Talk Fantasy Football

Hey All,

Well, normally I would never do this, but I am a rookie woodie coach, and have got most of my "normal" skill choices, and don't know were to go from here. Thanks for your time.

Just finished an eight game season, went 5-3. I know have the playoffs in front of me. So no more than 3 games left for this team. My next opponents are Undead, then Humans, then who knows? We retire teams after each season, so its time to "pull out all the stops"

Here is my team:

Wardancer:Block, Dodge, Leap, Strip Ball and Double 5's
Wardancer:Block, Dodge, Leap and Double 2's
Catcher:Dodge, Catch, Block and Normal Skill
LineElf:Kick and Normal Skill
LineElf:Dirty Player
LineElf:Leader and niggling injury
LineElf:Block, Tackle and niggling injury
LineElf:Block
LineElf:Block and -1 AG (miss next game)
LineElf:Dodge
LineElf:Dodge and +1 AG
LineElf:rookie
LineElf:rookie

Three Rerolls, 50K in the bank

What do you guys think for those four skills. Prior to getting those doubles, I was thinking Tackle for both WD, Pass block for the catcher. Then probably Dodge or Block on the Kicker.

Now I am thinking Tackle for the Strip Ball WD, Dauntless for the other WD.

I really want more tackle, because the ghouls and catchers/blitzers coming up. I believe one or both of the ghouls have sure hands.

I really have no idea.

Wardancer:Block, Dodge, Leap, Strip Ball and Double 5's Tackle.
Wardancer:Block, Dodge, Leap and Double 2's Dauntless
Catcher:Dodge, Catch, Block and Normal Skill Sidestep
LineElf:Kick and Normal Skill Heroic Tackle

Wardancer(Double5)- Frenzy
Wardancer (Double 2)- Dauntless
Catcher- sidestep
Lineelf- Block or another Dity Player

Piepgrass wrote:Wardancer:Block, Dodge, Leap, Strip Ball and Double 5's Tackle.

I would go Pro, it increases your chances against those dodgers as well as that it gives you RR on your leap and stuff...

Wardancer:Block, Dodge, Leap and Double 2's Dauntless

might do so as well, yes. if you are really want tackle i would take it here i think.

Catcher:Dodge, Catch, Block and Normal Skill Sidestep

sidestep is never wrong...better choice then PassBlock i think.

LineElf:Kick and Normal Skill Heroic Tackle
i would go for block i think.

W

WD #1 - Dauntless
WD #2 - Mighty Blow
Catcher - Pass Block
Line Elf - tackle or diving tackle (DT is nasty against AG3 dodgers like ghouls)

Both WDs: Dauntless
Catcher: Pass Block
Kicker: Block

my $.02...

Wardancer:Block, Dodge, Leap, Strip Ball and +MA
Wardancer:Block, Dodge, Leap and NoS or Dauntless
Catcher:Dodge, Catch, Block and Sidestep
LineElf:Kick and Block

OK, I'll try to review the different options for each player.

WD#1:
- +1ma? Could be useful to give this guy a bigger reach of the pitch, and make it an even bigger threat to all ball carriers. Nonetheless, 8ma is already plenty and with careful positioning of your players, your WD should be able to reach any strategic target on the pitch when you need him to. Better focusing on the other skill/trait choices.
- Using the double? You could go for MB to give your WD more SPPs, but then with strip ball, his job is not as much knocking players down as it is to take the ball away from them. Jump up is worth considering, yet once a WD is down, your opponent will try to make sure that he'll never be able to get up for the rest of the game again... Guard can be nice to bring an assist when trying to bring down the ball carrier (by hitting him with two dice instead of one) but then that implies making one more leap into the cage, and also increasing the chances of having another WD being smacked in return (since you'll have TWO WDs in the middle of the cage, assuming you'll have succeeded at leaping twice, instead of one). Guard would have been nice on an ag5 WD. Dauntless is my personal favourite, but subject to one things: are there any other coaches in your league with st 4+ players likely to pick up or successfully receive the ball, like chaos warriors, anyone with st 4 and ag 3, or even bull centaurs?... If there are none, then maybe you should not bother about dauntless and go for jump up or even MB instead.
- tackle? I wouldn't: keep it for your other WD to spread the offensive skills.
Conclusion: I would definitely make use of that double, picking dauntless as my #1 choice, and jump up or MB as my #2 for the above reasons.

WD#2: Hmm, another double.
More generally, I would also make use of that double. After all, WDs can easily progress thanks to their excellent scoring abilities, so you can always get a normal skill, like tackle, later.
The reasoning for the first wardancer applies here, subject to a few points:
- I would find it pointless to give dauntless to the TWO wardancers - one with that skill is enough in my opinion: if you position your players carefully enough, the dauntless player should be able to reach the st4+ ball carrier wherever he goes, thus relieving the other WD from being dauntless as well.
- On the other hand, having TWO wardancers with jump up may be more that twice as effective as having only one. Why? Because your opponent may find himself struggling as to which guy to fould in case both wardancers are down. That is equivalent in a sense to saying that one wardancer would cover the other one and conversely when both are down.

Conclusion: so long as you keep in mind my observations for #1, any skill / trait would be good for #2, depending on your own playing style, and again so long as you actually do not ignore that double (see my general observations about the scoring and fast improvement abilities of wardancers).


Catcher:
- side step? Always nice since it makes it harder for the opponent to hit the catcher, or even profitable for him (after all, if you don't get knocked down, you could 'slide' onto an even better position to receive the ball and/or run away...). Particular useful if there are many 'hitting' teams in your league.
- leap? Very useful to avoid making loads of 3+ or worse dodges. But it is a double edged skill: that's also an enticement to make a roll without a reroll associated to it (unlike dodging and your dodge skill)... Up to you.
- pass block? Very powerful for a guy who has already dodge (better mobility) and catch (ability to reroll a failed interception attempt). If you want to play an aggressive game in a league with many opponents like to make passes (i.e. NOT dwarves), that's the best choice in my opinion.
Conclusion: each skill has its own worth, depending on your playing style and the type of opponents you are likely to face in your league. I might lean towards MB since that second WD is likely to pick tackle as his next skill (see my comments on MB for WD #1) and therefore will have the job of knocking down people more than his colleague in your team. Yet, the other choices for WD #2 are just as good in my opinion.

Lineman:
You could give 'offensive' specialised skills to that guy (like diving tacke, or dirty player...) but then the more specialised a guy, the more your opponent will be enticed to boot him out. I suggest not concentrating such specialised skills on one guy, at least not until he has reasonable protection - give him block (or maybe dodge, yet it may be not as effective in keeping a guy alive because of the existence of the tackle skill, and also not that effective for him because your guy does not need to be as mobile as your DP since once he's used his kick skill during the kickoff, he does not have the same need as a DP or DT player to move around to do his job during the game).

a recommondation I haven't seen offered yet:

WD#2: Guard - gets you a 2 die block on the ball carrier in the cage with this assist.

as for the rest
WD#1:Dauntless - someone on your team must have this skill.
Catcher:Side Step (or Leap)
LineElf:Block (or Dodge)

First off, thanks to everyone who chimed in here, especially JJB for his novel! Good stuff all around, plenty to think about.

I think I will do sidestep on the catcher, and block on the lineElf. Both safe, simple choices.

Obviously, it's the WDs that pose the problem of choice.

I just wanna restate two very important factors which I need to consider when choosing their skills. 1. I have no more than three games left with this team and 2. The races of the teams I could play. I know I will be against Undead. Then humans if I win, and finally the possible Bowl contender could be orcs, lizardmen or humans. That's a lot of Dodge coming my way, with tackle only being wasted against the Orc team, which I know does have one blodger blitzer.

WD #2 is probably getting Dauntless. I agree that its important for elves to have a chance. A Mummy/Sauras/Black Orc/Ogre running down the sidelines for the tying/go-ahead score is a problem. Plus it's pretty reasonable to think I could be him 10 more SPP in two games.

WD #1 is the crux. He is my defense. His job is to get to the ballcarrier, jar if free and let the AG 5 grab it and chuck it too the catcher, who scores that turn. I agree with most of you guys that Tackle would be a waste. Jump Up is not the best choice, IMHO, because he is usually on his feet, hiding behind his teammates, waiting for his opportunity. Dauntless, no, not needed on both WD. Guard, nope, he hits. Pro... interesting, but I usually blow my team rerolls on his Leap. Frenzy, now that's interesting. I actually like that idea, because he could then jar the ball free, and move the guy away again, removing a TZ from the ball. Finally the +1 MV. It would let him choose the best route to the ball carrier, and would help him spearhead the offense. Frenzy or +1 MV, +1 MV or Frenzy....

ROAAARRRRRR DOUBLE DANCERS.

First dancer Dauntless (to hit those s4 ball carriers)
Second dancer Guard (leap guard combined with the stripper dancer is great)
Catcher sidestep
liner dodge.

Just my 2c but then again i know nothing

You made one very interesting point Drool-Bucket: your team will only have three more games to play.
Assuming that those will be the three last games your team will ever play I would reconsider the fast WD development issue.

First of all, I would definitely give dauntless to WD #1, i.e. the one with strip ball. Why? In combination with strip ball, dauntless allows to take the ball off the hands of everyone. With dauntless on its own, you WD only has 1/3 chances of taking the ball away from that black orc about to score... With dauntless, it becomes 2/3 (assuming the ball carrier you're targetting has block of course). Therefore, if I were you, I'd give dauntless to WD#1, not #2, and forget about the +1ma (8 -> 9 ma will not make as much difference as strip ball -> strip ball + dauntless).

Finally, in reply to your statement that one of your WDs should be the "spearhead of your defence", I feel compelled to say that you should never focus your offensive (i.e. ball stealing) abilities on one wardancer. When I play someone with one WD who is a much bigger threat than the other, I just dedicate 2-3 turns to his annihilation, and the crippling of his whole team as a consequence.
Please don't put all your eggs in one basket (do they say that in English?...) - spread the offensive skills on the two wardancers instead of one. At the same time, it will also make it harder for your opponent to choose who to hit (This is a reasoning comparable to the one I used in regards to the advantages of giving jump up to two wardancers in my previous post.).

Secondly, as to WD #2, I would definitely not give frenzy to a wardancer: when he has lept into a cage and made his first block on the ball carrier, frenzy is more than likely to put him in a position where he has to hit at 2db against him. I would be a lot more inclined to ignore the double, again assuming your team only has three games left to play in its whole career and focus on making your team as effective as possible in stealing the ball and knocking the ball carrier down at the first shot. Tackle thus be a good skill to complete your other WD's dauntless, to make sure you get those skinks, human catchers or ghouls...

Drool_bucket wrote:I think I will do sidestep on the catcher, and block on the lineElf. Both safe, simple choices.

Agreed. Side Step is the natural 2nd skill for catchers, and Block is very good on your kicker since your team is low on Block and he won't defend the LoS anyhow.

Obviously, it's the WDs that pose the problem of choice.

I just wanna restate two very important factors which I need to consider when choosing their skills. 1. I have no more than three games left with this team and 2. The races of the teams I could play. I know I will be against Undead. Then humans if I win, and finally the possible Bowl contender could be orcs, lizardmen or humans. That's a lot of Dodge coming my way, with tackle only being wasted against the Orc team, which I know does have one blodger blitzer.

WD #2 is probably getting Dauntless. I agree that its important for elves to have a chance. A Mummy/Sauras/Black Orc/Ogre running down the sidelines for the tying/go-ahead score is a problem. Plus it's pretty reasonable to think I could be him 10 more SPP in two games.

WD #1 is the crux. He is my defense. His job is to get to the ballcarrier, jar if free and let the AG 5 grab it and chuck it too the catcher, who scores that turn. I agree with most of you guys that Tackle would be a waste. Jump Up is not the best choice, IMHO, because he is usually on his feet, hiding behind his teammates, waiting for his opportunity. Dauntless, no, not needed on both WD. Guard, nope, he hits. Pro... interesting, but I usually blow my team rerolls on his Leap. Frenzy, now that's interesting. I actually like that idea, because he could then jar the ball free, and move the guy away again, removing a TZ from the ball. Finally the +1 MV. It would let him choose the best route to the ball carrier, and would help him spearhead the offense. Frenzy or +1 MV, +1 MV or Frenzy....

Your upcoming opponents will be Undead, Humans, and possibly Orcs/Lizzies/Humans?
In that case you might really consider that Dauntless might bean inferior choice IMHO. Although I'm biased on this (the only wardancer with Dauntless I ever had did use this ability once in about 20 games and even in that situation it didn't matter), I'd strongly recommend to discard Dauntless and go with MA 9. Ogres, Sauri, Mummies and BoBs aren't much likely to carry the ball, your opponents will try to score with blitzers, catchers, throwers or skinks. Touchback? Your kicker should prevent that most of the times. A MA 9 Wardancer could help you much more after a good kick-off to get to the possibly isolated ball-carrier. Unless your opponents have STR+1 ball carriers go MA 9 or Frenzy, personally I doubt that Dauntless will help you more than MA 9 or Frenzy (now if you played against Chaos that might be a different story).
The 2nd Wardancer should probably go with Tackle (although Frenzy could be a good choice for him too).

Btw: 50k in bank. I don't know your FF and the bashiness of your opponents, but perhaps it might be worth a consideration to boot a wizard, especially against Undead, Orcs and Lizzies (should break their cages easily).

With the teams coming up i don't expect a ST4+ ballcarrier. I wouldn't go dauntless if i were you,
W

Dauntless on the strip balling WD and Guard on the other sounds like sound choices.