“Probably the most disastrous and disheartening game of blood bowl I ever played. By turn 2 my only skilled player was out of the game with a broken jaw despite an apothocary roll which merely gave me the exact same result. By turn my turn 5 I had two skaven players left. I started the second half with five players on the pitch against ten and by the time I had my first turn I was down to three. But I played on, hoping that I wouldn't be able to field enough players after the second touch down.

By the second touchdown I had two players on the pitch. Yet rather than staying down and forfeiting the match after the second touchdown, two of my players got right back up again. So once again I had four players on the pitch versus ten.

So what went wrong? Firstly, I made two very serious mistakes in my first two turns of the game (by which point I was already two players down). That and failing to properly understand the rules for the Bomber skill (even after all this time I hadn't realised he couldn't stand up and throw) meant that I essentially wasted the first three turns of the game while I was receiving, handing the initiative to the Orks from the word go. Add to that how terrible my dice rolls were (for example, out of 11 3+ dodge rolls I needed to make in the first half, I passed four. And ten of those dodges were made by players with the dodge skill). Factor in that BLACKSEED didn't make a single mistake all game and had decent dicerolls himself and it's easy to see why this game was such a drubbing. All the more so given how many times I was forced into making -1 and even -2 blocks by the strength disadvantage and lack of numbers.

Underworld teams need a skilled coach whose not going to make silly mistakes at all, let alone in the first few turns. Because once you make those mistakes with an Underworld team, it takes a skilled player to come back from them. Especially if your opponent is on form and capitalised on those errors. I made those mistakes, and I'm hardly a skilled player at the best of times. Consequently, I was justly pounded into the turf by the better coach and the better team.

The BLACKSEED was, always, a perfect gentleman throughout (it was our third game together). Yet even so I've never come as close to extending the hand and conceding as I have today. And I haven't once conceded a game of anything since I started gaming nearly thirty years ago.

But at least, with this team, things can only get better.”