Specialist Cage Breaking:
Some teams have options that none of the others can have. I’m going to cover them briefly here so you have some idea of their application. While they have these extra options, these teams can still obviously try the more standard procedures outlined already. There are also inducements that teams can take that can grant them some of these abilities and options to add to their arsenal for that match.
Throw Team Mate:
Some teams have the option to throw a team mate at opposing players. If they manage to get one of the cage corners down, that can leave the opposing ball carrier open to being blitzed.
Bombardiers:
Throwing a bomb at a cage can be very effective. A normal five point cage takes will fit perfectly under the 9 square area of an exploding bomb’s blast. The bomb has to explode on the ball carrier in the middle for that to happen and you still might not knock any of them over. Usually though there are other opposing players nearby, so even if you don’t get the perfect result, you can still perhaps knock a couple of players over, even if the bomb scatters.
Wizards:
Again like bombs, a Wizard’s Fireball spell has the same effect though you can aim it right on top of the whole cage. Sometimes the threat can be enough as it might force them to spread the cage out more. This could perhaps let you dodge to the ball carrier, or swarm their looser cage in a more effective manner. You also have the option of the Lightening Bolt spell as well. You could either target a cage corner and then blitz the ball carrier. Or you could try and get the ball carrier directly and then use your blitz to recover the ball from where it ends up.
Stunty:
If you have a player with the Stunty skill, they can just look to dodge into the cage as though it was a normal open square. As most Stunty players are weak, the blitz on the ball carrier is likely to be two dice against, so it isn’t all good. Should you have one with a strength increase or Horns then you might be able to work a one die block. If you have more Stunty team mates who have Guard, then they can combine to give you a blitz in your favour strength wise.
Hypnotic Gaze:
Mostly used by Vampires, Hypnotic Gaze is a really potent anti cage weapon. Use it to negate the tackle zones of a cage corner and then you get a free run at blitzing the ball carrier. Trying to cage against a team with Hypnotic Gaze is one of the harder things you could try to do.
Cage Breaking Summary:
As you can see there are quite a few things to consider when it comes to defeating a cage. You don’t have to take the cage on and actively break it in order to win the game. There are a couple of last options I’ve not covered, but if you are players down and desperate then you can just try and dodge straight into the cage. An AG4 player dodging into three tackle zones will succeed just over half the time (55.5%) if you have a reroll (from Dodge or a team one). A big guy with break tackle only needs a 4+ to get in, again this works half the time or 75% if you have Dodge (team rerolls have to get past Loner). So the same respective odds apply for ST4 and Break Tackle, or AG5 players. I don’t like to just plough straight into the cage like that but sometimes it can be your most effective choice. For completeness if you need a 6+ (AG3 into three tackle zones) then that works 30.6% of the time with a reroll.
Other factors you might want to pay attention to when considering your defensive options would be the weather. If it is raining then getting the ball loose can make picking it up and then perhaps also moving it to another player much harder. If there is a blizzard then perhaps standing back more and just forcing more go for its will work in your favour. As with most aspects of the game nothing really beats experience, so I hope this helped and good luck on the pitch!
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:01 am
Great article Coach! I really like how you went in depth on all the different cages and cage breaking style.
Just a note on leaping, Pro could be considered a skill that could allow you to re-roll a failed leap; though it’s only a 4+ that you get the re-roll, of course.
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:30 am
Great in depth article. I’ve ben waiting to read your thoughts on cage defence, and you’ve gone over and above.
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Thanks Coach for yet another great article. Let us not forget the best anti-cage tactic: preventing the cage from forming. This might be easier for some teams; but, by and large, trying to isolate the ball handler (and perhaps those few players that want to form the cage) from the rest of the team may prove to be devastating for the offence. This won’t happen all the time (specially against experienced coaches), but once in a while it allows the defence to score during the opponents drive.
August 23rd, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Not letting it form is obviously a good point, though this article was about what do to when it has. I thought about putting that in but I’ll be covering it in another article and didn’t want to drift too far from the subject.
September 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Just revisiting this article which is very comprehensive and good to read every now and again in order to remember to sometimes consider all of the defensive strategies available! I think one of the hardest parts of this game is knowing when to commit and knowing when to hold back on defence, especially as an agile team coach. Obviously the uncertainty of the dice rolls will never make it an exact science either.
Anyway just wanted to point out one other way that you can attack a ball carrier in a cage, which I have not seen mentioned here. This applies mainly to dark elves and is not a strategy that I use personally, although I have had it used against me with a certain amount of success, so I think it merits consideration. An assassin with Leap can be a great cage breaker, especially against low armoured teams that have a ball carrier with Block, Dodge and Sure Hands protected in a cage. Leaping in and stabbing a ball carrier like that who has Av 7 can be a good way to get the ball loose and no amount of Guard on the cage corners can prevent it.
Obviously the risk when making the leap is the same as usual, but at least re-rolling the leap successfully means that you don’t have to worry about the block result coming up skulls afterwards as the stab will either succeed or fail regardless. It also helps if the assassin has Block and Dodge in order to be able to withstand the retaliation blocks that will come afterwards.
So, I would never make this a main strategy, but it is worth mentioning because it can be surprisingly effective. Also the dark elf star player Harkon Heartripper comes with Leap, although the fact he has Loner makes a riskier play to pull off with him.
December 23rd, 2010 at 12:23 am
Always good to learn I am a new coach. Curse my weakness of attacking the rear of a cage.
Most of the time I choose to slow the cage with around half my players. The other half I use to kill off any exposed opposition. Once I’ve secured a number advantage I’ll swamp the cage from all sides.
Experienced coaches will then hand off the ball and run away leaving me looking stupid.
December 23rd, 2010 at 12:25 am
Yes that is a common mistake, the rear of the cage can look tempting though it can often just leave you out of position.
February 8th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
What would you do against a slann cage, where if you don’t circle the entire cage, they can always find a way out through leap.
I love to play this team, and when I use a basic cage, most time the other player try to circle me using most of their players, leaving a catcher alone. I just leap out in the open and make a pass, diving catch makes it easy.
February 8th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Depends what team I’m playing, generally though mark their players up, if they want to keep trying to make leaps without a skill reroll that is fine. I try and put the pressure on to make them score quickly so I can dictate play on my own drives. Slann are such an unusual team to play with and against though, matches are much harder to predict and you have to adapt in game perhaps more than against any other team.
April 22nd, 2011 at 12:34 am
Why I like Yhetees. Big strength with Frenzy and Disturbing Presence. Plow into the corner of the cage and mark the ball carrier. Then he’s hard to bring down and the Disturbing Presence bothers the hand-off.
May 23rd, 2011 at 12:10 am
Great article!
Two things “missing”:
1 The sideline half cage. Using ball carrier and 2-4 players to guard the ball carrier. Often employed by faster teams if a number of players can run past the defense, but to few or too little space to make an ordinary cage. This most likely put them in scoring range and if defense is slower, you may not be able to get a screen between them and the end zone.
2 If the offense’s remaining players are near the cage, marking them could give the opportunity to chain push you own player into the cage in your next turn. If that succeed, that player can block/stab the ball carrier. Or if he can be pushed next to a cage corner, he can block him and make space for the blitz.
May 23rd, 2011 at 12:15 am
Thanks for your comment, that second point was certainly an option that was missed out thank you for that. I’m not sure what the first point has to do with cage breaking though?
February 20th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
My tactics often involve preventing the cage to form or, if they do form a cage, hitting the ball carrier as fast as I can.
I tend to mark isolated players as often as I can (to prevent them from joining the cage or getting ready to receive a pass) and to form a wall in front of the cage with slow players and hitting the ball carrier from the sides or rear with faster ones.
Once, I did that and the ball was picked up by one of my mummies… It was fun caging that mummy to the EZ… It was the first time ever I scored with a Big Guy. (I just played Norse and Undead up until now and a Yehtee is even less likely a candidate for that feat =) )
Thanks for the great article Coach. Made me rethink some of my strategies.