TV1000 Norse Starting Roster

This article was written for a previous version of the Blood Bowl rules and has some outdated information in it. You might still find it contains some useful information.

There is now an an updated Blood Bowl 2020 Second Season Norse Starting Rosters article.

Norse Starting Roster Overview:

There are quite a few ways to start a Norse team and most initial lineups can be tweaked with various variations depending on the environment you are playing in or just purely on personal taste. The rookie Norse Lineman is pretty good value for money as they are fairly cheap and start with Block, against another rookie team you could fare quite well just using them with some reserves and a handful of rerolls. Not many other teams have this as an option and it is that base that allows you to tailor what exactly you wish to spend your money on.

A Norse team tends to play a more hitting game than a passing one and the team overall does have a rather low armour value which doesn’t usually go well with a hitting style. All your players with normal access to strength skills start with Frenzy as well which can cause positioning problems. You need to decide if you want to have the benefit of starting with reserves, buying as many positional players as possible, loading up on rerolls and coming up with some balance between all those options.

Reroll Heavy TV1000 Norse Starting Roster:

QuantityPlayer / ItemCost
8Linemen400k
1Catcher / Runner90k
2Werewolves / Ulfwereners220k
4Rerolls240k
1Apothecary50k
Total1 Mil

This is an eleven man starting lineup where nine of the players start with Block. You have a Runner in there for a bit of extra movement and I would initially use them to carry the ball to score to get Dodge and Side Step on the team. Dauntless can help against some of the stronger opponents as well. I think most Norse teams probably start with both Ulfwerners, they have the highest armour available to your starting team and offer some more strength. It also gives them the most possible games for an MVP to hit so they can skill up as they don’t start with Block.

Four rerolls to start with should be good for the life of the team and with all that Block you can save them a lot of the time for the agility rolls you need to make. They also will let you do more one die blocks with less worry than teams that lack Block and many rerolls. Also as you are starting with quite a lot of rerolls you can save your money up for buying the other positional players that you require. This leaves you with 50k left over which is just enough to be able to afford an Apothecary from the get go. While you don’t have a physical substitute player an Apothecary can act like one. It may also save you money from having to replace one of your expensive and somewhat slow to develop players. Starting with an Apothecary again means you can start saving for more players straight away.

Snow Troll TV1000 Norse Starting Roster:

QuantityPlayer / ItemCost
8Linemen400k
2Werewolves / Ulfwereners220k
1Yhetee / Snow Troll140k
3Rerolls180k
1Apothecary50k
Total990k

Similar the above roster though you are giving up a Reroll and the Runner in exchange for the Snow Troll. Some coaches don’t really rate the Snow Troll compared to other Big Guys as they are the only one that doesn’t start with Mighty Blow. Their high strength and Claw can come in handy if you are facing strong high armoured opponents. It does mean you have one less Block player and less overall movement. Their armour is higher than most your players but not as good as other Big Guys.

Three rerolls is as low as I would go with a Norse team, you can perhaps get away with two with all that possible Block but you take more time to save up for rerolls when they have doubled in cost. Again starting with the Apothecary offers the same benefits as before and this time you have your most expensive player that it could possibly save. There is an option of using the spare 10k and swapping the Apothecary for a fourth reroll. You would then be looking at getting an Apothecary as your first purchase which could take a couple of games.

More on Page 2…

42 thoughts on “TV1000 Norse Starting Roster”

  1. Nice one! Although I usually start with the two runners. I find them very handy on defence (or great once they have dodge and side step). Also since all my other players are usually very busy hitting (2d or 1d…anything to avoid being easily hit back the following turn), then I need someone with a reliable dodge to move around and score.

    Reply
    • I agree — runners are extremely useful. Just a little pricey. But an essential part of any team… dropping them to get a Yhetee seems like a bad move.

      I prefer to have both 🙂

      I would sooner drop reroll and apothecary, and pick those up after a game or two. After all, you’re not going to be too cursed if you lose a lvl 1 guy with no SPP anyway, so you can afford to go without so many rerolls and the apothecary early on… especially if you’re not going up against a basher team. And if you are, and they overpower you, you can always get an apothecary inducement for the game if and when you face a team scary enough to warrant it….

      Reply
  2. I’m trying the:

    2x blitzers 180 k
    2x catchers 180 k
    1x thrower 70 k
    6x linemen 300 k

    1x Apothecary 50 k
    3x Reroll 180 k

    40 k in stock.

    This is a Human-like Formation, that leaves you some free consideration of what to buy with 40k and a Match. I could even suggest Fan Factor 4. Usually it gives you a bit of money.
    This is a Pro-Player starting team, as you will have to reduce your mistakes to the minimum at the start, to prevent your players from dying.
    The only problem you can’t control is Picking up the Ball, thing that Norse teams seems to be cursed to do. Sure Hand is a must, even on a double on your Thrower (except for +1 AG, of course! ^__^).

    This is my Idea, but the bad new is that your Ulfwereners will not skill from the start. This is not a problem for me, being with humans ’till now.
    What about you? 😉

    Reply
  3. I’ve started with-

    -2 Berserkers
    -2 Werewolves/ Ulfwereners
    -1 Thrower
    -6 Linemen
    – 3 RR
    -Apo

    total-1 mill

    I like having all (except the yhetee) frenzy pieces, and more aggressive pieces to start with, so they can get MB/block as quickly as I can, and sure hands on the thrower.

    Reply
  4. I’ve been experimenting with the same build as d_fly and like it quite a bit. Gives you a bit more hitting power at the start and gives you a good chance to get Sure Hands on the thrower after 2 or 3 games.

    Reply
  5. Norse starting line-up has been the hardest compromise in the game for me. The Norse positionals cost so much, compared to how easy it is to take them out (and how good the linemen are for their price), but linemen have little development prospects, so stacking up on a huge number of them is a bad long-term idea.

    Starting with just 11 players opens up your options so much, but then you most likely get absolutely demolished by the second drive. You don’t have singular stars like Gutter Runners to save your bacon in a hurry when you’re out-numbered, and being out-numbered in a bashing game means you get bashed even more.

    The Thrower is bad as a Thrower, but I want to include him in the team, because with the exception of Runners, you’re slow. Having the ability to make a semi-reliable pass could make or break a game, since with Pass you’ll still have a team reroll for the catch attempt.

    I’m still trying to find my ideal build. Why cannot it be as easy as with dwarves, who also fare better in the bashing game? But I do know that 2 wolves right off are the right choice.

    Reply
  6. Thrower is useful as the first skill he can get Leader (Passing Skill Access) which adds another ‘cheap’ re-roll as your team is getting started. Yes, they’re a running team, but the thrower adds the ability to develop a Nerves of Steel/Dump-Off cage center.

    At least, my starting lineup included him, and I found him really worthwhile.

    Reply
  7. I actually just made my first norse list today with 1 thrower, 1 runner, 1 zerker, 2 werewolves, 6 linemen, 3 rerolls and 1 apo. Looking forward to trying it out 😀

    Reply
  8. My starting Norse Roster:

    1 Yhetee
    2 Werewolves
    2 Berserkers
    1 runner
    5 linemen
    2 rerolls

    This team maximizes Norse bash potential. 5 frenzy players for easy crowdsurfing. 5 players with strength access. The benefit of starting with 3 AV8 players with higher than average strength and a start with claw on the pitch.

    2 rerolls may seem a bit of a liability, but because the vast majority of the team starts with block, 2 rerolls can be enough for early games.

    This also starts the Yhetee and 2 werewolves on game 1, which will give more MVP opportunites. Some people have found the yhetee too unreliable, but once he levels you have the claw/mighty blow combination and the amount of carnage that he will cause is worth an occasional turnover.

    Reply
    • How would you start then? Under the older rules where Fan Factor was a necessity no team would start with an Apothecary and not much has really changed now as that extra free cash is usually used to get more positional players.

      Reply
    • Nah. Not for a starting team. What’s the worst that happens? With block on most of your team, dodge on your runner, and ST 4 on werewolves, you have a decent chance of winning (or at least not getting dropped) in most matchups. When you do go down, okay, you might get hurt. If you do, might just be KO or badly hurt.

      Worst case scenario, you get a bad break, and one of your guys is seriously hurt or killed. That might sting a little, but not going to break you with a STARTING team of Lvl 1 players with no SPP. Easy to replace.

      I highly approve of Wasted Trojans roster. Same way I do it, although I might even grab a Thrower instead of that 2nd reroll…

      Reply
  9. I’d agree with holding off on apoth, the Norse Team is no different than an Elf Team (w/ AV 7’s) as long as you decide to buy the apoth as a “right after first game buy”. It can only save one player and if you lose an expensive positional…well it happens to Elf Teams too. Maybe using a team build with just a little saved (20k or so) could help with the purchase.

    Reply
  10. I’ve tried a couple of different starting Norse Rosters and this has been my favorite:

    1 Thrower 70 k
    2 Werewolves 220k
    2 Runners 180k
    6 Linemen 300k
    7th Lineman or Apothecary 50k
    3 Re-Rolls 180 k

    Deciding between a 7th lineman and and Apothecary depends are what your goals for the team are. The 12th player will really help your chances of winning your first games as you are almost guaranteed to have players knocked out or injured on the 1st drive. The Apothecary is better if winning your early games is not as important as developing your team for the long term.

    The 2 runners and 2 werewolves really help against bashy teams early. These 2 players also benefit the most from an early skill: block or dodge.

    While I abolutely love the berserkers… For me I’ve found that they are a player that I can wait to get as they are good right out of the box and develop quickly regardless.

    Reply
  11. I’ve found the following to be a solid starter

    2xUlfwereners
    2xBeserkers
    7xLineman
    4xReroll
    1xFanfactor

    Gives me my all bar one of my frenzied players, plenty of rerolls for ball-handling errors and GFI’s.

    Reply
  12. I went with 2 beserkers, one yhetee, one thrower, and seven linemen with three rerolls and an apo. Personally, I’d rather have the block than an extra point in strength, even though ulfwereners are are fun players to have on the pitch. I find my thoughts on them are a lot like my dark elf team, winning is survival at first and not beating the opponent… though I’m not going to complain if I do.

    Reply
    • I would prefer Block over STR 4 as well… but the problem is that it’s even better to have BOTH, and Block is a general skill that is very easy to get. It is rare to get a +1 STR boost.

      So, for leveling up, you’re better off with the werewolves and then giving them Block at lvl 2 / 6 SPP. STR 4 + Block + Frenzy (+ 8 AV) = NASTY

      Reply
  13. Quite true! However:

    – They’re hard to skillup at AG 2 and with Frenzy yet no Block.
    – They’re much more effective when skilled up.
    – You can more easily skill them up if you start with them.
    – At moderate TVs you will need them to be skilled up.

    I would always start with both, even though they’re spendy enough it’s tempting to wait until you’ve enough cash to buy an apothecary.

    Reply
  14. I liked the 2 zerkers, 2 were’s 1 thrower fill with lineman build. then get a runner, then get yethee. you really don’t need the yethee out the gate, once you’ve got more skill on your other guys you can support him better, as well as deal with his inevidable turn overs better 🙂

    Reply
  15. I’ve recently had some success in a league with the following build:
    Yhetee
    2 Ulf’s
    1 Berk
    1 Runner
    1 Thrower
    5 Linos
    2 RR
    20k banked.

    The idea was to get the Thrower 6spp asap and give him leader, thereby getting a 3rd rr. Also having 20k in the bank makes it fairly certain you can afford an apoth after game 1.

    I feel this team has a lot of long term potential as you are maxing on the important positionals and therefore increasing the chance they will get spp. You also shouldn’t be too hamstrung with only 2 rr’s as hopefully the Thrower can get leader after a match or 2.

    Reply
  16. I play a dangerous game, lots of frenzy makes the holes in the D, and you have to stack the wide zone, but I like the way it plays. Check it out.

    3 linemen
    1 thrower
    2 catchers
    2 blitzers
    2 werewolves
    1 yhetee
    And a reroll, for a million

    Reply
  17. Using the yhetee is a burdon on cost drop it, i like to try and have at least a reserve. Give one of the hard hitters the leader skill to get the extra re roll.

    Reply
    • Yhetee is your best bet to smash people and take them out of commission for the game, and maybe forever. Ulfs/werewolves are too risky to bang around right out of the gates and hope for good results, thanks to no block. If you can get them some SPP and give them Block, then you might not need Yhetee

      I like Dustin’s roster. I don’t think I’ve ever used both a thrower and 2 runners, though, but I might have give that a try. The thing is, I rarely try to make any throws with the thrower, but somehow I still like having him around. I guess to pick up the ball and make short pitches/handoffs when I can…

      Reply
  18. Greetings coach, BB fans, horse players.
    I prefer running Norse with no ww at the beginning, using your first roster from above. I replace them with seekers, giving my entire team block. This, coupled with 4 RR, and an apothecary keeps me kicking in games against bashy opponents better. Sure, I lose that str, but block and jump up are more than enough to make up for that. I went this way because my WW were getting creamed by opposing Blitzer early on.
    My hope is to pull in the two WW a little later, when my team is a little more established, but I worry that I’ve now sacrificed early spp on the WW for peace of mind in the injury game. What do you think?

    Reply
    • Yes, you have.

      Werewolves are essential, in my opinion. They are arguably the most strategically-valuable player on the Norse team. Norse without them aren’t so Norse-like.

      Okay, I suppose Berserkers are actually the core. Werewolves seem weaker than they should when you first start with them. Time and time again you get frustrated by losing matchups with decent strength, thanks to no block.

      So what you do is use them judiciously… try to get favorable matchups (sic them on weaker players), and use your frenzy to push players out toward the sidelines and hopefully eventually out of bounds, if you can’t hurt them in the process.

      Once you’ve done this a few times and gotten some SPP, you can throw Block on them and then have a wrecking ball you can feel comfortable throwing into any fray…

      Reply
      • … so by waiting and deciding to take them later, you have just prolonged the time period during which they are vulnerable.

        I say get them right off the bat, or plan to play without them all along…

        Reply
  19. speaking of the “dangerous game” from above, a nice roster i like using that gives a full roster of the heavy hitters as well as 2 rerolls:

    2 rerolls
    yhetee
    2 werewolves
    2 berserkers

    {1 runner and 5 linemen}
    OR
    {1 throwers and 5 linemen and 20k}

    If you hate throwers and can’t stand using them, then you will probably want to eventually buy a 3rd reroll, which is 120k after you start but if you hate the throwers, you’re only ever going to need to buy an apoth, 1 more reroll, and a runner for the team anyways.

    I think the thrower roster is a bit stronger, because you can focus that thrower up to 6 SPP and get him Leader for a 3rd reroll (which is really all a norse team really needs anyways), and the runner you’ll buy later will skill up very fast.

    Reply
  20. Hehe, have any1 tryed this setup?

    14 Linemen
    4 reroll
    6 fanfactor

    My thought is that you will lose players when playing AV7 team that try to bash alot so its good to have a deep bench. Also with a deep bench can you always setup 11players every drive (hopefully). Also with a deep bench can you foul alot, and losing 1 linemen for a witchelf KO is no biggie. I take that deal anyday :p

    Almost every team start without fanfactor and this set up can afford the FF without playing short of players. If you been lucky and doubled opponents Gate roll you have a +20k winning and after 3 games it have payed of. Dreamsenario is +2fame +1 for win/even and a roll of 6 on winnings and you got yourself a bersek after game 1. Or a apo and bankup.

    With the winnings can you either fill up lost linemen or add a Berserker to the team and feed em two touchdowns for a quick guard skill. If you play in a bashy AV heavy leauge can you always save up for the snowtroll.

    So the benefits:
    Expendeble players
    Everyone start with block
    Alot of rerolls

    and the negative:
    Lack of ST skill on normal

    This setup is for a leaugeplay with about 10-15 games

    Reply
    • I’ve seen this at NAF tabletop tournaments where people go Linemen heavy. You typically get more starting money as well and with a deep bench you can do a lot of fouling as well. As they all start with Block like you mentioned it can be a really effective way to go.

      Reply
  21. In a balanced league, what are the priority purchases to develop the reroll heavy line up.

    I figure another runner, beserkers and a troll are all desirable but which will help the team get wins now while also keeping an eye on the future.

    Reply
  22. It really depends on what teams you are struggling the most against. There is no clear cut answer. Need more strength and Claw to combat high armour teams then go for a Snow Troll / Yeti. The Dauntless on a Runner can also help and adds some more speed but Berserkers give you strength access so I’d probably go for one if not both of those first. You can make good cases for all of them so there isn’t really an answer. If you want more specific help I suggest asking on the Forum when it comes time to buy and post your full roster at that point in a thread.

    Reply
  23. Forgive me in advance if others said what I’m going to say (I did check, but didn’t see it):

    Snow troll is one of the scariest players in blood bowl, for the simple reason that he begins with claws, and he has strength access! First skill you get Mighty Blow, and he becomes a murdering machine. Every 7+ is an armor break, regardless of your opponent’s AVs. Dwarf and Orc teams are no longer untouchable. This is a combination that the BBRC I’m sure has looked at long and hard… but they left it in.

    And the Snow Troll is the only player in the game (besides the Warpstone Troll) who can get it with 6 SPP and without doubles, and bringing 5 ST to the table (Chaos Pact and Chaos can do this with 2 ups, or doubles on the big guys, Necros with doubles on Werewolves).

    Swinging at 3 dice with some help, perhaps some Juggernaut to protect against the bad rolls at 15 SPP (which will come fast), and he’s a murdering machine.

    Reply
  24. Hi, I’m a bit confused as I have a team that was based off your first suggestion of 8 linemen 2 werewolves and a catcher though I did runner by mistake as I thought it meant runner or thrower though he leveled up for sure hands so seems to be doing ok.

    Basically my confusion is because in a look at all the players you say beserkers are vital for a winning norse team but only 1 of these guides starts with beserkers so I was wondering do you still consider beserkers vital or are they vital but something you can get later on?

    Right now I’m in the position of 2 matches played (though 1 the opponent DCd so I got a bit pot of gold but little ssp =( ) and I’ve got the starter line up I mentioned still but 1 werewolf has block and my thrower has sure hands with 1 lineman having kick. I also have a pot of 230k. Where would you suggest to go from here?

    I wanted to get a yehtee but then I read that beserkers’ are vital so I considered getting 2 of those (this would eat almost all my cash but least me some left to get a runner after my next match) BUT I do like the idea of getting a yehtee early if I’m going to get 1 so he can get mighty blow and perhaps block of juggernaut quickly. However as I don’t have a runner due to that mistake I was thinking perhaps I should get 1 of those and a beserker, or perhaps a runner and a yehtee as I already have a werewolf with block which is sort of like a beserker except no jump up. I also have 4 rerolls and a apoth as per the 1st roster suggestion.

    What would you suggest would be best or is it personal choice? As for playstyle I prefer to just try and smash the enemy team into tiny pieces with scoring being something that happens either when I run out of people to hit or I just happen to end up with the ball.

    Reply
    • A lot of situations like this it really comes down to personal taste. If you prefer to hit and damage the opponents a lot and also face a lot of high armour teams by all means get the Snow Troll / Yehtee now. The Beserkers can start causing a lot of damage as well though once you get them a couple of skills. At this point I’d experiment and see what works for you, Frenzy on ST3 players can cause some problems, but the earlier you buy them the less likely you are to face opposing teams with lots of Guard which would make the problem worse. I don’t think there is going to be a massive difference either way on which player to buy next.

      Reply
  25. I started a season with
    1 thrower
    2 runner
    2 beserker
    6 line
    4 rerolls
    and 3 ff

    at the end of the season I lost 1 player, added 2 ulfs and a snow troll, was in third place behind the skaven(whom I beat) and the Wood Elves(who flounced all over me). I found my norse to be almost bashy to play but a lot of fun

    Reply
    • Hi,
      what do you think about this starting roster:
      1 Yhetee 140k
      2 Zerker 180k
      9 Liners 450k
      3 RR 180k
      1 Medic 50k

      Omitting the WW is a tough decision, but I like this roster for following reasons:

      – Playing with an ST7 team I want at least one player in reserve and the medic.
      – Apart from the big guy all players have block, which gives me quite a lot of control, so I am less dependant on RR.
      – The Zerkers only need MB and PO to become a real menace to other teams. Usually it is not too difficult to hand them over the ball for a TD.

      The money coming in is saved for the WW of course, though usually I have to rebuy one or more linemen first.

      Anything stupid about this?

      Reply
  26. Coach I think the far better starting is the
    1 passer
    2 runners
    2 blitzers
    7 linemen
    3 rerolls
    They all start with block but the low av really hurts so the additional lineman helps.
    1st purchase is apothecary, than save up for the big guys. I prefer yeti 1st followed by the two werewolves.

    Reply
  27. Honestly if you love to start with all bash pieces,then I think that having,

    1 Yethee
    2 Throwers
    2 Blitzers
    2 Werewolfs
    4 Lineman
    And 2 RR’s aren’t a bad choice

    Since with 2 throwers you’ll have double the chance to hit that leader skill and apothecary at game 2

    Reply
  28. Hey all,

    I started with:
    – 1 yetee
    – 1 ulf
    – 2 blitzers
    – 1 thrower
    – 6 linemen.
    – 3 rerolls.

    It all worked out very well, as positionnals could get spp’s. Looking back at it, i would replace the thrower by a runner though.
    It was perfect for me as he lvled up with + AG, but i guess you cannot count on that!
    Now i have a fantastic couple with a thrower AG4/accurate/sure hands/dump off, and a runner with dodge/catch/diving catch. This is a real pain for opponents. Only problem is they hog the spp’s, though i sometimes try to dump off to other players.

    Reply

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