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Goblin Strategy

Summary:

Goblins (or Gobbos) have always been one of the more 'fun' teams to play in Blood Bowl and with the addition of secret weapons to their starting roster, they are now more entertaining then ever! A game featuring Goblins will always be filled with wacky events and will often be total mayhem! However, as with all Stunty teams, Goblins are tier 3 so a coach can expect to lose more than win and a less experienced Coach should take this into consideration before just diving straight in. They may be chaotic and quite fragile, but in the hands of a particularly cunning Coach, Goblins can sometimes pull off a draw or in a particularly sneaky coach, even the occasional win!

Strengths:

• Dodge and Stunty
• Two Trolls
• Secret Weapons
• Cheap Bribes
• Cheap Players

Weaknesses:

• Unreliable
• Fragile
• Low Strength
• Limited Skill Access

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The Roster

The Goblin Roster has a numerous selection of players. You get access to Goblins, two trained trolls, a hooligan, chainsaw, fanatic, doom diver and even a pogo goblin! Goblins are designated as a tier 3 team. This means that they are the most challenging team and can provide a major challenge for even the most experienced of coaches.

Furthermore the team comes with a number of Special Rules.

Badlands Brawl, Bribery and Corruption, Underworld Challenge

As of writing this guide, currently these special rules dictate what Star Players a team can take. The exception to this is Bribery and Corruption which allows Goblins to purchase

Let’s move on to discuss the Roster in detail

Goblin Strategy

The First Rule of Playing Goblins is to Have Fun! If you really want to play Gobbos then you have to realize that this team is all about having fun and creating chaos! It takes a different strategy to the norm to play with Goblins and it can be difficult at times. You will probably lose a good number of games, and you will probably lose a fair amount more of your players as well! If you don't think you can get into this mindset, then you may want to reconsider playing Goblins.

If this still hasn’t put you off, read on! Some important key points to know about Goblins:

• It is important to conserve re-rolls at the start so position your players first before making any dice rolls if possible
• Always keep Goblins near the trolls
• Be cautious about secret weapons
• Try to maximize the set up 3-dice blocks with your trolls
• Get bribes as much as possible
• Goblins are a weird and wacky team roster.

Let’s look at some of the team positions.

Goblin

• Primary Skills: Diving Tackle, Side-Step, Sneaky Git
• Secondary Skills: Block, Wrestle, Sure Hands
• Stat Upgrades: +1 Agility
• Catcher: Catch, Sure Feet
• Blitzer/Blocker: Block, Side-Step
• Runner: Sure feet, Side-Step

Goblins are your bread and butter. They make up the core of your team and although they aren’t the most reliable of players, they aren’t the worst either. They will act as your blockers, blitzers, linemen, runners, catchers, even the occasional troll snack! With Stunty, Dodge and Right Stuff with an MA of 6, Goblins have surprisingly decent mobility but are terribly fragile. Expect to lose a lot of these guys but don’t be afraid of doing so as they are very cheap to replace.

The key specialisations for a Goblin would be a diver (Diving tackle), catcher for throw team-mate options and a blitzer, giving him block. Diving Tackle and Side-Step are mainly a preference but Diving Tackle has saved me many times in tabletop games, tournaments, leagues and online tournaments. I would recommend at least two diving tacklers per team.

The dream of course is getting the legendary Agility 2+ Goblin but this requires serious investment of time and a lot of luck. If you are lucky to get one, only use him on offense and let him use the apothecary.

Trained Trolls

• Primary skills: Guard, Brawler, Juggernaut, Stand Firm, Break Tackle
• Secondary Skill: Block, Dodge
• Scrummer: Block OR Brawler, Stand Firm/Guard,

Trolls are an exceptional roadblock and goblins start with two. They provide a strong bulwark for your team and it is essential that a Goblin team takes both. They are tough as bricks with AV 10+ and come with regeneration. Unfortunately they are also very stupid and also have loner which makes not guaranteed to be able to use rerolls if they mess up! This makes them very unreliable but they also make up an extremely important part of your team. It is better for your trolls to get hit than goblins!

Trolls are generally used as unreliable but strong blockers, blitzers. With strength 5 there are few players who can withstand a charging troll and furthermore it takes a lot to put one down! It is important however that you attempt to set up 3-dice blocks with trolls if possible or if you must activate them, make sure that you activate them after you’ve done all your safe moves first.

Sometimes however, Trolls are better off simply being left alone to mark a set of enemy players. There is a high risk that if a troll goes stupid it may compromise your position so in this way, it’s sometimes better to just leave a troll alone while the rest of your goblins move up towards the end zone.

Their performance fluctuates significantly from extraordinarily competent to hair pullingly unreliable. In terms of specialising them, a Guard troll is an awesome asset for any goblin team and helps goblins in scrums as well as provides them much needed support. The second troll can be given Juggernaut if you wish for a semi reliable blitzer. Brawler too can be used if you wish to use your trolls more aggressively in scrums.

Troll vomit is a new addition to Blood Bowl season 2 and makes it significantly safer to activate a troll if they are in unfavourable scrums, giving them a free armour block on a 2+. On a 1 however the troll will end up puking on itself! However unless they break their own armour, it is not a turn over.

Looney (Chainsaw)

• Primary Skills: Dodge, Sneaky Git
• Secondary: Block, Pro

The Looney is a goblin with a chainsaw. A chainsaw! Among the most feared and deadly players on the Blood Bowl pitch, the Looney is a must have for any team.

The Looney is best used as a safety or line back be it on offense or defense. The mere threat of the looney can be enough to altar an opponents’ plan, especially if they are attempting to break through for the end zone or try to attack your ball carrier. Keep him back and screened. Make sure if you blitz with him that if he fails to kill the target, you can block them away. Dodge helps to make him tougher and Sneaky Git makes fouling easier. Unfortunately like everything on the Goblin team, the Looney is unreliable as before he hits someone he must roll to see if his chainsaw hits his target or himself!

Fanatic (Ball and Chain)

• Primary Skills: Mighty Blow, Grab
• Secondary: Block

A Goblin who has taken one too many madcap brew and is a little crazier than the average goblin! He also comes with a gigantic ball and chain and is among the strongest players in the game. However, he is unreliable with his random movement. His skill ups are fairly straight forward, Mighty Blow for killing or Grab for more hitting. Block however is an excellent addition if you’re willing to wait long enough.

Bombardier

• Primary Skill: Catch, Sneaky Git, Sure Feet
• Secondary skills: Hail Mary Pass

A Goblin who has brought a bunch of explosives to the field! Very dangerous for both you and the enemy team. If you want to play the full arsenal of weapons, by all means use him. But many Goblin coaches prefer to skip the bombardier due to his capacity to completely ruin a game in a single action.

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Starting Rosters

The most important thing as with most teams is to decide what roster you are going to build. Here are some sample rosters which tend to be the most popular or may be the most prominent in Blood Bowl Season 2. These rosters are designed around a League or perpetual setting. For tournament builds, generally they begin at 1100k TV with free skills. These rosters can be easily tailored with the additional cash on hand, be it an apothecary or extra rerolls. Skill preferences are highly varied but since Goblins are a tier 3 team, normally they have greater access to Secondary Skills than others due to being given more points towards skills. It is recommended to give your trolls Block or other utility skills like Leader to save money towards building your roster in a tournament setting.

Roster 1 (Standard Build):

• 2 Trained Trolls
• 1 Fanatic
• 1 Looney
• 11 Goblins
• 2 Rerolls
• 1 Apothecary

The standard and safest roster at 950k for Goblins. The Apothecary is there to ensure that you don’t lose a troll early in a league or in a game. This will also allow you to bank gold as well as afford bribes the first game if you face a full 1000k team. However this can be tooled based on preference. The apothecary can be dropped for a reroll, or a goblin can be dropped for the same and so on. It is a versatile baseline to work off.

Roster 2 (Deep Bench Build) :

• 2 Trained Trolls
• 1 Looney
• 12 Gobbos
• 2 Rerolls
• 1 Apothecary

Starts out at 920k. This roster let's you start with a deep bench and potentially start with a bribe. With 15 players and ideally a bribe on hand, you can foul the opposing team with impunity and potentially cause major damage

Roster 3 (Old School Goblins) :

• 12 Goblins
• 2 Trained Trolls
• 3 Re-rolls
• 1 Apothecary
• 5 DF

Starts out at 990k. If you want a different kind of Goblin team reminiscent of the old days, this can be fun. Don't expect to win much but do expect to foul a lot! You will also be assured of good winnings throughout a league

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Goblin Strategy - Defense and Offense

Defense

Goblins generally have a lot of trouble on defense. Low strength, unreliable trolls and generally being pressured can be a recipe for disaster. However it’s not completely hopeless and with a few sneaky tricks and cunning plans, a Goblin can cause a lot of trouble for an opponents drive. Just don’t expect to stop the touchdown! Some general advice for defense.

• Always keep at least two Gobbos back so they are free and you can start a turn without rolling dice
• Always do non dice rolling moves first
• Use the Looney for Defense and keep him back as a safety
• Activate Trolls last unless it’s an emergency
• DO NOT DODGE AS THE FIRST ACTION!
• DO NOT BLOCK WITH THE TROLLS AS FIRST ACTION
• If you are being overwhelmed completely, keep your goblins down to restrict damage
• Do not expect your defense to succeed, aim to injure and kill enemy players or survive

This is general advice which will serve a Gobbo coach well on defense. Assuming the opponent is a strong bash team, it is preference if you wish to put two trolls on the line or three goblins. The upside for trolls is that they are tougher. The problem is they may get trapped on the line as they have poor dodging. Inversely, three goblins on the line are very fragile but can easily reposition.. If however it is a weaker team, two trolls should perform fine.

Goblin defense is not something which is consistent, reliable or in any way something which can be considered stable. Expect to take damage, lose players, things to go wrong and trolls to go stupid. It can be catastrophic. Do your best to ensure as few gobbos are out of tackle zones by the end of the turn.

However if you see an opportunity and the opposing ball carrier lacks block or dodge, don’t be afraid to do a -2d Blitz. Doubly so if they are screening against the sidelines. One of the few great things Goblins are awesome at is knocking people off the field into the crowd. That said, Goblin defense will always be a challenge and it takes great patience, preparation and luck to pull it off successfully. There will be occasions this will happen but don’t get used to it.

The Looney is key here. Keep him back sweeping back and forth. If any gap emerges where you can attack the ball carrier, the Looney should be the first to be sent in and kill the carrier.

The Bombardier is another choice but he should only be used sparingly. Bombs now hit like an attack from Mighty Blow so they are extra dangerous. Be sure if you are going to throw it is a quick pass unless it’s a crisis situation or he is surrounded and you want the bombardier to go out in a blaze of glory.

Bash and Agility Defense Formation

Here are two sample formations, left for Bash teams and right for Agility.

The left formation is assuming you are fighting the likes of Orcs or Undead. Trying to fight them directly is a futile effort, so keeping your trolls off the line of scrum and place three Goblins there. You can afford to lose one or two goblins but losing a troll early can be devastating. Let the bash team come to you then react accordingly. The agility defense can be changed but be careful of your goblins being marked. Generally the agility team will try to move around the trolls. From here, you can split your defense to focus down whichever side the agility team is committing.

The same general rules apply as above however. Although these formations will help, it is recommended that you go in expecting your defense to fall apart. Try to do your best to isolate and gang foul an important enemy player to neutralize them for the second half.

Dwarf or Super Bash Defense Formation

Assuming you are fighting arguably the most infamous team for a Goblin coach to face, Dwarfs, setting up super deep is generally the wisest answer. Barring lotto winning luck, Goblins are not going to succeed in a fight, let alone a defense, against a rushing Dwarf coach. Your sole objective is to survive. Keep the goblins (those who live anyway) on the line of scrum down and let the Dwarfs waddle their way to you. For those of you who still play BB2 or in an eternal league format, this can also work if you are matched against a significantly stronger team and expect nothing to come of trying to actually face them.

Offense

Goblin teams’ secret weapons, trolls and cheap bribes really come into their own on offense. In contrast to defense, Goblins can field a fairly decent offense which has become infamous to Coaches world wide over their potentially devastating aftermath. Some quick pieces of advice.

• Smash open the line of scrum with your Fanatic
• Attempt to set up a 3 dice block with one troll
• Second troll should attempt to push up one side of the field
• Screen as goblins, do not box or you will be destroyed
• Use your fanatic as an anchor for a screen and cover him with one goblin so he is not picked off
• Have at least two safeties with your ball carrier

Your standard strategy is a loose box while using your Goblins, trolls, fanatic and looney to march and grind slowly up the field. Gang foul any valuable players assuming you have a bribe and be sure that the trolls are marking multiple players. In this case, do not be afraid to mark players with goblins if it means your carrier can be safe from a potential blitzer or blocker. Don't be afraid to hand off during emergencies and always remember to do your safe moves first. Sample Offensive Formation

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Team Management and Redraft

Goblins can be slow to develop. With the new rules of Blood Bowl 2020, having players for an indefinite amount of time is a thing of the past. This changes the dynamic of every team in terms of team management, including Goblins.

To summarize, after a certain amount of games played a team will be provided a certain amount of gold per games played, wins and draws as well as treasury and then be required to rehire the team from the ground up. A season can last up to a predetermined amount of games but for the standard League Division length, will generally last from 6 to 8 games. To give a brief outline: · 20k per game played · 20k per game won · 10k per draw · Add any remaining gold to treasury

The original cost of the player is the same cost to rehire them with the additive that it now costs an extra 20k gold per previous season played. This means the Goblin team will need to always have another fresh round of replacements to recycle more experienced players who invariably become too expensive to keep.

Fortunately this doesn't hurt Goblin teams as much as others as Goblins are already cheap and begin, generally, below 1000k TV. This means they should have the capacity to rehire multiple players for a number of seasons. However some notes which are important to consider for long term goblin management.

Work from Your Baseline Roster

Goblins are cheap. Dead cheap. This means any spare roster cash can be put towards rehiring players. Most Goblin teams will start with · 3 Rerolls · 2 Trolls · 1 Fanatic · 1 Looney · 11 Goblins This leads to a total of 960k gold. From the outset, this gives you 40k free to rehire two players or two skills. By default, a Goblin team will start the second season with at least 1100/1120K gold which can be put towards rehiring more players with more skills. The good thing about this too, is that the Goblin team can simply drop one goblin from the above roster (leaving them at 920k TV and 14 players) to give them more gold for rehiring. This means that goblin teams can actually develop quite nicely over a number of seasons and should rarely have issues financially when it comes to rehiring and redrafting players.

Rehire the Trolls

The trolls have always been a goblin teams' anchor and a cornerstone to a roster. With easy access to Brawler, they are now relatively safe to block with and with guard can provide invaluable support to a Goblin team when needed. However they are slow to develop so it is expected that you will need to rehire them over a two or three seasons. Rehiring a pair of trolls over two seasons costs 80k gold. This is not counting the skills they may have accumulated.

Min-Max

This is probably also going to be popular and while Goblins are not known for Min-Maxing, there is a chance you may get lucky and get that magical Ag4 Pogo or Goblin. In that case it is to be expected a disproportionate amount of resources should be made towards redrafting the player. Besides the trolls, rehiring one super star Goblin will be key.

Bank Heavy

Goblins are one of the very few teams who can heavily invest in Dedicated Fans. Dedicated Fans help considerably with winnings throughout a season which can see the Goblin treasury explode. Although you can expect to take significant casualties and losses throughout a league, these are losses which the team can afford (Trolls withstanding). As such, if you wish you can attempt to accumulate a large treasury which you can put towards your redraft budget. This means in the next season you will be capable of starting the season with a tremendous amount of gold in reserve, allowing you to not only have incredible staying power of your roster but also able to afford bribes.

Overview

These are just some considerations for how a Goblin coach can adapt to the new redraft meta. The meta itself has yet to be established but these are all worthwhile considerations to take into account for the future of Gobbo teams. However the future is looking very bright as by comparison to standard teams, Goblins should have little issue long term holding on to valuable players over 3 seasons.

Good luck with your gobbos - Wolbum

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Star Players

Goblins are one of the few teams who, in leagues, Ranked, Tournaments and occasionally Blackbox, will have numerous opportunities to use their Star Players. Fortunately, Goblins have plentiful options in order to compliment their normal roster. Let's have a quick look who there is.

The list and costs are as follows

• Bomber Dribblesnot - Star Player Bombardier - 50k
• Fungus the Loon - Star Goblin Fanatic - 80k
• Nobbla Blackwart - Star Goblin Chainsaw Looney - 120k
• Scrappa Sorehead - Star Goblin Pogo - 130k
• Helmut Wulf - Star Human Chainsaw Looney - 140k
• Hakflem Skuttlespike - Two headed Skaven Runner - 210k
• Black Gobbo - Star Bombardier - 225k
• Ripper Bolgrot - Star Troll Blocker - 250k
• Varag Ghoul-Chewer - Star Orc Blitzer - 280k
• Glart Smashrip - Fat Rat Blocker - 195k
• Grak and Crumbleberry - Ogre and Halfling Duo - 250k
• Morg 'N' Thorg - Star Ogre - 380k

Bomber Dribblesnot

A returning Goblin Star Player of old, at 50k Bomber Dribblesnot is a Goblin Bombadier with accurate and PA 3+. This makes him not only a very cheap star but a shockingly accurate bombardier when it comes to blowing up clumps of opposition players. He also has a special ability where if his bomb is intercepted, he can automatically detonate it, preventing a potential counter attack.

Bomber Dribblesnot is so cheap and so potentially devastating to the opponent, he is considered by many a must take Star if not among the best stars in the game in terms of value for money. If you can hire him, hire him!

Fungus the Loon

Another old legend, at 80k Fungus the Loon is a Star Player Fanatic with an extra MA and Mighty Blow. He also has the ability to reroll once a turn a direction he swings to, making him more accurate.

Fairly cheap but like a regular fanatic, can sometimes end up up swinging brutally through the opposition lines or flailing harmlessly around, missing everyone. However just like a regular fanatic, can be an excellent anchor or corner for a screen or box on offense. Fun, strong but somewhat inconsistent.

Nobbla Blackwart

The infamous Goblin Looney has come back. At 120k, Nobbla is a Blodge Goblin Looney, giving him a decent amount of durability. His special ability also allows him to essentially get a "free" foul action on an opposing player once per game.

Like all Chainsaw stars, Nobbla will either do very well or very bad.

Scrappa Sorehead

At 130k, Scrappa Sorehead is another returning Goblin Star who has seen a nice upgrade at a 20k price reduction. While his statline is identical to a regular pogo, he comes with sprint, sure feet, right stuff and dirty player. While he can be thrown and foul, Scrappa is ideal to be used as an extremely fast and reactive ball carrier due to having an effective MA10.

While he has to compete with Dribblesnot and Fungus, who combined are the same price, Scrappa can be useful for a goblin team looking for an extra fast ball carrier.

Helmut Wulf

At 140k, Helmut wulf is now freely available for Goblins and likely the replacement of the previous Nobbla Blackwart. However with both pro and his special rule which allows him to reroll a single armour roll, Helmut is extraordinarily dangerous and also reliable as he will not waste rerolls if he kicks back. A decent choice if you can get him in addition to bribes.

Glart Smashrip

Glart is a cheaper option for blocking duty. Coming in at 195k, a solid choice as he not only has a safety skill with block but also comes with claw to cut down high AV teams. A very good choice against high armour bash teams.

Hakflem Skuttlespike

A Skaven Gutter Runner with extra arms, prehensile Tail and two heads. Exceptionally fast and if you urgently need someone to score quickly and reliably, an absolute must have for just 210k.

Black Gobbo

At 225k, the Black Gobbo is fairly expensive. However his unique rule allows you to foul twice per turn! On top of starting with Sneaky Git, Side Step, Stab and Bombadiers, there are many roles that the Black Gobbo can play. It is best you don't try to throw a bomb unless absolutely necessary, otherwise use his Side Step, Sneaky Git and Stab rule for a more passive support role.

Grak and Crumbleberry

Coming in at 250k, Grak and Crumbleberry give you two star players in the form of a decent, albeit slow, ball carrier halfling with sure hands and a standard Ogre. However, Grak can allow your Goblins to go flying across the pitch with his kick team mate, which can be done in the same turn as a throw team mate, leading to some exceptional plays for more cunning coaches. Expensive but a decent choice.

Ripper Bolgrot

The legendary star Troll Ripper Bolgrot has finally made a return and what a return! At 250k (Down from 270k), Ripper comes with ST6 and grab and acts as a very strong roadblock. Without Really Stupid, Ripper will also ensure you will never waste a blitz or block action unlike a normal troll. Furthermore, because he does not have Really Stupid, he can also help other trolls pass their Really Stupid rolls. While he does not come with block (making 2d blocks somewhat risky), with an assist or two, he can reliably block with 3 dice.

He also adds a third troll to the Goblin team (which pushes them past their normal limit of two). With his high Armour and Strength, this will help take out opposing players and it will save your poor gobbos from getting hit, and unlike your secret weapons he’ll stay for the entire game. Furthermore, without Really Stupid or Always Hungry, Ripper can throw a Goblin on a single 3+ roll (2+ if quick pass), allowing the team to one turn touchdown considerably easier than with a normal troll. Ripper also comes with his own, once a half, pro reroll. This can be utilised to great effect when combined with the crucial end of drive throw team mate to score a touchdown or even the end of game throw team mate. This dramatically increases a goblin teams chances of scoring.

At 250K Ripper is almost a steal for what he offers the team and adds a tremendous amount of value, providing not only a fairly reliable means to one turn touchdown, but also a formidable amount of strength on the field with which you can rely on to act when you need him to. Hire him. Even if it means you can’t afford any bribes.

Varag Ghoul-Chewer

At 280k strong, potent player who provides the goblins with both a strength 5 and block, mighty blow mobile roadblock. Reliable and strong but a bit expensive. While a decent player in himself, consider other options if possible before committing to Varag.

Morg 'N' Thorg

Coming at 380k, Morg has seen a significant price reduction from his old price (430k) since previous editions. On top of that he now has Mighty Blow +2, meaning he can now add +2 to either the armour or injury roll! While expensive, Morg is an exceptional asset to the Goblin team, not only as a third big guy but also for adding an extremely potent and dangerous piece onto the field. His special skill, The Ballista, also allows a free reroll for a failed pass action, including throw team mates.

As a player, Morg is very good, his exceptional price needs to be taken into consideration when compared to other, cheaper inducements.