VL+PLAYBOOK

Black Rock Dwarves - Black Widows - Deadlings - Desert Dogs - Divine Wind - Gnolls - Gnomes - Middle Kingdoms - Night Elves - Orcs Pharaohs of Vihktora - Ratmen - Razorbacks - Sarcos/Calasain - Samhaino - Siringit - Thunder Hammer Dwarves - Timberline Elves - Valkryies

Valkyrie Playbook //by Spiky//
The Valkyries have access to a variety of the standard player types. Hunters combined with the Ice Troll allow you to field an intimidating amount of high TACKLE players for the attrition game while your Thrower and Strikers still enable you to ball handle reliably. Midfielders allow you to do a bit of both hitting and ball control. This wide blend of player types allows you some scope to adapt your roster and playstyle to counter what your opponent sends against you. With this team, it's important to know your strengths compared to your opponent, as it's the teams adaptability which helps them win.


 * Team Strengths**
 * Well balanced team able to play a variety of styles
 * 5 Players with TACKLE 4


 * Team Weaknesses**
 * Ice Troll is Slow so can be outmanuvered
 * Lack of high DODGE or MIGHT on most players means momentum generation can be more risky
 * Average JOG on players mean they can be outpaced by teams with Safeties or little guys

Sarcos/Calasain, Black Widows
 * Team plays in a similar way to:**

Getting Started
For the first 6 players, I'd normally suggest taking the 2 Hunters, both Strikers, Ice Troll, and the Thrower which gives you a broad spread of player types. you could also drop either a Hunter or a Striker for a Midfielder to improve the flexibility of the roster.
 * 1) Roster Choices**

Cheerleaders are very useful for the instant momentum, as your team will find it harder to easily generate Momentum as you'll be perfoming Disenage or Shove challenges with mostly 3 dice. In Tournament games Potions are probably better than Kegs, but in League rosters I would reccommend taking Kegs if you can. A bribed referee is also handy, especially in League games allowing you to field your Troll in the Face-off which saves you 2 turns of movement to get him there!
 * 2) Support Items**

Abilities are useful on all player types, and the variety of player types on the team opens up several good options for skill use. See below for ability options for each player type, it would be recommended to take abilities if your tournament allows it. As the team find it hard to generate momentum, I'd rely on basic abilities for the main that help in this area.
 * 3) Abilities**

Extra hunters are very handy, especially if you're bringing a player on defensively later in the test. Midfielders are also very useful to have.
 * 4) Reserves**

__**Player Types**__
This section is a quick review of the player types available on the team. They are one of the few teams who don't have access to any of the 'standard' player types.

Without Defenders, it falls on the Hunter to compete for space and area denial on the pitch, which is a role they excel at due to their high JOG. As you can field several, one may also be useful left in the Guardian circle on defense, while another is deployed upfield to protect your Strikers. Shoving on 3 dice to gain momentum can be risky, and I'd advise against it if you are making a key tackle, for example bringing down the ball carrier. Using a cheerleader or 2 in this instance is much safer. With SKILL 2, they're also able to collect the ball in a pinch and can also be a scoring threat if positioned well.
 * 0-4 Hunters/Weremen**
 * **JOG** || **MIGHT** || **TACKLE** || **DODGE** || **SKILL** || **GRIT** ||
 * = 6 ||= 3 ||= 4 ||= 3 ||= 2 ||= 3 ||


 * Ability picks**
 * Buff - In my view this is the all round best ability, as it allows the Hunter to keep mobile by helping with shoving players away.It makes him more fearsome by generating momentum before hitting with the Tackle. Opponent's defenders will also steer clear of this player as Impact challenges become much easier to pass.
 * Cutblock is a good pick for one Hunter on this team, using the player to control an area and keep Monsters and Defenders away.
 * Grapple/Psycho will turn a Hunter into a Shove machine, or a Monster slayer.

Strikers are the forward players - I try and get one in a position to receive a pass and score if possible, or get to a position where you're able to break away from any opponent defensive players if you get the opportunity.
 * 0-2 Strikers**
 * **JOG** || **MIGHT** || **TACKLE** || **DODGE** || **SKILL** || **GRIT** ||
 * = 6 ||= 3 ||= 2 ||= 4 ||= 4 ||= 2 ||


 * Ability** **picks**
 * Steal - makes the player a bigger threat against ball carriers
 * Burst - Allows for increased range after picking up or stealing the ball

Midfielders are a good choice for this team, and I'd reccommend taking 1 or 2 to add versitlity to your roster. They're great on the defensive, as they still have a good chance of stopping most opposing players while also being able to recover the ball. They're also very useful to man the Face-off circle. If using the special play cards, any if the +1 Stat cards are good to use with this player.
 * 0-4 Midfielders**
 * **JOG** || **MIGHT** || **TACKLE** || **DODGE** || **SKILL** || **GRIT** ||
 * = 6 ||= 3 ||= 3 ||= 3 ||= 3 ||= 3 ||


 * Ability** **picks**
 * Buff is a good pick for players manning the Face-off circle

The thrower is best used in your own half if the pitch, either to help propel the ball upfield if you win the face-off, or as a safety on defense. Against teams with fast, low MIGHT players (Imps, Hobimps, Mecats & Couriers), the ball is best left with the Strikers and your thrower is more suited to the defensive role, as they'll not need to make any impact challenges against such player types. I usually have the Thrower on the bench, as their SKILL 4 can come in useful late game if I'm defending my own half.
 * 0-1 Thrower**
 * **JOG** || **MIGHT** || **TACKLE** || **DODGE** || **SKILL** || **GRIT** ||
 * = 6 ||= 2 ||= 3 ||= 3 ||= 4 ||= 3 ||


 * Ability** **picks**
 * Scramble is a game changing ability and capitalises on the teams flexibility.
 * Lead pass also allows you to use the Thrower in a very offensive role
 * Buff to help reduce risks in Impact challenges if you use the thrower defensively

The Ice Troll is your slowest player, so he's hard to get into the action and also his lack of speed can make it harder to position him so his rear facing isn't exposed. He has relatively high DODGE (for a Monster!), which means that he can reliably disengage if he can't shove his way free. It does also mean that he has a better chance of surviving tackles from the front facing by enemy Monsters or Defenders, giving you the possibility of hitting them back. Due to his low JOG, I don't think he's very useful deployed in the Guardian circle
 * 0-1 Ice Troll**
 * **JOG** || **MIGHT** || **TACKLE** || **DODGE** || **SKILL** || **GRIT** ||
 * = 4 ||= 5 ||= 4 ||= 3 ||= 1 ||= 4 ||


 * Ability** **picks**
 * Buff is a great ability to maximise momentum on Shove challenges
 * Grapple will improve his tackling abilities

__**Setting Up**__
I'd normally set up Strikers, Hunters and the Troll in the Rover circles, and place either the Thrower or a Hunter in the Guardian circle. At least 1 Hunter in the Rover circle should be positioned so they can strike players in the centre of the pitch from turn 1.

A Midfielder or Striker might be the best option as if you win the face-off, you can elect to place the opponent's player down before then recovering the ball and consolidating in your half during your first turn.
 * 1) Basic Face-Off Rules**

I've played a lot with a Striker in the face-off, as they've got reasonable MIGHT and are better at avoiding tackles - when they get Steal and Burst, you can also attempt a one turn score if you are lucky. If you're up against Gnomes or Deadlings with no bribe, it might be worth playing a Hunter in the face-off who can then pick on the opponent's player if you win. A midfielder still makes a good choice also. In League games of more than 1 test, the Ice Troll can be very handy deployed in the Face-off circle if you have a bribed referee. I'd avoid it in Tournaments because they're usually only played for 1 test and if you roll that flop, the player is gone. He normally has a great chance to brain the opposing player and then cover the ball which can create a big headache for your opponent.
 * 2) Advanced Face-Off Rules**

__Play Style__
Generally, I try to follow the same points suggested by Dark Lord in the Black Widows playbook, but try to position the Troll as soon as possible so he can contest the central pitch area. If not used in the face-off, I move him as early in the game as possible from one of the rover circles up towards the centre of the pitch. This maximises his chances of being involved in a play, but also exposes him to attack as he's a lot more vulnerable from the rear facing. If not done early, his limited JOG can put him out of the main action, as he encourages opponents to make their attack down the other side of the pitch. You can plan ahead for this tactic by fielding at least 1 Hunters in the opposite Rover circle.

If I win the face-off, I'll normally try and work at least 1 Hunter and Striker into positions in the opposing half, using the Ice Troll to protect from the centre.

Against high TACKLE opposition like Dwarves & Orcs, Valkyries can play the waiting game very well, where you position 5-6 hexes from the opponent and wait for him to send a player in for a tackle. By allowing them to tackle you on your terms (depriving them of shoves, and from the front facing) you minimise your chances of injury and you have a good chance of taking the opposing player out in return.

__**General Positioning Strategies**__
With access to 4 Hunters, it's tempting to go for the bash route with this team, however it is difficult to reliably generate momentum with a 3 dice shove or disengage to really make your tackles stick! More so than other high TACKLE teams, you need to consider the effects of flopping attempts, especially if you're making a key tackle on a ball carrier to prevent a score. If your Hunter is in the opponent's half of the pitch, then a flopped disengage or shove could put you to potential safely on the floor, especially if you're hitting high TACKLE opponents - if you're making tackles in your half of the pitch, use cheerleaders or consider the risks of momentum generation before shoving/disengaging.
 * 1) Bash frugally with Hunters**

If you position your Striker about 8-9 hexes from the goal hex, your opponent might think you're unable to threaten a score. However with Burst, you have the option to throw the ball to the ground between the player and the goal, and let the Striker move extra hexes with any momentum generated. You can burn cheerleaders, or disengage for momentum before or after the pickup to gain extra hexes of pace. The same tactic could be used with Lead Pass, except the receiver has the ball and may be more vulnerable to a tackle if your opponent has players in range.
 * 2) Busting Striker**

The troll can be one of the more annoying Monsters in the game, simply because he's so unattractive to tackle from the front facing. Not only do you need to make a 3 success Impact challenge, but the Tackle needs 2 successes due to his DODGE 3. For this reason it's very important to position him so that your opponents have difficulty getting to his rear facing, which can be a real challenge with his low JOG. Most of the time this means you'll be letting opponent's defenders or monsters have a hit from the front (which he'll have a better chance of avoiding injury from) before then standing back up and tackling them in return. The troll works very well if you can position him facing one or more downed players or mark a standing opponent from their rear facing. Try to avoid marking standing players from their front facing where possible as this will make you lose your DODGE advantage when tackled, as well as reducing the successes needed for any impact challenge.
 * 3) Using the Ice Troll**

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