MasterAl
Joined: Mar 30, 2006
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 Posted:
May 21, 2006 - 18:34 |
 
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I must say, I've been enjoying reasonable success lately with the average of average teams, Humans. I think their charm is that unlike other teams such as Khemri or Dwarf whose strategies tend to be set in stone, Humans can adapt to almost any situation and outbash the agile teams and outagile (!?) the bashy teams.
One thing I can't get used to though, is Catchers. My usual team consists of four Blitzers a thrower and the rest Linemen. I shy away from Catchers because i'm scared.....scared of their fragile nature.
This is probably because, having played Chaos alot in my tabletop league, i'm not used to handling ST2 AV7 players.
I've tried using them in a cage, but then you don't really get the advantage of the catcher's MA and Dodge when he's rolling along in a slow-moving cage. I've tried having them dart as quickly as possible into the opponents half either with the ball or to receive a plucky pass but they are soon overwhelmed, drowned in a sea of tackle zones and beaten brutally into the turf.
As a result, I have no love for the Human catcher, which I know is a handicap for me, as they are such a winning element on many successful Human teams...I've denied myself valuable resources just because I don't know how to use them...so, my question is this people of FUMBBL, how do you use you're catchers? What's the best way to get the most out of the 70,000 they cost? |
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PeteW
Joined: Aug 05, 2005
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May 21, 2006 - 18:40 |
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If you make a pocket in the opponents half, say, 4 spaces in, you can protext your catcher and then make a pass into the pocket, catcher then sprints up to score.
ou are right not to leave them hanging around in space as they don't have NoS or AG4 to escape it. And they die.
If you get dauntless you can use them as fast safeties on defense. Also on defense, leave one the other side of the oppoonets line in case the ball bobbles free and you can chuch it to him for a sneaky score.
The BEST tactics can be found by watching replays of people like JanMattys playing humans. He has an unnatural fascination for the four limbed 2 eyed creatures... |
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"Jesus loves me this I know, 'cos my Bible tells me so." MrMojo - where did you go? |
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Furious_George
Joined: Aug 13, 2005
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May 21, 2006 - 18:40 |
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Catchers are my teams lifeblood, then again, I elfbowl, they both have block, sidestep, NOS and on one of them Passblock and the other +ST. Theyre easy to use, and movement 8 represents a great value for cash. Remember, by putting just one catcher in the enemy backfield with NOS, he instantly has to consider covering him with more than 1 man, which lets you bash on the line of scrimmage due to numerical superiority. If he neglects to mark your man, then simply pass and score. Thats how it works for me anyhow  |
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Dead Men dont tell tales... But they sure play a mean game of Bloodbowl.
"Hugh Mann eh? Now theres a name I can trust!"
Me Loves Futurama |
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FischerKing
Joined: Oct 25, 2003
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May 21, 2006 - 18:41 |
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Dont be scared to use them, thats about it. Same thing goes with av 7 elves, if your to scared you cant do anything. A Human catcher can get block really quckly, then he has the basic skills that makes a huge scoring thread. If they gang up on him, ignore him and run the ball the other way, handoff to another catcher or cage it. On defense, some kinds of catchers might be usefull. Block, Dauntless is one. Passblock, diving tackle another, same with sidestep, block, diving tackle. Dont put the catcher in too many tacklezones though, only when really needed.
with mv 8 and dodge you also have a player who gets around, putting in a much needed assist here and there, assisting a foul, manmarking a receiver and so forth.
I guess thats about all the advice I can give you  |
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torsoboy
Joined: Nov 23, 2004
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May 21, 2006 - 18:51 |
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I like to put DP on human catchers. For one, they have a good reach. Second, when you gangfoul a player, you can usually surround the catcher so he cannot be blitzed directly or favourably. MA8 also grants humans a one turn score option, with chain blocks. Also, in the early game, few players have tackle, and coupled with the abundance of rerolls you should have, they make for a relatively reliable game. Any stat increase on catchers is welcome - I usually use doubles to get dauntless (if he's still ST2 that is). |
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The plural of anecdote isn't data. |
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Kyyberi
Joined: Nov 27, 2004
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May 21, 2006 - 18:58 |
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And if you happen to roll +MA, and take sprint, you have oneturner. Just don't use him too much, as he will get all the spp's. But when tied or 1 td behind in late turns, it is essential.
They are fragile, but so are many other players in the Blood Bowl. Just live with it. They get block easily, and MA8 Blodger is something that some teams can't handle. If Catcher gets +ST or +AG, he will be a very mean player. And Dauntless works great too, as with high MA he could go from the other side to the other.
There are so many nasty things you can do when developing a Catcher. Give him Blodger Nos and Leap. If you go to scoring range (8 squares or so from the goal line) your opponent has to either take him down, or try to mark him with multiple players. Numerical advantage.
And give your catchers sprint, so they can score from few squares from LoS. Then just make a small screens to both sides, and place your catchers behind those. Opponent has to mark both sides from openings, which is quite hard. If you see an easy opening (done with blocks/blotz) just throw a short pass to catcher (your thrower was deep back) and score. If opponent makes that hard, you should have some advantage on the center of the field. And Catchers can outmove almost every other players.
So there was just some thoughts from me. |
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Shepherd says some wise words... |
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Hassan_Ninkin
Joined: Apr 10, 2006
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May 21, 2006 - 19:03 |
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i like the screens on both sides tactic, i'll have to try that in my TT bb league and see if it helps spruce my humans up a bit |
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Kamahl
Joined: Oct 24, 2005
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May 21, 2006 - 19:14 |
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I tend to use my catcher for asisting the blitz in the opponents half on kickoff. Ideally this leaves him uncovered and in scoring position next turn, forcing the opposition to mark him or blitz him, helping me so set up my running game  |
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FischerKing
Joined: Oct 25, 2003
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May 21, 2006 - 19:15 |
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Just a sidenote: You need to get +mv 2 times, and sprint before hes a natural oneturner. But eaven with only sprint you can easily chainpush him to a oneturn td, it gets much harder when hes mv 8 and nearly impossible with mv 7. |
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jimimothybodles
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
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May 21, 2006 - 19:17 |
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definitely using the pocket is the way forward! dont use that huge MA 8 on turn 1 getting into the other half.. it just means all his guys are closer to your catcher than yours are, and they'll gang up on him! use the movement to burst out the pocket and score in turn 2.. they cant gang up on you when you're celebrating in the end zone! |
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"Give a man a match, and he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
~Ancient Snotling Proverb |
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seouledout
Joined: Oct 30, 2005
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May 21, 2006 - 19:24 |
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| PeteW wrote: | | If you make a pocket in the opponents half, say, 4 spaces in, you can protext your catcher and then make a pass into the pocket, catcher then sprints up to score. |
PeteW is absolutely correct here. Without knowing how the rest of your team is developed, I wuld have to imagine you have a Blitzer (or two or three) that have GUARD. With the Blitzers as the walls of your cage you can really protect a Catcher.
Give them some time to do what they do (score TDs) and you can turn them into stars, like Page Marlon. He might not be the best, but he does a good job in his role. |
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Uber
Joined: Mar 22, 2004
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May 21, 2006 - 19:29 |
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One strategy I like to use with catchers is to keep them around midfield and have the thrower way back. You can then send the bulk of your team to one side, and when you get a guy that is free to score, pass to the catcher and use him to hand off for the TD. On defense, catchers can act just as gutter runners. With block, side step and DT they can be quite an annoyance. Strip ball is also good to threaten the ball carrier, even more if you're lucky enough to get dauntless to go with it. Don't be scared about losing your catchers, at 70K they're the cheapest positionnals in the game to replace and they're easy to train. |
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Recovering FUMBBL addict. |
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SnakeSanders
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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May 21, 2006 - 19:39 |
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i use mine to act as decoys, you will need to tie them up as they can score, but if i have 1 or 2 i run them up the opposite side, and run a quick pocket down the other with guard blitzers and a sure hands thrower/ball carrier, humans have so many auto rerolls you find you have ome spare at the end of the turn to try dodges etc |
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Hank
Joined: Oct 26, 2003
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May 22, 2006 - 15:32 |
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Myself, i dont use catchers very much. I play humans at high tr and don´t find them very useful. But i do keep 2 of them in a 16-man squad, mainly for trying to one-turn when there is no other option. With just ag3 i usually have a reroll ready for the dodge/catch anyway.
Basicly I rather have more lino cannonfodder on the squad then catcher. But mayby just as important is that I rarely try to score quickly when i start with the ball, and if i do, the other players arent so much worse. But I am also a bit tempted to start a human team which rely heavier on catchers.
But then again I mostly play vs bashers. |
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SideshowBob
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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May 22, 2006 - 15:50 |
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I usually try to build me two catchers with blodge/SS and DT, and use one in defense and the other one as a backup when the first one gets whacked.
As you can see, my primary use for the catcher is in the defense where they will slow down enemy cages or ball carriers until they are knocked out/killed (which usually doesn't take very long). I will only field one catcher though, no more no less, since the team get's too weak with two of them on the pitch.
I don't try to score with the catchers in the offence, but if my not so well planned offense runs into trouble, they are usually the best emergency TD option.
And the chainpush oneturner is kinda cool |
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