Blood Bowl: Ars Maledicta League - Cup/Match Day #7

So it's week seven of the Ars Maledicta League, and I'm playing the another Chaos team in the league called Horn 'n' Scorn. You may remember Horn 'n' Scorn from my week two blog post where they were utterly destroyed by the Ogre team Full-Field Press. Lucky for me Horn 'n' Scorn was down their +1 ST Minotaur, and having played Chaos teams in numerious matches before I was pretty confident that I'd be able to pull off a win here, even with it being week seven, and Horn 'n' Scorn having more experience than the Bestigor Freebooters had when I played them earlier in the league.

Match Date: 01-14-2012

Orkago Boars vs. Horn 'n' Scorn

I choose to receive the ball, and started setting up my players. Just as I had my lineup all set, I noticed that my Black Orc with Guard was missing. Now I had no injuries, so all my players are available, yet a he is missing. I frantically looked all over the pitch for him, and he was no where to be found. I asked my opponent, and he stated that he saw him disappear from the pitch. Crap! I was running out of time, and I still couldn't find him. So I tried to bring in my spare Lineman, and I couldn't as the game stated I already had eleven players on the pitch, yet both my opponent, and I only saw ten. I literally ran out of setup time just looking for this Black Orc, because I knew my LoS was going to be seriously fucked without him.

Time ran out of coarse, and the ball was kicked off. As the ball lands I notice my -1 MV Lineman standing down by my fucking end zone, and the Black Orc is now on the sidelines. Son of a bitch! So right off the bat my LoS is totally fucked because of this game bug, and I've got a huge gaping hole in my LoS that my opponent can easily run straight fucking through. Naturally my opponent kicks the ball so it lands right near the gaping hole in my LoS as well! I haven't made a single move, and I'm already fucked! Not one to just give up, and roll over I decide to make due with what I've got. So I sent in my Thrower to secure the ball, so I can form a cage up quickly. My Thrower fails to pick up the ball causing a turnover! For the second game in a row Sure Hands fucking fails, and at the worst possible time. Yeah, it's clear this game isn't starting out well.

My opponent opens up with a Beastman blitz into a lone Lineman on the LoS, knocking him to the ground, and then moves the same Beastman behind one of my Black Orcs. A Chaos Warrior then throws a block into that Black Orc stunning him for two turns. Another Chaos Warrior throws another block into a Black Orc, and injures him, taking him out of the game. Mother fuck crap hole! So on turn one I've now lost two Black Orcs, one from a game bug, a second from being injured who wouldn't have gotten injured if that first Black Orc didn't vanish from a game bug! That gaping hole in my LoS I spoke of earlier, has now tripped in size. Two Beastmen com rushing through my nonexistent LoS, and are now in front of the ball, a third makes an easy dodge past my Troll, and also ends up in front of the ball, while a Chaos Warrior also dodges past my Troll, and stands behind him. Um yeah ....

 Akzar Spinebreaker Is Injured

I move up three of my Blitzers, and the one Lineman near the end zone to help cover the ball. With a fourth Blitzer I blitzed into a Beastman knocking him to the ground, my Troll throws a block, and rolls Both Down resulting in a turnover. Joy ....

My opponent moved up two Chaos Warriors to help support taking the ball, while three Beastmen triple teamed one of my remaining Black Orcs, stunning him for two turns. My opponent then moved up several more Beastmen in support around the ball. Basically my opponents entire team was now surrounding the ball!

I've got five Beastmen, and two Chaos Warriors surrounding the ball. I am totally out muscled here, and can't throw any significant blocks. Time is wasting, and I've got to recover the ball, and move it down field quickly. The only way I can do that, is with a pass. So I decide to set one up. With the support of a Lineman, a Blitzer blitzes into a Beastman knocking him to the ground. Just past the LoS, I've got a Lineman marking a Chaos Warrior, so I decide to move him down the pitch some to where he is open for a pass. My Thrower runs in, grabs the ball, and somehow dodges out of three tackle zones! My remaining two Blitzers in the area form a half cage around my Thrower. My fourth Blitzer marks a Chaos Warrior so he can't intercept the pass to my Lineman down range. I'm now in perfect position to throw a pass, and hopefully be able to score on my next turn, or two.

My opponent moves up a Beastman to mark my open Lineman, while blitzing a Chaos Warrior into my Thrower, and naturally on a 1d block knocks him down, Dump-Off works, however the Blitzer that the pass went to fails to catch the ball, and it lands on the ground next to my opponents players. My opponent then moves up more players around the ball, four Beastmen, and two Chaos Warriors. A few blocks here, a few blocks there, and he manages to knock down almost my entire team as well. Crapola!

Once again my Orcs are out muscled, and I'm only able to knock down one Beastman near the ball, while my Troll, and Lineman down range manage to roll pushes only.

My opponent manages to knock down, or push every single Orc I have near the ball with ease. He also tried to setup my Thrower to be surfed, however rolled a Both Down instead, causing a turnover.

I stand my Orcs back up, and manage to get two more near the ball again, while bringing down a Black Orc, and my Troll off a blitz to help support recovering the ball. That was about it on this turn of mine.

My opponent manages to push off the two Orcs I had near the ball, while recovering the ball with on of his nearby Beastmen. With the Support of a Beastman, and Chaos Warrior, another Beastman blitzes into my Troll knocking him to the ground. Another near by Chaos Warrior pushes one of my Blitzers back, and my opponent then forms up a cage around his ball carrying Beastman. I'm pretty much fucked at this point.

One of my Blitzers throws a block into a Beastman knocking him down, breaking my opponents cage. I then blitzed into another Beastman with a Black Orc also knocking that Beastman to the ground. I've busted up the cage, and got two players marking the ball carrying Beastman, but I don't think it's going to be enough as my opponent can just hand the ball off to another Beastman, and run it in for the touchdown.

My opponent didn't go for the hand off, instead he knocked down the two Orcs I had marking his ball carrying Beastman, then blitzed with another Beastman into one of my Blitzers crowd surfing him, and getting a KO. Then ran the ball carrying Beastman into the end zone making a GFI, and scoring the touch down. The score was now 1-0 in my opponents favor.

Naturally my KO'd Blitzer didn't wake up, and the ball is kicked off to me. I recover the ball, and quickly move up the right side of the pitch, and formed a cage around my Thrower. My Troll opened up with a block, and injured a Beastman, but then a Black Orc threw a block, and rolled Both Down causing a turnover. I did however managed to KO the Beastman, so I guess it wasn't to bad of a roll.

 Rotgut Skaveneater Smashes The Knee Of Mymulgors

Not much my opponent could do here, but throw some blocks. Which he did, but didn't manage any injuries.

It's the top of turn eight, and I have no chance of scoring here. So I just went for a short pass that was successful, and got my Thrower +1 SPP, while my Troll failed his Really Stupid roll, and didn't get up.

My opponent tried to take out my Thrower, but failed to get the injury roll that he hoping for, but did manage to KO a Lineman. It's Half-Time, and I've got three players out, to my opponents two players.

Neither of my two KO's woke up, however neither did my opponents one KO, so both of us would be starting out with nine players on the pitch. I kicked the ball off to my opponent, and it was going to land out of bounds, however I got a blitz on the kick off event! I moved a Lineman back behind his LoS, along with another Blitzer, and with my +1 MV Blitzer I blitzed into one of his kick off return Beastman, knocking him to the ground. So he only had one option to give the ball to, and that Beastman was already surrounded by three Orcs. Hopefully I could recover the ball quickly, and score to tie up the game.

Once more dice rolls, dodges, and the like favor my opponent! He manages to knock down my entire LoS, then blitzes another Beastman into my Thrower who was playing safety in the back field knocking him to the ground. So the ball carrying Beastman goes straight up the center of the pitch totally unopposed, and protected by a cage. So much for my lucky blitz kick off event ...

I blitzed one of my Blitzers into a Chaos Warrior knocking him down, and then marked my opponents ball carrying Beastman with him, then also managed to get two other Blitzers to mark that Beastman as well, along with support from my Thrower, and two Black Orcs. My Troll failed his Really Stupid roll, and continued to lay there.

My opponent knocked down one of my Blitzers marking his ball carrying Beastman, while another Beastman knocked down my Thrower. The ball carrying Beastman wasn't going anywhere though, as he was still in the two tackle zones of my two Blitzers, or so I thought! The ball carrying Beastman dodged out of those two tackle zones as though he was an Elf, and ran straight towards the end zone, also making two GFI's. How super!

I had no chance of stopping the Beastman from making the touchdown, so I decided I'd throw blocks instead. On my second block attempt I rolled a Attacker Down with a Lineman, used a RR, and rolled Attacker down again causing a turnover. Wonderful ...

My opponent knocked a few Orcs down, but didn't manage any injures, and then ran his Beastman in for the touchdown. Which brought the score to 2-0 in his favor.

Out of the three KO'd Orcs, one managed to wake up, as did my opponents Beastman. We'd both be starting out with ten players on the pitch. The ball is kicked, and I quickly grab it up with my Thrower, and form a cage around him with three Blitzers. I was unable to use the fourth or I'd have had a hole in my LoS again. With the first block thrown I manage to roll a Both Down from a Black Orc, and cause a turnover! So now there's a hole in my LoS anyhow!

Once more my opponent knocks down my entire LoS with blocks, then blitzes a Beastman into one of my cage Blitzers, getting the KO! Ugh!

I stand my downed players back up, and then blitz the Beastman marking my Thrower, which stuns him for two turns. Then move up the other Blitzer, along with my Thrower, and form up a sloppy cage. It was all I could do to keep the ball protected, I didn't have many cage options at this point.

And again my opponent knocks down my entire LoS, then manages to push off one of my Blitzers playing cage defense which opens a path for a Beastman to blitz into my Thrower knocking him to the ground. Dump-Off is successful, however the Blitzer nearby doesn't make the catch, and ball lands at his feet. With some more blocks thrown my opponent manages to knock down my entire team except for two players.

At this point I can't even throw a single block, my only hope is to recover the ball, and pass it to the right side of the pitch where my opponent doesn't have a single player, and I've got a lone Lineman. I stand the Lineman up, and move up a couple squares where he's open. I then stand the rest of my team up except for my Troll who fails his Really Stupid roll again, and my Thrower. Now all my Thrower has to do is stand up, make a GFI, grab the ball, and pass it to that Lineman, and I'll be in a good position to score. I know it's a lot, but I've pulled magic out of my ass before with this team, so I can do it again! I stand my Thrower up, and he heads towards the ball, fails his GFI, falls back down, and scatters the ball almost out of bounds. Yeah, fuck me running!

My opponent starts off by crowd surfing one of my Blitzers, who is of coarse injured. Then proceeds to knock down the rest of my team except two players again. A three armed Beastman then runs up, grabs the ball, and starts heading towards the end zone, however falls down when he fails a GFI.

 Grimnail Jawripah Is Crowd Surfed

Now where the ball landed, I've got one change to grab it, and pass it off to that lone Lineman still cause my Thrower is still close by. This time he's got to get up, dodge past a Chaos Warrior, make a GFI, and pass the ball. Once more I have faith in my Thrower, and once more he fucks it up again by failing the GFI!

My opponent stands up his Beastman that failed his GFI on his last turn, then grabs the ball, and then makes two GFI's headed towards the end zone. A Chaos Warrior, and two other Beastman provide protection for him.

I can't stop the touchdown, really the only options I had were standing players back up, and throwing two blocks. One block resulted in a stun, the other block resulted in an Attacker Down which stunned my player for two turns.

With it being the top of turn sixteen, my opponent runs his Beastman in for the touchdown, bringing the score to 3-0 in his favor.

It's my last turn, and none of my KO's wake up either. The ball is kicked off to me, and I go for the usual last turn game ending play. Which is to throw blocks, one of which resulted in a KO, and throw a short pass for +1 SPP, which resulted in a scattered launch. Yes please, add more salt into my already bleeding profusely wounds!

The game was over, and I'd lost 3-0. I honestly had to walk away from my PC when this game ended, and cool off. This game really pissed me off. Now normally I wouldn't have gotten mad if I'd lost because of bad playing, and stupid mistakes on my part, but that didn't happen. I lost this game because of a game breaking bug that took place before the initial kick off even happened, period. 

My Thrower failing  to pick up the ball on turn one wouldn't have been bad if that missing Black Orc was actually on the LoS like he was supposed to be, or had that Lineman been on the LoS like he was supposed to be. I'd have been able to hold off my opponent longer, and been able to recover the ball, and move it forward. Instead I started off with a gaping hole in my LoS that my opponent was able to exploit, which was made worse when he injured a Black Orc on the LoS as well. 

So on his first turn he was able to mark the ball totally unopposed with three Beastmen! Let's not forget the 240K of inducements he got as well because my TV was higher than his, which he used to remove one of my RR's, and gain another RR for himself. That game breaking bug cause an avalanche of bullshit to just cascaded down upon me throughout the entire match.

After talking with a few other folks in the league, it was brought to my attention that the game should have been restarted, which I didn't know. Weather or not my opponent knew this, I haven't a clue. I do know that had our roles been reversed, I'd have offered to restart the game. I personally like to win matches because I played good, not because a game breaking bug gave me an advantage over my opponent.

With this loss, I dropped from fourth place in the league, to eighth place. I'm now in a position where I can loose my playoffs spot!

Current Standings

1) Sneaky Jerks (Skaven)

2) Ashes & Dust (Undead)

3) Horn 'n' Scorn (Chaos)

4) Graveyard Hex (Necromantic)

5) Bro Elves (Elves)

6) Full-Field Press (Ogres)

7) Night Dragonnes (Dark Elves)

8) Orkago Boars (Orcs)

9) Bestigor Freebooters (Chaos)

10) Flaming Geckos (Lizardmen)

Blood Bowl: Ars Maledicta League - Cup/Match Day #6

Well it's week six of the Ars Maledicta League, and I'm going up against an Undead team called Ashes & Dust. With my loss against Night Dragonnes, I really wanted to win this game as I did not want to get onto a loosing streak, once you get on those, you never get off! Case in point, the Chicago Bears this year, we were all set for the playoffs, and thanks impart to injuries, and very inexperience backup Quarter Back, they got on a loosing streak that they just couldn't come back from, and the playoffs went straight out the window!

Match Date: 01-02-2012

Orkago Boars vs. Ashes & Dust

I lost the coin toss, and my opponent opted to receive the ball, which was a bummer as I like to be able to punch first on the kick off. Anyhow, the ball landed, and my opponents Ghoul with Kick-Off Return was able to get just about right next to the ball. He then threw some blocks, knocking down two Black Orcs, and pushing the Troll back, stinking Mummies! However, the Kick-Off Return Ghoul failed to pick up the ball, and caused a turnover.

I stood my two Black Orcs up, and placed them next to the Troll, and not back in blocking range of my opponents Mummies. I figured I'd make him move to me if he wanted to punch! On the right, and left side of the pitch, I sent my Blitzers in, hoping to put some serious pressure onto the Ghoul, and ended my turn.

My opponent moved a few Zombies over to hinder my Blitzers, then picked up the ball, and moved his Ghoul into the center of the pitch, forming a cage with his two Mummies, and two Wights. I should have moved my guys back onto the LoS, because now that cage was going to be a pain in the ass to break through. A turnover was then caused when another one of my opponents Ghouls failed his dodge.

I opened up with a block from a Black Orc, knocking a Zombie down. I then decided if I couldn't break that cage, I was at least going to slow it down. A Lineman then threw a block, and rolled Both Down causing a turnover, just great!

My opponent opened up with a blitz from a Ghoul into a Black Orc, knocking him down. Then inched his cage up the center of the pitch, but staying out of block range of my Black Orcs, and Troll on the LoS. A Zombie then thew a block into one of my Linemen injuring him, nothing serious, but he was out of the game. That was going to hurt as I was already down a Black Orc due to injury from my previous game versus Night Dragonnes. A Zombie knocked down one of my Blitzers bringing my opponents turn to an end.

I didn't do much this turn except knock a Zombie, and Ghoul down from throwing blocks. I also reenforced my defensive line with an Orc Blitzer as well. I wasn't about to move my guys into block range of that cage, I wanted them to move to me, so I could throw the first punches into it.

My opponent moved his two Mummies into blocking range of a single Black Orc, then blitzed with a Wight knocking one of my Blitzers down, then moved that same Wight into block range of my Thrower who'd been playing it safe in the back field. He then moved his second Wight into block range of the same Black Orc that had two Mummies already on it, along with another Ghoul. He then positioned his ball carrying Ghoul in between a Zombie, and Wight, along with the two Mummies, he still had a decent cage going. I needed to do something here as that Black Orc was in serious trouble!

My Troll failed his Really Stupid roll, I moved a Black Orc into block range of a Wight which allowed my Thrower to push the Wight into two other Black Orcs with a block. A Black Orc then punched that same Wight, stunning him for two turns. I then moved two Blitzers into the back field to play safety in case that Ghoul decided to break out of that cage, and go for the end zone.

My opponent stunned a Black Orc, and Blitzer for two turns. Then marked one of my Blitzers playing saftey with a Zombie, and moved his ball carrying Ghoul to the ride side of the pitch, and around the brawl. He was now in position to score with ease if I didn't get my Blitzer playing safety over there to stop him.

Lucky for me, the Blitzer I had in range to stop the Ghoul from scoring was my Tackle/+1 MA Blitzer, so I figured I wouldn't have a problem stopping him. I blitzed into him, and rolled Attacker Down, figures! I used a RR, and then got a push. This pushed the Ghoul back into two Zombies for protection, as well as near a Mummy. I then tried to block one of those Zombies with a Black Orc, and rolled Both Down. Son of a bitch! You can already see what's going to happen here right?

My opponent blitzed his Mummy into my Blitzer that was on top of the ball carrying Ghoul, pushing him aside, and then marked that Blitzer with a Zombie as well for good measure. This opened a nice hole for the Ghoul to run right through, and be two squares away from the end zone totally unopposed.

I had one chance to try to stop that Ghoul from scoring. I needed to blitz with my Blitzer into the Zombie, and hope that he managed to dodge away from that Mummy as well. then move up to the Ghoul, and hope that he failed his dodge when trying to score. I rolled the dice, and scored a Attacker Down, used a RR, and rolled another Attacker Down. Mother fucker!

My opponent decided to throw a few blocks looking for some injuries but only managed a few pushes. He then moved a Wight into the end zone, and tried to hand off the ball to him for the touchdown, but failed to catch the ball, however a RR fixed that, and the Wight scored. The score was now 1-0 in my opponents favor in the top of turn seven.

My opponent kicked off to me, and I recovered the ball with my Thrower. Stupidly I did not put my +1 MA Blitzer on the line, as I could have ran him straight towards the end zone, and my opponent would have only had a Ghoul in range to stop him. With some lucky GFI's, and a long bomb pass I might have been able to score in those two turns before Half-Time. I threw out some blocks, knocking down two Skeletons (my opponent switched out two Zombies for two Skeletons, and I'm not sure why. Maybe a experienced Undead player could explain that to me?), and ended my turn in disgust because of the mistake I'd made.

My opponent opened up with a block from a Mummy that KO'd my Troll, just fucking great! He threw a few more blocks out there, but nothing significant happened.

It was now the bottom of turn eight, and I had no chance of scoring because of my earlier mistake, so I decided to throw a short pass to gain some SPP for my Thrower, however my Thrower fucked it up with a Scattered Launch. There was nothing more I could do, so I ended my turn, and it was Half-Time.

I was now receiving the ball, and lucky for me my Troll decided to wake up form his earlier KO, and start playing again. The kick was very short, so short that I had to form my Blitzer cage around the ball at the LoS on the right side of the pitch, and then make a successful GFI with my Thrower just to recover the ball! My Black Orcs opened up with their blocks, knocking down a Skeleton, and pushing another. My Troll who'd just woken up from his earlier KO, must have woken up pissed, as he decapitated the Zombie in front of him! I then blitzed a Lineman into the Skeleton that was pushed earlier hoping to open up more room for my cage, only to get another stinking push!

Rotgut Skaveneater Kills A Zombie In His Debut Game 

My opponent opened up with a Zombie attempting to block my Troll, but rolled a Both Down result, KO'ing the Zombie, and causing the turnover.

I stood my Troll back up, then moved my cage up the right side of the pitch totally unopposed. I then threw some blocks, and moved some players tying up all of my opponents players in multiple tackle zones. If he was going to attack my cage, he was going to have to make several successful block, and dodge attempts to do so.

My opponent got a few of those successful blocks of coarse, and managed to get two of his Ghouls in the path of my cage. While it wasn't that bad, it was enough to hinder the speed of my cage, which would allow him to get other players within range of my cage as well on the next turn if I couldn't move the cage far enough away from the brawl that was taking place nearby.

I opened up with a blitz from one of my cage Blitzers, knocking one of the Ghouls to the ground. My Thrower dodged passed the other Ghoul, and was now in position to score next turn. The remaining Blitzers were then moved up to protect my Thrower, and keep those Ghouls within their tackle zones. Those two Ghouls would each have to dodge out of three tackle zones if they wanted to stop my Thrower from scoring.

My opponent opened up with a few blocks that freed up one of his Wights from any tackle zones. The Ghoul who was in three tackle zones of my Blitzers easily dodge out (of coarse), and moved in front of my Thrower. The Wight then made a successful GFI, and blitzed into my Thrower knocking him down, and a nearby Blitzer failed to catch the Dump-Off pass. Lucky for me, the ball didn't scatter much, and landed at the feet of my three Blitzers. My opponent then moved his second Wight up near my Blitzers, then rolled a Both Down on a Zombie block causing a turnover.

I recovered the ball with my +1 MA Blitzer, and formed up a cage with the other two Blitzers, and a nearby Black Orc, and Lineman. I then managed to knock down both my opponents Mummies as well. Again, I had all my opponents players tied up in tackle zones, so my Blitzer with the ball was safe for now, or at least I thought so!

My opponents amazing luck persisted, and he managed to get a Wight next to my ball carrying Blitzer, then blitzed him with a Ghoul, knocking him to the ground, and the ball scattered right into the hands of the Wight. He threw out some more blocks, but didn't managed any of the injuries he was looking for.

Unfortunately for the Wight with the ball, he was standing next to a Lineman, and Blitzer. My Blitzer quickly knocked the Wight to the ground freeing up the ball. I then blitzed my Lineman into a nearby Skeleton, then moved him into cage position. Another nearby Blitzer grabbed the ball, and moved into the protective cage that was formed by two Blitzers, a Lineman, and a Black Orc. The Black Orc who was part of the cage failed his easy block on the Wight in front of him by rolling Both Down. My Black Orc went down, and the Wight stood standing thanks to his Block skill. My cage now had an opening, fuck me!

My opponent stood up a nearby Mummy, and moved him into the hole in my cage next to my ball carrying Blitzer. He then blitzed a Ghoul into a nearby Blitzer knocking him to the ground. Another Ghoul also moved up next to my ball carrying Blitzer as well. Once more, I was in trouble!

My Troll blitzed into the Mummy next to my ball carrying Blitzer knocking him to the ground. A cage defending Blitzer also knocked the Ghoul to the ground as well. My ball carrying Blitzer was now free of any tackle zones. A Wight that was also in the path of the end zone was quickly knocked to the ground by another one of my Blitzers. I now had a clear path to the end zone! I moved my Blitzer towards the end zone, and made the two GFI's I needed, putting me one square away from tying up the game. For a third time I moved all my players into blocking range of any of the opposition. Once more, if my opponent tried to stop me from scoring he'd have to make some golden blocks, and dodges.

Naturally my opponent made those golden blocks, and dodges! A nearby Ghoul who was on the ground stood up, dodged out of two tackle zones, and made a GFI placing him next to my Blitzer who was about to score (seriously!?!?!?). Then a nearby Wight blitzes out of two tackle zones, and into my Blitzer with the ball, knocking him down, and the ball scatters right into the hands of the Ghoul (fucking really!?!?!?). My opponent then failed a block with a Skeleton against a Black Orc by rolling a Both Down causing a turnover.

I couldn't believe the luck my opponent was having, he had some serious Nuffle blessing going on here. It was now the bottom of turn fourteen, there was no chance I could win the game, but I still had a chance to at least tie the game. I stood up my Blitzer next to the ball carrying Ghoul, then moved two more Blitzers next to the Ghoul. I was knocking that damn ball loose! I then blitzed the Ghoul with my +1 MA Blitzer, knocking him to the ground thanks to Tackle. Unfortunately the fucking ball scatters three times, and finally landed on the opposite side of the damn field past my LoS! I quickly sent my Thrower down field to recover the ball, however his stupid ass failed his GFI causing a turnover.

My opponent moved up a Skeleton with a successful GFI next to my Blitzer, he was clearly going to try to surf my Blitzer near the sideline. A Ghoul who was on the ground next to a Black Orc, stood up, dodged out of the Black Orcs tackle zone, recovered the ball, and then made two GFI's (for fucks sake, lucky much?). He then went for the crowd surf on my Blitzer, but failed when he rolled a Attacker Down.

I had one chance to stop that Ghoul from scoring another touchdown. I surfed a Skeleton, getting a KO (not like it mattered at this point, but crowd surfing players is fun). I then threw a block onto another Skeleton getting a push, this freed up a nearby Lineman to Blitz into the Ghoul, and hopefully stop him from scoring, all he had to do is make one GFI, and get a POW.. So I blitzed into the Ghoul, and of coarse failed my GFI because Nuffle is a fucking asshole.

My opponent then ran the Ghoul into the end zone naturally making the two GFI's he needed bringing the score to 2-0 for the victory as that ended the game.

For those of you that read my blog, I apologize for the swearing, however this game really irritated me (watching the replay as I am writing this blog brought all that irritation right back). While I feel I played a very good game here, the sheer amount of unyielding luck that my opponent had for the entire match was just overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, my opponent played a great game, and he's a fine Blood Bowl player, it's just a tad frustrating when your opponent makes EVERY GFI, and only fails one dodge the entire match.Bah! That's Blood Bowl for you, it's a love/hate relationship.

One good thing did come out of this loss, and that was my Troll gaining a level by getting a kill, and making MVP on his debut game. The obvious choice for skill up was of coarse Guard. With that loss, I was now 3-0-3, and in fourth place in the league.

Current Standings:

1) Sneaky Jerks (Skaven)

2) Bro Elves (Elves)

3) Ashes & Dust (Undead)

4) Orkago Boars (Orcs)

5) Full-Field Press (Ogres)

6) Horn 'n' Scorn (Chaos)

7) Graveyard Hex (Necromantic)

8) Bestigor Freebooters (Chaos)

9) Night Dragonnes (Dark Elves)

10) Flaming Geckos (Lizardmen)

Blood Bowl: Ars Maledicta League - Cup/Match Day #5

With my amazingly lucky win over the Bro Elves, I was now playing against another Elf team, though it was a Dark Elf teamed named Night Dragonnes. I figured I'd try to use the same tactics I used against the Bro Elves to bring home another victory, however I wasn't quite sure it'd work the exact same as Dark Elves are a bit tougher than the other Elf teams out there.

Match Date: 12-13-2011

Orkago Boars vs. Night Dragonnes

I elected to receive the ball, and holy crap was it a kick! This is probably one of best kicks I've seen in a Blood Bowl match. The damn ball landed in the far left hand corner of the pitch, it was pretty incredible. Horrible for me, incredible for my opponent. It literally took me one whole turn just to get near the ball. On the LoS my Black Orcs were not able to get anything, but pushes, while a Linemen blitzed, and cause a turn over by rolling attacker down, and attacker down again on the damn RR causing the turnover. There was nothing I could do to stop the wave of Dark Elves that were about to cross over the LoS.

I grabbed the ball, and started moving up the left hand side of the pitch. The cage formed around my Thrower with my Blitzers. I tried to blitz a Black Orc into my opponents Witch Elf, hoping to take her out, but Nuffle decided otherwise, as I rolled attacker down, and attacker down again on the RR causing yet another turnover! This game wasn't starting out well for me.

My opponent proceeded to tear apart my Black Orcs on the LoS with seven of his Linemen, plus the Witch Elf while keeping three other Linemen in the way of my cage, but out of punching range. Lucky for me he was only able to get stuns on the Black Orcs, but with that many Linemen on the Black Orcs, they were going to be hard pressed to support my cage.

I wasn't able to move my cage very far as I ran into the three Dark Elf Linemen blocking it's path. I was able to stun one of them off a blitz, but that was it. I stood up my knocked down Black Orcs on the LoS, but was only able to throw one block with one of them, which of coarse I rolled another attacker down on, and had to burn another RR to just a measly push! So far Nuffle was making sure the dice were not going to favor me one bit.

Once more my opponent put all of my Black Orcs on their backs, then moved up several more Linemen to support the attack on my cage. My opponent was able to break part of the cage open, but then rolled a both down, which cause a turnover in my favor.

I thew blocks at the defending Dark Elf Linemen, but wasn't able to accomplish anything. In fact I was only able to move my Thrower one square! At this rate of speed there was no way I was going to be able to score. I then stupidly misclicked one of my Black Orcs out of the Witch Elves tackle zone, and naturally he failed his dodge, and cause a turnover.

My opponent was now able to open up my cage, and with a blitz from a Dark Elf Lineman was able to knock the ball loose from the Throwers hands. Dumpoff triggered, however failed horribly as the hand off was fumbled right into the hands of another Dark Elf Lineman. On the LoS, another Dark Elf Lineman was able to kill one of my Black Orcs, lucky for me though my apothecary was able save him, and he'd be back for the second half of the game.

Lunz Yellowteef Is Killed, But Saved By The Orc Apothecary.

I blitzed into the ball carrying Dark Elf Lineman, but was only able to get a stinking push once more. I stood the rest of my Black Orcs back up, and moved them into coverage. My Blitzers threw out their blocks into the Dark Elf defenders, but were only able to get a few stuns. If I didn't get that ball back, my opponent was going to be able to score with ease.

The ball carrying Dark Elf tried to dodge out of my Blitzer tackle zones, but failed, which caused a turnover. This was my chance to get the damn ball back, and score.

With one of my Blitzers I managed to surf a Dark Elf Lineman, and get a KO. I then moved several Orcs up around the ball forming a cage around it trying to protect it until my Thrower could get there. My Thrower however was in the tackle zone of the Witch Elf, and naturally he failed his dodge roll, and cause a turn over when trying to move towards the ball.

My opponent didn't try to recover the ball, instead he opted to move Linemen all around my cage that was protecting the ball. No significant blocks were thrown by my opponent either during this turn.

Unfortunately my Thrower was laying on his back, and wouldn't have enough movement to recover the ball, so I decided to blitz with him, and clear a path for one of my Blitzers to recover the ball, which was successful. A Blitzer now had the ball, and was protected by another Blitzer, and Black Orc. While the rest of my team was providing man to man coverage on the Dark Elf team.

My opponent tried to dodge a Lineman out of a Black Orc tackle zone, and failed. This was the turnover I needed, as I still had a chance to score, or so I thought!

Stupidly I didn't realize what turn it was, it was now the top of the eight turn, there was no chance in hell I could score. I couldn't run it, or pass it. Basically I screwed myself. I should have been more aggressive in recovering the ball previous turns, and then I might have had a chance. So the only option I had was to punch Elves, and that didn't work either as I rolled another attacker down on my first block, and didn't have any RR's left!

There really wasn't anything my opponent could do either except throw a few blocks, which didn't amount to anything, but a few stuns. With that the first half of the game came to an end. The score was 0-0.

I kicked off to my opponent, and lucked out by getting a blitz! I quickly moved my Orcs across the LoS, and blitzed with a Blitzer stunning a Dark Elf Lineman. I had to get that ball!

My opponent placed the ball into the hands of his Runner after the touch back, and then decided to blitz with his Witch Elf, but rolled an attacker down, and another attacker down with the RR. Perhaps Nuffle took pity on me as I needed this turnover badly.

Nuffle giveth, and Nuffle taketh away! As I was opening a hole in the LoS for my Blitzers to run through towards the Dark Elf Runner, I rolled attacker down, and then a both down on a RR with a Lineman. So much for capitalizing on that last turnover like I'd hoped to.

Wisely my opponent formed a cage around his Runner, and the started to chip away at my defense on the LoS. He managed to get a few stuns in, but nothing more than that. The Dark Elf cage was now on the LoS, so again I had another chance at getting the ball if I could break through that cage.

A few blocks there, a blitz there, and I was able to get a Blitzer, and Black Orc on top of the Dark Elf Runner after busting through my opponents cage. Unfortunately I didn't get any other significant blocks that would help. Hopefully I'd be able to get that ball, and score on my opponents drive, however Dark Elves are sneaky gits!

My opponent opened up by throwing a block onto a Blitzer on the left hand side of the pitch, which stunned him, and opened a small hole in the LoS, and that's all the Elves needed. In typical Elven shenanigans, my opponent was able to dodge his Runner out of two tackle zones, run the ball, hand it off to his Witch Elf, which then ran the ball halfway towards the end zone. My Thrower who had been playing safely this entire time was in range to blitz the Witch Elf, however a Dark Elf Lineman then moved up on him preventing that.

I managed to get a Blitzer up on top of the Witch Elf, and had a Black Orc blitz into the Dark Elf Lineman blocking my Thrower, knocking him down. I then moved my Thrower onto the Witch Elf as well, along with two other Blitzers that were short one square each. I decided to try to dodge a Lineman out of a tackle zone, to get him onto the Witch Elf as well, but failed to do so causing the turnover. Hopefully my Blitzer, and Thrower would be enough to stop the Witch Elf from scoring. I just needed her to fail that dodge roll!

Once more Elven shenanigans prevailed as the Witch Elf easily dodged out of the two defending Orc tackle zones, and ran into the end zone for the touchdown, bringing the score to 1-0 in my opponents favor on the top of turn twelve.

I received the kick, a kick which didn't even make it over the LoS I might add. Formed up my cage, and started moving up the pitch. This time I had plenty of support from my Black Orcs which started punching away at the Dark Elf defense. I didn't manage any injuries, but did manage a few stuns that enabled my cage to move right up to the LoS. Since it was the bottom of turn twelve, I had plenty of time to hopefully score, and tie the game up.

My opponent moved up some Linemen to block the cage, however caused a turnover when his Witch Elf rolled both down while attempting to throw a block into a Black Orc.

I started punching my way through the Dark Elf defenders, opening a way for my cage. I moved the cage up, and blitzed with a Black Orc who injured a Dark Elf Lineman, finally I actually injured someone! My cage was now across the LoS, and it looked like I was going to be able to score.

My opponent fired back, and injured one of my Black Orcs causing a pinched nerve, he'd had to miss the next game. He then moved all of his players outside of any of my Orcs blocking range, smart move on his part, as it was going to slow down my cage.

I was only able to get off one block with a blitz, and it didn't help my situation all that much as I as hardly able to move my cage. The only thing I could do was move my Orcs within blocking range of the Dark Elf defenders.

My opponent didn't manage anything either, except to fail his Jump Up with his Witch Elf, and a dodge with a Lineman causing a turnover.

It was now the bottom of turn fifteen, still had plenty of time to score, and I was in range of doing so. Or at least I thought so. I rolled a both down with my opening block, and didn't have any RR's left, so that cause a turnover.

On my opponents last turn, he only managed to surf one of my Linemen, which only resulted in a stun.

It was now the bottom of turn sixteen, and I had no chance of scoring thanks to that last turnover of mine. The only thing I could do was throw some punches, which resulted in nothing. My final move of the game was a short pass, that resulted in one SPP point. With that the game was over, and I'd lost 1-0.

It was a good game, and my opponent did a fantastic job of bogging down my cages. 

Somehow I managed to level two Orcs during that game. A Black Orc picked up Guard, and a Blitzer picked up +1 MV. I also had enough cash to purchase some fresh muscle for my team. Now, some coaches out there would disagree at purchasing a Troll, I on the other hand would agree that it's worth it. Sure Bonehead can be a real pain in the ass, but by putting him on the LoS, this frees up another Black Orc to put elsewhere. Not to mention several of my opponents that I'll be playing in the future also have big guys, and I think I'll need that extra muscle.

This loss brought my record to 3-0-2, however I still remained in second place in the league.

Current Standings:

1) Sneaky Jerks (Skaven)

2) Orkago Boars (Orcs)

3) Full-Field Press (Ogres)

4) Bro Elves (Elves)

5) Horn 'n' Scorn (Chaos)

6) Ashes & Dust (Undead)

7) Graveyard Hex (Necromantic)

8) Night Dragonnes (Dark Elves)

9) Flaming Geckos (Lizardmen)

10) Bestigor Freebooters (Chaos)