Advice for Underworld vs Dwarves for a Championship!

[SunDevil]

I do think you are right in that there must be Guard on the UW roster somewhere. I'm going to try the no-Guard roster again next time but might have to give up on it. If that 4ST Blitzer had lived, his next skill would have been Guard because I would not want to Pile On a 4ST player. I can see both Blitzers going Claw/MiB and then one Guard Stand Firm and the other Pile On, Tackle.

I did pass up early doubles on one of them. I can see, next time, going Dodge, the Guard, in that case.

I also should have gone Guard on the Troll over Tents but how often do you get to take Tents? Guard will certainly be his next skill when I return to the team. He has Regenned thee deaths in three games, he ha earned it.

[Smeborg]

I would recommend against giving the Blitzers Dodge, I think it's better to pass on the doubles.

My last Underworld team had 2 Blitzers, both with Dodge, Guard, one of them had 2-Heads as well (I thought I might as well go the whole hog). It was a dull team tbh, it didn't really cut the mustard. The slayer skills are better IMO than any doubles skills. Dodge gives some protection, but it does not make the Blitzers invulnerable (one of them carried a Niggle for most of the season).

Next time I am inclined to go: Guard, M-Blow, Claw, Tackle, ignoring doubles, to create a slayer without P-On (the Guard remains standing).

Giving the Troll Claw, then Guard, works for me. Quite often the Guard helps other players to block, freeing the Claw Troll to take a blitz action (or throw a Gobbo, whatever).

All players on this team pose a similar development challenge, it's hard to achieve economy of force with the "right" few skills in the "right" order. When you take a skill (e.g. Dodge) that demands a second skill in support (2-Heads in this case), it is for me a sign that you might be going down the wrong path.

All the best.

[SunDevil]

This sounds good to me and actualy turns out to be close to be where I was headed.

The Troll went Claw, Block, Tents and withut the Block would have had Claw, Tents, Guard. I can certainly see moving Guard up that list to second.

The Blitzers do not both have to Pile On and I can see doing GUard on both instead. I was about to add Guard to the 4ST Blitzer before he was killed, I can see having one be MiB, Guard, Claw and the other MiB, Claw Guard. I find the Mighty Blow so helpful for finding that second skill but I will be taking your advice to have a few Guard earlier.

Man, Guard is so good on just about every team. sigh...

[Smeborg]

Another pointer is that Guard is outstanding on all Agility teams, so it's not surprising that it works for Underworld, a poor man's Agility team.

I don't fancy giving Guard to Throwers, Linerats or Gobbos (all on doubles), so it means giving it to the 3 players with access to Strength skills. It's just 3 skill picks, otherwise these guys get on with their customary slayer development. 3 Guards would seem to be a working minimum for just about any team.

All the best.

[juck101]

I find the Mighty Blow so helpful for finding that second skill but I will be taking your advice to have a few Guard earlier.

Man, Guard is so good on just about every team. sigh...

Yeah it sounds dull in some ways to take guard, but because its such a great skill you do need it in every team ideally. Sad but guard, mb, tackle, dodge, oh and block are good on almost ever player. An entire team x11 of that would be pretty effective and a real shame because a side with access to mutations will pass on the majority.

[juck101]

So in this match up - would horns have helped the blitzers?

[Smeborg]

So in this match up - would horns have helped the blitzers?

I like Horns on the Underworld team, but I suggest there is not enough room in the Blitzers' development path to give them Horns (especially if you give them Guard, as I do).

I give Horns to Linerats (one goes: Wrestle, Horns, Tackle, the other follows the same path but after taking Kick first, a vital skill for this team). This build is especially good for ball-hunting and hole-punching.

I love Gobbos with 2-Heads/Horns. They are very dynamic. They threaten to take 1-die blitzes anywhere on the board, which can be from crazy angles (e.g. leading to a surf if near the sidelines). They are potent if the ball is on the ground, as they have the ability to get anywhere and shift an opponent at any angle (e.g. away from or onto the ball). If the cage is not Guarded, they can threaten the ball directly.

But against a Dwarf or Chaos Dwarf team, life can be hard for Underworld, especially if the opponent has lots of Guard and/or M-Blow. Difficulties are compounded if the ball falls favourably for the opponent, and he is able to cage where he wants.

The best chances against Dwarfs come from:

- Kick (can cause positional discomfort by preventing a clean cage being formed early).
- M-Blow/Claw (but this is a lottery, if can-opening does not work early in the drive, the Underworld are in trouble).
- 2-Heads on the Gobbos (so that they can dodge away from Tackle players). But you are still in trouble if you roll 1s, your re-rolls will be consumed early. And once the 2-Heads Gobbos have been consigned to the dugout, you are back to square one.

I don't recall ever having won against Dwarfs with Underworld, although I have often given them a good run for their money. Typically I may get at the ball carrier and spill the ball (say) twice on a long drive, but the Dwarfs just pick themselves up and carry on, while the Underworld players disappear into the dugout. The usual crazy plays from the Gobbos are more difficult, with Dodge largely negated. So the game tends to degenerate until the point where it can be as depressing as the one described by Chance. A 2-1 loss to a far from classic grind would be the usual fate.

Hope that helps.

[mattgslater]

I'm playing two different Underworld teams now, one in Ranked FUMBBL and one in a weekly league, mostly as a massive underdog. I'm finding that I don't need much Guard: the Troll and some Two Heads Goblins do the job pretty well for my League team, while the Ranked team has a Blodge/Guard Thrower and the Troll. I think it's really important to get Wrestle Linerats: the ability to clear off zones on 1d is critical. I haven't yet taken Guard on a Blitzer: the league team has a CPOMBer and a T/MB player plus Wrestle on one Linerat, and it feels almost good enough; the Ranked team has two Claw/MB/Tackle and Wrestle/Two Heads on both Linerats, and between those four players I usually have the surgical strike I need.