Dwarf Blitzers

Dwarf Blitzer Overview:

Dwarf teams aren’t known for their agility and ball handling ability, which makes Dwarf Blitzers key players on the team. However you decide to play the game at some point in order to win you need to get the ball into the other team’s end zone. Dwarf Blitzers give you two extra players who have an average chance of success compared to the majority of Dwarf players you will have on the pitch. They are also better at dodging, which sometimes you need to do even if you don’t like it. That also makes them a bit more mobile and they are also slightly faster than most of their team mates, though still somewhat slow as far as Blood Bowl players go.

Their “mobility” is key to how you would want to skill them up as you don’t really have other options for players to dodge and hit the other team. Runners are a possibility but they are best suited to the ball handling, so the Blitzers should be doing your blitzing! The reason for this is that the Runners have lower armour and their extra speed and ball handling skills make them best suited for the job of carrying the ball. Blitzers have higher armour and also start with Block unlike the Runner. The only disadvantage they have is that they are slightly slower than the Runner so your positioning of them is important. Their lack of speed also is a good reason to build them both in the same way so increase the chances of one being where you need their abilities. Troll Slayers are another option for blitzing but not if you need to dodge them out of a tackle zone to do so.

It is common now for players you are building for blitzing to take Wrestle for going after opposing ball carriers. Dwarf Blitzers though start with Block which makes Wrestle a poor skill choice due to their overlap (though it can be handy as a later skill pick). So Dwarf Blitzers will typically be built in trying to remove either the weaker links on the other team, or their best players. The more opponents you can get off the pitch the easier it is for yourself to hit the rest of their team and also negates your slow movement and poor agility of the team. You will still probably use your Blitzers for hitting their ball carrier, though sometimes it might make more sense to use another team mate who isn’t in a tackle zone if that is an option.

Blitzing Dwarf Blitzer:

• Normal: Guard, Mighty Blow / Tackle / Juggernaut / Strip Ball, Stand Firm / Grab / Wrestle / Frenzy, Pro
• Doubles: Dodge / Diving Tackle / Jump Up / Side Step
• Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV

I only really see the one role for a Dwarf Blitzer and they have a lot of useful skills to take, though I think a lot of it will depend on the other teams in your league and also what skills your team is lacking at the time you have to pick the skill. Early developing teams I would take Guard first as Dwarfs need as much of it as they can get to keep their edge in the blocking game against everyone else. On a more developed team where you have lots of Guard already then you can skip it. Second choice (or first later on) you have a lot of options. Mighty Blow will help get opposing players off the pitch, which means less of your players tied up and makes both forming and moving a cage easier. It will also generate SPP faster letting you get extra skills at a faster rate. If you are in a really Dodge heavy league then consider Tackle, though you do have a lot of Tackle players on the pitch already. For a newer teams you will be facing less opponents with Dodge so I would take it later. Juggernaut is another useful skill to have as it cancels Wrestle, Fend and Stand Firm. Use it to target the Wrestle players on the other team as they can’t defend against your Block. Strip Ball can also be a useful skill to have, though it loses value in more developed leagues as Sure Hands is a common skill.

Other skills to consider in your development (from second skill onwards, just cause I listed all those other skills first doesn’t mean they all should be taken before the latter skills) are Stand Firm so that if you choose to follow up after hitting a player you want to mark, it is harder for them to dislodge you away and can force them to dodge that player. It is also good for just keeping a tackle zone in place and protecting the ball carrier, as part of a screen or cage. Grab is also handy for cancelling out Side Step when you blitz someone and is also useful when you are just blocking, for either opening up space, setting up chain blocks, or setting up crowd pushes. You can also consider Wrestle on one of your Blitzers on perhaps his second or third skill. Frenzy can combo well with Juggernaut, though you may prefer it for your Troll Slayers, too much Frenzy can get your players dragged too far apart. Pro can also be a handy late selection though I would probably feel one of the other skills more useful.

Doubles there are the usual choices, Dodge goes well with keeping him more mobile, though you won’t often have much Dodge on a Dwarf team and it will be easily countered. Dodge gets better the more you have on the team, so if you go this route consider it as a double for all your players. If you decide against Dodge then Diving Tackle is the other great choice to tie the other team’s players up and combos really well with Stand Firm. Jump Up can also be a consideration (or as a second double) which also perhaps opens the option of taking Piling On as well, turning your Blitzer into more of a killer build. I wouldn’t normally suggest Piling On though as you need all the tackle zones you can get (especially if he has Guard) and your players are slow and can get left out of position if you have to spend most of your movement just standing back up. As Blitzers also have AG3 they make better use of Jump Up when blocking as well, your AG2 players have a harder time with it. Side Step is the last option, though you can get Stand Firm on a normal roll, but Side Step can really help with your positioning.

Stat Increases are very useful and I would take any of them. +ST is obviously great for hitting people. +AG can open up options for passing or handing off the ball, along with making dodging around to get to targets a lot easier. +MV should be taken over +AV without any thought, you need the extra movement and already have high armour and Thick Skull.

Dwarf Blitzer Summary:

Developing and learning to use your Blitzers wisely and you can find that they may be your most valuable players on the team. Build both of them slightly differently to have different options on your team and always think about how the skills you take combine with each other on the single player to get the most use of them. If you get Diving Tackle for instance then Stand Firm increases in value to that player, which in turn makes Tackle more attractive. Mighty Blow will encourage you to use that one for taking out players, so Juggernaut would be great and I’d follow up with Grab or Tackle.

A lot of the skills will be useful for various combos and ways you decide to build your Blitzers, but just take a few moments to consider if what you are selecting is indeed better than the alternatives. Consider what your team is lacking in and what you most need to counter on your regular opponents. For example if you have quite a few Linemen with Diving Tackle already, then don’t be afraid to pass up on a double roll to take a normal skill if it will be more useful to your team. With the option to only have two of these guys you really need to make them and their abilities count!