An Ogre Team Development Guide

[Optimus Prime]

Hi Guys

I am writing this as i wanna help the Ogre coaches around the world in how to skill up Ogres.
Cause most people right them off and to be honest there is more to them than meets the eye...
A lot of people will not agree with me, however i have been playing them a lot, and i have tried every build possible and to me i have had more success with this build than any other.
Also this is more for the longhal of player development, so if you play occ or a continuing league after league after league, then this will help fellow Ogre Coaches, as its the only way they can become competitive... and its fun to win matches as you leave frustrated coaches in your wake as you win games...

First off the build.
For a long time i did the 5 Ogres 2 re-roll Ogre build. However my most successful team came after i did the 4 ogres 3rr apoth and a whole lot of snots. The reason i chose this build is to create money in the team, so you can get 600k in the team treasury.
You will need this in case of death of Ogres and also Team re-rolls and of course replacing snots...

TV is very important for ogres, as no team bloats more than Ogres.
Its a shame as the other teams have a huge advantage when it comes to that. Ogres roll more dice than any other team cause of BH, and normally those rolls determine if we win or lose...

So this is the build i suggest.
You can do it with any Ogre team build, however i found this team the most easiest to move forward with...

This took years to master and a lot of blood bowl games, and also you are gonna lose a lot of games before you see results...

When skilling up Ogres i always took BT as the first none double skill, i rarely took Piling on as the games about the positioning of the ball, and if your ogres are gonna be stuck hitting people all day, then that limits you moving the ball around.
The other reason i take BT is because if you get a skill increase in +AG +ST or +MV, its a handy skill to have and keeps your Ogres mobile.
So many times i put guard first and then i roll an +AG increase, to me it was annoying as BT would be more useful to get away when needing to dodge.
So please Take BT on every ogre that you can, it comes in handy and forces your opponent to think about his cage...

The next none double i take is Guard. This compliments with the st the ogres already have and helps then, cause we do not get block off the bat. The 3rd skill i take is Stand firm, and at least one Ogre with Stong arm, just makes that throw team mate a lot safer and hoping to use that re-roll on the landing if possible.
Those are the main 3 skills i take, after the forth one its gets a little tricky as there is not a lot more in the strength category to help moving ogres. Piling on in this instance is a possibility, however i find that if you take it and again roll an agility increase, its a wasted skill, as that ag3 is now ya ball carrier.
The more agility you can get on ogres the better the team will function as they need it. I normally have 1 piling on Ogre, but as the Ogres develop into better blockers and runners, i end up cutting them later on in the games.
The stand firm helps with the cage, and keeping your ogres firmly in place, and cannot be crowd surfed easily, also if you have piling on and guard, i think its pointless, as you are on the ground and your guard is useless. Also you have enough problems with BH, and now you are creating more holes on offense and defense. So for me it hinders your team, and is counter productive.
One note, if your gonna take piling on then do it on every ogre, cause that way you can PO every damn turn, but this will not win you games, only cas which the ogres can do naturally and with out being on the ground.
Also it leaves you prone to fouling and that's bad, make them get you down so there are less people fouling u...

I also use Ogres as Ball Carriers. At first i use the snotlings, but as soon as i get a BT Ogre, hes my Ball carrier, It also helps skill him up faster.

Once i get to level 6, if no doubles are rolled then i cut them, and with the money i have saved buy a rookie ogre, as you need doubles on this team, and start again with the rookies.
I do what i can with the rookie ogres to help skill them up, the rest of the ogres that are skilled will help the Rookie Ogres do this...

If you roll a double first up i take BLOCK...
Block is awesome on ogres, i used to not take it for other skills, however it just keeps your Ogres upright, and ya 2D blocks safer. If you get another double on that block Ogre, then take tackle... i cannot stress this enough its the best combo for ogres reliability for getting blodges down. If you got BT on this Ogre already then he is a blitzer, and no blodges are safe or anyone with blodge for that matter. Now if you manage to get a BT ag3 Block Ogre i would take dodge on him, because he becomes a reliable ball carrier. Yes there are strip ballers out there but this is why.
Even if the strip baller gets to hit him and you are caged up nicely, its gonna be an up hill block. So i take it, not that the dodge protects you, but also good for dodging out to score, and BT makes that a 2+ dodge with a re-roll.
This ogre is hard to build i know, but i have one right now in OCC and hes a pain in the ass to everyone when he has the ball
Its fun to watch him tear up the field with people trying to stop him. I call this play the Jonah Lomu effect, cause if you ever look up this guy, he reminds me of what ogres can do with the ball in hand...

I also Create a Passing Ogre as well.
First Double is Pass so you can re-roll the throw team mate mostly, but also if he picks up the ball you can also throw it to a catch snotling for more offensive ability. If you get pass then strong arm follows by BT it helps with the moving thrower so you are not stranded, and can dodge out of the first tackle zone to throw ya snot or ball. If you get another double on this ogre after Pass, consider Nerves Of Steel or Pro as it helps with the BH and also blocking dice at times the NOS means you can throw in multiple tackle zones with out a negitive to passing so its gold and now you have created a better version of brik farth, but he plays for your team all the time... Strong arm can come later as its a normal skill but i have had very good success with the throwing ogre and then i try to create a pro snot for he landing roll... or an ag4 snot if you can get one... its amazing when you have rerolls on the throw and landing rolls that makes the throw Team Mate a real threat... you need these players most of all to win games as this is where you can make a difference

The strength 6 Ogre. Take him over block please, because if you have BT hes dodging into cages on a 3+.
That is your can opener, plus its easy to get 3D blocks with him and helps skill him up faster.
If you get another double take block on this guy, and if you ever get another one its up to you dodge for the re-roll into the cage, or tackle for the quality of the hit... but a st 6 blodger is an awesome piece to have, so take the ST6 ogre he helps on a lot of levels...

+AV i never take unless i am trying to make morg n thorg. 9 is enough, the +1MV i do take also as it helps get the ogres into position better, however if its a double 5 i take the block and move on from there...

With Ogres block is the most important skill, it keeps your rerolls on the BH for the important rolls, and make the blocks easier to manage. So take the doubles where you can...

The snots i tend to leave them alone or fire them if they don,t roll a double on the first skill.
Leader is the first double skill i give them, keeps the TV down as rerolls are expensive, and maybe a dirty player in there, Hail Mary Pass is another
The snots, i use for screening and fouling, to help the ogres out and dodge them away from trouble. Thats it, keep them lean and keen.
Also take the AG4 snot hes gold, get an ogre with strong arm, and if he gets a double i would take pass, these 2 combos work well. If you get an ag5 snot then keep him on offense, but again hes hard to get, i have never done this yet...

Well that's my thoughts on Ogres. I hope you find this novel helpful, and will help fellow future Ogre coaches

You can win games with this team it just takes time, alot of it and practice.

[JaM]

Hi,

I am sure there are some interesting thoughts/tactics up there, but really... I like to see some . or , here and there.
Interpunction is your friend.

Will read it though, but at the moment the whole block of text makes for an 'out of breath' reading.
Really: there is some good stuff there, but I find it hard to read as a whole. You know?

Cheers,

JaM

[fire olli]

A good read, I've always liked the ogre team.

[Vinz D.]

Being an avid Big Guy fan, I tend to start with them instead of purchasing them later on, due to the boost in TV it gives, without additional skills. (read: buying an Ogre gives your opponents the equivalent of seven normal skills). So, despite the lack of one more re-roll and an apothecary, I would be going for the long haul and start building up a bigger bunch of Ogres more evenly when it comes to starplayer points and skills... Especially since you usually go for actions with skilled Ogres, rather then rookie ones, meaning they'd take even longer to catch up with skills.

I am wondering how your experience with this is then.

[Optimus Prime]

Being an avid Big Guy fan, I tend to start with them instead of purchasing them later on, due to the boost in TV it gives, without additional skills. (read: buying an Ogre gives your opponents the equivalent of seven normal skills). So, despite the lack of one more re-roll and an apothecary, I would be going for the long haul and start building up a bigger bunch of Ogres more evenly when it comes to starplayer points and skills... Especially since you usually go for actions with skilled Ogres, rather then rookie ones, meaning they'd take even longer to catch up with skills.

I am wondering how your experience with this is then.

My experience with ogres has been over 5 years just playing them in and out from table top to cyanide...
The problem with getting full ogres straight away is this.. not enough re-rolls to deal with double downs and BH rolls..
Thats why i like my rerolls to be either the same amount for ogres or just one off, as my leader snot when i get him, gives me an extra reroll for 50k, and does not waste 140 of my Savings... got enough problems with ogres being killed from time to time... it does not happen a lot but it does happen and then buying an ogre back when you have team bloat and no cash becomes very difficult...
plus keeping your tv low is what can make ogres quite efficient from hiring stars to wizards and heaven forbid morg n thorg.

i am trying to get my ogres to level 7 once i do that the team itself will function quite nicely however it takes an age to get them like this... they are not like any other team that can just get SPPs at will.. you have to earn them thru using the ogres to do most of the work... the snots are just there clean up what the ogres could not finish off...

Trust me i thought the same way once as you did... however its easier to help out a rookie ogre with experienced ones by his side, as then you get to use the rerolls on him as the veteran ogres tend to be ok on there own, its just the BH.. however you learn to deal with that anyway so skilling up rookie ogres with heavy expierenced ones is actually a lot easier than skilling them up when they are all rookies...

THERE IS THIS TOO....If you lose an ogre during the first game i would rather have an extra re-roll at 70k starting than losing an ogre and then trying to get a re-roll that you could have bought for 70k which is now 140k. Just food for thought on that one...