Journey of the Maulers: Vultures in the sky

The regulations for Corona are tightening again and the next Blood Bowl edition is just around the corner. Reason enough to put my foot down and give you a short summary of the pre-to-last game of the first season of the reformed team of the Maulers.

As usual, I used as many special rules as possible in this match and so it took place in a rpough and ready stadium. Our league reporter Mocky Python has remarked that the Blood Bowl games of ambitious teams in the lower leagues are not for a continuous broadcast, so you'll only see a highligtreel here.

Rough and Ready Stadium

Unclear Markings: The kicking team can move the center line one field forward or backward. Also, as many players as you like can be placed in the side zones.

The Maulers played against the Ostland Golden Vultures, a team that was brought to life by an unfortunate incident and has now played eleven games. Accordingly, the Maulers had some money for petty cash and secured the services of starplayer Troll Ripper Bolgrot as well as a sip of Bloodwiser to see knocked-out players back on the field sooner.

The special rules for the stadium created an interesting starting situation

This was badly needed, because the Vultures had a tough squad. I've played this team ages ago and they were rather competitive, so the spam of Block and Guard was really disgusting.

Turn 1

Right at the beginning of the game it became clear why I prefer no starplayers for the most part. No matter how much fame they bring to the field, bad karma always follows them and so Ripper Bolgrot spent most of his time trying to get up from his own blocks.

„Starplayers“…

Turn 2

While the Maulers tried to make room on one side, the Vultures showed that a more experienced team is always a tough nut to crack. Instead of clearing a side zone, three Orcs were tied to the right side and had to be careful not to be pushed off the field in the next turn.

In addition, the Vultures began to pressure the ball carrier, who was still quite far at the back of his own half of the field.

Turn 3

In the third turn, the greenskins prepared everything for a long pass and sent several players downfield. This may have been a bit early for such a daring tactic, but the pressure on the thrower forced the orcs to act. On the sidelines, the blitzer also managed to free himself from the precarious situation that would have ended soon with an acquaintance of the audience.

Unfortunately the undead succeeded in keeping the Maulers in check. Also the situation on the sidelines came to a halt again and a few blocks later it became clear that the veterans were not to be fooled with. Two blitzers and a lineorc balanced on the edge between a beating from opposing players or the crowd.

A Special Play card would have given Gulgur Goldfingaz, the Maulers' thrower, the opportunity to throw the ball far into the opponent's half to the other two blitzerd, but in the meantime these were covered again and so it happened that in...

Turn 5

...Gulgur had to run for daylight. On the left side a corridor had opened up where only a zombie could stand in the way.

But the Vultures reacted promptly. While several players of the Maulers kissed the ground, the ghoul Jin Ko moved like a threatening shadow across the Ostlanders half. Not only would the ball carrier need the maximum number of moves to reach the end zone, but a sack became most likely.

Turn 6

There was nothing to be done now - the only way to score points was to trust in luck. And indeed, the Orcs managed to dissolve the turmoil before the end zone to such an extent that the deviating ball had a good chance to land on one of their own players.

The 29,000 fans could hardly believe it when the ball was actually about to land in the hands of the young blitzer Hacka Bellycutta, but he did not manage to get the ball under control despite a vicious try. The end zone was so close...and yet so far away.

These are the moments when Blood Bowl games take off. The desperate situations that lead to desperate measures. Or where teams simply show that they have nerves of steel! The Vultures proved in this moment why they were the runner-up in the first Challenge Cup.

Turn 7

So what do you do in situations where the hand suddenly turns in favor of your opponents? Correct. You follow their example!

The Maulers risked a blitz with a blackorc, who first had to get out of the range of a skeleton and got lucky. In fact, the swing was so enormous that in the seventh turn of the game the Maulers finally got their first star player points when the ghoul left the field with an injury. However, he shook off the blow like a real man and regenerated immediately (yes, I noticed later on that they don’t have regeneration…).

The rest of the half was uneventful and the referee sent the players into the needed break, where the orcs' thrower and a blitzer, who had been knocked out in the meantime, recovered with a generous sip of Bloodwiser.

SECOND HALF

Turn 1

The Vultures had, much to the annoyance of the Maulers, prevented the touchdown in the first half, while the Orcs were very lucky not to fall behind. The angry screams on the sidelines, however, apparently spurred the greenskins on. At the beginning of the halftime they reacted quickly to the Vultures' attack and changed their defensive formation. Even Ripper Bolgrot finally did something else for his money than just lying around and injured a zombie. Thrat the Threat also lived up to its name and even managed to kill one of the skeletons. But only a short moment passed, when both players were sitting on the substitutes bench again, freshly regenerated.

In return, the undead wriggled past the defense, but the two missing players made themselves felt. The strategy was clear - quickly score a point to bring the reserves back onto the field.

Turn 4

Although the greenskins made a respectable attempt to prevent the ghoul from advancing, they did not succeed in keeping him in place. Elegantly he dived under the approaching fists of his opponents and sprinted to just before the end zone.

In the fourth move, even the Maulers' strong defense was no match for the ghoul, who took the lead with the same maneuver that prevented the greenskins' point in the first half.

Snarling their teeth the orcs awaited the kick off. It was frustrating to see how the undead, who had just been beaten, staggered back onto the field. But Gork and Mork seemed to have answered the orcs' prayers, there was no other way to describe the sheer amount of luck. Two zombies on the center line were sent straight back into the dugout, allowing for the convenient shaping of a cage.

This disgusting tactic is usually a thing for dwarves, but to get at least a draw, the Maulers decided to start a slow, violent march across the field.

Turn 6

In the course of the half time the Vultures had to put up with further losses. A skeleton that didn't regenerate wouldn't be able to play the next game while the wight Baron Kako made his way to the knockout box.

The dugout began to fill…

Turn 8

The last turn of the game gained even more tension. The Vultures freed the ball just before their own end zone and even managed to pick it up.

The frustration of the Maulers was huge when three blocks did not bring the ghoul down and the blitzer had to use the blitz to free the ball. The agile ghoul, who was also to be respected in the attack, would only go down on a pow result, which made the chances of him going down look very small.

But the unthinkable happened and the ghoul went down. The ball also bounced into a favorable field, so that Borag Oldboy only had to pick it up during his run. But a blitzer is not a runner and so the ball did get into the end zone, but not in the possession of the Maulers.

And so the game ended with a 0-1 defeat for the Maulers. In the teams bank there was now at least enough money to afford the missing blackorc again and to bring the team to its desired strength. Lineorc Gorhuk and blackorc Kragg Ratmaula improved during this game and would bring their new skills to bear in the course of the last game of the season.

So, the last game of the season will probably also be the last game I will play according to the rules of the 2016 edition. Stay tuned for the grand finale of the first campaign season.

Greetings from the sidelines

Coach Dino