Today was Supper Bowl IV, a 1‑day, 3‑game event played using the Eurobowl Ruleset. I played Necro with the same 4 Guard, 3 Block build I used at Home Nations a few weeks ago. But how did it go?
Game 1 vs Rich – Duddhamms – Tomb Kings
Rich has some very pretty TKs. I particularly like the bright bases, which make it really easy to tell who has been activated each turn.
The TKs received in the first half, with the kick landing quite deep and over in a wide zone. Although the deep Throw‑Ra recovered, the rest of the team remained on halfway, and I took the chance to send my Wolves down the sides with the rest of the team jamming in to hold them in position… a soft team split.
Rich scrambled to a semblance of security on the next turn. However, I was able to control activations again and remove the Tackle/MB Blitz‑Ra, leaving the position increasingly precarious. Each turn he scrambled to some sort of safety, and I patiently cranked up the pressure.
By T7 it was clear that the only scoring chance would be if he potatoed and made some big dodges; so Rich took the pragmatic (and IMO correct) approach and turtled again. However, this time there was a sliver of a chance — a 1D pow opened a route for a 2D on the ball carrier, and it scattered through hands to the edge. A Wolf then picked up and handed off to a waiting Ghoul who scampered home.
I was happy with the way I’d played the drive, but I didn’t deserve the bonus of a score.
In the second half a Tomb Guardian didn’t wake from a KO and was swiftly joined by another. With only 2 TGs on the field and a Blitz‑Ra down, it was always going to be hard to stop an offence — especially as I was able to play a low‑variance, low‑risk approach. In the end, I scored around T6. Although there was time for a consolation, poor KO rolls meant that chance evaporated quickly.
2-0 FT, 1-2 CAS.
Round 2 – Thulean – Wood Elves
Thulean (Liam) is Team England captain and an excellent coach. We’d only met once before, online in last year’s EB warm‑up matches, where his Necro beat my Skaven. His team is also beautifully painted — I particularly like the two catchers (bottom right in the photo), fairy‑like nymphs.
Liam chose to kick, and I played a conservative first turn with layers between my recovering Ghoul and the LOS team. I’ve been burned too many times by vertical team splits early, so turning down an extra hit feels worth it to reach the stabilisation phase more rapidly.
However, my LOS hits yielded two removals, and I was pleased to be playing into 9 for the rest of the half.
The rest of the drive went as you would expect: tough. A healthy level of paranoia about a Leap from the Strip Ball or Tackle Wardancer against my Blodge Ghoul meant I played relatively tightly. I tried to use my Fleshies and Guard pieces to press in, but playing narrow and trying to control the centre meant progress was slow.
Attempts to widen the field and free a secondary scoring Wolf just left the Wolf on the ground and surrounded.
As the clock ran down, my T6 blitz into a Wrestle piece* ate a RR, leaving me forced to eat a Fleshie 1/9. A position that had looked strong suddenly felt like it had stalled.
T7 I pushed all four hands pieces into range with the full cage now committed to a side. Liam dropped into a double screen and it looked like I would be looking for a 2D to create a (443) with 1RR to score (under 50%). However, his attempt to blitz one of my scoring‑threat Wolves resulted in a 1/81, leaving the Wolf on his feet based into a Lino.
I was able to use his frenzy block to first push, then chain a Wraith on the first line of defenders. He was then powed out of the way, and a Fleshie 3D meant I could run in untouched.
HT 1-0 to Necro.
The beginning of the second half was also what you would expect in this racial matchup. I pressed in with my whole team, using Guard to lock up pieces and force multiple non‑productive dice rolls each turn. It was never all that hard for Liam to recover though… just roll 2s… and although there was a 5+ for 2D in the middle of the drive, there was never going to be recovery. I contented myself with keeping as much pressure on as possible. All‑in, all the time.
In the end, Liam scored on his T6.
A one‑dayer meant that not playing for the win would guarantee not winning the tournament. In my resulting 3‑turn drive, a dodgy snack removed another of Liam’s linos and I was able to exploit the space to have a Wolf in scoring range as well as a full cage on the other side. Liam came in to full contact, forcing multiple rolls, but he was unable to control everyone. I used my extra numbers to free the ball carrier with relatively safe dice. The Ghoul then double‑rushed to hand off to the waiting Wolf, who bounded in for the score.
Win 2-1, 3-0 Cas.
A really nice win. These sorts of games come down to a few big swings, and the hit on the Wolf on T7 felt huge. Liam just needed a push to make my run‑in super hard.
*Ideally you don’t want to blitz Wrestle pieces owing to the 1/9 both‑down chance. This was why Liam put that piece was in that square; it was the optimal blitz to retain my options for attacking the whole pitch. Hence my willingness to hit it and my need to RR. Playing into a really good player means sometimes you have to take sub‑optimal choices!
Game 3 – SickAsEggs – Lizardmen
Alex is a very experienced coach and >200 rated with Lizardmen. He’s also really nice, and we’ve played a bunch of times, so I knew this would be tough. The whole game was played in Sweltering Heat, which is always difficult. What made it more difficult was that Alex won the toss, so I immediately knew my drive would be down pieces.
However, the first kick‑off was a Charge!, and I was able to get players into tricky positions downfield. Two Saurus were quickly isolated in positioned where if they stood up, I could surf easily and then held there be a single fleshie. It wasn’t long before I could jam players into the carrier and control the others, thereby forcing two Stunty dodges.
The ball went down and the next bunch of turns was an almighty scrum where I kept forcing more and more pieces onto the ball, trying to get it to pop out to one of my hands pieces.
Just when I thought I had done it, my free Wolf, with a full screen available, snaked a pickup, using my last RR in the process, putting the ball back in the mess again.
More messing around ensued and eventually a double skulls from the same misbehaving Wolf left a gaping hole. That hole was wolf shaped as he also died in the process. Oh dear. Alex was able to scamper off and score.
HT 0-1
The second half, 1–0 down, I wanted a chance to play for the win (and a chance to win the tournament). I was down men and down quality, but my armour and injury dice heated up early, and with the dino herd thinning I took the chance to score.
Of course, that “chance” involved a not‑exactly‑safe couple of turns, and Alex did take the ball down on a Skink 1D both‑down result! Recovering ate a RR, which made me quite sad. But — game on.
Sweltering Heat plus some Claws removed quite a lot of the big Lizards, and then some of the Skinks got popped, and the game turned on its head. From being bullied, we were now punching down.
But there wasn’t much time, so when I did get the ball into my Block Ghoul’s hands he was compelled to potato. He was subsequently hunted down on a double rush for 2D, with the pow coming after the final RR had gone in.
It was still on though: a 3/4/3 would see the Ghoul back with the ball in scoring range… he failed the final 3.
Alex too had another shot: a lot of dice to get a handoff, and they fell at the second dodge.
All in all a mad, fun, frustrating, weird game where I was sure I had won it early, then sure I had lost it, then thought I had won again — only to finally be happy that it was a draw! Classic BB and a great example of why this game is so good.
Full time 1–1, 3–1 Cas.
Final Record.
2–1–0, 5–2 TD, 7–3 CAS, and second place (on SoS to others on 2-1-0). Craig Scouseboy won on 3-0-0 and without conceding a TD.
I really enjoyed this tournament. Not just because the dice were largely kind, but also because all three of my opponents were lovely people; we were able to have a good chat about the game. I got the practice with this roster into top‑quality opponents that I was looking for, and I feel like I’ve been able to spot areas where I can improve.
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