Blood Bowl: Princess Owayanna Tournament Report- Skaven vs. Orks

Lord Summervale: Thanks for joining us at Cabalvision IV for continuing coverage of the Deep North League- Southern Regional Conference as they compete for the Princess Owayanna Bottled Healing Waters Cup! Today, we are proud to present the next round of competition between the Ork Skulsmash Reeverz captained by Grimgrod Rotgut versus Da' Rat Packers led by Favre Da' Cheesemonger.

Mad Johan: Da' Rat Packers were part of this League last year, so they are the more experienced team on paper. However, in the off season they lost some key personnel to assassination, raiding, or were sold into slavery by a corrupt Grey Seer apothecary. However, Favre has managed to rally the remnants of the team from bench players, second stringers, and rookies.

Lord Summervale: Kaptin Grimgrod Rotgut is a veteran second stringer from another League, but he came to the Deep North League to make a break for himself. He managed to pull together a krew of Orks from the badlands.

Mad Johan: The winner of this game goes to face the Nottingham Nobles in the semi-finals.

Lord Summervale: Indeed. The Nobles had posted a convincing victory versus the Forever Jackals of Khemri.

Mad Johan: Kaptin Rotgut must be feeling pretty good about his chances. If he beats these Skaven, he knows his team can beat the Nobles. They did twice in Pre-season.

Lord Summervale: He better not look too far ahead. Da' Rat Packers host a pretty high powered offense with three Gutter Runners! They can score early and fast.

Mad Johan: If I were Kaptin Rotgut, I would focus on taking those Gutter Runners out of the game early. I expect the Orks to try to out play their opponents in the physical game, so we will probably see some punishing hits!

Lord Summervale: Well, we are about to find out as Favre and Rotgut have come out of the dug-outs for the coin flip. The two have the obligatory pre-game handshake, and then exchange some.... friendly.... taunts.

Mad Johan: I thought you Elves were experts on courtesy.... if you call that friendly....

Lord Summervale: The Skaven have won the toss, and Favre has elected to receive.

Mad Johan: I think they are hoping to get a head early.

Lord Summervale: Both teams line-up for the kick-off . The Skaven have all three of their Gutter-runners out there, along with Favre and their Stormvermin. However, they are playing back from the line. The Orks also bring all of their positional players, except the back-up thrower Runthugga.

Mad Johan: There is some confusion on the field as fans of the two teams have started jostling each other in the stands, chanting, and generally causing a ruckus!

Lord Summervale: The refs are too busy watching the fun, and forget to let the Orks kick-off. The clock has been running the whole time!

Finally, the Grot ref shakes it off and the Orks kick it up. Boom! The ball goes to the end zone, and the Skaven decide to give it to Favre to get the half going.

Mad Johan: Initial blocking up front does not go the Skaven's way, and Gobsmacka is trying to find a hole into the back field.

Lord Summervale: A nice block by Squish-Squish seals the hole in the line. Meanwhile, the Gutter Runners do what they do best. A blitze by Kil-Kil let's them flood across the line on the near side, while sheer speed takes some skaven around the right.

Mad Johan: Now is the Reeverz chance to take some of those runts out of the game!

Lord Summervale: Indeed! Ruck-Ruck unloads a punishing blitz on Sneaky, who is leading the dash across the line. The Orks push the Skaven far side back and Gobsmacka desperately tries to find his way around the edge and to Favre.

Mad Johan: A punishing team hit by Kil-Kil and Pokey sends Gutrippa off the field! That means Pokey is loose in the back field!

Lord Summervale: A hit by Bucktooth also clears a lane for Squeaky. Bashy and Nipper push back Big Ammer together, and Favre steps up in the pocket as Gobsmacka closes in.

Mad Johan: Like a cold eyed veteran, Favre delivers a strike to Squeaky...

Lord Summervale: ...who easily runs it into the end zone for a Rat Packer touchdown! A quick score for the Skaven is on the board. We knew going into this game that Da' Rat Packers were a high-powered offense.

The Skaven set-up to kick. Boom! The kick is short and one of the Ork lineman tries to catch it. Gitsplitta hauls it in at the line of scrimmage.

Mad Johan: Badgob comes in off the wing of the line and lays Nipper out! He is sent to the injury box. That hit will be on the highlight reel!

Lord Summervale: The Orks quickly make a cage around their ball handler and start to steam roll forward.

Mad Johan: Favre and his team are being very cunning. They seem to be using a defense in depth strategy to limit the Orks ability to move the ball forward quickly.

Lord Summervale: That maybe the strategy, but the Skaven are paying a heavy toll. Bowel Burna finishes his man...err....rat and sends him to the dug-out K.O.ed.

With time running out it is obvious that the Orks are not going to be able to plow their way to score this half. Following a block by Big Ammer, Gitsplitta staggers forward and hands the ball back to Rotgut. The Thrower uses the pocket to throw to Bowelburna who hauls it in for a completion. Badgob clears the lane and Bowelburna stretches for the end zone.

Mad Johan:... and that is the buzzer for the half. The Skulsmash Reeverz fall just short of scoring!

Lord Summervale: What an exciting first half of play as both teams tried to stick to what they do best. Da' Rat Packers raced forward for an early lead, while the Orks ground the ball down the field.

Mad Johan: Sure, but the team that is going to win has to score more points, and right now that team is Da Rat Packers.

Lord Summervale: Good thing there is still plenty of Blood Bowl left to play! Now let's get a word from our sponsors! Princess Owayanna Healing Bottled Water is proud to bring you today's match-up. I am sure Da Rat Packer Line-rat Nipper could use a bottle right now after being taken out by Badgob! Now, enjoy a half-time update back at the Cabalvision IV studios!

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Lord Summervale: Lot's of exciting Blood Bowl action around the Olde World today. Nuffle be praised! Welcome back to Freeboota Field for this tournament match-up between the Ork Skulsmash Reeverz and the Skaven Rat Packers. Right now, the Skaven are up by 1 Touchdown, but they are going to be kicking it off to the Reeverz to get us started!

Mad Johan: I talked to Kaptin Rotgut at the half and he had this to say about his teams performance.....

Kaptin Grimgrod Rotgut: Dem Dirty little blighters got lucky. This time, we are going to flood the zone and toss on them.

Lord Summervale: Sounds like a plan. Look at how he has stacked the line with his boys, with only himself and Runthugga back to receive the kick. And.... Boom! The kick is up!

Runthugga scrambles over to pick-up the ball. The Ork line goes to work and starts moving forward and trying to hem in the Skaven defenders. However, Ruck-Ruck trips on the approach to Pokey and falls down, opening a gap in the Ork plan.

Mad Johan: Embarrassing.

Lord Summervale: Bucktooth manages to break through the Ork line and gets right up in Runthugga's face.

Mad Johan: Gobsmacka comes back and picks-up the blitz and smashes Bucktooth down.

Lord Summervale: This gives Runthugga and Rotgut space to scamper away.

Mad Johan: A big collision between Lungbursta and Fodder leaves Fodder stunned and the center of the field open. On the other side of the field, a blown block by Bashy leaves Ruck-ruck potential free to make a dash for the end zone.

Lord Summervale: Ruck-ruck heads across the field while a block by Gitsplitta takes up Mick and opens a pocket for Runthugga to pass. After a pump fake, Runthugga connects with Ruck-Ruck. There is no one around to stop him.

Mad Johan: A missed block up front by Bad Axe has given Da' Rat Packers a chance!

Lord Summervale: Squish-Squish and Pokey make a desperate lunge to try to stop Ruck-Ruck, but a stiff arm by the Blitzer keeps them back. He is still up and has the ball. The Rat Packers swarm back to stop him, but the Ork Blitzer will not be denied. He dodges his way through and to the touch down!

Mad Johan: The crowd here at Freeboota Field is going nuts!

Lord Summervale: The score is all tied up, but we know this Rat Packer team can score quickly. All three Gutter Runners are back on the field.

Mad Johan: The Skulsmash Reeverz should have taken those Gutter Runners out earlier in the game.

Lord Summervale: Rotgut is going with an interesting strategy. He has no one back deep to protect, instead it looks like everyone is on the line of scrimmage all the way across the board. He is stacking the line.

Mad Johan: This Skulsmash Reever crowd here at Freeboota Field has really come alive. It must be firing up the Ork players.

Lord Summervale: The kick is up, and goes off the end of the field. The Skaven give it to Favre. Can he make magic happen again?

The Skaven make their move with the Stormvermin leading the way. They are going to try to open a hole in the Ork line to flood through.

Mad Johan: They hit a Black Orc Blocker shaped wall and collapse.

Lord Summervale: The Orks move in. Kaptin Rotgut himself puts a brutal hit on Bashy the Stormvermin and sends him off the field in a strecther!

The pocket starts to collapse and the Gutter Runners start scrambling out. Favre steps up and tries to dump it off to Sneaky, but he drops the pass! This is the Reeverz chance!

Runthugga picks up the ball and starts moving for the end zone. The Skaven scramble to stop him, and Favre himself with the help of Pokey and Squeaky bring the Ork thrower down! The ball bounces loose and is recovered by Bucktooth after he stretches himself out for it.

Ruck-Ruck takes out Bucktooth, and the ball is loose again!

Mad Johan: There is not much time on the clock! This one might be going to O.T.!

Lord Summervale: Finally, Favre scoops it up. Squeaky manages to break past a defender, and Favre tries to throw but it is knocked down by Ruck-Ruck.

Mad Johan: That's the end of the second half. It looks like we are getting extra Blood Bowl today!

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Lord Summevrvale: The Skaven won the toss, and elected to receive. They want to end this early.

Mad Johan: The Reeverz have stacked the line again!

Lord Summervale: The ork kick is up, and short! Sneaky scampers up and recovers. Meanwhile, the far side Skaven linerats go to work and push the Ork line back.

Mad Johan: The Skaven had stacked the box on that side.

Lord Summervale: Sneaky hands the ball off to Favre, who races around the edge of the line. Meanwhile, Squeaky dodges away from Kaptin Rotgut's coverage and to the sideline. Favre hands it off to the Gutter Runner who streaks away at full speed and goes in for the touch down.

Mad Johan: The crowd at Freeboota Field is suddenly silenced as Da' Rat Packers Eliminate the Skulsmash Reeverz from the tournament.

Lord Summervale: Wow, what a spectacular finish to a hard played game of Blood Bowl.

Mad Johan: The post-game injury report is coming in now. It looks like Gitrippa is badly hurt, but will have plenty of time to recover now that his team is out of the Tournament. Nipper was also badly hurt but is expected to return in time for the next game. Bashy the Stormvermin is not so lucky and will miss the next match with a broken arm. That will impact Da' Rat packers strategy for sure.

Lord Summervale: Indeed! After reviewing my notes, it is clear that the MVP for the Skulsmash Reeverz must be the lineman Badgob. He was out there grinding it every play and took out 3 Skaven on his own. For the Skaven side, it has to be the game winning run by Sneaky that makes him the Guillotine Razor “Close Shave” player of the game.

Mad Johan: Couldn't agree more.

Lord Summervale: Thanks for watching this tournament broadcast of the Skulsmash Reeverz versus Da' Rat Packers on Cabalvision IV. Stay tuned for further analysis and breakdown of this weeks match-ups across the Olde World. This is Lord Summervale and Mad Johan from Freeboota Field.... signing off!