Post by purdindas on Jan 7, 2018 23:04:57 GMT
Hello Everyone,
After last Euro bowls hard to take result it's time to pick up the pieces as we look to forge a new squad and put up a challenge for the hosting rights. Last year was our best performance to date. We can build on this as we move forward.
Last time round; I chose to select teams based on what races players were demonstrably proficient at using. This year I would like to change this by prescribing a list of teams that the entire squad will be taking. Due to the massive issues inherent in the Scottish championship qualification process (and the problem with qualifying coaches only being proficient in one or two races) my hands are tied to some extent currently. It is my wish to change this and I will be asking coaches to play with different races this year in the run up to the Euro bowl in Wales.
Ralph and I spent some time over the holidays looking at past Euro bowl results with a focus on the races that performed the best with this rule set. The races that performed the best were found to be:
Must Haves
Dark Elves, Necromantic, Regular Undead, Norse, Wood Elves, Dwarves & Lizardmen
Optional
Amazons
'Third String' teams (usually expert players)
Humans, Orcs, Skaven
Teams such as Pro Elves, High Elves, Chaos Dwarves performed less well than all of the above. If we want to be more competitive, we should really have a serious look at taking all of the 'must have' races and one of the other optional races. Below I have listed the squad and confirmed race choices (Bold) and speculative trial races in brackets. I will update this list as coaches volunteer to use these races and show some proficiency in using them.
This years Squad
Purdindas (Captain) - (Humans/Necromantic/Skaven)
Garrick - Dark Elves
Loki - Lizardmen
Sann - Various Options, considered adaptable to squad needs
Valen - Various Options, considered adaptable to squad needs
Sadface - (Humans/Dwarves/Necromantic)
GrumptMaestro - (Dwarves/Necromantic/??)
DonShula - (Necromantic/Dwarves/Amazons)
Time is factor here so we need to get moving quickly. I want trial race choices in place before the end of the month and coaches to be using them in leagues/tournaments from that point on. So you might have to beg, borrow or steal these races from your friends at least to begin with. Coaches with races marked in bold are not required to practice to the same extent as the rest as I am confident that they can play them to a highly competitive standard.
You might notice that I have not included Wood Elves, Norse or Undead as trial teams. This is because we have multiple players who can use these three races to decent degrees and I am confident that out of the remaining coaches, we will have players for each of these. The entire point of this exercise is to make us expand our horizons and hopefully gain some really excellent players of some of the less used (but demonstrably excellent) races.
Selecting this squad was by no means easy and I will also mention that there are five coaches who in my mind deserve a shout out for excellent performances this year;
Phil78
Vanguard
LordGarlack
JackH
Humptytrump
These players are all good enough to play for Team Scotland. Please keep up your high standard of play but I would urge you to avoid trying the following races. They will not necessarily help your chances;
Dark Elves
Lizardmen
Wood Elves
If you want to increase your chances of selection; (applies to everyone) then try and become proficient with some of the high performing races not in the table directly above.
Update
After some trial and error races have been allocated for this years Eurobowl:
Purdindas (Captain) - Norse
Garrick - Dark Elves
Loki - Lizardmen
Sann - Necromantic Undead
Valen - Dwarves
Sadface - Wood Elves
GrumpyMaestro - Chaos Dwarves
DonShula - Undead
I have a good vibe from this line-up. Every player is strong with their selected race. I'd advise all coaches to stick with these races in tournament play up until the Eurobowl proper. Burger Bowl (Edinburgh 21st/22nd July) will be using Eurobowl rules with the addition of stars for stunties and I'd encourage everyone to attend this. Also there will be the annual Jocks versus Geordies event (29th/30th September) this time in Morpeth! This will be pure Eurobowl rules. I will be selecting the team shortly for this but first picks go to members of team Scotland. There are 5 places available so let me know ASAP if you can attend.
After last Euro bowls hard to take result it's time to pick up the pieces as we look to forge a new squad and put up a challenge for the hosting rights. Last year was our best performance to date. We can build on this as we move forward.
Last time round; I chose to select teams based on what races players were demonstrably proficient at using. This year I would like to change this by prescribing a list of teams that the entire squad will be taking. Due to the massive issues inherent in the Scottish championship qualification process (and the problem with qualifying coaches only being proficient in one or two races) my hands are tied to some extent currently. It is my wish to change this and I will be asking coaches to play with different races this year in the run up to the Euro bowl in Wales.
Ralph and I spent some time over the holidays looking at past Euro bowl results with a focus on the races that performed the best with this rule set. The races that performed the best were found to be:
Must Haves
Dark Elves, Necromantic, Regular Undead, Norse, Wood Elves, Dwarves & Lizardmen
Optional
Amazons
'Third String' teams (usually expert players)
Humans, Orcs, Skaven
Teams such as Pro Elves, High Elves, Chaos Dwarves performed less well than all of the above. If we want to be more competitive, we should really have a serious look at taking all of the 'must have' races and one of the other optional races. Below I have listed the squad and confirmed race choices (Bold) and speculative trial races in brackets. I will update this list as coaches volunteer to use these races and show some proficiency in using them.
This years Squad
Purdindas (Captain) - (Humans/Necromantic/Skaven)
Garrick - Dark Elves
Loki - Lizardmen
Sann - Various Options, considered adaptable to squad needs
Valen - Various Options, considered adaptable to squad needs
Sadface - (Humans/Dwarves/Necromantic)
GrumptMaestro - (Dwarves/Necromantic/??)
DonShula - (Necromantic/Dwarves/Amazons)
Time is factor here so we need to get moving quickly. I want trial race choices in place before the end of the month and coaches to be using them in leagues/tournaments from that point on. So you might have to beg, borrow or steal these races from your friends at least to begin with. Coaches with races marked in bold are not required to practice to the same extent as the rest as I am confident that they can play them to a highly competitive standard.
You might notice that I have not included Wood Elves, Norse or Undead as trial teams. This is because we have multiple players who can use these three races to decent degrees and I am confident that out of the remaining coaches, we will have players for each of these. The entire point of this exercise is to make us expand our horizons and hopefully gain some really excellent players of some of the less used (but demonstrably excellent) races.
Selecting this squad was by no means easy and I will also mention that there are five coaches who in my mind deserve a shout out for excellent performances this year;
Phil78
Vanguard
LordGarlack
JackH
Humptytrump
These players are all good enough to play for Team Scotland. Please keep up your high standard of play but I would urge you to avoid trying the following races. They will not necessarily help your chances;
Dark Elves
Lizardmen
Wood Elves
If you want to increase your chances of selection; (applies to everyone) then try and become proficient with some of the high performing races not in the table directly above.
Update
After some trial and error races have been allocated for this years Eurobowl:
Purdindas (Captain) - Norse
Garrick - Dark Elves
Loki - Lizardmen
Sann - Necromantic Undead
Valen - Dwarves
Sadface - Wood Elves
GrumpyMaestro - Chaos Dwarves
DonShula - Undead
I have a good vibe from this line-up. Every player is strong with their selected race. I'd advise all coaches to stick with these races in tournament play up until the Eurobowl proper. Burger Bowl (Edinburgh 21st/22nd July) will be using Eurobowl rules with the addition of stars for stunties and I'd encourage everyone to attend this. Also there will be the annual Jocks versus Geordies event (29th/30th September) this time in Morpeth! This will be pure Eurobowl rules. I will be selecting the team shortly for this but first picks go to members of team Scotland. There are 5 places available so let me know ASAP if you can attend.