“This was a messy game, fought mostly in the centre of the field, between two teams that had a lot more success hitting each other than they did playing the ball. It was played in a blizzard that lasted for the entire game, and two riots and a blitz meant we played for a total of 37 turns... It was hard going.

A couple of early injuries and a sending off thinned out the numbers slightly, but it still left enough for a massive scrum around the ball after I finally managed to get around and blitz the ball-carrier. But after a few turns, I scooped it up with my thrower and decided he should probably keep hold of it rather than try a pass.

I finally scored on turn 7, leaving the wood elves the chance for a 1-turn TD (although being a new team with no catchers, it would have been a slim chance). But fortunately for Wittel there was a riot, and after what should have been his final turn, he found his wardancer within easy reach of the endzone, in the open, with my tackler on the wrong side of the field.

Easy score.

And then it was my turn. I didn't set up for the 1-turner because I was still four men down (3 KOs who refused to come back) and thought I'd just knock the tree over instead, just in case I got a lucky injury roll. So it serves me right that there was another riot on the kick-off and I hadn't put myself in a position to make the most of it. I did manage to get a catcher and a blitzer within reach of the endzone, but the six deep wood elves dealt with them easily enough and I was forced to settle with 1-1 at the half.

The second half was just as slow and cautious from the humans and the wood elves put up a good defence, despite the tree taking root and a lineman dying. But eventually I was in a position to score and feeling I could finally risk a pass, I risked a pass. Score.

And then Nuffle gave me a blitz on the final wood elf drive. I nearly messed it up when the ball ignored all my players and bounced back over the halfway line, so that Wittel was able to give it to a free lineman who could run down - with cover - and be ready for the equaliser.

Pushing my luck, I tied up all the wood elves, put the ball-carrier in a TZ and then went for the blitz, needing a 3+ dodge and a 3+ gfi to make it. Not only did I make it, I also knocked over the ball-carrier, picked it up with my thrower and tossed it downfield to the catcher who was within range to score...and who fumbled the catch.

So another win for the humans, and a painless one at that. Still not enough gold to replace the ogre - that will take one (if I'm lucky) or two more games, but more fans and guard on a rookie lineman kept me smiling.

It was a hard game for the wood elves in their first outing, with the blizzard killing the passing game and the humans killing a lineman, but hopefully things can only get better from this point on. It was a well-fought game and could so easily have been a win for the elves with just a little bit more luck - or a little bit less luck for the humans, perhaps.”