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Blood Bowl Defensive Setup IV: Full-Pitch Defenses
Defensive Setup in Blood Bowl
Part IV: Full-Pitch Defenses
by JackassRampant
Sideline defenses are great so long as the opponent can’t systematically open up the center and drive down midfield. Many opponents can’t or won’t do this, and that’s lovely, but you can thwart this effort entirely by going to a full-pitch defense. Each of these introduces its own weakness, but all of these can be overcome with the right players for the job.
Feel free to play around with your line of scrimmage orientation using either of these defenses. Unlike sideline defenses, full-pitch defenses aren’t dependent on “trash” created by the line of scrimmage, so you can use any line you like, be it a 101 line bunched in the center
– – – –|– – x x x – –|– – – –
or it can be a 303 spread wide out
– – – –|x – – x – – x|– – – –
or a 321 all bunched up on the left side
– – – –|x x x – – – –|– – – –
or whatever.
The Arrowhead
The arrowhead defense is a good defense for Undead, Necromantic, or Chaos Renegades, against a highly mobile opponent. It’s similar to a ziggurat or chevron defense, but the 3-column midfielders or safeties have been moved into the 0-column to prevent runs up the gut, and also to be able to redeploy from a central position, while the 2-column strong midfielders have been pushed out to the 3-column to form a spine screen. It’s strong in the wide zone and up the center, but the 3-column midfielders are seriously exposed, and unless they have both a lot of Strength and the Stand Firm skill, this position is highly vulnerable.
If you offset the line of scrimmage on an arrowhead and bring the safety up, you can create a reasonably strong asymmetric defense, one that’s less reliant on the strong midfielder. The 3-columns still take on a lot of weight, but not nearly as much; it’s a good place to put Stand Firm.
I’ll be covering asymmetrical defenses in more depth in Part VI, this is just a taste. But you can see how just moving a couple players about in a setup can really change its character.
The Spine
The spine defense is a popular way for elves to control the width of the pitch. You start with a spine screen, or a screen in the 6, 3, and 0 columns, then put safeties in the 0 and 3. The 6-column flankers are pretty vulnerable, and if they don’t have Side Step it’s not so hot, but for, say, Elven Union, or any developed elf team that has picked up some Side Step, it’s a very strong defense.
The Spine is a good way to defend against Bombardiers, but the anti-Bombardier spine has a couple distinct features. First, a 303 line makes sure your line of scrimmage can’t get mobbed into one spot and bombed on. Second, if you pull the backfield back an extra square, the bomber can usually only hit two players, maybe three if two were pushed back off scrimmage.
So now we’ve talked about how to protect the full width of the pitch, and how to turtle up. Is there a happy medium? Yes, in fact, there is. Read on for hybrid defenses in the next article. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
Back to table of contents
Part IV: Full-Pitch Defenses
by JackassRampant
Sideline defenses are great so long as the opponent can’t systematically open up the center and drive down midfield. Many opponents can’t or won’t do this, and that’s lovely, but you can thwart this effort entirely by going to a full-pitch defense. Each of these introduces its own weakness, but all of these can be overcome with the right players for the job.
Feel free to play around with your line of scrimmage orientation using either of these defenses. Unlike sideline defenses, full-pitch defenses aren’t dependent on “trash” created by the line of scrimmage, so you can use any line you like, be it a 101 line bunched in the center
– – – –|– – x x x – –|– – – –
or it can be a 303 spread wide out
– – – –|x – – x – – x|– – – –
or a 321 all bunched up on the left side
– – – –|x x x – – – –|– – – –
or whatever.
The Arrowhead
The arrowhead defense is a good defense for Undead, Necromantic, or Chaos Renegades, against a highly mobile opponent. It’s similar to a ziggurat or chevron defense, but the 3-column midfielders or safeties have been moved into the 0-column to prevent runs up the gut, and also to be able to redeploy from a central position, while the 2-column strong midfielders have been pushed out to the 3-column to form a spine screen. It’s strong in the wide zone and up the center, but the 3-column midfielders are seriously exposed, and unless they have both a lot of Strength and the Stand Firm skill, this position is highly vulnerable.
The Arrowhead 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 - - x|- x - - -2
- x - -|- - - x - - -|- - x - -3If you offset the line of scrimmage on an arrowhead and bring the safety up, you can create a reasonably strong asymmetric defense, one that’s less reliant on the strong midfielder. The 3-columns still take on a lot of weight, but not nearly as much; it’s a good place to put Stand Firm.
The Crooked Arrow 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 -I’ll be covering asymmetrical defenses in more depth in Part VI, this is just a taste. But you can see how just moving a couple players about in a setup can really change its character.
The Spine
The spine defense is a popular way for elves to control the width of the pitch. You start with a spine screen, or a screen in the 6, 3, and 0 columns, then put safeties in the 0 and 3. The 6-column flankers are pretty vulnerable, and if they don’t have Side Step it’s not so hot, but for, say, Elven Union, or any developed elf team that has picked up some Side Step, it’s a very strong defense.
The Spine 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 Spine is a good way to defend against Bombardiers, but the anti-Bombardier spine has a couple distinct features. First, a 303 line makes sure your line of scrimmage can’t get mobbed into one spot and bombed on. Second, if you pull the backfield back an extra square, the bomber can usually only hit two players, maybe three if two were pushed back off scrimmage.
The Spine Defense, Anti-Bombardier
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|- - - -So now we’ve talked about how to protect the full width of the pitch, and how to turtle up. Is there a happy medium? Yes, in fact, there is. Read on for hybrid defenses in the next article. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
Back to table of contents