Following Game Two, The Furs slipped down toward the bottom tables after their two loses.
I didn't feel too bad about the loses: a challenging team and very different than the teams I normally play.
Checking the projection screen I found my table..
CHAOS CUP 2013 : GAME THREE
Opponent: Sex Panthers. Humans, Coached by Tom
Wow. Another Human team? It's odd, since Humans are one of the two teams that come in the starting game box, but I don't run across human teams very often. So twice in the same tournament is very rare.
A shame they don't get played more often really, I think they are a very fun & flexible roster. I'd never played them myself until last year when using the Apes as a human team, and found I really enjoyed the team.
The Panthers were different than the last humans I faced: they had an Ogre with Block.
To make room for the Ogre, they had just one catcher, but what a catcher! Block & Side-step.
Pregame rolls were very favorable: I got +2 Fame, won the toss and elected to kick.
Pretty gets knocked down, but no harm done. The Furs look for a way past the panther defense line.
Echo sees his chance: he dodges away (success!) and blitzes the fancy catcher: the catcher goes down!
Push my luck: Go For It to pick up the ball: make it, but rolled a 1 for the pick up. So close to perfect, but at least the ball is free, so I'll take it gladly!
Inxs recovers the ball and we look for a safe path to take advantage of this upset.
Pretty knocks a Blitzer out, and Inxs blitzes an opposing player off him to move the ball.
While he waits, back around the midfield,Squeeze wrestles down the Ogre and Adam Ant fouls the big brute! The ref must have been watching the endzone because he never saw those cloven hooves repeatedly stomping into the big thick skull of the Ogre! When the medics dragged him off the field they discovered he was dead! This was too much for the Ref to allow, and he ejected Adam Ant from the game.. to the roaring cheers of the Psychedelic Furs fans.
... Aside: Yes! It worked! This was why I took 2 wrestle and a bench of 2: so I'd feel more free to foul, and wrestle.. a couple players with block isn't much help, but I liked the idea of wrestling down a key player then fouling him! It may only have worked once, but it was worth it!
Inxs Scores: 1-0 Perhaps I should have stalled a bit more, but it would have been at risk of the faster blitzers taking the ball from me. With just a couple turns remaining the razzle-dazzle catcher managed to tie it up at the half: 1-1.
2nd half I receive, but in a very dangerous environment: those humans punched right through my defense and threatened to do what I'd done: steal the ball and score.
Falco came to the rescue, and Inxs slipped their net.
The humans were now playing catch-up, but with their faster movement, blocks & dodges I know they are well equipped to do that, so Inxs breaks for the end zone.
Inxs scores! Pulling the Furs ahead: 2-1 on Turn 5 of the 2nd Half.
Next Kick-Off: Blitz! My team gets a free turn!
Falco and Mena T'work charge out and sack the thrower! They can't reach the ball, but that will slow the humans down.
Or so I thought. The Thrower simply got up, ran & go-for it to reach the ball, threw a long pass to the catcher, who caught it (well, that is his job after all) Uh-Oh!
Squeeze blitzed the catcher in a letr turn as he tried to break past, wrestling him down and the ball bounced to Mena T'work who held it.
The back & forth scuffle went on and the clock ran out, leaving the score 2-1 for the Psychedelic Furs!
It was another very enjoyable game with a great opponent.
His blodging, sidestepper catcher was a serious pain all game: a constant threat. Well worth 2 skills on 1 player for this combination.
But my team MVP has to go to the ejected player: Adam Ant. Granted, Squeeze was vital again with wrestling down the catcher in the late game, but removing that Ogre early in the game ... that's a value that is hard to anticipate and measure, but I was sure grateful when he was gone! that might have made the difference right there.
So with just half the games down I'd already met my goal for performance: Don't lose all my games. Check! Achievement unlocked: On to Game Four!
Thanks for watching!
For our MVP Adam Ant...
Enjoy!