AFK_Eagle
Joined: Mar 12, 2004
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 Posted:
Nov 08, 2004 - 22:00 |
 
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Rather than commemorating a single player, remove your hat and bow your head in honor of a legendary team. The Scions of Shannara are no more. Details of why are NOT available upon request; suffice it to say, it was not my choice and I am NOT happy about the situation. But now I have a choice--I can become bitter and stop playing bloodbowl forever; become bitter and take it out on my future opponents by becoming the next Wuhan; or I can take the lessons learned from my team and apply them to my future play. I choose the last option, and now look back on the history of one of the greatest human teams ever to grace the pitch...
Yes, that's a very prideful claim to make, and arguments can be made against me. Other teams had higher team rating and/or team strength; other teams have played more games; other teams win more; my team never produced a single mega-star, let alone a legend; and more. But I think anybody who ever played the Scions can remember them, and believe it or not I've been told by other coaches how they've followed the career of the Scions as fans for many games.
First, the stats: 93 games played (hoped to make it to 100 and be only the 4th human team to ever do so, but...). A marginally losing record of 32/21/40, although much of those losses came early in the team's history when I was still learning their paces. Fifty-five (55) players have stepped onto the pitch wearing our team colors, 21 of them meeting an untimely demise, 21 others retiring due to injuries to live out their lives. Our team peak came when we hit TR 265 back in our mid-30's, although a series of extremely violent matches caused niggle upon niggle to pile up, along with aging niggles, until eventually half the team got retired.
Just like that, we were all the way back down to TR 115, with nobody having more than one skill--in essence, we started all over again. It took a long time, but unlike my woodie/skaven teams (which I give up on after such injuries), my Scions managed to persevere and return to glory once more, back to the TR 230's before leaving the pitch for the last time, with only a single niggle still active. We are one of the few teams to ever come back from such a fall-off to regain what we'd lost, and we also were a rebel in another way--it wasn't til game 90 we got our first dirty player, and he only as retributional firepower should others foul us again (as other teams did quite often, costing us the life of many a super-star, though we never fouled. Ever.).
I've learned a lot about how to play bb by playing my Scions and watching them slowly evolve over time, watching some terrific players though only two ever got beyond 100 spp's. Now I will impart some of these lessons in this post. Consider it my farewell speech to this team which has been with me almost since my beginning on the fumbbl server...
1) Positional players, while great, are not the most important part of your team. The linemen are.
That's right, the linemen. My first 20 games I used my blitzers almost exclusively for blocking/scoring, racking up spp's very rapidly. Pretty soon, I had a quartet of blitzers and an ogre who made up a line of scrimmage even chaos and orc teams feared. But through their prowess my TR went up very rapidly to above 250, forcing me to face tougher and tougher opponents, making my linemen more and more useless. Their measly one skill (if any) left them extremely vulnerable to angry opposing monsters. And all too soon, my blitzers niggled via a combination of injuries and aging at higher skill rolls, where they started to miss games regularly, leaving the team in trouble facing tougher opponents b/c of the higher TR they contribute. Eventually, I fired the whole lot of them, dropping my TR way back down to the 115 range. This second chance at the team I worked extremely hard at getting my linemen multiple skills each, so that when my blitzers and catchers did get free reign to start doing their thing, the linemen could lend much greater support, give as much as they take. I've taken that theory to my woodie and skaven teams, and have been winning 75% of my games with them since.
2) Don't get locked into ideas of "position".
Two of my linemen have appeared on fumbbl's top 10 all-time list for completions; one of my throwers appeared for most cas caused; my blitzers scored touchdowns. Sure, each did what they are best at as well, but when the situation or skill rolls called for a change in plans, have faith in your guys. It'll pay off more often than you'd imagine.
3) Have fun watching the evolving history/theme of your team, and flesh it out whenever you're waiting for games.
We started out a heavy bashing team; after being bashed back to the stone age, we evolved into a passing game; the death of our super-star thrower shifted to a running game. With each phase of our team's development, our players grew and evolved--as roommates on the road they could work out together (two +str players) and go dancing at parties (sidesteppers), or simply their rage on the field is infectious (multiple frenzy). The loss of a player might incite a teammate to avenge them or take rolls they're not used to (like my lineman becoming team quarterback for a while when the thrower was out, becoming the all-time leading passer for human linemen). This makes the team have a life of its own, making between-games almost as enjoyable as in-game.
Maybe one day the Scions will have a revival (much like my Unbelievable! and Sweet Things franchises have spawned multiple sequel teams). I'm not sure I have the patience to get the human linemen as developed again, esp with memories of the forced retirement of the first team. I'll also regret not reaching some of our goals as a team--playing 100 games, getting a winning record, advancing at least one player to legend status--but I'll not regret my Scions team. So many memories and lessons were gained with them.
So adieu to anybody who remembers playing the team, alas for anybody who had not yet had the chance to play. You missed out on something special. |
Last edited by AFK_Eagle on %b %08, %2004 - %22:%Nov; edited 1 time in total |
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SnakeSanders
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Nov 08, 2004 - 22:11 |
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hey! there aint nothing bad about loving a bit of wuhan smack down! |
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PurpleChest
Joined: Oct 25, 2003
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It's a sad day and the scions will be missed.
All too few fine old teams with a bit of history and a desire to play ball, and the scions were one of the fluffiest.
They excelled where humans excel. At both bashing a bit and passing well, but above that wiull be remembered for there attitude and fearlessness.
I hope to see the Scions revenge any day now. |
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Mully
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Nov 08, 2004 - 22:29 |
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Glad I got to play them before the abandonment. I think it may have been the last game I had that featured any luck whatsoever.
October 30th - yeah that sounds about right |
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Owner of the REAL Larson
Come join the CCC League |
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Azurus
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Nov 08, 2004 - 22:41 |
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Though I never played them, it's always sad to see a fluffy team like the Scions go, particularly one that's been around for so long. I hope they make it back onto the field some day. |
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*This is a public safety announcement. Azurus is a cynical, sarcastic idiot. Please ignore any and everything he may say. Thank you for your attention.* |
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AFK_Eagle
Joined: Mar 12, 2004
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| Posted:
Nov 10, 2004 - 07:56 |
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It's interesting...I'm still miffed about having lost my Scions of Shannara, but it's turned out to have some rather fortunate results all-told. After losing a team I'd invested so much time and effort into over a long time, I was disgusted with legend-building and started to look for more immediate rewards. Thus, for the first time I've started tinkering in stunty (tried once before, was turned off, but now am hooked), and have entered teams into two tournaments in the unranked division. My experience on fumbbl has been expanded as a result of this unfortunate situation, so I guess there was a golden lining to the cloud after all.  Besides, a new Scions teams has arisen from the ashes like a phoenix to retake the glory for the human race...behold the successor to the Scions dynasty!
Scions of Destiny |
_________________
Listen to Eagle! Eagle is good, Eagle is wise!
Founder of the E.L.F.--These elves will play anybody! |
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AbsoluteZero
Joined: May 12, 2004
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| Posted:
Nov 10, 2004 - 08:57 |
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AFK, Terrible thing to hear about your humans. they were one of the dumber... erm... i mean more courageous human teams to face my dwarves.
Anyway, case in point, if you haven't learnt to foul, you haven't learnt the full tactical aspect of bloodbowl. True, excessive fouling is just plain stupid, but from time to time you need to tactically remove your opponent's best players.
Sad to see your team go, but hopefully with your new human team, u can learn more flexibility.
Of course in normal season games, fouling isn't all too critical, but in important tournaments, like i hope fumbbl has more of in future, its essential to win games by that little bit.
Anyway, i'm sidetracking. here to put in my 2 cents of tribute to the humans. It was nice reading their match reports. very few coaches keep track of their team as well.
Will be sad to see them go. |
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