Best team for newer players?

Sword of Solkan · Post by **Sword of Solkan** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 1:29 pm

Hi chaps,

I'm new-ish to Blood Bowl, and looking for pointers on which team to play in my club's league next Spring.

The league will be 10 matches against pre-determined teams, followed by play-offs for the winners. TV1000 to start.

I've been having a lot of fun with a Slann team in the Open League, but the agility teams in the current competitive league are having a fairly grim time of it. I'll be looking for something with a bit more punch for competitive play.*

So? Orcs? Undead? Something else?

My one concern with the slower teams is that they'll lock me into a predictable style of play which will be easy for more experienced coaches to predict. Conversely, those sort of teams are topping our current league.

I'd also really like a team for which good quality models are available. Gaspez Arts' Slann are a real pleasure to paint, which sold me on the team in the first place.

*As an addendum, if anyone has worked out how to play Slann competitively in a bash-heavy league then please tell me more.

Jimmy Fantastic · Post by **Jimmy Fantastic** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 1:42 pm

Orcs and Undead are without doubt the best races for new players.

Vanguard · Post by **Vanguard** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 1:57 pm

Depends what you mean. I'd argue that Humans are a better learning team - their flexibility means you can try different styles. You can play a bit of the bashing game and a bit of the passing game. Less likely to win as much tho, so may discourage some players.

Merrick · Post by **Merrick** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 2:18 pm

I'd say Humans because of the early TV skills and versatility, but Orcs and Undead are a strong shout as well.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 2:21 pm

I would say Undead because each player has a fairly obvious role and their stats optimise them for it. Plus if everyone likes bashing them the zombies to chew on, means nothing to you

el Superbeasto · Post by **el Superbeasto** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 2:23 pm

Humans are best for learning
Orcs are the best/strongest for beginners imo.

Digger Goreman · Post by **Digger Goreman** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 2:46 pm

I will echo much and try to explain a little:

Yes, it depends on what you qualify as "best"....

Humans are the kings of the personal (player) reroll and will be more forgiving of rookie mistakes (unless you roll dice like UKVoyager and I do

) But like the ol" saw about the camel, they do everything reasonably well, but nothing really well....

Orcs are very well protected, come with extra strengthening options (black orcs and troll) and can even branch out into agility territory with goblins (in case you meant "variety" as a qualifier as to what is best)....

Really good bios on teams can be found on bbtactics, plasmoids team website, and fummbl.... Good research....

Sword of Solkan · Post by **Sword of Solkan** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 5:24 pm

Good question. I’m looking for a team which will give me a fighting chance against more experienced coaches.

I suspect this really boils down to 2 questions:

1) Which team will help a new coach be most competitive against more experienced coaches who are using bash teams (e.g. Orcs or Dwarves); and
2) Which team will help a new coach be most competitive against more experienced coaches who are using agility teams (e.g. Elves or Skaven)?

The Slann have been great fun – every TD I’ve scored has been a skin of my teeth, against the odds sort of deal with half my team off the pitch and a Catcher making a desperate pass or leaping and dodging over the opposition to run it in after their cage collapsed. But I’d prefer to go for something more reliable in an environment where the other coaches will also be playing competitively.

On the face of it, it looks as though Orcs would be the best fit? (Heavily armoured, option of starting with a lot of players with high Strength or Block, Thrower with SH to avoid burning through those rerolls and the option of Goblins and a Troll for added flexibility).

Which leads on to my second question, what’s the best range of figures out there for an Orc team? Black Scorpion’s orcs look really good – are there any other contenders?

Digger Goreman · Post by **Digger Goreman** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:01 pm

Sucks to have to say this: but dorfs/dark elves will have the best chance (being the most cheesey of the cheesers) with dorfs having the survivability benefits and darkies having the spammag 4 and better-not-best armor than other spammag teams....

Still, orcs are more fun and not as badly unbalanced as the list in my sig.....

As a sort of search engine, put "blood bowl", bloodbowl, football in the search (use the advanced function to include postings with any of the three terms).... It might be worth hitting the German, Spainish and Italian ebay sites as well....

There are many orc choosings and it just depends on what style you wish to play....

faust_33 · Post by **faust_33** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:38 pm

What's "spammag"? This is the first time I've heard of that term, and I was beginning to think I had heard them all!

Sword, I wasn't sure but it sounds like you are looking for a team that will do well against both bash and finesse teams? So you are probably looking for something middle of the line or very durable. Others may argue, but I would likely go with an Undead team as they have served me well in the past.

spubbbba · Post by **spubbbba** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:05 pm

Sword of Solkan wrote: I suspect this really boils down to 2 questions:

1) Which team will help a new coach be most competitive against more experienced coaches who are using bash teams (e.g. Orcs or Dwarves); and
2) Which team will help a new coach be most competitive against more experienced coaches who are using agility teams (e.g. Elves or Skaven)?

In that case Orcs or Undead are the best choices. They are pretty simple to use and more forgiving due to higher armour or regen. They both have cheap players so you shouldn't have to play understrength and some speed and mobility as well.

I'd say Orcs are best if you'd want them to play a lot of games as they are competitive at all TV's. Undead start to struggle a bit once you get above 1500 and find it really tough above 2000. Orcs also struggle a bit above 1750, but are still above average.

Humans are one of the best teams to learn the game on and improve quickly but are not as strong as either of those 2. For agility teams then high elves are a good choice since they have some armour and obvious roles for their players.

Heff · Post by **Heff** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:03 pm

I would say orcs, that being said the new players with orcs last year were caned round my way. Something where players are cheap and skilled and re-rolls are plentiful. Zons? A bit dull but you start with 4 bodgers, can wrestle up your linos quickly and can have loads of re-rolls. Dodge helps you to reposition. They do well at the start and then die. Willy just released a new team which is lovely.

Digger Goreman · Post by **Digger Goreman** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:09 pm

faust_33 wrote:What's "spammag"? This is the first time I've heard of that term, and I was beginning to think I had heard them all!

Spammed Agility

Casebolt · Post by **Casebolt** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:40 am

My top 5 with full write up why, plus resources for those races:

http://www.everett-bbl.org/styled-11/Fi ... index.html

Saebelsultan · Post by **Saebelsultan** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 8:07 am

Go green!

There are a lot of nice minis around for Orcs, Trolls and Goblins alike. Have a look at the NAF suppliers overview http://www.thenaf.net/resources/suppliers/.
I myself use Neomics (first?) Orc team. I like the somewhat cartoonish look.

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