Nurgle needs advice against Dwarves in League title match!

[SunDevil]

Hey gang! After the help I got here a few seasons ago, my Khemri were able to close the deal and win the league! I'm back in the league semis with Nurgle and I'm facing a former league champion CD crew! Here are the rosters and my general thoughts! Any help or corrections to my plan would be greatly appreciated!

IRKALLA CORRUPTORS - Nurgle
Beast - Guard
Warrior - Block, Guard
Warrior - Block, Guard, Mighty Blow, Claw (niggle)
Warrior - Block, Guard, Mighty Blow, Claw, Stand Firm (niggle)
Warrior - Block, Guard, Mighty Blow, Claw, +ST (-AV)
Pestigor - Block, Sure Hands, Tackle, Mighty Blow, Claw
Pestigor - Block, Sure Hands, Kick-Off Return, +AG
Pestigor - Wrestle
Pestigor - Block, Mighty Blow, Claw, Pile On
Rotters x4
13 players - 3 RRs
2.07 million TV

GRUZYLLIXIVAN ROAD WARRIORS - Chaos Dwarves
CD - Mighty Blow, Claw, Jump Up, Pile On
CD - Mighty Blow, Claw, Guard
CD - Mighty Blow, Guard
CD - MISSING
CD - Mighty Blow, Claw, Pile On, Stand Firm
CD - Mighty Blow, Guard, Stand Firm
Bull Centaur - Block, +MA, Sure Hands, +AG, +AG
Bull Centaur - Block, Mighty Blow, Frenzy, Break Tackle (-AV)
Hobgoblin - Dirty Player
Hobgoblins x3
11 players - 3 RRs
1.77 million TV

HE has said he will not cut and rebuy the missing CD (he only has Mighty Blow but also 14 spps) though I'll believe that when I see it. I imagine if he stays true to his word, he will take a wizard, an apoth, and hire another Hobgoblin.

He is the higher seed (#2 to my $3) so will get a +1 to kick/receive. If I kick, I may play the Matador and gang up hard to one side. I'll look to overwhelm and kill whoever is on that side not protecting the ball. I have no way to reliably catch that mutant 4AG BC in the open field anyway. I might try to get him to score early so we can get our grind on, blessing as many of his players with the Rot as we can.

If we receive, I'll look to remove who he gives us but not get spread out too much. I know clumping makes us wizard-bait so I may leave a ring of space around the ball but I need to make my better ST hold up against his Claw, keeping CDs down as much as possible and not always following up. I need to outblock him by a large margin to wrap his team up and apply constant pressure all game. Removing a few CDs would be a dream and allow us access to those squishy Hobgoblins and, if Nuffle blesses us, that Elf/Bull monstrosity.

Nothing revolutionary of course. I badly wanted one more skill after my lucky quarter-final win over Orcs since they killed my Dirty Player Rotter. It was not to be however. I considered cutting a Rotter to try and make it so he cannot get a Wizard and an Apoth but that only works if he buys a Hob, and I have to announce first as the overdog TV-wise.

Some history between these teams - we have played during the regular season the last two seasons and the Corruptors won both times, including two seasons ago with the CDs went on to win the league. This worries me. It is hard to beat the same team three times and this game is far more important than the other two combined.

Winner gets either Dwarves or Wood Elves in the Blood Bowl.

Advice? Thanks in advance!

[Aliboon]

Win the toss and clawpomb him to death before he can do the same to you!

Your big advantage is your greater strength and numbers. Make them count. He doesn't have much guard for a CD team so will I think struggle to get too many 2d blocks away. Position your guarders well to ensure this and foul out his hobbos.

Target the Ag 4 bull if you can cos a well placed wizard blast and his MA and agility could easily mean a defensive TD for him, so you should run a slightly more spread cage-easier to do if you outnumber him.

If I were him I'd induce Zzharg instead of the merc hobbo you think he'll get.

[SunDevil]

Since it is the playoffs, he cannot induce any stars. Winner of this game plays for the title!

Very good point about the Wizard/4AG BC combo - I'll keep an eye out for that! I also do really need to focus on my Guard placement. I need to assert my ST advantage early and then dig in...

[Smeborg]

SunDevil - are you allowed Petty Cash? If you are, a quick 150,000 for a Wizard of your own would be the most reliable way to take down the AG4 BC.

By the way, once upon a time I had an AG4 BC. The best player I have ever had, I reckon. Unfortunately no-one wanted to play against him.

Unfortunately your Beast is of little use against the BC without S-Firm.

All the best and let us know how you get on.

[SunDevil]

Smeborg, you are right - I had considered buying the Wizard outright but did not want to give him the Apothecary and Babe I knew he would buy with the extra 150k. With his initial 300k, he bought a Wizard and merc-ed a Guard CD. He could have really used the medical staff inducements, as discussed below.

We won 1-0! Both sides had 4 cas, including 2 dead each (I only lost two Rotters, luckily), but the match turned when one of my brand new Rotters knocked over his best killer CD and rolled 10, 10, -ST! Apoth killed him so he joined the team as a Rotter! CDs had received and BH a Warrior on a one-die block but the Nurgle held their ground and I was able to sack the ball twice on one-die Horns blitzes. The second time I scooped it up and they were unable to knock me over so we held on for the defensive stop.

Second half we had 11 players to his 7 since he went 1-5 on KOs or something similarly terrible. He fireballed me at midpitch (I was NOT caged up but he got the exact two Pestigors he needed), KOing my 4AG ballcarrier and super Bull did get the ball but I was able to knock him over and gather up the ball again with my back-up ballcarrier/killer. My opponent did very well with his few players, including sacking the ball on a one-die block from a CD that had dodged but the Nurgle were able to recover, play our man advantage and score on turn 8.

Next up, the title game against Dwarves or Wood Elves!

Side Note - We lost three Rotters in the quarter-finals against Orcs, including our Dirty Player. He hired three new ones for this game...and two of them were killed! The sole survivor? He killed the CD and got MVP so we have our Dirty Player back.

[Fassbinder75]

Nice outcome! Not to nitpick - but your opponent could have taken the original -ST injury roll and denied you the Rotter. Did he take the dead result on purpose, because it's more fun?

[Smeborg]

Nice outcome! Not to nitpick - but your opponent could have taken the original -ST injury roll and denied you the Rotter. Did he take the dead result on purpose, because it's more fun?

I would have done the same as SunDevil's opponent. It's much more fluffy, and it confers no benefit until after the match is over.

All the best.

[Smeborg]

Gotta love Horns. 2 x 1-die Horned sacks in a drive.

SunDevil - don't forget to let us see your opponent's roster for the final.

All the best.

[SunDevil]

Nice outcome! Not to nitpick - but your opponent could have taken the original -ST injury roll and denied you the Rotter. Did he take the dead result on purpose, because it's more fun?

Yes he did. This also meant my team collected a 100k bounty!

Next up - DWARVES in the title match! His roster...

Trollslayer - Pile On, Mighty Blow, Tackle Stand Firm (niggle)
Trollslayer - Mighty Blow, Jump Up, Pile On, Tackle
Blitzer - Guard, +MA
Blitzer - Guard, +AG, +AG (That's right - 5AG!)
Runner - Block, Tackle, Strip Ball, Dodge (Just got Dodge in his semi-final win!)
Runner - Block, Tackle, Strip Ball
Longbeard - Guard, Stand Firm
Longbeard - Guard
Longbeard - Guard
Longbeard - Guard, Mighty Blow
Longbeard - Guard, Mighty Blow
Longbeard - Guard
Longbeard - Guard

3 RRs and right now he has 100k of inducements. I could see him buying a Wizard and giving me a babe, or he will take a card and try to win the game, naturally. He could also consider an extra apothecary which may help as we both favor long drives. OT is a definite possibility.

The Guard is a concern, but two will ride the bench unless he benches some of his positionals, which I do not see happening. We met in the regular season and I won 2-0, but some of that was his 5AG Blitzer rolling ones like it was his job. I expect a tougher road this time, both because of his increased Guard and the stakes of the game.

I do have the antidote for Dwarves in mass Claw/MiB but I also need to position my own Guard well to maintain my ST advantage. Spreading him out will help accomplish this and will be made easier if I can remove a Dwarf or two, but that is the same in every game.

I think that I will choose to receive if given the chance. Then we look to peel Dwarves out of that armor and remove them. I will play off a bit, meaning not follow every time, unless my ST advantage is untouchable. I want to minimize the number of hits he gets and possibly draw his Slayers into Frenzy-induced trouble. They are target #1 and #2 (we gave #1 that niggle last time we met) because they have the greatest chance of removing our players. Then the Runners of course, if we get the shot, and that 5AG Blitzer. My Tackle/Claw/MiB Pestigor will hunt them both in the open field.

The Beast will be key. Yes, he lacks Stand Firm which I have tried desperately to get him for several games. But if I can get him to hold down two Dwarves, he will be doing his job. I do need to try to prevent him getting one die blocks, which will be hard to stop since he has so much Guard.

So basically - position, position, position and make my hits count. Look for a chance to move around in a group if he overcommits but he is usually very good about avoiding that.

Thoughts? If we win, we become the first Nurgle team to win the title and we would have gone through Orcs, CDs and Dwarves in the playoffs to do it!

[voyagers_uk]

Believe in the Chance. Sounds like you have your game plan all sorted now just execute it

[Smeborg]

Looks like the match is in Nurgle's favour. As you state, Guard can be largely negated by spreading players and picking when and how to engage.

Watch out for fouls on the slayer Pests.

Doing nothing is often the best option for the Beast in this kind of set-up.

Hope that helps.

[SunDevil]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, voyagers_uk, and thanks for the advice, Smeborg! It does indeed help!

I was wrong about the +1 to kick/receive, that applies to the playoffs but not to the Blood Bowl.

I'll post the results tomorrow, win or lose!

[SunDevil]

Nurgle won 1-0! The Irkalla Corruptors are Critical League champions!

We received and our first block was an injury - one Guard Longbeard gone! After that, we had several stuns and a few more cas, coupled with his Slayers rolling lots of Blocks and pushes. We were able to injure a Runner (Apothed) and both Blitzers, which severely limited the Dwarves' ability to maneuver. We hit as much as possible and scored on Turn 8.

My Beast failed his first two RS rolls, then made one and moved to tie up a Longbeard and a Slayer. Slayer took two dice uphill, skull, reroll, double POW, KO. Beast failed both his KO roll after our Turn 8, and at halftime and never returned.

Second half, we kick off and he has 9 players, no Apoth. We have eleven, but no Beast. The hitting continues but more stuns this half. We pop the ball out but can't recover. He recovers but now the Nurgle grip has the Dwarves right were we want them, Guard is spread out (or injured), they are looking at uphill blocks everywhere, and we are pressuring the ballcarrier. We pop it out again and recover but I see that my Pestigor carrier and two others would be grouped up for a fireball (He bought a Wizard outright, giving me 50k for a babe, which failed all four of my KO rolls ) so I GFI it...and fall over. He recovers and PUNTS! He GFI to avoid the Disturbing Presence but still has to contend with the Very Sunny weather...rolls a natural 6!

So we run after it, as does he. I gather it up with my 4AG Pestigor and he promptly eats a lightning bolt, which stuns him. Some careful positioning ensues and he almost pulls off a miracle sequence of dodging through Tacklezones but his Runner falls down. He has his other Runner in scoring position with a Longbeard Guarding him but only the fallen, not broken, Runner could possibly get it to him. With our primary ballcarrier stunned and our backup ballcarrier marked up across the pitch, we surround the fallen Runner and kick him in the head! Our Rotter is ejected but the Runner is stunned! Dwarves try a desperation blitz to push a Warrior onto the ball but fail the Dodge and the game ends 1-0 for the Nurgle! We also ended up winning the cas battle 6-2. Claw was big, of course, but my one Warrior without Claw or Mighty Blow had two cas himself! The second cas was quad sixes!

Now I have to pick a team for next season, since I am a staunch advocate for retiring championship teams. Maybe a victory lap season with Goblins? Thanks for all the comments and advice, I hope you enjoyed the write-ups and look for the recap on the next episode of Three Die Block!

Peace!

[Smeborg]

Well done SunDevil. A classic 1-0 Nurgle victory.

[Digger Goreman]

You are now the ALMIGHTY CHEESE SHREDDER!!!

Congrats on outplaying the bearded fromage