There were 12 BB players - including us 3. The format was Swiss with a random draw for the 1st game. Teams were 1,100k and there was some progression. Marcus won with Orcs
and Shane's Dwarves came 3rd and he got Best Sportsman.I was playing High Elves - 2 Dragons, 2 Lions, 1 Phoneix, 6 Line elves, 2 TRR, 7 FF and an apoth.
Game 1 - Geoff Porritt - Skaven
I drew Geoff Porritt, the Resurrection champ, in the 1st round
He plays a beautiful skaven team with a lovely "team bus". This was the best game out of the 5. He received and started to drive down the field. After a couple of turns I managed to get myself into a position to swarm the RO, leaving him a 1/2 die block, and simultaneously put the ball on the ground with a both down. Unfortunately he managed to double POW a Lion Warrior, break armour and cause a cas. So I rolled my apoth - and failed. In 4 attempts to use the apoth during the tourney he failed 3 times! As a result Geoff managed a score and stopped me getting one back with some good defence and a double skull.
Second half and my numbers started to dwindle rapidly as Geoff accumulated 5 casualties. Finally he managed a 1 die blitz on the ball carrier and skulled it, reroll, skull. Vastly outnumbered I managed to roll out of his defensive cover and pass the ball to an unmarked line elf. Thanks to a successful swarming of the RO he couldn't stop me grabbing a dramatic late equaliser inspite of only having 4 elves left on the pitch.
All in all a fantastic game with even amounts of bad luck. The only downside was the 3 point casualty gap. 1-1 was a fair result. BTW Geoff is only going to The Blood Bowl because I asked him if he had bought his ticket already.
Game 2 - Christine Raine - Dark Elves
Christine was an inexperienced player who didn't have a good grasp of even the standard rules (e.g. assists) let alone LRB. Her team included 2 Witch Elves, 2 Blitzers, Thrower and Line elves.
After kicking I managed to turn her over, threw the ball to a Lion Warrior on the half way line. He needed 1 GFI to be safe - and fell over. The only player should could get to the ball - her thrower and she pulled off an end to end play to score (I let her off failing to declare the handoff too!).
I failed to equalise thanks to a pair of double skulls and a snake eyes. Second half I caged the Phoenix warrior and the ball all the way to score in 4 turns and then managed to turn her over to run in for the winning TD in the last turn.
2-1 I considered an excellent result after a dismal 1st half.
Game 3 - Stuart Falconer - Orcs
Stuart was a little bit rusty but a solid player who knew how to play his Orcs. His team featured 4 Black Orcs, 4 Blitzers a thrower and 5 line orcs.
He received in the 1st half and executed a perfect 8 turn drive, while failing to mash up my team. I bashed my head repeatedly against a S4 cage and just managed to get no where. Lack of block or leap meant it was difficult for me to break him down. Next time I will take Leap on a Dragon Warrior, otherwise I'll never pop the ball loose.
2nd half I messed up my setup but 1/2 die blitz against a Black Orc resulted in my 2nd casualty
and opened up the back field to get a lot of receivers downfield. My Nerves of Steel Lion Warrior failed the catch - but I retrieved the situation and equalised. So the final drive and I managed to get a blitz! Lion underneath the ball and I get the catch - but unfortunately its in the middle and I couldn't protect him. Stuart did enough to get the ball back and prevent me turning him over again.
1-1, another draw but I won on casualties (3-1). It going to be hard for me to get very far in the tournament, but I wasn't in a bad position as I'd avoided Shane and Marcus for the 4th game.
Day 2
Game 4 - William Platten - Humans
William's team of 2nd ed minis were heavily customised (lots of arms
) and I had some difficultly remembering which was which - probably caused by lack of rest the night before. His team had an Ogre, 2 guarding Blitzers, 3 catchers, 2 throwers and some line men. I got off to a fantastic start getting rid of both guards and his only tackle in the 1st 2 turns. Even better as I managed to turn him over and the bouncing ball ended up in my endzone. So I go to pickup the ball, to pass it to the Lion Warrior who would be quite safe in a nice cage. Snake eyes on the pickup and William manages to pick up the ball in 2 TZs and score.
So I start my drive get into an excellent field position with an easy score on the cards all I have to do is blitz for a push, make the pass and score. I get a double skulls on the blitz. This allowed William to put some pressure on the ball carrier but I only needed a blitz and 2+ dodge to escape to safety. Double skulls on the blitz again
Now he knocks over the ball carrier and is able to pick it up, hand it off to catcher in 2 TZs who then dodges out and scores without even having to reroll the dice once. 2-0 and I was in trouble. 2nd half and William put up a poor defensive line up that, thanks to quick snap, allowed me to put 2 players out of bounds. I then proceeded to roll 4 lots of double skulls, but still managed to drag one back. Then I had to turn him over but MA8 catchers are hard to get to and he hung on for the win.
1-2, my 1st defeat in 20 games and any chance of me getting into the top 3 had completely evaporated.
Game 5 - Michael Biggs - Orcs
Michael was a fantastic bloke to play again, friendly and sportsmanlike it made the whole game a real pleasure. His Orcs were beautifully painted too.
He received and I gave him the chance to pass to blitzer who could run downfield. He chose to go for it and ended up getting blitzed and knocked over. The ball and player were left in a TZ, but the blitzer got up made the 4+ dodge, 4+ pub, 3+ dodge and 2 GFIs to score. In my return drive my Lion Warrior failed to catch the ball again so I didn't equalise. I had Got the Ref for the whole 1st half, got through armour about 5 times and didn't even get a KO. He fouled me back once and got a BOB sent off!
2nd half I made a reasonably fast score using my speed to punish some lobsided defending to give me a chance of turning him over for the win. After a small error - he needed a 2nd blitz to have a safe cage - I managed to knock the ball loose and throw it downfield into space. I blitzed his cover out of the way and then ran in the Lion Warrior to win - but I get snake eyes on the pickup. Doh! He got some pressure on the ball and a lucky bounce and I failed two more half chances to win the game.
1-1 and a really pleasurable opponent, even if the game wasn't that spectacular.
Overall
I was robbed! Something like 12 double skulls in 5 games. My apothecary failed 3/4. My Lion Warriors failed half their catches. I never had a game where I thought I'd been lucky to get the result I did - and the defeat was a dreadful game.
On the plus side I had 2 great games - thanks to Geoff & Michael - and really enjoyed the experience.
I don't think there was too much wrong with my team selection - a bit more luck and I would have finished much higher.
However on skills I hopefully have learnt a valuable lesson. Leap on a Dragon is now a high priority. Against strength teams I'm not going to break down the cage so I need something a bit special. Kick didn't work well and I think there may be more useful skills - like Block or Dodge, so I'm tempted not to take it again.
Now I'm really looking forward to The Blood Bowl.
) So I didnt have any doubt and made ready my team, a conversion that made many cutts in my fingers: The Lustrian´s Red Eyes, Lizzardmens:
Riot, I looked at him and started to think very badly. Well D6 for see how many turns: 5 
I was happy, an ray of light... So the ball started to bounce on the heads of many players (even the Kroxi had a try...) but ended on the hands of a Longbeard... 
