“OCCS - Antipodal Regional Shield - Round Two

I’ll be the first to admit the Anvils got lucky in their first round win. But in this match I have to feel Nuffle took his revenge a little bit too far! Fair play to BlackOrc though, he used the good dice well and once things started going sour he really gave me little chance.

The game started with the underdogs, Ronto Szellemek getting a handicap, knuckledusters. This turned their star ST 4 werewolf, CsipdMeg into a possible carnage machine. The runesmith decided to bestow a rune of agility on Ludih Lowsmiter. The theory being that having a mobile tackler (who just so happens to have MB!) could be a real pain for Ronto Szellemek to deal with.

Ronto Szellemek won the toss and decided to receive. The Anvils set up pretty classically but kept their players far enough from the sidelines to avoid a first turn surf. The drive started well for the necros, KOing a longbeard and stunning a few more. It was to later be discovered that the dwarves had shunned their armour for this match in the hope it would give them a chance of keeping up with those nippy wolves. It turned out that they just ended up being stunned every time they went to ground! Throughout the whole match Ronto Szellemek had remarkable luck with the block dice and armour rolls (failing barely a handful). Fortunately for the Anvils their injury rolls weren’t nearly as good so the team still has a future!

The necros started to press their drive down the left flank but one turn they left a possible opening for the Anvils. With a slayer knocking down a golem it left a hole for a longbeard to mark the ball carrier and for Ludih Lowsmiter to dodge away and sack the unfortunate ghoul. The ball scattered close to the dwarves but too far for them to actually recover it securely. Next turn BlackOrc’s necros proceeded to try and clear the ball but had to resort to picking up while the ball was still marked by dwarves. He managed it though and took a few steps back into what the wight hoped was safety. The Anvils however had other ideas. With Guh Flamecut using his extra turn of pace to provide the assist for Ludih who again dodged free to blitz, they managed to get the ball loose a second time. The lack of pace began to tell at this point though as the shorties just couldn’t get to the ball.

The necros this turn managed to secure the ball and CsipdMeg began the drive for the endzone. The Anvils got frustrated at this point with a third blitz resulting in a skull on the ball carrier and ending any chance of getting to the ball. It seems that once the pressure was off the dwarves they were able to perform. They caused five casualties this game, all at unimportant moments and on fodder zombies, who regenerated. This was at least till the end of the second half when Dalo managed to niggle Bosszu.

Ronto Szellemek scored in their last turn of the half and the dwarves prayed to Nuffle that the luck would turn in the second half. A stupid setup by the Anvils coach meant that their star runner Sug wasn’t in range of the ball and after some blocks on the line it was left to Eeri to collect the ball. He fumbled the pickup and the Anvils pretty much resigned themselves to this not being their game. The necros swamped the ball but the Anvils thought they still had a chance to rescue the drive, hopefully by surfing a couple of wolves! The dwarves pushed a wight onto the ball as he was on his way to meet his fans, but the scatter was good for the necros landing in the hands of a ghoul and with no dwarves free to mark him. With a swift change of direction to the opposite flank the dwarves looked like they’d be in trouble.

Somehow the dwarves managed to mark the wolf and the necros needed a lot of luck to take down Sug on a 1d block and make a run for the line (one of at least three 1d POWs at key moments for the necros throughout the match). With no way to get to the wolf the Anvils sent a couple of players chasing while the rest decided to take out their frustrations on the unfortunate necros who were left behind on the break. With the score 2-0 and only four turns left there really was no hope of salvaging anything from this match for the Anvils. They started a bit of a drive but a misclick gave a premature ending to an Anvil turn allowing another break by Ronto Szellemek and what looked certain to be a third touchdown. Only a failed gfi and subsequent failed pick-up prevented a rather unflattering score line for the Anvils.

A terrible result for the Anvils. The dice were definitely against them but it was BlackOrc’s good use of his awesome rolls that completely removed any chance for the Anvils. Best of luck in the tourney and I look forward to a rematch in which Nuffle isn’t quite so involved! :)”