Shire Giants

[van der vaart]

So, this is going to be the blog of the Shire Giants, an up and coming Halfling team (thanks Glowworm!). I’ll try to use this as a learning experience for both myself and any other Halfling coaches out there, as I am by no means an expert, and will make plenty of mistakes! The plucky little fellas are in the St Portdale Blood Bowl League, an 8 team league split into two groups of 4. The top team in each group goes straight into the semi-final, with the 4 teams with the next highest points going into the quarter-finals (meaning two teams will miss out!). The aim is to get the Shire Giants a finals berth their first season, a tall feat for the little guys! I’ll try and be as creative as I can, but may be restricted for time on occasion. So without further ado….

*First Press Conference*
Blood Bowl Weekly: Coach L, you stand here as the new coach of the Shire Giants, a team that has never made it on the pitch before, let alone won a game. How are you going to change that?

Coach L: Well, first things first, I’ve told the team that for every game they play, I’ll shout them a big moot each. That should take care of the getting them on the pitch problem.

The Daily Smash: Given that these players aren’t the most naturally gifted players, a lot of how they play comes down to the coach. What are your master plans for the team?

Coach L: We had our first training session a few weeks back and there were a few players that struggled to put their helmets on, so I’ve helped them out there. I’ve also tried to teach them to stay on the pitch for more than one turn, as they like to run off and get some snacks!

The Herald Block: Your first game sees you take on a new orc team. Are you confident you can pull off a win?

Coach L: I think that we always have a chance, especially with the likes of Deeproot coming in for the game.

Blood Bowl Weekly: So it’s true that Deeproot will be playing?

Coach L: He was in town for an Entmoot. He doesn’t want to be hasty or anything but he may play. Anyway thanks for your time, but I better get going and make sure these guys know how to get to the change rooms!

[van der vaart]

*Game 1. Shire Giants V The Pirates of the Caribbean (orcs)*

So I got 440k in inducements (the team spent a bit more than 1mill) so I bought a chef and Deeproot!

*First Half*

The captain of the Shire Giants, Frodo, won the toss and elected to receive. The chef’s aroma proved too great for the stupid green skins, and took 2 of their 3 re-rolls. The Shire Giants 2000 fans then geed up the team and gave them a further re-roll, meaning the Shire Giants had 6 re-rolls for the first half, to the orcs 1! The weather looked promising, however just before kick off the sun appeared from behind the clouds, resulting in a sweltering heat! The Halflings moved into position the first few turns, then, once they had sucked the orcs in Ouickbeam, the treeman, chucked Nibs Cotton, who was clutching onto the ball for dear life, over the top! The orcs looked on in disbelief as he sailed through the air and somehow managed to land on his feet, still clutching the ball!

He would waltz in for a touchdown next turn, but there was still one orc lineman that could stop him with a bit of luck! The lineman blitzed, needed to dodge away…got it. Needed to go for it once…got it. And again….got it! Nibs Cotton was now staring up at the ugly figure of an orc lineman, and was looking down the barrel of a 2 dice block! Suddenly the glory of scoring a touchdown seemed moot to Nibs, and he held the ball in front of his face, trying to do something, anything to protect himself. The dust settled and..double push back! Nibs could still dodge away for the touchdown!

However Coach L decided to play some mind games, jibing the orc coach and saying how his ‘big tough orc’ couldn’t even knock over a tiny Halfling. The jibe worked, and the coach of the orcs called in his one and only re-roll! However, much to the surprise of both coach and orc, Nibs decided enough was enough, and ran directly between the legs of the orc, jumping straight up! It was double skulls and the orc crumpled to the ground! Nibs Cotton, with a look of both disbelief and pride, strolled into the endzone, 1-0 to the Shire Giants turn 3!

Four of the Halflings, thinking the game was won ran off into the reserve box, thinking that was too hot to run around in their silly uniforms, and that they deserved some icy treats. Nibs Cotton was among them, proclaiming that he was going to retire from Blood Bowl ‘while he was on top’.

The rest of the drive saw the Halflings desperately trying to hold the orcs out, as a 1-0 lead at half-time would be huge. However it was not to be, and eventually the lack of numbers on the pitch (3 Halflings and the 3 trees) saw the orcs equalise on the last turn of the half.

*Second Half*

Another 4 Halflings decided that it was far too hot to play, and so sat on the bench at the start of the second half. The chef again managed to take another 2 re-rolls from the orcs. The Halflings kicked to the orcs, and they had the orcs worried, as Halflings were flying everywhere! An early fumble from the orcs allowed the Halflings to put the pressure on in the earlier stages. However eventually the amount of knock outs started to take a toll on the Halflings (amazingly, still no casualties) and they were again left with 3 Halflings and the 3 trees on the pitch.

But then, whether in a moment of arrogance or a lack of foresight from the coach the ball carrier was open, with Treebeard in range for the blitz! After a bit of manoeuvring from Coach L Treebeard blitzed the ball carrier and knocked him down! The ball fell to Samwise, who fumbled it into the crowd! The Halfling fans were going ballistic in the stands, and threw the ball to the other side of the pitch, right to an unmarked Merry!

Merry could pick the ball up, and then score in a couple of turns! Merry runs up to the ball…fumbles! Re-roll….fumbles again! Now a Black Orc had managed to make his way over to Merry, but Merry could still pick up the ball and score. Merry successfully picks up the ball, dodges, dodges again, and is now only 3 squares away from the endzone! The Black Orc can blitz him however, if he makes two go for its! The orc coach calls it in, gets the first go for it…stumbles on the second! However the re-roll is made and the Black orc looks to smash down Merry…dodge star and push back! Merry dodges away for the score and the Shire Giants win their first game 2-1!



Final stats
Final score: Shire Giants 2-1 The Pirates of the Carribbean
Casualties: 0-0 (I know right!)
Scorers: Nibs Cotton, Merry
MVP: Treebeard
Crowd: 2,000
Fantastic start to the season!

[van der vaart]

So game number 2 should be played on wednesday. Against a lizardmen team thats pretty tough but at least the Halflings can take on the skinks by themselves!

[Glowworm]

Read this with a tear in my eye......

I hoped when the little guys told me they wanted to "emigrate" and seek thier fortune in the colonies that they would find the success they never enjoyed here.

glad they're working out for you, keep up the good work.

[Pug]

cool stuff

Your team got a colour scheme, team strip design?

[van der vaart]

Read this with a tear in my eye......

I hoped when the little guys told me they wanted to "emigrate" and seek thier fortune in the colonies that they would find the success they never enjoyed here.

glad they're working out for you, keep up the good work.

Haha thanks Sim! Loving the little fellas so far, super fun to play with!

cool stuff

Your team got a colour scheme, team strip design?

Thanks Pug! Yep sure do! Though i dont take any credit at all for it, it was how they were when they came! I liked the earthy feel they had though so i left them!

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll19 ... C_0069.jpg

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll19 ... C_0068.jpg

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll19 ... C_0058.jpg

[Pug]

ok a couple more fluff questions (all will be revealed later!)

How would you roughly describe the immediate location of where the team is based? woodland, prairie etc.

What size local population, can they draw from? Town, city, hamlet etc

[van der vaart]

ok a couple more fluff questions (all will be revealed later!)

How would you roughly describe the immediate location of where the team is based? woodland, prairie etc.

What size local population, can they draw from? Town, city, hamlet etc

Seeings as I've got a little time up my sleeve and I'm feeling a little creative....

TV Presenter: And welcome back to ‘Whose dying today’ sponsored by Painasonic, don’t just see the block, feel it! I’m standing here with one of the Shire Giants star players Nibs Cotton, welcome Nibs!

Nibs: *munch* is this turkey or chicken?

Presenter: It’s our pleasure Nibs! Now your team is new this season in the St Portdale Blood Bowl League, can you tell us a little bit about where you hail from?

Nibs: Well we come from a village called Oldwillows, but don’t let the Treemen here that we call it that.

Presenter: That’s wonderful, now given the tendencies Halflings have of dying on a Blood Bowl pitch, do you have a large community to draw from, or will this team eke out of existence with its players?

Nibs: Oldwillows is a great place to live; there are heaps of us there! It has great food and is always sunny, plus we have the trees hanging around to protect us from Ogres and the like! Wait what was the question? What was that about dying?!...*munch**munch**munch*

Prensenter: Thanks Nibs! What an exciting insight into the lives of these little guys! Make sure you join as next week on ‘Whose dying today’ for more insight into the lives of those brave and stupid enough to take to the Blood Bowl pitch!

[Pug]

[Smithysworld]

Nice Halfling background dude, loving the interview section.

What you up to Pug? Need any more Halfling backgrounds for your secret project?

Let me know

[van der vaart]

Haha what are you up too Pug....

Nice Halfling background dude, loving the interview section.

What you up to Pug? Need any more Halfling backgrounds for your secret project?

Let me know

Thanks!
Now doubly what are you up too Pug....

[van der vaart]

The following actually took place….

*Game 2. Shire Giants V Scaly Skullbashers (lizardmen)*

Got 460k in inducements. Once again took the chef and Deeproot, plus a babe. (I know boring build, but I want to try and get at least three wins with these guys )

*First Half*

Captain Frodo strolled up to the referee to do the toss, but promptly ran back (albeit not that fast) when he saw a giant lizard standing up next to him licking his lips. So the ref told me this meant I lost the toss by default and that the Skullbashers had chosen to receive. The chef again worked a treat, leaving him with only one re-roll for the half (which the damn crowd gave to him, curses!) I setup in the classic ‘try and get as many Halflings as you can on the pitch without your opponent looking’ defence and it worked for the first three turns, with the lizards unable to pick up the ball.

They did finally manage to pick up the ball, with Will Whitfoot boldly claiming that they should have picked it up ages ago due to their ‘sticky mittens’. He was sitting safely next to me on the bench of course. The Halflings then got a taste of their own medicine with the stunty, as a skink dodged through the lines to score, putting the lizards up 1-0 after 4 turns.
Coach L wasn’t happy, as he was planning on holding the lizards out for the half. However he set up in hope for the one turn score. The ball was kicked by the lizards, who set up quite close to the front line, clearly forgetting about Coach L’s reckless Halfling throwing. Deeproot being on the pitch was a great sight for Halfling fans, however one fan wasn’t so happy and promptly threw a rock at Deeproot. This got Deeproot started on a story about the old days as he sat down on the grass, rendering him incapable of moving for a turn.

However it didn’t matter as Coach L’s play worked perfectly as Merry picked up the ball and handed it off to Farmer Maggot, who was standing by the Treeman Treebeard. Farmer Maggot suddenly flew through the air, all the while shouting about his precious crops. He finally came to a crash with the ball in his hand and ran through to score the equaliser. It was later revealed that he saw some young Halflings in the crowd with carrots from his farm, admitting that was the reason he ran to the end zone. Start of Turn 6 and the Shire Giants were back in the game!

The Halflings kicked quite deep at the start of the next drive, and the plucky little guys were so enthused by scoring another touchdown in a Blood Bowl match they surged forward in a blitz, forgetting that it wasn’t even their turn to go. Coach L managed to restrain most of them, but some, including Pippin, broke through up field into the Skullbashers half.

The lizard’s inability to pick the ball up and the lack of re-rolls cost them dearly in the 8th turn. The Skullbashers coach had marked up on Pippin, who by now was quite close to the ball, but had largely left him unmarked. Another failed pick up roll saw Pippin dodge away and pick the ball up, running home for the Shire Giants second touchdown of the match. The Shire Giants led 2-1, same as last game! However unlike the last game there was still a whole half to go. In that last turn of the half we also saw a skink carted to the dead and injured box by the fans. Two plucky Halflings pushed him in there after Coach L told them he saw the skink eating out of their secret snack pile. Although neither coach knew it yet, that casualty was to be the start of something big….

*Second Half*

At the start of the second half, the chef managed to snag one re-roll from the Skullbashers, leaving them with only one for a whole half yet again. The lizards kicked off, and the game got back underway!

Although the trees and big lizards on the line had largely done nothing to each other thus far, something gave way, and Treebeard went on a rampage! First, he broke a skinks jaw with his powerful branches. Then he turned his attention to a nearby saurus, swinging his powerful trunks again, smashing the saurus’ skull!

Nibs Cotton, who scored the Shire Giants first ever touchdown also got in on the action, sending a skink into the dead and injured box for the rest of the game! Nibs paraded around saying ‘you all saw that right?’ and chanting that he was the dragon slayer. However a Wizard TV replay showed that the skink had actually tripped over Nibs as he bent down to pick up the lollipop he’d just dropped on the ground.

All this blood sparked the rest of the team into action, in particular Pippin, who was really fired up after scoring his first touchdown. Pippin ran up to quick beam and told him that "the closer he was to danger, the further he was from harm!" Quickbeam shook his head, not understanding why Pippin wanted to be so hasty but threw the young Halfling towards the end zone anyway. With no lizards able to oppose him, Pippin marched in for the touchdown and made it 3-1! The Giants fans were ecstatic!

By now the coach of the Scaly Skullbashers was quite demoralised, and he made several mistakes which the Shire Giants pounced on! He left many skinks far too close to the outside line, which resulted in some clever team work from the Halflings (something Coach L had taught them by making them each put an ingredient into a pot to make the meal) and saw 4 skinks pushed into the crowd! The bloodthirsty crowd went ballistic on the poor skinks, putting all of them in the dead and injured box. When the dust settled there was a further skink seriously injured, 2 badly hurt and one dead!

The final turn of the game saw the Halflings able to pull off a bit of a miracle play, which Pippin instigated, spurred on by the burger bonus offered to a player that can score 3 touchdowns in a game (not to be confused with the steak bonus that is offered to those players that can stay on the pitch the whole game).

Old Gaffer blitzed the skink that had somehow managed to get hold of the ball, and with the help of Samwise, knocked him to the ground. The ball scattered near Fatty Bolger, who picked it up and managed to throw it to Farmer Maggot (from the hefty distance of one square away). Farmer Maggot was promptly whacked in the face by the oncoming ball, but after the re-roll he decided to catch it, then hand it off to Pippin, who was placed next to the evergreen Treebeard. Treebeard hoisted Pippin up, up and away and Pippin raced home for his burger bonus, almost forgetting the ball in the process. The Shire Giants had romped it home 4-1! And the Halflings continue their march to the top!

Final stats
Final score: Shire Giants 4-1 Scaly Skullbashers
Casualties: Shire Giants 7-0 Scaly Skullbashers (Woo!)
Scorers: Farmer Maggot, Pippin x3
MVP: Treebeard
Crowd: 8,000

Now I know that I will probably never play another game like this with my Halflings ever. The dice were extremely hot for me and extremely cold for my opponent. But that’s Blood Bowl and we’ll take it! As a few comments by the way: In our league we count any casualties caused in the final result, hence why the count is 7-0. Minus the crowd and I still won 3-0 but 7-0 looks better . The Scaly Skullbashers coach changed to Dark Elves after the game. Therefore I am forever claiming that I restarted him. With Halflings. I don’t know that he will ever live it down! Im now joint top of our group with a highly devolped orc team, which i play next. We are actually perfectly tied, both on 6pts and a difference of 11, so the next game is a huge one for the little fellas!

Hope you all enjoyed that! Stay tuned for a post game interview with MVP Treebeard and hat-trick hero Pippin (I suppose I better study for those things called ‘exams’ first though, ).

[van der vaart]

So at the end of the game Pippin and Treebeard skilled up. Rolled a 6 and a 3 for Treebeard, was slightly disapointing, as i was really hoping to get the doubles and go block straight away, but ah well. I took break tackle on him, why you say? Well apart from there not being too many good skills for him to take at this stage (without block anyway) i thought id use break tackle as a tactical experiment. Basically its a deterant for opponents. They wont want to get anywhere near this guy if they know that he can dodge everywhere for a 2+. In addition to that if the opponent does forget about the break tackle, and marks up on Treebeard thinking the cage can just march right pass him i can dodge away and into the cage. Ill see how it all goes anyway.

As for Pippin i rolled a 6 and 5 for him, so he ag boosted! I was delighted with that and took it. I think youll be seeing Pippin scoring a lot more touchdowns from now on!

Next up we play a highly developed, very scary orc team, who is tipped to win the league this season. Ill almost get my team value worth of inducements (860k) off him when i play.

Some things i want to improve on for next game are mainly defensive based things. I know this coach im playing is always happy to win the 2-1 grind and his team does struggle (like most orc teams) to score quickly. Therefore i want to either force him to score quickly, giving me time to score straight back on him and then hold him out, or try and hold him out the whole half. So hopefully i can implement one of those things!

[Glowworm]

Nice one.

i dont play 'Flings (as you may have guessed) however i thought 1st non double skill choices for a tree was either strong arm (to assist in throwing) or Grab as it keeps players in his zone when he's rooted....

please advise ? (just in case i do get that urge, altho really stunty teams have loner big guys.....and are green)

[van der vaart]

Nice one.

i dont play 'Flings (as you may have guessed) however i thought 1st non double skill choices for a tree was either strong arm (to assist in throwing) or Grab as it keeps players in his zone when he's rooted....

please advise ? (just in case i do get that urge, altho really stunty teams have loner big guys.....and are green)

The trees already come with strong arm, otherwise youre right I wouldve picked that. I did toss up grab but then thought that as this is the tree i tend to throw with more id prefer him to not be in any tackle zones. Quickbeam may get grab though, depending on how this break tackle goes.

Haha, i prefer guys that cant get eaten when thrown