Training & Roster Cuts

Much like a real team, I can't enter this tournament with everything I want; I need to decide which players to bring, which skills to take, how much of everything else I want.

The rules are:

• I get 1100k Gold to spend on my team.  I must spend all of it.
• Before game 1, I get three "normal" skill choices to distribute (one skill per player)
• Before game 4, I get three more skill choices, one of which may be a "double".  Again, one skill per player, which also means players who got a skill before can't get a second.
• This being a tournament, I get no other SPP or skills, but no damage from one game carries over to the next.  Basically, I have the same roster for the entire tournament.

1100k is a decent amount of cash to spend in Blood Bowl.  Usually teams get 1000 to spend to start a season and develop from there, but tournaments try to strike a balance between new teams and experienced ones.  They also try to eliminate the element of luck in skill rolls, MVPs, game money, all of which is random in "default" Blood Bowl play.

Here are some of my options, from most likely to least (today, I am notoriously indecisive about this kind of thing.

3 Catchers, 3 Rerolls

2 Blitzers @ 110k

1 Thrower @ 70k

3 Catchers @ 100k

6 Linemen @ 60k

3 Rerolls @ 50k

= 1100k

Pros: 

12 players means I have a bench, VERY useful for a team with mostly AV7.

3 Rerolls means I can let loose a little bit and take a few more calculated risks than if I had 2.

Cons: 

None really, this is a well-balanced roster and almost certainly what I'll be taking.

4 Catchers, 2 Rerolls

2 Blitzers @ 110k

2 Throwers @ 70k

4 Catchers @ 100k

4 Linemen @ 60k

2 Rerolls @ 50k

= 1100k

(I can also "downgrade" the second thrower to a lineman, and spend the extra 10k on a cheerleader or coach or fan factor; if I keep the thrower, it's probably to take the Leader skill, which costs me a skill slot.  So think of it as trading a skill choice to upgrade a lineman to a Catcher, which is probably worth it when you think of it that way).

Pros:

Pro Elf Catchers are the best in the game, and 4 of them may be too much for some teams to handle.

"Upgrade a lineman to a Catcher" has to be a win all the way, right?

Cons:

Cutting down to 2 rerolls means I need to think twice about every die roll, maybe accept a turnover I otherwise wouldn't have, probably run out anyway.

4 Linemen means that I'm just two Cas or KOs away from putting position players on the front line.

I don't have a second Thrower model, so I'd have to re-paint at least the base of one figure; probably the pointing lineman.

4 Catchers, 3 Rerolls, no bench

2 Blitzers @ 110k

1 Thrower @ 70k

4 Catchers @ 100k

4 Linemen @ 60k

3 Rerolls @ 50k

1 Coach, 1 Cheerleader @ 10k each

= 1100k

Basically, burn a lineman from the roster above and use the cash to buy a reroll.  This leaves 20k left over, which I can spend on coaching staff and cheerleaders.  (Or fan factor, or whatever).  I could also spend 10k to upgrade a lineman to a Thrower, but that would leave me with 3 linemen, which is REALLY asking for it.  

Pros:

4 Catchers, 3 Rerolls, and increased chance to get more rerolls throughout the game

Cons:

Having only 11 players means I'll be outnumbered after even one KO or Cas.  Elves can play fine and win while outnumbered, but once they get below 9 or so players, every additional player loss just makes everything exponentially harder. I suspect having a bench might be essential to low-armor teams in this tournament format; every team I face will be trying to bash me.