Just started listening to the latest podcast and just had to comment. How can you not want to take throwers? They are a great addition. Sure they are not really there to throw that much but he is cheap, have a skill that is useful at times and improved skill access. And he is still just as good at fighting as a lineman. I always start with one, give him sure hands and then kick off return and you mitigate one of the biggest weaknesses of the Norse team I think. You might not be throwing long passes all over the place but he adds significantly to the speed and skill you can move the ball around with, and if that is not needed he is a great running player himself. Anyway, back to work, I'm sure I'll have more comments once I've listened to the rest. Keep up the good work! :)

Heh, first additional comment. I've had much more use out of a loose cloud formation with the Worse than building cages. You want to break up your opponents team, not let them have a large quantity of squash AV7 targets in easy reach.

About managing team value, I found the best way was to not skill up the lineman. They got block, the only skill they really need (except for one with kick). So if you are pressed on the team value just cut and rebut linemen that skill up unless its something like guard.

Right, got a bit more time now. Norse have been my favourite team ever since they arrived so this was really interesting to listen to.

There is just a few additional comments I'd like to make.

The first one is about Guard and Pile On, and skills for the Blitzers in general. As I see it there are a handful of skills they need/want. Might Blow, Pile On, Guard, Tackle, Stand Firm/Side Step and Dodge. I can see the argument you made for Diving Tackle but I think it have lower priority than all of those other skills.

What you take and in what order depends a lot on what kind of teams you are facing. However I do think you can get something good out of having both Guard and Pile On on the same player. Yes, if you are on the ground you don't get use out of Guard but you are the one choosing what order to do your blocks in, so you might want to use him after having already given his assist to someone. And of course there is also the possibility that you will not knock your target down. Or that you will not need to use the Pile On skill at all, or that due to a fouling dirty player you might not want to. And of course your Blitzer might not even have someone to hit every turn. You only get one Blitz and he might not get it.
So there should be plenty of opportunities for using Guard, especially since Norse is a team where everybody enjoys a scrap and that really requires everyone to participate in the fighting for the team to get the upper hand.


Second, I'd like to return to the Thrower. I don't think taking one requires you to go all in for a passing game. Taking one gives you the option of not doing a pure running game as he provide a reroll on the passing action. That means he can (and should) be the ball retriever and depending on how the game looks he have the option of hanging around a little in the backfield so you don't have to commit to where your drive is going to be until after you have done a little bashing. Having him significantly reduces the risk/increases the opportunities for moving the ball around quickly and that to me is the biggest weakness on the Norse team. They are not slow, but they are not fast either and if you have to run every single square you want to move the ball they are just not as flexible as you need them to be at times. And of course, once you do have Sure Hands and Kick-off Return if he then gets more skills you can either go for Leader or start adding those passing skills to even further expand your options.
Since you often won't need the rerolls for blocks you should be able to have one spare in case you do need it for a catching roll. Alternatively, if you really want to go down that route try taking two throwers and put Nerves of Steel on one of them.


And finally a comment on the Snow Troll. Never used him that much to be honest, he wasn't in the team when I learned to play them. But to me he is a bit of a weird one. I think you get the most benefit of having him early on in the teams development, before other players develop to be way more lethal than he can be. But with his Frenzy, Wild Animal and lack of block he is also a very risky player and a more developed team will be able to make up for that much better. Personally I think his best use is as a scary looking lineman. Stick him on the line, dare your opponent to deal with him and then (mostly) forget about him. The rest of the team will handle the actual playing, but he is good at standing around and being annoying (don't forget the Disturbing Presence).


And finally, this is what I'd do for a starting team.
2 Blitzers
2 Runners
1 Thrower
2 Werewolves
4 Linemen
2 Rerolls
30k in the bank

All the positional players you will want right off the bat, you will get enough money to buy a 5th lineman after game one (maybe even an apothecary too) and the only big purchase you might be looking to make in a few games time is the Snow Troll. Of course you could also start with 12 players if you demote the Thrower to a Lineman, but as I've said, I like my thrower.

Anyway, it's nice to hear that at least the Norse teams are doing pretty well around there now :)

Thanks for a great show :)