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 Issue 3 - December 18, 2503
How the review affects your team
by m0nty

The following is a short listing of each race present on FUMBBL (including the unofficial Stunty Leeg teams) with pros and cons from the 2003 BBRC rules review. The Overall Score at the end of each race's listing is a score from 0 to 10 of how the review affected them... not a general rating of the strength or otherwise of the roster.

Amazon
Gains: Zons don't get affected much, apart from maybe Piling On being a viable choice now. Games against dwarves will be a little easier without a Big Guy to deal with, and big games against Undead teams can be made a lot easier by hiring Zara the Slayer.
Losses: The omission of secret weapons from the review means zons don't get the chance to become a bit more bashy.
Overall Score: 6

Chaos
Gains: They keep the Ogre, which helps them on the line of scrimmage. Piling On is now more of an option for Beastmen, especially since their AV8 means being fouled when on the ground isn't so risky. Also, Minotaurs can now line up on the line of scrimmage without fear of being trapped, leaving the Beastmen to blitz with their Horns in the backfield on defence.
Losses: The Minotaur becomes weaker on offence, and is now very iffy as a ball carrier. Will have to rely heavily on regular Beastmen to score.
Overall Score: 3

Chaos Dwarf
Gains: A very strong team just got stronger. Bull Centaurs look better in comparison to the flawed Big Guys now. CD coaches who choose Minotaurs won't have to worry about WA traps. Those six Chaos Dwarf Blockers can share round some Piling On without worrying about being fouled so much if plenty of their mates get Guard as well.
Losses: The Minotaur becomes weaker on offence, although this isn't a huge problem with those two BCs.
Overall Score: 9

Chaos Halfling
Gains: Their two Minotaurs won't suffer so much from Wild Animal traps, although this isn't so much of a problem in Stunty Leeg.
Losses: No access to the Halfling Chef, and less Pro.
Overall Score: 4

Chaos Pact
Gains: The Minotaur is more trustworthy on the line of scrimmage. Piling On is definitely an option now, particularly for the relatively cheap Chaos Marauders.
Losses: The Minotaur is flawed now, so instead of having three ST5 blockers, CP coaches effectively have two and a half with the new WA rule. Also, the nerfing of Pro denies an easy source of rerolls for a team whose team rerolls are very expensive.
Overall Score: 2

Dark Elf
Gains: A particularly adventurous DE coach can now dabble in a bit of Piling On. Nothing much else to report, as with all existing elf variants.
Losses: Secret weapons would have been nasty in the hands of DEs, but alas no.
Overall Score: 7

Dwarf
Gains: The Runesmith is an interesting addition, although the high cost of 50k per rune will probably limit its use. It is doubtful whether that 50k will win you many matches, even in the most likely use in tournament finals. Zara the Slayer might come in handy in tournament finals against Undead - and FUMBBL finals between dwarves and undead are fairly common.
Losses: No more Ogre. It could be argued that this is not a huge problem, since dwarves are bashy enough without Big Guys.
Overall Score: 5

Elf
Gains: Entering open play is a gain in itself, of course, even if existing FUMBBL Elf teams in Division X can't move across to Open. The replacement of Leap with Nerves of Steel on the Catcher is a gain also, as NoS is a trait while Leap is a normal skill - and this change could give the Elf team the impetus to take it past Wood Elves as the best scoring team in Blood Bowl.
Losses: The only loss for the Elves is their training wheels.
Overall Score: 9

Fairies
Gains: None. Nada. Zip. Nothing. Fairies are arguably the weakest team in all of FUMBBL, and they got no joy from the rules review. Even Piling On is not really an option, as that would lead to more fouling pain than it's worth.
Losses: Not only did hopes of getting reliable Treemen get dashed, the Hypnotic Gaze skill which Pixies rely on so much was also decimated, removing most of their attractiveness as blitzers. No more access to Pro for anyone but the Treemen, and then only on a double skill roll. No secret weapons either.
Overall Score: 0

Gnome
Gains: The only gain is that other sides don't get access to secret weapons, making the gnome's bombs rarer and thus more valuable.
Losses: No more Pro for anyone except for the Orc Slayer on a double skill roll.
Overall Score: 5

Goblin
Gains: Let me see, Piling On? It's a good roleplaying option if nothing else!
Losses: Argh, no more Ogre and Pro nerfed as well! There goes most of the infamous gobbo Throw Team Mate playbook! Trolls are a poor substitute as a TTM option - less AG, less movement, less likelihood to earn enough SPPs to get throwing skills... and there's always a chance that the Troll will decide to chow down on his little green buddy. Gobbos were also going to be the big winners in the proposed secret weapons rules, but that didn't happen, and the inevitable gobbos with Dirty Player don't get the relaxed fouling laws either. It's all pain for the poor little varmints.
Overall Score: 1

Goblin Cheaters
Gains: Their highest level of access to secret weapons is maintained to the exclusion of the normal gobbos.
Losses: Pro is now impossible for the Fanatic and Chainsaw gobbos, leaving them more susceptible to death and mechanical failure respectively. The Kicker would have benefited from some of the mooted fouling laws being debated, but sanity prevailed!
Overall Score: 4

Halfling
Gains: The Halfling Chef could be the sleeper twink of this review, or it could prove to be useless - the proof will be in the pudding, so to speak. Chefs will be particularly handy in low-TR games, and could also be annoying to opposition teams who need rerolls a lot, like Chaos. The nerfing of Pro will make the Chef even more valuable.
Losses: Alas, poor Ogre, I knew him well. 1 in 4 games will start with no Big Guy at all for the 'flings, and only 25% of the time will both Trees front up for the kick-off. The Throw Team Mate playbook is now sorely limited for the hobbits, even with all the extra rerolls from the Chef. The non-appearance of secret weapons also removes another bashy option for the halflings.
Overall Score: 3

High Elf
Gains: No direct gains, save for the fact that they escaped any serious attacks on their strong scoring potential.
Losses: Apart from possibly losing their reputation as the race with the best passing game in Blood Bowl to the new Elf roster, not much either. An Elf with a Chainsaw would have been a fearsome sight, but that will not happen, thankfully!
Overall Score: 7

Human
Gains: They retain the Ogre, which is a relative gain compared to those races which lost them. Zara the Slayer will be useful in certain situations. Piling On might even be an option for human players now, not just the Ogre.
Losses: Nothing really. The only slight loss is easy access to the Pro skill, but that's not so bad.
Overall Score: 8

Khemri
Gains: Open Sesame! Lots of lovely new types of meatbags to punish. With the various nerfs to Big Guys, the four Mummies now look incredibly tough in comparison, making the Khemri arguably the toughest to match up against on the line of scrimmage. The twinking of the Blitz-Ra to AV8 confirms the Khemri's bashy status. With Ramtut III on hand for tourney finals, it will be interesting to see whether they can pay enough attention to the ball to make it to the finals of FUMBBL competitions.
Losses: The leash!
Overall Score: 10

Lizardmen
Gains: Kroxigors start to look a lot better in comparison to other Big Guys, even with the added difficulty of getting Pro, but nothing much else affects them.
Losses: Skinks now have no chance at all of getting Pro - but if they rolled doubles on a skill they probably wouldn't have chosen it anyway, so no great loss.
Overall Score: 7

Lustrian
Gains: Not much, although having an Ogre on hand is more than can be said for other teams.
Losses: Skinks can't get Pro, but not much here either.
Overall Score: 8

Necromantic
Gains: Freedom! The Necros avoid the nerfs handed out to Big Guys, and get access to Ramtut III as well as Count Luthor Von Drakenborg.
Losses: They lose two of their Wights, and they also don't get the speculated changes to Flesh Golems and Werewolves to make them more bashy. In fact, the Werewolves get nerfed a bit by their Claws being dulled with a manicure. Small price to pay for all the fresh blood to feast upon!
Overall Score: 4

Norse
Gains: They keep access to the Ogre, although some of the proposals for Barbarian or Ice Trolls doing the rounds before the review was finalised might have proved interesting. Zara the Slayer will be crucial in many games versus undead races. Also, Piling On might prove to be a popular first choice for Norse Linemen, greatly increasing their chance for cheap SPPs.
Losses: Pro will be scarcer, but rerolls are not usually a problem for the Norse.
Overall Score: 4

Nurgle's Rotters
Gains: The disease is already spreading. The changes to the Beast are positive: for the loss of one ST point, they get access to the very powerful Tentacles mutation, making them hell to play on the line of scrimmage.
Losses: That loss of ST on the Rotter means three-die blocks will be rarer, but it's hard to see many coaches complaining. Everyone has access to general skills so the nerfing of Pro isn't so bad.
Overall Score: 9

Nurglings
Gains: The addition of Tentacles to the Beast makes Nurglings a lot more competitive in Stunty Leeg. Two Beasts acting in unison can dominate large areas of the pitch now.
Losses: Nurglings get no chance of getting Pro now, but they usually have plenty of money left to buy rerolls anyway.
Overall Score: 9

Ogre
Gains: More Ogres!
Losses: Less Goblins! Actually, that's not all. There were some suggestions to make an Ogre Thrower position, but this was not followed through. Ogres were not expected to make the cut for official status, so the fact that they stay experimental isn't so bad.
Overall Score: 6

Old World
Gains: Piling On is a definite team improvement option now for dwarves and/or human linemen.
Losses: Treemen were not improved.
Overall Score: 7

Orc
Gains: Those Black Orc Blockers don't have so much to fear from opposing Minotaurs or Rat Ogres - don't underestimate the benefit of that extra reliable ST. The Minotaur is now safe to defend on the line of scrimmage.
Losses: No more Ogre, and the Minotaur is weaker on offence, although Troll is still a reliable choice. Goblins get no access to Pro either, so Orcs lose much of their Throw Team Mate strategic potential.
Overall Score: 7

Skaven
Gains: A more reliable Rat Ogre on the defensive line. A lot of coaches use the RO as a "goalkeeper" to blitz from the backfield, but this will have to change.
Losses: A less useful Rat Ogre on offence. Blitzing on defence will be more difficult too with the WA changes - perhaps more use will have to be made of the Dauntless/Horns skill combo.
Overall Score: 4

Skink
Gains: Not much, although they escape the problems that many other Stunty Leeg races will have to deal with after the nerfing of Big Guys.
Losses: No access to Pro for the Skink Linemen or the Adepts of Sotek.
Overall Score: 4

Snotling
Gains: Snotlings welcome the Halflings and Goblins to the world of crappy TTM! Three Trolls make the Snotlings one of the more bashy Stunty Leeg teams, and this has not changed.
Losses: The removal of any chance of getting Pro means virtually nothing to Snotlings since rerolls are like candy to them.
Overall Score: 5

Undead
Gains: Survival! Despite all evidence to the contrary, the BBRC decided to keep the vanilla Undead around for old time's sake.
Losses: The loss of two Wights wil cause some wailing amongst coaches, but they're lucky to keep their teams in Open division at all. All Undead positionals have access to General skills so they can all get Pro on a double skill roll. Strangely, they don't get access to Ramtut III, and their only other star player, Count Luthar, has had his Hypnotic Gaze skill nerfed.
Overall Score: 3

Vampire
Gains: They gain access to... the drawing board! It has all ended in tears for the poor vamps.
Losses: If being rejected from official status wasn't enough bad news, the Hypnotic Gaze characteristic has been gutted, making it harder for vamps to blitz in heavy traffic.
Overall Score: 0

Wood Elf
Gains: Some coaches might argue that Wood Elves are the biggest winners of all out of this rules review, since there are no changes which address their clear advantage in open play, as evidenced by FUMBBL's result records. Woodies might even consider taking Piling On!
Losses: The only concrete disadvantage is that Treemen were not improved. Not many WEs take Pro, but they can all get access to it through a double skill roll anyway.
Overall Score: 7

Ready reckoner for winners and losers (FUMBBL-only Stunty Leeg races in italics):
10: Khemri
9: Chaos Dwarf, Elf, Nurgle's Rotters, Nurglings
8: Human, Lustrian
7: Dark Elf, High Elf, Lizardmen, Old World, Orc, Wood Elf
6: Amazon, Ogre
5: Dwarf, Gnome, Snotling
4: Necromantic, Norse, Skaven, Chaos Halfling, Goblin Cheaters, Skink
3: Chaos, Halfling, Undead
2: Chaos Pact
1: Goblin
0: Vampire, Fairies

 
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