Post by Loki on Jun 12, 2015 11:17:35 GMT
Hi All,
So I took an Undead team (some warm-up prep for World Cup) to the WPS Club Challange last weekend (WPS used to be Warhammert Players Society until GW IP Imps got involved). Don't this the standard was quite up to a NAF tournament but there were some good pleyers. I did a write up for my home club Bristol Vanguard. Thought I would share here as well ...
Well I have to say first up I had a great weekend at the WPS Club Challenge, for those who don't know Matt Smith, Mike Merrick and I (Dave Muirhead ) travelled up to Sutton-in-Ashfield (not far north of Nottingham) for a multi-system with club teams tournament. So there were teams there from Liverpool, Cardiff, Lincoln, Sheffield and midlands teams, to name a few, in addition to our little band of brothers.
Matt was playing in 40K and Mike and I were playing Blood Bowl - I'll let them tell you their tales if they feel the need. To compete for a 'system' (40K, WFB, Warmahordes, X-wing or Blood Bowl) shield you needed to have at least two representatives in the event. So Mike and I were competing as Bristol Vanguard in addition to personal glory. Matt was just out for the glory of the World Eaters and to rebel against the false Emperor - oh and oversee the 40k section of the event. To compete for the overall Club Championship you need to have teams at least 3 systems so we weren't able to vie for that.
Game 1 - Norse
My first game was against the defending champion from the Dragon Slayers club, my Undead against his Norse. The headlines for this game was the pouring rain we played in all match and two spectacular pieces of luck - one each. On my initial drive I left a gap which my opponent exploited well and popped the ball loose, the ball then bounced to his runner who caught the ball in the pouring rain in 2 tackle zones. The runner then ran for it, however the tables turned again the very next turn. My ghoul had to go for it twice get a hit with 2 dice in the norse runners favour - Double Pow :shock: The runner was also stunned. Due to the pouring rain the norse failed the pick-up, so 0-0 at half-time. The second half also ended in stalemate if a little less spectacularly. In what was to become a bit a trend I only managed 1 CAS with 3 Mighty Blow players against AV7 - this would come back to haunt me...
FT TD 0-0, CAS 1-1
Game 2 - Humans
Next game was against one of the Merseyside Mammoth guys, he had a lovely 'Apes of Wrath' team which were playing as human - uncommon team build with two Throwers, two Catchers and only two Blitzers. Have to be a bit honest here I don't remember a great deal about this match but my opponent was a good laugh. One thing was although I was breaking armour I wasn't getting 10+ for CAS (noticing the theme yet )
FT TD 2-1, CAS 0-1
Game 3 - Wood Elf
For the last game of the first day I was playing one of the home team - Sanctuary - using Wood Elves, fairly Standard Non-Treeman build. The Elves got a Blitz but the kick-off was kind and they weren't able to make too much of the early opportunity. Did the Undead thing and controlled the ball and knocked his players around for the 1st half 1-0 to me in the first half - Only 1 in the CAS box though a dead guard Lineelf who the Apo could only MNG. I couldn't stop the elves scoring but did manage to force them to score reasonably quickly. With quite a few elves left he was able to mount a reasonable defence but his 2nd Guard Lineelf had stayed in the KO box which hampered his plans. I controlled the cage and kept the Wardancer leap opportunities to a minimum.
FT TD 2-1, CAS 1-2
Game 4 - Pro Elf
Sunday morning first game was against Pete Delafield from Gobstyks club, I have seen him at a couple of NAF events but don’t think I have chatted to him before. Pete got the ‘dice’ backlash, in a total reversal of the day before; I had two CAS’s before Pete even got to touch his dice. The mummies and wights battered the sacrificial lineelfs at the kick-off. This trend continued for the next couple of turns at the end of the 1st half I was 1-0 up with 4 elevs in CAS box and some in KO box. The 2nd half returned no more CAS but you could only get 3+ bonus pts per game for the CAS. However, I was still breaking armour and at the end of the match there were 4 Dead elves and 8 KO’d – my first ever pitch clear!
FT TD 2-0, CAS 4-1
Now being on 3-1-0 I knew I must be in contention for the top spot, I think at this point there had been only 2 people on 3-0-0 going into the round, and they drew! Game ON!! So three of us on 3-1-0 , I’m not sure how many 3-0-1’s were out there.
For my last match I got one of the 3-1-0’s, another of the Dragon Slayer's using Dwarves. The other 3-1-0 was my opponent from the first round (Defending Champion) who was playing a 3-0-1 Amazon team from Sanctuary who had lost to the Dwarves I was about to face. As it turned out Mike (2-1-1 at this point) was also playing one of the 3-0-1’s, some Norse from the Terra Nova Gryphons
Game 5 - Dwarves
So I came into the game knowing that my opponent had come 4th the year before and was the system Ref so obviously not a complete noob, and was on 3-1-0 same as me. I won the choice of kick/receive for the first half and chose to defend with a full team so kicked to the Dwarves. The dice were with me at the kick-off getting a 'Perfect Defence' result and the ball landing at he line of scrimmage so I was able to disrupt the Dwarf cage straight from the start. After a good start the dice then turned on me, I must have gotten 8 dice on the ball carrier in the 1st half and could not role a Pow/Pow! to bring him down. However, I did enough to hold the dwarves out HT 0-0. Me to receive in 2nd.
Half started as might be expected Undead cage trying to punch its way through the Dwarf wall. About turn 3/4 conscious that the cage was looking a little shaky in places the ghouls broke away to form a half-cage on the side-line. Not for the first time the Dwarves tried an unlikely dodge into the cage for a 1d on the ball carrier, this time it worked though Dwarf Blitzer got he 5+ he required and ‘Both Down’d the ball carrier. However, in one of the biggest pieces of luck on the weekend the ball went straight into field, had it gone up field I could have been in real trouble. I was able to recover the ball and stall out another couple of turns before the Dwarf forces could regroup. Dwarves receiving at 1-0 down with 2 turns to score. I set up a prevent defence, mummies protecting the side-lines with staggered chevrons inside. The Dwarf Trollslayer made his Dauntless role (they had had mixed results on that front during the game) but could only bounce off the Block Mummy. Dwarves popped a hole in the centre through the Zombies and ran a Runner through but he failed his GFI to get in scoring position – Game Over for dwarves as there was no one in scoring position.
FT TD 1-0, CAS 0-3
Time to find out how others had done. I was glad to hear the other 3-1-0 had lost the 2nd table match giving the Norse 3-1-1 and the Amazon's 4-0-1, so I was 4-1-0 and the Dwarves I faced were 3-1-1.
At this point I started to chat to Mike who’s opponent was also now 4-0-1, more than that he had taken a Full 20pts off Mike 14 for win +3 for TD’s and +3 for CAS and he mentioned he had other results of (20+)20+18+18 = 76. Including bonus points I was on 77, so it would come down to how bad his loss was! I then had a tense wait for about an hour for the results ceremony.
Awards
The first award for Vanguard was a ‘Best Painted’ for Matts lovely Knight. Mike was then apparently as shocked as anyone to learn that he was jointly the ‘Most Sportsmanlike’ Blood Bowler – a dice-off was required. As I'm sure Mike would say himself he rolled true to form - he rolled a final ‘1’ of the day and failed his GFI going over the line.
Next up positions… I can’t say I wasn't more than a little disappointed to hear my name called 3rd straight away. The two 4-0-1’s I hadn’t played had both placed above me on bonus points, I had tied with the Norse on 77pts and their better TD record gave him second, the 1st placed Amazons were 2pts ahead of us on 79. The failure to get some more 10+’s from the many 8&9’s had come back to haunt me in a big way. I think there was probably only one game where I could have pushed for another TD but even one more TD (or CAS) would have gotten me 2nd. I would have to console myself with knowing that no one had beaten me and that it would give room for improvement next year
However, the biggest shock was to come, having lost out not only on Top Spot but also 2nd I had given up on any thought of the ‘System Shield’ coming home with us. I think my jaw might have hit the floor when Nicola called ‘Bristol Vanguard’ as Club winners!
So I took an Undead team (some warm-up prep for World Cup) to the WPS Club Challange last weekend (WPS used to be Warhammert Players Society until GW IP Imps got involved). Don't this the standard was quite up to a NAF tournament but there were some good pleyers. I did a write up for my home club Bristol Vanguard. Thought I would share here as well ...
Well I have to say first up I had a great weekend at the WPS Club Challenge, for those who don't know Matt Smith, Mike Merrick and I (Dave Muirhead ) travelled up to Sutton-in-Ashfield (not far north of Nottingham) for a multi-system with club teams tournament. So there were teams there from Liverpool, Cardiff, Lincoln, Sheffield and midlands teams, to name a few, in addition to our little band of brothers.
Matt was playing in 40K and Mike and I were playing Blood Bowl - I'll let them tell you their tales if they feel the need. To compete for a 'system' (40K, WFB, Warmahordes, X-wing or Blood Bowl) shield you needed to have at least two representatives in the event. So Mike and I were competing as Bristol Vanguard in addition to personal glory. Matt was just out for the glory of the World Eaters and to rebel against the false Emperor - oh and oversee the 40k section of the event. To compete for the overall Club Championship you need to have teams at least 3 systems so we weren't able to vie for that.
Game 1 - Norse
My first game was against the defending champion from the Dragon Slayers club, my Undead against his Norse. The headlines for this game was the pouring rain we played in all match and two spectacular pieces of luck - one each. On my initial drive I left a gap which my opponent exploited well and popped the ball loose, the ball then bounced to his runner who caught the ball in the pouring rain in 2 tackle zones. The runner then ran for it, however the tables turned again the very next turn. My ghoul had to go for it twice get a hit with 2 dice in the norse runners favour - Double Pow :shock: The runner was also stunned. Due to the pouring rain the norse failed the pick-up, so 0-0 at half-time. The second half also ended in stalemate if a little less spectacularly. In what was to become a bit a trend I only managed 1 CAS with 3 Mighty Blow players against AV7 - this would come back to haunt me...
FT TD 0-0, CAS 1-1
Game 2 - Humans
Next game was against one of the Merseyside Mammoth guys, he had a lovely 'Apes of Wrath' team which were playing as human - uncommon team build with two Throwers, two Catchers and only two Blitzers. Have to be a bit honest here I don't remember a great deal about this match but my opponent was a good laugh. One thing was although I was breaking armour I wasn't getting 10+ for CAS (noticing the theme yet )
FT TD 2-1, CAS 0-1
Game 3 - Wood Elf
For the last game of the first day I was playing one of the home team - Sanctuary - using Wood Elves, fairly Standard Non-Treeman build. The Elves got a Blitz but the kick-off was kind and they weren't able to make too much of the early opportunity. Did the Undead thing and controlled the ball and knocked his players around for the 1st half 1-0 to me in the first half - Only 1 in the CAS box though a dead guard Lineelf who the Apo could only MNG. I couldn't stop the elves scoring but did manage to force them to score reasonably quickly. With quite a few elves left he was able to mount a reasonable defence but his 2nd Guard Lineelf had stayed in the KO box which hampered his plans. I controlled the cage and kept the Wardancer leap opportunities to a minimum.
FT TD 2-1, CAS 1-2
Game 4 - Pro Elf
Sunday morning first game was against Pete Delafield from Gobstyks club, I have seen him at a couple of NAF events but don’t think I have chatted to him before. Pete got the ‘dice’ backlash, in a total reversal of the day before; I had two CAS’s before Pete even got to touch his dice. The mummies and wights battered the sacrificial lineelfs at the kick-off. This trend continued for the next couple of turns at the end of the 1st half I was 1-0 up with 4 elevs in CAS box and some in KO box. The 2nd half returned no more CAS but you could only get 3+ bonus pts per game for the CAS. However, I was still breaking armour and at the end of the match there were 4 Dead elves and 8 KO’d – my first ever pitch clear!
FT TD 2-0, CAS 4-1
Now being on 3-1-0 I knew I must be in contention for the top spot, I think at this point there had been only 2 people on 3-0-0 going into the round, and they drew! Game ON!! So three of us on 3-1-0 , I’m not sure how many 3-0-1’s were out there.
For my last match I got one of the 3-1-0’s, another of the Dragon Slayer's using Dwarves. The other 3-1-0 was my opponent from the first round (Defending Champion) who was playing a 3-0-1 Amazon team from Sanctuary who had lost to the Dwarves I was about to face. As it turned out Mike (2-1-1 at this point) was also playing one of the 3-0-1’s, some Norse from the Terra Nova Gryphons
Game 5 - Dwarves
So I came into the game knowing that my opponent had come 4th the year before and was the system Ref so obviously not a complete noob, and was on 3-1-0 same as me. I won the choice of kick/receive for the first half and chose to defend with a full team so kicked to the Dwarves. The dice were with me at the kick-off getting a 'Perfect Defence' result and the ball landing at he line of scrimmage so I was able to disrupt the Dwarf cage straight from the start. After a good start the dice then turned on me, I must have gotten 8 dice on the ball carrier in the 1st half and could not role a Pow/Pow! to bring him down. However, I did enough to hold the dwarves out HT 0-0. Me to receive in 2nd.
Half started as might be expected Undead cage trying to punch its way through the Dwarf wall. About turn 3/4 conscious that the cage was looking a little shaky in places the ghouls broke away to form a half-cage on the side-line. Not for the first time the Dwarves tried an unlikely dodge into the cage for a 1d on the ball carrier, this time it worked though Dwarf Blitzer got he 5+ he required and ‘Both Down’d the ball carrier. However, in one of the biggest pieces of luck on the weekend the ball went straight into field, had it gone up field I could have been in real trouble. I was able to recover the ball and stall out another couple of turns before the Dwarf forces could regroup. Dwarves receiving at 1-0 down with 2 turns to score. I set up a prevent defence, mummies protecting the side-lines with staggered chevrons inside. The Dwarf Trollslayer made his Dauntless role (they had had mixed results on that front during the game) but could only bounce off the Block Mummy. Dwarves popped a hole in the centre through the Zombies and ran a Runner through but he failed his GFI to get in scoring position – Game Over for dwarves as there was no one in scoring position.
FT TD 1-0, CAS 0-3
Time to find out how others had done. I was glad to hear the other 3-1-0 had lost the 2nd table match giving the Norse 3-1-1 and the Amazon's 4-0-1, so I was 4-1-0 and the Dwarves I faced were 3-1-1.
At this point I started to chat to Mike who’s opponent was also now 4-0-1, more than that he had taken a Full 20pts off Mike 14 for win +3 for TD’s and +3 for CAS and he mentioned he had other results of (20+)20+18+18 = 76. Including bonus points I was on 77, so it would come down to how bad his loss was! I then had a tense wait for about an hour for the results ceremony.
Awards
The first award for Vanguard was a ‘Best Painted’ for Matts lovely Knight. Mike was then apparently as shocked as anyone to learn that he was jointly the ‘Most Sportsmanlike’ Blood Bowler – a dice-off was required. As I'm sure Mike would say himself he rolled true to form - he rolled a final ‘1’ of the day and failed his GFI going over the line.
Next up positions… I can’t say I wasn't more than a little disappointed to hear my name called 3rd straight away. The two 4-0-1’s I hadn’t played had both placed above me on bonus points, I had tied with the Norse on 77pts and their better TD record gave him second, the 1st placed Amazons were 2pts ahead of us on 79. The failure to get some more 10+’s from the many 8&9’s had come back to haunt me in a big way. I think there was probably only one game where I could have pushed for another TD but even one more TD (or CAS) would have gotten me 2nd. I would have to console myself with knowing that no one had beaten me and that it would give room for improvement next year
However, the biggest shock was to come, having lost out not only on Top Spot but also 2nd I had given up on any thought of the ‘System Shield’ coming home with us. I think my jaw might have hit the floor when Nicola called ‘Bristol Vanguard’ as Club winners!