A Goblin team’s game plan owes much more to hope than potential. Goblins can make quite good catchers because they are small and agile, but the art of throwing is sadly lost to them, while the chances of their blocking anything larger than a Halfling are remote to say the least. Still, this never seems to bother Goblin players, and occasionally the use of a particularly devious secret weapon will even allow a Goblin team to win a match.
Overview:
Goblin teams are one of the weakest and most challening teams to play. Their players are cheap, weak and break easily. Goblins do however enjoy the biggest access to secret weapons and you will often see them deploying players with things from a chainsaw to a pogo stick. They also have the ability to employ two troll players to help stiffen the team up on the line of scrimmage, as well as giving the threat of a one turn touchdown.
As mentioned, the goblins are weak, have low armour and break easier than most players if you penetrate that armour. Their secret weapon players that are often seen on the pitch, tend to get sent off and trolls aren’t reknown for being reliable. They are fun to play but they are also a challenging team as well. Goblin teams are also known for giving bribes to referees so they can keep their weapons on the pitch, though should this not work, they are cheap enough to be able to have a full bench of substitutes.
The fact that goblins by design are one of the hardest teams to use, they aren’t suited to a beginner unless they are happy enough to try the challenge and have fun with the diversity of the team.
Strengths:
- Very cheap players
- Access to lots of secret weapons
- Can have two trolls
- Dodge and Stunty
Weaknesses:
- Low strength
- Low armour
- Fragile (stunty)
- Unreliable players
August 4th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I tried these for the first time the other day and I have never been so stressed playing Blood Bowl in all my life!
While the Chainsaw is the most fun thing ever and a great equaliser; and I can’t help but smile every time the Pogo Stick bounces up the pitch; it is so stressful trying to make any meaningful plays with these guys.
My Trolls decide to get Stupid at the worse possible moment and the Goblins need to gang up to take on anything bigger than a Gutter Runner (And while they are doing that the rest of the opposing team is unmarked and making life difficult)!
So while these guys are fun they are not for coaches who plan on winning convincingly!
September 28th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
They are certainly a challenging team. They really only suit coaches that are committed to luck dominating their play.
Some days everything will go wrong and they will get so badly torn up you’ll want to cry. Some days they’ll go right and you will be crying with laughter at your opponents misfortune.
Few things are MORE destructive than a goblin team when it works.
The key to using them is really secret weapon management and working out ways of stalling/concentrating the enemy so your trolls and fanatic (and/or chainsaw) can give a good return.
‘meaningful plays’ are indeed difficult. Throws beyond quick pass are risky at best and your movement (aside from the pogo) is not sufficient to allow ‘quick’ TDs (aside from throwing goblins which is the main reason I play this team lol)
But for all that, they arent THAT much worse than other teams in a lot of ways, and Stunty can provide the most frustration in the world for opponents, particularly if you get +1AG.
Its a pity you cant get mutations, a big hand would be darn handy in combination with stunty to get balls on the ground in TZs!
But the average goblin, if he lives long enough, can have block and dodge off his first level up which is always annoying for opponents and since you’ll run through goblins pretty quick, you’ll end up with a surprising number of doubles (assuming you manage to score at all
)
Winning convincingly isnt often on the cards (though if you get a little run of luck, particularly against elves, you can clear their team off the pitch by the end of a game) but you can definately win with them and they quite often end up in the place positions in leagues.
The Cyanide game doesnt include the bombardier which hurts them a lot, but it also doesnt seem to include the chance of a goblin being eaten when you throw teammate either which saves you about a goblin a league
But honestly, NOTHING beats breaking an orc cage with a thrown goblin to the head of their ball carrier. Its a slim chance and the goblin often wont live through it, but there’s plenty more where he came from!
October 1st, 2009 at 3:59 am
…but it also doesnt seem to include the chance of a goblin being eaten when you throw teammate either which saves you about a goblin a league…
In my games goblins are eaten quite often
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:03 am
Aye my troll has a habit of ‘goblin’ all he picks up…..
Boom-Boom
‘Hangs head in shame at terrible pun’
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:40 am
Sq – is that in the cyanide game or are you talking tabletop?
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:56 am
Its a pity you cant get mutations, a big hand would be darn handy in combination with stunty to get balls on the ground in TZs!
They can but only in underworld teams
October 27th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I got my goblin eaten in a game on the cyanide game last night, so its definately implemented.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Ah! Cool, I wasn’t sure as I have done it multiple times (perhaps a dozen times) and never had it happen and it is a 1-in-6 chance.
So I guess I was just lucky (though I can see it now 3 Gobbos eaten in a row!).
October 28th, 2009 at 10:01 am
p.s. Where the graphics of it any good?
October 28th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Nah its a one in 36 chance, gotta roll a one on the throw, and then a one on the ‘eat or fumble’.
The graphic was awesome, I covered my lap with coke.
It was in a single player competition, I decided to play goblins through on hard tournament rules to see if I could (I get a lot of ‘playing slots’ that are less than an hour unfortunately so i cant play a full multi game, but i can get a few turns on a single in).
He was my only goblin to skill up and I had got him the ball, attempting the one turn jobbie.
He was on my side of the troll, so the troll turned towards me (on screen) picked up the gobbo, stuffed him in his mouth, swallowed and the ball scattered off lol.
Unfortunately it was on my fiance’s laptop, so all the graphic settings were on min, so i cant vouch for what it would have looked like on my main computer (which is currently being shipped to australia) but even on min it was hilarious.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Let’s face it, our beloved Gobbos are not for power gamers, or those seeking a placing at any tournament. Those boys pick Dwarfs, or Wood Elves, or something with reliability & the odd flash of brilliance.
Our Gobbos are far too erratic, unpredictable and frustrating for that sort of player.
We play Gobbos for the massive challenge they present, for the sensation of walking the very edge of the abyss on every single play, and for the sheer, never ending cascade of laffs. They are anything but dull, boring or blandly safe.
And Troll Air has to be the very epitome of why we play. It’s breath taking when we pull it off, and side splitting when we don’t (on Cyanide or irl).
If you’ve read this thread this far, you’re obviously looking for something unique in gaming, and so, my friend, I can safely say that GobBole is for you. May your first flight with Troll Air come very very soon.
October 29th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
‘No reported crash landings’ Is what I’ve heard.
Apparently either they never crash….or noone ever walks away to tell the tale.
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:39 pm
I’ve been playing around with Goblins on Cyanide’s Blood Bowl and man are they different! I definitely agree that they’re the most destructive team in the game and from what I can tell, they seem to play a kind of harassing game where most of your gobos won’t even throw blocks and just focus on placing tackles and tying up other players. Definitely a fun team, even if they are pretty hard to use!
December 27th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Bombardier = greatest Fun ever!
December 18th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
You have to strike a balance between 1 turn TD’s (thrown goblin play) and keeping your Secret Weapons from being sent off.
I have found, that if I am receiving I will have the Fanatic on and try to score as quickly as possible (using a bribe to keep the Fanatic from the dungeons).
Then when the opponents have the ball I can shower them with bombs and keep the Looney in the backfield to blitz any players that get through the line of scrimmage.
I agree on the inconsistency of Goblin’s. I have played 4 games so far which ended in 0-2, 1-0, 0-3 and 2-0