(Un-)Living NecroTacticum: Necros vs the world of Blood Bowl

[squirrelfanatic]

I'd absolutely say ignore the tree. They're there as a distraction. Attempt to pick off the elves then ignore the tree some more until he has no threat left at all

Sounds reasonable, hopefully I'll be able to deal some quick initial damage and keep the Tree pinned. Maybe it'll even root, one can dream.

[MKL]

So, let's get back into "building the perfect beast"....

This will be an academic and controlled exercise in that we won't be rolling dice, but creating our Perfect Teams according to given parameters....

Part one:

Create your Necro team with 1 million gold....
Assign 5 normal skills (no more than two to a player)
(...)
Your turn....

Well, Necros with 1m$ + 5 normal skills are far from perfect, but that is my take:

5 Zeds
2 Wights
2 Golems---Block or Guard
1 Ghoul---Block + Sure Hands
1 Wolf---Block + Tackle (since I cannot ask for a MB...)
3 rr

The only unusual choice in my build is Tackle instead of Dodge on the Wolf. I take this assuming I'm out to win games (short-term perspective) and not building the team (long term perspective)*. In my experience there is a "sour spot" in Necros growing early on, when elven teams got 3-5 Blodge (especially Dark Elves), and frenzy alone isn't enough to stop them.
Having just one Wolf I know I can screen him effectively, and having Sure Hands the 3 rr can be used to bail him out of tight spots.

*If we are talking about purely long term building, I wouldn't bother with Tackle or the Ghoul...

Well, these are my 2c...

[Digger Goreman]

Good points....

Let's do it like this: concentrate on TT, but feel free to qualify it as you did....

[mawph]

I'd absolutely say ignore the tree. They're there as a distraction. Attempt to pick off the elves then ignore the tree some more until he has no threat left at all

Sounds reasonable, hopefully I'll be able to deal some quick initial damage and keep the Tree pinned. Maybe it'll even root, one can dream.

Tree can only move 2 (plus GFIs obvs) at the best of times, so you should be able to skirt around it. If a zombie gets caught in its web, no big issue.

[squirrelfanatic]

Tree can only move 2 (plus GFIs obvs) at the best of times, so you should be able to skirt around it. If a zombie gets caught in its web, no big issue.

And that's a loss. 2-0 or something, I will never know as my connection went down and the match will get an admin result. I would have lost though and here is why.

Several factors came together. First, poor positioning of my two Tackle guys (Wrestle/Tackle Zombie and Tackle/Sure Hands/Block Ghoul) gave my opponent's ST4 Wardancer and his DP Lino shots at both of them, both went out with injuries. I couldn't for the life of me break his AV7, my Wizard that I aimed at his two Wardancers standing next to each other gave me but one Stunned result. I tried my best to make him roll dice, to no avail. Only two dodges failed if I recall correctly. And then the weather. The game started with Sweltering Heat. After losing the two Tacklers, I had issues pressuring the ball and the Woodelves scored on their turn 8 (I kicked to him first).

New kick-off, both his Wardancers were out due to either a remaining KO inflicted by a block or Sweltering Heat, as was his Treeman. My guys get their one remaining turn in the first half, manage a couple of blocks without dealing any damage. Second half begins, both my Wolves and the remaining Ghoul go down due to weather. I am three guys down against his full 11, he gets his Tree and the other (AG5) Wardancer back. He gets Perfect Defense (had Quicksnap on his first drive, too). The ball gets stripped two turns later (SH Ghoul was out), Woodelves stall again close to my endzone. Before I can get there, my connection drops.

I would love to get better at dealing with Elves but right now I'm a bit frustrated and will probably not have a second look at my replay for a while.

[squirrelfanatic]

Update time! After a recent win (yay!) my current roster now looks like this:

Wolf #1 - Blodge, MB, Sidestep, [normal pending, probably Tackle]
Wolf #2 - n/a, (5SPPs though, hopefully he'll have Block after the next game)
Golem #1 - Block, Guard
Golem #2 - Block, Guard
Wight #1 - Guard, Dodge
Wight #2 - [normal pending, probably Guard or Tackle]
Ghoul #1 - Block, Tackle, Sure Hands
Ghoul #2 - Guard
Zombie #1 - n/a
Zombie #2 - Wrestle, Tackle, -MA
Zombie #3 - n/a
Zombie #4 - Dirty Player, Block
Zombie #5 - n/a
Zombie #6 - n/a
Zombie #7 - n/a

TV 1780 after skill-ups

The last couple of games were a rough mix of lost games and injured/retired players. This season I had to replace a level 3 Wolf and level 2 Wight, both of which had a significant impact on my performance (or that's what I tell myself ). Anyway! As can be seen from the list above, I have quite a number of floating Zombies on my roster at the moment, with two new recruits coming in from recent opponents' teams. Sadly, I think I'll have to cut the MA busted one, MV3 is just too slow to be of any real use I think, even though he does make for fine line fodder.

After that, I'll probably cut one more Zombie to bring down my TV a bit further, as I don't like to give up 150+ TV worth of inducements, especially since one of the upcoming matches will be against Dark Elves (tons of +AG on those guys too...). Another option has crossed my mind though, namely getting rid of my second Ghoul. In my mind, having one more Guard on my team is really nice, but I have to admit that he hasn't seen much use as of late. I guess it's the classic Necro issue where you want to have as many positionals on the field as possible before you realise that there is almost no room left for players to put on the LoS. Given that I like to have either a Kicker (if I have one) or my Block/DP guy in front of my defensive setup, the second Ghoul has become something like a theoretical backup solution should my main ballcarrier go down. Which happens, just not all that often. So I'd either have to get Ghoul #2 up and running with some additional SPPs or just cut him. As it is right now, he eats 100 TV without adding anything to my team's performance.

Any input on that? I've seen a lot of people run with only one or even no Ghoul on FUMBBL, but those were mostly very good/high ranked players in either Ranked or Blackbox mode, while I - obviously - play in a perpetual league setting (and I'm a pretty mediocre coach on top of that!).

[Digger Goreman]

Thirteen is the Necros lucky number, so cut two zombies, or the gimp zed and the ghoul....

Of course you could put the ghoul on the front line and watch the amount of attention he draws... maybe he'll do you a favor and catch a bullet....

[squirrelfanatic]

He might draw a bit of attention, yeah, and then probably go out after a turn or two, leaving me with 10 players for the rest of the drive. Getting rid of the Ghoul & -MV Zombie seems to be a solid alternative, -180 TV is a lot of saved inducements.

[Digger Goreman]

180 TV is a lot of saved inducements.

Yes, Bob,... yes it is....

[Genghis]

Might as well throw the Bone Rollers' Roster up. They're six exhibition matches in (2W, 3D, 1L), and likely getting one more in vs. young Woodies before going pro for HoBBLe season seven.

Wolf (11) - Block
Wolf (7) - Block
Wight (10) - +AG
Wight (7) - Guard
Flesh Golem (5)
Flesh Golem (2)
Ghoul (0)
Zombie (10) - Guard
Zombie (7) - Kick
Zombie (6) - Block
Zombie (5)
Zombie (0)
Zombie (0)

Obvious deficiencies are the lack of Dodge on the Wolves, and lack of anything on the Fleshies. Ghoul is a recent hire. Barring stat bumps, he goes down the Wrestle/Tackle route and becomes a safety. I have 70k in the bank for the second ghoul, but am holding off until I can get a few more skills spread around. The AG wight is handling the ball initially, and dishing off to whomever I want to get the TD.

[squirrelfanatic]

Hey Genghis, your team doesn't look too bad imo, your FGs are getting those SPPs in, if slowly. One casuality and there's the first skill on #1. Do you try to force SPPs/TDs on them? Hand-offs are a great way of getting them their first level-up and not too difficult to set up if you drive them up the pitch as part of a cage/screen. The lack of Dodge on Wolves might be annoying initially, but at least both have Block already. I'm always nervous if I have to build up a new Wolf with no skills to protect him. They'll rake up the SPPs pretty quickly I'd imagine, so no real issue there I believe.

Personally, I found Block very useful on my first Ghoul, but he has to do both the job of a safety and ballcarrier/pick-up player, so I gave him Block/Tackle. Kick and Guard on the Zombies is nice, too. Any plans on going Dirty Player too? And finally, congratulations on the +AG Wight, that's a nice one. Guard afterwards for him?

All the best for you coming matches, especially the Woodie one. Hate those guys, personally.

[Digger Goreman]

So, let's get back into "building the perfect beast"....

This will be an academic and controlled exercise in that we won't be rolling dice, but creating our Perfect Teams according to given parameters....

Part one:

Create your Necro team with 1 million gold....
Assign 5 normal skills (no more than two to a player)

Zombie Monotechnic
4 zombies
1 zombie w kick
2 wights
2 golems
2 blodge werewolves
(2 rerolls)

I believe that blodging werewolves are essential for stability and kick allows early exploitation of blitzes and poor positioning by offenses....

Your turn....

Part two... add one double....

I think the choice, hands down, is mighty blow on one of the weres....

[Genghis]

Hey Genghis, your team doesn't look too bad imo, your FGs are getting those SPPs in, if slowly. One casuality and there's the first skill on #1. Do you try to force SPPs/TDs on them? Hand-offs are a great way of getting them their first level-up and not too difficult to set up if you drive them up the pitch as part of a cage/screen. The lack of Dodge on Wolves might be annoying initially, but at least both have Block already. I'm always nervous if I have to build up a new Wolf with no skills to protect him. They'll rake up the SPPs pretty quickly I'd imagine, so no real issue there I believe.

Personally, I found Block very useful on my first Ghoul, but he has to do both the job of a safety and ballcarrier/pick-up player, so I gave him Block/Tackle. Kick and Guard on the Zombies is nice, too. Any plans on going Dirty Player too? And finally, congratulations on the +AG Wight, that's a nice one. Guard afterwards for him?

All the best for you coming matches, especially the Woodie one. Hate those guys, personally.

I haven't found myself in a comfortable enough position (in terms of score and/or rerolls) to hand off to the Golems. Yet.

My plans for Ghouls are always one as the safety (Wrestle/Tackle) and one as the ball carrier (Block/Surehands). I'm always conflicted as to which to build first. My instinct says if I make the first one the ball carrier, the second one gets starved out of SPP. +AG Wight gets Guard next, barring doubles (Dodge). Mobile Guard is awesome, and he can take over ball duties in a pinch.

There will eventually be at least one DP Zombie. Won't be the Guard. He gets Block next. Probably be one of the unskilled ones.

[Genghis]

Part two... add one double....

I think the choice, hands down, is mighty blow on one of the weres....

I cut my teeth in BB with Chaos. The Claw/MiB combo is awesome. No better double for this team that I can see.

[mawph]

Sadly, I think I'll have to cut the MA busted one, MV3 is just too slow to be of any real use I think, even though he does make for fine line fodder.

After that, I'll probably cut one more Zombie to bring down my TV a bit further, as I don't like to give up 150+ TV worth of inducements, especially since one of the upcoming matches will be against Dark Elves (tons of +AG on those guys too...). Another option has crossed my mind though, namely getting rid of my second Ghoul. In my mind, having one more Guard on my team is really nice, but I have to admit that he hasn't seen much use as of late. I guess it's the classic Necro issue where you want to have as many positionals on the field as possible before you realise that there is almost no room left for players to put on the LoS. Given that I like to have either a Kicker (if I have one) or my Block/DP guy in front of my defensive setup, the second Ghoul has become something like a theoretical backup solution should my main ballcarrier go down. Which happens, just not all that often. So I'd either have to get Ghoul #2 up and running with some additional SPPs or just cut him. As it is right now, he eats 100 TV without adding anything to my team's performance.

Ghouls are a tricky one, I'm always in two minds whether to field mine, or not. My theory would be a ball carrier build for offence and a wrestle tackle (kick) one for defence. Guard on a Ghoul presents a tricky issue, as you'll be looking to utilise it a lot. I find the same with my fumbbl team with a +AG ghoul. Lovely to have another +AG player (I've +AG wolf and wight too), but creates a headache or two for working out who to put on the pitch.

On the -mv zed - with Dark Elves coming up, I'd think about keeping him around and cutting him afterwards. Your general offensive play should be a slow walk forwards and a wrestle/tackle zed is going to certainly help against blodging Dark elves.