If I can take a moment to promote "The Masters Series", a set of videos showcasing some of the better players from around the major private leagues being compiled by Viajero of BBTactics.
In this second video you can even hear my wise words as I fumble about as co-commentator trying desperately to find something interesting to say before I get hauled away to do the dishes.
Monday, 28 October 2013
Match Report: OCC Division 2D Game 3
The Grey Haven Guard (high elf, me) v Nocturnals (dark elf, Tx)
I came into the game giving away 600k of inducements for the second time this season, against a dark elf team which had had its best player (ST5 blodge witch) killed by a 1 dice block from a player without tackle on MD1. Gosh. Suffice to say however not all was lost - still two exceptional players on the team in a POMB tackle witch and a +1MV +1ST blodge blitzer who had grabbed his ST boost after the previous game. There was also some guard and a ST4 lineman. So overall in terms of first team ability we were not all that badly matched - much of my TV advantage was in my deeper bench - but still my chances on paper were very good.
But then Nuffle intervened. Let me throw down a couple of numbers here. I took 8 (eight) casualties in the game. From a total of 40 blocks. So my opponent caused a casualty every 5 blocks. It was an absolute slaughter and far beyond anything I've experienced before - even against high TV chaos and orc teams, or even TheMuffinThief's killer necro werewolf in my four games against him in recent seasons.
Most of those casualties went to the killer witch.
On that basis there wasn't much I could do.
I won the toss and chose to kick, the plan being to force him to use the wizard to score and then to grind in 2-1. But, yeah, 6 cas and 2 KOs in the first half says no. I did what I could, and even knocked the ball loose at one stage, with 5 players on the field. Legolas ran forward and fractured the skull of his new ST4 blitzer on a 1D block (apo failed!), and Gil-Galad scooped up the ball. He failed a GFI trying to get some distance from that fucking witch elf ("TFWE") and stunned himself in the process. 1-0 to the Nocturnals on turn 8. I didn't have the manpower to get a 1 turner going and farmed a pass on Felastur, my new rookie lineman.
In the second half my KOs came back and I think I had 8 vs 10, and I kept the ball deep with Ecthelion and relatively compact in the centre, hoping for an overcommitment from Tx. This duly happened as the dark elves flooded forward, but unfortunately for me my players started to drop like flies again, and the wizard zapped Ecthelion, causing another casualty. The ball was picked up by a dark elf blitzer but Glorfindel knocked him over on a 1D block, and Cirdan continued his recent good form by dashing back, picking up the ball and hurling a long pass out to Tananmyr who scampered off towards the dark elf line.
He wasn't able to get completely safe, however, and was hauled down. TFWE ran back to pick up the ball and, with stars in her eyes, decided to try a long pass of her own but fumbled it (ha!). Tananmyr leaped to his feet and dodged into the end zone, leaving Felastur to complete a memorable match for him by picking the ball up at the feet of TFWE, dodging away and making a touchdown pass. 1-1 on turn 13.
I'd paid the price however and was down to five players to stop 11 dark elves for four remaining turns and, predictably, it was not enough. I got close - a 1D block on the ball carrier from my wrestle lineman knocked it loose, but I was hoping for a bounce off the pitch that never happened. Both my blitzers were thereabouts and being annoying, but I couldn't quite stop the cage. On turn 16 the dark elves sealed their win with TFWE performing a spectacular double surf (never seen that before - 2 of my players surfed from 1 blitz, brilliant play from Tx) and needing a 2+ from a hand off reroll, which duly appeared. 2-1 to the Nocturnals.
The one silver lining here was the lack of permanent damage. I took 4 MNG and 4 BH with an unused apo. I'll be missing Cirdan, Anduril (frenzy catcher), Elladan (DP lino) and Kevatononel (blodgestep lino) for my next game. All of those four have now had two MNG injuries or worse in the three games this season. It's been fairly brutal.
My next game is against Klauser - a really good bash coach with a very lean TV orc team. I will broadly match him on ST but he has a guard and armour advantage. He also has 5 tackle in the team and a vicious killer blitzer. I will only have 10 players and HE will have inducements! One of those games where at present I don't see how I can win - it will be very tough.
I came into the game giving away 600k of inducements for the second time this season, against a dark elf team which had had its best player (ST5 blodge witch) killed by a 1 dice block from a player without tackle on MD1. Gosh. Suffice to say however not all was lost - still two exceptional players on the team in a POMB tackle witch and a +1MV +1ST blodge blitzer who had grabbed his ST boost after the previous game. There was also some guard and a ST4 lineman. So overall in terms of first team ability we were not all that badly matched - much of my TV advantage was in my deeper bench - but still my chances on paper were very good.
But then Nuffle intervened. Let me throw down a couple of numbers here. I took 8 (eight) casualties in the game. From a total of 40 blocks. So my opponent caused a casualty every 5 blocks. It was an absolute slaughter and far beyond anything I've experienced before - even against high TV chaos and orc teams, or even TheMuffinThief's killer necro werewolf in my four games against him in recent seasons.
Most of those casualties went to the killer witch.
On that basis there wasn't much I could do.
I won the toss and chose to kick, the plan being to force him to use the wizard to score and then to grind in 2-1. But, yeah, 6 cas and 2 KOs in the first half says no. I did what I could, and even knocked the ball loose at one stage, with 5 players on the field. Legolas ran forward and fractured the skull of his new ST4 blitzer on a 1D block (apo failed!), and Gil-Galad scooped up the ball. He failed a GFI trying to get some distance from that fucking witch elf ("TFWE") and stunned himself in the process. 1-0 to the Nocturnals on turn 8. I didn't have the manpower to get a 1 turner going and farmed a pass on Felastur, my new rookie lineman.
In the second half my KOs came back and I think I had 8 vs 10, and I kept the ball deep with Ecthelion and relatively compact in the centre, hoping for an overcommitment from Tx. This duly happened as the dark elves flooded forward, but unfortunately for me my players started to drop like flies again, and the wizard zapped Ecthelion, causing another casualty. The ball was picked up by a dark elf blitzer but Glorfindel knocked him over on a 1D block, and Cirdan continued his recent good form by dashing back, picking up the ball and hurling a long pass out to Tananmyr who scampered off towards the dark elf line.
He wasn't able to get completely safe, however, and was hauled down. TFWE ran back to pick up the ball and, with stars in her eyes, decided to try a long pass of her own but fumbled it (ha!). Tananmyr leaped to his feet and dodged into the end zone, leaving Felastur to complete a memorable match for him by picking the ball up at the feet of TFWE, dodging away and making a touchdown pass. 1-1 on turn 13.
I'd paid the price however and was down to five players to stop 11 dark elves for four remaining turns and, predictably, it was not enough. I got close - a 1D block on the ball carrier from my wrestle lineman knocked it loose, but I was hoping for a bounce off the pitch that never happened. Both my blitzers were thereabouts and being annoying, but I couldn't quite stop the cage. On turn 16 the dark elves sealed their win with TFWE performing a spectacular double surf (never seen that before - 2 of my players surfed from 1 blitz, brilliant play from Tx) and needing a 2+ from a hand off reroll, which duly appeared. 2-1 to the Nocturnals.
The one silver lining here was the lack of permanent damage. I took 4 MNG and 4 BH with an unused apo. I'll be missing Cirdan, Anduril (frenzy catcher), Elladan (DP lino) and Kevatononel (blodgestep lino) for my next game. All of those four have now had two MNG injuries or worse in the three games this season. It's been fairly brutal.
My next game is against Klauser - a really good bash coach with a very lean TV orc team. I will broadly match him on ST but he has a guard and armour advantage. He also has 5 tackle in the team and a vicious killer blitzer. I will only have 10 players and HE will have inducements! One of those games where at present I don't see how I can win - it will be very tough.
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Match Report: OCC Division 2D Game 2
Mobile Blood Donations (vampires, JimmyC) v The Grey Haven Guard (high elf, me)
Remember those games last season where everything went wrong and I got completely nuffled. Well this game was like that.
Just the exact opposite.
With three linemen MNG I bought a new rookie lineman to get to 12 players, giving me enough inducements for a wizard. Jimmy's vamps are very well developed, with two AG5 vamps, one mighty blow tackle bruiser and a crop of sidesteppers and stand firm people.
I won the toss and, mindful of the wizard, elected to kick. The aim was to use the wizard to steal a TD and go in level or ahead at the break.
I got a perfect defence on the kickoff, which was good and saved me some pain from his MB vamp. He managed to KO a lineman with one of his LOS thralls, but, as was to become a theme in the first half, immediately afterwards one of his vampires bit a thrall slightly too hard, badly hurting him.
So 10 vs 10 after the first turn with the ball in a tight cage in the centre of the pitch and I responded by pushing a few players around, making a solid enough defence in the centre and badly hurting one of his thralls with a block from Thingol (rookie lineman). Jimmy then ran a vamp around the right side of my line, and Vanval replied by charging over and punching him and I marked up the cage with my blodgestep-tackle blitzer Glorfindel.
Feeling the pressure, Jimmy pushed another vamp forward through my lines and shifted the cage to my right. Seeing an opportunity I called down the thunder on the ball carrier - zapping him. The ball bounced between a vamp and a thrall, and Vanval again opened the way, hitting the vamp and knocking him over. Gil-Galad sprinted his MV9 way around the edge of what was left of the vamp line, picked up the ball in a TZ, and flipped a quick pass to Glorfindel who dashed for the line.
With no vamps able to get back, Jimmy repositioned to force the score and prevent stalling, but in doing so one of the vamps got peckish again which resulted in an injury to the AG5 thrall. Glorfindel took no chances and jogged home on turn 4 to make it 1-0 to the Guard.
Another perfect defence on the kickoff blunted the vamps ability on the line once again, and again some ill-timed bloodthirsts (this time only resulting in stuns) meant there were gaps in the line. To make matters worse Jimmy rolled a 1 for the pickup, opting not to reroll. I think Jimmy had not expected how fast my players could move and I responded with a champagne play of top draw elvish bs.
First Vanval dashed forward again, pushing a vamp back to make a small gap. Cirdan (MV7 blodge accurage NoS thrower) hurtled forward, vaulting a despairing tackle, made 2 GFIs and picked up the ball from the feet of the vamp, then wound back his arm and, ignoring nearby markers passed the ball 25 yards backward into the waiting hands of Legolas in a pocket in the elvish half!
As if to punish Cirdan for his insolence, the enraged vampire tore into Cirdan in retaliation, killing him! Fortunately the elvish apothecary was on hand to patch up the brave elven thrower.
Legolas dropped back away from the vamps, who sent two vampires deep into my half to chase him down and players to either side. He also pushed his blodge, stand firm, DT blitzer into contact with my front line. I rolled 6 dice at this guy and could not get a pow, and so he stalled my advance on his own as I was forced to retreat into a tight cage.
Jimmy gazed his way into the cage and managed to get a 1D hit on Legolas with his tackle vamp, but couldn't get a knockdown. He pushed him next to the DT vamp too, but again the (tackle-less) vamp only got a push. Vanval was having none of that, and dealt with the situation by killing the DT vamp (he was niggled, so Jimmy elected not to use the apo, regen then failed). Legolas was able to blitz free of the scrum and darted into the vamp half, supported by some rookie linemen. The vamps scrambled back and knocked the ball loose but the bouncing ball was caught by Thingol who made 2 dodges and 2 GFIs to score on turn 8. 2-0 to the Guard at half time.
Receiving in the second half I knew the game would be over if I scored quickly and I was handed another slice of luck as one of the five remaining vamps was hit by a rock from the crowd and KO'd. I ran some players through the gap into the vamp half and tossed the ball back to Ecthelion. Jimmy was able to neutralise 3 of my receivers with gazes and a blitz, but Vanval was left standing and unmarked, so Ecthelion ran forward and passed the ball to Tananmyr, who handed it off to Vanval, who continued his good form with a TD. 3-0 to the Guard on turn 9.
At this point in the game, mindful of the fact that the win was assured but that I had already used my apothecary, I offered Jimmy 3-1, with a few leisurely end turns and the opportunity for him to farm some passes by the end zone. He was having none of it though, and determinedly killed Earendil Brightwing (rookie lineman) on the LOS. Again he caged up on halfway and ran receivers round my line. I ignored them though and concentrated on pressuring the cage. Jimmy gazed his way clear and scored on turn 10. 3-1 to the Guard.
I again received and dropped the ball deep to Ecthelion. I didn't run receivers forward but held a firm line. Jimmy sat back initially and we traded blitzes, Vanval capping an excellent game with another casualty - this time an MNG vamp. After a couple of turns though I realised I was out of rerolls - I'd been farming passes in the backfield and had forgotten to keep track. A stupid mistake but all of a sudden I had to play cautiously. I then needed to cage up as Jimmy had finally begun to put some pressure on Ecthelion. and I didn't cage securely enough and the vamps were able to gaze in and sack the ball carrier.
Again I got lucky though and the ball scattered to Legolas. With no vamps able to stop him Legolas burst clear of the scrum and I scored on turn 16. 4-1 to the Guard at full time!
Remember those games last season where everything went wrong and I got completely nuffled. Well this game was like that.
Just the exact opposite.
With three linemen MNG I bought a new rookie lineman to get to 12 players, giving me enough inducements for a wizard. Jimmy's vamps are very well developed, with two AG5 vamps, one mighty blow tackle bruiser and a crop of sidesteppers and stand firm people.
I won the toss and, mindful of the wizard, elected to kick. The aim was to use the wizard to steal a TD and go in level or ahead at the break.
I got a perfect defence on the kickoff, which was good and saved me some pain from his MB vamp. He managed to KO a lineman with one of his LOS thralls, but, as was to become a theme in the first half, immediately afterwards one of his vampires bit a thrall slightly too hard, badly hurting him.
So 10 vs 10 after the first turn with the ball in a tight cage in the centre of the pitch and I responded by pushing a few players around, making a solid enough defence in the centre and badly hurting one of his thralls with a block from Thingol (rookie lineman). Jimmy then ran a vamp around the right side of my line, and Vanval replied by charging over and punching him and I marked up the cage with my blodgestep-tackle blitzer Glorfindel.
Feeling the pressure, Jimmy pushed another vamp forward through my lines and shifted the cage to my right. Seeing an opportunity I called down the thunder on the ball carrier - zapping him. The ball bounced between a vamp and a thrall, and Vanval again opened the way, hitting the vamp and knocking him over. Gil-Galad sprinted his MV9 way around the edge of what was left of the vamp line, picked up the ball in a TZ, and flipped a quick pass to Glorfindel who dashed for the line.
With no vamps able to get back, Jimmy repositioned to force the score and prevent stalling, but in doing so one of the vamps got peckish again which resulted in an injury to the AG5 thrall. Glorfindel took no chances and jogged home on turn 4 to make it 1-0 to the Guard.
Another perfect defence on the kickoff blunted the vamps ability on the line once again, and again some ill-timed bloodthirsts (this time only resulting in stuns) meant there were gaps in the line. To make matters worse Jimmy rolled a 1 for the pickup, opting not to reroll. I think Jimmy had not expected how fast my players could move and I responded with a champagne play of top draw elvish bs.
First Vanval dashed forward again, pushing a vamp back to make a small gap. Cirdan (MV7 blodge accurage NoS thrower) hurtled forward, vaulting a despairing tackle, made 2 GFIs and picked up the ball from the feet of the vamp, then wound back his arm and, ignoring nearby markers passed the ball 25 yards backward into the waiting hands of Legolas in a pocket in the elvish half!
As if to punish Cirdan for his insolence, the enraged vampire tore into Cirdan in retaliation, killing him! Fortunately the elvish apothecary was on hand to patch up the brave elven thrower.
Legolas dropped back away from the vamps, who sent two vampires deep into my half to chase him down and players to either side. He also pushed his blodge, stand firm, DT blitzer into contact with my front line. I rolled 6 dice at this guy and could not get a pow, and so he stalled my advance on his own as I was forced to retreat into a tight cage.
Jimmy gazed his way into the cage and managed to get a 1D hit on Legolas with his tackle vamp, but couldn't get a knockdown. He pushed him next to the DT vamp too, but again the (tackle-less) vamp only got a push. Vanval was having none of that, and dealt with the situation by killing the DT vamp (he was niggled, so Jimmy elected not to use the apo, regen then failed). Legolas was able to blitz free of the scrum and darted into the vamp half, supported by some rookie linemen. The vamps scrambled back and knocked the ball loose but the bouncing ball was caught by Thingol who made 2 dodges and 2 GFIs to score on turn 8. 2-0 to the Guard at half time.
Receiving in the second half I knew the game would be over if I scored quickly and I was handed another slice of luck as one of the five remaining vamps was hit by a rock from the crowd and KO'd. I ran some players through the gap into the vamp half and tossed the ball back to Ecthelion. Jimmy was able to neutralise 3 of my receivers with gazes and a blitz, but Vanval was left standing and unmarked, so Ecthelion ran forward and passed the ball to Tananmyr, who handed it off to Vanval, who continued his good form with a TD. 3-0 to the Guard on turn 9.
At this point in the game, mindful of the fact that the win was assured but that I had already used my apothecary, I offered Jimmy 3-1, with a few leisurely end turns and the opportunity for him to farm some passes by the end zone. He was having none of it though, and determinedly killed Earendil Brightwing (rookie lineman) on the LOS. Again he caged up on halfway and ran receivers round my line. I ignored them though and concentrated on pressuring the cage. Jimmy gazed his way clear and scored on turn 10. 3-1 to the Guard.
I again received and dropped the ball deep to Ecthelion. I didn't run receivers forward but held a firm line. Jimmy sat back initially and we traded blitzes, Vanval capping an excellent game with another casualty - this time an MNG vamp. After a couple of turns though I realised I was out of rerolls - I'd been farming passes in the backfield and had forgotten to keep track. A stupid mistake but all of a sudden I had to play cautiously. I then needed to cage up as Jimmy had finally begun to put some pressure on Ecthelion. and I didn't cage securely enough and the vamps were able to gaze in and sack the ball carrier.
Again I got lucky though and the ball scattered to Legolas. With no vamps able to stop him Legolas burst clear of the scrum and I scored on turn 16. 4-1 to the Guard at full time!
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
New league – Old World Football League
I have joined another scheduled league – the Old World Football League, or the OFL.
This is different to all the others in that it is a “direct IP” league – it does not run via the Cyanide servers but via direct communication between the players. The owners have developed software to allow all the participants and teams to be stored on their own servers. This allows full control of rosters (and also means that it is not necessary for Cyanide’s servers to even be running – if Cyanide cease to support the game the OFL can continue).
It all seems fearsomely complex to a Luddite like me, but they were able to talk me through the setup via steamchat and I connected to a practice game.
The league is primarily US-based, with a structure very much like the NFL (two conferences, multiple divisions, an end of season superbowl between the two conference winners) and access is on a one-in-one-out basis. Like the real NFL they are expanding into Europe though and I have just joined the new “Lothian Football Conference” which is made up of European coaches.
One of the real draws of the league is that with full roster access they are able to implement the full star player list – so you can induce players like The Mighty Zug and Nobbla Blackwort who I remember from the tabletop game as a kid. In addition they have added two new races – Slann (who are rebranded as Goblin Circus and use goblin and hobgoblin models from the Cyanide game) and Chaos Pact. I had to try this out and will be running as Chaos Pact in the OFL.
With 1150 TV to spend initially I went for the standard (!) build:
1 Minotaur
1 Chaos Ogre (uses the Rat Ogre model so that mutations show)
1 Troll (uses the Warpstone Troll model so that mutations show)
1 Dark Elf
1 Goblin
1 Skaven
6 Marauders (use the Rotter model so that mutations show)
3 rerolls
1 apo
It looks absolutely insane and I’m really looking forward to trying it out – with 3 big guys I am basically expecting chaos and carnage in equal measure. Not expecting to win many games, at least initially.
The division draft is
LFC North
Bantha - Chaos Dwarf
Everblue - Chaos Pact
Netsmurf - Skaven
Fastshark - High Elf
LFC East
Crimsonsun - Nurgle
Zulu591 - Khemri
20Phoenix - Amazon
Dreamy - Wood Elf
LFC West
Barmution - Nurgle
Matts373 - Dark Elf
Dode74 - Pro Elf
RTSD - Lizardmen
LFC South
ScottishDunc - Chaos
Gusya - Chaos Pact
CharlieBanks - Goblin Circus
Gingerella - Goblin
So it's rammed with some of the best European coaches including past league champions in Fastshark and Matts373, plus some of the OCC coaches with the highest ELO rankings around. It's going to be a great league, and I'll report here on how I get on.
This is different to all the others in that it is a “direct IP” league – it does not run via the Cyanide servers but via direct communication between the players. The owners have developed software to allow all the participants and teams to be stored on their own servers. This allows full control of rosters (and also means that it is not necessary for Cyanide’s servers to even be running – if Cyanide cease to support the game the OFL can continue).
It all seems fearsomely complex to a Luddite like me, but they were able to talk me through the setup via steamchat and I connected to a practice game.
The league is primarily US-based, with a structure very much like the NFL (two conferences, multiple divisions, an end of season superbowl between the two conference winners) and access is on a one-in-one-out basis. Like the real NFL they are expanding into Europe though and I have just joined the new “Lothian Football Conference” which is made up of European coaches.
One of the real draws of the league is that with full roster access they are able to implement the full star player list – so you can induce players like The Mighty Zug and Nobbla Blackwort who I remember from the tabletop game as a kid. In addition they have added two new races – Slann (who are rebranded as Goblin Circus and use goblin and hobgoblin models from the Cyanide game) and Chaos Pact. I had to try this out and will be running as Chaos Pact in the OFL.
With 1150 TV to spend initially I went for the standard (!) build:
1 Minotaur
1 Chaos Ogre (uses the Rat Ogre model so that mutations show)
1 Troll (uses the Warpstone Troll model so that mutations show)
1 Dark Elf
1 Goblin
1 Skaven
6 Marauders (use the Rotter model so that mutations show)
3 rerolls
1 apo
It looks absolutely insane and I’m really looking forward to trying it out – with 3 big guys I am basically expecting chaos and carnage in equal measure. Not expecting to win many games, at least initially.
The division draft is
LFC North
Bantha - Chaos Dwarf
Everblue - Chaos Pact
Netsmurf - Skaven
Fastshark - High Elf
LFC East
Crimsonsun - Nurgle
Zulu591 - Khemri
20Phoenix - Amazon
Dreamy - Wood Elf
LFC West
Barmution - Nurgle
Matts373 - Dark Elf
Dode74 - Pro Elf
RTSD - Lizardmen
LFC South
ScottishDunc - Chaos
Gusya - Chaos Pact
CharlieBanks - Goblin Circus
Gingerella - Goblin
So it's rammed with some of the best European coaches including past league champions in Fastshark and Matts373, plus some of the OCC coaches with the highest ELO rankings around. It's going to be a great league, and I'll report here on how I get on.
Friday, 18 October 2013
Match Report: OCC Division 2D Game 1
Birds of Freedom (dark elves, Elfic) v
The Grey Haven Guard (high elves, me)
I was giving away 590k of inducements which
translated into a wizard, a bribe, Eldril and two babes. Facing an elf team
with a wizard my plan was to kick first and hope to pressure them into scoring
early, ideally using the wizard. I would then hope to go in 1-1 and grind out a
2-1 win.
I lost the toss but my opponent elected
to receive anyway, and presumably he had his reasons for that but I can’t
really see what they might have been.
He immediately removed two players on
the first turn - my dirty player lineman having his leg broken on the second
block, and then a blitz with his tackle-MB blitzer KOing my blodgestep lineman.
I formed columns centrally and tried to hit his unskilled witch with my own
tackle-MB player but only got a push. He responded by pushing players down my
right flank and blitzing Cirdan over with his killer and sticking the boot in
(only a stun though).
Having had enough of being pushed around
I pushed most of my players into contact with the pocket, trusting in my guard
superiority and ST4 players to make it hard for Elfic to extricate himself. I
had deliberately left a dark elf blitzer unmarked downfield to give him the
option of a T3 score, with a catcher kept back to prevent him from stalling by
the end zone, and he took the chance to score. Eldril gazed a gap through my
defence to allow his runner to dart through and make a pass to the rookie, who
scored.
So not too bad a start - I had six turns
to score myself, but had not forced the wizard.
I set up to protect myself against the
blitz, and a blitz duly appeared with the ball landing in the wide zone only one
square back from the sideline - basically in the worst possible place.
Fortunately Glorfindel (blodgestep tackle blitzer) was on hand and his sidestep
made sure that it was hard for the dark elves to swarm round the ball. Despite
the two tackle zones the dark elves did manage to catch the ball (on a 5+), but
Anduril (ST4 wrodge catcher) knocked it loose and Ecthelion darted in, grabbed
the ball in a tackle zone and hurled it to Cirdan in the backfield. Glorfindel
then tried to dodge away from his marker to put in a blitz to protect Anduril
from being surfed, but was tackled down and stunned. Anduril was duly surfed
and the dark elves swarmed around my right side.
I set up a loose screen in the centre
left and Cirdan threw the ball to Gil-Galad, one of my ST4 catchers (I was
expecting to take hits on the ball carrier from his AG5 leaping strip baller,
and with no sure hands on the team I figured it would be better to try to
ensure that he only got 1 dice at best), before yet another of my players was
injured on an unskilled block - this was the blodgestep lineman who had
recovered from his KO only to have his arm broken. At this point I had a good
whine about my luck in the chat, and of course my luck changed immediately for
the better. Firstly his AG5 leaper rolled a double 1 when leaping into the
cage, stunning himself, and then Legolas killed a rookie lineman with his first
ever block with frenzy.
I felt here that Elfic had overcommitted
to my backfield and so I punched a hole in the centre of his defensive line and
ran Gil-Galad blitzed forward, KOing Eldril, screening him off in the centre.
It proved to be a somewhat overly optimistic position however as the wizard
flashed out a lightning bolt and the ball flew loose. It was scooped up and
thrown to a blodgestepping dark elf blitzer deep in their half.
The ball was not safe however and Vanval
charged forward to bash the ball clear again. There was some back and forth
fighting but the dark elves could not get it free and the half ended with the
ball being handed off to Ecthelion (+1MV reserve thrower) to score on turn
8. 1-1 at half time.
I was receiving in the second half and
Elfic again put his AG5 leaping stripballer on the line – presumably because he
already has -1MV and a niggle and Elfic didn’t care what happened to him. I
knocked out a lineman and then knocked over and fouled the stripballer (-1MV
and sent off), giving me a significant man advantage.
At this stage Elfic seemed to give up,
as half his team ran over to my left to knock over and foul Glorfindel. The
fouls kept coming but I marched my cage virtually unopposed to the dark elf end
zone by turn 12. There was a very unpleasant fight between what was left of
Elfic’s team and my players who were not in the cage, and I took an MNG from a
foul on Legolas. By turn 16 though I was able to smash the collar bone of his
level 2 witch with a block from Vanval, and hand the ball to Ecthelion to run
the ball in for the winner. 2-1 at full time.
In the post game sequence Ecthelion
levelled and finally I rolled a double for a thrower. Ecthelion is therefore
+1MV, strong arm at present, and has the potential to be a really excellent
player if he stays alive. I think the progression has to be dodge, accurate,
sure hands (if he lives that long) and Cirdan has now been firmly relegated to
a defensive thrower role.
Monday, 30 September 2013
OCC Season 20 Division 2D
Here are the teams
6-1-2 last season in 2D
Very nasty looking DE team. Two amazing witches - one ST 5 and the other has MB, piling on and tackle. They also have a ST4 lineman and an AG5 leaping (niggled, ha!) pass blocker. There aren't that many of them, and there isn't actually all that much dodge in the team.
I think I'll really struggle against them, but this is such a bashy division I have to question in what state they will be in by the end of the season. So a tough match early on, but once Luiggi and Klauser have taken some lumps out of them they may be an easier prospect.
5-1-3 last season in 2D
Wow, another monster team. These guys have a decent beast and three warriors built for killing rather than control (the other is a rookie), but it's the pestigor lineup that makes this team shine. They have a +2MA +2AG three armed pest with block. He picks up on a 2+ in two tackle zones. They also have a couple of hard hitting blitzer pests to knock the ball loose.
Plenty of tackle too, and this team will be really rough to handle.
4-2-3 last season in 2D
Hmmm, this one isn't quite so scary-looking. Six very experienced vamps - all of whom are level 5 and above - but they are carrying a couple of niggles. There isn't a dedicated killer as yet, but they do have a couple of tackle-MB pieces. There are a couple of AG5 vamps and an AG5 thrall, so their offence will be very strong, and the coach is very experienced with his team.
3-1-5 last season in 2D
The remnants of a very good DE team that was in division 1 a couple of seasons ago, the Birds have lost most of their stars with the remaining players looking ready to retire. There are still 3 very good blitzers, but three of those are carrying bad injuries now and I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of them go this season.
The witches are very new and while there are some good linemen and a promising runner, they will be very vulnerable to bash this season. With no cash in the bank either a tough time is in prospect here for them in this very bashy division.
2-2-5 last season in 2D
A relatively young chaos team, and a work in progress for the coach. The warriors control the pitch with guard and stand firm (but no MB or claw), there's a block mino for some reason, who I anticipate will not survive the season, but the beastman roster is much more impressive.
There's a fairly nasty looking killer, who lacks frenzy but otherwise has the full rack of skills including jump up, but has taken a -1AV. Whether this team can protect their glass cannon will be key this season. There are also a couple of AG4 beasts for ball carrying and a MB-wrackle elf-killer.
A good outline of a team here. Will be interesting to see how they get on against...
4-0-5 last season in tier 1
Ah, the General. The last real bastard orc team in the OCC after the retirement of Despized and Grintoof All Stars. Still packing the best black orc line I've ever seen, and a coach who really understands how to play bash.
The team suffered last season after losing it's two best blitzers in the last game of season 18, and killed his best lineman (AG4 pass block chap), so a lot of the dynamism from the team has gone. There's no AG4 at all on the team, for example. That said, here is my pick for winning the division, despite all the claw around.
7-1-1 last season in 3D
I don't know much about the coach, but a 66% win ratio across nearly 700 games speaks for itself and I wonder if we are looking at one of the new stars of the OCC here.
The team itself is comprised of a really excellent blitzer lineup, but very average black orcs and linemen. I think this team will do well against the elves, but may take some casualties against the bash - particularly the nurgle could cause them problems.
6-1-2 last season in tier 3
Fastshark is a former champion and all-round clever bloke, and so any team he takes into tier 2 is going to be a threat. This chaos team however is fairly new and lacking the pace of his lizards. I wonder if his coaching skills will be enough.
Only three chaos warriors, and none above level 3, clearly shows that this team are going to struggle against guard-heavy bash. There is also 210 TV tied up in the minotaur. The beastman roster is better, and there is the usual cookie-cutter killer, but a niggle on the ST4 ball carrier makes me wonder how aggressively Fastshark will use this piece. We could see another fall in TV before things get better.
4-3-2 last season in tier 3
I first saw Ging in tier 5 a couple of seasons ago when he was a fairly new coach and made a few mistakes. His play has certainly improved hugely since then, and this season will be a real test for him.
On paper, his team could do well this season - the chaos warriors are nothing special, but have a few skills on them, there is a pretty good minotaur (although inefficient in TV terms), but some really nice beastmen including a leaper with very long legs (!) and a stand firm-DT marker. There is also of course the usual killer build and elf hitter.
So this team poses all the usual chaos threat but also has an unpredictability about it. I do wonder however whether it has enough pure bash to survive the league intact. The niggle on the best chaos warrior worries me too. Nevertheless, if he gets some dice it could be a good season.
Txlanhualpec - Nocturnals - Dark Elf -
6-1-2 last season in 2D
Very nasty looking DE team. Two amazing witches - one ST 5 and the other has MB, piling on and tackle. They also have a ST4 lineman and an AG5 leaping (niggled, ha!) pass blocker. There aren't that many of them, and there isn't actually all that much dodge in the team.
I think I'll really struggle against them, but this is such a bashy division I have to question in what state they will be in by the end of the season. So a tough match early on, but once Luiggi and Klauser have taken some lumps out of them they may be an easier prospect.
Kreugen - Rodent Extermination - Nurgle -
5-1-3 last season in 2D
Wow, another monster team. These guys have a decent beast and three warriors built for killing rather than control (the other is a rookie), but it's the pestigor lineup that makes this team shine. They have a +2MA +2AG three armed pest with block. He picks up on a 2+ in two tackle zones. They also have a couple of hard hitting blitzer pests to knock the ball loose.
Plenty of tackle too, and this team will be really rough to handle.
Jimmy C - Mobile Blood Donations! - Vampire
4-2-3 last season in 2D
Hmmm, this one isn't quite so scary-looking. Six very experienced vamps - all of whom are level 5 and above - but they are carrying a couple of niggles. There isn't a dedicated killer as yet, but they do have a couple of tackle-MB pieces. There are a couple of AG5 vamps and an AG5 thrall, so their offence will be very strong, and the coach is very experienced with his team.
3-1-5 last season in 2D
The remnants of a very good DE team that was in division 1 a couple of seasons ago, the Birds have lost most of their stars with the remaining players looking ready to retire. There are still 3 very good blitzers, but three of those are carrying bad injuries now and I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of them go this season.
The witches are very new and while there are some good linemen and a promising runner, they will be very vulnerable to bash this season. With no cash in the bank either a tough time is in prospect here for them in this very bashy division.
Malfeasor - Malfeasant Murderers - Chaos -
2-2-5 last season in 2D
A relatively young chaos team, and a work in progress for the coach. The warriors control the pitch with guard and stand firm (but no MB or claw), there's a block mino for some reason, who I anticipate will not survive the season, but the beastman roster is much more impressive.
There's a fairly nasty looking killer, who lacks frenzy but otherwise has the full rack of skills including jump up, but has taken a -1AV. Whether this team can protect their glass cannon will be key this season. There are also a couple of AG4 beasts for ball carrying and a MB-wrackle elf-killer.
A good outline of a team here. Will be interesting to see how they get on against...
Luiggi - Munch N' Crunch - Orc -
4-0-5 last season in tier 1
Ah, the General. The last real bastard orc team in the OCC after the retirement of Despized and Grintoof All Stars. Still packing the best black orc line I've ever seen, and a coach who really understands how to play bash.
The team suffered last season after losing it's two best blitzers in the last game of season 18, and killed his best lineman (AG4 pass block chap), so a lot of the dynamism from the team has gone. There's no AG4 at all on the team, for example. That said, here is my pick for winning the division, despite all the claw around.
Everblue - The Grey Haven Guard - High Elf -
7-1-1 last season in 3D
I don't know much about the coach, but a 66% win ratio across nearly 700 games speaks for itself and I wonder if we are looking at one of the new stars of the OCC here.
The team itself is comprised of a really excellent blitzer lineup, but very average black orcs and linemen. I think this team will do well against the elves, but may take some casualties against the bash - particularly the nurgle could cause them problems.
6-1-2 last season in tier 3
Fastshark is a former champion and all-round clever bloke, and so any team he takes into tier 2 is going to be a threat. This chaos team however is fairly new and lacking the pace of his lizards. I wonder if his coaching skills will be enough.
Only three chaos warriors, and none above level 3, clearly shows that this team are going to struggle against guard-heavy bash. There is also 210 TV tied up in the minotaur. The beastman roster is better, and there is the usual cookie-cutter killer, but a niggle on the ST4 ball carrier makes me wonder how aggressively Fastshark will use this piece. We could see another fall in TV before things get better.
4-3-2 last season in tier 3
I first saw Ging in tier 5 a couple of seasons ago when he was a fairly new coach and made a few mistakes. His play has certainly improved hugely since then, and this season will be a real test for him.
On paper, his team could do well this season - the chaos warriors are nothing special, but have a few skills on them, there is a pretty good minotaur (although inefficient in TV terms), but some really nice beastmen including a leaper with very long legs (!) and a stand firm-DT marker. There is also of course the usual killer build and elf hitter.
So this team poses all the usual chaos threat but also has an unpredictability about it. I do wonder however whether it has enough pure bash to survive the league intact. The niggle on the best chaos warrior worries me too. Nevertheless, if he gets some dice it could be a good season.
Friday, 27 September 2013
Post-season review
So here's The Grey Haven Guard's roster right now:
I run with 4 rerolls and have about 350k in the bank. Total TV is 2350. And here's the final league table.
It's been a really hard season, all told, but bizarrely I don't actually think I've played all that badly. Certainly two of my defeats would have been victories given reasonable dice, and my only draw would have been a win but for a quick snap on the kickoff on turn 8. I also had a couple of games where I just had nothing from the dice and it was hard to see what I could have done (which was also the consensus on BBTactics).
That said, I've been lucky myself as well at times, so I guess things probably even out to an extent. I beat two of the best orc teams in the league in Grintoof All Stars and Munch N Crunch, and Maniehl whom I beat on MD 9 is one of the best coaches in terms of record. Still, I've learned some things about running offence this time around, and certainly I think I played better last season than during my promotion season.
I'm going into division 2D next season, which looks like it will have some high TV dark elves, plus some high TV vamps. Looking further down one of the new generation of orc teams is coming up - with an excellent record, a great blitzer lineup and mediocre black orcs. I *think* that I will be joined by Luiggi's Munch N Crunch and former OCC champion Fastshark's new chaos team, and if my understanding of the division composition is right then Luiggi will immediately be favourite to win the division probably with me having to fight it out with the super vamps and a former champion for second place.
It will be a tough season and a very bashy division (I think 2 good orc teams and 3 or 4 chaos teams in my league all told) but at least the team is in good shape. I lost my ST4 lineman this season but everyone else made it out alive and I now have an excellent catcher lineup - all of them are really good. I'm bound to lose at least one next season. My blitzers both survived and remain useful, and I replaced my ST4 AG3 dodge lineman with a blodge sidestepper which is not a terrible trade. Still no AG5 and nothing to crack a cage, but otherwise I think I have a decent shout for another promotion on paper at least. Certainly my team is one that other coaches will look at and dislike.
I run with 4 rerolls and have about 350k in the bank. Total TV is 2350. And here's the final league table.
It's been a really hard season, all told, but bizarrely I don't actually think I've played all that badly. Certainly two of my defeats would have been victories given reasonable dice, and my only draw would have been a win but for a quick snap on the kickoff on turn 8. I also had a couple of games where I just had nothing from the dice and it was hard to see what I could have done (which was also the consensus on BBTactics).
That said, I've been lucky myself as well at times, so I guess things probably even out to an extent. I beat two of the best orc teams in the league in Grintoof All Stars and Munch N Crunch, and Maniehl whom I beat on MD 9 is one of the best coaches in terms of record. Still, I've learned some things about running offence this time around, and certainly I think I played better last season than during my promotion season.
I'm going into division 2D next season, which looks like it will have some high TV dark elves, plus some high TV vamps. Looking further down one of the new generation of orc teams is coming up - with an excellent record, a great blitzer lineup and mediocre black orcs. I *think* that I will be joined by Luiggi's Munch N Crunch and former OCC champion Fastshark's new chaos team, and if my understanding of the division composition is right then Luiggi will immediately be favourite to win the division probably with me having to fight it out with the super vamps and a former champion for second place.
It will be a tough season and a very bashy division (I think 2 good orc teams and 3 or 4 chaos teams in my league all told) but at least the team is in good shape. I lost my ST4 lineman this season but everyone else made it out alive and I now have an excellent catcher lineup - all of them are really good. I'm bound to lose at least one next season. My blitzers both survived and remain useful, and I replaced my ST4 AG3 dodge lineman with a blodge sidestepper which is not a terrible trade. Still no AG5 and nothing to crack a cage, but otherwise I think I have a decent shout for another promotion on paper at least. Certainly my team is one that other coaches will look at and dislike.
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