Ogre Development

[Smeborg]

I would take Break Tackle on all of them.

I played against a well coached Ogre team in a tournament which had 5 Ogres with Break Tackle.

They were difficult to deal with.

[tenwit]

A well-coached Ogre team with no skills at all is difficult to deal with. When you're starting a new team, I think it's important to try different skill combinations, so that you find out what suits your style best. It could be that Piling On would be the best skill for all six Ogres, depending on the play style, highly unlikely though it is . Going with BT first on all six would mean you wouldn't find out anything about how well other skills work for you.

[Carnis]

I'd take 5x break tackle & 1x piling on (PO preferably after block).

Guard is only useful if your ogres are standing tightly side by side, which means it may become easier to dodge out of their TZs and easier to get a blitz on the snots hiding behind the ogres. Eventually you will need some guard, not 6 though.

In theory you can reduce bone heads by stacking pro, but it isnt worth 30k on already overpriced pieces. You can't really even reroll bone heads if you want to succeed, cause then you won't have RRs for the 2die blitz/blocks.

Would skip AG (sure hands & BT are both better then ag).
Take MA every time.
ST would be a tossup between block (already overpriced without the ST..).

1 Sure hands/break tackle and 1 wrestle/break tackle ogre would be cool, but block/break tackle is more versatile for the rest. A leader is also worth considering, but probably only as a 2nd double (after block).

I've fired all snots who don't roll doubles (for DP, not block), a diving tackle who has a > 43% chance of being KO'd when he gets knocked is imo not worth the 40k.

[plasmoid]

Hi all,
a few comments from a fellow ogre coach.
You can check out my team here (just ignore Bomber, who I forgot to fire):
http://www.midgardbb.com/MBBL/teamView.php?teamid=812

Anyway, break tackle is nice. But I wouldn't take more than 3, and I wouldn't necessarily give it as first skill on all 3.
I'd probably take 1 guard first, because he is a crucial part of setting up easy 3-dice-blocks on the LOS.
Then a break tackle guy as main ball carrier.
From then on, mix it up
I would not go heavy on multiblock or grab though.
Some guard, stand firm, piling on and break tackle are the most important skills IMO.

Also, Carnis said:

Would skip AG (sure hands & BT are both better then ag).

Aaaah. My ears . I beg to differ! An AG3 ogre as primary ball carrier (combined with break tackle if possible) makes your game-plan a lot more reliable.

I've fired all snots who don't roll doubles (for DP, not block), a diving tackle who has a > 43% chance of being KO'd when he gets knocked is imo not worth the 40k.

I couldn't disagree more.
I think the main problem for the ogre teams is tacklezones that disappear, and tacklezones that aren't really there.
A diving tackle snotling is surely worth the 40K. And more!

Naturally, you don't line them up to pin down players all the time. That will just get them brutalized, as you rightly state.
Keep them out of TZ-contact, but with DT people can't just run past them. They'll have screening ability, and that is what you need.

Cheers
Martin

PS, if you hadn't noticed, I have a snotling with diving tackle + tackle. I love him. It's a strong combo, and I don't know if an ogre will ever get tackle. Tackle, even on an ST1 player, allows me to blitz some of the blodger types!

[Carnis]

Aaaah. My ears . I beg to differ! An AG3 ogre as primary ball carrier (combined with break tackle if possible) makes your game-plan a lot more reliable.

I couldn't disagree more.
I think the main problem for the ogre teams is tacklezones that disappear, and tacklezones that aren't really there.
A diving tackle snotling is surely worth the 40K. And more!

Naturally, you don't line them up to pin down players all the time. That will just get them brutalized, as you rightly state.
Keep them out of TZ-contact, but with DT people can't just run past them. They'll have screening ability, and that is what you need.

I had an AG3 ogre. He was utterly useless. To pick up he needed to roll bone head 2+, then pickup 3+ = 55,6%, if you reroll BH, then you're facing a 33% turnover risk. And he tops that off with MA of 5.

And to move he had to roll another bone head 2+ every subsequent turn. If I had the freedom to move (in the backfield, after blitz, etc) I was ALWAYS limited by my MA of 5 or my low AG, which meant I could never reliably dodge.

Ultimate ballcarrier ogre would be MA MA BT/Sure hands/Block/Pro (AG is worse then pro imo as it does not help with bone head, or go for it, or block even, usually does not help with dodging either).

You have a sure hands/BT ogre though, grass always greener I guess..

Snotlings, depends on their use I guess. I used mine in stacks.

Turn 1 offence, 3-4 surround the ball before the ballcarrier fumbles the pickup. Turn 2-8 offence and turn 1-8 defence they all go foul or assist to get 3die blocks (but only in "BH-safe" spots, ie a blitz can set them free).

I used to use individual snots (had one with guard, 3 with DT). They just got splatted so quick. My opponents frequently SPPd up their blitzers by spam-blitzing lonely snotlings. I rather hide behind the ogres nowdays, or behind the ref (by being sent off for fouling).

I think the ogre team might be playable at 1000k with 110k basecost-ogres.

[plasmoid]

Hi Carnis,
different strokes I guess:

I had an AG3 ogre. He was utterly useless. To pick up he needed to roll bone head 2+, then pickup 3+ = 55,6%, if you reroll BH, then you're facing a 33% turnover risk. And he tops that off with MA of 5. And to move he had to roll another bone head 2+ every subsequent turn. If I had the freedom to move (in the backfield, after blitz, etc) I was ALWAYS limited by my MA of 5 or my low AG, which meant I could never reliably dodge.

True. But that goes for any ogre ball carrier.
And using snots for ball carriers is risky. (Not impossible, just risky).
IMO, an ogre with AG3 and Break Tackle is a great ball carrier.

Coincidentally, I've always had both an ogre and a snot in the backfield for retrieving the ball. If the ogre boneheads, then the snot runs in (with the reroll) to get the ball instead.

You have a sure hands/BT ogre though, grass always greener I guess..

True. I've had him 1 game, and he adds a lot of stibility.
Then again - I haven't managed to roll a single stat-increase(!)
Had I had an AG ogre, those sure hands might very well have been block instead.

I use snotlings as screens to better maintain the cage. Dodge away from opposing players pretty reliably, then use DT to prevent them from just ignoring the snots.

Cheers
Martin

[sann0638]

Just get yourself an AG5 snot like I have. Makes life a lot easier