Blood Bowl II - Roland's Paladins

[Abe Sargent]

Hello folks and welcome back to my 2nd attempt at a BBII dynasty. This time we're going with the new team, the Bretonians.

Here we are:


Team - Roland's Paladins
Sponsor - Bank of Altdorf


2 Rerolls, 20k extra funds, no Apothecary

4 Blitzers -

Ogier
Ganelon
Huon
Turpin

4 Blockers -

Fierabras
Renaud
Berengier
Astolpho

3 Lineman -

Lormas
Gustave
Russell


Most of these names come to us from the Song of Roland, which I have read a few years ago.

[Abe Sargent]

Lineman are the worst players you are going to see. just 40k for one, they have a 6/3/2/7 stats, so low armor, low agility, and such. They also have fend, which is both good and bad. When blocked, the tackling player cannot follow up, even if they knock the lineman down. It's usually good, but it can have some downfalls as well, because there are times when I set up blcosk and want my foes to follow up pushing someone back or somesuch. They also start with just general skill access. You need doubles for other areas.

These three will set up on the line almost exclusively, and be used to tie folks up.


Blockers - 6/3/3/8 - They have adequate armor, and average stats for a character. Nothing special. They start with just one skill - Wrestle. Wrestle works simply - when you get the both block result, it puts you both on the ground. So it counters Block, and it can be used to strip the ball carrier on the opposing team when you get Both Down, even if they have block. It also does not cause a turnover. While it's not uncommon to see 1 or 2 players on a team that have developed Wrestle for hitting ballcariers or making important blitzes, having four can be a bit of a problem. Post-block, if Wrestle is used for example they are no longer standing on the pitch, so they lose their tackle zones. Also they have to spend movement next turn standing up, and your opponent gets to stand up free first. They do have general and strength skills access.


This team is all about the Blitzer. They will be glory hounds, doing pretty much anything. They have 7/3/3/8 stats and begin with three skills, one of which is great - Block. They also have Dauntless, which gives them a chance of getting a one-die block against a foe, no matter what strength they have. Finally, they have the unusual Catch. And they have access to general and....passing. Not strength or agiity, so it's hard to get them dodge.

Ideally I want to turn one into a passer. Two into major blitzers, and one into a decent receiver, but snce they all have catch, I might just skip the "decent receiver" and leave it at that.

[Abe Sargent]

The good -

You have 8 players on the pitch that are not hurt by a double-skull roll on the die from the very beginning. Only our chump linemen are unable to deal with it. That gives us some additional durability while tackling and on defense. So, as an example, when blocking on offense, we only have a 1 in 6 chance of any tackle die being a turnover, rather than a 1 in 3. We also only have a 2 in 6 rather than 3 in 6 of going down on a tackle. That's not bad.

You cannot have a blocker ever be a ball carrier. Wrestle is not good with it at all. And your Agi 2 lineman isn;t either. Your Blitzers are the only people out there that matter for carrying the ball.


Weakness -


You have fragile, pudgy, creampuff lineman.

You don't have a lot of flexibility with the ball at first.

You don't have any characters with 4 agility or 4 strength to smash or slip away. But yet you don;t have the passing skills, at least not yet, of a Human team.

You don't have a big guy to hold things up or take pressure off your team

The Blitzers don;t level up well. We need either agility skills or strength one, but get neither outside of a doubles roll. That's not good. So there's no easy path to turn a Blitzer into a heavy injury laden guy with Mighty Blow and such. And no one on the team can get agility easy, so we'll almost always be subject to the Dodge Tackle roll.

With too much Fend and Wrestle, and breakable lineman, but without any advantages of being a bash-first team, can we get through and win?

[Abe Sargent]

Roland's Paladins are entered into the Jaguar Cup!


This is a Cup for almost all new teams to get their feel for the game.

There are 8 teams, and it's single elimination.


The first opponent of the Paladins is going to be the Spiteful Blades, a Dark Elf team.

[Tellistto]

Good luck!

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go!

The coin flip is up and....we lose and they choose to start with the ball.

We have a high kick and they catch the ball as it lands. They begin to move some players next to the line. Their Assassin fails a stab on out lineman and then they tackle one. their single Witch Elf is brought down with a failed doodge and they turn ends quickly

I put a blocker on their elf ith the ball. I move some folks around and then blitz the ball carrier with Huon, who takes them down ,and then even with catch cannot secure the ball and it falls to the ground. A few minor moves follow and I pass the turn.

They put two elves on Huon and the loose ball and then fail to pick it up from a third elf, and then after using a re-roll, still fail, and it falls to Huon who grabs it despite being next to three elves. That's a turnover for them too, a fail pickup.

I want to get some bodies on these elves or break them off. Hm.... I move a blocker on one elf, and then blitz over Turpin who knocks down one of the elves. Huon tackles but just gets an aroow and pushes back the elf to base the Blocker only and stays there, next to just the one elf I beak away Ganelon after tackling a elf with Renaud on teh line and base him into this fun lil' action. I get a two die skull tackle with a lineman and choose not to use a precious reroll and that's a turnover

No longer stunned, their Witch Elf rises and moves to the line. SOme of their players also stand as well. They blitz a one die block on Huon and get the two block result, but both of us have block so nothing happens. They try again with an adjacent player, again get the two die block, and this time, they don;t have block, so Huon drops them. Turnover. no more rerolls either btw, for our foes.

Tehir guy is stunned too. So i need to free Huon from one opponents. Trupin's two die block pushes the foe away. I don;t have a clear line of moving to the endzone, so I tackle the other elf with Ganelon, who puts him down. And Huon rushes for the score on teh 3rd turn.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Good luck!

Thanks!

[Abe Sargent]

We set up the ball and kick off. Get the - one additional bribe to each side to have your group ignore referee calls.


This time they play more cautiously, keeping their Witch Elf from getting too crazy, still missing the Stab and creating a nice screen before trying to pick up the ball. They fail to do so, but they are in a better position defensively and prepared better

The only way for me to get to break free down a flank is to force a one-die block from Ganelen on an Elf, but he gets an injury and smashes the hand hard on their foe. Our first injury on a foe too, that's nice. And it frees two players, a blocker and a blitzer near the line to head in. I fail a GFI roll to put a blocker on the ball, just one was needed, use a reroll, and fail it again - turnover.

They stab and stun a lineman. they move some figures around then get a double skull block on a lineman and they have a turnover as well, but only after picking up the ball.

I stand up the Blocker next to two of their players. I move a few players into the backfield, and then I try to GFI to move Ogier next to their rballcarrier and it works. Next I blitz Ganelon over to see if we can knock down their carrier. Ganelon tackles him and gets another injury, this time a pinched nerve. The ball alls loose, but I don't want to try a dodge. I tackel the Witch Elf, and move some of my blockers and Turpin onto elves to reduce their options.

They move their assassin and stab and kill Berengier, the Blocker. Dang! They pick up teh ball, KO a lineman, dodge their elf in teh bacl from my bliztzers, and then pass the turn. That was a nasty turn.

Turn 6 - I base their ball carrier and escort with blockers, and then blitz their carrier with Ganelon, but only a push back. I base them with Ogier. Turpin tackles and stuns a Elf. Renaud, a blocker, gets a both down against their Witch Elf and I chose to ignore Wrestel,a nd we stun their guy.

They moe some players around, and push back, and base us with a bunch of elves in the back. I have one turnover and a desperate chance for a score here - got to tackle the ball carrier, pick it up, and score. Ogier has a one die tackle but just knocks him away. Ganelon drops one. I fail on our Blitz in on the ballcarreir, and with the reroll as well.


Turn 8 - They move some plaeyrs around, drop two of ours, and then miss a dodge roll with the ball carrier who is injured. Ball is free. All i need to do is pick it up. Ogier fails to pick it up. Half time.




1-0 us, and then 1 dead player on us too.

[Abe Sargent]

Second half.


Our KO'd lineman returns. We have 10, they 8. They kickoff and get a perfect defense and can set up anew. They kick the ball just across the line two spaces from the middle. THat's not good either. I get some people next to the ball. One of our lineman, Lormas stuns their Assassin. turpin blitzes their Witchelf back a bit. We create a bit of a Cage, Huon steps in an picks up the ball, and i pass teh turn,


They begin to move in elves. They try to blitz Ogier off the line but just push him back - they knock down one corner of the cage and base us, and then get another push back on Ogier after basing him with a Witch Elf.


Our Blocker, Renaud, rises, and then I push back the elf on Huon with Turpin. I tackle some elves and move around. No where to go, hey have tied up my cage since it was on the line. I want to slip a blitzer behind their lines to catch a pass if needed. Ganelon bltizes and drops an elf and then rushes to teh back. This oopens my cage a bit abnd I am forced to move a lineman to cover.

For my last move, I have double skull block from a Blocker on their elf, but i choose to keep it and force the TO.


Their WE dodges from Ogier and bases Ganelon. THey blitz Ogier down and stun him. An elf is freed to base Ganelon as well. They push away a playe rand base Huon again.

My blocker blocks the elf down from Huon. We have some tackles, drop two more elves. Ganelon fails the Daunless check when tackling their Witch Elf and gets two negative dice, they choose knock back. I end the turn

A bunch of their folks rise from the ground. They move their three down to position them, and then blitz Ganelon, but both stand. Then they tackle and stun Ganelon.


Ogier rises and rushes to a scoring position. Turpin gets a double skull block and ends the turn.....

[Abe Sargent]

Our foes use this turn to move around, Our ball carrier is open now. They stab a player down. One more down. They injure Renaud, but he's just badly hurt. THey do a smart blitz, one dice with the Witch Elf and then the follow up block is a two die one with the Frenzy. Tackle Huon. They have two people on the ball and then get a double skull block and our blocker drops a Dark Elf Blizter.

Turn 13. Need to keep them from getting an equal score here. Huon rises next t othe ball and between their Witch Elf and Assassin. I move overa lineman to help block. Ogier bltizes in and knocks a blitzer off the ball with double tackle, their elf doesn;t have block and goes down. I move in Ogier and with a 50% chance, pick up the ball, only next to the Assassin. I need a 67% chance to dodge out. Try? I can;t be next to Mr. Stabby. I still have a reroll too. Made the dodge. As I pass the turn 4 elves are on teh ground.

They fail a stab, make a dodge to get next to our ball carrier - Ogier, and then blitz and miss a dodge. They use a reroll. They miss the dodge again and that player is ko'd, so Ogier only has one elf next to him.

Turn 14 - I blitz Ganelon over to free up Ogier and knock down another Elf. I run Ogier about 2 spaces away. I need to GFI to score now, but I don't want to blow a reroll on it. I move three lineman in a loose screen around it. I choose to fail a one die block and save my reroll. To

They stun Turpin. Base a few linemen, make a dodge to get away from blockers.

Turn 15 - Ganelon knocks out an elf. Ogier scores.



They get both KOd players back

Another high kick for our foes and we have 1 rr for our last turn. I knock around some folks and pass the turn.


We win 2-0.


Results -

We gained 60k gold

+1 fan factor

Lormas the Lineman was MVP - Sucks
Huon - 1 TD
Ogier - 1 TD
Ganelon - 2 Injuries

Dead - 1 Blocker - Berengier

[Abe Sargent]

I buy an Apothecary for 50k.

Duh

Our next match is against the Warfire Rodents, a Skaven team. They have 1090 TV and we don't. We have 970

[Abe Sargent]

Since we have just 970 vs 1090, we get 80000 in petty cash. We get a Journeyman lineman I think for this match. A merc who just plays for this match won't join us permanently, and could steal spp or MVP awards.

I'm buying a mercenary Lineman for the game as well.


Here we go!

They win and take the ball first. We get a Get the Ref kickoff result. Our foes have 3 rerolls in case you care. They pick up the ball, move a lot of people to the line, and then begin tackling until a lIneman of ours drops one of theirs.


I push towards their rat in the rear with the ball. Ganelon blitzes a zGutter Runner and we get two skulls and i have to use a reroll early. It opens a lane again our foe. I drop three mroe rats and bring Huon back as well afte basing Ogier to their ball runner.


They begin to rise some folks and position the team. They blitz Ogier off and drop him. They cage up on he middle just off the line. They move players into scoring position up the middle as well.


I get a two d block by Ganelon to crowd surf a thrower and again get a double skull and again I am forced to burn a reroll. That's not good, but the thrower is off the board. He is injured, and smashes his ankle and lsoes one movement. I base their ball carrier with a blocker and then blitz in Huon and I get another 2 skull die block - 0my third in two turns. And that ends that turn.

there's just a 1 in 36 chance for a double skulls on two die and I got it twice in one turn, and three times in 2. Crazy!


They move players to scoring positions. They takle a lineman, and it's Gustave stunned. They KO Russell. I do not use the Apothecary. They make a few dodgee rolles, take a one die blitze to free their ball carrier and push back our blocker, and then move and get ready to score. They faill a handoff and the reroll deep in our territory and then turnover.

Ogier KOs a Gutter Runner. I end the turn with no one on the ball but three tackles. A Gutter Runner snakes over and grabs teh ball and scurries away. they make some tackles and dodges to help D until a double skull by them on a blocker forces a TO

Turn 5

The most i can do is free some laeyrs to base their Gutter Runner and force a dodge next turn.

Pass the turn and....

they score

1-0.

I need to score quickly


Here we go. Perfect Defense. I swear I haven't gotten one kick off yet that makes me better. They get to switch up their defense and replace their figure after seeing how I was arranged. I blitz or run down two receiver/blitzers down each flank. Turpin picks up teh ball. When I pass the turn there aer 3 rats on the ground.

They move a lot of foes near the line. They most they can do is push some linemen around and tackle a blocker - Renaud. They did not get to the ball or base our receivers. Hmm...

I move linemen into tackle zones and get ready for some fun We fumble the throw and turn the ball over.


They make a turn of dodge,s tackles, and pickups. Nothing major by us either - we miss two two die tackles on the ball carrier with its dodge, pass the turn.

Turn 8 - Their Gutter Runner with the ball makes two dodges, and two GFIs and gets away and scores - 2-0 them.

Huon KOs a Skaven. Ogier gets wrestled to teh ground by a Gutter Runner,


Half time, we are down 2-0

[Abe Sargent]

We both get some KOd players back

Once again, perfect defense for our foes to get a great defense against us.


I move some players by the ball. Russell gets a punched nerve is a double block both down result and misses the next game. I do not use an Apothecary. Their guy is badly injured too!

They huddle up on the line by the right side of teh pitch. I begin to create a cage on the left side. Ganelon fails to blitz tackel a Gutter Runner. Huon scoops up the ball and I move him to the left cage.

Turn 10 - Their Gutter Runner dodges on a blitz, gets a red two die - so they roll two dice and we choose one - they get a skull, reroll, and then get two tackles - they are just getting the nuts results today. They fail a GFI for another Gutter Runner and the ball pops into teh hand of teh one that just tackled our guy and grabs it.

T11 - I fail two blocks on their GR despite three double rolls. I KO a Skaven. THen I blitz over Ogier who needs two GFIs and get there, kncoks it down and Ogier catches the ball


They take a one die block on the ball carrier with a blitz and its just a pushback. i tackle some folks off the ball and cage up to the rear and left of my field. When I pass the turn, 4 rats are on th ground.

Once again, a lucky dodge blitz on my cage with two gfi rolls gets to Ogier. I get a few tackles and put some people on the ball.

They snake in a GR and grab the ball on three of our tackle zones and still manage to grab it.

Turpin tackles the GR with teh ball. Ogier blitzes a Gutter Runner into the endzone boundary and off the match, he is injured and badly hurt. Huon stuns a GR too. Alright crazy time, here we go. Renaud the Blocker moves over and tries to pick up the ball but fails and I use a reroll - my last one of the half. It works. I run Renaud up to Ganelon and hand off. Ganelon rushes 7 spaces to the endzone, and finishes about four spaces away. Since all of their fast runners are in our endone that should be a score next turn I hope


They dodge a normal attacker - a Storm Vermin for a blitz, then get a one die block - its a skull, reroll to a tackle and drop me. I swear, they are dodging and blitzing and hitting risky tackles all day long.


Turn 15 - I make a tackle to free someone and have to make a GF Ito base their Storm Vermin and I fail. TO by me

Storm Vermin picks up teh ball.

Turn 16 - I move some folks, stand up and blitz Ganelon and drop their Storm Vermin, now I need to pick up the ball and......




We lose 2-0

[Abe Sargent]

Results of the match

We gain 20k gold


MVP -

Fierabras

Injury

Russell



We are knocked out of the competition.

I hire a new Lineman - Etienne

[Abe Sargent]

The account of Ganelon:

Now, a little before the feast of St. John the Baptist, King Charlemagne held a great court in Paris, and Duke Benes did not forget to go there as he had promised. And so he departed from Aygremount with two hundred knights and took his way to Paris to serve the king, as he would have him do.

Now, the King being in Paris, his nephew the Earl Ganelon, Foulkes of Moryllon, Hardres, and Berenger, came to him and told him that Duke Benes was coming to serve him with two hundred knights, and Ganelon said: "Sire, how may you love or be well served by him who so cruelly has slain your son, our cousin? If it were your pleasure, we should well avenge you of him, for truly, we would slay him."

"Ganelon," said the king, "that would be treason, for we have given him our truce. But do as you will, so that the blame turn not upon me; and keep you well. For in certain the Duke of Aygremount is very powerful and of great kindred; and well might you find yourself with much to do, if you carry out your intent."

"Sire," said Ganelon, "care nothing for that. There is no man in all the world rich enough to undertake anything against me or my lineage. And Sire, tomorrow early we shall depart with 4,000 fighting men; and you may be sure we shall deliver the world of him."

"Certainly," said the king, "that would be treason."

"Care nothing for that," said Ganelon, "for he slew well your son Lohier by treason, and he was my kinsman; and therefore I will be avenged if I may."

"Now do as you will," said the king, "understanding always that I am not consenting thereto."

When morning came, Ganelon and his knights departed early from Paris, and with them full 4000 fighting men. And they rode without tarrying until they came to the Valley of Soissons; and there they encountered Duke Benes with his followers.

When Duke Benes saw them coming he said to his men, "Lords, I see that yonder are some people of the king's coming from the court."

"It is of no importance," said one of his knights.

"I know not what it may be," said the Duke, "for King Charlemagne is well able to think to avenge himself. And also he has with him a lineage of people who are deadly and cruel; that would be Ganelon, Foulkes of Moryllon, and certain others of his court. And in truth, last night I dreamed that a griffin came out of the heavens and pierced my shield and armor, so that his claws struck into my liver and my spleen. And all my men were in great torment and eaten by boars and lions, so that none escaped but one alone. And also, it seemed to me that out of my mouth issued a white dove."

Then one of his knights said that all was well, and he should not dismay himself because of the dream. "I know not what God shall send me," said the Duke, "but my heart dreads me for this dream."

Then Duke Benes commanded that every man should arm himself. And his knights answered that they would glady do so, and all sought their arms and equipment. And now you shall hear of the hard hewing and of a thing heavy to recount: the great slaughter that was made of the good Duke Benes of Aygremount, by the traitor Ganelon.


Ganelon is often seen as the Judas Iscariot of the Paladins of Charlemagne, and in the Song of Roland he really is, but normally he is more like the one portrayed here, and Charlemagne uses Ganelon for vengeance against the murder of his son's death by using his brother in law Ganelon, Earl, to take out the killer. Ganelon is respectable, and understandable, and sees the values of justice and revenge trumping that of legality and law. But Charlemagne all but tells him to go ahead and do so.

Taht's why it was funny to me when Ganelon our Blitzer began to collect the casualties.

[Abe Sargent]

Welcome to the Lil' Bashers Cup!

This is another 8 team Cup and Roland's Paladins have been entered, hoping to improve on their performance in the Jaguar Cup.

They have been randomly assigned to face the Greenskin Crushers, an Orc team of 1010 TV. The paladins are at 970, so this should be a closer game. Both teams feature strong bash elements with some speed and the potential for a fast score.

The orcs are the better team at 1000 bv with 4 str Black Orc smashers rocking the block, and better ball handling skills.

[Abe Sargent]

So we currently have 11 players on our roster, 4 Linemen, 3 Blockers, 4 Blitzers, and one of the linemen, Russel, is out for this game after being badly injured against the Skaven.

We get a journeyman Lineman instead.

Here we go!



They win the flip and choose to receive. Kickoff has throw a rock result, and an orc player is stunned. They have a Troll in their team on the line as well. I want to stay very, very far away from that big guy. They have 2 rerolls as well. The ball falls to the line, just across the way from us. They move some players over, and then try to pick it up and fail. THey burn a rr and get it, but their guy is along the line. He's a Blitzer, so he has block, but he is in a very crowd surf-able spot.They begin to block to try and free up some orcs. They stun and ko two Lineman. One was KO'd by teh Troll.

They pass the turn after putting a golbin near their guy on the line. I move some folks over and blitz over Ogier, but only get 2 arrows die, and I push them back. Can't get an angle to turn that into a crowd surf. I move some players around and fail a gfi and no use of rerolls so its a TO later on


They blitz Ogier off the pitch. They cage up after moving the ball off the line. I tackle someone off the cage. I am forced to use a reroll on a double skull tackle. I move some folks around, knock down a couple of orcs, and pass the turn.

T3 - The blitz a Black Orc and knock our guy off the ball carrier. They have Troll and Black Orcs all around and kncok down four of our players total .

Huon blitzes in, makes the Dauntless roll, and gets a tackle and the ball is freed. Lots of players are next to each other, but that'll slow them down. We pass the turn after failing a dodge as my last move.

T4 - I just have Huon and their black orc on the ball. They move some bodies over. They block Huon off the ball and stun him too. Their goblin tries to pick up the ball, fails, and then they burn their other reroll and it has it. They get a turn of blocks and blitzes, and stop with 5 of our folks on teh ground

teh best I could do is rise a Blizter on a blitz, make a dodge roll, and then get a 2 die block on their STR2 Goblin. Here goes Ganelon. He makes teh dodge and.... gets the double block result and drops their Goblin and since he has block, nothign happens. The ball lands next to him and two orcs. I keep him there. Any further rolls require GFIs or such. I dodge a lineman over to get on teh ball as well. We pass teh turn..

T5 - They finally get a really stupid on teh Troll, then stun a Blocker and lineman of ours. They drop two of us, but only their goblin is on teh ball.

Ganelon drops their Goblin, and then follows, and we've cleared up space to collect it. After I move some folks around, Gustave the Lineman is the only one I have. He moves in, and has a 50% chance of picking it up, fails, and we fail teh rr and it drops to Ganelon - bad, because Ganelon is based to two orcs.

T6 - They get a two die blitz on Ganelon with a Black Orc and get Skull and Double Skull without block they drop but he si still sanding. TO!

Is this an opening. We are next to jsut one Black Orc and one Goblin. Gustave pushes off the Goblin. I want to blitz, either tackle or knock back the BO, and then run away from this scrum. I move folks around. Here we go. I get a pushback, and run up, and Renaud teh Blocker follows. I want to keep people on them to force them to tackle - I don;t have a cage. I'll try to knock down another player or two though. I push back someone, and then get a skull with the blocker and drop it. Ah well, just a 1 in 6 chance of failure, but it happened.

T7 - They KO Huon with a Black Orc. THey can't quite get to our speedy Ganelon though.

I move him and score.

I want the 2nd chance to bring back Huon - one KO roll for round 8 and another for halftime. Nope. both of ours still out.

Cheering fans give us another RR this half.

T8 - No major tackles by our foes. CHance for us to hit.

No injuries.

Half time we are up 1-0.

[Abe Sargent]

Huon is still KOd, but we get that Lineman back, so we have 10 players.



Turn 9 - They kick off and another rock is tossed. A black orc on teh right flank is injured. Only a goblin is on that flank...

I blitz over Ganelon and then push teh goblin nexxt to the line. I create a small cage here. Turpin fails to pick up the ball and I reroll and he's got it. I move him to the right flank. After all fo that I have a 1 die block on the BO blocker on the line on the left flank from a lineman. Might as well try...skull die and that's teh end of the turn.


Orcs move around. They move the Troll next to our cage's Ganelon. They dodge the Goblin away from the edge and to our ballcarrier. They drop two more of our players. We have a Blocker on the left flank that penetrated that they didn;t go after.


I run Renaud, that blocker over to teh right. Ogier blitzes in and pushes back the goblin. Our Blocker, Fierabram gets a tckle on the goblin, pushes him off teh match and Kod him. I move Turpon and some troops dwn the flank some more.


They blitz and kill Gustave. I use the Apothecary. He gets a smashed knee instead, which gives hm -1 to any future injury rolls from the guy. They fail a tackle by their Troll after a really stupid roll.


T11 - I can score right now with Turpin. Do I hold up and get in some smashes instead? I set up another cage by the end zone. I have a screen to the rear and left as well. I pass the turn.


They push an orc int the endzone near us. They move some players and then blitz a lineman and stun him. I put a blocker on that orc blizter, and then blitz Ogier over and tackle him off the pitch for an KO. I pass the turn. I'm not standing my down linemen.

They blitz Renaud with a Troll. But he was not near the cage but screening it.


I stand Renaud, move over a blocker, i blitz over Ganelon and get Dauntless on the blizt and have a two die attack and...push teh Troll back and move to protect the right flank of teh cage. End turn

They move folks over to base the cage. another troll blitz pushes back Renaud. They tackle but drop no one although they get close to crowd surfing one of ours.

T14 - I move Turpin in and score.


Huon comes back from his KO

They get their Goblin back, but not the other orc


Perfect defense kick off for us!


They pick up the ball, push back a lineman, fail a GFI when setting up a cage, make the reroll, push back another linemn, tackle a third, and pass th turn -


Turn 15 -

My goal for these last two turns is to keep any of my guys from getting injured since Im without the safety of the Apothecary. None of my players are based to them. Turpin stuns their goblin on a blitz. End the turn after moving folks away


They blitz a blocker, and then pass the turn after some moves. Then minor moves by us ends with a 2 skull die roll by Huon and drops the turn. Nothing major, end of match.



We win 2-0

[Abe Sargent]

Results -

We gain 80k

+1 fan factor

MVP of the game was Fierabras again.

TDs by Turpin and Ganelon

[Abe Sargent]

We have two potential level ups - Ganelon and Fierabras.



Let's start with our Yeoman Blocker Fierabras -

I roll double 4s for an eight. Doubles are a nice and sick roll. What do I want?

I could grab Dodge from the Agility section. I don't know that I need to get it on a Blocker though.

No need to grab anything from the Pass section. It might sound good to pass to four catchers though. I could grab Pass here, and then Strong Arm next as a strength skill. That gives you +1 to pass attempts and Pass gives you a reroll for a pass attempt. So I could do Pass here, and then Strong Arm later. But my initial goal was to eventually turn a Blizter into a passer.



So Dodge or go with Pass?


Dodge



Next is Ganelon the Blitzer


We get double 1s, and roll a 2. Two doubles - nice!


There are two intriguing ways to go with Ganelon:

1). Grab Dodge and thank the stars that one of our blitzers got the Block+Dodge combination.

2). Grab Mighty Blow and turn Ganelon into the power smasher that tries to get casualties for Star Points


Both of these make sense.

I can't normally get Mighty Blow or Dodge for my Blitzers. Now after going for Mighty Blow, I could then move to stuff from the general skill category like tackle or strip ball or something. Maybe Frenzy with Dauntless and Block. Yeah, that's what I'd do - Frenzy next.

What would I do with Dodge? Perhaps go with Tackle or Strip Ball as well. In fact, I'd likely go Strip Ball to break off the other foes, or perhaps Sure Hands to make him a dedicated ball carrier.

So it looks like:

Dodge and then Sure Hands?

Mighty Blow and then Frenzy


Both give me something good. I'm going with Mighty Blow because I think it fits the theme of Ganelon.


We hire:


Blocker - Berengier II


We now have 4 Lineman, 4 Blockers, and 4 Blitzers

I want to eventually replace our injured Lineman, but for now my next goal is a reroll.


We now have a 1110 TV


Our next foe is....

Nature's Sprites, a Wood Elf team, 1120 TV< with a Treeman on the squad but just one Wardancer - considered one of the best players in the game.

[Abe Sargent]

So I'm learning a bit more about how to manage the team. It feels like a Norse team a bit. With their low armor, despite the Block skill on their players, you try to stay off opposing players.

It feels similarly. In the first half vs those Orcs, we were getting too many tackles and losing the tackle wars. Then i moved my people off the orcs, and dominated the 2nd half.

We are not a bash team. It looks like we are. And we might slide into that role against a squishy team, but we are not a bash team.

So against the Woodies I might move it to bash it up a bit, because putting tackle zones on the elves is one of the few ways to faze them, but otherwise, we aren't a bash team. We aren't a bash team. We aren;t a bash team.

[Abe Sargent]

We begin battle with the Woodies


These are not a bash team, other than the Treeman obviously.

They win and elect to receive. When we set up on defense, I'm putting our wounded Lineman in the middle, because we're getting smacked around anyways.

Let's start this thing. We get an extra reroll with Birllaint coaching. The ball lands just behind their Treeeman on the line. They move a bunch of elves in, pick up the ball, have a cage, then get a blitz and tackle two lineman, push back a thir.d. One is stunned.

They had a virtually ideal turn. They got teh ball, a cage by their one major smash player, and they have no players next to ours. Let's get close and personal. I don't manage to drop anyone, but i base some of their folks, although not the ball carrier. End the turn

They blitz the Woodman and hit a blocker - Berenger II and drop him. their Wardancer stuns Renaud. They push two and then three receivers down the middle. Then a forth. They fail a 1 die block, fail their RR and then pass teh turn

I slip Ganelon next to their ballcarreir and then blitz over Huon. We drop it and the ball falls next to some elves and Huon. and their Treeman. Stupid Treeman.

Their turn again. They of course bring someone in to pick up the ball despite our tackle zones. I choose to ignore wrestle and take a double down tackle rather than wrestle with Fierabras, because I want to end their turn. In fact we badly injured their elf and we get our first casualty of the game! TO by them


After standing some folks, Huon has a one die block naturally on their ball carrier, and they tackled their Treeman away when he went after a foe. Instead Huon targest an adjacent linemen we have 2 dice on, tackles and KOs him. Ganelon blitzes the ball carrier, tackles it and the ball falls to Huon who grabs it. Huon isn;t next to any standing elves, but there's one on teh ground. I get a gentle cage going. After I drop two elves. End turn.


They blitz with a elf on teh groudn and I chose the skull they get after they tried to reoll, immediate to


I move our cage down the field. I base Renaud to their Wardancer and try to tackle him with Ogier. We KO their Wardancer! I dodge Mr. Dodge Blocker from two folks and move to screen. End turn.

T5 - They blitz and drop Ogier. Their woodman takes down a blocker of ours. They stun a lineman and drop another, but still nothing near our ball. Cage is too tight, and with a screen around as well.


I make one blitz with Ganelon on the cage, but nothing happens and I return. I move Huon next to the line and have a small cage. Then I make a few more tackles and pass the turn

T6 - They position some elves near by. They do little though. TUrpin crowdsurfs an elf and then pass teh turn.

T7 - They fail a dodge and then use a reroll and make it. They injure Lormas a Lineman who is just badly hurt - not Apothecary useage. Huon scores.


T8 - 1 of their KOd players return. Nothing major happens. Ganelon drops an elf on a blitz and KOs them. End of the half


We are up 1-0 at the half.

[Abe Sargent]

They kick, quick snap we get to move our people one space each.


I tackle some folks and then pick up teh ball with Turpin after getting a reroll used. I made a screen on the right flank and blitzed, but not to any major results. We end the turn


They do a bunch of positioning and break up the screen we have. They tackle Huon. Nothing major happens on our end but I run teh bal into the cage and secure it. Ogier penetrates their back field on the left flank as well, in case I need a receiver.


Their Treeman blitzes and stuns a Lineman - Russell. They dodge some elves in front of our cage on the right. but they leave Ogier unmarked.

Huon moves over and bases an elf. Ganelon tackles an drops their Wardancer. After moving folks around, Adolphe drops an elf on a blitz. I slip Turpin out but he's naked they broke my cage in front. Turpin passes to Ganelon, the ball falls back to him two spaces away and end of the turn.

Their Woodman blitzes Turon and ko's him. Ogier bltizes a one die bloc, drops and KOs the ball carrier. My foe initially moved the elves screening and opening in front to the new location, so my humans on the right are now freed and get near the ball.

Elves scurry over. They stun Renaud near the ball and put a couple of elves on the ball too. I get some skulls, reroll and another and end teh turn. The move around and tackle and KO one of my blockers.


T14 - Ganelon blitzes a player off their carreir and bases it and a blocker follows. Huon delivers a groin strain to an elf.

They dodge some players and run GFI down field ro make a receiving cage. They then fail a 3rd dodge, reroll and make it.


T15 - Ganelon drops the ballcarrier and the ball falls to Renaud, teh blocker. I run Renaud in to score.

They get an injury back, we get a KO back.


We kick off and get cheering fans - extra rr for both sides. They blitz and stun a lineman, and then that's about it.


T16 - Nothing happens for us.


We win 2-0!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Game Results:

We make 60k

+1 Fan Factor


MVP is Turpin

Scores by:

Huon
Renaud

Casualties by:

Huon
Fierabras

[Abe Sargent]

Rerolls for our club are 140k, and we have 80k so I'm saving up for the next rr.


We have two players who can level up:

Huon, Turpin - both Blizters


Let's level up Turpin:


Turpin rolls a 7. I give him Pass.


Huon also rolls a 7.


What do I want? Tackle? That prevents Dodge skill. Can;t get guard, it's a STR skill. I take tackle for Huon.




We have made it to the finals!!!

We have 1200 TV and our foes the Spiteful Blades, the Dark elves from the other Cup, have 1040 now. They will get some inducements.

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go!


Our foes hired a star player - Edril.

We win initiate and I chose to kickoff.


We get a Riot and lose a turn for this half.


T2 - They fail a stab and move Edril around. They fail a pickup and half to use the RR that they have - the only one in the 1st (well 2nd) turn. That's good. They cage two elves and then blitz and fend a lineman. They positioned quite nicely but only tackled one of teh players they tried. Ogier blitzes and drops an elf. KOd. I move folsk around and pass the turn


T3 - They blitz a lineman down, opening up teh right flank. They create a cage on the line of scrimmage.

Renaud tackles, drops an elf and bases their carrier. Turpin blitzes and gets a one-die block and pushes the carreir back. I push him next to Huon, who has a one die block but just a push back as well. Berengier II moves in and bases them as well. Astolpho does as well.


T4 - They move folks around and such. Their Assassins tuns Astolpho with a tackle. They do some tackles and positioning. they get a double tackle push back on Ganelon with their ball carrier.


I mark some receivers with lineman. I have Ogier in a scoring position just in case. I'm forced to use a reroll when I get a double skull roll to free up a blitzer to hit their ball carrier. I need to do the blitz next. Berengier II just pushes back. Moved it next to Huon though, and Huon drops it and fllow (their assassin follows with shadowing). The ball drops next to Huon. Do i try for a GFI with Ganelon to put him on the ball too? I try. it works. I move oGier over and pass the turn

T5 - They stab and stun Huon. They get a tackle on, and badly hurt Russell, and I choose not to use the Apothecary. THey then injure and badly hurt Etienne and again, not Apothecary. They can come back next game. They have just one player on the ball.

I need to score. I have too many injured players to keep up the bach for long. I can blitz their guy off, pick up teh ball with someone else and handoff to Ogier and score. That's the plan. We tackle first. Good. I can;t get someone to the ball. i move Ogier to next to the ball.

T6 - They fail a stab. They stun our lineman. They make two dodges. Then a 3rd. We still have three players on the ball.

I wrestle their Assassin to the ground. I blitz down Ogier, get a double skull and am forced to use my last reroll. Ganeon fails to pick up teh ball and it falls to Ogier. He's exposed though.

T7 - They base Ogier with two elves, including the Witch Elf. Because he has tackle, I blitz Huon over to hit teh WItch Elf, in case we get the dodge block result. We do and drop it. I fail a GFI when moving Turpin into a scoring position.

T8 - Alright, I have a random route to score. I need to rush near Fiera....the Blocker, he has to catch the ball in two tackle zones and tehn dodge away, or dodge away and get into the endzone and catch a longer toss. Hmm...I hink that's more likely.

He dodges and makes it to the endzone.

I put markers on potential intercepters

Pass is out and on target, but....they get an interception. End of the half.

0-0

[Abe Sargent]

THey get their ko'd folks back. We have just 10 on the pitch due to injuries.


We get the ball and cheering fans for another reroll.


Ganelon stuns their star player with his blitz. Turpin requires a reroll to pick up the ball. I have a screen on in the right and he moves into that area. Pass the turn


After a lot of good positioning, they get a skull on a Peasant and tht's a to.


T10 - I wrestle their Assassin down. Ganelon stuns a player. I cage up hard. And I pass the turn after running Ogier up the left flank.

They knock down two lineman, stand their star player and dodge him away from us, and then screen in front of the cage. Typical anti-cage tactics really.

T11 - Loose tackles and my cage is loosened too. I move Ogier into a scoring spot. They move in five elves to base our guys. They blitz, get a dodge and a one die hit on the ball carrier and push us back.

T12 - My first need is to clear this fool off my guy. Ganelon gets a double skull block and I am forced to use a reroll to turn it into a tackle. That's bad news because I don't have my reroll for ball movement. But I have Pass to Catch. which si faesbile. My cage is down. I rush out and hand teh ball off to Ogier, who scores.


1-0 thus far.


Plenty of time for an elf team to score though, need to play this tightly. Here we go.



Changing weather - windy.


Sucks, wind pushed ball near line of scrimmage. They move five players to and near the line. Then they pick up the ball then start tackling. They have saved reroll until now, get a double skull on teh line against a blocker fo ours, and choose not to reroll just in case.

T13 - I need to get people on that ballcarrier. Huon blitzes and drops a With Elf and then bases their carrier. Astolpho follows. I move some folks around. I slip Ogier around the left flank again to get me an angle of attack from the rear. Pass

They stab and stun Lormas. They make multiple dodges, a GFI for it with their star player, and more. They break three receivesr on the left flank - too many to mark. Another one skull block and anothe rdecision to retain that RR for an emergency

T14 - Astoplho clears a defender off their ball carrier and stuns him. Huon is now set up with a two die block...Huon stuns and drops him the ball is not next to anyone. I move Turpin over next to it. I bltiz Ganelon through the line, stun an elf, and then base it too. I rush Ogier over to pick it up and...reroll and....nope, but it falls to Ganelon, who grabs it. Not my ideal choice for a carrier, since he's behind the other two, but they both couldn;t grab it.

They stand their elf up and blitz us, and then get a skull on a negative two die block and reroll, and then I choose the pushback arrow. Their Assassin gets to Ganelon as well and they pass the turn

T15 - Alright, can I free Ganelon? Ogier drops one. Ganelon pushes the assassin back. Pass the turn.

They fail a stab attempt. I have a player in a scoring position too.

T16 - In order to score again this turn I need to do three things -

Tackle teh assassin off Huon.
Run my gy up to Huon
Hand off and take the bl lsuccessfully, and then rush in for a score

alright, let's do it

Turpin drops the elf.

Handoff successful and we score.

T16 for them and........nothing.


We win 2-0.

[Abe Sargent]

Results - We win the Lil' Basher Cup!


We gain 70k

+1 fan factor

MVP -

Blocker Renaud


TDs by Ogier and Huon

No casualties


We purchase a 3rd RR


We have two level ups:


Ogier - rolls an 8 and takes Tackler.

Renaud the Blocker - rolls a 3

We'll grab Guard.

We have a 1320 Team Value

[Abe Sargent]

Our team decides to quit these little Cups. There is a local league getting started that is called the Ambuscade League. It takes out registration and has 5 other teams. Each of the 6 teams play each other in a round-robin format, and the winner is the team with the most points at the end, with 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw.


A Human team, the Sharp Wanderers will be our first foe. They rock a very similar team value.

The other teams in the league are:

Celestial Marauders - Human
Iron Head Drillers - Dwarf
Tlaxtlan Claws - Lizards
Thunder Drillers - Dwarf
Sharp Wanders - Human


That's great. So diverse....

[Abe Sargent]

I quit the league and start another to give myself more diversity. THis time we have two Dark Elves, 2 Orcs, and Lizards. I do it again and this time we get Skaven, Wood Elves, Lizards, Dwarves, and and Skaven. A bit better. How about again:? THis time I go with 8 teams to give myself more of an opportunity for diversity, right?

Chaos, Orcs, Dark Elves, Humans, Dark Elves, Humans, Wood Elves,

HMmm...

How about one more time for the fences?

Lizards, Skaven, Dark Elves, Wood Elves, Dwarves, Skaven, Dark Elves

Dang. At first I thoght it was just all elves and skaven and lizards - a bunch of slippery teams, and then the bash with the dwarves and I thought maybe we'd do orcs or chaos, but nope, more elves and skaven instead.

Boring.

Bed time, let's put this dynasty away for today.

[Groundhog]

I still haven't tried the Bretons... They're a weird mix of players. I remember one of the first trial Breton rosters had between 2 or 4 ST 4 knights, and thral-esque 6-3-3-7 linemen. I think all that AG 2 mixed with no ST 4 makes for a tough time of it against human coaches.

[Abe Sargent]

True. But lots of rosters are challenges against humans players. Ever played the Gnomes in Stuny Leeg at FUMBBL? I have! I'm like 0-12-3 with them.

[Groundhog]

I forgot all about it, but apparently once upon a time I did:

FUMBBL :: Bleemil's Boys

First time I've logged in to FUMBBL in years.

[Abe Sargent]

How have you won with that team 6 times? Gnomes are crazy hard! Here's mine

FUMBBL :: Geluid en Woede

[Groundhog]

Looking at my match history, I think it must've been a tournament or something. I've played the same opponent 5 times.