World Cup IV - Day 3

Extra skills were added for this day and the roster has been updated below.

Roster

3 Catchers (3xDodge)
Kroxigor (Block)
8 Linemen (3xBlock, Strip Ball+Wrestle, 2xWrestle)
3 Re-rolls
4 Fan factor
Apothecary

Game 7 vs Dark Elves

A loaded dark elf team with all the positionals including an assassin, which on day three was quite scary. All the blitzers had dodge and the witches had either wrestle or block.

The elves started with the ball and moved from side to side. It was an interesting positional game and I made an error when I didn't reroll the 1 for the kroxigor blitz in one turn. I had three dice on the wrestle witch and kind of needed the kroxigor in front of the cage, but as always this was something I realized afterwards. I managed to force my opponent to roll dice for his score in turn 8, but nothing too hard or impossible. Solid play from my opponent.

One sided dark elf offense

The second half saw the frogs with the ball and I yet again made an error, putting a linefrog one field to the side, opening up my cage for a 4+ dodge, which my opponent took. I recovered the ball and passed to a catcher, interception! No, that was not the plan and all that could save me now was snake eyes from my opponent. My opponent declared the dodge and rolled the dice and lifted his dice cup. Snake eyes! That saved me and I could score in turn 16.

My opponent set up for the one turner, but a double pow stopped his attempt and the game ended in a tie. Great game in which I was a bit lucky.

End 1-1 (0-2)

Game 8 vs Amazons

Amazons, another team I rarely face. This team had brought Roxy and eleven regular players. A bit thin on the ground for my taste, but each to his own. My goal was to remove Roxy as soon as possible.

I got the ball to start off the half and a blitz was rolled for the kick off, which meant that I was under pressure from turn 1. My dice went hot and a couple of ladies left the pitch, which made things easier and I even fouled Roxy once, but couldn't do more than stun her. I could move the ball in to his half in turn three and he regrouped, setting up a screen, which included Roxy, in front of my kroxigor. I declared a blitz on Roxy in turn 4, got the pow I needed and she was off the pitch, for good. My catcher with the ball could then move out of reach from the rest of his team and I could score in turn 8.

Second half continued as the first half, with hot dice for me and I could steal the ball for 2-0. In his second offense, a perfect defense was rolled and the ball was caught by a linewoman next to my kroxigor. A bit of a pickel for my opponent, but he managed to get out of the situation and I went for another steal, which failed. My opponent could then score in his following turn, but that left me enough time to score the wining 3-1 touchdown.

End 3-1 (4-0)

Game 9 vs Chaos

Game 9 and it was my first duplicated race as opponent, but this chaos team had brought a mino, The team had won best painted in it's category and it was a joy to play against it to finish off the tournament.

I had played against a chaos team with mino at the Berlin Open before and I found it quite easy to handle the scary mino, ignore it and try to force the game to be played on the other half, away from the mino. This forces the opponent to use his blitz for positioning and that leaves the mino even further behind.

Best Painted in the chaos category

This is exactly what happened in this game as I forced my opponent down the side on which the mino wasn't. I played very well here and force my opponent to a halt. The half ended without a score.

My plan for the second half was to score quickly in order to secure the draw. I moved through and set up a sideline cage. I positioned a lineman to cover one of the corners, to save him from being surfed by the frenzy goat, but in hindsight, I should have put this linefrog in the gap between my corners. As it were, my opponent went in for the 6+ dodge and made it, pushing my catcher off the field and the ball bounced all the way back to my half. A goat managed to pick the ball up and I rushed back to blitz it. Two dice, skull and push. I now had to hope for a failed 3+ dodge, but my opponent scored. I however still had time left to score for the draw.

I made the same play, a sideline cage, but I learned from my misstake and put a player in the gap between the cage corners. My opponent couldn't stop me from scoring and the game ended in a draw.

End 1-1 (1-2)

Conclusion

What a tournament! I had a good time and played against great opponents!

The organizers had some problems on day 1, reducing the number of games to two, but they managed to squeeze in four games on day 2. I tip my hat to the organizers, who did this in their spare time, providing a nine game tournament to 1400+ coaches. Wow!

I'm very happy with my choice of team and I had fun in all my nine games. I didn't feel that I was out of any game, even if the odds were against me. My roster was good and I'm going to use it again at a tournament in Hannover in March, but with some minor tweaks. I'll try to get kick and frenzy on the roster, which the best slann player had on his roster.

I'll use something very different at my next tournament, K K N D - K R U S H - K I L L - N - D E S T R O Y - I I I - 2 0 1 9 - CHRISTMAS EDITION. It's time to get that painted deathroller on the blood bowl pitch. Wish me luck as I get out of my comfort zone.

Deathroller!!!

Thank you for reading!

World Cup IV - Day 2

Extra skills were added for this day and the roster has been updated below.

Roster

3 Catchers (3xDodge)
Kroxigor (Block)
8 Linemen (2xBlock, Strip Ball+Wrestle, Wrestle)
3 Re-rolls
4 Fan factor
Apothecary

Game 4 vs Khemri

I was up against a very well painted khemri team, a race I rarely play against. The roster seemed solid and I was wary of the mighty blow+tackle blitz-ra getting to my catchers. My opponent decided to defend to start of the game.

Kicking Khemri

My goal was to score late in the first half, leaving next to no time for the khemri to score back. I succeeded in doing this, but not in the way I thought I would. My dice went hot and the khemri left the pitch left and right (although, they made their reg.) . I was expecting my frogs to leave the pitch at that rate, but that's blood bowl. It's weird sometimes. I scored in turn 8 and we lined up for the second half.

Defending frogs

I got the ball on the ground early and went in for the pick up and punt play, but couldn't pick it up. If I had, it would probably have been over then and there. As it turned out, this game went down to the wire. I later managed to get the ball on the ground again and my opponent had to dodge away form the kroxigor with his throw-ra to go for the pick up. The dodge was successful after the use of the last re-roll, but then the throw-ra failed the pick up.

Final phase of the game

My opponent had once last try in turn 16, but failed a 4+ hand off (wasn't the only roll that needed to succeed), after I failed the pick up and the ball bounced in to the hands of a khemri player.

End 1-0 (5-4)

Game 5 vs Chaos

Game 5 pitched me against a chaos team without a mino and I was a bit surprised that I hadn't faced chaos before the halfway line of the tournament. I kicked the ball to start it all off and the half went as expected, but I was surprised when my opponent left his claw+mighty blow open to a 3d for my kroxigor in turn 1, but I had to go for it. Yes, you guess it, my kroxigor rolled a 1. The half was a very tactical and positional game and it looked like I could keep the chaos team out of the endzone, but I then made a huge error. I had set up a screen and got greedy. I blocked with my kroxigor and yes, a 1. Darn, that left my screen week in one place and my opponent just needed to blitz on player out of the way to move through. I leaped a linefrog out to cover this error and failed, even with the use of a re-roll. Lesson to be learned here, the order of actions. I should have leaped with the linefrog before blocking, to know if I could cover the error if the kroxigor rolled a 1 or double skulls, but I got carried away. This meant that the chaos team could get through and score in turn 8.

Stupid kroxigor

My opponent put up a good defense and I yet again made an error and had to go for it with the ball carrier. The GFI failed, even after the use of a re-roll. I was in trouble and the game turned in to a scrum for the ball. One of my linefrogs ended up with the ball in his hands and moved up the field, potato style. The chaos team blitzed him down, but I had two chances of getting in to the endzone in turn 15 and 16, both 3+'s. Nuffle said no both times and the game ended in a loss. Fun game though and exactly why I went for slann, even the loses are fun.

End 0-1 (3-2)

Game 6 vs Underworld

An underworld team with Skitter Stab-Stab ended day 2. I was quite happy that there was no sign of a Glart on the roster. I received the ball and the game started with a blitz, which put me under pressure from turn 1, but I think that my opponent overcommitted and put his good players in reach of mine. Skitter left the field in turn 2 and his team mates soon followed. My opponents dice were horrible and I could easily score in turn 8.

The second half could have seen the underworld team scoring and they got very close to doing so, but I managed to steal the ball and score in turn 16.

End 2-0 (3-0)

Day 3

World Cup IV - Day 1

My first world cup and I wanted a team with which I'd have fun for nine games straight. Flings was an option, but another squad member (whom sadly couldn't make it in the end) wanted to play flings, so I had to go for something else. I've played some slann on FUMBBL and can't really remember a game in which I didn't have fun and that's why I went for slann.  You're never out of it with slann and I was originally testing a roster with two blitzers, three catchers and a kroxigor with eleven players. It didn't really work so I switched to the roster below, which I'm very happy with.

Roster

3 Catchers (2xDodge)
Kroxigor (Block)
8 Linemen (2xBlock, Strip Ball, Wrestle)
3 Re-rolls
4 Fan factor
Apothecary

Game 1 vs Humans

I was up against humans, with some different skill choices.
No ogre, which meant that my kroxigor would be more difficult to deal with for the humans, especially considering that they only had one guard blitzer.

The ball is being moved up the pitch

I don't remember all that much of the game, but I won 2-1 and it was the first time that my opponent faced of against slann.

End 2-1 (0-1)

Game 2 vs Necromantic

A necromantic team with one ghoul and no sure hands. Also just one block skill on day 1, which I was happy with. I managed to stop his drive and score for the first half.

The second half started with a pitch invasion and in the end, I didn't manage to score after a zombie caught a bouncing ball.

Pitch invasion to start the second half

End 1-0 (2-2)

(This was the last game of day 1, but the first game on day 2 would be played with the rules for day 1 and that's why I'm including it here)

Game 3 vs Norse

What a game this was, a real nail biter that went down to the wire. My opponent, a Spanish coach playing norse started by receiving the ball and he went down one sideline, removing some frogs on the way. I leapt in and stripped the ball, which landed on the sideline. My opponent managed to pick it up again, but had to use a re-roll. The norse team went forward and lined up to foul my strip ball frog and rolled snake eyes! His player was sent off and I could once again leap in and strip the ball. This time I even managed to pick it up and punt it down the pitch.

A fight for the ball on the sideline

My opponent managed to pass the ball back into my half and I once again put him under pressure. He had to 3+, 2+, 2+, 3+, 3+, 2+, 2+ for the score in turn 8, which he did.

The second half was equally exciting. I was put under pressure in my half after a turnover, but managed to move the ball in to his half with a couple of turns left in the half. My hopes of a draw ended with double skulls, but what a fun game it had been. A draw would have been fair, but that's the way it goes sometime.

End 0-1 (3-3)

Day 2

B7

Roster

I used the following wood elf roster for the tournament, in which you were given one normal skill prior to each game (after having seen the opponents roster).

2 Wardancers

Thrower

3 Catchers

4 Linemen

Treeman

2 Re-rolls

Game 1 vs orcs (strip ball wardancer)

First game against orcs, which I wasn't too sad about. The orcs only got one skill, which meant that my dodge should keep my catchers safe. I received the ball and moved up the field, going from side to side. I was eventually forced to score in turn 5.

Wood elves vs an orc wall

This left my opponent four turns to score, which isn't impossible with orcs, but the kick was deep and I was able to put my opponent under pressure. The ball was still deep in his half in turn 8 and my opponent made a long pass to a black orc followed by a hand off to a blitzer, who had to dodge and GFI for the 1-1. My opponent made it all without a re-roll.

I managed to stop his offense in the second half and steal the ball. All I needed was to pass the ball to a catcher in a tacklezone, dodge twice and GFI for the score. Unfortunately for me, the black orc marking the catcher intercepted the ball and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

End 1-1 (1-1)

(After the game, I realized that the black orc wasn't in a position to intercept the ball at all, but by then it was too late)

Game 2 vs dwarves (leader thrower)

I don't remember much about this game except that my dice were hot. The dwarves were outnumbered in the first half and I turned the ball over and managed to score in his drive. He stopped my offense in the second half as my elves started to leave the pitch, but as I didn't need to push for the win, I didn't have to take any risks.

1-0 (2-3)

Game 3 vs wood elves (tackle wardancer)

As I was up against wood elves, I went for tackle, which I regret. Frenzy would have been a better choice based on the teams I faced later in the tournament and even based on how this game went.

Next time I play wood elves, I'm going to take frenzy instead.

Wood elf mirror

My opponent received the ball in the first half and scored in turn 2, which surprised me. I was now going for the 2-1 grind. This however didn't work as my opponent failed nothing before turn 15, including the leaps in to my cage. He stopped my offense in the first half and I was now playing for a draw.

I again moved up the pitch and was standing with a cage next to the endzone when my opponent leap in again and the ball scattered and landed in the endzone. All I had to do was knock a lineman down with four dice. I didn't work and I failed the pick up. The ball the scattered in to the hands of said lineman. In my opponents next turn, the ball was moved down the field and his wardancer failed to catch the ball in my half (first fail of the game for him), but the ball was out of reach so the wardancer picked the ball up in turn 16 and scored.

I didn't lose this game to dice. They didn't help, but I made some mistakes, which cost me the game.
I focused too much on his diving tackle catcher with my tackle wardancer for one.

End 0-2 (1?-1?)

Game 4 vs Brets (block lineman)

My opponent went down the sideline with his ball carrier, before covering it. He then had to use his re-roll and still make GFI to cover the ball carrier, which then failed. I went in and stole the ball and scored in his turn 8. My opponent was frustrated with his dice, but I don't really agree. He took some suboptimal decision, like not covering his ball carrier before going for risky dice.

The second half saw me scoring in turn 12, hoping to steal the ball again.

However, I made a mistake, not moving some players before going for the blitz and after I failed it, my opponent could move forward. Not the end of the world as I still won the game.

End 2-1

Game 5 vs norse (wrestle lineman)

Last game of the tournament and I was up against norse, which can be tricky for wood elves. I all depends on how the first couple of turns go. It didn't go well for me in this game.

Norse turn 3

By the start of turn 3, my treeman, thrower a catcher and a linemen were all in the casualty box. I also had a catcher in the KO-box. Not great.

I'm still proud of myself as I didn't complain and just focused on the game. With only six players on the field, I managed to get the ball on the ground twice. Sadly, the scatter was perfect for him and he could recover both times. He scored in his turn 8.

I was hoping for the one turn touchdown, but a perfect defense was rolled.

I was outnumbered in the second half and went to one sideline. My opponent responded by moving his complete team to that side, which was what I was hoping for. I went backwards and handed off to a catcher, who ran down the other sideline. I scored in turn 11, hoping to be able to somehow manage a draw.

I wasn't to be and my opponent could easily score in turn 16, but I never gave up, even with only two players on the pitch.

End 1-2 (0-6 +1 foul CAS)

(My opponent commended me on my attitude and I'm proud of myself for not giving up and just playing the game. This is something I'll take away from this tournament and my last game, a complete disaster ended up being the game I'm most proud of. Also, my opponent won most CAS from this game.)

Conclusion

I my record ended up being 2-1-2, which I wasn't happy with. It was still a fun tournament and the location and organization was perfect. My NAF-ranking went below 200 after this tournament and I need to get up again, but I think I'll let the wood elves rest for a while.

Next tournament will be the World Cup IV, in which I'll play slann.

Krush Kill N Destroy - 2019

Roster

The tournament was payed using the world cup 2019 rules. Game 1 and 2 used the rules for day 1 and game 3 and 4 used the rules for day 2.

I tried my slann roster and I've more or less settled on the following roster

1 Kroxigor - block*
2 Blitzers - 2xblock'
3 catchers - 3xdodge*
5 linemen - wrestle* and wrestle**+strip ball**
3 Re-rolls
Apothecary

I'm still not completely decided on the stacked skill. This could also be a skill for one of the blitzers, like guard, mighty blow or perhaps tackle.

Wrestle and strip ball is good, great even, but how often will it be useful?
There will be some teams with sure hands and the extra skill on a blitzer might provide more uses.

I'll have to test it sometime soon as the roster needs to be submitted in August.

Game 1 vs Dark Elves

First tame was against a standard dark elf roster with a wrestle witch, a block witch and a leader runner. I had recently played a test game against dark elves, which I won, so I was feeling quite good about the match up.

Frogs kicking of the game

I got to kick and I didn't put any pressure on my opponent, just defending my half. My opponent moved the ball carrier up quickly and made a pass towards another player, but the ball was fumbled and the frogs could get the ball and score a couple of turns later. This left the elves with time left to score in the second half, which they did, dodging away from diving tackle for the score.

I wasn't too upset though as I was receiving in the second half. The plan was to stall it out until turn 16 and things looked good up til turn 14. My opponent could blitz with a witch, but failed a GFI for the blitz. I then moved up and marked the witch with a blitzer, forcing my opponent to dodge through my screen to get to the ball carrier (no re-rolls left at this point). He managed and got the ball on the ground. To add insult to injury, the witch picked up the ball. I spent a re-roll on my blitz in turn 15, but I couldn't get her down with four dice. The elves failed to score in turn 16 and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

It was a draw, but it felt like a loss. I should have scored in turn 15 and would at worst have a draw. This way, I could even have lost, but a double skull stopped my opponent from even being able to try.

In hindsight, I should have scored in turn 15 or fouled the witch with a catcher, but that's the way the game is sometimes. Getting fooled in to thinking that you're save, when in reality there's a one ins six chance of anything to work, even that difficult dodge to get to your ball carrier.

Event hough I didn't lose the game, it felt like I did and I was going in to game two a bit tilted.

End 1-1

Game 2 vs Humans

I was up against a human roster with a low number of re-rolls, but a bribe onboard.

As we rolled for weather, we got very sunny, which I wasn't too found off. However, it got worse when I kicked the ball to my opponent, as the weather changed to sweltering heat.

Fortunately for me, the first foul triggered the bribe and a failed pick up enable me to put the humans under pressure quickly.

Humans under pressure

This forced my opponent in to bad positions and I had a 2d blitz on his ball carrying catcher without block. I didn't get the catcher down with my blitzer, so I decided to use my re-roll to get another set of two dice, but without a positive result. This forced my opponent to score quickly and I was left with enough time to score back. I managed to do so before the half, but without my kroxigor, which figured that it was too hot.

We rolled for sweltering heat and three of my players were out. This meant that I was now down in numbers and under pressure without the ball even having been kicked.

I had to go forward, but lost the ball and I had one last chance, a leap, 1d blitz with a lineman. This enabled me to chainpush players off the ball and then leap a blitzer on to the ball and if I had managed the pick up, I would have scored and hopefully ended with a draw (at worst).

Sadly, I failed the pick up and the humans could scope the ball up and score at the end of the game.

End 1-2

Game 3 vs Bretonnians

I was up against a newer player and I managed to get the ball off the bretonnians in the first half and also score before the half.

I felt quite good about the game, but I made one fatal error, miscounting the squares from my ball carrier to his knight. The knight stunned my catcher and I could still salvage the drive, if I could just dodge a catcher back to act as an assist for the blitz, but I snake the dodge and the knight could scope up the ball for a 1-1 score.

Still enough time to score, so I could just win the game. No more mistakes and I'd be alright.
Well, it didn't help that it took two turns to pick up the ball (even using a re-roll on the second attempt). I was again under pressure, but I could get the ball away. I just needed a 2+ leap to get away with a catcher. A 1 and I was already out of re-rolls due to a double skull in the beginning of that turn. My opponent then had one last chance for the win. Dodging with a lineman, 2 GFIs and a long bomb, but it failed. The game ended in a draw.

End 1-1

Gamve 4 vs Chaos Pact

For the last game, I was up against Morg'n'Thorg and his friends. There was a troll with claw, a skaven and a goblin plus a bunch of renegades.

My opponent picked up the ball with Morg and my wrestle + strip ball lineman really came to its own in this game. I could steal the ball from Morg and score in the first half.

All I had to do now was keep the ball for the second half and that's what I did. Morg got the ball once and I just got it back. I could have scored in turn 16, but failed a dodge. Still won the game though, so it didn't matter.

End 1-0

Conclusion

I like the slann team and most games are fun, which is great for the world cup and the reason for me taking them. However, as a blood bowl coach, I need to be able to reset. A bad first game shouldn't tilt you and set the tone for a whole tournament. I need to work on that. Learn, release and reset before the next game. I kind of did, but the sweltering heat just took me right down again, as I was playing well up to that point.

I need to play a couple of test games with a stacked blitzer instead of the lineman. The lineman was great in game 4, but not as much in game 3, due to sure hands. A skill that I believe will be quite common at the world cup. A blitzer with guard might be more useful. I'll give that a try. I've also been playing around with the idea of three blitzers. More team value on the pitch.

The painted team

As a side note, I won best painted at this tournament, which I'm very pleased with.

Thank you for reading.

Berlin Open 2019

Roster

As we were using the world cup rules for this tournament, I went with the following roster.

2 Blitzers (2xBlock)

Kroxigor (Block from game 3)

3 Catchers (3xDodge)

5 Lineman (Wrestle+Strip Ball, Wrestle from game 3, Wrestle and Block from game 5)

3 RR

Apo

Game 1 vs goblins

Sweltering heat

Fungus the loon started the game by killing one of my blitzers (two squares off the LOS). I had to use my apo and I could luckily place the blitzer in the reserve box.

My turn 1 then saw one catcher stunning himself. Not the greatest of starts.

I managed to leap in to the goblin cage and knock the ball down. It scatter to the back of the cage and one of my catchers managed to pick it up. Sadly, I rolled a snake eyes for the dodge. If that wouldn't have happened, I might have ran away with the game as I already had a screen set up (including a diving tackle blitzer).

The half ended in a 0-0 tie, which I guess I was happy with. I still had a chance, if my KOs came back.

They didn't and the heat made another player sit out the half. I had five frogs to his ten goblins. Oh well, I could still win, it's just a matter of staying posi - BLITZ! and the kick was in the open, close to the LOS. Great...

I actually managed to recover the ball and move it down the pitch towards one sideline.

Ball recovered after the blitz

Goblins scored in turn 15 after recovering the ball and handing it off to a goblin that ran out of reach for my players.

We then set up for turn 16 and after an early turnover a goblin was thrown, picked the ball up and made two GFIs for the 2-0 win.

End 0-2

It was a fun game though. I didn't feel out of it, not even with just five players on the pitch. That snake in the begining cost me the game.

Game 2 vs orcs

I kicked deep and the orc thrower failed to pick the ball up. This meant that I could swarm my opponents half and cut his team in half. I was able to score in a couple of turns and was then up 1-0 at halftime.

I figured that I had this game in the bag and got a bit over confident. I had the possibility of a 3+ pass, followed by a 2+ catch and a dodge with re-roll for an early 2-0. I wanted to score quickly before I started to lose players and maybe even push for the 3-0.

Inaccurate pass (the black orc was on the floor at the time of the pass)

Sadly, the pass failed with the re-roll and we had a fight for the ball. The ball ended up in the hands of the orcs and they scored in turn 16.

I should of course have played it safe and waited for a better opportunity or waited until there was less time for the orcs to score, even if it went wrong.

Ended in a 1-1 draw

Game 3 vs nurgle

Deep kick from the frogs and the nurgle team peddled back to form a cage and screen combination.

I put him under pressure and more or less nothing went wrong for me, but it was the opposite for my opponent.

Kick off!

I could score in the first half and managed to score again in my drive.

Not much to say about the game really. My dice were incredible.

End 2-0

Game 4 vs chaos

It started with a kick that landed on a chaos warrior on the LOS, that caught the ball. I could then block the warrior and block another player on to the ball. It bounced over the LOS and in to the hands of a catcher.

Catcher catching a ball

I scored quite early and my opponent almost made 1-1 before half time, but he'd overseen a lineman behind the kroxigor that could leap and make 2 GFIs for a one die blitz. It resulted in a push and the beastman with the ball was pushed off the field (my opponent thought he was safe).


The ball scattered perfectly for me and I could scope it up for 2-0 at halftime.

Frogs on their way towards the endzone

I then went for an early 3-0 and my opponent answered with 3-1 shortly after. And yes, you guess it, I more or less immediately went for 4-1. The next kick off was a blitz and a catcher caught the ball. This could end 5-1, but no, my opponent knocked the catcher down and managed to break away with the ball. An early turnover for me meant that I could stop the 4-2 score, but it didn't really matter in the end.

End 4-2

Game 5 vs chaos

I got to kick and I started the half carefully, not wanting to go all in from the get go. I was also a bit scared of his mino with claw.

His mino stunned a lineman and that was more or less all he did for the rest of the game. It was out of position after being knocked down once and my opponent couldn't use his blitz action on the mino.

The chaos team went down a sideline and I forced him to score quite early, leaving me enough time to score in the first half, or that was what I thought at least.



In his last turn, he managed to stun a catcher, which left me with one scoring threat, a blitzer. I needed a leap, a blitz and then a 3+ pass followed by a 3+ catch. I got to the catch, but sadly didn't make it, which meant that my chances of a win was somewhat diminished.

I scored mid second half and figured that I would attack my opponent and hope for at least a draw.

Sadly, I didn't managed to knock his ball carrier down although I managed to leap in to the cage. A push (ball carrier had sure hands) from my strip baller followed by a skull in turn 16 meant that my opponent only needed two GFIs for the win. First GFI was a 1, but my opponent had a re-roll left (which he almost used for a failed GFI for a blitz on my ball carrier to stop my score). The second GFI wasn't a 1 and the game ended 1-2.

A fun game against the tournament champion. Could easily have gone either way.

Game 6 vs slann

My opponents roster was similar to mine, but with four catchers and 12 players. No apo and only two re-rolls. I was hoping that the lack of re-rolls would hurt my opponent's chances.

The game started with a blitz and my kroxigor taking out one of his dodge catchers.

The only score of the game. The pass was thrown from the position of the green die

My opponent started with the ball and made a 4+ pass in turn 2, which was very risky considering that I had two catchers in the vicinity, in case of a fumble. This meant that I had loads of time to score back, but things didn't go as planned. My kroxigor decided to bonehead three turns in a row, which meant that I had forgone a blitz and there was a hole in my line.

This meant that my opponent could put me under pressure and the ball changed hands a couple of times. One of the times was due to my opponent forgetting diving tackle on my blitzer and instead of leaping away, he dodged (the catcher had sure hands, so the leap was as good) and rolled a 1, used a re-roll and rolled a 2. I just put my blitzer down and saw the horror in my opponents eyes. That alone is reason enough for playing slann at the world cup.

My opponent recovered that ball later in the half and decided to stall in range of my strip ball wrestle lineman. Not the best decision and the half eneded 0-1.

My plan for the second half was to bash him, trying to get ride of his blitzers (especially his wrestle strip ball one). I KOed both his blitzers and had the man advantage. I caged and went down a sideline. Sadly, my opponent could leap in and get the ball on the ground (needing a pow), which he did thrice. The last time even saw him punt the ball in to my half.

I had one chance in turn 16, needing a 4+ pass, 2+ catch and a 3+ catch (hand off) to score. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be and I lost the game.

I was annoyed, but I was to blame. I should have protected the ball better and a draw would have been a fairer result.

Conclusion

I ended the tournament on 2-1-3, which I'm not too happy about, but my games were fun and I'm sure that slann is the right team for me at the world cup. I'm still working on the roster though as there are so many possibilities with slann. Next tournament for me will be kknD, also using the world cup rules (four games, 1&2 day 1 and 3&4 day 2).

Thank you for reading!

Dungeonbowl 2019

It was time for Germanys largest tournament and I was excited as I wasn't able to make it last year. I didn't consider my team for very long as I wanted to increase my NAF-Ranking with wood elves to maybe secure a spot in Team Sweden 2020 and as it's a major, there's double points to be had (and lost).

Medals on display

Roster

I went for wood elves and almost used the same roster as last time.

I switch a re-roll for an apo and took tackle on a wardancer instead of a guard tree. So my roster looked like this.

Roster

Game 1 vs Nurgle

FAME -2
Nice weather

I kicked and put my opponent under pressure directly after a deep kick and a perfect defense. Sadly, my opponent managed to pow and stunn (KO, but apo) my strip ball wardancer and I couldn't really keep the pressure up.

Stunned strip ball wardancer

The nurgle team moved down the pitch and scored in turn 8. I had two CAS and four KOs at the end of the drive. Three KOs came back and we set up for the one turned. Perfect defense again and my chances of a one turner were very low. Still tried, but the dice didn't play along.

I received the ball for the second half and my opponent failed a GFI on a blitz and left one side open. I moved through and kept stalling until turn 14. I thought I'd give it a go and scoring in three turns isn't that easy for nurgle.

Shallow kick

A good kick (for me) that landed just on the LOS. I managed to leap and blitz with my strip ball dancer, but after some scatters, it landed in the hands of a nurgle warrior. The strip ball dancer was then stunned and I couldn't get the ball from the warrior. The game ended in a draw.

End 1-1 (1--2)

Game 2 vs Dark elves

FAME -1
Nice weather

I was forced to receive the ball and mange to stall until turn 8 and my opponent didn't manage to equalise in turn 8.

Set up for the first kick off

My opponent went backwards with his runner and I went on an all out attack (should have kept more players back). My opponent went forward with his runner and passed and then handed off the ball, to move it deep in to my half. I back paddled and forced him to score.

This left me with six turns to win the game. However, I moved forward too soon and had to leap out with the ball carrier. 2 re-roll 1. The dark elves then picked the ball up and scored. I doubled skulled the first block for the one turner and that was it.

I lost this game when I moved the ball carrier forward too early. I should have kept my cool and just stalled it out and scored late in the half.

End 1-2 (1-1).

Game 3 vs Dark elves

FAME -2
Nice weather

I kicked as I wanted to see where this game was going to go. What kind of pressure would I be under to score early in the second half?

I played quite well in the first half, but even though I got the ball on the ground, it bounced badly for me the first time and the second time it landed next to my treeman, but my opponent managed to pick the ball up anyway and eventually scored in turn 8.

Kick off!

When then set up for a one turn attempt and I was feeling quite good about my chances considering his set up, but a perfect defense was rolled for the kick off event. I figured that my chances were next to none after that, but my opponent made a mistake in his set up and it wasn't over just yet. I actually managed the one turn touchdown, ending the first half on a 1-1 draw.

This meant that I wasn't under any pressure to score early and I tried to stall it out as long as I could. I was forced to score in turn 15 and was quite confident that I would at least manage a draw, especially since my opponent didn't have any re-rolls left. Still, two turns with dark elves is far from impossible.

Fortunate for me, another perfect defense was rolled on the kick off table and I managed to force my opponent to have to roll more dice than he probably would have liked. The kick also landed just behind the LOS. After a failed dodge, he had just one player in scoring range and the ball was on the ground, unguarded. I picked it up and formed a cage around the ball carrier. This meant that I managed to win my first game in the tournament!

End 2-1 (1-1)

Game 4 vs Dwarves

FAME +1
Nice weather

I kicked as I usually like to do, but it's especially good against dwarves since it might be the only time I can set up a full team and if the dwarves can't score it should at least end in a draw.

The kick was deep and I could apply pressure early, dividing the dwarf team in two.

A deep kick and early pressure

The dwarves managed to push through (partly due to a snake eyes on a dodge), but I managed to stop the from reaching the endzone and the half ended in a 0-0 tie.

I received the kick and planned on scoring as late as possible. My opponent left a flank quite open and after two lucky stunns, I went for an early push down one side.

The elves move down one side

My opponent scrambled back to get in front of me and put me under pressure (I had by this point suffered some KOs). In hindsight, the break away was too early and the pressure forced me to score in turn 13.

This left the dwarves four turns to score back, which isn't that unlikely. It was made even more likely when only one of my four KOs came back. A deep kick gave me hope, but a thrown rock made things even harder. One runner picked up the ball in their endzone and handed off to the other runner, which meant that the dwarves were almost at the LOS with three turns remaining. I the suffered two turn overs to snakes and couldn't get in front of the dwarves. They could easily score in turn 16.

End 1-1 (1-2)

Game 5 vs Necromantic

FAME -1
Nice weather

My opponent elected to receive and I was happy with that, as I would have chosen to kick anyway. The game started with a thrown rock (KOed wight) and a deep kick.

I was a bit surprised by some of the choice my opponent made. He blitzed with his mighty blow wolf, which isn't wrong, but it was a one dice and would have been another one dice for the second block. He had to use the re-roll on the first dice, but knocked my wrestle lineman down. The ghoul then failed the pick up to end the turn.

I moved up some players (catcher and the strip ball wardancer)to be able to reach the ball if the pick up failed again or to blitz the ball carrier.

It was yet again a failed pick up and the ball landed in the endzone.
My catcher then GFIed twice to pick up the ball in a tacklezone in turn 2.

The next kick off was a blitz and the ball landed on one of the flesh golems in the wide zone.
I managed to get the ball, but a double skull stopped me from scoring a second touchdown in the first half. I was still happy with being 1-0 up.

I scored a second touchdown in turn 12 and was by this time running out of elves. I had suffered six casualties (apo was used on one) and I could line up five elves and a tree for the next kick off.

Five elves and a tree

It started to rain during the ensuing kick off and the ball landed on the sideline. My opponent had to pick up the ball this time, which he did, but I could put him under pressure with my wardancer and a catcher. This resulted in some dodges and a pass to a werewolf a couple of turns later, but the werewolf failed the last GFI for the equalizer. My opponent was very unlucky in this game and the double skulls in turn 15 and 16 kind of summed up the game.

End 2-0 (2-6)

Game 6 vs Necromantic

FAME 0
Nice weather

I kicked yet again and my opponents turn wasn't too destructive. The ball was picked up and caged.

Kick off!

I later in the half managed to stop the cage. My opponent left a chain push option which enabled me to push my strip ball wardancer in to the cage. A two dice block against later and the ball was on the ground. A catcher picked it up and passed to the other wardancer.

Moving down the field

I ran the ball carrier down one wide zone (in scoring range) and put a catcher in scoring range. I then moved my thrower within distance of the ball, if the wardancer was knocked down. The wardancer was blitzed and as I anticipated it, knocked down.

In my last tuen of the half, I dodged the catcher in scoring range out and blitzed a zombie off the ball. The thrower then ran in, picked up the ball (in one tacklezone) and managed the long bomb (with the pass re-roll) and the elves were up by one at half time.

As two zombies had been sent of during the half (very unlucky and there was nothing but stunns to show for it), I was now outnumbering my opponent in the second half (10 vs 9).

I proceeded to score in turn 10, hoping to score some more touchdowns.

My opponent then answered by scoring a touchdown of his own after dodging through my defense, but I answered with a touchdown of my own. It was now 3-1 and we sent up for (probably) the last drive of the game.

I had an opertunity to score again, but I couldn't and neither could my opponent.

End 3-1 (1-2)

Conclusion

I ended with a 3-2-1 record, which I was quite happy with. I was hoping for four wins, but sometimes it's just not possible. I ended in place 23 out of a 100 coaches.

When contemplating my roster prior to the tournament, I was considering frenzy for the second wardancer (instead of tackle) and I kind of wish I had gone down that route. It depends on what you face and I'm sure that tackle would have been great against some opponents, but I had little use for it (only against the ghouls in game 5 and 6). I think I'll give frenzy a go next time I take the wood elves (which might be a while).

The apo instead of a re-roll is also something I wish I had changed. The apo didn't do much during the tournament and I believe that a re-roll would have been better, but again, it depends on the opponents. Neither option is wrong though.

Thank you for reading.