Shambling Undead Starting Rosters Overview
Undead have always been a powerful team right from the start. Blood Bowl Second Season has bought along a couple of prices rises on the Ghouls and the Mummies. How will this affect the way in which teams select their starting rosters?
| QTY | Position | Cost | MA | ST | AG | PA | AV | Skills & Traits | Pri | Sec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-12 | Skeleton | 40k | 5 | 3 | 4+ | 6+ | 8+ | Regeneration, Thick Skull | G | AS |
| 0-12 | Zombie | 40k | 4 | 3 | 4+ | – | 9+ | Regeneration | G | AS |
| 0-4 | Ghoul | 75k | 7 | 3 | 3+ | 4+ | 8+ | Dodge | AG | PS |
| 0-2 | Wight | 90k | 6 | 3 | 3+ | 5+ | 9+ | Block, Regeneration | GS | AP |
| 0-2 | Mummy | 125k | 3 | 5 | 5+ | – | 10+ | Mighty Blow (+1), Regeneration | S | AG |
| 0-8 | ReRolls | 70k | Apothecary: No | |||||||
| Special Rules | Masters of Undeath, Sylvanian Spotlight |
Standard Shambling Undead
| Quantity | Player / Item | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Skeletons / Zombies | 200k |
| 2 | Ghoul Runners | 150k |
| 2 | Wight Blitzers | 180k |
| 2 | Mummies | 250k |
| 3 | Rerolls | 210k |
| Total | 990k |
My typical go to starting points for Undead teams had 30k left in the bank under the old rules so the price changes have just meant a little less left over. You can still start with a great mix of your positional players and fit in three of the expensive rerolls.
I never offered any alternative options before and I don’t see any reason to do so now. This is one of the few teams that really selects itself.
The one thing to consider is the mix of Skeletons and Zombies. The common school of thought is that Zombies are slightly better as they have higher armour. The extra movement isn’t really needed for the job they tend to do of being on the line of scrimmage or marking the opponents strong players. The extra movement of a Skeleton might come in helpful on occasion, especially for getting into position for fouling. It can sometimes come into play when advancing a cage, though you’re usually working around your even slower Mummies anyway.
You could drop a reroll which will let you afford another Ghoul. That gives you an extra player which could come in useful as a replacement or for fouling. However the cost of rerolls doubles and you’ll be able to afford to buy a Ghoul much sooner than an extra reroll. The Ghouls are also the most fragile player on the team with low armour and no Regeneration or Apothecary access.
Another option is to drop a Ghoul and you can then afford two more Linemen. This makes your team a lot slower and less agile. That’s one of the advantages Undead teams have over other bashing teams so it seems silly to not play to your advantage. A Ghoul on the pitch will offer a lot more than having a spare Skeleton or Zombie in the dug out. Likewise it doesn’t make sense to drop a Wight or a Mummy either.
Shambling Undead Starting Rosters Summary
What is there to say about Undead team starting rosters? Going with less rerolls doesn’t really give you much extra. This is a tried and tested roster that has been around for a long time. It if’s not broken don’t fix it.
I heard a good argument today about skeles vs zombies in that the skeletons are more valuable to start b/c they end up with greater time on the pitch than zombies due to thick skull before mighty blow (and/or claw) start to become more prevalent in opposing teams. I think the argument I heard was that more armor breaks, but fewer KOs means you lose fewer turns per player that takes a hit.
If the math works out with that (and with the skeleton’s increased movement) it would seem to make sense to start with skeletons and replace ’em as you get free zombies and start getting to opponents/rounds in your league where MB is more common.
Old comment to reply to, but basically:
Skeletons are faster and can throw the ball, meaning if for whatever reason they manage to catch a bomb they can trhow it back. A zombie can’t.
However skeletons are more easily stunned with lower AV, so might not be as often active as zombies.
The thick skull VS armour only means that to send it off the pitch you need an 8+ then a 9+, instead of a 9+ then an 8+. They both have the same odds of staying on the pitch without mighty blow.
However, with armour 8+ they will spend more time stunned, especially with mighty blow in the equation.
Hm, those maths don’t seem to work out. With no Claw or Mighty Blow on the attacker, Skeletons and Zombies run exactly the same risk of leaving the pitch when Knocked Down (Zombies get their armour broken 10/36, then get KO:ed or worse 15/36; Skeletons suffer broken armour 15/36, then get KO:ed or worse 10/36; in both cases they get removed 10*15/36/36 = 11.6% of the Knockdowns), but the Skeletons get Stunned almost twice as often as Zombies do (30.1% vs 16.2%). IOW, Zombies not only spend just as much time on the pitch as Skeletons do, but they also spend *more* of that time standing up than the Skeletons do!
If the attacker has Mighty Blow the risk of getting hurt increases all around, but the Skeletons and Zombies are still exactly as likely to get removed from the Pitch (now 285/1296, or almost exactly 22% of the Knockdowns) and the Skeletons are still almost twice as likely to get Stunned as the Zombies are (now 36.3% vs 19.7%).
As far as I can tell it is only when the attacker has Claw that the Skeletons gain a survivability edge over Zombies, since Claw effectively means that both Skeletons and Zombies have AV 8+ but the Skeletons still benefit from their Thick Skulls.
So… is having slightly better movement and PA 6+ worth spending almost twice as much time Stunned?
Hi,
Next game I’m going to try the undead, but i was thinking of switching 1 Wight and a Zombie (and 10K extra) for 2 extra Gouls.
I think these are my greatest scoring models and having 4 instead of 2 gives me more flexibilitie .
On the defence I have the Mummies and a Wight, and Zombies to tie up the rest.
regards,
Dirk
For a one off game that seems perfectly sensible. In a league I think getting skills on a Wight is more important, especially as Ghouls tend to hog most of the touchdowns and are more fragile. Good luck!
Thank you Coach,
My plan is to save for a Wight asap. Hopefully my test games will prove if this is the right choice for me.
sorry i’m 10K over 🙁
Doesn’t having only 10k leftover to purchase Dedicated Fans make it take much longer to save up for those extra ghouls and rerolls?
It seems to me that starting out with more Dedicated Fans would be better for league play.
What is a good 1.1million build for a league?
Drop a zombie and take 2 extra ghouls, or 1 extra ghoul and lots of dedicated fans?
Two extra Ghouls adds a lot to the team and should make it easier to get some early wins. That should lead to your getting more fans for free and having those Ghouls will make scoring touchdowns easier which also earns you money.
This might be the most ridiculous 1000TV roster. After about a thousand games of this edition on fumbbl, I have no answers for shambling undead with most teams. They are too fast to play speed against, too many good starting skills, excellent bashing. They just do everything at least as well as almost any other team.