Post by sybaris on Sept 14, 2016 13:38:50 GMT
The team might not yet be in the BB2 client, but it still exists on paper and is part of the official line up.
I've coached an ogre team for 3 seasons in FL, and played them both on the table and in the open leagues for a while. That's not to say i am great with ogres, but i've given headaches enough to earn some good comments during the matches.
Arguably the worst team in the game with the possible exception of halflings, Ogres are a serious challenge to a coach. The first question is how to build your starting team.
There's only 2 players, being Ogres and Snotlings, and expensive re-rolls to consider. There's 3 mindsets to choose from. Either go with 4, 5 or 6 Ogres. The first style will get you more re-rolls and/or snotlings, while the 2nd will bring you more standing power on the pitch and the last one will make Orcs and even Khemri line look fragile. Now there's some variants around with 5.
If you choose to go with 4 Ogres, you must rely heavily on fouls to create attrition on the opposing team, that's because you have too few Ogres to contain the opponent, and they will blitz your snotlings out of the solar system by the end of the first half. You do have more re-rolls to alleviate the Bone-Head issue, though and this might create a better flow of play to get where you want, and avoid a critical loss of a tackle zone or blitz.
Personally, i always go for 6 Ogres. That's more for the psychotic and reckless player because it's very unforgiving and prone to disastrous turns, but it is highly intimidating to face 6 big guys at the same time, and it leaves only 5 snotlings to target for the opposing team, rather than 7. In a league, it also helps getting MVPs on the ogres rather than the snots.
There's a third option, going for 5 Ogres, 9 Snots, 1RR and an apothecary. The apothecary is there to save an unlucky ogre on your first games. I tend to go all out but this set up might be better suited for league developpement. Also, with 9 snots, you have more than enough to ensure liberal fouling through the first half.
Once you're done juggling with starting rosters, it's time to think on how you'll be playing this silly team.
The premise is that if you field a lot of big guys, the opponent won't be able to break through and you'll stop them....and on your offense, they won't be able to stop you. The Offence of the Ogre team is not to be underestimated. With so much strenght and mighty blow around, it's not unusual to get a casualty on the first turn of it. I typically like to get the ball to an ogre. While not the easiest task, and risking a Bone Head in a bad spot, it removes some pressure from the snots, and it is quite daunting to blitz a cage of ogres...let alone the ST5 carrier.
Defending with the Ogres...well...is much more difficult. You need to put Ogres on the line and the ones that are left in a way to stop catchers and other potential scorers from getting through. Needless to say, snotlings are there to do their best but don't expect much. Even Gutter Runners will get a 2D block, but sometimes the pesky snots will not go down, and with sidestep, they'll still be in the way. Another drawback of snots is that elves can run circles around them with 2+ rolls. An unfortunate Bone Head can simply translate into an opposing TD at times, it's how it goes. There is one trick for the Ogres worth mentioning, though...and while quite funny, it does work. It's basically impossible to make a one-turn TD by pushes vs Ogres if you place snotlings on the LOS, since they have sidestep. Only thrown team mates or MA10 players with sprint might pull it off. It might cost you 3 snots, but sometimes it's worth denying an 8th or 16th turn TD to the oponnent. Truth to be told, a blitzing ogre with 2 snotling assists have often stopped an advancing player in its tracks...3D blocks are the safest rolls in Blood Bowl, and the Ogres are one of the few teams who can do them regularily.
Ogres advances through casualties mostly, then MVPs and Touchdowns when you manage to get there. The most obvious advances for them are Guard, Piling On and Break Tackle. Stand Firm and Juggernaut can be useful too. Balance the numbers of Guards and Piling On in your team as it progresses, as you'll need both to create even more of a steam roller. Break Tackle is self-explanatory and will make your team so much harder to stop. Doubles are a headache: Block or Tackle? Depends on your league and your needs...and if you already have another Ogre with Block or Tackle. To be honest, you need both in your team, be it on the same ogre or not. Tackle is to make sure those elves and agile catchers pay a hefty price for being in range, and Block is to avoid turn over and tend to make for a great Ogre ball carrier. Once you have 3-4 Ogres with Guard, then your line can start holding almost any other, bar Chaos Killer teams due to the claws that the Minotaurs can get. Sadly, there is something as having too many skilled ogres. If you have 5 or 6 ogres that are level 3+ and none have rolled block, it might be time to sack one and hope for a good roll. Stats are all good except AV, unless you have an exceptional Ogre. +AG is awesome to be sure, and dedicates your Ogre to ball carrying for the rest of his career. Keep in mind that Piling On is a risky skill, if the ogre gets Bone Head on the next turn, you've basically "stunned" him yourself by making him loose a turn on his butt. Choose your "flattening" moments well.
Snotlings are...peculiar. Expect a heavy toll to pay the Reaper, but once in a blue moon, a snot will get such advances as to prove useful. The only stats to consider for a snot is +MA and +AG. It's still a heavy influx of team value, keep in mind that a snotling with a single skill is worth twice his buying price. The best snotling i ever got was Supersnot Snap, with sprint, surefeet, +MA and +AG, he was annoying as hell and actually worth his TV. Other than those rare pearls, diving tackle, sneaky git or sure feet are the best skills to give to a snot. If they do not get a stat or double roll by their 2nd advance, recycle them instantly. Doubles to go for could be Block, but Dirty Player would be great to add even more violence on the pitch. Since fouls bypass armor easily, it's also the best way to get rid of high AV players, which sometimes Ogres struggle to get off the pitch with mighty blow alone. There is one player that really hates snotlings, and it's the Lizardman Saurus. They can't dodge, so position your snotling behind them so they have to block backward and you sidestep wherever you want. Of course with 3D blocks there's good odds that the snotling implodes...but anyway.
Speaking of team value...an underdog Ogre team is a dangerous Ogre team, especially if they get a wizard...but even more so if their team value is so low as they can hire Morg'n'Torg (or, on the table top, any of the 2 other Ogre star players). This means that you get 7 Ogres on the pitch, one of them with AG3 and ST6...it's completely insane to watch (and play). My team was called "The 7th Ogre" for this reason...and also because 5 snotlings combined together manage ST5 and therefore block like a 7th Ogre. So inducements are very good for the Ogres. They are also very dangerous when Ogres start giving them away, since a wizard can completely cripple the team and open the field for the opponent. Zara the Slayer is also a great snotling slayer to be sure. Beware of Dark elf assassins too. While usually not worth their price, the assassin, like Zara, can take out a snotling per turn easily.
Snotlings might be cheap, but you'll find that they steal almost all your income quickly if you let them and you'll often be short a snot if they all get injured in a match. Without a copious amount of snots, your ability to foul is instantly reduced. This is something you must balance as an Ogre coach: do you save for your next re-roll, or do you refill the runts rank. Amusing enough, Snotlings are the only players in blood bow who don't mind getting -1ST injuries.
So there you have it with Ogres from my point of view. Sure it can be seen as a simple Block, Piling On, Foul team, but in reality it can be far more complex than that, if you wish it to be. It's not a really competitive team, so expect to loose alot and cherish any draws, but it is quite a fun team to play even though it is not for the faint of heart.
I've coached an ogre team for 3 seasons in FL, and played them both on the table and in the open leagues for a while. That's not to say i am great with ogres, but i've given headaches enough to earn some good comments during the matches.
Arguably the worst team in the game with the possible exception of halflings, Ogres are a serious challenge to a coach. The first question is how to build your starting team.
There's only 2 players, being Ogres and Snotlings, and expensive re-rolls to consider. There's 3 mindsets to choose from. Either go with 4, 5 or 6 Ogres. The first style will get you more re-rolls and/or snotlings, while the 2nd will bring you more standing power on the pitch and the last one will make Orcs and even Khemri line look fragile. Now there's some variants around with 5.
If you choose to go with 4 Ogres, you must rely heavily on fouls to create attrition on the opposing team, that's because you have too few Ogres to contain the opponent, and they will blitz your snotlings out of the solar system by the end of the first half. You do have more re-rolls to alleviate the Bone-Head issue, though and this might create a better flow of play to get where you want, and avoid a critical loss of a tackle zone or blitz.
Personally, i always go for 6 Ogres. That's more for the psychotic and reckless player because it's very unforgiving and prone to disastrous turns, but it is highly intimidating to face 6 big guys at the same time, and it leaves only 5 snotlings to target for the opposing team, rather than 7. In a league, it also helps getting MVPs on the ogres rather than the snots.
There's a third option, going for 5 Ogres, 9 Snots, 1RR and an apothecary. The apothecary is there to save an unlucky ogre on your first games. I tend to go all out but this set up might be better suited for league developpement. Also, with 9 snots, you have more than enough to ensure liberal fouling through the first half.
Once you're done juggling with starting rosters, it's time to think on how you'll be playing this silly team.
The premise is that if you field a lot of big guys, the opponent won't be able to break through and you'll stop them....and on your offense, they won't be able to stop you. The Offence of the Ogre team is not to be underestimated. With so much strenght and mighty blow around, it's not unusual to get a casualty on the first turn of it. I typically like to get the ball to an ogre. While not the easiest task, and risking a Bone Head in a bad spot, it removes some pressure from the snots, and it is quite daunting to blitz a cage of ogres...let alone the ST5 carrier.
Defending with the Ogres...well...is much more difficult. You need to put Ogres on the line and the ones that are left in a way to stop catchers and other potential scorers from getting through. Needless to say, snotlings are there to do their best but don't expect much. Even Gutter Runners will get a 2D block, but sometimes the pesky snots will not go down, and with sidestep, they'll still be in the way. Another drawback of snots is that elves can run circles around them with 2+ rolls. An unfortunate Bone Head can simply translate into an opposing TD at times, it's how it goes. There is one trick for the Ogres worth mentioning, though...and while quite funny, it does work. It's basically impossible to make a one-turn TD by pushes vs Ogres if you place snotlings on the LOS, since they have sidestep. Only thrown team mates or MA10 players with sprint might pull it off. It might cost you 3 snots, but sometimes it's worth denying an 8th or 16th turn TD to the oponnent. Truth to be told, a blitzing ogre with 2 snotling assists have often stopped an advancing player in its tracks...3D blocks are the safest rolls in Blood Bowl, and the Ogres are one of the few teams who can do them regularily.
Ogres advances through casualties mostly, then MVPs and Touchdowns when you manage to get there. The most obvious advances for them are Guard, Piling On and Break Tackle. Stand Firm and Juggernaut can be useful too. Balance the numbers of Guards and Piling On in your team as it progresses, as you'll need both to create even more of a steam roller. Break Tackle is self-explanatory and will make your team so much harder to stop. Doubles are a headache: Block or Tackle? Depends on your league and your needs...and if you already have another Ogre with Block or Tackle. To be honest, you need both in your team, be it on the same ogre or not. Tackle is to make sure those elves and agile catchers pay a hefty price for being in range, and Block is to avoid turn over and tend to make for a great Ogre ball carrier. Once you have 3-4 Ogres with Guard, then your line can start holding almost any other, bar Chaos Killer teams due to the claws that the Minotaurs can get. Sadly, there is something as having too many skilled ogres. If you have 5 or 6 ogres that are level 3+ and none have rolled block, it might be time to sack one and hope for a good roll. Stats are all good except AV, unless you have an exceptional Ogre. +AG is awesome to be sure, and dedicates your Ogre to ball carrying for the rest of his career. Keep in mind that Piling On is a risky skill, if the ogre gets Bone Head on the next turn, you've basically "stunned" him yourself by making him loose a turn on his butt. Choose your "flattening" moments well.
Snotlings are...peculiar. Expect a heavy toll to pay the Reaper, but once in a blue moon, a snot will get such advances as to prove useful. The only stats to consider for a snot is +MA and +AG. It's still a heavy influx of team value, keep in mind that a snotling with a single skill is worth twice his buying price. The best snotling i ever got was Supersnot Snap, with sprint, surefeet, +MA and +AG, he was annoying as hell and actually worth his TV. Other than those rare pearls, diving tackle, sneaky git or sure feet are the best skills to give to a snot. If they do not get a stat or double roll by their 2nd advance, recycle them instantly. Doubles to go for could be Block, but Dirty Player would be great to add even more violence on the pitch. Since fouls bypass armor easily, it's also the best way to get rid of high AV players, which sometimes Ogres struggle to get off the pitch with mighty blow alone. There is one player that really hates snotlings, and it's the Lizardman Saurus. They can't dodge, so position your snotling behind them so they have to block backward and you sidestep wherever you want. Of course with 3D blocks there's good odds that the snotling implodes...but anyway.
Speaking of team value...an underdog Ogre team is a dangerous Ogre team, especially if they get a wizard...but even more so if their team value is so low as they can hire Morg'n'Torg (or, on the table top, any of the 2 other Ogre star players). This means that you get 7 Ogres on the pitch, one of them with AG3 and ST6...it's completely insane to watch (and play). My team was called "The 7th Ogre" for this reason...and also because 5 snotlings combined together manage ST5 and therefore block like a 7th Ogre. So inducements are very good for the Ogres. They are also very dangerous when Ogres start giving them away, since a wizard can completely cripple the team and open the field for the opponent. Zara the Slayer is also a great snotling slayer to be sure. Beware of Dark elf assassins too. While usually not worth their price, the assassin, like Zara, can take out a snotling per turn easily.
Snotlings might be cheap, but you'll find that they steal almost all your income quickly if you let them and you'll often be short a snot if they all get injured in a match. Without a copious amount of snots, your ability to foul is instantly reduced. This is something you must balance as an Ogre coach: do you save for your next re-roll, or do you refill the runts rank. Amusing enough, Snotlings are the only players in blood bow who don't mind getting -1ST injuries.
So there you have it with Ogres from my point of view. Sure it can be seen as a simple Block, Piling On, Foul team, but in reality it can be far more complex than that, if you wish it to be. It's not a really competitive team, so expect to loose alot and cherish any draws, but it is quite a fun team to play even though it is not for the faint of heart.