Thunderbowl Home of the 40mm board

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you that showed for the Underbowl it was a lot of fun. Sadly I didn't stick around for the end I had a BBQ to go to.

The Green River Killers was my first match up of the day and the game was a blast! Both Steve and Mike had great enthusiasm and it made me appreciate my game much more than I normally do. If not for 2 blitz events in my favor it would have been the Killers day for sure. In the last few turns of the game Mike started to roll the dice and guys started flying off the pitch! I skilled up with 3 players which made it more interesting for my next match. My all time favorite moment in the game was Steve running a Goblin down the field and going for it. He wanted the extra distance and fell over dead from a cardiac arrest. The turn after that he managed to get a gobo on the ball again and get within 1 square of the endzone with Sidestep. He had very little trouble scoring after that. Score Hydra Lords 4 Green River Killers 2.

My second game of the day was against  Dominic and the Elves from the Hood. I was not sure how to play against his elves and it turned out I didn't need to worry. My dice made the decision for me:) Assassins were breaking armour on just about everything and the rest of the team were checking out the High Elf cheerleaders for phone numbers. Dice on both sides were either 1,2 or 5,6... 3 and 4 took the day off. I managed to score a touchdown off of a fumble which was the only one I could get. I had 3 Dirty Trick cards Witches Brew which ended up being the most effective, Exploding Runes which was fun but not game breaking, and Stolen Playbook which I later realized was my own playbook. In the end no skills for me but the Elves from the Hood got another ST4 roided elf bring the total number to 4, big beefy elves now with even tinier balls. Final Score Elves from the Hood 4 Hydra Lords 1

By the end I had decided to retire the assassins and buy a reroll. Sadly I am not so excited about the team and will be starting a new team come August. See you at Spike!

Fans of the Punch-Drunk Prizefighters have been getting drunk and punching each other in the face late into the night, celebrating the teams first win in the playoff qualification round, a 3-2 thriller against the Annoying Goofs.

It must be noted that the lizardmen have lodged a complaint with league officials, alleging that the Punch-Drunk Prizefighters paid a chaos sorceror to draw down torrential rains starting directly before kickoff, and evaporating precisely before the amateur strip-a-thon half-time show.  Lord Chaos was quoted saying the following about the weather: "It was fuggin' black magic!  Those mutha-forkers know that lizardmen get sleepy in the cold rain...  But it was a damn sunny day before and after our offensive half!  We've been robbed!  We've been cheated!  Although it's not all bad.  At least I won 100,000 gold by betting against the Goofs."  The Punch-Drunk Prizefighters have not made an official comment, but the team accountant was serreptitiously recorded during a team celebration at the local brothel, saying that the elves could not control the weather, and they made damn sure that no one could trace the payments to the guy who could.

The first half was a complete mud-bowl.  Torrential rain nearly flooded the stands and definitely affected the lizard running game as they fumbled the ball over and over again despite their rerolls.  Abandoning the forward line, elves swarmed into the back field to pressure the ball carrier.  Despite backfield blitzes by angry Saurus that stunned the catchers over and over, the elf blitzers were finally able to isolate the ball and bust "Puny" Pacquiao free to run it in.  The Annoying Goofs could not buy a break all half with the exception of an early casualty against a line-elf, caused by the stabbing skills of their rented star Hemlock, and KOing Guida "Tha Cheetah", who would fake unconciousness all game to remain safely in the dugout and start his drinking early.  The second PDP touchdown of the half was similar to the first, due to the inability of the lizards to hand off the ball with any reliability.  Eventually the superior agility of "Pretzel" Penn overcame the environmental factors and the desperate tackles of the saurus' guarding the ball to run in for a 2-0 score.

The start of the second half, with the weather clearing up, had the lizards pull out their dirty trick.  With "One Arm" Armstrong isolated in the elf backfield with the ball, he stumbled into a trampoline trap!  Sent flying into the waiting arms of a saurus, he still managed to land on his feet and put the elf passing skills on display as he ducked away from his marker, sprinted around the far side of the formation and tossed a pin-point pass into the middle of the ruck.  "Puny" Pacquiao once again busted loose of the encroaching tackles around him and got the third score on turn 2 of the second half.

By this point, casualties were mounting and the elves were getting outnumbered on the pitch.  When asked why the apothecary was not on hand to tend to the injured, coach Subhedgehog explained:  "WALK IT OFF, WEAKLINGS!  Those 'injured' players are pussies.  They were faking it because they knew were going to win.  Besides, the doc was busy recruiting a new assistant coach/masseuse and a cheerleader/masseuse in his private office.  He said he wanted to see them show off their baby-oil skills.  On each other.  The team's new employees better be smoking hot or I'm going to murder an unnamed apothecary."

With the lack of rain and the burning shame of a 3-0 scoreline urging them on, the lizards put together a good scoring drive quickly and managed to get organized enough to blitz their mid-field kick directly after!  The outnumbered elves couldn't stop the co-ordinated attack and gave up another touchdown.  The two quick TDs left the game at 3-2 with a couple of phases remaining.  The Punch-Drunk Prizefighters brought the ball deep into their end after the kick, taunting the lizardmen as the scaly bastards rushed forward into scoring position and drooled at the ball.  Squinting because of the blazing sun, "Pretzel" Penn rushed up and tossed a pass deep to "Puny" Pacquiao.  Pacquiao was not out of danger however, as he was the elf-meat in a scaly-leather sandwhich, surrounded by angry future boots and handbags.  Despite a crashing blitz and block after block, Pacquiao hung on to the ball to secure the win.

It started off as a what seemed like a lop-sided game, but by the end it was a nail-biter.  The Goofs had a bit of a long shot to score on their turn 8, but it wasn't impossible.  Fortunately for the Punch-Drunk Prizefighters, the Goofs couldn't get it done and PDP walk away with a berth in the quarter-finals.

The qualifier game against the Rotten Corps started out in a Blizzard... An ill omen for the Elvz.  But on the very first block, the Beast of Nurgle was knocked out and would remain off the pitch for eventually the whole half. 

The first half went well.  The Elvz played their game, kept it steady, held the ball until phase 6 to open up the scoring.  The Beast remained knocked out, and the Elvz held the Rotten Corps back, but then it started.  First with a casualty and a couple KO.  But then at the half, none of of the KOs game back, but the Beast did.

During the Nurgle's drive they went on to get 7 Elvz off the pitch.  The Elvz did hold them to phase six before they scored, but then at the end of the drive, none of the KOs came back, or rather one did, but Nurgle just put him in the injury box for his troubles.

So with half a team and three phases the Elvz stacked on one side of the pitch and made their push for a regulation victory.  And the weather had finally cleared up.  But the Nurgle just ran them down like dogs.  Without enough players to either cover the ball carrier or get players into the open, the drive went nowhere.

But then came OT... And still, none of the Elvz came back from KO.  But they won the coin toss so they setup again to try to rush the ball in while they still had what few players they did.   And it was close.  They had a bit of luck in that when the Nurgle hit, the ball stayed in play but by now, cleats slick with the blood of their commrades, the Elvz just could not get away from the Nurgle players. 

Even as the Nurgle picked up the ball and trotted it back up the pitch, simple plays to get into defensive positions just weren't working.  They needed a couple more hands on the pitch, and finally a Nurgle pestigor was able to just walk the ball in for the game.

Oh the indignity!   Oh the shame!  Bumped out by the lowest seed in the qualifying round.  Ground do death on the pitch.  I the words of a great player "It's over!  The season is over, the playoffs is over, it's all over! *waa* *waa*" 

- Arch

I am bringing the 5 mummy team back for one more Spike. Why? Cause it's the last Spike that I will be able to use them at. And this time I am planning on taking home the casualty gold.