NWFL Finals

Later today (10pm EST if you want to come watch) I'll be playing in the finals of the NWFL league on FumBBL. This is a league with a salary cap between seasons so I may well need to fire players after the game, especially if I lose the game since winning is worth a 50k bonus to the salary cap. Even if that wasn't true I want to win because I want to win! I'm up against the race I've always found hardest to plan around: Khemri. They have 4 guys with no in game negative and 5 strength which makes it very hard to just line up and punch. On the plus side the team is all slow and clumsy so they have difficulty actually winning the football game and I do have a bunch of heavily armoured dudes to stick in front of the big guys and slow them down.

As things currently stand, without cutting or buying anything, my TV is 1760 and his is 1560. We both have 12 players for the next game. He has 6 copies of mighty blow and one of piling on. He has a +MV throw-ra and a +AG blitz-ra so as far as Khemri teams go he's got a good plan for scoring. He only has 3 copies of guard, one of which is on a 7AV skeleton, and only two of his players have learned block. I'm pretty sure if I can get his big guys tied up with only 1 dwarf that I will really win the remaining 7 on 7 battle.

Getting that to happen is going to be tricky, especially since I only have 5 dwarves for this game since one of them is out with an injury. Not a permanent one, but he doesn't get to play this game. I also have a player who got a niggling injury two games ago and is certainly getting fired before next season if I have to make any cuts and probably even if I don't. A 7AV guy with a niggle doesn't get to last very long. So I'm trying to decide if I want to cut either of those guys. Cutting the dwarf costs my his 8 SPP and guard for next season but does get me a little closer to another chance at claw and it gives me a crucial 6th dwarf for the finals. Not having any skills won't hurt very much since his job is going to be stand beside a mummy and not die. I play pretty fast and loose with my hobgoblins, especially the ones with guard, so I suspect my opponent will be able to pile into her at the first opportunity. I could probably protect her, but why would I want to protect someone with guard? Guard is for standing beside people! I likely don't even need guard in this match since I'm not going to be hitting mummies and the rest of his team is flimsy. And I have 6 other copies of guard!

I could also buy more bodies to have a bigger bench, and I can throw in extra money to get some inducements of my own. A wizard is pure gold against Khemri in particular since they can have such a hard time picking up the ball. I don't mind getting a wizard to give him a wizard, and since he's already getting 200k in inducements he'll already have a wizard if he wants one! Wizards are pretty scary for me too, since I also run with a 2 agility ball carrier, but I don't see a way to deny him a wizard. I guess I probably want to steer clear of putting him up to 380k so he can't induce Ramtut?

I'm leaning towards firing Plum and Rose, rehiring them both as rookies (net +20TV) and getting the wizard. That'll give him 370k in inducement money which probably becomes a wizard, a chainsaw, and a bribe. If he gets either the chainsaw or the scimitar guy it puts my niggled person at even more danger so firing her and trading in block/guard for 50k in non-inducements is probably a really good plan. Alternatively 370k is exactly enough for him to get a wizard and a good 3 agility ball carrier which makes my wizard a little worse. Probably not enough worse, since I really like the threat of a wizard and I do have some guys who can move 9 spaces to take advantage? Maybe? I guess I can also throw away my 4th reroll to cut the inducements down by 70k, or not rehire the 13th player to cut them down by 40k. He does get second choice and can cut a similar number of skeletons if he really wants to.

I do find I use most of my rerolls, and I am planning on throwing -2d blocks on his mummies since they don't have block, so it's probably not a great idea to cut the 4th reroll. Eh, I have 5 hours to decide, maybe the right plan will come to me in that time!