Welcome back to Touchline Tactics – where we get the inside scoop on the playstyles and peccadillos of your favourite Blood Bowl teams. We assess their gameplans, look at which skills to advance, and take our top picks of Star Players to bring to the gridiron.
In this instalment we’re taking a look at the Black Orcs teams after they ‘kindly’ requested that we give them some publicity. Let’s take a look at what happens when you take the meanest Orcs around and release them onto the gridiron.
Playstyle
Black Orc teams mix a Bash-heavy playstyle with a dash or two of devious tactics, focused on grinding down the opposing team as you try to march up the pitch. With access to six Black Orcs as a strong, durable frontline, supported by cheap and agile Goblins to act as ball carriers, they are a difficult team to bully.
The downside is that the Black Orcs are slow and can be easily mispositioned, while the Goblins are fragile if left exposed. Recovering from a mistake can be difficult, especially against Dash teams which the Black Orcs struggle to lock down.
Tactics
As the eponymous name suggests, Black Orcs are the core of the team. Six ST4 players are a deadly threat and they come with Brawler for some reliability and Grab to set up further blocks if the first doesn’t work.
When the ball needs to be moved, the Goblin Bruisers come in. With Dodge and Stunty, they can slip through the enemy line, while Thick Skull adds more survivability. Don’t let that fool you, though – they’re still pretty fragile if caught separated from their teammates.
Extra muscle comes in the form of a Trained Troll. Strong and able to throw a Goblin, they are ideal for assisting the Black Orcs in removing players from the pitch.
When it comes to tactics, Bribery and Corruption should be mentioned. Black Orc Teams have cheap access to Bribes, so Fouls are a valuable weapon in the team’s arsenal. When a valuable opposition player is on the floor – a Wardancer for example – they’re just asking for a Goblin to give them a good kicking!
Skilling up
As the bashing half of your team, Black Orcs should focus on skills that help them in this role. Block, Guard and Stand Firm are solid choices, while Tackle will help lock down the more agile teams.
For a Goblin, Dirty Player (+1) and Sneaky Git are perfect skills for fouling. Saving up for Sure Hands as a secondary gives the team a reliable ball carrier but also a very tempting target for the opposition.
On a Troll, Guard is always valuable, providing further assistance to those around it. Grab is also worthwhile though less important what with the abundance on your Black Orcs.
Top five Star Players
Sometimes you need even more muscle to put the hurt on the opposition or someone to shore up the team’s weaknesses – here are our top five Star Player choices:
5 – Nobbla Blackwart
Block and Dodge make Nobbla less likely to be knocked down, while his relative quickness and Chainsaw allow him to chase down and clatter a fast ball-carrier that gets past the Black Orcs.
4 – Fungus the Loon
This spinning ball of death brings extra pain. His Whirling Dervish special rule allows him to re-roll the direction he spins in each turn – making him surprisingly reliable.*
3 – Bomber Dribblesnot
Bombardier and Accurate make Dribblesnot a deadly proposition and the cheap bribes available to the Black Orc teams mean he sticks around for longer.
2 – Ripper Bolgrot
A Troll without Always Hungry and Really Stupid is an exceptional buy on its own and the free re-roll (once per half) Ripper’s Thinking Man’s Troll special rule gives him is just added value.
1 – Varag Ghoul-chewer
Being fast for a Black Orc and possessing Jump Up means Varag can’t be kept down, while Block, Mighty Blow (+1) and Crushing Blow special rules make him a killing machine.
Touchline Tactics will return again next month with a look at the Lizardmen.
* Well, for a Goblin at least!
