SIDELINE REPORT: Greenmoon Smackers vs Wu-ling Wanderers

This game was played with a specifc purpose in mind. I wanted to try out the new Jack rules that are in the Star Realms League Play Pack. So, I asked my opponent to choose a Jack-heavy team, as did I. I went with the Marauders and my opponent went with the Koris.

Orx Guard - Red, Goblin Jack - Orange, Koris Guard - Dark Blue, Koris Jack - Light Blue

I pulled the Home team for the Marauders. I decided to go with a highly aggressive setup on the center line. I wanted to get the Orx on the other side and see if I could wreck some ugly Koris face. I did put one goblin in the front line too, you know, for the ball. I also decided that with the portal movement the Koris can manage, I wanted to guard the 3-4 point Strikezone - two goblins and an Orx.

My opponent went with a similar setup in the 3-4 Point Strikezone. He chose to use two Jacks to Guard the extra point hexes in the 1-2 point zones too. And finally, he went with a Guard in the center, no doubt to try and attack the poor Marauders on his turn.

The first few Rushes saw the Orx and Goblins dominate. By the end of the third Rush, 5 Koris were off the Pitch and I had scored a 4 point Strike with a Goblin! My dice were above average for sure, and my opponent's dice were... awful.

The game began to balance out after that. The Wanderers came back on the Pitch slowly, but with the use of the portals and some luck, they did manage to score a 2 point Strike. My opponent did a good job of placing the portals and utilizing them. 

The Goblins began having butter fingers and flubbed some easy rolls. The Orx continued to beat down the other side, but more knocked down models than sent off the Pitch as the game moved along.

The final score was in the Marauder's favor, but just.

Thoughts on the game:

• Orx are still big boys! They crush like it was Season One all the time!
• Koris Movement 4 HAS TO be mitigated by the portals.
• The Koris Striker is a huge target, and is taken off the pitch easily - use him for the big score and then pray he doesn't die.
  
• Goblins Dash well... unless they don't.
• The Koris Guards are better than I originally imagined.
• Slamming to get the ball is usually better than trying to Steal.

Thoughts on the new Jack rules:

• The new Jack rules will matter the most for teams with Jacks that have decent Strength. I think that the Teratons, Brokkrs (and I guess by extension the Forge Fathers), and the Crystallans will gain the most from these new rules. Being able to Slam with a 3+ Strength from 2-3 hexes away is a fantastic boon to these teams.
• The all-Jack teams for instance, can only be improved by the rules of course. I am not sure it will make them more competitive though. Time and playing them will tell, but my gut says that it will not vastly improve them.
• Void Siren Jacks! Um, a Running Interference Slam from 3 hexes away is crazy, crazy good!
• Z'zor Jacks... makes the Z'zor Striker useless now.
• The Sorak Jack will be improved by this change (like the Rebs needed another boost!).
• Martian Jack guns?!?! Does it work on their guns?

MANTIC DREADBALL UPDATE: Organized Play Kit

Under the Dreadball Support section on the Organized Play Page from Mantic (http://www.manticgames.com/organised-play.html) there was quite a treat, specifically in the League Play Pack. Let me cut to the chase!

"The new boots have granted the Jack players better stability on the pitch and as a result confidence in their abilities in the game. While playing in the Star Realms League all Jack players may move up to half their movement, rounding up, when performing a Slam, Steal or Throw action and may be used with Run Interference."


WOOHOO!!!! A Jack upgrade across the board! Now we are talking! This should really change things for a LOT of teams out there - Marauders, Robots, Zzor, Zees, Martians, Koris, and of course, the Rebs, and probably many more... Before I go gushing about how this is the exact fix needed, or how I am super happy with Mantic responding to players' concerns, we are giving it a go Monday night. I will report back on Tuesday in a special Sideline Report!

There were some other changes in the document too:

"In homage to its violent past the Star Realms League runs a little differently to normal leagues. In game terms this means that if either team has no players on the pitch at the end of their turn then their opponent wins with a 7 point victory regardless of the score when the game finishes. In addition to this any player removed from the pitch injured as a result of a Foul action generates a Fan Check."

There were some changes to other aspects too, leveling up, free agents, so on (please take a look), but everything seems overshadowed by the Jack change.

COACH'S CORNER: Conventional Wisdom - MACE!

So, for those of you who do not know, I live in in the USA in the state of North Carolina. We don't get a whole lot of conventions coming through my area. There is one that I have attended before, it is in the city of Charlotte, that is just down the road from me. It is called MACE. And it is this Friday - Sunday. My lovely wife surprised me with a weekend pass!

I have a few events on my convention calendar, as far as what I signed up for - Murder of Crows, a four hour RPG session with three quick RPGs called Micro-RPG Grab Bag, Dark Moon, and Mars Attacks: Ten-Minute Takedown. But, there are zero Mantic games being offered in the official schedule - sad face.

So, a friend and I are going to take in two board, and a few teams and just start playing. Most of the people who attend MACE are local, or regional. I would love to spark some more interest in area. We are both huge Dreadball fans and have introduced a number of people to the game already (though many have migrated to other gaming stores in the area, and therefore into other metas).

I definitely want to have the base teams there. I have a fully painted base set, my friend painted the 29ers and I painted the Marauders. I also have enough painted space elves to sub in as humans (thanks to the packaging error common to the Asterians, I have an extra Guard, therefore enough to pretend to be the human team). I am not sure what other team to take. I would like to take one that is similar to the humans or another Season 1 team, but I don't have any more Season 1 teams painted. I would welcome any ideas.

Below are my painted teams...

Perhaps I should look into becoming the voice of Mantic in my area, Pathfinder Pope if you will....

SIDELINE REPORT: Nemion Oceanics vs Pelgar Mystics

This week, the Sphyr and the Judwan faced off on the Pitch. My friend Dan had not played his Judwan in quite some time and wanted to bring them out. They are a nicely painted team and it was good to see them back in the game. I decided to try out the Sphyr, and though I had seen them played before and played against them, it was my first time as their coach.

The Setup

Yellow - Judwan Strikers, Dark Blue - Sphyr Guard, Light Blue - Sphyr Jack, Green - Sphyr Striker

I set up in a pretty aggressive forward formation. Dan countered with a fairly standard defensive formation, except for the one strike are off to the side, assumingly  place there in order to be able to get to the ball later.

 The first rush went pretty well for the Sphyr. I ended up getting my guard to slam one of the outside defenders on the three point strike zone out of the way. While at the same time using a striker  to both assist with the slam, by threatening the Judwan player, and setting himself up to catch the ball. I easily got the ball through it to my other Striker, and scored a three point goal.

The second rush saw my opponents players head down the pitch and attempt to move my players out of the way for a three point strike. Just to not go as easily as he had planned, as his Feint actually ended up having him slammed onto the ground. My opponent ended up settling for a one point strike.

*Sigh*

I could go rush by rush at this point and describe what happened, but honestly it was a comedy of errors on my part -  I missed three strike attempts and flubbed picking up the ball once. That pretty much cost me the game.  On my opponents part, it was slowly moving down the pitch, moving my  players out of the way, and scoring three point strikes.  The job one finally ended up winning by a landslide in the 10th rush.

 In no way am I trying to take away from my opponents abilities. He played a pretty flawless game. He utilize the abilities the Judwan have to throw long distance and score 2 great advantage. Plus, he is experienced at using Feint like a pro. He won the game fair and square.

My dice were on a cold streak. Oh well, such is life.

"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you." - the Stranger, The Big Lebowski

What did we learn:

• The Judwan are still quite a viable team. Now, take that with a grain of salt of course, because it will entirely depend on your opponent. The matchup against the Sphyr is actually a pretty good one for the Judwan.
• The Long Arms ability never ceases to amaze me. It is just fantastic. 
• The Sphyr all right quite remarkable team, even though I lost, I could tell that there potential is near limitless. They are like a human team, but with a couple of extra tricks, and Movement 6.
• Both teams in this game head Movement 6. Movement 6 is where it's at. 
• Tail vs the Judwan is useless.  OK, not entirely useless. I realize that it would be great if one of them were trying to steal from you, but being honest, I never had a single rush where that was even an option for them. There was always a time for me to attempt a strike -  I never had the ball on their rush. Wished it worked against Feint.
• Feint - in the hands of a skilled (and averagely lucky) player, this ability is really good, and very hard to counter. 

SIDELINE REPORT: Glambek Ghosts vs Sulentic Shards

I had the good fortune of being able to slip in a game tonight with my buddy, Dan. We both came in wanting to play the Glambek Ghosts, but not wanting to play a mirror-match, Dan grabbed the Sulentic Shards. It was my first time trying out the Ada-Lorana and Dan's first time playing the Crystallans. Two blue plastic teams! Woo hoo!

The Game:

Dan ended up being the home team and set up his Crystallans in a very aggressive formation. He had Jacks and Guards lining the front of his side of the Pitch.

Dan's initial setup.

I counter by setting up my Ada-Lorana way back, and trying to keep as many Strikers out of reach without hampering my ability to go after the ball.

My initial setup.

The Pitch looked like this at the start of the game:

Red - Crystallan Guard, Orange - Crystallan Jack, Dark Blue - Ada-Loana Guard, Light Blue - Ada-Lorana Jack, Green - Ada-Lorana Striker

The first Rush saw Dan's Crystallans work in cooperation to Slam my Jack in the 1-2 point Strike Zone. But the elusive form of the Ada-Lorana Jack proved to be too difficult for the Crystallan Guard, even with a Crystallan Jack Threatening the Ada-Lorana. 

"Why won't this guy die?!?!" - Crystallan Guard

Then one of Dan's Crystallan Jacks grabbed the ball and the first Rush ended. He moved the Ref down toward the action.

On my Rush, I concentrated entirely on scoring. I stole the ball. And tried to throw it in for a 3 point Strike ... and I did... and thus ended the second Rush.

The next Rush, Dan managed the knock out the Jack he was focusing on by getting one of his Crystallans "fully harmonic" (getting all the bonuses from Harmonics). But even then he was only knocked out for 1 Rush. Then Dan grabbed the ball again and it went back to me.

I stole the ball. Then, I believe this was the Rush that I used a Showboat Card doing an Evade in the 3 point Strike Zone and caused the Ball Shatters event - hooray! So, no scoring for me this Rush...

Next Rush, Dan's guys attacked mine. That was the pattern usually. And my guys took it fine. 

Then this was the Rush I missed the goal and the ball scattered... :-( But it scattered right in front of the Striker that had jetted out of the cluster above. 

Ok, so... here's the very short version of the rest of the game. Crystallans try to Slam Ada-Lorana and just can't do it. Ada-Lorana score and win.

Final state of the Pitch.

What Did We Learn:

• The Crystallans NEED to play the defensive game. Even better if you can start second, maybe the best team to be the Visiting team as.
• You have to think not one, not two, but three or four steps ahead when playing as the Crystallans.
• The Ada-Lorana are really fun to play.
• The -1 to the opposing player's Slam, coupled with their 3+ Speed make taking a Ghost out nigh impossible.
• The Movement of 5 and only having 6 players keeps the Ada-Lorana from being too overpowered.
• The Gruba-tek VII Coliseum Pitch is awesome!

COACH'S CORNER: In Leagues with the Enemies

Ok... let's talk about comps. I know, kind of a dirty word, but it needs to be talked about. I want to try to get a league for Dreadball going locally, which might mean doing some rounds of the local stores, but before I do, I want to be sure what the League will look like.

All the opinions stated beyond this point (and in this blog in its entirety) are mine and mine alone. But I do welcome any thoughts, input or disagreements on them.

• If you purchase Schnörkel as an MVP, you are awesome (ok, so not a rule, but true none the less). :-)
• The Convicts have to be banned, or in the very least, heavily modified. In a previous blog entry, Lamanzer and I have a nice discussion about how the Convicts might be re-balanced, but I don't know if this is viable when trying to bring in the larger community. I might try something rather simple though, maybe allow the Convicts to play as a their stats are but minus the Offensive Coach and the Shock Collar ability. Less flavor, more balance?
• The Nameless are still a little OP in a league, I think in our last league my friend Dan lost one game with them. Not sure how to deal with that. Maybe every upgrade cost 50% more for them. Maybe for the Rebs too? What about Asterians? Maybe I am going overboard? Perhaps their team ranking in points should be 25 MC higher for purposes of determining underdog bonuses?
• Use the Achievements system from the Season 4 Rulebook.
• No Fans on the Pitch in regular games. Maybe in one game at some point in the League though, that could be fun.
• Allow one "We Can Rebuild Him" upgrade, and only on a Jack, must be clearly marked or represented as different somehow.
• No Hacking - from Season 6 Rulebook.
• Any Mechanite or Mutant team has to be WYSIWYG or very close, sorry.
• Forge Fathers can use Brokkr rules.
• Season 1 - Season 6 teams will be allowed. Other than what I have already mentioned.

I know there is more I want to have in there, but.... I will have to come back to it.

TACTICS: Back to basics... for starting players

Basic Tactics for New Dreadball Players:

• Keep it Simple for a Time. Use the Trontek team of human to get the basics, or maybe the Marauders if you like a challenge. But play with a rather straight-forward team for your first few games. This foundation will help you later on.
• Go for the Goal. No matter how much you just want to continually bash someone's head in, the game is won and lost in the Strike Zone. Try to score every Rush.*
• Tally Up Your Actions Backwards. Before doing anything, decide how many Actions you need to score a goal. Use the leftover Actions for buying cards, bashing skulls, and anything else, but be sure that you have what you need for scoring.
• Protect Your Strike Zones. This is essential, if nothing else, protect that critical 4 point lane, and the entire 3 point zone if you can.
• Team Up. Use your Jacks and even Strikers to add a Threat hex on a player before you go to Slam them. If you use a Striker, try to get in the rear arc of the opposing player, so he isn't Threatening you.
• Don't Turn Your Back On Me. Try not to present your rear arc to opposing players. Unless you are a Teraton or a Sphyr, presenting your backside to an opponent is a taunt that may well get you ground into paste. Sometimes, this might be unavoidable, but try not to if at all possible.
• Count It Out. I still use my finger and count out loud when determining if the move I am about to make is viable. Don't be ashamed! Sometimes that single pivot during a Sprint can mean the difference in being able to Catch a Ball or just looking silly.
• No Guts, No Glory. When learning to play the game, if there is a long shot play that seems nearly impossible and might win you the game, GO FOR IT! You never hear someone say, "Remember that time that I played it safe and won the game slowly." **

*Later on there might be a reason you don't, but starting out, I think going for the goal is the way to do it.

** Later on, say in a tournament, this might not be the optimum strategy, but it is still the one I go with. :-)