Dwarf team - tough skill choice

Tante Kaethe · Post by **Tante Kaethe** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:27 pm

Hi there,

I've just had my first match with my brand new Dwarf team and managed to pull off a 1:0 win against a TV156 Orc team

. The team is consisting of the pretty standard 2 Slayer, 2 Blitzer, 2 Runner, 5 Blocker, 3 RR, 3 FF.

Now the tough question: A slayer skilled up and I rolled a 6+4

I'm really torn about what to pick from the following options:

+AV: Slayers are the best player on the team and "only" have AV8. They are key targets and an AV9 would help a lot to keep him alive and on the pitch,

+MA: Slayers blitz a lot and with Frenzy they HAVE to GFI. MA6 would make them more mobile and can help avoiding GFIs.

Mighty Blow: if I had rolled a normal skill, MB would have been the definite choice. It helps the Slayer doing what he does best and that's hurting people. And with less opponents on the field the whole team performs better.

So please help me and give me your opinion on what to take

. The league is true "Perpetual Blood Bowl" as teams can be carried over from season to season. I must say I'm favouring ignoring the stat increase and take Mighty Blow (with +AV a close second).

Thanks a lot in advance

Tante Käthe

Gotten · Post by **Gotten** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:55 pm

Troll slayers do start with everything they need to be a good player, so instead of focusing on having one of them alive longer I would focus on doing as much damage with him as possible while he is still alive. +ma will help with that.

Another point would be that if you increase the armor on that slayer the other soft targets in your team will be targeted even more.

Ps. This is the thoughts of a person with close to no experience of actually playing with a dwarf team.

Mad Jackal · Post by **Mad Jackal** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:57 pm

My thoughts are thus.

Normally on a developed player I'd think AV to decrease player turn-over. But you are dwarves, so player turn-over is less an issue anyway. And this guy isn't developed. So I say +1 AV is a waste.

+1 Move is normally better on undeveloped players to turn them into more efficient developed players later. I do not see an exception to this tule for your Troll slayer. As you said +1 move will help him on his normal blitzing task to avoid some GFI. It will also increase his range to help chase down faster players or reach tougher to get to players.

Mighty Blow will be a fine 2nd skill. On a regular roll. Plus, with the extra speed you'll be able to get more catcher type guys brought under the mighty blow hammer.

I vote for +1 move.

Xeterog · Post by **Xeterog** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:09 pm

you really can't go wrong either way.

AV9 keeps him alive longer..MA 6 helps with the overall slowness of your dwarves.

Personally, I like taking the AV. doesn't help when you face a team with claws, but it helps all other instances.

For future skills after mighty blow..don't forget juggernaut. Helps that blitzing slayer turn a both down into a push so he can frenzy

Digger Goreman · Post by **Digger Goreman** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:21 pm

I had this dilemma with both of my first Necro team's Werewolves.... I went with +AV... BUT... these doggies have 8 MA! And, you're right, with low MA on your Slayer, +MA is gonna keep him up longer....

Take +MA

(lucky dog!, you get MB on a non-doubles!!!)

mattgslater · Post by **mattgslater** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:46 pm

MA6. Now you've got an extra scoring threat (at least in extremis). This will speed his improvement at least as much as Mighty Blow will.

Joemanji · Post by **Joemanji** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:26 pm

I took +1 MA on a Troll Slayer once, and I regretted it. The combination of AG 2 and Frenzy meant he was regularly in a tackle zone and unable to make use of the extra speed.

I vote +1 AV, and I really feel their lower armour is a weak spot. Frenzy can get them into trouble and I've found they are the player that takes most hits on a Dwarf team.

MB next.

Tante Kaethe · Post by **Tante Kaethe** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:36 pm

Wow, 5 replies within 1 hour

- thanks guys

!

mattgslater wrote:MA6. Now you've got an extra scoring threat (at least in extremis). This will speed his improvement at least as much as Mighty Blow will.

But he's only AG2, I'd only give him the ball in deep desperation (or if I'm leading with more than 2 TDs). Furthermore, MA6 is also less useful with AG2, he will be easily pinned in order to avoid him blitzing the ballcarrier... My normal plan was to give him Mighty Blow first followed by Stand Firm in order to play close to the sideline. Considering his job on the team, is MA6+MB really better than MB+SF (as he really won't be used for scoring)?

Cheers

Tante Käthe

Edit: Joemanji was quicker than me and made the point against MA6 a lot better than I did... So here I am, still wondering

stormmaster1 · Post by **stormmaster1** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:50 pm

MA is invaluble on dwarfs, as low speed is their main weakness. He will become alot more useful when things aren't going to plan, or as a safety on defence. although Slayers are the most vulnerable players on a dwarf team, they are still reasonable tough.

+MA will make him a better player, +AV will simply keep him around longer, and mean he misses less drives from the KO/cas box.

Joemanji · Post by **Joemanji** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:52 pm

And make him live longer, meaning he can develop and become a better player.

Gotten · Post by **Gotten** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:26 am

Dwarfs have enough players that never die, they don't need to base their future on a troll slayer. If he dies in the future it is easy enough to skill up a new one, after 6spp most of them gets mighty blow anyway.

mattgslater · Post by **mattgslater** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:49 am

It sounds like there are two schools on the value of AV and MA increases. If you're not of the opinion that MA is generally the better choice except at AV7/MA7+, then this is as good a time as any to get +AV. I think it's very hard to justify the the lost spot in your skill progression (and 10k TV hit) for an AV point, but if you disagree, this is the place to express it. After all, they take a lot of Armor rolls, are kind of not-so-tough, and don't get as much mileage from boosting their skill set as do other players.

So: Is building another receiver threat/deeper-than-average blitzer a better plan than protecting your sort-of investment? And is either noticeably better than MB and a continued progression towards any future combos? To that, I don't have a good answer here. The MA value is a direct impact, so I always pick it on AV8+ players by default. The AV bonus would be as good here as anywhere, and either works out well considering that your third improvement already gives you that "now what?" feeling.

Jural · Post by **Jural** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:10 am

I like the Movement, as when I play Dwarves my slayers aren't too frequently marked.

AV is fine, as is Mighty Blow. Frankly, I don't think you can go wrong here.

cyagen · Post by **cyagen** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:24 am

It depends on your playing style, but IMO MV is much more useful to a Dwarf team than anything else.

However, MB will accelerate the development of the Slayer...

That is why I hate rolling 10 on the first skill of any positional dwarf, too much good choices

kithor2002 · Post by **kithor2002** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:11 am

I'd take the +AV without hesitation.
AV8 is the weakness of the Slayers as you might face a lot bashy teams with Mighty blow in the further league development....