Bromley Skull Cup 2

This past Saturday was one of the regular events held at Troll Trader in Bromley. The Skull Cup 2 was first held last August and was run by my fellow host of the Blood Bowl Tavern podcast. Chris Whitehot. 

As always with the Troll Trader events, Chris had a series of Really Stupid plays as the first tiebreaker. These are things which you might not do as the most optimum play to help you win the game but are fun things that will keep it interesting. 

This time there as a 1200TV build and on the list for me was Chaos Dwarfs which I borrowed from BeardedLucha Stu to play before the change. This was for a few reasons - I would be able to get all the teams played by the end of the year (my painting schedule probably wouldn't allow another team on the table before the end of December), I would be able to play chaos dwarfs before the upcoming change so I would have something to compare them to, and also because 1200TV allows you to get in lots of stuff for them.

There were only 5 skills available though and I went for 2 block on the bulls, juggernaut on the minotaur and 2 guard chorfs. Oli (EldritchFox) had tried to convince me to take Skitter Stab-Stab in place of the minotaur but in our practice game, all I did was run Skitter away from the other team, so it seems like a waste of money.

In hindsight, the minotaur did basically nothing and I really struggled for anything to pick up the ball with, so perhaps Skitter would have been the way forwards.

Game 1v James (mrlord86) 

James had not been to many tournaments before, with one of them being our Easter Bonnet Bash earlier this year. He had a halfling team with Cindy Piewhistle. This is probably a good match up for chaos dwarfs and receiving I started straight away on the removals.

My really stupid play as to rush three times in a turn which with bull centaurs having sprint and sure feet can be done within one activation. I did this as my last action of my first turn and was then able to focus on the game. 

Within a few turns, James was down a large number of players including one tree who was fouled off the pitch. Cindy manages to blow herself up meaning I don't have to worry about that threat. With no standing flings I opt to score early to get some of them back on their feet again for more hits. 

James tries for the one turn touchdown but is a few squares short and so I send a hobgoblin back to make the hit which works and allows me to recover the ball but unfortunately I wasn't able to move it up the pitch for a second. 

On turn 1 of the second half, James goes for a one turn touchdown attempt but again is short, this time by just 1 square. I engineer a three die block but with the best result being a push, I opt to not re-roll this but push him into the endzone and give myself 7 turns to recover the ball and get back up the pitch again.  

I then spend the drive picking up the ball and removing players, including the other tree from a foul. I pitch clear and score in my turn 8 to win 2-1 having caused nine casualties. 

Game 2 v Dan (dougalmctavish)

Dan had a norse build and opted to receive the kick off. My really stupid ply was to get a player sent off and so I planned to foul with a hobgoblin every turn until that happened. I managed to get an ulwerner casualty this way very early on with my player sent off which felt like a fair trade and again allowed me to focus on the game. 

With a lot of pressure on his ball carrier who was near my endzone having got round the side, I forced Dan to score and give me 2 turns to equalise. A perfect defence put my plans into disarray but amazingly I manged to dodge out both bull centaurs into scoring range. The norse hit one of them and clogged up the other a little bit. I couldn't do a handoff but I still had a chance. The bull managed to blitz and dodge themselves free into the endzone meaning my hobgoblin needed a 6+ pass to the bull for the touchdown but it wasn't to be.  

In the second half I stall out and cage as best as I can. Removing both valkyries really helps as there isn't the threat of strip ball. I successfully stall out and get a 1-1 draw. 

With just two casualties, I assumed that someone would have overtaken me in the hunt for the most casualties trophy. 

Game 3 v Aiden (loosegoose)

Aidan had been up all night painting his team, but any advantage I had from his tiredness was minimal. He had an imperial nobility team with three guard players (the ruleset capped each additional skill at three instances), meaning there was dodge and tackle on the blitzers and strip ball on a bodyguard.

I was getting removals early on and I put pressure on so Aiden he scored giving me 4 turns to get an equaliser. My bull centaur caught a high kick having switched flanks so they were both next to each other. I was able to shield the ball around the side. The strip ball bodyguard dodged and on a 5+ and popped the ball loose. I was unable to recover it and it bounced out of bounds and into the middle of the pitch. One of the bull centaurs was just in range for a pick up with the other being able to get into the endzone, so I would again need a 6+ pass. It wasn't to be however I did succeed in my objective of using a re-roll ni the final turn of a half. 

On my drive, I couldn't progress past midfield. All the stand firm and fend was causing me real issues and I was getting bogged down as Aiden kept trying to steal my ball. I had opportunities but I was unable to take advantage. On my final turn I had a shot at an equaliser but I was unable to free up my hobgoblin to pick up the ball and get it to the bull centaur who was the only player in scoring range. 

I did however manage to get a large number of casualties which resulted in me picking up the most casualties trophy and a wooden scoreboard which I believe was made by Troll Trader as the prize. Look at my happy face!