Halfling League Build and Development

[Welshy]

See below my proposed starting roster for a halfling side. I have 'fully loaded' the team to the 1million GP as most teams in the league have already played 10matches so will have a fair chunk of inducements anyway.

2x Trees
13x Hallings
5x Rerolls
1x Apoth

in addition to thoughts on team build I'm looking for options on skill development. I'm aware that Sidestep is popular at tourneys, but wodner if this is a good option in league situations.

[mattgslater]

Most of my Halflings get Side Step and Diving Tackle. Some get Catch and Sure Feet. Trees like Guard, Multiblock and Grab.

[Carnis]

Sack 2 RRs, get better odds at deeproot then..

Spam SS on the flings. Block doubles to treemen, else take Guard/Grab/Multiblock.

[Pestimist]

i was thinking

2xTreeman 240k
11xHalflings 330k
3xrerolls 180k

total 750k

add master chef 100k
willow rosebark(150k) or puggy baconbreath(140k) until you face an opponent where you can induce deeproot

what do you think?

[SillySod]

My standard team build would be:

2 Treemen - 240k
13 Halflings - 390k
2 RRs - 120k
0FF

This usually gives you 250k of inducements to chuck about.... a chef along with either puggy or a wizard.

However, you say you are going up against developed teams. It would be useful if you could quote both the lowest and average TV of other teams in the league. You need to evaluate the power of certain inducements vs improving certain aspects of your team. Depending on your expected opponents you could start with:
- more re-rolls (I wouldnt bother with more than four)
- 12 halflings instead of 13 (leaving space for two stars)
- 9FF, if you value the FF advantage and want to earn more money per game (tbh I wouldnt bother)
- cheerleaders and coaches (again, I wouldnt bother unless alot of people are skimping on their re-rolls)

In terms of inducements you get good value from the following:
- Puggy
- Chef
- Wizard

You get decent but not spectacular value from:
- Deeproot
- Bertha
- Zara
- Babes (to fill in the extra 50k)
- Bribes (great if you have a dirty player)

If you think you can then I would set your team up so that you get: Puggy, Chef, Deeproot against every other team in the league. You can then purchase wizards, bribes, and babes (or upgrade Puggy to zara) vs the stronger teams in your league.

[Pestimist]

what kinda value is there in special play cards, my league just completed our first season (i won the championship with my Norse squad) and now im starting season 2 with Halflings.

For this season we are going to be using said cards and i was wondering how useful they are.

[Carnis]

what kinda value is there in special play cards, my league just completed our first season (i won the championship with my Norse squad) and now im starting season 2 with Halflings.

For this season we are going to be using said cards and i was wondering how useful they are.

They are very random. The dirty tricks card-stack is my favourite, cause it has some really good game breakers for just 50k (mine, teleport trap, kicking boots are ok value too).

[mattgslater]

There's no point in starting Halflings with more than 4x TRR, no? Who's ever going to use 8, or even 7?

Facing rookies? 2 Trees, 12 Halflings, 3 TRRs, 1 Apoth, 2 AC, 2 CL, 130k bank. TV 870k, so you know you get a Master Chef. Winning (not tying) all the BC/CF rolls is very nice when you have a Chef.

Facing experienced teams, always at/over 1.1M? Buy another 3 each AC/CL (again, you have to win those rolls), leaving you with enough cash to either take a 15th player and 4FF or to take a TRR and 1FF. FF is normally a bad idea, but on this team against higher-TV opposition, you can't afford to give up 2 FAME. 4 FF makes +2 FAME very unlikely, unless your opponent is in the double-digits, and you're not likely to lose any after a defeat. If you're in an AC/CL-heavy league, you'll want to set the curve with your newer Halflings, until you find you can't afford Deeproot anymore; then you can start jettisoning some or even all AC/CLs (after all, you don't need the TRRs yourself, so if you're not going to win them all, you might as well lose them all).

Skills? My Trees go Guard, Grab, MultiBlock. Doubles nets Block. Not sure on 2nd doubles; Pro, Dodge, Jump Up.... 10 nets +MA, 11 gets ignored, 12 nets +ST or Block, depending on the league mix. I want 6x Side Step and 2x Block on the Halflings before I get cute and start looking at Diving Catch and either HMP, Guard or Wrestle on doubles. Side Step is followed with Diving Tackle. Diving Catch is followed with Sure Feet or Side Step. Doubles again on a Block or Wrestle guy is Dauntless (got a Blauntless Halfling in last season's D-league; I only got one game with him, but man, he was deadly). 10 nets +MA, but take all +stats with glee!

On the inducements, in order for me:
* Master Chef is a no-brainer.
* If there's a better Star Player bargain than Deeproot, please enlighten me. Between Deeproot and two trees, the opponent can only cross midfield through the wide zones, and your lack of ST will be made up for by the opponent's lack of numbers in the second half.
* Babes are great on Halfling teams, 'cause you take a ton of KOs.
* I echo Carnis on Dirty Tricks. If you have 150k, 3x Dirty Tricks is at least as good as 1x Wizard.
* Morg rocks, but only if you're a crazy underdog.
* Willow lets you do stuff Halflings are mostly not good at, is cheaper than Deeproot, and is not an SPP hog.
* Puggy is better on a developed team. Block, +ST and +MA is a nice package, but it's just not enough firepower without some support. Nerves is not a total waste; you can cage around him and hand-off for your TDs, and every once in awhile Nerves will give you some control over your order-of-operations. If you have a couple of +AG guys or something, Puggy is pretty useful.

Wizards are good, but underwhelming on Halfling teams by comparison to other options. Halflings sometimes have trouble making the sack, and a Wizard is a good shot at doing that, but it's a lot to pay for one hit. You're better off with Dirty Tricks, Star Players and Babes. Don't bother with Bribes, Mercs, Training or Wandering Apos. Bertha would be pretty useful, but only if you're a 610k underdog, because at 600k or less it's Deeproot, a MC, and the difference in Babes and cards.

[Pestimist]

im starting in a rookie league only 1 team is returning from our first season everyone else is playing with rookie teams

wood elves (returning team TV1400 left halfway thru first season(fixed schedule) 2nd season is free schedule

rookie teams are High elves Necromantic Nurgle and Slann

2xtreeman 240k
12xhalflings 360k
2 TRR 120k
1 FF
1 AC
1 CL
master chef
150k to play with...atm willow

is it not worth it to get a star player until deeproot comes along?
to me it seems an apo is pretty pointless on a rookie halfling team as the trees are the only pieces worth saving.
my league probably will never take AC or CL so ill add to them quickly and that will be enough for the entire season

[mattgslater]

to me it seems an apo is pretty pointless on a rookie halfling team as the trees are the only pieces worth saving.

You'll almost certainly take an early BH. The Apo is basically an extra guy who doesn't take a roster spot.

[Pestimist]

ill be playing a rookie slann team in my first match of the season

my second match will probably be against the returning wood elf team where ill be getting around 650k in inducements what should i be getting with these?

i was thinking master chef, willow , deeproot, 2 dirty trick cards, or zara instead of deeproot for speed and to stab wardancers.

[Aliboon]

I think you'd be better off with Zara than Deeproot, you will already boss the LOS and although Deeproot is good, he is slow and the woodies will just run away.

I might also get a babe instead of a Dirty Trick card, you are still likely to get KOs against you and if I were you, I'd foul any downed elf and if you get sent off, you would have a better chance of having players in reserve.

[mattgslater]

Deeproot also rocks over ST3 because, if he doesn't have his own lumber, you'll be able to run a 303 line and have no fear of watching it go down. This makes it much easier to cover midfield with zones and drive the action to the WZs, where your speed deficit is less of an issue.

I'd consider the following:

600k: Deeproot, MChef, 5x Dirty Trick
620k: Deeproot, Zara, MChef
650k: Deeproot, Wizard, MChef, 3x Dirty Trick
670k: Deeproot, Zara, MChef, Babe

I'd not consider the following:
100k+: Anything without MChef
250k-340k: Anything without MChef, Willow
350k+: Anything without MChef, Deeproot

Willow is poor-man's Deeproot. Assuming you have both Trees, you don't really need both players... unless you have a DT/SS Halfling combo (one each) to man one wide zone; then you can put Willow in the other and use Deeproot and your Trees in that 303 line to own the midfield. Spamming Dirty Tricks will almost assure that you get both good and bad cards. The more I think about it, the more I think you'll get better mileage from leavening several of them with a Wiz. Since you can afford two stars, you don't really need a Babe.

Again, this assumes your opponent has no Treeman. Note the winger on the bottom side has Side Step, but that's just to show how the first skill in the progression changes the situation. You can also move the midfielders back one if the opponent has ST4 or Guard, but not if he has both. After all, the whole point is that you don't give up any tasty blocks. EDIT:The pow and arrow show where to go with SS if that player gets blitzed. The little yellow arrow shows where to go if pushed on the first block of a Frenzy blitz.

[mattgslater]

Haha... In American Football, a 3-3(+) defense where the linebackers go directly behind the linemen is called a stack. The formation above is a 3-3-5 stack, in that terminology. And it's made with Halflings? One could call that a "short stack" defense!

[Pestimist]

first off thanks for the advise

looks like it would be pretty easy for them to do a 2 turn score but then again that could be good, then try and grind out a tying score afterwards i guess.

i will be playing Slann first tho and i will be getting less inducements prob around 300k so i think ill get mchef, willow, and dirty trick card or babe.

since you brought up the set up with deeproot and zara there, i was curious what type of set up you would go with without deeproot and such.