Monday 3 February 2014

Mutation

After the big game yesterday my Blitzer 'Bubo' was lucky enough to roll a double 5 on the Skills Table. This allows me access to the Mutation table and what a lot there is to consider. I love the idea of the Rats mutating. Its all that time spent in the sewers - you just don't know what is going to happen.



Big Hand - used when picking the ball up. You ignore the negative modifiers of enemy tackle zones. Now if a gutter runner had this - big smiles. Maybe even the Thrower but the Blitzer will be used to hit people and not ball carry.

Claw - Any roll of 8 or more will break armour. Would be good against terms with high armour e.g. the Orcs. At the moment I am playing against Dark Elves and Undead. So - not really any good for me. Would only make a difference when hitting Mummies - and I don't like doing that at the best of times!

Disturbing Presence - if I am within 3 squares any player trying to Pass, Intercept or Catch must subtract 1 from the result of their die roll. This would be great against passing teams and I could see a Gutter Runner who was tasked with man marking taking it but not my Blitzer. It could be useful if I kept him close to the opposition cage as it would make it harder to Throw but ...

Extra Arms - Add 1 to the die roll when picking up, catching or intercepting. Good for the Thrower or a Gutter Runner but not the Blitzer.

Foul Appearance - In order to take an action against a player with Foul Appearance you must first pass a 2+ D6 roll. This could be considered for the Blitzer.

Horns - Add 1 to strength when Blitzing. Would combine well with Mighty Blow.  Turn him into a Killer Blitzer. Also the purpose of a Blitzer to make gaps in the line for the Gutter Runners to take advantage of. Currently I am doing this by moving forward a Gutter Runner / Lineman to be adjacent to the player I am going to Blitz. Then I Blitz using 2 Block dice. Hopefully this creates a hole that the other Gutter Runners can take advantage of. With Horns I would not need to use the support player. I would most likely still have the use of 2 Block dice. In effect this releases that player for other duties. Very valuable.

Prehensile Tail - subtract 1 from Dodge rolls if passing through my tackle zone. Could be interesting but there is not a lot of Dodging going on against me at the moment.

Tentacles - Used against Dodging. The opponent rolls 2D6, adds his player strength and subtracts my strength. On a 5 or less the player is held firm by the Tentacles and his action ends. This would be good on a high Strength player like an Ogre. Not for the Blitzer.

Two Heads - Add 1 to all Dodge Rolls. How fabulous for a Gutter Runner but not my Blitzer.

Very Long Legs - Add 1 to your score for intercept or leap. In order to be useful you would really have to have the Leap skill as well. I think that it would be good for a Gutter Runner. It could be used for Cage bashing. Emmm. Leap allows you to jump to any free square upto 2 squares away. There is no Dodge roll to leave your current square with all those potential tackle zone modifiers. You make a straight Agility roll. For my Blitzer that would be 4+. Very Long legs would it a 3+. If successful you continue your move. An interesting possibility. Jumping over a line of players to put the Blitz on the ball carrier. The Blitzer has access to Strength and General skills. Leap is an Agility skill so I would need to roll another double to get Leap. Not very likely. Agility is a normal skill for the Gutter Runners so that be an interesting combination for them.

I can also consider Agility and Passing skill sets. I had a look at Leader. This gives an extra reroll. They can be very useful indeed. Even a basic Dodge might be worth a thought.

Also the result of rolling a double 5 is 10. That would grant me plus 1 to MA or AV. The AV might be worth consideration. Armour of 9 just like the Orcs. He would be a lot harder to remove from the field of play. I only have the option to take 2 Blitzers and they play an important role so keeping them on the field of play is vital.

So that is a quick discussion on the options. My thoughts are that Horns or AV+1 are the main contenders. But I am always interested in other thoughts so all feedback gratefully received.

4 comments:

  1. You misunderstood claw. Any roll of >=8, so in fact it makes anyone AV7. It would be quite good against both dark elves and undead - you would break DE lino & blitzer armour on a roll of 8 (instead of 9) same vs. UD zombies, wights and mummies.

    Once you add mighty blow, it means you break ANY armour on a 7 or better. :)

    I would take horns or claw. The MV is negligible and AV is only good when you are hit. Horns is only good when blitzing though, so I would think you'll get more use out of claw. At the worst it might make Mike second guess taking a risky block against this blitzer in case he goes down and you get to use claw.

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    1. Wow - that really does make Claw look like the way to go alright and as you say with Mighty Blow he really would be a mean son of gun!

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  2. Yep, what Tristan said!

    A Claw Storm Vermin is an amazing piece to have. Suddenly all those Orcs and Big Guys have something to be concerned about so it has a great on field impact. Plus he will get more casualty SPPs and skill up faster. You can then get that Mighty Blow (and Piling On later if you feel REALLY evil!)

    Horns are good, but have a very specific role on the pitch. For where your team is in early development, Claw gets my vote for sure!

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    1. Horns are a better mutation for a gutter runner, so if you need that MV9 to get a blitz in, he can be S3

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