Bloodbowl heads to the waste lands: Chaos Dwarves and Ogres in Bloodbowl

So, I failed to finish the series by December but you know xmas is a busy ish time of year (Or I was too lazy….)

For the penultimate article of this series I present to you the Ogres and Chaos Dwarves. These guys shared the same area of the map just outside the old world although there were always the regiments of renown representing the ogres!

Armies of huge ogres and dwarves with their hobgoblin allies ruled this area. In the blood bowl world these are 2 hard hitting teams. Chaos Dwarves are similar to their dwarf cousins but different and in my opinion much more exciting to use.

Ogres on the other hand are a team of pure strength with the little snotlings there for erm support?

Both are exciting but how are they for beginners and seasoned vets?

Chaos Dwarves

This is one of my favourite teams. People often lump them with their Dwarven counterparts however I believe there is a lot more to them.

For starters the team has dwarven linemen. However, in this team they are the teams positionals. Up to 6 blockers can be obtained and they are identical to dwarves but they do have the option of mutations on a double. Therefore the choice of guard then mighty blow isn’t a given on these guys.

The linemen of the team are hobgoblins which are just like a human linemen but with av 7. A bit more of a liability these guys act a little like skinks in lizardmen teams in that they are the support ball carriers and ultimately the ones that will foul the opponent. Access to only general on a skill up makes them limited.

Minotaurs are the team’s big guys. Not brilliant really as they are wild animals and slower than rat ogres. They do provide the line with strength however and the guard from the blockers makes their frenzy less of a liability.

The stars of the team are the bull centaurs. These guys are strength 4 and movement 6 dwarves although they don’t start with block. They do start with sprint and sure feet meaning they are quite nippy. These will be the teams ball carriers and their speed and strength will also mean they’re the teams blitzers.

Chaos Dwarf teams are more mobile than there less evil counterparts having 6 blockers and a minotaur will make your team pretty violent up front. The hobgoblins allow for good movement to support the bull centaurs but these guys will be the start of the show. Grind down your opponent up front then using the speed of your faster players to score.

The issue with the team is ball handling. The team has no ball handling skills initially so the ag 4 of the centaurs will prove annoying and the lack of sure hands in the gobbos will be frustrating. The team has a lot of slow players as well meaning the team may often get caught out.

However this is a fun team to use a little bit difficult for beginners and fun for experienced players.

Mikes Starter team:

4 Hobgoblins

5 Chaos Dwarf Blockers

2 Bull Centaurs

3 Rerolls

Get the Extra Dwarf first then the Mino. Bear in mind when dwarves have to go MNG your freebooter will be a hobgoblin not a dwarf…. So, you will sometimes be playing with 4/5 hobgoblins. Focus on levelling the centaurs, the mino and dwarves will look after themselves. Try not to level the hobbos too much but get a dirty player and a kicker.

Ogres

This team is very limited in what it does in that it has 2 players and these players are very much stuck in their roles.

Ogres are the same as in the human team without loner. You can have up to 6 Ogres and these guys are brute force. Bear in mind however their bonehead is very much a limiting factor on this team. The more ogres you have the more times your str 5 power house lets the enemy run past him.

That many strength 5 however is a horrible prospect for every team. It presents a formidable cage and the chance of a one turner with throw team mate is easier than the usual shenanigans.

Snotlings are on the other hand quite terrible. They are strength 1 and av 5. Titchy allows them however to get anywhere and although these are the weakest and easiest players to injure, they only cost 20k!

My talk on Ogres is going to be brief because well, I’ve not used them much. However, the skill of ogres is to make the ogres you have go as far as possible. A normal ogre needs 3 assists for a normal str 3 player to take him out. That many assists requires space that an opponent almost certainly will run out of.

Mighty blow on so many players will also cause dents so hit people as much as you can!

Scoring with your ogres is key, taking a ball off a str 5 Ogre is difficult! Also remember with Throw Team mate you always have an opportunity to core in the opponent’s drive…. Just make sure an ogre is free to make the throw!

Ogres suffer from Team Bloat. That means that getting one more useful player makes the team value sky rocket This is quite a hard mechanic to balance.

This is a team that very difficult for a newbie to use and just as difficult for an experienced player.

Mikes Starter Team

4 Ogres

7 Snotlings

3 Rerolls

1 Apothecary

Your team is going to be severely diminished if you lose an ogre so an apothecary is a great early addition. Save up to get the next 2 and then buy snotlings to your hearts content! Level and score with your ogres. Skilling with snotlings is a bit pointless, I would even fire a snotling if it doesn’t roll at least a double.

1 more to go! Until then!