Overview
An in depth look at the Human Team, thier roster, and common starting builds. Tips and development paths are also discussed.
Introduction
HI everyone, I am Necross.san Some of you may have seen me around this forum for that past few years now. I’ve over 500 games (in various formats inculding BBCE, Tabletop and FUMBBL) under my belt and have been looking for a way to contribute to the community over all. And seeing as I’m something of a glutton for punishment, I figured I would do my second most played race. The most controversial team in the game; a team everyone has an opinion on and even discussing what power tier they are on can spark large debates!
Ladies, Gentleman, and Genderless Mushrooms: Let me drunkenly ramble about Humans!
Why Play Humans? Pros and Cons
Humans are the great All Rounders of Blood bowl and form the baseline all other teams are judged. Famous for being a big ball of meh, with no real strengths but having no real weaknesses either. Humans do have more starting skills then just about any other team, and can do just about everything. No team is as versatile out of the box. This means that there is no hard meta for Humans; there is no “correct” playstyle or build. This is why even smarter coaches then me have a hard time even establishing what tier they are. Humans more then any tier 1 team (and yes they are a tier 1 team) test the abillities of the coach to know when and how they should swich gears from a slow grindy bash game, to an agressive running and passing game. Every turn is a new puzzle to figure out and the Human coach needs to figure out how to solve it.
The thing to note about Humans is they will never be as good at anything as a team that is racialy inclined to a specialization. Skaven will always be faster, Elves will always be better with the ball, Humans are not as robust as Dwarves, and Chaos kills everyone better. This forces the Human coach to learn his opponents roster and form a strong counter plan before the game even begins. The most basic stratagies are just pressing the weaknesses of the opposing team: focus on fighting on low armor teams, and focus on the ball and leveraging your speed against slow and high strength bash teams. I will go into more detail later, but for now let me just say, Humans are in the starter set and are the focus of the tutorial story mode for a reason: They are all about mastery of the fundamentals of Blood Bowl and reward that understanding to sometimes surprising effect. Humans can even change stratagies mid drive, and in some cases even mid turn if Nuffle favors you, or if you spot a weakness to exploit, more easily then any other team. Think of them as toolbox full of hand tools your father gives you when you move into your first apartment; not quite as good as power tools but with a little grit and ellbow grease you can do what ever you need to do with them.
Humans do have one minor stat advantage in the speed department, being able to field up to four MV 7 and four MV 8 players at once. This makes them one of the faster teams in the game, matching (and sometimes surpassing) elves in this respect. However they are, with the exception of the Ogre, universally AG 3, and thus can’t truly rely on evasion and speed like elves can. In fact most detractors of the Human team often dismiss them saying “everything Humans can do, Elves can do better,” but Humans have three advantages over elf teams. They are cheaper, have up to five players with natural stength skill access, and one of the most reliable big guys in the game in the Ogre. This means that they are better bashers, injure more opposing players, can foul more fequently, and replace players more easily then any elf team can. Humans however do not bash as well as hard bash teams lacking high strengh players, medium armor (AV 8 on most players,) and catchers having only ST 2
This middle of the road philosophy that Human teams have is a double edged sword. At low TV Humans are extremely powerful in the hands of a seasoned coach, but novices who don’t know how to read the board yet may not be able to seaze on errors as effiently. Humans do get a lot of free skill rerolls, which makes them forgiving, but in classic Blood Bowl wisdom “More dice is More Risk”
Also as TV goes up Humans have a much trickier time. Once oppossing teams break the 1300 TV mark they are developing in one of two ways: covering weaknesses or doubling down on strengths. At 1500 TV they will be doing both. This natural evolution of the competion weakens what few advantages Humans have. What is worse is if Humans specialize too much in one direction, you may find that you built your team into a corner. This is a weakness no one really talks about and no other team runs this risk as strongly as Humans. This is were game literacy comes in, as everyone else has a defalt stratagy or gimmick of sorts to fall back on but only gimmick Humans have is: be ok. So if you paint yourself into a corner with your skill choices (Such as going hard bash in a league dominated by developed Dwarves, Norse, and Orcs;) you’re in for a rough season. Unfortuatly only experiance will give you the literacy to make the most of any situation.
Another weakness Humans have is they rely heavily on skills and not stats. This means losing high level players hurts more for Humans. While you can buy back a rookie easily enough; they are going to be MUCH weaker then the star they will be replacing and may be a minor liability on high TV teams. Also the lack of high stats makes them peak somewhat early; gaining fewer returns with each promotion. Humans do have deep positional wells with four Blitzers and Catchers, so you can have a replacement ready on your bench easy enough; but keeping 100+k of TV on the bench for a rainy day can be seen as wasteful and developing a “B Team” will take a while.
The Roster- The Blitzer
Note: No Human player can gain Mutations, double skills are in Italics, and skill suggestions are listed in no particuar order
Blitzers
Cost: 90k
Hire limit: 4
Skills: Block
Standard Skill Access: General and Strength
Suggested Skills: Guard, Tackle, Mighty Blow, Duantless, Stand Firm, Grab, Frenzy, Strip Ball, Pile on, Dodge Jump up, Diving Tackle
Blitzers are the backbone on the Human team and are you most expensive players outside of the Ogre. You will want all four of them from the start, no matter your team stratagy or build idea. Don’t argue with me, just buy them! Blitzers will fall under three general roles:
Support where they help other team mates assists and help to control the pitch (Guard, Stand Firm, Tackle, Diving Tackle)
Ball Hawk where they try to get to the player with the ball and knock it loose directly or just tying them down, (Strip Ball, Tackle, Diving Tackle).
And finally Killer who specailizes in removing players (Mighty Blow, Tackle, Piling on, Frenzy.)
I find having two Support and two Killer/Ball Hawk are a good balenced mix. Get Dodge when you get your first double with these guys as Block and Dodge is just too powerful a combo do not take. Guard works well on any role of Blitzer as Humans need as much Guard as possible to counter Bash heavy teams. However when you should take it depends on what you are going to be up against, vs what you already have. If you have two Guard Blitzers already then it may be a good Idea to focus on a ball hawk or killer skills blitzer first unless you are in a bash heavy league.
The Roster- The Catcher
Catchers
Cost: 70k
Hire Limit: 4
Skills: Dodge and Catch
Standard Skill Access: General and Agility
Suggested Skills: Block, Wrestle, Fend, Diving Catch, Sprint, Sure Feet, Side Step, Leap, Jump Up, Diving Tackle, Tackle, Dauntless, Strip Ball, Sure Hands, Shadowing, Dirty Player, Pass Block, Guard, Nerves of Steel, Dump off
Catchers are the first of the debated positionals on the human team. “Why pay extra for someone who is weaker then a Lineman and is basicly an over grown and overpriced goblin?” they argue. But dodn’t let the “Blood Bowl is Bash” camp fool you, Catchers are one of the most versatile players you have, and are often criminally under rated! Hell, they are amost the same cost as a Skink and have the same stat line with the execption of having a point more armor and trading stunty for catch, and not many will say skinks suck! However being only ST 2 means these guys will not last long in the middle of a large scrum. That said they can make decent Ball Hawks and Cage Divers once they have Block, Dauntless, and Leap.
Is that too agressive for you? Focus on Support then! They are excellent support pieces with their easy access to Block and/or Wrestle and their high speed lets them get where they need to be. Just be sure to give them Side Step, Diving Tackle, Shadowing and if possible Guard. Pass Block isn’t bad choice here, as the catch skill allows two attempts to intercept, but should not be a first skill pick.
Or perhaps you are an Elf weeaboo and want to focus on a fast, aggressive offense? Give them Diving Catch, Sprint, Sure Feet, and Nerves of Steel if possible. Dirty Player is not a bad skill on them either as their high movement, dodge skill, and low price (espeacily in tabletop) means they can amost always get the boot in where it is needed most. There is so much these guys can do, don’t be afriad to experiment, even if it didn’t work out, you learned something and these guys are easy to replace.
The Roster- Thrower
Thrower
Cost: 70k
Hire Limit: 2
Skills: Pass and Sure Hands
Skill Access: General and Passing
Suggested Skills: Block, Accurate, Safe Pass, Leader, Kick Off Return, Nerves of Steel, Dump Off, Fend, Dodge, Strong Arm, Side Step, Guard
What do we have here? Why, it is another controversial player! Many coaches feel it is better just to put sure hands on a Blitzer and save the 70k. Often these coaches justifiy it with the old Dwarf criticism “If you pass and are not Elves, you are playing wrong! And even then it is a desperation play!” These bastions of wisdom are comitting one of the biggest mistakes a Human coach can ever make: Never turn down a tactical option! And the Thrower is the tool needed to have those options.
There are two primary roles throwers have and they are traditional Quarterback and Runner. The Quarterback’s role is to get the ball and wait for a good opportunity to throw it to an open catcher before they can be hit. Quarterback skills are the obvious canidates of Accurate, Safe Throw, and Strong Arm. In fact once the Thower has Accurate and Strong Arm they can throw long bombs on a 4+ and will only fumble the ball on a natural 1. Only elves can hope to do better then that! Also so if a Strong Arm Thower gets an AG up, thank Nuffle and Pass your way to victory! However, the rarity of Strong Arm and AG+ often means human passing should rarely be no further then a short pass.
Runners on the other hand are about running the ball up the pitch themselves, with the support of cages and offenssive screens. Skills like Block, Dodge, Fend, Side Step, and Dump Off help them do this job. The Sure Hands skill a Thrower naturaly has makes them immune to Strip Ball too. However at only MV 6 they will take a few turns to get down the pitch, leaving him vounerable to elf screen tactics and possible attrition from blocks.
Which to use can be tricky and I wouldn’t reccommend a two thrower build out the gate. Fortunately you don’t have to choose right away so play around with them your first few games and figure out what you find the most fun. If you are in a closed league setting and know what you are going up against, that is a different matter. If there are lots of bash teams like Orc, Dwarves, and Chaos: build a Quarterback. If there are mostly low armor teams like Skaven, Wood Elves and Amazons: make a Runner. As your team develops you can easily have both types of throwers, and it is often a good idea to do so in open anonymous matchmaking leagues like COL or FUMBBL.
Just remember a Quarterback can run, and a Runner can throw. Human coaches become losing coaches if they are too rigid in their tactics and play.
The Roster- The Lineman
Lineman
Cost: 50k
Hire Limit: None
Skills: None
Skill Access: General
Suggested Skills: Block, Wrestle, Dirty Player, Tackle, Kick, Dauntless, Frenzy, Dodge, Guard, Mighty Blow
Well just thinking about the rage and violence those last few bits have inspired, has quite possibly voided my life insurance. So my wife wants me to talk about something less prone to inspire a lynch mob. The humble Lineman is the unsung hero of many a team, and on the Human team that is no exception. They have a solid stat line and can fill out any role in a pinch, Their low cost make them good foulers, and as they level they become even more versatile. High TV Humans need their Linemen more then any other team, other than Vampires, and that is only because they don’t need to eat them. I find having two Block Tackle Linemen and Three Wrestle Linemen and a Kick Dirty Player Lineman a good mix.
The Roster- The Ogre
Ogre
Cost: 140k
Hire Limit: 1
Skills: Loner, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull, Throw Team-mate, Bonehead
Skill Access: Strength
Suggested Skills: Guard, Grab, Stand Firm, Juggernaut, Multi Block, Piling On, Break Tackle Block, Tackle, Pro, Frenzy
Even the Ogre, like just about everything about Humans, has inspired some controversy. Some say he is unneccessary and ultimately not worth it, due to being unreliable and costing twice as much as most of the other Human players. Others feel he is essential to Humans, offering much needed bashing potential. Others still say “Only stunties should have big guys.” I personally believe that the Ogre is near essential to the Human team. They aren’t needed out the gate neccessarily, but should be one of the first things Humans plan to add to their team after an Apothecary.
Ogres are there to do one thing on a Human team, and that is hitting fools dumb enough to base them. Ogre development is essentaily a race to the doubles, as without double skills Ogres will only ever be living battering rams, smashing lines and cages. But once those doubles come however Ogres can become Super Blitzers! Hell if you are lucky enough to get +AG on one, try making it a ball handler. It may not be effecint but it is fun imagining the look on your opponent’s face when you hand off to an Ogre and form a cage when you are leading.
The only issues Ogres have is Loner and Bonehead. Loner means you have to pass a 4+ roll just to use a team reroll, and if you fail you must keep the current roll, but still use up your the reroll. Bonehead is the “best” negitive trait. It just means that before the Ogre can do anything on your turn he must pass a 2+ test. Failure means that that action is wasted and can do nothing this turn. Just Remember that while boneheaded, Ogres are considered to have no tackle zones and can not interact with the ball (but will not drop it if they are already holding it,) so it may be best to just let them stand around if they are guarding a hole in your screens. Bad dice will come sooner or later and burning a reroll on a triple skull and failing the Loner roll is fustrating, as is that game critical blitz being forgotten in favor of watching some clouds.
Pro is not a bad skill to consider as it not only allows free rerolls on standard rolls like blocks, but also the loner check roll as well! Block is a stonger choice for a prime puncher but if the Ogre should get a second double, it is worth considering.
Starting Builds
There are almost as many Human Builds as there are Blood Bowl Coatches, and because Humans are so cheap and rerolls inexpensive (50k at team creation,) any build I present can be easily modified. That being the case I shall present some of the most common builds I have seen, over the last five years.
True Balance
4 Blitzers (360)
2 Catchers (140)
1 Thrower (70)
5 LInemen (250)
3 Rerolls (150)
Total Cost: 970
The quintessential starter build for Humans and great for new players. This build gets you almost all your positionals, a good number of rerolls, and a back up lineman on the bench. {or you can swap him out and get an Apothicary with that last 50k too) No real drawbacks here.
Bashing Balance
4 Blitzers (360)
The Ogre (140)
1 Catcher (70)
1 Thrower (70)
4 LInemen (200)
3 Rerolls (150)
Total Cost: 990
This is a popular variation of the last build where you trade your spare lineman and one of your catchers for the Ogre. You gain more bash potental at the cost of starting with a bench, a little speed and pass options. A good soild build
Hard Bash
4 Blitzers (360)
The Orge (140)
7 LInemen (350)
3 Rerolls (150)
Total Cost: 1000
This is the Bashiest you can make Humans out the gate. it is also it is a common build and a good one for developing linemen, however it guts most of your speed and ball handling options. There is a common variation where you trade a lineman and a reroll for a thower, but I feel it doesn’t help your options all that much. As while you will save that reroll on pickups, and marginally improves your tactical options; it lowers your overall bad luck insurance. I would personally drop the Ogre in favor for a thrower and apothocary, as a Thower is just a lineman with two skills for the price of one.
Who Needs Linemen?
4 Blitzers (360)
4 Catchers (280)
2 Thrower (140)
The Ogre (140)
1 Reroll (50)
Total Cost: 970
Vary few teams can field a full roster of 11 players and not use linemen, but Humans are one of them. This is a balanced build and has a lot of options, but it has almost no rerolls, and so can I not recommend strongly it there. However once you get a second reroll and that makes it much more viable build. As long as you use your players along the lines of their positions and skills, thier skill rerolls will make up for the lack of team rerolls.
However player will need to work outside their role from time to time and the Ogre is still unreliable at the best of times (and a down right liability at the worst) so the lack of team rerolls will sting you sooner or later. Taking injuries early in this team’s life can be devisating however. You could also trade the Ogre for a single lineman and two rerolls (or a single reroll and Apothocary) for more newb friendly build.
Pure Meh!
16 Linemen (800)
4 rerolls (200)
Total Cost: 1000
No skills. No special tricks. Just raw numbers and a solid number of rerolls. A good roster for those that want a challenge and don’t have the balls to play stunties, or those want to help a friend learn the game without handicapping yourself too hard.
In Closing
Well I hope you’ve found this guide somewhat useful and I’m was able to show that Humans are better team then you may remenber. If you a feel like I’m a fool who doesn’t know a foul from a pick up and need to die in a deep fryer, or have any insightful tips please let everyone know in the comments down below. If you actually like what this monkey with a key board has done with his flailing please suggest another team and I’ll take a crack at it, once my blood to caffeine and alcohol ratios hits the sweet spot.