Masons coach finally equal to the task

Our monthly gaming day has been set as the final Saturday in the month. We meet at 8.30am and play through to lunch time. It is working out very well and leaves the rest of the day to do family stuff. Yesterday saw us back at the Guildball pitch and we were both looking forward to it very much. The Dark Templar had laid out his thoughts on his blog.

I had done some reading on my Masons and decided to take Brick for the first time. I dropped Tower. There is a lot written about Brick but I had figured out that his roll can be complementary to the overall team. I am playing him as a rumble strip. He sits in the middle of the board and can charge anything that comes in his 6" range. With 19 wounds he can be a pain for the opposition. I am not planning to give him influence and this will mean that I can stack it elsewhere. Flint and Harmony will be my runners and ball carriers. Honour and Mallet will be my beat sticks. Marbles will support in the middle of the board and cast Tooled Up on Mallet, adding plus one to his damage.

My plan was to stack Influence on Honour and Mallet and focus them on a single target to kill someone and get the player numbers working in my favour. I want to use Momentum to allow my guys to have the additional 4" dodge. This will increase my movement and make it hard to get to me. That was the basic plan.

So to the game.

It was fantastic. A proper dust up, a really great game that ebbed and flowed and had us breathless by the end.

We played Plots for the first time.

You deal 5 and pick 3 out of the five. I had Man Down, Knee Slide and Miraculous Recovery. Very handy especially against the Butchers.

I opted to receive the ball. This was a first but I figured starting with the ball would be a good thing for the Masons.  Brisket kicked off and the ball bounced very kindly to land in front of Harmony.

Harmony picked up the ball and then kicked it to Honour who kicked it to Mallet who kicked it Flint. This all generated lots of Momentum and gave me lots of 4" dodges. I was able to advance Mallet using Quick Time. Honour got stuck into Boar. Unfortunately the Butchers were wise to my tactics and managed to break line of sight so that Mallet could not double team Boar. As it was he was badly mauled. Mallet got stuck in to the rest of the Butchers team instead. My new dice were on fire. I am loving them.

The new tokens were brilliant too!! It is much easier to keep track of all the buffs etc.

Flint advanced up the right hand side of the field with ball.

The Butchers got to him and stripped the ball.Only for Flint to get the ball back and score. A great start. The Butchers were bloodied and we the Masons had scored. This felt like a very different game to those that we had played to date.

The Butchers recovered the ball.

They bunched together in the middle of the park to take advantage of over lapping pulse effects. They recovered their composure and began to do what they do best - dish out damage. They advanced the ball and quickly scored while taking out Honour, Harmony and Marbles. Ouch! I was able to use Miraculous Recovery to get Honour back into the game and try to defend against the score. To no avail. 10 - 4 to the Butchers.

However she was well positioned for the restart. I recovered the ball and ran down the right and kicked to Flint. I used Superior Strategy to allow Fint to immediately activate. He ran and used Where'd They Go and Super Shot to score. 10 - 8 before the Butchers could do anything about it. It was on a knife edge. Could the Masons get the ball back and score to win? Or would the Butchers finish off another Mason to claim the victory.

It was to be the Butchers day. They ganged up on Honour and took her out of the game. But what a game.

I have proved that the is much more to the Masons and the way to achieve this is to stack Influence. Brick works because he is not given any Influence. I am starting to understand how to use Influence to generate Momentum to give additional Movement. There is a lot to this game and each team has its own specific character. I think that the Masons are difficult to play because you have to think strategy and tactics and then use the Influence properly to deliver the plan. Bloody good fun though.

He shoots - he Sscoooorresss!

2016 and the start of some regular gaming. Hurray. Today it was Guild Ball. My Masons taking on the Dark Templars Butchers. Our first proper game with six a side teams, needing 12 victory points to claim the win.

Now I had given the game some thought. We had played a couple games with the Starter Box sets and learned a fair bit from that. We both agreed that this is a really good game to play and that each of the teams has its own distinct character. The players combinations and styles are also unique and the game dynamics are very well thought out.

Team selection.

My captain Honour is in, as the whole team revolves around her.
Next is Harmony. She is linked with Honour and can even use Honours stats in certain situations.
Marbles is in the line up. He is a cool mascot and can be great for the team.
Flint is my ball carrier and main Kicker so he is a must. Long distance kicking if Influence is used well.
Mallet is a solid player if a bit slow. He will be shoring up the middle of the park.
My final choice was the inclusion of Tower. I liked the way he could dish damage against Knocked Down players.

Tactics

I had a basic plan. I knew that the Butchers would want to take hold of the middle of the field and then lock the Masons into battle and beat them senseless. To counter this I planned to kick the ball wide to create space and then pass it a fair bit to generate Momentum and use the Give'n'Go and Pass'n'Move rules to allow characters an extra 4" Dodge. This had worked well in our starter games and with Flint on the board I should be able to really take advantage of this.

I planned to use Marbles to tie up  the Butchers ball carrier Brisket. Marbles has the Goad ability. This forces the named model to move towards Marbles all the time he is on the board. Also because Marbles has Loved Creature the Butchers will not want to kill him early. This gives the team big bonuses in the turn he dies. So move Marbles away from the play and lock Brisket out of the action.

Tower and Mallet will engage the Butchers in the middle of the park.

Honour, Harmony and Flint will form a flying squad and operate on the sidelines with a view to scoring 3 goals. Each worth 4 victory points.

The plan is to score early and then use Flint, Marbles, Honour and Harmony to Tackle. They have Tackle in their first damage slot and this will be important.

The main thing is to move and pass. Score early and try to get the ball back. Take advantage of the early rounds when I have all my guys on the board.

The Game

The Masons started the game by kicking off.

I lined up with my Kicker in the middle and then split Harmony and Honour. This gave me options to move the ball away from Brisket. I kicked diagonally and placed the ball just over the half way line. 4 dice needing a single 4+ roll. Fail! The ball scatters and ends up almost off the board.

The Dark Templar had included Shank in his line-up and I think the model is just spectacular. I love those flowing chains.

Brisket was lined up on the Butchers right, so would be the target for Marbles. Ox and Boar lined up in the middle with Boiler on the left.

The chase was on to pick up the ball. I actually managed to get Flint to the ball. He ran down the line with it and then kicked back to Harmony. 4 dice needing a single 4+, Fail! OMG! The plan had been to make two or three passes to give extra movement to Harmony and Honour but No.

The ball scatters and both teams decend on it. Ox comes through and finally gets hold of it. Love that model too and the DT has done a cool painting job on him.

It looked like I was in real trouble.

Marbles had done his job and was locking down Brisket and Princess on the left and Tower and Mallet were standing up to Boar in the middle.

I realised that I could hit Boar on a 2+ and planned to try and take him out. Mallet hit him with Knock Down. I had given Tower loads of Influence and he then got stuck into the prone Boar. I got close but couldn't quite kill him. I needed to have a third person there to guarantee success. I got soon close though.

I sent Honour after Ox to Tackle for the ball.

He countered a couple of times and so the ball exchanged hands. It was very dramatic and thankfully I had given her enough Influence to do the job. Finally she got the ball and passed it down the field to Flint who used Pass'n'Move to advance towards the goal.

Finally Flint uses Super Shot to gain Kick bonuses and takes his shot with 5 dice needing a 4+.

Success!! The Masons score. It's our first ever and quite dramatic! Yippee!

Now in reality I was being beaten to a pulp elsewhere on the board. All that messing at the beginning was costing me. I had been 6-0 down but this score got me back to 6-4.

In Guild Ball the ball bounces straight back into play. It bounced out to the far wing so I used Run the Length to advance Flint in its direction.

The problem for the Masons was that we were losing players. This then gave numerical advantage to the Butchers and additional dice rolling advantages. We needed to retrieve the ball quickly and score again to have any hope of victory.

Both Marbles and Flint have Tackle in the first damage columns. I needed to use this. Marbles continued to Goad Brisket so she couldn't escape with the ball and this gave Flint the chance to get close and Tackle the ball back.



Shank was close and he stole in back for the Butchers. He hit Flint hard and did a lot of Damage allowing him to Wrap. He Tackled on the first damage and Flint used Close Control to hold on to the ball but Shank Tackled again on the Wrap and then stole away.



Honour went down to Ox. Marbles went down and then in the Maintenance phase Flint finally went down to Poison.

Butchers win 12 - 4.

Summary

We love the game. This one was good fun. It was unfortunate that I fumbled the ball so much in the beginning but once I finally got hold of it and generated Momentum I started to shine.

It is clear that each character has its own role and getting them doing the things that they are good at is vital to having success. We learned a lot in this our first proper game and it was great to see some of the new characters in action.

We still have a lot to learn and I know I will enjoy the journey.

2016 Guildball Match Report

Hello all and welcome to 2016. May it prove to be a great one for the hobby. Lets get paint on models and play for fun.

We started the new year year with a new game - Guildball. The Dark Templar came back from his trip up north and we were ready to go. I was playing the Masons boxed starter set which I had painted earlier in the year. DT was playing the Butchers and he had done a splendid job on painting his captain Ox.

We laid out the board and were ready for whatever the day would throw at us.

The excitement was palpable. We were using the the full 3x3 and did not place and debris. We set  the target Victory Points at 6. There are 4 for scoring a goal and 2 for taking out an opposition player. They recommend playing 2x2 and I think this would have been better in terms of play, but we had the  mat so .....

There are some excellent utube videos out there to give guidance to any new players and it is advised to take advantage of this resource. I found it really helpful. The rulebook itself is not easy reading although the starter rules are excellent!

The Masons team was made up of my Captain Honour, my ball carrier Harmony and Mallet for some power.

We faced the Butchers who fielded the captain Ox, ball carrier Brisket and Boiler.

We kicked off and were both trembling with excitement.

First thing to say is that this game has real personality. We really got into it very quickly. There is a lot to take on board and the first game was all about getting a feel for the characters and learning a few tactics.

The Brewers are an extreme team. There way of winning is to stick the ball 'up their jumper' and wail on the opposition. The Masons need to play and score. It was great fun.

The first game was a static affair and Ox set the tone. By laying into Mallet.

This was followed by a proper 'dust up' in the middle of the park.

Before finally the Brewers got the first Touchdown. Mallet had already been 'laid out', so 6-0 to the Brewers to conclude game one.

So I had learned that I could not 'mix it' with the Brewers!

Game two was a much more fluid affair. I started with the ball. I passed a few times and each time used Pass'n'Move with the Momentum gained to Dodge forward an extra 4". This proved to be a really cool tactic and got me moving well up the board. We also spotted that Honour has a Momentous 1 Damage, 2" Dodge in the second column of her damage table. So if she Attacks and does 2 damage she can trigger this outcome. I used this to revolve around the group of Brewers. I had success after success. It was amazing and exciting. Really cool game mechanics. I loved it!!

Finally I got myself in shooting distance. I had 4 Kick dice and just needed to roll a 4+ on any of them for the fist Masons Touchdown! I picked up my blue dice and confidently rolled .....

No matter the game - you still need the luck of the gods. The Brewers pounced on my miss and proceeded to pummel my guys into submission. 6-0 to the Brewers. A trend developing. On the up side I had learned how to move the ball quickly and effectively. I had learned about Momentum and how it could be used to great advantage. 

The third game followed and more learning.

I started with the ball and this time I teamed up Mallet and Honour, using Quick Time to drag the slow moving Mallet up the field. I did't use Topping Out except once and this was a mistake as the extra Armour or Influence would have been important.  Responsive Play is a great advantage when linked with the Momentous 1 Damage, 2" Dodge. It takes Honour out of harms way. I slid Harmony up the field while tying dow the Brewers in the middle of the park.

This time Harmony got close.

And closer still, however Brisket got in a vital Tackle to retrieve the ball.

The Brewers had the ball back and were able to march down the field before Ox stepped up to do the honours and score the final Touchdown.

A familiar out come 6-0 to the Brewers.

Summary

This is a great game. There is a lot to learn and it is very chacterful. It feels like a cross between Bloodbowl and Malifaux. The game needs to be 6v6 on a playing field of this size. This will increase the options for each side and tigger more of the interesting plays.

The game is great fun and there is lots happening. There are plenty of dice to roll and there is a need for a multitude of markers. I'm not sure how this will feel when there are more characters in play but it manageable at 3v3.

We need to get dates in diaries and get a few more games under our belt.

Happy 2016 to one and all.

Skaven & Dark Elves clash!

And so it came to pass that the Boomtown Rats commenced their Blood Bowl season. A hugely eventful match that finished with a 2-2 draw and a very unhappy Dark Elf coach. For myself, well I laughed and cried in equal measure and in the end was delighted to get away with draw.

The new ref had a quiet word with the captains and we were ready to go.

The skaven started by receiving the ball. We rolled a 'Quick Snap' on the kick off table and I was instantly on the front foot. I could move my guys one square before the start of the game. I advanced over the 'line of scrimmage' to make the most of the pressure.

I picked up the ball with my Thrower. Opened up some gaps in the defensive line and moved a Gutter Runner and Blitzer into a good position down the right flank.

I was ready to score the first touchdown of the game but ........ I just couldn't resist the opportunity to foul before letting fly.

2D6 and I roll 5-5, a double. Oh My God! The referee had spotted the foul and sent my Lineman off. The ref, my new ref...... how could he. It was only Turn 3 and already I was down a man. It was also a turnover so no opportunity to Throw. I had really messed up.

The Dark Elves came pouring through and compounded my problems by inflicting the first 'casualty' of the game. Those new coloured Block dice were working fine and McMourning got to play with my number 10.

I was in big trouble now. Two men down and feeling the pressure.

Up stepped the Dark Elf, Adin Heartrender with the AG of 5 to dance his way through the Skaven tackle zones causing chaos, the ball dropped, he picks it up - this just can't be happening

 He then dances away, ready to go in for a score.

I stupidly tried to get something out of the situation by pushing a Dark Elf into the crowd. I failed and then found my own Thrower on the receiving end of this tactic.

So after a good start I should have been ahead and instead I am 0-1 down with 2 men off the field and my Thrower in the crowd. I was starting to feel like this was going to be a long day at the office.

After the next 'kick off' I play the refused flank tactic to take a lot of the Dark Elves out of the game. I gave the ball to one of my 'Gutter Runners', Plagric Carbunkle. My 'Blockers' and 'Linemen' did their job, caused a couple of casualties of their own and opened up a gap on the left hand side of the line. The remaining 'Gutter Runners' spilled through. It was looking good. The number of players was balancing out and I might be on for a score.

I 'Threw' the ball, successfully. I 'Caught' the ball successfully. Very exciting stuff. All I needed was one successful 'Dodge' roll and I would be in for a score.

And......

My Gutter Runner who has the Dodge skill - feel over, dropped the ball and caused a 'turnover'. Noooooooooo!!

The Darkblades had 2 turns left to score for a second time.

The excitement level was through the ceiling. The Darktemplar was on the verge of greatness and really putting the game beyond reach. He picked the up the ball and advanced to a position from which the ball could be thrown on the final turn of the half.

He was determined that no body was going to get in the way and carefully assembled his cage for maximum protection. With all the focus on protecting the ball a major mistake was made - no body was left close enough to the end zone to receive the ball in final turn. A major error indeed and so the half finished with the Darkblades 0-1 ahead.

It was time for Pizza!

This one half had been amazing with much more action than any of the previous games. We were both buzzing. I knew I had made some big blunders and my dice rolling was also letting me down I should have had 2 touchdowns and had none. But on the up side I should really be 0-2 down and I wasn't so there was hope.

My main problem in the second half was that I would be kicking away possession. I needed to get the ball and get a score on the board. So focus now!!

We set up. The ball scattered back close to the end zone and then we rolled on the Kick-off table. A 10 'Blitz', we read what it meant and I got a free turn of moving. Yippie!! Well I could have exploded from the laughter. Just what I needed!

I threw the Gutter Runners forward through the gaps on either side of the pitch. I even got my Thrower (newly returned to the field of play) in on the act by Blitzing a Blitzer to force a gap for himself. It was hilarious, I kid you not. (At least it was from my perspective). The Dark Templar knew that he should have had the game well beyond me and was feeling the pressure that four free running Gutter Runners came bring to bear.

He moved super star Adin Heartrender in to collect the ball. This was done successfully. However cage creation was impossible as he was too far into his own half. He was vulnerable. To compound things I started my turn by Blocking on the line of scrimmage to devastating effect, causing 2 casualties, before mugging Adin Heartrender, capturing the ball and going in for a score! Plagric Carbunkle the scorer.

My mirth was effervescent. The Dark Templar couldn't believe what was happening. From an almost unassailable position we were now level and he had 4 men in the Dead pile.

The Dark elves now received the ball, formed a cage

and blasted their way through for a well taken score.

And finally there was just enough time for me to do the same. My Thrower moved around in the pocket

But 2 Blitzers managed to get to at him with a well planned Blitz move. I spilled the ball.

However my Gutter Runner nipped in, picked the ball up and was away to for a touchdown as part of the final turn.

What a hugely eventful day. Overall I scored 2 touchdowns, caused 3 casualties and completed a successful pass. The MVP was my Gutter Runner Plagric Carbunkle (no. 1) with a successful Pass and a TD of his own. We rolled for him and he will get a new skill. I also have £60k to spend. Plagric - a name to be remembered and feared for the future.

Thanks to the Dark Templar for being a great sport and contributing to a great days fun and merriment. Now I need to read up on skill allocation....