Feeling a bit Rusty: The Rusty Cup

The Rusty Cup 2017.

 Well here we are again, another a Guild Ball article! If you haven't heard from me in a while it's because I haven't played a game of Guild Ball since the last tourney report in January. The aptly named "Rusty cup" was my first two day, 64 player (42 with dropouts) GB event, run by the guys from the Who Care Who Wins podcast.

 

Along with my lack of recent experience I thought it'd be fun to try out the new - and not at all complex to use - 'Brainpan and Memory'. What could go wrong? Other than that it was the same loadout as I usually use, but dropping Cosset (who I often find to be quite fragile).

 

 

 

 

 

Round 1 - Fishermen

My first round draw was against a lovely guy called Geoff and his Fishermen. Geoff and I played in the first round of the last tournament and that time he won 12-10 in a very close game.

 

He won 12-10 in a very close game.

A blow by blow analysis is pretty redundant but I will say that I underestimated the Hag for the Fishermen. She's all about the dodges, with a Legendary play that makes all models (friend and foe) within 4" move 2". This allowed him to box in Obulus for a takeout. That, combined with two goals, a dead Dirge and a point from me clocking out made a rather unique way of reaching 12. 

Of note was the fact that until both clocks were down to 2 minutes, the score was locked at 2-3 thanks to the most tentative and wary Guild Ball I've ever played. Managing to hold Fish off from scoring for that long was a treat, I must say. 

 

Spot prize for losing in the first round. Superhero landing, he's doing a superhero landing!

Round 2 - Fishermen

Joy unbound. More Fishermen. No Hag this time and the curious choice of Fangtooth instead the exceedingly popular Avarisse and Greede.

 

I soon found that his philosophy was that of punchyfish. Even though he took Shark over Corsair he made clever use of Tidal Surge to pull players away from cover and support to try to crowd them out and beat them to death with Fangtooth. 

 

I was also a fan of his plot card holder ;)

Unfortunately that plan wasn't too efficient and by the time he'd smashed through two players I'd managed to score three goals for a 12-4 win. 

Lesson? Fish can punch but you probably need the right team loadout for it.

Round 3 - Brewers

 

My third opponent was the rather diversely named Bjorn Lefevre, a Belgian with a Scandinavian name playing in Britain. How very unBrexit. Bjorn brought Brewers and was happily supping a pint while we played. What a man.

As much as I was enjoying Brainpan & Memory I felt that I couldn't take them against Brewers. As far as I remembered Brewers loved KD, a weak spot for the little puppet. I also know that they like charging. And hitting. And so I rather reluctantly took Casket as well as Ghast, planning to use those two to blunt the charge while I tried to score. 

 

My scheme worked, though he carved through them quicker than I'd hoped, took down Dirge and was close to getting Graves too. As it was I managed to sink three and take out Harry the Hat before he had the chance to overwhelm me. A 12-5 victory. 

Round 4 - Alchemists

 

At least, I assumed that this guy was playing Alchemists. No smoke. No veteran Katalyst. No Calculus. No Mercury. My experience against alchemists all for naught to prepare me!

 

No question that Brainpan and Memory were man/puppet of the match this game. Obulus sneaked an early goal then B&M came out of nowhere to dodge into range and tap in a second. It wasn't too difficult for Obulus to clinch a third from there. Puppetmaster really is a bitch. 12-4 to the Morticians.

 

Spot prize this round was for the first player to make two shots on goal in one turn. They personalised it too. How sweet.

Lesson: Read your opponent's cards, especially if they bring new sneaky models like Brainpan & Memory.

Round 5 - Morticians/Union

In a slight anticlimax my opponent didn't show up in time for the first round the following day. He was a little the worse for wear after a rather enjoyable night painting York red. As it was I was offered a game against Steve Newton, ex world number one and co-host of WCWW. Bugger.

 

 

In a touching display of sportsmanship he jokingly declined my request to use a GB app. I had to use cards (for the attention of Chris Baker there).

 

 I clinched two early goals using Mist and Obulus (requiring the use of Rigor Mortis to secure a first activation with the big man. Possibly a waste according to Steve's own Obulus playbook). In return he tagged Ghast and scored twice with Blackheart taking it to 8-10, and with me about to clock out. It should have been trivial for his Mist to collect the ball and boot it away to stop me scoring a last minute goal but in a rookie error (or cunning piece of niceguymanship) he failed to allocate enough influence to Mist. This meant Obulus could activate, retrieve the ball and score for a very, very fishy 12-10 victory.

 

Lesson learned? Spike your opponent's drinks the night before an important match.

Round 6 - There wasn't one 

As it turned out there was only one undefeated player after round 5 it was called there. Despite my protests I was granted a bye/victory for round 5, giving me a rather suspicious second place overall. To ease my guilt I passed on my prize money to the third place but took the trophy. Sorry douchebags, no voucher code to steal ;)

 

So a bit of a haul! 2nd/Best Morticians trophies, measuring sticks, case, widgets, Midas, certificate, patch and more second place dice. Second again; I'm rather worried that I'm becoming the Trent Denison of English Guild Ball.

Until next time, peace y'all!