Decayde - A Nurgle Blood Bowl Dynasty

[Abe Sargent]

After successfully coaching two teams to prominence, coach Braham Essex is taking over the helm of a new Blood Bowl Team. He has just left Chaos-a-Ganza, where the players went 20-2-2. Before that, he was with his debut team, Necrotasy, a Necromantic team that was 17-1-1 and debuted with tremendous flair and scoring.



It appears that Essex will be taking one of the more unusual teams under his belt. After playing chaos, he must’ve wanted another team that serves the lords of randomness. His Nurgle team will be new for him, and we’ll see how he handles it.

[Abe Sargent]

We'll be heading full steam into the dynasty, and then back out again to get those of you not up on Bloodbowl slang and mechanics caught up.




Decayde


Their kits are indigo with a three decaying heads in a triangle over a chaos symbol.


Their team motto is: “Decay Away!”

We have 3 re-rolls and 30k in the bank.

[Abe Sargent]

Our Initial Team Roster:



Nurgle Warriors (They start with 4 mv, 4 str, 2 ag, and 9 av, with regenerate, nurgle’s rot, foul appearance and disturbing presence):

Varg

Gaggle

Quibex

Spitter



Pestigor (I can have up to four, I have one on my starting roster, 6 mv, 3 str, 3 ag, 8 av with regeneration, nurgle’s rot and horns):

Toro



Rotters (cheap 40k linemen, with a disadvantage called decay, which cause sit to be injured twice. They also have nurgle’s rot. 5 mv, 3 st, 3 ag and 8 av.):

Karl the Decayed

Bob the Stinker

Franz the Spoiler

Davion the Weak

Ewan the Vile

Matt the Musty



The first four names were created by the game and I thought they were funny so I made the last two in the same vein. Nurgle’s Rot means that when we kill someone, they have a chance of being added to our roster as a new Rotter. This roster is designed to emphasize our re-rolls since they are the most expensive of any team. We will need to add three more Pestigors to the team, and later, perhaps even a Beast of Nurgle.

We do not get an apothecary, so expect the Rotters to die very quickly.


We will begin with the Clean Cup competition.

We sign a contract with the Chaos Gift Shop worth 450k if we hit all of the benchmarks in the first season – 70% wins, 10 fan factor and 5 rankings.

[Abe Sargent]

Here is the original team. You can see our 11 guys in a team photo below.

[Abe Sargent]

Our first match is against the Pinkfoot Panthers, a Halfling Team. Because they are so much better than us, I can buy some extra inducements for victory. Here’s what I can buy:


Star Player – We can pay a star player a hefty sum to play for us for a game. The only two options are a star Chaos Warrior and a star Minotaur. The others are too expensive.

Mercenary – In a similar vein, I could pay a player to play for us this game like a Rotter, Pestigor or even Beast of Burgle. For an extra 50k I can give them the skill of my choice.

Training, Potions, - I can try to raise a stat for one of my players for this match only.

Extra Team Training – For 100k each, I could buy a temporary team reroll usable for this match only

Bad Habits – I can spend 100k and force my foes to lose a team reroll for the match

Bloodweiser Babes – I can spend money on beer and babes to help my players out

Bribe – I can try to bribe the ref or an opposing player

Igor – As a team without an apothecary, I can spend 100k for Igor on my lines, to reroll one regeneration roll this game.

Rioting Fans – I can buy some fans

Cheering Fans – I can buy some different sort of fans

Wizard – I can buy a wizard, and once during the game he can cast a fireball or lightning bolt spell onto the pitch. 150k for the mage.





I like rerolls, the mage, and others. For example, I can buy a Pestigor with extra arms to be my ball grabber for 160k. A Beast of Nurgle with Stand Firm is 220k.

I buy Bad Habits once (the max), a wizard, 40k for an Agility Potion for Toro, and 20k each for two sections of cheering fans.

[Abe Sargent]

We begin to look around the stadium. Here’s the opening camera shot.





Unfortunately, the agility potion failed, so no bonus for our guy.

[Abe Sargent]

On the first turn, the Halflings kill one of my Warriors, Spitter, and he fails to regenerate. Rough. One of their Treeman get a take root roll, so I won’t go near it and it can’t move until someone scores or the half ends. The Halflings effectively use their Stunty skill to dodge around my big guys without usually getting knocked down. It prevents them from being good at receiving the ball though.

On my turn, we ring the bell of a Halfling and get it off the pitch temporarily. They pick up the ball and caged in their half, so I’m trying to get my players to defend. I blitz a rotter to get someone on the ball. The Halfling goes down hard and is stunned. I pass the turn.

The Halflings open up the middles with their other Treeman and a tackle on a rotter, and move the ball into in. A failed blitz on Toro and Toro knocks down their Halfling and their turn ends. I roll a 2d block and roll double skulls and burn a reroll to a skull and double block. I take the double block and both a warrior and a Halfling fall and we end the turn early.

Their other Treeman takes root as well. Good! They knock down three of my rotters. On my turn, I stand them up and base Halflings. I blitz a Halfling with Matt and knock it down to base their ball carrier. We knock down and stun a Halfling with Varg and pass the turn.

One of their Halflings tried to dodge away from a rotter early, and we knocked them down. Injured Halfling carted off the pitch and it’s our turn again. With a two die block on the ball carrier from my guy, I roll a double arrow, re-roll, get a tackle, knock the ball carrier down and ring his bell. The ball is free! I surround the ball with my guys, blitz with Toro to knock a Halfling free and then try to pick up the ball with him – failure. The ball squirts out and loose.

They squeak out a Halfling and try to pick up the ball and fail, turnover. Quibex takes a three die block and injures a Halfling to get it off the ball. We have a free shot at it now. I position a few players and move in with Toro. We pick it up and run Toro into a cage I’ve prepared. We knock a few more Halflings down and pass the turn.

They do what they can to get in my way, but so few Halflings are up right now that they can’t stop my cage moving down field. I have a few extra people in the cage to help against the stunties. Matt rings the bell of another Halfling and I pass the turn.

Again the Halflings do little. This is the 7th turn of the half. I could score with Toro this turn, but why invite them an opportunity to tackle my guys next turn. I reroll a two die block for Davion and he wounds a Halfling. Another cart arrives to take off a brutalized Halfling. They try to tackle one of my players, fail, get knocked down, and then I run in a score with Toro just as the half ends.

[Abe Sargent]

Baby's first score!

[Abe Sargent]

We start with the ball in the second half. I get players around the ball, move in, blitz down the left side and tackle a Halfling, I have a tough decision to make. Do I take a double block and one skull tackle on the line or burn one of my three re-rolls. I burn one and then try to pick up the ball with Toro. If I fail, I fail, and end the turn. We do and pass the turn.

Both Treemen tackle a rotter on the line. They position their Halflings and pass the turn. My rotters rise. I run Karl behind their line to position for a pass or to play havoc in their safety. You never know when you need a desperation pass. I don’t think I will, but you should be prepared. Varg blitzes a Halfling and tackles it into the out of bounds, which causes him to be beat up by our fans. Toro misses the pickup, and I reroll and he has the ball. He is behind our other two surviving warriors – Gaggle and Quibex. We move in Davion to help out the gang. Franz rolls a two die block, rolls double skulls, tackles himself and that’s the end of that turn.

They don’t do much. Two tackles on a rotter just pushed him back and a Treeman just tackled one. Halflings got away from my tackles and stood up to pressure my cage. I blitz Varg and take down and stun a Halfling. I move in Davion and others and bring up Toro on the left flank. I take a double tackle two die roll against a Halfling with Karl. I kill theirs and Karl is injured twice and gets injured badly and moves off the field after being severely injured as well.

They maneuver and try to tackle and stun one of my rotters with a Treeman but that’s it. I push my cage further down their flank. On e of my guys falls when going for it and is stunned. They try and blitz a Treeman and miss their go for it roll too and fail. It falls. Franz tries to foul the Treeman and manages to stun it. I move Toro right up to the line but I don’t run in. I want to try and do some more damage to their team first for a few turns. With little pressure. I end the turn and get it right back after they fail a dodge and one of their guys goes plop, and right off the pitch.

We score again.

[Abe Sargent]

A Touchdown Dance:

[Abe Sargent]

On the final turn, one of their Treemen tackles and kills our Rotter – Matt the Musty bit it!!!

[Abe Sargent]

We gained 60k from the game. We lost two players, which is rough. One costs 110k.

We gain one fan factor. One of my dead players was voted Game MVP so we lost those spp. Toro has gained enough star player points (spp) to advance to level 2. He rolled double 2, so I can choose any skill. They have access to General Skills, Strength Skills and Mutations already. This is an opportunity for something else. I take dodge as an Agility Skill. I could take Pass or something, but this is the time for dodge.

I buy another Pestigor, and I’ll pick up a temporary player to fill my ranks with the petty cash I get before a match.


Taurus is the new one.

Quibex, Davion and Karl all have 2 spp from injuries inflicted.

[Abe Sargent]

We are playing the Panthers again, and this time, only have 210k.

I spend 70k on a Rotter, I also pick up an extra reroll for 100k and 40 for a potion of Agility for Taurus. It works and Taurus will have a 4 agility for the game.

Game 2 with the Pink Panthers.
The opening shot:

[Abe Sargent]

We win and choose to receive. We line up and get ready to get the ball. I have Toro and Taurus back to pick up the ball and play with it. The ball is kicked deep into the far corner, so I just run my guys too it this turn. The only major play is a bell rung on a Halfling by one of our Nurgle Warriors. We send the turn to the Halflings, who try to run some guys back behind our line, but the second one falls after a failed dodge and hits the ground hard for a stun.

Bob blitzes and sends a Halfling off the pitch with a nice tackle. Don’t hug the sidelines boys! Taurus manages to pick up the ball and moves up. I move a few to begin a cage around him. I do a bunch of tackles, but get nothing but pushes. One of their guys tries a tackles but gets a both player down against my mercenary and the Halfling. Both are stunned.

I move up my cage on the right flank. I have three extras helping me because of the Stunty ability to get in. I foul a downed Halfling and the rotter is ejected by the ref but I managed to send the Halfling to the bench with a broken leg. It was right beside my runner, and I needed to get him off the pitch. Once again, they move towards me but fail a dodge.

I move my runner, Taurus and the cage forward. I use my first reroll this turn when Varg hits double skulls against a Halfling. Then my merc Hob blitzes a ‘Fling by the sidelines, gets a double block, they both fall down. Their Halfling has its bell rung. It is off the pitch for a few turns. They fail to position themselves well and miss a block on Quibex and their Halfling falls.

Taurus and a few escorts move down one space shy of the end zone. Franz badly hurts a Halfling and notches a pair of spp in the process. Quibex rings the bell of a Halfling. With so few targets left, we are about to try and block a Treeman. Varg puts him down.

He does very little on his turn and passes. He did stand up the Treeman I just knocked down. Varg tries again. It’s down and stunned. After we ring the bell of another with Karl, they literally have just one Halfling on the pitch, and two treemen, one stunned and unable to do anything for a turn.


We score with Taurus. 1-0 at the half

[Abe Sargent]

The score:

[Abe Sargent]

We kick the ball and they pick it up in the first turn. After a lot of setting up, one of their players is send to the sidelines with a bad injury after a failed dodge. They brought the ball to the left side. Treemen push in the middle to open up my defense.

I blitz Quibex to open a hole to the ball carrier. Even though the defending Halfling stays on their feet, being out of position allows Karl to nip in and base the ball carrier, and then Toro after a go for it roll. I move Taurus to the middle of the rear to play safety. If they manage to get it past the line, he can respond. Ewan misses a dodge from a Treedude and falls. I chose not to waste a reroll, it was my final move of the turn.

Toro gives a broken neck to one of their Halflings when they fail to tackle him. Toro took a two dice block on the ball carrier but rolled doge down and an arrow. I do not reroll and we push the carrier back. Gaggle kills a Halfling. They use the Apothecary to make sure he doesn’t die. All I can do is blitz Ian, a merc, into the area and push aside a Halfling to base the ball carrier. Franz runs in to base the ball carrier too, and we leave Taurus where he is.

They move around a bit and then blitz one of my guys off the ball carrier, but they do it at a two die disadvantage and roll a tackle and both down. I chose both down and the Halfling is off the field with a bell rung and my rotter, Ian, falls. Frantz pushes back the ball carrier again after another failed two die block. Quibex sends a Halfling into the crowd. Then I try a double die block on a Halfling to clear Toro for a blitz on their ball carrier. Bob falls after I roll double skull twice with a reroll and we end the turn.

They blitz Varg with a Treeman and stun him on the ground. Franz misses another two die block on the ball carrier. I blitz in Quibex and roll three dice. I get skull, dodge block, and arrow. I reroll and get dodge block twice and arrow again. Six chances at a block and I don’t get it. At this point I’d take a double block. I move Taurus up. Toro misses a double block and falls.

Out comes the ball carrier dodging my men. They move a receiver in position. I base Quibex on their ball carrier and a nearby tree-folk. I have a blitz opportunity from Frantz and I take it. We finally get a tackle and the Halfling falls. The ball tumbles next to the Treefolk. I move in Franz, he falls and we pass the turn.

My foe moves some people around and calls it. I stand up a few guys and try to get Taurus to a place where he can go in and try the pick up. Or I could try and blitz the Treefolk, knock it down, and pick up the ball. Let’s try that. I blitz in with Toro, get a dodge block, and drop the tree. Taurus picks up the ball and runs towards the endzone and makes two go for it. I give him three escorts – Ian, Ewan and Karl. Their turn is short, they stand up some players and dodge from some man markers. Taurus and friends head to the endzone, and stop one shy. Varg puts their Treefolk back down. They do very little, and then, on the last turn of the game, Taurus scores again.

[Abe Sargent]

Beat that chest, bull-man!

[Abe Sargent]

We made 50k

Decayde also gained a fan factor. Our MVP went to a merc, so we lost the spp again.


Taurus leveled up. He rolls a 7 and we give him block.

We still have just 10 players, and we only have 60k in the bank, only enough for a Rotter. I’ll just do another merc. I need to save for something like a Pestigor or a Nurgle Warrior.

[Abe Sargent]

Okay, let’s pause and discuss Blood Bowl. This is a wargame/board game where you control up to 11 players on the pitch. Using various rules, you try to move the ball down the field and score. Whoever has the most points wins the game. Games can be draws in qualifiers and round robins, but not in single elimination tournaments.

You try to tackle your foes to the ground to deal a lot of damage to them. You are a nasty creature and they are trying to do the same to you. The game is bloody and violent. Different teams have different strategies. As you can see, Nurgle is a bash team. We like to hit people, a lot, and dole some serious damage. Expect our scores to be 2-1, 2-0 or perhaps 3-0 or 3-1 occasionally. We don’t score quickly. Our players are not fast and are not built for it.

When you tackle, you roll a tackle die. Here are the results on the 6 sided die – Force back – 2 of these are on the die, an arrow, and they force back a foe. Tackle, they fall down and are pushed back too. Dodge Tackle. They fall down and are pushed back unless they have dodge, which is just a push back. Skull, attacker is tackled, and both fall or skull+tackle, everybody falls down and is tackled, unless they have block. If you push someone back via a tackle or the arrow, you can choose to follow and move into their space. You can also choose where to push them. There is a lot of strategy in placement to people and where to push people to.

My strength is compared to yours to know how many dice to roll. If I have more, I roll two. If I have double, I roll three. If I have equal, I roll one. If I have less, I roll two and you choose the result. Understanding tackles, tackle zones, and movement like this is the most important part o the game – not the ball play.

Each turn, one player may blitz, which means they move and tackle. Otherwise, you can only tackle those next to you, so pushing an arrow onto someone else to tackle is very important. Each player has a tackle zone around them if they are standing. Any opposing player next to them cannot move away unless they make a dodge roll. If you dodge from a TZ to another TZ or multiple TZs, then it can get very difficult. If a dodge fails, if you have the dodge skill, you automatically reroll it.

The hardest part is understanding support. Let’s look at an easy case. Earlier I mentioned that I surrounded a Treeman after everybody went down and knocked it down. This happened because I managed to have enough of my units base it. Each friendly unit that puts it in its tackle zone (which basically means to base it) adds +1 to the strength of the attackers. I attacked with Varg, who was normally a str of 4 and the treeman was 6. I based the treeman with three others, and Varg’s became 7 which gave him a 2 die attack.

If an enemy is next to your guy who is next to the target, then it negates the support. Suppose that an elvish warrior were adjacent to two of those three. They would no longer give me support and the strong of Varg would only be enhanced to 5. There are a lot of ways to manipulate the support rule t your favor if you know where and how to position your people. All of this stuff about movement makes Bloodbowl very similar to chess in a way that most war games are not.

And of course skills change everything. For example, a common skill to get is guard. It allows the character to give support to another friendly character when basing their target, even if based themselves by another enemy. One character with guard can make a 2 vs 2 battle where everyone is even in your favor. Tackle skill prevents dodge from being used by enemies dodging away from you or when you get the dodge tackle result against them. You get the idea.

The turn ends when something bad happens – one of your players falls by being self-tackled, missing a go for it, failing a dodge, etc. When you miss a pick up, hand off or throw, when you are pulled out for fouling another, and those sorts of things. Or you can just say turn done!

Everything else is on a d6 besides tackling. Everything else uses your agility. Can you dodge out? Use your agility. Can you pick up that ball? Use your agility. Can you intercept that pass? Use your agility. You get the idea.

[Abe Sargent]

Nurgle is an odd team. If you play a team like Humans, you can go for the fast passing game or the slower bashing game. There’s versatility there. Orcs are a bashing team but with enough of a throwing game to always make you nervous. Some are just all about the passing game – Skavens and Elves. They score quickly, have vulnerable people with lower avs, and tend to have high agilities. There are four elf teams, and virtually all have 4 agility on every elf. They try to evade your people and score around you.

I like smash teams with some long game, like Necromantic with its Werewolves, Ghouls and Wights, or my recent Chaos team. One of my favorite sis Chaos Dwarves, but that is the only major race not in Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition. I have no idea why it’s missing, but I long for playing my Bull Centaurs. Most talk about how bad Chaos is at passing, but I led the league in passing completed with my guys, with a few clever mutations and rolls. Nurgle’s Pestigors are basically Chaos’s Beastmen but with Nurgle abilities, but I only have four, so I may not be able to specialize them as much as I did with my Chaos team.

Here are our abilities we have on our dudes:

Pestigor –

Horns – When blitzing, you get +1 strength – I will regularly blitz when I can to get another 4 str block on my side.

Nurgle’s Rot – When an opponent is killed by a block, blitz or foul, they get infected with Nurgle’s Rot and join your team as a Rotter. You don’t keep their stuff. This happens rarely.

Regeneration – When you suffer a casualty, roll a d6. On a 1-3, you still suffer the injury, and on a 4-6, you leave the field but are okay.


Nurgle Warrior –

Foul Appearance – When an opposing player wants to block you, roll a d6. They fail on a 1 and cannot. This will not count as the end of their turn.

Disturbing Presence – Any player must subtract 1 from the d6 whenever they pass, intercept or catch the ball for each Disturbing Presence player within three squares. This works even when on the ground.



Skills I have picked up:

Dodge – As seen, only pushed on a Dodge Block and can reroll a failed dodge attempt. (Unless foe has tackle)

Block – Whenever a double block results, either attacking or defending, nothing happens to you. (Unless foe has wrestle, in which case, you both fall down but it is not an end of the turn)


Different skills are in five skill categories. Each player only has access to certain ones. When I level up, I roll dice, and if I get a double, I can choose from any category, and if I get a 10+ I can get a stat gain rather than a skill. My guys are interesting because they can take a rare category without rolling dice – mutations. Nurgle Warriors and Pestigors have access to strength, general and mutations. But not passing or agility skills. The Rotters have just general and mutation access. This determines how the players are developed. One team’s linemen may only choose strength and general, another only general, and a third strength and agility and general. Mine are mutations and general. They might all look the same initially, but this matters a lot later.

Some players are bigger than normal, and some are smaller. Smaller characters, like goblins, skinks and halflings, are given the Stunty skill. When they dodge, they never count the tackle zones of where they are dodging too. They also get -1 to throwing attempts and +1 to injury checks. Their agility, cheap cost, and ability to be thrown by some large teammates is something you can harness.

Big Guys are those characters which are really, really big, dumb, strung and stupid. Examples include Ogres, Trolls, Treefolk, Beasts of Nurgle, Minotaurs, and more. They are all packed with a lot of useful abilities, but they all have negative ones. Many are really stupid and can’t always act. They are all Loners, and you can’t use dice to reroll any time they lose. If they are Wild Animals, then if you aren’t tackling or blitzing, you only have a 50/50 chance of the command taking. However, they have high strengths, useful abilities, and can sometimes throw teammates with a special ability called Right Stuff, which is given to guys like goblins and Halflings.

Each turn, a team may hand off and pass once each. I can grab the ball, run up to a player, hand it off, run that player, then pass to another and run that player too. You never saw me do crazy crap like that with my team. I never even handed the ball off – I just picked it up and that’s all.


That’s the basics of the game, without spending a lot of time on details. There are a lot of details – kicking the ball, the whole ball play mechanics, skills, kick off changes to the game, and lots more. I never used the wizards in the first game because my foe never was getting ready to score. I controlled the game so thoroughly that I never needed them, even with losing a skill position on the first turn permanently.

[SirFozzie]

Papa Nurgle is pleased and wishes upon you great wasting diseases! May you spread Papa Nurgle's joy!

[Abe Sargent]

Game #3 –

We are facing the High Sea Surfriders, an Elf team. Bash vs Dash. Who will win in a clash of styles? They are worth 1400 and us 1010. We get 390k in petty cash.

I spend 170k on a mercenary Beast of Nurgle. It’s Tentacles can help against an Elf team. I buy a Wizard for 150k. I expect that at least one time the elves will be breaking out for a score. I also pick up an Agility Pot for Taurus and a section of cheering fans.

The Pot fails. I also have been given a rotter for this game only.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Papa Nurgle is pleased and wishes upon you great wasting diseases! May you spread Papa Nurgle's joy!

I like all Chaos teams. I like mutations and fun. But I've never played a Nurgle team. I have playing a Nurgling Team a bunch in Stunty Leeg on FUMBLL though.

[Abe Sargent]

The pitch:

[Abe Sargent]

We win the toss and I elect to receive. Their kick rolls back on their side of the pitch, so I get to hand the ball to anyone I want – heya Toro! I set up a small cage in the back. I blitz Quibex at one of their Catchers and just knock him down. I try to do some damage on the line. I put four elves on the pitch but nothing more occurs.

The Elves stand their people. One of them manages to dodge back the tentacles of my Beast of Nurgle. Another dodges past and we have two elves in the backfield. A third dodges past and sneaks past the Tentacles.

I move my cage towards the right, where the three elves in my backfield are not. Gaggle rings the bell of one of theirs. I reroll a double skull tackle by a rotter on their catcher. I get a tackle and put him down. We pass the turn.

The elvies blitz in a guy to hit a corner of my cage. They push him back and get a man on the ball carrier. Smart. They get another one on him and then run back with their third guy to a scoring position. Tentacles work and grab a Elf. They put several others on the Beast of Nurgle. I’m going to have to try and dodge away with Toro. It works and I start caging up again. My Beast is really stupid and does nothing. I try tackle in a few places, but nothing beyond stunning a catcher with Quibex .

The elves succeed in two go for it to get a guy on the ball carrier but then drop the turn when they fail a dodge. I dodge away safely. I tackle three people to the ground. We pass the turn. After putting two elves on one of the corners of my cage a failed dodge results in a smashed hand and that elf is off the pitch. We tackle one of their elves and it is stunned. I use a reroll on a go for it when blitzing with Taurus on the other elf that’s touching my cage. At the end of my turn, five elves are on the ground.

They tackle Davion, and tentacles keeps one from running away from the Beast of Nurgle. They miss a go for it and their blitzer falls down, stunned. I can score anytime, but I want to use up the clock. You don’t want to leave any time against a fast scoring team. I’m adding more people around my cage to ensure we can score. Bob the Stinker fouls and stuns an elf I just put down with +1 strength, side step, and block. I pass the turn.

Tentacles keeps one around the Beast, and they move some elves up, miss a block and one of their has his bell rung. Quibex rings the bell of another catcher and he’s off the field too. I reroll a double both down block vs an elf with block and tackle him. Because he fell down next to my ball carrier, I run Toro yup to the line and cage around him. I blitz with Taurus and kill an elf. They use their Apothecary. That’s 2 spp for Taurus! The elves do nothing on their turn, so on the final turn of the half for us:

[Abe Sargent]

Toro scores!








That was a perfect half. Against the elves, I will likely win 2-1. Here’s how it works. You take up the entire half and score at the end to win 1-0. Then you let them score early, or you can’t help it, and you drive and score yourself. 2-1. However, with a wizard and some ability to mess with the passing game with disturbing presence players, I may have some game here. We’ll see.

They have one turn left in the first half. The kickoff result is a Pitch Invasion, and fans from both sides invade the pitch and tackle people. Half time!

[Abe Sargent]

They pick up the ball and put a couple safeties around it. The first elf who tries to dodge through our lines into our backfield is knocked down and that’s the end of their first turn. I have to reroll a double skull two die block when Ewan blitzes a catcher and opens up their right flank. We get tackles in the middle and drop a few elves. I base their downed catcher with Taurus and pass the turn.

That downed catcher behind our lines gets up and tries to dodge away but Taurus drops it. End of their turn in one move. Karl bases their ball carrier. Franz does as well. I move up Toro from a safety position to the line. I have to double die block to move someone out of the way to clear a blitz to the carrier but I roll a double skull. I have to use my reroll. Which means I don’t have it available for the ball carrier blitz or for pickup or the go for it needed. It’s risky, but it’s the only shot I have. Here goes Varg on the blitz. He makes the go for it, but rolls double skulls again. They stand up a bunch of players and the carrier dodges out. They dodge so much its no surprise when they fil and the turn goes to me. I miss a dodge and a reroll to put someone on the ball carrier rand they pass the turn.

They get the ball, run, pass and score. I have the ball, but I only have four turns to score without any rerolls. Difficult. The kick off gives both of us extra reroll with brilliant coaching. The ball is right on the line. I cage the ball. Our Mercenary Beast of Nurgle badly hurts their lineman. I make some more tackles on the line and then run Toro into the cage and pick up the ball. They stand up elves and move in. A blitz pushes a guy off a corner and bases the ball carrier, but another attempt to run in and join them results in a fallen elf.

Bob tries to tackle the guy and fails, juts pushing him back. Gaggle puts him on the ground. Now our ball carrier is untouched again. Instead of a cage I assemble a screen, and blitz Toro through the screen to hit a receiver on the other side. Toro just pushes him back, and does not follow. I was hoping for more. I kill an elf with a one die tackle by Karl.

The elves get a blitzer on the ball and that catcher too. A double block ends the turn and we’re going again. Quibex rings the bell of their blitzer and he’s off the pitch. I blitz in Taurus, knock down the catcher, and then move up to base a safety. They move in and badly hurt Taurus. He’s off. The elves put three guys on my ball carrier. We tackle the catcher but fail to bring him down. I blitz my ball carrier into the catcher and he goes sailing out of bounds. I follow the tackle and leave the based guys without needing a dodge roll. I run to the right and go for it twice (I still have a reroll in the bank). I move my Beast next to two of their guys, dodge away from a marker and have a nice built up cage with two extra people assisting.

They try to position their guys, and eventually miss a dodge. I have a clear path to the endzone. I just have to make one go for it roll. Here we go…

[Abe Sargent]

Spike that ball Toro! We won 2-1.

[Abe Sargent]

We made 60k and a fan factor

Our MVP is Ewan the Vile.

Successfully using their Apothecary prevented us from getting a Rotter.

We buy a replacement Nurgle Warrior - Spitter II.

We have 10k after the purchase.

[Abe Sargent]

Before game #4, let’s talk more about some BB things, just for those who are not familiar with things.

When you have moved your full movement, you can move up to two extra spaces. Each one is called go for it, and you have to roll a 2 or higher on a d6. A 1 drops you to the ground and ends your turn. It is re-rollable.

To stand, you use three movement points. A Nurgle Warrior, with four movement, can only stand and move one without a GFI roll.

Some basic tactics. I’ve mentioned that I’ve formed cages. A cage is a basic tactic to get the ball downfield. You have a runner in the middle, and then unmarked players in each corner around him, making an X. There is no way to dodge next to the ball runner except by dodging to a space guarded by three players. Very difficult. In a plus set up, People can move diagonally into your diagonal without a dodge – it’s a bad cage – you have to have an X.

Basic cage breaking is simple. You blitz off a corner and base. With a broken base, you can slip in some people from the same angle. The way to stop a cage is to throw up a screen two spaces in front of the guys on the X with several players, and reduce their options. They can’t move very fast if you do that. If you base their cage, they’ll just tackle you off and create holes, so you have to set up a line two spaces away and two spaces across.

Some characters are created as people to get the ball. They want skills like Strip Ball, Tackle and Wrestle. (Tackle prevents dodge from stopping their block, strip ball takes the ball out of their hands on a push back and Wrestle drops both people with a double down block and thus gets past their block). (A common skill to counter this is Sure Hands ,which not only helps you to pick up the ball but also prevents Strip Ball from working). (As you can see, skills are very rock, paper, scissors at times).

The basic strategy is to do things which are the most likely to succeed first. I move people first, so if I get a bad turnover, I am not out of position. For example, when the ball was kicked right by the line of scrimmage vs the elves, I moved my guys to create a cage around the ball long before I did anything else. I then tackles with two die tackles to get elves down and away from the ball before running in my ball carrier to pick up the ball. I had a reroll though. If I had gotten the dreaded double skull, I would have just rerolled.


I also put the most important moves first. If my ball carrier is based with an enemy, that’s what I have to do first after moving people, no matter how unlucky the die roll to get off may be. This is a game of dice, and like other games with dice, like BattleTech or Warhammer, this is about forcing your opponent to throw dice, no matter how easily it is. There was one turn where I moved a guy to base a Halfling who was down on the ground. The ‘Fling got up, tried to dodge away, failed and ended the turn. Yeah, my opponent was unlucky, but I created the opportunity for him to get dice hosed.

I have had a wizard twice and never used it either time. I never needed it. I usually do vs elf teams, but they scored too fast un the second half. I should have just fireballed them early, but if all I had done was delay them a turn or two, I would have lost. I scored on the first turn I was able to, and that was the final turn of the game.

We have played through the early stages, and now all four teams in this cup are positioned for a playoffs. We are the #1 seed so we face the #4 seed – The Pink Panthers again. Meanwhile, the elves battle a High Elf team for the right to face us in the finals. You know, should we manage to beat the Halflings.

[Abe Sargent]

Game 4 –


I use my petty cash for Igor, extra reroll, Pot of Agility for Taurus, and one section of cheering fans.

The pot did not work.

These inducements and petty cash are used only when your value is less than your foe’s.

[CrimsonFox]

Shit! I SO need this game! I had the old 90s computer game that played like a board game. Was fun though as all I had to so was choose dwarves and then kill everyone else in the league. After that winning was pretty easy.

[Abe Sargent]

We lose the toss.

Cheering Fans give the Panthers an extra reroll on the kickoff. When I am playing against a team with powerful players for the line of scrimmage, I put my most disposable players there. Rotters Unite! They set up, and then fumble the ball when trying to pic it up, and use a reroll and still fail. Happens often.

I move people up the right flank to try and get close to the ball. A blitz by Franz to really open it up just pushes a side step Halfling back who chooses to go into a spot that slows me down. (Side Step allows the defending player to chose which space they are knocked back to, and they can choose any free adjacent space, instead of the three in the direction of the tackle. Spitter II’s first tackle rings the bell of a Halfling. I dodge past their line with Toro and put him in their backfield. My final trick of the turn is to dodge my guys away from their Treefolk and both work.

They can’t dodge away from Spitter II and one gets knocked down and stunned. That was their first move, so again, a quick turnover by the Halflings opens things right up. I try a double die tackle on the Halfling that is preventing me from getting to their ball carrier, but I get double down, so I reroll and I get double down and skull, I take the double down, and my turn ends just as quickly. Their Halfling is badly hurt though. Frantz gets two spp.

The ball is theirs and they are moving. They cage up with Treefolk and Halflings. They dodge away a lot of their guys and pass the turn. I move some people around, and blitz Quibex to take down a Halfling and base the ball carrier after a go for it failed and I rerolled it. Toro badly hurts a Halfling. We end the turn.

They get in a few tackle with Treefolk but just push back people. A few dodges to set themselves up. One of their Halflings comes in, tackles Taurus and rings his bell and he heads for the sidelines. They have now pushed everyone off their ball carrier. Smart. I tackle with Quibex and force the guy back with a push back onto the space the ball carrier is on to expose him. Remind me to talk about how that happens in a bit. I tackle a Halfling but take pushback instead of tackle to get it in the right place. Then I tackle with Ewan and tackle the tackle and badly hurt the Halfling. I push it into the space Gaggle was in, and displace Gaggle next to the newly exposed ball carrier. Gaggle is about to do a three die block on their ball carrier. Here we go. I reroll three arrows into a tackle and do not follow up. I dodge away Toro to get to the ball, but I fail and end the turn. The ball is free.

They push me off the ball and run in a Halfling to grab it. However, a Treefolk loses a tackle against Varg and falls. Spitter II bases their Ball Carrier. Varg blitzes in and just gets two arrows. I don’t use my final reroll. I push their ball carrier next to two of my guys. Karl gets a double tackle and they both fall down, ball is free ,end of turn.

They fail a pickup early in the turn and pass it back to me. Toro tackles a Halfling and stuns them and pushes their body onto the ball and pushes it near my guys. Ewan the Vile blitzes in and tackles the only Halfling adjacent to the ball. Quibex badly hurts a Halfling. Varg tackles a Treefolk, and now, with just Davion left, we try the risky maneuver to move to the ball and pick it up - two go for its and the pick up attempt. It works! Good job Davion! We pass the turn.

In order to have some more fun, I double tackle with Franz but have to use my final reroll to stop a double skull. That means I have no more left to try and had off the ball to give someone else the spp for the touchdown. Here we go. I need one GFI. Before I run, I move some people into position.

I missed the GFI, the ball falls out of bounds and is tossed back in randomly!

They stand up some players, tackle a Nurgle Warrior with a Treefolk, and then lose a tackle against Karl. We have one turn and no rerolls to pick up the ball and score. Can we do it?

Ewan the Vile fails his pickup and we do not score this turn, Half 1 ends

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

Shit! I SO need this game! I had the old 90s computer game that played like a board game. Was fun though as all I had to so was choose dwarves and then kill everyone else in the league. After that winning was pretty easy.

This is 3D Blood Bowl, as a wargame. You can play real life too, but why?

[Abe Sargent]

Touchback, so I give the ball to Taurus. I cage up on the right flank. I blitz with Spitter II and ring the bell of a ‘Fling. I move up Toro into the exposed area to try and slip him behind their lines next turn. I manage to dodge away from a Treefolk and end the turn. They blitz a Treefolk onto a Nurgle Warrior on the point of my cage and put it on my runner. Quibex was just pushed back. A missed tackle on Spitter II puts the tackler down and that’s the end of their turn.

I tackle the risen Halfling in the middle and push it back with a rotter and run Toro into their backfield. I can use him to blitz, score, or support as needed. I run Bob to their annoying Treefolk and Quibex now gets two dice to block him. He goes down. Taurus is going to blitz, run tight on the right sideline, hit a Halfling there, and keep running up the sideline. We push back the Halfling and run up some escorts. I don’t like hugging the line with a ball carrier, but it’s my only option right now. We end the turn.

A Treefolk rises, and the other bases one of my guys. They run someone onto the ball carrier and then move in to blitz him and fail a dodge. Stunned too. Franz and Varg push back Halflings. Toro runs in to help out and I man mark others in the backfield with my guys. Taurus runs by Toro, who is the only escort the currently has. A one die block from Quibex drops both him and the Treeman and passes the turn. A few tackles are push backs, and a dodge away from a man marked guy in their backfield results in a fall and a turnover. Our turn again.

We take it a little slow with some tackles. Karl pushes a Halfling off the pitch with a tackle. The previous turn he has pushed the guy to the line.

[Abe Sargent]

Here are our fans beating him up:

[Abe Sargent]

We tackle some people and try to get more injuries, but no. We end the turn. We could score, but no. They made a lot of dodges and go for its to put two ‘Flings on the ball, but when they went to blitz a Treefolk and go for it on one of my guys it fell. Varg stuns a Halfling. Toro pushes one away from Taurus. After a lot of tackles and positions, Davion comes in and blitzes the other Halfling down and stuns him.



Here goes Taurus!

[Abe Sargent]

Time to kick off

We kick the ball deep into their half. They pick up the ball, position, knock down two of my rotters with Treefolk, and have a nice turn. They even blitz and knock down a third. I run Toro behind their lines and fail a GFI so I have to reroll and stop. Taurus is in their backfield as well. Spitter II takes a double tackle against one of theirs and stuns them. End of turn.

One of their guys falls while trying to slip into our backfield and the turn ends with an opportunity. Toro has a three die blitz. He gets double down, dodge tackle and push and rolls again. He gets a tackle, rings the guys bell and the ball is free. Just one Fling is adjacent. I put Karl and Ewan next to the ball. Okay, I’ve positioned my people, now I’m going to run in Taurus and try to pick up the ball. It’s tough with a person adjacent to you. I have no rerolls, I used it on the tackle. If it doesn’t work, no big deal. I need a 4 on a d6, failed, the ball moved into Karl’s space and he couldn’t grab it and it rolled into another nearby space.

They had a perfect turn for a bit. A blitz for a stunned Karl. Many dodges to get people in good positions, then one went down in a double tackle on the line and the turn passed. This is my last turn, and I have a reroll. My plan for a score:

1). Blitz this one Halfling off the ball.
2). Pick up the ball with Taurus. He does not have enough movement to reach the end zone, so run up to Toro.
3). Hand the ball off to Toro and let him score.

Okay, here we go.

Ewan blitzes in, pushes the Halfling back and that is enough. The first part succeeded.

Here goes Taurus. He needs a 3+ to pick up the ball and does. He runs next to Toro. Second part success.

I still have a reroll. The handoff is….

GOOD!

[Abe Sargent]

Mid Spike Baby!




They have one turn, do nothing, and we win.

[Abe Sargent]

We won 60k and a fan factor.

Our Game MVP is Karl the Decayed

Three of my players can level up:


Karl the Decayed – Rolls double 4. Guard.

Ewan the Vile – Rolls 5. Block

Toro – Rolls 7. Block.

[Abe Sargent]

need to talk about injuries and push backs.



As you can see, often times players suffer various injuries. The most common is a simple stun. This player cannot do anything next turn on the pitch, but the following turn can be stood up.

Ringing the Bell is my term for being knocked out. An actual bell rings above the person in the video game, so I call it getting their bell rung. They are removed from the pitch and can return at the half or when a team scores, and you roll dice to see if they do.


Badly Hurt means someone suffered a casualty and they are out for the rest of the game. Anything Badly hurt or worse results in 2 SPP being handed to the person who tackled them, but you do not get spp for fouls, or them missing a dodge while in your radius.

Everything else is worse. There are some various injuries to body parts. That may result in permanent injuries, such as a permanent -1 to movement or something.

The last possibility is death. It happens, get used to it. We lost two players in our first game, despite regeneration on a Nurgle Warrior.


When someone suffers an injury, you can use an Apothecary to save them but they go to the reserves. This can only be used once per turn.



Push Backs. Remember how I talked about positioning and moving and guarding being the most important part of the game? Along with that comes push backs. Imagine a Tic-Tac-Toe grid or touchtone phone with numbered squares.

123
456
789


Your person is in 5. Assume no one is anywhere else. When I tackle or push you back, I can choose from three places that are across from where I am. For example, assume that I am attacking from 8. I can knock you back into 1, 2 or 3. If I blitz from 9, I can put you in 1, 2, or 4. If one or two of those spaces are taken up by sidelines, my players or your players, then my choices are reduced. However, if all three places are full, then I can push you into one of them, and then push the next player into one of the three appropriate spaces.

In a previous game, I pushed someone into 5 from 3, and then followed into 3. I had players in 4, 6 and 9. I tackled 5 from 4, and badly hurt him, but also pushed him into 9. I displaced my player in 9 next to the ball carrier, so I could tackle the ball carrier without having to use my blitz for the turn.


The only time you can send someone off the pitch to “crowd surf” is when they are adjacent to the endzone, and you are in the 6 position. With the endzone in all three places, it’s the only options, and they head out. If you attack from the diagonal, you just push them along the rail.

Understanding pushbacks is part of understanding everything. For example, suppose you have two rotters in 8 and 9 and your foe has a normal linemen in 5. Who do you attack with first? You always go to block with 9. If I get a push back, I can follow through and put them in 4. 4 is still adjacent to 8, so I have another two die block opportunity. If I blocked with 8 first, then I can’t follow up with a block from 9 if it’s just a push.

Oh, and to show how guard works, imagine you have players in 8 and 9 and they have players in 4 and 5. Assuming equal skills and stats, every block possible on your end is a one die block. If 9 has guard, then nothing happens and you still have 1 die blocks. (It’s supporting 8 against 5 already, so guard doesn’t help with that). (But 4 is support 5 against 8. So it’s equal again) However, if 9 has guard, 9 now has a two die block against 5. 8 is supporting 9, even though it wouldn’t normally because 4 would be adjacent to it. But guard ignores that and you have a two die block. Then if you tackle the guy you have a two die block on 4 by 8 when 9 follows into 5. Guard turns two one-die blocks into one or two two-die blocks. That’s good math.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, let’s play the final.



Game #5 vs the Arnheim Seahawks


These High Elves have a value of 1680 vs our 1170. We have a ton of petty cash to spend.

I buy:

1Igor
1 Bad Habits – they lose one reroll per half
1 Beast of Nurgle as a merc
1 Extra Re-Roll
1 Potion of Agility for Taurus (Failed)

Here we go.


They only have one reroll left

[Abe Sargent]

We are playing on one of the previous arenas. We win the toss and kick. Ideally, we want to 2-1 grind a win.

The kickoff gives them an extra reroll with their cheering fans. Our kick is off the pitch and a touchback.

They push up our left flank and then miss a dodge roll when slipping someone behind our line. We stun one of their players by the touchline. I’d like to smash as many of their players as they’ll let me while they score. I have to use a reroll on a double skull tackle on the line. I put Ewan on the ball but he’s also next to an escort. I send Taurus on a GFI one space to put him next to the ball carrier too. He makes it. I move back Toro to play Safety. By the end of our turn, four elves are on the ground and I pushed one next to the Beast of Nurgle.

They get a lot of players up and to the ball. A tackle on Taurus pushes him away. They hand the ball off and then try to get a receiver in deep but he misses a dodge. I man mark a defender in a scoring position with Spitter II. Our merc Beast of Nurgle badly hurts a lineman with guard. Not in this game you won’t! I move some people by downed players. Okay, I have my blitz, and a risky proposition. I dodge Taurus away from an enemy, and then circle around and hit the ball carrier. Horns gives me a two die tackle opportunity. Here we go. It works perfectly and we tackle the guy. The ball bounces into and out of the hands of many players. I do not use a reroll. It ends beside my Beast. We pass the turn.

A few high elves jump up, and one gets away from our Beast – no tentacles or dodge fail. They blitz one of our rotters away from the Beast but just push it back. Our man marking in the back forces a failed dodge attempt and the elf is stunned. They don’t have anyone next to the ball. I run up Toro too pick up the ball. He does and he’s next to the Beast and two of our Nurgle Warriors. My guys are near others, so it’s not a great cage, but it’ll have to work. Varg is one of them and takes a two die block on their Thrower and stuns him. Gaggle blitzes a catcher next to our Beast. Franz pushes back an elf. We stun another elf after using a reroll. I do not want to take an action with the Beast. It’s too perfect right now as a guard. If it rolls really stupid it won’t use tentacles or support me during my foe’s turn. I pass the turn.

They get a person on the ball and then try to blitz with a guy next to the Beast but tentacles keeps him right next, so they wasted their blitz. They jump up and an dodge and position a few folks. They tackle push back one of my guys and end up with two elves on Toro. Taurus blitzes one and gets both blocked, but has block so just knocks down the marker. Varg pushes away the other. I move out Toro. We cage up with a blitzed Toro and some rotters. I do a couple of two die tackles and push someone next to the Beast. Again, I do not use the Beast. Its perfect basing three elves. I end our turn again.

They set up and jump up some players. A one die blitz against Ewan to break open the cage fails. No die rolls to reroll their failed block. I move my cage into a scoring position. I reroll a double down twice block into a block. 6 elves are on the ground, and I pass the turn. They stand up some players and miss a dodge attempt early and pass it back with a turn over. I blow a reroll on a double skull, my final reroll of the half. Karl misses a block and falls. We pass the turn.

A lot of positive effort by the elves. They get one away from the Beast. They blitz off a corner of the cage to base Toro. They get a second elf away from the Beast. Then a third. That’s really lucky. I’ll tell you why later. They pass it back. We have two baddies on Toro. Here are my scoring choices:

1). Dodge Toro. Just one roll is needed. Toro now has dodge.
2). Handoff the ball to Franz and let him walk it in. It’s very easy to handoff.

With the dodge ability, I’m going to try and score with Toro himself. Even with the dodge ability he fails (he needed a 3 on a d6). That sucks.

The ball goes out of bounds. It’s thrown back in right in front of an open elf. Their 8th turn begins. A run, pickup, hand off pass may cause a score. They failed a blitz to clear the way, and it’s my turn. Do I have a route to score?

Yes.

1). Move Bob to pickup the open ball. Run.
2). Throw the ball successfully to Franz.
3). Catch the ball. Run it in.

Before I try that, which will likely end my turn, I try a few two die blocks to see if I can’t get an injury.

Okay, here we go. Bob picks up the ball. Good job, Bob. He runs up and throws. He must toss this ball accurately. The pass is on target. Franz catches the ball! He scores!!!

[Abe Sargent]

[Abe Sargent]

For the second half, we start with the ball. Perfect!

Cheering Fans give them another reroll. Suck. The ball lands very close to Taurus. I run a rotter and Toro over to help out. On the Line, Gaggle stunned a lineman, Varg pushes one back, and our Beast puts one down and bases the one Gaggle pushed back. A blitz with Quibex drops an elf. Okay Taurus, it’s time. He roles that 3+ and picks it up. We pass the turn.

A player dodges through our defenses. They blitz and kill Ewan. Then a one die block drops them. Our turn. I move our cage left and add people. I push back two elves and blitz with the Beast to ring the bell of one of their players and then base three more, all on the ground. I don’t normally like to blitz with the bug guys, but it worked here. They try a one die blitz on my cage after moving some people, and it fails, and the player is ko’d as well. There is one elf adjacent to a rotter in the cage but that’s it. I two die block Quibex but get skull and double bloc, so I reroll it. I’ve used my rr for the turn early, so I need to be careful. I move some people but lose a gfi it to position a guy. End of turn.

They take down the ball carrier with a blitz. The ball is still next to many of my players, and some of theirs. Quibex tries a two die block on the only guy next to the ball, but it’s just two back arrows and he’s still next to it. I blitz Taurus back up and take down an adjacent player. I have three people on the ball – Taurus, Quibex and Frantz. They have just one elf. I move Toro back to man mark a receiver in a scoring position. I throw a one die block on their passer, get a skull, reroll, and get a skull again.

A bit of maneuvering and standing ensues, and a missing blitz puts the blitzer on the ground, stunned. Taurus stands after being knocked down. Quibex rings the bell of their player next to the ball. I have to use a reroll on a skull double skull block to free the only guy beside the ball with 3 agility from an adjacent elf. The elf is stunned. Franz tries to pick up the ball, fails, and it falls to Quibex, who grabs it successfully.

They jump two people away from tentacles, and my Beast is again next to no one. They blitz and stun Karl. Up goes Quibex. I have just two escorts – Taurus and Franz. Varg is nearby and moves closer. I blitz Bob the Stinker and push back someone into the Beast. The beast tackles him and moves forward to base three downed elves. End of our turn.

They base Taurus and Franz, but when they blitz to take out one, their blitzer cannot dodge away from one of my guys and goes down with a serious concussion. I run Quibex up four, and he is two away. I can try to gfi and score now, or wait one more turn, but they have based my guards, I don’t have that many, and I have a reroll. I move one. It works, I GFI again.

[Abe Sargent]

My first score by a Nurgle Warrior:

[Abe Sargent]

They have two turns left. It’s a Perfect Defense so I can reset my players. The ball is a touchback and they hand it to one of theirs. They manage to dodge back three players, so I man mark them. I put Nurgle Warriors by them for Disturbing Appearance to do its thing. We tackle two and I GFI and blitz a blocker off their ballcarrier to put Toro right in their face. Six elves are on the ground. They try to pass to a marked guy. I try an interception and fail, the pass is really off the mark due to a Warrior’s Disturbing Presence on both ends and goes off target.




We won 50k and a FF.




Game MVP – Bob the Stinker. With his pass that gives him 6 spp, enough for a level.

Good-bye Ewan. We’ll miss ya.

[Abe Sargent]

[MacroGuru]

Damn you!

I am going to have to play the game now....I have been looking at it this weekend saying, should I run another campaign...sigh, guess so.

[Abe Sargent]

And now my role is complete! I can just sit back and stop playing...