Chaos Minotaur Overview:
Minotaurs make a fantastic addition to a Chaos team and can be used in a couple of different ways. There are two schools of thought about when to take them though. Some coaches like to start the team with them in order to give them more games to try and get them developed sooner. The other school of thought is to get them later on to avoid the issues of unreliability at the start and to spend their high value on getting more rerolls from the start. Each method has its own benefits and it is down to your own preference which you choose to do.
As they are on a Chaos team, Minotaurs get the advantage that they can take mutations on normal rolls, as well as the standard strength skills all big guys have access to. This ability is what gives you the flexibility to build the Minotaur in ways that other big guys don’t usually have open to them.
Minotaur RoadBlock
- Normal: Tentacles, Stand Firm, Guard/Break Tackle
- Doubles: Block, Pro
- Stat Increases: +ST, +MV/+AV
This Minotaur Build focuses on trying to hold up the opposition players. For this Tentacles is fantastic, combined with the high strength of a Big Guy you can prevent opposing players from getting away, especially useful weaker, agile opposition. Next up you want to take Stand Firm, as this prevents the opposing team from blocking your Minotaur away from the targets he is tying up. These two skills are great for keeping opposing players next to you in order to have targets to block every turn, which goes some way to negate the Wild Animal trait. It will also help in keeping players next to your Warriors to give them targets to block as well. Hopefully by the third skill you would have got a double roll so you can get Block, to both keep him on his feet more and getting more knock downs as well to aid development. The other option is Pro, which can help against Wild Animal and also make Tentacles perform a bit better, also like all Loner players, Pro will save on rerolls as well.
If you haven’t got a doubles at this point though there are still other useful skills to take. Which one is down to personal preference and I would suggest to consider which would have given the most help in previous games to how you have been utilising him in them. Guard will help to keeping the strength in your favour, especially against the other strong and/or Guard heavy teams. Break Tackle will stop you getting tied down by the other team and let you tie up as many targets as possible with your Tentacles. One thing to consider though is that for a move action, Wild Animal requires you to roll a 4+, which may just result in a lost action.
Stat Increases as usual would leave you hoping to get +ST, this will make Tentacles even more potent, make you harder to hit and also help with getting three dice blocks, which will help avoid turnovers. Some coaches will say to use the doubles to take Block instead of +ST and it certainly has its merits. Minotaurs don’t really make good use of +AG so I would skip that for a skill and keeping TV down. For +MV or +AV, on doubles I would take Block or Pro, otherwise you could consider either. +MV will let you get around the pitch better and help keep targets you want to mark in range, or +AV will keep you more survivable, as AV8 is a bit low for a player in the thick of things. There would be nothing wrong with skipping either and just taking a skill instead though and I would certainly consider that.
Blitzing/Killer Minotaur:
- Normal: Juggernaut/Claw, Stand Firm/Break Tackle/Piling On
- Doubles: Block, Pro, Jump Up
- Stat Increases: +ST, +MV/+AV
Whilst the other build counters Wild Animal in trying to give you someone to Block every turn, this build does it by using the Minotaur to Blitz each turn. Of course you may need to use your Blitz elsewhere though so there is merit in trying to keep options to block as well. There are two ways to start in my opinion, I lean towards Juggernaut personally though. This will let you turn both down results into a pushback, which will avoid turnovers and make use of Frenzy to get that second hit in. It will also keep him on his feet by ignoring Wrestle (an added bonus if you later or already have Block) and keep you next to players by countering Fend as well. The other method is to start with Claw, combined with Mighty Blow this is a great combo for removing players and generating casualty SPP. This will speed up development but will give you more turnovers, which ever you pick first I would take the other second unless you roll a double. If you get Block first then Claw second will be less of a turnover issue. As the Minotaur has Horns as well, always try and get an assist against ST3 players as you can get three dice blitzes instead of two. This will lower the turnover risk and increase the knock down percentage as well.
The next skill will be more down to what role you want to use him for within the team. If you want to use him to try and clear players off the pitch, then Piling On will really let you get players off the pitch. Be wary though of getting fouled by the other team (which will happen a lot if you get this build) as you do only have AV8. You could also get Jump Up on a double roll if you want to push the risk reward boundary. If you tend to go for a lot of crowd pushes then Stand Firm would be a great choice for those times you end up standing on the sideline, like the other build you can also not be pushed off opposing players, leaving blocks open. Break Tackle will let you blitz targets you prefer, rather than the guy you start the turn next to. This build doesn’t suffer with Break Tackle like the other as you will be blitzing with this guy quite a lot and not have to worry about Wild Animal as much.
Stat wise, as usual +ST is great, you can then get three dice blitzes against ST3 players by yourself if there are no assists either side. Again you may want to consider Block as it is a double, though with Juggernaut the risk isn’t as great and I like the +ST. +MV will give you a greater range and avoid some go for its that you would be forced to make with Frenzy on blitzes. If you went the Piling on route then you may want to take the +AV to help against fouls. Again though with either strongly consider Block or Pro if you rolled double five.
Chaos Minotaur Summary:
As always with Big Guys you need to be careful about their negative traits and the Loner skill when doing any action with them. Use them to compliment the rest of your team and try not to use them as the main focal point as you will get bitten by their reliability. There are also other builds you could consider if you wanted as well. If you get +AG first skill roll for example, you could go down the unusual route of making an agile Minotaur going with Two Heads and Extra Arms afterwards. A ST5 ball carrier could be great fun and be a real headache for your opponents. As with any other Chaos player they can be made in quite a varying number of ways and there is no right or wrong way to go.
Coach, if I’m not mistaken, the minotaur is unable to learn the grab skill because he already has frenzy.
Also, I’d just mention, that the one nice thing about the wild animal trait compared to other negatives, is that a failed roll doesn’t result in a lost tackle zone.
And that is why tentacles is a great skill for Mino’s. Because they can still use Tentacles even when they are affected by wild animal.
One thing i like to use on my Mino’s if i get a double is actually Jump up. The chance of rolling either dice as a 1 when you jump up to block is less than getting a mino up without a blitz. I know that block is more usefull in actual fights, but the higher strength of the Mino helps offset this.
But that is just me – a bit of an unorthodox player wheni choose my skills.
Unless I am mistaken, the Minotaur Jumps Up on a 3+.
But you are right, a 2+ followed by a 3+ is more likely to succeed than a single 4+ (55.6% Vs 50%).
Both these builds do seem like good ways to deal with wild animal. I am not sure even with +1 AG I would get a Wild Animal ball carrier. Might be great for delaying the game but to unrelable to move without blitzing. I can never seem to stand up my Rat Ogre without blitzing.
Whoops – my mistake – Mino’s do have ag 2…. Still. it is a bit better. but only just.
I also like the surprise factor of it…
Well in addition to getting up slightly easier you get a Block on top of it all, so its win-win. (right up until you roll double Both Down, d’oh!)
I’m using Claw with my Mino and he’s averaging 2 casualties per game so far – even injured Ripper yesterday.
I’ve got a question though:
Assuming the Mino has +1 STR, and then another +1 STR when he blitzes, making a total of 7 STR, is it worth taking Multiple Block?
Cheers.
Not for those reasons no because Multiple Block only works for Block actions and not on Blitz actions, so you won’t get the +1ST for Horns. However as teams with Minotaurs will usually have quite a few players with Guard, you can use their assists to get the required ST to make Multiple Block work.
Can Mino with Juggernaut change both down to be push when he make normal block?
No, Juggernaut only works when the player is Blitzing.
Jump-up on a mino, is not on my play book.
Your 1st double should be used to get block. Minos are real turnover machines without it.
Pro is nice as well:
Blitz or block: 83% – 90% (with pro)
Other: 50% – 62.5%(with pro)
I´m playing in a small Blood Bowl Leage a Chaos Dwarf Team and two Matches ago i bought a Mino. I was searching for a interesting skill-combination, but sadly this article tells only about the Chaos Mino. The Dwarfen Mino could choose Mutations only on doubles 🙁
So, have anyone Ideas my Chaos Dwarf Minotaur?
The best use on a Chaos Dwarf team is helping to make space to move a cage into and gives mutual support to the Chaos Dwarf Blockers. As the Dwarfs usually get Guard as their first skill, you want to be blocking or blitzing with the Mino as often as possible getting three dice. This is the best way to negate Wild Animal as well. With Horns adding on as well when blitzing it makes this easier and Frenzy means you can often get 6 dice on your opponent. So as usual for Big Guys, Block and Pro on Doubles, otherwise Juggernaut is great if you blitz more than block, Break Tackle, Guard, Stand Firm are all good choices. Big Guys don’t have much room in the way they develop, it is more down to tailoring them to how you use them on the pitch.
Thanx for the advise. I gave him Juggernaut, cause most time i try to Blitz with him. I hope the next skillup will be a double.
I’m a fan of pro rather than block as a first double for a minotaur, though you can go either way.
Pro lets him use break tackle and his access to tentacles better.
With pro you have a far better chance of moving him around and putting him in positions where tentacles really messes the opponent up.
Keeping in mind that pro also softens the impact of not having block anyway.
Block protects your mino, however, and let it stay on its feet. It’s quite painful to fail WA rolls to get it back up after a tackle. It also has only AV8, so it should be mercilessly fouled everytime it bites the dust.
I’ve been developing my minotaur along the roadblock route and it’s working pretty well. However, I do have a question; in the set up/formation phase where do you put your minotaur? I usually put him on the line of scrimmage (along with two warriors with block and guard) so that he doesn’t have to move or blitz to get near an opponent and to “equalize” the other team’s big guy who are always deployed on the line of scrimmage. I tried putting him near the front of a side zone hoping that he would be able to slow down or stop anyone getting past either with his tentacle or by hitting them as they try to leave his tackle zone, but I’ve only had mixed results.
Using multiple block means you can’t use frenzy or follow up either block, would this be an effective method of controlling where the minotaur goes (or in this case does not go)? Seems my minotaur is always moving out of position from following up push backs, though part of this I’m sure is me being new to the game.
If you place the Minotaur on the LOS then he will likely get stuck there and the other team can either cage away from him, or an agile team get their receivers far enough away. It is also easier for the other team to have players in position to knock him over as well and at AV8 they aren’t that tough. Either use disposable Beastmen or tougher Warrirors.
Set the Mino up further back more towards one side and either use a Blitz to get him where you want or chance move actions. The other side from the pitch you want to have your better players designed to do the same kind of role, forcing the other team to choose which side they would face. Many coaches would go the non Minotaur side without really considering the skills of the players the other side.
Multiple Block isn’t a great choice either, you will be likely doing 2 one die blocks with a player who can’t really use rerolls. Instead of maximising his ability to get 3 dice blitzes with Horns and assists from Guard team mates. As for getting pulled out of position from Frenzy, you don’t have to block if staying where he is would be a better option.
I play a full Minotaur team, whats the best way of avoiding turnovers with so many wild animals?
You can’t have more than one Minotaur on any team. Sounds like you are playing with some house rules. If that is the case try asking on the forum as I don’t want to deviate from the official rules on here. Thanks and Good Luck!
Can you declare a Blitz with your Mino and then not hit anyone?
In a game I had teh other day my Rat Ogre managed to pick up a spilt ball and I was wondering if I could blitz the whole way to the line to score with him. As it happens I just handed the ball off to a gutter runner but it would have been nice to score with the RO.
Yes, it is possible Thanatos.
Blitz = [move][block][move]; each part is optional.
I was lucky enough to get my minotaur to level up fast first I added claw then I got double and added block then I got doubles again and added dodge so now he never falls down and hits the pitch 🙂
I feel there is a totally different approach to the killer minotaur. The 1st skill that should be taken is Claw no matter what! Takes those troublesome dwarves down and out. My second skill is pilling on. Than guard if there is still no luck with doubles than tentacles. I find the Minotaur will level up really fast if you do it this way and you will be able to give it a ton of skills. I don’t see the need for stand firm really. Juggernaut well if your not lucky with doubles and can’t get block than thats a must have. Right now my minotaur is maxed out level 7 the six skills I have Smash in order are.
1. Claw/Claws
2. Block lucky Doubles
3. Dodge wow lucky Doubles again only goes down with pow unless they have tackle.
4. Pilling-on
5. Guard
6. Multiple Block
My Minotaur has 37 kills yes kills in my current league and 65 Casualties. He never gets knocked down. Smash is a beast!
on my third level i got double sixes and has to take STR. can ya blame me 😛
Coach to comment on an earlier post Multi block works wonders!! It all depends on how you build your teammates that play around the minotaur. If they have guard you don’t give up dice at all. My entire Chaos team has block, guard, Claws and Mighty blow. Now i will not tell a lie there isn’t a passing game to speak of but with 11 players with guard and block it sure does make it hard to knock down any of my guys when it is two dice my choice all the time. Way nicer than 1 die blocks with the minotaur when using multiple block skill.
I think that is the best choice for a Blitzing/Killer Minotaur:
* Normal: Claws, Tentacles, Guard, Stand Firm
* Doubles: Block, Pro, Jump Up
* Stat Increases: +ST, +MV/+AV
With Claws and Tentacles you will be quite sure to have someone to destroy next turn and your opponents will been affraid to deal with…
Thanks for a great article once again Coach!
However, I was wondering about an another concept;
Would Minotaur with Two Heads be worth anything?
Thinking when combined with Break Tackle, Minotaur would be dodging into a good cage with 66.6 % change (without reroll of course), and therefore posing a good threat for those slow caging teams. Against ST 3 players, as most of the ball carriers tend to be, even having two Guards as cage corners Minotaur would still end up having a two dice opportunity, with Frenzy. Not necessarily the most effective cookie-cutter method, but just something maybe worth trying? Adding Stand Firm and Tentacles would make him pretty annoying to move out from the cage too.
Interesting idea though cages aren’t something that are a problem for Chaos teams to deal with usually. That also means you’ve used two skills to get Break Tackle and Two Heads. This will likely encourage you to attempt dodges with a player who is still going to fail 1/6 of the time and has Loner. There is also still the lack of Block to consider. If you are blitzing with them a lot to get use of Horns (which I encourage) then Juggernaut is a higher priority skill from a reliability stand point.
Personally I’d rather use another player to blitz a path to the ball carrier and then move a Stand Firm and Tentacles Minotaur next to the ball carrier. Attempting rolls on a single die with Loner players is a danger I prefer to avoid. That and you can also end up not blitzing at all if you fail the Wild Animal roll.
Claws-tentacles-Prenhensile tail
Doubles: block tackle
the eldritch horror from which there is no escape
I use my mino as a LOS anchor, so in my mind claw is absolutely essential for 1 reason: keeping down enemy big guys. so with that in mind here’s a LOS anchor build:
Claw, Guard/Tentacles, Prehensile Tail, possibly Stand Firm
Doubles: Block, Tackle, possibly Dodge
Stats: ST, possibly AV
Block takes precedent over everything else. You can usually get two or three die blocks without ST, so block keeps you from using re-rolls or turning over.
Claw helps keep the big guys down, and frees up some of your LOS. Guard and tentacles can be taken in any order, Guard lets you mark a big guy and someone else without being in danger, (works wonders against teams with more than one big guy) and tentacles helps enemy players from moving around you. Prehensile tail keeps pesky runners from getting past any holes in your defense, especially useful because of frenzy. Stand firm is OK but not essential, you should be avoiding letting him get hit (with two dice for the enemy) anyway, and frenzy makes up for any pushbacks most of the time.
For doubles after block, tackle makes him even harder to dodge past, and is worth taking. dodge is a decent choice, but not essential, you should be avoiding situations where the mino can hit hit with any force.
Stats: ST is decent, helps guarantee two die followups on big guys. AG is pointless, as is MA. You generally don’t want him to have to move to make a hit, (when everyone else blitzes with 4 strength, it’s also unnecessary) and trying to do anything agile with him is a waste. AV is an option, to keep him in the game, but again avoid letting him get hit with any force.
Once you have block and claw the mino becomes an injury machine, and the SPP rack up, making him all the better. It also lets you use your other players with horns to make more vital blitzes, so you don’t rely on using them with the mino.
Many advocate for the use of piling on, and jump up on doubles, but to my mind the advantages of better injury chances are outweighed by three things: first is the ability of the mino to prevent dodgy players getting past when he’s upright, second is the skills you can get instead (especially wasting a double on jump up), but most importantly is that with an AV of 8 he has a huge foul target on his back when he goes prone.
Let´s talk about extreme luck with minotaur.
My lvl 4 killer mino has been killed by high elf lineman so I bought new lvl 1 mino, this fresh guy was in his first game and I won it because of his actions. I was playing a final against Nurgle team. My team was quite damaged by the elves so I had about 200TW less than enemy (had to buy tons of new players not only mino). In 7th round i was losing 1:0 and I had the only chance to score by blitzing with minotaur ballcarier then picking up ball with beastman and throw it to another beastman. 1 round TD, easymode :oD. It was complicated when mino after frenzying picked up ball. So I can´t do more ballhandling with him because he blitzed. Next round (8th) I have to move minotaur then throw the ball to beastman, he must catch it and finaly run to the endzone to do touchdown. If I´m counting well the odds to make all these actions are 1:12 (about 8%). I was lucky and it all happened and I scored. It was the most difficult match and this was the first step to win. Small step actually. It took me 28 rounds to win it. 12 rounds overtime.
Just wanted to ask. Should i take both juggernaut and block on the minotaur, if so, do they work together? Like during a blitz will i be able to down opponents with both down dice?
If I remember correctly then Juggernaut will cancel out Wrestle which would let you use Block to take them down. If they also have Block then you can just turn it into a pushback result and you can use Frenzy for a second attempt. So yeah they do work well together and Block will also help when you are doing a normal block action and when the opponents are blocking your Minotaur.
I am asking because i rolled double 5’s with my mino, which has tentacles and jugger. Currently my options are either block, pro, +AV or +MV. I don’t think i need +MV because i already have some faster guys in form of a MV 6 chaos warrior and MV 7 beastmen with 4 STR (it is every chaos coaches wet dream since it also has dodge. No block though).
I was thinking about pro so i can use my reroll on someone else and not worry about him. Problem is there is also block which means my mino will be never downed by anything except stumble or defender or down.
So what do you recommend here coach? Which would best compliment a roadblock mino? Block, pro or one of the stat increases?
I think on a Minotaur I’d go with Block over Pro, their negative trait if you fail it doesn’t mean they lose their Tackle Zone so it isn’t as much of a disaster as other Big Guy players. It also gives protection when players block him to try and push him away due to his Tentacles tying up some players, whilst Pro offers no help in that scenario.
I usually take Break Tackle (on a normall roll) before anything else. The logic behind this choice is that most of the mobility and the utility depends on the Mino Blitzing the right target. Many times, he ends tied up by an expendable piece, so BT becomes essential. Some other times, you migth need to risk that 3+ dodge to a ball carrier inside a box. The second skill I take (on a normal roll) is Tentacles to turn him into a Road Block/Ball carrier Harasser. Tentacles is a superb skill on a Mino; the only reason I take Break Tackle before is because I prefer having a dynamic Blitzing Mino, rather than a sitting duck. Just my two-pence.
Just bought a mino and had a couple questions. Does Pro really make them reroll if they succeed in dodging away from tentacles and can they use there dodge skill if they fail to dodge away from the tentacles.
Pro only lets you reroll a roll that the player with Pro has made. The opponent trying to escape from Tentacles is the one making the roll, so if you have Pro on your Minotaur it doesn’t have any affect or combination with Tentacles.
Any player with the Dodge skill can reroll one dodge roll per action, the only way to prevent them using it is if they are dodging away from one of your players who has the Tackle skill.