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Blood Bowl Defensive Setup V: Hybrid Defenses
Defensive Setup in Blood Bowl
Part V: Hybrid Defenses
by JackassRampant
Hybrid defenses cover the interior and midfield both, but don’t cover the full width of the pitch. As such they do allow the offense to send satellites out, so offer a “worst of both worlds” against faster foes. They’re typically used against heavier teams at the start of the half.
The Bunkers
The bunkers defense, AKA the "Cups" defense, is a lot like the fortress, but the two structures have been moved out, so the outermost player is in the 5-column. It demands a 101 line, because the 2-column midfielders can’t protect each other and there’s a little gap between them that needs covering.
The Bodkin
The bodkin is an arrowhead that has been pulled in, so the 3-columns, now in the 2-columns, are less vulnerable, but at the expense of sideline control. It’s best against heavy teams without much top speed. It still puts some pressure on the 2-column, but a merely strong player can hold the line here.
The Box
The Columns defense is pretty limited, but if you move the columns inward a square, you get pretty stout inside coverate. In exchange, you give up a deep shot down the sidelines. But what if you spread the columns out a bit, so the other side can’t so easily take control of a wide zone?
The Short Line or Ziggurat
If you’re going to surrender the 7-column, which you should only consider if your opponent is slow or uses Frenzy you can’t easily guard against (Akhorne and Roxana come to mind), you might as well use your players to support each other and control the midfield that much better. The advantage to doing it this way is that against a slower team you can run a one-sided line of scrimmage and direct traffic a bit, which is great if you have the Kick skill.
The Short Spine
The main weakness of the Spine defense is that it exposes your Side Step players in the 6 column, and maybe you don’t want your expensive players getting blitzed on the first turn. If your opponent is speedy, there might not be much to be done about it, but against a bash team you can exert similar pitch control by moving the 6-column flankers into the 5-column, so they can’t be blitzed out of bounds. This does open up the 7, but again, you’re not doing this against blinding speed … right?
So far we’ve mostly just looked at symmetrical offenses, or maybe a few variants with offset lines, and that “crooked arrow” formation in the last segment. But next up we get into true asymmetry, and start playing around with defenses designed to throw the offense off-base. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
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Part V: Hybrid Defenses
by JackassRampant
Hybrid defenses cover the interior and midfield both, but don’t cover the full width of the pitch. As such they do allow the offense to send satellites out, so offer a “worst of both worlds” against faster foes. They’re typically used against heavier teams at the start of the half.
The Bunkers
The bunkers defense, AKA the "Cups" defense, is a lot like the fortress, but the two structures have been moved out, so the outermost player is in the 5-column. It demands a 101 line, because the 2-column midfielders can’t protect each other and there’s a little gap between them that needs covering.
The Bunkers 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 - - -2
- - - x|x - - - - - x|x - - - -3The Bodkin
The bodkin is an arrowhead that has been pulled in, so the 3-columns, now in the 2-columns, are less vulnerable, but at the expense of sideline control. It’s best against heavy teams without much top speed. It still puts some pressure on the 2-column, but a merely strong player can hold the line here.
The Bodkin 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 Box
The Columns defense is pretty limited, but if you move the columns inward a square, you get pretty stout inside coverate. In exchange, you give up a deep shot down the sidelines. But what if you spread the columns out a bit, so the other side can’t so easily take control of a wide zone?
The Box 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 Short Line or Ziggurat
If you’re going to surrender the 7-column, which you should only consider if your opponent is slow or uses Frenzy you can’t easily guard against (Akhorne and Roxana come to mind), you might as well use your players to support each other and control the midfield that much better. The advantage to doing it this way is that against a slower team you can run a one-sided line of scrimmage and direct traffic a bit, which is great if you have the Kick skill.
The Short Ziggurat Defense, Right-Handed LOS
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 Short Spine
The main weakness of the Spine defense is that it exposes your Side Step players in the 6 column, and maybe you don’t want your expensive players getting blitzed on the first turn. If your opponent is speedy, there might not be much to be done about it, but against a bash team you can exert similar pitch control by moving the 6-column flankers into the 5-column, so they can’t be blitzed out of bounds. This does open up the 7, but again, you’re not doing this against blinding speed … right?
The Short 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|- - - -So far we’ve mostly just looked at symmetrical offenses, or maybe a few variants with offset lines, and that “crooked arrow” formation in the last segment. But next up we get into true asymmetry, and start playing around with defenses designed to throw the offense off-base. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
Back to table of contents