Juggernaut (Strength)
A player with this skill is virtually impossible to stop once he is in motion. If this player takes a Blitz Action, then opposing players may not use their Fend, Stand Firm or Wrestle skills against blocks, and he may choose to treat a ‘Both Down’ result as if a ‘Pushed’ result has been rolled instead.
Overview:
Juggernaut has quite a few strings to its bow, despite the fact only one player can use it per turn. It probably isn’t a skill you would take as a first choice on most players though. The obvious thing that detracts you from selecting it would be that it can only be used by players who are blitzing. If you don’t have a really single candicate who you blitz with more than others (elves spring to mind) then there are probably more generally useful skills to select, especially if you would have to use a double roll to select it.
So with all that in mind there are still some players who it will be a great choice on. Some of the Big Guys are an obvious candidate, it can be hard for them to get Block and if they have Wild Animal then you may be using them for your blitz action quite a bit to get them moving somewhere more useful. The fact you can turn a both down into a push will keep them on their feet longer. They are also strong enough to be hitting players who would have Stand Firm as well, which gets them out of the way.
It also combines well with Frezny, you can ignore a both down to get a second block in if you want. This is also useful for moving players out of the way to create a bigger space to run your team through. Cancelling Fend also helps if you have this kind of play in mind. It will also reopen the threat of crowd pushes against Stand Firm players and makes it a bit riskier for Wrestle ones as well.
The fact Juggernaut cancels out Fend and Wrestle can make it great if you build a player built to hurt the other team. Players with these skills will typically not have Block, so cancelling Wrestle gives you another option to take them down. If you also have Piling On, then you can still use it rather than being held off by Fend. Players you build in this mould are often a high priority for the other team to not leave their players standing next to for a block. So when you are on offence you will probably be blitzing a lot with this guy as well.
Benefits:
- Turns Both Down to Pushes
- Negates Fend, Wrestle, Stand Firm
- Greater Crowd Push Threat
- Can Open Up More Space
Useful to:
As I already pointed out, Big Guy players who have Wild Animal and Frenzy can make great use of Juggernaut. You can even consider it as a first choice on these players if you tend to blitz with them more than block.
Another player who starts without Block is the Witch Elf, Juggernaut would be a doubles roll but it is a good choice. Combines well with their Frenzy and makes up a bit for the lack of Block or Wrestle if you don’t already have it. Werewolves also fall into this category.
Other players are Human Blitzers, Chaos Players, Orc Blitzers, Norse Blitzers and Ulfwereners, Blitz-Ras, Troll Slayers and such players. Some teams you may only want to build one player this way, others have more players it will be useful to. As mentioned cause it can only be used on one player per turn, it is more of a later development skill, usually third or sometimes second choice. Most of the other skill choices you can take will be more useful to the team as a whole and I’d look to them for first picks on a lot of players.
Other teams with strength access probably won’t make as much use of it, Skaven Blitzers are a possibility but Gutter Runners will often be doing a lot of Blitzing, or the Rat Ogre, so I’d look to other skills first. Amazon Blitzers tend to load up on Guard and such like. Though either of these teams can certainly consider a build using Juggernaut.
I hadn’t put much thought into Juggernaut before reading this….
Now, I’ll probably try to build my Norse Snow Troll as a “Killer Blitzer” rather than as a blocker:
Mighty Blow, Pilling On, Juggernaut (Pro on doubles rather than Block, Jump Up if I am lucky enough to have a second double)
I’d be a lot happier with Juggernaught if it cancelled wrestle/standfirm/fend all the time, and allowed you to treat both down as push back when blitzing.
Then you’d be able to use it on the LOS as a counter to wrestle elves.
Definitely an interesting skill. I’m considering taking it on a Vampire. Do you think it would work as a second skill after Frenzy on a vamp?
It will work as a second skill after Frenzy, though it does mean that your Vampire has neither Block or Dodge. I’d certainly want Block before either Frenzy or Juggernaut.
Really? Hm. How well does Block stack with Juggernaught? It seems like the two have a little too much overlap, at least on paper.
Block stacks with Juggernaut in that the latter will cancel Wrestle, so in those instances you Blitz a Wrestle player you will want to have Block to knock them over. Sure there is some overlap in that you could turn the both down result into a push back, but if you are going to have either Block or Juggernaut, then Block is a lot better.
So if the player with juggernaut also has strip ball and they roll “both down” and then decide to treat that as a “pushed” does it knock the ball loose then because of strip ball?
Yes, unless the ball carrier has Sure Hands.
This might be to specific for a skill thread but I figured I might ask anyway. Do you see merit in giving a guy with Block, MB, Frenzy, and Pro Juggernaut over Tackle? I figure that with Frenzy Jugg Pro I have some many tactical options It might be worth missing out on hitting a block/dodge player.
I’ve had taken both Juggernaut and Tackle before even considering Pro. Juggernaut is great to have on such a player but so is Tackle. Frenzy compensates somewhat for not having Tackle and Juggernaut will let you target Wrestle opponents and works well with Frenzy.
The only thing to really consider is how much Dodge is around in the rest of the league and how much Tackle you have on your team to deal with it. If you think you are covered in that regard then by all means take Juggernaut.
I don’t know if you still answer these, Coach, but I have an interesting situation.
I have an orc blitzer with MB, Tackle, +AG, and Frenzy. He’s a bit of a terror in my league, something like 15 casualties in 20ish games. He’s really close to his next skill, and Juggernaut was something I have been thinking of. Obviously if he rolls doubles, he’s getting Dodge, and I’ll take pretty much every stat boost. But if he doesn’t roll anything fancy, is there anything he would want other than Juggernaut or Piling On?
Juggernaut is a great compliment for that Blitzer, works well with Frenzy and cancels out Wrestle (and Stand Firm but we don’t see much of that any more). In future for skill picks on specific players I recommend using the forum and posting your whole roster as that can often affect the skill choice. Cases could be made for Strip Ball and possibly Sure Hands as well.
Juggernaut can also be used to improve the odds of a 1TTD. You often start with a blitz and have to get a push.
Hey coach here’s my 2 cents after some experience with a juggernaut elf. I think there is quite a good case for juggernaut without frenzy on elf teams. You often really NEED a push. Examples: to get through that tight screen, to chainpush for one turn attempts, to return to safety behind your own screen without having to dodge away, etc. The juggernaut blitzer reduces your risk of failure. You get the wanted push result more often. You find yourself way less often standing next to a tackle stand firm dwarf after a blitz with the unwanted both down result, and considering what to do now and whether to dodge away or not. Definately worth the money!