FUMBBL. It's got to be our favourite place ever (much kudos to Christer)! But conversely, for Wives / Girlfriends, it's the bane of their lives :)

Back in those early days of 2003 using SkiJunkies? client things were a lot different, none of your fancy icons...we played with lettered symbols... Ahhh, heady dayzz.

One of the earliest conceptions on FUMBBL was League play and two of FUMBBL's giants started way back then. The first, and I believe also the oldest on FUMBBL (correct me if I'm wrong) is the Southern Wastes League (SWL). It was set-up in 2004 for coaches in the Australasia area of the world <cough - G'day Sheila!> . Then. 18 months later (in 2006) the White Isle League (WIL) was born. Early on it was purely for UK coaches, but that soon opened up to all Europeans.

These two protagonists regularly sparred with a war of words with each other about who was best league etc. Unfortunately, little could be done with these spats to settle scores with some form of violence called Blood Bowl! It took eleven years before SWL and WIL decided to conduct a formal tourney to see just who is best of the best.

So what concept and how to go about conducting a mini tourney? Well it was summer 2513 (2013) and England were whooping the Aussies at the cricket, more commonly known as the ASHES. For those unaware, the ASHES are the remains of cricket bails held in an urn. An idea was forming. The SWL commish was approached with the idea and Tomay and the SWL boys were as keen as we were, they wanted to get stuck in us Pommies / Euro 'scum' ASAP. We had to beat them off with a stick!

So what would the SWL and WIL fight over, what would they be willing to put their beloved teams in the 'line of fire' to win? Actually - Nothing! Can't think of a better reason other than whooping the opposition and to have those all exclusive 'bragging rights'!

But for fluff reasons, SWL & WIL needed something to contest, so we stole the idea of the ASHES and Tomay came up with the URN title. This URN contains the remains of one of the very first Blood Bowl balls, all the races hold these remains in high regard and the honour for playing for them is ridiculously high. So these remains / games are sometimes referred to as the 'SCRAPS'.

A mutual time to play for the URN had to be decided, and the only convenient time was just after Christmas, when both leagues were idle. So come 2014 the first URN tourney between SWL & WIL was put into motion. The teams were selected purely by winners of the Premierships that year, or very high runners-up. 5 teams from each league were randomly matched against one another. No draws were allowed, so OT insured we would have a winner! It turned into a very close run thing, after 4 games it was even with 2 wins each, it all came down to that fifth and final game. Who was going to get that first URN trophy? Nuffle smiled, and the SWL walked away the bragging rights and a 3-2 series win. The WIL were left tantalisingly close and frustrated at being pipped at the post!

As the seasons progressed through 2014, the selected teams tried to pimp themselves in readiness for URN II. At the 11th hour two of the WILs chosen committed hara-kiri, decimated themselves and effectively ruleed themselves out of URN contention.

It's now January 2015, and the URN II kicks off. Once again the 5 best teams (available) from each league compete, and are randomly drawn against each other. This time there was no OT, if there was a series DRAW, then the SWL would retain the URN as current holders.

The author was actually involved in URN II and ironically / spookily tied against SWL commish - Tomay. Unfortunately my Undead didn't do so well, but we did get a keepsake. The tourney again was particularly close, though my early loss did hamstring us a bit, the guys rallied around and carved out two draws. The WIL needed to win the last two games! Serious pressure and so it was, as the SWL wrapped up their second URN trophy in game 4, eventually winning the series 2-0. Sailing back home to the raucous chant of '2-0, 2-0, 2-0!' The gauntlet was thrown down, and the WIL had to win URN III.

The year 2015 was a rather long spell of time for the WIL commish, his beloved Undead were demoted, hence snuffing out chances of revenge in the next URN. He waited, watched and nurtured his chosen for URN III, this included a small pep talk about not adhering to total annihilation prior to the forthcoming URN, with a particular emphasis of hitting Azure with a big stick so he understood! :) Fortunately, the pep talk worked, outstanding to suffer no major casualties. The smack talk was now also cutting in with jibes between the two camps, notably from the SWL as they still had the URN and we were yet to even get our mitts on it!

So January 2016 approaches, the URN contenders are finalised, the draw made and the third installment of the URN was about to begin!

I'll now hand over to Spubbbba, who has put together a worthy script of URN III and the 10 teams and 5 mini (ish) match reports

GO WIL!!

As always - Keep it WIL!

Prez,

WIL Commish

U?Game 1/u?

Mateuszzzzzz White Isle dogs Dark Elves Vs. Grumpsh Error 404 afterlife not found Necros

Compared to some in the competition, both teams were relative newcomers to their respective leagues, only gaining promotion to the top division this year. However they had had a significant run since then, winning or finishing 2nd in every remaining season. *Name* were the SWL in Q3 and White Isle Dogs are the reigning WIL champions.

The great strength of the Dogs was the mass Blodge and sidestep across the board, which made it hard for bash teams to pin them down. They also had sufficient mobility to utilise their own tackle and diving tackle when facing other agile teams. The last 2 seasons in the Prem had not been without cost and they went into the game with only 12 players, several of them rookies or low skilled.

Error 404 had regularly topped the SWL Prem CAS and foul stats averaging 5 CAS per game in many seasons. Going into the game with 15 players they could survive taking damage and foul with abandon. Despite a lack of Tackle, their single player boasting that skill was Huge Axeman, who had won numerous CAS and blocking awards in the SWL Prem in 2015, so he would be key. 2 DT Ghouls would also help to constrain the Elven Agility. This meant that they would find it tough to take the elves down but with a good amount of MB and DP they could ensure that any elves that did go down may not get up again.

u?Match/u?

The Necromantic won the toss and elected to receive, hoping to cause some damage on their drive and score on T8. However Nuffle had other ideas and the sneaky Elves were able to anticipate the kick off, blitzing the slow-footed Necros and grab the ball. *name* was able to pop the ball loose, though unable to claim it back, but did punish the DE for their impudence, causing a SI and KO.

With Error 404 closing and another player ending up in the SI box, the Dogs decided to take this gift from Nuffle and scored in T3. Receiving for a 2nd time, the 404 made sure to secure the ball and proceeded to slowly shamble up the pitch, Injuring another elf in the process. The Dogs tried their best to stop them but were powerless against the inexorable tide of rotten players. With a T8 score it looked like the game would be tied at the half way stage. The Dogs had other ideas though and pulled off an impressive 1 turn touchdown with just 9 players. The Blood Wine Slanneshi cultists the Dogs had brought to the game proved their worth with all KO's coming back. Their reputation for sacrificing players who convalesced too long in the KO box doing as much as the restoring property of Bloodweiser’s finest vintage.

Going into the 2nd half with a 2-1 lead and receiving, things were looking good for the Dogs. They retrieved the ball and rushed players into the opposing half reasoning a quick score would leave the Necromantics struggling to catch up.

A brilliant defence by the 404 quickly shut down and curtailed the elves. 1 by 1 the potential receivers disappeared under a tide of already dead bodies. Things came into a head when upcoming werewolf Jazzie Batesman took out Spaniel VI and snatched up the ball. By then there were too few elves left to challenge the ball and the Necros stalled out the rest of the game to secure the draw.

The massive CAS difference gave the Necros a moral victory and Huge Axeman was the star of the game adding another 3 CAs to his impressive total.

u?Game 2/u?

Stonetroll Harsh North Chaos Vs. Grod Technically Minded Dwarfs

The Chaos were the WIL Prem’s heavy hitters, regularly topping the WIL Prem’s CAS rankings. But they were more sophisticated than that and thanks to the 4 Warriors sporting a variety of Tentacles, Diving Tackle and Guard they could effectively tie up more agile teams. However the death of legendary Beastman CB and niggle of rising star *name* left much of the bash in the hooves of Conan the Useless. Some pundits claim this is a good thing for Harsh North as they had grown too bloated with excessive wage bills stifling the team. They pointed to the dominance of Q2 compared to the mid-table mediocrity of Q4. The Dwarfs were former SWL champions and long-time members of the league with an impressive record and well-rounded squad.

Match

The dwarfs received and got off to a dream start causing a SI, BH and 2 KO’s on turn 1 as well as caging the ball safely. But the chaos were not done yet and started to hit back, gradually knocking dwarfs out over the next few turns until the numbers were equal. The dwarfs were still able to grind up the pitch but some valiant defending forced them to score in T5. There was still time for chaos to equalise, though a deep kick made it that much trickier. A solid defence by the dwarf only allowed a few players to get in scoring range and a well-timed blast from the flame cannon hired specially for the game proved to be 150k well spent. 1-0 down and facing a (* or 10??) full dwarf squad, Harsh north had a lot to do. Up till now the chaos had done little damage, but that all changed in the 2nd half, they ripped through the dwarf team, causing multiple permanent injuries and Ko’s and headed for the endzone. Some heroics by GLaDOS popped the ball loose and almost stopped the TD, but it was recovered. The chaos gods don’t tend to reward caution, so Harsh scored in *T5* hoping to go for glory and win the game outright. Down to just 7 players, 2 of them the AG3 players and facing a full chaos team the Technically went for the tactical option of holding out for the draw. The SWL were holding the Urn so the WIL needed to win outright to claim the title. The dwarfs were able to pull back and as Harsh lacked the time or speed to chase down the ball carrier the game was destined to be a draw. Frustrated by this and with their bloodlust not sated Harsh’s final act was to sacrifice Arnold Schwarzeneggar to the chaos gods via a gang foul.

Game 3

PurpleChest White and Purple Smoke High Elves vs DrDiscoStu? Wanja Warriors Orcs

With the first 2 games ending in draws the SWL had the advantage, if the WIL wanted to be in with a chance of lifting the trophy then they had to start winning games. The Orcs had steadily worked their way through the lower leagues, taking their time in the middle divisions before launching a blistering assault on the Prem. They went on to win the SWL Prem straight after their promotion and as the reigning SWL champions had a lot to prove. They faced White a Purple Smoke, a High Elf team that won the first WIL Prem of 2015 with an impressive comeback from a couple of early losses. Since then the high elves had been having a tougher time, suffering many injuries and narrowly avoiding relegation last season. Nevertheless they were always a threat and had pulled off more than 1 upset in 2015.

Match

The elves received, scooped up the ball and hung back whilst running down 1 side of the pitch. The orcs moved to shut this down but the nimble elves were able to elude them to easily score in turn 2. This was a risky strategy as they could have doomed themselves to 15 straight turns of pain at the hands of the vengeful orcs. However elven arrogance was legendary and they must have fancied their chances of a defensive TD or at least stopping the equaliser. Of course having the magical support of long term patron and fanatical supporter High mage Furian the Pure in the crowd may have been a contributing factor as well. The kick was deep and the Orcs secured the ball with star blitzer *name*, forming a loose cage round him whilst the rest of the team got stuck into the elven LOS. Little damage was done so the elves rushed forward, knowing that if the Orcs could form a solid cage it would prove very tough to get the ball loose. Although many of the orcs were tied up they still had plenty of scope to move forward and protect the ball. Nuffle had other ideas and what should have been a simple dodge for *name* ended in disaster when he was tripped by *name*. This led to several turns where both sides tried to recover the ball but neither could secure it. Eventually elven agility proved to be superior and they snatched the ball up to score. 2-0 down and with only a couple of turns to keep the game alive meant the Orcs brought on fan favourite *name*. The crowd just loved to see him fly the air and bets were exchanged on whether he would score, land on his face or get eaten by *troll name*. This time the Orcs managed to secure the ball but could only get a single player in scoring range. *name* hugged the sidelines, already sure he would score he began mocking the elven fans. This proved to be unwise as Furian was in that section of the crowd and took offence. Quicker than a goblin could count to “2 and annuva wun” a lightning bolt flash out and *name* laid stunned on the ground. The Orcs last chance to equalise went after poor *name* was killed by *name*. 2-0 down and facing an almost full elven team the Warriors would need to use all the grit and determination that led to them winning the SWL Prem. They started well by forming a strong cage and working their way up the pitch. The elves being ahead were happy to run the clock down and stall out the Orcs. This called for more decisive action and *name* too the initiative sprinting through a hole in the Smokes defence. Just when it looked like he had broken free he mysteriously slipped on a patch of ice. This was strange as it being a warm sunny day and probably had nothing to do with that part of the pitch being so close to where Furian was sitting.

The Elves recovered and went for a 3rd TD but the pass went awry, allowing the Orcs 1 more shot to pull back some pride and make the final result closer. To add insult the elves were able to snatch this up and win the game 3-0. Worst of all for the Orcs they caused very little damage to the snooty elves.

Game 4

Ulrik White Isle Lizards Lizardmen vs Faulcon Slumbering Skinks Lizardmen

Faulcon’s Slumbering Skinks have a prestigious career in the SWL, being (*one of*) the longest serving teams in the league and the site in general. They had numerous records and titles over that period so were an obvious choice to represent the SWL. The White Isle Lizards had won the Prem convincingly in Q2, but since then had been targeted by their league rivals. The loss or injury of several key players meant they were relegated in Q3. But re-building the team around their 2 legends *name* and *name* saw them gain promotion back to the Prem at the end of the year. Both teams went into the game sporting several injuries and the White Islers had just 10 regular players, they did bring this up to 11 by recruiting Helmut, reasoning his chainsaw could cut through tough scales as easily as it did wood.

With the WIL ahead and 2 games to go this was a vital game as a loss for SWL would hand victory to the WIL.

Match

The Islers received and got off to a strong beginning, securing the ball and taking out 4 players for good by the half way point. They didn’t have it all their own way and the Skinks did some damage back, most notably killing injured vet Tommay and his Tail. An opening in the defence let the skink sack the ball carrier, but the Islers were able to recover and score in T8.

T8 was uneventful with no damage or successful OTT attempt.

The Skinks were suffering after the loss of several key players, but having done some damage in return, Helmut being sent off and a deeper bench they were still in this going into the 2nd half. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas with the extreme heat proving too tempting with 3 of the Skink’s living up to their team name, choosing to bask on a nice rock over playing compared to just 1 of the Lizards. With a meagre 5 players compared to 8 the Skinks didn’t have enough players to protect the ball and were quickly overrun by the WILers. Then it was just a case of the WILers stalling out the game against dwindling opposition to secure the win and the Urn for the first time.

Game 5

Azure Sevan Pillars Skaven vs Barre Large Head-on Colliders Chaos Dwarfs

Azure’s skaven were famously passed over to represent the WIL Urn team last year, despite being a champion. Outraged by this slight the head coach schemed long into the night to form plans to avenge this injustice. Rumours abound that multiple agents of Clan Eshin have been hunting WIL commissioner Prez team ever since and only his foul necromantic sorceries have allowed him to remain functioning as league commissioner and head coach of *team name*. The only member of the WIL team not to win the championship they earned their spot by being the most consistently successful team in 2015, with multiple top 3 finishes. Led by now sadly deceased team captain Zeal they scored with aplomb throughout the year and more than once beat up seemingly bashier opponents.

Barre’s Chaos dwarfs had started the year in dominant position, winning the first 2 championships of the year. Perhaps they had been too successful for their own good and were targeted by opposing forces as they were relegated in season 3. But quickly showed their pedigree by winning the *name* division and regaining what they saw as their rightful place in the premier for the start of 2016. The team boasted 3 legends in the shape of *name*, *name* and *name*. These great players built around a solid support had been essential in the team’s success. Trusting in the greater strength of their team and higher armour they went into the game with 11 players. The Urn had already been won, this game was for pride, both teams were used to success so wouldn’t be holding back. A WIL win would give the largest victory yet and bring the number of won games over the total competition to 5 each. This would allow WIL coaches to claim the series was tied based on overall results, brushing over the fact of 2 losses in the past 2 years.

Match

The skaven won the toss and elected to receive, as is wont to happen with the devious ratmen their carefully laid plans immediately began to fall apart as they were blitzed by the more disciplined chaos dwarfs. However the horned rat proved to be watching over his furry disciples and legendary bull centaur *name* gammy knee gave out and he landed squarely on his head. Lying prone surrounded by the WIL Prem’s dirtiest team is not a good way to start the game and proved disastrous as a gang foul crippled him. Many *name* fans were angry that the team apothecary was not called to save the long time fan favourite. Some commentators speculated that *name’s* wage demands had grown too high and his multiple injuries made him a shadow of his former self. The skaven made the most of this good fortune and quickly started removing Chaos Dwarfs from the pitch, many permanently. Whilst *Name* hung back deep in their half leaving the rest of the team to symmetrically target the chaos dwarfs and hobgoblins. They tried to fight back and did do some damage in return killing *name* but more and more players disappeared under a tide of vermin. By the time *name* waltzed in for the score only 5 Colliders players remained for the 2nd half. Skaven were not known for their no mercy and this was no exception as they began taking out the remaining members of the Colliders team in the 2nd half. After stealing the ball Love II began showboating, throwing passes to please the crowd. Scoring in 4th and 6th turns secured the win, but the skaven were not done. They passed up the chance to score a 4th TD in favour of removing the last player sneutrino from the pitch. Securing the assistance of greyseer spiketail was a wise move for *name*. Rather than utilising his services to throw a fireball or lightning bolt at the chaos dwarfs they elected to have him cast an illusion so all *name* players resembled WIL commissioner Prez. This gave them the extra motivation to win and explained the savagery brutality they showed even once the game was clearly won.