[Team Blog] OCC - Magnificent Mythos

[Viajero]

Interesting to see positive results on the NoS thrower build neglecting the classic Accurate route. May need to try it one day.

[Slyspy]

Yes, I was pleased to get see it prove useful so quickly. The idea is that the Thrower holds the ball behind the screen or in the cage until it is time for him to release it. This may be because it is time to score but is just as likely to be because he is under pressure and needs to clear it. I prefer this kind of running game paired with short passes.

The other Thrower is going to be built as a typical long range thrower but he stubbornly refuses to gather any SPP. He always seem to fluff the pass or get blatted before he can score!

[Lebe666]

Why not make the long range thrower first ?

[Slyspy]

Originally Posted by Lebe666

Why not make the long range thrower first ?

For a number of reasons. Firstly the team started with a single Thrower but no Catchers, so passing plays were a little more risky. Secondly any starting Elf team needs Dodge far more than it needs Accurate. So once the player who first picks up the ball has Dodge and starts running with it it is only natual to give him Block to further protect him especially since it is often safer to Dodge away than to pass it. Now he can do both or either! Thirdly, a Blodger is useful on attack or defence whereas you can only throw the ball if you already have it.

Edit:

His next skill with probably be Dump Off just for kicks and giggles. Or maybe Sure Hands. Either will defend against Strip Ballers.

Edit:

Accurate wouldn't have helped much in the last game since he was stood in two TZs and Prehensile Tail made a dodge risky.

[Slyspy]

Well we lost our game against the Khemri. Thats right, a High Elf side lost against a significantly less experienced Khemri team. It isn't the losing that bothers me but the jeers from the crowd!

The fact that first half I used all four rerolls in the first four turns and that at the end of the game he still had one spare (on an AG2 team!) should give you a hint of how it went. So should the fact that his blockless Guardians didn't turn over once! BB Manager shows that I was less unlucky with the D6 rolls than him (but I rolled more than twice as many, plus it is timing which counts) and luckier on 2D6 rolls too. For some reason there is no Block Dice data available.

The Start-Ups chose to receive and the kick went deep. They attempted to make a gap on the left but failed to get through so Mythos counter down the open flanks sending both Blitzers and two Catchers through to threaten Arthur C Mace (the Throw-Ra) who had managed the pick up first time! They respond by forming a huddle around the ball carrier while the other half of the team punch the Elf Linemen downfield. The Elves push into the huddle but then Charon fails dodge trying to lend his Guard to the mix. The Khemri clear the markers and foul Achilles out KOed with their hireling Dirty Player Skeleton but despite this the ball remains stationary inside their half. Charon clambers to is feet and marks up the ball carrier before Philandros comes blitzing in, taking the Throw-Ra out KOed! The ball ends up in one Khemri TZ. Xanthe covers the ball while Lykourgos swoops in, picks it up and scoops it away towards the opposition end zone. Things are looking good - we have possession on their drive and the bulk of their Guardians are too far away from the action.

This makes the undead things angry and they smash Adrastos out with a broken collar bone, a career cut short before it began. Then Lykougos gets zapped by a wizard and it all gets a bit complicated. The ball is covered by a Khemri TZ and Xanthe is pressed against the sideline by Howard Carter (Blitz-Ra) himself. Once again Philandros comes to the rescure, blitzing Howard away and killing him dead (more dead?). His body lands on the ball which scatters badly, landing right between a Guardian and the hireling Skeleton. Underterred the Elves take their chance. Nikephorus moves up in support, needing to reroll a dodge in the process thanks to a Tackle player. Xanthe sprints forward, ready for the scoring pass. Lykourgos dives between the two Khemri players and retrieves the ball. Desperate to get away from at least one of them he dodges again, but this time goes sprawling and the ball is loose once more.

The Start-Ups respond with surprising vigour, fouling the unfortunate Lykourgos out KO'd. They cover the ball with three players while downfield the Elven defence is pushed futher back (and down) by the Tomb Guardians. The Elven forwards meanwhile blitz one Skeleton away from the ball while marking up the others. There is a brief scuffle in which neither team can win the ball and then Charon fails his 2D blitz to free up the ball. Double skulls and no rerolls left! This is a critical moment. Xanthe, the only Elf covering the ball is blitzed out KO'd while the two backfield Elves, Evander and Nemesis are stunned and KO'd respectively. Reroll in hand hte Khemri make their play. The loner skeleton picks up the ball and hands of to another skeleton. He chances it and hurries into the Elven half, two go for its making sure that he is out of range of any Elf except Evander who lies stunned on the astrogranite. They trot the ball in on their turn eight. 0-1

We set up for our turn eight ready to score, although we'll need a friendly kick off result to put the clock back (I've never got the hang of one turners, especially with ST5 players in the way). Instead it is a Blitz which in which Patroclus is KO'd and the rest of the team marked up. Mythos push the lurching dead off them and then drag down Sebhotis (Blitz-Ra) and foul him out Ko'd. Meanwhile Menelaos sharpens his passing skills before the referee calls half time.

So now we are kicking with ten Elves. A Perfect Defence makes things interesting, but Philandros KOs a player on the left flank and runs through the gapHe is followed by Leander while others mark up the Khemri LoS. Thrower Erebus, the eternal rookie, grabs at the ball and misses, forcing us to use a reroll on turn one. However he makes the pass to Agamemnon who is screened just short of the LoS. The Start-Ups mark up the receivers and the screening players and KO Evander on the LoS but Mythos are able to free up their catchers and clear a path on the sideline. Agamemnon heads for the gap, screened on the LoS by his teammates. Things look shakey when Philandros is blitzed into the dug out badly hurt but then the hireling skeleton attacked Charon who knocks him to pieces. On a roll the blitzer then KOs another, allowing Agamemnon to dash deep into the Khemri half.

With a crunch Nikephorus is laid low by a Guardian. It looks bad, but the apothecary actually does his job and patches him up. Meanwhile the Khemri put pressure on the seven remaining Elves, including marking the ball carrier. Feeling that time is not on their side Mythos free up Leander who receives a pass from Agamemnon and dashes in for the score on our turn twelve. 1-1

Now Mythos are on defence again and once again down a player. Still, against a Khemri side missing an experienced Throw-Ra and a with a dead captain we are confident of rescuing the draw or even gaining the advantage.

It is immediately apparent that this isn't going to happen. Nemesis' kick is wayward and high. It lands in the Khemri end zone where the Throw-Ra fails to catch it. It bounces off the bewildered undead and off the pitch. The resulting touchback sees it in the hands of a Tomb Guardian on the LoS. This disaster is made worse when Achilles is taken off KOed, leaving the flank weakened. Then Xanthe fails a 1D blitz to mark up the ball carrier shortly before Agamemenon is left stunned by the sideline. The flank is open and the Khemri lurch towards the Elven end zone. Xanthe tries a blitz on the ball carrier, hoping to Wrestle it down but only pushes it back and soon it is just a turn away from scoring. Meanwhile the rest rest of the Elves are boxed in near the LoS and Menelaos gets KO'd.

No one can reach the ball carrier without alot of dice rolls, but Leander tries anyway. He makes his dodges but the blitz against the stonger player results in two skulls and the Catcher goes down. The Khemri stall for turn, giving Leander another shot, but with his ears still ringing from the last punch he fails to dodge past the screening skeleton. The Khemri score the winner on the last turn. 1-2

Overall I was pleased with the game but not the result, which I'm convinced is largely down to the terrible kick after I had equalised. Plus the Khemri team proved more reliable then the Elves which is a little depressing with hardly any forced turn overs (I remember two, the loner hurting himself and a Skeleton failing a dodge. Neither were essential). I used my rerolls very quickly and in at least one case I probably should have let the original roll stand. The opposition were fortunate enough to level my defence just when they needed to on both drives (as an example, Nikephorus has Wrestle and Dodge but it didn't protect him at all). It is very annoying not to have the block dice stats. My defence in the second half was shoddy - I should have pulled my LoS back before attempting the blitz to mark the carrier. Or not tried the blitz at all. But hey ho, at least I only look one unimportant casualty. The trouble is that without wins I'm losing money at this TV.

Two players levelled with normal skills: Menelaos gets his first skill. Probably Wrestle or Dodge. Nikephoros got the MVP (presumably either for getting punched every single turn or for bleeding all over the apothcary) and needs something to go with Wrestle and Dodge but I don't know what.

[Slyspy]

I chose Dauntless for Nikephoros since he spent the whole of the last match getting punched in the face by a Tomb Guardian. With some stronger teams coming up I wanted someone who could at least floor big guys. I was going to give Menelaos a sensible first skill but went for Sneaky Git instead. I rarely get much of a gang foul going since it puts half the team in one place so this skill gives me the chance to put the boot in every turn without risk. Maybe he'll get Dirty Player next, but maybe not.

Our next match is a mirror match against Reverendo's Excelsior Jesters High Elf team. On paper they are the inferior team but our comparative results say other wise! They are also missing a few players, so I'll be giving away 600+ TV in inducements. I'm expecting something fearsome like Morg and a Wizard, but on the plus side his missing players are both Blitzers and one of his two Catchers!

His team has one more Guard than mine but significantly less protective skills with just two Block, one Wrestle and no Dodge He has a Kicker (at -1 MV and -1 AV) and a Sneaky Git. The Throwers are designed as one runner and one passer, but again with few skills.

He only has three rerolls (unless he induces any) so my plan was to mark them up and wait for them to fail. If they don't fail then we'll hit them. Again, on paper, this is another match we should win but can we do it this time?

[Viajero]

600K?

Be prepared for a Wizard (guaranteed) and most likely Eldril Sidewinder and his NoS+Pass Block+Hypnogaze (intercepting with 55% success chance, Safe Throw notwithstanding, irrespective of tackle zones). He is also skilled with MA8, Catch and Dodge so a threat to be reckoned with in itself.

That would be 350K already. After that I d go for a mix of bribes, RR and babes.

[Nikolai II]

If it is 620k you could get Zarah, Eldril and a Wizard against you. Which would be fairly painful, I can imagine.

Lower than that and I'd take the wizard, possibly Eldril and probably a dodging blitzer mercenary.

[Slyspy]

Yes, my current estimate is that he'll have 640 points to spend.

Eldril might be a scoring threat, but I have the skills to take him out. Zara could be a pain, she is a bit of a bargain. As for a wizard, I'll just play as usual and ride it out.

Will he resist the temptation to go for DP and bribes though?

[Slyspy]

That was the worst game ever. I gave up bothering my turn 12 since I was having zero fun.

I have subsequently sent pms to the admins of all the leagues I'm currently playing in informing them that I am withdrawing.

I don't mind losing, but I do want to have fun in my spare time and at the moment I'm not getting any from Blood Bowl.

Cheers guys.