Round 3

03 Feb 2025 - 16 Feb 2025

Round Three is complete and we're officially over halfway through the season. Let's take a look and where things stand, who's still in the running for the top spots and who's fighting for survival.

In Division 1, the Sanguine Blade have finally been shown to be at least a little fallible. They were up against the Sokol Slaughterers, who have so far been struggling to get going this season, and an early casualty from the Blade's treeman suggested things might continue in a similar vein. The Blade scored late in the first half, but the Slaughterers retaliated by chopping down the tree just before the halftime whistle. The second half remained violent on both sides, with the Slaughterers grinding down the pitch to score an equaliser. With no time left on the clock the Blade nevertheless attempted a spectacular play that could have seen them sprint down the pitch for a winner, but it was not to be as Arnold the Atomiser, blocker for the Slaughterers, caught sight of his dear old mum in the crowd at the crucial moment and in raising his hand to give her a wave found himself intercepting the pass. So the Slaughterers become the only team to take even a single point from the Blade in eight games, and end their own losing streak in the process.

The other game in the division saw the Badlands Debating Society lining up against the Grave Rubbers on another rainy day. The orcs' poor luck wasn't confined to just the weather, as the referee took issue with their habit of chewing gum with their mouths open and twice evicted a player from the game as they set up for the kick. All that just seemed to make the remaining greenskinz angry, and they unleashed hell on the Rubbers. The horrors mostly shook off their injuries, with the exception of Casper the wraith who will be retiring from the game, but they couldn't stop the orcs from scoring a late touchdown to take the game 1-0.

All that leaves the Sanguine Blade still clear at the top, with the Badlands Debating Society sneaking up to second, while the Slaughterers remain at the bottom. Next round sees the Blade taking time off to carve mementoes from the wood of their newly-retired treeman and a chance for the others to close the gap. The Grave Rubbers take on the well-rested Dark Delvers, and the Badlands Debating Society face the Sokol Slaughterers.

Division 2 saw only one match played, with the Talabecland Thunder still out of action and giving the Hammer Horrors an easy point. The Blåhaj Blasts played the Kroppenbruck Crusaders in what proved to be an entirely one-sided game. The Blood God will be more than pleased with the Blasts' offerings as they made mincemeat of the opposition, and an early touchdown meant they were free to ignore the ball in favour of violence. With very few Crusaders left on the pitch by the end of the game, they made a desperate bid to score an equaliser but the effort proved too much and they stumbled on the line.

That puts the Blasts at the top of the table and leaves the Crusaders languishing at the bottom. Next round, the Blasts are scheduled to face the Thunder but may find their opponents prefer to remain out of action rather than limp onto the pitch and have their legs broken all over again. And it's a battle of the zombies as the Hammer Horrors face Bushy's Bonerattlers, while what remains of the Kroppenbruck Crusaders take a week off to lick their wounds.

Down in Division 3, the Mandalorcians tussled with the Nevermore Ravens. The orcs were keen to pull down any player they could get their hands on and have their goblins stick the boot in, but the vampires nevertheless pushed through their defences to score an early touchdown. Too early, as it turned out, as they left enough time on the clock for the Mandalorcians to reply before half time. In the second half the vampires struggled with a number of players out for the count, and when they found they couldn't easily stop the orcs from scoring a second time they took the risky choice to force that score early and hope to respond. It might even have worked for them but for a casually-discarded banana skin from an orc enjoying a healthy late-game snack that brought the Ravens' thrower crashing down at the crucial moment.

The Renegade Masters then faced the Acomb Transfusions, with both teams a little underpowered from previous games. Once again Khorne smiled on his disciples, and they dealt carnage to their chaotic brethren before scoring twice to seal the game with no response. The only loss on the Transfusions' side was the temp player they had brought in to make up the numbers, who was offered as a blood sacrifice to ensure the victory.

The Mandalorcians win sees them steal the top spot, with the Transfusions leaping up to second and the Ravens dropping down to third. Next round sees the Ravens face the returning Durakdur Queensguard and the Mandalorcians taking on the Renegade Masters, while the Transfusions spend some time lounging by the pool, drinking the blood of their fallen opponents.

In Division 4, the promised skaven face-off between the Saratacens and the Boom Town Rats didn't happen as the Rats were still trying to get their fur combed out after their soaking in Round Two. So the only game to hit the astrogranite was between the Nuln Oilers and the Toofy Leapers. The Oilers have been struggling this season, but it seems they found squishing squigs to be a fun game for all ages. The Leapers took an early lead but the Oilers then settled in to knocking down anyone they could reach, making it much harder for them to bounce around causing chaos. When they finally got bored of using squigs as footballs they remembered the actual football and picked up an equaliser in the second half to claim their first point of the season.

That keeps Division 4 extremely tight, with the Iron Price Raiders, Saratcens and Toofy Leapers all tied on four points and the Boom Town Rats just behind them on three. Next round sees the Raiders back in the fray against the Boom Town Rats and the Saratcens facing the Nuln Oilers, while Grak and the rest of the Leapers try to sort out the ringing in their ears and persuade their squigs to go back out on the pitch.

Round Four runs until 2nd March, and sees the first of the teams completing their season. These matches could all be crucial, so good luck out there!