Vampire Strategy and Development?

[Scally09]

Seen a few Vampire topics around recently and I thought this might be a good time to get some help.
First the background; I'm going to be playing Vamps in an upcoming league, about 4 weeks away and I'm getting some practice games in beforehand to help me get to grips with some plays and team development.

So I'd like some advice on Vamp development, is it worth really planning development for the Thralls, as I imagine them dying in droves?

In my first test game I only took three Vamps, I soon realised it's not enough, first lesson learnt, I can just squeeze four Vamps, four Re-Rolls in 1,000,000!

They seem to play quite aggressively, is this right, or should I be more reserved with them? It seems a shame to waste the St4 Ag4 around the backfield though, I'm sure I should throw their weight around a fair bit.

Thought, comments and advice welcome. Thanks guys!

[Grumbledook]

There have been quite a few threads on vampires.

Not sure why you think 3 isn't enough and want to for 4, I usually start with 2 vamps and 5 rerolls.

Search this section and you should get plenty to read though.

[Digger Goreman]

I started seriously playing Vamps, recently, and after reading a few extant articles will sum up the brief experience:

1. As a previous coach sagely put it: move a thrall next to where the vamp is going... just in case! I will add that a stunned thrall in the right place can negate that.... Just bite his currently worthless neck....

2. Realize you have a football team full of football-skill-less players! Pun intended: The Vampires are Extraordinary... and nothing else till you skill them up.... And the thralls are pitiful.... But two skills (wrestle and pro together) make them vicious!!!! As for the vamps--- concentrate on Blodge... then add fend, imho.... Blodge-Fend has worked wonders on my ghouls and werewolves.... Until they all start accruing skills... it's a scary ride....

3. It looks like the coaching gallery is right: stuff your rosters full of thralls.... When Bloodlust starts creating problems... and the other team concentrates on your thralls... you'll wish you had a hundred....

4. (Again from someone elses thread): I set up my 3 or 4 Vamps as linebacker/safeties... threatening any incursions.... Provided my thralls don't totally fall apart, it's worked well....

So far my team is 2-2-3 ....

[Alamar]

It depends on what you're going for, how long the league lasts, etc.

For me I opted to build my team to maximize the chances that the Vamps could find a hole to sqeeze through.

Therefore Wrestle on Thralls was a good bet. A mixture of mostly Fend with a little Kick, Tackle, Strip Ball, Dauntless, etc. as appropriate wouldn't be bad. Note: Thralls may die in droves but you'll still have some surviving game to game so don't give up on them. I've got a Vamp team where 8 Thralls have skills and 5 of those have 2 skills.

As for Vamps I like to build up their mobility as quickly as possible. Dodge first then a mix of Block & Leap next are probably a good idea. After that things like Pro, Pass Block, Catch, Sure Hands, etc. are all nice additions.

I find that Vamps go up fairly quickly as they're you're scorers and are around the action a lot. Treat the AG4 as an opportunity to make "passes you don't need to" so you can get some SPPs flowing.

Thralls usually go up by living long enough to get an MVP and then complete a pass to a Vamp in the next game [and living again] ....

Misc. Advice:
-- Like Digger said it's good to have a Thrall or two as escorts for your Vamps. This way you at least have a choice of moving to where you want AND snacking instead of getting caught out of position.
-- If there is a critical action that needs to be taken you SHOULD consider giving a Thrall the chance of pulling it off simply because you don't have a 1/6 chance of the Thrall getting thirsty .... IMHO a Thrall on a Blitz is a good idea esp. if they have Wrestle [and even better Tackle] as there's a good chance the target will be on the ground.
-- Play aggressively on offense and sometimes on defense. If you have kick and can pin the ball back 4 leaping / Blodge Vamps can make a team regret stacking the line