Naming the common defensive setups

[Grumbledook]

personally I find a top down view as supported on play-creator.com much easier to see than a 3d one

[Warpstone]

Oooh, Crossbow sounds good. The whole purpose of that formation is to throw your sack artists into the backfield. Nice one.

[Canales]

This is probably the one I use most often. Maybe "The Smile"?

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I sometimes use this against dwarves if I have a fast team with Kick.

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[Grumbledook]

course these are all very nice

but what about set ups with 10, 9 or even less players ;]

[Pug]

OK...new lok for you to have...

Proper Double Banana


Power T


The Flak


Who's Yor Daddy ~ Stacked


Crossbow


The Smile

[Grumbledook]

bah looks like talkbloodbowl isn't set up to use them

[mattgslater]

The "Smile" doesn't sound like a football formation. You have 5 safeties: any way to capitalize on that for a name? EDIT: Never mind. The more I see it written, the cooler I think it is.

That offset defense is rather cool. I use a similar variant in similar circumstances. Keeping the midfielders behind the line two squares back prevents chainpushes from ruining the coverage, and prevents Frenzy from generating extra blocks off of chainpushes. Note that while only two players are protected, there are no viable interior blitz options: the only way in is on the wings. Effectively, you get four free midfielders.

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The 123 Overload
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321 Offset Load, for when you've dealt with the Runners.
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Overload with a Side Step wing.
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Offset Load with a Side Step wing and a free flanker.
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[Warpstone]

321 Offset Load

Hey Matt, do you call out snap counts before starting your turn.

I agree though, the offsets are intriguing. We rarely see them in play since kick seems under-appreciated, however the offsets are a perfect screwballs (sorry for mixing sports metaphors) to throw at opponents.

I think it's been said before that formations are of negligible effect between experienced players, but the offset sounds like a great trick to have up your sleeve for tourny or timed games where your opponent doesn't have the chance to slow down to deal with the shock.

[mattgslater]

None of that terminology on any of these posts is AmFB-oriented: it's all BB-unique, except for a few position names. I actually haven't played AmFB at any organized level (mostly just pickup games at school when we could get 20+ boys together), and though it's probably my least-unfavorite sport to play, I'm not much of an athlete (zero ball skills, mediocre reflexes/instincts, real slow runner for a guy who's not fat, ok with a bat but I don't like baseball ... but I get surprisingly low for a big guy and I know how to use my feet in close quarters). I don't know a whole lot about AmFB terminology that a casual fan wouldn't know, and what I do know I mostly learned in an effort to determine what applies to Blood Bowl, or just picked up from watching a few hundred football games.

I totally disagree that positioning doesn't matter against good coaches. However, good coaches do position well, so it tends to cancel out. And it's one of the easier things to work on, so good positioning is seldom the difference between good and great. Offset defenses are more than just tricks: they're ways to account for Frenzy with space, divert resources to suboptimal places, and hose cages before they form, which is the best time to do it.

[Darkson]

personally I find a top down view as supported on play-creator.com much easier to see than a 3d one

Agree 100%.

bah looks like talkbloodbowl isn't set up to use them

It used to work, but you had to use the code at the bottom (it had a TBB one pre-set). Not sure if the newer version still has that.

[Edit] No it doesn't, so you'd have to use the link: e.g: http://www.play-creator.com/viewplay.asp?viewplay=213

[Darkson]

And grum, before you ask, no the admins can't do anything to add Play-Creator usage to the site. Only JohnnyP can do that, and as he doesn't seem to be about much, it's unlikely he'll add it.

[mattgslater]

Orklahoma!
Where the line goes sweeping 'cross the pitch! Good against man-down agility teams, particularly on turn 5 or later.

B=BOB, Z=Blitzer, T=Troll, t=Thrower. This is not a setup for a young team, but it's killer. The BOBs on the ends need Block and Stand Firm, and the left flanker needs either plus preferably Guard; the wing can have Block, or can be a rookie. The Blitzers on the line like Guard or any kind of ball skill, and the Troll needs both Guard and Stand Firm. The Blitzer on the right wing needs Side Step. I use a Blitzer at safety because I want him to be able to hit/mark any forwards who get downfield. A +MA BOB with Block would be even better; in that case, put a Blitzer as the left Wing.

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Slightly lower-skill version... good against 'Zons and other agility teams that aren't too fast.  Still needs Stand Firm ends, and at least Guard on the Troll.

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[mattgslater]

course these are all very nice

but what about set ups with 10, 9 or even less players ;]

With 9 or 10 players you can drop a safety or two and still be fine.

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10-man Pyramid (Arrowhead variant), works well with a bash team playing against 
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Or you can give up some other element. Cede a wide zone, perhaps?

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10-man Offset for use by speed teams against other speed teams; note that both of the midfielders on the third row back are free, though the Flanker on the left is gonna get hit.
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A 9-man truncated Ziggurat.  Nobody's protected, but you'll still probably have some free players.  Note that the flankers are an extra square forward to help turn the ball over, and to support the line against power runs up the centerfield hole.  This is where positioning skills on the line and in the backfield really earn their keep, and a couple Side Steppers or a really tough line can let a team move the whole backfield one square back.
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In American Football, this is a "3-3 stack". Not suggesting we call it that; just sayin' that it's an AmFB convention too.

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As illustrated in the "Smiley" defense above, this formation lets you protect whatever players are left over after six. If you want to protect a guy and you have only six, you need to play very deep.

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The 9-man Skull
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[voyagers_uk]

personally I find a top down view as supported on play-creator.com much easier to see than a 3d one

Agree 100%.

bah looks like talkbloodbowl isn't set up to use them

It used to work, but you had to use the code at the bottom (it had a TBB one pre-set). Not sure if the newer version still has that.

[Edit] No it doesn't, so you'd have to use the link: e.g: http://www.play-creator.com/viewplay.asp?viewplay=213

Do we think we can get Play-creator to work now that we are separate

[Thadrin]

FWIW I use something similar to the Arrowhead a lot with Dwarfs.
I've always called it the Crossbow (though I tend to have the last man a couple of squares deeper).

never tried the double Danana. Should give that a shot. Strikes me that Orcs or Lizards would be able to use it very well.