Black Orc Strategy

Black Orc teams are a brawl, scrum heavy team which is focused on blocking and pitch control. They are one of two teams who have the capacity to field seven players with high strength, providing them an exceptional amount of power and pitch presence. The team itself consists of Black Orcs, Goblins and a Troll, giving a nice combination of brute force and agility.

Strengths

• Six Black Orcs with a troll gives a powerful frontline
• Goblins are agile and cheap
• Cheap bribes
• Black Orcs and the troll are very durable
• Brawler makes blocking relatively safe

Weaknesses

• Black Orcs are very slow
• Goblins are very fragile
• Team can struggle if caught out of position

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Black Orc Strategy

Black Orcs are a slow, high strength bash team. Designed to grind down the opposition, a Black Orc coach will find themselves whittling down and smashing the opposition into the turf between blocks and fouls. With six Black Orcs and a troll, Black Orcs have among the strongest front lines in the game. Goblins also provide much needed agility. However Black Orcs are slow and Goblins fragile and being out positioned can be extremely difficult for a Black Orc Coach to work against.

Let's look at the players that make up the Black Orc team.

Black Orcs

• Skill Choices: Block, Guard, Mighty Blow
• Secondary: Dodge
• Stat Ups: +1 Strength

The core of your team, Black Orcs are strong with Str4 and durable with AV10+. Their role as blockers is to block opposition players as well as to protect their more fragile goblin team mates. With grab you can easily force enemy players into bad positions, forcing them to dodge out into extremely dangerous tackle zones.

Black Orcs should pave the way on your offense and stand firm at the front of defense. Be careful not to get drawn too far out of position as their MA4 means they will find it hard to catch up to faster opposition, so good placement is critical.

Goblin Bruisers

• Skill Choices: Diving Tackle, Side Step, Catch, Sneaky Git
• Secondary: Sure Hands, Block, Wrestle
• Ball Carrier: Sure Hands, Sure Feet, Sprint
• Blitzer: Wrestle
• Fouler: Dirty Player/Sneaky Git
• One Turner: Catch, Sure Feet
• Stats: +1 Agility, +1 MA

Goblin Bruisers are the faster, more nimbler members of the Black Orc Team. Fragile at Av8+ and weak at Str2+ it is important Goblin Bruisers are both protected and used cautiously. Although they are cheap and have thick skull, losing your Goblin Bruisers will lead to your Black Orcs being ganged up on and overhwelmed quickly so be wary of committing them too soon.

Goblins are to be used primarily as ball carriers, chaff and foulers. Be sure to develop one with Sneaky Git to foul as well as one with catch to give you the chance to one turn.

With MA6, Dodge and Stunty, Goblins will also be able to run through the enemy lines in a pinch for a touchdown but be sure to have rerolls in hand if it requires more than 2 dodges. Normally however it is best to keep them behind the Black Orcs safe and use them sparingly to add assists or support a screen.

Troll

• Skill Choices: Brawler, Guard, Strong Arm
• Roadblock: Guard, Stand Firm
• Blocker: Block, Guard
• Thrower: Strong Arm
• Stats: +1 AV, +1 Str

Trolls are the big guy of the Black Orc team. Str5 and Really Stupid, they are best used simply to get in the way of the opponents and force dodges. Vomit can be used as a turn over risk free move but it is mostly best to only block with the troll if you're already smashing the opponent or if you have no choice. Best used passively.

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Starting Rosters

The most important thing as with most teams is to decide what roster you are going to build. These rosters are designed around a League or perpetual setting. For tournament builds, generally they begin at 1100k TV with free skills.

Here are some sample rosters

Roster 1 (Bulky Build)

• 1 x Troll
• 6 x Black Orcs
• 4 x Goblins
• 2 x Re-rolls
• Total 955k
• +4 x Dedicated Fans

Good foundation. Although only starts you with 11 players, it gives you all your big players and plenty of fans, meaning if you do receive damage, you'll have plenty of money coming in to quickly make a recovery.

Roster 2 (Quicker Build)

• 6 x Black Orcs
• 6 x Goblins
• 3 x Rerolls

Starts with more rerolls, more players but less muscle. An interesting option, you can drop a reroll for a bribe or a goblin to give you some more potential to get people off the field.

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Defense and Offense as Black Orcs

Black Orcs are a strong, bash related team who excel at engaging and overpowering their opponents in melee. With six Str4 players and one Str5, Black Orcs can have a lot of pitch control but must be very careful about positioning due to their poor speed.

Defense

Some general advice for defense.

• Always be cautious where you commit Black Orcs
• Do not spread out too heavily as Black Orcs can be easily out positioned
• Wait for the opponent to commit to one side, then follow suite
• Protect your Goblins
• Do not throw a Goblin unless it is a crisis situation and there are no options left

This is general advice which will serve any Black Orc coach well on defense. Assuming the opponent is a strong bash team, it is suggested your line of scrum consists of two black orcs and a troll for maximum survivability.

In the initial stages of a defensive drive, it is best that you attempt to screen the opponent while doing hit and run blitzes. Once the opponent starts advancing down a side of the pitch, the Black Orcs can begin to engage the enemy in a more committed fashion. Attempt to crack a cage with a Black Orc and flood it with more Black Orcs and protect them with goblin bodies to reduce the capacity for assists. The troll should also be used as a means to cut off choke points or slow down a box formation.

In terms of formations, Black Orcs should concentrate their heavy hitters in the middle, forcing the opponents down one side.

Against faster teams like elves, a Chevron formation can be utilised.

Offense

Black Orcs high strength and brawler comes into its own here. Generally you should aim to do the following:

• Smash open the line of scrum with your Black Orcs
• Use grab to trap enemy players so they either must stay down or be forced to dodge
• Gang foul any high value targets
• Make sure your goblin carrier is safe behind a wall of Black Orcs

Your standard strategy is a loose box while using your Black Orcs and troll to grind your way up the field. However there will be times when there may be a weaker layer to the opponents screen. Be careful to not congregate too heavily in one space but also not to spread too thin. Black Orcs should be paired up with a goblin acting as an annoyance to protect any black orcs from being swarmed.

Don't be afraid to hand off during emergencies and always remember to do your safe moves first.

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Conclusion

Black Orcs are a strong but challenging team. With one of the strongest front lines in the Blood Bowl game, Black Orcs have the potential to smash some heads in! However with their low movement and fragile nature of the goblins, it is important that a Black Orc Coach remains aware of their positioning and always be sure that when they bring a valuable enemy player down to plant the boot in!

Good luck with your Black Orcs!