My first games suffer from a lot of turnovers

[Pedait]

I've played my first few games, orcs against human, and what I have noticed is that both me and my opponent suffer a lot of sacks. Is this normal, or is it because we don't protect the ball enough?

[McDeth]

Sacks should be the exception rather than the rule, a sacking is often a game winning factor, particularly if you can get a score from it.

Without seeing how your players are positioned i can only assume the ball carrier isn't protected well enough. particularly as with starting line-up's, you wouldn't yet have developed players to infiltrate the LOS to easily and get to the ball carrier to blitz.

[Pedait]

So, probably my LoS is too weak?

[McDeth]

Are you Orcs or Human, as both play very differently?

Also if your are the receiver, you should have first dibs on Blocking the opposition, so with a few fairly risk free rolls you should pretty much have cleared up the LOS anyway.

[DoubleSkulls]

The basic formation to protect your ball carrier is the cage. Which looks like

Code: Select all

X X
 C
X X

Where C is the ball carrier and X one of your own players. So long as you don't have opponents standing next to the corner guys it makes it impossible for anyone without leap to blitz the ball carrier.

There are lots of variations but basically the idea is to stop the opposition getting next to the ball carrier without making silly dodges.

Hope this helps

Ian

[GalakStarscraper]

Impossible Ian says ..... heh .... I'll have you know that my ST 3 Halfling on my Iron Chefs team has been frequently known to blitz into cages and then GFI to run away out them. Seen a lot of AG 5 Dragon Warriors do the same.

So to rephrase ... the cage is wonderful but make sure to review your opponent's roster before assuming its the best strategy.

However given you are still learning the game, the cage will be a GREAT starting point to learn offensive protection.

Galak
(the more BB I see played by the best coaches, the less and less I see a cage used).

[Pedait]

But in the cases I suffered a turnover, it was because I had just passed to a catcher, which I had gotten throufg the defense by dodging, so it was impossible to send four other protectors along. How could I protect my catchers the best?

And I'm playing the human team, but my opponent who was playing the orc also suffered a lot of turnovers. BTW, should I position my blitzers in the LoS, or behind it?

[Thadrin]

Give a couple of your Blitzers the Guard skill. That should really help.

One thing to remember is that you should NEVER outrun your blockers. You're asking for trouble if you do, especially with a ST2 catcher.

[Dangerous Dave]

Sounds like you dodged the catcher through and then passed to him leaving him wide open.

This is not a good tactic! Its best to blitz and block a hole in the defence so that you can move a number of players through without dodging. If you don't achieve the required results just consolidate your position leaving the ball carrier with protection. The time to pass is either before a catcher moves to go upfield or after he has moved and he is now in scoring postion (and is protected). If you dodge the catcher through, I wouldn't pass to him until you have protection there. If you leave him there unprotected, he is a target.... but if the catcher is blitzed, at least your ball carrier isn't!


Dave

[Thadrin]

The trick of course being to consolidate first, because if it all goes pear-shaped on the pass you don't want the ball or your catcher to be hung out in the open, where your opponent can happily grab it/pound him into the turf.


Welcome to the wonderful world of Blood Bowl Tactics.....

[DoubleSkulls]

Don't pass to exposed players who can't score this turn and can be blitzed in your opponents turn. At best you'll end up surrounded by lots of defenders and at worse you'll have given away possession where your opponent can defend the ball carrier.

So hold onto the ball for another turn. Your opponent is then left with the dilemma of blitzing the catcher or pressurizing the ball carrier. The more you stretch the defence (especially against less mobile teams) the more likely it is that something will open up for you.

Remember that you don't have to move the ball towards your opponent. If the ball is kicked deep very often its a good idea to sit far enough back that your opponent can't reach you at all. This then frees up the players who would have formed a cage to do something else.

Ian

[DoubleSkulls]

Impossible Ian says ..... heh .... I'll have you know that my ST 3 Halfling on my Iron Chefs team has been frequently known to blitz into cages and then GFI to run away out them. Seen a lot of AG 5 Dragon Warriors do the same.

So to rephrase ... the cage is wonderful but make sure to review your opponent's roster before assuming its the best strategy.

However given you are still learning the game, the cage will be a GREAT starting point to learn offensive protection.

Galak
(the more BB I see played by the best coaches, the less and less I see a cage used).

I didn't really want to complicate the issue by discussing stunty/leap defences too

Lets face it, unless there are large numbers of tacklers in the team is near impossible to stop the little uns getting a block in, even if it is only 1/2 or 1 die.

The only way to consistently stop leapers is using Guard or double line defences (a thin line the leaper wont want to dodge though).

[McDeth]

All i can do is reitearte whta been said above.

Never leave you ball carrier, in a position where he can be blitzed next turn. If you passed to your chap in enemy territory after he didged there then he's just waiting to get trounced.

[sean newboy]

U dont necessarily need 4 guys as protection. U can do it more towards the sidelines, also try to figure where they have the mv to go. Sometimes i mite leave a spot open that will make them gfi and/or dodge just to get there.

[Pedait]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. However, I didn't get an answer to this one:

BTW, should I position my blitzers in the LoS, or behind it?

AnybodY?