Orc Throwers, Trolls, and Goblins

Breidr

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I'm starting up another Orc team for out BB2 league and I'm trying to weigh my options and see what I want on the team.

Traditionally I end up with a 12-13 player roster that looks something like this:
4 Blitzers
4 Black Orcs
1 Thrower
3-4 Linemen

I usually pull the Thrower on Defense and put Linemen on the line. The thrower is mainly an offensive ball carrier, but I've heard a lot of people go against that, opting for a Blitzer to carry the ball, citing faster movement and more armor.

The Troll and Goblin are in a similar boat. I normally don't take a troll because I already have strength and armor. I'd rather save the TV and be reliable, but this is open league play, I'm not sure how things differ in a scheduled league.

Should I leave out the thrower? Are trolls worth their weight?
 

cjblackburn

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I like a Troll on my orc teams. However I like them as a positional team with lots of stand firm and guard which a Troll fits in. If you want to go all bash with the Troll doing regular blocks then I could see why you would leave him out.

As for Gobbos and throwers I normally take one just to allow me to do a relatively quick drive every so often. I normally take the thrower as at a pinch they can be an extra line orc. Throwers become much more useful if you get some AG4 blitzers who can then catch the ball regularly. Whereas goblin throws are just not reliable but you might get a free 1ttd every 20 games or so.
 

mamutas

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I think Thrower is essential to start with because of Sure Hands. Since there is noone to pass you end up scoring with him quite a lot in the beginning. Later when you can develop another carrier, or get AG on a Goblin to catch the ball, Thrower would become useful again. Between that not so much.
 

Breidr

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Thanks for the input guys!

Based on what's been said, I think I'll keep the thrower. I''m going to omit the troll and goblins in favor of all Orcs. I feel like this is my best chance for success given how I play, but I've been wrong before! :p
 

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For starters, yes. But consider to get the Troll/Goblin pair when you can afford it. They offer an totally new dimension of play with TTM as well as with their skills and stats. Besides, it is always fun and heartbreaking to see how Troll eats your beloved Level 4 goblin. :D
 

Nikolai II

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A bit late here, but in BB2 I skip the Thrower to start with. He's an AV8 weakling anyway, only worth it if your opponents start picking up strip ball.
 

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A bit late here, but in BB2 I skip the Thrower to start with. He's an AV8 weakling anyway, only worth it if your opponents start picking up strip ball.
So, you are taking the third reroll and a goblin and hope that you don't need to waste the reroll on pickup?
 

Nikolai II

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Nope. I get a lineman and an apo, and abuse the fact that I have AV9 all over.

Playing more like Nurgle, the goal becomes to score 1-0.

In online matchmaking elves and skaven are rare enough that you win that way anyway. (And you can induce a reroll pretty often)

In scheduled leagues play I suppose you could get a couple of blowouts when opponents get a lucky day, but will have to console yourself with trying to get a couple of AV7 cas SPP. But that'd apply even if you had a thrower.

Besides blitzers make better (faster) carriers and it's them you want getting the SPP, not some sluggish thrower. ;)
 

PaloLV

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I like the Orc Thrower. Sometimes the drive goes well and he ends up safely holding the ball while protected for a T8 walk-in TD. If the drive bogs down though or it's a 2 turn drive with a quick score being required then having an Orc with Pass, Accurate, and hopefully Strong Arm or +AG makes passing fairly reliable even throwing to AG 3 Blitzers as long as you've got a RR available for the catch. Sometimes those safe and easy long drives are due to the Orc Thrower's Sure Hands deterring leaping Strip Ball shenanigans.

Block, Kick Off Return, Accurate make for a very nice Orc Thrower. It's pretty wasteful to use a Blitzer as the primary ball carrier since they've got better things to do than sit in a cage or behind a screen or spend skills on Sure Hands, KoR, or certainly any passing skills. The one exception which would make me consider not using an Orc Thrower on the roster is if a Linorc rolled +AG or +ST. Then he could pick up Block, Sure Hands, and KoR to become a very capable ball carrier with either the agility to dodge or do emergency passing or the strength to deny 2d blitzes against him. I've got a Block ST 4 Linorc on my OCC roster and if my super star Thrower dies or gets retired I'll probably go without a Thrower for a while and see if I can get Tebo to L4 to pick up Sure Hands.

I also like carrying a Troll. They are cheap muscle and can absorb hits or occupy a couple ST 3 weaklings. The last thing Orcs ever want to run into is a team with more raw strength than them especially if it's a claw team like Chaos or Nurgle so I think the Troll is good to have around. Goblins seem too fragile and weak once the competition has developed a bit since MB/Tacklers will hunt them down to get a numbers advantage over the Orc team for the rest of the drive.
 

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I agree with PaloLV. I've been playing for about 20 years now and have played every team but Chaos Pact and Slann at least a couple of times. Orcs, however, are the team that I am most experienced with. They are the undisputed Kings of Bash!!! I've probably played some 50 or so different Orc Teams over the years and have noticed one thing... My teams with a thrower tend to level up better all around. This is because I am not wasting rerolls on silly things like picking up the ball. I also score more often because the thrower can reliably get the ball to other players more easily. When a thrower throws the ball (use with caution) you get to save the reroll for the catch. Even if you have 4 rerolls in your bank it doesn't help with the catch if you spend the reroll on the toss. Blitzers are NEVER turned into my main ball handlers. Even if one gets +2 AG and +2 movement. As good as that guy is at carrying the ball, he's better at support and now is a scoring threat that the thrower can toss to in a pinch, whereas if you sack your thrower you now have only one Schtick (give the ball to your super star Blitzer and let him run. The ONLY time I will turn someone besides a thrower into my main ball handler is if my main ball-carrier thrower gets killed or crippled and I have a lineorc that has gotten some cool skill ups. For instance, I once had a MV7 AG 4 Blodge Lineorc. He was serving in a utility assist and ball retrieval role until the thrower died. Once that happened that lineorc became the main ball-carrier and picked up surehands when he reached Legendary status.
 
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