Looking for LRB6 High Elf Guides/Tactics?

[Judas_777]

I've recently gotten back into blood bowl after a brief hiatus (since deathzone...) and I'm loving the new rules.

The first team I've been playing, the Dwarves, has been very successful for me. However my friends have been grumbling about the team, so I've decided to give High Elves a go. I've had a brief search and I've had no luck finding a guide to playing the elves, recent or otherwise. So does anyone know of any guides on the team (or pro elves, as they'd be fairly similar I imagine)? Or just general advice to someone who's only ever played bashy teams (in a very bashy group of players)?


Cheers,

Judas

[Arklite]

http://www.bbpb.de/index.php?c=High-Elves

I find the BB play book site an excellent place to stop for advise personally, sure some of the articles are a little out of date but they still get all the basics down.

[Akka]

The newest articles are for LRB4. I think the community has made a great job playtesting and developing the living rule book, but up-to-date guides are sadly lacking. The few I've seen though (most here at TFF) are spectacular.

[cyagen]

I've been playing High Elves on the Mbbl and here are the 10 things I think about the HE:

1- It is the only elf roster that comes without dodge, so you need at least 3 RR to start with
2- Your blitzers are crucial! Take 2 from the start.
3- With 8 AV you do not need to dodge away from the opposition with your linemen.
4- You are bashier then any other elf team, sure the DElves get 4 blitz, but they get 6 AV7. You got only 4 of these.
5- The catchers do not need more offensive skills. Dodge and Wrestle is all you need on these guys. They are defensive backs/sackers.
6- Safe throw allows you to pass with a lot more safety then the other elves.
7- Be boring with your skill choices - Lino: Dodge, Wrestle. Blitz: Dodge, Side Step. Thrower1: Leader, Kick off return. Thrower2: Dodge, Accurate. You have almost none to start with so do not try to be fancy.
8- Bash finess team
9- Run around bashy team
10- I hate elf teams normally but I am having a lot of fun with the HE, they feel like AG4 humans.

[Judas_777]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Cyagen, thanks for the tips. I guess that is what I was afraid of, that High Elves play like humans with 4 agility and less blitzers. I was thinking that HE's would be the team best suited to a passing game though, and that looks like you agree. What is your opinion of Diving Catch on the catchers? Unnecessary with the 4 ag? Or still worth a skill up?


Cheers,

Judas

[Digger Goreman]

Welcome back!

Elves are for the weak: just don't roll one's....

[Ullis]

Pro elves are a great choice too. Their positionals are designed to frustrate the opponent with Side step and especially Nerves of Steel on the catchers (and a double skill too so other catchers from other rosters are hard pressed to get it). They somehow fire up the imagination in a way that the bland high elf roster does not.

They're AV7 but then again, they're cheaper too. And watching elves die is satisfying for all parties involved. The low cost also means that your starting roster is much more competitive than a high elf one.

On the passing aspect, I think that Nerves of Steel on the catchers contributes more to a passing game than Safe Throw on the throwers.

[Patchwork]

1- It is the only elf roster that comes without dodge, so you need at least 3 RR to start with

A minor nitpick I know, but the Elf roster doesn't come with any dodge either.

[Purplegoo]

The reason to believe for Highs are the Catchers, and they need a reason to believe in those tricky first few games! The team is slow to start, but eventually tip-top drawer when these chaps develop. Any HE team has to be seen as a mid to long term project, not a team that will bring you the goods straight out of the box. I should imagine this accounts for some of their popularity issues; why work at a team when Pro Elves are instantly the best attackers in the game (if you load up on Catchers), WE have Wardancers, and DE everything they need for their gameplan from day one?

I disagree with the notion that HE are cut out to bash, the mobile cage / grind game is suited more to DE, especially with the new Runner (making the team better at something they were already boss at), and 6 players able to Blodge or Wrestle / Dodge if needs be at 6spp. Safe Throw on the Throwers is a little bit of a red herring; it's pretty much for emergency use only! No team with MA8+ players needs pass skills, afterall, unless there is panic and quick scores needed, but by then something has gone wrong anyway.

I like to start with no Catchers to get the rest of the team going (sacrificing early results if needs be), and then feed in the Catchers one at a time. The name of the game is getting those Catchers developed. A 4 skilled Catcher HE team with some Linemen / Blitzer backup is a formidable foe for any race. I like 2 attacking and 2 defensive options if you are lucky enough to keep all four alive at once.

Skill choices are pretty individual things, but just magnifying what the HE roster is good at at each position brings most success. Blitzers hit (Tackle / SS / Dodge if you're short / MB Doubles), Catchers use pace and ST3 (Block / Dodge / SS / DT Scores or marks, Block / Wrestle / Leap / Strip sacks), and Throwers fetch and carry (Sure Hands, Blodge, a Leader perhaps and Guard Doubles, everyone but Blitzers likes a bit of Guard on doubles, you can never have enough. Throwers are simply Linemen with the Pass skill, afterall...).

Have fun, and stick with them.

[cyagen]

What is your opinion of Diving Catch on the catchers? Unnecessary with the 4 ag? Or still worth a skill up?

I stand by what I said: Dodge, Wrestle with a eye on Leap. The best combo to fill the role I need them to play.

The catchers are defensive players and with AG4 and Catch, they got more then enough to handle every pass thrown at them.

[besters]

Looking at his comments I would say I play my High Elves completely differently from Cyagen, but I do agree there is no need for Diving Catch. Keeping those Catchers alive is the priority, Dodge, Block/Wrestle (I take block) are my priorities followed by defensive skills, such as Tackle.

I will take Leap on one or two Catchers but don't tend to use it. I always take Guard on any player if I get a double!

Having said that walks back into dark room of failed 2+'s, if you can't make these, your team dosn't work.

[Fassbinder75]

I tend to start with one Blitzer, two Catchers, eight Linemen and three re-rolls. 2 re-rolls isn't enough for a team starting with virtually no skills. Assuming the Catchers don't die they'll hog most of the SPP's so you won't have trouble skilling them up, before feeding more into the side. I develop the first batch defensively generally since they are awesome on the blitz or playing deep defence (safety). Block, Wrestle, Strip Ball, Tackle all work really well.

The Linemen are the team's throwers. Rotate them in the back field when you get the ball and throw easy passes. Once they have an SPP each a randomly determined MVP will get you a skill on them. Give one Kick, Guard on doubles, and generally useful stuff like Block, Dodge, Wrestle, Fend on everything else.

If any player gets AG+ they should also get Leap.

High Elves are interesting precisely because they start out as a blank canvas as opposed to paint by numbers. You can have a lot of fun with them once you get through the growing pains.

[Smurf]

It's one of the most flexible elf teams:

Dark Elves have some bashing and a lot of running, they are behind on the passing game for lacking dedicated throwers or catchers.

Wood Elves are HE's rival in the passing game but can out pace them. Bashing is a selective afair and taking the big guy absorbs too many pts and can imbalance the style too much.

Pro Elves come with the some a cheaper alternative than HE, but lack HE's true ability, although PE's catchers are excellent the debate will go on whether WE's weak speed catchers are better than HE's quick strong catcher.

The second skill for the Thrower without a doubt is a huge benefit, many teams get pass and sure hands but because HE has AG4 they get Safe Throw, which is awesome, passing the ball is a safe option.

Just develope the thrower to be the best thrower, in the first game allow him to score a TD and throw the ball give him the skills to be the best.

Interchangeable positions have to the the 2 Blitzers and 4 Catchers, the Blitzers can easily be replacement catchers, whilst the catchers can fill in for blitzers in some situations.

Blitzers should try to be those WE wardancers, dodge and leap, or Sidestep, the path should include tackle and if you do manage to roll a double pick a S skill.

Catchers will need dodge, this needs to had in early stages of league play, leap and sidestep will help, and 2 should have pass block (I know the jury is out on this but it does depend on style of play of the other league players).

All that is require is a defensive Thrower, not as good as the offensive one, but surehands and NoS should be enough to grab balls and pass them to players.

as a WE player I envy the HE line, he is preferrable, durable is the nice thing about him. A couple of blodgers is nice but a trio of wrestle sidesteppers is nice too. As with any elf team, any doubles should have guard. Sure dauntless should be in the mix too.

Elves win by being fast paced.

Now I'm going to put this to the test soon. We have a relatively new HE player, he has gone for the many skills option for the team (let all elves throw the ball etc), whereas my WE team is more dedicated with a few players without skills. I've won 10:10, he has yet to finish but is on 8:9 2 games to go and they are most likely to be wins. So we will see these evenly matched teams battle out in a final.

[plasmoid]

Great stuff,
if anyone here would like to take charge and create a HE playbook, I'd love to host it on my playbooks site

[mattgslater]

On it, bro! I'll get started next week. How many words?