Necromantic Wights

Blood Bowl Necromantic Wight
Necromantic Wights Overview:

For a team that appears to be more bash orientated than agility based, Necromantic teams don’t have much in the way of strength skill access. Wights have a pretty average stat line across the board but they do start with Block, have Regeneration and that much needed strength skill access. These factors combined with the type of team mates that they have makes them vital players to have right from the start.

Their strength skill access means they will be looking to take skills that help towards the bashing side of the game. Their stats do mean they could perform a lot of roles for the team but each of their team mates seem specifically suited towards some of those jobs. If you don’t take advantage of the ability to get Guard and get them to muck in with the hitting you may struggle against the traditional hitting teams.

Strength focused Necromantic Wight:

I think you really need to get Guard straight away, the team is mostly ST3 so you need to get assists in to get easier hits. After that Tackle would be a good choice if facing a lot of Dodge sides or go for Mighty Blow. If you can get more injuries and get a numbers advantage on the pitch, it makes getting assists easier and gives you more space to take advantage of some of your fast players. Stand Firm is a great skill and combines well with Guard, it is extremely annoying to play against and can help protect your team mates. Pro could also be helpful for rerolling non crucial two dice blocks and can help with dodging and ball handling if you need to do so and are out of rerolls. Juggernaut could be considered if you want to go after weak fragile opposing players with Wrestle. You will probably find though they are doing more blocking and your team mates doing most the blitzing work.

For doubles I would take Dodge, more to keep him on his feet more rather than for doing dodges, unless you are facing a lot of Tackle heavy teams. Otherwise go for Side Step, if you get this then don’t bother with Stand Firm. Don’t pass up +ST at any point, it doesn’t change the role or development much but actually goes hand in hand and makes them better at it. An agility increase is also very helpful and can turn them into a great mobile assist and also be an outlet for the ball if you need to move it. Movement is probably more useful than armour to get the assists where you need them, though it wouldn’t exactly be a mistake to take armour.

Necromantic Wight Summary:

Wights roles are specifically defined by virtue of the stats that their team mates have. This is by no means the definitive way to go and if you want to go down another route then by all means give it a go. Late on you might consider taking Kick on one of them instead of some of the skill choices listed. With all your positionals you might not have space to fit a Zombie on the pitch other than on the Line of Scrimmage to actually make use of Kick. So taking it on a Wight can fit in well as past Guard, Tackle and Mighty Blow most of the other options are marginal in use. Some other skills to perhaps consider as well are Dauntless and possibly Strip Ball if no one else on the team looks to be getting it.

20 thoughts on “Necromantic Wights”

  1. I find it usefull to give them frenzy, opponents worry about the frenzy werewolfes and often forget the ekstra frenzy player. With a little planning I crowd surf the enemy from 4 squares infield. Nice to see your hard work Coach – thank you

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  2. I’ve seen some Necromantic teams go for a killer build without guard on some teams.  I really think that this is a mistake, and no matter how you build them, guard should be first.  They tend to be mobile “pillars” that your frenzy wolves spin around when blocking.
    If that play gets knocked out or injured, they then just mark the next player that your wolves will then blitz.  They hardly get any real blocking in because of this wolf-buddy system, and killer builds tend to waste their skills.

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  3. It is the fact that Werewolves have Frenzy that I don’t like taking it on the Wights. If you come up against a Guard heavy team it can get you into a lot of trouble or end up in you passing up blocks you would take if you didn’t have it. If the other team is also stronger than you this gets even worse.

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  4. I’ve had a quick look around the net trying to find what their starting stats are (I’m guessing something like 6,3,3,8??) but can’t find anything.  It would be good if you put them next to the picture at the top of the article for each of these guides.
    Great work though!

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  5. I’ve built both my Wights with Guard, MB, and Tackle and they have been the silent stars of the team. Both are close to their 4th skill and while tempted by Stand Firm I’m seriously thinking about giving both Grab as Side-Stepping elves have been doing my head in lately.

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  6. Guard, MB, Tackle seams like a great build to me too.  I’m really tempted by standfirm as well.  I’m not used to grab though, so I have trouble actually figuring out how to use it well.

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  7. Its interesting to see that piling on is not recommended. I thought they would be the most likely candidate on the team for this skill, given Wolves don’t have strength access. A double could then give them jump up.

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  8. Wights often end up being some of your few players with Guard, since you only have 4 players with Strength access, and the Flesh Golems are slow to level and pretty much have to get Block first.

    This makes it pretty painful to leave your Wights off their feet. Guard, Mighty Blow, and Tackle are all much more useful skills to take. I could /maybe/ see Piling on as a 4th skill for Wights who don’t roll a double, but that’s about it.

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  9. Hi,

    I have a doubt about wights: when receiving the ball, would you put both of them in the first line (maybe with a golem) in order to have 2-3 “no-problem” blocks or would you rather put them in the middle of your pitch to save the ball carrier?

    Clearly when kicking you would place 3 zombies, but I don’t know which is best for attacking

    Thank you !

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    • Receiving set ups depend a lot on the opposing team and how they have set up. As a general rule I usually look to keep them free to be able to react and not get them tied up doing a job a Zombie could. You can look to use them to assist a Zombie to get an easier block and then they should be free to move or blitz themselves. You need to think about what you will do if the other team gets a Blitz for example. For the first few games against other new teams there is more merit to using them for those blocks as their Block skill will cause less turnovers or reroll use. Your opposing players will also less likely have Block so you are also more likely to cause an injury, this will not only help in that match by giving you a numerical advantage but get them on their way to their first skill.

      So really “it depends” sometimes yes other times no. If you wish to discuss this in more depth regarding more specific situations then please create a thread on the forum and perhaps make good use of the excellent Play Creator website to draw up situational diagrams you can embed in your posts.

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  10. So I’ve just gotten the option for +AG on a Wight with Guard… My ghouls have all gotten defensive skills and no Sure Hands yet, and so I am considering taking the +AG, picking up Strong Arm later, giving a Werewolf or two Diving Catch plus maybe Catch, and running a run/pass option play.

    I fear that it’ll force ghouls out into a more active and exposed role, take away some key Werewolf skills like Sidestep, remove a potentially key Guard from the frontlines, and in general just seems against the grain of the team’s core strengths.

    Yet it really would open up offensive options, especially against bashier teams, and avoids the problem of having short-lived ghouls be so key to your offense…

    Anyone try such an approach? How did it go?

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  11. I’m only 2 years late in responding to this one. 🙂 Actually I would always pick up the +AG as it opens a lot more options for you. But I would look to use him not as the ball handler, but as a mobile assist and possible receiver. Having a player who can dodge or catch on a 2+ will save your bacon more than you think. So “yes” on +AG, but “no” on him being the main ball-handler. A Ghoul with sure hands can fill the ball handling role. I just hope that in the 2 year interval you have held off on allocating that skill! 😉

    I’m currently leaning towards Fend as a late skill on Wights. I imagine it would help a lot with the team’s mobility, especially vs stronger teams like Orcs/Chaos. Especially useful in open ended leagues like OCC where a lot of teams seem to have piling on players.

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  12. Hah! It’s now 2 years after that, and I’m playing the team again. I did take +AG, but so far no further skills. I wound up taking Sure Hands on a Ghoul who is now my main carrier, and use the +AG Wight for cage-corner or flank handoffs and picking up loose balls. I really prefer to have a Ghoul carry the ball as then they’re much less likely to get hit.

    No idea what I’ll take on further skillups to be honest (have Guard and +AG). Probably something basic like Mighty Blow, rather than anything that combos with +AG. I’m tempted to get Grab to deal with the Sidestep players that stymy my Werewolves.

    Honestly though I’m still tempted to pickup Strong Arm and run a Flea Flicker option. I might switch back that way as the team skills up a bit more, e.g. after I already have Block/Dodge/Sidestep on a Werewolf.

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  13. For the +AG wight I’d seriously consider stand firm. He’d be a mobile assist and that guard would stay where you’d want it to. Necros are a fun pitch control team with the werewolves and a SF wight along with the golems can really push your opponents to use narrow lines, and let your wolves shine. SF is very nice on a cage corner as well.

    What I’ve found to be problematic is to who give tackle to. On the wolves it could be a good 4th skill, but on a wight it would be really good too. Just hard to tell when you should take it. But if you go with guard, +ag, sf the other wight could take guard, mb/tackle.

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  14. The only time I every blitz with my Wights is when I need the tackle that one of them has. Coach is spot on about the werewolfs blocking around the Wights. Guard is so useful I’m passing on doubles (for first skill) to take guard.

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