Post by alex on Oct 11, 2009 21:07:32 GMT 9.5
The teams of the NFI have journeyed down to Araby this week to undertake the first official round of the regular season.
A beautiful sunny day graced the locals who came out to watch the match at the modest field at the Oasis of the Thousand Camels. Many spectators appeared to be newcomers to the sport, as Cabalvision doesn't extend into the desert. THe subtleties of the game were lost on some of the fans, who nonetheless enjoyed the mayhem and the pain being dolled out on the pitch. A great party atmosphere developed after the match and it is expected that the games held on Tuesday night will be a great success. Early predictions indicate there could be as many as 7 or 8 teams playing games on Tuesday.
In the game the Skaven team Scurry Up played their second game, facing the brand new Nurgle team the Bilious Greens. The hideous Nurgle warriors were a hit with the fans, who couldn't quite look away from the pustulating abominations knocking about on the pitch!
After recieving the kickoff the Skaven predictably scored early on in the half and then went on defence for the second quater. During the time the Bilious Greens spent on defence the coach could be heard constantly berrating his charges by screaming "move faster!"
Equally predictably the Chaos team employed the tried and true offensive style of knocking the other team down and moving the ball past them, protected by big blocking guys. Rotter, Warriors and Pestigors were dealing out punishment left right and centre and busted into Scurry Up territory as time started to run down in the half. With only a couple of minutes left in the half the Pestigor with the ball threaded a perfect pass over a prone Storm Vermin to a lone teammate on the opposite wing. The recieving pestigor immediately activated a concealed Ring of Teleportation to get him closer to the endzone and away from the pursuing skaven. He blipped out of existance with a mighty "POP!" to the gasps of the few members of the crowd who weren't already gasping in surprise after having watched pestigors playing like highelves! Mere moments later with a ZAP! the player reappeared, but only one yard closer to the endzone! With the last few seconds of the half a storm vermin raced over and delivered a lucky block to bring the player down and end his chance of scoring.
THe second half proved to be a brutal affair, with the Skaven on the defensive again and the Nurgle team slowly rumbling like a bloody avalanche down the field. The bright bright desert sun was high in the sky, killing any chance the Bilious Greens had of repeating thier passing prowess. So they continued ontheir tactic of knock down, move forward.
Despite league officials giving the pitch the all clear it appeared that although plenty of skaven were going down hard, most of them were carried off with concussions, but only one was seriously injured. 5 of the 11 skaven players were dragged off the pitch not to return on the day. THree quaters of the way through the second half with a defence that looked like swiss cheese Scurry Up conceded a rushing touchdown to a Pestigor.
Recieving the ensuing kickoff the skaven needed a TD to avoid a painfully drawnout overtime session. Bringing in a couple of reserves they were still undermanned, and when the THrower muffed his opening pass things looked bad, three rotters raced over to the ball, standing around keeping an eye out for any skaven who might be brave enough to go and try to get it, the gutter runner down field was decked by pestigors, the two linemen downfield were blanketed by coverage, and the storm vermin on the line of scrimmage were laid out. With a minute left and no hope of scoring, a gutter runner dodged into three tackle zones, picked up the ball from that well guarded spot, proceeded to duck and dodge out of the arms of the rotters, speed down the pitch and hand the ball to one of the well manned clan rats, who stepped artfully out of the tackling arms of the defenders to just run it in for the TD as the whistle blew to end the game.
The majority of the fans were supporting the rats (who could support a team of decaying chaos worshipers?), and therefore a great deal of impromptu celebrating ensued, although after a few minutes it became clear that this was less related to the result of the game and more as a celebration that the bizarre spectacle was finally at a close.
The Coach of the Bilious Greens has already been scouted by several teams who are looking for an experienced hand to turn them into the next Reikland Reavers or Altdorf Hammers. From the look of the coach after this game it seems likely that a team that has some speed on defence may be able to coax him away from his coaching duties with the newest Nurgle sensation, atleast for some of the time.
Now that the regular season is officially underway the competitive spirit is starting to fire in the teams who are gathering here in the Oasis of the Thousand Camels, and more than one team has already started talking of what it will take to make the finals in a league that has such a deep pool of talent. Only time will tell. Stay tuned for more news as it happens from the Northern Football Invitational, which comes to you this week from sunny Araby.
A beautiful sunny day graced the locals who came out to watch the match at the modest field at the Oasis of the Thousand Camels. Many spectators appeared to be newcomers to the sport, as Cabalvision doesn't extend into the desert. THe subtleties of the game were lost on some of the fans, who nonetheless enjoyed the mayhem and the pain being dolled out on the pitch. A great party atmosphere developed after the match and it is expected that the games held on Tuesday night will be a great success. Early predictions indicate there could be as many as 7 or 8 teams playing games on Tuesday.
In the game the Skaven team Scurry Up played their second game, facing the brand new Nurgle team the Bilious Greens. The hideous Nurgle warriors were a hit with the fans, who couldn't quite look away from the pustulating abominations knocking about on the pitch!
After recieving the kickoff the Skaven predictably scored early on in the half and then went on defence for the second quater. During the time the Bilious Greens spent on defence the coach could be heard constantly berrating his charges by screaming "move faster!"
Equally predictably the Chaos team employed the tried and true offensive style of knocking the other team down and moving the ball past them, protected by big blocking guys. Rotter, Warriors and Pestigors were dealing out punishment left right and centre and busted into Scurry Up territory as time started to run down in the half. With only a couple of minutes left in the half the Pestigor with the ball threaded a perfect pass over a prone Storm Vermin to a lone teammate on the opposite wing. The recieving pestigor immediately activated a concealed Ring of Teleportation to get him closer to the endzone and away from the pursuing skaven. He blipped out of existance with a mighty "POP!" to the gasps of the few members of the crowd who weren't already gasping in surprise after having watched pestigors playing like highelves! Mere moments later with a ZAP! the player reappeared, but only one yard closer to the endzone! With the last few seconds of the half a storm vermin raced over and delivered a lucky block to bring the player down and end his chance of scoring.
THe second half proved to be a brutal affair, with the Skaven on the defensive again and the Nurgle team slowly rumbling like a bloody avalanche down the field. The bright bright desert sun was high in the sky, killing any chance the Bilious Greens had of repeating thier passing prowess. So they continued ontheir tactic of knock down, move forward.
Despite league officials giving the pitch the all clear it appeared that although plenty of skaven were going down hard, most of them were carried off with concussions, but only one was seriously injured. 5 of the 11 skaven players were dragged off the pitch not to return on the day. THree quaters of the way through the second half with a defence that looked like swiss cheese Scurry Up conceded a rushing touchdown to a Pestigor.
Recieving the ensuing kickoff the skaven needed a TD to avoid a painfully drawnout overtime session. Bringing in a couple of reserves they were still undermanned, and when the THrower muffed his opening pass things looked bad, three rotters raced over to the ball, standing around keeping an eye out for any skaven who might be brave enough to go and try to get it, the gutter runner down field was decked by pestigors, the two linemen downfield were blanketed by coverage, and the storm vermin on the line of scrimmage were laid out. With a minute left and no hope of scoring, a gutter runner dodged into three tackle zones, picked up the ball from that well guarded spot, proceeded to duck and dodge out of the arms of the rotters, speed down the pitch and hand the ball to one of the well manned clan rats, who stepped artfully out of the tackling arms of the defenders to just run it in for the TD as the whistle blew to end the game.
The majority of the fans were supporting the rats (who could support a team of decaying chaos worshipers?), and therefore a great deal of impromptu celebrating ensued, although after a few minutes it became clear that this was less related to the result of the game and more as a celebration that the bizarre spectacle was finally at a close.
The Coach of the Bilious Greens has already been scouted by several teams who are looking for an experienced hand to turn them into the next Reikland Reavers or Altdorf Hammers. From the look of the coach after this game it seems likely that a team that has some speed on defence may be able to coax him away from his coaching duties with the newest Nurgle sensation, atleast for some of the time.
Now that the regular season is officially underway the competitive spirit is starting to fire in the teams who are gathering here in the Oasis of the Thousand Camels, and more than one team has already started talking of what it will take to make the finals in a league that has such a deep pool of talent. Only time will tell. Stay tuned for more news as it happens from the Northern Football Invitational, which comes to you this week from sunny Araby.