Orc Thrower with Blodge doubles AGAIN!

[mattgslater]

Ordinary double.

The rest of the team:
4x Blitzer: (Guard), (Guard), (+ST/MB/SS/Tackle), (+2MA/+AG/Dodge/MB)
4x BOB: (Block), (Block/Guard), (Block/Guard/SS), (Block/Guard/MB/SF)
1x Troll: (Guard/SF)
2x Lineman: (rookie), (Wrestle/Tackle)
4x TRR.

What do you think? Strong Arm? Guard? Side Step? Sure Feet? Ignore and take Accurate?

Strong Arm seems weak right now. With Accurate, it's good... I guess. But Throwers are AV8, so need to be built for immediate success. I'm leaning away from it right now.

Guard is powerful, but doesn't make him better at his schtick. If I take Guard, the fifth improvement (after Accurate) will be Nerves, so he can stick in and pass in the same action.

Accurate would cut his chances of failure on QPs by 75%, from 1/9 to 1/36. He has lately been throwing about two comps per match, but that was mostly because he's been near skilling all the time....

[Ullis]

You don't really need more Guard.

Side Step on a blodger is always nice but you don't want this guy near where the hitting is done.

Strong Arm is a waste as I doubt you're ever in a position to make long passes. Accurate would do the same trick for cheaper.

I might take Sure Feet. Orc throwers are slow and more movement goes well together with Dodge.

[mattgslater]

You don't really need more Guard.

Side Step on a blodger is always nice but you don't want this guy near where the hitting is done.

Strong Arm is a waste as I doubt you're ever in a position to make long passes. Accurate would do the same trick for cheaper.

I might take Sure Feet. Orc throwers are slow and more movement goes well together with Dodge.

Yeah, all that more or less hits me as accurate. Except that you always need more Guard. I suppose six is enough for now... though I must say that at the 2M range, the Dwarf teams usually have 8 or more Guard on the pitch. I know one team with twelve players and eleven Guards (including the Runners).

If it matters, the format is FUMBBL Ranked. Record is 18-8-11. About to seek out some hard matches; in fact, played one today against a very high-rated coach, and it went pretty darn well.

Speaking of which, Accurate? Sure Feet is tempting, too. Very tempting... it's not as good as Accurate, but it's better now than Strong Arm, and almost as good in the future. And unlike Accurate, it's a double. Strong Arm would be a "preparatory" selection, for combo power (2+ Short Pass... mmm...).

The way I see it, there are two possible roles for this player. He can retrieve and play around in the backfield with Jarromrolrg (the statfreak) until it's time to score, or he can be a runner with a passing option. That's really the role for Side Step: follow with Fend, and blitzing the carrier 1d will feel totally futile. That, and he'd be really hard to knock off the ball. Frankly, I don't need him for sideline retrieval: that's what Jarromrolrg is for! MA5 will get him close enough to catch the ball or take the handoff.

So...
a) Accurate now, Fend and Leader in the future;
b) Sure Feet now, Accurate and Fend in the future;
c) Strong Arm now, Accurate and Safe Throw in the future;
d) Guard now, Accurate and Nerves of Steel in the future;
e) Side Step now, Fend and Accurate in the future.

I think that's pretty much the list of options that make sense to me.

[Smurf]

Open up the passing game with Strong Arm.

I'd go with your option C.

This allows you to play the running game and if cornered pass your way out of it.

[klauser]

Side Step if you use him on defense a lot, otherwise Sure Feet. It's like a mini-KOR and saves an awful lot of GFIs. Accurate next.

[Smeborg]

I agree with Ullis: Sure Feet.

[Glowworm]

I quite like Accurate, but im rubbish

Just knowing your thrower has it can affect your opponent Defence

[Ullis]

One issue with Sure Feet is that when you have it, you're tempted to GFI all the time and eventually you'll fail. I know that's an issue with me using Bull Centaurs certainly.

The issue with your team is that your stat freak blitzer makes having a thrower a bit redundant. You'd still be better off having the ball on this thrower first and using the blitzer as a receiver type. If the kick is deep or something, you're probably better off picking up with the blitzer.

Side Step would help against those times when someone busts your cage or you run into other trouble so that might be a good option. I imagine that screening duty is something that this thrower does too and blodge combined with Side Step would actually mean that he wouldn't be blitzed in the first place.

[Penwaaagh]

I would ignore the double and take Accurate, so option A for me

[Ulthuan_Express]

As I just alluded to on your FB... Strong Arm for me, particularly as you've got an outlet with your AG4 Bloging Blitzer.

Then again, if you never throw it, take Sidestep or Sure Feet.

[mattgslater]

I throw it a good bit. Usually, the freak Blitzer is the conduit, while the Thrower stays out of reach and draws the rush. Accurate will keep him delivering the ball in the right direction. I do tend to field him on defense, because I only run 12 men. If I gave him Side Step, it would really be for offensive application, primarily caging. I don't want him getting blitzed, so I don't want to field him in a strong position. That makes Side Step less desirable on defense (still useful). Also, I've got two SF'ers, two SS'ers (all ST4+/AV9, with 3x Guard and 3x MB between them... no Dodge...), and plans to get two or three more SF'ers, all with Guard already: that's an insane load of positioning skills. If I wanted to build for D, I'd give him Guard, so I could move a Blitzer into the strong midfield position. Then this guy would move from safety to flanker, running in a parallel wing with my SS/Block/Guard BOB. Also, I've currently got 6 Guard, which is definitely enough, but not really at the point of diminishing returns yet. So Guard beats Side Step on this model.

It's tempting to think of Sure Feet as +2MA, but I kind of want to keep him alive, and avoid GFIs, so that's out. Guard has a similar concern, though it must be said that it's quite satisfying to watch your opponent do his stand-ups, then look at his blocks, beginning action after action, only to be faced with a sea of red dots, sigh, and click the "End Turn" button or begin with the craziness. Both of those are tempting, but I have to think Accurate is better now, and Accurate/Fend isn't a terrible step down. So Guard, Side Step, and Sure Feet are all out. That leaves the passer route, with Strong Arm now and Accurate next, or Accurate now and take what I get to follow.

The more I think about it, the more tempted I am by Strong Arm. Hmm... I rarely make Short Passes, but I would make a lot more of them if I had Strong Arm. Accurate is better, and 20 SPP is a long time even for a Thrower, so I'd be carrying about 20k dead TV (assumption being that Accurate is twice as good) until he hit 51. But then he'd be a deadly bomber!

But is it really that much better... you tell me.

Option A: 5/3/3/8 Accurate, Block, Dodge, Pass, Strong Arm, Sure Hands, 170k
Option B: 5/3/3/8 Accurate, Block, Dodge, Fend, Pass, Sure Hands, 160k

Option B is better now. And his predecessor didn't get much past 50 SPP... but a lot of little things point to SA/Acc, like my ability to make tight formations and corral blitzers, and the relative immunity to Very Sunny conditions provided by Jarromrolrg. So that's the dilemma now. Thanks for helping me limit it.

[Smurf]

A

You shouldn't have him in a position to use Fend.

The idea is scoop, pass, bigger orc holds ball.

Retrieves and then assists. Now and then stays out of reach before moving up for a quick lob.

However, if the grind is not working out in your favour but you see an opening for some guy to dash through. The Thrower steps up for the pass and sudden quick ball movement can throw your opponent off pace.

Otherwise, it's all orcs to the bash, last one in is a gobbo.

[Smurf]

PC was slow to turn over... can find how to delete the duplicate

[Smurf]

PC was slow to turn over... can find how to delete the duplicate

[mattgslater]

I'm ready for a poll. Please don't post in this thread from here out. If a mod sees fit to close it, that's great.