H. Elf Team - What Would You Buy Next?

[RogueThirteen]

Just thought I'd throw a poll out there to get some discussion flowing. I've got a High Elf team with six games under their belt so far in a very agile, fast league. Curious what people would go for as the next purchase. Personally, I'm planning on going for the fourth reroll (elves roll a lot of dice) unless I lose any players, but I always like to hear the insights and playstyles of other coaches. Generally, I don't like having a bench deeper than 13 players as I feel like you get diminishing returns [exception made for really squishy teams]. Team roster below:

1. Thrower w/ Accurate
2. Blitzer w/ Dodge, Tackle
3. Blitzer w/ Dodge, Guard
4. Catcher w/ Wrestle, Tackle
5. Catcher
6. Linemen w/ +1 ST, Niggling Injury
7. Linemen w/ Block
8. Linemen w/ Block
9. Linemen w/ Kick
10. Linemen w/ Guard
11. Linemen
12. Linemen
13. Linemen w/ -1 AV

Apoth
3x Rerolls

[Ulthuan_Express]

Catchers are golden, get another. Fire the -AV Lino while you're at it to save on TV bloat.

With (compared to a starting team) all those Block & Dodge skills in there, three re-rolls should be enough for most things!

[Smeborg]

You cannot have too many Catchers. They are your ball hunters, and therefore your most precious resource on defense.

[mattgslater]

Catchers are golden, get another. Fire the -AV Lino while you're at it to save on TV bloat.

With (compared to a starting team) all those Block & Dodge skills in there, three re-rolls should be enough for most things!

+1

[juck101]

4th reroll I would only want over about 1900 rating as a few blodge players will probably cover any possibilities. Money is good for replacing men and keeping a good bench. I would sack the av Lino and buy a catcher

Buying things with elf I think now works as once every positional has block or dodge I consider another. If a positional player has neither skill then buying is ok but I have two weak players to try to protect. That often fails and is bad economy. More so I think having two players that need 6spp just drags. If it's just one fresh player to hit 6 then that I can work towards. The quicker that happens the faster the positional I bought can actually impact the game which is why you buy them in the first place! Sure my logic follows and my better sides seam to stick to this plan

[mattgslater]

If I can afford a 4th TRR by TV 1600 or so, I buy one. But I like to fire it as soon as I hit the SE threshold, because by then I've got the Elfazon thing going on, where everybody blodges, and I seldom have use for a TRR.

[RogueThirteen]

I think my coaching style is just like Juck101's. I tunnel-vision leveling key positionals, then acquire new ones. I didn't buy my first Catcher until both Blitzers had Dodge, and I didn't buy my second Catcher until the Blitzers and original Catcher all had two skills. Until then, more expendable and higher AV linemen seemed better than an AV7 with nothing but Catch and who wouldn't be a priority development.

I don't know, I'm still planning on getting that 4th Reroll next, as I find Elves without a reroll are just so hampered (everything might be only a 2+, but elves have to roll a lot of dice every turn). In my last game I burned through all three rerolls in my first two turns, thanks to a Blitz! result. I'm just about at the Spiralling Expenses level, yet still have three unskilled linemen, an unskilled Catcher, another Catcher without Dodge, and a Thrower without Dodge or Block (and who probably won't get any of those skills anytime soon), and only two other linemen with Block who aren't terribly close to getting Dodge yet. So the reliability of an all Blodge Team that doesn't need rerolls as much is still off in the very distant future.

The only other option I'm seriously entertaining right now is grabbing Leader for the Thrower's second skill (should arrive in one or two more games, no problem) unless I roll Doubles or +1AG/STR. It essentially gets me that 4th Reroll while saving me 30TV and 100,000g. Given that I'm practically already at Spiraling Expense level, I'd much prefer to have a deep bank that could immediately replace whatever positional dies or gets fired. While I'd love to have Dodge on my Thrower, I'd probably get more mileage out of the Leader reroll. It's not very often my thrower gets Blocked or has to Dodge out of coverage.

Another Catcher would be great, but I find two Blitzers and two Catchers are just so darn effective for a two turn touchdown that I'm not even sure where I'd put a third one. Besides, I'm also trying to get 1st and 2nd levels for the Linemen now that the positionals are dependable at what they do. And on defense, those positionals fill the widezones and are fast enough to converge on the center of the field in one turn.

[This isn't to say that I think getting another reroll is the "right" thing to do, just that it's what my playstyle and strategy are leading me towards. Nevertheless, I think one of the best things about Blood Bowl is that there are sooo many viable options to just about any decision, and I love hearing and comparing what other coaches think!]

[mattgslater]

Two-turners aren't the objective, except on the rare drive that starts on turn 6 or 7, or when you're already in the lead and have an intact squad, or when you've taken a bunch of KOs and inflicted at least a couple Cas. Otherwise, a 2TTD is a fallback for when things go bad. None of those situations is worth considering too much in your development processes: your objective in team development is to create leads, keep yourself out of the hole, and keep your men on the pitch.

Three Catchers are great for that. If you've got one KO'ed, you're still not sweating it. All that MA8 is great for playing keep-away, too, so you can stretch that 2TTD out to 5-8 turns, which is how you seal the deal, or out to 4-6 turns, which is how you force bashers to play the clock.

For me, the real distribution is 5x superfodder, 2x winger (Blitzers), 3x safety (Catchers), 1x kicker (Lino), 1x ace (Thrower). There's a little wiggle room: on FUMBBL, my New Albion Expatriates only run two Catchers because they have an AG5/Dodge Lino instead of the third. Even then, should the Dodge/Niggle Thrower die, I'd take a Catcher in his stead.