Last weekend saw me in Sydney (Australia) again for Eucalyptus Bowl, or EucBowl for short. This is a well-run tournament, and one of the largest outside Europe (another is CanCon in Canberra, Australia). This year saw c. 63 coaches. This time I took Chaos, which seems to be my team of the year (I started playing them in January). The format was TV125, you could buy 1 skill per player, no doubles or stat increases. I playtested 3 different rosters (against Orcs, the most popular team at EucBowl traditionally, bash teams being popular). This led me to take a new and fairly different roster:
4 Warriors with Block
4 Beastmen with Wrestle
2 Beastmen with Sure Hands
2 rookie Beastmen
2 Re-rolls
Apoth
I managed (eventually) 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, for a 10th place finish (out of c. 63 coaches). It did not look that way at the beginning of the tournament, as I started with a loss and a draw (it's politely called "doing a submarine"). For ease of reading, I will post the gory details of the matches below.
4th tournament with Chaos - good fun
-
Smeborg
- Legend
- Posts: 3544
- Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2002 2:02 am
- Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
-
Smeborg
- Legend
- Posts: 3544
- Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2002 2:02 am
- Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Re: 4th tournament with Chaos - good fun
GORY DETAILS OF THE MATCHES
------------------------------------------------------
1st round: 3-1 loss to Humans (CAS: 1-1). I played the first drive poorly, and was duly punished by a turnover TD. From then I was chasing the game, I had 2 decent chances to equalise, but they did not materialise. Not the best dice of the tourney, 5 of the first 7 GFIs were 1s, but I put myself in a position where this would hurt.
2nd round: 1-1 draw with CDs (CAS: 1-1). I felt "unlucky" to come away with a draw, as I sacked my opponent twice on his main drive, but both times the ball scattered favourably for him. This also caused delay, meaning I lost the turns needed to make it 2-1.
3rd round: 1-0 win against well-coached Ogres (CAS: 1-1). The toughest match to play of the tourney, as I had 2 fewer players on the pitch than my opponent for almost the entire match. The Ogres declined an opportunity to score (2 naked GFIs required by a Snot), not aware of my propensity to pull off ludicrous ball sacks. I recovered the ball, but alas a decent turn 8 scoring attempt failed. I scored in the 2nd half, but only by taking considerable risk,and managed to hold out.
4th round: 3-1 win against Chaos (CAS: 3-1). My only relatively easy match of the tourney, against an inexperienced coach. Facing an 11-player roster, I got lucky with 2 CAS in the first 2 turns. It was easy after that, I went 3-0 up, my opponent got a consolation TD thanks to a helpful Pitch Invasion and a double skulls by me.
5th round: 3-2 win over Orcs (CAS: 2-3). My opponent was an old foe and multiple tournament winner, who has always thrashed me in our previous encounters. I lost the kick-off roll, started to lose numbers, but kept up just enough pressure to force some ball movement. An appalling run of dice by my opponent (quad both down, failed hand-off with RR, failed 4-dice block on a Wrestle ball-carrier) allowed me to scramble in an unlikely TD with 7 men against 11. Chasing the game, the Orcs made a quick pass, it failed, scattering favourably for me, allowing a turn 8 silly TD (no RRs, 3+ dodge, 3+ pick-up with S-Hands, Long Pass through traffic, 4+ catch, 3+ dodge, 2 GFIs). So I was 2-0 up at half time, and receiving, but still in danger, as I had only 10 men, and my opponent could easily get to 2-2. Quickly under pressure on my first receive, I pulled off one of my better plays of the tourney, a BS pass to the corner. My opponent failed to bring down my key player, he scored for a 3-0 lead. I let my guard down a bit after that (and after 3 glasses of wine) but it was too late for my opponent to equalise. His last TD was spectacular, a long bomb by a prone Blitzer. If his dice had been like that at the beginning of the match, I would have lost. A great result, in playtesting I rarely managed better than a draw against Orcs, even with this, the best roster for the task.
6th and last round: a 1-1 draw with CDs (CAS: 2-0). I had unexpectedly reached the giddy heights of the 4th table, but a miracle last round win was not to be. A good first half, I sacked my opponent twice. The first time he recovered the ball, the second time, I could not get the ball out of the scrum. A good turn 8 scoring chance was blown, when I double skulled early in the turn (with a Block player), blowing my last re-roll (but putting a Bull in the CAS bin). Needing only some GFIs and a 3+ hand-off, I could not manage it. But still, 0-0 after kicking was a good half time score. In the second half, I dropped the ball at the first attempt (a deep kick, too), putting me under immediate pressure. I scored a good turn 11 TD in response. After that, the "luck" ran out. I had blown both re-rolls on double skulls early in the half (first blocks on turns 9 and 10), and a third double skulls on turn 14 blew my last chance of winning the match. I felt I did not play as well as I might have on this last meaningful drive.
For ease of reading, I will post general comments on play below.
------------------------------------------------------
1st round: 3-1 loss to Humans (CAS: 1-1). I played the first drive poorly, and was duly punished by a turnover TD. From then I was chasing the game, I had 2 decent chances to equalise, but they did not materialise. Not the best dice of the tourney, 5 of the first 7 GFIs were 1s, but I put myself in a position where this would hurt.
2nd round: 1-1 draw with CDs (CAS: 1-1). I felt "unlucky" to come away with a draw, as I sacked my opponent twice on his main drive, but both times the ball scattered favourably for him. This also caused delay, meaning I lost the turns needed to make it 2-1.
3rd round: 1-0 win against well-coached Ogres (CAS: 1-1). The toughest match to play of the tourney, as I had 2 fewer players on the pitch than my opponent for almost the entire match. The Ogres declined an opportunity to score (2 naked GFIs required by a Snot), not aware of my propensity to pull off ludicrous ball sacks. I recovered the ball, but alas a decent turn 8 scoring attempt failed. I scored in the 2nd half, but only by taking considerable risk,and managed to hold out.
4th round: 3-1 win against Chaos (CAS: 3-1). My only relatively easy match of the tourney, against an inexperienced coach. Facing an 11-player roster, I got lucky with 2 CAS in the first 2 turns. It was easy after that, I went 3-0 up, my opponent got a consolation TD thanks to a helpful Pitch Invasion and a double skulls by me.
5th round: 3-2 win over Orcs (CAS: 2-3). My opponent was an old foe and multiple tournament winner, who has always thrashed me in our previous encounters. I lost the kick-off roll, started to lose numbers, but kept up just enough pressure to force some ball movement. An appalling run of dice by my opponent (quad both down, failed hand-off with RR, failed 4-dice block on a Wrestle ball-carrier) allowed me to scramble in an unlikely TD with 7 men against 11. Chasing the game, the Orcs made a quick pass, it failed, scattering favourably for me, allowing a turn 8 silly TD (no RRs, 3+ dodge, 3+ pick-up with S-Hands, Long Pass through traffic, 4+ catch, 3+ dodge, 2 GFIs). So I was 2-0 up at half time, and receiving, but still in danger, as I had only 10 men, and my opponent could easily get to 2-2. Quickly under pressure on my first receive, I pulled off one of my better plays of the tourney, a BS pass to the corner. My opponent failed to bring down my key player, he scored for a 3-0 lead. I let my guard down a bit after that (and after 3 glasses of wine) but it was too late for my opponent to equalise. His last TD was spectacular, a long bomb by a prone Blitzer. If his dice had been like that at the beginning of the match, I would have lost. A great result, in playtesting I rarely managed better than a draw against Orcs, even with this, the best roster for the task.
6th and last round: a 1-1 draw with CDs (CAS: 2-0). I had unexpectedly reached the giddy heights of the 4th table, but a miracle last round win was not to be. A good first half, I sacked my opponent twice. The first time he recovered the ball, the second time, I could not get the ball out of the scrum. A good turn 8 scoring chance was blown, when I double skulled early in the turn (with a Block player), blowing my last re-roll (but putting a Bull in the CAS bin). Needing only some GFIs and a 3+ hand-off, I could not manage it. But still, 0-0 after kicking was a good half time score. In the second half, I dropped the ball at the first attempt (a deep kick, too), putting me under immediate pressure. I scored a good turn 11 TD in response. After that, the "luck" ran out. I had blown both re-rolls on double skulls early in the half (first blocks on turns 9 and 10), and a third double skulls on turn 14 blew my last chance of winning the match. I felt I did not play as well as I might have on this last meaningful drive.
For ease of reading, I will post general comments on play below.
Reason: ''
Smeborg the Fleshless
-
Smeborg
- Legend
- Posts: 3544
- Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2002 2:02 am
- Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Re: 4th tournament with Chaos - good fun
GENERAL COMMENTS ON PLAY
--------------------------------------------------
The roster worked well, although in every match I felt a bit naked without the Minotard (but I stuck to my playtesting, which showed that the roster without the Minotard was stronger). 10 skills on a team with almost no skills (just Horns) is rather nice. 8 Block and Wrestle meant that I was able to hold my own in blocking wars, sometimes I was able to dominate. 8 Block/Wrestle players also brings resilience on defense (the opponent can only block or blitz these 8 players on his first turn, frustrating for slayer teams).
Wrestle was excellent (I love it on Beastmen and Pestigors). It is never wasted, and brings great opportunities to attack the ball. This was (I think) the first time that i played with more than 2 Wrestlers (4). This produced a notable improvement in performance. Wrestle worked defensively on multiple occasions. I was also able to push 1 or 2 Wrestle Beastmen forward on both offense and defense (often to the surprise of my opponents). They were able to "look after themselves" and maintain credible threats, unlike most rookie Beastmen. Half of my TDs were scored by Wrestle Beastmen.
2 Re-rolls were adequate, given that I had 8 Block/Wrestle and 2 Sure Hands players. Of course I would have liked a 3rd, but I think 3 skills is better than the 3rd Re-roll.
The offense (main drive) worked decently, only faiing once (first game). Often I scored in 3 or 4 turns. I had poor results, however, on shorter drives, never scoring on them. The defense worked OK, but not spectacularly well (except against the Orcs). I was close to converting the 2 draws to wins, and can only blame myself for the loss (albeit I had 2 decent chances to draw that game).
Note that IIRC, I never stalled for more than 1 turn, and rarely formed a classic 4-cornered cage. With AG3 across the board and all players blitzing at ST4, the team is good when in a tight spot. I trusted my defense, as I do with other teams that I like. Except for the easy win on CAS, all the games were sporting and full of interest for both players. I will certainly continue to play Chaos at tourneys.
Hope that's all of interest to Chaos coaches out there.
--------------------------------------------------
The roster worked well, although in every match I felt a bit naked without the Minotard (but I stuck to my playtesting, which showed that the roster without the Minotard was stronger). 10 skills on a team with almost no skills (just Horns) is rather nice. 8 Block and Wrestle meant that I was able to hold my own in blocking wars, sometimes I was able to dominate. 8 Block/Wrestle players also brings resilience on defense (the opponent can only block or blitz these 8 players on his first turn, frustrating for slayer teams).
Wrestle was excellent (I love it on Beastmen and Pestigors). It is never wasted, and brings great opportunities to attack the ball. This was (I think) the first time that i played with more than 2 Wrestlers (4). This produced a notable improvement in performance. Wrestle worked defensively on multiple occasions. I was also able to push 1 or 2 Wrestle Beastmen forward on both offense and defense (often to the surprise of my opponents). They were able to "look after themselves" and maintain credible threats, unlike most rookie Beastmen. Half of my TDs were scored by Wrestle Beastmen.
2 Re-rolls were adequate, given that I had 8 Block/Wrestle and 2 Sure Hands players. Of course I would have liked a 3rd, but I think 3 skills is better than the 3rd Re-roll.
The offense (main drive) worked decently, only faiing once (first game). Often I scored in 3 or 4 turns. I had poor results, however, on shorter drives, never scoring on them. The defense worked OK, but not spectacularly well (except against the Orcs). I was close to converting the 2 draws to wins, and can only blame myself for the loss (albeit I had 2 decent chances to draw that game).
Note that IIRC, I never stalled for more than 1 turn, and rarely formed a classic 4-cornered cage. With AG3 across the board and all players blitzing at ST4, the team is good when in a tight spot. I trusted my defense, as I do with other teams that I like. Except for the easy win on CAS, all the games were sporting and full of interest for both players. I will certainly continue to play Chaos at tourneys.
Hope that's all of interest to Chaos coaches out there.
Reason: ''
Smeborg the Fleshless
