BB2020 Orc Starting Rosters

Orc Starting Rosters Overview

Orc teams have always had relatively affordable players, though they have undergone some tweaks in Blood Bowl Second Season. The Throwers have had a slight price reduction. The Black Orcs have been renamed as Big Un Blockers, gained an extra square of movement and had a price increase. The Troll has also had a small price increase.

Another change to Orc teams is that most of the players now have Animosity. As you usually use the Thrower or Blitzers to do the ball carrying and keeping the ball on them until they score it shouldn’t be a huge factor. However as both of those players have Animosity against all their team mates, it can on occasion complicate matter and it’s also harder to try and feed star player points to specific players.

Orc Throwers can often be shunned players by some Orc coaches. The reason being is that they are slower than Blitzers and coaches always want to get star player points on the Blitzers as well. Even though the Thrower has been made a bit cheaper which should make them more desirable, the fact they have Animosity will mean they refuse to hand off, or pass the ball on a D6 roll of a 1. I personally never had much a problem with the slower movement of a Thrower as a standard game plan meant slow advancement of the ball anyway. It also meant that I had that extra Blitzer free on the outside of the cage, rather than an Orc Lineman. Animosity can be a pain but it shouldn’t cause that many problems.

QTYPositionCostMASTAGPAAVSkills & TraitsPriSec
0-16Lineman50k533+4+10+Animosity (Orc Linemen)GAS
0-2Thrower65k533+3+9+Animosity (all team-mates), Pass, Sure HandsGPAS
0-4Blitzer80k633+4+10+Animosity (all team-mates), BlockGSAP
0-4Big Un90k544+10+Animosity (Big Uns)GSA
0-4Goblin40k623+4+8+Dodge, Right Stuff, StuntyAGS
0-1Untrained Troll115k455+5+10+Always Hungry, Loner (4+), Mighty Blow (+1), Projectile Vomit, Really Stupid, Regeneration, Throw Team MateSAGP
0-8ReRolls60kApothecary: Yes
Special RulesBadlands Brawl

Maximum Strength Orcs

QuantityPlayer / ItemCost
2Lineman100k
1Thrower65k
3Blitzers240k
4Big Un Blockers360k
1Untrained Troll115k
2Rerolls120k
Total1000k

The price rises on the Big Un Blockers means you have to sacrifice one of the starting Blitzers if you want to create the team with all the highest strength players. The Blitzers are your best players so it’s disappointing to not start with one of them. However the Big Uns and the Troll can be really slow to develop, so it benefits them to have them from the start.

You do only have two team rerolls and are starting with one less player with Block. That could lead to going through your rerolls, or getting more turnovers than before when you had that extra Blitzer. Purchase sequence would probably be Apothecary, then the Blitzer and then save up for an extra reroll. As the Thrower will often be used to carry the ball it’s more important that he gets Block so I wouldn’t count on getting Leader.

3 Reroll Orcs

QuantityPlayer / ItemCost
3Lineman150k
1Thrower65k
3Blitzers240k
4Big Un Blockers360k
3Rerolls180k
Total995k

Again the price increase on the Big Uns requires a sacrifice to start with there rerolls. You will either have to give up a Big Un or a Blitzer to free up enough funds. As explained above, the slow development of the Big Uns means that I would rather start with them. It’s much easier to get star player points on a Blitzer.

3 Reroll & Goblin Orcs

QuantityPlayer / ItemCost
2Lineman100k
4Blitzers320k
4Big Un Blockers360k
1Goblin40k
3Rerolls180k
Total100k

It is possible to fit in all the Blitzers and Big Uns, along with three rerolls. To make the Budget stretch that bit further you have to give up on starting with a Thrower and do what no true Orc would do and take a Goblin.

A Goblin isn’t a terrible substitute for the Thrower, they can move a bit quicker and come with Dodge. If they are sitting safely behind the rest of your team their low strength shouldn’t really matter. They also don’t have Animosity to deal with should you want to hand it off to a team mate to ultimately score with. They don’t have Sure Hands but you can always just try the pick up again the following turn if you are likely to get a safe scatter. Also you do have three rerolls so using one early isn’t as bad compared to teams that only have two.

Apothecary Orcs

QuantityPlayer / ItemCost
3Lineman150k
4Blitzers320k
4Big Un Blockers360k
2Rerolls120k
1Apothecary50k
Total100k

To start with all the Blitzers and Big Uns you are going to have to start with two rerolls. After filling up with Linemen to get to the required eleven players you have exactly enough left to get an Apothecary. That could also have been another Lineman but the Apothecary could potentially save one of the more expensive players instead.

A variation on this would be to leave out the Apothecary at the start, spend 15k to upgrade a Lineman to a Thrower. You would then have 35k left over to either bank for the Apothecary or get some Dedicated Fans. As Orc teams have really high armour they are less likely to suffer playing the first game without an Apothecary.

Throw Team Mate Orcs

QuantityPlayer / ItemCost
4Blitzers320k
4Big Un Blockers360k
2Goblin80k
1Untrained Troll115k
2Rerolls120k
Total995k

This roster is a little bit out there as you have no Linemen or Throwers and you’re weakening the team a bit by having two Goblins. You do have all of your most expensive players on the team as well to hide behind and Dodge helps protect them as well, especially against other starting teams before Tackle becomes more common.

Along with getting all the expensive players you now have the Throw Team Mate scoring option added in as well. This is also the fastest roster that I’ve outlined giving a bit more flexibility for manoeuvring If starting with two Goblins is too much for you then you can swap one of them and a Blitzer to get a two Linemen instead.

Orc Starting Rosters Summary

Orcs got a bit of a boost with the extra movement on the new Big Uns, however this also resulted in a price increase which made it harder to select your starting roster. None of the options feel great compared to what Orc coaches would have been used to for a long, long time. A hard choice needs to be made on where you are going to compromise.

There is always the option though to throw in one or more Goblins to free up the funds to maximise on other areas. I would probably got with the three rerolls and a Goblin roster but you could make most of these work. Another thing to consider before finalising your choice is if you know what other teams you are going to be facing at the start and tailor your choices towards those matchups.

16 thoughts on “BB2020 Orc Starting Rosters”

  1. I quite like:

    3 Linemen 150
    thrower 65 (215)
    3 Blitzers 240 (455)
    3 Big Uns 270 (725)
    Goblin 40 (765)
    Troll 115 (880)
    2 reroll 120 (1,000)

    Anybody see any issues with this?

    Reply
    • Hi Ricky, thanks for the comment. There are a few concerns that I would have with this draft. First you are only starting with two rerolls and personally I prefer to start with more. You’ve also got 3 Linemen which seems like a waste. A full Orc team on the pitch once developed would probably look like something along the lines of 4 Blitzers, 4 Big Uns, possibly a Troll, a Thrower which is 10 players. Orcs have high armour so tend to stick around a while, you’re starting with two players that you might not want longer term on the team. That’s not to say that you can’t do well with this team, that’s just the things that would concern me personally.

      Reply
      • That seems like valid concerns to me. I’m just getting back in to BB so appreciate the advise. Thanks for that and all the other advise from the site!

        Reply
  2. New coach, started last year on BB2 never played Tabletop. Using 2020 rules I’d probably go:

    3 Linemen
    4 Blitzer’s
    4 Big ‘un Blockers
    2 Rerolls
    1 Apothecary

    Ideally I’d like the 3rd reroll but I’m 10k short. Swapping a lineman for a thrower/goblin means putting a positional on LOS. After this starting lineup you don’t really need gold for anything urgently and can save for 3rd reroll. Shallow bench yes but will avoid TV bloat. Keen to hear your thoughts though!

    Reply
    • Having played 3 league seasons with the 2020 rules I really wouldn’t bother with the Apothecary in the starting lineup. I’m even considering not taking one at all on my Black Orc team this season. An Apothecary doesn’t bring your player back in the same game at the same rate as before and Orcs also have really high armour. If you do want to add an Apothecary after the first game, you can save up for one a lot quicker than getting another reroll will, as the cost of rerolls doubles after team creation.

      Reply
  3. Hello

    Just found this site, found your information and thoughts. My friends are starting a league next year and I thought I’d go with something like this:

    4 blitzers
    4 big ‘um blockers
    1 lineman
    2 throwers
    2 rerolls

    I would value your thoughts.

    Reply
    • Hi James, the second Thrower stops you starting with 3 rerolls. A third reroll will be more useful than a second Thrower. Also the cost to buy a reroll after team creation doubles, whilst the price for a second Thrower will stay the same. So if you wanted both you can save up for a Thrower (65k) easier than getting another reroll (120k). It’s also not that uncommon for Orc teams to have zero Throwers on the team. I know some coaches prefer to carry the ball with a Blitzer as they are faster than the Thrower. You can then also save team value by having a Lineman instead of a Thrower, who also has the advantage of higher armour as well. So basically I would never start with that lineup that you mentioned above, the third reroll is far more useful and important in my opinion. Good luck in the league!

      Reply
      • Thank you for responding so quickly, I’ll definitely take on board your thought and the third reroll does seem like a big advantage, I’ll have a rewrite. Thank you again for your well informed thoughts.

        Reply
  4. I feel like you are all underestimating the importance of increasing Dedicated Fans for extra income in league play. You can start it at 6 for 50k.

    Reply
    • I don’t think I’d start with dedicated fans at 6 as you are probably going to lose a couple of games and it’ll go down, losing you value, and only going up on a 6.
      If you set dedicated fans at 2-3, you are less likely to lose one when you lose a game, can gain when you win and have more cash to spend on an apo or upgrading a lineman to a positional in the starting roster.
      I’d certainly spend left over cash I can’t spend on anything else on dedicated fans, but not the equivalent of an entire player.

      Reply
  5. Long time lurker, first time poster. I’ve loved the Orc team in the past and this new version, while throwing a monkey wrench in the gears a tad, is still a monster. I’ve always been a fan of marching up the field with my slow throwers, using sure hands to pick up the ball and avoid being stripped of the ball. This always played well to the grinding slog that is the orc way. The longer I have the ball, the more time I have to smash the opponent’s face in. So, here’s a starting roster idea that I think works well, especially with a 3-4 defense:
    4x Blitzers
    3x Big Uns
    2x Linemen
    2x Thowers
    3x Rerolls
    It’s a team I have yet to play (having too much fun with my Chaos Chosen team currently), but it’s on my short list for next season.

    Thoughts?

    Reply
    • Big Uns are slow to skill up due to their lower agility which is why I like to have them to start with, that and the extra strength it more useful than even having one Thrower. You might find that your Throwers hog your touchdowns and thus Star Player Points as well. They also have lower armour than the rest of the team, having two to protect weakens the team a little. Orcs are a solid team overall and this is still a very workable roster, just not one I would start with given the current state of the game. If passing becomes more relevant in the future with rule changes then this might be an option I would consider.

      Reply
  6. I think it is interesting you like to go with 4 big ‘uns to start. I tend to play a non traditional “west coast offense” with the orcs, and do a lot of passing and handing off to be a consistent high scoring team, rather than a smash mouth team. Big’uns are faster than black orcs used to be, which is nice, but having 4 players that are so easily stuck in place and unable to do anything with the ball slows the whole team down. Your players are cheap and durable and still surprisingly agile and I love taking advantage of that early in a season/league to get SPP on the board without the injury troubles of teams like humans. I like to go 2 throwers, 4 blitzers, 2 Big ‘uns, 2 linemen and 2 goblins to start and 3 rerolls.

    Because your players are so cheap, you can roll the dice on primary skills with one TD and dump and replace players that don’t get anything useful. This can let you really explode out of the gates early in the season but not end up with too pricy of a team, since your breaks are rolls. You can swap one gob for a lineman if the gob is feel to weak to you, but on both defense and offense I find other coaches willing to make bad choices to get blitzes on gobos hunting for SPP rather than thinking about the ball and scoring, which is more reliable points and better for winning and getting a bigger treasury. Orcs can be almost as good as humans at spreading the SPP around and yet a lot more durable.

    Reply
  7. I am a big fan of:
    4 Big Uns
    4 Blizters
    3 Goblins
    3 Rerolls

    The Dodge and Stunty helps get some early league touchdowns, which gets you additional money to later add a thrower and Troll. And those Big Uns and Blizters are there from the get go to start farming SSP

    Reply
    • It depends on if you bothered taking a Thrower before they had Animosity. I wouldn’t really let Animosity really be the decider on taking one or not. The introduction of the passing stat is a much bigger factor to consider and I think more coaches who perhaps didn’t take the Thrower beforehand, will now do so. Having a better passing ability and access to passing skills will probably come in useful if you need to score in 2 or 3 turns. I don’t see Animosity being that big a deal personally.

      Reply

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