Blood Spatter: Week Three

 

Greetings sports fans, and welcome to Blood Spatter, your weekly look at Blood Bowl! I'm Bill Billingham, and alongside me is Erin Eventide. Hello Erin!

Hello, Bill!

This week we had a pretty big match - the Banshees playing their second leg against the Orange Rats. The first leg was a 1-1 draw, and for both teams, the only game that they hadn't won.There was a lot of pressure on both sides going in.

I'm pretty sure that the winner of this game will go on to top the league standings, Bill! Both team managers admitted that they were very worried about this game, and with the Rats reputation, the Banshees' manager - Keith Gammage - even told his players that it was more important for them to avoid injuries than to score touchdowns.

They Banshees kicked first and, kept both Starfire and Voidfire in reserve to protect them from injury. The Rats lived up to their reputation for speed, pulling of a quick snap move as Blackthorn's kick sailed across the field. The Banshees' plan was obvious from the start, as their witch elves went straight for the Rats' blitzers, trying to mitigate the damage they could do, whilst one of the twins faced off against Fluffy the rat ogre on the left wing.

I found myself holding my breath every time Fluffy swung at Sinestra, as an injury to her would seriously damage the Banshees' defense, they heavily rely on her to hold the left wing. But she is an incredibly skilled player, and dodged and blocked amazingly.

The Banshees were rightfully scared of the Rats' speed, and, having dealt with the blitzers, the witch elves darted into the Rats' half. With Kate Khaine closing in on him, Rat's Kicker Tom Ratley threw a Hail Mary pass that landed right on the Banshee's touch line. Captain Tess Ravenblade sprinted to scoop up the ball, getting there just ahead of three Rat's players.

Some people have questioned why Tess is the captain, but her amazing defense here saved the team, and turned the game around. The Rats found themselves out of position as Dextra Windstrike ran the ball down the right wing to score the first touchdown, while Kate Khaine stopped the Rat's backs from intercepting her.

For those wondering why they haven't head her name before, this was Kate's first game for the Banshees, and her appearance on the pitch was a complete surprise, as the Banshees hadn't even announced her signing. What can you tell us about her, Erin?

She played for the Birds of Prey, a minor league team in the Northlands, and was top scorer for them for three seasons. The Banshees apparently paid a six-figure sum for her. I think they kept her signing quiet so the Rats wouldn't have a chance to prepare for her.

Well it worked, cause she went on to score the Banshee's second touchdown, and then a third in the second half.

The Banshees were not exactly playing fair this time around, from keeping Khaine a secret, to preventing a Rats' touchdown via heel turn, and even committing a number of fouls in an attempt to injure key Rat players. Late in the second half, KJ Blackthorn became the first Banshees player to be sent off the field by the referee!

The Rats' fans must be pretty disappointed, because not only did their team lose 0-4, they didn't cause a single casualty.

Gunnar Uffe busy applying their warpaint.

But onto some more big news - a new Norse team joined the league, the Gunnar Uffe. They field brutal berserkers, werewolves and even a yhetee! Their first game on Wed was against the Green Unseen.

Gunnar Uffe are not a very fast team, but they're strong and hard to bring down.

The Orange Rats may no longer be the most deadly team in the league. Goblin player Mark was carried off the field after a crunching tackle by Bjorn Stormholt, and later died of his injuries, while Kyle 'the Minion' suffered a fractured skull after being knocked down by Gunnar linesman Bran Redmaw. As if this wasn't bad enough, Redcaps troll Mikal injured his own teammate Darr whilst attempting to throw him across the field.

The Redcaps played really well despite the hard knocks they took, slowing the game to a pace that favoured them, and dodging away from tackles as much as possible. Speedy, Wado and Karth all scored touchdowns, and Gunnar couldn't find a response as the clock ran out, ending the game 3-0 in to the Redcaps.

The goblins also continued their cheating ways, as this time they snuck grenades onto the field! The play of the week was when the thrower chucked a grenade at the Gunnars, only to have Kvarl Hammerfist snatch it out of the air and toss it back at him! Fortunately, Wado had enough presence of mind to catch it and drop it at the feet of the Gunnars, who went flying though the air in every direction!


The Redcaps also played the Glenwood Okes, who started off the game by scoring a very fast touchdown.

The Redcaps responded rather violently, their strategy being that the Okes can't score of they're all dead. Both trolls smashed as much as they could, Pog Stevo brought out his infamous chainsaw, and they sent on a crazy fanatic who ran in random circles hurting both friend and foe. By the end of the game, the Okes were down to three players, four had been sent to casualty, and the Redcaps had scored two touchdowns! Winning 2-1.

The Redcaps have jumped into 2nd place, though, the Rats have a game in hand and are close enough to reclaim their place.

Well, that's all we have time for folks! She's Erin Eventide, and I'm Bill Billingham, and this has been Blood Spatter!

Image from Games Workshop. More info on the Blood Bowl game at www.bloodbowl.com.