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[Sinistar]

I've just realized something - I didn't even play my week 5 match with monk12 in main league. 

Don't know how, but I guess we both managed to forget somehow. There goes potential SPPs, damn.

[i2amroy]

-snip-

Wait. Are you saying that your Throw Ra managed to pick up not 1, not 2, but 3 balls? Including one in a tackle zone?!? What sort of drugs do you give your team?!?

[Aslandus]

-snip-

Wait. Are you saying that your Throw Ra managed to pick up not 1, not 2, but 3 balls? Including one in a tackle zone?!? What sort of drugs do you give your team?!?

well, it's Wobbegong's Throw Ra, but same difference. I assume he must've put glue on its hands before the match.

[i2amroy]

So I'd like to ask you guys all a very serious question; how the heck do you guys fight skaven teams? AFAIK I've never won a game against them, with most games being at least a 2 point win for the skaven, and at absolute best I can manage to barely tie up the game in the last turns. Additionally I often end up losing at least one player either semi-permanently or permanently to injuries in games against them. I mean they're way faster than any other team, and their AGI is high enough that the first two turns of any skaven drive tend to go like this:
1) Gutter runners run around my team and get into scoring position while another GR picks up the ball.
2) I blitz one GR down and double or triple mark up the rest.
3) The GR with the ball runs down and does a handoff to the thrower. One of the marked GR's totally ignores the fact that he needs to dodge 4 times to get away, and runs into the endzone. The thrower throws the ball and a TD is scored.

Or alternatively a gutter runner just runs past my guys and it's impossible to even get close enough to put a tackle zone on them, let alone actually hit them. And maybe it's just me being unlucky, but even when I do hit them it never seems to ever break armor, or barring that actually hurt people. I might be knocking skavens left and right (like I did with my Khorne Daemons team), but they all just get knocked over to stand right back up unhurt, and the problem only gets worse as they get a few skills. Meanwhile their CPOMB blitzers are busy killing and removing my guys from the field, and there's absolutely nothing I can do against that.

I mean is the answer here "play dwarves, or get incredibly lucky"? Because honestly this is getting ridiculous.

Cript's Korinch Crew 3 - 1 Vorpal Vampires

[SpottedWobbegong]

I really don't have multiplayer experience, but couldn't you use the 2-1 grind?
I think you were unlucky with the injuries, because skaven have low armor. And you could foul the gutter runners to get them off the pitch.

[Aslandus]

Also, mighty blow and tackle will give you better odds at knocking over the GRs, though marking the thrower would not be amiss if that specific play is your downfall...

[monk12]

Also, mighty blow and tackle will give you better odds at knocking over the GRs, though marking the thrower would not be amiss if that specific play is your downfall...

Tackle and Mighty Blow are your best friends against Skaven.

Pretend you're playing Elves, but remember that they only have 4 elf-like players on their team. A Skaven coach can't afford to give up too many blitzes on their Gutter Runner, especially if you can threaten with Tackle/MB/Frenzy. If your opponent is developed at all they'll also probably have a Wrestle/Strip Ball guy, so your own team wants/needs a Sure Hands ballcarrier to counter that.

In general, assume they're going to score on their possession. That's fine, and quite frankly you want them to feel the need to score quick so you can answer with your own TD and then hold the ball your entire drive to win 2-1. When you set up to defend, make sure you have players in the wide zones and a safety (or two if you're slow) back deep. The worst thing you can do on D against Skaven is to overcommit somewhere and let them run an entire cage past your line. Keep spread out enough that any hero Runners will be setting themselves up for a blitz, ideally from that player hunter type. However, don't give up too many free blocks! It's tempting to see your own players as tougher and stronger than those AV7 rats and throw them into melee at every opportunity, but your best chance to get quality hits on the Gutter Runners is to win a battle of attrition with their linemen, and if you're spending your turn standing up your men or watching them hit the CAS box on an unlucky block you won't be enjoying a numbers advantage any time soon.

tl;dr On Defense keep the Skaven team in front of you, and try to make them to force a cage through you.

On offense guard the ball with your life; Runners are fast and love undefended cages, so keep some players back deep to cage immediately and to guard against a Blitz event. Pick one point in the Skaven line and pile in with your cage, leading with +ST/Guard/Tackle/MB, guys that are hard to beat back. Don't surrender the flanks or Skaven will get around you, tie down your cage corners, and eventually get their shot at the ballcarrier. Take your entire turn to score, never give the Skaven the ball back unless you're desperate (or have a massive numbers advantage and feel greedy.)

And don't feel bad about losing to a top tier team when playing as Vampires; that's a straight up bad matchup given the relative lack of core skills and speed.

[Kanil]

And don't feel bad about losing to a top tier team when playing as Vampires; that's a straight up bad matchup given the relative lack of core skills and speed.

I'd like to emphasize this. Vampires are a tier two team, like ogres, and goblins. They have the potential to develop into a tier one team, but at the start, they aren't meant to be easy.

They suck, y'know?

[i2amroy]

Elfy game between me and Kanil turns out for a very non-elfy 1-1 draw. Sadly my treeman was too strong for his own good, and in the first of what would be two 3-die blocks to set up a OTTD for me to win he decided it would be better to just smash the guy on the ground into a pulp instead. Despite the low armors all around and much smashing going on only 1 serious injury occured, knocking Navi out of my game with the Sven's due to a double MNG with the apothecary (I think she was out last time I played THE_SLAYA too ).

Don't surrender the flanks or Skaven will get around you, tie down your cage corners, and eventually get their shot at the ballcarrier.

This is probably the biggest mistake that I can see that I'm making so far, I generally pull the majority of my guys back to help force the cage through, and that could certainly be making a difference in my ability to pull off the 2-1 grind.

that's a straight up bad matchup given the relative lack of core skills and speed.

And considering the team's I've been playing this probably plays into it a fair bit as well. Nurgle, vampire, ogre, khorne daemons, none of them really start with any skills, meaning when I'm finally setting up my first tackle-hunter the GR's are already all level 4 with Sidestep, block, dodge, and god knows what else.

[Aslandus]

TOO SPOOKY 1-2 Monk's Mountebanks

WHOO! FIRST TD OF THE SEASON! THINGS ARE STARTING TO LOOK UP FOR THE SPOOKY TEAM! The halfling master chef really helped out this match, Monk12 was playing without any team rerolls for the entire game. Early on, the Skaven almost got an early TD when they got the kickoff event that lets the "defense" move first, but a fireball from the wizard took out one of the Gutter runners immediately. My players managed to KO two of the others before getting the ball and pushing for the end zone. They scored and the ball was kicked to the Skaven... Then the Skaven punched a hole in the middle of my defensive line and rushed the ball through. They managed to score before the end of the first half.

The second half was mostly my side trying to hold the line while the Skaven push against it, eventually they coaxed me into opening a weak spot and slipped through for another TD. Then my players bashed three linemen for two turns while my ghouls played catch with the ball.

Notable injuries: none, three or four badly hurts but nothing permanent

[THE_SLAYA]

Slaya's SVENs 2-0 The Jolly Waaaaagh!abonds

This was the most bloodless game I've played possibly ever. Not a single casualty was inflicted on either team, the orcs did take about 8 KO's and the SVENs had a KO. The SVENs managed to use their mobility/agility advantage to defeat the orcs this game, running around the cage and picking off the blitzers who only had 3 strength while tying up the black orcs and trolls with some sacrificial linemen. After taking out the weaker players, the SVENs managed to break the cage and secure the ball for a defensive TD. The second half went about the same after the first two turns where SVEN the Magnificent failed to pick the ball up four consecutive times. It was a good game that could have gone either way with a few different dice rolls. GGWP Sinistar!

PS. SVEN the Yhetee has now played 16 games and has not earned a single SPP. I'm debating firing him and buying a new one to see if he can become more useful, xD

With that, the Main League has advanced!!
Week Seven Match-ups are:
monk12 - Monk's Mountebanks vs Kanil - Shimmering Dragons
Sinistar - The Jolly Waaaaagh!abonds vs Aslandus - TOO SPOOKY
i2amroy - Fightin Fairies vs THE_SLAYA - SLAYA'S SVENS

The league will advance next Monday (unless my internet is awful while in Cali in which case it will advance when I get back on Thursday-ish). Let me know if there are any scheduling difficulties. Also, If you schedule a match on the day the league is set to advance, please let me know, it makes my life easier, :p

[THE_SLAYA]

The Training League has advanced!

Week Six Match-ups are:
Aslandus - We move for nobody vs MrRoboto75 - Mr Bone's Wild Team
monk12 - Monk's Mjolner Makers vs Kansa - The Sickly Soldiers
SpottedWobbegong - Sandstorm Riders vs i2amroy - Vorpal Vampires
Kanil - Broad Street Broads vs Sinistar - Da Grin Party
THE_SLAYA - SLAYA'S STRÖNGHAMMERS vs Criptfeind - Cript's Korinch Crew

I'll be advancing this league with the main league, let me know if there are any issues.

[MrRoboto75]

Mr Bones Wild Team 2 - 1 Sickly Soldiers

The game open with team Nurgle receiving the ball, and scoring a TD rather early.  They were able to form a cage and push, and I didn't come up with a good answer to it fast enough.

One of my ghouls, Lumpy, had been killed in the drive.  I place the blame on myself.  Ghouls are useful for their speed and agility, what the rest of the team lacks, but they also lack regen, armor, or thick skull the others have.  I had him a bit overextended, and payed for it.

On my drives, I was able to sneak scores in, if only by some luck.  Once I either sneaked past or smashed through the front line, I was mostly good for a TD.  In the back was only the pestigor and some loose rotters to deal with.  The first time, my other ghoul was able to dodge his way out of the pestigor, and score just as the first half ended.

The second half opens with the bones receiving.  Skeletons, with mummy support, were able to barely open a hole through the center.  The drive almost ended as the ball carrying wight was stopped just short of the end zone by the pestigor and two rotters.  But, they weren't able to pick up the ball, and the mummies were making their way there.  With some mummy muscle, the bones were able to get the ball those extra two yards to score a second time.

When the Nurgle team recieved the ball again, there were only two more turns to go, and the game stopped before they could advance much further than the line of scrimmage.

With each game, I learn a little bit more.  Here I learned the value of ghouls by not having them.  One died early, and the other was KO'd early in the second drive.  Their speed is indispensable in either handling the ball, or being able to assist that one extra strength where you need it, or tying up runners that make it to the back line.

[THE_SLAYA]

SLAYA's SVENs 3-1 Fightin' Fairies

This game went about as expected, The SVENS used their superior strength to muscle the elves away from the ball and hurt some elves (only one MNG and a few BH's) This let the Norse pick up a player advantage after the first few drives and capitalize on it in the second half to put the game away with their third TD.

The Main Takeaways from this game

1. SVEN (the runner but not the magnificent) scored the first TD and leveled up. He then got +STR with said level up and is now my fifth 4STR player (not including my yhetee who has 5 STR)

2. I rolled a +MV on my +STR tackle berserker but decided the move wasn't really worth it and got MB instead.

3. THE YHETEE FINALLY HAS SOME SPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 17 games of nothing but KO's SVEN the Yhetee managed to Badly hurt the treeman (apothecaried to dead but Otherplayers chose the BH like a pansy)

[Aslandus]

The Jolly Waaaaagh!abonds 0-1 TOO SPOOKY

Team SPOOKY gets its first win of the season, and it was a close one. The first half the orcs nearly scored, but due to bad luck and hesitation, lost the ball when they tried to pass at the last minute. The second half, the orcs got an early lead with the kickoff event letting them move first, but the ghouls were too fast and scampered around the orc players before they could get them, running it in for a score. After that the Waaaagh!abonds sort of gave up and just started ending all their turns immediately.

Notable injuries: only one permanent injury and it got regenerated, though a zombie and an orc or two got badly hurt so there may be upgrades in store for future matches.