(Un-)Living NecroTacticum: Necros vs the world of Blood Bowl

[swilhelm73]

Well, you can't control when you will role doubles.

Oh, looking I only had one PO WW - the other only had MB.

Looking at the CLPOMBer it was

Block
MB
Dodge
SS
PO
JU

His stat line was 82 Games 103 CAS 112 KOs

[Digger Goreman]

People (dead and undead) talk about getting players to incredible heights and sometimes it happens.... More realistically, what would be the/your maximized team? I think two skills on Zombies and Golems... three skills on Wights, Wolves and Ghouls is about all you can hope for without going multiple lucky seasons.... For the exercise there are no doubles/stat increases available....

My initial take:

Z1 Block, Dauntless
Z2 Block, Dauntless
Z3 Block, Dauntless
Z4 Kick, DP
Z5 Wrestle, Fend
Gl1 Block, Fend, ?
Gl2 Surehands, Wrestle, KOR
Wt1 MiB, Guard, Tackle
Wt2 MiB, Guard, Tackle
Fg1 Block, Guard
Fg2 Block, Guard
Ww1 Block, Dodge, Sidestep
Ww2 Block, Dodge, Sidestep

I fully encourage everyone to pick apart these picks and give their better version.... I think putting the team into this perspective shows the glaring lack of football skills Necros start with(out).... The lack of a passing game, the desperate need for personal reroll skills, the likewise need to place guard on what few pieces can receive them and the unlikelihood of getting MiB on the Golems for accelerated skill-ups....

Have a go, ladies and lads....

[MKL]

I use to play in a league context, and the teams got a 20-30 games life expectancy.
Given that context, I plan my skill-up as follow:

-F-Golem (and any blocker type, as BoB): 2 skills, maybe just one, so I skip an early double (Dodge as first skill? No thanks). Block+Guard.
-Zed (and any non-elven linemen): 1 or 2 skills. Kick for the first one, Block for the others (I should give a try to Wrestle). Second skill: Tackle or Fend. Double is Guard, even as first skill. Other than that it's not worth to go too nice in these guys, they are here to tackle Ogres and such.
-Wights (and any blitzer): I plan for 3 skills. Guard+Mighty Blow+Stand Firm/Tackle. Double is Dodge, but I can skip it as first skill (Necros need Guard, quickly).
-Werewolf (as... they are a category in their own): I foresee 4-5 skills for them, but they should be effective at 3 skills: Block+Dodge+Tackle (or S-Step). Double... we know
-Ghoul: they can skill a lot, but I want them to be effective at 2 skills. Block+Sure Hands and Wrestle+Tackle, then it's SideStep for both. Double: Guard.

[swilhelm73]

In a more developed league I favor wrestle/fend on the Zs. It makes them better at what they are designed for.

Also, I've rather block/SH on a ball carrying ghoul then wrestle/SH.

I think the problem here though is that Necro teams develop very unevenly so talking about 2/3 skills on everyone is problematic.

After about 80 games my Necro team had:

9 Ghouls
4 Wights
4 WWs
4 FGs
20 Zs

The Ghouls and the Zs die most often. But the Ghouls gain skills quickly. So generally I had highly developed WI/WWs, somewhat developed FG/Ghouls and a lot of rookie or one skill Zs...which was fine.

Another issue is that as a hybrid team Necros are greatly helped by stat increases and doubles. A WW with Block and MB is worth far more then 10k more then one with Block and Dodge. And +AG on a Wight or Ghoul is gold.

[Digger Goreman]

I really enjoyed going Dauntless against bigger "linemen" with my zeds, but can concede the point of needing immediate effectiveness... Still, what about this:

Z1 Block, Tackle
Z2 Block, Tackle
Z3 Block, Tackle
Z4 Kick, DP
Z5 Wrestle, Fend
Gl1 Block, Fend, Catch
Gl2 Surehands, Wrestle, KOR
Wt1 MiB, Guard
Wt2 MiB, Guard
Fg1 Block, Guard
Fg2 Block, Guard
Ww1 Block, Dodge, Sidestep
Ww2 Block, Dodge, Sidestep

Kick is NECESSARY imo to pressure and turn over the opposition.... Ghouls, for me, are fetcher/movers needing to reach and control the ball, whether on offense or defense (for as long as they last).... I want the surehands ghoul to hand to the block ghoul and then use wrestle to disrupt the defense.... I like fend for keeping tacklers and frenziers at bay.... I am hip to needing asap guard, yet I have seen my wights go fallow without MiB....

[Smeborg]

Digger - the skill choices for the Wolves and Golems would be standard in our league. [I refer to your Nov19th post.]

Choice for the first 3 skills on Wights would be the same, but in a different order (Tackle is popular as first skill, for the simple reason that otherwise it will be a long time before anyone on the team has Tackle).

G1 (ball carrier) might go: S-Hands, Block, KoR (or Block, S-Hands, KoR). I like to get S-Hands as quickly as possible, this helps in the frequent situation where the RR for the turn is blown before ball pick-up is attempted.

G2 (ball hunting safety) is more variable, something like Wrestle, Tackle, S-Step is what I prefer.

The second skill choice for Zombies is the main point of difference. The common choice in our league is Tackle. This is because the Necro team has very few Tacklers, so a Z with Tackle is well worth his weight. If I played in a perpetual or PoMB-heavy environment, I might consider Fend. I also like to have a Z with Kick as second skill, this can be the first one to get there (with G1 sitting out defensive drives).

Hope that helps and all the best.

[Jimmy Fantastic]

MB/PO/Tackle first 3 skills for your Wights, order depending on the teams in your league.
If you roll a double you can take dodge then give him Guard, possibly guard them up if you get a MB Wolf early too.
Block/Guard/MB in order for Flesh Golems.
Zombies just get DP
I like a Wrackle Ghoul as a safety, and depending on your Wolves a Blodge Surehands Ghoul is fine too.

[Digger Goreman]

I will try to follow the scheme with the Necropolis Night Howlers.... They have finished 6 games and are starting to develop.... Five total skills have yielded 2 stat adds and no doubles:

gm1 1-3 vs nurgle 0 cas
gm2 0-2 vs orc 0 cas
gm3 0-3 vs slann 0 cas
gm4 2-1 vs orc 1 cas
gm5 3-1 vs ogre 3 cas
gm6 2-1 vs orc 1 cas

zed 0 spp
zed 0 spp
zed 5 spp
zed 0 spp
zed 5 spp

ghoul 0 spp just added
ghoul 14 spp +mv
wight 1 spp
wight 5 spp mng
golem 5 spp
golem 2 spp
wolf 13 spp block
wolf 33 spp block, +ag, dodge

3 rerolls
5 ff
10k bank
128 tv

[babass]

the +ag wolf is keeping all the spp of the team for himself

[swilhelm73]

In some ways a +AG wolf is a problem. You want your wolves hitting...not carrying the ball.

Of course it can help you get away from contact and go after juicier targets...but then you aren't getting the full value of the stat up...

[Digger Goreman]

I do not mind hogging spp to the third skill, and then switching emphasis.... The ag wolf made two defensive tds in the last game and was necessary to pick up the ball especially when rerolls ran out.... Now he can be the reliable ball fetcher, controller, passer/hand off artist.... Get the ball in close and hand off to anther positional.... No problem....

[Digger Goreman]

The Gravestones are more "generally" advancing:
blue is future skills

Z1 block, tackle2spp
Z2 block, tackle 7spp
Z3 kick, dp 7spp
Z5 block, tackle0spp
Z6 wrestle, fend2spp

Gl9 surehands, block, kor 6spp
Gl10 wrestle, tackle0spp
Wt11 MiB, guard4spp
Wt12 MiB, guard5spp
Fg13 block, guard2spp
Fg14 block, guard0spp
Ww15 block, dodge, SS 12spp
Ww16 block, dodge, SS 15spp

135 tv
3 rerolls
6 ff

[Smeborg]

People (dead and undead) talk about getting players to incredible heights and sometimes it happens.... More realistically, what would be the/your maximized team? I think two skills on Zombies and Golems... three skills on Wights, Wolves and Ghouls is about all you can hope for without going multiple lucky seasons....

Digger - I think the development constraints on the Necro side are a key pointer to development strategy. At each step, you need to assume for certain players that the skill acquired will be their last (because of slow skill acquisition in the case of Golems and Zombies, and high death rate in the case of Ghouls). So I don't think you can do anything fancy with skill order, and you have to be careful with stat increases.

One former player in our league used to develop Golems: Block, M-Blow, as the only way to keep them skilling up. I don't necessarily agree with him, but he makes a valid point.

All the best.

[Digger Goreman]

A less typical, but successful Necro team, Gravely Repulsed (9 wins, 1 tie, 5 losses) had a less typical build:

Z block, tackle 12spp
Z 0spp
Z kick, dp 10 spp
Z 2spp
Z 5spp

Gl block, fend 22spp
Gl block, wrestle 19 spp
Wt guard, +mv, MiB, tackle 17spp
Wt 0spp
Fg block, dodge, guard, Mib 18spp
Fg jump up, block, guard 8spp
Ww block, dodge, fend, SS 36spp
Ww block, dodge, fend, SS 39spp

4 rr
8 ff
210k treasury
171 tv

[babass]

3 fend already ?