Blood and Spectacles: Match Report: Blood Bowl- Skaven vs. Orks

Lord Summervale: Welcome Blood Bowl fans! I am pleased to have you join us for Cabalvision IV's coverage of the Deep North- Southern Regional conference. I am your host Lord Summervale and as always I am joined in the booth by the great Blood Bowl mind and Hall of Fame player Mad Johan.

Mad Johan: Glad to be here as always, even if it is Freeboota Field, the home of the Skulsmash Reeverz, led by their team captain Grimgrod Rotgut. It is one of the premier stadiums in the Deep North- Southern Regional Conference.... if you are an Ork.

Lord Summervale: Indeed. Today, the Skulsmash Reeverz are facing one of their fellow underworld teams, the Skaven Cheez-Ballers led by their captain King Chedda'.

Mad Johan: The Reeverz have had some trouble with Skaven teams in the past, when they lost a close game in Overtime to the Rat Packers during the Prince Owayonna Healing Spring WatersTournament.

Lord Summervale: At least it was to the team that eventually won the entire tournament.

Mad Johan: Sure, but as Nuffle says.... a loss is a loss.

Lord Summervale: Johan, what do you think will be the keys to the game today?

Mad Johan: Great question. The Cheez-ballerz are a bit more bashy as they have two blitzers on their team, and only two Gutter Runners. We have also seen them try to run it up the gut in previous games using the cage, so they are not as flashy as the Rat Packers. I think they will need to bunch up the Reeverz at the line, start to bash through with their Blitzers, and then send the Gutter Runners deep to do the actual scoring in a thinned out Ork backfield.

Lord Summervale: Okay, what about the Skulsmash Reeverz?

Mad Johan: Well, the great thing about Ork teams is they can take a licking and dish it out. I think their plan is a bit simpler. Pound the Skaven into meat. You know what I say, it is hard to win a game of Blood Bowl if.....

Lord Sumervale: …. half your team is in the dug-out. Indeed.

It looks like King Chedda' and Grimgrod Rotgut are ready for the coin toss. The Grot ref has the coin up... and it looks like the Orks have won. They decide to receive the ball.

Mad Johan: That makes sense, they can control the ball and use this time to thin out the ranks of the Skaven team. That way, if you kick to them in the second half they will be in a tough place to recover.

Lord Summervale: The Cheez-ballerz go with the minimum number of players on the line. Meanwhile, the Orks match them and deploy in a surprisingly deep formation.

Mad Johan: Both sides fans are cheering loudly, but it sounds like the Orks may have the edge in their home field.

Lord Summervale: Boom! The kick is up. It is a very short kick that lands behind the far side line of scrimmage. The Ork line man Bowelburna trundles up and grabs the ball. The front lines jostle each other while the Orks start to move up.

Mad Johan: The Munster of the Midway unloads a powerful hit on Gutrippa that stuns him and stalls the Ork rushing advance.

Lord Sumervale: There is some additional confusion at the line as the Black Ork Big Ammer and the Skaven line man Brie Bumbler both go down.

Mad Johan: The Orks are not getting the ball moving the way they would like, plus these Skaven are putting up a bit of a resistance.

Lord Summervale: Indeed, the Skaven have managed to penetrate into the backfield in the gaps created by Gutrippa and Big Ammer being down. The Munster of the Midway gets a clear line and unloads on Bowelburna which knocks the Ork lineman from the game and into the KO box. The ball is loose.

The back-up thrower Runthugga manages to scoop up the ball and looks down field for his options.

Mad Johan: There aren't many options. However, Bad Axe drops a skaven lineman with a punishing hit and sends him packing to the dug-out. That's what these Orks need to do!

Lord Summervale: Look at that line play Johan. Brie Bumbler and his fellow lineman have teamed up and have taken Big Ammer down, he looks stunned!

Mad Johan: He's not the only one.

Lord Summervale: The other Skaven blitzer Pepper Jack manages to knock Gitsplitta into the crowd. A group of Skaven fans quickly take him out, before the Ork ushers get them off the poor player. He's going to the dug-out.

Mad Johan: Out cold. These Orks seem out of sorts today.

Lord Summervale: Rotten Rochefort tries to catch Runthugga with some help, but the Ork manages to stay elusive in his own backfield.

Mad Johan: In the center, you see King Chedda' doing his own dirty work for a change. He just KO'd Badgob.

Lord Summervale: Looks like the Skulsmash reeverz didn't take your advise Johan. They are the ones getting taken to the dug-out.

Mad Johan: The Ork team just looks disorganized out there. They are not playing as a team.

Lord Summervale: Pepper Jack and the linerat Swanky Swiss are swarming all over Runthugga. It doesn't look like he is getting away this time. Pepper Jack knocks him down and the ball gets scooped up by Swanky Swiss and makes for the end zone. However, Runthugga manages to trip him up. However, the ball is loose deep in Ork territory.

Mad Johan: In the center, the Orks show a spark of life as the team Kaptin Rotgut smacks King Chedda' to the dug-out. Meanwhile, Lungbursta manages to stun Feta Fiend.

Lord Summervale: Closer to the ball, Pepper Jack clears Runthugga away from the ball. Swanky Swiss manages to get the ball and runs it into the end zone for a score.

Mad Johan: That did not go the Orks way, and about half of the 1^st half has been eaten up by the Orks shoddy play.

Lord Summervale: Again both, teams send the minimum number of lineman to the line.

Mad Johan: I do not understand this. The Skulsmash Reeverz had success before against skaven by flooding the line. What are they doing?

Lord Summervale: The Ork and Skaven fans again take up their respective chants. Boom! The kick is up and this time the Ork Thrower Runthugga gets to the ball and picks it up.

Mad Johan: Again poor line play by the orks leaves a gap as Lungbursta and Stinky Limburgher both go down at the line.

Lord Summervale: Despite the gap in the front line, Ruk-Ruk the Ork Blitzer rushes past Skaven defenders on the far, outside wing. Runthugga sees him and hits him with a long pass.

Mad Johan: Despite getting past the frontline, the Skaven were more than ready for the Orks.

Lord Summervale: Indeed. The skaven swarm Ruk-Ruk and quickly take him down. The ball is loose in the Skaven territory.

Mad Johan: … but they are the only ones who are in a position to pick it up.

Lord Summervale: Indeed. Horrible Havarti picks it up and sits on it to end the half.

Mad Johan: If I was a Reeverz fan right now, I would not be happy. That was just ugly and uninspired play.

Lord Summervale: Well, after we return from the Cabalvision IV half-time report we will see if the Ork Skulsmash Reeverz can pull it together. They currently trail the Skaven Cheez-ballerz by 1. Remember, today's game from the Deep North- Southern Regional Conference is brought to you be Bloodwieser. Bloodwieser for the Bloodweiser god!

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Lord Summervale: Welcome back to Freeboota Field for the second half match-up between the Ork Skulsmash Reeverz and the Skaven Cheez-Ballerz. The Skaven are up by 1 and they are receiving the kick.

Mad Johan: The Orks are going to have to do much better this half. It all starts by getting the ball back from the Cheez-ballerz without them scoring. That means they are going to need some deep penetration early. Their Blitzers will be critical here.

Lord Summervale: The two teams are lined up. This time the Orks are a bit more committed to busting open the line and have their black Orks up front supported by lineman.

Boom! The kick is up. King Chedda scrambles and gets the ball. The Skaven quickly form a cage around him and start pressing through into the line. I think this was the strategy you talked about before the game Johan.

Mad Johan: Runthugga stiff arms Swanky Swiss and stuns him, leaving a gap at the line for the Orks to exploit.

Lord Summervale: The Skaven cage starts to splint, but the Gutter Runners have gotten into the backfield and into scoring position. King Chedda' has been flushed from the pocket and rolls out to make a short pass.

Mad Johan: Runthugga is onto King Chedda's tricks and stays with him.

Lord Summervale: King Chedda pulls back to pass....

Mad Johan: … Runthugga got a hand on it and the ball is loose near the line!

Lord Summervale: Lungbursta is there, and he manages to pick-up the ball!

Mad Johan: This is exactly what the Orks needed to do this half.

Lord Summervale: A collision away from the play leaves the Black Ork Bad Ammer and Feta Fiend both on the ground.

Mad Johan: Again?

Lord Summervale: King Chedda' and the Gutter Runner Rotten Rochefort team up on Lungbursta and lay a punishing hit on him. The ball goes loose, but I am unsure if he's going to be getting up from that one.

Mad Johan: I think I saw the flash of a blade there. Those Skaven..... welll if you aren't cheating you aren't trying!

Lord Summervale: Neither team seems that interested in the ball anymore. They are just pushing and shoving each other all across the board.

Mad Johan: Gobsmacka looks like he is after revenge for Lungbursta and unloads on Rotten Rochefort.

Lord Summervale: Badgob stuns the Skaven lineman Brie Bumbler in the general scrum.

Mad Johan: King Chedda again does his own dirty work and takes out the troublesome Runthugga.

Lord Summervale: The Refs blow the whistle for the end of the game. The ball is still loose and no one has bothered grabbing it. The game has come to an end with the Skaven Cheez-Ballerz victorious.

Mad Johan: The Cheez-ballerz were surprisingly hard hitting in this game. They played the Orks game and still managed to win. However, the Skulsmash Reeverz were completely disorganized this game.

Lord Summervale: Indeed. With the game over, let's go the injury report.

Mad Johan: Rotten Rochefort will miss the next game due to a broken jaw. I don't think the Cheez-ballerz will miss him too much as there Blitzers have been doing most of the work in there offense.

Lord Summervale: Reports are coming in from our grot sideline reporters that Lungbursta was hauled out of Freeboota Field in a body bag. He will not be rejoining the Skulsmash Reeverz line.... because he's dead.

Mad Johan: Too bad, he was maturing into a skilled lineman.

Lord Summervale: Yes, a shame. Speaking of Lungbursta, who do you think was the Guillotine Razor close have player of the day?

Mad Johan: Let's start with the Skulsmash Reeverz. Runthugga as the back-up thrower was all over the field, disrupting plays and making plays. Badgob and Gobsmacka also were hitting rats pretty hard. Ultimately, I am going to go with Badgob. He is a probably the Skulsmash Reeverz most effective lineman.

On the Cheez-Baller side, there were a couple of stand-outs. King Chedda was active in hitting and trying to drive the offense. Swanky Swiss did a good job against Black Orks. Finally, in the first half the Munster of the Midway was the key play maker. Ultimately, my Guillotine Razor player of the game is Munster of the Midway.

Lord Summervale: Well, that brings us to the end of our coverage for the Deep North- Southern Regional Conference. The Skaven Cheez-Ballerz have triumphed over the Ork Skulsmash Reeverz here at Freeboota Field. We will now return you to the Cabalvision IV booth for additional coverage of Blood Bowl across the Old Worlde. This is Lord Summervale with Johan in the booth signing off!