New Albion Expatriates and BBLASD

[mattgslater]

Update: the Mighty Smokers of Greenleaf won 70,000 GC and the Unlucky Sevens apparently aren't so unlucky after all (at least not in the Winnings department) with 60,000. The Sevens, with a full complement of positionals and twelve players are banking up for a fourth TRR, while the Panzers have taken an Apothecary.

I suspect that he'll forgo the Journeyman to field a ten-man team at 1.08M, which will leave him enough inducement cash for Prince Moranion. I think he's just going to use him as a wrecking-ball, which is fine by me: Moranion's only really good at that against skilly or bashy teams. I'll just keep him chump-marked, and he'll be a guy. Me, I'd take the Journeyman and Eldril, but far be it from me to give him advice.

[mattgslater]

First half down, second half rescheduled for today.

1) I see why nobody else in the league likes this guy. Let me find a nicer way to say that: this guy needs to develop some social awareness. How's that? We generally have a relaxed policy on the four-minute rule, but we had a hard 3-hour time limit. He'd do things like agonize over the direction of a knockdown far away from play, eight minutes into his turn, then deliberately slow down if you said anything: I threatened to IP him once, but that would mean I'd need to be careful about sticking to 4 turns and moving my turn marker every time, and if I IP'ed him twice in one game I'd come off the bully. It took all 3 hours to play one half. We tied a Cheering Fans, and he bitched about it my crazy luck (I had FAME, mind you: he rolled a 6 and I rolled a 4)... right after he scored on a ridiculous sequence.

2) It was a good competitive half, in a freaky way. This guy puts up a defense that just made me wish wish wish I could build a Frenzy player quickly (hard to curse stat increases, but I may have a couple games to wait). Moranion goes to the line and promptly gets KO'ed, but he does get some pressure and knockdown cover all but my outlet receiver, so I throw in a 2TTD. He sets up; I totally hold him out and sack his carrier, but fail to knockdown, and his AG5 Thrower chucks a LB from 2 TZs; my Catcher fails to int, he rolls a 6, catches with his unprotected rookie Catcher in GFI blitzing range for Uncle Slam. I set up my turn with free actions, leaving my Thrower and a lino free to turn it into a pass/handoff TD and then blitz to free the ball; but I rolled a 1 on the GFI and he scored in turn 5. My three-turner at the end of the half failed, but that was my fault. I held off before scoring because I didn't want him to get two turns of offense; I pinned his guys down so that a blitz was both highly improbable (2 3+ rolls and 6 2+ rolls to get 1d unskilled on a rookie) and probably not enough anyway. But he makes the 2 3+ rolls and the 6 2+ rolls, gets a pow, and knocks the ball into both his guys' TZ. I knock them both off, but fail the pickup anyway; he tries a desperation move to score a last-minute TD, but the first of 3 6+ rolls fails and that's that.

All of his KOs are back. I've broken armor 11 times, KO'ed 6, and stunned 5. He has yet to break armor. I'm kicking. Tied 1-1. One Comp will skill either Ellis Island or Rhett Wydenblut.

His defense is really dumb. His luck has been eye-popping, and he's only managed to tie the score. He has learned a few tricks, and until his dice blow out on him a few times he cannot be taught proper risk management. He's come to the realization that I'm a better blocker than he is, but for some reason he acts like he thinks it's innate or something. We'll see, he may come back in the second half with better risk management.

Here's what he's been doing. I'd like to say it hasn't been working, but for the moment it's .500 stopping me in two drives. Still, it's a sieve and I could have been up 2-1 if I weren't greedy. I'm hoping to teach him something this half by setting up on defense over and over....

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- - - -|- L - M - L -|- - - -
- - - B|- - L - L - -|B - - -
- C - -|- - - L - - -|- - C -
- - - -|- - - T - - -|- - - -

[Mad Banker]

I could have been up 2-1 if I weren't greedy.

I've been there too many times... You check the probabilities of something going wrong, thus you get too cocky based on that and... Nuffle reminds you that who's in charge

[mattgslater]

Second half was absolutely horrible. Worst game I ever played. My defense nearly held 'im out, but he scored on turn 4, and beginning with my turn 4, I failed every single roll. 2d with Block? Double skulls. Pick up? Failed. Over and over. Over the course of he game, he made no fewer than seven 1d blocks, five of them unskilled, resulting in 2 casualties on 6 knockdowns and only one burned TRR. I lost 4-1, the first time in the hundreds and hundreds of games I've played that I've allowed four scores in one game. I'm also 0-2 in my last two games, after the Oilsand Raiders lost last week. Worse, I can't point to more than one mistake on my part in either game, but both were decided by more than one TD. I know that means I shouldn't feel bad about losing those games, that luck played a big part, but that actually makes it worse.

Rocky Redglare suffered -1AV. Thrower Rhett Wydenblut got doubles, and I have no clue what to get him. Strong Arm? Guard? Ellis Island got his second skill, and now has Block. Now I'm down to 1.27M TV, and 11 men.

[JaM]

Ouch... losing can hurt sometimes, but losing when you are just plain unlucky AND the opponent has überluck and isnt fun to play against sucks bananas through a gardenhose.

I'd take strong arm. Next skill accurate or sure hands and you've got one hell of a thrower. Throw in KOreturn and he's set for offense.
I'd stick with the "regular" throwerskills. let linos and blitzers get guard, not throwers. Throwers should pick up a ball and throw it, preferably to a player who then can score a TD.

Make the other thrower the defensive one, with NoS, dodge, sure hands, stuff like that. But you know that, of course...


Best of luck !

[Mad Banker]

Ouch... losing can hurt sometimes, but losing when you are just plain unlucky AND the opponent has überluck and isnt fun to play against sucks bananas through a gardenhose.

I'd take strong arm. Next skill accurate or sure hands and you've got one hell of a thrower. Throw in KOreturn and he's set for offense.
I'd stick with the "regular" throwerskills. let linos and blitzers get guard, not throwers. Throwers should pick up a ball and throw it, preferably to a player who then can score a TD.

Make the other thrower the defensive one, with NoS, dodge, sure hands, stuff like that. But you know that, of course...


Best of luck !

Like he said...

I feel for you Matt... I just hate getting scored against too (and if it is more than once I just get sick)

[mattgslater]

Yeah, Strong Arm it is. Next is Sure Hands, and Accurate at 31. Now I have two Block/SS guys, but I don't have any Tackle. For November, I have the Necromantics again, and the Orcs, and I have another pickup match if I want. So I'll get kind of a breather. I'm going to see if the Orc coach wants first dibs on my team in its weakened state. Still, he should play the Necros first, as he'll be desperate for a win.

So after October, the standings are:

1: The Mighty Smokers of Greenleaf (Pro Elves), 2-0
2: Draes Greens (Skaven), 2-0
3: The New Albion Expatriates (High Elves), 2-1
4: Beyond the Pale (Undead), 1-1
5: The Oilsand Raiders (Norse), 1-1
6: The Unlucky Sevens (Necromantic), 0-3
7: (???) (Orcs), 0-1
8: (???) (Undead), 0-1

[mattgslater]

Rrr... misread the schedule. Ok, this month, the Expats' scheduled matches are the Orcs and the Smokers who just smoked me. I can play up to one other team at any time in the month with the Expats, plus up to 3 games with the Raiders that I have to schedule on my own. The Smokers will play Beyond the Pale before they play me, and may play another game. I want to play Draes Greens before I play the Smokers again (what a great team that is), but I want them to get in one or two more games and I want the Expats to face the Orcs first for both teams' benefit (I'm at a low point and he needs help, and I need SPP and he needs help, so it's about as good a time as any).

Another update: I've decided to ignore the double and build the Thrower as a Safety/Retriever. What I neglected to mention is that there is an Accurate Thrower on the Waiver Wire, and I can hire him for a 30k premium (140k cash, 110k TV). I also feel the need to build for now: I'm pretty confident that I'll be a juggernaut by the late season, so Strong Arm maybe isn't Job 1. With that in mind, I have three options.

Leader
Dodge
Sure Hands

Leader would let me spend my money on players rather than TRRs, so I could get that Accurate Thrower once I accumulate another 90k, or I could get a #4 Catcher for just 40k more than I have already (maybe important as my SPP leader among Catchers is AV6).

Dodge would help keep him alive, and it's generally a great skill for a Safe Throw guy anyway. Besides, with Dodge, I know for a fact that I didn't go wrong with my selection (to date, there's no Tackle; that will of course change, but not before I've gotten mileage out of Dodge).

Sure Hands would jive well with the Accurate Thrower (follow Accurate with Catch, then Sure Feet, and Sure Hands with Dodge, then Accurate), and the Smokers are sure to have some Strip Ball when next I see them.

Still kind of down on myself: I've given up 7 TDs in 2 games with 2 teams. I've never given up even 5 TDs total in two consecutive games. Never. I've been playing this game since 1997. Worse, while I can point to a couple of mistakes, I did almost everything right. I marked unskilled guys with Dodge players, and they'd go right down on a 1d block, over and over. I forced a sea of 2+ and 3+ rolls, and in 2 games my opponents have turned over twice on them and burned two TRR counters. I can point to a few mistakes, but only one of them was really stupid: the others were just playing the odds and losing.

Let's hope this little streak ends here. This Orc team might be a good tonic. If anyone wants to advise him, again, I'll pass it on.

He built a Thrower with Leader in the preseason, and has the following players available off the Waiver Wire: he can have up to two.
Troll with Guard, 7 SPP
Blitzer with Frenzy, 13 SPP
Blitzer with Pro, -AV, 9 SPP
Blitzer with Stand Firm, 6 SPP
BOB with Block, 7 SPP
Thrower with Leader, 9 SPP

He built this team: 4 BOBs, 4 Blitzers, Troll w/Guard, Thrower w/Leader, Thrower, Lineman, 2TRR. They played Beyond the Pale, got an MVP Thrower and lost a BOB. He's down from 1.1M to 1.02M considering rebuilding. Should he? If so, he gets his Leader Thrower and up to two guys on that list, at TV add on 1.1M. If he does rebuild, his handicap is 170k. If he doesn't rebuild, his handicap is 250k. The opponent is the Expatriates, less Rocky Redglare.

[JaM]

BOB with block is good, blitzer with frenzy is nice. Add a thrower with leader and indeed, you can play with 2 TRRs.

I dont really understand the idea of "waiverwire" and no, dont explain it (again). But if he should rebuild, I'd consider the above lineup.

Or skip the lino and take a goblin. Gives you a TTM-option and a nice little fouler if needed.

[mattgslater]

EDIT: Tuesday 5PM it is (1AM Weds GMT).

I'm 95% sure he's going to take this roster.
Troll with Guard
4x BOB, 1 with Block
4x Blitzer
Thrower with Leader
Lineman
Lineman, Goblin or Apothecary
2 TRR

I've decided on Dodge for both Ellis Island (#54) and Rhett Wydenblut (#12). He'll have 170k in handicap, so I expect to see a Wizard.

My objectives for this game are:

1) Win the game. I really need a win.
2) Get 3 SPP each to Uncle Slam (#29; 13 SPP) and Cal Forney Driemann (#84; 3 SPP).
3) Get Comps for Lando de Freeh (#75; 5 SPP), Don Serle-Light (#62; 0 SPP) and Grant Stume (#63; 0 SPP).
4) Don't get hurt.

[mattgslater]

Played the Orc team, aptly named "the Orcs". Whupped 'im 5-0. He had 170k handicap and took Extra Training and a Babe. As is, he got enough TRRs off of Cheering Fans that he never needed the Extra Training, and I killed his Leader Thrower. This guy just can't catch a break.

Don Serle-Light died, but I'm hiring a guy off the waiver wire. Everyone has skilled now! Got double-5 on Uncle Slam: +MA or Mighty Blow? Leaning to Mighty Blow.

The New Albion Expatriates (3-1)
High Elves, TV 1.49M
TRRs: 2
Coaching Staff: Apothecary
Treasury: 0
FF: 3

Linemen:
José Cañusi: Kick (11)
Woody Nichols: Wrestle (6)
Grant Stume: Dodge (6)
Ellis Island: Dodge, Side Step (16)
Lando deFreeh: Dodge (6)
Homer the Brave: Guard (6)

Blitzers:
Uncle Slam: +ST, (Mighty Blow or +MA) (16)
Rush Moore: Side Step (8)

Catchers:
Rocky Redglare: -AV, Dodge (12)
Lou Z. Anapurgis: Dodge (14)
Cal Forney-Driemann: Dodge (6)

Throwers
Rhett Wydenblut: Dodge (7)

[JaM]

Mighty blow. He already has +1 STR, AND is named uncle SLAM. Cant go wrong imho

[mattgslater]

Mighty Blow it is, I think.

Meaningless update: decided that the name "Woody Nichols" belongs on my Skaven team named for shady characters (along with Guy Indiali, Cole Hart, Sirius Lee Vischis, Ben Dover (thanks, Chevy!) and Nick Yarwallet). So instead I picked up Manny Festestiny.

[mattgslater]

The game went very badly for the Orcs right from the outset. I won the coin-toss and elected to kick. I used one defensive setup throughout the game: he never had any counter for it at all, and he didn't get me below 11 men on the field at the start of any drive.

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My defense
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- 10 04 02|-- -- -- --
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --
-- -- 05 --|-- 01 -- -- -- -- --|-- 06 -- --
-- 13 -- --|14 -- -- 09 -- -- 03|-- -- 12 --

The first drive, he set up symmetrically, and I kicked to my left. The ball scattered all the way to the sideline and deep upfield. He used his blitz on my right flanker (#6, with Guard), and secured the ball with space, using a pair of GFIs and BOBs to square-mark #s 1 and 5. But his cage was so far from the ball that I got pressure anyway, and forced him into an ill-advised throw to his lineman, who was playing a centerfield halfback role. I had him covered with a Dodge/SS player (#4, Ellis Island) who maintained position after getting blitzed, and I had a Catcher free to intercept. The intercept failed, the short pass was accurate, the catch at -1 worked, and the lineman forced me to use my Apoth on Ellis Island before my turn 2!

But that was all she wrote, as on the next turn I KO'ed two Blitzers who didn't come back until halftime, then got the ball free, and after a scramble managed to throw with Lando deFreeh for an improvement and score with Uncle Slam, also for an improvement. The Blitzers didn't come back until halftime; I scored again before the half, with Cal Forney Driemann, to secure a third improvement.

In the second half, I received first. He played a very deep defense, with stacked wingers. Sadly for him, I got a Quick Snap and took out his left flank with extreme prejudice, knocking out one of the Blitzers I'd KO'ed the first drive. He tried to cover me, but a Wydenblut QP to Anapurgis, and an Anapurgis QP to Uncle slam on the following turn, set up a TD from Grant Stume, for his first SPP. The next drive, his cheerleader got him a RR and his Blitzer came back, but that was the end of the good news. The ball went all the way into the back corner. The opposing thrower foolishly went back to get it, but didn't GFI out of the corner, and when his following turn ended prematurely on a freak quadruple-skull, the Thrower got blitzed into the crowd and lost an MA. As with any slow Orc, he has since been eaten. I scored three more times, but on the final turn his Troll ate Don Serle-Light. I earned 70k on top of the 50k in treasury. Had Donny survived, I would have taken a TRR, but as is, I hired Manny Festestiny from the Waiver Wire, for his 90k value plus 30k signing bonus, leaving me broke.

It was a pretty rude game: not the coaches (not at all), but it was very lopsided: the wrong players got KO'ed, and didn't recover, which happens from time to time to low-AG teams. He absolutely never figured out how to cope with the asymmetric setup, but frequently he found himself lacking the personnel to execute even if he knew what to do (I'd say the Babe didn't earn her keep, but actually she did, with a couple of 3s rolled: it would have been worse without her). His friends watched the whole thing, too. His only SPP were 2 comps by the fired guy, a Cas by the Troll and a Cas by the lineman: his MVP went to a Blitzer. He bought a new Thrower, but lost his Leader and so now has to play with 2 TRR and a TV of only 1.07M. Ugly stuff. His next opponent, the Necromantics, is also winless but has a TV in the 1.30 range, and he's scared $#!%less. He's going to try to see if that guy will let him play his B-team, an Undead team at more like 1.15.

For my part, I'm going to schedule a game against the other Undead team, who at 2-1 are rather scary. They have two ST6 Mummies and a Zombie with Guard. Fortunately, I have an all-Dodge line, so that should help somewhat.

So much for my injury luck. Still, for a High Elf team to get through 4 games with 4 casualties isn't bad, even if the permanent damage is so visible. Ellis Island got knocked out twice and cas'ed once, but was on the board at the start of every single drive. I think I'm done putting Rush Moore on the LOS, but he was surprisingly effective at forcing my opponent to line-block to the outside, while the Kicker could keep the action on the opposite end of the field. Still, he doesn't have Dodge on his menu, so he's coming off the line from here on out. Jose Cañusi, the Kicker, got the MVP despite the two second-half touchbacks (it was a windy game), and has thus earned himself a spot on offense until he hits 16 SPP. Wrestle or Block?

I'm torn as to what to do with Rocky Redglare when he skills. I think I want Block for Lou Z. Anapurgis, to play him on the corner (protected by Homer the Brave). If I give Rocky Block, he doesn't become interchangeable with Louie, because he's AV6 and can't play corner. I could give him Wrestle, but nothing says "foul me" like.... I could develop him as an early specialist-type, with maybe Pass Block, but that's not really optimal team management.

[mattgslater]

Match V: Beyond the Pale
Beyond the Pale, Undead at 3-1 (0-1 against me)
TV 1.4M
ST6 Mummy with Multiblock
ST6 Mummy
Ghoul with Block, Side Step
Ghoul with Block, Leader
Ghoul
2x Wight
Zombie with Guard
3x Zombie
3x Skeleton
3x TRR, AC, CL, FF2
Bloodweiser Babe

This was a strange one. I got FAME 2. I won the coin-toss and elected to kick. I got the ball very deep into his half, and we had a gnarly fight over it that eventually resulted in a TD on my Turn 7 (would have held off 'til Turn 8, but Uncle Slam, José Cañusi and Ellis Island were all KO'ed). I got a blitz the next turn, and got the ball, but skulled out trying to open a hole to score. His Guard Zombie was an early Casualty, BH'ed by Rhett Wydenblut, who is much more physical than you'd expect from an elf quarterback.

In the second half, he kicked to me, and I set up a good 2TTD to get a two-score lead and force him to hurry. But a fumbled pass and some crazy die rolls on his part, and he scored in turn 3. So he kicked off to me again.

When he kicked off again, he foolishly set up a 7-man defensive line, including two guys in each wide zone. I knocked a big old hole in each side, and ran guys through both ways, before dropping back to pass, getting a second completion (and 16 SPP) for Lou Z. Anapurgis. I played keep-away for awhile, and despite some exceptionally lucky blitzes (and a death that I Apo'ed down to MNG on Homer the Brave), managed to hold on to score in turn 8. He comped in the garbage turn, and knocked my guys around to no effect.

80k winnings: saving for a TRR. Lou Z. Anapurgis got Block and becomes my first Blodger; Louie is the first non-franchised player to hit 16SPP, and is now in a 3-way tie with Uncle Slam and Ellis Island. Rocky Redglare is one SPP behind them, Rush Moore, José Cañusi and Lando DeFreeh each need 5, and Rhett Wydenblut needs 7. I want to improve Rocky and two other guys. Homer the Brave (#76: 6/3/4/8/Guard/100k/6SPP) is missing the next game, so I'm at 1.42M, with my next opponent most likely the Unlucky Sevens, who look like they finally might win a game (against my nemesis the Greenleaf Smokers, no less; they play the second half tomorrow, and the Smokers are missing some key players). I expect to see the Sevens to be somewhere between 1.25 and 1.35; I do not expect to see a Wizard, but it could happen. They have a lot of Block....