Unexperienced skaven player-help

[carmachu]

So I played my first game today. I used my Skaven and now have a bunch o' questions and comments;

First I enjoyed it very much, now...

Ratzo Rizzo's Rascally Risktakers;
1x Rat Ogre Mighty Blow, Frenzy, Tail, Big Guy, Wild Animal
4x Linemen MA7, ST3, AG3, AV7 No Skills
2x Throwers MA7, ST3, AG3, AV7 Sure Hands, Pass
2x Gutter Runner MA9, ST2, AG4, AV7 Dodge
2x Storm Vermin MA7, ST3, AG3, AV8
3 Re-rolls and 1 Fan point

The list worked well enough but my opponent managed to cack the Rat Ogre turn 1 which was obviously not a good thing but the rest of the team did well. He recev'd first and I was not only able to hold him but I pushed the ball back way into his back field. Problem was, neither he nor I could pick up the damn ball!!

Taking the Ogre leaves me with no reserves but I feel I need a heavy hitter. But seeing how well they did without him maybe I don't need him?

NOw I can get rid of a Thrower and put in a Linemen and a re-roll, not sure how advantageous that would be though.

The one thing that seemed boring is that the game deteriorated into a combat scrum and it seemed to me that might be an inherent flaw in the game play. There are so many players on the field that there is lttle room for movement or run-a-rounds. Am I wrong here? Or is it just that I was playing against a decidedly "combat" oriented Orc team? Perhaps its just my inexperience.

Now as to the league; It also seems very possible that you can be knocked out of the league entirely in the first couple rounds, or very early in the going. Not much fun in that.

Is that common?

How frequent is it to get a pass off? Is passing worth it? Does it happen often?

Any help is appreciated. As a whole I can see this game being an F'n laugh riot stadium Bowl of fun!

Eric J

[slup]

Taking the Ogre leaves me with no reserves but I feel I need a heavy hitter. But seeing how well they did without him maybe I don't need him?

That is completely up to you and depends on your style of play.
His ST5 is nice but he is a turnover waiting to happen.

NOw I can get rid of a Thrower and put in a Linemen and a re-roll, not sure how advantageous that would be though.

For leagueplay sacrifice some positional players and a reroll for more FF, 1 thrower should be enough to start with.

The one thing that seemed boring is that the game deteriorated into a combat scrum and it seemed to me that might be an inherent flaw in the game play

You are playing against orcs, what do you expect?
It is their favoured style of play against soft targets as skavens.
Try playing against elves and you will see a whole different game.

It also seems very possible that you can be knocked out of the league entirely in the first couple rounds

It happens a lot, especially with AV7 teams, just start a new team.

How frequent is it to get a pass off? Is passing worth it? Does it happen often?

With rookie teams most passes are quick passes in order to make starplayer points.
As the team develops then especially elven teams tend to do amasing passing plays, but for most other teams passing the ball is only when it is the only option.

[Bizzy]

Get the Rat Ogre once your team is developed and can stand on its feet with out him. After you get him he is a ST 5 strong man that can occassionally help out. You seem to generally have a concept of team building.

Lets just clarify a few pointers.

1) During league play rerolls cost double.
2) During league play you can still buy players rerolls, but not Fan Factor.
3) Fan Factor means better gates means better money.

The more money you make (gold pieces not real) the more tresury you have. This means when your players die or take a seiously bad injury you can fire him and replace it. By playing Skaven your playing a speedy/run oriented team. Playing against Orcs who play a bash style of play you fell into his style. You did this because your a rookie and didn't understand the concept of RUN AWAY. Not a flaw just a common mistake if an opponent plays his game you can't play to his St if its your weakness. You will lose every time.

Rat Ogres can't take general so no block. They can't reroll the block attempts so if they roll doubleskulls they are down and out.

As for a league team, I would suggest definately dropping a Thrower and the Rat Ogre. This puts 200 gold back in your treasury. You still need two replacement players though.

Gutter runners are great but eat up SPP with their MA9, and AG4. So I would say keep 2. That leaves you with what as an option? Linerats.

So you go up two more Linerats. Giving you 100K left, and a team of 11 players. You need more FanFactor so up that about 8 more points to get the max you can buy of 9

That gives you this roster

6x~Linerats
2x~Gutter Runners
2x~Storm Vermin
1x~Thrower
3x~Rerolls
9x~FanFactor
20K in the bank

Keep the 20K so when you play your first game you hopefully will have earned about 30 so you can buy and apothacary. This will help keep players alive longer.

Onto passing

Passing is worth 1SPP, and gives the ball to another man. It is always a good idea to try and get completions on players (completion is when the thrower makes and accurate throw, and the catcher catches it..the point goes to the thrower of the ball) this way incase that player gets an MVP he skills up. I hope this can help you some.

[Coach Alex]

Bizzy pretty much resumed the weaknesses of your team :

- WAY too low Fan Factor
- Two throwers (you won't need the second at all)
- A Rat Ogre (a little too unpredictable for an unexperienced coach to start with ... plus it's very expensive)
- You've played the game the other team wanted you to play.

About that last point, you have to understand that your skavens are quite fragile, so the better thing to do is to avoid getting 'em harmed. But don't misunderstand the idea, it doesn't mean avoiding all contact with the other team, it means not allowing him to hurt you, which is really different. You know you only have one blitz per turn, so the point is to reduce to the minimum the number of block he can do. It means getting your players out of tackle zones, which can be done by dodging AND by putting HIS players down!

Also, I started playing blood bowl two months ago and I picked up a skaven team too. I've asked for help (as you do) in this board and I got a lot of answers. I think reading that topic might help you, as there are answers there to most of your questions and some that will come out later

Here you go : http://www.talkbloodbowl.com/phpBB2/vie ... hp?t=15492