League Human starting team (TV100)

[Welshy]

Overall: 1-0TD (0-0CAS)
With only a TV difference of 40K I wasn’t able to get any inducements and so was highly nervous about lacking the skills.. and a twelfth man!

First half:
Nathan won the roll-off but allowed me to receive. The ball went for a touchback so didn’t need surehands in the end. After seeing which way Nathan loaded the wings I switched to the other wing and made a drive up the side of the pitch. After a bit of bashing on the centreline my original lineman made a dash for the line well in the clear. An honourable mention should once more go to Norm’n Thorg who soaked up the blocks of 3-4 players each turn and ended up being fouled. Not only did he survive unscathed but his assailant was sent off. There’s a good Ogre!

Second Half:
With Nathan receiving the ball landed just behind the LOS. After punching a hole for his catchers a botched ball pick-up resulted in a turn-over and I made every effort to croud-out the ball. A scramble ensued and my lack of sure-hands played against me as repeated fails to pick-up cost me an early TD only for Nathan to pick it up and whisk it away with a blitzer. With no rerolls his first of two GFI’s to score failed and I managed to crowd out the ball for a close 1-0 win.

Full time & Learnings:
While not having a surehands player didn’t pose any problems initially the scramble for the ball early in the second half burnt team rerolls and ultimately opened the door for Nathan to steal the ball from me.

While this game’s MVP went to a Journey man I will resist the temptation to purchase him with my winnings as I’m convinced that I need a full-time Surehands player on the roster. With my winnings of 60k plus 10k in bank I’ll be purchasing a full-time Thrower.

With no skill-ups this game I am also concerned by the lack of use-fullness from my two existing skilled players, namely the Mighty blow Blitzer and GUARD lineman. Mightyblow didn’t give me much in the way of an advantage this game, but considering that most of the armour rolls were very low and most injuries were stuns I will flag this to bad luck for now. I am concerned by the lack of use from my GUARD lineman however. On several occasions he was by himself well away from the ruck effectively neutralising his skill, this is something that will need to be addressed if I am to make much (any) headway on the LOS.

[Smeborg]

Mighty Blow and Guard are skills that work better the more you have of them on the team. Even 2 of either is way better than one.

[Welshy]

- Game 7 vs Thursday Night Delight, [Necro] – 1-2TD (0-1CAS) loss.
With 450k inducements to spend I changed my option at the last minute to Zara, 2x Babes and a Rookie Merc Lineman. Initially a frustrating game, but in hind sight it was a fair and balanced result. I’m not convinced that my last minute change to Zara was the right call as my inability to play the ‘agile’ game against Damon’s BLOCK heavy Necro’s seriously restricted my options. The Babes however were a god send and only one of nine KO rolls failed.

First half: After electing to receive Zara went on a three turn stabbing ‘rampage’ penetrating the armour each time only to cause stuns. Damon however managed to place 6 of my players in the KO bin making it all too easy to turn me over and score against me on turn 4. Receiving the ball for the second time I was able to screen the ball and get some receivers down pitch. While the pass wasn’t complete, the resulting scramble saw a turn-over and my Blitzer dodged for a pick-up and 2x GFI’s to score.

Second half: With Damon receiving another convincing bash and screen was set-up allowing Damon another three KO’s to run in his second TD by turn 12. Morg went stupid at the wrong time and stopped me having a 1die block against the ball carrier, after this Damons was able to select the side line to push on and the rest was a fore-gone conclusion. With all KO’s returned to the pitch a four turn drive saw a T15 pass go wrong only for the Necro’s to pass it back down the pitch. A failed catch by the Necro’s saw the last turns second half disappear in a haze of scrambling for the ball and a series of failed dodges or pick-ups on both sides.

Full time leanings: To start with the inducements I’m not convinced my last minute change to Zara was the right call, the Babes however more than paid for themselves. By taking Zara I was without a scoring threat I was unable to ‘play the off side’ of the bashy BLOCK heavy side. With 450k I could have got two catchers with a skill a piece (300K) and still afforded the Wizard who, against a Necro team that screens the ball, would have been quite effective.

Picking up another Niggle on a lineman, and no skills-ups, the only consolation is that both my scoring Blitzer and the lineman that got the MVP almost all of my team is on the verge of their first skill. Another few games and I’m hoping that I can get the BLOCK, GUARD and other skills my team needs to start to compete. This game also proves that without the potent scoring threat of catchers against a ‘grind side’ I’m neither mobile nor strong enough to take advantage when I need to.

[SillySod]

I'm astonished that no one has suggested the following setup:

Ogre -140k
4 Blitzers - 360k
Thrower - 70k
Catcher - 70k
5 Linemen - 250k
2 RRs - 100k
10k spare

This gives you all your power players, a ballcarrier, a reserve, and a decent fast scoring option.... all on a starting team! It develops pretty naturally too, its easy to get SPP on the right players.

[Duce]

I'm astonished that no one has suggested the following setup:

Ogre -140k
4 Blitzers - 360k
Thrower - 70k
Catcher - 70k
5 Linemen - 250k
2 RRs - 100k
10k spare

This gives you all your power players, a ballcarrier, a reserve, and a decent fast scoring option.... all on a starting team! It develops pretty naturally too, its easy to get SPP on the right players.

Would two rerolls not be tough to live with over 8 turns? i'm asking purely in honest curiosity as I usually try for 3-4 rerolls. The current team has 4 rerolls, 12 players and i'm not sure I could go with less especially due to lack of block on a starting team.

Whats you're opinion on 4 Rerolls, 2 throwers, 6 linesmen, 4 blitzers?

Would you also not find the lone catcher gets picked on?

Also in general how do people find the humans fare in the running game?

[mattgslater]

Humans run the ball ok, but at their essence they're a QP team, both tough and mobile. I especially like to build downfield cages with Humans, almost like High Elves (except instead of an ace formation, they do best with a wishbone, so they have enough commitment to secure the ball on the 1/9 chance of a failed pickup). Their easy access to mobile Guard makes it easy to establish a beachhead in opposing territory, and their Throwers and Catchers are great for getting the ball into the cage.

I'm afraid of 2TRR on a team that isn't AG4. I'll do it if I have a really good reason (Orcs at 1M qualify), but on a 12-man roster, no way. But drop a Lineman for a TRR, and I run pretty much SillySod's roster (though I tend to prefer starting either two Catchers or two Throwers rather than one of each).

[Welshy]

- GAME 8 Vs EWOK – Tim [Lizards] 2-2TD and 2-2CAS.

340k TV difference, so I took 2x Catchers and 2xBabes

First Half: On receiving Tim set-up a powerful ‘suck and switch’ which didn’t quite clear enough ground to avoid my second turn blitz, however the resulting scramble saw Tim burning several TRR’s to pick-up the ball and run it in on his T4. My counter play was a reasonably solid drive up the middle with a catcher finally slipping around the side for a T7 equaliser. Tim’s rebuttal (without any remaining TRR’s) was to fail the pick-up allowing both a Blitzer to mark the ball and a catcher to pick it up... unfortunately the GFI and Dodge to get away from base-to-base with a skink (and set-up a glorious T8 score by me) saw the Mercenary failing the GFI and killing himself... Silly catcher. T8 saw another early turn-over from Tim leaving my last turn for a blitzer to swoop in for the ball only to fail the pick-up and end the half.

Second half: The initial moves of my play saw a solid cage/bash down a sideline to set up a catcher for the TD attempt. Tim was more than aware of my intended play so spend his turns trying to squash my cage and remove my catcher. Thankfully with the ball buried deep and my Thrower guarded by a Blitzer his dribble of skinks where KO’d and stunned buying me time. When the pass cam eventually the catch was failed and the ball scattering out of my cage only to be cleared of TZ by Saurus for a skink to swoop in, hand off to his mate and run in the TD on my turn 4 leaving me 2-1down. The second play of my half saw a similar drive with much better results sending the catcher scampering in on T16 to level the score.

Summary: After a 'demostration game' byt "Beefygoodness" on cyanide the night before I must admit that playing a 'fast-agile' game with them seems a lot more natural than my 'reactionary' approach. The TD stats bear this out: 5TD attempts by me (2scores) and 2TD attempts by my opponent (2scaores). The fact that I had so amny opportunities is very mucha result of the 'fast' apporach to the game while The 'sack' of the ball and low scoring success (40% for me vs 100% for my opponent) owes more to my sloppy play than anything.

How does this affect my approach tostarting rosters? Ultimately this backs-up my much earlier think that you must play Humans as a pseudo-Elf side. With AG3, this means you WILL be needing re-rolls (either skill or TRR) to acheive this play style. This means that a team without Catchers NEEDS 4+ rerolls and a team with them can suffice with 3. As for the Ogre: with loner and bonehead he a liability on a starting side, however if you are to get one you will need to start him early enough to gain th SPP's needed to gain the skills to make him more of an asset i.e. GUARD/STANDFIRM on normal rolls and BLOCK/PRO on doubles. I open these comments to the floor.

[mattgslater]

I couldn't agree more!

[Smeborg]

I think your game does show the importance of both Catchers and their developed skills. Had your merc Catcher been rostered, you would have been able to re-roll your GFI for a probable score (I assume you had a re-roll left at this point). You are unlikely to have failed the catch in the second half had it been to a Catcher with D-Catch. So it might have been 3-1.

Humans have always worked well for me as fast opportunists - scavengers if you like. Next time I play them, I am inclined to start the Throwers with Accurate, and the Catchers with D-Catch (2+ to 2+ passes to all quarters, with in-built re-rolls). I like their speed of ball movement (in both attack and defense) and their long opportunist ball sack range.

[Welshy]

...and their long opportunist ball sack ...

chortle

*edit* - wrong smilie.

[mattgslater]

You know in American Football, you sack a player. 'Sacking the ball' just sounds wrong.

[Smeborg]

Sorry Matt - it's a phrase that crept into our league recently - coined inadvertently by Welshy. I believe the original was "ludicrous ball sack".

[Welshy]

I think your game does show the importance of both Catchers and their developed skills. Had your merc Catcher been rostered, you would have been able to re-roll your GFI for a probable score (I assume you had a re-roll left at this point). You are unlikely to have failed the catch in the second half had it been to a Catcher with D-Catch. So it might have been 3-1.

There are a few discrepancies I should clarify:

1. I had burnt the reroll picking up the ball. My question is therefore two fold:
a. Should I have burnt it doing this? The ball would have been in at least one TZ and the lizzies has no re-rolls left (either appropriate skills or TRR's).
b. Should I have bothered about the GFI/Dodge at all in order to absorb more actions by the Lizards.

2. The failed catch in the second half was the result of two factors:
a. The Lizards (skinks) were in the back field and the ball was no longer 'safe' forcing a pass a trun earlier than I would have considered ideal. My temptation for next time would be increase the number of shielding players. Dare I even say 'deep cage'? This seems counter intuative to the style I was trying to achieve, but may be correct given the 'weedy' nature of the skink threat.
b. The Catcher was in a Saurus TZ. Again should I have dodged this player away to clear the TZ (easier catch) and leave the catcher in the clear? My reasoning for not doing so was that if the dodge failed then I would have left the Thrower open AS WELL AS the catcher had yet to take his turn, if he would have caught the ball (75% chance) then I would have also been in the clear to run the 8+ squares towards the end zone... well in the clear of skinks and/or free Saurus (i.e. a Saurus would have been forced to dodge to blitz the ball).

Your thoughts/comments, as always, are welcome.

[Welshy]

Sorry Matt - it's a phrase that crept into our league recently - coined inadvertently by Welshy. I believe the original was "ludicrous ball sack".

Indeed, it is my fault. I was crying with laughter when I realised what I had said.

[Smeborg]

Welshy - I can't answer your questions accurately without seeing the board when you took these decisions. It sounds like you may have taken the right ones from what you say.

The GFI was a clear scoring chance, I believe, so you were right to try.

I don't know what you rolled for the second half catch, but if you failed by 1, then Diving Catch would have saved your bacon.