Blood Bowl Sevens- Old World Alliance vs Halflings (S01GW01)

Here it is, the second match of Game Week 1, the Old World Alliance team, the Altdorf Commanders face off against the Halflings team, the Mighty Mootland Mice. As always, punditry and highlights are brought to you by our ex-player commentary team, Brokk Frorson and Thistle Hedgehill.

Pre-Game

The weather is perfect for Blood Bowl, and with both teams starting undervalued- neither has brought any inducements to play. The Halflings win the coin toss, and elect to receive, and with that the game is off.

First Half

The Halflings receive the ball, bouncing just in-front of their line, and start to charge up to create an offensive line at the mid-point of the pitch. The initial stages are cagey- the Treeman and Ogre immediately clash, but nothing but a push-back is rolled. Midway through the Half, Dwarf Runner, Thrar Frondison, Blocks a Halfling Hopeful, and Badly Hurts the Hopeful.

Brokk: 'With all the heavy hitters on the pitch, you'd never have guessed the Runner would get the first injury of the match, crunch!'

Sensing the shift in momentum, the Halflings make their move, with a Hefty and Catcher making their way past the Defensive Line. The Catcher fails to receive the Hand-Off, however, and this leaves the ball on the floor. Both teams struggle to pick up the loose ball, but eventually the Dwarf Runner makes the pick-up on the second time of asking, and starts tearing off down the pitch. Meanwhile, a scrum of tackling is taking place- Old Bark the Treeman manages to Knock Down the Ogre, Durk, but the Altdorf Commanders strike the more decisive blow, Badly Hurting another Hopeful!

Thistle: 'Here comes Old Bark, storming in for the Blitz to Knock Down the Ogre- Big Guy on Big Buy!'
Brokk: 'Not often you see a Treeman move like that, Old Bark doesn't look a hair off 200 with moves like that!'

Brokk: 'OOF, Hop Sweetsummer bites the dust! He's going to be out for the rest of the game after that punch!'
Thistle: 'They need to be careful, they'll be running out of Hopefuls to fill up the squad.'
Brokk: 'And that take some doing in a Hafling team.'

With the Dwarf Runner in range of a touchdown on the final turn of the game, only one Halfling Hefty, Tangle Woods, can reach the Dwarf Runner. Declaring a Blitz, Tangle makes four dodge rolls and a go for it, but can he take out the Runner?

Brokk: 'Look at him go- ducking and weaving, moving like a true athlete.'

But he only manages a push. In the next turn, the Dwarf successfully dodges away- running in for the Touchdown.

Thistle: 'TOUCHDOWN! That's 1-0 to the Commanders- and even that's a long way back for a Halfling Team to manage!'
Brokk: 'You'd know Thistle, how many 1-0 games did you manage to come back from during your spell at the Greenfield Grasshuggers?'
Thistle: 'Not a single game in 13 seasons Brokk!'

Second Half

With the Commanders receiving the Kick-Off, the hopes for the Halflings was very low to get anything out of the game. With grinding efficiency, the Old World Alliance start grinding down the pitch in their cage formation- managing to keep the Treeman out of range for a couple of turns. Miraculously, the Hefty, Burro Townsend, managed to knock down the Dwarf Blitzer, Runi Drugison, to break into the formation.

Brokk: 'Wow, the Blitzer loses out despite how bulky the Dwarf is on the pitch.'
Thistle: 'To be fair, at the annual weigh in, Burro and Runi are both well over 100kg.'

This proves to be the only success of the turn for the Halflings though. Not long after this, the Halfling Catcher was KO'd, and yet another Halfling Hopeful was Badly Hurt! The Dwarf Runner sprinted away from the Treeman and Hefties towards the Touchline, but was stopped by a three Halfing team dashing after him. With the Dwarf down, the ball ended up out of play, and was thrown to the other side of the pitch. With a Hefty managing to pick it up, the only possible way to score was a highly unlikely Throw Team-Mate...

Thistle: 'Some very good blocking from the Halfings- they've earnt their second dinner there.'

Brokk: 'The Crowd have really hefted that- it's straight to the other end of the pitch- the Halflings are going to need a miracle to get anything out of this!'

But the Halflings luck runs out, and the game ends with them dropping a hand-off. They leave the game with 3 Badly Hurt Hopefuls, feeling thankful it wasn't worse...

Final Score: 1-0

Post Game

The Altdorf Commanders buy an Apothecary (a wise move with their positionals) whilst the Halflings save their Coppers in their Treasury.

The Old World Alliance Dwarf Blocker picks up the skill Dirty Player special rule, whilst the Treeman for the Halflings gains the Pile Driver special rule. It's safe to say that neither teams are especially pleased with the decisions of either player in their training...

Thanks for reading! For more Sevens, check out the Sevens League Page.