Talk Fantasy Football

Hi, this is my first post having recently joined the forum.

I am currently running a Norse team in my local clubs first league. We are all pretty new to the game so things are pretty even on that score.
We decided to run a scheduled season with two leagues of 4 so we will eventually play 10 games plus 2 playoff games each to work out final rankings.

The other teams are Orc x 2, Halfling, Lizardmen, Human, Skaven and High Elf. My record is 4 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss so far and I am in the final playoffs with one league game to go. The other league is much closer with the teams sitting on 16,14,13 and 13 points each with two games to play.

I have just had my Thrower hit AG5 in my last game and a Runner has also gained his first skill. I had planned on giving the Runner Dodge. I am now wondering whether to give him Catch to take advantage of my Thrower. I have not really done much passing preferring to beat the oppositon down and then run in the scores.

I do not have a Snow Troll as in my pracritce games he always seemd to fail his Wild Animal test even when blocking and became a Re-roll sink but I now read on this forum that he is considered one of the best big guys in the game. Why is this? I need 10K to be able to buy one for the playoffs. Do I need him if I have 2 Ulwereners with Block? The rest of my team is another Thrower and Runner plus 2 Berserkers and 5 Linemen, 3RR, 7FF, Apo,1CL

I would appreciate some advice as there are obviously a lot of very skilled BB players out there.

Steve

Welcome Steveq...

Firstly Norse lovely choice - very strong team in that length of league. but congrats and good luck on your form.

Firstly that runner - grogs advice - Dodge, creates another blodger so keeping him up. Catch would be nice be you sound like you don't need it but...

I have just had my Thrower hit AG5 in my last game - Will the passing game become easier now? will you pass more? would catch be more useful on that runner afterall?

Snow Troll - Reason why considered good.

1) Claw as a starting skill, couple with Mighty Blow and a normal role and you have a monster - watch the orcs cry!
2) So we know you have a strong skill choice on normal and on a double you have block.
3) Wild Animal is MUCH better than really stupid/boneheaded as they keep their tackle zones.
4) DP - not a great skill to get but a lovely skill to have!
5) is MA5, not bad for a big guy

So for all this tastyness you are giving up a couple of AV which isn't that bad when hopefully he shouldn't get hit and anyother big guy will hate his Claws.


As for this league it may be a little late - he adds a load to your TV, my decision would be based on how likely I am to get an Orc team, even though Lizards are highier AV I wouldn't worry about them as you'll be hitting the skinks.

My thats more than my 4p.
Grog.

Welcome to the boards!

Ag 5 Thrower is gonna be a darned good passer out to short range and pretty good to any range....

Catch would help avoid using a reroll if you pass accurately and roll 1 or2....

Dodge would allow your runner (possibly) to break loose with the ball or for a pass....

If you're that good with running, so far, I'm thinking Dodge, also....

Thanks very much for the input. I think I will stick with my original choice of Dodge as it will keep him on his feet a bit more especially with AV7.
A running game does give me more chance to pound the opposition.

I will still have the ability to throw the ball if its tight and despearate late in the game. I have also found that a passing game stretches the play when up against Orcs and gives you more chance to pick on stragglers and out run them if you throw the ball deep and miss the catch.

I think there is a good chance I will face an Orc team in the play offs as both are in the top two but I will wait and see but will probably get the snowtroll if I am going to face them.

I have Lizardmen next and will definitely be looking to target his Skinks. I won the first match 3-0 and found that even though I could not injure his Saurus I did managed to get them off their feet pretty much all the time.

Steve

Lizardmen hate Claw as much as Orc do. They expect skinks to go pop, but to keep the Saurus. Get 2~3 Saurus out and they are in tons of trouble.

Grogmir wrote:3) Wild Animal is MUCH better than really stupid/boneheaded as they keep their tackle zones.

False, false, FALSE!!!

Wild Animal is about five times worse than even Really Stupid. Getting the best out of a Big Guy means having him do the simple stuff reliably. I.e. standing around and being a ST5 roadblock. A WA needs a 4+ roll just to atand up!!! Any good opponent will just tip the WA early in a drive and then ignore him.

To get any benefit from a WA you need to blitz with him every turn. But the player will either waste your blitz action or turnover at least 29% of the time (without a re-roll). That is more than twice per half. That is going to lose you games right there.

Don't get me wrong, I have seen people play the odds and do well with Snow Trolls in games. But WA is absolutely not better than BH or RS, as those let you avoid risky actions with the players.

For the most part, I'm gonna agree with Joemanji on this... perhaps not on WA being worse, but certainly on the limits of WA vis-a-vis a wily opponent....

Joemanji wrote:...will just tip the WA...

heh, heh, *snort*, he said 'cow tipping'
if you didn't get that one, think Minotaur

Tricks include putting a cheap player in contact with your WA to force him to block and lose a turn of movement... putting cheap fodder at intervals so the WA can blitz one, but has to dodge the others (and gets only a couple squares movement)... AND WRESTLE! Now THAT'S Cow Tippin'

I wouldn't NOT take a WA but, as Joemanji pointed out, you'd better develop an effective game plan for the critter....

Wild Animal is about five times worse than even Really Stupid

We will have to argee to disargee on this one. Just not seen that in my experience.

"A WA needs a 4+ roll just to atand up!!!"

False, false, FALSE!!!

he needs 4+ to do a move action, you can blitz from the floor and the SnowT has enough movement to still be able to move. Eck you don't even have to actually blitz anyone.

To get any benefit from a WA you need to blitz with him every turn,

or block, and a reason the SnowT is helped out by all that frenzy on the Norse team, if your not using push backs to feed the troll then you're missing out.

That is more than twice per half. That is going to lose you games right there.

Down to personally opinion here but I've seen a bg losing his tacklezone causing a turn-over/loss of ball much more that a failed big guy attack.

Also don't forget that your logic about BG's attacking applies to every BG not just the ST. no BG is reliable. They shouldn't be your first attack.
What I am saying is that in the BG Risk/Reward breakdown the ST has edge over pretty much all of them. (Do you disagree with this?)

As for the merits and drawbacks of the WA,BH,RS well perhaps that's for another thread but my preceived supierority if WA is part of the reason for my liking of the Snow T.

However the biggest part is that Claw MB Combo.

Grog

The thing with wild animal is that if the bg is in the thick of things and mostly blocking or blitzing then all is well and good. if he's needing to move or getting knocked down, you risk those 4+ rolls and him not getting involved unless you use your blitz to get him up and possibly blitz players who wouldn't otherwise be your target for a blitz. I think compared to BH, WA is more powerful, but with weaknesses.

Thanks for all the advice and the debate about the Snow Trolls abilities is very interesting and helpful. So I have 1 game left (against Lizardmen)before the plays offs which will be another two games assuming I win the first one. The teams I will be up against will either be Orcs, Humans, Skaven or High Elf. I will be able to buy a Snow Troll after the next game.

Do I get one or wait until next season?

My team value is 1,540,000, currently the highest in the league. My current roster is:
Thrower x 2 (one with AG5,SSP17, one with 3SSP)
Runner x 2 (one with Sure Hands & Sure Feet,SSP19, one with Dodge,SSP6)
Berzerkers x 2 (one with Strip Ball, AV6,SSP14 one with Guard & Stand Firm,SSP23)
Ulwereners x 2 (both with Block & SSP 13 & 6)
Linemen x 5 (one with Tackle,SSP8 and the rest on 5,4,2,&1 SSP)
FF6, 3RR,1CL, 130,000 in Treasury

My thoughts on new skills are to give the next lineman to gain a skill Kick and then look to put Tackle on the rest and Dirty Player on the one with Tackle, and go for Guard on doubles.

I am looking at Mighty Blow for the Ulfwereners and possibly the Berserkers as well or should I mix things up with these. Side step on doubles for these guys.

The more experienced Runner would get Dodge, Leader on Doubles and the other Runner Side Step and Juggernaut on Doubles.

My back up Thrower would go down the route of Accurate and Strong Arm on doubles. For my AG5 Thrower I am now thinking Nerves of Steel and Dodge on doubles.

Thoughts and comments much appreciated.

Steve

sure hands is great for the throwers. I tend to go down the mighty blow route for blitzers as taking opposition out is a big help for AG3 Ma6 sides.

Takes a little while to get used to how to play a Big Guy. As you saw in the above discussions, it can be a bit problematic if you use them at the wrong time. And believe me, it is tempting to blitz with a frenzy, claw, ST5 player. Everybody else in your team has block, they are better at blitzing.

If you are doing well with your team now (and it looks like if you are), I would wait for the playoffs to be over, and buy him for the first game next season. Then you will be able to start the season with him and get to know him better . Once you get along with your Snow Troll, then he will contribute positively to the team. Expect to make mistakes with him for the first few games. And mistakes with Big Guys can cost games more so than with other players (because of both their nega-skills: - WA in your case - and Loner).

I'd sack the av6 berzerker and buy a new one

AV6 means that he's only about 71% as useful after getting knocked down (21/36 instead of 15/36 to get hurt). On a guy with Jump Up, that's not good. However, this is one problem that does tend to work itself out in the end. Maybe you should hire a lino to stand in if he gets hurt.

I'd also kick out the AV& berserker and buy a new one.
Then next season you can start with the Snow Troll.

Also you mentioned that you have the team with the highest TV.
So for an additional 150k every opponent will get a wizard as an inducement and compared to a Rookie Snow Troll that's a bad deal.