[Dwarf] Early dwarf team development

[RobitusinZ]

(PC Game, Campaign vs. Hard computer AI) I made a Dwarf team about 2 weeks ago with 12 Blockers. I've found it to be an absolute slaughterhouse. I've made it a point to rotate scoring, making the guy with the lowest SPPs the "scorer" for any given game, so I've kept all of them level in terms of SPP (even bringing in the back-up and sitting the most experienced Dwarf).

Ok, so the computer may not be the hottest AI in the world, but it hardly mattered. My first skill-up went to Guard, and thus, as all of my Dwarves hit level 2, they all got Guard. That made Strength virtually irrelevant, and it felt like I was playing a game of 22 vs. 11.

Once my Dwarves started hitting level 3, I started giving them Mighty Blow. This accelerated my progression to a stupid level, and it is when I started just slaughtering teams. The only teams which didn't end up with 5+ casualties were the Orcs, Dwarves and Chaos, who had the higher AV.

At level 4, I gave them Stand Firm.

At level 5, they all got Pro. I'm working them through level 5 now.

A few lucky Dwarves rolled doubles in their skill ups and have Dodge. Hence, I have 4 Blockers who have these skills: Block, Tackle, Thick Skull, Guard, Dodge, Stand Firm, Mighty Blow (they're level 5, so they basically switched Pro with Dodge).

I had one guy who rolled a Strength upgrade, which I took, but once all of my guys hit level 5, I sacked the Strength guy. I didn't really need him, and I replaced him with my first Blitzer, who got Sure Hands as his first skill. He's also level 2, so he's my permanent scorer for now.

My team now looks like this:

5x Blockers - Block, Tackle, Thick Skull, Guard, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Pro

2x Blockers - Block, Tackle, Thick Skull, Guard, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, +1 Movement Allowance

4x Blockers - Block, Tackle, Thick Skull, Guard, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Dodge

1x Blitzer - Block, Thick Skull, Sure Hands

My team has a 37 win, 0 loss, 3 draw record.

I'm working on building up my confidence to actually go play another player instead of the PC.

Edit: I know I don't need to state it for BB players, but Block+Tackle+Dodge+Stand Firm is complete domination of the Block dice. When I attack, I knock down on 2 of 6, 3 of 6 if they don't have Block. When I'm attacked, only a roll of "Attacker Down" does anything to me, and considering the over-abundance of Guard, I rarely end up with a 2-die block against me.

[Ian]

Yeah, unless you're leagues ahead of where I was playing a few human players'll give your teams a more realistic look. I know it did with me, as much as I enjoy(ed) the single player in Cyanide's game. :-P

[Thanatos]

Yeah, I have given up on the Single Player unless I am really bored.
Some of my single player teams are outrageous as well, though none as bad as RobitusinZ's. I would simply refuse to play against that team as it isn't worth the grief.

But playing against humans, even new/poor players can be more challenging than the AI.

[RobitusinZ]

Ya know, when it comes to in-game utilization, the single player AI is decent. The main problem is the skills that the players acquire. For example, line-men with Dump-Off. Or 2 guys on a team with Shadowing.

I still have trouble against Wood Elves, for example, since the Hard-level AI can pull off 2-turn scores, and it even stalls when it needs to. I don't really see a lot of room for improvement on the AI's part.

I understand that the "campaign AI" (to seperate it from the in-game AI) should simulate a league of humans where each human could've chosen whatever BS skills they want, but the game would have been better if some sort of template was followed for each team. i.e. advanced Orc and Dwarf teams would have tons of Block, Guard and Mighty Blow across their players, with little chance of, say, Kick-Off Return. I'm not bashing KOR, but c'mon, why would you give an Orc Blitzer KOR instead of Guard, Mighty Blow, or even Strip Ball?