Celebrating first Pass Completion with Nurgle (19th game)

Smeborg · Post by **Smeborg** » Thu May 14, 2009 9:48 pm

I thought I would share my joy with you all.

Playing in their 19th league game, my Nurgle team Poetry in Motion celebrated their first ever Pass Completion. And it was a game winner, too, being a turn 8 scramble on defense (against Orcs). It took an AG4 Pestigor to pull off the feat.

While I play a running game on offense, naturally, there have been a goodly number of previous attempts at PCs. All have failed.

None were more surprised than player-manager and Beast of Nurgle Gervaise Johansen.

All the best.

EndzoneDance · Post by **EndzoneDance** » Fri May 15, 2009 3:47 am

Congratz man! May there be many more completion points!

Axtklinge · Post by **Axtklinge** » Fri May 15, 2009 8:26 am

It finaly happend!
Cheers
A.

Gandalug · Post by **Gandalug** » Fri May 15, 2009 10:29 am

Cheers man!!

May the 6 be with you!!

Smeborg · Post by **Smeborg** » Fri May 15, 2009 9:27 pm

Thanks for your kind words, guys.

The team is actually doing quite well, and has to be considered lucky (the last 2 games have been won by extreme luck). They are on a bit of a streak (last 8 games have been wins).

But for some reason, their good fortune has never applied to passing attempts. Until now...

All the best.

Grumbledook · Post by **Grumbledook** » Fri May 15, 2009 10:02 pm

not have any extra arms?

Smeborg · Post by **Smeborg** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:57 pm

Yes, Grum, I have 2 Pestigors with Extra Arms (one of them also with Sure Hands, +1MA, Sure Feet), plus another Pestigor with Wrestle/+1AG. The fourth Pestigor has Wrestle only. 2 Runner types and 2 Blitzer types is how I like to develop the Pestigors. However the +1AG and the second Extra Arms are quite recent.

The glorious pass completion was actually from the AG4 Pestigor, who had just survived a last turn Blitz (result was a skull). After a bit of necessary "route clearance operations" by his colleagues, he picked the ball up, went for it once and made a quick pass to my "star" Rotter Chuck (it's all relative for Nurgle), who has Block, +1AV (27 SPPs now, thanks to being an MVP magnet - somehow he survives). No re-rolls left by then, of course.

I've lost count of the failed passes. I have 4 or 5 Rotters now on 5 SPPs. Can't get a PC for them, even on a "free" last turn with Re-roll in hand, passing to a 2+ receiver...

Thankfully the running game works just fine for these guys. Hard to keep the ball away from the chief Runner, though (61 SPPs now). Requires plenty of successful Regen rolls to get him this far, since he has the large cross-hairs sign on his forehead... Having him and 2 decent Receivers on the pitch has definitely improved the offense (Nurgle's weakest point). Counter-attack is manifestly better too - drives which until recently would have been shutouts have turned into scores.

All the best.

Grumbledook · Post by **Grumbledook** » Sat May 16, 2009 12:46 am

heh sounds like my witch elf who had failed more jump ups than she has passed

Smeborg · Post by **Smeborg** » Sat May 16, 2009 5:12 am

I have to say also that his capacity to fail GFIs has risen sharply since he got Sure Feet...

Boar Bolter · Post by **Boar Bolter** » Sat May 16, 2009 1:39 pm

No wonder

You are doing superbly with those rotting guys, our league's Nurgle-player hasn't had too nice results

Keep up the good work

Smeborg · Post by **Smeborg** » Sun May 17, 2009 8:54 pm

Thanks everybody for your kind comments.

I obviously jinxed the team by posting their details here. In their next game, not only did they lose (!), breaking their 8 game winning streak, but their star Pestigor Runner, Horny (Sure Hands, Extra Arms, +1MA, Sure Feet, 61 SPPs) died... The death was a freak occurrence following a failure to activate by Gervaise Johansen (Beast of Nurgle with Break Tackle, Pro). Anyway, Horny, RIP, represents my highest ever SPP achievement with a Nurgle player.

Facing a skilled Skaven team with a Kicker, a Wizard, and who got a Blitz result, the 2-3 scoreline had an air of inevitability to it. Nurgle really struggle to defend against fast teams with Wizards.

On the plus side, the team now has 2 Nurgle Warriors with Mighty Blow, Claw (one of them also gained Block, doubling the amount of this skill on the team!). Given that our league is Orc-heavy, this is "nice".

Results are good (for Nurgle), with 13 wins, 2 Draws and 5 Losses. We have several newbies in the league, so that's not quite as impressive as it might sound.

All the best.

Grumbledook · Post by **Grumbledook** » Sun May 17, 2009 9:20 pm

what skills have you been taking on the rotters? or planning to?

Smeborg · Post by **Smeborg** » Mon May 18, 2009 7:13 am

Grum - only 2 Rotters have ever skilled up. One of these "retired", the other is still going strong on 27 SPPs (Block, +1AV). I have four Rotters on 5 SPPs (all MVPs), one on 3, and one on 0. So at least I should get a second Rotter with a skill soon (but as I've been wating 20 games for this miracle, I won't hold my breath). On my last team in a longish league (24 games), I ended up with 3 Rotters with Block. 2 of them also had -1MA. They were actually pillars of the team - may sound strange, but Nurgle need all the help they can get.

My skill development plan for the Rotters is:

Block
Fend
Foul Appearance
Disturbing Presence
Tackle
(Prehensile Tail)

Stat increases: AV only.

Doubles: unsure - I originally thought Guard, but now I am strongly inclined to Sidestep. Double 5 = +AV. Probably no Dodge ever on this team. Second double (I might as well dream): Jump Up.

Stat decreases: accept -MA or -AG, otherwise retire them.

I play Rotters as Linemen on defense (just 2 if I have a Pestigor with no SPPs to protect, otherwise 3). On offense, they are quiet utility players, lending assists, marking opposition players, escorting the ball carrier etc. Because they are, how shall we say, "uncharismatic", the little Rotters can win games through being overlooked by the opponent. (This may be helped by my weedy little Rotters being painted in official green and purple strip as per the all-important Fluff, giving them on-pitch "camouflage". When the "camouflage" doesn't work, hiding behind my large Beast can be quite effective.) After 6 or 7 turns of mutual bloodbath, the little guys can also come into their own.

Having played Nurgle a few times before, I know that the death rate of Rotters is very high. So I believe that survival skills are best. This strategy appears to be "proven" by the survival of Chuck (the skilled Rotter) who has been there since game 1 and usually occupies the centre of the line of scrimmage in defense. His AV9 is gold (saying this probably means he will die next game).

Almost every time I put Warriors on the line of scrimmage, I regret it, so I am sure that using Rotters as linemen is the way to go. (Of course there are exceptions, such as the one turn defense, or when you have a numbers advantage against a weedy team). And I believe Block is better than Wrestle for a lineman on a slow bash team (by absorbing actions, and marking players). It combines well with Fend and/or Foul Appearance. I am intending this team to be Fend-heavy, with the Rotters all getting it eventually, as well as the 2 Blitzer Pestigors (Wrestle, Fend, Tackle, 2-Heads, Pro is the dream). Fend ought to combine well with the Beast's Tentacles (by preventing an opposing player from blocking his way away from the Beast). Fend is also a good counter to Frenzy and Piling On, to which Nurgle are quite vulnerable. But mainly Fend implies greater mobility and hence annoyance on this slow and clumsy team. However, due to a couple of stat increases, nobody has got as far as Fend (yet...).

Another consideration is that when the team is getting slaughtered (Warriors and Pestigors seem to live in the K.O.d box), the Rotters are the bench...

The team develops in clear steps. First step was after 11 games (same point as before), second step was after 17 games. Like Chaos, they get better with time, but they take a lot of roster damage, with consequent skill churn. Development rate is half that of other teams.

Are you a Nurgle player too? I think we are a small club as yet. They appeal to me, despite (or perhaps because) they are one of the most challenging teams to play and develop. Certainly they have the worst offense of any team I have played. But opponents consistently grant them too much respect, giving them a psychological advantage at the table.

All the best.

Smeborg · Post by **Smeborg** » Mon May 18, 2009 9:49 am

Here are some interesting stats about this team.

After 20 games: 271 SPPs earned, 107 SPPs lost to deaths and retirements, leaving just 164 SPPs (for a SPP retention rate of 8.2 per game). This is pathetic in comparison to any agility or passing team (and suggests that a sound development plan for Nurgle is very important).

After 20 games, the team has just 7 players with skillls (1 with 3 skills, 4 with 2 skills, 2 with 1 skill). Again, this is pathetic in comparison to other teams.

Dead and retired players after 20 games are:

4 Warriors
1 Pestigor
5 Rotters

with just 50,000 left in Treasury. I guess Nurgle are not for the faint-hearted. Their lack of starting Block, combined with the randomness of Regen, means that their roster turns over at a rapid rate.

On the plus side, with a sound development plan, Nurgle appear to be quite "TV competitive" once they get to a range of (say) 175-190. Whether they are able to get any higher remains to be seen...

Hope this helps.

Grumbledook · Post by **Grumbledook** » Mon May 18, 2009 11:46 am

not yet partially converted a team which needs to get finished in mind to play in my next league