SPONSOR SPECIALTIES: Thinking about overall strategy... BASHY TEAM (Part One)

With a new blog series I am calling "Sponsor Specialties", I will be exploring some things to consider when creating and growing your Sponsor in Dreadball Xtreme. I hope this is an interesting and engaging exploration of this topic and welcome thoughts, feedback, or any constructive critism on the series.

Let's begin now...

HOW DO YOU WANT TO PLAY?:

Even more than in Dreadball Original, Dreadball Xtreme caters to an individal's style of play. Whether you like a fast team with a high potential for scoring, or you like to play a team that crushes your opponent into food for space worms, or perhaps a balanced approach is more your style, DBX can be a lot of fun to play.

So, first ask yourself, what type of team do I like/am I best with/would like to experiment with? 

Then I would actually delve a little deeper into your desire than the cursory thought of the overall team strategic makeup.

Today, I would like to explore the thought process behind playing the...



Bashy Team

• Would you rather have one or two super strong players and back them up? This focus has pluses and minuses. You are putting your eggs in one basket, but it is a monster of a basket! A Hulk backed up by a couple of players with Gotcha! can be hard to stop. A Giant smashing through the enemy lines with a few Hobgoblins can be devastating. There is little to no subtly in this setup, but who cares! This is about taking one or two powerful Guards (maybe a powerful Jack?) and wrecking face! The drawback is glaringly obvious, if that player gets taken out, well, I guess don't let that happen. :-)

• Do you want to play a team where basically everyone is capable of hurting the other side? It is possible to play a team where every player has the potential to take down the other team. If you focus strictly on Jacks and Guards, then you can do this. In DBX, this is a perfectly viable concept. With the emphasis on the Nasty Surprise cards and hurting the other team, coupled with the ability to Dunk, there is no reason you can't go this route.

• Is the idea of racially-focused team of muscled Guards appealing to you? Perhaps you are thinking, "I want an Orx-centric team!" or "Nameless Hard Guards are too awesome, I need a few of them!", then go for it! When thinking about your bashy team, if one type of race is speaking to you, then use that as your focus. It can be a very good starting point. Through in some guys that can score with your team and go for it!

• Like the way your team crushes you opponents in DBO, and want to play that team that you already know and love? Fantastic idea! And of course, the back of the DBX Players Manual has rules for exactly that! This is an interesting choice for a starting DBX player, transitioning from DBO, or a veteran that would like to try out something different. I also really like the idea of constructing a narrative around a League where you start with a DBO team, and as a Sponsor, you learn to stretch out and grow from there.

• Surprisingly your opponent with loses he did not see coming your style? Bashy does not have to mean hitting someone over the head... ok, technically, I think it does, but playing to murder-death-kill the opposing teams players does not have to be obvious to them. Maybe you would like to utilize abilities like Ram, Push, and Feint to direct your opponent to places they did not want to go-beside a crate, with their back to one of your players, into a Threat hex of two of your team? Or perhaps, you work on setting the Backstab? Maybe you like to use Runaround to double up on someone before you Slam them? These tactics are surprisingly "bashy" and focusing on them can make for a fun, if quirky, Bashy Team.

• I only want to CRUSH MY OPPONENT!!! Well, actually, your could play the hard-nosed, full-on, just-Guard Kill Squad, but it is risky! Without at least one person to score for you, you might be at the mercy of the "clock". You can of course do this, and it might be loads of fun, but don't expect it to work every time, or even usually. A few bad dice rolls and you might be looking at a sad Pitch with less blood on it than you wanted. Having warned you though, if you injure everyone on the Pitch, you win, so... what the heck, if it's your thing, go for it!

Next installment, Choosing Groups for the Bashy Team...