First attempt with Underworld - dynamite!

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Smeborg
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First attempt with Underworld - dynamite!

Post by Smeborg »

Had a very enjoyable tourney with Underworld, my first with them. EucBowl in Sydney, Australia, sixty-some coaches, 6 games.

The format was TV 115, most inducements allowed, up to 1 normal skill per player, at normal cost. For better or for worse, the format seems to have encouraged bash teams. Orcs (9), Norse (8) and Dwarfs (8) dominated in both numbers and results. If you add c.4 each of Amazons, Chaos Dwarfs, Dark Elves and Humans, 60% or more of teams were those starting with 4 or more Block players. The winner was an Orc team with 8 M-Blow players (and 31 CAS). One Orc coach I spoke to after the tourney faced: 3xOrcs, 2xDwarfs, 1xChaos Dwarfs. He said the CD match came as a great relief.

Anyway, I seem to have had a fortunate draw, facing Skaven (loss), Undead (draw), Norse (win), Norse (win), Dwarfs (loss), Amazons (loss).

Results were mixed, with 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses. TDs: 9-9. CAS: 12-22. The losses were all narrow (1-2).

My team was: Troll, 2 Blitzers, 2 Throwers, 2 Linerats, 7 Gobbos (14 players), 2 Re-rolls and 10 skills.

The skills were: Claw on the Troll, 2xGuard on the Blitzers, Leader+Block on the Throwers, 2xWrestle on the Linerats, 3x2-Heads on the Gobbos.

I will briefly post the general shape of each match, followed by general comments. If you want to go straight to the general comments, skip the next 6 posts.

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Re: First attempt with Underworld

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First match vs. Skaven in a Blizzard (favourable to them with 4 MA9 players). Opponent chose to kick.

Scored on turn 5, was unable to stop the Skaven scoring in return, but forced them to score early, giving me an excellent one-turn score attempt (touchback+Quick Snap+RR). But it failed. Half-time score 1-1.

Failed again to stop the Skaven scoring in the second half. Then got into trouble when I failed to pick up the ball (my fault, I made no provision for that). A long drive ensued with no score.

Had good sack chances in this match, but they failed.

Final score: 1-2 (CAS: 3-1).

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Re: First attempt with Underworld

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Second match against Undead, also in a Blizzard. Opponent chose to kick.

Scored with some difficulty on turn 7. Double skulls on the first and second turns. The Troll was useless, failing to penetrate Mummy armour repeatedly. Eventually he was put out of his misery by being CAS'd twice (failed the second Regen roll). Shut out his 2-turn attempt. Half-time score: 1-1.

Second half started with a riot (may have cost me the game). Lacking the Troll, I ran out of numbers (reduced to 5 on the pitch) and he managed a far from easy score on turn 16. My 1-turn attempt failed.

Final score: 1-1 (CAS: 1-7).

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Re: First attempt with Underworld

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Game 3 against Norse, in Pouring Rain (favoured me). Won the kick-off and received.

Scored on about turn 5, and then shut him out. Half-time score 1-0.

Second half: managed to surf 3 Norse players in exchange for 1 (all using 1-die blocks and 1-die blitzes). Eventually sacked the ball-carrier with two 2-Heads Gobbos and a re-roll (one ran round the back for the assist, the other ran through the scrum for the blitz). Turned him over to score on turn 15.

Final score: 2-0 (CAS: 2-2).

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Re: First attempt with Underworld

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Game 4 against more Norse, this time in fair weather! Won the kick-off and received.

Scored on turn 5, he scored on turn 8. Half-time score: 1-1.

Second half: turned him over to score and go 2-1 up (on turn 13?), in return he scored a breakaway on turn 16. In my finest and cheesiest moment of the tournament, I scored a 1-turner to win the game at the last gasp, without RR (got a touchback). Apologised to my poor opponent.

Had some chances to win the game without the 1-turner. A somewhat brutal game on both sides, favouring me.

Final score: 3-2 (CAS: 4-4).

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Re: First attempt with Underworld

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Game 5 against a Dwarf power-roster: 8 Longbeards, 2 Blitzers, 1 Runner. So 11 Bock, 9 Guard, 8 Tackle. Unfortunately my opponent won the kick and received.

He scored with some difficulty on turn 8. Sent 2 Skaven round the back to threaten the ball, had about 3 good 1-die sack attempts on the ball-carrier with a Wrestle Linerat. Forced him to roll dice until the end. 1-turn attempt then failed (evil ball scatter+Blitz). At the end of the half, my Linerat (1-dice block with Wrestle) and my Blitzer (3+dodge) CAS'd themselves, almost certainly costing me the game. Ironically, they were both the safest actions to preserve their skins.

Second half: down to 10 men, scored on turn 12 despite fumbling a pass (his team was too slow to take advantage, as I had spread the play). He eventually scored on turn 16, again with some difficulty (and 2 GFIs). Troll finally woke up on this drive, CAS'd a Longbeard and tied up 2 others, meaning that despite losing players, I had parity of numbers on the rest of the park.

A tough match-up for the Underworld, but they nevertheless stayed in the hunt for 16 turns. Better luck (nearly all RRs failed), or better positional play on my part, might have secured a draw. Had I received, I might have been able to secure a numbers advantage for the second half. Hard to see how I would have got better than a draw, though, without a 1-turn score (hard to do that against all that Tackle).

Final score: 1-2 (CAS: 1-5).

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Re: First attempt with Underworld

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6th and final match against another power-roster, this time Amazons (4 Guard, 9 Blodge/Wrodge players). Alas, my opponent won the kick and received.

He scored on turn 6, I felt unable to get a credible threat on the ball-carrier, but at least forced him to score early. I then made multiple blunders to fluff what should have been an easy score. The Troll did not help by going Stupid at the critical moment. Also a Pitch Invasion which stunned 2 Gobbos and only 1 'Zon (despite +1 Fame). Even with my blunders, I still had a 3+ chance to score, but it failed. Half-time score: 0-1.

Second half: I again made blunders, and eventually got turned over for a score of 0-2 (turn 14). I then got lucky to score on turn 16 (despite a Blitz).

A tough match-up. Sadly, I played poorly in this match, which otherwise should have been a draw. On the other hand, it is hard to see how I could have won the match (other than by a successful 1-turn score). Unable to knock down the 'Zons early on, I knocked them down in spades as the match progressed (with some luck), but my armour rolls were consistently poor, and the CAS/KOs came too late. Had I received, things would have been more interesting, as I might have had a numbers advantage for the second half. I had difficulty dodging the Skaven out of contact, whereas my opponent did not fail a dodge until about turn 6 (and he dodged a lot).

Final score: 1-2 (CAS: 1-3).

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Re: First attempt with Underworld

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GENERAL COMMENTS
-----------------------------------
Underworld appear to be a viable and competitive team, in this format at least. They are very enjoyable and relaxing to play, except when up against power-rosters (which for me was 2 matches, Dwarfs and Amazons). Against these power-rosters, Underworld simply have to roll too many dice.

They compete just fine on numbers (although not against M-Blow). I actually had a numbers advantage against Norse (twice), and only suffered a material disadvantage in numbers 3 times (2nd half against Undead, first half against Dwarfs, first half against Amazons). Otherwise I had general parity most of the time. The overall CAS count of 12-22 may look bad, but it is not unfavourable to a team with a 14-player roster (my opponents had short rosters, something like: 13, 11, 12+A, 11+A, 11+A, 11+A). I don't remember fouling or being fouled once in the tournament, an indicator of how tense and positional the games were.

The roster worked well, an Apoth or a 3rd team RR would have been nice, but not at the expense of the 10 skills.

2-Heads Gobbos are simply outstanding, my wins and the draw can all be attributed to them. Their ability to get anywhere wins matches. Good on offense (receivers), good for assists, good for sacking exposed ball-carriers, good for crowd-surfing (assissting and blocking squares), there is seemingly little they cannot do, provided you have sufficient sight of the board to spot the opportunity.

Other skills worked extremely well, Guard and Wrestle were superb. Only Claw was an utter failure - it did not work once in the whole tournament. Partly this is because i had four AV7 opponents, but also I think it was just bad luck. Given that this was a bash-heavy tournament with many short rosters, Claw seems sensible insurance. But I will give consideration to other skills: Tentacles, B-Tackle, Guard and even P-On. Or even to dropping the skill on the Troll in favour of a 4th 2-Heads Gobbo (counter-intuitive, I know, but it may be technically correct).

The passing game was very poor. I have only 2 Pass Completions recorded, and remember failing on several occasions. When in trouble, I often found myself making passes at 4+ to a Gobbo, often one in a TZ (not great odds, especially if you add Animosity).

The team is a bit drawish, I suspect. I did not help results by making clear mistakes on the 2 occasions when I got turned over. 1-turn scores are very important, they would have changed the result in 5 out of 6 matches (only 1 worked). But it's worth saving a RR for the 1-turn attempt, I think, especially if you are being successfully ground down. Forcing your opponent to score early (before his last turn) can pay big dividends (for example, you get a second 1-turn attempt in the match, or a conventional 2-turn attempt instead of a 1-turner).

Very interesting stat: I won both matches where I won the kick-off roll (and received). In the 4 matches where my opponents won the kick-off roll, I suffered 3 losses and a draw.

My opponents were generally impressed by the resourcefulness of the Underworld team. I think some of them were expecting easy wins, there were none.

My league experience with Underworld (3 short seasons) was definitely a great help. Onward and upward from here!

All the best. I hope you enjoyed that, and glad that I managed to spit it all out while still fresh.

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Re: First attempt with Underworld

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Double post.

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Re: First attempt with Underworld - dynamite!

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I have reviewed the failure of Claw. On average (given the opponents I faced) it should have worked on 6.5% of 2-die blocks. So while I was unlucky, this was not outrageously so. It was the predominance of AV7 opponents that decided the matter. But, on the other hand, had Claw worked even once in the matches against Undead and Dwarfs, this could have decided the matches in my favour.

The Gobbos "failed" in the last 2 matches, having been superb until then. Against the Dwarfs, the 2-Headed Gobbos flew into the dugout, and the rookie Gobbos failed nearly all their dodges away from Tackle. Against Amazons, the 2-Headed Gobbos rolled 2 or 3 double ones early in the turn when dodging, which did not help their team's cause.

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Re: First attempt with Underworld - dynamite!

Post by JaM »

Nice report, thanks for the numners and skills and all that.

I'd skip the skill on the troll too, I guess. 2 headed gobbos are just 'too good', the troll needs to be a raodblock I guess.
Although I understand the temptation to give him/her/it(??) claws...

It's a good format for Underworld though, most tournaments only give you one skill before each match... meaning you struggle to give them what would benefit the whole team. Getting all your skills (or, a lot) on the players beforehand and having the opportunity to choose a lot of skills is good. Not only for undeworld, but for other teams as well I suppose.

Well done man, underworld is such a lot of fun to play. Espescially with some skills...!

Cheers,

JaM

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Re: First attempt with Underworld - dynamite!

Post by Smeborg »

Thanks, JaM. Yes, I agree this appears to be a good format for Underworld. I am apprehensive about what might happen to the team in other formats where the team is unlikely to have Gobbos with 2-Heads. But that won't stop me having a go.

The team is certainly fun to play in a tourney. They are more resilient than in a league, since killer combos are rarely faced (e.g. Tackle/M-Blow or M-Blow/P-On). They are quire well balanced and resourceful, playing long entertaining drives (which appeals to me).

I said above that they are quite drawish (despite only getting one draw!). This is because I only got one turnover score, and "only" got turned over twice (but I made obvious mistakes on these drives). I also didn't shut out my opponent when kicking at the beginning of the half, although I came close on numerous occasions. Thus I conclude that the side is drawish. Further, I would say that:

- Underworld are unlikely to win tourneys, but accurately played (and in the right format) there is no reason why they cannot place well in the top half.

- One turn scores are very important, more important than in a league setting. With aggressive play, you might be able to get 2 one turn score attempts, with relatively high odds of at least one succeeding. Keeping a RR in hand for this may be better odds than burning it in general play (but hard to generalise, of course). But once again, scoring a one-turner is hard without 2-Heads.

All the best.

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Re: First attempt with Underworld - dynamite!

Post by inkpwn »

Very enjoyable read, I would love to hear more on your future games with the team, it's a very different approach from mine. :)
I'm hoping to start a team blog for my Southland Fishcanners just before Gert Bowl so I can add my two cents.

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Re: First attempt with Underworld - dynamite!

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Hey inkpwn - Southland Fishcanners sound like they belong in New Zealand!

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