Imitation is the greatest form of flattery!

We’ve now covered ‘Standard’ Snotling builds and a very versatile ‘Core’ build, from which you can use a whole host of Inducements to amplify your teams “strengths” (I use the word strength loosely here). In this article, we’ll be using the same foundational build as in Article 2, but this time we’ll look at pretending to be something you’re not, rather than enhancing your existing strengths.

Be warned, these builds are a bit more themed focus and thus may not be the most optimal builds (though I can see myself taking Variant 7 ​a lot​ if I can), but what they do display is the versatility of the ‘Mr Moneybags’ build and the host of options you have at your disposal as a Snotling Coach.

First, the ‘Mr Moneybags’ build again for your convenience:

Mr Moneybags, 3 ReRolls | TV1000 Snotling Starting Rosters:

A quick note with this build, be sure to only take 12 Snotling Linemen, as you must have spaces in your roster in order to hire 2 star players (the max you can take is 2).

Ogres Eat Your Heart Out!, 3 ReRolls | TV1000 Snotling Starting Rosters:

Now whilst you can take 4 St5 guys in your basic roster, 2 of those are secret weapons, needing bribes to stay on, and all 4 of which are Really Stupid and need constant baby sitters. So let’s discard the 2 wagons and replace them with 2 ​proper​ big guys: Varag and The Ballista himself! Not only have you got 2 absolute units in the line-up now, but neither of them have any Nega-traits bar Loner (4+). To top it off, both have Block and Mighty Blow
(Morg’s is Might Blow (2+)!) and some other skills that are useful in a pinch. Reliable hitters much?

What’s really great about this team is whilst you’re acting like a pseudo Ogre team, Varag and Morg are actually competent ball carriers (Both AG3+ and MV6). Whilst Loner may make the initial pickup risky, once it’s in Morg’s hands, it’ll be tricky for your opponent to knock down this ST6 Block player surrounded by a Snotling cage (yes you should with cage them, it’s actually great!). Unless they have Strip Ball, they’ll be throwing hopeful uphill blocks for days trying to get the ball off him (and with MB+2 it’ll be all the more painful when they fail!). Sure you’re over-costed by 30k against TV1000 teams here, but if you ever needed a combo to lay down the hurt on an opposing team, just pretend to be Ogres and hire these two!

This build can be particularly nice against high AG teams with average strength, a.k.a. Elves. Primarily because they can often squeeze into a cage and dislodge the ball if needed, but here that is so much more difficult to do with a ST5/6 ball carrier. Obviously, 4 Mighty Blow big guys will work against ​any​ team you want to apply damage to, and a fun all round roster regardless of your opponent. Try it, you won’t regret it! ​(Although your opponent might)​ .

Under-Who-Now?, 3 ReRolls | TV1000 Snotling Starting Rosters:

Now, this is a whole new ​(Under)​ world am I right? Wanted to play underworld but thought they were too easy? Then have I got the team for you! Not only have we managed to squeeze in some of our basic positionals back into the line-up, but we’ve got the 2 most ridiculous rodents to back them up.

Glart Smashrip, the fattest rat around, is a reliable ST4 beast with Claw, ripe for taking down any high armour targets. Combine his strength with Hakflem’s ridonkulous speed and mobility, and they’ve got your bases covered. In addition, with both being relatively cheap stars (in contrast to some we’ve seen so far), you’ve got plenty of cash for some rookies, a ref in your pocket, and change to boot!

This is a great little team for slow, bashy teams that have some high AV players for your Claw, such a Chaos Dwarves or Nurgle. Glart will hurt them, Hakflem will run circles around them and your snots will really slow them down to a crawl.

Satisfyingly Scrumptious, 2 ReRolls | TV1000 Snotling Starting Rosters:

Right, I’m not going to lie, I originally only included this because the thought of having the Snots imitate ​every​ stunty team was too good to pass up, and with the Sneakiest of Gits build (Variant 4) imitating the Gobbos, Halflings were last on the list.

However I have to say, after much consideration, this build is actually not as ridiculous as it first appears. Sure, the Halfling Chef is pricey, but against certain teams who are reroll dependent, such as Chaos Chosen and Vampires, this could actually be crippling in the right matchups. When you consider that Snots aren’t great at stealing the ball from the hands of the opponent, why not capitalise on your opponent’s failings instead? With Grak about, you have 2 opportunities to launch a player deep into your opponent’s half to steal a dropped pick-up that they couldn’t reroll.

To top it off, by dropping a reroll (as you’ll be gaining 1-3 per half anyways) you can afford 2 Flingas to turn into Mortars and 2 Runners who are the best to capitalise on loose balls due to their extra speed. These two positionals, particularly Mortar-Flingas with Hail Mary, will make great use of the extra rerolls you’ve nabbed off your opponent.

Whilst this is probably not the strongest of the builds I’ve listed over these articles, it certainly has its place, and is that tool in the belt for that 1 time of year when you need that absurdly small Allen key for something!

Snotling Starting Rosters, Conclusion:

Phew! We sure have covered the bases with Snotlings, and we’ve not even talked about the positionals in-depth yet. As far as the team builds go for me, there are 3 core routes: Take Everything (Variant 1), Focus on 1 Secret Weapon (Variants 2/3) or Inducement Reliant  (Variants 4-9). Now as a more experienced coach, I feel Variant 1 would be a real challenge to pull off and something I’m definitely going to be trying out a lot, if only as an excuse to use all the various positionals and to try and develop them all the way up to living legends (my favourite personal challenge with stunties). It’s also the build I’d stick to in tournaments, or anywhere where you can’t change inducements between games.

However, the more I think about things, the more I’m convinced by the ‘Mr Moneybags’ approach for a league setting, particularly shorter leagues. It gives you great versatility, a nice variety of tricks and tactics to suit your personal playstyle or counter your opponents, and the chance to try out some of those rare star players, some of which I can honestly say I’ve never fielded before but now really want to give them a go! Sure, it’s a little more boring on the development front, but I reckon it’ll probably result in more wins overall, and I’d still be tempted to throw a Fungus Flinga in there for good measure (The idea of a Mortar is just too tempting for me to resist!).

Just be aware that other low-TV teams and crippled teams are even more of a threat to the Moneybags approach because of the reduced petty cash you’ll have, though hopefully, your vast treasury will help you make up for it, as you don’t really have anyone valuable to replace bar the Trolls. Don’t forget about the expensive mistakes rule in leagues though!

All in all, I feel I’ll be testing all of these playstyles to death when Snotlings hit Blood Bowl 3, and I’ll be sure to report my findings back to you when I come back battered, bruised, but hopefully, triumphant… at least with 1 win under my belt (I hope).

Part One
Part Two