Black Ark Buccaneers in SAWBBL tabletop league

[Jip]

In an effort to bring a little more fluff into our league (SAWBBL, link available in my signature), I posted a public declaration that I will endeavour to write a match report on OBBLM for every game I play in the upcoming season. I’ve brought last season’s (losing, boo hoo) finalists back, the Black Ark Buccaneers, a Dark Elf team.

As an incentive to ensure I do this, if I haven’t uploaded a match report by the time I start my subsequent game, I will pay a ‘fine’ in the form of reducing my winnings at the end of that match by 10k.

I invite any others to sign-up for this pledge along with me, in your own leagues; the match reports and photos are one of my favourite parts of being in a league.

So, here they are...

[Jip]

Game 1 vs. GlennF’s Elvenheim Blood Drinkers, a rookie Dark Elf team.

A last-minute venue change added some extra excitement to this game, and resulted in Jip being pestered by his halfling assistant coach for most of the first-half, until she was taken to bed.

The first-half was fairly low on the casualty count, with both teams clearly hesitant to hurt their Dunmer kin. The Blood Drinkers won the toss and elected to receive, with Asperon Thorn and Mordrix Hex lining up for the offensive drive. Clearly looking to make an impact on those watching at home, turn two saw a Long Bomb pass from Thorn to Hex, who was then mobbed. Some clever blocking saw her freed up, before she evaded a Diving Tackle and put the Blood Drinkers 1-0 up in turn three.

The Buccaneers scored a quick response touchdown in turn five, then managed to force the Blood Drinkers into some risky dodges to stop a second, which left them stretched and unable to stop a blitz into the end zone to put the Buccaneers 2-1 up and receiving in the second-half. By this point the Blood Drinkers had lost Styr Redmoon to a MNG, so the numbers we against them.

As the second-half began, observers realised the Blood Drinkers had left a Lineelf in the changing room, but he made it onto the field before turn one had finished. This was fortuitous, as the Buccaneers had knocked out a Witch Elf in the first few blocks, which would have left them with nine playing eleven!

Turn 9 saw a SPP farming pass go awry, with Wyndnes Sarleth inadvertently passing the ball back to himself! In turn 14 the ball carrier was crowded, but a Witch-on-Witch surf freed Adrimir Saraishpi up to make two GFIs and put the Buccaneers up 3-1. A failed pass from Asperon Thorn in turn 15 saw a rush of Buccaneers players flood the Blood Drinkers' backfield, which led to Ondimar Felsrara scooping up the ball and handing off to Vonouse Alorhas who ran in for his third touchdown of the game.

Some bashing and crashing from the Blood Drinkers (after the inevitable useless Blitz! result rolled by the Buccaneers, which couldn't be used as they were all cowardly hiding back by their own end zone) left only bruises, so the match finished 4-1 to the Buccaneers, with no lasting injuries to either team.

Welcome to the league Glenn, hope the game helped blow the cobwebs off!

[Jip]

Game 2 vs. Reedar’s Steedless Silver Helms (returning Elven Union team).

27,000 Elves of various political leanings (Dark vs. High) filled the stands for this one, most of them were Silver Helms fans, keen to see Prince Moranion in all his splendour - I hope they kept their receipts!

The High Elves won the toss, and elected to receive. At this point, the fans wanted to see Prince Moranion up close and personal, and so they stormed the pitch. Unfortunately, Moranion was flattened in the process, along with several of his teammates (4 High Elves, 2 Dark Elves).

By the time he had come around, he was then promptly flattened by Salloth Venomspite, who sent him crashing into the Dead & Injured box in turn two - not a very regal performance from the Prince! Venomspite was soon brought down though, a second double Skull of the turn saw the Apo needed, Dead to MNG. Turn 4 saw the Silver Helms K.O Vonouse Alorhas, a Dark Elf Blitzer, who didn't return until turn 12! The High Elves scored midway in the first-half, but an equalising TD was scuppered by a Skull that would have pushed the Dark Elf ball-carrier free at the end of the half. 1-0 to the High Elves, who were up a man going into the second half.

The Buccaneers were going all-out for the win, so scored early (T2) in the second-half with an optimistic Long Pass to a Lineelf in the endzone, who had already used the turn's re-roll to get himself there.

The T3 kick was deep, but the Silver Helms' Thrower looked relatively safe when he edged forward with the ball... or so he thought. Some Elf Bullshit™ saw the Buccaneers throw caution to the wind and flood the backfield, including a 1DB Strip Ball blitz and a 4+ pick-up to collect the ball. Some gallant defending saw the Silver Helms almost retrieve it, but dice let them down and the Dark Elves ran in a second in turn 4. Vonouse Alorhas snoozed on in the dugout, completely oblivious to all the action.

A breakaway attack from the Silver Helms was almost stopped by an adventurous 1DB, but that could only manage a push. The Dark Elf responsible was then niggled for his brazenness, the following turn. A risky stall was almost punished, but another blitz attempt on the ball carrier failed due to a 4+ dodge, with Dodge, not working out. The Silver Helms ran in the equaliser and the last two turns were just a bit of a pillow fight.

A draw for the Elves, and a draw for the other Elves. Thankfully Reedar's casualty dice weren't as hot as they were against the Dwarfs last week, but the opening few turns didn't bode well for the Dark Elves' well-being!

[Jip]

Game 3 vs. Necrork’s Peng Winners (rookie Norse team).

Both teams brought very depleted squads for this match, with the Peng Winners only being able to have a man on the substitute bench thanks to Helmut Wulf answering the call when the Winners went shopping for inducements.

As befits a game played in September, the teams stepped out into Sweltering Heat, which would no doubt impact their minimalist team numbers even further.

The Bucaneers won the toss and elected to receive, looking to do some damage to the Norse opponents. Turn 1 saw the Great Khali KO'd, but a vanity pass was dropped, leading to a turnover. The Winners responded with an audacious 6+ pick up in several tacklezones, followed by a pass to Helmut Wulf - who caught it!

Helmut's reward for an uncharacteristically agile showing was to be KO'd in turn 3, and the Buccaneers wanted to take advantage of the numerical difference, so scored with hopes of turning the Winners over on their drive. The Elves lost 2 to the heat, with only one Norseman succumbing to the tropical climate.

A string of dodges and leaps saw the Elves sack Bolt (Norse Runner) in turn six, but the ball wasn't safe. Eventually, Eroennius Nilvel wriggled through and, although tagged, managed to score in turn 8. Sweltering heat rolls and injuries meant the second-half would start 9 vs. 8 in the Dark Elves' advantage.

At the start of the half, the Elves were two players up, a fantastic advantage to have. At the end of the first turn, the Norse were two men up and the Elves didn't know what hit them!

The Elves pressed heavily and, thanks to a couple of failed pick-ups (1 RR 2 both times) managed to go 3-0 up in turn 3, the Norse Runner was MNG along the way, trying to stop the score. The sun then put his hat on and the sky switched to perfect Blood Bowl weather. By this point the Buccaneers had 7 players to the Winners' 8, this was made worse by the death of a Journeyelf just after the Buccaneers had kicked, following the restart! Leaping Elf nonsense saw the ball marked twice, which the Norse just couldn't clear, so the Elves were away again. The ball was brought down though, in a very congested touchline scrum. It took a leap, pick-up in two tacklezones, hand-off (in two tacklezones) and one-die blitz for the Dark Elf Runner to make it across the line for the third touchdown - much to the surprise of everyone (crazy dice rolls).

The final drive started 5 vs. 9, with the remaining Dark Elves just looking to stay alive. The Norse were clearly looking to do more damage with the Yhetee, having recovered from its KO, surfing the Dark Elf Runner off the pitch. The Elves just couldn't stop the superior numbers by this point, and a turn 8 hand-off saw a consolation touchdown chalked up for the Peng Winners.

This game was 'Blood' and 'Bowl' in even amounts, with two dead Elves left in the dirt as the Dark Elf ship sailed off into the sunset...

[Jip]

Game 4 vs. Canteloup’s Clawed Reigns Supreme (returning Skaven team).

In truth, Dave is so tricky to play against that I made no notes from this match as I was too busy trying to keep the scoreline respectable (having lost 4-1 last time I played him), so this is all from memory!

The Buccaneers won the toss and elected to receive, thinking that the rats would look to score quickly, giving the Elves an offensive drive pretty early on, anyway. Mr Quick Jnr. was handed the ball and scuttled off as quick as his furry little legs could carry him. Unfortunately, Dave's dice were very keen to remind him that they had a 1 on them, as he rolled 1RR1 for the GFI across the line. Jnr was quickly pinned to the sidelines by a Tackle/Diving Tackle Blitzer for several turns to try and reduce the threat of shenanigans. Over the next few turns, several rolls of a 1 meant Canteloup was out of re-rolls and not in a great position. A couple of rats had left the field, so the Elves Blitzed their way through for the first touchdown of the game around turn 6.

The Supreme received and elected to be a little more reserved this time, with Mr Quick Jnr. not going full pelt into the endzone as they moved the ball down the pitch. A Witch Elf needed a 4+ dodge to get to him, but she managed to wriggle through. Clearly pretending to be his dad, I actually re-rolled a Both Down as Dave and I assumed he had Block, but he hasn't got it yet, so down he went. In an effort to secure the ball, the Buccaneers attempted to move it into the Skaven half via a risky pick-up, hand-off and pass only for the catch attempt to fail in the final dice roll. This meant the Skaven were able to pick up the ball, launch it downfield where Nippy was waiting to grab it and skitter in for a touchdown just before half-time. The Bucaneers managed to take another player off (and even risked a foul!), but the teams lined up evenly after half-time due to the Supreme's depth of squad.

The second half started with a rock KOing a Linerat, and the Buccaneers pressed early. The ball carrier was knocked down a number of times, but the Dark Elves always managed to rescue it back before those pesky Gutter Runners could capitalise on a spilled ball. Several 4+ dodges from Jerry meant that the ball was never really safe, and a failed Dump-Off added unwanted pressure to the last turn, but Brirys Mirehi managed to scoop the ball up and put the Drukhari 2-1 up.

Some lovely work by Dave in T16 saw the OTTD fail, then almost succeed, but a failed 3+ pass from a Gutter Runner (two of which were dozing in the dugout by this point) meant the game finished in favour of the Black Ark Buccaneers.

Next up for the Skaven is a THIRD Elf team (Reedar's Steedless Silver Helms) on the bounce, while the Buccaneers face a depleted Necromantic team in the form of Spiky's Fifteen Shades of Grey.

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Game 5 vs. Spiky’s Fifteen Shades of Grey (rookie Necromantic team).

Having suffered at the hands of Ishmael (Spiky's Crimson Arrows' Block, Dodge, Tackle, Side Step, Mighty Blow, +1 St Dark Elf Blitzer) at several times in the past, I had no guilt whatsoever at bringing a fairly developed Dark Elf team to face the man himself!

The rain was coming down as 28,000 fans of even numbered supporters filled the stands. Brollies up, the game began.

The Shades won the toss and let the Dark Elves receive, there was an opportunity to blitz the ballcarrier in T2, but a failed GFI meant it wasn't to be. The sidelines were getting VERY crowded by T5, which allowed Frank N Stein to surf the ballcarrier, who failed to Dump-Off, sending the ball scattering into the scrum, followed by himself heading into the crowd.

By T6, although a Ghoul had been killed, the ball was just too slippery and the drive seemed to have been stalled. The Shades managed to knock the ball off during their T6, but it obviously fell into the hands of a Buccaneers fan, who threw a perfect spiral pass with the ball landing in the Shades' endzone, to a very audible cry of "what a load of shit" from the Shades' coach.

Although the Necromantic team managed to scramble back and mark the ball with a Werewolf, a T7 blitz knocked the poor pup out and Vonouse Alorhas managed to scoop the sodden ball up and score the first touchdown, though the Shades' had two turns left, with plenty of movement to get an equaliser.

The kick scattered into the Shades' endzone, which wasn't ideal, and was followed by a rock being thrown that took out the only player in range to pick it up, which was even less ideal. By this point, we'd seen more pumpkins (1s) on Bindon's orange dice than the average Alton Towers Halloween Fright Night - bin those bloody dice, Steve!

The Shades' consoled themselves by making a +5 foul on a poor Lineelf, who ended up Badly Hurt. The gang foul was impossible to miss, so the offending player was sent to the sinbin, along with the Shades' coach who failed to Argue the Call.

The second half started 11 vs. 10 in favour of the Dark Elves, who were kicking. Sadly, Ivan Deathshroud decided to double skull and fail the Loner ("he obviously tripped on his bloody shroud"), leaving the Shades' wildly out of position, with the ball marked by a single Zombie (that Bindon had remembered to move over before Ivan's offending Blitz - pro move!). The Dark Elves couldn't quite make it to the ball, but flooded the Shades' half and piled the pressure on.

Another double skull in T2 (ruined by me saying "surely it wouldn't happen again") meant the Buccaneers were able to get to the ball, but the pick-up was flubbed into the stands. Fortunately, the throw was pretty limp, so the ball only bobbled a couple of square in, and was caught by Salloth Venomspite.

A T3 hand-off into the end zone was missed due to the rain (oh the bloody rain!), but Ondimar Felsrara managed a pick-up in the endzone to put the Buccaneers 2-0 up in T4.

Another 6 on the kick-off scatter saw the ball go off the pitch and the resulting touchback meant the Shades' finally had the ball in hand! The ball was moved up and a cage was formed.

In T5 several Elves moved in to mark up potential assists and Vonouse Alorhas leapt in and Pow'd the unsuspecting Ghoul. Another rain swept pick-up failed (in two tacklezones), but the Necromantic team just couldn't get the ball back, leading to another breakaway in T6. Some showboating to try and farm SPPs saw Telyns Niltis getting some of the limelight as he was handed the ball and pushed towards the endzone.

Some hitting happened in the final Shades' turn which saw the Buccaneers' apothecary woken up, but the final whistle went and the drenched crowd, and players, headed for the exit with the Buccaneers 3-0 to the good...

[MacHurto]

Cool initiative and nice reports!

[lunchmoney]

Back when I ran leagues I did similar but the other way around; I'd pay a bonus of 10k to any coach who wrote a match report. Even a sentence or two describing a highlight was enough. It was shocking how many coaches didn't want free cash in their treasury

[lunchmoney]

On the report side, thumbs up I love reading fluff reports.

[Jip]

Game 6 vs. petebunce’s Rumbling Train (rookie Dwarf team)

Six Guard, four Mighty Blow, two Jump Up Trollslayers and six Tackle... I was not looking forward to this one!

35,000 fans filled the stands, most of them sporting beards. They almost drowned out the sound of Flint Churnblade's Roto9000 Chainsaw, which took to the field as the Rumbling Train team received the kick-off. It was a brutal start, with two Elves and a Dwarf in the dugouts by turn two.

The Buccaneers were making desperate plays by turn three, and it didn't improve from there. A successful Leaping blitz saw a two-dice uphill push the ball carrier, but that was the best they could manage. Turn 4 saw a Trollslayer surfed into the crowd by Salloth Venomspite, but the ocean of beards he landed on meant he waddled his way straight into the reserves box.

Pre-game, we talked about what heartbreakers Chainsaw players can be, and how I've never had any luck with Horatio X. Schottenheim. In turn 4 Flint got sent off (double 1 on the injury roll from a foul) and in turn 5 Horatio stunned a Longbeard on his employer's team so, there's that. Horatio wasn't even used in the second half - probably because there were too few Elves to shoot at!

By turn 7, there was an almighty scrum that looked to have stalled the Dwarf drive, but some clever chainpushing saw Gloin make it over the line in the Train's turn 8.

All that left was some vanity block for the Buccaneers' final turn, but even that had a disastrous ending as Salloth Venomspite managed to double skull and kill herself (apo'd to MNG).

The second half started with the Elves two players down and, after taking out two Dwarfs so far in the game Eroennius Nilvel (S4 Mighty Blow Dark Elf Blitzer) had clearly been grudged and also made his way to the Dead & Injured box. By turn 12 there were only six Buccaneers players left on the field and a last chance Strip Ball success ended up being caught by the player that had been stripped of it.

The only other hope of getting near the ball meant dodging through several Tackle players' tackle zones and, with only one Dark Elf player left standing up, Thror managed to walk in the second touchdown, unopposed.

The Rumbling Train rumbles on, and the Buccaneers come off the rails after crashing into that wall of Guard, Mighty Blow and Tackle.

Kismet's Khorne (ft. a Mighty Blow, Claw Bloodthirster!) next for the Elves, and Necrork's Norse team, the Peng Winners, for the Dwarfs.

[Jip]

Game 7 vs. Kismet’s Cult of Twisted Fate (rookie Khorne team, using Tzeentch models)

Withergrasp Doubledrool scuttled off the Cult of Twisted Fate's team bus for this game, and was key in several plays for the Changer of Ways' boys during the match.

The Cult elected to receive and cautiously moved up the field, but there was a chance for a 2DB on the ball carrier from a Dark Elf Blitzer, who double 1'd the Dodge attempt, resulting in a turnover. Nuffle must have heard my whining, as Kismet's subsequent dodge to get the ball carrier free ended up 1 re-roll 1, giving the Buccaneers another bite at the cherry. The Elves snatched the ball away, but then a risky pass to send the ball into safety in turn 4 was intercepted! Moans and groans all round at this point. Elf nonsense in turn 5 saw the ball popped free again, but a Sure Hands pick-up failed and the Cult were back at the steering wheel. By this point Eroennius Nilvel (+ST, Mighty Blow Dark Elf Blitzer) had done a couple of CAS and the Cult were down in numbers, though had possession of the ball.Turn 6 saw Withergrasp fail a dodge to safety, which led to the Buccaneers retrieving it (again!) and take two turns of stalling before going up 1-0 into half-time.

The Buccaneers received in the second half and were up on players, too. Then Inevitability woke up (though the Bloodthirster hadn't failed any Wild Animal rolls in the first half) and took a Lineelf off the pitch in T9. He took Brirys Mirehi (Dark Elf Runner) off the pitch after a vanity re-roll of a double push on the Bloodthirster gave me double skulls, instead. Why has no-one coined the phrase "never re-roll a push" yet?! Withergrasp really turned it on this half, his skills are a massive red flag for Dark Elves and Kismet used him brilliantly - even though we kept forgetting how Tentacles worked. Withergrasp scuppered a couple of turns in a row for me, which meant the Cult were able to run in an equaliser in T15, despite the Dark Elves' best efforts.

T16 just saw some hitting (really need to learn how to one-turn touchdown), and the score ended up tied, securing both teams a spot in the play-offs with one game to play.

[Jip]

Game 8 (Quarter-Final) vs. Shortarse’s Darkness Rising (third season Chaos Pact team)

Inducements! I finally get some inducements! Not having had them for so long, I got all excited and made a sub optimal choice, sticking a keg of Bloodweiser and a Dirty Tricks card in my shopping trolley. Gromskull's Exploding Runes was not going to win me this game, so I promptly forgot about it.

The worry for this one was some pretty tooled up Big Guys (Troll and Ogre with Block, Mino with Juggernaut) and a sprinkling of Tackle, too. For my second game in a row I was on the receiving end of two Pitch Invasions with my opponent at +1 FAME.

The Pact won the toss and elected to receive. The first big hit of the game saw a Lineelf KO'd, but that was to be the only thing close to a CAS all-game. Darkness Rising had a scare for the first couple of turns as they struggled to pick up the ball, but it ended up in the hands of the Dark Elf, with several scoring threats offering an early TD. Unfortunately, a misstep saw Shortarse Blitz the Elf free, forgetting he would not then be able to hand-off. This left the Elf pretty stranded and she was subsequently flattened. The Dark Elves broke away and managed to stall out for the remainder of the half.

In the second half, the Pact put on their S3 Horns Goblin, who was a pain for several turns until he was KO'd. This was not before he had knocked the ball free by dodging into several tackle zones and KO'ing the Dark Elf Runner, who was carrying the ball. There was some scrambling, but the Big Guys had a couple of turns where they were not behaving which let the Dark Elves slip free and score a second. With the game tied up, there was just some hitting to do (and a couple of ineffectual bombs to throw!), but both teams came out unscathed.

The Dark Elves now face Sann0638's Slann in the semi-final.

[MacHurto]

The Dark Elves now face Sann0638's Slann in the semi-final.

Good luck!

[Jip]

Game 9 (Semi-Final) vs. Sann0638’s Harlequins’ Kisslev (first season Slann team, using Kislev models)

Mike always* refers to our games as the student versus the teacher, so I wasn't looking forward to all the leapy nonsense this game would no doubt bring.

The Kislev were just shy of being able to induce a Sporting Giant, so they went with a slightly more sensible combo of Wizard, Bloodweiser Keg and a few other bits and pieces that I can't recall right now! He was missing a Catcher with Guard, but still brought 12 men (frogs?) to this one.

The weather was clearly struggling to make its mind up for this one, as we had two Changing Weather results throughout the game. Unlike my last two games, there were no Pitch Invasion! results, thankfully. Harlequins' Kisslev won the FAME roll but lost the toss, and I elected to kick.

Turn 2 saw the Bear (Kroxigor) Badly Hurt a lineelf, but the numbers were only uneven for a moment, as a Strip Ball Lineman (linefrog?) attempted to Leap to freedom, but instead leapt into the floor with a MNG for his troubles.

My turn 3 and 4 were 'character building', with the Kislev ball carrier seemingly living a charmed existence this half - turn three saw a 1 RR 1 Dodge to get two dice on the ball, followed by a turn four 1 RR 1 Leap to get (another) two dice on the ball. Much grumbing ensued... then Mike rolled a quad skull in his turn 5, so all was well again. I managed to disrupt the drive enough that Mike was left with some tricky rolls, but a +AG Linefrogman managed to boing his way onto a ball that had been scattered into the endzone the previous turn and it was 1-0 to the Kislev, with just a turn left to hit stuff.

The second half started with the Buccaneers receiving, with 9 players vs. 11. The Dark Elves pushed hard, despite being channelled down a sideline, and were level after two turns; it was going to be a spicy second half!

By turn 4 Leaps were being failed all over the place by this point, but my one Leap Blitzer (who had failed three times already) managed to somersault into a 2-die Blitz and pop the ball free. It scattered between players of both teams several times, before landing in a mess of tacklezones. Unfortunately, the Dark Elf Runner couldn't add to his tally of 3 passes this game at this point, as he failed the 3+ pick-up, with Sure Hands.

I'd miscounted a stall by turn 7, so Mike managed a 1-die Blitz on my S4 Blitzer stood next to the endzone. The result was a push and, after some deliberation, the Drukhari powerhouse was pushed into the endzone, leaving the Kislev two turns to score and send us into overtime (it was nearly 11pm by this point, so I'm pretty sure neither of us wanted that!).

It wasn't to be though, as the Linemanfrogmanperson looking to make the Long Pass needed failed his dodge to get away from the Elf marking him, and the final whistle blew.

The Black Ark Buccaneers make it to the final for the second season in a row and will either face MattWilts' Norse team, or Onyersix's Skaven, they play their semi-final later this week.



*never