What no pics? Yeah, I was ill and I didn't take my camera ... so sue me!

In an attempt to bring some levelling to the playing field and also to encourage folks to have the latest rules set and PAC (yeah for sales too) today's event allowed only the characters from the Danger Room set to be played. So it was a very X-men heavy event as the only variation between teams was who the player had decided to equip with the lucky break feat card. Now lets see tactics and skill prevail over cheese, although of course some shambolic dice rolling is also likely to rear its ugly head in my games. Anyone got a tournament legal electronic number generator?

Ten players joined the game today, so there must have been at least ten Danger Room sets sold in town, each equipped with Angel, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Colossus and Storm with two 3D objects and a feat card. We also all had to play on the maps provided in the set .... ahhhhhhh precious map, not yet laminated.

Wensley (Dale)'s tardiness was penalised with a 500 point deduction as he had recieved several warnings about showing up late in the past and once again wasn't able to have a team sheet in at the designated time despite a clear message that this would be penalised. To make matters worse, his first round draw saw him come face to face with Ste Hunt so his chances of getting many of those points back were not as good as they could have been. As it happened Dale managed to end the first round with exactly the same number of points as he started it with (-500) as the Huntmeister inflicted a heavy defeat on him in the shape of a whitewash ... ouch. Dale's second match was a little easier as he took on Paul Brown and this time came away with both a win and some points. Alas he managed to get exactly 500 points so he was able to begin round three on zero. Come on you have to laugh at that. Dale's third and final game was against Martin and he once again managed to score a victory and even managed to move into positive figures on the point front. The 610 he scored gave him exactly that many for the day. He would have had 1110 if he could have got out of bed 30 minutes earlier though!

Paul Brown's first encounter of the day with his "X-Loosers" justified his naming as Alec took the win in a very close and hard fought contest, only 65 points separating winner from loser in this one. Paul's losing streak continued into the second round as his pairing with Dale who had been trounced by Ste Hunt lead to another mark in the loss column and the addition of only 105 points for the round. It finally came good for Paul in his last contest as he managed to avoid the dreaded 0 - 3 by picking up a win and a valuable 605 points against the ill fated Peter Davies. A respectable score indeed considering only one win from three, but only the score counts in the Boroclix League standings.

Martin Teece and his "My My My, Delightful To See The Starting X-Men Again" had a particularly bad day today. Starting out against me Martin was unlucky to find that other than Beast the rest of my X-Men were actually able to roll seven or above and score some hits. The outcome of this was that Martin had an early loss in his W-L column but he did at least score 165 points so wasn't totally annhilated. Second up for Martin was Parry, also looking to make up for a first round loss. In a pretty close game, Parry just about came out on top to leave Martin on 0 - 2 and fearful of ending with 0 -3. Martin's worst fears were indeed confirmed when he played Dale for his third round match. Not only did he lose his third consecutive match to end with a duck egg but he managed to do it in style by taking a white wash to add nothing to his points total. Not Martin's best result ever and one that will make him love the X-Men soooooo much I imagine.

Peter Davies is another of the folks that had a bit of a bad day today. His "X-Winner" didn't live up to it's name as it fell to a sucession of three defeats. First to inflict a loss on Peter was David "Swiss" Hansell. Peter's second match was against a rampant and high flying Alec who swept Peter away allowing him to collect only 60 points to add to his total. In a similar vein to Martin, Peter's last game was his worst as he too was a victim of a whitewash, this one inflicted by Paul Brown. A Bad Day At Heroclix Rock for poor Peter.

Parry's imaginative titling of his teams continued today as his "X-Men" came to fight for his honour. It didn't start too well for him as he faced Simon Fox for his first match of the day (with Gary Lineker nowhere in sight). Simon took a well deserved win to leave Parry still looking for his honour. An improvement was seen for the second round as Parry took on Martin in a nailbiting white knuckle ride of cliche that saw Parry just about come out on top to collect his first win. As it happened it was not only his first win, but also his last as he had a bit of a mare in round three as he played me and I was looking to recover some pride after having my head kicked in by Simon Fox. So a final score of 585 with 1 - 2 wasn't exactly earth shattering, but it certainly didn't leave him propping up the table with two players ending on 0 - 3.

David "Swiss" Hansell was another player to really stretch his imagination today as he named his squad "The Danger Room X-Men", which to be fair was a least a very appropriate description if not the most exciting name ever. Without the shield of cheese we have become accustomed to seeing him hide behind today was a chance to see if his skills have improved since he started using his 'competitive' teams or as many have suggested that his tactical abilities have actually dwindled through lack of use. If such evidence were needed (as for many it is not) it may have been provided by the rare 1 - 2 losing scorecard Dave completed with today. David started as usual with a win, this one at the expense of Peter Davies. But it all went downhill from there as first Meestair Hunt and then Alec Barrett inflicted painful deafeats on Dave to leave him finishing seventh on 690 points even below me!

For my part, I had a very strange day today. Feeling remarkably ill (later turning even worse and discovering I had gastric flu) I didn't really feel like turning up, but as I had the prize support I dragged myself along. I wasn't going to play, but there was an odd number when Dales showed up so I martyred myself and joined in the event, even having to crack open my sealed Danger Room set, Gah. My team, "X-Menace" had just as boring a name as the competition, but at least I had an excuse as I was ill. My random pairing opponent for the first game was Martin Teece. Having played little of the game since I started Judging I genuinely expected Martin to give me a good hammering, but as it happened my dice were not too much against me and a couple of tricks saw me win through. Back to the good old days for round two though as I took on Simon Fox. Beast in particular couldn't hit for toffee needing sixes and the rest of the crew were not that much better. Mind you, this was nicely ironic seeing as I put my Lucky Break on Beast! I only just managed to avoid a whitewash as I picked up a scant 60 points. To be fair to Simon I should add that it was not just my bad luck with dice rolls that saw me lose, he is a damn fine player now too and his great tactics helped him secure the victory. I rounded off my event by getting up to 2 - 1 through beating Parry in my last game. I've still got it ... whatever it is!

Alec Barrett followed the well-trodden X path with his team name as his "X Wannabies" kicked into action. His first round tie saw him come up against Paul Brown and in a really close and hard fought game he just about came out on top as time was called. Alec's second match saw him triumphant again and this time even more convincing as he took on Peter Davies and the win ensured he would at least end the day with a winning record. Having won his first two matches, Alec came up against a potential banana skin in his third round as his opponent was the tricky David "Swiss" Hansell. However "Swiss" Hansell was bereft of cheese thanks to todays format and Alec showed how much he has improved his game of late as he completed a hat trick of wins and did so in some style. Three wins saw Alec progress to the final and do so on merit, but how would he fair in 'the big one?

The 'always there or thereabouts' Ste Hunt avoided the letter X entirely when putting in his score sheet and his team title of "I'll Get You Imposters!" Brave words perhaps, but with Hunt's record one that always had the potential of proving true as the games progressed. Hunt's first opponent today was Wensley (Dale) and not to many tears were shed as Ste inflicted a 610 points to zero white wash. Come on Dale, freeze the cheese and learn to play the game with sound tactics, it will only make you a better player over time. Next up for Ste was the second of the 'Baby Bell Boys', David Hansell. David faired a lot better than Dale today against the 'Master' but still saw an L in his win loss column at the end of it all. The force is just to strong in the flame haired one! Ste finished his swiss rounds with a hat trick of Coulby Newham opponents by taking on Simon Fox. Simon actually pushed Ste as close as anyone and he claims it was a pretty tight win. There certainly weren't too many points in it at the end, but the outcome was the same again and a 3 - 0 record saw Ste safely into the second final spot as he just pipped Alec to first place by a narrow 20 point margin. Could he make it 4 wins on the bounce yet again ... probably we all assumed.

Simon Fox and his "We Are The Mutant Nation" saw a case of so close but so far in todays Heroclix happenings. Simon sat accross from Parry Cooke for his first match up today and Parry just didn't have the edge he needed to stop Simon from taking an early win. Match number two saw Simon face the impossible hard odds of taking on me ... yeah right! Well I thought my game was pretty much tactically sound, but I missed a few attack rolls at inopportune moments and went all to gubbins. Simon plays was flawless so there was no comeback from my early setbacks and I had to settle for a good thrashing, oh yeah and I lost the Heroclix match too. Simon went into round three on a nice round 1000 points thanks to his two highly efficient wins and that gave him the 'reward' of playing the Huntmeister on the top table. It was a interesting game that both players enjoyed and sue to the level of play there was little or no room for error. Simon hung on well but couldn't stop Lex Junior from eventually taking down his force, but he did collect 240 points in this tight affair.

Yours truly was awarded Fellowship through a vote (which I didn't rig, honest) but in the knowledge I would get the prize at a later date I bowed out and let the next highest vote winner take the James Madrox and so Simon Fox became his proud owner. Well done all and thanks for playing. Over and out and roll on Supernova for some more freshly sealed clicky goodness.

The final placings after the Three Swiss Rounds were as follows...