Monday, August 23, 2010

A Whole Different Game


Cash Johnson with the second Blood Bowl post in a row, this time all about Chaos. The pic kinda says it all about this new team and the match against Ogres - it was a struggle both ways.

This was a practice run for my team, as well as extra practice for Irvin to get better at planning his blocks, as well as running plays and the proper use of Gnoblars. What it turned into, however, was one of the best games I've played to date.

First of all, the reason I chose Chaos as a second team was because it is about as different from Skaven as I could get - it's much stronger, much tougher, and is great for stopping most advances once they hit my line. I also had plenty of Beastmen to use, so 7 Gors became the bulk of my team off the bat - I only had to proxy 3 Warriors and the Minotaur because I don't have the spare models to convert at the moment. Probably just going to pick up a 3 pack of Warriors from the store and save up for the Minotaur box, everything on 25mm bases.

Before I get into the gritty details, meet the Reikland Wrath:

#1 - Blag Dahlia, Team Captain, Warrior: Scored his first touchdown today
#2 - Kurgan Scalptaker, Warrior: 1 Casualty, Gnoblar at -1 AV
#3 - The Black Duke, Warrior
#4 - Goretusk, Minotaur: 1 Casualty, Ogre out for Remainder of Game, First Blood on First Play
#5 - Abrax the Twisted, Beastman
#6 - Gathak Bloodhorn, Beastman: 1 Casualty, Gnoblar at -1 AV
#7 - Karthax Ironhoof, Beastman
#8 - Morgen Grimtusk, Beastman
#9 - Volus Raveneye, Beastman (Chosen of Tzeentch)
#10 - Kursk Two-Tongue, Beastman
#11 - Gorruk the Wild, Beastman

I won the coin flip so I chose to Receive, had 2 FAME going in, with perfect weather, and a Quick Snap, plus the Kickoff was a Touchback, so I gave it to Blag because he was already on the line. First thing was first, and Goretusk proceeded to Blitz the Ogre tying Blag up, causing him to black out for the rest of the game - not too shabby for an opening play. While the rest of the line did their best to push the Ogres off of them, it still took the entire first half to score a single Touchdown, though four Gnoblars found out why they shouldn't have gotten in the way of Chaos (only two losing 1 Armour, but as this was exhibition, it didn't much matter, more of a pride issue for me). Five opposing players were down going into Turn 8 of the First Half (another two Gnoblars were KO'd on the last drive), which suited me fine - less Dodges to make and less Blocks to worry about.

The Second Half was where things didn't go to plan as I'd hoped. He got both Gnoblars back, who intended to show the Chaos Gods the power of the Great Maw. It was "just as planned" as the Kickoff landed just in front of his end zone AND I got an extra Re-Roll from Brilliant Coaching (yay Tzeentch). All I had to do was stop him from getting past my line, which I tried my best to do, but just not enough. His lonely Gnoblar in the backfield ran back, picked up the ball, then proceeded to run the entire length of the field while caged in formation, making two consecutive Dodges at the end of Turn 6 to score a Touchdown.

My Turn 7 saw the ball land in front of Morgen, who picked it up and ran to the line, while Blag and the Black Duke proceeded to open a hole to the right side, knocking down two Ogres. A quick blitz from Gorruk the Wild proceeded to KO another Gnoblar and open the right flank entirely and, two Go For It rolls later, was in a position to score if he could just get the ball. At the same time, Abrax and Gathak both shot through openings on the left flank, crossed the field, and made a total of three possible receivers. Meanwhile, creative blocking saw Morgen boxed in nicely by his own team, making a Blitz impossible against him. With the game-winning throw on the line, both Gnoblars and Ogres immediately fell back to flood the passing lanes with nothing but Interceptions.

Morgen snapped back and threw a Long Pass to Gorruk who jumped up, inches away from the ball... but what he didn't see was the little Gnoblar crawling up his loin cloth, kicking off his chest, and launching himself face first at the ball to make a stunning Turn 8 Interception that cost the Wrath the win (as we don't do overtime). It wasn't until the game was over that the Chaos team realized the little bastard that caught the ball was the same one who scored earlier in the half - he will be dealt with next time.

I have to say, Chaos was a completely different game. Instead of trying to engineer openings and use speed and skills to save the day, I can just plow forward when I get the ball. I don't have to worry about getting hit as much as with Skaven, since my armour is an 8 or 9 instead of a 7. Less chance of injury to me, more chance of causing damage to them. Chaos is definitely going to be added to the list of teams - now I just need a third...

- Cash

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