expansion draft Santa Claus arrived early (part 2)

[Terry43]

The first game of the 2024 Expansion Draft is today (March 5).

The eight teams are:

Led Zeppelin's Angels of Avalon, AMC's Trans-Am Javelins, Hyperion's Meteor Shower, Mt. Dew's Baja Blast, David Bowie's Diamond Dawgs, Metallica's Metallians, Wales' Walsh Dragons, and Inspector Clouseau's Pink Panthers.

NONE of the Chicken-Leg single-clips*  were tweaked before I bought them. Each team has 23 players for a total of 184 players. Some of the teams like the Baja Blast and the Pink Panther are new teams. Other teams like the Meteor Storm and Metallians were old teams that received new paint. All of the teams received new helmets and new Team Boxes, except the Walsh Dragons. The Walsh Dragons use the Tudor pre-painted Union Jacks and have won two Fruit Bowls with Tudor Blue/Red Convention Bases and with ITZ dark blue CL-2 bases. 

The basic rules for the 2024 tournaments are the same as for the 2023 tournament**. Stop-Forward-Progress tackling, minimum weight of 5 grams, stacking is allowed on offense and defense up to 2-deep, and dice will be used for passing. Each team has two QBs and each QB will have his own dice.

There will be a change in dice passing for the 2024 season. The offense will roll a D10 and the defense will roll a D6. The rule change is intended to increase the number of interceptions per game.

The opening game will feature:

Angels of Avalon

AND

Trans-Am Javelins

If you're thinking the Trans-Am Javelins look remarkably like the Christmas Spirit from last year — they are. There's still a Christmas Spirit team and they are riding on the same Tudor Red Convention Bases, but the plastic figures have a more Christmas-oriented green and gold color scheme.

This double-elimination tournament is very exciting for me because I don't have a clue how 184 little plastic peeps will function individually, and as teams. I just spent the last two months tweaking and painting these plastic peeps so it goes without saying: I love them — win or lose.

Enjoy the Journey    T43    ⚡🏈♾️

* For a more detailed discussion of the single-clip bases please see the original Santa Claus arrived early post.

** Videos of last year's games are available on this Forum under the Topic The Highlight Reel — Video Gallery.

[Daryl Collins]

What can I say, Coach T? I’m a fan! More on the passing dice, please. I cannot believe the amount of output I’m seeing here. I look forward to picking a favorite out of the new group. (AMC had a winner with the look of the Javelin in the day. I understand that that the performance was another matter.) 

I had recently wondered how you were doing. Now I know! 5 grams… can’t wait.

Journey On!

[Terry43]

6 hours ago, Daryl Collins said:

I look forward to picking a favorite out of the new group.

Thank you. After the first four games I'll have a better idea of who the favorite could be. Right now it's like Pop Warner football. The Angels are up on the Javelins 28 to 14, at halftime, and I spent a lot of the First Half re-tweaking the skill positions for both teams. I'm anticipating the same amount of time re-tweaking in the second half.

6 hours ago, Daryl Collins said:

More on the passing dice, please

 If I roll a D10 and a D12 at the same time, the probability that both dice will land on the same number (i.e. “doubles”) is 10/120, or 1 in 12, or 8 percent.

If I roll a D6 and a D10 at the same time, the probability that both dice will land on the same number (i.e. “doubles”) is 6/60, or 1 in 10, or 10 percent. 

 If I roll a D6 and another D6 at the same time, the probability that both dice will land on the same number (i.e. “doubles”) is 6/36, or 1 in 6, or 17 percent.

Interceptions run at about 2 percent in the NFL so the NFL is definitely not the model I want. But, I don't want a fifth of the passes to be interceptions (17%) so I'm going to try D6 vs D10 for the 2024 seasons.

7 hours ago, Daryl Collins said:

wondered how you were doing.

Thank you. This is a very cold, snowy time in Wyoming (Mother Nature dumped 6 inches on us last night) so BIG projects are the only way to keep from going stir-crazy. So, back to the Angels and Javelins.

Enjoy the Journey    T43.    ⚡🏈♾️

[nefgm.org]

7 hours ago, Daryl Collins said:

(AMC had a winner with the look of the Javelin in the day. I understand that that the performance was another matter.) 

Man!! My Brother had a Javelin back in the day. What I learned to drive a stick shift on.

My Brother and his 1968 AMC Javelin.  This picture is probably sometime in the mid 1970's.

[Terry43]

Yep, that's the one I wanted so bad it hurt.

Of course, I wanted all the Trans-Am coupes; Ford Boss Mustang, Chevy Camaro, Dodge Charger, Plymouth Barracuda, and the AMC Javelin. I bought all the Hot Wheels and kept them next to my bed hoping I would get one of them for my Birthday or graduation. I got a Ford Falcon.

Enjoy the Journey T43.   ⚡🏈♾️

[Daryl Collins]

1971 Dodge Dart Swinger! Army green. Loved that car! Traded for a 1970 Camaro. Loved that one too!!

Journey On!

[Terry43]

On 3/6/2024 at 5:29 PM, Daryl Collins said:

Traded for a 1970 Camaro.

I traded my Ford Falcon for a '68 GTO.  That GTO and I went on a lot of journeys with the stereo turned up to 11.

Enjoy the Journey.   T43.   ⚡🏈♾️

[Daryl Collins]

BTW. Glad to see the snow field out again!

Journey On!

[Daryl Collins]

In revisiting this post, (again), I realize what I want to see is top box art for the new teams. I guess I could be told that as the teams play each other, all will be revealed. I really want to see this, though. I will abide by your decision. 
The Dude abides.

Journey On!

[Terry43]

13 hours ago, Daryl Collins said:

I realize what I want to see is top box art for the new teams.

Thank you. Disclaimer: Most of the art work is stolen from YouTube and manipulated in Photoshop.

METEOR STORM

DIAMOND DAWGS

BAJA BLAST

METALLIANS

WALSH DRAGONS

PINK PANTHERS

TRANS-AM JAVELINS

ANGELS OF AVALON

And just for fun...

HAWK IN APPLE TREE

We have a bird feeder in our back yard that attracts birds that do not eat bird seed. 😉

Enjoy the Journey    T43    ⚡🏈♾️

[Daryl Collins]

Thank you so much! I those are awesome! Birds and all. Most artists I pay attention to have one style of work. These are all so individual and are like true teams with histories. Entertaining as always!

Journey On!