Dreadball - Orx Team

I post infrequently, in fact I post very rarely at all, a situation I blame on work, children, and coaching junior football.  All of which suck up my time and leave me with little energy and enthusiasm for anything else, hence the lack of gaming or modelling - I simply can't find the time or motivation to do any making or painting at the moment.  I have made and spray painted the Orx from the Dreadball set today however, so to keep this blog going somewhat here's a picture....   

I'm now off to eat toast, plan out football training sessions, and sleep. 

That is all.

Dreadball Season 2014-15: Month 1 - Introductions & Rules

Hello loyal readers, Dreadball fans, and of course supporters of the greatest team to play the game and champions in waiting; The Carbis Bay Buccaneers!  The blue-clad seafarers hope that this will be the start of a defining season for them when they step out onto the court in their first fixture against old adversaries; The Plague Bearers, on Thursday.  Having finished 2^nd and 3^rd in the 2013 and 2014 one day tournaments this is the big time and the opportunity to shine.   

This is the first of hopefully a number of monthly reports on the Deeside Defenders Dreadball League, season 2014-15.  In this preview edition I will settle for providing a copy of the rules for the impending tournament, the list of participants, and the first round fixtures.  It is worth noting the following basic rules;

Each fixture consists of a Home and an Away match between the two teams.

Teams gain 3pts for a wipe-out victory, 2 for a victory, and 1 for a draw or a defeat.

The Participants (to be updated when I gain the team names):

Andy – Hollywood Allstars (Corporation)

Adrian – (The Nameless)

Dafydd – (Corporation)

James – 'Deff to Humanz' (Marauders)

Paddy – (Corporation)

Ian Shaw – Skaven Foundation (Veer-myn)

Pete – (Judwan)

Simon Harris – (Forge Fathers)

Tom Morris – (Robots)

Dave McClumpa – (Corporation)

Mark - Plague Bearers (Veer-myn)

Rick – Carbis Bay Bucaneers (Corporation)

Round 1 Fixtures:

Carbis Bay Buccaneers Vs. Plague Bearers

Adrian Vs. Andy

Paddy Vs. Skaven Foundation

Simon Harris Vs. Tom Morris

Dave Vs. Pete

Dafydd Vs. James

Dreadball League – Season 2014-15

·         Each player will be seeded according to their result in the last day long tournament.

·         Any player who did not play in the tournament will be seeded below the tournament players.

·         The player list will be divided into two tiers. Both sets of players will play every other player in their tier.

·         Each month a player will play both a home and away game against one other player.

·         Deciding who is the first player to play as the home player will be determined by a die roll.

·         At the end of each month the player in the top tier with the lowest score will drop into the lower tier.

·         At the end of each month the player in the bottom tier with the highest score will move into the top tier.

·         Each monthly draw will take place after all games have been played.

·         Players will not normally play against a single opponent more than once.

·         In the case that a player drops out of the league, then other players will be asked to play the team.

·         No matter what they score "dummy" teams will be considered to be at the bottom of their tier.

·         When all games have been completed the knock out stages will take place.

·         In each tier the top four players will play randomly drawn semi finals, (Home and away matches).

·         In each tier, the semi final winners will play a final (both home and away) to determine the winner.

Selection of teams

·         Teams can be chosen from any of the official Dreadball books.

·         There will be no MVPs or Giants used in the league.

·         Cheerleaders will be allowed but not additional coaches.

·         Teams must comply with the list as published in the rules.

·         Additional items or players can only be purchased following each pair of games.

·         Note. If your team starts with no coaching dice you can purchase these as the league progresses.

·         If your team list has no cards, you cannot draw cards to use on players until you purchase cards later.

Team rating

·         Your team rating is the total of all of your assets.

·          Each players basic value plus 5mc per rank gained

·          Dreadball cards at 10mc each

·          Coaching dice at 6mc each

·          Each cheerleader at 8mc each

·         Any unspent credits

o   If your team rating is lower than that of your opponent you are awarded MC to equalise your teams.

o   Extra MC can only be spent on extra cards at 10mc each, coaching dice at 6mc each or free agent players    any of these purchases can only be used for one of your pair of game. Team ratings may change between games. Treat each game as an individual event.

o   In order to simplify the process for players who only have one set of figures. New team members and free    agents must be of the same race as your team.

Scoring each game

o   Each game in your pair of games must be scored separately. Do not add the scores together.

o   Each landslide win will score 3 points.

o   Each win will score 2 points.

o   Each draw will score 1 point. A draw may be possible where both teams have only guards available to play.

o   Each loss will score 1 point.

At the end of each game

o   The match should be scored,(landslide 3pts, win 2pts, draw/lose 1pt).

o   The team with the highest number of cheers randomly awards a team member "Man of the match".  If teams have the same number of cheers, both sides give this award.

o   One point is awarded to a team member for each of the following:   Scoring a 3 or 4 point strike, injuring a player for 3 turns, killing an opponent, man of the match.

o   Each player starts as a level 1 player. A player must have 2 points in order to roll for first advancement, then they would need a further 3 for the next advancement, a 4 for the next. Etc.

o   Note free agents never get awarded advancement points and cannot be retained for new games.

o   Players entitled to roll for new abilities, should do so at the end of ANY match. Note this may effect your team rating between your pair of matches.

o   Players who are deemed killed may be fixed up if you can pay the hospital fees which are his basic cost plus   the roll of a dice in MC. Or you can sell his body parts and be credited with 5MC.

Team revenue

o   After each match you will be awarded prize money which can be spent between games.

o   Your revenue will be the value of any dead players body parts you have sold. (5mc each) plus roll 1 dice  according to game result. (Landslide 3, win 2, lose/draw1), plus 1 dice for each full 10 points team ranking   difference before the start of the game if you were the  lowest ranking player. The total rolled plus sold body   parts is the amount of  your revenue for the game.

o   If you intend spending any of your revenue you must do so at the end of the game. Credits cannot be spent at any other time.

Other rules

·         Anything not outlined above will be found in rule books 1-3.

·         If you cannot find the answer in the rule book and you cannot resolve the issue by applying  common sense or a simple die roll then blame the organiser, who in turn will blame Ian Shaw  because I can.

Dreadball 2014-15 Match Rules

Pre match sequence.

·        Roll a dice or argue over who will be the home team in the first match.

·        Complete the top section of the score sheet. (One player front, one player back)

·        The player with the lowest team rating is awarded MC to spend for this match only in order to balance the team ratings. Purchases are limited to coaching dice @ 6MC, cards @ 10MC or free agents at cost. Free agents must be of the same race. Unspent MC is lost and purchases cannot be carried over from match 1 to match 2 as team ratings may be different for the second match.

During the game.

·        Do not forget to draw and keep your cheers for the end of game sequence.

·        Do not forget to record individual players points scored.

·        One player advancement point is awarded as follows: Scoring a 3 or 4 point strike. Injuring a player for 3 turns. Killing an opponent. Award for man of the match.

Post match sequence.

·        Record the game results. 3 points for a landslide victory. 2 points for a win. 1 point for a win or draw.

·        Income: Roll one D6 for each of the following which applies to you: If you won a landslide victory roll 3. If you won roll 2. If you drew or lost roll 1. If you had the lowest team rating prior to the start of this match then roll 1D6 for each full 10 points difference.

·        Add 5MC for any of your dead players body parts which you sell.

·        Expenditure: Purchase of any new players, cheerleaders, dice or coaches.

·        Man of the match, (1 player advancement point) is awarded to a random player from the side with the most cheers. In the case of a draw both players may randomly draw a man of the match.

·        Player improvements. Players who have advancement points may be able to advance. Each player can only take one advancement after each match. Advancements can be awarded as follows: The first when the player has 2points, the second on 5points and the third on 9 points.

·        Players must declare which advancement chart they are using prior to rolling. (Charts are on the back of this sheet).

·        Do not forget to update your team list.

·        Do not forget that each advancement  player is awarded increases his value by 5MC. his will increase your team value.

Dreadball 2014 – The Year Of Pete

 Fast forward 9 months and the one day Dreadball tournament returned this week!  The less than dingy room behind the bar was utilised for the second time, and 8 participants brought their teams in the hope of glory, riches, and a free cake courtesy of Mr McKee.  Most had to settle for cake.  Last year’s Locusts head coach, Pete, returned with a bunch of walking cassette players and took on the mantle of tournament organiser.  Notable absentees were James’ Marauders (bird flu), last years organiser Mr Blom and his vertically challenged forge fathers, and the SmAshes 2013 tournament champions the Hollywood All-Stars and their head coach Andy. 

New face Dafydd and his corporation team ABC joined some old faces fielding some new teams, with Paddy favouring a 1980’s cartoon, Ian being unable to resist risking the wrath of GW and changing his teams name into ‘Skaven’, and Adrian forsaking his best painted award winning Marauders in favour of the mysterious nameless.  Chris retained his Marauders, but had sold the naming rights to a local company, and finally I kept with the Corporation side The Carbis Bay Buccaneers’.

The Players & Their Teams:

Pete – The Chromium Chargers (Robots)

Adrian – Mythos Maniacs (The Nameless)

Chris – OrkChester Man-Booters (Marauders)

Mark – Plague Bearers (Veer-myn)

Paddy – Teraton Titans (Turtles)

Ian - Skaven Foundation (Veer-myn)

Rick (me) – Carbis Bay Buccaneers (Corporation)

Dafydd –ABC (Corporation)

Most of the teams at the end, some were too ashamed to appear before a camera.

The Rules:

The tournament consisted of four rounds in a league format, with the result to be decided on the day.  3 points were available for a 7-0 wipe-out victory, 2 points for a run-of-the-mill victory, and 1 for a draw.  Nowt for a defeat.  The matchups were drawn randomly from a small bag, procured for just such an occasion, and any reoccurring matchups were redrawn to ensure players only met once.  Teams that ended on the same number of points were then separated by score (added together from each match), and then kills for and against.  Games were to last for one hour each.

Round 1:

Kick-off began remarkably early thanks to my work commitments, with the Teraton Titans facing last year’s runners up the Carbis Bay Buccaneers’ on the Thursday evening before the Saturday event itself.  A few dry runs a couple of weeks previously had provided the Titans with some much needed playing time, but an overly defensive outlook eventually cost them.  The Buccaneers took until rush 11 to register the first points for either side; striker Hector Barbossa stealing the ball and slamming in a 3-pointer before star player Dirk Pitt chalked up a 2-point hit, and it was over bar an exchange of un-pleasantries.  The Titans took their revenge for the earlier elimination of one of their player by taking out the Buccaneers’ resident nancy boy Will Turner.

The tournament kicked off properly on Saturday morning, and there would be no repeat of the previous outings point-shyness; two 7-0 wipeouts and a victory for the washing machines against hard-hitting Corporation side ABC.  The Plague Bearers gave a hint of what was to come with striker Influenza picking up all 8 points scored for the Veer-myn side.

Teraton Titans Vs Carbis Bay Buccaneers (0-5)

Plague Bearers Vs OrkChester Man-Booters (7-0)

Mythos Maniacs Vs Skaven Foundation (7-0)

Chronium Chargers Vs ABC (2-0)

Round 2:

12pm dawned, I arrived to virtually no cheers, and the Plague Bearers charged onwards, dispatching ABC by the less respectable score of 2-0 as the Corporation side discovered there was a ball in play on the pitch.  Influenza once more made his/her/its mark with 4 points, and Pox weighed in with another 3 against the scoring human team who had to undergo a lengthy decontamination process after the match.  The Carbis Bay Buccaneers were held to a draw by a delighted bunch of toasters, who had equalised late on after Dirk Pitt had grabbed a spectacular 4-pointer.  The Buccaneers coach was left kicking the nearest under desk heater, and would be even more dispirited in round 3.

In the other two games the enigma of the nameless Mythos  Maniacs fell to a narrow defeat to the turtles of the Titans, who found their hero power tactics worked better against the fast moving rats than the skilful humans.   The nameless head coach bemoaned the “last action, last rush” strike by the turtles, and while claiming they “was robbed”, he fruitlessly denied feeling bitter.  The Skaven Foundation, having overcome (ignored?) GW copyright issues to be allowed to play, banged 7 past the OrkChester Man-Booters.  The Marauder side, despite having clearly the wittier team name, and such wonders as Bob, Bobba, Bobo and Lord Faffington playing for them were handicapped by a failure to remember exactly why they had come to this less-than-dingy room in Deeside.  The head coach was adamant something about a real sausage and an actual photo had been mentioned as an incentive.

Mythos Maniacs Vs Teraton Titans (0-1)

Plague Bearers Vs ABC (2-0)

Skaven Foundation vs OrkChester Man-Booters (7-0)

Chronium Chargers Vs Carbis Bay Buccaneers (0-0)

Round 3:

Lunch was mostly eaten on the hoof, and for some off a table, and the microwaves went straight into action against Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo.  The turtles won, clearly comfortable playing without their sports physiologist, Splinter, who instead turned out for the Skaven Foundation, and promptly killed Plague Bearers favourite Influenza.  Luckily for the walking CoSHH nightmares it turned out that you can never fully eliminate an infectious disease, even if you thrash its team 7-0 and bash it with penicillin and Windex.  Sars gained more immediate revenge, killing Splinter to prevent more ninja jokes, if not any rat-on-rat jokes.

In the battle of the ‘what are we playing?’ against the ‘theres a ball, why is there a ball?’ teams, the Corporation side ABC came out on top against Lord Faffington and co.  Meanwhile the Carbis Bay Buccaneers and Mythos Maniacs played out a quite bizarre game, especially noted for a rather fortunate nameless scoring a 3-pointer in the Buccaneers own rush via an incredible sequence of slamming, bouncing and striking.  They then followed this up by the strangest way of winning a game; missing a 4-point strike only for the ball to improbably bounce off the wall and straight back to their striker, who made no mistake second time around before the Buccaneers’ could dream of intervening.  In between the kickoff and this final strike the nameless had opened the score, Jack Sparrow had equalised, and the aliens had missed several excellent opportunities to put the game to bed as the Corporation side proved completely inept at any task whatsoever.  Accusations regarding greased gloves, and the hostile crowds use of laser pens, was rife in the disbelieving ‘Buccaneers dressing room afterwards, but it would take a miracle for them to come top now.

Teraton Titans Vs Chronium Chargers (5-0)

Plague Bearers Vs Skaven Foundation (0-7)

Mythos Maniacs Vs Carbis Bay Buccaneers (7-0)

OrkChester Man-Booters Vs ABC (0-6)

Round 4:

At the start of round 4 Mythos Maniacs were in a winning position at the top; 1 point clear with a far superior score difference, and they were not about to let that slip.  It did, however, take until the last turn for them to achieve the wipe-out victory that would give them the title on clear points, with the OrkChester Man-Booters having a good go at that most Ork-like of tactics; giving them a good kicking.  Elsewhere the Plague Bearers did their best to put pressure on them, dismantling a group of typewriters on their way to a second wipe-out of the day.  The coffee machines made it a bit more difficult by scoring a few times, but Ecoli struck, and collected a personal haul of 12 points and a food standards agency warning label.

The ‘Buccaneers finally got into their stride, and ABC were blown away by Dirk Pitt and his team.  Pitt bagged two 4-pointers, the second one at the second attempt, before being justifiably blindsided by an ABC guard and taken out of the game.  ABC score two 2-pointers of their own after each 4-pointer, and ‘Buccaneers striker Jack Dalhgren committed a classic error of forgetting to duck as the ball was re-launched before Jack Sparrow put the game to bed in rush 9 with a 3-pointer.  Finally the Skaven Foundation, who had stood an outside chance of the title at the start of the round, were gradually worn down by the stone-wall tactics of the turtles, losing 3 players killed in the course of the Titans 3-0 victory.

Carbis Bay Buccaneers Vs ABC (7-0)

OrkChester Man-Booters Vs Mythos Maniacs (0-7)

Skaven Foundation Vs Teraton Titans (0-3)

Chronium Chargers Vs Plague Bearers (0-7)

The Final League Table:

Pos	Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Points
1.	Mythos Maniacs	3	0	3	3	9
2.	Plague Bearers	3	2	0	3	8
3.	Carbis Bay Buccaneers	2	1	0	3	6
-	Teraton Titans	0	2	2	2	6
-	Veer-myn Foundation	0	3	3	0	6
6.	Chronium Chargers	2	1	0	0	3
7.	ABC	0	0	2	0	2
8.	OrkChester Man-Booters	0	0	0	0	0

 The Awards:

Tournament Champions – Adrian with his nameless Mythos Maniacs

Best Painted – Rick (me!) with my Carbis Bay Buccaneers’

Carbis Bay Buccaneers - Winner: Best Painted.

Mythos Maniacs - Tournament Winners.

Plague Bearers.

Skaven Foundation.

OrkChester Man-Booters.

The Tournament In Numbers

·         16 - Matches produced a total of 8 wipe-outs, more than 2013, 3 of which came in round 4.

·         0 – No team managed to end the tournament unbeaten, all suffered at least one loss.

·         9 – The number of points the Mythos Maniacs needed to win the tournament, the same as the Hollywood All-Stars achieved.

·         2 – The number of Chromium Chargers players left on the pitch at the end by the aggressive Teraton Titans.  The turtles also claimed most kills with 6.

·         21 – The number of Cheers the Teraton Titans gained during the tournament, much higher than the Mythos Maniacs. 

·         +20 – The best scoring result, unsurprisingly gained by the nameless, while the OrkChester Man-Booters claimed the more unwelcome title of worst scoring result with -27.

The SmAshes 2013 – A Brief Report Of A Dreadball Tournament

 Devised by the indomitable and frankly daft Laurent Blom, and with the catchy name of the ‘SmAshes’, this one day Dreadball tournament was played in a small room behind the Deeside bar, which was less dingy and dodgy than it initially sounds.  There was plenty of room for the 10 participants to stretch their legs, put out their figures and boards, and rail against the world on varying subjects, including lunch, the method of balls returning to play, and how many millions of creds an upgrade cost before they settled down to play. 

The Players & Their Teams:

Pete – The Lost (Locusts)

James – Greenskin Clobbaz (Marauders)

Adrian – Orcland Raiders (Marauders)

Chris – simply :) (Marauders)

Mark – Plague Bearers (Veer-myn)

Laurent – Gromril Giants (Forge Fathers)

Paddy – Blue Bronzed Blitzers (Corporation)

Ian - Veer-myn Foundation (Veer-myn)

Andy – Hollywood All-Stars (Corporation)

Rick (yours truly) – Carbis Bay Buccaneers (Corporation)

The Teams.

The Rules:

The tournament consisted of four rounds in a league format, with the result to be decided within the day.  3 points were available for a 7-0 wipeout victory, 2 points for a run-of-the-mill victory, and 1 for a draw.  Nothing for a defeat, unsurprisingly.  In the event of a draw of points at the top some counting of the number of 3 and 4 point strikes would be required.  The matchups were drawn randomly from, in the absence of a decent hat, a glasses case (very rock and roll), with any reoccurring matchups redrawn to ensure players only met once.

Round 1:

The first round saw two draws, and shock victories for the Hollywood All-Stars (who had only learnt the rules on the previous Thursday) and the Veer-myn Foundation (who hadn’t actually learnt any rules, but didn’t let this put them off).  The remaining 3 games were very close.

The Lost Vs Carbis Bay Buccaneers (0-1)

Greenskin Clobbaz Vs J (0-0)

Blue Bronzed Blitzers Vs Gromril Giants (0-0)

Veery-myn Foundation Vs Orcland Raiders (3-0)

Hollywood All-Stars Vs Plague Bearers (6-0)

Round 2:

The first round had obviously broke the ice and scoring started in earnest, with no draws in round 2.  The ratmen of the Veer-myn Foundation were named for their tendency to provide the foundations for the league, but racked up another surprise victory against their marauder opponents.  Two teams very familiar with each other met in a grudge match as the Gromril Giants sought to put one over on their corporation rivals, but were heavily defeated.  Another grudge match saw the Plague Bearers defeat the Orcland Raiders, while, while the sole locust team went down to the other surprise package the Hollywood All-Stars. 

Carbis Bay Buccaneers Vs Gromril Giants (7-0)

The Lost Vs Hollywood All-Stars (0-3)

Greenskin Clobbaz Vs Veer-myn Foundation (0-7)

Orcland Raiders Vs Plague Bearers (0-2)

Blue Bronzed Blitzers Vs J  (5-0)

Round 3:

A spot of lunch later and it was now or never time for those who’d had a poor morning.  The Carbis Bay Buccaneers and Hollywood All-Stars picked up where they had left off with 7-0 wipe outs, although the 'Buccaneers were lucky to do so before their opponents destroyed their entire team.  Elsewhere The Lost and the Gromril Giants both gained their first wins, and the Blue Bronzed Blitzers stepped away from the tanning booths long enough to hold Veer-myn Foundation to a draw.

Carbis Bay Buccaneers Vs Plague Bearers (7-0)

Hollywood All-Stars Vs J (7-0)

Greenskin Clobbaz Vs The Lost (0-1)

Gromril Giants Vs Orcland Raiders (7-0)

Veer-myn Foundation Vs Blue Bronzed Blitzers (0-0)

Round 4:

With the results from round 3 in the possibilities were anything but clear, with the only certainty being that one of three teams would win the title.  The Carbis Bay Buccaneers led the table on 8 points, and played the Hollywood All-Stars (on 7 points) in a grandstand and voluntarily orchestrated finish.  The Veer-myn Foundation, on 6 points, waited in the wings hoping that a draw would enable them to sweep past.

In the event the ratmen lost to a Gromril Giants side grinding out the result.  Elsewhere The Lost fought hard to avoid defeat to the Blue Bronzed Blitzers but a final 4-point strike finished them off and the ‘Blitzers moved up to finish 3^rd.  The marauder team known simply as J lost a close game 1-0 to fellow maurauder side Orcland Raiders, and the Plague Bearers rounded off a forgettable tournament for the Greenskin Clobbaz with a 7-0 wipeout.

The title deciding game lasted longer than the rest in this final round, and after the Hollywood All-Stars capitalised on an early mistake by the Corporation side they rarely looked back.  A trading of 3-point strikes took the score swiftly to 6-0, but the Carbis Bay Buccaneers fought back three times (from 6-0, 6-0 and 5-0), with their star striker Dirk Pitt scoring two 4-point strikes and a 3-point strike to bring it back to 1-0, before another unforced error on the last turn yielded the game, and the title to the Hollywood All-Stars.

Greenskin Clobbaz Vs Plague Bearers (0-7)

Orcland Raiders Vs J (1-0)

Blue Bronzed Blitzers Vs The Lost (7-0)

Veery-myn Foundation Vs Gromril Giants (0-1)

Carbis Bay Buccaneers Vs Hollywood All-Stars (4-0)

The Final League Table:

Pos	Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Points
1.	Hollywood All-Stars	2	2	3	2	9
2.	Carbis Bay Buccaneers	2	3	3	0	8
3.	Blue Bronzed Blitzers	1	2	1	3	7
4.	Veer-myn Foundation	2	3	1	0	6
-	Gromril Giants	1	0	3	2	6
6.	Plague Bearers	0	2	0	3	5
7.	Orcland Raiders	0	0	0	2	2
-	The Lost	0	0	2	0	2
8.	J	1	0	0	0	1
-	Greenskin Clobbaz	1	0	0	0	1

The Awards:

Tournament Champions – Andy Canham with his Hollywood All-Stars

Best Painted – Adrian with his Orcland Raiders

The Carbis Bay Buccaneers.

The Gromril Giants.

A CoSHH nightmare - The Plague Bearers.

The Champions - The Hollywood All-Stars (Brad Pitt included!)

The clear winners of the Best Painted Award - The Orcland Raiders.

Three of the Greenskin Clobbaz menacing a veer-myn.  

One of the surprise packages - the Veer-myn Foundation.  

A rare shot of a guard from the famously publicity shy Blue Bronzed Blitzers.

 

The teams once more, this time with trophys next to the winning sides.

The winners once again - the Hollywood All-Stars during the final presentation.

The sole Locust team; The Lost.

A team known only as a symbol -   :-)

The Tournament In Numbers

• ·         Out of 20 matches a total of 7 ended in 7-0 wipeouts, three of which came in round 2.
• ·         Only 2 teams avoided defeat; the winners Hollywood All-Stars, and the tough men of the Blue Bronzed Blitzers.
• ·         The Corporation teams won the most points, with their three gaining 24, the two rat sides scoring 11, the single forge father getting 6, and the Locusts only just dropping below the three marauder teams; 2 vs 4.
• ·         The Carbis Bay Buccaneers claimed the most 7-0 wipeouts with 2.
• ·         If the tournament had been worked out on the post-lunch results the Gromril Giants would have come joint top; food obviously a factor.