Looking for good Nurgle resources/advice

[number6]

So in my Game #4 (as previous post, vs. Skaven) I tried to work the BoN into position to hold down a Gutter Runner. Suffice it to say, I'm dubious about this tactic unless your opponent does not see it coming.
My opponent was quite skilled at tying up the BoN and leaving no real room to get to his ball carrier with the fella. It's almost like he read this thread or sumthing, or has played against a Nurgle team who used this tactic.

I did however find it much easier, and gained more advantage when I tied up 2 or 3 linemen. Knowing he could not escape easily, he began tossing an extra lineman or a Blitzer in there to gain an assist for a 2-dice block in hopes of freeing the linemen up. It that case it isn't tough to commit an extra Rotter to the mix to force him into getting physical, which worked much better for myself. It certainly meant that he didn't have as many casual linemen to stymy my Warriors or lend assists here and there, so my Warriors were better able to position for Blocks and Disturbing Presence.

In the end he still outmaneuvered my team, but the 2nd half went a helluva lot better than the 1st when I changed my tactics (part of the being BoN usage).
1st half it was 1-0 for Skaven
2nd half was 1-1
2-1 loss is ok, but a tie woulda been better He did suffer x3 SI though, so I won a moral victory

[Ullis]

I've been thinking about the starting rosters. With Nurgle especially the choice between 2 and 3 rerolls has a big impact on how many warriors you can fit it. One of the rosters touted as effective here has been:

1 BoN
4 Warriors
1 Pestigor
5 Rotters
2 RR

I'm just wondering how you can manage the first games with only 2 rerolls? What do you generally spend them on?

I'll take a specific scenario:

At the start of the match you're receiving. The opponent lines up 3 linos on the los and will kick into the center. You have the warriors and BoN on the line, rotters on the wings to take into account a possible Blitz! and the pestigor in the middle to pick up the ball. The opponent kicks and you're off (say it's Changing Weather on the kick off table). The ball lands a few squares from the los. What do you do first? Do you try to pick up the ball or (try to) knock down the los linos? What if you roll double skulls on the first, second or third block? What if you go to pick up the ball first and roll a 2?

And finally, what do you buy next for that roster? A third reroll or a pestigor?

[Carnis]

Go with 3 rerolls. You don't need to give up more than 1 warrior for it and it's well worth it.. In that situation, I'd cage the ball (not picking it up), then block the LOSers. Then cover the area around the ball. Then try to pick it up (probably not using a RR, even if I fail).

[Carnis]

Hey, it's likely that I'm facing this orc team in the coming playoffs at latest in the finals:

4x BOB, 3 with Block
4x Blitzer, MB/PO/JU x2, MB/PO/Guard, Tackle/Diving tackle/Guard
2x Thrower, Block/Kick, Block/leader
Troll, Guard
3x RR, apoth, value 1580k

I'm playing with nurgle:

Beast, Block/Guard
4x NW, Block/Guard, Block/Guard*, Block, MB
4x Pest, Block/Dodge/Surehands, MB/Tackle, MB*, Block/Guard
5x Rott, Wrestle*, Wrestle/Dirty Player, Dirty Player
3x RR, value 1780k

* = can still change skill

He gets 200k inducements, with which he will most certainly buy a wizard + a babe. Do I retaliate & buy myself a bribe with petty cash (I got 500k in treasury). Do I buy something else? Given that he gains equally in inducements if I do.

His strategy will completely rely on bashing with his MB/PO/JU blitzers, his only real weakness is he fields only 11 players, while I have plenty of spares so fouling is my advantage by a long margin. He may still buy players before the play-offs and forfeit the inducements for reserves.

And what will be my starting lineup in defence? I think there's 3 options:
1) 2-3 Rotters on the los, with possibly the beast acting as a "troll" (S5+Block+FA+Regen+AV9).
2) 2 NWs + the beast (tank with AV9 & FA & Block).
3) 4 NWs + the beast (challenge LOS).

Be= Beast, block/guard
Ng= NW with guard
Bg= blitzer with guard
Tg= troll with guard
Bb= orc blitzer
Bo= BOB, with block

1) The LOS is easily broken, and he gets to MB/PO all my players which means I probably start one man down. However, all the crucial NWs & Pests are available:

Code: Select all

-- -- -- --|-- Bb Bg Tg Bg Bb --|-- -- -- --
-- -- -- --|-- -- Rr Be Rr -- --|-- -- -- --
-- -- Nw --|-- Ng -- -- -- Ng --|-- Nw -- --
-- Pe -- --|Pe -- -- -- -- -- Pe|-- -- Pe --
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --

2) He has 3 guard, he can cornerblock with MB/PO and still get a fair chance of removing players, but I get FA + AV9 + Block:

Code: Select all

-- -- -- --|-- Bb Bg Tg Bg Bb --|-- -- -- --
-- -- -- --|-- -- Nw Be Nw -- --|-- -- -- --
-- -- Ng --|-- Ro -- -- -- Ro --|-- Ng -- --
-- Pe -- --|Pe -- -- -- -- -- Pe|-- -- Pe --
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --

3) He has 3 guard, he can cornerblock, but will initially have to use BOBs who don't have MB/PO. He can still MB/PO block the 3 middle-fielders, if all his 5 FA checks pass. He may have to block with his blockless/loner troll to hit my beast, though:

Code: Select all

-- -- -- --|Bo Bb Bg Tg Bg Bb Bo|-- -- -- --
-- -- -- --|-- Nw Ng Be Ng Nw --|-- -- -- --
-- -- -- Pe|-- Ro -- -- -- Ro --|Pe -- -- --
-- -- Pe --|-- -- -- -- -- -- --|-- Pe -- --
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --

[rvlvr]

Go with 3 rerolls. You don't need to give up more than 1 warrior for it and it's well worth it.. In that situation, I'd cage the ball (not picking it up), then block the LOSers. Then cover the area around the ball. Then try to pick it up (probably not using a RR, even if I fail).

I went with 2 Warriors, 3 Pestigors, 6 Rotters and 4 rerolls.

Can't say that I have done that well, but I now have the Beast and keep finding myself with one unused reroll at the end of each half every on in a while. I like the extra safety the rerolls provide me, but, other than that, I do miss the Warriors.

After 6 games I've amassed: 0 official wins (1 unofficial), 4 losses and 2 ties. Most of the times I've lost have been because I've been too many players down during the 2nd half and haven't been able to contain anyone. Drunk, too.

2 Rotters have Block (sure to die, am not planning on them getting any further)
1 Pestigor w/ Dodge (next up Extra Arms, most likely)
1 Pestigor w/ Block (let's see what happens w/ this one)
1 Pestigor w/ Block and Mighty Blow (Tackle to follow, I think)

The 2 Warriors are about to get their first skill, but I don't know how long it will take them.

2 Rotters have died on me, but no other "long-term injuries", thankfully.

[Smeborg]

Ullis and Carnis - I initially tried (several times) starting league rosters with 3 re-rolls. I found the team performed quite poorly compared to the 2 re-roll roster I subsequently tried. The reasons are, I think, because you need to start with:

Max ST
Max AV
Max D-Pres
Max F-App

It is these attributes (combined) that win you games and protect the team as a whole.

2 re-rolls is, of course, never enough, but that just seems to be part of the Nurgle starting roster that you have to learn to live with. With a starting team, I try not to be greedy with blocks (I minimise, rather than maximise, the number of blocks I take, especially on the first turn or two of offense). Also, movement and deployment need to be conservative, as you may well not have a re-roll available when it comes to picking up the ball.

I would say, off the top of my head, that my early re-roll usage is evenly split between failed blocks, failed ball handling, failed dodges and failed GFIs.

In tournaments, I always take 2 re-rolls. I suggest the player roster is just too weak to compete if you take 3.

[number6]

Drunk, too.

Yeah, that might be affecting your game a little

4 rerolls seems like a lot.
I've had 1 game (1 half of said game) where i burned through 3 and felt I coulda used another. Otherwise 2 works fine, as long as I'm focused on not rolling dice, and instead get the moving outta the way 1st, and THEN begin rolling. Although when I'm drunk, that all flies out the window

[mattgslater]

After three games, I'm finding that 2 TRRs is just not enough, but I'm glad I took that route. I've got 80k in the bank, and I'm seriously considering saving up for a third TRR rather than hiring my third Pestigor (I hired one already, and started with one). I've started just playing bigger teams so I get the Extra Training. Three TRRs seems about right, but I agree with Smeborg about the relative importance of all that ST4/FA/DP/Regen.

On the ground, DP/FA has flopped. But Decay hasn't come into play: it's very easy to intimidate opponents out of throwing Blocks. The powerful Skaven team I played took three early casualties, including the Rat Ogre and a Storm-Vermin, and found itself with 7-8 on the pitch most of the time, making it hard for him to protect all three GRs against the Beast.

Pestigors are better than Rotters, but not by enough that you should sack Warriors or the Beast or TRRs for Pestigors. It's better to get them out of winnings, though the economics of the team suggest starting with one, so the first Pestigor is an exception of sorts.

This team really needs to do some damage to be effective. Against bash, it's got to be damage to ball-carriers; against speed, it just means numbers. But I can already tell that Nurgle get great mileage out of getting man-up.

[rvlvr]

After three games, I'm finding that 2 TRRs is just not enough, but I'm glad I took that route. I've got 80k in the bank, and I'm seriously considering saving up for a third TRR rather than hiring my third Pestigor (I hired one already, and started with one). I've started just playing bigger teams so I get the Extra Training. Three TRRs seems about right, but I agree with Smeborg about the relative importance of all that ST4/FA/DP/Regen.

Hindsight is, like they say, 20/20, but I, too, would start this way the next time around. Might not get as banged-up and would have more of that special Nurgle sauce.

[Craigtw]

Ullis and Carnis - I initially tried (several times) starting league rosters with 3 re-rolls. I found the team performed quite poorly compared to the 2 re-roll roster I subsequently tried. The reasons are, I think, because you need to start with:

Max ST
Max AV
Max D-Pres
Max F-App

It is these attributes (combined) that win you games and protect the team as a whole.

Totally agree. Stop getting into my brain Smeborg!

I also agree with what Matt says, in that the 2 RRs really are not enough for this team as they lack any ball handling or blocking skills, but I would still go this route because of all the reasons mentioned by Smeborg above. Giving up the 4th warrior is not a good idea IMO.

[Carnis]

I play in a long perpetual league with my nurgle. There the 3 RRs is a nobrainer. Losing 1 WAR for reliability is no biggie at all, whilst RRs give me SPPs and winnings gold. And a new War is only 110k, reroll 140k. You only ever need the first warr, after that you need money for pestigors.. But the benefit compared to rotters is very miniscule before you get them to their 2nd skill.

[mattgslater]

I play in a long perpetual league with my nurgle. There the 3 RRs is a nobrainer. Losing 1 WAR for reliability is no biggie at all, whilst RRs give me SPPs and winnings gold. And a new War is only 110k, reroll 140k. You only ever need the first warr, after that you need money for pestigors.. But the benefit compared to rotters is very miniscule before you get them to their 2nd skill.

Depends on the league format. If you play a fixed schedule, you're probably on to something. But if you're playing an open format, why not just try to challenge young-but-not-rookie teams for your first few games? I mean, who would turn down "Hey, buddy, wanna play my rookie team with no Block and no Sure Hands?" Heck, if you're a shark, people might only want to play your rookie Nurgle, as opposed to whatever else you may have. It takes five men to screen the width of the field: with four men, you chances of having a DP/FA guy out of position are exponentially higher.

[Smeborg]

Carnis - I typically play in either an open or a semi-fixed league of up to 1 year in length (say anywhere from 15-45 games). There is no pre-season, every result counts. So I have always sought to get results from the earliest games, and have refined my initial roster for this purpose.

[Craigtw]

I play in a long perpetual league with my nurgle. There the 3 RRs is a nobrainer. Losing 1 WAR for reliability is no biggie at all, whilst RRs give me SPPs and winnings gold. And a new War is only 110k, reroll 140k. You only ever need the first warr, after that you need money for pestigors.. But the benefit compared to rotters is very miniscule before you get them to their 2nd skill.

Have to disagree with just about everything that you say here.

1) the loss of a warrior is huge - the lack of Stength can lead to more 2D blocks for your opponent which can lead to more casualties.

2) the lack of DP can lead to more passing for your opponent which leads to losing (and less money for you)

3) Warriors are a huge benefit over rotters in so many ways.

4) Warriors tend to skill up slowly so I would rather have them on the team as early as possible to start earning SPPs

[Carnis]

1) the loss of a warrior is huge - the lack of Stength can lead to more 2D blocks for your opponent which can lead to more casualties.

2) the lack of DP can lead to more passing for your opponent which leads to losing (and less money for you)

3) Warriors are a huge benefit over rotters in so many ways.

4) Warriors tend to skill up slowly so I would rather have them on the team as early as possible to start earning SPPs

1) Compensated manyfold by having the 3rd RR in a block/SHfree team.
2) Irrelevant, more often than not (especially in the first 3 games, which is when you "lose" that warrior). Passing is so rare.
3) Yes. But I compared pestigors to rotters and not warriors to rotters.
4) True, but 3 games without warr #4 (and DP #5) is heartly world-ending.