With Blitzmania in full swing, I thought I’d provide some commentary on the pre-season games the Grimnak Gaming Ratbirds had played.
Game One vs the Southside Biterz (Orcs coached by David)
A low scoring and brutal game as you’d expect for an Orc vs Orc match-up. I was quite rusty on the rules and tactics required, so my opening set-up when kicking was a little ordinary and I got punished for this. Turn one saw a lineman KO’d and a Blitzer stunned, as well as two other guys pushed over.
My luck didn’t improve over the first half, with a lineman getting killed on turn three, and numerous armour breaks and stuns happening for David. He comfortably retained control of the ball for the entire half, scoring a touchdown in turn eight.
The second half didn’t see my luck improve, with an early penalty as one of my linemen tried to foul one of the Southside blockers out of the game but failed with a double two and was sent off for the trouble. On turn two, David created an opening, and ran through to blitz my ball carrying Blitzer knocking him over and stunning him. He grabbed the ball the following turn and remained in control of it until a second touchdown in turn six. I took a further two casualties over the half, although these were only badly hurt results, and failed to cause a single casualty all game, despite two multi-assist fouls which saw my guys sent off!
Game One Wrap-up
Thoroughly enjoyable game to kick off the season, although it highlighted some weaknesses in my opening team and with a lineman killed right off the bat, didn’t bode well for the rest of the season, so the squad was fired and the team restarted.
Game Two vs the Beardy Ones (Dwarves coached by Jon)
My luck turned around significantly in this game, and whilst the final result was a one all draw, I was able to dish out a significant amount of pain over the game. Given Jon was a couple of games ahead, I received inducements, which I channelled into an extra re-roll.
The first half was one turn shorter due to a riot occurring at the start, which worked for me receiving, as I was only intending to score once anyway! I managed a considerable number of armour breaks over the half, causing an injury on a blocker and runner, as well as several stuns. The blocker was only badly hurt, however the runner suffered a broken arm. I score a touchdown in my last turn of the half, with the kick back to the Beardy Ones for a turn of play yielding very little action.
The second half saw the Beardy Ones receiving, and their fatigue was obviously building as the runner failed to pick up the ball. I manage to knock down six players in the first turn, and stun one of them. The action continues at a frenetic pace, with the Beardy Ones spending most of their turns standing back up after being knocked down until turn four, when a blocker with the ball makes a break for the end zone. I responded quickly and knocked him down, with the ball initially spilling free, although Jon responds by starting to position players to pick up and assist the push down to the end zone. I manage to cause an injury on the other runner, resulting in a broken collar bone, as well as stunning two other players. That runner was subsequently fired after the match – obviously player contracts in Blood Bowl are not amazing! Despite these setbacks, Jon manages to get the ball and score a touchdown in turn six.
I ignore the ball on the restart for the most part and start laying into the Beardy Ones. A further casualty is caused during the last two turns, and the Beardy Ones make a valiant play to score again (after I rolled double skull twice in a row!), however fall short.
Game Two Wrap-up
This game felt a lot better than game one, with my dice off the charts throughout most of the game (as witnessed by the five casualties caused) and Jon struggling to make his plays work. Whilst I wasn’t expecting to win, when the ball flew free when Jon was pushing for his touchdown I did get excited, however didn’t have free players to collect and protect the ball to get a second touchdown.
Game Three vs the Beardy Ones (Dwarves coached by Jon)
Due to some slightly poor planning, Jon and I ended up having a second game the following day. I was still behind his team value, so received inducements, but could only afford a keg this game, but used my treasury to purchase an apothecary for the team.
This game was far less brutal than the previous one, with the Beardy Ones causing one casualty over the entire game (actually two, but one was prevented by my Apothecary) whilst I wasn’t able to get any.One interesting play was Jon scoring in turn three of the first half. He possibly thought that due to several of my players having been knocked out he could quickly roll my offensive line and try for a second touchdown after the restart. As it was, I had a run of incredible luck allowing me to form a cage and break free with my thrower, however this ran out of steam and he fell flat on his face on a go for it roll in turn five, then went back to playing defense for the last couple of turns. .
The second half was relatively uneventful, I held on to the ball for most of it in my half, and broke free late in the half to score a touchdown in turn seven or eight.
Game Three Wrap-up
This game felt a lot different to game two, partly due to JOn having had more guys level up and get the guard skill. I seemed he constantly had two blockers with guard in every major contest, denying me easy blocks and forcing unfavourable ones initially. Further, the quick hits he generated at the start of the first half put me on the back foot initially, but once I got most of my players back in the second half, I felt much more in control. The lesson here is I still more to learn about setting my defensive line when kicking.
Conclusion
That is it for the Grimnak Gaming Ratbirds in Blitzmania so far, although I’m looking forward to getting a few more games in over the season. Thanks to Simon at Gatekeeper Games for hosting us, it’s a pleasurable venue to play at with plenty of space.
Leave a Reply