So I get a lot of questions in IRC and in games about positioning, and truly it is the most important aspect of the game, once you understand how to play it. If your positioning sucks, you're gonna get outplayed every single time. So, I spent a little time in hotseat MP today with our friends the Orcland Raiders and the Reikland Reavers, and along with my excellent MS paint skills, they're gonna give you some basics on the how and why I position the way I do. Understand that there is not a hard and fast rule for this -- your positioning will always depend on what you are playing, and what your opponent is playing, but hopefully I can drop some tidbits of knowledge here that get you guys thinking out your own positional needs.
So the first thing I'll discuss is Offense. A commonly used plan for most people once they pick up the ball is to try to run it to the sidelines, thinking that it will be easier to go up there than through the middle. And it might be, but not if you've got half of your guys on the wrong side. That's where the Asymmetrical offense comes in. I built a typical one below.
Note that this is only going to work if you've got a thrower with a massive range, or he has kick off return. If your don't have either of those, put another guy back there to cover the entire backfield. The last thing you want is a corner kick that you're not able to put a tackle zone on. I see a lot of people try to do this, and then wonder why it fails for them and works for me. The answer is the guy marked by the arrow. He's there to prevent you getting swarmed on a blitz, or from you getting fucked when you fail the pickup. If that guy isn't there, you're gonna get outplayed if you try to run this setup.
If you do it right, and the kick cooperates, you can start moving the ball to the right, and you'll have all the muscle you need there to build a fairly solid wall once you get there. Note that you want the left half of the line mobile in this setup..you don't want all those black orcs tied up on the line, which is why they're not on the LOS. This way, they're free to move where they need to be, whereas if you left them on the line, you'd have to do some work to free them in order to move them around. You don't want to have to do that if you can avoid it. Also note in this setup, that your best players (the blitzers) are for the most part protected. You've got one out in the open, but it would require some pretty bad positioning in order to get a 2d block on him with a 3 str player. He would be very vulnerable to a surf after that, so I don't sweat it too much.
On the defensive side of things, you basically need to understand this -- you can't control where your opponent goes and what he does, so you need to be ready for anything. This means having your important players protected, and your guys as mobile as possible. Lets start with something simple if you're playing against a bashy team, like this. I've already seen guys use this (and this is my favorite defensive Dark Elf setup), so i know people are picking up on this.
In this setup, you want disposable trash on the line. These are gonna be the linemen for the most part. You don't want your ogre on the line, for example, because he's your str 5 player. Why would you want him stuck on the LOS where he can't put that str 5 to work for you? You want to be able to move him on your turn, so keeping him off the LOS and free to move where you need him to be is the best practice here. Also note that on the top ends of the "smile" I guess, there are also linemen. These are the only obvious blitz targets for your opponent. You want them to be relatively disposable as well. Your important guys...the blitzers, the thrower if you're running one, the catcher, etc..should all be lined up in the middle. The thrower and catcher are marked out with the arrows. That's where you want those guys to be. They're the important players on your team, you don't need them getting smashed on the first blitz of the drive. Protect them, and don't leave them vulnerable.
Now, on the orc side of the world, I usually run this defense.
Orcs are kind of a special case in the game. They have excellent linemen for their price, but you quite literally can't use them. You get 4 blitzers and 4 black orcs which are basically required to be on the field at all times, and then if you're using a troll and a thrower (I don't always), that just leaves you with 1 spot for a lineman. Therefore, the above idea that you should put disposable trash on the line doesn't work for orcs because you're just not going to have trash to do it. If I'm not using a troll, a lineman takes his place. Note that there are Str 4 black orcs at each black diamond. The point of this defense is that in order to block any of your front players, a Str 3 team needs to devote a ridiculous amount of guys in order to do it. And on top of that, it's not easy at all to actually get those assists in the first place. Every red dot on the board is a place where you can't get an assist on that player without a guard. I always figure if someone wants to devote 3 players to getting a 2d block on ONE of mine, that's a fair trade for me. It frees me up do things elsewhere.
Again, the same as in the bash setup, the important players (in this case blitzers, since you want them mobile; and the thrower) are in the back line and unable to be easily blitzed. Also note the tackle zones - if he wants to put players in my backfield, he needs to move at least 2 of my players in order to do it without dodging. Force your opponent to roll dice. That's how you win.
Now, the obvious response is "I don't have str 4 players to shore up my line, what do I do then?" Well, that's easy. You just flatten it out.
Note, as above, the tackle zones cover the entire board, and he needs to either move someone at the sidelines, or make dodges through the middle in order to get through. The important thing here is that he also needs guard (or a str advantage) in order to get an easy 2d block anywhere. All of the starred squares are placed where he can't place a non guard assist in order to get that 2d. And if you have guard on your wings, it's basically impossible to 2d any of them. By keeping your players together, you nullify potential assists and make it so that your opponent has to do risky actions or devote more players in order to break your line.
The other thing I wanted to touch on quick was surfing (as in, crowd). I see a lot of guys struggling with this too, and they can't seem to grasp how this works. I drawed you a cool pictar to help explain it.
Now, you know from playing this game that any time you push a player, you have 3 possible squares to push him to, depending on which direction you're pushing him from. If those squares are occupied by players, you're not allowed to push him anywhere but an open square. If you have no open squares, that's when you push them thru players, or off the pitch. So whenever you're trying to surf someone, make sure that all possible push squares are filled. In the above, the little human there can't surf that orc blitzer, because the orc still has a valid square on the pitch he can move to, and always will as long as he has one. If you want to surf that player, the way to do it is to simply fill in the gaps.
Ignore for a moment the fact that the UI says that the blue arrowed human has already moved. I didn't feel like setting up multiple turns of this shit when one picture works just fine. All I needed to do in order to get this surf is to push the black orc back to fill the only valid square on the board that the blitzer could be pushed to. Therefore, now, when I go to block with the blue arrowed guy, the blitzer has nowhere else to go, and will be pushed off the pitch.
Oh, important note...don't follow up that block, or you'll be joining him.
Obviously, adjust these to fit your needs. Your team probably doesn't have the same composition of strength and mobility that mine do. If you're playing against a fast team, you might need to play a little deeper in your back field. If you're playing against a slow team, maybe you can play a bit more forward, because you know dwarves aren't gonna be dodging receivers in past your line.
AV 6 and tripple niggle