BriBBe Spring Break 26: Shark Week! 28th February 2026, Brighton

This last weekend was the third iteration of Spring Break in Brighton, and the first that I've been able to make it down to. Each one has a different theme, with this year's being Sharks and shark horror films.

There were special rules around the pitch being in the middle of the ocean and circled by sharks, meaning any player pushed off the pitch was likely eaten alive. 

You could also hire Quint (from Jaws) who was effectively a dwarf lineman with wrestle and stand firm, and who would double up as a team mascot and an 11th player if you were ever short - with the caveat that he would get eaten by a shark at the end of the drive!

It's a really great mark of how well BriBBe organise their events such that each one has it's own unique feel (with Spring Break's probably changing each year as well). 

The meta was very interesting - lots of people had leaned into teams with frenzy - khorne, norse, dark elves and dwarfs - with no-one taking the try hard team du jour of Old World Alliance.

When I won Elfbowl last year, the prize was a dwarf team and I had decided to get it painted up and take back to Brighton the next time I went there, regardless of which event it was. This really helped my indecisiveness! I went for a Brighton themed team - blue and white kit, with lots of basing that was associated with Brighton - rock, seagulls, chips etc. This gave me an excuse to buy myself a 3D printer much earlier than I had intended (as I had planned to do so once my pile of shame had vanished).

I also named all the players after coaches from the BriBBe league in the hope that they wouldn't want to punch themselves or their friends (it did not work). 

With not many skills being available, and without being able to take more than 3 of the same skill, and no more than 4 elite skills, I went for 2 guard troll slayers, 1 guard and 1 mighty blow blitzer and wrestle on a runner. 11 players in total, plus an apothecary with 3 re-rolls.

I'd not played dwarfs since my first NAF Championships when I went 3/0/3 and I felt a little rusty with them. 

Round 1 v Ryan (Gaming Dwarf)

Ryan had Norse and so I elected to receive to try to get some damage done early. However a dodgy snack took one of my players off the pitch from the off and dwarfs can struggle when they lose players. 

My blitzer (misspelledtree) snaked a rush for a mighty blow hit on an exposed Valkyrie early on (they did it again in the second half as well!) and this left the door open for the Norse to jump in and take the ball off me. I am 1-0 down and have used my apothecary on an injured lineman and feeling like dwarfs might have been a bad choice!

I manage to score back on my turn 8 despite a Valkyrie dodging and double rushing to pow my ball carrier. A blitz, a pickup and double rush all work successfully to send us in level at half time.

Defending I actually manage to get a slight numbers advantage, and I'm able to tag most Norse players and then mark the ball carrier with my diving tackle blitzer. I go to dodge a runner out to make them double tagged, but fail the dodge. I decide not to re-roll it but instantly regret it as a berserker dodges through and pushes my blitzer off the ball, allowing the Valkyrie to move one square away from the endzone. Ryan deliberates about rushing with no re-rolls but ultimately a 2+ rush now is better than a potential 3+ dodge if the valk is tagged next turn. 

Receiving again, I get a touchback and forgetting about the Valkyrie with strip ball, I give it to a blitzer rather than a runner. I have 3 turns to score but don't push too far into the half on the first of them. I then manage to get a bit lucky with my dice and some bad dice for Ryan and I equalise in turn 16 for a 2-2 draw.

At the start of my next game, sat next to Ryan, I suddenly remember that my dwarf linemen have defensive! As he only had 1 guard, I doubt it would have made a significant difference, but it is a good reminder to really familiarise yourself with a team before playing them. 

Game 2 v Simon (peel1979)

Simon had nobility but with only two guard on the bodyguards, and my defensive, I felt I very much had the advantage in this match up on paper. Simon elects to receive and then sends both blitzers down the wings, which allows me to start hitting them straight away with my blitzers and even when I don't knock them over, I'm marking them with diving tackle One noble blitzer is casualtied early, with the other knocked out and the game just continues to go my way from there.

I knock the ball loose and Simon is really not helped by his ogre who boneheads about 4 turns in a row (including once successfully passing the loner and then failing the bonehead again). I recover it and then score on my turn 8, to avoid the nobles having 2 chances to recover their knock outs.

I then score fairly easily on my drive as the nobles are down players and get a 2-0 win.

Game 3 v Andy (primhak)

I am drawn against my nemesis! This would be our 3rd tabletop game, but 5th overall with 2 online. I have not beaten him once. Andy was coming off the back of just having defeated his nemesis, Kev. Both online games had been draws and both tabletop games had been defeats for me. (in 2025 - norse v humans and 2023 flings v renegades)

This time Andy had norse - my second of the day. If I'd learned anything from the first game, it was to keep the ball safe. I had not learned anything from the first game. 

Andy scores fairly quickly saying he doesn't want to stall, and I'm already down a lino that the apothecary couldn't help with. I manage to score back, but do require the dice to help me out and we go in 1-1 at half time. 

In the second half, I push my ball carrier up a bit too quickly wanting them to be surrounded by their friends rather than deep in my half. This is too quick and the norse engineer a hit on the ball and take it from me. 

I probably should have tried to consolidate from the next turn but I didn't and we're now on the back foot. I have one slayer in the KO box and I've basically done no damage to the norse. 

Andy takes a one die block on the remaining slayer that skulls out and and allows me to get a frenzy blitz on the ball. It gets knocked loose but he easily recovers and now decides to stall out. My best bet is to one tie blitz to chainpush a lino out who then needs to dodge and double rush just to tag the ball carrier. Amazingly it works, and the norse at least half to roll dice to score.

I've stolen all the luck as after getting all the dice I need to make the tag, the blitz to push the lino away is double both down, re-rolled into double skulls! I let out a scream at this point as the 1/81 has resulted in my first table top draw against my nemesis! 

Conclusion

A 1/2/0 record is pretty solid with dwarfs, but with the scoring system being 30/10/0 I ended up 12th out of 32 which is still very respectable, and probably better than I actually expected to do.

There was a lot of talk about dwarfs being dead in Season 3, although I actually think they're a bit more interesting. 

If I was playing them again, I might take an extra lineman over 2 coaches and an apo. The guaranteed additional player is probably the more consistent option. I'd also want to practice my positioning and consolidating the cage a lot more, as I feel this was my real weakness.

There is also now the possibility of a fouling dwarf build - I'd be interested to see how that plays out and whether anyone gets any real mileage with it. It definitely seems fun but also with the possibility of collapsing in on itself.