My Saints, of course, didn't make it past the Vindaaagh Pulling unscathed: witch elf #11 Barenziah Targaryen is sitting this game out with a fractured arm, and I elected not to hire the MVP journeyman of my last game. So right now my roster looks like this:
On the sixth turn of the first half, she scored her first career touchdown to put the Saints up 1-0.
#5 Jenassa Samarys - runner (7 SPP, Dodge)
#33 Raven Dren - assassin
#44 Irileth Targaryen - blitzer (6 SPP, Guard)
#55: Aralosea Romori, line-elf
#69: Darane Mencele, line-elf
#71: Hlireni Indavel, line-elf
#73 Brelda Quintella, line-elf
#77: Endroni Dalas, line-elf (1 SPP)
With three journeymen, we boast a total team value of 1,050,000gp, which means the Reid Death get a Bloodweiser Babe as an inducement.
**
The Reid Death arrived at the Dagon Fel Superdome amid a heavy snowfall, that grew into a blizzard by the start of the match. Five thousand Reid Death fans came to see their team play despite the horrible weather, and the Saints fans showed up in massive numbers, with over 12 000 present, continuing a league trend of hugely lopsided fan attendance.
Despite the terrible conditions, throughout the game, and in sharp contrast to the previous match, every kick landed right next to the waiting receiver.
With a throwing game ruled out, the Saints secured the ball, formed a box and started moving up the field.
When a gap opened up on the Reid left, the Saints went for it.
As the Saints linemen screened their runner, one of their number, #55 Aralosea Romori, was stopped dead in her tracks by Reid Death blitzer #88 Ernie R Jaurigui. Literally dead: Aralosea Romori, who survived repeated fouls by the Vindaaagh Pulling, did not survive the Reid Death, and became this season's first player fatality.
The show, of course, goes on, and the Saints cage advanced up the field and to the left.
Eventually, after some turns of back and forth with the Reid defense, a gap opened on the left, and Saints runner #5 Jenassa Samarys handed the ball off to assassin #33 Raven Dren, who made a run for the left backfield.
At the next kickoff, the blizzard cleared and the kick, again, landed right next to the receiver. The Reid Death now had two turns to score an equalizer.
The Death secured the ball and sent their catchers around the Saints defense.
We did our best to stop them, but in the dying moments of the half, Reid Death catcher #19 Harry E Mitchell evaded the Saints' tackles and assassin Raven Dren's shadowing attempt, and went for it to reach the end zone. Then thrower #10 Randall Gnant found a gap in the defense and got the ball into Mitchell's hands with unerring accuracy.
The half ended with the game tied 1-1!
**
As the second half got underway, for reasons that remain completely obscure, both teams' fans assaulted the referees. The Reid Death were receiving to start the half, and again, the ball landed right where they wanted it.
The Reid attacked aggressively, again sending their catchers to weave their way through the Saints secondary. Meanwhile, in the central mêlée, Death blitzer #7 Jay Blanchard blitzed Saints journeyman #66 Lilith Llethri and took her out of the game with a smashed knee.
Saints assassin #33 Dren was marking Death catcher #21 Ed Ranger, and Ranger leapt up, blitzed Dren, and both players went down, but only one got up: Dren was out for the rest of the game with an injury.
With the Saints three players down, we did our best to set up a proper defense, but simply didn't have the elf-power to cover enough of the field.
The Reid Death were able to smash through the Saints line, set up a lineman in the end zone to make the catch, and sent the ball flying toward him - only for Saints blitzer #44 Irileth Targaryen to make her first career interception! Desperate to capitalize on the turnover, the entire Saints team made for the Reid end zone as fast as they could.
The game turned into a footrace for the Reid end, and while the Saints were intitially ahead, the Death started to catch up with them.
The Death brought down blitzer #44 Targaryen, and the ball was loose among their players. In an impressive individual feat of elfball, runner #5 Samarys dodged into three tackle zones, grabbed the ball and dodged out, making for the end zone as fast as they could.
With some of the Saints players staying behind to mark any Reid receivers, it was now a question of whether Samarys could make it to the end zone, or if the Reid Death could still salvage a scoring attempt in their last turn.
The Death caught Samarys, and fouled her to keep her down for the last Saints turn, but were unable to secure the ball and mount a scoring attempt of their own.
And so the game ended in a 1-1 draw! This was a tremendously entertaining game, and the fans certainly got their money's worth with the pure mayhem that was the end of the second half.
**
Even though I also thoroughly enjoyed the game, I have to say I'm a bit concerned that my dark elves are losing on average a player per game stone dead. I really don't think we can sustain this loss rate! It's also already cost us one MVP title.
Speaking of MVPs, though, I'm delighted that my assassin got a level. Since I'm afraid assassins don't live very long, especially on a team like this, I don't want to pick a sensible skill like Dodge or Block, I want something fun and annoying. I thought about Jump Up, as it would let me maximize the stabbing, but in the end I decided that since my team's weakness is on the defence, the most annoying skill to take would probably be Side Step.
Most importantly, I'm delighted to welcome another new player to the Turboleague, and believe it or not, there's more to come!
**
League table [pts, goal differential, casualty differential, fatalities, completions, interceptions, sacks]
Sheogorad Saints (Dark Elf) (1-0-1) 6 pts, 2-1, 0-4, 0, 2, 1, 0
Reid Death (Human) (0-0-1) 2 pts, 1-1, 3-0, 1, 1, 0, 0
Vindaaagh Pulling (Orc) (0-1-0) 1 pts, 0-1, 1-0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Touchdowns:
Harry E Mitchell (Death): 1
Irileth Targaryen (Saints) 1
Raven Dren (Saints) 1
Casualties:
Ed Ranger (Death) 1
Ernie R Jaurigui (Death) 1
Jay Blanchard (Death) 1
VIP#52 (Pulling) 1
Fatalities:
Ernie R Jaurigui (Death) 1
Interceptions:
Irileth Targaryen (Saints) 1
Completions:
Jenassa Samarys (Saints) 2
Randall Gnant (Death) 1
VIP#8 (Pulling) 1
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