the last Bretonnian

I need 9 Knights for my squadron of knights to make up my 750 points for the tale of 4 gamers.

There was no way I was going to fork out another £15 for a box of Knights so rooted through a box of old minis and found an old GW Bretonnian Knight.

Stuck a couple of spare bits on the mini (i.e. Shield, lance etc), and hoped no one would notice.

Of course they did!

the good news is he blends in quite well when in the unit

as the campaign is story driven I have decided the "Last Bretonnian" was originally part of the Bretonnian forces charged with "escorting" the Imperial forces through Bretonnia to make sure they behaved themselves and did not wonder off to rape and pillage (like you do on tour).

As the stories of the riches to be won grew and grew during the trip, the Bretonnian escort decided to abscond from their duties once at the border and joined the Imperial Expedition!

Unfortunately the "last Bretonnians" comrades were all massacred during an ill fated charge at Blood pass trying to establish their bridge head."The last Bretonnian" was absent from the battle due to being laid low with dysentery!!!!

In a vow to avenge his lost comrades and regain his honour he now insists in being of the front rank of all charges. He has slowly been equiped with spare equipment from the Empire stores as his equipment worn out.

Its a lot of fluff but it saved me the £15 of buying a whole new box of knghts.

Callus Darklore, Necromancer 03421. Empire battle wizard proxy

Worked my toy shop Saturday, and between customers managed to knock out a couple of minis.

I like painting in the shop as people think it is me that paints the toys. If Morrisons can advertise that "market street" bollocks, when Super markets are directly reasponsible for the death of the independant high street then I can paint in the shop and let people think I am Geppetto.

Anyway rant over, here is my proxy Empire battle wizard Marcus.

No surprise it is a reaper proxy

I have usually elected to use fire magic in the games I have played so far, so have gone for the red and yellow clothes scheme. I also figure it is in keeping with his flamboyant nature and the mini itself is in a really flamboyant and dynamic pose.

The narrative is that he is slowly going demented as the expedition drives further and further into Lustria.

Same of this dementure will be due to his pompus nature but there will be a whole thing going on about the influence the Skull is having over Marcus (if any). It was found by Marcus in the remains of a runied temple during one of the first battles they had in Lustria and somehow it channels Marcus' power and was instrumental in Marcus turning the tide of the first battle in Lustria and allowing the establishment of their beach head.

Rumours are rife amongst the camp that animated arguments can be heard coming from Marcus' Tent at night even though his elevated status means his does not share his tent.

To show this edge to the figure I painted the pupils red. It is a subtle effect that gives the figure an understated odd effect until someone points out the red eyes. Is it the eyes reflecting the flare of his fire spell or something more sinister in nature?

The 1st Lustrian expeditionary forces, encounters of the scaly kind

Popped into the Mini empire for my weekly dose of "Secret sunday gaming club".

A hung over Lano was in attendance so I thought now would be a good opportunity to take advantage of his weakened state and offered battle.

Lano fielded 2 wizards and decided against his dactyls taking the field, I elected for fire magic again. Lano went for two different spell decks full of hexs and augment spells.

INITIAL DEPLOYMENT

I decided not to leave the wiz out on his own due to all the skinks about and figured he needed the cover or would end up looking like a pin cushion.

The Gryphs lined up directly opposite the Warriors and I set the knights up on my right in the hope they would scatter the skinks and be used as a flanking force. Time will tell.

The Skinks whip round the left and right flanks and take some pot shots at my units. I decide to ignore the units due to my 2 up cover saves and wonder what lano is playing at, as I am not going to be distracted by these attacks (but they do look amazing).

and then my first surprise of the afternoon the skinks crash into my Knights right flak!!!!!

and now my first dilemma...........suddenly i'm looking at a bunch of BIG scaly sods bearing down on my front. Do I wheel to face the skinks and expose my flanks to the saurus warriors or use my champion and General hack away the little scaly sods and hope to force them to flee.

Either way I have lost the charge!

The other skinks slink round the back of my gryphs and look set to stall out my other attack.

The Gryph riders spur their mounts forward to charge the Warriors, its sooner then i wanted and without support but my hand has been well and truly forced.

At least it makes for a great picture

I hope to assist with the Knights but fail the die roll leaving them short of the Warriors.

The Gryphs go nuts and force the lizards to turn and run. No holding back now I try to run them down and get this mess sorted as soon as possible.

Once again I am an inch short and the Lizzies reform. The gryphs are stuck for options and charge again. The Lizzies rip the remaining Gryphs to pieces thanks to the Hexs cast by both Lizard wizards.

The Knights face the remaining Lizzies and get caught between a rock and a hard place as the remaining Skinks charge their rear!! (this was the unit I was hoping to charge the Warriors and escape from).

The ensuring combat leaves me needing to roll a double 1 to not break. It's no surprise but custer fails the roll and the knights are run down and massacred.

LESSONS LEARNT
1) so thats what skirmishers are for, popping off low armour units and forcing hitty units to spend the game wheeling about on the spot so they do not get flanked.

2) facing two wizards is a nightmare, especially as a smart player (like Lano) will use spells which complement each other and if one wizard fails to cast a spell you still have the other one. Will have to watch Mark in action as he is fielding two wizards.

3) KNIGHTS HAVE TO CHARGE!!!!!!!!!!!

Another reason I love MEGC

Just wanted to post a quick Thank you to Jerry's Girlfriend (i'm so sorry I have completely forgotten your name) for the GORGEOUS cake you brought on Friday.

It was more impressive then my painting for the Tale of 4 gamers!!!!

Whack of the day Northern division highlights

Hi again Bloodbowl fans of all nations and welcome back to another great highlight show of Whack of the day 2.

This Friday the action was fast and furious as the Calador Dragons charged up their table with two 2 - nil victories thanks to their all new application of the passing game.

"Snake eyes" really studied his play books over the past week and rumors abound that the computer systems of a certain london borough went into melt down as "Snake eyes" developed new plays at his desk.

The new addition of the Skaven "Rat Infested Partnership Bloodbowl Club RIPBC" first took to the field against the Calador dragons and made an impressive debut but the Elves split the field on two occassions and the resulting long bombs were snatched from the air with ease by the revitalised elf catchers and run into the end zone before the Skaven got too bitey.

2 - nil victory to the Dragons.

Game two

The elves refuse to leave the field as the light is great for photos and their hair is looking great so Macca Shuffles on with his all new undead team Mort and Mindy.

It all kicks off ! The undead hoof the ball far upfield and the Elves attempt to split the defense with two charges down the sidelines.

 

Once again accusations of Bribery abound as the goblin ref seems to hunt down two elves and shows them the red card in the first two turns

The crowd on the left of the field gets their moneys worth as the elves floor the undead and continue their charge.

With 3 catchers heading towards the endzone the Elf thrower is spoilt for choice and a zinger of a pass sees the Dragons one nil up.

The restart sees the Elves booting the ball as far up the field as possible but refusing to sprint up the field after last weeks experience.

The elf blitzers lead the charge and go head to head with the undead at the half way line.

A shifty pass to the right side of the field tries to wrong foot the Elves but they are on the case and close down the gap.

The elves close in and force the fumble..................... is an Elf reversal on the cards Bob?

Oh yes Bob the Elves scoop up the ball and another zinger sees an Elf catcher mincing into the end zone and posing for the cameras. TWO NIL, TWO NIL to the Dragons BOB !!!!!!!!

the tale of one gamer. the flaming heritic

Just wanted to put this out there. What a great looking army as part of the tale of 4 gamers we are running at MEGC.

Please follow the link here

Warhammer Fantasy. The Vermin strike back AKA a game of 3mm

Once again its Sunday so I popped down to the miniature empire for another "secret sunday gaming club",

The first rule of "secret sunday gaming club" is not to talk about "secret sunday gaming clu.... oh hang on .....sod it!!!!

Anyway walked in to find Lano and Jerry (but that may be spelt Juri) going hammer and tongs with their Skaven and Lizard man armies.

It ended with Lano running the  rats off the field but I was more amazed to see that  Lanos Ripperdactyls had made it out of the second turn and were actually ripping stuff apart (note to self do NOT leave my wizard out on his own facing dactyles he will be turned to bird feed!!!)

Jerry and I decided a rematch should be on the cards and we set up for combat!

I won the deployment roll and decided to set up first...this was my first mistake as i thought this included who went first, but it does not so I was already on the back foot tactically.

Once again elected to use Fire magic and rolled both blast spells hoping to cause some carnage.

I managed to win the turn roll and elected to go first in the hope of getting the charge in first.

Initial Deployment

Magic was largly ineffectual for both sides but I decided to charge in the knights for turn two

Once again they inflict enough casualties to break the unit but failed to run down the unit as it flees, and yes they manage to halt right next to a wizard with two murder spells and a mortar unit. the hope was to run them down out of the front arc of the other units and get the reform to pull off the flank attack next turn.

The clan rats reform and thankfully the Knights are too close to the mortar to be shot at but the Rat ogres wheel onto my flank and the wizard takes an unhealthy interest in the front rank of my knghts.

A double 6 on my dispell saves the front rank from disappearing and the mortar only inflicts one wound on the Gryphs.

The gryphs charge the rat ogres and the knights charge the reformed clan rats, this was basically to stop the orges flanking the Knights either by killing the ogres or keeping the Skaven engineer between the Ogres and the Knights.

 The wizard opens up on the Skaven artillery units but I think the thought of being turned into a Kebab next turn distracts him and one spell is dispelled and the other only causes one wound.

This shot gives an idea of the dire straights I was in as once again my lack of units opens me up to 3 flank attacks!!!

Thankfully the Ogres bolt and the chase runs me straight into the Skaven Wizard / Engineer. At least he will not be casting his death spell! The Knights break the clan rats again but fail to cut them down before they make it off the table edge, once again no reform!! I think thats going to hurt next turn.

As feared the Wizard goes down in flames (quite literally) under a barrage from the Skaven artillery, I knew this was a risk but I think I needed the extra mobility and if the Gryphs had made their charge in turn 2 He would have not been casting any spells from that point on.

Then disaster, by running into the Engineer I am 3mm inside the front arc of the second unit of Clan rats and into my flank they charge!!!!!!!!!!

A series of piss poor rolls sees the Gryphs fleeing off the table, and the Knights inches from the table edge and all alone. It might be time to rename my General Custer!!

Jerry has a dilema between opening up with the artillery and hoping the one casualty causes the unit to flee or charging in............

He opens fire but fails to break the unit!!!! With a whoop Custer spurs the Knights forward for revenge and a last roll of the dice





Well that is the plan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A roll of two 1;s and a 2 means they fail to make contact and fail their charge by an inch!!!!!!

The Skaven chitter with delight and launch themselves forward in an all out attack to finish the Empire once and for all.

The empire General and Champion furiously hack away at the mortar to stop the flank attack bonus but its too little too late and they only inflict 2 wounds. The Knights denied the charge are denied any chance of finishing off the rats and the unit breaks for the nearest table edge leaving the Skaven to feast on the fallen.

What a ding dong battle, Jerry and I shake hands and I am left to lament my mistakes.

Lessons learnt
1) I could whinge on about poor rolls but the truth is you make your own luck and some poor choices left me playing reactively too early on.

2) even Empire will break from Flank attacks, I should have stuck with my original plan and tried to over power the right flank while my wizard went nuts on the remaining forces to buy me some time.

3) Knights have to charge..........simple as

Whack of the day 2. Northern division

WHACK OF THE DAY HIGHLIGHTS

Hi and welcome to another great "whack of the day".

After another brutal day of the 6 dominions, the world of Bloodbowl is in uproar as the SOUTHLAND TUBTHUMPERS stand UNDEFEATED at the head of the Northern division after two 1 - Nil victorites!!!!

This has to be the greatest upset in Bloodbowl since the Snotland Snotlings lasted more then two turns against the Asgard titans!

Lets have a look at the highlights.

The moment that lasts forever....the first kick off of the 6 Dominions Northern division

 

Are you sure thats a Halfling? The surprise signing of the Halfling team, Mr. Snide makes the starting 11

Mr. Snide shows he was worth the signing fee of unlimited "fat boy" Hotdogs, the official hotdog of the 6 Dominions "all claims it is made of ex bloodbowl players strenuously denied"

 

Not to be outdone the Halfling "9 inch nails" pull down an elf, nows thats how to make a block roll!!!!

 

 Thats going to need more than a manicure Bob, The elf coach "snake eyes" kark does it again with his armour roll!!!

 the elves pull off one of their signature passes into space but can the catcher make it to the line.......NO "snake eyes" does it again, a 6 on the sprint means the catcher goes crashing to the ground with "charlies horses". so close.......so close

 

 This allows the Halflings to walk the ball up the field stopping for "Fat Boy" hot dogs....the official Hotdog of the 6 Dominions tournament "all claims it is made of ex bloodbowl players strenuously denied" on the way, and leaving the Elf Dug out looking like a scene from the Battle of the Somme

 

 GAME TWO

Surprised to be largely intact the Halfings elect to go straight into another game, this time against the unstoppable (?) shuffle of the Undead team.

The teams waste no time getting to grips with each other.

Lets hope nothing comes detached Bob!

WOW Zombie versus Halfling, not something I get to say every day Bob.

Much to Macca's consternation the ref trundles down the field and penalises both the undead blockers in the first two turns, various accusations of "bribery" rebound around the stadium but hey this is Bloodbowl the cheap skate undead coach should have dug deeper into his pockets!!!!

 The "9 inch nails" prove their worth again and pull down another zombie. The NAF are already talking about bringing in statutory drug testing for next weeks games

The undead know no fear.... until now, the undead thrower is distictly heard shouting "shit....throw the ball......THROW THE BALL" as snide bears down on the throwers

 

With Mr. Snide bearing down on the thrower he fluffs the pass and fumbles in his own square.

Against all expectations (including the Halfling Coach), the halflings clear the field again

 

This leaves Snide to stroll the ball in for the Touch down. "FAT BOY" HOTDOG ANYONE!!!!

(and not a single official Bloodbowl miniature in sight.....MAN I LOVE THE MINIATURE EMPIRE GAMING CL:UB!!!!!)

The restart see the undead go hammer and tongs down the field desperately trying to score before the final whistle goes.... can he make it?

 

Snide goes down.....Snide goes down is this the moment that changes the game Bob?

 

one square from the end zone.........

with one final square to sprint........................

in the final turn...............................

with the undead coach needing to roll anything but a 6........................................

can the undead pull off a draw?.........................................

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Bob he rolls a 6,,, A 6!!!! THE CROWD GOES NUTS, the TUB thumpers WIN

 

This final roll was made at 11pm on a Friday night and the cheers and groans when Macca rolled that 6 was the most animated I have ever seen the club over any game I have seen in all the time I have been there. There really is no other game like Bloodbowl!!!!

this leaves the tub thumpers clear at the top on 6 points and through to the finals