So another excellent Home Nations ends and now the dust has settled its time to review the team performance and reflect on how the team can continue to improve. This year our 4 players consisted of Christian (Silentknight), Ian (IanMcD83), Mike (Divergent) and myself (dusher1). Christian had chosen to take his Imperial Nobility team, a team he is currently playing in our local league which have had a bit of a boost in the latest edition with throwers that shockingly are now able to actually pass the ball. His build took advantage of the star player possibilities replacing the Ogre for a more reliable Zug and maximising guard on the bodyguards, two blodge blitzers and a leader thrower. Ian went with a Necro build of the usual 4 guard on Wraiths and Golems, one block and one strip wolf and a block and wrestle pair of ghouls. Mike completely on brand took ‘Da Orcs’ to smash his opponent with a block troll double meaning he was left with 2 block big uns and a frenzy blitzer as his only other positionals. I returned to dark elves for the first time since the 2025 ruleset with a pair of wrestle witches and a pair of blodge blitzers supplemented with a leader runner, dodge assassin and 2 wrestle linemen.
The rallying team talk from our captain Christian the previous evening while we waited for Mike’s arrival from the depths of Ireland was akin to Braveheart reminding us all that the key to victory lay in a twofold detailed plan of almost Churchillian brilliance.
- Try and win your games or at least don’t get beat.
- Whoever is sat next to Mike for gods sake remind him regularly that there is a ball
Game 1
The draw for round one on the Monday before the tournament allowed us to mentally spend the hours that we should have been working mentally planning a strategy to overcome our opponents. We were drawn against the famous/Infamous Brucebowl which added an extra dimension to our training with the potential of having to play topless in full Brucebowl tradition meant some futile extra gym visits in the build up.
Christian with his Imperial Nobility faced a Khorne team that we felt would struggle against the amassed pitch control of the stand firm and wrestle bodyguards and fending retainers. This proved to be the case with the Khorne team racking up four cas but mostly too late in the day to stop the Nobs who ran out 2-0 winners when at key moments Imperial armour held and Khornites ended in the KO box.
Ian with his Necro team faced a Nurgle team and given the ability of both teams to simply negate the other with ‘Nope’ tactics the danger was that both teams may have to keep the players awake in the heat of Loughborough combined with the sweat of 380 odd competitors. As it turned out, the game pivoted after Ian had stalled the Nurgle drive and taken a quick lead in the second half. Ian’s pressure resulted in a turnover that threatened a 2-0 lead but his opponent managed to sack the ball carrier in return and get the bounce of the ball to equalise.
Mike met BB Sprout who has an excellent record with Amazons who, despite falling back into the BB25 pack in terms of win rat, are still an excellent side. The fear was that the two Blockers with break tack and respectively wrestle and strip ball would simply walk into the Orc cage and remove the ball from Mike at will. Collectively we felt that Mike’s best chance against a seasoned player with such a potent team was to simply smash em… As it turned out a bloodbath did not materialise but with some deft play and the aforementioned reminder that a ball existed Mike got a respectable 1-1 leaving just my game to decide the teams outcome.
I faced High Elves and a thoroughly lovely guy HalfHawk in an elf off. After spending the first 5 minutes of our game explaining how even my partner knew of the infamy of the Brucebowl guys and posing for a photo where , luckily for all around us, kept our tops on we kicked off and I received the ball hoping to score in an 8 turn trundle down the field. To an extent this aim was achieved but the main factor in my success was a turn 2 removal via the edge of the pitch to the dugout for the High Elves biggest threat, a leap strip white lion who loitered in range of an eagle eyed witch elf. Trying to improve my game I am regularly now considering my use of a reroll before I even roll the first dice and I’d already decided that even at an early stage in the half it would be worth it. In the event it wasn’t needed and I proceeded to spend the remainder of the half shuffling slowly forward pulling his team left and right. This would turn out to be a theme for the day if not the entire weekend.
The second half kick off to the High Elves saw him line up with 10 against my 11 and score early in the half pushing for the win. Depending on the dice this could go either way but I managed to score again turn 16 with the usual elf BS to bank a confidence boosting win for myself (see last blog) and a winning start for the team.
Claw on Tour Vs Brucebowl
2-2-0
Game 2
Our second opponents of the day where the Crusaders made up of Slysi, Gary Docherty, Taureanbeast and Alloallo. Christian’s Imperials faced off against a High Elf team eventually grinding out a 1-1 draw despite the slow removal of elves and a snazzy surf on a dragon prince. My dark elves ran out 2-0 winners against a resilient Orc team that removed 4 elves by the end of the match. The elves proved to be too skilful and speedy for an Orc team that was clearly all about the krump and this left the team in a pretty good spot for the other two games. Ian, getting into his stride now beat up and beat another elf team this time in the guise of Union 2-1 and also managed to do the same scoreline in casualties. The remaining game for Mike saw him run into a Chaos Renegade team which saw a clash of bash v bash. Mike remembered at times there was a ball but in typical fashion he smashed up the other team coming out a 4-0 winner in casualties. In Mikes secondary aim he got the team another draw securing once again a 2-2-0 for Claw on Tour.
Game 3
The final game of an excellent day saw us meet Nibblers Potato Farls made up of Boldfox, Gary McDowell, Owen and Hillsby. This became the toughest match of the day, and one where our team was thankful to come away with a draw. My game was fortunate to say the least coming up against a Slann team where I completely forgot on numerous occasions about the blitzers diving tackle skill whilst merrily dodging away from them. My opponent was gracious enough the first time I made this error to allow me to take back as there was an obvious alternative and for this I thank him for his sportsmanship in the moment. He was not as willing to repeat that later on when I again forgot twice and had to be bailed out by rolling desperate 6’s to keep my witch on its feet when blitzing a frog ball carrier. Ultimately my dice kept me and the team alive and allowed me to steal a 2-1 victory meaning I ended the day with three wins.
Elsewhere the team struggled with Christian crashing to an ignoble (see what I did there) 2-0 loss and the other members grinding out draws to give us a 1-2-1 result and end the day with a draw.
We left happy after day one with a solid 2-1-0 record knowing that Sunday would be a tough one at the right end of the table.
Day 2 – Game 4
Game 4 saw us playing ‘Three Men and a Baby’ made up of Fake Moustache, Hutch, Paddy and Ichigokuto and for me this match up was exactly what the weekend was about and more. It was an absolute pleasure to play Fake moustache and his Imperial Nobility team; someone I’d met at various tournaments to say a friendly hello to but had never faced off against. The whole game was completed in the spirit of Bloodbowl, and we found ourselves talking through each other’s moves and willing each other on as we played. It was one of my most enjoyable matches, reminding me that this hobby has allowed me to meet some of the loveliest people imaginable. The game itself was tight and at 1-1 going into turn 16 ultimately did not have a bearing on the team result but I was actually secretly pleased that my 2-turn attempt that was aided by a fortunate timeout after a turn 16 equaliser failed to end in a victory. I think to some extent it would have soured an amazingly enjoyable matchup, and I genuinely look forward to seeing my opponent again soon for another face off.
In the other games Ian achieved a solid 1-1 after snaking a pickup to win and Chris also got a 1-1 vs an Amazon team that proved tough to take the ball from. It was time for Mike to carry us over the line with a 1-0 win against a Nurgle side that probably don’t know what hit them. Mike’s usual kill, kill, kill tactic even removed 4 of the Nurgle worshippers who must be considering if they should have pledged their allegiance to Gork or Mork instead!
Game 5
So we move onto the penultimate game of the tournament and standing on 3-1-0 and on the heady heights of table 3 we made our first team mis-step. I took the opportunity for a bathroom break and returned to find the team facing the wrong way away from the stage at the table. Every game up to this point we had faced in and I was getting comfortable with the arrangement. I maintain that this is the mistake that led to a defeat against the Hakflem Squeeks, an iteration of the Globetrotters we faced at a similar stage last year with similar results.
Both Mike and Chris ended their games in defeat playing Humans and Dark Elves respectively. Chris’s game started well removing 2 line elves and an assassin but the elves returned the favour taking out bodyguards and a blitzer to take an efficient 1-0 win. Mike’s smashing game saw his human opponents take 4 casualties but end in a 2-1 loss. We clearly let ourselves forget to remind him that the game involved a ball and was not Warhammer…
Ian ground out a 1-1 draw against a High elf team that lost 2 but not enough for him to be able to push for the win and my own result was my first 0-0 of the weekend. My drive was stopped expertly by the Chaos Dwarves and I simply could not get away from them despite a desperate attempt turn 7 to dodge into a turn 8 scoring position. The loss of some key players meant was also facing off against a full team in the second half with just 9 elves left. It was going to be a heroic defence if I was going to hang on and of course up stepped a hero. I’ve never really loved using assassins but with the addition of hit and run and the loss of 2 blitzers they are now a necessity. Even so stab against armour 9 and 10 is hardly the most effective weapon but the dice failed to recognise this. My ‘I may as well stab the Mino’ comment resulted in him entering the injury box followed the next turn with a stab that put a Bull Centaur in the same place. Coupled with a block KO of a hobgoblin all of a sudden it looked like the match was swinging in my favour. The Dwarf team quite correctly went into safety mode and I got my second draw of the day but a team loss for the first time.
Game 6
The final match against ‘A Mino Inconvenience’ saw us all face minotaurs. James Milne, with Chaos Chosen facing myself, Jon facing Ian with Chaos Dwarves, Steve facing Mike with a Khorne team and The Bassist gamer facing Chris with a Chaos Renegade team. Their gimmick of a cow bell to ring enthusiastically when achieving a Mino cas stayed silent and nor did it ring out mournfully for any lost Mino’s. All in all the games played out as you would expect on the final round of the final day with two very tired teams happy to be at the right end of the table.
My own ended 1-1 with my opponent taking enough casualties to ensure I couldn’t push on for the win or break his cage. Ian had a similar game at 1-1 with his opponent removing 3 players and accepting the draw in a tight affair. Mike, playing against his spirit animal Khorne fell to a 2-1 loss despite again winning the physical battle and removing 4 players from his opponent. So it was left to our captain and leader Christian to carry us home with a 2-0 win against a Chaos Renegade team because, as he put it, ‘Renegades aren’t very good.’ I think we can all agree a perfect summary.
In Conclusion
So the team finish with a 3-2-1 record that left them in 15th overall from a field of 68. Whilst this was not the triumph of last years amazing result we feel we acquitted ourselves well competing at the top end of the rankings all weekend. Another respectable result for a Claw team that next year will be joining the 6 player format in preparation for the World Cup. The lack of a Bowl means we welcome back our Scottish international Camelchops and our Claw Commissioner Chorfling to the team for next year and hopefully be back competing at the right end of the table.
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