Blood Bowl League 3.3 Week 5

[Barninho]

Don't quote me on this but as far as I know, the only rule for entry was a TV cap.

From my own experience Necromantic are a very tough team to get right early (I still haven't) what with average AG and average ST. Out of the AG teams for me the most competitive out of the box are Dark Elves who are great at all TV levels. The thing I like is you can bash and play ball.

 

[Dreamy]

The only entry requirements for 3.3 was a TV cap. But now we are supposed to have demotions, promotions and stuff, so putting in an experienced team in DIV 4 might mean that other players will have to wait.

Still, if the new team is replacing someone else, then maybe a somewhat similar (lower?) TV might be acceptable. And a new team starting at the bottom of the heap might also be allowed a game to start with so an apothecary can be afforded?

But all is down to Panda and other league commissioners.

 

[Panda with issues...]

New teams will need to be below or the same tv as the lowest TV (non-bye week) team in D4, where they will be entered.

 

[Dreamy]

So 1040, for Air On-My-G-String (although with journeymen they have TV 1250, which might be a reasonably fair valuation?)

 

[Narly Bird]

I'll either be continuing my Chaos or reverting to my season 2 Flings. I will wait and see what the race mix is like and also the commissioners preference before deciding.

Regarding submitting new teams to the league, my preference is that they are tv 1,000, unless the coach is a rookie or its a tier 3 team. I don't like the idea of people skilling up their teams beforehand, especially as we have a bye-week anyway which gives you lots of cash and spp. A lot of other leagues allow it, such as CC and OCC (with SCC), but i'm really not a fan.

I suspect we won't be starting season 4 until next year anyway, right? Or are we thinking to start this year and just have an extended MD1? Either way, i'm really looking forward to it!

 

[thatbloke]

I personally wouldn't expect the next season to start till next year.

 

[Panda with issues...]

We certainly won't be starting until new year.

Hoverdog: When are you free this weekend for our game?

I kind of need evenings.

 

[Velaphor]

Hi Velaphor, I was able to free up my Sunday a little bit, so we would be able to play at around 12:00 gmt if that would be better for you. Still no dice regarding a match during the week or Saturday, sorry.

That's cool dude I'll try to wake up for that then

 

[Panda with issues...]

That's cool dude I'll try to wake up for that then

You sicken me.

 

[Ghostwolf67]

So yes another valiant battle with Team Fanservice who i previously fought in a preseason warm up game. A hard fought no holds barred punchfest where the mighty warriors and beast did once again no damage yet the humble rotters (who hoovered up all my MVP's, curse you plaguies!) injured two guys and stole even more SPP. The warriors want to stop but the rotters just overpower them now. Crowning achievement of the game was the beast holding 6 amazons in place with its slimy... tentacles... wow theres an image.

Xars women played pro and almost had me in the final turn with a stunning playerrightonhisendzoneblitz then a full pitch throw which if it had been perfect rather than scatter would have handed him the victory.

I Dub this 'Season of the Draw' namely because of the games I played (mumblemumble2mumblegrumble...) all results were draws. I feel its my teams lack of scoring tactics seminars and anti-enemy team scoring prowess 101 classes that we attended post season that just means we end up dead locked mid field all game.

 

[Kasatka]

I don't think i'll take part in the next season. I'm getting beyond fed up with the (lack of proper) random dice rolling system the game uses.

 

[Lebe666]

I'm definetely retiring my halflings... want to play normal teams again !!

If need be I'll be bringing a fresh 1k TV team ... still thinking of what race. I do have higher TV teams sitting around that would love to see action...

 

[Dreamy]

(lack of proper) random dice rolling system the game uses.

That is interesting, because I too feel at times that the games are not random, because I keep getting the same results on vital blocks, or on passes.

On the other side, it's been well established that the dice roller is just as random as rolling a set of good dice.

So I wonder what gives this effect. Is it the oft-quoted "perceptual bias"?
Are we using improper dice elsewhere, that give us the expectation of increased success?
Perhaps it is about playing more games faster, having last games failures in fresher memory?
Negative feedback compounded by loosing the game, since if winning we might focus more on the rolls that went our way, whilst if loosing we do enjoy finding excuses for why it happened. (And in a comparatively random game like Blood Bowl, there is always a natural one rerolled to a natural one to blame, or an armor break with injury result)

-

And Kas, from our game I'd say you could benefit from hiding the ballcarrier a bit more. Unless the opponent has lots of guard, I'd say Norse are at their best in a scrum.
(I usually stop playing norse, though. Their low armor value combined with low agility/no dodge means they keep dying all the time, just like skaven linemen.)

 

[Panda with issues...]

Their low armor value combined with low agility/no dodge means they keep dying all the time, just like skaven linemen.)

They aren't exactly low agility. 3 is average.

 

[Narly Bird]

Crowning achievement of the game was the beast holding 6 amazons in place with its slimy... tentacles... wow theres an image.

Having lived in Japan I have had much exposure to tentacle monsters and therefore have a picture perfect image in my head of what the scene looked like...

I don't think i'll take part in the next season. I'm getting beyond fed up with the (lack of proper) random dice rolling system the game uses.

Sorry to hear that Kas. When you get royally screwed with the dice/team my suggestion is rather than drop out, to instead play as one of the top tier 1 teams. Norse are definately tier 2 and a really tough team to play as IMO.

 

[Kasatka]

As far as i am aware the issue with the dice roller is that the numbers are pre-determined before the matches, the random number tables are seeded. And as you tend to get the terrible results spread out, if you snakeyes and turnover then when it comes back round to your turn you snakeyes again...
I've had matches with 3 consecutive turns of turnover.
Also team wise i've played 2 chaos teams, a norse team and an orc team and done terribly with all of them.

 

[Narly Bird]

Also team wise i've played 2 chaos teams, a norse team and an orc team and done terribly with all of them.

All those teams are really tough to win with except for Orcs. Why not try Undead? They are quite a good team at low and mid tv's.

 

[Panda with issues...]

As far as i am aware the issue with the dice roller is that the numbers are pre-determined before the matches, the random number tables are seeded. And as you tend to get the terrible results spread out, if you snakeyes and turnover then when it comes back round to your turn you snakeyes again...
I've had matches with 3 consecutive turns of turnover.
Also team wise i've played 2 chaos teams, a norse team and an orc team and done terribly with all of them.

To be fair, the orcs you suffered from a broken comp and missing half the season, so had no spp.

 

[Dreamy]

They aren't exactly low agility. 3 is average.

True. What I was thinking was "bad agility", since AG 4 is the only one with a reasonable chance at dodging away from hits.

AG 3 has double the failure chance from dodging, compared to AG 4. (2/6 instead of 1/6). Amazons can do it anyway, despite having AG 3, since with dodge they can get a failure rate of 1/9 without spending rerolls.

Norse can only bash away the hurters, which in their case usually fails only 1/6 - unless they are alone or unsupported so they get two dice against. Hence a scrum is their natural environment (and they suffer badly when their opponents out-guard them)

Amazons are the easiest learning team, but once opponents get tackle or more block they start hurting. (Which is why dwarves are their nemesis, since they start out with lots of block and tackle)

After Amazons, undead are fairly easy to play. Dodge on some, block on some, great strength on some, and a bunch of zombies that can walk in and soak up hits.

Orcs are stable, but a bit tricky. They are slower and weaker than undead (but stronger than almost everything else). So keeping people in position is important.

 

[Moguai]

Orcs are stable, but a bit tricky. They are slower and weaker than undead (but stronger than almost everything else). So keeping people in position is important.

And here is where I disagree with you on Orcs, I'll grant you that they are only a little bit faster than Dwarfs, so definitely are on the slow side, but weaker than Undead? No way.

True, they only have a stupid Troll with ST 5 compared to 2 Mummies, but Bobs have natural Access to Strength and General skills, which imo makes them the stronger team, since they can get Guard as well as Block and MB. Mummies need a double for block.
Also Orc linemen are only marginally more expensive than Zombies or Skeletons but are faster (ok 1 MV is not that much faster, but for comparison's sake) and have 1 AV more, which makes them way more resilient than most other linemen.
Another reason why Orcs are stronger or at least on par with Undead is that they have a thrower, Sure Hands from the get go is a godsend with AG 3 and gives you a passing option; not a reliable one mind you, but in a pinch this has saved my butt on more than one occasion.
Finally, Blitzers all have Block; a big advantage especiall early on and the whole team is dirt cheap compared to Undead, one dead or severely crippled Mummy early on and you are going to be struggling the whole season instead of only maybe 1-2 games.
All in all, I think Orcs are at least as strong as Undead as a starting team.
(And now having listed all that I am seriously thinking about playing Orcs next season, I miss those greenskinned bastards)