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Tzeentch Teams

• Changeling will either be a Troll, Ogre or Minotaur, before the game starts roll 1D6 on a 1 or 2 it is a Troll, on a 3-4 it will be an Ogre and on a 5-6 it will be a Minotaur. Skills and Stats will change to reflect this. Contact group admin anytime prior to playing your game and they will roll in IRC and change the Changelings stats and starter skills before the game begins.
  

Player Pics


Player Icons
Familiars

Tzaangors

Tzeentch Warriors

The Changeling


Background
Tzeentch were the second of the aligned Warriors of Chaos teams to start playing Bloodbowl. For years Tzeentch's rival Nurgle had Bloodbowl teams devoted him. Tzeentch had no inclination to involve him self in a sport so associated with destruction, and much to his delight the Nurgle teams were a laughing stock throughout The World. That is until recently.

Nurgle teams changed, they became far more effective, not only destroying all that went before them but they also started turning creatures into rotting plague zombies of sorts and worst of all they started winning. This did not please Tzeentch who then formed his own teams to directly oppose Nurgle. Tzeentch teams were built around great spectacle, ball handling, creating beautiful, inventive and bizarre plays and they became famous for their warriors with the quasi magical ability - the hypnotic gaze. The gaze was gift that Tzeentch had once given to Eldril Sidewinder, and would now be given to Tzeentch's most loyal subjects.

Rationale
Tzeentch teams represent the Tzeentch Warriors of Chaos in the same way Nurgle Teams represent Nurgle Warriors of Chaos. The aim of this roster was to create a team in the same vein as the existing Nurgle team has been; basically with no lesser daemons in like Pink Horrors and absolutely no Greater Daemons.

To my eye the basic principals behind achieving this is first and foremost use the Gor specific to that god, in Nurgle teams this is the Pestigor and in Tzeentch teams it is the Tzaangor. Pestigors were then given skills that are true to the image of their god, so they gained Regeneration and Nurgles Rot. Tzaangors have been given the skills Extra Arms and Big Hand, they also gained P access, this additional skill access is because Tzeentch are the antithesis of Nurgle as Nurgle are defensive and anti-passing team, I felt it right that as part of Tzeentch offence they could develop a passing game if they wanted.

Extra Arms was very obvious, it makes the Gors better all round ball handlers and it fits the fluff for Tzeentch, especially when looking at Horrors for influence. As Nurgle's rival/opposite I wanted the team to be slanted towards a passing/ball handling game. Big Hand was added again because it is closely associated with Tzeentch horrors, especially the older variety, it also means the Gors can pick the ball up anywhere on a 2+. When coupled with the warriors ability to break cages this felt like a very nice combination working very well in unison.

Next came changing the unaligned Chaos Warrior to represent the lesser daemons they are aligned to, again Nurgle Warriors skill set is very similar to how you would imagine a Plaguebearer would be represented in Bloodbowl. So in this case the warriors need to be built to represent a Pink Horror. So Extra Arms is again the obvious choice. This skill pick means they will pick up on a 2+ and gives the team more of a focus on catching and ball play, also the running and Catching game is directly opposed to Nurgle which is where the focus of this team should lie due to them being directly opposed gods. Next was Hypnotic Gaze. Hypnotic Gaze was always going to be in the team, after all Tzeentch was the god that gave Eldril his Hypno Gaze so it was only right that it feature in this team as it is such an important piece of Bloodbowl fluff. Also Tzeentch is the Chaos God that represents magic, and hypno is the only skill that really resembles powers outside of the norm. The only difficulty I faced with hypno was whether to give it to the Warriors or the Gors. In the end I opted for the Warriors as they are worthy of such a great gift, it just didn't feel right giving it to a lowly Gor instead of a Warrior.

The Big Guy was a tough choice, originally I had considered a sorcerer on a Disk of Tzeentch, but that would mean having to give them an Ma8 player and sorcerers were banned from playing Bloodbowl a long time ago so it seemed wrong to allow it. After much thinking and reading up, I considered a Spawn of Tzeentch but they seemed too feral and bash orientated and I wanted something unique and at the same time something that represented Tzeentch magical ability. Finally I went for The Changeling. This was a perfect fit for me as Tzeentch is the Daemon of change.The special rules that accompany the changeling can easily be managed and the rules fit the magical feel of the team nicely. Finally the way the changeling works also provides a throw team mate option in the team too which is unique to this chaos roster and also supports the throwing, catching and running game I wanted them to have to oppose the Nurgle style of play. As an extra little boon no matter which form he takes he has the Pro skill as well representing his magical ability to change the world around him, a changer of plays if you will.

Finally came selecting the lineman player. This was also very straight forward as Tzeentch is the chaos god associated with magic and like most of the fluff used to create these teams I drew from older iterations of warhammer and used the chaos familiars that were once so iconic and also represent Tzeentch very well. This gives the team a stunty option, a throw team mate option and makes the team truly unique which is especially important when designing a Tzeentch list. The skill set is your basic Titchy player with the added perk of having Foul Appearance on them, this makes them a little more resilient as St1 is truly awful, but it seemed important to give the team this downside as hypnotic gaze is so powerful especially when coupled with the ability to pick the ball up anywhere and hand off so reliably.

Season 2 Changes
Games played on 150 with a win percentage of 45%. This was lower than I wanted. So I gave the Warriors Av9. I originally gave them Av8 just for fear of the starting roster being too good. As their ball handling skills are extremely good. But the team was too soft, and were regularly rolled over by just about every team in the game. So now they have Av9 which is what I always wanted and anecdotally the team is still one of the weaker of the warriors of Chaos teams.

Season 3
301 gams played with a win percentage of 48.67%. After the last round of changes I am happy with this roster and its win percentage now. It is playing in the tier 1.5 bracket which is where I expected it to sit, though there could be a case made for Tzeentch being a Tier 2 team as well, they do appear to sit around the 1.5 to 2 area. The lack of normal linemen will always make things tough for this team. The team is now locked in.

Roster design fluff and rationale by Garion
Player Pics drawn by Knut_Rockie and coloured by Garion
Icons by Cowhead