Norse Throwers Overview:
There are a lot of Norse coaches who don’t think the Throwers are worth having on their team and are happy enough to not play with any. Typically on most teams a Thrower will become the de-facto ball carrier, though a Norse Thrower doesn’t start with the useful Sure Hands skill that usually causes that. Like Norse Linemen the Throwers have pretty average stats across the board apart from their low armour like the rest of the Norse team. As well as having Block like most Norse players they come with the Pass skill that is typical for a Thrower to have and passing skill access along with general access. Price wise they are pretty average though it is up to you if what they offer over a Lineman is worth that difference.
As I mentioned they don’t start with Sure Hands like some of the other AG3 Throwers on other teams. Obviously you can give them Sure Hands and you have the typical ball carrying Thrower for a bashing side (other teams taking Block that the Norse Thrower starts with). The main reason behind some electing to not do this is that the Runners can do the same but also move faster and can get Dodge and Side Step on normal skill rolls. That means the ball carrying role isn’t really open for the Thrower to take.
I still think there is room for Thrower on the team though, even as the main ball handler / retriever. Using a Thrower for the job means you don’t have to take skills like Sure Hands and Kick Off Return on your Runners. That leaves them to develop into great marking players instead. Also if your Throwers are back deep to collect the ball, your Runners can push up and be receiving threats for those short offensive drives. Having a better passing threat can spread the defence out against those opponents that you don’t want to get into a big ruck in the middle of the pitch with.
Ball Retrieving Norse Thrower:
- Normal: Sure Hands, Accurate / Kick Off Return, Fend / Nerves of Steel / Safe Throw
- Doubles: Strong Arm / Dodge
- Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV
This build can be flexible to develop to fit your own personal preference for how you play your Norse team, either just collecting the ball and then passing it up the pitch to a Runner straight away, or they can carry it forward themselves. You could also prioritise the passing skills if you wanted to build a passing game with the team. This isn’t something that I typically advise but it can be useful to have as an option and with the changes to Diving Catch an AG3 passing play can be an option to you.
Start off with Sure Hands to save on rerolls picking it up and to protect against Strip Ball. After that either go for Accurate if you want to improve their passing ability as soon as possible, or go for Kick Off Return to get nearer the ball straight away. After that I would go for Fend if you use them more as a ball carrier and it also helps with protection making them more useful as a defensive retriever as well. Alternatively Nerves of Steel can help you get the ball out of tough spots if your cage breaks down. Safe Throw can also offer nice options to avoid some interceptions and let you attempt a long throw by minimising fumbles.
For doubles your main choices are likely to be Strong Arm if you want to have a long passing threat, or Dodge for protection and to get out of tricky spots. A stat increase makes them even harder to hit which is useful for a ball carrier and useful on defence as well. An agility increase on a Norse Thrower makes them the prime candidate to be your main ball handler though. Getting one is golden and definitely frees up your Runners as I outlined above. As usual for a ball handler, movement is more useful than an armour increase.
Utility Norse Thrower:
- Normal: Leader, Sure Hands / Fend, Accurate / Kick Off Return / Tackle
- Doubles: Guard
- Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV /+AV
For those coaches who do like to use their Runners to carry the ball, they may still take a Norse Thrower on their team. Their passing skill access gives them access to Leader to get a cheap reroll. Norse teams though generally on the whole only roll dice for blocks and most the team starts with Block anyway, so rerolls may not be something you are short on, if you think that way then you probably don’t take Throwers. After that it is a bit tricky and depends on how you use him. Sure Hands may be an option though you probably have it on a Runner. If you do just have one on the team as a Lineman with Leader then Fend is probably the next best choice instead. After that Accurate or Kick Off Return will free up your runners to take other skills, letting the Thrower collect the ball to pass or hand off. Tackle is more fitting for the more standard Lineman role, especially if your team is light on Tackle which is possible.
For doubles go for Guard as the team needs it to deal with the stronger teams and your strength access team mates may have taken other skills first. A strength increase is great and would also protect the Leader skill more. Again if you get an agility increase then mould them into being your main ball carrier. If you get it on the first skill roll then don’t bother with Leader, hire another Thrower instead if you still wanted that. Movement again edges out armour, even in the “Lineman” mould the team isn’t exactly fast so I would still take movement. You could go for armour though if you wanted some more protection for the Leader reroll, though the boost over AV7 isn’t massive.
Norse Thrower Summary:
The so called black sheep of the Norse team with many teams electing not to hire any, whilst on others they can become crucial players. I can see merit with both sides of the argument though I like to include them as having a slightly more reliable passing option for when things go pear shaped is never a bad thing. There is always the option to really try and build the team into one that does like to pass a lot. I’m still not convinced it is optimum but the rules changes make this a better option than before. I think that spending the skill increases for the necessary skills to do it just detract from your defence. Still if you want to try something different and not become another cookie cutter Norse team then post on the forum and let us know how hit goes.
I’m conflicted on the Norse Thrower. On one hand, the team as a whole is so slow that you will wish for the option of doing a semi-reliable pass to get out of a scrum. On the other, their starting line-up is pretty tight already, and most of the time you’re not going to be tossing the ball with AG3, to AG3.
I’m on board with the Thrower. For the reason stated, which makes me happy, because it is nice as a newer player to have things independently confirmed as a good call.
As coach pointed out you can use a thrower to take skills like sure hands/kick off return that you then don’t have to put on your runners. I have a Thrower with Sure hands and leader. Additionally I have a runner with +agi and the combination of players allows me to be more flexible on offense than I would be otherwise. This really shows up against bashy teams where I seem to have some difficulty with my Norse team. Dwarves particularly are adept at raping my cage and breaking my face. Having that option to throw when needed has won me 2 games I would have lost otherwise.
I definitely think there are uses for the thrower on a Norse team. Another build I would consider would be for a more defensive thrower with Kick, Sure Hands (Tackle) and NoS (maybe even Hail Mary Pass). This has the advantage of not having to give Kick to a lineman and means you can use the thrower on defence in a Safety role. He can then be great for scooping up loose balls in the backfield and clearing them away from danger.
I have to say, I found them rather useful on the former roster, when the runners were catchers. You could pull off a rather decent aerial game and it opened more scoring options.
With the roster as is, I’m still taking them, because I like having Throwers as ball carriers anyway. Still, it’s not the lack of sure hands that makes me doubt their usefulness, but rather the loss of catch on the runners’ part.
Personally, I find a Thrower on my Norse team to be valuable if only for access to Leadership. My die rolling is so bad that I need every re-roll I can get. My typical Thrower build is almost identical to your Utility Thrower.
Run a strength heavy team of blitzers, wolves and a yhetee so no room for runners. Have a thrower to act as main ball handler. Went for sure hands then hail mary pass.
After playing as high elves I have no faith in Norse to have a reliable passing game. Want the option to back pedal then clear the ball downfield if I’m getting overwhelmed.
I always take accurate with this guy 1st unless +1 AG comes up. AG3 needs the accurate to help out on passes. Just my opinion.
I like to include throwers on a team as a 12th-13th player. They level pretty easily and at lower TV’s it is very easy for norse to just use a runner as the ball carrier and push up the pitch.
I like to level one thrower as a great passer in case I only have 2-3 turns to score or if I knock the ball away from an enemy and I need to get the ball out of a crowded area.
The other thrower will take Leader and Kick. Giving him kick will free up another lineman to take dirty player, and as a leader you will generally want this guy in the backfield anyways.
Throwers are vital for my norse team in offense.
They are the guys that interact the most with the ball. they are pretty good from the off with block and pass that gives them the option of either running it themselves of creating a passing play.
Either way this leaves your opponent guessing what your going to do.
Depending on what the opposition does, attempting to brake your cage or stick tackle zones on possible recievers. Or both…..
The thrower is in the ideal position with block and pass to make the best of every situation. He will present more of a threat with more skills he gets for either a throwing game or a runnig game.
Sure the other guys in the team make it look good with their skills, the threat they represent to cause casulaites and score touchdowns, but somebody has to pick the ball up first …
Agree with Netzilla completely – for me this guy is all about access to leader. Once he has that he becomes a 90k walking, blocking reroll nothing more imo. For me ball handling is left to the runners and trying where posiible to avoid throwing and stick to hand-offs to move the ball.
For me, the thrower is a ball retriever and plan B. I use just one, he plays like a linemen against squishy teams, but I find the pass skill invaluable against Bashy Teams.
I got a touchback start tol the 2nd half against dwarves, gave it to a werewolf on the wing. Him and his meagre cage got totally trampled halfway down the pitch, but the ball bounced backwards out of the cage, and the thrower picked it up, ran sideways and quick passed to a runne ron the undefended other wing. Being dwarves, they could do little to stop him.
So yeah, a good plan B against bashy teams, but I would never dream of trying to out-pass an Ag4 team
yup, thowers good 🙂 I like to cage with him and try to have the runner(s) out running amok as targets incase the cage colapses. At worst they soak up blitz’s and that’s great with me as it leaves my killers alone.
I’ve finally persuaded my lads to pick the ball up, why would I want them to throw it away??
And I don’t think having a Leader would go down well. They don’t even like me telling them what to do…
Hail Mary for desperate situations and to improve the chance of getting that completion SPP when needed, but otherwise not part of the plan.
A few have said this frees up the Runners from taking Sure Hands. Personally, I quite like my runners to have Sure Hands!
I’d probably take throwers every single time. Simply because I’d opt to take them instead of two linemen and I consider the capability to reliably pick up and pass the ball something the Norse really need. Simply because you want to get on with the hittin’ stuff instead of fooling around with the ball. Catching feels less important, as sometimes you just want the ball to go to a certain area of the pitch.
Overall I’d say I’d be happy with a thrower who has sure hands and accurate as far as their throwing duties go. Although I do have one with which I took catch on a doubles. I’ll have to see how that works out.