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Well in 3 weeks time our league starts in Preston. I am playing wood elves as i did last year and just missing out on a playoff spot to a high elf team
Anyway i am just after some advice on how to handle the following teams which are in my group.
Necromantic,
Nurgle,
Norse,
Dark elf,
Dwarf,
Orc,
Wood elf (Me).
I have played some of these races before and have done ok but this season i want to make the playoffs.
My team.
2 x wardancer,
2 x catcher,
1 x thrower
6 x lineman
2 x re-roll
2 x fan factor
The races i think i will have poblems with the most are D elves and Necromantic.
To be honest, I think that Delves and Necros will be your easiest games! (Delves develop slowly and Necros aren't really that bashy).
You will need a tree first off-he will save your linemen from getting clobbered on the LOS and even if that is all he does, he is worth the 120k. I'd sacrifice the thrower, a catcher and a FF for him and a lino.
Your biggest problem will be keeping your elves alive/uninjured. Journeymen will help but.....
So your best bet is to keep scoring and keep getting those KO rolls so that your numbers on the pitch stay reasonable. Assuming most of the teams cage up, the best way to do this is jump in with a wardancer (pref with strip ball) pop the ball loose, get the ball away to a waiting player who can then run off and score. Easier said than done, but certainly at the beginning, before the opo ball carriers all have block, sure hands (and poss dodge) and those in the cage have guard, it is certainly very do-able. Don't be tempted to do it too early-you'll want your players in a good position to be able to make the most of the ball going loose, so pick your time carefully.
Kick is also vital, so you can force the opo to form his cage way back in his own half and hopefully steal it from him b4 it is fully formed. This should be the first lino skill. Best against dwarves, nurgle and the slower teams.
Don't worry too much about getting "scoring" skills-all your players are at least MA7 and AG4, so they can all score pretty well. Your skills should generally be directed toward causing TOs, getting the ball and staying alive. So block, wrestle and dodge are all good (although with the dwarves already with a lot of tackle and the Norse likely to get it on their linos pretty soon, its use may be a bit limited).
Stay away from the Nurgle beast-you will find it very difficult to escape those tenticles. Although if you can, set the tree near him, or possibly even sacrifice a lino (or journeyman) to stop him getting in good positions. Nugle teams take a long time to get good, but when they do, they are probably the worst match up-all that Dist' Pres' forces you to do a running game, which you aren't best suited too. I have struggled against Nurgle with woodies, but i think i've now worked out how to beat them-when receiving, try to form a cage in your opo's half so that your pass and catch aren't affected by DP, then tie up the beast with someone (so he can't blitz your cage and put his tenticles on the ball carrier) and then run out and score. Nurgle offence isn't great, so if you can relieve them of the ball in their half, you will hopefully be able to run the ball in without having to throw it.
You will out-skill and out-run the delf team, so should be able to beat them at elf ball, but once his runners get NOS and go in pairs, it can be very difficult to get the ball from them.
Get an APO asap too.
Oh, and pray that Nuffle smiles on you-Woodies are potentially (one of) teh most rewarding team, but if you are continually short-elved, you will struggle.
I would say your biggest problem is Dwarf and Norse. The player coaching the teams might influense this alot, but basicly those tend to be the two of the hardest teams for woodelves to face. If played reasonably well, a developed norse team is really a horrible team for woodelves to face. Otherwise I largely agree with what Aliboon said. First buy is a treeman, those are great in a bashy invironment. Do you have a kicker? You will really need it against the two slow bashy teams (dwarf & orc) and its really nice vs the rest too. Kick deep vs all but darkelves, and use your speed to put preassure on them before they manage to form a proper cage. It can be hard if the basher coach know how to play against woodelves and you will have to prove your worth as a coach, but most basher coaches have no clue in that matchup so you will have plenty of time to practice before they learned their lesson by playing you
I dont like wrestle for woodies, I think block is better. I do think that taking offense skills is helpfull and I have written long posts in other threads about that, but basicly block and dodge for most your players is the way to go. You linos, should take block dodge, then maybe block side-step on one (antidwarf lineelf) block-tackle (elfbowling lineelf) on another and so on.
Then follow the basic rules of damage management. Dodge your players away and dont leave them in tacklezones unless its really really helpfull. Also, and Im bad at that, you dont have to winn 5-0. When your leading 2-0 against the bashers, play a more conservative defense and try instead to save your players and slow him down. Take any obvious chances to steal the ball ofcourse.
To add to all this, get strip ball on at least one of your Wardancers as soon as you can.
I agree with Fishking that all other things being even, the Dwarves and the Norse will probably be your most difficult opponants. Unless the Dark Elf coach knows what he is doing. Then, the Dark Elves will be your most difficult game. If the Dark Elf coach is decent, he'll draw you into a fight and he's fast enough to keep at you and he's just as agile as you. Don't let him draw you into a fight. He has higher AV and he'll tend to win a brawl. Use your damage controls strategies just as you would against true bash teams. You'll just have to do it at a faster pace.
Reason:''
It's a Dark Elf world, we just let you live in it to provide fresh victims. - and I still want an Executioner to kill sauruses with.
Dark elf coach should know what he is doing as he won the WPS CC event last year with dark elves. The dwarf coach is not that great so i think i can deal with him but the necromantic player is very good, he's a stats man, he will sit there and work out the best move to make due to the percentage.
I am normaly a bashy player myself. I tend to do well with orcs and dwarves and have had a good run with norse as well. I played wood elves in our league last year and found them a little frustrating when your team ends up with about 6/7 men by the end of the game.
This season i think i will do better as i have learnt some of the stuff they can do and how to use the wardancers. I have not gone with a tree straight off because i did this last year and i want to see the difference between the two teams.
Your team WILL end up with 6 or 7 players in alot of games. But thats all good because you by that point is leading with 2 or more touchdowns, and eaven with 6 players your team is kompeditive.
Darkelves is somewhat challenging to play, but can be very dangerous in the hands of a good coach. Your team should be the better one before your both reach a tv around 220 though.
I still tend to think Fischerking is right on this. You're going to want to do a lot more damage control to keep your players healthy. Wood Elves seem to do better when they play the avoidance game and run and gun with the ball. Being down 3 or 4 players on a turn is not that big a problem when you can outrun everybody else, it's when you play the faster teams and you get down that many that it really starts to show.
Reason:''
It's a Dark Elf world, we just let you live in it to provide fresh victims. - and I still want an Executioner to kill sauruses with.
