spubbbba wrote:Bull Centaurs!

I just meant that not all CD teams need them to succeed in all formats. They're great players, very useful. Very expensive, burn a lot of re-rolls. I usually play with them, mind you. Just suggesting that some CD teams some of the time can and do thrive without them in some environments. I did not mean that they're not good players (they're excellent) or that they're not good values (being very expensive, they're only a fair bargain). Ditto many Throwers and some big guys. I guess I should have called that list "optional" instead. I think the top ten start at "stay away!" and end up "optional". I like Orc Trolls, BTW. 5x ST4+ and 4x AV9/Block is hard for many teams to cope with. Ditto Lizardman Kroxigors and Beasts of Nurgle.
In terms of fail-for-value, i think Wild Animal is worse than Secret Weapon, even for the Deathroller. After all, while he's on the pitch, a Merc Deathroller is quite a reliable critter, while a Minotaur is a blitz-sink or fail-machine, take your pick. Hey, maybe both! They don't last much longer, either. AV8 sucks, AV10+SW misses drives, not games. And since you wouldn't be dumb enough to roster it, it never burns your money: just sometimes does and sometimes doesn't justify its inducement value. Rat Ogres are a little better because their team needs them, and because Prehensile Tail is good for something against somebody. Norse Throwers fall on that list too, and Dark Elf Assassins rise, joined by Runners. (On the honorable mention list, Bull Centaurs stay on the hook: nothing eats rerolls like an AG2 ball handler, and Break Tackle doesn't do him any favors.)
In terms of bargain value, that's a whole new ballgame. Lemme think.
Amazons: Throwers are silly. Blitzers are great, but are pricey and fragile, and don't always get replaced on schedule.
Chaos: Mino bad, but at least Mino with Claw bad for everybody.
Chaos Dwarfs/Pact: Mino bad, yar. YAR!
Chaos Dwarfs: Bull Centaurs are great, have drawbacks, not everybody takes them all the time.
Chaos Pact: Skaven and Goblin Renegades are marginal. Ogre is overpriced. Troll is a gamble.
Dark Elf: Runner, Assassin are questionable. Witch Elves are good but unreliable, fragile, expensive.
Elf: Thrower seems extraneous, but is excellent value.
High Elf: Thrower is optional, but is also the best Thrower in the game. Number of Catchers up to debate.
Humans: Ogre overpriced, Catcher acquired taste.
Khemri: Thro-Ras, you can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. But you're already dead, so it doesn't matter.
Necromantic: Golems are like Bulls, only less upside and less downside.
Norse: Thrower (hee hee). Snow Trolls are kind of a silly gamble.
Ogre: The whole damn team.
Orc: Thrower is acquired taste. Troll is a gamble.
Skaven: Thrower is a good player, seems extraneous. Rat Ogre is a gamble.
Slann: Krox, Blitzers are good but optional. Number of Catchers up to debate.
Undead: Skeletons are optional.
Vampire: Some think 6 is too many.
Wood Elf: Thrower seems extraneous, Treemen are optional, not everybody loves Catchers, certainly not everybody loves 4 of them.