Talk Fantasy Football

Somewhat of a spin off from the Vamp Tournament Strategies thread ... I'm curious to know who's been playing vamps in league settings, opening rosters, skill advances for long term development, tactics, and the like.

With my squad, I started with 2 vamps, 10 thralls, 4 RR, 9 FF and 10k left in the bank. After three matches, I'm up to 3 vamps, still 10 thralls, 4 RR and 10 FF. One of my vamps age-niggled on the first skill roll, but I went with pro. The second vamp scored an ag increase and I rolled doubles for the second skill. I went with Nerves of Steel, and plan on making him my QB-esque vamp after I get another vamp. I can't see having more than 5 vamps, and probably won't ever have more than 3 on the pitch at one time.

As for the thralls, I've had two niggle (one of which I retired), and I've had three skill rolls, two of which were regular skill rolls and one had a strength increase. I plan on trying to have 4 or 5 thralls that I try to develop into decent players, and I plan on having four or five slots that I devote entirely to vamp escorts in case the Lust kicks in.

As for tactics, I've been basically playing pitch and catch with two vamps on the pitch, using thralls primarily to tie up other players and either gang up on opponents or provide assists to the vamps. I've also been very conscious to not leave vamps in opponent tackle zones, and tried to cover potential blitz paths to the vamps with thralls, so as to cut down the odds of a blitz on a vamp. I think my vamps have only been blitzed a few times, with I think three or four knockdowns.

I would think that once four or five thralls get block, the team might be a little less fragile. However, I'm only really giving thralls the chance to score if the score will immediately result in a skill roll after the match.

In a nutshell, the strategy seems to be have the thralls keep people busy while the vamps run round with the ball.

I know the above is sort of stream of consciousness, but they're my thoughts so far. Anyone else have vamps in a league setting? How are they doing?

I'm curious to hear how much the "Lust" has affected your team. Just from experience of testing out the team, I came to the conclusion that Vamps were more deadly to their Thralls than the opponent (2 dead, 1 SI, 2 BH from sucking blood in 1 game ). Then again, there was this time when the Ogre team failed Bonehead 4 times in a row in 1 turn, and rolled three 1's the next turn .

those tactics all sound good to me

I wouldn't rush to get a 5th Vamp, get another reroll or 2 1st, and it might take time as you replace thralls from time to time.

Dam, Lust is a very managable negatrait, as Vamps can use rerolls and get Pro. Those casulties sound like an extreme result as I wouldn't expect more than 1 cas a game from Vamps getting hungry.

Emberbreeze wrote:Dam, Lust is a very managable negatrait, as Vamps can use rerolls and get Pro. Those casulties sound like an extreme result as I wouldn't expect more than 1 cas a game from Vamps getting hungry.

I know, but the dice just don't like me . I mean, that Ogre team example of rolling first 4 1's in a row and the next turn 3 more (though not in a row) is not that uncommon .

The problem with the test Vamp team I played was that in one game they got hammered , and were left with 6-7 Thralls and 4 Vamps. Even with 5RRs, the fact that you need to have 11 players on the pitch in Kick-off hurts. Most of the Vamps are Blodgers, with two having Pro as well. And I know that you don't have to do anything with them (meaning no BL rolls), but the temptation to block a weaker opponent who doesn't have block, is just TOO MUCH . I like violence with all teams. Hey, it's called BLOOD Bowl ! Also, I've noticed that even when a Vamp successfully beats the opponents AV, they don't manage a lot of CAS, even the MB Vamp is unlucky in that sense. But lo and behold, bloodlust kicks in, it's a certain KO at least

Another example is: Thrall blocks 'Zon -> skull -> dead -> APO -> as soon as the Thrall gets up, the same 'Zon blocks him -> dead -> next turn the 'Zon blitzes a Vamp Blodger (Niggl.) -> Regen fails

Dam - So far, I've really had the Luck O' The Irish with the Lust rolls. I think I've failed 4 or 5 times in 3 matches. I've had unskilled thralls escorting the vamps around, basically to allow them to snack without injuring a skilled thrall. Also, I've been moving thralls to the locations I plan on moving vamps to ... helps quite a bit on mobility and has allowed me to score a couple of TDs (moving thrall into endzone, then having a lusting vamp follow them into the zone, snack, then score). Having pro and rerolls allows for some degree of control over the lust, but I really think that having unskilled thralls about is the best way to control the lust.

I think I'll eventually get the 5th vamp and just have him as a backup. The temptation of having a lot of vamps is somewhat strong, but the fact of the matter remains that any more than 4 or so, and any more than 3 on the pitch, and you won't have to worry about your opponent decimating your squad because the vamps will shoulder that task on their own. Plus, if you have a thrall or two with block and a random offensive skill, then you might be able to get away with having 2 vamps on the pitch.

Of course, at this point this is all theory.

Had my last preseason match tonight (my league allows rookie teams to play four preseason matches). I survived the dwarves, giving up a late game TD and winning 2-1. I now have two AG 5 vamps on my squad (one with a niggling injury). Four vamps total.

I think I've still got enough unskilled thralls to let the vamps feed. It's tough, though ... as none of my vamps have block. Not having a lot of block is a tremendous liability, as I've basically resigned myself to making only useful blocks, rather than going for gratuitous violence.

Three vamps on the pitch seems ideal, as it allows me to at least give the appearance of attacking both flanks, with my Ag 5 / NOS vamp throwing to whomever is open. If I roll doubles on him again, I may have to go with Pass.

I find myself not really caging, as the AG 5 allows me to get the ball down the pitch quick. Caging really only seems to make sense when I'm at a player or two advantage against a finesse team, where my blocks have a greater chance of causing injury.

Why do you keep the vamps free? I'd have thought with st 4 to defend the block and ag 4 to get away on your turn they would be great to mark with.

they are just too valuable to risk. once the have block and dodge then you can do what you want with them

Emberbreeze wrote:they are just too valuable to risk. once the have block and dodge then you can do what you want with them

There's your answer. Once they get blodge, then maybe I'd mark ballhandlers. However, if it's anyone that packs a punch, they're getting marked with thralls, if at all.

I'm really starting to lust after a thrall with block and sure hands. With a block / sure hands thrall, I could theoretically have all three vamps near the LOS and sure-handed thrall deep.

I got a thrall with +1AG, so I'm going for block/pass as next upgrades. that will free up the vamps

Emberbreeze wrote:I got a thrall with +1AG, so I'm going for block/pass as next upgrades. that will free up the vamps

Nice. Might be worth your while to only have him on the pitch when you're on offense.

The Only Problem I see with "Back Up" Vamps, is that when your down alot of thralls, the Vamps will be forced to take the Pitch with the new 11 Player rule. Onces your Vamps out number your remaining thralls it's all down hill from there. I know that they can all bite the same thrall, but it's not usually the case where they can all sucessfully get there, and maintain some stability of game play.

once the vamps have Pro, they fail OFAB alot less (less than 1 in 10) so you can happily field 4 vamps with the same risk as fielding 3 in a new team.

Finally suffered my first loss with the vamps ... a 3-0 shellacking at the hands of some dwarves. MA6 really doesn't provide the speed necessary to run around / away from dwarves, although I really had two decent opportunities to score. Both times, I lusted, used a reroll, and lusted again. Twice in one match rolling back to back 1s is just too much to ask for. Both times, had I succeeded, I would more than likely have completed passes to other vamps, who had thrall escorts to the end zone.

As the match wore on, I started losing more thralls. Honestly, not having thralls around really makes one think twice about trying to do anything with vamps (although only one of my vamps has pro so far).

I have four thralls with block so far and one with ST4, and I'm thinking that any more than that would end up costing me, as I'd prefer to not have skilled thralls for vamps to feed off of. With four blocking thralls, I think I will continue to field three vamps and have four unskilled thralls on the pitch for the vamps.

I've got goblins and necro up for my next two matches, so I think I can skill up my two unskilled vamps, and hopefully have a TD or two to spread to the blocking thralls.

Just watch out for the friggin' Werewolves. With their Claw, they'll be making mincemeat out of our players (even Vamps). Oh, no, I don't have any bad experiences playing against Necros, why do you ask ?