I’m writing this on Monday following one of the biggest events on the Blood Bowl calendar; the Home Nations tournament at Loughborough. This is one of the ones you don’t pencil into the diary, you use a big fat marker. You remind the wife about it multiple times in the run up. It’s happening.
It’s also one where you watch Keithabix’s roster reveal video and look at the rankings of your opponents and realise that a 0-0-5 weekend wouldn’t be all that surprising…. a lot of good coaches out there!
CLAW Blood Bowl had a team in the Open comp of Dave (Dusher), Chris (Silentknight), Ian (IanMcd) and Mike (Divergent). They did really well and hopefully there’ll be a synopsis from one of the guys on these pages shortly. I won’t steal their thunder, but they outperformed their pre-tournament ranking and here’s them playing at the right end of the room on Day 2.
My Roster
I played with Team Scotland running Necro. With the EB rules the decisions are really between all 8 positionals with 2RR+mascot, or 3RR and 7 positionals, or 11 mens. I plumped for the 8 positionals, zombies to 12, 2RRs and a mascot. Skills-wise, you can skill all 8 but that needs 3 non-elite, or you can have 7 elites. I went with 7; Fleshies and wraiths with Guard, 2 Block wolves and Block ghoul. This is very similar to what I would run in 2020 ruleset, so feels like comfortable shoes. However, in 2025 there’s less Guard going around in general, so there is probably more of a case to diversity into a Block fleshie and, with lots of Elves around, going to 8 skills and having Wrestle is part of my onward consideration. Anyway, I got to experience one of those builds in round 1.
Round 1 vs Italy Menzogna – Necro
Menzogna is the Italy captain and a really nice guy. He also came as in as #3 in the NAF rankings with Necro (236). He went with the 8 skills version of Necro, with 3 Guard and Block Fleshie, Block and Wrestle wolves and Surehands and Wrestle Ghouls. In the run up to the game and then again in the morning pre-game chats, lots of people told me how difficult this would be. It was.
He chose to receive and the first couple of turns were tight affairs with us both looking to get local advantage and get clean claw hits on important pieces. My extra Guard was definitely relevant in these exchanges; it meant that I could get an advantage on one side and begin to squeeze. This forced him to withdraw the ball carrier deep and then a big swing moment; a failed wraith dodge led to self-removal. He regenerated but it meant I’d “won” the right-hand side, and also the right to pressure the ball. Now up two Guard pieces I closed the back door of the line of scrimmage and squeezed in the front. His next turn was critical and, although the ball got into a half screen, a 1/9 dodge left enough space for one of my wolves to 1D into 2D to down the ball carrier, and the other wolf recovered. I survived the next turn’s sack attempts and elected to put the score on the board straight away as Menzogna was down to 0RRs. Of course, this gave him a short drive attempt. Big dice required. And big dice he got. The scoring turn was a 2D needing a pow, to allow a (43)22. I was a bit disappointed that I hadn’t made this harder and now it was my turn to face a Necro D. HT1-1.
My drive was a tense tricky affair. It was helped massively by a KO wolf on his side staying out, so I was up on quality. I then became up on mens quite early, removing his block Fleshie. Still there was a hairy turn early when both Wraiths were able to be their annoying selves on the ball carrier. Multiple blockless blocks and RRs were required to recover the situation back to stability. Both of us got removals, but whereas I lost zombies, he lost his other wolf. Just as I was feeling confident that the drive was secured, he made the critical 1D pow to down my carrier and then scrambled to a defensible position, I counter sacked, marked the ball, but 1/9 failed a Ghoul dodge to recover and be free. This meant we were back to needing big dice on T16 for the win. A 1D to scatter the ball, set up a 4(3) finish… and we could finally breathe out again. Win 2-1.
Any mirror is tough and Necro ones often come down to which removals happen and when. I certainly got the luck in that regard.
Sadly, Scotland lost the round. 1-2-5.
Round 2 – Ireland – OlivierH (holybinch)- Tomb Kings
TKs with 4 Guard, appropriately named, Guardians. Tackle/MB blitz-ra, and juggs blitz-ra and OTB thrower. It felt like it was a little light in the build, perhaps lacking damage output. I kicked and got a Charge! but couldn’t get near to the ball so took the opportunity to engage and isolate one of the Guardians while controlling a Blitz-ra. On his turn 1 the 3D LOS blocks didn’t yield any damage, and a final 1/9 block was eaten before ball recovery. Cue huge pressure from my Necro. All-in and ball pressure established. Lots of dice were required for recovery, but there was certainly risk to my side too and the first hit removed a zombie… was I going to regret my decision? Well, happily, not really.
He did recover into what looked like a stable position, but with everything jammed in there were chain push opportunities. I didn’t get the perfect dice needed on T2, but on T3 the position was still squeezed in enough that there was a shot at the ball. A perfect scatter left a Ghoul free to collect and run off. I scored quite early again but TKs are so slow there was no real risk of a short-drive score. Indeed, a failed pickup coupled with the attempt to break through being on the other side of the field, meant I could get in about the ball again and put my pieces in scoring range. In the end I did quite a fun Ghoul dodge to set up a wolf dodge 2D into 2D to surf both a blitz-ra and a throw-ra, which in turn allowed my other wolf to 322 to score. HT 2-0.
On my own drive I was in no rush. Low variance all the way. I waited until the TKs committed to one side and then they had a turn of failing to knock over a fleshie, soaking up activations, so I swung to the around the other way. A late Blitz-ra 6+ cage dive for 1D near his endzone almost made for an interesting end to the game, but it didn’t get the carrier down, so we walked it in. Win 3-0.
Scotland also won the round. 5-2-1! With wins for Mike (Sann), Kris (Sporran), Gary (TalonBay), and Ant (Purdindas).
Round 3 – Barbarians – Purplechest – Dark Elves
This was going to be difficult. I’ve lost 3 games vs DEs with Necro this year and PC certainly knows how to get the most out of them. I mean, he did come 2nd in the BB3 World Champs with a very similar build. The whole game was played in sweltering heat too, so every drive bar the first had at least 1 player missing. Although I had 1 extra piece on my roster, every Necro positional feels very important, so I really hate sweaty heat. PC received the kick, and I defended with a Ghoul on the bench to ensure I would have at least one hands piece available!
His drive was an interesting affair. While I wanted to bring full pressure, I was always cognizant that if I over committed then he’d get past me and I wouldn’t be able to recover. So, I sort of Hokey Cokey’d it… in, out, in, out. Pressing to try to force longer routes but then dropping out into a screen when I couldn’t press into the right areas. In the end, the final push through was quite risky, the blodge ball carrier was exposed to an instant 1D into -2D wolf hit. However, If I did 1 rush for 2D, and then 2 rushes, then that hit would become a 1D into 1D surf with my block ghoul as a recovery option. I had RRs, it felt good. But I then snaked the first rush. 1-0 down. For my OTTD attempt, I used my last RR early but got all the pushes without using the blitz, so was going to blitz through the backline but failed the pass. Sad times.
On my drive, the heat and a little bit of damage meant I was up mens but down a wolf. The news from the other boards wasn’t good, but pushing for a win felt highly likely to lead to a loss unless I got more removals. So early turns were spent hitting as much as I could and trying to foul out the soft valuable targets, but the only meaningful removal was on my side when a fleshie got stabbed to death. With each passing turn thereafter, it became apparent that a draw would be a good result. The situation got messy late, and forced a suboptimal position, especially after a failed rush left a T15 (2,2) to set up (4) for 2D into 1D surf on the ball that thankfully failed on the dodge. I still needed a 2D for my own (3)22 to score but got it done. 1-1 Draw
It was a round loss vs the BaBaas. 4-3-1 with our one win coming from Ryan (Mournival) WEs.
Round 4 – England – PeteW – Black Orcs
Ripper + Troll + 6 BOs. This is a horrible team to play into. Oh, and PeteW is #1 in the world with BOs and never lost with them.
I received aiming to hopefully chip something early with my claws. I actually got a couple of armour breaks early and KO’d a Blorc. It felt good. We swung left, the BOs countered, we swung back right and I thought I had a big enough gap to do the final push left. Up pops Ripper to Bullseye my ball carrier. It was always a risk, so I was still OK, my other Ghoul and Wolf were there to recover, and the rest of the squad were doing a good job tying up Blorcs they could all be tagged. However,… I 1/9’d the next turn pick-up and was sad. It was still on though. My wolf killed a DP Goblin, and we had another shot at picking up the ball… 5+ success with RR, 3+ dodge. Nope. Ghoul down and dead. HT0-0. But both of us had lost quite a lot of material, so it was 8 vs 9 second half. I was down to one wolf and one ghoul.
It swiftly became 8v8 as a zombie left on the LOS. Ball in the hands of a Blorc but I was able to jam everything else in and put a fleshie onto the ball carrier to force the dodge… The huge 75% BO dodge play worked, but took the BOs only RR and he couldn’t get totally safe. Fleshie 1D got the sack and a couple of wolf dodges got the recovery… One rush would take the wolf away and safe barring a 5+ sack attempt and… and… snaked. Gah! So close.
Cue some more scrambling and ball changing hands repeatedly. It was back on the wolf again briefly and if Pete 1/9 a dodge or 1/9 the blitz, or even just pushes into pushes and the wolf was gone. Sadly, it was not to be; wolf down and ball recovered, again, this time on a Guard BO. So, uphill time… 4D no joy and that was that. Loss 1-0. But what a game.
Pete was a lovely opponent, and this really was a fun match. I played his son in my first ever NAF tournament, losing to a 5+ Saurus dodge to sack my ball-carrying Ghoul. So, father and son have now beaten me albeit several years apart.
How did the round go?
SCOTLAND BEAT ENGLAND 3-3-2.
Wins from Ryan, Ant, and Bruce (Blitzy) as well as critical draws from Mike, Gary and Callum (Shriyke) secured a famous win for the team!
Round 5 – Wales – Orcster – Lizardmen.
Talking of 5+ Saurus dodges. Owen came in as the #9 in the world with lizards with a 245 ranking and 74% win rate. Table 1 this weekend was always going to be super tough.
I chose to receive, again looking to chip something with claws but got a bit bogged down early when a wolf 1/9 vs a block Saurus leaving a couple of big blocks needed to get fully safe. Owen bit at a chance to send 3 skinks through on multi dodge/rush routes to get a shot at my blodge Ghoul while I was destabilised, but thankfully he didn’t find the elusive pow. I then had a huge recovery turn where a couple of key pows and bonus stuns allowed stabilisation. The turn after, the two most important of my hits also yielded stuns (including a 1D into 2D frenzy hit) and those gave me enough free pieces to allow a cage in scoring range. I was then able to X cage close to the endzone and survive the 6+ stalling rock. One superstar fleshie soaked up all the activations needed thereafter to allow the full stall out for an 8-turn 1-0 at HT.
Second half started with a Charge that allowed me to separate one of the big lizards and control the Krox. I could then ramp up the pressure in the centre, pushing in everywhere on T1 and the Lizards drive was suddenly in very unstable position. The news coming down the boards was that Scotland were doing well, and Owen need to win. Therefore, rather than playing a conservative stabilisation turn, he pushed through, potatoing with a Skink. However, that left 3x 2Ds needing pushes to open up a chance for me to hunt down that Skink with a wolf. The little lizard was removed, and the doggie picked up the ball in a huge swing turn. Everyone else on the Lizards team was tied up (or stunned again!) so the best Owen could do was tag the ball carrier and force the dodge on his next turn. The dodge came off and the wolf got to halfway. A failed 5+ Saurus dodge followed and had me thinking the game was won.
Nuffle hates it when you think this way.
The next turn, the Krox passed his 5+ dodge and passed a loner check to pow down the wolf at the second time of asking a couple of squares short of the endzone, and one of the two remaining skinks was even able recover. There was still a lot of work to do for the little lizard, and, although my last RR went early in the next turn, I was able to get the dice I needed to pow down the ball again. With an early dub skulls for the Lizards on T15 there was no scoring threat anymore. The win was secured. But with no RRs on T16 all the dice worked as we (3)4(3)3 to score a bonus TD. Win 2-0.
Scotland drew the round 3-2-3, a very credible result against last season’s second placed Eurobowl team. Our other wins coming from Ant and Mike.
Reflection
Scotland had a 2-1-2 record, finishing 4th. This was an excellent showing, firmly establishing we can hang with the big boys. Did I mention that we beat England?
I finished with a frankly stunning 3-1-1, 8:3 TDs, 11:8 Cas and 8th place of the 48 in the Bowl, having played top-quality coaches. The dice fell my way quite a few times over the weekend, but at the same time I felt unlucky in my loss and the draw could have gone either way.
My build performed well. Nothing surprising; it was a similar to ones I’ve used earlier this year and not far away from 2020 rulesets. The main thinking was that that this build could be suboptimal vs the plethora of Elves. I only faced one, and while it would have been nice to have wrestle or greater security of a Block Golem the multi-guard build was useful in that matchup too. Certainly being able to create the hit I wanted in the strength matchups was a huge help, as was the redundancy when my players left the field.
Next year is world cup edition. Teams of 6 and WC rules. I’m off now to find my marker pen to write that into the calendar.
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