As evening closed in on day seven of season two of the Clomp! tournament, crowds gathered in the stadium for what had been dubbed 'The Greenskin Bowl', as the two mighty orc teams of Division Two, Azh's Bashas and the Blood Fang Boyz, squared off for what was expected to be a brutal, dirty game. In other words, a perfect Blood Bowl match!
First Half:
Start of the game saw the opening kickoff going to the Blood Fang Boyz, but as the ball hits the ground, Spinesnapper from the Boyz, and Earguff from the Bashas meet in a tangle of gangly limbs and tusks. Both Trolls hit the ground, Spinesnapper landing face-first and breaking his jaw. But the Boyz Apothecary quickly applies a crude splint, getting the Troll ready to return to the game as soon as possible.
Grimskar, star Thrower for the Boyz fields the ball and advances up left side of field. Amid grunts and the dull thuds of green flesh colliding, the two teams slam together at midfield. Badhag jars the ball loose from Grimskar, Gazgul knocks down Badhag. ball slips from his hands. Blitzers from both teams scramble and fight for the squigskin, bodies fly backwards from the pile, but Greenskins are known for their resilience, and gets back into fight.
Gazgul emerges from the scrum with the ball, cutting over to right side of field. Marfak lurches out of the pile after him, but is horse-collared by one of the Boyz Black Orcs and nearly suffers a fatal neck injury. But the Bashas Apothecary scrambles onto the field, administering a foul-smelling potion and a few magic words before helping Marfak walk off the field, seemingly none the worse for the wear.
Despite a mostly open sideline, Gazgul doubles back in a surpise move, sprinting over to the left side of the field and handing the ball to the rookie Blitzer Vulg who dashes upfield, closely followed by Grimskar. Riknast, playing a deep defense, slows down the advancing Blizter. But after losing his momentum, Vulg plants both feet and lowers his shoulder into the defender, sending Riknast to the turf and opening a wide path to the endzone.
Heedless of the action downfield, most of the player from both teams remain engaged in a bloody brawl at the center. Ulgrot KOs Galnast while Gazgul forces his way into the battle. Morgul, veteran Black Orc for the Boyz, knocks down both Earguff and Varag. As a frenzy of blocks from the Blood Fang team leaves nine of the ten remaining Bashas players on the ground Vulg casually walks in unopposed for the first score of the game!
The ensuing kickoff comes at the very end of the half, with too little time for any meaningful action. But Earguff makes a quick revenge strike on Morgul, knocking the Black Orc out cold!
Second Half:
During halftime, Gugfak, thrower for the Bashas, and his Black Orc teammate Varag, get into a squabble about who gets the last squig bit. By the time Coach Azhog had bashed enough heads to get things sorted out, the young and eager linemen, Sorruk and Gramnast Jr. (in his debut game) had snuck onto the field. The ref, seeing that both teams had a full complement of players, blew the whistle to start the second half, leaving the two veteran orc players on the sidelines!
Planning a strong initial push, the Bashas send most of the team up to the line, leaving only Itsham and Sorruk in back to receive. But the plan backfires when the cheating Blood Fangs jump the kick, swarming the line to clog up any potential lanes. Meanwhile, on the right sideline, Gazgul slams into Riknast driving the Bashas blitzer backwards and pushing him off the field of play entirely!
The ball lands deep, right in front of Itsham the goblin, who picks it up and peels back to the left side of the field, away from the approaching Boyz Blitzers. Meanwhile, at midfield, the battle in the trenches continues from the first half. Morgul, having shaken off his earlier knockout, returns to again square off with Earguff. Determined to end this battle once and for all, Earguff summons all of his strength and speed to pick up the massive orc up over his head and slam him to the ground where he bounces twice before coming to a stop. The mighty Morgul twitches, then stops moving entirely; his career, and life, ended in one fell blow.
The Bashas roar in appreciation and drive into the left side of the Boyz line, opening a hole for Itsham. The little goblin scampers forward. But Vorag swoops around a blocker, filling the hole and barreling into the much smaller Greenskin. Itsham flies backwards, losing both the ball and conciousness and has to be pulled off the field. Badhag and Galth fend the Blood Fang Boyz away from the ball, allowing Sorruk to pick it up. But the lineman makes a crucial mistake, and attempts to hand the ball to Marfak on the sideline. But the Bashas blitzer wasn't expecting the ball, and it slides past him, landing near the sidelines.
Skabrak, rookie lineman for the Boyz, deviously foots the ball out of bounds, hoping that a fan manages to throw it back to his team. His plan works. Though instead of throwing it to a player, the fans chunk the ball halfway down the field, again putting it on the turf near the Bashas goal line!
Galth, the closest Bashas player swoops in to cover the ball but clumsily misses the pickup. Vorag and Gazbak charge in, but Galth stiffarms Vorag, and Marfak flies over to take down Gazbak, leaving the ball open on the field. But the accursed squigskin proves elusive, again popping away from Galth's grip. Gazbak from the Boyz crawls over and covers the ball as Vorag and Vulg try to provide some cover, knocking Galth to the ground. With steely determination, Galth pulls himself off the ground and KOs Gazbak with one punch. Unfortunately for the Bashas, Galth's ability to make a timely knockout does not translate into ball-handling skills.
The Boyz Blitzers, Gazgul and Vorag again clear space around the loose squigskin. But, in a comedy of errors and colliding Greenskins, first Vulg fails in his attempt to secure the ball. Galth has another chance, but he too misses, leaving it open for Gazgul, who also sees the ball slip through his hands. As Galth scrambles over and falls on the seemingly uncatchable object, it pops straight up in the air where Vulg has one final shot, but he too is unable to reel it in as the whistle blows to end the game.
Final Score: Azh's Bashas 0, Blood Fang Boyz 1
