League advice for a noob

[Fwav8or]

Hello, I am fairly new to BB (about 5 game under my belt now), and I am participating in a league. I have a dwarf team and I am about to play my third game of the season. I am in the post game phase after my last game and here's the situation:

I have two of each positional (Troll Slyrs, Blitzers, Runners) for 6 and then 5 lineman and 1 journeyman. My blitzer missed the last game, which is why I have a journeyman. One of my runners got hurt last game for -MA, and will therefore miss the next game. I have 130K in my treasury.

My next opponent is also a dwarf player with only 1 Troll Slyr and 1 Death Roller.

Questions:
1.) Should I go ahead and cut my -MA runner and hire a new one? This would allow me to have my two runners back for the next game.
2.) My journeyman got 2 SPP during the last game for a CAS. Should I hire him, or fire him?
3.) Should I not hire anyone and save my money so that I can (probably) buy a death roller at the end of my next game?
4.) What is the best strategy to combat the death roller? I'm thinking steer clear of him and let them score just to get him off the pitch!

Thanks for any advice! I've attached my current roster. The journeyman is the one in flux. Hire him to keep the SPP, or fire him and then hire a new one (so that I don't have to spend money) to get my roster back to 11 (assuming I keep the runner that is going to MNG). Hopefully that is not too confusing.

[MKL]

Hi Fwavbor, welcome to the forum!

Just some quick notes, since I'm in a hurry:
-most dwarven coach don't hire the death roller: lots of tv for a secret weapon isn't so good. Normal dwarves are good enough
-The Runner is going to be sacked: his own role is being quick. You can hire the journeyman or a new runner, as you like. Keep in mind that you can play with just a runner for a while, till he got say 2 skills, then hire the other and feed him some td. But you need some bench: playing under-number is mean for slow teams

...and I cannot see you team, probably because I'm typing from a mobile :p

[babass]

1/ the runner should retire, even if it's early 5xp.
2/ what kind of skills does have your opponent? what is his TV?

[Fwav8or]

1/ the runner should retire, even if it's early 5xp.
2/ what kind of skills does have your opponent? what is his TV?

Good question about the TV. It got me thinking.

My opponent's TV is 1,140K. He won his first match by his opponent conceding, which gave him double MVP and double winnings. He was able to purchase a 12th man, so he has a deathroller and a 12 man roster.

My TV is 1,050K if I hire my journeyman, or 1,060K if I hire a new runner.

A difference of 90K or 80K, depending on which way I go. I suppose I could throw in an extra 10 or 20K to petty cash and buy a mercenary. That would get my roster up to 12. Thoughts?

Thank you for the replies!

[dode74]

I suppose I could throw in an extra 10 or 20K to petty cash and buy a mercenary.

Doesn't work like that. If you want inducements over and above the amount you would otherwise be allocated then the whole lot has to come from petty cash. If you chuck 10k in on a 90k difference then you simply get 80k of inducement money plus your 10k = 90k.

[neverworking]

The runner needs to retire, but I'd be tempted to buy the journeyman at this stage in team development because you should be able to get by with 1 runner in this match and SPPs on a lineman is very nice as they are the hardest to level and the most important to your team's success.

If you kick, do not count on "letting him score". if he is a smart player he will be trying to take 8 turns to pound on you with the deathroller regardless of if you are in the way of the TD or not. If you receive and he fields the DR on defense you can try to score quickly to get it off, but that will just give him a lot of time to score in the first half; take as much time as you can but as long as you take 5 turns you should be making it hard for a near-rookie dwarf team to score back. If you receive and he does not field the DR, try to rack up a couple of KOs or a casualties before you score. Since he only has 12 players if any one of them can't be fielded he will be forced to field the DR for the short drive in the first half.

As for "topping off" the inducement money with petty cash to buy a journeyman, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. If you're getting 90k in inducements you can not spend 10k of your own money to make it 100k.

[mzukerman]

I'm in agreement with everyone here. The dwarves are slow to begin with. Take away a movement on their one piece that can stretch the field and you're going to be too easy to contain. Cut the move addled runner and get a new one now so you can start gaining SPPs on him early.

Good luck!

[Smeborg]

Fwav8or - my recommendations:

- Fire the crippled Runner right away.

- Buy the Journeyman with 2SPPs if your league has chosen MVP. If your league has random MVP, do not buy him, buy a new Runner instead.

- Do not buy a Deathroller, it is a weak player (because of Secret Weapon), and consumes a lot of TV.

- Do not worry about facing a Deathroller, in return you will have good inducements, for example a Wizard.

Hope that helps.

[babass]

1/ the runner should retire, even if it's early 5xp.
2/ what kind of skills does have your opponent? what is his TV?

Good question about the TV. It got me thinking.

My opponent's TV is 1,140K. He won his first match by his opponent conceding, which gave him double MVP and double winnings. He was able to purchase a 12th man, so he has a deathroller and a 12 man roster.

My TV is 1,050K if I hire my journeyman, or 1,060K if I hire a new runner.

A difference of 90K or 80K, depending on which way I go. I suppose I could throw in an extra 10 or 20K to petty cash and buy a mercenary. That would get my roster up to 12. Thoughts?

Thank you for the replies!

if the difference would have been 100k vs 90k it would have make sens to consider this parameter Because more inducements available. (like 1 or 2 special cards, or a mercenary)

[MKL]

With less than 100k it's a Buweiser Girl or... Boomer?
Normally I'm not keen on bombardiers, but with against a stalling dwarf team with a D-Roller, it can be worth: maybe the mere menace can have him spread out. Failing that, you can aim for the deathroller

Edit:remember that bombers are extremely unreliable, but in a pinch they can be used to clear a scrimmage line with the suicide bombing technique

[Jimmy Fantastic]

Sack the Runner for sure.
Don't buy the Blocker unless you can choose MVPs.
I like one Runner on a team until I get 12 men (depending on TV, other ppls skills etc).
Boomer is great value.

[Fwav8or]

Thank you for all of the pro advice! I will definitely cut/re-hire the runner. I am leaning towards buying the bomber as opposed to the BloodBabe. I think I would get more use out of the bomber.

If I win the coin toss, I am going to elect to receive first half. That way, I will be able to see if he is going to bring out the death roller before placing my guys. If he doesn't do it first half, then I know it's coming second half and I can bring my bomber out accordingly. I am going to setup away from the deathroller and just start chucking bombs. He only has 1AG so he will more than likely drop it and it will be an auto down. I will just keep him down as long as possible. I've got one more troll slayer than he does so hopefully I can take some of his guys out while the death roller is down and maybe even score in the process.

Thanks again for the advice! I'll let you know how it goes.

[Dr. Von Richten]

Sack the entire team and go play a proper team, like Skaven or Necro!

Should that not be an option, sack the Runner, buy the journeyman, and be glad that your opp wasted 160k on a Deathroller (even though it is better against a slow race like dwarves than against most others); keep the thing occupied with a Blocker. If you can, receive. If he fields the DR, score quickly (well, for dwarves) and/or lure the thing away from the action. If he doesn't, score slowly and try to take out at least one player so he has to field the DR in the last turn(s) of the 1st half. Boomer is unreliable but with luck he should slow down one drive a turn or two, which may be all you need. Otherwise take a bribe and foul his Runners and Troll Slayers like a bastard.

[Heff]

Sack the entire team and go play a proper team, like Skaven or Necro!

I love you man
Honestly dwarves are not a good team to learn on, over skilled, slow, linear development and BORING.

[Dr. Von Richten]

Sack the entire team and go play a proper team, like Skaven or Necro!

I love you man
Honestly dwarves are not a good team to learn on, over skilled, slow, linear development and BORING.

Right back at ya!

Also, Fwav8or, even aside from his (and my) dislike of Dwarf Teams on general principle, Heff is right about them being not a good team to learn Blood Bowl with. They're very much a one trick pony, and when that trick (cage up, move forward slowly, blocking the opp out of the way until you're in range of the endzone, then stall) fails, you're left with not much options. Also, because they're so straightforward and one dimensional, and their actions so safe, you're not going to learn much in the way of risk management, lateral thinking or creativity.

I didn't recommend Skaven or Necro for nothing; neither team is easy to play, which forces you to learn to adapt, think ahead and take smart risks. Skaven is great on offense, but difficult on defense, and Necro is just difficult to start out with, but blossoms into a team with a ton of options for all situations. Another team that's like this is High Elfs; they start as the weakest elf team, and they really make you consider every single move in risk/reward terms, but they can become the best elf team eventually, and they're one of the few teams that can actually play the passing game.