How many Hobgoblins will I need in a league?

jmw23 · Post by **jmw23** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:21 pm

I asked this question over in Newbies, since I'm new to CD, and the answer I got is 5. Does that sound right?

I am putting together my first Chaos Dwarf team. Obviously with a starting lineup that includes 6 CDs and 2 Bull Centaurs, I'll need 3 Hobgoblins to round out an 11 man squad. Beyond that, how many Hobgoblin models will I need? 8 to make a full sixteen man squad, or can I get away with fewer? Also, how many mutation Dwarfs should I model? I'm thinking Claws and one more. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thank you!

Andromidius · Post by **Andromidius** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:31 pm

Five sounds about right. Chaos Dwarves will rarely need a deep bench, and you don't want to have too high a Team Value to avoid giving away too much inducement to your opponants when the SPP's start piling onto your Bull Centaurs and Blockers.

Infact, if you find yourself in need of a 14th player I'd probably take a Minotaur. But chances are you'll probably never need one.

~Andromidius

mattgslater · Post by **mattgslater** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:32 pm

Six. Hobs are cheap, but running out of them is very bad.

Decker_cky · Post by **Decker_cky** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:52 pm

Hobgoblins are cheap and fill space. I'd get 15 players whether or not you get a minotaur. There'll be games where you get a hobgob tossed or a CD goes out, and once you're down a bit, the hobgoblins become very vulnerable, so having the bench is nice.

quozl · Post by **quozl** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:53 pm

mattgslater wrote:Six. Hobs are cheap, but running out of them is very bad.

Damnit! The only acceptable answer is 5, as that's how many I bought a month ago and got shipped to paintedfigs.com with my new Black Rock Dwarves team.

I might let you say 4, but 6 is bang out.

stashman · Post by **stashman** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:35 pm

Use 2 hobs as ballhandlers and use 2 as dirty players and make one a kicker

Storch · Post by **Storch** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:50 pm

I'm currently running with 4, but I can pull it off since I got a +AG bull.

The team was also developed for a pretty bashy environment where AV7 didn't live very long.

I might add one or two, but not any more than that.

Jural · Post by **Jural** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:58 pm

There's no right answer. 5 is safe, 4 can be made to work, and 6 is OK if you have cash and aren't giving up too much TV.

So much of CD comes down to managing TV, and so much of that comes down to the skills you have on your players. Two skills equals a rookie hobgoblin, so you need to understand how developed your hobgoblins are, how developed your league is, and how at risk your hobgoblins really are.

I typically field a minotaur, both bulls, and 6 dwarves on defense, leaving room for two safety/emergency ball handler hobgoblins.

On offense, I typically don't field the minotaur, leaving me with 3 offensive oriented hobgoblins on the pitch.

As attrition happens, I cycle in hobgoblins, but I have rarely ever needed to field 5 at once.

The 6th hobgoblin seems to me ideal if you want to have foul a lot with dirty players, In that case 2 hobgoblin dirty players would be a good idea, and then I would probably carry 6 on my team total...

Smeborg · Post by **Smeborg** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:38 pm

If you are buying a team, I would suggest you buy 8 or 9 Hobgobs.

I have 16 of them, but admittedly I am a BB nutter. (It's fun to play a team of 16 Hobgobs sometimes - not as bad as you would think.)

You need a full squad of 16 players in a CD team (in a league) as the Hobgobs tend to end up in the dugout (and I don't mean in the reserves box...). Also, the CDs are a team that have a natural propensity to foul - this implies a deep bench (lots of Hobgobs to allow for sendings off).

So, you will end up with 7 or 8 Hobgobs on the roster (7 if you take a Cow - I'm not a fan of Cows personally). And don't forget that the Hobgobs are your Journeymen and cheap Mercenaries - you may actually need more than 8 in practice (say 9). But if money matters, 8 will do.

My preferred starting line-up for CDs is:

1 Bull Centaur
6 Chaos Dwarts
6 Hobgobs
3 Re-rolls

You may find that this line-up gets you good early results compared to other starting rosters. Bear in mind that Bull Centaurs are limited in effectiveness until they get Break Tackle (their ideal first skill). In any case, I suggest always starting with 6 Chaos Dwarfs - they are the "engine room" of the side, especially when it starts.

Hope this helps.

mattgslater · Post by **mattgslater** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:34 am

16 Hobs, 5 RR, 1 AC. Actually, that's not bad. AV7 sucks on the LOS, but having 5 reserves is solid....

Of course, it'd be better to take 11 Hobs, 4 Dwarfs, 4 RR... you'll take an average of more than one Cas less.

Not that you should. Just that it's not stupid.

grampyseer · Post by **grampyseer** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 4:53 am

4-5 is fine to start.

You will never need more than 7 models.

That's the high end of your roster.

I find I rarely want more than 2-3 guys on the bench.

jmw23 · Post by **jmw23** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:27 am

I'm going to go with 6. I've got zero interest in an all hob-gob teams. Six gives me plenty of extras, if I want to go the fouling route. Any thoughts about which mutations I'd want to model onto the Dwarfs?

Darkson · Post by **Darkson** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:40 am

jmw23 wrote:Any thoughts about which mutations I'd want to model onto the Dwarfs?

Depends on how anal th league is/how dedicated you are.

The last Chaos team we had had 6 mutations, and none of them modelled. In our opinion, it's enough to say "#4 has Claw" as it is to say "#4 has Block".

Andromidius · Post by **Andromidius** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:18 pm

Don't model anything onto them, but keep a bits box with potential parts. And don't be afraid to get converting, even if the model is 'fully painted'.

It's much more fun having mutations on the field that people can actually see.

~Andromidius

Warpstone · Post by **Warpstone** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:05 pm

Darkson wrote: The last Chaos team we had had 6 mutations, and none of them modelled. In our opinion, it's enough to say "#4 has Claw" as it is to say "#4 has Block".

Yup, this is usually not a problem.

If you're worried, you can try using some coloured base rings (like the ones from Impact) to represent the Chaos Dwarf who has Mighty Blow, Clay, Piling On...