Latest Bretonnian roster - league development?

[Oerjan]

Hello,

My name is Oerjan and I’m playing Bretonnians.

More accurately, I'm starting a Bretonnian team using Plasmoid's latest roster and am looking for advice on how to play it in a league from those of you who have already done so. (I'm well aware that a bunch of people would consider the best advice on Bretonnians to be "Just Say NO!" - yes, Darkson, I'm looking at you - but that's one piece of advice I'm not gonna take ) So far I've had very little luck searching the net; except for Prisma's post here on TBB where he remarked on how vulnerable the team is to blitzer casualties the discussion only seems to be about the older rosters (with "runner's squires", "thrower's squires" etc) Thus this thread.

Both I and my opponents have played BB on and off for years, playing each edition from 1st to 4th (urgh) just enough to master its particular quirks when the next edition was released; but after 4th ed. we kinda got out of touch and have only gotten back into the game over the past year or so... and being middle-aged and having rather full schedules nowadays, our BB games are somewhat sporadic. Beause of this we aren't very experienced with the latest (LRB5+playtest) version of the rules, and some of the new skills have caused us several rather nasty surprises - including to the users of said skills

In addition I - having played mostly Halflings previously - have found it somewhat difficult to adjust to not being able to dodge anywhere I want to, and I can't quite wrap my hand around the concept of having a minimum MA of 6 and a maximum of an unheard-of 8...! (...OK, I've faced lots of enemy players able to move that far, but I'm not used to having such players on my side...)


So far I've played the Bretonnians in a few one-off games against other (human and orc) TV100 starting teams, without any skill/stat increases or inducements. While I've won all the games to date, that is probably more due to my opponents being even less used to the Fend and Wrestle skills than I am myself than to any Bretonnian coaching skills I might have

My starting roster (TV1000):
2 Blitzers @ 120 kgp = 240 kgp (8338 Block Dauntless Catch)
3 Yeomen @ 70 kgp = 210 kgp (6338 Wrestle)
7 Linemen @ 40 kgp = 280 kgp (6327 Fend)
3 Rerolls @ 60 kgp = 180 kgp
1 Apoth. @ 50 kgp = 50 kgp
40 kgp to spend on FF, assistant coaches and cheerleaders

Alternatively, since there are other 'fling teams than my own around I could swap the Apothecary and some spare change for a 4th reroll, and then buy the Apothecary ASAP using the rest of the saved gold. I would really like to start with a 3rd Blitzer, but I want the reserve Lineman, the Apothecary and enough Rerolls to be able to pick the ball up safely 2-3 times per half even more than I want extra Blitzers


In the one-off games to date I've set up Linemen on the LoS supported by the Yeomen. At least one Blitzer sets up well back on both offense and defence - when I recieve he is fast enough to reach the ball in one turn wherever it might land, to pick it up and pass/hand off to the other Blitzer; when I kick he acts as a sweeper. The other Blitzer deploys closer to the LoS, but not actually on it, to act either as a runner or as a second sweeper.

The LoS battle usually dissolves into a confused muddle almost immediately, with my Yeo- and Linemen wrestling (and occasionally fouling) the opposing heavy-hitters out of the game. (In the latest game, against a rather bashy human team with an Ogre, 4 Blitzers and no Catchers the Ogre was wrestled down on the very first turn and then kicked in the nuts hard enough that he refused to play at all until turn 4 of the 2nd half (KO'ed and failed his recovery rolls for the next three drives)... The LRB5 fouling rules thus seem to work quite nicely )

The combination of Wrestle and Fend on the LoS seems to make it very hard for opponents to break free of the muddle, since even their hardest-hitting players often find themselves wrestled to the ground and the standard tactic of using follow-up moves to get out of tackle zones doesn't work very well when most of the potential block targets have Fend... My opponents are developing a healthy respect for Wrestle, and have remarked that their Blitzers aren't nearly as effective as they used to be in earlier editions. ('Course, I haven't played any stunties with this team yet, and the only AG4 opponents I've met so far are human catchers who tend to be somewhat intimidated by my blitzers when their own supports are all tied up by my yeomen and peasants )

Meanwhile, my Blitzers either concentrate on the ball or act as precision strike weapons (standing off outside the brawl to blitz in against some unsuspecting Black Orc, ball carrier or similar).


For the future (ie., when we get the league going faster than molasses ), I see the following developments:

Linemen: ...well, most of them probably won't live long enough to get more than 1-2 skills :-/ One should get Kick (unless I give that skill to one of the blitzers, since they're off the LoS anyway), another one or two get Dirty Player, with the rest getting a mix of Block, Wrestle and Tackle (not that I've had any use for Tackle in the games played so far, but I will run into Dodgers sooner or later ). On doubles, Sneaky Git and Diving Tackle seem to be the most appealing choices.

Yeomen: So far at least (ie., against mostly unskilled opponents), these guys RULE the LoS fight and are pretty effective cage-openers too. Giving them Guard and MB would make them better still, possibly with some Tackle too against Elfs or Stunties. On doubles... I dunno - Dodge is always nice to have of course, though Jump Up could be very useful too after wrestling down an opponent. A Leader wouldn't be amiss either, though having it on a Yeoman feels very awkward fluff-wise

Blitzers: Of the two I start with, one will become a ball retriever/thrower with Kick-Off Return, Sure Hands and Strong Arm, with Pass on a double. (While it would be more fitting fluff-wise to use a Yeoman in the retriever/thrower role, their lower MA means both that I'd need two of them to cover the back field (instead of a single Blitzer) and that they're too far away from the LoS to join in the scrum; and besides their Wrestle skill isn't nearly as good at keeping them on their feet as the Blitzers' Block skill is in case some opponents manage to slip through the LoS muddle.)

The other starting Blitzer one will probably develop into a pure sweeper with Frenzy, Stand Firm (or Side Step, if I'm lucky enough to roll a double early), Juggernaut (while there aren't any Fenders or Wrestlers on the other teams yet, there most likely will be pretty soon...! ) and possibly Strip Ball - though I'm not sure how useful that last skill will be, since most of my opponents are very fond of Sure Hands.

When I get rich enough to hire the last two Blitzers, they'll probably become "annoyance" players - Pass Block, Tackle+Shadowing, that sort of thing. Sure Hands would come in handy for them too, making it easier for them to pick the ball up as well as making them better runners. Doubles... probably Dodge, possibly Dump-Off.


Comments? Are there any particular danger skills or tactics I need to watch out for in enemy teams? (I'm aware of the "let's kill all his Blitzers" strategy, though so far none of my opponents have managed to do that.)

Also, what about the LRB5/6 inducements and Star Players? Prisma mentioned Might Zug; I’ve been looking at using Dolfar Longstride as a retriever until I can develop one of my own. What about Willow Rosebark? Or the latest incarnation of Griff, now that he can't Leap?

Later,

Oerjan

[Darkson]

yes, Darkson, I'm looking at you -

Nice to see I'm getting my point across.

[Oerjan]

Nice to see I'm getting my point across.

Obviously not - I'm using the team, after all...

[Warpstone]

I playtested Plasmoid's roster on MBBL. Just a few tips from my experience with them:

- drop a yeoman and the apoth for another Blitzer. You will have 11 players for several games anyway thanks to Lineman mortality. Aside from getting an apoth (only to use on blitzers and skilled yeomen), get to 4 blitzers ASAP.

- Do not waste skills on developing blitzers as passers. They need MB across the board first.

- Develop two yeomen as ball retrievers (sure hands, kick-of-return). If a yeomen rolls doubles, give him pass.

I think the Bretonian play style can be characterized as "Hit and Run". The reason I advise on making your blitzers heavy hitters is that you will have a relatively easy time scoring (ma8 + high armour on your blitzers mean you can basically score in 2-3 turns every drive), but your wimpy linemen will always cost you in a battle of attrition. Develop your blitzers along defensive lines by spreading skills like Tackle and Strip Ball across them. You NEED to hit hard and fast on defence, and an offensively skilled blitzer is only good for one drive in most games as a bashy side will then spend the next 13-14 turns pounding you to a pulp. Blitzers need to constantly pressure the ball carrier and threaten a counterattack or your opponent will cage up and exploit your AV7 linos.

BTW, the first doubles skill to pick for a blitzer is always dodge. It makes them ridiculously effective in any role.

Good luck! Vive Bretonnia!

[plasmoid]

Hi Orjean,
Warpstone gives good advice. I'll add a few comments.

I'm surprised that your group is that stoked about wrestle. Most people seem to think that wrestle is not a strong skill for yeomen. As bashers, you'd rather have block to cause armor rolls. And as ball movers, wrestle is no help.
You say you're new to the new skills, so, dare I ask, are you playing it right? Remember, like block, wrestle only works when a both-down result is actually chosen, not just rolled. So if someone blocks you and rolls "both-down" + "arrow", they can choose the pushback and not get wrestled down.

Anyway - your biggest problem is attrition and 2-1 grinds. You need to deal with that somehow, and constant pressure looks like your best bet. A dirty player or 2 is also useful. And - I thought I'd never say this - perhaps, just perhaps, thick skull might help your yeomen?

Usually though, I'd recommend 1-2 ball retriever yeomen (sure hands, kick-off return, strong arm), and the rest as support bashers: Tackle (for wrackle), guard and mighty blow.

You might also want to stock up on more fend - it's a skill that gets better the more you have...

I hope you have fun with your team
Cheers
Martin

[atropabelladonna]

Hey another Bret coach. I have played the team to good success on the MBBL league. I think this is the best version yet, definately tier one.

I went with the simple starting line up of

4 Blitzers (480K)
7 linemen (280K)
4 rerolls (240K)

1,000K

The blitzers are the heart and soul of the team. nothing else matters but them. Hire the yeomen later, after the apot of course.

I play them a bit like a Necro team with 4 werewolves and all the rest zombies. The blitzers will hog all the SPP's. The linemen are mean't to distract and they do it well. Fend is nice and the AG 2 just makes we think of them even more as zombies. They won't be making any ball handling plays or getting many SPP's.

Later on I use the yeomen as safeties. Tackle and kick are ideal skills.

For the Blitzers I make two hunter killers (mighty Blow, Frenzy, piling on types) and two guard types (guard, stand firm). Any type can be a ball carrier when you have 8 speed! Preferably whomever needs SPP's. Dodge is my double of choice. Gotta keep these guys alive.

The linemen rarely level and die a lot, so if you ever give them a skill make it dirty player or block.

Inducement wise Willow is a nice cheap fodder peice, but i take mighty zug every time if I have the money.

[Oerjan]

Great replies! Lots of food for thought here

Regarding Wrestle:

I'm surprised that your group is that stoked about wrestle. Most people seem to think that wrestle is not a strong skill for yeomen. As bashers, you'd rather have block to cause armor rolls. And as ball movers, wrestle is no help.

You say you're new to the new skills, so, dare I ask, are you playing it right?

Yes, we are It doesn’t have much effect when the Wrestler is attacked, true - reduces attacking Block players to the same risk of ending up prone after as unskilled attackers would run, but doesn’t increase the risk of a Turn-Over... all in all, defensively it makes the Wrestler a less attractive target for a blitz, but that’s about it.

No, the main deal for us is when the Wrestler himself throws the block, and especially the way Wrestle makes it trivially easy to push opponents out of position – be it from cage corners, the LoS or some other screening position, or to remove TZs from the ball or from another of my players so he won’t have to dodge. In these situation it doesn’t really matter if the enemy has to make armour rolls (though of course it is a nice bonus); the important thing is that he and his TZs no longer bar the way for my moving player(s). With Wrestle I will get that result on any die roll except a straight Skull – even a half-die block has a 69% chance of success and it doesn’t matter if the target has Block (vs 44% against a Block target for non-Wrestlers). This is what my opponents refer to when they say that Wrestle reduces the effectiveness of their Blitzers. I don’t know how long Wrestle has been around, but as we’re upgrading straight from 4th/”Gold” edition to LRB5+ these dynamic are entirely new to us (and, as you noted, quite exciting ).

(OK, if the target has Stand Firm and/or Side Step in addition to Block a half-die Wrestle attack won’t work since Push results won’t cut it in either of those cases, but 1- and 2D wrestle attacks are considerably more effective than Block-blocks for getting such targets out of the way.)

IOW, while I fully agree that Wrestle isn’t very good for bashing, we’ve found it very good indeed for clearing the way for an attack on the enemy ball carrier or a touch-down run. My ball carriers have found that very helpful

Also, in the one-offs to date a nice side effect of Wrestle has been that it reduces the enemy’s bash potential quite a bit since his heavy-hitters tend to start their turns either pushed out of contact or prone. Either way they have to use the Blitz action to hit anyone (since none of them have Jump Up yet ). If I’d used Block instead of Wrestle, quite a few of those bashers (most of whom have Block themselves, so me using Block too wouldn’t give me any extra Armour rolls against them anyway) would’ve been left in position to throw block actions of their own against my players – thus increasing my casualties rather than theirs


Regarding lineman mortality:

Bretonnian linemen are fragile and die a lot? Well... I’ve been a halfling coach for years, so I’m fairly used to high attrition rates Somehow I don’t think ST3/AV7/Fend can be that much more vulnerable than ST2/AV6/Dodge/Stunty - OK, maybe with the playtest Stunty injury roll rule Playing ‘flings has put its mark on me, though: that’s the main reason why I want at least 12 players on the starting roster, even though the Journeman rule means I’ll never have to start a game with less than 11


Regarding the team roster and team development:

- drop a yeoman and the apoth for another Blitzer. You will have 11 players for several games anyway thanks to Lineman mortality. Aside from getting an apoth (only to use on blitzers and skilled yeomen), get to 4 blitzers ASAP.

I can see the logic of that, and with 40 kgp to spare I’m guaranteed to get an apoth after the very first game anyway... though having lost trees in the first game with starting ‘fling teams I can’t say I fancy taking the risk of blitzer casualties in the first game without medical back-up. Ah well; at least having three Blitzers would make it easier to win that first game Given that I have those 40 kgp at hand I could instead drop a lineman + apoth + spare change to get that third blitzer and still have 3 yeomen for route clearing and team protection... though that way I might have to wait several games to get the apothecary, which is distinctly unsavoury. Hm.

- Do not waste skills on developing blitzers as passers. They need MB across the board first.

- Develop two yeomen as ball retrievers (sure hands, kick-of-return). If a yeomen rolls doubles, give him pass.

I’m a bit (OK, a lot ) confused here. Both you and Plasmoid recommend this approach, yet using a pair of yeoman-retrievers seems to waste more skills than my concept of a single blitzer-retriever:

A blitzer-reciever’s Catch skill works nicely together with KoR as long as the opposition doesn’t have Kick (and I treat Kickers as high-priority targets, so chances are fairly good that he won’t have it in his later drives). His high MA means that I'll only need a single such retriever, his Block skill is useful to keep hold of the ball when enemy ball-raiders break through or Leap over my front line, and since he is quite capable to make touchdowns as well as fetch the ball he’ll get his two main retriever skills pretty quickly. The only wasted skill here is Dauntless, since ball-raiders are very rarely stronger than ST3.

With yeoman-retrievers OTOH their Wrestle skills are pretty much wasted since they’re a bit too slow to join the scrum after fetching the ball; in fact Wrestle is more a liability than an asset against ball-raiders. In order to get these guys fully up to speed I need a total of 4 skill upgrades on two slow-to-advance players, so barring extreme luck with the MVPs they’ll take me a lot longer to develop than a single blitzer-reciever would. As far as I can tell that’s 4 skills wasted (2x Wrestle, plus one each of Sure Hands and KoR since only one set will be used in each recieving drive) – and also one warm body less available for deployment at the front line.

IOW, to me the choice seems to be either 2 (yeoman) retrievers eventually + 6 bashers (2 yeomen, 4 blitzers) + 4 wasted skills, or 1 (blitzer) retriever soon + 7 bashers (4 yeomen, 3 blitzers) + 1 wasted skill - and you seem to recommend the option that gives me fewer bashers, wastes more skills and takes longer to develop. There must be something fairly important that I’m not getting here... but what?? atropabelladonna, with your starting roster you must've used blitzers as retrievers at least in the beginning - did you rely on their high MA and TRRs only for that, or did you give SH and/or KoR to one of them?


Regarding tactics:

It seems that I’m currently relying a lot more on my yeomen than you do, both for attack (clearing the way for blitzes and touchdowns) and for team protection (pushing enemy bashers out of block range and/or putting them prone for my linemen to foul). I guess I’ll understand why that is so once my opponents figure out how to deal with Wrestle, but right now I don’t quite see it... so, what are the best counter-tactics or counter-skills to aggressive Wrestling? Jump Up is pretty obvious; are there others?

Curiouser and curiouser,

Oerjan

[Warpstone]

IOW, to me the choice seems to be either 2 (yeoman) retrievers eventually + 6 bashers (2 yeomen, 4 blitzers) + 4 wasted skills, or 1 (blitzer) retriever soon + 7 bashers (4 yeomen, 3 blitzers) + 1 wasted skill - and you seem to recommend the option that gives me fewer bashers, wastes more skills and takes longer to develop. There must be something fairly important that I’m not getting here... but what??

Good question. It is just 1 skill but I guess what I was trying to stress is that this team really is completely reliant on its Blitzers. It basically boils down to this:
- your Blitzers are effectively producing 100% of your defensive playmaking ability (yeomen are at best a speedbump to a Black Orc led cage)
- One wasted skill on a Blitzer will have a much greater impact on your team's success against bashers than will several wasted skills for yeomen.

In other words, Yeomen and their skills are easily replaced. Blitzers are not and to waste a Blitzer's first 6 SPP on a skill that makes him a SPP hog (since you are far less likely to distribute the ball after he picks it up vs when a yeomen does) weakens your defensive threat. Remember that Bret games (just like most non-bashy teams) are lost because you could not mount a strong enough defence. Yes, a ball picking Blitzer would surely help you score in your early games, but over time, scoring becomes easier with your roster (with Yeomen supporting the offence) but pressuring the ball and countering cages on defence becomes excruciating. In fact, your one ball handling Blitzer exacerbates the lack of defensive skills since your other Blitzers are much less likely to have had the SPP evenly spread around in the first place.

Basically, don't worry too much over trying to score with this team; you will get enough TDs. Instead, focus on the fact that a bashy team will always beat you with a 2-1 grind unless you find ways to counterattack hard and fast.

[Oerjan]

Sorry for the late reply; the last couple of weeks have been rather hectic I'm beginning to see why going all-out on thrower skills might not be the best idea though a couple of Warpstone's comments still confuse me:

- your Blitzers are effectively producing 100% of your defensive playmaking ability (yeomen are at best a speedbump to a Black Orc led cage)

Really? The blitzers are better at hurting people permanently ("strategic blocking"), and a lot better at moving the ball, but so far I've found the yeomen absolutely indispensable for pushing aside screening enemy players ("tactical blocking") - including ST4+ ones - so I can hit whoever they're screening. I'm probably still thinking too much like a 'fling coach, but to me that seems like a fairly important part of my defensive plays...?

By putting 2-3 yeomen a couple of squares ahead of the enemy cage (as in a 'fling/elf rollback defense), I force the enemy to choose between not moving the cage forward (in which case at least 5 enemy players, 4 of which are likely to be quite nasty, are neither trying to hurt my team this turn nor moving into position to hurt me next turn) or moving it into contact with at least one still-standing yeoman (since they can only blitz one yeoman down). If they move the cage forward, on my next turn the yeoman in contact pushes a cage corner aside (or puts him prone), thus exposing the enemy ball carrier to my blitz action. (I'm quite happy to use half-die wrestle-blocks for this purpose, since all I really need is a Push result.)

The biggest problems I've had with enemy cages so far - including Orc BOB/Blitzer cages, human Ogre/Blitzer cages, and even an all-Ogre cage - has been to pick the !#"¤£ ball up after bowling the ball carrier over, and to bring it to safety once I've picked it up... and since I've found that the yeomen are not only too slow to get to the ball reliably but also quite likely to be lying prone when the ball pops loose, it is my blitzers that get stuck with these tasks. A SH blitzer would be extremely useful in these situations; a SH yeoman... not so much, since he'd likely be sitting on his rump half the time I need him

This play will become a fair bit harder to pull off once the enemy ST4+ players start learning Stand Firm or Side Step, since those skills make half-die wrestle-blocks effectively useless for tactical blocking. Hopefully I'll have enough Guard to off-set their higher ST by then... Dauntless doesn't work very well when the enemy can get more assists than I, and most of those ST4+ players are likely to get Block before they get SF anyway so I'm still better off using yeomen for tactical blocking against them.

...to waste a Blitzer's first 6 SPP on a skill that makes him a SPP hog (since you are far less likely to distribute the ball after he picks it up vs when a yeomen does) weakens your defensive threat. (...) In fact, your one ball handling Blitzer exacerbates the lack of defensive skills since your other Blitzers are much less likely to have had the SPP evenly spread around in the first place.

Er... what?? The only times I don't make the ball-fetcher distribute the ball is when he is one TD from gaining a new skill or when there are no other viable ball-carriers to run in the TD. In all other cases, the ball-fetcher's job is to pick the ball up and give it to someone else. I'm a lot more worried about the fetcher stagnating than about him taking all the SPPs for himself.

***
I played the first actual league game today, against Imperial humans. A 3-3 draw, but 4-0 in casualties to me - one of which was an Empire lineman who broke his own neck trying to block one of my peasants Two of my blitzers skilled up... and rolled 5+5 and 5+6, respectively.

The 5+5 will get Dodge. I still have difficulties using MA8 effectively; MA9 is just plain silly If I'd rolled a 4+6 though, what would've been the best choice - +MA, +AV or a normal skill?

The 5+6... well, if I take the +AG he will inevitably become my dedicated ball-fetcher. Should I take a normal skill instead, and if so which? MB, Guard, Tackle (I'll have to play both Lizardmen, Elfs and stunties eventually), Frenzy, something else?

Later,

Oerjan

[besters]

I would take the movement and agility, it's amazing how much basic increases can help a team.

I would take them on most player types with the exception of line fodder such as Zombies and strength 4+, low movement/agility, like Black Orc's and Mummies.

[plasmoid]

Congrats Orjean - you're in luck.
Stats and doubles on the blitzers makes the difference between a good team and a great team.

The choice between MA and dodge is tough. I wouldn't take AV. In the MBBL there is a team with a MA9 and a MA10 blitzer, and they're sure making the opposition tremble.

I think I'd stick with the MA, but I'm really not sure.

The AG is a given.

Cheers
Martin

[Oerjan]

Congrats Orjean - you're in luck.
Stats and doubles on the blitzers makes the difference between a good team and a great team.

Thanks... and there's more. On double-checking the results from that first game after my previous post, my Imperial opponent said "hey, you forgot to take the SPPs for the last casualty you inflicted!" That's another 2 SPPs for my third blitzer, taking him too up to 6 SPPs. Since it was my opponent who discovered the mistake, I asked him to make the improvement roll for me... and he rolled 4+6. This is starting to feel embarrassing

So that's one +MA blitzer, one +AG blitzer, and one Blodging blitzer after the first game - I couldn't choose between Dodge and +MA, but with both a 4+6 and a 5+5 I can take one of each

Now that everyone in the league has finally decided what teams to use, the league has ended up with rather more fast/dodgy, TTM-capable, and/or low-armour teams than high-armour bashy ones. This tones down the need for immediate universal MB a bit, and increases the need for a reliable ball-fetcher. Seeing the 'fling team defeat the Imperial humans by 4-0 a couple days ago (*), including two TTM plays to capitalize on failed pick-ups or passes, hammered this point home rather forcefully In light of this, my current development plans for the blitzers are:

+MA: Mighty Blow, Tackle, Shadowing
Dodge: Mighty Blow, (Stand Firm, Guard, Sure Hands - not necessarily in that order), Tackle
+AG: Pro, KOR, Pass Block, (Tackle, Mighty Blow)

It'll probably take me 2-3 games before I can get the last blitzer (I only got 30 kgp in winnings for the first game); once I can afford him, he'll go the MB-Frenzy-SF-Tackle route.

Exactly what order the Blodger gets his skills in depends mainly on how quickly I can get some skills (read: Guard) on the yeomen. I need a Sure Hands player for protection against Strip Ball, and the Blodger is the most logical choice for that skill since he's the hardest one to knock down; similarly the sheer immovability of Blodge+SF is golden both for building cages of my own and for invading enemy cages.

Regarding the +AG blitzer: yes, I know, KOR is wasted on the defense, and he'll only get MB very late if at all... but as I wrote above there aren't many bashy teams in the league, whereas there are plenty of teams that are very capable of exploiting a failed pick-up or unprotected ball. My yeomen have a total of zero SPPs between them, and I need a reliable ball-fetcher now (particularly since my next game is against those 'flings that ran in circles around the Imperials, and then Woodies after that) - thus Pro and KOR for the AG4 blitzer. 'Course, Pro can be used to improve Dauntless and Block rolls as well as ball-handling ones, so he won't be entirely wimpy anyway... As for Pass Block - well, with AG4 and Catch, it’d be a shame not to I don't expect him to actually get to make many Pass Block interception attempts; but I do expect my opponents to be very wary about attempting to pass at all when he is nearby.

***
(*) Speaking of that Imperials-'Fling game: it seems that position #13 on the Imperial human team really is cursed. In the game against my Bretonnians, #13 was the lineman who broke his own neck blocking my peasant. He was fired after that game, and replaced by a journeyman. In the game against the 'flings, the first thing that happened after the kick-off was that one of the treemen struck journeyman #13's head clean off his shoulders... not a good league start for the Imperial team! At least neither of the lost players had any SPPs.

Later,

Oerjan