Playoff Time...with a poll

[swilhelm73]

Facing this killer Chaos team, what should I choose with my roughly 390k in inducements?

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=36835

MN: Claw, Tent, SF
CW: Block, Claw, MB
CW: Block, Claw, MB, Guard
CW: Block, Guard, SF, +AG, +MA
CW: +ST, Block
BM: MB, Block, PO, Frenzy, Claw, Niggle
BM: +AG, SH, Block, Niggle
BM: Block, Dodge, SH
BM: Block, MB, Tackle, PO, JU, -MA, -AG
BM: Wrestle, JU, Tackle, -MA
BM: DP
BM: Tackle, MB, Block, Claw, PO
BM: Rookiex2
14 players
4 RR
TV2450

[crimsonsun]

I choose Nek plus wizard because it gives u more options on the pitch, ram would be great if you were looking to fight them which your not, HG is too unreliable for me to spend that much inducing him, and he can be taken out fairly easily. juggs could be useful verses there standfirm and a wizard can make all the difference when the win is everything.

[MKL]

Not much experience playing at this rating, but here are my 2c.
The Wizard is my preferred inducement against grinding team.
So, wiz+setekh (Nek etc online)
or wiz+2 bloodweiser gals+ 2 merc zombie as LoS fodder

[swilhelm73]

One thing I am considering is my D alignment. I'll probably go with an arrow head D - 3 Zs on the Line, the FGs and one more Z two spaces back protecting the wolves/wights and one more player.

In this defense I like to put the fend/wrestle zombie in the middle off of the LOS to make it harder for the opposition to swarm the middle and mark the wolves/wights.


. . z z z . .
. . . . . . .
F . . Z . . F
. w . . . w .
. . W . W . .
. . . X . . .


z=zombie
Z wrestle fend Zombie
F = Flesh Golem
w = wight
W = Werewolf
X = ?

If I take Setekh he would be in the X postion. Otherwise the merc DP.

I do have one DP Z on my roster. Is two going to be worth it really? I can't clump too much to foul as then the Chaos team can use their ST and Guard to overwhelm me.

On the other side of things, I notice the Chaos team runs a D similar to my arrowhead, but with the Mino in the middle and the other players further behind him.

This leads me to plan to attack this way;

MB wights and PO WW hit the line fodder. Probably no foul as the line fodder will be rookie BMs. Two or three Zs/FG mark the Mino and the Daunt wolf hits him. Then as long as my wolf gets him down, and without block the odds are good, I can retreat him, so that hopefully on Chaos turn 1 his only good targets will be Zs or maybe FGs. Potentially foul the mino with the DP Z.

If the Mino does NOT go down, with tents, that is a problem. But hitting him on T1 with MB/Claw could be a game changer - even if I don't injure him, he might stay on the ground for a while.

THoughts?

[mattgslater]

Don't be surprised if he doesn't expose his Mino on T1 defense... he needs to keep that matchup from happening, except on his terms.

Setekh is a good bargain and particularly good against Chaos. Wizard is a good bargain and particularly good against Chaos. That means Setekh + Wizard is a particularly good bargain of the second order.

Receive first if you win the coin toss: you need to do some damage. Don't be afraid to hurry a score.

I like your defense against Chaos when you've used your Wizard. With a Wizard, I like sideline defenses: covering the wide zones means that when the offense picks their 11 squares, you can wrap around and prevent a redirect. This often forces the action to the sideline, where you can force them to stick in and take a fireball, but sometimes you can set a trap for them, like leaving a redirect for the clever opponent that really just divides their support pieces in advance of a Wizard recovery. This requires discipline with Necro, though; I'm used to doing it with Orcs, who often run fewer slow pieces (even if the faster ones are still slow, MA4 vs 5 is massive on a redirect), so the slow ones are the ones who stick in to hit and be hit (and on the whole they do it better), while with Necro sometimes you have to play with slow-moving support.

[swilhelm73]

Thanks for all the feed back guys - I see this game as one of the most difficult matchups I've faced with this team so your suggestion are definitely helping to refine my plans...

Don't be surprised if he doesn't expose his Mino on T1 defense... he needs to keep that matchup from happening, except on his terms.

I watched two replays of his (one nice part about using the Cyanide Client in a league) one against a much less developed Necro team a few weeks ago and one against a Khmeri team around tv2100 last week.

Both of his opponent unnecessarily marked his players from my perspective. I guess that is the general style for Khemri...but I've always focused on marking only when necessary or strongly in my favor.

In both cases on defense the chaos coach left the mino open in the middle with the warriors and valuable BMs clumped a few squares behind him...so I think this defense likely to be what I will see.

It is a very odd defense against either team from my perspective - with AV8 and WA you don't want your Mino knocked down...he might not get up even if he isn't hurt!

Overall the goal of his defense, like mine, is to trade some space for individual player defense and flexibility, but I disagree with his implementation.

Setekh is a good bargain and particularly good against Chaos. Wizard is a good bargain and particularly good against Chaos. That means Setekh + Wizard is a particularly good bargain of the second order.

I like break tackle on the player - with my opponent having a major strength advantage mobility is important on my side.

Receive first if you win the coin toss: you need to do some damage. Don't be afraid to hurry a score.

There is another reason to do so with the Cyanide Client...OT plays as just continuing turns.

So presume that team A receives and scores on T8. Team B receives in the second half and scores on T16. Team A will receive the ball and get however long it wants to score the game winner. This makes receiving more appealing in games that can't end in ties...like playoff games.

With a Wizard, I like sideline defenses: covering the wide zones means that when the offense picks their 11 squares, you can wrap around and prevent a redirect.

The concern is limiting who he can hit to begin with. With the arrowhead I can protect 5 players. With say a standard Zig only 2. I'd hate to lose one of my two guard players on T1, and have the other on the other side of the field away from the primary area of attack.

I'm not that worried about initial positioning to close off angles of attack - he isn't going to rush down the sideline to score in 3-4 turns. I want to be able to screen the wights/WW for as long as possible and try to get rid of some of his damage skill players, or force him to choose between protecting the damage skill players and the ball carrier.

Overall though the arrowhead will push him to the side. Most opponents attack an FG and move a few players into the wing area he was guarding. If he does that, it will allow me to maximize my SF/SS/Frenzy skills. If he instead attacks the middle he is hitting where my players all are.

[mattgslater]

I totally get what you mean. Like I said, I'm more used to teams with a lot of interchangeable players. "Hit any one of these guys," that sort of thing.

The concern isn't opponent's rushing down the sideline. It's opponents establishing a foothold in your half, so they can corral you. I suppose your key players are fast enough to avoid that....

I would play you differently from what you said. But I'd take a lot more Guard, too. Those kinds of defenses are ineffective against my preferred style, because a simple pow on the centerfield blitz, and you're sailing the Sea of Little Red Dots. Vs. this guy, I like what you're doing.

[Big A]

Wizard, Igor, Blood wieser babe * 2 = 350k.

Wizard for hopefully preventing a touchdown and the others to keep your guys coming back onto the pitch.

[Smurf]

Hotpot and a babe.

Stealing rerolls each half will upset the other team's confidence.

[swilhelm73]

I ended up winning the semifinal game 2-1 in OT.

I took Setekh and a Wizard. The former saved a TD and the latter set me up for scoring one.

Game write up below;

Playoffs R3: Metabolically Challenged v GOBBLN Acquiescence (Chaos)

Acq won the toss and elected to receive hoping to get an early started on putting all those claws to good use.

The MC lined up in an Arrowhead D while Acq lined up in a spread offense with only 1 deep.

The kick sailed deep as the MC read the play and pulled off a blitz to start the game. Krimlarg started the clawing, biting and mauling early taking out star BM, and fearsome killer in his own right, Malgor as the MC sent a number of players up the right wing to pressure the ball.

On their T1 the CW the Prince of Paradise managed to even the player number CAS'ing a zombie who couldn't manage to pull himself together as Acq ran back towards the ball as Margor botched the pickup.

On the MC's T1, Krimlarg sprinted down to put a TZ on the ball.

On the Acq T2, Margor again botched the pickup (still in Krimlarg's TZ)

The MC managed to achieve nothing much on their T2 except see Krimlarg fail a dodge with a number of Acq players around.

On their TC3 the Acq took advantage, BH'ing Krimlarg on a foul...but got to see him recover on the sidelines.

On their T3 the MC managed to respond with Peter Graves KO'ing another killer BM - Trakgor.

On their T4 the Acq took out another key MC player as star Wight Rex the Grim fell to a clawfilled hit from CW the Prince of Perversion. The Acq were still deep in their own end and while they had a screen the MC still had a wizard available...

On MC T4, the wizard was sure enough called for opening a hole to the ball carrier and Peter Graves was able to knock him down though the MC could only cover the ball, not pick it up themselves.

On Acq T5 they were able to get 3 of their own players around the ball, but again not pick it up.

On MC T5 the Challenged were able to use a bit of strategy in their blocking to free up the ball and agile wight Robin the Unjust to pick up the ball and score the game's first TD.

Both teams lined up in the same formations with two starters in the KO or injury box.

A quick snap allowed the Acq to get better position.

On Acq T6 Trakgor was able to KO Krimlarg, though leaving himself in the middle of a number of MC players. The Acq pushed down the right wing with receiving target CW the Prince of Pain leading the way.

On MC T6 it took three players to get Trakgor down (three 2D blocks) and Krimlarg failed to take down the Prince of Pain, leaving him in scoring position. To make matter worse, the MC saw their DP zombie foul out only generating a stun.

On Acq T7 they advanced the ball, but only managed to get two players in scoring position.

On MC T7, Setehk was able to power his way through a would be tackle to knock down one Acq scoring threat, as Krimlarg KO'd the other.

On Acq T8, with no way to score, the team targeted WW Graves with a blitz that failed to take him down. WW Graves responded by KO'ing Trakgor to end the half.

With Krimlarg and 3 key Acq players in the KO bin, a lot was riding on the KO rolls - Krimlarg and one of the Acq three were able to come back leaving both teams to field 11, but giving the MC an edge in the attrition war.

The MC lined up for a drive down the left wing as the Acq lined up in a clump in the middle D with two of their warriors exposed on the wings.

On T9 the MC managed to KO a rookie BM and advance the ball.

On Acq T9 they managed to cut off the left wing and CAS a zombie who made his regen roll.

On MC T10 the Challenged reversed field as with the lead they were not eager to drive quickly.

On Acq T10 the team also rotated back, and the Minotaur injured off another Zombie (who regen'd) giving the Acq a player number advantage.

On MC T11 Krimlarg KO'd another BM evening the numbers as the team ran away from the Mino and down the right wing.

On Acq T 11 they shut down the right wing.

On MC T12, the team pulled back, giving Krimlarg a shot at the Mino and CAS'ing him out of the game.

on Acq T 12 the team pulled back to cover the wing and the center again matching the MC's moves.

On MC T 13 the team again advanced down the right wing, though in a more cramped space as WW Peter Graves failed to take down the agile Prince of Pain.

on Acq T13 said CW burst through the MC lines to take down the blodge ball carrier and picked up the ball on the bounce.

On MC T14, WW Graves had another shot at the CW and stunned him knocking the ball free but the Challenged couldn't pick up the ball before FG Andre the Giant managed to fall on his own face attempting to throw a block.

On Acq 14, BM Hurgor managed to knock a zombie into the ball, bouncing it away from the MC players covering it next to the sideline where agile BM Kilgor was able to pick it up and toss it to the BM open after Andre the Giant's failed block who slowly sprinted away from the back (MV5 but two GFI).

On MC T15, Coach SWilhelm made a critical mistake thinking the Acq only had one more turn to score as WW Peter Graves got free, but did not get close enough to the ball carrier to pressure him.

On Acq T15 the Chaos team set up for the T16 tying TD.

On MC T16, Peter Graves managed to sprint to cover the ball carrier - who managed to blitz him off, and CAS him out of the game!

The game had swung significantly from T13....

Going into OT the MC only managed to field 10, with 2 core players out while the Acq had 11 - put with 3 key players out.

The MC and ACq teams both lined up in similar sets to the last kick off, but the kick off result drew BLITZ! The ACQ took a shot on Krimlarg that failed to knock him down and moved tight onto the MC line....

On MC T17 the Challenged cleared the left part of their line and pushed the only deep Acq defender to the right as Krimlarg scooped up the ball and sprinted down the left wing.

On Acq T17 they managed to KO a Zombie and move a few players into position, but only one with tackle...

On MC T18 the Challenged ran Krimlarg near the endzone and covered every Acq player except for a tackless BM who was very deep as they KO'd another BM.

On Acq 18 the team did not try and take down the ball carrier, instead choosing to blitz Setekh, who was far from the ball carrier and out a tackless tackle zone on Krimlarg.

On MC19, Krimlarg dodged away, needing the free RR to score the go ahead TD.

Still, with two turns to play, the Acq had a good chance to even the score...

The MC lined up in a conservative spread D while the Acq lined up to try and rush the ball forward though with players spread on both wings.

On Acq T 19 they managed to KO Setekh and move 3 players into scoring position.

On MC T20, the Challenged single covered each scoring threat, but knocked open a whole in the Acq line. Robin the Unjust ran to the ball carrier as Krimlarg only needed a GFI to throw a 2D block on him...which he failed and the MC had no more RRs.

On Acq T20, the team wrestled down the FG covering agile CW the Prince of Pain, but when the ball carrier tried to dodge away from the wight covering him he failed the 2+ dodge ending the game.

Final Results
TDs: MC 2 Acquiescence 1
CAS: MC 2 Acquiescence 6
KOs: MC 6 Acquiescence 1

Player of the game

WW Krimlarg: 2 CAS, 1 KO, 1 TD

Gameballs to;

WW Peter Graves: 5 KO
Mino Lash of Slannesh: 2 CAS

[Anglakhel]

Congrats.

[dode74]

Indeed, nice one.

[MKL]

Congratulations Swilehelm, and thank you for the detailed report

[swilhelm73]

And now for the FINALS! Fifth straight trip for this team (3-1 so far)

Teams below. So going into this I'm at a 200 TV difference. Rules in this league are that I have to finalize my team roster before my opponent. So, I will drop to 13 players and drop the coaches/cheerleaders to get under 150 TV. But how low to go? He can drop skilled skellies to take another 40 TV off his roster and still field 13 so I can't force him below 150 TV if he does not want to, but I think dropping a rookie Z and the c/c's to get me to a svelte 2170 makes more sense.

Presuming he keeps the kick skeleton that means a TG on the D line to ClPoMb.

For my Defense I'm thinking the arrowhead again. My opponent is very deliberate and is little danger to rush up the side, even by Khemri standards, if he can get in a good block or foul.

My opponent has a major guard and strength advantage, so I will get to see how effective my dodging is. 8/9 always works...right? . I also have to watch out for the grind and foul.

His Ag3 Blitz-Ra is a major target if I get the chance - not only is he the best Khemri scoring threat, he is the most dangerous player to my many blodge players, though I also want to take out the Break Tackle no block TG if I can.

My team

FG: Block
FG: Block
Wight: +AG, +AG, Guard, Dodge, MB, -AG
Wight: +AG, MB, Guard, Tackle, SF
WW: Block, Dodge, MB, PO, SS, JU, SS
WW: Block, Dodge, MB, Dauntless, Tackle, SS
GH: Block, SS
GH: Wrestle, +AG, Tackle, SS, -MA
Z: Wrestle, Fend
Z: DP
Z: Wrestle
Zx3: Rookie
14 Players
4 RR
2 Cheer/2 Coach
2250 TV

My opponent Khemri

TG: Block, Multi, MB, Grab, [skill]
TG: Block, Dodge, MB, Guard
TG: Block, Guard, MB, SF
TG: MB, BT, Guard, SF
BZ: MB, Tackle, Frenzy, +AG, Guard
BZ: Rookie
TH: Block, Tackle, Fend, KOR, Dodge
TH: Block, Dodge, SS
SK: Kick
SK: Wrestle
SK: DP
SK: Rookiex2
13 Players
0 coach/0 cheer
4 RR
2050 TV [Presuming normal skill roll]