Fondu77 wrote:Here they come for a new season.
My team the west coast ogers already made 3 loss and one null in our league and I 'd like some advice to get a better coach with my underpowered roster :
5 ogres (3 Piling on and 1 PO and break tackle)
6 snot without a damn skill
100% touchdown I scored with throwing .
Every advice from other ogre coach welcome
GIVE YOUR BEST

I've played a short league (8 games 3 wins 5 losses) with my ogres. First of all, I've got six ogres, not a single one with Piling-on yet. My reasoning is this. I understand the temptation to take it to hunt even more casualties from the blocks you get but do you really want your most expensive players on the ground at the start of the opponent's turn on regular basis? Sure, fouling isn't as rewarding now as it were earlier but it's definitely worth having a hobgoblin or lineman sent off for fouling if they get an ogre of the pitch. Don't give them free chances to take them out.
This far my ogres have taken the following improvements.
Ogre 1: Block, Guard, Dodge (I wish that I would have picked Sure hands on the second double roll, but when I finally get the next advancement Dodge will hopefully pay off when I get Break Tackle)
Ogre 2: Guard, Strong Arm
Ogre 3: Guard
Ogre 4: Guard
Ogre 5: Break Tackle
My general tip is that Guard and/or Break Tackle is the first skill you should take on your Ogres if you don't roll something special. Guard makes it harder for the opponent to gang up on your big guys, thus keeping them standing ready to punch on your turns. And it might help your snotlings to avoid those pesky 3 diceblocks against them. Break tackle gives your ogres some mobility Give one or two of your ogres strong arm, which gives you a bigger variety of play options. Not only for decreasing the risk of fumbling a snot-throw, but also for the for the moments when you need a long throw. An ogre with strong arm is a better thrower than a snotling on any range besides quick pass. If you're lucky enough to get AG+1 (which I think is way better than MA, ST or AV +1 for your ogres) you've suddenly got a pretty good thrower, that will help you score a couple of touchdowns and even enables a decent throwing game to receiving snotlings near the endzone, which let's you avoid those landing throws that always seems to go wrong with TTM.
AND, use your snotlings! They have more tasks on the pitch than being thrown around. A good advice is to keep them out of enemy tacklezones, which usually isn't that hard with dodge at 2+, but close enough to stand in the squares that your opponent wants to run through. Don't give away free snotling-blocks. If they want to bash your snotlings in hunt for Casualty SPP:s, make them waste their blitzes on that. If on of your ogres are especially important for your gameplan (ie carrying the ball at the moment) make sure to put a snotling in one of the empty squares of his tacklezone but NOT in any enemy tacklezone. Use them to make it hard or impossible to get a good block/blitz on your most important players. Make sure to take the opportunity to jump on important opposing players when they are on their back. A player worth 20 or 40k (with ex, Sneaky git) is worth having sent off if you gets a KO or better and sometimes even a Stunned. That said, don't have to many sneaky gits. Diving tackle, Catch (especially if you are lucky enough to have AG+1 on an ogre), Sure feet are more important to your game.
I generally have three alternatives of offensive play when I played my matches this far. Depending of the number of turns you have to work with and the opponent, and skills you just have to try for the one you'll think works best.
1: Let a snotling pick up the ball and move close to an ogre to have him thrown closer to the endzone the next turn, OR let the snotling run up to a snotling already standing next to an ogre and hand it off to him, then throw that bugger hoping for that possible one-turn TD. Thus far I've had bad luck with this tactic with A LOT of failed landings and bad scatters...
2: Snotling pick up ball and hand it off or throw it (if you're after that 1 spp) to an Ogre. Then form a cage around that ogre and move forward as fast as you can and punch your way forward. This is actually the tactic that has given me the most TD's this far. But be sure to make the TD when you got the opportunity. Don't wait until the last second if you have a chance to do it earlier, but if you must then make sure that you at least got a reroll left to reroll bonehead-rolls on the ball carrier. Believe me, if you do you're sure to suffer som aggravating frustration when your ogre just stands there instead of scoring, and that usually happens way more often than 1/6 (without reroll) or 1/36 (with reroll)
3: Let a snotling carry the ball and run along the sideline and use the fact that you've got sidestep. Then, make sure you've got at least 2 but preferably more ogres (with guard and or Stand firm) covering all three squares of his tacklezone that aren't next to the sideline. Then use as many other players snotlings and ogres to make your opponent take difficult dodges to reach the ball carrier. Then move them all forward as quick as possible but make sure you've got enough ogres with you to keep the ball carrying snotling as safe as possible. Thus move the ogres first. If one of them fails their bonehead-rolls, be sure to replace him in the formation or consider stand where you are. Don't give your opponent an easy way to hit your ballcarrier with a blitz. The sideline is your friend when the majority of your players have sidestep and the rest can take Stand firm as a regular skill. This tactic works quite well against teams that don't like to dodge. This is has worked out a couple of times for me...
This is a few pointers from me, but be aware that I'm by no means an expert Ogre coach, so if any of it makes sense to you I'm glad.
If more experienced coaches have other suggestions listen to them.
