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[ank]

Might i suggest port forwarding?

[Kanil]

Yeah, port forwarding would be the first solution to try.

Given that last "week" was so quick, it'll be fine if this week runs a little long, so you two have plenty of time to get that sorted. Assuming you can't get it sorted, you'll be awarded with a 1-1 draw. But hopefully you can get it working.

[ndkid]

I've been having a busier-than-average week, and the time-zone-difference between Charmander and I has been problematic, as even my early getting-home-from-work time is midnight for him. My next hope is that I can wake up early Saturday morning and fit a game in before I go out to a local puzzle hunt for the day.

[ndkid]

Kobb's Khorne vs. Sahagin Stormers

Khorne gets just enough money to buy some ale. The Stormers elect to receive.

S1: Khorne lines up in FFB. The Stormers put three Sauri on the line. The fans give the Stormers an extra reroll. A skink picks up the ball and tosses it forward to another skink, who runs forward through the hole the Saurus on the edge made for him. A skink gets beside TAB, who is the other player on the edge the ball carrier just ran through.

K1: First block comes up double skulls. Reroll comes up double skulls. Player gets -1 STR; reroll gets miss next game. Not an auspicious start.

S2: After some blocks, the ball carrier runs the ball in for the touchdown.

K2: TAB goes back to receive the kick. The Stormers have a perfect defense. The touchback goes to TAB, who runs the ball forward. Fitz, the leader who has grown some claws, pinches the nerves of a Saurus on the line. TAB tosses the ball to Soft-Hands. Soft-Hands runs downfield, pushing a Skink out of the way, and making room for Speedy as his lead Blocker.

S3: Three Skinks surround Soft-Hands and knock the ball out of his hands into a spot beside a skink and Speedy. That skink pushes Speedy off the ball.

K3: Several beastmen run towards the ball. A Saurus gets pushed onto the ball, bouncing it into the hands of a skink.

S4: After another one runs over, there are five skinks (including the ball carrier) on one side of the pitch. They gang up to push speedy around twice. The ball carrier pushes Speedy off the pitch as part of a blitz, which then dodges him around the other beastman standing beside him. Another skink falls over dodging away.

K4: A skink is pushed off the pitch and knocked out. A beastman follows the ball carrier.

S5: The ball carrier runs the ball in for the score.

K5: TAB goes back again to receive the kick. The Stormers get another reroll. TAB picks up the kick and tosses it to Soft-Hands. Fitz knocks out a Saurus. Soft-Hands knocks over a Saurus as he rumbles forward. Three beastmen get beside him.

S6: The saurus in front of Soft-Hands stands up and pushes Soft-Hands back. A skink injures himself dodging.

K6: Soft-Hands and company push down the defenders and advance forward a short distance.

S7: A saurus stands up and blitzes Soft-Hands down. A skink runs over, picks up the ball, and hands it to another skink, who runs forward and throws it toward a downfield skink. The ball doesn't make it.

K7: Lots of blocks. a beastman falls over running toward the ball to try and toss it to TAB.

S8: A skink runs up, picks up the ball, hands it to a skink, who runs it in for the score.

K8: Both knocked out Stormers recover. The Stormers get an extra reroll. The minotaur falls over knocking out a skink.

Halftime Score: Sahagin Stormers 3 - 0 Kobb's Khorne

K9: TAB goes back to receive the kick. The Stormers get an extra reroll. Fitz takes a Skink out. TAB picks up the ball and tosses it to Soft-Hands. Another beastman manages to double-double-skull.

S9: A saurus blitzes and knocks out Soft hands, falling over in the process, and sending the ball into Speedy's hands. Another three skinks gets over beside Speedy.

K10: A warrior knocks out a Saurus. Speedy dodges away from the throng of Skinks into the midfield.

S10: Two Sauri knock over Speedy; a Skink fails to pick up the ball.

K11: Lots of pushes.

S11: A skink picks up the ball, runs forward, and muffs the pass.

K12: A warrior injures a skink. Speedy goes to pick up the ball, but can't manage.

S12: Not much.

K13: Speedy tries and fails to dodge away from a Skink.

S13: Another muffed pass.

K14: A beastman blitzes a skink into the injury box. He also manages to pick up the ball, moving him far, far up the MVP list.

S14: A skink is knocked over trying to blitz.

K15: A beastman fouling gets tossed after injuring a Saurus. The ball carrier gets near the end zone.

S15: A skink dodges around the edge and gets beside the ball carrier.

K16: A warrior knocks out the skink that was beside the ball carrier, who then runs in for the score.

S16: The Stormers field six players. Skink passes ball to skink, who runs it downfield.

Final Score: Sahagin Stormers 3 - 1 Kobb's Khorne

Thoughts: The first turn failure was pretty catastrophic. Overall, it felt like my whole first half was crap. The injuries slowly started to mount in my favor, but "slowly" wasn't going to do the trick once I was that far in the hole. It'll be good for the SPP, and I'm certain to get a skill roll or two, but I'm still feeling the loss of flexibility that NATAB's death cost, and Soft-Hands isn't quite as legitimate replacement.

[Charmander]

"Who in thissss thriccce-damned land sssschedulessss a match for ssssseven AM..?"

After a rough night's sleep, the skinks troop out, tired, onto the underground field used for this morning's game, bleary eyed and out of it. Given their performance recently, and the boost on having a full, (mostly) uninjured roster and some stars in their lineup, Kobb's Khorne actually receives 50k inducements, spent on one magiced keg of Bloodweiser to help with those unfortunate KOs.

The lineup is nothing new - skinks elect to receive after Chaos loses the toss, and the beastly side sets up in Full Frontal Brutality. The fans, led on by the rattlewavers, bolster the sink's morale as the ball goes high, and Tyrr receives to lob a quick pass to Novv - the agile skinks make things look easy despite their diminutive size, and Nirr surges forward. The chaos side counters... with a really bad block - despite his training, and the apothecary, Thor'gor goes down with a broken jaw courtesy of Vorr the Sharktoothed. This opening leaves Novv to push forward, scoring handily in the second turn as the skink line takes the opportunity to test the haos resolve... but only succeeds in shoves.

(... Note: Seriously: Two double skulls, a failed armour roll and a pretty severe apothecary result too.)

At the kickoff, the ball goes wild, Garr punting the ball off-field rather than anything worthwhile. Jarr and his Beluga face go down, screaming in pain from a pinched nerve that looks to put him out for the following match, while Takk and Vorr go down hard, if hot with as much hurt. Cramulgor tosses the ball to Tzaal the Thrasher, the additinal-armed chaos warrior handling the ball surprisingly adeptly for someone of his bulk and stature, who proceeds to blitz the lone skink Novv and sends him staggering back. With Sprafy supporting, and a rather severe lack of muscle in the way, this looks dangerous for the lizards.

In response, three skinks manage to bring him down, the ball bouncing on the astrogranite as the rest of the blue team's muscle shoves the various  mutants clear, even as Weyy moves deep in the hope of a surprise pass. Full frontal brutality proves its namesake, laying its hurt on the saurusses, and piling around Rexx, Mejj and the skinks surrounding the ball. Vorr gets a nasty stun, but the ball bounces into the claws of Tyrr, although various tackles leave him increasingly hemmed in by beastman muscle. After some skink repositioning, Tyrr shoves Sprafy off-field, sprinting away and backed up by Weyy.

In response, the mutated minotaur laus down the hurt, aas well as most of the skink side. A chainshove knocks Novv out, and off the pitch, promptly set-upon by angry fans, but otherwise, Tyrr is left to sprint forward, slipping away fron a solitary beastman to bring the skinks 2-0 up.

The lineup is only altered by the pair of rookie cannon-fodder skinks, Irzz and Sorr, lining up in place of the injured Jarr. Cramulgor opens up with a quick pass back to Tzaal, the chaos side's hopes pinned on the agile, armed assaulter. Takk and his bad breath get dragged off to the unconscious box with a KO from Frizfagors, the skink line in something of a disarray from the rather brutal assault.

Mejj responds by jumping up and smashing against Tzaal, but fails to make it stick and ends up in the midst of beastmen for his efforts, while Irzz manages to slip away from tentacles, but is still brought own with a surprising punch that leaves him broken and out for the rest of the game. The way is cleared for Tzaal, but despite being surprisingly agile, he still can only lumber at a stately pace, walking calmly to the toucnline with a mob of monsters for backup. Like a minotaur. And some mutant sheep. Nonetheless, Rexx finds an opening - and although he only needed to shove the multi-armed warrior to remove the ball from his grip, he manages to bring him down instead. Mazz manages to recover, dumping off to Tyrr, who tries... but fails to make the rather difficult long-pass stick, bouncing short and just shy of the awaiting Weyy.

A lot of lizards see the business end of various claws, gauntlets and other inopportune spiked tools to make their lives unpleasant, but that still leaves Tyrr able to pick up the ball after a beastman fails to keep his wits about him sprinting, and dumps off to Garr with the look of "if you mess this up, you're on the barbecue." Garr promptly sprints towards the touchline to bring them 3-0 up as time ticks away. The few remaining moments of the match are filled with violence, although mostly uneventful, and the surviving skinks troop off the field for a repeat of what just happened after the half-time snack of a rookie casualty from the tryouts beforehand.

Once more the lineups stay static enough, and once more the cheering fans bolster the skink's resolve... although that just leaves Sorr to go down, clutching his face as his goofy-looking face receives a gouge for its troubles. Cramulgor opens with a long pass back to Tzaal, the multi-armed monsters proving their worth rather decisively, but in a repeat of the first turn, although less painfully, Mi'mulgors goes down to a solitary skink from a bad tackle, Nirr evidently choosing to punch him in the furred crotch with tiny, angry claws.

Mejj smacks Tzaal down, and knocks him out to boot, but the ball bounces into the professional hands of Sprafy Claw who picks it up rather confidently. Weyy, Rijj and Novv close down on him, still rather able to escape, but... looking awkward for the beastman. As payment for their earlier performance, Vorr receives a smack that knocks him out, drooling awkwardly as a mob of skink orderlies drag his hefty bulk off-field, but the minotaur roars to himself and spends the time he should have spent blitzing scratching and grazing instead... despite the fact there was little grass in the subterranean pitch, but Sprafy slips away anyway, only to be intercepted by Rexx, despite the backup... although the stress of the game, and with his injury, Tyrr finds it difficult to pick the ball up, backing away early from the claws of Plag the Pugilist and fumbling the pickup... but gets a seconf wind with a shove that knocks the ball back to him. In kind, though, Sprafy thumps him down, laying on pressure and hurt and unkind words to the agile skink.

At the end of the day, though, he is still an agile little runt, and scrambles up, awkwardly escaping the pursuit of the lizardmen to toss a hopeful pass Mazz's way, but that gets quickly fumbled and leaves him standing, the skinks unprepared for the imminent counterattack. Novv gets shoved off pitch, and Weyy gets flung into the injury box. Sprafy puts pressure on Tyrr, knocking him down and leaving him without cover. He tries valiantly, but the adept, tackling beastman proves his worth by bringing him down again, a severe lack of numbers for the skink side with only five players on field... but their tactic seems to be working, delaying the chaos side from eating into their 3-0 lead. Nirr gets shoved away, but Sprafy fails to pick up the ball, landing face-first from a slick tackle, although Tyrr still fails to make good - recovering the ball, he fares little better, fumbling another pass, and promptly gets injured and put out of the game for his efforts.

As a result, the chaos side have almost free-reign of the pitch - three sauruses and two skinks all that stands in the way of a touchdown, but Nirr can't even get free, brought down with a swift tackle. The chaos side give the ball-carrying Nu-Mor a clean run, letting him slip through quickly and easily, although delaying the touchdown a few more moments... although Mi'mulgors gets sent off by putting the boot into Takk, putting him out of the match and leaving four Stormers on-field.

Nirr puts up a brave one-skink defence, closing in on Nu-Mor, while Mazz just watches on, dumbly, from his position far, far back in the chaos half. Drath promptly dispatches him with a punch that knocks him out, leaving Nu-Mor to score as time ticks away, and makes the scoreline from the first half sting a little less.

The entirety of the skink side manages to get up - at least, those capable of being roused or not currently receiving sutures, splints or seasonings, for a last-minute punchup. Novv receives Mazz's pass, but can't run fast enough, and the scoreline remains at 3-1 in a match that went surprisingly well for the skinks.

Ra'nogor, an unremarkable beastman, receives the MVP for Kobb's Khorne, while Garr gets his for the touchdown he secured with his fast frame.

(... Didn't expect for the first half to go well, but given the beatdown in the second half, it was definitely needed to secure that win. The six injuries, and two or three MNGs, was more in line to what I expect from the team that pioneered the Full Frontal Brutality lineup. And that agility 4, extra-handed warrior is hurty, even with his reduced armour.)

[ndkid]

And that agility 4, extra-handed warrior is hurty, even with his reduced armour.)

Yeah, he's interesting. 5/4/4/8 is an odd stat line to work with. He's pretty much the slowest A4 guy you're likely to see outside of a dwarf team, and the loss of Armor early in his career means that he, like NATAB, is likely going to come to a bad end sooner than I'd like. The problem is that S4 isn't really decisive, and with that speed, most teams will be able to get enough manpower around him to take him down.

If I could wipe skills, I'd make him the passer, and TAB would become the receiver. Even now, with TAB having Strong Arm, it might behoove me to go ahead and make that switch, and see how well Soft-Hands handles the QB role, so that I can have the receiver be the more spry player. So thanks for helping me talk through that, Charmander!

[Kanil]

He's only 1 MA slower than a vampire. 'course they have agility access, and hypnotic stare... but 5/4/4/8 isn't exactly a bad player. And, as mostly an elf player, I respectfully disagree with your "S4 isn't really decisive".

Burnt Pies/Warhammer: You two going to try to fix your port situation and take a shot at it? Or should we just advance the week? I don't mind waiting, so just let me know if you can think you can fix it and play.

[Charmander]

To be fair, Saurus statlines are MA6/ST4/AG1/AV9, but that AV1 and a lack of starting skills is punishing and means they're very easily locked down.

[ndkid]

To be fair, Saurus statlines are MA6/ST4/AG1/AV9, but that AV1 and a lack of starting skills is punishing and means they're very easily locked down.

Well, Saurus' are never meant to be ball-carriers... they're meant to be Fast, fumbly black orcs. (Black orcs also start with no skills.) Their lack of skills means they start slow and they're likely to soak up your rerolls early in their careers, but they're not going to die, they're likely to stay on the pitch, and, with Sauri at M6, they can actually function as reasonable defenders off the line, as well. When someone makes a break downfield, a saurus can single-handedly make the blitz and have a reasonable chance at success. They're certainly not as flexible as some of the S4's (like the warriors), but the Lizardmen team is one of strict roles.

[Burnt Pies]

It's up to Warhammer, I think. If he feels there's something he can do differently, I'll give it a go, but there's nothing more I can do in this situation. I need a password I don't have and can't get to access my router controls, and I've done everything short of that already.

[warhammer651]

And i've been trying to get things to work on my end with a buddy, but fuck if I can ever get connected to a match. not a whole lot I can do on my end

[Kanil]

Alright, I've set the match to a 1-1 draw. That randomly awards a touchdown and MVP to your players, so you got a couple SPP.

I thank you both for your efforts in scheduling and attempting to play, it's unfortunate you weren't able to get the game in -- but it happens.

Matchups for week 9.
ank - w00t w00t vs warhammer651 - Earth Strikers
Charmander - Sahagin Stormers vs Burnt Pies - Brunch's Big Bads
Kanil - Self Inflicted vs monk12 - Monk's Marauders
Jartol - Manner Pylon vs ndkid - Kobb's Khorne

[ndkid]

Kobb's Khorne vs. Manner Pylon

The Skaven have 450k to work with, leading to bad habits for Chaos and some AG and ST bonuses for the Skaven. Manner Pylon elects to receive.

M1: Khorne lines up in FFB. MP lines up strong side right. The fans give Khorne their Bad-Habit-Reroll back. The rat ogre makes a hole, and the thrower grabs the ball and throws it forward to a gutter runner, who gets to within a few steps of the end zone.

K1: TAB fails on his first dodge.

M2: The ball gets run in for the score.

K2: Soft-Hands goes back to receive the kickoff. Both teams get coaching rerolls. A warrior fractures the leg of a skaven on the line. Most of the Khorne team moves forward to engage with the skaven. Soft-Hands picks up the ball and lobs it forward to TAB, who runs toward the end zone.

M3: Two Skaven gang up to stun TAB. A gutter runner picks up the ball. A lineman dies trying to dodge, but the apoc saves him.

K3: A blitz takes the S4 Stormvermin out of the game. The minotaur takes another skaven out. A small line forms in front of the ball carrying gutter runner.

M4: The rat ogre stands up and blitzes back toward the ball carrier, knocking a warrior over. Gutter Runners dodge around the line and head downfield. The ball carrier rushes to join them and goes too far, knocking himself out in the process.

K4: One skaven by the ball gets knocked over onto the ball, pushing it out of bounds. The crowd sends it deep into Khorne territory. Soft-Hands retrieves it. TAB stands up and starts to head back toward midfield.

M5: A skaven running toward Soft-Hands falls over.

K5: Soft-Hands runs forward and tosses the ball to TAB, who muffs the catch.

M6: A gutter runner picks up the ball and hands it to a gutter runner, who runs it forward and muffs a pass.

K6: A beastman knocks over the deep gutter runner. Soft-Hands picks back up the ball and tosses it to TAB, who is running across the field to get open. Most of the rest of the skaven go down to blocks.

M7: The rat ogre stands up, dodges out of a tackle zone, and blitzes TAB down. A gutter runner picks up the ball despite the tackle zones, but the Minotaur's tentacles keep him from going anywhere.

K7: TAB gets the ball back, and a bit of a wall around him, but with a weak side.

M8: A dodging gutter runner falls over.

K8: TAB thinks he can make the end zone, but can't. So he tosses the ball back to a nearby warrior, who waits for a block, which knocks the blocker over.

Halftime Score: Manner Pylon 1 - 0 Kobb's Khorne

K9: The Skaven are fielding 7. Soft-Hands goes back to receive the kickoff. The skaven get a blitz, allowing them to dive their gutter runners downfield. Thankfully, the storm vermin stuns himself trying to get under the ball. The touchback goes to TAB on the midfield line who, facing little opposition, runs forward. The four skaven still on their own side of the pitch are knocked over.

S9: The rat ogre decides he wants to stay on the ground. The gutter runners start to pull back.

K10: TAB continues toward the end zone. Most of the available Skaven get knocked down again.

S10: The rat ogre stands up, only to knock himself down blocking.

K11: TAB runs the ball in.

S11: Khorne pulls both TAB and Soft-Hands back as safeties. A quick snap allows the gutter runners to advance over the midfield line, and the other skaven to pull off the line or toward its edge. The thrower picks up the ball, runs it forward, and tosses it to a gutter runner. (The gutter runner would need sprint to get into the end zone in one go, thankfully.) A blitz knocks out TAB.

K12: Soft-Hands pushes a gutter runner to get close. Several Khorne players with nothing to do jog toward the ball carrier.

S12: The Skaven decide to try and play for the last score, and pile up along the corner.

K13: A beastman pushes in to the skaven wall; several other players surround it. The minotaur knocks himself over injuring the rat ogre.

S13: The gutter runner takes the score in.

K14: TAB continues his nap. The touchback goes to Speedy, who pushes a gutter runner on his stroll downfield.

S14: The four gutter runners collapse on Speedy. One knocks him over in a blitz, then runs toward the ball.

K15: A warrior kills the thrower.

S15: The gutter runner goes sideways out of range.

K16: A foul by the minotaur with three assists does nothing.

S16: Nothing.

Final Score: Manner Pylon 2 - 1 Kobb's Khorne

Thoughts: I was pretty meh about this game from the first turn. The three-casualty turn helped, but at the end of the day, I knew that I wasn't going to be stopping A5 gutter runners from scoring, so it was really just a matter of trying to get the last score. I made too many mistakes to do so.

[monk12]

Self Inflicted vs Monk's Marauders

The Marauders start off with 250k in inducements, enough to buy a Wizard and give the Vampires some Bad Habits. The Marauders win the toss and elect to receive- their gameplan is to spread out the Vampires and keep them from bringing too much muscle to bear. To that end, they line up in a 2 Catcher set with Blitzers spaced to fill the gaps. For their part, the Vampires line up close to the Line of Scrimmage, aiming to get past the Human line and take the ball back.

The Marauders get a Quick Snap to start the game, using it to move toward their right, where the ball will land. They form a defensive ring around the ball while shoving Thralls off the line of scrimmage, but Dagg Silent fails to notice that the game has started, the Bonehead. The Vampires are quick to take advantage of the weakness in the line, Wrestling a Lineman out of the way and Blitzing Shin Sang-Moon through the gap, knocking the ball loose. Ku Sung-Hoon, the AG 5 Vampire, dances his way through the Marauders to reach the ball, picking it up and perfectly launching it across the field to Lee Yoon-Yeol, who lets the ball slip through his fingers.

The Marauder coach spends a good minute and a half trying to figure out how to deal with a Vampire and two Thralls standing around the ball on the opposite side of the pitch from the rest of the Humans. A Catcher and a Blitzer get to the ball, but the human Wrestler is only able to shove Lee onto the ball, letting it bounce to the sideline. Dagg makes up for lost time, sending a Thrall to the KO box as the humans generally try to reverse the field. Self Inflicted brings some more Thralls over to where the ball lies, although Park Jung-Suk snacks on one of them- Lee shoves one Human away from the ball but still cannot handle the pickup.

The Marauders get 4 men around the ball, and after a shoving match they also get a Catcher into SI territory in scoring position. The Vampires think this is cute, as 2 Vampires Hypnotize half the Humans around the ball, and Lee Blitzes from a standstill, knocking Grant Valdred the Blitzer to the turf and incidentally shoving away the only other Human threatening the ball. He easily picks up the ball and feasts his eyes on the endzone.

The Marauders valiantly try to contain the Vampire incursion, as a Catcher tries to pin down Lee and a Lineman runs to interpose himself between the Vampire and the endzone. Unfortunately, Dagg has a bonehead moment when he fails to understand that Sigric the Blitzer is the only one who can get near enough the ballcarrier to make a difference, and Sigric can only get free if Dagg beats up a Vampire. Sigric tries to dodge anyway, but fails. Desperately, the Marauder coach signals to the crowd and the helpful Wizard hurls a Fireball at the SI cluster, but succeeds in knocking over only a single Vampire- and not the one with the ball. Lee handily runs in for the score.

Turn 4: Self Inflicted 1 - 0 Monk's Marauders

The lineups are much the same for the second kickoff of the half- the Marauders want to spread the field for a quick score, and Self Inflicted wants to get into the backfield and score once more before halftime. The Self Inflicted coach is brilliant, getting an extra reroll, and the kickoff lands right next to the sideline, just outside of Helmut the Thrower's MA.

Helmut makes his GFI roll, and his Sure Hands help him pick up the ball- albeit right on the sideline. Sigric pulls back to defend him as a Blitzer opens a path for a Catcher to race into the SI backfield, and Humans generally move into defensive positions until a random Lineman goes down hitting a Thrall- on the plus side, the Thrall is KO'd. Lee gets into the backfield to Hypnotize Sigric, and Shin slips past him to shove Helmut into the crowd, sending the Thrower to the KO box. The ball is helpfully dropped at Shin's feet, who readily picks it up.

The Marauders respond quickly, getting bodies around the ballcarrier- Grant shoves Shin into Sigric, who snaps out of his daze and sends the Vampire to the turf. The bouncing ball is snatched up by Bertolf Lutolf, and Dagg Silent KO's yet another Thrall to increase the Marauder's numerical advantage. The Vampires marshal their strength, and a Hypnotic Gaze gives Park a path to blitz Bertolf- Bertolf, however, is much more difficult to take down thanks to his Dodge/Block combo, and the Marauders maintain possession for once.

Grant Valdred punches a path open for Bertolf, and the Blitzer sprints for the endzone with time running out- Dagg headlines a Marauder wall that leaps to separate the ballcarrier from the Vampires, and Odamar Alban the Catcher gets open deep, ready to receive a handoff for the go-ahead score. A Thrall gets deep the cover the Catcher, and Shin runs to knock the Human down- feeling peckish, he then feasts on the Thrall.

Dagg Silent understands the "kill the bat man" plan quite well, sprinting downfield (and succeeding a GFI) to shove Shin away from the prone Odamar. Odamar promptly stands up and succeeds on two GFIs to get into the endzone. With time expiring and hope blossoming, Bertolf runs as far as he can, and surprises everyone with a perfect pass!

Everyone including Odamar, who is so surprised he lets the ball bounce off his helmet and fall uselessly to the turf. Two nat 1's, what a jerk. Shin punishes the Catcher by shoving him out the back of the endzone and KOing the luckless receiver.

Halftime: Self Inflicted 1 - 0 Monk's Marauders

The Humans are without their Thrower to start the second half, but it is hardly a critical lack- Self Inflicted is set to receive. The Marauders line up near the LoS hoping to emulate the Vampires, while for their part the Vampires give the Humans an unbalanced front, with three Vampires on the Marauder right flank.

Manfred the Friendly, expert Kicker, audibles to an onside kick as he sends it short to the other side of the pitch. Bertolf is quick to Blitz the lone Thrall out of the way, and Odamar gets under the ball, easily catching it this time. Park is quick to relieve him of his burden, but although Ku Sung-Hoon manages the pickup he completely botches the pass, and it lands behind him.

The Marauders respond enthusiastically to this bit of luck, sending Vampire and Thrall alike to the turf- although Ku is still threatening the ball, Sigric manages to snatch it up with his Elf-like Agility and dodges away again. Ku displays some moves of his own, Leaping away from his opponents and Blitzing Sigric to the turf. Unfortunately, he is unable to handle the Pickup, and the ball bounces clear away. Odamar, not one to let a chance for redemption slip away, scoops up the loose ball and prances into the endzone for the score!

Turn 11: Self Inflicted 1 - 1 Monk's Marauders

Helmut is reinvigorated by the touchdown, trotting back onto the pitch and waving the rookie Catcher to the bench. The Humans line up a little staggered to mitigate the Vampires largely unchanged look- this time, the kick is High, allowing Lee to get under the ball easily.

The Vampires push into the Marauder right, sending Humans toppling and establishing a cage at the midfield line. The Humans respond by lining up to slow the cage, Bertolf sending a Thrall to the KO box as he applies pressure to the side. Park sends Dagg to the turf as the Vampires reverse the play, bringing the ball to the middle of the pitch and generally shoving Humans around. Unfortunately, Shin is overcome by insatiable Bloodlust, feeding on a nearby Thrall and freeing up a couple key Marauders.

The Humans take advantage of the presented weakness to put some pressure on the side of the cage, and Dagg blitzes to his feet, shoving the ballcarrier out of the center of the cage. Bertolf KOs another Thrall on his way to Lee the ballcarrier, and after Manfred the Bawler Wrestles down Shin a random Lineman comes over to put the boot in, Stunning the Vampire. The Vampires retaliate by Hypnotizing Dagg and Blitzing Lee free, but Ku gets thirsty at the worst time as the only standing Thralls are defending Lee. Ku drains one, letting the player drop to the pitch, and another of the defending Thralls tries to get some space between himself and Helmut and the Thrower sends him to the turf for his effort.

Dagg snaps out of his funk, shoving Ku into Sigric's fist- the Vampire goes down Badly Hurt, but Regenerates as he is carried off the pitch. Helmut blitzes Lee, but fails to knock the ball loose- that task is accomplished for him when the friendly neighborhood Wizard sends a bolt of lightning at the Vampire. Shin regains his feet and Blitzes toward the ball, Badly Hurting Grant when the Blitzer tries to stand in his way- the effort costs the Vampire his momentum, however, and he fails his GFI, falling prone next to the ball.

With the end of the match imminent, Sure Hands Helmut scoops up the ball and runs upfield with a convoy defending him. Demoralized, all the Vampires want is a good thick drink, and Shin runs off the field to sate his thirst in the stands. Helmut hands the ball to Bertolf, who runs it in as time expires.

Final Score: Self Inflicted 1 - 2 Monk's Marauders

Comments- I got pretty lucky once again, I think. The only really bad luck I had was the failed catch at the end of the first half, but Kanil had that fumbled pass coupled with the Blitz that let me equalize, not to mention a terrible spate of Bloodlust in the second half that he simply could not cover with TRR. I'm still disappointed by Odamar's lack of catching ability- I had planned to develop him with more maneuverability, but I'm seriously debating taking Diving Catch next level since he has consistently dropped critical passes, Catch RR be damned. Speaking of development Manfried the Friendly Kicker caught MVP for his clutch onside kick, which isn't great since I'd rather have my skill positions increase, or at least get some of my base Linemen a fancy new trick.

Still and all, very pleased with myself. Looking ahead, I've got a tough 3 game stretch- I play Brunch's Orcs (who thrashed me in our first meeting,) and twice I play Chaos. Charmander's Sahagin are right after that, and they can lay the hurt on too- hopefully I still have a team to field against the Skaven at the close of the season!

[Kanil]

I don't think you got particularly lucky, I think you just outplayed me and rather deserved to win.

I got bit by a little bug around turn 13? Wonky interaction between blood lust and leap, and that really freaked me out. It didn't particularly compromise my position on the pitch, but did a lot of damage to my mental state and I immediately made several bad decisions -- this turned a poor situation into a completely untenable one and secured my loss.

Had I remained calm and made better decisions, I could have hypno'd one of the two players in contact with my cage, allowing the other to get a 2 die block to shove him back, and largely maintained the cage. Instead I didn't think, immediately bit the thrall and threw a 1 die block that landed skull and left my ball carrier highly exposed.

On the bright side, my defeat was tempered by Young-Ho rolling a 12, and getting to 4 strength. Of course, that now means I have to find him 3 touchdowns so he can get block, but that's a problem I'm more than happy to have.