Talk Fantasy Football

I've got a human team going into year two in ten team league. I've rolled doubles on two of my lineman skill-ups and so have two linemen (as well as one blitzer) with guard. I rolled doubles with another blitzer so picked up dodge and got a blodger. My question is: With the other blitzers first skill-ups do I automatically go for guard with their first skill? I am really starting to like the versatility of guard, (offensive/defensive) but perhaps I need to branch out and make some tacklers... Any help is appreciated.

-the "Harbingers of Doom" thank you.
edit: I apologize, but I do not have my roster in front of me. From memory it goes something like
4 blizters, 1 with dodge, 1 with guard
2 throwers both with accurate
3 catchers, one with block and leap (my little scoring machine)
8 lineman, two with guard
apoth, 7FF, 2 TRR

In my oppinion, you can't have too much guard.

Take guard and then look at tackle, mighty blow etc for 2nd skill

I would get yet another guard, and once you have four guys guarding the others, I'd consider geting mighty blow or tackle on the other two (depending on your league, if there are not many fast teams tackle on linemen will do just fine).

Guard, MB, and Tackle are the top three picks for the blitzing types. Many people subscribe to the belief that getting MB early can speed up that player's development to a second skill (as they're more likely to cause casualties) but I think it depends on the dynamic of your particular team. I too feel that you can (almost) never have too much guard... it's a fantastic skill, but for variety you may choose not to take it simply because otherwise it can get to be kind of a boring roster to look at. On my zon team I took 2 guards and 2 MB's as my 4 blitzers, and the MB players *may* get guard as a 2nd skill but they havent reached that point yet so I havent made up my mind. But it is nice running a Guard/MB pair of blitzers on each side of the pitch so that I have both tools available to me where I need them.

LOL Alfheimer, I have a lineman on my team named Simon Saysdie!

thanks all, mostly that solidifies what I was thinking. (guards are like cash and closet space, never too much).

arv9673 wrote:LOL Alfheimer, I have a lineman on my team named Simon Saysdie!

Jajaja, he will become a superstar, just don't let him die himself :

Guard is great, but it's even better in a stompy league. If you have lots of Dodgers in your league, you might want to consider taking Tackle on a couple of them early on (develop these guys with Mighty Blow, Pro, or if you anticipate several games against AG teams, Piling On). The fact that you've already got 3 Guards means you're more open to do this. If you're going up against a lot of stompy teams, Guard saves lives, but if you've already got a bunch of Guard, Dauntless on a Blitzer works well too (esp. against Lizards, Orcs, Chaos, Khemri and Undead, but not against Dwarfs). Mighty Blow is a good choice, too. It was better as an initial skill in 3rd ed (when you only needed 11 spp to get your second roll), but taken early, it does pay dividends. MB is particularly valuable against low-AV players, and it's at its best as a first skill selection.

If you think you're better than average as a player, or if you don't mind giving up an advantage and losing a couple more games, Human Blitzers are a great place to play around with cool skills like Pass Block and Stand Firm.

Also, is it a scheduled league or an open format? In a scheduled league, you should look to see if you get a clump of Dodge teams at any point in the league. If so, try to get at least two Tacklers before that happens. You'll be happy with the result. Get Mighty Blow players early if you have an early run against low-AV pounding teams, like Norse, Chaos Dwarfs, Undead or Khemri (though you'll want Guard and Dauntless as well to help you weather the Khemri). It's beyond me to give advice about open formats.

Thanks, mattgslater, some good advice there.
It is a scheduled league. I have to admit, this is my first BB experience and I hadn't thought about choosing skills for particular opponents, just for making my team better. I really like the flexibility of the Human team. It avoids all the nonesense you get when Dwarves meet Amazons etc (both of whom will be playing this next season). The league I'm in has 1 Skaven team (champ last year WOOT! go ABBY!), 1 Woodelf team (runner-up), 2 Orc teams, 1 Undead, 1 Chaos, 2 Humans (self included), 1 Dwarf, and one coach who has not as yet decided their team. Only one team had what I would consider an experienced coach (Wood Elf); he was undefeated heading into THE BLOOD BOWL. I guess, keeping it balanced is a generally good idea. Why fight the humans innate middle-of-the-road-ness? "Be able to do what your opponent cannot" is my motto.
maybe I'll put that in my signature...

Sounds like you have a bit of everything, but But between Skaven runners, elves, ghouls and human catchers you are going to need a couple of tacklers.
A clear minority of players with dodge, sure, but they are either ball carriers or scoring threats, so it's crucial to be able to take them down.
Still, unless your next game is against one of those it might be good to take the opportunity to load up on guard.
You'll need it just to stay alive.

I like to spread out skills between my blitzers on Human teams. The first two will usually take Guard, the third will take MB for his first skill and the fourth Tackle.

How good are the Orc, Dwarf and Undead players, and when do you face off against Chaos? You want Guard or (for variety) Dauntless against them. Dauntless is reliable against Chaos Warriors and Black Orc Blockers, and is great against Mummies. Guard is not only good against the pounders, but will help you against other teams, something Dauntless won't do, so I'd rank Guard over Dauntless, but you could make some use of it if you get it late season just before you play the Orcs or Undead (assuming you get them late). If you're really in it to win it, you'll want Tacklers before facing the Skaven and Woodies, as those sound like the teams to beat.