Halfling League Build and Development

[mattgslater]

Vs. Slann? That changes things, because of the Krox. If you're so lucky that you're not going to face a Krox, you can still put up that 303 line. Otherwise, you might want to move it in a bit. The defense below is a 303, though. Willow is a Class A nose-tackle, by the way, and she totally lets you run your Tree ends two back. Catchers also change the math, depending on how many he has. Specifically, if he has two or fewer, you can let him have a square along the sidelines if it lets you keep your net. Can you tell me anything about his lineup or skill selection?

My first piece of advice is always the same for rookie teams. Score twice with one guy, then worry about everything else. Obviously, the MC is huge vs. Slann, because he saps their ability to leap. Also, you have a ton of Dodge and he's probably a little short of Block and very short of Tackle. If he has any Blitzers, target them; DT is bad for Halflings. Of course, when he uses DT and you roll a 5+, foul! Also, target any Block players he has. If you don't have Block, you don't care if the other guy does when you block him, but you care very much when he blocks you.

Halflings with Willow, 3-2-6 303 D vs. Slann. The arrow notes the direction Willow falls or gets pushed. You need to move the wings inside a square if he has any Frenzy.

[Pestimist]

Slann has already played 1 game and his line up is
3 blitzers
2 catchers 1 w/ dodge
6 lineman
3 rerrolls
1 apo

he is playing another game against Nurgle today which i will be attending.

oh i like that that set up

[mattgslater]

Yup. That lineup might work well. I thought about moving the two protected flankers (deep in the WZs) in to the other side of the line so you can run a deep safety, but don't do that unless/until he takes some damage. He'll really regret not taking a Krox.

Since he doesn't have a Kroxigor, you might try this D. It's mathematically impossible to get 2d on the Trees, and getting 1d requires getting a knockdown on the first block and then throwing an interior blitz. Remember, he has no Block, or just one.

[Pestimist]

so some unexpected turn of events happened tonight,
i was planning on watching Nurgle play Slann, but the Wood elf coach showed up and we decided to play.

so he decided to restart his team meaning i only got 250k inducements.

he started with 3 catchers 1 wardancer 1 thrower 6 lineman 2 rerolls...i stole both rerolls with master chef
i gave him the ball after winning the toss
needless to say he scored on turn 7, i tried scoring with a throw teammate but failed the landing.

second half i recieved and starting getting casualties. i scored on turn 6 and he only had 4 players left on the field.
i had 2 kills from fouling and 6 casualties total his wardancer died on a leap after i failed trying to foul him twice. one of my trees had 3 casualties and my other tree had 1.
i KO'ed and casualtied one more guy leaving him with 2 players to score my second TD on turn 8 and he was unable to field 3 players so i got a extra TD to win 3-1

my tree with 3 cas then got MVP so after 1 game he had 11 SPP....after the game rolled an 11 , but i took Guard

Nurgle defeated Slann 2-1 in the other match
during the matches the High Elf showed up to watch and after both games were done he wanted to play a game and i said i would play him

so game number 2 vs High elf,
i fired a halfling so that i would keep my TV low enough to get mchef and willow.
this game didnt go as well as the first but Guard tree did get 1 more casualty.
he controlled the first half and decided to delay till turn 8 to score.
second half i got the ball and just slowly drudged down the field and decided to hold off and score on turn 8 for the tie

and the MVP went to wait for it....my other tree! now im not quite sure what to give him probably Guard tho

so after 2 games i am still undefeated 1-0-1 after playing 2 elf teams.

now i will finally be playing Slann tomorrow his TV 1080 and mine is TV 780 or 810 if i rehire back the halfling i fired.
if i dont hire the halfling back i could get willow mchef, and either babe or special play card.

[Ullis]

Impressive results! Those frogs should really struggle against a chef with only 3 rerolls as it denies them reliable leaps and blocking will be a pain for them too. I'd look to target the catchers as they are the only players who can keep the frog team afloat.

[Pestimist]

played the Slann today,

he scored in 3 turns even after i used an illegal substitution card to bring a guy out of the endzone, but i killed a lineman with my tree, then we had a riot so back one turn.
i took the rest of the half and scored on turn 7 to tie it up.

had problems in the second half both trees took root early and i had trouble keeping the ball in my hands he has able to score on turn 7, i put up a good fight with just my halflings and willow, we got another riot giving me 3 turns to try and score the tying goal, i was held up till turn 8 for a TTM and i got the throw off but the scatter went the wrong way so he was unable to reach the endzone.

in the end my Tree now has 6 casualties(2 kills) and he also got the MVP for todays game giving him 22 SPP , leads the league and better yet...he rolled a 12...Now as tempting as the str+ is, i feel block is the better choice, unless you guys can convince me otherwise.

i also had halflings get casualites with one almost killing one of his lineman but his apo saved him

had a halfling lose MA- so i fired him and rehired the previously fired halfling(didnt have skills or anything just wanted his name back)

so final score was 2:1 and casualties were 2:4 for me, also had more fans.

i should probably start trying to level some halflings so far ive just been placing them in random spots and gettng random guys TDs

my next match will prob be against Nurgle

[mattgslater]

Yeah, with Halflings, team management mostly means scoring when you get to 3SPP, and maybe making some garbage chucks after the game is in/out of hand. Oh, and once you're up men (or at the start of an offensive drive) good blocking technique pays off better for Halflings than for most other teams.

ST7 is really, really cool, especially at 51 SPP, after you've got Grab and Multiblock. That guy can juggle a pair of BOBs. Block rocks too, of course. No advice, except to pick one and rejoice. If you take Block and get doubles (not Boxcars or 5/5) again, take Dodge. Blodge Trees are pretty much impossible to hit.

[Pestimist]

ive been close in practically every game, and so far my team is leading in casualties 11 in 3 game and only 4 against.
although only 1 other team has played 3 games and another only 1, necro has yet to play and nurgle and woodies only played 1 each

str 7 is really nice 3 dice blocks all over the place, but block seems like the safer way to go, keeps my tree standing and if hes rooted can take guys down right beside him. also keeps my TV lower

[solarflare]

I know I'm in the minority on this, but I really like pro on the trees. It can really help keep them from taking root. It can also help them stand if they get knocked down... If not pro, I think I'd take block instead of +ST.

[Welshy]

Progress for my 'flings: "The Small Blacks" (I am in NZ afterall) is a 2-1-0 (WDL). I have been mainly playing the other 'cripple' teams though as we have a sub-championship in our open league.

Starting line-up was indeed:
2x Trees
13x Flings
4x RR
1x Apoth

This allowed me to induce the chef each and every game... although playing against fellow 'small folks' means that the TV difference is not much bigger. I shall be 'stepping out' versus some propoer teams shortly.

Starting Rosters: Thoughts to date are that 4x RR is fine for a starting roster (I'd previously gone for 5) as you've got a good chance of stealing at least one from the opponent and trying to use more that 5 in a half is quite tricky with all that dodge.

In season development: After seeing the effectiveness of Sidestep on snotlings I've decided that this has to be my default 'normal' skill roll. It's definatley worth having more Cheerleaders/Coaches (I currenlty have 3 each) as the last thing you want is the opponent winning additional re-rolls during the game and un-doing the masterchef's good work.

In Game tactics: I don't know if it's a function of the teams I have been playing against but I'm coming to play a style of loose caging down the pitch using my RR's for GFI's & hand-offs in order to gain the additional squares needed to boost the generally slow progress on the wee fellows. Chucking the little fella's just doesn't seem worth it as injuries occur all too frequently (approx 25% chance of getting stunned and 12% KO or worse). I now only use throws for 'emergency' plays for quick scores.

I still haven't figured out if it's worth scoring quickly with these guys or slowly. To date a T6 score seems to be enough to minimise the bodies being carted off, maximise the Kick-offs to get KO's back and trimming down the time to as little as possible to hinder the opponent's score.

As always, your thoughts are appreciated.

[Pestimist]

i was just going to ask you welshy how your team has been doing, since i sorta took over your thread sorry about that btw.

played my 4th game today against Nurgle today

my roster before the match

2xtreeman both w/ Guard and 1 w/ Block...btw helped ton in the match
10xhalfling fired 1 early to lower TV then fired another after last match since he had -MA...will hire more when TV allows it
2xRR...seems to be decent enough for the most part mainly cuz i have been able to steal practically 2 a half on average.
3xFF

had 1 AC/1CL but fired both so that i could induce willow Rosebark and Mchef for the match

started the match with The Plague recieving, stole both his rerolls and had +2Fame, i had both trees on the line with a halfling squished between them, he set up his beast of Niurgle infront of my halfing and tried to hit it but failed the Really Stupid roll, my first turn i hit the beast and KO him

match goes on but then he tries to pass with his pestigor on t4 to a rotter(dont know why) on 4+, he fails and the ball scatters

i take control of the ball in my half and slowly move forward, one tree has taken root but i march on, turn 8 comes along and i have a halfling down field that i threw marked by a pestigor,

he was able to knock my ball carrier down but at the cost of a Both down, i KO'ed his pest and he didnt break my armour

so i had the option to either dodge out my halfling down field and run him in the end zone w/ 2 GFI, then have my fallen halfling pick up the ball and make a 5+ pass into the endzone and go for the 3+ catch or i could have the fallen halfling get up and pick up the ball then let my treeman toss my halfling 2 spaces from the endzone and hope he scatters in and lands

so it was either a 3+ 2+ 2+ 3+ 5+ 3+ or 3+ 2+, pray for a good scatter 4+

i went with the Throw team mate route as it was less dice rolls, make the pick up make the throw but he scatters to the very edge of the endzone and for the kicker he makes the landing. first half over 0-0, im about about recieve.

just realized i could tried passing the ball to the halfling who was marked for a 4+ catch...so it would of been 3+ 4+ 4+ 3+ 2+ 2+ oh well prob still would have tried the TTM.

i recieve the ball and work my way down field i try and get my tree to blitz but he fails the GFI to hit TWICE! so Timber...he survives, i move the ball carrier down in his side of the field unguarded but he would have had to dodge out thru some tacklezones to get him, if i could get my tree up, now this was prob a bad move but i tried to blitz while he got up, he makes the take root, makes the 4+ to stand and fails the GFI again!....never the less he goes and blitzes my poor halfling and gets both down/push considers going with the both down but decides to use his only reroll that he got from brilliant coaching(i rolled a 1 he rolled a 6 both got 1 reroll from it) and gets a skull/push..now my halfling is 7 squares from the endzone

lots of my halflings were on the ground or KO'd so i only had 1 option, dodged out of the pests tackle zone then GFI twice into the endzone for a TD! up 1-0 on T6

he recieves i put the same set up as the beginning got a bunch of ppl from the KO box, and he puts the Beast back in the same spot, kick off event is throw a rock, and somehow he tie the roll a again, i Cas a Nurgle Warrior and he stuns a tree, my kick is perfect and lands in his endzone. so he hits my halfling on the line with his beast this time follows up, goes and gets the ball still in his endzone

my turn i hit his beast with my other standing tree but dont break armour, bring some friends around and Casualty him. i sneak a few halflings into his back field so his pest doesnt have too many places to go, he goes for a 5+ pass and fumbles it, on turn 7 so my turn 8, i go for a TTM to get an assist down field fail it, but i was still able to get 2 halflings over to his pest to get a 1 die block, first roll is a skull, use my final reroll, get a push(all i needed), then i bring my deepest halfling in pick up the ball and GFI twice into the endzone for the 2-0 victory!

both halflings that scored lvled up, giving them both side step

made 80k in winnings up to 510k total in my treasury

i now have 810TV

record to date 2-1-1

TD diff is 7-4 and cas diff is 13-5...sadly niether tree was able to get any casualties this game

[mattgslater]

Awesome.

Who's next? More important, what's the next oppo's TV?

[Pestimist]

im not quite sure, who my next opponent is, so far the standings are
W D L
Cake Eaters 2-1-1
Leap Frogs 2-0-1 Slann
The Plague 1-0-1 Nurgle
Blue Bloods 0-1-1 High Elf
Burchwood 0-0-1 Wood Elf
name TBD 0-0-0 Necromantic

so ive played the most games so far, couple games are going on tomorrow but i work all weekend, so they should be able to catch up to me in games played. and then ill know who i can play next, depending on availability.

our league is a free schedule must play everyone once and play at least 8 games to make the playoffs. can only play an opponent twice in a row and 4 times max...so that means 20 games max for the season.

[Welshy]

i was just going to ask you welshy how your team has been doing, since i sorta took over your thread sorry about that btw.

All good matey. I've been AFK for a bit, so just glad to see the threads is stilla live and proving popular. Keep us the good run with your flings. I'll post my next match report later this week once I've played my first non-stunty for this season.

[Pestimist]

interested to see what directions both our teams take, seeing how we both started with different set ups and playing in different league set ups and all.