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Blood Bowl Defensive Setup VII: One-Turn Defenses
Defensive Setup in Blood Bowl
Part VII: Defending on Turn 8 or 16
by JackassRampant
There are five types of one-turn offense: in descending order of power, these are: the natural one-turn score; the blitz-free chainpush using Frenzy or Grab; the blitz-driven chainpush; the Throw Team-Mate score; and praying for help from the kickoff table. I’ve used them all successfully, and had all but a blitz-free chainpush used against me, so even a team that looks like it has no hope still can’t be ignored.
With the elimination of MA10 from the game, the natural one-turner is almost an artifact of the past, though the one-turner off Quick Snap is still a thing, and it’s possible to get two MA buffs on an Amazon Blitzer. Let’s worry the most about chain-pushes, thrown teammates, and time-outs for this article.
The line of scrimmage in a one-turn defense is a major variable. If you’re playing a one-handed defense and trying to thwart chain-pushes, the best bet is to orient your line in the same direction, as opposed to the more even-handed philosophy of asymmetry we covered last time.
Also note that there’s a difference between turn 8 defense and turn 16 defense. On turn 16, all you really care about is stopping the score. On turn 8, not getting beat up ahead of halftime is also a consideration. This may change your decision-making process.
The Backline Fence
The backline fence is really about player protection, though it does offer some resistance against one-turn efforts, possibly forcing dodges at penalties. As classic as it is, the backline fence is often seen as a cop-out, as even teams that need a Time-Out can build a beachhead against deep fences. However, on turn 8, against a slow-moving bash team without Throw Teammate, a backline fence is a good way to keep your good players safe for the second half.
The One-Handed Stack or Trap
The one-handed stack is a good defense against chainpushed one-turners.
A one-handed trap screen works well too, as it’s hard to chainpush the carrier all the way out wide even on the strong side. The advantage is twofold; not only does it prevent spite surfs if the OTS fails or is forgone, but it also offers a little more width on the back side of the play. The drawback is that it’s weaker if the opponent can engineer a longer chain on the built-up side; everything’s a trade-off.
The Double-Spine Defense
The double spine is a partial spine screen running from 3 to 0 to 3, just as with a boat defense. However, the backfield is a full spine screen, covering the 6, 3, and 0 columns on both sides. It’s possible to set up a shallow double-spine to make it hard to position for chain-pushes, but the more popular way to use the double spine is against Throw Teammate attempts.
In this case, you want to pull the backfield formation much farther back, so it can’t easily be mobbed and blitzed by MA6 players, and so the front 303 screen is likely to exert a zone on the intended landing spot. The spine screen in the backfield doesn’t need overlapping zones because if the carrier gets that far, they can just use Stunty to negate any penalties.
So far, we’ve covered all of the conventional defensive philosophies, but there are others. The next article is on corner-case defensive structures, such as stacking the defensive line or playing with lots of positioning skills like Fend, Stand Firm, and Side Step. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
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Part VII: Defending on Turn 8 or 16
by JackassRampant
There are five types of one-turn offense: in descending order of power, these are: the natural one-turn score; the blitz-free chainpush using Frenzy or Grab; the blitz-driven chainpush; the Throw Team-Mate score; and praying for help from the kickoff table. I’ve used them all successfully, and had all but a blitz-free chainpush used against me, so even a team that looks like it has no hope still can’t be ignored.
With the elimination of MA10 from the game, the natural one-turner is almost an artifact of the past, though the one-turner off Quick Snap is still a thing, and it’s possible to get two MA buffs on an Amazon Blitzer. Let’s worry the most about chain-pushes, thrown teammates, and time-outs for this article.
The line of scrimmage in a one-turn defense is a major variable. If you’re playing a one-handed defense and trying to thwart chain-pushes, the best bet is to orient your line in the same direction, as opposed to the more even-handed philosophy of asymmetry we covered last time.
Also note that there’s a difference between turn 8 defense and turn 16 defense. On turn 16, all you really care about is stopping the score. On turn 8, not getting beat up ahead of halftime is also a consideration. This may change your decision-making process.
The Backline Fence
The backline fence is really about player protection, though it does offer some resistance against one-turn efforts, possibly forcing dodges at penalties. As classic as it is, the backline fence is often seen as a cop-out, as even teams that need a Time-Out can build a beachhead against deep fences. However, on turn 8, against a slow-moving bash team without Throw Teammate, a backline fence is a good way to keep your good players safe for the second half.
The Backline Fence (fence only)
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
x - x -|x - x - x - x|- x - x -9? Too deep to blitz.The One-Handed Stack or Trap
The one-handed stack is a good defense against chainpushed one-turners.
The Left-Handed Stack
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|- - - - -3A one-handed trap screen works well too, as it’s hard to chainpush the carrier all the way out wide even on the strong side. The advantage is twofold; not only does it prevent spite surfs if the OTS fails or is forgone, but it also offers a little more width on the back side of the play. The drawback is that it’s weaker if the opponent can engineer a longer chain on the built-up side; everything’s a trade-off.
The Left-Handed Trap Screen, 320 Defensive Line
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 Double-Spine Defense
The double spine is a partial spine screen running from 3 to 0 to 3, just as with a boat defense. However, the backfield is a full spine screen, covering the 6, 3, and 0 columns on both sides. It’s possible to set up a shallow double-spine to make it hard to position for chain-pushes, but the more popular way to use the double spine is against Throw Teammate attempts.
In this case, you want to pull the backfield formation much farther back, so it can’t easily be mobbed and blitzed by MA6 players, and so the front 303 screen is likely to exert a zone on the intended landing spot. The spine screen in the backfield doesn’t need overlapping zones because if the carrier gets that far, they can just use Stunty to negate any penalties.
The Double-Spine, 303 Defensive Line
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
- - - -|x - - x - - x|- - - - Line
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -1
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -2
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -3
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -4
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -5
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -6
- - - -|x - - x - - x|- - - - -7
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -8
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - - -9
- x - -|x - - x - - x|- - x - -10So far, we’ve covered all of the conventional defensive philosophies, but there are others. The next article is on corner-case defensive structures, such as stacking the defensive line or playing with lots of positioning skills like Fend, Stand Firm, and Side Step. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
Back to table of contents