Post Underworld and Blood Bowl 2016 Musings.

About 20 days ago I attended Underworld Cup 2016. I decided to bring my Ogres due to the unique nature of the tournament (adding skills to players each round, additional initial points for purchasing the team, additional first round skills for Ogres) and also because I wanted to crush heads and get the Most Casualty award for the tournament. 

The roster I brought was simple - a hint of Block, a smidgen of Break Tackle, and a nice dash of Pile On. And of course the "twin towers" with Guard and Stand Firm. A few other fun choices like Side Step and Frenzy rounded out the mix. 5 Ogres, with a full roster of Snotlings and one Chainsaw Star Player to round out the mix. All in all I felt good about my chances to win a game, thump skulls, and have fun. 

In the end I came in with 2 wins, 2 ties, and 1 loss in the 5 rounds. I lost the Most Casualty award by 1 - winner came in at 26 and I had 25. The fact that I managed so many CAS vs some very bashy teams made me happy. Overall though it was still a great showing for the Ogres! Here are a few photos I took of the rounds though I can't recall the specifics of any one game in details now.

Game 1 vs Goblins

Game 2 vs Norse

Game 3 vs Chaos Dwarves

Game 4 vs Chaos Dwarves

Game 5 vs Norse

Speaking of Blood Bowl... did y'all see that new edition that came out! It's not perfect (in fact they took some very well tested and written rules and messed them up a bit) but it is pretty slick. I was originally not planning on picking up the new box but I did on a whim. Thinking of painting up the two teams included to give away as a gift. Or maybe sell? Who knows.

In the meantime here are some photos for those who want to see more! 

Blood Bowl 2016 Orc Team

Overall I dig the style of these sculpts. Sort of a cross between the Blood Bowl video game look and the more modernized Age Of Sigmar Orruks look. They could probably be converted to play in that game pretty easily with some minimal modifications.  

Blood Bowl 2016 Human Team

Not as chuffed on the Human sculpts though they do look better in person. Their poses are much more static when compared to the Orcs and they are just a bit bland overall. Probably less you could do on the conversion front with these models.  

I had a question on scale from another community so I thought I would post a quick scale photo of the new models as well for reference:

Left to Right you have: Deadzone Human, BB2016 Human, BB2016 Orc, Black Orc BB conversion, GW Wight King, and This Is Not A Test Linebreaker Human. As you can see the Human scale is closer to 32mm or a beefy human body type. 

While there has been some initial interest in getting a local league going with the new edition like many things it might be just a fleeting fad with little long term support. I'll be doing my best to get something going (because I love league play!) but only time will tell if Blood Bowl 2016 is the relaunch Blood Bowl needed to inject new life and new players into the great game.

Headed Off To Underworld Cup 2016!

It's November! That means it is time for the Underworld Cup!! Due to work obligations I have not been able to attend since Coach FlyingDingle took on hosting the event with new rules. But this year is different! I can finally bring my Ogres into a potentially competitive environment for them with plenty of build gold and a nice boost in development at the early stages of the tournament.

You can find rules for the event here.

Essentially you start with a 1.2 Million GP build and get to add 90k in skills and extras each round. Each player can only get one upgrade per round. Outside of that you are pretty much free to do what you want! My Ogres start with an extra 100k for their build (so 1.3) plus an additional 50k to spend on skills before Round 1 (so 140k total).

After a few botched attempts at roster creation here is what I settled on for Round 1:

Click to embigify

First thought it... was do Ogres love? Being strong! So +ST is a must. Also they like to hit stuff and help each other hit stuff so we needed some hitting skills and a bit of Guard tossed in. Snotlings don't need anything but to get in the way and not get stomped. Unless you bring a Chainsaw to the field... in which case you probably won't get eaten (right away).

So what does Round 2 look like? See for yourself:

Push button make big

Gonna need to be able to hit people better! Also maybe we'll try and pick up the ball?

Then it is on to Round 3:

You can do it! Click here!

Hitting things is fun but what we really want is dead things (to hit and eat)! Ogres!! Let's fall on em!?

We get up in Round 4:

Don't make me type things here...

We get up and we also get tricksy with a bit of Side Step to go with our Frenzy. Oh yeah and we can also move around a bit more with some Break Tackle in there for funsies.

Round 5 it all goes to pot:

More +ST!! More movement!! More crushing skulls rarrrggh!!?

And there you have it. My goals with these rosters and upgrades is simply one of having fun playing with my Ogres. Nothing fancy. If I can win a game or two and get a bunch of CAS in the process I would be a very happy Irongut. What will become of the matches?! Perhaps I will let you know the next time I update...

Dog Bowl IV - Done and dog gone.

Last week was Dog Bowl IV at Marmalade Dog! I brought out the Ogres for fun. Roster was:

4 x Ogres - Block, Guard

4 x Snotlings - Diving Tackle

8 x Snotlings

Bloodweiser Babe

5 x Rerolls

First game the Ogres came out swinging and pummeled Fejwe's all Skink team on the way to a 2-1 victory. Play of the game: Snotling stomped on a Kroxigor's head and killed him on turn 4 of the first half. Way to go!!

Only one Skink (hidden from view here behind the middle Ogre) between us and victory!!

Skinks get a little  help from the Marmalade Dog on the kick off... ouch! 

Second game was the beginning of the classic slump to the finish against Whigwham's Nurgle team. It was a great game and Whigwham and I have a bit of history going back now. Though he once used to fear the power of the Ogres he has since learned they can roll plenty of bad dice on the way to the finish. Lost the game but had one amazing play: Snotling dodged out of the Beast of Nurgle's tentacles, through 4 more tackle zones, and made to GFI to 3 die uphill block the Pestigor ball carrier just outside of the endzone. VICTORY!!! Until they picked the ball back up and scored of course! 

What would you do!?

MVS - Most Valuable Snotling!!! 

Third game was the final loss of the day but another great game versus Hippest Hippo's Humans. It wasn't much of a game on the Ogre side but the Humans managed to kill a Snotling with every block for about the first 8 turns of the game. This ended up catapulting Hippo's Humans right to the most cas award for the event! Even if we didn't win it the Ogres were happy to see so many smeared Snotlings on the pitch. 

Just outside of the end zone our Ogre ball carrier finally got knocked down.

Another great year for the Dog Bowl. Massive thanks to Furry for running this thing so I can get three fun games of Bloodbowl in without having to drive across the midwest! Be sure to check out the KUBBL blog for a detailed rundown on the winners (and lots of terrible photos of me).

Progress Report - 3/19/16: Back to the Blood and the Bones

Eherm.

Today is the day! The day for Dog Bowl IV at the Marmalade Dog gaming convention in sunny Kalamazoo. This is the fourth year of the tournament mostly run by Furry with a (very) small bit of help from me. This year I spent some time getting together "prizes" and trophies for the event. 

3D printed Blood Bowl trophies full of sharp edges! 

If I play in the event I will be bringing out the Ogres for a fun mix of "hit em in da ead and den run ova dem" and "get these damn Snotlings out of my way!!" I hope to tie three games or maybe even win one. Given that I haven't played any Blood Bowl since Headbangers Ball last year I expect my showing to be less than stellar. 

In other gaming news... spent a bit of time at the FLGS Chronocade playing some Age of Sigmar two weeks back. It was a fun low pressure event where we just tried some different scenarios and had a good time. Each player brought 1000 sdk worth of their chosen army and again I went right for the Ogres.

My list was:

Tyrant

Slaughtermaster

Ironguts x 4

Leadbelchers x 4

Gorger

Giant

First game was a capture and hold scenario with a tower in the center of the field. Went up against the Sigmarines for the first time out and managed to easily crush most of them in combat. Ran the Gorger in on turn 2 and almost killed the Sigmarine general in one round but was the surrounded and crushed by the other devotees near by. Held on to the tower until the last turn with 1 Leadbelcher remaining but the tiebreaker was decided by number of models and the Sigmar forces had two models in base contact giving them the win. A well fought and fun game for the Beer Gut Tribe! 

Next up was a storm the castle and clam at least 2 of 3 objectives type scenario against Chaos. You can't really see them from the photos but the Chaos force was massive compared to the number or Ogres on the field. I think he had something like 50 models to my 12. Trying to fit through the "meat grinder" effect of the gates to claim the two objectives located on the other side proved almost impossible. After taking down the forces of Chaos to just 1 unit and 1 hero the Ogres lost as they only controlled one of the three objectives (even after Stumpy the Giant crammed a chosen of Chaos into his pants and proceeded to beat the crap out of the Chaos general in three sustained rounds of combat). Another very fun game!  

Things I learned - Age of Sigmar can be a lot of fun, especially when playing with objectives. Ironguts are just down right nasty, Giants can be cool, Gorgers not so much, and Leadbelchers aren't bad but there are probably better shooting options for the Ogres. 

Next time... the sickness descends... a plague of Nurgle?!

Chaos Cup 2014 - A Very Chaotic Recap: Part 3

Third and last day of the Chaos Cup. Going into this the Bullies were firmly locked into the bottom rankings for the event but fighting for Most Casualties with a Norse team towards the top tables. Time to focus on blood and not winning right!?

Game 5 vs Nurgle (Stoutyoungblood)

Nurgle again?! Coach Stoutyoungblood and I have played once before (I think?) but it had been some time ago since we met. It was going to be an uphill battle for casualties but the Bullies felt up the challenge!

The game started with a kick to the nurgle team and... you guessed it... a riot!! 4th riot the Bullies have faced in the last 4 kickoffs but it doesn't keep the nurgle players down as they proceed knock out several snotlings in quick succession before knocking out an ogre as well. The rest of the half plays out with plentiful failures on both sides of the pitch with failed dodges, dropped balls, and plenty of boneheaded rolls but the Bullies manage to keep nurgle from scoring in the first half.

Second half begins with ogres receiving the kick minus one ogre who doesn't come back into the game to play and the ball lands in the ogre endzone. While trying to get the ball two snotlings knock themselves out and allow a pestigor to get the ball and score on turn 5. The game ends with more failed blocks from the chainsaw and finally with the snotlings dropping the ball.

Final result - 0-1 (Casualty 1-2) LOSS

This game was a frustrating and painful one for the Bullies. It seemed nothing could go right - blocks, dodges, bonehead rolls, and even secret weapons all failed to do anything worth mentioning. It was probably the worst game of Blood Bowl I have ever played when it comes to dice.


Game 6 vs Khemri (Firesocold)

Last game of the tournament. Still a chance the Bullies can bring home the casualty award as the Norse were only 3 ahead in the total casualty count. Just need the right opponent. Something with low armor, not too much strength, and no way to stay on the pitch. Too bad!! How about Khemri instead!?

 
Game started out with khemri kicking to the Bullies in a blizzard! The kick goes long and is given back to an ogre on the line. With the ball in hand the ball carrier moves up after two tomb guardians are hit and stunned on the pitch. The snotlings swarm the skeletons and assist in keeping the ogres from being crushed by the tomb guardians running into them. Sadly this fails on turn 4 when the ball carrying ogre double skulls himself and allows a snotling to catch the bouncing ball. While getting the snotling to safety in an attempt to score with throw teammate the Bullies ultimately fail to make anything happen and end the half with no casualties and no touchdowns.

Second half started off bloody with three dead snotlings on the three first blocks from the tomb guardians on the line. Meanwhile the bomber hangs back and chucks bombs into the khemri cage. First bomb blocks up and takes down 2 tomb guardians, a blitzer, and the thro-ra ball carrier. Second turn the bomber does the same again after the khemri stood up and reformed their cage. This time he hits 2 tomb guardians and the thro-ra ball carrier yet again. A snotling dodges in to pop out the ball but falls and dies on the ball but also launches it into the hands of the nearby chainsaw wielding goblin. A blitz from the remaining blitz-ra takes down the chainsaw (blodger) with a one die block and knocks him out of the game. After some bashing, lots of boneheads, a dead ogre, and fails, the Bullies manage to put some pressure on the loose ball but cannot keep the khemri from finally getting the ball ans scoring on turn 5. Turn 6 the remaining 5 players on the Bullies roster lined up to take on the khemri but fail to make anything happen before finally allowing the khemri to score again on turn 8.


Final result - 0-2 (Casualty 2-7) LOSS

Instead of dealing lots of casualties the Bullies took a lot of casualties and ended the event in second to last place. It was a fun game but also a little frustrating due to the inability of the Bullies to not roll 1 for just about everything.

Final Record - 0-1-5 (20 Casualties)

Ended up losing the most casualties award by 2 but I did win something... something big... a big fat WOODEN SPOON!!

What did I win? A cool trophy, a Street Bowl pitch, and a set of new dice (and the words "try a new game" which is a little hard to take but...).

So there you have it... my Chaos Cup 2014 experience. 6 games down and plenty of snake eyes rolled but we'll always have the memories!

Me losing game 1 against Skaven

Me losing game 3 against Amazons

Thanks to all the fantastic coaches I played and massive thanks to the Chaos Cup planning committee for putting on such a fantastic event. Now to start planning on how I will lose the next event!

Chaos Cup 2014 - A Very Chaotic Recap: Part 2

Saturday of the Chaos Cup. Began early with some breakfast and then right into the pre-registration madness of the main room. This year 94 coaches showed up to play 2 days of Blood Bowl and set a new North America attendance record for NAF tournaments! Of course all of this excitement was nothing compared to my team being on table 1!!

Of course that didn't last very long as the first round matchups were announced and I packed up my Ogres and headed down south to table 30 something for the first game of the day.

Game 1 vs Skaven (Darkstar70)

Darkstar70 and I last met up at Headbanger's Ball where the Bullies took home the casualty award and he vowed vengeance after losing to them naming me as his Grudge Match for ZlurpeeBowl X. Sadly he wasn't able to make it due to severe illness so this was the unintentional replacement game and he was out for blood! Ogres vs Skaven is always a hard matchup for the Ogre coach and this game was no different. 

 

The game started in perfect weather with the rats receiving the kickoff with a quick snap. First blitz of the game is on Dribblesnot the bomber who gets knocked down on a one die block and then knocked out of the game. The following push by the rats had a gutter runner fumbling the ball but managing to kill a snotling before scoring on turn 3. The ogres got the ball back on the return kick but a riot broke out in the stands and forcing the Bullies to lose a turn. After spending a few turns dropping the ball the ogres kill a blitzer but fail to protect the ball and allow a gutter runner to score (by letting the rat make a dodge into 3 tackle zones to pick up the ball and then dodge out twice) on turn 6. A last ditch effort to throw a snotling into the backfield fails and the first half ends with the Skaven leading the score 2-0 but down on players. 

Second half has the Bullies receiving the kick off  with a chainsaw on the pitch. A quick blitz by the chainsaw weilding madgoblin killed a linerat and a snotling decides to follow up that excitement by falling on his face. The nearby gutter runner dodges 5 times and picks up the ball in 3 tackle zones. Meanwhile two of the Bullies decide to do nothing for the turn leaving only the chainsaw blitz to keep the rats from scoring again. After taking own the ball carrier the ball lands in the hands of a nearby snotling who had already moved for the turn and out in the open with no assists. After being smashed and killed by a blitzer the snotling hands him the ball and allows him to score on turn 2. The Bullies get the kick (again) and focus on crushing the one shirtless linerat who still remains on the pitch (his name was Shirtless Steve). Meanwhile a snotling picks up the ball and goes for it to be in position for throw teammate on the next turn. After keeping the rats in the backfield the snotling with the ball is thrown successfully but lands 1 square away from being able to score. The following turn has the rats crushing the snotling holding the ball sending it into the stands where the fans throw it deep into the Bullies backfield. With time almost up for the round the Bullies spend their last turn killing Shirtless Steve and then dropping the ball again. 

Final result - 0-3 (Casualty 4-3) LOSS

Overall a great game with a lot of action on both sides of the pitch. The Bullies did great on the Bonehead front but couldn't keep enough rats off the pitch to get a score in. This was also the only game of the tournament I didn't finish due to time being called. No idea what might have happened in the last 3 turns but I like to think I would have killed some more rats if nothing else. With this loss I was kind of excited to go to the bottom tables where I could play teams that were better suited to the Ogres (and not a top tier team like Skaven). 

Game 2 vs Nurgle (droachmega)

Coach droachmega and I had not played before but we did have a conversation about Nurgle in tournament play at ZlurpeeBowl X so I kind of knew what to expect from his roster when I sat down for this match. Another hard match for Ogres but at least the Bullies should be able to keep up with the Nurgle movement unlike Skaven. Also his team looked awesome!

Game started in perfect weather with Nurgle getting the kickoff but the turn ends quickly when a pestigor drops the ball in the backfield. Snotlings surge forward through tentacles and tackle zones to base the ball and put pressure on the rotting chaos players. Eventually the nurgle players push the snotlings away and get the ball moving up and forming a cage. Meanwhile the nearby bomber begins throwing bombs into the cage and knocks down the ball carrier but also knocks out a nearby snotling forcing a turn over. Nurgle warriors push forward to pressure the bomber and cause him to fumble his next bomb but he still hits the ball carrier again and knocks it loose. Finally a pestigor manages to grab the ball and break away on the sidelines after a turn of some critical failed bonehead rolls and failed GFI from the bomber attempting to base the ball carrier again. Turn 5 the pestigor scores after a snotling fails his dodge to blitz the ball carrier. The half ends with the Bullies killing a rotter. 

The second half started with the Bullies getting the kick off with their chainsaw on the field in Very Sunny weather. After fumbling the ball in the backfield for a couple turns a snotling gets the ball and hands it off to an ogre to run in for a score. Sadly he spends his next turn being a bonehead and then double skulls a blitz block to get away from the nearby nurgle players. Meanwhile the nurgle players are pushing up on the ball, knocking snotlings out of the game, and being hacked apart by the chainsaw. After another two turns of failing to pick up the ball an ogre picks up the ball in 2 tackle zones, dodges out, and passes the ball to a snotling receiver in the end zone who catches it to score for the tie. 

Final result - 1-1 (Casualty 4-6) TIE

Another fun game with a lot of strange action ending in one of those "crazy plays" you hear about from other coaches. With the odds stacked against the Bullies they managed to pull out a tie in the last turn and keep themselves from a total goose egg record for the tournament. 

Game 3 vs Amazons (Whigwam)

Another game and another coach I had never played before! Whigwam had just recently started playing Blood Bowl and this was his first major tournament/event which explained while his Tier 1ish team was so low on the tables but didn't make it any easier a matchup for the Bullies.

The game started with the amazon players receiving the kick off in the pouring rain and still manage to quickly pick up the ball and form a cage. Meanwhile the Bullies threw three different three die blocks and get nothing but pushes. On the next turn the amazon cage moves up and the ogres take the opportunity to take out a linewoman and then throw a snotling into the cage and stun the ball carrier. The amazons scramble back into position with the ball and the ogres follow up by piling on the cage. With plenty of dodges the cage moves to the sidelines where it stalls and is swarmed by snotlings who keep the amazons from scoring while allowing some additional blocks and casualties before the end of the half. Snotling wall prevails!!

Second half the ball is kicked all the way into the Bullies endzone but does not bounce out. The chainsaw gets bribed back into the game but is immediately taken out of the game after being knocked out by a amazon blitzer. The ogres spend the next 3 turns attempting to pick up the ball and fumbling it while the bomber keeps the amazons at bay with his explosive passes. Enraged and wanting to score the amazons send their start blitzer in with two 4+ dodges to take him out of the game with a successful one die block (on a blodger). The ball is loose and a snotling attempts to move it into a better position by falling on it but kills himself in the process. After spending the last two turns being boneheaded the ogres fail to help pick up the ball and the amazons score on their turn 8.

Final result - 0-1 (Casualty 6-3) LOSS

Another fun game with plenty of fouls, fails, and carnage. I had hoped for a tie or even a win in this game but the dice went south quickly in the second half and the pouring rain didn't do them any favors either. 

Game 4 vs Pro Elves (Jeffro)

In the final match of the day I found myself meeting Coach Jeffro for the first time. Astute D&M readers may remember Jeffro as the brewer of the appropriately named Zlur-piss beer that was made for the tenth anniversary of ZlurpeeBowl. Heck I even reviewed it here on the site! We met at the bottom tables and played on the very nicely crafted pitch of Amateur Hour's very own Mattias Darrow who I met and played last year at Chaos Cup. He also gave me a beer to review here on the site! Thanks Mattias! Expect to see your beer reviewed here soon.Once Jeffro and I met and I told him about the site and review he demanded we drink some more Zlur-piss in celebration of the momentous occasion! Not sure if it was his excitement, or part of his plan to distract me, but the celebration was cut short when the Zlur-piss exploded out of the bottles and all over us (but not on your board Mattias - we kept it pristine!!). 

The game started with the elves receiving the ball in perfect weather. After the kick the elves quickly scooped up the ball and moved to the line where they were quickly swarmed by snotlings. Of course being elves that doesn't stop them from easily passing to a catcher in the ogre backfield and running in to score on turn 3 after all three ogres go bonehead at the same time. On the return kick the ball goes out of bounds and into the hands of an ogre which causes a riot in the stands. Meanwhile the chainsaw is brought in to cut up a few elves and the ogres stumble up the field but the ball carrier falls down on a GFI allowing the elves to pick it up and score again on turn 6. Another kick off and another riot makes the half end quickly with the ogres not leading in casualties nor touchdowns.

Second half starts with the Bullies getting the ball but the fans in the stands freak out again and start yet another riot (the third one in a row!!!). A snotling actually manages to get the ball and hand it off to another snotling who breaks away into the backfield and stall while being screened by other snotlings. The Bullies use the extra turns to chainsaw, bomb, and hit the elves who prove to be a little too resilient. On turn 7 the snotling with the ball finally gets hit after several failed attempts and dodges but doesn't manage to hold up to the hit and drops the ball into the crowd. The game ends with a few more hits and fouls but nothing notable for either team.

Final result - 0-2 (Casualty 3-2) LOSS

A really fun game and even though I could have scored with the snotling I don't regret my choice to hit elves in the head instead. 

And with the spilled beers, crushed snotlings, and no wins the day ended with the Bullies tied for the Most Casualties award (at 17) with a Norse team playing towards the top tables. What was in store for the ogres on day two? Find out soon in the third and final part of the Chaotic Recap.