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
![:P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
)
*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
![;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
. 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,
![:lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
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