Adventures in painting miniatures

Jim: Welcome back sports fans. It’s Jim Johnson and here with Bob The Biff” Bifford to give you post game analysis and commentary on the semi-final game between The Flapping Fangs (my vampires) and the Bad Newz Boars (a Chaos Dwarf team). This was aa rematch from the regular season and that game was Fangs only loss, so the game was set up to be a good contest.

Bob: Yes the Boarz are coached by one of the leagues best. Both these coaches have had their victories over each other in the past. One thing can be said is these coaches seem to generate memorable games every time they face each other, whichever teams they are coaching.

Jim: Very true Bob. So to cut to the ending for those few who do not follow the score scry lines closely the Fangs lost this game right at the end. It looked likely it may go to overtime and the vamp’s for once looked to be in a good position for that. But in the end a true ‘long odds play’ right at the dying seconds of the game won it for the Boarz.

Bob: That is true but we should start at the beginning and give an full report of the game before getting to that amazing ending.

Jim: Well the game really had 4 ‘quarters or periods of play’ based on drives and the flow of play. The first half had the Boarz receive the ball and they started on their (and others) tactics of taking the Fangs’s thralls out of the game. They had one in the injury box and another out with a KO at the end of the first turn! They also did cacth the kick half way in their side of the field. They had it in a cage but it was only loosely secured, and they did not have a true cage around the ball carrier.

Bob: Yeah and that was not good enough, The Fang’s on one of their now infamous plays for the ball carrier took the ball carrier down and succeeded in getting the ball themselves. Their fans loved it as always. The problem was, as normal it seems now, they could not get a secure cage themselves, so quickly lost control of the ball again.

Jim: Yes then came a turning point in the half, Rather than take an easy single die block on the chaos dwarf who had somehow caught the bouncing ball, the Fangs tried to get a better hit. This failed and gave all the advantage to the Boarz.

Bob: I’m not sure about the advantage Jim, but the Boarz used this to start to really pound the Fangs with some excellent blocking. That turned the drive in their favour.,

Jim: Erm… yes Bob, this was the turning point for the half. The Boarz just pounded the Fangs team into the ground repeatedly. The Fangs vampires also could not seem to stop going into bloodlust.

Bob: Well there was a lot of blood on the field at this point… The Boarz really put the hurt on the Fangs players during the later stages of the first half. It was a magnificent display of blocking and stabbing – we can’t forget the work of the Boarz stabbers in the carnage.

Jim: Yes the rest of this half was a bit of a non event for the Fangs. But for those who like the physical side of the game it was a great show. The Boarz scored just before the end of the half and the Fangs were down to 2 players left on the field at that time!

Bob: It was magnificent, and just how the game should be played. Non of this weird gaze stuff just hard pounding hit and stabs.

Bob: Luckily for the Fangs, their apothecary, regeneration and the KO recoveries, plus their large starting bench allowed them to start the second half with 11 players on the field – but they had 4 injuries by this point.

Jim: Yes the rest of the first half is best left in the record books for the Fangs as they did nothing. The second half did start better for the Fangs though. The Fangs also knew they needed to change the flow of the game. They had done no damage to the Boars – they had had a single KO who recovered on the Boarz at this point (and actually that was their only removal in the game. They knew a long drawn out bash game did not favour them – they needed a more mobile game. So they collected the ball after the kick and moved it upto the line of scrummage behind a cage. This was on the right hand side of the field. The Boarz reacted and swarmed that cage, denying the Fangs any chance for forward movement.

Bob: This looked to be exactly the type of solid defence in depth the Boarz are built for.

Jim: Thats right and that was when the Fangs shifted the ball to the left side and passed it to one of their runners. She sprinted away into the Boarz back field.

Bob: But again the poor Fangs blocking nearly cost them.

Jim: Thats true Bob. The only player who could get to the ball carrier was a Boarz stabber. But try as they might the Fangs could not get him down. Luckily for the Fangs, even though the stabber took aim he did not succeed and so in short order the Fangs had evened up the score – with no more casualties on their team or use of team rerolls, So that was a success for them.

Bob: True Jim, but the Boars still had 4 turns to score. The Fangs hoped to get that defensive TD to win as they had already proved they could get the ball from the Boarz if they did things right.

Jim: The Boars again collected the ball and started to move down the right hand side of the pitch. The Fangs put up a good defence though and slowed that down – but could not stop it completely as they were down player numbers again. The Boarz used a deep cage to protect their ball carrier.

Bob: At one point there was a hush in the stands, as a key Minotaur block for the Boarz rolled 3 skulls, Unfortunately for the Fangs though, with some key screaming from the Boarz dugout he managed to get the reroll and turn that into a successful block.

Jim: Yes, that could have been key change of fortune, but Nuffle seemed to be with the Boarz all game. Their great placement together with super effective hits and armour rolls helped them continue to safely move the ball and remove Fang’s players.

Bob: Even that was not enough though, as the Fangs did get a single die blitz block on the ball carrier as they moved across the half way line. The Fangs were hoping to get the ball to bounce out of play but instead it was caught by one of their supporting players in the cage.

Jim: The Fangs defence did cause the Boarz issues though and they had to have the ball carrier sprint into the open – unsupported to try to get to the end zone before the half ended.

Bob: With that the Fangs thrower finally threw a good block and took him down- but not off the field. The thrower then collected the ball and retreated close to the Fangs endzone to try to hold off for overtime. The issue was as normal the Fangs only had one player to try to help in this defence. But the Boarz had used all their rerolls by now and the Fangs had 2 left if the game did go to overtime.

Jim: Yes and thats when the super play of the Boarz came in. In the last turn of normal play and with no rerolls the Boarz started with some single die blocks to free up a path for their stabber. These worked, and then Boars stabber blizted the ball carrying Vampire. Using his specially made wooden knife he stabbed the Vampire in the heart (making the 9+ roll) and killed the undead fiend! The bouncing ball went into the end zone and stopped. This was one of the few squares where the Boarz needed the ball to go to have a chance to score. Then with multiple 4+ rolls (with no rerolls) the Boarz bull centaur dodged through traffic to pickup the ball and score their winning touch down.

Bob: Thats right a very low probability of success play but the Boarz had no othe choice for the win. As it worked the Boarz won with that high risk high reward play. Overall, it was not a master class of ball control by the Boarz- but it was one of blocking and stabbing for them.

Jim: Very true Bob. That final play was enough for them to get the victory. Our analytics experts say there was significantly less than 3% chance of success overall in that last turn, but it worked!

Bob: You can look at it that they were lucky on that last pla, but their good play and player placement had helped them get there. Also their blocks were on fire. So it was a well deserved victory.

Jim: Yes it certainly was.

Bob: Oh and the poor dice and hits for the Fangs did nothing but help them. The Fangs generated a single KO and no injuries all game. They rarely even stunned an opponent, That meant most of the time game the Boarz had 2 or 3 more players active in a turn. With the Boarz having multiple guard skilled players this meant that they always had the flow of play.

Jim: Yes this lack of removals has really crippled the Fangs all season – both from team development and getting any real advantage in games. If the Fangs return in the next season they will have to do something about thats as it was a major factor in all their games.

Bob: Well the way the Fangs hit maybe they all need a good rest and recovery. Their dice especially in the first half were just bad – but thats not an excuse as they still got close to talking this to overtime.

Jim: I hear that the Fang’s coach’s luck has been bad fora while and so I fear that won’t change. I don’t believe he will be buying any lottery tickets any time soon,..Still with all that said, the Boaz have a great victory and move on the face an Undead team in the finals of our Season 2 leagues.

Bob: As a final point, after talking to the Fangs coach I think he will be moving in different direction next season – at least initially, So I expect him to be coaching a different team next season in the league especially with the updated Season 3 rules.

Jim:  Thats interesting Bob. I guess we will see what team he coaches next at some point soon. Maybe he can even get Nuffle to look favourably on him with the new team.

Bob: I think all the years have shown that is not likely. He does not seem high in Nuffles favour, even though he keeps trying.

Jim: Yes you are likely right there Bob. And with that, it’s goodnight from us, sports fans. We’ll see you soon on the pitch!

Well we are back for a playoff update on my Flapping Fangs team from your favorite sports commentators…

Jim: Welcome back sports fans. Bob and I are back to give you an update on the playoff game between the Flapping Fangs, the 6th seed this season who were facing a Human team – Satan’s Teeth, the 3rd seed in the post season playoffs. This could have been nicknamed the dental challenge as both teams have a mouth focused name.

Bob: Erm…Yes Jim…anyway, this is the second meeting of these teams this season. See one of our previous reports for that game. The teams were closely matched this time. The Fang’s did get enough inducements for a Mascot – who was sponsored by Dr Derek Van Dent, Dentist to the Dead.

Jim: Well they may have had it, but it did them no good. It was useless for the whole game anyway. The Mascot seemed to spend more time handing out business cards for the sponsor than anything else. But I guess that what you get with corporate sponsorships.

Bob: The Fang’s chose to kick off to the humans first. In response the humans wasted no time, as they sent one of the Fangs thralls straight to the injury box. That was quickly followed by another sent to the KO tent. That was some great hitting from the line of scrummage. This followed the stated plan of the Satan’s Teeth, who wanted to win the bashing game, especially vs the thralls and runners. That’s looked to be going just to plan for the humans initially and could it a poor choice of the Fang’s to initially go on the defensive?

Jim: It did look that way. The Humans caged up at the line of scrummage. That’s when the Fangs sprang into action. Three hypnogazes later, a vampire thrower was knocking the human catcher to the floor. That had the ball bounce loose and into the open!

Bob: for their master stoke a Vampire runner ran in and collected the ball but then as has happened before for the Fangs, she could not dodge free. She tripped trying to escape with the ball. That meant the ball rolled free and into the open.

Jim: The Humans too full advantage of this. One of their throwers collected the loose ball and passed it to a catcher who sprinted away, close to the vampires end zone. It looked too far for any of the Fangs players to get too. So a great play and a potential for a stall for them.

Bob: That was not the case though – the Fangs managed a chain push to move one of their throwers just that bit closer. That allowed the thrower to sprint up and tag the ball carrying human catcher. This forced the humans hand and they really had no choice but to score.

Jim: So the Fangs had 5 turns to tie up the game before the end of the first half. They collected the ball and started a drive up the right hand side of the field. They made progress against the Humans defense but had to take some risks to progress the ball.

Bob: The vampires used gazes and blitzes to get keep things moving. The risks they took included having to have the ball carrier right on the sideline with limited protection.

Jim: That is always a risk but highlights what a defense the humans were putting up. The Fangs needed to keep progressing the ball and kept the vampire runners tagged and unable to make a breakout.

Bob: The Fangs were also still losing players as well – they were down in player numbers again with multiple heading out with either the injuries or KO’s. But they had to defend that side to try to stop the vampire moving up the sideline to score.

Jim: The ball carrier on the side line was a risk. This is when Black Root the Teeth’s halfllng hopeful stepped up to try a spectacular, but risky play. His aim was to push the ball carrying vampire into the crowd and likely end this vampires drive.

Bob: Jim it was a great play and could have been game changing. His size allowed him to easily dodge into position but the little guy just did not have it in him. Even with a reroll and the vampire Vlada held his ground. In fact the vampire dealt with the challenge like any star in the making should. Vlada pounded Black Root into the dirt – straight to the injury tent!. This turned out to be the Fangs only casualty.

Jim: After that the Fangs moved the ball from one sideline to the other, wrong footing the humans defense and allowing them to run the ball in at the end of the half for a tying score. So all was to play for in the second half.

Bob: The second half started with both teams fielding11 players, but the vampires had no more no reserves left. They were lucky all their KO’s returned to give them the full roster. The Humans aim of targeting vampire players and trying to win the numbers game was working but would it be fast enough for their victory. This is a traditional tactic for teams vs agile teams but the vampires are a on mix of styles, so have more options.

Jim: True Bob. The Fangs had the ball and if they could score late and deny the humans a real chance to get a score themselves then they would win the 2-1 – even if they could not win the physical aspects of the game.

Bob: That right. The Fangs collected the short kick from the humans and bunched up just their side of the line of scrummage. It looked like this was their tactic.

Jim: The Fangs pushed and tested the humans defense see but it seemed solid. The Fangs were hoping for a removal or two in their favour but none came. Neither side really committed heavily in the first couple of turns. So for really the first time in the game so far the teams stayed on even player numbers on the field.

Bob: This did not last too long though. The humans moved in close to use their advantages in armour, guard and mighty blow to not only hold the vampires but also to try get more removals. But the strength of the vampires offset this to some extent.

Jim: Unfortunately for the humans though, for the first time in the game their hits had gone cold. So there was a lot of shoving and occasionally pushing opponents to the ground but not much else happened for either team.

Bob: By the middle of the second half the Fang’s knew they had to start their scoring move. The vampire players had also started their exit from the field – all KO’s in the second half, and some self inflicted, but some by the humans. The Fangs hope to use their strength to bash a hole in the defense had failed.

Jim: The Fangs kept a solid cage around the ball carrier, but started to move some of their players especially the runners around the side of the Human defense to open up options for themselves.

Bob: The humans chased after the vampire movers, at the cost of reducing their numbers infront of the vampire cage. They took down but not out of the game those vampires in the open.

Jim: This move though did open up the defense just enough for the vampires to make a hole with a block and a hypogaze to feed players forward. They set up another cage now in the humans side of the field and behind the human defensive line.

Bob: Vampires can be hard to pin down and the humans were looking for a double failed dodge or blood lust, which did not come. The vamps used their rerolls (and pro skill) to avoid those disasters.

Jim: True and the vampires managed to do this again the next move – again moving the ball towards the end zone.

Bob: Added to that, the loose vampires broke free from the marking humans.

Jim: The vampires were in scoring range on turn 15 but were now down to 8 players on the field, the humans still had their full 11.

Bob: So, decision time for the vampires came at this point. To score now or stall. The Fangs decided to try to delay until the last turn vs trying to rush for the score. That would give the humans a single turn to tie it up the score. The Fangs knew if this game went to overtime that really favoured the humans, so wanted no part of that if it could be avoided.

Jim: That’s true Bob. Their problem was that the Fangs did not have enough players or space to make a true cage again for the last turn. So in that last turn the humans could and would move in and hit the ball carrier.

Bob: Oh they did they ever do that. The humans took the vampire ball carrier down but not out. The ball bounced loose and into the tackle zones of 2 human players. The issue for the humans was that they had no one able to secure the ball.

Jim: So it all was on the line for the Fangs in their last turn. Could they gather the loose ball and score. They took out the markers of the ball – one by a gaze and one by a blitz which needed a dodge. This free it up for the vampire runner to dodge out, pick up the ball and run it in for the score.

Bob: Although they scored there was a lot of 2+ rolls needed in this drive. Way too many for the fans or coach to be confident of their success. The vampires just held on for the score. The failure that could not be overcome which the human needed for an opening did not happen.

Jim: Some fans’s thought it was all over but the humans set up for their last turn. The human fans hoped for a timeout – which did not happen, but that was not the end of the road for their chances.

Bob: The humans had set up for the one turn (at the vampire coaches suggestion). Some may question the sanity of the rival coach suggesting and advising on this but it’s a game after all.

Jim: Yes, and the one turn attempt for their side stepping catcher looked good. The humans collected the ball got it to him with ease. They even made the dodges and hits to push their catcher a couple of times. In the end that failed but it was looking good for a while.

Bob: It did – and it was close. A little more experience with the one turn attempt to score and the humans may have done it. The side stepping catcher made it much more likely.

Jim: The one turn score option was also more likely as the Fang’s had failed to do any real damage to the humans all game. The humans also still had multiple rerolls left at the end of the game.

Bob: The failure to remove opponents has been an issue for them all season and it nearly cost them here.

Jim: That’s true. The Fangs had so many armour rolls which were 1 below what’s needed. The humans on the other hand took great advantage if their mighty blow skills, which helped with multiple removals.

Bob: Well in the end though the one turn attempt failed and the so the Fangs held on for the victory.

Jim: Yes, Flapping Fang get ready to move into the next round. As much by good luck as good judgement – but that seems to be the way for the vampires. Nothing goes easy for them and Nuffle needs to look kindly on them for their success.

Bob: That said we are still waiting to know their next opponents. We will return next time with a report from the next round.

Jim: Yes Bob, that all from us u til next time.

Jim: Welcome back sports fans. I’m Jim Johnson and I am here with Bob Bifford to discuss the games to end the regular season for the Flapping Fangs – our leagues Vampire team this season.

Bob: Yes Jim, The Fangs have played 2 games since our last catch up, but it has to be said neither have been error free or super impressive. The Fang’s also failed to do a single casualty in either game (to their opponents). That was not from a lack of trying but maybe was an indicator of their success on the field – espeically as they have managed to hurt their own thralls in both games.

Jim: Thats right Bob. But they were facing strong opponents who were well coached in each game, so maybe there should not be so hard on the results at any rate.

Bob: Maybe, but in the game after their first win there was hope with the fan base at least, that they could get past the score draws trend which seem to be the staple of the Fangs team.

Jim: True. The Fangs win last time was big and really helped their post season chances. However, they were still in the lower third of the league. All the teams this season have top level experienced coaches, so any of them might be expected to bag a couple of wins at any time. So that was always a threat.

Bob: Speaking threats, the first game we should talk about was vs the Dull Azz POW Boiz an Orc team of some renown. They are the only team not to have lost so far this season. They have a good amount of block and guard on their roster and hit like a true green team. That power hitting as we mentioned already something the Fangs have been lacking all season.

Jim: Yes and this game was played on one of the new ‘Hogtown pitches’, and very nice it was as well. You can see the kick off below.

Bob: The Fangs received the ball first and did what has become typical for them, a slow steady march up field trying to burn time while scoring. The Orc’s put a lot of pressure on the ball carrier towards the end of the drive though, It required a hypnotize and a blitz from the ball carrier to get in the endzone for the score. Unfortunately, that pressure meant that they had scored in the middle of the first half. So not great time management of the drive.

Jim: Yes, that left a lot of time for the Orcs to level the score, and they nearly did. But the Fangs got to the ball carrier and as can be seen in the action shot below. They did knock the ball loose. Unfortunately for them, they could not secure it. This is a theme for the Fangs this season – sacking the ball carrier but not being able to really take advantage of the play following to score.

Bob: True, but this did delay the Orc drive though. It put the Orcs on the edge of it not being possible for them to tie the game before the end of the half. But the Orc’s did recover the ball and worked around the vampires to ty to score. It required several successful hits, multiple dodges, a handoff in coverage and more dodges with a final rush for them to do it. In the end the animosity of the Orc team was the flaw in the move and that caused the failure to score. So the Fangs were up 1 to 0 as the teams went into half time.

Jim: The second half was the Orcs drive and although they secured the ball in a good cage, the Fangs again broke in and got the ball loose. Critically, again they just could not secure the ball themselves. The cage dive and attempted recovery had used up all the Fangs reroll’s though, which was a key move. I don’t know if the move and commitment was the right one at that time.

Bob: Yeah that was some cage dive and they nearly got the ball clear, but a final rush into the open by the Vampire blitzer with the ball failed in the end. Once again the Orcs recovered the ball and moved down field. The Fangs defense did not give up though. They sacked the ball carriers twice more on drive but just could not get control of the ball. By now of course the Orcs were winning the player numbers game, with multiple Fangs players in the KO box or injured. That became the key factor at the end of the drive. The Orcs had enough numbers to clear the remaining Fangs players and they ran the ball in for the drawing Touchdown.

Jim: Luckily for the Fangs, the one all draw turned out was just enough for them in the standings. By the skin of their teeth the had enough to secure the 6th and last confirmed playoff place. It came down to tie breakers on TD’s but all those draws gave them that. The Mighty Might Reds (an Ogre team) won both their last games and so had them tied in points. The Ogres early season losses gave them a worse TD record than the Fangs though. The Fangs has always feared that a run from one of the other teams would put their ‘drawful’ seasons at risk – which it did…

Bob: So then they moved into the game played for playoff positions. This was a rematch from their first league game vs. the River Stir Rovers (an old world alliance team). You can see the report on thast here Both teams look very different than that game. The Rovers had to go to their practice squad and pull in 4 journeymen for the match, due to a good thrashing by the Chaos Dwarfs in their last game. But this also meant they got the White Dwarf as a star player to help with in field coaching.

Jim: The Fangs have dropped their big guy (the Varghast) and instead have hired 2 new blitzers. Meanwhile they have developed their key vampires – with them all being Block and Dodge experts now. There are even a few Thralls with some skills around the team.

Bob: In this game the Fangs defended first and put up a good defence. The Rovers were moving the ball well and got it into the Fangs backfield. That when the Fang’s finally got it right and not only sacked the ball carrier but also secure it and scored a defensive touchdown.

Jim: Yes in an inspired move that was not expected by many fans, they got to the ball carrier who was somewhat protected. They then collected the loose ball and threw it to a runner to get free and away into the Rovers half. It was a good move but is was again costly on rerolls for them. Overall though, the go ahead score was worth it, especially as they managed to hold onto the lead going into the second half.

Bob: Yes they were in a strong position it seemed at the start of the second half, and yet thats when things went wrong.

Jim: Did they ever. The Fangs just seemed not the be able to do anything right – other than take their own thralls out of the game or fail a dodge. The usual trundling moves of the Fangs on their drives just never got going. They have done some stretch plays as well in prior games, but the Rovers locked down an option in that area quickly – especially by KO’ing one of the Vamp star runners. The whole drive was an issue from the start.

Bob: Exactly and the drive ground to a halt before the line of scrumage with a large ‘mosh pit’ of players. Now that is just the kind of game I like Jim. But it looked that the game would stall at this point, as neither side could get an advantage for a period of time. Then a push of a Vampire thrower onto the loose ball generated a very favourable bounce for the Rovers. The ball had bounced around the group of players a bit and eventually landed straight in the lap of the at that point unmarked Rovers star catcher.

Jim: It looked all to easy for him to just catch the ball, dodge away and run for and into the endzone. That gave the Rovers a tying score mid way through the second half. This was clearly the worse drive from the Fangs this season with a clear lack of ability – with both failed dodges and the bloodlust impacting them at key points.

Bob: It’s not a good look for them especially this close to the playoffs.

Jim: No and in fact it got worse, as there was still some time on the game clock. The Fangs were down to 7 vs 11 players for the kick off – and then to 6 as another Thrall fell to a vampires bloodlust. The Rovers swarmed forward and the Fangs had to concentrate just to keep control of the ball for the remaining turns in the game. They initially did make moves to score but those quickly were replaced by moves to just keep the draw. It was a close run thin at the end but their ball control held.

Bob: I don’t think the Rovers feel like they missed out too much though, as the draw securely kept them above the Fangs in the playoff ranks. That said they did try to get the vampire thrower down but they just could not get him on the floor.

Jim: Yes so we go into the knockout round with the Fangs licking their wounds and thinking about whether they need more training. They do have a decent warchest of money to use if they want to. At least the break will allow them to field a full roster for the knock out game.

Bob: We don’t know who that will be against either at this time. It should be the 3rd place team, but it’s close at the top. So it could be any of the top 4 teams depending on how their playoff placement games go.

Jim: That’s right, and we will be back to give you the highlights of that game when it is in the books. The Fangs will need a much better showing than in either of these two games if they want to get through that and continue. There are no ties any more and with the tendency for self damage the Fangs really need to win in normal time, something they have struggled with all season.

Bob: They need to get better at hitting their opponent vs draining their own players. But that is enough for today I think Jim. Thanks fans and as always good blocking.