“This was an epic game - as you can probably tell from the scoreline. It seemed to go on for ages, and I mean that in a good way. It was so exciting, I really didn't want it to end. But end it must, and the final touchdown, in the very final turn, gave me a 5-4 win.

It was a lucky win. I took a lot of risks and they all paid off, when even one mess up could have turned the scoreline around. marksman0 was a great opponent, and a tough opponent as well, and I look forward to many more games against him in the future.

So on to the game...

It was raining, and so perhaps unsurprisingly, marksman0 elected to kick. A missed block, or a fumbled pick-up right at the start would have given him a great advantage, but sadly for him it was not to be. I was able to get my passing game up and running right from turn 1, and one long pass and one long bomb later, I opened up the scoring.

Undeterred, the high elves returned the favour exactly two turns later.

Undeterred, the wood elves returned the favour exactly two turns later.

Undeterred... but no! The pesky rain finally took its toll and the poor high elves failed a catch, allowing me to nip in there with my thrower and long bomb another score.

But after that, things returned to normal, and marksman0 made sure he pulled one back just before the half.

But then disaster struck for the high elves, with a blitz to open the second half. It's a horrible thing to have to deal with, especially when you end up with a wardancer halfway towards your endzone, in the open and with the ball before you've even had a chance to move. Things were looking comfortable for a wood elf win.

I spoke too soon. In the following turn, marksman0 had the turn off the game as far as he was concerned, knocking over the ball carrier, securing the ball and picking up a BH and a SI in two straight blocks. Suddenly things were no longer looking so rosy for the wood elves.

And sure enough, after a bit of to-and-fro, the Philobowlers passed, handed-off and ran in the equaliser.

But still we weren't finished, not by a long way. Yet again, I pushed my passing game to its limits and scored again. Yet again the high elves replied with an equally speedy touchdown of their own and that left just two turns for the wood elves, one for the high, to settle things once and for all.

The Philobowlers did everything they could, putting the thrower in a TZ, blitzing (and knocking over) the only wood elf capable of reaching the endzone, blocking most of my other players, but when the god of dice is playing for the wood elves, there's just not much you can do. My final turn went like this...

Stand up the catcher, dodge out of a TZ, move, dodge through another TZ, go for it three times to get into the endzone. Then run in a guard to put the two potential interceptors in a TZ, then blitz the AG5 (which resulted in a SKULL/POW but at least put him in 2 TZs. Then dodge with the thrower, then go for it twice to get into range, then make the long bomb (which wasn't intercepted), then make the catch in the rain.

It was an epic play, and a completely excellent way to end a completely excellent game. Yes, it was also completely cheeky and somewhat unfair on an opponent who had done everything possible to secure a draw after a single first-half mishap that had cost him a touchdown. But marksman0 was a true sport and seemed genuinely to have enjoyed the game for what it was, even if it was a loss for him.

And just to continue my perfect dice, I rolled a 6 for my winnings and regained some fans.

I love games like this more than anything. Nine touchdowns, 12 completions for over 100 yards, some truly amazing plays on both sides. Honestly, if the scoreline had been the other way round I wouldn't have minded.

Brilliant stuff.”