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Blood Bowl Defensive Setup II: Interior Defenses
Defensive Setup in Blood Bowl
Part II: Interior Defenses
by JackassRampant
Interior defenses are all pretty similar in that they control midfield at the expense of the sidelines. Interior defenses are good options at the start of the half, if the opponent is not particularly fast and protecting your best players from blitz attacks is more important than denying them territory.
Interior defenses deny the midfield to the opponent, but they let the other side build a strong side, and if they like, send a satellite player out on the back-side of the play, so they’re not particularly strong vs fast and mobile teams like elves and humans, or late in the half when the opponent knows they need to hustle.
The Boat
The most popular defensive setup in the LRB5-6 era, when Claw, Piling On, and Mighty Blow combined for an insane casualty rate on opening blocks, the boat is still a good option on Turn 1 or Turn 9 drives against slow, bashy teams. It’s often called the “rule of five” defense, because it protects five players behind a central screen, where they can’t be blitzed. There are other names for the boat, such as the “anchor” and the “castle": in some places, the terms “3-3-5” and “nickel” are borrowed from American Football to describe the boat defense.
This default version of the boat, with the line bunched in the center (the 1, 0, and 1 columns, counting from the middle of the pitch) and the backfield two squares behind scrimmage, is sometimes called the “rule of six,” as the player in the center of the screen is difficult and unprofitable to hit, and this is a good place to put big guys or other tough but pricey players.
The Schooner
The boat doesn’t really care much about the line of scrimmage. Instead of a 101 line, bunched in the center, you can put up a 123 line, all on the right-hand side (or a 321 line on the left-hand side). This is good if your opponent is slow, and is dependent on the players they are likely to use to make line-blocks with. Be careful using 3-column scrimmage defenders against teams with Frenzy, as they can surf you off scrimmage with a little luck.
The Battleship
What if your opponent is pretty bashy but you have a Strength advantage? The battleship is like the boat, but the “passengers” reinforce the “crew” and it’s hard getting in a good blitz without going into contact. As a bash team, forcing your opponent to initiate contact is the name of the game, after all.
The Battleship is a good anti-Undead defense for strong teams, to let them take advantage of the Undead squad’s low overall speed and specifically the Mummies’ MA3. Here’s an example of how an Orc team might ward off an Undead squad by pulling the backfield one square farther back. In this diagram, b is for Big ‘Uns.
The Fortress
The Fortress defense, a relative of the hybrid defense called “bunkers”, covers a little more of the pitch than the other inside defenses, with a screen from 4 to 1 on each side. It controls more space than the boat, but it exposes four players, and unlike the boat, there’s no “rule of six” protecting the players on the interior.
If the half is already well underway, or if you don’t fear your opponent’s blitz, perhaps an interior defense is not for you, and you should read the next article, on sideline defenses. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
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Part II: Interior Defenses
by JackassRampant
Interior defenses are all pretty similar in that they control midfield at the expense of the sidelines. Interior defenses are good options at the start of the half, if the opponent is not particularly fast and protecting your best players from blitz attacks is more important than denying them territory.
Interior defenses deny the midfield to the opponent, but they let the other side build a strong side, and if they like, send a satellite player out on the back-side of the play, so they’re not particularly strong vs fast and mobile teams like elves and humans, or late in the half when the opponent knows they need to hustle.
The Boat
The most popular defensive setup in the LRB5-6 era, when Claw, Piling On, and Mighty Blow combined for an insane casualty rate on opening blocks, the boat is still a good option on Turn 1 or Turn 9 drives against slow, bashy teams. It’s often called the “rule of five” defense, because it protects five players behind a central screen, where they can’t be blitzed. There are other names for the boat, such as the “anchor” and the “castle": in some places, the terms “3-3-5” and “nickel” are borrowed from American Football to describe the boat defense.
This default version of the boat, with the line bunched in the center (the 1, 0, and 1 columns, counting from the middle of the pitch) and the backfield two squares behind scrimmage, is sometimes called the “rule of six,” as the player in the center of the screen is difficult and unprofitable to hit, and this is a good place to put big guys or other tough but pricey players.
The Boat Defense
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
- - - -|- - x x x - -|- - - - Line
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -1
- - - -|x - - x - - x|- - - - -2
- - - -|- x x x x x -|- - - - -3The Schooner
The boat doesn’t really care much about the line of scrimmage. Instead of a 101 line, bunched in the center, you can put up a 123 line, all on the right-hand side (or a 321 line on the left-hand side). This is good if your opponent is slow, and is dependent on the players they are likely to use to make line-blocks with. Be careful using 3-column scrimmage defenders against teams with Frenzy, as they can surf you off scrimmage with a little luck.
The Boat Defense, Schooner Variant
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
- - - -|- - - - x x x|- - - -
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - -
- - - -|x - - x - - x|- - - -
- - - -|- x x x x x -|- - - -The Battleship
What if your opponent is pretty bashy but you have a Strength advantage? The battleship is like the boat, but the “passengers” reinforce the “crew” and it’s hard getting in a good blitz without going into contact. As a bash team, forcing your opponent to initiate contact is the name of the game, after all.
The Battleship Defense
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
- - - -|- - x x x - -|- - - -
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - -
- - - -|x x - x - x x|- - - -
- - - -|x - - x – - x|- - - -The Battleship is a good anti-Undead defense for strong teams, to let them take advantage of the Undead squad’s low overall speed and specifically the Mummies’ MA3. Here’s an example of how an Orc team might ward off an Undead squad by pulling the backfield one square farther back. In this diagram, b is for Big ‘Uns.
The Battleship Defense, Orcs vs Undead
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
- - - -|- - x x x - -|- - - -
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - -
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - -
- - - -|b x - x - x b|- - - -
- - - -|b - - x – - b|- - - -The Fortress
The Fortress defense, a relative of the hybrid defense called “bunkers”, covers a little more of the pitch than the other inside defenses, with a screen from 4 to 1 on each side. It controls more space than the boat, but it exposes four players, and unlike the boat, there’s no “rule of six” protecting the players on the interior.
The Fortress Defense
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
- - - -|- - x x x - -|- - - -
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - -
- - - x|- - x – x - -|x - - -
- - - -|x x - - - x x|- - - -If the half is already well underway, or if you don’t fear your opponent’s blitz, perhaps an interior defense is not for you, and you should read the next article, on sideline defenses. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
Back to table of contents