Full disclosure, I post here and have offered ideas and suggestions (for what they are worth) to OAM (via this message board only). I haven't met OAM, we missed each other at a Cactus League game a few years ago, that's the extent of my relationship with OAM. I ordered the game and it arrived yesterday. I read through the rules before it arrived, so I was pretty much ready to go once the kids went to bed.
I have a long history of playing the old Sports Illustrated Board Game (aka Bowl Bound). I played this in the 80s-00s. My Dad used to play it in the 70s while working surveillance cases on the road in hotels with his fellow agent(s). Our family loves that game, I still have it within reach.
Whoa Nellie:
My Teams: 1971 Oklahoma, 1990 Colorado, 1991 Miami, 1995 Nebraska.
First Game: Solo Play (What else?) 1971 Oklahoma vs 1995 Nebraska, i played the possession version and did not play in accordance with the clock play, I love having the option in this respect.
1st 2 3 4 F
Nebraska 21 21 0 3 45
Oklahoma 0 7 6 0 13
Drives; N TD, TD, TD/TD, TD (Half) P, Fumble/FG, P, End
OU P, P/ Int-DTD, P, TD (Half) TD missed PAT, P, P blk/ P, P, P
There were a few penalties (I forgot to roll the penalty die a handful of times), the Whoa Nellies yielded 0 Long TDs, 1 Fumble, and 2 nothing happened. There were no sacks. I like this feature card.
Game Play: Give yourself some room for this (table) All of the game/play cards and dice are very intuitive and easy to use, the dice are quality, well distinguished for their respective uses. After a drive or two, the flow of play really starts to pick up. It does take some time to get acclimated to the defensive play call vernacular/acronyms and as you need to make some adjustments based on defensive calls it does slow the flow a bit, but I respect its purpose, the right D is called, there should be an adjustment, and of course the reverse could be true, w/o adjustments. In solo play it is mildly frustrating to have to give up the control on the Offensive Play call of the opponent to the 12 sided Die. It makes for honest solo play, but when OU's getting hammered in the second half, I still played within the rules as posted, but cringed when I roll the die and have to have OU call an inside run. My strategy vs OU, was to stick in a Defense to anticipate an OU inside/outside run, and take my chances with Jack Mildren passing with no defensive adjustment (load the box). As in real life, wishbone teams gain big chunks when they complete a pass. This happened. I was pretty startled by how Nebraska marched at will in the 1st half, but then again I attended 10/12 '95 Nebraska games. They did this to everyone. The dice went cold for Nebraska in the 2nd half.
Technical criticism: I have a ton of work experience in drafting, writing, rewriting policies and procedures and workflow docs and other training materials. So I spent some time reading these carefully. I think a lot of work can be done on the 10 page rules. There's a lot to like, and one can navigate to the right spot with it, but I think it can be better organized, I did spend a fair amount of time shuffling through the document to refer to key elements. This can be addressed in a more user friendly fashion. OAM, if i can find some time, I might do a little rewrite for your consideration (of course you can take or leave it).
The weakest physical element is the field. I understand the constraints, and cost concerns but flattening that sucker out was a little fussy, to keep the ball and chains on the right mark. No big deal.
My folks are coming to town this weekend, so I'm really looking forward to pulling this out and playing with my Dad, we're going drink some beers (or brandy) and have some fun. I'm sure he'll prefer his old Bowl Bound, but this will be fun.
Very impressive work OAM, this is a keeper. After I play a few more games, I'll likely order a few more team sets (likely another batch of high caliber teams from the past).
