Eurotrash, 23rd May in Bromley

This past Saturday was the first NAF event run by the 23rd best TO in London (TM), the nicest guy in Blood Bowl (TM) and nob lover Tofu!

He had themed it around the Eurobowl ruleset and has some amazing and unique trophies for the event.  

I opted to play high elves for a few reasons. The seem undertiered in Eurobowl, I've just painted the models, and I have been wanting them to become my new favourite team since they were announced... however that was on the assumption that they might be the only elf team with 4 catchers which obviously hasn't come to fruition. 

There were two main roster builds for high elves in the rule set. I went for the one which included a stack with a dodge/strip ball white lion. This meant I also had 2 dodge dragon princes, dodge on the other lion, a leader thrower and a wrestle lino along with an apo. I thought that this would better suit my playstyle.

I'd been working to improve my painting and I was very pleased with how they came out. I spent a fair chunk of time working out the bases to be an island theme as apparently elves live on an island (I don't read the lore/don't play any other games so I've had to take the internet's word for it.

Shortly after I shared them, Mike (Mordini) from our league shared a picture of his high elves which had both similar basing and similar(ish) colours. We joked that obviously we'd play against each other and be unable to tell which player was on which team. 

Round 1 v Mike (Mordini)

And obviously it came to pass round 1! I put pink bands on all of my players to hopefully reduce the confusion, but on occasion it was still a little bit of a muddle! Whilst the colours were a bit different, and he had the GW models and I had Brutefun, it was still a bit confusing! 

Not only did we have similar looking teams but we had identical rosters. I kicked to Mike and he was stalling out. He had made the cage dive a 6+ but there was a corner which allowed me a 4+ in for a one dice block with my strip ball, which obviously I took. I then managed to grab the ball, pass it and run away. I had been worried about an interception but didn't realise the new version of cloudburster meant that it was not possible to intercept at all, which is a very nice skill for free.

After being 1-0 up at half time, I go for a relatively quick score to get a 2-0 lead, and Mike opts to try for a one turner to have a chance at pulling anything back. We talk it through and he manages to do it and we both celebrate. 

My plan was just to hold the ball but with him not putting anyone in range, I try for a third knowing that a failure wouldn't lead to an equaliser and manage to get it. Mike tries another one turner but time is called, so it is a 3-1 win. 

Round 2 v Gary (dakkagazza) 

Gary is playing humans with Worms (the computer game) models and disappointingly doesn't spend the entire game saying catchphrases from the game. However, it's understandable as it ended up being quite an intense back and forth game. 

I still the ball from him after I manufacture a 2 dice hit on the ball and I get 1-0 up. We did have sweltering heat which became a killer for me. I lost a couple of elves as casualties and then the heat, meant I was severely low on players.

He equalises but gives me 2 turns to score back. I had received a re-roll from the kickoff table, but snake the rush needed for a half time lead. 

On my drive I'm under loads of pressure, down to just 6 elves. Gary manages to knock the ball loose and his blitzer on the sideline catches it. I surf the blitzer and the ball is thrown in favourably for me. I run to the other side of the pitch and whilst Gary has a blitz with a tackle piece, double skulls followed by just a push meant that I was able to dodge away and score to go 2-1 up. 

With just 6 elves to set up to defend for 2 turns, I wasn't super confident. I was able to get the strip ball white lion to hit the ball carrier, but fail the rush leaving it an easy walk in for the humans to equalise. 

R3 v Adam (cptoats) 

This the 3rd time Adam and I have played in the last year, with the record being 1 win apiece prior to today. He's playing elf union and elects to kick.

I slowly progress up the pitch and on one turn I decide to swing round to the other flank to try to gain an advantage. To do this I hand off to my blodging dragon prince and swing round to the left. He defends in columns and I instantly realise my mistake. 

The dragon prince has my ball, so it has to be him specifically who makes it to the endzone. This means that on my turn 7 he has to progress a certain number of squares. I decide that I'm just going to have to take the risk and blitz one of the more vulnerable pieces and try to dodge as many players through as possible. I manage to get 3 through, which makes it pretty easy for Adam to get a two die block and knock the ball loose. The only bonus is that he's not left anyone in range, so we go in 0-0 at half time.

On his drive, he gets the benefit of having played each other previously in that he is very aware I'm going to cage dive when I get an opportunity to do so.  

I pick a moment to do it and even though it is a strip ball on a sidestepper, it bobbles loose in front of my team. It's a 5+ pick up and a 2+ dodge and then I'll be able to be away and screening. Unfortunately the pickup fails, and he's able to clear my players off and run in for the score. 

On my drive, there's a lot of silly elves stealing the ball from elves. Adam cage dives me and succeeds. I cage dive him and succeed... but eventually the ball ends up in his player's hands and on his turn 8 he is able to completely wall off the ball in the corner to seal the win.

Conclusion

High elves are not as good as wood elves.

I could leave it at that, but I think it might not be a universal truth. Wood elves I think are better for how I play the game. High elves do have a lot of really good things about them. Movement 8, great passing, high armour and even the claws to allow them to be a bit fighty against higher armoured teams. However I think when playing bash teams with elves, my tactic is generally to run away rather than fight.

I think I'm going to take them to the Home Nations for a bit more practice with them. They are responsible (in the old rules) for my best tournament performance when I went 4/1/1 and finished 9th at Thrudball, so I think I'll experiment a bit more before putting them back in the box.