Our first match is against lizardmen. They've foregone the traditional Kroxigor in favour of additional rerolls and an apothecary. They also have a couple of games under their belt, so some of their skinks have side step. Since the saurii are underdeveloped, it should be a managable match-up for us if we can keep them marked without losing too many players.
First half kickoff
The saurii win the coin toss and elect to recieve. We set up in a formation you're going to see often. rules dictate we must have at least 3 players on the line of scrimmage and a maximum of 2 players in each of the wide zones. This setup gives the opponent a minimal amount of our players to pummel in turn 1 while keeping stacked tackle zones across the entire height of the pitch. The kick off roll is cheering fans (+1 reroll for both teams) and we get a perfect scatter roll, the ball landing all the way back in the opposing teams endzone.
Lizards turn 1
The lizard seem to be more interested in Blood than Bowl, and immediately begin punching at our Line of scrimmage instead of moving his skinks to position. Drew and RK47 simply step out of the sauriis reach (pushback), Shiteatingnibbledick stumbled and eats grass. But Whitewolf will have none of this. As the lizards use their blitz move to send a saurii into his face, he launches into a beautiful uppercut that makes the lizard go down instead of him! Turnover, and we're in the perfect position to put pressure on him!
Kodex Turn 1
It's tempting to go all-in offensive at this point. But it's dangerous to underestimate the MA8 + dodge skinks ability to exploit an unlucky roll on your part. The lineelves are set up to form a defensive line to contain the saurii. In the meantime, 2 groups are sent forward to put pressure on the ball before he can form a cage around it. Whitewolf and Stompa at the top mark one of the skinks. In the bottom, Scrooge blitzes an exposed skink and knocks it into the dirt. It is carried off the pitch. Bruised and unconscious, but not seriously injured. Roxor follows in her wake, eager to get her hands on the ball.
Lizard turn 2
As planned, the saurii scatter to try and deal with the invaders. Scrooge and Phoenix are knocked down by saurii. But from here, we should be able to keep them from converging and forming a cage for the skinks. The skinks fall back towards their endzone to protect the ball. They fail their initial pickup and burn a reroll. Then they attempt (and fail) a handoff, ending their turn.
Kodex turn 2, Lizard turn 3, Kodex turn 3
Everything is playing into our hands. ERYFKRAD moves forward in the bottom and lends a second assist to the saurus down there. This allows Scrooge to blitz it for 2 dice and frees Darth roxor from the tackle zone. We use superior numbers in the top and middle to further bully and mark the saurii, keeping them from falling further back to assist the skinks. Finally, since we haven't used any team rerolls this turn, Roxor decides to go for glory. with his agility, he can pick up the ball in 1 tackle zone on a 3+ (which he does), he dodges away from the skinks, using the free reroll from his dodge skill to reroll the 1 into a 4. Finally, he makes a short pass to ERYFKRAD, since the skinks won't be able to gang up on him as easily. Roxor proves the superiority of the potato diet with a beautiful display of technique and the teams first Star Player Point.
But wait! There's more! The saurii who tries to blitz ERYFKRAD fails his second Go For It roll and faceplants in the grass. A loud popping sound is hurt. Groin Sprain! This serious injury puts the saurus out of commision for the rest of the game, and the next game as well!
ERYFKRAD is in position to score, but Roxor needs the Star Player Points more. A quick pass on a 2+, 2+ roll gives ERYFKRAD a SPP and leaves Roxor with the ball for a touchdown and a 1-0 lead!
And a beautifully executed one it was too! the lizards simply weren't prepared for our early aggression. Roxor is bound to be pleased with himself after that virtuoso ball fondling he just pulled off.
First half, second drive
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We line up same as before. The skink Scrooge knocked out wakes up in time for the second drive, but we're still 1 man ahead thanks to the saurus injuring itself. The kickoff is another perfect scatter. The kickoff roll is "nice weather", which basically does nothing.
The saurii seem content to batter away at the sacrificial lineelves I offer up to them. Making sure that the saurii are marked by the less expensive players, our unmarked players edge around his formation to get at the vulnerable skinks in the rear. (Also, from this point on, I think I'll stick to colour-coding the arrows to match the team colours).
Whitewolf sees his chance to increase our numerical advantage. Running up to a prone skink, he gives it a good and proper stomping. The skink is carried off the pitch on a streatcher!
But tragedy strikes as an entirely unreasonable referee blows his whistle! The skink was clearly still moving and it was an entirely legal tackle! The ref will hear none of it, and Whitewolf is sent off the pitch for the remainder of the match.
For a moment, it looks like the Lizards might actually pummel through us (bastard kept rolling pows even though he was out of reroll and had no players with block). Jaedar managed to put a stop to it though, when the ball carrier ended up placed outside of its cage. ERYFKRAD was quick to lend a tackle zone to the dropped ball. Not even the wildest blessings of Nuffle will save you when you're a lizard coach who doesn't keep his skinks protected.
With the saurii marked by linemen, it's an elf vs skink mosh pit on our side of the pitch. Drew gets himself knocked out (the pansy), but ERYFKRAD manages to cause a soldid badly hurt on a block and RK stomps a prone skink into the knockout box without any interference from the pesky ref. With none of our players in position to get the ball all the way down the pitch, the first half closes with a 1-0 lead for Kodexia.