What happens when you mix Underworld, Humans, Halfings & Dwarves? Well, you get the Old World Alliance! If you want to read about my first impressions of the team, then head here for some more detailed thoughts. Although since then there have been some pretty big changes made to both the team and of course, the game in general so that article is going to get an update soon!

With that being said it’s time to look at the team from a list building eye instead, so let’s dive into some Old World Alliance Starting Rosters!

Aaron’s notes: Before I start I just want to point out that none of these lists contains the Dwarf Runner. For the same price, you get PA4+ and Loner (3+), while the Human gets the same skills, same AV9+ no Loner and PA3+. You won’t be passing to Dwarves anyway so Animosity is irrelevant, so the Dwarf Runner is just objectively worse and a waste of money, you’d be better off upgrading a Human Linemen if you’re desperate for another Thrower style player. Also quick language warning for the third roster, but I think you’ll understand!

An Ogre & Friends, 3 ReRolls TV1000 Roster:

This is pretty much the same build that I posted before in the above article with one change, trading a Dwarf Blocker for a Human Linemen. This is mostly due to some cost changes in the roster from the previous edition.

For the full amount of gold you get the more mobile (ha!) Big Guy in the Ogre, plus most of your reliable pieces. The Human parts of the team are going to be your core players,  making the runs, blitzes, throws, etc. You have plenty of linemen to mark up players and create tackle zones, with your Blitzer opens up gaps for your Catcher to run through and threaten a touchdown. Your Blitzer as well can be a decent scoring threat too with MV7.

The Dwarves are going to really act around your Ogre, providing assists, tackle-zones and making safe blocks. Loner 3+ is better than the 4+ is was before, but still not good. The Blocker now get’s Brawler instead of Block which gives him a nice inbuilt ReRoll but I’m not sure if Arm Bar makes up for the loss of Tackle, which really was their saving grace. Arm Bar is nice, but he’s going to be hard to position where you want it to go with MV4 and Loner making Rushes a nasty risk. I’d be tempted just to throw some cheap Random Primaries at these guys just to see what sticks.

The Blitzer again is ok and probably should be working the more defensive angle with their lower MV, staying central so they’re not too far away from any scoring threats. He’s cheaper than the Human version, but I’m taking him for some sturdy block and little else.

No Halflings in this one due to the absence of a Treeman, but I’d be tempted to get one later on for some cheap fouling or even a throwaway marker. I’d be looking to get the Apothecary next and then either a Troll Slayer or second Blocker depending on what I’m up against. Of the Old World Alliance Starting Rosters this might end up being the “standard” if you want the Ogre at least.

Treeman Launch Pad, 3 ReRolls TV1000 Roster:

The Halfings are ok again! Seriously putting Loner on these guys was strange, to say the least. Now you have a half(ling) decent way of getting some 1 turn touchdowns on turn 8/16 or if you need to make a desperate play!

Now, in theory, you could take the Ogre and still do the same thing, but the Treeeman has +1 from Strong Arm which is pretty vital to these TTM plays. ST6 makes him a nice Big Guy counter as well on the LoS and honestly, I just love them more as a player over any other Big Guy.

You could trade out the 2nd Halfling for a 5th Lineman, but I’d like to have a backup when, inevitably, they get smashed. It also means when you want to make those 1 turners, you could Pick Up and Hand Off between the Halflings to avoid Animosity from the Human Thrower. I think the extra movement and Sure Hands is probably worth risking Animosity, but I’d keep both him and the other Halfling back and then pick whoever is in the best position to move the ball. It’s a lot of rolls to make so saving some SPP for an AG2+ or Catch Halfing might be worth the time if you can do it!

Again going forward, you’ll need to save the Apo for you more valuable, Human players or if the lone Treeman gets chopped down by a Chainsaw. For this build, you’ll need money around to replace the lings as you go as well.

Deeproot Takes Charge, 3 ReRolls TV1000 Roster:

You know whos’ absolutely amazing? Deeproot-Mother-Fuckin’-Strongbranch! Damn I absolutely love this Star Player, I did a whole season with him back in SQ-Season 2 and I properly fell in love with him as a coach. Plus with the new Passing changes, he’s EVEN BETTER!

If you’ve played Halfings before you’ll know the tactic of having a low Team Value to afford both Deeproot and the Halfling Master Chef every game. However, with the new “Special Rule” change, Old World Alliance cannot get the Chef for 100k like their Halfing friends, so that particular plan isn’t available… BUT YOU CAN STILL TAKE DEEPROOT! This is actually something I believe I overlooked in my previous article so….apologies for that.

720k get’s you the 280k in inducements (assuming the team’s you’re against are 100k exactly) you need for the Big Boy. You could argue this makes for a slightly improved Halfling team, with the linemen being better in every way other than unable to be tossed or dodge. You could as change the Treeman into an Ogre if you want a slightly more mobile Big Guy to pair up with Deeproot, you’d just need to drop a ReRoll (eeeek!!!) and add another Human in order to keep the Star Player around. I’d be far more tempted to keep the Treeman anyway, as the pair will dominate pretty much any LoS in front of them.

Going forward will be harder on this one as you don’t have a horde of cheap Halflings to replace at a whim. You could, as you go, replace human Linemen with positionals to keep your TV down while still acquiring some skills. It’ll take some fiddling and paying a lot of attention to your opponent’s TV’s and you’ll want to keep some petty cash at hand just in case. Thankfully there are plenty of other Star Players you can use (like the GOD that is Rumble Skeepskin!), so even if you’re a few gold short you’ll probably still be able to compete.

Compared to the other Old World Alliance Starting Rosters this is 100% my personal favourite!

Old World Alliance Starting Rosters, Conclusion:

I’ve slowly warmed to this team, mostly due to the amendment to the Halflings loner roll and finding a way to get Deeproot into the team. Unfortunately, I think Imperial Nobility are going to be my “new” team and these guys don’t quite have the charm regular Halflings have, which of course have been improved thanks to their new positionals.

They’re listed as Tier 1 on the new rulebook which I’m not sure I agree with looking at them now, but we’ll have to wait and see! They’ve been improved slightly and I think the Dwarf Blocker’s change could be interesting to see as well, I’m definitely going to try it out!

In the meantime check out our other BB2020 lists!