Wood Elf Help vs Norse

[vaccine]

Hi guys,

I consider myself quite an experienced Wood Elf coach and have been playing them in 90% of my games since 2nd Ed and winning most of our local seasons, but had a horrible experience recently and was after some advice. I played the same Norse team twice with a starter WE team. I went with the fairly standard 2xWD, 1xCa, 2xRR roster. His roster I think was max positionals, no Yehtee and 3xRR. This was my first real experience of WE vs Norse as no one plays them on tabletop and I don't tend to play WE on Cyanide (below games were on Cyanide).

First game I was kicking and set up in a loose protection formation for my WDs and Catcher without really protecting the sidelines. I've had a lot of success with this formation (following the Leaping to Victory Plasmoid playbook) against slower teams, especially Amazons which I was basically comparing Norse too as they were all Ma6 bar the runner. I kicked really deep, very bottom corner of the board. Norse Turn 1 basically saw him badly hurt, knockout and stun the 3 guys on the line. He then used all 10 players with a few GFIs to almost completely cage in my whole team. He failed to pick up the ball with his sole backfield guy, I was rubbing my hands with glee. Normally in this strat I'd punch a hole and split his team with my faster players pinning his ball carrier and any defenders in the back. I managed this pretty well though he had so many TZs even after a Blitz it required 2 dodges to leave the box he'd set up. I managed to get a WD, Catcher and linemen spread out in a line about 4-5 squares into his half. Then I moved or blocked away all my other players so I think I had 1 guy in a tz, who was marking the closest guy to my breakouts.

To sum up the rest of the half I knock the ball loose but my WD fails a dodge to score and knocks himself out. The turnover leads to a lot of blocks on my linos and by turn 6 I'm on 4 players on the pitch. Though my remaining WD did his best leaping/dodging away and hounding the ball carrier he scored and I set up with 6 in turn 6 to receive. I punch through on a blitz with WD into backfield, turn 7 I throw with catcher to endzone with wardancer but it is inaccurate. His turn 8 he picks up with thrower, hands off to blitzer, long passes to blitzer, scores (all with no rerolls).

Second half and I'm still only 6, basically goes the same. I get my 1 WD in his backfield but hes heavily marked. I break away and fumble the pass, and in 3 turns time I'm down to 1 player on the field for the rest of the game (though he still attempts gang fouls). He scores and I setup with 3 and he scores again. Took 5 casualties, 3 deaths and restarted the team.

Second game he got Strong Arm on a thrower double but same team otherwise, I started a new WE team to the same spec. I'd decided the main problem came from letting him cage me so set up in a very lose 4-4-3 formation showing him one flank. This worked much better but he still managed to injure and knock out two players on turn 1. We had a close first half where he ran it down the open flank but I managed to stop his advance and get a few players in and make a few 2d blocks with wardancers and knock the ball carrier down a few times. He managed a few lucky rolls picking it up in Tzs and dodging and before I knew it the loose line of elves I'd been pinning his advance in with was pinned from behind as well and suddenly we're back to most of my team being pinned between a ton of Norse. I managed to keep popping the ball loose with leaping wardancers but the first failure saw my team get decimated in the cage of Norse again, leading to him scoring and me setting up the 2nd half with 5 players, very similar story to the first game and he put 3 on me ending my game with 1 dead, 1 NI and 3 BH and the rest knockouts, 4-0.

I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions to anything I may be doing wrong. I'm used to as a Wood Elf player being men down but it felt like against Norse, like no team I've played, as soon as I started losing men I couldn't cope because he had a few lose to pin my guys together and a few blocks later they'd be gone. I loaded the game into BB Manager and looked at the stats afterwards, there was a bit of luck in that his defender down, defender stumbles and both down dice compromised 69% of his 140 block dice (rather than the average 50%) and Skull, Both Down was about 43% of my blocks (I only managed 7 in that game) and he had a lot of armour breaks but still I feel its something more than a bit of luck. That said just blaming it on bad luck isn't really a learning experience, so I'd really like to know if anyone can see anything I did glaringly wrong. Any and all feedback appreciated.

[dode74]

I think you just got unlucky with the injury rolls. He has the same AV as you in general so should suffer as much as you do when you do get his players down (which will be less often due to all the block).

[dines]

Well it looks like he was lucky at the right moments. First game - you failing to score early, he manages long bomb with ag3 thower. Second game - him picking ball up in tackle zones and dodging with ag3. And even with av7 teams more than 2 cas in a rookie matchup is lucky/unlucky depending on which side you are on.
But apart from that, norse is a really good starter team.

[DoubleSkulls]

Even with all the block he's very lucky to get 2 players off the pitch on turn 1, and you'd WD KOing himself is just bad luck. I think if you'd made that dodge and scored you'd have had a very different game.

But... that's the thing with Woodies... if your opponent gets the luck and numbers up early on its often an uphill battle to recover.

[Smeborg]

You have kicked twice, with 2 Block against 9. Should you get to receive first, it might be you who had the numbers advantage. Your opponent is AV7, Norse can go pear-shaped too.

[Tritex]

I cannot see you doing anything wrong. Yes they have a lot of block but not tackle like dwarves which can hurt more if caged in. Most f the time you should be able to dodge more, block the ball carriers and play a passing and faster game to victory. You losing so many early on is definately unlucky. Sure elves expect to lose 1-2 players a match but you seriously lucked out. Sorry man but all I can suggest is you try again & third time lucky.

[Jimmy Fantastic]

At low TV Norse are Wood Elves 2nd worst match up behind Amazons, so it's never going to be easy.
The Frenzy and Block is always going to cause you problems but from the specific examples it seems you have had bad luck also.

[Ullis]

It sounds a bit like you might have been too aggressive. Leaping into the cage isn't smart if you can't recover the loose ball with any certainty. An aerial assault means your guys are ending their turn on his TZ's. With AV7 linos against Block that equals elves exiting the pitch.

[Smurf]

Your set may be Standard to you. BTW have you read either or both of the play books regarding the WEs?

In a tournee I remember my WE getting a Norse pasting. 8 players off and I could still draw! Not sure if my opponent could do that again, with that attrition I even IPed him twice (it was full monty rules but we play nice, however given that I had 4 players on the pitch...)

WE need to take out the weak links in other teams. Another game with Norse I had I waited for the opportunity to smack his AG4 Thrower. Got the bugger off in the injured box through a Lineman Bltiz.

Go and look at those play books and pick a style that is you