Wednesday 1 November 2017

Beware the Stunties! – Halflings and Dwarves in Blood bowl


Taken as they are from the Warhammer fantasy universe, Dwarves are a fan favourite and had a massive following and still do now (even though there now flying in massive airships….)

Indeed, they are iconic. Their Troll Slayers which brings visions of Gotrek Gurnisson and Snorri.

Halflings on the other hand were more well known for the Moot than anything else and an imitation of the Hobbit. Indeed, as they are supported by the treemen it is as if they are much more like their Lord of the Rings counter Parts.

So how about it guys should be have a look at the stunty and the Stubborn?




Dwarves

As I mentioned a fan favourite team and easy team to use.

The Linemen start with AV9, block and tackle but handily have access to strength skills meaning a skilled dwarf line is horrible difficult to break through (lots and lots of guard). What lets these guys down is speed. A mv of 4 can mean dwarfs struggle against a team that can shift their attack effectively (Wood Elves Lizardmen)

Dwarf Positionals are nice as well. Runners add an element of speed which allows the ball to be gathered easily. Although not overly impressive in stats, they do get access to pass skills which means they can get leader. That and block is the only skills from general id take for these guys.

Blitzers are the same as long beards but without tackle and with extra movement and agility. These players there for additional ball carriers.

Troll slayers are blitzers with dauntless and frenzy and give the team options for facing big guys. They also have the speed of blitzers but suffer with AG 2.

Lastly the team has the deathroller, the funniest big guy in the game (Imagine your death roller steamrolling a troll… yep it can do that!) Strength 7 break tackle might blow make this big guy a horror at cage breaking. Only issue is that it’s a special weapon so you’ll mostly have it for one drive.

The issue I have and always have had with Dwarves is twofold.

Firstly, there’s one way to play with them. Every play your runner will grab the ball run it into a cage where it will sit as you slowly grind your way down the field. If you enjoy this way of playing and many people do Dwarves are brilliant. They are very forgiving (Everything has block!) which means you can throw one dice or two dice against blocks and still be ok.

Secondly well it’s hard to make a unique dwarf team. Linemen get guard then might blow. Troll slayers get mighty blow and tackle. Blitzers get…. Mighty blow and tackle. The only unique players would be the runners but even then, they usually go block then leader.

Dwarf teams are very slow as well so defence is harder than you would expect because pulling dwarves out of position is easier than say humans whose linesman can move 6 without going for it.You'll need to position your self very carefully when defending and often set up narrower in order to offset your speed deficit.

If you want an efficient team though dwarves are it. Lots of inbuilt rerolls from the get go, easy to use and very very VERY forgiving. A very good beginner team although I suspect for the most people one season is enough before they go onto a more dynamic team. 

To win with dwarves you will need to master the cage and if any team is going to make you do that, its this one.
Mikes starter Team
2 Blitzers
2 Trolls Slayers
2 Runners
5 Blockers
3 rerolls

Get the apothecary and then the death roller followed by another lineman or 2. Dwarfs don’t take many casualties due to their high armour. Focus on skilling the blitzers and the Troll Slayers, the blockers will skill up from Cs as they will be blocking a lot.

Halflings

Halflings are how do I put this lightly….. are terrible. This is not a team for the faint hearted. There linemen are halflings and are stunty str 2, mv 5 and av 6….. these guys implode when they get taken down!

They are however supported by 3 erm advantages? Maybe?!?!

Firstly, they get the excellent halfling master chef. This means up to 3 rerolls are taken from the enemy team and added to their own pool. This may leave with an opponent 1 rerolls or none. It also leaves the halflings who need to take a lot more risks with a lot of rerolls. This is an inducement that anyone can have but usually it costs £300k. Halflings get this for £100k. It is an inducement so basically aim to have your team, at least 100k in value (believe me it probably will be!)

Secondly it has access to treeman. These guys are the strongest big guys that aren’t also secret weapons. These can also use rerolls as they don’t have the loner skills. A lot of how the team does will depend on these guys. Breaking the cage will be down to the treemen knocking a whole in a defence will be their responsibility too.

Lastly, they have a lot of star players available to them all of whom are high strength. With a low team ranking you are more likely to be able to use these guys. Having deeproot strong branch would mean three treemen…. Not sure you can name a stronger front line than that!!

Overall this is possible the hardest team in the game other than ogres or vampires to use. There are no special weapons that goblins can rely on, there armour is also weaker than goblins. A lot of how this team works will be through the treeman. Try and force gaps that halflings can then swamp the enemy with. Remember they can only blitz once a turn. If every halfling is out of tackle zones, you won’t be hit hard.

Extensive use of fouling is needed to even the odds here however that is unreliable at best!
A huge challenge for any Blood bowl player and one to shy away from if you’re a beginner. A great challenge for an experienced head.

Mikes starter team
13 halflings
2 Treemen
3 rerolls
2 Assistant coaches
2 Cheerleader
Apothecary

There’s nothing else to get so replace injured players regularly. I’d be tempted to replace unskilled halflings that MNG if you have the cash! I’m not gunna say who to level up as that should be obvious. When the halflings do get SPP try and focus it on one or 2 of them. I would even say if they haven’t got a double or a stat increase by their second skill fire them.


Until next time!

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