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Strategy and Tactics - New to BB: Starting with Goblins

studderingdave - Mar 24, 2008 - 01:14 PM
Post subject: New to BB: Starting with Goblins

this sumer i have dedicated a large portion of my time to getting one team/warband/army/ etc for each of the specialist games. ive always beeen interested in blood bowl, and after finding this site, im thankful for such a well of knowledge.

ive opted to make a goblin blood bowl team. i am aware that goblins arn't that great of a team, especially for a beginner, but i stand by my choice and will accept the almost guaranteed beating i will recieve if i ever do play the game. i bought a box of WHFB gobbos and have plans to comvert them over to BB gobbos to save money.

does anyone have any warnings, tips, tactics for me to be aware of if i ever do get a game of BB in? i might bring them down to gamesday, i know there will be at least one BB table there.

thanks

dave

Spazzfist - Mar 24, 2008 - 01:37 PM
Post subject: RE: New to BB: Starting with Goblins

Good on you for taking on the gobbos as a starting team, but be prepared to take your lumps!

One big problem with playing the gobbos as well is that you are going to have a harder time learning the stategies of the game, because goblins are so useless at.... well anything! Laughing

Keep a lot of cash in your treasury thereby ensuring more inducements for you at the beginning of each game which can get you valuable bribes and maybe even Ripper the star troll who will not go stupid!

But whatever you do, enjoy the secret weapons - they are what make the gobbo team the most fun!

studderingdave - Mar 24, 2008 - 02:01 PM
Post subject: RE: New to BB: Starting with Goblins

i plan on making on of each of the special guys, one fanatic, one pogo'er, one bomber and one chainsaw guy.

im guessing with goblins that more is better, so im gonna try to get the most feet on the ground i can? do you recommend a troll, or is it a waste of points?

daloonieshaman - Mar 24, 2008 - 03:00 PM
Post subject: RE: New to BB: Starting with Goblins

Hey I see that Pogo lacks the skill "NO HANDS" get him the TD often so he can skill up (he goes off after any td or half)

frogbear - Mar 24, 2008 - 03:12 PM
Post subject: RE: New to BB: Starting with Goblins

To start with, I know you do not want to hear it, but go get some plastic orcs and play orcs to start with. You can even get to use some gobbos and a troll in that team as well. You will learn the game tactics alot easier and quicker that way.

If you are going to be stubborn and stick with gobbos, know these few things:

1. Gobbos go down hard. No point in getting a whole lot of secret weapons to start. 2 is enough. Most opponents will get you down to less than 11 men in a drive and then go for a touchdown. What this forces you to do is bring on all your secret weapons for 1 or 2 turns only before half time. They are then out of the game. This is a waste. Review the secret weapons carefully and take the 2 that fit your style of play.

2. In Offence, dodge is your friend. You want to run as many of the little blighters through the line of scrimage and protect the ball carrier without getting in his way. This is a hard thing to do. You also have Throw Team Mate for a possible 1 or 2 turn touchdown. This is unreliable at best however

3. In offence, your friend is the Dodge skill for a block and the tackle zones you have around you. Also the gobbo missile with TTM can be quite effective if unreliable. Just do not allow the opponent more than 1 or 2 blocks and a blitz each turn. get out of his tackle zones where you can and enter them at the correct time of the game to provide that extra pressure.

It is not going to be fun at first. Be prepared to have a shocking season. Alot of good coaches only manage a 50% ratio at best with gobbos, yet there are some exceptions of course....

Good luck, and honestly, play a few games with orcs first. No use learning how to ride a bike before you can walk.

Cheers........

studderingdave - Mar 24, 2008 - 03:25 PM
Post subject: RE: New to BB: Starting with Goblins

how much of a difference would it be to throw a few orcs into the mix? i have plenty of 40k ork plastics i can use, maybe i can have a large team that can be broken into an all gobbo team when i learn the ropes.

Spazzfist - Mar 24, 2008 - 03:30 PM
Post subject: Re: RE: New to BB: Starting with Goblins

studderingdave wrote:

A big difference.... wait no...a

HUGE! difference!

Orcs are one of the starting teams for a reason, because they have all the good positional players which help you to learn the game. I would definitely go with this and then ween yourself onto the goblins when you feel like some punishment.

As for trolls, on a goblin team the two trolls are a must, on an orc team, I would take them later on in the deve,lopment of the team - max out on the Black Orcs and Blitzers first.

With the Secret Weapons, remember that they only last for one drive, so do not field them all at once!

studderingdave - Mar 24, 2008 - 03:32 PM
Post subject: RE: Re: RE: New to BB: Starting with Goblins

what is the most used rulebook for bloodbowl, i dont want to start converting my team until i know which rulebook is most widely used.

thechosengobbo - Mar 24, 2008 - 06:02 PM
Post subject:

The most used is the living rulebook 5.0 (the one on the official site).

It can be found here.

The basic rules are ok to learn with if you want to take it slow (recommended for gobbos, as going full on rules with a handicapped team can be a bit of a harsh thing), but I (and the league I'm in now) learned everything from the complete rulebook.

Congratulations on chosing the best team in the game! I learned with gobbos, and loved everything about the team.

One piece of advice, you have to not care. You have to be able to laugh at the goblin that just got eaten by the troll. You CANNOT get attached to any player in your team, as they last very little time.

Once you can do that, then you start to feel less bad about attempting to throw goblins, and making long strings of dodge rolls, which are the two things above all else that will win you games.

Cramy - Mar 24, 2008 - 06:56 PM
Post subject:

Gobbos are lots of fun if you are in the right state of mind. Some games they'll dodge everywhere, and you will actually win. Other games they go splat as soon as you try to dodge, then you are in trouble.

Lots of good advice above. I'll add a few things.

For the secret weapons, just keep two on roster. Get as many Bribes as you can as inducements to keep them on the pitch, and to allow you to foul every turn. I like to Pogoer and the Fanatic. One of the main reasons is that they can actually develop. The Pogoer can score, intercept, block and pass. The Fanatic has No Hands, but with the Ball&Chain and ST7, he can cause Casualties. The Bomber and Chainsaw can only get SPPs from the MVP, unless you start blocking with them and hope for CAS (a bad plan, obviously). I get Nobbla as an inducement once in while, but only if I get maximum Bribes as inducement and I have a deep roster for the game. Nobbla has block and dodge, which helps him stay on pitch.

The two Trolls are a must, and try to keep enough money to replace a dead Troll. Once you get an apothecary, his role is to save the Trolls, nobody else (unless you have a really exceptional Gobbo).

My preferred inducements are Extra Training, Bribes, Babes and Wizard. The more rerolls you have the better. Allows you to do those two dice against blocks, and dodge even more. Babes help with KO rolls, so helps you keep players on pitch. Helps against your opponent forcing you to setup your secret weapons when you don't want to. I discussed Bribes above. And the Wizard's Lightning Bolt almost guarantees to prevent a touchdown.

You can also visit www.talkbloodbowl.com. Lots of strategy related discussions on there, including quite a few on different aspects of playing Goblins.

Good luck, and keep a sense of humour. Wink

studderingdave - Mar 24, 2008 - 07:02 PM
Post subject:

i think ive moved from my goblin stage to all things green. im gonna do up some goblins, some orcs and some snotlings so i can interchange them. i just read the snotling article in the SG site and i reallyliked it. need to convert a few more trolls, but thats fine.

Lyracian - Mar 26, 2008 - 06:00 AM
Post subject:

I play Goblins in our League, and they are actually winning at the moment! Some games you just get splatted since you need an average of three goblins to get a 2 Dice Block against a Human. You might want to sign up to an internet leage for a few onlline/email games as that will help you learn what you are doing and see how the game works.

In a League getting a few skilled Goblins can be a real asset. I like giving them Diving Tackle & Side Step as it makes them really annoying for the opponent to deal with. As was said earlier, be prepared for your Golbins to die in droves or be eaten by the Trolls.

Orcs are a better team to play, and you can have four Goblins on your team and a troll so you can play an Orc Passing game. You could try an Orc team of Two Black Orcs & a Troll for the Line, Four Blitzers, Two Goblins & Two Orc Throwers. The other Goblins and more Black Orcs can be the reserves.

studderingdave - Mar 26, 2008 - 05:41 PM
Post subject:

can anyone recommend a good place to sign up for an internet game of BB? i would love to learn some of the mechanics of the game.

also, when i am buiding a team, what kind of cash am i looing at to start with? i was toying around with army builder and it seems the numbers are pretty cheap compared to alot of the amounts i see tossed around the site and other sites. i noticed the rulebook has numbers like 175,000 while AB has a basic goblin comming in at 40 basic, i think im missing somethign major here.

if i were to buyt the box set for the game would it be better to get the "blue" box that GW sells, or the "yellow" box i always see on ebay?

thechosengobbo - Mar 26, 2008 - 06:23 PM
Post subject:

The blue box. It has all the current bits in it (except rulebook).

More importantly (for you) it comes with a basic orc team in ther with the fantastically bad old plastic models.

You're looking at 1 million credits for most league teams, if you get a tournament then you can hit 1.2 mil to 1.25 mil on average.

Can't help with an internet league, I'm afraid, I don't use them right now.

Lyracian - Mar 27, 2008 - 11:25 AM
Post subject:

studderingdave wrote:

can anyone recommend a good place to sign up for an internet game of BB? i would love to learn some of the mechanics of the game.

This is the one I am in, it uses the latest LRB 5 rules and is playtesting the LRB 6
http://www.blood-bowl.net/MBBL/

studderingdave wrote:

if i were to buyt the box set for the game would it be better to get the "blue" box that GW sells, or the "yellow" box i always see on ebay?

The only difference is the Blue Box has the Leadership Counters which you do not really need. I have got four BB Games from ebay for our league for £20-30 shipped each.

Doubleskulls - Mar 31, 2008 - 04:13 AM
Post subject:

FUMBBL is the biggest online BB centre- games are played in real time using a program called Java Blood Bowl and typically take just over an hour. However it is a very large community and like all large community there are some people there you may not get on with. There is an academy and help for newbies. FUMBBL is still LRB4 so uses an old version of the game (which is quite different in several important respects).

MBBL is a play by email game - so you play your turn then email it your opponent and so on until the game is done. That lack of interactivity means games generally take several days and there are a few compromises (e.g. you don't have much control over sidestep) with the rules too.

Now with goblins under LRB5... always start with both trolls. Then choose 2 or 3 of the rostered secret weapons. My personal preference at this point in time is the pogo and fanatic. That is because neither the 'saw or bombadier skill up easily so can be freebooted and be nearly as good. There are also decent stars available for both. 3 rerolls still leaves enough for an apothecary and 11 normal goblins giving 15 players in total.

The apoth should generally be saved until late in the game (T12 or later). Otherwise a troll will be killed and fail your regen roll.

Goblins best chance of winning, like many teams, is by establishing a significant numerical superiority. Secret weapons and fouling are the best ways to do this, and sometimes the trolls will chip in. Also cheekily exploiting any mishap on the part of your opponent - e.g. failed pick ups - often helps.

Axtklinge - Mar 31, 2008 - 11:15 AM
Post subject:

Hi!
As said before, 2 trolls are a must in a gobbo team IMO.
Not only they can punch your opponents out of your way, but they allow you to use the TTM skill, a "card up your sleeve" you should never underestimate (specialy if you play against gobbos).
On the secret weapon issue, (as in all other things concerning gobbos as far as WFB goes) its a lot about luck, so for the sake of fun, I would advise you to convert them all.
They all have their uses, they all work and are fun to use, and they also fail, turn on you, and make you want to play another team. Dont! Gobbos are fun, as long as you dont take them too seriously.

On the other hand, an Orc team is a completly different team, (it is one of the teams I would elect as perfect for starters, along with humans), a lot more reliable, with a natural tendency for bashing the opposition, but still with plenty pontencial for scoring and winning games.

My advice, try a couple of games with proxys and decide later!

studderingdave - Apr 02, 2008 - 04:05 PM
Post subject:

ive fully decided to go with orcs first, but i picked up a box of warhammer orcs AND a box of warhammer goblins, as well as 2 trolls. my end goal is to make a large OnG team that can be branched off into a fully functioning golbin team once i get the rules down. so orcs to learn, gobbos later when i have the rules down. i also have a few spare black orcs to use as well.

any tips when it comes to modeling them? should the blockers and blitzers and such be modeled in an certain way, or is it just a free for all?

Spazzfist - Apr 02, 2008 - 04:26 PM
Post subject:

If you are going to make it "free for all" mak sure that you have something that makes it clear to your opponent which is which to avoid confusion. Genrally throwers have the ball, so that is a good place to start. For my blitzers I gave the all the "iron gobs" so that they can be distinguished that way, and the linemen are plain. The Black Orcs are the metal ones, i oppted to go with these because (a) I love the models and (b) I really wanted to see the size difference,.

thechosengobbo - Apr 02, 2008 - 04:56 PM
Post subject:

Failing that, you could paint the base rings in different colours.

There are 'official' colours (in that they USED to be official, and are instantly recognised by some older players). If I remember this rightly, the colours are as follows:

Green for blockers
Red for blitzers
White for throwers
Grey for linemen
Yellow for catchers (which would be the gobbos on your orc team)

Wou can skip for the likes of trolls and gobbos if you want though (especially if you want to make an all gobbo team, as base ringing can looks silly), mainly as any opponent whi can't tell the diference between a goblin and an orc (who isn't a beginner) needs their head examined Laughing