The Noble Blitzer is an expensive and interesting piece in Blood Bowl, rocking in at an eye-watering 105k in the new edition but with a unique skill combination compared to other Blitzer type players. They still rock the usual Blitzer statline, being fast, well armoured while having average agility and strength, but for the extra 20k compared to their nearest equivalent, the Human Blitzer, you get Catch and swap Strength for Agility in the primary category. You also only get 2 of them per team and compared to their Blood Bowl 2 interpretation in the Bretonnians, they also lose Dauntless.

This puts them in a weird place between a Blitzer and a faux-receiver. As mentioned with the Throwers, Nobility aren’t really a passing team with only PA and AG in the 3+ department and with the Nobles very much more geared towards the Blitzer role compared to the Bodyguards, you have this hybrid player that can strike from a distance to make some space, then take a Quick/Short Pass to score from mid-way in your opponents half.

Having only two of them restricts your options compared to other teams who have four, so you’ll need to consider how to get the most out of them in your league. With Throwers now on the team you don’t need to worry so much about a Ball Handler compared to the Brets, instead, you’ll probably want at least one who can reliably score, while the other works as a surgical striker.

Randomised Skills:

Nah, these are the types of players you’ll want to have a stricter advancement path for.

The Scalpel | Noble Blitzer Build

Primaries: Dodge, Strip Ball, Tackle, Frenzy, Side Step
Secondaries: Mighty Blow
Characteristics: ST, AG/MV

With the Bodyguards only MV6, it falls to the Noble to become your surgical striker. This is the guy you want hitting key players and ball carriers when the opportunity arises, as well as remaining on his feet and able to reposition as and when he needs to. Imperials aren’t really a bashy team in the traditional sense and while your Bodyguards can be made to do damage, it’s the Nobles who have the movement to really make a difference by hitting your prime targets from range.

With Strength access being a Secondary, I’d say it’s worth getting Mighty Blow first while it’s as cheap as you can get it. Following that, Dodge is going to let you get out of Tackle zones fairly reliably with AG3+ as well as keeping them upright when they inevitably get hit back. Strip Ball then is an obvious choice for hitting ball carriers and receivers who don’t have Sure Hands yet. It may be tempting to take this before Dodge as Strip Ball can become a bit useless later on as more Carriers get Sure Hands, it’s going to depend on what kind of League you’re in. Tackle is going to be pretty important too as Dodge becomes more prevalent as a defensive skill

After those, Frenzy is a good shout as it’ll pair nicely with your Guard Bodyguards later on while giving you more opportunities to do some damage or knock the ball loose. Side Step goes will with it too as it means you Surf in relative safety and use the sidelines a little more.

If you managed to generate a good amount of SPP then trying to grab Strength is always a good shout. If you don’t quite get it then AG and MV bonuses are always going to be worth grabbing. Depending on how early you go for this, however, might push your Noble into a different advancement path as AG and MV will benefit a Reciever more so.

The Scorer | Noble Blitzer Build

Primaries: Dodge, Side Step, Sure Hands
Secondaries: Nerves of Steel
Characteristics: AG/MV

Firstly, I’d try and grab that Agility bonus if you can. 18SPP is as cheap as you can get a Characteristic so you’ll need to score a fair few Touchdowns first, but with Catch and their speed, it shouldn’t be too difficult, especially if an MVP or a few CAS’s get added in too. If you don’t manage to get the AG roll, then MV8 is still very, very good but you’ll need to be much more careful when and where you receive the ball. If you roll Strength, look at the build above.

From there, well Dodge is an obvious one, followed by Sidestep for that ever so annoying for your opponent Blodgestep combo! This just makes them that much harder to get on the ground as well as harder to pin them into lots and lots of tackle zones. I’m a big fan of Nerves of Steel too, as it often means your passes can be shorter, or you can attempt really easy Hand Offs which Imperials do seem to love! Sure Hands will protect you from Strip Ball and can combine nicely with your Striker Noble to pick up the balls they knock loose.

You’ll have a pretty good Reciever after all these, so I’d be tempted to go for another Characteristic roll once you’ve got a good base of Skills to utilise. If they didn’t manage to get the Agility buff then it’s definitely worth trying again for it. At worse you’ll end up with an MV9 Noble, which is pretty scary in its own right!

The Hybrid | Noble Blitzer Build

Primaries: Dodge, Tackle, Sure Hands, Side Step
Secondaries: Mighty Blow
Characteristics: ST, AG/MV

Rather than specialising like the top two, this build looks to combine the two as a  player who can hit things, but still move the ball when needed. First up will probably be Mighty Blow again, just as it’s cheaper as your first Advancement, quickly followed by Dodge for both defensive and repositioning purposes.

Tackle will be next to ensure those pesky Dodgers get put on the floor more consistently and then Sure Hands to keep Strip Ball at bay and pick up any loose balls rolling around. From there you can probably take skills relative to your League, but Side Step is never a bad shout for both getting next to the ball and making sure you’re not bogged down by opposing players.

Pretty much all the Characteristics will help here. I’d be tempted to leave attempting a roll until you have a good range of skills unless you manage to hit 15/16 SPP while trying to get Mighty Blow first.

This might be the one I take over the Scorer, as only having two Nobles means you need them to be a little more flexible than normal as opposed to when you have four available.

The Knight | Noble Blitzer Build

Primaries: Dauntless, Dodge, Tackle
Secondaries: Mighty Blow
Characteristics: AG/MV

A variation of the Scalpel build that leans into the old Bretonian Knight by grabbing Dauntless early on. This might be the one to pick if you’re not keen on rolling Characteristic dice and hoping for a Strength increase, giving you a player that can punch above his weight fairly reliably. You’ll have an easier time vs S4 of course, meaning you can shift Black Orcs and Chaos Warriors out of the way, especially when paired with some Guard Bodyguards. You don’t really want to be blitzing S5 very often, but it’ll come in handy if you need to move something like a Beast of Nurgle or Kroxigor out of the way to remove Tentacles/Prehensile tail for your players.

The rest of the skills lean into the traditional Blitzer role, MB for damage, Dodge for moving and safely, tackle for opposing Dodge.

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The Noble Blitzer makes for an expensive buy versatile piece for the Imperial team giving you some fast striking power and someone who can easily threaten the Endzone too when receiving a handoff or pass. Personally, I’d look at getting a Scalpel and Hyrbid Noble in a balanced league, then looking at the Knight if you find yourself against lots of S4 heavy teams, then the Scorer against slower teams. They’re pretty flexible players overall, you can’t really go wrong as long as you lean into the usual set of Blitzer skills.

That’s it for the Noble Blitzer Build, Head over to our Retainer Linemen, Bodyguard, Thrower & Ogre builds for more BB2020 fun!