X-Mas Bowl, a tale of three losses

X-Mas Bowl, a tale of three losses

This was my worst tournament to date and the report will be quite short, since I'm trying to forget and move on.
But it's not all bad. There's probably some lessons to be had from these three games.

The Gesundbrunnen Picknick Packers (thanks to Kohli for the picture)

Game 1 vs Norse (Kohli)

FAME -1

Blizzard

I got the honor of kicking of and it was going well at the start of the game. I forced him to the sidelines and could even surf his Yeti, but my defense was also split in two. I did however manage to get the ball on the ground, but an unlucky bounce saw his runner take of with the ball, out of my reach. I then focused on removing his players with fouls and blocks. Sadly I didn't manage to do more than KOs.
He scored in his turn 8 and my flung 'fling scattered back, out of reach of the endzone in my turn 8. I did manage to CAS two of his players.
He got all his KOs back and it was 11 vs 10. All i could hope for was a draw.

After my turn 9 (thanks to Kohli for the picture)

I moved up the pitch, screening my ballcarrier, but he still managed to mark the ballcarrier as I was beginning to run low on 'flings. Puggy was called in for the blitz on the ulfwerner marking the ballcarrier and he skulled. I used a loner reroll and failed. Puggy went down and the norse had a good shoot at the ball, but thanks to dodge, they couldn't get the ballcarrier down. It did cost me a turn of advancing and I had to score soon to tie the game.

Moving forward, I couldn't completely screen the ballcarrier of and my opponent could blitz him with his Yeti (which was prone), but I felt that this would be the best option for me. It wouldn't be a 3d block and the Yeti didn't have block nor tackle. As it turned out, the block was a push and a both down. My opponent went for the both down and my 'fling was stunned.
In my last turn, I picked the ball up, handed it off, threw a 'fling, but the flung 'fling didn't land and I lost the game. Even if he would have landed, he would have had to make a GFI, so it was far from certain.

This was a close game where I felt that I had a good chance of tieing or even winning, but all his KOs came back and I didn't  cause enough casualties or rather not early enough.

0-1 (3-3)

Game 2 vs Pro Elves (Heroic_Tackle)

FAME +1

Blizzard

I elect to receive the ball in the hope of getting some elves of the pitch, which I do, but just KOs.
I move up the pitch, screening my ballcarrier of and it's looking promising, but as I approach the endzone, my opponent goes for it and dodges in with a blitzer with dodge. He doesn't even need to use the reroll on the dodge for 5+ and the ball is on the floor. A catcher snatches the ball and runs off. I can't do much about it and I'm fouling and hitting, hoping to get a man advantage in the second half.

Turn 1 for the Picknick Packers

That doesn't work since all of his KOs come back and it's 11 vs 11. He scores late in the half and I go for a OTTD, which succeeds. It's now 1-2 and he moves a couple of targets forward for the score. I don't even bother defending and move everything forward, throwing a 'fling which blitzes the thrower in his backfield. I can't get the thrower down and he easily scores in his turn 16.

1-3 (1-2)

Game 3 vs Wood Elves (Seagull)

FAME -1
Nice weather

This game was close. I moved up the pitch, trying to get some elves out, but couldn't manage anything but KOs.
In my opponents turn 7, he leaps with his strip ball wardancer (without a reroll) and get's a hit on the ballcarrier. To add insult to injury, the wardancer picks the ball up and dodges back out, which means that the half ends 0-0 and without any casualties. This is however my fault, since I could have made it harder for my opponent.

The picknick Packers moving up the field (thanks to Kohli for the picture)

In the second half, my opponent gets his KOs back and it's 11 vs 11. I managed to stop him from scoring twice, but I can't do so a third time and it's 0-1. I fail the landing in my turn 16 and thus landing me last place at this tournament.

0-1 (1-0)

This means that I drop a total of 9,08 in NAF ranking with the 'flings. I don't think I'll get back up above 150 again.
Did I mention, that this was my 13th NAF tournament? Yes, the unlucky number 13.

My next tournament will be Preußenbowl and it's got even more adventitious rules for 'flings. I might play them again, just to prove to myself that I can play them or let them rest until I've forgot all about this tournament. I guess it depends on my progress with the dark elves 2.0.

Thanks for reading

Roster for X-Mas Bowl, flowers and dark elves

I haven't posted since StockBowl Cup VI report, but I've been busy painting.

But first, I'd like to talk about my roster for the X-Mas Bowl on the 13th of december.
It's a very small tournament here in Berlin and it's just going to be three games and around 10 coaches taking part.

I asked on twitter if I should go for undead or halflings and the result was undead. Since then, the rules for the tournament have changed and I've painted four dark elf linemen.

Dark elf linemen (I need to work on my photography)

What does the linemen have to do with it you ask? Well, my plan was to play haflings at the Preußenbowl in February next year, but by the looks of it, I'll get my dark elves done in time. That means that I'd like to play my dark elves 2.0 and the main reason for that would be that it will be the most recently finished team, but also because next year will be the year of the dark elf for me. I'd like to play them at the Dungeonbowl and also at Eur'Open. I also feel like Preußenbowl is one of the tournaments in which I'd have a chance at a NAF trophy and a tournament win.

This menas that I'll play less halflings next year, so why not play them next weekend? Just for fun and who knows, I might reclaim the #1 spot as the best halfling player in Sweden, if I win three games (not going to happen). The roster will be the standard one with:

2 Trees (2x block)
10 'flings (4x side step)
Master Chef
Peggy
Deeproot
AC
Cheerleader

To inspire the Gesundbrunnen Picknick Packers, I've added some flowers to their bases and display base. I've been meaning to do this for a while and I've finally come around to doing so. I wanted to add something to the bases, so they don't look "flat".

Here's some pictures



Wish me luck at the tournament!
Flower Power!