Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

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Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by lunchmoney »

In 2004 a group of gamers, based in the GW store Bournemouth, decided to run a Blood Bowl league. We called it, "The Bournemouth Blood Bowl League of Bournemouth." (We had been watching Dodgeball a lot recently.)

At its start we had 16 players (an ideal number!) and the commissioner split them up into 4 groups of 4. We played 3 matches and the top of each group played in a semi, then a final. The winner was crowned and his name engraved on a trophy that was on display in the store. A good time was had by all over the 6-7 week period.

Around the same time in 2005 we did it again. I don’t think we had 16 players this time, but we coped and, again, had fun. A winner was crowned, his name added to the trophy.

Rinse/repeat in 2006 and 2007. However in 2007 things changed. In late 2007 we found about tournaments. More precisely we found out about the recent NAF World Cup that had been held in Warhammer World, Nottingham. “That sounded like fun” we said. “Are they doing it again?”

In 2008 we found The Blood Bowl, again at Warhammer World, Nottingham. The timing was great; an event like this in May, just before we kick off our, now, annual Blood Bowl League Season! So four of us bought tickets and planned our weekend away. What an event! We had a great time. We met many different people (some of whom I now hold to be good friends), learned new tricks (like the one turn chain push TD), and generally had a great time. We also found out about the existence of smaller, more local, tournaments. The nearest being in Andover and was due to go ahead in March 2009.

In late 2008, just after the season finals (the very next week in fact), tragedy struck! The new manager at GW Bournemouth didn’t really like Blood Bowl and only let us play our season there on sufferance as the group comprised about two thirds of the entire Veterans night crowd. The week after the finals, a friend and I arranged to play a friendly match as we hadn’t played in that season. We arrived at the store to be told that no Specialist Games can be played there anymore unless it was a store ran campaign, and all the tables were in use for StatHammer 40k. In that moment The Exiles were born.

Several of the regular Vets had already relocated to the GW Poole store, as it was bigger and had easier access (trains, buses and good parking right on the door step). The Blood Bowlers followed and we relocated our league there. The Poole manager was sympathetic to our plight and, being the old manager from Bournemouth, knew us all quite well!

He helped us advertise in White Dwarf – not a massive thing but it did bring in at least 2 new coaches who are now good friends. And when I suggested a Blood Bowl tournament he helped as much as he could.

In 2009 several of us attended our first “local” tournament – ARBBL – in Andover. We met several new people and found out about the NAF (and shiny NAF blocking dice). The man in charge of this organisation, the NAF, was there and we discussed many things. Including running our tournament in Poole .He gave me several good ideas and helped set the wheels in motion.

I checked the calendar list of events on the newly discovered Talk Blood Bowl and saw an opening in September. So we went for it.
Back to the GW manager – We brought the idea of a Blood Bowl tournament to him and he liked it. He helped me advertise in White Dwarf and provided a massive trophy and some prizes – all courtesy of GW.

22 coaches attended the first Exiles Bowl in 2009 and we consider it to have been a success.
Fast forward through 2010 and many tournaments for the group later, we run Exiles Stag Bowl. Once again we were supported by the GW manager, less than by GW, and another success.

At about this time we learned about the NAF World Cup II being organised in Amsterdam, Netherlands. We just have to go to that, we say. However after running the numbers, and looking at the date, only three of us could make it. So we made a call to the other coaches on the newly rebranded Talk Fantasy Football for anyone who wanted to go to Amsterdam and needed a team!

The brother of one our regulars and two local tournament organisers joined up very quickly – forming the Exiles Mercenary Corps, part of Team Exiles.

Over next few months we all played at many tournaments and played many matches. By the time November came round we were quietly confident of at least not embarrassing ourselves….

Our glorious leader collapsed and the rest of the team decided to show solidarity and lose a bunch of games as well. Whilst we weren’t the bottom team, we did hold the “honour” of being the lowest placed English team. Well, someone has to be there so someone else can be on top. We may not have been entirely happy with results, but we knew it was the best we could do on the day, and that counted for us.

Forward we go, another 3 years and the NAF announce they have negotiated and done what they need to do to have a third World Cup – this time in Lucca, Italy. Within minutes members of the 2011 squad were asking if a team was going to be formed again.

Many questions were asked, budgets were looked at and coaches were questioned. Can we go? Who can go? Can we afford it? Several people put their names forward to join Team Exiles; we even had a few come forward and volunteer to join the Exiles Mercenary Corps.

The time comes to make a decision. Yes we can go. Emails and PMs are sent to the members of the last team, but only the core three could say yes. So once again half the team is made up of people who are not, technically, a member of the Exiles League. But that is what the Exiles Mercenary Corps is all about!

Eventually three people were convinced that the best thing they could do was to the join the Exiles Mercenary Corps and be part of Team Exiles for the NAF World Cup 2015. We are assured they have been tested and are of sound mind, but they joined anyway.

With 10 months to go until Lucca we will all be attending tournaments and playing many matches; training and practicing with our chosen races. The worst we can do is to be the bottom English team again (we could be the bottom team overall, but that would still mean we would be the bottom English team), so we can only get better!

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by Don__Vito »

Bravo Exiles! I had a great time on my only visit to the South Coast and was made to feel very welcome by Al and Fern whilst I was there. A great read and a great story, look forward to sharing a beer with you all again!!

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by Hucker73 »

Your team name is cause for encouragement; Considering that English Mercenaries have done well before in that part of the world, it bodes well for you. Best of luck!

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by DeeTee »

Happy days and long may they continue! :D

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by Darkson »

Gutted I can't continue my Merc exploits. :(

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by lunchmoney »

Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy – Part 2

With several months until the Big Weekend in Lucca we have some time to spare. So why not attend a few local tournaments? There are plenty to choose from in the southwest UK, so many in fact that they have banded together to form a Championship!

Since recruiting some Exiles Mercenaries and forming the Team, our first outing was BUBBA Bowl; a one day event that crams in 4 matches. Though I say this was the first outing, only one person on the current Team Exiles was there; yours truly. There were some other members of the Exiles League and even a member of the Exiles Mercenary Corps, but only one that will going Italy later this in the year.

All tournaments have a different rule set, which is good – if they were all the same it would be boring and no one would go. None of them are so far out there, though, that we can’t practice the game in preparation for Lucca. For BUBBA we are allowed to build a team up to value 1.2M and then we get to add skills. The amount of skills depends on the team choice. I took a Stunty legal Lizardman team; Kroxigor and Skinks only, no Saurus. This allowed me to 8 skills in total, 2 of which could be chosen from the Doubles selection. I was even allowed to stack 2 skills onto two players. But I decided to try something a little outside the box – I put Side Step on 7 Skinks and the Kroxigor. To compliment this I used the Star Player, Hemlock (8237, Loner, Block, Dodge, Side Step, Jump Up, Stab, Stunty @170k). All in this gave me 9 players with Side Step, inc one Blodger and one Big Guy, collectively called, “Mr Spock’s Skinks #LLAP”.
In addition every coach was given a star player, Daisy the Cow (5327, Loner, Horns, Disturbing Presence)

With no idea how this would play out I sat down for match one.


My first opponent was Hungdonkeyman, our host, with Halflings. His team consisted of 2 Treemen and Deeproot (27110, Loner, Block, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Strong Arm, Thick Skull, Throw Team Mate @300k), Zara the Slayer (6438, Loner, Block, Dauntless, Dodge, Jump Up, Stab, Stakes @270k), a bunch of ‘flings and a Master Chef. He had given both Trees Block and 3 ‘flings Sprint and Sure Feet. That was a formidable line up and I was expecting to get mashed.
I won the toss, as the blinding sun came out, and elected to receive. The whole first half was very bloodless, I don’t recall a single KO, let alone a casualty. On several occasions ‘flings were picked up and sent flying, but due to the very sunny conditions, and Daisy’s Disturbing Presence, several ‘flings were fumbled by the Trees. All the while Hemlock was running around waving his knife around but failing to anything effective other than provide a distraction. Eventually one of the Skinks ran in the ball to end the half 1-0.
The second half was bloodier. Within moments both my Kroxigor and Zara was dead. A few turns later the box was filled with 2 more Skinks and 2 ‘flings. One of the ‘fling found himself with the ball, standing next to a Tree, and was sent flying. This time the Treeman’s aim was true and the ‘fling scurried to the EZ, being chased by half dozen Skinks. 1-1.
4 turns to score a winner and the Skinks were held in check to end the match 1-1, 3-3.

Round 2 was against the mighty Sann0638 (our first match) and a Human team. He packed in 4 Blitzers (2 with Guard, 1 with Frenzy), 2 Catchers (1 with Wrestle and the other Block) and Thrower with Leader.
Again I won the toss and received. Sann put up a great defence and stopped me in my tracks, though he grew ever more frustrated at the massive Side Step spam.
The second half kicked off and the Human thrower failed to pick up the ball! Sann’s back field was very quickly swarmed with Skinks, which he couldn’t dislodge (again the cries of annoyance over the Side Step spam was my sweet melody). A Skink got the ball and was pushed around and finally ran into the EZ. I kicked again and rinse/repeat as the Thrower again fails the pick up! 2-0 with 2 turns to go and that was the final score, though Sann did exact revenge by placing 4 in my CAS box for no return.

Round 3 saw another new opponent, 20Phoenix, a name I knew from my online league, OCC. His Undead team packed in 2 Ghouls with Block, one Wight with Tackle and the other with Guard. To support all this was Setekh (6428, Loner, Block, Break Tackle, Juggernaut, Regeneration, Strip Ball @220k).
Again I received and again I was held off from scoring. In fact the second half looked to be exactly the same. Despite 20P’s barrage of POWs he wasn’t actually taking my Skinks off the field so they were still in the way and, because of Side Step, exactly where I needed them. For 14 turns neither of us could move the ball more than a square or two past the centre line. Until finally the ball popped loose and a lone Wight grabbed and ran in on turn 16.
With one turn for me to score, 20P set up a one side defence against the “one turn chain push”. I set up to give it a try. I was looking at 2 & 3 dice against blocks, but with Side Step I only needed 2 or 3 to go my way. Plus I had nothing to lose by giving it a try!
At this point a spectator mentioned a Riot would give me the time to equalise…. A Riot was rolled…. My entire team fled over to the clear side of the pitch, using their superior speed to get away from the Undead team and set up a screen to keep a couple of Skinks free, knowing the Side Step will keep them in the way. A pick-up, a hand off and GFI later and the match was a 1-1, 2-2, draw.

Last match of the day was vs ceetee’s Goblins. He had Fungus the Loon (4737, Loner, Ball & Chain, Mighty Blow, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Stunty @80k), a Fanatic with Block & Mighty Blow, a Pogoer with Side Step, a Troll with Block (and an unskilled Troll), 2 more Side Stepping Goblins and one with Side Step and Diving Tackle.
Looking at the table we knew this match was for the Stunty Cup.
ceetee won the toss and received. By turn 4 he had secured the ball in a loose cage and removed 4 of my players to the CAS box, including Hemlock. By turn 8, when he scored, there were 3 Skinks on the pitch (both the Kroxigor and Daisy had gone by this point).
I set up my remaining 7 skinks (only 2 with Side Step left) and tried to recover the kick off and salvage something. The Goblins had other ideas and continued to send Skinks to the mortuary. By turn 14 there was 2 Skinks in the KO box and the rest of the team were in the CAS box – ceetee had cleared the pitch of my team.
After he scored a second I made my KO recovery rolls and got 1 Skink to line up for one turn. Three dice against the Troll sent the Troll flying from a triple POW! Vastly amusing but little consolation to the absolute thrashing ceetee had given me. Final score was 0-2 and 1-7.


After all that I ended 1-2-1 and in 17th place. All in all I enjoyed the massive Side Step set up and will probably do it again, but I won’t be taking it to Italy.

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by lunchmoney »

Part 3

A little late in coming, but the next "training" session for Team Exiles was ARBBL. As it was more than just me I dont have detailed match by match report this time.
In attendance from Team Exiles was myself, Blocknroll, Radster and Deetee. And as added bonus an Exiles Merc, ceetee, was also in attendance.

Overall we held our own, with the Merc, ceetee, taking 2nd place overall and the highest placed current member of the team was Blocknroll.
Radster tried out his Elf team and was rewarded with the Splat! award for getting a lot of players killed (26 in 6 games). Not sure he should take Elves to Italy.
Blocknroll held his own, but is still not sold on his team choice and deetee started his practice with Necro, the team he will be taking to Italy. He's made up his mind already, unlike the rest of us.
For myself, I took Dwarfs on a whim of masochism and, whilst I enjoyed my weekend and my games, I did not enjoy dwarfs. It reinforced my adversion and I wont be taking them again ;)


Part 4
The next event for the Team was Crumb Bowl, another one day event, this one aimed at newcomers.
With that in mind I took Pact and loaded to kill :lol:
The only other member of Team Exiles to come along was Tempest, and this was her first outing since training began. However she decided to give the many rookies a chance and used a controversial Halfling roster – Deeproot, Bertha and no rerolls or Chef.

It turns out that wasn’t the wisest choice, if the aim was to score TDs and win matches, but it may have been very wise if the objective was to enjoy yourself and have fun teaching rookies how to play.
The Pact set up I took wasn’t exactly decided to cause CAS, it just did. They promptly tore a Goblin team to pieces (including both trolls), then ripped up a bunch of Chaos Dwarfs and chewed up a gang of regular dwarfs as well. 18 CAS (11 of which was AV9) led to 2 wins, but I couldn’t stop the dwarfs taking a, deserved, 1-0 win.

With all that in mind I don’t think Tempest will take ‘flings to Italy, but Pact are on my shortlist.

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by lemf »

No Thread Hi-jacking or grandiose reports I am no where near as eloquent or articulate as the leader of team Exiles.
As a Merc on the team for a practice wood elves were taken for Snot Bowl BlocknRoll took his Chaos dwarves.
I had a great time and the TTM option became available for the first time to woodies
Finished runner up (you cant win your own tournament can you?)
Next practice Nottingham

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by lunchmoney »

A 66% turn out of Team Exiles and Merc Corps at NAFC, with ceetee, Deetee, Darkson, Lemf, Blocknroll and myself in attendance.

Of those going to Italy I think only Deetee used the team he is taking to the WC (Necro) and he held his own. Lemf and Blocknroll took Humans and ended up in a competition to see who could foul the most, which I thoroughly approve of, and I took Ogres and fluffed it right up.


We might be at Cake, and at least one of us will be playing at Speedbowl. We'll see how the training continues.

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by lunchmoney »

I didnt go to Cake, and I'm not sure if anyone from Team Exiles played (if Hudson played [he is in the Merc Corps] it surely wouldnt count as he was running the thing).

Speedbowl was a good turnout but Darkson representing Team Exiles and Mercenary Corps. He held his own, ending bang in the middle. (Blocknroll and I only played one game, so cant really count it as WC training.)

Roll on Gert, this weekend, with Tempest and I from the current team and ceetee from the Merc Corps, showing the Exiles colours. And despite the large TV difference between Gert and WC3 Tempest and I are using the teams we will most likely be taking to the WC3, so should be a good run :)

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Re: Team Exiles: A journey from humble beginnings to Italy

Post by lunchmoney »

There were a few more "training" tournaments, but nothing exciting happened. Until we all finally got together as a team for the first time, in the airport, gathering to fly to Lucca (via Pisa).

The WC3 was amazing. As a team we were seeded 78th (taken from combined NAF rankings), but I was just hoping to not be the bottom English team again. We succeeded. We were second to bottom, in front of Team Chaos. Objective achieved. Achievement unlocked. Trophy awarded. :)

Honestly, some of the matches have blurred into one for me, but I know we all had a great time. I took many photosand tweeted a lot.

As an added bonus, my phone presented this short video to me this morning.

Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/lnAhRj0YElE

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