Nurgle Rotters

Nurgle Rotters Overview:

Nurgle Rotters are the very definition of a fodder player. They are cheap and don’t live very long and this combination means they are usually used in a way that exacerbates this. For the money though they are pretty good value, they are slow but have average strength, agility and armour. They have Nurgle’s Rot, so you may get a free Rotter of they kill an opponent. Their biggest downfall though is that they have Decay. Suffering a double injury any time they get hurt accelerates their impending death, or crippling injury. Nurgle teams can’t hire an Apothecary which also doesn’t help and unlike all their team mates, they don’t have Regeneration to rely on. As usual for a Chaotic player, they get normal access to mutations as well as general skills.

This means that Nurgle Rotters don’t usually develop a great deal and you will be lucky if any make it to getting three skills. They do make very good throw away players though as you expect them to die, so it isn’t really a big loss when they do. Rotters will often be used for sitting on the Line of Scrimmage and marking nasty opponents. Despite having Decay an opponent does still need to break armour and actually injure them for it to have any affect. They have a higher armour value than every other player who is as cheap as them apart from Zombies.

Whilst I am comparing them to other cheap Linemen from other teams you can see their apparent value . Looking at the Zombie again, for the same cost they are faster and more agile, so they can be used to ball handle if needed and perform the odd dodge in a more reliable manner. This can make them fare more useful and versatile during a game, it is just when they get hurt their disadvantage comes into play. A Rotter then can perform much more like a more expensive Lineman from that regard, the price difference from those teams is that the Rotter is slower than them. Given that a lot of the time they aren’t moving anyway, that price saving is actually quite useful. Give them some mutations and they can even outperform more expensive counterparts.

A quick point before you read through the development guides and that is I wouldn’t really expect your Rotters to get many skills. Most will probably peak at only one skill, a few may reach two and an exceptionally fortunate one could theoretically get three skills! There will be a lot though that don’t get any skills at all. So despite these outlined builds, there are a lot of coaches who like to plan their skill choices and development far into the future. For a Rotter that is just a waste of your time and I thought it worth mentioning now.

Kicker Nurgle Rotter:

• Normal: Kick, Block, Fend
• Doubles: Dodge / Guard
• Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV /+AV

As usual for a Lineman type, building a kicker can be a useful tool to have at your disposal. Nurgle aren’t a very prolific scoring team though, so kicking off might not happen a great deal and they are also a bit on the slow side to take great advantage. Due to this a Kick player perhaps isn’t as vital as it is for a lot of teams. Skipping one wouldn’t be a disaster but I still find one useful on any team, perhaps develop one later if one lives longer than expected. If you do get one and they progress beyond getting Kick, then Block next for protection and to make them a bit more useful on defence. Fend would be my third skill choice if they make it this far.

For doubles I would take Dodge for protection, though Guard could be an option as well. A stat increase in the first skill would mean a change of career away from a kicker. I wouldn’t turn down a strength increase, it helps against the other bashing teams and can give them a greater life expectancy. An agility increase gives you a nice ball handling option and can free up a Pestigor to a different development path. I’m torn between movement and armour with both having their plus points. Nurgle are a slow team so some extra range can come in useful, though an armour increase to nine will really help avoid Decay becoming a factor.

Ball Retrieving Nurgle Rotter:

• Normal: Sure Hands / Kick Off Return, Block, Fend
• Doubles: Dodge / Pass
• Stat Increase: +AG +ST +MV

If you get an agility increase on the first skill then I would consider this as a development path. Use them to collect the ball from kick off and either hold onto it, or give it to your Pestigor carrier (Extra Arms on the Pestigor would be helpful). Either go for Sure Hands next if you want to conserve rerolls and also face a lot of Strip Ball, or get Kick Off Return for some extra initial range and sometimes a free catch roll. If you do manage to get beyond then, either from scoring or just completions (which may take a while) then I would get Block and follow it up further with Fend. Chances are your Rotter will likely die far before this point.

For doubles if you are using them as a ball carrier then I would go for Dodge for protection and to help get away from opponents. If you just use him to collect the ball and get it to a Pestigor, then Pass could always be an option, or maybe one of the other passing skills if you prefer. I would only really try this over a Hand Off if failing it won’t leave the ball exposed. A strength increase would come in very handy for a strong and agile ball carrier to sit in a cage or behind a screen. Movement generally is more useful for a ball carrier / handling player than armour is.