Talk Fantasy Football

My Norse team is going into the play offs having won its division and I have just bought a Snow Troll. The rest of the team is:

Thrower x 2 (one with AG5,SSP18, one with 3SSP)
Runner x 2 (one with Sure Hands & Sure Feet,SSP19, one with Dodge,SSP6)
Berzerkers x 1 SSP14 one with Guard & Stand Firm,SSP25)
Ulwereners x 2 (both with Block & SSP 13 & 6)
Linemen x 5 (one with Tackle,SSP8, one with Block,Kick,SSP7 and the rest on 5,2,&1 SSP)
FF6, 3RR,2CL, 2 AC, 10,000 in Treasury

Whats the best way of using the Snow Troll? My likely opponents are Orcs, High Elves and Skaven. Does everyone put him on the LOS and let him do his thing? The Orcs will have a full compliment of BOB with Block.

Steve

The LOS is as good as place as any!

Try to avoid Blitzing with him due to WA, if he hasn't got a block use all your frenzy to push a player near him.
Remember that a 2dice without shouldn't be your first attack on your turn. GET MB ASAP!...

An alternative use for the ST is near the sidelines, another frenzy player is always dangerous there and his ST protects him from crowd pushes. Although you are giving up Dis Pres area. Of course Norse should always do a sideline push, with there Frenzy its almost impossible to defend against.

only ever put him on the los when recieving

Thanks Rodders.

MB was definitely going to be my first choice skill for him.

I was thinking of putting him behind the LOS when kicking so that any one folloing up a block would have to think twice.

Steve

He is actually more vulnerable than you think, AV8 isn't too difficult to break and even if he's just put on his back, he's liable to just be rolling around screaming cos of WA.

So, if I were you, LOS when receiving by all means, but when your kicking, I'd put him just behind the LOS against weak teams (like having a free fend) and further back, protected by another player against stronger teams-those Borcs just need 1 assist to get a 1d on you, and seeing as they have block, you're likely to go down. Otherwise you can use your Ulwereners to frenzy players towards him if he's not next to anyone at the start of his turn-don't blitz with him if you can help it (especially if it's a vital blitz)-you will roll ones and most probably at the worst times....

Dont put the snowtroll on the LoS against heavy teams, it only might be an idea agains the highelves. As others have said, av 8 isnt alot.

Put him a bit back from the line and use him to take the unimportant blitzes and get him in good possitions. Its risky but its the reason you have a snowtroll apart from the obvious str 5. A game against orcs and other heavy teams (wasnt it undeads, the last one??) isnt that easy for the norse side, as you dont really have alot of adventages, and your av 7 ag 3 means you might get outnumbered quickly. Here a snow troll can play its part and try to take out an orc or two with the claw and Frenzy. Do it if you doesnt have another very important blitz, and try to target some key orc players, a KoD on a Blackorc will help your team alot for that drive. Another option would be to blitz the troll into a cage and then attack the cage from all sides with the troll teammates.

Now, all this blitzing with loners without block is pretty risky, so why do it?
1: Hes your key player for taking out opponents, if you cannot make a crowdpush, so there is something to be gained by doing it.
2: A snowtroll isnt a player like a normal troll, that can go in a pile of hardcore opponents, take a beating come back. Problem is av 8 and wild animal. Av 8 means hes not so usefull on the line and wild animal means you godda declare blitz actions to move him into possition, otherwise you risk he will stand around doing nothing far to often.

When you can, give him two assists and make it 3 dice.

Here's my thoughts on using the Snow Troll.

Never put him on the LoS when kicking, as has been said AV8 is fragile for a BG. Have him back from the LoS as a big threat. Recieving, on the LoS he goes, don't line him up on the opposition BG unless you can get someone around the back to provide an assist on the 2nd frenzy block. (You will invariably need it)

I personally tend to blitz with him more often than is totally prudent, but only when there is a worthy target, an AV9 opponent or simliar, that you will have trouble hurting with anyone else in your team. This has a massive EXCEPT. Never blitz with your Troll if the blitz is a super-important 'hit the ballcarrier' 'save the TD', blitz - he will fail his WA roll in that instance every time.

Apart from that I try to use him to tie up more than one opponent to let me get an advantage somewhere else on the pitch. This can be hard against teams like Orcs though.

You can put a snow troll on the LOS kicking against most HE teams and Skaven without a RO, at least if they don't have a Dauntless or Guard guy, but only if you flank him with Ulfs or the Guard/SF Berserk and back it with men one square behind and on the outside. Not recommending it, necessarily: just saying it isn't as dumb as it sounds if your opponent is all-ST3 (after all, that's what Orcs do, and it works for them). This particularly works later in the match, once your opponent is down men. If you've got him really down, you can spread them out in a Sooner defense, with Ulfs on the ends flanked by Linemen/Berserker on the inside, with the Troll in the middle, but don't do that if he's got more than 6 or 7 guys.

Vs. Orcs, you have to protect him when kicking, as your opponent needs to off him fast and has the firepower to do it. He does a good job of holding the middle linebacker position, one behind the zero spot (center of LOS), so your opponent has to blitz a ST4 linebacker. This lets you run a 3-3. This is good vs. Orcs if you cluster your linos around your Guard/SF Blitzer, as it means your opponent won't want to follow.

Vs. Elves and Skaven, it depends on how willing you are to let 'em in. My anti-elf defense with Norse revolves around a progression that you obviously weren't working on (SS Runners), but I've found that a good 3-3 defense vs. an AG3 opponent lets them pick a side and take it, which for Norse isn't a bad thing. Both your Ulfs have Block. If you're feeling adventurous, you can use them as cornerbacks to jam two guys up in a wide zone and still have a 44% shot at keeping on your feet. Stand Firm next, and your elf/rat opponent will be hanging his whole damn drive (and the health of one or more of his players) on a 5/9 roll (not 3/4 with Wrestle, because if he goes down he blocks himself off). You have the speed to keep all your guys in every play, so that may work out well.

You can also gum up the WZs with two guys on each side and force them to try to go in, but if you do I'm not sure where to put the Snow Troll. The 3-3 with two in each WZ doesn't work as well against Elves or Skaven as one would think: yes, you get to keep a deep safety, but the 3-3 (as opposed to 3-4 or a 3-2 with shallow safeties) makes it very hard to keep 'em out and leaves the possibility of one or more players being taken out of the action by distance. In 3-4, they're more vulnerable than Snow Trolls: they do make good inside linebackers, but those Ulfs aren't going to keep anyone out at the linebacker position (they're good there, but not good enough on their own). You can move them directly behind the Ulfs, which forces them inside, but leaves you susceptible to WA badness.

Frankly, given my predilection for the 3-4 funnel defense vs. Agility, I might not field the Snow Troll on D against Skaven or Elves, at least, unless there's both an RO and a nasty Stormvermin, plus another respectable one (then you're back to overkill, which is where you want to be). Against Elves, I might put him on the line in a cluster, esp. if I already had a numerical edge. Against Orcs, he's a 3-4 inside linebacker all the way: too valuable not to use, but too vulnerable not to protect.

How's that AV6 Blitzer working out for you?

Thanks for the advice guys. The AV6 Berserker I retired as I came to the conclusion he was living on borrowed time and I did not want him to take to many SSP or skills with him when he went. The ST is his replacement. The Skaven I am facing do have a Rat Ogre and they have an MA10/Sprint one-turner Gutter Runner with 9 TDs in 9 games.

The league itself is made up of rookie coaches throughout so we are all learning the game at the same time. After 10 games there is a lot of Block about throughout the teams which I had the edge on at the start so I now figure that frenzy is my advantage and go for a lot of crowd pushes.
I am also now looking at the skills that allow you to do something else on a both down like juggernaut and wrestle although I think I would only use wrestle in my opponents turn unless it opened a big hole for me to move through and score.

Use the troll to get some casualities when youre atacking, but don´t put it in the LOS when reciving and use it to defend a band with frenzy...

AV 8 in big guys is CRAP.


Well, Big Guys are crap in general

@steveq: Please list your players by number or post a link to your roster. If you can post links to your opponent's rosters, so much the better. By tomorrow I'll put up a few defenses I might use in your circumstances.

Question: Are you facing any Juggernaut players on the Skaven team?

Development advice: Ignore Wrestle until later (a 2nd improvement on Tackle boy?), but Juggernaut is a good 2nd improvement for the Snow Troll if you want (there are others: I'd get Guard before Juggernaut, myself), or maybe #4 or #5 for an Ulf or +ST Berserker. Get Stand Firm on the +ST Berserker and the first Ulf when they go up (Side Step on doubles), and Side Step on the Dodge Runner (even on doubles), and before long you'll have a nice fix for that one-turner.

Thanks Matt. I am not too hot on the PC so I will list the rosters here:

My Norse:
Thrower (AG5)
Thrower (no new skills)
Runner (Sure Hands, Sure Feet)
Runner (Dodge)
Berserker (Guard, Stand Firm)
Ulwerener x 2 (Block)
Lineman (Kick)
Lineman (Tackle)
Lineman x 3 (no new skills)
Snow Troll (no new skills)

Skaven:
Thrower (Accurate)
Blitzer x 2 (nns)
Gutter Runner (AV-)
Gutter Runner (MA+, Sprint)
Gutter Runner (AG+)
Gutter Runner (Jump Up)
Linerat (Block,Dodge)
Linerat x 3 (Block)
Linerat x 2 (nns)
Rat Ogre (nns)

Orcs:
Thrower (nns)
BoB x 4 (3 with Block)
Blitzer x 4 (one with HMP, one with Dauntless)
Lineorc x 4 (nns)
Goblin x 2 (one with MA+)

High Elf:
Thrower x 2 (one to skill up)
Blitzer x 2 (both with Dodge and one to skill up)
Lineelf x 4 (all with Block)
Lineelf x 1 (Guard)
Lineelf x 1 (block, Diving Tackle)
Lineelf x 3 (nns)

Steve

You should have no trouble.

Will you number your players so I can diagram them lucidly for you?

Heheheh. Orc Blitzer with HMP. Heheheh.

Oooo that's cheered me right up.

omg failing horrendus dice the league is yours for the taking