First off guys, great job as always. I love listening to the podcasts, look forward to it every time.

Normally I have nothing bad to say about them, but this time I really have to call out Pauly for his choice of skill ups on his treeman.

Pauly commented that he would take a move boost on a treeman even over a doubles roll. I have to strongly disagree with this.

I feel Jump Up is a far better skill on a treeman than a move boost. Yes, it doesn't grant them the three movement when they are standing, but when they are prone they now can stand up AND move two squares. Not to mention they can actually Jump Up and throw a block on a 3+. They could even throw two blocks if they have multiple block.

I have to give credit to the Fancy Lads coach, Andy for this. He had Jump Up on a treeman of his, and it just drove me nuts. I feel it's a far superior skill than simply gaining a move boost.

Pauly, let me know what you think. Why would you take a move boost over Jump Up on a treeman?

It's a 4+ for Jump Up, I think. 3 AG = 2+, 2 AG=3+, 1 AG = 4+.
(I think treemen have 1 AG, sorry if I'm wrong)

Jump Up is cool, but I think I'm on Pauly's side on this. Three move is good all the time (moving around the pitch) - Jump Up only works if you get knocked down, which just doesn't happen a lot in my experience.

I got your back on this on, Pauly!

Yeah, you are right, it is a 4+. I was thinking the normal AG roll, then adding 2. So I figured a 5, then adding two. But I forgot the 5 is already adding 1 to it. Stupid math.

Perhaps I'm just biased from my game against Andy. Either way, I have no treeman experience, as of yet. I still feel that I like Jump Up better. But then, I don't know how much you tend to move the trees around.

Out of curiosity, if you got Jump up, and then Pile On, would Pile On remove the rooted status?

No.

You can't place yourself prone while rooted.

Thanks for the rulebook. Yeah, I suppose it was too good to be true.

I'd have to agree with Pauly and Jason on this. I think the move boost would be more use than Jump Up. Still not sure whether I could forego the Block option though... Now two doubles... :D

re: Jump Up over +1 MV

remember that Tree's have Standfirm, and as a result they will most likely be next to who ever knocked them down. All you need that tree to do is get up and keep taking whacks, or hopefully handing them out.

Jump Up, you would only get 1/2 the benefit of the skill (why risk the 4+ roll to throw a Block?) and while you would think you'd get two more movement, remember that the opposing model will be next to you, so hope for Break Tackle, I guess.

MV 3 works regardless of being down or up, if no one wants to play you can get after them...

+1 MV over Jump Up any day of the week.

As for Block, I look at my opposing Big Guys inside a league, if they have a lot of Block, I might consider Block over MV on double 5's... but I am with Chance and Pauly on this one, +1 MV may be the one of the best skill ups for any model when considering Trees.

I can see the defense of JU over +MA. It is cheaper TV wise, but the extra MA is worth it for positioning sake. On doubles, I would be more inclined to take block instead of JU...although I would say JU would not be a horrible choice.
I would not be inclined to risk the 50% on the JU block. That is the same odds before the MA boost...so not so much.

+MA and Jump Up both add 30,000 team value.

I fall in the middle here I think. I would take the +MA for the reasons others have mentioned on a double 5. I would take Jump Up over block on a normal double for the same reason. I had many drives during which the tree could not stand up, anything that lets you do that better seems like the best way to go to me.

TL

Thanks, Tim! Welcome back! You are totally right they are the same. Also good points in the doubles. Bloak and JU are both quality choices.

I've gotta be in the Block camp. When your treeman has Block, no more suicide 2D uphill against him to try and get the both down to take him down. Less falling down = less having to get up.
And I think I'd take +MA over Jump Up, for the better all around use over the singular situation use, as others have mentioned.

Alright, people have pointed out that perhaps +MV is better than JU in most cases (except for that treeman who's already gotten two AG boosts).

Now, what about Nerves of Steel on a doubles?

I know it's not a skill most people would consider, but I played a halfling team who had Nerves on one of his treeman. He threw for two different touchdowns against me.

It's probably not the best choice, but it certain is one that's available. Just wondering what others think about it.

Two things...nerves is a very interesting choice. Still doesn't work on Nurgle, but a very interesting choice none the less.

I put the Jump Up vs. Block up on Twitter and overwhelming response was take Block. That was just 6 hours...but it came fast and furious!

I might go Nerves on one, if I already had block on the other. Kinda specialize one as hitting and the other as being able to throw in any situation.

NoS is interesting - I don't have enough experience with Halflings to know if people mark the tree with more than one person if they are worried about a 1TTD. (A tree with Multiple BLock may scare them off). If there's only one player marking the tree, a blitz can take care of him sometimes.

When I said that I would select Jump-Up over Block I was thinking about the treeman I had on my Woodelf team. I think on an actual halfling team I would take block over Jump-Up as you have a lot of difficulty getting block on your roster.

TL

Definitely Block over Jump up on non-10 doubles, but movement on a double 5. For many of the same reasons as mentioned before, but mainly because Block helps keep him up and makes the tree even more reliable. The movement will get more use than jump up, because rarely is that one block worth the 50-50 shot at jump up. One way to think about it is, "If I were building a tournament roster and had to take one or the other with no other skills, which would I take?" for me that is movement without a doubt.

Just my 2 cents, with limited experience, but I have just started playing halflings in a local league and they are a blast!! Perfect timing for the podcast by the way, thanks guys!!

On a Halfling team, non-5 doubles is Block... as stated, he's a lot harder to get to the ground which mitigates the 4+ roll to stand up.

Plus, with Block he can usually put down those pesky Line-types that people will often tie up your Trees with, Zombies, Linewomen and such. And knocking them down gives him a chance to get them off the pitch.

A second, non-5's double, can definitely be a passing skill. My issue is that the Tree who is throwing is usually the tree that has Took Root and my opponent has moved away from him, so he usually will need a 2+ to throw.

I'd probably go with Frenzy. It allows a Tree to move his two spaces on just a Block, effectively doubling his movement down pitch during a drive, maximizing his MV per Take Root roll. Couple that with Multi-Block and you can start ignoring the "must follow restrictions" from Frenzy, as well.

One way or the other, it'd be a nice problem to have!

In reference to the random MVP in the Critical Hit Cup we did play with this rule during season 1 and season 2. During season 3 we play with a house rule that you determined the MVP randomly among the players that gained SPP during the match. We have used the current MVP rule since season 4.

In my experience 100% random mvp benefits teams that can spread SPP to all the players on their roster such as Wood Elves. On the flip side I feel that picking your MVP benefits teams that really need MVPs on certain pieces such as Chaos Dwarves or Orcs. We took the middle route with the semi random MVP.

TL

I find Break Tackle to be a useful skill when dealing with players marking up on your treeman. Especially since you want the tree to be marching towards the Halfling when making the throw, so you can maximise the halflings movement