"Bloated" Goblins - should I "reset"?

[txapo]

a dwarf team reseted my on line goblins a month ago luckily my star survived (he was level 4 then), and after todays double victories he is a level 5 star goblin with mov 7 ag 4 sprint and sure feet. He is dealing very well with the rest of the team which has become quite rookie. He's developing a tendency to score twice or three times each macth and I just use the apo as personal doc for him.

[Smeborg]

I am happy to play any of the "handicapped" teams, but several things about Gobbos annoy me. All relate to team dynamics at "high" TV (well, medium TV in practice). My current Gobbo team is in the 150s.

- Firstly, unless you enjoy a handicap in your favour and are able to take Bribes, the Secret Weapons disappear into the dugout, meaning that by some stage of the game (say 2nd half), you are playing as though you started with 13 or 14 players. Combined with Stunty/AV7 and lack of access to Block/Wrestle, this is a severe penalty, with an implied argument against taking SWs.

- Secondly, Gobbos, like Halflings, seem to enjoy life better when they have a decent TV handicap in their favour. This seems to imply that you need to sack skilled players in order to keep TV low. For me this spoils the entertainment value of building a characterful team over a season. This may partly be a result of the 6th Edition revision to the Stunty rule (Gobbos can actually now retain skills on a net basis!).

- Thirdly, my playing experience suggests that Gobbos perform better if you keep SWs off the roster, limiting them to inducement options (I am happy to be proved wrong by more experienced Gobbo coaches!). This is fine as far as it goes, but it is rather dull compared to the fun of SWs.

So for me there seems to be a sort of in-built set of conflicts of interest in the team (in leagues), which seem to work to lower its promising entertainment value. Any help to resolve this would be appreciated!

All the best.

[Da Shin Kikas]

Yeah it's a pain to be the over dog as a gobbo coach. I've just played two games where I was giving away half a million gps and will shortly be playing one where I'm giving away three hundred K. It's painful but the skills my gobbos have are extremely useful to play and I'm not prepared to sack those men.
But if you get challenged what-ya-gunna-do?

I field two 'special players' (fanatic and looney).
The rostered loony costs the same as a standard gobbo and does not come with 'loner'. Why would you want to induce one, thirty K dearer, but have the added joy of a 5/1 chance of him hacking himself up and causing a turnover? I can't really see the saving, but then I prefer the full 16 gobbo roster.

[Harry Buddha Palm]

I had the same problem with my goblin team. My TV got pretty high and I wasn't getting inducements like I used to. Someone pointed out that my fanatic with two skills was 110k and wasn't worth that. At first, I thought "Of course he is! He kicks ass!" but then I looked at how many causulties he actually caused and the number wan't very high. I decided that he was probably right and the fanatic wasn't worth it. My chainsaw has block and is now 70k and that's probably not really worth it, either, really. The block skill hasn't really helped him much. I fired my bomber when I fired my fanatic just because he did more damage to himself than anyone else. I don't have enough cash to hire a new fanatic, but I did if I would. I came to the conclusion that it's best to just fire the secret weapons when they get a skill and get a new one. The fanatic and chainsaw don't need skills to do what they need to do. Bombers need a double to be even remotely useful and there's no gaurantee of getting one, so I wouldn't bother. You need the secret weapons (except the bomber), otherwise you should just play Underworld. You just don't need skills on them since they ride the bench so much.

Another thing I noticed was that I did better with just one troll. One of my trolls got killed in my second game and in my fourth, I think, the other got a -ST injury. I think I played one game with no trolls and many games with just one. During that period, I was inducing Ripper and sometimes Morg along with Nobbla and Fungus and getting bribes and such. It was good times. As soon as I got enough to buy another troll, I did and imediately thought that I may have made a mistake. Since then, my TV kept going up and I stated giving inducements instead of getting them. The worst thing is that my trolls are useless. I swear, at least one of them failed his stupid roll almost every single turn, if not both. I can't help but wonder if the team would be better with just the one. That's 110k less of TV. That's two bribes right there. It's also one less really stupid moron on the pitch.

[SunDevil]

Smeborg - I find the rostered SWs worth it, even disappearing after a drive, if they have done worse to the opposition. If the Saw ends the game for two opponents, either through the Saw or fouling, than he has proven his worth. The Fanatic eats up so much attention (and hopefully is hurting people) that he pays for himself by creating room for his non-SW-wielding Gobbo brethren.

My Fanatic is +MV, Block, MiB with an eye on Grab next and I find he is well worth his hefty pricetag. Both my Saw and Bomber are Rookies after being killed.

Harry Buddha Palm - My experience with GObbos has been completely the opposite. I need the SWs to skill up and get 'good' (as in doubles, etc.) while my regular GObbos just stay regular Gobbos. Same with the Trolls, mine improved so much (both Block, one Pro until the non-Pro Troll was killed) that they made life so much easier for the regular Gobbos.

TOTALLY AGREE that they suffer at high TR (mine is also in the 150s). No Bribes = less Goblin fun.

[Harry Buddha Palm]

I hardly lose that many goblins and they tend to skill up. Maybe I'm just lucky that way or maybe it's just the way I play. My Underworld team is the same. I've only lost one guy and it was a skaven blitzer. My goblins are skilling up very well and I use them on the line of scrimmage, too! On my Goblin team, I've got three goblins with +MV (one of them has sidestep, too), one with +AG (sweet!), and two with a regular skill (one diving tackle and one sidestep). I'd rather have the regular goblins skilled up than the weapons because the weapons are hardly ever on the pitch. A chainsaw doesn't need any skills to chainsaw well. He's just as good with none and a lot cheaper. Yeah, block gives him more surviability, but my looney has a habit of chainsawing himself or getting banned, so it's really not worth the cost. The fanatic does get better with skills like mighty blow and grab, but, again, he's usually not on the pitch that long and he can still knock people over with no skills. Those bastards are really the ones that get expensive. Mine cost the same as a troll. With him and two one-skilled trolls, that's 370k on three players, one of which is a secret weapon. I like fanatics and I think they're worth having on the team, I just think they're better when they're 70k and not 110k.

[Da Shin Kikas]

I can see the argument for inducing trolls - they come with loner anyway - but when I'm playing teams of similar value I'd still rather have my blocking,guarding troll about.
Gobbos are expendable anyway - sod 'em.

[SunDevil]

A chainsaw doesn't need any skills to chainsaw well. He's just as good with none and a lot cheaper. Yeah, block gives him more surviability, but my looney has a habit of chainsawing himself or getting banned, so it's really not worth the cost.

Totally agree, I used to really want Block on my Saw but after my l;ast one was killed, I'm perfectly fine with the regular Saw. I just need to protect him better so he can hurt more enemy players!

The fanatic does get better with skills like mighty blow and grab, but, again, he's usually not on the pitch that long and he can still knock people over with no skills. Those bastards are really the ones that get expensive. Mine cost the same as a troll. With him and two one-skilled trolls, that's 370k on three players, one of which is a secret weapon. I like fanatics and I think they're worth having on the team, I just think they're better when they're 70k and not 110k.

We can disagree here. I find my Fanatic anchors my drive (when kicked to) and my entire team scrums forward behind him and the Trolls. I've restarted a Season 2 Chaos team before and held my own with Chaos Dwarves behind those three. No one expects Goblins to play a grinding half!

[Da Shin Kikas]

hang on kids, fanatic can't have grab anyway.

[Insane_Prophet]

hang on kids, fanatic can't have grab anyway.

Yes they can.

"A Ball & Chain player may use the Grab skill (as if a Block action was being used) with his blocks (if he has learned it!)"

- CRP Rules, page 63

[Da Shin Kikas]

stand corrected.