Throwing a Long Kubb

Question

In one of our matches at the Twin Cities Winter Kubb Tournament this year we saw a strategy from our opponents that I didn't really understand. We were playing the Settlers of Baton and we were ahead pretty good. I think there were 6 field kubbs going back and forth.

On their turn to throw the Kubbs in they huddled for a bit and then took the first Kubb and threw it far, nearly to our baseline. They then threw the remainder of the Kubbs close to the centerline.

I really can't figure out whey they threw that one Kubb far. Our only guess was that they felt that they would not be able to topple all of the Field Kubbs and they threw that one long to limit the advantage line that we would have had.

The strategy didn't work. They didn't topple the upfield field kubbs and we got a very aggressive advantage line and ended up winning the match. But this strategy still makes me wonder.

Does this make sense? Or is something else going on? Or am I just thinking about it too much?

Comments

There are a couple comments in Kubbnation "The Drill" article about this. Two players from Team Ekeby talk about different aspects of it.

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We did just that at last years US Nationals.  It helped us and broke their momentum and missed a few field kubbs.  I don't recommend it too often though.

Answer 1

Throwing deep to limit your opponents ability to move up usually just delays the inevitable. I have seen it work, but not against top-level teams who can beat you from their baseline anyway.

Chris is right about the field + base combination - it only makes sense in the rare instance when you are moving up and have ONE field kubb to throw. If you are moving up and have more than one field kubb, then the best strategy is group the field kubbs and hit them over with a single shot, then move to the base kubb. Trying the deep throw with two field kubbs risks not executing the field + base combination - in which case you would have taken two shots just to hit down two field kubbs. Even if you did successfully execute the field + base combination, you will have gained no advantage because it still has taken two shots to knock over two field kubbs and a base kubb.

Although this happens rarely, we used it twice in the 2011 Des Moines tournament and it worked both times. In one of the games we knocked the king over with our 6th baton - meaning it made the difference in winning on that turn.

Comments

Very insightful. Thanks!

Answer 2

Sounds like your guess was right, and they were worried about clearing the field and tried to limit the advantage line they thought they might leave.

 

One other reason to put one deep is to get hyper-aggrresive and try to set up a double on the baseline. I will usually try this when I've got a decent line and only one to throw, which doesn't happen very often because it means that my opponent went 1-for-6 in the field and failed to clear. In that situation I've got nothing to lose - if I throw it short it's going to soak a baton anyway, why not try to get a baseline for free?

Comments

Very interesting! I hadn't thought of lining it up for a field + base combo shot. That would seem pretty crazy if you weren't sure of an advantage line.