There was a passionate response to the ‘Hobby Time’ blog and an outpouring of suggestions for articles and stories that you guys wanted to see and be a part of.

As a result of this awesome wave of enthusiasm we’ve come up with ‘Mantic Mondays’ – a dedicated day of Hobby Time where we’ll post up battle reports and painting guides highlighting our own Hobby Time.

Join in with Mantic Mondays!

We’d love it if you shared your hobby time with us.

Whether that’s popping down to your local store for a Battlezones painting session or playing a league game with your DreadBall team, please send us battle reports, hobby guides or just photos of your gaming group playing a Mantic game on a Mantic Monday. Send your entry to [email protected] and we’ll feature the best on the Mantic Blog!

First up in Mantic Mondays, we’ve got Part One of our DreadBall Xtreme Match Report between Community Manager and Bearded Gentleman Luke Watson, and Pathfinder extraordinaire Alex Hadfield.

Take it away lads, and check back for part 2 next Monday!

Blood, Beards and Brass Knuckles: A Tale of Xtreme Violence

Now that all of the Kickstarter copies of DreadBall Xtreme have left the building, Luke and Alex decided now was the time to spill some blood, Mantic style! Alex brought his home made pitch to Mantic HQ and the guys set up some gaming space, both ready to enjoy the gritty, no rules approach of DreadBall Xtreme. Who is the star MPV of this ultra violent, underground DreadBall spectacle? Read on to find out who will take the crown….

Our first task was to pick Sponsors with two fantastic mad, bad and dangerous-to-know individuals to choose from. Each of these characters can select from any of the models in the boxed game but have a natural influence or preference for some players over others- giving each team a different playing style.

Alex has a natural brutality and thuggish gaming style so chose The Warden, a sadistic psychopath who has easy access to the savage GCPS prison worlds and so favours Convict players.

This left Luke to play as Blaine, a master criminal and tactician. Blaine prefers a fast moving and more dynamic style of play, so the elegant but deadly alien Kalyshi warriors are currently his players of choice.

Because they wanted to jump straight in and get the carnage started, Luke and Alex chose to use the sample teams from the rulebook:

Blaine- 4x Kalyshi Jacks, 3x Kalyshi Strikers and a Pusk Rampager (for that extra bit of juggernaut damage!)

The Warden- 2x Thugs, 4x Cons, 2x Runners and, everyone’s favourite rolling alien, the Vlorox Spinede.

One of the (many) great new things about Xtreme is that in order to represent the underground and illegal nature of the Xtreme contests, the players role to see which of the six pitch set ups are going to be used in that game. This determines where the obstacles and Strike Posts are placed and so creates different tactical challenges for the coaches and helps each game to feel different and exciting. Alex rolled for set up number 1 with the Strike Posts near the centre of the Arena and surrounded by potentially booby trapped obstacles and crates (even the pitch is trying to kill the players in this game!)

Although there are no limits on the number of players that can be on the pitch at any one time (the more the bloodier), the game starts with four players in the arena per side.

The ball is randomly dropped into one of six hexes, which causes no end of challenges if the dice gods are against you and you have set up all your players on the wrong side of the pitch.

Both coaches set up in suitable aggressive positions, and the game was ready to kick off. The ball launched into hex 3 and the game was started.

Let the slaughter (and occasional half hearted attempt to get the ball) commence!

Rush 1

The Warden had the first turn. In Xtreme Sponsors are not just observers of the game, they take an active role in the proceedings and take an action each Rush- they can intimidate their own players into putting in that extra effort, threaten the opposition into playing badly, or even screw out extra cash by placing side bets on the final result.

This turn the actions was ‘Intimidate’.

With the ball loose Alex ran his two Cons straight towards it- desperate to get their filthy mitts on the prize with a hope of being able to get on the scoreboard as soon as possible- and then moved up one of his Thugs to provide some tough back up. So far, so good.

Alex worked out that Luke would be able to get to the ball in his turn with one of his Kalyshi Jacks, so for his final action he moved his second Thug into position to slam the alien scum if this happened. The only issue was to do this he would have to pass next to an obstacle that could well be trapped………

The lid of the crate is lifted to see what the result will be- all the way from a Dud up to a Str 4+ 6 Dice Slam! In this case it was a ‘Bang!’ and the Thug took a strength 4 slam with 4 dice. He couldn’t Dodge and so was knocked down, although luckily (for Alex) he managed to not take any damage!

This was their first taste of the new underground style of Xtreme DreadBall, and they loved it!

Rush 2

Sponsor action: Intimidate

Blaines team of Kalyshi were up next and they were ready to jump straight into the action! Luke ran his first Jack towards the ball attempting to pick it up. Success! The ball was now in possession of the Kalyshi and they were ready to bury it deep in the strike post!

Having captured the ball, it was time to dish out some pain to the Convicts so Luke ran the Pusk Rampager forward, hoping to take advantage of its Ram and Resilient rules. This was followed up by a bit of tactical play as he moved his second Kalyshi Jack into the opposing strike zone, hoping to get a pass off next turn and go for glory! Unfortunately it was now his turn to set off a trap, and things look pretty grim as a Ka-Boom! trap was uncovered- that’s a strength 4 slam on 5 dice coming her way! Luckily the Slam dice rolls were low and didn’t manage to double her Dodge so the Jack wasn’t knocked down.

Finally Luke brought on another Jack, and that was the end of this rush.

Rush 3

Sponsor action: Intimidate

Time for The Warden to strike back!

First Alex tried to stand up his Thug that had been knocked over by the Bang! trap. He spectacularly failed this attempt, rolling a Cyclops snake eyes! The Thug might not have taken any wounds but he was obviously still dazed and confused by the explosion!

It was vital to stop the Kalyshi Jack who had the ball, so The Warden had no choice but to attempt to slam him with a Con. The only problem been that another trap stood in the way of getting there. Alex felt brave, surely this trap would be a dud, he hoped…….

The lid was removed only to reveal the worst possible result for Alex- an ‘Oh Sweet Lord!’ trap was uncovered. That’s a strength 4 slam on 6 dice!!!! Some truly brutal dice rolling then followed, and when the dust settled the Con had been blown into a thousand pieces all over the pitch- as dead as a dead thing can be.

Now it was time to get some payback. The Thug slammed the Kalyshi Jack with the ball doubling the slam and knocking her over. The ball scattered off toward the middle of the pitch but unfortunately the Jack managed to avoid taking a wound!

Finally he moved the last Con into position to make the Pusk Rampager outnumbered when it tried to Slam next turn.

Rush 4

Sponsor Action: Intimidate

The Kalyshi Jack attempted to stand up. It was a success and doubled, so she immediately had a free action. Hoorah! This was used to try and Shove the opposing Convict Thug, which failed spectacularly as the Thug slammed her back- knocking her straight back to the floor in the hex she’d just come up from. Boo!

The rough stuff wasn’t working too well for Luke, so he decided it was now it was time to get on the score board! A successful roll meant that his Jack picked up the ball and then took another action to make a Throw to the model he’d cunningly positioned in the oppositions strike zone the previous turn. The throw was a success and the Jack doubled the catch- giving her an immediate free action and a clear shot at scoring!

Luke cheered and Alex groaned as the Jack doubled the scoring throw, putting 2 points on the score board and gaining a fan check!

Rush 5

Sponsor Action: Intimidate

In the fast paced world of Xtreme there is time for re-grouping and the ball shoots straight back into the arena. The dice roll put it into hex 5, right in the thick of the action.

The Warden was out for blood this rush! The first Thug slammed into the Pusk Rampager, doubling it and knocking the alien to the ground. So far, so good.

Next the Con ran over to the ball and successfully picked it up. Better and better.
It was time to put the boot in, so the second Thug stomped on the already fallen Pusk Rampager, causing 2 wounds as he savagely attacked his prone target. This was more like it!

Never one for subtlety, Alex decided to take advantage of the Thug’s explosive collar! All Convict players wear these deadly restraints as part of their prison uniforms to keep them under control, but a ruthless coach like the Warden can use their players like walking bombs and detonate them to gain an advantage in the game. This counts as a 5 dice slam from a strength 3 player, but somehow the Pusk Rampager managed to survive the blast, still laying on the ground bleeding out on 2 wounds!  Unfortunately having his head explode had a terminal effect on the Thug, and all that remained of the player was a pair of smoking boots.

Rush 6

Sponsor action: Intimidate

Blaines team of Kalyshi had scored last rush and in an example of very unsporting behaviour decided to try to get even more points on the board.

First off, Luke once again stood up the Jack who had been knocked over earlier.

Next, Luke attempted to slam the Con that Alex had just brought onto the arena, but unfortunately a draw meant that both players cancelled each other out.

Luke slammed his Jack into the Con again, hoping for a more brutal result, but once again failed miserably and a drawn result meant that both players stayed on their feet.

Finally Blaine sent on another Jack and rolled for recovery for the Pusk Rampager- who passed and recovered a wound, and with that a rather disappointing rush was over.

Rush 7

Sponsor action: Intimidate

It was the Wardens turn and, despite having killed one of his own payers last rush, he demanded even more violence.

Alex brought on a Con, and decided to get some payback on the Kalyshi Jack who scored so valiantly earlier. The Con tried to slam the Jack but the natural agility of the Kalyshi was too much for this criminal to handle and the slam was easily dodged.

Taking his Sponsors encouragement to heart the last Thug began to stomp the Pusk Rampager who was lying helpless on the floor- already wounded and just ripe to be executed. The Thugs stomp connected beautifully with the Pusk Rampagers neck and then that was one very dead alien- taking the total kill count to 3 already!

Finally Alex decided to go for glory and pick up the ball. He moved his Con into the hex containing the ball, but Blaine threatened the player so he was down to a 2 dice attempt…………

Find out how this brutal match ends in part 2! We’ve already had 3 deaths, some terrible rolling and some great displays of skill. Blaines Kalyshi are in the lead, but for how much longer?

Do you want to see if the outcome of your DreadBall Xtreme Game will be the same as this one? why not head over to the website to pre-order your copy now!

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