RPS Blood Bowl League - The many, many Divisions of Death!

[Heliocentric]

/me experiences flashbacks

I've actually mellowed with fouling. I am nowhere near as much trying to use foul as a second blitz action as I used to.

But Halflings? The have stunty and dodge, this makes them hard to block or even blitz with my skill less MV4 linemen. (1 in 6 block dice are useful)

Wheras fouling is super likely to go my way with as little as 2 assists.

Let me put it plainly from my internal philosophy.
I can't in good conscious tell my opponents not to foul me. Where does that leave me?

[ChainsawHands]

I actually rarely foul, but it's not because I think it's wrong, it's just that there's almost always something better I could be doing.

[Rakysh]

That doesn't square with the idea that you use it to get even with higher tier teams though. Everyone's going to bag on Halflings anyway, why hit one of the few skill-upped players they do have for no in-match benefit and no league benefit (seeing as Halflings are almost certainly not going to win the division)? I'm not having a go, I'm genuinely interested in your reasoning, but I'm not sure I believe

I find the arrogance of players who demand the right to use crap with immense strengths against me and then sulk because I try to damage it. Of course I am damaging it, to teach you what happens when you step crap like that onto the pitch.

If it is true, then fair enough, but I think it's more interesting than that.

[Heliocentric]

If Helio's threat to foul is heeded to the extent that the oppostion leaves the valuable piece on the bench then Helio has made massive gains. If the opponent thinks Helio is bluffing then it is imperative that Helio performs the turn 16 foul otherwise people will think he's all bluster and his threat is rendered empty words.

This is particularaly important if the player ended up on the floor due to trying to do something, like score a touch down or blitz the ball carrier, the price of failure is a really solid kicking. Without the threat of a really solid kicking on turn 16 then that gives the owner of the wonder piece cart blanche to try crazy plays that they simply wouldn't consider if a high chance of death was a potential outcome.

And I say all this as a player who's fouled less than 10 times in 15 years of playing Blood Bowl.

That was put much better than I could of.

I add to this, I'm going DElf next season. I'm not smurfing under a new username, I will no doubt pay for my reputation. Feel free to T16 me, but don't be a hypocrite with it.

[Everblue]

That doesn't square with the idea that you use it to get even with higher tier teams though. Everyone's going to bag on Halflings anyway, why hit one of the few skill-upped players they do have for no in-match benefit and no league benefit (seeing as Halflings are almost certainly not going to win the division)? I'm not having a go, I'm genuinely interested in your reasoning, but I'm not sure I believe

If it is true, then fair enough, but I think it's more interesting than that.

If a halfling kills your player, it's still as dead if it was a clawed piling-on minotaur that did the damage. Arguably the risk for the halfling player in being a sneaky git is less, because all you can kill in retaliation is 30k worth of useless stunty rubbish. That said, I don't think I would foul in those circumstances, because essentially I'd feel sorry for the halfling player desperately trying to develop his or her team but getting stomped by orcs all the time.

[Alistair Hutton]

That was put much better than I could of.

I add to this, I'm going DElf next season. I'm not smurfing under a new username, I will no doubt pay for my reputation. Feel free to T16 me, but don't be a hypocrite with it.

Witch Elves, they gave an Elf Frenzy, it's like they want her to die.

When ever I see someone recommend Wrestle or Piling on as a Witch Elf skill up I do chortle a little.

[NieA7]

I actually rarely foul, but it's not because I think it's wrong, it's just that there's almost always something better I could be doing.

This. I tend to only foul in circumstances which must make me look like a complete bastard - when I've already got a numbers advantage on the pitch and an important player is down. The risk/reward usually isn't there - either you've got to move a load of your players out of position, or you've probably got crappy odds of breaking armour. Turn 16 not so much, unless, of course, it's an elf.

[Heliocentric]

That said, I don't think I would foul in those circumstances, because essentially I'd feel sorry for the halfling player desperately trying to develop his or her team but getting stomped by orcs all the time.

Yeah, if I had a real team with real players ... (Okay, I'll stop bagging on Undead now) But, I had 4 1up Blodge capable players, these are also my ball carriers, they are AV7, with no chance of an apothecary. I've had ghouls killed and retired by fouls BEFORE I stated being a bastard(my blodger ghouls got mercilessly targeted to the point I stopped giving them block) with it.

In short, I stopped taking blodge, on my 4 blodge capable players (without doubles) because of fouling opponents.
My only precious players in the whole team. I'm actually the victim here! [/emotional music]

Now I am going to be DElf mainly because of unanimous blodge access and 6 players are half way there, 4 of those have AV8 (I'd go Amazon but I have a phobia of being set against dwarves and never recovering) I truely expect my blodgers to get fouled, but I am going to have means to mitigate its devastation.

I have spared opponents who I feel offer no threat to my promotion, but not always. Sometimes they run their standing players to the corners of the pitch, or refuse to get up... What exactly am I meant to do with that?

This. I tend to only foul in circumstances which must make me look like a complete bastard - when I've already got a numbers advantage on the pitch and an important player is down. The risk/reward usually isn't there - either you've got to move a load of your players out of position, or you've probably got crappy odds of breaking armour.

I'm happy with taking risks, sometimes my line-up isn't ever going to win a straight game, i need to bend it a little and hope it doesn't break.

When ever I see someone recommend Wrestle or Piling on as a Witch Elf skill up I do chortle a little.

To be fair, shes useful out of the box, so if she dies? Funds permitting obviously.

[Kapouille]

because all you can kill in retaliation is 30k worth of useless stunty rubbish.

Ey! I could take offense in that ;)

[Kapouille]

I actually rarely foul, but it's not because I think it's wrong, it's just that there's almost always something better I could be doing.

This is true for most teams. Only a handful really can take benefit from it (due to, say, abovementionned rubishness, for instance) as the risk/reward ratio mostly offsets any benefit from fouling if you team is half competent.

[Heliocentric]

If it is true, then fair enough, but I think it's more interesting than that.

I legitimately spent a whole game failing to knock over halflings, I cant even blame the treemen who spent the whole game playing pinata with a zombie who would not lie down for long.

We are talking mighty blow triple dice blitzes turning into triple pushes, that game changed me.

[Kajo]

In my last game against Screwie, i fouled his ag5 NoS elf because i could get a tactical advantage from that;

Then i got a chance to gang foul someone on T16, and i did not use that chance, even if I got to use my Necromancer..

I'm generally uneasy when it comes down to stomp an already stomped down foe


And i see now the changes of the league: me sad :(
I've got 4 promotions in a row and can get the 5th (tough that's unlikely), you can't change the league now :( :P

[President Weasel]

Witch Elves, they gave an Elf Frenzy, it's like they want her to die.

When ever I see someone recommend Wrestle or Piling on as a Witch Elf skill up I do chortle a little.

Well they do come with jump up, and both of those skills have good synergy with that. Plus as the lowest-AV player on the team she's not likely to survive that long anyway, whether or not you use a strategy that leaves her on the ground a lot.

[Kapouille]

But Halflings? The have stunty and dodge, this makes them hard to block or even blitz with my skill less MV4 linemen. (1 in 6 block dice are useful)

Wheras fouling is super likely to go my way with as little as 2 assists.

I wasn't talking about our past match, more like it conjured images of pitches with only a couple of treemen left in the field and a lot of enemies surrounding them.

[X_kot]

Hutton's post about the projection of power is appreciated. :)

[Screwie]

I actually rarely foul, but it's not because I think it's wrong, it's just that there's almost always something better I could be doing.

Very much agreed on the second part.

With my goblin teams I almost never foul. With all the abuse they take, typically I just can't afford to have another little guy leave the pitch if I roll the dreaded double. Even the looney is better served knocking people down than gang fouling. Oh, one exception - I use the bombardier to foul. All the time too, unless he has a more important target still on their feet.

As for Turn 16 moves, it really depends on the league.

If it was an open-ended league like the Challenge League, I would think it's seriously bad form. That place is friendly, context-free and purely developmental. But I have come to recognise the tactical importance when league results have context, even if I don't especially like it and don't take advantage of it myself.

I'll probably still complain when it happens, but if you're allowed to foul on Turn 16 then I'm allowed to hate you for it. (That's my retaliation in Turn 17.) :P

Well they do come with jump up, and both of those skills have good synergy with that. Plus as the lowest-AV player on the team she's not likely to survive that long anyway, whether or not you use a strategy that leaves her on the ground a lot.

Until they get Block/Juggernaut, witch elves are quite capable of putting themselves in the dug out with 1D frenzy blocks. I probably wouldn't bother fouling them unless they were sufficiently advanced.

Runners and assassins are much better targets, really. Same AV, no Dodge, and no Jump Up so they're easier to slow down. But people just seem to fear the witch elf. :)

When ever I see someone recommend Wrestle or Piling on as a Witch Elf skill up I do chortle a little.

Yeah..... never again. >.>

[Jiiiiim]

Ah, the fouling debate. I don't tend to foul because it tends to destroy my position. But it's in the rules so I can't demand somebody not foul me, alas. Jacobi seems to get gangfouled at the end of every RPS Open game anyway.

[2lab]

I havn't been able to get much time this week, so it's a default for me. I'm going to be busy alot so I'll be dropping out of the league untill this so called summer is over.

[Gorm]

Turn 16 fouls just seem lame. Doing it during the game when it can actually make a difference is fine, not that i would enjoy it but i get it. But Turn 16 fouling a player even though, in the dod, especially you arent likely to meet the team again soon just seems spiteful.
But then the argument just comes down to, "Hey thats not cool dude" and "Someone did it to me so i can do it to anyone."

[Heliocentric]

I need to add that a furious foul rampage actually won me a game this season. My bastardry caused a coach to quit out.

I won in 3 turns by being a monster. I felt quite vindicated. Remember this if you are ever getting fouled onto ash.
You are allowed to conceed.