Armada Wave 6 Early Thoughts

Armada Wave 6 has now been out for nearly three weeks, and I've been able to get in several games with the new stuff.  Its been a mixed bag as far as early results, with nothing really being surprisingly good or bad.

Commanders

The two commanders for this wave were heavily discussed and bantered about.  Commander Sloane seemed to be the pre-release MVP, but I've found list building with her to be tough.  The fighters she seems to pair best with are regular TIEs and Interceptors.  Against ships though those three hull just melt to AA fire.  I'm thinking her builds are actually going to be a bit more subtle, using Interceptors and Defenders to overwhelm other squads and then use the defenders to either always do damage or strip away a token.  For the Rebels, Leia has find a nice niche working with swarm fleets.  I'm intrigued on trying to use her on a Liberty class cruiser as a battle carrier, but haven't gotten a chance yet.  My friend has run a pretty mean 7 activation fleet with her using mostly Concentrate Fire to bring up the firepower of 3 TRC90s with 4 Torpedo Hammerheads.

Boarding Teams

The boarding engineers have proven to be a bigger bane to me so far than the boarding troopers, but that's largely a function of not having faced BT Avenger yet.  Although, boarding engineers with Dodonna I think presents an exceptionally nasty combination since you can stack up nasty crits and flip them once more.  I've been trying other imperial ships besides the ISD to put them onto, but the other candidates have their drawbacks.  Raiders are then missing out on Ordnance Experts, and only have squad 1.  The VSD lacks the closing speed necessary to get int close range, but it has some possible play on a VSD1 to enforce area denial.  I've found Cham Syndulla to be a bit tough to get to hammer, because he really wants to be getting at three command ships.  It can work well against a ship like Demolisher or Admonition that might really want a navigate to get away from an attack run.  Its just got to come down to timing and Cham hasn't been worth the points so far.

MVP Upgrades

There is a lot of competition for best upgrade in this wave.  External Racks make Raiders just so deadly now, although sometimes still a bit tough to get into range.  Aforementioned VSD 1s and Hammerhead Torpedo variants also both love them as a cheap killing shot.  Disposable Capacitors are possibly single handily bringing back the VSD2, being able to toss 6 toss and long range with gunnery team and leading shots makes it  true artillery piece.  Quad Battery Turrets is also a huge bon to MC80s of both varieties, as well as the much maligned VSD 1.

Ships

The actual ships themselves have both been very nice.  The Hammerheads give another front facing skirmisher to their arsenal, to help Nebs, Peltas and Liberties with a flak ship, or support long range fire.  The Torpedo Variant has been the one that I've seen played the most, although I think a Pelta with a pair of Disposable Capacitor Scout Variants with Spinal Armamaent can put out some serious damage potential. 

The Quasar gives the Imperials a true ability to dominate the squadron game, and both variants will see a good amount of play.  My playtesting so far has been with the 1 variant, with Flight Controllers, Expanded Hanagr By and Boosted Comms.  It is a ship that must be kept out of firing range though, because its weak shielding will have it going down in possibly just a few shots from a TRC90 (knowledge from experience). 


So far I've liked what Wave 6 has brought, and I'm excited for the balance its brought to the game.

Broncos Rookie Predictions

We're fast approaching the opening of training camp for this year, meaning every fan has hope that their team can win the Super Bowl this year.  Its also the time that every fan looks at their Rookie Draft classes and imagines them being that special catalyst that brings their team all that glory.  I try to contain my expectations somewhat, and try to set reasonable goals for these players starting an NFL career.  Last year I did ok with some of my predictions, hopefully this year I'll be a bit better.

1. Garrett Bolles will start every game at Left Tackle.  I dont think this is such a bold prediction, unless Bolles suffers an injury and misses time.  Denver has no other solution at LT unlees Ty Sambraillo can return to form, so Bolles becomes the default option.  I wasn't too excited with this pick, but if Bolles adjusts well he can be a good LT in this league.

2. Demarcus Walker will have 5 sacks, and 19 tackles.  Walker I think is only ever going to be a rotational pass rusher.  He's going to give Denver some good pass rush ability in limited snaps, rotating with Adam Gotsis and Derek Wolfe among others, but looking to him to do more than that this season is a fool's errand.  Its also a crowded front right now, so standard downs likely wont see him playing much.

3.  Carlos Henderson will be targeted 61 times, and will end up with 48 catches, with 568 yards and 3 Touchdowns.  He's also going to put in some good work on returns, with 32 returns for 468 yards on punts.  This was the first pick that I was really excited about in this draft class.  Henderson dominated in the AAC, and brings a real set of explosive ability.  Mike Mccoy really prefers his #1 wideoout to get a clear majority of targets with the tird guy getting roughly as many passes as the Tight Ends.  I think 61 targets for Henderson is about right for him to be the main guy in 3 wideout sets. 

4. Brendan Langley will have 8 special teams tackles, and 15 tackles overall.  Langley is a developmental guy who should provide good help on punt and kickoff coverage.  He wont play many defensive snaps unless the #NoFlyZone suffers injury setbacks, and even then he's going to be buried deep on the draft chart.

5.Jake Butt will spend the season on the Non-Football Injury list.  This is a great value pick, but Denver has several solid Tight Ends, and Butt is coming off a second ACL injury.  There will be little reason to rush him back before week 6 at a minimum.

 

6. Isaiah Mckenzie will have 22 targets, with 11 catches, and 8 rushes for 82 yards.  Mckenzie is an undersized returner, who might be able to wrest the job away from Carlos Henderson. Mckenzie I think will handle more Kickoffs than punts, but he'll see some limited time as a wide out and gadget type player.

 

7. Deangelo henderson wil have 32 rushes for 145 yards and 1 touchdown.  The speedy back I think is going to be fighting for a roster spot, but I think he snakes it away from Bernard Pierce to be the 4th back on the roster. 

 

8. Chad Kelly spends the season as the 3rd QB.  Under Elway Denver has always carried three Qbs on the roster.  Kelly is a super high upside pick, for whom this is an excellent chance to get his head on straight and perhaps carve out a nice NFL career.  There is a slight chance Kelly ends up on the Non football Injury list though, after having several ffseason injuries and tearing an acl last year.

100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present: Book Review

I've always been a  fan of looking at hypotheticals.  Harry Turtledove is one of my favorite authors, and alternative history one of the genres I gravitate towards.  Its probably a large reason why in college I was pulled to study Chaos and its associated branches of uncertainty in mathematics.   The old poem has always stuck with me

For Want of a Nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.  
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.  
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.  
For want of a message the battle was lost.
 For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
 And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

It fits that just like in nature, in the course of human events there are many touch points where history could change.  Many of these points are key battles, where one side had every advantage and failed to capitalize, inspiring new nations to rise in place of the old.  Finding good records of the order of battle, the historical setting and the ramifications of them is always tough to do.  There are a lot of books out there about a particular battle here or there, but not many that trace from antiquity to the modern era.  Paul K Davis has collected 100 of these battles in his 1999 book 100 Decisive Battle.  The book lays out each battle in a clear way, naming the opposing forces and their commanders, giving a quick one line abstract of the impact of it.  It then sets up the preceding history, giving a nice overview of how the combatants came to battle.  The descriptions are not overly specific, but give a good overview of the order of battle and where tactics failed or won the day.  It then ends with well described outcomes from the battle, and some speculation of how things might have been had the battle gone the other way.  The book starts at Megiddo and ends in the modern era, with the Gulf War.

I really enjoyed this book quite a bit.  It covers many of the well know turning points that most people could name (Marathon, Thermopylae, Orleans, Waterloo, Dunkirk, Pearl Harbor etc).  These are essential to any list of the most history changing military moments.  It however covers many battles that had severe effect that are not so well documented.  The Battle of Crecy, for example in 1346 was an early battle in the Hundred Years War, that marked the beginning of the end for the mounted Knight as the main set piece on European battlefields.  Had the French taken the defeat in earnest and changed their military organization to mach that of the English, perhaps Orleans would not have needed Joan to save it.  The book does an excellent job of covering battles across Europe, North America, South America and Asia.  It misses any tribal warfare in Africa though, with only European participants being mentioned.  That being said, I agree with the choice of battles and was pleased with the choices of battles I didn't know as well that were featured.  This is an excellent piece of military history, and allows the reader to get an overview of places they might want to study more. 

The Kamayan Truck: 50 Best Dishes in Wichita

The variety of food here in Wichita is one of the best things about the city.  And that wide range is also part of the burgeoning food truck landscape here as well.  One cuisine that a lot of folks might not find so often is that of the Phillipines.  Luckily, Wichita has a Filipino styled food truck that makes its way around town delivering fantastic dishes.  The dish that I dined on to complete the next is the one that the truck here in town is known for: Porchetta.  We visited the Kamayan truck following one of our YPLS Softball games, which lead to a bit of a long wait.  It was expected, with roughly 200+ people descending upon the brewery where the truck was parked, along with the typical crowd that would gather for a weeknight drink.

The tasty Porchetta.  Sorry its a bit blurry, was taking the picture in the car

While Porchetta is an Italian dish in its origin, the Kamayan Truck takes it for a Filipino spin.  The Pork Belly Roulade is filled with lemongrass, jalapenos garlic and scallions.  The pork belly is deep fried then in the truck, sliced and served to you.  The pork belly gets extra crispy, with the fat getting super well rendered and providing a crackling texture on the top.  The lemon grass gave it a fresh taste and helped to cut through the fattiness, but sadly I think because of the rush my portion got no jalapenos.  It was ok though, because the accompanying sticky rice with its sauce more than made up for the heat.  The rice itself was pretty unremarkable, but the sauce was a glorious sweet concoction, that was infused with a very spicy bite.  It had in it some chilies (Thai Hot I believe), what at first I had mistaken for sweet peppers.  This sauce was not for the feint of heart, but it gave the whole dish a wonderful kick.

I'd definitely try some of the other dishes the Kamayan truck has to offer, and I'll definitely try the Porchetta again with that sticky rice.  But double check to see how swamped they are, because these dishes take some more time to produce correctly. 

Vegas Post Season Bowl Predictions

Vegas loves to get an early jump on predicting where teams will all fall throughout the season, and Jason Kirk over at SBNation has put together an approximate list of bowl matchups based on the Over/Unders.  I ran them through the predicted teams ratings to see what matchups would be good, and how the teams might fair in these hypothetical bowl match ups.  The best game is the Cotton Bowl, which I would love to see Lamar Jackson taking on the stout Badgers defense.  Man Ball would also reign in the Iowa Arkansas matchup, and Michigan LSU would again be a fantastic show.

There are not nearly as many blowouts as the program called for last year, although it does give low estimations for how worthy the Semi Finals are for the College Football Playoff (an 8 point Bama win over OU, and a 10 point Buckeye win over USC). 

Way too early NCAAF Rankings

Its the start of July, and that means we are entering a real dead period for football in general.  NFL OTAs are all finished, and college players are basically just working out.  Not much news to post.  But that means its the perfect time for a bunch of predictions and rankings for teams.  Using my trusted prediction formula, I simulated the entire college football season 8000 times to build up a consensus of where teams will end up finishing.  Lets take a look

Looks a whole lot like the typical college blue bloods continuing to be good.  The program is pretty well assured we will see the return of 3 of the 4 teams that have been to the dance before appearing again.  Auburn s a team that jumps out as a "What are they doing here?" team.  The Tigers though have recruited at an elite level again the last two years, and return one of the most experienced squads in the Nation.  I do highly doubt that the Playoff Committee will accept two teams from the same division into the playoffs, so TCU is likely out as well.  That leaves USC as getting the nod, a return to their former glory and one that Vegas thinks is pretty darn possible.  

Some other bits of note is the continued hate from the program towards Clemson.  The program has never liked the Tigers from the Palmetto State, and sees their floor as possibly being one of the worst in the country.  Their ceiling is also pretty high though, landing them a potential Top 10 spot.  This year the down bias is driven almost exclusively by the high turnover they have at a lot of positions, and the fact that the program remembers what a season without Deshaun Watson was for the Tigers.  Oregon and Baylor both remain highly regarded, largely due to good recruiting and returning production both giving them boosts back to at least top 30 levels.  Rounding into the top 25 is Wazzu, who return a very experienced squad that has shown improvement each year Mike Leach has been the head coach.  They could very easily be 4-0 by the time USC comes to visit, so don't sleep on them getting some love early on. 

College Hill Deli: 50 Best dishes in Wichita

Wichita really isn't a city a lot of folks outside would expect to have amazing food.  It is however a treasure trove of dining options, ranging from Ethiopian to Vietnamese to French to New American.  The local newspaper tries to produce several lists throughout the year to help Wichitans find the best places to fill whatever craving you're searching for.  Recently, Denise Neil posted the 50 Dishes That Must Be Tried.  One of the restaurants and dishes mentioned here is one I've been meaning to taste fr a long time now.  The College Hill Deli is near our neighborhood, and has been around for several years now.  It serves mostly Mediterranean fare, with a few American dishes, like the Philly Cheese steak or a Burger.  My mission today though was the Beef Gyro, number 15 on Denise's list and number 1 for me on tackling this list. 

We made the trek on what was a wonderful weather morning, partly cloudy but warm.  We chose to sit outside on the patio, which offers a bit of shade and has fairly comfortable patio chairs to sit in.  We were some of the only folks there, but I could see the patio getting a bit crowded if people were trying to seat more than couple at the 6 or so tables out there.  Our server was pleasant, and checked on us several times throughout our meal.

My wife loves appetizers.  And I thought any place that serves Mediterranean food should have good hummus, so we got the starter plate to try.

 It proved to be a great idea.  The pita that came with it was warm and soft, and the hummus was topped with just the right amount of Olive Oil to add a nice flavor to the dish.  The hummus was an excellent creamy texture, and unlike some places in town was just the exact right amount of garlic to give life but not overpower.  Our server graciously brought us another pita as well, since we got a good amount of hummus to start.

Tasty Tasty hummus late

Shortly after the hummus arrived our main dishes came.  My gyro looked fantastic.

Gyro with Fattoush

The gyro was superb.  The sandwich was a good size, and the meat was plentiful in it.  The meat itself was well seasoned, and was very tender.  The meat also was very moist, always a tough task when making gyro meat.   The cucumber sauce on top was also excellent.  It had just the right amount of dill and salt to complement the meat, but not overpower it like I find so often with cucumber sauce.  I would have loved to have had another swipe of the cucumber sauce but thanks to the meat staying so moist it wasn't necessary.  The salad was good, and made an excellent light accompaniment to the sandwich.  It was fairly standard, well dressed.  The only downside was I would have preferred a bit more acidity, which the owner I think tried to bring by having several pickles in it.  I however am not a fan of pickles, so I moved most of them out.

For a start to the 50 dishes in Wichita, the College Hill Deli provided a wonderful jump off.  Its an excellent little spot to grab a nice light lunch, and hopefully will see much more of my business in the future.