Save the High Elves!

[Viajero]

have you tried doing one turning with your catchers? helps a lot to advance them quick!!!

you don't speak of that on your last report. didn't you tried one on turn number 8?

Heh, I thought about it for hmmmmm, 1 nanosecond maybe. And decided against it. 3 reasons:

- I only had 8 players to do it, which is not optimal: 2 KO that did not recover after my opponent's turn 8 TD (I rolled two ones there!!! They recovered for the 2nd half though... another reason why I like to receive first: 2 opportunities minimum to recover KO if your opponent scores) and my wrestle catcher was already MNG. Can be done with 8 no doubt, but hey.
- No rerolls left in turn 8
- Asuming I could have got 3 good pushes in 3 blocks with no reroll, my 2nd catcher, rookie, no dodge, would need to dodge a 4+, 3+ and a 2+ plus 2 GFI (my opponent had a full 11 and could set up fully in the back to defend the 1 turner). I had already lost a catcher, and I seem to have enough issues to keep them in the pitch for too long as it is, so I was not going to risk the rookie one like this.

[Viajero]

By the way, correction in my opponent´s roster. One of the +MA skinks has also got Block.

[Smurf]

You wish you had tackle now

[Viajero]

Yeh, against lizards always! I had a tough choice on the skill, but we will see.

[Viajero]

And the game with lizzies was played and a disappointing 1-1 as a result.

Thing is, I had the 2-1 in the bag. He started receiving and scored in turn 4 or so leaving me with enough time to equalize before half time. In the second half I stalled until turn 12 or so and then managed to get the breakthrough to score the, hopefully final, 2-1. The only chance for the lizzie coach to stop it was a daring 5+ dodge blitz by a Saurus with no Tackle against my blodge +ag sidestepper. Not only he managed it but also he went onto picking up the ball with no RR. Thats 5+ dodge, 2D pow on blodge player, and then 6+ pick up with the bloody Saurus successfully. According to my numbers thats less than 2% chance of success, and only 5% even with RR. I managed to recover the ball 2 turns after that but too late for me to score the 2-1.

It would have not been as depressing if I had at least ensured even worst odds by placing my carrier one tile away from the Saurus (instead of 2) and making that dodge a 6+ instead, but hey. If he could beat 2% odds he could beat anyhting On the positive side I managed to skill up one of my catchers to Dodge.

So all in all my position in the table after 5 of the 7 games in the group phase is like so:



I am 3rd but still 2 games to go, so I am going to have to work hard to qualify for the next round (top 4 qualify). My last next games are against the top 1 and top 2 and in that order.

My next opponent is a skilled Nurgle coach with a reputation for solid positional game. For this game, though, he ll be missing one of his NW and a Block/Tackle rotter that just died. He is left with just 11 players and only one Tackle in one of his NW. He s got a freak Block, +MA, +MA pest. Here his complete roster:

Beast: Guard
NW1: Guard, Block, Tackle
NW2:Mighty Blow, Jump Up
NW3:Block
Beast1: +MA, +MA, Block
Beast2: Accurate
Beast 3: Wrestle
Beast4: skill up pending
Rotter1: -
Rotter2: -
Rotter3: -

My own team now looks like this:

Blitzer1: Dodge, +AG, Sidestep
Blitzer2: Dodge, +AG, Mighty Blow
Thrower: Accurate
Catcher1: Wrestle
Cacther2: Dodge
Lino1: Block, dodge, -AV
Lino2: Wrestle, Dodge
Lino3: Guard, -AV (MNG)
Lino4: -
Lino5: -
Lino6: -
Lino7: -

I have my Guard lino MNG this game so its 11 for me aswell. I was thinking about buying now the 3rd catcher to give me the extra speed and a 12th man for the game. If I do, tehn I ll give him 50K for a babe. Any issues you see with this? I am really keen to get that extra speed. Disturbing presence will not allow me to pass often if at all so I will be playing a running game.

How would you plan the attack game against such a team. Leave the ball back, spread the team and force him to strecth thin maybe?

[dines]

I've found nurgle a tough opponent when playing dark elves as they are great at hindering your game. I think you are onto the right things, getting more MA is great and spreading out hoping for an opening. Watch out for the beast, those tentackles are annoying.

[Ullis]

I might not buy the 3rd catcher yet. High elf catchers go like this:

0 skills = not quite worth the TV but one is good to have
1 skill = ok due to high MA
2+ skills = Awesome!

Your current catchers haven't reached the Awesome! stage yet and I might only add the 3rd catcher if you get them there quickly.

Regarding that Nurgle team, there's a whole lot of worthless TV floating about. Jump Up on a warrior and Accurate on the beastman are just 60k of useless TV. With only 4 Disturbing Presences out there he'll have a really hard time creating any overlapping Disturbing Presence kill zones. Disturbing Presence works great against AG3 but AG4 is harder since one Disturbing Presence usually only makes a ball handling roll into a 3+. Try to bait him to one side and then switch sides. And I would try to target that +MA, +MA pestigor with your MB blitzer when you can. That pestigor is bad news and is a tremendous asset for the nurgle offence. And defence too. Otherwise hit rotters since Nurgle is a team that can't really handle going down men too good and rotters don't have Regeneration.

[Viajero]

Thanks for the advice! My plan for the 3rd catcher would be to field him only in attack anyways, barring any player losses during the game. Notwithstanding their AV7 I still think that having 12 pieces is also good value, irrespective of MA.

[RogueThirteen]

Ullis is absolutely right. You should only buy a new Catcher when all your current Catchers have 2+ skills. An unskilled rookie Catcher is more of a liability than anything else (given their high TV and cost). Level your current catchers relentlessly until they are each at 2 or 3 skills, then buy that third.

If you want another player, I'd recommend another Lineman at this point in your team's development.


As for your strategy, remember that Nurgle is generally pretty atrocious at offense and great on defense. If you can score two TDs that will usually seal the deal against most Nurgle teams. So, personally, I'd take TDs over stalling attempts. Hit him hard with a fast TD then play very aggressive defense and try to force the ball loose. If you can get a defensive touchdown, the game is yours. And given your speed and skill advantage, that shouldn't be too hard. Feed the Beast and the Warriors linemen, and use your Blitzers and Catchers to hunt down those Pestigors -- they'll be the ones carrying the ball anyways.

[Smeborg]

As a regular Nurgle player, I always consider I have the advantage against HEs and DEs. However, I don't think the way this particular Nurgle coach has developed his team should cause you any great problems. The only advantage he has compared to other Nurgle teams is the ability to score relatively quickly.

All the best.

[Viajero]

Ullis is absolutely right. You should only buy a new Catcher when all your current Catchers have 2+ skills. An unskilled rookie Catcher is more of a liability than anything else (given their high TV and cost). Level your current catchers relentlessly until they are each at 2 or 3 skills, then buy that third.

If you want another player, I'd recommend another Lineman at this point in your team's development.


As for your strategy, remember that Nurgle is generally pretty atrocious at offense and great on defense. If you can score two TDs that will usually seal the deal against most Nurgle teams. So, personally, I'd take TDs over stalling attempts. Hit him hard with a fast TD then play very aggressive defense and try to force the ball loose. If you can get a defensive touchdown, the game is yours. And given your speed and skill advantage, that shouldn't be too hard. Feed the Beast and the Warriors linemen, and use your Blitzers and Catchers to hunt down those Pestigors -- they'll be the ones carrying the ball anyways.

Ok, ok, so no catcher and an additional Lino instead it is.

Now, regarding the plan to score quickly. I agree! The thing is, scoring quickly with HiE against Nurgle is easier said than done me thinks. Asuming I can break the LOS or somewhere else and asuming I can then move in 2 pieces at TD distance, maybe 3 tops (both catchers and a Blitzer, say) then the prpoblem still will come to be able to get a decent passing solution with Disturbing Pressence and all, not mentioning my opponent will blitz one of my catchers and properly mark the other 2. Scoring fast is only possible typically if I can pass freely, otherwise we are talking about a turn 5 or turn 6 running game TD.

Another option is to feed the ball to one of my Blodge blitzers as the first move before breaking through, and blitz with the ball already in his hands. Move in and then mark the hell out of my opponent so to limit all his move options. This is very risky, nt only because of the potential CAS in retaliation but also because 3+ or even 4+ dodges are not that hard and a single pest will blitz at 2D anyways. I can typically perform this against Lizzards (and Khemri to some extent) given the prevalent AG1 but against Nurgle is a different story.

Any ideas?

[Heff]

Break through with as many as you can (at least 3) and then position them so they cover a defined area of ground. Pass to the one furthest from the opposition or best protected from them all and when you miss (rather than if) it should scatter into a place you own. he then has to blitz a lane to the ball and pick it up hopefully in a tackle zone. At best you have the ball, at worst he doesn't and its deep in his half surrounded by your guys.You then scoop it up with your superior agility and run it in.

Of course there are MANY ways this can go wrong so you are going to need to make sure you pin the DP warriors and beast before you make the pass.

That's what I would do. Health warning I am universally acknowledged as a bad and unlucky coach.

[Viajero]

Break through with as many as you can (at least 3) and then position them so they cover a defined area of ground. Pass to the one furthest from the opposition or best protected from them all and when you miss (rather than if) it should scatter into a place you own. he then has to blitz a lane to the ball and pick it up hopefully in a tackle zone. At best you have the ball, at worst he doesn't and its deep in his half surrounded by your guys.You then scoop it up with your superior agility and run it in.

Of course there are MANY ways this can go wrong so you are going to need to make sure you pin the DP warriors and beast before you make the pass.

That's what I would do. Health warning I am universally acknowledged as a bad and unlucky coach.

Lol, yes, I was about to ask you for your credentials

Seriously. The risk of losing possesion doing that is quite significant. Would you really do that right at start, say, if you were receiving the kick in turn 1, just so to have a chance to score quickly? In any event, if I am to break through I much rather feed the ball to one of my blitzers before moving in than trying the pass, no?

Also, on second thought scoring in turn 2 or 3 still leaves 6 or 7 turns for Nurgle to score back and do a nice little 2-1 grind on the second half. A bit scary. The way I ve beaten Nurgle in the past is by delaying my score to ensure 1-0 at midtime (if I receive the ball). Or stalling their advance for a 0-0 if they receive in the first half. Rushing things in typically leads to disaster unless you play with woodies.

[Ullis]

Elf offence rests on 2+ rolls.

Offence against Nurgle means that you have more limited hand off and passing options. So a running game it is. I like the idea of giving the ball early to a blodger and then running it in with that one. That side stepping blitzer is perfect for that purpose. There's really no pressure, or reason either, to score really quickly. The worst thing that can happen is if he get's the Beast next to the ball carrier as that can easily lead to disaster. I think the perfect thing would be to score on your turn 5 or 6 if you don't want or can't to stall it any further. By that time the Nurgle team will most likely be low on rerolls too. Then the Nurgle team doesn't have enough time for a half decent offence and if they lose possession you have enough time to score a defensive TD. Be mindful though, that MA8 pestigor is really dangerous on offence.

[Smurf]

Play Fast. Keep distance from his big stuff and let him rely on the little stuff.

Catchers do enjoy dodge, mobility! And it saves a reroll.

If you can target the tackler, gives you a bit more room to move.

IMO Nurgle ain't that good at low levels, it's the skilling up when they scare people.

Mark the ball with sidestepers when it is loose on the floor in their half.

IMO if you want to get up to the top or second in the league you may have to play all out.