Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Friday Night Fights - special Tuesday edition

Someone (named "aroninphilosopher") on the THW boards has been talking about his fights which prompted me to dust off my copy of Friday Night Fights (special Tuesday edition I guess). The game is pretty entertaining and there is a bit of strategy so it works in all respects. Plus, I didn’t have to clean up the last game since it doesn’t take up too much room. It didn’t take long to get back into the ‘swing’ of things (best pun ever).

As before, the challenger is Jacob “Mac” McGrath, a 5’8” 162 lb Middleweight with decent boxing skills (level 4) and is fairly aggressive (level 3), but his real advantage is his Quick Reflexes. [Taken directly from the Promo sheet]

Jacob has been working hard and has managed to increase his power which should help him when he gets a chance to go in for the KO punch!

Since the first five bouts can be 4 rounds, we’ll have a short one before the big times. Randel West comes in as a decent boxer which great stamina. Can the challenger take him down!

Unlike last time, I didn’t do a round by round write up. It was more of a summary of events. Let me know which one is better.

Here is my setup for the fights (Stock photo Courtesy of 12/12/2008).

Round 1: Jacob connects early with a series of punches in the center of the ring until broke up. The round ends with both boxers in the center of the ring and evenly matched.

Round 2: Early in the round, another flurry of punches by Jacob while Randel is on the ropes. Randel cuts off the ring, but the boxers are evenly match and the round ends.

Round 3: Both are squaring off in the center of the ring, but no one can get the advantage. Late in the round Randel is pushed in to the ropes, but no true victor can be determined.

Round 4: Both boxers are putting everything they can in to the fight to win the match, but nothing comes of it in the beginning of the round. Late in the round, Jacob gets put into the ropes, but comes out in an array of punches putting Randel in the corner, looks like Jacob has a chance to put Randel to the canvas, but can’t seal the deal. The referee steps in and the round ends…

Winner by Unanimous Decision, Jacob McGrath (40 to 37)! Crowd goes wild.
This win gains me 1 fame point (up to 13), but a 5 - 0 - 2KOs record. I manage to get a +1 to my quickness. With the quick reflexes, I’m becoming a terror on the Clinch Table.

Now that I have 5 bouts under me, I start moving to the big time arenas. Of course that means that I’ll have to survive 10 rounds. Next up is Stuart “Stu” Smith, an aggressive boxer with good boxing skills, but known for his slippery defense. Will the pressure be too much for the challenger?

Round 1: Stu hits the canvas late in the round, but manages to shake it off.
Round 2: Jacob continues to keep control of the match.
Round 3: Jacob gets Stu to the KO table, but fails to score the knockdown blow! Stu finally scores points.
Round 4: A quick round, but Jacob get a couple solid punches – looks like they’re judge this in his favor.
Round 5: Jacob covers up to get out of the round with minimal work.
Round 6: Jacob pushes Stu to the ropes, but a sudden uppercut catches him unaware! Stu just didn’t have the power behind the punch to knock Jacob to the mat. – Jacob clearly loses his first round (at this point both boxers have 4 Bonus Dice remaining).
Round 7: Jacob puts Stu back on the canvas, but Stu recovers
Round 8: Jacob can’t capitalize on the now tired Stu.
Round 9: Jacob covers up twice after being backed into the ropes (from the stalking table).
Round 10: Jacob and Stu just hammer each other, but no fighter hits the canvas.

Winner by Unanimous Decision, Jacob McGrath (99 to 91)! Another fame point and in a crazy mental moment, I try to increase boxing. I first roll a 1 & 5 which allows me a second chance. The dice come up 5 &5 and I increase boxing to 5! Now 6 - 0 - 2KOs and 14 fame.

The next match is going to be a 10 round match against Tim Withers a boxer not known for his aggression or his speed (slow attribute).

Round 1: Jacob clearly has the advantage with the higher boxing skill against the slower Tim. If Tim doesn’t win the stalking table, he immediately covers up!
Round 2: Time hits the canvas from a strong hook from Jacob, but is only stunned and the match continues.
Round 3: No real excitement as it’s clear that Jacob out classes the slower Tim.
Round 4: Tim punches Jacob into the ropes, but neither boxer can gain ground (on the clinch table)
Round 5 to 7: Tim just can’t seem to get into a favorable position and covers up through most of these rounds, but spending a lot of his reserves in the process (Tim is running quickly out of bonus dice).
Round 8: Tim is in a world of hurt from the beating Jacob is giving him, but Jacob can’t seem to knock Tim to the mat (Tim is in the corner with no boxing dice remaining).
Round 9: Jacob finally knocks Tim to the canvas. The referee calls a TKO!

After the amount of times I’ve made it to the KO table, but can’t get the knockdown, I try to increase my power. I roll a 2 & 4, but my second roll is a 5 & 5 which succeeds!

Jacob McGrath is now 7 – 0 with 3 KOs and 15 fame. He is a very skilled boxer (boxing skill 5) with solid power (level 4) and decent quickness (level 3, but has the quick reflexes attribute); a moderate aggression (level 3) and good stamina (level 4) rounds out his abilities. It looks like he has the ability to go real far!

After playing a couple of full bouts, the game is pretty entertaining. If you are playing solo, the first couple of rounds can make or break you if you can take control of the match. Of course, you use too many bonus dice and you will be hurting once it goes to the middle rounds.

The final match was kind of sad. Jacob would normally win the stalking roll (it’s 8 to 6 dice) so Tim would cover up once it went to the boxing table (5 + 1 for him being slow vs. 4). Most often than not, Tim would be forced into the ropes/corner and Jacob would use him as a punching bag. There was the shot in the 4th that Tim on the ropes was able to win by 3 dice and had a chance to knock Jacob to the mat, but with a power of 1, it just wasn’t meant to be.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Still alive

I know that It's been a while since I posted on this blog. It's not that I have stopped or anything, but the recent couple of weeks have been too cold to make it to the game area. The major problem with a walkout unfinished basement. It's gets pretty darn cold in there if it's cold outside!

Still, I'm working on a couple of games and with Privateer Press talking about not going to Origins, I am working on a different idea to get a free badge. Table Top Gamers (based in Ohio and an awesome bunch of people) are always looking for help and I might bring SBH to Origins for a couple of 2 hour sessions. I'm hoping to have about 4 sessions to learn the rules and a couple of sessions of a four-for all!

Stay tuned...