Well, here's my High Elf tale of woe.
Game 1 vs McDeth (Undead)
Although it's the first time I've met McDeth personally, having played via email and done plenty of chatting on here, it feels more like playing a mate than a stranger. I'm quite comfortable and enjoy the game.
McDeth's already given a run down of this one, I recieve and score. The plan was to get to HT with the lead, so I do my level best to pressure McDeth into scoring with enough time left on the clock to go 2-1 up.
McDeth duly scores, promptly rolls a blitz, gets a Ghoul under the ball and catches it. Oops. Bit of a melee results in no further scoring.
A 5 turn riot pretty much puts paid to the game, and denies McDeth the opportunity to grind out the clock and score late.
Good game, probably a fair result. The riot leaves McDeth wondering what might have been, while I'm rueing the Blitz that denied me the chance to be 2-1 up when the riot occurred.
5 pts draw +1 TD= 6pts. I give Leap to a DW.
Game 2 vs. Adam Woolf (Dark Elf)
Hmm, where do I start? I recieve. An early exchange of fouling leaves 2 BH High Elfs and 2 KO'd Dark Elves, with one each sent off. I drive down the field OK, have to burn a TRR on a 2D Block when all I needed was a push to open the hole, then fail the gfi to score. Not only that, but the line-elf in question manages to stun himself, giving Adam time to retrieve the ball. He completes a pass to his Blodge Blitzer, and is away up the field.
I have my chances to bring him down, and throw 2x 2D Blocks (with a RR used both times) plus a couple of 1D, a total of 10 dice without getting the Splat! needed. Meanwhile Adam keeps trying 1D Blocks elsewhere on the field, and can't seem to fail to get knockdowns and go straight through the armour every time.
The Blitzer scores...I'm 1-0 down..and have 3 Elves to set up. Marcus come over from a nearby table and gleefully takes a pic.
Adam places the ball on my right flank, the KO table comes up bad kick, and the ball finishes against the sideline on my left flank! I begin to despair...
Nothing else goes right, I struggle against superior numbers and come out of it with a 0-3 defeat, and 0 points against Adam's max 16. A game best forgotten. About the only bright point was that Adam wasn't NAF registered, despite my pre-game pressure.
After the fouling exchanges hurt me, I go with a Dirty Player line-elf (much to the disgust of Longshot!).
Game 3 vs Andy Scott (Human)
Another sorry tale of woe. Recieve, go one up. Get pressure deep on the resulting KO, allowing me a 2D Block in the backfield. Double push is rerolled and comes up both down. Andy extricates the ball, and runs an imperfect cage which keeps allowing me shots at the ball carrier (which keep failing miserably). 1-1 HT.
I'm down on Elves 2nd half (sweltering heat takes out 3 elves to 1 human), and keep attacking Andy's cage to no avail as he grinds up the pitch. Last turn of the game I need a 2+ dodge to throw a 2D Block on his ball carrier, needing anything but double skulls to save the game.
Big mouth here says "
Blitz...if this comes up a 1 you're gonna walk it in for the win!
Hmmm...bemused people look on as an irate Woody kicks his "lucky" Amsterdam hat around the hall. I return to the table for Andy to say "
Don't take this the wrong way mate, but this is the first game of BB I've ever won!"
I see the funny side, Andy was a good laugh to play against, entertaining opponent. I put Block on a LW.
Day 2
I leave my "lucky" hat in the boot of the car, Will touches it by accident as he gets his team out.."
Oh no, I've been tainted!!" he quips! Longshot conducts video interviews while arctic conditions set in as the Spiky boys sleep off their hangovers. Marcus 'helps' the situation by talking about Brits passing out from heatstroke on Bondai beach.
Game 4 vs. Mark Simkins (Orc)
Similar pattern, recieve, go 1 up, then take a battering from the four Bobs and Ogre that make up Mark's cage. I leap in with my DW a couple of times to no avail. 1-1 HT.
2nd half I kick, and get a 1D Blitz on the Orc Thrower deep in Mark's backfield. A push is rerolled to come up a skull..aaaargh!!!!
Red mist descends big time, and the offending (black) dice is hurled against the wall about twenty feet away, riccochets off the other wall in the corner and disappears somewhere over my shoulder.
Fair play to Mark, the incredulous look on his face was quickly replaced by guffaws as my forehead hit the table. Eventually I have to get up and start peering about under tables and behind bins, Mark spots it first and play resumes.
Mark runs a totally solid 9 square cage (worrying about Leap). Eventually I get the push required, play a bit of pinball, and Blitz down the ball carrier. I believe that including McDeth's Ghoul (when he got under the ball on the Blitz turn), it's the second time in 4 games that I've sacked the ball carrier. I manage to get the ball out and complete a Pass, but can't get out of range of the BOB's. It finishes 1-1, and it was a case of pulling out a draw from the jaws of defeat. Mark tells me later that he learned from the tight cage error, and went on to win his last 2 games.
I give Block to my other LW.
Game 5 vs. Adam Palmer (Skaven)
Adam's young, relatively new to the game, and is fielding a RO. I kick, get a LW around the back, sack his thrower and go 1 up in 2 turns.
Adam recieves, and gets it back to 1-1. At this point I'm coaching a little.."
you'd be better off pushing him there because..."......"you'd be better off doing it this way..."
It's an entertaining game, but I have 5 KO'd by time the equaliser is scored. With 2 turns left before HT, I get the required push against the RO, but fail the dodge to go 2-1 up at HT. Damn Prehensile tail!!!
2nd half, recieve and score. I think I've got the game sewn up on the next drive after popping the ball out. There's 3 High Elf tackle zones on the ball, and I've got 4 elfs surrounding his RO. Then the RO gets double push (on the 2D my choice) followed by a Splat!. A Gutter Runner with Leap then makes the 3+ leap, picks it up on a 6+, a 4+ dodge, a 3+ dodge, a 2+ dodge, a 4+ throw, a 2+ catch and 2 gfi's to score.
2-2. Hmm. 2 turns left to win it..it comes down to a 2+ dodge, 2+ hand off and a gfi to win it with a RR in hand.
Fail the dodge, use the RR, make the hand-off and fail the gfi (to groans and cheers from a few spectators)!
Adam was a cool opponent and said afterwards that it was his most relaxed and enjoyable game so far. It
was a lot of fun, and I was long resigned to the fact that Nuffle decreed it wasn't going to be my weekend.
Game 6 vs Spyke (Dark Elf)
As we're waiting for the draw, Spyke remarks that he's just going to go balls-out in his final game, just go for everything....
General hilarity ensues as we're drawn together.
Not to much to report on this one, we play it fast and carefree so we can get to see as much of the final as possible. My Dirty Player finally does something useful and boots both Leaping (!) Witch Elves off the field early,
I romp to a 4-0 lead and we abandon the game with a few turns to spare as soon as I pick up a 3rd cas for the maximum 16 point haul. Really could have gone either way with the 'Who give's a f*ck, let's get it done' attitude, I just get the run of the dice for the first game all weekend.
Cheers Chap!
General thoughts, KO table: FF6 saw one 'Thrown Rock' and 2 Cheering Fans (which I won) in 6 games. All I seemed to be able to roll was Bad Kicks and Quick Snaps, and I suffered about 5 Perfect Defences aginst me, usually when down on players. I didn't get one Blitz in my favour either (but only suffered 1). And I lost a fair few Brilliant coaching rolls as well. In retrospect, I'd have been much better off with the extra TRR and FF1 that Longshot opted for!
Watch out guys, Nuffle owes me big time!!!