Orc team development

[mattgslater]

I've had an interesting ride with these Orcs. I learned FUMBBL on them, and they got off to a slow start. They also got a couple early doubles, and being Orcs, I build for the future by getting Side Step. They're riding a 2-game win streak, which means they've got back to even. You'll see they're built for the next round of development, which feels like it's just around the corner. They still have no Tackle, which is fine for the moment, because they're an MB-heavy Orc team in Ranked and will tend to play other bash teams, because others will steer clear. But I have to get some Tackle, and soon, or it will bite me in the butt.

Here's where I am. The parentheses denote my next objective on a normal roll. I've been fantastically lucky on MVPs: my BOBs are doing great, and all are near to improvement. My big-picture plan is to get positioning skills on a few key players, plus a chain game, and then just spam Block, MB and Guard. I've already got 4x MB; the ultimate plan is to end up with about 7x, plus 1x PO.

I want to get this team into the >.500 club. My other Ranked teams have winning records. But these very fun Orcs have fallen prey to my early FUMBBL stumbbls and I want to make sure my plan to bring them from the ashes is a good one.

Da Orkyzona Wildsquigz
Orcs (4-2-4)

Thrower x2: Double on #1 would be Guard. Double on #2 would be Strong Arm.
#1: KOR, Block, 29 SPP (Accurate) Retriever/cager, R flanker
#2: 1 SPP (Block) Retriever/cager, backup R flanker
BOB x4: Doubles means SS on #6, others ignore. Ignore 10, 11.
#3: Side Step, 14 SPP (Block) Cage forward/marker, R end
#4: Block, Guard, 25 SPP (Grab) Cager, noseguard, will be lead blocker when he skills
#5: 5 SPP (Block) Cager, R midfield (will be L end when he skills)
#6: Block, 14 SPP (Mighty Blow) Lead blocker/cager, L end (will be midfield when #5 skills)
Blitzer x4: Doubles yields Jump Up (7, 8, 10) or Side Step (9).
#7: Side Step, 6 SPP (MB or Tackle) Cage forward, R winger.
#8: MB, 10 SPP (Tackle or Stand Firm) Line-blocker/carrier (until he skills), L winger
#9: MB, Guard, 16 SPP (Stand Firm) Cager, L flanker.
#10: MB, +MA, 16 SPP (Frenzy) Cager/fullback, R Safety
Troll x1: Doubles yields Block, duh. Ignore 10, 11. Block on 12.
#11: 2 SPP (Guard) Cager, L midfield, may eventually go to R end after skilling (esp if he doubles).
Goblin x1: Doubles yields Dirty Player, except double 5 or double 6.
#12: 0 SPP (DT) Reserve, 1TTD attempt until I get Grab, occasional fun in decided games. Becomes R flanker vs. speed teams, once he gets DT.
Lineman x1: Doubles yields Mighty Blow, ignore 10.
#13: Wrestle, 7 SPP (Tackle) Blocker, L safety.
4x TRR, Apoth, FF6, 90k Treasury, TV 1.62M

I imagine that the easiest skill targets for me are 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8. #1's path to improvement is just to survive. He'll get his two Comps sooner or later. If I get some garbage time, I can chance a pass with #5; #3 and #6 will have to get their 2SPP the old fashioned way, unless the ball scatters to one of them and he runs it in. #7 or #8 is my intended carrier, unless I'm up against a strip-happy sort, and then it'll be #1, who will try to handoff or QP to a cage-forward.

Is this a smart plan? Between #7 and #8, the first one to skill will get Tackle, and the second one will get Frenzy. I'd rather give Tackle to #8, and he's closer to skilling....

[mattgslater]

A horrible loss later (AV9 meant nothing), and my SS Blitzer is missing the next game, but I got Accurate on my Block/KOR Thrower, and Block on my Side Step BOB.

[Wanchor]

Seems like a solid plan to me. My only raised eyebrow was about the Lineman, whom you plan to use as a safety, which is fine. It's just that you said you'd ignore a roll of 10...for a guy who's supposed to be able to rush in to make a sometimes desperate tackle and shut down the opponent's largely successful play. Wouldn't +MA on a 5MA piece being used as a safety make a lot of sense?

[mubo]

A sensible plan, however I think a fully developed orc team will be practically impossible to achieve in practice, due to the reduced effectiveness of apo and the orc-unfriendly claw/mb.

Unless you get lucky with MVPs I can see BOBs lagging behind SPP-wise, also they'll take the brunt of the claw punishment.

[Wanchor]

the reduced effectiveness of apo

Whaaa?

[mattgslater]

Yeah, Claw is more common and the Apo not as good as it used to be. My real plan is mostly to Guard/SF my way out of the problem.

#4 looks like he'll skill soon. He just got another MVP. It could be Stand Firm for him, which could mean Grab on #5 or the Troll instead. I'm also considering getting Stand Firm for my Block guy....

[Urb]

Agreed, for a block gaurd str4 guy standfirm is next. Dang flesh golem and they're annoying without block or gaurd. Unless you roll doubles. Sidestep.. hehe

[PorkSol]

Seems like a solid plan to me. My only raised eyebrow was about the Lineman, whom you plan to use as a safety, which is fine. It's just that you said you'd ignore a roll of 10...for a guy who's supposed to be able to rush in to make a sometimes desperate tackle and shut down the opponent's largely successful play. Wouldn't +MA on a 5MA piece being used as a safety make a lot of sense?

It's interesting, +MA, Wrestle, tackle, frenzy makes for a pretty neat safety who isn't much hampered by having only general access.

But when you add +MA he does end up 20k more expensive than a blitzer for the same statline.

[mattgslater]

More than that, he takes another 15 SPP to get Tackle!

[Der_Doodle]

Hey Matt could you maybe draw a quick diagramm with the positions? I have to admit i am still confused by the winger flanker safety positions

[Piousman]

I believe that the Winger is on the outside, closer to the sideline (anchoring the wing, if you will), and the Flanker just behind and inside of the winger (protecting the winger's inside flank).

Safety is the guy further back, or in no danger of being blitzed or marked, who can roam the back field for any breakthroughs.

- Piousman

[mattgslater]

Sure. I tend to run a right-handed half-zig. So far, I haven't encountered any chain-games and nobody's willing to move on my midfield for a QS, so I've been setting up one square back.

Code: Select all

-- -- -- --|-- -- 06 04 03 -- --|-- -- -- --
-- -- 09 --|-- 11 -- -- -- -- 05|-- -- 07 --
-- 08 -- --|13 -- -- -- -- 10 --|-- 02 -- --

[Piousman]

So to clarify, 08 and 07 are Wingers, 09 and 02 are Flankers, 13 and 10 are Safeties, right (13 probably more than 10).

Right?

- Piousman

[mattgslater]

Yes on all counts. 10 would be what I'd call a "strong safety" in that he's "blitzable", but the end on his side (#3) has Block and SS, so he's not really able to be blitzed. The best you can do is mark him by pushing #5, barring AG5 or AG4/Leap and a 3+ tolerance.

[mattgslater]

Okay, I need LOS help. My LOS does function as an effective deterrent against speed, forcing most AG teams to backpedal and try to open a hole elsewhere. But against the heavies, they still get taken out: 2d on the Guard BOB from a big guy sets up 2d on the Block-only end to push him out, and by then there's so much trash that the Side Step player can't really do his job. So I need a new line-plan. That's okay, I'll soon have the resources to build one.

My DL is still getting washed out against bash, partly because the Troll hasn't developed. When that comes with bad injury luck, I tend to get annihilated. I've had this problem in the past with Orcs. An elf team can fill anybody in anywhere; an Undead team can force the opponent to hit guys you don't care about. But my Orc build is highly specialized with no "speed bump" players. I may be able to sub in one guy for another, but if I go below 11, I run into trouble. Part of this is that I'm playing a much bashier mix than I'm used to, and a lot of the conventions I went for early haven't started to pay off yet.

I'm not terribly worried about the team's 4-2-6 record; I've watched them all, and seen a combination of early trouble getting used to FUMBBL, and a bunch of early damage (the coin has not been my friend). With what I know now, there's no way to expect these guys to have a winning record at this point. But I have been studying my tendencies in wins and losses, and noticed a few things.

* I need more Guard, ST, and/or Stand Firm on the DL, or to abandon winning on the DL altogether and put up linos.
* I have never had a clue as to how to win with Orcs at a numerical disadvantage. I have some offensive tricks, because I have a passing game and guys who can play the OL and receive the ball, along with solid cagers. But on man-down defense against bash, that's what frustrates me, and is a big part of my normal emphasis on SF lines, which I just don't have yet. Part of the problem is my dedicated position players, and part of it is low MA. I know how to do it with elves or undead, though it's not my strong suit.
* I need to run 13 men or more every match. I have two SI guys this match, and I fired one so I could have a guy for this game. I also hired a second Lino. This is a heavier format, and I can't justify a second Goblin.
* I block too much, yes. It's an Orc team, and it's loaded on Block and MB, so sometimes this is a good thing. But twice, in losses, I've thrown 75 blocks. Strangely, in games vs. bash teams, I make more blocks and take more blocks when losing than when winning, even though the proportions are similar, a little over 4:3. In games I win against heavy teams, I average 3.2 blocks per turn and take 2.4; in games I lose, I average 4.0 and take 2.8. I think this is because I try to hammer my way out of a bad situation, doubling-down as it were. It's also because when I win, I tend to corral my opponent and chain them into submission, and then after they've given up hope there isn't much actual blocking going on. The guy who conceded after massive damage in 4 turns had thrown 10 blocks to the 24 I threw in that time (can't blame him; two dead Runners and a MNG Blitzer on a near-rookie Dwarf team).

So here's what I'm doing.

1) BEEF UP THE LINE.
There are two answers to getting washed out on the line; cede it and put cheap guys up there, or beef it up. I'm taking the second option.

#4 and #6 are both close to improving, with 30 and 14 SPP, respectively; I'm definitely getting Stand Firm for #4, and I'm on the fence with #6. I'm now thinking about getting him Guard when he skills, in the hopes that I can soon get Guard on the Troll to play on the nose. Then I'll have an all-Guard LOS, with Block and Block/SF BOBs on the end. That will deter modestly-bashy teams, and make the super-bashy ones sell out on the LOS. If I get doubles on the Troll, or if he's still stuck on 2SPP when #6 skills, I'm considering taking Stand Firm over Guard, so I can have positioning skills across the line. I'd rather not do this... but the Troll will skill when he skills, you know?

I've had outrageous MVP luck, with 9 of my 13 MVP awards going to BOBs. It may be karmic payback for my lousy coin-tosses, and if so, it's been a net blessing up to this point, given that development is my aim. #5 just skilled with the MVP, and I gave him Block. He already had a Cas and a TD, so now he's at 10 SPP, and it's only a matter of time before he skills again, probably for Mighty Blow, making him MB#5. My Troll is sitting on 2 SPP. I don't block with him a lot, but you never know; he's one good quarter away from getting Guard and shuttling up to his rightful place on the nose. That will shut down the Norse and Humans and Skaven and stuff, with B/G BOBs on both sides. Then I have the SS guy free to play midfield, letting me write several new plays, some of them for 10 men.

2) BUFF UP THE BACKFIELD.

This is the first time in a long time that I've taken the MB-first route on Blitzers. I should have stopped at 2. Having no Tackle or Frenzy and only one Guard (and frequently missing my SS'er), my Blitzers have not been able to play their positions properly for the last four games, which is very frustrating, and has kept me from skilling the guys who normally hog the SPP (strangely, the BOBs are doing much better). I suspect this is a lot of the cause of my hot/cold runnings. When MB kicks in early, I win. When it doesn't and the other guy's beating my AV early, I lose. Even if it balances out late. I wouldn't do it that way again.

The Side Step Blitzer has played 5 turns in 4 games. He's back now, and says he's healthy; he's a difference-maker when he's on the pitch. He told me his name was Garkherl, but I suspect he's secretly Bob Sanders in green paint. His presence makes the other guys better, for sure, because he's taking the ungalmorous wing spot and often providing key assists. He's languishing on 6SPP, because a) his job doesn't involve a lot of blocking until the cage gets downfield, b) he tends to be tied up after I've gotten control, and c) seemingly every time he gets blocked, he gets MNG'ed, which isn't good if you took a marking/coverage skill on doubles.

My #1 Thrower does his job nicely. My #2 Thrower not only failed just about everything, accumulating 1 SPP in 5-6 games, he had a glass jaw. When he got -AG, I Apo'ed him, and he got MNG. I had a bunch of cash after the match, so I cut him and replaced him. I need a SH guy with Block and Fend, and I need him soon. He seemed to be in a competition with Garkherl to see who can waste my Apothecary first, though I usually don't Apoth rookie #2 Throwers; he only had Apoth privileges in that game because the other one was already KO and had failed to come back. Here's hoping the new guy will make the most of his opportunity.

#7 (SS, 6 SPP), #8 (MB, 12 SPP) and #10 (MB, MA7, 16 SPP) are my scoring targets; the first one to skill gets Tackle, and the second gets Frenzy. #9 (MB, Guard, 23SPP) still gets a lot of the action. #2 is my retriever for the time-being, except on deep kicks, when #1 is the guy.

If my Wrestle lino (#13) skills again before I get Tackle and Frenzy on Blitzers, then I'll keep with the plan of giving him one of those skills. If not, I may still do that, but what about Kick? Guaranteeing a shallow kick on the weakside of the offensive setup might help more than having a #2 Tackler, no?