Norse Team - First three games

[mattgslater]

Yeah. PO is better on any given failed roll, but only very marginally so, and even if you have Jump Up the drawback is quite meaningful. So only grab Piling On if you've got Mighty Blow already and want to... um... pile on.

[PubBowler]

I disagree with this

There are basically two skills that are better on Berserkers than any other standard skill: Guard and Stand Firm.

Because I agree with this

I still think that you either have to develop Berserkers either as casualty-generators or as blocking threats.

Blocking threats are there to push players off the pitch, frenzy opponents up to your Snow Troll, and put assists where your opponent doesn't want them.

Casualty generators are there to take as many opponents off the pitch, by whatever means possible.

And this

Piling On is not twice as powerfull as Mighty Blow. Not even Close. MB then PO, always.

Personally I prefer Ulfs with Block, Stand Firm & Guard and Blitzers with MB & PO.

[Andromidius]

Personally I prefer Ulfs with Block, Stand Firm & Guard and Blitzers with MB & PO.

I think I'll be going down this route. Though the Ulferners will be getting Guard before Stand Firm, I think.

~Andromidius

[DDogwood]

That's wrong. It's not twice as powerfull as Mighty Blow. Not even Close. MB then PO, always.

It depends on how you look at it. Piling On isn't twice as likely to cause a Casualty as Mighty Blow, but in terms of taking a player of AV 9 or less off the pitch, it is roughly equivalent to adding +2 to the Armor or Injury roll instead of +1. Obviously having PO+MB is far superior.

I wouldn't take Piling On before Mighty Blow on any other player, but the Berserker has a few distinct features that make him a more attractive player for the skill:

He doesn't need anything beyond his starting skills to be good at hitting people.
He has Jump Up, so the penalty for being prone is much smaller than for other players.
He has Frenzy, so he is often at risk of ending up close to the sidelines. If he's prone, it's almost impossible to push him off and risky to try to pin him down there.
Fouling sucks in LRB5. A fouling player has nearly a 1-in-3 chance of being sent off, so leaving a juicy target like a casualty-rich Berserker lying on the pitch will tempt many players to lose their own players fouling him. The risk of losing a 1-skill Berserker isn't all that high in comparison (as oppoed to a 40skill Berserker).[/list]

[NightDragon 2]

I am going to start with a Norse team in the new Lakeside League starting soon and I am inclined to go with the starting roster Mattgslater suggested. One thing I have a query with is the lack of FF. Is this a problem or not? Cheers folks.
ND.

[PubBowler]

In LRB5 probably not.

It's difficult to be sure that FF hasn't had an effect but (irc) DoubleSkulls has reported being there being no difference in the amount of FF a team has at the end of a league between teams that bought some at the start and those that didn't.

Personally I wouldn't take any more than FF2 unless I was playing reroll denial with a Halfing team.

But then I did post a Norse team which has FF2...

[NightDragon 2]

I noticed. I did like the one you suggested but was concerned about the lack of Runners. It is a difficult choice. How do Norse teams tend to do in League play? Any stats?

[PubBowler]

Pretty good is my understanding.

They suffer a little long term due to low AV but they genereally don't need that many skills to be effective.

Certainly I wouldn't worry about it.

[jammydodger]

just wanted to throw in a little of my own experience (not much, only 20 odd games played with the horned ones).
the main problem you're facing with your norse is av7. it is almost sure to crumple at some stage and then you are up the proverbial creek.
second problem is low ag, no sure hands. you're going to turnover a lot until you get this skill, on at least one player, because either you use the same player to pick it up each drive (which someone suggested) and sink the spps into him, or try passing, which is about as unlikely to succeed.
the main bit of abvice i can offer is: don't get into brawls. you will lose. av 7, even with block is not a long term defence. for this reason, i actually have to say that fend could make a serious difference, because if you keep piling in (not on) to the opponent eventually you will go down for the count and unless you're playing woodies, it'll be before them. you want to fight in one place, kick ass there and then disengage. norse are guerillas not battleline fighters, use them as such.
i like the team that matt posted, as it allows you to capitalise on your frenzy, which is the second biggest norse advantage (the first being block!). learn how to crowd-surf someone from any position on the pitch, learn how to read the pushes you should be making (andromidius' game against necros shows how bad it can go wrong (no offence andromidius, everyone has a hard time with frenzy the first time, because it can do so much good and so much self-damage) and how to score in one turn.
anyway, thats about all. its a bit mashed together, but i hope it makes some sense.
jammer

[Andromidius]

Played my second match this evening. I'm slowly starting to learn how to play this game properly...

-----------------------

Match #2 - Humans

I'm down a man due to injury, but the Human team has such a huge Team Rating that I get a huge 770k in inducements! A Halfling Master Chef, 3 Rerolls, a Babe and a mercenary Ulfwerener were my choices.

The Humans were made up of three Blitzers (one with Guard and one with Strip Ball, from what I remember), 2 Throwers (one with AV4), 1 Catcher (typical skills), an Ogre (with Multiple Block) and 8 Linemen (one with S5!).

I get 9,000 fans turn up, and the Humans get 35,000! +2 FAME for the Humans then... The weather is fine for the entire match. My Halfling Master Chef gives me a mere one reroll (not enough Beer!), though this still brings me up to 6 for the half. Nice.

I win the coin flip and kick. The Humans swiftly scoop up the ball and score on turn 2 with their Catcher. Fine by me.

Next the ball goes out of bounds and is touched back to one of my Runners. I blitz a hole in the Human's line and the Human Catcher trips up on his own bootlaces and injures himself (huzzah!). We beat on each other a little but not alot happens (bar the Mercenary Ulfwerener getting sent off for a foul against a Blitzer) and I score on turn six. Maybe not the best thing, but the Humans were baring down on my loose cage (the humans would of needed to dodge at least twice to get at the ball carrier) and I needed to score quickly.

The humans quickly get hold of the ball and pass it to a Blitzer who manages to score after a tense couple of dodges on either side. My Ulfwerener is also injured by the Human's Ogre (though it was a thankfully low injury roll). End of the first half, and I'm 2-1 down...

Second half, and I only have 9 Norse starting on the pitch. Worse, the Master Chef's cooking only gets worse (WHAT?!?! NO BEER?!?!) and I get no extra rerolls! I go for it anyway despite my losses, and manage to get a relatively early touchdown (with the same Runner - new skill huzzah!)after injuring a Lineman with one of my own and knocking a Blitzer into the crowd with a Berzerker (only a knockout ).

The Human recieve the ball again and manage to get through my lines again (despite an unreliable Ogre) and survives my two Runners trying to stop the Blitzer's run and scores again with one turn to spare.

And then the Gods smile on me, and a Riot starts. The clocks are set back a turn and I have just enough time to score an equaliser. Despite some excellent blocking from my team I'm still left a square short (due to bad planning on my part, which I acknowledge).

Game over. Humans win 2-3, with 1 Casualty each.

--------------------------

My Norse performed quite well this game. If only I'd thought a turn ahead at the end I'd of scored a 3rd touchdown and carried the game into extra time. But alas, we must learn from mistakes...

I've learned more how to use Frenzy as well, always making sure I have an assist waiting for the second block. I also pushed someone into the crowd twice, which was quite satisfying. If only I'd had a bit more luck with that Master Chef my opponant would have suffered more from Turnovers and I might of stolen a victory. But we learn...

Two of my players managed to skill up, #5 Runner, Erik (who got Dodge), and #8 Blocker, David, who rolled double and got Guard. Very nice. My Thrower managed two completions this match as well, so he's on his way for a skill (probably Sure Hands first).

I gained the maximum 60k in winnings (and my opponant got the maximum of 90k due to +2 FAME!). Going to save that for buying a second Ulfwerener.

The Northern Renders

Ulfwerener - Rothgar Halfstruck - Frenzy - 0SPP - 90,000g
Berzerker - Beragond Icehowl - Frenzy, Block, Jump Up - 0SPP - 90,000g
Berzerker - Kjarl Ragefist - Frenzy, Block, Jump Up - 0SPP - 90,000g
Runner - Erik Erikkson - Block, Dauntless, Dodge - 6SPP - 110,000g
Runner - Boris Chillheart - Block, Dauntless, Dodge - 7SPP - 110,000g
Thrower - Fredrik Ström - Block, Pass - 2SPP - 70,000g
Lineman - Nils - Block - 0SPP - 50,000g
Lineman - David - Block, Guard - 7SPP - 80,000g
Lineman - Jens - Block - 0SPP - 50,000g
Lineman - Magnus - Block, Niggling - 0SPP - 50,000g
Lineman - Arne - Block - 0SPP - 50,000g

Rerolls: 2 - 120,000g
Fan Factor: 2 - 20,000g
Apothecary - 50,000g
Cheerleaders: 2 - 20,000g
Treasury: 70,000g

Team Rating: 107

=1,070,000g


~Andromidius

[whitetiger]

Actually, I think you did ok against a powerhouse team. Not bad. Definately get the surehands on the thrower. Guard was a good choice on the lineman. If you get the opportunity, give a couple more guard. Another Ulfwerner isn't a bad idea either. Seriously think about not putting your Ulfs on the LOS. Use them as linebackers when you're on defense and as blitzers on offense. That 4 ST can make a great hole for you ballcarrier.

[Cramy]

35,000 fans? I'm assuming that it's a typo as I don't think it is possible to get that many fans.

How did you like the Master Chef? I have never taken him, as he is too expensive for what he gives IMO. I probably would have given block to the Merc Ulf, and taken a couple of Bribes.

I also think you did very well against a team that has such a high TV compared to yours. Congrats.

[mattgslater]

I'm glad to see you're saving up for another Ulf. They're too expensive for the line (and you don't have enough ST to protect them), but they make awesome linebackers, especially once they get Stand Firm or Block.

Your team looks like it's building very well, Andromidius. It's a pleasure to see coach develop along with his teams.

[Andromidius]

35,000 fans? I'm assuming that it's a typo as I don't think it is possible to get that many fans.

Fan Factor 8, coupled with very high dice rolling*.

And I'm actually a little unsure about the Ulfwerener now, and I'm being tempted by a Snow Troll. I'm finding it very hard to break armour at the moment (keep rolling 8's) and nearly every time I do I roll a 7 for effect!

So the question is, do I get the Ulfwerener or the Snow Troll first?

*Oh, hang on. We've been playing things wrong in that case. We've been playing D6 Fan Factor, not Fan Factor +2D6! I'd better point that out to everyone next week, because I think we're using an older LRB for that!

Edit: Oh, and the Master Chef is probably great. My dice rolling, on the other hand, isn't. That being said, my opponant was a little distraught at even losing a single reroll (from his pool of 5 standard...) during the first half.

~Andromidius

[whitetiger]

I'd go ahead and get the Ulf first. Just give them mighty blow. They'll start breaking armor for you. And with 2 of them smacking things around every turn, the odds go up by a lot. Just don't use them as one of the 3 mandatory on the line. I know it's tempting, but it isn't their first, best use. On offense, use them in tandem to bust a hole in the opposition line. On defense, linebackers.

Buy the troll next.