Groggy Ice II

[raikaria]

So; making a thread here since the last time this team was around, we used the Race section of the forums.

 

If anyone wants to see the old thread:

 

 

What is Groggy Ice II?

 

Groggy Ice is perhaps one of the longest-running Norse squads in one form or another. It ran for several seasons in Blood Bowl 1; and then migrated to Blood Bowl II as Groggy Ice II. This team played in the Seeders; and Season 1... where it was put into Division 1 and promptly got mauled so badly the team was retired. The amount of deaths sustained by the team that season is, if I recall, among the highest in the OCC ever.

 

However, hearing from a tip-off that a replacement Norse team was required, I've brought the team out of retirement. If the team doesn't completely crumble apart, I might even keep it around for some more seasons, given it's a returning OCC2 team and therefor would be eligible.

 

Had 2 relative recovery games against Skaven. A 2-1 loss and a draw [Which was almost a win if not for a 1/36 dodge; also rolled 3 dubskulls].

 

Meet the Team! [I'll try and keep this updated]

 

I'm not the most orthodox Norse coach at the best of times. However numerous losses and busts have caused Groggy Ice II to take on a very strange outlook. And yet; at the same time; there are echoes of the original BB1 squad.

 

1410 TV - 2RR; 1 Apo; 3 FF

 

1 - Hair of the Grog - Yhetee - 5 SSP

The Yhetee that just wants to hug. 17 games. 1 MVP. 0 CAS in 117 successful blocks. I think he could easily win an award for worst Big Guy in the OCC.

 

2 - Eilif the Beerdrinker - Lineman - 11 SSP - Pro; Niggle [MNG]

Took a Niggle last game, but as a skilled Pro; he's worth keeping around for the time being. 13 matches; 1 Touchdown; 3 CAS and a Kill to his name. His name is a result of him being too drunk to remember to sign the legal deed to change his name for brand purposes.

 

3 - Grog Makes ya Hairy! - Ulfwerener - 21 SSP - Guard; Block

My standard supportive Ulf. 24 matches; 2 MVP's; 1 touchdown [!]; 4 CAS and 1 Kill on his record. I like to build my 'Zerkers for my Blitzing and killing needs. Ulfs go support.

 

4 - Grog makes ya ST4! - Ulfwerener - 25 SSP - Dodge; Wrestle; -MA

A -MA bust and Wrestle over Block somehow makes this Ulf get more SSP. Norse lack Wrestle and have mass Block inherently, so Wrestle Ulfs make sense. 23 matches; 2 MVP's; 1 TD; 6 CAS and 2 kills.

 

5 - Grog Gives you Wings! - Runner - 53 SSP - +AG; Dodge; Side Step; Fend

The star player on both the OG Groggy and Groggy II. Rolled +AG as his first skill on both teams. Doubtlessly the team's star player; 23 matches; 2 MVP's; 2 Passes; 5 Catches; 13 Touchdowns; 1 CAS and 1 Kill. One wonders if he's truely a Norseman or just a Bearded Elf.

 

6 - Grog n Thunder - Runner - 6 SSP - Guard

Just like OG Groggy; the other Runner rolls doubles. Although; to be fair; this Runner is a replacement for a dead one. Only 8 matches to his name, and him getting SSP's is slow due to Wings. Still; 1 Pass; 1 TD and 1 CAS [Which was a kill!]

 

7 - Drops of Groggy - Lineman - 0SSP

6 matches; done nothing. To be fair; he's usually the benchwarmer.

 

8 - Vacant due to death

 

9 - Prunch-Grog - Lineman - 22 SSP - Pro; Tackle

This guy leveled up in my last game against Skaven when a rat decided to 1 die him; got a skull and got CAS'ed from it. Considering how much the Skaven coaches loathed my other Lv3 Lineman, I expect Prunch will become quite an important player in my team. 3 CAS; 3 MVP; 1 Pass; because who needs a Thrower [who keep dying] when you got Pro Linemen?

 

10 - Vacant due to death

 

11 - Groggy 2k19 Blend - Lineman - 5 SSP

Another newbie to replace a fallen. 3 matches; 1 MVP

 

12 - Emergency Groggy - Lineman - 25 SSP - Pro; Tackle; -ST

Yes; he's got an ST bust but is still on the team. He's functioning as a safety against fast ST2 pieces, and as a pseudo-Thrower with Pro. You'd think the player people target would be my star runner, but this guy was so efficient at targeting Gutter Runners my last 2 games both Skaven coaches openly voiced their hate for this ST2 guy and began targeting him! It may only be a matter of time until I do retire him, but finds are tight right now and I want a 3rd Re-roll and another benchwarmer; and he does his job so he can stay.

 

A veteran of 20 matches; with 2 MVP's; 2 TD's and 2 CAS.

 

13 - Grog all the Way - 0SSP

A newbie who's played 1 game

 

14 - Grog all the Day - 0SSP

Another newbie

 

So yeah; I'll keep you guys updated on events in 5B and Groggy Ice II's return/recovery/substitute season. Who knows; maybe they'll come back for good!

 

Edited May 13, 2019 by raikaria

[raikaria]

Got a short amount of time before the game tonight; so here's a quick rundown of the enemy!

 

Springfield Iso-D'ophers - Nurgle - 1520 TV; 2 RR

 

Beast of Nurgle - Lv1

Nurgle Warrior - Lv 3; Block; Stand Firm

Nurgle Warrior - Lv 2 *3; Block

 

Prestigor - Lv 3 - Dodge; Block

Pestigor - Lv 3 * 2 - Wrestle; Tackle

Prestigor - Lv1

 

Rotter - Lv 2 - Block

Rotter - Lv 1 * 3

 

First important note; no Guard at all and no Mighty Blow outside the Beast. This makes me relatively even in strength overall; possibly higher [3 Guard; 2 Dauntless; 4 ST4 and an ST5], although I'd be a fool to not use my superior agility and mobility. After all; even with a slight bash edge; AV7 gonna AV7.

 

Two Horny Wracklers means Wings isn't safe; although MA7 helps a lot against their MA6. 

 

Dodge/Block Pestigor seems to be his only real score threat, especially as 2 of the other Pestis have Wrestle and thus lose the ball on Both Downs.

 

I also have a slight TV disadvantage. enough for 80k inducements. I might pay 20k to secure Babe+Bribe.

 

Also his beast is 5SSP in 6 games. Compare that to my Yhetee! At least Claw isn't bloat here.

 

Of course; prime targets are the Rotters to get pitch superiority [Although he does have 2 bench]; and those Pestigors.

 

Edit: Actually; I brought a pair of Linemen to give myself a bench. Guaranteed 2 reserves is better than Babe+Bribe in my book.

Edited May 12, 2019 by raikaria

[raikaria]

1-0 loss.

 

Guard Zerker died to an unassisted foul [Well; I chose dead. The other option was go to AV5; so in reality it was dead/dead.]; other Zerker got Niggled so might as well be dead. He was also my only level up, but I'm fireing him because an unskilled Zerker with just bloat; and an unskilled niggled Zerker is bloat. Running Zerkerless again since I don't have the cash; because of course I rolled minimum on winnings too.

 

Wings got injured [BH] on first block; and Nurgle scored because I dubskulled on a blitz on the open ball carrier.

 

I almost score 2nd half but Nurgle pulls off a double-dodge-double GFI into knocking the ball free; on a stun; and to boot it scatters into the tackler's hands and he catches.

 

I only passed 72% of Foul Apperance rolls; 40% of pickups; 0% of Pros [!] and my D6 were 24 1; 31 2; 32 3; 23 4; 30 5 and only 19 6.

 

Blocks had 16 skulls; and 16 Both Down but only 10 ! and 14 pow.

 

I got very bashy Undead; followed by Chaos; followed by Nurgle; followed by Norse Mirror.

 

I got the feeling the team's going to be falling apart even more. Which is a shame.

 

MVP went onto the ST3 Pro Lineman.

 

I'll update the roster in the OP some later point when I'm not quite as tilted from losing another game in a row due to a 1/36.

Edited May 12, 2019 by raikaria

[raikaria]

So ; next match is against the Spectral Solicitors. Team's all-time is 10W 1 D 3 L.

 

They currently lead the division with a 5/0/0 record [Compared to my partially-inherited 0/1/4 in last]. I'll be going into this match with a rather hefty 200TV difference unless he trims some fat. And that 200TV is when he's missing a Ghoul worth 120k.

 

To top it off; I've historically had an absolutely awful time against Undead/Necromatic teams. I mean; they are a top-tier team; while when you look at OCC records Norse are one of the worst non-joke teams [I believe they never made Champ in OCC1 and only made it in S1 of OCC2].

 

Anyway; let's look at his roster:

 

1610 TV; 4 RR; 9 FF; 1 Necromancer

 

1 - Pheonix Wight - Wight - 6 SSP - Mighty Blow

Judgeing by the fact he's only played 6 matches; it seems more like Pheonix II. Also all his SSP is from touchdowns, so it seems he's not afraid of giving his Wights the ball.

 

2: Miles Edgeworth - Wight - 34 SSP - Dodge; Tackle; Mighty Blow

4 Touchdowns; 2 MVP and 6 CAS on this Wight. Obviously with Tackle MB I need to try and keep him clear of Wings.

 

3: The Judge - Mummy - 23 SSP - Guard; Break Tackle

A BT Guard Mummy... oof. But he's still MA3. 1 MVP and 9 CAS in 14 games. I wish my Yhetee was even 1/4 as useful.

 

4: Winston Payne - 10 SSP - Guard

5 CAS

 

5: Mia Fey - 25 SSP - +AG; Block

Ugh; I hate Ghouls. Does a team with the power of Undead really need MA7 ST3 AG3 peices that start with Dodge? 6 TD's seems to indicate this is the secondary scorer, although he's also done 2 CAS.

 

6 - Emma Skye - 37 SSP - Sure Hands; Block; Side Step

And this is the main scorer with 9 TD.

 

7 is MNG'ed

 

8 - Athena Cykes - 6 SSP - Wrestle

Ah; a Wrestler. 1 MVP and 1... pass? OK.

 

9-12 are all Zombies with Block, so they're not easy pushovers.

 

13 is a vanillia Zombie

 

---

 

When teams get to this point it really highlights the problem with Norse. The Block you start with means nothing, and the enemy end up with better stats than you so you're just disadvantaged. Still; the plan is rather... simple.

 

Try not to die horribly; stomp on the Ghouls when possible; and try to outrun them because at least it's not Necro with Werewolves.

 

Of course; this is only the start of the meat grinder...

[raikaria]

Match Day 6 ended in an upset 2-1 victory! Keeping in mind this was against the Division leaders and my team was in a [partly inherited] last place.

 

I quickly gave away a TD to the Undead due to some dodgy Ghouls, but managed to score one back on Turn 8 thanks to a Long Pass from one of my Pro Linemen [I forgot which one] over to Grog n Thunder; into a TD! This was quite heavily aided by Sweltering Heat dring the match; which robbed us both of 3 players, but aided me more due to my superior mobility. Wings took a Niggle CAS but the Apo applied copius Grog to the wound and turned it into a BH, allowing Wings to come back!

 

2nd Half started 10 v 11 in the Undead's favour; and even turned 9v11, but I got a couple of KO's turning it into 9v9, and tied up a Mummy in no-man's land. Splitting up the Undead's Guard; and basically forceing my way through a flank that was just Ghouls; Wings managed to score on T14.

 

From there, heat really screwed the Undead over; making it 6v10. Of course; it was also the Undead's T14 and I still had a Wizard so not much happened the last few turns.

 

No-one leveled from the game. While in-game it felt like the D-6 favored me; they were actually rather even:

 

Blue for Groggy Dice; Red for the Solicitors:

 

D6:

 

1 - 17 ; 2-25; 3-15; 4-26; 5-25; 6-19

1-17; 2-32; 3-22; 4-25; 5-25; 6-26

 

More 6's for the Solicitors; but also more 2/3's. That said; they also rolled more dice altogether.

 

Block:

Skull-16; BD-17; Push-37; !-18; Pow-22

Skull-9; BD-18; Push-35; !-15; Pow-12

 

I definitely threw more blocks [Hi Frenzy] but I had a far higher number of both extremes; Skulls and Pows. So Block die were probobly slightly in my favour.

 

One big critism of the other team is their refusal to use RR's. They had 4 RR's; and finished both halves with 4 [Albeit; they got 3 extra RR's from kickoffs over the course of the game]. For example; he had 4RR's; it was Turn 8; he blitzes my Lineman carrying the ball... and dosen't reroll? Likewise he didn't RR against Wings on T13; despite him being about to score. It was a 1die but it still had a 1/6 chance of a Pow.

 

We got Riffcannon's Chaos next.  It's a pretty bog-standard Chaos team:

 

1560 TV; 3 RR [Groggy Ice is sitting at 1420; I'm 10 TV off a Wiz or Bribe+Babe... might actually dip into the bank for 10k for this one]

 

1 Block/Guard Chaos Warrior

1 Block/+ST Chaos Warrior

1 Block Chaos Warrior

1 Rookie CW

 

1 Claw/PO/MB Goat. No Block on him and as a POMB player I will be making use of any chance to stick the boot in

1 MB/Block Goat

2 Block Goats

1 Wrestle Goat

1 DP Goat

1 Rookie Goat

 

Definitely some vulnerabilities in the team. Only 1 Wrestle and no Tackle; as well as no players above MA6 means Wings can go mad. Some players lack Block; and I actually out-Guard him and I'm *almost* equal in Strength.

 

Also it looks like the Undead picked up Guard on a Ghoul and Sidesterp on their AG4 Ghoul after our game; pushing them up to 1770 TV.

 

Oh; and Hairy is up to 30 SSP after MVP; 1 more to MB.

Edited May 19, 2019 by raikaria

[raikaria]

Took an absolute nuffleing. 8 Cas sustained; including an Ulf and the Yhetee by Turn 3. Not the worst nuffleing the team has received [That would be when I got literally full pitch cleared, with the final cas being a Thrown Rock] but certainly Top 3.

 

Spent most the game 3+ players down; every play I went for didn't work [I almost scored bu failed 3+ twice with a RR and then CAS'ed myself letting the Chaos score; tried to lob a ball away to safety T16; fumbled and Chaos actually did ball handleing for a 3rd TD; ect]

 

Team is almost certainly being re-retired now due to sustaining even more injuries and going even deeper into the pits. 2nd Runner is a write-off [-AG] so I lost one of only 2 doubles on the team

 

At this point the team is almost a Lineman only team. I got 1 Runner; 2 [crippled] Ulfs and a useless Yhetee who hasn't inflicted a single CAS in 19 games. Also about half the skilled linemen are cripples too. I got enough money to buy one positional I guess. But then I'm still on 2 rerolls.

 

I apologise for anyone who has to face the Chaos team still. They got [2*7] + [3*3] + 5 SSP from me; so that's 28 SSP.

 

I guess with Groggy Ice looking more or a write-off than it was coming in as a substitute team, the next question is what should I move onto next.

 

Maybe I bring the Janiva Jaguars [Amazons] over from OCC1. Maybe I just stop careing and bring back All Ogre the World and get thrown in the exact same division as all the other Ogre teams and we all laugh and Ogre it up. Maybe I try something entirely different, be it some other strain of Human [Human, Betons or Kislev] or even something else.

 

I mean, I like teams that can give out the occasional punch but also can actually handle the ball and dodge in a pinch. I really dislike having all my eggs in one basket so I'm not really an Elf or Pure Bash coach.

 

On the bright side I think my 8 cas in 1 game might put me in the running for a Rubber Helmet again. Even despite missing the first few match days.

Edited May 25, 2019 by raikaria

[raikaria]

I never covered MD8 because that game was laughable and contained literally 4 turns of me rolling straight 1's in a row.

 

MD9 was Norse v Norse. Both aiming to retire. As such; it was a bit of a cluster.

 

I lost 3 players by Turn 2; as is tradition; and lost 2-0 due to being perpetually down on pitch and my time-honored tradition of being about to score and then rolling snakeyes at the worst possible time.

 

At the end of the game there were about 6 players left on the pitch. Unfortunetly; I had 1 lineman and an Ulf; while the other Norse had two Ulfs; a Runner and a Thrower. Also; they'd have had a Yhetee if it didn't foul someone and get sent off because we were kinda clowning at that point since we were both fully aware neither of us gave a damn about our teams.

 

4 players died, including the other Norse's Killer Zerker; who Quadskulled and killed himself. This actually matters; since it puts me #1 in the Bounty Hunter standings!  [I mean technically; my lineman punched him in the face]

 

The Yhetee retires with about 22 games and 0 Cas. Contrast the other Norse's Yhetee; who was on his first game and got a CAS in 2 blocks.

 

Oh; and there was literally a point where I rolled 1,1,1. And this wasn't the 'I'm about to score let's roll snakeyes' moment either.

 

I hope you guys will come back next season for the new team; a bunch of Bretons led by someone with hardly a clue about Bretons! Maybe having key players with AV8 will make me a little more Nuffle-proof. Maybe not having a completely useless Big Guy will help. Will I continue to roll 1's whenever I'm about to score? Will a new freakish player rise like Wings or my AG5 Amazon Blitzer from Janiva who I can't recall the name off the top of my head? Will I roll more than 2 doubles and 1 stat on my team for once over a long period?

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by raikaria

[Juriel]

Yes, welcome to the Breton fold! You get starting skills AND av8, at no higher cost than Norse!

 

I have tried to spectate your Norse games when they've shown up live, but I only ever made it a few turns in before quitting in disgust at the dice.

[Borke]

On 6/5/2019 at 9:41 PM, raikaria said:

4 players died, including the other Norse's Killer Zerker; who Quadskulled and killed himself.

 

This got a good chuckle out of me. In truth, this is how every killer should retire, when the time comes. It's the one punch you didn't see coming that kills ya!