Chaos Dwarf Strategy

Summary

Chaos Dwarf teams employ an interesting mix of strength and speed. Think of the Chaos Dwarf team as a 17th-century army: The blockers are the regular infantry that can be relied upon to survive and stand their ground. The big guy are the powerful but unreliable and expensive mercenaries. Your hobgoblins are the cheap auxillary troops used to plug gaps in the frontline or to do behind-the-line duty. And the bull centaurs? Well you guessed it. They are the cavalry.

Strengths

The Chaos Dwarfs are one of the best defensive teams since the bulls are great ball retrievers and the blockers can absorb a lot of damage on the frontline. Another strength is that the players that really need skills, the bulls, are also the ones that get them easiest.

Weaknesses

The rookie Chaos Dwarfs are one of the worst ballhandling teams in bloodbowl. They lack sure hands, and their only ag3 players, the hobgoblins, are too fragile to make good ballcarriers. Bulls who lacks the Break Tackle skill are also easily tied up and unable to use their main asset, their high movement.

Development

A troll big guy is much better than a minotaur, and with the MA4 it keeps up with the blockers. Buying two bulls from the start and a troll later is recommended. For a more TR-slim team, skip the troll and go for rerolls.

The blockers are formidable players from start, so don't mind if they develop slowly. Guard is the primary choice as skill #1, but some Mighty Blow blockers also fit in. On doubles, Stand Firm is the best choice, it works very well with Guard.

The hobgoblins can be made to score a lot, but remember that hobbos have av7. A hobbo star is a risky investment! Give Sure Hands to the first one, Kick on the second and Dirty Player on a third, then Block. On doubles, Dodge is a good choice, and passing skills on the Sure Hands guy.

Bull Centaurs are the life and the blood of a Chaos Dwarf team, so get them skills ASAP. Pages can be written about what skills they should take, it all depends on how you use them. I would say Break Tackle is the best first choice and Block the best second. A defensive, "sweeper" bull then needs Strip Ball or Tackle, while Sure Hands are a must for a ballcarrier. On doubles, pick Stand Firm (defensive) or Dodge (offensive). A Frenzy bull can be a nasty surprise, especially with Mighty Blow. Stats increases are very good on bulls, an ag+ bull is a gift from the gods and potentially one of the best players whatsoever in blood bowl.

Offense/Defence tips

On offence, set up with both a hobbo and a bull on the backfield. The bull is the best ballcarrier, but its pickup is very risky. If the ball is far back vs a slow team or well protected from a fast team, go for it with the bull. Otherwise the hobgoblin can pick up the ball with higher chance of succes. Bull ball handling (handoff or pickup) works 50% of the time, but 75% with a reroll. This 25% increase is the best you can get with a reroll, so save those rerolls for the bulls!

A good strategy vs slower teams is to attack on one flank, keeping the ballcarrier behind the blockers. The opponent will then pull the majority of his strong players here. Then use the speed of your bulls to quickly change flank, and there is a good chance your opponent is unable to stop them.

On defence, don't use both bulls to hunt the ballcarrier. Keep one in reserve to blitz potential enemy scorers.

Even with Sure Feet, the bulls are not guaranteed to move the full 9 steps. Even if you have a reroll ready when sure feet is used, there is roughly 1/12 chance that one of the GFI's will fail, and with no reroll the chance is almost 1/7. Compare that with the 1/9 chance that a rookie troll will fail a block, and you get the point. Watch the text section of the client when you GFI, to see if Sure Feet is used, and consider moving no further if you don't need to, or can't/don't want to use a team reroll.

A link to Chaos Dwarf team setup

Carl_Stoneyard