Chaos Pact

[stashman]

New season ahead and I'm starting Chaos Pact. I wan't to go "as fluff as I can" be having following:

6 Marauders
1 Troll
1 Ogre
1 Skaven
1 Goblin
1 Dark Elf

2 Rerolls
5 FF (or Apo)

So I can have 100K Inducements for Zzarg and Bolgrot.

Can be a tough team to handle, with only 2 rerolls and no skills. Atleast Zzarg gives sure hands, AG3, pass but only MA4.

[Spasmbot]

Chaos Pact is really a team that should be starting with more than two re-rolls. In between your apo and saving for your 3rd big guy 2 re-roll will really burn you big time. I like;

6 Marauders
Skaven
Goblin
Dark Elf
Ogre
Troll

4 RR's 10k banked towards the apo

If you're one of those guys that loves the minotaur you can swap the ogre for the mino with your 10k.

[Cirrus the Blue]

I, personally like the Minotaur start, myself. He might fail Wild Animal from time to time, but he will NEVER lose his Tacklezones. That's (I think) loads more important on this team than many players care to acknowledge. This is going on my own experience from a season coaching them. Yes, the Ogre seems more reliable than the Minotaur on paper with his armor and easy 2+ for Bone-Head whatever he does, but until he starts rolling Mutations, he's far closer to a really fast Troll who doesn't need to be reminded all the time that he's playing Blood Bowl. Minotaurs just get angry from time to time. And if you absolutely must move him, just Blitz! Don't even need to hit anybody so sayeth the almighty rulebook. The only players that will get pissy about that are the same ones who'll get angry that you threw in a boot to the face from a foul on their precious AG5er. Just imagine them saying "Are my coaching abilities really that poor?" if they do start on a tangent that you're not allowed the Minotaur TD because you have to hit someone during a Blitz - which is essentially MS (as opposed to BS. lol). After all, several 2+ ANYTHINGS in rapid succession is far more 'balanced' and 'fair' than a measley 2+ Wild Animal roll for an earned Big Guy TD. Right? hahaha The Ogre's still important on the team though (moreso than the Troll) for the fact he won't eat your Goblin should you want/need to throw him, and he's good mobile strength and support.

The Minotaur, however, blitzes like a pro in comparison. St6 with Horns, and Frenzy to terrify your opponent/bulldoze through and/or out of scrums (NEVER question a free dodge when a Big Guy TD is at stake). Horns is far better now anyway than in any other edition with being able to START a Blitz with ST6!! That might not seem like a big deal to many a coach, but when you need it, (trust me - you will sooner or later) you'll be laughing while you tally up another Minotaur TD on your roster sheet, I kid you not.

Until the Ogre rolls Horns or Claws or something special, I don't reccomend putting him in at all the same category as the Minotaur in terms of overall performance. This has been the norm for every Minotaur I've ever coached (and I've coached plenty.), and every little bit of reliability you can muster on this team counts until you can get your team to a capable level on their own through their own skills.

4 re-rolls are crucial for this team though. Even with the Dark Elf. He's only 1 out of 11 players who can handle the ball with any reliability. Don't count on him to stick around for the second half. (or even the second game. haha) Most any coach will hunt him down like a rabid dog and go out of his way to make sure he never stands back up. If you can protect him well enough, cudos! But can't unfortunately keep him safe all the time. 2 Re-Rolls is waaaaay too few for any Chaos team, let alone one with 3 Big Guys.

This team's unfortunately not a great one to play off of any inducements on game 1, provided everyone is starting fresh. Halflings, however, are the best at that, and puny as they very well might be, they can and will still dish out serious pain and carnage from the two Trees + Deeproot alongside a Chef - on game 1. Chaos Pact is more the kind of team that will be seeing inducements against them rather than the other way around far more often. It's best not to try anything too fancy from the start. Good luck with your team!

- Cirrus

[Smeborg]

I don't play Chaos Pact myself, although I have faced well-coached Chaos Pact opponents.

I suggest 3 Re-rolls is just right for this team, as the first normal upgrade on a Marauder should be Leader, giving you your 4th Re-roll, at a handsome discount of 5 points of TV.

If you run with a roster of (say) 14 players, the team is not expensive in TV terms. Indeed is is quite competitive in this regard.

[Cirrus the Blue]

That's actually a decent idea (Leader with 3 Re-Rolls) considering the skill access on the Marauders.

[Warpstone]

I started with:
1 Ogre
1 Troll
1 Dark Elf
1 Goblin
4 Rerolls
and the remainder as Marauders.

I'm 40+ games on and the one thing I would stress to any Chaos Pact coach is that you need atleast 3 if not 4 rerolls due to your general lack of skills. The big guys are really nice muscle to have. But if you want to make plays, you need your skill-less marauders to succeed on average rolls with only a team reroll to back them up. I don't see how you will be able to skill up the rest of your team without ample rerolls.

BTW, I'm suggesting you need that many rerolls without considering the big guys. If your gameplan requires you to depend on a big guy to regularly make crucial plays (i.e. the minotaur trap where you think he's perfect to take down the ball carrier, but then ends up chewing cud instead) you will have a rough time.

[dr. evil]

I've played a pact team with 2 RR and it is a really tough go. The team needs RR to do everything because of their lack of skills. If I start a new pact team it will start with 4 RR.

The other thing to keep in mind is that RR double in cost and players don't. Plus you can't loss RR in a game, and we all know that players die on a far to regular basis.

[mattgslater]

Here's what I see.

You have to hire 11 men. If you're taking the Troll, the Ogre and 9x Marauder/Rat/Goblin, that's 690k-700k. You can take 4 TRRs and an Elf in place of a Marauder, which is nice and reliable. Or you could take 3 TRRs and an Elf, and start an Apoth and an extra 20k bank, which would be nice with all your 0-1 options, especially if you want your Mino quickly. Then, if you start a Gob, you're pretty sure you just need to earn 120k, which is an average of just over 2 wins (115k average assuming FAME avg = 0.5) or about 3 losses (120k average w/same assumption).

[stashman]

1 Ogre
1 Troll
1 Dark Elf (I don't know if I will go Blodge on him, becuse 1 or 2 dodgers is not much)
1 Goblin (a.k.a "Da Bomb", Jump-Up as first skill, tossing him around)
1 Skaven (will be used as a runner/catcher, Diving Catch or Sprint on a double)
6 Marauders (mix-up, atleast a thrower and a hitman)
4 Rerolls
1 FF

I wen't with this startup and 1 FF (just for the fluff - hardcore fans!!)

I will be playing: another chaos pact, two orc teams, necromantic, slann, elf and some others that haven't decided yet what to play, but I think a dwarf team, maybe a underworld team as well.

[Blammaham]

Never played the pact, but when I do I'm going to skip the Elf early on to prevent the SPP suck that he is. I want the marauders to be good players and skill up I'm afraid that if I have the elf that process is slowed greatly. I think this would hurt short term but overall a great Marauder passer/ ball carrier would pay off HUGE once the team really hits its stride. Also I'm never going to have more than 2 Big guys. Too much loner.S.

[Warpstone]

1 Ogre
1 Troll
1 Dark Elf (I don't know if I will go Blodge on him, becuse 1 or 2 dodgers is not much)
1 Goblin (a.k.a "Da Bomb", Jump-Up as first skill, tossing him around)
1 Skaven (will be used as a runner/catcher, Diving Catch or Sprint on a double)
6 Marauders (mix-up, atleast a thrower and a hitman)
4 Rerolls
1 FF

I wen't with this startup and 1 FF (just for the fluff - hardcore fans!!)

I will be playing: another chaos pact, two orc teams, necromantic, slann, elf and some others that haven't decided yet what to play, but I think a dwarf team, maybe a underworld team as well.

Good luck! It is a team with a long development curve, but once you start getting 2 skills on a few marauders, you can make some interesting plays.

While I don't quite agree with Blammaham's idea to not field a Dark Elf, I do think it's a good idea to minimize his SPP hogging. Your team will need 10+ games to get skilled. I had an AG+ boost on my DElf on game 1 and while it was great for clinching wins in season 1, it probably meant my Marauders were sub-par (not enough block or guard) for high-TV play in season 2.

[mrmojoz]

My rat ended up being my SPP hog, with the DE coming in second. I could pull out wins with the stars but the team really started performing when most of the marauders had at least one skill.

[mattgslater]

Generally with multi-category players, that's how it goes. Skill everybody, and each one makes the rest of them better.

[stashman]

First game vs. Necromantic team. I won 3-0 (cas 4-0) but I rolled great.

Skilling up Dark Elf and took Dodge and Troll got MVP and a cas, went Guard. Bougth an apothecary. Team is solid now

[mrmojoz]

Guard Troll is a nice pickup for game 1.