“Handicaps were:

Duh Where Am I? (On my Str 5 Wardancer)
Bribe the Ref 2
Doom and Gloom
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Well what a bizarre game this was.

The Guardians started with just 3 rerolls thanks to Doom and Gloom and used one early on double skulls block. Result? They failed to pick up the ball.

Buggered by Fate swooped in and recovered the ball, and misthrew it perfectly. The Guardians planned their counter offence and went for the ball which was on the sideline. A 3+ 2+ was all that was needed to get free, but no go.

The Fate get the ball and go ahead 1-0 after kicking to start the game.

Second drive, the Guardians burn a reroll on their boneheaded Wardancer who then did nothing with his blocks. However, their Treeman made amends by injuring the Fate Treeman with a block!

The ball was in a precarious situation, but the Guardians managed to cage strongly (with their 1 RR) and see out the half as they sent a couple of Fate players to the KO or casualty box.

The Fate outnumbered and outgunned played minimal defence hoping to survive the half.

The Guardians scored late in the half to level the scores at 1-1 apiece.

The Fate had some horrid luck as their two Tacklers spent two drives in the KO box without waking up and the Guardians were able to apply the pressure in the muddy conditions to get to the ball (with Istarios rolling some 1s and 2s to handle the ball not helping him at all).

There was little for the Fate to do being outnumbered and outmatched and the rolls being unfriendly at the critical times. Sure Istarios on two turns made a truckload of dodges to get several playes into scoring position, but when it came to the critical roll, it was nearly always a failure.

However, the Guardians did little wrong (apart from failing 4 of their first 9 bone head rolls on their Wardancer!) and even pulled off a score with no rerolls left needing 2s and 3s.
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A real lopsided game. I thought I was going to lose early in the match with that turnover, but then I had AMAZING casualty rolls, taking out two Wardancers and a Treeman and another player in the first half.

With so many players out and the Guardians loaded with Guard, they were able to strongarm the first half with a long cage drive then play fast running Elf syle in the second against a weakened opponent who had little luck.

To top it off, the Guardians made a 126 aging roll for their Wardancer (+1AG), got a double for a Catcher at 51 SPP, and their 1 SPP Lino finished with 2 TDs and the MVP to get a skill too :)

If only the Guardians GLT II prize of 5 Fan Factor had been sorted, we might have broken the gate record too (8 short of tying it I believe).

Anyways, good luck to you Istarios and look forward to a less luck affected rematch sometime.”