“The Thumpers challenged the Hellbringers in what on paper looked to be a large mismatch in the Hellbringers favour. However, the Hellbringers started the game with a huge disadvantage when their veteran Troll, Smasher Vomitflesh, and veteran Chaos Dwarf Blocker Bzarkren both failed to turn up (3 players with 1 niggle, and 2 of mine missed the game, he had 1 player with 2 niggles, and 2 with 1, and only his player with 2 missed the game).

The Thumpers recieved the kicked off under sweltering heat, and quickly injured Hellbringers Bull Centaur with a piling on blitz and to the disgust of the Hellbringers coaching staff, the magic sponge didn't work (rolled a f#ucking 1 on the -1 STR).

The Thumpers then controlled the line of scrimmage and eventually sent the ball forward down one wing in a semi cage. The Hellbringers shadowed, getting ready to try and bust the cage open with Bull Centaur Tzorak. The Thumpers were a bit anxious about the possibility of losing the ball and scored almost three quarters of the way into the opening period.

The sweltering heat then left the Hellbringers with only 8 players to face off against 9 from the Thumpers. The pressure was intense, but the Hellbringers managed to free a receiver thanks to a blitz by Tzorak, and then hand off to Hobgoblin Noggla followed by a quick pass allowed the Hellbringers to score an equaliser just before the half time siren.

The second half saw the Hellbringers start their offensive drive trying to defend against a blitz! With Thumpers penetrating the backfield, the Hellbringers fought hard to win possession of the ball and push it forward in a small cage. The Thumpers applied intense pressure, and it took quite a few dodges by the Hellbringers to bring the ball across the line of scrimmage on the left flank. The Hellbringers then tried to delay scoring to reduce the time left for the Thumpers to score an equaliser, but there was too much pressure from the Dwarves so the Hellbringers scored more quickly than they wanted to (it ended up only being 1 turn).

The sweltering heat continued in the final kickoff, where the Thumpers only had 9 to score against the Hellbringers 8. The Thumpers despite getting a touch back, did not push forward, and soon found themselves under pressure and in danger being too far from scoring when their ball carrier was blitzed by Bull Centaur Tzorak. With seconds left in the game, the Thumpers tried to clear a space for their ball carrier but failed to do so (double skulls for the Ogre blitzing).
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A tough tough game for me when 2 of my better players missed the game, and then I got my number 2 Bull Centaur seriously injured on his first turn and the apothecary failed. Ended up sacking him which is a real pain due to his 22 SPP, and the fact that I am earnign 10-20K per match! I only won the game because my opponent was a bit concerned about not scoring in the first half and scored on his turn 7 which gave me 2 turns to score and I managed the quick pass and catch after already using my reroll. Also my stalling on my turn 5 which then only gave my opponent only 3 turns to score.

My opponent played very very well, though he was helped by an inordinate number of one dice pows! He certainly made me work hard to win this game, and I was never certain I had a chance until turn 4 in second half.

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