Starting with Pro Elves

[mattgslater]

I'd say the other exceptions to Smeborg's rule are Orcs and Nurgle, who have expensive AV9/ST4+ guys who just beg to be sent to the line. There are a lot of places to put Flesh Golems on a Necromantic team and Mummies on an Undead team too, and sometimes sticking them on the line is a good idea, depending on what your opposition is, what skills your supporting player has, and how you've developed the player. Sometimes a Skaven team will build one Stormvermin as a nose tackle. But otherwise he's right.

[Warboss Richard]

Cheers guys, i'll take your advice on board! Im gonna get quite a few practice games in before i unleash them in a league or tourney... my usual weapons are chaos pact and norse!

Its too different to jump straight in

[boxjuggler]

I started with

2 blitzers
3 catchers
1 thrower
5 lineelfs
RR x 2
FF x 1

One of your catchers is usually off the pitch so I like to have enough that I can still run at least two into the opposition half for the ‘almost’ guaranteed TD. Plus the extra speed helps in defence.

[mattgslater]

Yeah, the PE team building math works out like this at 1M:
2 Blitzers
2 Catchers
2 TRRs
ONE option below
Linos to make 11

Choose one:
A: Thrower, Catcher, 10k
B: 2 Throwers, Catcher
C: Thrower, TRR
D: Thrower, Apoth
E: Reserve lino

A is a compromise between B and C, but it's a lot more like B. In a tournament (especially a skilly tournament) I might consider B, D or E (most likely B), but in a league I'd take the third TRR (C) for a few reasons.

1) The TRR and Catcher are the same price to hire later. If you buy the TRR to start, though, buying the Catcher comes with a free reserve.

2) 3 TRRs means you can pass to/from linemen more readily. This will accelerate your linemen's development and give you more options, especially on defense. Catchers, by contrast, don't need a head start developing, and having 3 of them will stunt your linemen's growth.

3) You have to put three linemen on the LOS. You have to try to score with linemen and pass with them, and if you're playing well you won't be able to do it on offense but once or twice per match (and even then you'll be tempted to use your Thrower... which you should do sometimes and ignore sometimes). So you have to be able to rotate your unskilled linemen between LOS duty and inside backer duty until you have your skill network in play.

Every time you set up your defense (which you should do at every opportunity), 3 linos go the LOS and don't get to do anything but soak up hits (or if they do it's an unexpected bonus). If you have 4 linos, either they're all tied up or a Thrower or Catcher is getting blitzed instead, a lose-lose proposition. If you have at 5, one soaks up a blitz and might as well be on the line, and one is free to move or block. If you've got 6, you then have 2 linos free.

Later on, once you've got Blodge Catchers and aren't really trying to jump your linos up the skill curve, it's no biggie, but in the first 4-8 games it really matters.

[Smeborg]

Matt - when playing Nurgle I normally put Rotters on the line. The Warriors go there only rarely and in special circumstances (for example when defending against a one-turn-score, or when they have anumbers advantage against a puny team).

With Undead, I almost never put Mummies on the line - they're just too good in the second line.

Cheers

[Otake]

Matt - when playing Nurgle I normally put Rotters on the line. The Warriors go there only rarely and in special circumstances (for example when defending against a one-turn-score, or when they have anumbers advantage against a puny team).

I do the same with all my "bashy" teams (with all my teams in fact). Except in special circumstances, only 3 linemens on the LOS. My ST4 players guard the wide zones, with my Big Guy in the middle on second or third line.



As for starting Roster for PEs, I've found both in tourney and league that starting with 4 Catchers can be a good choice. One is the ball carrier and enables swift side changes and devastating running game. It was especially useful against Skavens (which tend to plague tourneys and leagues... ), to keep up with their high MA.

Of course the first skill on 2 Catchers is then Sure Hands.

[mattgslater]

Matt - when playing Nurgle I normally put Rotters on the line.

Sure. I'm just saying they can get away with either as a base defense, depending on their opposition (against all ST3 without Guard, a ST4 line with a Guard nose is a great way to shut 'em up). Really, the only reason Orcs almost always pack the line with +ST players is that Orc teams don't usually have a lot of linemen, so often the BOB represents one of the cheapest guys available.

Oh, and I forgot Lizards and Ogres. But that's different: they don't have ST3 linos. And Chaos Dwarfs, who have a 0-6 ST3 blocker at a reasonable cost.

[Warboss Richard]

Cool, my figs have arrived and im going to start building and painting!

Hope fully the Florydar Marlins have a long and fruitful career ahead of them


A good friend of mine swears by starting with all the positionals and only 1rr but thats too risky for me, my dice are cursed