Waterbowl 14

Tournament Time!

February marks the return of the Waterbowl Weekender. The 6 game tournament boasted over a hundred entrants from such exotic places as Denmark, Spain, and Derby!

The Team

After the Nurgle did so well last year I opted to increase the difficulty with a Tier 3 team. So it was decided I would use Ogres, the same as I am using in this year's league.

As I did last year I took the 5 normal, 1 double option for additional skills.

Ogre - Block
Ogre - Stand Firm
Ogre - Stand Firm
Ogre
Ogre
Snotling - Diving Tackle
Snotling - Diving Tackle
Snotling - Diving Tackle
Snotling
Snotling
Snotling
Snotling
Snotling

3 Re-Rolls, 1 Fan Factor, 1 Assistant Coach, 1 Cheerleader

[caption id="attachment_480" width="1280" align="aligncenter"] The Shreking Balls![/caption]

I opted not to take an Apothecary, as I figured that having the extra re-roll and bodies would help more. I was right, but not in the way that I figured. But in that if one Ogre went off, there would be another following soon behind!

Skill wise I copied the Diving Tackle Snotlings from my League Team, while adding in Break Tackle for both offensive and defensive reasons. In hindsight I should have loaded up on skills for only the Ogres. But I wasn't to know what I was in for.....



.....Insert Swirly Time Travel Music.....

DAY ONE

[caption id="attachment_481" width="1127" align="aligncenter"] The Future's Bright.....[/caption]



In my eagerness to reach the tournament I arrived with an hour to burn. I headed to the Beefeater for a pre-tourney breakie. As I enjoyed my breakfast and copious cups of coffee who would arrive but the lads from the Two Drunk 'Flings Cast.
A cracking catch up with a hungover Liam was interrupted with Alan's order of breakfast. 7 bacon, 7 sausage and at least one of each other item from the menu.
"I'm training to be a competitive eater," he reasoned.

[caption id="attachment_482" width="1200" align="aligncenter"] TWO PLATES! (also, Johnny "Nicest Man In Blood Bowl" Bull at the table)[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_483" width="960" align="aligncenter"] 'Fling Coach Extraordinaire, Liam "Longstride"[/caption]



After hobnobbing with Blood Bowl Podcast Royalty (?) I headed over to Element Games for the first round

Round One - Howza with Skaven

For the second year running I faced Skaven in the first found. With this being Howza's first tournament, it was a Noob by name Vs Noob by nature game

Unfortunately my Ogres didn't want to play with the ball this game, losing 2-1.

Casualty wise they faired much better, with the score 3-1.
In "non-scoring" casualties, he managed to crowd surf an Ogre. Two of my Snotlings managed to foul the Rat Ogre into the injured box, with the sending off being a fine swap.

Howza is a lovely chap and I wish him all the best in his future Blood Bowling activities

0 Wins
1 Loss

Round Two - Jasmin with Humans

Round 2 was against the lovely Jasmin. With the weather perfect, and me winning the FAME roll, I thought I may have done well here...

There was one survivor, nestled safely in the KO Box!



One solo Snotling survived. He lives to fight another day!

The game began with a Blitz result on the Kick Off table and a quick score for the Humans. The next kick started a long grind and my first two conceded casualties. And an infuriating 3 Bone Head rolls in Turn 8 was just a cherry on a poor half for the Ogres.

0-1 (0-2) Half Time

Once things started going wrong for me it spiralled out of control. Six more casualties and another score made the game out of my hands.
Kick Off roll showed a Perfect Defence, making even a flukey OTTD off the table. Two casualties and a fouled Ogre casualty topped off a resounding win for the overseas coach.



2-0 Loss
10-0 on casualties

Completely pitch cleared by Turn 16!

Jasmin was a joy to play against, and his generosity showed when he donated dice to Alex's nephew. Lovely guy!

0 Wins
2 Losses

Round Three - Drewcifer77

I played against the Two Drunk Flings and Friends Podcast affiliate, Drewcifer77 and his Slann

This wasn't one for the neutral and both teams struggled moving the ball at times.

After a Turn 2 score for the Slann, the ball was kicked to the Ogres. My second turn of 3 failed Bone Head rolls was followed by a 2 re-rolled into a 1 on the ball pick up. By some miracle I managed to score in Turn 6, causing a casualty before half time.

1-1 (1-0) Going into half time.

The second half just upped the incompetence level of both teams, to the chagrin of me and Drewcifer. The Slann caused a single casualty and a TD in an uneventful second half

2-1 Loss, even 1-1 on casualties, and two completely inept teams.

The streak continues!

0 Wins
3 Losses

At the end of Day One I was searching eBay to see the sell on value of an Ogre team. But as I am using them in the League, I must persevere.

DAY TWO

I started Day Two refreshed. An earlyish night and a leftover takeaway for breakfast put me in high spirits for the day.

I also knew that my Round Four opponent would be Porter Sorter, a great guy that I had spoken to a lot on Twitter. So that would be a good start!

With a hushed prayer to Blood Bowl creator Jervis Johnson I headed off to Stockport

[caption id="" width="325" align="aligncenter"] WWJJD[/caption]



As I listened to my music on the journey my phone beeped.

...REDRAW...

So out goes the Ogre vs Chaos Pact match I had barely planned for.

Round Four - Nadsokor with Skaven

My Round Four opponent was another overseas coach, this time from Denmark. We ended up seeing a lot of each other this tournament as he bounced between three adjacent tables.

My second game vs Skaven of the tournament started off better than I expected. Two swift casualties gave me hope.
Then I conceded.
I managed two more casualties, one from a foul, before the whistle blew for half time.

The second half was tough. Nothing of note happened. But my poor opponent had the worst run of luck.

Snotling armour was titanium.
Ogres were impervious to harm.
The ball was glued to my team.

I scored in Turn 16 to pull off a draw!

0 Wins
1 Draw
3 Losses

Round Five - Zerosgiven with Elven Union

In Round 5 I played against Elven Union with the special addition of Jordell.

Jordell, who is an absolute bastard.

Jordell, who I curse with all my life.

Fuck Jordell.

The first turn had casualties inflicted on both sides, followed by a quick touch down for the pointy ears. I caused two casualties and the Elves caused one against me.
I was winning the fighting, but losing the scoring. The game was pushed out of my reach with a second score for the Elven Union shortly before Half Time.

As Round Five had a bonus point available for 3+ Casualties, that was the focus of the Elf team. Again the Snotlings became massively resilient to pain, with no further damage caused to the Ogres. (Although I caused another)

0-2 Loss (4-1 on casualties)

0 Wins
1 Draw
4 Losses

Zerosgiven is the brains behind the Charlie Victor range of Blood Bowl accessories, so check them out!

Round Six - Blessed Knight with Nurgle

I played against Nurgle

Now some of you may think this helped me out, with my knowledge of the team.....you would be wrong.

The first half saw me cause zero casualties and concede three plus a TD.



A few assists on this foul!



I was lucky to only go into the half 1-0 down and playing 10 vs 11 would make the second half difficult. Of course my luck then decided to dip again, with my first double skulls re-rolled into a double skulls of the tournament.

Highlight of the second half was when Blessed Knight's Bloater fouled a Snotling, got sent off, and failed to break the armour!

The Nurgle team scored in Turn 16 to win 2-0!
MY FINAL RECORD

0 WINS
1 DRAW
5 LOSSES

Well it could have gone better

FINAL RESULTS

Winner: Monkeytrumpet (Lizardmen)
Runner Up: Don Vito (Amazons)
Third Place: Winkle Picka (Wood Elves)

Best Overseas: Candlejack
Best Kid: Lolcaesar
Best Painted: Darkdan (Amazons)
Stunty Cup: Mjallen (Goblins)
Wooden Spoon: Ben Shaw (Humans)

My Team

Overall I played as well I expected. I did everything I could do right, to a point. But squishy Snotlings and Bone Head ruined any plans.
I should have taken Guard on at least one Ogre too.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Absolutely fantastic tournament Thank you to Alex Wormall for organising the event and to Element Games and the staff for being such great hosts.

Also, I didn't finish bottom!

Next year I think I'll use a "proper" Blood Bowl team Of course I only have to use the Ogres for a further 11 games in the league ... Unless I make the playoffs by some miracle...and possibly the Stunty Slam. Then it'll be Skaven time!



Visit Element Games here (Use the code DAN2300 at Checkout for double points)

For more Blood Bowl action:

Listen to the Two Drunk Flings podcast here

Listen to the Anything But A One podcast here

Listen to the Double Skulls podcast here