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Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 8:59 am
by Primary_kilos
Hi,

Technically not my first post but skipped the formalities on that one so thought I'd drop a line to say hi! I've been watching from afar with the occasional game on the iPad and have recently (last 12m) started playing TT Blood Bowl. Hopefully with the re-release I will be able to get more regular games in, particularly as my local gaming group are starting a league in early February.

This brings me on nicely to the advice required element of the post. I've chosen to play Skaven, I know they're not the most forgiving of teams for the inexperienced but I'm a big fan of the running game and really like their potential to score in 1-2 turns. The league has been divided into 2 divisions of 6 teams with the top 4 sides (in the league) going through to playoffs. My division consists of 2x orcs 2x human and 1x khemri team, which seems to be quite a bashy biased division to me.

Please can i have any advice /tips on tactics/starting rosters for facing this kind of opposition. I've been toying with taking a Rat Ogre, not for los action but more for potential cage breaks and the frenzy surf, and in the two games i've played so far I've had mixed results, my current starting roster is:

4 Linemen,
1 Thrower,
3 Gutter Runners,
2 Blitzers
1 Rat Ogre
2 RR
1 FF
and 30,000gp in the treasury.

Thanks in advance

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 9:53 am
by Heff
Hi.

Firstly look at this

http://www.plasmoids.dk/bbowl/playbooks/Skaven.pdf

In my view you need all the runners
The ogre is not needed, he is three linemen and you will need them. He also distorts your game as you will want to blitz with him and that is a path to failure. Also a mistake is to put him on the line, he is AV8 and will be mercilessly targeted, he also has frenzy and so will move himself out of position.

You do not have the "weight" to fight the division at their own game. Just get that ball and run away. Try to stay out of contact if you can NEVER base a runner to another player, unless you are going to get the ball by doing so and somebody else will either score immediately or be out of reach with the ball.

Enjoy they are awesome

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:04 am
by besters
Agree with Heff, I would start:

4 gutter runners
2 storm vermin (bltzers)
6 line rats
3 team re-rolls

20k cash

First buy would be an apo, then maybe consider the Rat Ogre at higher tv.

Besters

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:43 am
by Heff
besters wrote:Agree with Heff, I would start:

4 gutter runners
2 storm vermin (bltzers)
6 line rats
3 team re-rolls

20k cash

First buy would be an apo, then maybe consider the Rat Ogre at higher tv.

Besters
yep. Except for getting the ogre later. I have played with and without him, It was better without because I found I was centering my game around getting him where he needed to be rather than on the runners where it needs to be. Just buy rats after the apo.

IF you can ever afford to induce Headsplitter on the other hand...

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 12:39 pm
by besters
I like the Ogre simply as an option against high AV teams, but there are better options for inducements, a wizard works wonders for skaven, and skitter is superb, then Glart. etc.

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 5:42 pm
by Heff
besters wrote:I like the Ogre simply as an option against high AV teams, but there are better options for inducements, a wizard works wonders for skaven, and skitter is superb, then Glart. etc.
Not saying that he is the best choice but sometimes playing with a non wild animal Rogre is fun

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 6:00 pm
by besters
yes, he is an option, amongst a lot of good options.

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 12:55 pm
by Primary_kilos
Thank you all for the advice,

I have couple of 'pre season' friendlies lined up before the start of the league so will try running a non-RO team. So far in all my (read; couple of) experiences I have found that when running an RO Heff's comment is true and I've centred my game around him instead of making the most of my speed and agi.

The team I'm planning on trying out next is:
4 gutter runners
2 storm vermin (blitzers)
5 line rats
3 team re-rolls
1 Apo
2 FF

Although I could drop the APO for the twelve man, or perhaps the FF for an upgrade to a Thrower to try and get a quick Kick skill with some short passes??

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 2:23 pm
by TheAzman
It probably wouldn't hurt to upgrade one lineman to a thrower and drop the FF. You'll increase your FF soon enough by just winning games. Not having a twelfth man could hurt, but having an apo sort of negates that. (a little)

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 2:33 pm
by TheAzman
Get that 12th and 13th man ASAP, though. You're going to need them!

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 7:11 pm
by rolo
Heya,

My favorite starting roster is:
4 Gutter Runners
2 Stormvermin
6 Linerats
3 RR
20k in the bank.

Money in the bank makes it very likely that you can buy an apothecary after game 1. After that, buy Linerats, a Thrower, and replace losses as much as you can.

Some people will swap out that 6th linerat for an apothecary. I think the bench player is more reliable, but if you lose anyone in game 1, you'll disagree with me about this.

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:50 pm
by Primary_kilos
rolo wrote:Heya,

My favorite starting roster is:
4 Gutter Runners
2 Stormvermin
6 Linerats
3 RR
20k in the bank.

Money in the bank makes it very likely that you can buy an apothecary after game 1. After that, buy Linerats, a Thrower, and replace losses as much as you can.

Some people will swap out that 6th linerat for an apothecary. I think the bench player is more reliable, but if you lose anyone in game 1, you'll disagree with me about this.
I've got my penultimate training game tomorrow night and going with this list, played a few games at the weekend with just 11 and found I was really missing the 12th player. Although the apothecary is top of the shopping list in a league placement after the first game.

Got my first 2turn TD on Saturday on turn 8 to tie the half. Next goal is a 1 turner, although I may need to do a bit more studying to achieve it. Needless to say as a fan of the running game I'm know I've picked the right team.......

Re: Greetings - Advice required for league play Skaven

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 9:53 am
by JaM
Skaven are awesome. They were my first team as well, although the league I played in 'back then', wasnt that heavy on hitting.

But yeah, their speed is awesome! :)

If possible, try to squeeze in a thrower. This will free up a GR from ball-duties (although they can do that quite well), upi could treat the thrower as an 'extra linerat' as soon as he has block. Sort of a sweeper...

The GRunners will level up soon enough, getting them their first few skills wont take long. Even if you assign the MVP at random.

Good luck! :D