On the Painting Desk 331

 Time for another paint desk update, and the big white screen is gone!

 

I finished as such the K'daai entry for the Golden Hat the past week, so time to focus on other things.

 

The main paint target at the moment is the Forge World Bull Centaur for Blood Bowl, whom needs to be finished for a game the 6th of june, but in the coming week I'll be on holiday, AND have a tournament the 1st of June as well, so not much will be advancing on the painting level as a result.

 

However, apart from the Chaos Dwarf related models, I also have been doing some good progress on the Idoneth soulscryer, pushing him beyond his first base colour layer, while I started painting on a medic for my Bolt Action belgians.  The latter is to test out the waters for the colour scheme of the regular troop uniforms, in order to set up a decent paintline for them afterwards.

 

So that's it for this week, next episode I don't expect to many big advances, but check back anyways!

Giant Rat

 A pretty simple, yet necessary completed model for today.

Namely, that most common of monsters in any fantasy setting: a giant rat!

The model was obtained a while ago through Vinted, and is 3D printed resin.  But, as I will be starting some solo games soon, the scenario for Rusty Dagger that I will start out with on that journey requires a rat.

So a quick paintjob later, the big critter is ready for the table, and to face the opponents trying to make their lives miserable!

So keep your eyes peeled to see the not so little beastie in a battle report soon!

Warhammer Underworlds battle report: Cyreni's Razors vs Ironsoul's Condemnors

 Now that the night shifts are calming down, I can now and then sneak in a game of Underworlds again at the casual meet-ups, and as such did that yesterday.

 

Even though I will only be able to play a single game before leaving to work, it did give me time to try my Razors and their "Wracking Tides" deck I build, using Countdown to Cataclysm together with Wrack and Ruin.

 

Facing me was Wim, whom I never actually played before, and his Ironsoul's Condemnors which use a deck build from Blazing Assault and Emberstone Sentinels.

 

 I got to pick the board side, preventing the blocked hex side one for Hammertide, though it didn't matter to much as he was probably moving away from the line on the get go.

 

 Though even he got the first turn, he actually didn't, so a stagger and a damage was Ironsoul's fate.  

Coming forward, he targetted Cephanyr from the get go, the squid being pummeled down fast, as I had opted to inspire Cyreni first for this turn.  He managed to score some quick cards, and the Condemnors took a 3-5 lead after round 1.  However, this didn't stress me to much, as I knew what I had in hand and I would be scoring well normally in the second round.

 

As I took the first turn being the underdog on a tied roll, I started hammering more at Ironsoul herself, and even though he spend his healing potion and all on her, she went down to the combined strikes of the inspired Renglaith and Alathyr.  And allowing me to score some cards in the process as well.

 

The Condemnors started to advance on tokens, so I knew he had Supremacy in hand, yet even should I not be able to prevent it it wouldn't be to much of a problem in all honesty.

 

 Especially if he throws a yahtzee worth of Flanked's in an attack where he had no support on the table, giving Alathyr the Cleave skill to retaliate, but unfortunatly he missed as well even with a re-roll.

 

And so he duly scored Supremacy as he succesfully defended against Cyreni's ranged attack, but as I scored strongly this end phase the Razors now went to the lead with 12-10.

 

 The final battle round saw me inspire my whole warband, and the hunt was on for Brodus.

 

He quickly received some minor hits, putting him to 3 out of his 5 wounds, when Alathyr got lucky on the defence and survived another turn against all odds, and thanks to a nice defensive upgrade combo.  He was dealt only a single damage thanks to the more crits in defence, reducing the damage to only 1.  But as he had Unstoppable and was vunerable, this was reduced to 0...

 

 Tavian however had to step in now as well, and the might of two Stormcasts proved to much for the poor Thrall and she went down under a fury of hammer blows.

 

Tavian had positioned himself to save Brodus from a ping followed by a Hammertide, so instead Renglaith attacked with his 4 dice on swords with a re-roll, managing to roll 4 hammers followed by a fifth one, allowing the Stormcast to survive.  But it mattered not, as I scored more then him in the end phase as well, netting a 16-13 victory for the Razors.

 

So, I'm really happy with how the deck plays and have found some in and outs for board orientation.  I know where my weakness in the build lies as well (nope, not against aggro as I put down the Condemnors and the Jaws in the practice games), knowing I might have to take certain big risks should I come across those particular warbands.  But we'll see if we can mount that cliff if we ever get there after all...

 

Now to take the Razors to the Mines of Alost II in a week's time and see how we do in the tournament!

Mantic Games Abyssal Dwarfs G'rog Light Mortar

 While I don't frequently play T9A, this unit is still playable in there as a light mortar team.

Produced by Mantic Games, the G'rog Light Mortar is a nifty little, demon maw shell lobber.

While the crew might not be totally "Abyssal Dwarf" in style, as they are regular Dwarfs that come with the kit and a small headpiece to add to them, it is never the less quite a fun model to paint.  

I deliberatly though based it on a 50x50 square, as that way I can "attach" it to my regiments of Blunderbusses or Fireglaives as a unit filler, especially if the fire in two ranks would ever come back to the game of The Old World.

But until then, it might be seeing shelf life mostly, unless as said in real huge battles where you put your missile troops in ranks for the looks alone.  

Or I should just see to get a game or two in this year of The Ninth Age...

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2

 Well, it is with mixed feelings I've sat down for this second season.

 

 

While it is a good generic fantasy series, it churns my insides it is supposedly Lord of the Rings related,  one can count more inconsistensies in 5 minutes then the finale of a bukkake party.

 

 And will we get answers on who "the Stranger" is?  Okay, granted, we all know, but heck, it never hurts to think the producers can keep it a secret...  It begins at the dawn of the Second Age, when Sauron was murdered by Adar and his orcs, only to turn to a black ooze that recovers to a physical form after thousands of years.  Yeah, that makes Adar a mighty old Uruk...

 

 While Gil-galad believes the rings are a weapon against Sauron, Elrond disagrees and takes them to Cirdan the Shipwright.  He believes them to be pure perfection, and he dons one, just as Galadriel and Gil-galad, restoring the power of the Elves.  In the meantime, the Stranger, Nori and Poppy got lost on their way to Rhun.  

The dwarven realm of Khazad-Dum still suffers from the aftermath earthquakes of the birth of Mount Doom, but the king Durin III and the prince Durin IV still refuse to reconcile.  Sauron has moved to Eregion to meet with Celembrimbor for more rings to be forged, as Galadriel sees the death of the latter in a vision and wants to travel there as well.  Celembrimbor is conceived by Sauron, who takes on the guise of Annatar, an emmissary of the Valar.  

The presumed dead Isildur awakens in a spider cave, managing to escape thanks to his horse, and comes across a girl called Estrid on his way back to the village.  Ambushed by wild men, they are saved by Arondir, still mourning the loss of Bronwyn.  Her son Theo and the Wildmen are captured by an unknown being in the forest.  In Numenor meanwhile, a power struggle has erupted between the blinded Queen Miriel and Pharazon.  

 

As Elrond and Galadriel set out for Eregion, the Stranger runs into a mysterious man, Tom Bombadil, nearby a colony of halflings, the Stoors.  They learn the Harfoots are descendant of one of them that left the desert to find a place of green hills to settle, the Suzat.  Estrid, discovered to be one of the Wild Men, regains Isildur's and Arondir's trust when she frees them from the mud.  They encounter Ents that had captured the others, while Elrond and Galadriel face off Barrow-wights (yeah, they really are putting the whole Barrow-downs and Tom Bombadil ommited part from the books in the series instead *sigh*).

 

 As Galadriel is captured by Orcs, Durin III receives his ring of power and tries to bring sunlight back to the mountain, but it also makes him very greedy.  In Eregion, Annatar tries to convince Celembrimbor to make the Nine, rings intended for Men, but he refuses.  But through manipulation and truth-bending, he convinces him at last to start the work.  Numenor sees the internal struggle escalate when Pharazon is crowned and starts a hunt on the Faithful, putting the blame on Elendil for starting the riot and arresting him.

 

 

As Annatar takes on the governing of Eregion, with Celembrimbor focussed on the ringmaking, as Adar tells Galadriel that Sauron's masters crown of Morgoth was the weapon that could defeat him, and that together with the elven rings it could destroy him for good.  As Tom Bombadil brings the Stranger to a valley to find his wizard's staff, he receives a vision of Nori and Poppy in danger and goes to help them instead.  Adar lays siege to Eregion, but Galadriel realizes Sauron lured it there as he doesn't have an army of his own.   Bringing down the mountin next to the city to dam the river (because yeah, three trebuchet shots do that), the orc army assaults the city.  Elrond arrives at Durin's to ask for their help, while Celembrimbor realises he is trapped in an illusion as he finishes work on the Nine.

 

Seeing his city in flames, he tries to rally his soldiers and people, only to find that Annatar has placed them all under his influence.  he finds Galadriel, who escaped with the help of Arondir, and hands her the rings, in order to take them somewhere safe.  As the forces of Lindon engage the orcs, the dwarfs set out of their hold, but soon are called back and don't come to the aid of the beleagured city.

 

Below Khazad-dum, a Balrog has awakaned due to Durin III's mining, and coming to his senses the king engages it and goes into his doom (hence, Durin's Bane), but not before naming his son the new king and a blast resealing the mine.  The Stranger refuses an offer from the Dark Wizard, apparently also one of the Ishtari, who offers to supplant Sauron (is he Saruman of one of the missing blue wizards?) but is rebuked for this.  He destroys the canyon, forcing the Stoors to migrate and Nori and Poppy join them, as the Stranger finds his staff, as well as a name he thinks he will be called by, "Gandalf" (tadaaa, because his first appearance in grey clothing never aluded to that).  In Numenor all the Faithful are arrested and Miriel accused of being in league with Sauron, as Elendil escapes with the sword Narsil, while Pelargir is set up as a military outpost of Numenor.  

 

 

Sauron kills Celembrimbor before taking a hold over the army of Adar, who is killed by his desillusioned soldiers, as Sauron takes the Nine from Galadriel to save the survivors of the city.  He comes back on his word though, but then the Dwarfs finally arrive, helping the Elves to escape to a valley north of the burning city (aka, what will become Rivendell), where they resolve to stand against Sauron...

 

And so the second season ends.  Sure, it did have good moments, see my opening remarks about the whole Rings of Power series, and still a few questions unanswered.  Like how will Elendil become the High King of Numenor,  and who is the Dark Wizard, but that will probably take 2 or 3 years still as it is currently in pre-production. 

All in all though, it was better then the first season at least.  And the penultimate episode, Doomed or Die, really was some great fantasy watching.

 

And we got Old Tom, you never can get enough Tom in your life!

Junk Art boardgame review

 A short while ago, we had some friends over and decided to do some boardgames, Noshi taking out one of her older games which I personally hadn't played either: Junk Art.

 

The goal of the game is to make works of art using wooden blocks, but every creation most adhere to different rules.

 

In this game, you play on your Hometown and 3 other world cities, trying to build modern art, and obtaining as much fans of your creation in the process.  This results in a game of balancing the blocks, as for example Hometown gives extra points for putting same shape or same colour blocks together.  But the difficulty also lies in the fact the player before you gives cards depicting the blocks, and that is the one you need to build your creation with.

 

 

In other cities, in this case we had Montreal, you also shift sitting places, and as such creations, after every build, so you have to think about how not to make the creations sheer impossible, as you will be the next one that needs to do work on that particular tower.  Apart from the criteria of every city, it often also grants bonus points of building the highest creation without it collapsing.  So you constantly need to find a balance, both in manner of speaking and in stacking oddly shaped blocks, and this can result in some very tense and concentrated moments!

 

A very fun game that results in a lot of laughs for sure, but it definitly isn't the most simple of games out there for the feint of hearted!

Blood Bowl 3D printed Minotaur

 He will already have been seen in game reports, but just for completeness sake a little bit of a closer look at the Blood Bowl Minotaur I'm currently fielding with my team.

 

 

As the Games Workshop one is still out of stock, I found this 3D printed one a while ago on Etsy, and painted him up, like my Bull Centaur, as a stand-in for now.

 

The model of course have been painted in the "team colours" and now stands ready to bash into the opponent lines, frothing at the mouth and rushing in with it's polished up horns for maximum mayhem.

 

The plan is to put him 1 square of the line of scrimmage, then blitz other S5 big guys like ogres for that frenzied S6 bashing.

 

And you could already read how he did bring it off last game...

 

 

On the Painting Desk 330

 And another project cleared from the desk this week, as the Thricefold Discord is ready and done.

 

Now to get going on another project and hopefully clear that out as well in the coming week...

 

Namely the k'daai that is still looming behind the screen, as the deadline for the Golden Hat is looming on the horizon, and I'll soon be out for a few days on weekend and a tournament.  To that end I'm pushing really hard on getting him done, trying not to get to distracted.

 

Another thing I did shuffle on the desk in the meantime are the first two out of 4 pieces of Spearhead terrain, as these will be rather swift paintjobs with bigger brushes and not to much, as we say in flemish, prullerij (fidgeting in english).

 

And some little tidbits done left and right, but let's see if we can get that screen away by next week!

Great Wall of China boardgame review

 Time for another game try-out with Noshi, and this time it is The Chinese Wall from 999 Games.

 

 

Part of some of the cheap games I found through Vinted, I bought this together with Love Letter that we had a look at a while ago, and at less then 5 euro for the game I can't complain.

 

This is a cardgame, in which players alternate building parts of the Great Wall of China.  They do this by putting down cards from their hand, with a score attached to them.  At the beginning of a turn, a player checks if he has the highest value, then scores one of the Fame tokens that is connected to that part of the wall.

 

The first token substracts from the value, allowing another player to try and score the second one, though it is possible to actually obtain both.  Add into the mix some cards with special abilities, and it becomes a game of counting and seeing how to counter the other.

 

 

Once a player has played out his whole hand, or the Fame tokens have all been gained, the final points are counted and the winner determined.

 

HOWEVER, we played this game first time round with only the two of us, and that actually made it, to quote Noshi, "meh".  You know what the other still can be holding to play, and the chances are both players each will obtain one of the Fame tokens from a section until the final cards are laid down.  I can imagine with more players, and only two tokens per section, there are more variables to take into account and the ebb and flow of the game will change drastically.

 

Definitly something we will be trying when we have people over for some games before making a final judgement on the game!

The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake

 Lazy sunday afternoon, so that means time for one of those traditional TV adventure movies, this one hailing from 2009.

 

 

Don't expect a blockbuster though, these are the kind of movies you just enjoy on the couch for what they are: television flicks.

 

In 1592, Captain Francis Drake sets sail from Cadiz, his rival Don Sandovate (hello Boba Fett) on his tail.  But unbeknowst to him, his daughter had hidden onboard his ship as well.  They get into a storm, finding themselves suddenly 2000 miles of course in Syria.  Here they are greeted by a Sultan, who tells them his oracle magically had them summoned to him.

 

 

His reputation preceeding him, the Sultan had him brought in order to find the Tree of Life and help his people, who suffer from a plague.  Drake agrees to the proposed terms, and first sets of to find the Map of Plato in the Library of Alexandria's ruins.  His onboard historian unlocks the riddles as they go, leading to finally find the tree on the artic regions, where he finally gets rid of Sandovate as well.

 

So, the positives of this short (86 minutes) SyFy channel made movie: it is enjoyable for what it is, a historical figure (sir Francis Drake) tossed in a story suitable for Sindbad or Jason and the Argonauts, including mythical monsters, hidden tombs and swashbuckling galore.

 

The neutral is the special effects.  You can see this is a television budget made movie, and especially the big monsters suffer from it, not going above "Xena Warrior Princess" level, except that technology has advanced more then a decade between this movie and the venerable series of my youth.

 

And of course there is the negatives, and one that is for many critics a big one: the acting... Adrien Paul is tossing around a terrible accent, and the additional actors are, well, let's say they give off the vibe of a bunch of very enthousiastic rennaissance faire battlefield re-enactors.  With all respects to the re-enactors, they do it out of love, and these blokes actually do it as a profession...

 

 

Never the less, for an hour and a half of watching there have been far worse movies out there, so I personally don't think it a terrible waste of time in the end.  

 

 

Warhammer Underworlds: The Thricefold Discord

 Hail Slaanesh and all that!

While a lover of all that the Dark Prince of Chaos stands for, I never the less preferred to field the Dread Pageant instead so far.

But a while ago I asked Noshi to pick two warbands to paint up next (her other pick was Lady Harrow) as she knows nothing about the state of the game and meta, and this was her first pick.  And as they are tournament legal this edition, I've painted them us as the first warband I finished in 2025.  As a reward, I'll take them along to the tournament in Rotterdam half of June

The first thing I decided on their colourscheme though was to make all the leather straps and such light purple, with the demonic horns and claws a darker purple, because you know, Slaanesh.  For the bases, I went for an icy blueish colourscheme, as a rememberance of Deathmaw.

 

And so the demonic threesome, loathing each other, will have to take to the field of battle, especially ruleswise I'm a big fan of Lascyvir and his ping ability.  Vexmor will be my "friendly territory" tank, thoguh I still have like two weeks to think which deck I actually want to look at for use with them...

 

And then we start the next warband for the game, which will be a "bit" more light-sided...

 

 

Lord of the Rings: The Duel boardgame review

 Released all the way back in 2002, I had this game in my cabinet for a long time.

 

 

And recently, we finally got to play it as I set down with Noshi and tried to cross the bridge of Khazad-Dum.

 

Hailing from the 999 Games stable, it was designed for 2 players exactly, and created by Peter Neugebauer.  The goal of the game is to rise to the top of the bridge, over the course of 3 rounds of duelling with cards, and a finale should both arrive there.  

 

You play the game by taking either the role of Gandalf or the Balrog, and each has a deck of 27 cards.  of these, you play 6 per round, while putting 3 aside for the final confrontation.  An energy bar tracks how well you are doing, and if you go in the negative you lose the round.

 

The duel is fought by laying down a card, then your opponent puts one next to it.  Then you compare icons to see if you hit your oppenent, every card having "openings" on different places.  You as such must weigh off the benefit of going for a big strike, but the risk of leaving yourself open for the next card.  Or if you want to save your heavy icon cards for the final round, when both players have more energy or "hit points".  Adding to the mix, every player also has a few special skill cards that can shake up the next card played.

 

 

This leads to a bit of thinking to gamble a good card, and wether you want to go low risk, or high risk, with their respective rewards to them.  And you of course have no idea what sort of special tricks your opponent has in hand, or which road to the final confrontation he is planning.  And the little board with the bridge gives it a nice little visual touch!

 

Not a bad game, and good for some tactical playing to see who will not pass in the end!

Star Wars Andor

 Face it, off all the latest generation Star Wars movies, only Rogue One was actually a great movie.

 

 

And one of the main characters of that ill-fated group of rebels was Cassian Andor, around whom this whole series is based.

 

Taking place five years before the events of Rogue One, the series follows how Cassian came to be a firm opposer of the Galactic Empire and one of the Rebels most fanatical leaders, even though at first he was cynic of a possible rebellion against the powers that are.

 

It starts when he is looking for his missing sister on the industrial world of Morlana One, but in his search agonized two local officers.  This leads to him accidentally killing one of them, then murdering the other one to cover his trail.  Back on Ferrix, he attempts to convince his droid B2EMO, his friend Brasso and his adoptive mother Maarva to cover for him.  While the local security chief wants to cover the murders up to prevent imperial involvement, his deputy, Syril Karn, is determined to solve the case.

 

 

He is reported to the securities by Timm, the boyfriend of his friend Bix as a meeting is set up with a blackmarket buyer, Luthen Rael, who comes to Bix to buy the Starpath Unit Cassian has, a relic from a crashed ship in his youth.  Syril's security officers barge in on the transaction, killing Timm in the ensuing skirmish while capturing Bix.  Luthen and Cassian escape the planet though, and he takes him to the planet Aldhani to join a robbery mission there.  He eventually agrees, and and he is introduced to a Rebel cell who is setting up to steal the payroll of the sector's forces.

 

Luthen in the meantime meets with senator Mot Mothma, discussing the challenges of keeping their endeavours a secret.  Cassian trains with the others to perform the heist, and aided by a double agent they enter the Imperial Base.  In the ISB offices, Dedra Meero, a young and ambitious security lieutenant, is starting to look in at the Ferrix incident, and deduces that all the seperate incidents are actually connected and an underground rebellion seems to be forming.

 

The heist is eventually succesfull, though at great cost of life of the rebels involved, only the cell leader and Cassian in the end making it out alive.  Dedra starts getting more access in the meantime, and gets Ferrix in her juristiction as Cassian returns to the planet to visit his mother.  He wants her to leave with her now that Imperial presence has rissen on the planet, but she refuses, claiming she shall oppose the oppressors.  Cassian goes to a vacation world, but is unjustly arrested and sentenced to six years of prison on Narkina 5.  Here he discovers a labour camp, with thousands of prisoners, and while he joins the work they need to do, he also starts planning his escape.  Dedra, by torturing Bix, learns Cassian might have been involved in the payroll heist, and from a rebel pilot the ISB learns about their plan to raid a powerstation on Spellhaus.

 

 

When Cassian realises prisoners are never set free, but rather are either transferred and others killed off as a cover-up, he convinces his floor to aid in his break-out, and soon rebellion sweeps through the whole prison, allowing them almost all to escape.  Maarva, having fallen ill, dies of her disease, resulting in Ferrix planning a great funeral.  Cassian secretly attents, but Maarva had recorded a message spurring the planet into rebellion against the Empire, and Cassian is afterwards taken into the Rebel workings by Luthen.

 

A great series for sure, and Cassian Andor remains one of the most intriguing anti-heroes of the recent movies, this series only adding more layers to his already complex personality.  We all know what will become of him due to Rogue One, but it surely is worth watching the series.

 

Highly recommended for certain! And I for one look forward watching the second season as well, this is Star Wars as it was meant to be in serialised format.

 

 

Bowing out of the Escalation League

 Alas, alas, I am forced to bow out from the club's Escalation League for the remainder of the campaign.

 

The reasons, without going in to much of details, being of a family health related issues.

 

This saddens me though for the people I still needed to face, as well as for the organisor, Steven, who put in a heap of work to run the whole campaign.  But I had a chat with him over the weekend, and it just isn't feasible at the moment to commit to making appointments weeks in advance.  The same happened already with the Blood Bowl League, but as that doesn't have fixed months but just a period in which you need to complete the games, it offers the possibility to shuffle around with dates.

 

 

I'm currently in the position for friday night fixtures that I can at the uttermost confirm a week in front of I would be able to play or not the next friday, all but ideal for an Escalation League.  This has led me to decide, after above chat, to bow out of the League.

 

Never the less, I will continue to work on the army, as I already had almost 1650 points painted up anyways, to get to the 2000 points goal, with the units for what would have been the 6th round already halfway done.

 

They will just take a bit longer now to complete unfortunatly...

Blood Bowl match report: Greedy GrabberZ versus Vongalazthag Violators

 While I haven't faced all teams yet in the League, I accepted the challenge for the return game against the Legaue leaders, the Skaven team of Joop.

 

Because that way, I am freed of having to face them for the rest of the League, as chances are minimal that I should run into them in the finale like things are going this season.

 

But never the less, we do aim to score some points in smacking them around like a crazed Minotaur in a High Elven Pottery Store!  Adding extra pressure, my closest competitor in the ranking, with the same amount of points at the moment, is facing the Halflings at the same time.  So I need to win, score at least a 2 goal deficit, preferably score 3 times and smack down 3+ opponents for maximum points... and hold on to the 8th place only to show for it!  yeah, I've gotten myself in such a hard place in the League...

 

So the teams set up, the Skaven opting to kick first, and off we went.

 

The first block of the game immediatly caused a serious injury on a clanrat, so we where off to a flying start thanks to The Raging Trainwreck.  Now I had a lot of blocks to go to get that second point for a second casualty.  Oh, how things are about to take a change for the worse...

 

Because doing what the hobgoblins do best, even with Sure Hands they failed to pick up the ball on a 3+, and Hot Milky Nipples managed to block himself down once again on a double-skulls while failing his Loner roll for a re-roll...

 

Suddenly, all three Gutter Runners dodged through the line of scrimmage at their incredible speed, racing towards  my end zone. 

My defenders tried to recuperate the ball, failing of course to pick it up as it scattered onto Dievanons.

 

And while the centre kept being bowled over by my Dawi'Zharr violence, albeit at only a KO... and a Minotaur stubborny refusing to get up again.

 

... the Gutter Runner scored a turn 2 touchdown, putting me immediatly at the backfoot with 0-1 for the Skaven.

 

 Both teams deployed once again, the Chaos Dwarfs out to hit them deep and create an opening for the Bull Centaur once again.

 

 And we actually managed to pick up the ball, Fixit protecting Numbers to try and get the ball upfield.

 

 But those Gutter Runners of course never fail their Going-for-it's, and even on a single block die knock over my ball carrier.

 

The ball carrier got up, but failed to pick up the hot potato once again...

 

... and in turn 4 the Gutter Runner, having no such issues of picking up and dodging away scored the 0-2.  This was becoming an issue and chances of victory had already flown away.

 

So once again, the teams took to the line... 

... and once again Numbers tried to bring the ball he picked up to be brought forward as the Horns mutated Gutter Runner just danced through towards him.

 

 But Numbers got away, and he was ready to throw the Quick Pass to Dievanons, who had a small hole in front of him now to start advancing through.

 

Of course, the Stabba failed to catch the ball, though it funnily enough scattered back towards the Hobgoblin, who cuaght it.  Sadly, this isn't a completed pass.

 

Numbers was quickly assailed by the rats, but somehow the ball found it's way to Dievanons, but the hole was closing and the rats are faster. 

In the center, the other Dawi'Zharr failed to cause any injuries or even KO's to get the center opened a bit though.

 

And Dievanons was smacked over.

 

The Gutter Runners of course collected the ball and dodged away, skittering in tandem towards my end zone and out of reach of my players to get it back.

 

 And moments later, at the bell of half time, a 0-3 was on the board in a cold hard counterplay.

 

 The Violators kicked off for the second half, the ball going in his midfield.

 

As Fixit was KO'd by a wild block, one of the few (actually, the only time) times he could get a player from the pitch.

 

 This caused a hole on the left side of my field to open, the Rat Ogre bludgeoning a way through, and the Minotaur just howling at them instead of blitzing them... twice in a row...

 

 And off shot one of the Gutter Runners, at this point making four dodge rolls and twi Going-for-it's without rolling a single one, not even needing his skill re-roll for doing so.

 

 What can a noble dwarf do against such (skilled up and all) raw speed, and 0-4 was on the table in what was becoming a through massacre on the scoreboard, while we still hadn't managed to take a second one down for the League point bonus.

 

 Aiming now to just get that second casualty in, the Violators didn't care to much anymore about the ball, and set up with all the punchers in front.

 

 A High Kick suddenly fell into Numbers lap though and he moved up the field.

 

A cage formed around The Raging Trainwreck as Numbers actually managed to pass the ball to the frothing Bull Centaur.

 

Who broke away from the Skaven line, sprinting to make the 1-4 on the board.  At least some consolidation with that one time we got a quick pass off...

 

And so it was time for The Dude, my armour 7 Fend Hobgoblin to take the pitch and go on the line, as I decided to keep safe a Stabba for this drive, as Dievanons had been send off after fouling the downed Rat Ogre... and rolling double 1 for the armour with three others in assistance...

 

As my Mighty Blow blocker took up the guarding the outfield position, the line got ready to see the next flood of Skaven coming.

 

 And they came, from all sides, all at once it felt like.

 

 A few passes and hand-off's later, faster then you could say rats, the 1-5 was on the table...

 

I had one last drive, and three linemen to be the target of that still needing to be obtained second casualty.  Yes, it was going that well against armour 8 rats, I couldn't even cause a second injury after that first block of the game success...

 

 But we didn't manage it at all, even though the two Hobgoblins managed to complete a pass between them in the final moment, to grab at least one extra Star Player Point.

 

What... a... disaster!  A hefty score even though we only suffered a single KO, but we constantly failed to pick up the ball.  Eeven when we did, we failed to complete those quick passes to get it away from the back line to some armoured protection from the uberfast rats.  And that just resulted in them running, dodgeing and scoring from all round.  Add to that the fact we couldn't get any off, and all his KO'd players just returned with every drive, and we had a very frustrating game.

 

One time the plan went as it should, and we managed to score, but by then the game had already been lost big time, and we only had a minor SPP haul.  At least my second Flamesmith obtained block as well due to being the MVP, and we said farewell to The Dude, sending him back to the pits after his limited service to the team.  Instead Cochones Grande, a second Bull Centaur, joined the teamroster.

 

Which ironically is by far the highest rated one of the entire League, yet we are not even on a qualifying spot in the top-8 anymore...