Kick-Offs : Offensive set-ups

Offensive Setups

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For some (veteran) coaches, Offense is easy – 1) Defend Blitz (if possible), 2) Protect Ball, 3) Hit Things. But if it was as easy to do as to say, you wouldn’t be here…

There are many, MANY different parts to a good Offensive Setup. So many things to consider, so many ways it can be flawed, or easily improved.

• Basics

• General concepts/goals for Offensive Setups

• Basic Tips – what to do, what to avoid

• Kickoff Results: Blitz & Perfect Defense

• Backfield and Wide Zone Basics

• The Kick skill

• Asymmetric (off-balance) Defenses

General Goals – What makes a good Setup?

Specific setups can be as personal as the clothes you wear or the music you like. A “perfect” setup for one coach may not be a good fit for a different coach with an identical team. So the first thing we’ll do is talk about the basics in general terms, and once those are covered then some degree specific, detailed setups can be demonstrated, with the pros & cons listed.

• Reasons for different setups, or variations on similar setups, may include…

• the Race

• the skills on the team and players (including MA, AV, +/-stats, etc., etc.)

• the opposing Race and their team Skills

• the defensive set-up you are facing

• the Coach you’re facing

• Players each team has lost during the game

• the current score

• what Turn it is

• how many RR’s you have remaining

• the current Weather

• whether this is a “must win” game (playoffs) or if you have already lost, and it can be a “builder” and winning is not all-important

• Most all Offensive Setups have some general concepts in common. The goals of an offense are multiple, and some coaches/teams emphasize or prioritize some goals over others:

• Protect the Ball, where ever it lands on the kickoff.

• Protect the Ballcarrier once they pickup the ball (and/or then the ball if that fails).

• Knock down as many opponents as possible, possibly causing a Casualty.

• Move players downfield, possibly into scoring range.

• Position against the possibility of a Blitz or Perfect Defense kickoff result.

• Slow or prevent the defense from maneuvering against you on their Turn.

• Protect your most valuable/vulnerable player(s) from Defensive blocks/blitzes.

Ultimately, there is no one example that is “generic” or “perfect” – but there are some places to start, basic concepts, more general rules than hard “laws”, that create some solid offensive setups – and that you can then tweak to suit your specifics.

Quick basic tips:

• The Defense must put at least 3 players on the LoS. If at all possible, you (usually) want to Block these 3 players, and (again, if possible) with your players that have the Block skill (and possibly also Mighty Blow, Claw, Pile On, and other damage-causing skills). You want (at least) 2d on these blocks (3d is even better).(Sometimes, a 1d Block is a necessary risk, but is never “desirable”. Understand the odds before intentionally setting up for a 1d Block, and/or committing too many players to a 3d just because you can.)

• If the Defense puts more than 3 on the LoS, try to block as many as you (comfortably) can. If their superior Strength, Guard or numbers are overwhelming, as a rule try to set up to block who you can.

• If the Defense puts players on the LoS that you do not wish to Block (high-Strength, typically), keep in mind that a Blitz kickoff result will let any un-marked player move and/or Blitz. Consider placing 1 sacrificial player marking these players, to hold them in place – just in case. 1/12 shows up more often than most (new) coaches seem to expect.

• If the Defensive LoS is bunched tight, 3 side-by-side, they can often be surrounded and pinned in place. If set up wider, the Offense can often setup to be able to block any of them twice if the first is a Push. New coaches should be clear on how Assists work before you try this, or you may face less-desirable 1d blocks. (see below.)

• If the Defense lines up players only 1 square off the LoS, a Quick Snap result (4/36 = 1/9 chance) will let you shift nearby players 1 to be able to Block them, possibly knocking more players down than the expected 4 targets (3 Blocks + 1 Blitz) normally allow.

Kickoff Results: Blitz & Perfect Defense

One of the first decisions of any Offensive setup is whether or not to try to defend against unfavourable Kickoff results, specifically the 3/36 (1/12) chance for a Perfect Defense and an additional 3/36 chance for a Blitz kickoff result (1/6 chance all together). Slower teams can’t blitz as deep as fast teams, so are less(!) of a threat. Non-dodgey teams must Blitz any necessary path to take advantage of a Blitz kickoff result, but high Agility Dodgey (or Leaping!) teams can Blitz your deeper players directly.

Even if you don’t seal the wide-zones perfectly, it’s usually recommended that, if possible, you have some defense against a Blitz, so at least they can’t easily Blitz an open path thru your line, and have to take the long way around and/or make a risky Dodge. Allowing a direct path to the center of your backfield is a recipe for disaster.

Because of the risk of Perfect Defense (a 1/12 chance), many coaches/teams (esp lower-Agility teams) keep wide players 1 square off the LoS, so they do not have to Dodge to maneuver after being marked by a Perfect Defense. Otoh, some coaches will take the risk, and put players (esp Dodgey ones) on the LoS to get them as deep as possible on the start of the drive.

Of course, some teams just don’t care – they have enough Blockers and/or high-Strength to cover (almost) the entire width of the field, so they put everyone on the LoS, and no matter who or what shows up, they can handle it. Either way, many of the setups below can be tweaked to allow one or the other.

Backfield and Wide Zones

Once you’ve dealt with the LoS, the rest of your players are free to set up to be in position to do other things, such as…

• Guard against a Blitz kickoff result

• Field the ball

• Help screen the ball before the pickup

• Form the Cage/Screen for the Ballcarrier

• Blitz, or assist with the Blitz

• Go downfield

• Other maneuvers (to screen, to mark, to assist, to foul, to threaten, to distract, whatever)

As a rule, you want:

• your ballhandler(s) to cover the entire backfield, to field the kick no matter where it lands. (If they can’t, covering the front, where the ball is within reach of the defense, is far more important than deep to the rear, where the defense won’t (usually!) be able to reach it for 2 turns.)

• your backfield support player(s) to be able to assist forward and/or to the side, so able to reach the defense and/or anywhere they may be needed.

• your important backfield support players to NOT be marked from a Blitz result, so they can maneuver and respond.

• your chosen blitzer(s) to be able to reach their planned target(s), with appropriate assist(s).

• any widezone players to be placed to slow the defense where they stand if things go badly, and/or be able to shift toward the far side of the field if needed there.

• (IF the Defense has Frenzy, do not set up in position to be frenzied of the field!)

We’ll be conservative, and assume you have used 6* players on the LoS – that leaves only 5 for the Backfield and Widezones.

Of course, if you want/need more players elsewhere, you can pull from the LoS. As mentioned at the start of this page, the variations and possible tweaks are endless.

Protecting the Wide Zones against a Blitz kickoff result

First, this is not 100% necessary, far from it. A Blitz kickoff result only happens on 3 of 36 rolls (1/12 chance), so if an “average” game has 4 kickoffs that’s only once every 3 games (on average), and then still a 50/50 chance whether for or against you. For teams with low Agility and/or low MA, getting to the ball and catching it is, on average, tougher to start with, so less of a threat than high-Agility, high-MA teams.

The Kick skill

One additional factor is the Kick skill. Without Kick, the ball can land pretty much anywhere – d6 for distance, d8 for direction from the target square. When Kicking, many coaches aim a non-Kick kickoff at or near the middle of the 6 yard line. Anywhere else starts to risk increasing (and needless) chance of going out-of-bounds and directly into the hands of any player the offense chooses.

With the Kick skill, the defense has much more control over where the ball will land – a good bet to land within roughly any 5×5 square centered where they want. If the Offense doesn’t defend against it, that can easily be aimed short and to one side or the other, and if there’s a Blitz, or a failed pickup or an early-turn fail, the Defense gains an unexpected chance to recover the ball, or at least challenge for it.

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