Taking the/my game to the next level: To act(ion) or not?

[Digger Goreman]

They can't mess with me VUK! Had him on the foe list from the get-go....

[sann0638]

People actually use that?

[Digger Goreman]

Hey, Dig! Join FUMBBL. All your questions will be answered.

Hmmmmm, spend more time on a computerized version of BB and lose my wife, or keep my wife...

I might finally do it for the game reviews, though the how and why of things being done the way they are will be lacking.... What I really need is Jim, Bob and Snotgrub doing commentary and after game interviews with the coaches....

Better than all is the fleeting wisp of a hope that someone with the chops will open up and tell us why they don't take what for us would seem obvious actions....

Bien sur on the foe list... keeps the smell out of the air!

[mattgslater]

I'm in a weekly FUMBBL league aimed at North American coaches. Okay, I'm in two. And I play a couple Ranked games a week, when I have time, sometimes not. One such league, and a couple games a week, won't drive your wife away, esp if you play mostly when she's not around. You'd be stunned how much a difference a little more game-time makes in your game.

[plasmoid]

Scenario to consider from a recent game:

My team had been severely mauled (underworld), but I had managed to slink away with the ball for a potential 2-0 halfway score.

Need 2 GFIs to get my sole ball thief out of range of the sole potential blitzer.
Burn my reroll on the first GFI.
So what to do? Action or inaction?

I need a 2+, and if I fail then I am very likely to not score, as being prone puts my guy out of range of the EZ.
If I don't GFI, then the opposing lineman can get at me with a 4+ Dodge, 3+ Dodge, GFI, GFI, 1-dice block (no protective skills).

What would you have done?
Cheers
Martin

[squirrelfanatic]

Oh, that sounds fun. Given that you probably had to make the decision under time pressure I'd assume that if I had been in your shoes, I wouldn't have popped out the calculator to get the exact odds of the options. So gut feeling then. I think I'd have left your player standing and pass the decision (and the risk) to your opponent. Here is why: The chance of falling over is "only" 1/6 (that much I can figure out without a calc...) but scoring would put you in a more relaxed position in the second half. Against slower teams this might even seal the deal for you. What team did you face by the way? And did the opposing player have Strip Ball?

Thinking a bit further, your opponent might even take a look at the situation and think "Ah, forget it, I'll just bash him some more.". Failing that, the dodge rolls look like AG3 (and no Stunty) to me, not too slow (was your ballcarrier one of the Skaven?), possibly AV8? A potential extra armor roll is always nice.

[Pedda]

Scenario to consider from a recent game:

My team had been severely mauled (underworld), but I had managed to slink away with the ball for a potential 2-0 halfway score.

Need 2 GFIs to get my sole ball thief out of range of the sole potential blitzer.
Burn my reroll on the first GFI.
So what to do? Action or inaction?

I need a 2+, and if I fail then I am very likely to not score, as being prone puts my guy out of range of the EZ.
If I don't GFI, then the opposing lineman can get at me with a 4+ Dodge, 3+ Dodge, GFI, GFI, 1-dice block (no protective skills).

What would you have done?
Cheers
Martin

I wouldn't have attempted the second GFI. It's got a 1/6 risk of failure.
That leaves your opponent with the risks and his/her chances are worse.

I've got a similar example from a recent tournament where I played 'flings.

I had used my reroll that turn, but I hadn't moved one of my treemen. He wasn't based with anyone and was standing in a semi good spot.
Could however move and base an opposing player.

Move or not move?

[Jimmy Fantastic]

plasmoid - Depends. If he has a RR I make the gfi. No RR then I pass the turn.

Pedda - Again like most questions in BB it depends. Generally activating a Treeman to mark a single player is not worth it but circumstances could dictate that it was.

[squirrelfanatic]

Here, the question would be: Would you ever want to re-roll a Rooted roll in the first place (ignoring the possibility of Pro, which apparently wasn't an option here)? If no, you are as likely to fail that roll next turn and since the tree was in an acceptable position to begin with... there's not a whole lot to lose, if I am not mistaken.

Edit: I just realised this might have been about whether to GFI or not. If yes, I would leave the tree standing.

[Pedda]

Here, the question would be: Would you ever want to re-roll a Rooted roll in the first place (ignoring the possibility of Pro, which apparently wasn't an option here)? If no, you are as likely to fail that roll next turn and since the tree was in an acceptable position to begin with... there's not a whole lot to lose, if I am not mistaken.

Edit: I just realised this might have been about whether to GFI or not. If yes, I would leave the tree standing.

Yes, you sometimes want to reroll a take root roll. Depends on the situation, position and opponent, but I'd usually say yes.
It's your best weapon for putting pressure on the opponent.

I didn't move the treeman that turn, since I'd already used the RR. If he'd rooted I'd left my opponent with one problem less to worry about.
As it turn out in this case, I could blitz with the treeman the next turn. Wouldn't have been a threat/option if I'd rooted the turn before.

[Be4ch]

Scenario to consider from a recent game:

My team had been severely mauled (underworld), but I had managed to slink away with the ball for a potential 2-0 halfway score.

Need 2 GFIs to get my sole ball thief out of range of the sole potential blitzer.
Burn my reroll on the first GFI.
So what to do? Action or inaction?

I need a 2+, and if I fail then I am very likely to not score, as being prone puts my guy out of range of the EZ.
If I don't GFI, then the opposing lineman can get at me with a 4+ Dodge, 3+ Dodge, GFI, GFI, 1-dice block (no protective skills).

What would you have done?
Cheers
Martin

I faced a very similar situation a recent tournament. 2 Turns to go and the game was balanced at 1-1 but I had the ball. I could have dodged my Ghoul on a 3+ (with Dodge) and then made two GFIs to score but was out of RR and didn't really want to leave my opponent 2 turns to score. Instead, I moved the Ghoul to within scoring range ready for my last turn and built a screen around him, basing all nearby threats and handed the turn to my opponent. He then made 3 4+ Dodge rolls, 1 3+ Dodge roll, 2 GFIs and a 1D Block to knock my Ghoul into the crowd. He rolled a 3 on the throw-in template so the ball came in at a dead straight line and he rolled double 6 on the throw-in distance. With my team now stuck on one side of the pitch and the ball effectively on the other, that cost me the win and I had to settle for a draw.

I've gone over it many times in my head since then and I think, given exactly the same situation, I would do the same thing. I think I made the right call and if your opponent is going to make every roll he needs there's not a lot you can do about it. On another day, he fails the dodges or the GFI or skulls the block and the result is different. Just wasn't to be on that day.

[lunchmoney]

I faced a very similar situation a recent tournament. 2 Turns to go and the game was balanced at 1-1 but I had the ball. I could have dodged my Ghoul on a 3+ (with Dodge) and then made two GFIs to score but was out of RR and didn't really want to leave my opponent 2 turns to score. Instead, I moved the Ghoul to within scoring range ready for my last turn and built a screen around him, basing all nearby threats and handed the turn to my opponent. He then made 3 4+ Dodge rolls, 1 3+ Dodge roll, 2 GFIs and a 1D Block to knock my Ghoul into the crowd. He rolled a 3 on the throw-in template so the ball came in at a dead straight line and he rolled double 6 on the throw-in distance. With my team now stuck on one side of the pitch and the ball effectively on the other, that cost me the win and I had to settle for a draw.

I've gone over it many times in my head since then and I think, given exactly the same situation, I would do the same thing. I think I made the right call and if your opponent is going to make every roll he needs there's not a lot you can do about it. On another day, he fails the dodges or the GFI or skulls the block and the result is different. Just wasn't to be on that day.

There was nothing further that you could have done and, as you say, on another day the streak of rolls wouldn't have come in. The RNG must be broken

[Be4ch]

There was nothing further that you could have done and, as you say, on another day the streak of rolls wouldn't have come in. The RNG must be broken

Ha! that's the funny thing. You play a game online and someone does that and instantly there are questions asked about the RNG because it's easier to blame that than anything else. In reality, there's nothing to blame, I still feel I made the right play and you rolled some dice. It's a dice game and the best tactics in the world can be undone by a 1, reroll 1. At some point in the game you have to roll dice, you can't win without it. Yes, Choosing when to roll them is important and you can often make the decision not to do an action but it still doesn't guarantee success.

[Joemanji]

All you can do is make the 'right' decision, that being if you played the turn another 100 times what is the best thing to do. If your opponent get's lucky, so be it. But there is still a distinction between the strategy of (for example here) not scoring with the Ghoul over the tactical decisions regarding exact positioning of all your players in that particular turn. Whilst you can definitely say it was the right strategical decision not to score, there might have been something you could have done to make one of the 4+ dodges a 5+ for example.

[Wifflebat]

All you can do is make the 'right' decision, that being if you played the turn another 100 times what is the best thing to do. If your opponent get's lucky, so be it. But there is still a distinction between the strategy of (for example here) not scoring with the Ghoul over the tactical decisions regarding exact positioning of all your players in that particular turn. Whilst you can definitely say it was the right strategical decision not to score, there might have been something you could have done to make one of the 4+ dodges a 5+ for example.

Exactly--it's like in poker: you can make the correct play based on the odds for a situation, but it doesn't mean you'll win every time. It just means that it's the play that will win you the most money over an amount of time where the odds even out.

The problem, as in poker, is being able to figure out the odds based on what the opponent is going to do, which is not always obvious, and based on what the outcome of one turn will do to the odds on future turns. And that's where less experienced players (that'd be me) benefit from asking the advice of old hands regarding specific situations.

I'd love to see more "how would you play it" scenarios (threads?). Keep 'em coming, folks!