Basic strategy

[TheIceMage]

This was an e-mailed reply I had sent, and it contained some decent overview-type information, so I decided to go ahead and post it as a basic strategy article. This could probably be better, so please don't hesitate to comment on it.

Team composition: The best approach is to get three full lines as soon as you can. It's good to have replacement players for the ones that are tired and/or injured.

Basically, you want goalies with high Slam primarily. Then centers with high Lose, preferably high Get, and as tough as you can find. Then wings with high Lose (Get isn't as important since they won't be trying to win faceoffs). Wings who can hit (high Pound, mid-range defense stat) are good to have, too. Toughness is a plus here, too. Finally, you want good defensemen who can hit (high Pound). Tough isn't necessarily as important, though defensemen tend to be tougher by default.

When your orcs get tired, rotate them to the 3rd line. 3rd line gets less play time than 1st or 2nd does. Try to play your orcs up until they get to the next season. Then you have a choice - try to balance play time (though you'll probably not win as much) or try to focus play time in a small group of orcs (which means if they get knocked out, it hurts more).

Don't forget about tolerance. Tolerance is probably the most overlooked aspect of the game. If your tolerance is 1 or 2, you can bet your orcs will die, since they will try to stay on the field even when they are close to death. Tolerance in the neighborhood of 12-18 is fairly safe, depending on the level of your league. The more experienced a defenseman is, the harder he can hit! It's been known to happen that a defenseman knocks out a center in one hit even when the center is in full Plate armor!

You could spend some money paying back your loan, but that will likely be paid for you quickly enough. It's designed so that you get it paid back before the end of the season. Until your loan is paid back, though, don't put any money into rollover. The interest rate on your loan is a huge 5% compounded weekly! Interest earned on rollover prepayments is only 2.5%.

If you are not winning, don't worry - there's always next season. The leagues should adjust in difficulty to suit your team's and your own abilities. If you lose a season (7th or 8th place), the next season, you're likely to be placed in an easier league. Further, if you come in 5th-8th, you get draft picks, which translates into free orcs. Once the season ends, your team is put into a special draft league where you can pick up new orcs after your rollover is complete.

Don't buy training facilities in your first season. Save that for after the first rollover, at the earliest. After a while, it's nice to have some training facilities, so that you don't have to try to get the absolute best orcs out there. You can get okay orcs and train them where they are weak.

Anything else I need to cover? Let me know if you have any questions.

- Brett

[orcleader]

Wow that helped me alot thanks brett i can use this for all my men just about. thanks How did you come up with a cool idea making orcsports anyway? you don't have to anwser that if you want.

[TheIceMage]

How did you come up with a cool idea making orcsports anyway?

Back in 2000, I played fantasy baseball with a few friends. Everybody had Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson as pitchers. Everybody had... well, a lot of players in common because everyone wanted the best. I thought it was lame. I thought that if one person had a particular player, nobody else should.

So I figured I could create a fantasy sport system that would work that way. At the time, there weren't any that I knew of that did. So I created OrcSports. Much of the feel of the gameplay was based on hockey, soccer, etc. Not football (make one play then stop a while). Seemed too organized for orcs. Not baseball. Orcs would fall asleep. It had to have action, hitting, that sort of thing.

Since then, the game has evolved and will continue to evolve and improve as time goes on. Many changes were suggested by folks playing the game. Many were my own ideas or trial-and-errors that happened to go well. They seem to work pretty well.

Oh, by the way - I won that fantasy baseball league, too.

- Brett

[Tyrnid]

so every orc in this game is different?

[TheIceMage]

Some may have the same stats, but yeah, they're all different.

[CrunchTroll]

I read your article on basic strategy, and I must be doing something wrong. I try to follow the ideas listed in here, but my teams consistently come in either dead last or at best 7th out of 8, no matter what level they are playing in. Any further suggestions?

[bubbauk]

been there, done that crunch. listen. everyone seems to do something different. I tend to get players with high eek. like most of my teams have 4-5 in eek. but basiclly it is try and try. You must get good orcs and you must have good armor. Armor is the best thing you can have. (my opinion) but like i said. everyone plays different.

[randomluck]

ICE gives good guidelines for getting started, and this provides a starting place. However, several things have changed, including my viewpoints(some of which you could find on the board and are not completely invalid, but some is useless garbage).

Prime Example: Clans really changed the game. Giving a bonus of 2 (or 1) to a known stat with a decrease in 1 of an unknown state (or bonus of 1 to Toughness).

I tried ICE's guides, and I lost several games as well. Its a balancing act of orc skills and abilities. You ndeed to find what works for you. I prefer orcs with either High Sneak or of the Sneak clan. I loot better, and I hit more often. However, I don't hit as hard.

Is there a particular fault you feel your team has (lots of orcs drop the ball, you've earned a free flight around the world from your regen chamber loyalty card, always short on cash, can't score, can't stop being scored on, etc.) Maybe we could lend a hand.

[Dizzy]

CrunchTroll... you're Wesley, right? Though I've only played a few leagues (and hope for a triumphant return soonish), I believe that I've played against you a couple of times. If I may offer a suggestion, one thing that I've noticed is that

ALL OF YOUR ORCS ARE ALWAYS EITHER IN JAIL OR DEAD!

Now, I was baffled by that behaviour for a while until I came to the conclusion that you were trying to breed a race of super-tough orcs who have exceptional talent with a shiv and who have lost any shred of curiosity in the use of bar soap.

Can you confirm or deny that this was indeed your strategy? Or did you simply put your team on autopilot without selecting the "Bail All Orcs Out Of Prison" box?

...Or you're not Wesley and I'm wasting everyone's time.

[CrunchTroll]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I usually try to get the highest Eek players that I can, unfortunately in most of my teams that means an average of 3, especially since every league I am in with Bubbauk he consistently outbids me . As far as my teams being constantly in jail or dead, no I didn't forget to select bail out of jail, but they do seem to always be in jail anyway . Any other suggestions would be welcome, and thanks again.

[CrunchTroll]

This reply is to Dizzy, what do you mean LOST any interest in a bar of soap? The only thing orcs use soap for is seasoning