Nostalgia Hit Episode 1- There's Some Orcs on the Pitch...

Disclaimer: Apologies for the quality of the photos in this Post- it was more overcast than usual when we played this game so all the overhead lights had to go on. This made the glare off the pitch very difficult to avoid, and made the grimy paint-scheme of the figures look even murkier than in real-life!

This Sunday, the Ingleton group found ourselves missing a couple of members- this made it a perfect opportunity to break out the freshly-painted Blood Bowl set that's been languishing in my store-room!

Myself and Tom took on the roles of the Human and Orc Teams respectively, while Tony looked on and learned the basic rules (or at least, learned how not to play!).

It's been a long time since I last played this classic Games Workshop game, but I was amazed how many of the rules I could still dredge up from the dark recesses of my brain! Unfortunately my tactical acumen was somewhat lacking... Back in the day I had a Skaven Team that I played exclusively (and I have in fact bought the new plastic Skaven Team so I can relive my glory days), so playing Humans was a new experience for me in more ways than one.

*Mayhem on the Pitch! But where is the ball? And does anybody really care?!

I'd also forgotten how much fun this venerable system is- combined with the shiny production values of today's GW (including some very welcome stat-cards and a double-sided pitch!), the new box set is a very nice addition to the collection for when you want to play something a little different!
Having said that, I did find the squares on the pitch a little tricky to see- but that may just be the remorseless march of time catching up to me a bit...

The game itself saw the Geltburg Griffins (Humans) take on the Redskull Raiders (Orcs). Both Teams promptly cheated by having an extra player on the pitch (we forgot that Teams are limited to 11 players and used the 12 provided in the box for each Team)!

*The Griffins and the Redskulls face each other across the Line of Scrimmage...

The first half was utterly bizarre, with the Teams seemingly swapping play-styles- the Orcs scored the first Touchdown after my Thrower fumbled the ball near my own Endzone, while the rest of the Humans set about smashing the shocked Orcs into the dirt! A highlight was a humble Lineman killing a hulking Black Orc with a flurry of excellent dice...

*Somebody needs to tell these Humans that they are supposed to get stomped by the Orcs, and not the other way around...

The second half saw the Orcs suddenly remember what they did best, and promptly steam-rollered the Griffins into a fine and nutritious paste. With only a handful of players left on their feet, the Humans could only watch on as the Orcs ran the ball in for a second Touchdown!

*...Ah, that's better!

The match ended in a 2-1 victory for the Redskulls, and a tremendous time was had by all- particularly the Griffin's apothecaries, who must have put in a lot of overtime in that second half...

Hopefully I'll have my Skaven ready for the next time we play- and we will be playing Blood Bowl again!

I have some more Nostalgia Hits planned- Mordheim and Advanced Heroquest are on the list...