APBA vs. SOM
Networked Macintosh
I've played APBA computer baseball (the older DOS version) up until now,
after having started off with the basic board game. I'm looking now to
either purchase the master board game or the SOM advanced game, and was
wondering if I could get an argument for which is better. I've never
played SOM, so I'm not familiar with how it works.
thanks.
tree
--
This message was sent from a locally-networked Macintosh. Yale University takes no responsibility for its contents.
Timothy S. Sullivan
Networked Macintosh wrote:
>
>
> I've played APBA computer baseball (the older DOS version) up until now,
> after having started off with the basic board game. I'm looking now to
> either purchase the master board game or the SOM advanced game, and was
> wondering if I could get an argument for which is better. I've never
> played SOM, so I'm not familiar with how it works.
>
> thanks.
>
> tree
>
> --
I've played both games a great deal and have been in several leagues
using each game. Both games do a very nice job of recreating the season
and producing realistic stats. Both games take about 30 minutes to
play. The mechanics of SOM are slightly different than APBA. In APBA
you roll the dice and consult the batter's card for a result that may be
altered by the defensive team's pitching or fielding. In SOM you roll a
third die which determines whether the result is read from the batter's
card or the pitchers card. In either case the result may be affected by
fielding.
I've heard and participated in several arguments over which is better
and, to tell you the truth, it usually comes down to aesthetics. I
prefer APBA (the master game version), but I'm probably in the minority
among people who've given both games a serious try. I'll try to
summarize the basic (and often heard) pro's and con's:
Advantages of SOM:
*Most needed info is on the players' cards -- compared to the half
dozen, or so, boards and charts you need for APBA.
* Probably does a slightly better job of recreating fielding because
fielders have separate ratings for range and errors, while APBA gives
fielders a blanket rating.
* Probably does a better job of recreating stolen base frequencies.
Advantages of APBA:
* Probably does a slightly better job of recreating extreme cases --
batters who never strike out or pitchers who never give up a home run.
* Gives each pitcher a hitting card -- compared to SOM which only has a
handful of hitting cards for each pitcher.
* Has a really nice way of recreating rare plays (triple plays,
multi-base errors, catcher's interference, player ejections, rain outs,
etc.). Unlike SOM a lot of odd plays can happen in APBA, although they
rarely do.
As I said, I prefer APBA by a small margin (I never play SOM solitaire
or just for fun). Many of the problems for either game can be easily
fixed with some house rules. For example, I know people who've made
rare play charts for SOM. Another game you may wish to consider is
Pursue the Pennant (I know they make a computer game, and I assume they
still make their board game). PtP would get my first place vote for
statistical accuracy, but my third place vote for playability.
If you have any specific questions about either game I'd be happy to
respond.
:Tim
--
**************************
Timothy S. Sullivan, Ph.D.
Dept. of Economics
Box 1102
Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville, IL 62026
tsu...@siue.edu
O: 618/692-3469
F: 618/692-3047
http://www.siue.edu/~tsulliv/
**************************
Michael Cieslinski
You need to check out DYNASTY League baseball which has been reviewed as
the best baseball board game on the market. From the designer of PTP, it
includes more realism than PTP, with much better playability. The PTP
board game is no longer made. You can visit the www site at:
Michael Cieslinski
In article <nobody-1810...@net166-76.student.yale.edu>,
nob...@yale.edu (Networked Macintosh) wrote:
>
> I've played APBA computer baseball (the older DOS version) up until now,
> after having started off with the basic board game. I'm looking now to
> either purchase the master board game or the SOM advanced game, and was
> wondering if I could get an argument for which is better. I've never
> played SOM, so I'm not familiar with how it works.
>
> thanks.
>
> tree
>
> --
> This message was sent from a locally-networked Macintosh. Yale
University takes no responsibility for its contents.
You need to check out DYNASTY League baseball which has been reviewed as
the best baseball board game on the market. From the designer of PTP, it
includes more realism than PTP, with much better playability. The PTP
board game is no longer made. You can visit the www site at:
RanCoxClem
Strat-o-Matic far outclasses APBA in depth and statistical accuracy.
However, the best baseball simulation ever is Sports Illustrated Baseball,
if you can find one. You can, though, still purchase a watered-down
all-star version of it from Avalon Hill called Superstar Baseball.
Dan Gallagher
In article <54vhlc$6...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, ranco...@aol.com
(RanCoxClem) wrote:
Last week I rediscovered a "Great Teams" version of Stratus Pro from
Avalon and have spent days pitting these teams against each other until I
find THE GREATEST SERIES WINNER OF ALL TIME. It's been 8 years or more
since I opened this box, or APBA, which I played constantly, or even the
sometimes tedious game that layed out the playing field in a grid and
required calculating plays by how many squares fielders were forced to run
to the ball and throw.
My point is: I'm addicted again. Does the "Great Teams" edition, which
features FAC cards and a fold-out green board, sound like the Avalon
version you mentioned? How are you measuring accuracy? And have you ever
tried playing the PC version of these games? I know APBA sold one in the
80's. Finally, it looks like Usenet might not have a group for baseball
simulation games. Does anyone know of one?
Thanks,
Dan
RanCoxClem
Nope, Statis-Pro baseball (including the greatest teams supplement) is not
the same as All-Time All-Star Baseball (a.k.a. Superstar Baseball). The
SP game with the fast action cards is, indeed, a fine game much like the
granddaddy from Sports Illustrated, but I still prefer Superstar Baseball.
The reason I say APBA is inferior to Strat-o-Matic is a matter of
granularity. I think there is more opportunity to accurately re-create
players stats using the SOM system than with the APBA two-dice system.
And the SOM system just flows much better.
Yes, I have played the PC versions of these games and APBA impressed me
more. Don't know why, seeing as I assume the same base system as the
tabletop game is used for the PC, but I just like the feel of the APBA
computer game.
Michael Cieslinski
In article <dang-31109...@128.138.114.17>, da...@necinc.com (Dan
Gallagher) wrote:
If you are looking for Great teams you should look into DYNASTY League
Baseball's Best of Baseball series - selected as the Best New Sports Game
for 1996. http://www.designdepot.com
abt...@aol.com
I remmeber both of those games! The one with the grid was NBC baseball
from the early 70's and that Sports Illustrated game could be plates in
30-45 minutes.Anybody ever played"Pennant Race" from the early 80's?One of
Avalon Hills most brilliant design but with one hugh problem
rtayl...@aol.com
In article <19961113152...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
abt...@aol.com writes:
Which is?
I solitaired the first 1.5 months of the AL 1982 season before losing
interest. Naturally, Milwaukee had a sizeable lead. The only real
problem I remember is that you can almost always call up players from the
minors who are better than your ~5 worst players (and that includes
starting pitchers).
-- Roger
ranco...@aol.com
Could the square-grid baseball game where you move fielders to the ball
have been the classic Sher-Co II baseball game. I had that for awhile
(gave it to a friend who still has it). I liked it a lot because of the
range/arm factors of each fielder. Still not as good as Sports
Illustrated Baseball, but quite fun indeed.
As for Pennant Race, never played, though I own it. Is it the one where
one dice roll (of about 6 dice) determines the entire game. That's the AH
Pennant Race I own. However, Sports Illustrated released Pennant Race
which was an unfortunate packaging of their final release of their
baseball game (1973 release, featuring players from 1972).
abt...@aol.com
2 games were named "pennant race" The 1st in the 70's was the SI baseball
game with the dice that produced die roll range from 10-39. The second
made in-house by AH used one roll of 3 standard dice of different colors
to produce the number of runs produced by ONE team.This system was
brilliant but the problem is you can play it solitire or with 11 other
people in a league but you COULD NOT PLAY IT HEAD TO HEAD WITH ANOTHER
PLAYER.ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE NOTICE THIS PROBLEM?
rtayl...@aol.com
In article <19961115175...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
abt...@aol.com writes:
Not until you mentioned it. But then you could say the same about any
sports game. I have played them only solitaire or in a league, so I have
no solution.