Super-Ball XI in November finished with Mike and Bryan beating Joseph and me in an epic six-game finale that finished after last call, then the league took a break for the holidays. We started up again on January 8, the opening night of Season XII. There were a few changes this season. First, my work schedule changed, and while the new schedule is worse in almost every other way, it does give me Tuesdays off, so the league start time has been moved back to 7 pm. Second, I decided to incorporate an idea from Pinburgh in an attempt to keep us from having nights where three or more of the venue’s longest-playing games end up scheduled at the same time.
Pinburgh has banks (fancifully named, and often themed) with a game from each era, so in a given session, players can expect to play a modern game, a couple of solid states, and an EM. I hit on the idea of designating the league’s games as long-, medium-, and short-playing, and then grouping them into banks that have no more than two longs, and at least one short. I predicted to Joseph that people would immediately start critiquing our judgment about which games are long and short. This prediction came true. We based it on looking over the average and median scores on each game the previous season, and in some cases it goes against conventional wisdom. We’ll look at it again and make adjustments next season. We then set about trying to arrange games so that they followed the correct long/medium/short pattern but could also be describe as a loose theme. Some were easier and some fit better than others, but we eventually came up with something, and I named the banks after five of the nine Muses of Greek mythology. One of the banks is (as at Pinburgh) designated as a backup bank, so that if a long-playing game has to be substituted, a long-playing game out of the backup bank comes in and the “down” game goes into the backup bank to replace it, and so on. At the end of the rotation we play the backup bank, including whatever games got rotated into it, assuming they have been repaired by then.
I didn’t have much time to admire my neat new banks. Shortly after our first league night, two of the games were already sent away (Getaway and Star Wars) and have been replaced by Kiss and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Oops. Well, anyway. The banks are as follows (we’ll play them in this order):
Euterpe: AC/DC, The Beatles, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Monster Bash
Clio: The Addams Family, Deadpool, Iron Man, South Park, The Simpsons
Thalia: Attack from Mars, Ghostbusters, Medieval Madness, Road Show, Scared Stiff
Urania: Elvis, Junk Yard, Star Trek, Star Wars Kiss, Tales of the Arabian Nights
Calliope (backup): Getaway Star Trek: The Next Generation, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Theatre of Magic
This week was Euterpe, or as Tim called it, “Battle of the Bands III.” I offered to pay the entry fee for the Smackdown tournament for anyone who successfully guessed the one-word theme that each bank was arranged around. Lupe was close enough that I gave it to her. The answer is Euterpe, “Music”; Clio, “Cartoons”; Thalia, “Comedy”; Urania, “Stars”; and Calliope, “Adventure” (this is the loosest theme and Lupe said “Quests” which I thought was close enough).
That brings me to the third change for the season. In order to try to keep league costs down so I don’t end up in the red again, the Smackdown fee structure has changed. Now everyone is limited to two attempts, period, and everyone who plays has to pay $1 to the league. This fee is waived for anyone who is not IFPA rated (right now that’s just Josh).
We had a pretty early finish to the night this time, partly because of starting at 7 and partly because we had a rather low turnout. We welcomed new member Josh (who played in his first organized event at Battle of the Bands II, the Beatles launch party) and returning member Russell (a founding member, but absent for several seasons), but we were down Mike, Chris, Terry, Ed, Caleb, and Karen. The joke went around that Mike didn’t need to come anymore now that he’d won a season and Chris didn’t have to come now that he’d lost one. Actually, Mike was sick, and Chris told me he is taking the season off (his first since the founding of the league) but expects to return in the future. Terry said that he doesn’t want to commit to making the drive in the winter, and I guess that includes Ed too. I’m not sure whether Caleb and Karen are playing this season.
The night’s winner was Danny, followed by Russell and Tim. This season’s results are available in the Google spreadsheet maintained by Joseph, and will always give the latest night’s results, overall standings, and game scores, so you might want to bookmark it.
Our Smackdown game was Medieval Madness, which was pretty unkind to a lot of people, and the Undercard (B division) was Addams Family. Derik became the inaugural Smackdown Champion of Season XII and Tim was the Undercard winner. Derik credited his red hair for his win, since redheads have been dominating the league lately.
See you all tonight at 7 for the second meeting! Remember, you get to drop the lowest, so if you missed the first night that’s no reason not to start now.