What Next For A Human Thrower?

[Rituro]

My star thrower, Maximillian, is one completion away from his third upgrade. He already has Accurate and Strong Arm (thank you, doubles ), and I'm at a loss for what his next upgrade should be.

Best case scenario, I roll double 5s and give him +AV. Other scenarios... Safe Pass? Dump Off? Leader? (I already have four re-rolls... is a fifth overdoing it?) Side Step?

All comments and suggestions welcomed and appreciated!

[Digger Goreman]

He already has Accurate and Strong Arm....Leader? (I already have four re-rolls... is a fifth overdoing it?)

You could take leader and drop a reroll, thus saving you 10s of Thousands on Team Value....

I'd take Leader... or Block....

[Rituro]

...drop a reroll, thus saving you 10s of Thousands on Team Value...

You can drop a re-roll off your team, just like that? They're not permanent? Wow, if that's the case, Leader seems like the best choice.

Are we 100% sure that re-rolls can be freely discarded from a roster?

[DoubleSkulls]

Doubles I'd probaly take either dodge or sure feet to help him get to the ball to throw it (or keep away from trouble)

Normal skills safe throw or Nerves of steel IMO.

6,4 or 5,5 I'd take the +MA over +Av (he shouldn't get hit that often!)

[Xeterog]

...Leader? (I already have four re-rolls... is a fifth overdoing it?)...

That is a question you are in the best position to answer. Do you have RR's left at the end of each half right now? At the end of games lately, do you think "I could have used another RR" or "Darn, I have RR's left over"?

The answer to those questions will tell you if a 5th RR is too much or not.

Either way, I think I'd take Leader. If you don't need a 5th RR, then drop one and you'll drop your TV by 30k. (humans have 50k RR's right?).
--Yes, you can drop RR's, Assistant Coaches, Cheerleaders, even the apothecary if you wish. You can't drop Fan Factor. I'm not sure if you can directly drop treasury or not--but even if you couldn't, just buy and Fire cheerleaders until you get it as low as you want. Not sure why you would do that now, as treasury doesn't add to TV...but if you wanted to...

But Nerves of Steel or safe throw would be high on the list as well.

[mattgslater]

Normal: Nerves of Steel. If you have enough RRs, don't worry about Leader; a usable skill gives you more stuff and that's always better than a lower TV even if it doesn't look like it off-hand.

Doubles: Dodge? Keep him alive longer and often just as good as Nerves of Steel.

+Stat: Take it. +MA on 10.

[Lychanthrope]

I like Nerves of Steel. Really helps to takes full advantage of Accurate and Strong Arm.

[wesleytj]

I think it depends on how you use the Thrower. If you find yourself throwing the deep pass with him often, and with accurate and strong arm you might, then I would consider safe throw. If he gets hit a little more often than he should, consider block. I wouldn't use Dump Off unless you use him more like a runner/ ball carrier type, which I doubt given his current skill set.

I wouldn't go with Leader if you already feel comfortable with the # of rerolls you possess. What others have said about lowering the TV by 30k is true, but whether or not that's worth "wasting" a skill on is debatable, especially on a positional player. I would say that it's not; you'd be better with something that helps him on the field, as illustrated with the above choices.

With doubles I'd consider Dodge strongly. It would help with durability in many of the same ways as Block, and would additionally be nice for when you need him to dodge to go get the ball and throw it.

All the upgrades would be nice too. I'd have a tough time choosing between +AV and +MA, and again it would depend on how you use the thrower. Probably +MA.

[Rituro]

Thanks for the input, all. Great stuff! Here's what I'll go with:

Normal skill: Nerves Of Steel. Maintaining my 2/2/3/4 to pass is a no-brainer when the core of my game depends on passing.

Double skill: Dodge. Getting to the ball when marked -- and yes, Maxi is marked often, and rightly so -- is of huge important. Plus, it negates the knockdown on Def. Stumbles, which should keep my thrower up long enough to escape (until Tackle comes along, that is... don't be getting any funny ideas, Amadan ).

Stat increase: MA. Originally, my thought was to go with AV to counter Mighty Blow and to generally keep Maxi alive, but the quicker I can get to the ball, or the further downfield I can get before chucking the ball, the better.

Once again, thanks for all the help! Now I just need to get that one completion...

[Snew]

Maybe you'll get lucky and hell be killed in the next game and you won't have to agonize over it.

[Jural]

I'm glad you mentioned this. My first Dark Elf team ended up with so many stat increases and doubles rolls that I had a ton of difficult decisions on the 2nd and 3rd skill ups. I agonized over them a lot (Do I pick up Dodge or Leap on the AG 5 blitzer? Is AG 5 worth it on a kick linemen... Do I want my strength 4 elf to have guard or block?)

I just completed a season where I had 15 games and two stat increases, both of them in my final game!

I wish I had those things to worry about again

Maybe you'll get lucky and hell be killed in the next game and you won't have to agonize over it.

[mattgslater]

Stat increases look like the great unequalizer, but they're not. My worst season ever, I had a Thrower with +AG, two Blitzers with +AG, one Blitzer with +MA and the other with +ST, plus a +ST lino with Block. I still lost a late-season game to end at 7-3, and then lost my first playoff!

It's kind of weird, how the stat increase plays with your team development plans; it's usually too good to ignore, but you didn't really plan for it and maybe were hoping under your breath just to get a normal roll so you don't have to think about it and you just take the one skill that helps your team gel together.

[Cramy]

Stat increases look like the great unequalizer, but they're not. My worst season ever, I had a Thrower with +AG, two Blitzers with +AG, one Blitzer with +MA and the other with +ST, plus a +ST lino with Block. I still lost a late-season game to end at 7-3, and then lost my first playoff!

It's kind of weird, how the stat increase plays with your team development plans; it's usually too good to ignore, but you didn't really plan for it and maybe were hoping under your breath just to get a normal roll so you don't have to think about it and you just take the one skill that helps your team gel together.

For me, I found that stats increases can cause me to lose track of my game plan. I had an Orc team with to ST5 BOBs, an AG4 Blitzer, and an Accurate, Strong Arm Thrower. My offence went to heck. Trying long passes to score quickly, not blocking with the ST5 BOBs because they didn't have block, while the other two did.

I think that I've learned from it, and will not make those strategy mistakes again. An Orc team has to play like an Orc team. They're not Elves, and lining-up 3 dice blocks with ST5 BOBs is not that difficult. I've learned a lot about Blood Bowl since then as well. I'd like to get my hands on such a team and try them again ...

[stormmaster1]

human throwers benifit from mobility lots: so dodge, sure feet, Ma and Ag are excellent if you're lucky. Otherwise i'd take block over leader for when you can't avoid the hit. NOS is only useful if you think you'll be passing out of tackle zones. Nice in theory but i've never needed to use it. safe throw or dump off are both good skill but you'd just have to decide which would be used more. Fend could also be useful.

[Digger Goreman]

Ditto on NOS... I took it early on my Orc thrower and only used it once... at which time my opponent rolled a six for the only interceptor

Alas... no sure throw....