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Blood Bowl Defensive Setup IX: Defending Up or Down Players
Defensive Setup in Blood Bowl
Part IX: Defending Up or Down Players
by JackassRampant
The last eight articles were a good overview of 11-player defenses, and that’s pretty useful most of the time. But what if you don’t have 11 players to defend with? This article will cover those conditions. I’ll also touch briefly on when and how to stack the line against a team that can’t effectively fight back.
Defending Down Players
When you can’t set up 11 players, a lot of the defenses we’ve covered stop working. Others can adapt, to a point, but ultimately it becomes a debate between opportunism and player protection. Here I will cover some workable shorthanded defenses that maintain an aggressive potential, or protect your players and/or your lead.
The Hollow-Point
This is simply an arrowhead with only one player in the 0 column. It’s about as strong as any arrowhead, especially for Khemri or Chaos Renegades, who can put ST5 players in the 3 and 0 columns. It doesn’t feature a free safety, but you’re down men, can’t have everything. Unlike a conventional Arrowhead, with only 10 players you need a 101 line, bunched in the center.
Outposts
Here’s a 9-player variant of the Bunkers defense, just a little smaller.
Using Asymmetry
If you have Kick, you can make up for a lack of numbers by playing asymmetrically and kicking shallow. On a short clock, a lot of teams will line up on the side you stacked the line toward, hoping to take advantage of the free-ish wide zone, so this is only a great option against run-only teams, but it definitely has its place.
The Lifeboat
If you fall down to 8 to 10 players but you still have stuff to lose, maybe you shouldn’t be considering full-pitch defenses. At that point, you’re better off contracting into a boat defense, with fewer passengers. This isn’t always ideal, but the answer to that is not to get clobbered in the first place, right? This kind of thinking makes more sense in a league than in a resurrection format, the exception being if it’s still the first half and you have lots of KOs, then turtling up makes some sense. With 9 or more players, you can use any line; with only 8, you need a 101.
The Rowboat
When you fall below 8 players, you don’t have enough manpower to defend a full 303 screen, so you should go asymmetric, using two players to protect whatever you have left. The asymmetry isn’t just to get a jump, it’s that with seven or fewer players, you need the line of scrimmage on one side and the backfield on the other in order not to introduce any glaring gaps.
Stacking the Defensive Line
Generally, the rule with defense is that if you put it up on the line, it will get knocked down. However, if your opponent is down to just a few players and they’re all ST3 or less, you can load the line up all heavy-like, confident that the offense can’t engineer a good block and will have to dodge instead. Filling the 1, 2, 3, and 5 columns, with a screen behind scrimmage, can thwart a badly beaten offense.
I hope you found this informative. There’s one more article, a quick rundown of the most popular and broadly useful 11-player defensive setups, so novice coaches have something immediate to work with. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
Back to table of contents
Part IX: Defending Up or Down Players
by JackassRampant
The last eight articles were a good overview of 11-player defenses, and that’s pretty useful most of the time. But what if you don’t have 11 players to defend with? This article will cover those conditions. I’ll also touch briefly on when and how to stack the line against a team that can’t effectively fight back.
Defending Down Players
When you can’t set up 11 players, a lot of the defenses we’ve covered stop working. Others can adapt, to a point, but ultimately it becomes a debate between opportunism and player protection. Here I will cover some workable shorthanded defenses that maintain an aggressive potential, or protect your players and/or your lead.
The Hollow-Point
This is simply an arrowhead with only one player in the 0 column. It’s about as strong as any arrowhead, especially for Khemri or Chaos Renegades, who can put ST5 players in the 3 and 0 columns. It doesn’t feature a free safety, but you’re down men, can’t have everything. Unlike a conventional Arrowhead, with only 10 players you need a 101 line, bunched in the center.
The Hollow-Point Defense, 10 players
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 - -3Outposts
Here’s a 9-player variant of the Bunkers defense, just a little smaller.
The Outposts Defense, 9 players
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 - - -Using Asymmetry
If you have Kick, you can make up for a lack of numbers by playing asymmetrically and kicking shallow. On a short clock, a lot of teams will line up on the side you stacked the line toward, hoping to take advantage of the free-ish wide zone, so this is only a great option against run-only teams, but it definitely has its place.
The Left-Handed Fence Defense, 10 players
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 - - - - - -|- - - -
9 players
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 - -The Lifeboat
If you fall down to 8 to 10 players but you still have stuff to lose, maybe you shouldn’t be considering full-pitch defenses. At that point, you’re better off contracting into a boat defense, with fewer passengers. This isn’t always ideal, but the answer to that is not to get clobbered in the first place, right? This kind of thinking makes more sense in a league than in a resurrection format, the exception being if it’s still the first half and you have lots of KOs, then turtling up makes some sense. With 9 or more players, you can use any line; with only 8, you need a 101.
The Lifeboat Defense, 8 players
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
- - - -|- - x x x - -|- - - -
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - -
- - - -|x - - x - - x|- - - -
- - - -|- x - - - x -|- - - -The Rowboat
When you fall below 8 players, you don’t have enough manpower to defend a full 303 screen, so you should go asymmetric, using two players to protect whatever you have left. The asymmetry isn’t just to get a jump, it’s that with seven or fewer players, you need the line of scrimmage on one side and the backfield on the other in order not to introduce any glaring gaps.
The Rowboat Defense, 7 players
7 6 5 4|3 2 1 0 1 2 3|4 5 6 7 column
- - - -|- - - - x x x|- - - -
- - - -|- - - - - - -|- - - -
- - - -|x - - x - - -|- - - -
- - - -|- x x - - - -|- - - -Stacking the Defensive Line
Generally, the rule with defense is that if you put it up on the line, it will get knocked down. However, if your opponent is down to just a few players and they’re all ST3 or less, you can load the line up all heavy-like, confident that the offense can’t engineer a good block and will have to dodge instead. Filling the 1, 2, 3, and 5 columns, with a screen behind scrimmage, can thwart a badly beaten offense.
The Bully Defense vs a gassed opponent
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 hope you found this informative. There’s one more article, a quick rundown of the most popular and broadly useful 11-player defensive setups, so novice coaches have something immediate to work with. Until then, have fun and good luck!
— JR
Back to table of contents