“Antipodal Regional Shield 9/07 - first round
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The first round of the Antipodal Regional Shield was an interesting encounter. Lizardmen vs skaven. Lots of well developed blodgers amongst the Rolling Rats which would be a huge threat to my no tackle team, but a potential bloodshed since they were badly understrengthened. It would, by the help of circumstances, turn out to be an amazingly entertaining and exciting match.

The pitch was a real oven when the match started. The sweltering heat and the bowl shaped arena made it extremly hot. The Rolling Rats rat ogre Mick Jagger got so badly effected from the heat that he passed out before the match started and missed the match.

The skaven won the kickoff, but the Geckos had prepared well and lined up a perfect defense. Despite the well placed defense the skaven got a good start. They ran circles around the sauruses and the lizardmen showed signs of not blocking very well. Chiquet got knocked out early and the Rolling Rats could manage an early TD through a rushed pass.

They made a mistake in not conserving more of their energy though. They took the lead but exhausted their own players. 3 of the runners and one of the storm vermin were too tired to keep playing and needed a break. For the Geckos only the key LOS player Gormazda got exhausted, but they were on the offense now and didn't need him that badly.

Suddenly a loud thunderous crack rolled over the arena and with it a tropical rain like few non djungle dwellers have ever witnessed. It would haunt the Geckos during the rest of the match, since the skinks had an awful time handling the ball in the whipping rain.

The pitch turned into a muddy marsh under the trampling feet of the teams. The sauruses kept having a very hard time blocking the skaven and were at times pushed back by their substantially weaker opponents. Kai-Otta was ripped badly by the grotesquely clawed Stig, but the Geckos countered when the kroxigor Huanhuan hit one of the skaven linemen, flinging him through the air and badly injuring him.

The poor ball handling from the skinks threatened the chances of even mounting an offensive. The evil Bloodshed ran in to cover the ball, but was attacked by the frenzied Gorhuan who pushed him off the pitch. He landed amongst the Gecko fans and while he escaped with his life he was too badly beat up to continue the match.

Through much struggle and frustration Quetloq managed to pick the ball up and run in an equalizer in the final seconds of the match.

The rain kept pouring down during the half time break and the exhausted players quickly recovered. The Geckos had a skink knocked out and the Rolling Rats couldn't shake life in their razor sharp clawed Stig. The Geckos observed the sneaky skaven bribing the ref, but were powerless to stop them.

The Geckos recieved the ball, but the skinks were still mostly just slipping around in the mud. And the bad blocking game continued. The mighty Huanhuan embarassed himself when he went down on an assissted block (3d block) on one of the skaven linemen. In the confuzion the skaven runners went for the ball, one of them knocking out Teploq in the process. Gorhuan charged the beefed up runner Ross the Boss and managed to knock him out by a frenzied charge and at the same time the crowd roared in delight when Gormazda landed a clean punch on another skaven lineman, visibly dislocating his jaw and putting him out of play. Still the skinks failed to pickup the ball though, to the frenetic booing of the crowd.

The skaven were short on players and the Geckos did all they could to box them in to prevent their agile dodgers. One such attempt worked out great when the defensive specialist Erik Adams tripped over some legs and badly injured himself.

A third of the half was now spent and the skinks were still too confuzed by the pouring rain to pick the ball up. Finally one of them picked it up and starting running down the pitch, but he didn't come far before one of the skaven runners had jumped him and sent him sprawling and the ball splashing to rest in a puddle of water. The Geckos incredibly bad blocking game seemed to cost them the match and the Rolling Rats likely won some fans from the way they stood up to the sauruses.

After some struggle the hard stopped Quetloq snatched the ball up and proceeded the offensive charge down the pitch. The skaven were surrounded by an amazing effort one of the skaven blitzers broke free (5+) and stopped the skink with a swift kick (clean hit on my blodger). Gorhuan who had played awfully in the beginning of the second half (failed 3d blocks 4 times in a row) got his act together and charged after the ball. He landed a ferocious punch in the back of Scott Colmbus, snapping his spine and leaving him crippled. Time was running out now and the skinks just had to pick the ball up and rush it in, but in the bloodshed and chaos they couldn't find it. (Double failed pickup roll for the 5th time during the half) So the match went to overtime...

After a brief break it was decided that the Geckos would recieve the ball, this despite the ref still being in the skaven team's pocket. It looked well for the lizardmen, since the opponents could only field 6 of their players and the Geckos had a full line-up, but the rain was still pouring down and the team had played badly during the whole match so far.

Nobody could see the ball when it was kicked. That included Gorhuan. So when the ball landed in his hands he was as surprised as the rest when he didn't drop it. The skinks quickly formed a cage around him and lead him across the pitch. This success was countered by the Geckos overpowered LOS making a mess out of things in the front. (Rolled double skulls on the first block in both turn 1 and 2). Cuaquax got his leg snapped off and his shrieks of pain pierced through the roar of the crowd.

The Rolling Rats played heroically and despite being badly outnumbered they fought their way through the LOS, dodged away from their opponents and kept landing succesful blocks on the cage. Teploq was one of the unlucky skinks that was knocked out as a result of that.

The Geckos looked like they would grind to a halt close to the end zone line when the skaven finally broke the cage, but Gorhuan showed yet again why he is the crowd favourite and pushed Ross the Boss off the field with a frenzied charge despite still holding the ball. The skaven landed badly on the protective fence and was left injured on the side of the pitch. This finally broke the skavens spirit and they couldn't hold him back from rushing in the winning touchdown.

A fantastic match came to an end and even if the Geckos were deserved winners the Rolling Rats can be very proud of their effort. With such big hearts they will surely be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
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Thanks a lot for this one, Real! It was one of the most enjoyable matches I have ever played. My crappy blocks and pickups were so frustrating and the match so exciting that I was almost shaking in the end :)
I wish you all the best with your team and hope we face each other on the pitch in the future!”