Hobby Highlight: Creating A Custom Pitch and A Contest!

Over the years I have created many pitches in Photoshop to be printed out on neoprene (or vinyl). As Adepticon 2019 approaches I have turned my thoughts to creating a three dimensional pitch.

I have seen a few 3D pitches created for DreadBall . Most of these pitches attempt to create the feel of a stadium. I am taking the inspiration for my project from the origins of DreadBall and a pitch I stumbled across on the internet long ago and fell in love with immediately.

It is said that DreadBall is so-called because it was first played in drop
hangar 91 aboard the Corporation warship Dread, the flagship of then Senior Flank
Commander Jesus Ortiz.

My inspiration.

My pitch will be built to look like it is in the hanger of a GCPS ship.

One of the goals I have set for myself is that the 3D pitch I will create should double as a Deadzone board (for those not familiar, Deadzone is a miniatures skirmish game set in the same universe as DreadBall). Deadzone is most often played on a 24″ x 24″ mat so that would be the minimum size of my 3D pitch board.

I plan to design the actual playing surface of the pitch in Photoshop the same way I always have with the neoprene mat laying in the 3D hanger I construct. The neoprene mats are 28″ x 14″ so I will need to build the board larger than 24″ x 24″.

A Deadzone board is actually divided into 3″ squares (cubes) so if I make the 3D pitch board 30″ x 30″ that would be 10 squares x 10 squares instead of the normal 8 x 8 Deadzone is typically played on. I think that’s just fine.

The standard Deadzone playmat.

I am still in the early planning and brainstorming phase of this project. Mantic makes a line of sci-fi terrain for Deadzone so I will almost definitely try to use as much of that in my 3D ship hanger/DreadBall pitch as I can. You might be familiar with the Mantic terrain if you backed the DreadBall Xtreme Kickstarter. As part of the Kickstarter Mantic built a 3D prison pitch using their terrain. You could add the terrain required to build the prison pitch to your Kickstarter pledge if you so wanted. I will say, it was pretty cool looking.

DreadBall Xtreme prison pitch build using Mantic sci-fi terrain.

I want to hold a contest. Help me name the corporation starship as well as the hanger number in which my pitch will be located. My pitch is a modern DreadBall pitch. It is not meant to recreate the early days of the sport when it was still evolving. It has been setup on a modern active fleet ship. To enter the contest subscibe to the blog and email your idea to contest@breaddoll.com with the subject line “DreadBall Ship Name”. Only 1 email per person will be counted. I will randomly choose one of the contest submissions and the winner will get a choice of either a Barricade Gaint or the now out of print Anne-Marie Helder mini. No deadline for entries currently, I’ll let you know when I’m far enough along in the build. Keep the suggestions/entries coming!

Win a prize!

Send me your ideas and good luck!

Pitch Protocols: Tactics Talk—Cheer Factory

“Gimme a……”

The roar of the crowd….there isn’t anything like it! In fact, some teams live for the adulation of their fans, playing for the approval of the masses. Win or lose, these teams just want to be the most popular!
In the game of DreadBall, this can lend itself to a very interesting and potentially devastating style of play. The Cheer Factory is based on gearing a team around winning the battle of popularity on the sidelines, rather than only on the pitch.

Why?

Having a lot of cards, can create a BIG advantage! Cheer Factory helps you “make” your own!

Well, some teams seek to create advantage through numbers….by hook or by crook, they will try to outnumber your squad on the pitch by pounding your players into submission, either within the rules or out! A Cheer Factory takes a different approach to creating advantage, by vastly increasing the number of resources at the team’s disposal. The purpose is to create an avalanche of “free” extra coaching dice and DreadBall Cards that both increase the number and efficiency of your team’s actions on the pitch.
This approach largely centers around Cheerleaders. The reason is twofold. One, through their Work the Crowd ability, Cheerleaders can create fan check opportunities where there otherwise might not have been, OR, increase the number created from a successful action. Two, having MORE Cheerleaders than your opponent when making a Fan Check allows you to draw two cards and chose which to keep…increasing the efficiency of “pip” generation.

Don’t forget DICE! Cards are often superior because of their flexibility, but even just one dice can let you attempt what would otherwise be impossible…..or just throw it in to give yourself more potential successes!

However, another approach is to load up on Fan Favourite and/or Show Off players. This can be done by either ranking up players in league play, or if a tournament allows, purchasing the additional rank for advancement and selecting the ability. Alternatively, you may purchase an MVP that has the abilities your seeking, if allowed.
That said, these approaches aren’t mutually exclusive, a combination of cheer creating players AND cheerleaders can be amazingly productive.
Get Busy!
Once the ball is launched, don’t waste anytime waiting for the “perfect” moment to create cheers. Get the crowd on their feet early and often. The sooner you start collecting pips, the sooner you can cash them in! Get your three pips and trade them in for either a Coaching Dice OR a DreadBall Card. Rinse, repeat. And with those additional resources, you will be able to take more actions, assisted with coaching dice and rerolls, that will in turn create even more fan check potential. Over the course of a match, this can turn into a MASSIVE advantage. It’s a viciously effective cycle…. IF you can get it rolling.
The tricky part is when you are the Visiting team, having to wait through your opponents Rush, hopefully with your playmakers intact. When you do finally get your turn, seek to create cheers out of even the most mundane of actions. And don’t forget about using your Cheerleader advantage for double draws! Make those checks count! Lastly, don’t let the desire to keep that advantage, prevent you from using cheerleaders to create cheers in the first place.
Now get out there, and wow that crowd!

Tournament Time / Rush Report: DC*DC IV

ACK ACK ACK!

Translation: Assemble human scum, and read the data generated from another successful ‘District of Columbia DreadBall Cup.’

The Martians hosted another NADC event, the DC*DC.  An elite group of fearless Coaches accepted the Martian invite to play DreadBall in a daunting environment; WashingCon IV.  It was the fourth DC*DC.  It was the fourth WashingCon.  Coincidence?

Competing Coaches were issued a custom score marker. Presidential busts of Earth Leaders after colorful adornment from the Cyber Optics Red Team Division. Martians are funny.

WashingCon is a convention like no other.  Small, but sweet.  Crowded, but cool.  High priced, but high valued.  WashingCon is a convention that focuses on playing board games.  In particular, an abundance of family board games.  You cannot swing a dead Yndij by the tail without hitting a child at WashingCon.

There were 1,500 gamers at WashingCon IV. 1,494 of them were playing with either meeples, cubes, or discs.

DreadBall was an outlier.  It was the only miniature game present at the convention, disguised as a board game!  The Martians are tricky, mischievous organizers.  In a bout of counter programming, gamers far and wide came to witness the spectacle of DreadBall demonstrations and a tournament.  Flyers were distributed, and mints were consumed.  Three veteran Coaches entered the contest, and three brand new Coaches learned to play on Saturday in order to compete on Sunday.  Now that’s moxie.

The calm before the storm at WashingCon IV.

Not surprisingly, the rookie Coaches got messed up against seasoned competitors.  But the winners were generous, the losers were eager to play in the next tournament, and the folk in middle had playbook criticism.  So it goes.  The Supreme Leader marked these rules and results:

The 2018 NADC rules pack was in effect.  In short; Team builds were 1,200 mc.  No Giants, no transfers, no Ronnie Rejects, and no “We Can Rebuild Him.”  Team Captains, support staff, and generic player advancements (one per player at 25 mc) were allowed.

Coach and Team name

Race.  Tournament Points.  Total Fan Cheers.  Total Serious Injuries.  Match specs.

6.  Juan Casanas and his Bash Bros.!

Brokkr.  0.  48.  4

Match 1. vs. Andrew.  3 point loss in Rush 10.

Match 2. vs. Wes.  7 point loss in Rush 5.

Match 3. vs. Dave.  2 point loss in Rush 6.

Match 4. vs. Brett.  3 point loss in Rush 12.

5.  Dave Erickson and his Hunky Human Hot Hogs!

Human Corporation, Male.  3.  28.  0.

Match 1. vs. Brett.   3 point loss in Rush 10.

Match 2. vs. Geoff.  7 point loss in Rush 3.

Match 3. vs. Juan.  2 point win in Rush 6.

Match 4. vs. Wes.  1 point loss in Rush 6.

4.  Wes Hayden and his Convicts of the Criminally Corrupt!

Convicts.  6.  23.  0.

Match 1. vs. Geoff.  7 point loss in Rush 5.

Match 2. vs. Juan.  7 point win in Rush 5.

Match 3. vs. Andrew.  7 point loss in Rush 5.

Match 4. vs. Dave.  1 point win in Rush 6.

3.  Andrew Wodzianski and his C.O.C.K.S.U.C.K.E.R.S.!

Z’zor.  6.  39.  2.

Match 1. vs Juan.  3 point win in Rush 10.

Match 2. vs. Brett.  7 point loss in Rush 13.

Match 3. vs Wes.  7 point win in Rush 5.

Match 4. vs Geoff.  2 point loss in Rush 12.

2.  Brett Postal and his Vampy Voluptuous Voids!

Human Corporation, Female.  9.  21.  0

Match 1. vs Dave.  3 point win in Rush 10.

Match 2. vs Andrew.  7 point win in Rush 13.

Match 3. vs. Geoff.  7 point loss in Rush 7.

Match 4. vs. Juan.  3 point win in Rush 12.

And the champion Geoff Burbidge with his Sphyria’s Fist!

Sphyr.  12.  27.  0.

Match 1. vs. Wes.  7 point win in Rush 10.

Match 2. vs. Dave.  7 point win in Rush 3.

Match 3. vs. Brett.  7 point win in Rush 7.

Match 4. vs Andrew.  2 point win in Rush 12.

He may have lost, but Juan grabbed some loot! MOST BRUTAL, a set of BreadDoll dice, and THE INFAMOUS BREADDOLL! Good job killer!

Hunky Dave takes home a girl. In Gold. FAN FAVORITE!

Wes was SUPPOSE to attend a gaming lecture at 1pm. He skipped it. Why? SO HE COULD PLAY DREADBALL. And that Coaches, is BEST SPORTSMAN.

The Tournament Organizer and BreadDoll co-editor got to play! THIRD PLACE.

Coming off an undefeated season of league play, Brett suffers his first loss in over ten games. SECOND PLACE.

Geoff nabs BEST PAINTED with a clever Sphyr team. The highlight? A magnetized Guard arm and head that can be swapped for Keeper upgrades. An impeccable build, coached impeccably. Good job old chap. FIRST PLACE.  Geoff’s win grants him a pass to the National Competition in March of 2019.  FYI – right after Geoff builds and paints his upcoming cyborg team, the DreadBall Rules Committee will adjust their rules.

And so, the North American DreadBall Circuit comes to a close for 2018.  Or does it?  If another golden ticket to the National Championship at Adepticon 2019 is on the calendar, let us know in the comments below.  Otherwise, keep the brushes swinging.  Keep the Slams brutal.  Keep the Strikes blistering.  May all of your sixes explode, especially when you’re playing against this Geoff character…

District of Columbia DreadBall Cup Champions

2018 Geoff Burbidge

2017 Dean Winkelspecht

2016 Xanth Squires

2015 Xanth Squires

SAVE THE DATE: JANUARY 27, 2019.  EVENT HORIZON.

Hobby Highlight: Sphyria’s Fist

So this coming weekend is the 4th DC/DC DreadBall tournament in the Washington DC area. If you aren’t already planning on attending, give it a look, then decide to come play. I’m going to be there. I’m looking forward to it. It will be fun. (If the link doesn’t work for you, it’s in the closed DreadBall Fanatics Facebook group, just request to join the group or message me through this blog and I’ll get you the information.)

I’m planning to play my Sphyr (pronounced sphere, as in rhymes with fear, beer, cheer, etc…) team. My team is called Sphyria’s Fist. Interesting fact, the Sphyr have a bit of a tragic backstory. Poor buggers.

Sphyria’s Fist

I painted my Sphyr team years ago for my first excursion to Adepticon. With the new DreadBall 2nd Edition team building rules used in tournaments I’ve decided to revisit Sphyria’s Fist to add a couple of Keepers to the team and let them kick butt once again.

I created a YouTube video talking about working on the new Keepers. Be kind it’s my first YouTube video.

So here is the recipe I used to paint these fish men back in the day and have recently revisited to bolster the ranks of Sphyria’s Fist.

Geoff’s original handwritten Sphyr painting recipe

So there are 5 main parts.

1. Blue (Skin)
2. Purple (Armor)
3. Orange (Armor)
4. Grey (Armor)
5. Brown (Gloves and Straps)

Blue:

Start with a base of Citadel (Games Workshop) Ice Blue and then apply 2 washes of Secret Weapon Cool Grey. Highlight the blue back up using pure Ice Blue followed by an Ice Blue/White mix. Finally apply a final Highlight of pure white.

Purple:

Start with a base coat of Game Color Heavy Violet washed with Purple Tone. Highlight the base with Alien Purple and then a finer highlight of Alien Purple/ Game Color Squid Pink.

Orange:

The orange color is a base of Citadel Blazing Orange. I didn’t use a wash on the orange. Highlight with a mix of Blazing Orange and Model Color Light Orange then pure Light Orange and finally a highlight of Light Orange mixed with Game Color Pale Yellow.

Grey:

I used the same recipe for the grey I always do. Uniform Grey -> Dark Tone -> Uniform Grey -> Ash Grey -> White.

Brown:

Lastly the brown. Very simple. Base with Monster Brown and apply two washes of String Tone.

Done.