Beast of Nurgle with block as first skill

[Craigtw]

Stand firm is the next choice for this player, for all the reasons mentioned by Mattgslater. IMO nothing else should be considered.

The beast of Nurgle is too useful with it's tentacles, and any skill should be used to compliment the Tentacles or it's ability to use them.

Block - keeps the beast standing and able to use the Tentacles
Stand Firm - keeps the beast from moving and keeping a TZ to be able to use the Tentacles
Break Tackle - allows the beast to leave a TZ and get to a juicier target where it can use it's Tentacles.

On a double, I think Pro is the obvious choice, with a good thumbs up going to Prehensile Tail - for when the Tentacles fail! It may seem an odd choice, but I think Sure Feet on doubles is a sound choice, as the beast should be played in the middle of the backfield to pounce on any catcher types that get through. Sometimes this means that the beast may need to make a GFI <gulp!> I dread these times! It is often better to get the beast within 1 square and then blitz that player into the beast's TZ, but this is not always viable.

Whenever I get the beast onto an intended target, I rarely block with him - so skills like Grab are wasted. The Tentacles are too valuable to hold up those catcher types, and one bad Stupidity roll leaves you with no Tentacles.

[Smeborg]

I believe +MA would be excellent on the Beast, especially combined with Break Tackle.

I play the Beast as a mobile threat, repositioning when needed (often as the last action of the turn), and blocking only rarely. I have had some success with this style of play, and recommend it to others.

[Craigtw]

I believe +MA would be excellent on the Beast, especially combined with Break Tackle.

I play the Beast as a mobile threat, repositioning when needed (often as the last action of the turn), and blocking only rarely. I have had some success with this style of play, and recommend it to others.

Agreed!

[Jural]

Stand Firm is great, and I've always thought Side Step would be great on doubles. Interesting choice with Prehensile Tail, I might choose to go with tackle instead.

Pro is better than all of them though, but a bunch of good choices.

For me, Stand Firm is a great normal roll, all rolls of 10 should be +MA, rolls of 11 a normal skill, and rolls of 12 +STR. You might talk me into Pro on a 5+5 though.

Guard is the only rival to Stand Firm in my book, and it's not as good.

[Craigtw]

Guard is the only rival to Stand Firm in my book, and it's not as good.

I would take Break Tackle before Guard.

[Carnis]

I'd never take a 1/3 chance of losing my tentacles by rolling a really stupid check (1/6) and a dodge check (1/6) for a 2/3 chance of getting the beast repositioned. The beast should rarely if ever move, and be content in neutralizing 1-2 players and the area he occupies on the field. You can always blitz players towards him, if needed.

+MA on a beast.. oh come on? How often is he gonna get to actually MOVE without dodging anyway?

[Craigtw]

I'd never take a 1/3 chance of losing my tentacles by rolling a really stupid check (1/6) and a dodge check (1/6) for a 2/3 chance of getting the beast repositioned. The beast should rarely if ever move, and be content in neutralizing 1-2 players and the area he occupies on the field. You can always blitz players towards him, if needed.

+MA on a beast.. oh come on? How often is he gonna get to actually MOVE without dodging anyway?

Saying "never" is a bit extreme, as there are always instances which arise when you will decide that one target is much juicier, and therefore worth the risk. Besides, any player who has any experiemce in playing against Nurgle will send a sacraficial lamb (or two) up against the beast in order to pin it down and keep it away from said targets.

As for the movement, consider that in the situation of a player hugging the sideline (maybe a side-Stepping guter runner) the beast is going ot need all four movement and 2 GFI in order to make it there, not a tempting prospect. +MA reduces that risk. And to think that you will always have to dodge in order to move? That's just plain foolish. +MA on a player which the opponent is going to be doing his best to avoid is worthwhile. The beast is all about positioning and being in the right place at the right time.

Double 5's - take block. 6+4 consider +MA - unless you don't have Stand Firm yet.

[mattgslater]

For me, Break Tackle is a second skill on a Block Warrior. Between him and a Pestigor, you can put a blitz or a zone wherever you need one. The BoN's TZ is just too valuable in my book to risk rolling 1d6 when you don't really need it. I'm a newbie with Nurgle, but I've found the parallels to Orcs are very striking, and if one could build an Orc team with a BoN it would never lose a game.

Double 5's - take block. 6+4 consider +MA - unless you don't have Stand Firm yet.

Seconded.

[Craigtw]

The BoN's TZ is just too valuable in my book to risk rolling 1d6 when you don't really need it.

Absolutely. You would not do it unless you absolutely had to. Using the beast any time is not something you do flippantly!

[mattgslater]

And yet, there are so many skills you'd use all the time....

[Craigtw]

And yet, there are so many skills you'd use all the time....

Like what?

I just think, like I said that the BoN is all about being in the right place at the right time. Skills like Guard may be useful more often, but I would still choose Break Tackle to help ensure that I can make the most use of the beast.

To me it's kind of like taking Sure Hands on a player - you may not need it all the time - but it sure is good to have.

[Jural]

5+5 should be block except on this Beast of Nurgle in this thread. He obviously wouldn't benefit from that choice I think Pro is the best choice.

6+4... I guess I could see Stand Firm over +MA. But I like having my beast move to the strong side on Turn 1 (defense), so there are some nice benefits to +MA. Also helps when he stands up from Prone.

I am not a big fan of Break Tackle... but I can't say I've put the skill to the test with a Beast. I am usually content to just tie up 2 or three players.

[corlm]

I now have both stand firm and grab on the beast and I love how the other coaches fret over him. He usually spends most turns just locking down players with a block every now and then so the multiple block thingie isn't an issue any more.

I had the fortune to roll +str on a warrior with block and mb and I’m now considering to make him a junior version of the beast and give him tents and stand firm. I’ve never played chaos or nurgle before so I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not to double up on tents, is it a waste to make two more or less identical players with tentacles?

Another problem I have is that I find it hard to get enough guard on the team. At the moment I have one warrior with block/SS who is a perfect candidate and two warriors with just block, however I kind of want mb on the two block warriors to speed up their development which makes guard+stand firm pretty far off in the future. A few grab/tackle/frenzy/jug in there somewhere would be nice too but I figure that the pests can make better use of the specialized skills.

[Baduk]

argh BoN and BoN jr.!!!
with frenzy pestigors pushing the opponents towards them.
dunno if it's a good idea but it sounds terrible to me as a skaven coach

[Craigtw]

I had the fortune to roll +str on a warrior with block and mb and I’m now considering to make him a junior version of the beast and give him tents and stand firm. I’ve never played chaos or nurgle before so I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not to double up on tents, is it a waste to make two more or less identical players with tentacles?

A warrior who already has three skills is probably going to take a LONG time to get his next skill anyways, so you have a while to decide!

I think whether yout take Tentacles or not depends a lot on what the composition of teams in the league looks like. If there are lots of dodgy fast teams, then the Tentacles is certainly a good thing. Between the Disturbing Presence and the Tentacles, you will shut down all the skaven and elf teams.

But Tentacles also has it's uses against the bashy teams in holding key players in place and not allowing them to move away for assists. But you are probably more likely to be hit...

Sounds like a killer team though - enjoy!