SkittleMosaic
Joined: May 17, 2018
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 Posted:
Mar 25, 2024 - 23:59 |
 
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SWL Season 100 AKA the Century Season. If Minutes or Centuries were to ever win Prem this one would be absolutely poetic!
The team is in an interesting position in development. What was once a typical Guardfest of a Chorf team is now just 2 Bull Centaurs and a bunch of rookies, but my God are these bulls disgusting! The Legend OMEGA is Ma 8 Ag 3+ with Blodge and Sure Hands, and The Superstar Sandman has Block/MB/Tackle with St 5 and Break Tackle for a 2+ dodge, and is just 10 spp off their legend skill. With 3 rerolls we can afford to make some aggressive plays, and since we just had a 5-1-1 season I believe we have a good handle on this unusually agile form of Chaos Dwarves.
We have 13 players from the jump which is great, but with no apo the first game is dangerous for the bulls. We have 2 Guard and a Block/Fend hobgoblin which is just enough to support the Bulls/each other and keeps the team lean enough at 1470TV (1520 when we get the apo). Honestly a full compliment of Guard, while always welcome, doesn't quite offer the same value when you have a team with playmakers that don't necessarily want a moshpit.
Unfortunately, as per usual, every single coach and team in Prem is extremely dangerous, so let's break down the matchups and see what we need to do to have a chance;
Round 1 - Malapropisms Relieved - Tomb Kings - BeefyGoodness
A valiant effort by Beefy almost unforlorned TKs a few seasons back before agent fees gutted the team, but the rebuild is coming along nicely. Block TGs will force my Bulls to play it safer than I'd like, but at least Sandman could find 2 dice into TGs most times if needed. 1-0-0 H2H.
Round 2 - GG Luckers - Black Orcs - Ramchop
OG. Just a draw H2H. Plenty of foulers and some big black orcs. Belmont, an Ma 8 Blodge goblin that thinks they're a skink, is Av busted but sitting on a lot of spp, so we could potentially play them with +Ag or even more movement, or we could play them MNG or dead. Let's hope for the latter or at least an opening for Sandman to force the latter.
(Fun fact - our team URLs are one digit different, so we made the teams at almost the exact same time 2.5 years ago  )
Round 3 - Pitch Painters - Snotlings - Faulcon
0-0-2 H2H. 3 70+ game players including an Ma 6 Block Tackle Frenzy Wagon and another DP/SG snot to keep my Bulls in check. Will easily get 2 stars and a bribe. Could easily trash my team for the following game or even the season if I'm not careful.
Round 4 - Believe in Swarming - Underworld - CokeGuy
Came out of nowhere to take the title last season, stopping Grods' seemingly unstoppable Chaos 3peat. A killer Blitzer, an +Ag Gutter, a DP/SG snotling, and 2 wrackle linerats that could 25% uphill my bull carrier without a reroll, and sitting on a dirt cheap 1185 TV to squeeze in a star or 2. Let's hope some of those key players are out when we play because we won't be able to handle them all.
Round 5 - Turbo Wolves - Necro - JamesDSF
An OG team that has come really close to taking prem several times and is at the peak of their current rebuild. A +Ma killer wolf and +Ag dodgy wolf are indeed some turbo wolves! With a healthy amount of skills on most of their other positionals it's a really tough well rounded team, but we at least go in with a 3-1-1 H2H.
Round 6 - Ahuriri Unearthly - Necro - Sandune
The team looks pretty innocuous at first glance, but both wolves are sitting on a level up and the team has a 11-7-1 record; consistent with Sandunes' ridiculous 73% winrate over 1100 games. Stella Greeblades' Dauntless+Claws+MB+Frenzy puts my bulls in more danger than they're used to, and almost a full season of development before we play is unnerving.
Round 7 - [SWL] Dorruks - Orcs - NPE
OG that has rebuilt into some classic guard loaded Orcs, with a SG goblin that's 4 spp shy of DP, and could add at least 8 more chosen skills after their first match! H2H is a couple draws. Our clawless 2 guard lineup is absolutely not winning a brawl and we'll need to make some big plays if we want to flip our usual draw to a win. Hopefully a season of attrition can trim them up a bit before we play.
The Takeaway
My Bulls need to make plays to have a chance, but they have a big target on their back and every single team has the tools to deal with them. I will need to tone down the the aggression that got 5-1-1 last season just enough to keep the winrate up while still keeping the bulls healthy for every game. An MNG might be manageable if we don't have Snots or Underworld the following match because a Star player like Hakflem or Morg/Glart might be able to fill the void for a game but hopefully it doesn't come to that. Let's see if we can't thread this needle!
Though if I were a betting centaur I'd be putting it on either a back to back Underworld Swarming win, Turbo Wolves finally making it, or the soon to be stacked Dorruks grinding it out. 3 forlorn teams having the chance to unforlorn is exciting, and they all have the tools to pull it off. And Sandune being that dangerous with a fairly tame Necro list may well be unstoppable with a few more skills.
All in all, this should be a banger Season 100! |
Last edited by SkittleMosaic on %b %27, %2024 - %08:%Mar; edited 2 times in total |
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SkittleMosaic
Joined: May 17, 2018
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| Posted:
Mar 27, 2024 - 08:14 |
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Round 1 - Malapropisms Relieved - Tomb Kings - BeefyGoodness
A tale of two halves
In a blazing blizzard, Minutes chooses to receive as Malapropisms hires Akhorne the Squirrel. We fail to get a good round of punches on the TG scrum and in response a guard Chorf is fouled unseen for a badly hurt. All rerolls guzzled by turn 3 and quickly running out of numbers, we push down the right flank to try and score, setting up a T shaped sideline cage because Akhorne could just dodge in the middle and surf, before Beefy sets up a clever surf on OMEGA, resuting in a serious injury! Thoughts are "my season is over and it's turn 3!" before booting up Backpack Battles in the background as a distraction so I don't tilt. The scatter put the ball pretty close to the touchdown line and some hobs scramble to score, getting dangerously close but untimately failing, though we do clean up Akhorne on the way through. Beefy has a chance for a passing score turn 8 before being rudely reminded that Tomb Kings only have Ag 4+. 0-0.
Second half we're down a player and our fancy hob Gobstopper is quickly KOed. I make a beeline to tag the ball and base as much stuff as I can. A slip on the snow by "Flaws of Gravity  " results in a self cas l and I get an easy 2 dice 2+ dodge 4+ pickup with Sandman for a near guaranteed score. I slot it turn 3 in despite probably being able to stall a turn because I'd just be happy with a draw at this stage. 1-0.
TKs begin the next drive with good momentum. I hedge my bets on defense but with the numbers disadvantage I probably should've chosen one or the other. Sandman gets trapped in a Tomb Guardian sandwich but backline hobs are able to apply just enough pressure to force a turn 7 score with 2 terrifying 3+ rushes. 1-1.
2 turns left, finally back to 11, and I stack everything right flank including Sandman as far forward as possible. The blizzard clears up and there's a touchback! Sandman and friends diesel up the side with the ball and there's very little Beefy can do to stop it. 2-1.
~~~
A random skill on Gobstopper has given them Pro on top of Fend and Block for a lean 70K TV. If GG Luckers gets beaten up enough that I can't afford Hakflem or Skitter next game Gobby the Hobby will need to carry the ball. Sandman is just 2 spp from Legend! Copper Age got MVP for taking the foul like a champ turn one and is 2 spp from a second skill. |
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SkittleMosaic
Joined: May 17, 2018
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| Posted:
Apr 14, 2024 - 11:14 |
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Round 2 - GG Luckers - Black Orcs - Ramchop
The Belmont and Skitter Show
The black orcs receive. The chaos dwarves induce Skitter, Bomber and a keg. Minutes suffer 2 removals and are out of rerolls in mere minutes. Despite this we apply some aggressive and serious pressure, including a successful blitz stab into the fast, fragile blodgy Belmont, but Luckers recover well. We’re reduced to an exhausted 6 v 11 by turn 6 and Luckers slot it in turn 8. 0-1.
We try a one turn but it’s too sloppy and the kick was on the deeper side anyway. 0-1.
Minutes get outscrummed including a dwarf cas so the protection for the ball is a bit thin. We go for a 3 die on Belmont with MB and Tackle but just get a stun. We have to score turn 4. 1-1.
Another 2 removals off the scrum and we’re back to 9 v 11. Belmont picks up but is a dodge and 2 GFIs away from a Skitter stabbing. STAB! Belmont would be KOed before the apo intervenes. The Luckers scramble but whiff on the 1 in 9 pickup. Skitter grabs it and is 2 from the endzone before they’re jumped by Belmont and a friend. Skitter fails the pickup and the ball lands deep centre pitch, and is brutally surfed in response. Belmont stands in front of the ball for the last turn. Our pro Hobgoblin Gobstopper makes a 4+ and 3+ dodge into a 2 die blitz to push Belmont off the ball, gets the 3+ pickup and slots it in with 2 GFIs! 2-1.
We continue the trend of another 2 removals off the line and the throw team mate stops at the Trolls’ feet. 2-1.
~~~
Another random on Gobstopper but it's only Shadowing. This game has cost us 2 chorfs (one of which is Guard) against Faulcons’ Snotlings, whom we’ve only ever lost to  but wins wise it's the best start we could have asked for! Turbo Wolves is the other team with a 2-0-0 start.
Ramchop has a blog too if you want to read from the other perspective, and he knows how to put gifs in so you can see the Skitter bs in action!  |
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