how to deal with skaven?

[stick_with_poo_on_the_end]

Hi guys,

We are going to a 1 day event at a local GW store at the weekend. There will only be a few coaches there. I have been told that there is one “standoutâ€

[phil78]

i think the key is get rid of any gutter runners on the pitch , without them the skaven are pretty ordinary.
for this i'd go for one of the dwarf teams for the tackle. if you go with the chaos variety then you could use the hobgoblins for fouling with.


but then there are far better coaches who can probably give better advice

[SolomonKane]

Pound his players early in the match. Chances are, if this guy really does know what he's doing, you're not going to stop him scoring on his first possession. Hit whoever you can in your first turn and hope you break a couple players.

On your own possession, you have much more say what happens. The first, most clear piece of advice I can give you:

PROTECT THE BALL ON YOUR RECEIVE!

I can't emphasize this enough, no matter what kind of team you are using. ALL his players are fast enough to take advantage of a failed pickup and seal away your LOS players so they can't help cover it up. Set up at least two players to get the ball on kickoff, four is better. Be prepared to build a cage in your backfield if the ball is kicked very deep, even if you have an agility team.

If you have a strength team, build a cage and just take your time hitting his players. Chances are, he won't leave many of them in position to be hit, so think about where your cage is going, but always try to move it forward. Don't reroll pushes trying to knock down a Blodge GR. Make blocks which open a running lane for your ball carrier. Take your time and hit whatever players he allows you to hit. Foul important ones that you do happen to knock down.

If you have an agility team, it tends to be a scoring fest, but protecting the ball on your receive is still important. Knock down and foul his important players once per score when you're on defense. Ideally by the second half you'll have a numbers advantage something like 11 to 8. Ideally.

Good luck.

[wesleytj]

since i don't know the first thing about your coaching style, it's tough to say what kind of team i think you should bring. let's break it down this way....

what are skaven best at generally: speed speed speed

what are their main weaknesses: low armor, and their best player (the GR) is very vulnerable. as others have said, a skaven team without gutter runners is very average. the gutter runners themselves have dodge, but otoh no block and they are only st2 and av7. very breakable.

one logical conclusion would be to take dwarves or chaos dwarves, the block and tackle are tough for GRs to deal with...however that's only true if you're a decent dwarf (or chaos dwarf) coach, because block and tackle only scare GRs if you can catch them, and a good skaven coach will make that tough to do much of.

another approach would be to take an elf team and beat the skaven at their own game. the fact that your whole team is ag4 instead of just a select few is advantageous...of course you pay for that with more expensive players.

what it boils down to is knowing the weaknesses of your opponent (both his team and the coach himself - does he take lots of silly risks?), and your strengths as a coach, whatever those may be, and using those factors to work it out.

[Mick Moon]

the answer is easy.

Take the team with the most tackle skills. So it is Dwarfs or ChaosDwarf.

-Let the skaven start game with their offence if possible.
-get those Gutterrunners with your tacklers
-get Ratorge with slayer or mino
-pin the storm vermins! they often open enemydefence with blitz, than
gutterrunners run through.
do not try to defend your half/endzone better get your players next
to skaven. Force him to dodge and block,block,block...after first half skaven, should be short handed and than you have offence. Normaly
it´s a 1:1 after first half. Than it is time to corect the result of the game.

[Ziggi Abschuss]

Dwarfs and Chaos dwarfs are the way as has been said, and CD's are the ones I'l go with.

• They have some fast players to react to any problems (dwarfs are quite unforgiving in this way).
• They have block and tackle to get the GR's and
• They have some cheap players to use in fouling (if GR's go down, they should never get up even if risking ejection

CDs can take on a Rat Ogre

• Tie him down with blockers - wild animal as it is will limit him to blocking
• BC and take him down with assists

Ball controll is the key and playing the clock - boring but effective

Good luck in the game!

Ziggi

[Duke Jan]

If you take dwarves, keep your longbeards or CD blockers in your back field when kicking. They're slow so you need to place them so that the gutter runners will come to them.

Make sure the gutter runners have to dodge past tacklers.

I don't agree that dwarves or chaos dwarves are the best option to counter them though. Another tactic is to try and put pressure on the ball before he can get it to the gutter runners. Elves are very good at this.

[el sid]

Hi Stick,

I remember playing against you at the BrassBowl 2005. I also remember you're far too much a nice guy for playing Blood Bowl!

If you want to win against Skaven, you'll have to change your attitude towards on-field violence!

Having coached some Skaven teams myself, I can give you the following hints:

- Get Tackle on your blitzers. I always try to get two blitzers with Tackle as early as possible in the league.

- Skaven are very succesful at scrambling the ball when kicking. As someone else suggested already, make sure your backfield is covered when receiving. Before hitting the LoS or trying to pick up the ball and passing it to a more safe position, make sure you cover it by a few of your players. Jsut in case something goes horribly wrong. Because this is what Skaven exell at: When you make a mistake handling the ball, they'll make you pay for it!

- Make sure your ball carrier is protected on all sides when advancing towards the End Zone. It is surprising how far MA9 plus some GFI's will take Skaven. They can navigate around any defence, if it is not properly sealed on all sides.

- When you have the ball, take your time scoring. Skaven are really weak at getting the ball out of a solid cage. They simply don't have the power (unless taking the unreliable Rat Ogre). Preferably only score when you are positive you have hurt as many Skaven as possible, right before Turn 8.

- Last but not least: Get blood-thirsty! Destroy as many rats as possible and don't apologize for it! Play really mean, hitting them as hard as you can. If you have a good opportunity: Foul the beasts to pieces! If you can spare some decently armoured players and you have a ST advantage: Put them against the Rats. They only have AG3 so have difficulties Dodgeing. If you make sure he cannot throw any 2-dice blocks on you, he's in big trouble!

Now go out and chew some mice!

el sid

[stick_with_poo_on_the_end]

Yep I gathered that Dwarfs and CD's would be the key. However I am a bit "Dwarfed out". So gonno give norse a go, Max out on Frezy and block and hopefully the crowd will do the rest.

I will let you know how i get on,

Mr Stick

[besters]

Whichever team you take, the key will be ball control, force him to score in turn two when he receives and take 14 turns over scoring twice!

Course if you happen to take out 4/5 of his team this will help.


Besters

[Vigfus]

Any news on what you did Stick?

[Marcellius]

whatever you do, take out his gutter-runners first, they're only ST 2.
ignore his stormvermin, and, as besters said, keep maximum possession