Tactics Vs Halflings?

[bungo_underhill]

So I know halflings are meant to be a tier 3 team (is that the right term) but I've never actually played against them.

Common sense seems to be beat up as many little guys as you can whilst avoiding the trees, but does anyone have any more refined tactics or pitfalls to avoid?

I'll be playing with a fairly new Norse team against the little guys...

[Carnis]

You don't REALLY need much strategy versus a normal halfling player.

Avoid getting tagged up by his trees. He may have 3 (deeproot), sometimes 4(morg, and bertha to a lesser degree) but that's very difficult to achieve thanks to Tom's new 'Ling nerfs.

Avoid getting gangfouled too much, especially if bribes are involved. If you down a tree then putting the boot in is a good idea, but this requires a lot of effort (dirty player, which your new team probably doesnt have is a necessity).

Spread the play around, this will completely disable his trees in defence.

DP fouling totally KILLS halflings (av6 to begin with, +2 to injury rolls => 15/36 CAS vs 11/36 sent off with dirty player), but if you risk starting with <11 players next half doing it don't do it.

[Craigtw]

The main thing to remember with Halflings is not to get overconfident. I have played many games with the ‘flings and have a good record with them (not at tourneys though…)

The treemen look a lot scarier than what they are. I would disagree with Carnis about fouling them. The gain to be had is outweighed by the inherent risk involved. The chances of hurting a tree are so slim that it makes it difficult to justify. Also, if the tree is not hurt, then if he is able to get up the next turn then you are going to have the fouler (and anyone who was there to assist) stuck in a tackle zone with the tree and having to dodge out or face the blocking power (and with the tree’s Strength and Mighty Blow against the Norse AV, this is not a good route!)

My suggestion to dealing with the trees is to avoid them. Eventually the Take Root will immobilize them and then they are no longer a threat. The only role they will be able to play at that point is being a launching pad for the ‘flings which is always a problem - but not one with a large chance of success.

Avoid the trees and squish the flings. Try to keep your defense deep and spread out, and never underestimate the risks a Halfling coach will take to get at you – (multiple dodges and a 2D your pick block is nothing uncommon for a Halfling coach.

Good luck!

[Smeborg]

Since Norse have lots of Block, you should take every opportunity to block the 'Flings. Try to line up 3 dice blocks if you can.

By making a net of players with (say) 2 spaces in between each player, you can force the 'Flings to do a lot of dodging - eventually one will fail (1 in 9 chance).

It takes patience and accuracy to play against 'Flings - don't take them for granted.

[Harry Buddha Palm]

The main thing to remember with Halflings is not to get overconfident.

That's the truth. It's really easy to think "hey, they're halflings! The worst team in the game! This'll be a cakewalk!" and then get your ass handed to you.

I was really over confident the first time I played against a halfling team and I got rocked. I had to do a 1-turn score to tie the game up in the end. It taught me a valuable lesson about underestimating my opponent.

[bungo_underhill]

Thanks guys, some useful thoughts. I'll make sure I show the little guys some respect.

I don't have any dirty player yet but I don't think fouling them will be too necessary and as my line up is only 11 deep (due to MNGs) I don't really want to risk anyone being sent off, especially when the trade is for a 30K 'fling...

I think I'll ignore the trees as much as I can and hope they take route. I'm just a little worried that I don't have any sure hands yet and they'll be stealing potentially all of my re-rolls

[mattgslater]

As hard as it is to play Halflings, they have a pretty atypical style, so it's hard in particular for a talented amateur with a Tier I team to take on a wily veteran with Halflings. My Halflings have played four games in our open league, some against much more developed teams, and have treated them all like so many sticky buns.

I've never lost to a Halfling team, but I'd rate two of the games I played against the best Halfling coach I've ever seen among my ten toughest wins of all. I was a rookie coach back in 1997 in a league full of tournament Chess and Magic players (back before BB philosophy had been well-explored), and the rules were massively Halfling-unfriendly by comparison. The manager of the game store where I worked played them anyway, and she was holy terror. She'd take a frightening amount of damage, and by late in the NFL-style season she was clearly outclassed by all the Orc (me), Dwarf and Undead teams. But she still made it to the championship in one of the three seasons she played, besting the coordinator's Dwarf team 3-0 in the semifinal and prompting him to smash his dice after the match.

[TuernRedvenom]

Mark the little ones en masse.
Always keep a safety.
Make sure your players cannot be ganged up upon when you do move into contact. Isolated players will be blocked down and gang fouled, even by Halflings.
Stay away from the trees, a common halfling tactic is to push opposing players next to the trees to get smacked so beware!
Beware of half die blocks and desperation plays. High risk high reward plays is what makes halflings win the few games that they do. Expect them. Try to limit the high reward situations (eg ball carrier next to the sidelines in a cage) as much as possible.

[mubo]

Mark the little ones en masse.
Always keep a safety.
Make sure your players cannot be ganged up upon when you do move into contact. Isolated players will be blocked down and gang fouled, even by Halflings.

Good summary.

[bjorn9486]

I've only played against halflings once in a tournament, but you definitely want to keep a safty in your backfield, especially if they look like they might be setting up for a TTM. (The halfling with the ball hasn't moved and is next to a treeman)

[Smurf]

The best team to take on these guys are the dwarves... All that block and tackle.

Do you have many tacklers?

Do you have a big guy with multi block?

We have just started a new league and a guy has taken Ogres. OK the 5 snotlings will keep us busy.

[Gorbad]

Everyone here is telling you to avoid the Tree, so let me point out the other side of the argument...

As soon as halflings are forced to run the ball in, things tend to end in tears, or at least in quite a few broken flings, so f you have reasonably well armoured linemen, or Dodge/Wrestle players, it's worth it to keep the trees marked up until they get rooted. Nothing is more enjoyable than having a 40k zombie keeping a Tree busy while the halflings flounder to get any sort of play going.

This severely limits nearly all of the TTM plays, or slow cages with Treeman corners, allowing you to take the ball from the halflings pretty much at will, since they won't be outrunning you anyway!

To be sure, try and keep the 3 die blocks to a minimum by taking away possible assists, and once play has moved far enough away from the Trees, you can always try to dodge out at the end of your turn.

[bungo_underhill]

From a Norse perspective, marking the trees with AV 7 players seems worrying, even if they do have block.

Of course there will be times when the linemen have to sacrifice themselves to protect my positionals but I think in my 11 strong AV 7 team I need to try to not get knocked down by MB players whenever I can avoid it...

[Funksultan]

Ah, halflings....

I think the toughest part of the match for me is combating my own guilt, and the two sides of my psyche...

*Good*
"Wow, this brave soul is playing halflings! How cool! You don't see many halfling players, so give him a break. Win by a TD or two, and cause a few Cas, then just leave him alone. You can milk a cow many times, but can only eat steak ONCE. Let him have his minor victories, but don't be brutal... a halfling coach deserves your respect for his fearlessness. Give it to him."

*BAD*
"AV 6 and stunty? REALLY? Yeah, 3 trees, halfling chef, tons of bribe fouls... I DON'T CARE. I'm still gonna mark every halfling on the planet, and throw more casualty causing blocks than a 4.2mil TV Chaos team. When I get the ball, I'm gonna hold onto it forever and eliminate every non-tree on the field. Hell, if my bench is full, I might even foul him back! I'm going to beat those stunties so bad, he'll have to retire the team, and start playing online from the corner of his basement where he'll urinate in the corner every time he even THINKS about playing halflings again. God, I love playing against halflings..."

My record the past 2 years against halflings? 4-0. Who won the battle for my soul? Good:3 BAD:1 (one of the trees gave -MA to one of my skilled players early, and the coach decided to rub it in... *BAD* made him regret it)

[Marlow]

Having played two games against said Halflings they burned about half their re-rolls to not take root. Not having Loner any longer really helps. My Orcs had a good half and cleared the little guys off the pitch (with lots of KO's could not quite get the casualties) and then started on the Trees. All game we only had two times they ended up Rooted, so do play expecting it to happen.

Personally though I am voting for the Treemen to crush the Norse.
Go Pot-Plant!