“Warpstone Open IX, Round 1!

Mostly elects to kick, no doubt nervously eyeing the wizard on the opposing sideline. The CRP Force KO one from the LOS and then each side follows up by gently pushing each other around for a bit, as both teams seem content to dance around like a bunch of elves. Coach 'grue fears this is going perfectly according to the CRP plan, and orders his marines to mark up by squads on turn 3. The HE respond by pitch switching and using the time to sneak "clever decoy Peter" through the lines but get tripped up with a pair of failed dodges, spilling a RR and some Lemonaid.

Ripley capitalizes on the situation by helping Slade to the sidelines, where the fans decide to take RIPley seriously until the apothecary steps in tells everyone to simmer down. As the crowd settles back down, Chester look to stall out the half from his own goal line, but his team mates are literally failing to get into position. Hicks puts pressure on the backfield in turn 5 and the dark elves are clearly getting their hopes up at this point.

Coach 'goo responds by offering up a choice: go after the scoring threats or take a swipe at the ball. Hicks can't help himself and goes in after Chester with guns blazing... but apparently can't walk and shoot at the same time as he falls flat on his face. In the blink of an eye Chester is in scoring range and as snug as a bug while the Dark Elves are left reeling in the dust.

With his players out of position now, coach 'grue grimly decides he probably can't stop the elves from walking it in, and concocts crazy bold plan of attack: The 'ol in and out maneuver. Without stopping to calculate the odds, Hudson leaps into the cage grabs the ball from Chester's hands and then blocks him to the ground with it - Chester being appropriately stunned in the process. As the mission is accomplished, Hudson shows himself back out of the cage and rallies what defense he can around himself.

It's not much, and coach 'goo wisely decides to keep his wizard on ice and takes his chances with an easy 2d tackle. Kiwi II dodges in like a pro and picks up the bounce but ends up painfully fumbling the easy pass for what would be an unmarked catch and 1 GFI score. In all the commotion the counter play is badly called (surely the player's fault... it was really loud) and though messy it works out. The crowd goes crazy as the back and forth action settles in favor of the the Dark Elves: 1-0 at the half.

The ice-cold wizard looms large in the second half. High Elf pressure is good, and scoring options are less than stellar. Coach happygrue hopes as each turn starts that he will be able to stall another turn without giving up too much of a chance for the CRP Force to swoop in and tie it up.

Another failed HE dodge proves the catalyst, and on turn 5 the cards are laid down: Hudson passes to Bishop who almost drops it, causing a hush to fall over the stadium as he rushes it downfield for the all important and probably game winning RR-less handoff to Spunkmeyer: 2-0 DE.

CRP Force vents some frustration off the line, fracturing Drake's leg and KOing Hudson. The defensive line is weak, and what could have been a decisive turn of delay is swept aside as Chester dons Card Fawndough's Headband and makes the pass to Peter without breaking a sweat, while Peter turns and runs makes a mockery of the DE "line": 2-1 with two turns to go!

The kick is right to Frost who catches it out of reflex and it's all hands on D! CRP spams potential scorers into position and the wizard begins mumbling on the sideline in anticipation of a climactic last minute of regulation time. Ripley pushes Chester out of the way but can't bring him down, while Frost hands it to Hudson who then chucks it deep at the waiting Apone.

The ball is deep in HE territory but not well protected, and as the wizard brings Apone down Kazin II is scopes it up easily and completes the pass to Luke II who hands it to Chester for the easy tying score... the fans are on their feet yelling for overtime but what's this? Ripley got a finger on it as Chester turns to run before completing the catch and it bounces loose! There's no excuse for that! Coach Purplegoo throws up his hands on the sidelines and the CRP Force sinks back to the bench in anticipation of the countless hours of game footage fundamentals their coach has in store for them.

Thanks to Purplegoo for the best game of the Tournament for me (so far)! Great banter and tense all the way through it. I came out on top with players who performed for the big plays or we would be looking at a different outcome there. See you next time!”