Skaven coach looking for your input after a 9 year BB hiatus

[Tante Kaethe]

Hi there,

WARNING - longish intro !

After a 9 year hiatus from Blood Bowl - my last games were at the 2009 Bembel Bowl in Frankfurt (organized by my old BOTZ league) - I'm back in the game in a nice smaller league that popped up in my area (thanks GW for re-launching BB ). I'm also pleased to see that I still recognize some familiar names here in the forum .

I used to only play bashy Teams in the old league days (Undead, Orc, Amazons, Dwarves) - with some stunty teams in tourneys - and decided to do something (for me) crazy: starting my comeback with some squishy rats .

To cut a long story short(ish), my Skaven Team The Fast & Furrious is now 4-1-1 (with 14:6 TDs and 15:9 CAS) and a TV of 1.590.000.

The Team Looks as follows:

Blitzer +AG (7 SPP)
Blitzer +Tackle (7 SPP)
Gutter Runner +Double 4 (6 SPP)
Gutter Runner +Block +Horns (20 SPP)
Gutter Runner +Block +Side Step (16 SPP)
Gutter Runner +Two Heads (12 SPP)
Thrower +MA (6 SPP)
Linerat +Kick
Linerat +Double 6
Rat Ogre +Block (14 SPP)
3 Linerats no skills
3 Rerolls
5 Fan Factor
Apothecary
70.000 in the bank

I'd very much appreciate your advise on the GR and Linerat that have skilled up:
- Guard for the GR? Another one with Horns (I love it on the Blodge Horns GR . Something else?
- Is +ST really worth it for a fresh Linerat? Wouldn't Guard be better?

Thanks in advance for your Input

Tante Käthe

[CyberedElf]

I always play for the long term. I would take the +ST. If you know this team won't be around that long, other choices may be more TV efficient in the short term.

Horns are great on one player, but less valuable the more you have (ask Chaos). Two might still be fine. I might also consider Big Hands or Guard for the GR. Highly mobile Guard is amazing. Big Hands is more useful if you are often the underdog and still playing with the CRP wizard, otherwise ignore.

[Regash]

Ha, mal wieder ein BOTZer am Horizont aufgetaucht!
Habe zwar nie bei euch in der Liga mitgespielt, aber war, durch Kheldar, doch irgendwie "dabei"!

Welcome back!

[Tante Kaethe]

@Regash - danke, mein Lieber !

I always play for the long term. I would take the +ST. If you know this team won't be around that long, other choices may be more TV efficient in the short term.

Horns are great on one player, but less valuable the more you have (ask Chaos). Two might still be fine. I might also consider Big Hands or Guard for the GR. Highly mobile Guard is amazing. Big Hands is more useful if you are often the underdog and still playing with the CRP wizard, otherwise ignore.

Thanks, Guard for the Gutter Runner seems to be the pick then . We play BB2016, so no Wizards. Let's see how long he'll live, being in base-contact with the bad guys . I've been running my team most of the time with only 3 GR anyhow, so let's find out.

Still a little bit undecided on the +ST - Guard would also be great and of potential greater (short term) use for them team. The season isn't that long, but we can carry over teams to next season. But hey, a ST4 Linerat is cool . Tricky.

Cheers
Tante Käthe

[CyberedElf]

Make sure to rush the Guard GR spp until he gets Block.
In recent, related news, a reworked wizard is coming back. It will have the Zap ability instead of Lightning Bolt. It can pop ball loose on D6 >= player ST.
If you plan on redrafting and playing this team take the +ST (assuming normal redraft rules).

[mattgslater]

+ST on a linerat is okay; you can give him Wrestle and Tackle and make him a sweeper.

[Tante Kaethe]

+ST on a linerat is okay; you can give him Wrestle and Tackle and make him a sweeper.

Thanks Matt, I'll do that (if he survives long enough ).

Cheers
Tante Käthe

[Digger Goreman]

Yes, second edition rules... but switch to Underworld... ditch the elfie gr's... and respect yourself in the morning... Ag4 is the crutch of the frightened coach....

[Tante Kaethe]

Yes, second edition rules... but switch to Underworld... ditch the elfie gr's... and respect yourself in the morning... Ag4 is the crutch of the frightened coach....

You're right, MA9 and AG4 on the Gutter Runners feels a bit like cheating sometimes ... But then suddenly you're left with only 3 players on the pitch and I don't feel so bad anymore...

[Digger Goreman]

At least you're keeping it real...

Seriously, though, Underworld would only require a meager investment in gobbos and plays very differently (and interestingly). Really makes you think about positioning....

[mattgslater]

My Underworld are 8-0-0 in my TT league right now. They're more of a challenge than Skaven are, but you can pull it off.

[Tante Kaethe]

@Digger Goreman & Matt: Underworld look like a lot of fun , especially mutating Goblins !! Maybe in one of the next seasons I'll have a go with them, currently we already have an Underworld team in our small league and I'd like to keep the variety. But 8-0-0 is really impressive !

My Skaven just had their next game, a 5:0 win against rookie Nurgle , so they are 5-1-1 now. The Guard GR was one of they keys to success, so thanks a lot for the advice . Also Vin Weasel, the ST4 Linerat, did well.

I got one skill-up: a rookie Linerat got a single roll, so I'm looking at Wrestle for him. I also got solid 70k winnings.

What to do next with my 140k (thinking of expensive mistakes)? Buy a reroll or another Linerat? The team is currently 13 players strong + apothecary. The luxury problem I have is that of my 5 Linerats, 3 are skilled up (ST+1, Kick, Wrestle), so who will be on line-duty when kicking ? The 6th Linerat would mean that I still can put 3 unskilled sacrificial lambs on the line. But a 4th reroll would also be nice...

Cheers
Tante Käthe

[Digger Goreman]

Wrestle is good on the line... reasonable movement even when downed....

[mattgslater]

I like Wrestle on linerats. Good against Blodge, so if you have lots of it the enemy doesn't know where the blitz is coming from.

What's the inducement picture like? Are you using 2016 RAW (cash expenditures don't add to TV), or the "clarification" (Petty Cash)?

If Inducements don't add to TV, and if topping off as an underdog is a thing, stash that cash and be ready to spend a little next game or the game after to top off or fatten up. Expensive Mistakes doesn't really hurt until you go over 200k. Consider buying a linerat if the ∆TV on your next match indicates it, but don't buy another reroll yet.

If using the clarification, you should consider a reroll, especially if your TV is high for your league. That said, keeping TV down is good for Skaven because they get better mileage from inducements than most teams. Trim to stay under 300k by hiring and firing, and otherwise don't even look at your treasury: it's meaningless.

[mattgslater]

But 8-0-0 is really impressive !

I've been playing this game longer than all 9 of my league-mates put together. I've got about 2000 games under my belt, and only one of them has more than a few dozen, and that's just a couple hundred (and that guy is playing Ogres for some reason). I'm only not playing Halflings because they don't want to lose to Halflings. We had a long talk about what I'd play; they decided that they wanted a chance if the dice went off, but they didn't want me playing with both hands behind my back, cuz they didn't want to lose that way. So I suggested all-lino Humans, Underworld, or (rookie) Nurgle. They picked Underworld, and here we are.