Orion Cup 2012 - result = 4th

Wow, haven't posted since April 28th!  My apologies, have just had a lot going on and blogging has taken a backseat to everything else.  Here's a delayed posting about the first blood bowl tournament I played in back in June, the Orion Cup.

I brought a very similar Norse roster to my planned Zlurpeebowl roster, it had no Yhetee but did include Boomer Eziasson.

Game 1 vs. Anthony

This was a tight game, first half boomer kept the dwarves on their asses, but a nice play from Anthony put a tackle zone on my ball carrier, and I ended up having to burn my reroll on a failed GFI early in my last turn which meant when I needed it for a failed dodge it wasn't available.  Failed to score on my drive had me worried, went in at HT 0-0.

Second half I managed to do a good job tying up Anthony in the middle of the field and as time started ticking away and we had to finish - he decided to go for a 5+ dodge with reroll to get out of my "cage" (I had 3 players surrounding his ball carrier) which failed and the ball landed in my players hands - that bit of fortune helped me to score in the last turn of the game for a lucky 1-0 win.

Game 2 vs. Colin R.

Another tight game, Norse vs Norse.  I remember it being back and forth quite a bit but am starting to forget some details.  What I do remember is Colin's dice not being great and his "Samsquanch" (hehe) failing a number of wild animal rolls - along with some unfortunate block dice results.  This game ended 1-0 in my favour as well.

Game 3 vs. Kolja

Every game finished 1-0 for me this tournament.  This time I was on the receiving end.  I did manage to keep his skaven from scoring for something like 12-13 turns of the game, but late in the second half he pulled off some nice plays with his gutter runners to score and I just didn't have time to get one back.  I think I misplayed boomer in this game - I used him on my offensive drive (which works better vs. bashy teams IMO) but in this game I should have saved him for a defensive drive, since the skaven were too spread out when defending to take much advantage.

I finished in 4th place - a fun little one day tournament and some good practice for zlurpeebowl.  Everyone got prizes too which was nice.

the flip side of the coin (Canadian Open 2012)

Just to show everyone that what nuffle gives, nuffle also takes away, I need to put up a post about the Canadian Open 2012.  I brought my dark elves to this tournament due to playing them in the NaBBLe league, but managed to continue my poor showing with them at tournaments (so poor in fact I am now the worst dark elf coach in Canada by NAF ranking!)

I thought about bringing a new team to this tournament, but decided last minute to bring what I have been playing recently.  To be fair, I don't think the ruleset was very favourable for elf teams (hence me being the only one?) 5 additional skills (one can be a double) meant little to my very expensive team, all of whom really need some upgrades to shine.

My record over two days was 2 ties, 3 losses.  My dice weren't great, though I think I gave myself too much to do in several matches.  I managed to avoid the wooden spoon thanks to tiebreakers only...  whew!  My consolation is I was never blown out in any games, I always managed to keep it close, with a bit more fortune 1 loss could've been a tie, 1 loss could've been a win and 1 tie could've been a win - but it wasn't to be.

Day 1
Game 1 vs. Colin's skaven
First block of the game, double skulls..  OH oh, at this point I was thinking "today's gonna be tough, hopefully tomorrow should even it out.." - didn't quite work out that way!!  I failed a not so risky play - but without much in the way of protection, and it cost me, giving Colin an early TD.  This was the game where a bit of luck (catching a handoff, 2+) could've made this a tie.  Key word "could" - I was trying to stall out so Colin still would've had a chance to stop my score, though he would've had to mark two players before blitzing my runner (to protect against dump off).  In the end Colin won 2-1.

Game 2 vs. Alex's vampires
Alex brought vampires as the TO's were trying to avoid taking home prizes.  His build wasn't really that difficult to play though, as he only took 2 vamps, had 14 thralls AND he had the halfling master chef, so was overflowing in rerolls while his opponents usually had none.  Alex is a strong player as well and he ended up in second place - which speaks to both his skill but also that maybe his team wasn't as weak as it might look on paper.  He thought I played too agressively, but I felt that was my only chance - I couldn't stall because I had no rerolls for a last turn score and it kinda fed right into his hands.  I didn't feel I had much chance of winning this game, I couldn't pull off elfy plays much without rerolls (though I did score once!) and there was no chance of trying to win a battle of attrition so again lost a match 2-1.

Game 3 vs. Christian's orcs
Christian is the NaBBLe commish, and we discussed our teams at length during drives to/from league games.  He does play a bit riskier style than the standard orc cage, which while entertaining definitely can hurt you in tournament play.  With a bit of luck I could've turned this one into a win, but a couple times failed passes or catches put the kibosh on that.  To be honest not a lot went Christian's way this match either so a 1-1 tie was a fair result.

Day 2
Game 4 vs. Laurent's ogres
Laurent was the other TO and his team was definitely more suitable to not taking home prizes.  I am super super dissapointed with this result, as I played really really well, at one point having 5 of his 6 ogres off the pitch!! (Fouling FTW!!).  Unfortunately since I had nobody with tackle, I was super nervous about just shoving his snotling with the ball late in the second half (while we were tied 1-1) so I attempted to surround him near the sideline so I could crowdsurf him to ensure getting the ball (well except for double skulls).  As it happened I needed to push one square with a lineman to surround him and failed the "go for it" 1, reroll, 1.  He then dodged 4 times without failing once to score the winning touchdown (giving him his only tournament win, grrrr.) and making me feel really silly for not just taking a 2 die blitz with reroll hoping for one open star or both down. Lost 2-1 and probably should have won 2-1.

Game 5 vs. Gord's norse
Final game of the tournament and whoever lost this would be guaranteed the spoon! So of course we drew 2-2 (game with most TDs for me all tournament) with the game going back and forth and me tying the game late on in the second half.  The wooden spoon therefore came down to tiebreakers.  This is where keeping it close mattered, as Christian had beaten Gord 3-0 (go risky orc play!) and the TD difference gave him the spoon over me.. lucky!  Thanks Christian!

Probably my worst tournament performance ever (first time I have not had at least 1 win) and a very frustrating weekend overall, hence it took me a while to put this report together - but it needed to be done.

XTBBF -> new team! Games 1 & 2

After shitting the bed in the XTBBF Spike! finals and since I've decided to focus on using the undead in all the NAF tournaments I participate in this year, I've pulled out my dark elves to have a run in the league.  I have much less experience running the dark elves and agility based teams in general, but I figure the evil pansies aren't full on AG based like wood elves - they still prefer the running game.  Also how can you argue with witch elves? Dodge, Frenzy, Jump up to start with General & Agility access is a game changer piece for sure.

Since I love the witch elves so much, and because I wanted to avoid trying to bash too much, my starting roster is probably not what most people would term "optimal" but that's ok - it should force me to learn more quickly.  1 Blitzer, 1 Witch elf, 1 Runner, 8 Line elves, 3 rerolls.  I wanted 3 rerolls to start and I figured this way, I will just use journeymen so I can save up to buy Blitzers.  That way every new purchased player can walk straight into the starting 11, and I have a large number of linemen available to pick up MVPs from the get go. 

Game 1 vs. Lounge Lizards. (1-2 loss)
The lizards were a tough proposition for my first match.  Mark had 4 skinks with side-step, meaning I couldn't count on Frenzy to scare him aware from the sideline.  I got in one quick score, but a riot after he scored reduced me to one turn left in the first half, and he did a great job just holding onto the ball for all of the second half to score very late to take the win.  Biggest peeve about this game was my solitary blitzer being the casualty he inflicted and ending up with a NIGGLE. Damn! He might get cut after game three when I can afford another blitzer. My line elf who scored got MVP and I gave him Fend.  I decided to use the funds from this match to purchase an apothecary to save those linemen who have gained skills or the witch

Game 2 vs. Skum & Villany. (1-0 win)
The orcs were more the type of team I wanted to play early on, if I'm going to get bashed, at least be slow!  Illegal procedures started to dominate this game, as one called on the orcs resulted in a black orc going down on double skulls leaving the thrower open to a blitz.  I scored late in the first half (somewhat luckily as all our rerolls had been eaten up by illegal procedures) and in the second half I should have just scored with my runner, but with only a couple turns to go I took a calculated risk to pass to the line elf who had scored my earlier touchdown - hoping to earn a skill at the end of the match and it failed completely with no rerolls available to save my ass.  It was too late and too far for Chris to tie the game though. I lucked out on the line elf who gained a skill after this match and rolled a doubles.  Can you say GUARD!!!!

I've managed to get at least one completion or TD on all my line elves so far, so any further MVP picked up by a line elf will result in a skill. I'm hoping this will pay off in the long run, with a minimum of one line elf getting a skill after each game, while the positionals will gain SPP from blocking and scoring.

XTBBF Spike! FINALS result....

Final playoff match for this round was the Spike! final vs. Anthony and his Skaven.  Our pundit's prediction was 1-0 to the Skaven but it ended up being one of the best, most nerve wracking games ever!  It was also played on one of the guys new custom made pitch! Named the "Eagle's Nest" - it's the home pitch of his PhilAltdorfia Imperial Eagles, even though the away end is built for skaven ;)

Eagle's Nest pitch

Final vs. Warpsburgh Lightning. (3-2 loss)

All I can say is between myself and my star "dead" Jennings) AG4 ghoul we blew it!  I definitely feel like I had the game in the bag - I just kept killing rats and eventually he could only field 5 or 6 players at a time.  Jennings just buckled under the pressure, failing several 2+ with reroll dodges, failing at least 2 pickups and just being an overall failure instead of awesomesauce like he usually is.  I did make one mistake where a block I threw resulted in a push which impeded me and forced me to push Anthony's gutter into the end zone to score so he couldn't waste time, but I wouldn't have needed to if Jennings could've just picked up the ball on a 2+ with reroll!!  He was also the ONLY player on my team to succumb to sweltering heat after the first drive of the second half (a 1 roll again!!) - perhaps the skaven managed to bribe him??  It was so bad I considered cutting him after this game!

Anthony's Dead & Injured box

Regardless it was a super fun game - just look at how many rats I hurt!  Thinking back I might have shot myself in the foot as I spent 100K for an Igor being scared of failing my regen rolls (past couple games had been bad for that AND his Rat Ogre had block) which gave him enough for 2 bloodweiser babes which meant that he never had guys left in the KO bin.  Thinking back I should have just gone for the throat since it was the last game of the playoffs and "Crazytrain" was just a single model. Oh well, live and learn - hopefully this experience will make me a better coach.


Team rankings have been reset and I'm going to give the Dark Elves a run out tonight, need a bit of a break from the Undead since I plan to take them to every NAF tournament I participate in this year.

XTBBF Spike! semi-final game + FINALS matchup press release

My second playoff match in the XTBBF was Wednesday before last, at Dueling Grounds.  The match was against the (at the time) second placed team in the league.  I had a huge inducement advantage, and I took a couple of 200k cards, one only delayed the inevitable but the other (ZAP!) was quite helpful - turning his star quarterback into a frog!  I continue undefeated into the finals!

Semifinal vs. PhilAltdorfia Imperial Eagles. (2-1 win)

Last match of this season is the FINALS vs. the skaven team "Warpsburgh Lightning", coached by Anthony.  I didn't get a chance to play Anthony during the regular season, and his team is on a five game winning streak!  As with all the other playoff matches, our resident pundit "Otherdave" has written up a great press release for the final game.  Not certain about the rules during the playoffs but I think if possible I need to hire a couple more players as Anthony has 14 and I could see him fouling me enough that his speed will overcome my team.  It might end up giving him some inducement cash but I think it's a risk I'll have to take.  I can see myself spending 100k on an Igor too since his Rat Ogre has block (debatable who is scarier, "Crazytrain" the Rat Ogre with block or "dead Selmon II" the Mummy with block).

XTBBF Spike! quarter-final game + semi-final matchup press release

My first playoff match in the XTBBF was last Wednesday, at Dueling Grounds as usual.  The match was against the last placed team to manage to get into the playoffs.  I squeezed out a very narrow victory, scoring in turn 8 of the first half and second half nothing worked for either team.  Continuing undefeated and boosting my win percentage to 88%! An added bonus was rolling a double for my unskilled mummy giving me a ST5 player with the "Block" skill.

Quarterfinal vs. The Misty Mountain Manglerz. (1-0 win)

Next up is the semi-final match, scheduled for Wednesday this week, our league "reporter" Dave has begun writing up previews for the semi-final matchups.  You can find the press release for my matchup here.  I should have a huge amount of inducement cash (I've got a discussion going on at talkfantasyfootball forums regarding my best choices) and will likely take a couple star players if money allows over cards or wizards.

XTBBF game 7 + Spike! tournament matchup press release

My final match of the XTBBF season at Dueling Grounds was against the then highest ranked Drakwald Devils, I managed to hang on for the win, giving Kolja his first loss of the season as well as maintaining my undefeated record and vaulting over him to top of the standings (with an 85% win percentage).

Game 7 vs. the Drakwald Devils. (1-0 win)

Next up is the Spike! (non NAF) being run within the league.  Below are the rules as determined by Kolja (aka da Commish).  Quarterfinal matches are scheduled for tomorrow.  Even cooler is one of the local guys has written up some awesome press releases regarding the Quarterfinal matchups (here is the link to my matchup), they are really well written and better even than his press releases during the season (trust me it's worth perusing the press release section of the site - they really add some cool flavour to the league) - as top dog at the moment I'm sure everyone is gunning to take me down.  I'm putting my faith in a reasonable TV of 137 and getting some inducement $$ and regeneration to cover only having 12 players.  Wish me luck!


Spike! rules
The top 8 ranked XTBBF teams (win/loss precentage) will be entered (you need to 4 games to be ranked) and seeded for the first week. Only 1 team per coach can enter! After the quarterfinals, opponents will be randomly seeded. Coaches who miss the scheduled game have until the next scheduled game to try to get it done, otherwise they forfeit. There are no ties - teams play one extra half of sudden death overtime and then go to a shootout. The Spike final can have two halves of overtime before a shootout.

The 4 teams that lose the quarterfinals are entered into the Grubby Bowl, sponsored by the Grubby Griswald's Good Eats restaurant chain. These games are not held in the nicest venues (reserved for the Spike!) and have the worst fans, officials and league oversight. Hence, both coaches get a randomly drawn special play card for each game, in addition to any normal inducements. Each coach flips a coin - if heads the coach gets a Miscellaneous Mayhem card, if tails the coach gets a Dirty Tricks card. Naturally, the prizes for the Grubby Bowl are not as impressive as the Spike. The winning team is awarded a Grubby Bowl trophy which counts as a team reroll. However, it can only be used once per game (not half) and only adds half the normal reroll cost to the team value.

XTBBF games 5 and 6

A couple more games in XTBBF league run by THMG at Dueling Grounds. Game 5 was first week of November and a rematch against The Olympians.  Game 6 was "technically" a rematch against the PhilAltdorfia Imperial Eagles, but I didn't count the first game as Jack was learning BB.

Game 5 vs. The Olympians. (1-1 tie) yes, again...

Game 6 vs. The PhilAltdorfia Imperial Eagles. (2-0 win)

The Olympian game I got smacked around big time by Jay's heavy hitter undead team.  A mummy died to a block and had to make some regen rolls vs. fouls.  The game against the Humans I faired much better, crowd surfing guys, caused four casualties and got important SPP for skill ups while I could hold off the meagre remains of his team.  So another ghoul is now at level 1 and I gave him wrestle.  My AG4 ghoul also got another skill and I rolled a double so I plumped for Accurate to give us a scary passing game.

XTBBF games 3 and 4

I've gotten a couple more games in with my undead team in the new XTBBF league run by THMG at Dueling Grounds. Game 3 was last week and was such a steamroller I was able to get first skills on a mummy (guard) and a ghoul (tackle), as well as a second skill on my wight (now frenzy/side step).

Game 3 vs. Sewer Rat Samurai. (2-0 win)

Game 4 vs. The Olympians. (1-1 tie)

Played Game 4 yesterday and was a very bloody affair and regeneration really saved my ass (he had four legit casualties plus a foul - all regenerated)  I think I held off using the wizard for too long, he might've had more of an impact if I'd used it a turn or two earlier.  Still, three wins and a tie puts me in second place.  I'm coming for you Drakwald Devils!!

XTBBF = more blood bowl.

Recently the THMG has started up a blood bowl league - XTBBF. A buddy of mine let me know and I've had a couple good nights there. First night I just kind of demo'd the game for another person - but last Weds I played my first two league games. I've resurrected the Torne Bane Flaming Ears (STARS Roster on the NAF website) again (it's hard to pass up on so much regeneration in league play) for this season (#?) Generally I think it's up to the winner to post the game on the XTBBF site, so I will just link them as they get added.

Game 1 vs Middenheim Eagles. (3-0 win)

Game 2 vs Janissaries of the Hidden Flame. (2-0 win)

Another good start for my undead. I've had some luck so far as well - especially with my skill rolls, getting an AG boost for a ghoul (as well as a second ghoul getting block), but also rolled a double with my wight. I've plumped for Side Step since he already has 10 SPP and is closest to a second upgrade - at which point frenzy shall be selected! Muhahahahaha.