Drrek
Joined: Jul 23, 2012
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 Posted:
Jun 29, 2025 - 02:01 |
 
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Haven't played gnomes myself, but my gut tells me they are a team that is honestly solid with some development, but really lackluster at the start and it seems it would be rough to get them there. The foxes are like slow gutters, but any gutter would kill for stunty. Trickster is good, and guard is excellent on stunties. Non-loner trees are good. Its really just that the team needs a bit of dodge for survivability. |
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awambawamb
Joined: Feb 17, 2008
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Jun 29, 2025 - 11:07 |
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By the way, they dodge into tacklezones on a 3+, foxes on a 2+. They belong to the elvish hate group |
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"la virtù sta nel cielo e nella terra, ma anche nelle nuvole e nelle stelle"
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Sp00keh
Joined: Dec 06, 2011
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Jun 29, 2025 - 11:45 |
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@Drrek yes, potentially they're good. The winrates are definitely in the same category as flings and gobs though
They struggle a lot for not having Dodge
It means opponents can just mark you 1 to 1 with their str3, and you're mostly then forced to dodge away and will fail this repeatedly
(Perhaps I should do more 1dice or even uphill 2dice in these situations... -2db is 30.5% to turnover, 3+ dodge is 33% to turnover)
Also the tricks they have with getting Guard into a cage are limited in how many times you can do it before the rerolls are all gone and/or you get crushed in response to giving away contact
Assuming you've got both Treemen, both Illusionists, both Beastmasters and a Fox on the pitch, that's 7 so you only have 4 regular Gnomes
That means only 4 players who can be thrown with TTM, and also it means it's relatively easy for opponent to target one of the positionals for blitzing, which means you can lose them pretty easily, even without making use of their tricks |
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Java
Joined: Jan 27, 2018
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Jun 29, 2025 - 12:08 |
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With stunties it's common not to have an established set of tenets that everybody agrees on.
I'm a MA proponent for the trees, I don't actually believe guard or block is any use. But I'm gonna give it a try next because loads of people seem to think otherwise.
Gnomes are probably the worst stunty team to try a TTM TD with. Also the guard and lineman cage dive is a reroll sink. To me the best strategy on defense is to stay close as a team, use the guards to actually win scrums rather than try directly for the ball, and keep the trees relevant.
With the team being relatively costly in terms of overall TV but not that costly to replace, I actually like randoms on linemen. Cheaper dodge, sg, sidestep. Easier to get Rodney too.
They do need a full bench because for every dodge you have extra there's likely to be a tackle mighty around, so the attrition doesn't flgo down as you get more dodge... |
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Drrek
Joined: Jul 23, 2012
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Jun 29, 2025 - 16:43 |
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| Sp00keh wrote: | @Drrek yes, potentially they're good. The winrates are definitely in the same category as flings and gobs though
They struggle a lot for not having Dodge |
That... was exactly my point though? That the team has potential to be actually good, unlike the other stunties, but their start is really rough and its very tough to get them to be developed because of death. |
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smeborg
Joined: Jan 04, 2019
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Jun 30, 2025 - 11:44 |
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I have played Gnomes only a little (in Blackbox). I find them inclined to be "drawish" (1-1 being typical).
My suggestions are:
- I took Guard as first skill on the Trees - giving the team 4 x Guard (which I think is quite persuasive). I suggest Block next.
- I see the fashion is to take +MA on the Foxes. However, I found that taking AG randoms was quite good (and much cheaper in SPPs). There are few AG skills that are not good for the Foxes.
- I suggest randoms skill-ups are worth exploring on the Illusionists (random Passing skills) and on the Linos (random AG skills) - at least as first skill. This may produce interesting options (e.g. for the 1-turn score).
In practical play I suggest:
- Do not under-estimate the worth of the Trees as playmakers.
- On a long drive it often seems better to give the ball to an Illusionist (if you give the ball to a Fox, you make your opponent's life easier by cutting down a lot of options, given that a Fox cannot hand-off or pass the ball).
- On D, you have to know when to cut your losses and concede the TD (protecting your players).
- Being a squishy team, a long roster seems preferable in practice (say 15 players).
Hope that helps! |
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petehodges
Joined: Jan 14, 2023
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Jun 30, 2025 - 14:32 |
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ThierryM
Joined: Mar 27, 2015
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Jun 30, 2025 - 17:30 |
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Gnomes' inquiries, ask Norn ) |
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Norn
Joined: Mar 20, 2020
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Jul 04, 2025 - 00:17 |
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| ThierryM wrote: | | Gnomes' inquiries, ask Norn ) |
My favorite team. What a great topic 
I remember when they came out, someone wrote one named "Gnomes are trash" or something like that. They are not ! I managed to win the JBL (french league) with them this season : https://fumbbl.com/p/match?id=4627518
I think playing halflings will help understanding gnomes. When I play flings my plan A is always to try to control the game and avoid a "stunty madness" playstyle with lots of rolls TTM dodges and so on. The stunty madness only comes as a plan B when the cas & danger starts to accumulate and I do not have a choice anymore, which often happens with flings.
I found that Gnomes were basically Halflings, but a lot better to hold on to plan A because they can actually throw a few punches. As for plan B they are maybe a little worse than Flings due to the lack of dodge, but the amazing foxes make up for it. So in the end, Halflings, only better
Sp00keh summarized the strategy on offense and defense very well , I will add a few things :
- the Trees are indeed the most important players. They are not roadblocks, they are roads for the rest of the team  My n°1 priority is to have each tree mark 2/3 opposite players, this is the best way to protect and free the gnomes. This means 90% of the time my blitz is used to reposition one tree, or to push a player on a tree. I throw as much 3d blocks as I can, this is the way to get cas (I very rarely foul bc it messes up the positionning). About the skills guard is likely my first pick bc of how useful it is. If a rookie tree finishes a game with 8 or 10 spps it might be worth to wait for block first : guard will come very quick after that. Randoms after guard is a very valid choice. I prefer Block to +MA which takes too long to get, but still a solid pick. Grab after guard is also very good.
- The Beastmasters and Illusionists are fun, I tend to treat them as every other gnome with a little twist that sometimes makes them more useful, but I don't think they are absolutely essential to the strategy, just slightly better gnomes. Skillwise, I go for dodge on everybody (especially good for illusionists). +MA for the foxes is quite obvious IMO.
- On offense, no need to rush. Slow break through the middle or a side to score on turn 8 with a fox. If things are starting to go from bad to worse, I usually try to go forward, place a fox in position and score (with sidecages most of the time).
- On defense, I don't try to stop the opponent at all costs, the most important thing is to position the trees well and ideally corner on a side. The kamikaze approach with the beastmaster assisting the sack is good but can be attempted only once, I do it when I have a clear opportunity or out of a gamble when I feel I won't be able to stop my opponent. I don't use RRs at the beginning of the defensive drive, so when the possibility of a sack comes turn 4/5, I can decide whether I burn my RRs to get it or I keep them for the TTM turn8.
- remember a -2D block from a gnome is safer (slightly) than a 3+ dodge. With a RR, it can even be used at the beginning of a crucial turn as a "reliable" way to open a path.
Blood Bowl is a game of matchups and I think gnomes get considerably less terrible matchups compared to the other stunty teams. The teams I think are the hardest to face are probably Elves (can't control them) & Undead (too bashy for the gnomes and can take down the trees). Then you have Dwarves, Zons, Norses : can be done but very challenging. I think most of the other matchups are not easy but manageable, which is far better odds than Flings.
I would really love for more and more coaches to play them and find out how fun and dare I say, good they are |
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Sp00keh
Joined: Dec 06, 2011
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| Posted:
Jul 04, 2025 - 09:40 |
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Ah many thanks
I particularly like: They are not roadblocks, they are roads |
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