Season 3 Lineup - Coaches Contacts

With the fixtures for the whole league now sent to coaches its high time we gave all you Dreadball fans a rundown of the teams competing for the biggest Dreadball League this side of the Trent gulf.

So in no particular order... (forum name is in brackets)

Roaring Riptides - Steel Division
Coach - Adrain Mills (AdrianMills)
Type - Corporation (Sirens)
The Riptides are a new team with a coach new to league play. We have seen how these girls roll in what was an epic cat fight for the wooden spoon in Punter Bowl a few months ago. Are these girls ready to Roar into the lead in this Season or will they be out with the tide?

The New Zoal All Hacks - Steel Division
Coach - Ben Ryan (ScewbylikeAsir)
Type - Corporation (29ers)
Another new coach in the Steel division could make for some great action this season. The flexibity of the Corporation team will grant a helpful introduction into league play, but can they build on it to take top spots or will they just be another hack?

I.C.E. Devils - Steel Division
Coach - Simon Blakemore (Simon)
Type - Forge Fathers
A Veteran of the Outpost League. Mr Blakemore has returned for a 3rd season with a new team. Forge Fathers seem to be back on the rise again after suffering during Seasons 1 and 2. Can Simon breathe new life into the little men or will the new rookies in his division put a chill on their success?

The Law - Iron Division
Coach - Chris Blackburn (chrisbburn)
Type - Forge Fathers
Back with Forge Fathers, although definatly not the same team he lost everything with in Season 1. The Law are a force to be reckoned with especially in a division of rivals like the Iron Division. Will these self proclaimed upholders of justice show their bitter rivals the error of their ways or will in be a night in the can for The Law?

Laniidae Shrikes - Iron Division
Coach - Chris Daubney (I AM MOGAR!)
Type - Corporation (Sirens)
After two seasons coaching the Beasts to become the fan favorites and putting plenty of strikers in the ICU. Coach Daubney has hung up his Beasting gloves in favor of the pesky Sirens play style. Will this change allow him to finally win a league instead?

Tribbiani CHUMS - Iron Division
Coach - James Taylor (jimmi)
Type - Zees
After a Landslide win with The Tuscan Swordfish in Season 2 and a overall win at Punterbowl with the Mighty Dorks, seems like Coach Jimmi is looking for a new challenge and they come in form of a troupe of cloned mini monkeys. Sure to bring chaos and confusion but can this veteran clone another win or will he slip on a banana skin?

Osaka Squids - Copper Division
Coach - Will Hopkins (Jaggedlilwill)
Type - Nameless
Another Veteran coach returning with a new season 3 team. Will has played in all the Outpost events and has plenty of experience winning with different teams and now he is trying his hand at the Nameless - A team that has been mentioned [perhaps somewhat prematurely - ed] as the Judwan of season 3 either way they look a very powerful team can Will make them winners or just damp squid?

Blueskin Krumpers - Copper Division
Coach - Daniel Haslem (vorpalhit)
Type - Marauders
Back for another season after taking the plunge with a Forge Father team in season 2 where he racked up some impressive stats for the then lost cause Forge Fathers including breaking the Tuscan Swordfish in a landslide victory. Dan is back for more with another Season 1 team and the only Marauders team in the league which puts them in great posistion for the bloodiest team this time round, or will they get themselves krimped?

Teraton Avalanches - Copper Division
Coach - Tom Silcock (Tom_Uk)
Type - Teraton
Our final team and another veteran member of the outpost league. Tom is backing the Teratons this season and by all acoounts in pre season games they are a force to worry about. They hit like giant teleporting turtles that are angry, very angry. You're going to see some bloody games in the Copper division and I think Turtles might come out on top unless someone can give them a serious shredding.

And so thats the line up, The league begins on Monday who is going to get first blood/strike/win?

Stay tuned to the Punter.

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!