Fourteen hopefull coaches gathered at Quakers Hill High School this weekend to take part in the Blood Bowl tournament which was part of the broader Leviathan Gaming Convention.
14 was an OK turn out but I know that there were a few late drop outs, but we had coaches from Newcastle and Sutherland who had treked to Quakers Hill in Sydney's west to take part.
The rules were simple: Team Value $1,100,000 and skills were able to be included in that but no more than one skill per player. It was also a "resurrection" tournament so you played your starting roster every game and deaths and injuries were erased.
I took a Dwarf team "The Glenbrook Kings" with 2 Blitzers, 2 Troll Slayers, 1 Runner (with Block) and 7 Longbeard Blockers (4 with Guard), a Cheerleader and 2 ReRolls.
To cut a long story short, I ended up winning the tournament and secured my first ever tournament victory. In fact I was so succesful that the trophy was mine after Game 5 (of 6) as I was so far ahead. Lucky too, because I ended up losing Game 6!
Thanks to Pete "tribalsinner" Arentsen for being the tournament organiser and thanks to all the coaches for playing, it was a good couple of days and I must say for my first 5 games, I couldnt do a thing wrong! Below is a game by game review.
Game 1: vs The Fur Kin Rats (Skaven). Coach: Geoff "Magic Thighs" Watson
This game was a great start to the tournament to get the adreneline pumping. Skaven being much quicker are normally hard to handle to handle for Dwarves but Geoff had taken what I thought was a surprising approach to his team. 2 Gutter Runners, 2 Throwers (one with Leader, one with Nerves of Steel) and 12 (yes 12!) Line Rats. Two of these had a skill each - Dauntless and Strip Ball.
He won the toss and received and with all my guard skill and his distinct lack of block, he really got stopped hard and I managed to turn him over, steal the ball and score fairly quickly and in the process did a fair amount of damage.
With 16 players in his squad, Geoff was able to field 11 players but he was down one Gutter Runner and the line rats were no match and the second half was an absolute slaughter.
Final Score: Glenbrook Kings 2 def Fur Kin Rats 0 (Casualties 5-1).
The Fur Kin Rats are smeared across the field in Game 1.
Game 2: vs Half Pint Hooligans (Halfling). Coach: Brendan "GardenGnome" Morrison
My arch rival Brendan was having a bit of a laugh playing Halflings, but they arent as bad as a team as they are made out to be. However against Dwarves, it was really ugly. He had 2 Treemen (one with Multiple Block, one with Break Tackle), 13 Flings (alot with Side Step, one with Dirty Player) and the star Halfling player "Puggy Baconbreath".
Won't go too much into this one as it was fairly one sided, but Brendan did go on and win a few games and finished mid table.
Final Score: Glenbrook Kings 2 def Half Pint Hooligans 0 (Casualties 6-1)
The Kings charge into the Trees vs the Hooligans
The Hooligans casualty box post math... 6 casualties, another 4 knocked out.
Game 3: vs The Green Machine (Orc) Dan "dancollins" Collins
As the last game of Day 1 arrived, I was on the top of the leaderboard, but Dan Collins also had two wins as well and we were paired up. Dwarves vs Orcs... wasnt going to be pretty. Dan had taken 4 Black Orc Blockers all with Block skill, and 3 Blitzers (2 with Guard, 1 with Tackle), a thrower with Leader and 2 Line Orcs. A very front heavy and bashy side which was the complete opposite to my previous games.
The Green Machine won the toss and received and after alot of bashing, the ball got bogged down into a scrum in mid field and his drive was stopped. There wasnt any harm really done but for the first time, the Kings hadnt had a huge numerical advantage in the second half.
The second period saw the Kings drive hard up the midfield and soon the blood started to flow and the numbers on both sides were reduced. Critically, the Kings' runner was knocked out and the ball handling was left to the blitzers.
But a bad missed block in the second half allowed a gap and the Kings were able to score and lead 1-0 but a quarter of the match remained.
Down on numbers, the Kings held on when a final blitz saw the ball scatter free and back into the pack and the hopes of the Green Machine were dashed.
Final Score: Glenbrook Kings 1 def Green Machine 0 (Casualties 2-1)
Pre Game, the Orcs and Dwarves attempt to psych each other out
The final play as the Kings bring down the Green Machine's attempt to tie the game
Day Two
Game 4: vs The Creeping Death (Khemri). Coach: Paul (Creature) Morris
The first game of day 2 was going to be tough. Khemri have no interest in scoring touchdowns and Paul had been slashing through the field on Day 1 absolutely trashing his opponents and then waltzing in for a 1 TD win. I was worried about this game simply by having to face 4 mummies. The Creeping Death consisted of those 4 Mummy's (2 with block), 2 Blitz-Ra's (one with Guard), a Throw-Ra and 4 Skeletons.
The game was one of the funnier ones of my weekend however as the Khemri side absolutely self destructed. The Mummy's got scattered around the field and couldnt form a consistent defence as Troll Slayers and guarding longbeards got in amongst it. Then a few of the Khemri got taken out and they started losing the numbers game.
Their solution was to play dirty and in quick succession on both sides of half time, 3 skeletons were sent from the field and before he knew it, they were down 1-0 and only had about 6 players left to try to tie the game.
They failed and the Kings stripped the ball loose and we were away for a big win.
Final Score: Glenbrook Kings 2 def Creeping Death 0 (Casualties 5-1)
I was now well clear and still had yet to be scored against!
At the start of the game, the Creeping Death had a menancing look....
But they were stretched too far and the Kings blitz down the left wing to take the lead in the corner....
The Hall of Shame... 3 Skeletons sent off for dirty play!Game 5: vs Old World (Necromantic). Coach: James (Rabid_Bogscum) Russell-Wills
An experienced coach with an
excellently painted team was my opponent for Game 4 and I was now riding high and feeling a tad invincible. Rabid and I have played many times and we always had close games so I was expecting a good match, but at this stage my endzone hadn't been crossed and I was leading the casualty count after I had out bashed the Khemri last game.
Rabid had 2 werewolves (with block), 1 Flesh Golem, 2 Ghouls (1 with Sure Hands, the other block), 2 Wights with Guard and 4 zombies.
I won the toss and received and the half was very close. His frenzied were wolves kept poking into my cage of dwarves and the Flesh Golem was sucking up plenty of hits but eventually the hits began to drive home and I was able to cage the ball deep into his half.
Then a few odd things happened - he managed to break my cage and got a single dice block against the runner and stunned him.... but the bouncing ball landed in the lap of a longbeard and he managed to hang onto the ball. Then the stumpy little dwarf was off to the races and seemingly unstoppable. A werewolf made a desperate lunge and missed and then I was in the clear... or so I thought. Not wanting to give the Necros' too much time in the first half, I stalled and delayed scoring... so the werewolf dodges 3 times through multiple tackle zones, blitzes with 2 dice against him, pushes me sideways, and with a second (frenzy) block surfs the long beard into the crowd... he saves the day its nil all at the half.
Second half, I have to defend and the Necro side screams down my left wing and I am in a fair bit of trouble as several defenders are lying stunned on the turf. Then critically a werewolf dodges needlessly and fails and he has left himself vulnerable. Lots of carnage ensues and the Kings surf some Old World players into the crowd and the ball is free and a Dwarf Blitzer runs the opposite way with it.
The half peters out as the Dwarf blitzer runs unopposed 75 yards and scores. As he rumbles down field the Old World team are cleared off the field as the boot is laid in.
At the end, only the Flesh Golem remains on the field and the Kings cross the stripe for victory.
Final Score: Glenbrook Kings 1 def Old World 0 (Casualties 6-0)
Game 4 is away with the Kings receiving...
After holding out the Kings, the Old World look to start the second half by punching down the Kings left flank.
Game Over - the field is cleared... the dead and injured are all thats left....
Game 6: vs Snakes (Lizardmen) Coach: Steve (Thomsy) Thoms
Amazingly, after 5 wins from 5 games my final game was a dead rubber. I had an unassailable lead whilst 5 teams battled it out for the minor placings.
With that in mind, I was pretty relaxed against Steve who is a very good player and was running 2nd and whilst he couldnt pass me, it was still a match both wanted to win.
His side was very strong and had a Kroxigor, 6 Saurus and 5 Skinks. Because Lizardmen teams are very expensive, he could only afford a leader on one of his Saurus (Sauri?) but still, that was 7 players with high strength.
Also, of all races, I absolutely hate playing Lizardmen... I have a very poor record against them.
He won the toss and received and with that massive front line, he crushed the line of scrimmage and punched a huge hole. With the skinks that move twice as fast as my Longbeards, he was through that hole so quickly that I couldnt cover it and before I could blink, the little skinks had run it in.
My defence had been breached! :-(
I then made a huge tactical blunder for the rest of the game and one that I will remember next time I play Lizards. I formed the typical Dwarf cage and tried to roll over the top. This tactic is my pet play and why I do so well with Dwarves, but against Lizards, he had the strength to hold and and the skinks simply provided cover at the back. Slipping in for an assist here or there, but really staying out of harms way as the Sauri's and the Krox took the punishment.
My attempt to tie the game before half time failed and my second half drive also stalled and soon I was being beaten down hard.
Then, the skinks managed to crowd surf the Blitzer with the ball and the ball popped out into open territory. Those lightning fast lizards then turned defence into attack and he was away... scoring on the bell and I suffered my first defeat.
Despite it being a dead rubber, I was keen to go the clean sweep, but Steve played a great game and I learnt a thing or two about playing against Lizards... next time I will try something else.
Final Score: Glenbrook Kings 0 lost to Snakes 2 (Casualties 1-2)
Game Start... the Snakes about to crush the Kinsg... OUCH!
The end... note the large gap between the skink scoring and the ruck... very fast! 
Champions! The Kings pose at end of the tournament.
Khemri Mummies
2 Blitz-Ra's and 2 Thro-Ra's... really happy with the eyes on these guys
The Skeletons... differing helmets are a nice touch.
Team Shot!
