Slann guide

[Ikterus]

Good read Ikterus
I'm not a slann coach, but my brother is - so I have a few comments:

IMO, blitzers need a little guard. Not a lot.
As super expensive pieces with a habit of staying next to opposing players - they need protection. Block (wrestle?) and/or dodge is crucial IMO. Definately more so than guard on all 4. Especially because a guard catcher is so much better for popping the cage.

Indeed. But I advise against using all four Blitzers. Having more than 2 blitzers on a roster is a waste of TV in my book.

Note BTW that if the blitzing player has wrestle and strip ball (against non-sure hands) then you are more likely to knock the ball lose if you don't leap in a 3+ guard assist!
3+ leap and 1-dice wrestle+strip with a reroll is 83%
3+ leap with guard, then 3+ leap giving 2-dice wrestle+strip ball with reroll is 73%.

That I did not realise! Very interesting!

Hmm. I'll make sure to incorporate this wisdom into the article. Very good Martin!

[plasmoid]

Bouf has played slann an awful lot.
His old blog could be inspirational:
viewtopic.php?t=23591&highlight=slann

[plasmoid]

Again, some theorybowl:

I totally agree that for tournament play the blitzers are too expensive. They get a lot better once they get their first skill, but out of the box they're not great - and have a 110K price tag! Yikes.

But in league play?
Does anyone ever play humans without the blitzers, because the blitzers are +40K?
I doubt it.
Human blitzers get MA+ and block for 40K
Slann blitzers get MA+, jump up and diving tackle for +50K
Not that bad really, and once they got block or wrestle, they shine.

IMO, both their specialist skills are about defense. Heck, they should have been slann defenders rather than slann blitzers. Both skills are great for a player that is hard to knock down. I figure a good build for at least 2 slann blitzers is block, dodge, sidestep.

Perhaps, since guard is so crucial, the other 2 should get guard, dodge, sidestep.

But that may just be me?

[Carnis]

Theorybowl here as well. Played about 25games with my slann, scrolled through about 6 blitzers. Best of them got to +ST/Wrestle, he rocked until he failed his into-a-cage leap and died only to fail his apoth check as well. All of the rest got killed one time or another as well.

DT gets them in trouble a LOT. Guard access while great does not help them to skillup, a lineman double is not that far behind. +MA & dodge access sounds nice, but they are nothing compared to the catchers as far as scoring goes.

I can think of a lot of ways to use the blitzers, but fairly sure they come down to three archetypes:

"Elf" slannblitzer: Blodge/SS (marks with DT/JU, annoying)
"Killer" slannblitzer: Block/MB/PO/Tackle (Kills stuff, annoying again, can be really effective)
"Human" slannblitzer: Guard/Block/Mb WITH LEAP (annoying, but expensive).

The problem with all of these is the pricetag. The slann are already in the top expensive teams, so I'd personally only consider the killer blitzer.. 680k for 4 slannblitzers is going to hurt. The human blitzer role can be filled by catchers&linemen more efficiently (ok, not the MB, but its not huge). Elf slannblitzer can mostly be replaced by sacrificing catchers (who get to places better, even if they are worse off at marking with their S2).

Its not that the blitzers are bad (except as rookies), just not entirely sure they are necessary / worth their cost.

One more reason to play with them is the combination of DT&prehensile tail, which is actually quite devastating.. Except for the fact that leapers can ignore it, of course.

If you can conveniently build them up, then I'm sure they are worth their cost, the problem is skilling them up though, not their stats/skillaccess. Mostly Tds will go to the catchers, mostly CAS are just random and most of your injuries will indeed go to the blitzers.

[SillySod]

But in league play?
Does anyone ever play humans without the blitzers, because the blitzers are +40K?
I doubt it.
Human blitzers get MA+ and block for 40K
Slann blitzers get MA+, jump up and diving tackle for +50K
Not that bad really, and once they got block or wrestle, they shine.

Human blitzers are neat players because they are excellent after just one skill and they are reasonably handy even before they get it. Slann blitzers need multiple skills before they start to do great things for your team. They are also more expensive, less useful before skills, and dont fit onto a slann team nearly as smoothly as human blitzers fit onto a human team.

Human blitzers fit into their team better because:
- they are a key component of the team with a clearly defined role
(Slann blitzers are neither key nor have a clearly defined role until they skill)
- they are viable ballcarriers, humans are better suited to a running game where AG3 players are well suited to being the primary ball handler
(Slann dont tend to use a grindy running game, usually they have to use speed and agility to score)
- they are expensive but affordable, a starting human team can quite easily buy all four blitzers without making many sacrifices
(Slann cant really afford many blitzers in the starting team: they have more expensive linemen, require more starting re-rolls, and have to sacrifice an excellent big guy to get them)

Slann blitzers just take ages to get going. Slann are hard enough to start off without having a bunch of expensive but rubbish players requiring protection and SPP feeding.

PS, the guide should emphasise that Slann benefit from multiple strip ballers even very early on.

[Ikterus]

Thanks for all the feed back

I'll summarize your suggestions shortly and add them to the text.

[GalakStarscraper]

Slann are hard enough to start off without having a bunch of expensive but rubbish players requiring protection and SPP feeding.

However every league Slann team I've seen winning over 50% after 5 games or more has Blitzers on it. Not seen a team yet (although I'm sure there is one) that left off the Blitzers on a league time completely and complied a winning record. I think that Strength access is important to the team and I've found personally that with 2 blitzers that the Diving Tackle can help me slow down my teams offense. I don't park Blitzers next to players ... I use their tackle zones to plug up holes. Yes it makes them Blitz action targets but if I know its the Blitzer with the target on his head ... I can plan the placement of the rest of my team with the knowledge of where the blitz is headed.

Also keep in mind that the goal of the Slann was a team that won under 50% on average in league play. If the Blitzers were affordable ... this fact that was aimed at would not be true.

Galak

[SillySod]

A certain number of those teams have coaches who routinely curse the stupidity of having bought the blitzers

[Ullis]

I'm happy with the blitzers. I started my slann team with one and the second one died in the first game, but I think I've found the optimal skill advancement plan with the other one. It's

+ST, Block, +ST

The first strength increase is best against rookie teams with no crazy amounts of Guard. The block helps a lot in both blocking and keeping him on his feet and the second strength increase rounds him off. Next I'm considering +AG.

Stupid jokes aside, I do have another blitzer too, who's at Block now, and I do think that the Diving Tackle and Jump up skills bring a lot to the team and are worth the TV increase. And with just one skill they're suddenly a lot better. Jump up and +MV helps a lot in skilling them up too with either offensive or defensive TD's as they're easier to get into the end zone for either a pass or a hand off.

People curse their Rat Ogres and Minotaurs all the time too and still buy them.

[Gaixo]

Would you want more than one catcher with Guard? More than two? I can see how multiples would be handy, but at what point are you taking away too much of the catchers' offensive ability?

In my first game using slann, three catchers skilled up and two of those rolled doubles. It would be nice to be able to break cages right away, but will they be waiting too long for Dodge?

[Carnis]

Can never have too much leaping guard. If it's 2 catchers then you got a mean slann team going (mine never managed to get one after 25 games, got 2x +STR though so that covered it).

Get a wrestle/dodge/daunts catcher too and you're set. Also.. your catchers will die then you'll be glad you built them in pairs.

[Jural]

I'm not sure what is optimum, but when I play Slann, it's not because I want to win 100% fo my games, it's because I want to try out the roster, and the blitzers are just plain fun.

So, I'd recommend having at least 2 of them on the roster and using them correctly (guard, block, Side Step are awesome choices.)

It's the same thing with Dark Elves and Witches (fragile, expensive pieces missing a key skill) or Vampires with Vampires Sometimes the fun in a team is contained in a non-optimized piece, and it's important to use that piece to enjoy the roster. Snow Trolls, Rat Ogres, and Minotaurs also fit into this discussion, I find.

[Carnis]

Witches (fragile, expensive pieces missing a key skill)

Except it's not. You're comparing a superb player to one of the biggest abominations in the BB world. Vampires too come with a bonus (S4, AG4).

Witch > Slann blitzer. Has 3 skills which have great synergies, only needs one skill (block or wrestle) to be "complete".

Slann blitzer's DT+JU sounds like a "combo", but its nothing compared to a flat dodge or block on the starting skillset.

[GalakStarscraper]

Personally ... I'm sick of new idea teams needing to have core skills to be "okay"

I'm glad the Slann team comes with underused skills so that some players get the chance to experience skills they seldom use.

As for a Witch Elf needing only one skill to be "complete" ... I've found personally that Wrestle seems to work very well on my Blitzers and I find them complete once they have it. This is my personal experience. Pre-loaded with JU makes the penalties for Wrestle not nearly so evil.

I like the Wrestle, Piling On, Mighty Blow, route. The idea being to open up paths in the defense and if I get a POW to maximize the damage. Since both Wrestle and Piling On synch with JU ... I like it. I've also found that they live longer on the ground ... so why not give them useful skills that do something good before they go prone.

Galak

[Jural]

Witches (fragile, expensive pieces missing a key skill)

Except it's not. You're comparing a superb player to one of the biggest abominations in the BB world.

Witches are definitely better than Slann blitzers, no doubt. But even still, I see lots of Dark Elf coaches advising against starting with them. It's the same thing with Minotaurs, Rat Ogres, Snow Trolls, Trolls and goblins on an orc team, etc.

My point is not that the Slann blitzer is a Snow Troll. My point is that the Slann blitzer is a fun, distinctive part of the team. And if you are using a team, it's often more fun to field the "distinctive" pieces early on, and not just have a roster filled with the "power skills" and "cost efficient players."

So for me, I'd always start my Dark Elf sides with a Witch, always start my Norse with a Snow Troll, and always start my Slann with at least two blitzers- just because I think the team is more fun that way.

But it's not all about fun. Using a team which isn't a Wood Elf, a Dwarf, a Skaven, an Orc, or a human team requires the ability to be flexible with pieces that aren;t perfectly optimized for their rolls. Starting with those players early allows you the chance to develop the players faster, and learn to effectively put them as part of your strategy. Because if you think a rookie Slann blitzer is bad against rookie teams, try fielding rookie blitzers for the first time when the rest of the league is developed!