13 Cow Rats tourny report

So at the Hillbilly this last weekend I ran my Cow Rats Skaven team into the tournament. There were only 10 players so, that was a bit of a disappointment. But what it did mean was the players there were serious blood bowl players (is that an oxymoron) who really knew how to play.

The guy running it, did a fantastic job setting up the boards, providing dice, templates, free pizza and free beer. Even with all of us drinking, we didn't empty the cooler. I had way more than my share of the blood bowl drink of choice.

My team consisted of 4 Gutter runners, Thrower, 2 Storm Vermin and 6 Line rats.
I also took 2 re-rolls and one fan.

Game 1: Vs Brad. Brad also ran a Skaven team, not a lot different than mine. 3 GR's, 2 SV, 2 throwers, 5 linerats, 2 fans and 3 re-rolls.

We rolled and I got the fan base on my side and the kick-off.
We got the ball and scored in turn 2 for a 1-0 lead. I could tell Brad was a very experienced player that wasn't use to being scored on so quick. He got the ball and bashed it down the field. My guys started dropping left and right. He got a lot more knockdowns and that turned into more injuries and more deaths and knockouts.

I was seriously out-manned and couldn't get to his ball carrier. So he scurried around near the goal line and managed a turn 8 score.

I got several knocked out players back and had knocked out a couple of his, so the numbers were closer to even again. I kicked off the 2nd half, and a fan threw a rock, knocking out one of his storm vermin. This helped a lot and he had a hard time moving the ball down. I ended up knocking it loose and we scrambled around back and forth. Looked like he was going to score late, but tripped and dropped the ball. I picked it up, looked like I was going to score, but did the same. Then time ended.

Draw 1-1.

Game 2 vs Jeremy with Humans. Jeremy had a great looking team and all he really wanted to do was bash some players. ;-)
We got 2 free skills for this game and I took Leader on my thrower to get the extra re-roll and strip ball on one of my runners.

Strip ball is just unreal as you get to knock the ball loose all the time.
I kicked off to the humans who started bashing and fouling right away. Move the ball? what the hell for. We are just here to bash you.
His team was a thrower, 3 blitzers, 7 linemen and an Ogre. He quickly realized the Ogre wasn't as good as he thought when I reminded him of his Bonehead rule. Oops. Jeremy was a great sport and we laughed and talked smack the whole game.



Here we are lined up. His thrower on the far left has the ball, while I have 2 runners next to him.



And here is Jeremy. He got my favorite opponent vote as he was just a blast to play.
He struggled moving the ball as my guys were just swarming him.
Finally I grabbed the ball for a turn 8 TD and a 1-0 lead at halftime.



here we are setting up for the 2nd half kickoff.



And then this pic is 2 turns later after I've spiked the ball in the endzone for a 2-0 lead.
Things really got wild when I surrounded his Ogre later and dragged him down. Now this is what blood bowl is all about.

Win 3-0

Game 3 vs Matt and another human team. They were almost identical except he had a catcher instead of a lineman. Matt was another excellent player who really knew his stuff.
I got the kickoff and in fine Cow Rat fashion we took it down for a turn 2 1-0 lead.
Matt got the ball and was forcing his way down. I stripped the ball and was about to score again when I dropped a 2+ pass. So he grabbed it and ran down score.

I got the ball back and again the efficiency of the Cow Rats again proved itself with a late half TD to go into the half 2-1.




The 2nd half didn't go as well, as I burned through all 3 re-rolls in my first 3 turns and Matt managed a 2nd half score making it 2-2 with very little time left.

I got the kickoff and he kicked it out of bounds. I gave it to a gutter runner and the cheers of the fans gave me another re-roll. I desperately needed it as well.
I blocked open a hole and ran the runner down 11 squares and was only 2 from the endzone.
Matt had one chance to stop him and ran 2 players down their, the 2nd blitzed and failed to knock me down.
About then the director wants us to wrap it up. Matt is more than a sportsman and suggests I try to score. Needing only a 2+ (that is re-rollable) to dodge and run into the endzone, I make it we call it a game.

Win 3-2

So when they came time to do the awards, he was giving away the 2 custom built pitches and a painted Orc team. As well as a couple bags of dice, 2 cheerleaders and a painting trophy.

So he calls out best overall and he calls my name. He hands me this plaque.



And I get my choice of prizes. I take this pitch:



I got to play my 2nd game on this custom built field and it is so great. My 3rd game was on the other custom field, but I definetely liked this one better.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.

Until next time...