Vera was in town this week so we decided we should get together for a game! Unfortunately my Game Room is out of commission due to MORE RENOVATIONS that started the moment we got back from Europe, and the last (and only) time I played a game at Vera's my eyes were stinging the whole time and nose was pretty irritated (cat allergy that has apparently gotten much worse over the years?!). The Dragon's Den has a great playing space, but it's almost always noisy... But the Warhammer Store is almost always quiet - especially during the summer... AND it's pretty close to where Vera lives - and thought it's an hour bike ride for me... I LIKE the ride! it's 95% on multi-use trails and over half of it is along the river valley and I can look at birds
Like these Double-Crested Cormorants I spotted along the way...
And so it was we decided to meet at the Warhammer Store on Friday morning to play Spearhead!
Yes... SPEARHEAD... the new Hedonites of Slaanesh Battletome was released recently, and in it contained rules for a new Spearhead army that I realized I already HAD! AND, MOST of it was painted already! I just needed to finish up the three Fiends! By Thursday, however, I realized I was NOT going to get the fiends painted on time, so we decided to play Blood Bowl instead!
and when I arrived...
I found other people setting up to play a Warhammer 40,000 game!?
So much for empty and quiet!? (as it turned out, it wasn't too bad - the store is pretty echo-y, so often one other game going on can be quite loud, but these players were pretty quiet and chill...)
Vera showed up slightly after and set up with...
a HALFLING TEAM!?
The team actually belongs to RJ - the fellow that runs the league - and Vera's been painting the team for him and thought, before handing the team over, she'd try them out!
(though they're not an OFFICIAL Halfling team... they're a 3D print of some Mexican Wrestler inspired halflings with giant cactus Treemen....!? I love the cacti, they look hilarious! )
(I was a little surprised John didn't kick us out when he realized Vera was playing with printed models - as he usually does when people show up with 3D printed or other non-Warhammer products... Which I get... it's the WARHAMMER STORE... they're there to sell THEIR models and support people playing with THEIR models... I'm guessing he let it slide because he knows us and we DO actually spend quite a bit of money in the store, unlike some of the people that show up with printed models...? AND it was a Friday morning and it was unlikely many people would be by and even see us playing...?)
Anyway... the game...
I took a few pictures, but I did not take any notes... so I'm going on foggy memories prompted by the pictures themselves.
The Gnarly Gobbos kicked off to the Halflings at the start of the first half aaaaand...
The halflings promptly lost possession of the ball...
while Trolls pummelled and the Chainsaw Looney chopped down Halflings and Treemen!
on the other side of the pitch, #69 Jean Klean - the Goblin Ball-and-Chain Fanatic - kept bashing up against one of the Treemen... but failed to knock it out.. while #3 Dirk Blood kept kicking one of the downed halflings...
I think someone must have picked up the ball and then been shoved into the crowd.. and then the ball was tossed back into play deep in the goblins end zone.. and #48 Lil Bopper - the Goblin Pogoer - bounded down the field to retrieve it!
Jean Klean and Dirk Blood still bullying Halfling and Cactus on the other side of the field.
The two Trained Trolls on the Goblin team moved into position, along with a few goblins, to block halflings that might try to stop Lil Bopper...
Good times.
Then Other #3 Norg the Troll got a silly idea to pick up and throw Lil Bopper down the field!
Lil Bopper not only did NOT land on his face, but managed to bounce all the way into the end zone and score the first goal of the game for the Gnarly Gobbos!
Kicking off again to the Halflings, the ball landed a bit short and off to one side of the pitch.
Fungusface - the Goblin Chainsaw Looney rushed up!
Lots of pushing and shoving along the start line.
Dirk Blood all on his own on the Goblins left flank... disgorging a torrent of verbal abuse, suggesting he could take all of them... the Halflings kept their distance!
One of the Halflings recovered the ball...
But was quickly relieved of it, it was passed off the Lil Bopper, who bounded up the field again...
and scored a SECOND goal for the Gnarly Gobbos!!
Half the teams still standing on the start line!
This may have ended the first half... or was very close to the end of the first half... because the next photo I have is of Gnarly Gobbos returning a halfling kick-off...
#4 Leon Cankersore recovered the ball after the kick-off and rushed up the field and tried to hand it off to #16 S. Maulfart... hoping Norg the Troll would hurl Maulfart up the field... unfortunately, Leon Cankersore's version of "handing off" the ball involved running up behind Maulfart, who was busy dodging swings of the terrifying giant cactus in front of him, yelling "MAULFART! CATCH!" and when Maulfart turned to see what the ruckus behind him was about, Leon threw the ball at Maulfart's face. The ball bounced of Maulfart's face, and landed right back in a surprised Cankersore's hands... and a pack of Halflings promptly rushed him...
(Maulfart fumbled the pass off and it scattered directly back to Leon Cankersore... who managed to catch it... but that ended the Goblin's turn..
Leon was laid out flat by the Halfling Hefty... dropping the ball... but, AGAIN, Lil Bopper was in position to scoop it up and go bounding up the field with a herd of halflings in pursuit.
It looked like they might catch Lil Bopper by the sidelines...
One of the Cacti managed to knock down Norg the Troll, and the other engaged in a slap fight with the other Troll, #28 Dagadyr!
But Lil Bopper bounded RIGHT OVER the halflings and tore off down the field towards the Halflings end zone...
It looked like he was in the clear and about to score ANOTHER goal for the Gnarly Gobbos...
When one of the Cacti picked up a nearby halfling and THREW IT AT THE GOBLIN POGOER!!
The Halfling landed and tried to tackle Lil Bopper, knocking them both down...
Lil Bopper quickly got up, recovered the ball and scored his THIRD GOAL for the Gnarly Gobbos!!!
Ummm... I think the Halflings were going for a one-turn-goal... one halfling recovered the Gobbos kick off and rushed it up to the line, successfully handing it off to another halfling waiting next to one of the cacti, ready to pick him up and hurl him down the field... the hand-off was successful... but the Giant Cacti fumbled the throw and threw the poor halfling face first into the astrogranite!
Abd Lil Bopper was RIGHT THERE AGAIN! Scooping up the ball and rocketing up the field on his trusty pogo stick!
By the power of Mork and Gork, he scored a FOURTH(!) goal for the Gnarly Gobbos!!!
Like, seriously... this was just getting silly...
On the next kick-off, the halflings DID managed to successfully execute a ONE-TURN GOAL! It was epic to behold! A halfling in their end zone recovered the ball... rushed it up to the line and handed it off to a teammate standing next to a Giant Cacti... the Cacti hurled the halfling up the field.. who scatter just far enough in the right direction, that he was able to run it in for a goal in the last turn of the second half!!!
The Goblins had one last turn in the second half to receive a kick off... or maybe it was two...?
#7 Bill S. Pestmaim recovered the ball... but didn't get very far with it before another halfling was hurled at him...
who may have shoved Pestmaim... who refused to fall down and give up the ball... and then the whistle blew marking the end of the second half and the game!
The Gnarly Gobbos WON the game 4-1 - with ALL the Goblin goals being scored by the Goblin Pogoer, Lil Bopper!
The Goblin Pogoer was definitely the MVP of the game and if this had been a league game, would have racked up some serious Star Player Points... He's either going to dominate my games... or be target priority #1 of all my opponents and spend most of the games recovering in the dugout!?
So a Goblin team CAN be absolutely devastating... if your opponent can't roll higher than two for every 3+ roll required... Vera just had the WORST luck all game... Halflings are pretty agile guys... they have a 3+ agility with the dodge skill (just like Goblins!) - which allows each player on the team with the skill to re-roll their first failed dodge attempt each turn... I don't think there was a SINGLE instance where a halfling tried to dodge through a Goblin tackle zone without having to use that Dodge Skill re-roll!! So many fumbles... SO MANY Self-knockdowns, tripping and falling, dropping the ball, ending a turn... it was ridiculous...
The Goblin Chainsaw Looney and the Ball-and-Chain Fanatic are pretty good.. but carrying illegal weapons they are removed after one touchdown is scored - or at the end of a half - unless you have 50,000 gold to bribe a referee (for EACH)!? I'm... not sure they're going to be worth it.. I mean, I guess if you focus on using them in that first drive to try and thin out the other team a bit...? If I had more than 11 players, I could start with one in the dugout to use in the second (or subsequent) drive/half. Or have someone to replace them when they're eventually kicked out of the game....? We shall see...
I have my first league game on Monday - against the very same team! I do not expect it to go nearly so well... but this was a good practice game to remind me of how the game plays and see how my own team works... and learn a few new things about them and how they can be played (like THROWING GOBLINS with the ball!). It will be very exciting to see how it goes down - regardless of the outcome (I fully expect that it will very likely be the complete reverse... or could be 6-0 for the halflings, if they can keep doing those one-turn touchdowns...?! when they get all their ducks in a row and actually pass 3+ dice rolls, one-turn touchdowns are a very real possibility!)
I still have Second Edition rules (from THIRTY YEARS AGO) stuck in my head. In that edition you did all your running around and hitting things and THEN you threw the ball, as THAT would end a turn! In this you can run with a guy... hand it off to another guy... have a big 'un THROW the second guy who now has the ball... and THEN that guy with the ball, assuming they didn't land face-first in the astrogranite (or land on both feet, but shatter their knees!?) THEY can then activate and run that ball straight into the end-zone! A lot of things have to go right and all be lined up "just so"... but it can happen!! And it something to keep in mind that I could do (though, not very likely succeeding as trolls are NOT great throwers and there is a chance they will just forget what they're doing and/or get hungry and EAT the goblin they've picked up!!) and, more importantly, remember it's something my opponents can do and be prepared to counter it!!
Looking forward to the game on Monday!!
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