Warpstone Avengers

[Mongloom]

On 2/22/2019 at 1:06 AM, Doomy77 said:

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.

Sneaky git guarantees your player will stay on the pitch or the fouled piece will be stunned at least, good for screening purposes. Sneaky git could not the best skill in the game but it is quite good to consider it, lonely fouls can be considered if your fouler is a sneaky git.

[Borke]

The season is over for the Avengers, and somehow, after a 0-0-2 start, we end up at 5-1-3 - which by the narrowest of margins is enough to promote to tier 1. One TD difference is enough in the end.

 

The team is in a good condition. The latest Troll got to level 2 and again didn't roll that coveted double, of course, so I took Guard.

 

We'll see what tier 1 will bring. We have a good amount of 2+ dodging, but the Blitzers will have to improve their performance, we won't get far if we only get 17 casualties like this season. This will be the real test - tier 2 was tough, and we survived there for 4 seasons, but I expect tier 1 to be another significant step up. The goal is clear: Be the first Underworld team to get to the OCC Championship!

[Vaehnin]

On 3/22/2019 at 10:55 PM, Borke said:

The season is over for the Avengers, and somehow, after a 0-0-2 start, we end up at 5-1-3 - which by the narrowest of margins is enough to promote to tier 1. One TD difference is enough in the end.

 

 

The deciding TD being a turn 16 TTM 1-turn TD at that. I am not bitter. 

[Borke]

On 3/27/2019 at 2:08 PM, Vaehnin said:

 

The deciding TD being a turn 16 TTM 1-turn TD at that. I am not bitter. 

 

There were many lucky moments this season, and that's certainly one of them.

 

But then again, MD1 and MD2 were particularly unlucky, so I don't feel bad about grabbing the lucky dice that are handed to me one day and running with them.

 

[Vaehnin]

On 3/28/2019 at 4:21 PM, Borke said:

 

There were many lucky moments this season, and that's certainly one of them.

 

But then again, MD1 and MD2 were particularly unlucky, so I don't feel bad about grabbing the lucky dice that are handed to me one day and running with them.

 

 

I have had my fair share of good luck as well this season. Not complaining. But I can still be.. not bitter. 

[Borke]

New season hype!!!

 

The Warpstone Avengers set foot in Tier 1 for the very first time. It's going to be awesome, but it might also be the end of the team. Well, that's basically every season ever, so let's just calm down and have a look at the opponents (some of which haven't applied in game yet, so details are occasionally a bit hazy).

 

Fweddy - Delicious Fireball - Chaos - app. 2250 TV

 

This Chaos team is riddled with injuries, I count 4 movement busts, 2 agi busts and 1 armor bust. They also have a few stat increases, 3 +AG, 1 +MA and 1 +ST. Only one double on the whole team (Blodge/Guard Warrior). Apart from that, this is exactly the kill squad you would expext, and they can even handle the ball reasonably well. They run with a Claw Mino. A painful matchup for any opponent. Winable, I think, due to the short bench (13 players).

Kia Sidhe - Cr@sh Test Dummies - Dark Elf - app. 2400 TV

 

We're getting into "legendary team" territory here. The Dummies have been around since the start of BB2, only skipping season 9. And they have managed to maintain 2400 TV worth of players, including the infamous 8557 Blodge Blitzer "Ereos Blitz". 14 players. 2 MB/Tackle Blitzers, 2 Linemen with Guard. 9 Blodgers, 6 of them with SS. Kia Sidhe has slightly specialized the team to deal with high strength opponents, as he has taken Dauntless on 2 Linemen. Despite the team carrying s few injuries (4 -MA, 2 -AV, 1 -AG), this is going to be a nightmare for any opponent. How do you get the ball off of an 8557 Blodger who is surrounded by Blodgesteppers and perhaps even supported by Guard? Well, the clue is probably in Fweddy's team name... I don't see this matchup as winable for the Avengers.

Alessus - Grand Templars - Bretonnian - app. 1800 TV

 

Oh, someone else apart from Pidpad is playing Brets! And successfully, it seems. Alessus is definitely playing a game o pitch control, having taken 2 more Fend on top of the ones he gets automatically, as well as SS on two Blitzers so far. 3 Guard, 3 MB (none combined with Tackle), only 1 Tackle. The Blitzers are all Blodged up, 3 of them have +MA. 1 Blocker has +ST, 1 has +AG. I would have half expected Frenzy somewhere, but no. It's hard to evaluate Brets, I feel. The seem rather vanilla on paper, but I've seen especially the Blitzers have a lot of tactical options. And then there's fouling... Overall, I believe this is winable for us.

Vaehnin - Thieving Unfortunates - Human - app. 1800 TV

 

I feel sympathy for the Unfortunates, another hybrid team trying to overcome the odds against the prevailing bash and agility opposition. Of course, I'm still going to try and beat them, or preferably kick them while they're on the ground, but still: A friendly opponent! Vaehnin brings 13 players to the field, with only a few injuries (2 -MA, 1 -AV, 1 -AG). 5 Guard, 5 MB (2 with Tackle, 1 with PO on top). 1 Blitzer with +ST/Blodge/Guard/MB, as well as the killer Blitzer stand out. Will this be enough for Vaehnin to succeed in the division? I have my doubts, but he sure will have inducements against most opponents, and he's got a Dirty Player, so all hope is not lost. The Avengers can certainly win this match, as we showed last season (with sufficient luck).

Jester77 - Chaotic Stormtroopers - Chaos - app. 2000 TV

 

A slightly more manageable Chaos squad. 13 players, no Mino. Almost no injuries. Only three MB, but this includes a full killer Goat and a Claw/MB/PO Warrior. A +ST/SF/Block/Guard/Tentacles Warrior and a +AG/Two Heads/Block/Tackle/Guard/MB Warrior are the other standout players. Also a sacker Goat and a DP Goat. Feels well rounded with a lean TV, only weaknesses are the singular killer Goat and the lack of developed ball carrying options. The ST5/Tentacles Warrior alone makes this a hard matchup for the Avengers, but still winable.

GeneralMarauder - Naggaroth Blood Hands - Dark Elf - app. 2100 TV

 

14 players and cash in hand, as well as 3 pending level ups, make this analysis slightly inaccurate. The team is carrying a few injuries (3 -MA, 2 niggles and 1 -AG), which might be the reason for the "deep" bench of (almost) rookies. 3 Wrodge, 5 Blodge, 4 overall with SS. 2 of the players have the Tackle/DT combo, showing that GeneralMarauder is targeting agility teams rather than strength teams. No MB, 1 Guard, and 2 +ST, on the two standout players: A +ST/Wrodge/SS/Tackle Witch and a +ST/Blodge/SS/Tackle/DT Blitzer. In our matchup last season the Avengers lost 1-2. I don't see us as favourites this time around, either, unless we roll very well on the block/injury dice.

Dionysian - Team Wales - Chaos Dwarf - app. 1900 TV

 

Oh man, I hate Chorfs. They are so depressingly efficient. Only 1 injury, -AG on a Blocker, who cares. Both Bulls have Blodge/BT, 1 with Guard, 1 with Tackle. 4 MB, 3 Guard, 1 Claw, 1 PO on the Blockers (fortunately the latter two not on the same). And a +AG/+AG/Wrestle/SB/SH Hobo, alongside a DP Hobo. The team doesn't have anything terribly exciting, but then they don't need any excitement for a 2-1 grind. In fact, excitement is exactly what they don't want, they want predictability and inevitability. Winable for the Avengers.

Zulu501 - Sugar_n_Spice - Amazon - app. 1600 TV

 

Zulu is running a lean Amazon team, and probably not by choice. 13 players including a niggled rookie, cash to buy one more rookie, it looks like the Zons are feeling the attrition in the higher tiers. 7 Blodge and 1 Wrodge, 4 Guard, 2 MB only (and none with Tackle), 2 Tackle. Standout players are the +ST/+ST/Block/Tackle Catcher and the +AG/Guard/MB Blitzer. Obviously Zulu will have lots of inducements to work with, but I feel the two standout players will need to carry a lot of weight. The Avengers have played Sugar_n_Spice before, it ended in a 0-2 defeat and the match wasn't even close. However, that was a dicing and a half, and I feel this time around we have a decent chance of winning.

Borke - Warpstone Avengers - Underworld - app. 1900 TV

 

I'm wondering how much it actually means to other coaches, what I write as a summary of my own team. Not many opponents seem to have experience vs. Underworld. And who would blame them, with only two Underworld teams playing in OCC Season 11 (there were a few more before, but never many). I feel that the team is in a good place right now, and we will make good use of inducements this season again, with all those TV heavyweights to play against. But make no mistake, the team could implode at any moment, I've seen the downward spiral before. So walking the line between shooting for that promotion and preserving the team will be difficult at times. I definitely don't think I can sustain the team in Tier 1 for long.

antman - Angry Tusks - Orc - app. 2100 TV

 

This team has recently had to replace two BOBs, as there are 2 rookies. The other 2 have Block/Guard/SF, 1 with MB. The Blitzers are diverse, though overall kill oriented and very developed. The usual MB, Guard and Tackle you would expect. 1 Frenzy/Juggs combo, 1 +ST/SF combo (double niggle), 1 PO/JU/Juggs/Pro legend, and one with Dodge/JU. They are assisted by 2 very nice Linemen, 1 with +AG/+MA/Blodge/SH, 1 with +AG/Block/Tackle. No Troll, no Thrower, no Gobbo. I think that this is a very strong team, and I assume it is in very capable hands. The rookie BOBs are obviously the weak point, but that's not much to go on. On the other hand, how many Claw/MB hits can they survive this season? Very tough for the Avengers at the start of the season, might be easier later, depending on how each team has fared.

 

 

Overall, the division could have been a lot worse, so I'm happy. I look forward to some rematches (even though in some cases the last match was 5 seasons ago). I don't think that you can ever go into a match as Underworld and say "we're the clear favourites". On the other hand, with all but 1 of the matches being "winable", we only need to get lucky a few times in order to have a shot at promotion, so that's my plan: Get lucky!

[Jester77]

Great write up Borke - nice stuff :-)

[Borke]

The first match is in the bag, and for now we seem to be on Nuffle's good side.

 

Our first opponent was @Vaehnin, and he brought his Human team, as discussed above. The match turned out to be extremely heavy on the removals. We suffered 6 casualties and 2 KOs, while Vaehnin's team was only slightly better off with 5 casualties and 3 KOs suffered. Since we had the longer bench, this gave us the numbers advantage for most of the match.

 

The first half was our drive, and it was a textbook slow advance while gradually removing opposing players. The highlight was the removal of the Human killer Blitzer, as shown in this little exposé. We scored on turn 8, and Vaehnin chose to go for some blocks (no removals) and a farmed pass that leveled his rookie Lineman.

 

The second half saw more or less the opposite: Vaehnin controlled the ball and had the upper hand in removals, getting his ST4 Blodging Blitzer into easy scoring position. Bomber Dribblesnot made an appearance and didn't remove himself, but also didn't add any winning plays. He did draw some attention, though, so he did a good job overall. From turn 14 onwards, Vaehnin could easily score, but chose not to, instead opting for the stall for the draw. He had already removed our Wrestle/Horns Gobbo, our AG4 Blitzer, and controlled our knocked down killer Blitzer. However, we had one ace left, and on turn 15 it was time for The Play: The ST4 Blodger was next to the end zone corner, so we double dodged our remaining Two Heads Gobbo in for the assist, and then blitzed with the Two Heads/Wrestle/Tackle/Horns Linerat: 2+ dodge, 2+ dodge, two GFIs, for a 2d block - pow! The Blitzer went down in the corner, and the ball went OOB, with the throw in near the LOS, perfectly positioned for my Blodge/Two Heads Thrower to pick it up and leg it. The Humans got a 2d block on it, but even with a reroll, there was no pow, so instead of a 1-1 tie, the match ended with a 2-0 Underworld victory!

 

 

No levels for us, and we will be down to 12 players for the next match (two MNG Gobbos and a niggled rookie Gobbo), but we'll deal with that when we see the exact matchup for MD2. For now the team is celebrating their first win in tier 1 - and sacrificing more Gobbos to Nuffle!

[Vaehnin]

I was grumpy all evening after that. As I deserved for letting you have that opening. Upside for both of us was the very friendly casaulties. One niggle each on a non-important player and the rest BH or MNG. I hope that keeps going. 

[Borke]

15 minutes ago, Vaehnin said:

I was grumpy all evening after that. As I deserved for letting you have that opening. Upside for both of us was the very friendly casaulties. One niggle each on a non-important player and the rest BH or MNG. I hope that keeps going. 

 

We both got off easy as far as the casualties are concerned, indeed. We can only hope our luck continues in that regard!

 

And I hope you're not grumpy any longer. This is one of the advantages of Underworld: Always one more ace up our sleeves!

[Vaehnin]

On 4/11/2019 at 10:46 PM, Borke said:

 

And I hope you're not grumpy any longer. This is one of the advantages of Underworld: Always one more ace up our sleeves!

 

 

It passes. It is good anger management training. One of the sideline perks of playing Blood Bowl. 

[Borke]

The current season of ups and downs continues. After that initial victory, we went on a 0-2-2 streak with losses to Dark Elves and Chaos, and draws against Chaos and Amazons. MD6 then brought us another win over Alessus' Bretonnians.

 

The attrition has been high this season, as expected. In chronological order, these are the permanent injuries we suffered:

 

- MD2: Professor Pesticide dies (it was a choice between a second niggle and death, and I granted him death on the pitch)

- MD2: Block/+MA Gobbo gets -AV (but remains on the team)

- MD3: rookie Lineman gets -ST and gets fired

- MD4: Block/Dodge/Two Heads Thrower gets -MA (but remains on the team)

- MD6: Wrestle/Horns Gobbo (Hench-Gobbo #3, our wannabe bachelor) dies

- MD6: DP/Two Heads/Sure Feet Gobbo gets -MA (and will remain on the team)

- MD6: Two Heads/Big Hand/Sure Hands Gobbo gets -AV (and might stay on the team, not sure about this one yet)

 

So, @C2MC, if you're keeping track of the fate of the Bachelogrette candidates, here goes one!

 

Surprisingly, with all this attrition, the team is still in decent shape. We already bought a new Blitzer (though he refuses to get SPP so far), and we have 90k in the bank to get a new Lineman or some Gobbos, if need be. Dr. Weevil (now a Legend) and Gnaw Mercy (now Super Star) are strong enough to dominate a match on their own, with a little help from the two Throwers. We can play a very fluid game, and if the opponent doesn't overwhelm us with removals, we have a shot in every match.

 

Three matches to go, sitting at 8 points, and if somehow we manage to win all three remaining matches, we still have a shot at promotion. Let's dream big!

[C2MC]

He will be remembered fondly.

[Borke]

Season 11 is over, we've survived. But with only a 3-3-3 record to show for it, we didn't promote. This means that we're stuck in tier 1 for another season.

 

I already know a little bit of what's coming our way. Stay tuned - reader discretion is advised, this is not going to be pretty!

[Borke]

And bit by bit we reveal the terrible truth about the coming season. In this episode:

 

4 Chaos
1 Nurgle
1 Khemri
1 Lizardman
1 Human
1 Pro Elves
1 Underworld (our protagonists)

 

So that's 7 teams that have 4+ players with ST4+. This is not something we deal with well. A lot rests on the survival of our Troll, as without his Guard, we're doomed.

[C2MC]

1 hour ago, Borke said:

So that's 7 teams that have 4+ players with ST4+. This is not something we deal with well. A lot rests on the survival of our Troll, as without his Guard, we're doomed.

 

Corrected that bit for you.

[Mongloom]

4 hours ago, Borke said:

And bit by bit we reveal the terrible truth about the coming season. In this episode:

 

4 Chaos
1 Nurgle
1 Khemri
1 Lizardman
1 Human
1 Pro Elves
1 Underworld (our protagonists)

 

So that's 7 teams that have 4+ players with ST4+. This is not something we deal with well. A lot rests on the survival of our Troll, as without his Guard, we're doomed.

I have more or less tha same problem, but with claw... 6 clawpomber teams against my poor ST5 decay dead stars!

 

I hope they could destroy each other just before I face them on the pitch!

[Borke]

2 minutes ago, Mongloom said:

I have more or less tha same problem, but with claw... 6 clawpomber teams against my poor ST5 decay dead stars!

 

I hope they could destroy each other just before I face them on the pitch!

 

I hear you!

 

Though I have to correct you on one account: I don't have any Piling On on my team (any more).

[Mongloom]

14 minutes ago, Borke said:

 

I hear you!

 

Though I have to correct you on one account: I don't have any Piling On on my team (any more).

I was touching my crystal ball and I feel you will when our time arrives!! You will be leading the division and I am just a couple of positions behind... a victory for the dead stars and others and I got you!! And then... I just wake up!

[Borke]

Right, time to start with the preview of the teams. Let's begin at the shallow end of the pool.

 

rsVordoca - Brother Elves - Elven Union - TV 1950 / 12 players

 

I have no idea how Pro Elves made it to tier 1 with only 5 permanent injuries on the team. And one of them might even be only temporary, as I imagine rsVordoca is contemplating replacing the level 2 Blitzer who just picked up a niggle. Blitzers need to be able to go into contact, and while Blodgestep is nice and all, it's not going to save this player for long. In any case: Who are the real stars on this team? We all know that Elves only need a few players to win a match, and in the case of Brother Elves it's: Other Brother (+ST/Dodge/Tackle/MB/SB Blitzer), Brother Chuck (+AG/+AG/SH/Accurate/Safe Throw Thrower with -AV), Brother Receive (+AG/Wrestle/Tackle/SB/Leap Catcher), and to a lesser extent Brother Got It (Blodge/SS/Guard Catcher) and Brother Accept (Blodge/SS Catcher with +MA/-MA). That's 5 players, the rest of the team doesn't really matter. Remove 3 out of the 5, and we have a chance. Otherwise this is certainly a loss.

 

Mongloom - OCC & ROLL - Khemri - TV 1720 / 12 players (1 level up pending)

 

OCC & ROLL, or the Dead Stars & Others, as they are also known (I always imagine it in Spanish, Estrellas Muertas y Otras), have had a rough season or two in the past, but seem to be bouncing back now. The Tomb Guardians are healthy (albeit not very developed, max 2 skills), Jimi Hendrix is still alive (or "not fully dead yet"), the +ST/+AG/Blodge/SS/Frenzy monster of a Blitz-Ra. And he's even got a developing companion again, a MB/PO Blitz-Ra. The Throw-Ras are ok, nothing to write home about, really (even though one has Strip Ball/Frenzy to go with Block/Tackle, interesting build). And then there's the obligatory two Dirty Player Skeletons. Mongloom's team might not cause anyone else in this division any headaches, but for us, those 4 ST5 players are incredibly tough to deal with. Last time we met the Dead Stars it didn't go well. Let's hope we do better this time!

[Borke]

Further up the food chain we go:

 

Vaehnin - Thieving Unfortunates - Human - TV 2070 / 14 players (80k of that TV comes from excess gold)

 

Yep, that's a lot of TV for a Human team. So if you're expecting an Ogre on the team, you are correct (Guard only). And if you're expecting developed Blitzers, Vaehnin has you covered there as well (4 Guard, 4 MB, 2 Tackle). The stars among the Blitzers are Jeff the Knife (+ST/Guard/MB/Dodge with -AG/-AV) and Thuds Wolfgang (Guard/MB/Tackle/PO/Dauntless). Two great Catchers (Blodge/SS/Guard/DT and Blodge/Guard) as well as "assorted Linemen", with the standout being a ST4 Lineman with skill pending. For a Human team, the Thieving Unfortunates are definitely quite beefy, lots of muscle there, so they won't be too afraid of the strength advantage coming from the Chaos/Nurgle/Lizardmen/Khemri. They will, however, be afraid of the Claw. I don't think Vaehnin will leave the division with as much TV as he entered with. Anyway, how will our heroes do against this lot? Not going to lie, it'll be tough. But there are possibilities, if I manage to split the field, isolate and remove a few Blitzers.

 

Skuld - Eddie the Lizard - Lizardman - TV 1960 / 13 players

 

This Lizardman team has survived in the Chamopionship / Tier 1 region for quite a while. Though - what really is survival? One armor break, one niggling injury, and two movement busts? Yep, in these parts that certainly qualifies as survival. A rookie Krox, one rookie Saurus, but beyond that 5 nicely developed Sauri: all with Block or Wrestle, all with Break Tackle, 3 Guard in total. The stars are Stefan Kraft (+ST/Block/Tackle/MB/Break Tackle) and Peter Prevc (Block/Tackle/MB/Guard/Break Tackle). There are also some very competent Skinks (+MA/Blodge/SS, +AG/SS and a solo +AG), as well as the usual annoy-o-Skinks (SS or DT or both). Overall, it's an extremely solid Lizardman team. And Skuld is probably not looking forward to facing 6 Claw teams (the our heroes hardly qualify as a dangerous opponent to anybody). So how are we going to fare against this lot? I think it depends a lot on the fate of those Sauri - if they get mangled in other matches, I think we could have fair chances. But if the Lizardmen come in full strength, I don't see a chance for the Avengers.

[El Maldito]

On 6/19/2019 at 10:59 AM, Borke said:

Mongloom - OCC & ROLL - Khemri - TV 1720 / 12 players (1 level up pending)

 

OCC & ROLL, or the Dead Stars & Others, as they are also known (I always imagine it in Spanish, Estrellas Muertas y Otras)

 

Y Otros

: Estrellas Muertas y Otros (Although it can also be translated as you have done ... but I do not believe it).

 

Un saludo !!!

 

PD: Now Mongloom will come and say that I am wrong... (The two ways are fine, in Spanish we distinguish genres more often than in English).

Edited June 20, 2019 by El Maldito

[Mongloom]

31 minutes ago, El Maldito said:

 

Y Otros

: Estrellas Muertas y Otros (Although it can also be translated as you have done ... but I do not believe it).

 

Un saludo !!!

 

PD: Now Mongloom will come and say that I am wrong... (The two ways are fine, in Spanish we distinguish genres more often than in English).

YOU ARE WRONG!

Dead stars can be translated into some sadly deda fuc**g awesome rock stars!

 

Others, in this case could be translated into fodder (or not  very important persons). But @El Maldito translation could be right too.

[El Maldito]

8 minutes ago, Mongloom said:

YOU ARE WRONG!

Dead stars can be translated into some sadly deda fuc**g awesome rock stars!

 

Others, in this case could be translated into fodder (or not  very important persons). But @El Maldito translation could be right too.

 

[Borke]

Right, it's time to look at the ugly side of this competition, then: The 5 Claw teams (remember, folks: we are not a Claw team!).

 

This time, we will look at the teams a bit more efficiently:

 

	Horned Harassers	[OCC] Deathbringers	Blackstar Exes	Inevitable Titans	Jump All Stars
Claw	2	2	4	2	5
MB	6	5	4	6	7
PO	0	1	3	0	2
CL/MB	2	2	4	2	5
CL/MB/PO	0	1	3	0	2
Guard	4	6	3	5	4
Strong 11	39	39	36	38	43
Tackle	2	2	2	2	2
MB/Tackle	1	1	2	0	2
+ST	0	0	1	1	4
+AG	2	0	2	2	0
+MA	1	2	2	1	0
TV	2080	2050+X	2020	1950	2340

 

Things to note:

 

• "Strong 11" refers to the best total strength the team can field in an 11 player lineup.
• Blackstar Exes, Hudd's team, is a "Mino + Goats" variant, no warriors.
• [OCC] Deathbringers, Stahlburg's team, has two pending levels.

 

I'll be honest here, Jump All Stars (RTSD's Nurgle team) and Blackstar Exes (Hudd's team) scare me to no end. RTSD can basically waltz down the pitch without a care in the world, because with his high strength and the sheer number of killers, nobody can stop him. Hudd's team on the other hand is the most efficient killer team I have ever seen. Double redundancy on the killer position means three targets would need to be taken out before the "ClawPOMB" train of death stops. He can of course also score well with his two AG4 Goats, and he has the most ridiculous Minotaur I have ever seen: Blodge/SS/Claw/Guard... Fortunately no Tentacles on that monster, otherwise he alone would probably kill half of my team.

 

The remaining three Chaos teams are tame in comparison, only 1 ClawPOMB between them, 2 ClawMB each, a manageable amount of Tackle. Those are matchups that we can survive on a decent day, and even win the match on a good day.

 

I really hope that all of these Claw teams kill each other before we get to them. Or maybe RTSD just kills everyone else, and on the match day when we face him, he gets Nuffled like he never has before.

 

I'm dreaming, of course. This season is going to be either a slow, painful death, or a fast, painful death for the team. Let's enjoy it together!