Bob: I don’t understand how the Chaos Dwarf team is winning Jim. You said their opponents were on fire.
Jim: Oh no, Bob, I meant that literally!
Ah Blood Bowl. There’s nothing quite like it. The bloodthirsty baying of the crowds, players tackled with such force that their helmets hang in the air for a moment, the scent of fresh-cut grass mingled with brimstone… That’s right, there’s a new team hustling onto the gridiron, and just look at those hats.
After years in the wilderness, banned from official Blood Bowl tournaments by the NAF, the Chaos Dwarfs are back! Relegated to playing their own leagues in the inhospitable Dark Lands, they’ve honed their skills through trial by (literal) fire and they’re ready to set the gridiron ablaze. Welcome back the Zharr-Naggrund Ziggurats!
But since the collapse of the NAF in 2488, Chaos Dwarf teams are once again free to participate in more prestigious competitions. Their game has evolved in the time that they’ve been away, with new positionals and other tricks, but their gameplan is much the same as it ever was: punch first, play later.
They still bring a contingent of malodorous Hobgoblin Linemen to perform mundane tasks such as catching the ball, holding the ball, and being tackled while holding the ball.
The more important parts of Blood Bowl – putting the hurt on opponents with bone-snapping blocks – falls to the Chaos Dwarf Blockers, who approach the sport with the same demented ferocity with which they hammer out arms in their sweltering workshops.
Despite their typically head-on approach to Blood Bowl, the Chaos Dwarfs now add in a little magical spice in with their new Flamesmiths. These cackling pyromaniacs have trained under the madest and most powerful of Sorcerers, and literally now breathe fire at their opponents. What better way to prevent a touchdown than setting the ball carrier ablaze?
Crucially, the Chaos Dwarves have also learned to lean into the devious nature of the Hobgoblins, whose Sneaky Stabbas thin out the field with a well-placed knife thrust when the referee isn’t looking…
While the line of scrimmage becomes a bar brawl, and fire is flying left and right, it’s down to the Bull Centaurs to smash through the skirmish. Yes, the best players in Blood Bowl are also back, ready to sack ball-carriers and canter in a clutch touchdowns. Unnatural fusions of dwarf and bull, these bestial blitzers embody the true nature of Hashut – something for opposition players to mull over even as they are trampled into unconsciousness under iron-shod hooves. Note that the Bull Centaurs are sold in separate packs of two, and cast in Forge World resin.
But how do they play?
Long-term worshippers of Hashut will note that while the Chaos Dwarf team is largely familiar, there are some changes to their rules, while the new positionals create fresh opportunities.
Chaos Dwarf teams are sturdy, as befitting the short stature of their Blockers, but they’re unusually versatile for Blood Bowl thanks to their Hobgoblins and Bull Centaurs.
Chaos Dwarf Blockers no longer start with the Tackle skill. This is replaced by Iron Hard Skin, which prevents any adjustment to their armour value – even claws are blunted by this – so they will always be hard to hurt at a formidable AV10+.
Flamesmiths provide a new avenue in offence: Breathe Fire will leave players prone, and it may even knock them down, though this being Blood Bowl they’re perfectly capable of knocking themselves over.
Hobgoblins remain the same, though Sneaky Stabbas use Shadowing and Stab to stay uncomfortably close to high-value opposition players, perhaps to jab them between the ribs if they even glance at the Endzone.
Bull Centaurs remain lighting quick, and will most definitely still function as sackers or scorers, depending on how you decide to spec them. And a Minotaur is still very much a Minotaur…
This isn’t the last we’ll hear from these doughty dwarfs and their belligerent bovine-adjacent blitzers, so check back on Warhammer Community for all the latest Blood Bowl news.
