Zlurpee Bowl Recap - Day 2.

Day two of the annual Zlurpee Bowl event began with very low energy. After staying up until the early hours of the morning playing Deadzone Coach Randroid wasn't quite on his toes going into the first game. But before we get into the Blood Bowl action lets take a little sidetrack into how the big Save The Cheerleader: Save Your Jobs - Deadzone 8 player game that was played on Saturday night. 

A view of the table (most of it anyway)

It was the first time I had the opportunity to play Deadzone (or any Mantic game actually) and it was a great introduction to their game. I brought a small 70 point Rebs force comprised of one Commander, 1 Terraton, 1 Yndij sergeant, 1 Yndij soldier, 1 Sorak, and 3 Humans. I had no idea what I was doing when building this list so I just went with the minis I liked the looks of most. It turned out to be an okay list but perhaps that was just a bit of luck?

The Randroid Rebs deployment in their zone

Terraton in the alley hiding from grenades

The objective of the game for the Rebs was to find the Cheerleader in the center of the board and escort her to one of two nearby safehouses on the board. Meanwhile two forces each of Enforcers, Marauders, and deadly Plague were also trying to reach the Cheerleader for their own mission (to kill, capture, or steal the POI). 

Commander overseeing the Terraton and sniping Plague

After several rounds of being trapped in an alley along the board edge the Rebs were able to breakout with their Terraton and crush the nearby Plague resistance (with a little help from the sniping Commander on top of a nearby building). While a few Humans died in route most of the Rebs were left unscathed while the other alien factions tore each other to shreds. At the end the Rebs found the Cheerleader and cleared their objective.

Eyes on the prize, the Terraton on the way to the Cheerleader

All in all it was a very fun time. Learning a new game in a competitive setting is always a little difficult but all of the other players (who had played previously) were very supportive and even gave me some tips and tactics as the game went on. Initial response to the game from me... COOL! Now I just have to find a way to work it into my local gaming rotation some how... 

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So back to day two of Zlurpee Bowl X. If you missed day one you should probably read that recap here first. In short... the final day 1 results for the Zlurp Outcasts was a solid record of  2 Wins and 2 Ties with 0 Losses. Quite respectable and perhaps one of the better results I have had in a NAF event!

When the Fez attack!!!

Game 5 vs Coach theotherspencer's Orcs the 4D Shriners

Rising from their graves (and crypts, and burrows, and ditches) the necromantic Zlurp Outcasts took to the field against Da 40 Miners worshiping Orcs of the 4D Shriners. In perfect Blood Bowl weather both teams took to the field though the crowd was in favor of the Outcasts. If that wasn't bad enough the 4D Shriners lost a reroll to their piss poor coaching before receiving the kick from the Outcasts. Riding high on their most recent win the Outcasts quickly move in to push the orcs out of the way and gain control of the ball, perhaps a little too quickly, as werewolf Harry Hoyt falls after failing a dodge and lands directly on his claws then fails to regenerate from his self inflicted wounds. On Turn 3 the zombie Godric is obliterated on a blitz but pulls himself together but not before the 4D Shriners score their first touchdown. The Outcasts receive the return kick but the slippery hands of ghoul Damon Digger fail all attempts to pick up the ball and give the orcs the chance to push the defense. Desperate and out for blood the Outcasts come back with a handoff to werewolf Cliff Lancer in traffic who dodges away and pushes himself into the endzone for a Turn 5 score. The Shriners quickly get their revenge by kicking Cliff Lancer to death on Turn 8 of the first half.

The Outcasts lined up with what remained of their team to receive the kick and wight Curd Louis takes out his undead anger on a nearby Black Orc and crushes his skull on the line before failing to do the same on Turn 2 but takes himself out of the game in the process. Meanwhile the magnificent ghoul Shank Orloff grabs the ball and hides behind whats left of the necromantic line but fails to avoid the oncoming block of the Shriners blodging blitzer who knocks him over on a blitz and scoops up the ball to score on Turn 3. Now behind and down to 6 players the Outcasts line up to go for the tie. After some amazing sacrifices from the remaining wight and flesh golems Shank Orloff goes for the gold by blitzing the orc near the downed ball, killing him, then scooping up the ball to break away for the score. In a last ditch effort the Outcasts come together with a series of blocks, moves, dodges, and assists to knock off the blodging defender menacing Shank Orloff and giving him the chance to break away with two dodges and two GFI to score the tie. Instead he tripped over the goal line and killed himself to end the game on Turn 8.

Result: 2-1 Loss

As a side note this was a bit of a revenge match for theotherspencer who was beaten by the Zlurp Outcasts (the all zombie version) at ZB8. This was apparently quite scarring for him and he was very excited to have his vengeance on the zombies and other sundry undead of the Outcasts.

That is a lot of stars...

Game 6 vs BigSexy's Halflings (though mostly Zlurpee Star Players) Van Gor's Green Fairies

While not in the running for any particular awards the Outcasts decided to take up a grudge match by keeping it in the family and taking on BigSexy (theotherspencer's brother). After setting up, and receiving the kick off in perfect Blood Bowl weather, the Outcasts immediately went to work and began systematically removing each Star Player on the Van Gor's team. In the first block the flesh golem Franken flexed his stitched muscles and crushed the head of a nearby halfling. Not to be outdone werewolf Harry Hoyt slashed the star player Zorg to pieces on a blitz. Seeing blood the wight Curd Louis smashed a nearby halfling while fellow flesh golem Barry took the opportunity to destroy the ogre star player Zonk. In total the first 4 blocks resulted in casualties which were quickly followed up by another two casualties in Turn 2 including the star player Zlurpus (who regenerated). Meanwhile in the back field the ghoul Shank Orloff fails to pick up the ball on turns 1, 2, and 3 with a reroll before finally grabbing the ball on Turn 6 and breaking away to score on Turn 8 of the first half.

The sideline after the first two turns

Zorg, Zlurpus, and a couple halflings ready to take the win

Even with just a few halflings it's hard to get the ball

The second half continues with two star players left (the back from the dead again Zlurpus and the mostly naked Zorg) and a few halflings trying to tie up the game. Unfortunately for the Fairies the Outcasts were quickly able to take away the ball and kill Zlurpus (who regenerated again) again in the process. After scoring again on turn 3, 4, and 7 the game finally ends with Zorg standing up alone to the mass beating of the nearby Outcasts on the pitch.

This doesn't seem fair...

Result: 4-0 Win

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So there you have it. 2 days of Blood Bowl left Coach Randroid and the Zlurp Outcasts with a final score of 3 wins, 2 ties, and 1 loss... the best result to date at Zlurpee Bowl for both. Total final standings can be seen here but for a quick "for fun" rundown here are a few other stats of interest:

Number of Zombie fouls - 4

Number of times killed by fouls - 2

Number of times the Claw skill was used - 3

Number of times the ball was dropped by Ghouls on pickup - 9

Number of failed GFI - 12

Number of failed dodges (with rerolls) - 8

Number of suicides by failed dodges/GFI/failed regens - 4

Number of failed regenerations - 10 (7 of which belong to werewolves)

Overall MVP (from CAS and TD) - #3 Werewolf Harry Hoyt (3 TD and 2 CAS)