Undead team blog: Dead and Gooners

[Ulthuan_Express]

So, the time has come for me to put up a team blog for the new TT League that I am running (linked in my sig). Depending on how these guys do first time out, I may or may not play them again in Season 2. Depends how far they get, how well I can skill them up to get them going as a unit, and how many grudges they pick up along the way.

Our league is 1.1M, 3 Scheduled Groups of 4 (play each in your own group and matching seed in other two groups), followed by QFs, SFs and F, with a Skill Cap (no more than 4 additions of a skill to your team at any one time) and Selective MVPs (pick three candidates, opponent rolls D3).

As for my team, I'm rolling with the Undead. Their inspiration is Arsenal FC, and are painted in red and white with gold metal. They all have one arm in the air, after all, and are expected to win 1-0 all the time. There are no points for guessing the inspiration behind each player, if you're football/soccer minded. So, may I present, the Dead and Gooners as they started Season One of the PWCBBL (additions in Green)!



The team:
1. David Yorksherman (Z)
2. Scamperly Dickson (S)
3. Cashley Coal (G)
4. Patrik Verde (W)
5. Antonio Abbadons (M)
6. Colin Shambles (M) Guard
7. Superbo Pirouettes (G)
8. Ian Wightwightwight (W)
9. Nicholas Le Sulka (G)
10. Liam Dready (S)
12. Niggling Splinterburn (Z)
13. Nozzle O'Dreary (Z)
14. Thierribly Hungry (G) Block

3 RRs and FF 3, to begin with.

The Schedule:
Vampires (Won 2-0)
Skaven
Wood Elves
Lizardmen
Orcs

Match One: "Tru Bloods" - Vampires
Against the 4th seed in my Group, consisting of 3 Vampires & 8 Thralls with 5 Re-rolls and a fan-factor of 6. I'm forced to kick, and despite having both Mummies and a Zombie knocked down off the LOS, one Mummy gets up to blitz, outright killing a Thrall with my first block of the league. Good start! To make thing worse, that newly-raised Zombie would later SI (regen successful) a Vamp.

The Vamp's first attack goes badly, as the Thrall with the ball is knocked into the sidelines and the ball ends up in my endzone. Three turns of running for the endzone and a turn of stalling before the TD - by Thierribly Hungry - leaves the Vamps with just a single turn to try and hit something, but that doesn't go particularly well. A Zombie is sent off for unsuccessfully fouling a Vamp (double one).

Receiving in the second half, it's the classic Undead combination of bash-and-dash as three Ghouls break with the ball towards the endzone, beating the Thralls in a straight foot race. They hang around for a bit until Thierribly Hungry runs up to them, handing off to give him a second TD and a skill-up.

Beset by a BH Vamp and another KO'd, the Vamps try a desperate passing game but, thanks to a knockdown by a handily-placed Ghoul, can only finish turn eight with the ball passed to a thrall who is one square away from scoring. So near, yet so far, but 2-0 for the Gooners, with 4-2 the score in casualties.

13. Nozzle O'Dreary (Z) added to the squad, raised from the dead
14. Thierribly Hungry (G) gets Block
6. Colin Shambles (M) gets the MVP and Guard
FF goes up to 4.
70k in winnings (That re-roll for winning was exceptionally lucky!)

Next match: "Dread Bakers Dozen" A Skaven team who beat Humans 4-1, skilling a Gutter Runner with Block, and another with a Strength upgrade (who also joint-leads the League scoring with my Ghoul atm). They lost a blitzer, however, and will have precisely 100k inducements unless I cut the free Zombie beforehand.

[voyagers_uk]

Love the theme and the Shield....

will watch this with interest and maybe for the Substitute Ghoul "Jaundice Jensen", careful he couldn't find brains if he had free access to a brain factory....

[Ulthuan_Express]

Match Two: "Dread Bakers Dozen" - Skaven
They're the first seed in the other division, and this marked the first inter-divisional match. Thrashed a Human team last time out (not too hard, considering an Ogre was sent off for fouling, but the Gutter Runners were nothing if not clinical in that game. They did, however, lose a Stormvermin/Blitzer to death in that match, so only started with one here.

I won the FAME but had to kick. Immediately the Gutter Runners get into a scoring position down my right-hand side. By turn two all he needs is a couple of risky dodges to score (being surrounded by all my ghouls) but fails some lineman dodges on the other side of the pitch. His Ball Carrying gutter runner with Block is immediately pushed into the crowd and misses the next game (a wandering Apothecary taken as his only inducement was no real help there). The ball was thrown in to the feet of one of my Mummies on the LOS, and I quickly re-positioned to try and cage up the centre. Didn't have quite the players to build a proper cage, and a few turns were spent blitzing around the ball, trying to get a proper hold of it. Eventually the Mummies and Wights prove the difference, and Cashley Coal (G) speeds off with the ball, lazing around at the end zone for a turn or two to score on Turn 8. Meanwhile the Skaven thrower was KO'd as, generally, most of their players were on the floor, prone or stunned.

The thrower doesn't come back as the Skaven get a blitz, sending Gutter Runners through to try and win the ball for a quick equalising TD. No help there, as the ST3 Gutter Runner is given a niggling injury (originally a death, but the regular apothecary fixed that). The Undead grind ever onwards again with Thierribly Hungry (G) surrounded by the other three Ghouls and a Wight. It all goes completely pear-shaped for the Skaven as, by my turn 8 (or rather 16), they have just a single Blitzer and Lineman on the pitch.

Thrower and two lineman KO'd, all three Gutter Runners in the D&I Box (two MNGs and a NI) along with three BH linemen, as Thierribly Hungry (G) stakes his claim as the League's top scorer with his third TD in two games. All three Skaven fail their KO recovery rolls, leaving a Lineman and Blitzer to start the last, single-turn drive.

At this point we were unsure what to do - what with him not being able to field 3 on the LOS - but a quick rules check only mentioned having zero players, not 'less than three'. In any event, it was a High kick - that he obviously couldn't retrieve - that went for a touchback. Two blocks later and his Blitzer was stunned with a skull roll. Undead win 2-0 again!

My MVP nominations were my 'other' Mummy, the Zombie raised from a Thrall in Game 1 who picked up a second casualty, and the wight who MNG'd a Gutter Runner. The zombie got it and, despite block being useful at this point, I went with Kick, because all my kick-offs in both games have been awful, scattering 5-6 squares in precisely the wrong direction every time. Next Zombie skill-up (if I get one) will deffo be Block.

I was very lucky to have hot dice this game, as I was breaking armour (admittedly only needing 7s and 8s) with great regularity. Not a massive amount of CAS or KOs for the number of attempts I had, but lots of Stuns that really helped me out. My only loss was a Zombie who got a double-1 for a foul (again, just like Game 1!). My opponent's dice were awful, particularly in regards to dodging, and I think I only had one double-skulls all game, though a couple of skull & both downs came up (this is how the last Gutter Runner bit the dust with a MNG near the end, as my Colin Shambles (M) took the Both Down just to flatten the git with Mighty Blow, and it worked!).

The Skaven will be hard-pressed to overcome a full Necro team (barring any major problems in their 2nd game) with no gutter runners and three journeymen, but he's a good player and just needs the right dice. He also got a +AG Lineman out of the game with the MVP (his only SPPs of the match!), so there's scope for some awesome plays right there.

Anyways, the technical bits:

13. Nozzle O'Dreary (Z) gets the MVP and Kick
FF goes up to 5.
50k in winnings, for 120k in the bank in total, so I can now replace a Mummy if I have to.

Next match: "Unnamed Humans" It was going to be a Wood Elf team, but the player hasn't converted any models, so is running with humans. A now-dead thrower, two catchers, three blitzers - one now with Mighty Blow, an Ogre and 6 linemen with 3 RRs and FF3.

The team is now:
1. David Yorksherman (Z)
2. Scamperly Dickson (S)
3. Cashley Coal (G) 3 SPPs
4. Patrik Verde (W) 2 SPPs
5. Antonio Abbadons (M) 2 SPPs
6. Colin Shambles (M) 11 SPPs, Guard - League-leading Casualty-inflicter with 3, joint-top Killer with 1 and also highest SPPs with 11
7. Superbo Pirouettes (G)
8. Ian Wightwightwight (W)
9. Nicholas Le Sulka (G)
10. Liam Dready (S)
12. Niggling Splinterburn (Z)
13. Nozzle O'Dreary (Z) 9 SPPs, Kick
14. Thierribly Hungry (G) 9 SPPs, Block - League-leading scorer with 3 TDs

3 RRs and FF 5

The Schedule:
Vampires (Won 2-0)
Skaven (Won 2-0)
Humans
Lizardmen
Orcs

[Ulthuan_Express]

The Dead and Gooners have been delayed a little bit, as my Human opponent hasn't played his 2nd game yet, so at a push next week, or failing that the week after, will see another match report.

As it stands now, the Mummy Colin Shambles is no longer the leading SPPer, as an Orc Blitzer has both 3 TDs and 3 Casulaties - including a kill - to lead or joint-lead pretty much every single category bar throwing, which is held by an Orc thrower on the same team. In my division. Who I play in my 5th match.

Bah!

[Ulthuan_Express]

Match Three: "Stu's Humans" - Humans (well of course!)
These humans lost a Thrower in the first game, but their star Mighty Blow Blitzer was MNG'd in the second game, and decided to buy the thrower back instead of getting a 4th Blitzer, while their Ogre skilled up in Game 2 with Guard. He won the FAME (just!), while we rolled Sweltering Heat, but I quickly elected to receive.

Turn One, a Mummy (6) caused a casualty.

Turn Two, a Mummy (5) caused a casualty.

Turn Three, a Mummy (5) caused a casualty, guaranteeing a skill-up.

Ouch. From that point on he was in definite trouble, as I handed off to my 3 SPP Ghoul, Cashley Coal, so he could score and guarantee a skill-up for himself, going 1-0 up by Turn 3. My opponent started to focus on getting my Mummies down - to be fair he didn't have enough players in the backfield now to attempt much scoring play, but I think he over-concentrated on the fighting a little.

I barely rolled any Double Skulls or Skull-both-down at the beginning of the match, with him starting his turn with almost every single one of his players on the floor quite often. My Undead overran and simply mauled him, though when my star Mummy #6 received a casualty from the Ogre, I thought I was in trouble. A failed regen, then only Badly Hurt. Phew!

Scored the 3rd and final TD right at the end, where any one of two ghouls, a wight, or even a zombie could have tried to pick up the ball and score. in the end I went for my trusty #14, who stepped over the line for the final TD in the dying moments of the game. 3-0!

Only one ST5 player on each side made it a little more even, right up until the Ogre was Badly Hurt, too. Five players sitting in his D&I box (one pushed into the crowd for an MNG, too) told it's own tale, and there were simply too many Ghouls to tie down as the Wights controlled the flanks. With a little more luck - hell, I had more than enough - I could have had a fourth through better pick-up or GFI rolls (star scorer Thierribly Hungry failed an unneeded GFI - with Re-roll - for a TD, when he couldn't actually be blitzed, for instance), but I've had more than my fair share in these three games, and don't need to waste any excess.

Kick on a Zombie has worked beautifully, as I can now pretty much select which quarter of the backfield I'm putting the ball in. Usually I kick deep, but sometimes kicked shallow to rush with the Ghouls and put pressure on immediately. 70k winnings, for the second time in three games, gives me breathing room to buy a 4th re-roll and still have 50k left over, should a Ghoul or even Wight get taken out. Still need 70k for the Mummy Replacement Fund, should the need arise.

Anyways, the SPP-related stuff:

9. Nicholas La Sulka (G) gets the MVP and Block, thanks to his TD
3. Cashley Cole (G) gets Sure Hands
5. Antonio Abbadons (M) gets Block (yay, a double!)
FF goes up to 6.
70k in winnings, for 190k in the bank in total, so I purchase a 4th Re-roll to bank 50k
TR now 137.

Next match: "Leela's One-Eyed Lizards" coached by TFF's own Tiamo69. They've only played one game so far, and surprisingly lost to Goblins. Running with a Krox and six Saurus. Must play the Played 1, Won 1 Dwarves before they meet me.

The team is now:
1. David Yorksherman (Z)
2. Scamperly Dickson (S)
3. Cashley Coal (G) 6 SPPs, Sure Hands
4. Patrik Verde (W) 2 SPPs
5. Antonio Abbadons (M) 8 SPPs, Block - Joint-leading Casualty-inflicter with 4
6. Colin Shambles (M) 13 SPPs, Guard - Joint-leading Casualty-inflicter with 4, joint-top Killer with 1
7. Superbo Pirouettes (G)
8. Ian Wightwightwight (W)
9. Nicholas Le Sulka (G) 8 SPPS, Block
10. Liam Dready (S)
12. Niggling Splinterburn (Z)
13. Nozzle O'Dreary (Z) 9 SPPs, Kick
14. Thierribly Hungry (G) 12 SPPs, Block - League-leading scorer with 4 TDs

4 RRs and FF 6

Skills-wise I'm very happy with these guys, and am saving my last use of Block (as we have a skill cap of 4 uses of a skill per team at any one time) for a Zombie, should one get a casualty and go up for MVP.

Two Blodging Ghouls on the Wings, one Sure Hands to get it on offense, and the fourth I'll try and develop as a Wrestle/Tackle safety, should he get the points. Very happy with my Block and Guard Mummys, as well as the kicking Zombie - a nice synergy to the team, I think.

All I'm after now is the Wights to get things like Tackle and Guard to be more useful around the pitch, but the Mummys are getting the Casualties, and the Ghouls the TDs. I'll see if I can switch that around against the Lizardmen, so Ian Wightwightwight and Patrik Verde can do some damage against the Lizards in preparation for the Orcs and then the Play-offs.

With three wins I'm now guaranteed to make it through to the Play-offs, as one of the top seeds if I can win one more match. Two wins and I'm definitely 1st. So far I have the Best Offence (7 TDs in 3 games), Best Defence (0 TDs in 3 games) and Most Casualties (11 in 3 games). Zero passes and zero interceptions, but hey, can't have everything!

The Schedule:
Vampires (Won 2-0)
Skaven (Won 2-0)
Humans (Won 3-0)
Lizardmen
Orcs

[Ulthuan_Express]

A bit of fluff behind the team, as they'll have at least one off week:

Along the lush green grass, the only sound that can be heard on the breeze is metal, like the scraping of two dull swords against each other over and over again. If you listen closely, the sound moves back and forth ever so slowly, at the speed of an ambling man.

There is another sound, though, just barely carried on the wind: the sound of footsteps. Plodding, deliberate and unending footsteps. They came from Braddock Berger, with the metallic sound from the mower he was pushing. Come rain or shine, blizzard or drought, Berger would continually plod up and down the bowling green-smooth field to maintain its perfection. It was generally regarded, to connoisseurs of the game, that Berger kept one of the finest Blood Bowl pitch in the Old World, and had done so for several lifetimes. This was mostly due to the fact he was dead.

As part of the staff of the Dead and Gooners Blood Bowl team, based in the fields of the outskirts of Nuln, Berger kept his pitch in tip-top condition. The team itself would travel the globe to play their matches, but they always had this pitch to come back and train on, or play friendly and exhibition matches.

Behind the northern endzone stood the grey, crumbling tower of a long-abandoned church, now deconsecrated - or should that be desecrated - by the Dead and Gooner fans who would make it their home. High in the church tower sits a large clock, proclaiming the time for all to see. This clock, however, now has thirteen numbers around its face.

Aside from keeping the pitch in exceptional playing order, one of Berger's other tasks is to beat off the restless undead fans from coming onto the pitch from underneath the surface. For this he always carries a large stick with his equipment at all times, beating down the occasional zombie hand reaching up from the earth below. Never has a full-scale pitch invasion from the graves below taken place. Yet.

The team is coached by their long-lived Necromancer, Alphonse the Scholarly, who has made it his life's work to perfect the form of Blood Bowl played by his minions. Out of respect to the city in which he is based, Alphonse's team use a Cannon as their symbol, facing east to defend against the various Orcs, Goblins and Chaos Dwarves that formerly plagued their lands. The team, far from the black uniforms of the city's own forces, wear red and white.

[Ulthuan_Express]

Match Four: "Leela's One-Eyed Lizards" - Lizardmen
This match was against TFF's own Tiamo69, and is a lesson in taking the time to do things properly. Last week we played this match, but in the rush to get it finished, he accidentally gave a skill to his Kroxigor despite only having 4 SPPs. Also, he tried to pick up the ball, failed, caught it with another player and then ran off to score (to make it 1-1 with 2 turns to go, where we put the match on hold till the week after), when it should of course have been a Turnover. Under normal circumstances, I'd have ruled that one or other of those mistakes would be fine, but the two together made the match a bit of a non-event, so Tiamo agreed to replay the whole match, rather than just finish the last turns, 15 and 16.

This time, with a little more Inducements (190 without the skill, rather than 170), Helmut Wulf came out to play, but was saved 'til the second half. The Lizardmen received and ground down the pitch for eight turns, trying their best not to score, but having to try a risky 3+ to pick up the ball in the end-zone at the very end of Turn 8. The six ST4 Saurus were a nightmare to try and cover, and as three Undead were casualtied (all but one Badly Hurt Ghoul regenerating), there wasn't a great deal I could do to stop it. My Ghouls nearly broke up the skink train, but there was just a little too many of them to deal with, and I had one turn to try and turn Saurus into handbags, eventually casualtying one via a gang-fouling Skeleton.

Receiving for the second half, I nearly made Helmut have the shortest appearance in his history, as I opened up a hole for a Wight to blitz him - a stun only, though. My Ghouls sprang through fairly early, but after being just a couple of squares from scoring, the skinks managed to free the ball, which was thrown by the crowd way back to the LOS, on the other side of the pitch. A good few of the Lizardmen were off the pitch, by now, leaving my Wight all alone to pick the ball up and equalise two turns later.

Different game, same scoreline, with 2 turns remaining.

Tiamo flooded his right-hand side with Saurus, but my Kicking zombie managed to get it right near to the LOS on the other side (where a Wight and Ghoul stood ready to pounce), scuppering his Plan A. Turn 8 proved to be eventful for both of us, as either of us could have picked up the ball, passed it out of the scrum and scored the (probable) winner. My Ghoul failed to get his hands on it, and then a skink tried to do the same, only falling on a dodging-GFI before he got the chance to pass out to a waiting receiver, who would have scored.

Tension right down to the last moment, my 100% record foiled, and my nearest adversary in the Division pulling ahead before our crunch-match next week!

SPP excitement:
4. Patrik Verde (W) gets the MVP and Tackle
FF goes up to 7.
50k in winnings, for 100k in the bank in total
TR now 140.

Next match: "Da Huntaz", the runaway leaders so far, with 4 wins from 4 (with me second in the League, and our Division), behind them. Three Black Orcs, two with Block, four Blizters, a Thrower and a Gobbo. Includes the league's top passer, and the league's all-star top Orc Blitzer with 3 skills (Dodge, MB & Frenzy), 5 casualties and 7 touchdowns. I've taught this coach everything he knows, generally beating him week after week with whatever teams we happen to pick up. Now, however, the Padawan is looking to become the Master. There can only be one!

The team is now:
1. David Yorksherman (Z)
2. Scamperly Dickson (S)
3. Cashley Coal (G) 8 SPPs, Sure Hands
4. Patrik Verde (W) 7 SPPs, Tackle
5. Antonio Abbadons (M) 10 SPPs, Block - Joint-leading Casualty-inflicter with 5
6. Colin Shambles (M) 13 SPPs, Guard
7. Superbo Pirouettes (G)
8. Ian Wightwightwight (W) 3 SPPs
9. Nicholas Le Sulka (G) 10 SPPS, Block
10. Liam Dready (S)
12. Niggling Splinterburn (Z)
13. Nozzle O'Dreary (Z) 9 SPPs, Kick
14. Thierribly Hungry (G) 12 SPPs, Block

4 RRs and FF 7

I'm definitely now in the camp of no more than 1 Skeleton in the early stages. For the last two games they've spent most of the time bench-warming, while the Zombies get stuck in. Next time, three Zombies and a Skeleton, definitely. Four Re-Rolls feels about right, too, though a fifth would just be extra insurance. I'm glad I've got one of the Wights to skill up, and Tackle - as much use as it would have been in this match against the Skinks - will be used to hunt down the Blodging Orc Blitzer, and then probably the Gobbo if he's in a hittable position. From then on, it'll be play-off time, baby!

The Schedule:
Vampires (Won 2-0)
Skaven (Won 2-0)
Humans (Won 3-0)
Lizardmen (Drawn 1-1)
Orcs

[Ulthuan_Express]

Tonight is the night - the crunch match, the grande fromage, Mano a mano, Main Guy vs Other Main Guy, Master vs Apprentice, the Grand Prix, the Derby...

...and it's only a regular season match, too!



Will let you all know how it goes

[JaM]

You better !!

[Ulthuan_Express]

Match Five: "Da Bitez Yur Legz Huntaz" - Orcs
This was the big one - as the result of this match decided who got to be Main Guy, and who got to be Other Guy (Zlurpcast reference for the uninitiated) - against not only my best mate, but also the guy who I've trained up each week for the past year or so, who had the best record of the entire 12-team League going into this match (Played 4, Won 4, compared to my 3 Wins & 1 Draw).

I won the FAME, 16k to 12k, and though the rain came pouring down, I won the kick-off and elected to receive. The ball came straight to my #4 Wight, who caught it as I re-arranged thanks to a Perfect Defence result. The first half quickly became a slog-fest, with the highlight being a titanic battle between a Blocking Black Orc called Rogzor ("They tried to get the ball past Rogzor, but Rog said No, No, No..." as the chant went) and Colin, my Blocking Mummy, who bashed each other up and down the pitch all game.

My cage flowed from the right, over to the centre, vaguely to the right again, as I looked for an opening. I was being flooded from the flanks, however, by Blitzers as the Blodging, Mighty Blow, Frenzy League-leading All-Star came snapping at my heels, KOing Zombies left, right and centre.

Finally, though, a loose block by an Orc lineman saw him hit the floor, which allowed my Mummies to open a gap around Turn 4. The Wight with the ball and Ghouls flooded through, and he couldn't really cover me. Trying to do the 8-Turn grind didn't quite work, and I had to score on Turn 6 to be safe. With three turns to go, he ran his Black Orcs and Blitzers down the wings and ended up throwing a Long Pass (4+ for Accurate, but he got a flippin' 6) to a Black Orc, of all things, who caught it on the required 5, first time. Thankyou very much, Pauly of Three Die Block, for giving him that idea! Thankfully I managed to get a one die block on him to pop the ball free, and we went in 1-0 at the Half. Note, at this point, I hadn't managed to break a single Orc's armour even once. Lots of 3s and 4s with Mighty Blow, and 8s and 9s without it, yielding nothing. My 4 Re-rolls were also intact until Turn 6.

The second half consisted of me trying to not be on the receiving end of a classic Orc grind. Thankfully, my opponent plays Orcs like most people play High Elves. I'm a natural grinder, really, as when I get going it's fairly hard for the opponent to stop me. My opponent is a natural passer, grabbing the range ruler every other turn whether he's playing Pro Elves, Orcs, Dwarfs or even Halflings (and he's not a TTMer, either!). As, again, his Blitzers and Black Orcs decided to overwhelm me on the wings, there were only Linemen on the line. They quickly became fodder for my Mummies, who bashed them around a bit, but eventually I managed to get a Mummy beyond the LOS within striking distance of the Thrower and his accompanying Blitzer. He tried a risky blitz on my Mummy, but when that Lineman hit the deck I was free to try a two dice block on the Thrower. Kerblam, ball comes free. A handy Ghoul ran in to pick it up, doing so successfully a turn later, and I was away.

I didn't score immediately, for whatever reason, but stalling was only a little risky at this point. His thrower got up, dodged, GFI twice and blitzed, but only succeeded in putting himself down. I danced around his prone body for another turn on Turn 5, knowing that he simply couldn't catch me, even with standing up and GFIs. I scored to make it 2-0on Turn 6, and the last two turns consisted of lots of pointless skulls and double skulls, with a hug at the end (so much friendlier than a simple handshake).

In total I KO'd two Blitzers and a Lineman, while he MNG'd a Skeleton, who regenerated, and KO'd two Zombies, a Ghoul and a Wight. There was also the one pass by his Thrower. Other than the two TDs, that was it for SPPs. 2-0 in TDs, 0-1 in Casualties, 0-1 in Passes. So much for Clash of the Titans, like most high-profile, much-hyped games, it didn't really live up to its incredible billing.

I'm incredibly relieved to have won, of course (the feeling when the Mummy popped the ball loose at 1-0 was great), but was definitely exhausted from the emotional drain by the end.

SPP excitement:
5. Colin Shambles (M) gets the MVP and Stand Firm
FF goes up to 8.
50k in winnings, for 150k in the bank in total
TR now 143.

Next match: Dunno yet, but it'll be in the Play-offs as #1 seed!

The team is now:
1. David Yorksherman (Z)
2. Scamperly Dickson (S)
3. Cashley Coal (G) 8 SPPs, Sure Hands
4. Patrik Verde (W) 7 SPPs, Tackle
5. Antonio Abbadons (M) 10 SPPs, Block - Joint-leading Casualty-inflicter with 5
6. Colin Shambles (M) 18 SPPs, Guard, Stand Firm
7. Superbo Pirouettes (G)
8. Ian Wightwightwight (W) 3 SPPs
9. Nicholas Le Sulka (G) 13 SPPS, Block
10. Liam Dready (S)
12. Niggling Splinterburn (Z)
13. Nozzle O'Dreary (Z) 9 SPPs, Kick
14. Thierribly Hungry (G) 12 SPPs, Block

4 RRs and FF 8

The Schedule:
Vampires (Won 2-0)
Skaven (Won 2-0)
Humans (Won 3-0)
Lizardmen (Drawn 1-1)
Orcs (Won 2-0)

Final Record: 4-0-1, 1st in Simpson Division, ranked 1st for the Play-offs (as no-one in the Griffin or Fry Divisions can now catch my record). I'll be playing the 8th-ranked team, who should be one of the two third-placed teams who qualify based on their better records.

[Ulthuan_Express]

OK, here's the deal - the Quarter, Semi and Final matches have all been played, and naughty UE hasn't been updating his blog to tell y'all about it.

I'll be taking the Dead and Gooners to the NAF Championship in May, and for that they'll be getting a coach, some turn, score and re-roll counters, and various bits of sideline fun. So my new task for this thread is to:

• a) Recap on the excitement of the Play-off matches
  b) Not press 'Submit' when I mean 'Preview'
  c) Post some pictures of my team, who are fully painted
  d) Show the work in progress extra sideline models

[Ulthuan_Express]

Match Six - Quarter Final: "Grave Robbers" - Necromantic
The Last Eight dawned and my opponent was a Necromantic side, featuring two Golems, two Wights, two Ghouls and two Wolves. This team was all about the Wolves, as that was his favourite piece and the reason he picked the team in the first place.

I kick to him at the beginning of the game and he executes a grind style perfectly. Using the right application of force to wear down my players, knock them out of the way and generally roll down the field. About halfway through the drive I accepted that I was probably going to concede a TD, and eventually duly did. That MA8 is like lightning when you're chasing them with mostly Zombies. My only high point was getting rid of one of his players thanks to a failed Regen roll, while mine passed.

I had three turns to try and equalise in the first half, but it all went completely wrong. My Sure Hands Ghoul couldn't pick up the ball, the Wolves broke through and they scored again. There was some defensive error in my positioning and risk management here, so 2-0 down at Half Time was not a pretty scoreline. I needed to score two to at least force it to extra time, and then another to pull off the win.

The telling point was, though, despite being 2-0 down, I still had all my players, thanks to successful regens. My opponent ended up failing three out of four (or five, iirc) and his team slowly began to dwindle. My opportunity was there.

I managed to score in three or four turns, by isolating the Wolves away from the ball and smashing a hole through the middle. I then equalised even quicker as he simply didn't have enough players to both guard the wide zones and pick up the ball with any real defence. Cashley Coal, who was mostly at fault for the Necro's second TD, had picked up two of his own.

As Extra Time dawned, looking at the state of the two teams on the pitch told it's own story. Just a single Badly Hurt Wight in my D&I box, with four or five players (from a team of 12) off the pitch on his side for KOs and Casualties. The third TD came fairly swiftly, essentially inevitable thanks to my numerical advantage (barring a repeated appearance of old 'onesie', which didn't happen). Cashley Coal with the Hat Trick, giving him enough points for a second skill-up.

I'd been thinking about saving that fourth Block (with our skill cap rules, of course) for the chance of a Mummy getting doubles, but both of them were so far away from their next skill that I couldn't risk not having that sixth blocker (in this case third blodger, too) in my team, so Cashley got Block to go with his Sure Hands. Kick-Off Return was also in my mind, but I figured that was a little too specialist at this stage, with just a possible two matches to go. Plus, I'd ideally only want to be using that skill once in an entire game.

So, very nearly had the #8 seed upset the #1 seed, but it wasn't to be on this occasion. I often tell newer players that winning the CAS battle isn't always the way to win, as it's TDs that win games. In this case, however, winning the CAS battle enabled me to pull it back from an almost certain defeat, thanks to a combination of his good drive and then my bad play in the first half. But, bloody hell, that was a nervy way to do it.

All of the Quarter-Finals went to Extra Time, showing that we had a real competition on our hands here!

The Schedule:
Vampires (Won 2-0)
Skaven (Won 2-0)
Humans (Won 3-0)
Lizardmen (Drawn 1-1)
Orcs (Won 2-0)
Necromantic (Won 3-2 in Extra Time)

Up to 5-0-1 and on to play Tiamo69's Lizardmen again in the Semi!

[SunDevil]

Keep us posted!

[Ulthuan_Express]

Ahh Chance, you've been chatting with my good friend SappyHalfling on Xbox Live, haven't you? Glad you're enjoying the tale of this team! It was listening to 3DB's Undead episode - and particularly Drew Buccicone's thoughts on the team - that really made me pick them, and I'm pleased to say it was a great selection, I love 'em.

Anyway, back to the catch-up:

Match Seven - Semi Final: "Leela's One-Eyed Lizards" - Lizardmen
Having only just beaten the Red Eye Renegades - a Goblin side who had a 3+ chance to win the match in extra time - Tiamo69's Lizardmen met up with my Undead once more.

For this match I had to face essentially the same team as before, only with an AG4 skink - who immediately went to the top of my hit list, but I couldn't get at him because I won the kick-off, chose to receive, and the AG4 skink was benched for the first drive! Sneaky lizards...

My grinding game went well in the first half and, despite doing the occasional stupid move, scored on Turn 6. My Mummies worked as a pair far better against the Krox and Saurus than in the previous match - effective teamwork between those two is certainly key to winning any match with Undead - and with the initiative I was able to better choose my blocks to get those Saurus on their backsides.

Unfortunately, my defence against bash from the kick-off with Undead isn't too great, and the Lizards equalised on Turn 8 with a rush down my right-hand side. Again probably the wrong set-up, and it sent me scurrying away after the match to check up on better defensive positions (it's the key points where the wide zone meets the centre zone where my defence often fails to a concerted attack).

For the second half, the skinks were the target. Whenever I could, I used a Block and/or Tackler to go after the tricky little leathery skinned sods. The AG4 guy bit the dust, and then a few others followed in quick succession, depleting the bench of skinks and, finally, getting him down to less than 11 players. I then managed to pop the ball free and, after a few turns of it bouncing around on the LOS, broke away to score for 2-1.

In the resulting drive, after some fairly risky dodging and going for it, a skink broke through into my backfield with only a zombie to cover, desperately trying to equalise. So desperate, in fact, that he fell over going for it, meaning I could retrieve the ball and hold out for the win!

Not a classic, by any means, but the Dead and Gooners go marching on to the final.

The Schedule:
Vampires (Won 2-0)
Skaven (Won 2-0)
Humans (Won 3-0)
Lizardmen (Drawn 1-1)
Orcs (Won 2-0)
QF: Necromantic (Won 3-2 in Extra Time)
SF: Lizardmen (Won 2-1)

6-0-1 for the season so far, with one opponent to play. A Dwarf team called the Time Bandits, with the full four instances of Guard, four of Mighty Blow, Runners with Block and even a Deathroller. They ran over most of the teams in the Fry Division, finishing top of that and defeating highly battered Wood Elves in the last eight and some nasty Norse in the final four who included 'Big Steve', a Snow Troll with Mighty Blow who would end joint-top of the Casualty rankings with 8.

Who joined him with 8 Casualties? Antonio Abbadons, my Blocking Mummy - he also had a single kill to his name, so would have come out on top with the tiebreaker, were it not me handing out the awards.

[SunDevil]

Ahh Chance, you've been chatting with my good friend SappyHalfling on Xbox Live, haven't you? Glad you're enjoying the tale of this team! It was listening to 3DB's Undead episode - and particularly Drew Buccicone's thoughts on the team - that really made me pick them, and I'm pleased to say it was a great selection, I love 'em.

That I have - tell him hello for me!

There are few who can risist the silky smooth sounds of Drew Buccicone.

Good luck in the final! I love Undead as well, but have only played them in tournies, never in a season...yet.