SKABB Summer Slam - Duo Team event

 

Preamble

So, I didn't actually apply to attend this one... Folkestone feels a little far for me, mainly because the M25 isn't the most dependable and freely-flowing motorway in the country! But when Howlinggriffon had to drop out and it left Mr_Frodo without a team mate, I gallantly stepped in... (after receiving a large bribe and VIP treatment). So, new horizons for me, not having attended Ollie's events before. Should be fun!

SKABB rules

The ruleset was an unusual one. I usually detest any tournament these days that indulge Stars, but I felt the organisers had really tried to limit their impact and make attendees properly think about the roster they would submit. Also, the fact that you had to tag out/in a different race with your team-mate AND the skills you could take depended in-part on the skills/spend on the other team made it all the more challenging.

After far too many WhatsApp messages and even a video call to discuss our approach, we finally compromised on Snotlings with Varag & the pogo-wielding Scrappa Sorehead, and Dwarves.

We'd seen the likes of PeteW use Snotlings to the max in recent tournaments and took inspiration from that, with a deadly (on paper at least) Pass & Accurate bomber, Riotous Rookies, the two 'minor' stars but no other skills on the team.

I was torn between Dark Elves and Dwarves for our tier 1 team... but we went with the beardy-boys in the end. They had 2x Guard linedwarves, an Apothecary, a Runner with Block, a Slayer with Mighty Blow, and Blitzers with Guard and Tackle between them. 

The Venue

The Community Centre felt like a mix between social rooms and a leisure centre. We were tucked away in a back room off the main hall. Not the most glamourous room ever, but it served a purpose!

picture borrowed from the T.O. 

The organisers had laid on lots of prizes, trophies, dice and spot prizes, and we had access to free parking and local shops, so always a good thing! We were also provided with a print out of the tournament rules and schedule and general info, which was handy too, especially with custom rules such as the Summer Weather Table and Trapdoor special rule, and of course, the Steel Chair rule - for a single drive a player of your choice gets Mighty Blow +1 AND Secret Weapon... all in the Wrestling thematic... (something that went over my head... not a Wrestling fan... unless it's over the last Sausage Roll in Greggs!). Our Team had been renamed "Team Ramblin Raucous Redshirts"... oooook. 😁

Match One - Table 11

The first of four games was against the duo named [Double Detention] consisting of hellbentginger & SID_the_snail. I was facing hellbentginger's Humans, using my Dwarves.

hellbentginger - That's one LOUD shirt!

Fans roll was 6 vs 6 (ie 3 each on a D3), and Perfect Weather (PW), and the kick was 2 vs 5, and I was nominated to receive.

The Dwarves got off to a strong start, KOing a lineman and stunning the Ogre. The Troll Slayer followed up in turn 2 by hurting the Human Thrower (1-0), which was useful. However, our confidence was soon shattered as we watched the play of the game unfold... a seemingly protected ball carrier got blitzed by a human blitzer who made 2x 3+ dodge rolls, 2x GFI and a 2x Dice Uphill hit... double Stumble result... ball carrier over, ball on the floor. That was turn 2/2... and from there, the Dwarves played much more sensibly, gathering the ball back up and slowly plodding up the field for a 1-0 score in turn 8.

Between turn 8/8 and the start of the 2nd half, all 3x KO'd humans inhaling the smelling salts and returning to the field. The kick off resulted in Bad Habits on my Guard Blitzer. The Humans started to gather their attack, but we hurt a Human Blitzer (2-) and sacked the Human Catcher, knocking the ball loose in turn 2/2. The human attack faltered, the Dwarves took control, and after inflicting a 3rd casualty in turn 5/5, we scored and won the game in the last turn, 2-0 (3-0).

Elsewhere... 

SID_the_snail vs Mr_Frodo

...my team mate, Mr_Frodo was getting to grips with the Snotling team he was coaching against SID_the_snail.

Match Two

This time I was in much more unfamiliar territory, coaching the Snotlings against Martin's OWA.

It was another 6 vs 6 Fans (ie 3 each on a D3) roll in PW. I remembered Riotous Rookies (x4 loners) and we gained 2 players for Swarming after I lost the kick off and I was kicking.

The first turn began with an inevitable Snotling injury (0-1) and the OWA secured the ball. It was a shaky start for us as the Snotlings put faith in their Star and tried an early blitz on the ball carrier with an assist, using Scrappa, but he double skulled his blitz and rolled a 1 for loner...

Oof! - Twice in a row...

The Humans were keen as mustard to score and their Human Catcher ran in for a simple TD in turn 2/3 after making the necessary dodge rolls.

Turn 3/3 didn't begin any better as Varag rolled out double skulls with his block as well, also rolling 1 for loner... I didn't take another picture. It was too pathetic! 😓

During turn 6/6 we had recovered our sensibilities enough to equalise with Scrappa after we had crowd surfed a halfling (1-1).

With a Pitch Invasion, 3x Human players were stunned, including the Thrower, and we sneaked through for a final turn score, making it 2-1 (1-1).

The second half though was full of back and forth, but the OWA side were only able to inflict one more Snotling injury. That being said, the Snotlings just couldn't defend well enough, with Snotlings disappearing into the KO box, and the cursed Human Catcher popped in to equalise, and the match finished 2-2 (1-2). It felt like a fair result in a friendly and enjoyable game.

Match Three

Next up, we faced the eventual team winners. My Dwarves were up against Ian's Nurgle.

We rolled 3 vs 2 fans in PW (ie 2 vs 1 on a D3). I lost the kick off roll and was kicking.

After a fairly ordinary start, something switched up for the Nurgle as they KO'd two Dwarves in one turn, and then outright killed a Guard linedwarf, all by turn 3/4. The Dwarven defence was more than up against it, and the Nurgle shuffled in for a turn 8 score, 0-1 (0-1).

The second half began with 10 vs 11, and a Touchback! However, by turn 2/2 my Troll Slayer got hurt (0-2) and our attack generally ran out of steam. Despite many attempts to get away and score, we just couldn't escape our own bad rolls, and the Nurgle's blessed ones... and the game came to an end with the Dwarf coach feeling very frustrated (however, it was a match played in a really pleasant manner). 0-1 (0-2).

Over on the other table, it wasn't going well either!

Match 4

After the bruising encounter against Nurgle, I was up against Nurgle again, but this time with Snotlings! We were playing the duo team The Bubonic Brawlers which consisted of fluffles and Uncle_Nuncle. I was playing fluffles!

We rolled 6 vs 2 on the dice for Fans (ie 3 vs 1 on a D3), and played in PW. With a roll of 5 vs 3 on kick off I opted to receive.

Turn 1/0 started with a proning some Nurgle... and as I was coaching Snotlings and not Dwarves, I got my head into that mode, so I gang-fouled a prone Rotter and hurt it (1-0). The Rotspawn was keen to get stuck into some action, but failed the GFI, but used a RR passing the Loner, and a Snotling was hurt by a Bloater (1-1). There was some general back and forth, but we were forced into an early score in turn 6/5 - 1-0 (1-1). Unfortunately, the Bomber was sent off after failing the Argue the Call and rolling 1 on the Bribe.

Turn 7/6 saw us hurt a Bloater but he regenerated (2-1). A both-down from a Rotter block saw another Snotling in the hurt-locker, (2-2), but the Snotlings got revenge with a foul (3-2)... At this point I think we reported the match as 1-0 (2-4)... think we made a mistake... ho-hum.

Results

Overall, both Mr_Frodo and I finished on 2/1/1, and we both lost to the eventual winners, which isn't so bad. I think we both had some frustrating/cursed dice, with key rolls that should have strong probability on the side of the roller, failing many times. But that's Blood Bowl... 

Well done and congratulations to the 'Cohens' for the win... and a good entry for the fancy dress! The Redshirts finished an above average 6th.

...and to minimorg (who I faced at the NAF Champs) on his first NAF trophy! And a mid-table finish for Mr_Frodo and myself.

And thanks to the organisers, eldritchfox and stewbacca for a well run and enjoyable tournament.

As always, feel free to comment if anything needs updating or you just want to give feedback!