I'm in the middle of a long struggle. My top team, the Greasy Lightnings, are aiming to reach TS > 200 with no nigglers or other severely handicapped players on the roster. So far, they've come close once, with their peak TS at 187. The problem is casualties. They've been suffering an average of one problem injury (death, niggle or major stat loss) per game for some time now. The sources have varied - aging, opponent action, and my own mistakes have all played their part, but it's becoming a very annoying habit. Fortunately their FF is excellent, so the cash keeps coming in, but it grinds the team down. This is even despite me dodging bashy teams wherever possible (yeah, I know... I really want to 'finish' this team).

The worst of it is that the injuries happen to the team's most hard to replace players, its Stormvermin and skilled Linerats. Gutter Runners are replacable, as they can easily gain ridiculous amounts of SPPs from touchdowns, but Linerats and Stormvermin? They rely on random casualties and MVPs, and can only be forced to gain SPPs by using them to score and pass. That's an extra risk, as those jobs would usually be better done by Gutter Runners or the Thrower. For instance, I recently skilled up Sardines, a 75SPP Gutter Runner capable of unassisted 1-turn TDs, and Hamnpork, a 30SPP Stormvermin with a claw. Hamnpork aged and picked up a niggle, Sardines missed. I'd have much rather lost Sardines than Hamnpork, because she (for some reason, my Gutter Runners are female) can be fairly easily replaced - simply use the replacement as chief scorer for a few games, and all is fine. Hamnpork, though, will be difficult. I'm hoping to hand his replacement, (once I can afford him) a couple of easy touchdowns so he'll get guard ASAP, and then keep on it.

Anyhow. Cathartic whine over. Anyone actually read this?