Bridgeburners Ninth

[Pylon]

@SuidoGreat report, especially from memory!

 

Yes, found the first half tough going, thought it was going to be 0-0 at ht. Fortunately when I had to apply late pressure, despite my mistake, it paid off.

 

Well worked td for the equaliser, think it was the right decision to take it, my players were closing in dangerously.

 

Needed to apply more pressure in response (I tend to be too cautious, per the first half) & it worked out for the winner.

 

Not sure if having any claw would have made a difference, levelled a blocker after the game, still no claw!

 

Surprised at being out blocked, probably due to my bull carrying the ball, usually have a hob doing it, but the bull was so keen!

 

Yes - Bradman, great batsman but got nuffled in his last game.

 

GL for the rest.

[Suido]

 

S7 MD2 Pre-game Analysis

 

What I said pre-season:

 

Quote

 

Lycantrope Ladies - notorious noob

4th, 1A. Killer werewolf, lots of zombies and a decent spread of guard. Enough dirty players to have a credible shot at beating BrocCooLi’s 20 Boota points in a single game. Against someone else this time, please. It's a different Dirty Git system here, though, but these guys are the favourites to take it out. Will be playing them at my home stadium, so time to ditch the free bribe.

 

 

One game in, they won, I didn’t. No strip ball, so will again hold off on buying a thrower. I’m aiming for a policy of buying new players when I would go over the 150K treasury cap, and journeymen copping the line of scrimmage works for as long as I have less than 11 players. 12 players on the roster by mid-season would be an indication of things going to plan. Failing to achieve that due to dead blitzers means it’s business as usual.

 

Anyway. The Ladies. They’re missing one MNG zombie, so only 15 players. That’s a real confidence booster, that is. I’ve ditched my stadium enhancement, no free bribe for their shambling horde. Don’t think it will matter too much, given the depth of their bench. Blodge/guard on the ghoul and two block/guard zombies make up for their rookie wights and one rookie golem, but it could be a lot worse.

 

Behind their solid, tanky front line lurk the DPS werewolves. Both blodge/tackle. One POMBer. It’s a formidable team. I’ll have 190K in inducements as compensation. Yay?

 

Da PLN:

1. Leaning towards extra apo and two bloodweiser tonics, rather than wizard + 1 BWT. It’s going to be attritional, and a wizard won’t win the game if I don’t have players on the field. Given the presence of a clawPOMBer, I don’t see the value in a star player, or other inducement options.
2. Kick first again. With only 11 players, much easier to defend with a full team.
3. Scoring - Hedge carrying the ball again. He’s 4 SPPs short of a skill. Sorry needs to be free to deal with blodgers, and there’s too much tackle around for her dodge to be useful. Dasalle is an option, but I’d prefer ST3+block over unskilled ST4. At some point I need to feed Dasalle some SPPs so he can skill up, but for now that will be opportunistic, not plan A.
4. Hitting - they’re predominantly AV8, and the only AV7 has blodge. If Sorry gets a shot at the ghoul, she’ll take it, but I’d prefer my MB players aiming for AV8 guards. Werewolves are high value targets, but my lack of MB+tackle reduces the chances for success.
5. Trotts will be a linchpin. Must not get isolated and allow the Ladies to surround him and get 2D with claw.
6. Positioning to frustrate the frenzy blitz options. Will be critical in reducing the impact of the clawPOMBer. Sorry, Trotts and Dasalle to be protected as much as possible.
7. Pows and sixes, no wuckin furries mate.

 

Elsewhere in Div1A

Brotherz vs Potatoes – The orcs will brutalise their way to victory.

Nerds vs Heresy – Humans will outpace chaos, but cop a couple of injuries en route to victory.

Bleaks vs Immortals – The chorfs lack of claw will be savagely exposed here.

Scutes vs Blood Hands – Both teams fast and strong. Delves to win with their agility advantage.  

[Suido]

On 6/6/2018 at 6:17 AM, Pylon said:

Great report, especially from memory!

 

Thanks :)

 

Quote

Not sure if having any claw would have made a difference, levelled a blocker after the game, still no claw!

 

That's gonna really hurt you in the next game, I think.

 

Quote

Surprised at being out blocked, probably due to my bull carrying the ball, usually have a hob doing it, but the bull was so keen!

 

And with no ball handling errors, why not? I don't think you would have scored in the first half if it was a hobgoblin carrying. I do tend to carry with HGs as well, bulls are too useful to be sitting in a cage. But if you need a quick score or a late charge like you did for both your TDs, they're bloody hard to stop.

 

Quote

Yes - Bradman, great batsman but got nuffled in his last game.

 

GL for the rest.

 

Haha, that's a good way to put it. Cheers, you too.

[Suido]

Match Day 2: Déjà vu

 

Report to follow, or you could just re-read this one. Much the same.

[C2MC]

15 minutes ago, Suido said:

Match Day 2: Déjà vu

 

Well, that was pretty brutal.

A stroke of luck, allowing the equaliser, followed by the classic Dead -> Dead Apothecary.

Did The Ghost of Macho Man Randy Savage trick you in to thinking he was an actual Apo aswell?

 

At least none of the Blitzers died.

[Suido]

It was Dead -> -ST.

 

Same that happened to Kalam, and I afforded Dasalle the same inglorious, on-field death. Zombie Dasalle has entered the game.

[Suido]

S7 MD2 vs Lycanthrope Ladies @notorious noob

 

Game Result Page (spoiler alert!)

 

Subtitle: Line-man up, knock ‘em down

 

It’s said that no plan survives contact with the enemy. In this case, the ‘contact’ was seven Bridgeburners off the pitch in the first four turns. So, what happened?

 

Da PLN:

1. Took the +APO and 2 BWTs. Made 4/4 KO rolls, so that was good. The extra apo allowed me to reroll an MNG on Kalam early, so he was able to play the second half and will be fit for the next game. Alas, the second apo roll was wasted. Given the imbalanced casualty situation, I can’t see how a wizard would have helped, so comfortable with the decision.
2. Kicked first. Got smashed.
3. Scoring - With only 6 players on field on offense, the ball was a hot potato. Hedge did get two completions, which was nice. Fiddler scored in miraculous circumstances.
4. Hitting - I stuck to the plan, but managed only a couple of KOs. Two games, zero casualties. Sigh.  
5. If I’d had more players on field, Trotts could have been a linchpin. As it was, they had enough of a numbers advantage to get 2D hits on him twice.
6. I definitely could have improved my defensive positioning. I left a couple of players on their own when they should have been huddled together for defense.
7. Pows and sixes, that’s all they rolled.

 

First four turns, four fouls, two KOs and two casualties, one zombie sent off. Add some block casualties, and it was 10vs4 at the start of my fourth turn.

 

I’d already abandoned any hope of preventing the score, and was just trying to beat up some zombies on the other side of the field. No luck. Eventually, they had enough of an advantage for the clawpomber to have a safe 2D hit on Trotts, irrespective of frenzy. Fortunately, no armour break.

 

Control of the centre of the pitch is overrated

 

So they scored, and I had one turn left. Wasn’t really thinking about the 1TTD, I don’t have a sidestepper and didn’t have enough players to create 4 pushes. Quick snap. I didn’t even think about the 1TTD possibility, so no score. Setting up 1TTDs is definitely a weakness of my game, please help. With only two pushes required and a reroll in hand, what should I have done?*

 

1. Hedge: blitzer, +MA
2. Fiddler: blitzer, +AG/guard
3. Trotts: ogre, +ST/guard/BT/block
4. Dasalle: lineman, +ST
5. Sorry: catcher, +ST/wrestle/tackle/strip/JU
6. Whiskeyjack: blitzer, MB/guard
7. LoS Zombies - rookies

Backfield defenders - no tackle

1TTD Challenge!

 

Second half, the Ladies set up a 7 player line of scrimmage. Against my 6 players, total. Rude. Anyway, I stuck Trotts and Dasalle on one end so they could use their strength for 2D hits, and Fiddler to give them guard assists and ability to dodge away if needed. Quick snap again, so I folded around the outside of the line, only to see Trotts bonehead again. Bah.

 

Sorry blitzed the ghoul, but only a push, then Hedge flipped her the ball. If he hadn’t, he would have been werewolf meat. As it was, Sorry was only saved from the same fate by the rookie golem failing it’s 1/9 block and reroll. Hurrah, a chance!

 

I needed Trotts where the ghoul was, so he blitzed. Push. Not great, but it could be enough. Fiddler went three spaces ahead. Sorry screened in the widezone and in range. All I needed was Hedge to  join the screen three spaces behind Trotts. Just one dodge. No good. That allowed Trotts to be surrounded and knocked down by the ghoul. Werewolf sacked and stunned Sorry. So far, so expected when you're outnumbered 2-1. Then my luck changed. Ball into crowd, thrown forward and landed next to the endzone.

 

Fortunately, the Ladies had already mobilised most of their team to overpower Trotts. That left only the blitzing werewolf to stand in the way of Fiddler. The blitzer was the only Bridgeburner upright, and he was in range to score. 1D blitz to push the werewolf back, dodge (reroll), pick up, sprint, score. How many players have scored while outnumbered 11-1? That's counting only upright players on the field, if you including prone but active (not stunned) teammates, it was 11-3.

 

The Unlikeliest of Touchdowns

 

Right about now, I was wishing that I’d had more of a crack at the 1TTD. Against all odds, I could have been in the lead. Instead, against all the odds, I had levelled the scores. Hooray!

 

Back to reality. Choosing a line of scrimmage. Available: 1 ogre, 1 catcher, 4 blitzers, 1 lineman. And yes, the one lineman is Dasalle, +ST but otherwise unskilled. Who would you choose?

 

I gave Kalam, Trotts and Dasalle the short straws. Hedge, Fiddler and Sorry lucked out and stood deep, hoping for an improbable defensive sack, some sort of miracle draw. Kalam was knocked out by the clawpomber. Trotts was knocked down by a golem. Dasalle was killed by the other wolf. The apothecary could have kept him alive, but with -ST. This was the moment the match changed from ‘lol at my nuffling’ to ‘fuck this shit’.

 

The Ladies then made it as difficult as possible for themselves to win. The wight that started this whole debacle with the first casualty was given the task of getting its first skill. Only 4 SPPs to go, just a completion and a touchdown in six turns. No worries.

 

T11: Failed pick up.

T12: Pick up, pass to ghoul. Ghoul hands back, fails catch and reroll.

T13: Fails pick up and reroll. No rerolls left, another failed pick up will mean the wight can’t score.

T14: Pick up, advance

T15: Advance

T16: Score

 

Nailbiting stuff. In that time I did as little as possible. Sorry blitzed the clawpomber for a stun, Trotts knocked a zombie down. Game over.

 

Anything positive from all that? No damage to the blitzers, Sorry or Trotts. MVP to Brackle, has block once recovered from MNG. Other five SPPs shared between Hedge and Fiddler, so they’re continuing to progress towards their next skills.

 

Elsewhere in Div1A

Brotherz def by Potatoes –  The delves suffered a death and two MNGs, but inflicted an MNG on the orc superstar thrower and a 2-1 win.  

Nerds def Heresy – Nerds inflicted the only two casualties, as well as the win. Still top of the table on TD difference.

Bleaks def by Immortals – The Immortals won, but the chorfs did all the damage. 1 kill, 2 sta decreases and two MNGs will mean a seriously depleted beastman cohort in MD3.

Scutes def Blood Hands – Two defeats in two games, after three undefeated seasons! Scutes with a solid win and removed two blodgers from the lineup that I’ll face in MD3. Hurrah!

 

Ten games in, zero draws so far. Good stuff.

 

*This was a trick question:

• First D6 roll was a 1, so Trotts boneheaded
• First four block dice were skull/BD and pow/DS. Good luck getting chain pushes!

I did have a reroll up my sleeve, anyone up for proposing a solution that includes those dice rolls?

 

PS: Welcome to the Team Blogs section, @Wabbajacked! Nice to have another masochist human coach here :)

[C2MC]

Quote

Setting up 1TTDs is definitely a weakness of my game, please help

 

Work around this issue by playing a Throw Team-mate team!

[notorious noob]

Alright I will try and explain the 1TTD in text form after you got the QS.

Actions on the quick snap:2 towards the ball,3 to top left,4 stays,5 top left, 6 bottom right (1 doesnt really matter, was just a random lino right?)

Actions on the turn itself: 6 moves to 2 squares above 4 (above 5 now) this allows the ogre to block and chainpush, but because we need the ogre to fill up a square on the second chainpush he has to blitz and walk to 2 squares above his original position. Now 4 can block for the second push and 2 is left to get the ball to the catcher. 

This is off the top of my head as I dont exactly remember the skills on the players and all, hope it helps.

[Borke]

Yeah, that's a good way to do it. Of course, it still doesn't work with the actual rolls you got, Suido, but it's always about maximizing chances, and that would have resulted in roughly a 1 in 10 chance with team RR (assuming the pass attempts is a 4+ and the second block results in a yellow die, not just a push).

[Suido]

Whoops, the numbered list of players above the image lost its numbers. Fixed now.

 

1 was my +MA blitzer, would have been better having 2 back there for +agi.

 

Cheers, the part I couldn't see ahead to was the positioning for these second chainpush, got it now.

[Wabbajacked]

11 hours ago, Suido said:

PS: Welcome to the Team Blogs section, @Wabbajacked! Nice to have another masochist human coach here :)

Thanks for the welcome! I'm sure I'm gonna have plenty of suffering to write about this season, so there won't be any shortage of material.

[Suido]

S7 MD3 Pre-game Analysis

 

What I said pre-season:

 

Naggaroth Blood Hands - GeneralMarauder

1st, 2B. Has won two seasons in a row. All sledging aside, surely Division 1A can band together to prevent this mob getting a hat-trick? Has two +St players, and one ++St lineman. Ridiculous. Last time we played, my connection dropped out after Kalam had caused three serious injuries and the score was 1-0 my way. The replay went differently. Revenge will be sweet.

 

Two games in, both teams winless.

 

I have hired a new thrower, but last game’s casualties mean I have no rostered linemen. Four journeymen for MD3, lifting my TV to 1490.

 

The Blood Hands are down a blitzer (MNG) and buried a blodge lineman last match day. Their ST5 lineman is still otherwise unskilled (hurrah!), but the two ST4 players (wrodgestep and blodgestep) will shape the game. It seems the Blood Hands players don’t roll doubles other than double sixes. No guard, so hopefully my three will balance the strength game a little.

 

Da PLN:

1. Lots of inducements, 280K at time of writing, one of their players yet to skill up. Wizard is a definite, welcome back Quick Ben. At least 150K more – I think extra players will be better than any other option, and there’s likely to be enough for one skilled merc or two unskilled mercs... kick/tackle/block/DP? All reasonable options. Tackle and DP are probably my favourites, but are they better than a thirteenth player?
2. As much as it’s tempting to receive and hope to do some damage, I think I’m still better off kicking first. Their best players could probably score irrespective of teammate support, so I’ll trust in the full team defence strategy. Unlikely to suffer like I did in MD2, right? Right?
3. Scoring – Ganoes to secure the ball, but ideally gift the blitzers the TDs. Kalam and Hedge are within 1TD of their next skill, and Fiddler is 7 SPPs short of level 4.
4. Hitting – One wrackler vs seven blodgers. Two fewer thanks to MD2, but still sub-optimal. Three dice hits for Trotts, and as many Whiskeyjack blitzes against less skilled elves as possible. Hedge or Kalam getting casualties would be lovely.
5. The strength game: two ST4 elves and a ST5 lineman. Damn I wish I still had Dasalle; here’s hoping a ST6 ogre and three guards is sufficient counter. Reducing my exposure to the frenzy threat will be critical, as well as creating opportunities for Sorry to attack the witch.
6. Pows and sixes, no wuckin furries mate.

 

Elsewhere in Div1A

Potatoes vs Bleaks – The tackle happy chorfs to win, for me.

Nerds vs Scutes – The two fastest teams, likely to be another high scoring game. Go Nerds!

Brotherz vs Immortals – Brotherz will exploit the shorthanded Immortal lineup

Ladies vs Heretics –  Tipping the Ladies out of fear that they’ll hurt my players again if I don’t.

[Borke]

Regarding your inducements: I think it would be two vanilla mercs for me. A single DP merc is the alternative, to be used only if you get a high value target on the ground. But Delves are never going to make fouling easy for you, they are just too slippery for that.

 

I've been considering Helmut Wulf, cause Chainsaw is the number 1 solution against Blodgers. The fact that the Delves don't have any MB (or Guard for that matter) is another point in favour of Helmut, cause he can't be punished as easily. The problem is that he's only going to be there for one drive, and if you select to kick, your opponent might score early, and that's Helmut gone (though he did probably play 2 or 3 turns at this point and forced the early score, so perhaps not all bad). And if you don't field him on the first drive, your opponent will stall out until turn 7/8, you will probably have lost someone by that point, which means you have to field Helmut for a 1 or 2 turn drive. So, without a deeper bench or a bribe, Helmut is a risky investment - might pay off big time if you manage to remove one or two Blodgers with him, but might also net you nothing at all.

[Suido]

S7 MD3 vs Naggaroth Blood Hands @GeneralMarauder

 

Game Result Page (spoiler alert!)

 

Subtitle: First Quarter Frolic

 

Seems Da Tektiff was in the crowd, a riot at kick off shortened the first half. The Blood Hands began a bad game for them in terms of armour rolls – 4/4 fails in their first turn. Then they pushed forward, five elves into attack in the widezones, rookie ball carrier screened behind the halfway line.

 

So I went for it – wizard took out a screening blodger, a journeyman finished clearing the pathway with a push, then Hedge and Whiskeyjack ran through to blitz. Knocked out elf, ball bounced into Hedge’s hands, perfect!

 

Whiskeyjack and Sorry provided a screen so only one elf had a real blitz chance, and the rest of the team marked up. Instead of the 1D blitz option, the witch elf took the opportunity to surf Whiskeyjack, and that made room for three elves to mark Hedge. No guards, though, and it only took one journeyman to cancel the assists and Sorry to provide one of her own. Hedge blitzed, starting the Bridgeburners’ great game in terms of pows vs blodgers. The pow allowed Hedge to away without having to dodge and caused a casualty too, ascending to level 3. The elves sent one chaser after him, and that was enough for me to score on the next turn.

 

Fun fact: while this was all happening, Trotts hadn’t moved. Riot, no action, bonehead, bonehead, bonehead.

My good fortune appeared to continue. Blitz, Sorry under the ball to take the catch, Fiddler guarding her. Surely this would be sufficient to ensure a lead at half time… yeah, nah. The first quarter frolic was over.

 

Thus began the game changing turn. The witch blitzed Sorry and broke her neck. The game failed to register that I wanted to use the apothecary, and there was much gnashing of teeth.  The elves then used two rerolls to successfully navigate 10 agility rolls for the turn. Ball picked up, passed to Mardir, lots of dodges, Mardir in range and partially screened. In three turns after the restart, Mardir dodged into tacklezones twice while carrying the ball, made two blitzes, and evaded a trio of surrounding defenders twice before scoring. 7/4/4/8 bullshit, yo.

 

Lesson learned from last game, I set up for the 1TTD. First blitz, Stumble/Skull. Reroll, Stumble/Skull. Ah well. Ganoes got a completion, and a journeyman was sent off for killing a blodger. Reasonable.

 

The second half was exactly what you’d expect to see from strong, skilled elves against unskilled opponents. Cage under pressure after turn 1, corner exposed in turn 2 allowing ST5 elf in to sack the thrower, Mardir collected the loose ball and stalled until turn 8. Game over.

 

Three 2-1 losses in a row, followed by the Socceroos 2-1 loss France, but that’s another story.

 

So, key tactical notes:

• Wizard use was bold and successful. Would have looked stupid if it had fizzled, but it was an excellent opportunity with so many of his players forward. One-nil up early was an amazing feeling.
• Having the extra mercenaries was great. Losing two to expulsions from the first two fouls was bad. Affected my number advantage in the second half just when I needed it. Still fouled once more after that, but I’d already lost the ball and was a bit fatalistic by then.
• I made him roll lots of dice for his first touchdown, and he made them. Shrug.
• We both got dudded on blocks. Almost same number of tackles, he had terrible armour rolls while I had terrible injury rolls. 14/17 injury rolls were stuns, frustrating because just a couple more of his players off the pitch would have made a huge difference in being able to overwhelm the ST4 elves with sheer numbers. As it was, the numbers I did get at them just weren’t enough to force turnovers. They made every roll required to ensure the safety of the ball.
• Trotts was neutralised. A third due to boneheads, two thirds due to dodgy elves getting away easily.
• My cage was too tightly formed in turn 9. It allowed the ST4 witch to target a corner without guard and just blitz straight in, and my players didn’t have the manoeuvrability or skills to deal with it. I could have thrown more players in to help, but that would have opened the back of the cage for other elves to target. One turn later, the witch had been pushed sideways but that corner position was wide open for the ST5 elf to waltz in and sack. I genuinely have no idea how I could have kept hold of the ball for much longer against that defense anyway.
  • Suggestions?

 

Elsewhere in Div1A

Potatoes def by Bleakers – Nothing remarkable, just a solid victory for the chorfs.  

Nerds def by Scutes - Scutes run away 3-1, suffer no casualties and level a couple of sauruses. Not what I wanted to see for my next opponent. Nerds first loss of the season.

Brotherz def Immortals – 6 casualties, all badly hurt or apothecaried. Boooo. Orcs win with superior numbers.

Ladies def by Heretics - 6 casualties, all badly hurt of regened except a dead golem. That’ll do. Dour win for chaos.

 

Three rounds played, still zero draws. Exciting! Except the bit where I’ve lost every game. That's less exciting.

[Suido]

S7 MD3 Pre-game Analysis

 

What I said pre-season:

 

Quote

 

Ectothermic Scutes - Crunky Chops

4th, 2B. Lizards. I bloody hate lizards. These ones have a +St saurus and a +Ag skink. I’m gonna kill that skink. Actually, if history is any guide, my players will fail miserably at breaking armour against any skinks, and I’ll lose horribly. Pencil it in. THEN SMASH THE SKINK'S HEAD ONTO THE PENCIL LIKE A MAGIC TRICK.

 

 

Welp, I'm 0-0-3, Sorry is out injured, I have no tackle. Just a general lack of skills and players, really. Four journeymen to be induced, and then I'll have ~400 TV deficit. 

 

Their saurus corps is nicely skilled, and there is that superstar skink with block, and then another skink with +AG. I'm gonna need to do something amazing to get out of this game with anything better than another loss.

 

Da PLN:

1. Wizard, bribe, DP merc, tackle merc. May consider Helmut, but think I'd prefer the mercs.
2. Kick first
3. Hedge will have to play sweeper in Sorry's absence. Trotts, Fiddler and Whiskeyjack's guards will be essential in holding back the sauruses.
4. Kalam would be my preferred scorer, to get his first skill. Otherwise, Fiddler/Hedge are the most likely.
5. Make them scared of fouls. So many fouls.
6. Pows and sixes, no wuckin furries mate.

[Suido]

S7 MD3 Pre-game Analysis

 

What I said pre-season:

 

Quote

 

Ectothermic Scutes - Crunky Chops

4th, 2B. Lizards. I bloody hate lizards. These ones have a +St saurus and a +Ag skink. I’m gonna kill that skink. Actually, if history is any guide, my players will fail miserably at breaking armour against any skinks, and I’ll lose horribly. Pencil it in. THEN SMASH THE SKINK'S HEAD ONTO THE PENCIL LIKE A MAGIC TRICK.

 

 

Welp, I'm 0-0-3, Sorry is out injured, I have no tackle. Just a general lack of skills and players, really. Four journeymen to be induced, and then I'll have ~400 TV deficit. 

 

Their saurus corps is nicely skilled, and there is that superstar skink with block, and then another skink with +AG. I'm gonna need to do something amazing to get out of this game with anything better than another loss.

 

Da PLN:

1. Wizard, bribe, DP merc, tackle merc. May consider Helmut, but think I'd prefer the mercs.
2. Kick first
3. Hedge will have to play sweeper in Sorry's absence. Trotts, Fiddler and Whiskeyjack's guards will be essential in holding back the sauruses.
4. Kalam would be my preferred scorer, to get his first skill. Otherwise, Fiddler/Hedge are the most likely.
5. Make them scared of fouls. So many fouls.
6. Pows and sixes, no wuckin furries mate.

[Suido]

S7 MD3 vs Ectothermic Scutes @Crunky Chops

 

Game Result Page (spoiler alert!)

 

Subtitle: All I want for Christmas is a folding scuta.
 

Lost the toss for the first time this season, and they opted to kick - straight to Ganoes, who took the catch. Not bad. We also got a free bribe each, which is always nice. That came in useful straight away - Whiskeyjack knocked down their only BT saurus, then Ulman knocked it out and handed over a bribe in turn one. One saurus gone for the entire first half, no break tackle on their team. Very nice.

 

Besides that little piece of excitement, I also set up an attack down the left widezone, putting both Kalam and Hedge in range of the endzone. The Scutes dropped all their skinks back, and marked up with the bigger lizards.

 

Not ideal, but a 1D block and a 2+ dodge allowed enough assists for Whiskeyjack to flatten the Krox, and Ulman to kick it inna head. Stunned, that’ll do. The left side attack retreated and Ganoes dropped back, patience is a virtue. Patience paid off in spades. Two skinks appeared in the right widezone, threatening Ganoes, and operation blitz a skink was officially on. Whiskeyjack badly hurt one, and the team switched to the right widezone, Hedge in range and Ganoes just behind Whiskeyjack. Trotts tried the blitz a skink play, but could only knock it down. Not good enough. A journeyman was ordered to abandon position protecting Ganoes and s(k)ink the boot in. Knocked out, but that left an opening. Four 2+ rolls (dodge, 3 GFIs) gave a saurus a 2D hit on Ganoes, and he was sacked. The ball landed next to Kalam, and his presence was just enough to ensure that the SH skink failed the pick up.

 

Kalam tried taking down the skink, but it had block and was unmoved. Ganoes was next -  he needed a reroll, but delivered a pow and another badly hurt skink. Collected the ball and huddled between a teammate and the sideline. Not ideal, but I’d burned a reroll and wasn’t willing to GFI. That done, the rest of the team formed a screen to prevent any realistic sack - the only remaining skink could attempt an uphill blitz, but would be hoping for a sack and the ball to bounce out of bounds, as well as risking the lizards only remaining realistic ball carrier. Instead, the skink ran to safety and a saurus blitzed Hedge, the first forward screener. Reinforcements arrived, but not enough to prevent the Bridgeburners caging in range. Kalam was top of my list to score with, and free, so he took point and after the lizards blitzed into the back of the cage and marked Ganoes, received the hand off, scored and ascended. Level two, yeah!

 

A bit shaky, but excellent results from the first drive. Four lizards off the pitch, two skink casualties, a couple of intimidating fouls and a touchdown for a level. Would have been nice to stall one more turn, but good enough.

 

My kick off scattered out of bounds, probably due to the wind, and the Scutes put it in the hands of a saurus. The Scutes charged up the sideline, surrounding the saurus but unable to stop the lightning bolt. Lizard down, ball out of bounds, thrown towards the Ninth’s endzone. Hedge claimed it, made a neat pass, and Whiskeyjack failed to hurt a skink.

 

Giving up on scoring, the Scutes ganged up on Kalam. Push, push, badly hurt. Half time.

 

The second half started brutally for the hapless journeymen. One knocked out, one dead, better them than me. The Ninth were outnumbered 11vs8 before their first turn, and Trotts made that 11vs7 by boneheading. I then tried to made it worse with terrible positioning of assists, leaving Fiddler to be blocked on the following turn. Fortunately, he suffered no damage.

 

The lizards began marching up the right widezone, confident in their numerical superiority, but a 1/9 fail exposed them. The blitz would have opened up the sideline for an easy score, but the saurus didn’t have block and rerolled the BD/skull into skull/skull.

 

A sidestepping skink had marked Hedge and Whiskeyjack, and unfortunately Hedge couldn’t get the required knock down to free up Whiskeyjack. That would have guaranteed a 2D blitz on the ball carrier. Instead, Whiskeyjack had to settle for knocking out the sidestepper, leaving Fiddler to attempt the 1D sack and only manage a push. The rest of the Bridgeburners formed up ahead of the skink, under no illusions about how easily an AG4 skink can score. Crucially, Ferret dodged away from a marker to stand behind Trotts.

 

After very little to-do, the skink went for it, but Ferret laid the tackle! Snake eyes on the third and last required dodge, skink stunned, ball loose. A turning point. But what to do next? Only two skinks on the field, so keeping the ball away from them is the imperative. I could pick it up and drop back, but I was outnumbered and it wouldn’t take long for a saurus to find a 2D hit. Then I saw the short-side attack option, a chance to get the ball into the Scutes empty backfield.

 

Whiskeyjack blitzed an upright skink, badly hurting it. Fiddler into attack, Hedge grabbed the ball, dodged and sprinted past the sauruses and flicked a pass forward to Fiddler. AG4 blitzers are so much fun.

 

Two sauruses go chasing, but the blitz is ineffective and the rest of the Scutes are hopelessly out of position. Hedge pushed one saurus away, Fiddler dodged away from the other and scored on the next turn.

 

The Scutes had two turns and two skinks to get some pride back, and duly did so. Two sprints, quick pass, catch, 3 dodges, gfi, score. That gave me one more turn, I used it to give Whiskeyjack one more skink blitz (no damage) and Ganoes a completion. And one final saurus foul, for fun.

 

A journeyman got the MVP, but my other 15 SPPs were split between the blitzers and Ganoes, so that’s pretty good. The Scutes MVP went to their main blitzer, adding to its three casualties for a total of 11 SPPs. Well deserved. And three cheers to all the lizards for doing all the major damage to my journeymen. Ra-ra-ra.

 

Let’s get tactical.

• Wizard prevented them equalising before half time. Excellent.
• Ulman knocked out a saurus for the first half, and scared the lizards good. He was targeted for blitzes, which means my other players weren’t.
• Blitz-a-skink rarely seems to work for me (key reason I consider lizards my nemesis), but this game it did. Three stunty casualties (auto-badly hurt) plus KOs. Happy hunting, especially given I had no tackle.
• Shoutout to my unskilled thrower for badly hurting their blodgeskink.
• Despite losing the ball on offense, I was able to immediately recover then set Kalam up for his level 2 ascension. He got Guard (chaos/chaos/orcs in my next three matches, would’ve considered tackle if I was up against dodgier foes).
• Hedge and Fiddler combined for the defensive TD after the SCutes suffered two turnovers in a row, the second a tackle on the ball carrier. Got lucky with the tackle, made the most of it with my AG4 blitzers.

 

Elsewhere in Div1A - forgot to put in my predictions pre-game.

Heretics def by Potatoes: Only two badly hurt players and one touchdown. Yawn.

Nerds def Bleakers: Nerds scored three more casualties and touchdowns, stomping victory

Ladies def Immortals: the Immortals bolstered their numbers which allowed them to match the ladies in an attritional fight, but wasn’t enough prevent defeat.

Brotherz def Hands: Brotherz inflicted four KOs and three casualties, and a comfortable win.

[C2MC]

The Journeymen definitely absorbed a lot of the pain in this one.

This is one of those games that would've felt like more of a hollow victory if those were your actual players.

 

Nonetheless, well done! Was a fun game to watch.

[Wabbajacked]

Sounds like you did exactly what you should've done, Suido. Kept the pressure turned up to 11 on those Skinks, when you had your lucky break, you capitalized by going on the offensive immediately. I've got my next game against Lizards as well and I sure as hell hope mine goes similarly to yours. Minus all of the Journeymen causalities, since I have no Journeymen and I'd just be losing players.

 

Congrats on breaking the losing streak! And best of luck keeping the team intact in your next three games, I don't envy the Chaos-Chaos-Ork lineup at all.

[Suido]

Journeymen casualties make up for not having 12 rostered players for too many seasons.

 

Thanks, cobbers!

[Suido]

 

S7 MD5 Pre-game Analysis

 

What I said pre-season:

 

Quote

 

Heresy Inc

3rd, 2C. Lost out on second place to Tupi via coin flip. Harsh. Minotaur with block, +AV, claw, guard, tentacles. Not bad. I just kept pushing it away last time, and won 3-1 in the division decider. Good memories. Couple of two headed beastman, shows a bit more creativity than the other claw chaos collective.

 

 

I have a win on the board at last, four non-rookie blitzers (what curse?), a slightly mangled Sorry, and will 'only' field three journeymen. They’ve gone win-loss-win-loss, so it’s probably a good time to break that pattern.

 

Three superstars, including a clear and present danger to Trotts - that mino. Caution advised. The two beastmen will be a handful as well, but the rest of the team is fairly basic. Which isn’t to say ineffective. About 500K inducements, but claw means there’s minimal value in looking at star players.

 

Da PLN:

1. Wizard, bribe, DP merc worked well last game. Wizard+Apo+BWTs is the sensible option. Wizard and a chef would be fun.
2. Kick first
3. Hedge and Fiddler to hoard the SPPs. I want tackle, and some dodge would be lovely.
4. Sorry can now be effectively marked, so she needs to be screened, and her sacking opportunities chosen very carefully. Also Jump Up is now a 3+ to block, booooo.
5. Neutralising the minotaur is going to be critical. Journeymen screens and sacrifices, all game long.
6. Just do what I did last time, easy.
7. Pows and sixes, no wuckin furries mate.

 

Elsewhere in Div1A

Scutes vs Potatoes - Money on the Scutes, I didn’t cause any permanent damage.

Hands vs Bleakers - Match of the round, I’m tipping the Hands in an upset.

Immortals vs Nerds - No big guys, no fun, amirite? Nerds to win, Immortals to inflict pain

Ladies vs Brotherz - Battle of the sexes, apparently. One killer werewolf, two DP zombies, lots of  inducements, the Brotherz are going down.

[Suido]

S7 MD5 vs Heresy Inc @FedtStensDyr

 

Game Result Page (spoiler alert!)

 

Subtitle: Heretics Inc 2: Heretics University

 

In the dugout are the squad mage hired wizard, three journeymen, a DP merc (Lutolf) and an extra apothecary. Not sure what an apothecary can to do for victims of a clawed, tentacled minotaur, but that’s hope for you. Also, I have four skilled blitzers, for only the fourth game in the Bridgeburners’ history. Fourth time lucky?

 

The Heretics won the toss, received, and very carefully didn’t block first with the minotaur. Not much interesting happened early, except for a little minotaur trap I set, using a journeyman as bait (screenshot to be inserted). Journeyman in block reach, Trotts and Kalam immediately behind. A guard warrior ensured a second block would still be 2D, then the minotaur sprung. Both down, journeyman dead, trap successfully navigated. Well done that mino.

 

One of the clawed beastman blitzed Lutolf repeatedly, which was great. Just like last game, soaking up hits and somehow surviving. Worth every penny. Meanwhile, the Ninth were failing miserably to hit Ully, the dodge beastman. Two blocks and a blitz in one turn, 7 potential block dice: , bonehead,  Later in the half, yet another .

 

That bonehead meant I left Trotts a bit exposed, and the minotaur charged. Fortunately, both down, no damage done. The minotaur backed off to stand between two prone journeymen, and that was the end of its half, effectively. The two journeymen stood, and the mino frenzied one of them away from the action. Knocked him out eventually, but it wasn’t helping its team. Thank you frenzy and wild animal.

 

Mogens (5/4/4/9) was slowly advancing the ball up the left widezone, and the Ninth were slowing dropping backwards, not impeding the forward progress. Until the Heretics targeted Trotts a second time, that is, and exposed their ball carrier. The beastman’s blitz was ineffective (yay Trotts!), and a central member of the screen had marked Ferret. Ferret needed a knock down to provide a dodge free path for Sorry (now only AG2, quite important). Knock down, armour break, badly hurt. Sorry’s blitz stripped the ball, and the Bridgeburners got three tackezones on it. Game on.

 

The Heretics blitzed Sorry right back, knocking her onto the ball and stunning her, but she somehow had the presence of mind to push the ball towards Fiddler, who caught it then tripped Mogens as the agile warrior tried dodging up the sideline to cut off Fiddler’s escape route. Fiddler burned the team’s last reroll on his first dodge, then on the following turns survived two blitzes and made his own -2D blitz for a push and then a dodge to score. Phew. On paper, a perfect turn 8 defensive score. In action, nerve-wracking.

 

I was only down two journeymen for the second half, 10 vs 11. Fiddler was 1SPP short of level 4, so he started back with Ganoes, while the rest of the team set up for a quick attack up the left widezone.

 

I had forgotten that there was a kick skill hidden on one of the clawed beastmen (not where it’s expected, right?) so had left a gaping hole in the right widezone, and that’s where the short kick was directed. Fortunately, both options on the kick off were out of bounds, so I gave the ball to Fiddler and mentally kicked myself.  Fiddler passed to Hedge and ascended. Hurrah!

 

The only player not planned to head up the left was Sorry, who was going to hit Ully. If all I roll is , then it's time to use Sorry’s tackle.  Sigh. At least Whiskeyjack made his hit count, knocking out a beastman and evening up the numbers.

 

The initial push up the left was closed down, Hedge retreated, then the team swung right, over to Sorry and Ully. I was sorely tempted to lightning bolt the right side defenses and rush Hedge forward on the second turn, but there were too many ways it could go wrong. Instead, I made a hash of the initial repositioning. I put Hedge just behind the line before I’d made it safe… Sorry blocked the blodge warrior, wrestle. Whiskeyjack blitzed Ully and IT WAS ANOTHER FUCKING  FUCKING FUCK. Hedge’s position was now shit. A beastman sacked him, but the rest of the Ninth ensured no other Heretic could get near the ball.

 

Perhaps galvanised by this close call, the Ninth got their shit together. Whiskeyjack knocked out the sacker, Hedge reclaimed the ball, and Lutolf, who hadn’t committed a foul all game due to being repeatedly knocked down by various opponents, finally used his boots. On an upright player, no less. Niggled beastman, saved by the apothecary. Ball safe, 10vs8, that’s better.

 

After a couple of wild animal fails to start the half, the minotaur joined the fun on the right, leaving a very thin line of warriors between Hedge and space on the left. I went for it. Trotts boneheaded, which was unhelpful but not disastrous. Hedge slipped through with a three player cage around him.

 

Sorry and Fiddler were marked by the minotaur, and I decided to try keeping them safe. The uphill blitz needed a reroll, and resulted in a push. Decision time - follow through with the push away, freeing the mino up to chase the cage, or keep it in contact with Fiddler and risk his health? I opted for the former, not necessarily the best option given the game situation. No surprises, the minotaur blitzed a cage corner and marked Hedge, joined by another warrior, with other Heretics putting tacklezones everywhere.

 

Minotaur, meet Quick Ben. One lightning bolt, one wrestled warrior, and Hedge was free to escape across field again, no dice rolls for the ball carrier. The Heretics only chance was their main, clawed blitzer. The beastman used a reroll to dodge then sprinted twice and blitzed… BD/push. Third time in the game that my ball carrier survived a 2D blitz like that.

 

Only one player could help Hedge without rolling dice: Lutolf. No fouls, but plenty of crucial involvement otherwise. Hedge blitzed and scored. 2-0 with a few turns left on the clock.

 

Even with two apothecaries still available, I didn’t take any chances. My usual pyramid defense was deeper than usual, within sprint range for blitzing, just to tempt them into rolling extra dice.. I somehow got a journeyman into base contact with their ball carrier, requiring the Heretics to blitz backwards rather than forwards, and then they went for a quick score - a riot on the restart could allow an equaliser - sprint, quick pass, catch, sprint into endzone, snake eyes, stunned. Harsh.

 

Hedge failed a pass, an unskilled beastman rolled BD/BD vs Whiskeyjack and got stunned, and that was it. Fiddler, having reached 31 SPPs with actions in game, was promptly awarded the MVP. Could 9 points be enough to win the SPP Hog of the round?

 

 

Let’s get tactical

• Inducements
  • There were many moments when I was tempted to use the wizard, but no doubt that I used it perfectly. Very happy with that.
  • DP merc - never fouled, was targeted relentlessly and soaked it up, made a block casualty, assisted Hedge’s blitz score. 10/10, would hire again.
  • Extra apo - not needed. I wish it could roll over to next game.
• Didn’t win the toss, got to kick first. That’ll do.
• Hedge and Fiddler got 12 SPPs between them. Very nice. Hedge rolled normal, so it’ll be tackle or mighty blow. Probably tackle. I really need more tackle. Opinions?
• Sorry did her job, no dodges required. She’s too valuable to consider sacking.
• The journeymen took the minotaur out of the game in the first half, ensuring it couldn’t be part of the screen/cage. Without the minotaur, the decision to blitz Trotts needed too many assists, and that gave me the opportunity to sack, steal and score. Second half, the lightning bolt did the neutralising job, and that all but confirmed the win.
• Some similarities to last game - it only took one error to steal the ball on my first defense, and I had to get the minotaur off my ball carrier so I could score the second TD. Consistent.
  • On the other hand, hard to compare a 1vs2 decider with a mid-table, mid-season bash. A few players the same, but plenty of change and development on both sides.
• Four DS and push against Ully. Those aren’t pows. I did get two pows against his blodge warrior though, and Ully failed two dodges. Yeah, suck on that, Ully.

Fourth game ever with four skilled blitzers on the pitch, and it was an unqualified success. At last. Between them, my blitzers now have 9 skills/stats, equal to the total number they had when spearheaded by superstar Kalam. If the Bridgeburners are to continue next season, it will be because the blitzer cadre demand it. Next game - the team that killed Kalam the first. Can they brutalize my team again? Probably. Next pre-game analysis will tell you why. Hint: it rhymes with gwin strawbombers.

 

Elsewhere in Div1A

Scutes def by Potatoes - Incorrect. Potatoes won handily, but their MVP went to a dead lineman.

Hands def Bleakers - Correct! Hands won, but will be missing their St5 elf next game.

Immortals def by Nerds - Correct! The Nerds balanced their three touchdowns with three serious injuries.

Ladies drew with Brotherz - Incorrect. They ruined the division’s drawless record! Who even are they?

[C2MC]

Mighty Blow seems useful for next game, trying to take out clawpombers.

Tackle probably better overall.

 

Maybe you should next-level it and go with Frenzy?

 

I haven't won a game in a while.

[Suido]

S7 MD6 Pre-game Analysis

 

What I said pre-season:

Quote

 

Immortal Coil

4th, 2A. Four claws, two of them POMBing beastmen. Overkill, really. Compensating, definitely. Total lack of ball handling skills. Killed Kalam with a 1D blitz with the ball carrier. The cheek. Reduced the Ninth to just three players on the pitch, and still couldn’t stop Sorry from dispossessing their ball carrier three times. If I can keep players on the pitch, I’ll really show them. Yeah.

 

 

Did I say four claws? That’s now five, all with Block/MB, two with PO. MEDIC!

 

Roster - 13 Players
# Name Position Ma St Ag Av Value Spp Skills Injuries 1 Malek the Auditor Warrior 5 4 3 9 210.000 85   2 Xarquon the Never Chosen Warrior 5 4 3 9 180.000 55   3 Dreadlord Tim Warrior 5 4 3 9 180.000 51   4 Duke Bob Face Warrior 5 4 3 9 170.000 47   6 Klunj Beastman 6 3 3 8 160.000 121   7 Flarty Beastman 5 3 3 8 170.000 95

 

Zunk claims his ball carriers keep getting killed. Nice excuse, claw addict. He does now have a beastman with sure hands, so that’s something. Also, to be fair, he’s taken claw no earlier than 4th skill. Two blodge warriors confirms that I’ll be taking tackle on Fiddler, and I have an excess of cash so another lineman will be recruited. If I weren’t about to face so many claws, I’d probably get two. Journeymen have done a great sacrificial job for me this season, may it continue for at least one more match. Preferably two.

 

Gameday TV will be 1610 vs 1960, bang on 350. No value in stars vs claw, extra players would be nice, but I think +apo and 2xBWTs is very hard to beat. I’ll rue that decision when all the linemen are in the casualty box.

 

Da PLN:

• Wizard+Apo+BWTs
• Kick first
• SPPs: Hedge to score, GP to collect a couple of passes for his first level.
• Sorry and Fiddler have the task of taking out blodging warriors when required. Whiskeyjack and Trotts to hit as many beastmen as possible.
• Defensive huddling. So much defensive huddling.
• Pows and sixes, no wuckin furries mate.

 

Elsewhere in Div1A

• Heretics vs Brotherz - A vote for the Heretics is a vote for the Ninth. Heretics to absolutely mutilate the orcs, please and thank you.
• Hands vs Nerds - Both teams feeling the pain of their last match. Hands to win due to the Nerds' imbalanced squad, meaning minimal protection for the catchers.
• Scute def Bleakers - Hey, I wasn’t ready, why so fast at playing?
• Potatoes def by Ladies - Hey, I wasn’t ready, why so fast at playing?