The Oathbreakers, Chaos Dwarf progression.

[Xanthier]

As those of you who've seen my wip thread will know, I'm playing a Chaos Dwarf team, in a very small store/uni league (5 players, possibly 7 since my girlfriend and her dad are both interested in starting). I started with the following standard roster:

2 Bull Centaurs,
5 Chaos Dwarfs,
4 Hobgoblins,
3 Re-rolls,
1 Fan factor,
10k saved.

I've done alright so far, with a 0-1 loss to Goblins due to an abysmal 7 1's in a row to pick up a ball followed by a 2, then a success before tripping up with my prime Bull Centaur to have a Goblin stand up, grab the ball, and go for it in to the endzone. My other 3 games have win reasonable wins, 2-0 ahainst Norse, 2-1 against Undead and 3-0 against the same Norse team.

Both Bull Centaurs got Block before Break Tackle and I don't regret that at all, since they both seemed to eat a lot of turf when blitzed due to a lack of Bloack, especially against the Norse. 3 Chaos Dwarfs have gained Guard, and both Bull centaurs and a Hobgoblin are close to gaining an improvement roll, as is a currently unskilled Chaos Dwarf.

However, now I have 3 Guard Dwarfs, should I go for any other skills, or just continue along the route of Guard for all? I'm considering making my Hobgoblin some kind of ball carrier as the Centaurs are only a casualty or two from their next improvement anyway, and will probably become mobile harassment. With the (generally) low AV for the teams I'm facing, would any Dwarf doubles be better spent of Mighty Blow, even though there are two Trolls, a potential Snow Troll, Wights, Zombies and Mummies to contend against also?

Another main issue is team rating. With the purchase of an Apothecary, Assistant Coach and Cheerleader, coupled with rising fan factor and skill improvements and the most likely necessary 12th team member (6th Chaos Dwarf), after 4 games my rating is 126 with 140k in the treasury. In the last 2 games I gave out over 200,000 inducements, which wasn't overly pleasant. Is there any way to retain a good team and yet not have a rapidly spiraling team rating? Against the Norse when I won 3-0 I was up against 2 star players, Norse chainsaw and Norse bombardier, and it was... interesting.

So, any tips on team direction? Should I save up for a Minotaur? More re-rolls? Cheerleaders etc? Also, any play tips in general for Chaos dwarfs? I'm doing fairly well, but occasionally a nippy Norse or thrown Goblin lands in the clear and, barring a ridiculous number of go for its, they're hard to pin down.

[stashman]

Stand Firm and Mighty Blow on some dwarfs.

Two hobgoblins with Wrestle, Tackle & Strip Ball

Two hobgoblins with Block, Sure Hands & Fend (Dodge on doubles)

[Storch]

Since you've got 3 guards, I would take mighty blow on the other dwarves. If you get lucky and roll the doubles take claws on one or two of them to head them down the claws, mighty blow, piling on path. As they are slow, the second double once you have the claws should be jump up. You can really tear up the line once you get going with those.

[Master Wang]

Get the mino just so I can see the paint job and/or any conversions on your other thread

[Xanthier]

Cheers for the advice so far everyone. Claws, mighty blow and piling on really is vicious... nice. Cheers for that Storch. As for the Hobgoblins, I think I'd go down the block, sure hands and fend route first to add some much need ball carrying to the team, as most, if not all, my re-rolls go on that.

Lucky for you Master Wang, I actually already have a converted Minotaur in my thread on page 1, and it'll be painted up regardless if it's included in the team or not, but the team itself will come first. It's sculpted hand needs the knuckles touched up properly, and I'm still debating whether to give it a ringlet beard or not...

[PubBowler]

With the (generally) low AV for the teams I'm facing, would any Dwarf doubles be better spent of Mighty Blow, even though there are two Trolls, a potential Snow Troll, Wights, Zombies and Mummies to contend against also?

The first 2 CD doubles are Diving Tackle in my head.
Maybe one guy who gets doubles with his first roll to get Claw, MB, Dauntless, Piling On.

Another main issue is team rating. With the purchase of an Apothecary, Assistant Coach and Cheerleader, coupled with rising fan factor and skill improvements and the most likely necessary 12th team member (6th Chaos Dwarf), after 4 games my rating is 126 with 140k in the treasury. In the last 2 games I gave out over 200,000 inducements, which wasn't overly pleasant.

Inducements are generally worse than rostered stuff so don't do without stuff you need.
Just cut back on stuff you can do without.

For example, I wouldn't be taking Cls or ACs unless everyone in the league has them.

[Xanthier]

Cheers PubBowler, nice advice.

As stated in my wip thread for the team, I played a game against Goblins, winning 4-0 with 5 casualties caused and 2 taken. Unfortunately the 2 taken were on Chaos dwarfs when attempting to dodge, resulting in -1 movement to one (the Apothecary re-roll was the same number...) and a niggling injury to the other. My second Bull centaur scored 3 of the 4 touchdowns and caused 2 of the 5 casualties, gaining an advance. The first Bull Centaur got the MVP, also gaining an advance.

The 2nd Cebntaur's advance was a normal skill, Break Tackle is an obvious choice. However as he seems to score more than maim, would Sure Hands be a good next skill choice? I've seen Tackle recommended, but I have Chaos Dwarfs for that. I've not rolled the 1st Centaur's advance yet.

Also, as I won another 70k (fairly consistent winning, 60k for the first game and 70k each game thereafter...) I have 210k in my treasury. Should I replace either/both of the injured Chaos dwarfs? Neither have any skills or spp. Should I keep them and use them for line of scrimmage fodder?

Lastly, if I keep the injured Chaos Dwarfs, should I hire a Minotaur? It'd leave me with 60k in the treasury, enough to replace a Chaos Dwarf after the next game, as well as giving me a strength 5 mighty blow player, regardless of wild animal and loner..

Cheers for any advice.

[Storch]

-MV on a chaos dwarf on the line will most likely never even be noticed (by you or your opponent).

As for the niggling injury, I'd wait to see if it becomes an issue later. If he gets killed because of it, the problem solved itself. If he gets an injury, re-evaluate then. With AV9, I wouldn't worry about it too much right now.

[bouf]

I'm a big fan of building one Bull as a "Runner" type of player.

Break Tackle, Block, Sure hands/Kick-off Return... (dodge)

Bulls are quick and having a ST4 ball runer is never bad! Your opponent needs a Squad of meat heads to drag him down and if they fail, He's off! Fend is another good skill for a guy like this.

Make the other Bull a "Blitzer" type

Block, Frenzy, Juggernaught/Tackle... (Jump Up)

Run into the back field and make a nuicance of yourself! If you Roll Jump Up Early, take Wrestle instead of Block.

If you get a taur, Never-Ever use him to blitz unless you really have to! Forget that he has Horns!!! Take pasive skills for him, Block, Stand Firm, Guard, Tentacles... That kind of thing. The Taur is in my opinion, the weakest point on a CD team. You should still get one to act as a $hi+ magnet, but don't worry about trying to make him useful. Let him distract your opponent and thats about it.

Doubles on Dwarves.... Claw is good but I believe there are better options. Get one claw for sure! On your first doubles even... But after that take Disturbing Presence (or Diving Tackle if you already have Stand Firm). CDs are a magic team on defence... taking skills that activate on your opponents turn will only make defence better!

Non Doubles Dwarves... Stand Firm and Guard are your best friends. Take two guarders and the rest SF as first skills. after that build according to taske with a sprinkling of Mighty Blow. DO NOT overlook Dauntless! It's magic for this team once you have to fight ST teams... Completely robs them of any advantage!

Of course, I've only played a handful of games with the HATS so most of this is theorybowl... But I think most of the ideas are pretty grounded.

[whitetiger]

-MV on a chaos dwarf on the line will most likely never even be noticed (by you or your opponent).

As for the niggling injury, I'd wait to see if it becomes an issue later. If he gets killed because of it, the problem solved itself. If he gets an injury, re-evaluate then. With AV9, I wouldn't worry about it too much right now.

Yep. I wouldn't worry about either of them until their injuries create a problem.

I also wouldn't take tackle on the CD. Sure hands is not a bad option. Break tackle is an obvious choice and one I'd definately take. I also think Mighty BLow is a good choice for him. You said he made 2 CAS last game. Sounds like he's into the rough and tumble anyway. Why not give him a skill that'll really add to that. Or give him frenzy.

[Xanthier]

For a Minotaur on a Chaos Dwarf team, only Strength skill access is provided, anything else requires a doubles roll. General, agility, passing and mutations are all on doubles. I'll still get one to act as a strength 5 pain magnet, but to get lots of defensive skills like those mentioned could take a while. Guard and Stand Firm are both strength, so I assume those would be the ones to go for first, with Block on the first double?

At any rate, cheers for the advice Storch and bouf, it's greatly appreciated.

[bouf]

Block on the first double?

Me? I'd take tentacles... but Block is the usual way to go...

If you go three skills without a doubles, I'd take Grab.

[PubBowler]

The 2nd Cebntaur's advance was a normal skill, Break Tackle is an obvious choice. However as he seems to score more than maim, would Sure Hands be a good next skill choice? I've seen Tackle recommended, but I have Chaos Dwarfs for that. I've not rolled the 1st Centaur's advance yet.

For me, both Bulls need Break Tackle & Block.

After that:
One gets Tackle, Mighty Blow to beat on catchers.
One gets Frenzy, Stand Firm to be a crowd push threat.

bouf mentioned Wrestle. For me a hobbo gets Wrestle, Tackle & Strip Ball.

Also, as I won another 70k (fairly consistent winning, 60k for the first game and 70k each game thereafter...) I have 210k in my treasury. Should I replace either/both of the injured Chaos dwarfs? Neither have any skills or spp. Should I keep them and use them for line of scrimmage fodder?

I wouldn't drop the niggling one but would consider replacing the -MA one.
MA3 means a GFI if you are knocked down and they don't follow up.
It's the same reason that a MA4 Mummy is better than a MA3 one..

Lastly, if I keep the injured Chaos Dwarfs, should I hire a Minotaur? It'd leave me with 60k in the treasury, enough to replace a Chaos Dwarf after the next game, as well as giving me a strength 5 mighty blow player, regardless of wild animal and loner..

I'd tend towards a Mino and I'd build for blitzing (3 dice with an assist).
Juggernaut, Stand Firm (so they can play by the sidelines) Claw on doubles.
If your first roll is a double, then Block.

[SillySod]

Firstly your Bull Centaurs, excluding stat increases and doubles you should take break tackle. After this continue along the route of hunter/blitzer type players, leave ball handling to your hobgoblins unless you get touchback or are really desperate. I like PubBowlers suggestions.

Personally I'd rather have another chaos dwarf before a minotaur although you'll have both after one game anyway. I'd get at least 4 chaos dwarfs guard and the last two mighty blow so they can catch up. Just taking guard first on all of them is solid too.

Finally the really fun bit of the team, the minotaur. My first bit of advice is to play it in character, "RAWR" with rage and stampede across the board, remember that he looks scary. Use your horns to go for 3D blitzes whenever possible but try to get some positional advantage at the same time. I like to use mine as a linebreaker, make sure his 3D block (with guard assist of course) smashes a key player in your opponents line and leaves the minotaur in the middle of their formation. Do it right and its pretty terrifying, bear in mind that it will get him stuck in the thick of the action for the rest of the drive though.
Skills wise I'd really want block and for me guard is still the first skill choice partly because I want two chances to roll doubles for block and partly because guard makes his stampede into a formation more profitable. Juggernaught is a clear second skill if you havent rolled doubles though. If you end up with juggernaught then roll doubles block is a bit of a waste. Claw is nice but I'd really fancy tentacles (especially if I did get block). Tentacles is nice because it keeps players next to him so he dosent have to blitz (as well as tying up key players). If you go with the claw route and roll a 2nd doubles then jump up is your friend, the perfect compliment to a MB/claw/PO player.

[Joemanji]

You need Break Tackle on your bulls asap IMO. Without it they are just 130K Black Orcs, as they'll be pinned easily and not get to use all that speed.

Guard as a first skill on all your CDs, no question. It is the only skill they actually need, things like MB are just icing. Trust me, every CD you don't take Guard on will be sorely regretted.

Don't sack either of your injured CDs yet. You'd be surprised how long they can go without another injury. If you keep getting good winnings replaced eventually I guess.

Don't worry about TV bloat. Inducements obey the law of diminishing returns. The more you push your TV up, the less effect Inducements will seem to have against you. 200K range is probably the worst place to be. Spend some of that money.

I don't bother with a Minotaur anymore. They have cost me dear just by never standing up or moving and leaving me with effectively 10 (or fewer) players.

Hobgobs should get Sure Hands / Block / Tackle / Kickoff Return etc in no particular order.