Glimpses & Moments from "Undynasties"

[Coffee Warlord]

I give to you, the Restored Roman Empire's subjugation of the Lohlendran Watchers. (Stellaris)

The Empire made first contact with this once mighty empire not long after their first forays into space. The Lohlendran were deep spiritualists, diametrically opposed to the staunch Roman faith in science and technology. That said, so long as Rome did not colonize worlds the Watchers declared Holy Worlds, they were left alone.

Centuries passed, and Rome grew strong. Their borders reached the Lohlendrans, and eventually, Rome no longer cared for the warnings of these decrepit fools. They colonized these so-called 'Holy Worlds', and the response was quick, but Rome was ready. Massive fleets clashed, and Rome was victorious.

The fleets moved into Lohlendran space, demolishing the ancient automated defenses left there. Their fleets blanketed every planet, commencing bombardment on an epic scale. For years, Roman ships bombarded these religious lunatics from space, turning their proud worlds into dusty ruins. Those soldiers who survived were met with genetically engineered monsters, slaughtering ever Lohlendran soldier encountered. This once mighty empire was compelled to surrender to Rome.

But Rome was not finished with these people. Too many humans died to simply leave this arrogant wretches alive. A policy of depopulation began, as the survivors were forcibly evicted from their homes, out of Roman space, where they would survive as they could as refugees. A full 2/3rds of the Lohlendran survivors were removed from their native worlds.

The remainder were taken to Roman labs, to be genetically modified. They would be made more suitable for low level labor, to serve in the mines and farms to fuel the Roman war machine. They were conditioned to serve, to see themselves as a proud cog in the service of humanity. They were also modified to survive in the cooler, more temperate climates that humanity preferred, away from the dry, hot savannah worlds they originated. Just one Lolendran planet was left under their control, a tiny colony on the edge of Roman space, which had little tactical value. Rome was content to leave them be, the message clearly sent.

Time passed. The Lolendran refugees, a once mighty empire that spanned the galaxy, with untold technological mastery, surfaced again....as nothing more than a small criminal cartel far away from their homelands. That, and the one colony that was allowed to survive, was all that remained of these people....not counting those who were genetically altered, of course. The Lohlendran planets were terraformed away from the unpleasant Savannah, and made into worlds more suitable for human life. Little remains to show that an ancient power ever stood on these worlds.

But Rome was not done. Oh no, no no. But it was not Rome that chose what would happen next.

The remains of the Lohlendran Watchers, clutching to their last hope on a small planet, declared war, a last ditch effort to free their homeworld. It was doomed from the start, but the price would be high. People must know when they are conquered. Rome came, landing millions of troops, conquering the last true Lohlendran world, forcing total capitulation. This time, there would be no mercy.

Purges began anew. Every Lohlendran would be purged from this final planet, save a tiny few. Every structure was reduced to rubble, and the planet itself was met by Roman terraforming engines, turning the planet from a warm Savannah plain to a frozen Arctic world. Those few Lohlendrans who remained were forced to huddle in squalor, on a frozen world that was their last refuge.

Rome was not done.

The fleets came once more, but this time, this planet would become the testing ground for their new ultimate weapon. The Lohlendrans, freezing and starving on their desolate frozen waste, looked to the sky to see a massive ship. A bright flash in the skies above, and a massive energy weapon came crashing down, utterly destroying the planet, leaving nothing but a small field of asteroids and debris where a planet once stood.

And thus the war was over. Roma Victor.

To summarize:

1) We defeated and conquered all but one Fallen Empire world.
2) We displaced about 200 of the 300 members of their race.
3) They popped up not long after as a Criminal Syndicate halfway across the galaxy.
4) We genetically modified those we kept to be laborers, and terraformed their worlds.
5) They declared war again, we crushed them.
6) We purged all but 1 of their people from that world after we won.
7) We terraformed it to Arctic, because that was as far away from Savannah I could think of, just to be an ass.
8) We released them as a vassal, freed them, and declared war.
9) And then sent the planet cracker in, and destroyed the planet.

[thehitcat]

Right, don't mess with Coffee Warlord...CHECK!

[Coffee Warlord]

War in heaven (two fallen empires fighting one another and dragging basically the whole galaxy into it) is happening now. Rome declared neutrality, and is watching the universe burn.

Neither side has declared war on me. They know better.

[Olsson]

I'm currently in 2053 in my 49'ers franchise.

My legendary 13-year-vet LT Zach 'Pomato' Pomato just capped of a great career with a playoff reception for 8 yards! Haven't seen one of those before!

[Dolemite73]

I am currently playing a Sierra FBPro98 12 team USFL league. We are in the 2001 season and the (2-0) Tampa Bay Bandits are playing the (0-2) Michigan Panthers in Detroit, MI. With 5:47 left in the 3rd quarter, Tampa Bay K Sebastian Janikowski kicks a chip shot 18 yard FG to put the Bandits ahead 34-6. What happens next is something I have never seen in 20+ years of playing this game.

1. Michigan executes a 6:19, 11 play 74 yard drive capped off with a 6yd TD scamper for HB Shaun Alexander. XP is good and the score is now 34-13 with 14:05 left in the 4th quarter.

2. Tampa Bay has a 3 and out and punts the ball away with 13:14 left on the clock in the 4th quarter.

3. Michigan goes 63 yards in just 4 plays ending with a 39 yard TD pass from QB Aaron Brooks to WR Dante Hall. XP is good and the score is now 34-20 Tampa Bay ahead.

4 Tampa Bay has another 3 and out and punts the ball away for 54 yards. Ball is fielded at the Tampa Bay 13 yard line by WR Craig Yeast who promptly takes the return 87 yards to the house. XP is good and with 8:36 left in the 4th quarter, Tampa Bay is now clinging to a 34-27 lead.

5. Tampa Bay has yet another 3 and out (Michigan defense is really stiffening) and punts the ball away to Michigan. 7:00 left on the clock.

6. With 5:49 left on the clock, Michigan has the ball 3rd and 3 on their own 33 yard line. QB Aaron Brooks takes the snap and surveys the field. Rookie WR Steve Smith gets behind Rookie CB Andre Dyson in the slot and goes up the right hash. QB Aaron Brooks throws a strike and S Dre Bly takes an awful angle to man and were off to the races! 66 yards later, WR Steve Smith is tackled at the Tampa Bay 1 yard line by S Dre Bly. 1st and Goal at the 1. HB Shaun Alexander immediately pokes it in and the score is now 34-33!

7. The Michigan coach decides to play for the lead instead of the tie! QB Aaron Brooks hands of to HB Shaun Alexander who has a big hole on the left side. Tampa Bay LB Eric Barton explodes through the hole and upends HB Shaun Alexander for no game. 2pt conversion no good! Score is still Tampa Bay 34 Michigan 33.

8. After the ensuing kickoff, the good news is Tampa Bay is able to take 2:52 seconds off the clock. The bad news is they only gained 19 yards on 6 plays and have to punt to Michigan. Can the Tampa Bandits hold them?

9. There is 1:48 left in the 4th quarter. Michigan has the ball on their own 24 yard line. 1st down pass was knocked away down field by S Dre Bly. Pass was intended for WR Dane Looker. On 2nd and 10, QB Aaron Brooks rolls out left and right before being hit by the blitzing S Dre Bly, Brooks throws a strike on a comebacker to HB Shaun Alexander for 16 yards, 1st down!

10. There is 1:27 left in the 4th quarter, 1st and 10, ball is on the Michigan 39 yard line. QB Aaron Brooks throws a 10 yard pass to WR Dane Looker. Clock stops for a measurement...ball is just short of the marker. With 1:09 left on the clock from their own 49 yard line on 2 and less than 1, QB Aaron Brooks throws in the flat to WR Larry Foster for 4 yards, inbounds. 1st down! Michigan calls a timeout.

11. There is :55 left in the 4th quarter, 1st and 10. WR Dante Hall runs a crossing route against zone defense. QB Aaron Brooks has good protection and fires a bullet to Hall who runs for 14 yards and a 1st down to the Tampa Bay 33 yard line! Michigan calls time out. Michigan is driving! Can they score 30 unanswered points for the win?!?

12. There is :43 left in the 4th quarter, 1st and 10. QB Aaron Brooks fakes a handoff and rolls left. Tampa Bay DE Leonard Little comes through the line unblocked and sacks QB Aaron Brooks for a 4 yard loss. Clock is ticking! QB Aaron Brooks spikes the ball to preserve the timeout.

13. There is :36 left in the 4th quarter, 3rd and 14. QB Aaron Brooks hands the ball off to HB Shaun Alexander who spins his way to the 34 yard line in the middle of the field. Michigan calls their final timeout. The field goal team runs on the field for the 51 yard FG attempt.

14. C Cory Withrow is the snapper. QB Joe Germaine is the holder and K Rian Lindell lines up for the game winning kick. Ball is snapped, hold is down and ball is kicked. The kick is up...........and falls JUST under the crossbar....NO GOOD! Tampa Bay wins 34-33!

Amazing final 20 minutes of game time. Never seen anything like this. Going for the 2pt conversion cost them the game!

This game still continues to surprise me all of these years later.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Critch

Over the last month or so I've really caught the Rimworld bug while waiting for the latest Stellaris patch to arrive. Previously my settlements had fizzled out, ended in mass death, or been deleted when I thought of a new approach and wanted to restart but I've finally got myself a "successful", long-term settlement.

A year and a half later, and my long-term settlement of Planeton has finally bitten the dust. Decembary of year 23 and a massive man-eating bug infestation right in the middle of the living area coupled with a siege firing incendiary mortar rounds finally did it in. Could just about handle the infestation, but the firestorm finished my settlers off, all 22 of them dead.

My settlement is now just a smoldering shell with the three remaining bugs randomly wandering around breaking things.

Wish I hadnt played ironman mode now.

[Olsson]

My rex coaches just outgained their counterparts by 492 yards. 99 to 591.

Haven't seen such a margin without controlling the gameplan myself.

[Dolemite73]

Playing my FBPro98 USFL League, we are now in the 2002 season with the (4-6) Los Angeles Express playing on the road against the (4-6) Birmingham Stallions. The last 4 minutes of this game is unlike anything I have seen. Here is the sequence:


1. With 3:57 left in the game Birmingham K Phil Dawson kicked a 29yd field goal to give Birmingham the lead 14-13

2. In the ensuing kickoff, Los Angeles WR Dennis Northcutt returns the kickoff return 56 yards to the Birmingham 29 yard line.

3. After a 3 and out, with 2:30 left on the clock, Los Angeles K Neil Rackers kicked a 41yd field goal to put Los Angeles ahead 16-14.

4. With 1:38 left in the game, Birmingham QB Peyton Manning finds WR Marty Booker in the flat who is then immediately stripped of the ball by Los Angeles CB Ike Reese; Los Angeles LB Julian Peterson picks up the ball and returns it to the Birmingham 25 yard line!

5. On the very next play, Los Angeles HB Bryan Westbrook takes a sweep off tackle and runs down the sideline for a 25yd TD! For some weird, idiotic reason, Los Angeles lines up for a 2pt conversion. Los Angeles fails to convert the 2pt conversion and the score is now 22-14.

6. After a squib kick, Birmingham executes a clutch 10 play 63 yard drive down to the Los Angeles 5 yard line with :03 left in the game.

7. With the clock at zero, Birmingham QB Peyton Manning throws a dart in the back of the endzone to WR Tim Dwight for the TD!

8. Birmingham lines up for the 2pt conversion. Ball is snapped to QB Peyton Manning who runs a delayed keep to convert the score! Onto overtime we go in the most clutch fashion I think I have seen in 22 years playing this game!

In overtime, Birmingham won the toss and never looked back as WR James Williams return the kickoff 47 yards to the Los Angeles 37 yard line and the Birmingham offense moves the ball down to the 1 yard line for the game winning 18yd field goal.

Just an amazing sequence of events extremely late in the game. And in retrospect, a terrible decision by Los Angeles to go for the 2pt conversion. There was no need to do it.

[pbot]

Dug out an old OOTP save. It is a fictional league, expansion team in its second season.

Opening Day at our stadium, I quick sim through the top half of each inning, and watch each of our at bats in the bottom halves.

Bottom of the 10th, score is still 0-0. Tension building with each at bat...

With two outs and Nick Kaplan about to take his at bat, in the right corner of my screen I see a Steam Achievement pop up ('walk off homerun') right before the pitch is thrown.

Thanks, Steam!

[Comey]

I am coaching Providence in a DDSCB dynasty. In our second season, I have somehow taken a team of good-but-not-great players to a 25-2 record (we just fell at St. John's). Our only loss is to #1 Duke.

I don't know how the hell we're doing this...our leading scorer posts 12.8 ppg, and we have two players averaging double figures, and yet we're sixth in the nation in offense (though 261st in field goal percentage). We're probably set up for an early exit in the NCAA Tournament, but we did make the Sweet Sixteen last year.

I'm finding this team to be utterly fascinating, and rather like ones I've coached in real life. So, that's pretty awesome.

[Comey]

dola--

We suffered another pair of losses since that first post, getting crushed by defending champion Xavier (we are 2-3 against them now since I started) at their place, 88-63. I don't allow players to declare early, so I have to put up with a pair of guys they got as freshmen that are absolutely unbelievable (as evidenced by them going to Kansas and Kentucky to win the national championship last year). We lost to them again in the Big East championship, 86-82.

However, we are a #1 seed, at 30-4, put in the Midwest. Then I see who the #2 is:

Xavier.

Dammit. (This is a coding issue for Gary, and something we've discussed. I get it. Just frustrated I had to go through them again.)

We beat Binghamton badly, then get by Tennessee in OT. We outlast Georgia Tech in the Sweet Sixteen, 72-65, while Xavier blows out everyone.

And then begin to blow us out in the first half, as we are beset by foul trouble. My starting point guard and my small forward (and breakout leading scorer, he had multiple 25+ games for since the last writing) are both on the bench for half of the first half. Down eight in the final minute, my sophomore stud, Tim Owens, goes on a tear, and gets us to within two.

From there, the game was close throughout. Somehow, with about four minutes left, we scratched out a five-point lead. That became eight, and then it hung out there. I decided to start double-teaming their star SF, LeBron Blackwell. That works: He goes 6-15, but missed his last four shots.

We ice it from the line; only a desperation three made it seem closer than it was, 77-71.

With that, we punched our ticket to the Final Four, where we'll face Western champ Gonzaga (Florida and Maryland are in the other matchup). We are the only top seed there. as the others are 3, 4 and 2, respecitively.

For this weird team, it's been a magical run. We are considered 89% favorites to beat Gonzaga, which is surprising. Hopefully we take it down.

[Comey]

We were not clear favorites to beat Gonzaga, after further inspection. In fact, it was the absolute reverse; we were 10% favorites to win that game.

It was an absolute epic. Back and forth, nobody really getting any sort of distance on one another...until the final two minutes, when Gonzaga took a five-point lead going into the final minute.

We hit a bucket, then got a stop. We came down, and freshman forward Damien Anderson, our leading scorer and someone whose relationship with me died during the week (he had been having continual issues with fellow freshman, C Jamal Rose, and I called him on it) hit a three, tying the game at 78.

Thirteen seconds left, and I braced for a potential game-ending shot.

And it came.

But not from the Zags.

My best player, Tim Owens, stole a pass. He threw it up to Lucas Robinson, our power forward, maligned all game in foul trouble, who threw it down with :04 left. Timeout, Zags.

It happened so fast, it was tough to comprehend.

I put in a full-court defense, and hoped for the best. They got a look from half court, but it fell off. We somehow pulled off the 80-78 win over Gonzaga, and arrived in our first title game.

The magic was spent that night, though. Maryland, led by a freshman guard Shannon Collier, held us at arm's length for the entire second half. Owens got into foul trouble early. He was joined by Anderson. Down 11 at the break was a blessing, but it soon went to 20. We managed to get it to 5, but every time we threatened to cut it to one possession, they would edge it back out.

We ultimately lost, 90-71. You feel great and terrible for the kids, to get to that stage, and then to just not finish the job. But that's okay...we return our starting five for next year, a few key reserves...all is not lost.

And then...Damien Anderson, who broke out in the second half of the season and became THE guy, told me he was transferring. He wound up at Purdue. The real sting came when hated Xavier guard Mark Walters, who inexplicably decided to transfer out from a national champion and perennial contender, went to Maryland.

The rich got richer.

And, with now five scholarships, one center and three senior point guards, on the roster we have a lot of work to do.

[Breeze]

Now that i've started, the 1985 SOM replay I'm running doesn't take up very much time. So i decided to dump all the players from 1969 into free agents, created a 12 team league and drafted a team to compete against 11 computer selected teams.

Draft was serpentine (I picked 2nd because I wanted Aaron and I knew McCovey would be 1st):

1:2 - Aaron
2:11 - Santo
3: 2 - Gibson
4:11 - Andrews
5: 2 - McDowell
6:11 - Aparicio
7:2 - Hundley
8:11 - Torre
9:2 - Brock
10:11 - Parker

Won't bother going past that, because honestly the last few picks listed might be slightly out of order...

Record by month:

April 17-7 - 3 game lead
May 16-15 - 1 game lead

I'll add additional information at the end of each month...

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Record by month:

April 17-7 - 3 game lead
May 16-15 - 1 game lead

I'll add additional information at the end of each month...

June 15-12 - actually lost my lead in the standings 2x during the month.
July 23-6 - things came together for me and I've now opened a 8.5 game lead

Here are my team stats:

Primary Player Statistics For 1000 Tallahassee Federals Totals After 111 Games


NAME              BAVG  GM  AB   R   H 2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO HB SH DP  SB CS  E
H.Aaron           .321 105 405  83 130 17  3 35  92  37  37  1  0 17   4  4  3
A.Shamsky         .299  68 234  31  70  9  3  6  31  30  31  1  0  7   0  0  4
L.Aparicio        .298 102 399  63 119 20  7  4  31  42  29  3  7  8  17  4 11
M.Mota            .293  80 249  30  73  2  4  2  19  16  24  4  2  7   2  0  3
D.Menke           .288  55 139  19  40  8  1  3  16  14  21  0  0  2   0  1  3
M.Andrews         .286 101 346  60  99 14  1 15  44  55  45  3  6  7   0  0 16
D.Schofield       .286   9  14   1   4  0  0  0   2   0   3  0  0  1   0  0  0
R.Santo           .284 108 401  58 114  9  7 21  74  65  55  3  0  8   0  0 19
J.Torre           .270  66 222  27  60 11  3  6  29  20  29  3  0  8   0  0  3
D.Johnson         .263  35  57   7  15  5  1  2   7  10  11  0  0  2   0  0  2
L.Brock           .263  91 312  50  82 15  2  7  42  23  60  0  4  4  20  6 14
W.Parker          .256  82 199  28  51  6  4  9  37  27  15  0  0  6   1  3  2
R.Hundley         .252 102 377  41  95 18  1 12  48  30  58  0  2  9   1  1  2
T.Gonzalez        .240  61 171  19  41  7  0  3  18  14  18  4  0  5   1  0  2
L.Maye            .200  54  50   4  10  0  0  1   7   3   2  0  0  3   1  0  0
W.Smith           .200   6   5   0   1  0  0  0   1   1   2  0  0  0   0  0  0
M.Ryan            .000   1   1   0   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0  0  0
ALL PITCHERS      .101 111 237  10  24  6  1  0   7   5  92  0 22  6   0  0  5
----------------- ---- --- --- --- --- -- -- -- --- --- --- -- -- -- --- -- --
TEAM TOTALS       .269    3818    1028    38    505     532    43     47    89
                       111     531    147   126     392     22   100     19


NAME               ERA  W  L   PCT   G GS CG SH SV    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO
R.Perranoski      0.36  1  0 1.000  29  0  0  0 18  25.0  19   3   1  1   6  17
S.McDowell        1.84 17  5  .773  28 28  8  3  0 210.1 137  54  43 11  64 225
D.Drago           2.35  4  3  .571  31  4  1  1  3  69.0  48  24  18 14  21  27
C.Hartenstein     2.40  3  4  .429  38  0  0  0  1  63.2  50  22  17  3  21  29
D.Leonhard        2.83  1  2  .333  29  1  0  0  1  41.1  31  14  13  4  17  18
J.Gelnar          3.03  7  0 1.000  42  0  0  0  6  38.2  31  14  13  6   6  29
G.Gentry          3.15 12  7  .632  27 27  1  1  0 163.0 122  66  57 15  63 100
H.Aguirre         3.38  1  1  .500  26  0  0  0  0  26.2  21  10  10  2  10  12
B.Gibson          3.58 14 11  .560  28 28  4  2  0 191.0 189  82  76 17  55 149
P.Doyle           3.86  0  0  ----   3  0  0  0  0   2.1   2   1   1  1   1   0
M.Kilkenny        4.58  0  1  .000  28  0  0  0  0  39.1  40  20  20  4  21  22
R.Reed            4.66 11  6  .647  23 23  0  0  0 127.1 129  69  66 26  32  86
D.Giusti          4.91  0  0  ----   4  0  0  0  0   3.2   4   2   2  0   0   3
ALL NON-PITCHERS  ----  0  0  ----   0  0  0  0  0   0.0   0   0   0  0   0   0
Team                                          7                   -1
----------------- ---- -- -- ----- --- -- -- -- -- ----- --- --- --- -- --- ---
TEAM TOTALS       3.02    40       111    14    29       823     336    317
                       71     .640    111    14   1001.1     381    104     717

[QuikSand]

From a horseracing game I thoroughly mastered years ago. Started a stable with $10,000 and tough house rules on game date Jan 1, 2020.

 2 : STAR A HEAD                      RECORD      RACES  1ST  2ND  3RD  EARNINGS ODDS = 6-1

 Chestnut, 3, Gelding, 122             LifeTime        7    2    2    1  $142,260

 Owner: QuikSand Ranch IX             Life-Turf       0    0    0    0        $0

 Jockey: Kite R 12-3-2-1              Life-Wet        0    0    0    0        $0

 Trainer: Brooks C 22-6-2-4           This Year       4    0    1    1   $92,960

 10Apr021BR New  b3  D ft  9f 46.0 1:13.1 1:56.0  3  6-     6-8    6-1¾   1-¼    2-¼   81 122  4.40 Kite 
 13Mar021OV Over m3  D gd  9f 46.0 1:12.0 1:55.1  1  6-     6-14   6-14½  6-11½  4-5¼  75 122  4.80 Kite 
 27Feb021OV Wil  b3  D ft  9f 45.1 1:11.0 1:53.0  2  5-¼    5-12¼  5-13   5-16½  3-11¼ 76 122  4.30 Kite 
 09Jan021OV Hand m3  D ft  8f 45.0 1:11.1 1:40.1  1  6-     6-12¾  5-10¼  5-5½   6-2¾  88 122  3.20 Kite 
 13Dec020WP Amer m2  D ft  8f 45.1 1:12.0 1:42.0  3  5-ns   5-16¾  5-13¼  5-7½   2-1   82 125  3.40 Kite 

My 3yo gelding (whom I claimed for $30K back in October) battled but got edged out in an April prep race for the Blue Rock Derby on the first Saturday in May. I decide to give him a shot in the big race, why not?

Race #8 Blue Rock Derby Purse $750,000 (Finished)
 10 Furlongs on Dirt  Total 7 Horses
 for 3-year-olds  base weight: 125
 Track: Fast  Rain: None  Wind: 0 MPH  Purse: $750,000
 Apprentice jockeys allowed 2 extra pounds
 Females allowed 3 lbs.
 HORSE                  JOCKEY WT. ODDS NUM ST. 1/4    1/2      1    Str    Fin
 Be My Exotic           Haver  119 4.20   7  7  5 2    3 2½   3 1¼   3 nk   1 2½
 Star A Head            Kite   122 5.20   2  3  7      7      7      7      2 nk  
 Flying Class           Renal  117 5.80   6  2  2 ¼    2 3    2 1¾   2 ½    3 nk  
 H H Francis            Hoy R  122 6.00   1  5  4 ½    5 5    5 3¼   5 2½   4 ¾   
 Davis Test             Charl  117 4.20   4  6  6 3    6 4    6 1¼   6 ¾    5 ½   
 On The Crest           Parce  114 4.30   3  4  3 1½   4 1¼   4 3¾   4 3½   6 ¾   
 Head Of State          Merri  122 5.60   5  1  1 nk   1 ¾    1 1½   1 ¾    7     

 Time of Race:   0.44.5 1.38.4 2.08.6

                            Win		Place	Show
 1st Be My Exotic           10.40	5.40	3.80
 2nd Star A Head           		5.40	4.00
 3rd Flying Class          			3.80
 Exacta (7-2)  61.20   Trifecta (7-2-6)  347.20 

I realize that in this thread you're expecting a win, but I'm over the moon to get my ham-and-egger up into the "late push" and have him nose out a rival for a solid 2nd place in the Derby. Yahoo!

[PilotMan]

Yeah QS, that's a nice run for sure. What a tight field though. Everyone, outside the winner, within a length of the next horse.

I've got one to add today.

Had to fire up a game of FBCB (which I haven't in years) because of the CBJL season starting and I was itching to get some practice in on team building. In my third season of player acquisitions and 4th in the game, I'd taken on NDSU Bison. Full conference movement on, makes things challenging and we go from a 20 win first year, where we almost make the dance, to 3 years later where we start non-conf play at 4-8 (hey, we played 3 eventual top 50 teams). I was still feeling good about conf play. The team had weaknesses for sure, but it was a 'better' team.

The AD goal has been to make the NCAA and raise our rep, and we nearly did it 2 years ago. Last season was a first round disaster. Conference play starts awful. We drop the first 2 games before we get a W, then rattle off 8 straight losses. All those losses against no team higher than a 158 RPI (the only team we actually DID beat in that stretch) and as low as 337 (lost twice to them).

With a 1-10 conference record at the end of January, we're in danger of missing the cut for even the conference tournament as we ride hard into last. Only the top 8 teams get to play. We come back to win 3 in a row, one against a team with an actual winning record (in the Summit that's not easy). Then we drop another. We're still out of it, but with 3 to play to need to win every game from here on out.

IPFW 80-53
Drake 86-39
Montana 100-94

And we manage to stun everyone and qualify for the Summit League Tourney as a 7 seed.

Round 1 against the 2 IPFW goes our way 79-67.
Round 2 against the 3 UMKC goes our way 80-75.

We're in the finals against the 8 seed Drake. That's right. The 7 and the 8 play for the title. It's a much harder game this time but NDSU pulls off the comeback with a 90-84 win to take home the Summit League Championship and head to the Dance for the first time.

Talk about an unlikely comeback. We go from dropping 11 out of 12 to winning the last 9 out of 10. Our season record stood at 14-19 and the NCAA gave us a play in game for the 16 seed to play Kentucky. I don't even care if we lose. We hit that benchmark.

PS to add:

We bounced Nicholls State 83-78 in a game where the score was closer than the game. That makes us the legit 16 seed on our way to be demoed by the Wildcats, who are the #1 team in the nation with a 31-2 record.

PPS...

KY blitzed us 102-49, proving just how good we are. We shot .295 from the field, were out rebounded 30-47, while KY had 10 steals and 6 blocks along with our 18 turnovers. We had 1 steal. Still.....we got there in an awful year that required a massive turnaround.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Playing (poorly) MLB The Show 20 last night. Just a late April game with my really shitty Orioles. Mostly simming, occasionally playing out a game.

Bottom of the 2nd I get my first rain delay. Not knowing how the game mechanics deal with that, I opt to remove my starter and replace him with my long reliever. 5+ solid innings before he gives way to my overachieving rookie reliever, the 1-0 lead still holding up. And the closer comes in with one out in the 9th to deal with the top of the Toronto order. A pop up and a called strike three later and I have myself a 4-pitcher combined no-hitter

Best I can recall that's a first-ever for me in a baseball game where you actually push the buttons & twiddle the sticks.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

My 3yo gelding (whom I claimed for $30K back in October) battled but got edged out in an April prep race for the Blue Rock Derby on the first Saturday in May. I decide to give him a shot in the big race, why not?

...

I realize that in this thread you're expecting a win, but I'm over the moon to get my ham-and-egger up into the "late push" and have him nose out a rival for a solid 2nd place in the Derby. Yahoo!

Well, just got back into this game... ran my guy for a solid but beaten 3rd in the Preakness, but he was all kinds of game and won by open lengths in the Belmont!

 Race #8 Ashbourne Stakes Purse $750,000 (Finished)
 12 Furlongs on Dirt  Total 6 Horses
 for 3-year-olds  base weight: 125

 Track: Fast  Rain: None  Wind: 0 MPH  Purse: $750,000

 Apprentice jockeys allowed 2 extra pounds
 Females allowed 3 lbs.

 HORSE                  JOCKEY WT. ODDS NUM ST. 1/4    1/2      1     1/4    Str    Fin
 Star A Head            Kite   122 4.20   5  4  6      6      3 6½   2 1¾   1 7¾  
 Lucy Kosmos            Brook  122 4.50   6  5  4 1¼   4 2¼   4 ½    4 1¾   2 2   
 Lively Messenge        Cuenc  122 3.40   3  3  3 4¾   1 ¼    1 2½   1 ¾    3 ½  
 Flying Class           Charl  117 4.20   4  2  2 nk   2 6½   2 3½   3 6¼   4 4   
 Reef Maid              Dolbo  119 4.60   1  1  1 nk   3 6¼   5 4    5 2½   5 ¼   
 Duke of Count          Forbe  122 3.90   2  6  5 1¼   5 1¼   6      6      6     

 Time of Race:   0.44.6 2.07.7 2.37.7

                            Win		Place	Show
 1st Star A Head            10.40	5.20	3.40
 2nd Lucy Kosmos           		4.80	3.00
 3rd Lively Messenge       			3.60

 Exacta (5-6)  24.80   Trifecta (5-6-3)  184.80

I'm flush with cash now, and presumably will immediately stop caring about this career, but that was one seriously cool quick ride.

[Kodos]

I thought this game-generated caption from NCAA 2014 was pretty appropriate.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I thought this game-generated caption from NCAA 2014 was pretty appropriate.

I think this deserves a bump, or whatever we shall call this reply.

[Critch]

I've been back playing Rimworld recently, the first time since I killed off my long-term settlement I mentioned further back in this thread a few years ago. I've got all the DLC now; not sure how much most of them add to the game, but you've got to go for completeness, and it's good to support a small developer, innit? I've been on my current settlement (Paleal, game generated name) for about 10 days (4 years game time), with a population of 10 (9 adults and 1 kid), and everything seemed quite secure and walled off. All the basic needs were met, and they could even make their own clothing and guns, so they'd started to be cozily dressed and well tooled-up. Rifles, shotguns, and the occasional SMG – not a crew to be messed with.

Last night I had two thoughts: 1. Is Rimworld a game that would be good for a dynasty thread on FOFC? and 2. Have I got the settings set too easy? After four years, we'd had no confirmed deaths (although there had been a few close calls) and had only lost one pawn. One of the original three was kidnapped and carried off early days when some refugees we'd kindly given shelter to got stabby and mean, but she might still be alive somewhere. So not confirmed.

My two answers were 1. maybe and 2. hell yeah, crank up the difficulty settings! (To be honest, I only turned the difficulty up one setting to "Strive to Survive", no reason to go crazy.)

So I started playing last night vaguely thinking, "I should dynasty thread this game" when the first quest came through. An 8-year-old boy, Conrad, had got himself covered in insect pheromone; he would join my group, but the insects would follow a few days later. My settlement's ideology was pretty much "be excellent to everyone," so there was no way we were telling an 8-year-old boy in need of assistance to piss off. Come on in, little Conrad; we'll keep you safe from the nasty bugs.

We set up waiting for the bug infestation; fighting bugs with early-game weapons is no joke, so it wasn't going to be easy. Set up some traps in the only area they could spring up in (infestations only happen in underground rooms; we only had one) and sent the two kids off to hide in a room on the far side of the base.

Long story short, it was a disaster. The infestation popped up in a storeroom, not where I thought it would. Insects, big buggers, not little bugs, running up and down the corridors. They're fast and armored; gangs of them rushing down corridors made it a blood bath. After a few hours (game time), seven adults were dead, two incapacitated, the only two still standing were 8-year-old Conrad and 11-year-old Honey hiding in a room while insects roamed the settlement. My cunning plan to burn the insects by arming one of the adults with an incendiary grenade launcher set half the base on fire too, so that didn't help.

Conrad and Honey were brave little kids like you see in the movies and snuck through the base to the hospital room. From there, they could wait for the bugs to go to sleep, sneak out, and drag the two injured adults back to the hospital room. They weren't far away, and there were a couple of discarded shotguns nearby too. Maybe there was a chance.

The first try was Conrad; he took a wrong turn and bumped into a megaspider, it bit his head clean off. That doesn't happen to brave little kids in movies.

Next up was Honey; she's an 11-year-old Highmate, genetically altered and bred to be a concubine; she's kind, delicate, and charming but incapable of violence. Not really much use for this situation. She did manage to drag both the adults back to the hospital room though. The bugs were sleeping, had died (a lot of them were badly injured too) or had wandered off to smash up the other side of the settlement, so the coast was clear.

Honey patched up the two remaining adults with her rudimentary medical skills, Ironhead (camp leader, and all-round masculine gigachad) and Takashi (one of the cooks, a bit useless but can whip up rice and potatoes). Unfortunately, the kitchens and the food supplies have all burned so there's nothing left for Takashi to do. But as long as Ironhead was alive, there was still a chance.

The next disaster was Ironhead got an infection in his leg, and there was no medical supplies to treat him (Honey smashed up everything in a tantrum) and Honey didn't have the medical skills to amputate. So Ironhead was dead too. We were down to two.

The next disaster was Honey and Takashi were starving, and there was no food. While I was trying to work out what to do (can they get to the fields and eat raw potatoes?), Honey made a snap decision on her own, and she and Takashi ate the headless corpse of Conrad. They didnt even cook him. Things had taken a dark turn, but at least they were not hungry anymore.

A couple of days later, Takashi was patched up and out of bed, got himself a discarded pump-action shotgun, and limped off for a showdown with the last remaining insect. Unfortunately, there were actually two remaining insects, so he's dead too. I think they ate him.

So that's where my settlement is now, only a pacifist child left and two well-fed insects roaming. Either she'll hide in a room until she starves (which will take a good while because she's eating Ironhead's corpse now) or the insects will get her. I'm really not sure I want to load the game and play to the end to see what happens.

I always play "commitment mode," so there's no reverting to an old save. This is the end for Paleal.

(p.s. I asked ChatGPT to grammar check this, loves a semicolon does ChatGPT)

[Chas in Cinti]

Never heard of the game, but that little blurb was unintentionally hilarious and I'm so in for a dynasty...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Chas in Cinti

Never heard of the game

Srsly?

If a dynasty does emerge here, definitely check out some of the YouTube LP videos, just to get a better sense of the visuals, what's happening, etc.

Great game

[Critch]

Yeah, it's a great game but you have to get used to it. It's deep, lots of options, but a bit ugly visually.

As an update to my playthrough, I loaded up last night and Honey had her 13th birthday (I said she was 11, she was actually 12). 13 in Rimworld is the first day of adulthood, so overnight she became an adult, this is my first try with the DLC that added children so it came as a surprise to me.

The overnight growth spurt means she cant wear her child-sized clothing anymore so my one remaining pawn is now an almost naked 13-year old pacifist. She has a hat.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Chas in Cinti

Never heard of the game, but that little blurb was unintentionally hilarious and I'm so in for a dynasty...

+++

[Critch]

I guess instead of continuing to post little updates in here, I'll move over to a dynasty and carry on the story. Things are still going, if not going well.

[tgray649]

I have been away from the forum for awhile, enjoyed reading these!