The Season 4 Bootcamp – It’s a trap!

Welcome back to the Season 4 Bootcamp! It’s time to start about one of the things that can leave your models stranded and potentially invalidate a lot of your influence. Time to talk about traps.

 

What are traps in Guild Ball?

I am not alking about the trap markers that the Hunter’s Guild can put out here. These traps are abilites on models that can get you into a lot of trouble or just end your activation without you spending all your influence. Since you can’t bank any influence, not getting to spend all of it is suboptimal or sometimes catastrophic.

So, let us dive in.

Unpredictable Movement(UM)

A model with unpredicable Movement can dodge 2″ if you enter the melee zone with an advance. Most models with this rule only have a 1″ Melee Zone, but Greyscales, Naja and Obulus feature a 2″ Melee zone.If you run into it unprepared, it can leave the opposing model out of your melee zone and your model is unable to attack anyone. Also note that this rule still works when the model is knocked down. It still has a melee zone(albeit not engaging anyone) and it still can make dodges.

How do I counter it?

There are several ways to get around Unpredictable Movement. Since it only triggers on an advance, you can dodge into the opposing melee zone without triggering it. The best way is using a 2″ Melee model to either stay out of 1″ of the opponent, or in the case of a 2″ UM model, you can go base-to-base and if he dodges away, you can still hit them. You can also try to push the opponent into your melee zones and then you can start wailing on them without needin to advance towards them.

Counter Charge(CC)

This rule is not always called Counter Charge and is often Conditional (Rush Keeper on Compound or Fork Off on Tater), but it does the same thing. If an enemy advances into 6″, you it can immediately get charged. This can result in pushes or other nasty stuff that messes with you, the “best case” is that ou will suffer a crowdout.

Countering Counter Charge?

You can always try to engage a CC Model, since a model that is engaged can’t declare a charge. In fact, if you advance in a way that the Countercharger engages you, he can’t declare a charge either. Dodging in does work, too, as does pushing the CC-Model in a way that the condition isn’t met. Sometimes, you might need to just stay out of 6″ of the model altogether.

The disengaging Counterattack

This one can be a bit more complex. A Counterattack with any double-Reposition(Double Dodges, Double Pushes, Push-Dodges) can put 2″ between the attacker and the counter-attacker. Sometimes, A Knockdown can also end an activation (If the active model already advanced and used Rest).

Thwarting the Counter-Attack

The easiest counter is to just knock the counterattacking model down. If he can’t counterattack, he can’t hit any Repositions. A 2″ Melee model can also go base-to-base so that a double reposition won’t get the enemy out of melee. There are some triple-Repositions around, but high in the playbook, but you should still keep an eye out for them. If you can attack before the advance, the counter will also do next to nothing. Sometimes, you just need to make a Risk-reward assesement and take the risk of the opponent’s counterattack.

Resilience and Sturdy

Resilience(ex. Mash) and Sturdy(ex. Hearth) are two rules that makes it easier to get to make counter attacks. A model with Resilience is 100% guaranteed to counter you if you attack it and Resilience is up, and Sturdy ignores the most common counter to counterattacks

So what do I do now?

Thankfully, both these abilites only work on the first time a model is hit. Resilience can be broken by using a ranged character play like Marked Target from Boiler, and Sturdy can be broken by any Knockdown. A model with just one Influence can also just roll an attack on a model with Resilience or Sturdy and doesn’t care much for the counterattack. Additionally, the Counterattacks of these models are often not that great and you can look at the playbooks and make a decision if just tanking the counter is worth it.

 

 

That’s it for today! Next time, we will look at the defensive options of Counterattacks and Defensive Stance.

The Season 4 Bootcamp – the 5 resources of Guild Ball

I’m back with the blog for Season 4!

In this little series, I want to provide a primer for people looking to get into the game (and maybe an intermediate player can get some mileage out of it, too).

The Season 4 Bootcamp will try to give you a basic understanding of the tactics and strategy of Guild Ball. When you start to read on these articles, you should have a firm grasp of the rules. I will also not provide full rules text on the abilities of Models, but I will provide example models who posess these rules so you can look up the exact text in the app or on the card.

So, let’s dive into the first topic, the five resources of Guild Ball, that being Influence, Momentum, the Ball, Clock and conceded VP.

Influence

The most obivious of the resources, Influence, is what makes your Players do actions on the Pitch. Each model’s actions are limited by the Influence cap and they provide a certain amount of Influence to the Pool. Goals give you another influence and Game Plan Cards can give you a temporary boost to your influence.

Managing your influence is something that needs a lot of practice and experience. It’s a obviously  a vital part to the game since it dictates what you can do during a given turn, but there is not a clear cut answer to how to distribute it. Often times, you will fully load models that are attacking the opponent and give enough influence to your buffing models to get the buffs going.

Then we have the concept of invalidating influence. Since influence is a limited resource each turn, if you can manage to get influence off the table somehow, you just reduced the amount of actions your opponent can do. Invalidating influence can be done by taking out a model with influence on, Disengaging through a counter-attack, or controlling a model in a way that it can’t reach you (through distance, conditions or plays like Goad from Marbles)

Momentum

Momentum is generated by using up your influence to make momentous attacks, passes or Take outs. Momentum is the second obvious resource and is very important. First of all, it determines initiative each turn. Having more momentum on your opponent often lets you go first in the following turn, depending a bit on the game plan cards(You can guarantee initiattive if the difference of momentum plus the initiative value of your card equals 8). That doesn’t mean you should just bunker every point of momentum you get.

Healing your players is very important and sometimes you just need to get those conditions off. Dodging after passing can open up vectors and Defensive Stance/Counter Attacks can throw a wrench into your opponent’s plans.

Sometimes, Momentum can grant you “free” actions that you don’t have to pay influence for. Let’s look at the example of Counter-Attacks. Many people use counter-attacks just to disengage or threaten a disengage through dodges and pushes. While this certainly is a use, sometimes character plays triggered through the playbook have value, too. Mallet, for example, can trigger Singled out on the counter attack and then suddenly all the models have +2 TAC on your attacker, without mallet using any influence or needing to activate! I’m sure you’ll find other examples of counter-attacks that might not be good at disengaging, but certainly have other value.

The Ball

The Ball is a little special as a resource. Only one player can have it and controlling the Ball is a central part of the game. Having the Ball allows you to pass it for dodges, cash it in for 4 VP and a goal influence. A take-out focused team will often try to hold the ball away from you(killing the ball, not to be confused with the same named character play of Cinder) and use it to score the final 4 points.

To see how massive of a difference the ball can make, I constructed a little example:

The Score is 8 – 6 in favour of the Fishermen. It’s the Order player’s turn

Case 1: Grace has the Ball

If Grace has the ball, she can get around the Unpredictable movement of Greyscales by passing the Ball to Brisket. If she then manages to deal 2 damage to him, the score will be 8 – 8 and Brisket is in a very good position to score and close out the game. I would argue that the game is very much in the Order’s favour here.

Case 2: Greyscales has the Ball

If Greyscales has the Ball here, the Brisket player must somehow try to secure the ball. Mist or Brisket have to do it, but most likely will have to use Acrobatic on Mist or Route one on Brisket to get around the Umpredictable Movement and then the counter attack of Greyscales might even thwart that plan. While still winnable for the Order, the Fish are in a much stronger position than in case 1.

Clock

While not a part of the core rules, Clock is an integral part of tournament games and if you want to go to tournaments (and you should at least try once, they are fun! ) you should learn that the clock is an asset and a weapon.

Both you and your opponent get the same time (45 minutes + the 1 minute activations) to play your game. There is a simple goal here: Don’t clock yourself (first). If you clock yourself you get two disadvantages: You activations only last one minute (even bis ones) and every activation grants a VP to your opponent (even small ones). You can maybe get through 5 activations in 2 minutes, but your captain takes 1 minute and 15 seconds, that is fine as long as you are not clocked, but after clocking, this is bad.

If you have a clock advantage, it’s good to press it with fast activations. Take your time for the important ones, but if you have an empty mascot, don’t try to put it at the perfect spot. An activation that is “good enough” but doesn’t give your opponent time to think is better here.

Also, think while your opponent is doing things. It’s “free” thinking time for you.

Don’t be shy to take a longer activation if it’s important. Confirm everything with your opponent and do that activation as perfectly as possible.

And the last thing, even when you are down on clock, as long as you get your 12 points before (or as) the clock hits 0, it’s still good time management.

VP Conceded

So this one seems weird at first, but bear with me. If you played Magic, you know that Magic players use their healthpoints as a resource. It doesn’t matter if you win a Magic game with 20 or 1 HP left.

Now, let’s flip our viewpoint of VP around. Let’s say you start with 12 Health, a Goal deals 4 Damage to you and a Takout 2. Sounds similar? Because it is.

The goal of Guild Ball is not to prevent your opponent from making VP, but to get to 12 VP faster than him. Trying to deny every single VP will result in you losing slower, but still losing. Of course, you don’t want to give out easy VP, but sometimes it’s better to let something happen.

Let’s have some examples:It’s 0 – 0, you have initiative and are facing a goalrun from Vitriol, but you could just let the goal happen and take out Smoke with 6 influence on her. Taking out Smoke let’s you invalidate influence, get activation advantage and 2 VP, for giving up 4 VP (if the Alchemist cashes in and also gives you control of the Ball). a pretty obvious example.

On the other hand, let’s say it’s 4 – 4 and you are now in the shoes of the Alchemist player and have initiative. Now you cunningly let Smoke have no Influence and take the goal, putting the score at 8 – 4. After Smoke gets taken out, it’s 8 – 6 and you just need one more goal to win. A worthwile trade in my opinion.

This is why being at 8 points is such a strong position in the game, because your opponent can’t afford to trade VP for board position anymore. Recognizing spots where you can give up some VP for a better position later will surely let you win more games.

The Gameplan Deck

SFG released the new Gamplan Deck which will replace the Guild Plots in the near future. The Gameplan Deck will also replace the Initiative roll from round 2 onwards, substituting the roll with an initiative value between 1 and 7 on the card. Here is what I personally think about the card, judging them completely untested:

A +7 Initiative that also doesn’t punish you with a minus to INF. At first, the benefit seems symmetrical, but the one who plays it can use it for a plan, so that is another upside of the card. It can break a model free and only one can follow, or give additional distance to a striker who most likely can go first afterwards.

I am pretty sure this is one of the stronger cards in the Deck. It having +7 to initiative and no influence subtraction in addition to getting a free Dodge that can set up unexpected things make this card a contender for the best card in the deck.

+6 is a high modifier for your initiative, additionally, you get a free dodge after a goal. This all is punished by a -1 to the influence pool for that round.

A free “Run the Length” is not as strong as Knee Slider was, obviously, but getting that dodge for free is still pretty good. I am sure that football teams still like this card.

Another +7 card, but this one punishes you twice: -1 Influence and the first model to activate suffers -1TAC.

The 7 Initiative alone make this card worthwile to have, but the punishment is hefty. It is worse than Seize the initiative for sure and I don’t see someone playing this card to then go second.

Another “symmetrical” card that comes with a high initiative value, but a deficit to influence.

We got the +6 Ini card for the footballers, this one is for the fighters. You could say this is the new “Who are Ya?” It still can help football teams too to get an important tackle or even go for a wrap on a charge, to tackle and dodge away with a striker.

 

A +2 modifier to Initiative is quite low, but an extra influence can be a big swing. If you know a goal is coming, getting 2 Momentum out of it is a decent consolation price and it can help win the race in that particular turn.

The card seems pretty good, just for having the +1 INF alone

Another low Initiative, +1 Influence card with a mediocre benefit. It does make a counterattack in your own half more scary and lets some players get to results they shouldn’t usually reach on a counter.

Same as above. Worth just for the extra influence and getting Resolute can soften the blow of the opponents forst activation…maybe.

Another +1/+1 card, now witha  benefit that maybe kinda hinders the opposing team to score goals.

I really cant judge the benefit of the card yet. I guess it will be pretty hard to position in a way that the opponent has to spend that additional MP, but if it goes off, it can kill some goalruns. +1 INF, though, pretty much worth.

+4 Ini is right in the middle and the benefit is helping you not lose influence on a player that is taken out. Note that you can only move the “lost” influence to one other player.

Also one of the stronger cards, I  think. You can force the opponent into an activation for a takeout without losing the influence and +4 seems solid.

Well, it seems very obvious when to Play that card, right? Note that the +2/+2 MOV seem to persist for the whole turn.

A godsend for some players. Models with a 4″ Jog (or 3″, hello Granite) now have a chance to get to relevant places faster. Also 6/8 Bolt before Quick foot, anyone?

Apparently, the old Wingback effect is worth 5 initiative points.

Above average Initiative and a cheaper charge are both useable. One of the stronger cards in the deck.

It’s a free TAC-Buff and a pretty high initiative value. At least it’s not a captain gaining the TAC

The card is good for the fact alone that a higher TAC is always handy. Coupled with the +5 to initiative, I think it’s a card you’ll keep very often.

Another +1 effect, but now it’s MOV and for everyone. You pay the price with some lower initiative number, though

Another effect that is pretty much never wasted. The +3 initiative is on the lower side, but I think it’s still a good card.

Medium initiative and now you get a buff to your KICK stat.

Another card that buffs a stat, but now not for everyone. Football teams obviously like that card. Pin Vice, Bonesaw and Models with “I’m Open” love that card. Fighty teams might consider discarding it, though.

Another medium initiative card. The effect is now a free “Come on Mate!”

Another contender for the best card in the deck. It allows to heal or clear conditions without even havving Momentum, even when it just saves 2, it’s good. On top of that, decent initiative value.

The +1 Influence card with a decent initiative value and a mediocre effect.

Getting Poised on one model isn’t bad, but it isn’t that great either. The +1 influence in conjunction with +3 initiative still makes this card pretty good.

The new Wingback effect now gives Shadow like and a decent initiative value.

Free Dodges are always good. The problem is that these dodges are conditional. It’s a card that I consider discarding unless I have a plan for it.

+5 Ini and a very good effect come at the price of 1 Influence.

This card is insanely good for teams that want to pass. It just helps save Momentum and has a good initiative value. Also, it’s a pretty easy discard for teams that just want to fight.

 

The card has a low initiative value and costs 1 Influence, so the effect must be pretty good, right? You can bet it is!

This is the strongest benefit on the cards, but it does come at a hefty price. Still, some models can benefit insanely well from this card. The first that come to my mind are Veteran Katalyst (+2 Damage against KD models) and Avarisse (Thuggery turns this card on for his second and third attack, also with +2 damage). Another contender for the best card in the deck.

Blacksmiths – Putting it all together

After we looked at all the Masters and Apprentices, we can finally put it all together.

Strenghts

Blacksmiths are very flexible. They have a tool for pretty much every job,you just have to take it.Their Turn 1 is really good, be it the kickoff pressure through Alloy, or dishing out conditions with Alloy and Burnish. On the receiving end, they can also score a goal fairly easily. I personally do, like kicking with them more than receiving.

Weaknesses

The Apprentices are squishy as hell. They might as well be mascots, but worth 2 VP. Sentinel helps, but a dedicated beater can easily kill them. Also, you will always only have 12 INF. Scoring an early goal is almost mandatory, since 12 Influence really starves the team.

Who makes the 10? Who is out?

The easy way would be to do it like everyone: Cutting Anvil and Sledge out. I am stil not convinced by Ferrite, so My cut might be her and Sledge. If you really want Anvil and Sledge in, I think the best option is to cut Farris and Bolt here.

Some Sample Teams

Melee Fighty

Furnace, Anvil/Farris, Heart, Alloy, Cast, Iron/Bolt

The list brings Furnace as a captain and therefore a lot of Influence can be used on the apprentices. Furnace usually wants 1 or 2 to tool up someone and maybe get Searing Strike out. Anvil or Farris are the second Sentinel Aura, with Anvil also bringing Singled out. For the apprentices, Alloy as the main Striker, Cast as a beatstick. Iron is more fighty, Bolt is more footbally.

Condition “Gunline”

Burnish,Furnace, Hearth, Alloy, Cast, Iron/Cinder

It is a bit of a weird Gunline to play here. Burnish is really gunning here, while Alloy is using another model to throw Dirty Knives around. Furnace is in the list for Tooled up, while Cast or Iron can finish people off. Cinder if you want that additional ranged attack.

Full on Football

Ferrite, Farris, Hearth, Alloy, Bolt, Cinder/Iron

The typical 3/0 team here. Alloy, Ferrite and Bolt are both very good Goalthreats, Iron is also a very fast Goalthreat or at least brings the option for some Damage. Cinder brings the ranged tackle, but that is all in on football then.

 

Blacksmiths – Thoughts about the apprentices

The workhorses of the guild are the apprentices. Let’s look at them and how much they need their master

Sledge

Sledge is the only apprentice with a natural 2″ Melee Zone, which is awesome. He does have Knockback as an awesome trait, and with Tutelage, his first attack every activation can have 3 more hits, or he can Long Bomb. Him having an effective Tackle-Push on 1 makes him good at getting the ball, too.

Downsides include his playbook length, which is 2 longer than his TAC, while other apprentices have a playbook that is only 1 longer. Also, 3 INF maximum for him.

I am sorry, Sledge, but I don’t see you making the team. The biggest Problem is only ever getting 3 INF and therefore 3 attacks out of Sledge. Also, his Momentous 2 is only on 3 hits, which other beaters in the Guild have on 2 hits, and with only TAC 5, he has difficulties hitting that sweet momentous 7 without Instruction, even with Piledriver on and he can even whiff hitting the Momentous 2 afterwards.

Dependance on the Master

Tutelage means that Sledge really wants Anvil nearby. In a perfect world, Sledge would hit a Singled out target while having Piledriver up to  bring the hurt., making him even more dependant on his master.

Cinder

Cinder features a Playbook as long as her TAC, making her slightly more likely to wrap than other apprentices. Her best traits are Hot Shot, which with Instruction added, gives her a Tackle on 1 hit and with Kill the Ball, it means she can get the ball to the Team from 14″ away, unless it is parked on a Close Control model. As a little cherry on Top, she features Unpredictable Movement.

She does only have a 1″ Melee with her Unpredictable Movement though, and giving her “Use This” is usually a waste. She doesn’t feature a lot of Damage, but this is also not her main job. She does require the Setup from Hearth to do her thing, and her Tackle is non-momentous.

Cinder is a really good model for a footballing team. She is a bit like Siren in regards of getting the Ball back, and while Siren’s Seduced gets around Close Control, you can’t put the Ball on the ground against Cinder, and Cinder doesn’t care for your kick stat. While many looked into dropping her at first, after Hearth was revealed she has guaranteed herself a spot in almost all Rosters, and I agree with that decision

Dependance on the Master

Yeah, she doesn’t need Furnace at all. Having Burning Strike is a nice to have kind of situation, but it is by no means mandatory. Hearth is more important than Furnace for her.

Iron

Iron is the most resilient of our apprentices thanks to 14 HP and Tough Hide. He shares the defensive Statline of 2/2 with Hearth, but can go to a very annoying 3 ARM under Sentinel. He is deceptively fast with Impetus, and Battering Ram being both free and able to push both friendlies and enemies is very helpful. Also, what a counter attack he brings. Double push on 1 and a Tackle and Close Control on 2 with TAC 6? Yeah, don’t let him counterattack you.

Impetus does cost him 1, which can leave him a bit starved on INF and his 2 DEF means he is, again, very vulnerable to character plays.

Sledge, would you please look at this guy? He has one more TAC than you and his Momentous Damage is on 2, making this very reliable. With some setup, he can also hit his Momentous 4 pretty well, which makes him a good beatstick in addition to being a fantastic Ball holder and a great mid- to lategame goal threat.

Dependance on the master

Iron is pretty good, even without Ferrite. Ferrite can make him very fast or can let him dodge out of a bad situation, but he can work on his own pretty well.

Alloy

Alloy is the fastest player on the Blacksmith’s Team, getting up to Shark levels of MOV and Acrobatics on top. Ofcourse, he doesn’t have as many INF as Shark and misses Tidal Surge, but he des have early dodges in his playbook and “Back to the Shadows” lets him get out of overextension. Additionally, he can Debuff the opponents with Dirty Knives, which is also momentously on 3 and Arsenal is just a self-buff wishing well.

That all comes with the price of only having 12 HP and no real defensive tech, though.

Yeah, Alloy might as well be the best player on the team. He is a goalscoring monster, but he can also put out 3-4 Dirty Knives if he wants to and therefore poison a lot of the opposing team. Dirty Knives does Trigger Back to the Shadows, and if you manage to do any damage on a goal run, you can Run the Length + Back to the Shadows for 8″ after the goal or move 13″ with Knee Slider and Back to the Shadows.

Dependance on the Master

Play Hearth! Seriously, the wishing well alone is just so good. With Instruction up, he has a guaranteed Tackle and on a charge, the Tackle Double Dodge is very likely. He also likes Use This! and then use Anatomical Precision or the Kick Buff.

Cast

Cast has 2 pretty Good plays, one to Debuff the opponent and one to get the Ball off someone. It is always a bit of a gamble with the standard scatter, but it does get around close control. Other than that, a good amount of momentous damage results and Swift Strikes for added Mobility. She also features a great kickstat.

Cast is very vulnerable to Female and Animal beatsticks. She also requires some setup to really work and the opponent can deny Burning passion by clearing conditions.

Still, Cast is my favourite model to play at the moment. She can score 6 VP activations pretty well if she has the Ball and with the right setup, she kills pretty much any player. Also, Sledge: Look at that Momentous 2 Damage on 2, Would you?

Dependance on the Master

Cast does want Furnace or Burnish in the List and Burnish can set more people on fire than Furnace, but Furnaces Legendary, if he is captain, enables her to get Burning Passion up herself. In that regard, I’d say she is not very dependant on Burnish being present.

Bolt

Bolt also features Tutelage, but with other Character plays. Since you can use Shoemerang on friendly Models, even on himself, you can guarantee a Knockdown with it or use it on Low DEF enemies to Knock a High DEF one down. A free I’m Open in addition to Stamina and a 4/6 Kick gives him a good Goalrun, too.

On the other Hand, Bolts playbook is not that great and he also suffers from only being able to get 3 INF.

Bolt is still pretty good. Shoemerang is insanely good and he can go pretty far across the table. Also, Stamina can be a cheeky way to get around Unpredictable Movement.

Dependance on the Master

Tutelage is way too good to not play Farris with him. He also double downs on Quick Foot due to Stamina. If you want to play Bolt, play Farris, too.

So, what do you think? Spot on? Did I miss something? Or am I completely off in my evaluations? Feel free to comment!

Blacksmiths – Thoughts about the Masters

Since I managed to play every Blacksmith model in at least a single game, I can now give a litte bit of first thoughts. First, we are going to look at the card and then see if that master makes a good captain.

 

Anvil

 

TheMaster of the Blacksmiths

Anvil is the Master Blacksmith and he is a Master that really screams “fighting” in your face. Momentous Knockdown on 1 is always a fantastic result to have, while his “Singled out” is a bit far down the playbook on 3. Other than that, he can push you around a lot and can speed up or control the scrum a bit with his “while the iron is hot” play, which can also be triggered through 3 hits. With 2/3 and Tough hide he is pretty hard to take down. Sentinel is a very good Trait if you want to fight, and he can give himself an additional TAC.

 

His downsides are a 1″ Melee with a slow speed, and his low Defense makes him very vulnerable to character plays or models with a high enough TAC to go through his armor. He is also the only Master with a playbook as long as his TAC, not one coloumn shorter. Like all Masters, his Playbook doesn’t feature a lot of damage.

Overall, I like the big, beardy dude. He is often seen to be the one master to cut from the 10 and I can see the reasons for it. It is pretty obvious to both you and your opponent what he is going to do and that gives your opponent time to throw a wrench in your plan. On the other hand, he usually singles out a model that has already activated for me and then this model can’t do much to get away.

Anvil as a captain

As a captain, Anvil can get 5 INF and his Legendary gives Tough Hide to Models within 6″. He doesn’t really need more INF, so it would only be for his Legendary to make him captain. Giving everyone Tough Hide can delay takeouts, but it means that Anvil wants to be first in a turn to pop his legendary, which means that the model he singles out would have a good chance of getting away. Therefore, I don’t really see him as a captain choice.

 

Furnace

The  Guy with the molten Swords. His model is awesome, but how are his rules? Well, he does bring Tooled up to the table, which is always good in a list that wants to go for some takeouts. His “one at a time, Lads” AOE is one the best Character plays, giving everyone in it the Rowdy-Rule, essentially. It is free, and you can place the AOE in 6″, which means that you can force opponents already in combat to advance first to get additional dice, or use your TAC even when crowded out. Searing Strike is also awesome in a fighting list, since it is -1 ARM in addition to setting people on fire, and against non tough-Hide models, he can apply it momentously on 1. He also features the Sentinel-Aura that Anvil has. His Legendary gets him up to a very annoying 3/3.

Ofcourse, he doesn’t really do a lot of Damage, like all Masters and he does have a mediocre MOV, but at least he has a 2″ Melee Zone. Fire Forged is situational, but can be good.

Furnace is awesome! He is pretty mandatory in a fighting list due to Tooled up, and “One at a Time Lads” can be brilliant. Him also being able to apply -1 ARM helps fighting lists tremendously, while he can also score a sneaky goal or get the ball to safety with a Tackle on 1 and a 3/8 kick.

Furnace as a captain

Furnace as captain is underrated. Almost no one looks at this fella. Well, I hear you say, he doesn’t need the additional 2 INF and I will concede that point. The part where his Legendary gives everyone Searing Strike is the interesting part, though. This means that suddenly every Damage result is -1 ARM to the enemy, and Alloy can apply -1 DEF, -1 ARM, Poison and Burning with one Dirty Knives. Also, Cast can get her +1 Damage after she attacks once, if the opponent cleared conditions before she activated. I can pretty much say that Furnace is going to be my go-to captain in a melee-fighting list.

 

Ferrite

Ferrite is the fastest Master of the first box due to Acrobatics. Her Momentous Guild ball on 1 letting her choose between “Weak Point” and “Disarm” is fantastic, as is a Momentous Tackle and a non-Momentous Double Dodge on 2- She has a great kick-stat and she can slow down other people if she damages them. She also can make Iron Dodge, with can make him faster or get him out of sticky situations. Her legendary makes her faster which gives her another 2″ of Goal threat. She is awesome at getting the ball and scoring.

Downsides of Ferrite are her 1″ melee and she struggles to apply Hobble to Tough hide models, if she wants to, since she needs 4 hits with her TAC 5 on that.

I am a bit torn on Ferrite. She is a Master that is not just supporting the game, like many others, but she can score goals on herself or take low TAC models pretty much out of the game. She is good for sure and I will test her further, but I might do the thing most people would probably call me crazy for: Cut her out of the 10.

Ferrite as a captain

If you play Ferrite, she should be the captain. She really likes having 5 INF to start a goal run or just throw around Weak points and Disarms. Her Legendary is the only one that is a Pulse, so you can apply it and go do her thing with her. Her Legendary is also the only on that applies 2 bonuses to the other models, +2/+2 MOV and Hobble.  She seems to be the best Captain for a full on Football-Team and she will continue to be that as long as she remains in the 10.

 

Hearth

 

The old lady brings a lot of Match Experience, which in return means lots of dodging around when passing. She also brings that marvelous Momentous Knockdown on 1, but other than Anvil, on a 2″(3″ under Legendary) Melee. She can throw a sword to another model, to grant him 2″ melee and she can grant +2 net hits to an Apprentice’s first attack, both for 1 INF. Sturdy gives her good chances on getting counter-attacks off, which she has a decent one with KD on 1 and a push on 2.

Her downsides include her low MOV, but it is mitigated by her character plays being 6″ Range. 2/2 is the worst Master defensive statline, but we’ll give her a break, she is so old that she either had to get rid of some of her armor or lost some of her nimbleness.

Hearth might be the best Master Blacksmiths have. Her Character plays, Match experience and the Knockdown on 1 are all awesome and I can’t really see myself not putting her in my 6, which is also due to her apprentice, whom we will analyze in another post.

Hearth as a captain

Hearth doesn’t really need the 5 INF, unless you have loads of people around to Knockdown. Her Legendary gives everyone a 2″ Melee, though, and that is a bag of awesome. Her Legendary also doesn’t mess with her activation order, since she usually wants to go pretty early for instruction anyways, and then she can give out her candies of 2″ Melee, too. Since both fighting and football teams like 2″ Melee, I can see her in both kind of teams. I didn’t play her as captain yet, but I will test that out soon.

Burnish

Burnish brings us a free condition removal for the price of burning the models, a 3 DMG not-OPT Flame AOE and “kill the Ball” means that no free Ball is safe. He  brings Fire Forged, same as Furnace, which means that they can sometimes ignore the burning placed on them from Reduction. Being able to ignore Character Plays with Momentum rounds him out as a tech piece. His Legendary is usually just another Flame Belch.

Downsides include that he is kind of situational, but since we draft the teams in the OPD, this is mitigatable. He is very INF-Hungry with a meh playbook and not much Momentum generation from the INF he uses, additionally, he eats up Momentum with Reinforced Plating(although I guess that he won’t really use it often, but it will more act as a deterrent).

Burnish is a tech piece for me that I want to bring in if the opponent has either DEF 4 or less models with a low HP count, or if I need that Reduction or Reinforced Plating. Overall, he might see the table less than others, but when he is on the table, he shines. 

Burnish as a captain

Burnish is the second model that I would pretty much always play as captain, if played. He really wants to spit out 2 Flame Belches a turn, 3 under Legendary and put down the hurt that way. Also, as he is a situational model against Character plays, giving everyone Reinforced Plating is very good against the likes of Siren, Theron and Smoke (I would like to list Obulus here too, but Rigor Mortis is a thing).

 

Farris

Last one of the Masters, Farris. She brings Quick Foot and Stagger, which as I played Shark before, are 2 familiar Character Plays. Many of the Blacksmiths really like some +2/+2 Movement, and Stagger on 2 with a TAC of 6 is pretty reliable. She can Sprint very far (I mean, she is on a Horse) and gets a free attack out of that, which is always  good. Since she can move afterwards, there is a decent chance that you can swoop up a ball that scattered in her Legendary Turn. She can also, if she can’t quite reach the Ball, use “Give it  a Whack”, to pass it to someone else, which can also be used to get some more distance on a pass, if she is not engaged. to round out her package, she also brings the beloved Sentinel Aura.

She only has a DEF of 2 and even with 3 ARM, she can go down surprisingly quick since she also lacks Tough Hide. Also, her Jog is only 5″.

Farris brings a good amount of options to the table. Stagger and Quick Foot are nice to have, and she can act as a kind of “Tarpit”. The Knockdown on 4 is scary with 8 dice, especially if you are Staggered and with her big base, she can engage very well, in addition to providing the Sentinel Aura. That means that both Football and Fighting Teams can get mileage out of her.

Farris as a captain

I don’t really like Farris as Captain. Give it a Whack is very situational, and giving it to other models isn’´t that awesome in my opinion. She can do a fair bit of stuff with INF, but I tend to let her have 1 or 2 and Sprint or Quick Foot someone and that is usually enough. Often, she is also content with having no influence, just standing in the  way, providing Sentinel to others.

 

So, what do you think? Spot on? Did I miss something? Or am I completely off in my evaluations? Feel free to comment!

Blacksmiths painted!

All 12 done and ready to roll out on the Pitch!

Guild Ball – Tournament 9.12.2017 – Game 3

The third game of the Day pits my Corsair, Salt, Sakana, Siren1,Hag and Avarisse and Greede against Pin Vice, Mother, Ratchet, Hoist, Compound and Velocity2.

 

Turn 1

After Siren kicks off, the Ball gets played to hoist in the back lines. Siren Lures Velocity forward, allowing Corsair to knock her down and push her towards Avarisse.

Turn 2

Corsair kills Velocity, while Avarisse and Greede Kill Mother after Sakana Weak Points her. The Engineers play the ball forward to Pin Vice.

Turn 3

Corsair gets the Ball off Pin Vice, passing it to Siren. Siren passes the ball to the Otter who fails to score the Tap in, wven with the Bonus Time added. Pin Vice almost kills Corsair, but leaves him on a few boxes.

Turn 4

Corsair triggers the Reanimate off Pin Vice, leaving her on 1. The Engineers try to score a snap-shot tap-in with Hoist, but Hoist is also not in the mood for football. Velocity dies again, while Siren fails to do the single point needed to kill Pin Vice. Pin vice in return does not hit the double dodge against corsair and dies from the counter attack.

Turn 5

The Engineers finally manage to score a goal. The ball lands on Sakana. Corsair takes out Mother again and Sakana goes in, engages Compound, buys attacks to dodge away and nails the Tap-in on a 4+. Fisherman Victory!

Afterthought:

A weird game, both teams unwilling to play football at first. I got to get my takeouts piece by piece, which is exactly what the Corsair Team wants.

 

Since I forgot to take any pictures during game 4, which was Shark vs Tapper, i won’t do a full battle report. In the game, my lack of practice with Shark showed in addition to Shark missing a goal. I lost 8-12 making a 2:2 record, whcih I am completely fine with. But for now, off to practice Shark 😀

Guild Ball – Tournamen 09.12.2017 – Game 2

The second game pits Corsair, Salt, Hag, Sakana, Siren2 and A&G against the Hunters with Theron, Fahad, the Bear, Hearne, Jaecar and Minx.

 

Turn 1

Coirsair pulls in Jaecar and gets Snared by Hearne. Aside from that, only some positioning happens.

Turn 2

Corsair finishes the Job by taking out Jaecar, the Hunters converge on the left side. Hearne scores and Siren gets taken out by a wrap from the Bear (With a Bear Hug).

Turn 3

Avarisse and Greede and Corsair take out Hearne, while Salt scores a Goal. In return, Sakana and Hag get taken out by the Hunters and Minx scores a return Goal, making the score 15 – 8 for the Hunter’s Guild!

Afterthoughts:

That was a quick and brutal game, I think it lasted about 20 minutes. My big mistake was leaving the squishies on my left with Avarisse and Greede and Corsair way off. The Hunters were just able to run rampant in my lines without any reprisal.

Guild Ball – Tournament 09.12.2017 – Game 1

It was time to attend my second tournament! After reiceiving a pretty good beating at Clogcon, making second to last place, I was determined to do better. Minimum goal was still 1 win, but I was hoping to take at least 2 games down.

 

My 10 Man Roster:

Corsair

Shark

Salt

Hag

Siren 1 and 2

Sakana

Angel

Greyscales

Avarisse&Greede

My first game pitted me against the Blacksmiths, fielding Burnish as the Captain and also bringing Cast, Farris, Bolt, Furnace and Cinder. I take Corsair, Salt, Greyscales, Angel, Avarisse and Greede and Hag.

Turn 1

Corsair kicks the Ball to the Blacksmiths and the first game is underway! Cinder kills the ball to let the Blacksmiths get easy control of the Ball. Some positioning happens, Burnish burns the Hag and Corsair and bolt fails a Shoemerang. Corsair snags the ball off Bolt and knocks him down.

Turn 2

Straight rolloff for the initiative and my opponent rolls a 1 (this is pretty much the theme of the game here). Bolt gets taken out by Avarisse and Greede while Corsair hits on Farris a bit and passes the Ball to Angel. Due to Angel only having 2 Influence, she is just shy off the goal and just runs into a scoring position for the next turn.

Turn 3

Hag burns to Death and returns at the back of the Pitch. Farris gets taken out while Cast does a ton of Damage into Avarisse. Angel scores and it is 8-2 Fishermen!

turTurn 4

Avarisse and Greede just fail to Take out Cast and get punished by Burnish who Flame Belches the last points of damage into them. Corsair gets pushed around into a deathbit of Blacksmiths.

Turn 5

Avarisse and Greede come back onto the Pitch and take revenge on Cast. My oppononent clocks himself and scores a goal with Burnish. Greyscales retrieves the Ball and I score a Snap Shot with Angel. It is 15-8 for the Fish!

End of game thoughts: I think I did pretty well here. I pumped a lot of Momentum into keeping corsair alive who proceeded to bully the table and set up kills for Avarisse and Greede. Of course, the missing experience with Blacksmiths for my opponent in addition to very bad dice sealed the deal.