
Khemri Thro-Ras Overview:
Every team needs someone to handle the ball and on a Khemri team that falls at the feet of a Thro-Ra. Previously many Khemri coaches didn’t bother with them as Blitz-Ras were faster, with their speed boost though, they are worth taking and it frees the Blitz-Ras up to do other roles. If they were on any other team you wouldn’t really mark them out as being a player who would do much in the way of handling the ball unless the situation got desperate. Like every player on the Khemri team they suffer from having low agility which is probably the single more important stat for a ball carrier. They also have low armour combined with average movement, strength and cost.
They do have Sure Hands though to help combat that low agility when it comes to picking up the ball, this actually makes them better than an AG3 without any form of reroll at picking the ball up. Also like all of their team mates they have Regeneration which can help them to live longer. Lastly they also have the Pass skill which can sometimes come in helpful though there isn’t exactly anyone on the team who looks built to be a receiver.
While it isn’t ideal to be ball handling with AG2, Sure Hands does make up for it to some degree. With the agility on the whole team being low, chances are that once you pick the ball up with someone, they are the one you will be looking to score with. Due to this, Thro-Ras can become SPP hogs on the team. I would recommend building both just to specialise in ball carrying. Having two means you spread the SPP between two rather than one player. It also means you are more likely to have one in range to pick the ball up and it also gives you some cover if one gets injured.
If you aren’t facing Strip Ball then you may want to consider trying to score with someone else on the team. The extra movement on Thro-Ras can help with moving and reforming a cage easier than using your slower team mates.
Ball Carrying Thro-Ra:
- Normal: Block, Kick Off Return / Fend, Leader
- Doubles: Dodge
- Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV
I’d start with Block as it makes them harder to knock over and will also let them act like a Blitz-Ra on defence. They will be able to block more reliably, which is very helpful for the team and another option to blitz with means you will more likely have one free who doesn’t need to attempt a dodge. After that I would go for Kick Off Return, it will help in collecting the ball and forming the cage further up the pitch. Khemri are a slow and un-agile team so the shorter the distance you need to cage the less likely you are going to have to hurry up at some point. Fend is also a good option as it can help eliminate dodges and also offers protection. If you don’t want Kick Off Return on both, then taking Fend can be useful. Leader is also an option and you might want to take it after Block on one, depending on your need for rerolls. Don’t take it on both though as you can only get one Leader Reroll anyway.
For doubles as usual on a ball carrier I would take Dodge for protection, also having that skill reroll for when things go bad and you do need to dodge can be a life saver. A strength increase makes getting the ball off them harder, will make blitzing for the end zone easier and also makes them more useful on defence. An agility increase can be a god sent, finally you can pick the ball up much easier and also dodge with greater success. You don’t always have to use them as the ball carrier either as it then gives you an option for a possible receiver should you need to hand off or perform a passing play. Movement is more useful than the armour roll, especially on a ball carrier.
Thro-Ra Summary:
Due to the nature of the team having ball handling issues I think it is sensible to build them both in mind to carry the ball. They have the most movement on the team and also start off with Sure Hands. As I mentioned be sure to try and spread the scoring SPP around if possible though, else they will be even bigger targets than they already are.
As they don’t have options for agility skills they can run out of useful skills to take, Pro is probably the last one most helpful to that role. You can also consider making them a bit more diverse and taking Tackle and other defensive skills can help the team a great deal. If you get stuck for what to pick, consider your common opposition and what your team could do with most to help combat them.
There are also passing skills to consider, the low base agility means they aren’t best suited to passing and you don’t have the options for building good catchers. Taking some skills like Nerves of Steel and Accurate though can possibly get you out of some tight spots, just don’t rely on it. Hail Mary could also be helpful in some situations to just get the ball down the other end of the pitch.
I think Leader is the first skill to take on them (with a new team), as they’re the one most likely to level first, by which point you haven’t managed to gather enough money for more team rerolls. With the reliance on blocking (and only two Blitz-Ras starting with Block), you really need those rerolls.
Then I consider taking Kick-Off Return on both of my Throwers, because that would allow you to cover most of the pitch with them when receiving, giving you a free extra chance to catch the ball by it landing directly on you. Using two skill picks on the team on that feels a bit wasteful (for a 33% chance of catching the ball), but without it, I feel the chance to fail the pick-up is too huge against Leaping elf teams who can just waltz by and take it from your feet.
I go for Block and Kick Off Return on both Throw-Ras. I also consider taking tackle as a later skill if i haven’t rolled doubles. I always find on defense the Throw-Ras are in the back field with their 7 AV and are often take the role of attempting to take down the fast blodger types.
I saw a very successful Khemri team build it’s Thro-Ra’s as ball carrier blitzers. While the Blitz-Ras were being built as killers: Guard + Mighty Blow + Piling on, the Thro-Ras were built as ball attackers: Block + Tackle + Strip Ball. This made the Throw’Ras his top blitzers on defence, and his Blitz-Ras his top blitzers/killers on offense.
They are tied for 1st place with Blitz-Ras on the team for movement, and have the best chance at picking up the ball after a successful blitz/strip on the opponents ball carrier.
One of my Blitz-Ras got +1AG and Ballhandling next, now he is my Ballcarrier and i wonder what to do with my Thro-Ras now. One of them has Tackle, the other one Teamcaptain. I tend to build both as deep standing Saftys? Or any other opinions?
It might be worth using the Blitz-Ra as a Blitzer still though as he will be better at dodging away from markers. You can be certain if you do that with your Thro-Ras the opposing coach will just put a player on them to force a dodge.
If the AG4 Blitz-Ra isn’t holding the ball then he can also be a receiving threat to help spread the defence out giving you more room to cage in.
For more specific advice about your team please create a thread in the forum and put your whole roster in there and also what opposing races you commonly face.
A Blitz-Ra with +1ÁG is AG3 not AG4, butt still with that he is the top-AG of my team. But i think your argue still works.
In my opinion there is another way to skill up throw ras:
– Leader
– Block
– Takle
I don’t think kick off return is so usefull.
The fact is that you will always pick up the ball as the very last thing in the turn, so you need to get your team positioned well… Many times you simply fail to pick up the ball and so your extra movement is useless. Then the throw ra is one of the quickest player, so you’ll find that while he’s speeding up, simply your cage cannot follow him in the beginning. For example, if you field the throw ra deep, you’ll need at least other 2 pieces to flank him. If the ball is kicked in the middle of the field, your “guards” (usually skellies or blitzers) are going to get a loose formation, loosing the contact and forcing you to run. I think Leader and takle are more appreciated because this skill will be given to only blitzers (at max).
Thro-Ras often get misunderstood with their “pass” skill and low agility. They do not play the “passing” game, their throwing ability is meant for the Hail Mary skill.
But then the other team would pick up the ball, because the Thro-Ra would not be able to get down the pitch, the Thro-Ra is the only competent player at picking up the ball, and there would be a turnover suffered. Hail Mary Pass for Khemri seems very counter-intuitive.
thats the point. if you get swarmed in your end zone you can throw the ball back down to their end zone. with 2-3 turns left they are unlikely to score. saving you the game if you were in front.
it also can be used to win you a score in the general hail mary way. you have two thro-ras. if you sneak one in the back as most people need to swarm your mummies to get the roll pick, you can hail mary to the sneak.
thats what hail mary is for. the slow moving low agility cage teams.
too many people pigeon hole themselves into the core basics of rule play.
I see your point for defensive reasons, but it doesn’t seem to work well for the offensive side. Save for taking out most of the opposing team, it is unlikely that a Thro-Ra would be able to sneak through their lines, and an Elf or Skaven team could easily recover the ball and score themselves.
you can “think” what you want. but Jervis created the hail mary skill specifically for slow moving bashy teams. it is why dwarf runners, thro-ras etc have access to passing. it is not meant for the passing game like high elves.
if you dont know how to use specific skills other than dodge, block than you are a basic player
Hail mary is a terrible pass if you actually want to win games with your Khemri team. If you are playing them as a lark, which is fine for the tier the are, BOMBS AWAY!
Hail Mary Pass isn’t for passing plays, though – it’s for clearing the ball i.e. “punting”. You can end a dangerous drive in a jiffy if you pick the ball up then HMP back to the other side.
Hail-mary pass is a must have for Khemri.
In order to work properly, a Khemri team needs to be able to apply force where and when they need it. By using one player with kick-off return and Hail-Mary to be our ball retriever, we (sometimes) free up the rest of the team to go cause havoc where it’s most needed. Hail-mary means our ball carrier can defend himself by moving away from the fight. If opposing players get to close, then we simply throw the ball toward a location that’s inconvenient for our opponent.
While we shouldn’t really use Hail-Mary to “feint”, it’s also about the only way for khemri to get the ball from one side of the field to the other should our push get bogged down on one side.
In other words these skills open up tactical options that shouldn’t be ignored.
This might be extremely match-up specific, as I’m not a khemri player – I’m an undead player, commenting on an unusual Khemri build (for mid-to-high SP teams) that I find makes them MUCH harder for me to counter.
Normally I find Khemri pretty easy as undead, but on defence one is typically aiming to stall them and then block any route of scoring in the final turns – which is relatively easy, because they can’t just storm through the undead line, the undead are more mobile, and often even a badly planned defence just means that you’re saved by sacrificing a ghoul or 2 (not ideal, but if things go pear-shaped, it’s still really tough for the Khemri to deal with 4 mobile agility units that also have str 3, blocking the potential scoring routes on those final turns – though you’ll probably have to mourn a dead/crippled ghoul as punishment).
What I’ve found a lot trickier though, is where they’ve built ONE of their throw-ra’s as an actual thrower – with accurate and nerves of steel. I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THEM ATTEMPTING AN ACTUAL THROWING PLAY – obviously that would be ridiculous. I’m talking about the scenario where they’ve tried a standard “cage and bash” push, where I’ve got their running and handoff scoring routes 100% blocked off (or as close as you can realistically expect in blood bowl).
Due to Khemri’s bashing strength, it’s VERY difficult, however, to BOTH do that AND also prevent them from having a short pass open to a 2 agility unit. Obviously that’s not an option that you want to build a drive around as Khemri – even with accurate/nerves of steel, and a re-roll in hand, you’re talking a 50%-66% chance with the throw, and another 50/50 chance with the catch, with 1 re-roll in hand.
But that’s ALSO not a set of odds that a defending team likes to have either – especially if they’ve done everything else to their satisfaction. It means a significant minority of draws will become losses (for me as undead), and a significant minority of wins are squandered into draws.
On top of that, the throw-ra just doesn’t have much in the way of handy skills that it’s sacrificing in order to provide that back-up plan. Even with doubles, the throw-ra is going to be even worse as a dodging runner than it is a thrower – the only meaningful difference is that it might lack either block or fend. Neither of those make much difference vs undead, because you’re not usually trying to sack the ball-carrier….and if the carrier IS exposed enough that fend comes into play, they’re already gone due to undead’s very decent mid-high SP blitzing options.
Again, I don’t play Khemri, and even as an undead player, I can see that it’s obvious that passing plays should never be a Khemri player’s plan. But I find that on this site, people often forget the old line “the enemy ALSO has a plan”. A throw-ra with passing skills has ruined my day plenty of times when MY plan has prevented their plan from working. The same applies for many sub-optimal builds where there’s also a ‘spare’ unit – the Khemri lose very little by building one throw-ra to be able to throw when facing certain match-ups, and being forced (by your opponent) to attempt things that your team is bad at is a predictable contingency that should be mitigated, just like any other risk.