Amazons vs. Undead

[gallowin]

In two weeks my Amazons face the Undead. By that time his roster will be:
2 Mummies
4 Ghouls
4 Wights
2 Skeletons
4 Zombies

Any suggestions on how my 4 Blitzers, 2 Catchers, Thrower & linewomen should play? This will be game six for our new teams.

[CplSaint]

The only advice I can offer you is based on my Skaven playbook. While the two teams aren't THAT similar, they both rely on manouvreability against the rotting hordes.

Some points:
When kicking, set up the bare minimum three lineswomen on the line of scrimmage. Against Mummies and Wights, any of your players are likely to go down (in a bad way ), so it's best to keep the blitzers out wide to drive forward. They'll have the best chance at keeping your catchers safe. Drive two blitzers and a catcher up one wing, and a lone catcher up the other. With his extremely slow linesmen, he'll be forced to drive position players (probably wights) to deal with these two threats. The lone catcher should act as a backup for the main drive.

If you can break through with the main drive, pull up an extra lineswoman or blitzer to keep the line of scrimmage secure and use the two guards to pound any threats to your main catcher. Always, always, always have AT LEAST two players in deep defence. Throwers are your best bet here, and if you have a spare blitzers, she should lurk to take out wights and ghouls that get in deep.

With four wights and four ghouls, the opposing coach has some serious speed for an undead team. You'll need to be alert for a breakthrough, so ensure that most of your team stays in your half. If your line of scrimmage is pushed back, stay one square away so he has to waste his blitz to engage you with mummies.

When receiving, try a standard pocket manouvre - get the ball, get the catchers forward and create a loose box. Draw in the mummies and wights and then pop the ball forward or drop back and send it out wide to a blitzer to get it upfield.

Offensive Setups:
1) Early Drive
xxxx!xxLLLxx!xxxx (Line of scrimmage)
xxBx!Bxxxxxx!xLxx
xBxx!CxxxxTx!xxCx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxBxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
Summary: Drive forward on the left and form loose pocket around catcher with blitzers. Lineswoman on right moves forward to either guard right catcher or assist in centre. Thrower retrieves ball and drives up centre, screened by scrimmage three, back blitzer and lineswoman on right. This oughtta keep her safe from ghouls and wights. Chuck the ball way upfield to either catcher and score. If you lose the ball, pull back two blitzers on right, push the scrimmage lineswomen forward to tie up opposing blockers. Pull back blitzer at rear and thrower to original position. Lineswoman on right acts as 'floater', lending assists where necessary. This oughtta draw the undead down the right, where you can hold them up with the lineswoman, blitzer and thrower while the falling back blitzers pounce on ball carrier.
Useful for scoring quick TDs - if you take more than three or four turns, pull the line back and strengthen up; forget the quick TD and concentrate on defence. Keep the Catchers forward to keep 'em guessing and make the most of mistake from his low AG players.

2) Counter-strike
xxxx!xxLLLxx!xxxx(Line of Scrimmage)
xBxC!BxxxxxB!CxBx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!TxxxxxT!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx

Summary: Simple 3-5-2 organisation that will hopefully split the offensive. Dodge ought to keep you pretty safe - remember to pull blitzers away from wide zones once you see where the undead are going. Once they commit, push catchers forward and keep 'em separate to further divide the opposition. If they've overcommitted in the centre, all four blitzers can put a world of hurt on the scrimmage line while the throwers watch for ghouls and wights diving back... If the undead try a box, push throwers forward to assist and pull back the two widest blitzers for deep defence. Pick the coffin apart slowly, don't go for the ball first turn - just put down tackle zones and stay loose - slow down the box to a crawl so he's forced to make a break, when your defensive blitzers can make their presence known.

9 Player Emergency kick (10th and 11th players in round and square brackets respectively)
xxxx! xx LLL xx !xxxx
xxLx!x(1)xxxx(2)x!xLxx
xLxx! xx xBx xx !xxLx
xxxx! xx xxx xx !xxxx
xxxx! xx xTx xx !xxxx
xxxx! xx xxx xx !xxxx
xxxx! xx xxx xx !xxxx
Summary: Assuming you've lost a lot of players, keep the form loose and wide - you CAN still out-manouvre those rotting douche-bags! Keep him making the blocks, and get the blitzer up alone. She's got the best chance of staying up alone, and she ought to be able to catch and score alone. Keep the wights tied up if you're in this situation, as they'll give you the most grief.

Defensive Setups: (In addition to basic 3-4-4)
1) Scare tactics

xxBx!xxBBBxx!xxxx
xxxx!Lxxxxxx!xLLx
xxxx!CxxxxxL!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxTxxTx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx

Summary: Basic Mummies haven't got block - Amazon blitzers stand a good chance of staying up against them, which'll put the wind up most undead players. If you can get them down, even better. If he puts wights on the line of scrimmage, great! You've still got a better than even chance of getting them down thanks to the fact you have dodge. Once down, use the left lineswoman to foul and keep the rotting beasties in the ground. Even better, wights on the line means that the hugely expensive and scary mummies will be left ponderously trying to get to grips with your players. Stay away - preferably within blitz distance so he can waste his blitz, and you can exert tackle zones. Again, ghouls will offer you problems, but you ought to be able to keep 'em down. The unmarked corridor on the extreme left wide zone may cause you problems, but 11 players with dodge and two throwers back ought to let you punish anything that pops up here! The idea here is to scare the undead coach by refusing to go down and giving as good as you get. If you case casualties, keep going! If you start taking them, drop back and drive for goal, as this tactic has failed, so you need to quickly score a TD and force a new kick.

2) Fooler!

xBBx!xxLLLxx!xxxx
xxxx!xLxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxLx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!TxxBxxx!xBLx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx
xxxx!xxxxxxx!xxxx

Summary: This setup aims to draw the faster elements of the undead to the right into the apparant weak spot. If this succeeds, tie them up with the widezone blitzer and linewoman, and dodge the left wide blitzers away from the slow remnants of the undead team. Keep the second row lineswoman handy in case the undead break left. The centre blitzer can help out the right wide team or stay deep. The thrower should recover the ball and push it forward to the second row linewomen, who should be able to get forward on the right with the faster undead tied up in your deep right.

If the undead don't fall for it, hold them with the left blitzers (throw in teh linewomen to support if necessary) while the rest of your squad move forward. Keep the undead advance slow, and keep one blitzer back in case someone slips through the net.

Hope that helps! Any questions, just post 'em up here and I'll do my best to answer them.

[Nermal]

my advice would be shorter, play to your strengths

keep away from his strong players, use your speed and your dodge skill

[DoubleSkulls]

If he doesn't have any tackle I'd be tempted to load the front line with Block/Dodge players when kicking. That way you minimise the odds of him really hurting you with the mummies.

Other than that try to block/blitz the Ghouls with players who have Block/Tackle or failing that Block. You probably won't win the numbers game but if you can remove his fast players you allow yourself a chance to spread the game more and exploit the slow mummies and zombies.

Ian