Part 2: The Thunder Valley Greenskins.
Of all the Black Orc teams that cropped up following the DUMBO-led mass exodus of Black Orcs from Orc teams, none have enjoyed the same levels of success as the Thunder Valley Greenskins. Dominating the Badlands Leagues since their formation in 2491, the Greenskins have become a true force on the pitch; even reaching the XL Blood Bowl final!
When the NAF collapsed and the many disgruntled Black Orcs quit their various teams, no one foresaw that they would start their own. As would be expected, those that were formed overnight didn’t have much success; the Black Orcs were unused to having so much freedom on the pitch, and soon fell back into their old role as blockers – and with no other players to score touchdowns, wins were hard to come by for these teams at first.
However, some savvy entrepreneurs saw the huge potential in Black Orcs, and began laying the groundwork to start their own teams – and it was the Thunder Valley Greenskins that led the way. Instead of simply signing any willing
Black Orc, the Greenskins’ owner and coach, Furgog Ragtoof, had been scouting the most talented Black Orcs to join the team. Ragtoof had also come up with a solution to the common problem of these teams not scoring enough touchdowns;
this was the introduction of Goblins to the starting line-ups. Though this made many Orc coaches scoff at Ragtoof’s idea, they were soon made to eat a huge slice of humble pie after the Greenskins began to take to the gridiron.
The Thunder Valley Greenskins played their debut game in 2491
against another Black Orc team – the ‘Ardened ‘Eadkrackers. What followed was a dominant display by the Greenskins, outplaying the opposition in every aspect of the game and securing a 4-0 thumping of the ‘Eadkrackers. Joining the
Badlands Leagues in 2492, the Greenskins soon became a top
team within the divisions. Ragtoof’s unique style of actually playing with the ball was proving hard for other teams to deal with, and soon many others were utilising Goblins in order
to improve results.
Ragtoof’s intense training
regimes paid off, and in 2498 the Thunder Valley Greenskins held aloft the Spike! Magazine Trophy, defeating the Elfheim Eagles in the final. It was this high profile victory that was the catalyst for the sharp increase in fortunes of the team in the past two years. Coverage of the Greenskins’ win was splashed across Spike! Magazine for months, and soon everyone in the Old World was talking about this new up and coming team. This played its part in what happened next – the signing of the legendary Varag Ghoul-Chewer in 2499.
It had been well-documented that Varag had had a falling out with the head coach of the Gouged Eye, and this was the reason given as to why he left – the fact that Griff Oberwald had just joined the Bögenhafen Barons in what was being called the
coup of the decade had nothing to do with it, honest! With Varag at the helm, the Greenskins entered the XL Blood Bowl, where they shocked the Old World as they made it all the way to the prestigious final. Though they may have come up short, the
Thunder Valley Greenskins certainly proved that they will be a dominant force in the coming years.
Coming soon………Part 3: Brutefun Black Orc Team.