Jas1279 wrote:
Not really context specific, I find high elves have a strong offence and it is usually to their advantage to either score quickly when receiving the kick and/or generally get the ball secure and up the field to the scoring line past the opposition asap where they may then elect to stall if ther have sufficient players and space to keep things tightly locked down. no?
Unless you must score in 2 turns (for example to equalize before half ends), a quick score should be avoided. Stalling is the key to win games.
Jas1279 wrote:
yes i use the term 'cage' loosely here -intent is generally get a group of defenders up the pitch in a defensive formation (cage or loose cage) with a catcher in the middle likely to remain unmarked / unharassed to recieve a 2+ pass next turn
Key advantage being the ball can be kept safely down field out of range of the opposition and if the enemy's line is particularly porus you can get 3-4 potential receivers up the pitch for a choice of scoring with whoever is marked least effectively.
This gives you options the 2+ (safe) pass to push receivers up and past the enemy on both fringes forcing them to split their backfield defence.
I played that kind of game, and if you manage to delay the score it works, the problem is when you have to keep the ball in your backfield, on a slow MA 6 thrower, while all your players are marked and you have to dodge away each turn, with opponent players chasing your thrower as well, given that at high TV each blitz is a likely CAS. While doing this for 2-3 turns is quite easy, stalling a whole half with the thrower deep in your backfield (thus unable to pass the ball to one catcher due to lack of range) and the rest of your team on the other half of the pitch is not so viable.
A MA 8 Catcher is wonderful because he can carry the ball here and there remaining quite safely away from opponent players, until he can find a gap to score/passing the ball if required. The point is that stalling with a MA 8 catcher is easier than with a MA 6 Thrower (sounds counter-intuitive, I know).
Jas1279 wrote:
I play against them (Mr AndyDavo mostly), they tend to run more and pass less... and throw the opposition out the side of the pitch
Of course, they are not going to pass most of times, the pass is a B plan generally used when outnumbered.
The higher the TV, the more likely they are going to pass the ball.
Jas1279 wrote:
Yes high elves are faster but usually take 2 turns minimum to score. Pushing the ball up field/ committing to a single line of attack usually involves negotiating a tighter opposition defence as the defending team will focus on the ball carrier and where they are on the pitch no?. High elves can currently 'safely' pass and catch on re-rolled 2+'s most of the time to create a ton of options on offence, splitting the defence all over in the process, all whilst keeeping the ball safely out of range of the enemy (and avoid a punchup in the process). Is *that* not a key strength high elves are designed to exploit? It certainly has been in my experience and it seems a very very high price to give up that key racial strength for a lowly 'utility' skill to be mainly used at non-critcal points of the game, out of range of the opposition, to maybe save a 50k reroll? This certainly seems a very big dent in the race's capability.
I play using a Catcher as ball carrier, keeping him in my half of the pitch, moving him towards either my endzone, the sidelines or opponent's half of the pitch according to how his team moves, and I don't commit to a flank early, I move some players on the wide zones, trying to keep a net of tackle zones to prevent my Catcher being marked.
If my opponent chases my ball carrier I move him away where there is space to do so and still being safe, trying to move my other players in order to create space for him to move to on the next turn (by blitzing, dodging and screening).
I found that a quick redeploying of the ball carrier was harder when using the Thrower, mainly due to his low MA 6 (2 squares are a huge difference when stalling the game).
Using a thrower can't make you stall the game as easily, because if you pass the ball soon, you are not stalling (so the opponent can equalize quite easily), if you are passing the ball on the very last turns of the drive your potential receivers will be man-marked or double-marked (because your opponent spent his turns bashing your team so he has more players than you) making the "safe" pass option not so safe (let's say a 2+ pass in the best case, a likely interception to deal with, either a 3+ or 4+ catch, either a 2+ or 3+ dodge).
The Catcher can be screened easily and he can move the ball more reliably (by running with it, therefore moving it 8 squares per turn) for all the half.
It's not that the Thrower can't score quickly, the problem is that, if you want to win, you don't want to score quickly, but keep the ball safe for as many turns as you can.