Skilling up

After our game this week I had acquired a lot of SPP's. Three players had new skills to choose. A new Black Orc, A new Blitzer and Karfu my Orc super Blitzer who already had the Mighty Blow upgrade.

I think the easy choice is to give the Black Orc, Block. It had worked well for the first Black Orc upgrade.

The Blitzer is questionable. Number 11, Pergu Nail Snapper, scored two touchdowns and was awarded Most Valuable Player. His current tally of SPP's is fourteen and therefore very close to his next upgrade. So do I make him into another Killer Blitzer following Karfu's footsteps or do I go for a Support Blitzer. I am leaning towards the Support role.

I am looking at Guard and Tackle.

Guard means you always assist in a Block even if you are in another players tackle zone. I can see that being used a lot.

Tackle means that players standing in my tackle zone can't use their Dodge skill. On the whole, at at this early stage I think that Guard will be used more in the games. So Guard it is.

And now to the main man - Karfu!

He had a great game and has become a real menace. Giving him a second skill will only increase his threat. But what to give him. I am looking at Piling On and Frenzy as my main options.

Piling On sounds good but has a downside in that you finish as 'Prone' lying face up on the field, vulnerable. The upside is that you can force a knocked down player to reroll either the Armour or Injury dice. Good at increasing your casualty causing.

Frenzy sounds great - the player turns into a 'slavering psychopath'. Here, if the opponent is Pushed Back or Defender Stumbles you must follow up and Block him again. This could be great for opening up holes in the line or breaking through cages. Perhaps the downside is that the action must be taken. There is no choice. The second Block might not have the assists that the first had. So there is potential downside.

I am swaying towards Frenzy, probably because you finish standing up, but some more thought required.

All advice gratefully received.

To the Victors ...

It only seemed right that the developing players should get a little tender loving care. Two players had moved along and picked an extra skill.

Black Orc - 'Vultog Flame Basher' acquired Block which seriously improves his blocking skill. (by 16.66%) I thought that I would add to his model making him stand out from the other Black Orcs.

First I built a hat from green stuff and some bits from the Orc Bitz Box. I went for the 'broken horn' look.

I also added another shoulder pad. I went for something smaller than the one on the left.

Finally I added a disk to the bottom of the left shoulder pad. This can be used to write his number on and keep him looking the same as his team mates.

Blitzer - Karfu Eye Cutter acquired Mighty Blow. In future when he knocks down opposition players they will have to add '1' to their AV roll or add '1' to the Injury Table roll (Ouch!!) making it more likely that he will cause serious damage. My existing Blitzer model are the same. I figured that a 'new build' was appropriate. Karfu actually has the most SPP's on the team with 10. In game 2 he caused a casualty, scored a touchdown and was the MVP. A bit of a superman really. He is therefore closest to getting a second skill and becoming a bit of a monster.

I returned to the Warhammer Savage Orcs box set. There is a running orc model with only one foot on the floor (in fact 4 of them...how fitting) So I picked the one I liked best. I do like the head, a broken undead limb in his mouth.

I went for the 'both hands in the air' look. You can feel the 'mighty blow' that he is about to deliver.

I added shoulder pads and again used some green stuff to make the metal disk for his number.

Now if it would only stop raining I could get outside to put some primer on him. But that doesn't look likely today.

In summary our narrative is developing nicely.....

Yakstick Sticky Hand (chief goblin) has acquired a reputation. Super scorer, dodger supreme and target for the 'bucket' treatment!!

Bolgot Bone Snapper (troll) has proved to be the much needed immovable object in the middle of the field

Popeye Wind Rider (Thrower) has become the lead ball handler / Thrower having completed an accurate pass in game 2.

Vultog Flame Basher (Black Orc) has become the lead casualty causer, with 3 so far.

Karfu Eye Cutter (Blitzer) is the current 'super star' and will be the one to watch going forward.

What next? - we are discussing an away match later in the week and not sure who the opposition will be yet, Dark Elves, Humans, Undead or maybe even Khemri? Will Nuffle be sated by the much anticipated Auzzie coloured Block dice? Bring it on.

Going tribal

Well as the team develops I figured that I needed each player to have some individual personality. Over the christmas I was having a look at the Savage Orcs from Warhammer and really liked them. I purchased a box set and have had a bit of fun creating some new Black Orcs.

Plenty of broken bones on display, well they were scattered all over the field following the visit by the Gravesend Gutchewers. It was only right to make use of them ;-)

And it is always handy to have a 'weapon' now that we will be be doing a little more fouling!

Bring on the rematch.

Black Orcs

The key element of Blood Bowl is Blocking. Block or be Blocked that is how damage is done.

Obviously some teams love to Throw and Catch the ball with their fast players Dodging their way through tackle zones but at some point the game boils down to Block or be Blocked and Black Orcs are built for this task.

Black Orcs

The Orcland Raiders line is lead by the fearsome number 4, Vultog Flame Basher.

Black Orc and has the following stats MA4, ST4, AG2, AV9 with no special skills.

Movement Allowance is slow with the MA4 allowing only 4 squares of movement. This is below average, so not built for speed. Agility of 2 is really low so no dancing and dodging in the game plan. (Does Vultog look bothered? - I think not) The upside is a Strength of 4 and Armour Value of 9, both above average. This means that they can dish out damage as well as take the hits themselves.

Blocking

The aim of a Block is to move the opponent around. Force them to a square they don't want to be on or better still knock them to the ground and injure them. This is how holes can be created in the defence line. Each standing player has a tackle zone surrounding their square. It is difficult to move through tackle zones. If you can force players, and their tackle zones,  apart then free moving lanes can be created for the team to exploit.

Blocking is based on ST. The player who is blocking must be adjacent to his target in order to perform a Block. The stronger player has the advantage. When performing a Block the player rolls special Blocking dice. If both players are equal ST then one dice is rolled. If one player is stronger than the other then two dice are rolled and the stronger player chooses which dice to use for the result. This is a big advantage!

The dice themselves are D6 and look like this.

The player performing the Block is the attacker and the player receiving the Block is the defender.

1. The Skull = The attacking player is Knocked Down, not a good outcome.
2. The Skull & Flash = Both players are Knocked Down. (Can avoid the Knock Down if you have the  Block skill) This can be good because a Knocked Down player has no Tackle Zone.
3 & 4. Arrows = The defending player is Pushed Back by the attacker and the attacking player may follow up.
5. Flash & Exclamation Mark = The defender is Pushed Back and Knocked Down. (He may avoid the Knock Down if he has Dodge as a skill)
6. Flash = The defender is Pushed Back and Knocked Down

The preferred outcome is to push the opposing team back and there is a 66.66% chance of this happening. And then there is the bonus of maybe Knocking him Down as well (33.33% chance without Dodge, 16.66% chance with Dodge)

From a Black Orc perspective this has implications. If Blocking they will usually have the greater ST and so will use two dice and choose the outcome. If being Blocked the opponent will use one dice. And even if the Black Orc is unlucky enough to be Knocked Down they are likely to survive the Armour Roll with an AV of 9. (2D6 less than or equal to 9)

The Orcland Raiders

Back in the day I think there was a limit on the Black Orcs and Blitzers. I seem to recall playing with two of each and a whole lot on Linesmen. Well things have moved on and you can now have 0-4 Black Orcs. So to my mind it would seem like a good idea to field all 4 of the Black Orcs available.

So introducing....

Number 4 - Vultag Flame Basher
Number 5 - Tagdud Bone Ripper
Number 6 - Gunrukk Skull Killer
Number 7 - Gnarllug Nose Slammer

Welcome to the Orcland Raiders fellas!!

Breaking News!!

Yes sports fans its all excitement down here at the Orcland Raiders HQ. The opening series of the new season has been announced and the Orcland Raiders will be hosting a team of Dark Elves on Saturday the 21th December. A real date for the diary that one.

Today the team was out on the main field and I must say that the grounds men have done a great job. Bolgrot Ripper is really settling in well. Already buddying up with the Black Orcs I see. You just know they are going to do some serious damage in the season ahead.

But whats this I notice? A few new faces. Ah Yes - we have a new Orc Linesman folks and he is taking the number one jersey. If I'm not mistaken thats Dergu Bear Licker. He must be a recent transfer from the Gouged Eye.

And lining up beside him in the number three jersey is a new Orc Thrower. We had heard rumours that Boghat Dragon Shooter was on his way and it looks like that can be confirmed.

I see that Boghat has maintained the yellow stripe on his helmet. That has been a tradition of his since his college days. There were some rumours last year that that stripe had travelled to his spine. Lets hope coach Bullcher knows what he doing.

Wow - what a play. Bolgot Ripper has just launched one of his team mates downfield. Soaring through the air - what a sight. Hold the press..... can it be ..... Oh My God ...... it is .....

Folks its another star player - Scrappa Sorehead and in the full Orcland Raiders colours. Oh my, oh my - what a season we have in prospect!!

Could that be a smile on Varag Goul Chewers face. I see he working with the Blitzers today. He must be relishing the opportunities that this new Orcland Raiders lineup will afford coach Bullcher. Bring on Series 1 and those Dark Elves. Lets see what this team is made of.

Blood Bowl 'Orcland Raiders'

In the build up to Christmas I have been working on my Orcs to get them ready for a bit of Blood Bowl. I present the work in progress that is the Orcland Raiders. (shown here on the old style playing board) There is still a bit of work to do to pick out some details and I am short a few models but its all coming together.

So far I have three Black Orcs. Team selection allows a maximum of four so I will need another model to give me full latitude.

I also have three Blitzers and again you are allowed to take four so another model needed.

I have two throwers. (In fact I also have a metal model that I could paint up as well which has a slightly different pose.)

And there are six Linemen.

The team also has a Star Player in the form of Varag ghoul Chewer. I could just play him as a Blitzer in the beginning if needed.

The orcs have a number of other Star Players which I will be looking into and a popular, if unpredictable, option appears to be the inclusion of a Troll called 'Ripper' and a couple of goblins. There is a lot to get my head around but I am looking forward to the challenge.

I have downloaded the latest Blood Bowl competition rules and need to play test them to remember exactly how the whole thing works. Bring on the Christmas Gaming!