Jingle Bowls Cup Final Game Recap - Blood Bowl Mayhem with Chaos Dwarfs and High Elfs

Finally - the final match of the season!

This has been a long time comin' - final game of the Jingle Bowls Cup that originated in the late 2012. Six teams started the regular season almost a year ago and now the two top dogs duke it out in the grand final.

With very different seasons behind them the two teams in the final vary in many ways - the tall and proud High Elfs of the team Kallio Noble Killers and the small and wicked Chaos Dwarfs of the Red Anvils. Chaos dwarfs tend to trust their bashing game - hit often and hit hard. High Elfs on the contrary favor fast and accurate passing game with the aid of their high agility. High Elf team has been undefeated in record breaking sequence of 17 (!) games in the row. Elfs won the regular season, while Chaos Dwarfs struggled to even make it to the semifinals - they tied the fourth place with same points as the Slann team.



Within the regular season the same teams played 1-1 tie, with only four Elfs left on the pitch when the game ended. Only thing that saved the Elfs from the defeat was Hobgoblin slaves failing to pick up the ball next to the endzone.

Both teams have plenty of experienced players in their rosters, and surprisingly enough the Team Value is exactly the same for both: 1.960.000 gps. Red Anvils treasury is quite bloated (650.000) so the head coach decides to shop around for some Star Player support. Grashnak Blackhoof is chosen for the task - fast movement (6) and extra strength (6) might come handy when beating the Elfs to pulp. This Minotaur star is notable for two "missing" skills: no Wild Animal and no Block. This Petty Cash transaction left the Elfs with 310.000 worth of Inducements. Pointy eared coach hired two Mercenary Linemen both with Dodge skill. The plan was to have ample reserve of players and keep out of the harms way with Dodge. Now both rosters were ready and the game could star for real.



Fans showed up in large numbers: 13.000 Chaotic supporters and 19.000 with pointed ears - giving the Elf team Fame +1 for this final game. Weather was typical Blood Bowl atmosphere: "Nice", partially cloudy but mostly sunny. Chaos Dwarfs received the first kick-off of the game with Red Anvils trademark setup "The Bloody Wedge", with big emphasis on the left flank. Elfs tried to counter this with "Perfect Kick" Special Play Card - giving them the change to put the ball as far as possible from the offense formation of the dwarfs. This played out nicely for the Elfs - ball landed deep in the right wide zone of the Red Anvil half of the pitch. Small gust of wind (roll of "7" on the Kick-off Table) took the ball even further to the right. The game was on!



Hobgoblin number 10 with Sure Hands skill runs for the ball as fists start to fly on the Line of Scrimmage - two Minotaurs let it loose on the Elven Mercs, few bruises but nothing too serious. Then the Dwarf Blocker number 4, Xem Sickfang, manages to make the first casualty - the poor newbie elf merc is taken out of play (Badly Hurt) even before his first action. Dwarf fans seem to love this: first turn and first elf in the injury box - things are going according to the Red Anvils master plan.

Elfs move into defensive positions - slowing down the forward momentum of the Wedge any way they could. Second turn of the dwarf offensive and the coach gives Blitz order for the hired gun Blackhoof… Double skulls. Money well spent? Well maybe not, armor breaks and the bountyhunter is Stunned. Dwarf attack grinds to a halt, if only for a moment.

Dwarfs form a loose cage formation around the ball handler, but Blackhoofs Turn-over left the thing only half ready. Elfs counter attack but only manage to Pushback the Hobgoblin. Elf coach finds out that his only player with Strip-ball skill is sitting on the Reserves bench - this skill could have changed the outcome of this action altogether. Unlucky, Mr. Bond.

Dwarfs form a better cage and move it deeper into Elven territory, maybe slowly but surely. Dwarfs are almost to the enzone when they stall for delayed goal - if you give Elfs even as little as two turns to score they seem to make it without a fail. On the seventh turn things start to roll for the Dwarfs: BullCentaur gives Fractured Skull (-1 AV) for Naiad (Elf lineman number 6), and defense lines seem to leak more and more. The only Elf with real changes to Blitz on the ball carrier is distracted with "Trampoline Trap" Special Play Card and fails his landing roll - high Agility or not. On their 8th turn Hobgoblin number 12 scores a running touchdown - this time around they surely don't wanna fumble with passes.



The second kick-off the first period scatters the clouds and Very Sunny weather gives -1 to all passing rolls… Even the gods seems to shine on the Dwarfs, this passing modifier definitely hinders High Elfs play style more than Red Anvils cage/running game. Elfs 8th turn is uneventful with a slight sense of frustration - no time to score and no muscles to hurt the opposition.



Second half of the game starts with another Kick-off to the Elfs: "Quick Snap!" result gives some leverage to counter the big hitters on the dwarven line. Second turn comes around and the the Elfs do what they do best: Leap and Dodge in to the deep end, Safe Throw and Catch. The schoolbook version of the two turns touchdown evens the score to 1-1. High Elf Super Star Blitzer Phobos (1) strikes again.

Before the setup of the next drive, Elfs play yet another Special Play Card: "Gromskull's Exploding Runes" - turning one of their players into Bombardier. This is "high risk-high reward" gamble: given the Very Sunny weather and the usual cage style of Dwarfs. If bombs find their target they might be very effective indeed - but if they are fumbled the defense might crumble on its own mistakes.

10th Dwarf turn sees the Kick-off result of "Pitch Invasion!" and the Elf fans seem to hit harder (+1 FAME) this time. Dwarf attack formation is greatly diminished by Stunned guys all over the pitch. Lucky for the Dwarfs there is still plenty of time left. They move thru the right flank with ease - there is more casualties on the High Elf team! Player is hit hard - Smashed Collar Bone would mean -1 to ST, and the Apothecary opens his medical cabinet: the Elf player is only Badly Hurt after the pain killers and healing potions are consumed.



Bombardier lights the fuse and -surprise surprise- the Exploding Runes Knock Down the Hobgoblin holding the ball! For a moment the game might turn either way, scattering ball landing in an empty square next to players from both teams. Dwarfs manage to push the Elfs out of the way and recapture the ball. More pointy ears are taken out of the play (casualty statistics in the end are 7-0 to Red Anvils) - and dwarfs run the ball sideways from right to left.



On the 7th turn of the second half Hobgoblin number 10, Desz Sickbone scores 2-1 for the Dwarfs. Only one turn left in the game situation seems pretty desperate for the Elfs. Only the roll of "3" on the last kick-off table would bring more time… The roll is "11" - frustrated Elf fans Throw a Rock at the BullCentaur next to the right sideline: Stunned. Elfs realize the situation and fall deep into their side of the pitch. Last turn of the game sees the Blackhoof Blitzing with two Go-For-Its: push back... What huge waste of money that Star Player was.



Handshakes and MVPs - High Elf Blitzer Phobos is leveled to the Super Star status with staggering 77 Star Player Points. Phobos is one of the five (!) original players in the Kallio Noble Killers team, all other players have been replaced during the bloody aftermaths of the games. Being undefeated in 17 games in a row definetly comes with a price. Lucky for the Elfs this Original Five includes both Blitzers and Kharon the Elf Thrower with 5 AG and 32 completions to his name. Two experienced Linemen also survive from the original starting roster.

High Elf coach keeps a list titled "Broken dreams" that includes the players that have been kicked off the team because of stat injurys. After this final game there is new addition to this long and sad list: Elf lineman number 10. (named lovingly: Moon8) that got his -1 to MA. There was also death in the team, the High Elf kickers seem to have some kind of a curse: this time the victim was Elf lineman (11) called Triton that had Kick skill. As mentioned above, Elf lineman Naiad (6) also got a Fractured Skull and lost a point of his AV. Maybe it is fitting to end this report with picture of the High Elf injury box: few teams can win the game with seven players there.



Red Anvils wins the Jingle Bowls Cup trophy, silver medals for the High Elfs and bronze goes to the Lizardmen team. Nice cup is finally over and all eyes are on the next season...

Blood Bowl Cup Semifinal Recap: Red Anvils vs. East City Giants XII

Semifinals saw two very different matchups:

The "Bashing" Semifinal
Red Anvils (Chaos Dwarf) - FC East City Giants XII (Lizard)

The "Running, jumping and passing" Semifinal
Kallio Noble Killers (High Elf) - Intergalactic Offspring (Slann)

Winners of these games go to the final and reach for the Cup Trophy, losers meet in the Bronze game.

The "Bashing" Semifinal RECAP
Over thirty thousand somewhat Rowdy Fans (Special Play Card for Chaos Dwarfs) were in the audience for this Semifinal. (15k Dwarf fans and 16k Lizard supporters giving +1 Fame for the East City Giants.) A lot of bloodletting was expected from this hard hitting match up, but regular game time saw only two casualtys: one Skink from the Lizard team and one Hobgoblin was taken out of action. Lizards scored pretty fast on their third turn, and after that the Chaos Dwarf cage tried to break thru the defenses of Saurus blockers. Hobgoblin number 12 managed to to reach the endzone in turn 15. After 16 turns of pretty uneventful grinding the score was tied 1-1. After that the new Overtime House Rules were put into the action. So this recap mainly focuses on the events of the Overtime.



First kick-off table result gave the Lizards much needed re-roll, it would be the used right in the first turn, this Overtime saw a lot of ones rolled on the dice... Coin flip gave the ball to the team Lizard who setup in left side heavy attack formation. Kick was served to the right side and Skink fumbled the ball in the first pick up attempt: first roll 2, re-roll used: result 1 - turnover.




Chaos Dwarf Centaur tried to capitalize this error: but only to roll 1 on the first Go-For-It, re-roll 1 again... This would be the picture of the game: not so much who is the hero with nice rolls but everybody messing their rolls with double ones.

After some tossing and turning the Lizard cage finally starts to form. But there is some unusually blood thristy Hobgoblin around: number 9 manages to kill a Saurus on the midfield! And to add the insult to the injury: this Saurus has already leveld up with Block skill, apothecary opens his bag to save the day - but just speeds up the killing with wrong medicine.

On the next turn the same Hobgoblin Casualty rolls again, this time for Skink: Smashed Knee and Niggling Injury for the poor little guy. The Lizard team now two players short, leaves hole in the cage where Strip Ball Centaur manages to knock the ball from Skink.
Ball scatters for a bit - and now the odd six is rolled: Saurus ends up with the ball.



Saurus not knowing what to do with the ball runs away from the crowd: only to be knocked down. On the turn 5 of the overtime the ball changes hands to the Chaos Dwarf team: Hobgoblin number 10 picks it up from the midfield.



There is virtually no Lizard defense left: only one Skink stands between the endzone. Centaur needs one Go-For-It to make the blitz: well, you guessed it right, double ones again...



Lizards have one change to stop the hobgoblin on turn 7, but no luck: double skulls.



The last defense falls with "The Mad Hatter" Saurus failing the Go-For-It, number 10 hobgoblin is the star of this Semifinal scoring the 2-1 touchdown for the Red Anvils and sending the team for the final!

Jingle Bowls Blood Bowl Cup Recap

Had this Jingle Bowls Blood Bowl Cup running for a few months now. There has been six teams taking part:

1. FC East City Giants XII (Lizardmen)
2. Kallio Noble Killers (High Elf)
3. Intergalactic Offspring (Slann)
4. Red Anvils (Chaos Dwarfs)
5. K-Orcs (Orcs)
6. Turska Pojkar (Norse)

Finally starting to get all regular-season matches done - there is only one game left. Best four teams get to the semi-finals, matchups arranged so that team to win the regular-season meets the fourth team and 2nd and 3rd battle it out also. Then the winners of these matches meet in the actual final and losers play for the bronze medal in 2nd final of the cup.

Cup standings and some statistics before the last game:



There are still some stats missing, but the standings are correct although some minor details like number of fans attending (Gate) and Winnings info is still to reach the cup organization headquarters.
The last game of the regular-season is fought between High Elfs and K-Orcs. The season almost done but there is still room for some speculation. If the Green Skins manage a win they get to the semis, with a tie result they are out of the finals with 5 points. If the team value and experience of the coach give the expected result - and High Elfs win the last game they also win the whole regular-season with 11 points. So there is a lot of excitement in the spring air, who are going to play in the finals...

Dungeonbowl - Sudden Death update

Three player Dungeonbowl match: starting from lower left corner - Red Anvils (Chaos Dwarf), upper left - Turska Pojkar (Norse) and from top right - FC Vislanders XII (Lizardmen). Norse team has the highest rating 1.830.000 gp - giving reroll inducement for Dwarfs and two star players for Lizards: Morg'n'Thorg and Hemlock. And rarely it is seen that Side Step skill can be used to cause this much Turn Overs and even Casualtys...

Layout had 8 teleports, half of them in the central cave. Here situation seen mid game where Norse Yhetee is camping on Teleport 4, looking for new victims after killing one of the Saurus Lizards. Game spilled some Hobgoblin blood too, when the misdirected revenge of the Vislanders fell hard on the greenskins. Apothecary saved the life of Hobbo nro 10 with Dodge skill - nice move since the same Goblin got MVP and second skill upgrade.

This from the first Lizard rush to the Endzone - Alien figure representing Hemlock, and red Descent beastmen as Saurus figure stand-ins.

All three hobbos ended in the Injured box, and Frenzy Chaos Dwarf Blocker was lost in the void when Teleport misfired the poor bastard out of the game. Almost half of the team gone and Minotaur being the useless Wild Animal as usual rolling on the dungeon floor, Red Anvils Bull Centaurs had the all the responsibility of scoring. They failed miserably.
Every team had a chance to score, here Norse offense runs into trouble when Morg'n'Thorg and Hemlock attack from the behind and Minotaur blocks the way ahead. Finally on the turn 21 (!) Hemlock makes the touchdown and makes the new Lizard teams first win a reality.

Epilogue - Lessons learned
The game went on and on - the Sudden Death rules were in action but they failed in the regard that the Spiked Ball was hard to the touch - leaving the ball usually on the floor and not in possession of any team. It was agreed that new addition to the rules should read: "From the start of the 16. turn for the remainder of the game - Touchdown can be scored on any Endzone on the board, not just the oposite Enzone from the teams starting location." And in addition the rules should be rewritten so that they have some effect even when the ball is not carried by a player.

Few things to bear in mind when deciding where to put those teleport pads. Connectivity : Putting teleports to those hard to reach dungeon dead ends is a good idea: now those parts of the cave design got more traffic and action.
Opportunity attack : Placing Teleport next to walls is usually a good idea - this makes camping at them not so tempting.

Blood Bowl Match Report: Red Anvils vs. FC Vislanders XII

It is the start of a new era: Chaos Dwarf team Red Anvils has opened Blood Bowl home stadium!

This playing field has been on the works for quite a while, it's a two part construction, first there was the Dugout and then the pitch itself.

The first visitor to the new dwarf stadium was FC Vislanders XII Lizardman team. This starting team had full six Saurus lizards and Kroxigor on the roster. With inducements they bought the services of Slibli - the infamous star player of the reptile folk - for this game.

The Hashut blessed the first game with huge blizzard - Sure Feet skill on the Bull centaurs would come in handy.

Red Anvils started with usual left hook wedge formation, but the dwarfs soon found out the hard way that even newbie Lizard team can play some mean ball with all those ST 4 guys...

Only the strong pills of the apothecary saved Minotaur from death after being fouled by Saurus gang. Soon after that the hired gun Slibli killed the most experienced hobgoblin: Xobt Evilstench, number 9 in midfield. The fast scoring greenskin will be missed - but maybe this was the blood baptism needed for the new pitch.
The game was just bashing all thru first half - no touchdowns but lot of casualtys. On the second half Lizards started to form the cage around the only surviving Skink with the ball - but it was busted by Bull centaur blitz.
After the Minotaur was saved by the apothecary the Anvils Injured box was kept clean - dead hobgoblin slave was buried where he fell, under the stone slabs of midfield.
On the 15th turn the Red Anvils hobbo number 10 made the matches only touchdown, winning the game for the dwarfs. MVP went to the Claw mutation Blocker (nro 3), he sure revenged the hell out of Lizards.

Dungeonbowl revisited

Had few more Dungeonbowl games. One with three players (image of dungeon setup above) went quickly and nicely: ball was in the second treasure chest and High Elfs were fast enough to score after the humans fumbled with the ball... The layout had two alternate routes to each Endzone and 8 Teleports instead on the usual 6.

After this we tried the game with five coaches going at it in the same dungeon, this made the game slow and too random. Plus we played for 16 turns without a touchdown. So, to counter this started to think about some new House rules, namely Sudden Death Table.
More rules and modifications on the works. Mainly to provide more variation and balance to the game when played with regular Blood Bowl team rosters, instead the Colleges of Magic team lists within the original rules.

Chaos Dwarf Blocker - Mutation Magnet Hand

New hand painted with first ink washes. Hand detached from the body. Some Green stuff modification of the hand - bigger the Claw the better. 2mm drill gave the perfect fit for magnets. Old hand and new Dark Eldar claw hand seen next to the base. These strong little magnets came in handy. The smaller ones are only 2mm in diameter. Got these from nice shop with fast delivery Gaussboys. Finally my first Chaos Dwarf Blocker rolled doubles on the advance chart - this meant access to mutation skills. Choose the Claw skill to boost the bashing effect of the team. Wanted the miniature to show his new ability, but with a option to "normalize" it in case of a casualty... But the first thing was to saw the old hand of.

Dungeonbowl First Test

Dungeonbowl? What did you say?

"The key difference between Dungeonbowl and Blood Bowl as is rather obvious from the name, is that Dungeonbowl is played in a dungeon!"

So, giving this concept the first tryout we got some dungeon floor tiles from Fantasy Flight Games Descent and some treasure counters from the same game. Some tape and markers made fast teleport tiles numbered from 1 to 6. Game board after the first turn. Tried to keep the board layout simple and symmetrical. Human team started from red-white endzone on lower left, Dark Elfs opposite from them in Violet-white and Chaos Dwarfs from Blue-white. Six treasure chests were placed in the big central cave. Teleport locations highlighted - those quick-n-dirty tapes don't show too clear in the pictures. All teams grab the closest chest and suffer some turn overs because of the traps. In the picture human team Indian runner is standing over the chest that finally revealed the ball. Human team star player Mighty Zug is first with the ball - and his AG of 2 makes him the first to drop it too. Human screen is fortunately in place - big crowd gathers in the central chamber. Human thrower makes the pass - but lineman have no luck on the catch department. So, Dark Elf blitzer is the next one to try his luck with the pinky disco ball. Elfs throw the ball - but a small miracle happens - and Hobgoblin intercepts in mid flight! Bull centaurs guard the hobbos run. Dark Elf runner teleports in an attempt to prevent the goal, only to get blocked out of the way by Chaos Dwarf Blocker with claw mutation. On turn 8 the lucky greenskin scores a touchdown and thus ends the game.

First impression notes on Dungeonbowl

Game has clearly more randomness than the regular Blood Bowl - movement thru teleports is risky business and the starting location of the ball is rolled with dice. If more random equals more fun for gamers this is not a problem. Ending the game with first touchdown and fewer player figures on the team gives faster playtime, even with three coaches going at it. After the game it was agreed that more alternative routes to the endzones might give good variation to the tactics. We used our regular BB team rosters - not the college of magic lists given in basic Dungeonbowl rules. Inducements were taken with full team value, but only 9 players in game - six starting on endzones, three reserves.

Blood Bowl Match Report: Norse vs. Chaos Dwarfs

Setup for the first Kick-off. The heat is on: making passing game a bit harder. Norse defense starts low - and Chaos Dwarfs in their trademark "The Bloody Wedge" attack formation. Bulls lead the way and others try to keep up. The House rule has been for awhile: free 50k cards drawn at random for both periods. Dwarfs got "Johnny Waterboy" that boost the KO'd return rate to 3+. The new dugout - seen on the right - holds the card nicely too. Both teams are around 1.600.000 in team value, and seen few advances thru the roster. Fans amass behind the Dwarfs: 16k loyal supporters gains the +1 Fame for the Red Anvils. The Wedge cracks under huge Norse opposition: Dwarfs loose the ball for Werewolfs blitz. Silvery beast carries the pink glitter ball for awhile. Bulls, hobgoblins and dwarfs seen on the ground. Soon after this the Norse runner makes the first touchdown. First period ends with Norse lead 1-0. Second period starts with Norse attack: but it is stopped in midfield after some blocks. Hobgoblin is cheering from the dungeons - fouling has its cost. And then the blood letting starts: Minotaur kills the Norse Werewolf with AV boost of 9 -> huge blow to team Norske Pojkar. And adding insult to injury: Dwarfs get illegal substitute of extra hobgoblin (number 11 on the pic) making the head count to 12 players against ten Norse players. Uneven odds start to show and Bullcentaur moves forward with relative ease. Settling for a 1-1 tie: the dwarfs hold the ball next to the Norse endzone for extra turn making the Norse team desperate. After the 15th turn kick-off Yeti revenges the Werewolf by killing newbie hobgoblin on the line of scrimmage. All in all very bloody match: 2 kills and one broken neck of Dwarf blocker - the sum would have been even worse without apothecary actions that saved the life of Norse lineman. After the game touchdown scoring Bullcentaur is awarded the MVP and levels up: new skill being the Grab.

Minotaur - Painting highlights

Painted dry brush highlights and gave the base some Astrogranite feeling.

Blood Bowl Match Report: Red Anvils - IK Turska Pojkar

These cards really bring more variation and even some kind of story to the game, making each of them unique. The usual strategies go out the window when there are two balls on the pitch at the same time.



First rush towards the twin balls.



Alas, the damned ball was a hoax! Viking boys are first on the touchdown line - but also first to be disappointed. This magic trickery was too much for the Norse sense of humor. Anvils score at the later part of the second period, after knocking the living daylights out of the opposition.



Anvils cage hold its form till the end, the second period was kind of slow grind to the finish, but win is always a win. Game ends 1-0 for the Chaos Dwarfs even with four players driven off the pitch because of fouling. But I kept rolling doubles with leveling too: Hobgoblin number 10 has now Dodge skill - rare feat with this lot.