Tactics Moving the cage, breaking down the attack

The BEtpet

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I've been building my team playing against the AI in league competitions. I've gone from generally being able to grind out a 2-1 win to drawing 1-1 by the skin of my teeth or losing 2-1 or 1-0. My team value is around 1900 and the opposition teams are generally a similar value or much lower but bolstered with star players, re-rolls, etc.

From what I'm seeing in my game, I'm having trouble moving the cage and/or creating a path for the cage to get through. This is leading me to either having to take a gamble in the final couple of turns to run the ball over the line or just simply not getting close enough to even try that.

The other problem seems to be my inability to break down their attack, slow their progress up the pitch enough or simply getting decimated by their star players who either KO, injure or stun my players enough to create gaps in my defence. Guard is having a limited effect for me as I seem to be losing out to block when going head-to-head with the opposition.

Although I'm playing with an orc team, I'd appreciate any general pointers as to how I can learn to overcome these issues. I know I'll get better as I play more but anything to give me a leg up would be appreciated. I've read the articles about forming and breaking cages but there doesn't seem to be much about moving cages. The opposition don't seem to be forming cages and I'm getting decimated too quickly to be able to form effective obstructions.
 

stephB

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I do not have time for a long reply as supposed to be working, but playing against the AI is really not going to help improve your game. I suggest asking in our chat for a game against one of our active members and they should be able to help you a lot more.
 

The BEtpet

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That sounds good. It would have to be a short notice request though as I don't get chance to play at a particular time or day. They'd also have to help me get set up :)
 

Nikolai II

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The most common rookie mistake about trying to move your cage forward, is trying to move your cage.

If you can overpower your opponents you can simply walk your cage one step forward per turn, but more commonly you drop a player or two (or four) and move your ballcarrier to a new cage that you started working on last turn. The abandoned and other spare players then get to work at creating room for next turns cage.
 

The BEtpet

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That makes sense. I played a Norse team yesterday and they absolutely wrecked me to the point that I was down to 4 players on the field. I have a couple of goblins specifically for their speed and dodging abilities. Creating a second cage and getting them to flit between cages sounds like a good plan.
 

Nikolai II

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A more common orc ploy is getting at least two black orcs with Block, Guard and Stand Firm and putting them in the cage front corners. Surround with more guards, blitz some with your Blitzers and just let them black orcs block themselves forward if there's still opponents in contact.

This normally means no goblins though (one thrower, 4 black and 4 blitz, 1-2 linos and 0-1 troll), just because with all that contact play AV7 becomes pretty brittle.
 

The BEtpet

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My Black Orcs have Guard at the moment. None of them have quite gotten up to a second skill. I'm guessing Block is next as I keep losing out on the rolls v Block.
 

Nikolai II

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Yeah, Guard is better as a first skill for instant gratification since it helps your team right away.

Block first means that they will probably skill up faster since you can block and block successfully more often. But it does mean some of your Blitzers need to pick up early guard, delaying their hitting skills. Like so much in BB, you need to pick a plan that you can feel comfortable with.
 

The BEtpet

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I'd like to add Block, Mighty Blow and Stand Firm to Guard if I can. That should cover most angles. I have my blitzers with Mighty blow, Block and Guard (well, most of them)
 

Nikolai II

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Yes, a very common school of thought is taking MB after guard to skill up faster (and hurt more opponents).

I personally disagree, thinking Block/SF/Guard is good enough for a black orc so no need to postpone SF by taking MB with the intention to get to SF faster.. :rolleyes:, but I don't play much orcs anyway. They are too slow for my poorly planned playstyle.
 

The BEtpet

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Yeah, I'm finding Black Orcs are very hard to level up. They generally get stuck at 5/6, 15/16, etc. I'm tempted to start pushing players off the pitch to get easy KOs
 

Nikolai II

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If you get the opportunity, handing over or passing to a black orc is reasonably reliable and very valuable.
 

PaloLV

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If you get the opportunity, handing over or passing to a black orc is reasonably reliable and very valuable.

True statement but I can't help loling anyways. Best to do the handoff attempt before T8 and if it doesn't work just do the safest score possible on T8 rather than try feeding the Black Orc again.:rolleyes:
 
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Street

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True statement but I can't help loling anyways. Best to do the handoff attempt before T8 and if it doesn't work just do the safest score possible on T8 rather than try feeding the Black Orc again.:rolleyes:
Unless you are already safe to win the match and no one else urgently needs the touchdown spp, then you can try with the Black Orc again.
 

Nikolai II

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Unless you are already safe to win the match and no one else urgently needs the touchdown spp, then you can try with the Black Orc again.

In this case he ended up drawing with me in a championship game, meaning he was a hairs breadth away from getting demoted for a season and not get a second shot already as he now has. :p
 
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