[General] Block vs Pro for 'Big Guys'

[Narly Bird]

I haven't been able to sleep at night. Tossing and turning, I have something on my mind that just won't go away and let me sleep. My big guy got a double. Awesome! Lucky for me, right? Yes, but do i give him Pro or Block?

The way I see it, Pro makes him more reliable in performing actions (ie. in your turn), whilst Block helps him in the opponents turn as he is harder to knock down. Of course, block also helps him in blocking (your turn), as long as he passes his stupidity/bonehead/wild animal test.

From playing on Cyanide, it seems the common route is block first and then pro if you’re lucky enough to get another double. Whilst it depends on the skills you already have and your style of play, my thinking is that losing your tackle zone sucks big-time. Therefore for those big guys with stupidity/bonehead, pro is the better option. It means you are much less likely to lose tackle zones and I believe that the odds of knocking the player down are approximately the same with pro as if you had block. Therefore your reliability in blocking is the same and you will suffer from stupidity/bonehead 50% less. Of course the flipside is that in the opponents turn they may block your big guy and he won’t have block (so will go down easier). However, most big guys have high armour and S5 means that they really have to gang up on him to knock him down, so I think it’s a worthwhile trade-off. Im also happy to let the opponent gang up on my big guy as it leaves my other players free to score / sack the ball carrier.

Conversely, I think that block is probably better for wild animal big guys. They don’t lose their tackle zones when they suffer from it, so it isn’t such a big deal. Also, wild animal big guys tend to have lower armour and are therefore a bit more fragile. The exception might be if you already gave him juggernaut, in which case pro might be the better choice.

So why does everyone seem to go down the block route first? Is my logic flawed?

[Coach]

While it kind of "depends" I typically would say take Block and don't think it would be a mistake on any of them.

You can argue it both way for most of them in all honesty. Wild Animals for example need a 4+ to do a move action. So if they get stuck away from the action and you need your blitz else where, then Pro is going to be more helpful than Block would.

I would still take Block though even if they had Juggernaut. The fact that Juggernaut cancels out Wrestle (which is usually on ST3 players) means you can blitz them with 3 dice if you get one assist and have a fantastic chance of knocking them over. Without Block you still can't take them down on a both down and if they have dodge as well then that isn't great.

Block generally will let you be more aggressive with them and tougher while Pro makes them more reliable. Pro pretty much replaces the fact you lose a reroll from trying to use Loner with the same odds of working (both requiring a 4+). I think good decision making can negate that a lot of the time while working without Block can be more of an issue.

[Narly Bird]

Thanks for the tips Coach.

Would you still choose block as the first doubles skill for the Beast of Nurgle? It really hurts if he goes stupid as he loses his tentacles ability. Also, he comes with foul appearance, which will limit the number of blocks against him, thus reducing the need for it as a defensive skill. The other thing with Nurgle teams is that they usually don’t have many spare rerolls due to the high cost of players and 70k rerolls.

Im assuming you lose tentacles ability when you go stupid. Is this correct?

[Khail]

Really Stupid makes you lose your tackle zones, so Tentacles doesn't work (it only triggers when you try to leave one of the player's TZ).

[Coach]

The beast is a good candidate for Pro, especially if you rarely block with him as well. It will also make Break Tackle more appealing with the extra safety of Pro.