Wednesday 2 October 2013

Tactics - Bashing out a victory with Marauders

Hey there folks, Wildwing here from the Mighty Dorks, I've been asked by Mr. Dorksworth to give you grunts a lesson in winnin'.

First off, I want to counter the oft held belief that bashy teams are somehow at a disadvantage against them slippery striker teams. I've seen bashy teams score very highly in the leagues, and more recently, my own Marauders team has taken the championship for a day tournament. More than it can be done, it should be done, and done well if you play smart!

The number one thing you have to come to terms with is that without any strikers, you ain't gonna win by out striking your opponent. No way, no how. Now I can already hear all you whining maggots giving up already, but stay with me a minute.

Dreadball is all about playing to your strengths. So what do you do if you're opponent has better strikers than you? You smash them up! You want to be spending a good chunk of that early game focused on removing their strikers. Sure, their guards are gonna put up a fight - but seriously what are those little men gonna do to big Orx guards like me?

To that end you want to play a guard heavy team. If you're playing in a league, buy a forth guard as soon as you can, and try and maximise the number of guards you have on the pitch. In the early game, 1 Gobbo should be running support, helping your Guards to have a bigger impact (the other Gobbo(s) should be running defense of your 3 point zone). Remember that the difference between shovin' someone, and killin' someone can sometimes be just 1 more successful roll on a slam than the other guy.

It's also nice to try and run a gobbo through to get an early lead at this point too, but don't waste an entire rush on this. Scoring in the early game is strictly an afterthought tactic. If the ball lands in your lap, and scoring looks like too much of a risk, it's sometimes a good idea to run to a safe(ish-ed) part of the pitch and stay out of trouble for a while. That way you can sprint with it on on your next rush see?

If all's well so far, during the mid game you should be seeing a significantly reduced number of strikers on the pitch. So your tactics have to adjust from killin' strikers to clearing out the opposing defenders, and bringing one of your guards back to the 3 point position for your own defense.

As for your jacks, it's best to hold two actions back at this point for your Gobbo's to be used for getting the ball and scoring. You also want to be aiming high, 3s and 4 pointers all the way. You won't score often with Gobbo's, so when you do, you need to score big.

At the same time, keep an eye on the opposing subs bench. If any new strikers dare to come on, make sure you squash them quick or they can ruin everything. You should expect that they will get one or two strikers past your guards, and make a couple of scores, but hopefully only 1 or 2 pointers (thanks to your defending).

The end game is a case of rinse and repeat. It's not uncommon to get landslide victories this way.

Other important things to consider if you're a league player are offensive coaches. Getting a third action with one of your Gobbo jacks can really make them shine as strikers. So this is definitely a mandatory 2nd purchase after that extra guard. After coaches, the rest of your money wants to go into coaching dice to maximise the chances of scoring those vital goals, and killing those pesky strikers.

Here's a couple of general rules to live by for a marauders coach:

  • If it scores, kill it
  • Don't try and play a passing game, you only need 1 Gobbo to get a strike
  • Defend your 3 strike zone
  • In a league, you want to get a new guard, an offensive coach, then coaching dice. In that order.
  • Most importantly, don't try and trade strikes with a striking team!

That's about it, so if you squishy humies dare to have any comments, chuck them below and make your points!

4 comments:

  1. What about playing against another smashy team? Do the same tactics still apply?

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  2. I can't go into too much detail here, so I'll do another tactica some time soon. But for now, the general rule should be 'if they have better strikers than you - kill them. if you have better strikers than them, protect yous'.

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  3. I'd say the offensive coach is much more important than a fourth guard, I mean how often in a rush will you activate all four? Also - I'd rarely go for bonus point scores with the Gobbos - just go for the 1 or 3 pointers because that -1 die can be devastating against jacks as they don't have the bonus die for being a striker to make up for it.

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    Replies
    1. Quite frequently in that early game. But that's not entirely the point:

      1. More guards = wider area of threat, means you control the play.
      2. Sometimes you lose a guard (red cards typically) so it's better to have 3 on the pitch rather than 2

      It is a very close run thing between the extra guard and the coach though, and this is purely opinion based on person experience talking :)

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