Good Wood Team Thread

[Smurf]

I would, it's a good skill. Note you can also can be surrounded and throw the ball out, which is nice.

[TuernRedvenom]

So my +MA Catcher got doubles for his second level. I couldn't resist taking Nerves of Steel. Thoughts?

A wasted skill IMO. I know NoS is a popular skill pick for many but I don't see it being worth 30k and a skill slot at all (I agree it's good for PE catchers which get it built into the statline for 10k).
It's one of those skills that seem really good on face value but isn't worth its TV when you actually start taking note of how many times it's really usefull during a game. The most important reason is that it's main use is in improving your offence. But Wood Elves already have no problems with offence at all at any TV.
It is of very marginal use on defence (unless your opponents are giving away christmas presents and start passing and giving away interceptions vs your wood elves).
Sure you can pass in TZ's. But you have the AG, MA and Dodge skill to not have to do that.

It's almost worthless when compared to Guard on a catcher IMO.

[mattgslater]

I'm with Tuern on Nerves of Steel. It's a fun skill, but that doesn't make it good. It's nice for a Catcher or Thrower who already has Leap (and maybe Sure Hands), as that gives it defensive potential, for recovery and distribution from scrums. But that makes it a #4 at best. Guard is much better. The offensive value of Nerves of Steel really is more an SPP sink than anything, until you get two of them. This is why the Pro Elf Catcher rocks so much: you can easily field multiples. Being ST3 doesn't hurt, either: you can routinely let one guy get to them so long as they don't have the ball.

If you're committed to not taking Guard, then Pass is an option, if you want to use the player as part of a retriever/distributor backfield combo, say with a Sure Hands Thrower. This is pretty much the only place you really get any mileage from specializing offensive players. Even that is not necessary to the strategy: a rookie Catcher can get the job done as an ace distributor, or can build into the retriever role without any doubles. Throwers are okay at either, and can build into either role with ease.

Flanker: +MA, Guard, Block, Shadowing.
1TTD specialist: +MA, Leap, Sure Feet, Block.
1TTD specialist 2: +MA, Guard, Side Step, Block.
Retriever halfback: +MA, Pass, Sure Hands, Block.
Ace fullback: +MA, Pass, Block, Sure Feet.

I quite like the Ace use, as he already has Catch and MA9/Sprint, so he can outrun pretty much anything but lockdown coverage, which you can generally scheme to prevent. This should reduce your body count on offense dramatically, and will give you a good chance to keep offensive drives alive long enough against bash teams, getting you into that magical window of T5-6, where your opponent probably doesn't have time to score, but you still might get a defensive TD. Tempo control is the secret to accounting for low ST and AV, and is the poor-man's alternative to hazardous cage-breaking.

If I understand your post right, Copious, I think you're stuck with Nerves of Steel. Fear not: take a Safe Throw Thrower when you can, and you'll frustrate and annoy people to no end.

Breakaway Artist: +MA, Nerves of Steel, Block, Leap.

[Smurf]

Thick Skull may be nice.

IMO it's not that NOS is a waste, you need to utilise it corretly. I've seen NOS been used very well and think I want it!

[CopiousDude]

I'll let you know how it goes. My thoughts with NOS is that it comes in handy in multiple situations on offense and defense. I like to use the MA9 guy as the middle part of a pass/handoff chain, and this means they can't just mark him up to force a 3+ roll. I'm the king of terrible rolls, so any help I can get makes me feel much safer.

I like the Safe Throw idea, as barring a double or stat increase, that's what my offensive thrower is getting next. He doesn't get hit enough to take Dodge right now.

[CopiousDude]

I'm gonna go ahead and say that NOS was a great idea on doubles for the Catcher. It's come in handy on more than one occasion, allowing me to make 2+ catches when marked by two players, and the extra MA means that I'm almost always in a position to score afterwards with minimal dodging. Between him, the AG5 Wardancer, and my other Catcher, I just have too many threats for my opponents to cover properly. I can almost always make a 2+ or 3+ catch for the score. Here's hoping he lives to get another skill up!

[klauser]

[quote="mattgslater"] Neither is as important as a Grab Treeman and a Guard player to give him a 3d hit.[quote]

Sorry about the off-topic comment, but the above quote by mattgslater intrigues me and I would like to read more about this concept. I just came off my first coaching season in a BB league, winning my division with Wood Elves and I have so far not thought about using Grab at all. A pointer to one or more relevant threads/guides would me much appreciated.

[DoubleSkulls]

Grab compensates the tree if he takes root since he can always keep people he hits next to him

Its also handy for setting up 1 turn chain push TDs.

[mattgslater]

Or just breakaway runs up the gut, especially if the opponent goes for a sideline-oriented defense like columns or ziggurat. The trick is to use Grab to push (not pow) a defender across the LOS, so you can block him into one of your men who hasn't acted and thereby push the player forward.