Imperial Retainer Linemen are basically Bretonnian Peasants but covered in less mud and given some fancy feathers to go along with their new “noble aesthetic. They do, pretty much what they say on the tin, acting as pretty decent markers and assist pieces while the rest of the Noble team do the heavier lifting.  For 45k, you get a slightly below average stat line when compared to their Human cousins, coming with their signature Fend skill on top, making pretty irritating to pin down and allowing them to reposition and mark/screen against new threats when needed.

As for the Imperial Retainer Linemen Builds, well, as mentioned above, the Retainers are there to do the dirty work, marking, kicking and fouling and fill out the rest of the team after you’ve decided how many Bodyguards and Nobles you want to take. As is typical of most Linemen types, these lads and lasses aren’t going to be generating SPP at a, particularly high rate unless one finds themselves getting a bunch of CAS’s and MVPs.  As such over the course of even a long league like ours, you’ll find these guys can only really afford to grab one or two skills at most. That’s entirely OK too, these are expendable pieces for the most part, so it’s worth keeping them cheap so you’re not bloating your team too much.

Randomised Skills:

These are the type of player where Random Primaries are… ok. They’re cheap and disposable enough that a stray roll won’t be the end of the world, but at the same time, they’ll really benefit from choosing their skills. General is a mixed bag for a player like this, most of them you’ll find some use for but there’s quite a lot that are either pointless or just not great. You have a decent chance of getting something you can use, but stuff like Sure Hands/Frenzy/Shadowing/Pro/Strip Ball are probably going to be wasted on an Imperial Retainer Linemen.

Secondaries are much the same, for the same SPP as a Primary, you’re better of spending it for said Primary.

A Feathered Lineman | Imperial Retainer Linemen Build

Primaries: Block/Wrestle, Tackle
Secondaries: Guard
Characteristics: ST/MV

As billy-basic as you can go for a Linemen type. These guys are going to be doing your marking or screening while the rest of the team does their thing, making themselves expendable and keeping more dangerous players at bay. Block, of course, is great for this as it’s both a defensive and offensive boon and makes them perfect for marking ST4 pieces that are lacking the skill, although the introduction of Brawler makes it a little less powerful than it used to be. An argument could be made for Wrestle, but you’ll probably have a few Bodyguards with it already and with only MV6, you’ll want these guys on their feet most of the time to maximise the effectiveness of Fend.

Guard is always great and combined with Fend makes for a piece you slot into spaces where you really need it without them being bogged down or forced into an AG4+ dodge. What you can do as well is use them as backup Guarders when your others are being marked by Defensive pieces, allowing you to shift your hits and get two dies before committing to removing any Defensive players from your lines.

As for stat ups, well it’s going to be hard to get them to even 18SPP, let alone the costs of higher advancement levels. If you do decide to commit to a Characteristic, you’ll probably want to do it on a Retainer who’s grabbed an MVP and is still on their first advancement, keeping the cost at 18. Obviously, if you roll Strength that’s great, but if you don’t I’d recommend MV over AG (again if you roll well) or AV. MV7 is damn good and once they’ve fended away, you can reinforce where you want. An MV7, Guard, Block Fender is a good piece if costly for their fragility, but you’ll find some good use out of them… just don’t get too attached!

Bear in mind that Strength adds 80k to the value of the player, so if you got it straight away you’d have a Linemen worth 125k, that’s a lot to lose especially with AV8+!

Fouler/Kicker | Imperial Retainer Linemen Build

Primaries: Kick/Dirty Player, Block
Characteristics: MV

Simple enough, you’ll want one Kicker for sure anyway as it’s such a great skill in general and would probably be the first thing I go for. It allows you to force slower teams to waste an extra turn or two retrieving and caging the ball, or putting early pressure on faster, more fragile teams by kicking shallow. If they manage to grab some more SPP, Block is always good but I’d be tempted to stop there, you want these guys on the cheaper end so you’re not giving away too much in inducements.

Cheap linos make for good foulers and Dirty Player is what you’ll want to get on them. Getting Block on these guys is good as well as it means they can get stuck in and stay upright!

Movement is again not bad on these guys but, for some cheap utility pieces, you’re better off just getting the skills you need for them to do their respective jobs.

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Gone are the Peasants, long live the Imperial Retainer Linemen! They’re cheap and just good at what they do and you’ll want a few to round off your team. They’re not going to be doing anything fancy but are a core part of the Imperial Nobility, allowing those fancier players to do what they do best. As far as Linemen go, they’re a little fragile but Fend gives you positional opportunities you wouldn’t normally get, which for a team like this great!

That’s it for theImperial Retainer Linemen Build, Head over to our Noble Blitzer, Bodyguard, Thrower & Ogre builds for more BB2020 fun!