THUG TANK - Goon Squad Orc Blog - 29 (Semi Final)

[bouf]

Thanks for that,
You can follow the R'lyeh Summoners in this Blog
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[bouf]

Can’t get enough of that wonderful stuff!

Ladies and gents, Punks and Poofs, Orcs and Dorks… The Rocky Mountain Goon Squad has returned and under dubious circumstances… but really, did you expect anything less?

If you’re a fan of my little blog efforts you’ll know that I had a poor finals performance with the Goons at the end of Season 3. I was determined to win Season 4 and I thought to my self that my Slann team was the way to go... but it wasn’t meant to be. Some financial trouble and poor timing of the holidays and a new job meant that I couldn’t afford the minis I wanted. Okay, Old news… blah, blah, blah…

Enough about the past, lets talk the about the future. The Goons were good enough to renew my coaching contract and let me take the helm for season 4. The team has quite a lot to prove this season however... They lost under some abysmal circumstances last season. 1 ~ Re-roll 2 cost me so many turn overs that the bloody skaven simply ran in, simple mistakes that my precious AG5 Slann would never make. On top of that, the Goons had one of the worst seasons that I’ve ever had as far as inflicting casualties is concerned. Although my differential was ridiculously high, my actual number of inflicted casualties – for an Orc team – was tiny.

Could the Goons live up to their name sake and Goon the best of BABBL? Could the mean men of the Great White North get past the first round of the finals? Could me lads show me the error of my ways and steer me away form the Slann for good?

Here are my Season 4 goals…

1) Win a place in the RotGut Invitational. (I need to lead the division or get enough points to take the wild card slot)
2) Win the Rising Star award (and gain a fan favourite)
3) Place 4th or higher after regulation play
4) Advance to the Semis (that would land me a 4th place finish at a minimum)
5) Win a trophy (any one will do)
6) Have two players win a medal (this is probably the hardest to accomplish)

[bouf]

Bring back the Biff!

If ever there was an important game, this was it! Game one of the season and I’m up against one of those coaches that I can’t ever seem to beat. There are about 3 of them in BABBL… Sparticus, Master_Sneek and my first opponent: RAZWEL (the black hearted bugger). What’s worse, he was back in command of one of the biggest teams in the league. With two seasons under his belt, the Sharman’s Bloodletters have a massive 249 team value and deserve every drop. Many a player has been crushed by the combined might of the Chaos Pact. Raz is a great coach who can win when losing (unlike me who can lose when winning) so an early loss to him would make my race to the Midseason Dungeon all the harder… I may never catch him in points. For the inducements I took the Chain Saw and evened up the strength penalty by fielding the Mighty Ripper. (I also took an extra Apothecary, just in case) I really wanted a Win, but was expecting a Draw at best.

All this said there was one Goons player who was determined to show just how good the team can be. Biff Shatterjaws (my Boy!) had a cracking game! It all started with a kick off the to the Bloodletters which touched back. Not a great start…right? WRONG! The Bloods Ogre opened the game with a double down block against my mighty lummox, Mr Piniata Head which dropped both of the numpties. The quick turn over was capitalised on immediately by Biff.

He reached out with his mighty hands and thumbed his way into the skull of Marauder, George Forman. First dice roll of the season costs a man his life! That is a great start to any season!!!

He continued to blitz his way around the pitch and then somehow managed to clap down the first TD of the season. In the 2nd Drive, the Bloods put up some great offence and drove right up the middle. My timely blitz to cough up the ball didn’t pay off and he was away. I had a dodge out with my wrestler to try to drag him down but pooched it. The game was tied 1-1 but the cost was getting high for the Bloods as Biff managed to hurt their Ogre.

In the 2nd half, Mr. Piniatta Head was hurt but he regenerated, the Chainsaw carted off the Minotaur and Biff carved his way through another two players. As the K/Os and injuries mounted, the Bloodletters were found bloodied and had only 4 marauders left on the pitch. The Goons suffered a pair of ejections for fouling as we tried to cash in on a bounty or two and Busta Rektum was dancing about the End zone, winding down the clock. Two Bloods pulled off some pretty miraculous dodge efforts to get a 2 dice Blitz on Busta which downs him on the sideline. (4+, 3+ then 2x GFI, THEN 4+, 3+ and 2x GFI to blitz, of course he scored a Knock Down!?!) The Loose Ball scattered off the pitch and sails all the way to the Line of Scrimmage, bounces and lands in the crowd again who (luckily) lob it more towards the Bloods end zone than mine. A few biffs and a nice little hand off and the game is in the bag!

Goons win 2-1

[bouf]

Nuffle is a Jerk!

I went into this game against the Norse pretty confident. Greedy and his Asgard Raiders were counting on the Bloodletters giving me a beating which just didn’t happen. I had a fresh Squad and was rubbing my hands together over all that AV7. The Raiders induced a Babe, as I had expected, in an effort to stay competitive in the scrap. He was determined to Beat the Snot out of Biff since he saw his Snow Troll as the Deserved winner of our most casualties medal and Biff started the season off with 4. After all the threats I had won a little contest within the league which gave me 80K to spend on bounties… I tagged his newly acquired AG4 Thrower with a nice little bounty and set about winning it ASAP.

The Game started magically. The kick-off saw a thrown rock knock the sense out of the Mega Star Norse Runner Baldir. The Raiders tried to recover but after a few blocks, the snow troll rolled double down against one of my Black Orc Blockers and Randy Mongoloid (as t’was his name) knocked him out. THEN my good ol’ Biff Shatterjaws threw the first Squaddie Block of the game and Paralysed the Raiders Berserker (-AV but he was retired before he reached the casualty bin). That’s twice in as many games that the first Goons Block resulted in a career ending injury, and each time it was thrown by Biff! Much the same as the last game, The Goons locked the Raiders in the middle and one of my Blitzers, Brick “The Man” Manor, found the thrower unprotected... one fist in the chops later and he waltzed in an easy TD.

The Troll woke up, tragically, and so did Baldir. Greedy was really looking for Biff this time! The kick off was much the same; Throw a Rock. Some Norse fan however decided to throw an Axe instead which nearly cleaved Brick Manor in twain! My Apothecary managed to bail him out but the gap in my line was not to go unnoticed… A nice run of diarrhoea by my dice saw the Raiders run one in virtually unopposed… I even wasted a ring of teleportation to get my Blitz in defence. Both TDs were quick so I had three turns to try to get the game 2-1. Unfortunately, the better of my two throwers was injured in the last drive by the Snow troll.

To open the third drive I “sprung” the trampoline Trap on the Snow Troll. He landed on his pinky and was carted off to the injury bin as the Goons set up their offence. Unfortunately for us, my thrower had his fingers magically replaced with thumbs. I managed to fail the pick up twice, and then fumbled a pass that would have certainly scored me the lead. That’s where the half ended... I was on fire in the first 3 turns, but rubbish in the last 5. Greedy was the opposite, 4 turns of Crap then 4 of gold.

For the second I managed to lay down the smack score a last turn TD, it all ended rather uneventfully. Neither team was in any real dominant position until the last few turns where the Goons finally decided it might be a good idea to injure or at least K/O some players… The Snow troll was on his arse but I just couldn’t foul him out… Harry “Muff” Merkin had his back smashed (-AV) but I managed a Niggle on one of his linemen in return.

All said and done; another tidy win despite all the mess. The Raiders doubled the number of casualties ever inflicted on me in one game, (Previous record being only 2) but we still got our licks in and came out on top there too. His One Ulf with Guard was a nightmare for me… I just couldn’t get him out of the way. All my Stand Firm is usually awesome but this time it was little better than annoying for my opponent. Having said that, it was nice to ignore the crowd despite all that Frenzy.

Goons Win 2-1

[voyagers_uk]

Love the Blog, Bouf

keep the reports coming....

[Mephisto]

Love the Blog, Bouf

keep the reports coming....

Yeah, please!

[JaM]

+2 !!

[bouf]

What Next

I've got a little free time at the office so why not Blog a little more...? (early apologies for the Verbal Diarrhoea)

My team has performed pretty well so far, 2 wins and only a -AV to show for it. My FF is stuck at 10 but I don't see that as a problem. My Cash situation hasn't been awesome with only 30 or so extra Gold in the kitty, but I've been fortunate to avoid injury and have my full compliment of RRs.

~One thing I've always thought I missed about 'Old Timey' Blood Bowl was the Bad Habits Card. I think it's a little too 'simple' to retain RRs between seasons. There should be some way to lose them and force teams to buy them again. I've toyed with ideas for house rules based on Team Value, but I'm loath to add house rules and wont if I can avoid it. But that's The Commish talking, not the Goons Coach

I also managed to skill up my Thrower, Chuck Dattaway, and gave him Accurate. I was really struggling with what to give him, but decided to make one "Offensive" thrower (with all passing type skills) and one "Defensive" thrower (with Wrestle, Fend, Strip Ball, Dump Off, NoS). Chuck will be all throwing and the other will head down the defence rout.

I'm getting a little keen for a guarder or two... but I'm going to stick to my plan. The two Black Orcs without Stand Firm will get SF if they ever skill up, then Guard. The two Black Orcs with Stand Firm will take Frenzy. (That should make the wide zones a little less attractive) My Two Stand Firm Blitzers will take Guard then Grab, when they get high enough.

I've developed a theory about doubles on Orcs. Dodge is one of those staple Skills (like Block, Guard, etc...) but after playing Slann and Amazons for a little bit, I've decided that it's a waste of time on AG3 Orcs. My train of thought goes like this; In a developed league, you need doubles to Dodge, and your opponent doesn't need it to Tackle. So by that theory, you will have less Dodge than he has Tackle. He'll easily be able to mark your dodger, and what's worse, if you have some noteworthy success with your little dodger, your opponents will only increase the amount of tackle they take. So... take either Side Step, Diving Tackle, Sure Feet or Jump Up.

Now, Side step isn't all that special compared to Stand Firm (not really worth the doubles for a Blitzer) and Fend will "kinda" do the same job for Linemen/Throwers (I don't see the value in SS on doubles) so look at the others Skills. Sure Feet is great for a Orc so you can get a little extra MA, but you really, desperately need MA after your opponent has acted. Defence is the name of the game for Blood Bowl... Scoring TDs isn't hard with low MA, but stopping high movement players is. The reactionary skill is Jump Up. The best way to mark your players is to put him on his butt, with Jump Up, they're still a threat. Block/Blitz/Assist, all are possible.

Diving Tackle is Great too but I think I'll take Jump Up from now on. That goes for all non AG players, Jump Up rather than dodge for long leagues (except for Black Orcs, Most people who hit ST4 don't have Tackle, so take Dodge on ST4 players). I'd love to see a Dark Elf Player try a Skill based team with Jump Up... Same as I'm doing with Stand Firm.

Any ways, back to my team... I've been struggling to inflict casualties with the Black Orcs and they've been stuck on their current SPPs for a while now. I'm not sure there is anything I can do about it, I don't want to take Mighty Blow on any of them until 4th or 5th skill. I have a game plan and it has been paying off so far... I'd hate to deviate for MB.

Next Game I'm up against a Uncle Crusty's Circus, a CD team with more than their fair share of Guard, Mighty Blow and Claws... I'd like to say that I'm confident but I'd be lying. I get 370 in inducements and am looking at the following...

1 x BB Babes
2 x Apothecary
1 x Chainsaw

I may drop an Apo for a Bribe, or to get a 200K card rather than the usual 100K, but I haven't decided. The 2 extra Apo's will come in handy, but do little to win me the game. The Long term must be considered but which long term... The League standing, or team integrity??? A loss may cost me... Lost players may cost me more! Its the 200K card that tempts me more than anything.

I love the Chainsaw (even bought the right mini) and for an even 100K he's plenty useful. I'm savvy enough to know better than to rely on him from turn to turn unless I'm getting desperate. Always try to use him last... The turn you use him first will be the one where he rolls a kick back. My favourite tactic is to foul with him... AV9 eh? BUZZZ...! Not so much!

Any ways... back to work... Wish me luck and watch for a much different roster after Tuesday night! Unless of course I manage to Goon the CDs!!!

[Mephisto]

Nice to read you again.

Some points:

1) About the RR. There was once a time an article named "the Crush", that had some nice rules about cutting team downs for the next league. I think you can still find it, perhaps on Galak's site. If not, then send me a pm and I'll check if I still have it. I think that the more RR you had, the more probability you had to loose them. At the end of the season you had to roll for each rr. And if you failed the roll, you lost it.

Ex.:

RR that you have: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Roll needed: n 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ lost

I'm not sure if these numbers are correct, but I hope you understand the idea.

2) I do not see some of your points. I prefer for a Black Orc Guard as SF. It will be more useful to you, and you always get an advantage what strong refers. Jump up is OK, but Dodge is always useful. Even if the other has some players with tackle. And dodge increases the life chances of your players. Explain me please how the guy with the cool necro team has managed to keep those amazing wolves alive?

3) Can you please post the link to the CD team you are facing?

4) I think that a succesful Orc team should combine Guard and Mighty Blow. Those are the key skills, at least for some of the players.

5) Your defensive thrower. What about that: Wrestle, Strip Ball, Tackle, Heroic Tackle?

[bouf]

1) Ya there are a few floating about, but none worth the effort...

2) I'm working on a theory that Field position is key to defence, not Guard/MB. I'm sure that there are better Orc teams out there but the Goons are just that... Goons. Not killers.

I've seen too many players with dodge get tackled to rate dodge as a skill... mass dodge is good, but it just seems a waste on a doubles roll foor teams without A skill access. Unless you plan on getting a lot of it... and a lot of doubles!

If I had any idea how those wolves survived, I'd play Necros myself.

3) I will in my next post.

4) I dissagree and am currently trying to disprove the myth. I'd like to see a Dwarf coach try the same. (all blockers get Grab and Stand firm before they get Guard or MB - Prove that they're not just a oone trick pony)

5) I haven't decided yet...

[DoubleSkulls]

2) I'm working on a theory that Field position is key to defence, not Guard/MB. I'm sure that there are better Orc teams out there but the Goons are just that... Goons. Not killers.

Field position is important, but enough guard lets you form a pretty much inpenetrable barrier - or mash through most opposition. Stand firm is handy and if progression wasn't so slow for BOBs I'd seriously consider Guard/SF as the default starting partnership.

I've seen too many players with dodge get tackled to rate dodge as a skill... mass dodge is good, but it just seems a waste on a doubles roll foor teams without A skill access. Unless you plan on getting a lot of it... and a lot of doubles!

Exactly my sentiments. Throwers built for running are the only Orcs I'd take dodge on. BOBs I'd ignore doubles happily for ever, Blitzers & Line Orcs can use diving tackle.

[bouf]

Match up against Rednick and his Uncle Crusty's Circus... All I can say is I was filled with terror and dread! Truthfully, I didn't hold out much room for hope. Rednick is a ruthless coach (as you can probably tell from his team!) and I think he holds a special place in his heart for my misery. He gets this look in his eye when he rolls a casualty and is about to roll the injury dice... I never want to see that look anywhere besides on the BB pitch! It's truly unnerving. His team, Uncle Crusty's Circus is a weapon more than a blood bowl team. I liken a game against Rednick to Wild West a shoot-out. Before the end, some one will likely get hurt.

So here's me, rocking up to the Saloon with my six-gun. The Goon Squad has a few beef eaters, and is iron clad in defence. All my Stand Firm robs my opponent of field position and the team acts with great synergy. A real old school fighting defence team. I have some Mighty Blow, but have purposely avoided making a team that is built to kill. I don't want my opponent to regret a game against me. I want then to feel defenceless against the beating I'm giving them, but I don't want to kill him. (If he lives, he'll spread fear!)

If the Goons are a Six-gun, then the Crusties are a Bazooka. It's quite obvious to anyone who has a peek that Rednick has built a Chaos Dwarf team with one focus. Injury! Mighty Blow, on 8 players, Claw on three, Guard, Stand Firm, Block, Tackle... the list goes on. Almost every skill is geared toward killing off his opponent and walking in an unopposed TD. Its a strategy that serves him well. He managed 2nd place in the finals last season and gave my Slann a good game in the first round of the finals in the 2nd season (before he had a chance to really develop). Just last game he played Chaos Pact ad killed off an Ogre, gave -AG to a +AG guy, and -AV to a +ST guy. He also spent the whole week taunting me, hungrily rubbing his hands together and rubbing his tummy!

So... I'm an old dog and despite all my trepidation, I had a Plan. My team is still deep in development... I'm at the stage where I've got a good team but am still shy of greatness. I went into the game with a solid 195 rating (factoring in my missing lineman) and against the Veteran CDs I was given 370 in inducements. I took my (t)rusty Chainsaw, BB Babes and 2x Extra Apothecaries. The Plan was to kick if I won the coin toss and try to eek out a Draw by the end of the first half. Use the Apos and Babes to keep the team intact till the 2nd half. I'll do as much damage as I can and then field the chainsaw in the 2nd where, with the Saws help, I'll cut a swathe through the CDs and stall in a game winner (or tie point if the 1st doesn't go well). GOOD PLAN!

I was tempted to drop an Apo for more cards, but decided against it.

Luck be a lady!

Rednick drew the 'Extra Training' Card and I got 'Force Field' and 'Suicide Blitz'. Crusty won the Fame and the Coin toss and decided to receive first. (all part of the plan don't forget) The Goons touched back the kick while re-arranging into a Perfect Defence, but before the Hobgoblins could collect it, Biff deeked around the Troll and got a foot onto Uncle Crusty himself, unfortunately failing to knock him down. Biff failed a dodge away and then The Circus set about their offence. The lack of Guard and Stand Firm on the Goons front line opened some holes in the middle, but the abundance of Thuggery on the wings stalled the CDs as they tried to go around the Squad. The middle was in even worse shape when the Troll failed to remember that he was supposed to be on his feet (I must have failed 4 out of 5 RS rolls that drive) Uncle Crusty injured Chuck Dattaway early in the drive but in his haste to Pile On the Thrower, he left a small hole in his offence that Biff threw himself through, crippling the Crusties "Star" Hobgoblin (-AG that he successfully Apothed) and freeing up the ball in the process. With the ball lose the Goons tried to surround it and after a little scrapping the Agile Hands of Busta Rektum touched it down on defence in T5. He wanted to stall longer but the situation was getting a little desperate with many Goons Stunned in the fight.

Another kick off and the Goons were not too worse for wear (surprisingly) with all the big guns avoiding injury. The Goons managed to touch it back again while the Crusties Coaching staff showcased their brilliance. Some Strong offence and Poor defence allowed the freshly recovered Hobgoblin to sneak one in on the 8th Turn.

The Goons had some injury time and set up for a "Lob da Gob" play. A lucky scatter played to our advantage but a Perfect Defence viciously stole the hope from our Grasp. Even a good effort at the casualties was stolen as the Key Guarders in the Circus set up with awesome forethought. Still, the Goons made an effort (5+ not to fumble the Goblin) and fumbled the Goblin... who landed without issue. That TD would have sealed the CDs fate, but oh well. I've tried to get a 1 turner maybe 4 times now and fumbled each time.

So the 2nd Starts with the Casualties tied at 1-1 and the score the same. Frustratingly, the Goons hadn't managed even a knock out after that Blitz by Biff. If I could Break AV, which wasn't easy, I just couldn't get better than a Stun. On the Good side the game was going according to plan.

The Crusties Kicked and the weather looked as though it may change and the Goons set about injuring the CDs as much as possible. Nothing came out of the first turn besides a few stuns, including the Saw Stunning the Taur. The Line held fast and in the second turn the Saw Fouled the taur for another stun... That was when the wheels came off.

The Goons just refuesed to K/O or injure anyone... Uncle Crusty blitzed the saw - after Biff failed to injure him - and killed the loony in a brutal fashion! Then one of the Black Orcs was promptly K/Oed. Now I was right where I didn't want to be. Out manned against a team built to fight. The 2nd Half degenerated into a brutal scrum for the ball. Possession changed hands a few times and a draw looked imminent. There was no way that the Crusties would score, they had to commit everyone to stop the Goons from scoring. Worse, the Goons were just slightly out of position, out manned and surrounded. Luckily for me the Circus failed a foolish Pick up attempt when they should have just surrounded the ball, and my AG4 Blitzer was right there! A few tense 1 dice hits (without re-rolls) freed up the ball and Busta stood up, dodged away for an easy pick up and GFIed his way to the endzone to win the game in the 8th turn. (Unless the Circus could orchestrate a Riot in injury time)

On the last turn, I set up a little out of character... Usually I leave a 2 square gap between my 3 line guys and the rest of my team, to protect my self from a Quick Snap. I didn't this time so I could try to stop the Circus from getting scadds of assists on my poor Black Orcs. Obvioulsy I rolled a Quick Snap and that let the Circus, with all their Claws and Guard, right into my line. He promptly rolled up another two casualties to destroy my +/-, but failed to do any lasting damage.

All said and done, I was honestly amazed to have won. Rednick had me on the ropes and I squeaked this one through. Having said that, I induced 2 Apothecaries and never even had to use my own. I was certain that the Bazooka would destroy my team, but it must have miss fired or something. Maybe I'm not giving the Goons enough credit... Tragically Rednick Rolled another set of claws for his ST4 CD after the game.

I see him building too much of a Killing force and there are already players who simply don't want to play him... and I don't really blame them. Is it worse sportsmanship to make a Killing team or is it worse sprotsmanship to avoid playing them...? Sure it's cowardly to run from a game, but it's not exactly motivating to have all your hard work smashed to little bits.

At the end of the day, Rednick Lost the game because he hasn't got a single scoreing threat. There was never much danger of losing the game, although there was a real danger of drawing it. His fighting focus was his undoing and it'll cost him the Finals until he realises it.

For my next game I'm back to full strength and gained another Stand Firm BoB. Also, I have plenty of money to mount a recovery if needs be. Once I hit 250K, I'm going to start placing bounties with all excess cash at the end of each game. Really try to heat things up a little league wise!

[Master Wang]

Great report again and congrat on the win and surviving. That is a truly brutal team. I'm not sure what I think about people who build teams like that. Part of me understands it, but I just hope they understand why they may never get games.

[Mephisto]

Well, it depends on how the league is ruled. Because if you are forced to play each game, then you cannot refuse to play

Bouf, nice report again and congratz for the victory! But after having a look at your opponent's team I'm having my doubts if I should play CD or Chaos Pact. I'm thinking on a marauder with block, claws, mighty and piling on...

[DoubleSkulls]

CD blockers start with block & tackle giving them a head start on the best skills AND they have Av9 & Thick Skull - making them harder for the opposition to remove unless they've also got effective killers developed.