If you haven’t already, check out the first three games during Day One of the NAF Championship 2024

It’s quite hard to review this game properly because it basically boiled down to… and then the Amazons died!

The combination of the Goblin Chainsaw and Ball & Chain just ripped through the Amazons as if they weren’t even there, turning them into a fine paste that made for a very straightforward game. The start wasn’t too bad, electing to receive the ball was slowly being moved forward but with nearly 2 removals per turn thanks to incredibly efficient blitzes by the chainsaw and then a well-placed Fanatic, the Zons just couldn’t field enough numbers to make a difference. A Blocker very nearly managed to finish the half 1-0 thanks to some great blitz and move plays, but sadly a miscalculation of distance meant the Looney could reach her and violently removed her from the field.

The second half was a slog, with only 5 Amazons on the field the defence was all but impossible, even with the Ref wising up to a few of the Goblin antics. However, a final act of desperation almost succeeded. With only 2 Amazons remaining and a shallow kick, the single remaining Linewoman managed to 5+ hand-off to the Upfield Blitzer who burst her way through the Goblin lines and threatened a draw. It was not to be, however, with a must-do Rush failing thanks to the chilly weather and then too many goblins got around the ball to prevent the score.

A real lesson learned in this game.

As mentioned in the first part of this tournament report, this was my first two-day event having only day a couple of days previously, so to say the fatigue was setting in, especially on the back of what was essentially a pitch clear would be, would be fair I think.

This was also the first game I’d played against someone I’d gone up against previously, Wotfudboy who I drew 2-2 against in my first TT tournament funnily enough. He also runs his own BB and Hobby related blog so you should go check him out!

This was the first time I’d lost the coin flip on the weekend, so the Orcs got to receive first and did the usual slow grind down the field. The defence did their best and forced the Orcs into some desperate plays in the final turn, needing a full series of pushing players off the ball, pickups and rushes to end the half 0-1 to the Orcs. In hindsight, it was a pretty good defence overall to force quite a lot of dice, especially with no re-rolls left on the Orc side.

The second half however was a different story. As mentioned, I was absolutely feeling it by this point and made quite a few errors on my part during the assault. Needless ones as well. The game really ended during a poor decision to try and hand off the ball in the centre of the pitch and with tiredness in, I just didn’t consider the failure state at all so when the 3+ with a re-roll failed, the ball was easy pickings for the Orcs. I did manage to recover and stop the 0-2 and attempt a last-ditch draw, but some confusion regarding the facing of one of my players took the shine off what was a really well-played game overall up until that point. 100% my fault I have to say and props to Wotfudboy for being very patient with me. You could absolutely tell the difference between someone used to this kind of tournament and someone very green like myself and that experience was the difference on the day. It was a very good learning experience and one I won’t forget going forward, just to take a second to consider what I’m doing even when you’ve got the referees in the background shouting out the time that’s left! A well-deserved win for the Orcs and a lesson learned for the Zons!

Undead were the most popular team of the tournament so it was no surprise to finally get them on last day! At this point I was 1-1-3 so there wasn’t really much to play for other than fun and pride… and some fun was definitely had during this game!

Perhaps due to it being the last game, it was far looser and more relaxed than the others and Lithium was a brilliant opponent from the moment we sat down, really enthusiastic about every roll and what her players were doing! It was a very open game with the Undead pushing forward, but the Mummies weren’t ready for the Amazon Blockers and spent a lot of time on the ground, keeping them out of the game and thus unable to protect the cage. With their high strength out of the way, the naked ghoul, despite his Wights and fellow Ghouls protecting him, couldn’t stop the sack and the Undead conceded to make it 1-0 at half time.

The Amazons had an easier time on their drive, easily able to get away from the Mummies and Zombies trying to tag them up and scored midway through the second half. The Ghouls then attempted a brilliant series of dodges to make it 2-1 but once again the naked Ghoul let the team down in the end, unable to screen off the Wrestle Blitzers and thus making the defence much easier for the Zons. An incredibly fun and probably the most blood bowly of the weekend!

Final Results: 2-1-3

I had hoped for either an even 3-0-3 or 2-2-2 but, in retrospect, I think the final result was fair. The level of skill and experience across the board was so high that I wouldn’t consider any of my games easy or simple. Little mistakes here and there cost me a better record but who knows what I’d of come across had I won game one or drawn game 3, both things I think some experience and better game management could have done.

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend and I’ll definitely be going to NAFC 2025. More importantly, I think I need to get more reps in just to really hone my “tournament play” as it were. If you’ve never played in one, it’s a completely different experience to playing one game a week in a league or even just laddering online and you really do need a different mindset going into them. As for the team, I think I took the right skills in the end but I’m not sure I’ll be using Amazons again any time soon. I wanted a Tier 1 team anyway for my first big tournament just so I wasn’t fighting against the team itself on top of my opponents but I’m sure I’m suited to them, as much as I enjoy playing them. Union are calling for sure or perhaps something a little tougher like Necromantic. The former is a team I’m incredibly familiar with, so it’s tempting to take them to some tournaments between now and next year just to get a feel for them in that format and see how we do!