Tabletop Sports Weekly 3-3-03 (1141 total words in this text) (742 Reads)    Happy Monday!  And welcome to another edition of Tabletop Sports Weekly. Yes, I'm running a bit late again.  I went out of town on Saturday, and had to hurry back today to see my surgeon.  So, I'm just getting to my desk. This past week has been both good and bad for me on the tabletop.  The good is that Iwas able to play a lot of games, including a new one that is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  the bad is that I had major surgery on my mouth and sinuses on Wednesday, so now that I'm in a semi-normal state of mind, it's hard to read a lot of my boxscores and writing from Thursday and Friday...LOL The new game I received this week is Legends of Wrestling by Filsinger Games.  I had always wanted to try thier Champions of the Galaxy game, but the idea of a futeristic, fictional wrestling atmosphere always kept me from ordering.  When I saw that they were doing a game based on the greats of wrestling, I plunked down my $21 and ordered. After playing several matches, I'll say that I'm extremely impressed.  The gaming engine is sheer brilliance.  It's simple enough for a kid to understand and utilize, but broad enough in scope to account for EVERYTHING in a pro wrestling match.  There really is no clunkiness to the engine at all.  Tag-Team matches, which is where most wrestling games fall down, are as easy as singles matches.  And the great thing about them is that you get a great "picture" of teams like the Road Warriors working together, making saves, etc.  If you are a fan of wrestling, you'll want to check this game out.  The price is right, and the components are good quality.  I think you'll have a blast. Now, that I talked about wrestling, I'm sure to get my normal "it's fake" mail! ;) I played a lot, and I mean a lot of Replay Baseball while I was in the hospital.  The new fold-out charts are great for the standard trays that are in most hospital rooms.  I don't think Pete would want to use that for advertising purposes, but it's true.  My scoresheets, cards, dice, and charts all fit on the "tray" very nicely. I've been playing Replay now for about a year.  But, some of the advancements that I hadn't kept track of, are very nice.  First of all, the new color charts that fold out are an absolute must if you play Replay more than casually.  They not only speed up play, but prevent a lot of eye strain.  In the past, for "modern" seasons, I would use the one sheet quick reference chart, which is nice.  But, I didn't realize how much the small type strained my eyes, until I used the new charts.  Let's hope that Pete will make a set of new charts for older seasons as well.  That way, I can use them for my 1983 set! ;) Other things in the latest edition that I thought were great are the new ball park cards and ratings, and the addition of stats on the front of the player cards.  I realize that these things might not be new to many of you. But, the 2000 season was as modern as my Replay collection went.  The ball park ratings add some excitement to the game without distorting the stats greatly.  In fact, when you factor in Houston and Colorado's stadiums, they probably bring the stats even closer to real life.  The additon of basic stats to the front of the cards is wonderful in my opinion.  I always hated to stop what I was doing, to find the stat sheet for a particular team. Granted, it didn't take a huge effort to do so.  But, the more I can play without losing my focus the better!  Remember, I started my table gaming with Strat Baseball. ;) The other game I played quite a bit this past week is Gasoline Alley, which is my Indy Racing League Modification to NASCAR Grandstand.  This has become the absolute favorite game of my children.  In fact, they probably play it more than I do.  I think adding color pitcures of the drivers and cars has helped them, and myself, enjoy the game even more.  I'm at the Indy 500 in my personal replay.  And the kids have probably run 15 or so races at various tracks.  Their data has been valuable to me in tweaking the pit stop chart.  I really think this game produes the flow of IRL racing well.  I'm currently working on a Champ Car verison for those that like to run the street circuits.  I should have that one done soon.  I also know that a Formula 1 version is in the making, so be on the lookout for that as well. I guess I should stop now, since it's quickly approaching 3 PM.  It's good to finally have everyone on board now.  All of the "bugs" of the new list should be squashed.  I'll see you all next week. -Jeff Downey jeff@tabletop-sports.com www.tabletop-sports.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Jeff, Thank you very much for catching me up with the past 3 TSWs that I missed.  I really enjoyed reading them as well as this week's issue. This is a little late to add my thoughts on variants to games, but I see nothing wrong with it especially if the company is no longer in business.  Of course, I have a hidden agenda!! As many of you know, I used to write for Avalon Hill's ALL-STAR REPLAY especially for their WIN, PLACE & SHOW horse racing game.  My articles centered on rules modifications, including other racing breeds besides Thoroughbreds.  I also created "real" race programs along with "best of decade" Thoroughbred programs.  I recently decided to make these variants plus some new ones available once again. I recently published a variant package for WIN, PLACE & SHOW that includes all the rules modifications from ASR (updated) plus many more -- PLUS all the race programs from ASR (some updated) plus many more, about 100 race programs in all. For example, Secretariat's Triple Crown races are included along with the 2001 TC races, top Thoroughbreds of 2001, plus races for many other breeds.  I am basically selling this variant for $15 ppd to cover my costs plus shipping (priority shipping is $3 extra).  If anyone is interested, contact me at patrickp@eznet.net. I might add that I am currently working on a second variant package for WP&S; I will keep you all informed as this progresses. Thanks for listening. Pat Premo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Just wanted to added my usual post of what I am on the lookout for:  new or photocopy of PSG (Precision Sports Games) Baseball.  I think this game is from the early 80's.  I thought I had purchased it once but then the vendor found out he really didn't have the game in his inventory.  I have not even come close since. I went through my usual rounds of trying different baseball games last summer and ended up playing the APBA Master Game more seriously.  This was aided by the addition of park cards by Mike Morgan - he made a set for last season and also has a set out for this season (or rather 2002) as well. Once my gaming turns back to baseball, that is where I will pick up. Right now I'm messing with an old Valgames title "He Shoot He Scores", trying to get it to play more realistic.  I have had a lot of help from Quinn McKenzie who has a pretty nice quick-playing hockey game of his own. Kevin Hennessy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------- (END of TSW) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------    [ Back to Tabletop Sports Weekly Archives | Sections index ]

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