All about Dark Elves

[mattgslater]

With an agility team, I tend to prefer to put my Guard players in at OLB, protecting the cornerbacks, rather than on the line. This forces offenses to try to push up the middle, which is where mistakes happen, as the cage needs four sides instead of just three. Protecting the line is easier to do with Side Step and Dodge; as good as Guard is on the LOS, all-ST3 teams with 70k AV8 linos just don't have good odds of success on the d-line with or without it, and need to be able to give way without giving up the farm. If I had a third Guard player, I might put one at nose, but I'd be eager to get Block or Dodge for such a player just to keep him alive.

[AK_Dave]

Defensively, I prefer to put my "line" offset far to the left or right. Not smack in the middle. Three wide, centered on Guard, right up against the left or right widezone, with small wings flanking it and another threat block in the opposite widezone. This is with Kick.

[s031720]

Corrected spelling mistakes and started on a new section called tactics.


Decker
As for Guard, the fewer I can get away with while still beeing effective, the better. Because I feel that MB on blitzers will make a big diffrence.

Mattgslater
I WANT my opponents to go by the sideline. While its a good point that one more side to protect in the cage is a weakness to exploit, its also one more side to cut off for the defender to prevent them from sideway-forward moving. Crowdpushing the cage by the sideline is very effective, and will have long lasting effect on consecutive turns aswell.

Maybe what route to go depends on what skills youve got so far.

[tafta]

I've been reading your thoughts on DEs with great interest as I'm developing a DE tem as well.

You have quite alot of good advice, but I see you're suggesting putting Grab on a WE on a double, which would be interesting if it weren't for the fact that Frenzy & Grab is an illegal skill combo.

[AK_Dave]

tafta - good catch. SNAP!

Incidentally, I concur with MB on Blitzers and Guard on Linos in general BUT you need to look at what other ST skills your team has. I'd rather have 2 Guard and zero MB even if that meant Guard in a Blitzer or an Assassin or a Runner. I'd give serious weight to my first couple of Doubles rolls being Guard regardless of who rolls them. Excepting ONLY the Witch, for whom Juggernaut is such a no-brainer it is silly to consider anything else.

But that perspective is from someone who has habitual trouble rolling anything but a normal skill. In the last 20 rolls I've had 2 doubles, one AG, and one MA/AV. The doubles gave me a Guard Assassin, Jugs on a Witch as her 2nd skill, +AV on a Blitzer as his first roll, and MA/AV on a Lino as his first roll (which I ditched for Block, since I have trouble getting SPP on Linos, Block is better protection than AV9, and a Blitzer is a better TV value than a +MA Lino).

[stashman]

I'm trying out a Stand Firm lineman (with no other skills, 10 spps so Block will come soon) with two Side Step lineman on LOS. When, if I ever get Blodge on the Stand Firm guy it will be hard to put down LOS, or if they go down, opponent will not advance. I have two guard players and I think thats enough for now, becuse I don't wanna end up in a blocking scheme where I suddenly get outbashed. It's better to keep DE moving around than just bash to much.

I have a good record of 17 win, 3 draw and 11 loss. I have only lost 2 games in the last 16 matches, and both against a high developed wood elf team with a stinky MA10 oneturner. One in the league and I lost the final!!!

I hate wood elfs!!!

[AK_Dave]

Target the MA10 player for death. Crowdpush with a Witch. Blitz-stab with an Assassin. Take him down and beat him to death with your favorite fouler.

[mattgslater]

See, I agree about the fouling part, perhaps: if you have a big numerical advantage you can use a blank lino (or one with only fouling skills) to foul a key weapon. But otherwise, I think the real way to screw up a one-turner is to pound the opponent in general into submission, so he doesn't have enough key players to make it work. Take out the Thrower with SH and Accurate, and you've reduced the odds of giving up a turn-8 1TS, with no re-rolls. Take out three linemen and the opponent will almost always have to put key guys on the line. Heck, take just one or two out, and the opponent needs to put those critical offensive skill positions in on defense. Take two more, and he needs to expose them.

Besides, a 1T score doesn't work (or at least becomes unreliable) if you can't break a hole. That's the real defense vs. 1TS: positioning skills.

[s031720]

Added a part about managing the elven curse.

Tafta:
Thank you, I deleted that part. Tell me if there is anything else you didnt agree with or found to be wrong.

Dave:
Wouldnt go Guard on my Assassins. Then id rather have no assassins and two more linemen. The only way, in my mind, to make assassins worth their TV is the vain hope of a multiple block. Atleast if I plan to use them as assassins. Maybe guard on the suggested shadow-assassin I describe in the text. Not sure how I like that.

Yeah, tell me about it Statistically 1 out of 6 skillrolls should be a double, 1 in 18 a statincrease, but in reality it feels much less. But im quite happy with my skillchoices, doubles are a nice bonus, but it also complicates things


Stashman
Nice Thats a very diffrent skillchoice on a double. Have you found it to work well for you? How do you use it best?

Personally I dont see myself ever getting standfirm on my DE-team, I dont want my players do stay on the LOS or in contact with the opponent most of the time. But if I already had Guard on a lineman/blitzer and got one more double, then I might consider it. Block, Guard, SF, Dodge would be a very nice combination of skills to get some leverage in bashing-battles.

Yeah, stab works well against AV 7. If you manage that 41% chance on stab, its an automatic injuri. That might many times be your best odds to get a 1turn scorer down, especially if hes a blodger. Once he's down, tie him up and keep him down until he stops moving..

mattglaster

Sounds like good advice. Ive planned to write up something about DE defence, mainly about breaking cages, but 1t scorers might deserve a special mention aswell.

[AK_Dave]

Wouldnt go Guard on my Assassins.

If its the ONLY guy on your team in 18 rolls to get a Double? Not me. I give him Guard. Its good for the team. Multiple Block w/ Stab doesn't generate SPP, but Guard helps other players generate SPP.

I take Guard when I can take Guard. Dark Elves get it only on doubles. Maybe if you're really lucky, or you fire/rehire players when they don't get the rolls you want, you can afford to be picky about who gets Guard.

[Storch]

Sorry, have to side with the majority here.

An assassin is a distraction. If I roll doubles, an assassin with multiple block becomes a tremendous distraction, making him that much more suited for his role.

Giving him Guard, in my eyes, is equivalent to cutting him as he will end up dead soon enough.

[AK_Dave]

Giving him Guard, in my eyes, is equivalent to cutting him as he will end up dead soon enough.

He's targetted for death either way. He's going to be pounded into the turf every chance they can get.

[mattgslater]

Unless you're worried about Amazons, don't bother with Assassins. 2 Witches, 4 Blitzers, 2 Runners and 6 linos is my optimal roster. And I like Shadowing... on MA7+.

[s031720]

Nah, I dont agree. I know many coaches dont find Assassins to carry their TV, but I think thats a bit exaggerated. If you are the least bit ambitious, youll find that the biggest threat in any league are the other agility teams. They are the hardest to beat. What do they all have in common?

1. Majority AV 7
2. Heavily reliant on specific, SPP-hogging players, like that 1 turn scorer, blodger leap ST 4, Acurate, Pass, Strongarm überpassar or NoS superreciever.

Get them out, and you will hamper their game tremendeously.

Heres an attempt on an assassin good VS agility teams:

"Shadow Assassin: Stab, Shadowing + Diving Tackle, Tackle, Pass Block, Dodge,

Doubles: I think id go with Multiple Block here as well. The Shadow Assassin might actually make a better stabber than the Stab Assassin vs agility teams. "

If you consider using them mainly against AV 7 teams, this is a great setup. Shadowing with DT and T is a very useful combination against most of those teams. Not taking Stab into account.

With stab you make an injury pretty much everytime you do a multiple block, or every other if you dont have that skill. Thats great for taking out keyplayers, especially if you complement that with a foul. (not sure if I will go that particular route though, I kinda like to keep my players on the pitch. With bribes, certainly.).

Youve got a real good shot at getting them down, and when down, they are very vunerable.


Im not sure this is super. But im gonna try this out thouroughly before I blow the whistle on Assassins. I like the fluff of an assassin on the pitch, and I hope their is a way to make them carry their weight. Ill let you know what I find.

[flash]

Very Nice Advices here.
I play DE in a league for about 40 Games now and a 24/3/12 stat, being defeated only once of the last 10 games. They're very well developed now - dominating the league.
Though I found very good advices here. I Agree the Blitzer are the core of the team, but the Witches are also very important for me. I threw my first double on a witch a few games ago, and took mighty blow without really thinking about other possibilities. Well - after reading the advices - I better do otherwise. Jug is indeed a no-brainer. The only reason I dont think about it is surely the fact I play LRB4 on FUMBBL. Next double will surely be Jug!

I also have an assassin in my team and I wont miss him. Sure, hes only really important against low av teams, but he won me 3 Games already, beating the ball out of that ST4 Blodge Sure Hands Ghoul. I started to develope him as as foul specialist, giving him sneaky git, but that was a bad decision, because he gets SPP very slowely. I Think the next assassin will get Block as first skill - waiting for Mutli Block on a double. Anyone already thought about hiring 2 Assassins in a team?