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Developing a formations guide

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pac

Joined: Oct 03, 2005

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 13:58

This isn't exactly the right forum for this, but I'm going to use it anyway. Razz

It's often been noted that this site doesn't have a comprehensive guide to (defensive) formations. Coaches asking for advice on this get good help, but it's not always as consistent, thorough or detailed as it might be. For a comprehensive resource on the subject, coaches tend to get sent to other sites or on a trawl through the archives.

I think this is a subject important enough that it should have its own Sticky at the top of the Tactics forum which coaches could be directed to. (If I can't persuade a Mod to sticky such a thread, the information can be added to the User Guide instead - hence the use of this forum. Very Happy

) Certainly we have the knowledge amongst all of us to develop a comprehensive list of formations, it just needs a bit of organisation!

So, the plan for this thread is to compile as much information on as many different formations as possible.

You can post your own formations - please include notes as to the kind of team that uses it and under what circumstances.

Please also post links to other pages (whether old threads on this site or resources on other sites) which include formations.

Eventually, I will collect all these up and get them into a consistent format (also, please do suggest what that format should be!). Contributions may end up being edited and/or merged, but everyone will be credited.

Offensive set-ups are generally a less important issue, but some may still wish to contribute some. If you do, please clearly mark them out with a bold line at the top of your post so that they can be skipped over when drawing up the main list.

I am now off to search the forum for old threads about formations ...

pac

Joined: Oct 03, 2005

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 14:10

Here is a list of past threads which contain formations, to be gone through more thoroughly later:

Formations: Wide vs. Wedge?

Good Formations <-- lots here!

A setup to stop one-turners?

Pages from the User Guide:

Defensive Set-ups <-- a start, but not an awful lot here, and not very well linked to

Here are some external sites with formations:

Hall of Galleries <-- French site with formations

Defensive Alignments <-- TBB thread

Tools for making formations:

France BB Playmaker <-- in French, but I'm sure it would not be difficult for anyone to figure out. Useful tool for analysing formations

(I will add more to this post as I find things.)

Rijssiej

Joined: Jan 04, 2005

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 14:28

would be nice to have it in the user guide(just the commonly used ones with pros and cons)

pac

Joined: Oct 03, 2005

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 14:37

Rijssiej wrote:

would be nice to have it in the user guide(just the commonly used ones with pros and cons)

There is some material in the User Guide at the moment (see link in second post), but it's patchy.

Rijssiej

Joined: Jan 04, 2005

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 14:48

I see. It seems a bit of a mess.

DukeTyrion

Joined: Feb 18, 2004

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 14:53

Code:

Defensive formation for use against dodging team that want to break through to your back line quickly (Rats/Elves).

Code:

This is one I sometimes use with my Rats, in the hope of a Blitz, tends to give me enough mobility to break through to the ball.

Last edited by DukeTyrion on %b %20, %2008 - %15:%Jun; edited 1 time in total

DukeTyrion

Joined: Feb 18, 2004

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 14:56

Code:

I have seen this one used against Khemri in the hope that all the mummies will be places on the same side of the pitch.

Eghost

Joined: Oct 19, 2003

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 15:06

DukeTyrion wrote:

Code:

Defensive formation for use against dodging team that want to break through to your back line quickly (Rats/Elves).

Code:

This is one I sometimes use with my Rats, in the hope of a Blitz, tends to give me enough mobility to break through to the ball.

I love those formations that will totally be ruined by a quick snap.

pac

Joined: Oct 03, 2005

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 15:07

This is my only formation that is nailed down and always used with the relevant team(s) (Wood Elves) except in special situations:

Code:

_________________
....|..LTL..|....
....|.......|....
.S..|L..D..K|..S.
..C.|.......|.C..
....|...W...|....

T = Tree; L = Lineman; S = Side Stepper; D = Dirty Player; K = Kicker; C = Catcher; W = Wardancer - (the exact players in each of these positions may vary a lot)

Like all formations, it has flaws, but none that really bother me. The main point of it is to spread everyone out and put fast players very wide to offer as many routes as possible into the opponent's half. The LoS is narrow partly so that the Tree can shelter the Linemen and partly so that the opponent's LoS players can't double up by covering routes into his half as well as blocking.

S and C positions should be filled with the fastest players available. W should be the best Wardancer (or other most vital player). You may not want to put really good Side Steppers in the S positions.

The main weakness of the formation is that few players are screened. Only W and C positions are screened from a blitz and both can certainly be menaced. D is slightly protected depending on how the LoS holds up. However, the management concept which underlies the formation is that players should be almost interchangeable and none irreplaceable ("Total Blood Bowl"). It is thus considered much more important that as many players as possible are as far forward as possible (without exposing them to Quick Snap) so that they can threaten the ball - in conjunction with a deep kick - than that they be deeper and protected from a blitz+foul.

If the opponent has Frenzy and you don't have enough Side Step, you need to adapt it a bit, moving the S positions back one square and C forward one. The D position can move one square forward, immediately behind the Tree, to force an opponent to blitz that player if he wants to get maximum assists when fouling the Tree.

Another issue is that this set-up presents little opposition to a team that wants to two-turn score: there are easy routes just down the wide zone lines. Ordinarily with WEs, I'm happy for my opponent to (try to) score quickly - if I had to stop him I would use a different set-up.

Also, the system adapts well to being short of players - good for a WE formation! First the Cs get removed (and the Ss tucked in a square if necessary). Then the W or D goes. And so on, but always keeping as widely spread out as possible with whoever's left.

(BTW, the minimal but effective code here is the one I found used by Laviak in a past thread. At the moment, I'd use that in a future sticky.)

Last edited by pac on %b %20, %2008 - %15:%Jun; edited 1 time in total

Rijssiej

Joined: Jan 04, 2005

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 15:08

duke: it is nice you use code so the small dots are the same size as the characters....but why do you use the 0s then? Wink

btw: my standard formation for almost all teams vs anything except 1-2 turn for opponent.

Code:

_________________
....|..XXX..|....
....|.......|....
....|X..X..X|....
....|..XXX..|....
....|...X...|....
....|...X...|....

The idea with this set-up is to force the opponents to a side and then casing them in, pushing them more and more to the side. Works best against teams that play a running game, but the best tactic against an elf passing game is to force them to score quick and score twice in turn 8 for the 2-1 anyway so it isn't that much of a problem they can flood your half with receivers.

Last edited by Rijssiej on %b %20, %2008 - %15:%Jun; edited 1 time in total

DukeTyrion

Joined: Feb 18, 2004

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 15:16

Eghost wrote:

I love those formations that will totally be ruined by a quick snap.

Well, the Rat one is a gamble anyway, but you can always move the 2 wide linemen back one space if you prefer it in your setup, the rest of the lineup there is safe.

The defensive one against elves and rats tend to have Bobs in the side, so I don't mind getting into melee with the agile teams.

Code:

....|B..T..B|....
.B..|X..L..X|..B.
.X..|.......|..X.
....|...T...|....

Orc formation against agile offense

Code:

....|L..L..L|....
....|.......|....
.GL.|V..O..V|.LG.
....|...G...|....

Adjustment to setup hoping for Blitz, for those worried about quick snap.

Colin

Joined: Aug 02, 2003

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 15:22

Nice to see some interest in this. I suggest you use the notation used in the User Guide, so that formations posted here can be pasted straight into the Guide without modification. Here's an example:

Code:

|-|-|-|-|-|X|-|X|-|X|-|-|-|-|-
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
|-|-|X|-|O|-|-|-|-|-|O|-|X|-|-
|-|X|-|-|-|-|X|-|X|-|-|-|-|X|-

Note that the wiki uses the pipe symbol - | - to mark columns in a table (note the last column on the right has pipes only on the left side) - I used the hyphen to mark blank squares, and any letters at all can be used, though it's a good idea to include notes (e.g. this player is a Big Guy/has Side Step/Stand Firm) if you use more than one letter.

_________________
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pizzamogul

Joined: Jun 13, 2005

Posted: Jun 20, 2008 - 16:39

I skill a kicker early on so my elf teams can use this formation:

pizzamogul wrote:

Here is the defensive setup I like to use with my elves when I have a living kicker (as stolen from Synn):

++++|++++
E+++|++++
+E++|++++
++++|+++K
E+++|
+E++|
++++|
E+++|
+E+E|
+++E|
+++E|
++++|
+E++|
E+++|
++++|

E=elf
K=kicktarget

Shifting the line to one side pulls the offense over so they can get their bash on and they often leave only a few guys screening the target area. Elves need to pressure the ball and six speedy guys shooting in can easily go offensive on a blitz or punish a failed pickup. And, if the offense overloads to the open side, the kick can go to the other side for a quick steal against slower teams or to a deep corner if they draw too close to the line of scrimmage.

Edit: I see Colin already wrote that formation in there... i swear that wasn't there before I posted.

_________________
"Don't expect mercy."
-Woodstock

Walks_in_the_Sun