Posted by harvestmouse on 2015-07-31 00:04:50

Well you've learnt 2 things there. To be careful about inducements (or now you understand them a little bit better, re-read the rules on them) and about blitzing.

For a new player (I presume a newish player) your record is very decent. Becoming good takes time.

Posted by Sammler_der_Seelen on 2015-07-31 00:11:07

In my First 100 Games i Won maybe 8 Times,i think watch some replays from good Coaches would help.for cd is qaz a good Choice .so far i See you doing well in the Start:-)
And happy welcome !

Posted by albinv on 2015-07-31 00:18:09

- Watch your RRs. Probably about 70% of matches vs. beginner coaches can be won solely by keeping your RRs while watching the beginner coach burn through his in the first turns. Its true really.

- Never spec me.

Posted by webbard on 2015-07-31 00:18:45

Never play Dwarves

Posted by DustBunny on 2015-07-31 00:19:26

Play Halflings for 100 games.

Then play another team.

Whole game is on easy mode from that point on.

Posted by Wreckage on 2015-07-31 00:30:23

Agree, your record so far is very good. Since the quality of opponents on the site is just very high you shouldn't really expect to keep a positive record as you proceed.
It doesn't really mean anything you just need a certain resilience to frustration to really enjoy this game to its fullest.

As for mistakes: BB is a game based on probabilities. So if you notice aspects you can improve and refine, rest assured working on these aspects and making less mistakes is one of the best things you can do on any coaching level.

Looking into the game I felt there was a significant amount of unneeded 1d blocks going on. Somewhat on both sides. If you desire to gain an edge you'd probably have to find a way to do less of those and more 2d blocks than your opponent. Which admittedly can be hard against dwarves.
If you look at a single event like this the probability of failure and the risk of loss isn't particularly big but the accumulation of rolls in a blocking war can make quite a difference. Every single block holds the potential of removing an opponent player and vice versa. So, as mentioned, good probability house-holding tends to pay off eventually.

The reason why you didn't win tho wasn't really because of that. Your performance was by no means bad actually.
What made the difference tho was that you didn't manage to play your offensive drive out and end it 1:0.
This is pretty much the key to any success and one of the things that is the hardest to do initially. When you are on offense you need to go through great length to protect the carrier properly with tackle-zones even at the risk of having less players available for other purposes.
If you do lose the ball anyways, you need to do everything to reacquire it as quickly as possible.
So what did happen was that you lost the ball and then proceeded to prioritize on other actions. The ball was lying on pitch for several turns until your opponent eventually picked it up. This was why you lost.
In matters like these it usually helps to plan the turn out in advance with focus on reacquisition and protection of the ball. To do this it is also very important that you understand the blocking rules completely and properly.
Otherwise your risk management is quite good.

If you have questions just let us know.

Posted by pythrr on 2015-07-31 00:33:10

um

8/4/5

as a noob, seems like you're doing very little wrong

come back and ask again after 100 games or so

Posted by awambawamb on 2015-07-31 03:06:44

indeed, quite a good result for a newcomer on FUMBBL.

Play in L, practice there.

Posted by Kondor on 2015-07-31 03:17:43

I would recommend playing as many games as you can in the 145 club. Do it until you dominate or they kick you out.

In the ranked environment understand your level of competition. Mostly play against fellow rookies, veterans, or emerging star players. When you choose to play against stars, super stars, and legends plan on it being a learning experience. Especially against super stars and legends.

Finally try to play games with similar TV. Sure that is not always an great indicator of team strength but it is a good place to start. I would not play teams with more than about a 80 TV advantage.

Enjoy every game. Learn what you can.

Posted by JackassRampant on 2015-07-31 04:43:06

Watch good coaches play. Click "Games" whenever you're bored and scan the matches for ones that are just getting started or in the first few turns. When you see two super-stars up against each other, spec that match.

I see you've already joined the 145 club. Good. You may already be better than that, but stay in until it gets boring.

Play some good coaches, don't worry if you get your tail kicked. Then watch the replays and see exactly HOW your tail got kicked.

Don't play way up in TV, it's challenging to play way up but not informative.

Posted by paradocks on 2015-07-31 05:07:47

I wouldn't put too much stock in coach rankings unless they are of Legend status, the proof; I'm rated as a Superstar in Ranked yet still have no clue how to play. Then I've come across coaches who were rated as Emerging Star but were very good

Posted by keggiemckill on 2015-07-31 06:16:14

I still watch more than I play. Its made me better as a coach to be honest. Seeing the way Better guys set up defences and position is very helpful.

Posted by pythrr on 2015-07-31 07:45:19

just don't watch me

i suck

Posted by Endzone on 2015-07-31 09:05:35

I found that I learnt a lot from playing good coaches.

Posted by Verminardo on 2015-07-31 09:20:27

Also, here are two links that I've found invaluable:

https://fumbbl.com/help:The+Taoch!+of+Blood+Bowl%3A+A+Condensed+Guide+for+Newbies
http://www.elyoukey.com/sac/

Posted by mekutata on 2015-07-31 11:07:38

5/4/3? did you type in the konami code or what? hell do i suck hell.

Posted by WolfyDan on 2015-07-31 12:08:34

On your setup I think you made 3 mistakes. With him only having a front 3 line you did not need to put your guarder there. You could still have lined up all 3 2db (with redundancy for 2nd hits if you got pushes). That would have freed up your guarder to move to a better position. I also think you went too heavy down one side with your bull. Dwarves are not fast so don't give them clues about which way you intend to strike. This forces them to be more spread out giving you easier 2dbs. If they want to get stuck in they have to leave gaps and that makes it easy for you. Also this being dwarves you don't want to score quickly; scoring in your turn 5 still gives them 4 to equalise. Finally your back field hobgobs are too deep; the dwarves are not going to be able to put pressure on a deep kick even with a Blitz result, and you should move them further up.

Ball went to your weakside and the first thing you did was throw a block. Double skull reroll double skull does happen. Fist thing you need to do is get some security on the ball. Your back field hobgobs are effectively out of the game for this turn as they would need gfi's to get up to the ball. I'd have moved both of them forward first, so that if things went wrong they were on hand and screening the space behind the ball. If you pick the ball up you can always run behind this new screen. You do this later, but the order is wrong.

The other forward hobgob I would move to the space in front of the ball. I generally don't like doing that as such because the opponent can always blitz you into the ball and you don't want that randomness, but given the position of that longbeard it's the best option to take as you can't be 2 spaces ahead.

With your guarder where he is you blocked with the wrong c-dwarf. By taking it with the one above him you can block diagonally down the line meaning you free up a dwarf closer to the ball. Also having selected the dwarf you did your push back should have been away from the ball - this is now too much of a high risk situation to continue with your BC down the wing plan. Secure the ball first.


If you had blocked to leave a lower dwarf free, the other forward hobgob that you hadn't moved could be used to get the assist on the longbeard for a blitz. But just prior to you picking the ball up you effectively had no screen. There were only 3 of your players in advance of the ball and all were in TZs, meaning you could have been blocked clear. Had the pickup failed (1/9) you would have been swamped.

Now it may not seem like much, but the action of 3 x 2db and a 3+ pickup, with team RR available, still has a 13.2% chance of failure. That means if you repeated this then, on average, every 7 games something would have gone wrong and you'll be cursing the RNG.

After your BC blitz you left him in a TZ. I assume that you wanted to screen the run up the flank? If so you would have been better moving 1 square east (2 would have been better but would have required a gfi), as that makes it harder for the dwarves to get around you. At the end of your first turn you have 4 players that can be blocked (5 actual players, but 2 are in a single opponent's TZ so that's only 5 blocks against you).

So I would say mainly to think more about the consequences of things going wrong. Your opponent made even more mistakes than you in the first half, and simple ones at that. For example at the end of his block run 'Le view monsieur' takes a 1db, gets the POW, and follows up, meaning his next block also has to take a 1db rather than a 2db. Now he got lucky with it, but if you reduce the game to just dice you can lose to players not nearly as good as you.

Your second turn is a prime example. You prioritised a 2db with a player that did not have block over a lot of other options. If Kaundercherme had pushed back down diagonally and followed up then the position above his end position is free of TZs other than Botard. You could have moved Gomz there, and then taken a 2db with Anauilla on Botad. If you had knocked him down and followed up then Kaugit could have had a 2db on either Jean or Le Logicien. Even on a push and follow Kaugit still gets a 2db on Le Logicien. These are blocks that you looked at prior to moving the hobgob up for the block, so you definitely have the right instinct, just work a bit on tactical positioning to get 2dbs.

Posted by JimmyFantastic on 2015-07-31 12:45:59

You have done the most important thing, something that people who have played over a thousand games have failed to do - identified that it was your play and not the dice! Checking out replays and spectating major mactches as well as reading up on some things(a lot is dross) is the best way to improve imo. GL.

Posted by Grod on 2015-07-31 14:53:40

Both you and your opponent made a hell of a lot of blocks. Unfortunately you lost the Casualty count even though the total number of blocks was similar. One key to winning wars of attrition is to make more blocks than your opponent. How do you do this? You try to have as few players as possible next to your opponents standing players at the end of your turns. This often means NOT following up when you block. Feel free to just leave your players standing around seemingly doing nothing - let your opponent try to make something happen.

In the turns I observed, both you AND your opponent were playing too aggressively in my opinion.

Posted by Gozer_the_Gozerian on 2015-07-31 16:08:59

I am also fairly new and constantly make mistakes that cost me the win/tie, so don't feel too badly.

Some of the recent highlights of my stupidity:
1. Picking block instead of blitz and not being able to reach the goal line on turn 8.
2. Standing on the goal line with the ball on turn 8 and forgetting to score, and ending my turn with a botched foul instead.
3. Picking pass the ball to any square instead of a player, then accidentally clicking the square right next to my alone and vulnerable passer.

I also blame intoxicants and possibly society for making me like this. (Curse you all.)

Posted by Floi on 2015-07-31 19:21:35

as some of you have already done (thanks!), feel free to be more explicit about the dwarf player's mistakes. I'd appreciate it (;

Posted by akaRenton on 2015-07-31 19:23:43

I think I'll get some popcorn, this could get interesting.

Posted by pythrr on 2015-07-31 20:29:48

3.2.1 ... wreckage.

Posted by WolfyDan on 2015-08-01 11:39:37

For the dwarf player: setup was decent in formation if you didn't care about the other player scoring quickly to give you a chance of a reply. You protected the side of the front line well preventing any overlaps into that space behind. The big mistake was the positioning of your guarder. If I was against you I would have lined up an early blitz on this guy and then tagged him with a TZ so that all he could do was stand up, get knocked down, stand up, etc. As it was the central block-fest was made much harder for you because the c-dwarf had his guarder there and you did not. I would even have been tempted to blitz with him later in order to push the hobgob away and then reposition him back in the fight to get 2dbs with other players. Early runners are not that good; you could have put one of those where the guarder was. If you had put your guarder one square behind the front 3 scrim players then he would naturally have been brought into play.

I don't think it was right the way you went to hit the BC on the first turn. You're rolling a 2+ to get 1 db. If you really were happy to have a 1db then it would have been better to have used Jean to hit Kaugit (having moved Berenger to cut the assist from the bull) with a 1db and then if you got a push it would have given you a 2db with the troll on the BC. The chances of failure (skull vs roll of 1 on dauntless) is the same, but the outcome is much better. Either way I felt it was too risky. You could have tied up that bull with a Blitzer whilst he was well protected as the bull did not have break tackle.

Second turn I don't think the forward hobgob was a priority. He had only TZs to dodge into and was not looking likely to get a lot of support. As it was the push ended up pushing him back into your players cutting any potential assists. And it cost you a player's move to do this. The other runner I think was a mistake to push up the flank; the ball carrier was not under any other pressure to again you used a player to do not much when an assist could have been better. There were tactical options in the middle that you forewent that resulted in you needing a lot of 1dbs.

For example you could have moved le serveuse forward 1 to support le patron, then moved le menagere to below le vieux monsieur, giving the latter a 2db on Kaundercherme (following up). After that a blitz by le patron on gomz would give you enough move with 1 gfi to get him to the square below Anauilla. That gives botard a 2db on Anauilla, and if he gets at least a push then Jean gets a 2db on Kaugit. If all goes well and the runner marked the bull your troll slayer now gets at worse (kaugit not knocked down and dauntless fails) a frenzy 1db on the bull. If you are feeling lucky your final longbeard can then try a 1db on his guarder, and your blitzer a 1db on the hobgob. That would have put more pressure on the ball, given you better initiative, and kept his bull tied up so it could not follow the hobgob ball carrier. Once those hobgobs get isolated from the slower c-dwarves they fall quickly.