Heres what I do in LRB5 leagues....
2 Vampires, 5 Re-rolls, 10 thralls and some FF to start. I then buy an apoth before collecting some more thralls and vampires (I try to keep my player count at least around 13-14, sometimes you just have to buy the thralls instead
). Extra re-rolls arent really needed until much later (maybe before a 5th vampire) unless stuff is going really well for my team, usually I get an extra re-roll ASAP by using your first thrall double on leader.
Development:
Vampires - Virtually all my vampires get block and dodge as their first two skills.
The first two vampires to skill will get block first, after that every vampire will get dodge as the first skill. I need the block so I have a decent blitzer on the team, dodge for the later vampires makes them very effective mobile hypnogazers as well as helping them to score a little faster.
My third, fourth, and later skills are: tackle (get at least one as your first "third skill"), sidestep, guard, mighty blow (after tackle), diving tackle. I ignore doubles unless I have a +AG vampire that really really wants to become a thrower
Usually I'll take accurate rather than pass but it depends on your playstyle as to whats optimal.
Take any stats your vampires roll (+Mv rather than +Av). These all transform an excellent statline into a fantastic one.
Thralls - I think that wrestle is definately preferable to block (since it makes space) and can often make up for geting tackle relatively late in team development.
I always develope two specialist thralls - a kicker (kick then wrestle), and a crowd pleaser (frenzy then wrestle). All other thralls get wrestle and then a mix of: DP, fend, tackle, strip ball according to how I'm feeling and what the weathers like.
Any thrall doubles go on leader and then guard, I take all +AG and +ST but probably ignore +Ma unless the thrall is on their second skill and I dont have other plans for them, again I prefer +Ma.
Ok, a quick look at your plans:
Your starting roster looks solid, personally I want to win right from the start so I go with the extra thrall over the vampire but thats just preference.
1 - nice but I think that sidestep will serve you better than stand firm
2 - think about what you want the move for, without block you are vulnerable with the ball and wont be a great blitzer either.
3 - frenzy on a vampire usually takes away too much control, a thrall does a pretty neat job anyway (combine with hypnogaze for some true magic)
4 - a thrower vampire is interesting, I havent had one for a long time but I do have very fond memories of my last and only
Probably only worth it if you didnt roll a +AG for a thrall
5 - handy, get some more blodge!
Tactics and so on, could go on for ages about this but in a nutshell:
- skill up the vampires, your thralls will get SPP without attention
- if you're new to vampires then focus on playing your thralls well
- if you're already solid with vampires or are sure you can use thralls properly without special care then focus on your vampire fanciness
- hypnogaze lots
Hope that something in my monologue is of use
Good luck.
Victim of the Colonel's car boot smash. First person to use Glynn's bath.
Update: the Hartlepool family Glynn now has a virgin bath.
Barney is a clever dog.
). But with some lucky bloodlust rolls I did take the lead 1-0. Then I won when I got my players back and game ended 3-0 to me.