Bristol DreadBall Tournament Report – Part 2

Bristol DreadBall Tournament Report – Part 2!

If you missed it, read my DreadBall Tournament Report Part 1.

In a nutshell, I was down in the South-West and took my Void Sirens to a DreadBall Regional in Bristol and ended up taking home the trophy. It was a 5 game tournament, and I won the first two games with a landslide. Starting into the third match, I was near the top of the table already.

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Game 3 vs. Marauders – It’s That Card, Again!

For the second time that day, I played vs. Marauders. Like me, my opponent won two landslide-victories before lunch (with Goblins!!), so these wasn’t going to be easy.

My girls were the visiting team and the Green-skins had the first rush.

Rush 1, Orx Guards start slamming me left and right, killing one of my Strikers right off the bat. One of his Jacks picks up the ball and heads for my 3-pts. strike zone. Running Interference proves less effective this time, though the Goblin ends up missing the Strike with 2 dice (needing 4+).

Rush 2, with the ball (and most of the Marauder team) deep in my half, I bring on a new Striker and pass the ball up the field, managing to score 3 pts.

Rush 3 & rush 4, the Marauders claw back a point with a 1-point strike. In turn, I’m trying for another 3-pointer, but lose the ball passing it from the Jack picking it up (as I am still down one dead Striker) to the Striker in the far strike zone.

Rush 5, the Marauder team collects the ball I dropped from deep within his field. Without enough actions to run the Goblins the entire length of the pitch and score, my opponent decides to hang on to the ball, surrounding his Jack with Guards near my 3-pt strike zone.

Rush 6, as my Strikers are stranded on the opposite site of the pitch, it would be up to my Jacks to (a) steal the ball, (b) evade through a cluster of angry Orx and (c) pass the ball up the field for a strike. I’m brooding over the pitch, trying to find a way to make it work and, looking for inspiration, start by drawing another card and … it’s THAT card again!

The ball shatters in the Goblin’s hand, relaunches, and my Striker grab it for easy 3 pts. That, clearly, was the deciding moment. On my next rush, I complete the landslide victory!

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Game 4 vs. Corporation – My Luck Holds (For Now)

Three landslides in a row make this my tournament to lose at this point.

I grab a coffee, chocolate and head to the next match, facing a (male) Corporation team. Instead of extra cards (like me), my opponent chose to take player advancements from the 20 mc tournament budget. He rolls the dice and ends up with Str. 3+ Guard and a Skill 3+ Striker…. oh boy.

Again I am the visiting team and my opponent has the first rush.

Rush 1, the Corporation comes at me. In contrast to the “straight-for-the-kill” approach of the Marauders, this team goes straight for a score, clearing most of my Sirens from the 3/4-pts. Strike Zone like a pro, goes for the Strike and ….. well, makes 3 pts. He’s got a 3+ Skill Striker after all!

Rush 2. Very much like the Marauders from game 3, my opponent’s team sitting deep in my half leaves his 3-pt. zone mostly undefended, allowing me to match his previous score easily.

Rush 3, the (male) Humans bash a few of my players around before trying to pick up the ball…

…and fumbles it!

My luck still holds, and the ball even scatters roughly towards my Strikers!!

Rush 4. Hey.. it’s semi-finals (of sorts, no knock-out here) of a tournament. I am not wasting opportunities like this. 3 more points for me.

 Rush 5, the ball launches straight at my opponent’s Striker, who manages to dodge the bullet (quite literally, as I found out in the final game). However, the ball scatters from there to another one of his Strikers (or perhaps Jack… I am not sure) and he fails the catch.

For the second time in this tournament, one of my opponents loses a rush to a launching (and scattering) ball, despite the new and improved ball-launching rules. It still happens!

Rush 6 is the time to go for the kill. All or nothing.

Burning the rest of my coaching dice in one Rush, I move up my Guard, bashing away the guy blocking 4-pt. strikes in his half, and follow up with my Strikers for the winning 4 pt. strike: My fourth landslide victory in a row!

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Game 5 vs. Female Corporation – Mirror-Match Finale

For the final game, I was facing the exact mirror of my team across the board: Void Sirens with two extra cards.

What’s more, after 4 fast landslide-victories in the 4 previous games, this finale was every bit the grueling slog of evenly matched, evenly skilled teams.

I won’t go into the different rushes for this one. Save to say, it went back and forth in a very even-handed fashion. I scored 3 points, so did my opponent. I managed to prevent a strike with Running Interference, so did my opponent.

My amazing luck with the dice had also disappeared, leaving me to fumble things left and right.

Last but not least, even “Digby” apparently had gotten tired of my winning streak and decided to add more “excitement”. One of the fatalities of this match was a Striker of mine getting killed where she stood by the new and improved Ball-launching rules!

Ultimately, the entire tournament was coming to a close and this particular match got called on time after the 10th rush. At that point in time, I happened to be 1 single point in the lead, winning the finale. Had the match been called a rush earlier or later, it could well have gone the other way.

Still, a win is a win, and winning 5 games out of 5 won my the Bristol DreadBall Regional!

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Have you played a DreadBall Tournament?

Again, many thanks to the chaps from Bristol for organising the event and for having me along!

• Have you played a DreadBall Tournament?
• Did you enjoy it?
• Is DreadBall, in your opinion, a good “tournament game”? If so, why?

Let me know what you think and leave a comment!

Z.