Gob Savage - Goblin Bomber with Hail Mary Pass - 2nd skill?

[Hosko]

Well, my little friend Gob Savage of the WWF, who was lucky enough to get a double on his first roll (double 6 in fact), skilled up with Hail Mary Pass. It's been hilarious.

But, after claiming his third MVP and skilling up for the second time, he's decided to get a normal skill.

Do I bother taking a second skill?

If I do, what to give him.

Side step would be handy as I set him up in the end zone;
Catch would also have it's uses, to receive hand offs - but this is very limited in the way I use him;
Jump up would be great if it means he can throw a bomb on the turn he stands up (anyone know the ruling on this one); and Sneaky Git would be good - he's only around for one drive anyway.

Thanks,
Hosko

[Greyhound]

Hosko just some clarifications

1) you have to skill up it's not optional
2) jump up requires a move, a block or a blitz action to work. You can't use it while throwing a bomb. Even though it doesn't cost you any MA it would still require you to move to prop him up.

I have no idea what to give him though, sidestep?

[Hosko]

Hosko just some clarifications

1) you have to skill up it's not optional
2) jump up requires a move, a block or a blitz action to work. You can't use it while throwing a bomb. Even though it doesn't cost you any MA it would still require you to move to prop him up.

I have no idea what to give him though, sidestep?

Cool, thanks for that. Bugger about Jump up, that would have been funny.

The skill part is trickier.

Cheers,

[Greyhound]

just to back up my claim (I didn't have the CRP handy at the time):

POST-MATCH SEQUENCE
You must go through the following two steps after each and
every league match that you play:

1. Improvement Rolls
In league matches it is possible for players to earn Star Player
points which may give them Improvement rolls at the end of the
match. This phase is used by each coach to allocate MVPs,
update the Star Player points the players in his team have
earned, and make any Improvement rolls.

This was backed up by a post of Galak on the cyanide forum here, which I'll repost on this thread:

And to repost this to make this even more clear:

Page 26:

If the player has earned enough points to go up a level, then immediately make a roll for him on the Improvement table.

Clearly not optional.
Page 27:

To reflect this, whenever a player rolls on the Improvement table, their value must be increased on the team roster by the amount shown on the table below.

PLEASE NOTE: EVEN IF (which you cannot) but EVEN IF you argued that the "may" meant you could not pick the skill (again which you cannot) ... the rules clearly state that you have to immediately roll on the Improvement table.

Connected to that it says when you ROLL on the Improvement table your player's value goes up (NOT when you pick a skill ... when you ROLL). So at a minimum if Cyanide had misunderstood the "may" than the player's value should have increased by the normal value of the roll (ie if you rolled doubles +30k, +50 for a 12 roll) and then allowed you to remove value from the player if you picked a normal skill instead.

So bottom line Cyanide errored with the programming. Even if Cyanide misunderstood the "may" they programmed it incorrectly as player value should still be increasing as it is not connected to the skill pick but the roll made. So no matter how you try to twist the rules ... you cannot win ... even if that "may" meant what Jesper thinks it does because it is overridden by the statement on page 27 that value increasing is linked to the roll on the table and not the skill pick.

So no matter if you read it right or wrong ... it programmed wrong ... and those teams should not be allowed anywhere near an official Cyanide tournament.

Galak

Now about Jump Up I was right but for the wrong reasons. You can get up for free with any action:

A player with this skill is able to quickly get back into the game. If the
player declares any Action other than a Block Action he may stand up for
free without paying the three squares of movement.

However you can't throw a bomb if you start from prone

A coach may choose to have a Bombardier who is not Prone or Stunned
throw a bomb instead of taking any other Action with the player. This
does not use the team's Pass Action for the turn. The bomb is thrown
using the rules for throwing the ball (including weather effects and use of
Hail Mary Pass), except that the player may not move or stand up before
throwing it (he needs time to light the fuse!)

so it's not a good option for you.


I stick to SideStep, and potentially surefeet, to help him go to a better spot for the forthcoming bomb.
You really want to stop him from getting SPP.

[Bert]

I got the same situation as you but in reverse order. First skill I took was catch in the event that the bombs are coming back at him. Then rolled doubles and took HMP. As for the naysayers HMP on the bomber has been golden, Im running without trolls for the challenge and the bomber is money. With him in the backfield, Im handing him the ball and then bodyguarding with the chainsaw. Catch comes into play with the handoff and lets me fire off a free bomb instead of ball-handling. The saw has no skills and tends to get punked early, so getting the ball to the bomber tends to be a better roll for him. With the option to HMP the ball or the bomb it keeps your opponent guessing as to when its coming. I run the pogo and a couple gobs up field and this will stretch your opponent out, keeps him from surrounding a cage and beating on you. With him spread out you can gang up in certain areas and use attrition, usually from fouling, to gain an edge. On defense the bomber can fire at the ball carrier every turn and your banking on the 4+ in the tacklezone to knock him over. Ive had success with this tactic, doesnt work always but over time it will pay. If you knockover the ballcarrier in your end of the pitch with a blitz from the chainsaw or a mob of goblins, then run your bomber over to HMP the ball back to the other end. What Im really finding is the bomber can let you stretch out the half and gets you the value from your SW's. Needless to say my bribes are starting to go towards the bomber with this skill. Ive run 3 games with him against 2 bash teams and a WE coach and hes been valuable in every match. It doesnt matter what skills or stats the player has, the bomber is capable of putting them down much like the chainsaw. HMP is the only reason to run the rostered bomber and with it he shouldnt be doing any moving thus not requiring sure feet,jump up, or side step. Catch is really the only skill that can benefit him maybe sneaky git. Have someone handoff the ball to him and it has some value. Hope this helps.

[Lunchab1es]

Sidestep could help keep him from being pushed out of bounds, but I doubt that he will find himself getting blitzed so far in the backfield.

I think catch could be good, but not for catching return bombs (the opponent will probably prefer to through to a no-hands gobbo or troll instead). Instead, he can now double as your QB in a pinch! If your offense can't hold the other team back, have another goblin hand the ball off to him, then have him HMP it somewhere downfield. Not ideal as if it results in a TD play, he will have to leave the pitch, but it is better than turning the ball over in your half of the field. Even if you don't have anyone downfield to actually catch the ball, it will give you a few turns buffer from your opponent scoring.