Talk Fantasy Football

I'm making an Orc team for a 1250k Non-Progression Tournament and want some advice.

There are some additional rules:

• LRB 5.0 Rules
  Star Players are allowed
  Each team must have 11 players (including Star Players)
  One normal skill per player is allowed at a cost of 20k gold each (Star Players may not be given skills)
  Inducements may be purchased as per page 49 and 50 of the LRB 5.0 rulebook with an exception of 1 star player per team and no wizards.

So far the team I have come up with is:

1 x Linemen (with Block) 70k
1 x Goblin 40k
1 x Thrower (with Leader) 90k
4 x Black Orc Blockers (each with Block) 400k
4 x Blitzers (2 with Guard, 2 with Mighty Blow) 400k
1 x Troll (with Guard) 130k
2 x Rerolls 120k

Grand Total - 1250k

Any thoughts?

Olaf the Stout

Are you coming now Olaf???? That would be very cool!

The only thing I would consider changing would be to make the Lineman a DP instead of block, he might be targetted that way, but you could get a bit more use out of him.

Maybe look at another thrower with Kick-off return or even to have another player with Sure Hands. You will be facing a lot of kick and probably a smattering of Strip Ball. Although your offense is pretty robust will at least eight players with Block (of whom 4 have ST4). Continuing with that line of thought, I would advise for at least one Strip Ball player, probably on a Blitzer (for the mobility) replacing Guard. Most starting teams do not start out with Sure Hands, and with only one skill available per player, nobody will be taking Sure Hands. Even if the opposing team has a Sure Hands player, your Strip Balling blitzer will limit his offense.

I'd be tempted to take a skill for the goblin, maybe even replacing the skill on the lineman (he's gonna be such a redundant player anyway). I might look at Sneaky git for fouling goodness or Diving tackle to help on defence.

Overall, I think Orcs are a good choice for the tournament, as you get skills on all the Black orcs and you can pretty much afford all the positionals that you'd want.

4 BOBS,
4 Blitzers
4 linos
4 rerolls
1 FF


4 Guard on BOBs,
1 Sure Hands Blitzer
1 Frenzy Blitzer
1 Tackle Blitzer
1 Mighty Blow Blitzer

Simple and to the point

Spieroz wrote:Are you coming now Olaf???? That would be very cool!

The only thing I would consider changing would be to make the Lineman a DP instead of block, he might be targetted that way, but you could get a bit more use out of him.

Maybe. I originally had something else on but it is looking likely that I will be free now. I'll wait a bit before I put my registration, just to make sure. How are numbers looking at the moment?

Olaf the Stout

A couple more questions:

In a non-progression resurrection tournament is it worth having more than 11 players on an Orc team?

Is it worth getting a Star Player? I was thinking Morg or Varag since that would then give me 6 players with ST4 or higher. They do cost a pretty penny though.

Are any inducements worth it?

Olaf the Stout

Olaf the Stout wrote: In a non-progression resurrection tournament is it worth having more than 11 players on an Orc team?

Orcs really suffer if they go men down. A reserve (and AV9) help stop this.

Olaf the Stout wrote: Is it worth getting a Star Player? I was thinking Morg or Varag since that would then give me 6 players with ST4 or higher. They do cost a pretty penny though.

Cost too much IMO. Take a troll if you're desperate for ST.

Olaf the Stout wrote: Are any inducements worth it?

Not for an Orc team in this et up, no. At an outside, the orc chainsaw.
Some teams do benefit. But not this one.

4x BOB: 2 w/Block, 2 w/Stand Firm (4 w/Block is ok too): 400k
1x Troll w/ Guard: 130k
4x Blitzer: 2 w/Stand Firm, 1 w/Frenzy*, 1 w/Tackle: 400k
1x Thrower w/Leader: 90k
1x Lino: 50k
1x Apoth: 50k
2x RR: 120k
1x CL, AC or FF
*Trade out Frenzy-boy for Juggernaut or Grab if you're worried about SS/SF.

You can knock out the Lino and Apoth for a Thrower with Kick and another CL/AC/FF. Always kick shallow on the weakside, and you can watch your opponent's offense just flatten out trying to protect that ball... or you get a gimme one time in six. Two Throwers is also all kinds of goodness, as your oppo can't isolate one and you can protect both.

It's the Stand Firm that really takes the cake. Your opponent has to commit hard-core to blitz up the middle, so they're better off going for the corners. But unless they have a Juggernaut (pretty much just Dwarfs in this format) they'll just flatten up on that Stand Firm Blitzer who can hold the wide zone by himself, or with an OLB there to provide a tackle zone and force a little effort.

The Troll with Guard, flanked by BOBs with Block, should give most o-lines fits. Some teams will be able to game out a series of 2d blocks, and that's just that, but many opponents will just have to ignore your LoS. This lets you swap the traditional 3-man front (so critical to ST3 team survival) with a 5-man front, using the LOS to tie down opponents and getting a one-square advance jump when pressuring from the weak side. Lots of options. If only there were more room for Guard.

Ullis wrote:Maybe look at another thrower with Kick-off return or even to have another player with Sure Hands. You will be facing a lot of kick and probably a smattering of Strip Ball. Although your offense is pretty robust will at least eight players with Block (of whom 4 have ST4). Continuing with that line of thought, I would advise for at least one Strip Ball player, probably on a Blitzer (for the mobility) replacing Guard. Most starting teams do not start out with Sure Hands, and with only one skill available per player, nobody will be taking Sure Hands. Even if the opposing team has a Sure Hands player, your Strip Balling blitzer will limit his offense.

I'd be tempted to take a skill for the goblin, maybe even replacing the skill on the lineman (he's gonna be such a redundant player anyway). I might look at Sneaky git for fouling goodness or Diving tackle to help on defence.

Overall, I think Orcs are a good choice for the tournament, as you get skills on all the Black orcs and you can pretty much afford all the positionals that you'd want.

You make a good point about Strip Ball. I can't see many teams taking that over something like Dodge or Block. I'll probably change one of the Blitzers to Strip Ball. I'm not sure about whether to get rid of a Guard or Mighty Blow though. I took 2 Guard to try and out Strength my opposition. With 5 ST4+ players and another 2 with Guard, very few teams would be able to out-Block me.

On the other hand 2 Blitzers with Mighty Blow would help me to remove more opposition players from the pitch. Most teams are only going to have 12 players so being able to get players off the pitch will really allow me to dominate.

I'm tempted to also take Tackle on one of my Blitzers to help deal with any pesky Dodge/Blodgers. Otherwise, with no Tackle it might be hard for me to take down the ball carrier.

Frenzy is the other skill I am thinking of. It will allow me to either Crowd Push or stop my opponent from going near the edge of the field.

So many choices!

Olaf the Stout

And yet more questions:

Do I go for 12 players or 11 and an apo?

I'm thinking 12 players. Since the teams are reset after each game and injuries/deaths don't carry from one game to the next it doesn't really make a difference if my players are killed/SI'd or BH so an apo isn't as useful as it would be in a non-resurrection tournament.

Thoughts?

Olaf the Stout

I prefer the guard on the black orcs. It really makes your cage on the 2 - 1 TD strategy with orcs.

I like a blitzer with frenzy to get enoying opponents in the crowd.

Other blitzers would get one with guard and two others with MB.

I would go for 11 man and as much RR's as you can get with the skills taken.

And most of all, Good luck!!

Matt's lineup seems much more diverse than yours Olaf. If it were a long-running league, all that punch of yours would probably inflict some serious beatdown, but with 12 players (one being the gobbo) and zero tackle, I think a good dodgy team will just dodge/wrestle their way to easy scores and prevent you from grabbing the ball easily.

PubBowler wrote:4 BOBS,
4 Blitzers
4 linos
4 rerolls
1 FF


4 Guard on BOBs,
1 Sure Hands Blitzer
1 Frenzy Blitzer
1 Tackle Blitzer
1 Mighty Blow Blitzer

Simple and to the point

That's what I would do. Go for the slow grind. The 4 Rerolls are there almost exclusively to reroll failed BoB blocks. But all the guard means that even leapers will never get better than 2 dice against blocks against your Blitzer with Sure Hands, who is immune to Strip Ball. Keep a Reroll just in case you have to dodge in the last turn to score, unless you are in complete control that is.

Agility teams will cry when they see this lineup.

BTW, I find that such tournament rules are an advantage to slow, high strength teams. They can give skills to their good players who usually skill-up very slowly. Dynamics are completely different compared to league play.

Mighty Blow is only good if you have a lot of it. These rules don't seem to favor that. You want skills that will increase the number of knockdowns you inflict, either by increasing the odds of knockdown (Block, Frenzy, Tackle) or increasing your odds of maintaining the TZ and assists to make a block next turn (Stand Firm, Grab, Guard).

I think you're crazy to take a Blitzer with Sure Hands when you can have a Thrower for 30k less and, with the 40k you save on RR vs. Leader, upgrade a rookie lino to a Blitzer with a skill! The AV point means nothing compared to the net two skills (Pass and a G or S skill of choice).

With that kind of cash, why not get Varag on the roster?

All skill talk aside, how about this:

Varag 260
4Bob 320
4Bli 320
1Thr 70
1Troll 110
2RR 160
1FF/CL/AC

I'm scared of that.