Bloodbowl in the Buff: Amazon and Norse in bloodbowl

Long ago the creators of Bloodbowl came up with an idea. That idea was that they would create human team that has all dodge and a human team with all block. This would be offset by their lack of armour.

This fell in nicely with the Norse marauders in fantasy but also with the warrior women. I’m not sure which came first amazons in bloodbowl or amazons in the fantasy world.

Although since that inception Norse have changed amazons have stayed the same I’d say probably to their detriment. Norse however have become a very interesting team.

Amazons

Amazons are potentially the most forgiving starter team in bloodbowl and are quite unusual. Every player has the same stat Mv 6 str3 ag3 av 7, Dodge. It’s dodge that makes this team so good initially.

Most teams don’t start with tackle except dwarves and chaos dwarves. Therefore, actually knocking one of these players down is quite difficult. It also means they can be nimble when they need to meaning although your team is fragile they can be difficult to pin down.

The positionals aren’t ground breaking. Blitzers start with block and can have strength skills. Their lack of speed makes them limited but starting with 4 blodgers in your team is very handy.

The passers can have pass skills and starts with pass. The Catchers can have agility skills and have catch. Not awe inspiring but short throwing games aren’t a bad option and the stronger catchers means you don’t have to sacrifice sturdiness to play this way.

For a beginner this is a brilliant team. Like humans you can try out a number of players (perhaps not the power plays) They are very forgiving with a lot of blodging and rerolls for every dodge. You can make mistakes but its ok because there are so many inbuilt rerolls in this team that there’s less scope for turnovers.

Their lack of speed means it’s harder for them to exploit gaps but they are hardier than they look.

For the experienced players… well maybe there a little dull? But who am I to judge really.

Mikes Starter team

4 Blitzers

2 throwers

2 catchers

3 Linewomen

3 Rerolls

1 apothecary

Well you start with everything so use your cash to get 2/3 more linewomen. Level up your team fairly evenly. Linewomen are great with block and they don’t need anything else. Blitzers can be your standard support and blitzer. Try and keep the skills evenly over the postionals and develop your passers so you can do a few styles of play and keep yourself flexible.

Norse

Originally Norse were a bit boring and actually a difficult team to use league wise. However, they have since grown into a unique and fun team with A LOT of positionals that makes them a very interesting team to use develop and play.

Let’s start with the lineman. They are a standard human lineman with block and av 7. Block means there less fragile than they look but also means throwing a 1d block here and there isn’t that risky. There av 7 means your gunna have a lot of injuries, and KO’s mind.

Throwers are well…. Ok I guess? This isn’t really a passing team although I suppose you can build them a little this way but these players aren’t essential. 20k extra for a lineman with pass and access to passing skills may not be worth it.

Runners on the other hand are great. Fast and with movement 7 and strength 3, these guys makes great ball carriers and come with dauntless which considering there the only blitzer type character without frenzy in the team will be very useful on occasion.

Berserkers and what you would expect from a team of frothing madmen. These guys have the same stats as linemen but access to strength skills and starting with Frenzy and jump up make these guys a nuisance. Jump up is a great skill as well which can be underestimated. Starting with Block as well makes frenzy more reliable.

Ulfenwerener’s were added in the update and these guys are the team’s best players. These guys are mv 6 str 4 with frenzy and have access to strength skills. They also start with AV 8 which makes em survivable. Brilliant blitzers and can be awkward on the line as well just look out for their Ag 2.

Finally, the big guy is a snow troll which starts with claws rather than mighty blow. As such these guys will be sitting on your line 2/3 games in breaking armour on a 7+ (assume you then go for mighty blow!) These guys therefore add great Anti-armour bashing to the team. They are wild animals which is a bit of a pain but these are line big guys and are great!

All the postionals are 0-2 so as you can imagine you have the potential to field a team of 8 positionals and a big guy. The team itself is based on the running game utilising the ability to 1d block effectively and frenzy to create gaps in the opponent’s defence. This is where the ulfenwereners excel as they don’t rely on assists to break the line.

The consensus is throwers are a bit rubbish and the 20k isn’t worth it for pass and access to pass skills. If I has the extra 20k I would probably get a thrower. Having an extra option of throwing more reliably to score a quick touchdown id say one is probably worth it in the end.

A nice team to start with has a few options and the multitude of block will be forgiving although Frenzy may catch newer players out. For experienced players, this team is dynamic and exciting to use.

Mikes Starter team

1 Runner

2 Blitzers

2 Ulfenwereners

6 Linemen

3 Rerolls

Get an apothecary asap (Hopefully after game 1!) this is to cover injuries to your positionals. Then start filing out your roster with the remaining runner and a snow troll. Keep your roster at 14 I’d say. You will take KO’s and Injuries frequently so hopefully that way your drive will be full each time with also taking the apo into account. Level up your blitzers and ulfenwereners as a priority. Your runner is great with just dodge so once he’s scored twice try and score with your blitzing players.

My aim is to try and finish this series before the new year so stay tuned sports fans! Only 4 more races to go!