I have played my first video recorded match at the STF studios! This is a grudge match, Andreas was the only one to beat me in the last tournament, and now I have another go ith Shark versus Theron.
For once, I don't have to write a battle report! :D
If you support STF, then you can see - among hundreds of other videos - how it goes when I try Corsair versus Theron afterwards. Patrons only!
torsdag 14. desember 2017
onsdag 13. desember 2017
søndag 10. desember 2017
Guild Ball (#44): Shark vs Thresher
Shane Wattie and Alex Botts have been doing extremely well with Thresher at SteamCon US, so I thought that I should better play against this list and see what it is all about. Alexander borrowed my Farmers, and I brought Shark. This is the first time Alexander is piloting this list.
Shark (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Thresher (Captain)
Peck (Mascot)
Harrow
Jackstraw
Millstone
Tater
Quick breakdown of the Thresher list:
Thresher with Tooled Up from Harrow does momentous 3 damage on 2 hits, which in addition with the free 3 auto damage ability allows him to easily delete most models within 11". Millstone adds another 2" to the threat range. What he really wants to do is build a lot of momentum by going last, and then going first next turn, hopefully taking out 2 models.
Peck can use Cocky on Millstone so that anyone within Millstone can ignore the first two conditions.
Tater has Countercharge and can be used to protect the other pieces.
Jackstraw makes extra harvest markers and is also a good ball holder.
Farmers kick off (with Thresher, of course, for extra threat range).
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 1, Sakana: 1, Siren: 2
My plan here is to pass the ball back and forth and do a first turn goal with Shark.
Which Shark does just fine! 5 dice tap in. The ball is passed up to Thresher.
Then Thresher activates. The Farmers have blundered here by not having Jackstraw move up to place a harvest marker for Thresher. Still, a Tooled Up Thresher deals 14 damage to Sakana, leaving him at a single hit point. Sakana's free Poised Counterattack is useless since Thresher has 3" melee range during his activation.
Shark: 4, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 3, Hag: 3, Sakana: 0, Siren: 3,
I get the ball off Thresher with Hag, who passes it to Siren.
I manage to pull it off. 8-2 to the Fishermen!
The ball is passed up to Thresher. Tentacles blinds Thresher. Thresher kills Tentacles and scores. 8-7 to the Fishermen. Tater knocks down Shark, leaving him at about half health.
Shark is knocked down and hurt so much that he risks dying to a Tater charge. I win initiative at +1 momentum, so at least I get to use him.
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 2, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 0, Sakana: 0, Siren: 3,
I activate Shark first to build five momentum and use Caught in the Net to make it hard for Tater stop my next goal. I also use Fast Feet (?) on Greyscales to make it easier for him to tap in.
The plan is to use Siren to pass the ball to Greyscales, who should then be able to just scoot up and score.
It works out perfectly. The cock is protecting the goal, so I need a single 4+ on 4 dice. Greyscales taps it in, for the win!
Sakana was also taken out again. Final score 12-9 to the Fishermen.
This was pretty difficult. Usually I can make my opponent work really hard for the takeouts, but Thresher can just delete models at will. Alexander had not played this list before at all, and naturally he made several positioning mistakes. Also, everything I tried worked all game. Usually something blows up with all the passing and kicking and attacks.
Even so, this is one of the roughest Shark games I have played so far. If the Farmers had simply tried to kill the ball and do four takeouts, and then score, I think this would have been difficult for me to win. I might have won this one, but my estimate is that Thresher is up here. I must try out Corsair versus Thresher, and see how that plays out!
Fishermen
Shark (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Farmers
Thresher (Captain)
Peck (Mascot)
Harrow
Jackstraw
Millstone
Tater
Quick breakdown of the Thresher list:
Thresher with Tooled Up from Harrow does momentous 3 damage on 2 hits, which in addition with the free 3 auto damage ability allows him to easily delete most models within 11". Millstone adds another 2" to the threat range. What he really wants to do is build a lot of momentum by going last, and then going first next turn, hopefully taking out 2 models.
Peck can use Cocky on Millstone so that anyone within Millstone can ignore the first two conditions.
Tater has Countercharge and can be used to protect the other pieces.
Jackstraw makes extra harvest markers and is also a good ball holder.
Farmers kick off (with Thresher, of course, for extra threat range).
Turn 1
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 1, Sakana: 1, Siren: 2
My plan here is to pass the ball back and forth and do a first turn goal with Shark.
Which Shark does just fine! 5 dice tap in. The ball is passed up to Thresher.
Then Thresher activates. The Farmers have blundered here by not having Jackstraw move up to place a harvest marker for Thresher. Still, a Tooled Up Thresher deals 14 damage to Sakana, leaving him at a single hit point. Sakana's free Poised Counterattack is useless since Thresher has 3" melee range during his activation.
Turn 2
My plan here is to grab the ball, pass it up on the right side, and score again. I cannot use Sakana, since he will die to Thresher's counterattack. I am at +3 momentum and win the roll off.Shark: 4, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 3, Hag: 3, Sakana: 0, Siren: 3,
I get the ball off Thresher with Hag, who passes it to Siren.
I manage to pull it off. 8-2 to the Fishermen!
The ball is passed up to Thresher. Tentacles blinds Thresher. Thresher kills Tentacles and scores. 8-7 to the Fishermen. Tater knocks down Shark, leaving him at about half health.
Turn 3
Shark is knocked down and hurt so much that he risks dying to a Tater charge. I win initiative at +1 momentum, so at least I get to use him.
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 2, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 0, Sakana: 0, Siren: 3,
I activate Shark first to build five momentum and use Caught in the Net to make it hard for Tater stop my next goal. I also use Fast Feet (?) on Greyscales to make it easier for him to tap in.
The plan is to use Siren to pass the ball to Greyscales, who should then be able to just scoot up and score.
It works out perfectly. The cock is protecting the goal, so I need a single 4+ on 4 dice. Greyscales taps it in, for the win!
Sakana was also taken out again. Final score 12-9 to the Fishermen.
Post Mortem
This was pretty difficult. Usually I can make my opponent work really hard for the takeouts, but Thresher can just delete models at will. Alexander had not played this list before at all, and naturally he made several positioning mistakes. Also, everything I tried worked all game. Usually something blows up with all the passing and kicking and attacks.
Even so, this is one of the roughest Shark games I have played so far. If the Farmers had simply tried to kill the ball and do four takeouts, and then score, I think this would have been difficult for me to win. I might have won this one, but my estimate is that Thresher is up here. I must try out Corsair versus Thresher, and see how that plays out!
mandag 4. desember 2017
Guild Ball: Recorded Two Games at STF
I had two fun games today, playing first Shark and then Corsair against Theron! This time I am not blogging the games, since Andreas will post videos later. I'll let you know when they are available!
Playing for video takes way more time than normal games. We used about 3 hours for each game, but then I think that we got some very clean and fairly well played matches.
I'd really enjoy doing this again!
søndag 3. desember 2017
Boardgaming Birthday Weekend V
For my last five birthdays I have invited friends (and their kids) over for a boardgaming weekend.
Pile of games ready!
Our first visitor is one of my son's friends, playing 4-in-a-row. :D
My friend and former colleague from Funcom, Arnleif, brought a quick & fun game called Kingdomino. It really does only take 15 minutes to play!
Then, we tried the Orient expansion to Splendor. Pretty good! I grabbed a 17 point win by suddenly grabbing a 4-point card and a noble.
Another Splendor expansion undergoing trials.
I did not get to try this weird-looking Container shipping game. :D
My son was teaching another friend how to play X-Wing. They had a great time! :D
We got a few of Dominion games as well. This game is one of the best and most varied strategy games ever made. I have been playing it for 10 years, and never tire of it.
Sunday morning I got a Guild Ball game in! This one has a full match report, of course!
Got to show Dominion to my cousin Anders as well. First he was pretty confused, and at the end he wanted more games!
Good times! :D
Saturday
Pile of games ready!
Our first visitor is one of my son's friends, playing 4-in-a-row. :D
My friend and former colleague from Funcom, Arnleif, brought a quick & fun game called Kingdomino. It really does only take 15 minutes to play!
Then, we tried the Orient expansion to Splendor. Pretty good! I grabbed a 17 point win by suddenly grabbing a 4-point card and a noble.
Another Splendor expansion undergoing trials.
I did not get to try this weird-looking Container shipping game. :D
My son was teaching another friend how to play X-Wing. They had a great time! :D
We got a few of Dominion games as well. This game is one of the best and most varied strategy games ever made. I have been playing it for 10 years, and never tire of it.
Sunday
Sunday morning I got a Guild Ball game in! This one has a full match report, of course!
Got to show Dominion to my cousin Anders as well. First he was pretty confused, and at the end he wanted more games!
Good times! :D
Guild Ball (#43): Corsair vs Obulus - 4+ is the new 5+
I have been having a bunch of friends over for my annual boardgaming birthday party. I managed to squeeze in a game of Guild Ball between the Dominion, Kingdomino, Splendor and X-Wing games. For this game, I play Corsair against Obulus.
Corsair
Tentacles
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Avarisse & Greede
Obulus
Dirge
Brainpan & Memory
Ghast
Greaves
Silence
I get Field Dressing, Knee Slider and Who are Ya? Obulus kicks off.
Corsair: 6, Tentacles: 1, Hag: 1, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3, Avarisse: 0, Greede: 1
Obulus: 6, Dirge: 0, Brainpan: 2, Ghast: 1, Greaves: 1, Silence: 3,
Hag goes forward and kicks the ball to the squid. I dodge forward Avarisse, I think this was wrong, I should have extended Corsair's threat range instead. Also, I should have used Sakana. He can't do much useful stuff on turn one, better to move Hag later.
I pass the ball a little. Obulus pulls Avarisse forwards.
Both he and Brainpan overextend, but I miss a both a 3 dice Lure on Obulus *and* a 3 dice Drag on Brainpan. At least one of them landing on 4+ is a 98.5% chance. If I had pulled one in I could have build a ton of momentum with Corsair and taken the first takeout in Round 2.
What a terrible start to the game!
Silence hits with a nice AOE and sets Corsair, Hag, and A&G on fire.
Corsair: 6, Tentacles: 1, Hag: 0, Sakana: 1, Siren: 0, Avarisse: 3, Greede: 2
Obulus: 5, Dirge: 0, Brainpan: 4, Ghast: 2, Greaves: 1, Silence: 1
My super bad luck in the last turn allowed Memory to get the first takeout on Siren. The ball scatters and Barinpan picks it up and kicks, misses, and it scatters to Ghast.
In my first activation I do land a 2 dice blind on a 5 influence Obulus, though, which feels pretty good!
Corsair should on average one-round Brainpan (2 hits for Knockdown, 3 hits for 2 Damage Push into range of Hag and Avarisse, and then 4 8 dice attacks on 3+ with 1 armor should do the last 12). I whiff the first two and just do 1 damage on each. He ends up at 1 single hit point.
Siren uses her Legendary to pull in Obulus. He has no problem disentangling himself afterwards, so that was pretty pointless, actually. I think I must either hit Obulus after he is done for the turn, or just go for someone else.
Brainpan is taken out by A&G. The score is 2-2.
Obulus gets a nice goal. Greaves is pulled in and killed by Corsair and A&G. Hag is taken out by Ghast. 8-4 to the Morticians!
I kick the ball out to Tentacles, but it is no help.
Obulus steals my momentum, and next turn he makes Tentacles pass to him, and he scores again. 12-4 to the Morticians!
I did some misplays the first turn, but missing everything was just sad. On the other hand, I think that if the Morticians had positioned better, I might not really have had many first turn opportunities.
I think that Shark would be a better pick. All my Close Control is useless against Obulus, and having two throw-away defense 5 models to block with makes it difficult for me to pull someone in in the first turn. Obulus is also very hard to pin down.
Putting the ball on Siren would be better here. At 5 defense it is at least a little bit risky for Obulus to try to mind control her. An alternative would be to play Salt instead of Tentacles, the low kick range and 5 defense makes him an excellent ball carrier.
Even with such a bad start it is pretty clear that I am outfighting him. Some possible replacements might be A&G -> Kraken for less damage but more Drag opportunities, and Tentacles -> Salt for better ball killing. But I suspect that Shark might just out-football the Morticians, I have to try it out now!
Well played game by my opponent!
Fishermen
Corsair
Tentacles
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Avarisse & Greede
Morticians
Obulus
Dirge
Brainpan & Memory
Ghast
Greaves
Silence
I get Field Dressing, Knee Slider and Who are Ya? Obulus kicks off.
Turn 1
Corsair: 6, Tentacles: 1, Hag: 1, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3, Avarisse: 0, Greede: 1
Obulus: 6, Dirge: 0, Brainpan: 2, Ghast: 1, Greaves: 1, Silence: 3,
Hag goes forward and kicks the ball to the squid. I dodge forward Avarisse, I think this was wrong, I should have extended Corsair's threat range instead. Also, I should have used Sakana. He can't do much useful stuff on turn one, better to move Hag later.
I pass the ball a little. Obulus pulls Avarisse forwards.
Both he and Brainpan overextend, but I miss a both a 3 dice Lure on Obulus *and* a 3 dice Drag on Brainpan. At least one of them landing on 4+ is a 98.5% chance. If I had pulled one in I could have build a ton of momentum with Corsair and taken the first takeout in Round 2.
What a terrible start to the game!
Silence hits with a nice AOE and sets Corsair, Hag, and A&G on fire.
Turn 2
Corsair: 6, Tentacles: 1, Hag: 0, Sakana: 1, Siren: 0, Avarisse: 3, Greede: 2
Obulus: 5, Dirge: 0, Brainpan: 4, Ghast: 2, Greaves: 1, Silence: 1
My super bad luck in the last turn allowed Memory to get the first takeout on Siren. The ball scatters and Barinpan picks it up and kicks, misses, and it scatters to Ghast.
In my first activation I do land a 2 dice blind on a 5 influence Obulus, though, which feels pretty good!
Corsair should on average one-round Brainpan (2 hits for Knockdown, 3 hits for 2 Damage Push into range of Hag and Avarisse, and then 4 8 dice attacks on 3+ with 1 armor should do the last 12). I whiff the first two and just do 1 damage on each. He ends up at 1 single hit point.
Siren uses her Legendary to pull in Obulus. He has no problem disentangling himself afterwards, so that was pretty pointless, actually. I think I must either hit Obulus after he is done for the turn, or just go for someone else.
Brainpan is taken out by A&G. The score is 2-2.
Turn 3
Obulus gets a nice goal. Greaves is pulled in and killed by Corsair and A&G. Hag is taken out by Ghast. 8-4 to the Morticians!
I kick the ball out to Tentacles, but it is no help.
Turn 4
Obulus steals my momentum, and next turn he makes Tentacles pass to him, and he scores again. 12-4 to the Morticians!
Post Mortem
I did some misplays the first turn, but missing everything was just sad. On the other hand, I think that if the Morticians had positioned better, I might not really have had many first turn opportunities.
I think that Shark would be a better pick. All my Close Control is useless against Obulus, and having two throw-away defense 5 models to block with makes it difficult for me to pull someone in in the first turn. Obulus is also very hard to pin down.
Putting the ball on Siren would be better here. At 5 defense it is at least a little bit risky for Obulus to try to mind control her. An alternative would be to play Salt instead of Tentacles, the low kick range and 5 defense makes him an excellent ball carrier.
Even with such a bad start it is pretty clear that I am outfighting him. Some possible replacements might be A&G -> Kraken for less damage but more Drag opportunities, and Tentacles -> Salt for better ball killing. But I suspect that Shark might just out-football the Morticians, I have to try it out now!
Well played game by my opponent!
tirsdag 28. november 2017
Guild Ball (#42): Corsair vs Grange - Demo Game
Stopped by my gaming buddy Leif for a little bit of Guild Ball action. He has just tried one demo game before. He took the Farmer's "The Honest Land" starter, and I took a Corsair list. Just for fun this one, learning some interactions and trying out models. :D
The pitch has been adorned with seasonal obstructions!
Windle dodges, dodges, dodges... and then suddenly gets pulled into the death pit and blinded. The Farmers do some clever ball kicking to get Grange forward, and Corsair also takes a few hits!
Jackstraw teleports straight down the center and scores! Grange with Constitution requires all the Fishermen activations to take out. Tough dude!
Our friendly little game ends at 4-4!
...and good night!
The pitch has been adorned with seasonal obstructions!
Windle dodges, dodges, dodges... and then suddenly gets pulled into the death pit and blinded. The Farmers do some clever ball kicking to get Grange forward, and Corsair also takes a few hits!
Jackstraw teleports straight down the center and scores! Grange with Constitution requires all the Fishermen activations to take out. Tough dude!
Our friendly little game ends at 4-4!
...and good night!
mandag 27. november 2017
Guild Ball: Oslo November Cup - Results
The end! The results were:
#1: Andreas Fosheim Øwre (Hunters)
#2: Christian Tellefsen (Fishermen)
#3: Manuel Ramirez (Masons)
Full results on Longshanks.
Gaute got most sporting. I am unsure who got best painted, maybe Stig can fill me in. There were also some anvilballs given away at random.
We had a great time! Looking forward to the next tournament. Stig says there won't be one in December, but we don't believe him.
I am of course quite happy with taking second place! Now I need to play a lot of games with Corsair, so that I am ready for the next tournament.
Another thing I like about the Guild Ball tournaments I have been to is that most players play all the rounds. If there is one thing I *hate* about Warmachine tournaments, it is that so many players tend to drop after a loss or two and join small 8 tournaments instead. This prevents newer players from getting the more balanced matches in the later tournament rounds. Also, it stops you from seeing an improvement from being last, to below average, to beating the average, and so on. In Warmachine it seems that you are either 1st-3rd, or you leave.
Getting 16th place in a 128 man tournament, for example, is every bit as good a result as getting 1st in an 8 man tournament!
#1: Andreas Fosheim Øwre (Hunters)
#2: Christian Tellefsen (Fishermen)
#3: Manuel Ramirez (Masons)
Full results on Longshanks.
Gaute got most sporting. I am unsure who got best painted, maybe Stig can fill me in. There were also some anvilballs given away at random.
We had a great time! Looking forward to the next tournament. Stig says there won't be one in December, but we don't believe him.
I am of course quite happy with taking second place! Now I need to play a lot of games with Corsair, so that I am ready for the next tournament.
Another thing I like about the Guild Ball tournaments I have been to is that most players play all the rounds. If there is one thing I *hate* about Warmachine tournaments, it is that so many players tend to drop after a loss or two and join small 8 tournaments instead. This prevents newer players from getting the more balanced matches in the later tournament rounds. Also, it stops you from seeing an improvement from being last, to below average, to beating the average, and so on. In Warmachine it seems that you are either 1st-3rd, or you leave.
Getting 16th place in a 128 man tournament, for example, is every bit as good a result as getting 1st in an 8 man tournament!
Guild Ball (#41): Oslo November Cup - Shark vs Veteran Rage (4/4)
After the narrow loss against the Hunters, I am happy to be facing our visiting player from Bergen! Kim brought his Veteran Rage (his only captain choice). Kim is the second highest rated player in Norway. Well, at least my Strength of Schedule will be high... :D
Shark (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Veteran Rage
Strongbox
Benediction
Decimate
Gutter
Snakeskin
This time, I get to kick off. I use Shark, since he is the most likely to peel the ball of the Union. I place him just outside the Union threat ranges.
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 0, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3
Union plays a really good game of preventing me from getting Shark into his face, hiding it with Gutter beghind his lines before passing it to Snakeskin who goes into cover and uses Clone. I am therefore unable to find a good vector, so I rather spend the last activation with Shark getting 5 momentum to set up the next turn.
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 0, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3
I expect to score with Shark, and Siren got 3 to maybe peel the ball of the Union again afterwards.
Shark scores, and then Decimate is pretty unlucky and fails to score at 3 dice. The ball goes far away to the right of the goalpost. 4-0 to the Fishermen!
Rage is blinded and he has to spend his activation building some momentum with Benediction.
Shark is in bit of a bind, crowded out by Snakeskin and Gutter.
Shark: 4, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 0, Sakana: 2, Siren: 3
I fail to disentangle Shark. I just just have used a Tidal Surge and Dodge, but I decided to be cute and build momentum with dodges, A counterattack by Gutter pulled me in again, and then I could not get out. They still failed to kill Shark, leaving him at 3 hit points.
The rest of the turn was spend getting the ball and moving it up to Sakana.
I am quite happy with my position here, the Union players are spread all over the pitch, which removes a lot of their synergies. My Fishermen of course are not bothered much by being spread out.
Gutter seals the deal on Shark, and he is taken out. 8-2 to the Fishermen!
Rage has moved in to make it harder for Sakana score the goal, but Rage is unable to take him out. He is left at 6 hit points, and is able to disentangle himself and score.
The ball is kicked up to Gutter, and Greyscales moves up to try to get it. He gets the ball but is unable to score. Snakeskin and Gutter go base to base to try to lock him down.
I have half a minute left on the clock!
I activate Greyscales, who dodges out, hits Gutter for momentum, dodges again and scores! 12-2 to the Fishermen!
The score does not at all show how hard fought the match was. Kim was great at positioning and making things difficult for me, causing me to waste a lot of time on the clock. He was quite unlucky with the Decimate goal failing, if he had had it he could have tried to get another takeout, hide the ball, and end the match with a goal.
I need more experience with the Fishermen to be able to calculate the threats and goal runs faster! I seem to spend maybe 15 minutes on the first rounds if there is a goal threat, and I really should be able to do it in 5, and avoid the time pressure at the end.
A very fun game! On to the prizes and final standings!
Fishermen
Shark (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Union
Veteran Rage
Strongbox
Benediction
Decimate
Gutter
Snakeskin
This time, I get to kick off. I use Shark, since he is the most likely to peel the ball of the Union. I place him just outside the Union threat ranges.
Turn 1
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 0, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3
Union plays a really good game of preventing me from getting Shark into his face, hiding it with Gutter beghind his lines before passing it to Snakeskin who goes into cover and uses Clone. I am therefore unable to find a good vector, so I rather spend the last activation with Shark getting 5 momentum to set up the next turn.
Turn 2
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 0, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3
I expect to score with Shark, and Siren got 3 to maybe peel the ball of the Union again afterwards.
Shark scores, and then Decimate is pretty unlucky and fails to score at 3 dice. The ball goes far away to the right of the goalpost. 4-0 to the Fishermen!
Rage is blinded and he has to spend his activation building some momentum with Benediction.
Turn 3
Shark is in bit of a bind, crowded out by Snakeskin and Gutter.
Shark: 4, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 0, Sakana: 2, Siren: 3
I fail to disentangle Shark. I just just have used a Tidal Surge and Dodge, but I decided to be cute and build momentum with dodges, A counterattack by Gutter pulled me in again, and then I could not get out. They still failed to kill Shark, leaving him at 3 hit points.
The rest of the turn was spend getting the ball and moving it up to Sakana.
I am quite happy with my position here, the Union players are spread all over the pitch, which removes a lot of their synergies. My Fishermen of course are not bothered much by being spread out.
Turn 4
Shark: 1, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 1, Sakana: 4, Siren: 3
Gutter seals the deal on Shark, and he is taken out. 8-2 to the Fishermen!
Rage has moved in to make it harder for Sakana score the goal, but Rage is unable to take him out. He is left at 6 hit points, and is able to disentangle himself and score.
The ball is kicked up to Gutter, and Greyscales moves up to try to get it. He gets the ball but is unable to score. Snakeskin and Gutter go base to base to try to lock him down.
Turn 5
I have half a minute left on the clock!
I activate Greyscales, who dodges out, hits Gutter for momentum, dodges again and scores! 12-2 to the Fishermen!
Post Mortem
The score does not at all show how hard fought the match was. Kim was great at positioning and making things difficult for me, causing me to waste a lot of time on the clock. He was quite unlucky with the Decimate goal failing, if he had had it he could have tried to get another takeout, hide the ball, and end the match with a goal.
I need more experience with the Fishermen to be able to calculate the threats and goal runs faster! I seem to spend maybe 15 minutes on the first rounds if there is a goal threat, and I really should be able to do it in 5, and avoid the time pressure at the end.
A very fun game! On to the prizes and final standings!
Guild Ball (#40): Oslo November Cup - Shark vs Theron (3/4)
The next game is versus Pundit Andreas, who is bringing Theron and the bear. Andreas is currently the top ranked Guild Ball player in Norway, so this is sure going to be hard. Turns out Andreas has actually never played against the Fishermen!
Shark (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Theron (Captain)
Fahad (Mascot)
Chaska
Jaecar
Minx
Seenah
Fishermen
Shark (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Hunters
Theron (Captain)
Fahad (Mascot)
Chaska
Jaecar
Minx
Seenah
Sorry about the lack of pictures. The game got quite tense and I really had to focus!
I had forgotten about the Boom Box ability. Shark is pushed off the pitch! Sakana is bear food. 10-8 o the Hunters!
I am unable to score another goal before Greyscales is taken out again The Hunters ended up with 6 takeouts! This is the first time my Shark team has been totally gutted and stringed.
This is one matchup where I think it might have been a good idea to draft Veteran Siren instead of Siren. Having a very hard to kill player to block off Seenah could make things a lot worse for the Hunters here.
Turn 1
The bear kicks off.
Seenah did not know about unpredictable, I let him get a take back and go base to base. Greyscales is eaten up by a hungry bear.
Shark scores with the final activation. 4-2 to the Fishermen!
Tentacles and Siren are gobbled up, one of them with a Bear Hug. 6-4 to the Hunters! Shark is able to retrieve the ball and score again. 8-6 to the Fishermen!
Seenah did not know about unpredictable, I let him get a take back and go base to base. Greyscales is eaten up by a hungry bear.
Shark scores with the final activation. 4-2 to the Fishermen!
Turn 2
Tentacles and Siren are gobbled up, one of them with a Bear Hug. 6-4 to the Hunters! Shark is able to retrieve the ball and score again. 8-6 to the Fishermen!
Turn 3
I had forgotten about the Boom Box ability. Shark is pushed off the pitch! Sakana is bear food. 10-8 o the Hunters!
I am unable to score another goal before Greyscales is taken out again The Hunters ended up with 6 takeouts! This is the first time my Shark team has been totally gutted and stringed.
Post Mortem
This is one matchup where I think it might have been a good idea to draft Veteran Siren instead of Siren. Having a very hard to kill player to block off Seenah could make things a lot worse for the Hunters here.
Playing new teams and models always gets a bit random. I learned how dangerous Seenah is, and I think that in this matchup a very important part is to delay him killing me so that I get time to score my three goals. Better knowledge of threat ranges is key, and deliberately placing models so that Seenah has to waste a turn running back after a kill might be a viable strategy.
My biggest single mistake this game was probably giving a critical takeback at the very beginning of the game, setting off a steamroll of Seenah eating my models. I probably should have said no! It's always a bit hard to know when to allow it, and when to not. Generally I think games are more interesting when there are fewer mistakes and gotcha moments, though... anyway it was my decision alone, and I did what I did.
I also need to play a bit faster! I was down a lot on the clock as well.
For the last match, I meet The Union!
My biggest single mistake this game was probably giving a critical takeback at the very beginning of the game, setting off a steamroll of Seenah eating my models. I probably should have said no! It's always a bit hard to know when to allow it, and when to not. Generally I think games are more interesting when there are fewer mistakes and gotcha moments, though... anyway it was my decision alone, and I did what I did.
I also need to play a bit faster! I was down a lot on the clock as well.
For the last match, I meet The Union!
søndag 26. november 2017
Guild Ball (#39): Oslo November Cup - Shark vs Skatha (2/4)
My first every game against the Hunters. I have been reading the cards, but it is not easy to figure out how they play without seeing them in action, so I don't really know what to expect! Gaspard is piloting the Hunters.
Andreas had grabbed the mascot spot prize, so Tentacles is swapped in.
Shark (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Skatha
Fahad
Egret
Veteran Hearne
Jaecar
Seenah
I get Field Dressing, Who are Ya? and Wingback. Seems like a pretty nice set with Shark!
I win the roll, and Jaecar kicks off.
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 0, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3
I forgot to take some pictures, but basically Shark does what he should do, and scores the goal.
There is some fighting back and forth, no-one scores and there are no takeouts. Shark builds a ton of momentum with his activation. I grab the ball and it ends up with Greyscales. I win the initiative.
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 0, Sakana: 3, Siren: 0
Greyscales is in a great position here. He activates first, bounces off Jaecar and lands the goal.
The ball is kicked up to Egret, who scores for the Hunters!
My goal kick then goes up to Shark, who charges up, bounces off Veteran Hearne, and lands the final goal. 12-4 to the Fishermen!
The Hunters have lots of tricks, but they were unable to stop me from getting the ball. Quite interesting and unusual guild, for sure!
I forgot to use my Plot Cards. They are so hard to remember...
2-0 now in the tournament. For the next match I will fetch top ranked Norwegian player Andreas, also playing Hunters!
Fishermen
Andreas had grabbed the mascot spot prize, so Tentacles is swapped in.
Shark (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Hunters
Skatha
Fahad
Egret
Veteran Hearne
Jaecar
Seenah
I get Field Dressing, Who are Ya? and Wingback. Seems like a pretty nice set with Shark!
I win the roll, and Jaecar kicks off.
Round 1
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 0, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3
I forgot to take some pictures, but basically Shark does what he should do, and scores the goal.
Turn 2
There is some fighting back and forth, no-one scores and there are no takeouts. Shark builds a ton of momentum with his activation. I grab the ball and it ends up with Greyscales. I win the initiative.
Turn 3
Shark: 6, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 0, Sakana: 3, Siren: 0
Greyscales is in a great position here. He activates first, bounces off Jaecar and lands the goal.
The ball is kicked up to Egret, who scores for the Hunters!
My goal kick then goes up to Shark, who charges up, bounces off Veteran Hearne, and lands the final goal. 12-4 to the Fishermen!
Post Mortem
The Hunters have lots of tricks, but they were unable to stop me from getting the ball. Quite interesting and unusual guild, for sure!
I forgot to use my Plot Cards. They are so hard to remember...
2-0 now in the tournament. For the next match I will fetch top ranked Norwegian player Andreas, also playing Hunters!
Guild Ball (#38): Oslo November Cup - Shark vs Honour (1/4)
In the first round I meet Manuel, who gave me a good fight in the same matchup a few days ago.
Shark (Captain)
Salt (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Honour
Marbles
Brick
Chisel
Flint
Mallet
I felt fairly confident going in, I have all the tools to get the ball off the Masons, and they will have a hard time making many takeouts with this list against me. However, Manuel is a strong player, he positions well, so if I make any mistakes he will certainly punish me for it.
I am lucky - Mallet does an agressive kick that fails. The ball is placed on Salt.
It works like a charm. Shark runs around Chisel and engages Marbles. The Masons had misplaced slightly, so Brick could not counter charge between Marbles and Flint. Then I built momentum and scored, ending with a Knee Slider out.
The Masons were on the ball, though (heh)... Honour kicked the ball to Mallet and gave him a double activation. He also scored. 4-4!
I kicked the ball to the left so that Sakana could grab it. The plan is to pass it up to Greyscales and score.
Siren is taken out. The Masons are kind enough to try to place Brick in the way of Greyscales, giving me a prefect target to dodge off on my goal run. Score! 8-6 to the Fishermen.
The ball is passed up to Harmony. Shark builds momentum and dodges towards the center of the pitch. I win the initiative, giving me good chances...
Sakana runs around the building and grabs the ball off Harmony, kicking it into space near Greyscales. No-one can stop Greyscales from getting the ball and tapping it in.
12-6 to the Fishermen!
Fishermen
Shark (Captain)
Salt (Mascot)
Greyscales
Hag
Sakana
Siren
Masons
Honour
Marbles
Brick
Chisel
Flint
Mallet
I felt fairly confident going in, I have all the tools to get the ball off the Masons, and they will have a hard time making many takeouts with this list against me. However, Manuel is a strong player, he positions well, so if I make any mistakes he will certainly punish me for it.
I am lucky - Mallet does an agressive kick that fails. The ball is placed on Salt.
Turn 1
Shark: 6, Salt: 1, Greyscales: 2, Hag: 1, Sakana: 1, Siren: 3
Honour: 6, Marbles: 0, Brick: 1, Chisel: 1, Flint: 1, Mallet: 3,
The plan here is to pass the ball, let it end up with Shark, and use the Hag and Shark's threat to score a first turn goal.
It works like a charm. Shark runs around Chisel and engages Marbles. The Masons had misplaced slightly, so Brick could not counter charge between Marbles and Flint. Then I built momentum and scored, ending with a Knee Slider out.
The Masons were on the ball, though (heh)... Honour kicked the ball to Mallet and gave him a double activation. He also scored. 4-4!
I kicked the ball to the left so that Sakana could grab it. The plan is to pass it up to Greyscales and score.
Turn 2
Shark: 4, Salt: 1, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 0, Sakana: 2, Siren: 3
Honour: 6, Marbles: 1, Brick: 1, Chisel: 1, Flint: 0, Mallet: 3
Siren is taken out. The Masons are kind enough to try to place Brick in the way of Greyscales, giving me a prefect target to dodge off on my goal run. Score! 8-6 to the Fishermen.
The ball is passed up to Harmony. Shark builds momentum and dodges towards the center of the pitch. I win the initiative, giving me good chances...
Turn 3
Shark: 6, Salt: 0, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 1, Sakana: 4, Siren: 0
Honour: 6, Marbles: 1, Brick: 1, Chisel: 1, Flint: 0, Mallet: 3
Sakana runs around the building and grabs the ball off Harmony, kicking it into space near Greyscales. No-one can stop Greyscales from getting the ball and tapping it in.
12-6 to the Fishermen!
Post Mortem
Things went pretty much as planned during this game. It really is quite hard for the Masons to keep the ball here! The counter-attack bubbles are pretty annoying, but of course the Fishermen are fast enough that they can often often dodge or run into melee, and then dodge or run out again.
Next round is against the Hunters!
Next round is against the Hunters!
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