Welcome To The World Of TheoryBowl !
Overview of the DE-team
The ol' elven curse hangs heavily over the heads of the dark elves. As all elves, they are a dice-heavy team, but unlike the other elf-teams, the dark brethren don't have skills to compensate. We have no pass or catch, hardly any dodge, not to mention the lack of fancy skills as leap, nerves of steal or side step. This is the essence of the dark elf curse, depending only on our agility we will fail one in six rolls, and get snakeeyes one in thirtysix.
Occasionally Dark Elves can get away with a standard elven passing-game, but generally it is a good idea to minimize the reliance of dice, wich means to sacrifice the passing game for the running-game. The lack of speed compared to other elf-teams also favors the choice of a running-game over a passing-game since its harder to get passers and recieves in a good position. Not to say that we should not keep our options open. Varying with the passing game will be more important at higher TV to save your team some grief.
On the upside, Blodge comes easy to the Dark Elves, just one skill away for Blitzers and Witchelves. Thats almost half the team that gets blodge with their first skill.
With the help of Witch Elves and Frenzy they can dominate the wide zones, making it hazardous for the opponent to engage a darkelf-cage running down the side.
With Dump Off on the Runner, retrieving the ball for the opponent will be hard, if they even get that far, and with one or two or even more pass alternatives in the deep zone, the opponent must divide his forces to cover a large part of the pitch. Lets just say that offense is not a main concern of worry in my view.
Defense is an entirely different thing. Though they are pretty tough for elves, they are still fragile. And expensive to boot. To protect your elves and to protect your end zone should be the aim of your skill choices. In that order. A bit of variety is also good, except for some skills that really shines when you have enough of them.
Starting roster
I like to start with as many high AV players as possible. That means Linemen and Blitzers (AV 8 ).
Alternative 1:
6 Linemen
4 Blitzers
1 Runner
RR: 2
Alternative 2:
7 Linemen
3 Blitzers
1 Witchelf
RR: 2
Starting with only 2 RR really makes it important that you master the running game with DE, and even then it might lead to a few inappropriate turnovers. Alternative 1 gives you a less dice-reliant and more sturdy team, while alternative 2 will give you more finess and more tactical options by adding dodge and frenzy to the team. The latter will also let you skill up your WE right from the start.
Dont forget to buy an Apoth ASAP.
SKILLS
Linemen
Linemen needs to do everything that your more expensive positionals wont. That means into the fray, close contact, tying down opponent big guys, bashers, key-players, fighting, trading punches and hopefully surviving to see another battle.
Dodge:
In my mind, dodge is better than block in a beginning league. Many opponents don't have block that early, so they will have a turnover if they use both down against you. Thus dodge give you better protection, almost equivalent to Blodge when facing non-block teams. Not only that, but it gives you mobility, it helps you dodge away from those mighty blow big guys and assist in blocking somewhere else. And that too will help (might even be critical if you play the way I do) protecting your precious players. Furthermore, you will probably have 4 blitzers with block right of the bat, so getting a few dodge in on your linemen will be a good idea.
Block:
The value of dodge will diminish over time as other teams get more tackle. Block is always a worthwhile skill, it will give you more protection than dodge, but less mobility. Its also a first step towards blodge. Its a good choice for a few linemen.
Wrestle:
Its a very important skill to break cages and create holes in your opponents defensive lines. Also a pretty effective way to get blodgers down. Combine it with tackle and you will have a scary player.
Kick:
Kick is great to gain some control over your opponents offense, as well as abusing bad weather and blitz-results. Assymetrical defensive setups combined with this skill can have a great effect, and I believe that kick might be one of the most important skills to break cages, ie before they are even created.
Fouling skills:
As a dark-elf its always tempting to get a dirty player of some kind. Darkelves thrives when in numerical superiority and underperforms at numercal disadvantage compared to other elfteams. Any ways to create a numerical advantage is important to the DE-team, and accordingly I would take Sneaky Git first to make sure I get at least some reward for the risk of fouling. Also the threat of a dedicated fouler is sometimes enough to rattle an opponent and mess up his play. Its all good. If you go this route, take it early on. Maybe as your second skill after kick.
Doubles:
On doubles Guard or Mighty Blow is the only skill worth taking as I see it, passing skills are definitely out. Both guard and mighty blow gets better if you get many of them, so whatever you choose go all out. With my defensive perspective guard is the better choice, it can really make a difference in keeping your team intact.
Statincreases
Definitely not a given as many seem to advice. I dont like +MA on linemen for instance, 7 3 4 8 just isnt that great compared to getting dodge for instance. Never sacrificing a double for it, take Guard.
If you choose to take +MA, take them early on as a first skill and take as many as you get to increase the impact. However, once youve got one or two skills in, Id rather take AV to protect that "asset".
AG and ST, is always nice, if you get them early, build the player around it. If you get them late, think twice if its worth the extra TV compared to a skill with better synergy with the skills you've already got. Most of the time you will probably find it to be worth it though.
Remember that you will probably not get more than 2-3 skills on a linemen, so keep your combos simple. Blodge, Wrackle, +MA, Dodge, etc.
Runners
Early on, don't rely on runners to much, try to spread your Touchdowns where you need your team to skill up. That beeing said, runners are nice with cageplay. Dump off may often ensure that the opponent waste their blitz and wont be able to get at the ball. MA 7 is nice, but AV 7 makes them fragile.
You only get 2 runners so you need to decide what to do with them, you will probably want to develop them differently from each other. Overall good skills for runner with nice synergy with dump off are;
sure hands, pass, nerves of steel.
Doubles isn't that vital, a runner will develop fine without them.
As a general rule, Id consider all stat increases useful for the runner.
Sure hands
Sure Hands is good for picking up the ball at bad weather, in TZs and combat Strip Ball. I believe you should at least have on player in the team with Sure hand, and the runner seems to be a good pick.
Pass
Pass have a good synergy with dump off, and is great both on a offensive or defensive kind of runner. A dump-off rerroll is nice, since its a skill that activates “out-of-turn” and you cant use your ordinary rerolls with it.
Nerves of Stell
Nerves of Steel is a nice skill, and have good synergy with dump off as well. It will also let you use your runner as a pretty reliant reciever that cant be marked off too easily.
Here is two development-paths that Id might go with:
"Runner"
Runner 1: Dump off + Pass/Nerves of Steel, Blodge
Double: Guard or Juggernaut
"Ball Retriever"
Runner 2: Dump off + Sure Hands, Kick-Off return, Nerves of Steel
Double: Guard if needed, otherwise skip for Leap or Pass
Skills on Assassins
Well stab is a well known and feared skill, but isn't as useful as it first seems. If you use it on blitz you must stop, you will fail often, and when you do, you will be punished for it. And the worst part of it all; if you overcome all those obstacles and manage a CAS, you wont get SPP for it. I know coaches who skip the Assassin all together since they don't find them worth the TV, but I don't agree with that view.
A developed Assassin can be a real threat. Use it to take out keyplayers in your opponents team, especially if they are low AV.
The chance of breaking the armor of:
AV 7 : 15/36 = 41%.
AV 8 : 10/36 = 27%
AV 9 : 6/36 = 16 %
AV 10 : 3/36 = 8 %
Compare this to making 2D blocks and achieve a knock down with no Turnover:
No skill vs Dodge: 1 - (5/6 * 5/6) = 30%
Chance of TO: 11%
No skill vs No skill, Tackle vs Dodge: 1 - (4/6 * 4/6) = 55%
Chance of TO: 11%
Block vs None: 1 - (3/6 * 3/6) = 75% (this is also the chance of Wrackle vs Blodge or if you can live with knocking yourself down aswell when you haven't got block)
Chance of TO: 2.78%
Block vs Block: 1 - (4/6 * 4/6) = 55%
Chance of TO: 2.78%
As you can see, the lower the AV, the better the Stab. In addition, when the Assassin succeeds its an instant injury. You will injure an AV 7 player almost half of the time, not to mention AV 6 which is at 21/36=58%. With Multiple Block against an AV 7 Team, you would almost get at least one injury result every time you manage to use it.
What conclusions can we draw from this?
Well first of all, that Stab is outstanding against an AV 7 blodger relative an ordinary 2d block, and also against AV 7 in general. Much more so if you've got Multiple Block.
Secondly, you might wanna consider only fielding assassins against AV 7 teams, or using them for other purposes (like passers to give them some SPP) than stab against AV 8+.
And third, that you need to calculate the pros and the cons between blocking and stabbing before deciding whats best for the situation.
Stab, Pros:
Outstanding against low AV, great vs AV 7 blodgers relative a 2d block.
You don't need any assists.
When you get through its an injury, which means at least a stun.
No risk of turnover.
Stab, Cons:
Exceedingly less effective against higher AV.
If you fail, you will be exposed to counter blocks.
No SPP.
Stop when blitzing, cant use Multiple Block with blitz.
In addition to Stab, Assassins have shadowing which is a nice skill. Yet another useful thing about Assassins is that opponents don't realize how ineffective stab often is, and spend too much effort targeting them. Make sure to build the Assassins to survive though.
*
For a stab assassin AV and ST is great, MA is OK and AG is not that important. Better get skills to protect them instead. Multiple Block is a given on doubles. But don't count on it. You will be wanting Blodge to stay on your feet, Jump Up for when you fail, so that you can pop up and make a stab, Side Step to be able to pick better positioning.
Many skills is needed to make the assassin work well, and SPPs come slowly for him, so try to help him along with a TD now and then.
Stab Assassin: Stab, Shadowing + Sidestep, Block, Dodge, Jump Up
Doubles: Multiple Block
This assassin is built so survive close contact and stay in contact get another shot at stab if the first fails. Useful against all low AV, but equally so vs St4+ with low AV as Minos, Ulfwerernes and fanatics.
*
On the other hand, stab is not the only thing the Assassin can do. If you find that you want to develop the Assassin to a shadower instead, you will have an interesting player. MA is great in synergi with shadowing, I wouldnt bother to much with other statincreases except for maybe AG to help possible Interceptions.
Diving Tackle will really make the best of your Shadowing skill, as well as Tackle. Dont underestimate the power of Tackle together with Diving Tackle, its very frustrating when the opponent player manage the dodge RR forced by your diving tackle and leaves you behind, prone in the dust. Pass Block is nice too, to ensure that your shadowing player is shadowing the right person. Jump Up is good with Diving Tackle but not vital.
Shadow Assassin: Stab, Shadowing + Diving Tackle, Tackle, Pass Block, Dodge, Jump Up
Doubles: I think id go with Multiple Block here as well. The Shadow Assassin might actually make a better stabber than the Stab Assassin vs agility teams.
Skills on Blitzers
Blitzers are quick, sturdy and good hitters. With 4 of them, they are the core of the Dark Elf team and I consider them the most important players in the team. Couldn't live without them.
I tend to primarily use them to shake the ball loose, the front of the cage or as possible recievers or anywhere I need a trusty player. All stat increases are interesting. With only one skill they turn into Blodgers which is a good thing, and there are a few other skillchoices that make for interesting and useful players.
Here is how I might try to develop my Blitzers; Guard or MB on doubles, probably MB though. Tackle is important, seeing as with this build I dont have much tackle on Linemen.
Blitzer 1: Block + Dodge, Tackle, Sidestep
Blitzer 2: Block + Dodge, Wrestle, Sidestep
Blitzer 3: Block + Dodge, Tackle, Leap
Blitzer 4: Block + Dodge, Wrestle, Strip Ball
Skills on Witch Elves
Witch Elves are devilish but fragile. Great for dominating the wide zones with Frenzy, she gives your running game real weight. All stat increases are interesting. Block is extremely important for all Frenziers, no less so for the WE, and it will make her a blodger and let her live just a little bit longer. Get Side Step to get her away from that dangerous ledge. Get Juggernaut on a double so that nothing (but Side Step) will stop her frenzy fits. Leap is great to get her to attack the right players from the right angles. I would probably make both WE alike unless a statincrease changes my outlook.
Witchelf 1: Dodge, Frenzy, Jump Up + Block, Leap, Side step
Witchelf 2: Dodge, Frenzy, Jump Up + Block, Leap, Side step
On Doubles; Juggernaut or Mighty Blow (with MB you might want to exchange Leap for Tackle).
Strip Ball, Tackle, Pro might be good choices next. But these first are essential to make the perfect wide zone-dominator.
AK_Dave suggest taking Strip Ball as soon as you get Juggernaut on doubles, as long as you've already got blodge. Just remember that Frenzy on a Strip baller can come back to haunt you when you least want it.
Skills: Sum Up
Lineman 1. Kick, Block
Lineman 2. Sneaky Git, Dirty Player, Block
Lineman 3. Dodge, Block
Lineman 4. Dodge, Block
Lineman 5. Dodge Block
Lineman 6. Block, Dodge
Doubles: Guard
Statincreases: MA only when motivated by skills, yes to AG and ST.
Blitzer 1: Block + Dodge, Tackle, Sidestep
Blitzer 2: Block + Dodge, Wrestle, Sidestep
Blitzer 3: Block + Dodge, Tackle, Leap
Blitzer 4: Block + Dodge, Wrestle, Strip Ball
Doubles: Mighty Blow
Statincreases: All.
"Runner"
Runner 1: Dump off + Pass/Nerves of Steel, Blodge
Double: Guard or Juggernaut
"Ball Retriever"
Runner 2: Dump off + Sure Hands, Kick-Off return, Nerves of Steel
Double: Guard if needed, otherwise skip for Leap or Pass
Stab Assassin: Stab, Shadowing + Block, Sidestep, Jump Up, Dodge
Doubles: Multiple Block
Statincreases: ST+AV great.
And/Or
Shadow Assassin: Stab, Shadowing + Diving Tackle, Tackle, Pass Block, Dodge
Doubles: Multiple Block
Statincreases: MA + AG great.
Witchelf 1: Dodge, Frenzy, Jump Up + Block, Leap, Side Step
Witchelf 2: Dodge, Frenzy, Jump Up + Block, Leap, Side Step
On Doubles; Juggernaut or Mighty Blow
Statincreases: All
General Tactical Guidelines:
Rules of Thumb, Managing the Dark Elf Curse
As mentioned earlier, due to beeing dice-heavy and skill-lacking, the Dark Elf team is prone to turnovers. Its important that the DE-coach learns to manage this curse as well as some basic risk management. There are many things that can be done to minimize the risk of a turnover.
**Plan ahead. Make sure that the right players are at the right places. Use your players with block for those vital blocks, your players with dodge for those vital dodges. I know this is common sense, but still most coaches just seem to improvise as they go along. Be better than that. I mean it. Really, plan ahead. Then improvise if the plans crash.
**Always make your safe moves first. That means no dice rolls. At all. Stand up prone players, make your move-actions. Then continue with the most important actions until you get to the less important. On the other hand, sometimes more risky moves are required before the safe one. Calculate your risks and optimize your actions.
**Dont waste rerolls carelessly. Save them for when you need them the most. If you follow the saftey-first-movement concept, once you completed the vital stuff don't reroll failures. As a general rule, if its not vital for your objectives, don't use a reroll. You will need it later.
**Whilst lacking Pass, Catch, Dodge and other saftey-skills from start, one skill we dont lack is Block. Starting with as many blitzers as possible is a good way to start combating the dice-reliance. With 4 blitzers on your starting roster will save you quite a few RRs and turnovers. This is a good thing.
**Always try to block with assist to get 2 dice. But dont be afraid to make a 1d block when youve got block and their not, or a 2d against, if your standing close to a Big Guy and cant get away. Just make sure you do the important stuff first and can afford the turnover.
**Don't EVER use the apoth for a BH unless its very late in 2nd half. Just dont do it. The same goes with MNG, only a little less restrictive. And never on a Journeyman or Merc you dont intend to buy, but that goes without saying i guess.
Managing Starplayer points:
Try to spread your SPP as even as you can. Instead of having a witch elf with 48 spp (three skills) and three linemen with none, you could have 2 skills on your WE and one skill each on those linemen. Thats a total of 2 more skills for your team with the same amount of SPP, and you will see that it really makes a diffrence. I usually get between 10-20 SPP each game, even when I loose (including MVP). Make sure that those 10+ spp end up at the right places, and you will have a very strong team in no time.
Always try to make every player in your team just a ”SPP-unit” away from their next skill, ie 5 (mvp), 3 (td), 2 (cas, int) or 1 (comp. Dont be afraid to set up and make passes just to gain SPP and skills, as long as its safe and you have a RR to spare. Equally, dont be afraid to make a hand off just to be sure that the right player makes the TD. But only when you can do it fairly safe and without risking to much.
The downside with SPP managing is that your TV will go up quicker, but its worth it. You dont need to be a fanatic about it, just open the door when opportunity comes-a-knocking.
Managing the Clock
One of the keys to winning games are managing the clock. This entails everything from what you choose on the toincoss aswell as to what tactics you choose to play on the pitch. Remember, Dark Elves are one of the most versatile teams in Blood Bowl, there is not one single way to do this. It comes down to many factors, such as what kind of opponent you are facing, your current skillevel, the importance of the game etc. Remember, Dark Elves are proficient at everything Blood Bowl, but master at nothing. Your greatest strength will be exploiting your opponents greatest weakness.
Managing TV
Ive found that my TV generally gets bloated after buying my first 2 extra players. Due to the high cost of elven players, my TV will be up about 130 but have few extra skills, and the team will feel less competetive versus many other races at the same TV.
So after aquiring your 13th player, start buying RRs for a while and let the other teams pass you by. It might seem lite a small deal, but you will notice a vast diffrence once you get more skills on your low TV-team. And at some point you really should start to get more RRs anyway, and I beliee this is it.
Choosing Inducements:
Choosing inducements is part of the game. Its very situational, and depends on your teams current status and what team you are facing. I wont go into any specifics, but will make a general overview and share some of my thoughts about different inducements.
Cards: 50k/100k/200k/400k
I almost never take cards. To me they are too random and too chaotic, I want to use my inducements to either enchance my strengths, or compensate for my weaknesses. But if you choose to use cards, I think the different tiers are of different value per pay. Meaning, that I dont think that the 100k tier and the 200k tier are worth it. Put that money into the 50k tier. Not only are they only slightly less powerful (with a little luck), you will also get 2 or 4 of them for the same price, meaning that you might affect the game at 4 different occasions instead of one. The 400k ones look very powerful, but so is all of the other stuff you could get for that amound of inducement.
Silly Sod: "I think its worth pointing out that some of the card sets are better than others. You tend to get more value from the Dirty Tricks and Miscellaneous Mayhem decks than you do from the other two."
Babes: 50k
Kinda the place you put the inducements youve got left after youve bought everything else you could affort. Always useful, but never gamebreakingly good.
Bribes: 100k
Very situational. You plan on fouling much? Take one. But most of the times you wont be interested in this inducement.
Rerolls: 100k
You dont need that many RRs. But one more can never hurt.
Yet another inducement to suck up points that you cand find any other use for.Apoth: 100k
The bread and butter of Inducements. This is my favoured choice most of the time. It dosent affect your gameplay much, but it keeps you alive to play another game. I will usually fill my quota of these before I get anything else.
The Wizard: 150k
Can be very useful. A free 2+ shot (lightening bolt) at knocking the ball loose at the start of your turn can win you the game. A good way to knock down straying ball retrievers after you have kicked. A 9 square 4+ knockdown can be useful aswell (Fireball), trying to get cages down. But the lightening bolt is more reliable, use it.
The chef: 300k
Very useful. Very expansive. Very random. Always a hard choice. Best case scenario you win 3 RRs, (equaling a value of 300k) and as a bonus your opponent loses the same amount. Worst case; you threw 300k inducements right out the window and get nothing for it. How I wish the chef was 1RR + 2 4+ rolls instead. Oh well. Use it against RR-dependent teams like Slann, Ogres and Vampires. Or when you have a lot of inducement to spend, can be the key for you rookie team to defeat that 200k Khemri team. Just dont count on it. And dont forget the apoths..
Mercs: X+30k/80k
The Loner makes them less useful. But it can be useful to get important skills you are lacking, such as sure hands, dauntless or shadowing etc. Very situational. If you need more manpower and more RRs but cant afford both, you can get a runner with leader for 160k. A bit cheesy maybe.
Jural: "If you get inducements, try to get to 13 players minimum. "
Starplayers: X
Im not a big fan of starplayers, simply because of the fact that they so easily steal SPPs. The loner skill is another reason to be conservative with starplayers. On the other hand, starplayers can often really strengthen your play.
Eldril Sidewinder 170k
A bargain. My definite favourite amongst the avaiable starplayers, very well rounded. Hypnotic gaze will really help break cages, and also work almost as a second blitz on offence. With Nerves of Steel and Catch you can keep him close to your runner as a very reliable reciever for the dump off. MA 8 + Dodge really makes a diffrence on the rather slow DE-team and pass block can come in handy at times. Only danger is that you might feel forced to score with him.
Horkon Heartripper 210k
Is not only a multiple stabber but his movement of 7 makes him a better marker with shadowing than an ordinary Assassin. Still vastly overvalued. Only play against AV7 teams, or when in dire need of a decent shadower. He is great at tying down Break Tackle Bull Centaurs for instance. A leap + stab might be a better cagebreaker than any other options you have.
Ithaca Benoin 220k
Useless. A throwertype of starplayer with Ag 3. DE dont usually need specific throwers, and definitely not a starplayer to hog those SPP. The same goes for dump off. Never hired this guy. If you have found him useful, tell me how.
Roxanna Darknail 250k
I just love frenzy, juggernaut and leap together. You can really dominate the widezone. With AG 5 you can leap with some consistency. If you can avoid beeing hit, that lack of Block wont be a big liability. Also a good ball retriever with leap, AG 5 and MA 8. Very much worth the money.
Hubris Rakarth 260k
You need some cheap muscle? Well Rakarth is it then. ST 4 is the most oustanding of his features, combined with Block, Mighty Blow, Strip Ball and MA 7, this is a guy that just wont be ignored by the opponent. Im not a big fan of Dirty Player on starplayers. Spending 260k worth of inducements on someone just to have him sent off? Jump Up is another skill that wont be used often. Still a very good player at a decent price.
Morg n Thorg 450k
A big guy with block. Sure no real negatrait, +AG and MA but most of that is just fluff for the DE team. You get this guy for the ST 6, MB and Block. Im not sure I think hes worth it. Measured in sheer usufuleness, id rather take Eldril and Roxana and save up some, or exchange one of them for Hubris if Muscle is needed.
I hope this will inspire some discussion and alternative views and choices. No flaming and hating please. Creativity relies on the right to be outragesly off from the accepted norm from time to time.
