Dark Elf options 9 games played

[wedge22]

So my team which can be found in the link in my sig has one game left before then end of the Season and then its Cup Day. My last game was a Win against Khemri but unfortunately my newest WE was killed, even with the Apoc roll she had just skilled up in that game too. So I now have a 10 man roster, and I have just taken Leader on my Runner for the extra reroll and Sidestep on my Blitzer as they both skilled up last game. I have 100k in the bank and cannot decide what to do, my Game 10 opponent is Underworld so lots of Armor 7, I am seriously considering taking an Assassin as he has a great chance of taking armor 7 off the pitch and with all the Dodgers he can Shadow them too. I could also drop the Leader on the Runner and take SH, Pass or NOS and buy myself a 3rd reroll. I would like your opinions please.

[Smeborg]

If it is only one game left, I would take the Assassin without hesitation. This is an ideal game for him.

[Khail]

Wedge, are you planning on continuing with HH in B League after this season? If so, I'd skip the Assassin and build for the future. I'd stick with 2RR + Leader and save for your 2nd Witch.

If not, Smeborg is on the money - might as well go for the Assassin and murder some Goblins.

[wedge22]

I do plan on playing them in B League for at least one season, so I guess its best just to stick with what I have and take a Journeyman, plus I have to play with them at Cup Day so the Assassin might not last long there either.

[howabe]

If you're planning on continuing the team, I'd definitely wait for the guaranteed Witch after this game before spending.
This is a perfect game for an Assassin though. Goblins are slow enough to Shadow and will definitely get hurt by Stab if you manage to follow them...
Do you have 120 of inducements to induce a mercenary one (or even 210 for Horkon)? Will be just as effective with Stab being a risk-free roll, so Loner wouldn't come into affect.

[Smeborg]

Assassins are ideal Mercenaries, as Stabbing cannot cause a Turnover (hence you do not need to worry about Loner).

[Joemanji]

I wouldn't bother with the Assassin. Saving for another Witch would be a better option... plus I like having a journeyman about to soak up hits on the LoS.

Joe

[dines]

Assassins are ideal Mercenaries, as Stabbing cannot cause a Turnover (hence you do not need to worry about Loner).

The problem with this, is that the team value of dark elves seem to increase faster than most opponents and therefore its rare to get inducements. Thats at least what I have experienced in table top leagues.

[Smeborg]

Assassins are ideal Mercenaries, as Stabbing cannot cause a Turnover (hence you do not need to worry about Loner).

The problem with this, is that the team value of dark elves seem to increase faster than most opponents and therefore its rare to get inducements. Thats at least what I have experienced in table top leagues.

You are right, but there seems to be a rough balance at higher TV levels. Dark Elves will (typically) have a higher TV than bash teams, but it doesn't matter, because they don't want to take Assassins against them. However, the teams who have a higher TV than Dark Elves will (typically) be AG teams with lower armour, so taking an Assassin against them makes a lot of sense.

My supreme moment was at the end of last season, when I managed to induce 2 Mercenary Assassins and Horkon against a well-developed Skaven team (I had exactly enough handicap to do this). The match was won psychologically before a turn was played, since my opponent just couldn't handle the idea of 3 Stabbers against his precious little rats!

[mattgslater]

Compare peak values to some Assassin-worthy opposition.

Amazons @ Peak
4x Blitzer: 360k; 2x Catcher: 140k; 2x Thrower: 140k; 6x Line: 300k; 4x TRR: 200k; 1x Apoth: 50k.
Subtotal: 1190k
+Improvements+FF+AC+CL

Pro Elves @ Peak
2x Blitzer: 220k; 4x Catcher: 400k; 2x Thrower: 140k; 6x Line: 360k; 4x TRR: 200k; 1x Apoth: 50k.
Subtotal: 1370k
+Improvements+FF+AC+CL

Grot-heavy Orcs @ Peak (15-man perpetual overdog version just for sake of argument)
1x Troll: 110k; 4x Blitzer: 320k; 4x BOB: 320k; 2x Thrower: 140k; 4x Gob: 160k; 4x TRR: 240k; 1x Apoth: 50k.
Sub: 1340k
+Improvements+FF+AC+CL

Skaven @ Peak
1x RO: 150k; 2x SV: 180k; 4x GR: 320k; 2x Thrower: 140k; 5x Line: 250k; 4x TRR: 240k; 1x Apoth: 50k.
Subtotal: 1330k
+Improvements+FF+AC+CL

Undead @ Peak
2x Mummy: 240k; 2x Wight: 180k; 4x Ghoul: 280k; 6x S/Z: 240k; 5x TRR: 350k.
Subtotal: 1290k
+Improvements+FF+AC+CL

Dark Elves @ Peak, without rostered Assassins:
2x Witch: 220k; 4x Blitzer: 400k; 2x Runner: 160k; 6x Line: 420k; 4x TRR: 200k; 1x Apoth: 50k.
Subtotal: 1450k
+Improvements+FF+AC+CL
You could run 13 players; that's only 1380k, but it's still the highest on this list.

Not only that, but if you're doing well, you've got a better skill balance than most other teams, and a better skill memory than most AV7, meaning that you'll peak out with more skills than, say, Skaven or Norse. More skills means more TV; given that each improvement is an average of 24k, every 5 skills is one less rookie merc Assassin.

[Smeborg]

Agreed, Matt, but in my experience there will quite often be occasions when your TV drops by (say) 25-30 points due to injuries and MNGs. These can make ideal occasions to induce Assassins if your opponent has low AV. The occasion when I managed to hire 3 Assassins was one such.

[stashman]

I would go Tackle on the Runner (to take out the goblins and making him a 3rd witch elf (tackle, wrestle, strip ball) and save for a witch elf)

[mattgslater]

Agreed, Matt, but in my experience there will quite often be occasions when your TV drops by (say) 25-30 points due to injuries and MNGs. These can make ideal occasions to induce Assassins if your opponent has low AV. The occasion when I managed to hire 3 Assassins was one such.

Okay. I'll bite.

So, when you're at 11 guys and the oppo is at peak, it's not hard to induce an Assassin. Yes, that does happen, a fair fraction of the time even. But, specifically, when?

If you're playing a low-AV team, and you're down men, and they're not, it's good to induce an Assassin, and it's not hard, either. But if you're down men a lot, and this low-AV team is playing the same mix of matches as you, then either they've got the same numbers problem that you do, or they're better coaches (or at least more successful). In the former case, you may or may not be denied your Assassin. In the latter case, your Assassin probably won't pay for himself, because Assassins are matchup players.

If you're playing a high-AV team with a high TV, they'll probably be at-or-near full strength most of the time. But then your Assassin is (probably) a lot less useful, no? I guess there are a few AV teams that rely on a AV7 players to fill important rolls, like Undead and Chaos Dwarfs, but you better be pretty confident in your ability to keep that Assassin on-task to justify the inducement cost.

I'm not necessarily arguing for a rostered Assassin. I think league composition is the key when it comes to Assassins. The ideal environment for this type of player is one where the broad league composition is fairly balanced and your personal rivals (the coaches at or a bit above your level, or the coaches closest to you if you're the best) are generally low-AV or have a lot of Blodge. That is, when you want to run 14 men, and will be glad you have an Assassin in key games. Fortunately, you won't start with everything you need, so you have quite awhile to figure this out. Waiting for injuries and doubles to give you a handle on the field isn't a bad strategy.

[wedge22]

Well as it stands right now my opponents team has a full roster but only has 2 players with an AV over 7, at this point I have played 9 games and he has played 8 and as the TV sits atm I would be able to hire a Merc Assassin for the Game 10, this of course all epends on how well he does in his Game 9. If he loses some key players then the TV will be closer. Currently I am sitting at 120 and he is at 134.

[mattgslater]

Since it's just one match, you should probably go ahead and hire the guy.