[Necromantic] Wayne's Underworld

[Narly Bird]

So Waynes Underworld just finished their 4th season with a nice 8/0/1 record and 1st place in div 4b. The teams lifetime stats are now 27/5/4, with two 1st places and one 2nd place to their name (I won’t mention the 6th place from season 9…). I put my success down to having a cool team theme (which Nuffle smiles upon) and a lot of luck with injuries, which has seen me lose very few key players and therefore often have a tv advantage over my opponent. I also was very lucky to get +AG on Heather in my very 1st season and it really gives me a lot more reliability and flexibility on offense.

This is the team as it stands:
1. Wayne Campbell (Wight) - +AG/MB/Guard/Tackle 69SPP
2. Garth Algar III (Wight) - +AG/ MB/Guard/Tackle 53 SPP
3. Del Preston (Wolf) – MB/PO/Blodge/Dauntless 96SPP
4. Christopher Walken II (Wolf) – Block 11SPP
5. Heather Locklear (Ghoul) - +AG/-AV/Block/Sure hands/Sidestep 72SPP
6. Weird Naked Indian III (Ghoul) - +MA/Wrestle/Strip ball 37SPP
7. Steven Tyler (Flesh Golem) – Block/Guard/MB31SPP
8. Jim Morrison (Flesh Golem) – Block/Guard 29SPP
9. Alice Cooper (Zombie) – Tackle/Block 25SPP
10. Dennis Dunaway (Zombie) – Kick/Wrestle/Tackle 33SPP
11. Neal Smith II (Zombie) – Dirty player 14SPP
12. Michael Bruce II (Zombie) 5SPP
13. Glen Buxton II (Zombie) 2SPP
3 rr, 13ff, 2cl, 2ac
540k gp and 2090tv.

I really like the team’s flexibility, being able to both play the bashing game and the running game. They are also perfectly suited to my choice of never stalling, as I can usually set up a decent defence for my opponents drive and hopefully recover the ball. But the team does seem to be a bit weak against the faster, dodgier teams. Luckily I don’t face many of those as OCC is mostly populated by bash, so I don’t have to worry about it too much yet.

I will be sitting out next season due to real life commitments, but will be back for season 13. My aim for this team is to make it to division 2 and hold my place there for a season (I have no grand delusions of making it to div 1). But for now I will sign off and perhaps pick up the thread again in April when season 13 starts.

Lastly, I just want to highlight how slow Flesh Golems skill. Both the FG’s were on the starting team and after 36 matches are on 31SPP and 29SPP! Luckily for me, they are pretty much optimal with just 2 skills (Block/Guard). For this reason I definitely recommend them on any Necro starting roster. so you can get those vital skills asap.

[Lebe666]

Really nice roster ! So much Agility... impressive. I've got one only on a single wolf.

As for the Flesh Golem... until they get their first 6 SPP its a nightmare. Both my original FG died. One skilled up fast with MVP/Cas... the other rookie I've gotten 6 straight . Very tiring to skill him up.

[Doomy]

A wizard may have been a better choice than a bribe and a babe, but I need a Dirty Git award.

[Narly Bird]

Originally Posted by Doomy

A wizard may have been a better choice than a bribe and a babe, but I need a Dirty Git award.

Yeah, i think a wiz/babe combo would have been much better than the bribe/2 babes that you got. But you didn't have a lot to play for as you would have come 7th regardless of the result of our game and thus avoid relegation win, lose or draw. Also, this was always going to be a tough match to get a result from given the tv difference between our teams.

As it was, the 2nd half was still pretty close and it could have ended in a 1-1 draw if i hadnt managed to get at your ball carrier mid way through the half. Perhaps we will face each other again when i come back in season 13? If the tv's are closer, it could be a very tough match.

Did you end up winning the dirty git award?

[Doomy]

I have no idea what the Dirty Git standings are, to be honest. They haven't been updated, ever, so far as I can tell. Ozzie was giving it a fair crack, though.

And don't recall being assured 7th place at the time we played, though maybe I just don't check the standings often enough. They rarely give me the opportunity to bask in my own magnificence. In fact, I spend most of my time trying to ignore them.

[Narly Bird]

WU will be entering div 3 of OCC after a well earned break last season (basically because i was so busy with work that i couldn't commit to 1 match per week). I did the same thing with them last year and then had my worst season ever, coming 6th for season 9. I think the reason was that i had forgotten how to coach them properly and im worried the same thing will happen for season 13. Perhaps i will watch a few replays of my old games and some of another Necro coach who is in div 2 and hopefully re-learn how to play with them.

The roster is looking pretty nice and i like the flexibility of my team, with some hardcore bash and nice agility/movement. So i think the team can do good things as long as i can remember how to coach them. Looking at the elo rankings on OCC i'm ranked 19th coach overall and number 1 Necro coach. So with those numbers backing me, i am going to try and make an impact by getting some big wins early on and also talk a lot of trash in the prematch buildup.

My only concern (other than relearning how to play as Necro) is my no-stall strategy. Its worked for me so far (lifetime result of 27/5/4), but i wonder that in these higher divisions i will lose matches unless i stall? I haven't yet decided whether to stick to my principles or else sell out in the hopes of promotion. And on a slightly less important note, i never tried a 1-turner in the past as i feel its a really lame way to score and would much rather get a TD in normal play, or not at all. But perhaps i should change my attitude there too?

The morality of BB...

There are so many team blogs around at the moment that i will try and differentiate mine by putting in a lot of screenshots. It seemed to work for my POTD article when i was writing for the CCC, so perhaps i can pull an audience with some eye candy. As the season hasn’t started, you can all be amused by this ven diagram showing the link between alcohol and karaoke here in Japan. As someone who has lived in Japan for many years, I can confirm that this is 100% accurate:

[Nikolai II]

T8 one-turners you could skip in favor for trying to take out three or four opponents, but on T16 you should definitely be able to set up to try for a one-turner if needed to improve the result to draw/win.

Stalling is (imo) tricky to learn. Trying to stall has a lot of implications. If you want to learn stalling T3 might not be the best place to learn. (Unless you've already given up on promotion and are not risking demotion)

That said - sometimes it is worth it. And if your ballcarrier is completely safe, it might be worth it waiting a turn..

[Netsmurf]

The trouble with stalling is, that I have seen it go wrong so many times for a few reasons.

1, At some point staller makes a misstake or rolls 1/36
2, The enemy rolls out 4+,5+,5+,4+,6+ and the ball is on the ground

I got a draw a few weeks back as the staller would not score in turn 15 but wanted to wait and then rolled with no reroll left on the blitz to get free.

[Barninho]

Great to see them back Jim. Good luck with the new season.

[John McGuirk]

Learn how to do the one-turner. When you think about it, it should really be the epitome of your fast-scoring philosophy

It's not just about being able to salvage a result with the last throws of the dice, although that's obviously great - a turn 8 one-turner, when it comes off, is a psychological gut-punch to an opponent.

They'll see their hard-earned lead, usually an hour or more's worth of intense concentration, magicked away like it was nothing - and they'll spend the next set-up phase and possibly longer smarting over the injustice of it all, which can lead to further mistakes.

I say this as somehow who neither knows - nor has any intention of learning - how to do one myself. Only someone who's been on the receiving end... often

Best of luck for the coming season!