“First of all, having just read the last book of the Baroque Cycle (which features Huygens, Newton and a number of other savants) I really got a kick out of the names. Huygens kept coming up and I kept snickering thinking of the books... Good stuff by Neal Stephenson.

Ok, onto the match. This was, somewhat obviously, an Academy game and I had to split early to catch a bus, hence the concession. Unfortunately, we accidentally quit just before conceding, so the replay isn't going to show much. That's unfortunate, as there are some good points to be made.

You played pretty well, in my opinion. There was a little confusion over defensive setups - which is always tough - and a few ill-advised blocks but for the most part, you got guys into position and covered yourself, which was very good. Hopefully another shot at defense would have given you a good 3-4-4 setup which you were trying to do on the second drive (when I said to put the thrower down next to the blitzer). A little bit of practice on getting assists into position and when to throw blocks to free up your other players (a play when you could have blocked with the ogre just before your first TD comes to mind) but the basics are very solid. You were indeed doing smart moves first, which is an enormous first step that a lot of people are missing when they start.

Regarding planning and speed of play - something you implied that you wanted to improve - this wasn't a particularly good example to practice on. I was trying to play my turns out as quickly as possible so that I could head for the bus. What I did point out - start planning your turn while your opponent is moving - still stands, however. Just figure out what you want to do (ie: Take that receiver down so he's out of TD range and get some TZs on his middlemen so I can hopefully get some blocks in next turn) and figure out who you want to do it. The final play of the first half was an excellent example of this. You used your blitz perfectly and got everyone into exactly the correct positions to make it work.

Figuring out where someone's players are going to end up just takes a little bit of practice. Once you can do that you can start planning out a turn like that one during your opponents move and you just have to adapt it slightly sometimes when he does something different.

All in all, it was a fun game. Thanks again and I'll look forward to next time. Just remember, on the whole, you played a pretty good game. There were a handful of dubious blocks right at the beginning and some confusion over defensive setups, but your first TD was very nicely played and most of your defense did its job - making me roll dice which I can fail.

ps. I just noticed that you said in the forum that you played your first BB match a few days ago. Color me impressed. I sucked way worse than you for my first 50 matches or so...”