Worst. Advice. Ever.

[spubbbba]

I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen passblock is use, in fact it’s pretty rare to ever see it.

Unless your league is very elf happy I don’t think there would ever be a situation where passblock is worth taking, there are always better skills you can use. I looked up my stats on FUMBBL and in over 1100 games I’ve managed 28 interceptions and been intercepted 28 times and that’s playing with and against all the LRB4 races.

That being said I do think there is potential to have a player starting with passblock, maybe something in the amazon roster or if the dwarf haters ever get their way and remove block or tackle from longbeards they could replace it with PB to make them suck a little less on defence.

[garion]

Pass block is an okay skill to give to gutter runner or Wood elf catcher as their final skill. But only ones with Blodge, Side step, Shadowing and diving tackle.

It can be combined with those skills to really nasty effect. But it is just so situational as you say, that it is rarely worth bothering.

As for the OP I dont think it will be beaten they are two useless skills lol. The only advice I keep hearing that I can never agree with is give 3 players 2 skills just for LoS duty. Wrestle and Fend. For me that is a lot of SPP to spend on 3 players that you are leaving on the LoS.

[Carnis]

Pass block is an okay skill to give to gutter runner or Wood elf catcher as their final skill. But only ones with Blodge, Side step, Shadowing and diving tackle.

As for the OP I dont think it will be beaten they are two useless skills lol. The only advice I keep hearing that I can never agree with is give 3 players 2 skills just for LoS duty. Wrestle and Fend. For me that is a lot of SPP to spend on 3 players that you are leaving on the LoS.

To be fair in my game, a good coach would have passed 1 square east to avoid eldril's pb, but he was about to roll the dice that's not the kind of situation where you go.. well I have this pass block thingie that you can totally avoid by taking that last move back and thinking it over.. So really the PB was only applicable due to opponent mistake (eldril could have tagged the receiver though). Also not completely sold that he needed to pass as a chaos coach there .

About fend though, I genuinely think in B you need to think about the LOS at some stage though. At least in B, where 4+ mbpo teams are not that rare.. I think dodge is better before fend if you can take it, but for instance my DEs skill their 3 blitzers for LOS first (block,dodge,SS), my dwarves take up to 5 fend, which against clawmb go to the line. I also think Wrestle/Fend is a good general pick for a human lineman, so its not just for LOS, it's a useful player on the followup turns as well. Neophyte's humans with these linemen made it to their qualifier final in Crown of Sands..

http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=team& ... _id=513360

[garion]

Pass block is an okay skill to give to gutter runner or Wood elf catcher as their final skill. But only ones with Blodge, Side step, Shadowing and diving tackle.

As for the OP I dont think it will be beaten they are two useless skills lol. The only advice I keep hearing that I can never agree with is give 3 players 2 skills just for LoS duty. Wrestle and Fend. For me that is a lot of SPP to spend on 3 players that you are leaving on the LoS.

To be fair in my game, a good coach would have passed 1 square east to avoid eldril's pb, but he was about to roll the dice that's not the kind of situation where you go.. well I have this pass block thingie that you can totally avoid by taking that last move back and thinking it over.. So really the PB was only applicable due to opponent mistake (eldril could have tagged the receiver though). Also not completely sold that he needed to pass as a chaos coach there .

About fend though, I genuinely think in B you need to think about the LOS at some stage though. At least in B, where 4+ mbpo teams are not that rare.. I think dodge is better before fend if you can take it, but for instance my DEs skill their 3 blitzers for LOS first (block,dodge,SS), my dwarves take up to 5 fend, which against clawmb go to the line. I also think Wrestle/Fend is a good general pick for a human lineman, so its not just for LOS, it's a useful player on the followup turns as well. Neophyte's humans with these linemen made it to their qualifier final in Crown of Sands..

http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=team& ... _id=513360

Yup Dwarves are built for Fend as they already have most skills. Dark Elves are another Race that can make pretty good use of a strong LoS if you want to risk your blitzers, as are Lizardmen. But the vast majority of races I would prefer to have 3 unskilled players there.

It is just too much risk leaving your most skilled players on the LoS in most cases, even if they do negate Pilling On.

I think it can be a useful skill for a very limited pool of teams yes, but I was just referring to the advice I keep seeing banded around that giving 3 players on the LoS wrestle Fend is a good idea. I cant agree with that. On most teams I wouldnt want 3 wrestle players on the pitch on some I would. It is just too much of an increase to your teams TV for a player that will get SI or killed in a few games regardless.

Thinking about Fend in B is very much race specific. Because of the team I have been playing with (mainly High Elves and Skaven) I against dont see the point in developing players for LoS because when those teams go above 1800 - 2200 TV they usually gets so bashed to pieces they are quickly down to around 1400 and I'm happy for my teams to fluctuate between those TV ranges.

But anyway I was just talking about TT not B. Although I play in a fairly small league I would never give a player Fend at all. Let alone go out my way to skill players for LoS duty. It seems counter intuative to me to skill a player that is certain to get hit at least once every game most likely by my opponent's hardest hitter.

[Dzerards]

For this thread I'm going to nominate my advicing to skip Dodge entirely on High elf or Pro elf teams since they don't start with any so that opponents' Tackle is entirely wasted.

I actually do that with High Elves! Although it is quite painful.

[RandomOracle]

For this thread I'm going to nominate my advicing to skip Dodge entirely on High elf or Pro elf teams since they don't start with any so that opponents' Tackle is entirely wasted.

I actually do that with High Elves! Although it is quite painful.

I did that with a high elf team that played essentially only elfbowl. The team was actually very successful, as skipping dodge allowed me to load up on side step and diving tackle (plus even some pass block). Nevertheless, I wouldn't suggest that tactic for a team that would play a wider variety of races.

[Smurf]

Remember 2 Pass blockers are better, especially if you set them up correcty!

----|p-----p|----

The Pass blockers here can cover the entire width of the pitch. The effects of delaying action may allow for a better organised defence or for offense to cover these guys (hence give them leap hehehe).

[nick_nameless]

.......(hence give them leap hehehe).

Better yet, just give it to your Slann Catchers.

[garion]

Remember 2 Pass blockers are better, especially if you set them up correcty!

----|p-----p|----

The Pass blockers here can cover the entire width of the pitch. The effects of delaying action may allow for a better organised defence or for offense to cover these guys (hence give them leap hehehe).

[Piousman]

On the right team I always thought that combined with Kick, Pass Block could do well.

I play a lot of teams that deploy heavily to the front, with only 1-2 people deep for ball retrieval. If you have the mobility (or you roll blitz), with a couple ob Pass Blockers that you can break through you can put significant pressure on the ball carrier.

- Piousman
P.S. Though again, I can count on one hand the times I wished to myself I had Pass Block.

[narg]

Having a skill is always better than no skill. Even if you gave leap to a snow troll I'm sure that once every thirty games or so you'd say that it ended up being at least moderately useful. What counts is the opportunity cost, and how much better other skills could be.

So for example I'm ready to believe that giving thick skull to a gutter runner can be a game changer from time to time, but honestly how often is your opponent going to roll an 8 on that gunner runner's injury roll. It doesn't compare to big hand or guard.

[Jimmy Fantastic]

Having a skill is always better than no skill.

Not true at all in TV based matchmaking environments.

[narg]

Having a skill is always better than no skill.

Not true at all in TV based matchmaking environments.

Let's not split hairs, you get my point. If you give leap to a snow troll and use him twice per game to blitz the opponent's ball carrier in the middle of a cage then once every three game it's actually going to work (even more often if you're a bit lucky) and then you'll say that leap on snow trolls is the ultimate combo as it allowed you to win a couple of games. Same with pass block, very long legs and thick skull, from time to time they may be useful and it may feel like they justify the higher TV while in fact they don't and other skills would have been way better.

I'm impressed by the amount of people who like pass block by the way.

[mattgslater]

Define "like".

I think Pass Block is a cool skill. Really, really cool.

I also think it's a total waste of a precious skill selection.

I'd almost certainly never take it, except maybe as a very late skill on a Pro Elf Catcher or a coverage monster. I can see that it would be "better" in pairs, but there's no way you'll get me to invest precious TV in figuring out just how much better.

[spubbbba]

Having a skill is always better than no skill. Even if you gave leap to a snow troll I'm sure that once every thirty games or so you'd say that it ended up being at least moderately useful. What counts is the opportunity cost, and how much better other skills could be.

So for example I'm ready to believe that giving thick skull to a gutter runner can be a game changer from time to time, but honestly how often is your opponent going to roll an 8 on that gunner runner's injury roll. It doesn't compare to big hand or guard.

Not true, more than in any other version of the BB rules you can’t afford to waste TV on uselss skills or players in crp.

Taking skills that may be used once a game at most will put you at a serious advantage compared to the conventional if boring ones such as block, tackle, dodge and guard. If you have extra skills then these need to be good enough to justify giving away their equivalent TV in inducements as those skills can mean giving your opponent a better star, babes etc which can make all the difference.