Safety Blitzer Khemri Skeleton:
- Normal: Wrestle, Tackle / Strip Ball, Pro / Fend
- Doubles: Dodge / Guard / Side Step
- Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV
As I mentioned the positional players on Khemri teams are all suited to getting Block or already start with it. As Wrestle is such a great skill to have for taking down opposing ball carriers who will often have Block, someone on the team should really have it. I think two is probably worth having as Skeletons are both slow and don’t like dodging. Having two would mean it more likely to have one free where you need them and also then harder for the other team to avoid both. Try and keep a buddy by them to block them free if possible, though a dodge into the open with a team reroll does succeed 75% of the time. So start with Wrestle to counter Block and it can also be useful for slowing down bashing teams. Tackle or Strip Ball next, mostly depending on your frequent opposition, if you are developing two then perhaps give each one either skill.
After that Fend is probably best to help keep them alive (they are going to develop slowly) and to avoid some dodges. Pro could be handy as well for times you have already used a reroll up that turn. For doubles, Dodge is a nice choice to keep them alive and help with those low agility dodges when it is your best option. Guard though can be a handy alternative as usual, or Side Step can give them some marking ability.
A strength increase will make blitzing with them easier and also harder for them to get blocked. Agility will makes dodging much more likely and offer up some chance of them being an outlet for the ball. As they have Wrestle they wouldn’t perhaps be the best suited for carrying the ball even with an agility increase. So an option as a hand off or pass target to then go and score could come in useful. Getting extra range from a movement increase also outweighs an armour increase.
Scrimmage Khemri Skeleton:
The last most common role for Skeletons is that of the usual Lineman job of sitting on the Line of Scrimmage to get hit. Typically you are going to use unskilled Skeletons for this but at some point you may well have the chance to develop some specially. Start off with Wrestle to take down opposing Block players and also get some protection. This also gives your team more flexibility to hopefully having a Wrestle player in a blitzing position of the ball carrier when you get the chance. Fend comes next for more protection and to free them up from having to dodge. Not a load of overly useful options from this point, though you could probably make use of having more Tackle, or if facing a lot of teams with stronger players, then Dauntless could be worth a look. Even though you have four really strong team mates, they don’t have general skill access and sometimes having another option comes in handy.
For doubles I would get Guard, they are most likely to be tied up in tackle zones and also in a position to be assisting Tomb Guardians to help them get three dice blocks. A strength increase is great but then makes them too useful to stick on the Line of Scrimmage. Agility is also very helpful on a Khemri team, though I would look to go down the blitzing / safety build afterwards. Movement is nice to have, though perhaps armour could be considered here as they are probably getting blocked more and often may need to dodge in order to move at all.
Ball Handling Khemri Skeleton:
- Normal: Block, Sure Hands, Fend
- Doubles: Dodge
- Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV
This build will only really come about if you get an agility increase on their first skill and with the team lacking in even average agility players you should take it. They then become an option for being the ball carrier and could free up a Thro-Ra to become a safety if you wished. So after the agility increase Block and Sure Hands are the standard skill options, I personally prefer Block first as the team doesn’t start with much and their higher agility will give you more blitzing opportunities. Fend would come next as usual for protection to avoid some dodges.
Doubles I would go for Dodge like usual for ball carriers, both for protection and to help with those times you have to dodge away. A strength increase is great as it makes them harder to knock over, gives you a stronger player to hit with and makes blitzing free far easier. Assuming you have already taken an agility increase, I certainly wouldn’t pass up taking another to get an somewhat slow Elf like option on the team! Movement is more useful than armour for a ball carrier / blitzing role.
Khemri Skeleton Summary:
While they are cheap, Khemri Skeletons are very important players on the team. Their biggest disadvantage will probably be getting them developed as SPP may prove hard to come by. So don’t count on many of them getting much in the way of multiple skills. Their low armour will also mean that they are probably going to be the most targeted players as well. With Regeneration though some of them may have quite a long playing time and actually give you some development options.
Their team mates roles are rather well defined through their skill access and starting abilities so consider what your team could do with the most when deciding how to proceed. Sometimes your hand can be slightly forced in a certain direction with a nice stat increase. Skeletons though like most Linemen types take a lot of hits so planning on long term development may just be wasting your time.
Wrestle on the LOS Skellies? I would of thought with a control team like Khemri you would want those guys with Block, mainly because with your low AG and speed, you’ll be hurt more by the loss of your tackle zones than your opponent will be by the loss of his. Especially if you’re hoping to get guard on them.
You certainly can take Block on them, probably close either way. Of course with Wrestle you are losing your tackle zone when you go down, but you are also taking out an opposing one as well. That can free up space and also some of your team mates. It may also mean that you can stand up and move as well (albeit between 2 and 4 squares) depending on the position of the rest of their players.
I’m not sure I agree with you saying that the opponent is hurt less by you both losing our on the tackle zones. If you have Block instead then both your players stay where they are, if you were blocking them in order to free up your team mate to move, then Wrestle is the better option.
If you prefer Block then by all means take it, there are certain league environments that I would prefer it as well and I may even mix it up. I just think the value of getting opponents off their feet to help your unagile team move is helpful. Wrestle can also be great for bringing down opponents in order to foul them, or remove a player who is preventing you getting more assists for a gang foul. Very much a swings and roundabouts situation and like I mentioned I think a lot of the time you are going to have unskilled Skeletons there anyway.
I’d be a big advocate for Block on the LOS skellies for several reasons, firstly Khemri don’t have a lot of Block, only 2 Blitzers and probably your Thro-Ras who you don’t want to be getting in to the mix of things anyway. Secondly you are hoping for a double on your skellies for Guard and you don’t want Wrestle and Guard on the skelly. Thirdly there are several teams out there that likely have a number of players without block for which it is way better for you to have block in answer.
Of course Wrestle means you are getting rid of his assists but in the same token you want your obstacles to stay obstacles. You have such low mobility you don’t want to have to fill a hole in your defence or offensive cage because your opponent was able to pick both down, or you could only pick both down when blocking a threat away.
“Thirdly there are several teams out there that likely have a number of players without block for which it is way better for you to have block in answer.”
The only teams that are not likely to have Block (or pick it up quickly) are teams that don’t have access to it, such as Goblins or Ogres, otherwise yes, most teams do indeed have (or get) Block.
To me Wrestle is easily a good skill on skellies. As you said you don’t want Wrestle on your Thro-Ras as much (since they are your best ball carriers, though wrestle on a safty style Thro-Ra could be good), you don’t want it on Blitz-Ras since they already have Block, and you don’t want it on Guardians because well it’s hard for them to get it and Block is better on big guys. That just leaves Skellies as your main source of Wrestle and every single team should have some wrestle on it.
Just counted 15 out of 21 teams have players without general access. Yeah many of those are Big Guys but I know what I’d prefer to have when a big guy has to pick both down with no block. And how many people set up their big guys to bash your guys on the LOS…
The other side to that is as follows:
It isn’t that uncommon for Big Guys to get Block despite not having normal access to it. They also tend to have high armour so you don’t break armour that often (sure by taking Wrestle you do give up some occasions when a Block player would have broken armour). Wrestle and Block both take the other player down. Wrestle will always so do even when the opponent has Block, if you both have Block then it can leave your player open to get hit by another opposing player and it also leaves the Big Guy standing. If you have Wrestle then you can take them down and avoid being blocked again that turn, or if they don’t have block then you can elect to not use Wrestle and cause a turnover. (AT the sacrifice to taking an armour roll on your player which you could avoid if you have Block and they don’t.)
Also a lot of those 15 teams you cite only have one player without General access and that being the Big Guy, there aren’t really that many who will have a lot of players without General access that should cause massive problems. You also have Block on some team mates who can target their non Block player if you wished. I would also suggest that a lot of the time you would use a Tomb Guardian to hit their Big Guy due to the strengths on the players involved and not a Skeleton. There is a good case for Block but don’t dismiss Wrestle either.
Ok well you are arguing about 1 reason I gave out of many.
I love Wrestle and take it a lot with my more mobile teams, usually Elves or Skaven but on a team where the cage is so important I don’t want to take tons of Wrestle on the team. A couple of safeties like you suggested would be nice but 3 LOS skellies plus safety skellies all with Wrestle and no Block?
Opponents are going to have a field day getting to my ball carrier with most of my team falling to the ground on 50% of each and every dice.
You are putting them on the field for defence which is when the other team has the ball and you are trying to get it off them. You will likely have four Tomb Guardians, two Blitz-Ras and two Thro-Ras on the pitch when they are all available. That leave space for three Skeletons. You may forgo one if you have a kicker who I recommend should get Block. There is also some overlap between the LOS builds and the Safety build. If you do have a full compliment of positional players and three Block Skeletons on the LOS, where are you fitting a Wrestler into the formation?
On your offence you are probably going to probably want at least one Dirty Player build on there so I don’t think having a couple of Wrestle players is that detrimental. You can also have other Skeletons with Block on the bench as well to bring on and I did suggest it as a second skill for the Dirty Player build. At no point have I said though that taking Block isn’t a good idea!
On defence you often don’t put both Thro-Ras on the pitch, they are so easily KO’d or injured it’s best to have 1 next time you receive.
That leaves space for a dirty player skeleton who I would quite possibly give Wrestle if he gets that far.
On attack you need to put some of them LOS skellies on the field, unless you have a 14 man roster and no injuries and all of your skellies have at least 1 level up (ie never).
In my experience having to choose both down happens a lot and I just can’t imagine how that would be if the player you are blocking with is a key part of the ball carrier defence. You don’t have the mobility to recover it.
Do you really think you have room for 4-5 Wrestlers on the roster?
I have forgotten to give credit where it is due though, it’s a great article as always, I’m just a little stuck on this one point.
Then I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on this point Haree. I too am stuck on this. To me Wrestle is the default skill for skellies hands down and I don’t feel you’ve made any points that change that for me. If you’d like you could make a post int he forum for more discussion on the topic.
Your defensive LOS of skeletons will get blocked until they go down, it’s better they take someone down with them. So pick Wrestle. Wrestle is optional: if a Big Guy gets Both Down on you, don’t use the skill and the opponent will suffer the turnover.
Wrestle is awesome against stronger opponents especially countering dwarves. I am in the wrestling skelly camp.
My +ag lineskelly just leveled up and rolled 6+4. Should I get the +MA or get a normal skill like block, wrestle or sure hands? My team is low on block/wrestle + I’ve got 2 throwers already/
For questions on specific players like this, you are better off posting a thread on the forum, including your full roster and the other races you are facing and the league format.