Quarter-final game vs Dwarfs

Playoff time and my Undead were facing a really strong Dwarf team coached by my mate George.  Their TV was a rather chunky 1950gc so I had opted to leave my team as being 390gc lower so that I could induce Count Luthor as it would be the first time I had ever used my painted mini of him.

George and his killer dwarf team

I received the ball and got up the field but with the dwarfs kicking ass everywhere, I was running out of players and I had to score in my Turn 7.  I was really lucky as George had injured a zombie, a wight and Luthor but they'd all regenerated!  No such luck for one of my unskilled ghouls though as he was out of the game permanently.  George received the ball in his Turn 7 and pulled off an audacious two-turn score to equalise, assisted by my chump move of not marking the ball carrier when I should have before rolling some dice (which failed obviously)

In the second half the Dwarfs received and their AG5 blitzer managed to lob a ball down field to a waiting lineman who was the only player in my half - who caught it and slowly scampered off.  I tried to backtrack but George scored in his Turn 7.  I had two turns to try to pull it back to 2-2 and I got lucky as the ball ended up being a touchback at the kickoff.  I gave it to Count Luthor and sent him down field surrounded by ghouls and wights.  George has some poor luck here as a GFI with his super AG5 blitzer to mark a player ended in failure and he took himself out of the game.  Luthor managed to blitz, dodge and GFI to make it all square!

Count Luthor - pulls it out of the bag...

As it was a playoff, we had to then play another half using overtime rules.  The dwarfs rolled to receive the kick and we started doing our best to outmaneuver each other but nothing came of it after all.  It was time for penalties - which for our league is a best of five.

My first two rolls were sixes - but George's dice came good and he won the penalty shootout 3-2.  So his dwarfs go through to a semi-final round and my season comes to an shuddering end.  I thought I would be more disappointed about losing but it was such an epic game, I really can't complain.  My undead had a decent season but they were never a really strong team.  They went unbeaten the whole season which is something I guess - but only being able to get five wins and the rest draws just isn't enough to really mean they deserved a semi-final spot.

So that's the end of this mini-blog then.  It's been a long and difficult season to manage and I'm actually quite pleased it's all over.  There were so many coaches that dropped out it really did slow the league down - and having scheduled games with coaches who couldn't attend each week didn't help either.  The format of the league will have to be reconsidered for next season.  With the new GW Blood Bowl box set being due out before Christmas, it might not be too long before the league restarts - probably in the new year.  So I'll sign off now and I'll start a new mini-blog then once I've decided which team I want to use.

Until then, keep on fouling!

Undead vs Lizardmen

My final game of the CBBBL league was played last night vs my friend Phill's Lizardman team.  We were quite close in TV value as my best ghoul player was a MNG - I just induced a 4th reroll and left the team using three ghouls.

Phill and his feisty Lizardmen

I received in the first half and managed to get in a right mess straight away.  Phill managed to blitz the ball carrier and knocked the ball free and a skink ran in, picked up the ball and scampered out of reach.  I was having a terrible time trying to injure anyone, my Dirty Player zombie again failing to hurt anyone with his attempted fouls.  Phill scored in turn 6 of the first half and I couldn't equalise before half time.

For the 2nd half I did start knocking out some of his players and the lack of numbers meant I was able to put a little more pressure on him.  I got the ball off him and tried to break away but his skinks kept escaping and one-die blitzing the ball carrier and taking him down.  Eventually I got clear of them - he had one final chance to blitz with a saurus which scared me as he managed to get into my cage by dodging in on a roll of a 6!  Thankfully he could only push my ball carrier.  I hit him away in the final turn and scored to make it 1-1.

By drawing with Phill, my Undead finish 3rd in the Premier division of the CBBBL and that also meant that Phill's Lizardmen couldn't quite make the top four.  The final positions for the top four in each of the two divisions are :

Premier :

1st - Gork n' Mork United (Orc)

2nd - Gorerotted (Nurgle)

3rd - Lords of Midnight (Undead)

4th - Da New Ork Giants (Orc)

Championship :

1st - The Marvellous Avengers (Human)

2nd - Bloody Owls (Dwarf)

3rd - Grottingham Forest Goblins (Goblin)

4th - Gnoblin Steppes (Goblin)

The playoffs will start very soon once everyone had made their teams ready.  The games have already been set by the final league positions.

Game A : Gork n' Mork United vs Gnoblin Steppes

Game B : The Marvellous Avengers vs Da New Ork Giants

Game C : Bloody Owls vs Lords of Midnight

Game D : Gorerotted vs Grottingham Forest Goblins

I'm playing in Game C vs the rather meaty Dwarf team, the Bloody Owls.

Overall, I think the Undead team have done just about enough - they haven't been fantastic.  They are the only team in the league not to lose a game the whole season: they go unbeaten in twelve games: whether it will be enough to see them do well in the playoffs is something else though.  I haven't had a single stat increase for any of them which is often a key factor when playing in the playoffs.  I guess I will just have to take each game as it comes and do the best I can!

Undead vs Skaven

In the CBBBL Premier Division, my Undead team were sitting in 4th place and still had two games to play, the first of these was against my friend Darren and his Skaven team, the Skittersneak Skidmarks.  We were at very close TV so there were no inducements.  My main worry was that he had a Blodging Gutter Runner who was also MV10 and with Sprint.  I needed a draw at the minimum to ensure I would make the playoffs although a win would have been nice to give me a chance of winning the league.

It was a really good close game and the Skaven turned me over in the first half quite easily.  I brought it back to 1-1 before halftime but was expecting his one-turn TD machine to take the lead.  Thankfully I managed to roll a Perfect Defence kickoff result which ended with me surrounding the Gutter Runner to block him.

In the 2nd half, Darren's Skaven did what Skaven do and scored again pretty quickly which gave me a chance to push up the field.  I was hurting a few of his players and did my best to foul his one-turner but to no avail.  I eventually opted to go for the draw by stalling out until the end.  We finished on a 2-2 score which meant the Skaven couldn't qualify for the playoffs and I was assured a place.

A really close fun game.  It's been ages since I last played a game against Darren and I've missed it - he's a great opponent.

My Undead have one more game left in the league vs Lizardmen which is going to take place next week.  If I can win it well I stand a chance of going 2nd in the league.  This would mean a much easier game in the playoffs so well worth trying for.

Time For An Update

It's been a while since I posted on here as the league has been taking forever to play.  Quite a lot of coaches have dropped out but the remaining players have carried on and we're getting close to seeing who's in the playoffs.

My Goblins played their final actual game yesterday which saw them beat my buddy Paul's Goblins 3-0.  With their final game being a forfeit (as the coach dropped out), the Fouling Griffons end the season with seven wins, three draws and only two losses.  It would put them in 3rd place in the CBBBL Championship division and it would give them a playoff space (the top four teams in the two divisions go into the playoffs).  Unfortunately for the Griffons, my Undead team are also probably going to qualify for a playoff slot in the Premier division so the Goblins would be excluded as I can't play two teams in the playoffs.  Still - a good effort on their part.  They were a really fun team to use and I'll be sad not to use them anymore.

For my Undead team, the Lords of Midnight, they currently are in 2nd place in the Premier division and have two games still to play; the first against Skaven and the final game will be vs Lizardmen.  If I can win one of those games they will be in the playoffs and if I can win both then they will end in 1st place.  So - it's still all to play for.  If the worst comes to the worst and the Undead lose both games, the Goblins will up for the cup!

The playoff structure is below :

Quarterfinals

Game A : 1st place Premier vs 4th place Championship
Game B : 1st place Championship vs 4th place Premier
Game C : 2nd place Premier vs 3rd place Championship
Game D : 2nd place Championship vs 3rd place Premier

Semi-Finals

Game A winner vs Game C winner
Game B winner vs Game D winner

Mirror Mirror

My Goblins have finally gotten in another league game after two months - this Round 5 game was against my buddy Luke and his Goblin team, Grottingham Forest.  Both of our teams were very close in TV with only 10K difference between them.  This mirror match was going to be interesting!

"Let's do this!"

Fouling Griffons - Goblin

2 x Trolls (1 x Guard, 1 x ST6)

1 x Pogoer

1 x Fanatic

1 x Looney

1 x Bombardier

7 x Goblins

4 x Rerolls

1 x Apothecary

Grottingham Forest - Goblin

2 x Trolls

1 x Pogoer

1 x Fanatic

1 x Looney

8 x Goblins (1 x AG4, 2 x Catch)

4 x Rerolls

1 x Apothecary

Luke won the toss and he started punching the trolls on the LOS - but early on he tried a blitz with his Looney on my ST6 troll and rolled a kickback on the Chainsaw roll which meant he knocked himself out.  This gave me a chance to start attacking his players early than I thought I would and I managed to blitz the ball carrier with the now freed up ST6 troll.  I moved all my players away from his Fanatic and swamped the ball which meant I manage to break through his lines and get the jump on him.  I got some lucky punches and knocked out a few of his players and my own Looney started to get in on the action by chainsawing any goblins he could get near.  Luke was down on players fairly soon and I started heading towards his endzone but stalled out to try to keep my chainsaw on the field (as I would be forced to bring on either my Fanatic or Bombardier otherwise...)  By the end of the first half he only had two players left on the field as I went 1-0 up.

For the 2nd half Luke was reduced to 8 players vs my 11 and those numbers were reduced again as my Fanatic started swinging and knocking people over.  I got hold of the ball and moved up field and then tried throwing a bomb with my Bombardier.  His first attempt landed on an opposing goblin who failed to catch it which stunned him.  His 2nd bomb pass knocked out my own Fanatic and stunned another of my own goblins.  After that he was left to mark players!  I went 2-0 up around turn 4 and set up for Luke to receive.  Luke tried for a one-turn touchdown but the hand off attempt to a goblin near a troll failed - and after some cheeky blitzing one of my goblins ran in and picked up the ball in two tackle zones and scampered off with it.  Despite his best efforts, Luke couldn't stop him and I went 3-0 up in my turn 8 of the 2nd half.  For Luke's final turn, I set up my players so that he had a easier chance to get a consolation touchdown and it worked perfectly for him which was handy as he was totally out of rerolls.  The game ended 3-1.

My Looney had been punched by a troll and took a -1 MV injury so I sacked him and bought a replacement with my winnings.  I also bought another goblin to help try to keep the secret weapon goblins from needing to be fielded at inopportune times.

A Box of Sorrows

It's been a couple of months since my last tabletop game with my Undead team but they finally got back onto the pitch with a game vs my friend Erik and his Pro Elf team, The Lament Configuration.  I totally forgot to take a picture before the game started but, as Erik was borrowing my team, I'll put up a picture of my Pro Elf team instead.

The Lament Configuration - Away Strip

Erik last played against some Orcs so he was missing a few players on MNG's so he had needed to bring in some Journeymen to make up the numbers.  We rolled to see who would start the game and Erik won; he elected to receive so at least he could try to get a touchdown while he still had eleven players on the field.

It started well enough for him, as my team proved unable to cause any casualties (which then continued throughout the whole game) but were only good out stunning or knocking out players.  Erik got himself in a bit of a sticky situation with a Blitzer and a Catcher on the sideline which I surrounded.  Erik managed to throw the ball out of the mass of my players which led to him scoring - but not before I had pushed both of them into the crowd which caused a -1 MA on the Blitzer and a niggle on the Catcher.

1-0 up and Erik was defending with eight players vs my eleven.  I retrieved the ball and managed to do some hand offs to allow me to push up the field whilst bashing any elves in sight.  I continued to beat up his players and get them off the pitch into the knocked out box and scored on my turn eight to make it 1-1.

Erik had even less players on the field as he kicked off for the 2nd half and my Undead continued their proven tactic of knocking people out.  Erik also helped by dodging his players out of the way and watching them knock themselves out as they failed.  It was around this point that my Dirty Player zombie decided to get in on the action as the Undead started gang-fouling the few remaining players.  His boot went right through the head of one poor Elf catcher and killed him dead - which then gave me a free zombie.  By the time the end of the game was approaching, there was only one elf player left on the field and he was face down as my ghoul strolled over the line to make the score 2-1.

Erik started his final turn with just four players on the field - and his players were so woozy they were unable even to make a simple completion.

After the game, only one of my players had gained a skill.  It was the ghoul who had scored two touchdowns and also gotten the MVP award.  He now has Block.  This will be handy as my next game is against the Orc team Erik played previously!

A Win's A Win

After a bye round in Round 4, I was due to be playing against a Chaos Dwarf team in Round 5.  Unfortunately the chap coaching that team has dropped out of the league :(

It means that I win a game as he forfeits and I get 2 x MVP and 2 x Winnings - but it's a lot less fun.

One of the MVP rolls went to one of my Wights so I've given him the Mighty Blow skill to help do some damage.  Fingers crossed I will get another game in with these guys before the end of the year!