Round 2: Belgium vs Ireland
The Finnish bidding process was well-practiced, from this point on, the captain (along with the players) had a handful of minutes to consider pairings. The sheet was filled out incorrectly in this round. Ireland should be on the left.
Belgium win the roll-off and the Belgians must make the first bid.
1. We bid our Chaos list and the Belgians reply with Eldar. An 11-9 win runs ahead of expectations.
2. They bid their Imperial Guard and we attack with Space Wolves. A 10-10 draws drops us behind the curve.
3. We bid our Grey Knights and the reply is Blood Angels. Again, the defending list performs better than hoped for. 11-9 to the Irish.
4. They bid their Grey Knights and we send in our Tyranids. A severe 4-16 loss leaves us increasingly low on points.
5. We bid our Orks, they allocate their Space Wolves. A remarkable 16-4 win for the defending list.
6. The Belgians send out their Dark Eldar, we give them our Eldar. Another severe loss for the attacker. 2-18 to Belgium.
7. The remaining matchup goes well. Our Dark Eldar is met by their Tyranids. A badly needed 20-0 massacre.
8. The champion's game sees their Orks face our Blood Angels. A 8-12 defeat for Ireland.
Overview
The theme of the round appears to be defending lists performing above expectations, massively so in the case of the Ork list. The attacking lists do not perform well, failing to win any of their games.
Although the Irish are within 4 points of a round win, almost a quarter of their total score comes from one very favourable match-up. Whether the fault lies with the skill of the players or the nature of the match-ups cannot be said but certainly a poor round for half of the team.
Labels: Belgium, ETC, Newbreed, Overseas Tournaments, Review, Team Ireland, Warhammer 40K