Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 8 AAR

Getting to the final stretch of the season. There are two games left in the season, and I only need to win 1 to cinch a seat in the play-offs. I played my round 8 and round 7 game out of order. So this is my 7th league game, but my scheduled round 8 game.

I am also quite late in writing this post--We played this game 2 weeks ago. So my recollection is pretty sketchy at this point.

Zorcon's Premiership League Game 7
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks vs Tails of Yore (Lizardman)

Game pic unavailable

I gave up 220k of inducement in this game and my opponent kicked in 30k from his treasury in order to purchase the Suarus Star Player, Sibli. This gives my opponent a very tough front line--A ST 5 and *seven* ST 4 players!

I won the kick off and we had nice weather. On turn 1 I KO'd my opponent's Kroxagor. I was feeling pretty good. But my luck changes and I got stuck in a brutal mash pit just past the line of scrimmage. One of my Bull Centaurs got Badly Hurt and I lost control of the ball. A Skink took off down the sideline almost getting a TD. But I had one player in range for a Dodge and 2 GFI Blitz and got the little bastard. The ball scattered off the pitch and it landed in a favorable spot. I knew I couldn't survive a running cage this late in the game and so far back on my side of the pitch. So I attempted to knock down as many players as I could before grabbing the ball for a Hand-off. I had a very lucky turn and pulled off my plan. I recovered the ball, was a good amount passed the line of scrimmage, the most of the Tails of Yore were either down or covered. Before I scored on my Turn 8, I managed to put 4 more lizards in the KO box. The bad news is this my opponent still had his Turn 8 and this gave the lizards 2 opportunities to recover KO'd players.

By the time I set up to Kick-Off in the second half, all the Lizardmen were back on the pitch and I was down 2 players. The second half did not go well. By turn 4, 2 or my Chaos Dwarves were injured, and 2 hobgoblins were KO'd. The Tails of Yore had complete control over the game. But the bade a crucial mistake. My opponent decided to stall instead of quickly score. The game dragged on for about another hour, and the Lizards finally scored on his Turn 16, giving me 1 round to try and bash heads.

Final score 1-1. I got more than I gave and lost the Casualty game as well 3-2. A Chaos Dwarf with a Niggling Injury got a -1 AG (the Niggle didn't matter in this case as my opponent rolled a 12). But I got an end of game surprise when a different Chaos Dwarf leveled and got a +1 ST!

Final Thoughts
That second half was brutal and I couldn't do anything about it. I'm glad the game didn't end in a loss, but as far as the league standings, it doesn't matter if it was a loss or a tie. I'm down to 10 players going to my final game vs Orcs.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 6 AAR

Unfortunately, due to a number of drop in the Super league, the league has ended at 6 games and the play-offs with the top 4 teams begins next week. So Deathbot's New Orclean Saints and my Paravon City Chiefs seasons have ended.

Zorcon's Spike! Tournament Practice Game
Orcs vs Dwarves

The Dwarves about to score (The ball carrier and screen are
off camera bottom left corner.

One of the Premiership coaches is going up to Canada to compete in the Spike! tournament. I would love to go to this as well, but it is not in the cards this year. The Dwarf coach was looking for a practice game, so I thought the next best thing to going to Spike! would be to play a practice game.

I used the team I painted up for Deathbot and built a 1.2 million TV team. The bonus skill have a unique point buy system based on the tier of the team.

It was pouring rain the entire game--As was orc armor! To be fair, I did cause my fair share of damage, however towards the end of the first half, there were 8 Dwarves vs 6 Orc players. But when it comes down to it, I was simply out played.

My offence couldn't get through his defense and I was unable to stop his runners. Dwarves win 2-0. We both cased 4 Casualties each.

Zorcon's Super League Friendly Game
Paravon City Chiefs vs The Dirty Rat Bastards (Skaven)

Setting up for the second half

My scheduled opponent dropped earlier in the day, so I was scheduled to play the Skaven instead. Unfortunately another player dropped later in the day, causing the commissioners to end the league early.

This would have been my opponents game 7, so we decided to make this a friendly game in order for the Skaven team not to be a game ahead of the other top 3 teams. Of note, if we had played a league game as originally planned, winning this match would have put me in 4th place. But since I won the Super league last season, I wasn't supposed to be a contender this season--Another reason to make this a friendly game.

Because this was a friendly game, we used Special Play cards. We both drew 2 cards, but only played one to little effect.

Boy, I have a weakness! MA 8+ players are my kryptonite. The rats ran around my defense and through my offence at will. To quote my opponent:

"This was a close game filled with excess Skaven bullshittery.  Handoffs in tacklezones, multiple dodges, the Skaven gutter runners did things they really shouldn't have. Unfortunately, the Skaven lineman with the magic gauntlets was unable to hypnotize any vampires, although several attempts were made."

In the end, I prevented an embarrassing loss. The Dirty Rat Bastards win 3-2. No casualties caused the entire game.

Zorcon's Premiership League Game 6
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks vs Calamitous Intent (Nurgle)

Right after a Riot during the first Kick-Off of the second half
(the ball is in the shadow in the Endzone)

Going into this game I was a more than a little concerned. Four ST4, a ST5, and 470k in inducements. But to my surprise, my opponent did not buy Morg'n'Thorg. Instead he bought 2 Pestigor Mercenaries with Block, an Igor, and a Re-Roll.

I received the Kick-Off to open the game. I spent 6 turns trying to get through the Calamitous Intent defense. On turn 7 I finally broke free, but misjudged the distance and did not push forward with 2 GFI to put me in range to score on turn 8. First half ends 0-0.

I kick deep opening the second half, and the ball bounces into the Endzone. We get a Riot on the Kick-Off table and things go horribly wrong for Nurgle--& of 11 players are stunned! Then the ball bounced one square left, still in the Endzone. Then things get worse for the rotting team. The first action taken was to go pick up the ball, which failed after a re-roll. The ball bounced off the pitch and the crown threw it to the right side of the pitch and all the way off again. The ball was thrown in again onto my side of the pitch nestled between my Minotaur and a Bull Centaur (see pic above).

Things get even worse for the Nurgle team. On my turn 1, I pick up the ball and start a slow march up field. There was a momentary reprise for Calamitous Intent after sacking the ball carrier, causing a -1AG Serious Injury. However, I recovered the ball on my next urn and dismantled my opponent over the rest of the half.

Game ends in my favor, 1-0. The startling stat is the casualties, 7-1 my favor! Of those 7, 4 were Kills! Although all 4 were Regenerated. In the aftermath, 2 Chaos Dwarves leveled--A Guard picked up Mighty Blow, and a Claw/Mighty Blow picked up Dauntless. All this goodness came at a cost. My Sure Hands/Kick suffered a -1AG. Even though I find Kick to be a must have skill, I cant keep an 80k Hobgoblin that can't pick-up or pass the ball.

Final Thoughts

Its unfortunate that the Super League ended 2 games early. Deathbot was having a blast. Next season will likely start in about 4 months. We will use that time to improve Deathbot's skill in Blood Bowl.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 5 AAR

Another round of Blood Bowl games in the books. This time no Friendlies were played.

Zorcon's Super League Game 5
Paravon City Chiefs vs Royal Oak Boomsticks (Orcs)

Still recovering from the beating I took last time, I brought 2 Journeymen into this game. The game was a well balanced match, and neither of us has excessively good or bad rolls. Both teams completed a pass, as well as scored in the first half.

Game ended in a 1-1 tie, both in points and casualties. Another Thrall dies--A Journeyman. Two of my Vampires leveled and I gave them Frenzy.

Deathbot's Super League Game 5
New Orcleans Saints vs Mad Dogs of Middenheim (Human)

I made an unfortunate mistake helping Deathbot set-up. When pulling the figures out of the case, I pulled out one too many Black orc Blitzers (BoBs). So Deathbot played 3/4 of the game with 4 BoBs  instead of 3.

When the mistake was discovered, the commissioner and the 2 coaches came to an agreeable decision. The extra BoB was removed from the game, a casualty cased by said BoB was undone, and the game continued with Deathbot having 1 less player on the pitch. There is no way to tell what impact that had on the game.

The game ended in a 2-2 tie and was logged as official. No casualties on either side. Deathbot continued his success steak of throwing-Goblin TDs--Infact his Goblin is his most experienced player!

Zorcon's Premiership League Game 5
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks vs Dungeon Degenerates (Chaos Renegade)

Game image not available. Example of pitch we played on.

Before the game, I dropped a whopping 260,000 TV--I fired two Hobgoblins (1 with Dodge), an Assistant Coach, and 2 Re-Rolls. The Seahawks had the highest TV of the league, 400,000+ vs most other teams. Even after dropping that much TV, I still gave up 400k to the Degenerates. The Renegade coach purchased a Re-Roll and a Halfling Master Chef.

The dice were in my favor this game. Many players were knocked down and many armor rolls were passed. After putting the Troll in the KO box for a good portion of the game and Badly Hurting the Minotaur, and the Ogre failing many Boneheads, there wasn't much the Chaos Renegade coach could do to stop me.

With Nuffle's help, I pulled out a much needed win. Final score was 2-1. Casualties were also in my favor at 4-1. The Seahawks are currently in second place in their conference, 6th overall. However I am a game ahead of much of the league.

After this game I am sitting on 200k in my treasury. I never thought I would banking so much cash, but with most of the coaches bringing new teams this season, I am fighting TV bloat like I never had before.

Final Thoughts

This season, in 7 games, "Ironfist" the Trollcrusher, a Chaos Dwarf with Claw and Mighty Blow, has out performed last season's Casualty MVP, the Minotaur Djun'Jar Jaggedhorns--4 Casualties to 1. Last season, in 10 games, Djun'Jar beat Trollcrusher 7 to 4.

One final interesting stat. To date, I have played 44 games of Blood Bowl since joining the ORDO league on Feb 9 earlier this year. That's an average of 1.7 games a week!

Carnage Cup 2017 Blood Bowl Tournament AAR

I spent most of last weekend at a local Blood Bowl tournament. There were 5 rounds in total, 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. The OFCC Carnage Cup is a two-day, resurrection Swiss style tournament.

Teams were built with 1.1 million gp, plus a skill pack of 6 normal skills. I chose to play Khemri, but did not have a team built, nor any appropriate miniatures.

So I chose to scratch-build/kit-bash a team. As I typically do, I started with the name. My teams are always based on, or inspired by NFL teams. This is an important first step as it defines my color pallet.

This is the entire team as brought to the Carnage Cup, including staff/markers.

• Back Row, Left: "Spirits" representing Re-Rolls in the tournament and Cheerleaders in leage play. They are all translucent green Reaper Bones figures.
• Back Row, Right: Tomb Guardians comprised of Crypt Horrors with Ork heads and 1K Sons Helmets & shoulder pads, and Necron groin guards.
• Middle Row, Center: The Coach flanked by 2 mummified Assistant Coaches--Used as Turn/Score markers in the tournament.
• Middle Row, Left and Right: 4 Skeleton Linemen comprised of various skeleton bits, Necron heads, and Dreamforge Stormtrooper shoulder pads.
• Front Row, Center: Ithica Benoin from Willy Miniature.
• Front Row, Left and Right: 2 Anointed Blitzers made from Skeleton Warriors, Kroot shoulder pads, and 1K Sons helmets.

The remaining members of the team no used in the tournament. There are 6 additional Skeleton Linemen and 2 Anointed Throwers. The Throwers are made from Skeleton Warriors, Kroot shoulder pads, 2e Blood Bowl balls, and 1K Sons helmets.

That's enough explaining, lets move on to the After Action Reports.

Game 1 vs Skaven

I really struggled handling the speed of the Skaven. They were easily able to circumvent my defense. No matter how I screened my ball carrier, there was always 1 rat that could throw a Blitz. The Skaven team did not have a Rat Ogre, but they did have a voracious Linerat with a Claw--He caused some damage.

We ran out of time to finish the game (2.5 hour time limit), but I managed to score a last minute TD seconds before the round was called.

Results: Rats win 3-2. The Skaven with the claw kept casualties even at 4-4. Of the casualties received, 2 were Tomb Guardians, plus a Lineman and a Blitzer. Fortunately, both Tomb Guardians Regenerated.

Tournament Points Earned: 0

Game 2 vs Orcs

In the first half, things were looking good. The Orc Chainsaw was not performing well and I had kept the green skins from scoring. But on turn 6, I over committed to one side setting up a play for stealing ball. Unfortunately, I unknowingly exposed the other side to a pass, hand-off, and 2 GFI TD. The remainder of the half was spent bashing as many orcs as I could.

We went into the second half up by 3 players and receiving the ball. I had to burn both my Re-Rolls on the first to turn to prevent early turn overs. Then on both turn 3 and 4, a Blitzer (with Frenzy) rolled double Push followed by a Skull (Attacker Down) leaving me in an unfavorable situation--Twice!. That cost me dearly as my Star Player ball carrier was Blitzed, Killed, Regeneration failed, and ball run in for a TD. I was dominating the second half, but those 2 bad blocks cost me the game.

Results: 0-2 Orcs. However, I cut through AV9 Orc armor like butter--final casualties were 5-2 my favor.

Tournament Points Earned: 1

Game 3 vs Chaos Dwarves

I have played this coach 3 times in league Friendly games, and lost all 3 times. However this time he was playing Chaos Dwarves--A team I am quite familiar with.

The game was the most tedious grind fest I have ever played. We both shut down each others offence to a stand still. Ithica was Blitzed and killed again (failing Regen again too) in the middle of the first half. But this time he was able to Dump Off the ball to a near by Blitzer. Even though that prevented my team from loosing the ball, I was unable to score before Halftime.

The second half went pretty much the same.

Results: Tie game all around! Score was 0-0, and Casualties were 2-2.

Tournament Points Earned: 1

Game 4 vs Halflings

Day 2 opens with The Halfling Master Chef stealing both of my Re-Rolls in both halves. I played the entire game without a single Re-Roll! So I tried to play conservatively in an attempt to mitigate any turnovers. In the end it turned out to be a sound strategy. The entire first half, I did not take any unnecessary actions.

However, in the second half, I felt a win was a nearly certain, so I focused more on hitting than scoring. I had kept track of my total casualties caused in the previous 3 games and thought that I might be near the top. On Turn 16, I went for it. I Blitzed, fouled, and threw every Block I could instead of scoring. In the end I passed every roll and was able to score the TD  anyway! At the end of the game my opponent only had 2 players on the pitch--1 Halfling, and 1 Treeman.

Results: My first tournament win! Final score was 2-0. I caused a lot of mayhem, killing 7 Halflings and a Treeman, while suffering no injuries.

Tournament Points Earned: 4

Game 5 vs Humans

[picture unavailable]

Final game of the tournament. I have faced this coach twice before. Once in a previous tournament, Goblin vs Goblin where I lost. Then a second time in league play with my Chaos Dwarves vs his Ogres where I eeked out a win.

The Human team had a Chainsaw Star Player. I tried to stay away from it and score as quickly as I could. Unfortunately I misjudged the speed of the Humans and my ball carrier got sacked by the chainsaw. Luckily, Ithica was only stunned and he was able to Dump Off the ball to a near by Blitzer. But surprisingly, after the Blitzer failed to catch the Dump Off, a Tomb Guardian caught the scattered ball. I was able to boldly march up the field for a turn 6 TD. Off went the chainsaw. The Human coach was unable to score in the remaining turns of the half.

In the second half, I kicked off having 3 more players than my opponent. The Humans keep the ball deep in the back field, hoping for an opening that never comes. I kept my opponent locked down but am unable to score again.

Results: The Falcons pull out another win at 1-0. They also kept up their killing spree and knocked off 5 Humans while only suffering 1 Casualty.

Tournament Points Earned: 4

Team Stats

Tournament roster with skill package and names for each player.

Goals For/Against: 5/5
Casualties For/Against: 24/9 (second and third place has 23 and 19)
Tournament Points: 10 (Out of a maximum 20; Winner had 17)

Final Thoughts

In addition to converting and painting up a team, I also put together a themed book/display case/carrying case. The following 2 images are the artwork I put together for the book.

This is the completed book, opened up as a display case with lights. This was placed at the side of the pitch on top of the dugout and functioned as the reserves box.

Another element I added was tea lights under the translucent figures.

So not only did I win the 'Eadsplitter Award for causing the most Casualties, but I also won the Flash Git Award (best appearance)! But I had to choose which to officially win because they only give out 1 award per person.

A unique feature of this tournament was 3 tournament specific Special Play cards. Every coach had a set and each could be played once per game.

One of the give away items was this cool poker chip with Blood Bowl themed club logo adorning it (and the Special Play cards). What is especially cool is that I designed the logo.

I had such a great time at this tournament and I look forward to next year.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 4 AAR

No Friendly games this go around, so round 4 is a little sparse with BatReps. Deathbot's Orcs and my Vampires faced off in the Super Leage, and my Chaos Dwarved played an Elf Union team.

Zorcon vs Deathbot's Super League Round 4

Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs New Orcleans Saints (Orcs)

The Saints received 100k in inducements and hired Bomber Dribblesnot, a Goblin Bombardier Star Player. His stats are 6/2/3/7 with Loner, Accurate, Bombardier, Dodge, Right Stuff, Secret Weapon, Stunty. It was Pouring Rain the entire game.

Turn 2. A Vampire rushes the Orc Thrower in the backfield.

Turn 3. The Rushing Vampire is killed and the Orc Thrower
slots into a cage

An early Casualty to the Vampires. It cascades into a free-for-all as the Orcs pummel their way to the endzone. I recover momentum during the next drive and tie up the game before the half's end.

End of the Game as the Orcs score in the Pouring Rain.
The Vampire Casualties are severe.

The second half was dismal for the Vampire team. Dribblesnot made his first appearance and earned his salary. The Orc front line made the Vampire team pay for their last touchdown causing numerous Casualties. At the end of the game, there were only 3 Paravon City players on the pitch!

The New Orclean Saints win 2-1. More impressively, the Orcs cause 6 Casualties--2 Badly Hurt, 1 Serious Injury, and 3 Kills. Two of the kills were Vampires, only 1 of which Regenerated. The Paravon City Chiefs managed to Badly Hurt and Seriously Injure 2 Orcs.

Zorcon's Premiership League Round 4
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs Boredom (Elf Union)

Going into this game, Boredome was leading the league with 3 wins, while I was in the middle of the pack sporting a 1-1-1 record.

With 480k in inducements, the Elf coach hired 2 Star Player Elves, Eldril Sidewinder & Jordell Freshbreeze. Eldril's stats are 8/3/4/7 with Loner, Catch, Dodge, Hypnotic Gaze, Nerves of Steel, Pass Block. While Jordell's stats are 8/3/5/7 with Loner, Block, Diving Catch, Dodge, Leap, Side Step. It was pouring rain at the onset of the game.

I was wholly unprepared to defend against so much MV 8. I received the Kick-Off, but it was the Elf team to score on turn 2. We set up again and I received another Kick-Off on turn 3. The weather dramatically changed to Sweltering Heat. This time I held off the prancing Elves until Turn 8 where they scored again.

The second half started and only 7 Elves were on the pitch. The rest of the team was recovering from heat exhaustion. I kicked off and hoped to take advantage of the numbers disparity. The weather again made a sever change as a Blizzard hit the stadium. Unfortunately I was still unable to contain the faster moving Elves and they scored on turn 2.  We set up for another Kick-Off. All of the Elves recovered and were back on the pitch. This time there was a Quick Snap, and I got a bonus square of movement and a touchback. This helped me to finally score on turn 4. I had an opportunity to score again on turn 8, but I failed the scoring GFI due to the Blizzard.

Elves dominate a 3-1 victory. Eldril was ineffectual and spent half the game in the Injury box. However Jordell was the MVP of the game--MV8, AG5, plus Leap was too much for me to handle. As hard as I tried to kill Elves (the other coaches nearby were encouraging me) I only Badly Hurt 2, one of which was a Star Player.

Final Thoughts

This was a tough round. Deathbot decimated my Vampires and my Chaos Dwarves were handed an old fashioned whoop-ass.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 3 AAR

This round I temporarily retired my red set of dice and swapped them out to the original 2e white dice. Lets see if it made a difference. We have another 5-game BatRep this time, as both of my teams played a Friendly.

Zorcon's Premiership Game 3
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs The Brothers Gory (Ogres)

A Hobgoblin fails a GFI on his way to score after
the crowd threw in the ball

My team had a 630k higher TV, so The Brothers Gory induced Morg'N'Thorg, a Re-Roll, and 2 Bloodweiser Kegs.

Ogres kick off and the Seahawks run in a TD down the weakside on turn 3! The Chaos Dwarves put up a great defense and The Ogres are unable to score before the clock runs out.

Seahawks kick-off opening the second half. The Brothers Gory get mired in the center of the pitch for most of the drive. But on turn 6, a Snotling made a run for it along the sideline. He took 2 GFI's to get out of range of all but 1 opponent. The little guy tripped and the ball bounced out of bounds. The crowd threw it back in play, right into Morg'N'Thorg's hands (back-left diagonal from the Minotaur in the pic above). But the Star Player couldn't catch it and dropped the ball. Then a Hobgoblin scooped up the ball and made a run for it, failing his GFI! The Ogre team attempted to make a harrowing play for a last minute TD, but after a succession of successful rolls, the thrown Snotling scatters too far away from the Endzone.

Current Roster. #10 leveled up taking Sure Hands

Chaos Dwarves win 1-0! Casualties fall in favor of the Ogres, 3-1. I killed a Snotling on turn 1, but received a Badly Hurt Hobgoblin and Chaos Dwarf, plus a Seriously injured CD.

Zorcon's Super League Friendly Game 2
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs The Ratriots (Skaven)

The Chiefs stuffing a TD attempt by the Ratriots

Special Play cards were in effect this game. Unlike the last Friendly game vs the other Vampire team, this time they impacted the game.

I lost the coin-toss but my opponent chose to kick. I play one of my Special Play cards. On every kick-off, I roll a D6+Fame (I had +1). On a 6+ opponent looses a Re-Roll. I rolled a 5 (+1) and The Ratriots are down to 2 Re-Rolls before the game starts. I ran my patented weak side set up 2-turn score play and scored in 2 turns. Now on turn 3 we kick off again and I roll a 6, causing the Skaven to loose their last Re-Roll. The rats are quick. The make an attempt to score, but I left a couple Thralls on deep defense and they stuffed the receiver. I scooped up the ball, but my TD was thwarted by the dice.

The second half opens and I kick-off, causing my opponent to loose another Re-Roll. The Rats make a good play on the weak side and get deep. Even though there was a decent cage, I managed to pop the ball carrier and the ball scatters outside the cage. A Thrall with Sure Hands picks up the ball in a Tackle Zone and I play my second Special Play Card-Make a Pass with no modifiers applied. So I threw a Long Bomb (-2) in a TZ (-1) ignoring those penalties to a Vampire. Success! The Vampire was also in a TZ and he Blitzed out, running 8 squares down field out of range of any opponents. I scored on my next turn. This time, I did not roll a 6+ during the Kick-Off and the rats did not loose a Re-Roll. My opponent played one of his Special Play cards, giving a linerat Stab and Dirty Player. The Ratriots tried to make a couple plays, but were down too many players to make anything happen.

A surprising win for the Vampires. Final score 2-0. Blood was spilled in this game--The Ratriots caused 2 casualties (a Badly Hurt and a Serious Injury), while 4 Skaven were Badly Hurt (1 self induced).

Zorcon's Premiership League Friendly Game 1
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs The Mouse House Rejects (Dwarves)

One turn into the second half

What a game! A game to see which Dwarf team was superior. Our TV's were almost identical, so no Inducements for either coach.

I opened the game receiving the ball. I played both of my Special Play cards and my opponent played one of his right up front. One allowed me to take 2 Blitzes in a turn and the other awarded a bonus MVP, while the Mouse Hose played the Re-Roll stealing card I had last game. Unfortunately, My perfect offence for a 2 turn score failed as I was unable to pick up the ball on a 3+ with a re-roll. That set me back and wasted my 2-Blitz opening turn, but I managed to score on turn 6. My opponent punched an opening and made an attempt to score, but failed.

In the second half, The rejects brought out the Death Roller and played his second Special Play card--Give one player +1 ST and Mighty Blow (given to a Troll Slayer) for their first Block action. I kicked off. My opponent managed to get through my front line, but was blitzed on my next turn. After some scrambling with poor ball handling, I managed to get the ball into the Mouse House side of the pitch. I was unable to sustain a defense and lost the ball. the AG+1 Runner got the ball and made a dash for the endzone, ending his turn 2 squares away. I had 3 player that could reach him. Two were set up in case the Blitzer's GFI failed, the third player attempted the Blitz. A Hobgoblin and a Chaos Dwarf were adjacent to the Dwarf ball carrier, and my Bull Centar came in hard with a blitz, knocking the Dwarf Runner on his back. On turn 7 the Dwarf Runner stood up, moved into 2 Tackle Zones, picked-up the ball, threw a 1-die blitz, dodged and ran in for a TD!


Game ends in a 1-1 tie. Quite fitting for a show down between Dwarves in a Friendly game. There wasn't even a casualty! Each team only KO'd  a single opponent. Before the game, the Seahawks were given a brief on Dwarf armor weak points--We broke armor all game long. But my Hobgoblins skipped practice and it showed--None of them (even with Sure Hands) could pick up in less than 2 turns. While my opponent, The Rejects, hired an Elf trainer and taut them the fine points of dodging and passing.

P.S. The Re-Roll stealing Special Play card was essentially ineffectual this game. Even though The Mouse House had +1 Fame, only the first Kick-Off of the game was successful in taking one of my Re-Rolls, but I still had one Re-Roll left at the end of the half.

Zorcon's Super League Game 3
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs Mad Dogs of Middenheim (Humans)

Set-up for the second half

The Mad Dogs won the Coin Toss and chose to Kick-Off. The Chiefs Induced a Bloodweiser Keg.

This was a back and forth game right up to the end! Both teams sacked multiple TD attempts, and the ball traveled up and down, and to both sides of the the pitch. We both even had a (small) shot at a turn 8 hail Mary play. My dice started to falter a little in this game and I had issues with picking up the ball (3+ with Re-Roll). Blood Lust bit me a few times (pun intended), but with 5 Vampires times 16 turns, it seemed a reasonable amount.

One series of back and forth was in the first half. I had the ball and advanced deep past the line of scrimmage on the weakside. A Thrall had the ball with 3 Vampires and a Thrall running screen. The Middenheim Ogre Blitzed in and broke the screen, followed by a number of Human players marking my players, cutting off Block assists. On my next turn I brought in support and managed to push the Mad Dogs back a few squares. But on the Human's next turn they pushed 2 of my players off the pitch, and put the rest of the screen Prone including the ball carrier. The Human Thrower scooped up the ball and made a 2 turn advance towards the endzone. A Vampire Blitzed the Human Thrower and put him on the ground. A Thrall scooped up the ball and handed it off to a Vampire who dashed up the middle of the pitch through an opening. Two turns later I score.

In the end, it was a tie game, 1-1. But the Humans caused all the physical damage--5 Casualties! A self induced Badly Hurt Ogre, a Thrall and Vampire Badly Hurt, a Thrall MNG, and a Dead Thrall (with Block).

Deathbot's Super League Game 3
New Orcleans Saints (Orcs) vs Jerk store (Goblins)

Deathbot making a run for the endzone

Deathbot won +1 Fame, and Kicked-Off. The Jerk Store Induced a Bloodweiser Keg.

Unfortunately I only watched a portion of this game. But what really stood out was Deathbot loosing focus. He threw way too many 1-die Blocks that could have been 2-die with a simple move to assist. Plenty of Goblins were thrown on both sides. The Doom Diver on the Goblin team is a really smart new addition to the team (instead of scattering d8 direction when thrown, they scatter d3). I look forward to chucking one in the future.

A tough 0-1 loss for the Orcs. They were so close to tying up the game. Unfortunately for the Jerk Store, the Raiders got one thing right, and that was Blocking! Four Goblins went to the Injury Box: 3 MNG, and 1 Dead.

Final Thoughts
Swapping dice has indeed made a difference. Even though I had bad patches, the games seemed more even--Or at least games were not lost by bad dice rolls. Take the Friendly game Chorves vs Dwarves. I rolled Opponent Down and Broke Armor on almost every Block I threw, but I failed almost every Dodge, GFI, Injury, and Pick-up.

Actually, looking back, ball handling was an issue for all of my games with both teams this round. But because dice were rolling average/good in other aspects of the game, it didn't feel disasterous like my dice were last round.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 2 AAR

Deathbot and I each played a Friendly game, in addition to our scheduled games. So here I present all 5 mini-BatReps for our Blood Bowl League Round 2 games.

Zorcon's Premiership Game 2
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs Pleasant Pheasant Pluckers (Halflings)

Image taken from interwebs without permission.

You would think playing Halflings would be something to look forward to. However, I was giving up 1 million TV! The Halflings induced Morg'N'Thorg (the best Star Player in the game), Deeproot Strongbranch (Treeman Star Player), a Bribe, a Bloodwieser Keg, and a Halfling Master Chef (stealing 2 Re-rolls each half).

The Halfling's front line consisted of three Strength 6 and a Strength 7 player! In an attempt to keep away from the Big Guys, I sacrifice 3 Chaos Dwarves to the Line of Scrimmage, placing the rest of the team one square back. I kick off . The Halflings get Quick Snap and gain a bonus square of movement--Advancing base-to-base with my valuable players. My Minotaur is Badly Hurt on turn 2, and a Bull Centaur spends the majority of the game in the KO box.

As the game continues, this season's curse from Nuffle continues and the dice are my biggest opponent. I roll triple skulls three times, fail picking up the ball multiple times (with Sure Hands), fail multiple Hand-Offs (with Catch), and fail a critical Go For It. Every turn it felt like I was just trying not to make things worse.

Tie game, 1-1. Seahawks suffer 2 Badly Hurts and the Pluckers suffer 5 Halfling Casualties: 3 Badly Hurt and 2 Serious Injured.

Zorcon's Super League Game 2
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs Jerk store (Goblins)

As I have mentioned, I am only playing in the Super League because my son Deathbot is in it. My role is more of a mentor to the other coaches, than a coach vying for better standings. While I never tank a game, I play a little looser, and help the opponent with strategy when they are behind. However, this was a very strange game--A game that Nuffle disproved of from the beginning.

The Goblin coach had a Bombardier, a Pogoer, a Looney, a Fanatic, a Doom Diver, a Ooligan, 2 Trolls, 7 Goblins (2 MNG), and 2 Re-Rolls. After almost being wiped off the pitch last game, I was limping into this game with 2 Journeymen, 7 Linemen, 3 Vampires, and 5 Re-Rolls.

Both coaches rolled horribly the entire game. It became farcical. At turn 9, one of the Goblin's Trolls had failed it's Really Stupid roll 6 times! I couldn't break Goblin Armor the entire game. In the end what made the difference was my superior number of Re-Rolls.

Game ends in an upset, 3-0 Vampires. The Goblins suffer 4 Casualties (3 self inflicted--A failed Leap, GFI, and Dodge): 2 Badly Hurt and 2 Serious Injuries.

Deathbot's Super League Game 2
New Orcleans Saints (Orcs) vs WWF Hall of Maim (Chaos Chosen)

Deathbot faced the Chaos team that decimated my Vampire team last round.

The WWF Hall of Maim was in charge the entire first half. Deathbot's Saints started to make a comeback with a quick Goblin toss TD in the second half. He began to play a skill game and the first part of the second half went to Deathbot. But the experience of the Chaos' coach prevailed.

Chaos wins 3-1. Surprisingly this was a gentle game with only one player Badly Hurt on the Chaos side.

Zorcon's Super League Friendly Game 1
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs Baltimourkain Ravens (Vampires)

My fairly new team of 3 Vampires and 8 Thralls (2 with skills) faced an upper league Vampire team in its second season with 5 experienced Vampires: a ST 5, an AG 5 and 3 Pro. I faced the Ravens last year with my Chaos Dwarves and pulled out a win.

Nuffle chose the outcome of this game. My dice rolling was embarrassing. Even my opponent was embarrassed. It was absolutely laughable--12 Re-Rolls couldn't even help me (I won a bonus re-roll on 2 Kick-Offs).

Ravens 2, Chiefs 1. No Casualties. With the bonus earnings from playing an upper league team, I was able to hire a 4th Vampire.

Deathbot's Super League Friendly Game 1
New Orcleans Saints (Orcs) vs The Ratriots (Skaven)

This was Deathbot's first game vs a fast team. It was too much for him. He was unable to contain the high move rats. Even his go to tactic of Goblin throwing failed.
A brutal loss for the for the Orcs. The final score was 5-0. The Orcs caused a Serious Injury to a Linerat, but an Orc Blitzer was pushed off the pitch and violently killed by the crowd

Final Thoughts
I don't like blaming a loss on bad die rolls, especially so frequently this season. However, all 5 of my games this season have resulted in horrible rolls. My opponents have even commented and squirmed in reaction to how bad it has been. I have certainly made mistakes and may have lost all of the games this season anyway, but I haven't caught a break yet.

Blood Bowl is a game of mitigating chance, and I love the game. But the last couple weeks have tested my passion.

Oh yeah, by the way, there is a set of dice that are getting punished.

Ordo Bowl 2017 Blood Bowl Tournament AAR

[During my absence from the blog-o-sphere, I was still active on and off in the hobby. In March of this year, I partisipated in a Ordo Fanaticus Blood Bowl tournament. This BatRep was written for and emailed to my friends after the event. I am re-posting it to this blog. --Zorcon]

These recaps are going to be much lighter than my previous post game reports. Details of six games in 2 days is just way too much to keep in my head. I did keep track of stats and significant events though. After the game recaps, I have all my team stats and a breakdown of total and average points/casualties.

This was a Swiss-style resurrection tournament, with a slightly larger starting Team Value (1.1 million gp, instead of 1 million gp) and a 6-skill bonus package (where 2 skills could be traded in for a “double” skill). There were 26 teams, 3 of which were “stunties” (including my team).

I went into this tournament not expecting to win many (or any) games. The team was meant to be a fun list and I think it succeed in that. My goals for the tournament were to win either the Stunty Cup (most points of all Stunty teams), or one of the 2 painting competitions (the judged technical “Best Team” award, or the fan favorite “Player's Choice” award).

DAY ONE

Game 1 – Khemri

Thrown Rock kills Star Player with Ball and Chain at Kick off on turn 0. The regular Ball and Chain player fails two 2+ rolls on turn 1, causing early Turnover and going to KO box, where he does not return to the game. Essentially starting the game without my 2 strongest guys against an incredibly strong and tough team. Dice rolls were terrible for most of the first half.

Loose 0-3; Total Casualties: 8 (0 for me; 8 for opponent)

Game 2 – Chaos

Bad dice rolls prevented 2 scoring opportunities. The most damaging was a Troll failing the Always Hungry roll (a 2+ roll) 2 consecutive turns in a row, eating (and killing) 2 Goblins, both holding the ball. 

Loose 0-2; Total Casualties: 6 (3 for me; 3 for opponent)

Game 3 – Orcs

A very fast paced game in which I could have tied or won if not for being down to 4 players mid way through the second half. In one 3 turn interval, I scored, my opponent scored, and then I scored by throwing a Goblln for a 1-turn TD. I earned 3 bonus Re-Rolls due to having +2 Fame.

Loose 3-4; Total Casualties: 5 (3 for me; 2 for opponent)

Game 4 – Goblins

The 2 Goblin teams go head to head. My opponent forwent 2 Trolls in favor of a 16-man team with 3 Bribes, 3 Re-Rolls and more Secret Weapons. Even though I killed his Troll early and my 3 Trolls were making lots of KO's, my opponent's superior numbers, bribes and re-rolls paid off. My TD was from throwing a Goblin, and I would have tied the game with another thrown Goblin on turn 16, but he didn't stick the landing.

Loose 1-2; Total Casualties: 8 (4 for me; 4 for opponent)

DAY TWO

Game 5 –  Dwarves

I opened the game by failing a 2+ roll (with Re-Roll) causing an early Turnover. Same thing happened on turn 2. I was unable to recover and my opponent scored quickly. This caused me to spend all my Bribes to keep my Secret Weapons in-play early in the First Half. Down 1-2, my opponent stopped 1 square from the Endzone and stayed there for for 6 turns, preventing me from getting the ball back in the second half. At that point I only had 2 Trolls and 2 Goblins and his entire team was swarmed around me—I couldn't figure out how to get out of it.

Loose 1-3 Total Casualties: 3 (1 for me; 2 for opponent)

Game 6 –  Lizardmen

My opponent received the Kick-Off and on his first turn threw a 2-die, my-choice block against both of my Ball and Chain players, with both resulting in a KO. That left me on my turn 1 down significantly in strength. My Star Player Troll blitzes his Star Player Lizardman and kills him. My next move was a 2+ re-rollable Dodge to allow a Troll to make a 2-die Block, but I rolled two “1's” in a roll. The skinks blew through my wide open weak side and held the ball at the endzone until turn 8, causing all my Secret Weapons to get ejected after my turn 8. I had an opportunity to tie the game on turn 16, by tossing a Goblin, but he did not stick the landing (4+ roll).

Loose 1-2; Total Casualties: 7 (4 for me; 3 for opponent)

TEAM STATS

Team Abilities: Re-Rolls - 1 /  Fan Factor - 2  / Bribes – 2

Total TDs in 6 Games: 22 (6 for me; 16 for opponents)

Average TDs per Game: 3.6 (1 for me; 2.6 for opponents)

Total Casualties in 6 Games: 37 (15 for me; 22 for opponents); This also reflects team casualties (not caused by a player):  7 (3 for me; 4 for opponents)

Average Casualties per Game: 6.1 (2.5 for me; 3.6 for opponents)

To make the list more competitive, I think I would have not taken Fungus the Loon Star Player, in favor of more Goblins, an additional Bribe, and/or an additional Re-Roll. I consistently lost the Secret weapons too quickly, usually going into the second half with 4 ejected players plus injuries (running 6-7 players at best through the second half. With more players, I could reserve 2 of the Secret Weapons. With 3 Bribes I could keep one of the secret weapons in the game longer. I burned my only re-roll on turn 1 to prevent (or fail at preventing) a Turnover on at least 3 occasions, so an additional Re-Roll would have been helpful too.

Even loosing all six games, I had a blast! What a great bunch of guys and a huge learning experience. Even though I have played in many Magic: the Gathering tournaments, this tournament was different--While it was a very competitive environment, it was friendly, and even relaxing. I never felt stressed out or nervous. I did have some game one jitters, but they went away quickly.

I mentioned a number of times above that I had bad rolls. I don't mean to say they were the reason I lost, but in most of my games, my opponent was cringing on my behalf and apologizing for how badly the dice were treating me. Two opponents even offered to switch dice with me—I should have accepted! A quote (on Facebook) from my first opponent: "John's dice seemed to have a personal grudge against him." It was pretty ludicrous at times.

One more thing I forgot to mention. I won a favorite opponent pin from the Orc coach (everyone got to give one away). I gave mine to my first opponent--The Khemri coach. He bought me a tournament-noob/I-just-destroyed-you consolation beer. But more importantly (to me), he came up to me after every game to see how I was doing. Oh, yeah, I also won the Player's Choice Award for best looking team! :D

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 1 AAR

Season 2 of the 2017 Ordo Bowl has started! My Super League Championship team, Zharr'Thrak Seahawks has moved up to the Premiership League. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to play the Premiership League Champion at the end of last season. Nevertheless, I am stoked to play! Another bit of exciting news, my son Deathbot has decided to play Blood Bowl, and has joined the Super League. So I started a second team and am also playing in the Super League with Deathbot.

This season there are 14 teams in the veteran league (with 5 teams re-drafted) and 10 teams in the introduction league (with 1 team re-drafted). We used the new re-drafting rules in Deathzone 1. For the most part things went smooth except the league commissioners overlooked a rule requiring re-rolls to be re-purchased, so all the re-drafted teams got least season's re-rolls for free. However, I calculated my team correctly and paid for my re-rolls (loosing 2 in the process). After my first game I was given the 2 re-rolls back.

My battle reports from last season were quite lengthy. With me running two teams plus Deathbot's team, I won't be writing a detailed BatRep for all of our games. But I will try to write up a short combined After Action Report after each round.

Zorcon's Premiership Game 1
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs Fungis Amongis (Orcs)

I may regret re-drafting my team. I gave up 570k in inducements to my opponent in this first game. With that, he bought 2 Star Players--Ripper Bolgrot (troll) and Bomber Dribblesnot (goblin bombardier) for 330k, plus 2 Bloodwieser Kegs and a re-roll for another 200k.

Dice were not my friend this game. Nuffle was punishing me! I couldn't break armor the entire game, and by turn three my Minotaur and a Bull Centaur was KO'd. I played the entire back 3/4 of the game with 8 or less players.

On turn 8, the Orc player needed to throw a 2-die block for a TD but rolled double skulls (no re-rolls). Maybe Nuffle was done punishing me. Nope! The second half opens with me receiving. The Orc player sets up deep, sacrificing 3 lineorcs to the line of scrimmage. I set up aggressive and strong to my left. I choose to grab the ball with my Sure Hands Hobgoblin first thing, but fail both pick-up rolls. The orcs have a hey-day pummeling my front line. I never get the ball past the line of scrimmage. The orcs get the ball mid-half, and for 3 turns I manage to blitz the ball carrier, delaying my opponent from scoring. On turn 16, he needs a 2-die block and a pick-up to score, and unfortunately he did.

Orcs win 1-0. Casualties results the same 1-0 Orcs favor. My apothecary was put into service saving a Bull Centaur from dying. It was a frustrating game, but that is Blood Bowl. Re-group and forge on.

Zorcon's Super League Game 1
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs WWF Hall of Maim (Chaos Chosen)

I was looking forward to trying out my new Vampire team. I have never played Vampire's before and expect this season will be a challenge. My team consisted of 3 Vampires, 8 Thralls and 5 Re-Rolls. The Chaos team has 4 Chaos Warriors, 7 Beastmen, and 3 Re-Rolls,

Nuffle was still punishing me this game. I kicked off and got a Blitz. My first activation was a Vampire--I failed the Blood Lust roll, failed the Re-Roll, and Badly Hurt the Thrall that was bitten. On the Hall of Maim's first turn, he Badly Hurt a Thrall, KO'd 2 Thralls and a Vampire! That is how the entire game went.

The Chaos team scored on turn 6 and I only had 3 players on the field. I got 2 back from the KO box at the next Kick-Off, and from that point on, I never had more than 5 guys on the pitch. Mid way through the second half, I was down to 1 player. After getting scored on again, I managed to get back 4 players. If I ever had less than 3 players for a kick off I planned on conceding, but that never happened. After the Chaos' third TD, I could only field 3 players.

Chaos wins 3-0. The Chaos player racks up 4 Casualties (plus my self inflicted injury). My AV 7 Thralls took a beating--They spent more time in the KO box than the game, plus 3 Badly Hurt, 1 Kill and 1 Miss Next Game.

Deathbot's Super League Game 1
New Orclean Saints (Orcs) vs Grim Dregga Purple (Orcs)

Deathbot's first league game was more exciting than both of my games. At one point, he had stunned nearly every opposing player on the pitch. I did hear from a nearby coach that Deathbot needs to work on setting up 2-die blocks--He takes too many unnecessary 1-die blocks.

The teams were slightly different. The Grim Dregga ran 2 Llineorcs, a Thrower, 4 Black Orcs, and 4 Blitzers. While Deathbot's New Oreleans Saints traded a Black Orc and a Blitzer for a Goblin and a Troll.

In the first half, Deathbot pulled off a 1-turn score by throwing his goblin, tying the game 1-1. But he couldn't hold off the opposing orcs, and they scored again in the second half.

Game ends 2-1 Grim Dregga Purple. Deathbot caused the only casualty (a Badly Hurt Blitzer), and threw 2 Completions, while the opposing team threw 1 Completion and an Interception.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 1 Finals AAR

[During my absence from the blog-o-sphere, I was still active on and off in the hobby. In February of this year, I joined a local gaming club, Ordo Fanaticus, in order to participate in their Blood Bowl league. This BatRep was written for and emailed to my friends after each of those games. Periodically, I will re-post them to this blog. --Zorcon]

I played my playoff game vs Undead last Thursday.

My opponent hired a wizard with his inducement. I won the coin toss and chose to kick-off.

First half. What a grind! I kicked deep, and we immediately commenced beating each other up. I was able to keep the undead on their side of the pitch for about 5 turns. A Ghoul broke free and got past the line of scrimmage. A Bull Centaur caught him and put him down on turn 6. A hobgoblin scooped up the ball and handed it off to another HG. He and the other Bull Centaur made a run for the endzone. I had the undead completely locked down except for 2 Ghouls. On my turn 8 I needed a 2-die Block, a 2-die Blitz and 2 GFIs. I failed the second GFI, broke armor, and serious injury on turn 8, ending the half 0-0.

Second half. I am receiving. The ball scatters 2 squares from the line of scrimmage, and the Undead get a Blitz! On his free turn, a ghoul gets under the ball and catches it!!! The opposing coach also manages to stun 3 players and get 4 defenders around the ball before my first turn of the half. I close in, trying to keep lanes closed while keeping the 2 Mummies busy. We go back and forth a few rounds like this with no one gaining an advantage. Finally a Mummy takes down one of my defenders, which allows a chain of blocks to free up the Ghoul ball carrier. Ho makes a run for it. This Ghoul has +1 MA and is sitting 10 squares from the endzone--# Dodges and 2 GFI to score. He fails the second GFI, broke armor, and serious injury. That was only turn 2!!. I caught a serious lucky break, although at the time I felt Karmacly avenged with the Undead's lucky kick-off, and my GFI fail to score last half. The next 4 turns were a comical scene of me trying to pick up the ball with my Sure Hands Hobgoblin and handing it off to a Bull Centaur (with the intent he would make a run for it and be harder to take down). However, I did slowly manage to make some progress by moving the Bull Centaur first on a couple of turns. But every advance on my turn was stopped by a timely Ghoul Blitz. Even though I was removing players off the pitch (mostly by way of KO) and had a serious numbers advantage, I just could not get the ball into the Bull Centaurs hands until my turn 6. Then the wizard zapped the BC with a lightning bolt, putting him down, but not breaking armor. He got 2 Ghouls to the ball, with one picking it up. On my turn I took them both down and the ball scattered close enough for a Hobgoblin to score with 2 GFIs. I went for it and failed the second GFI. Fortunately the ball scattered to the left. His nearest player was a prone Ghoul and with 2 GFIs, he could only get adjacent to the ball--guess what... he failed the second GFI, broke armor, and serious injury! On my turn 7 my prone Sure Hands Hobgoblin stands up and tries to pick up the ball in the endzone--Nope, scatters to the right! The undead player has no-one in reach. My turn 8, I position a Hobgoblin to the left and right of the ball and send a third HG in to pick up the ball. This time *IF* he fails, there is still potential to catch the scattered ball and score. This time old "Sure Hands" is flanking the ball, so an unskilled HG comes running up field to try and pick up the ball--I score on turn 16! My opponent had one turn left to bash heads and he took it, but did not break any armor.

Game ends, I win 1-0. The Casualty side of the game also ends in my favor at 3-1, with 2-1 of that due to self inflicted wounds from failed GFIs. This was a real nail bitter. The store was already announcing the countdown to close and it looked like the game was going to end in a 0-0 tie. The commissioner was prepared to open up the club house for us to finish, but that last second score was a surprisingly tedious and difficult point.

My final stats for the season (8 games + 1 game play-off) are: 8-1-0, 12 TDs for, 4 TD against, 17 casualties for, 8 casualties against. Factoring in the Friendly game, my 10-game stat totals are: 8-2-0, 12 TDs for, 6 TD against, 20 casualties for, 9 casualties against.

The upper league is still in the semi-finals of there playoffs--Pro Elf vs Necromantic (Won) and Dark Elf vs Lizardman (TBA). I am interested in playing the eventual winner of that league, but will have to see how things end up there and if that player is also interested.