Next step!

[Mad Jackal]

Why invest 30k in a skill that will give tackle playes something to negate? (dodge). Especially as you are move reduced and agility 3 thus will dodge less.... is my side of the coin.


So side-step goes with Guard, and it goes better with guard than standfirm in many cases as it allows you to shift the guard into more places. It's not my favorite skill normally, as yous ay standfirm does an admirable job. But I do like it better than dodge for this palyer.

I would consider diving tackle but for the move reduction, that places it lower than side-step and dodge.

Dodge also lacks the abilty to couple with further skills. It really just becomes an extra bit of armor to make him harder to knock down. ST 4 and guard team mates in the scrum -which is where I advocate putting him - will do that already.

Sidestep also works with frenzy and tackle and fend. Funny enough, it works with standfirm too (for absoulute irritation of your opponent). But I would not put that on this player.

[mattgslater]

Tackle negates Dodge, but ST3/Tackle only negates ST4/Dodge very situationally. If you have a 1/2-die block, or even a 1-die block, against a guy with Block, the fact that you can negate his Dodge doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

[Mad Jackal]

Tackle negates Dodge, but ST3/Tackle only negates ST4/Dodge very situationally. If you have a 1/2-die block, or even a 1-die block, against a guy with Block, the fact that you can negate his Dodge doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Yes it does. If the only thing that places me down is the skull result and you fall down 2 out of 6 times and I push your quard off on 2 other times.
Heck yes I'm all over that. The odds of you falling down are 2:1 vs me falling down and your 30k skill is wasted.

Single dice block and you only have block to protect you?

HMM. wrestle and tackle and I'm all over it. Block and tackle. You got it.

Even two dice your choice. Only risk of me falling is the skull ? Yup.

As long as I'm choosing the square I push your guard to.

Now, when the side-step is there instead of dodge. I have to look at you moving that guard around inside the scrum / or off the flank to where YOU want it.

Suddenly those pushes are not my friend.... Once the push results are not my friend then I consider other things than not hitting you.

[stashman]

I will inform you how the blitzer with side step do in his next match. He can still die

With two Side Step blitzers, one Fend blitzer, one Fend lineman and one Stand Firm black orc the defenceline is solid, and I just got myself a troll just to add that extra ST5.

So I have six ST4 players and one ST5 player, thats alot in a AV9 team with enough guard to stand up against most teams.

[mattgslater]

@ Mad Jackal:

If your oppo is blocking your ST4/Dodge guy with a ST3/Tackle guy they're probably burning a couple of actions to get that 1d block. If you burn a couple of actions to get to a 1/3 chance to kd, it must have been very important, assuming burning those actions to get that 1d block is even possible (frequently against an MLB it's not). You also really need to do that at the end of your turn or early while you have a TRR, and that fact can force awkward decisions.

As for 2d against, if your opponent blocks 2d against against your guy with Block, you know you have done something right. There are 11 permutations that yield a skull on a 1/2 die block, but only four that yield a pow or stumble, so if the opponent is doing that he's taking a big risk to get a push, or he's a moron: either way, that's good. Wrestle/Tackle changes things a little, but even then, it's only another 5 perms to get both down (that's 9 total, or 25%, as opposed to 11 perms, or 31%, for a skull), and if Wrestle is used on the blitz, the attacker is done, which is bad on a blitz in shallow movement. He's also doing this block at end of turn, no matter how desperate he is: even with a TRR, it's a 10% chance of eating dirt, and without, it's like a 3+ dodge.

ST4/Guard players generally have more to worry about from Big Guys or ST4 players, against whom Dodge is just really cool (those guys seldom take Tackle), especially if you follow with Stand Firm.

I'm not saying Dodge is better here than Side Step, but it's better on this guy than it would be on a ST3 player. At 51 points, Dodge/Stand Firm is a nice comparison to Side Step/Frenzy, at least in a very bashy league.

[DoubleSkulls]

He's still an AG3 played - so dodge is good for increased mobility too. For me that's probably the tipping point at which dodge overtakes sidestep - otherwise they are pretty much of muchness.