Warpstone Avengers

[Doomy77]

Ha, Bill's been in OCC for almost a decade and still the dice get to him? You'd think that by now he'd have endured every indignity known to Nuffle.

[Bill-BJJ]

On 05/10/2018 at 9:42 AM, Doomy77 said:

Ha, Bill's been in OCC for almost a decade and still the dice get to him? You'd think that by now he'd have endured every indignity known to Nuffle.

My sole purpose of playing Bloodbowl is to complain about average dice as if I had rolled 18skulls in a row 

[Bill-BJJ]

On 05/10/2018 at 8:43 AM, Borke said:

Back to the business of finishing the season, we had our MD8 match against @Bill-BJJ's Rickson by Armbar, the legendary OCC franchise. The match opened with a contest of who could have the most useless block dice. Bill won the first half of this contest, certainly, but my opening turn was also completely useless (which, if you're receiving and hoping to get some early damage in perhaps, is not good). However, I have become very used to having completely shit dice, so I was fine, whereas Bill became rather frustrated during the first half. We scored on turn 7, and when a pitch invasion completely screwed his chances of the two turn equalizer, Bill almost lost it.

Our dice were both particularly crap that match

[Borke]

It's a new season! Season 9 of the OCC, and it will be our 6th season. Time to think happy thoughts again and put last season behind us!

 

So, what can we expect this season? Well, let's have a look!

 

Damned And Doomed - Coach: LordJair - Dark Elf

 

I will start with the big elephant in the room, this 2210 TV juggernaut. No super stars or legends on the team, just very high development all around. Not a single rookie among the 14 rostered players. No +ST or Guard anywhere, and only one +AG. Two Blodgesteppers and obviously lots of Blodge or Wrodge. There's only one player which has the quality to win matches on their own (the +AG/Leap/Wrestle/MB Witch Elf), but it's going to be the consistency of always being able to field a very good lineup that will allow LordJair to win his matches.

 

Heresy Inc. - Coach: FedtStensDyr - Chaos

 

The second heavyweight in the division will clock in around 2160 TV, if my calculations are correct (currently 3 MNG). Plenty of Guard and MB, as you'd expect, but only two Claw - one of them on the super star Minotaur (Block/Claw/Guard/Tentacles/+AV). So less murdery than you'd expect from a Chaos team at this TV, and definitely some unconventional choices, like a 6449 Warrior (+AG/+MA/Block/Tackle) or Dodge as first skill on two Beastmen. There are questionmarks above two of the players who recently picked up a -AV injury, one of them being the primary killer on the team. Overall, I can imagine this as an experimental hybrid build for Chaos. We'll see how successful it is in this division.

 

Cuyahoga River Bends - Coach: Sidley - Orc

 

The gap to the next contender is already considerable, since Sidley's team comes in at 1870 TV when all are healthy. Three well-developed Blitzers, two well-developed Blorcs (but the other Blitzer and Blorcs are rookies). One Lineman built as a sacker (Wrestle/Tackle/Fend), one Thrower built as a ball carrier (Block/Leader/KOR/Fend). No stat increases. I'm sure I've been less interested in a team before, but I can't seem to remember it now.

 

Nerds of Steel - Coach: Archie Bunker - Human

 

Only slightly behind the Orcs come their eternal enemies, the Humans. Nerds of Steel bring in 1840 TV when everyone is healthy. And they have pumped their TV into some very interesting players: 1) A bloody natural one-turner of a Catcher (+MA/+MA/Sprint/SS/Block); 2) a ball hawk Catcher, would you believe it (+ST/+AG/Block/SS/Frenzy); and 3) a +AG Lineman (with Block/Fend) and a +AG Blitzer (with Tackle). They've only got one Guard and two MB, and most importantly: no Ogre. So basically this is a wannabe Elf team. I have no doubt that those super star Catchers and the overall agility will win them some matches - but will it be enough overall, or will they be ground down, because not all of the team can dodge away easily?

 

AmazZOver - Coach: zZKing - Amazon

 

At the exact same TV of 1840 (when all are healthy) we find a surprisingly heavyweight Zon team. They look surprisingly ordinary at first glance, just what you would expect from Amazons: Almost everyone has Blodge, some Guard and MB on the Blitzers (along with some Tackle or SS), and a few one-of pieces like a Frenzy/Tackle Linewoman, or a DT/Dauntless Linewoman. But the real selling point of AmazZOver is a two player tag team: a +AG/+AG/Strip Ball/Block Linewoman and Block/KOR/Sure Hands/Accurate/Leader Thrower. I was lucky enough to win against zZKing last season, but I can tell you: with those two players on the field, you can never feel safe.

 

African Necros - Coach: naoufel70 - Necromantic

 

This 1900 TV team (again: with all players healthy) should actually be higher up the list, but I am too lazy to change that now. A very well developed squad with no apparent weaknesses, no rookie positionals. Only three Guard overall might be a tad bit on the low side for Necro, but it can work. Especially when you have Toubkal: a +ST/MB/Blodge/Tackle Werewolf super star. Other standout players are the +ST Flesh Golem (no other skills, but FG are pretty good at their job to begin with, and +ST makes them that much better at it) and a Block/SS/Sure Hands/Tackle/MB Ghoul. No +AG anywhere on the team, fortunately, so they will have to rely on their positional play (and Toubkal).

 

Elves of Elendil - Coach: Arwens Arrows - Wood Elf

 

This team sits around 1750 to 1890 TV, depending on whether BB2LM counts Journeymen or not in the current TV. I'm surprised to see no stat increases on the team, I thought that those were mandatory for Wood Elves. Two Guard (both AV busted), a very capable Thrower (Strong Arm/Accurate/Safe Throw/Dodge) and surprisingly no rookie Linemen. Not a lot to say about the team, it's Wood Elves, they may not look very special, but they'll still beat you.

 

Horned Harassers - Coach: midievil - Chaos

 

Poor midievil, his team has not had a pleasant season last time around. A total of 32 casualties sustained (vs. 12 caused), and you can see why his team looks the way it does now, at 1510 TV: Warriors have Block or Block/Guard, one killer Beastman, one sacker Beastman, one ball carrier, the rest are basically rookies, and the total player count is 11. midievil will really have to make those inducements work, tier 2 is not where you usually want to rebuild your team.

 

Fling the F'ing 'Fling - Coach: TYS123 - Halfling

 

On a personal note: I hate this team. Tys has everything that you could ask for on a Fling team. It's like he's getting his skills from a wish list. A +AG/+AG/Block Fling, a Block/JU/BT Tree, a +MA/BT Tree, and a DP Fling. You don't need any more. Tys will rightfully still claim to be the underdog against most opponents, but speaking from the Underworld point of view: This is a nightmare. Unless all the Flings die from dodging or GFIs, I don't think I can make this work.

 

But oh well, we can but try, and try we will. It should be an interesting season as always, perhaps it is finally time we are allowed to leave 2B - in either direction

[Borke]

The season has been started, and our schedule looks like this:

 

• Heresy Inc. - Coach: FedtStensDyr - Chaos (AWAY)
• Horned Harassers - Coach: midievil - Chaos (HOME); opponent last played: AmazZOver
• Damned And Doomed - Coach: LordJair - Dark Elf (HOME); opponent last played: AmazZOver
• African Necros - Coach: naoufel70 - Necromantic (AWAY); opponent last played: Heresy Inc.
• AmazZOver - Coach: zZKing - Amazon (HOME); opponent last played: Nerds of Steel
• Fling the F'ing 'Fling - Coach: TYS123 - Halfling (HOME); opponent last played: Horned Harassers
• Nerds of Steel - Coach: Archie Bunker - Human (HOME); opponent last played: Heresy Inc.
• Cuyahoga River Bends - Coach: Sidley - Orc (AWAY); opponent last played: Damned And Doomed
• Elves of Elendil - Coach: Arwens Arrows - Wood Elf (HOME); opponent last played: Heresy Inc.

 

Overall I like this schedule. We're playing the killer Chaos team when one of their Claw players is MNG, together with two more players, so they will come in with only 11 players, and we will still get decent inducements. We're also riding the coattails of the killer Chaos team in three other matchups, so we might be facing a slightly beat up Necro or Human team - which I would greatly appreciate, both of those can be difficult matchups for Underworld. I don't think there's any way I win against the Wood Elves, no matter how beat up they are. I don't consider any of the other matchups easy, either, but I'd say there is a chance I can win them.

[C2MC]

9 minutes ago, Borke said:

Cuyahoga River Bends - Coach: Sidley - Orc (AWAY); opponent last played: Damned And Doomed

 

[Doomy77]

Good luck! You’re due some.

[Borke]

2 minutes ago, Doomy77 said:

Good luck! You’re due some.

 

Thank you! I intend to have fun no matter the luck, but I'll take the luck if it comes my way

[Larkstar]

Love the 6 Home matches.  You still sporting Nuffle's Altar?

[Borke]

6 minutes ago, Larkstar said:

Love the 6 Home matches.  You still sporting Nuffle's Altar?

 

Absolutely!

 

But it's only 5 home matches, really, because against Tys, the Altar is going to be more of a benefit to him than to me.

[C2MC]

You may not have won your last game, Mister @Borke, but at least Bomber Dribblesnot won you the first half! 

[Tys123]

37 minutes ago, C2MC said:

You may not have won your last game, Mister @Borke, but at least Bomber Dribblesnot won you the first half! 

 

He certainly did. 1st 2 bombs were accurate and had 6 potential targets.

AG5 fling ballcarrier KO'd , DP fling injured , 1 normal fling knocked down , 3 trees knocked down.

That left the ball wide open for him to pick up and score easily.

 

Meanwhile Willow turned over on her 1st 3 blocks.

 

Thankfully 2nd half willow improved and bomber had been sent off.

[Borke]

I have never been more proud of good old Dribble than on that first bomb throw. Simply beautiful!

 

On the other hand, the Chef was on fire as well, and the lack of rerolls certainly cost me a lot in the second half.

 

In any case, it was a fun match in the end, and I don't think either Tys or myself can be really unhappy about the result

[Borke]

Alright, here's our customary pre-season look at our division for season 10!

 

Diced 2 Death FC - Keith Carr - Orcs - 1750 TV - 12 players

 

Decent Blorcs (3 Guard, 2 Blodge, 1 rookie, no MB), fairly beat-up Blitzers (2 rookies, 1 with Guard, 1 lvl5 multi-role with Blodge/+AG/MB/Guard), good Thrower (Blodge/Accurate/NOS), rookie Troll, 2 Tackle overall

 

Naggaroth Blood Hands - GeneralMarauder - Dark Elves - 2050 TV (+1 skill) - 13 players

 

Single Witch Elf (+ST/Wrodge/SS/Tackle), good Blitzers (all Blodge, 2 SS, 3 Tackle, one built as cage breaker with Leap, one great denier with Blodge/SS/+ST/Tackle/DT), decent Linemen with one standout (+ST/+ST/Block) and several Dodge, Blodge or Wrodge

 

Castors Trois-Rivières - Luke4444 - Humans - 1810 TV - 12 players

 

Block Ogre (Block/Guard/SF, but armor busted), only three Blitzers (one Guard, one Tackle, one lvl6 with +ST/+AG/MB/Tackle/Juggs, but niggled), two great Catchers (Blodge/SS/Guard and +AG/+MA/Blodge/SS/NOS), one Thrower (Block), rather basic Linemen with one exception, a +ST/Wrestle one with a niggle

 

Rickson By Armbar - Bill-BJJ - Orcs - 1990 TV - 14 players

 

Decent Blorcs (3 Block/Guard, one with SS, one with MB, one rookie), great Blitzers (4 MB, 3 Tackle, 3 Guard, 2 Dodge, outstanding is the +MA/Blodge/MB/Tackle/SB), Troll (Guard/SF/Grab), good Thrower (Block/+AG), Dirty Player, Gobbo (Catch/Sprint)

 

Thieving Unfortunates - Vaehnin - Humans - 1580 TV (+1 skill) - 11 players

 

Ogre (rookie, niggled), good Blitzers (rookie, Guard, Guard/MB/Tackle/PO/Dauntless, +ST/Guard/MB/Dodge), rather basic Linemen (interestingly two Dauntless, otherwise just Block or Wrestle, one with Tackle), one Catcher (Blodge/SS/Guard)

 

Damned And Doomed - LordJair - Dark Elves - 2200 TV - 14 players

 

Two Witch Elves (one rookie, one Wrodge/SS), great Blitzers (+MA/Blodge/Tackle, Blodge/SS/Tackle/Fend with niggle, Blodge/SS/Fend, Blodge/SS/Tackle/MB), Runner (KOR/Pass), Assassin (!) (Block/Tackle/-AG), well developed Linemen, including one DP/SG

 

Brother Elves - rsVordoca - Pro Elves - 1930 TV (with a Loner) - 11 players (with a Loner)

 

Amazing Blitzers (Dodge/Frenzy/Tackle/Dauntless/DT and +ST/Dodge/Tackle/MB/SB), three Catchers (one Blodge, one Guard, and one +AG/Leap/Wrestle/SB), two Throwers (one with just Kick, and one amazing +AG/+AG/Accurate/Safe Throw), three decent Linemen (Block/Guard/Leader, Blodge, Blodge/Tackle), all a little dented

 

My Ball Zach Urts - Cereal Killar - Chaos Dwarves - 2240 TV - 13 players

 

Minotaur (!) (Block/Guard/SF), two great Bull Centaurs (Block/Guard/MB/BT and Block/Guard/MB/JU), six amazing Blockers (particularly a +ST/+ST/Guard/MB and a +ST/Claw/PO/MB/SF; but the rest are killers as well, overall 2 Claw, 5 Guard, 6 MB), two DP Hobgoblins and two fillers

 

Apex Predators - Rinjarni - Chaos - 2080 TV (+2 skills) - 14 players

 

Minotaur (!) (Claw/Tents), good Warriors (4 Block, 3 MB, 2 Guard, 1 Claw), decent Beastmen (no full killer build, 4 Block, 3 Wrestle, 2 MB, 2 Tackle, 1 Claw, 1 +AG, 1 +ST), one DP

 

Warpstone Avengers - Borke - Underworld - 1760 TV (+1 skill) - 14 players

 

Two amazing Blitzers (Dr. Weevil and Professor Pesticide), and the rest isn't worth mentioning

 

 

Overall an interesting mix. Less MB in total than in previous seasons, and hardly any pure killers, but the match against Cereal Killar is going to hurt big time. I'd say a lot of the matchups are winable, but not by a large margin. The hardest matchups, in my opinion, are going to be GeneralMarauder, Bill-BJJ, LordJair and rsVordoca (as well as the aforementioned cursed Chaos Dwarves by Cereal Killar).

[C2MC]

I like how you used colours.

[Borke]

1 minute ago, C2MC said:

I like how you used colours.

 

And I am not at all green with envy of all those stat increases!

[Borke]

Aaaaaand the first match is, of course, against the Chorfs. We will be getting lots of inducements, but make no mistake, this one's going to hurt.

[Suido]

Yeah, that's gonna suck. It could be worse: the two ST5 players could have tentacles.

[Borke]

So, it's been a while, friends of the Green, and it's time for an early mid-season summary.

 

The first match against the killer Chorf team was a struggle, as expected. It wasn't quite as painful as it could have been, but that's also because I just left my players on the floor or ran them away when the loss became inevitable. 1-2 in touchdowns, only 2 Badly Hurt suffered. Extra Arms Thrower leveled and took Two Heads.

 

The next match was against Bill-BJJ's Orc squad, who were about 200+ TV above me, with tons of MB and quite a bit of Tackle as well. This match turned out to be much more one-sided than the Chorf match, as Bill-BJJ simply removed my players one by one from the pitch, either through blocks or through fouls. He broke armour 15 times (including fouls, failed dodges etc.), but that was enough for 6 casualties (plus one from a surf and a self-inflicted KO, I think), while I broke armour 9 times, and had 1 KO to show for it. In the end it was a 1-2 loss again, and I had to fire the newly leveled Troll Babyface, who took a -MA casualty (as well as a niggled rookie Gobbo).

 

MD3 we played against LordJair's Dark Elf squad, who were missing a couple of players, including crucially their MB/Tackle Lineman. The match was close for the first half, as with a full squad, LordJair was able to keep us on our toes. But in the second half, it turned into a rather one-sided affair - in our favour this time! We removed the nasty Delves one by one, even on non-MB hits (the most spectacular being a sack by Hench-Gobbo #3 on their Runner, who not only chose to hold on to the ball, but then had to spill it on a 1d pow, and was carried off the field afterwards). This put enough pressure on them so that they had to score the 1-1 early, and we had all the time in the world to score the 2-1 at the whistle. Sad news did however come from this match, as Professor Pesticide picked up a niggle to go with his -AV (and improvement thanks to the apo over the death he would have otherwise suffered). I'm not firing him, he's still a great weapon, but he has now lost all apo privileges.

 

And finally on MD4, we faced Keith Carr's Orc squad, who are considerably less developed than Bill-BJJ's squad, and who were also missing two of their Blorc's for the match (which put us more or less even with Professor Pesticide out on our side). The first half, the Avengers kicking, was a very exciting scramble for the ball. The situation started when on Keith's turn 1, his Troll "Big guys are rubbish II" tried to block our new Troll "Colonel Warptard", and had to take a Both Down result, which removed "Big guys are rubbish II" badly hurt, and left the ball on the ground in the Orcs' backfield. Keith managed to recover the ball, but never really managed to cage up, and so it was popped lose several more times. On his turn 8, Keith had a chance of scoring with a pass play by his Accurate Thrower, but the blinding sunshine made the pass inaccurate, leaving an opportunity for the Avengers to score by moving the ball from about halfway in their own field to the opposing end zone. This required a 2+ pickup, 2+ Animosity, 4+ pass, 3+ catch, 3+ catch play, all with only the team RR in hand. That's 38% with the RR, but of course Nuffle likes these plays, and so we didn't even need to use it. This meant that we were 1-0 up and receiving in the second half, and things were looking good, but then a terrible fatigue came over the Orc team and they stopped moving (Keith Carr's power went out). This made the second half very unexciting, and the end result was a 2-0.

 

And now I'm facing a conundrum: Two players leveled, one rookie Gobbo (which will be easy, Two Heads unless it's a stat or double), as well as my Dirty Player/Two Heads Gobbo. I don't know what he rolled, yet, but whatever it is, he's becoming extremely expensive for a Dirty Player. I'll update when I know what he rolled, but already at this time, thoughts and advice on the further development of this player are welcome!

[Mongloom]

Sneaky git for the fouler!!!

[Borke]

1 hour ago, Mongloom said:

Sneaky git for the fouler!!!

 

But it's so useless!

 

I still don't even know what the two Gobbos rolled, cause the match hasn't been confirmed, yet.

 

Next match will be tomorrow evening (Wednesday), 21:30 UTC, against Vaehnin and his very lean Human team (currently sitting on 1620k TV with 11 players; he might get more players, though). We're both sitting at 2-0-2 for the season, should be an interesting match!

[Mongloom]

37 minutes ago, Borke said:

 

But it's so useless!

 

I still don't even know what the two Gobbos rolled, cause the match hasn't been confirmed, yet.

 

Next match will be tomorrow evening (Wednesday), 21:30 UTC, against Vaehnin and his very lean Human team (currently sitting on 1620k TV with 11 players; he might get more players, though). We're both sitting at 2-0-2 for the season, should be an interesting match!

Sneaky git is a guarantee of stun or your fouler stay on the pitch, never say it is useless.

 

You can say you don't like that skill but... Fouling without support is useful!

[Borke]

So, the rolls are in, and the DP/Two Heads Gobbo rolled only a normal skill, while the rookie Gobbo got 6+4.

 

I'm pretty sure that I'll take the +MA on the rookie. It should be fairly easy to get him the missing 8 SPP for his next level over the next 3-4 matches, and I'm willing to put up with the extra TV for that time. I have enough players at the moment that dodge on a 2+ to ensure I have mobility, so fingers crossed on the casualty front, and this should work fine.

 

As for the Dirty Player, I am seriously considering Sneaky Git. I still don't like it, he's going to be damn expensive for a player who usually gets sent off half way through the match. On the other hand, since I don't usually get bribes, the skill might actually keep him in play a little longer, and while he's not fouling, he's still a Two Heads Gobbo who can keep up with the team. However, if I ever get another double on a rookie or Two Heads (only) Gobbo, I will definitely consider firing retiring this one in honour.

[Borke]

So, after taking on some advice from @Pidpad, I decided to give Sure Feet to the Dirty Player, not Sneaky Git. The reasoning is that I usually only foul on high value targets anyway, not every chance I get, so Sure Feet will be valuable more often. Sneaky Git would only come into play once every 4th match on average, which doesn't sound too appealing.

 

With both players leveled, we went into the next match against @Vaehnin. As I expected, he spent gold to get a fresh Ogre. With the remaining 80k inducement money he got a Loner Lineman for the match - which turned out to be a good decision, as there were removals aplenty on both sides, and the Loner was often doing a useful thing like marking my Troll.

 

Vaehnin chose to kick first half, and so we did our usual dance of switching sides often, trying to leverage our mobility. The Humans were able to keep up for the most part, though, and Vaehnin applied a lot of pressure to us, marking all over the place. This resulted in a lot of removals on both sides, with neither team gaining an overwhelming advantage, but the pressure on our offense was mounting. So in a desperate attempt, Dr. Weevil and Claw Finger made a two man break on turn 7 to the right, still in range of two of the humans, though. And as expected, they managed to pop the ball with a Guard assist and Blitz, but they couldn't pick up the ball. They tried to cover the lane for the score as well, but a blitz from the downed Dr. Weevil, and then a dodge, pickup and 2 GFIs by Claw Finger was enough to score the 1-0 on turn 8. Vaehnin chose to only take the LOS blocks on his turn 8, which resulted only in the removal of his Dirty Player from a last action foul.

 

Second half it was 11 Avengers vs. 10 Thieving Unfortunates, but it didn't stay that way for long. As in the first half, there was a steady trickle of attrition, while the Avengers charged the back field of the humans when they failed to cage up early, however, the cage soon followed, and after some running around, we were trying to get in front of them again to delay their advance. We were able to put pressure on the ball several times, but now it was time for Vaehnin to make the clutch plays, keeping everything barely together. In the end the ball carrier was inches away from the end zone, but we were able to mark him from two sides with a Tackle on him, so simply dodging was not safe at all. However, Vaehnin saw a very nice chain push play followed by a hand-off to the free second Catcher he had run into the end zone - a beautiful play, exactly the stuff the crowd had come to see. This left us with the final turn to execute a 1TTD. Well, I had decided I wanted to feed the new 7MA Gobbo some TDs, so he got designated as the scorer, and after a touchback, things were looking good. Coach Borke shouted orders to Colonel Warptard, who slowly started his routine - only to immediately attempt to eat the scared looking Gobbo. It took the last remaining timeout (RR) to talk some sense into the Troll, and when play resumed, the Gobbo was flying, and sticking the landing, probably by accident. This left just three 3+ dodges with a RR to the end zone, the whole stadium holding their breath, only to erupt into a big cheer when the Gobbo skillfully made all rolls.

 

Final result: 2-1

 

Injuries: -MA on the Wrestle Lineman (will probably keep him for now, he's a meat shield anyway), as well as a near death experience for Vaehnin's lvl5 +ST Blitzer.

 

Removals: A total of 14 across both teams, 4 being casualties and 10 KOs

 

And the MVP went, of course, to Hench-Gobbo #24, the +MA Gobbo, who got exactly the 8SPP total he needed to level straight away again. He rolled a double, and I'm looking strongly at Block, even though that delays Two Heads by a lot, cause it allows me to play him a lot more aggressively.

 

GG to Vaehnin, who played a very good match, I thought.

[Doomy77]

Sneaky Git is NEVER worth taking. It only comes into play if you fail a foul, and you should only foul when the odds are on your side. There is no combo with DP.