Blood Bowl has plenty of grindy matchups like Dwarfs vs Orcs. There are patterns when the offense is caging and trying to grind the defense down. Like everything is this game some luck is required to make the strategy work (especially at lower team value). Let's look at situations which have been common in my experience and see what we can learn.

For our ascii art, X are offensive players, B is the ball carrier, O are defensive players, and -- are empty spaces.

The Trenches

------O--------
---O-----O-O-O-
--O--OOO---OXX-
---XX-XXX-X----
------------X--
--O--X----B----

This position is pretty common after both teams have completed their first turn. The offense gained some space on the right with a blitz, and the defense countered on the left. The players are mostly still in a line across the field, and much punching will ensue. Because of how assist rules work, guard is particularly good in these situations. If the offense can get most of the blocks with two dice, this is a good situation for them. This situation usually morphs into:

The Surrounded Cage

----X-----O----
-------X-OOO-O-
------OO--XXX--
-----OX-XX-B---
---------OOXX--
----X------O---

Now this is a pretty good scrum, and it is common in bashy matchups throughout. The defense has based every cage corner and is giving up a lot of potential blocks. The defense's blitz on the rear corner threatens the cage, but this position could be a minor inconvenience to major risk. Most of this depends on who is standing at the start of the turn, where the guard and higher ST players are, and who as more players advantage with block or wrestle. The offense could try to break down the sideline, make a hole towards the middle, or stay put.

The Half Screen

----O-----O--O-
-------O--O-OO-
----X--O---OX--
------XX-XX-X--
-------X--XB---
-X------OOO-X--

A variation of the previous for a faster team like Skaven defending against Orcs. The idea is that fragile players still contribute with minimal risk in the back. The blitzers and big guys work near the cage with assists from lineman only as needed. This tactic is rarely useful if the offense is working with 6+ turns. My success with it has been with 3-4 turns at kickoff. The offense generally has easier assists, but the defenders are harder to knock down and/or injure.

The only other frequent "pattern" is the loose ball scrum that occurs when the offense loses possession. The chaos that follows is great fun and a prime chance for chain pushing. Do you think that I missed any patterns?

All of the above are approximations. Obviously the exact placement will depend on setup, dice rolls, and coaches plans. The nature of these situations is highly dependent on the roster. Next time you cage up, figure out if the defense's response feels similar to previous match.


Sal-utations


Unrelated, is there a way to embed a frame from a fumbbl client replay? The ascii art isn't terrible, but a good picture is worth a thousand words.