1961

Definitely going to take a look at the card game. Wonder how it plays with four people?

1962

As LK pointed out, I’m doing my damnedest to represent Hobbits in a competitive format, having made it to the playoffs in the recent OWC with one Hobbit team and maintaining a respectable 3-1-2 record in the Orca-Cola Murder league with my other team.

+ST Hobbits are golden because with Dodge and Stunty that can walk into a cage and take a whack at the ball carrier. I used to have one myself until he got himself crippled. It’s a huge TV sink though and may not be worth the cost depending on the average TV of your opponents. +AG is the magic that makes a Hobbit team go from good to great - the amount that it increases the chance of making TDs is obscene.

All you’re really trying to do is get some +AG hobbits with Sure Feet (and Sprint), get some Block trees, and otherwise maintain a low TV so you can butcher them with inducements. I don’t hesitate to cut players that level and get normal skill-up rolls - generally I look at the next match and work out what I want to buy and what I need to cut to get the inducements I need.

1963

In a recent FOL game (some guy’s elves against my Undead) the opponent received and managed to kill one of his players on a failed block on turn 1. The player, Ballffyn, was resurrected as a zombie for my team. Turn 4, I score. Naturally, I put the new zombie on the LOS. Turn 5, he dies again but regenerates himself.

As the second half begins Ballffyn’s back on the LOS. A few turns later he’s injured again and gets -MA — but regeneration works again. On turn 16, I score. Ballffyn goes back on the LOS. He is hit but is fine. The zombie next to him dies.

Due to a bug the free zombies are offered to you as skeletons after the game. Now, usually I don’t keep them (I prefer the slower but more durable zombies) but Ballffyn, him I’m keeping. He already provided me with more entertainment than some whole teams. I haven’t played another match with that team yet but I’m quite looking forward to his continuing adventures.

In unrelated news, here’s a little something I wrote in chat when one of my Undead players died:

His unlithe form
In unlife born
Now lies dead
His blood — not red

1964

I’ve now played about 125 games in Forum Open League. I’ve only run across bashy killer teams around four times. They don’t seem to be much of a downer yet. Of course, most of my games have been around TV 1100 - TV 1400, where the killer builds aren’t strong. I also always matchmake with many teams at different TVs so I avoid big inducements in either direction.

I have found FOL a great environment for pickup play at any time of the day. Most of the time you get a game pretty fast and the coaches are of good quality and many are strong players. There is little complaining and next to no verbal abuse. I’ve had consistently good and challenging games with this bunch. Recommended!

1965

FOL just started Season 4 and there’s still plenty of room at the top of the ranking lists for accomplished teams. The standings are reset between seasons every few months and the season ends with a championship tournament for the 16 top teams who apply to it.

FOL also gets a bunch of team tickets to the official Focus-arranged World Cup if you wish to compete at the very top. All in all, FOL is the place to be. It’s so hip it connects directly to the head bone!

1966

How much do you guys take the possibility of the kick-off event Blitz! (1/12 chance) into account when you set up your players on the pitch when receiving? Do you always set up defensively to prevent backfield flooding or do you maybe ignore it and aggressively set up on or near the LOS? This is something I’m currently struggling with and it would be interesting to hear how you go about it.

1967

I always set up with the kickoff results in mind. If the ball is kicked short (beware kickers) then a blitz means you could have it stolen from you before you’ve even started your turn. If you’re talking risk vs reward the risk might be 1/12 but the consequences of allowing it to happen are potentially disastrous and the rewards for alternate setups tend to be marginal.

1968

Typically I setup with only passing regard to it, beyond not leaving any open paths or leaving anyone vulnerable to crowd surfing. I do this for several reasons:

  • The odds of a Blitz are low.
  • Setting up aggressively for opening blocks and penetration makes a big difference.
  • I’ve mostly been playing Dark Elves and Skaven, who recover from Blitzes relatively well, while benefiting from an explosive start.
  • It’s costly to do much more, as leaving even one player back leaves either a blitz-able gap or overly weak wings.

Sometimes I’ll adopt a full on defensive setup though, depending on who I’m facing and/or the score, perhaps columns or pyramids. This makes fielding deep kicks laborious, but opponents will at least have to dodge or leap to get by, and it tends to prevent a wholesale cage forming in your backfield under the ball. I suspect this is only really feasible for teams with relatively fast players and good ball handling skills though.

1969

The most important thing IMO is to try to cover the entire width of the pitch, forcing your opponent to roll dice if he wants to get into your backfield. You can’t prevent the blitz but you can hope for a failed roll. This also helps prevent caging in your backfield as it will ideally leave an opening just one square wide for him to squeeze his players through, eating up their movement allowance.

Once I’ve covered the width I’ll position my players for 2d blocks on the LOS and keep the rest one square back at minimum to prevent them from getting tied up by a Perfect Defence kick-off (also 1/12). Some team matchups prevent you from getting good blocks in on the LOS so there it’s usually best to just put up three linemen and hope they can dodge.

1970

Well, pretty much everyone covers the whole width if they have 11 players. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone do otherwise out of the closing in on 200 games I’ve played.

Merely covering the width of the pitch makes only a marginal difference anyway, as they’ll just 2d-blitz a hole through. If you leave players back to receive, then covering the whole width means the center is vulnerable, especially against the fast/agile teams you’re most worried about getting a Blitz. Starting players in position for scrimmage assists only exacerbates this.

I mean, this is typically how I run my offense too, and it’s better than not covering the width, but it provides only marginal Blitz protection against, say, Skaven or Wood Elves. To me it counts as essentially ignoring the blitz risk.

1971

When I’m really worried about a Blitz, I’ll setup something like this:


  ....|..XXX..|....
  ----|--OOO--|----
  -OO-|O-----O|-OO-
  ----|-O---O-|----
  ----|-------|----

  ....|..XXX..|....
  ----|--OOO--|----
  -O--|O-----O|--O-
  -O--|O-----O|--O-
  ----|-------|----

Where more normally I might setup more like this:


  ....|..XXX..|....
  ----|-OOOOO-|----
  -O-O|-------|O-O-
  ----|-------|----
  ----|-------|----

where the remaining two players are set back to receive, or perhaps just one if I’m not running a caging team.

1972

Blood Bowl Team Manager DID make it to GenCon… should I provide details here, create a new thread or what?

1973

I’d think the Boardgame thread would be good for that. I look forward to your notes on it.

1974

Thanks for the kickoff formation feedback, Melak and Jasper! Very helpful.