Snotling Soda Punching Bag Cup - Week 1 13th Sept

[Abomination]

Good thoughts, Gandalf. Maybe I'll even keep playing the rats next season, since they're coming along nicely. I'm kind of glad I got pwned this season, considering Skaven are considered a top-notch team.masochistic, you say? no, just a blood bowl player...

Incidentally, what was the chance of those ~5-6 attempts succeeding? I think it's (1-(.75)^5)%, or 76%/82%. Curse you, Nuffle.

[lawastooshort]

NJ - we should have played last night when you came on rather than me spend an hour getting imperial guardsmen massacred. The children have been up all night. Urg.

Pre-match moan over, see you later

[Red Lion Three]

English ladies travel down under to give savage marsupials deportment lessons

Humans Zons.png (495.94 KiB) Viewed 19275 times

Pre-game Daigaro stated he had lots of things to do as he had been out for the afternoon.

Cue double overtime, and Rav's surprised "Are you guys still playing?" at about 10 o'clock when everyone else had moved on to DoW...

***

The game started with a glitch during set-up, meaning Daigaro couldn't select one of his players to start. Zons kicked, and fortune evened itself out somewhat as the Humans snagged an extra re-roll. The Humans blitzed down their right wing, KO'ing the +ST Amazon catcher off the pitch immediately. The ball was picked up and the carrier set off through the gap they'd made, but accidental dodging meant they ended up isolated a third of the way down the Amazon half. While the Zons could get to them, they only succeeded in pushing them towards the side. However, enough defence got back that the Humans retreated to halfway.

There then followed a period of thinning out. The Human's Ogre got the first mash in, but the head Zon apothecary came in useful and returned the player to the subs bench. The next injury was beyond the scope of the under-apothecary, who offered "dead" instead of, er, "groin strain" (!). Eventually a double dodge meant Myra Norityreport managed to reach the ball carrier, and Tackle meant they went down and the ball bounced off the pitch. It was thrown on into the middle of the Human half, in reach of the +MV Amazon catcher, who managed to dodge away and pick it up. Things were going the Zons way. But Daigaro could get to the ball carrier! Well, he could have done if he hadn't failed the first GFI and got stunned (the only GFI anyone failed all game). Things definitely going the Zons way. After a 1-turn stall in the corner, they walked it over on turn 6.

The Zons got both their KO'd players back for the next kick-off. Daigaro again couldn't select one of his players, but again got a good kick-off result (quick snap) and managed to storm away down the Humans' left... only the Zon catcher rolled a 6 and made an interception (!). This catcher ran into the centre of the park and tried a low-probability turn-8 throw up field, but this ended in fumbled shame. 1-0 at half time.

The interval saw Daigoro the victim of another set-up glitch. I say "victim": this time he started with 12. But he was a good sport and exiled a blokey to the corner of the endzone. The Amazons picked up and attempted to form a defensive wall, but Daigaro got in behind the lines straight away and the ball went free. In reply the Zons had a fairly short turn due to a double-skulls x 2. Daigaro pushed a Zon onto the ball, but in ended up flying into Zon hands. With the help of a re-roll the ball was thrown out of all kinds of trouble. After a turn of blocking, the Zons only need a successful hand-off to get a run on the endzone. Bring on the fumbled shame. It looked like a stodgy scrum might form, but Daigaro got the ball away quickly. The Zons could do nothing to stop the break, and even though they got to the ball carrier the Humans got over the line and levelled it all up.

Over-time itself was a fairly long affair, with hopeful-looking breaks being repeatedly caught. Eventually the Amazons went over in the far left corner. The Humans had three turns to reply and set up with a heavily overloaded right wing. The Zons couldn't easily knock the ST2 catchers over, but a lengthy series of pushes got them out of harms way. Daigaro attempted a chain push to get the best one back within range but it didn't quite come off, and the long game drew to a close.

***

The game featured glitches (for the Humans), blundering (both of us had a go at that), and moments of fortune - largely for the Zons. D6 were +6 (Humans) to +14 (Zons): the Zons made 13/13 GFIs, 6/6 return-from-KO's (which made a massive difference) and 6/6 pick-ups; but in reply the Humans made 13/14 GFIs and comfortably outdodged the Zons (20/26 v 19/32). 2D6 were +8 (Humans) to -1 (Zons), though the Zons had a higher percentage success on the block dice (41% to 30%). Thanks for the game DO!

[Raveen]

I've validated the games from Sunday so check your teams to see if you have skill ups pending.

[Gandalf]

Wow - some crazy stats here! 3 successful blocks for the Skaven will surely enter the records thread. 83 attempted blocks from the humans looks suitably epic too though not really eligible for the record books due to overtime. I will have to create a new records category just for that.

Good thoughts, Gandalf. Maybe I'll even keep playing the rats next season, since they're coming along nicely. I'm kind of glad I got pwned this season, considering Skaven are considered a top-notch team.masochistic, you say? no, just a blood bowl player...

Incidentally, what was the chance of those ~5-6 attempts succeeding? I think it's (1-(.75)^5)%, or 76%/82%. Curse you, Nuffle.

Happy to help. Next season is shaping up to be a bit of a veteran's league so you may struggle with a fresh team. Though it would be a good experiment in getting the most out of your inducements.

Feel free to take the numbers question to the stats/probability thread... I could do with something new there

[lawastooshort]

League and Cup Double Still Unachieved After 32 Turn Epic

Orcs beat Vampires 3-2. After a badly played first half I went into the second half two nil down, got it back to 2-2, and then, well, vampires aren't built for 16 turns with no rerolls and down on thralls and a vamp

I think NJ is posting the picture.

edit: the lads just don't like cups, clearly think it's beneath them

Disappointed to drop the vampires 2 matches sooner than I could have - silver lining is Archimedes reaching Superstar!

Second edit - I had 19 KOs... 14 of them weren't by Orcs.

[notjarvis]

3-2 to the Orcs after a mammoth 32 turns



Quick overview
Vampires roll a ton of blood lusts and poor luck in the first half leading to the orcs taking a 2-0 lead at half time

they start remembering how to play, and pull back two goals in the second half, leading to overtime.

It all becomes attritional,. with no rerolls on either side and driving rain, the Orcs superior strength and armour, and blood lusts, gradually reduce the numbers of Vampires/thralls, without losing many orcy players, and numbers tell with the orcs scoring on turn 32.

I'm Knackered and will try and find time to write a bit more match report tomorrow probably....

[Raveen]

Games for the Semi Finals

It's the Azgorh Rock-knockers vs Gojira's Army

and The Brave Harts vs E.L.O.

[Red Lion Three]

How did you manage to play 32 turns without an injury ??!???!??

[notjarvis]

No Idea. I broke armour 38 times, 3 of my players had Mighty Blow, And I only caused 1 injury, which was re-rolled back to health.

[DaigaroOgami]

Percy recorded an interview with the Isa Black Star's Nil Desperandum after the entertaining cup loss to the Toffs In Bras.

He was planning in adding it to the next edition of his Trollcast, but sadly he forgot to put new batteries in his Dictaphone so he didnt actually record anything. Luckily Sulphur Tuft was taking notes (totally NOT for legal reasons...) so he's asked me to post an excerpt from the transcript here:

Percy: So Nil, one heck of a game eh? How are you feeling after clawing it back to overtime only to still lose?

Nil: ....

Nil? Oi! Nil!!!

Sorry, I was thinking about koala bears for a turn. ERm yes, your question. Yes, we're gutted. We got told (by you I think Percy) that we were going to win this thing. And now we can't.

Indeed not. What went wrong for you guys?

Well, it didn't help that we all had to go to a wedding the day before, and blatantly nobody listened to the gaffa's instructions of no more shandies after 11pm. We didn't get to the ground until 30 seconds before kick off, we were all a bit blustered, noone knew what formation we were playing, Maurice refused play until he found his lucky pants and Harry (our most improved blitzer this season with a whopping 2 touchdowns) was still in the bloody bar for the first drive.

Yes, I noticed. I wouldn't let him go until he bought me that babysham he owed me

Oh, thanks Percy. Anyway, 2nd half Mount Olive disappeared to 'help the amazons with something' which made life a bit harder not having a decent thrower on the pitch. When Maurice did finally decide to join us I yelled at him so hard for being late he went off and cried in the corner for the rest of the game.

Suppose it didn't help that those ladies also regenerated better than me eh?

Totally Perc. And you've died 3 times.

I got better though

You did. So did they - I reckon with less of them on the pitch and the bouncing balls bounding our way thing's could've been quite different - but saying that we made some horrendous mistakes and we got punished for it. I dont think we managed to catch the ball all game either, which really didn't help.

Poor buggers. Anyway, got any plans for the off season?

...

[*]Sulphur Tuft rev's the chainsaw and thwonks Nil in the shins with it[*]

Sorry, I was wondering about who would win in a fight between a possum and a wombat. Er off season? We're back off out bush to take a long hard look at ourselves... there's this fella PirlOrc on tour right now who can apparently throw a pig skin with so much finesse he makes galah's jealous as they fly past. Treats like that don't come along often out bush, you gotta go see them when you can.

Quite right. Sulphur Tuft? Be a gem and put the chainsaw down and get the Mushroom Jet ready would you. We need to take a little trip.

[Gandalf]

Wow - some crazy stats here! 3 successful blocks for the Skaven will surely enter the records thread. 83 attempted blocks from the humans looks suitably epic too though not really eligible for the record books due to overtime. I will have to create a new records category just for that.

Well Diagaro I hope you enjoyed the 1 day you had that record for :p All hail the bash-tastic orcs!

No Idea. I broke armour 38 times

Actually you broke it 25 times (almost exactly the expected amount). Even from that sample your luck was sucky, you'd expect 4-5 injuries from that, not 1. Additionally there were 13 times you rolled injury dice were rolled for other reasons, such as blood lust (which can't result in an injury), those were the dice where you rolled lots of 10+ unfortunately!

The vampires suffered ~16 KOs during the game, largely due to Blood Lust, clearly that's their injury-avoidance tactic!

[Red Lion Three]

Very nice Daigaro. Roar of approval.

[notjarvis]

3-2 to the Orcs after a mammoth 32 turns




I'm Knackered and will try and find time to write a bit more match report tomorrow probably....

As Promised. A bit more of a match report

Orcs versus Vampires. Orcs get a ton of inducement money, so get an extra re-roll (as my luck has felt poor lately) Varag Ghoul-chewer and a Black orc with Tackle.

1st Half
- Vampires kick off and the Orcs receive
- Kick off event is a thrown rock which Kills the Orc Troll stone dead! Fortunately the Apothecary heals him to badly hurt -but he will miss the first drive.
- The orcs collect the ball, and aided by a few Vampire blood lusts which KO their own players and blitz a hole through the Vampires lines handing off and running through to score around turn 4
1-0 to the orcs!
- The vampires receive and get the ball as it lands off pitch, but can't make headway as the hunger hits hard, and on the first turn with the ball 3 consecutive Vampires fail their Blood lust roll, and drink until 3 separate Thralls are Ko'd and leave the field.
- This leaves the Vampires in disarray, and the Orcs pressure the ball, and KO a couple more players for good measure (Varag proving his worth)
- The vampires try to handoff the ball, but it fails and scatters by some orcs. Hitting happens around the ball, but the vampires can't get into position to get the ball and a goblin gets injured trying to dodge out of someone's tackle zone (-1 AV means I sacked him after the match)
- on the last Orc turn of the half though, they scoop up the ball and pass it to a blitzer who had crept down-field (using the 4th reroll of the half in the process) and run in to score
2-0 at the end of the first half! and 7 KOd Vampire players!

Unfortunately the Vamps have a turn to play before half time, meaning several players recover, and most of the others come back at the start of the half (sigh).

Second half
- The Vampires receive, and push down the field. No respite this time or mad vampire feeding frenzies, as the vampires break through quickly and score comfortably in 3 turns.
2-1 ! Vamps back in it...
- The orcs receive, it lands deep, but the orcs are having an awful passage of play as the Troll manages to turn over hitting someone, and Vampires storm through the Orc lines, cornering the ball carrier,
- The ball carrier can't get the ball out or away, and the Vampires pick up to score the second on turn 6
2-2 equaliser!
- The weather turnss to driving rain so handoffs/passes/pickups are going to be tricky.
- The orcs receive again, and try to throw the goblin as a desperate attempt to win in normal time, this fails. And the troll is hungry! But lucky for the poor goblin he fails to swallow.
- The vampires respond by blitzing the ball free picking up the ball and running it into the cover of a few other players, as the clock ticks into overtime.

Overtime
- At this point I genuinly think the game is up, as the Vamps have the ball, a couple of rerolls left, and a bit of cover.
- But a turn or two of good block dice means the orcs can clear a path and get the ball free.
- The Orcs pickup the ball at the second attempt and run it free, but get chased down, and th ball gets free
- A big fight happens around the ball deep in the half, sucking in all the remaining players, as both teams have now used their rerolls. But the Vampire numbers start thinning as a Vampire gets pushed off field, and a few are Ko'd and Sucked dry of blood, until eventually the orcs have significant number advantages.
- Varag and The Black orc with Tackle come into their own here, as the Black orc tackles vampires twice, and varag ties up a player or two single handed.
- Evenutally the attrition strategy works, and the Orcs walk the ball in with two thralls left lying down on the field....
3-2 after an epic lengthed game...

- Overview
An interesting game where the momentum swung both ways, I probably had the rub of the dice overall, but the game didn't feel completely one sided.
The Orc Inducements all proved very useful, the Extra reroll got used in both halfs, the BO with Tackle had a massive effect in the latter stages, and Varag was a useful roadblock.

[lawastooshort]

Cheers NJ, that is a good report.

I’d forgotten exactly when it was that the stupid bloody vampires removed 3 thralls in 3 moves. It put my offensive drive in a spot of bother, but I could have got out of it if I’d played better. There was one particular sidestep push where I chose the wrong square when I could have blitzed off down the sideline to a probable touchdown, bloodlusts permitting.

You did well in the first half to hinder my positioning, but I also felt I played quite badly, too risky and not very structured. I don’t think anyone else scored 2 against the lads all season, and you did in a half! Nicely done.

However the standard risky vampire play paid off in the second half, although I was as pessimistic as you for overtime. Rightly so seeing how I finished the match with two thralls on the pitch! Hehehe.

Overall I felt I played poorly, and apart from when I turned you over to score 2-2 you played well. Good luck with the slippery Amazons!

Side note: if I remember, I rolled over 200 d6. Urg.