Challenge Cup Wk 6

The end is nigh and this week 4 teams had to come to terms that they wouldn't be in this years final.

Stirland Blitz (1) 2 VS The Blackfire Pass Thunderers (0) 0

The top 2 teams met in the cold of a blizzard, the Blitz decided to receive and as has been expected moved their infamous cage down field in the early going and were able to make a break down the side line for an early score.

The Thunderers had 5 turns to score and although the footing wasnt causing them problems, the inability to pick up the ball or cause any serious damage to the humans hampered their progress and they were unable to level it up at the half.

The 2nd half began with a Blitz from the Blitz! As the Dwarf head coach held his head in his hands the ball was snatched by the Humans and they began to move down field.
Having to consolidate their position the Stirlanders switched sides of the field and made a break away leaving the stunties struggling to chase them down field.

It was 2-0 soon after and with very little time left on the clock the Thunderers were unable to pull a score back

With the win the Blitz secured themselves a place in the final but their adversaries will not be decided until next week.

Orcago Boars (0) 0 Vs The Coffin Dodgers (0) 0

After a resounding win last week the Orcs were looking to push themselve in to hope of getting a final place, in their way was the only team yet to win.

In a what turned into a mass brawl neither team could carve open a definative scoring chance. Although the Coffin Dodgers were reduced to only a handful of players and the 1st half ticked way, unable to capitalise on the lack of numbers the Orcs settle for a 0-0 half time score line.

The 2nd half was more of the same with punches being traded and the Undead being generally on the receiving end of it all, several cooky attempts to score ended in failure, even the 4 6's rolled to attempt a super long bomb dodge affair couldnt help the Dodgers.

After much pushing and shoving the match was over and as it ended goaless both teams left the field of play knowing their chances of a final spot were gone.

Boomtown (0) 2 VS The Amazonian Red Tide (0) 0

The Rats met the Ladies in a Yo-Yo of a match with the ball going from end to end constantly until one team managed to grab a win.

The speed of the Skaven surprised the ladies of the Red Tide but the unexpected nature of the Amazonians made it difficult for the rats to concentrate.

The 1st half ended scoreless and both teams attempted complex plays in order to score that didnt come off.

The 2nd half was a similar affair with the ball going from one end to the other, in and out of the crowd and strange and surprising plays being tried by each team. The Skaven eventually pulled it together and took the lead half way through the 2nd half.

As the Amazons tried to tie the score up they were once again undone by the sneaky rats and in the final turn of the 2nd half the Skaven took a 2-0 lead

A loss for the ladies stopped them from having any chance of reaching the final but with a win the rats of Boomtown took 2nd place and a strong chance of going tothe final.

I've never met an Elf I liked...

I'm trailing in third placed with my completed Dark Elf army of 1000 points. With the end of January nipping at my heals I have to say that I'm quite happy to have made it. A house move, and the on-going DIY projects, significantly impacted on my time to get this finished. I have to thank my wife for allowing me to get some brush time despite the chaos that surrounds us.


















Looking at my force and the pictures of my friends armies I begin to wonder if I've spent my points wisely. The High Elves have a lot of fire power and some hard hitting units, the Lizardmen are well Lizardmen and the new book may make them worse +++Sigh+++ and although the Skaven have yet to appear on this blog completed they are quite bent and only likely to get worse.

At least I can adjust my fall of shot after a few games with my new army. I have plenty of figures to build and a Hydra is certainty.











Writing this has made me realise that whilst it has taken 5 months to collect, build & paint this army, I really could have done it in 3! No, no no, NO! I wont be doing the next 1000 in 3 months. Or will I????

Of all the things we've tried as a group of gaming pals this is one of the most successful. Far better than the Annual painting challenge (a year to paint a single figure) . I've still to undercoat mine and the comp finished 2 weeks ago.

Tale of....... the End?

Following the completion of the Mage I can now post my 1000pt "Tale of...." army in all its glory!

Well in its slightly squashed up glory anyway! 

Looking forward to seeing how this lot play out in game. There should enough elves to deal with whatever is thrown at them and will provide a solid core for future expansion.

So with the Tale of.... coming to a close what are my thoughts and would I do it again?

I definitely think a monthly deadline helped with getting things painted and finished. Over the years many models have got to 85% + done but never get finished. With a deadline you HAVE to say "that's enough, they're done". The silver helms, for example, could have dragged on with little details being applied sporadically for months.

I would most definitely do something similar again. 

With that in mind over the next couple of months I'll stick with Elves as follows:

Feb - Shadow warriors

March - Dragon Princes

April - White Lions

May - Chariots (1 lion and 1 horse)

June- various characters

That should take me to 2000pts or thereabouts and will make new plans from June onwards.

So, who's with me on Tale of.... the next generation??

Mage ya look, Mage ya stare......

My final installment for "Tale of...... whoever fancies joining in" is done.

Elembarel the Elf mage, leader of the expedition to uncover lost High Elf treasures in the Old World .

Rumours abound that he has found something of interest and has sent petitions to Ulthuan for reinforcements..................

Only having one model to paint this month made it quite easy! I was planning to add a lot of free hand (runes etc) to the back of the cloak however I didn't in the end as:

a) Couldn't decide what to do

b) Couldn't be bothered!

c) I'll leave that sort of stuff for an archmage

I do plan to add more Elves to the force quite soon, lets hope the motivation holds up!

As I would say "Looks better in the flesh!!"

'Insert Lizard pun title here' Ok:- Scaling new heights? Tipping the Scales? Do you think they Saurus?

Well I finished my Tale of 4 Gamers stuff a week or so ago and as I'm still in the lizard painting mood I've done another unit.

I've had these built and undercoated for a good number of years and now they can join the ever increasing amount of Lizardmen I now have painted.

A 20 strong unit of Saurus with Hand Weapons, 3+ save in combat in the new army book so should get some use in the games to come.

And as Lordybloke would say 'they look alot better in the flesh than in the photo'

Challenge Cup Wk 5

This weeks games have come and gone and heres the commentary straight from the err coaches mouths.

Kithband Warriors (0) 1 Vs The Blackfire Pass Thunders (1) 2

The Thunderers normal head coach was too ill to play this week, so thinking the best chance to win a game was to not play Undead, Lordybloke took over and heres his report

I received the ball and after a quick snap got a blocker under the ball who caught it. As it was not too far from the line of scrimmage I was well placed to form a cage which I duly did and the first half was a slow grind down field. I did work a runner towards the end zone in case I needed a pass but Cyrus kept him busy! Plus every time I tried to dodge with him (4 times) I rolled a 2!! Along the way a slayer injured a lineman, Cyrus fouled the runner but got sent off and a catcher tried to leap into the cage only to land on a spike and be rushed to the injury box!

In my 8^th turn I handed the ball off to the other runner who I had worked into the cage, pushed a few elves out of the way and run it in!

Turn 2 and Cyrus received. During half time someone had switched the ball for a spiked one and no one noticed (special play card) meaning any failed pick up or catch resulted in a “stab” (armour roll) on the failing player!

A fairly classic play from the elves had them set for a quick run in. However a failed catch from a handoff saw a player go down stunned as he was stabbed, a bounce, a failed catch another player stabbed and stunned, another bounce, a catch, a throw, a TD for the elves!

So it was turn 2 of the 2^nd half and the (real) ball was back in dwarf hands. Another slow grind down field was set, although there was less elves to get in the way thanks to a few KO’s.

After a cheeky blitz took out the ball carrier a lucky bounce (and catch!) saw it back into the hands of a blocker, cage re set, slow trundle, another hand off to a runner, 2-1 dwarfs!

Cyrus had 3 turns to score and equalize. Set himself up for another classic but the dwarfs numerical advantage floored the catcher and small “cage”. Cyrus sent 3 lineman running down field as receivers and put the thrower out of harms way.

I set dwarfs all round the receivers and knocked one to the floor.

Cyrus' last turn and 2 elves were in range of the end zone! A blitz made a small opening for one lineman, he dodged and got to the end zone. The thrower dodged out of a tackle ran down field, threw the ball, a 1!!! Re roll for pass and the throw is good, no intercept chance, 2+ to catch an accurate catch and equalize.

Yep, you guessed it, another 1!!

Game ends 2-1!!

Stirland Blitz (1) 1 Vs Boomtown (1) 2

The Blitz lost thier 1st game of the season in a hard fought game and heres head coach of the Humans, Binx with his report

'I received and left some big gaps in my line not anticipating a blitz result, almost all of TomArse's team were in my half before the game started and he scored in his 1st turn.

I got the ball again and trundled down the pitch, by the time I scored TomArse had 3 dead players and 4 in the KO box, sadly all 4 of the KO's players came back.

TomArse got the ball in the 2nd half and after a little scrum scored leaving me 4 turns to equalize.

TomArse Skaven finally learnt how to break armour and got 3 of my players off the pitch, my lack of numbers started to show and even with some crazy plays from myself eventually the ball went into the crown and bounced favourable for TomArse, rather than try and make it 3-1 he huddled around the ball on the floor meaning i needed about 6 6's to score.

I managed to get the ball to bounce into a more favourale place but I needed to roll so many good dice it eventually ended in failure.

The Blitz was the biggest contributing factor to the game , without it we'd have probably had a draw or one of us may have sneaked a 2-1

Orcago Boars (1) 1 Vs The Amazonian Rad Tide (0) 0

The Boars got their 1st win of the season and it could have been so much more sweeter!, The Orcs did what they should have and beat down the Amazons, causing mass casualties and didnt look too troubled by the ladies.

1-0 up at half time they were cruising and with a few turns left in the game the Orcs were a square away from making it 2-0 but refused to score and continued to beat up the Amazons.

With the crowd and onlooking coaches shouting for the Orcs to score the Amazons managed to sneak a player close to the ball carrier and before taking it in for the 2nd score the Orcs couldnt resist one more hit.

So Double Skulls of the week goes to the Orcago Boars as that is exactly what was rolled and with the crowd and coaches laughing and shouting 'told you so' the Orcs trudged back to the locker room with a win but no smiles on their faces

The Old Ones are the Best

Here it is, my 1000pts of Lizards

The actual list for the round robin games may change slightly once I get the new Army Book but I have spare Terradons and Temple Guard if needed.









In the Army we have...

3 Salamaders
16 Temple Guard inc Command
3 Terradons
30 Skinks
1 Skink Shamen
1 Saurus Scar Veteran

Guards!, Guards!

They think its all over......

6 months ago we started the tale of what would become 4 gamers and now I have a further 1000pts of painted lizards.

The last of my Temple Guard are done giving me overall about a 2000pt painted army.

Over the next 3 months I plan to paint 2 Stegadons, a unit of 26 skinks and 3 Kroxigor and a unit of 20 Saurus with hand weapons and shields. This should get me near a 3000 point painted army.

A full 1000pt army photo will follow soon.

Sometimes You Have To Delf Deep

Here at long last are my two missing units for the Tale of competition. Both units require shields but as the Kraken shields i want are unavailable to mail order until tomorrow, they will just have to wait,

Only a sorceress to do and I will be back on target with 1000 points of untried elves with attitude

Challenge Cup Wk 4

Due to problems with with the feed from the Necromantic Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) highlights of this weeks games have been lost.

Below find the new updated tables and top scorers/casualty causers.

Hopefully we'll receive reports from eye witnesses at the games soon or even testimonies from the coaches and players.

Orcago Boars (0) 0 VS Stirland Blitz (0) 1

The Amazonian Red Tide (1) 2 VS The Coffin Dodgers (1) 1

Kitband Warriors (1) 2 VS Boomtown (1) 3

Challenge Cup Wk 3

Week 3 has come and gone and once again everything is still ip in the air with the closest league so far!

Blackfire Pass Thunderers (0) 1 vs Orcago Boars (1) 1

The Orcs and Dwarfs met in what would become a knock down drag out affair, which ended up being played in a freezing blizzard, restricting passed and making the ground uneasy underfoot.

The Stunties received and as they began to drive down the field both teams merged into one big mess on the half way line. A few plays later and the dwarfs dropped the ball, it bounced and skittered across the pitch ending up in the hands of the Orcs.

A few moments later and the Orcs had taken the lead, and with them receiving the ball in the 2nd half it looked a long way back for the Thunderers.

Knowing that to equalize was going to be a struggle the dwarfs began to do what they do best and started to put the boot to the greenskins, as the game progressed so the Orcs nmbers thinned out and as the game moved towards its conclusion only 7 Orcs were left on the pitch with only a few left standing.

The Dwarfs took hold of their numeric advantage and managed to secure the ball, rolling into the endzone in the final seconds of the game to get a much needed 1-1 draw

The Coffin Dodgers (1) 1 vs The Kithband Warriors (1) 3

The elves and Undead met in a game that neither could afford to lose.

The game didn't start well for either team with one of the Undead Mummies leaving the pitch early and a few early exchanges of fumbles, bad hits and general rubbishness!

Soon enough the Undead got used to the conditions and managed to sort out a scoring drive, giving them an early lead. Little did they know but it wouldn't last for long.

Within 2 turns the Elves were level but not without sacrafice as they succumbed to their 1st casualty in 7 games!

Turning out for the 2nd half the Elves made up for a slow start scoring twice in quick succession giving the Undead little chance of closing the gap and robbing them of their 1st win of the season

Stirland Blitz (0) 0 vs The Amazonian Red Tide (0) 0

The unbeaten Humans met the Amazons who were bottom of the league, everyone was expecting a cricket score in this game but they were in for a shock.

The Blitz received the ball and their drive was delayed as they failed to scoop up the ball and the Ladies of the Red Tide burst into their back field causing problems early on.

The Humans finally got their act together but still struggled to get past the Amazons and as time ticked on eventually got into a scoring postion only for a failed go for it to scupper their chances and end the half scoreless.

The Red Tide began the 2nd half with the ball but soon lost it as the Stirland Blitz attempted to score early keep a tight hold on their lead in the league. the players moved up and down the pitch until the ball rolled into the crowd only to be thrown within inches of the Blitz's endzone giving the Amazonians a chance to cause an upset.

Both teams piled onto the balls location and with numbers in the Humans favour they once again came away with the ball, time started to run out and the Blitz had one last effort to score and win the game but again this was thwarted but the reolute defence of the Amazons

The game ended scoreless and all the pundits were left scratching their heads, who would win the league?