Linemen and Skills

[Smurf]

Seriously can a Lineman have too many skills.

The unsung heroes of the game. The back bone of the team. The guys on the LOS taking a chinning from some other guys.

If they get 3 skills the Line are amazing. Getting a forth would be difficult. But playing say up to 50 games with a team the Line are going to get skills.

I would like Elfy line to have:

Wrestle, Dodge, Fend (just an idea) and if possible Guard

The G Line (with no access to other skills)

Block/Wrestle, Tackle, Fend

The Line with S access:

Mighty Blow, Guard, Standfirm

Can a Line dude have too many skills?

[burgun824]

Short answer...YES. It depends on what race you're playing and how you manage your team though. I know I don't like my zombies to ever get more then one skill because they become a TV drain.

[dode74]

My ideal elf lineman would have wrodge, fend and SS. Three of them would be extremely hard to push a cage against/through as the front line of the standard elf cagestalling defence.

[Khail]

One of the key players on my DE team was a Block/Dodge/Sidestep/Guard Lineman. He went well with the 3 Block/Dodge/Sidestep/Guard/X/X Blitzers (the fourth Blitzer just kept dying over and over).

[Smeborg]

"Can a Line dude have too many skills?"

No, IMHO. I have never had such a player. If you find yourself in such a position, I suggest it's worth asking whether your development plan is accurate.

There are 2 types of highly skilled Linos, in my experience. Those that just have regular skills, and excel on the LoS (until they die). And those that get doubles and/or stat increases, making them positional players in their own right (until they die). Both can be very appealing, and I would never sack one.

All the best.

[Blammaham]

I sack linemen all the time especially hobgoblins. I just dumped a hobgoblin with 76 spps and a +1 move. He had block, sure hands, KOR, as well and I used him as my back up and defensive runner. He became costly and redundant once I got a +AG hob to take over the offensive roll and the +ST Hob that was my 1st stringer went down to the backup roll. Generally I don't like my defensive linemen to get more than 2 regular skills for most races but elves. If they get a double or a good stat up I'll let them hang around.S.

[neverworking]

Most can be worth it for a Long while. The 40k kind and the G access kind can start to represent bloat though depending on the role they end up playing and the other skills on the team.

[Smeborg]

I sack linemen all the time especially hobgoblins. I just dumped a hobgoblin with 76 spps and a +1 move. He had block, sure hands, KOR, as well and I used him as my back up and defensive runner. He became costly and redundant once I got a +AG hob to take over the offensive roll and the +ST Hob that was my 1st stringer went down to the backup roll. Generally I don't like my defensive linemen to get more than 2 regular skills for most races but elves. If they get a double or a good stat up I'll let them hang around.S.

Blammaham - a misunderstanding, perhaps. I think the original question uses the term "Linemen" to refer to players that go on the defensive Line of Scrimmage. Hobgoblins are not Linemen by this definition. Rather, it is the Chaos Dwarfs who are the "Linemen".

And are you referring to an online environment, by any chance?

All the best.

[narg]

Seriously can a Lineman have too many skills.

Depends which ones.
If you don't roll a double or a stat increase on a Norse lineman for example there are actually not that many good skills to give. After tackle and fend it starts to be tough and I'd say that any non-double third skill would be team bloat. An elf lineman has access to a lot of great skills, you can give him block, dodge, side step, then tackle and diving tackle or catch and sure feet and it would never be team bloat.

[Blammaham]

I sack linemen all the time especially hobgoblins. I just dumped a hobgoblin with 76 spps and a +1 move. He had block, sure hands, KOR, as well and I used him as my back up and defensive runner. He became costly and redundant once I got a +AG hob to take over the offensive roll and the +ST Hob that was my 1st stringer went down to the backup roll. Generally I don't like my defensive linemen to get more than 2 regular skills for most races but elves. If they get a double or a good stat up I'll let them hang around.S.

Blammaham - a misunderstanding, perhaps. I think the original question uses the term "Linemen" to refer to players that go on the defensive Line of Scrimmage. Hobgoblins are not Linemen by this definition. Rather, it is the Chaos Dwarfs who are the "Linemen".

And are you referring to an online environment, by any chance?

All the best.

No I think I understood it, Hobgoblins are 0-16 so I consider them linemen, I also use them on the D line too, and use my CD's as linebackers so they don't get free shot taken against them and while this goes against the prevailing wisdom it really works for me. Hence my answer, oh and by the way I almost play exclusivly TT and 40mm at that .S.

[Warpstone]

Note: Blammaham's CDwarves also play at high-TV against our bashier teams. Hence, sacrificing 40kgp base cost hobs is no big deal compared to offering a skilled linedwarf to my CPOMB killer

Also, the more TV he gives up, the more money his opponents get to chainsaw/bribe their way through dwarf armour.

While I'm not sure I'd outright sack players like he does (ruthless bastard), I agree that a vanilla lineman who is not an essential cog on your team is ideal for the LOS. If he lives, you've got a skilled player in the thick of the action. If he gets busted, your TV dilemma is solved for you.

Regardless, teams will peak earlier if you're not ruthless about trying to skill up new lineman with stat-up/doubles freaks. In my experience, championships are won by the team that did the best job "recruiting" players with freak skills, regardless of position.

[Smeborg]

Blammaham and Warpstone - thanks for the explanations. I agree that against ClawPOMB teams it makes sense to put Hobgoblins on the line of scrimmage.