CakeBowl 2018

Finally some warm sunny weather made an appearance, so naturally it was time to spend two days playing a board game! Getting up and out by 7.30am was quite a feat after a long week at work. A pothole that rightfully belonged on the moon surface did its best to stop me arriving at all, but I made it in time to grab a free coffee and a cooked buffet breakfast at the venue, having opted out of a quick bowl of cereal at home to ensure I got there in time.

There were a number of faces I recognised from other tournaments, as well as a number of guys that form part of Sawbbl - who run a league online that I play on.

There was the usual chatter pre-tournament, as lists were compared, some meta-gaming began, and latecomers were berated. We examined the three teams that had been painted for free as prizes;

Khemri team painted by raging82

Human team painted by HowlingGriffon

Dwarf team painted by @socialhobbyist (Twitter)

...then the random opponents were generated. I had decided to take Dark Elves, as I hadn't fielded my new additions to the 1990s team since painting them.  The highlights of my roster were 2xWitch Elves with Wrestle, 1x Blitzer with Tackle and 1x Runner with Leader.

Day One - Game One
Orcs coached by Morbo89

Looking at the picture above you could be forgiven for trying to work out what was on the Orc half... well, the Sumo models were stand in Blitzers and the Blitzers were Black Orc Blocker - I know, right! This was a loner team for Morbo, so he's forgiven. Luckily he was a lucky winner of the Dwarf painted team above so he'll have his own painted team now.

You know how each coach starts a tournament with optimism about the possibilities before them... well, any of this was squarely thrown out the window, a successive 1's and a batch of double skulls quickly saw off any chance I had of defending a 1-1 half time score. Basically it went downhill after the very first block I threw KOing an Orc lineman. Morbo was apologetic as he wandered in for the second TD. It was a miserable dicing. The scoring system being what it was meant I finished round one with just 1 point (10pts=win, 5=draw, 0=loss, TDx1 each (max 3) and Casx0 (max 3), and I was 2nd from bottom! Score: 1-2, (0-2 cas) =1pt.

Lunch - The ticket included lunch, which was polished off with glee (ham salad) and I had plenty of time to chat about failed dice with others of a similar experience, with victors trying to sound compassionate whilst knowing they had begun well.

Game Two
Dwarves - RobHacker

Rob is a new coach to table top tournaments. He knew the basics, but it was just a matter of waiting for openings to score. That being said the dwarves bashed at every opportunity, and 2xMighty Blow slayers meant damage was coming... I shared some tips with Rob after the game to make the most of his guard/slayers combo, and to do the free/simple things first. A really nice bloke - good to see new blood at these things. Score: 3-0, (1-3 cas) =14pts.

Game Three
Slann - Domfluff

Dom was a totally different opponent, with plenty of experience as a member of a local tabletop league. Slann are my bogey team, both online and on tabletop. His Slann were nicely balanced, with a agility 4 movement 7 catcher with guard being a real thorn in the side - he just leapt into defences on a 2+ allowing his team mates to leap in and blitz the ball carrier. I chose to kick and was able to equalise by turn 8 for 1-1 at halftime. The second half was just about thinning frog numbers and walking in for a 2-1 win, but Dom made this a real battle. It was a nervous end. Score: 2-1, (3-0 cas) =15pts.

I finished Day One on a 2/0/1 record.

Venue
As you can see below, the Great Western hotel in Swindon is quite open with plenty of air and space, unlike some venues. The staff are really helpful and accommodating and the food is always good and plenty of beverages available at the bar.
Here's a little pic of me and Dom in our round 3 match;

Day Two - Game Four
Halflings - Lunchmoney

You may be thinking "halfings? - easy draw!"... they really weren't! With  I scored first, but a Throw-Team-Mate saw Lunchmoney equalise... All I will say is that it won the most unlikely touch down award at the end of the weekend! I simply couldn't break halfling armour... and two my dismay, the two Str4 starrs, Zara and Kara killed not one but two wrestle Witch Elves by turn 3. Gah!
The second half began with hardly any KO's coming back, leaving me with about 7 players on the pitch. I managed to make a break for it, and despite the odds, scored for 2-1. Lunchmoney had rolled double on a foul, and had thrown a fling into a world of hurt, but he had plenty of numbers. Despite rooting trees throughout, the halflings stole all both my rerolls each half, leaving just one leader reroll to play with. Lunchmoney had a few turns to really push for an equaliser. Zara took control of the ball and was in range... but a 2xdice block resulted in a POW and Zara was on the floor and the ball near the remaining elves. All I needed to do was pick it up... but no... but the ball spilt into 2 elven tackle zones. Suddenly a halfling landed squarely on 1 elf, and Zara blitz/pow'd a 2nd, picking up in a tackle zone, dodging out and gfi'ing to score. My shoulders slumped. Score: 2-2, (1-2 cas) =8pts. 

Lunch - A fantastic roast dinner! Really worth it!

Game Five
Slann - Heff

Bob (Heff) opted to receive and scored early giving me a really good chance of equalising which I did, leaving the end of half scoreline 1-1. However, the second half went all my way, with frog leaps failing all over the pitch. KO's built up and Slann numbers were thin to stop me scoring for 2-1. There was nothing much Bob could do. Score; 2-1, (1-0 cas) =13pts.

Game Six
Dark Elf - Wulfyn

A Dark Elf team with every body (except one guarder) with Dodge awaited me in round 6. This was a match full of friendly banter as I know Dan from the Welwyn Wargamers club that he co-runs. I had just seen Dan beat mubo in another Dark Elf match up. Dan started with a coach rating of 188.41 with DE's... this was going to be tough.
The first half was a real shifting line of scrummage, but Dan managed to get in for a turn 8 score. I did manage a cool move, with my guard blodging blitzers moving into mark the cage while a witch elf dodged through on a 5+ for a single block... Dan's runner offloaded to an awaiting elf... but the former ball carrier was pushed back... and the follow up Frenzy hit was 2 dice uphill... both pushes!... and the elf off the pitch. Unfortunately it was a relatively simple matter for Dan to push and dodge his way for a TD. 0-1.

The second half didn't begin well, with me double skulling my first block and the runner rolling 1 to pick up. Despite bringing back cover to anticipate this, Dan strolled through to collect the ball. Sooner after I sacked the ball carrier leaving this right royal mess;

Unfortunately Dan recovered again, and similar to footballers passing around the corner flag, he backed up in an elf cage. We traded a foul each on the witch elves (I killed one, but Dan apothecary'd it). It was a close game, but Dan has the bragging rights on this one! Score: 0-1, (1-1 cas)=1pt.

FINAL STANDINGS

I finished 11th overall, but despite being top of the scorer charts by end of game four I missed out on any prizes. My DE ranking went up, amazingly!
The result also put me in the lead for the Golden Gauntlet 2018 which I didn't even know existed until I was told by HowlingGriffon that I was topping it!

Well done to all the winners, and thanks to all my opponents. Special thanks to Mike/Sann0638 for running it this year. I'm sure the winners will really enjoy the cakes, although I did manage a sneaky slice earlier on Sunday :)

I personally enjoyed getting the cricket Test updates throughout the weekend, and some of the lads enjoyed / were entertained / watched the England vs Nigeria football friendly on the big TV at the venue too. I would thoroughly recommend this tournament to anyone who can get there!