GWpertinent and MORE

Here I just wanted to compile a quick Deathbowl IX summary. My apologies for how long this has taken, I had no opportunity to post anything while in Ottawa for the tournament due to all the drinking and shenanigans - and once back I had an extremely busy week so this was really my first day with a solid chunk of free time I could devote to compiling the recaps.

Game 1 recap

Game 2 recap

Game 3 recap

Game 4 recap

In the end I went 1 win/2 losses/1 tie, and finished in 15th place (out of 20) - so another game would have put me on the bottom table! I finished just behind my opponent Colin (orxymandiuz) from game 4 even though we tied so I`m guessing he had less losses than me. Happy I managed to stay above the new kid Kohl who joined us for his first tournament (who won the rising star as he was greatly improved across the tournament) and considering who my losses were to I don't feel too bad about my performance.

Slann are definitely a strong team for the deathbowl format, getting Leap + Very Long Legs is a potent combination. I think next year I may need to try having a super player like Leathan does when the tournament rules offer than option. I will need to practice keeping that player alive too.

dual posted on Merry Mayhem News

Sunday had the final game - I was all the way down on table 4 for the first time all tournament. Was playing against Colin, who I had never met before - very classy dude - I got a little amped up when everyone on the table thought he'd dodged without being next to my blitzer with diving tackle (he had, and it saved me getting a 3rd loss as diving tackle knocked his chance to score down) - and he took it with class and good sportsmanship! Nothing less than I'd expect from most blood bowl coaches!

Mark (halflings) was to my left and Chris (dwarves) was to my right. I've played them both before so there was plenty of trash talking and joking.

#db9g4 final game, slann vs slann and halfling vs dwarves gonna be a stoooopid game lol #bloodbowl

initial setup

#db9g4 fuckin halflings have scored twice, both thanks to throw team-mate :-@ #nufflelovestheunderdog

joked with the guys how all my pics were the setup - AFTER something happened

#db9g4 freaking dwarf intercepts my pass #damnyounuffle #whydoesnufflehateme

damn dwarves intercepted two of my passes

#db9g4 both slann teams manage to score, our game is tied, halflings still leading dwarves 2-0 #bloodbowl

more setup pics lol - blame the Chelsea game!

#db9g4 opponents slann intercepts a dwarf pass, then dwarves intercept my pass #nuffleowesmebig

second dwarf interception

#db9g4 dwarves scoring preserved my tie, just trying to screw the halflings chance to 1TT #dickmove

dick move complete!

So final tournament results for me were 1 win/2 losses/1 tie. Considering the two losses were to 1st/2nd place finishers I am happy with that. Always difficult when you start tournaments with convincing wins, as it puts you against the better coaches.

A quick recap of game 3. By this time was pretty exhausted and it was taking most of my energy just to pay attention to the game. A few quick updates were all I had in me. After the first few updates I needed to focus on the game - only my opponent and I scored all game. Unfortunately instead of ending up as a 3-3 tie, my opponent (Pat from my right in game 2) managed to score an extra touchdown in the last round of turns instead of going the other way (up until that point we'd been trading scoring). Well played to him.

#db9g3 on table two, against elves. #bloodbowl still trying to get the ball

back on the normal deathbowl boards

#db9g3 turn 6 hoping to work my way into scoring position /bloodbowl

pushing up the right side

#db9g3 managed a score passing to a lineman, all tied up 1-1. #whutupshun #bloodbowl

woot, managed to score passing to a lineman

#db9g3 only me and my opponent have scored, it's 3-2 to him right now. 1 turn to go, will take a miracle to get a tie

he managed to score again instead of me, grrrr

So after this game I was 1 win/2 losses (losses were to 1st place - Leathan and eventual 2nd place winner - Pat) so I didn't feel too bad about them but they definitely hurt me in terms of ranking/tournament place.

Recap of game 2, had a bad feeling at the beginning. Leathan is a notoriously tough opponent, because he generally takes a single super player and protects him very well making it terribly difficult to get to grips with him. I knew I would need help against him but with two elf teams going horizontally couldn't see much help coming from them. Good ol' Tom "Cat" (dark elf) was sitting to my left and Pat (pro elf) to my right.

#db9g2 been a tense match, losing 1-0 but have a chance to score in my turn 8 #bloodbowl #pleasenuffleplease

had the ball on the left, needed to stay on my feet - didn't happen

#db9g2 slann can't leap or dodge this game, had later turn in both halves, not good at playing reactive game #bloodbowl

going last definitely didn't help

#db9g2 slann tripping all over themselves. made one successful leap all game :-@ #nufflesucks #damnyounuffle

I think this setup was after Tom's TD

#db9g2 made a rerolled leap only to fail a 3+ dodge with reroll. lots of rerolls failing. #nufflesucks

picked up the ball in 3 tackle zones too!

#db9g2 a chance for a consolation touchdown, but it's in nuffles hands. #notexpectingmuch

got knocked over again!

#db9g2 getting whooped, might get scored on again, 6 failed leaps, 4 failed dodges, might be frogs legs for dinner

yup, he scored a third time :(

So after this game, I was 1 win/1 loss (to the eventual champion) and hoping my next game might see my leaps/dodges work. I ended up playing Pat who was to my right in game 2.

Here's my recap of game 1. I was fortunate enough to start on the top table (absolutely sweet table to play on) and it was my slann vs. Robs necromantic (no flesh golems) and Peters pro elves vs. Philippes wood elves. I've played both Rob and Peter before, but this was Philippes first tournament (deathbowl to boot!).

A bit of his inexperience showed, and benefited me greatly - after winning the roll to go first, Philippe failed a "go for it" with reroll moving his second player - basically giving me first turn (though his treeman had a tackle zone on both balls)

#db9g1 game 1 of #deathbowlIX begins. went with the slann, it's all about leap baby!! #bloodbowl

first setup, pro elf on left, wood elf on right

#db9g1 slann in early control - holding both balls #whutupshun #bloodbowl @GDubToThaFeetUp

going first really gave the slann a huge edge

#db9g1 slann score on turn 4, possibly the earliest touchdown of the day #whutupshun #bloodbowl setup again already

pro elf & necro still have their turn 4, 1-0 slann!!

#db9g1 almost pull off the craziest pickup after scattering ball can't be caught by a bunch of pansy elves. #bloodbowl

at least four failed 4+ catch rolls by elven players

#db9g1 huge scrum in the middle of the board. nobody can hold onto a ball for long. #bloodbowl

slann are always a threat - even with few players on the pitch

Peter managed to score vs. Philippe in the closing turns of the first half, putting us both 1-0 over our opponents. Things are a little hazy now but I think I recall trying to stop him as well because I'd protected myself from getting scored on by Rob - but it could be the other way round and I helped him to score so Rob couldn't!

#db9g1 setup after 3 turns due to slann pulling off a crazy passing play #whutupshun ps. I still had the other ball

only 7 slann left standing, still 2-0 up

#db9g1 2 elf teams going sideways controlling the balls. necro team can't win, just failed another go for it #bloodbowl

Rob just couldn't get any rolls to go his way this game

#db9g1 slann pull off another insane passing play, bringing the ball all the way across the pitch #whutupshun

if I had counted better I could've pushed one more last turn and scored a third.

After the above pic, Peter managed to knock over my player (the ball scattered into the endzone) and put three tackle zones on the ball, he then pushed for his own touchdown and failed with a "go for it" (2+ with reroll). I nearly made it 3 touchdowns on my last turn by leaping onto the ball but failed the 5+ pickup with a 2. That was ok though because Peter failed to get a second touchdown by failing another "go for it" (2+ with reroll) which brought a mighty cheer to our table.

twice Peter failed 2+ with reroll for a 2nd touchdown to tie me for the table

So after game one, I won 2-0 tied on casualties and stayed on the top table to face Leathan (the eventual tournament winner) and his norse team (with 2 ST5 Ulfs and a MV9 Sure Hands, Sure Feet, Dodge runner!!)

Well I completely failed at doing any painting at all on the team I wanted to bring this year (that I started painting immediately after last year - can you say EPIC fail???) but I feel I have sufficient excuse with how busy things have been (buying a house, staging our condo to sell, being the only guy left in our department at work) so I don't feel too bad about it - there's always next year!! For any NAF members you can check out the NAF thread for more info if you are interested!

In the end I couldn't even decide on a single roster, so I am bringing both the slann and elf models and will see how things pan out over tonight. I have 3 of my preferred rosters printed out (1 slann / 2 elf) which should be pretty sufficient to make a choice tonight. If anything the slann would only change a single skill on one catcher so I can just cross that out. If I end up re-doing the pro elf roster completely I could be in for some last minute scribbling!

who wouldn't wanna get their hands on this trophy!!

Just a quick update to remind everyone I will be doing some live tweeting during the games (should be easy when I have 3 turns to do nothing!!) probably with more pics since it's hosted at the T.O.s house - so wifi should be available. Depending on how quickly my games finish I will either do individual game recaps, or possibly day 1 / day 2 recaps on both blogs. My goal is to try and improve upon my 6th place finish last year, note to self (if using slann) - diving catch provides +1 to catching accurate passes!!

dual posted on Merry Mayhem News

Well the weekend of Oct 22nd/23rd is fast approaching. Unfortunately due to real life I have had zero opportunity/motivation to get painting on the team I was hoping to bring this year. It's still sitting with 3 models mostly basecoated and that's it. I might be able to get some work done on it this weekend - but I really wanted it to compete for best team the tournament I introduced it so it's kinda 50/50. I had my folks bring my Dark Elf team as well as my "Jawbreakers" (counts as Slann) to dinner tonight (most of my stuff is still packed and at their place while we resolve buying a house/moving) as a fail safe so I have options in case I don't get the other team painted in time (highly likely!!)

Please vote on the deathbowl poll, options are;
Pro Elves (bring new team even if just basecoated, failing that dark elves)
Pro Elves (if new team isn't shaded/highlighted, bring dark elves)
Slann (who doesn't love jawbreakers)

I still have (and love) the Slann roster from last year. Leap in deathbowl is freakin' awesome. Also a little nervous to use the dark elves as I'd end up using witch elves as catchers and other silly near proxying, which could annoy opponents but also mess me up!!

My goal will be to try to get some more figures basecoated this weekend and see if getting the team fully painted is a possibility.

EDIT: I can't get the poll text to display as white so it makes it pretty pointless. Just let me know in the comments what you think!!

Hot on the heels of my Chaos Cup coverage, Deathbowl IX is not far away!! I've begun planning my team roster. I had great success using Slann last year (my infamous Jawbreakers counts as team) coming in 6th. This year is "Year of the Elf" so Pro Elf teams get bonuses this time around. Each Pro Elf team will get a "Magic Codpiece" (this stops any adjustments being made to armour/injury rolls from skills such as Mighty Blow) and as well armour increases only cost 10K, and you can get two of them (however if you do, you fail Go For It rolls on a 1 or 2)

I debated bringing the Jawbreakers again - all that Leap is really helpful in Deathbowl format. Considering how well I did last year and how I forgot about the other benefits of Diving Catch (+1 to accurate passes, I forgot the entire tournament!) it's very tempting to bring the exact same roster. The "Magic Codpiece" is pretty solid though as it would nullify some of the concern about making one very strong player who should always be able to get the ball.

I have a new team I kinda started painting that I am debating trying to finish for Deathbowl this year. Failing that I could possibly draft in my dark elf team as Pro Elves. Here are a couple Pro Elf rosters - TV1250 and remember AV for Pro Elves this year is only 10K and can be taken twice.

Blitzer; AG5, Dodge, Leap, Strip Ball
Blitzer; Tackle
Catcher; Block, Dodge, Sure Feet
Catcher; Block, Dodge, Sure Feet
3x Lineelf; AV9
2x Lineelf
Thrower; Sure Hands
Thrower; Leader
Reroll

Blitzer; AG5, AV9, Dodge, Leap, Strip Ball
Blitzer; Tackle
Catcher; AV8, Block, Dodge, Sure Feet
Catcher; AV8, Block, Dodge, Sure Feet
3x Lineelf; AV8
2x Lineelf
Thrower; Sure Hands
Thrower; Leader
Reroll

Leaning towards the second as it would keep my more important players around longer with the extra armour - thoughts? Or do I bring back the Jawbreakers? Here is the roster from last year. I would probably drop Nerves of Steel on one catcher to get Block on all of them.

Catcher - block/dodge/sure hands
Catcher - block/dodge/nerves of steel
Catcher - block/dodge/guard
Catcher - dodge/tackle
Blitzer - strip ball
Blitzer - tackle
Line - leader
4x Line - no extra skills
2 Rerolls

The Googlies
aka gumballs (hence the jawbreakers team name)

The Jawbreakers

Last weekend I participated in Deathbowl XIII - which for a few years now has had a "year of the ..." theme where if you use the particular team chosen, you will get a benefit other teams don't. This was year of the slann and so slann teams got a magic item randomly chosen each half, which could be used in that game. This seemed too good to pass up, and I only had a month to prepare for the tournament. Unlike other folks, I usually prefer to use my own team - I would hate to borrow a team and damage it somehow.

Therefore I needed a quick way to put together a slann team, and having never played them before I wanted to make sure I had enough of each type that whatever my final team roster ended up looking like - I would have the models required. Since slann all have the leap and very long legs skills - I needed something that would easily convey that. Through some discussion with a friend I decided to build a team of "daddy long legs" using polystyrene balls, flower wire for legs and googly eyes!

Needless to say this team was cheap and quick to put together! I painted the bases and drybrushed them to get a bit of the stone texture. I drilled holes in the bases and slotted the wire legs in from underneath - using a hot glue gun to secure them. I bent out the legs then twisted all the wires together and dabbed a little white glue on top before stabbing the bottom of the variously painted balls and applying some pressure to make the legs bend out.

Deathbowl XIII

My slann team was as follows;
catcher - block/dodge/sure hands
catcher - block/dodge/nerves of steel
catcher - block/dodge/guard
catcher - dodge/tackle
blitzer - strip ball
blitzer - tackle
line - leader
4x line - no extra skills
2 rerolls

Even with all the chaos that a deathbowl game brings, I still produced my best ever tournament result - coming in 6th with a record of 3 wins, 1 loss. With a titch of luck and a bit more focus on my part, I could easily have gotten onto the podium (both attempts at backstabbing my "ally" failed even using a reroll, and I let someone intercept a pass on a 5 when he needed a 6). On top of that I forgot about diving catch giving +1 to catch accurate passes ALL tournament long!!

Game 1

The googlies were a big hit - everyone found them hilarious. We put them up for best team and they even earned 25% of the vote (4 of 16). I'm claiming partial assist for Mark H winning best team (he's usually the bridesmaid) I figure those four votes would've gone to another team and forced a second round of voting if not knock him off outright! You're welcome buddy!! (This even while the eternal bridesmaid of winning a tournament acted as campaign manager for my team - thanks Rob! LOL He might be re-thinking his actions since I screwed him off the podium and his campaigning in all likelyhood helped to finally get Mark hitched - to a best team trophy)

Game 4

All in all deathbowl was a blast and really well run. Lots of fun and laughs as well as a few lessons to be learned which all point towards me becoming a better tournament player. As an added bonus, slann are so new that from this single tournament I am now ranked as the 2nd best slann coach in Canada!! (Right behind the tournament organizer)

awards;

Team Champions (Captain) @ Amorical Cup 2017

background: Deathbowl XIII was year of the slann and so slann teams got a magic item randomly chosen each half, which could be used in that game. This seemed too good to pass up, and I only had a month to prepare for the tournament. Unlike other folks, I usually prefer to use my own team - I would hate to borrow a team and damage it somehow. Therefore I needed a quick way to put together a slann team, and having never played them before I wanted to make sure I had enough of each type that whatever my final team roster ended up looking like - I would have the models required. Since slann all have the leap and very long legs skills - I needed something that would easily convey that. Through some discussion with a friend I decided to build a team of "daddy long legs" using polystyrene balls, flower wire for legs and googly eyes!
condition: 17/24 complete tabletop standard (71%)
motto: abooblybablloblyyblybabloobab lee (see: )
naf ranking: 165.55 (5th in Canada)
race: Slann (counts as)
record: overall 15/3/12 w/d/l