It'd been cold the previous nights whilst we waited for the coach, so I decided to take my Thundercats hoodie for that evening. I was struck with a powerful conviction that if I did so I would lose it, but decided to take the risk because I knew there was a lost and found on site and anyway, I'd had the same conviction that the plane would crash and we'd all die on the way out, and I'm pretty sure that didn't happen.
Of course, I did lose the hoodie and it didn't get handed in. I'm really hoping someone picked it up by accident and hasn't noticed yet, and that when they do they'll look on TFF or somewhere so I can be reunited with it. Although, if the hoodie was some metaphysical trade for surviving the plane ride, all I can say is 1) it was fair and 2) Death has great taste.
 |
| I miss my hoodie |
That aside, day three was another fun day. I was by now exhausted and a little anxious to face another skaven team. My personal challenges were going well, with all the "really wants" complete. Would I be able to win a game today?
Really wants:
1) Score using Throw Team Mate (game 2)
2) Score by walking in with halflings (game 5)
3) Draw a game (games 5 and 6!)
4) Kill a big guy (fouled a Krox to death game 1. He apo'd it: fouled it to death again. Then trees killed ogres on blocks, and halflings killed others on fouls in game 6)
Nice to haves:
5) Kill a big guy with a fling on a block
6) Score with a tree
7) Win a gameMy skills by this day were block on one tree, grab on the other, 4 side stepping halflings and 2 blocking halflings - though I was wishing for sneaky git or dirty player or even maybe mighty blow on a fling...
Game 7
vs Aurre of the Spanish Bastards (Spain) using skaven
(I was told we were against Spanish Bastards, but I saw what I thought was a different team in Spanish Bastard shirts later, so now I'm less sure...)
My luck, particularly when it came to casualty rolls, had been pretty in the tournament so far, whilst my opponent had suffered an excess of ones and skulls. That changed in the first half of this game. I took his rerolls, but with +2 fame to him he kept winning them back. Neither of us needed any until turn 7, when even with the reroll I failed a vital hand off. He then needed his to save from a double skull on a block he then realised he didn't need to have thrown - he still managed to get his third touch down of the half, though. Kick, it turns out, is a very evil skill and, hard as I tried, I couldn't get rid of the offending rat. With his interference, I needed extra GFI's to stand a chance at a one turn TD to end the first half - not that it mattered, because I failed the hand off with reroll again. Sigh.
The second half went better, with a thrown rock hitting his team and stunning a line rat despite him having the extra fame and he losing repeated blitzes with failed wild animal rolls on the rat ogre. Kick was still causing me problems, so Deeproot took his frustration out on the rat ogre, stunning it. Several flings piled in but couldn't do more. The flings and trees managed to up their damage in this second half, punching and fouling many rats (including the ogre) into the KO box before sauntering in to score.
Of the various KO'd rats, all but one blitzer returned to the pitch - this still gave me a numbers advantage because it was 2 dead flings vs 2 dead line rats and 1 dead gutter runner as well as the KO'd blitzer. The lay out of the pitch meant it was a pack of flings who went after the rat ogre... they surrounded him and blitzed for a 2 dice block... Broke armour... DEAD RAT OGRE!!! "At least, no more ones on blitz" said my sanguine opponent.
The rats managed to keep the ball from the flings by throwing it out of their range, denying either team an additional TD. Neither team did any more damage (althoguh a double skull from his blitzer gave me hope). My tree with block spent most of the game rooted...
Considering I took such a thrashing on the score, this was an exceptionally fun game.
TD 1-3
CAS 4-2
sent off 0-0
stolen rerolls 5
Game 8
vs Kibit of Fun Factor Zento (Italy) using skaven
More bloody rats! I got fame this time, which was fortunate because the first kick off result was a pitch invasion. One fling fell, but so did 4 rats - including the ogre. The ball landed near the line of scrimmage, but my little guys couldn't pick up the ball even with the threat of gutter runners standing nearby. Fortunately, the rats couldn't manage it either. The ball bounced loose and lodged itself in Deeproot's branches - another chance at that elusive tree TD! Right up until the cheeky strip ball gutter runner smacked it free (I realised too late it should have been 3 dice my pick, not the 2 he rolled. Not that it'd likely have made the difference, but still frustrating as I wanted that TD).
I managed to KO his rat ogre but couldn't keep his team from scoring, and it came straight back to face the riot (I forget to mark whether we gained or lost turns here). So Deeproot shoved it into the crowd who finished it off. I don't think my opponent was best pleased about that, but if you're going to leave him in easy reach of a Deeproot blitz... The crowd also slaughtered the strip ball gutter runner - I guess they were as keen as I to see a tree score. That left 7 rats on the pitch for the final turn of the first half!
The halflings continued to punch their way through the rats, sending more and more to the casualty box whilst suffering a single KO (who took two attempts to come back, but that really didn't matter). This lead to an exciting turn 16: 2-3, with the ball convenient for a throw team mate score... Kick off result gave me a d6 to pick which of his 5 rats to hit with a rock... The throw was good... The scatter wasn't, landing one square too far back to draw level even with GFI's.
Whilst I definitely got luckier when it came to injury, I deliberately created as many 3 dice blocks as possible to give myself that opportunity and I actually felt frustrated not to achieve a draw: again, I was the better player. I eased off a bit when I saw how the mounting casualties were upsetting him, but three strong players with mighty blow will do that if you leave your strength 3 players nearby, and strength two players are happy to take the risks if you make it easy to get the assists in.
Definitely helped my chances of being most violent halfling, though.
TD 2-3
CAS 6-0 (+2 crowd for me)
sent off 0-0
stolen rerolls 3
Game 9
vs Yeash of Victims (Germany) using Dragon Boxers (Norse)
Victims won the wooden spoon at Amsterdam and were the only team we faced at both events (I believe vice versa also). I was enjoying chatting to my opponent and reminiscing so much my notes are really shoddy for this game, which is a shame. His English was impeccable and he was very tolerant of my attempts to murder his language (I can count in German, say hello and thank you, that I hate milk (from mishearing Rammstein lyrics), that I speak a little German, and guinea pig. Very useful stuff).
I chose to receive, but it didn't take long for the norse to get the ball from me. It ended up in the crowd and the flings recovered it, losing 2 flings in the process. The norse's guarding player demonstrated consistency in his dodge rolls until he eventually killed himself in the process... (apparently all his team had made a habit of failing dodges all weekend). The half ended 1-0 to the flings and my excitement levels were up. To try and keep him from evening the score in the second half, I had to rely on Deeproot's blitz... but he failed the go for it, failed the loner to reroll and for one heart-stopping moment I thought was going to be leaving the pitch for good... but fortunately was only stunned.
I took more casualties in this game than any other - more than I'd taken overall on day 2 - so I wasn't surprised he managed to pull the game back to a draw.
TD 1-1
CAS 0-6 (ouch! +1 failed dodge for me)
sent off 0-0
stolen rerolls 3
LOOOOOOOOT!
Big events are usually good for loot. Actually, small events can be great for extra dice too, but big events bring international goodies.
We used to have loads of Exiles dice - black or white dice with our logo on the 6 - but these have all been given away, so Blocknroll made up custom bottle caps with our logo, that can be used as turn counters or score markers or rerolls or whatever. He did us each a set with all 9 of the Exiles who've played at World Cups, with an extra 9 of our own to give away. I may have accidentally given my copy of me away too, but never mind.
In return, we got a coin from the World Cup as well as the gorgeous pitch and a necromantic team, all from the organisers. From the second spanish team we faced, I received a die that, if you zoom in to the image, you may notice is the only one not showing its face. That's because it's a penis and, despite my use of language at times (blame Chrissie!) I'd like to keep at least the imagery SFW. They were giving away penis dice because one member was wearing a flag instead of trousers, and I can confirm from accidental viewing that there were no pants (I didn't know I had it in me to go so red over something so minor!)
The large patch came from a German team staying at our hotel. The 3 poker chips were from various representatives of Bubba. The black dice with red were from the event - I should have had one red on black and one black on red, but I prefer pairs so traded with Husbit. The red on yellow dice were from Team Chaos. The white on green were from Bonjino of Briganti (game 5). The white on black pair were from Gilles-Cacciari of the Linemen (game 1) and the standalone white on black is a skull in a stetson (though upside down it looked to me like a fling in a ring) I think was from one of my skaven opponents - I'm pretty sure it was Aurre (game 7) but it might have been game 6 or game 8. Really nice die that won't be remaining in my Blood Bowl collection but instead will be used as my 'wild card' die when we get back to Deadlands (probably in the new year).
We've been talking for a while about getting some Exiles patches made up and this has made me feel even more motivated to do so. I'd also like to make up some personal dice to give to opponents/trade, some with fern leaves on the 6 and some with a symbol for Tempest (I'm just not sure what; thundercloud with lightning poking through? mini tornado? any better idea?)
An amazing weekend, and we achieved our goal of finishing above Team Chaos. I may not have achieved a touch down with a tree or actually managed to win a match, but I came close a couple of times and I was the most violent halfling player. I'll definitely continue taking them to major events, and maybe I'll even manage to win a game one day.
Now, to plan the next one...
Adios, au revoir, farewell, ciao
I managed to KO his rat ogre but couldn't keep his team from scoring, and it came straight back to face the riot (I forget to mark whether we gained or lost turns here). So Deeproot shoved it into the crowd who finished it off. I don't think my opponent was best pleased about that, but if you're going to leave him in easy reach of a Deeproot blitz... The crowd also slaughtered the strip ball gutter runner - I guess they were as keen as I to see a tree score. That left 7 rats on the pitch for the final turn of the first half!
The halflings continued to punch their way through the rats, sending more and more to the casualty box whilst suffering a single KO (who took two attempts to come back, but that really didn't matter). This lead to an exciting turn 16: 2-3, with the ball convenient for a throw team mate score... Kick off result gave me a d6 to pick which of his 5 rats to hit with a rock... The throw was good... The scatter wasn't, landing one square too far back to draw level even with GFI's.
Whilst I definitely got luckier when it came to injury, I deliberately created as many 3 dice blocks as possible to give myself that opportunity and I actually felt frustrated not to achieve a draw: again, I was the better player. I eased off a bit when I saw how the mounting casualties were upsetting him, but three strong players with mighty blow will do that if you leave your strength 3 players nearby, and strength two players are happy to take the risks if you make it easy to get the assists in.
Definitely helped my chances of being most violent halfling, though.
TD 2-3
CAS 6-0 (+2 crowd for me)
sent off 0-0
stolen rerolls 3
Game 9
vs Yeash of Victims (Germany) using Dragon Boxers (Norse)
Victims won the wooden spoon at Amsterdam and were the only team we faced at both events (I believe vice versa also). I was enjoying chatting to my opponent and reminiscing so much my notes are really shoddy for this game, which is a shame. His English was impeccable and he was very tolerant of my attempts to murder his language (I can count in German, say hello and thank you, that I hate milk (from mishearing Rammstein lyrics), that I speak a little German, and guinea pig. Very useful stuff).
I chose to receive, but it didn't take long for the norse to get the ball from me. It ended up in the crowd and the flings recovered it, losing 2 flings in the process. The norse's guarding player demonstrated consistency in his dodge rolls until he eventually killed himself in the process... (apparently all his team had made a habit of failing dodges all weekend). The half ended 1-0 to the flings and my excitement levels were up. To try and keep him from evening the score in the second half, I had to rely on Deeproot's blitz... but he failed the go for it, failed the loner to reroll and for one heart-stopping moment I thought was going to be leaving the pitch for good... but fortunately was only stunned.
I took more casualties in this game than any other - more than I'd taken overall on day 2 - so I wasn't surprised he managed to pull the game back to a draw.
TD 1-1
CAS 0-6 (ouch! +1 failed dodge for me)
sent off 0-0
stolen rerolls 3
LOOOOOOOOT!
Big events are usually good for loot. Actually, small events can be great for extra dice too, but big events bring international goodies.
We used to have loads of Exiles dice - black or white dice with our logo on the 6 - but these have all been given away, so Blocknroll made up custom bottle caps with our logo, that can be used as turn counters or score markers or rerolls or whatever. He did us each a set with all 9 of the Exiles who've played at World Cups, with an extra 9 of our own to give away. I may have accidentally given my copy of me away too, but never mind.
In return, we got a coin from the World Cup as well as the gorgeous pitch and a necromantic team, all from the organisers. From the second spanish team we faced, I received a die that, if you zoom in to the image, you may notice is the only one not showing its face. That's because it's a penis and, despite my use of language at times (blame Chrissie!) I'd like to keep at least the imagery SFW. They were giving away penis dice because one member was wearing a flag instead of trousers, and I can confirm from accidental viewing that there were no pants (I didn't know I had it in me to go so red over something so minor!)
The large patch came from a German team staying at our hotel. The 3 poker chips were from various representatives of Bubba. The black dice with red were from the event - I should have had one red on black and one black on red, but I prefer pairs so traded with Husbit. The red on yellow dice were from Team Chaos. The white on green were from Bonjino of Briganti (game 5). The white on black pair were from Gilles-Cacciari of the Linemen (game 1) and the standalone white on black is a skull in a stetson (though upside down it looked to me like a fling in a ring) I think was from one of my skaven opponents - I'm pretty sure it was Aurre (game 7) but it might have been game 6 or game 8. Really nice die that won't be remaining in my Blood Bowl collection but instead will be used as my 'wild card' die when we get back to Deadlands (probably in the new year).
We've been talking for a while about getting some Exiles patches made up and this has made me feel even more motivated to do so. I'd also like to make up some personal dice to give to opponents/trade, some with fern leaves on the 6 and some with a symbol for Tempest (I'm just not sure what; thundercloud with lightning poking through? mini tornado? any better idea?)
An amazing weekend, and we achieved our goal of finishing above Team Chaos. I may not have achieved a touch down with a tree or actually managed to win a match, but I came close a couple of times and I was the most violent halfling player. I'll definitely continue taking them to major events, and maybe I'll even manage to win a game one day.
Now, to plan the next one...
Adios, au revoir, farewell, ciao
Seriously, did you write down the "At least, no more ones on blitz"? hahahaha xD.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty fun game for me too and so funny too to read your post. I'm warming up now with the BB modus because tomorrow i have another tournament and suddenly I remebered about your blog. I wish you a lot of skulls in your dices but only if they are wearing a stetson.
Hope to see you again in another game and it was a pleassure to know you :)
Aurre.
PS: Btw, my bad luck ended with you, thanks, i guess ^^
:-) You really made me laugh with that line! Glad you had better luck afterwards, and hope today's tournament is going well.
DeleteWe're going to be playing Deadlands next year, and everyone agrees that a skull in a Stetson is the ideal symbol for the wild die in that game. Looking forward to using it!
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