My Second Blood Bowl Match with Ogres

After my first Blood Bowl match with Ogres, it was time for game two. This time my opponents were Skaven, coached by Pete, one of the Agents of Sigmar from the YouTube channel and a regular gaming opponent of mine.

Pete has a habit of playing Skaven whenever he gets the opportunity, so I knew exactly what to expect. Fast players, plenty of dodging and Gutter Runners capable of scoring from almost anywhere on the pitch. In contrast, my Ogre Team would need to rely on brute force, casualties and the occasional thrown Gnoblar to compete.

Building My Ogre Team Roster

This was my second game with the team and I was hoping to build upon what I had learned in my first outing.

Going into the game, I had a very simple strategy. The Skaven team was significantly faster and more agile than my Ogres, so I had little interest in trying to win a conventional game of Blood Bowl. Instead, my aim was to remove as many Skaven players as possible, gain a numerical advantage and then use that advantage to control possession of the ball.

Ideally, I wanted to score slowly. By keeping the ball in my possession for extended periods, I could limit the number of opportunities Pete's Gutter Runners had to use their incredible speed. If I could reduce the number of Skaven on the pitch whilst grinding out long drives, I felt I had a realistic chance of winning the game.

First Half

Pete won the toss and chose to receive. His opening drive went reasonably well, although the Ogres immediately began asserting themselves physically. Both teams managed to knock a few players over and one of my Ogres was even pushed into the crowd, by frenzied Rat Ogre, and was badly hurt. Fortunately, my Apothecary was able to patch him up and return him to the Reserves box.

The Ogres also enjoyed some success of their own. I managed to badly hurt Pete's Rat Ogre, although his Apothecary saved it as well.

Despite the pressure, Pete's Skaven only needed four turns to score. The speed of the Skaven was already proving difficult to deal with and the score moved to 1-0.

With my team receiving, it was time for the Ogres to inflict some pain.

The Skaven linemen were smashed into the turf repeatedly as the Ogres dominated the line of scrimmage. The Gnoblar repeatedly fouling downed players to keep them there. By the end of turn six there were four Skaven sitting in the Knocked Out dugout. I used this space to move the ball up the pitch.

My Ogre Punter launched a Gnoblar carrying the ball downfield. The kick was a natural six, resulting in a Superb Pass. The Gnoblar landed perfectly, stayed on his feet and scampered into the End Zone to equalise the score. I did not want to wait to score, as this would have given the remaining skaven time to blitz my lone Gnoblar.

Unfortunately, before the next drive, three of the four Knocked Out Skaven immediately recovered and returned to the pitch.

The remaining turns of the half highlighted the main problem Ogres have against Skaven. Pete quickly recovered the ball and handed it off to a Gutter Runner. The Movement 9 Gutter Runner raced into my half through a gap in my line produced by the Rat Ogre blitzing one of my Ogres. Several more Skaven poured through the opening, screening the ball. I attempted to cause further casualties and even tried launching another Gnoblar at the ball carrier, but the plan failed. The Gnoblar missed its target and landed awkwardly knocking itself unconscious instead.

Pete scored again on turn eight, taking a 2-1 lead into half time.

At the break one Skaven Lineman remained unconscious, whilst I was down one Gnoblar.

Painting My Ogre Blood Bowl Team

Second Half

Receiving the ball at the start of the second half should have given me an opportunity to level the score.

Unfortunately this was where everything started to go wrong. The Ogres suddenly developed a habit of failing Bone-head tests. Not only did this prevent them from blocking, it also caused them to lose their tackle zones and left gaps throughout my line.

As before, I moved Gnoblars around the ball to provide protection before attempting the pick-up. However, the Gnoblar failed the pick-up.

The Skaven immediately took advantage. A Gutter Runner sprinted forward, collected the ball and escaped deep into my half and because most of my players are Movement 5, there were very few players capable of putting pressure on the ball carrier.

My next turn began with another failed Bone-head roll. I then attempted a desperate Gnoblar blitz on the Gutter Runner, but the Skaven player simply dodged away.

Pete scored to make it 3-1.

Things only became worse after the next kick-off. My Ogres immediately began by blocking the Skaven linemen knocking several Prone but failed to cause any significant damage. Then my gnoblar moved to retrieve the ball and once again the roll failed. By this point I had exhausted all of my rerolls. Most had been spent either trying to compensate for Bone-head failures or recovering from failed ball handling attempts. Without rerolls available the entire team began to unravel. The Ogres continued failing Bone-head tests and the Gnoblars appeared incapable of performing even the simplest agility rolls.

Pete's Rat Ogre then badly injured another Ogre, whilst the Skaven swarmed through the gaps in my formation and seized possession yet again. The problem was that only Gnoblars were in a position to challenge the ball carrier. With Strength 1 they simply lacked the ability to consistently bring down even the weakest Skaven players.

The Skaven scored again for 4-1.

The final drive followed a very similar pattern. The Gnoblars failed to secure the ball, the Ogres became distracted and the Skaven once again exploited their superior speed and agility.

Pete crossed the line for a fifth touchdown and secured a convincing 5-1 victory.

What did I learn?

Although the scoreline looks brutal, I learned a lot from this game.

The first lesson is that Ogres need to do most of the heavy lifting. Realistically they are the only players on the team capable of consistently winning blocks and controlling space. With only four Ogres available, there were too many areas of the pitch where the Skaven could operate safely. I increasingly feel that I would benefit from adding more Ogres to the roster, even if that comes at the expense of rerolls.

The second lesson is that the team is slow. Every player on my roster has Movement 5, whilst Pete's Gutter Runners move 9. Once the Skaven secured the ball, I had very little ability to recover possession. Even when I had possession, I struggled to move the ball into a genuinely safe position before a blitz arrived.

The Gnoblars also have some significant limitations. At Strength 1 they are extremely vulnerable, whilst their Titchy rule means they do not effectively prevent opponents from dodging through tackle zones. This allowed the Skaven to flow through my defensive line with ease.

I was pleased with the amount of damage the Ogres caused. Mighty Blow helped break armour regularly, but my injury rolls were often disappointing. On another day some of those Knocked Out results could easily have become casualties.

Perhaps the most important lesson involved Throw Team-Mate and Kick Team-Mate.

My only touchdown of the game came from launching a Gnoblar carrying the ball into the End Zone. I also attempted to stop a Skaven touchdown by throwing a Gnoblar at the ball carrier. Neither of these actions felt like gimmicks. Instead, they felt like a key part of how the team is supposed to function. Going forwards, I need to learn how to use these abilities much more effectively. I suspect successful Ogre coaches rely heavily on creative uses of thrown Gnoblars.

Final Thoughts

The final score was 5-1 to the Skaven, but the result does not tell the full story. The first half was competitive and the Ogres generally won the physical battle.

The second half highlighted the weaknesses of the roster. Failed Bone-head tests, poor ball handling and a lack of speed combined to hand the initiative to the Skaven.

Most importantly, however, I learned more about how the team wants to play. Ogres need to dominate physically, remove opposing players and look for opportunities to exploit Throw Team-Mate plays. My second match may have ended in defeat, but it provided some valuable lessons for the future.

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Discussion

Have you played Ogre teams in Blood Bowl? What lessons did you learn when coaching them?

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