Baseball Highlights: 2045 - World Series?!

BH:2045 is one of my favourite games; for those that don't know it, it's set in the year 2045, after Baseball had fallen behind American Football in popularity. In an attempt to make it more popular, augmented humans and robots were introduced to the game, to make it more exciting.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/151022/baseball-highlights-2045

It's essentially a deck-builder, you start with a basic squad of 15 rookies and veterans, compete in series against other teams and draft free agents to improve your squad (always with a max of 15 players). I love it and I've thought for a while about turning it in to a larger tournament at the club, not on the scale of Paul's Star Realms tournaments and in physical form not digital.

The usual 4-player variant is to run a league based on 3 game series and then have playoffs to determine the winner of the World Series. I don't have a set idea for how I'd run this but I've added a lot of expansions so have 8 starting teams and a shedload of free agents.

Some thoughts:
- I was thinking of an 8 team tournament or two sets of 4 with inter-division playoffs but open to more players and discussion on the format.
- I assume this will take at least 2 nights to complete but could be a longer Friday night / weekend session.
- We could introduce a way of keeping free agents between games/sessions.

I know Tom also owns a copy of this so perhaps we could look to combine sets to facilitate more players?

Anyway, before I get too far ahead of myself it'd be good to know if anyone is interested and any thoughts on format, etc. Not in a huge rush to set something up so happy to think a few weeks or more ahead.

Any takers?

Interested:
1. Karl
2. Liz
3. Ian
4. Dave B
5. Kes
6. Pauly G
7. Tom
8. Mike G

Me!

Yes please I will give it a go

Count me as definitely interested!

Obv

Excellent! I'll assume Pauly G will be in too.

I'd like to take part. And of course I'm happy to put my copy in the mix if needed.

Any more takers?

Maybe intro some people with standard games. Looks like we could really use one more

Yes, I am in!

8 would be ideal as I think I could make it work with my 8 starter decks and the massive free agent deck I now have. Assuming we get 8 I propose we set aside a Tuesday session for me to run 'pre season friendlies' as an introduction/ refresher course.

For ease, I propose 2 divisions of 4 players, with a single 3-series match against each team in the division. This should be doable in a single night per division.

We then have 2 options, either 1 vs 1, 2 Vs 2, etc. from each division play off to determine the final order (probably take 2 sessions) or we get in to a seeded playoff knock out tournament. I'm tempted to go for the latter.

I think 4 sessions should do it (max). If we can agree on a format then I'll create a doodle poll for the first sessions and make the draw for the group stages.

karl_b wrote:8 would be ideal as I think I could make it work with my 8 starter decks and the massive free agent deck I now have. Assuming we get 8 I propose we set aside a Tuesday session for me to run 'pre season friendlies' as an introduction/ refresher course.

For ease, I propose 2 divisions of 4 players, with a single 3-series match against each team in the division. This should be doable in a single night per division.

We then have 2 options, either 1 vs 1, 2 Vs 2, etc. from each division play off to determine the final order (probably take 2 sessions) or we get in to a seeded playoff knock out tournament. I'm tempted to go for the latter.

I think 4 sessions should do it (max). If we can agree on a format then I'll create a doodle poll for the first sessions and make the draw for the group stages.

Sounds great to me! If you want to make things really complicated then you could use the format that some fighting game tournaments use for the knockout stage. Do it seeded and double-elimination, but with the bottom half of the divisions going straight into the losers' bracket (so it's single elimination for them). Everyone gets to play in the knock-out, but there's more emphasis on finishing well in the divisional part of the tournament. Or am I over-complicating things?

Well I don’t mind how complicated it gets as long as I don’t have to plan it.
Would we keep the same teams throughout?

paulyg wrote:
Sounds great to me! If you want to make things really complicated then you could use the format that some fighting game tournaments use for the knockout stage. Do it seeded and double-elimination, but with the bottom half of the divisions going straight into the losers' bracket (so it's single elimination for them). Everyone gets to play in the knock-out, but there's more emphasis on finishing well in the divisional part of the tournament. Or am I over-complicating things?

I think I understand - sounds like a hybrid of the two options I suggested. Perhaps we can discuss it later?

Kes wrote:Would we keep the same teams throughout?

That's the plan and it's certainly doable with the number of cards I now have.

I’d be up for this. Whilst I’ve not been to a Tuesday for a while I’m okay heading into the end of the year. Longer one time session would also work.

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Mike4000 wrote:I’d be up for this. Whilst I’ve not been to a Tuesday for a while I’m okay heading into the end of the year. Longer one time session would also work.

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You're in!

So we have 8. I'll have a think about the format over the weekend but, now that Paul has explained the double elimination thing to me in more detail, we'll go with something more straightforward this time.

I'm currently pretty free in November, shall I make a draw for the 2 divisions and then people can let me know when they're available?

Sounds good

Sorry guys, haven't forgotten just haven't had much time to think about it. Shall we try and start this in the new year?

Sounds good.

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Cool for me.
Perhaps a Sunday red dear session could also be an option for a tournament day

Can’t often make Sundays, but if the date is decided with enough notice I might be able to do it!

Right, let's do this. I've done a random draw to determine starting teams, conference sorted by Sheffield geography (ish):

Southern Conference:
Karl - Seattle
Pauly G - Los Angeles
Kes - United Kingdom
Ian - New York

Northern Conference:
Liz - San Fransisco
Tom C - Boston
Dave B - Canada
Mike G - Carribbean Basin

Two evenings required for the league before we move to playoffs, so let's agree some dates. We'll play the two conferences over two weeks, I've added a poll to the top of page so you can vote for your availability (multiple choice) and I'll coordinate.

I propose we then have two (possibly three) evenings of playoffs, with the bottom two from each division facing off one week and the top two from each a following week to determine the overall rankings and winner. Dates TBC upon completion of the first round of conferences.

I will explain the detailed rules on the night/s, but a quick summary (any comments?):

Conferences

• Two league system, five game series against each opponent in your conference
  
• Conference rank based on winning percentage
  
• Ties split by runs scored
  
• Teams will be able to draft players between games in each series from the free agent deck
  
• Drafted players remain with the team throughout the tournament
  

Playoffs

• Two playoff series - bottom and top two from each conference
  
• Three games series against each opponent to determine rank
  
• Conference rank based on winning percentage
  
• Ties split by runs scored
  
• Only one draft round, at the end of each series
  
• Final playoffs will then be 1 vs 4 (Game A) and 2 v 3 (Game B) in a five games series.
  
• The winner of games A and B will then play a seven games series to determine final ranking and the winner of the World Series.
  

PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES ON THE 5TH FEB. Or ask me for games another week, always happy to play.

How does this all sound?

Sounds fine to me

Is there going to be a "friendly" session before we start to get a handle on the rules? I've never played before... and based on your description I know less about the rules of baseball than I thought

Also, if I play Canada does that mean I have to apologise every time I hit the ball? And say "aboot"?

EDIT: Of the dates quoted I can only do Feb 5th so I've voted for that, if that's no good for others I don't mind stepping aside, and trying again next time!

Dave - yes, we can run a "friendly" session, good idea.

Let's do that 5th Feb and I can add in more dates for the conferences if needed. When are you available?