RDuccio
Joined: Nov 11, 2015
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 Posted:
Jan 07, 2016 - 23:30 |
 
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Lovely report, The Carthaginian, thanks for it and for the game! |
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The_Carthaginian
Joined: Mar 05, 2015
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| Posted:
Jan 08, 2016 - 12:22 |
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Likewise RDuccio! Looking forward to our rematch!!! |
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The_Carthaginian
Joined: Mar 05, 2015
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| Posted:
Jan 09, 2016 - 00:37 |
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10) Orc Lordz (Orcs), Huysmans - 2-0
Tonight we had the honour of playing against Huysmans' Orc Lordz. Huysmans had a nice, even 200k to spend on inducements, and R2W heard a familar sound as they stepped out onto the pitch...the chainsaw of Ugroth Bolgrot.
OLz won the toss and elected to receive. R2W set up in a conventional longbow formation with three expendable linemen on the LOS. With plenty of S4 and block to go round, OLz set up 8 players on their front line, with Ugroth lurking just behind. Tossa' Turnbull, their dedicated Pass/Sure Hands ball handler was towards the back of their left flank, with a blitzer on the right.
R2W kicked deep and on the right, to keep the ball away from Tossa'. OLz commenced bashing and knocked down the three Elves on the LOS . Ugroth revved up his chainsaw and blitzed Colonel H Stinkmeaner. My buttocks clenched slightly ... but Ugroth rolled a one for the chainsaw attack, Loner'd a re-roll and KO'd himself (to exit the match). That could have ended much worse for R2W.
The ball was still on the ground, and two R2W blitzers closed the gap to put pressure on the orc thrower. The LOS Elves stood up, and with two assists, The Jolly Wrodger surfed a black orc who had got too close to the sidelines, resulting in a KO.
Over the next few turns OLz's front line continued to bash forward, while further back R2W's blitzers harried their thrower and his bodyguard. The two teams were each divided in half, and R2W suffered a BH, an MNG, an NI and a KO as OLz reunited to form a cage around the ball (which had changed hands several times during this process) in the shallow end of R2W's right-hand-side wide zone, in turn 6.
With 7 players left on the pitch, 2 on the wrong side of the cage, stopping advancement was going to be a real challenge for R2W. The Orc cage swung right, and OLz made a crucial error; they left one corner of their cage open, allowing UR(NR) to make 1d blitz in turn 7. He got his pow, and the ball bounced to the back of the cage. The Jolly Wrodger collected it (from two tackle zones) and dashed into OLz' half, making GFIs to ensure she was in range of the end zone, and out of range of a blitz. Thugnificent and Charlie Murphy formed a (very loose!) screen to make reaching her difficult.
The OLz had had some ridiculous luck in this half - I had really harassed their ball carrier to little effect, and in return had received an avalanche of pows (from both 1 and 2d blocks), and I have to confess, with the injuries piling up, I was starting to taste a little salt. However, that play more than made up for it. By going for it, the OLz managed to get a tackle zone on TJW in their turn, but in turn 8 Thugnificent blocked the player away with an assist from TJW, who carried the ball to the end zone.
As much as I felt OLz had had a lot of luck earlier, that play was actually extremely lucky. Had the blitz on the OLz ball carrier not paid off, and TJW not collected, it would have been OLz starting the second half 1-0 up, and not R2W.
Going into the second half, R2W had 8 players, against OLz' 11. It was R2W's turn to receive, and OLz set up just three players on the LOS, with dense zig zags of Orcs behind. By putting 4 players on the LOS, R2W were able to avoid one Orc player entirely, and 2d-block the other two away, allowing us to form 3 columns near the LOS. R2W's two witch elves were on ball collection duty at the back.
Having been in this situation with Skeggi's Squabblers, I knew that bashing through would be futile, and instead it would be better to try and stretch the Orcs' line. The columns at the LOS were loosely biased towards the left, while the Witch Elves were by the ball near their end zone, on the right. The Orcs spread themselves out to cover the pitch, and the left-most column broke forward to outflank them. A cheeky blitz by Bushido Brown opened a gap for TJW to dart forward and pass to ABNS, who in turn handed the ball to Thugnificent, who ran deep into OLz's right-hand side wide zone, supported by Colonel H Stinkmeaner. The Orcs gave chase, and managed to launch a 2d blitz against ABNS; however, a GFI was failed with a reroll before the fateful punch was thrown, and ABNS was able to nip into OLz' end zone in turn 4, to make it 2-0.
With just 8 players left, R2W tried an asymmetric box formation, but a risky kick resulted in a touchback, completely devaluing such a setup. The Orcs bashed forward, but made a crucial error - they brought their ball carrier, unsupported, to within blitzing distance. Two blitzers dodged around the Orc line (which had compacted due to follow-ups performed while bashing in the previous turn) and knocked the ball carrier down.
The Orcs were on the back foot, and although they were able to recover the ball, they had had to halt their advance to do so. This delay allowed R2W to form into columns and slow their advance further, until the end of the second half.
Huysmans had all kind of luck in this game, good and bad - just very inconveniently distributed! If his star player had stuck around a bit longer, perhaps a few more Elves would have left the pitch. Huysman has a track record of tieing games, and I think had he managed to score that TD in the first half, that's how this game could well have gone, too. He formed some solid cages that I would have found very difficult to crack if I needed to. Fortunately for me, he left his ball carrier open to blitzes at two points in the game, one of which was critical. |
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CaptainSmiithheart
Joined: Jan 07, 2016
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| Posted:
Jan 12, 2016 - 20:11 |
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Super Mega Epic Ratz defeat Cirque du Orc
Cirque du Orc defeat Pestilences De Zregg |
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The_Carthaginian
Joined: Mar 05, 2015
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| Posted:
Jan 13, 2016 - 22:14 |
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10) Cirque du Orc (Orcs), CaptainSmiithheart - 1-1
Another match against an Orc team - the bash is strong in 145! I was a bit surprised when Cirque du Orc appeared in my match window, given the difference in our TVs, but, as you will see, CaptainSmiithheart gave me a run for my money.
CdO, like any self-respecting Orc team, is heavily loaded towards bash, with 4 blitzers (2 with guard), 4 black Orc, 1 troll, accompanied by two linemen and a thrower. The main challenge for R2W was to stay out of harm's way.
R2W won the toss, and we elected to receive. My strategy was to try and get some early crowdsurfs/injuries, which would give us the numerical advantage to control the game later on. CdO set up in a wide formation, but crucially left their linemen within 2 squares of their sidelines, resulting in a prompt surfing by WE Flo'nominal, who began advancing into the CdO's half in their left-hand side wide zone. CdO moved some players to block their advance, and blitzer Orc Majeure was surfed as a result.
As a consequence, this meant that the opposite wide zone was relatively open, and The Jolly Wrodger was able to run through with the ball, as other Dark Elves outmaneouvered the Orcs to keep them at a disadvantage. What followed was a fairly standard stall/brawl until turn 8, during which a further Orc blitzer and black Orc were surfed. With so many Orcs off the pitch, TJW was able to wait by the Orcs' end zone unmolested, before scoring in turn 8. With such a shortage of Orcs, their troll was left unsupervised for much of the first half, and was paralysed by failing a long string of stupidity tests.
At the start of the second half, R2W were two players down, having suffered a few KOs and a badly hurt in the first half. Unfortunately, for all our dedicated surfing, the best R2W could achieve were a few KOs, all of whom recovered; hence, despite a strong start, R2W were outnumbered.
It was CdO's turn to receive. R2W set up in a standard longbow, with three linemen on the LOS. CdO bashed them down in their first turn, recovered the ball, and based as many elves as they could. Their thrower was unaccompanied in their half, behind a line of ten Orcs. I had a choice; form columns and go on the defensive for as long as I could, or harass the ball carrier. I didn't fancy my ability to withstand the Orcs' advance with just 9 players, and so, after surfing an Orc blitzer for good measure, began moving my players to pressurise the Orc thrower - sadly Colonel H Stinkmeaner rolled snake eyes on a dodge, and so my advance was interrupted.
In their turn, CdO based my players again, and moved their thrower with the ball from their left-hand flank to the centre - my players were mostly committed to their left-hand flank, following the earlier surf. R2W responded by also moving to the centre, and we were fortunate enough to be able to free two players to perform a 2d blitz on their thrower, knocking him down in CdO's half. In their turn, CdO were able to block my players away from the ball, and ran a blitzer down R2W's left-hand wide zone. In a very un-Orcy play, their thrower retrieved the ball and passed to this blitzer, who was screened off from the rest of my team by a brawl in the centre of R2W's half.
Now, here comes the science bit. CdO had a dirty trick card that they had been hanging on to all game, and I had just assumed that it would never get used. However, now was the time, and the card was played to reveal itselt as...greased shoes! In my next turn, my players would need 5+s to successfully GFI! This was a masterful play by CaptainSmiithheart. While my players could reach his ball carrier, they could not blitz without either GFIing or dodging through tackle zones. I wanted to move players to block his blitzer's advance before blitzing, but that would mean some risky dodges, and so I decided to go for a blitz first instead, with The Jolly Wrodger, who was lurking towards R2W's end zone - she was tackled and KO'd by a black Orc, and CdO were all of a sudden in a very strong position indeed.
We were forced to come to them to retrieve the ball, and while we did - twice, in fact - the Orcs superior numbers meant that they were able to keep knocking us down, and eventually scored in their turn 7.
In the final drive, R2W were 4 players down (2 BH, 2 KO), while CdO still had their full complement of players. R2W attempted a 2-turn TD, but being outnumbered, and having long since run out of re-rolls, the attempt was doomed from the start.
So, what went wrong? A couple of things - R2W had some bad luck in the first half. I rolled about 4 double skulls on 2d blocks, which needed to be re-rolled. We also failed to achieve any injuries on Orc players, despite a high number of surfs. I also played it a little fast and loose, making a few 1d blocks that I shouldn't have. My dedication to surfing, and to harassing the ball carrier rather than a standard defence, also meant my players were out of position in the second half, leaving our left flank open to attack by the Orcs - but I'm not convinced that things wouldn't have gone that way anyway, with the amount of strength they had.
What went right? We dominated the first half, and surfed with impunity, thanks to good positioning and side step. We also put up a strong fight against the Orc advance, and it took a pass, a very well-timed dirty trick and a few successful pick up attempts for the Orcs to score. If any of those had failed, then R2W may well have come out on top. We also suffered relatively few injuries, although it could have been worse, and perhaps I should have focussed on protecting players a bit more.
CaptainSmiithheart was a strong opponent - it's important to note that there was a 350 TV gap between our teams, and to put up such a formidable performance took some real skill. CdO also beat Pestilences de Zregg, and so I hope he has time to get some more matches in - if he keeps this up then I'm sure he could make it into the top 10. |
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TharGORE
Joined: Jan 01, 2011
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| Posted:
Jan 17, 2016 - 18:56 |
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Hi, I signed up for the league! |
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BillToWin
Joined: Oct 13, 2015
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| Posted:
Jan 17, 2016 - 19:12 |
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| TharGORE wrote: | | Hi, I signed up for the league! |
Awesome, I added you to the message thread for the league so that once your team is added to the league you can start organizing and playing some matches. Good luck and have fun! |
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Bluegill87
Joined: Nov 29, 2015
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| Posted:
Jan 18, 2016 - 03:26 |
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Welcome TharGORE 
Now it's time for me to put up these match reports that I'm quite long overdue for. Bill I've decided to start with ours since you wanted to see my take on it.
My League of the Sinestro Corps is currently at 3-2-6, it's been a rough road so far but I think my team is beginning to finally take shape.
Match #5 (0-4 Loss)
After the two niggling injuries to Arkillo my minotaur, I figured it was time to retire him leaving me with my 2 big guys for a good chunk of this season as I scrounged up more funds for another horned one.
Now I found myself taking on BilltoWin and his Super Mega Epic Ratz at a 300k TV difference in his favor. Enter both babes, a magic card and two stars: Bomber Dribblesnot and Zzharg Madeye on my side of the pitch
Bill wins the coin toss but kicks the ball off to me and a Perfect D-Fence roll lets him shift the rats around for a good rush on the next turn. I play Zzharg as my first secret weapon star for some added muscle on the line.
I cage early with the delf holding the ball in turn 2 and the rats are quickly on top of it. As I'm getting set-up to keep the ball moving, I attempt a +2 dodge on the following turn with my ball carrier and it fails hard even with assist of a re-roll. The ball is loose on my side of the pitch and the rats get a very early steal in turn 4, as the ball is fed to his blitzer Mini-Monster for the TD.
Next kickoff is a re-position for my team as a marauder fails to catch the kick. It's picked up, fed to my delf and once again the set-up for a run is being established due to heavy rat marking on my carrier and a +2 dodge is attempted. No re-roll this time but the delf fails yet again, coughing up the ball wide open this time on my side of the pitch for another TD to be given to Mini Monster at turn 7. The following turn goes rather quietly and I'm down 0-2 and kicking the ball away for the 2nd half.
Teams are still at full strength, I put Dribblesnot on the field and a rock hits one of the rat linemen knocking him out. The kick is short but still in play as the rats quickly KO my chosen marauder for line duty. Dribble chucks an early bomb for a linerat stun but the rats waste no time setting up for a gutter runner TD at turn 11 in my open field. 0-3 and still a lot of game left...
I make a valiant effort for some points with some pass/handoff play that sees my goblin finally get the ball to the opposing side of the pitch. A failed GFI blitz from my marauder sees that dream end as the rats waste no time KOing the tiny gobbo and running circles around my clustered forces for their final TD at turn 13.
By the end Bill could field 8 players to my 10 but the score doesn't lie. This was a clear demonstration of speedy rat superiority (and horrendous pact mistakes involving 1 rolls) with the final score being 0-4
Match #6 (2-0 Win)
This one was a nice change of pace for the Corps since my opponent was still a relative newcomer to both this season of 145 and FUMBLL in general. KarmaP and his fresh new orc team Super Happy took to the pitch with 100k inducements (babe and a magic card that was not used).
My team's skills are still as follows: Troll and Ogre both have Guard, Karu-Sil the only block marauder and Sinestro (delf) has a +MA
Opening weather roll is sweltering heat, I kickoff and fortune favors me with Blitz! though my position doesn't change much. Karu-Sil quickly takes a nasty spill (BH) on turn 3 so I'm quick to use apo as I need her block. My follow up turn sees a BOrc KO'd and Sinestro blitzing the ball carrier for knockdown.
After a few dodging mistakes happen on both sides, I get good control of covering the ball and my goblin picks it up on turn 4. Punching a hole in the line thru a BOrc sees me set up a "tri-cage" on his side of the pitch and then a foolish dodge into one too many of my tackle zones by the same BOrc sees my Goblin get away scot-free.
As I stall I proceed to give the Super Happy Orcs a super solid beating, but this proves to be a tad overzealous on my part as my goblin is left exposed for a nearby lineorc to mark him at the goal line. I am out of re-rolls as well but luckily the dodge goes off without a hitch and the score is 1-0 at the half.
Since it was a steal, I am now the receiving team. Sweltering heat puts out my Goblin and his Thrower, the player count is 10 to 8 in my favor. This isn't a long drive as my opponent is still having some trouble with his set-ups and getting a tad overzealous with GFI attempts (Dodges too). I continue to bash n' foul, take more of his players out and set up the ball to feed Karu-Sil some TD points.
Next kickoff is a doozy as THREE BOrc players go down to Sweltering Heat and I'm fully stocked. Cheering Fans give us both a re-roll and he fields 6 Orcs. 3 of them manage to set something up near the sidelines but I am quick to get control of the ball one last time. Unfortunately the delf can't convert and the game ends at 2-0 for the Corps.
On a side note, I'm sure KarmaP would appreciate any help that could be given in his future games for those that get a chance to play him. Although I know his only game is against me so far, do what you can 
Rest of these are coming guys, my eyes just need a break from the computer monitor xD |
Last edited by Bluegill87 on %b %18, %2016 - %12:%Jan; edited 1 time in total |
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BillToWin
Joined: Oct 13, 2015
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Jan 18, 2016 - 03:40 |
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Great read Blue! thanks for taking the time to write those. |
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Bluegill87
Joined: Nov 29, 2015
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 Posted:
Jan 18, 2016 - 18:40 |
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Appreciate it Bill, I'm taking more time to read the ones posted here as well and Carthaginian you have some great stuff here .
Here's where my season took a bit of a skid:
Match #7 (0-1 Loss)
A challenging opponent appears in the form of giltiar and the rotting nurglers at his disposal Pestilences De Zregg. TV difference is 150k in his favor so I hire chainsaw lover Ugroth Bolgrot and a bloodweiser babe to ease my unconscious pacties. No new skills for me to report and I am wary of a few Block/Mighty Blow Nurgle Warriors staring me down before the match.
I win the coin toss and choose to recieve as brilliant coaching gives my opponent another re-roll. The kick is a good one to my far backfield. As the bashes on the line happen and my delf begins to move the ball, Karu-Sil my block marauder manages to escape the tentacles of the Beast of Nurgle, only to trip on the following roll. This is unfortunate as it opens up the play for PDZ to get a Pestigor blitz for a double POW on my hapless ball carrier. With an assist from my goblin, Sinestro manages to beat the beast back and gain control of the ball back but more of the PDZ begin to pile in on my side of the pitch and another pesti clobbers Sinestro again.
The Mighty Blow Warriors are already KOing a few of my players where as I've done the same to a few rotters. I am desperately trying to regain control of the ball now, far back on my side of the pitch in turn 6-7. It's not looking good as it rolls into my endzone during another bashfest. My goblin manages to scoop the ball out of there but is quickly halted on the ensuing handoff as he gives in to that animosity of his (re-roll fail means I think the turnover bug happens here too...). Turn 8 the ball still manages to stay out of PDZ hands but a dreaded skull on a foolish 1d block by (who else?) Sinestro knocks him out and after my gobbo gets a good stomping (BH) the PDZ finally get some control in those rotting hands and score during my rather rough drive.
2nd half now and I field Ugroth this time. Babe gets my players up so I'm kicking with a man advantage, although it's little comfort since everyone dangerous for PDZ is still roaring to go. My troll quickly falls (KO) to one of the MB nasties after an offense reposition kick but a rotter fails to pick up the ball on a short boot and I rush to make something happen this drive.
Ugroth doesn't last long as a rotter knocks him on his face for a KO. Karu-Sil however becomes quite the menace here for the would be PDZ ball carriers (both down roll advantage) and another ball scrum happens at the point of kick much like in the first half.
My players start to feel the pain a little more though and while trying to get Karu-Sil in position for a turn 16 score, she finally runs out of dodges and my remaining two marauders in scoring position eat a face-full of dirt to hold this little contest of brute strength (and poor ball handling) at 0-1 in favor of Pestilences De Zregg.
Match #8 (0-4 Loss)
Next up the pendulum swings to the other side of extreme as bash now turns to agile in the form of Magnum Opus, High Elves under the guidance of coach ianuk77.
The TVs are dead even at 1140k and VPs are spread quite thin on my team as skills are still in short supply. The opening kickoff is coming to me but it isn't a kind one as the Elves are given a Blitz! on a very short kick and waste no time getting to the landing spot before the ball is even kicked. It's an easy catch for the agile elf (this is supposed to be my drive remember), and as I scramble to try and get it back the ball is handed off behind a rather imposing wall of elves.
All this sideline play sees a marauder take a surf in the crowd and the elves easily shift the ball to the opposite side of the field with a pass. It's an easy score as I'm caught completely unprepared by this while my gobin is given apothecary attention for a BH. 0-1 Elves at turn 3.
My drive take 2, I set up just a lil bit wider this time...and it happens again! Elves are given the green light for a Blitz! The ball at least lands within the confines of my player set-up so I'm thankful for that, but I don't position Sinestro far enough back with the ball so it's an easy blitz on him that leaves him stunned after a hole is punched in my wide formation. 2 Elves are on it by the time it's picked up by one of my marauders (Kryb) and I try to hurry Karu-Sil back for a follow up blitz. It's a failed GFI attempt tho that leaves her stunned now, along with a BH and 2 more stunned mauraders that very turn, one being the ball carrier (I want those elves tested for steroids!). Elves score again on turn 8.
2nd half sees us both fielding 10 players, me kicking and Nuffle is still insulting me a bit with a granted re-roll to Magnum Opus. ianuk77 wastes no time getting good field position at turn 10, though the ball carrier manages to get in range of my ogre/goblin throw attempt. It's a lousy attempt however as the Ogre fumbles and gobbo goes down after the crash.
A few blocking turnovers happen and I attempt to hit the ball carrier with a 1d from Karu-Sil, but it comes up skull for another stun. A completed pass and a KO surf on Sinestro gets the Elves another TD at turn 12 despite a failed dodge by them.
Kickoff to me is another of Nuffle's practical jokes, a Perfect D-Fence that lines the Elves up at scrimmage and a Both Down result (no block skill) on an opening block by me. The Elves waste zero time filling my side of the pitch on this one. One failed dodge later and it's already 0-4.
As a parting gift Nuffle decides to show me who's boss by granting my opponent...you guessed it...his third Blitz! of the game. My last attempt at points goes ok but is cut short when a throw teammate is about to be attempted, Sinestro attempts to handoff the ball to gobbo but it's fumbled and bounces right back to the delf. Game ends at 0-4 for Magnum Opus.
To summarize I learned two things about this match, I am terrible at positioning versus Elf teams and Nuffle really does hate the Sinestro Corps (me in general actually) on kickoffs  .
Match #9 (1-2 Loss)
Number 9 has me throwing down with the greenskins again, this time the up and comer for the season CaptainSmiithheart and his team Cirque du Orc. The TV difference is quite wide this time around, with the good Captain leading me by 200k. I take a wizard and babe on this one to help even the score. My goblin has mutated to having Two Heads (which is strange considering him having 3 eyes already hence the name "Tri-Eye", check this for proof hehe).
I am kicking the ball to start things off and it remains tame with a normal weather roll. The Orcs are quick to swarm my line as the rest of my team sets up in protect 5 formation. During turn 2 my Ogre is left exposed on the pitch and is fouled off the field with a KO (by the blitzer ball carrier no less and no ref to catch him).
A few dodging mistakes on my side and a failed CdO GFI keep the ball relatively still but the last one from me gets me a little desperate so I use my wizard on one of my failed turns to take out the ball carrier. It works for the most part as the Orcs fumble around to try and get it back but the block rolls aren't giving me a break as a 1d attempt to bounce it using a blitz on the orc thrower doesn't go as planned. A blitzer picks it up and tries to hand it off to another but CaptainSmiithheart's orcs are still fumbling with it. However I'm still getting a turnover every turn due to risky blocks and riskier dodges and before long the Orcs get it right and have a 0-1 lead at turn 8.
Also a side note, the following kick sees an opportunity for me to get a 3 assist foul on the CdO troll that took piling on but it goes unseen by me. Thank you for pointing this out ArrestedDevelopment as this is an aspect of my game I'm improving on. At least my Ogre woke up..
Cirque Du Orc gain a re-roll in the 2nd half (I never seem to win these xD), 2 of my guys are injured so I'm a man short on the pitch and the ball comes back to me. Orcs are piled on the line of scrimmage so I set up towards the side for a gut check play. A bad both down result on a block by me sees the Orcs put on the early pressure and squeeze on the line. With what I've still got available I switch to the other side and set up a cage hoping for some life.
Finally my blocks start to go good as Sinestro breaks free with the ball and Karu-Sil close behind ready to cover, but Cirque Du Orc doesn't let up on him as a 1d blitz on the delf thankfully keeps to a pushback result. Karu-Sil quickly pushes him off the following turn but I see no way for me to stall this for the draw and I score with Sinestro on turn 14 to tie this thing at 1-1.
This might have been enough too...but as I mentioned before Nuffle hates LSC for the kickoff and my following kick ends up being Riot for an extra turn which gives CdO a total of 4 turns to get the final score. A quick knockout on my troll and a long pass by the thrower into the mess that is the LoS and suddenly this seems very possible for the good Captain. My two headed (and 3 eyed) gobbo makes an attempt at it, but the dodge goes belly up and he ends up KO'ing himself on top of the ball. Two heads aren't better than one it seems...
More of my team ends up getting trounced by the Orky bash and I'm quickly running out of players. Despite this I still make a good last ditch attempt at defense to hold what little ground I have left and sack the ball carrier. It works out great but then I do something rather foolish with that oh so lovable Sinestro and GFI on the ball for yet another failure (and stun), when leaving him there would have ensured 2 tackle zones on the ball...
A lucky break happens before Captain can secure the ball however as one of the blitzers on the line makes a bad block. This lets me get at least the one nearby marauder to cover the ball but Karu-Sil fails her dodge soon after and it's up to that one tackle zone to hold this game at a draw.
It wasn't meant to be though as a nearby black orc blitzes and puts the defending marauder out of position for the ex-ball carrier (lineorc) to attempt a pick-up the TZless ball and 2 GFIs to score. He succeeds on all 3 rolls and this is a photo finish win for Cirque Du Orc (and a tough defeat for the Corps) at 1-2.
Despite the score I still feel this was a tipping point in the season for this Pact team as I feel I'm really beginning to improve my play .
More to come shortly. |
Last edited by Bluegill87 on %b %18, %2016 - %21:%Jan; edited 1 time in total |
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ianuk77
Joined: Oct 31, 2015
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Jan 18, 2016 - 20:27 |
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Great stuff bluegill. Looking forward to see how your next game turns out. |
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The_Carthaginian
Joined: Mar 05, 2015
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| Posted:
Jan 19, 2016 - 22:49 |
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11) Khaos Order (Chaos Pact) - Namloc - 1-0
I was quite surprised when Khaos Order appeared in my game window. Their TV was a staggering 550 less than R2W's. Namloc hired a babe, a reroll, a bribe and the terrifying Lord Borak with the inducement money.
R2W received first, and a pitch invasion put down 5 of Khaos Order's players, and none of R2W's. R2W took advantage of the situation to blitz and gang-foul Borak (to stun). Most of the team were clustered in the centre of KO's half. It was risky move, but with so many of KO down, I thought it was worth seeing if we could keep throwing 2d blocks to keep them down.
This probably wasn't the greatest idea. After a while more and more KO players were on their feet, and my Dark Elves were taking more blocks than they should have. KO had some bad luck, with a 2d block and a GFI both failing with rerolls. While the scrum in the middle continued, my two Witch Elves ran up the right-hand side of the pitch, with the ball.
Play slowly moved towards the Witch Elves, and a more familar style of play for me - Lord Borak and a beastman both got surfed, and another beastman died from a Thugnificent punch. The surfing and stalling continued until t8, when Flo'nominal scored.
In KO's h1t8, R2W lineman Bushido Brown was blocked and killed. Lord Borak attempted a foul, but was kept in the game with a bribe. At the start of the second half, KO still had 11 players, while R2W were down to 9.
R2W set up in an asymmetric formation to kick. KO responded by forming into columns. While some of R2W were able to outflank and access KO's ball carrier behind the columns, a string of poor rolls allowed the beastmen to escape and run down R2W's left wide zone while most Dark Elves (the ones who weren't badly hurt or knocked out, that is) were on the right-hand side of the pitch.
A mad scramble, with GFI's on sale, enabled a blitz on the beastman ball carrier, and a scrum formed around the free ball. In turn 6 of the second half, Thugnificent was able to slip in to steal the ball, but was quickly surrounded. While R2W's subsequent break failed, KO did not have enough time to run the ball back to score.
Despite the TV difference, and some terrible rolls, Namloc was pretty threatening, and this was not an easy win by any means.
12) Magnum Opus (High Elf) - ianuk77 - 0-1
Another game with a large TV difference, ianuk took a wizard and a babe. R2W received first, and while our drive started off well, with a BH and a KO against Magnum Opus, they fought back hard, inflicting two KOs, a BH and 2 SIs against R2W (one being a -AV on a WE, which was swiftly and gratefully apo'd away), and preventing R2W from scoring. In addition to my bad luck, I made a few poor choices, including attempting a 1d block with no rerolls, when an assist was readily available (yes, it resulted in a skull).
In the second half, ianuk played it by the book, and his luck with armour breaks continued, with Magnum Opus removing a player from the pitch nearly every turn. Although R2W stripped them of the ball on more than one occasion, with numbers dwindling so fast, there wasn't much hope of stopping MO, and they stalled until scoring the first TD of the game in turn 8. A riot in the following kickoff gave R2W a glimmer of hope of a draw, but with just four players and no rerolls, a 2-turn TD just wasn't going to happen.
13) Dank Dark Gutter Elves (Dark Elf) - ix77 - 2-1
What happens when two glass cannons clash in a thunderstorm on top of a multi-storey car park? This was a match that I had been both looking forward to and dreading; Dark Elves are known for dishing it out, and for not being able to take it in return, and this was likely to be a bloody affair. Although our teams were superficially similar, ix's build was different in a number of ways, and I was curious to see how they would affect gameplay; I had more guard, but he had more block and mighty blow. I had two Witch Elves, and he just one, but two runners. Would this turn into a friendly game of Elfball, or a vicious Elf-on-Elf bloodbath?
My TV was 130 lower than DDGE's, and I thought that I could put 20k into the pot to give myself a nice, round 150k. WRONG. I just ended up reducing my inducemement money to 110k instead. Can anyone explain why this facility might be useful? In any case, it didn't make much difference. I could have only afforded two babes in the first place, and that's what I took.
R2W received first, retrieved the ball, and started advancing through the right-hand-side widezone, knocking out DDGE's WE along the way. In return, DDGE KO'd Uncle Ruckus (No Relation), our guard blitzer, evening up the odds. I tried to set up a number of crowdsurfs, but tended to get more pows then pushes, and DDGE's players stayed on the pitch longer than I would have liked, impeding R2W's push forward.
We got two surfs in the end, but by the time that happened it was turn 6, and R2W needed to get a proverbial wriggle on to have a shot at scoring this half. DDGE were committed to blocking the push on the right hand side, and R2W's ball carrier ran left to hand the ball over to ABNS, who ran deep into their half. In response, DDGE were able to manage a 1d blitz, but this resulted only in a push, and an assist from Flo'nominal in the next turn enabled ABNS to make a 2d blitz that took him to the end zone.
At the start of the second half R2W had one KO and DDGE had one SI. In their drive they made a push forward on the left, with a runner carrying the ball. R2W formed columns, and TJW was able to move into position for a blitz - unfortunately, I misplanned her approach, and took an unecessary GFI, which failed with a reroll.
DDGE ran their runner forward and unaccompanied, with the ball, and R2W were able to spring the ball free. At the start of DDGE's h2t3 the ball was on the ground near R2W's end zone, with three oppopsing players nearby. I thought I was safe, but DDGE's Killer made a successful blitz, collected the ball, and GFI'd into the end zone to equalise. Thankfully there was still most of the second half left.
In the next drive, R2W feinted left, sending blitzers forward, and then instead changed path to drive right when those players became bogged down by DDGE players. Although DDGE reacted quickly to block the advance on the right, they could not outflank R2W's screen, and TJW was able to blitz through to score a TD in the last turn of the game.
After this game I took the plunge and bought a 12th player. I don't usually take more than eleven players, but as regular readers will know, I often complain about being outnumbered. In a league with so much bash and so many bench players on other teams, I thought it was a sensible thing to try. We'll see!
14) League of the Sinestro Corps (Chaos Pact) - Bluegill87 - 1-1
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I was expecting this to be a fairly straightforward match. Other than the notoriously unreliable big guys, not many of LSC's players had any skills. LSC also had a high number of players, and had taken Bomber Dribblesnot with their inducement money - not a great choice against Elves, who are fairly adept at catching and returning bombs.
R2W received first, moved ahead on the left, and failed a blitz against Dribblesnot before collecting the ball. LSC drove forward aggressively, forcing R2W to change direction in their own half. Further up the pitch, in LSC's wide zone, I was also hoping to surf their Dark Elf, but was always just out-bashed. Through screening and dodging, R2W moved forward, but LSC lightning-bolted ball carrier TJW, retrieving the ball with their Dark Elf.
Things weren't going well, but an untimely failed dodge by a marauder in turn 4 caused a turnover and gave R2W an opportunity to strike back. R2W released the ball, and a scrum formed around it, with all three LSC big guys in the thick of it. R2W suffered a BH and a KO, but with some careful pushes, were able to steal the ball away, TJW taking it towards LSC's end zone. Dribblesnot successfully bombed TJW (following a tense game of catch - I really shouldn't have thrown it straight back to the bomber), but it wasn't enough to stop TJW from collecting the ball in t7, running to safety, and scoring in t8.
In the final turn of h1, LSC caused a -MA on R2W's new lineman - at the start of h2, R2W had one SI and one BH. LSC had 14 healthy players, NOT including the now-banned bomber.
In LSC's drive, R2W quickly formed columns, but I left one player in base contact with their minotaur - this was a huge mistake. The minotaur was able to frenzy into the columns without needing to dodge, and caused 3 BHs in 3 turns. Although we did our best to block their advance, and LSC's big guys did their best to misbehave, their MA7 Dark Elf was able to blitz a gap through to score a cheeky touchdown to equalise in their turn 7.
I made a cardinal error in attempting to set up a 2-turn TD in my next drive, by only placing one player within scoring distance of LSC's endzone. She was quickly marked, and the only option was to dodge her to the end zone to receive a long bomb - the pass failed, and the game ended 1-1.
Bluegill did a great job of screening off his Dark Elf, his most reliable ball handler, throughout the match, and I think that good positioning, combined with good use of his big guys, caused me the most difficulty in this match. My initial thought was that my failing was to not commit heavily to crowdsurfing his DE in the first half. However, this would not have assured removing him from the game by any means. It wasn't apparent at the time, but in retrospect, losing three players to the minotaur in quick succession was a much bigger factor - had they stuck around, I would have had more bodies to assist and block LSC's lines of approach, and could possibly have held on to a 1-0 lead. |
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Bluegill87
Joined: Nov 29, 2015
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Jan 19, 2016 - 23:47 |
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Awesome reports Carthaginian, it was my first time playing Dark Elves and yeah I'm glad you mentioned Dribblesnot in that game. It felt dangerous chucking those bombs at AG4 Elves so I'm gonna be more mindful of that in the future.
And yeah this happened to me too so I don't understand it either. Why would petty cash REDUCE the TV difference for an underdog? Can anyone confirm a bug or is that just a part of the game? |
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Joe1982
Joined: Dec 31, 2015
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 Posted:
Jan 19, 2016 - 23:54 |
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Uncle’s Bob’s Amazing Circus 1-2 Cirque du Orc
‘Uncle’s Bob’s Amazing Circus’ were doubled crossed by a misguided servant of Tzeentch, since we found ourselves facing the far more powerful ‘Cirque du Orc’ team. But where one tentacle takes away, a claw receives, and we were pleased to see that the coach had built a guard/reroll heavy team designed to grind out results rather than eliminate the opposition (we shall not be so merciful…) To even the odds, we put a halt to Lord Borak’s usual night-time shenanigans with the ‘Rags to Witches’ cheerleaders through a particularly colourful venereal infection, and he soon embraced Nurgle’s bounty in exchange for a rapid recovery.
Wet, moist conditions are optimal for the Lord’s work, but sadly too much for our little darlings on the blood bowl field. Consecutive failures to pick up the ball left us vulnerable to the slow, methodical meat grinder that is ‘Cirque du Orc’, which worked its way cautiously into our territory. Extremely well-drilled, the orc team used careful positioning to maximize its abundant guard while rerolling poor results. We obtained the ball but all players were by now drawn into blocking matches they could not hope to win. We were pleased with the toughness of the orcs, but it is only in dismay and misery that one truly grasps the meaning of resilience. We hope to impart this gift to ‘Cirque du Orc’ in the future.
The orc team stole the ball, and, true to form, took one careful turn at a time to clear a safe path to the end zone. We were not optimistic about the second half. Our defence was surprisingly effective, however. We found several attempts to blitz the ball carrier but poor coaching decisions did not optimize our chances (although they unlikely affected the outcome of the game). A devout rotter worked his way deep into the opposition territory, and our beatsman had one last chance to blitz the ball carrier and free Borak to pass long, out of range of the majority of orc players, but, alas, we were not favoured by the Lord. We suspect dark magic from the scorned witch elves of ‘Rags to Witches’.
With only a few turns left to score we set-up to bulldozer one side of the field. Our beastman creates a gap, rotters flood through while warriors tie up opposing orcs, and Borak receives the pass before thundering downfield. The orcs attempt to respond, but are unable to muster sufficient numbers to overcome Borak’s str 5. Borak barges his way to score, to restore a little pride, and to make absolutely sure he will be out with the cheerleaders again tonight.
A tough game, but not a terrible result for a team that has been struggling, and against a very accomplished team and coach. Praise Nurgle. |
Last edited by Joe1982 on %b %20, %2016 - %01:%Jan; edited 2 times in total |
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The_Carthaginian
Joined: Mar 05, 2015
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Jan 20, 2016 - 00:15 |
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| Bluegill87 wrote: | Awesome reports Carthaginian, it was my first time playing Dark Elves and yeah I'm glad you mentioned Dribblesnot in that game. It felt dangerous chucking those bombs at AG4 Elves so I'm gonna be more mindful of that in the future.
And yeah this happened to me too so I don't understand it either. Why would petty cash REDUCE the TV difference for an underdog? Can anyone confirm a bug or is that just a part of the game? |
Thanks BG! I'm glad you enjoyed the reports.
As for the TV/transfer issue, I don't think it is a bug, as I recall it happening in Cyanide's BB1 too. I just don't understand what the intention behind it is. |
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