Hello folks,
Dolch here with your scoop on all things Blood Bowl. In my last article, I gave you a bit of an introduction to the positional players and the lowdown on the teams that are available directly through Games Workshop. So if you are looking for coverage over contents of the starters as well as the available add-ons for Orks, Humen, Scaven, Dwarfs, Elven Union, Dark Elfs, Goblins, Chaos Chosen, and Nurgle teams then look here.
In this article, I’ll be looking at the mixed teams that you can make from the above teams without conversions or modifications (Throw a unified paint scheme on them and go). I’ll be using a few resources, namely the Teams of Legend published on Bloodbowl.com and the Blood Bowl Almanac (alternatively, you can also look at the Death Zone Season One and Season Two books that are collected in the Almanac).
A bit of a word of warning here… since these teams are assembled from a variety of boxes, they tend to be expensive to assemble. (Super-heavy expensive in most cases, not a 40,000 point Ork-army expensive).
Chaos Dwarfs
They are Chaotic and they like beer, who doesn’t love these short and hairy guys? This team is made up of mostly Hobgoblin Runners. As models, I’d use the Beastmen from the Chaos Chosen team. The core of this team is the Chaos Dwarf Blockers, of course. Take up to six of the linemen from the Dwarf team and paint them appropriately. You can also pick up one of the Forgeworld Minotaurs for this team. Unfortunately, there is no current Blood Bowl model for the Bull Centaur (please, Forgeworld!). You can play this team without them, but their absence will be felt on the field.
Chaos Renegades
Next is the most mixed up team of them all, the Chaos Renegades. They use human linemen, for which you could use either the Chaos Warriors or linemen from the human team. They also have a Goblin, which is easily enough nabbed from the Goblin four pack. Similarly, you can take a Dark Elf Lineman and Skaven Linemen as well, you are looking at either kidnapping them from their team boxes (or the Forgeworld expansion pack for Skaven). (I’m serious about kidnapping here… no one on this team really gets along!) Yet, if you want to play the Chaos Renegades what you really want is three Big Guys on the field in every game. It is easy to get the Troll and the Ogre in plastic. You need to go to Forgeworld to get the Minotaur (and they have other options for the Troll and Ogre as well).
Ogres
Ogres are what is considered a ‘stunty’ team… most of the players on the team are small (and in this case, very small). Stunty teams are difficult to win with consistently because you just don’t have all the tools that most of the fully-fledged teams have. This is on purpose, and stunty teams can give you a great challenge. Like the Chaos Renegades, you get a lot of big guys to pound your opponent with. It may be a bit of a stretch to say that you can build this team from what is currently available. If you don’t do some heavy conversion, taking six plastic Ogres will leave your team a bit boring looking. Technically, runts are even smaller and weaker than goblins, but no one would fault you for just grabbing a couple of those kits, either from the 4 pack or the team box, to fill out a roster.
Underworld Denizens
Another mixed up team that is easily made is the Underworld team. This is also often considered a ‘Stunty” team and it is made up mostly of Goblins and Skaven (no Gutterrunners, but you do have Throwers and Blitzers) and a Troll. If you bought a second Skaven box to fill out your first teams requirement for Gutterrunners, then you easily can use the other Skaven for this team. Add in some basic goblins and a plastic troll. You may want to have a lot of extra bodies around for modifying because this team has access to Mutations. You’ll want the option to add extra heads and arms as characters advance.
What teams just don’t work… In my opinion.
There are a few teams that just don’t work right now using only the current generation of Games Workshop Blood Bowl miniatures. These include:
- Amazons- No female football players (aside from one Cheerleader who really gets into her work).
- Halflings – No pudgy guys (aside from a ref), and no Treeman. You gotta have the Treeman.
- Khemri – No Skeletons
- Lizardmen – No football playing lizards currently.
- Necromantic Horrors– No Flesh Golems or Werewolves
- Norse – No Minnesotans
- Shambling Undead – Again, no Zombies or Skeletons
- Vampires- No… um… Vampires?
- Woodelfs- Not enough lightly armored Elves, current models are too well armored (and slow) for these lightning fast.
These teams (and many more) were available from Games Workshop in the ‘good olde days’. You may be able to find them in the back corners of old hobby shops, floating around on eBay auctions, or even in the back of a buddy’s closet. There is still a lot of love for those old miniatures, but the quality of the sculpts and casts do not compare to today’s plastic and resin. Also, given the recent expansion of the game (I mean, size creep… not rules) these teams just aren’t impressive on the table anymore.
Yet… many of us are hobbyists, and the current line of Age of Sigmar can offer a lot of raw material for conversions. This is the direction that I plan on taking this series in the near future.
And the future?
The Specialist Games arm of Games Workshop seems to be putting out a team once per quarter. This is great! The fact that you can build four additional teams from what has already been released shows a lot of foresight from the Specialist Games team.
At this time, none of the Undead Teams have been released (it seems that the undead drought of Age of Sigmar version 1.0 spread over to Blood Bowl as well). If they release a Shambling Undead team, that will cover most of the Khemri and Necromantic Teams, too. The other team on my “Do Not Work” list do not share much if anything. As a result, they will need their own team boxes.
Forgeworld can continue doing a great job supporting the game. Like the above-mentioned Bull Centaurs and Mummies, a few more models would make a big difference for a lot of these mixed-up teams. Hopefully, we might even see alternate models for the Trolls and Ogres.
This wraps up the teams a lot of the teams that don’t have box of their own. Next time, we’ll get into some conversions!
Until then, Best Blitzes!
Dolch
But Wait… there is more!
I had this article all ready to go when GW released a bit of news…
CHAMPIONS OF DEATH ARE ON THEIR WAY!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
