'll get paid back for the damage I've caused in full soon enough...I still have three new Agents that haven't seen any field action yet.

Also, big thanks to James and Mike for modifying their schedule to come to a different day to accommodate me. I really appreciate it!

Second up was more preview gaming on Sunday evening. I played two basic games of Dreadball between Orx and Corporation this weekend using the available rules and team stats from the designer's blog, and a pitch I made out of Heroscape tiles. Both games were really close. The first game was just me, trying to sort out the rules while running both teams. The result was a three point win for the Orx, with each team losing a player through unlucky armor checks.

The second game was against William, who was kind enough to sit down with me to test out the rules in a more realistic fashion. I played Orx, William the Corporation. He took an early 2-point lead, which I cut down to 1 shortly after. A little after the halfway point, he scored another single to once again make it a 2 point lead...and again I was able to quickly cut that lead to one.

During my second-last rush I was able to kill one of his guards and take possession of the ball, retaining it as the rush ended and protecting my jack with two guards. William's players converged on that spot and tried in vain to slam the jack. As a last play on his final rush he moved a striker in to even up the numbers a little bit. At the start of the final rush of the game two Orx guards cleared the way to the strike zone but that lone human striker was threatening my jack. Needing to make a desperate two point throw I tried to evade the striker and move away. Unfortunately, the clumsy jack tripped...losing the ball, and the game.

Even though I didn't successfully make the play at the end it was still a riveting conclusion to the game, as it could easily have gone my way with a better die roll. Had I then also been able to pull off the shot (I'd saved a coaching die in hopes of getting to take a shot), it would have been a spectacular upset!

All in all I think the basic Dreadball rules are a lot of fun. There is a lot of room for daring plays and good strategy, even without any fouls, a referee or fan checks. I liked it quite a bit and am now awaiting my season 1 package in December  more eagerly than before!