XMas Bowl II

XMas Bowl II

It was time for the second installment of XMas Bowl and this time it had grown to four game in one day. I was on the fence for a while regarding what race to take, but finally decided on undead, scene my wood elves weren't quite ready yet.

As the deadline for rosters were pushed forward I had another think about what to take and decided that I wanted to play with the miniatures that were painted. So, I borrowed a treeman from my halfling team and two elves from my pro elf/dark elf team.

Roster

Treeman
2x Wardancers (Strip Ball)
3x Catchers
1x Thrower (Leader)
4x Linemen (2x Wrestle)
1x Reroll
Apo

Strip ball and leader were no brainers, but I went with wrestle rather than tackle on the second wardancer because I wanted to spread out the skills and also get two extra pieces, with whom I could safely block.

Without further ado, let's get on with the games (but I didn't take notes, so it will be a brief report).

Game 1 vs Skaven

I started the game by kicking the ball, which I wasn't too sad about. He moved up the pitch fast and scored in his second turn. In those two turns he also managed to use both his rerolls due to a double skull and him forgetting that we had a blizzard. 

For this tournament the weather is either a blizzard (4-10) or nice weather (2-3 and 11-12).
That is also a big reason for me taking wood elves, due to their pure speed.

This meant that I'd have the ball for almost the whole game, if I could hang on to it.
My opponent had chosen block for all of his four gutter runners, which meant that it should be tricky for him getting the ball of me.

He kicked to me and a catcher caught the ball on a high kick and then ran to hide in my backfield.

Catcher with the ball in the backfield

I then just tried to hit as many rats as I could while protecting the ball and moving from side to side.
It worked well and I even injured a linerat, but he had spares, so it didn't really matter in the long run.

He did however manage to make it difficult for me. I had to blitz a thrower away from my ball carrier (the catcher), dodge another catcher out and in to the endzone, then dodge the catcher with the ball out and throw a quick pass to the catcher in the endzone. It worked, even if I started both dodges off with a one.

The second half started with the crowed throwing a stone at a linerat, which was then injured. This meant that I was up on players and could slowly move up the field with the ball and score in my turn 16.

As you can see for the picture, my opponent focused way to much on the treeman trying to take it out with his ratogre (which blocked itself down). I was happy with this, since it left my team free to move around his team.

Elves moving up the pitch

Game 2 vs Ogres

Second game and I was up against ogres. This could be really tricky, if my opponent managed to get my elves off the field. 

I chose to receive the ball, hoping to get a shot in at Grotty, but it wasn't to be. 

Kick off

I scored in my second turn, hoping to steal the ball from him and be up by 2-0, because I didn't think he'd go for the throw that early in the game and even if he would have, that would have either meant that I got the ball back or that I could just pick it up in my backfield.

What happen though, was that I managed to tie him up on the sidelines and steal the ball.
I was then up 2-0 at the break.

The second half was a disaster for my opponent and he just kept rolling 1s.
I stole the ball twice and ended up winning 4-0.

It also put me in second place for most TDs, but as a slann player had won his game by 5-0, it was one TD behind.

Game 3 vs Chaos Pact

I started the game of by kicking and it was a deep kick, which meant that I could get my players between his two lines, i.e. the cage and the LOS players. I even got a shot at the ball with strip ball and the ball was on the ground. My thrower dodged in, and passed it to a catcher, who just needed to catch the ball to run in and score. A 1. Catch skill. Another 1!

A real shame, but nothing I could do about it. My opponent managed to get the ball and ran away from my team. I should have been able to catch him, but I failed a dodge and he could just keep on moving away from my now downed team. It was 0-1 in turn 8, but I still had my one turn TD attempt. 

I set up and should have been able to score, with a bit of luck (GFIs on 3+), but he got a perfect defense and that rendered my chances to less than zero.

As he kicked off the second half, the weather changed to nice and I scored in turn 2. I did so, because I wanted to win the game. Maybe I should have gone for the tie, but I felt like I could do it.

He got the ball and started his turn with a double skull with the ogre. Excellent, I thought, but I didn't manage to get the ball and right when he needed it, he managed to stun all my players, who could safely reach the ball carrier (except for a KOed wardancer). I followed that turn up by failing a GFI for a hit on the ball and he was off again and I couldn't catch him. I tried, but nothing worked. I had two turns ending in missed dodges.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have gone too aggressive after the ogre blocked itself down.
Sometimes it's better to play it cool and get the draw instead of a loss. It could still have turned in to a win, since there was a whole half to play.

Game 4 vs Orcs

I started the game by kicking a deep kick and rolling a blitz on the kick off table. I could have scored in my turn 1, but I wanted to chew up time and decided on stalling. He did blitz the wardancer with the ball and rolled a pow, so I ended up stalling the whole half, i.e. we fought for the ball in his backfield, before I could secure it and just dance around his team.

I then scored fast in my drive, since it didn't really matter if he got the TD in for 2-1 and I had a shot at a 3-0, which would have been good for the most TDs award.

I ended up stopping him (surfing his ball carrier and having a lucky throw in), but sadly, he managed to GFI twice for the hit on the catcher with the ball (see picture, up to the right) and stun him. That meant that I had to go a long way with another catcher for the pass to the wardacner, who was the only player that could score. Sadly, the catcher didn't manage to pick the ball up in a tackle zone and the game ended 2-0.

The last chance for the orcs to stop the 3-0

Conclusion

Wood elves are a fun team to play and I'll play them in my next two tournaments as well (mainly to those tournaments also having best painted awards, which I'll also go for). I should however sometimes just play it cool as I lost game 3 due to it not working out, but it could easily have gone my way with either the catch or the one turner.

Runner Up

I ended up in second place, which I was happy with.

I was one TD short for the Most TDs award, but I was till happy with nine TDs in four games.

Thanks for reading.

EurOpen

EurOpen

This was my first EurOpen (and Eurobowl) and I was excited to play in my home country, Sweden. The tournament was played in a castle in the city of Örebro. The venue was very good and to be honest, I didn't have any complains on the organization either. The organizers made sure that this was the best Eurobowl it could be.

Our team, the League of Extraordinary Freebooters was made up of JBone, Spielmacher and myself.
JBone was playing dwarves, Spielmacher Lizards and I was playing dark elves. I've played dark elves a lot this year and this was the culmination and hopefully a chance to get back to my NAF-ranking as it was after Stockbowl Cup VI. This was however the first tournament with this roster, which I like more than the standard roster I've been playing before.

Roster
4x Blitzers (2x Dodge, yellow ring)
Witch Elf (Wrestle, white ring)
Runner (Leader, dark blue ring)
5x Linemen (2x Block, light blue ring)
2x Reroll
Apo
Fan Factor

The idea behind the roster is to not rely on blodge and dodge, but rather block and positioning. It's safer to block with block, if you have a reroll to spare than to dodge with dodge. Without a reroll it's the same risk. Which means that my turns should be safer as long as I have rerolls and I'm blocking with the block players (which is half the team). I've also got less AV7 and an Apo, which should in theory mean that my players stay on the pitch.

Game 1 vs Lizardmen

I was up against lizardmen, which is one of the more difficult opponents for dark elves, due to the speed and strength. My opponent had given block to all his saurus.

I started with the ball and moved from left to right and back again, trying to get a good blitz on him and/or getting him out of position. It was quite uneventful and my opponent played very well, but his Kroxigor decided to go stupid one turn and I used that to my advantage and went for the right hand side. I did however not go all the way, but my opponent over committed and I could go back to the left flank. I based half his saurus, on that side and the rest were to far away to catch up, so it was up to the skinks.

Moving from side to side

The skinks manage to knock the ball lose, but I could recover and score in turn 8.

Ball recovered and in a good position

My opponent scored in the second half, making it a 1-1 game, but I was receiving. I felt quite good about the game, although I was down on players. Maybe I could score or at least keep the ball and stall out the draw. I wasn't meant to be. My runner failed to pick the ball up deep in my half and his skinks moved forward.

Skinks moving in

The turn after, I did manage to pick the ball up, but my plan was to hand it off to a blodging blitzer instead of the runner, to make it more difficult for my opponent to get the ball. I set up a half cage, which the runner would make a corner of (I'd dodge the other corners out if everything went according to plan. I had the option of making a GFI for a hand off or a pass (it was very sunny) on a 3+. I opted for the hand off, but in hindsight, I should have gone for the pass, even if it was more difficult. The reason being, that even if the pass failed, I'd have the ball in a tackle zone (unless I was really unlucky and got a 2 plus a bad scatter for the inaccurate pass). What happened was that the runner missed the GFI, with a reroll and stunned himself. The skinks moved in and picked the ball up. All that could save me was a blitz with the hand off target, the blodging blitzer, but I had to use my last reroll on one of the dodges on the way and of course I failed the last GFI for the actual hit. That was it, the skink ran the ball in and I lost 2-1. It was still a fun and tight game against a great opponent. He played well and we had a laugh. I wasn't too upset.

Game 2 vs Underworld

I was happy to face underworld, since you rarely see them in tournaments. It also felt like an easy opponent due to the AV7. I got the ball first and protected the ball while moving up the pitch, trying to get his players off of it. 

Moving up the pitch

He made an attempt at getting the ball with Skitter Stab Stab, but I dumped the ball off to a lineman and when the stab was a dud, I could just move on up the field and hit Skitter. I never really felt threatened after that and could score in my turn 8. I also got Skitter out (KO), which made me feel even better about the game. 

Moving away from Skitter and his not so useful knifes

He tried the one turn TD, but failed the landing in two tackle zones. All I needed to do now was to stop him from scoring.

He ran up the pitch and set up a screen, using one of his thrower (with leader) as the ball carrier. He tried to set up a screen, but failed to see the 2+ patch through it. I went for it with a blitzer but only managed a push. Reroll, push. He then scored in his following turn, but that left me with too much time. Skitter didn't come back, which made it even better, at least in theory.

What did happened though, was that his players started getting my players of the pitch and he pressured me deep in my half, but I could get the ball deep in to his half with a hand off and he was out of position. It was still a close call in the end, since he boxed me in and put a two headed goblin in the way for my ball carrier I had to make a 3+ dodge (with reroll) for the win and it succeeded, ending the game 2-1 in my favor.

Game 3 vs Undead

This was a good game and I started on defense and got a perfect defense, which I then ended up screwing up. I mistook his frenzy wight for his guard wight, but a dodge pow saved my blodging blitzer from being surfed. My opponent then realized that he had to dodge the wight out or get it and a zombie surfed. This resulted in an early turn over, but I couldn't capitalize since he'd moved his players prior to the blitz and was in a safe position.

He played well and I tried to stop him with the traditional elf stall, but I failed a dodge in one of my turns, which meant that he could advance his cage forward. I then tried to make it hard for him to score, but left an opportunity in which he just had to blitz, make a 3+ dodge (with the dodge skill) and a GFI. He scored in turn 8. I could have made it even harder, if I had forgone a block with my runner and instead dodged the runner out to stand behind the blitzer, who was blitzed away. The block was however safer and losing my leader for the second half could have been really bad.

Elves moving up the pitch

It was by no means over though and I got the ball in the second half. I tried to move up my left side, but was stoped. I then moved my runner back to the middle, just behind the LOS. He took a chance and dodged out with a zombie to blitz the runner, who dumped the ball of to one of the block linemen. I then handed the ball to a blitzer in my turn and scored.

This left my opponent with a couple turns to score and my plan was to put him under pressure for the win. I was lucky in that it was a deep kick and I moved up my players to threaten the ghoul who had failed at picking the ball up. This left my opponent with a pass, which he failed. All I had to do was pick the ball up, hand it over and score. It was a series of 2+ dodges, a pick up on a 2+ (after a blitz), a catch in a tackle zone, another dodge and a GFI. I got as far as the 3+ catch, but failed it even with a reroll. My opponent had forgotten to move any players in to scoring range in his 7th turn, so the game ended in a draw, but it was close.

That meant that I had a 1-1-1 record after day one, which I was okay with, but I felt that I could have done better.

Game 4 vs Necromantic Undead

Game 4 saw me up against a Swedish coach, Bim. We've played once, at Stockbowl Cup V, were we drew. She elected to kick, which I was fine with. If I have the choice I usually like to kick, because it's easier to defend with a full team and I know what pace I need to set in the second half.

She moved the ball up towards the LOS and knocked some of my players down and although one was stunned, none left the pitch. I started with the standard elf defense and she didn't get past the LOS. She also left me a gap. A 4+ dodge for a one die hit on the ball carrier. The ghoul didn't have block, so I went for it and managed to knock the ghoul down with a both down (using a reroll) and the ball bounced out to a lineman next to the cage.

Blitzer dodging in to the cage and getting the ball lose

Bim managed to knock the ball lose again, but couldn't get to it and I picked it up again and was off. I scored earlier than I wanted, due to her pressuring me, but I was fine with that since I had suffered a KO (and a badly hurt). We also had sweltering heat, so the number of players that were to be set up could swing in my favor. The sweltering heat didn't do much, but I managed to stop her and could almost score. I got as far as getting the ball on the ground an picking it up in a tackle zone with my runner. Instead of dodging the runner out (I had no reroll left) I decided to pass on a 3+ instead of a 2+, but if I failed my runner would be intact (as well as my leader reroll). I rolled a 2 and the pass was inaccurate, so I was just up 1-0 instead of 2-0.

I got the ball in the second half and moved from side to side, to get an opportunity to break off with the ball and to buy some time. I got a break and could move the ball carrier off and screen him off. Bim put me under pressure and I decided not to score, since I had surfed one of the wolves (and the other one was suffering from the heat) which meant that she didn't have any players there were faster than mine. Even if she got the ball, she wouldn't be able to out run me nor keep it safe. I stalled until my turn 16. She got the ball carrier down once, but I just picked the ball up again and moved off to the other side of the pitch. A bit arrogant perhaps, but even if she'd gotten the ball, she was running out of time and I'd probably win 1-0. Hence, I took risks and trusted the blodge and my screen. It paid of and I won the game 2-0.

Game 5 vs Dark Elves

This was my worst game of the tournament because I played badly. I got the ball to start the game and didn't try to advance at all in the beginning. I just sent a player or two forward, so he'd have to blitz them instead of attacking the ball carrier, but one turn I left an opening and realized just as I ended my turn. He put pressure on me and managed to get the ball on the ground. I recovered and moved up the pitch since he had over committed and was out of position, but it didn't matter. He dodged his witch elf through my screen and hit the ball carrier. This is where I made a huge mistake. I dumped off to an empty square behind the witch elf, close to the endzone. The witch intercepted the ball! I should have dumped it off backwards, towards my players, but I was afraid that it would scatter out, but I guess that it was less likely than the interception.

I got my wrestle witch to blitz the other witch, with the ball and threw two dice at her. I didn't manage to get her down and the blitz went into a one die. I should have rerolled the two dice and I don't know why I didn't. The one die didn't do the trick either, so he could just dodge out and pass and hand off to be on the other side of the field. He eventually scored, but he had four KOs, but he got two of them back and then the other two at half time.

Nothing worked an we set up for his drive. He went down the sideline and I put my players at risk, trying to get at the ball carrier (a witch elf) down. He surfed a lot of my players before I could finally get the witch off the field. (It just took me nine block dice to get the ball (including the three from the first half. There should have been a both down or a pow in one of the nine.) Sadly, I didn't have enough players to really protect the ball carrier once I picked it up, but I did my best. Sadly, I missed a dodge as I was trying to get the ball to a blodger and he could pick it up and run in the 2-0.

Game 6 vs Undead

This was probably the game in which I played best. I was facing a good undead coach and kicked to him to start the game off. I defended with the standard columns and it would probably have worked if it wasn't for an error I made in my turn 6.

I had a blitzer and a lineman next to each other and a lineman behind the lineman. The error was that I counted the two squares to the right of the group from the blitzer, which mean that my opponent just needed to blitz the blitzer down to get a line through. He blitzed with a wrestle ghoul and got a push, but rerolled and got the both down. His cage could then move through and stand in front of the endzone. I did try to get the ball by chain pushing the ghoul out next to my witch elf, but didn't manage to get the ball on the ground. I was down 0-1 at the half.

I thought about just going safe and scoring as late as possible, but I wanted to win, so I went for a quick two turn score. I'm quite sure that my opponent was happy with this since it left him with the standard 2-1 grind option.

I kicked the ball to him again and started to defend in columns. He moved forward, but climbed together and I saw an opening. It started with me -2d blocking a mummy and I got the push/dodge pow, so the mummy was pushed backwards, which pushed the ball carrier out next to one of the corners (due to him having surrounded and fouled a stunned player). I then blitzed a zombie and chain pushed the ball carrier back behind his team and based it with two players and surrounded his players. He couldn't blitz the ghoul free and had to go for the dodge. A 2. Dodge reroll. A 2. The ball was on the ground and I could then pick it up in my turn and run of with it. I scored in my turn 16 which ended the game 2-1 for me.

I felt that my defense was strong in this game, except for the mental error in turn 6.

Edit: Since I won the last game, I also won the pitch. A nice bonus to take with me home.
The moose on the field was also handed out as a goodie as well as a set of block dice.

End of the tournament

Just before all the winners were announced

This was the end of my first EurOpen and I ended on a 3-1-2 record.
Sadly though, I didn't get many NAF-ranking points out of it and my ranking remains below what it was after Stockbowl Cup VI last year. I'd like to get it up, but I don't think I'll play dark elves for a while now.

My teammates ended the tournament on
Spielmacher 4-1-1
JBone 1-1-4

That saw us ending up in 12th place, which we were all happy with.

Thanks for reading.

Underground Cup II

Underground Cup II

It was time for the second installment of my co-organized tournament and this time around we had 20 coaches, which is a decline from last year, but it was an improvement to last year in terms of venue.

Since I was organizing and playing, I didn't really have time to note down my games and this will be a brief report.

I was playing halflings, since I wanted there to be a stunty cup (or at least I hoped that there would be one, since I handed my roster in before anyone else).

Gesundbrunnen Picknick Packers

2 Trees (2x Block)

10. Halflings (4x Side Step (green ring), 2x Diving Tackle (yellow ring), Sure Feet (white ring))

Puggy

Deeproot

Master Chef

Cheerleader

Assistant Coach

There was one coach brave enough to join me in taking a stunty team and the stunty cup would be won by either halflings or goblins. Let the games begin!

Game 1 vs Norse

I was facing a norse team with just eleven players and if I managed to get them of the pitch, this could work out. My opponent elected to receive and I managed to shut him out in the first half and reducing him down to just six players for the second half.

Halfling defense holding tight

I felt confident that I'd least get a draw out of this game as we started the second half, but that changed fast. I don't know how, but I couldn't pick up the ball and my opponent dodge through tackle zones, picked the ball up and somehow managed to score in turn 16. I lost the game, not a good start to the tournament.

Halflings can't pick up the ball

0-1 (5-3)

Game 2 vs Slann

This was a fun game, but also horrible. My opponent was also playing with an eleven man roster, which made me happy. Frogs without block against three mighty blow block trees? I should have the upper hand when it came to casualties. 

I got to receive the ball and I got one lineman out from the get go. Secured the ball and handed over to my opponent. He just leaped over my screen without any problem. I thought I had him, when he leaped a blitzer over my diving tackle and then dodged away, but he managed to roll a 5 on the reroll. Darn. He knocked my ball carrier down and leaped a catcher over my screen, dodged into two tackle zones, picked the ball up and dodged out. It was a series of 4s, 5s and 6s, just when he needed them. He scored in his second turn, because I couldn't get the catcher down with three block dice (blitzed with Puggy against a catcher with dodge). Frustrating, but such luck couldn't possibly continue, right?

Just before the frogs steal the ball for the first time

Second kick off and he does the same thing and by turn 4 or 5, I'm behind by two TDs. At least I'm up on casualties and my hope was that he'd run out of players, so I could at least tie the game.

I managed to score the 1-2 and he was running out of players, but I didn't manage to score again and the game ended 1-2, but it was close and exciting until the whistle was blown.

1-2 (4-1)

Game 3 vs Skaven

Skaven is one of the teams that I don't like to face with halflings, due to their speed and that proved to be the case in this game as well. I defended and shut him out in the first half, but a gutter runner managed to get the ball from me in the second half and scored at the end of the game. A fun and close game against a rookie tournament player.

0-1 (4-1)

At least I was up on casualties and actually in the lead for most CAS. Having lost all my games so far, I should be up against a soft team and I might be able to score even more casualties. Yeah, that's the plan, let's go for most CAS.

Game 4 vs Dwarves

How can you be on the bottom table and face dwarves? I was not liking this match up, but it proved to be a game in which my luck turned. The game started with a pitch invasion and I had +2 FAME. Eight dwarves were stunned. 8!

Pitch Invasion!

With such a lucky start, I managed to shut him out in his drive and then scored in mine. Also worth noting is that I managed to CAS three dwarves. 3!

1-0 (3-3)

Game 5 vs Dwarves

Facing dwarves twice in a row isn't really what you want as a halfling player. This was the first game in which I didn't stop my opponent from scoring in his/her drive. My opponent scored in his turn 6, which left me with enough time to score an equalizer before half time.

Jelly Nelson on his way to scoring the equalizer

I received the ball in the second half and my opponent was very aggressive, leaving me little room to run. He did however overcommit. I managed to get my ball carrier next to a tree, free the tree with a blitz and then throw the halfling with the tree. An okay scatter and some dodges later, he was screened of from almost the whole dwarf team. There were two longbeards who could reach the ball carrier, but they needed to dodge. To make it even more difficult, I dodge Puggy through his line and managed three 3+ dodges to be in a position where only one of the longbeards could reach Jelly Nelson with the ball. If I had gone for a fourth dodge, he would have been out of reach for the whole dwarf team, but I didn't want to push my luck any further. The longbeard dodged out, GFIed twice and knocked the ball lose. 

I had a second chance, to pick up with a halfling, but didn't manage the pick up in a tackle zone. My opponent then picked the ball up, KOed or CASed the players who could reach the dwarf with the ball and scored the final touchdown in turn 16. What a close game and I'm still debating if I should have made the fourth and final Puggy dodge.

1-2 (0-6)

My opponent later got Most CAS. His skill choice was 6x mighty blow and yes, he was thrilled to have faced halflings.

Game 6 vs Humans

This game was against my co-organizer Spielmacher, who had to fill in for day two. We play a lot of games against and they're all fun games. So was this one.

I managed to yet again stop my opponent from scoring in his drive (first half). It was pouring rain, which helped neither team. I did however managed to pick the ball up on a bounce in the second half, but spent to much time trying to be safe, that I didn't make enough progress forward. The game ended 0-0.

0-0 (3-3)

I was happy with how I played, stopping my opponents in all but one game. I just need to work on my offense. It was fun playing halflings again after a couple of tournaments with dark elves.

Here are some pictures from the tournament

The prize table

Players in action on table 2 and 3

Players in action

Worth noting is that the winner of the tournament, Melisqus had a 6-0-0 and won Most TD, with dwarves! Very very impressive.

What's next?

EurOpen is almost here. I'm leaving for Sweden tomorrow and will be playing in the EurOpen with Spielmacher and JBone. I'm taking dark elves, but with a different build this time.

4x Blitzer (2x Dodge)

1x Witch (Wrestle)

1x Runner (Leader)

5x Linemen (2x Block)

2x Reroll

1x Fan Factor

Apo

I've tried this roster in a couple of games and I like that it's more resilient and less "all eggs in one basket". Wish me luck!

Practice game vs Spielmacher

Wood Elves

A quick update on the wood elves, which are still on track for being painted for the first tournament of the year, next year. Preußenbowl on the 25th and 26th of February

I'm currently working on the wardancers

and here's the rest of the team

Thanks for reading!

How I painted the skin on my wood elves

It's been a while since I've posted anything here due to real life and that I've spent my free time painting.

I thought I'd just share how I've done the skin on my wood elves.

These are the colours I've used.

Colors used

I start by painting three coats of thinned out dwarf skin.

First coat

Second coat

Third coat

After the base coat I wash the skin with a thinned down Reikland Fleshwash. I try to avoid that the wash pool too much and rather just taint the skin. I then paint the eyes. It doesn't matter if I get the colours outside of the eyes since this will be mended in the next step.

Wash and eyes

I now apply the base coat again (thinned down) and paint over any white or black that's outside of the eye.

After the base coat

I then add some cadm. skin to the dwarf flesh, for the high lights and work my way up, adding more cadm. skin to the mix.

First highlight

Second highlight

Third highlight which is almost just cadm. skin

After the highlights I glaze some Reikland Fleshshade (1:1 mix with glaze medium) where the skin meets another colour, for example towards the belt. I also add some where I see fit (usually between the fingers).

Skin finished

Here's the finished miniature, except for the base

You can find more pictures of the team on my twitter, but I will post some pictures on the blog once it's done.

My next tournament is my own, the Underground Cup II and I'll be playing 'flings.
Stay tuned for a report from the tournament soonish, I hope

Thanks for reading.

Plattbowl II

An update that's long overdue, but here's the report from my latest tournament.

Plattbowl II

It was time for my first tournament in Hamburg (but not my last). The rules were basicly the world cup rules, but there were a set of cards for each player and you drew one of them prior to each game.

The prizes

Later, this turned out to be optional, which I didn't like since it meant that some tables would be playing with the cards and some wouldn't. The cards themselves were focused on fouling except for a couple of very powerful cards. Them being a card that let you play with twelve players for a drive, a free blitz or a perfect defence (play the card instead of rolling on the kick off table). Another addition was also that the top table in round 6 would play on a ship.

Custom ship for the sixth round

The tournament itself was very well organised and I'll come back next year.

Roster

I was playing dark elves (again) and went with my standrad roster.

(The numbers corespons with the game in which I could start using the skill, ie (3) being from game 3)

4 Blitzers (Dodge (1), Dodge & Guard (3), Dodge (5))

2 Witches (Block & Wrestle (1))

1 Runner (Dodge (5))

4 Linemen

2 RR

AC

Cheer

Game 1 vs Norse (holzknie)

My card: 12 Players for a drive (which I couldn't use)
FAME +0
Nice weather

I get to decide who'd start on offence and chose to get the ball first.
Why? Just so I could get a player or two off the field with that AV7.

As he's about to kick off to me he plays his card, which is a perfect defence which wasn't really a problem. A blitz card would have been worse and at least I knew what the card was.

The kick off

I managed to CAS one of his linemen in my first turn and move up the field for the score in turn 8. This was my opponents second tournament, so he did some mistakes. 

On the way to the endzone (runner has the ball)

 The half ended 1-0 (2-1).

The second half started with a touchback and there were just 9 vs 9 on the field.

My opponent goes down one side and I can surf some of his players and pin him to the sideline.
He tries to escape with the ball carrier on a 5+ dodge, which fails and the ball goes out and the crowd throws the ball towards his side.

Witch on her way to score

A witch elf picks the ball up and scores in turn 16 and at that time there's just three norse players left on the field.

End 2-0 (2-1)

Game 2 vs Dwarf (Alronno)

My card: No turnovers for being ejected for a foul
FAME -1
Pouring Rain

I kicked the ball to the dwarves because of the pouring rain. Hoping that it would slow them down and it did, for one turn, but not really as they CASed a lineman and a blitzer in that first turn. I was down to nine players.

I did still manage to get the ball on the ground, but then I made a stupid thing. I got greedy and blitz a longbeard on the ball, hoping for a scatter which would be better for me. This was stupid because I could have three tackle zones on the ball as it were. I should remember that the goal of the defensive drive isn't to score, but rather to stop the opponent from doing so. Scoring is a bonus.

Bouncing ball ends in the hands of the troll slayer

The ball bounced back into the scrum of dwarves and after a couple of failed catches it landed in the hands of a trolls layer and I had just undone what I had achieved the turn before. This meant that the dwarves could recover and walk in for the score in turn 8.

The half ended 0-1 (0-3) and we set up for the second half, in which I had seven players.
My opponent played his card, which allowed him to set up twelve players, so it was seven elves against twelve dwarves.

Set up before the perfect defense

My opponent then rolled a perfect defense, making it even harder for me to score, but I somehow managed, on pure elfen bullshit and the fact that he couldn't get my ball carrier down on four block dice. In my turn I blitzed with the blitzer (two dice against), but didn't manage to get a push, which meant that I had to do a 4+ dodge followed by a 2+ dodge and a GFI. I made all of the rolls and scored in my turn 10.

The blitzer managed to dodge out and score

We set up again and it was now seven elves against eleven dwarves, but this too turned into five elves.

7 elves to stop 11 dwarves

I tried to attack his cage on every turn I could, which meant that I tried to dodge in on 5+. I even had a 2+ dodge once due to one of the dwarves being sent off for fouling, but I snaked that dodge.

I managed the 5+ once and it was in my last turn and my wrestle witch got the ball carrier down, which meant that he had to pick up the ball for the score which he sadly did, but it wasn't unlikely with the inbuilt sure hands.

Last chance and the witch manages to bring the ball carrier down

The game ended 1-2 (0-3) and it was a really good game in which I felt that I had a chance even though I was down on players from the get go.

The only mistake was being greedy and going for the ball scatter.
I need to learn from my mistakes and someday I will.

Game 3 vs Necromantic (Heroic_Tackle)

We played without the cards
FAME +2
Sweltering Heat

As I kick the ball off to my opponent the weather goes from sweltering heat to pouring rain, which was great for me. It also landed  in his backfield, which meant that he'd been in trouble if he couldn't pick it up in the first couple of turns.

My opponent KOed two of my linemen, which meant that I was yet again down on players. But his ball carrier was on his own in the backfield, so I sent some players to hunt him down. Some might call it over committing, but my players are faster than his (except for the wolves) and he couldn't really leave his slower players behind.

Ball hunting

 My opponent got away, but his cage was still in his backfield. I blitzed a cage corner and based the ball carrier, meaning that he had to blitz that marking player off. Also meaning that he wouldn't be able to move too much.

Basing the ball carrier

 This dance continued until I made a mistake and left a lane open, so my oppoent made a break for it.

before and

after the break away

 I could recover my mistake and put my opponent in a tricky situtaion.

Tough one to get out of

 This time my opponent made some errors and pushed people into the lanes he could have used to get out of the situation, which left him with a one die blitz against my blodger and a potenial set of tricky dodges for the score, but he rolled a skull on the blitz.

Ball on the ground after the skull

 This meant that I could get the ball and run off with it.

Blodge blitzer with the ball

 And all I had to do in my turn 8 was to dodge out on a 2+ (with dodge) and make a hand off in the rain (3+) for the score.

Elf bull shit

 That ended the half 1-0 (2-0) for me.

My KOs didn't want to come back for the second half, so it was 9 vs 11.

The kick was deep, but high and my runner caught the ball in the air.

A deep kick indeed

 Since I didn't reallt need to score this half I didn't push forward, but rather tried to protect the ball and screening it off.

Ball protecting screen

 I moved right to left in my own half, buying time and my opponent responded by killing one of my players. I was now down to eight. In my 11th turn, I snake a dodge (KOed player) and my opponent could now move in and put some pressure on my screen.

7 elves under pressure

 I tried to make a run for it, but I didn't mange to establish a safe screen, because of a with snaking her dodge.

Another snake

 The ball goes in to the crow and is thrown back toward the LOS.

Ball on the ground

 I manage to recover the ball, but I wasn't safe.

Ball recovered

My opponent gets the ball on the ground yet again and heads off for the touchdown.

But my witches and blitzers chase the wight down to recover the ball.

Ball back in my possession

 The rest of the half is spent chasing my witch and eventually getting her down in turn 15, but it's a bit too late. I cover the ball with tacklezones (I learned something from game 2 after all) and my opponent goes for it, but it was unlikely having to pick up in tacklezones, dodge, GFI and throw and catch in the rain.

Ball on the ground

Last chance for the necromantic team

The game ends 1-0 (2-1).

So day one was good with 2-0-1 and I was in 5th place.

5th place

I kind of wish that the tournament would have ended here, but there were three more games to be played.

Game 4 vs Orcs (Troublemaker)

My Card: If a player is ejected for fouling, all the assisting players are sent off as well.
FAME -1
Nice weather

I kicked to my opponent and his game starts of just fine with a KOed blitzer (the one without a skill).
He moved down the pitch in a very secure formation. Happy with just moving forward a step or two.

The orcs are happy with moving a step of two per turn

On my fourth turn I managed to KO my guard blitzer on a one reroll one-dodge.
My turn five ends in the same fashion, but instead of a KO, a lineman is stunned.

My opponent walks in the touchdown in his 8th turn. I ran out of players to cover the whole pitch and he could blitz his way through my screen.

1st half 0-1 (0-0)

I got half my KOs back and the second half started with me having 10 players to his 11.

Before the card was played

We set up and my opponent played his card, an automatic blitz!

After the blitz

As you can see on the picture, my opponent over committed to his blitz and I could run through the gab on the right, setting up a screen.

After turn 9

Stalling and screening the ball off

I managed to stall out until my turn 14 and the game ended in a draw, the remaining turns no leading to anything.

End 1-1 (0-0)

Game 5 vs Dark elves (verminardo)

We played without the cards
FAME -1
Nice weather

I kicked the ball to my opponent and rolled a perfect defense on the kick off table.
I lined up to make if difficult for my opponent to get passt and we traded a blitz a turn until turn 4, in which I KOed his block with elf as well as a blitzer.

Making it hard to get passt

Having more players on the field, I felt that I could be more agressive. I tried to pin my opponent to a sideline and make it hard for him to move forward.

Closing the net

I ignored the prone lineman on the right in this picture since I belevied I had made it difficult enough for my opponent to get him the ball and cover him.

but a lineman sneaks past

My opponent, feeling the pressure, makes a desperation play and hands the ball off to the lone lineman, who ran up the field. I got a two dice blitz on him and knocked him down. Sadly though, the ball bounces perfectly and isn't in any tackle zones and I used my last GFI on the blitz istself.. I try to dodge a lineman out to foul the now prone lineman, but fail the dodge. All my opponent had to do was to stand the lineman up, dodge out and pick the ball up. Which he did.

I still had two turns left to score, but my opponent set up a good defense. I still had a shot at a touchdown, but couldn't dodge my witch out on a 4+ with the dodge reroll. Thus ending the half 0-1 (0-0). All KOed players came back and we were back to 11 on 11 for the second half.

The second half started with a perfect defense and a touchback.
After a couple of turns of trading a blitz a turn I managed to score in my turn 13.

Moving the ball up field

The last kick off of the game was also a perfect defense. I managed to pin my opponent on the sideline and all I needed was a 2+ dodge to cancel some assists in order to chain push his ball carrier and scoring threats out. A one. No worries, I've got dodge on this player. A one.

My opponent managed his GFIs and scored in turn 16, which was bitter. It was a really close game and I beleive that a draw would have been fair.

End 1-2 (0-0)

Game 6 vs Skaven (Letzy)

We played without the cards
FAME -1
Pouring Rain

I received, because I wanted to try and get some rats out before the second half.The kick off result was a brilliant coaching and the rats got an extra reroll.

Elves moving up the pitch

The half was uneventful and the only interesting thing was that my opponent had to use his apo on his thrower (with leader) after failing a dodge in turn 4.

I scored in my 8th turn and was feeling quite good about the game as my opponent failed his one turn touchdown attempt.

First half 1-0 (0-0)

The second half saw 11 elves against 10 rats and all I had to do was keep them out of the endzone, but that turned out to be difficult.

Trying to stop the rats

In my opponents 10th, he managed to CAS a lineman and a blitzer (with dodge) and score.
He also got his KO back and it was now 9 against 11. The tables had turned.

Elves protecting the ball

I moved up the pitch, trying to screen the ball carrier off from the rats, which was working at the start of the drive. But in my opponents 13th turn, another lineman went down and I was now down to 8 players and under pressure (all my players were based) and this is where I lost the game. My 13th turn ended in a one reroll one, at the worst time possible.

The rats moving off with the ball

The rats could get to the ball and run off with it, scoring in their turn 16 making it 1-2 (1-3)

Since I didn't have enough players for a one turn touchdown, I just went for some blocks, but I double skulled on the first one. It wasn't my half at all.

End 1-2 (1-3)

Final thoughts

I've got mixed feeling about this tournament. I lost to the top two coaches and feel like I could have won those game or at least tied them. The thing is that I keep making silly misstakes, like going for the ball in game 2 or that dodge in game 5. I should have remembered that my kicking drive isn't about scoring, but rather keeping your opponent from doing so. That's where I need to get better. I also need to learn to make safe moves first. Don't trust the AG4 too much. To play safer.

This may sound obvoius, but under time pressure, it might not be (as in game 5).

I also feel that the 2-1-3 result doesn't reflect how close my loses where, but that's blood bowl.
I ended up in the 12th spot, which I'm not happy with. One of my worst tournaments so far.

I ended up in 12th place

The tournament itself was great. Well organised and my opponents were great. I'll be back next year.

I don't know what I'll be playing next year, but this is the team I'm currently working on, so Ill probably play wood elves.

Wood elf linemen

Thanks for reading!