S#3 - Game Day #6

[Ice Cream Emperor]

If by 'the good stuff' you mean 8 casualties inflicted on your players in one game, yes.

[HaemishM]

Hey AndyDavo send me a PM. We play next and I want to get on your schedule.

[Megrim]

Morsel 3 - 0 Offsidhes.

Not much to say, a battered Elf team against a (nearly) full strength Vamp team. Nevertheless, well done Kail for not losing spirit and continuing the fight.

[Kail]

Offsidhes 0 - 3 Morsel

Surprising nobody, I managed to lose my third straight match.

Replay is here if you need it, Falc.

[Sky]

Hope nobody lost too much at the bookies, Bashtards hold on to a slim 1-0 lead to eke out a victory over the NxN.

I picked up a failed catch in the first half to do a little fancy passing of my own, then a slippery blitzer GFI for the early lead. In the second half, I was mostly practicing my slow cage advance. Got bogged in the middle, finally lost the ball so I focused on keeping enough TZs and warm bodies in there to run out the clock. Things were going ok (not great) and on the last turn Xuri had a chance for the tying TD. He got a runner into the endzone and cleared away all but one guy from the ball's zones...but he forgot to manually path his blitzing werewolf around the ball and picked it up by mistake. Still think he should've bombed it for the chance of rolling a natural six, instead he took it out on my boyz with some barshing and fouling (luckily my boyz ate their wheaties).

Probably should've been a tie, or a NxN win if Xuri wasn't so sleepy-headed at the beginning of the match.

[Llyse]

Morsel 3 - 0 Offsidhes.

Not much to say, a battered Elf team against a (nearly) full strength Vamp team. Nevertheless, well done Kail for not losing spirit and continuing the fight.

Bad luck on the loss Kail but it truly makes the match between veterans Silver Horde FC vs Tram SnooSnoo (Blame freight Joe) a match deciding the playoffs!

I'm backing Megrim so please draw for Dr. Acula's sake!

[Sky]

I'm convinced the poster of FTJoe in Chuck's locker is the reason he's gotten 2 MVPs, is in the standings for individual passing, and just hit level 3. Thanks, FTJoe, you're an inspiration to greenskins everywhere.

Well, that and the steroids.

[IainC]

Still think he should've bombed it for the chance of rolling a natural six, instead he took it out on my boyz with some barshing and fouling (luckily my boyz ate their wheaties).

You can't throw after a blitz.

[Modern Angel]

Eldaec, I sent you a PM. I expect a prompt match so we can get your beating out of the way and these good people can carry on with their shitty dreams of losing to Snoosnoo in the playoffs.

[AndyDavo]

Hey AndyDavo send me a PM. We play next and I want to get on your schedule.

Hi - I have Pm'ed you, I live in the UK so im GMT +0. I will be available on saturday during the day from around 12noon onwards. let me kno how that sits with you please.

[Hoax]

Eldaec, I sent you a PM. I expect a prompt match so we can get your beating out of the way and these good people can carry on with their shitty dreams of losing to Snoosnoo in the playoffs.

 

Kill this fool.

[Modern Angel]

Speaking of, has anyone actually seen eldaec? He seems to have disappeared from the Steam group and has been unresponsive thus far. :( Is he okay? Does he need help? Is he so terrified of Snoosnoo destroying the rest of his already decimated team that he's in hiding under an alias?

[Sky]

You can't throw after a blitz.

One action per turn, gotcha. Didn't think of that.

[eldaec]

Fucking awful match up, 380 TV deficit, no positional players to speak of, fucking orcs, it's a million to one chance but it might just...


Should be online late tonight or most of the weekend.

[Modern Angel]

I have a match in my other league tonight but can go tomorrow night. Eastern time here. PM me with a good time for you.

[Scadente]

What was supposed to be the walkover match of Twilight 2000 Division turned out to be a close nailbiter.

I am cursed by Nurgle, and Sir T played a very good defense. Strongman received first, only to be met by a wall of foulness. The first half turned into a scrum from the get go and the two teams fought for territory. Strongman didn't make much headway, and the wizard thwarted their dash for the goal-line. 0-0 to half time.

Second half started with Strongman receiving a "Perfect Defense", which resulted in a very offensive formation on defense. The orcs dashed for the ball, but their attempts at getting it of the beastman were futile. The beast moved like a wardancer, but was finally taken down. The ball lay dead, which a brave Nurgle warrior noticed, the elf juice was strong in this one; as he managed to dodge and pick up the ball with grace.

It looked pretty grim, but Strongman was able to counter, and take down the warrior. The forces of Nurgle were outmanned by three or four players by that time and mustering a proper defense proved to much. 1 - 0 to Strongman.

But hats off for a strong defense by Sir T!

[Sir T]

Strongmen 1 - Nurgle 0. I actually thought I might eke a draw out of it but he scored on the last turn.  

I accidentally uploaded this marked as day one on BB manager. Hope that doesn't create too much of a problem.

[Strazos]

I didn't see mention of any injuries! 

[Sir T]

My beast went off with a broken neck but a regen roll saved him. 2 of my rotters got a badly hurt and another got a groin strain and will miss next game. One of his guys got a badly hurt and thats it.

[drogg]

Just played Reborne.  He injured four sauruses by the end, but thankfully he couldn't hurt my skinks for some reason and the lizards scurry into the end zone three times over with some ludicrous elf-style dodges.  3-0 plus a skink killed a snotling on a blitz

One -AV on a saurus, but brave Tlaxanq didn't have any SPP so he may be due for a premature retirement and replacement with a freshly molted cousin.

[Strazos]

Unless you have like 4 rerolls, you may want to hang on to him...this makes him have, what, 7 armor? That's livable.

[Llyse]

Unless you have like 4 rerolls, you may want to hang on to him...this makes him have, what, 7 armor? That's livable.

Says the Norse player... 

[Ice Cream Emperor]

It would be 8, which is good enough for a zombie, and those things are practically indestructible.

[Strazos]

Says the Norse player... 

I've had a runner with 6AV for what seems like...forever, and he makes out alright.

[Ginaz]

It would be 8, which is good enough for a zombie, and those things are practically indestructible.

If only that were true for my poor Amy Winehouse.

[Sky]

Finally got block on a Black Orc! Also, inspired by the buff Freight Train Joe, Chuck spent some time in the gym and also can block, now (his 2nd MVP!).

[Ice Cream Emperor]

Those wishing to observe the unspoilered epic Necromantic vs. Necromantic matchup of Battletech division should cast their nervous, awe-filled eyes upon BBManager, whenst the replay now resides!

Summary forthcoming, but let me just say that MY USE OF WIZARDS REMAINS UNPARALLELED. As does, totally noncoincidentally, my love for the UI of this game.

[Ice Cream Emperor]

So the question of Who Is The Bestest Necromantic Coach Of Eternity remains unanswered, as Negative Capability draw Alive Not Dead!, 1-1.

Thankfully the question of Who Is The Baddest Werewolf This Side of London was settled conclusively, when Calvin the Menace charged heedlessly into the claws of Micah Fangless and had his unfortunate self escorted firmly to the Casualty column -- though sadly for the league Calvin cheekily regenerated what would have been a niggling injury.

But I am getting ahead of myself, because first we must discuss The Greatest Wizard-Assisted Opening Drive Ever.

Llyse won the toss and chose to kick, evidently fearing the godly powers of my magician would decimate his offense instantly. He seemed to immediately forget about this possibility, however, after the Kick-Off Event threw a Perfect Defense in his direction. Evidently looking to press this advantage he began to mass more and more of his players up against the LoS -- while I gleefully rubbed my hands together, anticipating carnage, he assembled not one but TWO packs of 5 players bunched together in 3 by 3 squares. One of which included both Calvin and the incredibly-aggravating Guard Ghoul, Katze. Conveniently, a 3 by 3 square is the exact shape of a fireball.

Inconveniently, I am a goddamn idiot. I dial up the wizard and start considering exactly where to place my opening salvo of destruction, but something about the way the UI 'locks on' when you mouse over a player and just floats aimlessly the rest of the time leads me to misremember the Fireball rule as requiring that you aim at a player, when in fact you can aim the thing absolutely anywhere. Because of this misunderstanding I decide not to use my fireball. A missed opportunity, but surely I will find some other timely moment.

Not so. There is, apparently, no way to cancel casting a fireball once you have started doing so. Or at least, I wasted a full 30 seconds trying to figure out how to cancel the fireball without accidentally casting it. ESC? Nope, still casting a fireball. Click on the wizard icon to cancel? Nope, still casting a fireball. Click on a player? Nope, casting a fucking fireball. WELL OKAY, says the same goddamn idiot that decided not to use the fireball in the first place, since the rules say you can only cast on a player (wrong!) and the UI is just floating this overlay around meaninglessly when it's not locked on a player (wrong!), I will just right click on empty space and maybe THAT will cancel it.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. 150k in inducements impacts completely empty space in my backfield, annihilating absolutely zero ghouls, werewolves, wights or zombies. Because Cyanide decided in their infinite wisdom that the ESC key is not a good key to use for, say, cancelling actions, because using ESC to cancel shit is certainly not industry standard UI since approximately the invention of a fucking keyboard with ESC on it.

But really, this was just my idiocy. I should have at least right clicked where I would have wanted to cast the fireball, in case of disaster. And if I had, it certainly would have been a different half. Or of course if I had persisted maybe I would have figured out how to actually cancel the bloody wizard -- but I had used up half of my 2 minute turn trying to figure it out, so that wasn't really on the agenda.

On the other hand, given what happened next, it's entirely possible that it would have been a worse half, since I proceeded to more or less smash Llyse's team to pieces for the next four turns. Calvin succumbed to an ill-advised Frenzy, as mentioned, but meanwhile I also managed to push a wight off the pitch, foul Hobbes out of the game -- using up my bribe on my very first foul and OH WAIT he regenerated, goddamnit -- and KO the only Ghoul on the pitch. It took a bit longer to get rid of the second Wight but at around the midpoint of the half Llyse was down to 7 players on the pitch, none of whom had more than 4 movement, and I cruised easily to a turn 8 td. Unfortunately for me, most of those players were standing on the sidelines, completely unhurt, chomping at the bit for the second half -- about the only luck Llyse had going for him in the first half was his Regeneration rolls.

The second half was a much more even affair, though an early blitz from one of my werewolves did take out a wight, and it looked for a moment like I might pin the other team back in their half. As is so often the case, however, this turned into a disastrous over-extension of my defense, and Hobbes was able to outpace the vast majority of my defense, at which point Llyse wisely stalled for the tie. I was able to knock the ball loose with a 1-die ghoul blitz, but said ghoul was then unceremoniously dumped off the pitch. Eventually I was able to get enough players in the vicinity to force the score, but by then it was turn 15, leaving me only two turns to try and score a last-minute winner.

Oh, did I mention it was raining? And I was out of rerolls? Unsurprisingly, there was no last-minute score, though I did get within three rolls of the win -- a hand-off, a throw, and a catch would have put my 4 str werewolf in for the score, but the hand-off failed even before we could get to the dramatic pass attempt.

I have to say that unlike my previous games I didn't spend the whole time feeling like I was definitely going to win, followed by horror at nearly losing -- though I did have the advantage in the first half, I wasn't able to turn that advantage into anything overwhelming (in retrospect I wish I had tried harder to get a few gang fouls in during my period of relative dominance, though with my bribe already used up who knows how that would have worked out.) And once the second half started I knew I would be hard-pressed to stop Llyse from scoring -- even after an early turnover gave me a chance to run through the LoS and threaten the backfield.

In any case, nothing is settled for the playoffs -- except that Llyse wins the division, but I can't imagine that will surprise anyone. I still need to beat Teleku, as a draw will leave me at the mercy of the Ingmar/Lamaros matchup.

[lamaros]

Smash him tele.

[Ingmar]

Smash him tele.

Agreed!

[HaemishM]

AndyDavo and I played a closer match than the score would indicate. Wishmaster's Wildcards 3 - Peace Dogs 1

We spent the first half of the match on his first possession, with some very cagey movements and screening. I probably should have played more aggressively on defense. His first TD came on the final turn before half time, but not before he lost a lineman. The second half was more wide open with less players on the pitch. I received the ball in my half but made a stupid mistake and allowed my turn to end with a lineman in blitz range of my thrower who had the ball deep in his own half. Despite having two tacklers on him, he dodged out, knocked over my thrower and took ball. Even still, I could have stopped him as I surrounded him with 3 tackle zones of elves one step out of the endzone. He came through the dodge unscathed and scored the second touchdown. My prancing bashers did a bit better however, knocking two more players out of the game. A quick catch, a long bomb down the sidelines and an easy dodge and I scored my second TD of the year, but it would not be enough. His invincible blitzer managed to get the ball and run it in for a score by beating multiple blitz blocks and some handy dodges for the final of 3 -1.

I couldn't manage to injure any of his non-merc players, unfortunately. The match has been submitted in BB Manager. I eagerly await the match updates, as I should have at least 2 or 3 level ups.

[Ice Cream Emperor]

Smash him tele.

Agreed!

Shush, dwarf boy -- you should focus your attention on losing to Lamaros, ideally by a single touchdown.

A draw would also be acceptable.

[AndyDavo]

Yes i must say that i am happy with the way that went, no serious injuries to my perm team, just 2 more niggles to the mercs. My oppo played really welll i think. I'm also not suprised that you have a few level up's, considering the mount of killing you managed!! :)

My qualification is still in my own hands! - Can't ask for anything more than that going into the final, and possibly toughest game (for me) of the season.

[Ginaz]

Spleen Flay Hackers Vs. Gut Spillers... 2-1 for IanC's dirty dark elves.  I actually had a legit chance of winning this one but made a few key noob mistakes, including not using my wizard and not doing a GFI near the end when I should have.  Still, not a bad showing for me but to be fair, I had some VERY nice dice rolls go my way and I inflicted a number of casualties and KO's.  I think I inflicted 6 casualties on him, including both his witch elves (one in the first series of play) and an assassin.  I don't know how badly they were all hurt but he might be playing with a lot of mercs in his next match and if some might have stat reducing injuries as well, he might have a more difficult time come playoffs.  I guess you can classify this one as a sort of Pyrrhic victory for IanC and a stupid noob loss for me.   On the bright side, I'll probably get a few skill ups and none of my players were killed or injured.

[IainC]

Oh god, that was easily the most horrible game of the season for me so far.

I was kicking in the first half and things started badly for me when one of my Witch Elves was injured in a blitz on the first turn. Throughout the match Ginaz' block dice were on fire, BB Manager says that his success rate with blocks was 71% and of the 52 armour rolls he made against me, 21 were successful (as opposed to 8 out of the 28 I made against him). The Undead got their Ghouls on the ball and started bashing my team down. Trusting that they had my team locked up with tackles, a lone Ghoul raced towards the endzone without support and a few dodges and tactical blocks from me allowed me to get two players on him and blitz the ball free. Unfortunately for me, my remaining Witch Elf was injured dodging out to try and scoop the ball and I had to use my Apothecary at an early stage in the match to turn -1 AV into a niggling injury. A Wight grabbed the ball and, after a bit of a brawl that saw my star Blitzer badly hurt, walked it in on turn 5 to open the scoring.

For the return kick I failed all three of my KO rolls which meant that with the 3 injuries I'd already picked up, I only had 6 players on the pitch. The ball landed off the pitch so I gave it to an unmarked Linesman on the LoS and ran him into the Undead half with what little protection I could give him. A rare stroke of luck saw a quick turnover in the Undead turn thanks to a failed GFI roll. I ran down the pitch to within scoring range and the Undead responded by setting up a blitz with both Ghouls. They couldn't knock the ball carrier down though and suffered another turnover when a Wight failed to dodge enough times from my Assassin with Shadowing. I blocked one of the Ghouls out of the way, blitzed the other one aside with the ball carrier then ran in an equaliser with one turn of the half to go. We played our last turn each without incident, the Undead failed a throw for some cheap SPPs and I failed to damage anything on the Undead team.

The second half saw an entirely undamaged Undead team facing down only 9 Elves although one of the Mummies was hit by a rock at the kickoff. I blitzed a gap on a flank and inserted a couple of deep receivers but ran out of time to finish the rest of my turn. The Mummy that I'd set up a 2D block against but hadn't had time to actually block, badly hurt the Assassin that I'd run in to assist with. My Agilty 5 Blitzer who was acting as my thrower/kicker easily dodged away from the Zombie marking him, picked up the ball that had been lying on the grass since the kick and ran to a clear spot to throw the ball down pitch to a free receiver. He threw a perfect pass which was easily caught and the whole beautiful manoeuvre was only spoilt by the catcher failing a GfI roll with a reroll on the last square to drop the ball in the endzone. With the ball loose ontheir endzone next to a prone Dark Elf, the Undead sent both their Ghouls to make it safe, they picked it up and ran it into the centre of the pitch. Once again, some carefully chosen blocks and a bit of dodging allowed me to get two Elves and a blitz on the unsupported ball carrier and knock it free before picking it up with the blitzing Elf. Unfortunately I failed a GfI roll while building a cage leaving the Elf with the ball dangerously exposed. The Undead took the ball carrier down and a ruck in the centre of their half ensued. I cleared away a couple of the marking players but another failed GfI roll meant that I couldn't get an unblockable tackle zone on the ball. A Dark Elf falling hard on the ball knocked it into the hands of a waiting Ghoul and he ran it down the pitch for what looked to be a fairly certain late score. Again though he was without support and I managed to get two Elves onto him although the blitz was ineffective. I did manage to injure another of my own players with a failed dodge though for a turnover with one turn each to play. At this point it was looking like the Undead would snatch a late winner as I only had 6 players on the pitch and the Undead had almost free reign over the field. The Ghoul with the ball tried an ill-advised dodge rather than blitz the only Elf marking him out of the way and fell over, crucially dropping the ball in a clear space. The Elf who had been marking him, dodged away from his markers, snatched up the ball and ran it to within easy throwing range of my only other unmarked Elf who ran it in for a turn 15 TD.

I thought I was clear at this point with only one turn each to play but a riot on the kickoff table put the clock back a turn making it possible for Ginaz to score an equaliser. Luckily for me, the Undead miscalculated and couldn't quite reach the endzone with the ball-carrying Ghoul. He revenged himself by injuring my star Assassin who will miss the next game before making a pointless GfI roll that badly hurt the ball carrier (the only injury the Undead suffered in the game) and signalled the end of the match.

Final result 2-1 to me but my team was murdered. The playoffs are still a three way race. Andy Davo and I are on 16 points while Comstar is on 15. Those two play each other next so the winner of that match has an automatic playoff spot. If I lose to Sky then a draw or a win for Comstar in the other game will send both players through as both of them have a better TD difference than me, if AndyDavo wins then I am still in the playoffs. If I draw or win against Sky then I am through and a draw in the other game sees Andy Davo go forward otherwise the winner gets the other spot.