Successful team builds involving heavy use of fend?

[PorkSol]

Can anyone share some successful team builds you've tried involving heavy used of fend?

Heavy use, not just a late pick on a dedicated ball carrier or star.

It seems like it could be a reasonable pickup for norse linemen who don't roll doubles, or dwarf blockers after they get guard and mighty blow.

But I'd be curious to hear from people who have used it in practice.

How much fend did you take? At what point in development did you take it? First skill, second skill or third? Were there any other aspects of the build that created a synergy with the fend players? Was it a cornerstone of your strategy, or did you just not have anything else to take due to limited access?

For dedicated linefodder did you take it before block/wrestle, or after?

Anything you can share on this would be appreciated.

[RogueThirteen]

I know some Lizardmen coaches have spoke of the possible valuable of Fend on the Saurus. It helps keep the Saurus mobile because, at AG1, they can't go anywhere if they're marked. Though, I would think it wouldn't be taken earlier than a 3rd or 4th skill, and honestly I'd prefer Break Tackle to Fend, as it allows for a more flexible increase in mobility.


As good as Fend is, it doesn't seem to ever tempt me more than other skill choices, so I've never justified taking it.

[Ullis]

I think people have a hard time imagining how useful Fend can be. It's amazing how frustrating even a few Fend players can be. They mess up chain blocking, bog offensive los blocking, slow blitzing players and leave the players unmarked next turn. And then they obviously deny Piling On unless the player happens to have Grab instead of some other useful skill for a killer.

I think Norse are the best team to take Fend as early skills on linos. Elven linos are better served by Dodge, Block/Wrestle and utility skills like Kick. Amazon linewomen could be good for Fend too after they get Wrestle or Block and the same goes for humans and skaven linos.

But there needs to be at least two Fend players out there to make any impact and I guess three or four would really start to work.

[inkpwn]

I use it a lot with zons, its also a fun late choice for dwarf blitzers so they don't get tied up. It also works well with pretty much any MV 7+ player imho. Blodge, fend, sidestep ghouls are awesome Oh and hobs.

[B SIDE]

It seems to me that there are two kinds of linemen: those who have good skill access, and those who die before they get a second G skill. For the G only linemen, there's block or wrestle, then kick, dirty player, and the occasional doubles roll. Replace a few dead ones, decide on the 8th skill for each of your catchers, and twenty games later you get a lineman with a second G skill. Fend is a good option for that guy. (Then he gets a -1ST next game.)

On a norse team, I'd spam it relentlessly. All others must wait for a miracle.

[narg]

Fend is not a bad skill, it's just that a lot of other skills are better.

As already mentioned it's good on Norse linemen because they already have Block and have only access to general skills. I've got an online Norse team with a lot of fend and it's doing ok, but skills such as dodge, guard or mighty blow are definitely better. Depending on the league, tackle might be better as well.

[stashman]

I used to have 5 Block (Wrestle), Dodge, Side Step, Fend players in my Dark Elf team @ most (before death took them).

Blitzers, Witches and Linos. Very solid defence. Keep opponent at distant and choose your own square.

With a Norse team I would use it as First skill on all players (except on doubles). I will probably test it next season (slann or norse).

Amazon Linos with Wrestle, Fend, Dodge will be great defence. Either let them go or lay down.

[Carnis]

Im planning to switch from stand firm to FEND on all my positioning basher players. There are at least 2 fending dwarven teams in B fumbblside.. Mine & Malitrius.. The idea is we fend & counter opponents pile on and counter-pile on back. So far fend has been pretty irrelevant though, as I've only had at best 3 fend on the team alive at the same time.

http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=team& ... _id=649245

[nick_nameless]

I agree with a lot of what's been posted here, but want to add a little counter that Fend is not an adequate substitute for Stand Firm or Side Step. It does a different job. Fend Frees you. Stand Firm keeps you where you want to be. Sidestep puts you where you want to be next.

Fend is nice for G only players, but it's a poor substitute for Side Step when guarding wide zones or for a Stand Firm player.

The other downside to spamming Fend, especially on a norse team, is that if you use it too much you are giving up the blocking initiative. Use it on knockdowns, but not on pushes. At least not universally. And even on knockdowns, you might not want to use it on your blitzers. I want to be doing the hitting when I am playing Norse, not vice versa.

[mattgslater]

Fend is an okay counter to PO. That might be a good argument in Blackbox or some other format that's insanely PO-happy. Otherwise, SF and SS are better, except for dedicated carriers.

[nick_nameless]

Fend is an okay counter to PO. That might be a good argument in Blackbox or some other format that's insanely PO-happy. Otherwise, SF and SS are better, except for dedicated carriers.

Personally I don't agree with that as a blanket statement either. For example, on Linefrogs dedicated to the LOS, Fend is better because it helps the Frogs to use their greatest asset, their mobility. I would way that on Line Elves (any elf) dedicated to the interior LOS it is also superior for the same reason. Line Rats as well.

Pretty much any team who's job it is to get free and then reposition pieces to the right area of the field for screening, Fend has great usefulness.

It's also a poor man's Stand Firm on a cage corner that's getting blocked, but not effective versus a blitz.

[mattgslater]

For elves, I really like SS, especially once they have Dodge. They can use the extra square. The problem with Fend on Line-Elves (and I've seriously considered it) is that it has too much competition. There's Dodge, and Block/Wrestle, and by the time you get to the next one your guy is worth 130k and you only want to put him on the LOS if you really have to. All of a sudden, SS is really tempting. Besides, SS and Fend are about equal on the LOS. Bash teams frequently set up to push without following, after all.

[nick_nameless]

I don't disagree with that, except to say (repeating myself I think) that on interior linemen, sidestep is IMO inferior. Fend means you don't have to make a dodge roll after the push, whereas sidestep allows the player to follow up regardless of where you step to. It's useful on Elves in that capacity

And on linefrogs, linerats, human linemen, it's even more important.

[Smeborg]

The team build with the most Fend that I advocate is Nurgle, where I give Wrestle/Fend/Tackle to 3 Pestigors and Block/Fend/Foul Appearance to the Rotters. Fend as second normal skill in both cases.

I ran a non-standard Orc team (no Troll, no Black Orcs). Wrestle/Fend on the Lineorcs worked well. Again second skill.

I have seen Fend used to good effect on Norse (first normal skill for at least 3 Linemen, for the LoS).

I am considering Fend as second skill on Khemri Skeletons (after Block), which I think is a popular build.

Fend is a skill which seems to work well in the right context, and perhaps only if you take plenty of it on a team. It defends against Piling On on the LoS (unless the P-On player has Grab). It can leave you free to move after being blocked (hence it can be useful on low AG, low MA Linemen types). It can prevent an assist from a push and follow-up, turning a 2-dice block into 1-die. It can allow you to mark opposing players who are on the edge of the pitch (they cannot block you to get away from the crowd). It can leave potential receivers free to catch (if standing) or to move to the end zone (if prone). Importantly, it can prevent a second block from a Frenzied player (which can be quite important at the set piece, or when the ball carrier is blitzed). It can consume a square of movement when Blitzed (may sound like nothing, but can win a drive). So it has multiple uses, all defensive, mostly subtle. It can mess pleasantly with the opposing coach's head.

I have never seen the need to give Fend before Block or Wrestle. I see Fend as an early skill (first or second) on some Lineman types (for LoS, sideline and marking duty), a late skill (4th or 5th) on Elven Blitzer types (for protection), plus some special cases, often involving Wrestle (e.g. my Pestigors above).

Fend combines rather well with some other skills, notably Wrestle and Sidestep. Wrestle/Fend/Sidestep is particularly nasty for the opponent to deal with (in the right context), as often the player will be free to move after being blocked (unless his armour is broken).

Hope that helps.

[Wanchor]

A Wood Elf coach in my league gave Fend to a line-elf as a first skill, probably just to experiment. Hated that damn lino.

The best use of Fend I've ever seen was on a werewolf, who suffered a push result after being blitzed. The human blitzer couldn't follow up, so had to GFI to put himself in a tackle zone and, at the very least, force a dodge roll for the next turn. He blew the roll and broke his neck.

I plan to give my Rotters Fend as a second skill, if they survive so long, and on a few of my Pestigors as well. As far as Fend en-masse is concerned, I don't know of any teams that have tried such a thing. Khemri and Norse would likely be the greatest beneficiaries. I consider it a useful positioning skill with a few bonus side-effects, such as preventing Frenzy blocks and Pilings-On, so any coach who prefers a positioning-oriented play style would benefit from giving it to the linos at least.