Blood Bowl players are always looking for new ways to get those crucial touchdowns – but sometimes simpler tactics are the best way to score, especially against unprepared opponents. We’ve collected a few intermediate tactics below, alongside the best ways to counter them.
Caging
Caging is a key tactic in Blood Bowl – the best way to protect the ball from loitering Blitzers. It’s more favoured by slower and bashier teams, and the more armour you have, the better it works.
The player with the ball is surrounded by teammates at each of their four corners. To Blitz that ball carrier, your opponent will need to Dodge through two Tackle Zones to get to them – and even then, they will probably be at a disadvantage on their dice.
So how do you deal with such a solid formation? There are several strategies.
Chances are that your opponent has moved almost half of their team to form this cage, so you should have some free players to form a screen. Move them between the cage and your end zone, making sure they’re not in contact with opposition players, and leaving a gap of one or two spaces between each of your players. As your opponent can also only Blitz once, the rest of his cage will have to Dodge through your team – a risky manoeuvre for most bashy teams, who tend to have lower agility. Of course, they will want to close in and make Blocks to punch through your line, so you have to keep your screen loose and mobile.
Cages aren’t impregnable, but it may take a couple of turns of preparation. If you can close in to get a two-dice Blitz or Block on one of the players on the edge of the cage, you can potentially knock someone down or push them back – getting one of your players into base contact with the ball, ready to throw hands next turn. Anything that forces a dice roll on an opponent is useful in Blood Bowl, and now they have to deal with your player (though they may be surrounded by angry orcs).
Skills like Leap, Pogo, or even Stunty* in a pinch, can be extra helpful for cage-breaking – if you can’t go through, why not go over to get into contact? If you’re confident in your player, you could try Blitzing the ball carrier with this tactic. Strip ball or Wrestle are great skills to have in this situation, allowing you to winkle the ball free.
Wide receiving
Faster teams often prefer to avoid caging in favour of a dash along the edge, trying to stay out of reach while they wait for a pass.
Since you can only set up two players in each wide zone, a good Blitzer and a Runner or Catcher are quite common. With careful positioning, the Blitzer can punch out an opposing player with help from their Runner, and then rush up the field. Once their colleague has the ball in hand, they can run up to join them – with some good positioning, the Blitzer can make it difficult for the opposition to get to the ball carrier. This tactic is stronger still if the rest of the team can nip through the gap and form an outer screen.
When setting up in defence, it can be tempting to place all your players near the line of scrimmage, but you need to prepare for the quick snap against Elves, Skaven, and Lizardmen. Set some of your players up further back to stay in Blitz range for any opportunistic Gutter Runners. It’s especially important to keep your wide players a square or two back from the line to force the Blitz – and don’t stand on the edge, lest ye be surfed** off the pitch.
Useful skills here include Tackle to counter high-agility players with Dodge, and Shadowing, which will force your opponent into a scary amount of dice rolls…
Beat the bash
Pure brute force is one popular way to get the ball past your opponent. If you knock enough players down, you can just casually walk your ball carrier up the field, even if they’re as ponderous as a Dwarf.
So how do weaker, flimsier, and stuntier teams avoid harm? Let the opponent come to you. Keep your players back, again in a loose screen, placing them at enough of an interval that the opposition’ll need to make at least one Blitz and a Dodge roll to get past you. Since it’s one Blitz per turn, this protects most of your players from a savage beating and allows them to reposition and stymie the drive next turn. Your opponent will aim to close in and mark your players, so they can throw Blocks on their next turn. High-agility players and Stunty teams should aim to Dodge out of Tackle Zones every time – you don’t want your AV 8+ Wood Elf to stay in contact. Blood Bowl is a game of forcing your opponent into disadvantageous rolls, so think carefully about the sequence in which you move your players.
Don’t forget the line of scrimmage though: if you group up your tougher players, your opponent will just punch through a weaker spot. Sometimes you just have to leave three Linemen up there on their own. That’s the job.
Throwing teammates
Stunty teams such as Goblins, Gnomes, and Halflings can be surprisingly ruthless despite their stature. They like to utilise their big guys’ ability to fling smaller teammates halfway across the pitch. It’s not the most reliable tactic, especially before a few skill-ups, but it can often result in a one-turn touchdown out of nowhere, especially in the dying minutes of a game.
There are two things you can do to counter this. If you see someone setting up for the throw, get a Tackle Zone or two on them to make it more difficult. One marker can be Blitzed out of the way, but two can’t.
Make sure you set up a proper backline to handle the incoming player. If your opponent rolls correctly, they will land far enough down the pitch that they just need to run it in – so make sure most of your team is no more than two or three spaces in front of the line in a cordon. Make them roll a few extra Dodges. If they manage to score after that, they’ve earned it.
New ways to outplay your opponent are always going to reveal themselves in Blood Bowl, but these are a few of the core tactics. Knowing how to deal with them will kickstart your own ideas… unless you roll a one on your Bonehead.
* We have witnessed a single Halfling Dodge his way into a cage and push the ball carrier off the pitch with three dice against him. Nuffle will always be Nuffle.
** When a player is pushed off the pitch, attacked by the crowd and forced to spend the rest of the down kicking their heels. Always be looking for this opportunity when on the offence.
