Vongalazthag Violators versus Middenheim Maulers Blood Bowl match report

 And so we come to the final of the three "heavy hitter" top teams of the League to face off against, and so far damages (but not pride) have been okay.

 

 

Facing the very skilled and upgraded Human team of Jasper, we also played in his fantastic stadium... though no Chaos Dwarfs where present to watch the game.  It feels like for some reason we are banned from some good honest cheering on the team.

 

 

Not to mention his gorgeous Imperial Nobility team (which plays as regular Humans btw).   But of we went, and both teams gathered on the line of scrimmage, and the violence began.

 

 

 The Violators immediatly started forcing the line open, but The Raging Trainwreck failed to accept a quick pass though from Numbers, that one time he seemingly managed to throw an accurate pass...

 

 

But we also put the first Blitzer into the KO box, so that did count for something.

 

Both teams kept pushing forth and back on the line, the Ogre being a force to be reckoned with. 

But as we put another human in the KO box, we managed to struggle the big guy to the floor.

 

 Only to have The Raging Trainwreck fail to pick up the ball once again... 

Still holding back the human push on the line, the other flank saw them come through and go after the ball.

 

The Raging Trainwreck was smacked on his behind thanks to his Thick Skull, but unfortunatly one of the Stabba's, Fixit, was badly hurt, having to sit out the rest of the game.

 

The humans broke through, and put the 1-0 on the scoreboard...

 

 Both teams returned to the line of scrimmage for the kick of for the second drive.

 

 And duly got a perfect defence on the kick-off table, resulting in the advantage of the line suddenly being totally taken away.

 

 Never the less, the Violators started pushing in in their typical brutal and aggressive style, and as numbers picked up the ball again started looking for an opening.

 

 Both lines faced off, but on the flank a small opening was starting to form.

 

 While the KO box of the humans started filling up, as well as them suffering a badly hurt.

 

 

Soon, the Ogre joined his teammates, making that little box very, very cramped though. 

Realising it was now or never, the Violators shifted all their weight to the left flank, out to break through the line of humans.  And after Numbers threw a pass which The Raging Trainwreck managed to actually catch, the Bull Centaur rushed off in the hopes of putting the equalizer on the board in the final turn of the half.

 

But alas, those pesky humans dodge almost as good as an Elf an manage to take down the Bull Centaur. 

 

 

Even with the others following up,  they still managed to get out the box, throw a pass over half the field, catch it... 

 

... and score the 2-0 on the beat of the half-time buzzer!!!!

 

 With our chance to stay in the game gone now, we readied ourselves for the second half and throwing all subtility out of the window lined up, all bar one of his players returning from KO as well of course.

 

 The line starts moving, but it is instead the Hobgoblins who take the brunt, one being KO'd and one badly hurt... which was unfortunatly Numbers, my only more or less capable Hobgoblin for picking up an actual ball.  

This actually led to a numerical advantage on one flank for the human team.

 

But soon we managed to get more playes to the side to restore the balance a little.

 

 And then somewhere, somehow one of his players managed to sneak out of the brawl, and set of to score, none of my players able to reach him anymore.

 

 And so the 3-0 came onto the scoreboard... after a true slugfest in the center.

 

Setting up once again, the only thing left for me to do was make good my promise to last week's opponent, to put as many down as possible for levelling the league teams at the top.

 

 And we soon managed to isolate the big Ogre with my armoured blockers.

 

 He went down, and one big foul was set up on the bloke, which failed due to the one time a Hobgoblin was caught out by my Biased Ref, who could do nothing else then send the him off.

 

But one of the Hobgoblins had managed to obtain the ball, and set off towards the end zone, after yet another completed pass from one of the greenskins.

 

He is caught up however by one of the Catchers, so I would need to make a dodge roll.

 

 

I opted for a foul on the ogre first to try and get that beast out of the way, but again was caught out and a second lineman was send off.  This caused a turnover, and my poor Hobgoblin as such was taken down with the ball, but the good thing is that the Big Guy was seriously injured.

The boxes where seriously filled now with knocked out and injured players in a very brutal game.

 

 

The humans managed to switch the ball over to the other flank, and his blitzer set off to make yet another counter goal, and it would be yet again in his final turn.

 

But out of re-rolls, he failed his rush this time, crashing into the end zone ball and all as the game came to a closure.

 

At least I did my job, and put 4 down of the humans, although only the Ogre will miss next match.  While my pride might be injured, I came through the top team encounters with only a Hobgoblin, The Dude, having suffered a -1 AV, and my team actually boosted in players as I didn't have to replace anyone.  After the addition of a Bull Centaur a few games ago, I now purchased a Minotaur and this actually causes me to (probably briefly) have the highest team value in the League now, and barely holding on to 8th place.

 

This will end in all probability next friday, but heck, now the League starts in earnest for the Violators as they can begin facing teams not heavily outmatching them on acquired skills, and the next opponent will be in a few weeks, another Human team.  Sorry for them, but it is time to start the climb up to qualifying, and they will be my victim as a result!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Painting Desk 320

 A nice week on the painting front, with some completions for the books.

 

Slowly and steadily we are getting there!

 

First of all, the L5/30 tankette has been finished, meaning the start of the italian army has been taken, always the hardest step they say.

 

 

But my Empire force also made some progress, with the Pistoliers  being in layer three, but not as far as I wanted them to be.  I will really have to turn it all up more then one notch the coming days!

 

Check back next week to see if I actually managed to do so!

Warhammer The Old World

 Well, I finally read through the whole rulebook for Warhammer The Old World, and not only the rules section but especially the mighty amount of lore.

A very hefty tome in the lineage of books like 8th edition, this hardcover book numbers no less then 350+ pages.

 

After the End Times in 8th edition, when the whole of the Warhammer World was destroyed, people cried in outrage and the newborn Age of Sigmar had a hard time.  Many flocked to the free community made rules of either The Warhammer Project or The Ninth Age.  But GW saw their fans still "needing" their rank-and-flank games and relaunched their system as The Old World... but with a twist.

 

The Lore

 

Taking place centuries before the world we left behind, the first almost 100 pages details the setting, the lands that are mainly involved in this edition (only 9 factions returned, the others going to Legacy status, while there are some hints of upcoming nations).   As in previous editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, the lore runs past the coming of the Old Ones, the rise of Sigmar, the Cataclysm, the Coming of Chaos and other well known events... but stops in 2205 as the Empire is in disarray, the Vampire Wars having ended and the Three Emperor's debacle fresh in the mind of the people.

 

 

This results in a central Empire map with it's borders just that bit different from what we are used to, some provinces still existing while others not as prominent.  The other races are then the ones layered around it, all up to the southern lands of the Tomb Kings.  But the book also details Tilea, Estalia and the Border Princes, as well as hinting at Cathay.

 

The Rules

 

For those (like me) having grown up on Warhammer Fantasy Battles, this edition seems to draw heavily on... 6th edition actually, with some 8th edition and new tweaks added.  They aren't perfect, like no step-up for infantry, but feel very recognisable and the flow is there.  Perhaps the biggest change is in the way the results of a Break test work out, with units not necessarily going into an all out rout, but might just give ground a little (recognisable for those playing historical medieval wargames), and magic no longer having it's own phase but taking place during movement, shooting and such where the particular spell fits best.

 

 

But the biggest change comes in the size of the bases, with almost everything sized up one notch.  Now before you go rebasing everything, you can get MDF or 3D printed "base adapters" to make the footprint and model count correct, making your models suitable for either 20mm or 25mm square gaming.  Take into account most war machines have become a little less potent and armour reduction is often changed to Armour Bane, which gives modifiers if natural to wound 6's are rolled, and you have the biggest changes in a nutshell.

 

 

 The rest of the rules are pretty recognisable for anyone ever having played the older editions, but be warned, this is not a beginner friendly game if you are new to wargaming, as you will need to learn 150+ pages of rules for the game.  It helps being able to draw on experiences from the past, but the danger here is thinking (as I had already) how something "used to" work, versus how it now actually works out!

 

The Rest

 

After the core rules we get the additional rules, but not before going through the gallery of the 9 main factions with beautiful pictures.  The scenario's, the magic spells, magic items and the likes can all be found in the section.  Mind you, NO army lists, for these you will need the relevant companion book for either the forces of good or those of evil, and possibly (but not required) their Arcane Journal which are smaller books with lore, special armies and some new items and units.

 

 

 And there we have it, Warhammer The Old World.  It feels like what it is intended to, the return of an old love for those GW players dwindling in melancholy for the days gone by of slow block manoeuvring compared to the fast action of Age of Sigmar.  And yes, I am one of those grognards!