When to play Football vs when to play 'the beatdown'

Hello Guildballers!

Introduction

What's this? An article? About when to play football or 'beatdown'?

Shouldn't you have a game-plan and stick to it? Well...

Sure, if you pick a straightforward team like Fish or Butchers you know what you're going to do.
Sure, if you build your team you know what your game-plan is.

But.

This article is an attempt at looking when to do something other than what your team is built for!
This article is the result of theorizing about the game and playing it, looking for mistakes, mine or the opponents
This article is what I needed to make to become better at the game.

I hope by the end of my musings you will look at the board with a new set of eyes, every turn, maybe even activation... To make a quick check after thinking can I do something better?

Presentation

As you all may know I play Brewers, a team that is not recommended for new players, because it isn't an obvious team. It looks like a team intended for take-outs, but you need to know how to play them to be effective with them. In many introductions to the brewers team you will read that your game-plan should be 1 goal and 4 take-outs.

But as a new player reading this doesn't tell you anything! You still don't know how to achieve your gameplan.

The insight you need comes from playing the game. The way you play your team will form around who you play and how often you play. This is what makes the game so interesting. You play a team coached by one of your friends and after playing enough games against that person you'll think one of these things:
This team is unbeatable
This team is a perfect matchup
I can take them fingers up my nose!

Whatever you think I promise you, that same team, with the same line-up even, will be played totally different by another coach!

So here I would like to challenge you to look at every game-situation, no matter the team you coach, and ask yourself: Do I play football or am I going to beat them down?

When?

That is the question! When do you play football, when do you bring the hammer down on a player looking for a take-out?

First things first, before you start the game you should know what you want to do and preferably have some strategy to achieve this from the get go. If I may compare to chess... Choose your gambit that fits your gameplan.

Every move is saying something; You are communicating with your opponent. Every move will (or should) make him wonder what you are trying to do, and thus he will respond with either a defensive move or an offensive move. By defensive I mean that he will set up his players to STOP YOUR GAMEPLAN. By offensive I mean setting up his players to continue BUILDING UP HIS GAMEPLAN.

You will have to do the same, dissect his movements on the board, is he trying to block you? If not, should you be trying to block him? But most importantly is he playing football or is he playing the beatdown?

Switching from football to beatdown

I would ask you kindly to stop reading now and (if you haven't already) look at the matchreport / interview by the battlehammer: Guild Ball: Battlehammer v Mat Hart!

If you haven't watched the whole 4 hours, I can't blame you, if you have you might understand the following better... Although I don't think it is entirely necessary.

I see the game as follows:

Parker plays defensive (as in 'is trying to stop Mat from doing what he's doing)
Mat plays offensive (as in he's pretty much sticking to his gameplan after the gambit).

I have no clue what Parker's gameplan was, if he had one to begin with (/jk)
Mat on the other hand is playing football (most of the time) His game plan is 'score goals'. In order to do so he needs to keep Parkers players tied up, that's where he uses Kraken, Corsair and Fangtooth for. Sakana is free to play the football game thanks to the ruckus in the middle of the field. The fighting in the middle goes so well that Mat takes the opportunity to change his game-plan briefly into 'the beatdown' for 2VP. (taking the score up to 0-6 for Mat) I believe if you would ask Mat if he planned on 'winning' with 2 VP from a take-out he would either say 'no' or 'it just happened - things led to it'. But in the end it was 3 goals 1 takedown (yes the takedown wasn't even needed) for Mat winning the game against 1 takedown for Parker.

After all this I will finaly answer the 'when' question, be it partially...


When to play the beatdown if your gameplan is football?

• When the situation arises without having to over extend yourself into it!

When choosing football over beatdown, you will always have fights going on, so sell your hide at the most expensive price attainable and if you can take somebody down with you, do it! Who knows how the game will develop, you might have another opportunity to do an easy take-down! Every bit of VP takes you closer to victory!

• When your opponent is also playing football and is better at it than you are.

Now nothing can stop you both from playing football at the same time. But if your opponent is better at it than you are, then tell me what is the use in you sticking to your gameplan? Are you really going to cross your fingers and hope he'll roll bad dice? NO YOU ARE NOT! You are going to look at what player is hindering you the most or what player is making his team work the best. That player becomes your 'beat-down' target! Kill him ASAP and then revert back to your original gameplan. A word of caution, no matter what game you play - football or beatdown - never, EVER, overextend! Keep a good situational control of the board. Keep all opposing players in check and/or protect your goal at all times, espacially if your opponent is playing football !


Spotting when to start beating down coming from a football play is relatively easy... the reverse however...

Switching from beatdown to football

You have chosen to go for the beatdown, and only the beatdown... Get your head out of your behind and look at the ball!! Is it in your possession? Can you score? The game is called Guild BALL. Ok, there is the fluff side of things and if you want to chop off a foot, then by all means do so. We all play to have fun. Winning though, that adds to your fun, so why not score 4VP in one go instead of 2VP per takedown? Don't play the game with tunnelvision on!

I would send you away to youtube again, but I haven't seen (or I can't remember) a clear example of minced meat looking surprised up at their goal to see the score go up 4VP on the other side. So you'll have to make do with the words stuck in my mind. I do appologize for that.

When to play football if your gameplan is beatdown?

• When there is nobody left to stop you from scoring!

• When you can make a shot on goal to WIN the game, but can't do 2 takedowns to achieve the same.

Both these are easy options. If your player has the ball, can run/sprint up to the goal and WIN, or there is no opposition to stop you, then go for it. Do make note that I see 'no opposition to stop you' a little broader than I can run up there and score without being hindered. Look further than that! You give the ball to your opponent after scoring. So make sure he isn't lined up to level the score with a counter-shot-on-goal. Or don't do it to score 4VP if he's on 10VP leaving your player open to give him what he needs! (ai another take-out)

• When you are clearly winning the beat-down.

This may sound a bit weird. What I mean to say is, if all your players will have an easy time keeping all the opposing players tied up, it's time to kick it in the goal! (Here I'm not counting the player you'll use to score OR the player you'll use to pass the ball towards your goal-scoring-player, unless he/they can dodge back into the fight) If you're already winning, why take chances? 1 goal gets you there faster than 2 take-outs. Players on the field used as punching bags have a harder time retrieving the ball from a scored goal than one that is icy-sponged back on the pitch. So use that knowledge to your advantage. Don't pick the 'momentous damage' results like a blind mole tunnelling forwards towards the worms, there are other goodies out there. You have pushes/dodges/tackles/knockdowns for a reason! Steal the ball, push players away from your 'path to the goal', turn around, give them the finger and bonus time your shot on goal! (Unless you're Boar, that would be too out of character)

What is the difference in the first and third option?

When you're winning the beat-down you're not concerned with where the ball is. When you have an 'unhindered' shot on goal, you were keeping the ball away from your opponent. In my mind winning the beat-down means that all players are engaged and fighting (or are taken-out). You see an opportunity to sneak towards the ball or are able to get the ball away from the fight towards the goal.

If you're sure there's nobody left to stop you from scoring, that means one of your players already had the ball and was not engaged. Sure, there might be one (or a few) players looking to play tag with your ball carrier, but if they are not in a good spot for your opponent to launch a counter-attack from then you aren't necessarily winning the beat-down. In fact, if you have the playbook/melee range for it, you might even want to charge towards one of your opposing players looking to tag you to dodge away towards the goal! (provided they can't counterattack - or if they can are unable to prevent you from scoring - ai KD's or tackles)

• When you're both playing beat-down and your opponent is better at it.

Granted, if you're planning on beating the life out of your opponents players, chances are you didn't bring a team that has the football skills.  But you have to play the part that is given to you.  I don't see many people going into dark alleyways to get beaten up willingly, so don't.  Even if you're playing the football part just to get a certain player away from where he is, if it works you can revert back to your game plan.  A threat on goal has to be dealt with!  Even if you don't score a goal!  Getting that one pesky player out of the fight might be all you need.  Use the ball to do that!  Oh; Let it be known, my money isn't on you.  If you picked the beat-down plan and you're getting your face smashed in...  Well, ... learn from your opponent and don't make the same mistakes twice!

Keep in mind. When you're playing the beatdown and your opponent is playing football, you will have to swallow the bitter pill and look at 4, hopefully not 8 VP on his side of the scoring board. That said, it might sometimes be easier to start your beatdown AFTER you give your opponent his first goal. Stretching out his defences so far in order for him to get to your goal is another set-up than simply playing tag with the ballcarrier. Set up a trap, let him see it, you don't care, unless he springs the trap with another player... In my oppinion, playing the beat-down is harder to do against a footballing team. Their plan knows 3 steps: score, score score. Your plan, well it's double that isn't it? So make it easier on yourself, keep an eye out to sneak in a score instead of a take-out!

Betting on two horses, but when to cash in?

I'm sorry if you're looking for me to draw up your gameplan. I'm not going to. How can I? I don't know what kind of a player you are! You might be a hands down tournament mind set player keen on winning every game through calculations, you might be the fluff oriented geek that's not even looking to win the game!

You might play brewers, like I do, or you might play fishermen (like I'm going to). You might have fallen in love with the engineers, alchemists, or any other team out there. It is your right to do so and play them like you want.

I'm only here to help you see the options.
Whatever team you use, devise a gameplan.  I'm brewers, I'm slow, so it is (with the current players) not really smart for me to come up with a plan for me to dodge my striker forwards after receiving a pass, do it again after giving a pass and then making a snapshot for a first turn goal.  Why not?  Because I would have one player up the field, and he would have a big target painted on him saying 'hit me, I like it!'  Now if you do ever see me do this, beware of Stave.  He might barrel lob my own player and one (or two) of yours back into my other brewers hands.  Knocked down and ready to be inspecting the soles of my boots...

Whatever your gameplan is, stick to it and keep an open mind, try to figure out what your opponent is playing.  Play the same line-up a couple of times before giving up on them.  Talk to other people, play friendly games where you go over every play that's in your mind, listen to what plays your opponent was expecting you to make.  Play enough games and you will devise a game plan against every team, and any play they can make.  Start your gameplan with one play, and one play only.  You're playing football, or you're beating other players.  Can't do both at the same time, but do keep a look out for those rare opportunities where you CAN play both in a turn away from each other.  Know that as soon as you set up your players into a 'scoring position' that you're playing football.  That's not a bad thing, just be aware of it.  It's not because 4 or 5 of your players are fighting others that you're the beat-down.  They may be your diversion for your football play!

Conclusion

So to summarize: Always stick to your gameplan as much as possible, it will give you smooth games with fast victories. Don't cling onto the gameplan too much, if you over extend yourself into your gameplan if it's not working, it's clearly not working.   Do something else, don't let your opponent use your tactics against you!! (and I'm not talking about Midas here)  Pick a play, football or beat-down and set yourself up for it!





That's it for today!
I'm open for suggestions and might edit some of this with input from any or all of you out there!

Game on!


Bob