I never write strategy blogs, I lack the concentration to actually playing consistently, and I find strategy secondary to having fun :) So writing a blog about the fluffy, yet unofficial Simyin team sounded like something that would fit me. Btw, how do you pronounce 'Simyin'? When I try to say it, I imagine a new zealander saying 'someone'.

I have now played 4 games with Simyins, 4 games that were not played well. This is mostly because I have no idea what I'm doing, but I do enjoy rolling dice.

At first glance, Simyins seemed just like a regular team with linemen (bonobos), runners (chimpanzee), throwers (orangutans), blockers (gorillas) and a big guy (silverback). They all start with extra arms to reflect the dexterous nature of apes. Gorillas (and silverbacks) have grab (they do enjoy throwing opponents around). Orangutan have strong arm and chimpanzee have wrestle (correct me if I'm wrong, but they are the only positional starting with the wrestle skill). I find both the use of wrestle and grab quite interesting. I already have wrestle on several of my other teams, grab is something I've wanted to try, but been afraid to pick.

Bonobos have same stats as hobgoblins and thralls, but with an extra cost of 10k for the extra arms skill. It's a tradeoff which means most of my players are equally adept at handling the ball as an elf (exept for throwing). This is a good thing in the start, you have plenty of ways to go if you want to develop a ballcarrier. However they are as squishy as linerats, so you might want to leave carrying the ball to a Gorilla (see under). I ended up using them as LOS fodder. In 4 games, 3 bonobos has died (one was a journeyman) and one I had to let go due to a niggling injury.

Chimpanzee are considered as runners, however I see them more as blitzers. Sure they can run as fast as a linerat, but with wrestle they are much better at clearing a path, or stoping your opponent.

Orangutans costs 20k more than bonobos, they loose a movement, gain armor, strong arm and can pick passing skills. These are not great stats for a thrower, but fluffwise they are almost spot on (I can't remember seeing an orangutan throwing anything ever though). I should probably not picked one for my starting roster entering a rookie tournament. They can toss the ball, but they are slow. In the long run Leader and Kickoff Return will give worth to it, but with no additional skills they slow the team down.

Gorillas, I thought were just a regular 4str blockers, in addition to be semi-competent with the ball (2ag + extra arm). They'll be nice to use as ballcarriers I thought. I had ofcourse not read the fine-prints: Gorillas do not get general access on normal rolls, only agility and strength access. Astute readers will notice that I haven't actually gotten any skills on my Gorillas yet (except for +str), so I guess this hasn't mattered as much in my case. I really enjoy the grab skill though (Allthough it was quite annoying playing against flesh golems). It's a nice way to set up crowdsurf. I'm considering getting frenzy on a chimpanzee or bonobo to make it even better. And ofc, grab is quite nice to clear a path, unless your opponent is smart enough to not stand next to one.

I haven't got a silverback yet, but I am considering getting one, if I ever can afford one.

I only started with 2 Rerolls, which probably was a mistake. My reasoning was that with extra arms it would reduce RR spent on handling the ball (yet on all my elven teams I get sure hands early, go figure), and I would hopefully get Leader on my orangutan reasonably fast. The latter thing was something I forgot when I finally got a skill, and picked Kickoff return instead. Not a bad choice, just not the choice I had planned.

So, all in all, after 4 games, I still don't know how to play them, but I do know I want to play them more. I want to see how they handle with abit more skills. I'm still not sure if there's any point in developing a ballcarrier, or just let any convenient ape carry it. With no normal general access, I have no idea what way to go with gorillas. Mighty Blow and Guard are obvious, but they need to keep on their feet. Maybe dodge and break tackle is the way to go? I will develop chimpanzee in the way of stripballers and allround annoyers (dodge, tackle, side step, diving tackle etc...). Bonobos will be fodder until they get a skill or two. Dirty player and kick are interesting, but they need to survive long enough for that to happen.

I'm not looking for advice, but I was bored and wanted to write about something I'm not very good at :)