chunky04
Joined: Aug 11, 2003
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 Posted:
Sep 20, 2006 - 05:18 |
 
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I have below the first draft of a cage breaking article I'm in the process of writing. I think it pretty much encapsulates as much as I can manage without adding in diagrams and accompanying commentary. I intend to do this, but it will be a fairly timeconsuming process, so I thought I'd get some thoughts on what is currently there in the meantime.
Cage Breaking - or how to get at the squishy Dwarfs instead of the Ard ones
Caging is one of the basic principles of Blood Bowl, and the most common form of offense for the stronger teams in the league. An expert coach caging their way up the field can be a nightmare to stop. To make matters worse, the cage can often provide sufficient control to allow the opposition to stall and control the pace (and injuries) of the game. This article mainly aims to show some tactics for dealing with the sort of cages formed by strength based teams.
In order to combat a cage, we need to understand the basics of how a cage works.
A cage is essentially a formation in which a ballcarrier is protected on all sides from being blocked or blitzed without defenders having to make difficult and risky agility rolls.
The most common and simple cage formation is a ballcarrier in one square, surrounded by teammates in all four diagonal squares.
The cage is then moved upfield towards the endzone quite slowly, ensuring the cage is maintained to prevent access to the ballcarrier, until such time as the cage is close enough to the endzone for space to be cleared and the ballcarrier to score.
There are three basic components to a successful cage:
- Forming the cage
- Getting the ball into the cage
- Moving and maintaining the cage
An effective cage breaking strategy needs to try and combat all of these aspects of caging in order to make life as difficult as possible for the caging team.
Getting the ball into the cage
Preventing the ball from getting into the cage is by far the least costly method of cage defence in terms of attrition for the defensive team. When pulled off successfully, this part of the anti-caging strategy provides the most likely reward of a turnover and touchdown with the least risk of damage to your players.
This strategy involves aggressively moving into your opponents half to put pressure on the opposition ballhandlers before they can move the ball into the cage. Despite your best efforts, the success of this strategy will generally rely on luck.
The best players for moving into the opposition half of the field are your faster players. The faster a players, the larger a portion of the opposition half they can put pressure on. However, these faster players often lack the strength to make a good Blitz attempt on the opposition ballhandlers (eg Human Catchers, Gutter Runners etc). Dauntless is a highly valued doubles roll for this sort of player, as it allows them to threaten backfield ballhandlers more effectively.
The biggest factor in the effectiveness of this strategy (and in part the others) occurs at the kickoff stage. The placement of the ball and the result on the kickoff table will have a tremendous bearing on whether it is possible for this strategy to succeed. If the ball goes out of bounds on the kickoff for a touchback, you can kiss this strategy goodbye against a competent opponent. A Quick Snap will also reduce its effectiveness, while Blitz makes it much more effective. Bad Kick is the worst result due to to creating far more touchbacks.
The Kick skill is very handy for its ability to prevent touchbacks, and to have more ability to control the location of the ball. The preferred placement of the ball has contradictory objectives. You want to make it more difficult for the opposition to get the ball into the cage, which generally means you want the ball to end up as deep into the backfield as possible without causing a touchback. However, you'd also like to be able to put a tackle zone on the ball, or blitz a ballhandler/carrier if they are in reach. This becomes more difficult the deep the ball goes.
Other useful skills are Sidestep for any player putting a tacklezone on a ballhandler, or pass block to make passes into a cage more difficult.
The final thing to look out for when employing this strategy is not to overcommit players to it. As said earlier, this strategy is fairly unreliable, and the more resources you devote to it the less you will have for other aspects of defending against a cage. A Blitz result on the kickoff table tends to be the most tempting time for this to occur.
Formation of the Cage
Formation of a cage is practically impossible to prevent altogether. Since the receiving team generally receives the first turn, they can easily have sufficient players free to move to form a cage.
What you can have an effect on is the area on the pitch where the cage is formed. This area is primarily dealt with in your starting defensive formation. The areas in which you place your players and the effectiveness of your opponents initial blocking will determine the location of your opponents initial cage. The rules of setting up ensure a number of limitations on your options in this area, namely that 3 players must be on the frontline, and a maximum of two can be in the endzones.
It is preferable to force a caging opponent to setup their cage as far back as possible, and with as few options as possible. In order to this, you need to put some thought into your defensive setup.
The setup above is excellent at stopping teams exploiting the widezones, but is generally not a good cage defence, as it frees up the middle quite a lot, allowing the opposition to establish a strong foothold in the centre of the pitch.
Cage defenses generally want to have at least 9 players in the first 4 squares (I prefer the first 3, but I'm pretty cavalier about the risks of Quick Snap). You need to have coverage across the width of the pitch, and also the ability to move players to react to what the opposition ends up doing.
This setup allows the faster players on the outside to penetrate into the opposition backfield if a suitable opportunity arises, and also allows these players to move closer to the action if the opposition setup elsewhere. The opposition will need to make 3 Blocks and a Blitz successfully to clear way in the middle for a cage, or take a more risky path near the sidelines. There are many different possible formations to use for this purpose, and I make no claim that mine is the best. Note that depending on your opponents skills (Frenzy mostly) and your own (Sidestep and Stand Firm), you can alter the widezone players to maximum advantage.
The best result on the kickoff table possible for the defending team in this phase is obviously Perfect Defence, which allows you to react to the way the opposition sets up for their offense. Blitz can also be used to disrupt their initial setup if more aggressive options are lacking.
Moving the Cage
This is the part of caging that is actually the most difficult for both the caging player and the defending player. The cage moves by rolling forward a little bit at a time, always maintaining cover around the ball while doing so.
The need to move the cage closer to the endzone provides the opportunity for the defence to try either stretch the cage out and create openings to Blitz the ball carrier this way, or close the cage up and use chainpushing to expose the ballcarrier.
There are a couple of different ways to use this to try and expose and dispossess the ballcarrier.
The first is to force the cage to spread out to the point where you can break open a path to the ballcarrier. The second is to force the cage to compress, and then use chain-pushing from blocks or blitzes to provide the opportunity to block the ballcarrier.
There are some similarities between the two approaches. Regardless of which path you take, it is necessary to try and restrict the movement of the cage. This is generally done by placing players in close proximity to the cage and blocking of ways of moving the ball carrier without having to make block or dodge rolls. Spreading cages out is more common amongst the lighter teams, and generally involves standing players one sqaure away from the cage, in order to limit movement as much as possible while also limiting the number of blocks received. Sturdier teams will often try to interrupt cages by putting tacklezones on the players in the cage, forcing them to block their way out, which generally requires more players to be committed for assists and draws players in.
Given that the teams who used cages the most are generally not very agile or fast, it is a good idea against these teams to try and separate the slower players from their faster counterparts. To do this you generally need to either knock them over or at least put a tacklezone on these players. The caging team then has two options - wait for the slower players to catch up, slowing the cage down, or leave them behind, which makes the cage far more vulnerable.
Once these elements of the opposition team have been separated, there is generally a good opportunity to put more pressure on the cage by putting tackle zones on the players who make up the cage. Due to the lower resources available, the opposition coach will generally find it more difficult to clear these tackle zones away from the cage as well maintain the cages integrity. This will generally provide the opportunity to break into the cage. It will thus be a priority for the caging team to prevent themselves from becoming separated.
Often the fight to break a cage becomes a fight between patience and attrition. The caging team must maintain its patience in order to keep the cage coherent while moving forward, taking the opportunities presented to them by the defence. Meanwhile, the defenders will often suffer reduced numbers on the pitch, be they casualties, crowdsurfs, or knock outs. If the caging team can take out a few of the opposition they will be able to move the cage far more freely, while likewise, they will have difficulty should their numbers fall below that of the opposition.
The crucial point for when a caging team loses patience generally occurs in turns 6,7 or 8 of a half, depending on how successful you have been in thwarting its movement. At this point the caging team will often try and make a break for it, or risk a passing play in order to score. In order to restrict the time in which a cage has to score, and reduce the threshold for them becoming impatient, it can often be a good idea to delay scoring and stall for a turn or two on offense, though the potential drawbacks of possible extra casualties must be weighed carefully (it is rare that a bashy team will be able to do as much damage in an open play stalling situationas from a cage in my experience though).
For the defenders, one of the things you need to think of before mounting your defence against the cage is what is an acceptable level of attrition. It can quite easily reach the point where the defender is better of simply allowing the cagers to score and withdraw to save their team. This is particularly the case if your opponent has elected to receive in the first half and you have a number of KO'd players. If your opponent scores you will receive two chances for the to come back. You may also get lucky and your opponent may score with enough time left for you to try for an equaliser (teams with access to a one turner (either via pushing or straight up) will find this tactic easier to use.
Anti-Caging Skills Summary
Skill Type
Skill Purpose
Skills
LRB5 Skills
Knockdown Prevention
Force use of more resources to knockdown players disrupting cage
Block, Dodge, Foul Appearance
Wrestle, Foul Appearance
Positioning (Defensive)
Prevent own or opposition players from being moved
Sidestep, Standfirm, Tentacles
Fend
Positioning (Attacking)
Force opposition players to be moved
Frenzy, Multiple Block (Dauntless)
Grab, Juggernaut
Support
Provides indirect assistance to cage disruption
Guard, Foul Appearance, Kick
Disturbing Prescence
Blitzing
Get the ball off the ballcarrier!
Block, Tackle, Strip Ball, Leap, Dauntless, Horns
Wrestle, Juggernaut
Ball Retrieval
Grab the ball and redistribute it once it has come loose
Sure Hands, Big Hand, Dodge, Leap, Nerves of Steel, Safe Throw, Passing skills |
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chunky - you are eloquence on legs |
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Longshanks
Joined: Feb 02, 2005
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Sep 20, 2006 - 06:00 |
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That's an excellent article Chunky, well done! One thing you haven't included which I'd be interested in your thoughts on, is when, as the defensive player, you take a shot at blitzing the ball carrier. My own view, playing mostly lighter AV teams, is that if you can get a 1 dice block on the ball carrier, you always go for it, you may never get another chance. Likewise by turn 7 you probably have to take any chance, no matter how unlikely (dodges into 3 tackles zones and rolling double POW's *can* happen).
Is your view different - does the defensive side have to be equally patient and should they try to set up for the "ideal" (ie 2 dice) block that may never happen? |
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chunky04
Joined: Aug 11, 2003
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Sep 20, 2006 - 10:11 |
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Didn't really think of not taking the one dicer tbh. To me its so obvious to have a crack at it I didn't really think of writing that in. You just have to make sure your contingency is prepared when going for a one dice blitz. Will probably write in something clarifying what I consider to be a blitzing opportunity.
Personally I'd even consider having a crack with two dice against against a player who doesn't have block, or with strip ball against a non-sure hands player. |
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chunky - you are eloquence on legs
Last edited by chunky04 on %b %20, %2006 - %10:%Sep; edited 1 time in total |
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Mezir
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Sep 20, 2006 - 10:14 |
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You know, if you want this in the GLN, probably nice if you didn't post it in this forum for everybody to read (it's always nice for the GLN to have "not seen before" stuff). Shall I move it for you?  |
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Snorri
Joined: Jun 07, 2004
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Sep 20, 2006 - 10:33 |
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... |
Last edited by Snorri on %b %20, %2006 - %12:%Sep; edited 1 time in total |
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chunky04
Joined: Aug 11, 2003
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Sep 20, 2006 - 10:39 |
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Yeah, that possibility is an extrapolation of whats in the article (which does mention cramping up cages to disrupt them), but needs a fair amount of appropriate players to pull off - elves are quite likely to have them, but some of the other light teams (eg Humans, Skaven) quite possibly will not. The number and level of appropriate players will in large part determine which part of the spectrum you go for.
Guess I have some more stuff to put in on how the players you have available might affect the timing |
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chunky - you are eloquence on legs |
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Mezir
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Sep 20, 2006 - 10:40 |
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The problem with the tactic you (that is, Snorri) just described:
1) Your opponent will get 2d blocks. Either he'll have st 4 players (Orcs, Chaos) or a tonne of Guard (Dwarfs, CDs).
2) You opponent does not much care if he advances his cage at the start of the drive.
3) You'll be lucky if you don't take cas/KOs against when letting just about every player on your team get blocked
4) Given 2, (and 3), opponent blocks and doesn't move forward (more than one square anyway), maintaining the integrity of his cage.
After that, you could do the same again, but that's just "continual harassment" anyway.
A good cager NEVER takes any risks and keeps the ball where the cage is, rather than artificially trying to get the cage where the ball is (usually a recipe for disaster). As such, you're just giving him free blocks.
Granted, it's a tactic that could work against weaker ST 3 teams, but against the big boys you're just asking for a drubbing. |
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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day; set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. |
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chunky04
Joined: Aug 11, 2003
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Sep 20, 2006 - 10:43 |
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Another thing - where would you put the table of useful anti-caging skills (though its not in table format above)? Beginning, middle, end? |
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chunky - you are eloquence on legs |
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Mezir
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Sep 20, 2006 - 10:45 |
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I'd dedicate some parapraphs to the various forms of anti-caging breaking strats and include relevant skills there. |
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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day; set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. |
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Snorri
Joined: Jun 07, 2004
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Sep 20, 2006 - 11:03 |
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... |
Last edited by Snorri on %b %20, %2006 - %12:%Sep; edited 2 times in total |
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heinz
Joined: Mar 24, 2004
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Sep 20, 2006 - 11:13 |
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Chunky, good article. How about including Hypno Gaze in the anticaging skills section and perhaps a word or two on how to cope with it. Though Vamps are one of the less played races on FUMBBL, the Count is always lurking to enter the stage in those Smack finals.
PS I think posting draft GLN articles is a good idea - only good for the quality of the final print, and I dont think it will have negative effect on the general interest in GLN. |
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BusterXXXL
Joined: Jul 15, 2004
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Sep 20, 2006 - 11:56 |
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You might mention, that a combination of Ag4+, leap and strip ball (easy to achieve for elven and skaven teams) combined with a Reroll gives the defending team a fair chance even if blocking vs. 2 dice, supposed the carrier hasn't got sure hands.
The chance of the ball carrier losing the ball is roughly 67%, provided the ball carrier has block skill,
If the carrier hasn't got block skill either and the cagebreaker has or is willing to suffer a turnover with a both players down result the chance rises to a whopping 85%-chance.
Given the problems most brute teams have with picking up the ball this is maybe the most dangerous cage-breaking strat. (Dont count on my judgement too much, though, regarding my coach ranking). It can be supported by eliminating potential ball carriers (sure-hands) of the opposite teams with DP-gangfouls if an opportunity shows.
As Leap/Strip Ball is also valuable to prevent a cage from being formed this makes the combo even stronger. Plus it forces Brute teams to put more resources into Surehands, so they cant take so much from the more deadly skills. |
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chunky04
Joined: Aug 11, 2003
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Sep 20, 2006 - 11:58 |
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Ooh, hadn't really thought of that heinz. TBH, I don't think I've enough experience with or against vamps to provide relevant commentary on hypnogaze.
I somewhat agree with Mezir on the keeping stuff under wraps for GLN - I hope to add quite a lot in diagrams and explanations surrounding them however, so to me the most important part is still to come. |
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chunky - you are eloquence on legs |
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Tophat
Joined: Jun 01, 2006
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Sep 20, 2006 - 11:58 |
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for me i think its not really a good idea to show them here , possibly your best bet would be to send copys to the GLN staff if you want feedback .
| Quote: | | My own view, playing mostly lighter AV teams, is that if you can get a 1 dice block on the ball carrier, you always go for it |
Id just like to also advocate for elves a leap /strip ball 2 dice against strategy , with a reroll the chances are quite good at getting away with this and you only need to get away with it once if the bounce is favourable . (Also worth trying against a non skilled ball carrier with a blocker) . Usually this isnt nessasary to go two dice aginst unless their are guarding defenders (likely )as you can cover part of the cage with 1 expendable player and get a 1 dice block as well .
Normally I try to get everyone else in a safe (cant be blocked area first one step away from the cage ) then bring in a lineman to disrupt assists if it will benefit the dice . leap in throw the block , then when the ball comes out try to crowd round it with a few players and then if you can get at least a 4+ try to pick up and handout/dodge+pass out .
Dosent always work obviously and against sure hands you need a different tactic (unless the carrier dosent have block then its worth trying anyway . and a multilayer cage makes it far more difficult (in which case you need to stretch out the cage first
Usually just getting the ball on the floor and swarming a bunch of players after it leaves it in a place where elves are far more likely to end up with the ball than |
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chunky04
Joined: Aug 11, 2003
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Sep 20, 2006 - 12:02 |
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Buster and Tophat, I consider the leaping strip ball gambit to be a bit of a risky shortcut which is only available to a small number of teams. While it has its place, I think incorporating it into a sound basic strategy will provide better results in the long run. |
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