Goblins & Blood Bowl are like Cheese & Crackers, they’re just an utterly iconic pairing that you just can’t beat! For a lot of coaches, they’re sometimes considered the best of the Tier 3 teams and often one’s first foray into the “stunties” with their not-so-secret weapons, double Big Guys and the classic cheap throwaway Goblins. They’re synonymous with chaotic games, doing more damage to your own team than your opponent and fouls aplenty, all while able to keep the Referee on their side with an ample supply of bribes at the ready.

One of the biggest draws to the team are the completely nuts Secret Weapons, which were expanded slightly to include the Doom Diver and ‘Ooligan into their roster. These Weapons tend to be hilariously destructive for both teams and are just an all-round entertaining thing to have, if not perhaps ULTRA COMPETITIVE, but honestly, a Goblin team without at least a few of these isn’t one worth taking!

They do still suffer from the classic stunty weaknesses, low AV, low Strength but the Goblins themselves are head and shoulders above their Snotling/Gnoblar and Halfling counterparts, so even though they’re pretty flimsy overall, you’ll be surprised how tricky they can be to put down permanently without some tackle. They’re also cheap, so even if you do lose a few, there will be some substitutes waiting in the wings to come on and cause some more mayhem.

So… before we look into the Goblin Starting Rosters for Blood Bowl 2020, let’s check out the differences between this edition and the old one!

Goblin Linemen: As standard a Golbin gets, no cost or skill changes to note!
Bomma: The old “Bombadier” gets a 5k increase. PA4+ is fine.
Looney: No change!
Fanatic: No change!
Pogoer: 5k Increase, and gets “Pogo Stick” rather than “Very Long Legs”, which considering the changes to Leap in BB2020 is a very good thing indeed!
‘Ooligan: 5k Decrease and swaps “Fan Favourite” for “Dirty Player”
Doom Diver: No change!
Trained Trolls: Up 5k but they get Projective Vomit added for their troubles. The BIG thing here is they have Loner 3+ as opposed to the 4+ other Trolls have which is a pretty decent buff. It’s still not good per-say, but it’s definitely better and might make the decision to try a team RR a little harder to ignore.

ReRolls: Same cost.

They also get access to the “Briber & Corruption” special rule, which means they continue to get their cheaper bribes, but can also ReRolls 1s when attempting to “Argue the Call”. It’s a nice little bonus that is very on-theme and might see some use on the field. I really like Argue the Call as a rule as it’s fluffy and gives you more of a “coach on the sidelines” feel to the game that was missing before, so having this bonus is just a cool thing!

With that, le’ts DOOM DIVE into the Goblin Starting Rosters for Blood Bowl 2020!

Standard Golbin Affair, 3 ReRolls | TV1000 Goblin Starting Rosters:

About as basic as you can get for Goblins with 11 players and 3 RRs, giving you a fairly decent base to start with and build from. Getting two trolls is pretty much mandatory for me, they’re your main source of removals and only tough units that plan on sticking around. The rest are there to make up the numbers and put the boot in when you can, assisted by bribes of course!

The 230k (+230k Inducement cash!) remaining can be used to either grab some secret weapons as needed or go full-on into Star Players and Inducements. You will, of course, want to grab a bunch of bribes as for Goblin Teams, they’re ridiculously cheap and vital if you have some secret weapons around.

If you’re grabbing secret weapons and, let’s be honest, you should, the Fanatic, Bomma and Looney are all good choices to start with and can cause some serious damage if your rolls go well. The Fanatic is great on the LoS as you can just start spinning to win, while the Chainsaw Wielding Looney is perfect against those Low AV teams (just beware the kickback!). The Bomma is pretty great against AG4+ teams as well as they’re less likely to Intercept. The Bomma also sort of benefits from the new Deflection rule, seeing as you’ll likely be throwing it into a group of players, an Interfering player might just Deflect it into a better position for it to explode into!

The other players worth considering for me are the Pogoer and ‘Ooligan. As a Goblin Coach, you’re going to be doing a LOT of fouling, so the ‘Ooligan is a great pick. The Pogoer is a good shout and can be slowly adapted into a decent Ball Carrier with their MV7. Pogo Stick is also just better than Very Long Legs as it totally ignores modifiers in this edition.

Going forward, it’ll be about adding positionals as you see fit, grabbing the Apothecary for your more expensive Goblins and replacing those that die, or replacing Looneys that kill themselves. Overall, this is a nice, flexible build that you can adapt to how your League is looking.

Maximum Damage!, 3 ReRolls | TV1000 Goblin Starting Rosters:

This would probably be my preferred build at the start of a full-on League. For 990k you get as many chaos causing, damage dealing, mayhem making, players you can fit into a Blood Bowl team. A lot of people underestimate Goblins due to their flimsy armour and low Strength, but this build can be SCARY if things go your way even a little bit, especially against AV8+/9+ teams. With 15 players you’re going to be outnumbering even other Stunty Teams, to begin with, giving you plenty of fouling opportunities with the ‘Ooligan even without the bribes.

Speaking of Bribes, at 990k you’re not getting any, but you can easily swap out a single regular Goblin for one which, honestly is probably worth it, if only to try and keep a Secret Weapon player on the pitch as opposed to trying to turn over a Red Card (better off Arguing the Call there!).

Your two Trolls alongside the Fanatic makes for an oppressive lineup that, outside of 2 Treeman + Deeproot, can’t really be beaten, just remember to keep a Goblin or two near your Trolls to mitigate Really Stupid while your Fanatics swirls his way into the opponents half. Meanwhile, your Bomma is going to be there for fire support and you’ll want to try and target blobs of players for maximum effect.

As you have 3 Secret Weapons, you’ll want to try and spread them out when you can. The Fanatic and Looney are best used on your Offensive drive as you can hit straight away with them. If you take the bribe, I’d be tempted to keep use it on the Fanatics as he’s ever so slightly more reliable, although the decision might be made for you if the Looney’s chainsaw goes straight into his own face! The Bomma then should be saved for Defence as that’s when he’ll be able to start targeting ball carriers and cages. Thankfully the ‘Ooligan will stay on normally, assuming he hasn’t been sent off for fouling… which he should be doing frequently!

Going forward, I’d say an Apothecary is next on the list as you’ll want to keep your more expensive Goblins around. As you’re at 15 players, if you’re going to grab a Diver of Pogoer (would recommend!), I’d say it’s worth just upgrading a regular Goblin, saving you a little bit of TV and giving you space for a Star Player should you need it.

Goblin Starting Rosters, Conclusion:

It’s hard not to love Goblins, they’re chaotic, fun and I think will continue to be so in the new edition. There’s not much changed in terms of their team from 2016 or BB2, but with some of the new rules and skills, I think they’ll still be the “best stunty team” for some coaches. Overall your builds are going to be how much you want to lean into Secret Weapons, )which you should absolutely be doing) or if you want to run a more inducement heavy list for more bribes and Star Players.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this look at the Goblin Starting Rosters, this one official means we’ve finished our 2020 guides, so check them out, if you haven’t already! With the release of Season Two now, there’s never been a better time to get into the game and brush up on your team builds for those new leagues!